Manila Standard - 2017 January 16 - Monday

VOL. XXX • NO. 338 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Sema son now in KL custody, says Rody

By Johnna Villaviray Giolagon DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte has confirmed the arrest in Malaysia of the son of two Mindanao political leaders in connection with the Sept. 15 night market blast that killed 15 people here.

Duterte was referring to a son of former Cotabato City mayor Muslimin Sema and Maguindanao lawmaker Rep. Bai Sandra Sema.

“He is now detained in Malaysia,” Duterte told the Davao City business community Saturday night.

Duterte did not identify who among Sema’s sons was in Malaysian custody, although VERA Files earlier reported that Datu Mohammad Abduljabbar Sema, 26, was arrested on Nov. 24 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport upon his arrival from Bangkok.

The report said the young Sema had been traveling to and from Bangkok. When his 30day visa expired, he had exited to Cambodia, decided to go to Malaysia and was arrested upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur.

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Blast Abu, military ordered PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night he has ordered the military to “blast” the Abu Sayyaf bandits who have been on a kidnap-for-ransom spree, even if hostages would also be killed.

“They say, ‘What about the hostage?’ Sorry, collateral damage,” Duterte said in a speech before the Davao City Chamber of Comerce and Industries.

He added that if the bandits were “blasted everyday” the kidnappings might stop.

“So better not get yourselves kidnapped,” he told the Davao businessmen.

On Saturday, officials said the Abu Sayyaf freed a South Korean ship captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted from their vessel off the coast of Tawi-Tawi in October. Next page

DRUG MENACE. President Rodrigo Duterte points to the list containing the names of illegal drug personalities in his speech during the 49th Installation of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City on Jan. 14, 2017. He stresses that the worsening drug problem may force him to declare Martial Law. RENE LUMAWAG

Duterte revives Martial Law fears

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera and Sandy Araneta

D

AVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night no one can stop him from declaring Martial Law to deal with a worsening drug problem and to protect the Filipino people.

PIT SEÑOR. Devotees young and old raise images of the young Jesus to be blessed with holy water, shortly after an early morning eucharistic celebration in honor of the Feast day of Senor Santo Niño at the Sto. Niño parish church in Moriones,Tondo, Manila. EY ACASIO

“I tell you now, if I have to declare Martial Law, I will declare it. Not about invasion, insurrection, not about danger. I will declare Martial Law to preserve my nation, period,” he said in a speech before members of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Not even the Supreme Court can stop him, he added, if the drug problem will “deteriorate into something really virulent.”

“I have to preserve the Filipino people and the youth of this land.

That’s why I said, ‘Do not go into that thing because I will kill you,’” he said.

Duterte has hinted at declaring

Martial Law before, then pulled back amid opposition, both from his critics and his allies.

Most recently, he said he had no plans to declare Martial Law, since it did the country no good during the rule of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

But Duterte said Saturday that if there were a coup d’etat, he would allow it and swear the generals into office and let them bring order to the land.

“Congress may have to impeach me, fine. But, let it not be said that I allowed this country [to be] placed in jeopardy, in peril because I did not know what I had to do,” he said.

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Japan, China pour in P1-t offical aid Sto. Niño attracts

By Sandy Araneta and F. Pearl A. Gajunera 120,000 IN JUST seven months, President Rodrigo Duterte has raised the biggest official development assistance in the history of Philippine presidents, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Saturday night.

“From July 1st to now, the Presi-

dent has raised close to 1 trillion pesos in official development assistance. And I’m only counting the amounts from China and from Japan... There’s more ODA that we have received but haven’t counted in from various countries,” he said.

ODA refers to outright grants and loans given by foreign governments to support developing countries by providing low-inter-

est and long-term or concessional funds to finance their development efforts.

To date, the ODA from China and Japan totaled to $18 billion, at $9 billion each.

“The ODA from Japan, as announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is one trillion yen, which is equivalent to more Next page

Rule of law Condoms not to be doled must prevail, in QC schools, says mayor Asean urged By Rio N. Araja

By Sandy Araneta and F. Pearl A. Gajunera PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday called on all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to respect the rule of law as the Philippines took over as chairman of the group that was formed in 1967.

“I call on all Asean members Next page

QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Sunday blocked a Health department plan to distribute free condoms to public high school students to prevent the spread of HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“We will not allow the distribution of condoms in public schools.

We will allow the use of Quezon City health facilities, but not the city’s public schools,” Bautisa twitter.com/ MlaStandard

told city health officer Verdades Linga in a text message.

The city government’s epidemiology and surveillance unit refuted the claim of the Health department that Quezon City had already piloted the distribution of condoms.

Despite opposition from the Catholic Church, Bautista approved the mandatory inclusion of reproductive health in the curriculum of all public secondary

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By Sandy Araneta AN ESTIMATED 120,000 devotees joined a Catholic procession and paraded statues of the Santo Niño, which is believed to grant miracles, during festivities in Tondo.

The procession started when the rose-covered floats bearing the images of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus left the Santo Niño de Tondo Parish Church around 4:15 a.m.

More than a thousand policemen secured the centuries-old image of the Child Jesus as hundreds of devotees paraded and chanted “Viva!” as they danced and held replicas of the icon.

Mayor Joseph Estrada on Sunday attributed to the Santo Niño all the blessings that Manila and its citizens have been receiving as he joined the twoday celebrations of the patron’s feast in the city.

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BEAUTY QUEEN. Reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzback from the Philippines arrives at the Naia terminal 1 on board Korean Airlines flight KE623 10:15 Saturday evening ahead of the Jan. 30, 2017 staging of the beauty pageant in Manila. ERIC APOLONIO

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News

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

US satellite put to a test in PH A MERICAN and Filipino forces will be testing the capability for intelligence work and disaster relief operations of the US Air Force’s Eagle Vision satellite, according to a news release posted on Jan. 12 in the website of the Pacific Air Forces.

US Air Force and Army personnel will operate and share the mobile and ground-based satellite from Jan. 16 to 25 at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga.

“The exchanges will center on

the capability produced by the US Air Force’s deployable groundbased satellite imagery system known as Eagle Vision,” the website said.

“The system provides real-time

Duterte...

the limitations,” he said.

“I will declare Martial Law to preserve my nation, period.

I don’t care about the Supreme Court,” he added.

Duterte reiterated that illegal drugs are the biggest threat to Filipinos.

The leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan on Sunday warned Duterte not to override the Constitution.

“We warn President Duterte that threats of martial law, along with attempts to override constitutional safeguards, will be met with resistance and will ultimately be defeated by the people. A declaration of martial law, even in the context of what the President describes as a virulent situation, will not save the nation and the people. Removing constitutional checks and balances will open the floodgates to more violations and to blatant authoritarianism. These abuses will doom rather than save the nation,” said Renato Reyes Jr., the group’s secretary general.

Reyes said if they go by the abuses already taking place in the war on drugs, expect these to multiply a hundred fold once Martial Law is declared.

“The fascist implementors of martial rule, the state security forces, are most notorious for rights violations and corruption,” said Reyes.

Reyes said Duterte should cease making threats or remarks on Martial Law and instead address the growing concern and indignation over the deaths arising from this war on drugs.

These gross violations provide the strongest arguments against any return to Martial Law, he said.

“We can also anticipate that any move towards Martial Law will have dire consequences for the peace process with various groups,” Reyes said, particularly talks with the communist rebels.

The only reference Duterte should be making in relation to Martial Law is one that recognizes past abuses along with the commitment that he will never allow the same to happen during his watch, Reyes said. With Rio N. Araja

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Duterte won elections in May last year on a pledge to wipe out illegal drugs, promising an unprecedented crackdown to stop the Philippines from becoming what he termed a narco state.

The crackdown has left at least 5,700 drug suspects dead in just over six months, raising concerns of a breakdown in the rule of law with security forces and vigilantes carrying out extrajudicial killings.

Duterte has reacted furiously to the international and local criticism and vowed to continue his war until illegal drugs are eradicated.

Saturday’s comments were Duterte’s most direct threat to impose martial law, which would allow him to use the military to enforce civilian law and detain people at length without charging them.

The country last endured martial law during the 20-year rule of the dictator Marcos, who was accused of plundering billions of dollars from state coffers and overseeing widespread human rights abuses.

Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, invoking the threats of crime and a communist insurgency, and lifted it in 1981.

His rule ended in 1986, when millions took to the streets in the largely bloodless military-backed “People Power” revolt. A new Constitution was drawn up in 1987 to avoid another dictatorship, saying that the President can impose martial rule for just 60 days, and only to stop an invasion or a rebellion.

Congress can revoke the measure within 48 hours while the Supreme Court can review its legality.

But Duterte, speaking to local businessmen in Davao City, warned he could ignore the 60day limit.

“The 60-day [limit] will be gone,” he said.

“The right to preserve one’s life, and my nation, my country, transcends everything else, even

Sema...

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Duterte did not elaborate on the involvement of the young Sema, reportedly an Islamic scholar, in the Davao blast.

The legal basis for Sema’s detention by Malaysian authorities also remains unclear but Duterte, in his speech before the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industries, highlighted the close security cooperation the Philippines enjoys with Malaysia.

Duterte also said that those behind the Sept. 2 bombing “have all been accounted for.”

“I’ve captured all of them,” the President said in Filipino.

Three men were arrested on Oct. 4 and another four more on Oct. 29 inside the Southern Philippine Development Authority Compound in Cotabato City.

The area where the second batch of suspects were arrested is within the jurisdiction of Rosary Heights 7 where the older Sema, who heads the largest faction within the Moro National Liberation Front, was elected barangay chairman in 2013.

The seven men are believed to be operatives of the Maute Group, a radical Islamist group composed of former Moro rebels based in Lanao del Sur, where they founded an Islamic state or Dawlah Islamiyah.

The Maute Group is considered the biggest threat to peace and security in Mindanao now that the Duterte administration has been

able to secure the cooperation of the major armed rebel groups such as the MILF and the communist New People’s Army.

Meanwhile, Duterte acknowledged that American drone technology provided crucial assistance in the investigation.

“You know one thing with this drone…They can take pictures.

So we have their faces. So it was very easy for us to catch them,” Duterte said.

“You won’t see it at night but it could just be at the top of Marco Polo,” the President said, referring to the hotel where the Davao Chamber of Commerce and Industries held its induction ceremony Saturday night.

He acknowledged that they taken the pictures of almost all kinds of people.

The President has been openly indignant of the presence and involvement of the US military in Mindanao, but he nonetheless thanked the Americans for assistance they provided in the Davao bombing investigation.

“There are imperialism days.

It’s different from this one,” Duterte said.

On Sunday, two lawmakers appealed to Duterte to work for Sema’s repatriation to face justice.

Muntinlupa City Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon and Akbayan Citizens’ Action Rep. Tomasito Villarin said the Duterte administration must take legal steps to facilitate Sema’s return to show the government’s resolve to pursue and prosecute “agents of terror.”

Vera Files, with Rio N. Araja

mission critical imagery acquired from commercially available satellites and is a key enabler to the US Pacific Command’s Foreign Humanitarian Assistance response.

“The exchanges will promote increased interoperability between US and Filipino forces and continue to strengthen the military relationship between the two longtime allies.”

The introduction of the technology comes at a time of saber-rattling between the US-led western coali-

tion and China as the latter bullies its small neighbors by grabbing territories in the disputed South China Sea and threatening to shut down the $5- trillion sea lane.

The introduction of the technology to the AFP also comes at a time when the US military has been deploying its modern bombers in Australia, Hawaii and Japan.

The world―especially China, Russia and North Korea―is watching incoming US President Donald Trump.

“Eagle Vision is a commercial,

off-the-shelf deployable ground station designed to process imagery from commercial satellites for intelligence preparation for mission planning and rehearsal, predictive battle space awareness and battle damage assessment,” the website said.

“The fourth-generation system supports users during natural disaster relief operations and homeland defense preparations.”

The US military has been using the technology since 1994 with stations at the Ramstein Air

Base in Germany, San Diego Air National Guard Station in California, McEntire Joint National Guard Base in South Carolina, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.

“The technology is sponsored by the US Air Force ISR innovations office and the program management office at Hanscom Air Force Base. Work under the contract is scheduled to run until 2019,” the website said. Florante S. Solmerin

Tax losses from small-town lottery probed

By Rey E. Requejo THE government will investigate the loopholes in the operations of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s small-town lottery to stop the billions of pesos in revenues that is being lost, an official said Sunday.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the investigation on the non-payment or underpayment of taxes in STL operations nationwide and to run after those liable.

“Billions are lost by the gov-

Condoms...

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schools at a local health board meeting in September 2016.

He also approved Linga’s recommendation to include in the curriculum demonstrations on the proper use of condom to high school students as well as the other contraceptives, an “important” component of HIV, AIDS and STD prevention.

However, the condom distribution to students was a big nono for the mayor.

On Jan. 11, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 12 to push the full implementation of the Reproductive Health Law. National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia said the order would enable women of reproductive age to achieve their desired family size and number of children rather than having more children than they want or that they can provide for adequately.

As early as in December, the Health department announced its plan to distribute condoms

Rule...

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to rededicate themselves and commit anew to our adherence to the rule of law,” Duterte said in a speech at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City.

“Now, more than ever, it is Asean’s spirit of community that will enable us to overcome the challenges that we face as a region.”

“I call on Asean’s Dialogue Partners to be unwavering in your support for the Asean’s continued development and for its important role in the region’s security, stability and growth.

“I also call on Asean’s Dia-

ernment in these STL operations,” Aguirre told reporters.

He said Duterte also wanted to increase the government’s revenues from the STL after finding out that only 10 to 15 percent of the total revenues were being remitted to the PCSO during the previous administration.

“The President wants to increase the STL collection and make sure that everything collected will be remitted to the PCSO,” Aguirre said.

“He intends to use these STL proceeds to fund free medicines for our countrymen.”

Aguirre said he will tap the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter.

He said Duterte gave him the assignment on the STL months ago but it was delayed because he focused on the illegal online gaming operations following the raid on the casino of Chinese gaming mogul Jack Lam in Clark Field, Pampanga.

His assignment was further delayed by the controversy involving alleged P50-million extortion by Immigration officials on Lam for the release of 1,316 illegal Chinese workers arrested

in Lam’s Fontana Leisure Park and Casino in November.

Aguirre said former police chief superintendent Wally Sombero, who supposedly served as Lam’s middleman, was a resource person of the Justice department on the STL issue.

He said a task force had already been created led by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to look into the online gaming and STL operations in the country.

He said Medialdea had already met with PCSO officials over the issue.

in schools in 2017 to arrest the sharp rise in the number of HIV and AIDS cases among the youth.

The Health department said it would procure P50 million to P100 million worth of condoms to address the problem.

Based on the Jan. 15 official statement of the Quezon City government, “the Department of Health is reportedly in the final stages of implementing the distribution of condoms in schools as part of its campaign against HIV-AIDS among the youth.”

Secretary Paulyn Jean RosellUbial said department is coordinating with the Department of Education to finalize the guidelines for the distribution of free condoms in public schools.

She said their program managers informed her that Quezon City has already piloted the condom distribution in schools.

But Bautista said “no condom distribution was ever made in any public school in Quezon City, contrary to the statement made last week by the Department of Health.”

Human Rights Watch on Sunday praised the government for restoring funding to address the

reproductive health needs of an estimated 13.4-million women who rely on state-supplied contraceptive products.

The long-overdue move reverses a cut in those funds in January 2016 that threatened to roll back hard-fought gains in maternal health and reductions in infant mortality over the past decade, made possible by government-subsidized or free contraceptive services, said Carlos Conde, researcher, Asia Division, of Human Rights Watch, which has usually been critical of the Duterte administration, particularly for its bloody war on drugs.

Conde said Duterte’s executive order was “a bright spot in the administration’s otherwise horrendous human rights record via its abusive war on drugs.”

In January 2016, at the urging of the Catholic Church, conservative lawmakers surreptitiously cut by P1 billion the P2.2-billion budget for “family health and responsible parenting” guaranteed under the law, Conde said.

That deprived low-income Filipinos, particularly women, access to government-supplied contraceptive products, he said.

The United Nations Popula-

tion Fund criticized the cut as a threat to “the basic human right to health as well as the right to reproductive choices.”

The budget cut also dealt a blow to efforts to contain the Philippines worsening HIV epidemic.

In a December 2016 report, Human Rights Watch decried the cuts as one of several government policies threatening to worsen the country’s HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men, fueled mainly by lack of access to condoms. Government clinics—often the main or only source of condoms for many Filipinos “are likely to exhaust their condom supplies in early 2017.”

Conde said the bonus is now on the government, particularly the Department of Health, to ensure that relevant agencies disburse the allocated budgetary funds as intended.

The millions of Filipino women and families who have been deprived of much-needed reproductive health services because of religious and conservative opposition have suffered long enough, Conde added. With Sandy Araneta

logue Partners to renew their dedication to the valued purposes and principles stated in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

“Now, more than ever, it is a time for real change through constructive engagements.

We are in this journey together.”

Those who attended the event were the representatives of the Asean members, former President Fidel V. Ramos, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, members of the diplomatic corps, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., members of the Cabinet, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and members of

Sto. Niño...

the Senate and House of Representatives.

Duterte said that he had the pleasure of visiting other Asean countries where the warmth of the reception and the undeniable connections encountered spoke well of the inroads they had achieved since 1967.

He said the members recognized the need to ensure peaceful and progressive national development.

“We expressed our shared determination to ensure stability and security from external interference in any form or manifestation in order to preserve our national identities. Fifty years hence, we see ourselves much changed for the better,” Duterte said.

Blast...

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The feast is celebrated on the third Sunday of January, although related activities are held as early as Saturday. The focus of the festivities is Tondo and Pandacan.

Andanar said the Filipinos call to the Santo Niño for help especially when faced with major challenges.

“We are a very faithful country and number one for most people is God,” Andanar said.

“For the majority of the Filipinos, we draw our strength from the Santo Niño. Sometimes, if we do not have anyone else to hold on to, people go to Church and pray. And this really is another religious event that we cannot pass up.”

Meanwhile, Andanar said President Rodrigo Duterte will not be attending the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump but instead will be represented by the Filipino ambassador to the United States.

Sources said Capt. Park Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao were released after the payment of a P25 -million ransom with the mediation of former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan but Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza maintained the government stuck to its no-ransom policy.

The Abu Sayyaf released Park and Alindajao to Moro National Liberation Front members Abraham Joel and Adon Adak in Indanan town and they were later turned over to Dureza at the residence of the former Sulu governor.

The abduction on board the 11,400-ton heavy load carrier Dong Bang Giant 2 occurred Oct. 20 just off the southern entry of the Sibutu Passage, a 29-kilometer wide channel used by merchant shipping in transit between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The cargo ship was heading for South Korea from Australia.

Japan, ...

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or less $9 billion,” Dominguez said.

For the ODA from China, Dominguez said, the government has already submitted the list of projects to China last November, which include the rehabilitation of the Agus River project that would include irrigation projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and a seaport in Cebu.

“Our team is going to China in the third week of January to discuss how to make progress in the projects that we have submitted to them,” Dominguez said.

For the financial assistance from Japan, the Finance chief said, the administration will start lining up the projects on Monday, Jan. 16, to discuss in more detail the terms from Japan.

He said the foreign aid from China and Japan countries were not requested but voluntary offers from the two countries.

“I think they [China and Japan] are collaborating to help our country move ahead. I think they see a lot of potential in the Philippine economy, potential for our growth and potential for them to do business here,” Dominguez said, adding the administration will still welcome ODA from other countries as long as the offers match the government’s priorities.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the ODA from China and Japan as well as from other countries would offset the loss of the country’s allotment in the Millennium Fund from the United States, which was held back amid concerns over human rights abuses in the administration’s war on drugs.

News

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

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Fight abuses in govt, Pinoys told

By Sandy Araneta

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday urged the Filipinos that it was time to fight abuses in government.

In a speech during the 49th Annual Installation of the Board of Trustees and Officer of the the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. on Saturday, the President reiterated his pledge of zero corruption in

government under his watch.

“In graft and corruption, I know you are the ones who could stop this, not me. It’s only you. The Filipino guy must be assertive,” the President told Davao City businessmen during

the event in Marco Polo Hotel.

“Do not be afraid of government employees even the military and the police if you are right. That is what I guarantee you now,” he added noting that if Filipinos want to help the government they have six years to do it.

The public, he said, must be assertive in dealing with government agencies whether in applying for land certificates or clearing packages at the Bureau of Customs.

Only the people can effective-

ly combat graft and corruption because as President, he said, he cannot micromanage everything.

The President also mentioned his war on drugs, adding that after meeting the country’s mayors last week, he is arranging to meet the governors next week to warn them about getting involved in the drug trade. He vowed to eliminate illegal drugs in the country under his term.

Telling criminals and drug dealers how the ongoing deadly crackdown will stop, the President said: “Drop your guns if

you are a terrorist; drop the shabu tonight and tomorrow it will be heaven.”

The President informed traders about recent Mindanao bombings involving the Maute group, adding that all suspects have been accounted for. One of the suspects, he announced is the son of a Cotabato mayor, who is now detained in Malaysia.

There is good working relations with Malaysia and Indonesia in tackling cross border security and terrorism, he said.

He said he gave the approval to

other countries’ navies to enter Philippine waters during pursuit operations.

Duterte discussed the ongoing peace process particularly with the communist rebels and Muslim separatists.

At the same time, he told Davao City businessmen that he has brilliant people in his Cabinet helping him move the country forward. While he ensures peace and security, the Cabinet members work on improving the economy and uplifting the lives of the people, he said.

PARODY.

Revelers take part in the Ati-atihan festival in Kalibo with one of them doing a parody of embattled Senator Leila De Lima, who is accused of six crimes, all related to her alleged role in illegal drug trade.

David Chan

Measure DoTr owes airport builder P216m, says Audit vs hazing pushed

By Rio Araja

By Macon Araneta A NEOPHYTE senator has renewed his call for the approval of an anti-hazing legislation after the recent hazing of an 18-year-old Tourism student in Manila who suffered physical and mental abuses in the hands of members of a sorority.

“Hazing has absolutely no place in modern society. We must replace the 20-year-old law by passing a new one with more teeth to bring offenders to justice,” said Win Gatchalian, principal author of Senate Bill No. 199 or the proposed Anti-Hazing Act of 2016.

If passed into law, Gatchalian’s bill would repeal and replace Republic Act No. 8049, the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 and imposes tougher measures.

Hazing in this case was troubling because the victim was harassed into joining the sorority. The senator said.

“Violent youth who subject their fellow students to such debased treatment must be punished to the full extent of the law, and the law should provide for absolutely zero tolerance for hazing in any school, community, or organization,” he said.

The Southern Police District identified the victim “Anna,” second-year student, of 30 Balagtas St., Balagtas Villas, Pasay City.

Police added that the victim suffered severe beating during the hazing incident that took place last Jan. 8 in an abandoned house situated at Ocampo St. in Las Piñas City.

The suspects were named as one alias Yonara, Yuna, Marie and Brandy, said to be members of Tau Gamma Fraternity and classmates of the victim.

The victim’s mother told police that according to her daughter, the suspects asked her to join them for an outing in Las Piñas City. She was also asked to bring food, candle and sack.

THE Commission on Audit has ordered the Department of Transportation and Communications to settle its unpaid debt to the developer of the New Iloilo Airport 10 years after the completion of the project.

