Manila Standard - 2017 January 02 - Monday

Turkey terror: 39 killed ‘Santa’ fires at nightclub revelers

I

STANBUL— Thirty-nine people, including many foreigners, were killed Sunday when a gunman went on a rampage at an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul where revelers were celebrating the New Year.

VOL. XXX • NO. 324 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

CARNAGE. Turkish policemen stand guard on the site of an armed attack Jan. 1, 2017 on an Istanbul nightclub where as many as 700 people were celebrating the New Year. A lone gunman went on a rampage, killing 39 revelers, mostly foreigners. AFP

Duterte fear factor lowers firecracker injuries

By Macon Ramos-Araneta FEAR of being punished by President Rodrigo Duterte caused a huge drop in the number of fireworks-related injuries to 350 cases, 60 percent lower than last year’s figure and the five-year average of 2011 to 2015, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial said Sunday.

This year’s figure was the lowest in 10 years, and followed Duterte’s declaration that he was considering banning firecrackers nationwide.

“People are now afraid to light firecrackers because of the President. They have this impression that somehow they will get caught or they will be punished,” said Ubial.

Duterte last month said he would issue an order to ban people from using firecrackers, limiting their use to community fireworks displays.

“The least that I can say or do is just to issue a warning that it’s very, very dangerous,” he said pending the order’s release.

Duterte said he was concerned about children, who make up most of the victims.

Of total 350 cases reported as of 6 a.m. of Jan. 1, Ubial said 348 were from fireworks or firecracker accidents, and two cases were traced to the ingestion of firecrackers.

She also said that 132 (38 percent) out of 348 injuries were caused by piccolo, a prohibited firecracker. It continues to be the leading cause of firework-related injuries.

Next page

As police launched a dragnet for the assailant, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the carnage sought to sow chaos and undermine peace, but Turkey would never bow to the threat.

The attack on the waterside Reina nightclub began when 2017 in Turkey was just 75 minutes old, after a year of unprecedented bloodshed that saw hundreds die in strikes blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists.

The assailant shot dead a policeman and a civilian at the club entrance and then went on a shooting spree inside where up to 700 people were feting the New Year.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the attacker had escaped and was now the target of a major manhunt, expressing hope the suspect “would be captured soon”.

He added that of 20 victims identified so far, 15 were foreigners and five were Turks. Another 65 people were being treated in hospital. Next page

Davao City posts zero casualties

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera

Guterres takes over UN, wants to ‘put peace first’

Antonio Guterres

UNITED NATIONS—Antonio Guterres took office as secretary general of the United Nations and asked the world to unite in a common New Year’s resolution of putting peace first and striving to overcome differences.

“How can we help the millions of people caught up in conflict, suffering massively in wars with no end in sight?” the former prime minister of Portugal asked nations in a statement released on Sunday.

AFTERMATH. Casualties of the New Year revelries include (from left) two men, one a gunshot victim and

another, from a firecracker blast, both taken for treatment at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center. Lower photo (left) shows two residents of Ermita cleaning up a pile of firecracker wrappers while a young mother gives birth to a baby girl, one of the first to be born on New Year’s day in Manila. Noel Celis, AFP and Norman Cruz

DAVAO CITY—There were no firecracker injuries or deaths and no indiscriminate firing of guns during the New Year’s celebration in this city, police said Sunday.

“There were no reported stray bullet victims, no record on indiscriminate firing, no fires or other incidents related to the use of firecrackers and zero firecracker-related injuries,” said Police Regional Office 11 spokesperson Chief Insp. Andrea dela Cerna.

Mayor Sara Duterte credited this to the strict implementation of the ban on firecrackers and pyrotechnics by the Davao City Police Office and Task Force Davao.

She also thanked Davao residents for cooperating with the authorities by celebrating New Year in ways that are safe— without firecrackers. Next page

Next page

‘Compensate victims of unintended killings’ SENATOR Panfilo Lacson said Sunday he had urged President Rodrigo Duterte to compensate the families of the people whom the Chief Executive admitted were unintentionally killed in the war against drugs.

“There must be some explanation with accompanying details as to what the President meant by ‘unintended killings’,” said Lacson, chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that has been investigating the summary killings in the

country.He made the demand after Duterte admitted in interviews with journalists that “there were really killings unintended, I’m sorry there has to be casualty.”

Said Lacson: “Further, those killed as what he described as collateral damage in the drug war, especially those in slippers, must be given at the very least some compensation and justice.

“A simple burial assistance, and possibly scholarship grants especially if the ‘collateral

Next page

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

De Lima linked to threats on high-profile inmate

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice is investigating reports that the camp of Senator Leila de Lima is behind the threats on the life of high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian, an official said Sunday.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the Bureau of Cor-

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

S

rections, an attached agency of the department, was trying to find out the source of the threats that resulted in Sebastian’s transfer from the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City to the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Manila City last week.

“Based on initial information, the threats appear to have some-

thestandard.com.ph

thing to do with De Lima,” Aguirre said but did not give details.

“Perhaps it’s better not to name names yet because it might aggravate the situation, but we already have names,” Aguirre said.

Sebastian was stabbed inside Building 14 during an alleged riot on Sept. 28 when he was stabbed in the chest, back and arm when he

was set to testify against De Lima in the House of Representatives, which was probing the alleged illegal drug trade in the NBP when she was Justice secretary.

“Jaybee considers other inmates there at Building 14 as his enemies. His cell is only separated by grills from them,” Aguirre said.

Next page

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circ@manilastandardtoday.com

A2

News

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Fire hits Jakarta boat: 23 dead A

T LEAST 23 people were killed and around 100 people rescued after a fire ripped through a boat carrying tourists to islands north of the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Sunday, authorities said.

Guterres...

From A1

“No one wins these wars; everyone loses. Trillions of dollars are spent destroying societies and economies, fueling cycles of mistrust and fear that can last for generations. Whole regions are destabilized and the new threat of global terrorism affects us all,” he said.

He asked the world to unite in a common New Year’s resolution: “Let us resolve to put peace first.

Let us make 2017 a year in which we all—citizens, governments, leaders—strive to overcome our differences.”

Guterres assumed the reins of the UN on Sunday hoping to breathe new life into the world body, in the wake of its impotence over Syria’s humanitarian catastrophe.

The Portuguese former prime minister, 67, will become the first onetime head of government to lead the UN, succeeding South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon for a five-year term.

His unanimous election has energized UN diplomats who see him as a skilled politician who may be able to overcome the divisions crippling the United Nations.

One Western ambassador regretted only that a woman wasn’t picked to take the post for the first time, adding with a smile that “except for the gender, he is perfect.”

Guterres faces a monumental task grappling with complex crises in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, North Korea and elsewhere -- overseeing a clunky entrenched bureaucracy and a bitterly divided Security Council that will leave him little room to maneuver.

Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House on January 20 likely will further complicate his task.

Guterres has acknowledged that “the secretary general is not the leader of the world,” but rather that his work depends on the goodwill of the world’s great powers.

After two terms under Ban, widely criticized for lacking initiative and charisma, some diplomats are banking on a change of style and personality to revitalize the UN. - Too little, too late An engineer by training and a practicing Catholic, Guterres fought for migrants’ rights as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015.

He served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, anchoring his country to the European Union and working to raise living standards.

He has laid out three priorities for change: working for peace, supporting sustainable development and improving internal UN management.

One issue looms above the others, however.

“My deepest regret on leaving office is the continuing nightmare in Syria,” Ban recently declared.

The UN has looked on helplessly as the Syrian army laid siege to the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, the country’s second city, backed by Russia and Iran.

Their sole concession to the UN was to allow a small handful of observers to follow the evacuation of thousands of civilians.

“Too little, too late,” one diplomat said.

During almost six years of war, Russia has protected its Syrian ally from Western pressure by using its veto in the Security Council to torpedo resolutions over the conflict six times.

Guterres inherits the portfolio with Moscow and Ankara spearheading a nationwide ceasefire effort.

Russia is pushing a political solution to the crisis that would hugely favor Syrian President Bashar alAssad, reinforced by his conquest of Aleppo.

Western diplomats believe the incoming UN chief should put his own ideas on a settlement forward fairly quickly, without binding himself to any formal peace plan.

For the time being, “he is keeping his cards close to the chest,” another diplomat said.

Vowing to “engage personally” in conflict resolution, Guterres has remained vague about his plans.

“We need more, mediation, arbitration and preventive diplomacy,” he has said.

However, Ban has already gone through two Syria mediators—Kofi Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, who both resigned—before appointing Staffan de Mistura, who has appeared exasperated over the UN’s powerlessness over the conflict.

- Time for reform The same helplessness and at times disunity has marked the UN’s response to the civil war that ravaged South Sudan for three years. A US initiative to impose an arms embargo failed, winning only seven votes from the 15 countries that sit on the Security Council.

The approximately 13,000 peacekeepers deployed in the country have been criticized for failing to protect the civilians crowding UN bases.

Elsewhere on the continent, accusations of rape have permanently tarnished the reputation of UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.

Guterres has acknowledged the criticism, saying “it is time for the United Nations to recognize its shortcomings and to reform the way it works.”

“The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective.”

He has already begun implementing one of his promises—working toward gender parity—by appointing three women from developing countries to key positions, including Nigeria’s Environment Minister Amina Mohammed as deputy secretary general.

The main unknown is the impact Trump’s presidency will have on the UN and global affairs.

The Republican billionaire has shown mistrust and even a degree of contempt toward the United Nations and threatened to revisit the Paris climate change agreement, one of Ban’s biggest successes.

That has caused concern, given he is the future leader of the UN’s main donor, which contributes 22 percent of its budget. AFP

‘TE DEUM.’ Pope Francis holds the monstrance as he leads the Te Deum prayer in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Dec. 31, 2016. AFP

Turkey...

From A1

“The attacker—in the most brutal and merciless way—targeted innocent people who had only come here to celebrate the New Year and have fun,” Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said at the scene on the shores of the Bosphorus.

Many revellers threw themselves into the water in panic and efforts were under way to rescue them, NTV television said. Dogan news agency said the gunman was dressed in a Santa Claus outfit, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Soylu said the gunman had arrived with a gun concealed underneath an overcoat but subsequently exited the venue wearing a different garment.

The nationalities of the victims have yet to be disclosed although Israel said one of its nationals was wounded and another missing and France said three of its nationals were wounded.

Television pictures showed partygoers—including men in suits and women in cocktail dresses—emerging from the nightclub in a state of shock.

Dogan reported that some witnesses claimed the assailants were “speaking Arabic” while NTV said special force police officers were still searching the club.

Erdogan said in a statement that with such attacks, “they are working to destroy our country’s morale and create chaos.”

Turkey would deploy every means to fight “terror organisations” and the countries supporting them, Erdogan said, without giving details on which groups or nations he was referring to.

But Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said it was too early to talk about responsibility. “We are not yet at the point where we can say it is this organisation,” he told NTV. The attack evoked memories of the November 2015 carnage in Paris when Islamic State jihadists went on a gun and bombing rampage on nightspots in the French capital, killing 130 people including 90 at the Bataclan concert hall.

- ‘Walking on top of people’ From Sydney to Paris, Rio to London, security had been boosted over fears that the New Year festivities could present a target for violent extremists.

In Istanbul, at least 17,000 police officers had been deployed and some, as is customary in Turkey, dressed themselves as Santa Claus as cover, according to television reports.

“Just as we were settling down, by the door there was a lot of dust and smoke. Gunshots rang out,” witness Sefa Boydas, a professional footballer, told AFP. “When I was walking, people were walking on top of people.”

Turkey has been hit by a wave of attacks blamed on Kurdish militants and IS jihadists and 2016 saw more attacks than any other year in the history of the country.

On Dec. 10, 44 people were killed in a double bombing in Istanbul after a football match hosted by top side Besiktas, an attack claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), seen as a radical offshoot of the outlawed PKK rebel group.

In June, 47 people were killed in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, with authorities blaming IS. Mainly Muslim Turkey’s religious affairs agency Diyanet condemned the attack, saying the fact it took place in a nightclub “was no different to it being

New Year’s celebrations.

In Manila, PO1 Dabile Castillo, 29, assigned at the Manila Police District was arrested after he was caught firing his gun indiscriminately in the Tondo District Station 1. Castillo, who was drunk, was immediately placed under police custody.

In Oriental Mindoro, three military personnel were arrested for firing their guns indiscriminately ahead of the New Year.

A resident of San Fernando City in La Union, Rufino Galvez of San Agustine village was arrested for also firing his gun on New Year’s eve.

National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde said the number of stray bullet cases was lower than the 11 recorded stray bullet cases in Metro Manila last yar.

In Cagayan de Oro City, flames engulfed the building of a pharmaceutical company on New Year’s Day. The Bureau of Fire Protection said the fire gutted the warehouse of Philusa Corp. at around 12:48 a.m., causing an estimated P3 million in damage. It was unclear if the fire was related to the New Year celebrations.

In Manila, five houses burned down after fireworks went off inside one of the houses in Callejon Dos, Sta. Ana, Manila.

The Bureau of Fire Protection said the fire started around midnight of Dec. 31 inside the house of Rolina Cervantes.

The five old houses were made mostly of wood and the fire quickly spread. With Francisco Tuyay, Sandy Araneta, Lance Baconguis, AFP

Lacson also repeated his call to the Philippine National Police and From A1 the Duterte administration to form a composite team of seasoned indamage’ who was killed was a vestigators and intelligence operbreadwinner or if the one killed atives to probe the 4,000 vigilante unintentionally got involved.” killings that the police had earlier

referred to as “deaths under investigation.”

Duterte has repeatedly denied that the killings are statesponsored, and that he is not keen on going after big-time drug pushers.

Duterte...

From A1

From A1

“Davao is a proof that celebrations are possible even without firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials that could cause harm to us and to our children,” she said.

Since 2013, Davao City has been holding the Torotot Festival, a countdown that draws thousands of Davao residents on New Year’s eve.

The festival, in partnership with Smart, is in support for Davao’s tradition of welcoming the new year minus firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

The countdown for 2017, attended by around 5,000 people at the Rizal Park, was highlighted by competitions: Most Creative Torotot, Best Torototinspired Costume, Best Torotot-inspired Cosplay, Best Torotot-Hip Hop Dance Group, and Best Torotot-inspired Zumba Dancer.

Except for the winner of the zumba competition who received P15,000, winners of the other contests each received P50,000.

When he was still mayor of Davao in 2001, President Rodrigo Duterte banned the sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnics.

An ordinance that prohibited the manufacture, sale, distribution, possession, or use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials was approved by the City Council in 2002.

Kwitis came in next, accounting for 20 percent of all injuries.

Luces and fountain each accounted for five percent of the cases.

Most fireworks-related injuries came from Metro Manila, which recorded 211 cases (60 percent), followed by Western Visayas with 34 cases (10 percent), and Central Luzon with 29 cases (8 percent).

In the National Capital Region, most cases or 81 out of 211 cases (38 percent) were from Manila.

Quezon City had 48 cases (23 percent) and Marikina recorded 23 cases (11 percent).

Ubial said it was tragic that a 15-year-old girl from Malabon was hit by a stray bullet while watching a fireworks display at 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31.

She remained in a coma at Jose Reyes Medical Center in Manila.

She could not be operated on since the bullet was lodged deep in her head.

Ubial thanked other agencies and local governments, non-government organizations and the media for helping the department with its anti-firecracker campaigns.

“Every year, we see the things that we need to strengthen in order to achieve our goal, and eventually, we do hope that we will attain zero casualties from fireworks and firecrackers during the holidays,” she said.

She noted that the cooperation of local government units to organize public fireworks displays contributed to success of this campaign.

From A1

He said Sebastian’s wife and lawyers had been requesting his transfer to another facility because of his regular asthma attacks in the NBP. Sebastian was transferred to the NBI on Dec. 27 from his cell in Building 14 of the maximum security compound in NBP, where he reportedly received grave threats.

An inmate in the NBP testified in the House on Oct. 10 and said De Lima had been involved in the illegal drug trade in the NBP. Sebastian has claimed he gave P14 million from the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary to De Lima’s alleged representative―her former aide Joenel Sanchez and former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Bucayu―during her tenure as Justice secretary.

Several other inmates corroborated his testimony and said they sold drugs through their contacts outside the prison to raise funds for De Lima’s senatorial campaign.

in a market or place of worship”.

Turkey is still reeling from a failed July coup blamed by the government on the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen that has been followed by a relentless purge of his alleged supporters from state institutions.

“It’s hard to imagine a crime more cynical than the killing of civilians during a New Year’s celebration,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a condolence message to Erdogan.

Two weeks ago, off-duty policeman assassinated Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in an Ankara. Putin assured Erdogan that Moscow was a “reliable partner” in the fight against terror.

The United States and France voiced outrage at Sunday’s attack and said they stood alongside Turkey, their ally in Nato, in its fight against terror.

The bloodbath came as the Turkish army wages a four-month incursion in Syria to oust IS jihadists and Kurdish militants from the border area, suffering increasing casualties.

Turkey is also spearheading a ceasefire plan with Russia aimed at creating a basis for peace talks to end the near six year civil war. Agence FrancePresse

The department’s monitoring of firecracker-related injuries started Dec. 21, 2016 and will end Jan. 5, 2017. The figures come from 50 hospitals reporting to the Health Department nationwide.

Ubial said the Iwas Paputok campaign will not end in January, however, as the department will push for the approval of an executive order to ban individual firecracker use and to foster community fireworks instead.

The Health secretary renewed her call to the public, especially children, not to pick up unexploded firecrackers on the streets.

Ubial said that a majority of the victims or 58 percent of the injured were below 15 years old.

She also reminded firecracker victims to go to the hospital regardless of the size of the wound to be given proper treatment.

“Tetanus can kill, and this can be due to wounds from firecrackers,” she said.

She added that it is the responsibility of adults, especially parents or guardians to make sure that after the festivities, their surroundings must be cleaned up immediately so that children will not be tempted to pick up unexploded firecrackers on the streets.

Despite the government plea for gun owners to desist from firing them during the New Year, three people were hit by stray bullets, including the 15-year-old girl in Malabon.

The Philippine National Police also reported that 15 people were arrested for gun-related offenses, including a policeman and a soldier. Thirteen more people were being investigated for the illegal discharge of firearms during the

Davao...

De Lima...

Along with 23 fatalities, a number of people were also injured, said Ferry Budiharso, a spokesman for the Thousand Island police, the area where the boat was heading.

The head of Jakarta’s search and rescue agency, Hendra Sudirman, said that 98 people had been rescued.

The passenger boat was ferrying around 200 people off the coast of Jakarta to Tidung island, a tourist destination 50 km from the capital when the fire started, local disaster agency official Seply Madreta told AFP. The boat, Zahro Express, caught fire shortly after leaving Muara Angke port in North Jakarta early this morning due to a short circuit on a power generator on the boat, Budiharso said.

Officials are still trying to locate the boat’s manifest to determine the number of passengers that were on board the vessel, a transport ministry official said.

Sea accidents are frequent in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago, with vessels often overloaded and having too few life jackets on boat.

AFP

‘Compensate...

News

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

A3

‘Nina’-hit areas get power back T

HE Department of Energy with support from local government units and private institutions has brought back electricity to priority areas in Bicol and Southern Tagalog regions.

“Restoring power in town centers and nearby communities affected by Typhoon “Nina” would not be possible if not for all the strong men and women who continue to give their full effort and time in restoring damaged energy facilities,” said Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi.

In Catanduanes, the National Power Corp. and the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative Inc. already energized the Virac Airport yesterday afternoon as the Mariinawa Diesel Plant has resumed operations.

“The operation of the airport is critical in improving the access of relief operations among

others to the whole province of Catanduanes,” said Cusi.

For transmission facilities in the on-grid area, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, after deploying 500 technical personnel, reported its milestone achievement that the Naga-Daraga 230 kV line and the Naga-Pili-Iriga line have been restored servicing the provinces of Albay, Sorsogon and Camarines Sur. On the distribution side, the National Electrification Administration reported that the Santa Cruz substation in Iriga City and Tigaon substation are ready to

receive power supply via a distribution feeder to restore power under the franchises of Camarines Sur III Electric Cooperative and Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative Inc. In Albay Province, Apec reported that the power in Legazpi and Ligao cities were partially restored, while the Tabaco Substation serving Tabaco City is ready to received power.

In Sorsogon, Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative Inc. reported that the power is partially restored in the province.

For Oriental Mindoro, the Oriental Mindoro Electric Coopera-

tive Inc. has fully energized as of 30 December 2016 the towns of Pinamalayan, Gloria, Bansud, Bongabong, Roxas, Mansalay and Bulalacao, while the remaining towns undertaking household restoration are Socorro (92 percent), Pola (74 percent), Baco (37 percent), Calapan (66 percent), Naujan (11 percent) and Victoria (13 percent).

NEA also reported that as of December 30, the household restoration stood at 45.95 percent or a total of 811,327 households served.

Amid all this, Cusi said, “The momentum to restore power to

the household level continues as we aim for a prosperous New Year by bringing light to our people’s hopes and dreams this 2017.”

Cusi also said that “the heroes of restoration are the personnel and crews from both the private and public institutions who dedicated their holidays rehabilitating energy facilities just to provide access again to power supply to these devastated areas.”

“We are now calling on additional technical people to go for 100-percent restoration to the households in the Bicol region because the holidays are over,” Cusi concluded. PNA

Loans offered to storm victims THE Government Service Insurance System has allotted more than P159 million in emergency loan for its 5,633 active members and old-age pensioners in four municipalities in Pangasinan and in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat who were affected by calamities.

Rosales and San Fabian were declared under a state of calamity due to Typhoon “Karen,” while Calasiao and Alcala, due to Typhoon “Lawin.”

Flash flood from continuous heavy rainfall damaged Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat.

Active members working or residing in the said municipalities, not on leave of absence without pay, have no arrears in paying premium contributions, and have no unpaid loans for more than six months may apply for the loan.

Qualified members may borrow P20,000. Those with existing emergency loan may renew their loan amounting to P40,000, with their outstanding balance deducted from the new proceeds.

Old-age pensioners residing in the areas may apply for P20,000. However, those who are also active members (retired government workers who have been reemployed) may apply for the loan only once.

Carrying a six-percent interest rate per annum computed in advance, the loan is payable in 36 monthly installments.

The loan is covered by a loan redemption insurance which is deemed fully paid in case of a member’s demise, provided the loan repayment is up to date.

The deadline for loan application is Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, 2017 for Pangasinan municipalities and Kalamansig, respectively.

YEAR OF THE ROOSTERS. Filipinos are again flocking to Manila’s Binondo district ahead of Chinese New Year which celebrates this year as the Year of the Rooster. Norman Cruz

Senators sow optimism for new year

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Grace Poe on Sunday expressed “high hopes for a year of inclusiveness and betterment.”

“Let us work towards uniting the nation with dignity, respect and honor for our family and fellow countrymen,” said Poe. Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said he was praying for “peace and prosperity for all Filipinos.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III also

texted that he was looking forward to a ‘drug-resistant Philippines’ in 2017.

“May the New Year usher in more strength, courage, resolve and wisdom to achieve a drug-resistant Philippines,” Sotto said.

Senator Nancy Binay prays for a prosperous New Year to all Filipinos.

“As we leave 2016 behind, we also leave the hurts and the challenges that we have endured, and usher in the positive thought that 2017 will be a bet-

ter year for us Filipinos and our country,” she said.

“I also pray that the Almighty continue to bless us with peace in our hearts so that we can understand, respect, and forgive one another, regardless of race, color, and ideology so that we can forge a stronger and more united Philippines,” she added.

Senator JV Ejercito posted in his Twitter account: “Just a few more hours and 2016 is history!

Thank God! What a tough year for me!”

