Manila Standard - 2016 November 07 - Monday

NBI joins slay probers

By Rey E. Requejo, Francisco Tuyay and Macon R. Araneta THE Justice department has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was shot dead in his cell at the Baybay

provincial jail at dawn Saturday.

Justice Secretary Vitalliano Aguirre II said the NBI investigation avoid any suspicion of a whitewash.

Aguirre said the NBI had to step in because members of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were Next page

VOL. XXX • NO. 268 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘Espinosa case: Overkill’ Pacquiao takes WBO crown MALACAÑANG on Sunday commended newly crowned WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, calling him the “National Treasure in Global Sports” following his victory against Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas.

“The Palace thanks the people for their invaluable support for our boxers in times of success and even during failures,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement after Pacquiao’s victory.

“Once again, Manny’s triumph united and brought joy to our people and our nation. The discipline, the

determination, and the hard work of our People’s Champ are truly what make him a National Treasure in Global Sports,” he said.

Coming out of retirement, Pacquiao won over Vargas via a unanimous decision at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pacquiao, fighting for the first time since winning a Senate seat in May, took the WBO welterweight title after winning in the judges’ scorecards, 114-113, 118-109, and 118-109.

Malacañang also honored Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire who Next page

Lawyer claims mayor shot while he’s down

By Francisco Tuyay, Sandy Araneta and Christine F. Herrera

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N AUTOPSY of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was killed in his jail cell at dawn Saturday in what police reported was a shootout, showed that the bullets hit him with a downward trajectory, indicating he might have been already on the ground when he was shot, his lawyer said Sunday.

“Of course, it’s overkill,” said Espinosa’s lawyer, Lanie Villarino, who said she observed the autopsy conducted by Benjamin Lara, the medico-legal officer of the Philippine National Police Regional Next page Crime Laboratory.

Mayor Ronaldo Espinosa

US POLL W A T C H

Trump rushed offstage after ‘gun’ commotion RENO―White House Republican candidate Donald Trump was rushed off stage by security officers Saturday after a false gun scare during a campaign appearance.

The US Secret Service, which provides security for presidential candidates, later said someone in the crowd had shouted “gun” but

that no weapon was found.

Trump swiftly resumed his speech in Reno, Nevada, after a suspect, who was wrestled to the floor during the incident, was briefly detained and then released.

The 70-year-old real estate tycoon reappeared to cheers just minutes after being led away by Next page

Miss U 2017: Filipino eyed as Harvey co-host THE Tourism department on Sunday confirmed that the Miss Universe beauty pageant will be held here in 2017, and that the coronation night will still be hosted by Steve Harvey.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said Harvey will remain the host

despite opposition from President Rodrigo Duterte. She earlier said Harvey had a five-year contract with the organizers of the Miss Universe beauty pageant.

Harvey drew flak after announcing Miss Colombia as the Next page

RESURGENT. LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines sends Jessie Vargas dropping to a knee in round 12 during their WBO welterweight championship fight at the Thomas & Mack Center on Nov. 5, 2016 in Nevada. AFP

Bangsamoro Digong stronger than a carabao—Palace commission By Sandy Araneta EO expected DAVAO CITY―President Rodrigo Duterte will sign today the executive order creating the 21-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission that will draft the enabling law for the Bangsamoro.

The BTC has been expanded to 21 from 15 as agreed by the Next page

THE Palace on Sunday dismissed concerns over the health of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying he “is stronger than a carabao.”

“We have seen what his activities are on TV. One time he is in Samar, then he is in Pangasinan, then he is seen in Davao in Facebook Live. For an unhealthy person, it would be impossible [to do] what the President is doing,” said Communications Secretary twitter.com/ MlaStandard

Martin Andanar in an interview on state-run radio dzRB. Andanar was reacting to a remark the President made during the regional convention of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Friday night.

“I am 72. Don’t ask me if I’m sick,” Duterte said, even though nobody asked. “Every 72-yearold in this world is sick.”

Speaking before the country’s lawyers, Duterte complained again about his getting tired of

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the rigors of his job as the nation’s Chief Executive, and even expressed willingness to pass his post on to anyone who would prove to do the job better.

“If this is the kind of job you are giving me, I could only endure so much; I think I deserve a needed rest,” he said.

He added there’s no need for a military coup, as he would relinquish his post to those who could offer a better solution to the

thestandard.com.ph

Next page

HOPEFULS. Law graduates from different schools flock to the Uni-

versity of Sto. Tomas in Manila to take what has been labeled as the most gruelling Bar examination in the country which will run for four consecutive Sundays starting Nov. 6, 2016. Norman Cruz

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Pacquiao...

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failed to defend his WBO junior featherweight title against Jessie Magdaleno in their undercard match.

“Nonito Donaire’s quest to be the ‘king in the ring’ unfortunately did not materialize. This, however, would not diminish the honors he bestowed to the people and to the flag. He remains ‘The Filipino Flash’ with his quick hand speed and formidable punching power,” said Andanar. “The courage and grit displayed by our Filipino boxers in Las Vegas are the same qualities we must demonstrate as a nation to rid society of drugs, criminality and corruption,” Andanar said.

Pacquiao stepped on the gas early on, scoring a second round knockdown on Vargas before showing his dominance later in the match.

Judge Dave Moretti had a close 114-113 win for Pacquiao, Glenn Trowbridge and Glenn Feldman gave the now three-time WBO champion the better of identical 118-109 scores.

Pacquiao was expected to fly home immediately to attend the remaining Senate sessions for the year.

Magdaleno fashioned out a unanimous decision over Donaire in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Vargas bout to improve to 24-0.

Donaire suffered his fourth loss in 41 fights.

Magdaleno was the busier fighter throughout the fight, winning points by luring Donaire in for counterpunches.

Donaire tried to rally in the later rounds, rocking Magdaleno a few times in the 10th round. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Magdaleno’s lead.

Lawmakers congratulated their colleague Sunday.

“I join the whole nation in celebrating the glorious triumph of my friend and colleague, our nation’s pride, Senator Manny Pacquiao,” said Senator Juan Edgardo Angara.

“Once again, he showcased to the whole world the Filipino’s heart and determination, that with faith in God, coupled with right focus and discipline, no battle is insurmountable, no matter how difficult and extremely unbearable they may be,” he also said.

Senator Nancy Binay said Pacquiao showed again the determination of Filipinos when he won his bout with Vargas.

“I have seen how Senator Manny works in the Senate, how dedicated he is to serve our country. I believe that this is the same fire that fuels him in boxing and it is very much alive,” she said.

Members of the House of Representatives also congratulated Pacquiao.

Pacquiao reaped praises from Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez and her husband, former representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who cited Pacquiao for bringing continued honor, glory and recognition to the country.

“His victory showed the Filipinos’ strong determination to succeed in life despite big challenges. Apart from uniting the nation once again, the resounding triumph of Pacquiao demonstrates to the world the hard work, courage and strength of the Filipino people,” she said.

“I am very proud as a colleague and a Filipino‎,” said Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, Pacquiao’s fellow lawmaker in the 16th Congress.

Representatives Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Romeo Acop of Rizal’s Antipolo City, Sherwin Tugna of Citizens Battle Against Corruption party-list, Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Karlo Nograles of Davao City, Miro Quimbo of Marikina City and Ricky Sandoval of Malabon City also congratulated Pacquiao for his win over Vargas. Sandy Araneta, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rio N. Araja and PNA

Duterte: Putin’s my idol P The sub provincial jail has eight cells with a capacity to house 15 inmates each. The jail has only 44 prisoners at present.

Espinosa occupied cell number 1 alone while Yap, with other inmates, stayed in a separate cell.

The mayor has been detained at the Leyte sub-provincial jail in Baybay City after his arrest on Oct. 5 for illegal drugs and firearms charges.

The mayor is the father of Kerwin Espinosa, allegedly the region’s top drug lord, who was arrested earlier in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In Calbayog City in Samar province, a discharged policeman who was supposedly part of the Espinosa drug group was killed in a raid.

Samar Provincial Police OfficeProvincial Intelligence Branch Chief Angelo C. Pueblos identified the policeman as Renato Caray Mekitpekit, who was supposedly part of the security detail of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa.

Mekitpekit was killed in his house during a shootout with the police.

Police reported they found a .45cal. pistol with one magazine, four fired bullets, and one 9-millimeter pistol, 13 plastic sachets and three large sachets of shabu among his belongings.

Mekitpekit, an alleged bagman of top officials of the Ormoc City Police Office during his tour there, was reported to have gone AWOL in 2015 after he was charged at the People’s Law Enforcement Board following an altercation with a garbage truck driver.

He was discharged after his failure to attend the hearing.

The Palace said Sunday that it was puzzled by Espinosa’s killing.

“Personally, I’m puzzled because I know that Mayor Espinosa was a big help to the government in exploring and finding those involved in illegal drugs,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said during an interview over state-run radio dzRB.

“Mayor Espinosa was an asset to the government’s investigation into those involved in the sale of illegal drugs, especially in the upper echelons of the drug ring,” said Andanar.

“I’m puzzled and, at the same time, I am also sad that this happened because Mayor Espinosa would have greatly helped the investigation of our government to be able to pin down who are involved in illegal drugs, especially [those in] government,” Andanar said.

Andanar said President Rodrigo Duterte has been briefed.

The PNP Internal Affairs Service has vowed to conduct an “independent and impartial investigation” into the killing.

Opposition lawmakers said Sunday the police have turned into “brutal monsters” following Espinosa’s death.

“Police officers have turned into monsters on account of death fomented by the administration,” said House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza, in response to the killing of Espinosa “under highly suspicious circumstances.”

“The restoration of capital punishment will exacerbate the rising culture of death and violence which has engulfed the character of the police so much so that the right to life is wantonly violated with impunity,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman added.

Lagman warned that when a person who is in prison pending his prosecution for a crime where no bail is possible, is summarily executed in his own cell, then the proposed return of the death penalty is a useless formality.

Atienza, also Buhay party-list representative, said he was counting on the United Nations Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur to investigate the killing of the mayor, along with the Oct. 9 murder of Mindoro Oriental anticrime crusader Zenaida Luz by two junior police officers.

“Enough is enough already.

Camp Crame has to put an end to these summary executions,” Atien-

za said.

Lagman said President Duterte must create an independent commission of retired jurists to investigate and recommend the prosecution of those found to be culpable for the unabated extrajudicial killings.

“The task should not be discharged by a legislative committee where the impartiality and independence of its members are compromised or imperiled by political accommodation and differing partisan agenda,” Lagman said.

Atienza warned PNP chief Rolando dela Rosa that “officers prone to kill in the name of supposedly good intentions are extremely dangerous, and have absolutely no place in an organization and in a society that professes to uphold the rule of law and basic human rights.”

Senator Panfilo Lacson, one-time PNP chief, called the episode “a clear case of extrajudicial killing.”

The Senate committee on justice chaired by Senator Richard Gordon has moved to revive its recently concluded investigation into extrajudicial killings to specifically look into the incident.

Espinosa was killed not long after former President Fidel Ramos, one-time chief of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary, assailed the administration’s penchant to slaughter suspects, amid mounting accusations of summary executions of mostly poor people supposedly involved in pushing illegal drugs.

Speaking recently on ANC’s Beyond Politics, Ramos said: “It is not always shoot to kill which is the mission of the law enforcer, it is shoot to disable. How do you get an investigation carried out properly if the suspect is dead? But if [he is] only wounded or disabled, then he can tell [you information].”

If the police can live up to this “basic rule,” Ramos said, President Duterte may even be able to dodge “a lot of suspicions about extrajudicial killings and violations of human rights.”

involved in the alleged shootout in which Espinosa was killed.

Espinosa, who was tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as a drug trafficker, earlier surrendered to PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa for fear of his life. He was allowed to go home but was arrested last month on a weapons charge.

His son Kerwin, who is said to be one of the biggest drug lords operating in the Visayas, was arrested in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates last month.

Another inmate identified as Raul Yap was also killed in the reported shootout.

Chief Insp. Leo Laraga, leader of the CIDG team, said they were forced to fire back after Espinosa and Yap fired at them from separate cells.

It was unclear how Espinosa and Yap had guns inside the jail.

Before his death, Mayor Espinosa had executed an affidavit naming the government officials who allegedly protected their drug trade and benefitted from it.

Aguirre considered him as a pos-

sible state witness to be covered by witness protection program.

Espinosa reportedly identified Senator Leila de Lima, several congressmen and police officials among those who received drug money for protecting Kerwin’s operations.

The Interior Department, meanwhile, has given the PNP seven days to wrap up its own investigation.

Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno has tapped the PNP-Internal Affairs Service to head up the investigation.

But Sueno said he welcomed the help of the NBI in unraveling the truth about Saturday’s shootout, saying this would dispel the perception of a whitewash.

Espinosa was killed inside his cell at 4 a.m. Saturday after he fired at policemen while attempting to serve a search warrant on him, a police said.

The primary focus of the probe, Sueno said, will be on the circumstances before and during the application of the search warrant against Espinosa.

Sueno explained that the jail where Espinosa was detained is under the direct control and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, an attached

agency of the Interior department and not under the provincial government, contrary to earlier reports.

Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers said it was improper for the policemen to secure a search warrant merely to look for contraband inside the detention cell.

“Totally unnecessary and not legally need …because part of the powers of the custodian and jail regulations is to search for contraband and weapons in their jurisdiction,” Olalia said.

Policemen who entered Espinosa’s cell shortly after the shootout said they found a sachet of shabu and assorted drug paraphernalia and a Super .38 pistol. They said they found a .45 cal. pistol, and a total of 57 sachets of shabu and dried marijuana leaves and assorted drug paraphernalia inside Yap’s cell.

The killing of Espinosa prompted Sueno to ordered the relief of the Baybay Sub-Provincial Jail warden who he failed to identify.

On the other hand, CIDG director Chief Supt. Roel Ubusan sent an investigative team to Leyte early morning Sunday.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on

justice and human rights, said his panel would conduct an investigation into the Espinosa case.

“We will have to conduct a separate investigation on this case because we have wrapped up the previous investigation [on extrajudicial killings] and the committee report is ready for submission,” he said.

Gordon said he talk to Senator Panfilo Lacson, who had wanted to resume the panel’s investigation into the rise in extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration.

Lacson said he considered the Espinosa killing the “biggest challenge to the credibility of the PNP” and said it could affect affect even the other operations involving “drug suspects killed under similarly suspicious circumstances.”

“I can’t understand for the life of me how a prisoner inside a prison cell could even think of fighting back against police officers serving a warrant for his arrest,” Lacson said.

Gordon has earlier expressed alarm over Espinosa’s killing, saying that it was a dagger in the heart of the criminal justice system as it appears that even those who are in the custody of the law are no longer safe.

Digong...

Bangsamoro...

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country’s three main problems—drugs, criminality and corruption.

“If you want to remove me, fine; then I’ll just go to the forest. I have a hunting lodge there.

I will spend my days there praying,” Duterte said, admitting that while he believes in God, he does not believe in any religion.

The President said he usually crosses the Pasig River at 1 p.m. to get to his office in Malacañang and works until 3 a.m. On other days, he said, when the folders pile up in his bedroom, he gets to sleep at 5 a.m., as he makes sure he finishes reading all the papers.

The President flies to his home in Davao City on weekends supposedly to rest, but still brings along some work.

Before his election in May, the former Davao City mayor admitted to be suffering from four illnesses—Buerger’s disease, Barrett’s esophagus, a respiratory infection and a slipped disc—none of which are fatal.

Buerger’s Disease is an inflammation of blood vessels, mostly in the limbs, that has been traced to smoking.

Joint Implementing Panels of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Malaysia last August.

GPH Chairwoman of the Joint Implementing Panel, Irene Santiago, said that of the 21 members, 11 will come from the MILF plus the chairman and 10 from the GPH, which will include three seats reserved for the Moro National Liberation Front-Sema group. It is the MNLF-Sema group that agreed to sit in the BTC. Santiago said Duterte was expected to name the GPH members to the BTC. The MILF will nominate its members and chairman.

The BTC has until July 2017 to submit the draft law.

Santiago said the enabling law will be in line with the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, and that there will be a review of the 1996 peace agreement between the government and the MNLF to detail what has never been implemented.

MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari

does not want to take part in the BTC because it is an MILF initiative based on the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro that is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the GPH and MILF in March 2014.

But he has already vowed to support Duterte’s inclusive peace initiative.

Misuari said he had trust in President Duterte who could solve the long-standing peaceand-order problem in Mindanao.

He came out of hiding after the standing warrants of arrest against him were suspended by the Pasig Regional Trial Court over the rebellion charges filed against him following the MNLF’s Zamboanga siege in September 2013.

Santiago said Misuari agreed to the convergence of the Bangsamoro people in the peace process to bolster the Duterte administration’s vision of a just and lasting peace in Mindanao.

“The convergence [of the BTC] will see what should be implemented under the 1996 peace agreement. President Duterte asked us to look into it and that it should be included in the implementing law,” she said. Funny Pearl A. Gajunera

‘Espinosa...

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“There’s a possibility that he had fallen to the ground and was still shot,” she said in Filipino. “His liver was shattered. There were no gastric juices left to use as a sample for drug testing. There was nothing in his stomach, which was also shattered.”

Villarino’s claims could not be immediately corroborated because Lara declined media interviews.

Leyte provincial administrator Edgardo Cordeño, meanwhile, said local officials were puzzled why the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group raided the jail without informing them first.

The team entered the jail shortly after 4 a.m., or seven hours before the provincial government received a copy of their search warrant, he said.

The closed circuit television’s digital video recorder also went missing after the alleged shootout, he said.

The CIDG said they were in the Baybay City provincial jail to serve a search warrant on Espinosa and another inmate, Raul Yap, at 4:10 a.m., but the two prisoners opened fire on them, causing them to return fire. Both Espinosa and Yap were killed in the shootout, and pistols and some sachets of “shabu” and marijuana were found in their cells, the police said.

The CIDG said the search warrants were issued by Judge Tarcelo A. Sabarre Jr., presiding judge of Regional Trial Court branch 30 in Basey, Samar, because they believed the two detainees kept firearms and illegal drugs in their cells.

But Cordeño said the capitol, which supervises the jail, conducted an inspection last week and found no illegal drugs or firearms.

“We had an inspection at the jail a week ago and did not discover any illegal contraband inside,” Cordeño told reporters.

NBI...

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Miss U...

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winner of the Miss Universe beauty contest in 2016 during coronation night, but the real winner was Philippine bet Pia Wurtzbach.

Teo said she had yet to talk to the Miss Universe organization regarding the possibility that Harvey might have a Filipino co-host during coronation night.

Wurtzbach will lead the contingent of at least 30 Miss Universe candidates at the end of January.

Baguio Country Club general manager Anthony de Leon said private tourism stakeholders will contribute to the P15 million needed to host the contestants in Baguio.

The Tourism department estimates that the cost of hosting the beauty pageant will be $11 million.

That amount will be shouldered by the private sector led by Japanese billionaire and Tiger Resort chief Kazuo Okada and Henry Sy, the Philippines’ richest man.

The Miss Universe beauty pageant was held in Manila for the first time in 1974, when Miss Universe 1973 Margarita Moran crowned Amparo Muñoz of Spain, and in 1994 when India’s Sushmita Sen was crowned by Dayanara Torres.

Sandy Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte recently told the news organization Al Jazeera that Russian President Vladimir Putin is his idol.

“So who would make a good ally?” Al Jazeera television’s Steve Chow asked Duterte and then showed him the name Vladimir Putin.

“My idol,” Duterte said.

“Idol?” Chao said.

“Yes. He has no illusions about himself. He knows that he was not trained for politics. Or to be a statesman. He acts just like a President. My characterization of Putin is what I would describe myself.”

The video was then uploaded on Al Jazeera’s Facebook account.

Putin has been president of Russia since May 7, 2012.

He was prime minister from 1999 to 2000, president from 2000 to 2008 and again prime minister from 2008 to 2012.

He was the chairman of the ruling United Russia Party during his second term as prime minister.

During the Al Jazeera interview, Chao showed a series of cards with names on them to Duterte.

When he showed the name Hillary Clinton Duterte answered, “She’ll make a good president.”

And when he showed the name Donald Trump Duterte said, “A good candidate.”

He then showed the name “America” to which Duterte answered, “Ahem… Having my doubts.”

“Your thoughts on US-PH alliance?”

“It is good. It has been there since 1951, but I’m changing course,” Duterte said. Sandy Araneta

Trump...

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Secret Service agents who shielded his body with their own.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never be stopped, never ever be stopped,” he declared.

“I want to thank the Secret Service. These guys are fantastic. They don’t get enough credit. They don’t get enough credit.

They are amazing people.”

Trump made his statement even as he and Hillary Clinton packed their schedules with lastminute campaign events Sunday, two days out from an election that has gripped the world.

Clinton is banking on star power to lock in her narrow poll lead, hosting back-to-back weekend pop concerts with Beyonce and Katy Perry and booking a date with President Barack Obama.

For his part, Trump has embarked on a cross-country odyssey through Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

The latest major survey, the ABC/Washington Post tracker released early Sunday, gave Hillary a five percentage point 48-43 lead. Polling averages, however, are closer.

Just before the fracas, Trump was seen shielding his eyes from the lights in order to peer into the crowd as a struggle broke out.

Trump “was removed from the stage” by agents in his protective detail “after a commotion occurred in the crowd,” the Secret Service said.

“Immediately in front of the stage, an unidentified individual shouted ‘gun.’ Secret Service agents and Reno Police Officers immediately apprehended the subject.”

However, no weapon was found following “a thorough search” of the subject and the surrounding area, the statement said.

Television footage showed a suspect pinned to the ground by officers and searched, before he was led away by local law enforcement. AFP

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

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Congress resumes session today Zarate: A Pension

By Macon R. Araneta and Christine F. Herrera

FTER a two week break, Congress is set to resume its session Monday with both chambers outlining their legislative priorities for the rest of the year.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the Senate’s top priority is the timely passage of the P3.35 trillion national budget for next year and the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to address the traffic crisis.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, will prioritize the plenary debates on Charter change, the restoration of the death penalty, emergency powers on traffic and the ratification of the P3.35-trillion national budget.

Pimentel said the Senate plans to pass its version of the budget bill on third and final reading “in the last week of November” to ensure it will be enacted into law before the year ends.

“We will exert our best efforts to timely conduct our hearings and ensure the early passage of this most important piece of legislation,” Pimentel said, referring to the budget, or the General Appropriations Act of 2017.

Earlier, Pimentel said the Senate was closely coordinating with the House of Representatives, which passed its version of the bill last Oct. 17, 2016, to ensure that the budget will be enacted into law as scheduled.

Pimentel said the Senate would also tackle the bill that seeks to grant emergency powers to the President to allow him to address traffic congestion in Metro Manila and other urban areas.

Other pending priority legislation that the Senate will work on include the proposed bill on ending “endo” or labor contractualization, the SIM Card Registration Act, Amendments to the Bank Secrecy Law and the bill adjusting the indexation of income tax rates.

At the same time, Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ra-

neo Abu said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has already announced his plan to have the death penalty bill approved on third and final reading before Congress goes on Christmas break.

