Manila Standard - 2016 October 21 - Friday

6 inmates bolster drug raps vs Leila

By Rey E. Requejo

VOL. XXX • NO. 251 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘Hello, China; goodbye, US’ Du30 wins Xi pledge of $9b in loans

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EIJING—President Rodrigo Duterte met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping Thursday, state media said, with China committing more than $9 billion in concessionary loans to support Philippine development programs, including drug.

ODD COURSE. President Rodrigo Duterte, reconfiguring his country’s diplomatic alliances, shakes hands Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping after a signing ceremony in Beijing, where he is on a four-day visit. He later told the Filipino community in Beijing it was time ‘to say goodbye, my friend’ —referring to Manila’s ally of 70 years Washington. AFP

Rody vows to shun US assistance BEIJING―President Rodrigo Duterte pushed his foreign policy pivot from the United States to China, saying he will no longer go to the US because he will only be insulted there and realigning himself with China and Russia. “ I will not go to America anymore” for assistance because “we will just be insulted there,” Duterte said of the Philippines closest ally since independence in 1946.

“I realign myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin. There are three of us against the world. China, Philippines, Russia,” Duterte told Chinese government officials and business leaders who attended the Philippines-China Trade and Investment Forum.

With the “separation” from the US, Duterte said he would

THE lawyer of inmates who accused Senator Leila de Lima of protecting the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary when she was still Justice secretary said the case against her is strong, even though the House committee on justice investigating the case did not recommend charges against her.

“We should respect the committee’s decision since the principal aim of the probe was in aid of legislation,” said Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for several of the National Bilibid Prison inmates who tagged De Lima.

“We would have wanted [a

recommendation for criminal indictment] but since there’s none, we are happy that the purpose has been served, which is to enlighten the public, enlighten the members of the committee and which will hopefully lead to legislation that would prevent others from doing what Senator De Lima did,” he added.

He said the committee led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali already explained that the report did not include criminal and administrative recommendations to give way to the probes in the Justice Department and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Topacio said the House probe Next page

Duterte visit reaps harvest of 13 deals

By John Paolo Bencito BEIJING—The Philippines and China agreed to sign a total of 13 government-to-government agreements to work on joint Coast Guard cooperation in the contested West Philippine Sea, tourism, transportation and narcotics control.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping, witnessed the signing of the documents after an expanded bilateral meeting on Thursday, Oct. 20.

Cabinet secretaries and ministers signed the documents.

“At the ceremony right now, we have witnessed the signing of 13 bilateral cooperation agree-

ments that cover a wide range of areas from the production capacity, to infrastructure, to agriculture, to quarantine inspection and also one between coast guards.

The signing of cooperation agreement between coast guards of the two countries means that the two countries will start cooperation on maritime affairs,” Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said.

The documents, signed in the middle of Duterte’s four-day state visit to China included: • Memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Production Capacity and Investment Cooperation • Agreement on Economic and Technological Cooperation Next page

Duterte is in China for a four-day trip that is expected to confirm his tilt away from Washington and towards Beijing’s sphere of influence.

The two leaders were to hold official talks and sign a “series of cooperation documents,” the official Xinhua news service reported.

Duterte is hoping to take advantage of Beijing’s deep pockets to score a raft of trade and infrastructure deals. Next page

EXTRA LETHIFEROUS.

‘Lawin,’ a super typhoon with 225 kms per hour wallop and gusts of up to 315 kph, swoops down on northern Philippines Thursday, leaving an ugly swathe of destruction hours later as this one in Isabela, while volunteers (inset) from Pasay City repack relief goods at the DSWD Resource Operation Center for distribution in battered areas. AFP/Norman Cruz

Next page

Teenage pregnancy costs P33b each year 13 dead, P3b lost in Lawin’s wake THIRTY-THREE billion in earnings are lost every year in the Philippines as a result of teenage pregnancy, the United Nations Population Fund says in its State of World Population 2016 report.

The report, presented during a forum at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pasig City on Thursday, says girls who reach adulthood with proper education and their health and rights intact could triple their lifetime income, thereby fueling progress for generations and entire nations.

Next page

ONE of the most powerful typhoons to ever hit the Philippines killed at least 13 people, destroyed houses, tore roofs off schools and ripped giant trees out of the ground on Thursday.

Super Typhoon “Lawin”―international name “Haima”―hit the northern province of Cagayan late on Wednesday night with winds similar to those of catastrophic “Haiyan” (“Yolanda”) in 2013, which was then the strongest storm to strike the disasterprone Southeast Asian archipelago and claimed more than 7,350 lives. twitter.com/ MlaStandard

“Lawin” killed eight people in Benguet and Ifugao, two in Isabela, one in the Ilocos and two in Cagayan.

The Department of Agriculture said the production loss to agriculture had reached P2.99 billion.

The Department of Public Works and Highways said 28 road sections in four regions in the north were still closed to traffic.

“Lawin” roared across mountain and farming communities of the northern regions of the main island of Luzon overnight, and by morning a picture was emerging of large-scale destruction.

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“Rice and corn plants as far as the eye can see are flattened,” Villamor Visaya, a university teacher in Ilagan, one of the main northern cities with a population of 130,000 people, told AFP by telephone.

“Many houses were destroyed.

I saw one school building crushed under a large tree... it was as if our house was being pulled from its foundations.”

“Lawin” hit coastal towns facing the Pacific Ocean with sustained winds of 225 kilometers an hour and wind gusts of up to 315 kilometers.

Next page

thestandard.com.ph

PNP, solons seek probe of assault on protesters PHILIPPINE National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa on Thursday condemned the violent dispersal of protesters in front of the US Embassy in Manila on Wednesday and ordered a thorough investigation of the incident.

He ordered National Capital Region Police director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde to relieve all the officers involved in the operation.

He made his statement even

as Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Emmi de Jesus, Arlene Brosas, Antonio Tinio, Ariel Casilao and Sarah Elago filed House Resolution 487 seeking a congressional probe of the incident.

They condemned the assault on the protesters saying the police violated their right to peaceful assembly.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Next page

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

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Bomb scare hits airport; pranksters warned AIRPORT officials on Thursday urged the public to be wary of bomb pranks and warned that pranksters faced jail.

Their appeal came following a bomb scare from a Philippine Airlines aircraft from the United States a few minutes before it landed in Manila early Thursday morning.

Someone from PAL flight PR103 had called to say there was a bomb on the plane, a Boeing B777-300 from Los Angeles with 333 passengers and 18 crew on board.

The plane landed safely, but the responding policemen found no bomb after escorting its passengers to safety.

Airport officials said while the plane was approaching the airport, a flight attendant who was inspecting one of the plane’s lavatories discovered a handwritten note saying there was a bomb on board.

The attendant immediately informed Captain Lawana Nakar about the note. He then called PAL station control in Manila and requested priority to land.

It wasn’t clear if one of the passengers put the note on the lavatory.

Last month a 34-year-old air cargo employee was arrested for joking he was carrying a bomb in his car.

And in 2007 actor John Estrada was briefly held at the airport in General Santos City for joking he was carrying a bomb in his bag.

Joel E. Zurbano

Teenage...

From A1

Klaus Beck, UNFPA Representative in the Philippines, says the practices that harm girls and violate their human rights―starting at the age of 10―prevent them from realizing their full potential as adults, and from contributing to the economic and social progress of their communities and nations.

He warns that sex-related diseases, teenage pregnancy and child labor are undermining girls’ health, rights and opportunities and threaten the world’s new and ambitious development agenda.

Without the girls’ contribution, says Beck, the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its accompanying 17 Sustainable Development Goals may never be achieved.

“Impeding a girl’s safe, healthy path through adolescence to a productive and fulfilling adulthood is a violation of her rights,” Beck said.

“But it also takes a toll on her community and nation. Whenever a girl’s potential goes unrealized, we all lose.

“By ensuring the over one-million 10-year-old girls in the Philippines get the tools, know-how and opportunities they need to meet their potential, they could each earn over 45 percent more over the next 15 years―that’s an extra 12.8 percent of today’s GDP.” The report says 10 is a “pivotal age for girls everywhere as puberty approaches. In some parts of the world, a girl at this age enjoys limitless possibilities and begins making choices on her education and later life. Joel E. Zurbano

PNP...

From A1 Reyes rejected the police claim that the lumad protesters had become unruly and aggressive, prompting PO3 Franklin Kho to run over them.

“Clearly, it was the PNP who was dishing out the most gruesome violence during the protest,” he said.

“The driver of the police van was under no immediate threat. The protesters were not even touching his vehicle.”

PNP deputy director for operations Benjamin Magalong placed nine officers, including Manila Police District deputy director for operations Senior Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo and Kho under “restrictive custody” pending the investigation.

“I saw the video and it is saddening and infuriating,” Dela Rosa said in a statement issued from China, where he is with the official delegation of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Police forces are under strict instructions as a matter of policy, to exercise maximum tolerance in such public assemblies, with public safety and protection of human life an utmost concern and topmost priority,” he said.

Francisco Tuyay, Maricel V. Cruz, Rio N. Araja and Sandy Araneta

Group blocks Tugade’s bid

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

A

N UMBRELLA network of road users urged the powerful Commission on Appointments to junk the ad interim appointment of Secretary Arthur Tugade as secretary of transportation for being “unfit and unqualified” for the position.

In separate letters dated October 19 to Cebu Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, chairman of the CA’s Committee on Transportation and Communication and to CA Secretary Hector Villacorta, the Road Users Protection Advocates said the commission must step in and block Tugade’s appointment.

“We would like therefore to implore that you apply the mandate of your honorable office that

it would ‘ensure that the President must exercise the power to appoint wisely, appointing only those who are fit and qualified,’” RUPA chairman Ray Junia said in his two-page letter.

“We believe that the President failed to appoint wisely when he named Secretary Tugade to the post because we are convinced the appointee is not fit or qualified,” he added.

Junia recalled how Tugade boasted that he will solve the traffic crisis within 100 days after his assumption and even dared President Duterte on national television to fire him if he could not deliver on his promise.

“As we all know, no significant change has happened, except that traffic has turned from worse to worst since (Tugade) assumed his post, and we are now over the 100-day self-imposed deadline as of this writing,” Junia said.

RUPA also scored Tugade for coming out with “incredible and fantastic solutions that elicited laughter and sneer from the public and (transportation) experts” in a bid to wiggle out of his own 100-day ultimatum.

“This is making us think twice about the real state of his

mental health,” Junia said.

“Among these incredulous solutions is his reported plan to install cable cars over the length of Laguna de Bay that he said would connect the southern province of Laguna to Metro Manila, an idea he copied from the experience of La Paz, Bolivia.

“This idea sent experts laughing since aside from being next to improbable, the project would be costly and would take many years to construct,” he added.

Junia also criticized Tugade for proposing to transform the MRT Line 2 into a Bus Rapid Transit, which he described as an idea “that common sense dictate is suspect at best.”

Even Senator Grace Poe, who heads the Senate committee on public services, raised con-

cerns on the planned BRT along EDSA, saying narrow lanes such as the intersection of Shaw Boulevard might not be able to handle BRT well as there will only be a single lane left for private vehicles.

“Also, according to some of our resource persons from the transport sector, the world trend is to move out of the rubber-based road surface vehicles, and yet, we are pursuing this by constructing BRT lines. How exactly can this help in easing traffic? Why not build more railroads and procure more trains?” Poe said.

Junia also questioned Tugade’s plan to transfer the DOTr head office in Pampanga, “apparently to make life easier for him since he still feels he is the anointed savior of the nearby Clark Development Corp.”

Duterte...

“This in itself signifies a new stage of maritime cooperation between the two countries. China is ready for discussions with our friends in the Philippines on maritime cooperation and cooperation in many other areas. And the details will be further discussed by the responsible authorities of both sides following this visit,” he added.

Philippine authorities did not elaborate on the agreement on joint coast guard cooperation or say if this would mean that the two countries would agree to joint patrols in the disputed waters.

Liu said neither of the presidents mentioned the issue of the Scarborough Shoal, which they call Huangyan Island, but they did talk about the cooperation in fishery.

“They agreed that the two countries will strengthen fishery cooperation in the South China Sea and also cooperation in terms of fishery products, industries.”

The two countries, well, they adopt the complementarity of the development strategies after Duterte agreed to join in the building of the Maritime Silk Road. And China will also increase cooperation with the Philippines in infrastructure, agriculture and finance.

China will also take an active part in the infrastructure development in the Philippines, vowing more than $13.5 billion in providing financing support to the Philippines in this aspect.

China said that they also support Duterte’s efforts in drug trafficking, and will carry on law enforcement cooperation with the Philippines. The two countries will also strengthen cooperation in tourism.

President Xi Jinping told Duterte that China “will lift the travel advisories issued a few years ago to Chinese citizens traveling to the Philippines.”

From A1

ENSURING EVENHANDEDNESS. PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa, in Beijing with President Rodrigo

Duterte, has ordered police officers involved in the rally near the US Embassy in Manila under administrative relief to ensure utmost impartiality of a planned probe. At Camp Crame, Police Director Benjamin Magalong, deputy PNP chief for operations (center), tells media Thursday 49 police personnel involved in the rally have been removed from their posts. With him are Manila Police District Director Joel Coronel and NCRPO Director C/Supt. Oscar Albayalde. PNA

‘Hello,...

From A1

His recent rhetoric blasting the US and President Barack Obama and promising to sideline a territorial dispute over the strategically vital South China Sea have been welcomed in Beijing.

During a speech addressing the Filipino community in Beijing Wednesday, the firebrand president said the Philippines had gained little from its long alliance with the US, its former colonial ruler.

“Your stay in my country was for your own benefit. So time to say goodbye, my friend,” he said, as if addressing the US. He also repeated his denunciation of Obama as a “son of a bitch.”

“Foreign policy veers now towards” China, Duterte said. “No more American interference. No more American exercises.”

China, he said earlier, was good. “It has never invaded a piece of my country all these generations,” he said.

Xi, on the other hand, committed more than $9 billion in

Rody...

From A1 now be relying on the Chinese officials and businessmen.

“I announce my separation from the United States both in the military but economics also,” Duterte said. “I have separated from them so I will be dependent on you for a long time but don’t worry we will also help.”

Duterte over the past months stepped up his anti-US rhetoric after US officials, including US President Barack Obama expressed concern over the alleged extrajudicial killings blamed on his war on drugs.

The President also announced that October’s joint military exercises with the US would be the last under his term.

Foreign policy under Duterte has dramatically shifted from that pursued under predecessor Benigno Aquino III, who took Beijing to an international tribunal over its extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea -- where it has built artificial islands capable of hosting military facilities--and won a resounding victory.

The move infuriated Beijing.

But Duterte, who took office in

concessionary loans to support Duterte’s development projects, including drug rehabilitation, as part of mutual efforts to sustain the momentum of enhanced bilateral ties.

Of the more than $9-billion loan offer from China, more than $3 billion will come in the form of credit from private banks.

Meanwhile, a total of RMB100 million, or $15 million, will be earmarked for drug rehabilitation programs to support Duterte’s war on drugs.

“Consensus-building is vital for bilateral relations to move forward amid differences. China is committed to these principles as shown by its efforts to strengthen bilateral ties in the past 41 years,” Xi said.

Duterte’s state visit is expected to result in other government-togovernment agreements as well as private business deals between Chinese and Filipino firms amounting to billions of dollars.

Duterte and Xi agreed to return to a “track of dialogue” over the South China Sea in what is a “new stage of maritime cooperation,” China’s Vice Minister for Foreign

Fabunan, AFP

June shortly before the tribunal ruling, has made a point of not flaunting the outcome.

He has also suspended joint US-Philippine patrols in the South China Sea, and has threatened an end to joint military exercises.

The South China Sea is of intense interest to Washington and it has repeatedly spoken out on the various territorial disputes between China and its neighbours over the strategically vital waters.

In 2012, China seized control of Scarborough Shoal, a fishing ground in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Tensions have risen between the US and China over Washington’s so-called “pivot” to the Asia-Pacific, a move that Beijing says is intended to contain it.

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said Wednesday that Beijing “appreciates President Duterte’s efforts to crack down on drug crimes and improve social security with the fundamental interests and wellbeing of his country and people in mind.”

She also hailed Duterte’s efforts to seek a “soft landing” on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. “China and the Philippines are

returning to the right path of properly handling relevant issues through bilateral dialogue and consultation regarding the South China Sea issue,” Hua said. “Friendly neighbors are supposed to get along with each other in this way.”

In a press briefing in Beijing, Hua confirmed that the concerned agencies of the two countries are now discussing possible cooperation to combat illegal drugs in Manila.

“We are ready to talk with the Philippine side about cooperation on drug control and the fight against drug crimes,” Hua said.

“Competent authorities of the two countries are in communication on this,” he added.

Hua said that China gives the Philippines its full support to Duterte’s way of governance and that the economic superpower would play an active part in building Manila’s economy.

“China supports President Duterte in leading the Philippine people to build their country and develop the economy. We are willing to play an active part in the Philippines’ economic and social development and cooperate with the Philippines in economy and trade, industrial capacity and infrastructure,” she said.

Affairs Liu Zhenmin told reporters in Beijing Thursday. The two leaders did not discuss the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Liu said China was ready to hold bilateral talks on maritime issues and that Duterte’s visit signified a full recovery of the Philippine-China friendship.

Officials from both countries signed 13 pacts on areas including trade, investment, tourism, narcotics, and maritime cooperation at the summit meeting.

Pacts on transport infrastructure, financing from Export-Import Bank were among those forged as China committed to support infrastructure development in the Philippines.

Duterte said on Wednesday that he would welcome Chinese offers of aid, infrastructure funding and concessional financing.

“I will not ask but if they offer and if they’ll ask me, you need this aid? Of course, we are very poor,” Duterte said of China. “You need this railway?

Yes sir. And if you can give us a soft loan, give us something like 20 years to pay.” Sara Susanne

between the Government of China and the Philippines MOU on Strengthening Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation • MOU on Drafting China-Philippines Economic Cooperation Development Plans • Tourism MOU Implementation Plan ‎ 2017-2022 • MOU on the Lists of Transportation and Infrastructure Cooperation Projects MOU on Financing Cooperation between the China’s Eximbank (Export-Import Bank of China) and the Department of the Treasury of the Philippines • Agricultural Cooperation Action Plan ‎ 2017-2019 • Protocol on Cooperation between PDEA of the Philippines and the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China • MOU on the Establishment of a Joint Coastal Guard Committee on Maritime Cooperation • MOU on Supporting Conduct of Feasibility Studies for Major Projects • MOU on News Information Exchange Training and for Other Purposes • MOU on Cooperation on Animal and Plant Inspection and Quarantine Liu said that the two Presidents had in-depth discussions on enhancing the practical cooperation between the two countries across the board and they have reached broad agreement.

Liu said that both Presidents agreed that China and the Philippines will return to track of dialogue and consultation to properly handle the South China Sea issue.

6 inmates...

From A1

was very significant as it provided testimonies that could bolster the drug trafficking charges filed against De Lima before the Justice Department earlier this month by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

Among the key findings of the committee probe were the proliferation of illegal drug trade in NBP during De Lima’s stint as secretary of Justice, that her driver and alleged lover Ronnie Dayan served as her bagman, and that drug money was raised by inmates for her senatorial campaign.

“We will use this evidence gathered in the House inquiry in the preliminary investigation in the DoJ. The witnesses just need to appear before the DoJ and personally subscribe again to their affidavits,” he said.

The litigation lawyer who defended former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the criminal cases

13 dead...

From A1 It weakened overnight as it rammed into giant mountain ranges, and by Thursday morning had passed over the western edge of Luzon and into the South China Sea, heading towards southern China.

Jefferson Soriano, mayor of Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan where “Lawin” made landfall, reported badly damaged schools and gymnasiums where people had sought shelter.

“They are calling for help because the roofs have been torn off. The problem is, our rescuers here are unable to go out and help,” Soriano told dzMM radio before dawn while the storm was still raging.

In Carranglan, a town of about 40,000 people in the mountains on the southern edge of the typhoon’s direct path, landslides had left a bus trapped in mud on Thursday morning.

Men walked knee-deep through mud and floodwaters across a destroyed road in Carranglan, while

against her was also firm in his belief that the evidence against De Lima is already strong enough to file a case of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act in court.

“You don’t actually need documentary evidence anymore because what you have are direct testimonies of witnesses based in first-hand accounts. And we’re not just talking about one witness. We have many witnesses corroborating one another’s testimonies,” he said.

Topacio said there is no truth to the claim of De Lima that the inquiry failed to produce evidence against her, noting that the witnesses included not only inmates but also former and current government officials.

“The major points in these testimonies were corroborated, so there is strong evidence against Senator De Lima,” the lawyer added.

Among the clients of Topacio that testified in the House’s inquiry were NBP inmates Herbert Colanggo, Jojo Baligad, Joel Capones, German Agojo, Jerry Pepino and Noel Martinez.

aluminum roof sheeting lay on a nearby hillside.

President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday night all possible preparations had been made for “Lawin,” with tens of thousands of people evacuated, but he still struck an ominous tone.

“We only pray we be spared the destruction such as the previous times, which brought agony and suffering,” Duterte said in Beijing, where he was on a state visit.

“But we are ready. Everything has been deployed.”

About 10-million people across the northern parts of Luzon were at risk, the government’s disaster risk management council said on Wednesday.

But council spokeswoman Romina Marasigan told a media briefing in Manila at 10 a.m. on Thursday that no casualties had yet been reported.

The Philippines is often the first

major landmass to be hit by storms that generate over the Pacific Ocean. The Southeast Asian archipelago endures about 20 major storms each year, many of them deadly. AFP, with Francisco Tuyay, Joel E. Zurbano and PNA

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

More wiretap powers eyed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

A

LTHOUGH the country’s anti-wiretapping law already lists 13 exceptions in the prohibition of any secret interception of private conversations, Senator Panfilo Lacson wants to add five more instances when a court can allow wiretapping.

Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, sponsored Senate Bill No. 1210, or the Expanded Anti-Wiretapping Act of 2016, which he said should be viewed as a vital tool to enhance

crime prevention and suppression.

“Though inclusion of additional crimes may appear to open wider gates towards the curtailment of the right to privacy, I encourage our distin-

DoJ probes extortion of parolees

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice will look into alleged extortion against New Bilibid Prison inmates applying for parole by unidentified former officials in the previous administration.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II vowed Thursday to investigate the claim of some inmates they were asked to pay hefty amounts in exchange for approval of their parole applications provided that evidence of such extortion would be submitted by the detainees.

“I will look into it. If there’s evidence then we should investigate,” Aguirre said in a text message.

Aguirre added proof of alleged payment might be necessary for the investigation to prosper.

“There should be documentary evidence of the alleged payments,” Aguirre said, referring to the reported “parole-for-sale” reports.

Inmates’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said Wednesday his clients admitted to him they “were encouraged by some DoJ officials during the Aquino administration to apply for parole, with the assurance that, for the right amount of money, the applications would be approved before end of the Aquino administration and the term of secretary [Leila] De Lima and that, in fact, considerable amounts of money have already been paid by them to these people.”

Topacio revealed the inmates admitted they gave to the former officials amounts ranging from P250,000 to P1 million in nature of bribes for supposed approval of their parole applications before the end of the Aquino administration on June 30, 2016.

“These were high-level officials close to then secretary de Lima, which may lead you to think that it had the imprimatur of De Lima,” Topacio said.

The lawyer said they hoped the issue would also be investigated “in due time.”

Topacio raised the alleged “parole for sale” when he denied the reported insinuation by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano that five of the witnesses in the House inquiry—including his clients Vicente Sy and Jojo Baligad—testified against De Lima in exchange for grant of pardon or executive clemency.

PAF readies unit transfer to Mindanao CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Preparations are underway for the relocation of the Philippine Air Force attack squadron to the Lumbia Airport here, an official said Thursday.

Vice Mayor Rainier Joaquin Uy said the PAF top brass paid a call at the City Hall here to inform the city government of the PAF’s ongoing site development at the Lumbia Airport here.