In a Dec. 21, 2016 decision, CoA ruled in favor of the project contractor, the Taisei Shimizu Joint Venture Inc., for the unpaid services to build the Iloilo airport in March 2007

during the Arroyo administration.

Despite the ruling, the administration rejected the contractor’s payment claims of P216.074 million, citing the reevaluation of its Commission Proper that the government only owed the TSJVI P104.661 million.

The Commission’s chairman Michael Aguinaldo, and Commissioners Jose Fabia and Isabel Agito disallowed the company’s demand of a P61.066-million

interest on delayed payments, P37.08-million compensation due to unforeseen increase in materials cost, P7.235-million attorney’s fee and litigation expenses and P6.032-million compensation due to extension of contract time with a total of P111.413 million.

“After a judicious evaluation of the documents, this Commission finds the instant money claim to be laden with merit. Thus, the DoTC is liable to pay TSJV,”

CoA’s decision read.

CoA invoked Section 61 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Law, and said charges against a government project based on unforeseen increase in the price of construction materials were not allowed.

Such charges could be allowed in “extraordinary circumstances” with the approval of the Government Procurement Policy Board

upon the determination of the National Economic and Development Authority.

“In this case, there is no showing that the parties sought the approval of the Neda. The variation order does not even contain the approval of the head of the procuring entity.

Moreover, there are no documents on record to prove that there was indeed an unforeseen increase in the cost of materials and such increase is extraordinary,” CoA explained.

Senate chief bats for regional devt

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

ROADSHOW. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Helen Dela Vega discusses the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ministerial meeting during a roadshow at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City on Jan. 14, 2017. Richard Madelo

SENATE President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel lll on Sunday vowed to support the administration’s development roadmap that includes reforms and seeks to reduce poverty while creating more jobs via regional expansion.

Pimentel said the proposed Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 of the National Economic Development Authority will get the needed legislative boost from the Senate.

“It concretizes the Duterte administration’s eight-point economic agenda and its long-term AmBisyon Natin 2040 into strategies as well as specific programs and activities implementing new policies,” Pimentel said.

Although Neda is still awaiting feedback and inputs from the public before coming up with its final version of the PDP 2017-2022, the Plan puts emphasis on the development of regional centers, including Cagayan de Oro City.

The new impetus for regional growth is set to make Cagayan de Oro the country’s fourth economic center, and the second in Mindanao, after Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

“I will strongly and actively support this plan of building a Metro Cagayan de Oro [CDO] all the way,” Pimentel said.

He said the economic development plan could not have come at a better time as Congress prepares to tackle the pro-

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III

posed shift in the form of government to a Federal System.

Pimentel said he would make the approval of this shift a top priority since it dovetails with President Duterte’s program to spread government resources to the regions and countryside.

A federal setup will decentralize the current centralized system and would go a long way in accelerating the President’s development plan that empowers the regions with greater autonomy and more resources, he said.

Pimentel said he is “happy that Cagayan de Oro, his hometown, would soon reach its potential as one of the country’s top economic centers.”

The Neda plan, he said, is in line with “our strategy of building an economic powerhouse in Northern Mindanao.”

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Opinion

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

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EDITORIAL

Misguided comparison

I

N A misguided attempt to deflect criticism over the rising death toll in the war on drugs, a Palace spokesman compared President Rodrigo Duterte to Singapore’s founding father, the late prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who oversaw his country’s transition from a Third World economy into a First World powerhouse through his authoritarian leadership.

The comparison is wrong on so many levels.

The most obvious one is that although Lee, too, was criticized in his time for

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human rights abuses, none of these included the killing of 6,000 drug suspects who were denied the fundamental human rights

to life and a fair trial.

In contrast, Lee’s endorsement of corporal punishment—the barbaric practice of caning, specifically—seems almost benign in comparison to Duterte’s tacit approval of summary executions. Lee’s practice of suing his opponents into bankruptcy or oblivion was seen as an abrogation of political rights, but so are Mr. Duterte’s threats to kill or jail his critics and more recently, to declare Martial Law. Another key difference is that Lee forged a meritocracy of highly effective and

incorruptible civil servants, a path far different from that taken by Mr. Duterte, who has made no bones about rewarding people who helped him win election. By this means, we now have a former sex guru appointed to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board and a comedian named assistant vice president of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Finally, Lee backed his anti-corruption rhetoric with legislation and executive action, and in the process created a bureaucracy that is acknowledged to be one of

the least corrupt in the world.

In contrast, while Mr. Duterte talks a good game, his government has not even initiated any legal action against the most corrupt officials from the previous administration.

Despite these differences, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella insists that we compare Duterte to Lee. “Like Lee Kuan Yew, he was also very strict. He is very strict but you can also see the progress of the nation,” he told state radio dzRB. “Our actions should not be entirely ideological, but we need to also

understand the needs of our country.”

Also like Lee, he said, Duterte was a “very decisive” leader and a “man of action.”

This last remark seems almost laughable, given Mr. Duterte’s penchant for making grand statements— such as threatening to pull out of the United Nations— only to dismiss them as “jokes” the next day. We see the same indecisiveness in his on-again, off-again statements about his intention to declare Martial Law. But of course, this is no laughing matter.

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO

A tale of two cities

PENSEES

Procurement and common sense

FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO IT HAS been almost three months since Super Typhoon ‘‘Lawin’’ barreled its way through Tuguegarao City—and many government buildings (particularly in the Regional Center) remain unroofed and in a virtually derelict state. Recently, in the Hall of Justice, hearings had to be interrupted while litigants, court personnel and even some lawyers took turns at sweeping off rainwater that was starting to flood the unroofed courtrooms and to protect precious court records in the Hall of Justice.

By contrast, most private residences and establishments have been completely repaired and hardly any trace of the devastation could be found in them. At the the Cagayan State University, we recently received from DBM assistance for the rehabilitation of damage left by Typhoon ‘‘Vinta’’—a typhoon that has long receded from memory, and whatever is forthcoming for ‘‘Lawin’’ (if any at all) is not expected in the near

future!

Had the heads of offices been free to effect repairs and rehabilitation work by heeding common sense, I have no doubt that, most of the work that has not even commenced yet would be nearing completion at this time. Alas, government offices cannot be guided by common sense.

They must rather punctiliously comply with every section, sub-section and clause of government procurement laws, many of which fly in the face of common sense. Equity is that set of necessary principles by which a law is to be construed to temper the harshness of its application when applied to situations that the legislator did not contemplate. Common sense should be the fallback whenever laws stand in the way of immediate, meaningful and salutary response—alas, though, it seems that Philippine jurisprudence does not recognize the currency of common sense in respect to government

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You do not enact laws that suppress the workings of common sense or that deny public officers the use of discretion. procurement.

“Value for money.” That is often taken to mean that you must get back in goods and services the full worth of what you pay.

But it works the other way too: You want quality, you must pay for quality. But awarding bids “to the lowest bidder” goes against this fundamental rule of reason because it insists that you demand quality without

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paying for it! Empirical proof will be found in the roofless buildings of government offices in Tuguegarao City. It was government establishments that were really hardest hit —because they were built in compliance with the legal command of awarding the contract to the lowest bidder.

Defenders of the absurd provisions of procurement law will insist that bidders must meet the quality standards set forth. But what our legal “fundamentalists” overlook is the creativity of bidders—who are, after all, in pursuit of profit —at putting up the appearance of meeting standards without really trying.

There is no doubt that the intention of the law was to stymie corrupt practices that have been characteristic of government contracts and purchases—but one does not write laws for the corrupt, and that is exactly the trouble with present procurement laws: They were crafted to obviate wrongdoing but are

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hardly workable at getting things done.

Rather than legislate details leaving no elbowing room and maneuvering space, it is the appointments process that should be more stringently regulated so that only the fit, the intelligent and the upright get into office.

In his well-known treatise on administrative law, Davis writes on the necessity of “discretion.” Most of the work of administrative agencies and their heads must consist in an exercise of discretion because there is no way that legislation—no matter the thoughtfulness and prescience of the legislator (qualities that we must enunciate with rising inflection, in respect to many members of our Legislature!)— can anticipate the myriad situations to which provisions will be applied. You choose competent people, and you choose judiciously, so that discretion may be properly exercised. Our procurement laws work in the opposite direction: diminishing, if not eliminating discretion, altogether. Turn to A5

IN 1965, ALREADY established in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, our family bought some land in Davao City.

It was in Tugbok District, close to Calinan, some 25 kilometers from the Davao City Hall.

My old man wanted to go into farming, and bought 142 hectares of gradually rolling terrain with a brook within. Not being a real farmer to begin with, he experimented with bananas and rubber, but failed.

Then he bought grafted planting material of what was then called “Chinese” pomelos, with its pink flesh, sweet and juicy. That clicked.

Through the years of Martial Law, and after I hired a consultant from the Bureau of Plant Industry in Lipa, an expert in citrus, who taught us how to properly correct the acidity of our soil, and use the right mix of fertilizers, we soon produced high-quality pomelos, now of course called “Davao” pomelos.

Then came the problem of marketing the farm produce.

There were smart buyers who offered low ex-farm prices.

By that time, and after a few years of working in big firms, I had become an entrepreneur.

My mother had a fairly large property in Pasay City which we could use as warehouse and repacking site (before containers became domestically available for shipping, our pomelos were packed in wooden crates), and in the ports of Cebu and Manila, stevedores would “steal” fruits from the crates, so we lost some 10 percent, even more due to pilferage. And we needed to repack to replace the stolen fruits, aside from removing some spoiled fruit.

I handled the marketing in Manila and sold wholesale to Carmen Planas St. in Divisoria, in San Andres, and elsewhere.

When there were so many imported apples competing, I would use cold storage facilities (Insular in Manila, FTI in Taguig) to lengthen the shelf life of my produce, which I labeled “Golden.”

After a year of hits and misses, I bought the produce from my parents myself, and made a “killing” on the spread between “pakyaw” price and my Metro Manila selling efforts. It was a difficult job, and I had other medium-scale business interests, Turn to A5

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Opinion Behind Abe’s $8.7-b aid THE Philippines received an $8.7-billion aid package at the end of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s two-day official visit. Now, that is indeed a huge sum for a new president who has been in office for only six months. The generous financial assistance, according to official statement, said the funds are loans and business investments from the Japanese private sector. It also includes several patrol boats to be used in the fight against pirates in Philippine seas.

Although it was left unsaid, there’s much more to Abe’s going-away gift in the first stop of his four-nation swing through the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia. and Vietnam. While we can assume that a strong bond of friendship developed between Abe and Duterte who visited Japan late last year, one can also read the reason behind the huge Japanese aid.

An ally of America which helped rebuild Japan’s economy from the ashes of war, Prime Minister Abe could be reminding Duterte the Philippines need not carry on a ménage a trois with military powers China and Russia. It is a reminder to Duterte that the Philippines has other friends in Asia and that it should not veer away from the United States.

Japan has a historical enmity

with China, airstrip and a BACK having occupied naval station. it during World This, despite CHANNEL War II. Japan The Hague also has a bitter i nt e r nat ional ALEJANDRO territorial dispute arbitration DEL ROSARIO court with China ruling involving the China’s ninestrategic Senkaku Island which dash line claiming 90 percent the Chinese claim and call of the South China Sea is illegal Diaoyu. Meanwhile, Russia and and without basis.

Japan are also locked in a 60Why is China bent on staking year territorial dispute over the its sweeping claim to nearly Kuril Islands. Japan has seen how the entire South China Sea? Russia annexed Abkhazia and Geopolitical observers attribute South Ossetia in Georgia, and China’s aggressive move is to more recently, grabbed Crimea cushion itself from the impact from Ukraine. Amid Japan’s and of its possible collapse due to the region’s growing concern domestic problems including about China’s rising dominance a restive Xinjian province and in Asia, Abe’s assistance clearly an economy that could face can help prop up the Philippine sanctions. While US Presidenteconomy and make it less elect Donald Trump has not susceptible to Chinese and announced any official policy Russian influence. The patrol on trade vis-à-vis China, the US boats surely were not meant could impose strict and heavy just for use in the fight against tariff on Chinese-made products. pirates in the sea off Basilan, Manufactured Chinese export Sulu and Zamboanga. Surely, products comprised a huge Japan intends for the Philippines percentage of China’s global to boost its maritime security revenues. Trump’s campaign against Chinese encroachment in theme to bring back home lost the West Philippine Sea. American jobs could add to China in the last four years China’s economic woes. He has taken aggressive moves in stopped the Indiana-based Carrier the South China Sea, reclaiming air condition firm from moving to land and building artificial Mexico by offering it tax breaks islands from the shoals, reefs and other incentives. and protruding rocks to build Chinese products in the last military installations for an three decades have flooded

the US and European markets.

While China has a population of 1.3-billion people, global market analysts doubt domestic consumers can prevent the economic bubble from bursting.

In the event of a showdown with the US, China could see its oil and energy supplies cut off if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is blocked by American warships.

Iran might oppose such a move as it is a steady oil supplier of China.

A blockade of the Hormuz is not going to have a big repercussion in the US which is self sufficient in oil from the Alaskan pipeline and under the ground in Oklahoma, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico.

An armed confrontation with the US could also have dire consequences for China.

A preemptive strike on its lone aircraft carrier, the Lioning, could render the Chinese vulnerable in the South China Sea where US warships and war planes patrol the area.

While the US owes China some $1.3 trillion in debt, it seems more the lender’s problem than the borrower’s.

China’s answer to stem this possible grim scenario lies beneath the resource-rich South China Sea. Geologists believe the SCS seabed is a possible source of oil, gas and minerals which would solve China’s dependence on Middle East oil.

It’s divorce season

By Megan McArdle UNBEKNOWNST to me, family lawyers apparently call January “divorce month.”

As the Christmas tree is thrown out and the wrapping paper cleared away, the empty Champagne bottles taken out behind the garage, Google searches for terms like “divorce lawyer” and “file for divorce” spike. Many of the people researching how to untie the knot will probably not do so. But some will.

Brad Wilcox and Samuel Sturgeon of the Institute for Family Studies suggest that there might be good reason to hold off, particularly if you have kids. Of course, there might be good reason not to hold off!

But the majority of divorces involving kids don’t come from “high conflict” marriages or situations involving abuse; Wilcox and Sturgeon point to data indicating that most divorces come from couples who are still basically functioning as parents.

Counterintuitively, kids whose parents divorce amid flying crockery and lurid accusations may actually do better, postdivorce, than kids whose parents unhappily fizzle out. But if you think about it for a while, that’s not all that surprising. In homes with major conflict, divorce brings a certain measure of peace and stability. But if your parents are basically civil to each other, divorce could come as an unwelcome surprise.

Our parents, our family unit, are the first and most bedrock fact of our lives. Suddenly breaking that apart—for no reason apparent to the children involved—shakes a faith in the world that will never be rebuilt in quite

Procurement...

From A4 There is also a point of jurisprudence that may need revisiting. It is the Supreme Court doctrine that even if the Commission on Audit finds nothing anomalous about a transaction, according to the auditing rules that, constitutionally, the Commission alone is empowered to draw and to apply, the Ombudsman may nevertheless maintain a different position and cause the prosecution of officials it deems to have erred. The

the same way. Moreover, divorce often means downward economic mobility. Unless you are hugely wealthy, splitting your income across two households means that sacrifices have to be made by both parties, and often, that financial stress is added to the emotional upheaval of unraveling two lives.

Small wonder, then, that the children of divorce tend to have worse outcomes on various measures than the children whose parents stay together: According to Wilcox and Sturgeon, “Divorce typically doubles or triples the odds that children will experience depression, delinquency, school failure, or future relationship difficulties.”

But children aren’t the only reason to consider sticking it out. Divorce may be emotionally and financially traumatic for children, but it is also, of course, emotionally and financially traumatic for adults. And it’s not clear that in the end, people who leave low-conflict marriages end up any happier than those who stick it out through a rough patch—even a years-long rough patch.

Some people consider divorce at one point but don’t go through with it. When they are asked about it later, most of them say they’re glad they didn’t do it. One study compared people who divorced with people who didn’t, finding that the people who didn’t divorce ended up as happy as those who did. Sixtyfour percent of them even reported that they were happily married.

Of course, there’s a risk that some of this finding is what social scientists call “selection effect.” The people who considered divorce, but didn’t do it, might

not have been as unhappy as the people who took action.

It would be surprising if selection effects didn’t account for at least some of these findings. It would be even more surprising if selection effects accounted for all of them.

We have a script in our heads about what divorce does, much of it lifted from the divorce revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Two people meet … they fall in love … they develop irreconcilable differences, or they grow apart, and must split so that at least one of the parties can develop into their truest, highest self.

But more recent research suggests a very different truth about happiness. As Daniel Gilbert argues in the brilliant book “Stumbling on Happiness,” unless our circumstances are truly unbearable, our brains will seek to find their natural level of happiness, like floodwater evening out across a plain. Whatever we are stuck with … whatever we commit to … we will find ways to make it work—and we will be just as happy with it as we would have been with any other outcome.

Under this theory, all other forces being equal, those who avoid divorce end up with the same long-term level of happiness that they would have had post-divorce … and they skip the short-term financial and emotional pains of separation.

So a lot of people who are thinking about observing National Divorce Month might be better off if they delayed the festivities for a while and started hunting for reasons to celebrate their marriage instead.

Bloomberg

principle in administrative law is to leave technical matters to technical experts—and as between the Ombudsman and the CoA, the latter has the expertise to audit. And if the Constitution ordains that the CoA shall have the competence to lay down the rules of audit, then the conclusions of the Commission that nothing is amiss in regard to a transaction should be binding on all tribunals, agencies and instrumentalities of government, even the courts, after all the Commission is one of the independent constitutional bodies!

Corruption will always be a scourge to national life—but you do not deal with this by enacting laws that suppress the workings of common sense or that deny public officers the use of discretion. You deal with the problem by seeing to the choice of the right persons, and rising above sentiments of indebtedness, political alliances, intrigue and back-stabbing in the choice of persons for public service.

A tale...

From A4 but the money was good.

Trouble was, my old man got wary of the growth of insurgency in Davao, which had degenerated into some kind of no man’s land, even in the city proper itself, and decided to give it to the Department of Agrarian Reform on voluntary sale. Some 32 hectares of retention for me and my siblings I sold, since by then, we were all into our respective professional pursuits and no one was interested in farming.

But we invested in Butuan real estate and forsook “trouble-ridden” Davao. Neither my parents nor I foresaw that Edsa Uno would also bring about a Rodrigo Roa Duterte to leadership in Davao City.

Meanwhile, Butuan, the once-upon-a-time “timber capital” of the Philippines, started degenerating. The loggers who raped our forests did not re-plant, with the notable exception of very few, such as Don Luis Fernandez’ Nasipit Lumber which even processed sawmill waste into the now-extinct “lawanit.” Displaced logging workers who came from Bohol, Southern Leyte, Cebu and other parts soon became povertystricken, and tried to eke out marginal survival in the logged-over areas.

The loggers who struck gold by raping the land went into politics, and “timber city” became the “vote-buying capital” of the country. The logger-politicians decidedly kept the economy stagnant, even decrepit, so that they merely had to buy the people’s votes every election, until almost everyone but the few rich and educated became hooked into

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the two, thence-three year vice of selling their votes. Nakasanayan na. In 1988, Vice-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ran against the mayor Cory and Nene Pimentel appointed as OIC-Mayor. Against an incumbent supported by the palace, Duterte’s fight was uphill.

But by then, Davao was as chaotic as Nicaragua, which was why the NPA-controlled Agdao District, just some three kilometers away from City Hall itself, was labeled “Nicaragdao.” It was at that time that my parents decided to leave Davao and concentrate on our native Butuan.

Davaoenos, meanwhile, saw hope in Duterte.

Wrong decision, it turned out. Duterte won, and started an unbroken leadership of the city. In his first term, he turned around the lawlessness, and in succeeding terms as mayor of the largest city (territorially) in the country, he transformed Davao into a peaceful haven for both business and ordinary residents. Its economy grew by leaps and bounds, it’s growth rate higher than the national average.

Butuanons kept selling their votes, and got bad governance in return.

The political families cashed-in on the newly-found wealth coming from the Internal Revenue Allotments provided by the Local Government Code, as well as real estate taxes. Only when then Congresswoman Ching Plaza got Butuan to be the regional capital of the newly-formed Caraga administrative region was some life breathed into the local economy, courtesy of national government salaries. But little else of economic significance came.

Now of course there is mining in Caraga, even as there has been minimally incremental growth in agriculture, but the once-lowly Surigao provinces have began to outstrip the progress of the once-

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

A5

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OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO

Biodiversity I DID not know that the Philippines had anteaters and sea dragons until it was reported last week that a shipment of contraband items from Bacolod arrived at the North Harbor in Manila. The seized items consisted of 58 dead anteaters called pangolins, 14 boxes of dried sea horses and one carton of sea dragons. The Director of the Biodiversity Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Dr. Mundita Lim, was visibly distressed when she was interviewed on television. She said the pangolins are an endangered species and their existence is important to ecology because they feed on termites.

The members of the Coast Guard who seized the poached animals said that most likely, these were intended to be exported to China and other Asian countries which eat the meat of the pangolin as a delicacy and sell the seahorses and sea dragons as aphrodisiacs and medicinal items. The scales of the pangolins are also traded as they are believed to cure cancer, cerebral palsy and other illnesses.

The news disturbed me so much I had to research on the seized creatures. The pangolin is a scaly anteater—the size of a small cat—that looks like an armadillo. Some describe it as bizarre but I see it more like the Iron Man of the mammal world, only that it is vulnerable to human attack. The Philippines is one of only three Asian countries that have it. Conservationists say that the pangolins are the most illegally traded animals in the world. Up to 100,000 pangolins are estimated to be hunted and sold every year. Prince William once said Each species, that pangolins “run the risk of becoming no matter how extinct before most people have even small, has an heard of them.” The important role illegal trade takes place despite national to play. and international legislation protecting them.

Seahorses, on the other hand, are considered the jewels of the ocean. They are fascinating creatures with heads resembling a horse’s. They are endangered because they do not multiply fast; they are vulnerable to global warming; and they are poached as pets for aquariums. They are also sold as souvenirs and medicine for certain illnesses. The sea dragons belong to the same species as sea horses although they sometimes look more like sea plants as they can change their appearance to adapt to their environment.

Now, why must we care that these seized creatures are endangered? Because the extinction of any species of animal, plant, and even microorganism, for that matter, will destroy our biodiversity and our ecosystem.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth. Each species, no matter how small, has an important role to play. For example, a large number of plant species means a greater variety of crops. Crop byproducts feed cattle; cattle waste feeds the soil; crops yield straw; straw provides organic matter and fodder; crops feed humans and animals, and so on. Even bacteria, amoeba and algae all have a role to play. While there may be a survival of the fittest, each species depends on others to ensure its survival. A healthy biodiversity provides ecosystem services such as protection of water resources, soils formation and protection, pollution breakdown and absorption, and even recovery from unpredictable disasters. Biodiversity also ensures food supply, medicinal resources and wood products, among many others. Yet, men indiscriminately kill and poach species that they can trade regardless of the future and the consequence to ecology.

