Manila Standard - 2016 December 15 - Thursday

Xmas truce likely—Bello

By John Paolo Bencito

VOL. XXX • NO. 306 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A CHRISTMAS ceasefire between the government and communist rebels may be declared from December 26 to 29 pending a declaration of a permanent bilateral ceasefire, a senior Cabinet official said Wednesday.

“On the 26 up to 29. But I think it will

continue until New Year,” Labor Secretary and government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III said in a media interview at Phnom Penh.

Bello, who leads the government efforts to strike a more permanent peace deal with the Communist Party of the Philippines, said the government ceasefire

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US-China tensions rise Harris vows to challenge Beijing’s ‘aggressive acts’

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YDNEY, Australia—The United States will keep challenging Beijing’s “assertive, aggressive behavior in the South China Sea,” the US Pacific commander said Wednesday, as tensions between two powers rise over comments by Donald Trump.

Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, warned Washington would not accept Chinese control of the region, despite Beijing’s rapid development of artificial islands capable of hosting military planes.

His remarks come as Beijing reacted angrily after Trump, the US President-elect, broke convention by speaking directly to Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen -and suggested Washington could jettison Washington’s decadesold “One China policy.”

The “One China policy” is a diplomatic compromise allowing the US to do business with both China and Taiwan while only recognizing Beijing diplomatically.

“We will not allow the shared domains to be closed down unilaterally, no matter how many bases are built on artificial fea-

tures in the South China Sea,” Harris said.

“We will cooperate where we can but we will be ready to confront where we must.”

China insists on sovereignty over virtually all the resource-endowed South China Sea, despite rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbors.

But Washington has repeatedly said it does not recognize the claims, and has regularly sent warships into the strategically vital area to assert the right to freedom of navigation.

“Should others [countries] signal in this way in freedom of navigation operations? I think so, but that is again up to each individual country to make that decision,” the admiral told Australian think tank the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

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ASEAN WELCOME. Cambodia

Prime Minister Hun Sen (left) welcomes President Rodrigo Duterte during a meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh Wednesday, part of a grand ceremony to welcome the Asean leader on his arrival in the capital, first leg of his two-nation swing which includes Singapore. (Story on A3) AFP

No regrets—Du30 on his ‘last hurrah’ A DAY after complaining about his migraine and back pains, President Rodrigo Duterte said he might not “be around” until the end of his term and realized he did not need the presidency.

But he told the Filipino community in Phnom Phen, Cambodia that he had no regrets about seeking the country’s highest post.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday defended Duterte who said on Tuesday that he personally killed drug suspects.

Sought for his comment on Duterte’s “fresh admission,” Aguirre said he considered it as another “hyperbole.”

“It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but the suspect fought.

He must have been forced to kill.”

On Tuesday, Duterte told a cheering crowd of a few thousand

expatriate Filipinos in Phnom Penh: “I am old ... This is my last hurrah. After this, 77, I am not sure if I will still be around by the end of my term.”

Duterte, who will be 77 at the end of his six-year term in 2022, is the oldest person to be elected Philippine President.

He said he “found out very late” that he did not need the presidency at his age.

“It’s not a question of having regrets, none at all, because I entered into it,” he said.

“I realize now―I do not need it at this time of my life. But I tell you, I take pleasure at the end of the day, that’s the only consolation, I have a job, I am doing something right.”

But Duterte said that he would be picking a fight with those who wanted him removed from office, adding the communist rebels Next page

Misuari out to solicit OIC advice

New budget ‘Espinosa cops’ issued summons pork-laded

By Francisco Tuyay and Joel E. Zurbano

THE Justice department has issued subpoenas to the policemen facing multiple murder charges over the killing of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap in their jail cells in the Baybay City provincial prison on November 5.

The subpoenas were sent to the respondents’ mother units as well as to the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame.

The respondents are expected to obtain copies of the complaints on the first day of the preliminary investigation, set for December 20, and are expected to submit their counter-affidavits.

The complaint was filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, which concluded that Espinosa and Yap were victims of a rubout.

Facing complaints for multiple murder are Supt.

Marvin Marcos, chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 (PNP-CIDG 8); Chief Insp. Leo Daio Laraga; Senior Insp. (SI) Deogracia Pedong Diaz; SI Fritz Bioco Blanco; SPO4 Juanito Ampado Duarte; SPO4 Melvin Mendoza Caboyit; SPO4 Eric Palattao Constantino; SPO2 Benjamin Layague Dacallos; SPO2 Alphinor Milla Serrano Jr.; PO3 Johnny Abuda Ibanez; PO3 Norman Tiu Abellanosa; PO2 Niel Patrimonio

MORO National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari left for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to seek guidance from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the fate of the organization following the stalled implementation of the Jakarta Final Peace Agreement that was abandoned by the Aquino administration.

MNLF spokesman Absalom Cerveza said Misuari will be attending the four-day OIC Ministerial, Officers and Heads of State meeting to possibly solicit advice for the Bangsamoro people following the two conflicting peace agreements that the Philippine government had signed.

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—senator

By Rey E. Requejo

NO TO FIRECRACKERS. Pupils at the Jacinto Zamora Elementary School in Pandacan,

Manila make a pitch for alternative noise making at an event organized by the Ecowaste Coalition to rally the youngsters and their families to usher in 2017 in a safe and non-toxic way sans firecrackers. (Story on A2) Lino Santos

2 more Immigration execs fired

By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Wednesday dismissed two intelligence officers of the Bureau of Immigration who were also implicated in the alleged P50-million extortion of Chinese gaming tycoon Jack Lam. In separate letters, Aguirre informed acting BI intelligence division chief Charles twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

Calima Jr. and technical assistant for intelligence Edward Chan of their dismissal from their respective posts.

“Please be informed that your co-terminous appointment in the Bureau of Immigration is hereby terminated. As such, you are no longer required to report for work effective immediately,” Aguirre said.

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thestandard.com.ph

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By Macon R. Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz THE Senate on Wednesday approved the P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017, over the objections of Senator Panfilo Lacson, who said the spending plan was laden with pork barrel, which the Supreme Court has ruled as unconstitutional.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III abstained, saying he supported Lacson’s points.

“But as majority leader, I cannot vote against the measure so I decided to abstain,” stressed Sotto.

The budget was approved by 17 affirmative votes.

Lacson said he objected to its ratification for various reasons, the most compelling of which was the continuing presence of pork barrel allocations.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Students get loud to send message

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S THE schools got ready for the Christmas close-down beginning next week, a health and environmental watch group reached out to young students on Wednesday to warn them against the hazards of lighting firecrackers during the holidays.

The EcoWaste Coalition organized a well-attended awareness-raising drive to encourage the students of the Jacinto Zamora Elementary School in Pandacan, Manila, to spurn firecrackers and opt for alternative

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“The US fought its first war following our independence to ensure freedom of navigation, and we did that when we were weak and small,” he added.

“This is an enduring principle, and one of the reasons our forces remain ready to fight tonight.”

Harris added that Washington would not make Australia choose between its traditional ally, the United States, and rising world power China.

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were not only willing to die for him― they would also kill those who would remove him from office.

“The yellows and the demonstration. The yellows only want me removed because they cannot accept defeat,” the President said referring to

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“Suffice it to say, Mr. President, I know pork when I see it; when I hear about it; even when I smell it—in the lounge, right in my office, and elsewhere, during informal discussions and casual conversations with some of our colleagues and congressmen even,” Lacson said.

Still, he thanked the chairman of the Senate finance committee, Senator Loren Legarda, for adopting his amendments during the bicameral discussions with the House panel.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian also objected to the ratification of the budget.

Legarda said the 2017 budget was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.

“This is a pro-people budget—one that will be felt by those at the grassroots as it prioritizes rural development and social services. But these funds must be spent judiciously and expeditiously. I urge agencies of government to spend these resources well and address the challenges that lead to underspending or low absorptive capacity,” Legarda said.

“We ensured that it funds the necessary services needed by our citizens, such as universal healthcare, free tuition for all in state universities and colleges, and additional funds for social services. We also allocated funds for free irrigation, additional funds for prisoners’ subsistence allowance, pension for Post World War

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Aguirre, who exercises administrative supervision over the BI, ordered the dismissal of Calima and Chan after he earlier recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte the dismissal of BI deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, who admitted receiving P50 million from Lam’s camp in what they claimed to be a covert investigation on the reported bribery for the release of 1,316 arrested Chinese nationals in the casino mogul’s Fontana Resorts and Casino in Clark Field, Pampanga.

Argosino and Robles surrendered P30 million in cash bundles to the Justice Department after keeping the money for 16 days. They claimed that P18 million went to Calima and that P2 million went to retired police official Wally Sombero, who acted as Lam’s middleman.

They earlier filed a 30-day leave of absence to allow the separate probes of the National Bureau of Investigation and BI, but Aguirre has recommended they be sacked.

noisemakers to greet the New Year.

Joining the event that gathered more than 1,000 students from Kindergarten to Grade VI were 2016 Miss Philippines EarthEcotourism Melanie Mader, De-

partment of Health spokesman Eric Tayag and representatives from national and local governmental authorities.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department has lifted the Work Stoppage Order on another 18 establishments engaged in the manufacture and sale of pyrotechnics and firecrackers in Bulacan after those complied with general labor and occupational safety and health standards.

The department earlier allowed 48 firms to resume work after finding them compliant with general labor and occupa-

“Australia is more than capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time, and so we’re not asking you to make a choice,” he said.

A UN-backed tribunal ruled in July in a case brought by the Philippines that any extensive claims to the sea had no legal basis and that China’s construction of artificial islands in disputed waters was illegal.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said last month that Canberra and Jakarta were considering joint patrols in the disputed region. The Australian navy has already conducted joint exercises in the South China Sea with India and the US. AFP

the Liberal Party that uses yellow as its campaign color.

“I’m the first Left-leaning president, but I am not a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines.”

On Tuesday, Duterte admitted that migraine and his spine problems had been plaguing him less than six months since he took over the presidency last June. John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta II veterans and centenarians, among others,” she added.

Among the highlights of the budget is the strong support for education with the increased budget of P8 billion for the Commission on Higher Educationso that all college students enrolled in any SUC in the country will not have to pay for their tuition.

In health care, the PhilHealth budget was given a P3-billion increase so that all Filipinos could be covered by the universal health care program, while indigent patients will not have to pay for anything in government hospitals under the No Balance Billing policy.

The bicameral conference committee also approved additional funds for the Department of Health worth P1.521 billion for the Doctors to the Barrio program, construction of additional health facilities, and medical assistance to indigent patients; as well as the P2.646-billion allocation for the establishment of DoH-Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers in regions which do not have such a facility.

Under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P100 million will be granted to centenarians and additional funding is provided for the supplemental feeding program. Moreover, all 4.4 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will now be entitled to a rice allowance in the form of cash grants.

Under the National Irrigation Administration budget, the amount of P2 billion is provided to subsidize irrigation fees that farmers have long been shouldering.

Aguirre sought the dismissal of Argosino and Robles—both fraternity brothers who helped during Duterte’s presidential campaign—and ordered Calima and Chan dismissed even before the NBI and the BI concluded their respective investigations.

Aguirre said dismissing the officials was not a prejudgment of the extortion allegations.

“The action was called for because of the gravity of the accusations. This will also prevent the parties involved from interfering with the ongoing investigations,” he said.

“A public office is a public trust. A public officer should be like Ceasar’s wife, beyond suspicion,” Aguirre said, reiterating the strict policy of President Duterte against corruption in government offices.

Aguirre said the NBI and BI probes would proceed to determine who could be held criminally liable for the alleged extortion of Lam. The two BI officials denied the extortion charge and said they were conducting an investigation and were framed at the City of

tional safety and health standards, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

But the Bureau of Customs on Wednesday banned the importation of “finished” firecrackers, fireworks and other pyrotechnic devices unless authorized by the Philippine National Police-firearms and Explosives Office.

The illegal importation of substandard firecrackers has been blamed for the high incidence of injuries during the New Year’s Eve celebration.

JZES Principal Angelina Mojica welcomed the visitors to

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committee is trying to arrive at a consensus with communist rebels on the definition of terms and conditions that will cover the proposed joint permanent ceasefire.

“If we agree on the definition of terms like what is considered a hostile act; or what, where is the buffer zone where their forces can get in or out and where our forces can get in or out; and they can agree on who the referees are in case of violations, then we will be ready to sign a bilateral permanent ceasefire,” Bello said.

The military and police, meanwhile, said they were investigating four incidents of bus burnings in Sarangani and South Cotabato to determine if the New People’s Army or any criminal group was behind them.

The latest incident involved an air-conditioned Yellow Bus, which was torched at 6:30 p.m. in

For livelihood and microenterprises support, additional P1 billion is allocated under the Small Business Corporation so it can provide loans at almost no interest to micro-enterprises; additional funds were also provided for various programs of the Department of Labor and Employment including Employment Facilitation and Capacity Building Services.

Under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Congress approved funds for the Training for Work Scholarship Program/Livelihood, as well as Training Provision for Drug Dependents.

For the Department of Interior and Local Government, additional funds were provided for training and equipment of firefighters, support to the Philippine National Police’s fight against illegal drugs, increased subsistence allowance of prisoners and rehabilitation and construction of jail facilities.

Also approved was the allocation for the combat and incentive pay of the military and police worth P12.1 billion, as well as funding for the Capability Enhancement Program of the PNP. For environment and resilience programs, funds under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources were allocated for restoration of mangroves, which are effective buffers against storm surges and tsunamis.

The chairman of the House committee on appropriations, meanwhile, said the swift passage of the P3.35 trillion national budget was a testatment to the House’s commitment to

Dreams Casino in Parañaque City, where CCTV cameras captured them accepting money.

Aguirre said he learned of the incident from Sombero days before the two BI officials confided in him.

According to Sombero, the money was not for processing of the license of Lam’s casino but rather for the release of the 1,316 Chinese nationals arrested inside the casino on November 24.

Lam has been blacklisted over the illegal casino operation and was ordered arrested by President Duterte for alleged bribery, economic sabotage and harboring illegal aliens.

Aguirre said the remaining P20 million from the P50 million received by Argosino and Robles remained missing as neither Calima nor Sombero have surrendered any amout.

Argosino and Robles earlier filed complaints for corruption of public officials and violation of anti-wiretapping law against Lam, Sombero, Calima and Lam’s two Chinese interpreters before the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the complaint,

the school, which was adjudged Regional Winner and National Finalist under the Elementary School Category of the 2015 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools.

“Firecrackers are not toys for young children to play with,” said Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition who added that “firecrackers are dangerous, deadly and dirty” and “a total waste of money for a few minutes of toxic revelry.”

“To stop the tragic injuries and deaths, the destructive fires,

Purok Pioneer, Barangay Poblacion, Sto. Niño, South Cotabato.

Capt. Marvin Gammad, civil military officer of he 27th Infantry Battalion, said the bus was traveling from Isulan, Sultan Kudarat to Koronadal City when it was torched.

He said eight of the suspects posed as passengers and the two others who had the gallons of gasoline just waited at the place were the bus driver was stopped at gunpoint.

“According to the driver and the conductor, the suspects introduced themselves as NPA,” Gamad said in a phone interview.

He said the motive of the arson was extortion.

“This was already the fourth incident of burning, all of them Yellow buses,” Gammad said.

He said the two burnings happened in November in Kyamba, Sarangani.

Two others happened this month in Tupi, Sto. Niño and Tantangan towns in South Cotabato.

the success of President Duterte’s agenda for change.

“It is a product of long hours of hard work and relentless consensus building. It is a result of the congresspersons’ willingness to sacrifice for the good of our nation,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, the panel chairman, said.

Nograles made the statement after the House ratified House Bill 3408 Tuesday night after the bicameral committee of the Senate and the House approved the measure on the same day.

Nograles said the 2017 budget provides the Duterte administration the resources needed to push its massive programs and projects for development.

“Over P800 billion for infrastructure development for 2017 ushers in the golden age for infrastructure.

Since President Duterte has committed to invest P8.3 trillion from 2017 to 2022,” said Nograles.

Moreover, Nograles said next year’s budget ensures that gross domestic product growth rates will be sustained at seven percent.

Next year’s budget will also cover the second phase of Salary Standardization for 1.3 million civil servants.

Also covered by the budget is the fulfillment of the President’s commitment to upgrade benefits for all uniformed personnel, Nograles said.

“The budget provides all the resources for the President to reduce poverty, increase funding for the 4Ps Program and Philhealth coverage for the poor, free irrigation for farmers, and free tuition for students enrolled

Calima took P18 million from the P48 million supposedly to be shared with Sombero, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, Chan and newspaper columnist Ramon Tulfo, who exposed the extortion on December 10.

Argosino and Robles said they gave Calima P18 million on December 9 after the latter told them that he knew what happened in the City of Dreams and that Sombero had “surreptitiously, secretly and maliciously” recorded his conversation with Argosino and Robles.

Sombero and Tulfo have both denied the allegation. Tulfo said he would file libel case against Argosino and Robles.

Morente on Wednesday called on the bureau’s employees to focus on their job amid the P50million extortion scandal.

Aguirre named Estanislao Canta, chief of the BI board of special inquiry as officerin-charge in place of Argosino while BI fugitive search unit head Jose Carlitos Licas, was assigned to handle the duties of Robles. With John Paolo

Bencito, Vito Barcelo, Macon Ramos-Araneta

the hazardous pollution and the acoustic torture of animals due to firecrackers, we appeal to the general public to welcome 2017 in a safe and eco-friendly way without firecrackers,” she said.

“I join the [Health Department] and the EcoWaste Coalition in requesting the public, particularly the parents and their kids, not to light firecrackers anymore and to celebrate the beginning of a New Year with the health of their family members and neighbors and the well-being of Mother Earth in mind,” Mader said.

PNA, with Vito Barcelo

In Manila, Mayor Joseph Estrada on Wednesday ordered the Manila Police District to deploy as many policemen as possible to ensure that churches in the city will be under tight guard, particularly during the traditional simbang gabi.

The city of Taguig is also taking action to ensure a peaceful holiday season, with the police intensifying their monitoring of shopping malls, banks and other establishments where there are many people gathered.

“Police’s visibility will also be increased by establishing Police Assistant Desks (PAD) in churches as the traditional simbang gabi (dawn masses) starts on December 15,” said Senior Supt. Allen Ocden, Taguig City chief of police for operations.

He added there are eight Taguig Police Community Precincts, but during the holidays additional personnel will be deployed for beat patrol. With Florante S. Solmerin, Joel E. Zurbano and Sandy Araneta in State Universities and Colleges,” said Nograles.

The budgets of the Office of the President amounting to P19.990 billion and the Office of the Vice President amounting to P428.6 million were unchanged by the bicameral committee..

The OP through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea previously explained that the OP budget, which represents a substantial increase from this year’s P2.8-billion budget, was formulated based on policies and priorities that are aligned with the President’s undertaking to bring about real change.

Deputy Executive Secretary Rizalina Justo said the big part of the P19.9-billion OP budget, or about ₱15.4 billion, will be used for the financial requirements for the country’s hosting of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Summit next year.

The top 10 departments, agencies, and offices with the highest budgetary allocations are the following: Department of Education, P544.109 billion; Department of Public Works and Highways, P454.721 billion; Department of Interior and Local Government, P148.037 billion; the Department of National Defense, P137.182 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P128.301 billion; Department of Health, P96.336 billion; State Universities and Colleges, P58.718 billion; Department of Transportation, P53.346 billion; Department of Agriculture, P45.222 billion; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, P32.261 billion.

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of the peace agreement,” Cerveza said.

“As far as the OIC is concerned they will only honor the Jakarta peace accord.”

Misuari on Wednesday said he supported the move of the Duterte administration pushing for a federal form of government.

“President Duterte wanted us to have federalism, I said it is okay with me because that is midway between colonialism and independence,” Misuari told reporters before leaving for Jeddah.

The 1996 final peace agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government, despite previous interventions by the OIC that brokered the deal, failed to take its course after the Aquino administration forged a separate agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The GRP-MNLF talks eventually diminished after the government abrogated the agreement and Misuari declared independence in Mindanao in 2013.

Cerveza said he was still clueless about Misuari’s plan as regards his meeting with the Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia and the agenda he would be proposing involving the MNLF status before the OIC. In 2015, the OIC proposed the merging of vital provisions of the Jakarta peace accord to Malaysian-sponsored Bangsamoro Basic Law, but Misuari rejected it saying the Jakarta issue was more binding since it is an international treaty.

Dec. 26 no-work holiday MALACAÑANG on Wednesday declared Dec. 26 and Jan. 2, both Mondays, special nonworking holidays to let the people have a “full opportunity” to enjoy the holidays.

Acting Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra signed Proclamation 117 declaring the two dates as holidays on Tuesday.

Dec. 25, Christmas Day, and Jan. 1, New Year’s Day, both fall on a Sunday, while Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve both fall on a weekend.

The proclamation gives Filipino families longer weekends and allows employers to plan their work schedules.

John Paolo Bencito

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Centino; PO1 Bernard Rodriguez Orpilla; PO3 Lloyd Ortinez Ortiguesa; PO1 Jerlan Sadia Cabiyaan; Cristal Jane Briones Gisma; Divine Grace Baclas Songalia, all assigned at PNP-CIDG 8; as well as Chief Inspector Calixto Cabardo Canilla Jr.; Inspector Lucresito Adana Candelosas; SPO2 Antonio Romangca Docil; SPO1 Mark Christian Castillo Cadilo; PO2 John Ruel Baldevia Doculan; and PO2 Jaime Pacuan Bacsal, all assigned at Regional Maritime Unit 8.

Laraga, Abellanosa and Paul Olendan face a separate complaint for perjury.

“There was unison in their purpose and action, signifying that they were all moved by a single criminal intent,” the NBI said, in its complaint.

The respondents said Espinosa and Yap had guns and refused to allow the raiding team to search their cells.

The police raiding team led by Marcos, which arrived at the provincial prison at 4 a.m., said they were executing search warrants on Espinosa and Yap. Despite the filing of charges, President Rodrigo Duterte said he still believed the police.

“The NBI is now saying murder. All right. Unless there is a case filed and [they are] convicted, I would still believe the police,” Duterte told members of the Filipino community in Phnom Phen.

He insisted that he wanted Marcos—who has also been accused of taking drug money—reinstated because he wanted to see how far the “contamination” or his links to illegal drug went.

He also denied he was behind the spate of summary executions in the war on drugs, but said there would be no letup in the bloody campaign. With John Paolo Bencito

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Party-list group seeks probe of vote discrepancy A PARTY-LIST group on Wednesday filed a petition-inintervention asking the Supreme Court to compel the Commission on Elections to order an investigation on the discrepancy in the number of votes it received in the May 9 elections.

In a 20-page petition, the Confederation of Non-Stocks Savings and Loan Associations Inc. represented by retired Air Force Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco Jr. sought an independent and thorough investigation on the alleged discrepancies between Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) results obtained from the transparency server and the Comelec’s canvassing. PNA

Macao confirms 1st case of human bird flu infection MACAO—Macao has confirmed its first case of human infection with bird flu virus, but the risk of large scale epidemic is low, the special administrative region’s health authorities said on Wednesday.

Macao’s Health Bureau told the press a poultry trader, who has been quarantined after a sample from poultry market had been tested positive for bird flu, was tested positive for H7N9 strain earlier Wednesday.

The trader is hospitalized and does not show any symptoms so far.

The bureau added investigation suggested the trader and his wife have not had close contact with other people, therefore the risk of mass epidemic is low.

PNA/Xinhua

Solon reminds shoppers on gift check expiry A NEOPHYTE lawmaker on Wednesday advised holiday shoppers to report to authorities shopping malls, restaurants and other commerical establishments that still impose expiration dates for purchased gift checks or certificates, saying the practice has long been banned by government.

1-PACMAN Party-list Rep. Michael Romero, a member of the House committee on public information, made the call and urged the Department of Trade and Industry to strengthen its consumer protection complaints unit to guarantee swift action on complaints of buyers, especially during the holidays. Maricel Cruz

SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION. Leyte 1st District Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (right) questions Tourism Development Planning Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. (left) regarding the existing typology in classifying tourist spots during the Committee on Tourism meeting at the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

Planned powers bill OKd for plenary consideration

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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ENATOR Grace Poe has endorsed for plenary consideration the proposed emergency powers bill sought by President Rodrigo Duterte to address the longstanding problem of traffic gridlock in Metro Manila and other urban areas.

The measure also authorizes the President, through his appointed Traffic Crisis Manager, to use alternative methods of procurement such as selective bidding, direct contracting, negotiated procurement and other modes under existing laws to speed up implementation of key transportation projects.

Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee, expressed hope the bill would get multi-partisan support from legislators.

She sponsored Senate Bill No. 1284 or An Act Compelling the Government to Address the Transportation and Congestion Crisis Through the Grant of Emergency Powers to the President, saying traffic was a “virus engulfing the nation” that needed

Alvarez appeals to SC: Lift TRO on RH Law

By Maricel V. Cruz SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez has appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the temporary restraining order it imposed last year on the full implementation of the Reproductive Health Law and rule on the issue with finality.

Alvarez issued the appeal as the opposition bloc in the House of Representatives led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman urged the high court to lift the TRO on the full implementation of the RH Law. “That was correct. I am also appealing to the SC to lift the TRO on the full implementation

of the RH Law,” Lagman said.

“I fully respect the separation of powers. I am appealing that the SC will finally render its decision so the RH Law will finally be implemented,” Alvarez added.

In 2015 the high court stopped the Department of Health’s program for the distribution and sale of contraceptive implants that can prevent pregnancies for up to three years.

Under the same ruling, the SC also barred the Food and Drug Administration from “granting any and all pending application for reproductive products an supplies, including contraceptive drugs and devices.”

to be addressed to reverse economic, health and productivity losses.

The current transportation infrastructure in the country, Poe lamented, has been unable to keep pace with the demands of a rising economy and a growing population.

She noted traffic and congestion crisis in Greater Metro Manila and Metro Cebu, as manifested in the debilitating long hours of daily commute, had assumed the nature and magnitude of a public calamity.

It is a crisis of national significance requiring urgent, immediate, and focused actions from the government, she said.

She earlier signified her support for the measure but warned that excesses would not be al-

lowed under strict congressional scrutiny.

Although the senator had lamented that the Executive did not have any ready plans to address the intolerable, costly and unhealthy traffic despite existence of various studies on transportation and traffic in previous administrations, Poe said the bill compelled the Executive department to get their act together in solving such crisis as the Philippine economy loses about P3 billion a day due to traffic.

“A long train of bad ideas, bankrupt programs, botched projects, and lack of meaningful foresight has made it an accident waiting to happen—the perfect train wreck upon which the well-being and welfare of the Filipino people is (sic) fighting for survival. It is now time to untangle the mess, one that is so grave and great that it needs emergency powers to straighten it out,” she said.

“This goes beyond politics or being legislators. This is being a patriot and a Filipino. Now we want to be able to contribute what we think will help [the administration],” Poe said.

“We are granting emergency powers because Congress needs to do its part in helping address traffic.

But we also expect the Executive department to do theirs. If this bill passes into law, then the Executive department will no longer have an excuse and should stop pointing fingers as to its inability to address the traffic crisis in the country.”

The Senate is expected to debate and put the bill to a vote when sessions resume next month.

But while Poe admitted the bill “will not undergo smooth sailing” in the chamber, she urged her colleagues to do their part in supporting the measure that could eventually improve the traffic condition.

The bill has set the parameters on how to exercise the emergency powers.

But projects to be rolled out under a Traffic Crisis Action and Decongestion Plan would be limited to those indicated in the short-term Three-year Rolling Infrastructure Program submitted by various agencies and already approved by National Economic and Development Authority and the long-term Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Greater Metro Manila dubbed the “Dream Plan” and the Roadmap Study for Sustainable Development for Metro Cebu prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.

Nur Misuari, the 77-year-old chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front who met up with President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang last month, describes his participation in the Eleventh Session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers in Saudia Arabia from December 19 to 22 during his departure Wednesday.

Eric Apolonio

Solons support Du30’s Tourist arrivals surged in Sept. recoil of 2-guard policy By Sandy Araneta

By Maricel V Cruz LAWMAKERS on Wednesday backed the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to reinstate the so-called “Alunan doctrine” or limiting the number of bodyguards for each politician to only two.

In separate interviews with the Manila Standard, Reps. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela, Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Alfred Vargas of Quezon City and

Alfredo Garbin of Ako-Bicol party-list said there must be a policy in place limiting the body guards of politicians to prevent the establishment of private armies and avoid proliferation of loose firearms.

Albano and Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco said if a politician intended to increase the number of bodyguards, he or she could hire more through private security firms.

“I fully support this. In fact, I thought the limit was really two [body guards],” Tiangco said.

UNABATED influx of Korean visitors helped drive up total tourist arrivals to 393,589 in September, which increased by 7.46 percent from the same period a year ago, the Department of Tourism said on Wednesday.

The DoT data released this week noted that at least 115,147 visitors that constitute 20.72 percent of the total tourist arrivals are Korean nationals.

The increase was also driven by growth rates from top source markets such as China, with an arrival contribution of 53,015, outranking the USA which provided 51,866 arrivals.

Japan came fourth at 43,525 arrivals.

Trailing behind were Taiwan with 20,773 arrivals and Australia with 17,584 visitor count.

“We are well underway to achieving our target of six million international visitor arrival by the year’s end, thanks to the support of all stakeholders in the tourism sector,” DOT Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said.

Meanwhile, visitor receipts from January to September of 2016 increased by 5.76 percent with P178.48 billion (or $3.8 million) total versus the P168.75 billion earnings for the same period in 2015.

Among the top markets, Canada registered the highest per capita expenditure.

PH-Cambodia pacts focus on transnational crimes, labor

By John Paolo Bencito and Sandy Araneta RESOLVING transnational crime, tourism, labor and sports cooperation became the focus of the agreements inked between the Philippines and Cambodia during President Rodrigo Duterte’s state visit to the Southeast Asian country on Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay and Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo signed four agreements with their Cambodian counterparts—seen to strengthen bilateral ties.

These are: (1) MOA on Cooperation in Combatting Transnational Crime; (2) MOA concerning the cooperation in the field of labor; (3) MOA between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Cambodia and Philippine Sports Commission on Sports Cooperation; and (4) Implementation Program of Tourism Cooperation 2016-2020.

The agreements on cross-border crimes seeks to enhance Philippine and Cambodian police partnership in combating “terrorism, extremism, financial and economic crimes, and drug trafficking,” Philippine ambassador to Cambodia Christopher Montero said in a media interview.

“If it will be signed during the president’s visit here in Cambodia, it will be the first agreement on transnational crime under the new administration. It highlights and supports, lends an international dimension to the President’s campaign against the drug menace,” he said before the President’s arrival.

The Philippines and Cambodia are also eyeing closer cooperation on the further protection of their migrant workers, which will also involve assisting Cambodia on vocational training of its workers.

“They think, they feel the Philippines has achieved a high level of best practices in the areas of vocational training. As you know here in Cambodia, they have what they call ‘human resources gap’ or ‘education gap,’” he added.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCEMENT President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the ad interim appointments and nominations of the following officials: Department of Foreign Affairs (ad interim appointments) Jay Francis Galino Alcantara, Redentor Diaz Genotiva and Carlyn Andrino Monastrial – Foreign Service Officer, Class II Armed Forces of the Philippines (nominations) Oscar T. Lactao - Major General; Herminigildo C. Aquino, Enrique C. Reyes, Joselito M. Reyes and Jon N. Aying – Brigadier General; Rene V. Medina – Commodore; Gavin D. Edjawan, PA, Samuel G. Gotico, PAF, Isidro L. Purisima, PA, Ernesto V. Ravina, PN-M, Earl D. Baliao, PA, Roy T. Devesa, PA, Roseller G. Murillo, PA and Bienvenido R. Datuin, Jr., PA - Colonel The public may submit any information, written report, or sworn/ notarized complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Metro Manila.

For the schedule of the public hearings and any other inquiry, contact the CA Secretariat through telephone numbers 551-7532, 8310893, 831-1824, 834-2706, 831-1566 and 834-2713.

14 December 2016.

HECTOR A. VILLACORTA Secretary (MS-DEC. 15, 2016)

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Opinion

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Bros

J

USTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has recommended that President Duterte fire associate commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles who were caught on closed circuit television cameras taking money from an agent of alleged gambling operator and fugitive Jack Lam at a casino late last month.

Argosino and Robles, both appointees of President Duterte, tried to make fools out of the people when they said they were in possession of the money because

they were gathering evidence to pin down Lam. They had earlier gone on leave pending the investigation.

Secretary Aguirre did right in recommending the sacking of the two associate commissioners even as they are his—and President Duterte’s—fraternity brothers from the San Beda College of Law. Aguirre also sacked two intelligence officials of the bureau Wednesday for their supposed involvement in the bribery.

We can only hope there will be no attempts from any “higher authority” to shield Argosino and Robles from the consequences of their actions.

We saw something similar to this scenario just a few weeks ago, when the regional chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police was ordered reinstated despite having been sacked by the PNP chief, fueling suspicions that in the war against drugs, or against corruption, there remain sacred cows for who knows what reasons.

Even if Mr. duterte acts on Aguirre’s recommendation, the story should not end with it, or with the sacking of these intelligence chief Charlie Calima and technical assistant Edward Chan. It will be a shame if their case is simply

allowed to fall into the cracks just because they have now lost their jobs. Firing them is not—will never be —enough.

We have seen enough of appointments made by virtue of familial or friendship ties. So much trouble, arising from incompetence or corruption or both was caused by this bad habit during the previous administration, one that styled itself to be treading a righteous path.

We shall see how serious, or sincere, this tough-talking administration is in going after corrupt officials—even the ones the President himself has groomed and appointed.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

Reviving the death penalty

Revolt at ERC LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES THERE’S trouble at the Energy Regulatory Commission, the quasi-judicial watchdog tasked with guarding the government’s and the people’s interest in the trillion-peso power industry.

And it’s being caused by the head of that controversial agency, an Aquino administration holdover who seems hell-bent not only on staying in his post but also on keeping a tight lid on things so that shady deals supposedly entered into during his term never come to light.

But ERC Chairman (on leave) Jose Vicente Salazar is encountering all kinds of resistance from the members of the commission and from staff officers down to the director level as he tries desperately to hang on to his post and cover his tracks.

Salazar’s critics in the agency are of the belief that the chairman is the cause of the agency’s woes and that President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to deny funding for the ERC or to abolish it altogether for alleged corruption was largely the result of Salazar’s mismanagement.

Salazar, who went on leave after Duterte’s rantings against ERC, called a meeting of the commission last Monday where he laid out his plan to his disbelieving colleagues. During the meeting, Salazar laid out his proposals for the commission to withstand the threat posed by the angry occupant of Malacañang, who is being stymied by the fixed terms enjoyed by the chairman and his four commissioners.

First, Salazar said he was ordering a stop to the internal investigation being conducted by the agency on the apparent suicide of Director Francisco Villa Jr., who alleged in suicide

notes he left to his family that he was forced by Salazar to approve deals as head of the ERC bids and awards committee that were illegal. The suicide of Villa early last month led to calls

Commissioners and officers are asking Congress to investigate ERC Chairman Salazar.

for an investigation by various agencies, including Congress, which in turn led to Duterte’s charges of widespread corruption in the agency and Salazar’s going on leave.

Second, Salazar said he wanted the commission to impose a gag order on all of its officials, to be lifted only upon his direct say-so. No one was authorized to speak for the agency, according to the chairman, unless he expressly authorized it.

Third, Salazar disclosed that he had ordered the shredding of various documents in the agency’s possession. He told the commissioners that the order to destroy documents was already being carried out by his office, which also runs the agency because Salazar is not only chairman but CEO and administrator of ERC as well.

At that point, all hell broke loose inside the boardroom.

And for good reason. *** The commissioners said Salazar had no call to order them to cooperate with his planned coverup and told him so. One of them even said that they had no problem with Duterte’s demand

to expose corruption in the agency, since any investigation would exonerate them, just as surely as it would incriminate Salazar.

After the stormy meeting, the commissioners sought the support of staff officers and other key personnel in the agency and agreed on a plan to ask Congress to start an immediate investigation of the suspicious goings-on at the ERC. (The commissioners ruled out resigning themselves, as Duterte had demanded, because they would lose their generous retirement benefits, which the law had pegged at the level of retiring Supreme Court justices.)

The anti-Salazar commissioners and officers vowed to cooperate with any independent investigation by Congress or any other body, in defiance of Salazar’s directives. Even if Congress is about to go on its official Christmas vacation, they urged lawmakers to conTurn to A5

BRINGING back the death penalty was one of the major campaign promises of President Duterte. Now that he is President, and unless the Senate can stop the passage, it seems Congress will indeed be able to get it passed for the President’s signature.

While the country is occupied with other issues such as the drug war and the Marcos burial, the House was able to do its work without any difficulty.

It is surprising that this effort by the administration to bring back the death penalty has not generated the acrimonious debates that the issue has done in the past. Except for the cause-oriented groups, the church and some of the broadsheet papers, the public is almost indifferent to whether the law passes or not.

Perhaps the public is willing to simply allow the President to have his way. We will no longer return to that age-old debate on whether executing convicted criminals would in fact deter the commission of crimes.

As the principal proponent in the House said in an interview, criminals are getting bolder in committing despicable crimes and this must stop.

But will crime really stop with the reimposition of the death penalty? Governments starting from the small city states of antiquity to modern nation states have been executing criminals for the last 3,800 years. Crime has not stopped.

Even with very harsh death penalty laws, crime continues to be committed. In the 4th century B.C, Draco of Athens instituted laws that punished all crimes by death, giving rise to the phrase Draconian measures. Still, this did not put a stop crime.

Today, many countries in the world still prescribe the death penalty to deter crime.

China and Iran are the current leaders. These two countries execute more people that the rest of the world combined. In China, a person can be tried in the morning sentenced and executed in the afternoon.

Thankfully, in the last couple of years, this practice was somehow stopped. Of the 195 member states of the United Nations, 56 countries retain the death penalty both in law Turn to A5

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Opinion

IF WE are looking for proof to How will the other commisshow how deeply rooted and sioners respect her? pervasive government corrupAgain, this is one official who tion has become, the case of the does not seem to have any selftwo immigration commission- respect. ers, who were caught in video *** carrying bagfuls of money One of President Duterte’s amounting to P30 million, is in- alter egos in the Cabinet who structive. remains unconfirmed by the Santa Banana, Associate powerful Commission on ApCommissioners Al Argosino pointments is Gina Lopez, an and Michael Robles make me heiress of the Lopez political laugh. They say they received clan, as secretary of environmoney through a middleman ment and natural resources. of fugitive gambling tycoon When the President submitJack Lam at the City of Dreams ted to the CA names of Cabinet and Casino in Parañaque City members to be confirmed, the on November 27, because they name of Lopez was missing. were gathering evidence.

Later on the President reapThis “evidence gathering” pointed her. took place just hours after the According to unimpeachsame Lam middleman tried able sources, the President was to bribe Justice Secretary Vi- reconsidering her appointment taliano Aguirre and Pagcor as DENR secretary because chairman Andrea Domingo to of the many complaints from protect Lam’s Fontana Leisure businessmen and members of and Casino Report at Clark. the Cabinet who are in minIn law, when the briber offers a ing. Lopez recently went on a bribe, and the bribe taker accepts rampage against mining even it, both of them are culpable. against those classified as reI am surprised that both sponsible. She suspended as Argosino and Robles, both many as 23 firms in pursuance lawyers, came out with such a of her so-called advocacies. copout.

In fact, in her audit of the My gulay, it would have been mining industry, Lopez sought an entirely different story if the help of a known anti-minthey conducted a citizen’s arrest ing advocate group in an effort of the middleman, Wally Somb- to practically kill the industry. ero, a retired policeman, and As a result, the mining indusbrought him to the Department try in the Philippines is now in of Justice. They could have said limbo. that Sombero I believe was bribing President Duthem to have terte made the 1,361 una serious The President’s mistake in docu mented Chinese ar- fraternity brothers appointing rested at Fon- are giving us a lot Lopez.

Her tana hired by advocacy runs Jack Lam re- to laugh about. counter to the leased. interests of If the two the mining inimmigration dustry. deputy commissioners were not Since the President thinks told that they had been caught that Lopez is acting in good on video carrying the money, faith, he refuses to listen to any would they have surrendered advice, not even from Mines the cash? and Geosciences Bureau Chief The bribe money amounted Mario Luis Jacinto, a career ofto P50 million. P18 million of ficial who knows the difference it was given to the BI acting in- between unsafe and responsible telligence chief Charles Calima, mining. and another P2 million went to Yes, there is a big difference.

Sombero for supposedly setting An example of unsafe mining up surveillance cameras to re- is being done by gold diggers cord the transaction, so he could at Mount Diwalwal. But how prove to Lam where the money come Lopez is not going after went. them? Is it because some powThe two BI officials’ claim erful politicians are protecting that they received the bribe them? money in connection with an inIf the President thinks that vestigation to pin down Lam on by appointing Lopez, he will bribery and economic sabotage get the support of the powerful is just baloney. media outlet, ABS-CBN, he’s I can understand how Agu- mistaken. irre feels, “I am betrayed,” he *** said, since the two associate With the lifting of the naimmigration commissioners are tionwide ban on firecrackers, both his and President Duterte’s happy days are back for those in fraternity brothers from Lex the firecracker and pyrotechnic Taliones at San Beda College of industry. We can expect more Law where they all graduated. deaths and injuries on New Both deputy commissioners Year’s Eve. were appointed by Duterte. If Malacañang has not totally they have any delicadeza, they banned firecrackers because the should resign and avoid the em- President wants to save the jobs barrassment of having the Pres- of those peddling firecrackers. ident fire them.

Is this more important than the *** lives of people?

Here’s an another example of The Palace has strange standa government bureaucrat who ards, I must admit. clings to her job despite the fact *** that the President, has lost all The 365 Club, now 43 years his trust and confidence in her. old, will have its traditional I refer to Commission on breakfast Christmas Party Higher Education chairman at the Holiday Inn Suites in Patricia Licuanan, who claims Makati City on Saturday, Dethat her term is until 2018 cember 17. despite the fact that she could For the past 42 years, the 365 no longer attend Cabinet Club, which was founded durmeetings. ing the proclamation of MarI can agree that government tial Law in September 1972 has functionaries with a fixed term held its meetings at the Hotel of office can be relieved for just Intercontinental. cause. The law on civil service It’s an organization of jouris clear on this. There are many nalists, professionals, businessprecedents. men, and past and present govThe very fact that the Mr. Du- ernment officials. terte no longer trusts Licuanan It has no rules except that it’s makes her a useless alter ego of KKB (kanya-kanyang bayad). the chief executive.

See you at the party!

A5

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The gain from gaming

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

‘Palusot’

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ I HAVE been firm and consistent in my previous writings about the need to eradicate illegal numbers games in the country. The government loses up to P20 billion annually due to the persistence of illegal gambling syndicates. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, as a charitable institution, should maximize its revenues in order to help more Filipinos in need.

The heads of government agencies must be visionaries.

They should know how to plan well for the future of their respective agencies and its long-term effect to our country.

It seems that the PCSO cannot see the importance of their office.

Jueteng has been around in the Philippines since the Spanish era. It is considered an illegal numbers game for the fact that it lacks transparency in the winning results. Whether we like it or not, jueteng has been a way of life for Filipinos and the only way we can eliminate it as an illegal numbers game is by legalizing it.

Small-town lottery was introduced during former President Gloria Macapagal-

Arroyo’s administration, with the aim of eliminating illegal numbers game. This was their way of legalizing jueteng with the requirement that the draw of winning numbers be done transparently. Currently, there are 18 corporations operating STL nationwide, covering 38 percent of the country. Thus, the PCSO should expand its operations to achieve 100-percent coverage.

The nationwide implementation of STL will not only earn the government billions but will also eradicate illegal gambling. The PCSO can employ at least a million Filipinos who may be considered less employable through traditional

job fairs. These citizens are most likely overage, lacking enough education, or former drug dependents. One million employees earning P200 a day translates to P73 billion in purchasing power, which encourages an underground economy.

This is our preferred long-term effect.

After the break, the minority group will file a resolution requiring the PCSO to submit the number of employees it hires every month. This way, we could monitor the agency’s efficiency and effectiveness in eradicating illegal numbers game in the country. Illegal gambling is a serious battle we should continue to fight.

Compassion exhaustion CIVILIANS in war-crushed Aleppo anticipating their imminent deaths recently filmed their final goodbyes to world as government and Russian forces marched to take the rebel-held city.

In the aftermath, it was revealed that many families were killed in the fighting, some in summary executions with a handgun, according to the United Nations. The toll is at the hundreds and could rise as more news pours in.

Ten days from Christmas, a joyous and festive occasion for billions around the world, we can only watch helplessly as civilians are massacred. We can only make angry and anguished comments on Facebook. We can only “like” and “share” on social media articles about and photos of the atrocities being committed. However, that is the extent of our engagement.

As many residents of Aleppo have asked over the months, where is the UN? Where is the world? Why is no one helping nor sending rescue?

Similarly, the Philippine drug wars have reached almost genocidal proportions with thousands killed without due process since the start of the Duterte administration.

Reviving...

From A4 and practice. Thirty countries have abolished it de facto by not executing any criminal in the past 10 years. Six countries have abolished it but with exceptions like crimes committed during wartime. The rest numbering 103 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

Some countries still practice public executions like North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Some countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia also allow the execution of minors below 18 years old. Some countries execute people for sorcery and witchcraft like Saudi Arabia and the Central Africa Republic. Last year, 28 countries executed a combined total of 1,630 convicts which was the highest since 1989.

Unfortunately, most of these executions happened in Asia with a total of 1,547. Africa ex-

Revolt...

From A4 duct a probe by the appropriate committees (which can still conduct hearings during the break), because of the urgent need to protect documents and other evidence that Salazar has allegedly started to destroy.

The disgruntled ERC officials said they could prove to Congress and to Duterte that various deals Salazar entered into

Despite extensive coverage of the slayings of drug users (and very few drug lords) by local and foreign media and warnings issued by international bodies, no help has been extended nor sanction given.

What can explain this seeming indifference and reluctance to act?

In the article “Psychic Numbing and Atrocity” (Slovic, et.al., 2010), researchers “suggest that a form of psychophysical numbing may result from our inability to appreciate losses of life as they become larger…” Our brains are simply not up to the task. Therefore, we feel more for the loss of one person we know, rather than for a million murders of strangers. “When it comes to eliciting compassion, the identified individual victim, with a face and a name, has no peer.”

Two descriptive models offer an answer to the question of how we actually value human lives. System 1 thinking “evolved to protect individuals and their small family and community groups from present, visible, immediate dangers” and did not evolve “to help us respond to distant, mass murder” that System 2 thinking, “if activated, finds reprehensible.” These models are said to “demonstrate responses that are insensitive to large losses of human life, consistent with apathy toward genocide.”

The same article quotes writ-

er Annie Dillard of speaking about “compassion fatigue,” wherein the public becomes inured to the sight of suffering and resistant to helping. However, I have not observed, so far, any such fatigue extended to the victims of natural disasters.

Indeed, the study says that vivid images and stories of individual victims of natural disasters carried on media “unleashed an outpouring of compassion and humanitarian aid from all over the world.”

We only have to recall how the world helped us after the ravages of Super Typhoon “Haiyan.”

“Perhaps there is hope here,” the researchers say, “that vivid, personalized media coverage featuring victims of genocide could motivate intervention to prevent mass murder and genocide.” So far, attempts by Philippine media in this direction aren’t working as hoped.

What is happening in Aleppo and the Philippines is not a natural disaster but war. Appeals to the world for rescue and help are met with the wringing of hands and ranting on social media, but not much else. This is donor fatigue, that on this immense a scale is defined by an internet source as “a slowness to act on the part of the international community or any other donor base in response to a humanitarian crisis or callto-action.”

Combine this fatigue with global political crises, weakening democracies, the resurgence of strongmen and proto-dictators, and economic instability, and the situation looks even bleaker and more depressing.

There’s one thing, though, that humanity will never lose, and that is hope.

Those who want to do take action to help Syria, which has been suffering from five years of civil war, can consider donating to the charitable organizations that are working in the area. Among them are the British Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. The Red Cross delivers food and medicine, and provides shelter, water, and medical care. MSF supports eight hospitals in Aleppo, runs six medical facilities across northern Syria, and supports more than 150 health centers around the country. Before donating anything to anyone, however, vet the organization to make sure they are legitimate and above-board.

For our beloved Philippines, we can but continue the struggle for justice even as it, and mercy, are in short supply this holiday season.

ecuted about 55 and the United States put to death 28 convicts.