He said the PAF 15th Strike Wing, currently based at Sangley Point in Cavite, with a complement of about 1,100 personnel, will be relocated to Cagayan De Oro City after the site development of Lumbia is over.

According to Uy, the Department of National Defense has allocated a P988million for the “Phase 1 – Site Development and Construction of Billeting Facilities for the relocation of the 15th Strike Wing.”

Uy did not disclose the scheduled completion of the site development and the construction of the billeting facilities for the PAF personnel.

The 15th Strike Wing, the PAF’s primary attack squadron, has a newly acquired AW109 attack helicopter gunship, OV 10 attack planes, MG -520 attack helicopter gunship, and SF-260 ground attack aircraft. PNA

guished colleagues to view the said amendment rather as a vital tool in enhancing crime prevention and suppression,” Lacson said.

“Further, the proceeds of judicial wiretapping will definitely strengthen the evidence against apprehended criminals when they are brought before the bar of justice,” he said.

Lacson said the bill sought to require a court order before wiretapping could be allowed.

“I would like to describe this measure as comprehensive. However, mere mention of the word comprehensive will definitely raise eyebrows. Let me assure

you, with the numerous pronouncements already made by the Supreme Court, the right to privacy shall always be inviolable,” Lacson said.

“Having said so, I beg the kind indulgence of everybody in this hall and keep in mind that the respect for private lives of individuals still remains as the overall context of the Expanded Anti-Wiretapping Act of 2016,” he added.

Lacson noted that the prevailing anti-wiretapping law, or Republic Act 4200, is already 51 years old and there is a need to make the lw more adaptive and responsive to the times.

“Republic Act 4200 is even much older than some of our young senators,” he said, noting that ease of communications make it harder to fight organized crime.

Under his proposal, cases involving coup d’état, robbery in band, brigandage, drug crimes and money laundering will also be considered exceptions to the prohibition against wiretapping.

The existing law, he said, prohibits and penalizes the secret interception of private conversations except in cases involving crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in the

high seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition, kidnapping and espionage.

Due to this, he believes it is a must that our law enforcement agencies and the military are able to prevent and detect crimes by being able to intercept communications, conversations, discussions, data, information, messages in whatever form, kind or nature, spoken or written words through the use of electronic, mechanical or other equipment or device or technology now known or may hereafter be known to science.

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Opinion

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

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Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Tricky ‘endo’ solution

T

HE practice of ending the contract of a worker before the six-month period that will automatically make him a regular employee has placed the labor and employment sectors in a bind.

The labor sector is at the receiving end of the industry-wide practice, with workers unable to obtain a regular employment status that will enable him to feed his family with a steady source of income.

Employers, on the other hand, do not want to increase their operat-

ing cost and make their operations unprofitable by absorbing workers they hired through an outsourcing agency.

The Labor department is refining a proposal made by the Trade department in seeking a stop to the so-called endo practice. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez offered a winwin solution to resolve the issue after President Rodrigo Duterte promised to look into the endo system during the recent presidential campaign.

But the Labor Department conceded that it could not abolish entirely the endo practice and harm the outsourcing industry that sup-

plies the workers. Labor Undersecretary Josephus Jimenez was pragmatic about the issue, although more private companies had learned to accept that the endo scheme was illegal and should be stopped.

Jimenez noted that dealing with the endo practice should not result in the collapse of the outsourcing sector. Outsourcing, he says, has given the Philippines competitive advantage over other countries in Southeast Asia. Export-oriented economic zones, as well as tourism-related enterprises, have hired workers on a seasonal basis because of their op-

erational peaks. Forcing these companies to hire some workers with the same benefits granted to a regular employee may not be ideal to their operations.

Deserving workers, however, should be treated differently. The idea of improving the ratio of regular and non-regular employees as proposed by the Trade department should be considered to limit the endo practice. The Labor department should also push for improved contract terms to enable outsourced workers to enjoy mandatory retirement and separation benefits.

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ

Duterte’s 1,000 days

Bad, bad cop LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES SENIOR Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo is in a world of trouble. But it’s not like this officer, who has been accused of ordering his men to violently disperse the anti-American rally near the US Embassy in Manila last Wednesday, is a stranger to controversy.

According to witnesses, including a GMA News crew that caught Pedrozo’s statements on tape, the rally had gone on mostly without incident until he arrived. And then, the highest police officer on the scene (Pedrozo was deputy chief for operations of the Manila Police Department) decided to shake things up a little.

“You’re not arresting anyone, and there’s so many of them?”

Pedrozo told his men, as caught on tape. “Let things get chaotic,

we’re the police here. We can’t allow ourselves to lose to these people. How will we explain this to the embassy? So disperse them. Fight them! What kind of cops are you if you don’t fight?”

True, the protesters had earlier broken through the police cordon protecting the embassy.

They had even seized the hose of a fire truck that had started bombarding them with water cannon, reaching as far as the embassy gate, which they defaced with red paint.

But there was still no call for Pedrozo’s order to violently disperse the rally because the cops would look bad to the Americans. And later, Pedrozo would even have the gall to deny that he made the statements that were caught on tape.

More than a decade ago, in 2005, Pedrozo was relieved as Malate station commander by no less than PNP Chief Edgardo Aglipay for alleged involvement in kidnapping and extortion.

How he was able to return to the

police force remains a mystery.

I know that the leftists and the indigenous people who joined the embassy rally were also to blame for the violence because they staged the protest without

This cop is a menace to society, even if he styles himself as a hero to the Americans.

a permit and then engaged the outnumbered police in a pitched battle on Roxas Boulevard.

But Pedrozo and his strategy of brutal counter-attack (which included the now-famous use of a police van as a dispersal tech-

nique) was just plain wrong.

This cop is a menace to society, even if he styles himself as a hero to the Americans. He should get what’s due to him. *** Predictably, some politicians have decided that it would be worth their while to ride on the issue of the violent dispersal by the Manila police of protesters in front of the US Embassy last Wednesday. As usual, some pols were more successful than others in attempting to gain some free publicity on the backs of the protesters.

One of those who failed miserably in the ghoulish enterprise of making political hay out of a lamentable incident was Senator Paolo “Bam” Aquino.

The man who made it to the Senate chiefly by impersonating a prominent dead relative said he was “shocked” by what happened outside the embassy.

Aquino’s latest blatant attempt at “epal” came after his previous bid to gain some atten-

tion failed to generate publicity for him. Bam’s recent call for an investigation of the phenomenon of trolling on social media —launched in all likelihood to defend the remaining loyalists of his family’s Yellow regime —flopped so pathetically, not even the media took notice of it.

The violence near the embassy must have made Aquino and his publicists heave a sigh of relief. Here was an actual story, they thought, unlike one of the senator’s earlier attentiongetting proposals that sought to institutionalize the giving of leftover food to the poor.

But the pro-Duterte Mindanation website was quick to see through the hypocrisy of this identity-thieving Aquino. The site posted the following public letter addressed to the senator: Dear Bambam Aquino, Like we already told you before, whenever you think you have anything relevant to say, please check if it is something Turn to A5

YESTERDAY, I was guest speaker at Asia’s oldest Rotary Club, Manila where I have been a member for 27 years.

My topic was “The First 100 days of President Duterte.” I said it was passé because the 100th-day mark was last October 7, two weeks ago.

I decided instead to talk about the last 100 days, then the next 100 days, and moving forward, the next 1,000 days or the next three years of Duterte.

I told my fellow Rotarians the next 1,000 days will be good for them and good for the people.

There will be three consecutive years of 7 percent of GDP growth per year.

Four million Filipinos would have been rescued from poverty as Duterte reduces poverty at the rate of 1.5 percentage points (equivalent to 1.5 million Filipinos) per year.

Poverty incidence is 26 percent of the population—or 26 million Filipinos today. That is to be reduced to 17 percent by 2022 or to 17 percent (or 19 million) of a projected population of 112 million by the end of Duterte’s six-year presidency. No president has done it before— reduce poverty by nine percentage points (equivalent to nine million Filipinos today).

How will Duterte achieve such a sharp poverty reduction, something no president before him could do?

By spending so much money. Duterte will spend P25 trillion of taxpayers’ money in six years. Of that, P6 trillion will be spent on infrastructure to build or rebuild roads, build and rebuild railways, build airports and roads, and more school buildings than anyone before him has ever built.

Hopefully, the administration would have also replaced the decrepit MRT3 spanning Edsa and would have prosecuted the criminal syndicate handling its maintenance or lack of it.

In the next three years, the country will be earning $30 billion per year from overseas remittances of 12 million Filipino expatriates abroad plus another $30 billion from call centers and business process outsourcing locally.

That’s $60 billion of annual earnings the Philippines cannot possibly generate from exports of goods and services in a year or from foreign direct investments.

Turn to A5

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Opinion PENSEES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO

In Lawin’s wake FROM the survivors of phoon. And it lingered. Un“Yolanda,” I vicariously like typhoons of the past that shared in the terror of being sped by after, at most, two overtaken by a super typhoon hours of pummeling, “Lawin” and the misery that follows af- lingered from midnight until ter the winds have died down. four in the morning. A friend “Lawin” allows me to write of sent me a desperate text mesit, this time as a victim, still in sage: He and his children had the throes of suffering its un- sought shelter under their beds. They were so sure that welcome visitation.

We had been apprised in their flimsy cottage would be Cagayan that after “Karen”— gone with a few more gusts. that bothered us only with Thankfully, it held.

Morning gave me the sight intermittent downpours— “Lawin” was following in its of a humbled, chastened Tuheels, and this time, this was a guegarao City. “Punished” typhoon to be reckoned with. is not an appropriate term, All meteorological tracks had for God does not use the eleit either grazing Cagayan’s ments of nature to punish the northern edge or hitting it, people for whom he is tireless dead center. Cagayanos are no in mercy. But Tuguegarao strangers to strong typhoons, City has grown through the and that also explains why for decades. I saw it flower into all their toil and honest labor, a boastful metropolis from the they are in fact short-changed simple town of my childhood by nature that often snatch- days that it was. And what I es from them heads already saw this morning was a Tuheavy with grain and ready guegarao stripped of its finfor the harvest! But “Lawin” ery, the roofs of many of the was immensely different and houses that had marked it as a immensely more destructive, promising city, shaved off by beyond anything we could the merciless winds.

From the road leading have ever imagined.

With difficulty, my brother, out of the hotel, there was a clear, unobnephew and structed view I coaxed of the Caour mother thedral in all to leave her These three: its majesty. house in The Cathethe care of faith, hope and dral showed house-boys no signs of so that she charity. the horror could be that had just safer with scourged the me in my city. It was own house that I thought was new enough as it has always been! I had to withstand the onslaught of to work my way through top“Lawin.” But as the winds pled electric posts and street started to whistle and the win- lights, overhanging electric dows started to rattle, I was and telephone cables, brodeathly scared, not only for ken glass in search of people myself but for an 84-year-old I could ask to help me mend mother in my care. I entrusted my house. I was dismayed, the house to my housemates— I still am. But as I saw peoall humble and faithful peo- ple take up without complaint ple—and I drove my mother and without bitterness the accompanied only by a friend business of picking up the through debris-strewn roads, pieces of their shattered lives, lashing winds and blinding I felt I had no business being rain, safely reaching a hotel disheartened at all, since life had, by all accounts, dealt and checking in.

We followed the news safely me a rather good card. And ensconced, or so we thought, when I visited my friends in from our hotel room. At that Barangay Linao, brothers, time, the winds were picking whose help I asked to look for up but the Cable TV still kept skilled laborers to do work us up to date. But at eleven, on my house, in less than 10 the six-storey hotel where we minutes they had summoned had sought sanctuary started their relatives who assured to shake and to shudder in the me that they would help.

I was a student of the Uniwind. I have absolutely not doubts about the building’s versity of Sto. Tomas for my structural soundness, but philosophy studies—from the “Lawin” was teaching us all bachelor’s degree to the canwhat a respectable Category didacy for the ecclesiastical 5 typhoon was capable of. I doctorate degree. And each clutched my rosary beads be- time I entered the campus, I cause I had earlier asked the was met by the words boldly Blessed Mother in prayer to etched high up on the facade keep her station by my side. of the main building: “Tria But the tenacity with which I haec: Fides, Spes, Caritas” held on to my prayer beads did These three: faith, hope and not come from fervor but was, charity. These, I found too in quite frankly, born from raw Lawin’s wake! and naked fear! There is no way to explain what a dread- rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph ful thing it is to be in the eye rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph of a furiously raging super ty- rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

Bad,...

From A4 that you should have also said when your cousin Noynoy was the president.

We feel we have to remind you again because of your most recent statement saying, among other inanities, that you were “shocked” by what you saw at the rally that happened in front of the US Embassy. Why this would even surprise you is, for us, the bigger shocker, considering the Aquino family’s own personal history of violence against the lower classes.

You pontificate about what you say is our country’s “history of protest and allowing dissent” while ignoring the many deaths that can be laid directly at the feet of your two pestilen-

tial relatives Cory and Noynoy.

From the massacre of farmers in Mendiola to the more recent deadly dispersal in Kidapawan, to the hundreds of violent clashes between the police, the Aquino goons, and the farmers at your Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino’s stand side by side with the Marcoses as the families that have brought most harm to this nation.

So spare us your sanctimonious preaching and fake concern for the poor. As far as we are concerned, you are now merely a placeholder for whomever we will elect to take your seat in 2019.

Hopefully next time we can get someone more useful to replace you, like a monkey, or maybe a trained poodle. Or a goldfish.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Of sinking ships and burning bridges BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO SOMEONE said former President Fidel V. Ramos’ statement comparing the Philippines to a sinking ship with its skipper, Rodrigo Duterte, unaware of the danger signs shows the widening rift between the two.

“Because we are all on board the slow-moving, leaky ship, Duterte cannot just skipper the ship headlong oblivious of danger without addressing public safety, community harmony and international development,” said FVR in a forum last week.

This is more than a widening rift or the straws in the wind that FVR is drifting away. This is a huge shot across the bow of the BRP Duterte ship. It is in fact a clear sign Ramos has broken away and jumped ship. Seen as the man behind the erstwhile reluctant presidential candidate, Ramos pushed Duterte to decide and run.

Upon winning, Duterte appointed FVR men to key positions in the Cabinet, including Hermogenes Esperon as National Security Adviser. There are others but we will not name them as we will see soon enough when they start resigning or getting fired when Digong comes back from his state visit to China.

Is he sleeping with the enemy?

Duterte’s visit to China and his constant verbal attacks on the US and President Barack Obama have deep implications. We don’t wish the President ill, but there are rumblings on the ground and the

people who keep their ear close to it hear disturbing sound. It’s like when dogs howl when smelling an earthquake about to take place.

Again, we hope the President finishes his six-year term. But he has to steer the ship of state away from the rocks and turbulent waves to chart a calmer course devoid of confrontational statements.

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg has finished his posting in Manila after three years and his replacement is due to arrive and present his letter of credentials to President Duterte. This is the traditional protocol an ambassador does before formally assuming his official duties. Let’s keep our fingers crossed the new US envoy does not have any incident with the loose-lips Philippine president. Despite reassuring words from Washington, PHL-US relations are at their lowest since Duterte assumed the presidency.

There are indications Duterte might have walked into a trap when he went into the Chinese dragon’s den. In asking Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow Filipino fishermen back into waters around Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal which the Chinese seized in April 2012, Duterte had unwittingly recognized China’s sovereign right over the disputed territory. China was more than willing on two conditions which have not been revealed.

The Philippines seeking permission and China granting it would appear to go against the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruling rejecting Beijing’s extensive claim to nearly the entire South China Sea. DU30 vs. LD5 “It’s not going to happen,”

said Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales when asked at the sidelines of a forum whether her office will file charges against Senator Leila de Lima for allegedly receiving drug money to fund her senatorial campaign.

“It’s all allegations and there’s no hard evidence for us to do so,” said Morales who in a way diminished the Senate and House investigations in aid of legislation but was clearly meant to shame De Lima. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguire presented high-profile drug convicts as witnesses De Lima received dirty money during her stint as justice secretary. De Lima has denied the allegations as all hearsay scripted by Aguirre and President Duterte.

In essence, what Ombudsman Carpio said was that the two chambers’ high-profile hearings only presented a preponderance of hearsays, and nothing more.

At the outset, let me make clear I’m not taking sides on this issue. Let the chips fall where they may and the guilty punished under due process and not trial by publicity. This is a clear mano a mano between DU30 vs.

LD5. No matter what the convicts say has no probative value.

Their testimony and credibility would be questioned in a proper court on the ground they are criminals whose conviction involved moral turpitude. So there.

But the government using all its vast resources of power can still have De Lima suspended as senator and jailed while the state is prosecuting its case. This was what happened to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

who was made to languish under hospital detention for more than five years by former President Benigno Aquino III. Arroyo was granted bail and released. The plunder case against her for the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds was dismissed as soon as Aquino stepped out of office on June 30 and the Duterte administration took over. Such is the dispensation of justice in this country. Five years went by without the state prosecution proving its case against the former president.

De Lima may be damaged goods arising from the trial by publicity in both houses of Congress. Will Leila suffer the same fate as Arroyo and then be vindicated the same way Arroyo was against Aquino who is more vilified than GMA? In the same way Senate justice committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon ruled there is no such thing as a Davao Death Squad, his House counterpart Rep. Reynaldo Umali also stated that no case will be filed against De Lima.

“Prosecution is a an executive function not the legislative.”

Umali placed the issue in its proper perspective.

Then what was the whole charade of the Senate and House inquiry all about?

De Lima presented Edgar Matobato who attested to the existence of the Davao Death Squad during the watch of Duterte as city mayor. The Senate listened to him but was skeptical. It was more like a “Matobato sa langit, tamaan huwag magagalit” testimony, just like the slew of convicted witnesses presented by Justice Secretary Aguirre in the House probe against De Lima.

Change is coming—eventually FILIPINO PENSIONER HORACE TEMPLO WE HOPED—as we were constantly promised during the campaign period—that real change would come immediately if then-Mayor Digong Duterte would be elected president.

Thus, we expected much more beyond the eradication of illegal drugs, criminality, and graft and corruption in government during the first 100 days of his presidency.

President Digong didn’t disappoint us when he issued his first executive order. Not only was it signed immediately after he assumed the presidency on June 30, his executive order also placed under the supervision of his Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. a dozen government agencies that are engaged in the eradication of poverty in the country.

These agencies—National Anti-Poverty Commission, National Food Authority, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Cooperative Development Authority, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, National Youth Commission, Office of the President-Presidential Action Center, Philippine Commission on Women, Philippine Coconut Authority, Presidential Commission on Urban Poor, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority—used to perform their mandates almost independently of each other with mini-

Duterte’s...

From A4 In the next three years, Duterte would have forged peace agreements with communist rebels (three of their leaders are already in the Cabinet) and with the Muslim separatists. (Duterte thinks the Abu Sayyaf, which is a criminal organization, is composed of patriots).

The one question I refused to answer, which was not asked by the way, is: Will Duterte still be the president of the Philippines after three years?

Anyway, I assured my audience that the Philippine economy is so strong that even a dog—or rat, can run this country and make the economy progress at the rate of six percent per year.

Fellow Rotarian Obet Pagdanganan asked: What is one advice I would give Duterte?

My advice: The President should

mal supervision from any Cabinet secretary.

But in his executive order, President Digong directed them to “formulate a more responsive set of programs complementing existing ones, channeling resources as necessary to reduce both the incidence and magnitude of poverty” under the supervision of Secretary Evasco.

We find this reorganization bold and revolutionary. We even thought that by assigning to Secretary Evasco the lead role in accomplishing what should be his administration’s centerpiece program, President Digong has made a super-secretary out of the former priest, rebel and mayor of Maribojoc, Bohol.

Moreover, Secretary Evasco was bestowed the supervision of NAPC, HUDCC, NCMF and TESD, which are presently headed by Cabinet-level ranked officials.

In reality, this supervision is more of a ceremonial type of authority to coordinate our antipoverty activities. For instance, who wouldn’t be stymied in supervising HUDCC, which is now chaired by Vice President Leni Robredo?

In other words, we should not expect significant changes to immediately come from our anti-poverty efforts.

A hundred days after President Digong’s arrival in Malacañang, we should realize again that real change would only come gradually—oftentimes evolutionary and rarely suddenly.

In fact, before President Duterte could implement the changes that he wants in health, education, social welfare, labor, transportation, federalism and

other areas, he has to get first Congressional approval of his proposed 2017 national budget of P3.35 trillion, which he has called “a budget for real change.”

But his proposed budget increases by only 11.6 percent that of the current year. We thus could only expect modest changes to come out of this “coasting along” annual operating budget.

His administration cannot even formulate its own longterm vision for the country, particularly on poverty.

Perhaps for want of anything to show, he issued Executive Order 5 last October 11—103 days after he assumed office —and thereby adopted as our long-term national vision in the next 25 years “AmBisyon Natin 2040” – “By 2040, the Philippines shall be a prosperous, predominantly middle-class society where no one is poor; our people shall live long and healthy lives, be smart and innovative, and shall live in a high-trust society.”

In fact, AmBisyon could be considered as President Benigno Aquino III’s legacy to us. As openly disclosed by the National Economic and Development Authority, AmBisyon is the summary of a few nationwide public consultations and a single survey that was conducted during PNoy’s last days in office.

According to its findings, most Filipinos aspire for a simple and comfortable middle-class lifestyle—“earning enough, educating all children until college, owning a car, owning a medium-sized house, finding time to relax with family and friends, owning a business, and

being able to travel around the country.”

It is not even an implementation plan, yet it is requiring President Digong and the next three presidents to craft their Philippine Development Plans in order to “triple real per capita incomes and eradicate hunger and poverty by 2040, if not sooner.”

Even if these ambitious goals were met, year 2040 is 25 years away. Meantime, what would we have?

For us pensioners, AmBisyon is very hazy on what we’ll get in the next months and at the end of President Digong’s term six years from now.

And while we had persistently pleaded PNoy—rudely, most of the time in the past one year—to instruct the Social Security System to grant us a long-overdue P2,000 pension increase, we still have nothing after 100 days of Mayor Digong’s presidency.

The immediate change that we hoped would come via a pension increase still hangs for lack of funds despite renewed Congressional approvals.

We have suggested the American system of periodically adjusting pensions, but this has been spurned.

Perhaps President Digong and his chosen Cabinet secretaries had found in their trips to Indonesia, Vietnam, and China a more suitable Asian way of adjusting pensions. Else, they should try searching for it in Japan later.

We won’t mind waiting further for our pension adjustments to come slowly and gradually, but will someone please assure us that they’d eventually come?

stop listening only to himself. You cannot conduct foreign affairs declaring policy statements here and there shooting from the hip and on the run.

This country of 102 million is too big a nation to be run solely on the brains and wiles of one man. No doubt, Duterte has substantial leadership gravitas and thinking talent. But managing the world’s 12th largest country requires great team work, a lot of profound planning and focused execution. *** I got a copy of the Oct. 14 letter of the new Philweb Chairman, Greg Araneta III, to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Teresita Herbosa. Bobby Ongpin had sold his majority holdings to Greg at P2.60, or for only P2 billion —a tenth of RVO’s Philweb holdings’ previous market value of P20 billion.

SEC wants Greg to do tender offer, meaning, buy the holdings of the rest of the stockholders, also at P2.60.

Why would they sell when the stock

market price is P8.90 per share?

I reprint Greg’s letter here: “I write in connection with my acquisition of Mr. Roberto V. Ongpin’s shares in PhilWeb Corporation, which was contractually completed on October 25, 2016. I attach a copy of the executed and notarized contract herewith.

“I have on several occasions confirmed my willingness to abide by the requirements of the Tender Offer at the earliest possible time.

However, it should be obvious to all concerned that because the transaction price is P2.60 per share and the current market price is above P9.00, that no shareholder will tender his shares at P2.60 when he can dispose of those shares at the market at any time at the prevailing market price of P9.00 or better.