According to Nature Magazine, to prevent the problem of genetic defects caused by in-breeding, species need a variety of genes to ensure survival. But men keep destroying habitats for commercial development or extraction of minerals. When habitats are destroyed, the chances for interaction among species with a large gene pool decreases. Poaching is therefore not only the cause of loss of biodiversity. With urbanization, forests are being converted to commercial and residential uses, destroying animal and plant habitats. The least we can do then to save our diverse animal and plant species is to help stop illegal poaching that can lead to the extinction of some species. If the poachers do not care enough about their children and the next generation of their kin, those of us who love our families and the future generations of our bloodline to live in a healthful environment should make sure that poachers and killers of animal and plant species should be stopped. Citizens may arrest if they catch person committing unlawful acts.

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wealthy Butuan and the Agusan provinces.

Tourism is non-existent, though foreigners and locals merely land in the Butuan City airport in Bancasi, on their way to the beaches of the Surigao provinces.

These days, the water system in Butuan is down, the result of a corruption-laced privatization deal. The water that flows into taps is murky, and when it rains, the source of water is so silted and polluted that the water system is turned off. Ironically, when the streets are flooded and the rains pour, the faucets are dry.

Garbage has piled uncollected in the streets, and City Hall seems either clueless or unconcerned. If this happened in Metro Manila, the TV stations would have shown the detritus on prime time, goading the local government to work overtime. But Butuan City is remote to imperial Manila, and so the residents just suffer, many unable to complain because hell, they sold their votes, did they not?

Meanwhile, the Prime Minster of Japan visited a progressive and environmentally conscious Davao whose long-time mayor is now President of the Philippines.

This, while the rich politicians north of Davao still milk whatever is left from the dying corpus of Butuan’s economy.

This is a tale of two cities, and a case study of what good governance, versus bad, means.

A6

News

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

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‘Voluntarily dismantle fish pens’

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

T

HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources has appealed to operators of fish pens and cages within Laguna de Bay to voluntarily dismantle their illegal structures before the government begins a massive clearing operation this month.

National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force head Arturo Valdez said the DENR is giving operators a chance to save their valuable assets, including pens and cage enclosure materials.

“Once we begin the operation, all assets affected by our dismantling activities will be confiscated in favor of the government,” said Valdez, who is in charge of the demolition of illegal structures together with the Laguna Lake Development Authority.

The clearing operation is in line with the directive of Presi-

dent Rodrigo Duterte to dismantle big fish pens and cages in Laguna Lake to allow small fishermen to gain access to traditional fishing grounds.

“That’s the presidential instruction after all, and the DENR is dead set on implementing it unless of course a new directive from no less than President Duterte is given,” Valdez said.

Valdez said some operators have already voluntarily dismantled their facilities as early as last month, allowing them to keep their assets, especially the fish stock that they still were able to sell in the market.

The DENR and the LLDA are now mapping out a “phase-byphase approach” for the clearing operation.

Valdez said all aquaculture facilities in the lake area will be covered by the dismantling operation since the permits given to operators already expired on Dec. 31 and will no longer be renewed by the DENR. “We have imposed a total moratorium on the renewal of permits. This means the pens and cages can be dismantled anytime,” Valdez said.

“The dismantling of fish pens [and cages] is not simple. There

are posts there [and nets] that’s why it’s better for the owners to dismantle it themselves. You take care of your materials, those are expensive after all,” he added.

He said these structures also obstruct the natural flow of water, which is necessary to cleanse the lake of pollutants from households and industries and even from chemical components of fish feeds.

The rehabilitation plan also includes the reconfiguration of sewage systems of the lakeside communities and reforestation of surrounding mountains.

LIFELESS. Members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives in Navotas inspect the body of a dead woman inside a cemetery in Brgy. San Jose. The victim was gunned down by unidentified riding-in-tandem suspects Saturday night. Manny Palmero

Gatchalian Solon: Hasten release of new PhilHealth benwants free By Rio N. Araja movies for all seniors A BILL has been filed in the Senate seeking to give free movie privileges to senior citizens across the Philippines.

Under Senate Bill No. 1265 or the Senior Citizens Free Movie Privilege Act, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian wants all cinema owners to allow senior citizens to get a free movie pass once a week.

Gatchalian said cinema owners and operators will enter into an agreement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to provide this privilege.

Under his proposed measure, cinemas will be given the preference to make specific schedules as to the day and time when seniors may avail of the privilege.

They may also extend the privilege to additional days depending on their respective corporate social responsibility programs.

Gatchalian acknowledged that several cities and municipalities across the country have already implemented a similar policy.

He described the measure as “a simple token in recognition” of the importance of senior citizens in the society.

“In gratitude for everything our senior citizens have done for their families and for our country, they deserve this additional source of joy and leisure during the tranquil autumn of their lives,” Gatchalian said. PNA

CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte on Sunday called on the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. to hasten the nationwide implementation of their new benefit package for premature infants and small newborns.

Villafuerte made the appeal as Congress moves to institutionalize maternal and child care.

“One of them is House Bill No.

1340 that provides for a comprehensive health-care strategy covering the first 1,000 days of a child’s life from the womb to up to two years of age. This is a more complete program that targets the critical window of time vital to a person’s intellectual development and lifelong health,” he said.

The bill, authored by Villafuerte, also provides for a barangay-based health-care program for mothers and infants.

He said DoH and PhilHealth’s

benefit package for premature and small newborns would complement the proposed “First 1,000 Days Act.” Citing the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Camarines Sur, which used to have the highest malnutrition rate in Bicol, was able to reduce the figure by over 45 percent.

On Villafuerte’s watch as former governor, Camarines Sur re-

ported having the lowest number of underweight kids aged zerofive years old.

The lawmaker said research showed cost-effective interventions should start at the womb, where the first 1,000 days of an infant’s life begins.

“The first 1,000 days of a child’s life is most critical for growth and development. Consequently, hunger and poor nutrition during this period can have irreversible consequences,” Villafuerte said.

ERC told: Temper looming power rate hike

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Nancy Binay has called on the Energy Regulatory Commission to employ all necessary measures to cushion the possible impact of the 20day maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas facility on power rates.

Binay, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, made the call amid various procedures and programs to temper the projected P1.20 to P1.50 per kilowatt hour rate increase in consumers’ electric bills that were initiated by the Department of Energy and other stakeholders affected by the shutdown.

“I commend the initiative and foresight of all stakeholders in the power industry and their willingness to protect the interest of the ordinary Filipino consumer. But more than this, I suggest that we also have customers pay their power bills in tranches to lessen their household expenditures,” Binay said.

The Malampaya gas field maintenance shutdown is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 28 and will last until Feb. 16.

The possible rate increase is expected to be reflected in consumers’ bills in March.

“These procedures have been done before but now, we have to be more proactive to mitigate the power rate increase as soon as we can,” Binay said.

The Manila Electric Co. has already filed for a staggered payment application before the ERC. Binay appealed to the ERC to review all active and current power supply agreements and ensure that no additional costs will be billed to consumers during the maintenance period.

“The ERC should also look for customer rebates that can be applied during the period of the rate increase to offset or, at least, minimize what consumers will spend for their electricity bills,” Binay said.

Hospital for OFWs pushed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

STRONGER TOGETHER. Workers use a cart to bring heavy equipment tires to a nearby vulcanizing shop in Quezon City on Sunday. Manny Palmero

SENATOR Joel Villanueva has filed a bill that seeks to create a special hospital for overseas Filipino workers and their dependents.

Under Senate Bill No. 1282, a special hospital that will be known as the Bagong Bayaning Filipino Hospital will be established in the National Capital Region.

This will serve as the primary medical facility for the hospitalization, confinement, medical treatment and medical care of OFWs and their dependents.

“We want to recognize all the efforts and sacrifices of our modernday heroes who have worked hard not only to provide a better living for their families, but also for their contribution to the national economy,” Villanueva said.

He said the personal remittances of our migrant workers have strengthened the account position of the country, enlarging the middle class and spawning microenterprises in the provinces.

“In spite of the growing number of migrant workers and the steady stream of remittance flows, social services, especially health care, remain out of reach for them and their dependents,” Villanueva said.

Sports

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MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

PH Sports Institute eyes 2020 Olympics THE Philippine Sports Commission is not leaving anything to chance as it gears up to make its mark in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This time around, the Commission puts its best foot forward for such task as it inaugurates the Philippine Sports Institute on Jan. 16 at the Multi-Purpose Arena, Philsports Complex in Pasig City.

PSC Chairman William Ramirez said the PSI has already laid out plans as its initial preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

He added that the institute intended to hire more competent people to better assist our athletes when they compete abroad that will be a new norm.

“We will be hiring more people. Definitely every time our national athletes compete internationally, we will send a full team of sports medicine personnel to support team” said Ramirez.

The PSC Chairman added that for the Tokyo Olympics, they plan to look for a training venue in the Japanese capital to better prepare the athletes.

“This way, our Olympians will acclimatize ideally during the time of Olympics, between August and September, they will travel in Tokyo, to be able to get used to the weather, the people, mode of transportation and traffic, the life style there, so by 2020, our athletes will be there earlier, I think this will be the earliest, we are talking here of months, or minimum of 6 weeks.” said Ramirez.

“They (Olympians) will be in Tokyo before the Olympics starts, we will not be bringing athletes in just a matter of hours before they compete sa Olympics, this time we will plan it out carefully we will give them the support that they need. That is just the initial salvo of PSI in 2020 Olympics.” he added.

Moreover, the Commission has earmarked a large sum to purchase equipment that will help in the athletes’ training.

This new equipment will be part of PSI’s services to the athletes.

“PSI will have its mark in the field of sports science support

Thomas leads final Sony round LOS ANGELES—Justin Thomas is doing just about everything right at the Sony Open as he fired a bogey-free fiveunder 65 in the third round Saturday to extend his lead to seven strokes.

A day after setting the USPGA Tour’s 36-hole scoring record, Justin Thomas continued to roll at the Waialae Country Club course in Honolulu.

Thomas reached 22 under 188 to equal the lowest 54-hole total in PGA history.

“I felt like I managed my day really well to shoot five under,” Thomas said. “I was really happy to be bogey free. That was a big goal of mine.

“I had a couple of saves, I was putting the ball in position off the tee.”

Combine his first bogey-free round of the tournament with a rare 59 on Thursday and a 64 on Friday and it adds up to a seemingly insurmountable sevenshot lead over fellow American Zach Johnson.

No player in history of PGA Tour ever lost a seven-shot lead on the final day.

Johnson shot a third-round 66 to claim second place at 195.

Hudson Swafford and England’s Justin Rose each posted a 66 to tie for third place at 196 with Gary Woodland, had a 68.

Kevin Kisner completed the second-best round of the tournament, a 60, to jump from 13th to a tie for sixth at 197. Kisner is tied with Jamie Lovemark (65) and Scotland’s Russell Knox (66). AFP

Angelique Kerber of Germany hits a return during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. AFP

Pressure’s on for no. 1 Kerber

M

ELBOURNE—Angelique Kerber admitted being world number one has piled on the pressure and said she is trying to shut out the noise as she attempts to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time at the Australian Open.

The German left-hander stunned Serena Williams in the Melbourne final last year and ultimately ended her 186-week stay on top of the rankings during a memorable season.

With a US Open title also to her name, Kerber, who lives in Poland, said her life had changed over the past 12 months, with more off-court obligations, less time for herself and the added

burden of expectation.

“I have much more things to do. That’s changed,” she said on Sunday.

“But I’m still trying to enjoying it. This is the part of being one of the best players. That was always the goal, so I’m trying to living it now.”t “It’s a new challenge for me, that’s for sure,” she added.

“But at the end, I’m still the

same. I’m still doing the same things. I’m not thinking too much that I’m top-seeded now.

When I’m thinking like this, the pressure is much higher.”

Kerber opens her title defence with a first-round clash against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko on Rod Laver Arena on Monday, and faces the prospect of a potential quarter-final with French Open winner Garbine Muguruza.

It is feasible Kerber could lose her number one ranking to Williams in Melbourne, and she is taking nothing for granted.

- Turning point Last year she was match point down in the first round against Japan’s Misaki Doi, and admitted coming through that scare proved to be a significant mo-

ment in her career.

“I think, yeah, it was the important point for my career. You never know if I lost the match what might happen,” she said, adding that it had taught her she must be on top of her game right from the start.

“I have to be ready from the first round again. I will try to not put too much expectation and pressure on myself. I will try to do it like last year. That was the way I had my success. I will try to continue that this year again.”

Kerber has not had a good start to 2017, falling to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the Brisbane International quarter-finals, then slumping out in round two of the Sydney International to Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina.

She struggled to find her rhythm and her usually strong forehand was often astray, but the 28-year-old has been working hard on the Melbourne Park practice courts and she is quietly confident.

“I think every tournament starts from zero,” she said.

“I’m feeling good. I was practising good in the last few days here. Also my pre-season was very tough. So I hope that I can make the transition on the match courts here.

“For me, I’m expecting the same as I was expecting the years before -- going out there trying my best, fighting till the last point. This is always how I’m playing, how I am. This will not be changing.” AFP

Team SEA dominates Pradera Challenge opener Huey, pal fight Paes, Sa again LUBAO, Pampanga – Team Southeast Asia swept Team Pradera in the first day of the Pradera Ladies Challenge, including a convincing 4-1 romp in four-ball to seize a huge 7-3 lead at the Pradera Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

The visiting squad, composed of the national team players of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, stamped its class in the morning five four-ball matches, winning the first two, dropping the next before taking the last two. It then held sway in the afternoon foursomes, hacking out a 3-2 triumph to race to a four-point lead in the first-ever Ryder Cup-style event among the country’s top amateurs and their regional counterparts.

“I was surprised on how well our girls played in the morning. But we changed some pairs in the afternoon. Although they struggled at first, they were able to settle down at the turn and I’m happy it turned out well,” said Phunumpa Pornperapan, one of the two skippers of Team SEA in the event put up by Archen Cayabyab and Lubao Mayor

Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab in consultation with coach Norman Sto. Domingo.

Thai teen star Atthaya Thitikul, runner-up in last Friday’s Philippine Ladies Open, took charge for Team SEA’s opening day romp, teaming up with Winnie Ng of Malaysia in a 3&2 win over Bernice Ilas and Nicole Abelar in four-ball then partnering with Kan Bunnabodee in another 3&2 victory over Pau Del Rosario and Annyka Cayabyab in foursomes.

Despite the early setback, Team Pradera remains confident of its chances.

“My girls are still adjusting. Most of them are tired since they are not so used to play 36 holes in one day. Definitely I would change the lineup tomorrow (today) but I will stick with those who clicked,” said Team Pradera co-skipper and two-time LPGA winner Jennifer Rosales.

Tomi Arejola rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to spike their 2-up victory with Abby Arevalo over Tunrada Piddon and Napaghach Boon-in Missy Legaspi (left) and Mikha Fortuna exchange high-fives after averting an early that made it 2-3 in the af- shutout loss for Team Pradera with a 3&2 win over Geraldine Wong and Qistina Binti ternoon play.

Azhar of Team SEA.

Los Angeles Clippers get back at Lakers, 113 to 97 LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Clippers avenged a Christmas Day loss with a 113-97 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in Saturday’s rematch at Staples Center arena.

The Lakers beat the undermanned Clippers 111-102 three weeks ago as injuries forced Chris Paul, JJ Redick and Blake Griffin to watch from the sidelines.

It was one of just two wins

the Lakers had in the month of December and it halted the Clippers’ 11-game win streak. The lowly Lakers have gone 3-4 in January after losing 14 or 16 games in December.

The Clippers dominated in every facet in the return engagement as Paul has returned to the lineup and JJ Redick is back at full strength after suffering a hamstring injury in the Laker contest.

Griffin is still out with another in a long list of injuries but the Clippers have shown they can have success without him in the lineup.

The Clippers, who improved to 28-14 on the season, got off to a quick start Saturday.

The Clippers re-asserted their dominance by going on an 11-0 run late in the first quarter and built a 19-point lead 58-39 at halftime.

Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan had a double-double by halftime (12 points and 10 rebounds) on his way to finishing with a game-high 24 points and 21 rebounds.

After a slow shooting start, Paul tallied 20 points and 13 assists for the Clippers. Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton finished with 15 points each for the Clippers who stretched their January win streak to six games. AFP

By Peter Atencio THE rivalry continues for 10th seed Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi and the duo of Leander Paes and his new partner, Brazilian Andre Sa. They are set to meet again at the start of the first round of the men’s doubles’ main draw in the 2016 Australian Open Tennis Tournament in Melbourne Park.

The last time they met two week ago, Paes and Sa ousted top seeds Huey and Mirnyi in the ASB Classic in Auckland, 7-6 (3), 6-3, to advance to the quarterfinals.

This was Paes and Sa’s first victory over the tandem after joining hands in late 2016.

Their second meeting this year will give Huey and Mirnyi a chance for payback.

Huey is one of two Filipinos joining the Australian Open, the other one being 17-year-old Alberto “AJ” Lim Jr. Lim will see action in the junior division.

The world’s no. 52 Lim just finished his practice sessions and will be there with Huey as they prepare for their coming Davis Cup competition in the first week of February.

LOTTO RESULTS

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

Sports

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

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MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

FEU stops Adamson in junior basketball Games Tuesday (Filoil Flying V Centre) 9 a.m. AdU vs UPIS 11 a.m. – UST vs Ateneo (Jrs) 1 p.m. – UE vs FEU (Jrs) 3 p.m. – NU vs DLSZ (Jrs)

TAMING THE WAVES. Landon McNamara of Hawaii rides the wave during the 2017 Backdoor Shootout surfing contest at Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. AFP

Blackwater sinks Alaska

By Jeric Lopez

B

LACKWATER showed everyone that it is indeed a threat.

The Elite used a booming run bridging the final two quarters before surviving a furious stand from its foe in the final minutes to pull off an impressive upset of Alaska, 103-100, and put itself

in a better position in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Prized rookie Mac Belo bounced back from a sub-par game the last time out, scoring a team-high 21 points and six rebounds to lead the way for Blackwater.

The team also got a huge lift from Roi Sumang, who scored 17 of his career-high 19 points in the second half.

This was a crucial win for

Blackwater as it moved up to solo fourth place with its 5-4 mark, while Alaska, one of the hottest teams coming in, fell to 4-4 in the middle of the pack.

“We really prepared hard for this game,” confessed Blackwater coach Leo Isaac. “I told the players that if we want to beat Alaska, we need to have the same energy or even more energy than they have and all our players played their best.”

Ronjay Buenafe was also vital in the second half for Blackwater, fin-

ishing with 16 points, with four triples, while Arthur Dela Cruz scored 13 markers for more support.

It was a back-and-fourth encounter for most part until Blackwater came up with the decisive run in the second half to catch the Aces off guard and eventually take the victory.

A blistering 12-0 run zipping the third and fourth quarters suddenly gave the Elite control, taking an 83-71 advantage with 9:36 remaining after a jumper from

Raymond Aguilar.

With all the momentum, Blackwater was able to capitalize and grew its lead bigger to 14 points, 92-78, with 5:48 left after Aguilar hit another crucial shot, a tough triple at the shotclock buzzer to cap the team’s surge.

The veteran team that it is, Alaska stormed back ferociously, giving itself a chance in the final seconds as it inched itself within 100-103 with ball in hand with four second to go.

THE Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws leaned two big defensive plays from Daniel Celzo to stop the Adamson Baby Falcons, 75-73, Saturday at the start of second round action of the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

The 6’5” Celzo first blocked an attempt from underneath by Jess Antiporda, and then won a rebound battle with Carl Vincent Tamayo, denying the Baby Falcons their last chances to score at the buzzer.

This allowed the Baby Tams to snap the Baby Falcons’ winning run after eight games.

The Baby Tams, who drew 24 and 11 points from Jeffrey Sapinit and Eric Jabel, went on to register their sixth win in eight games.

This put the Baby Falcons to a share of first place with the defending champion National University Bullpups at 7-1.

The Baby Tams took a two-point lead in the last 15 seconds off Louell Gonzales, who scored a free throw in the final 10.1 seconds.

“Binigay niya (Gonzales) ‘yung lahat ng magagawa niya. Hindi siya 100 percent. Last Monday lang siya nag-practice kaya kanina alalay lang siya,” said FEU coach Allan Albano.

The NU Bullpups gained a share of their lead with their 78-71 stopping of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, 78-71, with Karl Penano hiting 19 points, and Paul Manalang adding 16 points and six rebounds.

Muhammed Srlip had a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds for NU. The Bullpups never looked in trouble after they took a 58-52 lead in the third.

SJ Belangel had 14 points for the Blue Eaglets, while Dave Ildefonso had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Eaglets.

Oconer The Country Club golf eyes LBC returns with P5-M pot Ronda title AFTER topping the 2017 Brunei Cycling Classic a couple of weeks ago, George Oconer of Go For Gold sets his sights on winning the one thing that has eluded him for years--the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 2017.

Oconer, 24, will be one of the riders to watch out for in the 14-stage race slated Feb. 4 to March 4 after ruling the one-day race in Bandar Seri Begawan and topping Ronda’s two qualifying races in Subic in November and Bacolod in December last year.

“I’ve always dreamed of topping the Ronda Pilipinas and I feel this year will be the best year to do it because I’m mentally and physically prepared now,” said Oconer, whose closest brush to winning it all came in 2015 when he finished behind two-time LBC Ronda champion Santy Barnachea,in Filipino.

Oconer’s team, Go for Gold, also impressed after it also won the team title in Brunei, underscoring its readiness to challenge the Ronda big guns.

“We’re a young team but we’re ready to race,” said Go for Gold team manager Eds Hualda, whose husband Ronnel, is also skippering the squad.

The other members of the Go for Gold team are Jerry Aquino, Jr., Jonel Carcueva, Elmer Navarro, Agustin Queremit, Ryan Cayubit and Ismael Grospe.

THE Country Club Invitational, long regarded as one of the country’s premier golf championships with its elite participation and rich purse, returns after a two-year hiatus with a promise of another thriller of a finish when it is held Feb. 2-5 at the posh TCC course in Laguna.

Cassius Casas outdueled Tony Lascuña in a stirring stretch run duel to win by one and nail his second TCC diadem in 2014 before the P5 million event was shelved to give way to the exclusive Tom Weiskopf-designed course’s renovation.

Since the course has undergone alterations to make it more challenging, expect the four-day battle to be a survival of the fittest especially in the presence of the wind that normally blow from all over at this time of the year.

Seven players have won the TCC crown in its first 12 editions with Japan PGA Tour campaigners Juvic Pagunsan and Angelo Que claiming three each and Casas two. Other champions in the event, put up by ICTSI boss Ricky Razon in 2003 to honor the memory of his father and ICTSI founder Don Pocholo, himself an avid golfer, were Jerome Delariarte, Artemio Murakami, Frankie Miñoza and Lascuña.

As in the past, the upcoming event also serves as the kick-off leg of this year’s ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour with another 16-stage

circuit on tap at the country’s various championship courses.

That includes five Asian Development Tour events as the country’s premier circuit, organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., continues to lure the leading and rising players from the region and elsewhere.

Though the TCC Invitational is not included in the annual ICTSI circuit, it remains the most-awaited of all tournaments among the local pros for its prestige and prize money with only the top 30 players from the previous year’s Order of Merit ranking competing for the top P1.5 million purse.

With the Japan PGA Tour still on a break, Pagunsan and Que are expected to lead the chase for a fourth crown, along with the other past winners and the rest of the Top 30 raring to gain a crack at the coveted crown.