Most of Europe now has abolished the death penalty but not in the Unites States which incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the developed world. In this country, executing convicted criminals is like in many other things was of foreign origin when we were colonized by Spain. Some of our national heroes were executed, the most famous were the three priests in Cavite in the persons of Fathers Burgos, Gomez and Zamora. Our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was perhaps the most famous and the last to be executed by the Spaniards.

Records would show that as a country, we have not executed many convicted criminals. Even during Martial Law, only 12 were executed and before that, 19 were put to death.

During the Estrada administration, seven were executed— the highest number in any administration.

The 1987 Constitution which was passed and ratified during the term of President Cory Aquino abolished the death penalty. This, however, was brought back in 1993 by virtue of Republic Act 765. This was again abolished in 2006 by the Arroyo administration making the Philippines one of only three countries that have abolished and reimposed the penalty.

Today, the Duterte administration wants it back. Whether the death penalty will stop the rise of crime is a question whose answer will never satisfy everyone. It is, however, important to bear in mind that the rise and fall of criminality is often cyclical and is also related to the kind of police that we have. If we have a professional and efficient police force, then criminality will not go up. But if we have a corrupt and inefficient police force, then crime will rise.

Even without the passage of the death penalty, about 5,900

people have already been killed in police and vigilante operations on account of the drug war. Yet people continue to peddle illegal drugs on our streets. One would think that with the number of people getting killed, that this would serve as a deterrent.

But no, the drug trade continues and before this war is over, a lot more people will die. Bringing back the death penalty has nothing to do with what is right or wrong. It all depends on the way leaders of a current government view crime fighting. Right now, we have a president who believes that imposing the death penalty will help in the war on crime. Since he carries with him a lot influence and political capital, the death penalty might very well find its way back into our statutes.

It will, however, be a costly victory in term of lives lost and the erosion in the professionalism and competence of our police.

on behalf of the commission that were tainted with corruption. And they promised that all the evidence will bolster Villa’s allegations and eventually lead directly to the office of Salazar.

Salazar, 46, a lawyer and a member of the influential Sigma Rho fraternity of the University of the Philippines College of Law, was appointed in August last year by then President Noynoy Aquino. He was a former justice undersecretary

and board member of the stateowned Public Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and is serving a seven-year term that ends in 2022.

The embattled ERC chairman replaced Zenaida Ducut, an appointee and provincemate of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Salazar is believed to be a close adviser of both Aquino and his powerful executive secretary, Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa, and a protege of

his Sigma Rho “brother,” Senator Franklin Drilon.

Before going on leave in the wake of the Villa suicide and Duterte’s attacks on the commission, Salazar sought a one-onone meeting with the President, supposedly to explain the side of the ERC in the controversy.

Duterte has ignored Salazar’s request for a meeting but has so far not renewed his calls for the entire commission to resign and for the abolition of the agency.

Dr. Ortuoste is a Californiabased writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember

News

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Peña appointees rejected by CSC

By Joel E. Zurbano THE hiring of 326 city hall personnel by former Makati City Mayor Romulo Peña Jr. has been revoked by the Civil Service Commission, saying their appointments violated provisions of the election ban.

The city’s Human Resource Development Office reported that from July to November, it has received the voided appointments in batches from the Makati Field Office of the CSC. These included 114 promotions, 175 regularization, 29 casual appointments, one reemployment and one original appointment.

The CSC said the appointments violated the ban imposed on outgoing elective and appointive officials from issuing appointments after the May elections until June 30.

Nullified appointments included those of personnel from the city’s Accounting Department, Budget Department, City Administrator’s Office, Civil Registration Office, Education Department, Economic Enterprise Management Office, Finance Department, General

Services Department, and Internal Management Control Office.

The rest came from the International Relations Department, Law Department, Makati Action Center, Makati Health Department, Office of the City Building Official, Office of the Mayor, Office of the Vice Mayor, Ospital ng Makati, Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, University of Makati, and various offices of the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

To qualify for an exemption to the ban, the appointee of an elective official must meet the minimum qualifications as required under the CSC Qualification Standards Manual or special law, if any, for the position to which he/ she was appointed.

He or she must have undergone the Personnel Selection Board screening prior to the election ban. In this case, the appointing authority or agency shall submit the minutes of the PSB meetings and an evaluation report of the applicants.

Third, there should be an urgent need for the issuance of the appointment/s so as not to prejudice the public or endanger public safety.

BEFORE THE HOLIDAY BREAK. Senators finish their deliberations on pending bills on Wednesday, the last day of session for 2016. Ey Acasio

Senators want debt audit T

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

WO senators on Wednesday filed a resolution calling for a debt audit and inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the foreign loans contracted by the country.

Senate Resolution No. 253, authored by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros, called for a comprehensive debt audit to verify whether the loan agreements the Philippines has entered into are legitimate.

The resolution also aimed to enact measures that will ensure the prudent and proper use of foreign loans.

“I am happy that we found an ally in no less than Senate President Pimentel in the crucial first step to free the nation’s coffers

from illegitimate debts and/or loan agreements riddled with questionable processes, contractual obligations, purposes and use,” Hontiveros said.

“Carrying out a legislative audit of public debt could lead to the repudiation of the illegitimate part of the country’s debt and free funds to augment the government’s social spending and guide us in reformulating our policies based on the principles of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,” she added.

The senators said that it is the

duty of the government to verify whether the country’s loan agreements entered into with different international financial institutions were in accordance with the principles on promoting responsible sovereign lending and borrowing.

Hontiveros underscored the need to conduct a debt audit first before the country joins other international financial institutions, including the China-led Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.

She said in the 2016 national budget alone, P214.5 billon has

been allocated for debt servicing.

Earlier, the Freedom from Debt Coalition scored former President Benigno Aquino III for being the “biggest loan addict” among leaders since 1986.

“He was a total failure in addressing the Philippines’ entrapment in a cycle of debt dependence,” FDC said, adding that Aquino left his successor with P6.4 trillion ($134.46 billion) in national government outstanding debt, of which P4.16 trillion ($87.39 billion) were borrowings made during his term.

US envoy hopes for warm PH ties

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO CITY—US Ambassador to Philippines Sung Kim has paid a visit in the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday where he expressed confidence that the alliance between Manila and Washington will remain strong.

“I hope I’ll have a good relationship with him,” he said during his courtesy call on Davao Mayor Sara Duterte.

The younger Duterte was pleased with Kim’s visit to Davao City, his first out-of-town trip since he arrived in Manila two weeks ago.

“We are happy that US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim choose to visit Davao City today, only 13 days after arriving the country” the mayor said.

The two discussed their plans to improve the City’s relationship with the United States.

Kim also met with representatives from the Davao City Chamber of Commerce where possible investments and fields of cooperation were discussed.

City Administrator Zulieka Lopez said Davao is currently working on the lifting of the US travel advisory against Mindanao after the September 2 night market bombing.

CONDOLENCES. Philippine Constitution Association president Martin Romualdez pays his last respects to former San Rafael, Bulacan Mayor Ricardo Cruz Silverio who died at the age of 87. Ver Noveno

Manila condemns Egypt bombing

By Sara D. Fabunan THE Philippines on Wednesday condemned the bombing of the St. Peter’s Church in Cairo over the weekend which killed 25 civilians and injured dozens others.

“The Philippines condemns in strongest terms the terrorist attacks in Egypt over the weekend, especially that on the St. Peter’s Church in Cairo,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“Such heinous acts of violence in a place of worship have no place in society,” the DFA added.

On Tuesday, the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bombing, one of the worst attacks on the Coptic Christian community.

ISIS identified the suicide bomber who carried out Sunday’s attack by the pseudonym Abu Abdallah al-Masri.

The bomber “got in between the crowd” and detonated his explosive belt, the jihadist group said.

ISIS warned it would continue to launch attacks in Egypt, where the security situation has worsened since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

“We continue to stand with Egypt and the international community against terrorism in all its forms,” the DFA said.

“The Filipino people are one with Egypt as it recovers from these senseless tragedies, with the hope that the perpetrators are brought swiftly to justice,” it added.

Aquino pushes for free Bautista: Clear QC boundary disputes internet in public areas

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Wednesday ordered the resolution of the city’s boundary disputes not only between or among barangays, but also with other local government units.

Discrepancies in boundaries shared by Quezon City with the cities of Marikina, Valenzuela, Manila and Caloocan are the among the priority areas that have to be resolved, he said.

Bautista has instructed the city planning and development department to study how the local government will be able to facilitate a

peaceful and amicable settlement of the disputes.

With Marikina City, discrepancies were noted in the vicinity of Ayala Heights and Capitol Park Homes from the Arroyo Creek toward Loyola Grand Villas in Barangay Matandang Balara and in the vicinity of La Vista Subdivision toward Ateneo de Manila University campus in Barangays Pansol and Loyola.

Between Quezon City and Valenzuela, the discrepancy was noted particularly in Barangays San Bartolome and Bagbag along Tullahan River.

As far as the boundary with Manila is concerned, the dis-

crepancy was noted along the corner of A. Bonifacio Avenue and North Cemetery while with Caloocan City, the boundary line at Barangay Baesa has yet to be resolved.

Quezon City’s boundary map was based on the coordinates of the city boundary monuments obtained from the Land Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

There are at least 28 barangays having territorial disputes, such as Commonwealth, Payatas, Libis, Bagumbayan, Sto. Cristo, Ramon Magsaysay, Kaunlaran and San Martin de Porres.

SENATOR Paolo Benigno Aquino IV on Wednesday sponsored a measure meant to provide free internet connectivity in public places.

Senate Bill No. 1277, or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, has already passed the committee level and is slated for plenary deliberations.

Aquino, chairperson of the Committees on Education and Science and Technology, said that free internet will be provided in all national and local government offices, public schools, public transport terminals, public hospitals and public libraries.

Under the measure, the Department of Information and Communications Technology will be mandated to craft a plan and a timeline for the rollout of

the program.

It will also authorize the DICT to streamline the process for the application of permits and certificates for the construction of infrastructure and installation of equipment necessary, in coordination with national government agencies and local government units.

Aquino previously filed Senate Bill No. 1050 which seeks to connect all public educational institutions to the internet to help students enhance their personal and academic development.

“It is imperative that we institutionalize this very important platform—to improve access to quality internet in the Philippines,” Aquino said, noting that only 26 percent of public schools in the country have internet access. PNA

Sports Argentine firm agrees to $112-B settlement NEW YORK—Argentine sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias S.A. agreed Tuesday to pay $112.8 million to settle charges in the United States stemming from a massive FIFA corruption scandal, authorities said.

Torneos “admitted to its role in the 15-year scheme, including its role in paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to a high-ranking FIFA official to secure his support” for broadcast rights to the 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030 editions of the World Cup, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.

Under the arrangement, the Argentine company averts prosecution if it avoids charges in the next four years, pays fines and returns tainted funds.

“Today’s announcement marks another important step in our continuing effort to root out corruption in international soccer and sends a clear message that corporate entities that rely on the US financial system to enrich themselves through bribery will be held to account,” said US Attorney Robert Capers.

US prosecutors accused 40 officials and marketing executives of soliciting and receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks in a case that sparked an unprecedented crisis at FIFA. Many have since pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a possible reduction in sentence. Two companies were also accused.

Only five defendants are left under house arrest in the United States, facing a trial that a federal judge has recommended should begin in New York late next year.

The US investigation rocked FIFA to the core and ultimately led to the downfall of its former president, Sepp Blatter, who is serving a six-year ban from football over ethics violations.

Blatter is now under a fresh investigation over alleged illicit salaries and bonuses totaling $80 million, FIFA’s ethics committee said in September. AFP

A7

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Curry stars for Dubs; Cavs win

L

OS ANGELES—Stephen Curry scored 30 points to win his duel with Anthony Davis as the Golden State Warriors dug deep to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans while the Cleveland Cavaliers demolished the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

Reigning NBA MVP Curry’s haul in a 113-109 victory included five three-pointers as well as four rebounds and seven assists to boost the Warriors to 22-4 for the season.

Davis, second only to Russell Westbrook in the points scoring charts this season, averaging just over 30 per game, scored 28 points

in the Pelicans’ losing effort.

Davis also pulled down eight rebounds and produced three assists but ultimately the Warriors had too much firepower for the home team.

Kevin Durant added 27 points for the Dubs while Klay Thompson finished with 17 and Dray-

mond Green made his first triple double of the season -- 12 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists.

Green also single-handedly stifled Davis in the final 4:48, preventing the Pelicans from making a single field goal.

“Draymond loves being in that situation,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “He relishes it. He really does, even against a guy like Anthony Davis, who’s so good. He’s a nasty defender.”

In Cleveland, Kevin Love scored 29 points as the Cavaliers shrugged off the absence of Kyrie Irving to down the Memphis Grizzlies 103-86.

Irving was given the night off after complaining of tiredness in his legs after last weekend’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

But the 24-year-old point guard’s absence was barely felt as Cleveland romped home thanks to Love and LeBron James, who chipped in with 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Love also contributed 13 rebounds, while J.R. Smith filled the void left by Irving to weigh in with a 23-point haul which included six three-pointers.

The victory saw the NBA champion Cavaliers improve to

18-5, tightening their grip at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Zach Randolph led the scoring for the Grizzlies with 18 points and five rebounds as the visitors rested All-Star center Marc Gasol.

Big Three to be rested Andrew Harrison and Troy Williams scored 13 points for Memphis who fell to 17-9.

Tuesday’s game at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena was the first of back-to-back games between the two sides. The Cavaliers face the Grizzlies again on Wednesday at Memphis’s FedEx Forum. AFP

Makati, Bulacan, Sta. Maria lead Cebuana Lhuillier U-18 softball cast

MUAY THAI TOURNEY. Muay thai athletes (from left) Rudzma Abubakar (Junior 54kg) and Ghen Yhan Berdan Junior (45kg) and coaches Roland Claro Precious Ocaya are shown during their guesting at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate. Their Muay Thai Association of the Philippines is set to hold a four-day National Championship at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig. The Dec. 15-18 meet will gather a total of 350 athletes representing 35 member clubs and 20 non-affiliated in what easily is the biggest tournament featuring muay thai practitioners all over the country. Lino Santos

Dimakiling, Nouri score shock victories INTERNATIONAL Master Oliver Dimakiling and unheralded Hamed Nouri pulled off shock victories yesterday to steal the thunder from the heavyweights and a share of the lead at the start of 2016 Philippine Sports Commission-Puregold International Chess Challenge at the Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel Tuesday night.

Dimakiling, eyeing his third and last result to clinch the Grandmaster title, stunned third seed GM Boris Savchenko of Russia in 45 moves of a London System while Nouri, a proud son of Negros Occidental, humbled No.

6 GM Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus in 44 moves of a Bishop’s Opening to zoom to the top.

Dimakiling, an Olympiad veteran, and Nouri, who has returned to competing after he decided to focus on training his son, FIDE Master Alekhine, jumped into the big group at the helm that also included GMs Mark Paragua, Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio and Darwin Laylo.

Paragua, on vacation after leaving the country to work in the United States for a few years now, downed Woman IM Sarvinoz Kurbonoeva of Uzbekistan in 37 moves of a Gruenfeld Exchange Variation

in this meet serving as the second and final installment of a pair of GM-spiced events sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, Burlington, Marc Adventures Mining Inc. and Puregold.

The vintage Torre, fresh from his sterling performance in the Olympiad, was equally impressive as he smashed Roel Abelgas in 46 moves of a Sarratt Attack.

Antonio, for his part, overcame another Negros Occidental bet Rolando Andador in 40 moves of a French Defense, while Marikina City’s Laylo blasted WIM Jan Jodilyn Fronda in 57 moves of a Torre Attack.

Also emerging victorious in the opening round were GM Kirill Stupak of Belarus, FIDE Master Tran Minh Thang of Vietnam, Harshit Raja of India, Tran Tuan Minh of Vietnam, WGM Lei Tingjie of China and GM Tigran Kontanjian of Armenia.

IMs Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paulo Bersamina played solidly against top two seeds GMs Wang Hao of China and Anton Demchenko of Russia and eked out draws 45 moves of an English Opening and 90 moves of a Ruy Lopez, respectively, to lead the chase pack with half a point.

THE Cebuana Lhuillier-Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines 18-andUnder National Women’s Softball Tournament entered its ninth season this year with stellar performances from teams representing Makati City and Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Staying undefeated, Makati City and Sta, Maria, Bulacan currently lead the standings after claiming their 8th and 6th wins, respectively. Other teams that are showing promise are Rizal, 6-1, and Bacolod City, 6-2.

Nineteen teams from various parts of the country are competing with each other in 81 games from Dec. 8 to 18 (with top teams facing off for the semi-finals on December 17) at the Sto. Nino Softball Field and the Barangka Softball Field in Marikina City for this season.

Other teams participating in this year’s tournament are Camarines Sur, Cavite, International Little League Association of Manila, Laguna, Laoag city, Manila, Miriam Tuguegarao, Dasmariñas City, Nueva Ecija, Pasig City, Sarangani, San Francisco High School of Quezon City, San Miguel, Bulacan, Tanuan City, and Valenzuela City.

“It’s another exciting season for Cebuana Lhuillier-ASAPHIL 18-and-Under National Women’s Softball Tournament as the top softball teams gathered together to face equally tough opponents from all over the country. It will be fun to see how each team grows throughout the tournament and witness how much they have improved from last year. We hope to form the best team from this pool of talents and send them as our country’s representative for the upcoming international softball competitions,” ASAPHIL President and Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier said.

Noelle assured Ardina bolsters PH Ladies’ Masters cast of elite ranking

Ardina

DOTTI Ardina has confirmed her participation in the ICTSI Philippine Ladies Masters, toughening up the already formidable roster competing in the $80,000 event beginning Dec. 21 at the Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa.

Ardina is expected to come into the event brimming with confidence, having regained her LPGA Tour card with a joint 21st finish in the recent LPGA Qualifying Tournament Final Stage in Florida early this month.

Though she missed the Top 20 and the full Category 12 status for next year’s LPGA Tour, her strong finish enabled her to earn her tour card through Category 17 and play in 10-15 LPGA events next year.

But Ardina, who won her first three events in the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour but struggled and finished at 11th and joint sixth

in the first two legs of the 2016 LPGT won by Korean Lee Jeonghwa at Splendido and Southwoods, will be as much as tested as the rest of the stellar field in the upcoming 54-hole championship, also serving as the final leg of the Taiwan LPGA Tour.

They include Lee, who will be gunning for a sweep of the three TLPGA Tour events, and a slew of Taiwanese players, headed by TLPGA Order of Merit leader Lin Tzu-chi.

A number of Thai aces are also in the fold, each gearing up for a crack at the top $17,000 purse put up by the sponsoring ICTSI with Custom Clubmakers, adidas, KZG, Sharp, Summit Mineral Water, Srixon, Champion, TaylorMade, Ping, Yamaha and Pacsports as backers.

Wannasiri Sirisampant, Saruttaya Ngam-usawan and Amolkan Phalajivin, all former LPGT win-

ners, head the talent-laden Thailand delegation that includes regular campaigners Saraporn Chamchoi, Walailak Satarak, Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang, Piyathida Ployumsri, Chatprapa Siriprakob, Chonticha Tonkaew and Kanpahnitnan Muangkhumsakul.

Hwang Ye-nah, who upstaged a star-studded international field at LPGT Southlinks last year, is also in the list, along with fellow Koreans Jang So-young, Euna Koh and So Un Kim, while Ai Asano and Mayumi Chinzei will try to become the first Japanese to win on the LPGT. Focus will also be on Demi Runas, a Fil-Am shotmaker who has been campaigning on the Symetra Tour along with Ardina and Mia Piccio and has been tipped as one of the early contenders for the crown in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.

1st South East Asia Bridge Club Championship ♦A3 ♣KQJ963

I FEATURE a deal which a team a combined with Singapore and Philippines team mates.

The Philippines team mates are the husband and wife tandem: Phil and Suena Manalang: North Felipe M. ♠QJ6 ♥62 ♦KQ82 ♣A1072 West East Somai M. Kumpol N. ♠ ♠K97432 ♥KQJ75 ♥1084

♦J5 ♣85

South Suena M. ♠A1085 ♥A93 ♦109764 ♣4 -oOoFrom the World Bridge Champ Bulletin A Sure Thing

by Mark Horton (September 17, 2016) Open Room West North Brink Multon Pass 3♥* Pass 4♠

East Drijver Pass Pass All Pass

South Zimmermann 2NT 3♠

West led the eight of diamonds and when declarer put up dummys’ ten it held.

His next move was to cash the ace of spades, on which West discarded the four

of clubs. Declarer continued with dummy’s two of spades but East did not go in with an honour and now declarer realized he was in trouble. He tried to cash two diamonds, but East ruffed the third round, cashed the king of spades and switched to a club, one down, 100.

Declarer was unlucky that spades were 5-0 but having been gifted a trick on the lead starting with dummy’s two of spades is a sure tricks play.

Closed Room West North East South Helgemo De Wijs Helness Muller Pass 1♣ 2NT 3♥* Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ Dble All Pass Here West led the six of diamonds and once again declarer won with dummy’s ten.

His next move was the two of spades, which left East with no good move, preserving the extra entry in spades meant declarer could play as if he were in no trumps, losing only

two trump tricks and a club.

Doubtless you will have observed that if West leads a heart, not surrendering a trick the contract must fail.

-oOoFantoni-Nunes: Decision of the ACBL Appeals & Charges Committee The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) has released the followings: In the matter of Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes, the Appeals and Charges Committee upheld the decision of the Ethical Oversight Committee to expel Fantoni and Nunes from the ACBL and to forfeit 100% of their masterpoints, titles, and status ranks as well as membership privileges of any kind.

The partners and teammates of Fantoni and Nunes are subjected to the forfeiture of masterpoints, titles, and status ranks earned only during the 2015 Spingold Knockout Team championship.

Comments to: sylvia.alejandro@yahoo

SOFT netter Noelle Conchita ZoletaManalac is assured of an elite ranking in the next three-year period starting with the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games in Indonesia—after back-to-back bronze medal performances in the major international soft tennis arena.

Zoleta-Manalac fashioned out a hardfought 4-1 victory over Wang Yufei of China to capture the bronze medal in the women’s singles division of the recent 8th Asian Soft Tennis Championships in chilly Chiba, Japan.

The solid baseline game of Zoleta-Manalac also propelled her past Pemika Cunaviriyasiri of Thailand, 4-0, to bag a similar podium finish during the 2015 World Cup Soft Tennis competitions in New Delhi, India.

“Soft tennis has a very different ranking system practically based on a 4-year performance record which makes it really difficult to crack except, of course, for powerhouse countries Japan, Korea. Chinese Taipei and China,” explained Philippine Soft Tennis Association president Col. Jeff Tamayo.

Tamayo said all four medal winners in the previous World Cup, Asian Championships and Asian Games tournaments are assured of top seedings and low-ranked opponents en route to the podium in the next international competitions.

Despite her No. 5-8 finish during the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Zoleta-Manalac is guaranteed of another quarterfinal slot in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games edition due to her breakthrough third-place finish in the recent Asian Championships.

LOTTO RESULTS

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

Sports

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

A8

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

James Sena of Blackwater shoots against two NLEX defenders in a PBA Philippine Cup game won by the Elite, 96-85.

Elite regain winning ways, clobber Warriors, 96 to 85 B LACKWATER found its winning ways again at the expense of a gritty but undermanned NLEX squad and posted a convincing 96-85 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Elite snapped their twogame losing skid and improved to a 3-2 record, while dealing the Road Warriors their third loss in four outings.

Art dela Cruz starred for Blackwater, carrying the cudgels for his squad as Mac Belo came out with a sub-par performance after a brilliant showing in the Elite’s first two victories.

Dela Cruz capped the night with 18 points and eight rebounds, enough to earn the Best Player of

the Game honors.

Not to be outdone, Kylie Pascual also had an impressive performance, finishing with 16 points off an 8-of-10 shooting from the field.

Ronjay Buenafe and JR Sena were the only other Elite players in double figures, contributing 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Belo, meantime, mustered nine points, five rebounds and five assists.

Despite the victory, Blackwater coach Leo Isaac feels that they have escaped with the victory because of

NLEX’s lack of manpower.

The Road Warriors actually came out without most of its key players, including Asi Taulava, Alfonso Gotladera, and Enrico Villanueva.

“It just so happened that NLEX is lacking key players, although we did prepare well for this game considering the last 2 setbacks that we had especially against Rain or Shine,” said Isaac.

“Hopefully, we can continue on our victorious momentum... one player cannot win the game for the whole team. It has to be a total team effort,” added Isaac.

Although they controlled the game most of the way, the Elite were at their best in the fourth period when they posted an 87-72 lead after an 8-to-nothing salvo.