“We have to raise the level of fear, especially among criminals. Death penalty for heinous crimes should be restored because it shows that the criminal justice system has been failing,” said Abu, author of a bill to reimpose death penalty.

“We have a strong House leadership that is committed to support the legislative agenda of President Rody Duterte. We will be persistent in working very hard for the interests of the common people,” Abu said.

“The President needs necessary legislation for him to effect meaningful and genuine change as he promised such as addressing traffic through Traffic Crisis Act and working on federalism to address inequalities,” Abu, also author of separate measures on ChaCha and emergency powers, pointed out.

In pushing for Cha-Cha, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said Congress should buckle down to work in convening a Constituent Assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution that would clear the way to federalism, especially now that President Duterte has renewed his pitch to speed up the process that would lead to the shift to this system of government.

Villafuerte noted the Senate and the House of Representatives need to craft new provisions in the Constitution specifying the federal switch in time for a plebiscite that would be held either alongside the midterm elections in 2019 or the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan synchronized elections at the latest.

increase possible

By Rio N. Araja

QUEEN IN THE WINGS. Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach watches from the sidelines as Senator Manny Pacquiao is declared winner of the WBO welterweight championship fight in Las Vegas on Sunday. AFP

Gordon: PH should have learned from Yolanda

By Macon Ramos-Araneta was Yolanda, I hope our coun- order to provide assistance, we devastated provinces in Eastern, ners in the Red Cross and Red SENATOR Richard J. Gordon expressed hope the Philippines has become more disaster-resilient and has learned a valuable lesson from the Super Typhoon “Yolanda” almost three years after it hit several parts of the country.

Gordon, also chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said that with the organization having almost completed its rehabilitation programs in “Yolanda”affected provinces, he also hopes that the communities have started to recover.

“As we mark the disaster that

try has strengthened its disaster response and management capability. Not only the government, but all of us,” said Gordon, adding that “Yolanda” has taught us that ceaseless recovery and renewal should be our motto.

“Our country is hit by a plethora of disasters. If we don’t change our attitude, if we haven’t learned from “Yolanda,” if we are lazy, if we refuse to evacuate to safer areas, there will be another “Yolanda.””

“We have seen the tragedy magnified by lack of preparedness, the difficulties we faced in

should have learned from them,” he added.

Gordon noted that the PRC’s rehabilitation program have endeavored to help the recipient communities become more disaster-resilient: the houses and classrooms built are safer and more capable of withholding strong typhoons; the communities are better trained and have improved disaster response capabilities, among other initiatives.

Under his leadership, the PRC has built 76,461 homes as of Oct. 28, 2016 in nine “Yolanda”-

PEOPLE’S CHAMP. Filipinos jubilate after Senator Manny Pacquiao wins the WBO

welterweight championship fight over Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas on Sunday. Norman Cruz

Central and Western Visayas and Palawan.

PRC has also supported 62,670 families through livelihood assistance amounting to more than P752 million; repaired and reconstructed health facilities with a value of P59.9 million, as well as classrooms amounting to P128 million; and provided schools with water and sanitation facilities, worth P58.2 million, among others.

Gordon also attributed the success of PRC’s Yolanda Operations to the support of the humanitarian organization’s part-

Crescent Movement and other private partners.

“Our Yolanda Operations would not have been as successful without the generous contributions of our partners in the RCRC Movement and our Private Partners.”

“Because of the massive destruction caused by “Yolanda,” there was also a massive outpouring of support that came to us and enabled us to alleviate the suffering AND restore THE life and dignity of people whose lives were shattered by “Yolanda,”” he said.

BAYAN Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate urged the Social Security System to study at least five options that will enable the pension fund to finance the proposed P2,000 increase in the monthly pensions of retirees while extending the actuarial life of the pension fund.

He said the agency must improve its collection efficiency from employers from the current 38 percent to between 76 percent and 80 percent, and must strictly go after delinquent employers who have failed to remit contributions over the past 10 years.

There is also a need to cut down the bonuses and perks being enjoyed by ranking SSS officials, and that the P200million retirement given to the SSS board members in 2009 must be reimbursed, he added.

The two other alternative measures are to collect the fines imposed by the courts against employers who violated the SSS, and for the House of Representatives to provide a subsidy as provided under Section 20 of Republic Act No. 8282, or the Social Security Act of 1997.

“Furthermore, the SSS has P428 billion in its investment fund which generates an investment income of an average of P32 billion per year.

With this, the net revenue of SSS in 2014 was a huge P44.47 billion and its assets amounted to close to P500 billion. As it is, there is no way that the SSS will go bankrupt as the SSS wants people to believe.

In fact, under Section 21 of Republic Act 8282, the government guarantees the benefits and solvency of SSS,” he pointed out.

“The agency admitted several times the availability of the funds for the pension hike, but said the increase would only shorten its fund life to 2029.”

He challenged the agency’s previous claim that its life would only last until 2025, instead in 2042.

“Assuming this were true, nine to 14 years is more than enough time for the government and SSS to find ways to increase its fund life,” he said.

According to Zarate, SSS, in 2001, declared that it only had a fund life of only five years.

ROOFING REPAIR KITS. The Wong Chu King Foundation’s (WCKF) core value of malasakit is at work as it conducted a relief drive in Cagayan province where Typhoon Lawin did most of its damage. The initiative is a complementary effort to the national government as the WCKF gave away drinking water and roofing supplies. The foundation coordinated with the LGUs and local parishes particularly in the towns of Tuguegarao, Penablanca, Tuao and Piat which incurred the most damage.

In photo are (L-R) WCKF head coordinator Cristina C. Villanueva, Piat Mayor Carmelo “Black” Villacete, Penablanca Mayor Washington Taguinod, Marilyn Taguinod, Fr. Fredel Agatep, Fr. Josef Hugo Aggabao, WCKF general manager James Vincent C. Navarrete and WCKF volunteers Camelo Noel H. Navarro and Sophia P. Gonzalo.

A4

Opinion

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Suspicious death

A

LBUERA Mayor Rolando Espinosa, accused by President Rodrigo Duterte of drug trafficking, said he feared for his life when he surrendered to the police in August.

At dawn Saturday, that fear proved well founded when police shot the mayor dead inside his jail cell at the Baybay City Provincial Jail in Leyte in what they said was a shootout.

Espinosa was the second local executive implicated in drugs to be killed in the last two weeks.

Initial reports said

Adelle Chua, Editor

members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group were serving search warrants on Espinosa and drug suspect Raul Yap for separate cases shortly after 4 a.m., when the two allegedly fired on the cops, triggering a shootout in which the two detainees were shot dead.

Police said they

recovered a .45 cal. pistol and a .38 Super pistol from the cells of Yap and Espinosa. A small sachet containing suspected methamphetamine and assorted drug paraphernalia were also found inside Espinosa’s cell, they said.

Earlier, Espinosa had denied any part in the drug trade but said his son Kerwin was peddling “shabu” (methamphetamine), which he got from a jailed Chinese drug trader.

Kerwin, said to be among the biggest illegal drug operators in Eastern Visayas, was arrested by

Abu Dhabi police last month and has not yet been repatriated.

The Palace said Espinosa’s death was “unfortunate” and said an investigation was ongoing—hardly an assurance that the truth will out, given that it is the police themselves who will be investigating the case.

On the face of it, the circumstances of Espinosa’s death last week are enough to provoke suspicion.

How is it, for instance, that a shootout would ensue inside a provincial jail, where inmates are not supposed to be armed?

Why, too, did the CIDG team choose to serve search warrants at 4:10 a.m.? The ungodly hour chosen to serve the warrants seems to suggest a clandestine operation, not a regular police action.

What impact will Espinosa’s death have on his son Kerwin, whom the Justice department wants to use as a state witness to implicate top government officials in illegal drug activities?

Espinosa’s killing becomes doubly suspicious, coming as it does on the heels of the Oct. 28 shooting

death of another local executive on the President’s list of drug suspects, Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom.

Dimaukom and nine of his men were killed in a shootout with police in Makilala, North Cotabato, that the mayor’s relatives now say was a rubout.

Given all these suspicious circumstances, a credible, independent investigation is the bare minimum required.

The question is, is there anybody left in this government that can be counted upon to do the job right?

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO

Peace in our time?

PENSEES

tions of a decadent culture of disrespect.

There is no national exigency, no emergency or urgency that ever justifies a waiver of the demands of due process. Fundamentally, we have to do here with the recognition of the worth, the value, the sacredness of the human person. Due process is procedural respect for the inviolability of the human person. The claim that the need to stem the tide of a dangerous form of criminality such as the peddling of drugs justifies dispensing with the tedious demands of due process is self-defeating. It involves a performative contradiction, for what tribute is given the dignity and the sacredness of the human persons in whose defense one avows to wage a war on criminality if one is prepared to trample on the humanity of those one suspects of offending against the law? Respect for the human person admits of no discrimination. Discrimination is the antithesis of respect and Turn to A5

Turn to A5

Respect

FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO THE Cebu Pacific flight for Tuguegarao is no earlier than close to noontime. It seems, however, that one of the symptoms of my neurosis is that I leave my hotel for the airport at 6:30 in the morning and to aim to be done with the entire rigmarole of checking in by 7:30 or 8, at the latest. Then I can loiter around the airport’s shops—not because I always have the wherewithal to make purchases—but because I find that the far preferable thing to do than fretting at a later time that the gate may close on me!

No one, however, who has been through the final baggage check section of Terminal 3 (the terminal for Tuguegarao flights) will fail to notice the rudeness of the personnel there. They yell at passengers and bark out orders like they hold the keys to our destinies. “Empty your pockets.” “Wallets and cellphones inside your bags.” “Remove your belts.” None of these justifies the menacing, imperious tone these functionaries of state are wont to use. There is nothing

THE political resurrection of Nur Misuari came as no surprise.

It was only a matter of time when “Ma-as” (the “old man,” an almost reverential description by many of the man who led his fellow Moros as a young UP professor to fight for secession from the Republic, and is now wearied by age), would join his “brother” Rodrigo Duterte in the latter’s ardent search for peace.

The President treated the fugitive from the law with utmost respect, befitting a combatant fighting for a cause.

True, the siege of Zamboanga City by Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front has created deep scars among the residents of “la ciudad hermosa” that will take time to forget or forgive.

Even as this is written, many are still homeless and displaced, the result of that attack which took many weeks to resolve, and with the former president, Noynoy Aquino himself taking charge on the field.

But this is precisely why President Duterte is suing for peace, because war has left the country unable to get out of the boom-and-bust cycle that has characterized our Sisyphean climb to progress.

Misuari started organizing his brother Moros after the Jabidah massacre, where then-President Ferdinand Marcos operatives executed Muslim youth fighters being trained in Corregidor for an attempt to wrest Sabah away from the Malaysians. To be fair to the late dictator, Sabah rightfully is part of Philippine territory, which the then Sultan of Sulu “leased” to a trading and commercial company owned

by Malaya’s former colonizers.

When the United Kingdom recognized an independent Malaya, a federation was born which illegally included Sabah or North Borneo, effectively gaining de facto control of and usurpation of territory belonging to a Filipino clan, the Sultanate of Sulu.

It was a long and fierce war where thousands of Filipinos died during the seventies.

Temporarily stilled by the fall of Marcos, and President Cory Aquino’s pursuit of peace with Misuari, it seemed like her successor, President Fidel V. Ramos had bought peace in his time with the establishment of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. But that was not to be.

In Central Mindanao, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under the late Hashim Salamat

of urgency in these instructions, no clear and present danger to contend with. They are instructions that can be conveyed in a respectful manner, in a respectful tone of voice.

But alas, rudeness, it seems, has become a national virtue!

Unlike the typical virtue to which corresponds a vice, the opposite of respect is manifold, because it has to do with the acknowledgment and the recognition of the human person.

Respect comes in the course of recognition—not that it is a matter of course, because quite clearly respect no longer comes as a matter of course in this country that is apparently making its way speedily into the shadows. Not niceties are what we deal with here when it is respect with reckon with but ethics: being human, being just. What it is about the human person that renders everyone respectable? Here, “respectable” has nothing to do with pompousness and with airs put on by the self-important but with a funda-

We make no progress at all by regressing into a disrespectful, rude society.

mental claim that may not always be made and articulated, but that the very humanity of the other makes. There have been various ways of referring to it. It is the rationality that sets him above all other inhabitants of the planet. It is self-determination that makes him subject to none though he may be held captive by others. It is the majesty of the Face, says Levinas, that resists its reduction to a concept. It is the fundamental mark of the human person, said Cicero, as self-governing. In the hollowed

words of the Scriptures, it is because Adam and Eve were created in imago et similtudo Dei… in the image and likeness of God and the Divine breath, breathed into their nostrils. And because we speak Latin when we deal with things sublime, we also say: her respectability is a concomitant of her humanitas.

But the rudeness at the airport is just one manifestation of the disturbing wave of disrespect that has surged on our shores.

The very thought that some lives are not worth protection and are in fact disposable because they are “criminal lives,” “dangerous lives,” “treacherous lives” is a more insidious form of this national crisis of spirit. The ridicule that persons with non-traditional sexual orientations have to put up with and the persistent forms of trafficking in human persons, especially by recruiters of overseas workers who send off fellow Filipinos abroad, there to suffer conditions of virtual enslavement are other disheartening manifesta-

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Opinion Capital punishment BUHAY Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza has a startling suggestion to congressmen who want to tinker with the Constitution and restore the death penalty. He suggests that capital punishment should be meted out not only to those guilty of heinous crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape, but also to those found guilty of graft and plunder.

Atienza’s proposal, for sure, won’t endear him to his peers at the House of Representatives, many of whom want to convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly instead of having the people elect delegates to a Constitutional Convention. Lito loathes the idea of Con-Ass. He says congressmen acting as selfappointed delegates to rewrite the Charter would possibly look after their own interests particularly ignoring the public clamor to abolish political dynasties.

He asked what made President Rodrigo change his mind to favor Con-Ass when during the campaign, he advocated federalism and Constitutional Convention as the way to go to amend the Charter. Digong won the presidency partly for these twin proposals, Atienza recalled.

His morbid fear of changing the Constitution, he said, was that a supermajority in Congress might slip in an amendment that would

against the former allow the BACK president, extension of the CHANNEL prompting the President’s sixSandiganbayan to year term or reduce it to four ALEJANDRO junk the case.

Atienza also years with room DEL ROSARIO plans to file a bill for reelection. in the House to The four-year presidential term allowing reform the penal system in view of reelection was the setup before the drug convicts carrying out 1987 Constitution approved business as usual at the national during the revolutionary penitentiary in Muntinlupa. An government of former President alleged extortion of drug money Cory Aquino. There was an was exposed against former attempt through a million- Justice Secretary and now Senator signatures campaign, to extend the Leila de Lima. who reportedly president’s term. It failed because used the funds in her senatorial the people were against it. campaign. De Lima has denied “Instead of restoring the death the charges. penalty, legislators should focus “It’s outrageous that these on improving the criminal justice convicts with the complicity of system,” said Atienza, a staunch prison guards and officials are able pro-life advocate. He noted the to continue their illicit drug trade glacial pace of prosecuting the within prison walls with the use of accused which he noted often took cellphones to give instructions to years for the state to wind up. He their contacts outside, “ said quoted the adage “justice delayed Atienza. A joint Senate justice and is justice denied.” He cited the blue ribbon committee hearing case of former President Gloria showed the extent of the influence Macapagal Arroyo who high profile inmates have over languished for nearly six years prison authorities. under hospital detention instead of A new “state-of-the-art” prison being allowed to get medical facility being planned in Nueva attention abroad. Legal experts Ecija is not going to solve the believe Arroyo should have been problem unless there is a sweeping granted bail and the state pressing overhaul of officials in charge of its case. The prosecution wasted the penal system,” Atienza said. At nearly five years and still came up most, the huge prison facility short in presenting solid evidence would only decongest the

overcrowded penitentiary in Muntinlupa. But the same irregular practice of rich inmates living with all the comforts of life like air conditioning, bathtubs with jacuzzis, flat TV and regular visits of high priced prostitutes.

Prison inmates refer to dark skinned call girls as “tilapia” while the fair complexion ones are referred to as “bangus,” something the small-fry inmates can only taste in their meager meal allowance. In the privacy of their “kubols” or personal make shift quarters, the Very Important Prisoners get more than a conjugal visit.

Incidentally, this is the first time Atienza did not go to see the Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas. His reason: Manny promised he would retire win or lose against Timothy Bradley in their return bout but did not. Lito expressed his concern for the friend he hoped would enjoy a good life with the fortune made from boxing.

“I’m glad Manny won against Jessie Vargas to win the World Boxing Organization boxing title.

Now’s the time to retire as a champion,” said Lito. He suggested that perhaps Manny can spare some time to help train Filipino boxers win their first gold medal in the Olympics. Anthony Villanueva and Mansueto Velasco came close but settled for silver.

Trolls are crippling Twitter

By Noah Smith I LOVE Twitter. I use it every day.

I’ve made a number of friends using the service, and often have interesting exchanges with an even larger number of colleagues and smart people. It has been essential to my career; it’s hard to imagine doing my job without Twitter or some similar tool for connecting with the public.

But Twitter Inc. has big problems.

Its user growth has slowed to a trickle, with total user numbers still only at about a fifth of Facebook’s.

And no one knows how many of those users are robots.

Twitter brings in lots of revenue but it loses money. It looked around for a buyer, but no one was interested. User harassment is rife, causing a number of high-profile celebrities to quit the service.

Why is Twitter doing so badly, and how can it be fixed?

Part of the answer probably lies in the company’s culture.

“Hatching Twitter,” a 2013 history of the company written by Nick Bilton, reveals that Twitter’s history has been one of power struggles, boardroom coups and strategic confusion. The main contest was between Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams, two of the service’s creators (the third founder, Noah Glass, was pushed out early). Dorsey, now the chief executive officer, eventually won the protracted power struggle, but the leadership turmoil left its mark on the corporate culture.

However, after using the

service for more than five years now, I’m convinced that the biggest problem is inherent to the technology itself. Short messages —what makes Twitter Twitter— are inherently conducive to insults, ill will and degraded discourse. Meanwhile, anonymity and the ability to message anyone on the site, although essential to Twitter’s nature, enable harassment.

Bilton’s history reveals that Dorsey and Williams didn’t just fight over power and fame—they had different fundamental ideas of what Twitter ought to be. Dorsey conceived of the service as a way of posting personal status updates, while Williams thought of it as a way of reporting news. Glass, the forgotten cofounder, thought of it as a conversation club. In reality, it’s all three of those. Celebrities mainly use the site in the way Dorsey intended, while journalists and academics use it more the way Williams envisioned. And Twitter has certainly helped me connect with friends, meaning that Glass was probably on to something too.

But there’s a fourth important use of Twitter that none of the founders seems to have envisioned: Twitter is an ideal platform for being a jerk.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter is an anonymous service. What’s more, unless you’ve blocked or muted someone, anyone can talk directly to anyone else on the site. You can tag other users in a tweet, and that other user can’t undo the tag, unlike on Facebook. This means

Peace...

From A4 gained currency, controlling large parts of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and North Cotabato.

President Joseph Estrada came in and waged a short but highly decisive win over the MILF after the fall of Camp Abu-Bakr. The decision to wage war came in the aftermath of a videotaped execution of soldiers of the Republic, which enraged Erap, who then believed that defeating the secessionists would bring about a lasting peace, for he was to follow this up with billions of development funds for Muslim Mindanao.

Again, it was not to be. Erap fell from power in the aftermath of the jueteng scandal brought about by the confessions of his friend Chavit Singson. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, his vice-president, succeeded him after Edsa Dos, and ruled for nine years. Again, she pursued peace talks with the MILF, leading to a US-Japan-Malaysia brokered agreement that was scuttled. Pocket hostilities resumed, and Mindanao has not seen peace since, with new groups such as the BIFF creating trouble in the Mindanao mainland, and the Abu Sayyaf

Respect From A4

has, in human history, been one of the most egregious forms of disrespect.

We make no progress at all by regressing into a disrespectful, rude society—and disrespect

that if you’re even a moderately high-profile person—an actress, a journalist, a politician—you’ll constantly be subjected to a barrage of harassment by everyone who doesn’t like who you are or what you have to say. This includes not just people in your own circle, or even in your own country—it’s people anywhere in the world. Antisemitic trolls sitting in their basements in Hungary can threaten to send Jewish-American journalists to the ovens.

Misogynistic teenagers in Australia can make rape threats against female journalists in Canada. There’s even a popular comedy video series of celebrities and politicians reading mean tweets written about them.

Twitter acts as a force multiplier for evildoers. A recent study by the Anti-Defamation League found that most antisemitic harassment comes from just 1,600 accounts—many of them probably from outside the US. But those 1,600 have managed to make life very difficult for many of Twitter’s Jewish users. You can check see here an example of the barrage of attacks that was unleashed on writer Dana Schwartz after she criticized Donald Trump’s sonin-law.

Racism against black people is even more widespread. A flood of sexist and racist tweets recently drove “Ghostbusters” actress Leslie Jones off of Twitter. And harassment of women is probably the most common and virulent of all.

After much initial reluctance,

remaining a predatory terrorist-cum-kidnap organization preying upon the islands of Region 9.

President Benigno S. Aquino III pursued the same tack, finally hammering out a Bangsamoro homeland agreement with Salamat’s heirs led by Ghadzali Jaafar. But Congress failed to ratify the agreement, and the same was caught by election fever, punctuated only by the tragedy at Mamasapano, which further doomed the agreement.

Duterte the Mindanaoan ran for president with several out-of-the-box promises.

Foremost among these was the pledge to seek a lasting peace in Mindanao through federalism.

Duterte understood that history and the injustices of the colonial powers, first Spain and then America, followed later by a central government in Luzon whose power was concentric, had to give way to a better system where these historic injustices would be redressed. Otherwise, the movements to secede would just simmer, reaching boiling point as time would dictate.

How many times did well-meaning friends and political advisers tell then-candidate Duterte to stop mentioning the name of Misuari in his speeches, as this would be a “sure-fire”

covers an entire gamut ranging from the rudeness with which simple instructions are conveyed to the inhumanity by which those we characterize as outcasts are gunned down without process or ceremony. It has to do with the language we speak, with personal deportment demanded of those

Twitter is suspending more and more of the harassers’ accounts.

But because it takes only minutes to generate a new pseudonym, they don’t stay gone for long.

Yes, the dedicated harassers are just a few bad apples. But in any community or social network, there is some minimum number of bad apples required to spoil the whole apple cart. And because of anonymity and unrestricted messaging, Twitter’s minimum number is exceptionally low.

But beyond active harassment and malfeasance, Twitter is simply conducive to hurt feelings. It’s a lot easier to deliver an insult in 140 characters than to give a nuanced explanation of why you disagree with someone.

The length restriction makes it easy to misinterpret things that other people say, and misinterpretation often leads to intolerance, aggression and closed-mindedness.

Even reading my own tweets, it’s easy to see how many of them could be misread as dismissive, arrogant and cruel.