Miguel Tabuena, the current toast of Philippine golf, is also tipped to join the hunt coming off two Asian Tour events in Singapore and Myanmar with the 22-year-old ace’s presence to toughen up the already formidable select field.

But Pagunsan and Que, along with Tabuena and the other former TCC winners will be up against an equally talented field – a mix of veteran campaigners and young guns all hungry for title, guaranteeing a tight, spirited battle from the start all the way to the Sunday finale. AFP

Juvic Pagunsan (right) and Angelo Que resume their hunt for a fourth TCC Invitational crown

So splits point with world no. 1 Carlsen WORLD no. 4 Wesley So drew with world’s no. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the first round of the 2017 Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands.

A repetition of moves involving their bishops forced Carlsen to settle for a draw in 35 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined-Slav variation.

Ukranian GM Pavel Eljanov took the solo lead after he got past Richard Rapport in 41

moves of a Reti Opening.

Eljanov, playing the white pieces, advanced the rook to the fifth rank in the d-file, and this put the black queen in check.

So and Carlsen are half a point behind, with Adhiban Baskaran and Loek Van Wely, along with Dmitry Andreikin and Wei Yi, the pair of Pentala Harikrishna and Levon Aronian, the duo of Sergey Karjakin

and Anish Giri.

Carlsen said So did not have crucial moves when he offered the draw.

“He didn’t play the critical line,” said Carlsen in an online interview.

Carlsen added that So is the kind of player, who does not take many chances when he plays against stronger opposition. Peter Atencio

Arnis may be included in 2019 PH SEA Games

By Peter Atencio THE Filipino martial arts of arnis will most likely be included in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games when the Philippines hosts biennial meet again.

Members of the arnis community got this assurance from Philippine Sports Commission William “Butch” Ramirez during the First National Arnis Congress hosted by the PSC last

Thursday.

Arnis was last included in the SEA Games in 2005.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was named chairman during an election held by newly formed national unified organization, is supportive of the move.

Arnis organizations recently formed a national unified organization, with over 270 Grand Masters

and Masters from clubs, associations, federations and confederations from all over the country.

The group, which has yet to have an official name, represents all major arnis styles.

“I will make sure that no one should be left behind, that no student should be disallowed from joining competitions, that no organization, or school, should be discriminated

from financial assistance from government or by the unified organization, and that no Grand Master, past or present, will ever be forgotten,” said Zubiri, who is a world champion in the sports from 1988 to 91.

Grand Master Rene Tongson said in a statement that the Philippines has a lot of catching up to do in arnis compared with other countries.

Rep. Monsour Del Rosario, the Sec-

retary General of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, who observed the proceedings on behalf of the Philippine Olympic Committee, expressed his full support to the objectives and activities of the Arnis Congress.

He announced projects to fully document its history and support its propagation nationwide in partnership with the newly formed national unified organization.

San Miguel bullish this year B3

Business

business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

B1

SMC’s power plant bid denied

IN BRIEF MPIC still interested in 5 regional airports

INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it remains interested in the contract to operate and maintain the five regional airports despite the changes in bidding terms.

“It looks like its a major change from was it was. But we will still look at it,” Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

The Transportation Department said it would bid out the five regional airports individually, a change from the previous administration’s plan to hold only two auctions with two packages.

The five provincial airports in the PPP bundle are the P20.26-billion Bacolod-Silay International Airport and the P30.4-billion Iloilo International Airport under package 1, and the P14.62-billion Laguindingan Airport, P2.34-billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport and P40.57-billion Davao International Airport under package 2.

The Transportation Department earlier prequalified Maya Consortium led by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Philippine Airports Consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp.-IIAC Airport Consortium, GMR-Megawide Consortium and Filinvest-JATCO-Sojitz Consortium for the project. Darwin G. Amojelar

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor

By Alena Mae S. Flores

P

OWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. excluded San Miguel Corp. from the list of power companies bidding for the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal.

San Miguel president Ramon Ang said his group expressed interest in the auction of the thermal power plant, but he said PSALM would not allow San Miguel to participate in the bidding.

Four companies met the deadline on Dec. 20 and submitted their letters of interest for the Malaya plant assets being offered for privatization. The actual bidding is scheduled on March 8, 2017.

“I did not know that it will be bid out. One day after, I wrote that I want to join the bidding. The bidding is still in March but they [PSALM] don’t want

me to join,” Ang said.

PSALM earlier said it received four letters of interest from APT Global Inc., Phinma Energy Corp., Riverbend Consolidated Mining Corp. and AC Energy Holdings Inc. PSALM manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp. as mandated by the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

“What’s their reason? It’s most advantageous to the government to allow more bidders,” Ang said.

He said San Miguel wanted to join all government auctions, so that the state would get the best deal.

“It’s more advantageous to allow San Miguel to join every government public bidding because when San Miguel joins the bid, the government usually gets the best deal,” he said.

Ang cited the case of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway which generated P27 billion for the government, much higher than the other offer of P11 billion.

San Miguel was initially disqualified from the CaLax bidding because of a typo error in its bid submission, but the company showed its P20-billion offer

while the other bidder offered only P11 billion.

“Look at CaLax. From P11 billion that was supposed to be awarded, it went up to P27 billion. It’s always good that San Miguel is joining the bid,” he said.

Ang also said he would not withdraw his case against a PSALM official for terminating San Miguel’s 1,200-MW Ilijan natural gas plant power plant producer contract.

San Miguel’s subsidiary South Premiere Power Corp. trades the contracted capacity of the Ilijan natural gas plant in Batangas after posting the highest bid of $870 million in 2010.

PSALM issued the invitation to bid for Malaya in December, allowing bidders to conduct due diligence from Dec. 6, 2016 to March 6, 2017, while a bid conference was held on Jan. 6, 2017. Actual bid submission is scheduled on March 8, 2017.

The previous administration designated Malaya power plant as a ‘must-run unit’ in order to address any instability or supply deficiency that may occur as a result of a sudden unavailability of any operating power plants in the grid.

Smart to improve indoor coverage

THE PLDT Group said it is undertaking a major network expansion in Metro Manila over the next three months to improve the coverage and quality of its mobile and broadband services.

“Smart is rolling out the fastest and most powerful mobile data network in the country, and we are focused on improving indoor coverage since we know that people use mobile internet services mostly indoors, particularly in Metro Manila – in their homes, offices, restaurants, coffee shops, and the like,” said Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor for PLDT and Smart.

Horn said Smart was deploying new base station equipment in 2,500 cell sites across Metro Manila that use low-frequency bands such as 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 900 MHz for its LTE and 3G services. These frequency bands could cover a larger area and provide better indoor signals, he said.

The rollout also includes deploying highfrequency bands like 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz, to increase the capacity of each Smart cell site to handle more calls, texts and everincreasing mobile data traffic.

Once completed, the rollout is expected to significantly boost the reach of Smart’s LTE and 3G mobile data services across all 17 of the cities and municipalities of Metro Manila.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Sunray investing P12b in solar plant

STATE-RUN Bases Conversion and Development Authority teamed up with Sunray Power Inc. and majority shareholder Menlo Renewable Energy Corp. to build a 100-megawatt solar power facility worth P11.75 billion in Clark Green City in Tarlac province.

The Sunray 100-MW solar power project will stand as a renewable energy facility that BCDA and SPI hope will serve as a motivating force for more green and smart technology development centers to come about.

“We at SPI are very enthusiastic about the long standing partnership we’ve had with BCDA. Solar is the power of the future and we will continue to work together to provide clean and renewable energy not only to Clark Green City but through our other projects in Central Luzon as well,” said Menlo chairman Salvador Zamora.

“Apart from mitigating the effects of climate change and global warming, the Sunray 100-MW solar power project also helps the local economy of the area as it is projected to provide employment for 1,000 workers during construction and at least 250 workers during operations,” said BCDA president and chief executive Vivencio Dizon.

RUBBER INVESTOR. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (fourth from left) meets with Black Donuts Engineering president and chief executive Kai Hauvala

(second from right) and sales director Tomi Pekkola (third from left) for a possible partnership on the construction of a $200-million rubber processing and manufacturing facility in Southern Mindanao. The project, once approved, is expected to fully operate after two years and produce four to five million tires annually.

Black Donuts, a tire manufacturing company based in Finland, will help in the construction, operation and capability enhancement and training of rubber farmers.

Slower remittances, exports cut Q4 growth to 6.5%

By Julito G. Rada ECONOMIC growth likely slowed down to 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter from 7.1 percent in the third quarter, on slower remittances, weak exports and sluggish factory output, Deutsche Bank said in a report over the weekend.

“Economic activity is normalizing, but we note some concerns. While still above trend, our growth momentum measure drifted lower in October/November as motor vehicle sales, remittances and factory output weakened pace [against non-oil imports, real credit growth and employment, which

gained pace],” the bank said.

It said manufacturing output was weighed down by slower input buying and employment. Exports were unlikely to prop up overall output, with growth pared down by higher commodity prices, it said.

“As such, the trade balance is again likely to contribute negatively to GDP growth in the fourth quarter, with risk of a greater reduction owing to the spike in the November trade deficit,” it said.

“Overall, our bottom-up estimates suggest the fourth-quarter GDP growth may have eased to 6.5 percent from 7.1 percent year-on-year in the previous

quarter. This slowdown in growth momentum, in our view, indicates a normalization of economic activity past the 2016 elections,” it said.

Latest data from Bangko Sentral showed that money sent home by overseas Filipino workers in October declined 3 percent to $2.099 billion from $2.164 billion a year ago.

The October remittances were the lowest in three months. This, however, still brought cash remittances in the first 10 months to $22.124 billion, or 4 percent higher than $21.266 billion a year ago.

Deutsche Bank said for the whole

year, the economy likely grew 6.8 percent in 2016, higher than 5.9 percent in 2015. It predicted a 5.8-percent expansion in 2017 and 6-percent increase in 2018.

The bank said that while the medium-term outlook was propped with prospects of a nationwide acceleration in infrastructure development, it was also fraught with “risks of decelerating private sector investments, amid President Duterte’s highly controversial ‘war on [illegal] drugs’ which has claimed at least 6,200 lives since the new administration’s first full day on July 1.”

Neda pushes for more investments to match Thailand’s status by 2022

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE Philippines should increase investments to at least 30 percent of the gross domestic product to attain the status of an upper-middle-income country like Thailand by 2022, the National Economic and Development Authority said over the weekend.

Economic Secretary Ernesto Pernia said total investments by the public and private sectors should be increased from the current 24 percent to 30 percent to make the vision of transforming the Philippines into an upper-middle-income economy under the Duterte administration a reality.

Pernia said of the total investments, the public share of investments needed to rise from 5.4 percent of GDP this year to 7 percent of GDP onwards until 2022.

He said that beginning this year, the budget for public infrastructure would be increased to 5.4 percent of GDP, or equivalent to about P861 billion, while private investment was expected to contribute 18.6 percent of GDP, for total investments equivalent to 24 percent of GDP. “This is a significant improvement from historical lows, but this level will not be enough to help the country achieve its vision of eradicating poverty and becoming a high-income economy, where Malaysia is nearly right now,

by 2040,” Pernia said.

“Hence, an ambitious program focusing on infrastructure is necessary not only to raise the government’s contribution to investments, but also to fill the country’s massive infrastructure backlog that has been inherited from past governments,” Pernia said.

“In order to raise enough revenues to fund the government’s unmatched public spending plan, it needs to implement broad and deep reforms in tax policy and administration. Without the tax reform, we will not be able to fund the needed increase in infrastructure spending beginning 2018,” he said.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the total infrastructure budget, both national and local, was projected to grow from P861 billion in 2017 to P1.898 trillion by 2022, or from 5.4 of GDP to 7 percent of GDP. “These record levels of spending will align our country with its more vibrant neighbors and put us on track to achieve our vision of eradicating extreme poverty and transforming our economy into a high-income one by 2040,” Diokno said.

Diokno said the unprecedented levels of public spending in the years ahead could only happen if the government were to raise a lot more revenues, which would require major reforms in tax policy and administration.

INSULAR-EXACT PARTNERSHIP. The Excellence and Competency Training (Exact) Center Inc., one of the

largest maritime training centers in the Philippines, taps Insular Life as the provider of insurance and retirement benefits for its employees. Shown signing the agreement are (from left) Insular Life vice president for sales and marketing Jesus Alfonso Hofileña, Exact president Ferdinand Marcos, Insular Life president and chief operating officer Mona Lisa dela Cruz and Exact vice president for finance Renato Sangalang.

B2

Business

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market likely to stay below 7,400

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

TOCKS are expected to move sideways this week, as investors remain defensive on concerns over rising inflation and interest rates and other developments overseas.

Analysts said investors turned defensive on expected increase in interests rates this year and possible hike in inflation on rising oil prices.

“Chartwise, the week’s close at 7,238.52 highlights it hit resistance at the 7,402.54 levels. Continue to see the market to range between 7,000 [and] 7,400 levels. Only a break above the 7,500 lev-

els will call the bulls back to play,” BDO Unibank chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said.

Investors are also cautious while waiting for clearer economic and fiscal policies from US President-elect Donald Trump and his administration.

Analysts said investors might only be encouraged to return to the market once the

earning season started next month.

The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index ended flat last week at 7,238 on Jan. 13, while the broader all-share index inched up by 0.2 percent to 4,360, as the market succumbed to profit-taking in the latter part of the trading week after the previous week’s strong runup.

The major indices ended mixed as financials, holding firms, property and mining and oil closed lower from a week ago while industrial and services posted week-on-week gains.

Foreign investors remained

net buyers last week by P684 million, while average daily turnover slipped to P6.5 billion from the previous week’s P7.2 billion.

Top gainers last week included Arthaland Corp. which surged 34.7 percent to P0.62, ABS-CBN Corp. which jumped 8 percent to P48 per share and D&L Industries Inc. which climbed 6.8 percent to P12.60.

Heavy losers were Nickel Asia Corp. which slipped 11.1 percent to P7.33, Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. which dropped 8 percent to P3 and LT Group Inc. which declined 7.6 percent to P12.20.

Popi to spend P15b in Tutuban project PRIME Orion Philippines Inc., a company led by Ayaland Land Inc., may spend P15 billion to redevelop crown jewel Tutuban Center in Divisoria, Manila into a large-scale mixed-use development that will quadruple its leasable space over the next couple of years.

POPI president Jose Emmanuel Jalandoni said in an interview following the annual stockholders’ meeting Friday the company aimed to increase the gross leasable space within

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

JANUARY 9-13, 2017 Close Volume

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

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

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

3.75 47.9 112.50 91.80 38.45 4.14 1.45 16.1 19.16 6.58 0.68 1.65 770.00 0.670 78 0.77 14.22 54.80 90.3 145 230 36 214.2 1675.00 76.25 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 Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

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

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

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

43.85 4.48 0.86 1.41 17.8 0.208 94 19.80 11.8 15.96 142.5 103.3 105 23 60 1.97 6.45 11.98 12.600 7.40 5.30 6.36 22.2 68.9 12.30 16.02 6.1 1.830 212.00 74.95 2.59 3.71 28.60 29.5 27.9 14.44 278.00 0.275 5.19 3.3 9.70 3.7 75.2 11.58 2.32 5.74 1.58 5.2 5.05 2.2 2.76 238 11.76 4.28 0.145 1.54 175 4.3 1.85 1.14

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ BHI Holdings Inc. 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 Keppel Holdings `A’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

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

0.425 74.80 13.20 1.22 6.00 0.310 0.330 792 1147.00 8.92 13.08 5.2 7 8.10 0.187 1320 5.83 75.05 3.92 4.71 8.04 1.2 12.2 6.89 0.0440 1.200 2.000 2.55 98.80 681.00 1.25 0.85 262.800 0.2950 0.1870 0.260

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

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

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

Phil. Realty `A’

7.600 6.65 1.17 2.500 0.620 34.000 3.17 5.15 0.570 1.06 1.390 0.194 0.610 51.85 0.710 0.150 1.00 1.67 1.25 4.21 3.78 0.150 0.2600 0.405

Value

FINANCIAL 5,791,460.00 4,568,050.00 1,004,330,343 349,842,318.00 20,294,085.00 1,405,590.00 2,496,950.00 5,355,266.00 18,247,280.00 177,133 12,250 1,930,240.00 1,053,660.00 89,871,590.00 1,253,310,572.00 7,803,310.00 1,177,450.00 6,120,274.00 663,015.00 276,003.00 15,821,118.00 41,325,965 989,115,614.00 220,305 57,668,772.50 81,300.00 INDUSTRIAL 9,003,600 392,947,090.00 6,555,000 29,856,590.00 7,214,000 6,465,310.00 5,928,000 8,401,090.00 111,200 2,038,666.00 2,130,000 441,640.00 20,650 1,792,508.50 41,900 842,375.00 34,877,500 412,427,520.00 17,465,800 279,518,796 80 12,505.00 8,560 874,071.50 850 91,761.50 669,500 15,240,850.00 152,560 9,153,821 911,000 1,810,110.00 3,129,300 20,951,484.00 212,700 2,557,116.00 46,649,500 579,032,712.00 2,178,200 15,992,542.00 104,903,800 557,211,768.00 2,899,100 18,755,476.00 16,432,600 358,122,255.00 480,580 33,001,378.00 96,300 1,197,546.00 490,200 8,086,974.00 839,300 5,133,298.00 10,476,000 19,040,880.00 3,485,960 752,988,564.00 650 47,849.50 332,000 864,410.00 36,000 137,830.00 8,500 237,750.00 21,822,400 651,282,725.00 2,076,000 57,955,330.00 6,873,600 101,608,118.00 1,117,530 315,390,406.00 10,350,000 2,754,170.00 2,200 11,146.00 5,390,000 17,379,110.00 30,164,600 295,900,047.00 13,000 48,340.00 7,975,420 587,701,618.50 69,200 767,984.00 4,921,000 11,464,080.00 4,233,300 24,078,732.00 3,793,000 6,001,010.00 5,254,500 26,706,169.00 5,132,400 25,743,291.00 2,028,000 4,440,410.00 307,000 854,340.00 145,150 33,518,638.00 26,205,200 306,662,224.00 249,000 1,064,650.00 19,570,000 2,907,610.00 1,989,000 3,119,160.00 6,506,020 1,113,961,652 47,000 207,000.00 71,190,000 131,022,540.00 889,000 991,050.00 HOLDING FIRMS 75,810,000 32,780,700.00 8,263,890 619,302,225.00 19,464,400 263,504,440.00 334,000 393,750.00 1,143,100 6,855,837.00 8,210,000 2,672,400.00 720,000 235,550.00 1,606,990 1,273,311,065 20 22,940.00 12,321,000 108,483,119.00 41,252,000 537,221,188.00 9,300 48,856.00 14,000 98,000.00 193,100 1,552,294.00 750,000 141,960.00 617,365 812,092,535.00 52,500 312,406.00 8,790,950 663,494,495.00 104,000 408,530.00 1,000 4,710.00 7,484,800 51,971,563.00 59,966,000 77,239,390.00 24,865,500 314,469,736.00 126,553,500 885,862,045.00 3,949,090,000 193,710,890.00 41,000 49,200.00 830,000 1,658,390.00 141,000 354,500.00 1,561,290 153,398,640.00 1,815,820 1,245,894,890.00 1,624,000 2,042,460.00 95,000 80,350.00 33,300 8,772,768.00 2,810,000 814,050.00 3,300,000 638,300.00 4,060,000 1,072,210.00 PROPERTY 1,138,700 8,746,357.00 16,100 100,000.00 15,306,000 17,967,370.00 3,988,000 69,944,970.00 383,048,000 230,103,360.00 35,152,300 1,201,927,950.00 5,225,000 16,587,460.00 386,100 1,987,550.00 58,992,000 33,834,770.00 114,000 121,420.00 1,300,000 1,815,110.00 533,870,000 101,660,730.00 34,118,000 20,802,350.00 4,043,290 201,481,828.00 447,000 315,750.00 7,540,000 1,201,690.00 15,913,000 16,091,980.00 48,074,000 80,275,310.00 1,457,000 1,755,160.00 19,000 87,010.00 188,229,000 733,205,510.00 101,520,000 15,186,920.00 780,000 219,800.00 4,820,000 1,945,000.00 1,466,000 95,500 8,858,940 3,795,990 529,200 352,000 1,691,000 333,500 954,000 26,900 18,000 1,132,000 1,300 129,915,000 15,911,420 9,977,000 82,800 111,120 7,350 1,950 66,880 1,177,400 4,580,500 130 761,250 65,000

JANUARY 3-6, 2017 Close Volume Value 3.81 48.15 113.70 92.00 38.3 3.84 1.45 16.2 18.9 6.55 0.71 1.74 823.00 0.640 76.5 0.78 14.2 553.00 90.05 130 245 35 218.4 1691.00 75.00 1.23

912,000 392,200 16,335,670 7,599,610 239,100 7,000 1,574,000 158,000 867,100 600 11,000 83,000 1,270 63,896,000 12,291,340 450,000 115,700 92,510 15,220 1,020 60,730 101,000 6,305,730 480 179,480 99,000

3,468,290.00 18,825,420.00 1,848,038,639 690,136,133.00 9,156,620.00 26,460.00 2,176,080.00 2,553,744.00 16,232,836.00 3,930 7,780 145,230.00 998,390.00 40,794,930.00 930,089,314.00 348,510.00 1,651,512.00 5,108,628.00 1,370,666.50 138,126.00 14,581,060.00 3,531,695 1,331,826,156.00 800,770 13,453,338.50 122,550.00

43.45 4.47 0.87 1.38 19.5 0.200 86.05 19.10 11.68 16.04 160 91 118 23 60 1.99 6.46 12.26 11.800 7.30 5.18 6.36 21.85 68.5 13.00 16.48 6.11 1.620 213.00 70.05 2.8 3.8 28.80 29.9 28 14.86 277.60 0.249 5.21 3.21 9.75 3.8 71.45 11.70 2.35 5.78 1.48 4.96 5.00 2.25 2.76 229 11.66 4.39 0.143 1.53 169.2 4.48 1.86 1.15

15,697,900 3,556,000 1,827,000 4,487,000 34,000 1,260,000 270 45,800 38,289,500 10,140,000 1,010 2,670 930 207,500 847,370 649,000 1,806,600 118,000 18,276,500 3,490,400 37,183,500 1,870,500 7,556,900 724,580 19,800 1,940,300 1,164,900 3,350,000 2,986,290 1,550 219,000 17,000 6,000 5,506,500 2,310,600 4,765,000 1,778,470 130,000 6,100 27,045,000 38,667,000 10,000 4,982,520 4,000 18,191,000 1,845,700 2,062,000 1,090,700 25,020,000 7,000 424,000 17,200 10,818,800 68,000 5,080,000 1,377,000 6,870,410 22,000 73,570,000 157,000

678,618,820.00 15,879,430.00 1,569,440.00 5,943,530.00 654,333.00 248,440.00 23,428.50 911,040.00 435,087,638.00 162,991,460 143,409.00 242,435.00 102,865.00 4,712,775.00 50,752,344 1,258,420.00 11,685,056.00 1,450,332.00 215,265,138.00 25,215,125.00 191,951,373.00 11,611,209.00 164,231,795.00 49,395,216.00 254,290.00 31,923,588.00 7,102,506.00 5,570,190.00 623,158,976.00 110,976.50 567,270.00 61,560.00 164,685.00 162,924,660.00 61,805,655.00 71,139,036.00 493,352,592.00 31,300.00 30,951.00 87,087,690.00 384,818,139.00 38,900.00 354,201,864.50 46,850.00 41,750,240.00 10,568,253.00 3,031,080.00 5,275,783.00 125,104,421.00 15,450.00 1,177,260.00 3,953,902.00 126,397,910.00 291,950.00 732,180.00 2,170,840.00 1,147,521,370 97,120.00 130,980,920.00 168,950.00

0.415 74.80 13.40 1.19 6.00 0.305

35,890,000 6,886,420 29,112,000 349,000 596,400 2,230,000

15,079,400.00 503,476,395.00 384,406,542.00 392,190.00 3,577,857.00 678,150.00

786.5

1,558,180

1,202,475,190

8.79 13.10 5.34 6.5 8.14 0.186 1337 5.90 74.00 4.01 4.06 8.04 1.25 13.2 6.91 0.0380 1.200 2.020 2.60 97.70 690.00 1.27 0.89 264.600 0.3000 0.1860 0.255

5,689,600 39,369,100 36,100 6,100 766,400 930,000 447,190 18,200 9,704,760 1,000 200 11,676,000 31,682,000 7,857,300 106,506,000 69,900,000 1,000 4,290,000 140,000 1,192,070 1,744,460 3,599,000 132,000 19,150 4,340,000 2,690,000 1,600,000

49,477,216.00 525,663,854.00 199,704.00 39,748.00 6,220,542.00 173,680.00 595,864,490.00 106,026.00 705,296,985.00 4,010.00 812.00 91,247,948.00 38,184,620.00 102,279,040.00 722,689,570.00 2,625,700.00 1,200.00 8,519,910.00 360,120.00 115,577,138.50 1,176,984,905.00 4,601,580.00 110,760.00 5,033,966.00 1,273,300.00 515,460.00 398,510.00

7.610 6.30 1.11 2.370 0.460 34.500 3.18 5.14 0.570 1.05 1.460 0.183 0.600 49.5 0.700

705,700 25,800 4,302,000 2,678,000 45,486,000 42,685,000 16,431,000 30,000 26,846,000 130,000 6,308,000 321,400,000 36,499,000 5,278,200 142,000

5,311,741.00 159,489.00 4,723,590.00 6,416,660.00 33,605,650.00 1,448,778,750.00 52,433,770.00 153,950.00 15,185,240.00 135,870.00 9,114,250.00 57,416,320.00 21,671,600.00 243,836,385.00 99,690.00

1.02 1.68 1.20 4.20 3.75 0.147 0.2600 0.415

26,119,000 66,672,000 1,223,000 2,000 191,371,000 61,490,000 1,680,000 1,320,000

26,836,500.00 105,635,590.00 1,475,950.00 8,400.00 709,015,000.00 8,707,400.00 471,400.00 537,950.00

STOCKS

JANUARY 9-13, 2017 Close Volume

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

32.00 4.32 26.00 1.56 3.28 29.80 1.06 6.98 0.900 5.040

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

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

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” 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 Lorenzo Shipping 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.