“In view of this fact, I request that the SEC permit the block sale to be executed at the soonest possible time, i.e. prior to the Tender Offer requirement. The Tender Offer re-

quirement if required to be accomplished prior to the block sale, will only cause unnecessary expense on my part, e.g. fairness opinion, newspaper publications, etc.

“We at PhilWeb are also concerned about restarting our operations without delay since the network of e-Games cafes have been out of business for over two months now. As you know, it has been disclosed the PSE by the undersigned, together with Dennis O. Valdes, President that we personally submitted our application for renewal of PhilWeb’s license to PAGCOR earlier this week.

“We therefore ask your kind consideration to permit the PSE to effect the block sale prior to the execution of the tender offer. We again confirm that we ready and willing to comply with the Tender Offer requirement but after the block sale has been completed.” biznewsasia@gmail.com

A6

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

Sandigan drops charges vs senator over bank deal

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE Sandiganbayan has dropped all the charges against Senator Sherwin Gatchalian over the Local Water Utilities Administration’s allegedly anomalous purchase of a thrift bank partially owned by the Gatchalian family.

Gatchalian’s co-accused Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay was also cleared of malversation in the same case, but the Sandiganbayan retained the charges of graft and violation of banking regulations.

“It is not the duty of LWUA Board of Trustees to collect, hold or keep publicly-owned money or property. LWUA Board of Trus-

tees’ task is limited to policy-making only,” the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division said.

“The absence of at least one accountable officer who is charged in conspiracy with all other accused in the three cases of malversation is fatal. Its necessary effect leads to the conclusion that there is insufficient evidence to support a finding of probable cause in the

three cases of alleged malversation,” the Sandiganbayan resolution read.

This was also the basis for the dismissal of charges of bank regulation violations against all the accused, except for Pichay, Wilfredo Feleo Jr. and Enrique Montilla.

Sandiganbayan said Pichay, as chairman of board of directors of Express Savings Bank, should know, or was expected to know that the approval of Monetary Board was not secured.

Meanwhile, only remaining graft cases now are filed against Pichay, Feleo, Yolanda dela Cruz, Arthur Ponsaran, Geronimo Velasco Jr., Peter Salud, Rogelio Garcia, Lamberto Mercado Jr., Evelyn dela Rosa, Joaquin Obieta, George

Sia Cua, Gregorio Ipong, Wilfred Billena, Edita Bueno, Generoso Tulagan and Elvira Ting.

The Sandiganbayan also found probable cause on the graft case against other Gatchalian family members incumbent congressman Weslie, Kenneth, and their parents William and Dee Hua. Their malversation and violation of MROB cases were also dismissed.

In a statement, Senator Gatchalian said he felt vindicated with the dismissal of the cases. He learned about the Sandiganbayan resolution while in Beijing, China for President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit.

“Throughout this entire ordeal I have held my head up high, confident that these baseless accusa-

tions against me would not stick.

Today, my honor as a man and my integrity as a public servant have been vindicated by the dismissal of these groundless charges before the honorable Sandiganbayan,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian also questioned the Ombudsman’s “aggressive pursuit of such a weak case.” He pointed out that he had never been involved in the management or dayto-day operations of ESBI. He said his only involvement in ESBI at the time of its sale to LWUA in 2009 was his ownership of 14 shares of stock, representing .00001886062 percent of the total shareholdings of the company, valued at approximately P2,500.

Gag order on telco deal eyed

By Rey E. Requejo THE Court of Appeals has directed the Philippine Competition Commission to file its comment on the plea of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. seeking the issuance of a gag order in connection with the anti-trust body’s review of the acquisition of the telecommunication assets of assets of San Miguel Corp.

In an order dated Oct. 19, the CA’s Special 12th Division gave the PCC 10 days to respond to PLDT’s urgent motion for the issuance of a gag order, which the petitioner said is needed considering the sensitive nature of the acquisition and the high public interest in the case.

The appellate court also directed PLDT, Globe Telecom and PCC to submit their respective memoranda on the consolidated petitions of Globe and PLDT within 15 days, adding after the period, the case will be deemed submitted for resolution.

Globe earlier filed for the consolidation of its case with that of PLDT since it involved the same issues and parties.

PLDT’s case is now pending before the CA’s Special 12th Division which earlier issued an injunction stopping PCC from reviewing the P70-billion buyout of SMC’s telecommunication assets by PLDT and Globe Telecom.

The injunction specifically enjoins the anti-trust body “from conducting further proceedings for the pre-acquisition review and/or investigation of the subject acquisition.”

The CA held that PLDT was able to prove it is entitled to the relief demanded and the investigation of the PCC would probably work injustice to PLDT.

BIRTHDAY GIRL. Former

President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (left) greets Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez at a simple celebration at the House of Representatives.

Ver Noveno

IN BRIEF NBI mourns exec’s death THE National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday expressed sadness and deepest sympathy for the passing away of newly appointed Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service lawyer Leopoldo Leuterio who suffered a heart attack early yesterday.

“Director Leuterio’s untimely death is a big loss to the Bureau because of his full grasp of the mandates of the Bureau and its accomplishments,” NBI Spokesman Ferdinand Lavin said.

Lavin said Leuterio is a veteran of the NBI having been a graduate of the NBI Academy in 2000. Leuterio was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the NBI only last August 4.

He took his oath the following day before Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. He finished his Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo de Davao in 1995 and passed the Bar in the same year.

In 2000, he joined the NBI as part of Batch 37th NBI Agents and 10th Special Investigators Basic Training Course graduating as Valedictorian of his batch and recipient of Leadership Award.

In 2003, he was awarded the Best Agent under the Intelligence Service and the incumbent president of his batch at the time of his death.

In 2004, he left the Bureau and joined the private sector as a practicing lawyer. Leuterio is survived by his wife and two children. Sandy Araneta

Fake Customs man arrested

CUSTOMS agents nabbed a “fake” Bureau of Customs employee who tried to sell a high-end lap-top allegedly released by the bureau.

Nabbed was Christopher Tuazon who handed the item to BOC Special Agents Lino Arroyo and Nepthali Manalo of the Customs Police Division-Enforcement and Security Service (CPD-ESS) in an entrapment operation. director, clan war causes problems Tuazon introduced himself not only between conflicting famas an employee of the BoC ilies but in the community as well. and offered to sell a lap-top “Rido causes much suffering, for P37,000. The suspect also numerous casualties, destruction introduced himself as Viceof properties, and it cripples the economy and displaces the comnte Borja, a Customs collecmunity,” Benito said. tor assigned at the Auction Data from RRUC-ARMM Section of POM. showed there were 269 cases of The CPD-ESS claimed that rido in the ARMM from 2012 there were no BoC employees until October 2016. However, the under the names Vicente Borpolice in ARMM said there were ja and Christopher Tuazon. only 209 recorded cases during Found in his possession the same period. were fake BoC identification Benito said the main causes of cards under the names Tuazon rido are election-related conflicts, and Borja, and a BoC “official land ownership conflicts, crimes receipt” that is believed to be against chastity, personal grudge falsified. Vito Barcelo and theft. PNA CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

ARMM moves to settle family feuds COTABATO CITY—Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on Thursday commenced efforts to intensify settlement of clan wars and family feud in the region.

The Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is holding a threeday conference on ‘rido’ settlement which started today and would last until Friday.

“Rido” is a Moro term which means bloody family feud involving Moro families.

It aims to generate insights and recommendations from different stakeholders that could help resolve rido-related prob-

lems in the region.

In attendance during the opening day are representatives from local government units, line agencies, civil society organizations, government security forces, and revolutionary groups specifically the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front.

These groups have different data on “rido” and have different approaches in settling clan conflicts.

While one area has unique approaches, Romeo Sema, chairman of RRUC-ARMM, stressed there is a need for a better way to settle family conflicts.

“We want to have a consolidated data on the number of rido cases and we aim to have coordi-

native mechanisms to settle these ridos,” Sema told reporters.

He also noted that the regional government will be able to have a complete look at the rido situation in the ARMM and that RRUC, being an advisory body to the regional governor, will be able to recommend policy-related solutions to this problem.

The book ‘Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao,’ written by Wilfredo Magno Torres III, defined rido as a conflict characterized by sporadic outburst of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well as between communities.

According to Abdulbasit Benito, RRUC-ARMM executive

Manila

Standard

TODAY

TIMELY UPGRADE. Davao City police officers received brand new desktop computers from the Wong Chu King Foundation (WCKF) to help maintain efficiency in its daily operations. The simple turn-over rite was held at Police Regional Office 11, Camp Quintin M. Merecido Buhangin, Davao City. In photo are P/Supt. Marvin Manuel P. Pepino, OIC RPCRD; P/SSUPT. Valeriano T. De Leon, DRDO; P/SSUPT. Restito Gatera, P/SUPT. Thor Cuyos, PSI. Maricel Mamaraldo, Mr. James Vincent C. Navarrete, WCKF general manager; Gen. Melito M. Mabilin (ret.), WCKF external affairs director.

Global firms team up to help smart PH cities A GLOBAL network of companies have teamed up to introduce services that will help turn partner local governments units into “smart cities” while generating employment and offering longterm benefits to the Filipino people.

These companies are the Alpine Technical Services LLC (ATS), a company specializing in water treatment and waterways solutions, and Pantheon Technology LLC, a company driven to support the “big picture” by delivering connectivity to non-developed and underdeveloped countries.

Alpine and Pantheon embark on a project, which is a combination of philanthropic efforts involving waterways cleanup coupled with infrastructure funding that aims to hopefully assist our leaders provide solutions to problems surrounding the said sector.

This offer is provided by a global network of companies who will help provide jobs and other long-term benefits to the Filipino people in Manila and throughout the Philippines.

In addition to clean water and electrical power, the team also began the project by turning partner provinces, cities or municipalities into a “Smart City.”

Pantheon uses its 802.11 and LTE protocols to create and support large-scale Wi-Fi projects to create and or support Smart Cities across the world.

This patented military grade technology requires no wires or existing infrastructure and can operate in parallel without disrupting existing communication systems.

The project is now being closely coordinated for possible partnership with Philippine government officials for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Pantheon Technology is ramping up for both “Smart City and Internet of Everything” protocols. It has capacity to support these initiatives globally.

As a military-grade mobile small form factor, it can instantaneously deploy wireless communication systems, certified and accredited to operate at fiber speeds.

Pantheon will provide the telecommunications infrastructure and financing to enable the 21st century version of Smart City and Internet of Everything (IoE) to advance clients into the future by bridging the digital divide.

With over 100 patents, Pantheon Technology pushes the boundary to bring an efficient and cutting edge user experience for rural and urban dwellers.

The potential is only limited to your imagination. Smart City/Internet of Things initiative is an enabler and transformational. It turns our analog K-12 classrooms into Smart schools at no cost with limitless possibilities.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Sports

A7

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Rape case against Rose dismissed L

OS ANGELES—A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday dismissed a civil lawsuit brought against Derrick Rose by a woman who claimed she had been gang-raped by the NBA New York Knicks star.

Jurors deliberated for less than their verdict and rejecting alfour hours before returning with legations from the woman, who

Ticala, Padiz survive PH badminton scare tor PCOME and SM ORLAN Ticala and Megamall, Smash PiliSolomon Padiz Jr. pinas and the Philippine overcame two deterOlympic Committee. mined rivals to arrange Top seed defenda quarterfinal duel in ing champion Sarah the Open men’s singles Joy Barredo likewise while Alem Palmares primed up for the tough sustained his romp in grind as she disposed Day Four of the Bingo of Anne Macabenta, Bonanza National Orlan Ticala 21-8, 21-4, to lead Open Badminton Tournament at the CW Home Depot Or- the quarterfinalists in the Open women’s singles of the country’s tigas in Pasig yesterday.

But while the sixth ranked Pa- premier badminton championdiz of PBA Smash Pilipinas im- ship sanctioned by the Philippine posed his will in the decider and Badminton Association headed carved out a 21-17, 16-21, 21-11 vic- by president Jejomar Binay and tory over wild card entry Christian sec-gen Rep. Albee Benitez.

Meanwhile, Palmares scored a Cuyno, the No. 4 Ticala of Team Prima walked the tightrope before follow-up to his shock 21-12, 15subduing Ateneo’s Carlo Remo, 17- 21, 21-16 reversal of No. 8 Wilson Lopez in the second round with a 21, 21-15, 23-21.

That makes their face-off for one 23-21, 21-14 triumph over Fides of the semis berths worth watch- Bagasbas. But the National U ace ing when action in the top-ranking will have to double up his effort event sponsored by Bingo Bonanza when he clashes with third seed shifts to SM Megamall tomorrow Ros Pedrosa for a spot in the semis at 10 a.m. (today).

(Saturday) and Sunday (finals).

In other matches, Cudiamat Top seed Kevin Cudiamat heads the Final 8 cast with a 21-13, 21-17 takes on Filart at 12:20 p.m., Ticaromp over Cris Sanchez with the la clashes with Padiz and Ormilla top PBA Smash Pilipinas bet tak- collides with Gabuelo both at 1:20 ing on Ateneo’s Clarence Filart, p.m. Also on tap are the matches who dominated Edwin Dodds, 21- in the Open mixed doubles and 12, 21-10, in the week-long event men’s and women’s doubles and backed by official equipment Vic- women’s singles.

Miranda makes Top 24 of World Cup bowling SHANGHAI—The Philippines’ Raoul Miranda played consistently in the elimination’s last five-game block to finish 17th and make it to the 24-man second round yesterday in the 52nd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup international finals at Hao’s center here.

Miranda, who boasts a high game of 258, tallied 3999 pinfalls in 20 games for an average of 199.95 to advance to the second round in a field national champions from 78 other countries.

The other Filipino campaigner, Lara Posadas, is shooting for also for a slot in the second round in the women’s division as of press time. She was in seventh place after 15 games.

China’s Wang Hongbo led the 24-man field with 4247 (212.35 average), followed by Sweden’s Martin Larsen with 4220, Finland’s Petteri Salonen (4177), Russia’s Yan Korshak (4161) and Australia’s Sam Cooley (4154).

The other qualifiers follow: Rafiq Ismael, Malaysia (4112), Marshall Kent, USA (4107), Anze Grabrijan, Slovenia (4096), Michael Mak, Hong Kong (4057), Mahmood Al Aftar, UAE (4056), David Simard, Canada (4052), Arturs Levikins, Latvia (4048), Hengki, Indonesia (4041), Norman Cai, Singapore (4030), Antonino Fiorentino, Italy (4022), Tobias Boerding, Germany (4010), Miranda, Renan Zoghaib, Brazil (3979), Kert Truus, Estonia (3974), Nico Thienpondt, Netherlands (3972), Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia (3971), Christopher Sloan, Ireland (3958), Peter Stevenson, England (3956) and Emmanuel Buenrostro, Mexico (3932).

The 24 qualifiers will bowl another eight games to determine the top four men who will remain in the race for the BWC international title.

Filipino bowlingicon Paeng Nepomuceno holds the distinction of being the only player to win the World Cup crown four times.

Air Force surprises FEU on Morales buzzer-beater PHILIPPINE Air Force pulled off a king-sized upset in the 2016 MBL Open, shocking erstwhile unbeaten FEU-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, 84-82, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Rama Krishna Morales at the Aquinas gym.

Morales’ game-winner provided a fitting ending to a seesaw battle that saw Air Force and FEU-NRMF exchange one big shot after the other in the tensely-fought fourth quarter.

Air Force took a 78-72 lead on a triple by Paulino Rebollos with two minutes left, but FEU-NRMF came charging back to wrest the upperhand at 8281 on a 10-3 run highlighted by a long three-pointer by Fil-Canadian sensation Clay Crellin and a three-point play by Dexter Zamora with five seconds left.

With no timeout left, Air Force rushed to bring the ball to the court and watched Morales hit a three-pointer from the right corner for the win in the tournament supported by Smart Sports, Ironcon Builders, Star Bread, Dickies Underwear and Gerry’s Grill.

The win was the first in two games for Air Force, which is being handled by PAF Lt. Gen.Edgar Fallorina, Col. Elpidio Talja and LTC Nestor Etis and coaches Alvin Zuniga and Jimmy Andaya.

The Jet Force dropped a close 70-74 decision to NCAA member Emilio Aguinaldo College last Saturday.

Pacquiao’s...

From A8 The TV panel will include former WBO/WBA flyweight champion Brian Viloria, Mike Ochosa and this reporter who together with Mike, regularly team up for Viva Sports’ top-rating weekly program “The Main Event” on Pinoy Box Office over Sky Cable and Cignal TV at 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays, with a replay at 10:30 a.m. on Sundays.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

sought $21 million in damages.

The woman, 30, had filed her case after claiming that Rose and two friends, Ryan Allen and Randall Hampton, had raped her repeatedly at her apartment after drugging her in 2013.

Rose had denied any accusation of wrongdoing, claiming that the sex which took place was consensual.

The woman, an ex-girlfriend of Rose, didn’t report the alleged incident to police until 2015. Court documents show that Los Angeles police opened an investigation. Her lawsuit was filed in August of 2015.

Rose, 28, and his co-defendants, embraced their attorneys after the verdict.

Trial Judge Michael Fitzgerald,

meanwhile, wished Rose luck for the upcoming season with the Knicks, “except when you play the Lakers.”

An attorney for Rose’s accuser, Waukeen McCoy, later denied his client had been motivated by money and said he would study the case for possible grounds for appeal.

“Money’s wasn’t the purpose,”

McCoy told reporters.

McCoy had earlier told jurors the allegations were a “a classic case of gang rape” insisting his client was “not looking for a quick dollar, she is looking for accountability.”

Rose’s lawyer had accused the complainant of fabricating her story. AFP

Sports

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

A8

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Ginebra back to its old glory

By Jeric Lopez IT was a long and winding journey, but when the destination was finally reached, Barangay Ginebra couldn’t be more satisfied.

The eight-year odyssey finally came to a halt for the league’s most popular team as it found its way back to glory by winning the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup in scintillating fashion.

In one of the best championship showdowns in league history, the Gin Kings emerged on top, besting Meralco, 4-2, in their best-of-seven finals series.

Ginebra won the last three games on the heroics of prolific import Justin Brownlee as his unforgettable buzzer-beater triple in Game 6 Wednesday night gave the crowd darlings the victory, 91-88, and the crown.

The Gin Kings did it in front of 22,528 fans at the jampacked Araneta Coliseum, in the presence of the father of the never-saydie mantra, living legend Robert Jaworski.

Mission accomplished.

“What can I say, we did it,” said first-year coach Tim Cone, who gave Ginebra its ninth franchise title and also earned his 19th overall as a coach, the best in league history. “It’s been really a tough road for us to get here, but the team really wanted this championship so badly. We wanted to win it for Mark [Caguioa] and Jayjay [Helterbrand]. What an ending. It was pretty much a storybook series.”

In typical Ginebra fashion, it first faced adversity, trailing by 13 points at the half, 3245, following a sluggish start, before rising to the occasion and making sure that its already lengthy drought will no longer be prolonged.

It took an inspiring halftime pep talk from Jaworski in the dugout and a stunning second half turnaround led by Brownlee and finals Most Valuable Player, LA Tenorio.

“Senator Sonny [Jaworski] came to the dugout at halftime and inspired us. He fired up the boys and told them they were tight and they need to loosen up and that started everything. It was a big boost for us,” said Cone of the monumental happenings in the historic Game 6.

Pacquiao’s sparring now off limits

By Ronnie Nathanielsz SENATOR and eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao’s final sparring session at the “Flash” Elorde Gym in the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City will be behind closed doors on Thursday.

His adviser Michael Koncz told the Manila Standard that Pacquiao himself had issued instructions for the gym to be offlimits with only the training staff allowed to enter for his final workout, apparently upset that a previous sparring session with unbeaten Jose Ramirez (18-0, 13 KOs) last week had been uploaded by a TV journalist.

Team Pacquiao, led by the “Fighter of the Decade” and Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach, is scheduled to leave for Los Angeles, California, where he will wind down his sparring at the Wild Card Gym of Roach.

Strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, who left for LA last Monday, told Manila Standard he expects Pacquiao to have at least three more sparring sessions before his showdown with Jessie Vargas for Vargas’ WBO welterweight title at the Thomas and Mack Center on Nov. 6 (Manila time).

The fight card, which will also include five-division super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in a title defense against unbeaten Jessie Magdaleno, will be telecast by Solar Sports and GMA 7 as well as on pay-per-view over Sky Cable and Cignal TV. Turn to A7

Rexona Ana Carolina Da Silva smashes one on Vitra’s Thaisa Daher Palessi. Roman Prospero

Istanbul spikers clinch world volley semis seat

By Peter Atencio

E

CZACIBASI VitrA Istanbul got challenged by a hard-fighting Rexona Sesc Rio de Janeiro’s excellent blocking and stubborn floor defense in the third set.

But the Turkish spikers, who are the defending champions, fought their way out their troubles in the fourth and fifth sets to pull off a 2527, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18, 15-11 triumph over their Brazilian rivals Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Their second straight win on Day 3 of the 2016 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship assured them of a seat in the semifinals.

Tijana Boskovic, a 6’4” opposite hitter from Serbia, led with 28 points for Eczcasibasi, which hacked out its second straight win in Pool A. The Turkish spikers, who out-blocked their foes, 227, also drew 15 points from American reinforcement Jor-

dan Larson-Burbach and Tatiana Kosheleva in their storied encounter which lasted two hours.

They joined Volero Zurich, which was the first to qualify for the semis after it got past Hisamitsu Springs Kobe, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17, on Wednesday.

Boskovic’s crosscourt kill in the final set went past Monique Pavao, shattering the game’s last deadlock, 8-7.

Then, teammate LarsonBurbach took over, with her kill off Pavao’s block and a crosscourt smash from the left widening Eczcasibasi’s lead, 11-7.

Middle block Thaisa Daher’s then came into the picture, with her block of Brazilian spiker Heloiza Pereira widening the edge by 5, 12-7.

Coach Massimo Barbolini said it was their toughest game so far, adding that the Brazilians made them struggle with their defense in the third set.

“We played a tough match against a really, really strong team, and after playing the third set with confusion and so many mistakes. What is important is that they believed that they we can win this game,” said Barbolini.

Rexona got big contributions from Pavao, who had 24 points, and crowd favorite Gabi Guimaraes who unloaded 14 points.

They remained in contention for the qualification matches with their 1-2 win-loss slate in Group A, and will have a chance to advance to the semis if PSL - F2 Logistics Manila beats Pomi Casamaggiori later in the evening.

Meanwhile, Hisamitsu Springs Kobe finished their elimination round campaign on a winning note, coming off an easy beating of Bangkok Glass, 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 in the allAsian encounter in Pool B.

TOP teams in Mindanao are now gearing up for the regional finals of SBP (Small Basketeers of the Philippines)-Passerelle Twin Tournament, the longest running national inter-school basketball competition for children in the country, to be held on Oct. 22 and 23, at the Almendras Gym in Davao City.

Competing for the SBP tournament are Xavier School University, Ferndale International School, and Ateneo de Davao University, while the battle for the Passerelle tournament will just be as fierce with Holy Child School of Davao, Corpus Christi School, and Southern City College as they battle it out for the chance to compete in the national finals.

The winner for each tournament will join NCR champions La Salle Greenhills for the SBP tournament and Adamson University for the Passerelle tour-

nament in the national finals to be held in Bacolod City on December.

Other regional playoffs will be held on Nov. 5 and 6 in Baguio City for Luzon and November 19 and 20 in Roxas City for Visayas.

SBP tournament is for kids ages 9-11, while Pasarelle tournament is for players ages 12-14.

Sponsored by Milo with the support of Chris Sports and Rain or Shine, SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament is organized by multi-awarded school for basketball and volleyball, BEST (Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training).

For more information about BEST Center’s classes and tournaments, call the hotlines 4116260, 3723066 and 372-3065, email bestcentersports@gmail. com or follow its official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/BEST-CenterSports-Inc/66172039922.