I don’t know how to solve these problems. Many seem inherent to the technology, meaning that making Twitter a nicer place to be might require a deep rethink of the way the service works. But with user numbers plateauing and negative publicity increasing, this should be a top priority. For the sake of a service I still love to use, I hope that Dorsey is able to come up with something.

Bloomberg

recipe for losing the votes of the Zamboanga peninsula? But Duterte the candidate would not listen, because he knew more than anybody else that his main objective, which was to foster a lasting peace in his country, required that he treat the Republic’s “adversaries” as brothers who one day will return to the folds of the law and national unity.

In the first 130 days of his administration, Duterte has succeeded in opening doors to the MILF, the CPP-NPA-NDF, and now Misuari’s MNLF. The sincerity is well-received by those who have been disenchanted with previous leaders’ attempts.

Sure there are the usual jeremiads of doom, those who still think that all “Commies” and “leftists” are evil personified, that the “only good Moros are those who are dead”. Such ante-deluvian thinking, such bigotry has to stop.

Who does not want peace? Duterte, who has waged an unrelenting war against drug lords and drug pushers, contrarily would pursue peace with those who fight for a cause.

Almost six decades of internecine fighting, where Filipinos end up killing Filipinos, is more than enough.

Hopefully, we see the beginnings of peace in our time.

in the public eye—and there is no question here of hypocrisy that puts on good behavior for public viewing but that privately engages in lewdness and prurience. There is no necessity to the disjunction. It does not serve us in any way to present ourselves to the world as uncouth, and to act

towards each other without that solemn regard for each other as human persons—the hallmark of advance in our evolution as human. rannie_aquino@outlook.com rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO

Averting the impact of climate-change THERE are many things I immensely enjoyed in my youth that I wish my first grandchild—a bubbly one-year-old girl—could enjoy, too: Catching dragonflies that came in various sizes and colors, watching birds and butterflies, and marveling at crawling creatures like snails and centipedes.

But the dragonflies seem to have all disappeared while the butterflies, snails, even the birds, are now a rarity, especially in urban centers.

Back then, too, at this time of the year, the cold breeze would be a happy reminder that Christmas was close. These days, although we are barely a month and a half away from Christmas, the daytime heat almost feels like summer. Fierce typhoons reaching level 5 have never happened until of late.

What is the world coming to?

Global warming, according to studies, has made many animal and plant species extinct. The global temperatures have risen by about 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit). Without doubt, if global temperatures continue to rise, not only will more devastating typhoons in the level of ‘‘Yolanda,’’ “Karen’’ and ‘‘Lawin’’ visit us. Food supply will be significantly reduced too as fishes and other marine life dwindle with the heating of the oceans and as agricultural products get destroyed by stronger typhoons and pests that thrive on rising temperatures.

Global warming slowly began in the 18th to the 19th century during Europe’s industrial revolution. Then, when the Europeans conquered the new world which is now America, industries sprouted to manufacture anything and everything for man’s convenience. Then China, India, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Australia and Russia followed suit. Together, these countries generate more than half of the earth’s gas emissions.

The carbon and pollutant emissions from these countries resulted in the covering of the earth’s atmosphere which, in turn, trap the sun’s heat on earth as the sun’s rays are unable to bounce out.

What’s unfortunate is that developing countries like the Philippines, which hardly contribute to the emission of gases into the atmosphere, are at the receiving end of disasters because they are the least equipped and least able to adapt and respond to climate disasters.

Fortunately, on 12 December 2015, 195 countries of the world, including the biggest emitters of pollutant gases— the United States of America, China and the If we do not European Union with its 28 member-states, signed ratify the Paris the Paris Agreement Agreement, under the United Nations Framework Convention we stand on Climate Change. The alone even Philippines, although a signatory, has yet to as we cannot ratify the treaty which help being already came into force on the 4th of November a victim of this year. The condition climate-change for the coming into force of the Paris accord was disasters. that at least 55 countries that produce 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions should ratify it. China and the US alone account for 40 percent of global emissions.

The Paris Agreement aims to reduce the steady rise of global temperatures by 1.5 to 2 percent Celsius by reducing emissions; to strengthen societies in adapting to the impact of climate change. Under it, developed countries will mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 to provide assistance to countries that may suffer as a result of climate change disasters. This is especially true for developing countries.

So why is President Rodrigo R. Duterte hesitant in ratifying the Paris Agreement? The Agreement is not perfect in some respects. Think-tanks such as the World Pensions Council have observed that the agreement is predicated on an assumption that member-states of the UN, including the high polluters, will somehow drive down their carbon pollution voluntarily and assiduously even if the Agreement has no binding enforcement mechanism to measure and control carbon dioxide emissions; or penalties, or fiscal pressure such as a carbon tax for bad behavior. Only a system of name and shame can be done and nothing else.

Yet, as former US vice president and climate advocate Al Gore said, no agreement is perfect. If we ratify, we stand to benefit together with all the other countries of the world which ratified the treaty. If we do not ratify, we stand alone even as we cannot help being a victim of climate-change disasters.

By ratifying, we will have an opportunity to make the countries that have caused temperatures to rise and climatechange to happen account for the damage they have caused and will cause. By ratifying, we also stand to gain from the development of renewable energy sources as investments are expected to pour in this direction.

The terrestrial and marine species already destroyed by climate change may perhaps never come back. It is my hope, though, that my one-year-old grandchild will still get to enjoy what remains of our natural wealth—our forests, wildlife, beautiful beaches and countless bodies of fresh water. This is possible if the rise of world temperatures can be controlled.

A6

News

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

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Pangilinan gets top Liberal post

By Macon RamosAraneta SENATOR Francis Pangilinan was named acting president of the Liberal Party replacing former Transportation secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya until party elections are held.

Prior to his new designation, Pangilinan was LP’s vice president and the party’s top post is traditionally conferred on the highest ranking party member, which is Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo. The party did not explain the departure from tradition.

Pangilinan said he will draw lessons and inspiration from senior members of the Liberal Party—the late Senate President Jovito Salonga and the still active former Senator Wigberto Tañada.

“We will continue to criticize wrongdoings like the increasing number of killings due to the anti-drug war and the planned burial of a former dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” he said.

“We will plant, not hatred or ill motives, but hope and policies and programs for the country. Elections are over, let us replace ‘tards’ with ‘pards’ and ‘mards’. Let us work together towards a nation which cares for others, with justice and genuine freedom—freedom from poverty, corruption and fear.”

Pangilinan said being chosen for the position is a big challenge for him. He said he is humbled by the designation.

“I realize the weight of the position and I accept the responsibilities it entails. I am responding to this call to serve the people,” said Pangilinan.

“During these times, we knew those who have deeper understanding not only of the party’s principles, but also of the job of a party which is no longer in power.

“We need to work within the current situation to redefine ourselves as a party: How can we as a party work on addressing poverty, joblessness, and the high prices of basic necessities,” said Pangilinan.

FLUVIAL MANDALUYONG. Colorful boats sailed the Pasig River on Sunday as Mandaluyong City held a fluvial parade involving the barangays of

the city. ANDREW RABULAN

Troops arrest Sulu village chief for coddling Sayyaf

By Florante S. Solmerin

T

HE military on Sunday said it arrested a village chief of Talipao town in Sulu through a warrant of arrest issued by a court for allegedly coddling members of the Abu Sayyaf group involved in the kidnapping of three foreigners and a Filipina in Samal Island last year.

An official report from the Western Mindanao Command identified the barangay chairperson as Fauzia Abdulla of Baranagay Niyog Sangahan who was arrested Saturday at 11:15 a.m. during law enforcement operation in Indanan town.

The military said Abdulla has a standing warrant issued and was arrested for kidnapping with homicide (Criminal Case Number 1132016) issued by Judge Dax Gonzaga Xenos of the 11th Judicial Regional Branch 34 of Panabo City.

It said the charges stemmed from the abduction of John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, both Canadians; Kjartan Sekkingstad, a Norwegian; and Marites Flor, a Filipina and girlfriend of Hall.

The terrorists beheaded Ridsdel and then Hall after their families failed to deliver to them a P300million ransom for each of the victim for their safe release. The ASG first demanded P1-billion ransom for each of the three foreigners.

After several months of captivity, Flor was released and on September this year, through efforts made

by President Rodrigo Duterte, Sekkingstad was also released amid re-

port of millions of pesos payment to the ASG. Soon after that Duterte ordered the military to eliminate the ASG, the bandit group rejected Duterte’s calls for surrender.

“The [village chief] was reportedly coddling ASG members by providing sanctuary, information network and food; and most often involved in managing and providing leadership especially in decision making inside the ASG. Abdulla was brought by arresting troops to Sulu PPO for proper documentation and processing,” the military said about the arrest of Abdulla.

The military considers the ar-

rest of Abdulla “a big blow” to the ASG leadership because their “information network, command and decision making will be severely affected with the arrest of a major figure inside their leadership.”

Joint Task Force Sulu commander Brigadier Arnel Dela Vega confirmed the arrest of Abdulla.

“The arrest of Abdulla is a product of intensified cooperation between the people of Sulu and our soldiers and policemen in protecting local communities from the scourge of terrorism. Our soldiers will continue to conduct combat operations to destroy the ASG and rescue the remaining hostages,” he said.

Indigent families get DoH assistance THE Department of Health regional office in Mimaropa has has served 64,361 family members under the conditional cash transfer program of the government since the start of the program in September.

Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo said they will continue to seek families needing immediate care and attention especially those in island barangays and provide them the health care they need.

“We will ensure that hospitals, clinics, medicines, and doctors’ services will be available for them. Health workers will also be provided with the necessary training and support they need to carry out their duties,” he emphasized.

The program provides an essential package of health services including complete physical examination such as weighing of under five children, developmental assessment of infants, BP measurement, eye, ear and dental examination, breast exam; laboratory test like blood typing, blood sugar testing, urinalysis, sputum exam, fecalysis, malaria smear testing, eye checkup, complete blood count and newborn screening for infants.

Other health services being given are immunization and deworming for missed children, micronutrient supplementation, on the spot Family planning services, dental services Oriental Mindoro, 1,512 were referred to rural health units and 299 in hospitals; a total of 140 were referred to RHUs and 97 in hospitals in Occidental Mindoro; 156 were referred to RHUs and six to hospitals in Marinduque; Romblon with 2,420 referred in RHUs and 94 in hospitals; and 690 were referred to RHUs and 84 to hospitals in Palawan.

Aspiring lawyers commence Bar exams THE start on Sunday of this year’s Bar exams being held at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila was peaceful and orderly.

The Supreme Court said there was no untoward incident reported inside and around the vicinity of the venue, which was heavily secured by the Manila Police District.

A total of 6,831 law graduates were admitted by the Supreme Court’s Office of the Bar Confidant to take this year’s Bar exams.

SC’s Public Information Office said 3,317 of the candidates are first-time takers while 3,514 are retakers.

Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., chairman of this year’s Bar exams committee, said law school deans facilitated the conduct of the exams considered to be most grueling licensure exam in the country.

Subjects overed by the first Sunday exams were Political and Public International Law in the morning and Labor Law and Social Legislation in the afternoon.

The other six Bar subjects in the next Sundays will be Civil Law, Taxation, Criminal Law, Remedial Law, Mercantile Law and Legal and Judicial Ethics.

Just like in previous years, the Manila city government implemented security measures for the Bar exams.

Erap cited for rehab program

By Sandy Araneta

BOXING DAY. Traffic on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare Epifanio de los Santos Avenue was unusually light on Sunday as Filipinos stayed off the road to watch the championship boxing bout of Senator Manny Pacquiao. MANNY PALMERO

Sablayan adopts 5 Miss Earth beauties as residents

By Robert A. Evora SABLAYAN, Occidental Mindoro—Five former candidates of the recently held Miss Earth 2016 pageant were conferred “honorary residency status” in recognition of their contribution to this municipality as a “next big thing in Philippine tourism.”

The honorary residency status were conferred on Miss Bahamas Candisha Rolle, Miss Belgium Fenne Verrecas, Miss Bolivia Eliana Villegas, Miss Guam Gloria Nelson and Miss Australia Lyndl Kean who can now enjoy the “privileges and benefits as regular Sablayan residents.”

The Sangguniang Bayan resolution, authored

by Councilors Walther B. Marquez and Felipe B. Urieta, was unanimously passed and approved by Vice Mayor Andres D. Dangeros and Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano.

Gadiano, along with local officials, formally presented the resolution to the five former Miss Earth 2016 candidates in the Siburan Hall of the municipal building where they were feted.

The resolution said the foreign contestants’ three-day visit to several tourist destinations in Sablayan “give these undiscovered places they visited a chance to be known to the world.”

“Although they didn’t bag the Miss Earth 2016 crown, our people are very grateful to them for their efforts and sacrifices in promoting

the unknown municipality of Sablayan,” Marquez said .

Out of the five Miss Earth 2016 candidates who visited this municipality, only Miss Australia, Lyndl Kean, landed as one of 16 finalists.

The crown was won by Miss Colombia.

The foreign beauties were unanimous in expressing their thanks for the hospitality of the islanders as if “we were real residents of this beautiful place.”

Organizers of Miss Earth 2016 chose Sablayan, the only municipality among 12 eco-tourism destinations located in several Philippine cities, visited by the contestants because “this newly discovered ecotourism spot is well-protected by the local government in partnership with its people.”

A TOP official of the Dangerous Drugs Board commended Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada for initiating an innovative community-based treatment program, saying it is more important to provide “hope and help” to thousands of surrendering drug dependents.

DDB secretary Benjamin Reyes said Manila’s “Sagip Buhay, Sagip Pangarap” rehabilitation program is a good model for other localities to emulate in helping drug dependents and to complement President Rodrigo Duterte’s allout war against drugs.

“I congratulate the City of Manila for such a wonderful program and I’m hoping they continue the good work. It is more important to provide hope and help to drug dependents who surrendered,” Reyes said during the trainingseminar for the volunteers of Initiatives for Life and Action for Women, the non-government organization implementing the “Sagip Buhay, Sagip Pangarap” program in Manila.

Sports

A7

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Floyd invite steers talk of Pacman bout LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao showed he still has plenty of energy by dominating Jessie Vargas in a WBO title fight on Saturday -- and his rival Floyd Mayweather was there to see it with a ringside seat.

Sam Betten and Amelia Watkinson display their medals after ruling their respective sides in the Bellevue Resort 5i50 Triathlon in Bohol.

Pacquiao, who turns 38 next month, floored Vargas in the second round en route to a one-sided victory which allowed him to reclaim the WBO welterweight title which both he and Mayweather held previously.

It is a title that Pacquiao surrendered when he lost last year to Mayweather in the richest fight in boxing history.

The retired Mayweather’s appearance at ringside Saturday, at Pacquiao’s request, will certainly stir talk of a Pacquiao-Mayweather 2.

“Yes I invited him to come tonight,” Pacquiao said of Mayweather.

Asked if he wanted a rematch with Mayweather, Pacquiao said, “We will see.”

Mayweather took his seat with his daughter just before the fight started. He watched attentively, then left before the fighters had cleared the ring.

Pacquiao beat Vargas with a unanimous decision victory to capture the WBO belt for the third time.

After the fight Vargas was asked if he wanted to see Pacquiao and Mayweather go at it again.

“Of course,” Vargas said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. We are still very interested in seeing what could happen again.”

But both Pacquiao, and his promoter Bob Arum, were non-committal about a second fight with Mayweather.

“Floyd Mayweather is retired. As far as we’re concerned he’s retired and we respect that,” Arum said at the post-fight news conference.

Pacquiao had to skip the event because of a cut from a head butt that needed 16 stitches to repair.

Arum did mention other potential Pacquiao opponents, including Vasyl Lomachenko, Terence Crawford and Keith Thurman. AFP

Betten, Watkinson Patrimonio, Arcilla crowned tennis champs top Bellevue triathlon BOHOL—Sam Betten dominated the men’s side for the second straight time but Amelia Watkinson foiled Dimity Lee Duke’s title-retention drive as they shared top honors in the centerpiece pro event in the Bellevue Resort 5i50 Triathlon at the Bellevue Resort in Panglao Island here yesterday.

Betten seized control early in the 1.5k swim stage, stamped his class in the 40k bike leg before cruising in the 10k run event to clinch the gold medal in 2:01:40 with leg clockings of the 21:18, 56:40 and 39:47, respectively.

It was the top Aussie triathlete’s fourth straight 5150 victory in the country to pocket another $2,000.

Henry Beck placed second in 2:10:07 while Philippine-based Daniel Brown struggled to finish in 2:29:37.

Watkinson, winner of the ITU Long Course Triathlon in China and the Challenge Iskandar Puteri early this year, emerged with the best time in the swim leg (23:35) then sustained her charge in the next two stages to clinch the women’s gold in 2:10:19, frustrating Duke, who turned in a 25:30 clocking in the opening stage and failed to rally, settling for runnerup honors in 2:15:10.

Michelle Duffield clocked 2:32:22 while Betten’s girlfriend Rebecca Ohlwein placed fourth in 3:19:28.

Sharing the spotlight were Jenny Rose Guerrero and Jorry Ycong, who topped the elite division of the event sponsored by Bellevue Resort and organized by Sunrise Events, Inc. Each received P30,000.

Guerrero led from start to finish and timed 2:38:57 to beat Cianyl Gonzales, who had a 2:51:20 clocking while Amale Jopson and Aimee Dequia took the next two spots in 3:00:42 and 3:13:18, respectively, in the women’s side.

Ycong, on the other hand, rallied in the run stage, clocking 39:13 for a 2:10:55 total as he turned back Paul Jumamil, who led in the swim and bike stages only to falter in the final leg with 41:05 and wound up with 2:11:44.

Emmanuel Comendador took the bronze in 2:11:56.

Close to 600 triathletes took part in the event backed by The Bellevue Resort as official hotel, Active Network (official registration partner), 2Go Express (official logistics and courier partner), Powerade (official hydration partner), Wilkins Pure (official hydration partner), Alaska Milk Corp., David’s Salon, GU Energy Gel, Prudential Guarantee, Intercare, TYR, Newton, The Bellevue Resort and Province of Bohol (host venues), Municipality of Dauis and Municipality of Panglao (bike course partners), The Philippine Star, Trilife Magazine, AsiaTRI.com and FinisherPix (media partners) and Ford, Cetaphil, Devant, Daylong, Motor Ace, Regent, Sanicare and Storck Bicycle (marketing sponsors).

PATRIMONIO broke Iglupas twice in the first three games then countered her rival’s threegame fightback that tied it at 3 by winning three of the next four games then fought back from one-game down in the second frame to hack out a 6-4, 6-3 triumph and pocket the top P20,000 purse.

In contrast, it was an all Arcilla show in the men’s finals with the veteran campaigner outplaying his many-time Davis Cup teammate all throughout en route to a 6-2, 6-3 victory that moved him a win from sweeping the Open crowns on the PPS-

PEPP calendar for the second straight year.

Arcilla, who banked another P30,000, dominated the Olivarez Cup last Aug., ruled the Tuna Festival Open in Gen. Santos City last September then topped the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo last month. The last PPS-PEPP Open tilt is the Dagitab Festival in Naga City, Cebu on Dec. 1822.

“It has been a great two weeks of top-notch tennis and we hope we were able to provide local fans the kind of games they expected from our bumper crop of young players and the elite,” said

Palawan Pawnshop CEO and president Bobby Castro, who also lauded the all-out support of the host city led by San Carlos City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor Jr., Vice Mayor Rene Gustillo, councilor Criston Carmona and the LGUs of San Carlos along with former Rep. Julius Ledesma IV and Vice Gov. Bong Lacson.

Arcilla capped another successful campaign by teaming up with Iglupas to snare the mixed doubles crown in the event sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented

by Slazenger, repulsing the TierroPatrimonio tandem, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

Patrimonio, who eased out Shaira Rivera, 6-0, 6-1, in the semis, and Iglupas, who clobbered Hanna Espinosa, 6-2, 6-1, in the Final Four, actually traded breaks coming off a 3-3 count in the first set. But Patrimonio broke again in the ninth then dropped just one point to hold serve in the next and move one set up.

Iglupas pressed her bid by going 2-1 in the second set on a hold-break-hold game, but Patrimonio regained her bearing in the fourth game then shut out Iglupas to break in the fifth and wrest the lead.

Santiago, Infantado rule Anvaya Cove tilt AFTER a long wait of two years, Mervin Rencel Santiago relied on a strong performance to overcome his rivals in an exciting battle to claim the top honor during the Anvaya Cove Invitational Triathlon held yesterday at the Anvaya Cove Beach & Nature Club in Bataan.

Santiago emerged as the overall male champion – his first since 2014 – in the Standard Distance 1.5 Km swim – 40 Km bike – 10 Km run event with a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes and 19 seconds. followed

by Rene Tayag with 2:43:4 and Benjie Zapanta with 2:46:29.

Early in the race, Santiago found himself challenged by Tayag and Jet Ramos, who suffered a broken spike on his tire during the cycling leg, which slowed him down and allowed Zapanta to win the bronze.

On the distaff side of the event sponsored by Ayala Land Premier, Globe Telecom, MHECO, Folded & Hung, AC Lazaga, Veda Spa, Island Fantasy, Gatorade, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines, Glyptic Art Enterprise, Globalinens Worldwide, Inc., Powel Chem, Royal Duty Free, Bio-Diesel, Vantage Point Photography, Universal Towel, Olongapo Gas, and Kaakbay sa Kinabukasan Cooperative, Danielle Infantado’s strong swim and run helped her win the crown in 3:15:04. She was followed far behind by Ines Santiago with 3:21:07 and Nylah Bautista, who clocked 3:43:36.

Nica Deldio, who graduated from the SuperTriKids class, made her debut on the Sprint Distance (750 M swim - 20 Km bike – 5 Km run), memorable finishing first place in 1:32:36 followed by Andrea Villanueva with 1:39:58 and Miki Terada with 1:59:11.

The Sprint Distance male crown was won by Carlos Selubo, followed by Austine Morfe and Paolo Vispo.

On the Girls’ 13-15 Mini-Sprint (500 M swim - 9 Km bike – 2.5 Km run) contest, Lauren Plaza led all the way from start to finish, beating long-time rival Nicole Eijansantos, who is just recovering from injury.

The bronze went to Sophia Almendral.

In the Boys’ 13-15 race, Juan Baniqued surged in the run leg to breakaway from Josh Ramos, whom he raced very closely before finally getting the gold. At third place was Russel Villaraza.

Other champions in the race were Laarni Pichay and Jerard Taloy (Adult Mini-Sprint), Albarda-Escopete-Sandoval (Team Relay), team Pangilinan (Family Relay), Nadia Manalo (SD Female 18-29), Diana Samson (SD Female 30-39), Kara David (SD Female 40-above), Bryan Mendiola (SD 25-29), Guz Dela Rosa (SD 30-34), Jet Ramos (SD 35-39), Jessie Magat (SD 40-44), J.A. Caniza (SD 45-49) and Jamie Leather (SD 50-54).

Clarice Patrimonio (second from left) and Johnny Arcilla hold their trophies as they pose with San Carlos City Vice Mayor Rene Gustillo (left) and PPS-PEPP area manager Daisy Agnes after topping their respective sides in the PPS-PEPP Pintaflores Festival Open in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental over the weekend.