7.51 48 1.36 0.530 0.053 10.96 5.49 6.27 0.0720 2.59 97.6 9.8 2 8.50 2.95 962 1700 6.26 15.40 17.98 2.90 75.15 15.96 129 12.1 0.0090 9.00 0.235 1.4300 3.27 15.38 4.14 1.03 2.50 20.95 2 4.14 4.02 2.820 11.3 5.10 3.18 9.8 140.00 9.96 1481.00 0.495 1.420 40.80 73.50 6.14 2.62 1.040 1.9 3.26 0.350

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0033 2.96 5.26 5.44 2.2300 2.2600 0.52 0.455 11.78 3.000 0.260 0.214 0.220 0.013 0.0130 2.35 7.33 2.82 0.4850 1.0500 0.0110 0.0110 4.11 9.16 3.62 0.0120 134.00 2.93 0.0097

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

48.05 544 540 103 104 108 113.5 519 5.9 1020 1035 1.04 105.6 1057 1150 1030 77.4 81 78 77.5 79.6 77.3 78 77.5 2.2

LR Warrant

2.260

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

9.01 3.15 4.15 8.26

First Metro ETF

119.5

JANUARY 3-6, 2017 Close Volume Value

Value

9,500 5,990,000 8,157,800 862,000 2,972,000 78,312,400 21,842,000 200 1,329,000 15,422,700

288,275.00 24,548,800.00 218,612,590.00 1,368,660.00 9,664,510.00 2,407,502,980.00 23,891,080.00 1,396.00 1,198,020.00 78,077,088.00 SERVICES 54,400 411,923.00 131,100 6,128,080.00 1,156,000 1,591,410.00 3,341,000 1,793,510.00 1,017,400,000 53,015,980.00 4,800 52,612.00 30,200 161,288 23,699,300 144,803,945.00 169,810,000 12,161,660.00 23,834,000 62,399,730.00 2,637,470 254,836,448.50 19,500 192,487.00 413,000 833,800 1,415,500 11,933,052.00 5,000 15,190.00 2,760 2,670,390.00 731,560 1,305,995,970 518,200 3,247,671.00 449,600 7,257,026.00 300 5,398 19,712,000 56,471,600.00 4,170,760 313,303,005.00 56,900 917,398 680 82,320 200 2,410.00 87,132,000 2,026,100.00 2,277,100 20,516,500.00 127,150,000 29,840,750.00 7,654,000 11,155,640.00 70,000 237,430.00 11,100 171,316.00 3,373,000 14,186,460 156,000 157,100.00 102,000 247,020.00 7,800 152,940 212,000 424,000.00 31,618,000 128,926,040.00 25,298,000 105,407,450.00 13,183,000 37,121,040.00 155,000 1,751,500.00 107,500 560,391 82,000 254,970.00 500 4,914.00 488,830 64,319,342.00 12,919,100 134,607,174.00 1,011,095 1,558,785,285.00 184,128,000 95,221,870.00 112,473,000 155,760,590.00 6,338,300 258,926,655.00 3,622,490 273,982,366.00 6,186,100 38,434,482.00 3,322,000 8,871,410.00 81,998,000 85,670,670.00 2,000 3,800.00 7,860,000 26,184,550.00 2,350,000 849,950.00 MINING & OIL 7,075,000,000 24,386,100.00 7,440,000 22,708,930.00 2,266,300 12,173,491.00 181,400 979,066.00 50,000 111,130.00 34,000 74,600.00 1,165,000 607,800.00 5,800,000 2,694,800.00 253,200 3,027,812.00 60,748,000 193,121,670.00 2,650,000 701,450.00 67,520,000 14,717,100.00 12,850,000 2,869,750.00 61,700,000 783,100.00 262,300,000 3,285,900.00 17,495,000 44,198,960.00 61,182,700 482,817,579.00 1,076,000 3,031,140.00 110,000 53,550.00 2,626,000 2,888,740.00 392,100,000 4,492,100.00 55,300,000 630,600.00 52,000 212,620.00 16,927,300 156,465,206.00 6,111,000 22,532,880.00 162,100,000 1,953,100.00 8,274,290 1,108,575,708.00 127,000 376,200.00 73,000,000 678,100.00 PREFERRED 513,300 24,104,710.00 230 123,500.00 35,260 18,986,740 314,940 32,449,905 117,580 12,231,757.00 410,000 44,280,000.00 194,000 21,849,088.00 2,140 1,108,680.00 2,575,600 15,196,129.00 33,510 34,166,310.00 42,760 43,975,065.00 156,000 161,210 1,990 211,558.00 13,950 14,751,500.00 340 381,780.00 20,025 20,625,900.00 31,710 2,440,987.00 79,510 6,390,402.50 29,600 2,293,700.00 111,670 8,661,339.00 169,600 13,494,487.00 37,530 2,908,090.00 271,380 21,072,300.00 805,920 62,510,785.00 37,000 83,840.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 504,000 1,148,040.00 SME 814,300 7,405,004.00 32,000 97,930.00 691,000 2,945,240.00 9,164,200 78,344,668.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 34,470 4,140,703.00

37.00 3.89 27.30 1.57 3.28 30.00 1.11 7 0.910 5.010

200 7,603,000 13,992,100 247,000 87,000 67,803,300 22,301,000 3,800 2,524,000 19,470,600

7,965.00 28,290,820.00 373,427,710.00 389,790.00 282,170.00 2,011,216,635.00 24,714,180.00 25,884.00 2,276,260.00 97,797,128.00

7.5 44.45 1.34 0.520 0.047 10.6 5.29 6.40 0.0690 2.55 92.95 9.9 2.2 8.10

108,800 78,800 206,000 1,566,000 556,700,000 7,200 62,300 17,851,400 60,520,000 36,432,000 944,500 20,800 99,000 2,016,200

822,725.00 3,497,380.00 282,790.00 829,440.00 25,078,000.00 76,520.00 347,491 112,694,435.00 4,060,700.00 89,114,950.00 87,358,485.50 198,548.00 235,140 16,771,043.00

952 1684 6.29 16.50

440 636,580 1,797,300 617,900

418,720.00 1,009,423,005 11,176,316.00 10,417,872.00

2.85 73.9 16.46 120 13 0.0090 9.00 0.229 1.3300 3.25 15.7 4.25

59,654,000 6,991,710 99,900 870 100,300 17,000,000 1,832,000 168,820,000 2,567,000 42,000 49,400 4,359,000

169,028,390.00 509,323,362.50 1,646,150 105,938 1,292,568.00 153,500.00 16,963,610.00 38,138,120.00 3,388,510.00 135,760.00 776,166.00 18,153,310

2.54 18.88

227,000 3,000

545,070.00 55,168

4.08 4.39 2.700 11.26 5.35 3.05

35,579,000 28,332,000 36,149,000 2,500 101,100 156,000

141,029,950.00 121,072,470.00 100,828,640.00 28,150.00 541,987 471,730.00

130.00 9.99 1474.00 0.480 1.350 41.00 76.00 6.08 2.73 1.050

180 5,264,300 676,235 53,670,000 152,421,000 7,323,600 7,347,170 5,894,100 3,626,000 123,804,000

23,740.00 52,251,655.00 982,656,040.00 26,087,550.00 195,631,050.00 289,347,460.00 546,710,926.00 35,138,547.00 9,582,430.00 127,503,820.00

3.27 0.345

2,081,000 3,190,000

6,827,860.00 1,126,750.00

0.0034 2.87 5.10

668,000,000 1,723,000 1,279,600

2,178,900.00 4,955,850.00 6,456,504.00

2.2400 2.3500 0.51 0.480 12.28 3.260 0.265 0.216 0.217 0.0120 0.0120 2.58 8.25 2.87 0.4800 1.1400 0.0120 0.0110 4.15 8.93 3.72 0.0130 132.00 3.08 0.0090

118,000 9,000 1,058,000 7,750,000 156,800 35,059,000 2,270,000 53,160,000 9,230,000 401,100,000 6,500,000 6,997,000 23,958,800 446,000 479,000 2,302,000 67,300,000 14,500,000 121,000 14,020,500 11,209,000 66,000,000 4,550,930 75,000 158,000,000

260,140.00 20,430.00 539,360.00 3,648,350.00 1,882,254.00 113,119,140.00 589,850.00 11,155,800.00 1,971,060.00 4,613,700.00 78,000.00 18,167,500.00 194,807,917.00 1,248,240.00 228,240.00 2,591,140.00 761,000.00 159,500.00 499,290.00 125,115,902.00 40,767,630.00 788,500.00 608,843,203.00 227,540.00 1,317,600.00

44.6

1,002,600

44,221,790.00

548 102.9 103.7

410 127,510 71,350

215,880 13,132,905 7,411,722.00

118.9 540 5.9 1020 1025 1.03 105.5

20,030 10 3,815,900 9,100 10,475 622,000 53,820

2,286,500.00 5,400.00 22,539,426.00 9,269,520.00 10,695,775.00 640,660 5,679,014.00

1165 1013 76.7 80.25 77 77.6 79.8 79.5 78 77.75 1.92

120 1,155 3,470 61,120 46,100 70,700 74,280 25,900 90,970 254,660 5,000

138,800.00 1,180,580.00 268,022.00 4,915,061.50 3,549,700.00 5,479,450.00 5,918,965.00 2,034,050.00 7,045,220.00 19,737,630.00 9,600.00

2.300

904,000

2,026,450.00

9.2 3 4.4 8.76

1,510,300 69,000 1,675,000 11,621,900

14,057,058.00 199,090.00 7,411,610.00 100,796,950.00

118.8

45,850

5,409,571.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Pacifica `A’ Apollo Global Crown Equities Inc. Oriental Pet. `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Manila Mining `B’ Megaworld PremiereHorizon Boulevard Holdings

VOLUME 7,075,000,000 3,949,090,000 1,017,400,000 533,870,000 392,100,000 383,048,000 262,300,000 188,229,000 184,128,000 169,810,000

STOCKS SM Prime Holdings PLDT Common Globe Telecom Ayala Corp `A’ Metrobank SM Investments Inc. Ayala Land `B’ Universal Robina Semirara Corp.

Banco de Oro Unibank Inc.

VALUE 2,407,502,980.00 1,558,785,285.00 1,305,995,970.00 1,273,311,065.00 1,253,310,572.00 1,245,894,890.00 1,201,927,950.00 1,113,961,652.00 1,108,575,708.00 1,004,330,343.00

the 20-hectare complex to 200,000 square meters from the current 50,000 sqm.

“We are still putting the budget together. But if I was to guess the expansion, it will easily cost P15 billion,” Jalandoni said.

Jalandoni said the company was finalizing the master plan for the Tutuban complex expansion and expected this to be completed over the next six months.

“The full redevelopment of Tutuban Center provides a unique opportunity for POPI to contribute to nation building by promoting urban renewal and revitalization of downtown Manila,” Jalandoni said.

“The center will be redeveloped to a large-scale mixed-use community with the introduction of additional uses, like our own museum, dormitories, schools, hospitals, and office logistics. Our target is to increase the gross leasable area to 200,000 sqm from current 50,000 sqm which will effectively quadruple our business over the next couple of years,” he said.

Tutuban Center is a bargain retail complex that sits on a 20-hectare property where a grand central station will be built to interconnect three railway projects including North Rail to Malolos, Bulacan; South Rail going to Calamba, Laguna; and the Light Rail Transit Line 2 west extension. Jenniffer B. Austria

RLC allots P16b for ’17 capex ROBINSONS Land Corp., the property arm of the Gokongwei Group, earmarked P16 billion for 2017 capital expenditures primarily to construct new malls, offices and hotels.

Robinsons Land said in a filing with the stock exchange about 53 percent of this year’s programmed spending would go to the development of new and expansion of existing malls, offices and hotels.

Another 25 percent would be allocated for the completion of ongoing residential property developments while the remaining 22 percent would be spent to replenish the company’s landbank.

The property firm said the 2017 capital spending would be funded through internally generated cash from operations and borrowings.

Robinsons Land is currently the second largest mall operator in the country with 44 malls as of end-September 2016. In the pipeline for the next two years are seven new malls and three expansion projects.

It said the P16-billion spending would only cover domestic operations and would be on top of the budget plan for residential developments with small retail components in China.

Robinsons Land acquired an 8.5-hectare property in Chengdu, China for $200 million in 2015.

The company is now in the process of securing necessary permits from the Chinese government to push through with its first residential venture outside the Philippines.

Robinsons Land, the real estate arm of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., is primarily engaged in the development and operation of shopping malls and hotels and the development of mixed-use properties, office and residential buildings and land and residential housing developments, including socialized housing projects located in key cities and other urban areas nationwide.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Business BSP sees increased foreign inflows

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pillipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo is optimistic foreign direct investments in 2016 will register good numbers despite the negative sentiment expected in the last two months of the year.

“November and December is just like (the month of) July, it’s a dead month. People simply coast along because it is the end of the year, people don’t want to take a very decisive, very significant change or shift in their portfolio investment decisions,” Guinigundo said in an interview.

“But you have to look at year to date, it’s still a substantial flow in foreign direct investments. There was some drop (in monthly data) because of negative market sentiment, and this is something that we expect,” he said.

Latest data showed net inflows of foreign direct investments in the first 10 months of 2016 increased 22 percent to $6.2 billion from $5.1 billion a year ago on sustained investor confidence on the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

Data showed the year-todate figure inched closer to the recently-revised net inflow target of $6.7 billion for 2016.

“Investment inflows continued amid investors’ confidence in the resilience of the economy, backed by sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” Bangko Sentral said in a statement.

Nearly two-thirds of net inflows were in the form of availments of debt instruments by local affiliates, which increased 35 percent to $3.9 billion from $2.9 billion a year ago. Net equity capital grew 9.3 percent to $1.7 billion.

The bulk of gross equity capital placements came mainly from Japan, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. These were channelled to real estate, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, and human health and social work activities.

B3

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

San Miguel bullish this year

By Jenniffer B. Austria

C

ONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. remains bullish for 2017 but says it may not be able to match the good performance in 2016, a top official said.

San Miguel chief finance office Ferdinand Constantino said in a recent interview the conglomerate was unlikely to repeat last year’s record, citing concerns on foreign exchange and rising fuel prices.

“All the good things happened last year.

We had the elections, the strong economy, very low inflation and decline in fuel price, and good weather. So last year was really good for us,” he said.

“This year we think the economy will remain strong, inflation rate will be still moderate. We don’t know what will happen to foreign exchange rate and fuel is starting to go up,” Constantino said.

“But we are still bullish. We think still

think 2017 will be a good year but it will not be probably as high as 2016,” he added.

Constantino said the company might also hit the target revenue of P1 trillion in the next two years due to an ongoing business expansion.

Net income jumped 125 percent in the first nine months of 2016 to P42.9 billion from P19.08 billion recorded in the same period a year ago, as all the core businesses posted double digit growth in terms of operating income.

Nine-month consolidated revenues declined 1 percent to P498.3 billion from P503.3 billion posted in the same period

a year ago.

Income from operations increased 24 percent to P73.2 billion from P59.01 billion in 2015.

The conglomerate’s beer unit San Miguel Brewery Inc. booked a net income of P12.2 billion in the first three quarters of the year, up 22 percent from P9.9 billion, as sales climbed 18 percent.

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

The conglomerate’s beer unit plans to put up its seventh manufacturing facility in the Philippines.

Constantino said the company was reviewing the investment cost and capacity of the expansion project.

The new facility, whose construction is expected to start late this year or early next year, will likely be built in Mindanao.

San Miguel’s existing beer plants are located in San Fernando, Pampanga; Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Sta Rosa in Laguna.

Meanwhile, Constantino said the conglomerate had significantly reduced its debt levels in 2016 despite increased investments.

San Miguel has also converted some dollar-denominated debts through the issuance of fixed rate bonds.

Net dollar-denominated debt at the parent debt level is currently at $500 million, which according to Constantino was already manageable.

San Miguel in February plans to issue P20 billion worth of fixed rate bonds, whose proceeds are to be used to pay loans and redeem US dollar-denominated debt.

The P20-billion planned bond offering forms part of the company’s three-year shelf registration of up to P60 billion.

LBC PARTNER. LBC Express Inc. signs a partnership agreement with PERA HUB, the retail brand of PETNET Inc., in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. LBC outlets will offer payout services for transactions sent via Western Union® services in all its over 1,400 locations nationwide. At the signing ceremony are (from left) Jeffrey Navarro, Western Union country director; Lorenzo Ocampo, PETNET President; Sabin Aboitiz, Aboitiz Equity Ventures executive vice president and chief operating officer; Mike Camahort, LBC president and COO; Oliver Valentin, LBC senior VP for Philippine operations; and Jerome Santos, LBC VP for corporate sales. AEV controls PETNET.

The Complete Package: CEO Chiqui Escareal-Go ther explore and underONE thing that keeps stand. thrilling me on my MBA JAN ANTHONY Unlocking journey is the very opporAMADOR potentials: Business tunity of meeting leaders Anthropology and influential people of REEN IGHT Another takeaway different fields and be able to learn from them. As I always in- from Chiqui’s talk is her introduction of still to myself, learning from others’ ex- business anthropology to the class. I came perience is greater among any forms of to realize that it is indeed fair enough that we should also study on how human attieducation available.

In line with this, it was astonishing to tude and society evolves so we can apply see a person of complete package coming learnings to business.

I have searched several articles online in our class for our CEO Series: Business Trends and Issues. I am still impressed and surprisingly; a lot has already been by how Ms. Chiqui Escareal-Go swiftly published about the linked of anthropolmanaged to discuss the importance of ogy to business which and are most ofself-understanding and its practical ap- ten called as applied anthropology. Defiplication to business and even to personal nitely, if humans are the most important resources we could get then there will matters.

As a background, she is currently one always be a need for an organization or among the pillars of a company provid- schools to introduce learners in the appliing marketing training and consultancy cation of anthropology to business.

Continuing to educate yourself to clients. Even without any marketing As mentioned, Chiqui was at start not background at start of her CEO journey, Chiqui has grown Mansmith and Fielders an expert of any marketing principles Inc. to be the leader in its industry. She nor methodologies. Instead, she focused embodies the values of perseverance and on learning the subject by continuously being a life-long learner. These are values learning and attending several programs I will carry while I pave my own road to to compensate her lack of knowledge in the field. Evidently, she has been a stusuccess. dious student of several universities here Understanding our self Human beings are indeed the most com- and abroad.

This is principle and attitude I also beplex things to understand in this world.

As mentioned by Chiqui, it is important lieve in taking MBA: that we should not that we first look into ourselves before limit ourselves to what seems to be only we can be capable and appreciative of un- available, instead we should go out and derstanding other persons. I learned that explore what we can learn out from the deeper understanding of what we value world. and how we behave promotes our wellThe author is an MBA student at the Rabeing and our interaction towards other mon V. del Rosario College of Business. especially families and friends.

Chiqui interestingly told stories about This essay is part of a journal he kept her self-understanding processes such in fulfillment of the requirements of the as interviews and consultations with ex- course, Trends and issues in Business and pert people like psychologists and spiri- Management: CEO Series. Visit his blog tual leaders. Until now, it struck me how at https://anthony091.wordpress.com/.

Greek Mythology and Greek Gods can be The views expressed here are the auused as a method of understanding our own personality. Furthermore, the lan- thor’s and do not necessarily reflect the guage of love is one among things Chiqui official position of DLSU, its faculty, and have mentioned that I would like to fur- its administrators.

G

L

Solons cited for protecting lowly farmers ARCHBISHOP Sergio Utleg, D.D. of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao commended lawmakers for passing a measure that considers the plight of lowly tobacco farmers.

The Archbishop referred to House Bill No. 4144, which seeks to amend the current unitary excise tax system into a two-tier excise system where main proponent ABS partylist Rep. Eugene Michael de Vera cited tobacco farmers as the main inspiration for the bill among other objectives.

“Many of our followers are lowly tobacco farmers whose only source of livelihood is dependent on the crop,” Utleg said.

He added that the pro-poor measure gives many farmers time to transition into other sources of livelihood, especially once farmers’ dependents grow up and start to carve

out their own careers.

Prominent church officials earlier also lauded lawmakers for the amendment, saying that it encourages the poor to shun vices.

In his radio program, the vocal Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz praised HB 4144 as a “prohealth” bill whose objective is to ultimately stop vices and urge citizens to spend their money on more important needs.