Tayao, King pull off historic Formula 4 debuts FILIPINO race stars Gabe Tayao and Angie King, despite being F4 firsttimers, did not disappoint fans this past weekend at the Formula 4 Southeast Asia Championships in Clark International Speedway.

Launched worldwide just this year, Formula 4 is now regarded as the stepping stone to Formula 1.

Headed by Triple A Group, the Formula 4 Southeast Asia series in particular is on the lookout for Asian talents, who have strong potential to make a name in formula single-seater racing.

Backed by Car Porn Racing, Victoria Court, Seaoil, DC, Gold’s Gym, Foilacar and Y2 Hotel, the 16-year-old Tayao gave the country a total of six awards in his F4 debut— one 1st place, two 3rd

place, two rookie winner awards and capped it off with 3rd overall honors.

Tayao’s feat stamps his place in history as not only the youngest Filipino to race in F4, but also as the first Filipino F4 race champion. On the other hand, seasoned drifter and car enthusiast Angie King was able to maintain a steady pace throughout the five races, contributing a 3rd place win to the country’s trophy haul.

Much to the delight of the crowd , the Filipino duo proved that they were indeed excellent rain drivers totally in control of their car while the rest of the grid struggled with the extreme rainy conditions.

The series heads off to Indonesia in Gabe Tayao steers his racing machine under the driving rain. Inset shows Tayao and November and Malaysia in December. Angie King holding their trophies.

V-League: Wild race to the semis looms WITH just five playdates left, a wild scramble for the last three semifinal berths looms among six teams in the Shakey’s VLeague Season 13 Reinforced Conference Final Four.

Only UST, with an all-Filipio crew, is assured of a spot in the next round with the Tigresses formalizing their stint with a come-from-behind 25-22, 25-27, 18-25, 27-25, 15-12 victory over the Laoag Power Smashers at the Philsports Arena in Pasig late Wednesday for a 5-1 card.

Customs has the inside track for No. 2 with a 3-1 mark but the fancied Transformers, bannered from Alyssa Valdez and two Thai reinforcements, still have to

Mindanao cage finals of SBP-Passerelle set

Games tomorrow 12:30 p.m. – Army vs Champion Supra (S Turf) 4 p.m. – UP vs BaliPure (V League) 6 p.m. – Pocari vs Customs (V League)

hurdle contenders Pocari Sweat and Air Force in two of the last three matches.

The Pocari Lady Warriors and the BaliPure Water Defenders are in joint third with 2-1 slates but the Laoag Power Smashers, the UP Lady Maroons and Air Force Jet Spikers are just a shade behind at 2-3, guaranteeing a slambang encounter in the homestretch of the single round elims of the season-ending conference sponsored by Shakey’s.

That includes the UP-Bali-

Pure and Pocari-Customs faceoffs tomorrow, crucial matches that could either clear up or muddle the semis race in league backed by Mikasa as official ball and Accel as official outfitter.

Only Coast Guard, with a 0-5 mark, is out of the race.

Meanwhile, UST continued its amazing run by becoming the first team in the semis, thanks to its gutsy crew led by EJ Laure, Carla Sandoval, Ria Meneses, Alina Bicar, Dominique Pacres, Shannen Palec, Chlodia Cortez and the energetic Cherry Rondina.

Laure poured in a team-best 22 hits, including 21 on spikes, while Meneses and Rondina scattered 14 and 13 points, re-

spectively, against Laoag with UST coach Kungfu Reyes utilizing all but one of his 14-player roster.

Bicar, Pacres and Palec came off the bench to combine for 16 hits, most of which came in the last two sets when the Tigresses turned a one-set deficit into a thrilling victory.

“I keep telling my players to be ready when their number is called,” said Reyes.

In contrast, Laoag relied heavily on the troika of Grethcel Soltones, Jorelle Singh and Aiko Urdas, who wound up with 27, 19 and 15 points, but lost steam in the final set in the face of the Tigresses’ strong finish.

Araneta to challenge Cojuangco for POC presidency on Nov. 25 PHILIPPINE Football Federation chief Mariano Araneta is expected to challenge equestrian chief Jose “Peping” Cojuangco in his bid to retain the presidency of the Philippine Olympic Committee for a fourth term.

Araneta has reportedly expressed his interest to go after the POC post during the Olympic body’s polls on Nov. 25.

The PFF chief is on his second term with the local governing body for football body.

He is expected to file his candidacy before the end of the week.

He is said to be focusing his energies on helping national sports associations in their bid to fix their organizational structures and aid in their development

of grassroots programs.

Initially, Cojuangco emerged unopposed in his bid for a fourth term as POC president.

POC chairman Tom Carrasco was initially being groomed as the top challenger for the post, which Cojuangco held since 2004.

But in the last election of the Triathlon Association of the Philippines, Carrasco was voted secretary-general, making him ineligible to run as POC chief.

According to POC rules, candidates for president/chairman must come from the ranks of the heads of an NSA (National Sports Association), and they should be in office for four years and an active member of the Olympic body. Peter Atencio

Market retreats; Bloomberry rises B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

B1

IN BRIEF

Globe investing $160m in LTE

MBA PROGRAM. iAcademy announces the expansion of partnership by establishing an MBA program in cooperation with De Paul University’s Kelstadt Graduate School of

Business, which offers one of the top business programs in the United States. iAcademy president and chief executive Vanessa Tanco (left) confering with De Paul University president Dennis Holtschneider (center) and Kelstadt Graduate School of Business dean Ray Whittington. While classes will be conducted in iAcademy’s Makati City campus, the curriculum will be developed entirely by De Paul University and students will gain access to training from De Paul University’s faculty members who will come to Manila to teach the program. Ey Acacio

Duterte govt records budget surplus—DoF

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

T

HE government posted a budget surplus of P32.6 billion in August, the first under the Duterte administration, as the double-digit growth in revenue collections outpaced the rise in public expenditures, the Finance Department said Thursday.

Data from the Bureau of Treasury showed the budget surplus in August was more than double the P15-billion surplus recorded a year ago. It was also a reversal of the P50.7-billion deficit recorded in July.

This reduced the budget deficit

in the first eight months to P138.4 billion, which was wider than the P3.4-billion shortfall registered in the same period in 2015.

The government said netting out debt interest payments, it posted a primary balance surplus of P24.6 billion in August.

Government revenues in August climbed 19 percent year-onyear to P209.6 billion, bringing year-to-date collections to P1.48 trillion.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue was able to recover from a contraction in the previous month and posted a 14-percent growth in collection to P157.5 billion in August. This resulted in a P1.058-trillion revenue collection in January to August.

Customs collection jumped 23 percent to P33.1 billion in August and 8 percent to P254.6 billion in the eight-month period.

Bureau of the Treasury’s income also posted a strong growth

of 117 percent to P5.8 billion in August, bringing the eight-month tally to P78.6. billion.

“The growth was due to the P2.8 billion year-on-year increase in the NG’s income from Bond Sinking Fund and SSF transactions,” the Treasury said.

Collections from other offices also increased 75 percent in August to P12 billion from the last year’s level. Eight-month collections of other offices reached P78.3 billion, 47 percent lower than a year ago, because of the P62.5-billion one-off transfer of the coconut levy assets to the Bureau of the Treasury last year.

“The new government has

committed to raise public investments in infrastructure, human capital and social protection for vulnerable sectors, as part of President Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda to sustain high growth and make its benefits trickle down to all Filipinos,” the Finance Department said in a statement.

“But to help raise needed funds for public investments, the government is pursuing a comprehensive tax reform program to discourage evasion and avoidance, broaden the tax system’s narrow base and make the current system simpler and more equitable,” it said.

Closing OCTOBER 20, 2016

8300 7840 7380

By Julito G. Rada

6920 6460 6000

7,713.32 8.25

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing OCTOBER 20, 2016 43.00 44.00 45.00

P48.100 CLOSE

48.00

HIGH P47.975 LOW P48.100 AVERAGE P48.041 VOLUME 525.500M

P427-P632.00 LPG/11-kg tank P34.95-P44.65 Unleaded Gasoline

OPRICES IL TODAY

3M CENTER. 3M, the leader of innovations that addresses real-world concerns such as road safety,

healthcare, home and office solutions, electronics and industrial offerings opens a customer technical center in Taguig City. Shown during the ribbon-cutting ceremony are (from left) 3M vice president Koen Wilms, technical director for Asia Tim Stagg, 3M Philippines technical laboratory head Myungchai Na, US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, Taguig mayor Lani Cayetano, 3M Philippines managing director Anthony Bolzan and vice president for Southeast Asia Joe Liu.

Nomura expects GDP to grow 6.7% this year

P26.80-P30.15 Diesel P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Thursday, October 20, 2016

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.1830

Japan

Yen

0.009667

0.4658

UK

Pound

1.229100

59.2217

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128908

6.2112

Switzerland

Franc

1.011327

48.7288

Canada

Dollar

0.762602

36.7445

Singapore

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34.7591

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34.6341

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000077

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028679

1.3818

UAE

Dirham

0.272287

13.1196

Euro

Euro

1.097500

52.8808

Korea

Won

0.000893

0.0430

China

Yuan

0.148401

7.1504

India

Rupee

0.015007

0.7231

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.238663

11.4995

New Zealand

Dollar

0.722700

34.8219

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031795

37.2021

1.5320 Source: PDS Bridge

SEC allows tender offering of Liberty

THE Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it will allow the tender offering of Liberty Telecoms to run its course as it does not see any problem on the methodology in the valuation of the company.

SEC commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong said in a news briefing that based on the opinion of Office of General Accountant and the National Telecommunications Commission, the decision of the third-party valuation company Punongbayan and Araullo not to put a value on the coveted frequency held by Liberty had basis under the Philippine Financial Reporting Standard.

NTC said the the frequency had no value while OGA said the reassignment of frequency had no peso value because there was no transfer of control.

“Barring any other material information, there is no other reason for us to interfere on the tender offer at this time,” Amatong said.

Amatong said given this development, each investor should then make their own investment decisions.

“They will have to decide whether they will sell their Liberty shares or not,” Amatong said.

Tender offer for Liberty Telecoms ended Thursday after more than a month of offer period. Jenniffer B. Austria

China visit lifts peso to 48.10 versus dollar

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX

46.00

GLOBE Telecom Inc. said Thursday it is investing an additional $160 million to roll out more long-term evolution base stations nationwide in the rest of 2016.

Globe, the telecom unit of Ayala Corp., said it was raising its capital expenditure for more deployment of LTE services using the 700 megahertz and 2600 MHz frequencies, increased 3G capacities and further expansion of mobile coverage.

“We are leveraging our additional 700MHz and 2600Mhz spectrum by investing heavily on LTE to improve both mobile data and fixed wireless broadband. The company is now in the best position more than ever to deliver the best video platforms and expand our data services, in line with the future of our business,” Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said.

Globe is also investing an additional $50 million for corporate data and $90 million for broadband.

Globe started the deployment of fiber broadband technology to provide ultra-fast internet access to 2 million homes in 20,000 barangays by 2020.

Globe said it was also investing for capacity augmentation of its corporate data network to address the bandwidth requirements of enterprise clients for the use of various data solutions to improve business efficiency, enhance productivity and boost competitiveness.

Total capital expenditure for the year amounted to $1.050 billion, up from an earlier goal of $750 million.

Darwin G. Amojelar

JAPANESE financial company Nomura said Thursday it expects the Philippine economy to grow 6.7 percent under the Duterte administration this year.

“We estimate potential growth has risen to 6.2 percent in 2010 to 2016 from 4 percent in the preceding decade. In our base case, we think it could rise further to 6.7 percent throughout the new government’s term until 2022, given highly favorable demographics and the increased pace of physical capital accumulation, which should boost productivity growth,” Nomura said in a report Thursday.

“We reiterate our out-ofconsensus 2016 and 2017 GDP

growth forecasts of 6.7 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, but raise our 2018 forecast to 6.5 percent to reflect our view that the foundations for economic resilience have been established and that, despite the recent political noise from President Duterte’s rhetoric, reform progress will likely continue, which bodes well for the longer-term growth outlook,” it said.

It said the size of the country’s workforce could expand over the next three decades, besting even Vietnam and Indonesia. The Philippines currently has a population of 101 million people with a median age of 23.5 years.

Julito G. Rada

THE peso climbed to a month-high against the US dollar Thursday, on investors’ anticipation that President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China will lift the economy.

The peso gained six centavos to close at 48.10 a greenback Thursday from 48.16 Wednesday. It was the peso’s strongest level since it settled at 47.99 on Sept. 23, 2016.

Total volume turnover reached $525.5 million Thursday compared to $654.5 million Wednesday.

“The peso’s recent outperformance of other Asian currencies [from last Friday] is a result of expectations that the China visit of President Duterte would bear significant economic gains for the Philippines,” ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a statement.

He said underlying the positive

performance of the peso was the government’s focus on the economic needs of the country after more than 100 days of the administration.

“With the China visit’s implied focus on economy, [the] market seems to be giving the administration a positive signal,” Cuyegkeng said.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said it expected a faster inflation rate in the fourth quarter on higher oil prices.

“Inflation is projected to increase slightly towards the low end of the target range [of 2 to 4 percent] in the fourth quarter of the year, driven by higher oil prices, the above-trend growth in domestic economic activity, and the impact of positive base effects,” according to the highlights of the latest policy meeting held on Sept.

22 and released Thursday.

50 e-trikes deployed in Intramuros

By Othel V. Campos THE Board of Investments launched Thursday the P550-million Mobility as a System project in Intramuros, Manila, the first of the three pilot sites where electrictrikes viability will be tested as a mode of transportation.

BoI executive director for industry development services Corazon Halili-Dichosa said the project was a grant from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization in coordination with Japanese IT service provider SoftBank Corp.

“This pilot project will consist of 50 e-trikes that will be deployed within the Intramuros

area manufactured by Bemac Electric Transportation Philippines Inc., with 17 charging stations strategically located within the pilot site,” she said.

BoI, the Intramuros Administration and MC Metro Transport Operation Inc. as members together with Nedo and Softbank will monitor the development of the project.

The project will run for two years, or from October 2016 to September 2018. Aside from being a historic landmark and tourist spot, Intramuros was selected as pilot area for the project considering the mix of people in the area which includes tourists and students.

Dichosa said the Philippines could be the EV manufacturing

hub in Southeast Asia.

“We hope that more local and foreign investments will come and make the country their production base, thus create around 100,000 in new jobs for Filipinos,” she said.

She said the government was currently looking at making the procurement of an e-vehicle affordable through financing.

The Trade Department is working at a better financing window from the Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines.

This would make it more sustainable for potential EV operators given the massive capitalization needed to deploy at least 10 e-trikes.

B2

Business

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Petron raises P20b; Shell starts offering

By Jenniffer B. Austria OIL refiner Petron Corp. successfully raised P20 billion from the issuance of five-year and sevenyear bonds while competitor Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. started selling shares as a part of its planned initial public offering.

BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco said in a text message demand for Petron’s bond offering was strong and the issue was many times oversubscribed.

Fransicso said the demand for Petron bonds was not affected by the ongoing IPO of Pilipinas Shell.

Offer period for Petron bonds offering ran from Oct. 13 to 19 while the offer period for Pilipinas Shells’ P19.5-billion IPO started Oct. 19 and will end on Oct. 25.

Petron issued P15 billion worth of five and seven-year bonds, with an oversubscription option

for another P5 billion.

The five-year bonds due 2021 carry an interest rate of 4.0032 percent per annum, while the seven-year bonds due 2023 have 4.519 percent.

Petron said it planned to use a part of the proceeds to prepay amortizations due 2017 on dollardenominated long-term debt worth P11.3 billion which was used to partly finance the $2-billion expansion of its refinery in Bataan.

The final amortizations on these floating-rate long-term loans are due May 2020 and July 2021.

Petron said it also intended to use a part of the proceeds to pay short-term loans extended by BDO Unibank Inc. incurred for working capital requirements amounting to P5 billion and maturing in November 2016 at an interest rate of 2.6 percent per annum. The balance of the proceeds will be used to pay for crude oil purchases.

Market retreats; Bloomberry rises

S

TOCKS retreated from a two-day climb Thursday, as a powerful typhoon slammed northern Philippines which could affect gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, lost 8 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 7,713.32.

Despite the loss, the bellwether was still up 10.9 percent this year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, added 2 points

to settle at 4,536.90, on a value turnover of P6.9 billion. Advancers outnumbered losers, 101 to 78, while 47 issues were unchanged.

Four of the six sectors advanced, while 14 of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by casino operator

Bloomberry Resorts Corp. which climbed 4.9 percent to P5.40 and power retailer Manila Electric Co. which gained 2 percent to P290.80.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets rose Thursday following a positive lead from Wall Street, with energy firms tracking a surge in oil prices while investors judged Hillary Clinton to have won the final presidential debate with Donald Trump.

The US energy department said crude inventories fell almost twice as much as expected last week, fanning hopes about demand in the world’s top economy and sending

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2016

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.59 11,000 47.6 43,900 104.1 1,199,880 3.9 2,000 115.1 2,621,860 1.38 127,000 38 12,500 9 100 16.22 84,400 19.68 129,000 6.85 100 675 20 0.81 21,837,000 86.95 2,714,210 0.89 21,000 14.18 117,500 57.65 2,600 154 3,460 99.8 40 37 55,600 231.2 1,505,770 1,490 1,260 75.2 56,970 1.44 1,000

38,090 2,088,830 124,931,085 7,800 301,606,676 174,920 474,970 900 1,370,532 2,536,876 685 13,500 18,010,560 235,895,324.50 18,700 1,667,670 150,019.50 532,671 3,933 2,073,650 348,916,176 1,884,125 4,282,113 1,440

1,493,980 984,359 188,826,463 1,078,292 -2,993,340 -15,759,306 163,070 88,288.50 1,029,510 -24,157,452 1,586,298 -

45.25 3.76 0.9 1.48 15.2 90 11.34 16.3 140 23.4 195 60 99.5 2.1 6.5 12.1 11.26 7.2 7.35 5.89 1.76 23.45 70.65 12.2 16.4 6.09 2.03 241.8 75 4.16 26.5 30.5 28.35 15.32 286.8 3.1 10.54 11.34 2.18 5.96 1.49 3.58 217.2 4.2 2.2 3.23 0.145 1.71 184 4.58 2.21 1.16

INDUSTRIAL 45.9 867,800 3.79 2,741,000 0.91 846,000 1.5 851,000 15.78 400 100.2 22,440 11.74 15,356,700 16.98 3,079,300 140 30 23.5 220,700 195 110 60.5 349,200 103 4,160 2.11 407,000 6.9 2,038,400 12.28 25,000 11.4 1,028,400 7.29 362,400 7.36 1,493,900 5.96 6,124,400 1.76 20,000 23.6 432,500 70.85 170,550 12.3 7,400 16.52 79,900 6.1 4,319,500 2.05 197,000 248.2 360,100 94 1,720 4.16 10,000 27.85 1,000 31.05 9,767,900 28.5 312,000 15.84 2,439,200 290.8 530,520 3.1 10,906,000 10.56 4,429,200 11.4 75,600 2.18 855,000 5.96 763,800 1.5 432,000 3.68 372,000 220 2,840 4.2 19,000 2.2 6,000 3.23 17,000 0.148 3,230,000 1.72 530,000 186 2,279,450 4.58 10,000 2.21 3,148,000 1.16 252,000

39,823,475 10,445,320 776,960 1,269,310 6,250 2,488,287 179,933,254 51,447,134 4,200 5,181,870 21,450 21,126,679.50 424,634 862,630 14,008,174 304,272 11,694,552 2,622,143 10,995,131 36,442,296 35,200 10,189,380 12,083,055 91,300 1,314,128 26,349,104 404,050 89,474,428 155,316 41,840 27,300 303,540,365 8,888,705 38,316,556 154,156,904 33,810,490 47,149,482 860,506 1,875,980 4,581,644 647,760 1,373,860 624,660 79,970 13,200 55,000 475,380 925,500 422,328,386 45,800 7,028,610 294,540

-16,712,155 -711,285 8,520,786 6,013,688.00 -254,869.50 -48,300 3,976,658 -1,453,706 -9,470,119 13,971,099 -597,075 -10,181,178 1,233,768 58,391 18,928,894 -31,282 67,349,165 -7,198,540 602,132 -87,000,348 4,071,350 -1,184,764 -488,818 -820,280 -660,000 76,500 1,021,050 0 22,050 141,214,488 384,250 -

0.375 79.5 15.4 1.29 6 0.33 0.33 869 8.52 13.82 8.1 0.21 1,433 79.8 0.81 8.19 15.82 7.3 0.037 1.93 80.85 700 0.95 1.21 234 0.31 0.202 0.275

0.36 78.05 15.26 1.24 6 0.33 0.33 855 8.28 13.48 8.08 0.204 1,410 78 0.79 8.08 15.1 7.16 0.036 1.93 80.1 696 0.88 1.19 232.6 0.305 0.192 0.265

HOLDING FIRMS 0.375 360,000 79.2 1,267,830 15.36 3,589,700 1.29 100,000 6 198,700 0.33 110,000 0.33 20,000 858 396,220 8.52 2,067,400 13.56 7,133,400 8.09 202,300 0.209 410,000 1,425 82,705 79.8 1,919,280 0.8 8,000 8.16 1,196,600 15.28 1,299,600 7.22 20,384,700 0.037 21,200,000 1.93 60,000 80.6 74,100 696.5 197,990 0.95 26,000 1.21 62,000 234 8,200 0.305 260,000 0.202 550,000 0.27 580,000

132,000 100,250,751 55,111,960 127,190 1,192,200 36,300 6,600 340,308,420 17,426,392 97,010,066 1,636,606 84,110 118,074,255 152,445,760 6,400 9,765,116 19,832,958 147,452,086 773,200 115,800 5,971,639.50 137,982,915 23,670 74,080 1,914,616 79,600 107,300 156,600

-18,250 -23,360,482 -24,549,250 -46,573,830 -1,776,951.00 18,945,138 5,947,720 50,835,733.50 -6,090,516.00 939,480 12,841,283 -77,200 -3,473,181.50 26,201,755 -

7.3 1.18 2.46 0.28 38.25 2.9 5.08 0.61 1.14 1.07 0.153 0.69 56 0.75 0.141 1.81 1 1.12 4.4 0.176 3.47

7.21 1.1 2.36 0.27 37.65 2.75 5.08 0.59 1.12 1.06 0.151 0.64 54.4 0.74 0.141 1.78 0.99 1.1 4.25 0.171 3.42

2,215,987 7,456,850 2,301,640 398,850 368,180,495 5,906,360 24,892 2,653,520 285,090 85,880 538,060 29,916,610 13,768,983 2,990 9,870 3,825,290 2,892,090 27,660 237,632,870 3,287,500 2,285,130

-10,107 -30,700 30,856,780 -4,462,800 -36,600 -193,300 -1,527,737 -2,250 212,630 -8,960 -44,935,300 -210,720 -10,260

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FILIPINO FUND MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

3.45 47.6 102.1 3.9 113.4 1.38 37.9 9 16.5 19.66 6.85 675 0.86 86 0.9 14.1 57.9 153 96.85 37.95 230.2 1,495 75.2 1.44

3.59 47.6 104.9 3.9 115.8 1.41 38 9 16.6 19.7 6.85 675 0.86 87.15 0.9 14.2 57.9 154 99.8 37.95 235.6 1,500 75.25 1.44

3.45 47.25 102.1 3.9 112.6 1.35 37.9 9 16.2 19.6 6.85 675 0.81 86 0.89 14.1 56.5 153 96.85 37 227 1,490 75.05 1.44

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO PEPSI COLA PETRON PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PHX SEMICNDCTR PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

46.2 3.9 0.91 1.5 15.2 128 11.58 16.36 140 23.5 195 60.5 105 2.15 6.5 12.28 11.5 7.26 7.38 5.96 1.76 23.85 70.9 12.4 16.4 6.12 2.05 250 90 4.2 26.5 30.5 28.8 15.32 286.8 3.1 10.58 11.4 2.27 5.96 1.53 3.58 217.2 4.21 2.2 3.3 0.145 1.81 185 4.58 2.24 1.16