Falcons stand their ground against Tams

By Peter Atencio Games Wednesday (MOA Arena) 2 p.m. Ateneo vs FEU 4 p.m. Adamson vs UST FIL-AMERICAN cager Sean Manganti helped the Adamson Soaring Falcons stand their ground in the last 3.8 seconds.

His defensive effort on Simon Camacho and only basket in the dying

seconds propelled Adamson to 61-59 beating of Far Eastern University Sunday in the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

The 6’5” Manganti, who had a game-high 14 points, made up for a defensive mistake he had earlier in the dying seconds of the first half.

This was when he and

Camacho got in the way of attempts by FEU’s Monbert Arong and Raymar Jose to score the final basket with 3.8 seconds left.

Manganti split his charity shot with no time left after he got fouled by Jose, sending the Soaring Falcons to their second straight win and sixth overall in 11 matches.

“We knew they were going to him. So we tried to distract him and

make it hard for him,” said Manganti after he and Camacho forced Arong to give up the ball and hand it to Jose, who eventually turned the ball over.

Coach Franz Pumaren said they were able to second guess FEU’s play in the closing seconds and with their win, their chances of reaching the Final Four have improved.

“Defense took control.

For a better team like FEU

to be limited to 59 points is already an achievement,” said Pumaren.

The game was close and for Manganti, he said he was able to make up for the mistake of allowing FEU’s Stephen Roxas to score a triple at the end of the first half, as the Tams moved away, 32-30.

Robbie Manalang had 12 points for Adamson, while Jonathan Espeleta added 8 and Papi Sarr

had six, including backto-back hits at the start of the second half, which allowed them to grab a 50-44 lead.

Jose banged in a game-high 16 points for FEU, which saw the winning run end after seven matches, but is still in second spot at 8-3.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles, who beat La Salle, 83-71, the other day, now have a chance to keep up with them.

PBA wants regional involvement LOTTO RESULTS SEOUL—From an All-Star Weekend to a full All-Star Week.

The Philippine Basketball Association is introducing innovations even in its annual mid-season spectacle in the coming season, deviating from the North-versusSouth game as it holds a first-ever All-Star regional competition.

PBA board chairman Mikee Romero proposed a weeklong event pitting stars from the country’s biggest regions.

Competing All-Star teams may

well include the Kapampangans, the Bicolanos, the Visayans, the Ilocanos and the Fil-Ams in an All-Star tourney with stops in the Visayas, Mindanao and Luzon.

“That’s the concept. Assignment ni commissioner Chito Narvasa ang final set-up,” said Romero, the new PBA board chair, who is pushing the league to take new directions in an effort to reach more Filipino basketball fans and broaden the PBA fan base.

“For the All-Star, I want a regional theme. Ang point ay maka-connect ang regional fans sa All-Star event,” said Romero “Halimbawa ako who is from Pampanga. Siyempre gusto ko mas magaling ang team namin kaysa sa mga Visayan, Ilocano or Bicolano-speaking teams. So I will rally behind my team,” Romero pointed out.

He said the same is the idea in their plan to make D-League wings in the Visayas and in Mindanao.

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

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Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

B1

15% public float starts next year

By Jenniffer B. Austria

C

OMPANIES that plan to conduct an initial public offering next year are required to sell at least 15 percent of their shares to the public, the Securities and Exchange Commission said over the weekend.

SEC chairperson Teresita Herbosa said in an interview the corporate regulator would start imposing the 15 percent minimum public float on companies planning to conduct an initial public offering by January 2017. The minimum public float requirement currently stands at 10 percent.

“I will still probably be imposing that

by Jan. 1, 2017―the 15 percent public float for IPOs,” Herbosa said.

The move to impose a 15-percent minimum public float requirement on prospective IPO firms is in line with the SEC’s thrust to gradually increase the public ownership of listed firms to 25 percent.

The SEC earlier planned to implement the 15-percent minimum public ownership rule for IPOs this year. However, the recent elections and the entry of the new administration affected the schedule of implementing the stricter requirement.

Meanwhile, the SEC said it would asked the Finance Department’s stance on adjusting the public ownership requirement for real estate investment trust firms to 33 percent to attract potential REIT issuers to list with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Herbosa said one remaining issue was the removal of the tax on the transfer of assets.

“We have a study which shows VAT [value added tax] removal will not affect the revenues that the government can collect from the earnings of the REIT,” Herbosa said.

She said several foreign funds were interested in investing in prospective Philippine REIT companies.

Herbosa said she recently met with foreign funds who were interested in investing in REIT companies in country because of the strong cash-flow of the prospective REIT issuers and the overall positive outlook on the economy.

Herbosa said on the planned merger of the equities and bond exchanges, the SEC was still waiting for the PSE to submit a new proposal.

She said if the PSE was able to submit the new proposal by Nov. 15, the SEC may be able to rule on it before the end of 2016.

The PSE said in August it planned to resubmit a proposal for the unification of the two exchanges to expand its platform of products and services and compete with regional players.

Herbosa said the SEC had not yet received any update from the PSE regarding the proposal.

IN BRIEF Shell investing meets in bitumen plant Dominguez US businessmen

By Alena Mae S. Flores PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp., the country’s second largest oil company, plans to put up a bitumen facility as a part of a three-year investment program.

Bitumen is a black mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation. It is used to produce asphalt.

“We do have plans to provide further investments in the refinery, not to expand capacity but to ensure that it continues to be efficient. We have plans to put up a bitumen production facility and it is well in line with the infrastructure plans of the government,” Pilipinas Shell president Cesar Romero told reporters.

Romero said the bitumen facility and refinery improvements would bring additional value to the company whose shares were listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange last week.

Pilipinas Shell owns the country’s second largest refinery with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day in Tabangao, Batangas.

Romero said the company was still evaluating the improvements needed to undertake the project.

The company has recently completed its refinery upgrade at a cost of $150 million that allowed Pilipinas Shell to meet the new Philippine National Standards for ‘Euro IV (PH)’ grade diesel and gasoline.

Electricity prices ease in November

CONSUMERS of Manila Electric Co. may see a slight reduction in generation charges this month on lower prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

Meralco senior vice president and head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said while coal prices were going up, its impact would be mitigated by lower WESM prices.

WESM acts as the country’s trading floor of electricity. Power rates are historically lower in the last quarter because of cooler temperature.

“While coal prices have continued to rise, the exchange rate has stabilized and there is a strong possibility that the higher coal prices can be offset by the lower charges from the WESM,” Fernandez said.

“We may again see another slight reduction in the generation charge this November,” he said.

Meralco submitted an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission to implement a new customer information system costing P1.758 billion.

The proposed system aims to better serve its nearly six million customers.

Alena Mae S. Flores

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III met American businessmen over the weekend and assured them the Philippines remains an attractive investment destination.

Dominguez told members of the American Chamber of Commerce the Duterte administration was committed to making the Philippines an attractive and competitive place for foreign investments.

Dominguez said that “as far as business is concerned,” President Rodrigu Duterte “wants to have more competition and more innovation.”

The American executives also expressed their support for the government’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda as Dominguez told them the Duterte administration “will make certain that the business environment is such that it encourages people to stay on.”

The finance chief said the new government was pursuing a policy of “economic diversification” to open more markets for Philippine products overseas, encourage more investments in the country, and create better-paying jobs for Filipinos.: AmCham Philippines executive drector Ebb Hinchliffe said the organization is “100 percent” behind the government’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda” and THE Philippine Competition Comwanted the Duterte administration to be mission approved the acquisition of two successful in implementing its develop- Philippines-based call center and back ment programs. Gabrielle H. Binaday office companies by one of the largest

PCC approves Spi sale to Japan firm

business process outsourcing groups in Japan.

“In view of the recommendation from the mergers and acquisitions office that, on the basis of information obtained from the parties and third parties, the acquisition by Relia Inc. of shares in SPi CRM Inc. and Infocom Technologies Inc. does not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant market,” PCC said in its decision.

PCC said Relia was not conducting any business in the Philippines and the BPO businesses of the parties were catering to different geographic markets.

“In any event, there remain alternative suppliers of business process outsourcing services in the Philippines that impose competitive constraints on the acquiring party post-acquisition,” PCC said.

Relia earlier acquired 100 percent of the shares of SPi and 99.64 percent of the shares of Infocom. SPi Technologies Inc. owns 99.6 percent of Infocom.

The Japanese BPO firm said the transaction was executed as a part of its strategy to further provide English/Tagalog language services for its global client customers by acquiring business operation sites in the Philippines where the off-shore call center and BPO industry continued to expand.

Relia said it intended to accelerate its business expansion in the Asian region where further economic growth was expected, by adding the Philippines to Thailand and Vietnam, where it was providing services for years. Darwin G. Amojelar

B2

Business

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

US election seen affecting market

By Jenniffer B. Austria

T

RADING at the Philippine Stock Exchange will likely remain volatile ahead of the US presidential election on Nov. 8, analysts said over the weekend.

Analysts said aside from the US poll, market expectations of a US Fed rate hike in December were forcing investors to be cautious.

“Next week, the US – the world’s biggest economy – will choose either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump as its next leader and the outcome shall reverberate across the global financial markets,” RCBC Securities said.

“A Trump win could inflate risk aversion and boost the US dollar due to his tax repatriation plan while a Clinton victory may cause a more muted reaction as she is largely perceived as the business-as-usual candidate,” RCBC Securities said.

“In any case, we also have our own domestic concerns in the coming days - including the 3Q corporate earnings perfor-

mance and the 3Q GDP growth release. These, too, shall guide the Philippine market’s performance for the month of November,” it said.

The market is expected to trade between 7,000 and 7,500 points this week.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 2.4 percent last week to close at 7,227.37 on Nov. 5, while the all-share index dipped 1.7 percent to 4,325.72.

Except for the mining and oil index which managed to eke out a 0.2-percent gain, all other major indices ended in the red, led by property which declined 3.3 percent, services which went down by 2.6 percent and

financials which decreased 2.6 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers of P4.37 billion last week, with average daily turnover amounting to P8.5 billion.

Top gainers last week were Belle Corp. which jumped 6.2 percent to P3.10, GT Capital Holdings Inc. which advanced 5.5 percent to P1,383 and newly listed Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. which rose 3.4 percent to P69.50.

Heavy losers were Energy Development Corp. which declined 6.3 percent to P5.53, Robinsons Land Corp. which dropped 5.8 percent to P29.15 and Security Bank Corp. which dipped 5.3 percent to P208.80.

Robinsons keen on China projects ROBINSONS Land Corp., the property unit of the Gokongwei group, expects to secure the necessary permits from the Chinese government to push through with its first residential venture in the world’s second largest economy.

Robinsons Land president Frederick Go said in a recent interview the company was in the process of securing all the necessary permits.

Go said he was hopeful the company would secure all per-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

NOVEMBER 2-4, 2016 Close Volume

Value

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

3.55 47.9 110.70 97.55 38.1 3.80 1.35 16.3 19.4 1.79 635.00 0.790 79.3 0.84 14.28 22.05 57.40 100 150 262 35.9 208.8 1471.00 74.95 1.35

28,000 44,600 11,136,140 5,425,590 245,800 29,000 80,000 273,700 1,476,600 57,000 570 11,247,000 20,719,210 20,328,000 795,300 10,500 150,130 120 2,370 1,540 276,900 3,939,240 920 328,060 232,000

FINANCIAL 94,670.00 2,118,710.00 1,222,771,905 531,436,385.50 9,308,895.00 109,650.00 105,730.00 4,412,392.00 28,771,410.00 102,510.00 363,900.00 8,879,260.00 1,617,314,908.50 17,075,560.00 11,353,175.00 231,525.00 8,578,251.00 11,806.00 343,195.00 399,970.00 9,885,055 812,590,846.00 1,356,470 24,602,441.50 315,670.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp.

Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Pilipinas Shell Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

44.7 3.8 0.95 1.41 19.9 0.213 119.9 30.95 11.54 16.42 174.6 100 23.6 63 2.05 7 12.38 11.000 7.26 5.53 7.05 1.77 22.8 67.25 12.36 16.78 6.11 1.950 235.00 93.00 2.09 3.96 27.00 31 27 14.5 281.00 0.255 4.97 3.21 10.24 69.5 11.54 2.13 5.89 1.49 3.71 4.47 2.2 3.2 220 3.96 0.147 1.60 174.7 4.56 2.12 1.13

6,246,100 2,628,000 2,088,000 1,702,000 255,100 73,770,000 7,160 50,500 18,273,800 3,949,000 10,150 1,440 1,195,400 172,000 771,000 10,390,300 142,700 12,282,700 4,827,500 40,609,100 1,354,800 3,000 4,030,000 479,560 7,300 847,800 2,597,400 1,370,000 1,960,650 10,020 551,000 106,000 300 7,127,000 740,200 9,857,700 478,760 370,000 63,000 9,847,000 3,290,300 38,263,880 161,100 1,806,000 2,039,500 136,000 1,797,000 10,551,000 2,000 117,000 26,240 215,000 5,940,000 1,452,000 6,030,910 9,000 7,247,000 170,000

INDUSTRIAL 278,618,050.00 9,965,060.00 1,918,190.00 2,384,570.00 4,972,875.00 15,706,340.00 875,066.00 1,520,580.00 208,098,628.00 65,241,504 2,060,476.00 140,952.00 27,969,570.00 10,912,167 1,569,380.00 66,980,772.00 1,754,118.00 134,328,548.00 34,972,718.00 228,145,492.00 9,607,350.00 5,310.00 91,684,315.00 32,297,092.00 88,742.00 14,143,062.00 15,837,489.00 2,659,860.00 460,159,852.00 856,724.00 1,237,070.00 399,690.00 8,020.00 216,032,385.00 19,902,775.00 143,334,312.00 133,571,300.00 91,700.00 282,940.00 31,424,300.00 33,697,920.00 2,575,829,098.50 1,788,694.00 3,878,260.00 11,842,560.00 201,820.00 6,647,490.00 46,415,020.00 4,400.00 366,580.00 5,768,590.00 871,260.00 864,370.00 2,369,540.00 1,060,168,574 40,640.00 15,509,670.00 193,800.00

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

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

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

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

0.390 76.90 13.58 1.25 6.00 0.325 0.310 829 8.45 12.24 6 8.17 0.205 1383 6.25 72.75 5.21 7.73 1.14 14.48 0.455 6.96 0.0380 1.900 2.58 80.30 2.21 668.00 1.17 0.87 235.600 0.3000 0.2010 0.255

1,790,000 7,172,350 24,368,200 8,396,000 177,500 2,540,000 100,000 1,413,730 14,622,700 20,937,600 51,800 1,347,100 750,000 469,510 12,500 7,512,510 200 1,793,500 66,080,000 10,255,200 39,010,000 121,413,800 58,900,000 8,478,000 17,000 642,540 1,914,000 1,297,370 851,000 62,000 20,490 1,750,000 640,000 200,000

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

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

Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’

7.150 6.70 1.06 2.290 0.295 34.800 3.1 5.16 0.580 1.11 1.150 0.153 0.580 53.4 0.740 0.141 0.98 1.79 1.05 4.10 4.02 0.159 0.2600 0.420

4,084,500 3,700 3,132,000 1,216,000 4,640,000 51,598,000 19,263,000 141,900 10,539,000 83,000 772,000 25,500,000 89,696,000 1,488,900 13,481,000 70,000 5,632,000 30,130,000 150,000 4,000 182,832,000 179,280,000 1,100,000 38,950,000

HOLDING FIRMS 681,400.00 539,846,062.00 335,338,798.00 9,988,720.00 1,044,394.00 810,350.00 31,000.00 1,172,561,625 124,077,731.00 255,328,802.00 311,896.00 10,970,548.00 148,790.00 628,761,010.00 78,128.00 546,028,423.00 1,042.00 13,952,087.00 71,640,450.00 146,436,244.00 17,749,650.00 837,155,187.00 2,238,700.00 16,109,890.00 45,400.00 51,433,608.00 4,229,940.00 865,206,365.00 1,011,320.00 54,440.00 4,806,940.00 514,800.00 123,150.00 51,250.00 PROPERTY 29,201,725.00 25,122.00 3,323,420.00 2,787,830.00 1,361,850.00 1,820,863,135.00 59,481,880.00 731,731.00 6,118,950.00 92,310.00 837,500.00 3,790,890.00 51,900,150.00 78,754,693.50 9,974,550.00 9,270.00 5,451,460.00 53,803,630.00 158,440.00 16,400.00 708,136,300.00 27,709,500.00 293,500.00 16,164,350.00

OCTOBER 24-28, 2016 Close Volume Value 3.57 47.75 112.80 101.10 37.95 3.74 1.38 16.08 19.12 1.88 665.00 0.830 81.3 0.85 14.2 22.05 58.00 95.05 150 255 35.9 220.4 1496.00 74.95 1.38

311,400 67,000 9,574,910 8,304,670 799,200 144,000 192,000 123,500 1,316,300 43,000 200 25,431,000 24,340,310 581,000 506,300 400 201,930 2,950 3,790 11,360 461,600 3,855,890 1,120 464,330 727,000

13,511,300.00 3,188,895.00 1,080,264,642 848,019,247.00 30,323,950.00 548,900.00 261,140.00 1,994,488.00 25,464,682.00 79,880.00 132,500.00 21,585,510.00 2,059,177,816.50 498,440.00 7,188,240.00 8,820.00 11,743,496.50 285,019.00 573,094.00 2,936,624.00 16,802,350 848,418,974.00 1,679,345 34,844,642.00 1,016,140.00

45.95 3.88 0.93 1.4 18 0.203 132 34.00 11.42 16.7

7,826,900 4,918,000 17,353,000 7,656,000 329,100 800,000 40,600 700,360 37,808,900 6,463,800

354,756,935.00 18,914,620.00 17,310,420.00 10,879,530.00 5,801,686.00 162,840.00 5,146,112.00 26,169,905.00 428,988,764.00 109,266,686

100.1 23 62 2.07 6.8 12.5 10.980 7.25 5.90 7.20 1.87 22.95 69.35 12.46 16.60 6.06 2.020 238.00 82.00 2 3.91 26.55 30.25 27 15 276.00 0.260 4.60 3.11 10.38

4,350 1,919,300 398,170 792,000 11,900,600 802,100 22,207,300 8,646,900 30,780,200 2,178,800 69,000 12,064,600 1,620,490 7,100 2,199,200 3,240,000 2,039,000 2,527,290 18,500 17,000 145,000 200 8,692,500 1,913,800 23,766,900 1,016,460 681,000 24,000 18,974,000 15,697,100

444,354.00 44,899,590.00 25,323,498 1,653,300.00 85,320,651.00 10,203,972.00 248,190,420.00 63,420,554.00 181,214,540.00 16,353,238.00 128,630.00 276,374,040.00 113,376,671.50 85,710.00 36,586,820.00 19,758,613.00 4,171,070.00 617,979,892.00 1,584,116.50 33,760.00 594,470.00 5,310.00 265,976,505.00 52,823,260.00 371,088,592.00 285,051,056.00 216,630.00 112,420.00 58,821,370.00 164,923,952.00

11.36 2.17 5.82 1.48 3.67 4.30 2.2 3.15 225 4.1 0.147 1.70 182 4.58 2.17 1.15

14,900 4,619,000 3,446,200 660,000 1,358,000 22,513,000 2,000 129,000 34,050 1,015,000 13,510,000 1,353,000 5,732,970 715,000 29,459,000 12,378,000

167,956.00 10,075,820.00 20,414,380.00 983,070.00 5,138,320.00 96,733,250.00 4,400.00 413,410.00 7,610,800.00 4,530,850.00 1,991,790.00 2,333,910.00 1,043,774,508 3,278,990.00 65,687,110.00 14,236,140.00

0.395 78.00 14.26 1.26 5.95 0.330 0.340 835 8.5 12.50 6.04 8.17 0.208 1311 6.27 76.00

50,240,000 8,625,380 26,060,000 330,000 242,900 1,970,000 70,000 1,638,880 4,498,500 42,423,700 8,100 7,404,300 760,000 849,740 8,100 11,315,210

18,572,450.00 661,285,355.00 378,721,938.00 403,430.00 1,452,431.00 638,650.00 24,000.00 1,386,511,090 38,094,141.00 538,313,652.00 49,774.00 60,125,118.00 152,970.00 1,139,102,930.00 50,775.00 856,090,222.00

7.95 0.99 14.44

3,689,100 87,107,000 12,902,400

29,529,448.00 84,930,930.00 190,113,775.00

7.2 0.0380 1.910

134,559,700 554,200,000 536,000

968,631,833.00 20,006,900.00 1,037,190.00

80.50 2.21 672.00 1.19 0.89 235.000 0.3000 0.2020 0.260

528,960 35,000 1,718,890 863,000 65,000 37,010 6,190,000 1,880,000 980,000

42,339,267.00 78,190.00 1,169,942,250.00 1,035,850.00 57,460.00 8,686,684.00 1,863,150.00 364,800.00 255,800.00

7.120

625,600

4,511,573.00

1.11 2.300 0.295 36.250 2.92 5.16 0.600 1.16 1.050 0.152 0.650 55.8 0.760 0.137 0.97 1.77 1.07

5,216,000 2,429,000 20,923,000 67,524,100 13,321,000 130,300 19,330,000 335,000 136,000 28,170,000 105,173,000 3,447,483 372,000 3,810,000 8,240,000 20,636,000 1,323,000

5,796,750.00 5,601,110.00 7,436,500.00 2,500,063,975.00 38,322,950.00 661,520.00 11,427,350.00 363,590.00 143,610.00 4,403,670.00 70,756,640.00 213,774,472.50 278,100.00 523,110.00 8,092,590.00 36,668,350.00 1,422,940.00

4.02 0.166

155,927,000 178,790,000

646,081,950.00 30,859,960.00

0.415

230,000

98,650.00

STOCKS

NOVEMBER 2-4, 2016 Close Volume

OCTOBER 24-28, 2016 Close Volume Value

Value

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp.