Cruz reminded the government of its duty to protect the health of its citizens aside from raising revenues.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas praised the bill for its versatility to tackle multiple issues particularly in being pro-health, pro-poor and pro-local tobacco farmers as he seconded his predecessor’s statements.

“Our lawmakers apparently considered balancing several objectives in crafting the bill which is a very difficult task,” Villegas said.

Cagayan Archbishop Emeritus Diosdado Talamayan also supported lawmakers with the bill since it helps Filipino tobacco farmers with their livelihood, many of whom are his constituents as a native of the tobacco-producing province.

Alaminos, Pangasinan Bishop Ricardo Baccay noted that the bill urged Filipinos to shun vices and instead use the money intended for a cigarette pack for additional savings.

Based on Department of Finance data, portions of the massive revenues generated by the sin tax law are earmarked for both public healthcare and welfare of lowly tobacco farmers.

BRONZE FOR JTI PHILIPPINES. Investors in People Philippines confers to JTI Philippines the Bronze Accreditation

for its excellent people management practices. The Bronze Accreditation came two years after JTIP first obtained the Standard Accreditation from the same global employee-management watchdog in 2014. Shown (from left) are TJ Valerio of JTI; Rosario Ventura, IiP corporate secretary; Teresita Villanueva, IiP treasurer; Khaye Ybanez and Imma Basilio JTI; Mike Macapagal, JTI HR director; Manos Koukourakis, JTI general manager; Elma Reyes of JTI; Janet WebsterWatson, IiP chairman; Gerry Plana, IiP CEO; Jeno Sanchez of JTI, Carla Cagandahan of JTI; and Rayan Antojado of JTI.

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

B4

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

Business

Oil prices decline to to $52.37 per barrel

OIL posted the biggest weekly decline since November as traders await proof that Opec and other producers are following through on promises to cut production.

Futures declined 1.2 percent in New York on Friday and slid 3 percent this week. Saudi Arabia reduced output to less than 10 million barrels a day and will consider renewing its pledge to trim supply in six months, according to Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

Still, until monthly production data is released, “these claims cannot be verified,” according to Commerzbank AG. The UAE doesn’t intend to reduce output more than was agreed upon with Opec in November and a tanker is said to sail to Libya’s Zawiya port to load Sharara crude.

Oil has advanced since the deal among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations to temper global supply. It has been unable to sustain its rally above $55 amid concern that rising prices will spur more production.

While Middle East producers including Saudi Arabia have signaled they’re sticking to the pledged reductions, the US Tuesday raised this year’s output forecast.

“We’re seeing strong compliance from the usual suspects, the Saudis and their Gulf counterparts,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New Yorkbased hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by telephone.

But US output rose by 176,000 barrels a day last week and “the exempted countries are going gangbusters in production and exports,” he said.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery slid 64 cents to settle at $52.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 11 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for March settlement dropped 56 cents to end the session at $55.45 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark was at a premium of $2.30 to March WTI. Bloomberg

GUILTY. The logo of the Japanese auto parts maker Takata is displayed at a car showroom in Tokyo on January 13, 2017. Japan’s Takata Corp., one of the world’s biggest suppliers of auto safety equipment, agreed to plead guilty to fraud and pay $1 billion to settle its faulty airbag scandal, US officials announced Friday. AFP

Merkel to woo Trump, warns of protectionism C HANCELLOR Angela Merkel said she’ll try to encourage President-elect Donald Trump to join other nations to address the global economy as she warned against the looming risk of protectionism this year.

As Germany takes the chairmanship of the Group of 20 advanced industrial nations, Merkel said it was the G-20’s commitment to finding a common solution that rescued the world from the financial crisis in the last decade. She said her government “will of course seek out discussions” with Trump in that context.

“My firm conviction is that we have more advantages in partnership, when we act together, than when all of us try to solve our problems on our own,” Merkel told reporters at a party meeting in the western German region of Saarland on Saturday.

The German leader said her advisers were in contact with

Trump’s staff and that no meeting was planned before Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, and the two leaders could see each other at the Group of Seven meeting in Italy in May and the G-20 summit in Hamburg in July.

“If there’s anything beyond that then we will announce that at the appropriate time,” Merkel said.

Trump will take office with an automatically fraught relationship with Merkel, whose handling of the region’s refugee crisis he called “insane” during the campaign―predicting that she wouldn’t be re-elected. Trump has also denounced global trade agreements that Merkel has embraced throughout her political career.

Merkel on Saturday released a weekly podcast in which she urged Germans not to take the country’s robust economic growth for granted, citing “protectionist tendencies” as a risk to the expansion that accelerated to the fastest pace in five years in 2016.

“The economic situation right now is quite good,” Merkel said as she embarks on a campaign to seek her fourth term as leader.

Even as she cited a strong labor market, a shortage of workers in some areas and increase in gross wages, Merkel said that “we can’t be complacent with this economic dynamic.”

Merkel met with leaders of her Christian Democratic Union near the border with Luxembourg to flesh out an election strategy, which will include touting strong growth and budget surpluses to address inequality. The chancellor cited a lag in progress in the digital economy, where she proposed setting up an independent ministry.

“Germany in many areas has to move forward quickly,” she said in the podcast.

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator warned Saturday the bloc must be aware of the risk to financial stability during what are expected to be very tough talks with Britain.

Earlier, the Guardian newspaper reported that the negotiator, Michel Barnier, had told colleagues the EU would have to strike a “special” deal with Britain’s hugely important finance sector to keep credit flowing in Europe.

In a tweeted message, Barnier said, however, he had not been talking about an arrangement with the City of London, one of the world’s most important financial markets.

“When asked on equivalence I said: EU would need special vigilance on financial stability risk, not special deal to access the City,” he said in the message. AFP

UK may likely opt for ‘hard Brexit’ UK Prime Minister Theresa May will this week signal plans for a “hard Brexit” by saying she’s willing to quit the European Union’s single market for goods and services to regain control of Britain’s borders and laws, the Sunday Times reported.

In a speech scheduled for Tuesday in London, May will prepare to withdraw from tariff-free trade with the region in return for the ability to curb immigration, strike commercial deals with other countries, and escape the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, the Sunday Times said without saying how it obtained the information.

Such a blueprint for Brexit risks alarming investors, bankers and company executives who will fret that May is prioritizing social issues over the needs of the economy. The pound fell last week to its lowest level against the dollar since October on concern about May’s intentions.

The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the report when contacted by Bloomberg News. It said in a separate statement that May will declare in her speech that having divided over Brexit, voters are now uniting behind making it a success.

“The overwhelming majority of people―however they voted―say we need to get on and make Brexit happen,” May will say. “So the country is coming together.”

To avoid fallout from the breakup and grant businesses some certainty over the outlook, May will seek a transitional phase between splitting from the EU and the beginning of a new trading relationship, the Sunday Times said, citing Brexit Secretary David Davis.

“We don’t want the EU to fail, we want it to prosper politically and economically, and we need to persuade our allies that a strong new partnership with the UK will help the EU to do that,” Davis wrote in the newspaper. “If it proves necessary, we have said we will consider time for implementation of new arrangements.”

Seven months after 52 percent of voters chose to quit the EU against 48 percent who wanted to remain, and less than three months before her own deadline to open two years of divorce talks, May is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to detail her strategy. In a report released on Saturday, the panel of British lawmakers charged with scrutinizing Brexit said her government must deliver its road map by the middle of February. Bloomberg

Electronic waste rising dangerously in Asia, says UN study MANILA―Electronic waste is rising sharply across Asia as higher incomes allow hundreds of millions of people to buy smartphones and other gadgets, with serious consequences for human health and the environment, according to a UN study released Sunday.

So-called e-waste in Asia has jumped 63 percent in five years, the report by the United Nations University said, as it warned of a need for most nations across the region to improve recycling and disposal methods.

“For many countries that already lack infrastructure for environmentally sound e-waste management, the increasing volumes are a cause for concern,” said Ruediger Kuehr, the report’s co-author and head of the UN University’s Sustainable Cycles Programme.

For many years, China and some other parts of Asia have been a dumping ground for discarded electronics from the developed world, recycling the waste in often unsafe but ultracheap backyard factories.

But the report said that in recent years, Asia has rapidly emerged as a major source of electronic waste, due to increasingly affluent consumers buying items such as phones, tablets,

Philippines were among the lowest e-waste generators with an average of about one kilogram for each person.

Meanwhile, improper and illegal e-waste dumping means increased exposure to extremely toxic chemicals, leading to severe health and environment consequences.

Acids that are used to separate the metals in the electronic products are a particular concern, with inhalation or exposure to them causing serious health problems.

In the Chinese town of Guiyu, which built its economy on recycling waste from overseas, heavy metal contamination has turned the air and water toxic, according to a 2014 study by researchers at Shantou University Medical College.

Children in the town also had high lead levels in their blood, the university study found.

When an AFP team visited Guiyu in 2014, electronic remnants were strewn in a nearby stream, and the air was acrid from the burning of plastic, chemicals and circuitboards. AFP

This picture taken on January 14, 2017 shows a worker taking apart electronic components at a government-approved recycling shop in the To Kwa Wan district of Hong Kong. Electronic waste is rising sharply across Asia as higher incomes allow hundreds of millions of people to buy smartphones and other gadgets, with serious consequences for human health and the environment, according to a UN study released on January 15. AFP

refrigerators, personal computers and televisions.

China more than doubled its own generation of e-waste between 2010 and 2015, the period of the study, according to the report.

Per capita the worst-offending economy in the region was Hong Kong, with each person in the Chinese territory generating an average of 21.7 kilograms (47.8 pounds) of e-waste in 2015.

Singapore and Taiwan were also big e-waste dumpers, with just over 19 kilograms per person generated in 2015, according to the study.

Cambodia, Vietnam and the

Picture taken on January 13, 2017 shows a worker going through items at a a sorting facility for electronic appliances, where some items will be refurbished and resold while others will be transferred to a processing plant for recycling, in Sheung Shui in the New Territories in Hong Kong. AFP

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

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MANGO KING. Ilocos Norte mango entrepreneur Ricardo ‘Carding’ Tolentino discusses the infestation of cecid flies—‘kurikong’ in the local dialect—on their crops during a forum before the State of the Province Address of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos last October. Tolentino is leading a provincial task force to fight the spread of the plague.

DA launches SAAD program today T

By Mel Caspe

ACLOBAN CITY—The Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 8 is set to officially launch the Special Areas for Agricultural Development Program and turn over an initial P25 million each for the provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar on Monday at the Leyte Park Resort here.

The funds represent the first committed by Agriculture Secretranche of the P50-million fund tary Manny Piñol during his first allocated for each province as official visit to Region 8 in July.

A few days after assuming office, Piñol met the local leaders of Eastern Visayas and discussed with them measures or strategies that will address food security and poverty alleviation in the countryside.

The SAAD Program thus came into the picture as a comprehensive strategy to provide livelihood opportunities for farmers and fisherfolk in the top ten poorest provinces in the country, including the Samar island areas.

“Saad” is the Visayan word for “promise,” and the program is anchored on two major com-

ponents: social preparation, and food production and livelihood.

For the initial allocation per province, the interventions include production support services such as rice and corn seeds, fertilizers; extension or training support and technology demonstration on the production of rice, corn, high value crops, organic farming and livestock; irrigation support through the provision of pump and engine set; and provision of other agricultural equipment or facilities.

Lerey A. Panes, DA assistant secretary for Planning and Pro-

ject Development and Special Projects, is expected to grace the activity today and lead the turnover of checks to the PLGUs. Other invited guests are Governor Sharee Ann Tan of Samar, Gov. Conrado B. Nicart of Eastern Samar, Gov. Jose L. Ong Jr. of Northern Samar and heads of DA’s attached bureaus or agencies.

DA RFO 8’s OIC-Regional Executive Director Nichols A. Manalo and Assistant Regional Director Elvira C. Torres will oversee the activity.

The launching will also be high-

Il. Norte vs mango ‘kurikong’ plague

Erap tags Santo Niño as Manila benefactor

By Sandy Araneta MAYOR Joseph “Erap” Estrada has attributed to the Santo Niño, or Infant Jesus Christ, all the blessings that Manila and its citizens have been receiving, as the local chief executive joined the two-day celebrations of the patron’s feast in the city this weekend.

The feast is celebrated on the third Sunday of January, although related activities are held as early as Saturday. The focus of the festivities is in Tondo and Pandacan.

The celebration in Tondo is highlighted by the “Lakbayaw (Lakbay-Sayaw)” and in Pandacan by the “Buling-Buling” street dancing festival where participants come in their best attire.

“We want to thank the Santo Niño for his continued guidance to our community and to our city, in order that all of us would

be unified and have joint efforts to help our fellow citizens, especially the poor,” Estrada said in a message he delivered during the Buling-Buling festival in Pandacan last Saturday.

Among those “blessings,” he pointed out, was the peaceful Black Nazarene procession last week where no one was seriously injured, the completion of multimillion-peso infrastructure projects in the city such as hospital modernization, and the continuous economic progress of the city.

As Manila’s mayor, Estrada said it has been his vision to bring back the city’s old glory, as historians once called it the “Pearl of the Orient.”

The Manila Police District deployed 987 policemen for the two-day Sto. Niño Feast, MPD Station 2 chief Supt. Arnold Thomas Ibay said.

NEW YEAR MESSAGE. Police Chief Supt. Elmer C. Beltejar, Director of the Police Regional Office-8 in Easter Visayas, delivers a message during the 2017 New Year’s Call at Matapat Hall in Camp Kangleon, Palo, Leyte. Mel Caspe

Blocked sidewalks of 271 Makati streets cleared

By Joel E. Zurbano THE city government of Makati cleared a total of 271 streets in various barangays during its sidewalk clearing operations conducted by its Environmental Service department from July to December last year.

The clearing operation is in line with the directive of Mayor Abigail Binay to maintain “walkable streets” through regular sidewalk recovery operations.

“In our first six months in office, we have removed sidewalk obstructions and eyesores from

about 271 streets around the city. Makatizens have the right to have ‘walkable streets’ that are functional and, most importantly, safe for the elderly and children,” said Binay.

In a report submitted to the Office of the Mayor, the city’s Department of Environmen-

tal Services and Solid Waste Management Division cleared 178 streets in District 1 and 93 in District 2 during the last six months of 2016.

Binay urged barangay officials and other community leaders in the city to support and cooperate with DES in its task

of eliminating all kinds of street obstructions.

“I am calling on our barangay leaders and enforcers to help maintain the cleared streets and sidewalks, and cooperate with our DES teams whenever they conduct clearing operations in their barangays,” she said.

Rags to riches for Happy Land poor via sewing project AS PART of its continuing mission to help the impoverished “Happy Land” community in Tondo, and to help Manila’s anti-drug campaign, Rock Energy International Corp. has pioneered a sustainable livelihood program that has been providing

extra income to poor residents.

REIC Managing Director Carl Fontanila said their “Pera sa Basahan” rag-sewing program began only on Dec. 9, but has succeeded so much that the firm is now recruiting and training more women-beneficiaries.

lighted with the induction of officers of the DA RFO 8’s Press Corps tagged as “Ugnayan ng Mamamahayag sa Agrikultura” or UMA President, headed by Manager Jeff Manibay of CAT 8 TV, and Mel Caspe, UMA Vice President of the Manila Standard.

UMA is an organized group of local media from different outlets including print, broadcast and TV in the region. The group which is supported by the DA RFO 8 and the Philippine Information Agency, aims to intensify the promotion and advocacy of agricultural programs and projects.

“In our own little way, we want to help Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and President Rodrigo Duterte in their fight to eliminate drugs in the country. This is our commitment,” Fontanilla said.

Estrada, the REIC chief said, has also been extending liveli-

hood assistance to indigents to keep them off drugs.

Himself a Manileño, Fontanilla said he was inspired by Estrada’s multi-pronged antidrug campaign and the mayor’s anti-drug education program for schoolchildren, the Drug Abuse

Resistance Education.

Rock Energy and other companies located inside the Vitas Industrial Estate buy a considerable amount of “basahan” or rags for their personnel who use it in their operations and maintenance activities. Sandy Araneta

THROUGH the joint efforts of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos, entrepreneur Ricardo “Carding” Tolentino, and the Provincial Millennium Development Goals Office, Ilocano farmers are addressing the possible spreading and infestation of cecid flies through “Task Force Kurikong” established last week.

Tolentino, hailed as the province’s “Mango King” and twice recognized by the Department of Agriculture as “Agri-Pinoy Entrepreneur of the Year,” said during a recent trip to Manila to sell his produce, he noticed a shipment also coming from Northern Luzon was showing signs of damage from cecid flies or “kurikong.”

Soon after, Tolentino was told that someone from the same area had been selling infested mangoes in Ilocos Norte markets. The province produced 20-million kilos of mangos in 2016, he said.

“I was alarmed, so I called Governor Imee to ask how we could control this,” the mango farmer explained. He said he had been able to contact the seller himself and instructed him not to bring more bad mangoes into the province.

However, reports from Batac City, Currimao, Nueva Era, Banna, and Dingras also showed mangos with signs of “kurikong” damage, hence the creation of the task force.

Tolentino initially met with 30 people, mostly town and city presidents of the Ilocos Norte Federation of Mango Producers Association Inc., to educate them on how to stop the reproduction and spreading of the cecid flies.

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LGUs

Standard

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TODAY JANUARY 16, 2017 MONDAY,

Isabela hospital upgrade pushed S

By Brenda Jocson

ANTIAGO CITY, Isabela—A bill has been filed with the House of Representatives seeking to upgrade the Southern Isabela General Hospital here owing to its ballooning number of patients.

Rep. Maria Lourdes Aggabao into a tertiary general hospital. said she has refiled House Bill If approved, Aggabao said the 2915 aiming to upgrade SIGH hospital will be known as the

Southern Isabela Medical Center, with an increased funding from the national government.

“We need to appropriate funds for the increase of doctors depending on specialization and an additional 600 personnel from the original 400,” she said.

Aggabao said the hospital now caters to more than 300 patients daily seeking medical treatment not only from Isabela but also from the provinces of Nueva

Vizcaya, Quirino, Northern Ifugao and Aurora.

HB 2915 was authored and earlier filed by Aggabao’s husband, former Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao, which did not reach the plenary owing to the House recess for the May 2016 elections, despite the measure passing the Committee on Health.

Dr. Jose Ildefonso Costales, SIGH chief of hospital, is hoping the bill will be introduced by

Senate President Koko Pimentel at the plenary for deliberation.

SIGH started as a 50-bed hospital in the 1980s and reached 200 beds through the initiative of Giorgidi Aggabao, but still cannot accommodate the increasing number of patients confined there. ‘’We are now a Red Orchid awardee and an ISO Certificate Holder, but more patients come to us for health care, that is why we are grateful for the move of

our district representative,” Costales said.

He said the construction of an additional two-storey building to house more patients in the surgical, orthopedic and laboratory areas is ongoing.

“Once completed, we will no longer put-up folding beds on passages, corridors and even on chairs in the out-patient department while being on fluid medication,” Costales added.

Charges vs Iligan mayor dropped

By Lance Baconguis CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— The Department of Justice has dismissed the cases against jailed Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia.

In a decision posted on Thursday, Jan. 12, Regencia, who won overwhelmingly in the May 2016 elections, is behind bars for three counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder for the alleged ambush of former Iligan City Rep. Vicente Belmonte Jr. and his escorts on Dec. 11, 2014.

The dismissal order was issued on Dec. 9, 2016 and was signed by Rassendell Rex F. Gingoyon, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor, and approved

by Lilian Doris S. Alejo, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor and CP Jorge Catalan, Jr., Officerin-Charge, prosecutor general.

Belmonte’s group was ambushed while traversing the Laguindingan Airport Access road on their way to Iligan.

Three of Belmonte’s men were killed in the ambush— Police Officer 3 Marcus Agtina Andres, driver Ian Dumaguing, and Eustique Silanan, a close aide of Belmonte.

Regencia, together with Amador B. Baller, Rogelio Pitos, Sr., Roemo Suganob, Dominador Sumandulan Tumala, Peejay Capampangan, Alfeo Arnoco, Julito Oros Ansad, Dodo Silvano, Regelio Pitos, Jr., were all charged for the ambush.

REHAB CENTER OPENS. Police and community officials led by Philippine National Police Director Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa (second from right) show their unity with fists on chests as they open the Dangal ng Pagbabago Rehabilitation Center in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Joining the ceremony were Santa Rosa City Mayor Dan Fernandez, Vice Mayor Arnold Arcillas, First District Rep. Arlene Arcillas, DILG Undersecretary John R. Castriciones, PRO-4 Regional Director Chief Supt. Valfrie G. Tabian, Laguna Provincial Director Senior Supt. Joel Pernito and Santa Rosa chief of police Supt. Giovanni Martinez. Roy Tomandao

DA gives Bugkalot tribe P1.6m for livelihood work

By Brenda Jocson SANTIAGO CITY, Isabela— The Department of Agriculture gave P1.6 million to members of the Bugkalot tribe in Alfonso Castañeda town in Nueva Vizcaya to start up their livelihood projects.

Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Carlos Padilla said the funds were

sourced from the Casecnan Social Measures Fund through the DA-Region 2 office for the Bugkalot Livelihood Association in Barangay Lipuga in the town.

Lipuga is one of the impact areas of the more than US$580 million Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation and Power Project built in the early 1990s by California Energy.

Composed of a power plant and two impounding dams, the project is connected by a pair of P26-kilometer tunnels from the Casecnan and Taan rivers in the area.

It now produces 100 megawatts of power for the Luzon grid and irrigates some 300,000 hectares of farmlands in Central Luzon and parts of Pangasinan.

Padilla said the fund will be used by the Bugkalot tribe for their ginger production project.

“This is very significant since our Bugkalot tribe has been yearning for alternative livelihood after the construction of the CMIPP,” Padilla said.

He said the Bugkalot tribe’s source of livelihood was also

affected with the construction of the CMIPP particularly their supply of “ludong” fish species in the Casecnan and Taan rivers.

“This fish has been part of the traditional livelihood of the Bugkalots sold at P5,000 a kilo commercially that is why it is considered and named as the President’s fish,” Padilla said.

DTI vows support in Asean for Central Luzon SMEs Tabuk City SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Department of Trade and Industry will continue to assist and strengthen the 16,079 small and medium enterprises in Central Luzon to become

stronger and more competitive in the Asean integration and in world markets.

Leonor Paningbatan, head of the Small and Medium Development Enterprises division of the

MARKETS AND SECURITIES REGULATION DEPARTMENT IN THE MATTER OF AUDIOWAV MEDIA INC.

: : :

REGISTRATION OF SECURITIES (ln Relation to an Initial Public Offering)

DTI in Central Luzon, assured this Sunday.

Under the Asean integration, the regional body works for a single market with free flow of goods, capital and services for greater connectivity to promote businesses among its ten members.

Paningbatan said DTI’s assistance will be in the form of loans, marketing, product development, seminars, and

technical applications. These are aimed to make Filipino businesses more competitive in the local and world market.

SMES, 103 of them being exporters, employ a total of 30,799 persons, reducing the unemployment rate of the region.

According to the DTI division chief, items exported to the US, Canada, China, Middle East and Asean countries include furniture, food both halal and non-

halal, accessories, garments and small items.

The enterprises are located in Bulacan (4,457), Pampanga (3,556), Nueva Ecija,(2,990), Tarlac (1,559), Bataan (1,245), Zambales (1,249), and Aurora (197).