Games tomorrow

(Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:15 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Talk N Text 7 p.m. – Mahindra vs. Ginebra

The Road Warriors came no closer than at 92-83 on Mac Baracael’s basket, but Pascual and Pinto connected with a basket each as the Elite sealed the win, 96-83, less than 30 seconds left.

The Elite, behind the guns of Ronjay Buenafe, Art dela Cruz, Raymond Aguilar and James Sena, kept the lead most of the way in the first two quarters as they outshone NLEX’s gunners in Carlo Lastimosa, Sean Anthony,Raul Soyud and Mac Baracael.

It was ironic though the two teams were almost even in the statistics.

The Elite, who took the first half

47-41, converted 19 of their 44 attempts, which was a little bit better than the Road Warriors’ 18-of-42 field goals. Even in rebounds, the two teams were not that far from each other, with Blackwater having 25 to NLEX’s 23.

The Road Warriors got more assists than the Elite, 12-10, while the two teams had 11 turnovers each.

The Elite nevertheless got to build a 38-31 lead late in the second period which they padded to 45-36 on Reil Cervantes’ triple with 1:150 left in the same period.

Mac Baracael came through with a triple whiel Eric Camson translated an alley oop pass as NLEX moved within 45-41, before Nard Pinto improved Blackwater’s lead at the half at 47-41.

Brickman, Potts lead Fil-foreigners in draft ASEAN Basketball League standout Jason Brickman and San Beda super scorer Davon Potts lead the Fil-foreign players joining the 2016 PBA D-League Draft on Dec. 20 at PBA Cafe in Metrowalk, Pasig.

One of the most intriguing prospects today, Brickman anchored the Ariel Vanguardia-mentored Westports Malaysia Dragons to the 2016 Asean Basketball League title, together with now-Phoenix Fuel Master guard Matthew Wright.

He averaged 13.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 10.7 assists and was also named as the Finals’ Most Valuable Player.

Brickman also suited up for Mighty Sports-Philippines squad, which won the gold medal in the 2016 Jones Cup. Meanwhile, Potts is definitely one of this draft’s can’t miss talents, with the Fil-Am winger averaging 15.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in his first year in Mendiola.

He was also a vital cog in helping the Red Lions reclaim the championship this past NCAA Season 92.

San Francisco State swingman Robbie Herndon will also take one step closer in making it to the pros.

The 22-year-old bested two-time PBA MVP Willie Miller to win the 2016 Red Bull King of the Rock Philippines tournament last March.

Also joining this year’s draft is FilSwede Andreas Cahilig.

The 6’3” forward last played for Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology in NAASCU this past year.

In total, 15 Fil-foreign players applied for this year’s proceedings as they stake their luck together with the 113 local applicants.

If picked, they must submit the necessary papers to the PBA to be cleared for competition.

QUEST FOR POWER. The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship, is set to electrify the Jakarta Convention Center once again on Jan. 14 for its first event in 2017 dubbed ONE: QUEST FOR POWER. Headlining the spectacular fight card is ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash, shown here raising the Russian flag, as he defends his title against Polish fighter Marcin Prachnio.

Sale of RMSC will take a year Zidane: Ronaldo a rare breed

By Peter Atencio NEGOTIATIONS to put the ageing Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on sale will take at least year as many legal questions need to be clarified first, said Philippine Sports Commission chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

Ramirez explained that the ownership of the complex, which was originally built 82 years ago in 1934, needs to be clarified.

The facility was destroyed during World War II and was later reconstructed in 1953 and then renovated in 2011.

The PSC chief said the office of the President is on top of the situation concerning the facility, which is managed by the government sports agency and

owned by the City of Manila.

“Negotiations will take long. The office of the President wants to make sure that all legal matters are answered,” said Ramirez.

Before former PSC Chief Richie Garcia turned over the facility to Ramirez, the RMSC underwent a series of makeovers.

The City of Manila had no income from RMSC for year, leaving the city with no funds to modernize facilities.

There are plans to sell the RMSC and build a national training center elsewhere, with the Clark Development Corporation offering facilities inside the Clark Green City.

The proposed site will be known as the Philippine Olympic Village.

YOKOHAMA—Cristiano Ronaldo is itching to prove just why he deserved the Ballon d’Or by leading Real Madrid to another Club World Cup title, Zinedine Zidane said Wednesday.

The Portuguese superstar, voted the world’s best player for a fourth time earlier this week, will lead Real’s charge in Japan, where the European champions face Mexico’s Club America in Thursday’s semi-final.

“Cristiano is hugely motivated for this game—as always,” Real coach Zidane told reporters in Yokohama.

“He would be motivated even if it were a friendly, that’s

just the sort of player he is.

“Obviously we have many great players at Real Madrid but it’s very rare one player wins so many awards,” added the Frenchman, whose side are chasing their second world title in three years this week.

“To win four Ballon d’Ors is a fabulous achievement and it’s not an easy thing to do.

What he’s doing is absolutely incredible—maybe he deserves a fifth one too!”

Ronaldo closed on Lionel Messi’s record five awards after a remarkable year in which he helped Real dominate Europe for the 11th time and powered Portugal to European

Championship glory.

The 31-year-old talisman, whose joy has been dampened by allegations of tax fraud, insisted that if he and Messi played for the same team, he would have scooped more accolades than his Argentine rival.

“It would be interesting to see both of us in the same team,” Ronaldo told Spanish media.

“I think great players should play together. If we were in the same team, I think I would have more than him, but he wouldn’t be far off.

“Everyone knows Messi is a great player,” he added. “He’s won five Ballon d’Ors.” AFP

Arellano U bags tennis crown ARELLANO University downed last year’s titleholder San Beda, 2-1, yesterday to sweep its way to its very first title in the 92nd NCAA juniors lawn tennis tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

Aljohn Talatayod downed Eduardo Bagaforo, 6-0, 6-2, in the opening singles and Norman Gaspar sealed the deal with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph over Dawson Ormoc in the reverse singles to seal the crown.

San Beda actually took the doubles on a victory by Patrick Mendoza and Aldyll Ignacio over Jan Harold Trillanes and Lawrence Sombreo, 6-2, 6-2, to level the match and could clinch the second round pennant and force a one-game finale if it could take the reverse singles.

It was not to be though as Gaspar was just too much for Ormoc.

It was an impressive title conquest by the Junior Chiefs as they won all their 12 matches—ine in the first round and three in the second—to rule the event for the first time since they joined the league five years ago.

The lawn tennis crown is Arellano U’s third this season after it lorded over badminton and taekwondo in the first semester a few months ago.

“It’s a proud accomplishment for a team that has worked hard for years to get this far,” said Arellano University’s Management Committee representative Peter Cayco.

The Cubs finished second.

Lyceum of the Philippines University defeated San Sebastian on triumphs by Elvin Joseph Geluz over Vincent Anida, 6-0, 6-1, and Stepano Gurria over Joseph Gadon, 6-4, 7-5, to claim third place.

San Sebastian’s lone win was provided for by Philip and Pete Coteron over Bruce Etcobanez and Jason Guillermo, 6-0, 6-4, in the doubles.

Jarin looms as new NU cage coach FORMER San Beda College coach Jamike Jarin is almost sure to become the new head coach of the National University Bulldogs men’s basketball team.

Sources said they are close to making a decision on Jarin’s role with the Bulldogs following the resignation of Eric Altamirano last month.

The school is searching for a new coach and is deliberating on a final decision.

Altamirano tendered his resignation after six seasons two weeks ago. He quit the team while plans were being finalized to have the NU Bulldogs go into a rebuilding mode after their campaign in Season 79 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament was over. The Bulldogs won the crown for the first time after 60 years under Altamirano’s watch.

San Beda College team manager Jude Roque wished Jarin the best in his career as the latter takes on the new challenge as the looming head coach of the Bulldogs in the coming 80th UAAP men’s basketball season.

“We will always be grateful for the fruitful two years that he nurtured the Red Lions,” said Roque.

Jarin was around when the Red Lions captured the Season 92 National Collegiate Athletic Association title, together with the 2015 Fil-Oil Cup and PCCL crowns. Peter Atencio

MRT 3 eyes 800,000 passengers B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

B1

Ayala offers to resolve traffic woes

By Darwin G. Amojelar

A

wholly-owned subsidiary of conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Wednesday it will submit a list of infrastructure projects under an unsolicited mode to the Duterte administration to alleviate traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

“We have a few projects, some are unsolicited. We’re looking at hotspots. That’s where we’ll try to solve the [traffic] problems. Our mandate is not to look at nice projects to make money on. Our mandate is to look for an area where we can do something to alleviate the difficulties, the

pain points and the congestion,” AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. president and chief executive Jose Rene Almendras told reporters in a news briefing.

Almendras, who served as secretary of Cabinet and Foreign Affairs and Energy Departments under the Aquino admin-

istration, said AC Infrastructure would propose projects that would be completely aligned with the Transportation Department’s plan.

“There’s a masterplan of sorts, but I guess we’re looking at opportunities where government has resources that they are committing to certain things. We’re studying. One is we will bid for some of them, when they decide to bid it out, if they decide to bid it out. If not also, there are some ideas on how to solve some problems of traffic,” he said.

Almendras said there would be enough space for infrastructure projects all over the country, but the company was trying to focus on certain key areas where AC

Infrastructure wanted to invest in and make solutions happen.

“We identified vehicular traffic, across the Pasig river, that’s the most I will tell you. We have identified goods movement as a challenge, so certain areas are not linked to certain areas for trucks. Why? Because of road space limitation. We’ve identified airport as a challenge, if it will take us 10 years to build a new airport,” he said.

“The mandate is we have an infrastructure shortage, and because of that, we have hotspots and pain points, so we’re using that to identify and prioritize our activities,” Almendras said.

Almendras did not identify the proposed infrastructure projects,

as their feasibility studies were not yet finished.

“We’re studying every single aspect of the project which has the biggest possible effect to the problems that we’ve identified, he said.

AC Infrastructure’s current portfolio includes toll road and rail projects. The company owns 50 percent of Light Rail Manila Holdings that resulted in a 35-percent interest in Light Rail Manila Corp. which earlier won the bidding for the P64.9-billion LRT1 Cavite Extension.

AC Infrastructure is also a part of the group which won the P1.72-billion contactless automatic fare collection system for LRT 1, LRT2 and MRT 3.

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing December 14, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

6,928.34 47.43

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing DECEMBER 14, 2016 45.40 46.60

P49.730

49.00

CLOSE

HIGH P49.695 LOW P49.865 AVERAGE P49.802 VOLUME 356.900M

P430.00-P661.00 LPG/11-kg tank P35.40-P44.10 Unleaded Gasoline P25.75-P29.32 Diesel

OPRICES IL TODAY

P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene

MANAGEMENT AWARDEE. SM Investments vice chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson (third from right) receives this year the prestigious Man of the Year award from the Management Association of the Philippines, the same honor bestowed on her father—retail pioneer Henry Sy Sr. 17 years ago. Sy-Coson is joined by her family (from left) Herbert Sy, Mara Coson, Elizabeth Sy, Felicidad Sy, Hans Sy and Harley Sy.

P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, December 14, 2016

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.7680

Japan

Yen

0.008685

0.4322

UK

Pound

1.265600

62.9864

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128936

6.4169

Switzerland

Franc

0.987557

49.1487

Canada

Dollar

0.761441

37.8954

Singapore

Dollar

0.701951

34.9347

Australia

Dollar

0.749600

37.3061

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652590

132.0141

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266688

13.2725

Brunei

Dollar

0.699496

34.8125

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028103

1.3986

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

13.5508

Euro

Euro

1.062300

52.8685

Korea

Won

0.000860

0.0428

China

Yuan

0.144928

7.2128

India

Rupee

0.014838

0.7385

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.225530

11.2242

New Zealand

Dollar

0.720000

35.8330

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031491

1.5672 Source: PDS Bridge

BSP set to release Duterte-signed bills

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas will begin circulating next week new banknotes bearing the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a news briefing Wednesday all the banknotes―P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1,000― would have the signature of the president.

“The bills will be made available to the public next week,” Tetangco said.

Tetangco did not say how much Bangko Sentral would print for the first batch of the Duterte-signed banknotes.

He said the demonetization of old banknotes, also called New Design Series bills, was on track by Jan. 1, 2017. By then, the said banknotes will no longer be legal tenders.

The number of old banknotes circulating in the financial system as of September this year declined more than 50 percent from the start of 2015 due to the ongoing demonetization by Bangko Sentral.

It said at the start of 2015, 711.7 million pieces of New Design Series notes valued at P184.3 billion were in circulation. Latest Bangko Sentral data showed that 305.4 million pieces of the old banknotes valued at P26.1 billion remained in the system as of end-September 2016.

“By end of December 2016, we would be able to reduce the number of old banknotes [circulating in the financial system],” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said earlier. Julito G. Rada

San Miguel raising P20b to settle debt

43.00

47.80

IN BRIEF

Okada Manila scheduled to open in phases

By Jenniffer B. Austria OKADA Manila, the $2.4-billion integrated resort and gaming complex led by Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada, will open in phases, starting with a “preview event” on Dec. 21.

Okada Manila said in a statement on its website that while it would open to the public on Dec. 21 for a preview, the grand opening would not be scheduled until the first quarter of 2017.

“During the preview event, [we] will host a Christmas concert featuring world-class performances from top Filipino artists Lani Misalucha, Regine Velas-

quez and Bamboo. The concert is free and open to the public,” Okada Manila, which sits on a 44-hectare property in Entertainment City in Parañaque, said.

“There will be a spectacular firework display beautifully enhanced with laser light show that can be seen as far as Quezon City. This spectacle of lights is the first of its kind in Manila and a preview to what guests can expect from the newest and the most magnificent hospitality and entertainment complex in Asia,” it said.

Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. public relations director Shariza Relova said in

an interview only a portion of the casino would open during the preview event on Dec. 21, as the complex would gradually open by phase other components between December 2016 and March 2017.

Tiger Resort is the operator of Okada Manila.

“The grand opening will happen sometime in the first quarter of next year,” Relova said.

Relova said the opening of Okada Manila on Dec. 21 would enable the company to comply with the commencement date approved by regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Relova said the event would

be attended by Okada and Pagcor officials.

Pagcor approved a December 2016 commencement date for Okada Manila after it missed an earlier March 2015 deadline.

Okada encountered delays in finding a local partner, which was needed to meet a cap on foreign land ownership.

The 44-hectare world-class integrated resort will be the third integrated casino and resort to open in Entertainment City. The facility boasts of a two-wing hotel with 993 rooms that offer breathtaking views of either the Manila Bay or the property’s iconic fountain.

Bangko Sentral revises foreign exchange rules

By Julito G. Rada

MITSUBISHI DONATION. Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp., in partnership with Philippine Red

Cross – Laguna Chapter, donates first aid kits to 230 public and private schools and barangays of Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Shown is MMPC vice president for corporate management division Renato Lampano (fifth from left) turning over the first aid kits to Laguna school teachers. With Lampano are officials of the Education Department and Philippine Red Cross–Laguna Chapter.

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas approved further amendments to the foreign exchange rules to align with the provisions of the law allowing the entry of foreign banks in the country.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a news briefing Wednesday the approved policy changes mainly involved the inclusion of an express provision that the foreign exchange funding for permanently assigned capital of foreign bank branches should be inwardly remitted and converted to pesos at the exchange rate prevailing at the time of remittance.

“The continuing review of FX regulations is consistent with Bangko Sentral’s commitment to maintain a safe and sound financial system, a stable foreign exchange market, and an appropriate monetary policy, and applicable laws,” Tetangco said.

He said this was pursuant to the

pertinent provisions of the Manual of Regulations for Banks.

Included in the policy changes is the revision of the definitions of “unimpaired capital of a local bank,” “unimpaired capital of foreign bank branches” and “unimpaired capital of foreign bank subsidiaries.”

Republic Act 10641 further liberalized the domestic banking industry and allowed the entry of foreign banks in the country in July 2014. Since the early part of 2015, the policy-setting Monetary Board approved the entry of nine Asian banks in the Philippines.

These banks include Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd. of Taiwan, South Korea’s Woori Bank, First Commercial Bank of Taiwan, United Overseas Bank Ltd. of Singapore, Yuanta Commercial Bank Co. Ltd. of Taiwan, Industrial Bank of Korea, Shinhan Bank of Korea, the Japan-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and the Taiwan-based Cathay United Bank.

DIVERSIFIED conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said it plans to issue up to P20 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds to pay debt.

San Miguel said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would issue P15billion bonds with P5-billion oversubscription option, as a part of the company’s three-year shelf-registration of up to P60 billion.

Proceeds from the bond offering will be used to partially refinance loans provided by various local banks to San Miguel and prepay a portion of its US dollar-denominated debt.

San Miguel said the P20-billion bond offering obtained highest credit rating of PRS Aaa, with a stable outlook, from ratings agency Philippine Rating Services Corp.

Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.

San Miguel is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines with diversified businesses ranging from beverages, food, packaging, fuel and oil, energy and infrastructure.

The company said net income jumped 125 percent in the first nine months to P42.9 billion from P19.08 billion recorded in the same period a year ago, as all the core businesses posted double digit growth in terms of operating income. Jenniffer B. Austria

Shell allots $13m to upgrade refinery

By Alena Mae S. Flores PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp. said Wednesday it will invest $13 million to upgrade its 110,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Batangas to produce bitumen.

“The corporation has taken the decision to proceed with the upgrade of its Tabangao Refinery to enable production of bitumen. The capital investment is estimated at $13 million,” Shell said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday.

Shell announced in November a plan to put up a bitumen facility as a part of its two- to three-year investment program.

“We do have plans to provide further investments in the refinery, not to expand capacity but to ensure that it continues to be efficient so 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 country manager Cesar Romero said earlier.

Romero said the bitumen facility and refinery improvements would bring additional value to the company now that its shares were listed in the stock exchange. Bitumen, a crucial component of asphalt, is used for road surfacing and roofing.

B2

Business

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 8, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market climbs; SMC, Ayala rise Bermaz Auto seeks S nod for P1.2-b IPO tocks rose for a second day, tracking a seventh successive record on Wall Street as they wait for the conclusion of a keenly awaited Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, climbed 47 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 6,928.34 Wednesday.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also rose 28 points, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 4,201.37, on a value turnover of P5.9 billion. Advancers outnumbered losers, 97 to 73, while 44 issues were unchanged.

All six sectoral indices advanced, while 11 of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by chemical producer D&L Industries Inc. which

waiting for the Fed decision, but more so Dr Yellen’s forward outlook and, of course, the accompanying statement,” Stephen Innes, senior trader at Oanda, said.

“As is the case with most Fed ‘pressers’, it will mainly involve deciphering the Feds verbal gymnastics while looking for a smoking gun – tonight’s smoking gun will be in the form of a hawkish or dovish Fed lean.”

Global equities and the dollar have rallied in the five weeks since Donald Trump won the US election, with traders betting his plans for big spending, tax cuts and deregulation will fan already healthy economic growth.

Expectations that will in turn light a fire under inflation has led to speculation the Fed will be forced to embark on a more ag-

climbed 4.5 percent to P11.68 and conglomerate Ayala Corp. which advanced 4.3 percent to P719.50. San Miguel Corp. jumped 4 percent to P99.85.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets also closed higher Wednesday ahead of the Fed meeting.

After months of betting the Fed will lift interest rates, the big day has arrived and investors will be hanging on every word bank boss Janet Yellen says in her post-meeting conference hoping for clues about future policy.

“The markets are sitting tight

gressive program of rate hikes that previously thought.

Hong Kong was up 0.3 percent in the afternoon, Sydney added 0.7 percent and Singapore gained 0.1 percent. Kuala Lumpur was also higher while Seoul was flat.

Shanghai ended 0.5 percent lower.

The advances come after the Dow finished at a record high for the seventh successive day and ended just shy of the 20,000 mark.

“Today is one of those days where the folly of trying to make sense of any one day’s moves is self-evident,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader.

“Last night we saw a huge rally in US and European stocks, which has propelled the big US indexes to new record highs.

With AFP, Bloomberg

By Jenniffer B. Austria BERMAZ Auto Philippines Inc., the exclusive distributor of Mazda vehicles in the country, filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to P1.24 billion from an initial public offering.

Documents obtained from the SEC showed Bermaz Auto would offer 155 million primary and secondary shares at an offer price of up to P8 apiece in March 2017.

The offer shares would rep-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 48 30,000 89 1,501,600 3.76 25,000 113.9 1,019,330 1.54 183,000 38.05 300 19.1 214,000 0.7 153,000 1.74 2,000 810 780 0.64 10,230,000 74.3 1,759,920 0.77 206,000 14.1 29,700 54.45 46,630 252 40 129 170 35.2 184,300 200.8 507,970 1,735 65 74.5 137,280 1.3 123,000

1,436,560 133,519,351.50 94,000 115,554,446 282,820 11,405 4,070,188 107,100 3,480 632,190 6,600,150 130,622,194 158,640 418,770 2,530,487.50 10,040 21,970 6,486,265 101,809,139 112,775 10,223,467 160,130

1,009,945 -13,334,732 2,992,092 778,386 -3,263,400 -27,142,410.50 -775,287 -5,174,010 2,339,318 -8,675 257,614 30,130

43.5 4.15 0.86 1.36 19.06 0.192 90 11.6 16.86 140.3 22.2 21.4 93 102 1.9 7.18 12.04 11.24 6.14 7.18 5.39 1.75 22.05 67.9 16.54 6.07 1.69 210 76 2.67 3.58 25.05 29.65 24.3 14.82 258.4 3.3 10.32 2.04 5.7 1.33 67.9 5 230 4.69 2.78 4.59 0.142 1.51 159 4.34 1.62 1.09

INDUSTRIAL 43.95 930,100 4.24 372,000 0.89 1,000,000 1.37 593,000 19.68 24,200 0.193 210,000 90 70 11.7 13,597,300 17 1,248,600 161 20 23.1 260,200 21.4 400 96 1,500 102 230 1.9 188,000 7.18 298,600 12.1 33,900 11.68 13,875,800 6.15 762,500 7.22 2,432,300 5.39 10,122,600 1.75 78,000 22.15 794,000 68 102,010 16.8 177,800 6.1 65,200 1.72 83,000 210 590,140 76 990 2.8 195,000 3.89 7,000 26.9 500 29.8 1,463,000 25.4 127,700 15.3 784,600 261.8 144,230 3.4 2,256,000 10.4 3,712,200 2.05 5,862,000 5.77 6,900 1.35 160,000 68.2 867,950 5.16 206,000 233.6 32,840 4.72 396,000 2.79 28,000 4.63 87,000 0.142 270,000 1.51 158,000 160.9 2,083,000 4.65 6,300,000 1.62 864,000 1.09 26,000

40,860,690 1,570,860 868,910 815,270 467,886 40,330 6,300 159,250,950 21,243,522 3,013 6,017,520 8,560 140,240 29,615 358,210 2,143,968 414,278 160,251,736 4,692,443 17,536,977 54,787,056 137,050 17,590,030 6,936,507.50 2,983,046 397,233 141,110 124,568,058 76,046 538,160 25,680 12,710 43,634,515 3,205,080 11,959,662 37,777,376 7,468,230 38,655,820 11,960,750 39,403 216,180 59,111,573.50 1,055,543 7,676,262 1,862,860 78,070 401,200 38,390 239,790 334,966,272 27,342,830 1,403,610 28,340

12,578,760 190,150 74,985,604 -790,408.00 -244,520 -37,678,230 -1,696,167 -4,557,953 22,203,600 -6,569,195 233,323.50 -1,424,500 -7,930.00 -94,926,636 -38,877,050 63,130 10,903,684 -8,458,866 451,410 -2,331,570 1,064,880 -40,100 23,874,956 32,100 186,960 46,700 7,150.00 -29,138,333 63,380.00 -

0.52 74.2 12.78 5.95 0.32 720 8.43 13.66 8.15 1,280 70.85 4.05 1.46 7.79 13.48 6.5 0.039 1.3 1.92 100.2 651 1.19 262 0.295

0.485 72.15 12.58 5.95 0.31 690 8.27 13.44 8.09 1,241 69.5 4.05 1.34 7.68 12.8 6.4 0.037 1.2 1.92 96 638 1.18 258 0.29

HOLDING FIRMS 0.49 20,517,000 73.75 2,367,320 12.76 6,422,500 5.95 6,800 0.315 410,000 719.5 293,510 8.31 1,814,300 13.46 10,372,100 8.14 7,000 1,259 124,945 70.85 579,680 4.05 2,000 1.41 18,262,000 7.79 13,432,800 13.4 5,799,900 6.48 21,415,000 0.038 41,800,000 1.28 68,000 1.92 1,000 99.85 1,105,810 650 924,840 1.19 12,000 262 19,790 0.295 280,000