“I lost two good friends.

Political side was a challenge too,” Ejercito said but did not elaborate.

Senator Gringo Honasan enumerated his New Year’s resolutions, such as to become more patient and understanding.

He also promised to work and pray harder for the next generation of citizens and leaders. He said he also hoped that God would give him the “political will, serenity, and determination” to fulfill his New Year’s resolutions.

Sign pension hike, solon urges Rody

By Rio N. Araja BAYAN Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Sunday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to immediately sign the P2,000 increase in the pensions given by the Social Security System.

He made the call amid the recommendation of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia that without an accompanying member’s contribution increase, the P2,000 pension hike would only jack up the unfunded liabilities of the SSS from P3.5 trillion to P5.9 trillion.

“This is the same scare tactic used by the previous SSS administration,” Zarate said. “The concession to give the pension increase in two tranches was allowed by Congress on the strong representations by the new SSS leadership so that the SSS could still raise more funds.”

“It is utterly ridiculous for

these Cabinet secretaries to say that the agency would go bankrupt,” the congressman added.

With the initial P1,000 pension increase to start this January, “it would mean just P33 per day of additional funds for the elderly pensioners,” he raised.

He echoed the stance of SSS Chairman Amado Valdez that the P1,000 initial pension increase could be done as early as December 2016, and that the SSS would not go bankrupt.

To raise membership premium must be the least and even the last option amid the SSS pension increase, he said.

President Duterte said he would want a further discussion of the P2,000 pension hike as Neri Colmenares, Bayan Muna chairperson, accused Dominguez, Diokno and Pernia of “trying to delude the people and the President.”

“They are trying to sabotage the distribution of the P2,000 pension increase even if it actually has the fund availability,” he said.

A WHOLE YEAR WITH RODY. A female merchant shows as her primary offering a new calendar for 2017 this time with the image of President Rodrigo Duterte. Manny Palmero

Davao terminal to open

by April DAVAO CITY—The Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Davao City government is set to open the P70-million Davao Food Terminal by first quarter next year.

Davao Regional Director Ricardo Oñate said the food terminal located at a five-hectare property in Daliao, Toril (formerly the AgriPinoy Trading Center) will serve as drop-off and wholesale market of farm products.

It will provide marketing support for small and medium farm-size vegetable and fruit growers in various barangays here in Davao City and Davao del Sur. The facility also has a dormitory, retail and wholesale sections and commercial spaces.

He said the facility is a progressive type complex which will be managed by the city government. But he said the food terminal will be eventually managed by a farmers’ cooperative.

Other components of the project are 10 hauling trucks to transport farm produce from farm to the food terminal. Each truck would cost P1.5 milion.

“We are optimistic that there will be a big improvement in the agricultural production with new direction and processes of implementation of projects,” Oñate added.

As one of the city government of Davao’s thrusts for the sector of agriculture, the Davao Food Terminal is projected to be operational by April 2017, he said.

A4

Opinion

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Primitive thinking

I

N PARTS of Nepal, teenage girls who are menstruating are banished from their homes to live in primitive huts with poor sanitation and ventilation and no access to clean water, in the belief that they are unclean when they have their periods.

Last month, at least two girls died in poorly heated “menstruation huts” far from their communities, one from inhaling smoke from the fire that kept her warm.

Police say 10 girls have died in similar huts over the last nine years, most from smoke inhalation, snake bites and lack of basic health care during menstruation.

Adelle Chua, Editor

The practice, called chhaupadi, is a centuriesold tradition that was outlawed in 2005, but persists today, particularly in the country’s far west.

Aside from being isolated in tiny menstruation huts, women and girls are forbidden during their periods from touching other people, cattle, green

vegetables and plants, and fruits. They are also not allowed to drink milk or eat milk products in the belief that this could anger a god or goddess and cause livestock to die or crops to fail.

Here, most of us would condemn and scoff at such primitive beliefs, thinking ourselves to be a modern, progressive, and rational society where science, not superstition rules our lives.

Yet we continue to allow ourselves to be swayed by the superstitious notion that it is somehow evil to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted teenage pregnancies.

Reacting to the administration’s plan to distribute condoms in public schools as a way to stop the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, the Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life (CFCFFL) last week said the program was an even “greater threat” than the rise in extra-judicial killings and the looming revival of the death penalty.

In a message to anti-birth control advocates on the feast of the Holy Innocents, the group cautioned that “acceptance of condoms— seeming to the general public as unharmful—is actually the start of the slippery slope

to the whole gamut of the culture of death.”

The group then makes the leap, unsupported by facts or logic, of linking condom use to the legalization of abortion—ignoring the fact that the use of condoms would actually make abortions unnecessary.

The use of condoms would also certainly reduce the risk of HIV or AIDS among the young (ages 15 to 24), who account for 24 percent of the 38,114 cases reported since 1984.

But none of this matters to the CFCFFL or Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, who warned Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell

Ubial that he will block her confirmation if she pushes through with the condom distribution plan.

He said the Health department was taking the “wrong approach” and said the agency should instead go on an information campaign focused on moral values.

Senator Sotto’s prescription is so harmful to our society’s progress that perhaps it is he who ought to be sent off to an isolated hut somewhere to keep him from spreading ignorance and arrogance, traits so deadly when taken together that even the gods would be angered.

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO

Discipline, hard work, nationalism

ONCE more, another year has gone by. In every New Year, nearly every person looks forward to a more prosperous, happier year. Some learn lessons from the misfortunes and trials of the past year; others simply do as they have always done without so much as drawing any learning from the past. And so they go on with their lives looking for happiness where most people think it might be found—in material possessions and in financial prosperity. Thus, as people usher in the New Year, they cling to superstitions that promise abundance and riches such as putting grapes on doors and windows, collecting round fruits and laying them on the dining table. Round fruits are said to symbolize and attract money.

People continue to splurge on firecrackers and fireworks, no matter the risks to their limb, in the belief that these will drive

Francis said that consumerism has brought people anxiety and stress, removing them from the pleasures of art, literature, and even playing with children. People must learn to turn off their TV, he said, as this hinders communication among family members especially during mealtimes.

Fifth, Sundays should be holidays and they should be spent with family. Sixth, respect and take care of nature. He asked, “Isn’t humanity committing suicide with its indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?”

Seventh, stop being negative.

Instead of cutting others down which is a sign of low self-esteem, one should lift himself instead.

Studies have shown that more than money, relationships are the real source of happiness. A P500 lunch with a good friend can make one happier than having a P3,000 buffet lunch Turn to A5

Turn to A5

Happiness and wealth

OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO

JUST a little more than half a century ago, Chiang Kai Shek “invaded” the former Japanese colony called Formosa. Not an invasion in the strictest sense, for Japan had surrendered after two atomic bombs rained unimaginable death and destruction to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and gave back the island of Formosa to China.

The Chinese mainland was controlled by the forces of Mao Tse Tung, and the vanquished Nationalists occupied the island east of Fujian province. Thus did the painful odyssey of Taiwan, from a sparsely-populated and poor island to a First World economy, begin.

I spent the days ushering in the new year in Taiwan with some members of the family, mostly in the capital city of Taipei, with two days in Taichung and Nantou, and a day in Yilan. We wanted to immerse ourselves in the culture, apart from just seeing its modern cities with a retained old-world charm.

In my meetings with officials and the business leaders of Taichung, I noted their sense of local pride. Taichung, which is about 45 minutes south of Taipei by high speed rail transport, or two and a half hours away by car along well-constructed highways, is the mechanical capital of Taiwan, producing the world’s best bicycles along with light industrial tools and dies. Its businessmen are the medium-scale specialists who supply high-quality parts to many of the world’s “name” manufacturers.

There is a “can-do” spirit in Taichung, reminding me of the case studies we had in business school about those who “try harder” as in Avis Rent-a-Car trying to outdo the market leader then, which was Hertz.

Yilan and Nantou, on the other hand, take great pride in their crafts and culture, from worldclass pottery to wood and bamboo craft that make the visitor marvel at the creativity coupled with manual dexterity that produced such objets d’art.

“Yes, we try harder,” a Taichung official who mastered in economics at New York University remarked. “In fact, all of Taiwan tries harder.”

In Kaohsiung last October, I met a self-made billionaire whose father was just a cane farmer, too poor to get him to finish even

away bad fortune and bring in good luck.

Few ask themselves what happiness really means and what they can do to be truly happier. Do wealth and money really make one happier? Economist Justin Wolfers who has done an extensive study on the subject said that we should not let an economist bully us into believing that money’s all that matters and neither should we let a psychologist bully us into believing that money is completely unimportant. While it is true, as studies have shown, that richer people are generally more satisfied with life than the poorer ones, this does not mean either that the more money one has, the happier one is. An often-quoted study says that money does buy happiness but only up to a certain extent.

The study adds, after one earns an income of US$75,000.00 or roughly P3,375,000.00 annually, increasing one’s income will

More than money, relationships are the real source of happiness.

not make one any happier. The world’s richest man, Bill Gates, said in a talk at the University of Washington that after making one million dollars, a hamburger—no matter the cost—is still a hamburger, meaning, beyond a certain point, it all tastes the same.

A person with a beautiful house will not be any happier with buying more beautiful houses which will remain empty most times and one who has enough cars for his needs

will not increase his happiness by acquiring more.

What can make one truly happier, then?

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, gives some tips for greater joy in one’s life. First, he says, live and let live. Move forward and let others do the same. This means forgiving and forgetting offenses and slights committed against you and moving on. Second, be giving of yourself to others.

If you withdraw into yourself, the Pope said, you become egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid.

Third, proceed calmly in life.

Pope Francis says that in his youth, he was a steam full of rocks; as an adult, he was a rushing river. In old age, however, he is like a pool of water with the ability to move with kindness and humility—a calmness in life.

Fourth, one must have a healthy sense of leisure. Pope

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

ManilaStandard

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.thestandard. com.ph; e-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

ONLINE MEMBER

PPI

Chairman Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager OIC-Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Adelle Chua Honor Blanco Cabie Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion Editor Night Editor Art Director Chief Photographer

Opinion

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Can you spot fake news? Don’t be so sure.

By Faye Flam ONE of the enduring mysteries of the fake-news epidemic is why it’s happening now, when it’s easier than ever for readers to fact-check stories with a few quick keystrokes. A Google search and a little common sense should be enough to cast doubt on stories that the Clintons are running a child sex ring from a pizza parlor, that Sharia law has been instituted in Florida or that CNN accidentally aired 30 minutes of pornography.

And yet, fake news was rampant in 2016. No, busloads of paid protesters didn’t descend on Texas in November, but more than 350,000 people shared ‘news’ that they did. Made-up stories outperformed the real stuff on Facebook, with dozens of dubious websites springing up to meet the demand. Pakistan’s defense minister fell for fake news. So did America’s next national security adviser.

No wonder PolitiFact named fake news its “Lie of the Year.”

It’s not that people are getting dumber, psychologists say.

Humans have always had blind spots. But one in particular is causing trouble now: People are ignorant of their own ignorance.

In order to realize you should look something up, you have to recognize that you don’t already know the answer.

Brown University psychology professor Steven Sloman has been investigating this tendency. In one 2013 study, he asked subjects how much they know about complex policies such as unilateral sanctions on Iran.

Most people reported knowing a lot—but when asked to explain how the policies worked, they couldn’t. Shattering what Sloman calls “the knowledge illusion” leads people to downgrade their self-assessment—but then their overconfidence returns.

More recently, Sloman has been researching the way people overestimate their understanding of everything from glue to coffee-makers to toilets for his forthcoming book “The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone.”

Not everyone is equally selfdeluded, of course. As a test, Sloman asks a simple math question: A bat costs $1 more than a ball, and together they cost $1.10. What does the ball cost? About 20 percent of people get this right, he said, and they are not as vulnerable to the knowledge illusion.

But what about content knowledge—knowing facts about the world? You might think that would arm people against fake news, but experiments show that’s not necessarily the case. Education professor Joseph Kahne of the University of California Riverside gave young subjects, age 15 to 27, a short test for political literacy and then showed them a mix of fake and real news stories presented as Facebook posts.

He found high scorers were no better than the rest at separating fake stories from evidencebased ones.

What did matter was whether a news story bolstered the subjects’ existing beliefs. “The judgments people make are

heavily influenced by whether or not information aligns with a policy position they already hold,” Kahne said. People who identify as liberals have no trouble pooh-poohing the rumor that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, for example, while those on the conservative end were more likely to believe it. Likewise, liberals were more likely than conservatives to swallow a false claim that 90 percent of rich Americans pay no taxes.

The results are slated to be published in American Educational Research Journal.

Kahne says the powerful influence of pre-existing political beliefs may explain why a little knowledge doesn’t shield people from being fooled. The people who know more about politics, he said, are better equipped to understand the political implications of a story, and therefore quicker to know whether it reinforces or challenges their beliefs. You have to know a little about politics to know if a given story makes liberals or conservative look bad.

And false stories are easier than ever to generate and spread. In decades past, Kahne said, people trusted established newspapers, magazines and TV news programs. But trust in the mainstream media has declined massively over the past 20 years, while a majority of Americans now get news from Facebook.

Many younger people simply read what Facebook feeds them, Kahne said. They may not pay attention to whether a story came from a legitimate news site. What’s more, they

may not care if it’s true. People are no longer just consumers of news but producers and circulators, he said. Few young people in 20th century went around photocopying newspaper stories and distributing them, but millions do this on Facebook today.

Spreading accurate stories isn’t necessarily rewarded with likes and shares.

Kahne, like a number of other experts, doesn’t think the answer lies in making Facebook’s executives the arbiters of truth.

Better, he says, to help readers and social media users think more critically. The question is: How? One factor that makes a difference is education. In the study, Kahne asked his subjects whether they had any sort of media literacy instruction in high school. Those who were least vulnerable to fake news were most likely to have remembered teachers explaining how to evaluate news stories for credibility. Some teachers also discussed what many of us take for granted: that the difference between truth and falsehood actually matters.

As Kahne and his co-authors say in their paper: “The belief that accurate information will bolster democratic decisionmaking and enable societal improvement is deeply embedded in the enlightenment paradigm, pragmatist beliefs, deliberative ideals and other prominent conceptions of a strong, just, and productive democracy.” But people aren’t born knowing this.

In fact, most may not know it— though they probably think they do. Bloomberg

Traditional medicine won’t cure China’s ills

By Adam Minter FOR decades, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (or TCM) have disputed accusations that their craft is a pseudoscience, a placebo, exploitative of endangered species, poisonous and ineffective. Now China’s government is fighting on their behalf. On Christmas Day, it passed the country’s first law regulating TCM, with the aim of placing it on an equal footing with science-based Western medicine.

It’s an expressly political goal, designed to “give a boost to China’s soft power,” as one spokesperson put it. Unfortunately, it’s also misguided. China’s health-care system is already burdened by fraud, a shortage of doctors, counterfeit medicine and rank profiteering. Whatever the merits of TCM, raising it to the status of science-based medicine will only provide a distraction from the more urgent task of improving standard medical care.

The practices that constitute traditional medicine—herbal remedies, dietary treatments, acupuncture—date back centuries.

But TCM as a unified practice only emerged in the 1960s, when China’s government institutionalized it to counterbalance ideologically suspect practitioners of Western

medicine. As a favored state industry, TCM has prospered: In 2015, total revenue for the traditional pharmaceutical industry reached $114 billion. Those drugs were dispensed by 452,000 practitioners working out of tens of thousands of clinics -- some no more than singleroom storefronts.

As with other state-backed industries, the protective hand of government has benefited the industry far more than consumers.

The problems start with a lack of oversight over who can practice TCM. Earlier this week, the director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine conceded that it’s difficult to judge the qualification level of most practitioners. That’s a nice way of saying that anybody can claim to be a TCM master. To be fair, China has a network of schools designed to professionalize homeopathic care.

But amateurism (or charlatanism) remains alarmingly common, especially in the countryside.

This lack of oversight extends to the thriving industry of traditional pharmaceuticals.

Last year, a team of scientists found that nearly 90 percent of TCM remedies marketed in Australia contained undeclared ingredients, including

Discipline...

From A4 rudimentary school. But the son “tried very hard,” and triumphed over poverty. He went into several lines of business, almost losing his shirt in earlier failed attempts, but due to tenacity of spirit and hard work, eventually found his niche, and is now one of the wealthiest tycoons in the southern port city of Taiwan.

“We are a nation of diverse cultures,” a high Taiwanese official explained, “from diverse aboriginal tribes some of whom are kin to your Ivatan tribe in Batanes” (some even from our Cordillera tribes), “enriched by those who came from the mainland, but we are united in our dedication to our country.”

Taiwan’s cuisine, for instance, is excellent, even as it is a co-mingling of Fujian, Hakka, Hangzhou and other cuisines from the mainland, as well as Japanese.

It is less sodium-tasty than Cantonese, less spicy than Szechuan, but it is delicious. And its aboriginal cuisines have been incorporated into what is generally considered mainstream Taiwanese food.

But what strikes the visitor to Taiwan most admirably is the discipline. But for a few miscreants, they wait for the traffic lights to

Happiness...

From A4 by one’s lone self. The more connected a person is to family and friends, the greater his degree of happiness. How one uses money determines how

antibiotics and decongestants, heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, and a range of plant and animal matter—not least, the DNA of endangered snow leopards. The situation is almost certainly worse in China, which lacks Australia’s (clearly inadequate) screening procedures. A 2013 Greenpeace study found pesticides in 51 of 65 popular herbal remedies marketed in TCM shops in China and Hong Kong. In one case, contamination levels were 500 times the European Union’s accepted safety limit.

It’s impossible to calculate the human toll of shady TCM practices, but there are hints.

Several recent studies have found that herbal remedies are the leading cause of druginduced liver failure in China, accounting for as much as 43 percent of all cases. The problem is equally severe in other countries where TCM is rapidly expanding: Herbal remedies may account for up to 40 percent of drug-induced liver injuries in South Korea and 55 percent in Singapore.

Yet the real toll is likely even higher. Despite a dearth of credible evidence that TCM is effective, it still sucks up millions of dollars in public

signal before they cross the street, even when the “coast” is clear. They do not litter their streets. They queue and never disrupt lines.

Their “beggars,” mostly with disabilities, do not beg; they sell small items like candies or paper napkins, and they comport themselves well.

My daughter said it’s probably the Japanese influence. They were colonized by Japan for more than half a century, ending only after the Pacific War. The influence is seen even in their architecture and their wide, treelined boulevards. But as all cultures are influenced by history, so are they very Chinese —patient, entrepreneurial, inscrutable even.

There was a time when they were so poor.

Chinese Filipinos keep telling stories about how “poor” Taiwan was compared to the Philippines in the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century. How the biggest hotels were owned by Chinese Filipinos, but look at them now.

In 1978, when we were shopping at Harrod’s in London, one of the elderly sales clerks asked us where we came from, thinking we were either Japanese or Chinese. When we said Philippines, he said, a bit insensitively I thought then, that “the Taiwanese are very hard-working people, they have so many

money can contribute to his happiness. The more one is able to give to others, the happier he is. Dunn and Norton, co-authors of “Happy Money,” say that the more stuff you accumulate— whether it’s watches, handbags, jewelry, trips or other things

funds that would be better spent on China’s regular health-care system, which is badly lagging.

The new law, for instance, calls for establishing TCM centers in public hospitals, as well as in pediatric and maternal-care units.

This might be justifiable if China was already providing adequate science-based care. But it’s not: Chinese hospitals are dangerously overburdened and underfunded, pediatricians are in such short supply that even state media is calling the situation “urgent,” and maternal health care—especially in rural areas—is notable for its lack of cleanliness and pain relief.

Although the new law’s emphasis on criminal penalties for adulterating TCM drugs is laudable, it’s far less important than stamping out rampant counterfeiting and fraud in China’s science-based pharmaceutical industry. That will require heavy investments in regulation and technology, and will need to go well beyond the criminal penalties that have failed to achieve much so far.

China’s traditional medicine business is bound to persist, and the government should regulate it for safety. But promoting it to unwitting patients who believe it’s as effective as science-based medicine isn’t just a bad idea.

It’s malpractice. Bloomberg

products here.”

Prior to London, we were in Zurich, where we saw how a man and his wife operated a small eatery with ten tables all by themselves.

The man was the chef, the wife was waitress, cashier and cleaner. And they did it with utmost efficiency and cheerfulness. You see the same in Taiwan.

And pride of place. A deep and abiding sense of nationhood. Sure there are debates about cross-strait relations with the world’s second biggest economy, centering on whether they should be integrated or whether they should be fiercely distinct and independent.

But the transformation of this island of 23 million crammed in a space smaller than Luzon, with very strict environmental standards and zoning plans (so green you drool with envy when you compare their cities with our uglified, concrete jungles) from backward economy to First World status in two generations, can only be summarized by three not-so-secret formulae: Discipline plus hard work plus nationalism.

And in contemplation, we rue all the years we wasted. Hopefully, our new, popularly elected leader can start the transformation.

The formula is there. It’s been tried and tested not only in Taiwan but elsewhere as well: Discipline. Hard work. Nationalism.

you collect—the less you appreciate each individual experience. Dunn says, think about all your favorite and happy memories. How many of them involve luxuries versus laughs with people you love?

Social relationships are the key

to true happiness, he says. So, invest your money on the people in your life: on experiences with them, sharing and spending time with them.

An heiress to a wealthy Japanese tycoon, Mona Nomura, said that when her mother was diag-

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

A replay of the Cold War THE world is witnessing a replay of the Cold War after reports of Russia’s alleged hacking of US elections last November. The hacking, according to US intelligence, was meant to favor Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. In a show of resolve before exiting the White House this month, President Barack Obama announced draconian steps to punish Vladimir Putin starting with the expulsion of 31 Russian diplomats and the closing down of Moscow’s two diplomatic establishments in Washington and Maryland suspected of being used for spying activity.

Putin is expected to retaliate by expelling the same number of American diplomats in Moscow but has not officially announced a tit-for-tat measure. But expect Putin to do likewise. Not to do so would make the former head of the KGB look bad in the eyes of the Russian people.

This recent development in geopolitical skirmishing is reminiscent of the time when former President Richard Nixon called Russia, China and North Korea the “Axis of Evil.” There are signs in the horizon for a déjà vu with Beijing‘s aggressive action in the South China Sea How much territorial dispute and Pyongyang’s constant longer can the nuclear saber rattling.

US keep its North Korea has threatcool? ened to fire missiles toward South Korea and Japan, including the US West Coast. How much longer can the US keep its cool before it pulls a preemptive strike against the mentally unhinged Kim Jong Un? Will a brash Donald Trump do a George Bush who gave the order for US forces to invade Iraq? North Korean provocation might just prove too much to give the US an excuse to unleash its full arsenal against Kim. We hope not, as it could draw Chinese and Russian intervention that could spark a wider conflagration in Asia.

One dimensional?

Meanwhile, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continues to unleash more verbal abuse against the US. He dared the US to file a human rights case in the United Nations for the criticism on Manila’s war on drugs. The US, he said, has a lot of lawyers so why doesn’t it file a complaint in the UN? This is an issue where Duterte knows he’s standing on solid ground. The drug menace in the country has affected almost every family of social and economic background.

One may call the drug scourge as a great social leveler.

The Philippines, however, has other problems needing the President’s attention. Filipinos do not want a one-dimensional president, who focuses too much attention on the campaign against illegal drugs. While a great majority of civil society support Duterte’s relentless war on drugs, there as many who are also clamoring for reforms in the public transport system, the monstrous traffic problem, the high rate of unemployment and the increasing number of hungry Filipinos. There are some 2.4-million Filipinos working overseas because of the lack of gainful employment here.

Duterte could bring home at least half a million of our countrymen home by providing them with decent jobs so they could be with their families back home.