46.25 3.93 0.93 1.5 15.8 146 11.9 16.98 140 23.5 195 60.55 110 2.16 7.1 12.28 11.54 7.3 7.38 5.97 1.76 23.9 71 12.4 16.52 6.15 2.06 250 95 4.2 27.85 31.4 28.8 15.9 291.8 3.11 10.78 11.48 2.27 6 1.53 3.75 220 4.21 2.2 3.3 0.148 1.81 186 4.58 2.25 1.18

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.365 79.5 15.28 1.24 6 0.33 0.33 869 8.28 13.8 8.08 0.205 1,410 79.45 0.8 8.19 15.82 7.24 0.036 1.93 80.85 700 0.89 1.19 232.8 0.31 0.193 0.27

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PRIMEX CORP

7.23 1.1 2.36 0.275 37.95 2.88 5.08 0.6 1.12 1.06 0.152 0.65 56 0.74 0.141 1.8 0.99 1.1 4.3 0.172 3.42

PROPERTY 7.22 1.16 2.41 0.28 38.15 2.9 5.08 0.61 1.13 1.07 0.153 0.68 56 0.75 0.141 1.78 0.99 1.12 4.34 0.172 3.46

VOLUME

306,500 6,462,000 947,000 1,430,000 9,687,100 2,057,000 4,900 4,394,000 253,000 81,000 3,530,000 44,279,000 248,790 4,000 70,000 2,130,000 2,921,000 25,000 54,865,000 19,020,000 661,000

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

36.2 30 1.6 3.29 28.85 1.05 0.98 5.2

36.4 31.1 1.61 3.3 28.9 1.05 0.99 5.2

36.2 30 1.59 3.26 28.5 1.03 0.98 5.12

36.4 31.1 1.59 3.29 28.9 1.04 0.98 5.16

1,200 1,523,900 146,000 59,000 10,330,500 712,000 19,000 2,874,500

43,560 47,259,875 234,320 193,730 297,458,610 735,920 18,650 14,817,302

11,605,005 167,936,895 -9,106,238

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CALATA CORP CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR DFNN INC EASYCALL FAR EASTERN U GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN GRAND PLAZA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL A INTL CONTAINER IP EGAME IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LIBERTY TELECOM LORENZO SHIPPNG MANILA JOCKEY MELCO CROWN METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT

7.7 48 1.42 0.52 0.061 5.2 5.2 0.086 3.15 106.9 9.7 6.63 2.89 955 1,910 6.25 13.84 17.5 2.14 17.5 77.15 0.0092 11.8 9.2 0.22 1.43 3.33 13 5.1 2.03 1.05 2 4.13 4.95 25.95 3.17 11.34 5.16 9.07 1,680 1.05 0.41 42.8 77.1 5.7 2.93 0.8 3.24 0.355

7.8 48.3 1.42 0.54 0.076 5.33 5.43 0.088 3.2 107.8 9.99 6.78 2.89 990 1,966 6.25 13.84 17.5 2.17 17.5 78.2 0.0096 11.8 9.2 0.224 1.46 3.41 13.48 5.24 2.1 1.05 2 4.22 5.09 25.95 3.29 11.36 5.18 9.25 1,696 1.08 0.41 43.1 79.15 5.93 2.93 0.8 3.24 0.355

7.62 47.95 1.35 0.52 0.056 5.2 5.16 0.085 3.15 106.7 9.7 6.63 2.89 955 1,900 6.2 13.56 17.5 2.07 17 76.65 0.0092 11.8 9.2 0.217 1.42 3.32 13 5.08 2.01 1.05 2 4.01 4.88 22.7 3.17 11.34 5.16 8.9 1,652 1.05 0.41 42.6 76.85 5.7 2.85 0.78 3.23 0.355

SERVICES 7.8 48 1.35 0.54 0.06 5.3 5.4 0.085 3.19 106.9 9.99 6.78 2.89 990 1,900 6.23 13.56 17.5 2.09 17 76.65 0.0096 11.8 9.2 0.219 1.43 3.32 13.2 5.2 2.03 1.05 2 4.2 5 25.7 3.19 11.36 5.17 8.9 1,670 1.08 0.41 43.1 79 5.87 2.89 0.79 3.24 0.355

107,100 20,400 6,000 311,000 1,353,610,000 28,800 34,443,600 28,530,000 765,000 553,800 91,000 12,200 2,000 2,600 158,630 66,600 70,700 200 2,017,000 9,100 458,510 28,000,000 1,000 502,000 16,860,000 1,236,000 51,000 45,100 588,500 748,000 2,000 20,000 10,506,000 10,334,000 7,400 1,969,000 2,000 14,000 3,009,400 196,345 15,157,000 70,000 2,843,800 1,645,670 39,500 977,000 9,553,000 54,000 10,000

827,682 979,995 8,450 167,740 89,769,630 151,453 184,268,910 2,452,150 2,421,660 59,194,578 888,270 81,396 5,780 2,483,350 305,218,640 414,056 960,560 3,500 4,281,960 155,414 35,406,846 264,500 11,800 4,618,400 3,690,660 1,766,350 169,920 595,260 3,043,375 1,526,960 2,100 40,000 43,800,860 51,175,170 182,095 6,336,840 22,700 72,421 27,324,256 329,066,075 16,298,270 28,700 121,631,820 129,524,637.50 231,698 2,830,660 7,537,540 174,870 3,550

3,900 -56,410 16,898,282 -379,050 -14,145,158 -119,756,895 -717,470 -19,879,070 43,700 347,160 516,748 -757,060 19,100,500 147,370 392,584.00 102,135,520 -264,740 23,872,310 22,942,013.50 58,563 -111,670 5,225,740 3,240 -

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING BASIC ENERGY BENGUET A CENTURY PEAK COAL ASIA HLDG DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING TA PETROLEUM UNITED PARAGON

0.0036 3.12 4.07 0.213 2.08 0.58 0.4 8.03 1.14 0.27 0.202 0.199 0.011 1.74 7.34 2.87 0.465 0.9 0.011 0.011 0.012 8.26 4.05 125.1 3.22 0.0097

0.0037 3.12 4.1 0.213 2.08 0.59 0.4 8.25 1.16 0.28 0.203 0.204 0.011 1.74 7.4 2.87 0.465 0.9 0.011 0.011 0.012 8.26 4.21 127 3.3 0.0097

0.0035 3 4.04 0.213 2.07 0.58 0.385 8.03 1.12 0.27 0.198 0.198 0.011 1.66 7.25 2.8 0.465 0.88 0.011 0.011 0.012 8.15 3.99 125.1 3.22 0.0095

MINING & OIL 0.0037 23,000,000 3 204,000 4.04 17,000 0.213 20,000 2.08 24,000 0.59 38,000 0.4 570,000 8.22 23,600 1.15 56,896,000 0.28 640,000 0.199 10,420,000 0.204 1,030,000 0.011 4,500,000 1.66 1,216,000 7.4 914,100 2.86 15,000 0.465 50,000 0.88 100,000 0.011 23,300,000 0.011 800,000 0.012 15,900,000 8.17 1,004,900 4.02 24,708,000 126.5 764,800 3.3 88,000 0.0095 9,000,000

83,500 623,340 69,130 4,260 49,840 22,060 227,400 193,893 65,107,830 177,250 2,087,170 207,700 49,500 2,050,790 6,698,501 42,330 23,250 88,200 256,300 8,800 190,800 8,220,301 100,591,010 96,691,779 287,010 86,500

-37,000 21,213,740.00 -16,800 -24,900 2,155,872 5,720 -2,400 -164,374 2,093,270 -2,216,293 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 DD PREF GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR MWIDE PREF PF PREF 2 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

47.9 529 103.5 521 6 109 1,020 80.55 76.2 77.5 77.25 77.7

48 529 103.5 521 6 109 1,020 80.55 76.5 77.5 78 77.9

47.9 529 103.3 521 6 108 1,020 80 76.1 77.5 77.25 77.7

PREFERRED 47.9 442,200 529 4,900 103.4 3,840 521 200 6 500 108 7,400 1,020 4,170 80 26,070 76.3 19,710 77.5 10 78 38,500 77.85 157,200

21,220,970 2,592,100 397,042 104,200 3,000 799,300 4,253,400 2,091,690 1,503,411 775 2,986,800 12,238,245

-15,126,845 20,400 -

LR WARRANT

2.39

2.43

2.31

WARRANTS 2.4 586,000

1,385,260

-

ALTERRA CAPITAL ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

3.69 4.29 2.97 12.5

3.76 4.36 2.98 12.64

3.56 4.11 2.96 12.34

SME 3.56 4.25 2.98 12.36

4,371,490 577,270 124,430 59,208,958

3,600 20,850 2,561,870

FIRST METRO ETF

127.2

127.2

125.8

1,807,802

-151,072

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

SHARES

30,797,997

INDUSTRIAL

81,809,874

HOLDING FIRMS

67,475,487

PROPERTY

169,053,397

SERVICES

1,526,739,870

MINING & OIL

175,478,399

GRAND TOTAL

2,057,475,727

1,194,000 136,000 42,000 4,732,400

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 127.2 14,270

VALUE 1,852.09 (up) 7.17 1,073,905,293.07 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,877.42 (up) 32.27 1,562,200,493.96 HOLDING FIRMS 7,761.29 (down) 39.82 1,448,378,433.975 PROPERTY 3,434.92 (up) 7.71 SERVICES 1,475.69 (up) 1.87 1,044,888,150.25 MINING & OIL 11,516.04 (down) 15.89 1,464,886,359.63 PSEI 7,713.32 (down) 8.25 284,177,288.9903 All Shares Index 4,536.90 (up) 2.41 6,944,534,370.475 Gainers: 100 Losers: 79; Unchanged: 47; Total: 226

both main oil contracts rallying more than two percent.

The report was the latest positive for the oil market, which has been rallying since Opec last month agreed to cut output in a bid to address a global glut.

While oil dipped Thursday, the previous day’s gains provided support to energy companies across Asia, with Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and PetroChina each up around three percent. In Sydney, BHP Billiton added 1.7 percent and Japan’s Showa Shell Sekiyu gained 0.8 percent.

Those gains lifted broader markets and Tokyo closed 1.4 percent higher, while Hong Kong gained 0.3 percent and Shanghai ended flat. Sydney rose 0.1 percent while Seoul and Singapore barely moved.

In early European trade London dipped 0.2 percent but Frankfurt and Paris both rose 0.2 percent.

In forex trade the Mexican peso rose against the dollar after the final US presidential debate between market favorite Clinton and her Republican opponent Trump.

Trump has repeatedly said he will tear up a free-trade agreement with Mexico, build a wall between the two countries and remove illegal immigrants, initially hitting the peso on fears for the country’s economy.

With Bloomberg, AFP

ICTSI confident on Brunei contract

By Darwin G. Amojelar PORT operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Thursday it is hopeful about expanding its port contact in Brunei Darussalam.

The port operator, owned by businessman Enrique Razon, which operates the sultanate’s leading trading gateway, the Muara Container Terminal, said it was looking forward to improved investment opportunities between the two countries with the recent visit of President Duterte in Brunei.

“We are hopeful that this state visit will open up more opportunities for the two countries to further develop the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area,” ICTSI senior vice president and head of Asia-Pacific Christian Gonzalez said.

“ICTSI is fully committed to be an active partner in both countries’ drive to promote economic growth, especially through sound investments in port management and development,” Gonzalez said.

ICTSI proposed to have a long-term concession with the Brunei government to further develop the Port of Muara into a world-class gateway.

ICTSI’s unit in Brunei, New Muara Container Terminal Services SDM BHD in May received a notice from the director of Ports, Ports Department, Ministry of Communication extending the services agreement for the operation and maintenance of the Muara Container Terminal for one year, or from May 21 until May 20, 2017.

The NMCTS’ facilities include a 250-meter quay and occupy a total land area of five hectares, and have a capacity of 250,000 twentyfoot equivalent units.

Business

B3

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

EU sugar producers seek export markets

INTERNET CARS. LeEco co-founder Lei Ding provides details about development of self-driving electric cars synched to the internet. LeEco, referred to as a combination of Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Tesla, announced Wednesday it is taking on US tech titans on their home turf. AFP

BRUSSELS, Belgium— European sugar producers will target export markets in addition to looking for new domestic customers when the EU lifts quotas next year and fully embraces free-market farm policies, officials and analysts say.

However, some analysts believe exports will face tough competition in attractive Middle East and North African markets while some producers, especially in Italy, fear they may not survive the transition.

New markets will have to be found inside and outside the 28-nation European Union as production is expected to increase from the cap of 13.5 million tons a year to at least 16 million tons and possibly 18 million or 19 million tons annually.

European agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan has said the bloc has for years carefully prepared for lifting sugar quotas on October 1, 2017.

Careful preparations are all the more necessary given the crises gripping European agriculture, particularly with soft dairy prices due to overproduction 18 months after milk quotas were lifted.

Sugar will be the last of the EU agriculture quotas set over the decades to protect key sectors.

In 2006, the EU launched reforms to boost competition, which forced 83 mills, or 40 percent of the total, to close, according to the European Association of Sugar Producers (EASP).

Producers in the long run should now “be able to survive in an environment of lower prices,” said a source at the European Commission, the EU executive.

A handful of producers have held on in Europe, particularly those in France and Germany but also some in Poland and Britain.

Firms in Britain, Portugal and Romania meanwhile refine imported raw sugar.

Saudi starts paying contractors S AUDI Arabia is repaying debts to contractors after long delays that squeezed company finances and hurt investor sentiment.

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said in a televised interview on MBC Wednesday that payments have been “regularized and will rise in the coming period.” While he didn’t offer details, three people familiar with the matter said the government has started paying some major builders as well as companies outside the

construction industry.

Some companies were told 30 to 40 percent of the outstanding dues will be paid before the end of the year, with the remainder to be settled in 2017, two people said. They all spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

The world’s biggest oil exporter started delaying

payments to contractors last year as it sought to rein in a budget deficit that reached about 15 percent of gross domestic product. The austerity drive caused the non-oil economy to shrink in the fine three months of 2015 and the first quarter of this year. The country is working to shore up its finances, including through the sale of as much as $17.5 billion of dollar bonds.

Saudi daily Okaz reported last month that the government had started to pay dues owed to Saudi Binladin Group, the kingdom’s biggest construction company,

citing Abdullah Basodan, adviser to company Chairman Bakr bin Mohammed Binladin.

The kingdom is undergoing the biggest economic shakeup in its history in an attempt to reduce its reliance on oil. The government aims to raise more than $100 billion in non-oil revenue a year by 2020, through measures including value-added taxation.

The IMF said on Tuesday the pace of austerity could ease “a little” next year, helping non-oil growth recover to 2.6 percent from 0.3 percent in 2016.

The fiscal consolidation,

US chefs invade London in increasing numbers

however, “needs to continue over the next five years,” Masood Ahmed, head of the IMF Middle East and Central Asia department, said in an interview in Dubai.

The austerity has hurt investor sentiment.

The benchmark Tadawul All Share Index has dropped 29 percent over the past 12 months, the worst performer among more than 90 gauge tracked by Bloomberg globally.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia raised $17.5 billion in the biggest ever bond Manila sale from an emerging-market Standard nation as itTODAY seeks to shore up finances battered by the slide in oil.

The government sold dollardenominated bonds due in five years yielding 135 basis points more than similar-maturity US Treasuries, 10-year notes at a spread of 165 basis points and 30year securities at 210 basis points, according to person familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. The kingdom raised $5.5 billion in each of the five- and 10year bonds and $6.5 billion in 30year debt. People with knowledge of the offering earlier said investors submitted $67 billion in bids.

Bloomberg

TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES PHILIPPINES CORPORATION 32nd Floor G. T. Tower International, Ayala Avenue corner H. V. dela Costa Street,Salcedo Village, 1226 Makati City

STATEMENT OF CONDITION As of September 30, 2016 ASSETS Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas P Deposit in Banks GS Purchased Under Reverse Repurchase Agreement with BSP GS Purchased Under RRA Sold Under Resale Agreement Loans and Receivables (Net) (Long-Term Portion of P37,367,605,390) Available-for-Sale Securities (Net) Real Estate for Sale/Lease (Net) Real Property, Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (Net) Real and Other Properties Acquired (Net) Other Assets (Net) TOTAL ASSETS P

Sushi (right photo) sits on a plate at the Nobu London luxury restaurant inside the Metropolitan Hotel in London, UK, on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. “A sushi chef has to spot the best-quality fresh fish instantly,” Nobuyuki ‘Nobu’ Matsuhisa, owner-chef of the Nobu sushi brand said. Bloomberg

By Richard Vines FANS of American food in London have it better than ever, and it just may be that the best is yet to come.

Just as London’s pizza, burger and barbecue joints are streets ahead of a decade ago, New York chefs are coming to the city in increasing numbers.

An incomplete list of imports looks like this: Dominique Ansel has just arrived after forcing New Yorkers to wait hours for a Cronut, that buttery doughnutcroissant. Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster, a Harlem comfortfood joint will open in London’s hip Shoreditch early next year, around the same time Emma Bengtsson’s two-Michelin-star Aquavit arrives from Midtown.

Two more high-profile New York chefs have big plans for London that are still under wraps.

So much for the British doom brought on by the nation’s June vote to leave the European Union.

Most of the investors are optimistic even after the shock outcome.

“London is the capital of the world,” says Shimon Bokovza, founder and chief executive of Sushisamba, operated by Orange Brands Management, which arrived in 2012. Bokovza went for broke at the time, opening two restaurants atop the Heron Tower in London’s financial district. The site is half the size of an NFL football field.

The gamble paid off: Sushisamba and Duck & Waffle are packed day and night. He plans to add at least two more venues.

It’s a similar story for The One Group, which opened STK in

London four years ago with the slogan, “Not Your Daddy’s Steakhouse.” The restaurant attracts millennials with cocktails and loud music. STK plans to add an outlet in Edinburgh next year.

“We were nervous at first because the British can be more conservative,” says Jonathan Segal, chief executive of The One Group, which is using London as a push into Europe and beyond.

“But London embraced STK from the day we opened.”

The attraction of London for US restaurateurs is a still-growing market versus a mature eating-out industry in America, says Simon Stenning, executive director of MCA, a research firm, “There are many opportunities because of the city’s nature as a vibrant, foodie-savvy destination for residents, and UK and foreign tourists.”

“Experienced operators in America can do well if they bring their version of hospitality, whatever makes them stand out,” Stenning says. “Sushisamba, with its Brazilian-Japanese menu, is a good example. STK is another. It’s an American experience which can translate.”

There are obvious risks. One of the great US steak houses, Smith & Wollensky, promised to bring the “best steak in London.”

Instead it attracted little attention and a couple of hostile reviews.

Operations manager Nathan Evans dismisses the critics. He blames the slow start on delays in the opening of nearby businesses and says things are now on track.

“We are going to have a great year,” he says. “My one regret

is that we should probably have opened with a little less swagger.”

It can be difficult to get a table for steak at CUT on Park Lane, a Wolfgang Puck import from the US. Puck says he would like to open a London outpost of his showbiz restaurant Spago of Beverly Hills.

“I haven’t found the right site yet,” he says. “If you hear of one, let me know.”

Another US import, Daniel Boulud is also doing fine. Bar Boulud, which opened in the Mandarin Oriental in 2010, is often busy.

First the Americans brought fast food to a nation swimming in fish and chips. KFC first opened in northern England in 1965. Hard Rock Cafe rocked up in London in 1971. McDonald’s opened its first UK outlet in 1974 and Burger King in 1977.

Move a little upmarket and you find Joe Allen, which opened in London’s Covent Garden in 1977 and is still going strong.

“There was nothing like it in London at the time,” says Russell Norman, who started his career there as a waiter and now owns the Polpo restaurant group.

“Most restaurants were either really fancy or else nasty breweryowned chains. Joe Allen had a very New York vibe. You’d be transported: You weren’t in Covent Garden anymore.”

Planet Hollywood arrived on May 17, 1993, for one of the biggest celebrity parties the city has seen.

When it comes to serious restaurants, one of the first was JeanGeorges Vongerichten’s Vong, at

the Berkeley Hotel. The chef, who holds three Michelin stars at JeanGeorges in New York, remembers his time in London fondly. Vong, a pioneer in modern fusion dining, opened in 1995 and closed about seven years later.

The pinnacle of London success is Nobu, which arrived on Park Lane in 1997 and is still there.

“London embraced us immediately,” says Drew Nieporent, who owns Nobu with Robert De Niro and chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

“London then reminded me of New York but 10 years behind.

But now London has caught up and is one of the greatest food cities in the world.”

One US operator that foundered in London was Palm Restaurant, a successful chain with restaurants across the US, including three in New York. Palm opened in Belgravia in 2009 with high hopes. Owner Wally Ganzi was gung-ho, with plans for at least two more restaurants in London. “I love London,” he said at the time. London failed to reciprocate and Palm left five years later.

Balthazar received a mixed, and sometimes hostile, reception when it opened in Covent Garden in 2013. That was noted by US restaurateur Danny Meyer, who brought Shake Shack’s famous burgers to London five months later, at the same time as Five Guys.

“We watched and learned,” Meyer says. “We had seen other New York imports treated harshly, and we tried to draw as many lessons as we could from those experiences.” Bloomberg

9,073,016,556 740,053,136 0 0 38,577,549,819 0 1,500,000 0 78,567,851 80,687,310 3,203,331,758 51,754,706,430

LIABILITIES Bills Payable Accrued Taxes and Other Expenses Other Liabilities TOTAL LIABILITIES

P P

43,274,080,981 324,005,856 3,417,832,742 47,015,919,579

CAPITAL ACCOUNTS Capital Stock Retained Earnings Sub - Total Less: Treasury Stock TOTAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTS

P

P

1,700,000,000 3,038,786,851 4,738,786,851 0 4,738,786,851

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL ACCOUNTS

P

51,754,706,430

P

COMMITMENT AND OTHER CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS Other Contingent Accounts

P

0

Note: 1. Held for Trading Securities comprise of Government Securities of P0 and Equity Securities - Common Shares of P0 2. Non-performing loans and ratio to total loan portfolio: P 535,398,816 ; 1.15%

3. Classified loans and other risk assets: P 1,520,686,659 4. General loan loss reserve: P 457,321,209

5. Specific loan loss reserve: P432,588,080 6. Return on equity (ROE): 12.38% 7. DOSRI loans/advances and ratio to total loan portfolio: None 8. Past due DOSRI loans/advances and ratio to total portfolio: None REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) We, Ma. Fe S. Medrano, Assistant Vice-President and Atsushi Murakami, President of the above-mentioned NBQB, do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the statement of condition are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(Sgd.) MA. FE S. MEDRANO Assistant Vice-President

(Sgd.) ATSUSHI MURAKAMI President

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 18th day of October 2016, affiants exhibiting to me their Driver’s License No. N0410001084 issued at Manila and Passport No. TZ1056363 issued at Japan.

Doc. No. 6 Page No. 3 Book No. 59 Series of 2016

(Sgd.) ATTY. JACQUELINE O. CORTEL Commission No. M-420 Notary Public of Makati City Until December 31, 2016 Suite 1015, 10F Cityland Condominium 10 Tower 1 Ayala Ave. cor. H.V. dela Costa Street, Makati City Roll No. 40522104-11-96 IBP Lifetime member No. 03177; 12-16-03; RSM chapter PTR No. 4871732; 03-16-15; Makati City MCLE Compliance No. IV-0021366 Issued on July 22, 2013

RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

B4

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Motoring Euro 5 formulation means cleaner fuel.

Petron upgrades to Euro 5 Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

F

OLLOWING the success of the locally produced Euro-4 almost a year ago, Petron Corporation marked another milestone in the domestic market with the recent launch of the new Blaze 100 Euro 5. “Petron is proud to introduce another revolutionary fuel specially formulated for Philippine driving conditions,” says Ramon Ang, President and CEO of Petron.