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

32.30 3.22 29.15 1.51 3.27 25.95 1.02 0.950 5.250

1,500 4,902,000 10,746,300 2,723,000 69,000 38,770,800 5,074,000 585,000 14,888,200

48,450.00 89,167,325.00 317,402,760.00 4,147,820.00 224,080.00 1,005,474,510.00 5,033,710.00 561,400.00 77,212,759.00

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

7.68 46.4 1.3 0.550 0.055 10.54 5.2 6.30 0.0840 2.94 105 9.53 2.44 6.65 970 1730 6.20 13.54 17.42 2.12 73.8 15.76 11.74 0.0093 9.15 0.200 1.4500 3.55 13.34 5.30 1.56 1.05 24.00 2 4.25 4.60 2.710 11.3 5.20 2.52 146.00 8.38 1480.00 0.400 1.180 39.40 74.20 5.60 2.70 0.760 3.3 0.350

313,200 71,400 51,000 21,292,000 194,520,000 2,100 31,400 57,299,100 74,700,000 5,244,000 1,575,780 27,700 2,000 101,500 10 187,605 472,800 398,500 2,500 3,429,000 3,076,070 68,100 6,200 107,000,000 1,525,100 48,390,000 1,558,000 38,000 8,200 3,657,800 1,255,000 11,000 16,700 25,000 25,232,000 6,795,000 9,484,000 47,900 21,200 20,000 119,070 1,844,400 715,665 790,000 53,338,000 2,519,100 3,180,330 165,400 3,918,000 58,269,000 1,488,000 150,000

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0036 3.10 4.00 10.52 2.1400 2.1900 0.58 0.400 8.30 1.200 0.275 0.195 0.196 0.0110 0.0110 1.68 6.94 2.82 0.4800 1.0100 0.0120 0.0120 4.15 8.39 3.90 0.0130 124.90 3.05 0.0091

MINING & OIL 663,000,000 2,383,300.00 3,273,000 10,182,220.00 5,109,000 20,401,370.00 400 4,208.00 53,000 109,480.00 92,000 195,330.00 278,000 159,630.00 1,910,000 763,600.00 68,600 573,588.00 141,775,000 170,692,450.00 57,320,000 15,765,150.00 21,190,000 4,169,190.00 2,995,000 1,640,650.00 111,100,000 1,222,100.00 59,300,000 704,100.00 1,440,000 2,343,170.00 7,271,700 49,957,184.00 202,000 552,300.00 40,000,000 19,200,000.00 2,849,000 2,880,190.00 18,000,000 209,300.00 2,900,000 33,600.00 83,000 340,030.00 1,787,100 14,893,394.00 13,306,000 50,437,420.00 1,524,100,000 18,300,300.00 741,230 91,302,849.00 266,000 805,250.00 1,985,000,000 18,063,200.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

DD PREF First Gen F First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

46.4 104.1 112.9 113.3 510 542 5.86 1015 1020 1.05 110 1094 1160 1028 107.5 115 77.5 80 76 77.3 79.9 77.05 77.5 78

752,700 193,440 8,000 133,420 6,000 20,970 819,000 5,630 3,355 500,000 48,500 14,825 550 10,980 11,300 16,140 1,000 61,730 212,490 143,530 154,240 36,600 10,200 294,920

LR Warrant

2.460

WARRANTS & BONDS 1,590,000 3,946,860.00

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

3.15 3.1 3.95 10.7

5,040,000 35,000 134,000 10,939,200

First Metro ETF

120.6

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 50,630 6,068,917.00

SERVICES 2,397,109.00 3,344,290.00 67,440.00 11,306,120.00 10,358,700.00 22,134.00 163,372 353,438,508.00 6,228,090.00 15,375,620.00 164,952,033.00 264,367.00 4,880 675,193.00 9,700.00 326,066,905 2,923,443.00 5,375,060.00 43,620 7,185,940.00 228,147,227.00 1,067,576 72,296.00 1,003,800.00 13,948,875.00 9,517,120.00 2,290,480.00 132,370.00 108,776.00 19,017,544 2,049,980.00 11,250.00 400,340 50,000.00 106,001,180.00 31,150,610.00 26,294,690.00 548,820.00 109,368 50,300.00 18,283,692.00 15,466,148.00 1,065,829,285.00 315,400.00 60,891,290.00 99,779,275.00 236,967,279.00 912,808.00 10,561,920.00 44,185,480.00 4,832,630.00 51,350.00

PREFERRED 35,257,680.00 20,101,875.00 903,200.00 15,580,029.00 3,060,000.00 11,330,660.00 4,827,520.00 5,660,450.00 3,390,920.00 525,000 5,335,000.00 16,218,550.00 638,000.00 11,259,980.00 1,214,750.00 1,854,860.00 77,500.00 4,965,115.00 16,170,108.00 11,109,615.00 12,204,916.00 2,830,880.00 784,000.00 22,979,204.00

SME 15,497,340.00 104,380.00 526,270.00 117,177,484.00

35.25 3.36 30.95 1.63 3.28 26.90 1 0.970 5.230

3,700 3,033,000 8,507,100 639,000 833,000 79,493,400 8,974,000 388,000 38,697,300

125,190.00 10,387,390.00 257,427,615.00 1,023,300.00 2,724,910.00 2,208,396,625.00 9,063,910.00 378,900.00 205,505,660.00

7.8 46.4 1.29 0.550 0.057 11.48 5.39 5.92 0.0830 3.05 105 9.73 2.52 6.70 956.5 1780 6.26 13.60 17.44 2.05 77.8 17.00 11.78 0.0096 9.17 0.207 1.4900 3.5 13 5.15 1.71 1.02 23.00 2 4.3 4.74 3.000 11.72 5.16 2.53 158.10 8.79 1530.00 0.400 1.130 40.75 77.30 5.60 2.76 0.780 3.35 0.355

282,800 77,100 623,000 7,572,000 676,280,000 500 11,600 72,283,500 110,480,000 5,135,000 1,980,420 3,300 57,000 244,600 3,110 360,800 1,205,700 208,400 900 19,062,000 4,395,650 45,600 3,400 180,000,000 2,432,000 24,810,000 4,160,000 60,000 49,600 4,337,100 1,267,000 172,000 57,200 99,000 47,952,000 18,830,000 3,774,000 2,311,400 118,500 180,000 146,570 2,237,200 723,775 3,920,000 66,006,000 3,938,900 1,812,990 424,200 4,783,000 101,970,000 2,098,000 1,300,000

2,171,337.00 3,662,240.00 843,950.00 4,241,500.00 38,979,080.00 5,646.00 60,688 430,451,291.00 9,295,300.00 15,881,980.00 211,043,937.00 32,241.00 148,450 1,649,600.00 2,978,395.00 657,525,170 7,553,325.00 2,829,610.00 15,696 41,678,450.00 335,130,105.00 757,872 38,382.00 1,731,900.00 22,348,720.00 5,217,210.00 6,156,300.00 203,710.00 645,192.00 22,580,491 2,340,260.00 173,660.00 1,400,180 197,710.00 205,569,870.00 92,091,000.00 11,442,450.00 26,719,834.00 609,697 455,400.00 21,995,959.00 19,578,724.00 1,137,719,610.00 1,566,750.00 75,019,040.00 167,076,965.00 142,684,029.50 2,416,927.00 13,445,990.00 81,776,950.00 7,140,660.00 430,100.00

0.0035 2.96 3.97

1,121,000,000 3,932,500.00 4,462,000 13,131,360.00 2,155,000 8,812,310.00

2.2600 2.2200 0.58 0.390 8.50 1.220 0.270 0.198 0.197 0.0110 0.0110 1.62 6.83 2.8 0.4850 0.9400 0.0110 0.0110 4.23 8.18 4.02 0.0120 125.90 3.15 0.0092

476,000 544,000 6,755,000 1,750,000 79,300 204,810,000 2,860,000 25,270,000 1,730,000 224,600,000 10,200,000 4,288,000 36,375,500 491,000 110,000 3,999,000 30,500,000 5,100,000 24,000 3,291,600 32,455,000 320,100,000 1,829,390 171,000 30,000,000

1,068,940.00 1,215,100.00 3,916,080.00 693,250.00 668,971.00 253,700,390.00 787,400.00 5,024,950.00 347,260.00 2,550,600.00 119,000.00 7,098,190.00 249,519,541.00 1,362,360.00 52,850.00 4,057,680.00 337,700.00 56,500.00 96,480.00 27,044,979.00 133,535,870.00 3,998,500.00 230,796,634.00 545,770.00 276,900.00

46.05 104 109.9 115.4

1,640,400 216,710 390 3,340

77,739,320.00 22,524,212.00 42,885.00 385,436.00

540 5.99 1003 1005 1.05 110 1094 1160 1028 107.5 110.5

15,920 416,700 41,550 23,125 497,000 3,590 3,870 810 10,635 16,770 900

8,488,695.00 2,521,201.00 41,662,770.00 23,151,120.00 524,460 394,434.00 4,228,670.00 939,600.00 10,851,060.00 1,802,825.00 99,607.00

80.1 76.1 79.5 79.5 79.5 77.5 78

62,450 20,580 48,200 109,580 22,000 261,100 1,013,780

5,005,317.50 1,573,050.00 3,760,500.00 8,672,675.00 1,743,750.00 20,137,050.00 79,018,163.00

2.410

850,000

2,034,780.00

3.11 2.95 4.03 11.62

39,358,000 46,000 541,000 18,090,486

141,484,190.00 140,650.00 2,203,910.00 68,469,264.00

122.4

101,960

12,547,450.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS United Paragon Philodrill Corp. `A’ Abra Mining Apollo Global Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Ferronickel Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Manila Mining `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

VOLUME 1,985,000,000 1,524,100,000 663,000,000 194,520,000 182,832,000 179,280,000 141,775,000 121,413,800 111,100,000 107,000,000

STOCKS Pilipinas Shell Ayala Land `B’ Metrobank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Ayala Corp `A’ PLDT Common Universal Robina SM Prime Holdings SM Investments Inc. Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

VALUE 2,575,829,098.50 1,820,863,135.00 1,617,314,908.50 1,222,771,905.00 1,172,561,625.00 1,065,829,285.00 1,060,168,574.00 1,005,474,510.00 865,206,365.00 837,155,187.00

mits within the year.

Robinsons Land spent $200 million in 2015 to acquire an 8.5-hectare property in Chengdu, China.

The property is intended for residential projects with a minor commercial component.

Under the plan, Robinsons Land will start pre-selling the residential development in Chengdu by 2018. The development will target the upper to middle-market in China.

Unlike in the Philippines where real estate developers could start pre-selling condominium units without constructing the condominium project, condominium builders in China are required to top off the building before they are allowed to pre-sell the units.

The company’s venture in China is its first project outside the Philippines.

Robinsons Land, the real estate arm of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., is primarily engaged in the development and operation of shopping malls and hotels and the development of mixed-use properties, office and residential buildings and residential housing projects.

The property firm earlier said it planned to double its net income to P9.4 billion by 2019 from P4.7 billion in 2014 as it continues to expand its four core businesses.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Globe controls telecom trader

By Darwin G. Amojelar GLOBE Telecom Inc. raised its stake in Taodharma Inc., a company that distributes mobile devices and accessories.

Globe said its board approved the increase of its stake in Taodharma from 25 percent to 67 percent.

Globe acquired 25 percent of Tao worth P55 million in 2013 to explore growth opportunities in the mobile market.

Taodharma is engaged in buying, selling, distributing and marketing all kinds of goods, including, but not limited to mobile communication, devices and accessories.

It operates a chain of retail stores in strategic locations within the Philippines that sell telecommunications or internet-related services, gadgets and devices.

Globe earlier reported a net income of P8.97 billion in January to June, up 9 percent from P8.71 billion a year earlier.

Core net income, which excludes the impact of nonrecurring charges, foreign exchange gains and markto-market charges, also increased 2 percent to P8.8 billion from a year ago.

Consolidated service revenue went up 11 percent to P59.6 billion from P53.8 billion in the same period last year, as mobile revenues grew 3 percent to P45.7 billion from P44.5 billion.

Globe said as of end-June 2016, mobile subscriber base reached 61.3 million, up by 20 percent from 51 million last year.

Home broadband business revenues reached P7 billion, while corporate data business surged 55 precent to P4.9 billion.

Business Ilocos rural bank closed

By Julito G. Rada THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, closed a three-unit rural bank based in Ilocos Norte due to unhealthy financial condition, the 18th lender shut down this year.

The board prohibited Community Rural Bank of Dingras (Ilocos Norte) Inc. from doing business in the Philippines. The board under a resolution on Nov. 3, 2016 directed Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver to proceed with the takeover and liquidation of the bank.

The state-run PDIC took over the bank the following day.

Community Rural Bank of Dingras is a three-unit rural bank with head office at Medina St., corner Puruganan St., Barnagay Madamba (Poblacion), Dingras, Ilocos Norte. Its two branches are located in Batac and Paoay, both in Ilocos Norte.

Latest available records show that as of June 30, 2016, Community Rural Bank of Dingras had 1,859 accounts with total deposit liabilities of P75.6 million. Total insured deposits amounted to P74.5 million involving 98.5 percent of total deposit accounts.

PDIC assured depositors all valid deposits and claims would be paid up to the maximum deposit insurance coverage of P500,000. It will announce the schedule of claims settlement operations as soon as finalized.

PDIC also reminded borrowers to continue paying their loan obligations with the closed Community Rural Bank of Dingras and to transact only with designated PDIC representatives at the bank premises.

The board earlier closed down 17 financially-ailing rural banks nationwide since the start of 2016.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said earlier the banking system was evolving “so what we are seeing is the weaker players have decided to get out of the system or combine with the others... ”

No power oversupply—Cusi

By Alena Mae S. Flores

T

HE Energy Department ruled out an oversupply of power and is preparing to implement an electricity market in Mindanao by June next year.

“There is no oversupply. It depends on who’s talking... I don’t believe there will be oversupply, not even Mindanao,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told reporters.

Power generators have different opinions on the supply situation across all grids in the near term period.

Some fear an oversupply if all the power projects being announced will be built as scheduled, while others believe new plants will merely replace the capacity of the aging stations and not address the demand growth.

CITIBANK Philippines is the Philippine branch of Citibank.

In July 1902, International Banking Corp., a predecessor to Citibank, opened its first branch in Manila. Currently, it is the largest commercial bank in the Philippines. Its country officer, Mr. Aftab Ahmed, was our guest speaker for our CEO Series class.

A man of integrity, values, honor, wisdom and respect That night, the class was expecting a high profile character from the corporate world. We all had our nameplates out, and were ready for questions and

Cusi conceded that demand would continue to increase across all grids as the economy expands.

“Based on experience, we have never experienced oversupply,” Cusi said.

He said the government was coordinating with various agencies to ensure the timely construction and completion of power plants to avoid any shortage.

“Today, everything has to be all coordinated, including PSA (power supply agreements...

What do you want, oversupply or short supply?” the energy

chief asked.

He added the department was also pushing the audit of power plant efficiency levels, including coal.

“We’re just trying to determine what’s their efficiency. We want to motivate them to be more efficient. Also their compliance to standards, so the plants run efficiently and the required supply is available,” Cusi said.

He said the department wanted to put in place the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Mindanao by June next year.

AC Energy Holdings Inc. president John Eric Francia earlier cited the need to implement Mindanao’s electricity spot market due to a possible oversupply.

“This is the right time for Mindanao to have a spot market.

It’s the first time in decades for

Mindanao to have oversupply,” Francia said.

He urged electric cooperatives in the region to embrace the planned WESM in Mindanao.

“There are talks (for WESM Mindanao) but there are also resistance... not all coops are on board at this time. We have to look forward to that given the over capacity situation is likely to stay,” the official said.

He said electric cooperatives in Mindanao should embrace spot market as it would give them the chance to buy cheaper power.

“We are also hopeful that the subsea cable will happen sooner than later,” he said. The underwater cable is seen to link Mindanao to the Visayas, enabling the former to export power to the grid.

IN BRIEF BSP to create more credit surety funds BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas will resume the creation of credit surety fund facilities after suspending their establishment a few months before the national elections in May to spare them from politics.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said at least two more of these facilities would be put up in Luzon, bringing the total to 47 by the end of the year.

“Maybe one or two. This is an election year and we suspended them because we did not want them to be used by politicians,” Guinigundo said.

CSF is a fund generated by the pooling of contributions of well-capitalized and wellmanaged cooperatives and nongovernment organizations, local government units and partner institutions, such as the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund, Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines.

The facility increases small firms’ bankability and creditworthiness by serving as substitute to hard collaterals. Julito G. Rada

New trade bloc likely next year

MORE INVESTMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez highlighted the growing trade and investment opportunities in the country at the Philippine Economic Forum, witnessed by Filipino and Japanese business delegates in Tokyo recently (26 October). The trade chief shared that as the fastest growing economy among select Asian countries with stable credit ratings, the Philippines vows to develop large-scale infrastructures, provide competitive investment incentives and implement sound national industrial strategies. Sec. Lopez also encouraged Japan to continue partnering with the country in developing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the main drivers of the country’s economic growth. Top Philippine products for promotion to Japan are in the areas of electronics and semiconductors, minerals, chemicals, construction materials, motor vehicle parts, and food, health and wellness. Opportunities in the Philippines for Japanese investors are in the areas of manufacturing, information technology, agribusiness and aquaculture and private-public partnership projects.

THE Trade Department said over the weekend talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a proposed Asia-led regional trade bloc, is nearing completion and may result in an agreement by 2017.

“The next negotiating meeting will work on recommended package that will lead, hopefully, to reaching agreement next year on the 50th anniversary of Asean (that) the Philippines will be hosting,” said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

He said participants to RCEP had narrowed the band of options that made it easier to assume an agreement was likely by 2017.

Lopez said RCEP participants wanted to reach a common set of numbers in terms of the extent of the products and the inclusion of services, as well as the number of years to eliminate tariff among Asean and the 6 countries involved in bloc—China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Othel V. Campos

A True Leader: Aftab Ahmed

ANGEL MARTIN MANALANSAN

GREEN LIGHT

B3

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

discussion during and after the talk. There was a little bit of excitement for a while until a tall, serious and sharp-looking person came in the classroom door. Along with his team, Aftab Ahmed went inside the case room.

Based on his appearance and demeanor, for me, Aftab looked like a true leader: a man of integrity, values, honor, wisdom and respect. As he came in wearing his suit, well dressed for the occasion, he greeted everyone with his low-toned but big voice. He sounded as if he belonged to the military, a high ranking officer.

My initial impressions were confirmed as he started sharing

his life story, experiences, and insights on leadership.

Speaking with conviction and confidence As Aftab was introduced to the class by my colleagues, they enumerated his career accomplishments up to the time when Aftab became Country Officer for Citibank Philippines. It turned out the introduction was almost complete, missing only some items which Aftab filled in when he started talking.

The case room became so quiet as if all lips were sealed and all ears were submitted to Aftab’s lecture. Backed with extensive experience in all facets of business, he spoke with conviction

and confidence. These two traits are a sign of what a leader is and how he takes on responsibilities in running the entire company and its employees.

Exhibiting faith in your leader One thing that most of us easily remember was his story when there was a military uprising and they and their families were provided with flights to exit the country to safety. Aftab opted to stay but ensured his staff and family left to seek safety. By doing so, a number of Aftab’s loyal employees stayed as well to support operations.

This for me is another indication of a true leader. When a person decides or submits to a pure

cause without any deceit or personal interest, and other follow without force or even an invite, then these people see a leader of which they can have faith in.

They must have faith, otherwise, they would not be risking their very lives just to follow Aftab back to the office.

Being branded as a true leader It suddenly hit my mind, that leadership comes from the people, one does not appoint oneself to be a leader. A leader must have the following qualities before he is branded as a true leader. These traits for me are integrity, respect, trust, values, knowledge and human relations.

Someday, we will be applying

these traits as we go through the process of being the CEO of our own companies.

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal he keeps in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Trends and issues in Business and Management: CEO Series. Visit his blog at https://learnceo.wordpress. com/.

The views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

Industrial production up 12%, says Moody’s

By Julito G. Rada

TURNOVER. Deputy House Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu (left) receives the Presidency of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary General Assembly in preparation for the 38th General Assembly next year in the Philippines. Issues on the development of business and enterprises in the region will be discussed during the meeting as well as the strengthening of small and medium enterprises, creation of job opportunities, better working environments, and cyber security in the Asean. Giving the symbolic gavel to Abu are Ahn Winn Khaing Tann, president of the 37th AIPA General Assembly, and Myanmmar House Speaker of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.

THE manufacturing sector likely sustained a double-digit expansion in September, driven by domestic consumption and investment, Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., said in a report over the weekend.

Moody’s predicted a 12-percent growth of industrial production in September, albeit slower than the 13.6 percent a month ago.

“Philippine industrial production growth will likely maintain its blistering pace, rising 12 percent yearon-year in September, compared with 13.6 percent in August. Rapid growth in domestic investment and consumption has been the main driver,” Moody’s said.

“Also providing a boost is the agriculture sector, which has passed the negative effects of 2015’s El Niño climate pattern,” it said. The government is set to release the manufacturing data for the month of

September this week.

Reinvigorating the manufacturing sector is one of the priorities of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to create more jobs and attract more foreign direct investments.

In an earlier report titled Philippines: Duterte’s game plan, DBS Bank of Singapore said prioritizing the manufacturing sector would also fulfill the government’s ambition to diversify the economy from an overdependency on services.

During the campaign period in the run-up to the presidential elections in May this year, Duterte promised to create more jobs to lessen the unemployed in the country. The unemployment rate last year declined to 6.3 percent from 6.8 percent a year ago.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries for August 2016 showed that the Volume of Production Index grew 13.6 percent, a significant improvement from the 2.2-percent growth a year ago.

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

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

US job creation solid in October WASHINGTON―A final glimpse of the US economy before next week’s bitterlyfought presidential election delivered a picture of relative health Friday, with job creation up and unemployment falling.

The jobs report for October showed the United States adding a solid 161,000 new positions while the jobless rate fell to 4.9 percent, according to Labor Department figures.

The results appeared unlikely to lift the fortunes of either Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump, who both campaigned Friday in the battleground states where unemployment is below the national average.

Appearing in New Hampshire, Trump disputed the accuracy of the results and called them “an absolute disaster.”

“People are stopping, they’re not looking for work anymore because they can’t get a job,” he said.

At a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Clinton took a diametrically opposed view.

“We got some good news this morning. Our economy created 161,000 jobs last month. That is 73 straight months of job growth,” she told supporters.

Analysts agreed with Clinton’s view and said the jobs report showed steady momentum in the world’s largest economy, with the Labor Department revising upward its job creation numbers for August and September by a total of 44,000 positions, taking the average for the past three months to a strong 176,000 new jobs.

Wages also saw their strongest gain in seven years, as average hourly earnings rose 2.8 percent year-on-year to $25.92.

Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said he expected gains in average hourly earnings to continue into 2017. AFP

Business

Oracle confirms $9.3-b acquisition of NetSuite W ASHINGTON—US software giant Oracle said Saturday that it has sealed its $9.3-billion acquisition of cloud computing company NetSuite.

Oracle said that a majority of shares—53 percent—owned by eligible stockholders in the vote had been tendered. The acquisition is to be completed Monday, the company said in a statement.

The takeover agreement was announced in late July at a price of $109 per share, but it attracted criticism because Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison and his family own a major stake in NetSuite of nearly 40 percent.

Under conditions of the deal, the transaction had to be approved by a majority of small,

independent NetSuite shareholders, which excluded Ellison.

The deal allows Oracle to incorporate NetSuite’s cloudbased financial management and resource planning products, strengthening its tools in the cloud.

For the 2017 fiscal first quarter ended August 31, Oracle reported total revenues of $8.6 billion, up two percent from a year ago.

Total cloud revenues shot up 59 percent to $969 million.

NetSuite shareholders endorsed Oracle’s bid for the software provider, clearing the path

for the $9 billion acquisition after weeks of conflict between a large investor and executives over the price tag.

The approval comes after T. Rowe Price, which recently held about 18 percent of the stock, publicly pushed back against the offer of $109 per share, saying $133 would be a fairer price. An Oracle executive had said the offer was final. The decision came from shareholders other than Ellison and related parties who hold about 45 percent of NetSuite, along with executive officers and directors.