Under the present administration, SMEs are given priority to boost employment and human development index of the country, Paningbatan said.

Romeo Dizon

AMENDED NOTICES This updates the Notices dated September 8 and 15, 2016 published in Manila Standard and likewise published on September 7 and 15, 2016 in The Daily Tribune and further published on October 25 and 31 , 2016 in Manila Standard and Daily Tribune on October 24, and 31, 2016 and most recently published on November 25, and December 9, 2016 in Manila Standard and Daily Tribune on November 25, and December 2, 2016 disclosing that on 30 August 2016, a sworn Registration Statement and on 6 December 2016 an updated Registration Statement were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of Audiowav Media Inc., for the registration of up to Three Billion Nine Hundred Million Three Hundred (3,900,000,300) common shares with par value of Php0.01 per share.

The purpose of this amended notice is to include the increase of outstanding shares broken down as follows: Originally filed of August 30, 2016 Primary Offering (To be 900,000,000 offered and sold by way common shares of Initial Public Offering, unissued shares) Issued and Outstanding shares (these are not included in the offer)

3,000,000,200 common shares

Total

3,900,000,200

At an initial public offering price of Phpl.77 to Php2.96 per share.

With par value of Php0.01 per share

As amended December 6, 2016 Primary Offering (To be 900,000,000 offered and sold by way common shares of Initial Public Offering, unissued shares) Issued and 3,000,000,300 Outstanding shares common shares (these are not included in the offer) Total

At an initial public offering price of Php 1.77 to Php2.96 per share.

With par value of Php0.01 per share

3,900,000,300

Likewise recently elected Ms. Maria April Lorelei Anna T. Wycoco, as Independent Director, was included in the list of key officers/directors of Audiowav Media Inc., to wit: Originally filed on August 30, 2016 As amended December 6, 2016 Name Carlos Jose G. Hinolan

Position Name President/Chief Executive Officer/ Carlos Jose G. Hinolan Director and Chairman of the Board

Benigno G. Hinolan II Mary Lanie Joie S. Hinolan

Director Director/Treasurer and Vice President for Purchasing, Procurement and Music Licensing Jimmy Francisco P. Perez Director and Investor Relations Officer Alma A. Jadie Director/Comptroller and Vice President for Finance Rufino D. Dela Rosa Independent Director Reynaldo C. Lugtu, Jr. Independent Director

Benigno G. Hinolan II Mary Lanie Joie S. Hinolan

Position President/Chief Executive Officer/ Director/ Chairman of the Board and Investor Relations Officer Director and Sales Manager Director/Treasurer and Vice President

Ebenezer D. Gener Alma A. Jadie

Director/Chief Finance Officer Director and Comptroller

Ebenezer D. Gener

Rufino D. Dela Rosa Independent Director Maria April Lorelei Anna T. Independent Director Wycoco Corporate Secretary, Chief Legal Mark S. Gorriceta Corporate Secretary, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Office Officer and Chief Compliance Office Chief Finance Officer Arnold Ray K. Alagar Chief Technology Officer

Arnold Ray K. Alagar

Chief Technology Officer

Mark S. Goriceta

Said Registration Statement and other papers/documents attached thereto (collectively known as “RS”) and the subsequent updates are open to inspection by interested parties during business hours, and copies thereof, photostatic or otherwise, shall be furnished to every party, upon request, at such fees as the Commission may prescribe. Said RS may also be downloaded from the website of the corporation at www.wav.global VICENTE GRACIANO P. FELIZMENIO, JR. Director (MS-JAN. 9 & 16, 2017)

UPGRADED CENTER. BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, has renovated Aborlan Municipal Health Office in Magsaysay, Aborlan, Palawan, in line with its rehabilitation program in calamity-stricken provinces. It was turned over to local officials in an event attended by BDO Foundation program director Rose Espinosa, BDO Puerto Princesa-San Pedro branch head Moises Arzaga Jr., Aborlan Mayor Jaime Ortega and Vice Mayor Lito Tito.

to operate sanitary landfill

TABUK CITY, Kalinga—To address a pressing need for proper waste disposal, the city government is operating its own sanitary landfill facility with a P6.5-million state-ofthe-art granulator.

The 6.4-hectare waste facility in Barangay Dilag, 10 kilometers from the city proper, is undergoing improvement pending final issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the city to operate it.

Salud Lammawin, City Environment and Natural Resources Officer, said the facility is equipped with a centralized material recovery area for recyclable wastes.

Lammawin said the facility also has composting equipment for biodegradable materials and Markle machine as digester and granulator of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste products.

Tabuk acquired the granulator machine earlier this year, Lammawin said.

For site improvements, the area has been fenced while paving of access road and installation of the retaining wall are ongoing. Brenda Jocson

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World IN BRIEF Shelling from Yemen kills Saudi soldier RIYADH-Shelling from Yemen has killed a Saudi soldier on the kingdom’s southern border, the interior ministry said Sunday.

A Border Guards post in Najran region came under attack from “intensive shelling” at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) Saturday, killing a corporal, the ministry said.

Army troops intervened to support the Border Guards.

The corporal is the latest of more than 110 soldiers and civilians killed in southern Saudi Arabia by rocket strikes or skirmishes since a Saudi-led coalition began operations in Yemen almost two years ago.

In support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government, the alliance started air strikes after Huthi rebels and their allies overran the capital Sanaa and moved on to other parts of Yemen.

Since then, more than 7,400 people have been killed in Yemen, where United Nations mediation and seven ceasefires have failed to stop the fighting. AFP

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

Ringling Bros. Circus to close W ASHINGTON― Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced Saturday it will host its final show in May, ending “The Greatest Show on Earth” after 146 years.

Death toll from boat accident rises to 26 NEW DELHI―The death toll from a boat accident in eastern India rose to 26 on Sunday, a senior official said, warning of more casualties with rescue workers still scouring the waters.

The non-motorized wooden boat, packed beyond capacity with revelers returning from a kite festival, capsized Saturday in the Ganges river near Patna, the capital of Bihar state.

The exact number of missing could not be ascertained due to the absence of a passenger list but police said the boat was carrying at least 40 people.

Rescue workers were working round the clock looking for survivors, Anirudh Kumar, joint secretary of the state disaster management authority said.

“Workers pulled out 22 bodies in the night and this [Sunday] morning four more bodies were recovered,” he told AFP by phone.

“The boat capsized not very far from the shore. Some people managed to swim to safety. But we are fearing the number of dead could go up further.”

Among those to survive the tragedy was an 18-month toddler, now recovering in a city hospital, Kumar said.

The revelers were on their way back from the annual Hindu harvest festival of Makar Sakranti, marked by kite-flying and other festivities.

State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the accident and announced compensation of 400,000 rupees ($5,900) for the families of the victims. AFP

Trump’s lack of sense of humor a challenge LOS ANGELES―Presidentelect Donald Trump’s impending move to the White House is a huge challenge for comedians, according to “Freaks and Geeks” producer Judd Apatow, a humorist himself.

“It’s hard to be super funny about it because we all feel we might die,” Apatow said during a panel with journalists about the new HBO series “Crashing” he created with stand-up comic Pete Holmes.

“Donald Trump can’t resist lashing out at Meryl Streep. He’s not strong enough to think ‘I look like a leader by not responding,’” added the “Girls” series producer.

Trump called celebrated actress Streep a “Hillary flunky” and “one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood” after she berated Trump without ever naming him for his divisive rhetoric as she received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles last week.

“There are some real situations where he needs to be more thoughtful and quiet, and that’s what you can’t joke about,” Apatow said.

He was speaking at an event during the annual Television Critics Association press tour.

“A lot of our concerns come from [the fact that] he doesn’t laugh,” said Apatow, 49. AFP

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CLOSING TIME. This file photo taken on February 28, 2012, shows Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey clowns during the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College Auditions held for the first time in Vanderbilt Hall at New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announced Saturday, January 14, 2016, it will host its final show in May, ending “The Greatest Show on Earth” after 146 years. Company executives cited high operating costs and declining ticket sales after the American circus retired its elephants—a main draw—as some of the factors that triggered its downfall. AFP

Prosecutors set to decide on heir’s trial SEOUL―South Korean prosecutors investigating a major influence-peddling scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-Hye said they would decide Monday whether to arrest the heir to the giant Samsung group over alleged bribery.

Lee Jae-Yong, Samsung Electronics vice chairman and the son of the group’s current chairman Lee Kun-Hee, is accused of approving a decision to pay Park’s secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil large sums of money to secure favourable decisions.

The junior Lee was quizzed through Thursday and Friday as a criminal suspect, and three other senior Samsung executives were also questioned.

“We will reach a decision on Monday... on whether or not to arrest Lee by taking into account the complexity and the signifi-

cance of the issue,” Lee KyuChul, spokesman for a special team of prosecutors probing the scandal, said Sunday.

The prosecutors had planned to make the decision on Sunday but legal deliberations took longer than expected “due to the significance of the move”, Lee told a televised briefing.

The scandal centers on Choi, who is accused of using her close friendship to the president to coerce top Seoul firms into “donating” nearly $70 million dollars to two non-profit foundations which Choi then allegedly used for personal gain.

Samsung -- the biggest contributor to the foundations -is also accused of separately providing millions of euros to Choi to bankroll her daughter’s equestrian training in Germany.

The Samsung group has dozens of units ranging from electronics to hotels. Its collective revenues are equivalent to around 20 percent of South Korea’s annual economic output.

Flagship firm Samsung Electronics is the world’s top smartphone maker.

Recent health problems concerning the senior Lee, currently bedridden after suffering a heart attack last year, prompted the group to step up restructuring efforts.

Prosecutors are probing whether Samsung’s donations were aimed at securing approval for a controversial deal it sought in 2015.

The merger of two Samsung units -- Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T -- was seen as a key step towards ensuring a smooth third-generation power transfer to Lee Jae-Yong.

The deal was opposed by many investors who said it willfully undervalued Samsung C&T’s shares. But the National Pension Service -- a major Samsung shareholder -approved the deal, which eventually went through.

A former welfare minister who at the time oversaw the operations of the pension fund has been arrested for allegedly pressuring the fund’s managers to approve the merger.

Park is accused of colluding with Choi to extract money from local businesses and letting her meddle in a wide range of state affairs. She was impeached by parliament last month.

The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing the validity of the impeachment. If it upholds the decision, a fresh presidential election must be held within two months. AFP

Company executives cited high operating costs and declining ticket sales after the traveling American circus retired its popular elephants as reasons for drawing the curtain on a celebrated spectacle that traces its origins to politician and showman P.T. Barnum’s first show in 1871.

Animal rights groups cheered the move as a success story following decades of activism against the use of animals in the circus.

Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of show producer Feld Entertainment, said he and his family came to the “difficult” decision to end the circus “after much evaluation and deliberation.”

“Nearly 50 years ago, my father founded our company with the acquisition of Ringling Bros.,” he said in a statement on the group’s website.”

“The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me, which is why this was such a tough business decision to make.”

The group has a total of 30 stops scheduled on its 2017 tour.

The final “Circus XTREME” show will take place at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island on May 7, while the group’s “Out Of This World” tour will take place May 21 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Although Barnum’s first show took place decades before, it was not until 1919 that a group started by five Wisconsin brothers, Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Shows, merged with Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth.

While the Ringling brothers had been better known for traditional circus fare, Barnum was dubbed the “Prince of Humbugs,” known as a shameless promoter of incredible hoaxes, freak shows and zoological curiosities.

One such object was the Fiji mermaid, or Feejee mermaid, which was in fact no less than the head and torso of a monkey sewn to the body and tail of a fish.

Barnum launched his traveling circus after fires destroyed his Barnum’s American Museum. Two whales were boiled alive in their tanks during one of the fires.

In 1881, Barnum teamed up with James Bailey to run their “Greatest Show on Earth,” making a fortune along the way.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals cheered Ringling’s latest decision as the end of an era, and called for other circuses to follow their lead.

“After 36 years of PETA protests, which have awoken the world to the plight of animals in captivity, PETA heralds the end of what has been the saddest show on Earth for wild animals, and asks all other animal circuses to follow suit, as this is a sign of changing times,” the group’s president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, joined in.

“A major moment as big brands that harm animals fade away and more humane businesses emerge I applaud @RinglingBros announcement,” he tweeted. AFP

Three Shiites executed for killing 3 policemen DUBAI―Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, in a move likely to further raise tensions between the country’s Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shiite men faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement carried by BNA state news agency.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out across Shiite villages following rumors that the authorities were going to carry out the death sentences.

They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve, which had warned on Saturday against the move.

Scores of men and women took to the streets after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite vil-

lage of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

“No, no to execution,” the protesters chanted.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including the officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help security forces put down a month of protests led by the country’s Shiite majority.

Reprieve director Maya Foa on Saturday described as “deeply alarming” the reports that Bahrain was set to carry out its “first executions in six years, based on confessions extracted through torture”.

Brian Dooley, head of the Washington-based Human Rights Defenders, said the executions “would be a new, enormously alarming step from Bahrain’s regime”. AFP

CELEBRATION. Belarusian people perform during a celebration of ‘Tsari’ (‘Kings’) rite in the village of Semezhevo, some 160 km south-west of Minsk, on January, 13, 2017. That rite is a unique one, as it originated from the XVIIIth century and takes place only in this village marking the New Year, according to the Julian calendar on the 13-14 January night. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

World

Trump slams official for calling him a fake W ASHINGTON―President-elect Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at a prominent civil rights icon and lawmaker who said he is skipping next week’s inauguration ceremony because he sees the New York businessman’s election as illegitimate.

Trump aimed his latest Twitter blast at longtime congressman John Lewis and the majorityblack district in Georgia he represents, drawing widespread criticism just days before the holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis, whose district includes Atlanta and surrounding areas, on Friday became the highest-profile Democratic lawmaker to boycott Trump’s inauguration.

“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” talk

show in an interview on Friday.

Trump fired back at him early on Saturday.

“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart [not to mention crime infested] rather than falsely complaining about the election results,” Trump said on Twitter.

“All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad!” He followed up later in the evening with a tweet repeating his campaign theme that African

Americans are living in desperately grim inner-city areas where they lack education and jobs.

Lewis “should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US,” he said. “I can use all the help I can get!”

Known for his decades of work in the civil rights movement, Lewis, 76, marched with King at the August 1963 rally in Washington at which King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The son of sharecroppers, Lewis took part in the Freedom Rides -challenges to segregated facilities at bus terminals in the South.

On March 7, 1965, he led a march in Selma, Alabama that ended in an attack by state troopers on the protesters that later became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

At least 16 House Democrats have publicly stated they will not be attending Trump’s swearing-in at the US Capitol next Friday, with several indicating their absence will be an act of political protest

-- but Lewis is the most prominent.

In his interview with NBC, he cited what he called Russian interference in the November 8 election as his reason for skipping the presidential inauguration for the first time since becoming a member of Congress in 1987.

“I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected.

And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton,” he told the network in the interview, which will air in full on Sunday.

US intelligence organizations have accused Russia of cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and distributing hacked emails from senior Clinton aides in an effort to influence the US election.

Trump has acknowledged that Moscow likely meddled in the election, but has staunchly refuted any notion that it helped him defeat Clinton.

Lewis earned a flood of support from Democratic colleagues -- and a few Republicans -- on Twitter. AFP

PRESENT. Lili Reinhart attends the at Chateau Marmont on January 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Elderly inmates prefer prison

Chinese linguist and critic dies at 111

TOKYO―Every day is the same. He wakes at 6:45 am, eats breakfast 20 minutes later and reports for work at eight o’clock sharp. But this isn’t your typical Japanese salaryman.

This man is in his 80s and he is in prison -- a cage of structure and certainty that he is hesitant to ever leave.

“I don’t know what kind of life I should lead after I get out.

I’ll be worried about my health and financial situation once I leave,” the inmate told AFP on condition of anonymity from Tokyo’s Fuchu Prison, where he is serving time for attempted theft.

His case is not unique: Japan is in the midst of a geriatric crime wave such that its prisons increasingly look like nursing homes.

The situation has become so dire the government approved a plan to deploy nursing care staff to about half of Japan’s 70 prisons from April, allocating a budget of 58 million yen ($495,000).

In 2015, almost 20 percent of those who were either arrested or interrogated by police were aged 65 or older -- up from 5.8 percent in 2000, according to the National Police Agency.

Most are imprisoned for petty crime such as shoplifting and theft.

The rise in senior crime is attributed to increased economic hardship, an aging population, and pure greed, according to a 2013 report by the National Police Agency.

“It’s a problem that the work of prison officers is becoming more like nursing care,” Justice Ministry official Shinsuke Nishioka said, contrasting that with the traditional task of ensuring the incarcerated don’t escape.

Officers at Fuchu, Japan’s biggest male-only correctional house, have to change diapers for some prisoners and help them bathe.

“Older prisoners sometimes are hard of hearing,” Nishioka said. “They don’t understand instructions and they have to go to the toilet often. It’s tough. We’ll need more officers.”

As part of the plan to tackle the issue, authorities have also approved a plan to send physical fitness experts to more prisons to cater to the needs of older inmates. AFP

BEIJING―Linguist Zhou Youguang, the man who helped invent the Pinyin system used for writing Chinese worldwide before becoming an outspoken critic of the communist government, died Saturday in Beijing.

He was 111.

Zhou, who was probably China’s oldest dissenter, died Saturday at his house in the country’s capital, a day after having celebrated his 111th birthday, state media said.

“He lived through many eras and helped enlighten ordinary people,” the Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily said.

Zhou is commonly known as the “father of Pinyin”, a system for transliterating Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet introduced in the 1950s and now used by hundreds of millions of language learners in China, as well as abroad.

Born to an aristocratic family in 1906, Zhou experienced the last years of the Qing dynasty and its revolutionary overthrow.

He avoided China’s civil war between the Communists and Nationalists by going to work for a Chinese bank on Wall Street, twice meeting Albert Einstein while visiting friends at Princeton.

But following the Communist victory in 1949, Zhou returned home to teach economics and became a close associate of the party’s number two, Zhou Enlai.

He was attracted to Mao Zedong’s Communists because “at that time they promoted themselves as democrats”, he wrote in a 2012 autobiography.

An amateur linguist who had taught himself some Esperanto, Zhou was assigned in 1955 to co-chair a committee tasked with increasing literacy by reforming the Chinese language.

He eventually backed a system based on one developed in the Soviet Union, using Roman letters to represent pronunciation alongside marks to indicate tone.

The proposal, named Pinyin -- “putting together sounds” -- is used in schools across China and has been instrumental in boosting the country’s literacy rate from around 20 percent in the 1950s to more than 90 percent today.

In recent decades, Pinyin has become key to the easy creation of Chinese characters on computers. AFP

ONSTAGE. Melinda Sullivan performs onstage at the 2017 YoungArts Backyard Ball at YoungArts Campus on January 14, 2017 in Miami. AFP

Trump warned: One China not negotiable BEIJING―Beijing on Saturday warned the US that the One China policy was non-negotiable, and after Donald Trump suggested he could abandon the decades-old diplomatic principle and boost ties with Taiwan.

“It is not up for negotiation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.

“There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable region of China, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China.”

Trump has threatened to get

tough with what he sees as unfair Chinese trade practices, and suggested that the One China policy could become a bargaining chip.

“Everything is under negotiation, including One China,” he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.

Trump has already irked China by accepting a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen after he won the presidential election, upending decades of diplomatic precedent in which the White House has foregone direct communication with the leader of Taiwan.

Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province to be brought back within its fold, by force if necessary.

“We urge the relevant party in the United States to realize the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and to respect commitments made by previous American governments (and) avoid undermining the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations,” Lu Kang added.

Beijing first warned the US president elect on the issue in December, after the billionaire businessman said he did not see why

Washington must “be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade”.

The Asian giant said it could back “forces hostile to the US” if Trump followed through with his threats.

Trump also defended his controversial call with President Tsai in his interview with the Journal.

“We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we’re not allowed to accept a phone call” he said. AFP

Life

HOTSHOTS IN THE KITCHEN. Basketball players James Yap, Mark Barroca, Marc Pingris, Ian Sangalang and PJ Simon share the recipes for their favorite dishes that feature San Miguel Pure Foods products.

FOOD

From HARD COURT

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MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

D1

James’ Crispy Fried Chicken and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Gravy

A culinary neophyte, James enjoys all cuisines but usually goes for fried food—a favorite being fried chicken. His unique twist is adding camote or sweet potatoes to this dish.

Ingredients: 1 (500 g) pack Purefoods Mashed Sweet Potatoes: 1/2 cup Magnolia gold butter 1 cup Magnolia All-Purpose Cream 1/2 kg sweet 1/2 tsp iodized 1/4 tsp pepper Procedure: Oven toast chicken and prepare gravy according to package directions. Set aside and keep warm.

In a sauce pan, heat butter and cream. Add cream mixture into the sweet potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

On a serving plate, scoop mashed potatoes and mound in the middle then top with crispy fried chicken. Pour or serve with gravy on the side.

Makes 5 servings.

to KITCHEN

NOWN for their hard court hustle and skills, Star Hotshots cagers James Yap, Marc Pingris, PJ Simon, Mark Barroca, and Ian Sangalang also have the right moves in the kitchen. At the San Miguel Pure Foods Culinary Center recently, the all-star roster had a little cook-off. While we can’t guarantee there wasn’t a little “friendly” competition, we can assure you their favorite dishes were good and their recipes easy enough to follow.

Marc’s Red Curry Chicken with Sour Cream Dip

Marc, who credits wife Danica for teaching him how to cook, says he usually prepares a surprise meal for her—complete with candlelight and wine. For this recipe, Marc says if you are looking for a milder version, yellow or green curry will do the job.

Ingredients: 1 (500 g) pack Purefoods Curry Sauce: 1 (400 mL) can coconut 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste 1 (20 g) pc ginger 1 tbsp calamansi 2 tsp fish 2 tbsp sugar Dip: 1 cup store Procedure: Fry chicken according to package directions.

Set aside and keep warm.

Combine coconut milk curry paste and ginger in a sauce pan over medium heat and let simmer.

Cook, while stirring until slightly thick for about 5 minutes.

Add calamansi juice, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Turn off heat and toss chicken until well coated.

Serve with sour cream.

Makes 5 servings.

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

Mark’s Chicken Turmeric Rice

Mark, who takes post-training/game meals seriously, shares that his go-to is any chicken dish. He says this Chicken Turmeric Rice is perfect for athletes because it has both good protein and carbs. His tip: Add other veggies to make it even healthier.

Ingredients: 1/4 cup Magnolia Nutri-oil palm vegetable oil 2 (100 g each) pc potatoes 2 (180 g each) cans Purefoods Sexy Chix Adobo, drained but reserve sauce 4 cloves garlic 1 tbsp turmeric 1 pc chicken 1/4 tsp pepper 4 cups cooked 1 (160 g) bundle mustasa Procedure: Heat half of oil in a large pan then fry potatoes until cooked. Add Sexy Chix and sauté. Set aside.

In the same pan, add remaining oil and sauté garlic, turmeric powder, chicken cube. Add reserve adobo sauce and simmer for 2 minutes.

Add mustasa leaves and cook until bright in color. Add rice and toss well.

Arrange on a serving plate and top with chicken and potato mixture.

Makes 6 servings.