Blaze 100 Euro 5 has significantly less sulfur, 10 ppm (parts per million) compared to other Euro 4 fuels (50 ppm). Engineers pointed out that this fuel is 500 percent cleaner than standard Euro 4 fuels. It also has less benzene, a known carcinogen – compared to the Philippine standard which allows up to two percent by volume in gasoline.

High sulfur levels in fuel, when combined with water vapor, can harm the environment and cause corrosive wear on valve guides

and cylinder liners, leading to premature engine failure. With significantly low sulfur content and advanced additives technology, the high-performance Blaze 100 Euro 5 delivers the following benefits: Optimal power and acceleration due to extremely high octane and performance additives; Exceptional engine cleanliness because of it’s high quality base fuel and fully synthetic detergent additive; Better fuel economy due to its friction modifier and combustion improver ad-

ditives; and lower emissions and longer catalytic converter life.

“With the highest octane rating but the lowest sulfur content, Petron Blaze 100 Euro 5 is the best gasoline in the market by far in terms of power, efficiency, and reduced emissions. We will continue to innovate and lead in fuels technology so we can put more savings in our customers’ pockets while improving air quality across the nation,” adds Ang. Petron’s Blaze 100 Euro 5 was “road-tested” recently as the of-

ficial fuel of the Philippine Leg of the 2016 Formula 4 South East Asia (F4/SEA) Championship at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga.

Launched in late 2010, Petron’s Blaze 100 Euro 5 is the first and only gasoline in the country with a Research Octane Number (RON) of 100. With 100 octane, it has exceptional resistance to “engine knocking” that results in uneven fuel burn, greater fuel consumption, and even engine damage.

Your power-up buddy from OMP

Motul is endurance race sponsor INTERNATIONALLY renowned oil and lubricant specialist Motul becomes the title sponsor of the Sepang 12 Hours, the final race of the inaugural edition of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the premier global GT championship organised and promoted by the SRO Motorsports Group.

Apart from having the entire Motul Sepang 12 Hours field sporting the French’s brand iconic red and white colors, several top teams will also be using Motul 300V and Motorsport Line range of products, which has been tested and proven in the harshest racing conditions across the world.

Motul, which has over 160

years of history, is often considered one of the leading players in the industry, even more so when it comes to high performance racing oils and lubricants. The brand has a long and illustrious history in motorsports, particularly in endurance racing, and forms the ideal partner for one of the toughest long-distance races on the planet.

Since 2015, the endurance race near the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur is a joint organization between the SRO Motorsports Group and Sepang International Circuit. With Japanese Super GT promoters GTA also working together with SRO to

bring cars from the GT300 class to Sepang, it is clear that the 2016 edition of the Motul Sepang 12 Hours will be more competitive than ever before.

Motul is also recognized as the specialist in synthetic lubricants.

As early as 1971, Motul was the first lubricant manufacturer to pioneer the formulation of a 100% synthetic lubricant for automotive engines, the 300V lubricant, making use of Esters technology and issued from the aeronautical industry.

Throughout the years, Motul has gained experience as an official supplier to many racing teams and manufacturers and

contributes with them to further technological development in motorsports. Motul is supporting those teams in international competitions such as: 24 Hours of Le Mans (cars and motorcycles), FIA World Endurance Championship, Super GT, ERC, Drift, Pikes Peak, Japanese championship SUPER FORMULA, Blancpain Endurance Series, GT Asia, Asian and European Le Mans Series, MotoGP, World Superbike, World MX, Endurance World Championship, Supercross, IOM TT, Motul FIM Ice Speedway Gladiators World Championship, Rallycross, F1 Boat, Roof of Africa and many others.

IF YOUR car is a daily driver, and the electronics and accessories that come as standard in modern cars, the vehicle’s electrical power source will eventually fail. Add the drastic changes in temperature and the road conditions that tend to shake the car battery, the chances of having a battery failure anytime is imminent.

OMP, the Italian brand known quality, meticulous attention to details and well engineered products offers this emergency solution anytime and anywhere you require an electrical charge. The OMP Jump Starter is a powerbank and jump starter in one slim and visually appealing package. Aside from providing an emergency jump start for weak car batteries, this ultra sleek

charger can be used to charge up your laptop, iPads, PSP, tablets and cellphones. It can also supply power to a car refrigerator and other 12V devices and even has an emergency LED lamp for nighttime emergencies. “It also has a built-in protection system for overcharging and short circuit, so it is a safe plug and play device for everybody,” says Albert Go, marketing and sales of Blade Autocenter.

Blade is the country’s premier one-stop shop for automotive car parts and accessories. Conveniently located in SM Malls all over the country, Blade provide its patrons with shopping convenience in a safe and air-conditioned environment, with competitively priced accessories and car parts.

LGUs

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

C1

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

MAGIC LAMPS. A vendor sells colorful lampshades made of abaca fiber for P350 each on Apolinar Velez Street in Cagayan de Oro City. Lance Baconguis

Window hour lifting backed Metro Manila roads covered by the suspension of window hours Epifanio delos Santos Avenue C-5 Road Alabang-Zapote Road Roxas Boulevard Rizal Avenue Claro M. Recto Avenue Taft Avenue Del Pan Street President Quirino Avenue Araneta Avenue

Marcos Highway Mac Arthur Highway Shaw Boulevard Ortigas Avenue Quezon Avenue Commonwealth Avenue Magsaysay Boulevard Aurora Boulevard A. Bonifacio Avenue South Luzon Expressway.

Source: MMDA

By Joel E. Zurbano

L

OCAL government officials expressed satisfaction with the slight improvement of traffic on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue following the suspension of the socalled window hours for private vehicles in the number coding scheme.

Among the improvements, based on the initial assessment of the Metro Manila Development, was cutting the travel time of motorists by at least 10 to 15 minutes and compliance of

private motorists with road traffic rules and courtesy along the 23.8-kilometer highway.

Based on the MMDA study of travel speed along Edsa on October 5, the vehicles’ average

speed was 15.84 kilometers per hour from Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City to Monumento in Caloocan City and vice versa, with an average travel time of one hour, 27 minutes and 27 seconds.

On the next day, October 6, vehicles plying the same route had an average speed of 15.91 kph and travel time of one hour, 27 minutes and one second.

On October 7, the average travel speed was 14.63 kph with travel time of 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 38 seconds.

However, during the first day of the trial run activity of the

“window hours” suspension on October 12, the average travel time of vehicles traversing the same route was an hour, 16 minutes and 32 seconds or a decrease of 10 minutes and 55 seconds, the MMDA stated.

It added that the travel speed also improved, with vehicles traveling at 18.09 kph or an increase of 2.25 kph.

On October 13, the travel time along Edsa—to and from Roxas Boulevard and Monumento— decreased by an average of 21 minutes and 17 seconds while

Turn to C2

DSWD honors IP Drivers’ wives ‘Grab’ livelihood skills centenarian Luisa

By Dexter A. See BESAO, Mountain Province— Clad in her best Igorot garb, skin furrowed with time and age, calm, tedious eyes seeming puzzled, she appeared in several programs of a local television network two months ago as the oldest person in Mountain Province at the age of 106.

Luisa “Gayamen” Dengaey Balangyao was then the star of the place that time. She was.

Aling Luisa was born in Ambagiw, Besao probably in January, 1910 and was later reared in Dandanac, Besao before World War II. She got married to Banglate Balangyao of their nearby barangay, Panabungen, where they reside until today. They were blessed with five children who are now all getting old too with their grandchildren.

She became a pride of Panabungen, and the whole town of Besao. Everyone wanted to ask how she reached that age and her reply was good cultural practices and disciplin— she can still cook her food, clear her own backyard and has a little vegetable garden.

Aling Luisa counseled discipl i ne to the child ren and told stories

about the World War II she experienced during the celebration of the IPED Week in Panabungen Elementary School. Seated in a small chair, she looked into the eyes of the children and delivered her favorite chant—“Kapitan Botyog.”

The DSWD-Mountain Province gave Aling Luisa P20,000 for being a centenarian, as Besao municipal personnel, Laylaya Barangay officials led by barangay Captain Edward Laleo and a major broadcast network shared her joy. She giggled and declared that she can now buy milk and food which she did not taste and savored before.

Now everybody wonders how she takes care of herself, living with her disabled daughter after her husband died more than 20 years ago.

Aling Luisa responded “clean living and a disciplined, healthful diet.”

She said her parents advised her to eat the right kind of food at the right eating time.

She still remembers chants, melodies and “day-eng” that she often sings to free stress and weariness. She told of her husband’s care and love for her as a woman and all of it brought her long years of living.

Centenarian Luisa ‘Gayamen’ Dengaey Balangyao

GRAB Philippines, Southeast Asia’s leading transport app, gave various livelihood skills training to over 100 housewives of GrabTaxi and GrabCar drivers, particularly in management of small enterprises.

After the training, participants will participate as independent business entrepreneurs in an upcoming Christmas Noel Bazaar sponsored by Grab from November 18 to 30 at the World Trade Center in Manila.

The skills development program at the Negoskwela Livelihood Training Facility in Quezon City taught women from different parts of Metro Manila family planning, financial literacy and establishing micro businesses.

Khriz Lim, Grab Philippines’ country marketing head, said the initiative was an expansion of Grab’s Driver Academy, a road education program to up-skill Grab drivers on customer service and safety driving.

“We want to make sure that we’re helping not just the drivers but also their families, as such the company has expanded its mission to include the drivers’ own partners—their wives. Initiatives like these are very valu-

GRABBED. The wives of GrabTaxi and GrabCar drivers attended seminars on family planning and financial literacy, and training in livelihood skills in the new Grab Academy.

able as they provide long-term benefits to the family. More than capacity building, the program is meant to underscore the women’s primary contributions to the welfare of the family,” Lim said.

Among others, the training gave participants courses in Pinoy Street Food, Lutuing Pinoy Para Sa Karinderya, Merienda Pang Pinoy, Foot and

Hand Spa with Manicure and Pedicure, Gift Wrapping and Recycled Bags and Other Items.

The program also included tips on practical money management.

“It’s always smart to include financial literacy in any livelihood program. As we promote the growth of our partners’ livelihoods, we must also help them

develop skills like budgeting and saving if ever they start small businesses,” Lim said.

Grab lays claim to being Southeast Asia’s leading ridehailing platform. “We solve critical transportation challenges and make transport freedom a reality for 620-million people in Southeast Asia,” its statement said.

San Fernando City is PCCI hall of famer

By Romeo Dizon SAN FERNANDO—For providing fast and easy services like speedy issuance of permits and other documents, the city became a Hall of Fame awardee in the 42nd Philippines Business And Expo of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Marriot Hotel on Tuesday.

President Rodrigo Duterte

handed the award to City Mayor Edwin Santiago on the last day of the affair.

Joe Alejandro, chairman of the local government unit committee said the city was awarded the Most Business-Friendly City for adopting and institutionalizing innovative and good practices in governance while promoting competitiveness among businessmen.

The city was also adjudged the Most Business Friendly City for consecutive years of 2014 and 2015, and became a Hall of Famer for 2016.

Earlier, Santiago was also named as one of the Presidential Lingkod Bayan awardees in Central Luzon during the Search for Outstanding Public Officials and Employees of the Civil Service Commission for year 2016.

An engineer by profession, he was able to used his experience as transport manager of the San Miguel Corp. in attracting more investments to the city and boosting employment while implementing government policies and programs like plastic free ordinance, ecological solid waste management and the establishment of an organic trading post.

C2

LGUs

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Gatchalian bans Obando trucks San Pascual to Paliwas Road— for repairs.

The “rerouting scheme” allegARBAGE trucks and public vehicles edly being adopted by Obando bound for Obando can no longer municipal government has no coordination with the city govpass through Valenzuela for lack of ernment of Valenzuela, an officoordination with the city hall. cial said.

Gatchalian also said no alterMayor Rex Gatchalian has is- roads accessed by the said vehisued an official order closing the cles—J.P. Rizal from Barangay nate roads were designated.

By Jun David

G

Despite lack of coordination with the city of Valenzuela, garbage truck drivers took Wawang Pulo and Balangkas as alternate routes.

“So we decided to close these streets to block garbage trucks, passenger jeepneys, tricycles and pedicabs coming and going to Obando in the

absence of a supervision permit,” Gatchalian said.

The roads were closed because a massive volume of transport vehicles will pass through a narrow street and create monstrous traffic.

It will pose a danger to the health of the residents and to the safety of school children passing through the area, and affect the livelihood

of the members of the pedicab and tricycle-operator-driver associations due to the entry of other public vehicles.

The city government will put up barricades post traffic enforcers at the boundary of Valenzuela and Obando, Bulacan to implement the closure order, Gatchalian said.

IN BRIEF NGO demands participation in BuB A NON-GOVERNMENT organization has decried an assistance program of the budget and interior departments for discouraging civil society participation in local governance and budgeting from the bottom-up budgeting program.

In a statement, BUB Beyond 2016 Caucus decried what they called the backward “policies and guidelines for the implementation of Assistance to the Disadvantaged Municipalities Program, as indicated in the joint memorandum circular released by budget and interior deparments last month.

It claimed that “the ADM Menu also limited the types of projects to Water System Projects, Evacuation Facility, Local Access Roads, Small Water Impounding, and Sanitation Facilities.”

QCPD cars get dashboard cameras

TUNNEL. A giant water pipe is installed by Maynilad Water Services Inc. workers across the Pasong Buaya River from Daang Hari in Imus City in Cavite on October 14. PNA

‘Build toilets in Central Luzon’ Munti briefs parents on DRR

By Ferdie G. Domingo

THE local government of Muntinlupa has intensified its information campaign on families living in the areas transected by the West Valley Fault identified by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi ordered his disaster risk management council and social services department to launch a disaster preparedness and West Valley Fault briefing for parents program last October 18 at the Muntinlupa Resiliency Building, Tunasan.

Fresnedi said he aimed to familiarize parents with risk reduction plan in anticipation of calamities, specifically a 7.2-magnitude earthquake expected to originate in the local fault line.

The IEC campaign will be conducted in the following areas: Muntinlupa Resiliency Center, Tunasan on October 1821; Southville III, Poblacion on October 25; Dioko Pavillion, Cupang from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

The West Valley Fault cuts across eight out of nine barangays in Muntinlupa, namely Sucat, Buli, Cupang, Alabang, Bayanan, Putatan, Poblacion and Tunasan.

The city promotes disaster resiliency by giving capacity training of personnel and constituents to protect the city from natural and man-made hazards by strict enforcement of safety measures.

Window hour...

From C1 the travel speed increased by an average of 5.16 kph.

“Considering the study done during the trial run of the No Window Hours, we expect that the numbers will improve more in the following days,” said MMDA officer-in-charge Thomas Orbos.

With this improvement, Orbos said, members of the Metro Manila Council, the policy-making body of the MMDA, agreed to extend the window hour suspension to one hour from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. to 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

The MMC, which composed of the 17 mayors in Metro Manila, also signed a resolution expanding the coverage of the traffic scheme to at least 15 main roads, most of them circumfer-

CABANATUAN CITY—Central Luzon may have produced six out of the country’s 16 presidents but the region, the country’s largest plain and third largest region, remains dirt-poor with 244,593 poor households, some 67,489 of whom have no toilets.

The home region of Presidents Manuel Quezon (Aurora), Ramon Magsaysay (Zambales), Diosdado Macapagal (Pampanga), Corazon Aquino (Tarlac),

Gloria Arroyo (Pampanga) and Benigno Aquino III (Tarlac) has 25,600 households with no access to safe water and 51,557 without electricity.

This in spite of the fact that the combined terms of the six former chief executives span 47 years, including the 19 years of Quezon as Commonwealth president and the nine years of Arroyo.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development reported that in Tarlac, which produced the mother-and-son Cora-

zon and Benigno III, there are 41,124 poor households, 11,988 of which are without toilets.

In Pampanga, 10,432 of 47,831 poor households have no toilets.

This despite the nine years of Arroyo and the four years of her father Macapagal.

In Magsaysay’s Zambales, 6,360 of 18,430 poor households have no toilets while in Aurora, Quezon’s hometown, 2,797 of 9,609 poor households have no toilets.

The report was contained in the “Listahanan” program of the DSWD in the region.

THE 36-member Quezon City Council passed on Monday a measure requiring the installation of dash board cameras in all police vehicles.

The ordinance, principally authored by Councilor Gian Carlo Sotto, underscored the need to equip law enforcers with state-of-the-art monitoring devices to help beef up the city’s anti-crime drive.

Mayor Herbert Bautista vowed to invest P150 million in the capability upgrade of the QCPD and Bureau of Fire Protection.

The city is also exploring the possibility of providing each of the Quezon City Police District’s 12 police stations with a command center for inter-operability with other networks.

“Plans are also under way for the construction of additional police stations in Quezon City to ensure police presence in every corner of the city,” the council said. Rio N. Araja

Slay of anti-mining activists slammed DAVAO CITY—Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez condemned the killings of two environment advocates in Davao Region last week.

Lopez was convinced that the killing of Joselito Pasaporte and Jimmy Saypan was related to their advocacy to stop the mining in their respective areas.

Pasaporte was killed on October 13 while Saypan was shot dead on October 10 in Compostela Valley Province.

Lopez added that the mining companies in Mindanao are not the responsible miners they claimed to be in a gathering here in the city.

Meanwhile, the 10th Infantry Division denied that they were behind the killing of Saypan and Pasaporte. F. Pearl A. Gajunera

Asian HR confab set in Ortigas

HIKERS.

THE 43rd Asian Regional Training and Development Organization International Conference will let participants engage with experts through forums, sessions and talks, and with one another to gain different perspectives, organizers said.

The conference takes place at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in the Ortigas Center on November 16 to 18. The overall theme of the discussions is “Engaging, Enabling, and Enriching Global Leaders.”

ITD World Philippines country head and ARTDO president Serely Geraldine Alcaraz said topics such as “Engaging the Global Workforce, Enriching Global Talents, and Enabling Global Organizations” will help participants overcome organizational and individual challenges.

Those interested may e-mail itdmanila@itdworld.com, call (632) 887-7428, visit www.itdworld.com, or the event website, www.artdointernational.org.

Four men carry a motorcycle along a highway destroyed by heavy rains brought by Typhoon ‘Sarika’ (or ‘Karen’) in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija on October 16. AFP

CdO mulls rooftop solar farm on Cogon market CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— The city government announced that it is studying the viability of a one-megawatt solar power plant on top of the city’s biggest public market, the Cogon Market.

The Cogon Market building

stands on a one-hectare land and its concrete roof may support a solar farm.

City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, chairman of the committee in economic enterprise, said the committee is studying the technical viability and structural integrity of the roof.

City Mayor Oscar Moreno

lauded the tapping of potential renewable energy.

“I will support the project that will gain revenue benefits for the residents,” Moreno said.

Moreno also urged the CEED to provide orderly and clean market for sellers and buyers after the approval of additional funding as part of the Cogon

Market rehabilitation program.

Nacaya said the proposal is still calendared at the plenary session but he felt confident that the project will prosper despite its very technical requirements.

He said that the Cagayan de Oro Power and Light Co. is providing technical support in determining the viability of the

solar power plant.

Cepalco is the first power distribution company in the country to construct, maintain and operate a solar power plant, albeit at an experimental stage with just an MW of power.

“It can be done, it is viable, we have the technology, we have the experts,” Nacaya said.

ential and radial roads.

“Because they realized the [positive] effect of no window, they agreed to come up with the scheme covering the national roads, circumferential roads and radial areas,” said Orbos.

The 15 main roads are Rizal Avenue, Claro M. Recto Avenue, Taft Avenue, Del Pan Street, President Quirino Avenue, Araneta Avenue, Marcos Highway, MacArthur Highway, Shaw Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue, Magsaysay Boulevard, Aurora Boulevard, A. Bonifacio Avenue and South Luzon Expressway.

The MMC initially approved that the areas covered by the scheme are EDSA, Circumferential Road-5 (C-5 Road), AlabangZapote Road, Roxas Boulevard, and in the cities of Mandalu-

yong, Makati, and Las Piñas.

More than 3,000 drivers were apprehended and warned during the three-day dry run.

The MMDA official also urges the motoring public to cooperate and comply with the government agencies’ initiatives and measures in the following months to ease the traffic situation in Metro Manila.

The Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program, or the number coding scheme, was devised to keep vehicles out of major thoroughfares on certain days based on the last digit of the license plate.

The system corresponds to 1 and 2 for Monday, 3 and 4 for Tuesday, 5 and 6 for Wednesday, 7 and 8 for Thursday, and 9 and 0 for Friday.

The window hours refer to the five-hour (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) period, but removing this

means the vehicles covered by the Number Coding Scheme may not pass Edsa and other major thoroughfares.

The suspension of no window hour, which was fully implemented last Monday until January next year, was the idea of the Interagency Council on Traffic (I-ACT), wherein the MMDA is also a member, to address the worsening traffic situation in the metropolis, especially during the holiday season.

Violators are penalized with P300 and be given citation tickets.

Removing the window, according to I-ACT, will reduce the number of vehicles on Metro Manila’s roads by about 20 percent.

I-ACT officials led by PoliceHighway Patrol Group commander Antonio Gardiola Jr. advised private motorists to be affected by the scheme to use the

17 Mabuhay Lanes as alternate routes to avoid apprehension.

The Mabuhay Lanes is now the subject of an intensified campaign by the composite team to clear the roads of illegally parked vehicles and other road obstacles such as basketball courts, illegal vendors and illegal terminal.

The 17 Mabuhay Lanes are alternative routes to Edsa. These cover the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati, Manila, and Quezon City. It also include secondary roads going to shopping destinations in Metro Manila such as Baclaran in Parañaque, Greenhills in San Juan, Divisoria, and Carriedo in Manila.

The government has so far apprehended more than 6,000 illegally parked vehicles all over Metro Manila since July.

Orbos said the I-ACT still needed adjustment to enforce the

policy, particularly on Edsa, and among them was the opening of secondary streets linked to the 23.8-kilometer road.

“We have to clear illegal parking. We are willing to open more secondary roads to make it more passable,” he said.

The I-ACT is considering the areas of Connecticut, Boni Avenue, JP Rizal and Katipunan as among the additional alternate routes for private motorists.

MMDA officials admit that the increasing number of private vehicles is the major cause of the traffic jams along Edsa.

They say more than 6,800 vehicles are using Edsa per hour in one direction higher than the artery’s capacity of 6,000 vehicles per hour.

The agency says about 6,000 cars are sold in the country each month, and that 90 percent of the vehicles using Edsa are private.

By Lance Baconguis

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

Manila

World

TODAY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

C3

EU leaders to get tougher on Russia B

RUSSELS―Divided EU leaders will seek a tougher strategy to deal with Russia at a summit in Brussels Thursday amid threats of sanctions over Moscow’s involvement in Syria.

have always remained united and we must continue to do so,” EU President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.

The timing of the Aleppo truce to coincide with the summit reflects how the Kremlin has long played on the divisions in Europe.

The split is mainly between eastern states looking nervously at the bear on their border and countries led by Italy and Greece that fear the loss of a key trade partner.

It was Italian premier Matteo Renzi who asked back in May for a debate on Russia that was not under time pressure from a sanctions decision, but that has now been largely overtaken by events.

The EU leaders are to issue a statement saying the bloc “strongly condemns the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo,” and to call for an immediate halt to hostilities, according to a draft obtained by AFP. “Sadly we could be looking at a

quite different discussion had it not been for the catastrophe of the last few weeks and the Russian escalation,” a senior European diplomat said.

But they will fall well short of endorsing new sanctions against Russia over Syria despite such calls from Washington, London and Berlin.

A German government official said: “This summit, as Tusk put it, will not take decisions, meaning that it will not take any options off the table.”