Oracle is counting on NetSuite to help the company’s shift to cloud-based services and better compete with rivals such as Salesforce.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. NetSuite is one of the

largest pure providers of these modern software features, having carved out a leadership position in the market for tools that manage customers’ core financials.

The tendered shares do not include more than 1 million separate shares tendered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures set forth in the offer to purchase, the company said.

NetSuite had come under pressure amid the uncertainty with the acquisition, Jack Andrews, an analyst at D.A. Davidson, said in a note late last month.

Indeed, sales rose 26 percent in the third quarter, falling short of estimates. It also was a slowdown from recent quarters when revenue expanded more than 30 percent. AFP, Bloomberg

AIRPORT BACKERS. Members of the association “Des ailes pour l’ouest” (Wings for the west), favorable to the transfer of the NantesAtlantique airport to Notre-Dame-des-Landes, hold papers reading “YES” in front of the Prefecture of Loire Atlantique, in Nantes, western France, on November 5, 2016. Approved in 2008, the 580-million-euro project had been due to start in 2014 but has been repeatedly delayed due to fierce opposition by environmental protesters. AFP

UK says deadline for Brexit remains LONDON―British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday told European leaders that her March deadline for triggering Brexit negotiations “remains unchanged” despite a court ruling that she first needs parliament’s approval.

May told European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the “government’s planned timetable for notification of Article 50 remains unchanged,” during separate phone calls, according to a statement released by Downing Street.

She added the government was confident of winning its appeal against Thursday’s High Court ruling that it must seek parliament’s approval before starting EU exit talks.

“The PM explained to both Chancellor Merkel and President Juncker that while the government was disappointed with the judgement, it had strong legal arguments ahead of the case moving to the Supreme Court,” the statement said.

She later relayed the same message in calls to French President Francois Hollande and European Council President Donald Tusk.

The decision raises the prospect of a protracted parliamentary debate, although EU leaders have urged a swift departure.

Lawmakers could demand to know May’s negotiating strategy and seek to maintain strong ties with the bloc before agreeing to invoke Article 50, which the premier has said she will activate between the New Year and the end of March.

Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, from the centrist Liberal Democrat party, told BBC radio that he and other pro-EU lawmakers would seek “to amend the legislation such that parliament would say to government it should pursue a soft Brexit, not a hard Brexit.”

A so-called “hard Brexit” would see Britain pull out of the bloc’s single market and impose tough immigration controls.

In a sign of the likely parliamentary storms ahead, proBrexit Conservative lawmaker Stephen Phillips resigned as an MP on Friday, citing “irreconcilable policy differences with the current government.” AFP

Tourism boom threatens Vietnam’s ‘Tonkinese Alps’

By Jenny Vaughan SAPA, Vietnam―At the top of Vietnam’s Fansipan Mountain, throngs of giddy tourists wielding selfie sticks jostle for a photo op on the once-remote peak in the Sapa region, famed for its breathtaking views across undulating rice terraces.

Getting to the top traditionally takes a two-day trek but these days most visitors opt for a 20-minute ride by cable car instead―the latest flashy tourist attraction to heighten concerns over rapid development destroying Sapa’s natural beauty.

Known by some as the Tonkinese Alps, the former French outpost has seen a tourism boom in recent years with a new highway from the capital and hotels popping up at breakneck pace.

“If more and more building (happens), then one day we will lose Sapa, we won’t have any more mountain,” said guide Giang Thi Lang, from the Black Hmong ethnic group.

Vietnam’s tourism industry has taken off in recent years, especially among domestic visitors with growing appetites and budgets for travel.

The country has also become a draw for foreign visitors turning their backs on better-known Southeast Asian destinations such as Thailand’s Chiang Mai, seeking instead a road less traveled.

But some lament the commercialization of Vietnamese treasures, with reports of locals complaining about multi-course meals served in Ha Long Bay’s

famous caves, or trash-strewn beaches in the resort town of Phu Quoc.

‘They didn’t listen’ In Sapa town, where heaps of rubble mark hotel sites under construction, the number of rooms has surged from 2,500 in 2010 to 4,000 last year, according to official figures.

Visitor numbers have snowballed too, reaching around 700,000 last year, and revenues have more than tripled since 2010 to $50 million.

Part of that growth is thanks to the cable car―the longest of its kind in the world according to operators―which opened in February with the capacity to ferry 2,000 people to the top of the mountain daily.

“It’s good for Sapa when they can attract more tourists... and we have a big number of the local people that can find jobs,” said Nguyen Van Manh, deputy director of Sapa’s Tourist Information Center, adding that the sector provided employment to thousands.

But some locals tell a different story.

“Before the cable car, there were more porters from the village with regular work,” said Hmong trekking guide Ma A Tro from Fansipan’s summit, where he had just led a two-day trip.

“Now with the cable car there, village residents no longer have jobs, mostly becoming freelance construction workers.”

The government ignored opposition to the cable car, he said, lamenting that business has dwindled since its construction

This picture taken on October 1, 2016 shows foreign tourists walking in a street of the northern Sapa tourist town. AFP

with fewer people climbing the mountain.

“We talked to them, but they didn’t listen. The central government came and said they had to do it, so they did it,” he added.

‘Disappointed’ Some tourists also say Sapa is losing its appeal, with Fansipan’s picturesque summit replaced by concrete steps, souvenir shops and still-under-construction temples.

“I imagined I would come to the top and it would be really natural, but it’s developed here, so for me it’s a bit disappoint-

This picture taken on October 1, 2016 shows a tourist looking at mountains from a coffee shop in downtown of northern Sapa tourist town. Known by some as the Tonkinese Alps, the former French outpost has seen a tourism boom in recent years with a new highway from the capital and hotels popping up at breakneck pace. AFP

ing,” said trekker Duong Hoang Minh, who hiked to the top of the 3,143-meter (10,311-foot) peak.

But still, he decided to take the cable car down and agreed that more people can enjoy the mountain because of it.

“For other people I think it’s better because it’s safer for them,” said the 23-year-old teacher, his white sweatpants slicked with fresh mud.

Most tourism operators agree the boom has brought muchneeded development―roads, schools and clinics, for example―to a region where the ma-

jority of the population belong to one of Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minorities, who have traditionally lagged behind the rest of the country.

But without sustainable growth Sapa risks “shooting itself in the foot,” said Hubert de Murard, manager of the Topas Ecolodge about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from Sapa town.

The lodge, with its 25 white granite bungalows overlooking a rice terraced valley, employs mostly locals, was built using materials found nearby and was designed to blend in with the

surrounding environment―a business model de Murard said he’d like to see newcomers adopt.

He worries that some investments have been short-sighted, aimed at maximizing the number of visitors.

“For a natural destination like here, with a preserved environment, this would not really be good,” he told AFP as the sun set over the yawning valley behind him.

“We need to be a bit more careful to avoid the mistake of mass tourism in Sapa.” AFP

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

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CONTINUING COMMITMENT. The first class town of Taytay, considered the ‘garments capital of the Philippines,’ and among the ‘Next Wave Cities’ for Outsourcing Firms and Call Centers, takes pride in its commitment to give residents and outsiders the best in its tourist attractions and the quality of its products.

Groups want Gibalon site of First Luzon mass SORSOGON CITY—The longtime claim, originally by the Kasanggayahan Foundation Inc., to have Gibalon as the site of the first Catholic Mass in Luzon is gaining ground.

Groups want the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to declare Sitio Gibalon in Brgy. Siuton, Magallanes, Sorsogon as the Site of the First Mass in Luzon to make the claim official.

The Philippines became a Christian country in the 16th century when Portuguese navigator Fernando Magallanes, sailing under the flag of Spain, arrived in the islands.

The Special Edition of “Kapihan sa PIA” initiated by the Philippine Information Agency Sorsogon Information Center conducted on Oct. 28, 2016 generated full support from the participants and speakers as well, as expressed by affixing their signatures in the Manifesto of Support prepared by PIA. The edition was intended to support the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and Philippine Information Agency’s advocacy campaign to promote local culture, arts and heritage under the NCCA-PIA Region V’s advocacy project “Pride of Race, Proud of Heritage.”

Dubbed as “Forum on Heritage and Culture Promotion” highlighting discussions on Gibalon as the Site of the First Mass in Luzon, it brought to the participants’ awareness the historical background of the Site of the First Christian Mass in Luzon as evidenced by the documents presented during the lecture.

That, in the year 1569, the birth of Christianity in the island of Luzon took place when two Augustinian friars, Fray Alonzo Jimenez and Fray Juan Orta celebrated the First Christian Mass and baptized natives in the ancient village called Gibalon.

Gibalon is beside Ginangra River in the town of Magallanes in Sorsogon, thus establishing the First Christian Settlement in Luzon.

The Manifesto of Support signed during the “Kapihan sa PIA” was anchored on the KFI’s claim and on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Sorsogon’s Resolution Numbered 173-2016 dated Aug. 30, 2016 strongly urging the National Historical Commission of the Philippines to officially declare Sitio Gibalon, Siuton, Magallanes, Sorsogon as the Site of the First Mass in Luzon.

The resolution stated that to date, there is no official declaration from the NHCP for such entitlement, and the province cannot holistically institute development on the site without the official endorsement and accreditation from the commission.

Taytay ‘tiangge’ takes pride in quality, affordable clothes

By Honor Blanco Cabie

T

AYTAY, Rizal—This densely populated town, some 28 kms east of Manila, has become a nerve center for garments in the metropolis and the surrounding towns overlooking Laguna de Bay, the country’s largest inland lake.

It is considered one of the “Next Wave Cities” for Outsourcing Firms and Call Centers, 10th place out of 10 cities and the only town.

The National Competitiveness Council has named Taytay as the 2nd Most Competitive Municipality in the first and second class category this year, from being 10th place in 2014 and third place last year.

But old hands say the town’s “Tiangge” has made the mu-

nicipality known—with almost 320,000 population—not only in the whole of Rizal but across the country, which has a population of 105 million people.

Officials said the “Tiangge” —also known as street bargain market among tourists and nearby residents—is strategically located beside the New Taytay Public Market, at the entrance arc of Club Manila East Road.

Local and foreign tourists find

along the road a succession of different stores selling different kinds of fabrics, different varieties of ready-to-wear or RTW clothes, curtains and others hawked at affordable prices with their high quality.

Some sources have said most of the retail shops in Divisoria in Manila, the Tiendesitas in Pasig and Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City continue to patronize and buy products at the “Tiangge.”

At the same time, Taytay lives up to its moniker as the “woodworks and garments capital” of the Philippines with its high quality manufacturers of wooden architecture products.

These include doors, windows, jambs, stair components, lattices, moldings and other made-to-order wooden products.

Officials said Taytay is one of the major suppliers of wood products

like furniture for home, sala set and wood carvings both sold for local clients and those residing overseas.

Rising to its commitment of being a business-friendly community, the local government has encouraged the establishment of new partnership for progress with investors.

The town also offers a memorable dining experience, with native and local cuisines in home-grown restaurants—with tourists savoring the taste of the Taytay-brand lauya, talibubu, barutak, biñabasan, budbod, and hibok-hibok.

Those on a spiritual pilgrimage can take a tour at the Spanish-inspired facade of St. John the Baptist Church, founded in 1579 and completed in 1630.

Franciscan missionaries first arrived to establish a parish in Taytay in 1579 and built a chapel made of light materials near the

shores of Laguna de Bay named “Visita de Sta. Ana de Sapa,” dedicated to its patron saint.

Jesuit missionaries took over the administration of the parish in 1591, with Fr. Pedro Chirino becoming the parish priest, under whose administration the parish was relocated from the floodprone shores of Laguna de Bay to a hill called San Juan del Monte.

Residents tell tourists to experience the warm ambiance and serenity of what they call the “Church in the sky” while enjoying the sight of the Tungtong River, first classified as a “creek” in the government records of the municipality of Taytay.

This river is located in and around the area of the Beverly Hills Subdivision in This town, stretching for 15 kms and is connected to the Pasig River by means of the Manggahan floodway.

Workers, scholars get cash

FESTIVE SEASON. At SM City North Edsa, destination Christmas unwraps the most joyful atmosphere in the metropolis for children as the Atrium is filled with little teddy bears during its launching Saturday attended by children from nearby neighborhood and subdivision blocks. Manny Palmero

Rural sector crafts plans for development DAVAO CITY—The rural sector, composed of stakeholders and rural experts, met here for a two-day conference to craft recommendations on rural development for inclusion in the 2017 to 2022 Philippine Development Plan.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, whose agency was the lead convenor of the summit, said “these consultative conference and workshops is a step in the right direction for us in the Duterte administration.

“In these workshops, we consulted our kababayans

who discussed with us what they need and expect from the government. We listened to them and consolidated their ideas and suggestions for rural development.”

The conference was a thematic summit on food security, land tenure improvement and environmental protection whose proponents are the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“It was tackled in the workshops that our farmers want security of tenure in their lands.

They also want their welfare and rights protected. We at the DAR will do just that so that they can ably contribute to rural development,” said Mariano.

He said: “Another major issue raised [in the workshops] was self-sufficiency in food production and illegal mining.

We in the rural sector fully agree with our stakeholders that our country should not depend on importation of agriproducts like rice.

“We should be self-sufficient to ensure food security in the country. We are also one

with them in enforcing responsible mining for the protection of our environment” DAR Undersecretary Luis Pangulayan said the summit “served as consultation mechanism for the DAR, DA and DENR to present the country’s current state on food security, agrarian reform and environmental protection initiatives to our stakeholders.”

Pangulayan said around 300 participants from the three government agencies, nongovernment organizations, and rural development experts attended the two-day summit.

TRECE MARTIRES, Cavite—The provincial government headed by Cavite Gov. Boying Remulla recently distributed cash incentives to the province’s health workers and nutrition scholars.

The cash incentives for the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2016 amounted to P6,000 each for Barangay Health Workers and P3,000 each for Barangay Nutrition Scholars.

Some 1,000 BHWs and BNS beneficiaries from the towns of Alfonso, Amadeo, General Emilio Aguinaldo, Magallanes, Maragondon, Ternate, Silang (Bulihan), Mendez and Tagaytay City received their incentives during the distribution at Mendez Municipal Covered Court last Oct. 26.

On Oct. 27, 888 BHWs and 134 BNS from the cities of Dasmariñas, Imus, Bacoor, Cavite and the towns of Rosario, Kawit, Noveleta, Carmona and GMA received incentives during the distribution at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Gymnasium in Dasmariñas City.

The events are held in recognition of the significant roles of the barangay health workers and nutrition scholars as front liners in health programs implementation on barangays levels.

Remulla assured the BHWs and BNWs the province will make way for the provision of smart phones and improved health benefits for them under PhilHealth.

The ceremony last Oct. 26 was supported and witnessed by seventh district Board Members Reiniel Ambion and Reinalyn Varias, Mayor Eric Vida, Vice Mayor Cocoy Mendoza, Sangguniang Bayan Members of Mendez and other local government employees.

Meanwhile, next day’s event guests and supporters included 4th District Board Members Rudy Lara and Valeriano Encabo, Mayor Elpidio Barzaga, Vice-Mayor Rex Mangubat and former governor Jonvic Remulla Mayor Eric Vida, Vice Mayor Cocoy Mendoza, Sangguniang Bayan Members of Mendez and other local government employees.

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LGUs

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Expressways boon to tourism

By Honor Blanco Cabie

Pampanga lanterns selling like hot cakes

S

AN JOSE CITY, Nueva Ecija—Cousins Priscilla Ida and Karenina Anne used to have more than 15 hours bus travel along the Maharlika Highway from Manila to their hometown of Gonzaga in the far northeast of Cagayan Valley.

By Romeo Dizon CITY of San Fernando, Pampanga—Lanterns made in this capital city north of Manila are selling like hot cakes, declared famous lantern maker and designer Rolando S. Quiambao.

Quiambao said orders both from retail and local government units nationwide and export are pouring in.

Retails orders from malls, commercial establishments, hotels, restaurants, and other outlets together with the local government units mostly from the Metro Manila, national government offices and other buyers from other parts of the country are keeping them busy.

This Christmas, the main thoroughfares, highways and streets of Metro Manila and nearby cities and towns will be dressed in holiday’s style of Pampanga lanterns, angels, and other decorative materials with dancing multi-color lights.

Asked about the total amount, the award-winning lantern maker smiled and disclosed that last year he sold about 10,000 pieces of lanterns with different sizes, colors, shapes and forms for different prices.

Lantern making, a year round business for Quiambao, usually starts in June when he begins to showcase the new samples of the year to both local and foreign buyers.

“We have new products every two years, depending on the mood of time and clients’ need,” he said.

His shop is overflowing with ready-to-deliver stocks of different sizes and multicolored Christmas decorations, including giant lanterns and angels, to nearby cities and towns.

His shop in barangay Del Pilar, was declared a tourist spot with guests frequently requesting audience with the master lantern maker.

They include ambassadors, consuls, students from top universities, and tourist operators among others.

According to the former overseas contract worker in Saudi Arabia, the San Fernando lanterns sell well because of their unique features that no other makers can imitate until now. ”Our products are made of flattened capis, plastic vinyl, paper, and fiber glass with ordinary bulbs and sometimes with lights emitting Dionne.

The prices range from P1,000 to P15,000, depending on the needs of the customers.

The husband and wife tandem, under the trade name ROLREN which stand for Rolando S. Quiambao and Renita A. Quiambao, started the business with a few thousand pesos until they were able to grow after few years of hard work, strong commitment to their clients, and honesty especially when it involves down payments or advance deposits.

Renita serves as treasurer and purchaser of materials while Roland deals with the clients and employees who now total 70 persons, excluding five subcontractors.

A fourth generation of lantern makers who learned the rudiments of the art from Mario Datu of barangay Del Pilar after he was laid off as musician from Saudi Arabia in 1983, Quiambao started as a serious helper to Datu until he learned the craft and started his own production with the help of his wife in barangay Del Pilar in 1986.

LOGISTICS HUB. The 93.77-km SCTEX has transformed the Central Luzon region into a world-class logistics pivot in the Asia-Pacific region

through the integration of economic activities in the Subic Bay Freeport, the Clark Freeport Zone, and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac and has linked major infrastructures such as the Seaport in Subic and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark.

Davao City now eyed as agri devt epicenter

By Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO—This highly urbanized southeastern coastal city is now being eyed as one of the areas for agricultural development in the Philippines.

The country is expected to have a more energized agricultural trade relations with China, after the visit of Davao City officials in Shanghai recently.

Chinese businessmen are upbeat about the spirit of goodwill between the Philippines and China following the meeting of President Rodrigo Duterte and Xi Jinping in Beijing in October.

Chinese importers and exporters of fresh fruits from the Philipines recently met with Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte in Shanghai to discuss the role of the city in the promotion of agricultural cooperation.

Agriculture was one of the highlights during President Duterte’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart. .

“Davao City will definitely play a major role in the agricultural cooperation between China and the Philippines,” said Vice Mayor Duterte, citing the city’s production

of high-value crops like banana, pineapple and coconuts, among others.

“If we will be able to satisfy international standards and meet the production requirements, it will definitely be beneficial to our farmers and our city,” he said.

The vice mayor’s meeting was hosted by the preparatory committee of the 2016 China-Philippines Agricultural Forum happening in Shanghai in December.

Vice Mayor Duterte also earlier met with Shanghai Vice Mayor Chen Yin at the Shanghai City Hall.

Businessman Nelson Chua, chairman of the Golden Mindanao Global Holding Company, noted that Davao is the best place for agricultural development because of its fertile soil, climate, and rich natural resources.

“Davao City has also diversified quality crops like bananas and pineapples,” he said.

Noel de Luna, the country’s agricultural counselor in Beijing, said the meeting was a great opportunity not only for Davao but also for Mindanao to be able to export more agricultural products to China.

“The Philippines is expected to send more agricultural products to China, and China could help the Filipino agriculture

sector through its technology,” De Luna said.

Liang Shumin, a professor at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, said the Philippines’ agriculture sector could explore the possibility of sending to China crops like durian, avocado, papaya, and mushroom.

Poultry, horticulture, and forest products are also in demand, according to Liang.

Another fruit importer, Ma Xiagu, noted that what is needed now is for the development of agricultural policies by the Chinese and Philippine governments to “further our cooperation.”

“The results of these meetings are very encouraging,” Ma said.

“We certainly see an opportunity to enhance and expand our trade relations.”

Another businessman said the Philippine government must “fight back and reclaim the China market.”

The forum in December is intended to improve the strategic layout of agriculture, opening up agricultural imports and exports, and to optimize the importation and exportation of important agricultural products between China and the Philippines.

But thanks to the new 66.4-km Central Luzon Expressway, which connects it to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Exchange and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Exchange, travel in these areas has heftily cut travel time.

They will no longer have to take the road that snakes through Plaridel in Bulacan and Gapan in Nueva Ecija, but will instead go through the Central Luzon Expressway and pass through the towns of Victoria, Guimba and Cabanatuan after the Tarlac City junction on the present Subic-Clark-Tarlac Exchange north end.

Specifically, travel hours have also been shortened from Olongapo, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, the Ilocos provinces, Baguio and the Cordillera region and Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija to the Cagayan Valley all the way to the coastal towns facing the Babuyan Channel.

Wilma and her cousins Ceferina and Loida have also experienced faster travel time from Metro Manila to their hometown in Paoay, 470 kms north of the capital.

This is the same experience for Cresta and her brother, who went home to this Science City, the seat of the Carabao Center and the Central Luzon State University in the heart of Central Luzon’s rice granary Nueva Ecija.

Public Works and Highways officials have said a loan agreement for the 30.7km Tarlac-Cabanatuan section southwest of here had been signed by Manila and Tokyo.

Officials said the construction of the four-lane project would be financed through the Official Development Assistance while the operation and maintenance would be under Public-PrivatePartnership.

As public works activities buzz round the clock, residents said businesses are getting their proverbial slice of the pie by slowly expanding to the Central Luzon region because of new infrastructure projects.

These projects are slowly transforming the rice-rich region into what can be the country’s next major investment destination, according to sources close to the projects.

Official sources said procurement for consultancy services for detailed engineering designs on these projects are in high gear.

Phase 1 of the Central Luzon Link Expresway was estimated to cost around P15.344 billion.

This is interconnected with the Luisita interchange of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, running all the way to the northern countryside as well as Baguio, the country’s summer capital, Nueva Ecija and Cagayan Valley in the northeast.

Estrada vows to make San Juan City drug-free SAN Juan Vice Mayor Janella Ejercito-Estrada, who heads the anti-drug abuse council of her city, has vowed to eliminate illegal drugs in the city by 2017.

“I want to make San Juan City drug-free by November next year,” Estrada told reporters recently.

Her commitment coincided with news the city, headed

by Mayor Guia G. Gomez, had been awarded the Seal of Good Local Governance and, six days later, received an “Excellent” rating from the Civil Service Commission as contained in its Anti-Red Tape Act Report Card.

The vice mayor has assured illegal drug users they will be protected by the police and the city’s anti-drug abuse council.