10,218,335 174,765,778.50 81,396,810 40,460 129,200 209,290,600 15,120,534 139,756,484 56,787 157,475,880 40,893,813.50 8,100 25,904,070 103,467,586 77,096,800 138,866,685 1,587,200 83,730 1,920 109,700,454.50 601,004,815 14,260 5,162,120 82,100

-520 78,170,437.50 -7,503,912 58,774,335 8,542,001.00 28,685,106 26,242,510 8,012,673.50 -208,980 -862,459 44,614,540 11,742,802 15,200 40,429,009.50 -195,949,400 1,190 -793,290 -

7.1 1.1 2.18 0.57 32.85 3.1 5.14 0.59 1.11 1.46 0.154 0.58 38.8 0.71 0.134 1.73 1.03 1.27 3.61 0.148

6.99 1.09 2.1 0.43 32 2.93 5.12 0.57 1.03 1.41 0.15 0.56 38.35 0.7 0.134 1.7 0.98 1.22 3.55 0.143

2,779,697 258,080 978,120 93,786,150 395,658,340 19,113,350 123,408 3,979,470 69,280 2,966,680 189,210 2,418,780 18,399,015 11,260 2,680 7,912,990 21,095,810 191,410 58,357,650 1,474,000

1,614,953 -210,000 -1,007,750 -207,600,900 -2,484,260 117,762 -125,060.00 -164,160 -339,120 3,823,975 -5,652,470 2,087,880 -25,257,250 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK FIRST ABACUS IREMIT MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

47.95 88 3.76 114 1.5 37.95 19.1 0.7 1.74 810 0.66 74 0.77 14.1 54.25 252 130 35.1 202.4 1,735 74 1.31

48 89.2 3.76 114 1.58 38.05 19.1 0.7 1.74 820 0.66 74.7 0.78 14.1 54.45 252 130 35.2 202.4 1,735 74.55 1.31

47.6 87.85 3.76 111.1 1.5 37.95 18.86 0.7 1.74 810 0.64 73.4 0.77 14.1 54.15 248 129 35.1 199.8 1,735 73.6 1.3

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

43.8 4.2 0.9 1.4 19.88 0.192 90 11.62 17.04 140.3 23.1 21.4 97.4 118 1.94 7.18 12.04 11.26 6.14 7.19 5.45 1.76 22.3 68 16.7 6.12 1.74 212.4 77 2.68 3.58 25.05 29.9 24.5 15.3 258.4 3.37 10.46 2.05 5.71 1.38 68 5.22 230.2 4.69 2.78 4.59 0.143 1.54 160 4.6 1.62 1.09

44.15 4.3 0.9 1.4 19.88 0.193 90 11.78 17.26 161 23.25 21.4 97.4 139 1.94 7.19 12.34 11.7 6.27 7.29 5.45 1.76 22.3 68.05 16.8 6.12 1.74 214.8 77 2.8 3.89 26.9 29.95 25.4 15.3 263.2 3.4 10.5 2.05 5.77 1.4 68.3 5.22 234 4.72 2.79 4.63 0.143 1.54 161.9 4.65 1.64 1.09

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ATN HLDG A AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG

0.52 73.8 12.66 5.95 0.31 692 8.37 13.66 8.15 1,280 70 4.05 1.36 7.7 13.08 6.4 0.037 1.3 1.92 96 638 1.18 259.8 0.29

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

6.99 1.09 2.18 0.43 32.6 2.96 5.14 0.58 1.11 1.42 0.15 0.56 38.5 0.7 0.134 1.73 0.98 1.22 3.6 0.145

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL ESTATES PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.25 3.2 27 1.59 3.2 28.75 1.15 6.3 0.92 5.05

0.255 3.21 27.85 1.59 3.28 29.35 1.19 7 0.93 5.09

0.25 3.12 26.8 1.56 3.19 28.75 1.15 6.3 0.9 5.03

0.255 3.16 27.2 1.56 3.19 28.8 1.19 7 0.91 5.05

50,000 285,000 528,000 4,000 303,000 13,093,600 9,189,000 1,000 1,301,000 10,738,000

12,700 896,530 14,410,725 6,270 968,690 379,930,650 10,784,410 6,880 1,188,570 54,227,801

3,197,140 -320,000 83,375,370 116,000.00 -1,737,167

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

7.65 44.2 1.41 0.51 0.05 5.32 6.22 0.074 2.65 89.95 7.54 990 1,420 6.15 15.5 2.3 15.2 71.5 0.0095 9.1 0.196 1.33 4.96 2.35 4.07 3.57 19.78 2.54 11.3 5.28 144.5 12.96 1,335 1.17 0.455 39.1 73.8 5.44 2.65 1 3.35 0.35

7.65 44.7 1.44 0.51 0.05 6.5 6.33 0.074 2.7 92.05 7.7 990 1,438 6.16 15.6 2.33 15.5 73 0.0095 9.1 0.203 1.34 5.09 2.48 4.1 3.78 19.78 2.64 11.3 5.28 144.5 13.16 1,345 1.17 0.465 39.1 73.95 5.44 2.67 1.01 3.39 0.35

7.6 44.2 1.34 0.5 0.045 5.01 6.2 0.07 2.64 89.95 7.36 990 1,420 6.15 15.06 2.12 15.2 71 0.0094 9.09 0.195 1.33 4.96 2.35 4 3.56 19.78 2.51 11.02 5.11 144.5 12.8 1,334 1.16 0.455 38.6 72.05 5.4 2.61 0.97 3.34 0.35

SERVICES 7.6 44.6 1.4 0.5 0.046 5.7 6.25 0.072 2.67 91.55 7.54 990 1,430 6.15 15.6 2.19 15.32 72.45 0.0094 9.1 0.201 1.33 5.01 2.4 4.01 3.65 19.78 2.54 11.08 5.11 144.5 12.96 1,339 1.17 0.46 38.85 72.1 5.43 2.67 0.97 3.34 0.35

16,500 13,100 274,000 9,000 174,200,000 12,786,000 5,395,000 33,520,000 2,397,000 374,610 327,400 200 31,170 8,200 175,000 7,536,000 11,000 490,090 9,000,000 515,000 50,740,000 354,000 93,000 206,000 3,562,000 12,660,000 1,500 1,455,000 62,900 4,000 40 856,300 190,755 7,094,000 5,320,000 310,000 42,840 22,500 299,000 15,292,000 702,000 40,000

125,465 585,175 372,040 4,560 8,225,600 70,411,621 33,919,494 2,400,630 6,386,120 34,282,132.50 2,471,844 198,000 44,597,455 50,445 2,720,156 16,675,240 168,558 35,441,555 85,100 4,686,101 10,161,760 470,840 465,320 494,920 14,425,790 46,539,690 29,670 3,731,740 699,574 20,950 5,780 11,120,532 255,448,950 8,273,070 2,443,800 12,057,565 3,090,174.50 121,843 789,190 15,014,090 2,352,130 14,000

-48,000 -2,761 -97,398 26,800 6,653,850 -424,350 -20,932,060 394,750.00 -5,004,284 -1,085,370 29,800 -3,991,050 -25,627,670 1,202,424 68,947,230 -268,530 92,000 -2,848,515 -143,708 -23,650 4,238,300 -1,650,600 -3,500

404,700 620,480 207,950 23,114 12,920 2,350 253,360 1,458,685 1,287,670 13,033,690 245,200 1,307,450 72,120 252,000 12,000 8,217,010 58,245,810 590,410 710,110 270,800 40,100 439,300 7,386,651 1,309,740 174,461,914 36,000 448,100

-29,010 7,194,230 112,500 2,786,532 96,000 3,404,882 39,890 26,484,654 -

MS

PROPERTY 7.01 1.09 2.1 0.485 32.35 3.1 5.12 0.58 1.06 1.43 0.154 0.57 38.5 0.71 0.134 1.71 1.01 1.27 3.57 0.147

396,000 236,000 461,000 187,020,000 12,241,200 6,219,000 24,100 6,867,000 63,000 2,078,000 1,240,000 4,282,000 478,200 16,000 20,000 4,620,000 20,967,000 153,000 16,346,000 10,120,000

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

0.0034 2.75 4.83 10.3 2.17 2.35 0.56 0.51 13.2 3.44 0.275 0.198 0.2 0.012 0.012 2.36 8 3.06 1.33 0.011 4 0.013 8.64 3.66 131.2 3 0.0085

0.0035 2.8 4.85 10.38 2.17 2.35 0.57 0.52 13.48 3.63 0.29 0.2 0.204 0.012 0.012 2.36 8.3 3.07 1.34 0.012 4.02 0.013 8.64 3.68 134 3 0.0091

0.0034 2.71 4.83 9.7 2.15 2.35 0.56 0.49 12.82 3.43 0.275 0.195 0.2 0.011 0.012 2.25 7.9 2.98 1.29 0.011 4 0.012 8.45 3.62 131.2 3 0.0075

MINING & OIL 0.0034 119,000,000 2.79 227,000 4.85 43,000 10.38 2,300 2.15 6,000 2.35 1,000 0.56 451,000 0.49 2,939,000 13.2 99,000 3.58 3,647,000 0.28 860,000 0.199 6,630,000 0.204 360,000 0.012 22,700,000 0.012 1,000,000 2.28 3,602,000 8.3 7,092,400 2.98 197,000 1.3 539,000 0.011 23,700,000 4.02 10,000 0.013 35,800,000 8.57 864,000 3.68 360,000 132.5 1,321,680 3 12,000 0.0089 55,000,000

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 DD PREF FGEN PREF F PF PREF 2 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

44.5 545 104 114 1,035 80.65 77.5 80.5 77.7 78.4

44.5 545 104 114 1,035 80.7 77.5 80.5 77.7 78.5

44.3 545 103.6 114 1,022 80.6 77.5 80.5 77.7 78.4

PREFERRED 44.4 55,100 545 9,130 104 56,100 114 170 1,022 30,180 80.6 17,250 77.5 51,800 80.5 1,600 77.7 131,400 78.5 92,000

2,446,630 4,975,850 5,816,345 19,380 30,850,200 1,390,767.50 4,014,500 128,800 10,209,780 7,221,975

-279,720 7,221,975

LR WARRANT

2.41

2.42

2.41

WARRANTS 2.42 39,000

94,160

-

ALTERRA CAPITAL ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

2.65 3.39 2.9 9.46

2.75 3.39 2.9 9.68

2.58 3.35 2.9 9.27

2.58 3.36 2.9 9.27

2,630,500 322,820 11,600 21,009,667

10,520 -10,101,309

FIRST METRO ETF

114

114.5

114

914,728

-

SME

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

16,943,058

INDUSTRIAL

73,920,104

HOLDING FIRMS

146,369,710

PROPERTY

309,447,314

SERVICES

348,071,945

MINING & OIL

286,719,216

GRAND TOTAL

1,184,833,257

1,005,000 96,000 4,000 2,247,900

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 114.4 8,010

VALUE 1,684.99 (up) 2.20 580,827,253.284 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,880.16 (up) 51.38 1,244,938,746.368 HOLDING FIRMS 7,063.64 (up) 89.28 1,920,116,901.486 PROPERTY 3,112.67 (up) 2.12 1,288.81 (up) 11.18 1,098,078,586.625 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,220.41 (up) 185.42 686,551,224.087 PSEI 6,928.34 (up) 47.43 300,451,227.147 All Shares Index 4,201.37 (up) 28.72 5,855,856,139.001 Gainers: 97 Losers:73; Unchanged: 44; Total: 214

resent 15.6 percent of the company’s total outstanding capital stock after the IPO. Net proceeds from the sale of primary shares will be used to fund construction of a warehouse and body repair and paint facility, establishment of Mazda training facility for automotive repair and motor services and construction of Mazda showrooms and satellite outlets.

The offer period was scheduled on March 15 to March 22, while listing date was tentatively set on March 28.

The company hired Maybank ATR Kim Eng as the international and domestic lead underwriter and Abacus Capital as domestic co-lead underwriter.

Bermaz Auto is the sole distributor of Mazda vehicles with a total of 27 variants catering to different market segments.

The company is 60.4-percent owned by Bermaz Motor International Ltd. of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corp. and 25.5-percent by listed Berjaya Philippines Inc. Bermaz Auto reported a net income of P216.2 million in the first six months of the fiscal year covering May to October 2016, slightly higher than P199.4 million registered a year ago. The company sold 2,301 units.

Bermaz Auto commenced operations on Jan. 2, 2013 with 13 dealerships nationwide. It now has 18 dealers, including six in Metro Manila.

Two additional dealerships are under construction in the cities of Butuan and General Santos.

EDC asks govt not to rely on coal plants

By Alena Mae S. Flores ENERGY Development Corp. asked the government to support the development of more geothermal projects.

EDC president and chief operating officer Richard Tantoco said the government should look at geothermal energy to support economic growth.

Tantoco said in a statement the country could not depend on coal-fired power plants for stable prices because coal was no longer a cheap fuel and its pricing became erratic.

He said Indonesian coal climbed from $44 a metric ton in February to $110 per ton a few weeks ago.

Tantoco said there was a risk of relying heavily on a single fuel source, given supply shortages or sharp price increases in the market.

“Even if it [coal] stabilizes into 80 [dollars per metric ton], it doesn’t mean ‘cheap’ energy is there to stay. That’s why we’re pushing very hard for geothermal to happen; because if you make it happen, it provides stable, base load, and clean energy,” he said.

Tantoco said EDC’s focus on developing geothermal and other renewable energy sources reflected the company’s recognition of the need to lessen the build-up in the atmosphere of more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that were blamed for global warming and climate change.

Geothermal, an indigenous energy source, also helps the government save on foreign exchange that otherwise would pay for imported fuel sources like coal, he said.

Business

B3

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 extrastory2000@gmail.com

LBC taps Ramco for payroll system

By Othel V. Campos

RAIL REPLACEMENT. Light Rail Manila Corp., operator of Light Rail Transit Line 1, completed 40 percent of the work to replace the 32-year

old tracks. As of end-November, the replacement of the northbound tracks from Baclaran Station in Pasay City already reached Doroteo Jose Station in Manila, covering 10,583 linear meters of rails. Shown are LRMC technicians at work to replace the track. The rail replacement project covers 21 kilometers of rail tracks on the northbound route and five kilometers on the southbound route.

FILIPINO courier and logistics company LBC Express Inc. signed a five-year contract with Ramco Systems Inc. to provide a new payroll system for more than 7,000 employees in the Philippines.

LBC president Mike Camahort said the company planned to migrate all its payroll and possibly accounting systems.

“This was not a difficult decision to make because of the value Ramco is giving the company.

Maybe later on, we can add more of Ramco’s services. We are especially interested to acquire their logistics system, if we can afford it,” he said in a news briefing Wednesday in Pasay City.

LBC said as a part of the agreement, it would implement Ramco HCM integrated with global payroll across its global enterprise covering associates in more than 30 countries.

This will include modules for core HR, time and attendance, leave management, employee self service, and recruitment.

The move to a unified web-

based application will enable LBC Express’ HR team to focus on more strategic HR initiatives while aspects related to employee self-service would now be completely automated.

Employees will be able to get real-time access to data via SMS chat, mail transactions, Chatbot and other. This is expected to reduce employee support cost, time and effort, substantially.

Ramco has 10 major accounts in the Philippines in various sector that includes retail, airlines and services.

“Our recent entry into the Philippines market has started yielding significant results. With rapid economic growth, the Philippines has been showing greater adoption for innovative technology.

Some of our next-gen, intuitive features like Chatbots and Mobility have been garnering great interest. The addition of LBC Express to our growing Filipino clientele further strengthens our footprint in the region paving way for major inroads into the market,” Ramco chief executive Virender Aggarwal said.

MRT 3 eyes 800,000 passengers

By Darwin G. Amojelar

M

etro Rail Transit Line 3 said Wednesday it expects to accommodate 800,000 passengers a day by 2017, up 55 percent from this year’s average.

Busan Universal Rail Inc., a Filipino-Korean joint venture that started maintaining MRT-3 in January 2016, said in a statement the restoration works already brought the total number of trains in operation to 22 as of end-November, exceeding Line 3 power system’s maximum capacity of running a total of 20 trains at any given time.

It said average ridership at MRT3 also increased to 500,000 passengers daily in late November, a 25-percent increase in passengers since January. As a result, MRT-3’s income also grew this year, said MRT 3 officer-in-charge Deo Leo Manalo.

As of end-October, MRT-3 already hit its full-year revenue target of P2.3 billion, matching the full-year figure of P2.3 billion in 2015.

“That was more than 20 percent up. It is because we have more trains running this year,” Manalo said.

Busan Universal said when it took over MRT-3’s maintenance early this year, there were only 13 trains left operating.

The company said 62 LRVs were now in good running condition, as it restored two to three LRVs every month since its contract started, to field up to the maximum 20 trains at revenue

line during peak periods. Peak runs are now also backed up by two reserved cars at the depot.

“It is a day-to-day, hour-tohour, moment-to-moment maintenance. Maintenance is a 24hour round-the-clock activity,” Busan Universal managing director Eugene Rapanut said.

“Now, we are running 20 trains during peak hours. We have two trains in reserve. And we have two trains under general overhaul,” he said.

He said by the first quarter of 2017, the company expected to have 24 operational trains consisting of 72 LRVs. MRT is paying its maintenance contractor P54 million a month, lower than the payment to previous maintenance contractor, Sumitomo which used to receive P110 million monthly.

Rapanut said Busan Universal exceeded the government’s requirements through “proper allo-

cation of resources, proper interaction and engagement with the people, and proper management ―making everybody understand the objective.”

“The goal of our client, which is DOTr, is very simple ― provide the most number of trains available, which is 20 at the peak period; and make the system safe, reliable, and maintainable. We are very clear on that,” he said.

By 2017, 48 new LRVs made

by China’s Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. will be put into the system. As of this month, 38 LRVs already arrived, with 32 already fully assembled and ready to go. Presently being installed are onboard signaling systems, which is required to make the system safe.

Also in the pipeline is a new power supply and signaling system, to allow MRT to accommodate more than the present capacity of 20 trains.

Tobacco farmers support two-tier cigarette tax THE National Federation of Farmers Association and Cooperatives, the biggest group officially recognized by the National Tobacco Administration, threw their support for the passage of House Bill No. 4144 or the proposed two-tier tax classification system for cigarettes.

NAFTAC Pangasinan chapter president Saturnino Distor and La Union chapter president Franklin Dumpit dismissed allegations that House Bill 4144, authored by party-list Rep. Michael de Vera, would be detrimental to local tobacco farmers.

HB 4144 seeks to amend provision of Republic Act 10351 that mandates a unitary tax rate for cigarettes starting Jan 1, 2017 to replace the current two-tier classification.

“A unitary tax rate will benefit only the premium cigarette brands. They will just import higher quality tobacco leaves.

This means we, the local farmers, who also produce low-grade tobacco will suffer the most,” Distor said.

Tobaccos have the low and high grade yields. About 65 percent to 70 percent are high grade and 30 percent to 35 percent are low grade and reject tobacco, he said.

“Farmers often sourced their farming inputs and capital by borrowing from different sources. In harvest times, tobacco farmers would only be able to pay their borrowed farming capital by using almost all proceeds from harvested high grade tobacco,” Distor said.

“Once the unitary tax system

takes effect, this would mean that the 30 percent to 35 percent of the sale from the low grade tobacco harvest intended to be the farmer’s profit will be lost,” Distor said.

RA 10351 or the Sin Tax Reform law, which was passed in 2012, restricted the country’s old excise tax system and introduces a two-tier system that classified cigarettes into low priced and premium, replacing the old fourtier system.

The current tax rate is P25 per pack for low prices brands and P29 per pack for premium brands. RA 10351 mandates a unitary rate of P30 per pack for both low-priced and premium brands starting January next year, increasing by 4 percent every year.

HB 4144 seeks to reinstate the two-tier system but with a tax rate of P32 per pack for lowpriced brands and P36 per pack for premium brands, with an annual increase of five percent every year.

“The government should listen to our concerns. We raised them during the hearings on HB 4144.

We actively participated in the hearings and we told Congress that a unitary tax rate would directly threaten the livelihood of our tobacco farmers,” Dumpit said.

“Our fear is that if a unitary tax rate is imposed, there will be no purchase of low-grade tobacco.

Tobacco farmers will no longer have profit and no profit means death of our livelihood,” Dumpit said.

What economic reforms does CPP/NDF want?

LIKE their fellow-communists in other countries, the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines/National Democratic Front have told the government that the current round of peace negotiations will come to a successful end – with their arms laid down – if the government will agree to reforms that they are demanding.

The reforms are divided into political reforms and social and economic reforms.

The political reforms are clear enough, and so are the social reforms. I have seen lists of both. What I am not knowledgeable about – what I have not seen a list of – are the economic reforms demanded by the CPP/NDF. What changes in this country’s economic structure does the CPP/NDF want? In what ways does the CPP/NDF want the Philippine economy to operate and be run differently?

I am exceedingly interested to know.

In the critical area of fiscal policy, might it be CPP/NDF’s desire that the wealthy – those who receive more than a certain amount of income annually – be taxed more highly and that the poor class and the lower

half of the middle class be tax-exempt?

Does it favor the continuation of the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) and, if so, what changes does it wish it to introduce into the program? How does it feel about the present system of subsidies and fiscal incentives? What other forms of fiscal intervention by the government in the economy does CPP/NDF want?

With regard to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, does CPP/NDF desire any changes in the present monetary policy-making structure in this country? How does it feel about the present system of interest rate-setting? Does it think that Philippine banks are operating in a socially acceptable manner?

Planning of the economy is central to communist dogma. Is CPP/NDF content with the existing structure of economic planning in this country? If it is not content with the National Economic and Development Authority structure, what changes would it like to see in the way Neda operates and economic-planning decisions are made?

With regard to a domestic and foreign trade, how does CPP/NDF feel about

protection and tariffs? Does it think that Philippine industry and agriculture should enjoy more government protection than they do now? Does CPP/NDF think that the recently-passed Philippine Competition Act has sufficient power to ensure a level playing field among industries and business establishments?

Almost certainly, CPP/NDF wants to see the government extending more assistance to workers and small business establishments than it is extending now. What forms does CPP-NDF want such incremental assistance to take? What changes in the Labor Code of the Philippines and the NLRC structure does CPP/NDF want to see introduced, and is it satisfied with the collective bargaining system as it now stands?

For too long the “economic reform demands” of CPP/NDF has been a nebulous and imprecise phrase. It is time that we had more specificity and precision, the better for the Filipino people to be able to decide whether CPP/NDF is a pragmatic or an unrealistic group of individuals.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

Phone rates falling but power cost rising FILIPINO consumers will have both good and bad news in the coming year. Phone call charges are expected to drop in 2017, while electricity rates are certain to climb amid the increased usage of renewable sources of energy.

The National Telecommunications Commission recently issued Memorandum Circular No. 09-11-2016 on interconnection charge for voice service, advising Globe Telecom Inc. and PLDT Inc. to cap their interconnection charges at P2.50 per minute.

With the average cost of a mobile voice call per minute at P6.50, retail rates for voice calls are expected to be reduced by a minimum of P1 per minute, according to NTC calculations. Globe and PLDT, in response to the memorandum circular, signed a memorandum of understanding that would effectively carry out the reduced interconnection rates by January 1, 2017.

The move to lower the current charges is a welcome relief for budget-conscious Filipinos to whom every centavo counts. If the new rates translate into a 38 percent to 40 percent drop in interconnection charges, as what the NTC claimed, mobile users are expected to gain much relief from the government’s effort.

The NTC directive is expected to benefit a big segment of the population—a lot of mobile phone users in the country still do not use smartphones (48 percent of users still use ordinary cellphones), while others are still not connected to the internet.

The newly-established Department of Information and Communications Technology, through the NTC, must be credited for finally pinning down the telecom duopoly to the agreement.

The government finally heard the complaints of the consumers.

Opposite direction Electricity rates, meanwhile, are headed to a different direction.

State-controlled National Transmission Corp. has filed a petition with the Energy Regulatory Commission for a feed-in tariff allowance, or the per kilowatt-hour rate charged to consumers for the use of renewable energy, amounting to P0.2291 per kilowatthour starting in 2017.

The TranscoCo move has prompted Manila Electric Co. to consider filing an “intervention” pleading with the ERC. TransCo is currently collecting P0.1240 per kWh from consumers under the FIT-Allowance line item in the power bills.