The EU currently has wide-ranging economic sanctions in force against Russia over the Ukraine conflict, which were imposed after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over rebelheld eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The leaders are due to discuss their renewal for another six months at their next summit in December and there had been pressure earlier in the year for the bloc to scale them back or drop them. AFP

Standard

Republic of the Philippines

REGULATORY COMMISSION TODAY ENERGY San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE SALE OF VARIOUS SUB-TRANSMISSION LINES/ASSETS OF THE NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION (TRANS CO) TO THE CONSORTIUM OF VISAYAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. (VECO) AND CEBU II ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (CEBECO II) ERC CASE NO. 2016-145 RC NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION (TRANSCO) AND THE CONSORTIUM OF VISAYAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. (VECO) AND CEBU II ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (CEBECO II), Applicant.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: On 28 June 2016, National Transmission Corp. (TRANSCO) and the consortium of Visayan Electric Co., Inc. (VECO) and Cebu II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CEBECO II) [hereinafter, “Consortium”] filed their joint Application for the approval of the sale of various sub-transmission lines/assets of TRANSCO to the Consortium.

In support of the said Application, TRANSCO, VECO, and CEBECO II alleged the following: 1.

TRANSCO is a government-owned and controlled corporation created and existing by virtue of R.A. No. 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPlRA), with principal office address at the TRANSCO Main Building, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City.

2.

VECO is an electric distribution utility (DU) organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office address in J. Panis Street, Banilad, Cebu City, Philippines. It is a duly authorized distribution utility of electric power in the municipalities of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Consolacion and Lilo-an and the Cities of Naga, Talisay, Cebu and Mandaue, all in the province of Cebu, pursuant to its franchise under Republic Act No. 9339.

3.

CEBECO II is an electric cooperative (EC) duly organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office address in Malingin, Bogo City, Cebu, Philippines.

4.

On 19 January 2016, VECO and CEBECOII entered into an Amended Consortium / Co-Ownership Agreement forming a Consortium for the specific purpose of jointly acquiring, operating and maintaining TRANSCO’s sub-transmission assets subject matter of the instant Joint Application. Attached as Annex “A” is a copy of the Amended Consortium/Co-Ownership Agreement.

5.

By virtue of Section 8 of the EPlRA, TRANSCO assumed the electrical transmission functions of the National Power Corporation, and the responsibility of the latter for the planning, construction and centralized operation and maintenance of high voltage transmission facilities, including grid interconnections and ancillary services. .

6.

Section 8 of the EPlRA and Rule 6, Section 8 (e) of the EPIRA’s Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) also mandate the segregation of the transmission and sub-transmission functions and assets for transparency and disposal, and authorize TRANSCO to negotiate for, and to transfer such sub-transmission assets (STAs) and facilities to qualified distribution utilities (DUs).

7.

Pursuant thereto, this Honorable Commission promulgated the “Guidelines on the Sale and Transfer of the TRANSCO’s Subtransmission Assets and the Franchising of Qualified Consortiums” (ERC Guidelines) dated 17 October 2003, as amended by Resolution NO.3, Series of 2005 dated 17March 2005 which set forth among others, the standards to distinguish TRANSCO’s transmission assets from its sub transmission assets and establish the approval process prior to the final sale and transfer of STAs to DUs.

8.

Consistent with the ERC Guidelines, TRANSCO adopted its own Guidelines on the Sale of Subtransmission Assets (TRANSCO Guidelines) [Annex “B”] as approved by TRANSCO Board Resolution No. TC-2003-067 dated 28 November 2003 (Annex “C”), as further amended by TRANSCO Board Resolution No.TC-2004-009 dated 16 March 2004 (Annex “D”).

9.

On 16 July 2011, this Honorable Commission issued Resolution No. 15, Series of 2011 entitled “A Resolution Adopting the Amended Rules for the Approval of the Sale and Transfer of TRANSCO’s Subtransmission Assets and the Acquisition by Qualified Consortiums.”

10.

In accordance with the aforesaid ERC Guidelines, and based on a thorough evaluation conducted by TRANSCO, it was determined that the Compostela-Consolacion 69 kV line is a sub-transmission asset. Copies of the Report regarding the nature of the asset and List of STA/s for sale to the Consortium are attached as Annexes “E”, “F” respectively.

11.

On 26 December 2012, TRANSCO and the Consortium concluded a Contract to Sell (Annex “G”) for the acquisition of the CompostelaConsolacion 69 kV line for the purchase price of Twenty Seven Million Eight Hundred Twenty Nine Thousand One Hundred Seventy Six and 48/100, Philippine currency (PhP27,829,176-48), which includes the twelve percent value-added tax (12% VAT) of Two Million Nine Hundred Eighty One Thousand Six Hundred Ninety Seven and 48/100, Philippine currency (PhP2,981,697-48). The length of the line indicated in the said Contract to Sell is 16.70 kilometers.

12.

After subsequent verification with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), and based on the revised Single Line Diagram (Annex “H”), it was established that the length of the line is 14.50 kilometers and not 16.70 kilometers, thereby necessitating the reduction of the purchase price.

13.

On 17 March 2016, TRANSCO and the Consortium concluded an Amended Contract to Sell (Annex “I”), incorporating the reduced purchase price from that of PhP27,829,176-48 to that of Eighteen Million Two Hundred Six Thousand One Hundred Sixty Four and 40/100, Philippine currency (PhP18,206,164-40) plus 12% VAT of Two Million One Hundred Eighty Four Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty Nine and 73/100, Philippine currency (PhP2,184,739.73), or a total of Twenty Million Three Hundred Ninety Thousand Nine Hundred Four and 13/100, Philippine currency (PhP20,390,904.13), net of adjustments and deductions, which the Consortium shall pay in cash or in the form of Manager’s or Cashier’s check within sixty (60) calendar days from notice of the Honorable Commission’s approval of this Joint Application.

14.

Said purchase price is based on the 2014 Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) rolled forward valuation (Annex “J”).

15.

HUMAN TOWERS. Spanish participants form Singapore’s first Unesco world heritage human towers during the Catalonia-Barcelona and Spain Week at Sentosa’s island resort in Singapore on October 20, 2016. The event runs from October 18 to 21. AFP

TRANSCO has clearly established that the Consortium satisfies the financial and technical capability criteria under Article IV of the ERC Guidelines in acquiring, operating, maintaining, upgrading and expanding the subject STAs.

16.

Lemurs find refuge in private sanctuary

In support of the above allegations are the following relevant documents: a.

Financial Qualification Evaluation of VECO and CEBECO II, respectively (Annexes “K” and “K-1”); b.

Technical Qualification Evaluation of VECO and CEBECO II, respectively (Annexes “L” and “L-1”); c.

Audited Financial Statements of VECOas of 31 December 2013 and 31 December 2014 (Annex “M”); and, d.

Audited Financial Statements of CEBECO II as of 31 December 2013 and 31 December 2014 (Annex “N”).

17.

Finally, applicants respectfully submit the following documents in compliance with the Honorable Commission’s requirements: a.

Draft Deed of Absolute Sale (Annex “O”); b.

Franchise Description (Annex “P”); c.

List of Connected Distribution Utilities and Directly Connected Entities (Annex “Q”); d.

VECO’ Secretary’s Certificate dated 22 October 2015 (Annex “R”); e.

CEBECO II Board Resolution No. 119, Series of 2015 (Annex “S”); and, f.

CEBECO II Board Resolution No. 103, Series of 2012 (Annex “T”).

18.

The proposed sale has satisfied all of the requirements and criteria set by the EPIRA and its IRR, as well as the ERC and TRANSCO’s Guidelines on the Sale of Subtransmission Assets.

19.

The approval by this Honorable Commission of the instant Joint Application shall pave the way for the attainment of a reformed electricity industry under the EPIRA, which would ultimately best serve the interest of the consuming public.

While Russia and Syria began a brief “humanitarian pause” in the devastated city, the European Union is set to “strongly condemn” Moscow and call for a permanent end to hostilities.

The leaders of France and Germany warned after talks with Vladimir Putin on the eve of the summit that they could not rule out sanctions over the carnage.

“Everything that can constitute a threat can be useful,” President Francois Hollande said at a press conference following the meeting in Berlin, while Chancellor Angela Merkel added: “We cannot remove this option.”

They did, however, say there had been progress on the Ukraine

FORT-DAUPHIN, Madagascar―Threatened by habitat loss and hunting, Madagascar’s lemurs, a critically endangered species, are finding refuge in a private sanctuary on this vast Indian Ocean island.

At the Nahampoana game reserve, one of the wide-eyed creatures―the island’s signature primate―appears between long bamboo stems, while a little further down three others play in the trees on a riverbank.

Nearly two decades ago, this 50-hectare former French colonial garden was turned into a privately run game reserve.

It is now home to 150 lemurs.

“Bamboo lemurs come here naturally, because it’s quiet and they are protected in the reserve, and the numbers are increasing,” Leonard Dauphin, the sanctuary’s supervisor, told AFP. There are around 100 known species on Madagascar, but only six are found in the park, among them the iconic ring-tailed lemurs which are probably the most widely recognized.

It is only on this island that lemurs appear in the wild, having evolved separately from their cousins the African ape over millions of years, and in the grounds of the reserve they roam freely among the frogs, turtles and crocodiles also living there.

The main threat facing Mada-

crisis that first plunged relations into the deep freeze two years ago, and over which the EU still has sanctions in force against the Kremlin.

The 28 EU leaders will discuss their long-term Russia policy over dinner at the summit, but cracks over how tough to be on Russia remain evident.

Brexit will also rear its head with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the summit table for the first time, while the bloc’s divisions will also be on display over the migration crisis and a troubled trade deal with Canada.

“Our main asset in dealing with Russia remains our unity. To date, regardless of our differences we

gascar’s lemurs is deforestation, which is one of the most serious environmental issues facing Africa’s largest island.

“Before, it was paradise. The clouds would flirt with the mountains because of the forests,” says Gauthier, a park guide pointing to Saint-Louis, the area’s highest mountain.

“Now it’s a desert. The trees are being cut everyday.”

For nearly two decades, Nahampoana reserve has survived thanks to sponsor Aziz Badouraly, who owns a travel agency in the nearby town of Fort-Dauphin.

Around 3,000 tourists visit Nahampoana reserve every year -but the numbers are not enough to keep it afloat, and Badouraly says it needs help from the government.

“We would like the state to help us more, or at least build a good access road from the city to the reserve,” he says.

But authorities on the island, where nine out of 10 people live below the poverty line, can barely spare any funds to implement national biodiversity conservation and protection programs.

Julio Razafindramaro Pierrot, who governs the southeastern Anosy region where the sanctuary is situated, acknowledges the problems caused by the widespread practice of destroying forest to make way for crops, but says the state’s hands are tied. AFP

University of the Philippines Manila The Health Sciences Center BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE 3

2nd Floor, Joaquin Gonzales Hall, Interactive Learning Center (ILC) Room University of the Philippines Manila P. Faura St. corner Ma. Orosa St., Manila Telefax # 525-43-22 / 526-22-75

INVITATION TO BID 1.

The University of the Philippines Manila through its Bids and Awards Committee III (BAC 3), invites suppliers/manufacturer/distributors/ contractors to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder projects:

Name of Project: Requesting Unit/Location Approved Budget for the Contract: Bid Documents Contract Duration: PR No.: Source of Fund:

2.

Supply of Various IT Equipment-REBID College of Public Health Php4,019,900.00 Php5,000.00 120 days CPH2016_018 Reprogram Fund

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last two (2) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-qualification of the lowest calculated responsive bid shall be conducted.

3.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR).

4.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Activities Issuance of Bid Documents Pre-bid Conference Opening of Bids Bid Evaluation Post-qualification Issuance of Notice of Award

Schedule Starting October 21, 2016 November 8, 2016 – 1:30 p.m.

Within two (2) weeks after the opening Within one (1) week after the bid evaluation Seven (7) days after Post-qualification

5.

Bid Documents will be made available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount stated above for each project to the U.P. Manila Cashier’s Office.

6.

UP Manila assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid.

7.

The University of the Philippines Manila reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive any formality or defects therein, or to accept such as may be considered most advantageous to UP Manila.

8.

All inquiries shall be directed to the BAC III Secretariat at tel. no. 525-4322 / 526-2275. This is also posted at the UP Manila Official Web: http://www. upm.edu.ph/procurement.

(SGD) DR. TRISTAN NATHANIEL C. RAMOS Chair, Bids and Awards Committee III

PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is most respectfully prayed of this Commission that the instant Joint Application for the approval of the sale of TRANSCO’s sub-transmission assets in favour of the Consortium of VECO and CEBECO II under the terms provided in the Amended Contract to Sell dated 17 March 2016, be APPROVED. Applicants also pray for other just and equitable relief.

The Commission has set the Application for determination of compliance with jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, Pre-trial Conference, and presentation of evidence on 09 November 2016 (Wednesday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at CEBECO II’s Danao Area Office, Tuburan Sur, Danao City, Cebu.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the 2006 Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the Application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before Applicants conclude the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Application may request from the Applicants that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing.

Applicants are hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the Application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the Application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, ANA, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA Energy Regulatory Commission, this 20th day of September 2016 in Pasig City.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff Office of the Chairman and CEO

(SGD) ARLENE A. SAMANIEGO, M.D. Vice-Chancellor For Administration MS-OCT. 21, 2016)

(MS-OCT. 21 & 28, 2016)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

C4

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

World

Trump in no pledge to honor Clinton win L

AS VEGAS― Turning his final presidential debate appearance into an unprecedented assault on US political convention, Donald Trump refused Wednesday to say that he would respect a Hillary Clinton victory in November.

As the last head-to-head encounter of the toxic 2016 campaign descended into mud-slinging, the Republican mogul doubled down on claims that his Democratic rival’s supporters plan to rig the vote.

And when asked whether he would commit to recognizing the result of the November 8 vote no matter what, the reality television star said: “I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?” Clinton declared herself “appalled” by what she said was an attack on 240 years of US democracy.

And, quoting her former rival Bernie Sanders, she called Trump the “most dangerous person to run for president in the modern history of America.”

Trump had come into the third televised debate of the 2016 campaign in Las Vegas looking to restore hope to his campaign just 20 days before Election Day. Dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, trailing in the polls and losing ground in key swing states, the 70-year-old was looking to capitalize on his last major chance to woo wavering voters.

“The media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing,” Trump said, referring to reports citing women accusing him of sexual assault, which he said were “fiction” and drummed up by Team Clinton.

He alleged that millions of fake voters had been registered and that the 68-year-old Clinton should not even have been allowed to run because she mishandled classified State Department emails.

Even some Republican lawmakers were outraged. Senator Jeff Flake said Trump was “beyond the pale” and onetime presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham said if Trump loses, it will be “because he failed as a candidate.”

Democrats called on Republican leaders to repudiate “Trump’s utter contempt for our democracy,” as Nevada Senator Harry Reid put it.

“One of our hallmarks has always been we accept the outcome of our

OPERATION. Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters stand in an area near the town of Bashiqa, some 25 kilometers northeast of Mosul, as smoke billows on October 20, 2016, during an operation against Islamic State group jihadists to retake the main hub city. Kurdish forces launched a fresh push against the areas held by the Islamic State group in Mosul, pressing an offensive to retake the jihadists’ last major stronghold. AFP

Drought, hunger add to South Sudan’s woes AWEIL, South Sudan―A serious food crisis in the north of South Sudan is reaching critical levels, as a biting drought across much of east Africa serves up even more woes for the troubled country.

In Northern Bahr Al Gazal it is not the incessant cycles of violence wreaking havoc elsewhere in the country that concerns locals most, but the lack of rain and a deep economic crisis.

At a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in the town of Aweil, Lucia Adeng holds her three-year-old son Wek Wol Wek, his breathing shallow and rapid and his skin paper thin around his emaciated arms.

“It’s not always a total lack of food, but there is definitely a shortage. Sometimes we have food at home, and sometimes we don’t,” she says.

Several children like him lie silent in their mothers’ arms, their eyes downcast, as they are poked and prodded by doctors.

The clinic is currently recording about 60 cases of malnutrition a week, according to MSF. Out in the fields, farmer Tong Deng looks miserably at his damaged sorghum crops and tiny yield from the lack of rains. For others, when the rains came, it was too much, with sudden massive downpours in August causing flooding which also ruined their crops.

“Our harvest has been low because during the planting period the hunger situation was very severe for us and we were not able to cultivate much land. We were hungry,” Deng.

“At the same time, what we cultivated suffered a dry spell which didn’t allow a good germination, and later the few crops were affected by the sorghum midge.”

At the local market, several stalls are closed and offerings are meager.

The World Food Program warns that as many as 4.8 million people―about 40 percent of the

country’s population―were going hungry and that the situation would only get worse.

The Famine Early Warning System Network (Fews Net) last month said some households were already at the “catastrophic” famine level 5, meaning “starvation, death, and destitution are evident.”

Others were going several days without a meal, placing them in “emergency” level.

With roads from Sudan blocked to trade goods, and those to Uganda fraught with danger due to clashes between government and rebel forces, the inflation in prices of certain cereals is as much as 1,000 percent in some states, according to the National Statistics Bureau.

A depreciation of the South Sudanese pound has also hit hard.

The Food and Agricultural Organization says that more than 70,000 people from the region have migrated to Sudan to escape the harsh conditions.

In other parts of the country, it is fighting between opposition forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar and his rival President Salva Kiir that has displaced hundreds of thousands, severely impacting the cycle of planting and harvesting.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011.

According to the reports of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), food insecurity has increased 500 percent since 2012.

The country descended into war over the political rivalry between Machar and Kiir in 2013, and a fragile peace deal signed in 2015 is in tatters, with fighting erupting again in July and a surge of violence in recent weeks.

The Pacific warming El Niño caused one of the worst droughts in decades in 2015 across eastern and southern Africa and the 2016 rainy season has been slow to start, meaning the crisis could drag on for several months. AFP

New map to help explain galaxies SYDNEY―A new superdetailed hydrogen map of the Milky Way could help explain the mystery of how galaxies form, Australian and German scientists behind the project said Thursday.

The decade-long HI4PI project, which used the world’s largest steerable radio telescopes, provides an in-depth view of all the hydrogen gas in and around the galaxy that contains our solar system.

“We’ve basically put together a very complex map of hydrogen gases associated with our own Milky Way,” Australian team leader Naomi McClureGriffiths, a professor from the Australian National University, told AFP. “Hydrogen is the most basic element, it’s what everything is made from, and what we have achieved will help us understand better how galaxies form.”

The study used telescopes in Parkes, Australia and Effelsberg, Germany to map neutral hydrogen, the most abundant element in space and the main component of stars and galaxies.

It revealed for the first time the fine details of structures between stars in the Milky Way. “Very small gas clouds appear to have helped form stars in the Milky Way over billions of years,” McClure-Griffiths said, adding that her research group was now using the data map to answer bigger questions about the Milky Way and neighbouring galaxies.

“How does the Milky Way get the new gas it requires to continue forming stars? And where are all of the small dwarf galaxies that must surround our Milky Way? The next steps will be exciting,” she said.

University of Bonn astronomer Juergen Kerp said the project required more than a million individual observations and about 10 billion individual data points, significantly improving on previous work on the issue.

Although neutral hydrogen is fairly easy to detect with modern radio telescopes, mapping the whole sky was a significant achievement, he added.

“Radio ‘noise’ caused by mobile phones and broadcast stations pollute the faint emissions coming from stars and galaxies in the universe,” said Kerp.

“So sophisticated computer algorithms have to be developed to clean each individual data point of this unwanted human interference.

“Next to the thousands of observing hours an even larger amount of time has been spent creating the final scientific data product released today.”

Staveley-Smith said the new map would help with future work to be undertaken by the Square Kilometer Array super radio telescope, which is expected to be partially operational from 2020.

Australia and South Africa were picked in 2012 to jointly host the SKA project, billed as being 50 times more powerful than present radio telescopes.

It will be used to explore exploding stars, black holes, dark energy and traces of the universe’s origins some 14 billion years ago. AFP

Another failed N. Korea missile test

NO ROOM. People sit on top of a truck heavily piled with corn-stalks as they head for Mogadishu from Afgooye on October 19, 2016. At least four police officers were killed on October 18 when a suicide bomb attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into a police station before fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group subsequently stormed the area, killing at least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians. AFP

SEOUL―North Korea on Thursday conducted what appeared to be its second failed test in a week of a powerful medium-range missile that experts warn could be operationally deployed as early as next year.

South Korean and US military monitors said the missile―believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan―exploded shortly after take-off at around 6:30 am Pyongyang time (2200 GMT Wednesday).

The attempted launch came just hours before the start of the third US presidential debate―a timely reminder of the challenge North Korea’s fast-moving nuclear weapons program will pose to the next occupant of the White House.

It also followed a meeting in Washington between the US and South Korean defense and foreign ministers, at which US Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that

any use of nuclear weapons by the North would be “met with an effective and overwhelming response”.

Kerry also confirmed the imminent deployment of a sophisticated US missile-defense system in the South to deter the growing North Korean missile threat.

It was the second failed launch in less than a week of the Musudan, which has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers.

The lower estimate covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

“Our military strongly condemns North Korea’s continued illegal provocative actions and are fully prepared for the possibilities of further provocation,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The last Musudan test on Sat-

urday was denounced by the UN Security Council which is currently debating a fresh sanctions resolution against Pyongyang over its fifth nuclear test carried out last month.

The missile has now been tested eight times this year―but only once successfully.

A Musudan launched in June flew 400 kilometers into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and was hailed by leader Kim Jong-Un as proof of the North’s ability to strike US bases across “the Pacific operation theater”.

Despite the string of failures, some experts believe the missile is moving swiftly towards operational deployment.

According to John Schilling, an aerospace engineer specializing in rocket propulsion, the aggressive launch schedule, while multiplying the risk of failure, also increases the information gleaned from each test. AFP

Life

The butanding, or whale shark, is one of the natural wonders and tourist attractions that lures visitors to Donsol, Sorsogon.

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

DESTINATIONS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

D1

A showcase of Bicol’s best

T

HE Bicol Region put its best foot forward once again as the OK Bikol Association Inc., and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Tourism (DOT), held the 20th Orgullo Kan Bikol (OKB) -Gayon Bicol Trade and Tourism Fair at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall on Oct. 6-9.

According to DOT regional director Maria Ong-Ravanilla, the expo was Bicol region’s vehicle in developing homegrown entrepreneurs, especially those targeting the Manila market for the first time.

A total of 108 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and seven Institutional exhibitors took part in this year’s edition.

Started in 1996 as Orgullo Kan Bikol (Bikol’s Pride), it is the longest running regional trade and travel fair which showcases the distinct products and tourist spots in the region now considered among the country’s fastest growing regions.

It displayed the region’s cottage industries and generated some P200 million in actual receipts, excluding business transactions consummated after the show.

With the support of DTI, producers have developed world-class packaging for export quality processed food products. DTI also supports MSMEs in product development by tapping local designers to assist merchants in creating new designs for their handicrafts.

The DOT joined the trade fair in 2001, to synergize trade and tourism.

OKB-Gayon Bicol has been supported by the various provincial, city

CHOOSE PILI. Bicol's pili nut is transformed into many different products marketed locally and internationally.

Fashion and home accessories are among the One Town, One Product specialties of local government units

and municipal local government units that display their One Town, One Product (OTOP) specialties, such as abaca products, home furnishings, fashion accessories, health and wellness concoctions, pili-based candies, and novelty items.

According to Ra vanilla, the fair also featured processed food and beverage products certified Halal by the Islamic Da’wah Council of the Philippines, making them more competitive in the global market.

The expo highlighted Bicol’s popular and new travel destinations. In recent years, Bicol has posted 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 into the Almasor (Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon) Tourism Alliance, and the Camarines Norte-Camarines Sur-Catanduanes (3C) Tourism Link.

Spicing up the four-day fair were 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.

Newest reality series to watch HONG KONG Tourism Board (HKTB) has partnered with Endemol Shine Group, the global production powerhouse behind Big Brother and MasterChef, and with Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), operator of the largest bouquet of pan-Asian channels dedicated to Asian entertainment, for a new structured reality series entitled The Ultimate BROcation.