“I told them not to be afraid anymore because the police will protect them 110 percent,” she added.

The cleansing is also to ensure that no elected official is hooked on illegal drugs, she added.

The local government unit earlier conducted a mandatory drug tests on elected officials and appointed personnel.

Estrada asked drug surrenderers to convince their fellow drugs users to participate in the rehabilitation program of the city’s 21 barangays.

“They [drug dependents] will be assured of jobs once they tested negative of drugs,” Estrada said.

She noted many of those who surrendered refused to undergo rehabilitation because they were afraid they might be killed. Honor Blanco Cabie

PAGEANT SEASON. The Miss Republic of the Philippines Pageant Organization has formally launched the search for the 2017 Miss RP Queen at the Expo Hall, Fisher Mall, Quezon City, with the formal introduction of (from left) Kristie Rose Ciquena, Miss RP Mindanao 2015; Jocelle Mariano, Miss RP Luzon 2015; Fermira Diane Ramos, Miss RP 2015; Beatrice Valente, Miss RP International 2015; and Sheila Marie Reyes, Miss RP Visayas 2015. Manny Palmero

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

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Haitians are still desperate for aid

GALA. Lily Collins and Ewan McGregor attend the 10th Annual GO Campaign Gala on November 5, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

LES CAYES, Haiti―In southern Haiti, trunks of uprooted trees still litter fields and beaches as if Hurricane Matthew blew through and left its trail of death and destruction only yesterday.

If it weren’t for the blue plastic tarps that now cover damaged homes, the scene one month after the storm would be practically identical to the days following the October 4 landfall.

Among the felled coconut trees, a single plastic tarp offers little protection from the elements for Jean Robert Sima and his 92-year-old father, who rests on a mattress.

“A man I had done some work for is letting us use his house to spend the night because he is abroad, but that’s only for a few days” and only at night, Sima said.

Every day, Sima and his family visit the ruins of their home which he hopes to rebuild. But with his crops ruined, he has no money to buy materials and is unable to find any help.

The southern region of Haiti, considered the country’s breadbasket, was hardest-hit by the powerful storm, which packed

winds of 250 kilometers per hour and killed 546 people, according to official figures.

Thirty miles away in Les Cayes, the capital of the southern department, a teenager was shot dead on Tuesday as a ship was unloading humanitarian aid.

“When aid is distributed, people grow agitated and belligerent,” said Sima’s wife Jiland.

“The Haitian officials are dishonest because they first take aid for their loved ones. You can be there with your kids and nothing else, but they still won’t give you anything.”

Receiving aid is a challenge for the tens of thousands of local residents in part because there have been no comprehensive surveys of how much assistance is needed due to the extent of the damaged area.

Just two miles awa, a religious group has discreetly distributed plastic tarps and tools to build temporary shelters.

“We conducted surveys in remote areas to verify who is in need,” said Bertrand Enoc with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency. AFP

Scandal widens in South Korea S

EOUL—South Korean prosecutors arrested two former top presidential aides Sunday in a snowballing influence-peddling scandal THAT has seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets to demand President Park GeunHye resign.

Park’s approval ratings have hit a historic low of five percent―a record for a sitting president―over the scandal involving her close personal friend Choi Soon-Sil. Choi has been arrested for fraud and also stands accused of meddling in state affairs― including government appointments and policy decisions―despite holding no official position.

Ahn Jong-beom, a former senior advisor to Park, was formally arrested early Sunday on charges of abuse of power and attempted coercion, the Yonhap news agency reported.

He is suspected of helping Choi collect millions of dollars in donations from conglomerates like Samsung to two dubious non-profit foundations which Choi set up and

allegedly used for personal gain.

Ahn, who has been in custody since Wednesday after stepping down late last month said he would “take responsibility for assisting the president badly”, Yonhap reported.

Prosecutors also arrested Jeong Ho-Seong, another former presidential aide, over allegations that he leaked classified information.

The 47-year-old Jeong, who was known as Park’s right hand man and has assisted her since 1998, is suspected of passing presidential speeches and official documents to Choi.

Park has been scrambling to restore trust in her administration

In Syria, weavers forsaking looms ARIHA, Syria —With the deftness of decades of experience, Abu Mohammad wove thick green thread with a wooden loom in northwest Syria, creating a vibrant geometric pattern renowned among Arabic textiles.

It was the last day before the weaver in his 50s would be forced to close the workshop, leaving the last five remaining looms in his hometown of Ariha in Idlib province to gather dust.

“This trade is dead now... Today is our last day of work on the loom, as we don’t have any more thread,” the balding man told A FP. Weaving has been devastated

by Syria’s five-year civil war, with thread becoming too difficult to procure from Aleppo -once the country’s artisanal hub but now ravaged by fighting and bombardment.

The battered city, 70 kilometers northeast of Ariha, was the main provider of the rough thread needed to weave Arabic textiles, versatile fabrics turned into rugs, furniture covers, and other household items.

But now Aleppo’s rebel-held eastern districts are besieged by government forces, making it impossible to obtain thread from there, and materials from the regime-controlled west are too expensive, Abu Mohammad said.

On his last day, he worked as enthusiastically as he had since his teenage years, pulling down wooden levers to lay down colorful acrylic fiber across a white base.

The sound of the panels smacking against each other was interrupted only by Abu Mohammad’s nasal singing, or a brief tea break with fellow weavers reclining on a shabby couch.

“Ariha, in Idlib province, is the most well-known in making this product,” said Abu Mohammad, gesturing to the

green-and-red blankets and pillow cases hanging on the wall behind him.

“We make all household items, from rugs for bedrooms to covers for the Quran. We would furnish entire houses.”

“Before the war, there were more than 100 looms in Ariha, but the only ones left are the ones in this shop,” he said.

As the siege on Aleppo’s east tightened and access to thread became more difficult, only three looms in the Ariha workshop remained active.

“Before the war, our trade was booming. We could buy thread for pennies from Aleppo,” Abu Mohammad said.

He pulled out a small box containing dozens of spools of colorful thread: “This is all we have left.”

Today, a kilogram of the blend of cotton and polyester used for the textiles costs 3,500 Syrian pounds ($7), up from 175 pounds before the war.

Abu Mohammad points to a rug hanging on the wall: “Before, I could make this whole rug with just 200 Syrian pounds.”

Another lifelong weaver, 40-year-old Abu Mostafa, said he began working a loom when he was about 12.

He tried to find stable work in a different field but never felt comfortable doing anything except weaving, he said, as he pumped the wooden panels below his loom.

“I went to Lebanon and worked in construction and then to Turkey for a few months, but I couldn’t hold any job that kept me away from a loom for too long.”

Abu Mostafa beamed with pride as he reminisced about the robes and pillow covers he would produce.

“No one else could make the pieces we made. They looked as if they were printed,” he said.

“I challenge any computer to make something like this!” AFP

amid the deepening crisis, reshuffling ministers and senior advisers to bring in figures from outside her ruling conservative Saenuri Party.

In a televised address Friday, Park agreed to be questioned by prosecutors, and sought to portray herself as an over-trusting friend who had let her guard down at a moment of weakness.

Her voice choking with emotion, Park said she had been living a “lonely life” as president and had turned to Choi for company and help.

The South Korean media has portrayed Choi, whose late father was a shadowy religious leader and an important mentor to Park, as a Rasputin-like fig-

Republic of the Philippines Department of Education Region V (Bicol) DIVISION OF CATANDUNES BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE (BAC) San Roque, Virac Catanduanes, Philippines INVITATION TO BID CY 2016 BEFF PROVISION OF SCHOOL FURNITURE TO NEWLY CONSTRUCTED CLASSROOMS- BATCH 4 1.

2.

The DepEd, Division of Catanduanes, through the General Appropriation Act (GAA)CY 2016 intends to apply the sum of Two Million Eight Hundred Eight Thousand Seven Hundred Forty Eight Pesos and 85/100 Only (Php2,808,748.85),being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payment under the contract for the procurement of CY 2016 BEFFProvision of School Furniture to Newly Constructed ClassroomsBatch 4. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The DepEd, Division of Catanduanes now invites bids for CY 2016- BEFF- Provision of School Furniture for Newly Constructed Classrooms- Batch 4. Delivery of the Goods is required 90days.Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II Instruction to Bidders.

Name of Project : CY 2016- BEFF- Provision of School Furniture to Newly Constructed Classrooms- Batch 4 Approved Budget for the Contract : Php2,808,748.85 Location/ Recipient School : Brief Description : Delivery Site

:

Calatagan HS, Tubli ES, CNHS, Virac PES, San Miguel RDHS, Mayngaway NHS, Lictin IS, Viga RDHS Armchairs (Non-Wood Based Materials)and Teacher’s Table and Chairs-set (all wood) Door to Door delivery to recipient schools

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from DepEd, Division of Catanduanes and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from November 8, 2016 to November 28, 2016 from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Five Thousand Pesos Only (Php5,000.00).

6.

The DepEd, Division of Catanduanes will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on November 15, 2016 at 8:00 AM at BAC Office, which shall be opened to all interested parties.

7.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before November 28, 2016 at 9:00 AM at BAC Office, DepEd, Division Office. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on November 28, 2016 at 9:00 AM at BAC Office.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Prior to Bid Opening, representative of bidders should present and submit to the BAC a Special Power of Attorney stating the detailed activities which he/she will perform relative to the bidding at hand and a Letter of Intent.

9.

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

Despite the mass protests, Park is not expected to resign with just over a year of her single term in office left.

Whatever transpires, the very personal nature of the scandal has severely undermined Park’s ability to govern, turning her into the lamest of lame-duck leaders at a time of slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and elevated military tensions with North Korea. AFP

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE DEPARTMENT IN THE MATTER OF : EL MASFINO COUNTRY Amended Registration Statement CLUB, INC. : -Registrant: x--------------------------------------x NOTICE Notice is hereby given that on 06 September 20161, a sworn Amended Registration Statement was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of EL MASFINO COUNTRY CLUB INC., reflecting therein the adjustment of the work program of its project from the end of year 2014 to end of year 2020.

According to the documents presented, the following persons are the key officers/directors of the Corporation: Director/Officer Robert L. Wong Gerardo V. Pancho Plaridel M. Abaya Pedro V. Pancho Augusto F. Manalo Feliciano G. Donato Richard Thomas S. Joson Mathilda P. Brobio

Position/s Chairman and Director President and Director Director Director Treasurer and Director Independent Director Independent Director Finance Committee Chairman

The said Amended registration Statement and other documents attached thereto are open to inspection by interested parties at Ground Floor, North Wing Hall, Secretariat Building, PICC Complex, Vicente Sotto Street, Pasay City during business hours and copies thereof, photostatic or otherwise, shall be furnished to any party upon request at such fees as the Commission may prescribe. The Amended Registration Statement may also be downloaded from www.hotelmasfino. com.

JUSTINA F. CALLANGAN Director 1.

The Amended Registration Statement was originally filed on 02 March 2016.

(MS-NOV. 7, 2016)

Republic of the Philippines CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAVITE Invitation to Bid for P r o j e c t N o . 2 0 16 -11 -1 C O N ST R U CT I O N O F A F O U R (4 ) ST O R E Y N E W C I T Y H A L L B U I L D I N G LO C AT E D AT PAS E O D E B A R A N G AY, S A N R O Q U E , C AV I T E C I T Y 1.

The CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAVITE, through the, LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES CY20161, intends to apply the sum of SEVENTY FOUR MILLION SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY TWO THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT & 08/100 PESOS (74,672,928.08) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the CONSTRUCTION OF A FOUR (4) STOREY NEW CITY HALL BUILDING. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAVlTE now invites bids for the CONSTRUCTION OF A FOUR (4) STOREY LOCATED AT PASEO DE BARANGAY, SAN ROQUE, CAVITE CITY. Completion of the Works is required THREE HUNDRED (300) CALENDAR DAYS. Bidders should have completed similar contract to the project, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instruction to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through an open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specified In the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from BIDS & AWARDS COMMITTEE-CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAVITE and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours from 9:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m. DURING WORKING DAYS ONLY.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of FIFTY THOUSAND PESOS (50,000.00). It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhiIGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The BIDS & AWARDS COMMITTEE-ClTY GOVERNMENT OF CAVlTE will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on November 18, 2016 at the JULIAN C. MEDINA MEMORIAL HALL, 2nd FLOOR CITY HALL BUILDING, SAMONTE PARK, SAN ROQUE, CAVITE CITY, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

7.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before DECEMBER 02, 2016 AT 10:00 AM, at the BIDS & AWARDS COMMITTEE - CITY GOVERNMENT OF CAVITE. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Bids will be opened In the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

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

9.

For further information, please refer to:

Contract Duration : 3.

90 calendar days from the date of acceptance of Notice to Proceed Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

ure who wielded an unhealthy influence over the president.

Choi is the daughter of late religious leader Choi Tae-Min, who was married six times, had multiple pseudonyms and set up his own cult-like group known as the Church of Eternal Life.

Park has been forced to deny that she fell for a religious cult or allowed shamanist rituals to be performed in the presidential Blue House.

10. For further information, please refer to:

BERNIE C. DESPABILADERO Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee DepEd, Division Office, Virac, Catanduanes CP No. 09062470642

( M S - J U LY 2 6 , 2 016)

(SGD.) BERNIE C. DESPABILADERO BAC Chairman

Ms. RAEJEAN E. VASQUEZ Head, BAC Secretariat Office of the City Engineer City Hall Building Samonte Park San Roque, Cavite City baccavite@yahoo.com Telefax 046-431-1655

(SGD) ARCH. ALLISON B. SANTIAGO City Administrator BAC Chairperson

( M S - N O V. 7, 2 016)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

C4

World

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

SMOG IN THE CITY. Vehicles are seen in heavy smog in New Delhi on November 6, 2016. Thick smog has blanketed the capital for days, with local and central authorities meeting to resolve the crisis. The reading for pollutants in the atmosphere breached the 1,000 microgram mark for the first time in one neighborhood in south Delhi—10 times the World Health Organizationís recommended level—earlier this week. AFP

US election met with indifference, loathing C

AIRO―In Cairo, capital of the most populous Arab country, the US election is met with self-absorbed indifference or loathing for one, and sometimes both, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The staff at a barbershop in Cairo’s middle class Dokki neighborhood looked at one another in bemusement when asked whom they favored for US president.

Two admitted they did not know who was running.

“We’re following what’s happening here, that’s more than enough for us,” laughed a hairdresser who gave her name as Mona, referring to Egypt’s economic crisis.

Another said he knew “little” about the election: “What I know is that Trump is hostile to Muslims.”

Eight years after the region closely followed the election won

by Barack Obama, uprisings, economic ruin and civil war have directed people’s gaze inwards.

“I think the Arab world is consumed by its own existential crisis and few people have really thought through the implications of the next US president on their well-being,” said Hend Amry, a Libyan-American writer who lives in Qatar.

Near Cairo’s zoo, three university students shyly said they had not been following the election.

An elderly man walking by

peremptorily denounced both candidates, before striding away with a toddler in tow.

“Their elections are like crap,” he said. “You remove crap and replace it with crap.”

At a cafe in Baghdad, a city much changed since the 2003 US-led invasion to remove Saddam Hussein, patrons have been following the election more closely.

Haidar Hassan, 27, blamed the Republicans for the disastrous invasion that took place under President George W Bush, but said he still supported Trump.

“Despite Iraqis’ suffering from Republican rule and their invasion, I still think Trump is tougher in fighting terrorism and countries exporting it,” he said, referring to Gulf Arab states that many Iraqis accuse of nurturing Sunni extremists.

“The Democrats are more

reasonable,” countered Mostafa al-Rubaei, saying US forces withdrew from Iraq under a Democrat president―Obama.

Clinton’s past as secretary of state during Obama’s first term has been controversial in the region, with some blaming American foreign policy under her for the chaos of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Others have latched on to more bizarre accusations against the former diplomat, mirroring fringe right-wing American attacks on her.

At a Cairo grocery, shopkeeper Karem Mohamed had launched into a pensive defense of Clinton when his colleague, who had been preoccupied with filling a vat of pickled onions, interrupted.

“No she’s with the Muslim Brotherhood! She’s a collaborator,” said Mahmud Abdel Al. AFP

Ortega and wife poised for victory MANAGUA―Nicaragua is voting Sunday in elections that look certain to hand President Daniel Ortega a third straight term, this time with his eccentric but equally iron-fisted wife as his vice president.

Polls indicate more than 60 percent support for Ortega and wife Rosario Murillo, with rival candidates for the presidency trailing far behind.

Voting stations in the country, one of the poorest in the Americas, but also one of the safest, will open Sunday at 7:00am (1300 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 6:00pm (0000 GMT Monday), with results expected hours later.

The elections will choose the president, and 90 of the seats in the country’s 92-seat single chamber National Assembly, the other two seats going to the president and runner up.

Part of the opposition, which has been sidelined and weak-

ened by maneuverings by Ortega, the courts and electoral officials, is calling for voters to spurn the elections, focusing attention more on the turnout of the four-million-strong electorate than the result.

Ortega is a former Marxist rebel who became president in 1985 for an initial five-year term. After 17 years in opposition, he was elected back as leader in 2006 and has ruled ever since.

His style of rule has become increasingly distant in recent years, with a notable reluctance to appear in government or before the media, leading critics to describe him as autocratic, or wondering if the 70-year-old was suffering health problems.

But his left-wing sensibilities, stabilizing economic policies and development of social programs have made him widely popular, earning unshakeable loyalty from the many poor. AFP

‘Brazil is a changed country’ MIAMI―It was a screening to promote her latest film, but actress Sonia Braga could not help weighing in on the political situation in her native Brazil, just weeks after the ouster of its first woman president.

“There is a coup in Brazil, [but] it is not a military coup,” Braga lamented late Friday after the screening of “Aquarius,” a movie some see as a symbol of political resistance.

Latin America’s biggest country has endured months of political upheaval, culminating with the removal from office in August of Dilma Rousseff on charges that she violated government budget laws.

The leftist Rousseff was replaced by Her Temer, her vice president and a political rival from the center-right―a change that makes Braga chafe.

“It is very hard for people outside of Brazil knowing exactly what’s happened and (the) dimension of the danger that we

are going through right now,” the film star continued.

“Brazil is not the country I used to know,” she continued, speaking at a cinema in Miami’s Little Havana district, home to one of America’s largest concentrations of Latinos.

When “Aquarius” had its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, the cast and crew created a sensation by staging a red carpet protest against Rousseff being suspended from power, holding signs that read “Brazil is experiencing a coup d’etat” and other slogans.

That protest has led some to see the film as subversive, while those on the left have hailed it as an act of political courage.

Braga’s childhood of poverty and want has led her to press for social progress for Brazil’s least fortunate.

“I want for Brazil what I always wanted for Brazil since I was nine,” she said.

“From that age I learned so-

cial problems, I learned about society. All my life I had this intuitive feeling about what is good, what’s fair, what’s justice, for my country, for my people and for ourselves. And what I can do best is talking out loud what I feel.”

Braga is known for her starring turn in a number of popular movies, including “Kiss of the Spider Woman” in 1985 and “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands,” in 1976, as well as numerous television outings.

She became a soap opera sensation in her native Brazil before achieving even greater fame and fortune in Hollywood.

Still a vibrant, raven-haired beauty at 66, Braga now lives in New York, but feels a close emotional tie to the country of her birth.

With its recent sharp swerve to the right, however, “it doesn’t seem like to be the country that I knew and I lived in and I loved so much,” Braga said. AFP

CLOSING CEREMONY Tunisian actress Mariam ben Hassine and actor Dhafer Zine al-Abidine arrive for the closing ceremony of the 27th Carthage Film Festival on November 5, 2016, in the Tunisian capital Tunis.. AFP

Rain, hail and drought: French wine makers feel the pinch FUISSE, France―”This isn’t so much a harvest, as a hunt for grapes,” said French winemaker Jean-Jacques Robert, with a rueful laugh as he unloaded grapes still warm from his vineyards around Fuisse in Burgundy.

“It’s a catastrophe, the worst harvest for 30 or 40 years,” said the nor-

mally cheery 64-year-old owner of Domaine Robert-Denogent.

The organic wine maker lost between two-thirds and threequarters of his harvest in one hailstorm in April.

He is not alone. For thousands of French wine makers, 2016 will go down as an annus horribilis, with

vines destroyed by frost, heavy rain, hailstones “as big as ping pong balls”, mildew and drought near the Mediterranean.

“All that was missing was a plague of frogs,” said Robert’s son Antoine, whose near century-old Beaujolais vines were also devastated.

Official figures from the Ministry of Agriculture show 2016 as one of the worst years in three decades, with production down one third in Champagne and other key wine regions like Burgundy and the Loire valley almost as badly hit.

For some wine makers in

Chablis and Chiroubles, two of the country’s most famous wine villages, the loss was almost total.

Yet not all areas were hit. Bordeaux and Alsace had bumper crops even as national production plummeted by 12 percent.

But in areas that got the worst

of the weather, it was organic wine makers and those from France’s growing “vin nature” movement―which campaigns for a return to more natural wines―who suffered most.

Unable to spray damaged crops, they had to watch as mildew ripped through their vines. AFP

Life

Spaghetti with fresh clams and lemon and white wine sauce

SIP & SAVOR

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

D1

Revisiting the Mediterranean THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES

T

HERE is something to be said about restaurants that are unafraid to shake things down a bit in their menu, those that offer bold and exciting new dishes even if their previous offerings were well-loved by their guests.

In the case of Restaurant Tapenade, that gem of a dining place at Discovery Primea along Ayala Avenue in Makati City, Executive Chef Luis Chikiamco didn’t just tweak the lineup a little: he revamped the entire menu in a major way.

“This is our most comprehensive review of the menu. We make adjustments from time to time but this one – it was a topto-bottom review,” said Discovery Primea General Manager David Pardo de Ayala.

“The flavors, the textures are all familiar. The menu is still Mediterranean, but our chefs felt it was time to launch new dishes.

After all, the menu has to be always dynamic to stay alive,” Pardo de Ayala added.

According to Chikiamco, the latest menu reflects carefully curated dishes from Spain, France and Italy, “with emphasis on the convivial nature of the Mediterranean.”

“The new food items are meant to be shared. Previously, the dishes that we offered didn’t factor in much the Filipino tradition of sharing food around the table. The portions are bigger now, ideal for families and groups,” Pardo de Ayala said.

Highlights of the new menu include Mediterranean staples such as Fettucine Al Nero (P460), which uses homemade squid ink pasta with garlic baby shrimp, Chilean mussels, snapper, cherry tomatoes and basil; Braised Lamb Shank Al Chilindrón (P590) which is a Spanish dish that has a thick sauce made of red bell pepper, tomatoes and pimento; and the crispy roasted Italian duck (P1,800) for two, served with roasted peaches, marble potatoes, baby greens and drizzled with honey garlic.

Tapenade also offers guests two Spanish dishes that have to be ordered 24 hours ahead – the salt-baked whole red snapper (P3,900) served with veggies and Romesco sauce and the slow-roasted cochinillo (P12,000), which can serve 10 people.