The Duterte administration’s campaign promises to reduce unemployment and boost agricultural production particularly in Mindanao could be the answer to the proverbial question of how to generate jobs. Another area where jobs can be made available would be in the government’s infrastructure projects. To solve the gridlocked traffic in Metro Manila, construction of expressways, bridges and opening of new roads can provide unemployment albeit not on a long-term basis. It will at least provide employment to many of our countrymen who risk far from ideal work conditions in the Middle East and even as far as Africa.

Broadway musical While in New York on a month-and-a-half sabbatical, my wife and I saw “The Great Comet,” a musical play on Broadway.

It’s hardly a great title for a Broadway musical but the expensive 100 dollars for each ticket was a Christmas gift from a son and daughter who knew I was a big fan of the singer Josh Groban. True enough, the Israeli-American’s repertoire and the range of his voice enthralled us. It was worth the trip from the suburb in Long Island to New York City; we braved the 32-degree winter cold plus a light sprinkling of snow.

“There’s too much activity going on I cannot follow what it said,” said the portly gentleman on the seat in front of me on the mezzanine floor during intermission. The performers, including Groban, went up four rows in front of us as they sang and danced along the aisles. It was an evening of delightful and heady music in an interpretation of the novel “ War and Peace.”

nosed with stage IV cancer, “she spent the days up until her death regretting almost all the choices she made and beat herself up day after day. One of her last journal entries included reflections on how unappreciative she was with things in front of her, and finally

realizing happiness does not lie within superficial matters a little too late.”

May we all find true happiness in 2017!

Email: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

A6

News

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Benefits for disabled now ready Oil firms T increase

HE Department of Social Welfare and Development said Sunday persons with disabilities can already avail of the benefits under Republic Act 1054, noting that the implementing rules and regulations of the law was signed Dec.1.

cooking gas price

By Alena Mae S. Flores

COOKING gas prices went up

by P4.15 per kilo, or P45.65 per 11-kilo tank, to reflect the higher prices of liquefied petroleum gas in the world market.

“Petron will increase Gasul and Fiesta gas prices by P4.15 per kilo effective 12:01 a.m., Jan. 1,” Petron said. Other oil players are expected to follow suit.

Petron also increased the price of Xtend autoLPG by P2.32 per liter.

“These reflect increase in international LPG contract prices,” the oil refiner said. Oil companies adjust LPG prices on a monthly basis.

Oil prices, meanwhile, may go up this week, according to industry sources.

“Our estimate is an increase of P0.40 to P0.60 per liter for Monday to Wednesday trading days last week,” the source said.

Latest Energy department monitoring showed that crude oil were still trading above US$50 per barrel for three weeks in a row, supported by a deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and nonmembers to lower output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day from Jan. 1.

The department, however, said that while major Opec producers including Saudi Arabia and Iraq have informed their customers that delivery of supply will be slashed in line with the Opec deal, Libya and Nigeria are exempt because conflict has already curbed their output.

NOT ENOUGH TO FLY. A balloon

vendor is still solidly on the ground despite the number of balloons he is hawking at the Project 6 area in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

Following the signing on Dec. 1 and the publication of the IRR on Dec. 8 in two major national newspapers, availment of the privileges commenced on Dec. 23.

The DSWD also explained that there is no need for supplemental guidelines from implementing agencies because the law and the IRR are sufficient to grant the discount to PWDs. “Our PWDs can now avail of the discounts.

There should be no problem about availment as the IRR is sufficient basis for the grant of the discounts. If they encounter problems in availing of their privileges or they have further inquiries, they can contact the [National Council on Disability Affairs],” DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said.

She said the law grants PWDs exemptions from value-added tax on the purchase of certain goods and services from all establishments subject to VAT for their exclusive use, enjoyment, or availment.

This is on top of the 20-percent discount they are already entitled to under Republic Act 9442, also known as An Act Amending R.A. No. 7277, Otherwise Known as the “Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, and for Other Purposes.”

The act covers restaurants, recreation centers, such as theaters, cinema houses, concert halls and lodging establishments.

It also applies to the purchase of medicines and foods for special medical purposes; medical and dental services, including laboratory fees and professional fees of attending doctors; domestic air, sea, and land transportation travel; and funeral and burial services.

For this purpose, the law requires all establishments to place signages of the benefits and privileges of persons with disability within their premises so PWDs will know what they are entitled to. It also declares that subsequent purchases made by the PWDs on the same day from the same establishment are still subject to VAT-exemption and 20-percent discount.

Other salient features of the IRR include the reiteration of the rights of PWDs to social insurance (thru the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, Pag-IBIG), educational assistance, special discounts in the purchase of basic necessities and prime commodities, and express lanes in all commercial and government establishments.

Govt ban on cutting of coconut trees begins January 3 THE Philippine Coconut Authority has banned the cutting of coconut trees in all areas in the country except in Basilan province and Isabela City.

“We really have to impose a moratorium because [Republic Act 8048, or the Coconut Preservation Act of 1995] is not effectively enforced. It is as if the coco loggers are just making fun of us, they are not taking it seriously. I think it is time to put my foot down on this issue,” said PCA administrator Billy Andal.

Andal signed the order along with Cabinet Secretay Leoncio Evasco Jr:, PCA governing board members Alan P. Tanjuakio, Edicio dela Torre and Ponciano A. Batugal.

The moratorium will be effective for a period of three months starting January 3 while there is an on-going review of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10510593 amending RA 8048 which aims to streamline the processes related to permits and clearances.

“We really have to do it or else our coco-

nut industry will be endangered. There are more coconut trees cut than planted,” said the administrator.

“What’s really getting on my nerve is the fact that the legal permits given to coco loggers are being used to illegally cut the coco trees. And the worst part is, our officials are the ones in cahoots with the coco loggers,” added Andal.

The proposed moratorium is expected to strengthen institutional mechanism in order to effectively and efficiently manage the en-

forcement of the law with the ultimate goal protecting the supply base of the country and to safeguard the integrity of the systems and process involved.

Basilan Province and Isabela City are exempted from the moratorium because of the Coconut Scale Insect or cocolisap and to encourage coconut lumber processors to source their supply of coconut lumber in said provinces thereby augmenting the very few lumber dealers in the affected provinces.

11 nurses qualify for Germany ELEVEN more Filipina nurses passed the recognition examination under the Triple Win Project as Qualified Nurses in Frankfurt, Germany, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said.

The said nurses are now qualified to work in Germany, thus bringing the total number of Filipina nurses who passed the Recognition Examination under the Triple Win Project to 66.

The 11 Filipino nurses who passed the Recognition Examination were Homer Aliling, Jane Anonuevo, April Diaz, Lizette Gutiza, Krischelle Fenequito, Elizabeth Salomon, Virtue Solis, Reza Canoy, Jo-Ann Zaparilla, Joey Maniaol and Georgina Musa.

As of September 2016, there were 170 Filipino nurses deployed under the Triple Win Project. Some 300 nurses are either undergoing language training or awaiting training schedule.

The Triple Win Project started in March 2013 after Germany’s Federal Employment Agency and the Department of Labor and Employment signed a bilateral agreement. PNA

VISITING FROM THE HIGHLANDS. An Aeta mother carries her child through the mess known as Metro Manila traffic still hoping to get Christmas alms from motorists. Manny Palmero

P10-b Tondo project okayed THE Board of Investments has approved the application of Tondo Holdings Corporation as a new developer of affordable housing.

The P10.18-billion project falls under the Preferred List of Economic and Low-Cost Housing under Book I of Executive Order No. 226, otherwise known as the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987 and complies with the guidelines set by the current Investment Priorities Plan.

“The inclusive growth strategy in the Duterte administration’s 10-point Socio-Economic Agenda will boost the lower income class and join a rapidly expanding middle class segment of the population.

This project will go a long way towards addressing the big demand for affordable housing among the rising middle class,” Trade Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said.

“With the construction of these new housing projects, more jobs are also being generated not only among the construction segment but also on its suppliers,” he further said.

Construction of the project dubbed as “Urban Deca Homes Manila” is ongoing and is expected to be operational by January 2017 providing up to 819 jobs.

The project involves the development of around 85,000 square meters (sqm) in Vitas Street, Tondo, Manila with the construction of thirteen (13) 13-storey buildings with a total capacity of 13,212 units.

The proposed condominium project comprises of studio type measuring 22.95 sqm per unit, 1 bedroom (27.42 sqm), and 2 bedroom, type A and B measuring 32.18 sqm and 30.6 sqm, respectively, with tiled finish flooring (interior), toilet and bath and kitchen counter already tiled.

Sports

A7

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Kerber enjoying pressure as no. 1

Spain’s Rafael Nadal (right) playfully holds the winner’s trophy next to Belgium’s David Goffin after their final match of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2016 in Abu Dhabi. Nadal won 6-4 and 7-6. AFP

BRISBANE—Germany’s Angelique Kerber said Sunday she was enjoying the pressure of being the world’s top-ranked tennis player as she prepares to get her 2017 season underway.

Speaking ahead of the Brisbane International, Kerber conceded she would be under more pressure in 2017 as the world number one but was not letting it get to her.

“I think it will be a completely different year than 2016,” she said.

“There are a lot of challenges that I have now, and I think I’m ready.

Of course the pressure is there but it’s a different pressure now.”

Kerber said she was initially surprised at the attention she had received since reaching number one last September.

“The biggest thing was that I have so many things to do,” she said.

“It was a really big thing here, and in Germany, and

everywhere, so that surprised me a lot. I’m actually just trying to enjoy it -- I’m still enjoying it.”

Kerber had a breakthrough 2016, winning two Grand Slams on her way to becoming number one.

But asked when her run to the top began, Kerber pointed to the first round in Brisbane last year, when she rallied from a set down to beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

“Starting here with my first round where I played on court one, I think, and I lost the first set,” she said.

“Then we had a rain delay and I came back after losing the first set and I won that match.

“So this was the start of my journey in 2016, here in Australia, because then I played every single round better and better.

“And then, of course, the final [which she lost] against Vika [Azarenka] here was not bad and I went to Melbourne with a lot of confidence.” AFP

Rafa wins 4 UAE net title th

Dakar Rally to push drivers to the max

A

BU DHABI—Rafael Nadal ended an injuryplagued 2016 on a high by lifting the Mubadala World Tennis Championship title for a fourth time on Saturday.

ASUNCION, Paraguay—The 39th Dakar Rally revs into gear on Monday in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, the start of a punishing route at often giddy altitudes that the competitors admit they are scared by.

From Asuncion the gruelling 9,000 km race will cross into Argentina, negotiate the Andes in Bolivia before returning to Argentina and a grandstand finish at Buenos Aires on January 14.

Stephane Peterhansel, who is chasing a 13th Dakar title, is among those fearing the physical effects of racing at South America’s punishing high altitudes -- competitors will have to deal with six days at 3,000 metres or more above sea level.

“We all fear a little the time spent at altitude. I fear for the teams, the staff, mechanics,” said the Frenchman, 51, who won the 2016 event in a Peugeot after wins in 2004, 2005 and 2007 with Mitsubishi and 2012 and 2013 victories behind the wheel of a Mini.

“Last year there were cases when mechanics didn’t feel well. This is going to be the most intense Dakar we have done in South America.”

The only scheduled rest day, January 8, will be spent in the Bolivian capital of La Paz at a lung-busting 3,500m above sea level.

While on the Bolivian Altiplano, five stages will be raced with a maximum altitude of 4,500m reached.

“The route of the 2017 Dakar preserves the rally-raid traditions, with a physical challenge that will push the competitors into the world of extreme endurance,” said Dakar race sporting director Marc Coma, a five-time winner of the motorcycle title. Peterhansel’s Peugeot team is completed by two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz, a Dakar winner in 2010, but who has failed to finish in the last two years -- underlining what a feat just completing the race can be. AFP

The 30-year-old Spaniard defeated 11th-ranked Belgian David Goffin 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) after world number one Andy Murray earlier ousted Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to take third place.

“I’m very happy to return to competition again. These three days have been good for me. These three days, playing at this level, are going to stand me in good

stead for the rest of the season,” said Nadal.

Nadal’s 2016 campaign had been ruined by a wrist injury that forced him out of Roland Garros after the second round and saw him miss Wimbledon.

But he looked in form throughout the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, beating Czech Tomas Berdych in the quarter-

final and Raonic in the semi-finals.

“He put a lot of pressure on me,” said Goffin of his first clash against the Spaniard.

“You can feel how strong he is when he is in front of you. Mentally he is very impressive and he looks really strong to start the new season.”

Nadal will now head to Australia for the Brisbane International, with Goffin travelling to Doha for the Qatar Open.

Wimbledon and Olympic champion Murray, who was knighted in the New Year Honours list, lost to Goffin in Friday’s semi-final, his first defeat in the Bel-

gian in six meetings.

“It was good to finish the year with a win,” said the 29-year-old Scot. “I still feel like Andy Murray - that feels more normal - but I am happy with the knighthood and it is a nice way to start the new year.”

Murray’s next stop is neighbouring Qatar for the opening week of the ATP season and two weeks out from the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2017.

In the match for fifth-place in the sixman field, France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Czech Thomas Berdych 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 10-3. AFP

Football and prayer wheels: views of modern Tibet LHASA, China—Faith has always been at the heart of Tibetan culture. As practitioners of the country’s unique form of Buddhism face increasing obstacles to their worship, Beijing has sought to cultivate a different kind of true believer: the football fan.

China, which has fully controlled Tibet since the 1950s, has been accused of political and religious repression in the mainly Buddhist region.

It counters that Tibetans enjoy

extensive freedoms and that it has brought economic growth to the area -- Tibet’s heavily subsidised GDP jumped 11.0 percent in 2015.

In the regional capital of Lhasa, thousands turn up to the Jokhang temple at dawn. From young men wearing trainers to women sporting traditional turquoise necklaces to a taxi driver making a stop before he starts work, the temple is abuzz with activity as worshippers stretch out, turn prayer wheels and complete their daily rounds.

But this display of religious fer-

vour belies the restrictions faced

by Tibetan believers, with the Dalai Lama -- the head of the main branch of Tibetan Buddhism -- a proverbial thorn in the side of Beijing.

The spiritual leader, who has lived in exile in the north Indian town of Dharamsala since a failed 1959 uprising, has for decades called for more Tibetan autonomy rather than independence.

Chinese authorities maintain he is a “separatist” seeking to split

Tibet from the rest of the country.

Since Beijing’s forces reaffirmed control over Tibet in 1951, many ethnically Han Chinese migrants -- the country’s largest group by far -- have moved to Lhasa and now make up about half the city’s population.

In 2008, demonstrations by Tibetan monks in Lhasa degenerated into deadly violence targeting Han and the Hui, China’s Muslim minority.

But while Beijing limits religious gatherings, it has sought to elevate the appetite for football.

The region’s first soccer team, Lhasa FC, went into operation in 2015, headed by a Tibetan entrepreneur who seeks to promote “unity” with the Chinese, one game at a time.

Ninety percent of the team is ethnically Tibetan and the remaining ten percent Han Chinese, and the hope is that having a team in a national league -- even at the fourth tier -- will make Tibetans feel more integrated into China.

-- This story accompanies a photo essay by Johannes Eisele AFP

Harden...

From A8

This file photo shows members of the Lhasa Pureland Football Club resting after an official press meeting at their football stadium in the regional capital Lhasa, in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

Economic growth and football are two parts of Beijing’s recipe for winning hearts and building unity in Tibet -- a region that has for decades been synonymous with restrictions from religious worship to media access. AFP

French big man Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 13 rebounds while Gordon Hayward added 18 points to spark host Utah over Phoenix 91-86.

Mike Conley scored 22 points in his return after missing two games with a toe injury and the visiting Memphis Grizzlies ripped Sacramento 112-98 despite losing Spanish center Marc Gasol with a left ankle sprain three minutes into the second half.

The Grizzlies netted a clubrecord 17 3-pointers, 11 of them in the third quarter, in improving to 22-14. They made six 3-pointers in a row and 7-of-8 over a 4:30 span that saw them open a 22-point advantage.

“When we’re shooting like we were today, we’re a very tough team,” Conley said. “The ball was shared so much that guys got a lot of open looks.” AFP

Ivanovic: My heart was not in it (tennis) anymore LONDON—Former women’s tennis world number one Ana Ivanovic admitted Saturday she retired this week because she felt both physically and mentally unfit to carry on after years of battling injuries.

The 29-year-old Serbian -whose sole Grand Slam success came in the 2008 French Open one of her 15 WTA titles -- added she wanted to retire while she still loved the sport.

“The last few years have been a struggle with injury,” Ivanovic told The Times newspaper on Saturday.

“It was always a fight coming back and so much work on the court, off the court, and then not sometimes being in the best shape.

“For me, the IPTL (International Premier Tennis League who hosted events in Singapore and India recently) was a last test.

“I didn’t have the feeling in

my body and in my heart that I should push more.

“It’s never easy to step back from something you love, but I wanted it to remain my love rather than something that I have to do or end up despising because it hurt.”

Ivanovic, who also reached the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open finals, said she would not classify her career as being one of under-achievement.

“I think it’s hard to say that someone has overachieved or underachieved,” said Ivanovic, who won the season-ending WTA Tournament of Champions title twice.

“Even though I look back and think maybe I could have done a little bit more, it all happens for a reason.”

Ivanovic, who first took up tennis aged five after watching Yugoslavian star Monica Seles

play, conceded she had been overwhelmed by the attention focused not just on her ability but looks.

“I felt quite flattered,” said Ivanovic.

“The only thing was that it was very overwhelming for me because I was so young.

“All I had done was play tennis because I loved it so much. To deal with all those responsibilities was difficult, because I was

very shy growing up.”

Ivanovic, who married German World Cup winning midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger in Venice earlier this year, says she will not return to the circuit even as a coach.

“I do not have ambitions of coming back as a coach,” said Ivanovic.

“I’m really happy with the career I’ve had. Now it’s time to try different things.”

Andrada Cup net tilt starts

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

A8

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Sports James Harden of the Houston Rockets goes up for a dunk during a game against the New York Knicks at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Harden had a triple double of his own with 17 assists -- matching his career best -- and 16 rebounds in powering the host Rockets over New York 129-122. AFP

THE Philippine Tennis Association kicks off its 2017 calendar with the staging of the 28th Andrada Cup from Jan. 2 to 8 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

Held in honor of Philta president Salvador Andrada, the tournament features the country’s top juniors, including Mindanao players Janus Ringia and Gennifer Pagente, both double champions in the 2016 season-ending Philta-PSC Age Group Championships.

Ringia of Koronadal, South Cotabato and Pagente of Cagayan de Oro City are seeded No. 1 in both the 18-under and 16-under in their respective divisions.

The other top seeds are John David Velez (boys’ 14-under), Andrei Jarata (boys’ 12-under), Macie Carlos (girls’ 14-under), Tennielle Madis (girls’ 12-under and 10-under unisex).

The Andrada Cup, which is supported by former Philta vice president Manuel Misa of Altamar Shipping, Thaddeus Sporting Goods and official ball Babolat, will also determine the composition of the national teams competing in four major international tournaments later this year.

The ITF/ATF Division 14-Under, Junior Davis Cup and Junior Federation Cup will be held in New Delhi, India on January 28 –February 12 (ITF-ATF 14-Under), February 20-25 (JDC and JFC pre-qualifying), March 13-18 (JDC final qualifying) and March 20-25 (JFC final qualifying).

Harden powers Rockets past Knicks W ASHINGTON— Houston’s James Harden scored a career-high 53 points, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook achieved a first-half triple double and LeBron James sparked an injury-hit Cleveland squad in triumphant NBA efforts Saturday.

Westbrook, the NBA’s top scorer with 31.3 points a game, needed only 19 minutes to reach double figures and finished with 17 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in the Thunder’s 114-88 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Harden, Westbrook’s former Thunder teammate, had a triple double of his own with 17 assists -- matching his ca-

reer best -- and 16 rebounds in powering the host Rockets over New York 129-122.

Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James scored 32 points, 17 in the first quarter, and had nine assists while Kevin Love added 28 points and 10 rebounds to spark the defending NBA champion Cavaliers over host Charlotte 121-109.

Westbrook, the only NBA

player since 1997 to manage a first-half triple double, scored 11 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and passed off 12 assists to spark Oklahoma City to a 69-40 half-time advantage.

But Westbrook’s 16th triple double of the season fell short of the NBA’s fastest-ever triple double, achieved in only 17 minutes by Syracuse’s Jim Tucker in 1955.

At Charlotte, Jordan McRae scored 20 points in only his second career start to ease the load on James as Cleveland was missing guard Kyrie Irving due to a tight right hamstring and reserve forward Mike Dunleavy with an ankle injury.

Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 37 points.

At Houston, Brandon Jennings led the Knicks with 32

points while New York star Carmelo Anthony scored only seven points before leaving the game with a sore left knee.

Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points, Jabari Parker added 27 and Malcolm Brogdon contributed 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for Milwaukee in the Bucks’ 116-96 victory at Chicago. Jimmy Butler scored 26 points in a losing cause. Turn to A7

US trashes Shakey’s V-League Czechs in hails lucky 13th year Hopman tilt PERTH—The United States opened their Hopman Cup campaign in style with a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in Perth on Sunday.

The American pair of Jack Sock and Coco Vandeweghe won both their singles matches to clinch the tie, and then made it a clean sweep with victory in the mixed doubles.

After Vanderweghe beat Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-2 to open the tie, Sock then edged past Adam Pavlasek in three sets.

The dead mixed doubles rubber was a relaxed affair played under the novel Fast Four format and the US came from a set down to win 2-4, 4-2, 4-1.

Sock, who is just one place in the rankings below last year’s career-high of world number 22, traded winners with the inexperienced Pavlasek in the first set.

A break in the 11th game of gave Sock the advantage and the 24-year-old served out to clinch the set.

However, the 75th-ranked Pavlasek broke in the second game of the second set and fought back to level the tie.

An early break in the third set had Sock back on the right foot and he overcame some serving problems to win in just over two hours, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. AFP

HUGE crowds, high TV ratings, a two-title romp by Pocari Sweat and a National U repeat highlighted another banner year for Shakey’s V-League, which continued to pack wallops, deliver top-notch matches and stay on top of the heap.

It was also a season of firsts and comebacks with Iriga City Mayor Madeleine Alfelor-Gazmen playing an actual game in the Open Conference and the Summer Spikers making their return after a one-year absence, shuttling from Baguio and Manila and back during games.

Veering away from its regular opening conference fare, the league, where it all started, actually marked its “13th” season with a fans’ day where they played with their favorite stars in a variety of game-related skills challenge and ended up mingling with their idols for photo-ops and autograph signing sessions during the All-Star.

The league held its All-Star Game, along with that of the Spikers’ Turf, as part of its social commitment with proceeds, amounting to P200,000 going to the typhoon Lawin victims through ABS CBN Foundation.

The All-Star was also staged to give something back to the league’s ever-loyal fans through the backing of Shakey’s, Mikasa, Accel, Pocari Sweat, BaliPure, the Philippine Sports Commis-

sion and ABS-CBN Sports + Action.

Bannered by veterans Michelle Gumabao, Melissa Gohing, Myla Pablo and Desiree Dadang, Pocari Sweat made sure to mark its maiden stint in the country’s premier volley league with a victory – grounding the Air Force Lady Jet Spikers in sudden death to snare the Open Conference crown before a huge crowd.

Pocari Sweat also came into the season-ending Reinforced Conference armed to the teeth, tapping a pair of talented imports in Andrea Kacsits and Breanna Mackie and sweeping another Alyssa Valdez-led team, this time, the Bureau of Customs Transformers in the finals to complete the Lady Warriors’ remarkable two-title sweep before another banner crowd.