The rate will be increased to P0.2291 per kWh, if ERC approves the petition of TransCo. The amount represents the payment to eligible renewable energy developers totaling P16.488 billion, including the so-called under-recoveries in 2016.

TransCo also asked ERC to make the approval of the rate permanent, “or in the alternative, such other amount as may be found by the Commission to be consistent with the FIT-All guidelines and on the basis of new and updated information not heretofore available to the applicant at the time of the present application.”

TrnasCo’s petition essentially seeks to “refund” renewable energy companies, which have put up power plants that feed on non-conventional fuels, such as hydro, wind, solar and bagasse TransCo based its petition on the most updated list of renewable energy projects that are projected to be eligible under the feed-in tariff system from 2014 to 2018, as provided by the Energy Department. The company also tapped its own database containing historical information and the available submission of the developers on actual or forecast generation. It said the department’s list provided the best estimate of the timing of the operation of the renewable energy plants.

TransCo limited the determination of the 2017 FIT-All rate to include eligible capacities up to the installation targets set by the department, namely 500 megawatts for solar, 400 MW for wind, 250 MW for hydro and 250 MW for biomass.

The company included projects that reached at least 80 percent electromechanical completion, which meant they were certain to operate within the period under consideration.

Cusi takes note The looming increase in power rates stemming from the FIT has already caught the attention of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

The new energy chief is no longer inclined to a third round of feed-in tariff to ease the burden of consumers from high electricity rates.

“As long as I don’t violate anything, I will put a stop to it,” says Cusi, adding he is not endorsing the third round of installation targets sought by the National Renewable Energy Board during the previous administration.

The previous NREB board asked for an additional installation target of 500 megawatts for wind and another 500 MW for solar.

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

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

B4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

Poorest countries unable to catch up GENEVA, Switzerland―The planet’s poorest countries are falling further behind the rest of the world and cannot catch up without more aid and favorable trade deals, a UN report said Tuesday.

In the 45 years since the United Nations created its list of Least Developed Countries (LDC), only four have graduated from the impoverished group: Botswana, Cape Verde, Maldives and Samoa.

Efforts to boost economic development in the remaining 48 LDCs have been “glacial,” the UN Conference on Trade and Development said in its annual report on the world’s poorest nations.

Nearly half of the global poor―currently defined as people living on less than $1.90 per day―live in the 48 most impoverished countries, a rate that has more than doubled since 1990, UNCTAD said.

UNCTAD warned that these four dozen nations were caught in “vicious circle” in which their sustained poverty was increasingly hampering their ability to lift themselves up on their own.

“Countries can only break out of such vicious circles with international support in finance, trade and technology”, the agency said in a statement.

The report projects that only three countries―Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu –are on track to rise out of the LDC category in the coming years, but even there the story is mixed.

Two of those three―Angola and Equatorial Guinea―have seen gross national income rise thanks to oil wealth, but the benefits of energy revenues have not been spread across the population.

Specifically in Equatorial Guinea, the profits of oil production have largely been shared among the ruling family, according to multiple human rights reports. AFP

Business

Business confidence back in Japan—poll T OKYO―Confidence among some of Japan’s biggest firms has rebounded for the first time in over a year, a key central bank survey showed Wednesday, as a sliding yen boosts profit hopes.

The Bank of Japan’s Tankan report―a quarterly survey of more than 10,000 companies that is the broadest indicator of how Japan Inc. is faring― showed a reading of 10 among major manufacturers, rising from six in its previous report.

A positive figure means companies are on average optimistic.

The October-December reading marked the first on-quarter improvement since last year’s April-June report.

Confidence among small- and mid-sized firms also strengthened in the latest reading, while companies also said they

planned to boost capital spending, although the pace was weak.

The report offered some good news for Japan’s sputtering economic recovery.

Last week, the government downgraded its estimate for third-quarter growth to 0.3 percent, from an initial 0.5 percent reading.

The BoJ’s report is likely to take some pressure off the central bank to launch more easing measures after its last meeting of the year next week.

Still, firms expect the next three months to be less rosy.

“This suggests companies

remained cautious, perhaps reflecting uncertainty around the outlook for policy and exchange rates under the new US administration, among other factors,” Barclays said in a research note.

“If the yen remains weak, however, there could still be some upside.”

Wednesday’s report for the final quarter of the year includes company polling following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

The dollar has soared since the surprise November election result, on hopes for a big government spending package and higher interest rates under the Trump administration.

The yen is now trading at multi-month lows against the greenback, which makes Japanese products cheaper abroad and inflates the value of repatriated profits.

“It seems that Japanese manufacturers are getting a big break from the recent yen depreciation,” said Takuji Okubo, chief economist at Japan Macro Advisors.

“But do they have a good reason to think it the yen’s slide will continue? I don’t think so. It all depends on how Trump executes his economic policy.”

Japan’s economy contracted in the last three months of 2015, before bouncing back this year, although the recovery has been wobbly.

Officials are under intense pressure to deliver a boost to growth as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s spend-for-growth policies appear to falter.

He launched his “Abenomics” growth blitz in early 2013―a mix of massive monetary easing, government spending and redtape slashing. AFP

German Vice Chancellor, Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (from left), German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and French Finance and Economy Minister Michel Sapin are pictured during a GermanFrench digital conference on December 13, 2016 in Berlin.

AFP

Canada gets green light on legalizing marijuana with retail sales

By Greg Quinn and Jen Skerritt CANADA got a green light to sell recreational marijuana through a range of retail outlets from an expert panel, whose report boosts the nascent cannabis industry as the country moves toward legalizing the drug.

The Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation issued a report that recommends the Canadian government regulate the production of marijuana while the provinces control distribution and retail sales, including through dedicated storefronts with well-trained staff and access with a direct to consumer mail-order system. The market should “encourage a diverse, competitive market that also includes small producers” and set tax rates that balance public health damages from drug use with the need to reduce criminal production of weed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government commissioned the report as it prepares to legalize and regulate recreational use of the drug, which would be a first among Group of Seven nations, with legislation promised by early next year. The plan has fueled a surge in Canada’s marijuana stocks in anticipation of billions of dollars of legitimate revenue.

“I think it’s a very sound proposal and I think it will get quite a bit of support,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Shea said in a telephone interview. “This gave good clarity. I didn’t see any big surprises and

I think it gives a good balance and a good responsible way to proceed.”

Shares rally Shares of Canadian marijuana stocks surged Tuesday. Canopy Growth Corp. rose 7.9 percent to close at C$10.79 in Toronto, the biggest gain in nearly three weeks. Aurora Cannabis Inc. rose as much as 8.3 percent and OrganiGram Holdings Inc. saw its share price surge 8.9 percent.

The report provides clarity to companies and struck a balance between protecting from potential abuse―such as mixing with alcohol and its use by minors― and allowing people to access the drug, Shea said.

Maintaining Canada’s cur-

rent mail-order medical cannabis delivery system and also giving access to recreational consumers will ensure equality across the country and have zero impact on communities, said Cam Battley, executive vice-president at Aurora Cannabis. The move would be a big step in chipping away at the country’s illegal market and is something that can be done very rapidly, he added.

“I think there’s a lot of good stuff in here and it’s broadly positive,” Battley said by phone.

The government is trying to make sure all sales go through a proper channel and pharmacies will probably be another potential retail outlet, Canopy Chief

Executive Officer Bruce Linton said in an interview on Bloomberg TV Canada.

Competitive market The panel recommended the government work toward building a competitive market with a “diversity of producers.” It also recommended that provinces and municipalities sort out how retailers would be able to sell marijuana.

There could be about 3.8 million legal recreational users of marijuana across Canada by 2021 and the potential for C$6 billion of sales, Canaccord Genuity analysts Matt Bottomley and Neil Maruoka said in a Nov. 28 note.

“We recognized that there will be much discussion around the

implications of our recommendations,” Anne McLellan, chair of the task force, said in the report. “However, like scraping ice from the car windows on a cold winter morning, we believe that we can now see enough to move forward.”

While the focus on public education and health is key, the task force probably went too far with marketing restrictions that will limit branding, said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Seattle-based Privateer Holdings Inc., which invests in cannabis companies including closely-held British Columbia producer Tilray.

“My fundamental belief is brands are crucial to eliminating the black market,” Kennedy said.

Here are some highlights from the report: Canada should restrict marijuana advertising, set rules on drug potency and create a public education campaign about the dangers of drug impairment.

Retail outlets shouldn’t mix marijuana and alcohol, and there should also be a direct-mail system of delivery.

Individuals should be allowed to grow up to four plants at home and possess 30 grams of dried cannabis. Less serious offenses should be taken out of criminal law, while tougher penalties should remain in place for trafficking and sales to youth.

Government should restrict marijuana advertising, set rules on drug potency and create a public education campaign about the dangers of drug impairment. Bloomberg

IBM hiring 25,000 people NEW YORK―US technology giant IBM said Tuesday it would hire 25,000 people in the country over the next four years, a day before Presidentelect Donald Trump meets with tech industry leaders.

About 6,000 of those hirings will occur in 2017, IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty said in an opinion article published in the newspaper USA Today.

IBM, which has undertaken in recent years a restructuring of its activities, will invest $1 billion on employee training and development in the next four years, said the IBM president, chairman and CEO. “We are hiring because the nature of work is evolving―and that is also why so many of these jobs remain hard to fill,” Rometty said, noting that many industries were being reshaped by data science and cloud computing.

“Jobs are being created that demand new skills―which in turn requires new approaches to education, training and recruiting,” she said.

“This is not about white collar vs. blue collar jobs, but about the ‘new collar’ jobs that employers in many industries demand, but which remain largely unfilled.”

Rometty is a member of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a group of US business leaders focused on boosting economic growth and jobs.

The IBM jobs investment news came before the highly anticipated meeting Wednesday of the Republican property tycoon-turned-next US president and the leaders of several major technology companies.

Among those expected to attend are Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Larry Page of Alphabet (Google) and Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, according to US media.

Trump is expected to push them to create jobs after saying last week that he would like Apple―whose coveted iPhones are made in China― to open a large factory in the United States. AFP

Asian postal services adapt SINGAPORE―With the pre-Christmas rush at its peak, a serpentine network of conveyor belts at Singapore Post’s new logistics center moves parcels destined for addresses across the world in time for the festive season.

It is a scene repeated in sorting offices around the globe in December, the busiest time of the year for postal firms with armies of workers toiling to get presents delivered on time.

But times are changing and the explosion of online shopping is forcing traditional delivery companies such as SingPost to adapt or be damned.

The growth of websites such as Amazon and Alibaba means customers can avoid crowded high streets and buy anything from mobile phones to sports equipment online and send them straight to loved ones.

US-based research firm eMarketer said online sales are expected to reach $1.9 trillion this year and top $4.0 trillion by 2020.

And traditional firms are making moves to keep up.

The nearly 200-year-old SingPost, which is partly owned by China’s Alibaba, last month inaugurated its ecommerce sorting office capable of handling up to 100,000 parcels a day.

It also now provides a service setting up retail websites for clients and allows for online payments while it has teamed up with brands including Adidas, Timberland and Xiaomi to help expand their online retail sales in the region. AFP

IMPORTED ‘BELEN’. Residents

of Kidapawan City stop to admire a nativity scene, imported from Italy by a local hotel and displayed at its façade, as Christmas festivities spread in Cotabato’s provincial capital.

The ‘belen’ is reportedly worth P300,000. Geonarri Solmerano

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Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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Taiwan donates P13m to Cagayan for ‘Lawin’

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

T

HE Taiwanese government has donated P13.03 million to the province of Cagayan after Super Typhoon “Lawin” (international name “Haima”) destroyed livelihoods and infrastructure there.

In a turnover ceremony on Tuesday, Taiwan Representative Dr. Gary Song-Huann Lin handed over P5 million and 2,300 bags of rice to the Cagayan provincial government, P500,000 and 700 bags of rice to typhoon victims in the town of Aparri, and an additional 300 bags of rice to the town of Buguey.

Typhoon “Lawin”, which hit Cagayan in October, left four dead, displaced 36,000 people in 25 towns and 148 villages, and destroying billions of pesos of agricultural crops.

“Taiwan is a close neighbor and a genuine friend of the Philippines. When I made the donation of P1 million to Batanes on November 23, I was gratified to see that the relief fund from Taiwan could help the typhoon-affected families through the hardship, especially before the end of this year,” Lin said in a statement.

The assistance came from Taiwan’s Tzu Chi Foundation, as part of the country’s disaster relief efforts to the Philippines, Lin said.

“I feel sorry and heavy when

learning that Typhoon “Haima” struck Cagayan, causing severe damages and losses. My heart goes out to you, and I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the affected families,” the representative said.

He also assured Filipinos that Taiwan will always extend help to the Philippines in times of calamity.

“Taiwan will always extend a helping hand by making humanitarian donations as part of disaster relief efforts, without blinking an eye,” Lin said, adding that the gesture demonstrates the genuine friendship and solidarity of Taiwan and the Philippines.

The donation turned over to Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba will be distributed to 1,000 victims, including fishery representatives, and tribe chiefs, he said.

Lin expressed hope that the affected families can get back on their

feet and regain their strength, and that the damaged infrastructure and houses will be rebuilt quickly.

“Through Taiwan’s recent timely donations, the people of Cagayan will realize that they are not alone, as they will receive the loving care and good-will from Taiwanese.

This has been the exemplification of the sharing of longstanding friendship between Taiwan and the Philippines,” Lin said.

Lin also requested the Cagayan government to look after the welfare of its Taiwanese fishing vessels, which sometimes arrive in Cagayan for supplies from March to June yearly during the fishing season.

The Taiwanese envoy said the active efforts of Taiwan is due to its pursuit of the country’s “New Southbound Policy,” which attaches “great importance” to the Philippines.

P14m set for flood victims THE Government Service Insurance System has earmarked around P14 million in emergency loans for some 300 active members and old-age pensioners in Datu Piang, Maguindanao who were affected by flash floods that hit the municipality in November.

The deadline for loan application is December 27, the government firm said.

Emergency loan is payable in 36 equal monthly instalments at six percent interest rate per annum computed in advance. It is covered by a loan redemption insurance, which deems the loan fully paid in case of demise of the borrower, provided loan repayment is up to date.

Active members working or residing in the area are qualified to apply for the loan if they are not on leave of absence without pay, have no arrears in paying premium contributions, and have no unpaid loans for more than six months.

They may apply for a P20,000 loan. If with existing emergency loan, they may avail of up to P40,000, from which their outstanding balance will be deducted.

Old-age pensioners in the area must apply in person to avail of the P20,000 emergency loan.

TV5-QC TIEUP. Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista (right) signs a memorandum of agreement with the management of TV5 Network Inc., led by its president and CEO Vincent ‘Chot’ Reyes (center) and chief financial officer Anna Isabel Bengzon (left), to allow the multimedia network to hold its annual New Year Countdown at the Quezon Memorial Circle. QC Parks Development and Administration Department chief Zaldy dela Rosa also witnesses the signing.

Celebrating Clark International Airport’s safety certification in front of Clark’s radar tower are (from left) CAAP deputy directors general Capt.

Manuel Antonio Tamayo and Capt. Jim Sydiongco, Clark International Airport president CEO Alex Cauguiran, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation Atty. Roberto Lim, and Philippine Airlines president Jaime Bautista (second from right). Eric B. Apolonio

Clark airport gets CAAP safety nod Eric B. Apolonio THE Clark International Airport is now one of the safest airports in the country, as cited by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines for its compliance with Civil Aviation Regulations governing aerodromes and manual standards.

This was made during the celebration Monday of the Civil Aviation Day at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in Parañaque City.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and CAAP director general Jim Sydiongco led the awarding ceremonies, and Clark International Airport Corp. president Alexander Cauguiran received the citation.

Cauguiran said the aerodrome certification is vital to the operations of Clark, indicating it has passed the international standards set by the International Civil Authority Organization and the CAAP. The certification covers safety management system,

aerodrome reporting, access to the movement area, aerodrome emergency plan, rescue and firefighting service, aerodrome inspection, visual aids that include electrical systems, and aerodrome lighting.

The procedure also includes movement area maintenance, aerodrome works safety, aircraft parking control, ramp safety management, airside vehicle control, wildlife hazard management, airside vehicle control, obstacle control, disabled aircraft removal, handling of hazardous materials, low visibility operations and protection of radar and navigation aids.

The Clark airport has also been included in the CAAP’s Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Air Traffic Management system.

This system will improve the handling and transfer of information, extend surveillance, and improve navigational accuracy, leading to increased airspace capacity, among other improvements.

Bugkalot, Ilongot IPs want Casecnan row resolved

By Ferdie G. Domingo BALER, Aurora—Indigenous peoples of the Bugkalot and Ilongot tribes living at the boundaries of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and this province have asked President Rodrigo Duterte to resolve their decades-old problem concerning alleged environmental violations committed by the American operator of the giant

Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project.

In a letter to the President, Bugkalot/Ilongot Confederation director Rocky Valderama Jr. sought Duterte’s intervention on the supposed violations and injustices committed by the California Energy Casecnan Water and Energy Company Inc. Officials of the company could not be reached for comment as of

presstime.

Valderama accused the firm of depriving them of their share in the revenue of the Casecnan power plant, and violating their rights to their ancestral domain while raking in billions of pesos through their operations.

The revenue share was one of the 20 demands raised by the IPs before the project could start construction in 1995.

Then-President Fidel Ramos authorized the CMIPP to build the facility, provided these demands were met and a task force created to monitor their implementation, Valderama added.

“President Duterte, you are the only hope of the Bugkalots and Ilongots. Help us resolve this matter,” Valderama wrote.

One of CECWECI’s glaring environmental violations, he

said, was the drying up of the Casecnan River after its huge volume of water was diverted, leaving only a trickle to proceed downstream.

Valderama said the firm violated its agreement with the National Irrigation Administration before the dam was constructed that it would only utilize 1.6 percent of the 49 billion cubic meters of water in the river.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

‘Bicol intl airport done in 3 years’ D ARAGA, Albay—President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to finish building the P4.7-billion Bicol International Airport in three years with a fresh budget and a decisive push following years of delays.

President Rodrigo Duterte loads the time capsule before it’s buried during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Bicol International Airport in Legazpi City, Albay on Tuesday last week. Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade (left) and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda (right) assist the President.

Duterte led the airport’s groundbreaking rites last Thursday in Barangay Alobo here—his first visit to Albay since becoming President—to assure local government officials, business leaders and residents the BIA will be completed on time.

The project is key to the long-awaited economic growth of the province and the entire Bicol Region, said Albay second district Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, the original proponent of the airport.

Duterte’s speedy action “has infused new life to the project never felt since its inception over a decade ago,” Salceda said.

Thanking Duterte for his “decisive action” on the BIA, the lawmaker now feels confident the international airport will sustain the gains of Albay tourism, attained during his term as governor, which posted an impressive record of 339,000 foreign tourist arrivals in 2015 from a measly 8,700 in 2007.

He praised the President as a “good man who genuinely cares for his people—his heart is in the right place, his guts and gut feel honed by years as local chief executive, which make him fit for the challenges of nation building.”

Together with the new Southline component of the North-South Railways Project, which the Duterte cabinet also approved recently, Salceda said he is convinced “foreign tourist arrivals can triple to 1.2 million by 2025, and thus make Albay an economic powerhouse.”

During the recent assembly of Bicol political leaders of the Federalismo Alyansa Bicol, the President referred to Salceda as his “longtime friend and one of the brilliant economic minds of the country, who should be working instead in Malacañang.”

Salceda conceptualized and pushed for the BIA project since 2005 under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when he represented Albay’s third district. He worked on it for nine years since 2007 as governor and as chairman of the Bicol Regional De-

velopment Council.

Duterte, Salceda said, did in four months what the previous administration failed to do in three years: award Phase 2A, the land-side component of the project worth P780 million, and bid out the passenger terminal building worth P1.8 billion.

The BIA’s Phase 2A includes 17 buildings and land-side facilities. Phase 2B covers the completion of its runway, apron, “two-stub taxiway,” and Passenger Terminal Building which were recently bidded out.

Salceda said Transportation Secretary Art Tugade promised him the BIA will have passenger boarding bridges or tubes, two of which will initially be installed, each costing P105 million.

Its design can accommodate additional tubes in the future.

The snail-paced implementation of the BIA project by the past Department of Transportation and Communications has so frustrated Salceda and compelled him to take “political action” during the May 2016 elections—to run as an independent candidate.

Arroyo had approved the BIA in April 2005, and was included in the government’s Medium Term Development Plan. Its initial appropriation was made in 2006, when Salceda was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. The project was affirmed by the succeeding administration, but work on it slackened due to slow releases of funds, he said.

Salceda worked with President Duterte’s economic managers from the start of the administration. As vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, he pushed the administration’s 2017 budget for economic development.

Tugade has also assured Salceda his department will start working on the P271-billion North-South Railways Project’s Southline stretch from Manila to Legazpi. He committed in a recent Cabinet meeting that the Southline will be finished in four years.

Davao city council OKs P6.9-b budget for 2017 DAVAO CITY—The 18th City Council here on Tuesday approved on the third and final reading the city’s P6.9-billion budget for the year 2017 during its regular session, just P6 million more than this year.

About P5.2 billion or 76.4 percent of the budget is allocated to

the city’s general fund, while 21 percent or P1.5 billion is for its development fund.

The city’s economic enterprise got the remaining 1.8 percent or P127.7 million of the budget.

The City Mayor’s Office got the biggest chunk of the budget as it also oversees the

City Traffic and Transportation Management Office and the Public Safety and Security Command Center.

Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, chairman of the Committee on Finance, Ways and Means of the Sangguniang Panglungsod, said the slight increase in

the 2017 budget is due to the low collection of local taxes. The council will revisit the provisions of the city’s local taxes and plan to increase it in the years to come, Dayanghirang added.

Meanwhile, the office of the city accountant and the city budget office is positive that lo-

cal revenue collection will be better this year, as they are expecting P46.5 million with the collection period about to end.

Dayanghirang previously said the annual budget may double if the projected increase in the local taxes is pursued in 2017. F. Pearl A. Gajunera

Drug pusher ‘backslides,’ gets nabbed

By Ferdie G. Domingo BALER, Aurora—In July, he submitted himself to the government’s “Oplan Tokhang” and signed a waiver that he would reform. In the “Bahay Pagbabago,” a reformation center for drug pushers and addicts, he was even making heads turn by excelling in his class.

But Elmer Gutierrez of Barangay Real in San Luis town was caught backsliding—going back to his old trade as a drug pusher— and was arrested, said San Luis police chief Senior Inspector Ysrael Namoro.

Gutierrez was collared in a drug sting conducted by police and provincial intelligence operatives last Saturday, the day he was supposed to receive an award for being the second-most brilliant in the class of reformists at the center.

He yielded the shabu he sold to a policeman who posed as a buyer, using P1,000 in marked money.

“He is just like an actor who misled us,” Namoro said.

Gutierrez was a big let-down considering lawmen had high expectations he had been weaned away from illegal drugs, the police chief added.

The pusher had signed a waiver to stop his involvement in illegal drugs after he was tagged as No. 3 among the targeted drug personalities in San Luis on the police watch list, Namoro said.

He admitted surrenderers who are on the PNP’s watchlist could be putting up a front and signing waivers to make it appear they have changed, but as it appears “old habits die hard.”

“When we got wind of reports Gutierrez was back selling shabu, we put him under surveillance and set up the entrapment,” he said.

SOUTHERN EXPANSION. Ayala Land Inc. recently opened its new shopping mall, the South Park-Ayala Malls, which will also

house an outsourcing company and point-to-point bus terminal in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Attending the launch program were (from left) Transportation Assistant Secretary Mark de Leon, Ayala Land Inc. Board Director Tony Aquino, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, Ayala Land Inc.’s Bobby Dy, City Administrator Allan Cachuela, and Business Permits and Licensing Office head Gary Llamas.

Ilocos Norte unwraps 5 playgrounds IN LINE with Gov. Imee R. Marcos’ vision to transform Ilocos Norte into a province that is “livable, sustainable, and resilient,” the provincial government on Wednesday launched the first of five public playgrounds-cum-fitness parks at the capitol grounds.

A Children’s Party highlighted the park opening, just before the “Paskua Mi Ditoy” (Pasko Namin Dito) Capitol Light-up, which marks the yearly provincial Christmas celebration and tourism campaign.

Fitness parks are also scheduled to open in Dingras, Badoc, Batac City, and Bacarra before the end of the year for the local government to gauge the project’s success before building playgrounds in all towns of Ilocos Norte.