In crafting these new items, Pardo de Ayala said the Tapenade culinary team let their creativity run in the selection of pasta and brick-oven pizzas, and rice specialties such as risottos.

There’s the homemade pimentón linguini (P420); double smoked bacon, goat cheese and scallion ravioli (P420); and spaghetti alle vongole (P390), with fresh clams that remind you of the ocean, making you forget for a while that you are enjoying these Mediterranean dishes right smack in the middle

Start your adventure of Tapenade’s revamped menu with this delicious Fritto Misto appetizer – crispy fried squid, shrimp, and snapper with lemon-garlic mayonnaise.

Sweet Italian mascarpone, espresso ladyfinger and Amaretti cookie make for a fantastic tiramisu.

Creamy penne pasta with prosciutto ham and fresh arugula

Chocolate glaze ice cream with olive oil gelato and crispy bread chips Crispy salmon fritters with caper and parsley Rémoulade

of Metro Manila’s urban jungle.

As for the pizzas, these are cooked in a brick oven which is the highlight of Tapenade’s open kitchen. New fla-

vors include the piccante dolce (P520), mushroom pizza (P480) with sweet which has spicy salami partnered with garlic pureé and two kinds of cheese. the contrasting sweetness of honey and For dessert, guests can cap their provolone cheese, and the slow-roasted meal with a bittersweet chocolate

tartufo which is paired with an olive oil gelato and crispy bread chips, or with a moist orange and almond cake with chocolate glaze served with pistachio cream and homemade vanilla gelato.

Chikiamco, however, was quick to assure Tapenade regulars that a number of its well-loved signature items continue to be on the menu. “The stonebaked feta, the salumi pizza, the porcini-crusted US Angus ribeye steak (500 grams) and the Bistecca Fiorentina steak (700 grams) will probably be on the menu forever,” he said.

“Our regulars will most likely protest if we touch these favorites,” Chikiamco added.

Tapenade’s Salad Room (P750, except on Thursdays when the restaurant does a throwback and you can score this salad buffet for only P620) remains a must-try, offering an abundant spread of newly harvested greens and exquisite salad sauces, freshly-shucked oysters, premium cold cuts and cheese stations.

Despite the comprehensive review, the latest menu does not have a jarring effect on guests, especially on the regulars of Tapenade. There is no feeling that one is eating in a strange, unfamiliar place. If anything, the new dishes feel like natural and organic additions to the old menu.

“Chefs and diners alike love innovation. And our culinary team wants to stay creative and keep the cuisine relevant to our loyal patrons,” Pardo de Ayala said.

For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com

Chooks-to-for take home COMEDIAN Vic Sotto has endorsed countless brands. From homecare supplies to beverage products, Vic’s charismatic appeal and conviction propelled corporations, as well as himself, to a level of unmatched reliability.

Vic has consistently lived-up to his “Bossing” moniker, as an authority and someone whom Filipinos trust for everyday products. This time, the comedian partners with Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI)—the second largest poultry integrator locally—as the newest brand endorser of Chooksto-Go, the country’s leading and fastest-growing oven-roasted chicken chain with more than a thousand storess nationwide.

With its “Hindi ka Nag-Uuwi ng Ulam na Basta-basta Lang” campaign, built on the premise of being “Masarap Kahit Walang Sauce,” Chooks-to-Go and Bossing brings ready-to-go, ovenroasted quality chicken closer to Filipino

moms as their take-home ulam of choice that will surely delight the family.

“When you say ‘ready-to-go’ and ‘quality food,’ it should come with a great serving, taste and nutrition. Importante ‘yun kasi hindi puwedeng basta-basta lang ang maiuwing pagkain para sa pamilya,” said Vic. “Kung gusto mo ng manok, there’s Chooksto-Go. Malaman ang manok nila, hindi basta-basta. And the best part—‘pag hinain mo na, ‘yun na ‘yun, hindi mo na kailangan ng sauce.”

As an admirer of hardworking Filipinos, especially moms, Bossing Vic recognizes the efforts made in order to provide food on the table. “Basta hardworking, ako’y saludo, especially for moms because they exert double effort,” the actor said. “That’s why for the times when they can’t cook and kids want delicious food, dumaan ka lang ng Chooks-to Go, okay ka na.”

Practical, affordable and delicious

food to-go, Chooks-to-Go’s superiorquality, oven-roasted chicken goodness brings a fresh and healthy ulam fix to many Filipino households, which, even Vic could not escape. “Personally, I didn’t think twice about promoting this product because Chooks-to-Go is also my wife’s favorite,” Sotto admitted. “Aside from the taste, the price of one whole chicken for the family is reasonable—kayang-kaya eh. Ayos ka na, nag-enjoy ka na, nasarapan ka pa, at nakatipid ka pa!”

Endorsing is one thing, but attesting to a product as a part of one’s daily life is a different story. And with Vic’s proven and reliable track record of promoting a product or brand he uses and trusts, families are in for a treat as moms are set to bring home hindi lang basta-basta takehome ulam, but Chooks-to-Go’s ovenroasted chicken that’s always masarap kahit walang sauce.

“We are very excited to have Vic as

Vic Sotto is the new endorser of Bounty Agri Ventures Inc.’s Chooks-to-Go

our endorser because he really believes in the products he promotes,” said BAVI president Ronald Mascariñas.

“With Chooks-to-Go and Bossing to-

gether, we have a great opportunity to support hardworking moms with a go-to take-home ulam of choice that’s affordable, healthy, and delicious.”

Life

D2

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

M

ALL of Kitchens (MOK) recently took its valued guests from the F&B industry to a tour of its newly renovated facility.

The first foodservice mall in the Philippines underwent major revamp in recent months particularly to the flow and layout of the store as well as the interiors, which are now visibly spacious and feature a more modern feel. MOK is a division of Technolux, the country’s largest importer and supplier of a complete line of foodservice, small wares and laundry equipment for the past 41 years.

William Stelton, chairman of Techno Holdings Corp., and Roland Verzosa, president of Technolux, were at MOK to welcome guests from the biggest names in the F&B industry, hotels and restaurants as well as other businesses loyal to the company. These include Max’s Group Companies, SMI Investments, City of Dreams, Rustan Coffee, Pizza Hut & Dairy Queen, Army Navy, Kenny Rogers and Seattle’s Best Coffee, Manila Hotel, KFC Group, Army Navy, WHO, New World, SEDA, F1, Astoria, Resorts World, SM Supermall, Shopwise, Kuya J and Burger King, among others.

Guests were treated to sumptuous food prepared by Mall of Kitchens’ corporate chefs, live demos at the different set-ups and a leisure tour around the expansive showroom which occupies 2,500-square meters of floor space.

The newly-refurbished facility now features different modules for specific

Mall of Kitchens

tours customers to facility Mall of Kitchens Vice President Sales for Smallwares Jenny Carlos (left) joins their guests from SM Investment: purchasing manager Monchet Guballa, senior buyer Agnes Pascual and VP for Purchasing Malou Gloria

business formats, affording customers a realistic presentation of six business set-ups furnished with the latest equipment, small wares and fittings necessary to open a similar trade.

Aside from these business modules, MOK also refurbished the Smallwares Area, setting up new gondolas by category to make them easier to navigate.

Mall Of Kitchens is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, and located at 9703 Kamagong St., cor. Lawaan St., San Antonio Village, Makati City.

Carlos (second from left with Army Navy’s Bernadette Esguerra, Janice Orca and Samsit Gomez

Carlos with guests from Philippine Pizza, Dairy Queen and Taco Bell Group Chari Nava, Tonette Tabalanza and Jane Forcadela

For inquiries, call (02) 890-6758 or 552-3587. Visit www.technolux.net.

Pizza for corned beef fanatics

Kuya J President Winglip Chang and COO Danny Pumarega cut through a crispy pata as a symbol of opening their 50th store

“FULL of surprises” is definitely one way to describe the launch of Shakey’s latest menu offering, the Corned Beef Crrrunch Pizza. Held at the brand’s new store in Buendia, Makati City, Shakey’s introduced its unique new pizza through a way that represented what Shakey’s does best: celebrating good times and great memories.

Guests were greeted by popular events hosts Chino Lui Pio and Janeena Chan with a challenge to sing the famous “Let’s all go to Shakey’s” jingle.

DJ Tony Toni Bueno and former De La Salle University’s Lady Spiker Michele Gumabao were invited by the hosts to share their thoughts on the newest pizza. “Everybody loves corned

beef,” said DJ Tony Toni. “It’s a staple. On top of a pizza, with the cheese and the potato strips, it is definitely a winner.”

Michele chimed in, “When I think of Shakey’s, I think of my family. When the Corned Beef Crrrunch pizza was delivered at my house, my whole family was waiting for me to come home so that we could eat it together,” she shared.

While the guests were enjoying the Corned Beef Crrrunch pizzas, Shakey’s General Manager Jorge Concepcion talked about Buendia branch’s new features, the Corned Beef Crrunch pizza, and thanked the guests.

Kuya J opens 50th branch KUYA J, the fastest growing casual dining restaurant in the country, has opened another branch at SM Center Angono, San Isodoro, Angono, Rizal.

Danny Pumarega, chief operations officer of iKitchen, the company that manages Kuya J, led in the opening of the 50th store as the restaurant chain continues its aggressive expansion nationwide. iKitchen President and CEO Wynglip Chang welcomes the opening of the restaurant’s new store, “This is particularly significant for us as it underscores the strong partnership we have with SM malls.”

He added, “With our 37th branch in an SM mall across the country, we are hopeful that this tie-up will lead to more store openings with the acknowledged leader in mall development in the future.”

Tracing its humble beginnings in Cebu, Kuya J has risen to national prominence with its array of popular dishes led by the Kuya J Crispy Pata, grilled scallops and the newly introduced roast chicken.

The brand has recently renewed its contract with award-winning celebrity endorser Jericho Rosales.

Shakey’s launches its latest offering, Corned Beef Crrrunch Pizza

B ITES

Power lunch rice plates Grapow Rice

Sisig Rice

Tom Yum Chicken Poppers Rice is one of Mango Tree Bistro’s Power Lunch Rice Plates

ENJOY Mango Tree Bistro’s Power Lunch Rice Plates, the perfect serving size for your individual craving. Available at TriNoma and Greenbelt 3 branches, each plate ranges from P220 to 250.

Relish the taste of Thailand’s most popular dish with the Tom Yum Chicken Poppers Rice, served with crispy fried egg, oozing in its distinct hot and sour flavors.

Then with pork or chicken options, you may go for Grapow or the Thai Basil Chicken Rice served with Kai Dow or crispy fried egg, Thai style. For some sweet, peanut-y flavor, the Satay Rice is definitely for you. Then for a more Pinoy flavor, you can’t go wrong with the Sisig Rice.

For a much lighter and healthier option, you may choose to go meatless with the flavorful Grilled Tuna Belly Rice.

The Power Lunch Rice Plates are available at Mango Tree Bistro from 11a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday, all served with a complimentary glass of Lemongrass Iced Tea. For more information and reservations, call (02) 916-0297 or 0917-890-2166 for TriNoma, and (02) 576-9052 or 0917-5242273 for Greenbelt 3.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Star City treats orphans, street children

T

O KICK off its 25th anniversary celebrations, Star Parks Corporation treated children from 25 different charities to a fun-filled day out dubbed “Saya at Ngiti sa Star City – Maagang Pamasko sa Batang Pilipino” on Sept. 16 at the country’s only all-weather, air-conditioned theme park in the heart of Pasay.

The management team and park staff of Star City in full force to ensure that the “Saya at Ngiti” event runs smoothly

Shaina speaks Visayan in ‘Lily’ SHAINA Magdayao admits she had initial apprehensions when Lily was offered to her.

“Well, for one, it’s my maiden independent movie, which is an entry to the Cinema One Originals Film Festival.

As everyone knows, I grew up making mainstream projects. When finally I committed, I was already taping for Single Single and Story of Us. I really had to make some adjustments.”

“I knew it was a big risk since I would be uprooted from my comfort zone, so to speak. Imagine, the film is in the Visayan dialect! I can understand but I cannot speak it. That was one of the biggest challenges I had to face. Imagine, it was recorded in live sound, as in no dubbing. Ha-ha-ha! You just don’t know how nervous I was during the shoot,” she says.

It’s good she was able to finish the project in a smooth-sailing fashion despite the challenges.

“I’m grateful because I was given a speech coach since day one. It made work easier. And on my part, I really studied the dialect so I can give an accurate and heartfelt performance. I really wanted to do this so I did my best. I didn’t want to turn in a half-baked characterization. I’m proud with the finished product.”

Interestingly, if there’s one person who was so happy that she made the movie, it’s her dad.

“He’s a Cebuano so the project has a soft spot to him. He always visited the set since the whole movie was shot in Cebu. Hearing me speak the dialect on the set made my dad happy. So even if it was hard to memorize all my lines in Cebuano, I really exerted my best efforts just to be credible.”

The lovely lass plays an interesting role in Lily.

“The film is about an urban legend in Cebu…a girl who is believed to be a halfhuman, half-beast. It’s something new for me and the decision of accepting this project proved me right. Apart from my dad, I want the Cebu film industry to be proud of me,” ends Shaina. ******* Eula Valdez feels so elated now that she

has the opportunity to work with Snooky Serna in the latest GMA afternoon drama titled Hahamakin ang Lahat.

“I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m her fan since her Underage days,” she avers.

“It’s my favorite youth-oriented Tagalog film of all-time. Yes, I told her that and even revealed that I used to re-enact her scenes in said movie. I’m really happy that we’re co-stars in the show.”

Interestingly, Eula will be oppressing Snooky in the program.

“That’s right! In the beginning of the story, we’re friends, but later, we will fight and I will make life miserable for her.”

Until now, the competent character actress couldn’t believe that she will share scenes with her childhood idol.

“It’s an honor to interact with Snooky on screen. I feel blessed and grateful for this rare chance,” states Eula. ******* Ai Ai delas Alas is so proud of her indie movie titled Area. Under the helm of Louie Ignacio, it recently romped off with the Jury Prize at the recent 12th Eurasia International Film Festival in Kazakhstan.

“I can say that this is one of my best movies. I really worked hard in breathing life to my character, that of an aging prostitute in Pampanga who is longing to see her child by an American customer. I’m sure all mothers who are physically away from their kids will be able to relate in my role as Hillary,” she says.

The presentation of the scenes is so realistic.

“It’s both hilarious and touching. I’m hats-off to Direk Louie for pulling things off well. Viewers should watch out for that scene where I was entertaining a customer with a Siamese twin and another one who pays me, not with money but with appliances like electric fan.”

In the film, the Comedy Queen is with her son Sancho.

“Yes! He is Duman here, a pimp and the right hand of the brothel owner played by Allen (Dizon). I guess, it’s interesting to watch us two in one quality potboiler such as this,” avers Ai Ai.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, November 7, 2016

ACROSS 1 Boat for cars 6 Wagers 10 Skips commercials 14 Farewell 15 Pat baby’s back 16 Castaway’s refuge 17 Kind of basin 18 Jacques of “If You Go Away” 19 And — some!

20 Looked like 22 Scorch, maybe 24 Piano support 26 Have in view 27 Small flute 31 Van — Waals forces 32 For — — (cheap) 33 End, to Yves 36 On the — vive 39 Sketch 40 Prodded along 41 S&L conveniences 42 This — — test!

43 Paddock females 44 Beef 45 Ad — committee 46 Gallivant 48 Brokers’ buys 51 It may be tidy 52 Grand

54 One-sided 59 Samovars 60 Devers of track 62 Raise spirits 63 Honor in style 64 “— kleine Nachtmusik” 65 Mr. Cowell 66 Deuces 67 Winter runner 68 Minuscule DOWN 1 Blubber and suet 2 Ms. Falco 3 Go by bus 4 Paper quantity 5 Holiday tradition (2 wds.)

6 Consumer org.

7 Mark’s successor 8 Roman fountain 9 Dazzling 10 Dulcimer’s kin 11 Very pale 12 Entreat earnestly 13 Bundled off 21 Tierra — Fuego 23 66 and I-80 25 Like (2 wds.)

27 Sanskrit dialect 28 Cow-headed goddess

29 Comet’s head 30 “Moneyline” network 34 D.D.E. 35 Twig-and-mud homes 36 Swab brand (hyph.)

37 Safe callers 38 Got it! (2 wds.)

40 Most gifts 41 Actress — Meyers 43 Beaded shoes 44 Strongesttasting

45 Audiences 47 Apply salve 48 Xanthippe, e.g.

49 Kemo Sabe’s friend 50 Gourmet delicacy 52 Clump of hair 53 Wine’s partner 55 What never to tell (2 wds.)

56 Ditto 57 007’s school 58 Gainsay 61 Pioneered

A total of 625 kids from orphanages, juvenile shelters, rescue centers, and SPED institutions were treated to ride-all-you can access, a magic show, and a parade of characters from Cosplay.Ph as well as the park’s mascot group, with generous sponsors providing free food and drinks, plus loot bags of snacks and product giveaways for each child.

The management team of Star City was also in full force, along with the sales/marketing staff and all park attendants to ensure that the event ran smoothly. For practically all the attendees, it was their very first time to visit an amusement park, so the early Christmas treat brought forth radiant smiles that lit their

faces. Guardians and chaperons who are normally hard-put in caring for their wards also savored the treat as a respite from their usual duties at their respective NGOs. Established in 1991 as a spin-off from the hugely popular Philcite Toys and Gifts Fair, Star City now has more than 30 different rides and attractions for people of all ages, focussing on providing families maximum enjoyment through a stimulating array of indoor and outdoor attractions, captivating both the young and the young at heart. Now bigger and better after having expanded into an annex, Star City also opened earlier this year an adventure zone that caters to corporate team-building activities.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

D4

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Showbiz

Former actor and now Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas with his wife Yasmine and their two daughters

I

N A thanksgivingbirthday lunch for his friends ISAH V. RED in the media at Ka Tunying’s Cafe on Visayas Avenue, actor and second-term QC Representative Alfred Vargas, who turned 37 on Oct. 24, expresses his gratitude for all the good things happening in both his personal and professional life.

“At 37, 1 have a lot to be grateful for – my beautiful wife, Yasmine, whom I will marry again in Church next year, two wonderful daughters, and a career in public service that is surely one of the most fulfilling careers in one’s lifetime,” says Vargas.

Vargas proposed for the second time to his half-Italian wife in July, and received an overwhelming “yes.” The two, who were wed in civil rites in 2010, are now busy preparing for their Church wedding in July next year.

Fatherhood has also played a big role in Alfred’s life. “I make sure I wake up extra early on weekdays so I can personally bring my kids to school, and I strive to be home by 7 p.m. every day so my family and I can have dinner together,” shares Vargas. “Nothing beats spending quality time with the family.”

But, Alfred has also been busy working on his legislative agenda as soon as he assumed his second term in Congress. He was also recently appointed Vice Chairman of the Committee

on Appropriations, a coveted position in Congress that brings with it the enormous responsibility of defending the budgets of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the National Housing Authority (NHA), and the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC). All the three government agencies’ budgets gained approval, thanks to the efforts of Vargas.

While Alfred may be one of the younger congressmen in the House of Representatives and has no political ancestral history to back his climb up in politics, he continues to impress the more senior members of the Lower House with his legislative initiatives. During the 16th Congress, he was able to pass into law 15 Republic Acts, including the Mandatory Philhealth Coverage for all senior citizens. Another feather to his cap is his perfect attendance record, as well as being included among the top congressmen in terms of legislative performance.

Today, barely five months into his second term, he has

Moose Gear kid ambassadors Marc and Ashley

ALFRED

VARGAS, VARGAS

fulfilled at 37 submitted over 100 principally authored bills.

Truly, Alfred has a lot of things to be proud of. But he insists he is far from being accomplished and complacent – these things are only pushing him to outdo himself. Quoting the mantra of socio-civic organization Jaycees International, of which Alfred was recently elected as President, “Service to humanity is the best work of life,” shared Vargas. *** Local children’s clothing line Moose Gear has added new names in its growing list of Kapamilya endorsers.

Moose Gear explains that tit has chosen some Goin’ Bulilit stars to be part of the family of promising talents, growing supporters and notable visibility in the business today.

Honesto star Raikko Matteo, We Will Survive star Josh de Guzman, and Nathaniel star Marco Masa are now endorsing their company’s male clothing line called Moose Gear.

While Flordeliza’s Ashley Sarmiento, Dream Dad star Jana Agoncillo, and Team Yey’s Mitch Naco have been welcomed to the Moose Girl family.

Along with this, the brand also showcased their 2016 Christmas Holiday collection composed of sports shirts, long sleeves and denims for Moose Gear while casual chambray dresses are set to be available on Moose Girl.

The six new endorsers will now be joining the ranks of former Moose Gear and Moose Girl endorsers such as former child stars Billy Crawford, Patrick Garcia and Angelica Panganiban, as well as, Goin’ Bulilit stars Nash Aguas, Mika dela Cruz, Makisig Morales, Sharlene San Pedro, and Jairus Aquino.

BURNING PASSION. Nadine Lustre and James Reid in a steamy scene from the evening romantic soap “Till I Met You”

The six new celebrity endorsers are now in the same ranks as Andrea Brillantes, Cha Cha Canete, Xyriel Manbat, Yesha Camille, Zaijan Jaranilla, Bugoy Carino, Harvey Bautista, and Izzy Canillo.

Meanwhile, Moose Gear proudly shares that the upcoming Moose Gear and Moose Girl collection will have an up-to-date set of clothes, that can very well be considered as a “mini me” collection for all the toddlers, preschoolers and primary school children.

In terms of styles the Moose Gear 2016 Holiday Collection has sport shirts, long sleeves, and denims while the Moose Girl collection has casual, chambray tops and dresses.

Despite the brand’s continuous attempt to adopt newer trends, Moose Gear underscores that the newest collection will still stay true to the longtime mission – that is to provide affordable yet

trendy fashion pieces for local young children.

Moose Gear and Moose Girls’ 2016 Holiday collection is in the stores now. Moose Gear is available at SM Store and major department stores nationwide while Moose Girl is exclusively available in SM Department Stores nationwide. *** It was a steamy night for viewers nationwide as James Reid and Nadine Lustre brought some hot action in their love scene in Till I Met You, making fans go wild on the night of Oct. 25.

JaDine supporters could barely contain their kilig and excitement as they watched Iris (Nadine Lustre) and Basti’s (James Reid) passionate scene.

The episode last hit a national TV rating of 15.9 percent, compared to its rival program Someone to Watch Over Me, which only got 11.9 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.

The steamy scene also sent viewers into a frenzy as they posted about it, with the official hashtag #TIMYRunAway garnering more than a million tweets on Twitter and topping the trending topics worldwide.

Now that Iris and Basti have declared their plans of getting married, how will their love story continue as their families continue to disapprove of their relationship? How will they fight for their love?

Don’t miss the scenes showing that real love wins in Til I Met You, weeknights after Magpahanggang Wakas on ABS-CBN or on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167).

Catch up via iWanTV or via skyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.

To get exclusive TIMY merchandise, order at abscbnstore.com or go to ELJ Building Quezon city or 3rd level of TriNoma Mall.