Most marquee matches were beamed live over ABS-CBN Sports + Action Channel 23 with the championships aired on primetime, further adding to the popularity of the league which turned a once-dormant sport in 2004 into what it is today.

Customs also toughened up in a bid to claim a V-League championship on its very first try, luring not only the high-flying, power-hitting Valdez but also tapping Thai imports Nic Jaisaen and Kanjana Kuthaisong, while BaliPure, raring to atone for its failed bid in the Open, also came

Members of Team Pocari whoop it up after clinching the Reinforced Conference crown, completing an impressive two-title sweep by a newcomer in the Shakey’s V-League.

in with reinforcements Kaylee Manns and Kate Morell.

But both fell short against the Lady Warriors, so did the five other teams which showed up with an all-local crew with UST and UP dishing out solid games while underscoring their readiness for the UAAP wars.

The Lady Bulldogs also proved they’re more than ready for the UAAP battle, beating the Ateneo Lady Eagles in a pair of five-setters to repeat as champions of the mid-season Collegiate Conference. MVP Jaja Santiago and former utility spiker-turned-

setter Jasmine Nabor took charge for the Bustillos-based school, which actually notched its third V-League title, including its breakthrough in Season 10, also against Ateneo.

Over in the men’s side, the second season of Spikers’ Turf also proved to be a big success with Air Force dispatching the Cignal HD Spikers in both the Open and Reinforced Conference finals.

Air Force’s season-ending conference victory also served as a revenge of sorts as Cignal edged it in three matches to clinch last year’s Reinforced crown.

Ateneo got back at NU as the Eagles kept the Collegiate Championship for the second straight season. Both squads have figured in the last three UAAP finals as well as the first two V-League Collegiate Conference championships with the Katipunanbased squad lording it over NU, 4-1, in their head-to-head duel.

With Sports Vision lining up a number of innovations to make the league more interesting and at the same time compete for media attention in mainstream sports, there’s no other way for Season 14 to go but up.

Cani, Tolentino, Senining could make it to Tamaraws’Team A roster

By Peter Atencio HUBERT Cani and Arvin Tolentino, two players undergoing residency, could make it to Team A of the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.

But another aspiring cager could make it to the main roster of the team for Season 80 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

That is if prolific Cebuano guard Rendell Senining is chosen by incoming coach Olsen Racela and the new coaching staff of the FEU Tamaraws to step forward and show how good he is.

Senining, a 5’8” guard, who can score big just like Tolentino and Cani, has been proving himself in Team B events.

He transferred to FEU after helping the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu

Magis Eagles to the Cesafi juniors’ title in 2012, before trying to make the National University Bulldogs’ main lineup after playing for its developmental team in different tournaments since 2013.

After spending three years on NU’s Team B, Senining has since moved over to the FEU camp late last year.

Racela said he has watched Cani and Tolentino play before, adding he liked what he saw and felt that the two could

make an impact on the initial changes that could take place in the roster of the Tams.

“Cani and Tolentino could make it.

But I have not seen the others (in Team B),” said Racela, who will begin running practices for the Tams in the second week of January.

The 5’10” Cani, a former star cager of the National University Bullpups in high school, is spending a year in resi-

dency alongside Tolentino for the Tams after he sat out following two years of residency with Ateneo’s Team B. He and Tolentino are expected to fill up voids in the team, now that two veterans, Raymar Jose and Monbert Arong, are graduating by March.

Racela will be working on making the Tams competitive with their former coach Nash-- Racela’s brother--who will stay on as consultant.

Business group expects export recovery in 2017 B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

B1

PH set to sustain growth this year

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

T

HE Finance Department said it expects the Philippine economy to sustain its high growth this year, despite the “political noise” in the first six months of the Duterte administration.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said he remained bullish about the prospects for continued high growth in 2017 and the coming years, as the government committed to pursue an accelerated spending program.

Dominguez said this would not only sustain the economic momentum but would also spread the benefits of growth to all sectors across all regions with more jobs and better living standards.

He said growth remained on the upswing on the back of rock-solid macroeconomic fundamentals.

Dominguez said the government was on track toward realizing its vision of lifting six million Filipinos from poverty and transforming the Philippines into a high middle-income country five years from now, with a per-capita gross national income of $4,100, or where Thailand and China are today.

He said the optimistic outlook on the Philippines as one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies was shared by credit raters and other international institutions such as S&P Global, the

Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Dominguez said the Duterte administration was committed to pursuing the congressional approval of proposed comprehensive tax reform program― the first in 30 years―to ensure the financial sustainability of the government’s unparalleled spending on infrastructure, human capital and social protection for the most vulnerable sectors.

He said the economy’s strong showing in the third quarter with GDP growth of 7.1 percent― the best in three years―was driven in part by the onset of the Duterte presidency’s strong spending on infrastructure and the recovery of the agriculture sector from the prolonged El Niñoinduced drought.

“This means there will be no letup in the Duterte administration’s commitment to spend-

ing big on urban and rural infrastructure as a growth driver, to guarantee sustained high―and inclusive―growth,” Dominguez said.

He said the government needed to invest heavily in programs to transform the economy from a consumption- to an investment-driven one, and at a much higher level from the current investment rate of 20 percent of GDP. This would put the Philippines at par with vibrant neighbors that were investing between 30 percent and 40 percent of their respective GDPs. Dominguez said the Duterte administration would also remain focused on other urgent measures such as fully implementing the Reproductive Health Law, modernizing agriculture to pull down food prices while increasing farmers’ incomes and leveling the playing field for micro, small and medium scale enterprises.

PNOC to develop Pandacan property

By Alena Mae S. Flores STATE-owned Philippine National Oil Co. is looking at the “best economic use” for an 11.89-hectare property in Pandacan, Manila once the lease of oil refiner Petron Corp. expires in 2018, an official said.

PNOC president Reuben Lista said the Pandacan property was among the properties conveyed by Petron as a property dividend in 1993.

The property, located on the northeast side of Jesus Street, was leased back to Petron for 25 years starting Sept. 1, 1993 to August 21, 2018.

Lista said Petron, the country’s biggest oil company, expressed interest in the early renewal of the lease agreement for the bulk plants, including the Pandacan property.

The plan, however, hit a snag after the Supreme Court declared as invalid the Manila City ordinance allowing petroleum refineries and oil depots in Pandacan.

Petron dismantled its fuel tanks and maintained only its sales office, health clinic, firefighting activities and laboratory at the site pursuant to the court order.

The Manila City ordinance subsequently reclassified the area where the oil depots were located in Pandacan into high-intensity commercial/mixed use zone from heavy industrial.

“With the aforesaid reclassification, the Pandacan property can no longer be used as bulk plant as originally contemplated in 1993,” Lista said.

“Thus, for PNOC to fulfill its mandate of optimizing the use of the property, PNOC management intends to exclude the property in the renewal of the lease agreement with Petron for bulk plants in September 2018,” Lista said.

He said the Pandancan property would instead be developed “according to its best economic use and development trends in the vicinity.”

The move is a part of PNOC’s plan of exploring the conversion of its properties in Batangas, Manila and Bataan into energy projects and other income generating ventures.

HOLIDAY ASSISTANCE. The Aboitiz Group mobilized its business units in Albay, Mindoro and Batangas over the holiday season and sent much-needed relief items to families affected by typhoon Nina, with AP Renewables-Tiwi leading with a pledge of P1.8 million in canned goods, rice, water and The Care Package high-energy biscuits in Tiwi, Albay. AboitizPower Distribution Utilities also spearheaded re-electrification efforts in Tiwi, Albay. Shown are volunteers from the Aboitiz Group distributing the relief items to typhoon victims.

Govt studies Bataan-Manila expressway

By Darwin G Amojelar THE Public Works Department said it is studying an unsolicited proposal from a group led by San Miguel Corp. to build a P399.66-billion flood control and expressway project that will connect Bataan and Metro Manila.

“It’s still under study because it’s a massive project. There’s a lot of technical issues that have to be addressed,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

Villar said the technical group of the National Economic and Development Authority was studying the environmental and economic impact of the project.

“It has to go through process. Of

course, being government, we have to study it first, make sure there is no adverse impact on the areas it will pass through,” Villar said.

“I think any road is needed. We just need to compute the economic benefits.

Usually, it is included in the Neda study, weighing the economic impact vs. the cost. We try our best to quantify what will be the benefit. So, it’s still early stage. Very early stage,” he said.

The proponent, Coastal Development Consortium, led by San Miguel Holdings Corp. and New San Jose Builders Inc., plans to build an integrated infrastructure project in the northern coastline of Manila Bay. It will involve financing, design and construction of the city flood control

in the coastal waters of Navotas City and coastal sea barrier through the northern part of Manila Bay covering the coastal areas of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan.

An expressway that will connect Bataan with Metro Manila and providing direct access to the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga with a concession period of 50 years is also included in the project proposal.

Of the total project cost of P399.66 billion, the proponent allotted P60.84 billion for city flood barrier; P40.36 billion for expressway and P237.02 billion for coastal barrier.

The Public Works Department said it expected the Neda board to act on the proposal by first quarter of 2017.

PH-SINGAPORE PARTNERSHIP. President Rodrigo Duterte (center) and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (3rd from right) reaffirm strong economic partnership with Singapore officials through increased collaboration in sectors such as food, engineering and architecture services, aircraft and MRO services, infrastructure, construction and public-private partnership, shipbuilding, information technology and business process management, tourism and startup sectors. With Singapore Business Federation (SBF) members during the recent presidential visit in December 2016, the two countries discussed areas of collaboration in support of investment and entrepreneurship of Filipinos in Singapore and the continued efforts of forwarding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the region.

Meralco sees sales rising 3.5% POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. said it expects sales volume to rise 3.5 percent this year, slower than the estimated 8.1-percent growth in 2016.

Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services, corporate marketing and communications Al Panlilio said the growth figure in 2017 would be slower as the company “is coming from a big volume” in 2016.

Meralco estimated that sales volume hit close to 40,000 gigawatt-hours in 2016.

“Yes, that’s our estimate. May be 3 to 3.5 percent [growth this year],” Panlilio said, adding that the shutdown of Sunpower’s solar facility in the country last month could affect demand.

Meralco said volume growth likely increased 8.1 percent in 2016, higher than nearly six percent in 2015.

Sales volume in nine months ending September 2016 grew 9.5 percent to 30.103 gWh as sales across all customer classes remained strong.

Residential customers posted volume growth of 14 percent in the ninemonth period on account of organic sales with lower power prices, benign inflation and new accounts.

Demand of commercial customers grew 9 percent year-on-year, supported by the business processing outsourcing, real estate, retail trade and hospitality industries.

Industrial volume rose 5 percent, supported by cement manufacturing, food and beverage and plastic and packaging industries. “[It would be] 8.1 percent growth for the end of the year in sales for Meralco DU [distribution utility]. It’s gonna be roughly about 39,600 gWh,” Panlilio said earlier.

Panlilio said adding the sales volume of subsidiary Clark Electric Distribution Corp. with about 500 gWh, “so it will exceed the 40,000 gWh, consolidated.” Alena Mae S. Flores

B2

Business

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market likely to trade sideways

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

TOCKS are expected to move sideways in the first trading week of 2017 as investors look at developments overseas for guidance.

The equity research team of online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com said the market would start the year with fresh economic data from China, the Philippines and the US. These include China manufacturing PMI, US jobs addition in December, minutes of Federal Reserve meeting and December inflation in the Philippines.

Minutes of Fd meeting “could help investors differentiate the Fed’s tone and identify as to whether Federal Reserve’s plan to hike three times in 2017 is firm enough relative

to the earlier issued statement,” 2TradeAsia. com said.

“Nonetheless, focus will likely be on transition of the US administration on 20 January, as investors bet on robust fiscal spending to boost the US economy. All eyes will be on global and local fiscal policies, ahead of major spending changes,” it said.

Luis Limlingan, managing director of Regina Capital Development Corp., said he also expected global growth to stabilize in 2017, which could boost the possibility of US Fed hiking interest rates this year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, jumped 4.2 percent last week, to close at 6,840.64 on Dec. 29, while the all-share index climbed 3.3 percent to 4,156.07.

Foreign investors were net buyers by P445 million as total foreign buying reached P6.95 billion while foreign selling amounted

to P6.51 billion.

Except of the mining and oil index which declined 0.6 percent, all major subindices ended in the green, led by property which advanced 4.8 percent, holding firms which went up 4.8 percent and industrials which rose 3.8 percent.

The PSEi was down 1.6 percent in 2016.

Foreign investors were net buyers last year

by P2.15 billion.

Top gainers last week were Metro Pacific Investments Corp. which jumped 11.2 percent to P6.66, Puregold Price Club Inc. which increased 8.3 percent to P39 and BDO Unibank Inc. which rose 6.8 percent to P112.10.

Heavy losers were PhilWeb Corp. which declined 5.6 percent to P10.60, Security Bank Corp. which dropped 5 percent to P190 and Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. which shed 2.6 percent to P11.10.

Meralco to award deal to PowerSource

By Alena Mae S. Flores SOLAR developer PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. matched the price offer of Asian solar developer Soleq to supply 50 megawatts of solar capacity to retailer Manila Electric Co. Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services, corporate marketing and communications Al Panlilio confirmed that PowerSource reduced its initial price offer of P5.39 per kilowatt-hour to P4.69 per kWh.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

DECEMBER 27-29, 2016 Close Volume

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

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

3.49 47.95 112.10 88.80 38 3.79 1.35 9.99 16.1 18.54 6.60 0.73 780.00 0.570 72.6 0.77 14.36 24.70 54.60 90 145 238.4 33.55 190 1631.00 74.60 1.25

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp.

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

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

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

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Pilipinas Shell Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

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

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

41.7 4.6 0.85 1.23 19.6 0.195 97 22.00 11.1 16.18 142 90 121 22.9 58 1.85 6.47 12.9 11.400 7.00 5.15 6.12 22 67.9 12.70 16.50 6.08 1.580 194.00 74.95 2.58 3.83 29 25 14.8 265.00 0.249 5.10 3.24 9.95 4 69.8 11.80 2.13 5.64 1.37 5 5.10 2.75 231 11.5 4.59 0.140 1.42 163.5 4.6 1.36 31.50 1.12

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

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

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

0.415 70.80 12.78 1.20 6.00 0.310 0.305 730.5 8.5 13.26 5.75 7.5 8.24 0.190 1270 5.55 67.65 4.3 7.8 1.12 12.56 0.480 6.66 3.49 0.0380 1.130 1.900 2.62 92.30 2.5 655.00 1.22 0.83 262.000 0.2850 0.1940 0.249

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

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

Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc.

7.510 6.98 1.04 2.350 0.400 32.000 3.2 4.9 6.33 0.550 1.05 1.360 0.156 0.560 38.4 0.690 0.125 1.00 1.53

Value

FINANCIAL 329,380.00 2,433,645.00 453,696,449 281,527,689.50 10,159,775.00 11,370.00 156,450.00 9,745.00 516,394.00 4,181,424.00 339,540 1,025,140 7,800.00 2,251,450.00 279,946,590.50 456,020.00 2,105,448.00 32,220.00 10,733,383.00 242,630.00 218,880.00 19,088,612.00 13,052,130 325,130,635.00 841,940 11,100,227.00 35,380.00 INDUSTRIAL 4,901,400 207,395,600.00 10,449,000 47,995,880.00 1,516,000 1,228,460.00 1,258,000 1,565,030.00 37,300 741,595.00 1,810,000 337,220.00 1,030 91,438.00 3,900 83,160.00 14,048,300 158,571,550.00 5,422,000 87,060,610 250 35,740.00 970 88,995.00 1,800 223,270.00 13,205,800 300,513,600.00 33,640 2,013,800 980,000 1,821,070.00 212,300 1,362,934.00 255,100 3,172,416.00 14,261,100 159,159,402.00 6,508,100 46,369,539.00 20,713,500 104,811,281.00 1,848,500 11,360,741.00 11,058,500 237,308,430.00 232,340 15,747,514.50 2,100 26,680.00 348,700 5,753,350.00 697,900 4,226,743.00 1,121,000 1,688,100.00 1,237,290 244,383,191.00 1,130 81,755.00 27,000 70,310.00 4,000 15,320.00 4,442,500 126,691,030.00 1,455,100 36,136,250.00 1,148,800 17,035,552.00 527,020 140,029,288.00 20,000 4,840.00 4,200 21,588.00 6,719,000 22,148,120.00 2,892,300 28,804,898.00 384,000 1,465,190.00 3,515,350 245,229,059.50 4,211,000 9,067,190.00 3,193,000 6,801,950.00 1,280,600 7,273,843.00 287,000 395,280.00 298,000 1,484,015.00 5,541,000 26,899,450.00 37,000 99,300.00 12,940 2,966,912.00 14,479,800 166,171,440.00 33,000 144,000.00 1,500,000 210,490.00 255,000 359,340.00 2,016,610 324,420,470 18,000 79,250.00 10,780,000 14,389,080.00 200 6,300.00 123,000 134,000.00 HOLDING FIRMS 81,650,000 34,773,400.00 3,988,060 278,412,805.50 7,246,800 92,076,076.00 13,000 15,090.00 290,800 1,738,908.00 2,850,000 840,700.00 250,000 76,250.00 685,900 499,578,685 5,061,800 42,656,590.00 10,807,100 140,106,634.00 329,200 1,872,234.00 10,500 73,810.00 306,700 2,514,815.00 190,000 34,300.00 311,980 388,015,180.00 68,000 375,778.00 7,011,310 479,754,044.50 15,000 62,940.00 3,399,900 26,337,472.00 25,224,000 29,012,100.00 7,208,400 92,268,154.00 170,000 77,300.00 104,353,200 675,163,120.00 32,000 109,670.00 26,900,000 995,600.00 1,000 1,130.00 2,233,000 4,246,290.00 5,000 12,690.00 669,770 63,213,373.00 79,000 196,450.00 695,910 449,855,900.00 499,000 602,160.00 220,000 180,710.00 113,960 29,810,612.00 900,000 254,100.00 100,000 19,280.00 1,290,000 314,070.00 PROPERTY 618,600 4,700,305.00 100 698.00 828,000 854,680.00 15,621,000 32,202,270.00 14,510,000 5,810,700.00 22,305,500 698,960,100.00 8,668,000 27,505,750.00 64,600 321,720.00 5,300 31,016.00 9,214,000 5,042,320.00 160,000 168,660.00 2,462,000 3,304,960.00 6,950,000 1,067,350.00 6,866,000 3,819,640.00 1,146,600 44,239,750.00 555,000 378,420.00 1,310,000 162,950.00 5,792,000 5,738,470.00 26,186,000 40,352,670.00 96,000 50,800 4,141,700 3,173,510 266,900 3,000 114,000 1,000 32,100 226,500 51,300 1,486,000 10 3,962,000 3,866,040 593,000 148,000 1,400 196,720 2,720 1,520 79,550 387,300 1,680,120 515 148,780 28,000

DECEMBER 19-23, 2016 Close Volume Value 3.5 47.7 105.00 87.40 38 3.85 1.37 9 16.2 18.4

161,000 38,400 17,500,990 6,737,110 592,500 415,000 2,002,000 500 52,500 1,597,900

592,490.00 1,826,640.00 1,847,614,168 588,615,231.00 22,510,845.00 1,553,930.00 2,837,480.00 4,500.00 847,734.00 29,599,160.00

0.7 790.00 0.560 71.55 0.78 14.04 21.20 54.55 90 129.5 248 34 200 1658.00 74.50 1.25

22,000 450 29,953,000 14,924,230 2,280,000 134,100 41,800 226,590 3,770 1,120 21,050 621,200 2,890,930 1,465 371,740 310,000

15,000 360,800.00 17,527,070.00 1,053,620,269.50 1,861,640.00 1,889,930.00 910,400.00 12,387,466.00 340,101.50 143,715.00 5,064,460.00 21,462,990 562,443,066.00 2,421,730 27,696,142.00 377,860.00

41.5 4.34 0.84 1.24 19.28 0.185 86 20.95 11.4 15.6

8,169,900 3,039,000 2,696,500 11,692,000 31,900 4,670,000 900 13,100 60,941,500 9,340,500

348,503,100.00 12,850,940.00 2,275,520.00 14,277,530.00 590,892.00 880,360.00 77,571.50 265,072.00 703,790,652.00 150,184,270

87.8 104 23.35 57 1.86 6.4 11.9 11.080 7.00 4.94 5.99 22.2 67.8

2,170 90 29,318,500 185,950 723,000 2,008,800 156,500 20,161,200 2,194,700 55,222,400 880,800 2,817,600 954,780

194,941.50 10,050.00 660,015,760.00 10,683,593 1,343,770.00 13,003,131.00 1,872,016.00 229,295,254.00 15,443,831.00 275,281,794.00 5,231,155.00 62,964,820.00 64,812,904.00

16.52 6.03 1.580 190.60 70.00 2.62 3.85 27.3 22.9 14.54 258.80 0.249 5.10 3.28 9.58 3.42 69.8 11.62 2.09 5.65 1.33 5 4.95 2.65 225 11.2 4.16 0.143 1.41 150 4.64 1.35

2,150,500 1,249,900 1,671,000 5,005,130 5,450 232,000 5,000 12,998,500 2,108,200 10,052,700 1,384,230 1,240,000 347,000 8,359,000 13,659,000 21,000 3,438,630 221,600 15,095,000 7,055,900 206,000 5,905,700 13,213,000 70,000 510,940 39,814,600 418,000 1,340,000 447,000 9,550,680 7,000 15,838,000

34,965,172.00 7,542,936.00 2,711,540.00 958,102,329.00 395,158.50 622,360.00 18,160.00 372,909,480.00 50,516,815.00 150,381,960.00 357,721,618.00 297,370.00 1,751,644.00 27,744,450.00 133,849,078.00 72,480.00 238,972,596.50 2,566,612.00 31,989,570.00 40,306,441.00 278,770.00 29,728,114.00 64,735,710.00 190,550.00 117,511,936.00 461,910,874.00 1,901,580.00 189,780.00 646,020.00 1,487,204,735 32,240.00 23,031,760.00

1.08

148,000

159,780.00

0.385 66.95 12.30

77,656,000 14,210,040 25,808,500

34,185,820.00 990,466,085.00 325,509,520.00

6.00 0.300 0.305 708 8.5 12.60 5.6

208,300 3,200,000 210,000 2,091,830 5,284,100 42,762,100 1,600

1,238,758.00 976,950.00 64,050.00 1,493,764,485 44,861,880.00 546,330,270.00 8,984.00

8.20 0.180 1209 5.40 66.00

1,417,500 310,000 68,585,560 565,500 11,492,030

11,540,602.00 55,940.00 468,594,865.00 3,345,659.00 768,562,555.00

7.79 1.1 12.8

6,639,200 43,634,000 14,810,100

51,455,859.00 51,512,270.00 191,363,244.00

5.99

260,124,000

1,600,429,992.00

0.0380 1.130 1.900

75,000,000 32,000 2,223,090

2,775,800.00 36,500.00 54,597,521.00

91.00

1,236,120

116,880,117.50

615.00 1.20

2,188,880 1,045,000

1,352,037,345.00 1,263,480.00

259.600 0.3000 0.1750 0.255

52,380 2,070,000 70,000 3,610,000

13,580,028.00 618,100.00 12,390.00 910,900.00

7.200 6.99 1.05 2.120 0.395 30.050 3.1 4.93

508,400 30,300 2,754,000 1,907,000 60,150,000 45,114,900 13,452,000 200,000

3,742,395.00 185,247.00 2,908,140.00 3,994,380.00 26,285,600.00 1,389,025,280.00 41,604,400.00 988,150.00

0.550 1.06 1.370 0.154 0.550 37.5 0.700 0.130 0.98 1.54

25,677,000 369,000 7,758,000 5,460,000 29,845,000 1,105,200 1,566,000 3,710,000 11,305,000 73,130,000

13,969,170.00 396,810.00 11,116,120.00 824,760.00 16,673,870.00 41,303,020.00 1,048,090.00 608,490.00 11,113,740.00 115,524,300.00

STOCKS

DECEMBER 27-29, 2016 Close Volume

Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp.