Marcos revealed her latest vision for

Ilocos Norte to become “livable, sustainable, and resilient” in her State of the Province Address last October 28, with the first goal including the creation of new public spaces to strengthen community relations.

Marcos said: “The first space is our home, the second space is our workplace, and the third space is the public domain… anywhere we congregate and form social capital, volunteer associations, binding friendships.

“Bokal [Provincial Board Member] Matthew [Marcos Manotoc] said we should exercise in our ‘3G’ playgrounds: three generations together, where the nannies can exercise while their kids are at play,” the governor added.

The 3G-park concept refers to a communal space where children and adults

can come together and engage in active play or exercise in an environment that is both secure and ripe for recreation, which are other factors in Ilocos Norte’s “livable province” campaign.

Manotoc, the Senior Sangguniang Panlalawigan member, advocates healthy and active lifestyles for Ilocanos, recently sponsoring Provincial Ordinance No. 005-2016, which will offer athletic scholarships to deserving Ilocos Norte youth.

Manotoc also plans the first province-wide youth sports program next summer to promote overall wellness, “encourage Ilocano youth to start playing sports and become active.”

Marcos had urged, “Timpuyog idiay kalsada, timpuyog pay ti plaza ken dapayan! [Unity on the streets, unity in the plaza and public spaces!].”

IN BRIEF Cop ‘ousted’ from office CAMP RAVINA, Aurora— The fledgling provincial director of this province has been “ousted” barely three weeks into his post—because of recent torrential rains that caused the roof of his office to leak with foulsmelling water.

Senior Supt. Randolf Balonglong, who assumed his post November 18, was forced to hold office in his private quarters adjacent to the two-story police main building, which was recently repainted and renovated.

Balonglong, who replaced Supt. Fidel Dapreza after the latter served three months, said he moved out as his office no longer was his comfort zone because of the leaking roof. Heavy rains triggered flash floods of up to three feet in the capital town of Baler late last month.Ferdie Domingo

3 killed in Sta. Rosa STA. ROSA CITY, Laguna— Three notorious drug users were killed in a driveby shooting at Barangay Aplaya here early Tuesday morning.

Sta. Rosa City Chief of Police Supt. Giovanni Martinez said the victims were Alvin Laudit, Fernando Ralasa and Edward Sabularse.

Martinez said the victims were standing in front of a store when four motorcycleriding suspects arrived and shot them without warning.

They sustained several gunshot wounds and died on the spot.

Aside from being on the drug watchlist as users, Martinez said the victims had been involved in a series of robberies in the area.

Roy Tomandao

World IN BRIEF India ordered to tackle child drug abuse NEW DELHI―India’s top court on Wednesday ordered the government to come up with a plan to tackle child drug abuse, acting on a petition from Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s child rights group.

With government figures showing almost one in five addicts in India is under 21, the Supreme Court said more needed to be done to educate young people about the dangers of substance abuse in India.

The court ordered New Delhi to “evolve a national action plan within six months to combat drug abuse amongst school children”.

It said the government should conduct a national survey to determine how widespread the problem was, and include education about drugs in the school curriculum. AFP

Envoy slams Trump’s bullying tone PARIS―France’s top diplomat on Wednesday slammed the bullish tone taken by President-elect Donald Trump with key trade ally Beijing in threatening to upend Washington’s One China policy.

“Watch out for China... It’s a big country. You can have disagreements with China but you don’t talk like that to a partner,” remarked French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on France 2 television.

He was responding to apparently off-the-cuff remarks

by Trump in an interview with Fox News Sunday in which he questioned whether Washington should continue its “One China Manila policy” unless Beijing makes Standard TODAY concessions on trade and other issues.

US diplomatic tradition has long held to this policy, which does not recognize self-administered Taiwan as a sovereign state but sees Beijing as the sole representative. AFP

Norwegians ordered to leave Sudan NAIROBI―South Sudan has over the past week ordered two senior employees of the Norwegian Refugee Council to leave the country, without explanation, the aid organization said Wednesday.

The expulsions follow the deportation of an American journalist from the war-torn country and come as alarm rises over spreading violence, with UN human rights experts warning “ethnic cleansing” was underway.

The NRC’s country director was asked to leave last Friday after being held by security services for more than a day, and its area manager for the northern Warrap state was told to leave on Tuesday.

“NRC has not received any formal explanation of the charges against these two individuals,” the organization said in a statement.

“The order for a second senior staff member to leave is unacceptable,” said Jan Egeland, NRC’s Secretary General. AFP

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

Syria rebels to leave Aleppo A LEPPO―Civilians and rebel fighters were to start evacuating from Syria’s Aleppo Wednesday under a deal that would end years of opposition resistance in the city.

The evacuations which were expected to begin at 0300 GMT, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, had yet to commence more than half an hour after the time had passed, an AFP correspondent in the city said.

About 20 green government buses were gathered at the edges of the divided Salaheddin district. Some entered briefly Tuesday night but returned empty and parked on the outskirts again, the journalist said.

Rebel officials, Russia and Turkey confirmed the agreement which, if implemented, would mark a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad over opposition forces who rose up against him in 2011.

The agreement came amid mounting global outrage over reports of atrocities, including dozens of summary executions, as forces loyal to Assad closed in on the last pocket of rebel territory in Aleppo.

Officials from several rebel groups told AFP there was a deal to allow civilians and fighters to leave Aleppo for opposition-held territory to the west of the city.

“An agreement has been reached,” said Yasser al-Youssef from the political office of the key Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group, adding it had been “sponsored” by Russia and Turkey.

“The first stage will be the evacuation of civilians and wounded, within hours, and afterwards fighters will leave with their light weapons.”

Washington said it had not been consulted but would welcome any arrangement that brought safety to the people of Aleppo.

“It matters a lot less to us who or how a ceasefire is arranged or reached, and much more that one is arranged and reached,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

“Even if it is the end of the siege in Aleppo, it is not the end of the war in Syria.”

As the UN Security Council met in an emergency session to discuss Aleppo, Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin confirmed there was an agreement for the rebels to leave the city.

US ambassador Samantha Power said Washington wanted international observers to oversee the evacuation, raising concern for “people who wish to leave but who, justifiably, fear that if they try they will be shot in the street or carted off to one of Assad’s gulags.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry said under the agreement civilians would first evacuate, followed by a withdrawal of rebel groups.

Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek also said on Twitter that Turkey would “set up a tent city to accommodate up to 80,000 Syrian refugees fleeing Aleppo”.

An AFP correspondent in west Aleppo said there had been no sounds of fighting or bombardment since around 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) Tuesday and the Observatory also said it was quiet.

The United Nations and aid agencies had been pleading for an agreement to allow for the evacuation of thousands of civilians trapped in rebel territory.

After weeks of heavy fighting, forces loyal to Assad were on the verge of taking all of the city, dealing the biggest blow to Syria’s rebellion in more than five years of civil war.

The United Nations said it had received credible reports of at least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, being executed by pro-government forces in Aleppo in recent days. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

GUESS EVENT. Model Britt Koth attends GUESS Glitz and Glam Holiday event at The Carondelet House in Los Angeles. AFP

Vietnam jails four people smugglers HANOI―A Vietnam court has convicted four men of people-smuggling after they tried to sail to Australia with a boatload of migrants but were turned back under Canberra’s hard-line immigration policy.

Australia does not accept so-called boat people from any nation and the country has come under fire for holding migrants in isolated outposts in Papua New Guinea and the island of Nauru.

The four Vietnamese sentenced in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province on Tuesday were deported from Australia in June after their boat carrying 21 people was spotted in Australian waters.

Two were given three and three and a half years in prison, while another pair were handed 18-month suspended sentences, a court clerk told AFP on Wednes-

day.

The Vietnamese migrants, who were reportedly seeking higher paying jobs abroad, were also deported but did not face charges.

The ringleader of the group, 27-year-old Nguyen Giao Thong, had previously fled to Australia in 2013 before he was arrested and returned to Vietnam, according to state-run Thanh Nien newspaper.

Seeking to return, Thong organized the trip with three others and set sail on May 18, reaching Australian waters 20 days later.

The four men were sentenced just days after Canberra and Hanoi signed an agreement on the return of Vietnamese nationals deemed to be in Australia illegally.

Rights groups have slammed Australia

for blocking asylum-seekers arriving by boat from settling in the country, including those found to be genuine refugees.

Canberra says the tough stance is crucial to deter people-smugglers and prevent deaths at sea. Many of those held in detention centers are from war-torn Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.

Since 2015, Australia has returned 113 Vietnamese national from three vessels intercepted at sea.

There are more than 230,000 Vietnamese people living in Australia, according to official figures, many of whom fled after the Vietnam War. Millions escaped after the northern communist regime unified the country, with many going to the United States, Canada, France and Australia. AFP

China warns Taiwan over independence

Fake cops walk away with $5m worth of gold TOKYO―Thieves posing as police officers walked off with more than $5 million of gold after telling a group of men simply to hand it over, Japanese media reported Wednesday.

The fake cops stopped the group and demanded briefcases that contained the yellow metal, telling them: “We know it’s smuggled,” the Asahi Shimbun reported.

Apparently taken in by the disguise, the victims gave the pretend police what they asked for and watched as they drove off.

The heist, in Fukuoka, happened as the men were on their way to sell the more than 100 kilograms of gold, said reports, which valued the haul at 600 million yen ($5.2 million).

The men who were robbed later told the real police they had bought the metal the day before.

An official police spokesman in Fukuoka refused to confirm the reports, which said the theft took place in July, and most likely involved organized crime gangs. AFP

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MEETING. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on December 14, 2016. AFP

BEIJING―China warned Taiwan that declaring independence would be a “dead end”, state media said Wednesday, after the island’s democratically elected president phoned Donald Trump in a precedent-breaking move.

Beijing’s stance of opposing and blocking “Taiwan independence splittism” is “firm and unmovable”, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman An Fengshan said at a briefing Wednesday, according to stateowned China News.

“We have unshakable willpower, ample confidence, and sufficient capability,” he said. “Facts will show those people that ‘Taiwan independence’ is a dead end.”

The comments came after Trump, the US presidentelect, shocked the diplomatic establishment and angered Beijing by speaking directly with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ingwen after his election victory.

After fierce criticism of the move, he upped the ante, taking to Twitter to ask why he should not be allowed to speak to

Tsai, then attacking Chinese foreign and economic policy.

On Sunday, the billionaire businessman went a step further and suggested he could jettison Washington’s decades-old “One China policy” -- a compromise allowing the US to do business with both China and Taiwan while only recognizing Beijing diplomatically. AFP

BUSINESS CLOSURE NOTICE We regret to inform you that

BUCKINGHAM ENGLISH LEARNING INSTITUTE INC. located at 5F MVL Bldg., Paninsingin, Tambo, Lipa City has ceased its operation since October 2016 due to losses.

For any inquiries, kindly contact +639771413461.

(MS-DEC. 8,15 & 22, 2016)

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

Pixar’s latest story ‘a love letter to Mexico’

World

Boko Haram’s victims are failing to go home N GALA, Nigeria―Seen from above in a helicopter, the straight white walls of Ngala camp in northeast Nigeria carve a misshapen star out of the dry brown scrub.

There are 55,000 people living in tents and straw huts inside the geometric garrison, protected from Boko Haram jihadists by the military.

Though the city of Ngala is less than a kilometer away, these people can’t go back to a normal life.

“Boko Haram is still here, the only thing we can do is wait for food,” said Aishi, a 50-year-old woman with deep lines in her tired face.

Over the past year, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has made repeated announcements that Boko Haram is close to being defeated and that thousands of people are returning home.

“They are done for,” said Buhari early this month. “The secu-

rity situation in Nigeria had improved significantly.”

But many reclaimed towns, like Ngala, are charred, looted ruins still vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks.

So the people live in the guarded camps, cut off from any means of supporting themselves and dependent on external aid, while international humanitarian organizations warn of an impeding famine.

“Here we can’t do anything, we can’t leave the camp because Boko Haram will attack us,” said Abdullahi Asuha, a traditional chief.

“Boko Haram has plundered our crops, our herds and burned our land.”

Authorities estimate that 3,000 people have come to the Ngala

camp in the past month, seeking shelter and food in a devastated region.

Today virtually all of Nigeria’s northeast is under military control.

Signs of the seven-year Boko Haram war that has killed over 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.6 million are everywhere.

Lampposts with broken solar panels lie on the ground, while enormous craters left by exploded mines have shattered the roads.

Most highways are blocked, civil authorities haven’t returned, and the majority of the displaced people are in camps scattered across northeast Borno state.

But Nigeria’s military insists that things are back to normal.

“The region is stable compared to what it has been, we have restored normalcy,” said LieutenantColonel Patrick Omote, who commands Battalion 3 in Ngala.

Omote said his men had “carried out many clearing operations” and destroyed Boko Haram training

camps.

The jihadists may be weakened, but instability and sporadic fighting still break out.

A month ago, a strategic axis between the capital of Borno state, Maiduguri, and the town of Ngala, near the Cameroon border, was opened up allowing trade between the two countries.

But only convoys escorted by heavily armed soldiers were allowed on the road, and Boko Haram still launched frequent ambushes.

Abulkarim Gambo knows that Boko Haram is still a threat.

The newcomer to Ngala camp recently walked from Garal, a town around 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, with his wife and 14 children.

He was living in the area under Boko Haram control for three years.

“They collected our corn and millet, they watched our prayers and movements, everything was under their control,” Gambo said. AFP

SAN FRANCISCO―It is known for movies about monsters, insects and children’s toys but Pixar’s latest, very human story is “a love letter to Mexico” at a time of simmering racial tension.

Taking the country’s Day of the Dead festival as its theme, “Coco” will hit US theaters some 12 months after Donald Trump’s November 8 election victory on an anti-immigration ticket that inflamed Hispanic communities across America.

It has been hailed as a welcome corrective to a divisive presidential campaign in which Trump called many Mexican immigrants rapists and vowed to build a wall between the United States and its southern neighbor.

“We’re creating it for the world and it’s going to hopefully have a great positive influence around the world,” said “Coco” director Lee Unkrich, who has been at Pixar since 1995’s “Toy Story,” directing its two sequels.

“But for Mexico particularly, we’re trying to create on some level a love letter to Mexico and I hope people embrace it that way.”

Pixar showcased early artwork for the movie as it opened the doors to its secluded headquarters in the Bay Area of San Francisco to the news media, with its 21st year as a feature film studio drawing to a close.

Starring newcomer Anthony Gonzalez, Gael Garcia Bernal (Amazon’s “Mozart in the Jungle”) and Benjamin Bratt (“Doctor Strange”), “Coco” tells the story of a 12-year-old Mexican musician who journeys to the Land of the Dead in search of his ancestors.

Pixar’s 19th feature-length movie follows 21 years of un-

paralleled success marked by $11 billion in box office receipts and 13 Oscars since “Toy Story” blazed a trail as the world’s first computer-generated feature film.

The company began life in 1979 as the Graphics Group, the computer division for Lucasfilm, charged by George Lucas with developing a digital film and sound editing system and advancing computer graphics.

John Lasseter, the legendary founding director of the division’s feature output, came on board in 1983, and three years later it was bought by Apple guru Steve Jobs and given its nowfamous name.

After winning plaudits for a series of pioneering shorts, the studio turned its attention to full-length movies, joining with Disney to produce “Toy Story,” which went on to become the highest-grossing film of 1995, making $374 million worldwide.

“Of course we were completely buoyed by how well it did, critically and commercially, I knew at that point I wanted to continue to be a part of what we were doing at Pixar and luckily they wanted me to continue helping them,” Unkrich told AFP. Jobs relocated the company in 2000 to a 22-acre campus in Emeryville, near San Francisco, where every detail was carefully designed to encourage creativity among its 600-strong workforce, which has since doubled.

Employees can swim in an outdoor heated salt water pool, play soccer or beach volleyball, enjoy picnics in an amphitheater or gather in the main building, designed with the same modernist architectural vision as the Apple Store. AFP

Leftists leaders struggling post-Castro HAVANA―It’s been a bad year for the Latin American left, which lost its spiritual leader Fidel Castro, saw its “pink tide” ebb to new lows and now faces the menace of Donald Trump.

The band of union leaders, ex-guerrillas and other left-wing rabble-rousers that dominated Latin American politics for more than a decade has fallen from favor as the region’s economic boom of yesteryear has gone bust.

Of the 15 countries swept up in the socalled pink tide that began in the late 1990s, just eight have leftist leaders today -- and several of those are wobbling.

Charismatic figures such as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have given way to a new generation whose members fought to cling to power in 2016 (Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela) or lost it (impeached president Dilma Rousseff in Brazil).

In just over a year, center-right leaders have surged to power in Argentina, Peru and Brazil. Venezuela’s right-leaning opposition won a landslide in legislative elections, while Bolivia’s Evo Morales lost a referendum to allow himself a fourth term.

More leftist leaders are due to bow out in 2017.

A decade after taking power, the radical economist Rafael Correa is set to step down in an increasingly discontented Ecuador.

Change is also in the air in Chile, which will elect a successor to the unpopular President Michele Bachelet after a term marred by corruption scandals.

“In some countries, like Bolivia and Ecuador, the leftist leaders will have to leave and learn to organize themselves as opposition parties,” said Columbia University’s Christopher Sabatini in New York.

“The pink tide has receded,” said Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based research institute.

He listed two key reasons: a plunge in prices for the natural resources whose sales funded leftist governments’ social spending, and a “natural desire for change.”

There was a sense of a page turning last month with the death of Castro, the symbol of the Latin left’s fight for social justice and defiance of US hegemony in the Americas.

He inspired the left wing’s next generation when they were young radicals plotting to imitate the Cuban Revolution and topple right-wing dictatorships during the Cold War. But Cuba’s influence has dwindled.

Economic chaos in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba’s top ally and benefactor, has taken a toll on the communist island’s own economy.

Seeking to end its status as a pariah of the global economy, Cuba sealed a historic rapprochement with the United States -- thanks in part to its symbolic weight in Latin America.

But President Raul Castro, Fidel’s little brother, now faces two big challenges: reinventing an outdated economic model and handing power to the next generation when he retires in less than 15 months.

After years of playing an outsize role on the world stage, the small country seems to have lost some of its red-hued aura. AFP

PROTEST. Greenpeace activists block the entrance of EDF headquarters to protest against nuclear energy safety on December 14, 2016, in Paris. AFP

Mexican Senate approves medical marijuana bill MEXICO CITY―Mexico’s Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing medical marijuana on Tuesday after a national debate on narcotics policy in a country mired in brutal drug violence.

In a major policy shift, President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed legalizing medical marijuana in April after his government organized forums to discuss changes to the laws.

Senators voted 98-7 for the legislation, moving Mexico closer to joining several US states and other nations in Latin America in allowing cannabis for medical uses.

The bill -- which now moves to the lower chamber of deputies -- falls short of demands among some lawmakers and civil groups who argue that a wider legalization of marijuana use can help the country reduce drug-related violence.

But proponents said it is a major step

that will address Mexicans’ need of an alternative medical treatment.

The bill authorizes the health ministry to design regulations for the use, import and production of pharmaceutical products made from cannabis or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the plant’s main psychoactive ingredient. Products with one percent concentration of THC would be allowed.

The cultivation of marijuana for medical and scientific purposes will not be punishable.

Senator Cristina Diaz, of Pena Nieto’s centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, said the legislation was a historic move that will “lay the foundation to establish in our country an industry for the national production of medicine with cannabis.”

Senator Angelica de la Pena Gomez, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Par-

ty or PRD, said there was consensus to “do something different in drug policy” because prohibition “has generated high levels of violence, more than 100,000 deaths and the systematic violation of human rights.”

But Senator Miguel Barbosa, of the PRD, lamented that the legislation was “well below the expectations of society” regarding reforms of marijuana laws.

Senator Armando Rios Piter voted against what he called a “tiny” step to resolve a “failed policy in the battle against organized crime” and called for a discussion on regulating opium poppy production, a source of violence in Guerrero state.

A family in northern Mexico became a symbol of the push to legalize medical marijuana last year when the parents of a young epileptic girl won a court battle to import a cannabis-based treatment to

stop her daily seizures.

The girl’s father, Raul Elizalde, told AFP that the legislation represented “great progress” but that it should make it easier for patients to acquire THC by letting them buy it without a prescription.

In a separate major case in November 2015, the Supreme Court authorized four individuals to grow and smoke pot for recreational purposes.

Pena Nieto is opposed to a broader legalization of marijuana but he has proposed increasing the amount of the drug that can legally be possessed for personal consumption from 28 grams (one ounce) from five grams.

The Senate will draft separate legislation on raising the possession limit.

For Elizalde, a broader legalization of marijuana is “still a long way off” in Mexico. AFP

Life

MTRCB Board Member Bibeth Orteza

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

HEALTH & HOME

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4th Family and Child Summit

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HE Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) successfully held the much anticipated 4th MTRCB Family and Child Summit (FCS 4) on Dec.3 at the Siena Hall, Siena College of Quezon City. FCS 4 intended to provide the audience with a holistic experience of Indigenous Culture and to make the participants become more aware of the resounding call for sensitivity towards the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and Indigenous Cultural Community (ICCs) in society and media. Most importantly, participants were also made aware that each individual has the inherent responsibility and power in promoting and supporting this cause through Matalinong Panonood.

ART ON INDIGENOUS CULTURE. Winners of Movie and Television Review and Classification Board’s On-The-Spot Poster Making Contest were recognized during the event.

Hundreds of students, academicians, formators, media practitioners and members of IPs and ICCs actively participated in the event.

The program began with an ecumenical prayer led by Fr. Arnold Abelardo, Ustadz Mohamad Cana and Bro. Erwin Galapon. MTRCB Chairperson Eugenio “Toto” Villareal officially opened the summit with his inspiring opening address. He was then followed by the first speaker, Commissioner Atty. Gwendolyn PimentelGana from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the topic of “Indigenous People’s Rights.” A short introduction of “Oyayi TV,” a child-friendly program, was given by Dr. Luis Gatmaitan from the National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT). He encouraged the large number of youths present to be more engaged in educational local shows.

The next plenary speaker was Atty.

Erwin Caliba from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).

He directed his discussion towards the call for inclusion in and sensitivity for IPs and ICCs. He also sought to empower the audience through information dissemination and to impart the value of a shared responsibility with regards to our indigenous Filipino brothers and sisters.

The afternoon session began with a panel discussion among Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary and proud member of the Balangao and Ga’dang tribes in the Cordillera, Ana

ABS-CBN’s Kane Errol Ochoa, GMA’s Jose Mari Abacan and TV5’s Richard Dunque formalize the ‘Act of Commitment’ among TV networks

Bailey May and Ylona Gracia sing a duet for the audience of MTRCB’s 4th Family and Child Summit

Maria Banaag with elder, Gilbert Bangilan, Ateneo Law School professor Atty. Ronaldo Gutierrez, and teen star Rita Gaviola, also known as “Badjao Girl.” The panelists shared their firsthand personal experiences and knowledge as indigenous people or having worked with indigenous cultural communities. The discussion was moderated by GMA News and Public Affairs’ Raffy Tima and Mariz Umali-Tima, who took up various issues regarding the IPs and ICCs and also engaged in an in-person get-to-know-you with the panel.

The group narrated their personal struggles as IPs and also shared some aspects of their culture with the audience. They concluded by imparting inspiring messages of empowerment to

Abacan, and TV5 TV Traffic Manager Richard Dunque.

The awarding of winners for the MTRCB’s On-The-Spot Poster Making Contest was also held during the event.

The official logo of this year’s summit was a product of the creativity of Jayson Tapong, a student from North Fairview High School. Prior to the summit, it may be recalled that an On-The-Spot poster making contest was held, providing an introduction to the summit. High school students from Quezon City participated and created art masterpieces, with the theme: “Matalinong Panonood Tungo sa Pagsulong ng Kamalayan Para sa Katutubo” (Discerning Viewership Towards Promoting Consciousness for the Indigenous People).

MTRCB Board Member Bibeth

the youth and adults, as well as entertaining inquiries from the audience in the open forum.

In the true spirit of community collaboration with MTRCB’s stakeholders, an Act of Commitment from TV Networks with the theme, “Ang MTRCB at ang Media Tungo sa Pagsulong ng Kamalayan Para sa Katutubo sa Pamamagitan ng Matalinong Panonood.” (The MTRCB, Media and the Youth in advocating the awareness for the Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Cultural Communities through Discerning Viewership) was formalized as the summit reached its conclusion. Participating the pledging ceremony were ABS-CBN Integrated Corporate Communication Head Kane Errol Choa, GMA First Vice President for Program Management Jose Mari

Orteza gave the closing remarks, followed by a music video on the awareness campaign for the Lumad entitled “Salupongan” directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna.