The show is exclusively on CTE’s top-rated action entertainment channel, KIX. It is a structured reality series set in one of the most vibrant and trendy cities in the world, Hong Kong. The five-episode series follows the adventures of four celebrities from four different Southeast Asian countries as they revel in a five-day, all-expense paid vacation, tailor-made for “bros”. This will be the vacation of every guy’s fantasy, filled with parties, exhilarating adventures, fantastic food, beautiful ladies, and some solid male bonding. The only catch is that the “bros” have to let it all be filmed.

Casting was done in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, for wellknown male celebrities who have distinct personalities, and an appetite for adventure. Production is in Hong Kong.

“We are excited to partner with Hong Kong Tourism Board to bring this fun and unique show to life.

The Ultimate BROcation will follow our fearsome foursome as they go about their adventures in Hong Kong, showcasing the city as the ultimate guy’s playground,” said Andy Chang, senior vice president of Advertising Sales, Marketing and Original Productions, Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

Betty Tsui, vice president, Programming – KIX and Thrill, Celestial Tiger Entertainment, says, “Showcasing all of the exciting possibilities Hong Kong has to offer, The Ultimate BROcation will be an ideal show for the action-loving and adventure-seeking KIX audience.”

Four male celebrities from different Southeast Asian countries embark on a five-day, all-expense paid vacation in the vibrant and trendy Hong Kong

“The Ultimate BROcation is an aspirational new reality format,” said Fotini Paraskakis, managing director of Asian Operations at Endemol Shine Group. “With four celebrities from four countries, set against the magnificent backdrop of one of the world’s greatest cities we truly believe this has all the right ingredients to be a hit.”

“We are glad to be part of the Celestial Tiger Entertainment and Endemol Shine Group team to produce The Ultimate BROcation. Hong Kong is Southeast Asians’ destination of choice for its great dining options, shopping experiences, parties and thrilling adventures. And with four ce-

Hong Kong's attractions and destinations prove that it can be a guy's ultimate playground

lebrities from four different countries with very distinct cultures gathering in Hong Kong, we believe that this series would be able to bring new insights and inspire the audience to create their very own experiences when they visit Hong Kong,” said Simon Wong, Regional Director, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Southeast Asia.

With a slate of first and exclusive actionpacked programs, KIX has become one of the most watched channels across Asia. For the first half of 2016, KIX HD was the no.1 English general entertainment channel in Malaysia, and one of the top 3 regional English general entertainment channels in the Philippines.

Dining options, shopping experiences and thrilling adventures make HK one of the world's greatest cities

The 20th Orgullo Kan Bikol trade fair showcases Bicol region's indigenous products and travel destinations

E-Visa (online Visa) to Taiwan THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of China (Taiwan) has announced Philippine passport holders who wish to travel to Taiwan are now eligible to apply for an E-visa (online visa).

This simplified visa policy will facilitate the processing and save applicant’s time, traffic hassles, and economic cost. The applicant doesn’t need to physically appear in the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines.

Philippine passport holders who intend to visit Taiwan for the purpose of tourism, business, visiting relatives, attending international conference, and participating in sport events can apply for the e-visa (with the required non-refundable fee by credit card payment). When an e-visa application has been approved, applicants are required to present the print out of e-visa at the immigration checkpoint for verification upon arrival in Taiwan. An e-visa will be valid for three months upon approval with duration of stay up to 30 days.

The e-visa policy will be put on a trial basis for a year. Visitors may still file for their visa application at Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines.

Moreover, since Sept. 1, Taiwan has eased its visa-free requirements for Filipinos who possess one of the following documents issued by Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, any of the Schengen countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States: (1) a valid resident or permanent resident card; (2) a valid entry visa (electronic visa included); or (3) a resident card or visa that has expired less than 10 years prior to the date of arrival in Taiwan.

Successful applicants are qualified to apply for the ROC (Taiwan) Travel Authorization Certificate, which allows multiple-entries to Taiwan valid for three months with every stay up to 30 days.

Through the implementation of these two visa relaxing measures launched by the ROC (Taiwan) to Philippine nationals, it is expected that it will greatly enhance the convenience of traveling between Taiwan and Philippines, and further promote bilateral economic, cultural and other exchanges between the two countries.

For further information concerning the ROC (Taiwan) e-visa, please visit: www.boca.gov.tw/ content.asp?mp=1&CuItem=7281; For application, please access: visawebapp. boca.gov.tw/BOCA_MRVWeb/.

For the “Online Application for ROC (Taiwan) Travel Authority Certificate”, please access: niaspeedy.immigration.gov.tw/nia_southeast/.

Life

D2

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

Ontario’s Capital City T

ORONTO is the most populous metropolis in Canada, and MERCURY RISING fourth in North

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO America, next only to Mexico, New York and Los Angeles, in that order. A favorite destination for Filipino immigrants, it is widely recognized as one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

In fact, half of Toronto’s residents were born in another country, and approximately 160 different languages are spoken in the city.

Located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, the city’s residents experience extremes in weather conditions. During winter, the temperature can dip as low as 25 degrees below zero, with a high wind chill factor, making it even much colder.

During summer, the mercury can zoom beyond 30 degrees, and with very high humidity. Of course, the autumn and spring months are beautiful and pleasant.

I remember my very first visit to this city; I was awed by its cosmopolitan appeal and friendly people. Somehow, the country’s attractive flag, the Maple Leaf, proudly waving in almost all buildings downtown evokes, in tourists like me, a sense of familiarity and kinship with the residents. I always enjoy my visits to the city.

What is there to see in Toronto? A lot, especially if you are into the arts. The city is a center for music, theater, television and movie production, art galleries and museums, the most popular of which is the Royal Ontario Museum. It is also the biggest, with 40 galleries and approximately six million items on display, showcasing very interesting collections of world culture and natural history artifacts.

It boasts a valuable display of pre-historic creatures, like dinosaurs, and a collection of approximately 150,000 fossils. It has an extensive showcase of meteorites, and art pieces from all over the world.

Of course, when tourists talk about Toronto, we easily picture in our minds the city’s iconic landmark, the CN Tower, which is the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere. Located right in the middle of downtown, it is approximately 560 meters high, and offers a breathtaking view of the entire metropolis.

On top of the pod is the revolving 360 Restaurant. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to the top of the tower, but I remember that, each time I go up, my knees get wobbly when I look down, through the glass floor, to the street pavement hundreds of feet below.

Five years ago, the CN Tower management upped the ante for excitement when they opened the EdgeWalk, which allows thrillseekers to walk on and around the roof of the main pod of the tower, directly over the restaurant. Its claim-to-fame is being the world’s highest full-circle, hands-free walk, where daring adventure seekers are connected to an overhead rail as they walk around on a narrow 1.5-meter metal floor.

Looking at those brave souls who did it, I chickened out. I was scared that too much adrenaline might not be good for an aging system like mine. This attraction is closed during winter, for obvious reasons, and when there are high winds and electrical storms.

Another must-see attraction is Casa Loma (or House on the Hill), an 18th cen-

The attractive Maple Leaf, Canada’s flag, adorns every building in the city

Another unique element in Toronto’s Chinatown—dragons, pole dancing

tury Gothic-styled house and gardens in midtown Toronto. This landmark used to be the residence of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a wealthy financier in the early 1900s and is built at an elevation of around 150 meters above sea level. It is now a museum and a popular set for movies and television. It can be rented for private functions after the museum’s operating hours. Of all days, we had to go when it was closed for maintenance, so we could only see it from afar. But even from a distance, I marveled at its well-manicured gardens and the building’s awesome architecture.

Of course, for basketball fanatics, there’s the city’s NBA team, the Toronto Raptors and its most popular player, DeMar DeRozan, the 6’7” shooting guard who wears jersey number 10. He and his team can be seen practicing at the Air Canada Center during off-season or when they play their home games. I almost had a selfie with him, if it were not for that impertinent photobomber who passed between us just as I clicked my camera.

My siblings and I also took time out to

visit Toronto’s Chinatown just to buy lanzones, It is no different from the Chinatowns of New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles---bustling with activity from non-stop, heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic. It has the familiar smell of various fruits, spices and Asian food items that we, Filipinos, normally hanker for, after staying for extended periods away from our native land.

It’s always a fun experience discovering that they also sell some fruits and food items we see in our palengke here at home.

There is much more to see and do in Toronto but we only had a day to spend there as we had to go back to Oshawa to start preparing for the grand family reunion that brought us all to Canada in the first place. Come to think of it, Toronto hasn’t lost its luster.

Something about the city always beckons fun lovers like me for another visit. Since I can never have enough of any place I visit, I might just find myself meandering in this city’s streets sooner than soon.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

The majestic CN Tower stands tall right in the heart of downtown Toronto

YOUR FRIDAY CHUCKLE A man placed an Ad in the classifieds: “Wife wanted.” Next day, he received hundreds of letters. They all said the same thing: “You can have mine.”

Beijing trip to boost tourism

The Department of Tourism, headed by Secretary Wanda Teo, promotes Philippine tourist destinations in China

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) will step up efforts in China this week to promote the country as a visitor’s haven.

DOT Secretary Wanda Teo will meet with investors and Chinese tour operators.

“We’d like them to rediscover the Philippines, the bountiful trade and industrial hub where the Chinese traders came to long before Spanish colonization,” Teo said.

One of the important highlights of the visit is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippines and China on Tourism Cooperation.

The said agreement was signed by Secretary Teo and China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Chairman Li Jinzao yesterday in the presence of the Heads of States of China and Philippines.

“China’s invitation to President Rodrigo Duterte for State visit in Beijing bodes well for Philippine tourism, as the Chinese comprise the country’s second biggest visitor group,” said the DOT head.

Chinese arrivals to the Philippines peaked at 490,841 in 2015, at least 24.28 percent higher than the 2014 recorded arrivals of 394,951.

From January to July this year, a total of 422,801 Chinese tourists have visited the Philippines, placing third with 11.95 percent of the market share, following South Korea and the US. Teo said more organized tours from mainland China are scheduled within the next two months, following the visit of 2000 tourists from Guangzhou to Boracay on board Royal Caribbean cruise ship Legend of the Seas.

“We target 12 million annual international visitor arrival in 2022. Hopefully, we would no longer lag far behind our Asian neighbors in terms of tourism” Teo said.

If it’s your birthday, you can fly for free SKYJET AIRLINES, Manila’s boutique airline launched the ‘Free flight on your birthday promo’ to any destination of your choice.

A birthday celebrant of all ages can avail of the birthday promo on the day itself of their birthday month.

Celebrants can avail of the ‘One Way Free of Charge’ with one full paying

companion and if the return flight will be on the same day itself.

Bookings and reservation must be at least seven days before the birthdate.

All celebrants need to present their valid government issued identification card with the birthdate imprinted on it both local and international I.D’s such as SSS, NBI, Driver’s License, Pag-

Ibig, Passport or just bring your school ID together with birth certificates.

The promo will last until Dec. 30.

SkyJet Airlines is the fastest aircraft to Coron, Boracay and Batanes. The 80-seater British Aerospace Jets is made for short takes off and landings, perfect for our islands’ small airports.

It is the largest jet the can land in many

of our island airports. All the other airlines are using propeller planes in Caticlan airport, Busuanga airport and Basco airport due to the limited length of the runway. Their bigger aircraft cannot land in these small airports.

SkyJet Airlines is the country’s first Boutique leisure airlines that offer premium service with affordable rates.

SkyJet offers free baggage allowance (10kg) and bigger legroom with comfortable seats. All tickets come with free drinks and snacks plus you can also “choose your seat” for free with No Charge.

SkyJet Air is a fleet of 80-seater British Aerospace Jets, the same aircraft used by Queen Elizabeth of England.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

PEOPLE ...are talking about Ryza Cenon IF THERE’S one reason why you should check out QCinema filmfest, it’s the star of the sexy thriller Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B. Ryza has been one of the underrated actresses in showbiz and, in the QCinema entry, the 28-year-old actress proves why she deserves more TV and movie exposures, not to mention projects with challenging roles.

Solenn Heussaff Instead of adding fuel to the fire, the actress responded in a polite and classy way when a troll called her out as Heart Evangelista’s makeup artist and copycat. Though Solenn and Heart both have a lot in common and she had done a few works for the latter, she’s made her own mark in different fields. She’s worked hard to make a name for herself as one of the few multi-hyphenate artists in the business.

Ritz Azul The former Kapatid and Kapuso talent made a bold statement that she’s getting more attention now as a Kapamilya. We couldn’t blame the young actress for feeling that way. Besides, she’s been in the business for half a decade already and it’s only now that people actually feel her presence. She’ll soon star in a romantic primetime series alongside Ejay Falcon and Paulo Avelino.

...are not talking about Enchong Dee He is arguably one of the effective actors in town, but the same thing cannot be said of his recording career. Star Music has just released the music video of Enchong’s new single and it’s good to note that the acting of the young actor and his co-star Maja Salvador was impeccable. We understand that he just wanted to raise his profile beyond acting but things aren’t really working for him as a singer.

Richard Gomez In his lengthy Facebook post, the Ormoc City mayor said that police officers crafting stories on illegal drug trade should be killed.

A few minutes after his sweeping statement, fans and supporters following the actor-politician warned him of the implication of his words. Truth be told, this issue has blown out of proportion and any statements from people who know nothing will not add value to already sensationalized issue. Why not do something else, say perhaps start in his own backyard?

Vina Morales Thirty years in the business is no joke. Only a few people can attest that longevity in the entertainment business is difficult to achieve.

Perhaps that’s the main reason why Vina was emotional when she was interviewed during her anniversary concert. The support from her colleagues in the business was overwhelming. Hence, some people were asking: Did the fans come to her concert because of her or because of the other stars that helped her stage the show?

‘The Amazing Race Asia Season 5’ is Best Performing premiere of 2016 AXN has delivered yet another stunning original production (OP) with the adrenaline-fueled The Amazing Race Asia Season 5. The highly anticipated series raced to the top during its premiere amongst all English general entertainment channels on Oct.13 at 9 p.m., becoming the best performing English OP to premiere in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines this year.

“AXN responded to a huge

demand for the return of The Amazing Race Asia and we have delivered a series that has captivated audiences across the region. The journey our intrepid racers embark on is a rollercoaster of emotion: it’s stressful, dramatic, endearing and funny,” said Virginia Lim, senior vice president and head of Content, Production and Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia. “We have a wonderful

line-up of racers whose quirky personalities, diverse relationships and comedic antics make for a fantastic viewer experience. We are very encouraged by the initial performance and know that it will gather even more momentum as the series builds.”

“Asia’s Got Talent was a recordbreaking OP for the broadcast industry last year so we are thrilled that AXN has out-performed itself yet again with the premiere of The Amazing Race

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Friday, October 21, 2016

ACROSS 1 Not square 4 Cluster 9 Solemn promise 13 “Gotcha!”

14 Tierney role 15 Actor Raul — 16 Copper patina 18 Absolute 19 Watering places 20 Silicon Valley school 22 Dreamed up 25 — spumante 26 Old tire made new 28 Bargain with 32 Gal. fractions 35 Exploding stars 37 Film a movie 38 New Mexico town 40 Aboveboard 42 Powder base 43 In a foul mood 45 Waste conduit 47 Dit partner 48 Grave risks 50 Cut off 52 Go down the tubes 54 Absorbs 58 “Un” and “re” 62 PC chip maker 63 Tuxedo trim

64 Whoop it up (2 wds.)

67 Basalt or gneiss 68 Declaim 69 Ending for depart 70 Astronaut’s ade 71 Softball teams 72 Put a dent in DOWN 1 Chaos 2 That’s not what — —!

3 Do Latin homework 4 Sparkle 5 Dust collector 6 Royal pronoun 7 “Mila 18” novelist 8 Ravioli, for one 9 Win the bout 10 Low voice 11 Cake layer 12 Challenging 15 Coup plotters 17 Much-loved 21 Tool handle wood 23 Earth Day subj.

24 Letterman and Brubeck 27 Book units 29 Spur on

30 “Whatever — Wants” 31 Work with acid 32 Swab (hyph.)

33 Container weight 34 Hang-glide 36 Hewn 39 Not tipping 41 Strauss of denim fame 44 Lily maid of Astolat 46 Governments 49 Ice-hockey team 51 Magritte or

Russo Bummer of a car Play guitar Land, to Caesar More cunning Hey, you!

Pro — (in proportion) 60 Harrow rival 61 Mumbai attire 65 Jayhawker st.

66 Monsieur’s summer 53 55 56 57 58 59

Asia Season 5. AXN is truly Asia’s home of powerful, premium original productions,” said Lim. Filipino viewers embraced their national teams: married couple Eric and Rona and beauty queens Maggie and Parul, ensuring AXN clinched the no. 1 spot in the series’ timeslot amongst 22 English general entertainment channels.

The Amazing Race Asia airs every Thursday at 9 p.m. first and exclusively on AXN.

Women who choose power over men WORD has been going around about the arrival of two women of power and they are taking over from the men.

These women are strong, confident and will fight for what they believe in.

L a s month, TV audiences met the n e w power women for the first time on FREE television when TV5 launched two new series from the United States Scandal and Nikita.

Scandal is a phenomenal series from creator Shonda Rhimes, the woman behind other global hits like How To Get Away With Murder and Grey’s Anatomy.

True to Rhimes’ signature style, Scandal features a strong female protagonist in the character of political fixer and master manipulator, Olivia Pope.

Pope runs her own crisis management firm, Olivia Pope & Associates. They are in the business of protecting the public image of the wealthy and powerful.

A former White House Communications Director, Olivia can’t seem to shake ties with her past.

From the high-profile cases she takes on to her personal affairs, Olivia Pope does not lead what we call a normal life.

For Olivia, normal is overrated.

Joined by other colorful characters like President Fitzgerald Grant, First Lady Mellie Grant, and Olivia’s team of gladiators in suits,

Olivia Pope displays true grit, strength, and confidence.

Airing back-to-back with Scandal is Nikita, a US series featuring a woman out for justice as she takes down a government agency that made her what she is today, a trained killer.

Nikita started out as a troubled teen rescued from death row by a secret US agency called Division. She thought she was getting a fresh start but instead, she was brainwashed and trained to be a spy and an assassin.

Nikita escaped and went into hiding for 3 years.

Now, she’s back and wants retribution for the wrongs Division did to her and the people around her. Will the head of Division, Percy, get to Nikita first before Nikita brings him down? This action packed series will show that a woman betrayed will do anything to get her justice.

After the successful launch of The Walking Dead, TV5 is proud to bring these two women of power from Scandal and Nikita to Filipino TV screens nationwide.

Tagalized, these US series let the audience keep up with the rest of the world and give Filipinos more entertainment options.

C a t c h Tu e s d a y ’s P o w e r Women in Scandal and Nikita Nikita, at 7 p.m. ((Scandal dal) and 8 p.m. ((Nikita ta) on TV5.

Showbiz

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Actors Lovi Poe and Derek Ramsay star in erotic offering ‘The Escort,’ which serves as an oasis in the romcom dominated mainstream cinema; (inset) Poe with Christopher de Leon, who plays a pivotal role in the film.

ISAH V. RED

I

F YOU think local cinema is only about romantic comedies, you might be daydreaming.

There are still films that tackle adult themes, still about love, but not about its simplistic mathematical expression of the experience, but more like a polynomial with a number of variables that make the dramaturgy more interesting.

This is so in the upcoming Regal Entertainment drama called The Escort directed by Enzo Williams whose Bonifacio Ang Unang Pangulo impressed this writer for its multilayered narrative and stunning imagery.

The films stars two of the screens sensual actors – Derek Ramsay and Lovi Poe – in their first team up on the big screen.

Ramsay and Poe, by accident, have a chemistry that sizzles on screen when they’re together in a frame, and they seem unaware of that.

The erotic offering may be Derek and Lovi’s first team-up, yet bot of them made sure their respective performance together and with other stars of the films will ensure the audience will queue at the tills when the movie opens on All Souls Day. Don’t think about spooky films.

Enjoy the sexy interlude between Xyruz, the escort Ramsay plays, and Yassi, the girl needing a job and money that Poe breathes life in the film to raise her siblings left with her when her parents passed on.

The new screen pair threw all cautions to the wind -frolicking as well as burning w i t h feverish passion in bed, in the swimming pool and other odd places to satisfy their desire for each other.

Director Williams can only grin in satisfaction with his actor’s performances.

In the film, Derek plays an ex-escort named Xyruz, abandoned by his mom at a tender age and dumped by his fiancee a few days before their wedding.

These two unfortunate incidents drive Xyruz to curse women and vow never to fall in love again.

Lovi, meanwhile, is Yassi, left to raise and take care of her siblings after their parents die in an accident.

When Xyruz and Yassi’s paths cross, the former surprisingly falls for the latter. He tries hard to resist his feelings for her, as he wants her to join the escort company for which he works as a senior.

While Xyruz is head over heels in love with Yassi, he has to sacrifice his feelings so he can offer Yassi as an escort to rich real estate mogul Gary, played by Christopher de Leon.

Will Xyruz and Yassi sacrifice love for each other over money?

The Escort’s full trailer has become a hot item on the net since it was uploaded mainly due to the lead stars’ sizzling love scenes.

It’s been a while since Derek was last seen in an out and out erotic sex drama. And he won’t disappoint eager followers in The Escort.

Lovi said she also shed all inhibitions in her intimate scenes with Derek, the same work attitude she had for the daring October FHM pictorial.

Apart from Derek, Lovi and Chrisopher, the movie also boasts a stellar support cast – Jean Garcia (who did a love scene with Derek as well), Rommel Padilla, Dimples Romana, Jackie Lou Blanco and Albie Casino.

Williams himself did well with his first assignment for Regal. Williams

Sizzling, intriguing sexy drama ON THE BIG SCREEN

she is nominated as Best Actress.

Aside from television, Jodi and Ian’s chemistry was brought to the big screen when they starred in Star Cinema’s All You Need is Pag-Ibig, which will be shown on Cinema One on Oct. 21.

Fans are also able to see more of Jeepney TV’s Icon of the Month as she now returns to television in the rerun of the phenomenal hit series Be Careful with My Heart, which premiered on Oct. 17.

Meanwhile, music also took center stage at the fans day with The Voice Kids Season 3 finalist Justin Alva impressing the crowd with his vocal prowess. Teen star Andrea Brillantes, meanwhile, captured the hearts of viewers with her charming performance.

As the show ended, Jodi and Ian sent their words of gratitude to their fans for their overwhelming love and support.

Reminisce the good times and watch the mostloved programs in Jeepney TV on SkyCable channel 9, Destiny Cable Analog 41 and Digital 9. For more information, like Jeepney TV on Facebook (facebook.com/JeepneyTV)

Jodi Sta. Maria and Ian Veneracion (seated) flanked by their fans during the onscreen couple’s fans’ day held at Glorietta 2’s Activity Center

is a US-trained director who earned a best director award at the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival with the movie, Bonifacio Ang Unang Pangulo, which starred Robin Padilla.

The scorching hot offering, The Escort, explodes in cinemas nationwide on Nov. 2 from Regal Entertainment.

Follow Regal Films’ official social media accounts to get more updates about The Escort on Facebook www. facebook.com/RegalEntertainmentInc, Twitter @regalfilms, Instagram @ regalfilms50 and Youtube Regal Entertainment Inc. *** It was a day full of fun and festivities for the supporters of Jodi Sta. Maria and Ian Veneracion as the Kapamilya stars gave a

huge dose of kilig and surprises on their fans day at Glorietta 2 Activity Center brought by Jeepney TV and Cinema One in partnership with Ayala Malls.

Hosted by MOR 101.9’s DJ Jhai Ho, the event thrilled fans as they got to see Jodi and Ian up close and sent their love through their deafening cheers and screams that filled the whole activity center. The popular tandem also did not disappoint with performances that brought kilig.

The Jodi and Ian tandem blossomed in the hit Kapamilya series Pangako Sa’Yo in which they played lovers Amor Powers and Eduardo Buenavista.

The former’s outstanding portrayal in the series also recently got a nod at the 2016 International Emmy Award where

Teen star Andrea Brillantes charms the crowd with her special prod number