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

1.25 3.57 0.129 0.2800 0.415 30.00 3.38 26.00 1.56 3.27 28.35 1.09 6.95 0.860 4.950

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

7.64 43.8 1.36 0.480 0.042 10.56 6.3 6.15 0.0630 2.26 93 8.34 950 1509 6.27 17.00 15.00 2.65 71.95 15.48 100 12.48 0.0090 9.05 0.206 1.3100 3.52 15.88 3.96 2.41 17.30 2 3.78 4.05 2.490 11.24 5.16 3.08 9.89 135.00 10.60 1365.00 0.460 1.170 39.00 74.25 5.75 2.55 0.970 1.89 3.29 0.345

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Benguet Corp Pref.

Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

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

United Paragon

0.0032 2.62 4.99 10.38 2.2300 2.3200 0.485 0.55 0.450 12.38 2.860 0.260 0.196 0.200 0.0110 0.0120 2.43 7.98 2.83 0.5000 1.0600 0.0110 4.15 8.60 3.31 0.0120 130.00 0.0083

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ Alco Preferred B DD PREF First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I Swift Pref

44 540 543 102.6 103.7 121 540 5.85 1016 1020 1.04 110.1 1045 1028 115 80.4 76 78.2 79.5 79.5 77.1 78 2.4

LR Warrant

2.100

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

9.1 2.84 4.39 7.99

First Metro ETF

113

DECEMBER 19-23, 2016 Close Volume Value

Value

987,000 78,996,000 10,800,000 160,000 650,000 900 1,596,000 3,090,600 308,000 9,000 24,310,500 22,998,000 1,000 6,601,000 15,543,000

1,224,820.00 280,563,810.00 1,386,200.00 42,650.00 259,350.00 27,000.00 5,300,580.00 79,621,370.00 474,440.00 29,270.00 684,049,210.00 24,509,940.00 6,950.00 5,537,960.00 75,735,100.00 SERVICES 74,600 568,714.00 77,700 3,403,705.00 449,000 604,660.00 530,000 256,650.00 146,300,000 5,843,700.00 6,100 64,292.00 67,000 381,705 4,534,200 27,665,630.00 27,540,000 1,710,160.00 18,474,000 42,029,340.00 449,070 41,619,571.00 905,900 7,822,733.00 520 494,000.00 155,570 232,063,640 863,800 5,319,707.00 1,342,900 22,558,522.00 200 3,044 43,576,000 115,024,700.00 2,152,030 152,712,449.00 18,200 268,648 20 2,300 500 5,728.00 29,000,000 260,700.00 1,480,000 13,433,320.00 27,830,000 5,716,220.00 1,639,000 2,131,730.00 2,000 7,040.00 225,500 3,511,588.00 3,539,000 14,514,070 81,000 193,110.00 2,400 41,520 203,000 406,000.00 16,599,000 63,543,050.00 23,498,000 95,032,600.00 2,890,000 7,110,520.00 30,000 332,610.00 12,500 63,599 12,000 33,820.00 83,200 679,611.00 6,218,680 839,522,352.00 6,833,900 75,262,916.00 206,955 279,718,785.00 4,880,000 2,237,050.00 10,602,000 12,388,200.00 2,543,200 97,211,800.00 1,692,480 124,516,651.50 2,540,200 14,694,377.00 1,836,000 4,678,270.00 11,482,000 11,200,560.00 10,000 18,710.00 5,136,000 17,449,350.00 40,000 13,550.00 MINING & OIL 860,000,000 2,769,500.00 530,000 1,404,860.00 842,800 4,255,310.00 2,000 20,080.00 302,000 665,940.00 74,000 161,130.00 270,000 131,600.00 135,000 69,080.00 3,580,000 1,650,100.00 233,600 2,807,918.00 21,599,000 62,688,640.00 2,140,000 559,300.00 12,160,000 2,366,460.00 3,010,000 587,100.00 22,400,000 247,800.00 13,900,000 166,900.00 2,108,000 5,030,860.00 6,361,300 49,489,191.00 66,000 188,400.00 50,000 25,000.00 1,080,000 1,110,950.00 8,400,000 96,200.00 61,000 245,590.00 1,951,600 16,787,125.00 2,371,000 7,947,040.00 13,600,000 206,400.00 1,610,440 209,440,011.00 13,000,000 110,300.00 PREFERRED 311,300 13,697,160.00 750 405,000.00 40 21,210 59,850 6,164,510 118,530 12,333,261.00 280 32,550.00 11,130 5,997,575.00 2,798,700 16,487,900.00 10 10,205.00 4,915 5,041,100.00 773,000 798,760 900 99,090.00 15,120 16,175,380.00 15,200 15,647,100.00 850 97,750.00 28,970 2,332,662.50 1,000 76,000.00 41,000 3,205,500.00 2,500 198,750.00 50 3,975.00 293,750 22,568,346.00 300 23,280.00 15,000 29,910.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 699,000 1,489,940.00 SME 740,300 6,785,999.00 59,000 167,770.00 2,121,000 8,900,960.00 12,482,300 94,047,688.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 20,950 2,326,209.00

1.27 3.53 0.129 0.2500 0.400 30.00 3.25 24.95 1.56 3.26 27.00 1.12 6.99 0.900 4.950

2,105,000 157,173,000 50,170,000 580,000 290,000 5,300 1,400,000 8,022,100 692,000 38,000 54,945,100 37,023,000 2,100 2,076,000 37,378,300

2,674,340.00 544,334,860.00 6,622,240.00 151,700.00 116,000.00 161,050.00 4,577,360.00 203,935,335.00 1,044,380.00 123,850.00 1,493,400,530.00 42,675,380.00 14,699.00 1,822,480.00 184,034,876.00

7.6 44.2 1.34 0.485 0.040

161,900 85,400 157,000 3,995,000 1,332,700,000

1,244,734.00 3,731,280.00 212,570.00 1,937,650.00 53,133,800.00

5.15 5.96 0.0620 2.4 92 8.57 950 1445 6.24 15.98 15.40 2.32 69.85 14.62 135 11.4 0.0089 9.06 0.198 1.3400 3.18 15.1 4.19 2.40 17.54 2.05 3.9 3.90 2.350 11.06 5.18 3.07 9 135.00 11.20 1313.00 0.455 1.170 36.00 71.05 5.49 2.50 0.930

25,600 18,735,900 151,430,000 24,400,000 977,540 12,596,300 280 522,795 525,500 840,600 400 29,374,000 3,283,940 25,200 50 800 150,000,000 2,401,000 84,790,000 1,912,000 23,000 363,400 9,702,300 245,000 2,900 9,000 21,637,000 69,772,000 3,959,000 10,900 16,500 13,000 2,000 476,600 17,732,700 463,890 8,060,000 24,381,000 8,224,000 2,911,070 2,080,300 1,703,000 32,423,000

131,720 111,070,457.00 9,716,570.00 58,078,330.00 90,070,213.50 103,816,916.00 266,000.00 752,624,620 3,268,386.00 13,303,346.00 6,280 67,035,200.00 228,234,153.00 379,530 6,750 9,118.00 1,352,900.00 21,750,640.00 17,580,480.00 2,521,010.00 74,000.00 4,374,538.00 42,306,784 600,280.00 51,778 18,450.00 83,585,670.00 269,926,090.00 9,705,650.00 120,220.00 84,643 37,990.00 18,000.00 64,400,128.00 177,770,290.00 614,373,150.00 3,621,900.00 28,250,360.00 304,344,460.00 211,229,972.00 11,029,429.00 4,350,390.00 30,600,040.00

3.27 0.330

3,835,000 3,050,000

12,534,490.00 742,100.00

0.0033 2.70 4.96

429,000,000 424,000 1,692,400

1,434,500.00 1,163,060.00 8,208,118.00

2.1400

43,000

92,790.00

0.5 0.460 11.36 3.110 0.270 0.195 0.196 0.0120

1,456,000 10,170,000 292,100 61,350,200 3,000,000 16,440,000 10,410,000 12,900,000

750,880.00 4,884,110.00 3,372,010.00 206,750,420.00 819,500.00 3,169,330.00 2,033,510.00 154,000.00

2.46 7.8 2.83 0.4750 1.0200 0.0110 4.10 8.68 3.45 0.0120 130.00 0.0085

17,055,000 16,605,000 809,000 10,000 7,619,000 349,900,000 67,000 2,478,100 12,551,000 449,700,000 2,105,380 15,000,000

43,492,910.00 129,938,750.00 2,298,570.00 4,750.00 8,420,250.00 4,008,800.00 274,880.00 21,307,219.00 43,376,390.00 5,524,600.00 275,250,941.00 127,000.00

44 544 544 103 103.9 119 540 5.9 1016 1030 1.04

1,071,800 40 10 178,010 112,500 3,100 40,740 697,600 910 22,990 1,128,000

47,217,250.00 21,760.00 5,440 18,293,565 11,692,808.00 368,800.00 21,982,980.00 4,175,762.00 925,370.00 23,452,045.00 1,188,890

1089 1035 110 80.55 75.1 77.5 79.5 77.05 78 77.2 2.4

130 770 450 106,950 38,260 32,860 63,350 29,000 231,890 143,900 2,000

141,570.00 787,855.00 49,500.00 8,609,898.00 2,889,945.00 2,548,450.00 5,036,325.00 2,233,700.00 18,000,663.00 11,259,230.00 4,800.00

2.120

2,210,000

4,902,140.00

9.4 2.82 3.7 7.68

4,753,800 78,000 1,557,000 23,192,300

19,021,928.00 220,060.00 5,677,280.00 193,689,313.00

109

136,400

15,136,739.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Apollo Global Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Abacus Cons. `A’ Megaworld Harbor Star IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info Boulevard Holdings Pacifica `A’

VOLUME 860,000,000 146,300,000 104,353,200 81,650,000 78,996,000 43,576,000 29,000,000 27,830,000 27,540,000 26,900,000

STOCKS Phil. Seven Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ SM Prime Holdings Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Ayala Corp `A’ JG Summit Holdings Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Investments Inc. GT Capital Security Bank

VALUE 839,522,352.00 698,960,100.00 684,049,210.00 675,163,120.00 499,578,685 479,754,044.50 453,696,449 449,855,900.00 388,015,180.00 325,130,635.00

“PowerSource matched the offer,” Panlilio said. Soleq offered a price of P4.69 per kWh when it challenged the higher offer of PowerSource.

The move will likely allow PowerSource to get a supply contract with Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor.

Meralco president Oscar Reyes earlier said the company was evaluating the offer of 7 Balboa or Soleq, lower than the offer of PowerSource.

Soleq owns four operating solar assets in the Philippines which include the country’s biggest solar facility namely the 132.5MW Helios solar project in Cadiz, Negros Occidental.

“There was one price challenge for the PowerSource and none for Solar Philippines. We’re still evaluating,” Reyes said.

PowerSource proposed to supply Meralco with 50 MW of solar capacity for 20 years from its planned power plant in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Reyes said the offer of Solar Philippines Tanauan Corp. for a total of 50 MW from its two projects in Batangas and Cavite did not receive any price challenge from other developers.

Solar Philippines offered to supply Meralco 50 MW for 20 years starting February 2017.

Reyes said the power supply offers would be reviewed and approved by Meralco based on “track record, capability, reliability, pricing.”

PDEx sees P150-b bond sale this year FUND raising at the bond market is expected to reach P150 billion in 2017, despite the possible interest rate hike, according to the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp., the operator of the country’s fixed-income exchange.

PDEx chairman and chief executive Cesar Crisol said in a recent interview companies would likely continue to tap the bond market to fund capital requirements for 2017 and refinance maturing obligations.

Crisol said he also expected companies that filed for shelf registration to issue succeeding tranches this year.

“The P150-billion target for 2017 is an aspiration and will still depend on economic activities. But the government is focused on infrastructure, so there will still be requirements for funding,” Crisol said.

He said while higher interest rates would hurt companies planning to tap the capital markets, the recent US rate increase and the expected rate hikes in 2017 would not be that significant.

“It is still cheap and we have gone through worst times,” Crisol said.

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rate by 25 basis points (0.25 percent) in November last year, amid signs of improving US economy. Analysts expect the US Fed to implement three more increases this year.

Meanwhile, Crisol said he expected companies engaged in infrastructure to continue to tap the bond market for funding requirements.

Among the companies that are planning to issue bonds in 2017 are San Miguel Corp. which aims to issue up to P20 billion fixed-rate bonds, Filinvest Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. Jenniffer B. Austria

Business

B3

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR CONFIRMATION AND APPROVAL OF EMERGENCY CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PROJECT FOR 2015, RE: REPLACEMENT OF DAMAGED POWER TRANSFORMER AT THE BATAC STATION ERC CASE NO. 2016-138 RC ILOCOS NORTE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. (INEC), Applicant. x-----------------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: Notice is hereby given that on 09 June 2016, the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (INEC) filed an application for the approval and confirmation of its emergency capital expenditure (CAPEX) project for 2015, relative to the damaged power transformer at the Batac Station.

In the said application, INEC alleged the following: 1.

INEC is a non-stock, non-profit electric cooperative duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office at Brgy. Suyo, Dingras, Ilocos Norte.

2.

It holds an exclusive franchise from the National Electrification Commission, to operate an electric light and power distribution service in the municipalities of Adams, Bacarra, Badoc, Bangui, Banna, Burgos, Carasi, Currimao, Dingras, Dumalneg, Marcos, Nueva Era, Pagudpud, Paoay, Pasuquin, Piddig, Pinili, San Nicolas, Sarrat, Solsona and Vintar and the cities of Laoag and Batac, all in the Province of Ilocos Norte.

3.

This application is being filed pursuant to Article III (3.4) of ERC Resolution No. 26 Series of 2009 as well as other pertinent laws and rules.

4.

INEC has a pending application with the Honorable Commission for the approval of its Capital Expenditure Program for 2015-2017 under ERC Case No. 2014-079 RC.

5.

Among the proposed projects in said application is the Repair/Rehabilitation of the 10 MVA Batac Substation with Project Code No. SUB-001, which involves the immediate repair/rehabilitation of its 10MVA power transformer, at estimated cost of PhP6,000,000.00 and schedule of implementation in 2015.

6.

Incidentally, on May 3, 2015, the alarm device of the Batac Substation was triggered by high oil and winding temperature which reached 75 degrees Celsius during day time at a load of 6.5 MVA.

7.

The First Philec, Inc., manufacturer of the busted transformer, gathered oil sample on the subject power transformer, and its analysis showed that based on furan levels, paper condition is severely reduced and performing oil degassing is risky considering that the estimated DP is already below 350ppm. First Philec, Inc. recommended to replace transformer based on the estimated DP value. Copy of its Furan Analysis Report dated June 8, 2015 is attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “A”.

8.

First Philec, Inc. likewise prepared a Transformer Oil Laboratory Test Report. Based on the analysis the possible cause of high value of hydrogen (H2) content was the stray gassing of the oil and partial discharge in the transformer. First Philec, Inc. recommended to conduct retest six (6) months after oil sampling date to establish trends and confirm condition.

Copy of the Transformer Oil Laboratory Test Report dated June 8, 2015, is attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “B”.

9.

Unfortunately, on the night of June 16, 2015, the substation power transformer got busted. Incident Report on the matter dated June 17, 2015 is attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “C”.

NEW PANAY BRIDGE. Global Business Power Corp., one of the largest power producers in the Visayas, inaugurates a 150 metre pre-stressed

concrete bridge along Salog River in Iloilo to connect its power plant complex to the Coastal Road. Shown during the opening of the bridge are (from left) GBP executive committee member Karim Garcia, GBP executive vice president Jaime Azurin, Iloilo City vice mayor Jose Espinosa III, Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog, PEDC chairman Jose Ma. Lim, GBP director James Go, GBP president Rolando Bacani, GBP director Alfonso Uy and GBP first vice president for Panay operations Petronilo Madrid.

LEGAL BASIS FOR THE APPLICATION

CAUSE OF ACTION

Business group expects export recovery in 2017

By Othel V. Campos

E

XPORTERS expressed hope the robust economic growth and government’s support will lead to the recovery of merchandise exports this year.

“From many indications, we would like to believe that this is indeed the golden age of MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises],” said Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. Ortiz-Luis said his group was pushing for a strong and sustainable MSME sector “in a way that they can effectively and efficiently participate in the regional and global production networks and compete with the rest of the world.”

He said with the right environment, MSMEs’ share in the country’s employment and gross domestic was expected to increase from the

current 35 percent to at least 40 percent.

Ortiz Luis said in 2017, his group and the Export Development Council would also promote the industry reform agenda including the maximization of the benefits of free trade agreements, intensified campaign against corruption and facilitation of infrastructure development and capacity building for MSME and institutional disaster resilience.

He said these trade agreements included the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Philippine-European Free Trade Agreement.

Ortiz Luis said he was also looking forward to the full utilization of the BruneiIndonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area―an initiative supported by PhilExport.

“Breakthroughs in this front also lie on the successful removal of non-tariff barriers that prevent us from entering new or expanding our markets,” he said.

The group said it would continue advocating for the implementation of existing labor laws to ensure workers’ security of tenure as a middle

ground to stopping illegal hiring practice and the passage of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Act, Ease of Doing Business Act and amendments in the implementing rules and regulation of the Magna Carta for MSMEs. Ortiz Luiz said the country’s latest export performance was being viewed as a signal for export recovery despite slower global economic growth.

He said the country’s gross domestic product expanded 7.1 percent in the third quarter, topping economic growth of China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Merchandise exports rose 3.7 percent in October, marking the second consecutive month of positive growth after a 17-month decline.

He also cited the Trade Department’s thrust to further strengthen the manufacturing sector that was now growing 7 percent to 8 percent, compared to 3 percent to 4 percent in the past.

PhilExport acknowledged the Trade Department’s pronouncement to provide an initial P1 billion for each region in 2017 for lending to micro and small firms to “discourage borrowers from turning to usurious lenders.”

PIA T. MANALASTAS

GREEN LIGHT THIS year’s travels brought me to Dumaguete twice, and it took on a safari theme. If in Africa, travelers hope to see the big five, i.e., the lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros, in Dumaguete, the quest is for whale sharks, dolphins and sea turtles.

Swimming with whale sharks In August, my friends and I flew to Dumaguete and used it as our jump off point to Oslob, Cebu. After a quick lunch in the city, we caught a ferry from Sibulan Port to Liloan Port in Cebu. A van picked us up from the port and brought us to our hotel. This route was actually a much shorter one than flying to Cebu and taking a four-hour road trip to Oslob.

Very early the next day, we set out to swim with the whale sharks. Our host recommended that we go early as whale watching is only from 6 a.m. to 12 noon. It was good advice since we were able to get an early slot.

After a briefing on the dos and don’ts of swimming with the whale sharks, we lined up for our 30-minute encounter.

These gentle filter-feeders, butanding in Tagalog, are the largest fish in the sea. Seeing five of them up close and personal was a truly awesome experience. The sea water was crystal clear and teeming with life.

Although I was happy with this adventure, there is some discomfort too. The environmentalist in me questioned the sustainability of this activity. While the influx of tourists (over 110,000 in 2014) is an economic boon to the town and its citizens, scientists are concerned about the impact on the butandings. Since they are be-

(there was a floating contingent of vendors selling food, drinks, and even souvenir items to the tourists) completed our dolphinwatching adventure.

Snorkeling with sea turtles The final leg of my Philippine safari started by boarding our boat in very rough waters in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental, about a 30-minute land trip from Dumaguete. While we encountered choppy waters through out the short ride to Apo Island, once we entered the cove, the waters calmed down considerably.

Apo Island is the feeding ground for female sea turtles.

Two species of turtles can be found here, the green and hawksbill sea turtles. Although I opted out of joining the snorkeling trips, my friends and the other tour companions had several amazing turtle encounters.

One of our companions, a lady from Spain, came back to the boat shaking with excitement.

She just swam with a turtle that was bigger than her. In another spot, the boat parked about twenty meters from the shore.

Here, my friends encountered a turtle busy feeding and she (the turtle) went about her business, unmindful of the humans floating above her.

Reflecting on our adventure Our close encounters with the butandings were truly amazing, but the teeming crowds and artificial enclosure and feeding of the butandings is worrisome.

While Oslob seeks to capitalize on the butanding’s presence in their waters, their business model does not seem sustainable. The other whale shark haven, Donsol, developed its model with help from the World Wildlife Fund and their model seems more ideal. In Donsol, the whale sharks are not fed and the rule enforcement, e.g., no touching, is stricter. The butandings are in the open sea, not

11. The only solution to the problems is the replacement of the busted power transformer with a brand new unit.

12. Considering the urgency to immediately restore a reliable and efficient power supply in the affected areas, there is an urgent need to purchase the new power transformer to replace the busted unit.

13. Accordingly, INEC undertook the publication of an Invitation to Bid for the Supply, Installation and Commissioning of a 10 MVA power transformer for the Batac Substation.

14. INEC duly informed and manifested to the Honorable Commission about the foregoing problems by filing an “Urgent Motion to Withdraw the Proposed Batac Substation Repair/Rehabilitation Project” in ERC Case No. 2014-079 RC. Copy of the motion is attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “D”.

15. The contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of a 10 MVA power transformer for the Batac Substation was eventually awarded to PPI Pazific Power, Inc. Copy of the Contract for the Procurement of Supply, Delivery, Installation and Commissioning of a 10MVA 69/13.2kV Power Transformer at Quiling Sur, Batac Substation is attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “E”.

A Filipino Safari coming dependent on the feedings, their migratory and breeding patterns are changing. The whale sharks normally spend the winter in the Philippines and other warmer countries, but return to the mid-Atlantic to give birth. However, as they are now seen in the Philippines almost year round, do they give birth here? I did ask the fishermen if they’ve seen baby butandings, and they claim they have.

Just recently, conservationists asked the Miss Universe contestants not to swim with the butandings, for fear of attracting even greater numbers of tourists to Oslob. However, despite their pleas, the contestants did swim with the whale sharks.

Dolphin-watching in Bais Returning to Dumaguete for the second time this year, my Philippine safari continued with a day trip to Bais to watch dolphins (depending on the season, whales can also be seen). Our adventure started early, with an hour’s drive from Dumaguete to Bais. After a quick trip to the market to buy fresh fish and crabs for lunch, we boarded our 50-seater banca to go out to the marine protected sanctuary, Tañon Strait. This strait is the natural habitat of several whale and dolphin species. After a quick trip to the Manjuyod White Sand Bar, so we can see it at low tide, we headed out to open sea.

About an hour into our trip, we started to see pods of dolphins swimming. Unlike the butandings that were held within a netted area, the dolphins swam freely and only showed themselves to the boatloads of humans as they pleased. Although we did not spot any whales, our goal of seeing the dolphins (and posting our adventure on Facebook) was achieved. Returning to the now submerged sandbar for a quick swim and lunch of freshly grilled fish, scallops, sea urchin, crabs and fresh buco

10. Restoration was immediately undertaken on the areas affected. Two (2) adjacent substations with combined capacity of 25MVA (1-15 MVA and 2-5 MVA) were extended to cover the affected areas. However, problems on power quality and reliability occurred, which could not be possibly addressed.

kept, albeit for only four hours a day, within a netted area. I do not want to hold back Oslob’s dreams of economic prosperity for its people, but I do want to add my voice to the growing calls for greater controls for the growing crowds of tourists (some 2,000 a day this past week).