Noteworthy celebrities and media and entertainment practitioners who hosted the event were ABS-CBN’s Xian Lim, Gretchen Ho, MTRCB Board Members Nathaniel De Mesa, Gladys Reyes-Sommereux, and Robert Andrews. The UP Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (KontraGapi) conducted the opening number in the morning while Bayang Barrios opened the afternoon session with her cultural music performance. Other celebrities and performers were the Japh Dolls, Bailey May, Ylona Garcia, Ysabel Ortega, and Lyca Gairanod.

Early Christmas at Childhaus NOT even Santa Claus can gift-wrap a cure for cancer and put it under a Christmas tree.

But Santa’s helpers can make sure that cancer’s youngest fighters, and the families that fight with them, shall have a merry Christmas nonetheless.

That’s exactly what a local foundation together with its sponsors and donors

did—both in providing that holiday cheer and making sure to put a smile on every kid’s face.

Childhaus, a temporary shelter for cancer-stricken children is beauty expert and philanthropist Ricky Reyes’s project which he started as his way of paying forward or passing on to others his good fortune and success that he has

From left: Ricky Reyes, Carol Sy, Hans Sy, Aiza Mercado and Dr. Rachel Rosario

achieved in life.

Together with his friends who have always supported the needs and welfare of the residents of Childhaus, Reyes organized its annual Christmas Party for the kids and their families on Dec. 4.

This year’s celebration saw Santa Claus, Batman with Ironman, the Star Wars characters and a magic show to the delight of the children. Aside from the sumptuous food, there were lots of presents from donors and sponsors putting smiles all over their faces.

But the most significant and touching part of the day were the presentation of the graduates and the appearance of Dirk Ruano who has just been given his new leg courtesy of the Rotary Club of Commonwealth in Quezon City. Dirk expressed his gratitude most especially to their “Kuya Hans” Sy and Mother Ricky for being instrumental to his being able to walk again.

A special performance by the kids together with singer Kris Lawrence was widely applauded. LA Santos rendered a few songs as well.

Aside from the family of Childhaus patriarch Hans Sy, active partners,

Ricky Reyes (fifth from left) with Hans (fourth) and Carol Sy (second) distributing gifts with Santa Claus

guests and sponsors who have given their time to celebrate with the kids included Wilma Galvante, Darling De Jesus, Tates Gana, Aiza Mercado, Flor Santos, Atty. Fred Villamayor, Millie Reyes, Robert Mendoza, Eric Ang, Nerissa Cabalan, Abby Ramos, Eliza Aurelio, and Jun Gao among the many other well-wishers.

“It is very heartwarming to see my

kids here at Childhaus enjoying the simple celebration we prepared for them. Rest assured that I together with your ninongs and ninangs will be here for you all the way,” Mother Ricky said.

With a relentless spirit and dedication to improving the lives of every Childhaus cancer patient and their families, Ricky Reyes looks forward to a better and more prosperous 2017.

Life

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016 isahred@gmail.com

The Importance of ‘Being Heard’ O

UR world revolves around communication.

It is essential for all of us to connect and get our messages across.

This starts the moment we are born. Our senses enable us to appreciate the environment around us and hearing is an important medium, which helps us in the process. But not all of us are born with the gift of hearing.

Every day, 33 children are born with hearing loss, making it the most common congenital condition in the United States. For many of these babies, the everyday sounds many of us take for granted go unheard. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), one to three of every 1,000 newborns have some degree of hearing impairment. And 95 percent of babies with hearing loss are born to normal parents.

The most important time for a child to learn a language is in the first three years of life. In fact, children begin learning speech and language in the first six months of life. Research suggests that children with hearing loss who get help early develop better language skills than those who don’t. The earlier you know about a child’s hearing loss, the sooner you can make sure your child benefits from interventions that will help him learn to success-

VRP Medical Center boasts of a comprehensive, complete and up-to-date Ear Unit center for hearing and balance in the country

fully communicate.

Take the first step and talk to a hearing and balance specialist who can provide personal attention and care, working closely with patients to design solutions suited to your child’s needs.

You may want to consider VRP Medical Center where they boast Ear Unit as one of the most comprehensive, complete and up-to-date centers for hearing

and balance in the country.

It has a workhorse for hearing evaluation, a heavy-duty clinical audiometer from Interacoustics (distributed locally

by Manila Hearing Aid Center) for pure tone audiometry, speech audiometry, play audiometry, hearing aid trial and aided audiometry. The new tympanometer (Interacoustics AT 235 ), also from Interacoustics, has a complete array of

testing middle ear function including tympanometry, stapedial reflex and Eustachian tube function, and is regarded as the newest edition of tympanometers, of which only a handful of hospitals and hearing centers have.

Electrophysiologic tests such as evoked auditory potentials (auditory brainstem response (ABR) and auditory steady state response (ASSR) (Natus

Nav Pro) whether air-conducted and bone-conducted is also available for the evaluation of children with various degrees of hearing impairment. More importantly, the test can also detect severe-to-profound hearing losses, and can also be used in adults for siteof-lesion testing or those suspected of having a retro-cochlear pathology. In addition to the auditory evoked potentials, the machine has additional software for vestibular testing and includes Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) and Electrocochleography (EchOG) (Medical One), an important test for localizing lesions in the labyrinth and for monitoring Meniere’s disease, respectively. For the universal newborn hearing screening program, an automated, portable otoacoustic emissions (OAE) machine is currently in place.

For decades, VRP Medical Center has been lauded for its service and has been chosen as one of the first hospitals where the UNHSP (Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme) has been implemented using the platform (computerized versus tablet) for data encoding and transmission to the Newborn Hearing Screening Reference Center. The coverage for newborn hearing screening has increased over the years as babies born inside the hospital are screened for hearing prior to hospital discharge and has consistently followed the quality standards set by the Department of Health (DOH).

For professional advice and related inquiries, visit the VRP Medical Center located at 163 EDSA, 1501 Mandaluyong City or contact (02) 464-9999 or like their Facebook page www. facebook.com/vrpmedicalcenter for regular updates.

51TALK takes online teaching to new level

Welcome the most wonderful time of the year with Yuletide Fantasy Merry Christmas Lantern with 50 LED lights which you can hang on your main door

Let Ace Hardware light up the holidays MAKE your home merry, bright and eco-friendly with ACE Hardware’s latest selection of innovative indoor and outdoor LED Christmas lights.

There are dazzling LED lanterns that give a warm welcome to your guests this holiday season; as well as LED net lights for trees and shrubs around your home.

Star and snowflakes twinkle in slo-glo, steady on and combination modes. Fairy string lights and Tree Top Stars bring the magic of Christmas to your home.

The best part is that LED lights are safe and ecofriendly with strong, durable sockets and cool burning functions. LED Christmas lights last up to 10 times longer than traditional lights, and they are far more durable. In one study, all the bulbs in a LED light string remained fully lit after 4,000 hours of use, whereas one or two bulbs in an incandescent light string burned before half that time.

You can find these items available at selected branches of ACE Hardware, ACE Express and ACE Builders stores nationwide. You may also visit www.acehardware.ph or like AceHardwarePhilippines on Facebook for more information.

Dazzling LED lanterns, net lights and more bring the magic of Christmas to your home

EDUCATION has long been abuzz with technology in learning. Educators may have heard about online English teaching by now. However, not everyone is considering it seriously because of the perception that, as a career, it’s not worthy of his or her capabilities. Sometimes it is not even thought of as a real profession. It may also seem unworthy of any serious educators because of its informal learning context. The learning environment online and its very short lesson time that demands a great deal of concentration and focus are some of the things that may hamper one’s desire to teach English online.

But with careful reflection, however, it should become clear that despite the unfamiliar context, the platform and all the technical challenges that come with it, the fundamental teaching skill needed in online English lessons is still the same as in traditional teaching: to communicate clearly and effectively in order to help the student. The teaching steps may need to be more direct and concise because of time constraints, but the overall objective is still to get one’s student to successfully use what was learned and to communicate effectively with another person.

With today’s advancement in technology, it is time to think of teaching English online and take it to the next level. Teaching English online provides educator with an array of user-friendly tools. The definition of words unfamiliar to student is just a few clicks away, thanks to having a reliable dictionary Website open anytime during the lesson. The chat box or whiteboard replaces the traditional blackboard and comes with display capabilities that are a teacher’s dream. One can easily share pictures with a couple of strokes and clicks while still talking to the student online. If the classroom is a teacher’s stage, then online learning environment is but an extension of that stage, one that allows teacher/educator to do so much to help a student learn.

Teaching English online is the wave of the future. Educators should recognize and embrace this new level, as it is all about teaching and learning effectively. This is where 51Talk comes in, as the company is the largest online English education provider in China and the Philippines and the first Chinese online Education company listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), under the stock symbol COE (China Online Education group).

For more information, visit www.51talk.com/ph.

Chinese company 51Talk is the largest online English education provider in China and the Philiippines

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

‘My Love from the Star’

cast announced G

MA Network has revealed the identities of the lead stars in the TV adaptation of the phenomenal Korean hit My Love from the Star.

The series, one of the Network’s highlyanticipated programs in 2017, promises to delight the viewers by bringing back the mala-aso’t pusang kilig of Steffi and Matteo with Jennylyn Mercado and Gil Cuerva.

Jennylyn plays Steffi, the popular, beautiful and sought-after actress and endorser. She is rich, successful but over confident and feeling entitled.

Mercado is excited to begin work on the adaptation. She is looking forward to give the audience a whole new viewing experience with her role as Steffi. “Dito, they will see another side of me—the one na nakita nila sa films ko. Kasi kung dati sa pelikula ko siya ginagawa ngayon dadalhin natin ‘yun dito sa GMA. And finally, dumating na si Matteo, and I saw na very willing siya na matuto and open siya sa lahat ng mga ideas at mabait.

That’s why excited ako na mapanood na ito ng mga viewers natin.”

Meanwhile, bagging the role of Matteo the extremely intelligent yet cold and aloof extraterrestrial being who lived as a human on Earth for 400 years ever since his spaceship crash-landed, is commercial and print model Gil Cuerva.

After going through a series of auditions, the newbie actor is thankful that the Network chose him to play the role of Matteo. “Naninibago ako.

This is all new to me but at the same time I’m very grateful and honored na ako ang pinili at may tiwala po ang production, si Direk Joyce (Bernal), si Jennylyn sa akin. Sa totoo lang po there’s a lot of pressure on me na mag-deliver. Kim Soo-hyun is very big in Korea so siyempre may comparisons po doon but I’m up to the challenge. I’m excited to do it and hopefully I will be able to deliver.”

Completing the cast are Gabby Eigenmann, Christian Bautista, Jackie Rice, with Glydel Mercado, Spanky Manikan, Renz Fernandez, Melissa Mendez, and Nar Cabico.

AT LAST! Kapuso network has introduced Gil Cuerva and Jennylyn Mercado as Matteo Do and Steffi Cheon, the well-loved characters in the top-rating Koreanovela 'My Love from the Star'

Cabuanos welcome ‘Meant To Be’ stars

The UP Jazz Ensemble joins other musical acts to jazz up the season at The Shang-La Plaza

Top musical acts bring holiday sounds to Shang FROM the soulful and slow, to the joyful and upbeat, all the heartwarming and beloved musical favorites performed by some of the country’s top acts are at the Shangri-La Plaza this season.

It’s doubly special this year as the mall celebrates its 25th anniversary, so fill your December with the sounds of Christmas and indulge in the rest of the Shang’s exciting roster.

The Immaculate Conception Academy Hands in Harmony brings its ensemble of angelic voices to serenade guests on Dec. 15, 6 p.m. and Vox Angeli Children’s Choir and Song Weavers Philippines performing the next day at 6 p.m. at the Grand Atrium, and 7 p.m. at the East Atrium, Mid-Level 2/3.

Catch Xavier School De Novo on Dec. 17, 5 p.m. at the East Atrium, while the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gerard Salonga at 7 p.m. at the Grand Atrium.

On Dec. 18 at 3 p.m., the Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Foundation

takes the spotlight at the Grand Atrium with their special dance performance.

Then it’s off to the East Atrium at 7 p.m. for Ateneo Chamber Singers led by conductor Jonathan Velasco.

The Ateneo Boys Choir wishes mall guests happy holidays with the season’s greatest hits on Dec.19, 6 p.m. at the East Atrium. Aleron continues to broaden the male soundscape with a line-up of beloved classic and contemporary songs, 7 p.m. at the Grand Atrium.

Ateneo Primary School and the Playshop Kids are set to enchant audiences with fresh, young talent on Dec. 20 at the Grand Atrium at 6 p.m., and East Atrium at 7 p.m.. Hail Mary The Queen Children’s Choir presents its exciting musical roster on Dec. 21, 6 p.m. at the East Atrium. Then at 7 p.m., Jay Cayuca takes over the Grand Atrium.

One of the country’s most awarded groups, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, continues to contribute to the

growth of world choral literature with a thrilling performance on Dec. 22, 6 p.m. at the Grand Atrium. At 7 p.m., the widely popular The Executives Band puts together a grand show of their signature big band jazz and swing standards at the East Atrium.

Voces Manila comes back to satisfy mall guests’ love for holiday hits on Dec. 23, 6 p.m. at the East Atrium, while the UP Jazz Ensemble jazzes up the season on stage at the Grand Atrium, 7 p.m., with energetic repertoire of old and new favorites.

Rounding up the incredible Christmas musical series at the Shang, The Nightingales hit the Grand Atrium stage on Dec.29 at 7 p.m., while Voce Fich performs on Dec. 30, 4 p.m. at the East Atrium, with the well-known A Capella Manila at 7 p.m. providing a worthy Grand Atrium performance.

For inquiries, call 370-2597/98 or visit www.facebook.com/ shangrilaplazaofficial. Follow the Shang on Instagram: @shangrilaplazaofficial.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, December 15, 2016

ACROSS 1 Grey Cup org.

4 Flows out 8 Arroyo 12 Go it alone 13 Plains Indian of Canada 14 Queen of the Misty Isles 16 Sgts. and such 17 Order for dinner 18 Rubbed the wrong way 19 Item in a poker pot 20 They pry but not jimmy (2 wds.)

22 Wingdings 24 Comply with 25 Mo. portions 26 Burrito morsel 28 Sitter’s handful 31 Comic — Mandel 34 Is situated 35 Where to do laps 36 Nile sun god 37 Zen riddles 38 Freud’s daughter 39 Bona — (genuine) 40 Type of pad 41 Annoying 42 Half a dangerous fly 43 Undersized

44 45 47 51 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

Travel word Solar radiation Established Pub extras (2 wds.)

Cow chow Shake awake Pasta-sauce brand Get along Peer Gynt creator “Garfield” pooch Sacked out On its way Vets’ concern Buy at auction

DOWN 1 Winter warmer 2 Bread base 3 — Alamos 4 Mountain refrains 5 Copper and zinc 6 Throng 7 Ooze out 8 Rabbit’s home 9 Comparable 10 They’re struck out 11 Body passage 12 Swatch 15 Mag fillers 20 Winged Victory 21 Pile up

23 Wind about 26 Onion-flavored roll 27 Counting-rhyme start 29 Friar 30 Join in a game 31 Knife handle 32 Name in elevators 33 Novelist P.G. — 34 Pork selection 35 Triumphal outburst 37 Oscar film for

Jane Fonda 41 World War II pope 43 Copyright kin 44 Trends 46 Ruhr Valley city 47 Tempus — 48 Abu — 49 Like a teacup 50 — -in-the-wool 51 Part of TGIF 52 Thieves from 53 Globule 54 You’ve got it —!

58 Groovy

IN THEIR successful back-to-back Kapuso Mall Shows in Cebu on Dec. 3, the stars of the upcoming Meant To Be were overwhelmed by the warm reception they received from their fans who flocked to Gaisano Capital SRP and Gaisano Capital South.

Barbie Forteza, Jak Roberto, Addy Raj, and Ivan Dorschner treated the mall goers to a kilig Saturdate as part of their promo tour for the newest Kapuso light romance drama that begins airing in January next year.

As the only rose among the thorns, Barbie could not help but be elated by the welcome she got from her Cebuano fans. “Daghang salamat, mga Kapusong Cebuanos sa mainit na pagtanggap ninyo sa cast ng Meant To Be kahit di pa kami ume-ere,” Barbie said.

Jak, one of Barbie’s handsome leading men in the series, could not agree more. “Sobrang na-enjoy po namin ang pagbisita namin sa

Cebu. Sana po sa pagbalik namin, ganun pa rin ang pagtanggap ninyo sa amin. Naramdaman namin yung pagmamahal ninyo. God bless you always,” added Jak. The crowd went wild when the handsome lads performed their respective song numbers. Some of the girls’ dreams came true as well when they got invited by Jak, Addy, and Ivan to join them on stage.

“Salamat po sa energy at lakas ng boses na binigay ninyo sa mga mall show,” new Kapuso Ivan said.

Ivan recently signed with GMA Artist Center together with his co-star Addy, who expressed his appreciation of the friendliness of Cebuanos.

“Sobrang masaya ako kasi sobrang heart-warming ng pag-welcome ninyo” he said, adding, “Ang sarap ng lechon ninyo! Babalik ako sa Cebu.”

Meant To Be” also features Ken Chan.

Barbie Forteza and her leading men in the upcoming GMA Telebabad series 'Meant To Be' -- Ivan Dorschner, Addy Raj, and Jak Roberto -- treated Cebuanos to a kilig Saturdate with back-to-back Kapuso Mall Shows

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016

BOYBANDPH MEMBERS

Ford, Joao, Niel, Russell and Tristan win

‘Pinoy Band Superstar’ ISAH V. RED

A

FTER weeks of competition, singing heartthrobs Ford Valencia, Joao Constancia, Niel Murillo, Russell Reyes, and Tristan Ramirez were declared winners of the talent-reality competition Pinoy Boyband Superstar during the finale.

They were officially introduced as BoybandPH, the name of the winning boy band. For the firs time, they performed together “We Made It,” written by Kiko Salazar, which by Star Music produced as a single.

The first to be declared a member of the boy band was Niel was on Saturday night when he earned 98.63 percent votes, the highest combined public votes and scores of judges – Vice Ganda, Sandara Park, Yeng Constantino, and Aga Muhlach – among the seven finalists.

The following night, the scores were reset to zero for their solo performances.

With combined public votes and judges’scores, Russell (100%), Joao (87.81%), Ford (82.03%), and Tristan (69.27%) emerged winners, while finalists Tony Labrusca and Mark Oblea failing to get a spot with the boy band.

The five winners won exclusive contracts with Star Magic, recording contracts with Star Music, Yamaha motorcycles, and P5 million.

The two-night Pinoy Boyband Superstar: The Grand Reveal also featured a performance by awardwinning singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid, who was officially introduced

Ford Valencia, the Hunky Haranista of Valenzuela City

Joao Constancia, the Party Prince of Macau

as one of the judges of Your Face Sounds Familiar: Kids premiering in 2017.

Judge Sandara also stunned viewers with her performance of her K-pop hit “Kiss.”

Billy Crawford hosted Pinoy Boyband Superstar, the Philippine adaptation of La Banda that Simon Cowell created. *** Call it magic, call it true!

Coldplay recently announced its A Head Full of Dreams tour in Asia, including a stop in the Philippines for the first time in history. Presented by the no.1 mobile brand in the country, Globe, the biggest Coldplay fans are in for a musical adventure as they countdown to concert day with the launch of #GlobeColdplay Sessions.

Globe and Coldplay recently gave its customers their first hymn for the weekend on Dec. 4 with the kick-off of the first of three #GlobeColdplay

Niel Murillo, the Kanto Boy Next Russell Reyes, the Fil-Am-azing Door of Cebu Boy of Illinois

Sessions at UP Town Center in Quezon City.

This event gave everyone a colorful afternoon filled with arts, music, and wonderful surprises. All Globe users had a chance to win exclusive Coldplay items and tickets to their concert next year by completing all the activities in the Globe booth.

It was a 360-degree #GlobeColdplay experience, starting off with live performances of artists singing to Coldplay songs. Dynamic duo and YouTube sensation Leanne and Naara kick-started the event with Hans Dimagyuga, The Voice of the Philippines Season 1 finalist following after. Kai Honasan from the OPM band Autotelic sang the night away with Eco del Rio, bassist of Pinoy rock band Chicosci. Independent musicians and live acoustic performers Bullet Dumas, and Johnoy Danao capped the event with Coldplay songs alongside

their own compositions.

“Since the announcement that Coldplay is finally coming to Manila, Filipinos have shown an overwhelming response from a trending social media topic down to the actual recordbreaking ticket sales! As we countdown to the actual concert, we want to give our customers more reasons to enjoy Coldplay’s brand of music through the #GlobeColdplay sessions. Not only will guests get to jam with Filipino talents and sing along to Coldplay hits, they also get the chance to win tickets! As we kick-off 2017, we are excited to bring this to fans in Davao and Cebu.” says Globe SVP for Consumer Mobile Marketing Issa Cabreira.

Follow Globe Telecom on Facebook and @enjoyGLOBE on Twitter for more details on the next sessions. *** Will Philippine team win AXN’s The Amazing Race Asia?

Meet the friends of Hello Kitty THE first musical which features well-loved global icon Hello Kitty and friends, entitled Hello Kitty Live – Fashion & Friends, premieres on Dec. 20 and will run until the first day of 2017 at the Meralco Theater.

Set in modern-day London, Hello Kitty is a young, modern girl who is full of dreams and ambition for her future. But before she can get there, she is faced with a challenge ahead. Luckily, she gets help from her fantastic friends.

Meet Hello Kitty’s friends starting with her best friend and classmate, My Melody. She’s got a great sense of humor that’s why they get on so well. They also love chatting about fashion. Next is Hello Kitty’s boyfriend, Dear Daniel. They grew up together and they’re kind of a great mix – she likes fashion and he likes photography and dancing. Another friend of Hello Kitty is Pom Pom Purin. When he is not smiling, he’s laughing. Just hanging out with Pom Pom Purin is enough to make everyone feel happy. When everyone else has run out of ideas, he’s just getting started on his.

The squad’s troublemaker is Bad Badtz-Maru.

Saying ‘yes’ before he thinks usually makes sure the whole gang are caught up in all sorts of tricky adventures. It’s a good thing he’s cool on his decks and everyone still likes him. Also part of Hello Kitty’s

Hello Kitty and her adorable friends headline the 'Hello Kitty Live' show at the Meralco Theater this holiday season

Tristan Ramirez, the Buff Balladeer of Bulacan

Last week, the penultimate episode started with all four teams taking a 14hour train to Banyuwangi in Indonesia.

On their way there, all four teams muse on their journey so far and what they have to do to get to the final three. Eric & Rona, Parul & Maggie and Yvonne & Chloe are seeing Treasuri & Louisa as the only threat to them getting to the final three.

“Everyone has to fight for the first spot and we will do whatever we can,” says Eric, not giving up.

“Being Filipinos, we have a pact with Eric & Rona. We were strategizing on how we can make it to the top 3,” say Maggie & Parul, hatching a plan.

And, after grueling challenges including detours, Eric & Rona were the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop. Parul & Maggie, second and Yvonne & Chloe, third, making the three teams fight in the finale tonight in The Amazing Race Asia 5 at 9 p.m. on AXN.

friends is her younger sister Mimmy. She’s sweet and shy. They’re best of friends but everything else is different. Hello Kitty is a dreamer and her sister likes practical things. Rounding off the friends of Hello Kitty is Sophie. She’s funny, cool, wants to be a model and, even better, has always got time for her friends. Everyone loves her.

Altogether, Hello Kitty Live – Fashion & Friends will take you on a story of friendship, talent, hard work and passion for creativity combined with fantastic fashion and costumes specially designed

by Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand Tokidoki.

Be part of a great story full of interactive scenes and dance numbers on the notes of the latest pop hits. The show also creates a whole new experience made even more engaging by cutting-edge technology, original animations on mega HD led walls and special effects.

Hello Kitty Live - Fashion & Friends is a production of Zen Tiger Live and Royale Chimes Concerts and Events Inc. Get a chance to have a photo opportunity with the cast after each show when you secure a Red Bow Access available at the venue of the show.

For tickets, call SM Tickets (470-2222), Ticketworld (891-9999) or Ticketnet (911-5555).

For more inquiries, check out the Facebook page of Royale Chimes Concerts and Events Inc. or call 0906-4180786 or 0918-4972121.