Apo Island is a wonderful contrast to Oslob. As blogger Nikka Corsin wrote, “Apo Island is actually the first ever successful community-based marine conservation program site in the Philippines, and the abundance of sea turtles acts like a trophy for the residents, reminding them of the good that they have done to their environment [and what still lies ahead!].” The guides from the island had wonderful stories to tell of how much better their lives are now compared to the past when they were just fishermen.

I believe that dolphin watching and snorkeling with sea turtles were better experiences because both encounters were out in the wild, swimming free, as they are meant to be.

I would like to greet everyone a blessed 2017! May the New Year bring us a year of wisdom, prosperity and peace!

Pia T. Manalastas is the Graduate Program Coordinator of the Management and Organization Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University. She teaches Leadership in Organizations, Lasallian Business Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility and Trends and Issues in Business and Management: CEO Series.

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

PROJECT DESCRIPTION, JUSTIFICATIONS and COST 16. The cost of the project is Sixteen Million Three Hundred Fourteen Thousand Nine Hundred Sixty Four Pesos (PhP16,314,964.00) and a detailed description, justification and cost of said project is provided in the Executive Summary, attached hereto and made integral part hereof as Annex “F”.

PROJECT SCHEDULE 17. Considering the urgent necessity to restore a safe, reliable and efficient power in the affected areas, the replacement of the busted power transformer was immediately undertaken. Accordingly, the new power transformer was delivered to the site on December 4, 2015 and installation was started on December 9, 2015. Energization of the Batac Substation is being targeted on January 18, 2016.

PROJECT FINANCING 18. The total cost of the project was funded from the Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable Capital Expenditure (RFSC) of lNEC. COMPLIANCE WITH PRE-FILING REQUIREMENTS 19. Finally, in compliance with the pre-filing requirements for the instant application, INEC is submitting herewith the following documents which shall form integral parts hereof, as follows: Nature of Document Proof of furnishing of copies of the Application Annexes “G” and “G-1” to the Sangguniang Bayan of Dingras and Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Ilocos Norte Publication of the Application in a newspaper of general circulation within INEC’s franchise area Annexes “H” and series or where it principally operates, with Affidavit of Publication 20. INEC prays that the Commission, after due notice and hearing, confirm and approve the installation of a new Power transformer at its Batac Substation in replacement for the damaged unit, and funding of the project with the cooperative’s Reinvestment Fund for Sustainable Capital Expenditure (RFSC).

The Commission has set the application for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and evidentiary hearing on 26 January 2017 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at Brgy. Suyo, Dingras, Ilocos Norte.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the application, or comment thereon, at any stage of the proceeding before the applicant concludes the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the application may request from the applicant that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAPTARUC, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 7th day of November, 2016 in Pasig City.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff Office of the Chairman and CEO Standard – Jan. 2 & 9, 2017

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

B4

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Cuba declares record in tourism HAVANA, Cuba–Cuba welcomed a record four million tourists in 2016, up 13 percent over last year, with much of the increase thanks to a crush of visitors from the US and Europe, officials said on Saturday.

Havana’s Ministry of Tourism said in a statement published in the Granma official newspaper that the island set a record for international visitors in 2016, exceeding projections by some six percent.

Tourism is the number two source of revenue on the cashstrapped island, second only to the export of doctors and other medical services.

Officials in Havana say the surge in US visitors is a result of the restored relations with the United States—a thaw first announced by US President Barack Obama and Cuba’s President Raul Castro almost exactly two years ago.

Although a decades-old US economic embargo remains in place, Obama has chipped away at many trade and travel restrictions, easing access to the communist island for many Americans.

The first US cruise ship to come to Cuba in more than 50 years docked in Havana in May. Regular flights between the two countries have resumed.

US companies like Airbnb and Netflix now operate in Cuba, and hotel group Starwood opened a Sheraton in Havana in June.

Nearly 137,000 Americans came to Cuba in the first half of 2016, an 80 percent surge from the same period in 2015. AFP

Business

World markets ended 2016 mostly in the black

N

EW York, United States—Most world stocks markets finished 2016 in positive territory despite shock votes in Britain and the United States, but the outlook for 2017 is clouded by looming European elections and Brexit.

The year witnessed a wave of anti-establishment populism, which saw Britain vote to leave the EU and maverick billionaire businessman Donald Trump elected as US president.

Both unexpected outcomes sparked a brief tumble on global equity markets, but many have since staged a stunning recovery to finish 2016 in the black.

London’s FTSE 100 gained 14.3 percent over the year, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added about 6.9 percent and the Paris CAC 40 won 4.9 percent.

In the US, all three major indices enjoyed robust gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 13.4 percent, the S&P 500 9.5 percent and the Nasdaq 7.5 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 percent in 2016, marking the fifth

consecutive annual increase and registering its highest year-end close in two decades on optimism over the incoming US government.

Shanghai slumped more than 12 percent on the back of massive capital flight and a languishing yuan currency.

Equities continued to receive support from robust central bank stimulus programs in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, although the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in December and signaled it plans more tightening in 2017.

A 50 percent jump in oil prices —fueled in part by the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production—also supported stocks.

That helped boost the Bovespa in Sao Paolo, which jumped nearly 40 percent on strength in

commodity prices and the resolution of an impeachment drama involving former president Dilma Rousseff, which ended with the installation of center-right President Michel Temer in August.

Since Brexit, London’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index has soared to end the year in record-breaking form, as the British economy shrugged off the impact of the impending divorce from the EU. “Fears of an imminent UK recession following Brexit proved wide of the mark thanks largely to the resilience of consumer spending,” NFS Macro analyst Nick Stamenkovic told AFP. “Indeed, Brexit was viewed as a local rather than global issue, prompting a sharp turnaround in the fortunes of world stock markets.”

Markets also briefly tanked on Nov. 9 after Republican Trump defeated Democrat and market favorite Hillary Clinton to capture the White House.

Yet Wall Street has since enjoyed a blockbuster run with the Dow Jones Industrial Average making a push towards 20,000 points. In the end, the blue-chip

index finished at 19,762.60, logging its best year since 2013.

New York has been boosted by expectations that Trump— who will be inaugurated on Jan. 20—will honor election pledges to ramp up infrastructure spending, cut taxes and streamline regulations.

Markets are pricing in “all the good stuff while ignoring for now potential consequences for the dollar, deficits, interest rates, trade, inflation and the uncertainty principle,” JPMorgan Asset Management strategist Michael Cembalest said in a research note.

“Whether this benign view is accurate or not will be a major driver of markets next year.”

Looking ahead to 2017, the spotlight is now on upcoming European elections.

The Netherlands heads to the polls in March, followed by France in May, and Germany in the autumn.

Further gains by populist candidates would reverberate through Europe as Brussels moves into the thick of negotiations with Britain over Brexit. AFP

JAPAN TRADING. Business leaders and investors clap their hands during the closing ceremony to celebrate the last trading day of 2016 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Dec. 30, 2016. Tokyo’s benchmark stock index ended a volatile 2016 to mark the fifth annual gain, recouping its mid-year loss after high expectations for US President-elect Donald Trump fueled global rallies. AFP

China’s factory output slowing BEIJING, China— Manufacturing activity in China slowed slightly in December, official figures showed Sunday, as the world’s second largest economy stabilizes.

The official purchasing managers’ index, which gauges conditions at factories and mines, came in at 51.4 in December, down from 51.7 the previous month which marked its fastest growth for two years.

A figure above 50 marks an expansion of manufacturing activity, and below 50 a contraction. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected an average of 51.5 for December.

The key manufacturing sector had been struggling in the face of sagging world demand for Chinese products and excess industrial capacity left over from the country’s infrastructure boom.

But an upturn in the housing and construction markets thanks to cheap credit—following a series of monetary easing measures—has contributed to a sharp rebound in manufacturing activity.

However, an alternative index calculated independently by the research firm Caixin Insight Group, which focuses on small and medium-sized companies, shows a sharp decline in growth in recent months.

Its assessment for December will be published next week.

It is mainly large groups that have so far benefited from the government’s fiscal stimulus, notably through tax cuts and increased public spending on infrastructure.

China is a vital driver of global growth, but its economy expanded only 6.9 percent in 2015 -- its weakest rate in a quarter of a century—and is predicted to have slowed further last year.

Beijing has said it wants to reorient the economy away from relying on debtfueled investment and towards a consumer-driven model, but the transition has proven challenging. AFP

Oil market seen as surprise haven from political risk in 2017 WITH Donald Trump set to enter the White House in January and populists on the march across Europe, political risk will loom large in 2017. Cautious investors may find stability in an unfamiliar place: the oil market.

A deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to limit output next year won’t simply siphon off some of the global glut of crude: if participating nations make the cuts they’ve promised, the effort will also add to a buffer of unused capacity that can be tapped to plug supply disruptions.

“If you’ve got OPEC full adherence for the first six months, the market should be relatively insulated from political risk because that cushion is available,” Alan Gelder, a vice president at industry consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd., said by phone from London. With the exception of a major disruption in top exporter Saudi Arabia, “anything else should be able to be accommodated.”

OPEC members agreed on Nov. 30 to cut output next year by a collective 1.2 million barrels a day, or about 4 percent of what they pumped last month, in an effort to support prices. The producer group will probably aim to keep its total supply steady, using its spare capacity to offset any potential disruption from individual members, Gelder said. Eleven non-OPEC producers, including Russia, also pledged to reduce production. Brent crude prices have jumped 22 percent since Nov. 29.

To read about the output deal between OPEC and other producers, click here Global stockpiles of crude oil and fuels, which are near record levels after two years of low prices, will provide an additional cush-

ion against small or short-lived halts in supply. U.S. crude inventories, at nearly half a billion barrels, are at their highest seasonal level since the government began compiling weekly data in 1982.

Those inventories could be drawn down in the first half of 2017 if OPEC and non-OPEC producers comply with their promised cuts, and that means political risk could be a bigger factor in the second half of the year, Gelder said.

Quieter year After three years of volatile oil prices, analysts expect a much quieter year in 2017.

Brent crude will trade at an average of $58

in the fourth quarter, according to the median estimate of more than 40 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark has climbed 53 percent this year to trade at $57.11 at 7:56 a.m. London time Friday, after falling 35 percent last year and 48 percent in 2014.

Oil supplies are vulnerable to political risk because production is concentrated in a small number of countries, many of them unstable.

Domestic turmoil and conflict have disrupted supply from Nigeria, Libya and Venezuela in 2016. Major incidents can have a dramatic impact on prices: benchmark Brent crude shot from $16 to $40 a barrel—an increase of 150 percent—during the three months leading up

to and coinciding with Iraq’s 1990 invasion of fellow OPEC-member Kuwait.

“Even if you have a healthy amount of spare capacity, a sudden supply disruption—or the risk of a sudden supply disruption -- is going to move prices,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd., said by phone from London. “Anything that would disrupt half a million barrels a day or more of production, and isn’t clearly very short-lived, is going to get the market’s attention.”

With Venezuela’s economy on its knees and relations between Gulf Arab states and Iran tense, instability will remain a risk for oil supplies in 2017. But the amount of spare capacity at a global level suggests it would take a major incident to ruffle the crude market, and the main scenarios for such an event are not likely to occur in the coming year, Jonathan Wood, a London-based political risk analyst at Control Risks Ltd., said in an e-mail.

Venezuela’s oil production will probably continue to slip for lack of investment, but the market will adjust as long as the the nation’s output declines gradually, Wood said. “An abrupt and messy change in power that takes a substantial amount of production offline for a prolonged period is unlikely,” he said.

The US under a Trump presidency could tighten sanctions on Iran but is unlikely to completely trash last year’s nuclear agreement, so any potential reduction in Iranian supply would probably be gradual, said Mallinson of Energy Aspects. As for a military confrontation in the Persian Gulf, “that would certainly get a lot of attention in the market, despite inventory overhangs, but that’s not our base case,” he said. Bloomberg

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

C1

LAST SUNSET. Passengers on a cruise ship sailing in Manila Bay get a great view of the sun sinking in the horizon, as 2016’s last sunset bade the Philippines farewell—and set Filipinos on a new journey for the year 2017. Avito C. Dalan

QC tops YEARENDER CMCI ranking index

Erap’s 10-point Manila plan

By Sandy Araneta

(Conclusion, continued from yesterday)

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City is the “most competitive” city in the Philippines in 2016.

In its annual report to city residents, the city government said Quezon City is the most preferred location of the largest number of registered businesses in the country.

“When you do business in QC, you are automatically tapping into the resources and convenience of the biggest city in the most highly urbanized metropolis of the Philippines,” it said.

Quezon City was adjudged the “Most Competitive City in the Philippines,” topping 1,338 other local governments participating in the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) in 2016.

Quezon City was followed

by Manila, Makati City, Pasig City, Davao City, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro City, General Santos City, Caloocan City and Muntinlupa City on the list.

It ranked in the top three on the three pillars of CMCI—infrastructure, government efficiency and economic dynamism.

“It is also the most-searched location in the country by those looking for residential and commercial areas, according to a popular online real-estate search portal that maintained property listings in 34 countries,” the city’s report read.

People preferred Quezon City over other highly urbanized places because of its value-for-money properties in easily accessible locations with multiple amenities nearby.

The city has 67,096 establishments, of which 48 percent were corporations, the report added.

CHAMPIONING HOUSEHOLD HELPERS. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi gives out rice and grocery packages to 100 household helpers during the Helpers United for Dignity, Respect for Labor and Protection Party last Dec. 28 at the City Quadrangle.

Fresnedi vowed to assist the helpers with fair labor rights and other social services.

A

PART from counting the gains of his administration after the first six months of his second term, Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada also told Manila Standard his ten-point agenda for the city:

Peace and Order. Estrada wants to revive Manila’s Finest by a) supporting competent and honest members of the police force by giving them honors and rewards and releasing subsidies previously withheld from them; and b) removing “kotong” cops (who demand bribes) and other members of the police force who are of questionable character and those who are involved in crimes.

Health. The mayor wants to provide Manila’s residents with ample medicine and affordable health services by: a) developing and improving barangay health centers as primary health care service providers; b) ensuring that all poor and sick Manileños

are given affordable and effective medicines.

The city government will coordinate with the Department of Health, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and other civic organizations to achieve its goals relating to health care, Estrada said.

Housing and Urban Settlement. Estrada aims to give legal and decent housing for the poor in Manila. He will a) allocate sufficient funds for housing within Manila, and b) construct mid-rise buildings for decent, sustainable and disaster-resilient human settlements, with crosssubsidies to poor beneficiaries through revenues from commer-

cial land development.

Transportation and Traffic. The mayor seeks to fix and clean the roads, bridges and waterways of the city. He will a) develop Pasig River’s potential to provide an alternative mode of transportation in Manila and to serve as a tourist attraction; b) Regulate the activities of street vendors by designating an area for them, such as night markets, which will also serve as tourist attractions; and c) Implement a no-parking policy in the streets of Manila.

Cleanliness. Estrada aims to apply a better system of garbage collection and properly dispose of garbage. He wants to a) establish an effective Solid Waste Management System that will not only ensure regular garbage collection and proper waste disposal, but will also generate income for the City of Manila, and b) Implement a strict nolittering policy in the city.

Education. The goal is to make the city a center of academic excellence, so the mayor will a) provide good quality and competitive education to students by extending continuing

education, seminars and training to teachers and by improving the teacher-student ratio in the city’s schools; b) select and appoint reputable, competent and qualified professionals to serve as trustees and deans of the city colleges and universities, and c) release the appropriate subsidies to city colleges and universities.

Sports. Estrada wants sports to flourish in Manila. To that end he will a) organize events and activities that will promote the city’s main sports (that is basketball and cue sports) to foster skills and value formation among the people; and b) transform and maintain the city’s well-known sports venues, such as the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and the San Andres Gym, into world-class arenas.

Governance. The mayor wants to cut the city’s excess by a) removing all ghost employees of City Hall and prosecuting them, as well as those who are responsible for them; b) reducing the city government’s excessive number of consultants, casuals and job orders; and c) providing

rewards and incentives to competent and reliable employees of the city government.

Transparency. Estrada wants to serve Manilenos faithfully.

To that end he will a) promote regular evaluation of the performance of city officials, and publish its results; and b) put in place a computerized system of collection of taxes and disclosure of public expenditures.

People Participation. The mayor seeks the cooperation and help of the private sector by coordinating and keeping the channels of communication open between the city government and the private sector, such as nongovernment organizations, the city’s Chinese community and other private sector groups that promote public interests.

Other issues

But when sought about his political plans for the next elections, Estrada opted not to talk about it. “Maybe it’s too early to talk about politics right now.

Turn to C2

Manila sees drop in New Year firecracker injuries THE city government of Manila expects lesser firecracker-related injuries this New Year, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada said Friday.

In at least one hospital in the city, Estrada was proven right: only 39 firecracker-related injuries were reported at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center from December 21 to yesterday, compared to 149 injuries in the same period last year, hospital officials said.

Most victims suffered firecracker burns on their hands, eyes, arms, foreheads, legs and face, in that order of frequency, JRMMC officer of the day Dr.

Godfrey de Jesus added.

For the last three years, Manila has seen decreasing firecracker incidents because of the city government’s relentless campaign against illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnics, Estrada said.

“We are hoping this would continue in order that the coming 2017 will be safe and happy for everyone,” the mayor said.

Based on a report from the Manila Health Department, about 700 firecracker injuries and burn victims were tallied in 2013, going down to 500 in 2014 and 300 in 2015.

“We have been reiterating the ill effects of using firecrackers every year. We visited schools and every barangay, to inform them that these firecrackers, if not handled properly, can lead to serious injuries, death and, of course, fire,” Estrada added.

The mayor said President Rodrigo Duterte’s total firecracker ban has somewhat affected the sale and manufacture of banned firecrackers.

“Of course, it is a combined effort of the President, DoH [Department of Health] and LGUs [local government units] like Ma-

nila, to disseminate information among people the effects of these firecrackers,” he said.

According to MHD Chief Dr. Benjamin Yson, most incidents related to firecracker usage in the city are skin burns and minor wounds.

“Maybe one [person] had a major injury, most are burn injuries, but there is still no report of dismembered joints or hands,” Yson explained.

The six city-owned hospitals are on standby to treat any victims, Yson said, and he assured that they have stockpiled medicine and firstaid supplies for blast victims.

“They’re on set, on full alert, to address of course, blast injuries, possible shooting victims; stray bullet or direct altercations, stabbing victims, physical victims brought out by the festivity.

They’ve been ready since December 24 up to January 1,” he added.

Manila’s six public hospitals – the Sta. Ana Hospital, Ospital ng Tondo, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center and Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital – are manned by about 600 doctors.

Sandy Araneta

Hot Air Balloon Fiesta gears up

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga —The preparation for the 21st Philippines International Hot Air Balloon Festival slated on Feb. 9 to 12 here is now on full blast.

The festival, which is the largest running sport aviation event in Asia, is a major tourist project of the Clark Development Corp. in cooperation with the Department of Tourism Region III. They have been at work promoting the fiesta since October last year.

The total number of participants are growing by the day, organizers said, as new local and foreign balloonists are

interested to join the fourday festival.

With the theme “Over Two Decades of Flying High,” the balloon fiesta is expected to attract about 50,000 tourists, both foreign and local during its duration. The festival started in 1993.

Eric Jimenez of the Clark Information Division said the event includes an aerobatic exhibition, formation flying to radio-contact aircraft, skydiving, paragliding, and other activities.

The staging of the balloon festival made Clark the Tourism Destination in 2015, Jimenez said. Romeo Dizon

C2

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

LGUs

CdO enforcer shot 3x in back, dies C Cogon Market at 6 p.m. before the New Year, was shot three times in the back.

AGAYAN DE ORO CITY—A traffic Cabingcas was rushed to the enforcer has died after being shot at a hospital but died at 8:20 p.m. busy intersection by a still-unidentified on Saturday, Edgardo Jose Uy, chairman of the city’s Task Force suspect at the height of holiday traffic here Hapsay Dalan “Clear Road” in on Friday.

Visayan said.

“The barbaric shooting of Cris Cabingcas, team leader ning the area along Guillermo Cabingcas, a criminal act for of the traffic enforcers man- and JR Borja streets around which the perpetrator must be

By Lance Baconguis

brought before the bar of justice, has no place in a civilized society like Cagayan de Oro,” Uy said.

Uy believes the killing of Cabingcas is work-related, as he was part of the Roads and Traffic Administration team “playing a cat-and-mouse game with street vendors” that tried to clear the city’s roads ahead of the holidays.

The RTA had allowed vendors to occupy city sidewalks during this season, but on regular days the vendors managed to evade arrest and “take the upper hand, as the RTA is severely undermanned,” Uy added.

He also condemned a radio broadcaster, whom Uy did not name, who “has been quick in airing biased commentaries against the RTA and Cabingcas,

which not only added insult to the injuries to Cabingcas, but incites lawlessness in the city.”

In a Facebook post, City Information Officer Maricel Casino-Rivera said: “To the traffic complainers, you should know that it is not easy, the work of a traffic enforcer. They risk their lives, they get hit, slapped, belittled, and now are being shot and killed.”

Lanao mayor dead in ambush

WET FIREWORKS. Laguna Provincial Director Police Senior Supt. Joel Pernito (center), Provincial Deputy for Administration Police Supt. Serio Manacop, and Deputy for Operation Supt. Melito Salvador inspect confiscated ‘boga’ firecrackers from different towns in the province, then destroy them and thousands of pesos worth of assorted firecrackers by hosing them down (inset) at Camp Gen. Paciano Rizal in Bagong Bayan, Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Roy Tomandao

IN BRIEF 3 suspects caught at abandoned house GENERAL MARIANO ALVAREZ, Cavite—Two lovers were caught having sex while having a drug session, while a theft suspect was arrested—all at the same abandoned house at Barangay Poblacion 5 here.

Sherwin Tibay, 33, and his lover Jackielyn Vardezo, 28, were caught in the act while sniffing shabu, and Dandy Briol, a suspect in thefts around Barangay 5, was captured in another portion of the house, Police Sr. Insp.

Wilfredo Taran Jr. of the GMA Municipal Police Station said.

Two other unidentified persons managed to escape the police patrol that uncovered Tibay, Vardezo and Briol, Taran said. Recovered from Briol were reported stolen items including cellphones and tablets worth a total of P45,000.

Benjamin Chavez

Bacoor police nab 4 in pot session BACOOR, Cavite—Two men and two women were arrested while using shabu at a house in Makrol, Barangay Molino 3 here, police said.

PO3 Edison L. Fetalcurin, officer on case, said Michelle Salcedo, Glorie May Patrico, Joselito Amboy, and Jimmy Lingayan were nabbed at Patrico’s house after patrolling policemen under the Bacoor Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force were tipped on their pot session.

Police confiscated two sealed plastic sachets with suspected shabu, two unsealed plastic sachets with suspected shabu, and drug paraphernalia. They will be charged with violating Republic Act 9165. Benjamin Chavez

Davao aims to end malnutrition in city

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO CITY—The City Nutrition Council aims to end malnutrition in Davao through the Community Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition that was first implemented in 2013.

Davao is the first and the only city in the country that applies the Cimam “in a non-emergency status,” city nutrition council

head Vangie Ginite said.

The program has reached Davao’s goal to cure all malnourished children in the city, Ginite said, adding that most other cities—and even countries —only implement Cimam during disasters or war.

“This started during the time of then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

It materialized since he wanted to end malnutrition,” she said.

Nine severely malnourished children in the city were identified during the first year of the program, Ginite said. The kids turned healthy after just three months through the program.

From January to June 2016, the city enrolled 176 malnourished children, and 65 percent of them were cured in two to three months, Ginite said.

“We want to end malnutrition,

that is why we were doing our best to feed those malnourished kids.

We want to give this kids a better future ahead of them,” she said.

The city partnered with Unicef to obtain Ready to Use Therapeutic Food that helps children gain their lost nutrition. Through the partnership, the city saved P4 million out of its P6.5-million budget for the Cimam released

by Duterte in 2014.

Red Cross caravan heads to ‘Nina’ areas THE Philippine Red Cross humanitarian caravan, loaded with emergency relief supplies and other equipment intended for Typhoon “Nina”-affected families and areas, is now on its way to Catanduanes, Marinduque and Albay to distribute relief items and assist in clearing operations.

According to a PRC Operations Center report, the number of Nina-damaged houses has reached 153,316, while 125,696 families or 583,574 individuals have been affected.

“As we honor the heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal today [Dec. 30], we at the Philippine Red Cross also remember the value of selflessness through the humanitarian works and generosity exemplified by our volunteers, who provide service without expecting anything in return,” said PRC Chairman Richard Gordon. “They are our everyday heroes, who are able to swiftly mobilize aid and bring relief to the most vulnerable.”

In response to Typhoon “Nina,” PRC staff and volunteers have been on the ground in close coordination with the local government, and have also been distributing emergency relief items, while others have assisted in repacking and preparing the caravan to be able to extend more help in various affected areas.

The teams are set to distribute relief supplies which include 3,000 sets of tarpaulins, blankets, mosquito nets, and sleeping mats, 1,500 sets of hygiene kits, 50 sets of shelter tool kit (handsaw, hammer, wire, etc), 1,500 sets of 20-liter jerry cans, 10 generator sets, 500 sacks of clothes, and 15,000 pairs of shoes.

The Philippine Red Cross caravan headed for Bicol Region includes 10-wheeler and 6-wheeler trucks, a fuel tanker, a Humvee, a Landcruiser, and a 10,000-liter water tanker and other equipment.

PRC 10- and 6-wheeler trucks, a fuel tanker, humvee, landcruiser, and a 10,000-liter water tanker and other equipment have been dispatched for the relief distribution.

Damage to agriculture and infrastructure in areas devastated

by Typhoon ‘Nina’ (international name: “Nock-Ten”) reached P681 million as of Thursday, the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council said.

Initial reports show that the regions of Calabarzon, Mimaropa,

Bicol and Eastern Visayas incurred damages worth P681,244,632.

In the Bicol region alone, a total of 30,897 houses were left damaged. Of this number 21,225 are partially damaged while 9,672 are totally damaged.

THE mayor of Pantar, Lanao del Norte was killed in an ambush in Iligan City on Thursday night.

Mayor Mohamad Exchan Limbona, 52, sustained multiple gunshot wounds after he was ambushed in Barangay Dalipuga, Iligan City, police investigators said.

Limbona was brought to the Adventist Medical Center but was declared dead by attending physicians less than an hour after the incident.

Limbona’s escort, Police Officer 1 Russel Jay Paltingca, and PO1 Saidamen Haji Naim were both hit in the legs. Limbona’s wife Ginima and daughter Sittie Aisha were unhurt.

Iligan City Police Director Police Supt. Roy Ga told Magnum Radio in an interview that an undetermined number of men fired on the driver’s side of Limbona’s Ford Everest, hitting the mayor.

Ga said the possible motive for the killing could either be politics or “rido,” a family feud that permeates Maranao culture.

In 2015, on the last day of the filing of candidacy for the May 9 elections, a combined force of the Regional Public Safety Battalion and Army soldiers with four Simba light armored vehicle prevented an armed confrontation between Limbona’s men and acting mayor Jabar Tago. Lance Baconguis

Erap’s...

From C1

We’ll talk about it when the right time comes,” he told the Standard.

Meanwhile, Estrada honored three government employees who discovered the improvised bomb planted near the United States Embassy, the street vendor who identified one of the suspects arrested in the foiled terrorist attack, and the policemen who diffused the bomb.

The discovery of the bomb “was probably Manila’s biggest accomplishment in their security to date,” the mayor said.

Estrada gave Eli Balabagan, the street sweeper from the Department of Public Works and Highways, a P100,000 reward. Wenifreda Francisco and Maria Dolores Ostolano of the city’s Department of Public Services also received P50,00 each, as well as plaques, from the mayor.

Josie Camacho, the street vendor, also received P50,000 in cash and a plaque. She provided police with an eyewitness description of one of the suspects.

Estrada also honored SPO4 Emmanuel Fallaria, officer-incharge of the MPD-Explosive Ordnance Division, and Chief Insp. Jay Dimaandal, chief of the Special Operations Unit, for responding at the scene, quickly disarming the explosive device and saving innocent lives. They also received P50,000.

Police said the IED, had it detonated, could have maimed or killed several people within a 100-meter radius. It consisted of an 81mm mortar round, a cellphone with a SIM card, a blasting cap and a nine-volt battery, like the one used in the September 2 bombing in Davao City that killed 15 people.

Estrada also cited Balabagan, Francisco, Ostolano, and Camacho as “the new heroes of the city of Manila.”

World IN BRIEF China jails 16 for trafficking in organs BEIJING—Sixteen people including two surgeons have been jailed for between two and five years in China for trafficking in human organs, a practice still widespread in the country.

The group -- which also included an anesthesiologist, a nurse and an assistant doctor -- were involved in a vast illegal trade in kidneys, according to the judgment cited by the official Xinhua news agency Saturday.

The court in the city of Jinan in the eastern province of Shandong said several defendants had searched online for people selling kidneys nationwide and arranged for tests and matches between sellers and buyers.

The transplants were secretly performed in the city of Feicheng, according to the court which passed judgment Friday.

Patients were each told to pay 400,000-600,000 yuan ($57,62086,430) while those selling kidneys received a mere 40,000 yuan.

China in 2007 issued its first regulations on human organ transplants, banning organizations and individuals from trading in organs.

But trafficking cases are still common in China, which suffers a drastic shortage of donated organs.

Chines tradition dictates that a corpse be buried without mutilation.

For decades most transplants used the organs of executed convicts, often without the consent of their families, according to rights groups -- allegations denied by authorities. AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Race on to save the cheetah H

ARTBEESPOORT, South Africa―Lounging in the shade of a tree, Heathcliff the cheetah oozes sleek grace and power, but he is captive behind a wire fence—perhaps the only way that cheetahs will exist in a few decades’ time.

Death toll from mine collapse rises to 16

NEW DELHI―The death toll from a mine collapse in eastern India’s Jharkhand state rose to 16 Sunday as rescue workers continued to search for the bodies of seven missing miners.

A massive mound of earth caved in late Thursday at Lalmatia open cast mine, around 390 kilometers from the state capital Ranchi.

“We have now already taken out 16 bodies and think the toll may go up to 23,” Jharkhand police spokesman RK Mallick told AFP by phone.

“Besides the challenging terrain and foggy weather, the cave-in area is spread around 300 meters and it’s obviously taking time to clear the debris and search for the unaccounted miners,” he added.

Baleshwar Mahato, a bulldozer operator at the mining site whose son died during the incident, said the mine’s operators ignored two safety warnings prior to the collapse.

“After that first warning, there was another alert around 6pm (on Thursday), when a bigger chunk of mud slid down,” Baleshwar told The Indian Express.

“But work continued where Kuleshwar [his son] was and then, this tragedy struck,” he added.

There was no immediate explanation for the collapse, but the government has launched an investigation into the incident. AFP

Trump again doubts trafficking WASHINGTON―President-elect Donald Trump again cast doubt Saturday on a US intelligence finding that Russia meddled in the US election through computer hacking, a conclusion that led to US sanctions against Moscow.

“Well, I just want them to be sure, because it’s a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure,” Trump told reporters at his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

He noted that US intelligence had erred when it said Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- the pretext for the US-led invasion in 2003 -- calling this “a disaster, and they were wrong”.

He said it was “unfair” of the United States to accuse Russia of hacking if there was any doubt.

“And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation,” Trump said.

Asked what he knew that others did not, Trump said, “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Trump was also asked how important cybersecurity would be to his administration after he takes power on January 20. AFP

C3

MARIAH IN NEW YORK. Mariah Carey performs during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York. AFP

Struggling to feed rising cat population PAPHOS, Cyprus―Legend has it that a Roman empress first brought cats to Cyprus to do battle with poisonous snakes, but centuries later it’s the island’s financial crisis that has sparked a population boom.

Some 1,700 years after Empress Helena shipped the whiskered hunters over to the Mediterranean country, animal lovers are battling to care for a soaring stray cat population after austerity measures caused cuts to a state sterilization program.

An unsterilized female cat can have up to eight kittens a year, which has left volunteers, some of whom are struggling financially themselves, grappling to provide food to an increasing number of meowing

mouths.

At a shelter in the hills behind the seaside resort of Paphos, British volunteers say they spend around 2,100 donated euros ($2,200) a month feeding their feline orphans.

The Tala Monastery Cat Park closed after reaching full capacity this autumn but still kittens were being left in the parking lot outside, its founder Dawn Foote said.

“Something has got to change. Come another two years, we won’t be able to do this,” Foote said as she swept between rows of cat beds.

Thousands of jobs were axed and salaries slashed in Cyprus as part of austerity measures in the fallout of the 2008 global economic crisis, with tens of

thousands of people left depending on food handouts.

In 2011, the state also ended a program of 50,000 euros a year to sterilize around 1,700 cats across the island, said Dinos Agiomamitis, who heads an association that helps felines.

“These last five years, they didn’t operate (on) these 1,700 cats.” Imagine “how many kittens they left behind. Thousands! And now we’re rushing to cover this,” said the head of Cat PAWS Cyprus.

To help control a population of hundreds of thousands of strays, the association offers those feeding them discount vouchers for sterilization from partner vets.

But Agiomamitis also helps catch unsterilized cats for the

Nicosia municipality, one of just a few in Cyprus with a small budget for the operation.

Under the orange trees of a private driveway, an elegant black-and-white cat cautiously sniffed a spoonful of tinned meat at the mouth of a long metal cage.

“If you’re feeding 10 cats in your neighborhood and don’t decide to sterilise them, very soon you will have a big number,” said Agiomamitis, who waited patiently nearby for the cat to take the bait.

As the stray crept further inside, Agiomamitis rushed in, closed the trap’s door and carefully carried his furry patient to his truck, where seven other cats waited to be ferried off to the vet. AFP

A major survey released last week revealed that just 7,100 adult cheetahs remain in the wild, and that the species faces extinction without urgent new protection measures.

At the De Wildt Cheetah Center outside Pretoria, about 100 cheetahs are kept in large enclosures where they roam through a scrubby bushveld landscape.

The fastest land animal on Earth is critically vulnerable to the loss of its natural habitat -- the major cause of numbers dropping from about 100,000 over the last 100 years.

Cheetahs have lost 90 percent of their habitat due to growing human populations, according to the study, which produced comprehensive new data on the elusive species.

Forced into contact with people, cheetahs are shot by farmers to protect livestock, accidentally caught in snares set for edible bushmeat or their cubs are illegally traded to the Gulf states as exotic pets.

“Cheetahs are forgotten among the big species under threat. It is very scary to see what is happening to the numbers,” Rita Groenewald, conservation education expert at the De Wildt center, told AFP. “This report has highlighted the extent of the risk, which many people are not aware of.

“In one generation or two, we could lose the wild population. We need to educate people in schools, hunting associations and underprivileged communities.”

Cheetahs adapt poorly to living in protected areas such as wildlife reserves as they range over huge distances, struggle with a shortage of prey and their young are easy targets for eagles, lions and hyenas.

The new study, published in a US journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, detailed how most cheetahs live outside protected areas.

“We have to try to develop programs so that cheetahs can survive alongside people,” Laurie Marker, report co-author and one of the world’s leading cheetah authorities, told AFP from her research base in Namibia.

“There are things that can be done, and that is a cause for hope.”

Marker has promoted better livestock management to reduce the mass killing of cheetahs by farmers in Namibia, and pioneered the use of large Anatolian shepherd dogs that live permanently with cattle herds.

Cheetahs are reluctant to take on the fierce Anatolians, and so they return to hunting in the bush.

For Marker, who has devoted her life to working with cheetahs, losing the species in the wild would be an unimaginable blow.

“They are speed and elegance all mixed in together,” she said. “They are so beautiful, special and most unique of all the cats.”

Of the cheetahs still alive in the wild, all are in Africa except for fewer than 50 in Iran, with the others mainly in Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.

Among the shocking statistics in the report by the Zoological Society of London and Wildlife Conservation Society was that cheetah numbers in Zimbabwe have plunged by more than 85 percent to 170 in 16 years. AFP

N. Korea claims it will soon test-launch ICBM SEOUL―North Korea is in the “final stages” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile, leader Kim Jong-Un said Sunday, adding the country had significantly bolstered its nuclear deterrent in 2016.

“We are in the final stages of test-launching the intercontinental ballistic missile,” Kim said in a 30-minute televised New Year’s speech, pointing to a string of nuclear and missile tests last year.

Pyongyang had “soared as a nuclear power”, he said, adding it was now a “military power of the East that cannot be touched by even the strongest enemy”.

The country carried out two nuclear tests and numerous missile launches last year along in pursuit of its oft-stated goal -- developing a weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.

“We have seen marvelous feats for bolstering our military power, including the fact that our preparations for test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile are in the final stages,” Kim added.

Analysts are divided over how close Pyongyang is to realizing its full nuclear ambitions, especially

as it has never successfully testfired an intercontinental ballistic missile.

But all agree it has made enormous strides in that direction since Kim took over as leader from his father Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011.

A senior US defense official said last month that the North had developed the capability to pair a nuclear warhead with a missile and launch it, but had not mastered bringing the weapon back from space and onto a target.

There are growing concerns of fresh provocations by Pyongyang following last month’s impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, which has left the country with a caretaker leader -- Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-Ahn. On relations with South Korea, Kim said the North was willing to “hold hands with anyone who wishes to improve North-South ties”. But he denounced Seoul for pushing inter-Korean relations to their “worst state”.

“We must launch all-out efforts to pulverize actions by antiunification forces like Park GeunHye,” he said. AFP

PERFORMANCE. Singer Gloria Estefan performs during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

World

Agonized wait after terrible night in club I STANBUL―At the security cordon outside Istanbul’s Reina nightclub, where a gunman went on the rampage killing New Year revelers, a man yells that he must get through, that he knows someone inside.

A policeman puts an arm around his shoulder and holds the man as he collapses in tears.

He is escorted away from media and police throw a jacket over his shoulders to keep him warm.

At least 39 people were killed, including many foreigners, in the bloodshed at the upscale nightclub in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district.

The swanky Reina is the place to be on New Year’s Eve in Istanbul and its dance floor and lounges were packed with hundreds of people at the time of the attack, just over an hour after the

fireworks went off to mark 2017.

It became a night of horror and panic, triggering panic among residents of the city that their loved ones were among the victims.

In the aftermath of the attack, ambulances and police cars crowded outside the venue on the shores of the Bosphorus as dazed survivors still in their party clothes crowded outside.

“We came here to have a good time today but everything was suddenly transformed into chaos and a night of horror,” said Maximilien, an Italian tourist.

Relatives and loved ones of those feared to be inside queued by the police cordon staffed by heavily armed police in the winter cold.

“My sister was inside,” says one woman. “I received a call and she said she was inside and there were gunshots.

“That was it. I have not been able to reach her since.”

The city had already been on edge ahead of the New Year, an obvious security risk after a string of attacks this year blamed on Kurdish militants and jihadists.

Authorities had boasted that 17,000 police would be on duty in the city for New Year. But their mass deployment could do nothing to prevent the horror unleashed by a single individual.

For another woman standing outside the situation is more cer-

tain. “My elder brother is inside.

I had news. Thankfully he is fine. I am waiting for him now,” she said.

She reassures a relative on the phone. “Don’t cry. He is coming.”

Inside, police teams began painstaking forensic work to try and identify the attacker.

Another group of ambulances rushes through the security cordon and fewer then come through until a police officer declares there is no longer anyone inside the Reina.

But the security situation is far from over, as Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announces that a manhunt is under way for the attacker.

“The police have started the necessary operations. I hope [the assailant] will be captured quickly, God willing,” he said. AFP

COUNTDOWN. Toshiba Vision Screens during the New Year’s Eve

Countdown at Times Square on January 1, 2017, in New York City. AFP

Target a top haunt of elite

Crowd waits for the ball drop

ISTANBUL―The upmarket Istanbul Reina club, targeted in a gun attack during New Year celebrations that left at least 39 dead, is the haunt of Turkey’s young secular elite and one of the most prestigious nightspots in the city.

With an idyllic location on the shores of the Bosphorus on the European side of the city and a terrace spilling down to the water’s edge, Reina is the place to be seen in the city.

It’s expensive and hard to get into, with bouncers giving would-be guests a hard time at the entrance to ensure they look sufficiently well-moneyed and beautiful.

The club is popular with foreign visitors and of the 21 victims identified so far, 16 are confirmed to be foreigners.

The most well-heeled patrons can even be taken up to the waterside terrace of the nightclub in boats.

The parties at Reina are legendary, with the action usually not starting until well after midnight and the venue endowed with several restaurants and dance floors.

The view from the terrace is spectacular, just underneath the mighty first bridge across the Bosphorus with the lights of Asia twinkling on the other side.

The bridge is itself now haunted by history and named after the victims of the July 15 coup after it became the site of fierce battles between plotters and protesters.

Even as secularists complained of a creeping Islamization in the country under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the party carried on at Reina.

Its clientele includes footballers from the top Turkish sides and stars from the country’s much-watched soap operas.

Every weekend their attendance at parties features in the gossip and celebrity pullouts in Turkish media.

The party only ends in the small hours when revellers stagger outside to be whisked home in waiting cars.

But now -- as with the November 13, 2015 attack in Paris when gunmen stormed the popular Bataclan concert venue killing 90 people -- its name will forever be synonymous with violence.

Footballer Sefa Boydas, who plays full time for Istanbul third division club Beylerbeyi SK and witnessed the attack, said he had been nervous about partying on New Year’s Eve. AFP

NEW YORK―Thousands of people crammed into New York City’s Times Square in Saturday, in a raucous atmosphere with tight security, for the traditional ball drop.

At about 6:00 pm (2300 GMT), the giant sphere was hoisted to the top of the 43-meter (141-feet) post at the landmark crossroads with its towering buildings and huge neon lights.

Once lit, the ball glittered brightly and sparkled in the night sky just as some of the first fireworks crackled in the background.

At a minute before midnight, according to tradition, New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, will press the button that starts the drop. He will be joined this year by outgoing United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.

Then comes the confetti, and the cheers of people around the world.

More than a million people are expected in Times Square to mark this New Year’s tradition, observed every year since 1907 except the war years of 1942 and 1943.

On the heels of recent bomb attacks in Berlin and Nice, New York deployed some 7,000 police and dozens of garbage trucks to “strategic” locations to prevent vehicles from crushing the crowd.

The atmosphere seemed fairly relaxed and many police posed alongside tourists for “selfies” that visitors shared on social media.

“It’s the best place in the world to be on New Year’s Eve,” said Alma Alanis, a lawyer from Mexico with her companion, Eduardo Chavarria.

They arrived at midday, wrapped up in coats, to hold out until midnight.

“We have wanted to come here for many years, because it has to be seen, it is magic,” said Jerome Nicolas from central France.

“As soon as there is a crowd, we cannot help but think of the attacks,” said his wife Sandrine, referring to a series of massacres this year around the globe.

Leann Krieger, who traveled from Missouri with several former colleagues, voiced some trepidation about the incoming American president, Donald Trump.

“I hope for the best because there’s nothing we can do about it,” she said. AFP

CELEBRATIONS. Fireworks are seen above Ljubljana during New Year’s celebrations from Smarna Gora, Slovenia, on January 1, 2017. AFP

Mass weddings a chance to celebrate AIN SALAH―Gathered in a tent in the Algerian desert, 30 young women are preparing for a big day many thought they could never afford -- a wedding.

Draped in beaded fabrics, the women lift their veils so make-up can be applied to their faces and hold out their hands for henna tattoos, the smell of incense wafting through the tent.

The next day, their 30 grooms gather separately, dressed in traditional robes, their heads wrapped in turbans.

Ornamental swords rest on their laps as they sit cross-legged on carpets outside, listening quietly to chants and drumming as they are shaved and kohl is applied around their eyes.

In the evening, the girls will be brought to the grooms’ family

homes, lifting their veils to reveal their faces to their new husbands.

“For us, tradition is paramount, a woman is not properly married if she doesn’t follow our traditions,” says Hadja Hnizga, a volunteer helping to prepare the ceremonies.

The 30 couples, all from poor families, are taking part in a mass wedding organized by charitable association “SOS 3e-age El-Ihsane”.

Without the group’s help, few would have been able to afford an individual ceremony, which can cost at least 1.2 million dinars ($10,000/8,000 euros) -- the equivalent of nearly two years’ worth of earnings at Algeria’s minimum wage.

The high cost of nuptials in Algeria appears to be deterring some from tying the knot -- there were

about 370,000 weddings in 2015, a drop from around 386,000 the year before, despite a rising population.

“In these back country areas, people are poor and need help,” says Souad Chikhi, the president of the association that organized the mass wedding in Ain Salah.

An oasis town in the heart of the Sahara in central Algeria, Ain Salah sits near major natural gas production sites, but not everyone here has benefited.

The 30 grooms in the recent ceremony work in low-wage jobs, some as drivers, others as security guards or agricultural laborers.

The brides are mainly unemployed and after their marriages most of the couples will live with families as they cannot afford their own homes.

Many were thankful that -- despite the other difficulties in their lives -- they were able to have a proper wedding.

“The initiative to finance and help young people is good,” said Mohammed, one of the grooms.

“When I heard about this association, like other young people I wanted to take part in this marriage. This association helps those who are in need a lot.”

As well as the ceremony itself, the association organized gift baskets to be given to the couples that include appliances, dishes and clothes.

“Thank God, we were able to gather their gifts,” Chikhi said.

“We were able to pay the dowry for the boy and the girl and I hope that will bring them happiness.”

AFP

A SWEET MATCH. Actress and host Anne Curtis and chocolate powder drink brand Swiss Miss join forces to bring a taste of ‘the sweet life’ to everyone with Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut.

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

FOOD

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

D1

Samples of the new Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut, which is made of premium cocoa and real milk with the flavor and aroma of roasted hazelnuts, are offered at the Café Dolce pop-up café

LA DOLCE VITA in a cup F

ROM dreamy gondola rides, enchanting arias by an international musician, and artists creating their masterpieces to amours enjoying sumptuous meals, and stylish couples wearing the latest Italian fashion, the setting had all the elements of la dolce vita. which was theme for the launch of the new Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut from the world-famous chocolate powder drink brand.

The Italian theme was just perfect for the occasion. The newest Swiss Miss flavor combines premium, imported cocoa and real milk with the aroma and flavor of roasted, buttery hazelnuts for a silky, creamy and frothy chocolate drink that evokes the sweet life in every cup.

“The luxurious taste of the new Swiss Miss variant reminds us that it doesn’t require much to enjoy life. Life is sweet, and we can enjoy its little indulgences by rewarding ourselves for our little wins,” said Cathy Castro, Swiss Miss Asia marketing manager, who added that the launch is a milestone for Filipinos as the Philippines is the first mar-

ket in Asia to introduce this new Swiss Miss flavor.

To make the momentous moment even more memorable, the first Swiss Miss Philippines endorser—and the first endorser globally—graced the event. Top actress, host and awardwinning endorser Anne Curtis joined guests in celebrating the launch of the new Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut.

A certified go-getter, the princess of all media shared, “I make sure that I’m able to take a quick breather despite my full schedule. At the end of long taping hours or filming for a new movie, I take a moment to reward myself even

Swiss Miss Philippines country manager Floribel Loreto-Lao and Swiss Miss Asia marketing manager Cathy Castro

International singer Jonathan Wagner performs for the guests of Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut launch

Host Evan Spargo

in small ways—a cup of Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut helps me relax and enjoy those moments.”

Dressed in a dramatic gown and a Venetian-inspired mask, Anne led the dramatic launch of the new Swiss Miss flavor. Her cotillion, wearing Italianinspired fashion and alluring masks, trailed behind her as she invited guests

to indulge in the new Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut.

Like Anne, mall goers also got a taste of la dolce vita as they enjoyed Café Dolce, a pop-up café offering free samples of Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut, along with complimentary gondola rides and portraits from artists.

Experience your own la dolce vita

moments by enjoying life’s little pleasures and rewarding yourself for hardwon victories with a serving of Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut.

Swiss Miss Chocolate Hazelnut is now available in leading stores and supermarkets nationwide. For more updates, visit Swiss Miss Philippines on Facebook and Instagram @SwissMissPH.

Sparkle for joy and health NO OTHER people celebrate Christmas season better and longer than Filipinos do. From the last months of the year until the beginning of the next, Filipinos’ celebrations go on and on with friends and family. But planning your next Christmas gathering can oftentimes take the joy out of the jolly season, especially if your food and beverage don’t appeal to some guests and family members.

Party experts believe that the trick to a great celebration is a food and beverage selection that doesn’t just taste good but one that is also good for them too, even the kids.

For many generations, Welch’s has brought families and friends closer together through inclusive celebrations with its line of nonalcoholic beverage solutions that have been loved by all, young and old. The world’s favorite grape-centric food and beverage brand has made its line of sparkling juices available to Filipinos, a treat that kids, working moms and adults don’t want to miss.

In the Philippines, Welch’s offers two nonalcoholic sparkling juice products that promise to bring bubbly excitement and celebratory goodness to each day of any season—every time a different flavor and a unique fizz. Customers may choose from either Welch’s White Grape Sparkling Cocktail, or the Red Grape Sparkling Cocktail.

“Welch’s sparkling grape juices are made from 100 percent Concord and Niagara grapes grown by nearly 1,000 family farmer in the United States and Canada with a long tradition in turning grapes and other fruits into a happy balance of goodness and deliciousness. By making available Welch’s line of sparkling juices in the Philippines, we’re happy to provide inclusive and nutritional choices for Filipinos to enjoy at all times,” says Jun Cochanco, president of Fly Ace Corporation, the exclusive distributor of

Get the party started with Welch’s sparkling juices that are made from 100 percent Concord and Niagara grapes

Welch’s in the Philippines.

Welch’s considers health as a serious factor in product development, and as a brand it advocates grapes as a healthy food and beverage choice across ages. Over 20 years of scientific research proved that grape juice could support the heart, and scientists continue to unearth more findings.

Recently, scientists discovered that Concord grape juice provides cognitive benefits not

only to older adults but also to working moms.

Scientists also found that polyphenols in grape juice may result in a modestly lower glycemic response, contributing to long-term health.

With Welch’ sparkling juices, any season is good for the family.

Available at all major supermarkets, Mercury Drugstores, Watson’s and convenience stores nationwide.

Life

D2

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

A taste of the Philippines D

ELEGATES of the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Asia-Pacific 2016, the largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, content media creators and tourism industry professionals, had a feast as they discovered Philippine cuisine.

Presented by the Department of Tourism (DoT) and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), in coordination with NMX Events, their journey of discovery began with a 15-hour food tour where they traveled to Pampanga, “the culinary center of the Philippines,” to try iconic Filipino dishes such as lechon, sisig, chicken inasal, and sinigang. They then went to Binondo to experience the country’s Chinese culinary inf luence on food.

The contingent was served an array of grilled fish, prawns, squids and clams, and tasted some of the native delicacies such as barquillos, turones, kutsinta, halo-halo, and rice cakes including bibingka, cassava cake and puto.

The country’s tropical fruits were also a hit as the visitors sampled the sweetest mangoes, rambutan, lanzones and marang. Calamansi was a surprise to them for its versatility—from a re-

freshing fruit drink to an additional flavor to condiments.

To complete their Filipino food experience, they were served some of the country’s exotic foods including balut, pako or fern salad and sea urchin.

“I find it very interesting that the Filipino cuisine is influenced by so many other cultures and it creates a fascinating mix,” said Maria Haase who traveled all the way from Germany. “This food trip was very interesting and inspiring for me.”

Further making Filipino meals fun, the delegates experienced boodle feasts, which urged them not only to share their food but to interact and converse with one another. Trying Filipino dishes in this unique way was something the first-time visitors were able to enjoy. “This is such a simple pleasure to enjoy. It’s amazing that we get the time to eat together. I love this kind of culture,” said Chicago-native Rosemary Kimani.

FILIPINO FOOD FAVORITES. Foreign delegates of the Travel Blog Exchange got the chance to taste different dishes of the Philippines such as lechon, sisig, bibingka and puto, among many others during the TBEX Asia Pacific 2016.

UK-based coffee shop at Robinsons Galleria COSTA COFFEE drink can now be enjoyed at its new counter-type branch at Robinsons Galleria inside Robinsons Supermarket.

The UK-based coffee shop brings its handcrafted beverages, along with an array of delectable sandwiches, pasta, salad, cakes and pastries to mall goers and supermarket customers.

The coffee-drinking set would be pleased to know of specials perfect anytime. The Hot Salted Caramel Cappuccino (primo P135, medio P145, massimo P155) has that irresistible combination of sweet and salty. This is also available in ice-blended Frostino (primo P165, medio P175, massimo P195).

Another Costa Coffee exclusive is Black Forest Chocolate Frostino (primo P165, medio P175, massimo P195) made with just vanilla powder, chocolate sauce, cherry puree, chocolate curls and milk, then finished off with whipped cream. Have it cold or opt for a comforting cup of Black For-

est Hot Chocolate (primo P140, medio P150, massimo P160) There’s also Chocolate Cookie Frostino (available in latte) and Malted Honeycomb Hot Chocolate.

You may also enjoy a cup or two of Costa Coffee’s signature drink, Flat White made with a shot of coffee called Cortissimo smothered in a thin layer of milk bubbles expertly poured by baristas to form a florette.

Costa Coffee is London’s favorite coffee shop having been part of the British coffee drinking culture since 1971 when it was founded by brothers Bruno and Sergio Costa inspired by their love for premium coffee.

Visit other Costa Coffee branches at Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Place Antipolo, Venice Grand Canal inside Robinsons Selections, Tera Tower Bridgetowne in Q.C., One World Place Bldg. in Bonifacio Global City, Citywalk 1, Eastwood City and The Block, SM North Edsa.

B ITES Limited edition chicken ham at Chooks-to-Go stores FOR a limited time only, the country’s leading roasted chicken chain offers the firstever Chooks Chicken Ham, its own take on the traditional holiday ham, which is a staple of every holiday table.

Chooks Chicken Ham is an oven-roasted sweet and juicy chicken topped with drizzled pineapple glaze.

Unlike commercially available cured ham, this is served whole and is freshly cooked at Chooks-to-Go’s over a thousand rotisserie outlets nationwide.

Available at select Chooks-to-Go stores, Chooks Chicken Ham is perfect gift to delight your family. So hurry, get it for your instant parties, reunions, feasts and other celebrations.

The last great hamburger stand

Costa Coffee opens another counter-type branch at Robinsons Galleria

FATBURGER and Buffalo’s opened its doors at Street Side, Glorietta 2 Palm Drive, Makati.

Founded in 1952 by Lovie Yancey, Fatburger began making custom burgers with the idea of creating a culture of fast food big burgers that can be a meal in itself. Every meal is cookedto-order, which distinguishes Fatburger among other fast food joints.

In 2013, it acquired Buffalo’s Café that serves delicious boneless and bone-in wings mixed in a variety of blends of spices and herbs.

Fatburger offers a full line of burgers, angus beef hotdogs, buffalo chicken, sides, salads and sandwiches— perfect with hand-scooped milkshakes made from real ice cream,

freshly made onion rings and fat and skinny fries that are cooked in 100 percent cholesterol-free oil. It also offers a vegetarian burger option, which only has the freshest ingredients.

For those who want something filling in the morning, can enjoy a bacon-and-egg sandwich in English Muffin for brunch, and go for a midnight snack and feast on a Triple Burger with a beer or two.

Upon entering, Fat-bar welcomes everyone with a full bar that offers beers on tap, many varieties of beer by the bottle, wine, as well as refreshing cocktail drinks.

“For 60 years, Fatburger has been living up to its name in serving the best and freshest burgers. And we be-

lieve that Filipinos are ready to taste this legacy,” said Jack Halaby, COO of Fatburger Philippines.

Fatburger prides itself with its modern contemporary but still preserving the Los Angeles interior, while customers are entertained with the best music in this Californian soul restaurant.

“We’re definitely excited to introduce the last great hamburger stand to the Filipinos and let them have the build-your-own burger experience,” Halaby added.

Fatburger is open everyday from 11 a.m. to 12 midnight, and soon until the wee hours of the morning. For more information, visit www.fatburger. com/philippines.

MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

Positive reviews for Enchong Dee

Solar Entertainment President and CEO Wilson Tieng (left) with GMA Network's Joey Abacan during the signing of memorandum of agreement that gives GMA 7 the rights to air the 65th edition of Miss Universe pageant

GMA Network to air MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT

G

MA Network will air the live telecast of Miss Universe pageant on Jan. 30 with a replay on the succeeding weekend.

inked a memorandum of agreement that secures their partnership for the broadcast of the annual pageant at the GMA Network Center.

Joey Abacan looks forward to the opportunity of showing the best of the Philippines to the entire world. “We embrace it with open arms that we will be airing Miss Universe, especially now that GMA First Vice President for Program it’s in Manila. We’re very proud to partner with Management Joey Abacan and Solar Solar in this project,” the GMA executive claims.

Meanwhile, Wilson Tieng is happy to have Entertainment President & CEO Wilson Tieng

strong ties with the Kapuso Network. “We are very proud to be with GMA. We have done so many events and the biggest of them all is the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. Now here we are, we’re doing the biggest event for 2017—the Miss Universe pageant and we are looking forward to it.”

The live telecast of the Miss Universe pageant will air at 8:00 a.m. with a replay on Sunday Night Box Office in the weekend.

Young star considers Marcos a hero

By Robbie Pangilinan YOUNG actress Yanyan Lovendino thinks that the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos is a hero, amidst public clamor to exhume his recently buried remains from Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Yanyan is firm in her opinion and asks for respect, saying that millennials like her, are also entitled to speak their mind, though they did not experience Martial Law. “For me, he is a hero because of the good things he had done for our country when he was the President,” says the 15-year-old young star, a product of ABS-CBN’ Star Magic.

The 5’3”- Pampangueña beauty is starring a movie with Hollywood director Gorio Vicuna.

If show business did not open doors for Lovendino, she would be into sports.

“If I’m not in showbiz, I would be in school studying and I would be part of the volleyball or basketball varsity team.

I would study and train hard for me to be really good in sports,” says Yanyan who idolizes Filipino-American Meralco Bolts player Cliff Hodge, Gin kings point guard Scottie Thomposin and volleyball star Rachel Anne Daquis.

Yanyan sees showbiz as a game where you have to train, do your best, and face the challenges that come your way on your climb to victory.

“Just like in sports, I focus on learning how to improve my skills and talents such as dancing, singing, modeling, and, of course, acting. I am also working on being more confident about myself. Remember that

someone will always be better and prettier.

But if you have a good heart and if you’re gracious, then you have already won the game,” And just like in playing games, the goal is not just to win, but to learn and have fun.

Yanyan is known for being a jolly person.

She also knows when to relax. When she does not have classes, meetings, tapings, or auditions, she visits her relatives in Pampanga. She rests and spends time bonding with her siblings and cousins at her grandparents’ farm.

For Yanyan, what matters most is using her talents by sharing positive vibes to the people around her. A simple girl, Yanyan finds fulfillment in making people happy especially her loved ones and fans. She also offers pieces of advice to people that matter to her most.

And just like an athlete who takes good care of him/herself, Yanyan guards her health and wellness by sleeping for at least eight hours, drinking plenty of water and eating healthy food. To maintain her beauty, Yanyan trusts only YSA Skin and Body Experts where she gets her regular IPL.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, January 2, 2017

ACROSS 1 They see right through you (hyph.)

6 Disguise gear 10 Anagram for nope 14 Flick 15 Maintain 16 More than fume 17 Split to join 18 “Wimoweh” beast 19 Cuba, to Castro 20 Latest 22 Flea market cousin (2 wds.)

24 Hooded menace 26 Some T-shirts 27 Punk hairdos 31 Ben & Jerry rival 32 Lutz alternatives 33 Shepard and Arkin 36 Gridiron stats 39 Genuine 40 Hard rain 41 Promises to pay 42 Conclude 43 Zeniths 44 Cold snap 45 Volcanic emission 46 Uses a compass 48 Hibachi sites

51 “Nature” channel 52 Bric-a-brac 54 Ms. Sanford of TV 59 Seldom seen 60 Herr’s refusal 62 Loan-sharking 63 Has the stage (2 wds.)

64 She, in Seville 65 Amber, once 66 Mind 67 Count on 68 Down the hatch DOWN 1 Mutant heroes of comics (hyph.)

2 Starlet’s dream 3 Declare openly 4 Holy cow!

5 Playground gear 6 BTU kin 7 Car rental name 8 Manx murmurs 9 Adorn 10 Stiffly 11 Canvas support 12 Gives the eye 13 Full-strength 21 Impatient chuck 23 Floating leaves 25 Choir selection 27 Adult filly

28 Draft animals 29 Brewski topper 30 Everybody 34 Tommy — Jones 35 Fable author 36 Cel character 37 Check for fingerprints 38 Mach 1 breakers 40 Draft order?

41 Umbrage 43 Spelling aid (2 wds.)

44 Deep crack 45 Show up for

47 Diamond stat 48 Moon position 49 “Rodeo” composer — Copland 50 Stone pillar 52 Court summons 53 Window ledge 55 Offshore 56 Roman sculpture 57 Buffalo’s lake 58 Gayle’s sis 61 Opposing vote

Aspiring teen actress Yanyan Lovendino

ENCHONG Dee feels elated and proud with all the positive reviews he received for his performance in Mano Po 7: Chinoy in which he essayed the role of a rebellious son who eventually straightened things out and settled his differences with his father, played

by Richard Yap. In fact, many believe that if the film made it to the list of entries in the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival, he would definitely grab a Best Supporting Actor nomination or even win the trophy.

“Wow! Thank you,” exclaims Enchong.

“These good reviews are simply inspiring for me to further hone my craft as an actor. Maybe, I will have a chance for nomination in other award-giving bodies. Let’s see, but I don’t want to expect.”

He credits his director (Ian Loreños) for his credible delineation of the character.

“Yes, kudos to him! For one, he gave me the freedom in interpreting my role. I was given the chance to improvise. Direk Ian and I discussed how the scenes where I was in the rehabilitation center would be executed.”

“The original attack was supposed to be serious. I suggested we could tweak it a bit and inject some comic lines to make the character more human. He accepted my idea and I guess the viewers liked how the scenes turned out. It was really nice that I interpreted the character the way I felt about him.”

Winning an award is one of Enchong’s dreams.

“And any actor for that matter, I guess! It’s an attestation to your growth as an artist. It legitimizes your being an actor, so to speak. If you remember, I nabbed an acting nomination for Strangers, but unfortunately lost. My biggest acting recognition so far is the PMPC’s Best Single Performance by an Actor award which I took home for an MMK episode. Of course, I would still want to add to that!”

Asked about the entries in this year’s MMFF, the popular Star Magic talent believes in the potential of the projects.

“It’s like giving a new recipe to your patrons, letting them try it for variety. I am able to see the trailers of some like Seklusyon and I must say it’s horrifying. There’s also Saving Sally which offers a new genre. I think they have a good lineup,” ends Enchong. ******** Despite the general observation that she has a very strong chance to win the Best Actress plum in the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival for her work in Oro, Irma Adlawan doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it.

“Of course, I’m thankful if others see it that way, but more than the artistic prestige, I want the movie to make a killing at the tills. Since this is more of an advocacy film for me, I want it to become a box-office hit. Some of the proceeds will go to the community where the plot was based. They still have an on-going battle to restore their source of livelihood so it will be a big help to them if our project makes money,” she says.

Many are curious to know how she feels that Oro was considered to become part of the Magic 8, beating some of the bigger movies, which also vied for a spot.

“Definitely, I’m happy and proud that our offering made it to the list. It’s an honor to be part of this year’s MMFF. Everybody knows that it is the Philippines’ biggest and most popular film fest. It has a wide reach to the viewers.

Especially that ours is an advocacy project, we will have a huge exposure which is just great.”

Regarding the alleged issue between her and Superstar Nora Aunor because she replaced the latter in Oro, the critically acclaimed actress denies such.

“Honestly, there’s no pressure whatsoever between me and Ate Guy. She even hugged me during the official announcement of the Magic 8.

I’m a self-confessed Noranian. It’s just work so there’s no need to magnify things,” explains Irma.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2017

KAPAMILYA PROGRAMS AND STARS

dominate Anak TV Seal Awards Kapamilya 2016 Makabata Stars with ABSCBN COO of broadcast Cory Vidanes and Anak TV president Elvira Yap Go (fourth and third from right) during the awarding ceremony held at the Quezon City Experience Hall

A

BS-CBN has proven to be a child-sensitive ISAH V. RED and family-friendly network after its programs and stars received prestigious Anak TV awards from the Anak TV Foundation during an awarding ceremony held at the Quezon City Experience Hall in Quezon City.

After winning the hearts of young viewers for eight consecutive years as Makabata Stars, or personalities children can emulate, Kapamilya stars Coco Martin and Judy Ann Santos were officially inducted into the Makabata Hall of Fame. The two personally accepted their awards from Anak TV President Elvira Go. Anak TV is an “advocacy organization that promotes television literacy and pushes the agenda for child-sensitive, family-friendly television in the Philippines.”

The organization enlisted 5,000 adult jurors, from different sectors all over the Philippines, to review the shows that would be awarded with the Anak TV seals, the seal of approval for programs to be watched by kids even with little or no adult supervision.

Among the Kapamilya shows that were chosen by the jurors were Matanglawin, Salamat Dok, Superbook, and Wansapanataym.”

The ABS-CBN’s regional shows Agri Tayo Dito, Bagong Umaga, Bagong Balita, Kabuhayang Swak na Swak, Magandang Umaga South Central Mindanao, Naimbag Nga Morning, Kapamilya, Sikat Ka Iloilo, Mag TV Na, Cebu, Mag TV Na, Amiga, Mag TV Na, Asenso Ta, Mag TV Na, Atin ‘To, Mag TV Na, De Aton Este, Mag TV Na, Magnegosyo Ta, and Mag TV Na, Oragon also made the cut and were also deemed child-friendly.

The Anak TV Foundation also recognized 15 Kapamilya personalities for making it to this year’s roster of Makabata Stars. They were voted by

11,000 people, mostly parents, teachers, and university students who believed they were ideal role models for children.

Atom Araullo led the list of male Makabata stars along with John Lloyd Cruz, Robi Domingo, Enrique Gil, Vhong Navarro, James Reid, and Jericho Rosales.

Liza Soberano topped the list of female Makabata stars along with Bea Alonzo, Yeng Constantino, Anne Curtis, Julia Montes, Yassi Pressman, Lea Salonga, and ABS-CBN Chief Content Officer, Charo Santos-Concio.

ABS-CBN COO of broadcast Cory Vidanes attended the ceremony.

Anak TV also recognized Ang Probinsyano, Dolce Amore, It’s Showtime, Maalaala Mo Kaya, and Matanglawin” as“Household Favorite Programs, the most popular among jurors.

*** Minute to Win It offers more fun and excitement as it once again gives kids a shot at winning big prizes in its “Last Kid Standing” edition on ABS-CBN. Like in “Last Man Standing,” eight kiddie players will battle it out in a series of six challenges with no time limit, using only ordinary objects that can be found at home and in the office. The player who is last to accomplish or cannot finish the challenge will be eliminated after each challenge, until only two players remain.

These two kiddie players will go straight to the Head-to-Head Challenge, where they will face off in three nerve-wracking challenges.

The competition is even more exciting because the first player who completes each challenge first gets to win toys, gadgets, appliances, or trips to different local and international destinations.

The player who wins two out of the three games in the Head-to-Head challenge will play the Ultimate Challenge, where he or she will be given the chance to win the P1 million-jackpot prize.

Kapamilya child stars Clarence Delgado, Raikko Mateo, Alonzo Muhlach, Vito Quizon, Marco Masa, Esang de Torres, Chun Sa Jung, and Nhikzy Calma are just some of the first Kapamilya child stars who are playing in the show, and face off with regular players who successfully auditioned.

Since Minute to Win It returned to television in July last year, it has consistently rated highly and remains as the most watched game show on local TV. Last year, it produced two millionaires: actresses Jodi Sta. Maria and Meg Imperial.

But aside from the program giving away prizes and helping out Kapamilya players, its host Luis Manzano has also given back to some of those who participated in its challenges. Luis has paid for the dentures of Tatay Roman, a dedicated father and owner of a sari-sari store. He also donated a tricycle to Kuya Onio, and paid for the birthday party of his daughter.

Minute to Win It: Last Kid standing airs Mondays to Friday on ABS-CBN.

Binibining Pilipinas titlists are ‘Amazing Race Asia’ champions FILIPINO beauty queens are on a roll proving they are a force to reckon with even in other fields of competition. The lovely tandem of Margaret Wilson-Consunji and Parul Shah outraced 11 teams from countries across Asia and were declared champions nailing the second consecutive victory for team Philippines in The Amazing Race Asia 5.

As host Allan Wu announced the pair as winners of The Amazing Race Asia 5, best friends Consunji and Shah were overjoyed and hugged each other with tears in their eyes. They were exasperated even as they realized their extraordinary feat of overcoming tough tasks and challenges in a high-octane dash around the world in the finale of the two-month reality series.

“We did it! It was amazing. We’re just so happy we can help Parul’s family now, with our winnings,” Consunji said in reference to Parul’s father who suffered several strokes, the last one was during the race. The team won $100,000 cash prize, which they agreed to split. Shah and Cosunji followed the team of Richard Herrera and Richard Hardin that won the The Amazing Race Asia edition

in 2010.

Consunji was the country’s representative to the Miss World 2007 in Sanya, China, while Shah was the third runner up in the Miss Grand International 2015 in Thailand Consuji, now 27, is a VJ on MTV and has a four-year-old son, Conner, by husband Victor, a real estate scion whom she married in 2010. She decided to leave the world of showbiz to become a full time mother and wife.

Shah, a 27-year-old model and graduate of Nursing, decided to join The Amazing Race Asia after Consunji, her mentor when she competed in pageants, asked her. Shah also thought about winning the prize to pay for her father’s medical expenses.

Both beauty queens admitted that the competition tested their patience and emotional strength, but more importantly, they got to change the perception of beauty queens during the course of the race.

Yvonne Lee and Chloe Chen, who represented Malaysia at Miss World 2012 and 2011, respectively, finished as runnersup, while the Filipino tandem of Eric Tai and wife Rona Samson finished the race in third place. – Eton B. Concepcion

From pageant stage to "Amazing Race," Maggie Wilson-Consunji (first from left) and Parul Shah (center) prove that beauty queens are a force to reckon with