PJ’s Pork Kansi

As PJ considers eating one of his major hobbies, he is now trying to learn how to cook on his days off, focusing more on Filipino dishes. His current specialty? Pork Kansi. For this dish, he says Monterey beef ribs or beef shanks are alternatives to pork.

Ingredients: 1 (60 g) pc onion 1 (30 g) pc peeled 3 tbsp Magnolia 1/2 kg Monterey pork 5 cups water 1 pc chicken 1 (60 g) stalk lemon 1 (44 g) pack sinigang 4 pc siling 1 (25 g) pack Wandah 1 (150 g) bundle pechay 1 tsp iodized 1/4 tsp pepper Procedure: In a large stockpot, sauté onion and ginger in oil over medium heat. Add pork and sauté until meat changes color.

Add water, chicken cube and tanglad. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until meat is fork tender.

Add sinigang mix, sili, catsup mix, pechay, salt and pepper. Simmer for 2 minutes more.

Makes 5 servings.

Ian’s One Pot Sukiyaki Alfredo Pasta

Ian makes it a point to always try different cuisines. When he’s on break, he also likes to experiment with easy-to-follow recipes, like this One Pot Sukiyaki Alfredo Pasta. He says you can include any type of mushroom for this recipe.

Ingredients: 3 tbsp Magnolia Gold Butter 1 pc onion 6 cloves garlic 1 (20 g) pc ginger 1 (198 g) can canned 1/4 kg Monterey beef sukiyaki cut 1 pc chicken 2 cups water 1/4 kg spaghetti 2 (250 mL each) packs Magnolia All Purpose Cream 1/2 cup grated Procedure: Heat butter in a sauce pan and sauté onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms.

Add beef and cook until beef is no longer pinkish in color. Turn heat on high and add chicken cube and water. Once it boils, add pasta and cook covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add cream and cheese. Cook for 3-5 minutes until thick, while stirring.

Makes 5 servings.

Life

D2

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

G Hits The Spot

(Booze and Grub in a European Gastropub)

W

HEN our lifestyle editor, Isah Red, suggested two weeks ago that I review an authentic European gastropub at the heart of Makati’s central business district, I got excited THE JOYCE OF EATING even if the maximum volume JOYCE BABE PAÑARES of beer I can drink without turning beet-red is only a bottle. A pub, after all, is only half of the portmanteau that is gastropub. The other half is gastronomic, and add European to that and we’re good to go.

I asked two of my friends – Adelle Chua and Boy Bautista – to join me in eating, unannounced, at Draft Gastropub at Greenbelt 2. It was a happy coincidence, which I remembered way after we’ve left Draft, that we have all been to Europe in various capacities: Adelle as a student in Germany; Boy as a personnel of the Philippine embassy in Hungary; and I also as a student in Belgium and Germany.

Draft has all the makings of a sophisticated gastropub – wooden beams and dark fixtures, a dedicated bar for those who just want a drink, and a massive cheerful blackboard covered with all of its culinary offerings. It has that convivial European style of casual dining and beer drinking, serving premium quality European draft beers and an impressive selection of bottled beers – both famous brands such as Paulaner, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe, and many lesser known artisan brews – matched with an authentic menu of hearty pub dishes.

For starters, there’s the Angry Drunk Mussels, a half-kilo pot of mussels steamed with Hoegaarden beer, bacon, chili, onion and fresh parsley and served with frites and sourdough bread. For its signature Fish and Frites, the sole fillet is coated in a crunchy Becks beer batter and served with tartare sauce.

There’s Bleu Cheeseburger made from US Angus beef topped with

onion jam and drizzled with aioli as well as the European staple Pork and Fennel Sausage grilled with Leffe dark beer and onion gravy and served with creamy mashed potato.

For pasta lovers, Draft offers the Stracci, a delicious dish of shrimps, fresh chorizo, chili and homemade spent granin stracci pasta, tossed in butter, parmesan and herbs. My initial thought was that the pasta looked sad, with the uneven cut of the stracci and its brownish color looking more and more underwhelming with the gastropub’s dim interiors. This pasta’s generous flavor, however, was more than enough redeeming value, and its mild chili kick makes it a perfect pair to an ice-cold beer. We also tried the Pappardelle Pasta served with tender braised beef ragu. It is a showcase of Italian genius, with the flavorful meat sauce clinging beautifully to the shredded beef and the broad, flat noodles.

According to Chef Alfred Serrano, one of Draft’s bestselling dishes is its Sausage Platter, with grilled artisan, Italian, Bockwurst, and Andouille sausages best paired with your poison of choice on tap or in a bottle. They also have the Draft Paella, a creation of executive chef Carlo Miguel, with generous servings of shrimp, white clams, chicken,

Draft’s signature Paella

Fisherman’s pot: Beck’s beer battered cod and mussels and breaded calamari and shrimps

US Angus beef burger topped with bleu cheese, onion jam and aioli

calamari, mussels, bacon and chorizo.

Gastropub has come a long way since the term was coined by The Eagle in Clerkenwell, London in 1991, to reflect a new breed of pub with better food. The Eagle, which is still in business today, has an often-rotating menu, which is always scrawled on a blackboard and includes chowders, grilled meats and whole fish, sandwiches, and composed dishes often with an Italian or Mediterranean bent.

Over the years, though, gastropub has become so bastardized by joints that look nothing like a pub and serve dishes that taste nowhere near comfort food but costs like these came from the menu of a fine-dining restaurant. Draft Gastropub, however, remains reasonably priced. Two kinds of pasta, an appetizer, and a meatbased dish, along with two orders of Russian Standard Moscow Mule cost us a little over P2,000. And to that, we raise our glasses in approval.

For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com

Delightful insta-foodie experience THE dynamic team of Sunnies Studios never fails to deliver new products and experiences to add to the Sunnies lifestyle.

With an unmatched partnership with FooDee Global Concepts, the group that brought Tim Ho Wan, Pound, and Todd English among others to Manila, it officially launched Sunnies Café, a fusion of the things you like to see, eat, and drink—all in one space. Designed to be your new go-to spot, from brunch to dinner, and coffee to cocktails, the menu is a collection of your favorite comfort food with a modern twist.

Sunnies Studios extends its lifestyle experience in this foodie venture, which made Manila line up to have a taste.

“Sunnies Studios is passionate about making the Sunnies brand into something more experiential and the team is just so passionate about design and

food. And FooDee Global Concepts has helped Sunnies Cafe deliver on that. Preparing the dishes, serving food, the whole dining part of it is something we really worked hard on,” Eric Dee Jr., Sunnies Studios finance director said.

Sunnies Café doesn’t just serve tasty dishes under hip interiors, but also assures high-quality restaurant experience.

“Of course, it was important to assure that the cafe delivers a great dining experience. To do this, Sunnies Studios partnered up with us. We basically guide and co-manage Sunnies Café. Based on our experience in the food industry, we made sure the dining experience in Sunnies Café is nothing short of exceptional. And while Sunnies is a retail pioneer, moving from retail to food was something we were

more than happy to help them out with,” Eric Dee, Sr., FooDee Global Concepts managing director shared.

“We want Sunnies Café to be everyone’s go-to spot so expect that we will be opening more branches soon.

The feedback we got online is overwhelming. You have people requesting the next cafe to be in the south, some in Cebu, some in Baguio, it depends,” said Martine Cajucom, Sunnies Studios creative director. The next step for the vibrant team includes opening a branch soon at Alabang Town Center.

Visit Sunnies Café branches at SM Megamall and Bonifacio High Street.

To know more, visit sunniescafe.com, follow Sunnies Café on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SunniesCafe) and like @sunniescafe on Instagram.

Papperdelle pasta with braised beef ragu

One of Draft’s bestsellers: platter of artisan, Italian, bockwurst and Andouille sausages

B ITES A basket with Villa Del Conte chocolates and wine is perfect to give as corporate gift

Sweet rewards for corporate partners WHAT better way to strengthen your business relationships than showing your appreciation with Villa del Conte artisanal chocolates from Padova, Italy. You can choose from Villa del Conte’s wide array of luscious creations such as Praline Balls, Praline Sticks, Ovicinis and ‘Thank You’ dark chocolate.

These Villa del Conte premium chocolates can also be specially curated in lavish gift baskets with bottles of wine.

Villa del Conte also accepts bulk orders for corporate gifts with personalized packaging.

Visit Villa del Conte stores at Greenbelt 5, Century City Mall, Shangri-la Plaza, Resorts World, Alabang Town Center, SM Megamall and Robinsons Magnolia.

For bulk orders, please contact 893-2575 or 621-6101. Go to www.villadelcontecioccolato.com/ to know more about Villa del Conte, or follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VillaDelContePh, Instagram at instagram. com/villadelconte and Twitter at twitter.com/VilladelConte.

Sunnies Cafe offers Pan-seared Miso Salmon and milkshakes, among other delectable and Instagram-worthy food items.

MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

H

OT on the heels of its successful run at the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival where it ranked as the only consistent blockbuster nationwide, Erik Matti’s acclaimed horror thriller, Seklusyon, Director’s Cut, rated R-16 by the MTRCB, re-opened in limited cinemas last Saturday.

Also known as the film’s international release, the Director’s Cut is the original version that drew rave reviews from various Hollywood publications, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety after its well-received world premiere at the International Film Festival & Awards Macau (IFFAM2016).

Calling the film “a grainy, gory parable about the triumph of evil,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Clarence Tsui wrote, “[‘Seklusyon’] drips with a ferocity about how false messiahs manipulate meek minds who, as the film’s finale suggests, then propel even more malicious pretenders onto the pedestals of power. The film is Matti’s call for an awakening, and it certainly stirs with spine-tingling moments aplenty.”

Meanwhile, Maggie Lee of Variety notes, “The film is veteran Filipino genre director Erik Matti’s skillful reworking of the Omen conceit, in the elegant, nostalgic style reminiscent of Spanish horror films like The Devil’s Backbone. Seklusyon recalls the hushed horror of Matti’s earlier ghost mystery Pa-siyam as both draw on Christian orthodoxy and indigenous superstitions to unmask human hypocrisy. Here, the film’s sardonic denouement hints at what’s at stake for democracy in our so-called ‘post-truth generation.’”

Matti says his version of Seklusyon delves further into the relationship between Anghela Sta. Ana, the mysterious child with miraculous healing powers played by MMFF Special Jury Prize winner Rhed Bustamante and the equally enigmatic Madre Cecilia portrayed by MMFF Best Supporting Actress Phoebe Walker.

The Director’s Cut also further expands on the backstory of Madre Cecilia and her particular effect on one of the deacons, Fabian played by young actor, Dominic Roque.

Shot with a modest budget of P25 million, Seklusyon is both a commercial and critical success at the MMFF. The film went on to gross nearly P100 million at the box office and consistently ranked no.2 among top-grossing films in Metro Manila and in the provinces.

It also won the most number of awards in the MMFF with a total of eight honors that also includes Best Screenplay (Anton Santamaria), Best Cinematography (Neil Bion), Best Sound Design (Lamberto Casas, Jr. and Albert Michael Idioma), Best Production Design (Ericson Navarro) and Best Original Theme Song (“Dominus Miserere” By Francis de Veyra).

Seklusyon drew rave reviews from local critics contributing to the strong word of mouth that made it the no.1 trending topic on social media throughout the film festival’s 10day run and its subsequent five-day extension period.

The next John Lloyd Cruz

From left: JR Versales, Ronnie Alonte, Dominic Roque, and John Vic de Guzman, the four novice priests in the Erik Matti opus, "Seklusyon"

Director’s Cut of

‘SEKLUSYON’ in cinemas

Child star Rhed Bustamante

Neil Ryan Sese in a scene from the thriller

Rhed Bustamante as the mysterious child healer in "Seklusyon"

Set in post-war 1947, the film follows the story of four deacons (Ronnie Alonte, Dominic Roque, John Vic de Guzman, and JR Versales) who are required to undergo a one-week retreat in a seclusion

house prior to their ordination as full-fledged priests. Trained to resist the devil’s temptations, the four are instead forced to confront their inner demons. Their stay in the seclusion house is compounded further when

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, Januay 16, 2017

ACROSS 1 Cotillion honoree 4 Ricelike pasta 8 Flew the — 12 Military obligation, e.g.

13 Legal costs 14 — pie 16 Object of adoration 17 Shabby (hyph.)

19 Where Pliny the Younger served 21 Cloudy region 22 One kind of mother 23 Slow oven 25 Courtroom fig.

27 Doubt 31 Removes a renter 35 Mil. branch 36 Sweetens the kitty 38 Bag 39 Granny’s other daughter 41 Super-huge 43 Snowballed 44 Stonehenge priest 46 Like hushpuppies 48 Festive night 49 Hot — wine 51 Breathtaking

53 “Fish Magic” artist 55 Bone-dry 56 Fossil fuel 59 Erstwhile sun dancer 61 Complains 65 Artist’s brush (2 wds.)

68 Paper quantity 69 Coastline 70 1977 whale movie 71 Sigmund’s daughter 72 Livy’s bear 73 Willowy 74 Wheel nut DOWN 1 Type of ranch 2 School founded in 1440 3 Rules 4 Volunteering 5 Family mem.

6 Zorro’s marks 7 Honshu port 8 201, to Caesar 9 Away from the center 10 Bart Simpson’s bus driver 11 Dappled 12 Bad-mouth 15 LA-NY dir.

18 PC snack

20 Bye, in Bristol (hyph.)

24 Recurring theme 26 Boob tubes 27 Thigh muscles 28 Topple the king 29 Ho-hum feeling 30 Gets closer 32 Gave a darn 33 Roman fountain 34 Plied a needle 37 Prunes 40 Rib- — (jokes) 42 Wire 45 Penn. neighbor 47 Middle name in

mysteries 50 — ex machina 52 Nervy?

54 Social mores 56 Hypo units 57 Waikiki setting 58 Eros, in Rome 60 Rank below marquis 62 Where to find a salad 63 Twinge 64 Like a bairn 66 Grassy field 67 Here, for Yves

they are joined by Anghela and Madre Cecilia.

Produced by Reality Entertainment, Seklusyon also stars Neil Ryan Sese, Lou Veloso, Elora Españo, Jerry O’ Hara, and Teroy Guzman.

AFTER his effective portrayal in the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival entry Vince & Kath & James, many say that Joshua Garcia is the next John Lloyd Cruz, not to mention his physical semblance to the latter.

In his previous interviews, the former Pinoy Big Brother All In housemate admitted his admiration of Lloydie when it comes to acting and would be very delighted to star in a movie with his idol if given the chance.

To this, John Lloyd says, “Of course, I’m happy and flattered if he idolizes me. That’s a huge compliment. But I believe Joshua need not follow in my footsteps. He can make his own mark in the ‘biz all by himself and not be dependent on his association with me.

“You know, Joshua is his own person and talent. I can see that he will become his own name due to his effort, hard work, dedication and love for what he’s doing. Let’s give it to him. If he’s experiencing success right now, I’m definitely out of the frame. Credit should go to Joshua.”

Being a role model to the younger crop of stars definitely gives John Lloyd a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

“As I’ve said earlier, if they idolize me, well and good. It’s quite flattering and I appreciate that. Not everyone is given the opportunity to become an inspiration to others.

As of now, encouraging Joshua to hone his craft further and establish his own niche in the industry is the best thing that I can do!”

How about a movie with Joshua in the coming days?

“Sure, why not? That would be nice,” ends Lloydie. ******** Despite the fact that they’re constant travel companions of late, Bea Alonzo says she and Gerald Anderson are not officially an item yet.

“That’s right! We’re not yet on. Dating, yes!” she says.

They were together in the US to celebrate New Year.

“Together with some friends! I don’t think there’s something wrong with that, right? We were having dinner one time then that idea just popped out. So, presto! Actually, we also flew to Singapore last Halloween, but again, with a group. We were 13 or 14 then.”

Many ask what’s keeping her from entering a romantic relationship with Gerald.

“Let’s just say that we don’t hurry up when it comes to this matter. Love should not be hastened to happen between two people.

Let nature take its course, so to speak. At this point, I want to savor everything that he does to make me happy. And I hope I did the same for him.”

This time around, Bea wants things to be different as compared to their past.

“Everyone knows that we had a relationship before although short-lived. So now we’re taking it one step at a time. We want to take it slow and just enjoy our moments together.”

At this stage when they’ve both matured already, can she say that Gerald has become one boyfriend material?

“Yes, I think he is. I appreciate the fact that he’s doing a lot of things to really become a better man. For one, he’s very trustworthy.”

One thing that seems to hold her back is her career.

“As of now, I want to focus more on my craft especially that I have lots of projects to do this Year of the Rooster. I want to be pro-active this 2017! So it is better that I really take things slow when it comes to my personal state. Slowly but surely,” Bea says.

THE NEXT BIG THING.

Actor Vin Abrenica in "Moonlight Over Baler," where he plays dual role: as a Filipino USAFFE soldier (inset); and as a Japanese photojournalist

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2017

ISAH V. RED

2

017 is shaping up to be the year Vin Abrenica finally comes into his own as an actor.

Last year saw the brawny young man step out of TV5, the network where he started and had been for three and a half years, to join ABS-CBN’s roster of stars.

While he waited for his turn to be introduced in a major teleserye on the network, he flexed his acting muscles in two big screen projects.

In September last year, he appeared in a supporting role opposite elder brother Aljur Abrenica in the high-profile historical drama Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli.

He delivered a scene-stealing performance marked by his magnetic screen presence and fiery intensity.

Next, the younger Abrenica opened 2017 with his Star Cinema debut as one of the three sexy leading men in the femalecentric action-comedy romp Extra Service. If anything, this movie highlighted his physical assets as one of the hottest hunks in showbiz today.

Hot on the heels of that film is T-Rex Entertainment’s pre-Valentine presentation, Moonlight Over Baler. Besides showing more of his fab sixpack abs, the romantic comedydrama promises to showcase his exceptional range as an actor and as a bona fide leading man.

As the title indicates, the film is set mostly in the scenic and historic town of Baler, but its story takes place in two eras: the early 1940s and the summer of 1986.

Vin plays the dual roles of Nestor, a Filipino USAFFE soldier who fights the Japanese Occupation during World War II, and Nestor’s doppelganger Kenji, a Japanese photojournalist and surfing enthusiast who visits Baler after covering the Edsa Revolution.

His dual lead roles mean he has two romantic leading ladies – Sophie Albert, who plays Nestor’s fiancée Fidela,

Portes’ new film INTRODUCES NEW LEADING MAN

and Ellen Adarna, who portrays Aurora, the feisty student of Nursing who steals Kenji’s heart and forces him to learn Filipino.

But, in fact, he has three.

Vin’s third leading lady is none other than Elizabeth Oropesa, who stars as the 65-year-old spinster Fidela, who bridges both timelines by reliving her romance with her one true love Nestor and serving as Kenji’s coach in his courtship of Aurora.

Vin is grateful for the privilege to be romantically paired with both Sophie and Ellen in Moonlight Over Baler. He considers it an honor to act opposite one of the finest actresses in the industry, Elizabeth Oropesa.

He will soon steam up the small screen opposite Maja Salvador in ABS-CBN’s upcoming sexy soap opera Wildflower, but this love month, 25-year-old Vin Abrenica stakes his claim as the new romantic lead actor to watch in 2017.

Directed by Gil Portes from a Palanca Award-winning screenplay by Enrique Ramos, Moonlight Over Baler also stars Daria Ramirez, Menggie Cobarrubias, Angie Ferro, Kate Alejandrino, Abel Estanislao, Aaron Yanga, Dennis Coronel, Alvin Fortuna, Jess Evardone,

Jun Nayra, and Blaine Medina.

Produced by T-Rex Entertainment and distributed by OctoArts Films, the movie opens February 8 in cinemas nationwide. *** In an announcement that aims to kick-start a potentially remarkable year, hairstyling brand Grips officially introduced matinee idol Enrique Gil as its new celebrity endorser.

Aside from being a multiawarded actor and dancer, Gil is also known for wearing iconic hairstyles that fit his many roles.

“Our hairstyles are not just about good looks, they also allow us to express ourselves,” the Kapamilya star said during the official launch held at B Hotel in Quezon City. “Styling our hair, however, can sometimes be timeconsuming, but thanks to Grips, hairstyling is easier and more hassle-free now.”

The formulation of Grips Hair Wax and Grips Clay Easywash promise an easy style, easy wash experience. Grips helps users achieve their desired hairstyle even when they are on the move. Because Grips Hair Wax and Grips Clay Easywash are easier to wash compared to other similar hair products, users need not worry about unwanted

stickiness or the possible effects of ingredients that stay in the hair despite trying to wash it off.

Grips’ products also use ingredients like Pro-Vitamin B5 that make hair strong and nourished.

Grips’ styling products are available in supermarkets, groceries, drugstores, and convenience stores nationwide.

Grips Wax 75g jars start at P81.75 SRP. Grips Clay EasyWash is available at P86.90 SRP. These products are also available at 25g jars and 5g sachets.

For more information, check out Grips’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ gripsbrand/.

You may also follow #EnriqueForGripsWax #GripsEasyStyleEasyWash on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. *** The 2nd Wish 107.5 Music Awards (WMA) will be more than just an evening of music and entertainment. The FM station that puts philanthropy at its core will also be granting over P1 million to key charitable institutions.

This “wish granting” will be one of the main highlights of the 2nd WMA, which happens tonight at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

The winners of the WMA’s major categories will be given the chance to donate P100,000 to their chosen beneficiaries. This is apart from the cash prize worth P 25,000 each of the winning artists will receive.

These categories include Best WISHclusive Performances (by a Group or a Duo/Young/Female/ Male Artist), Wish Original Songs

of the Year (by a Group or a Duo/Female/Male Artist) and Wish Artists of the Year (Young/ Female/ Male).

Apart from these major awards, the 2nd WMA will also honor OPM artists through the following minor and special awards: Wish Promising Artist, Best Wish Cover, Wish Reactors’ Choice Award and WISHclusive Viral Video of the Year.

Meanwhile, the highest citations will be given to the first batch of members of the WISHclusive Elite Circle.

This group will be composed of artists whose performances on the Wish 107.5 YouTube Channel have garnered at least 10 million views.

Fans and supporters can cast their votes online through the WMA website, www.wish1075. com/wishawards, until 12 noon of Jan. 16. Online votes will comprise 50 percent of a nominee’s total score while the other 50 percent will come from the votes of a select panel of judges.

It's the hair!

Kapamilya actor Enrique Gil as the face of hair care brand Grips

Golden love songs and good old rock n’ roll VALENTINE’S Day comes early at Resorts World Manila (RWM) with Golden Sounds of The Platters with Johnny “Elvis” Thompson on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Newport Performing Arts Theater (NPAT).

Hailed as the foremost tribute band of the iconic American vocal group, The Golden Sounds of The Platters continue to romance audiences with their spot-on renditions of classics such as “Only You,” “Twilight Time,” “Remember When,” “I’m Sorry,” “The Magic Touch,” “My Prayer,” “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” and “The Great Pretender.”

Branson in Missouri, considered the Las Vegas of the US East coast in terms of the city’s entertainment offerings, has voted the group three-time Vocal Group of the Year, Entertainers of the Year, and inducted the foursome in the city’s Hall of Fame.

Consistent in providing topnotch performances, Eddie Stovall Sr., Mose Edward Stovall Jr., Kim Leo Green, Frederick Berry, and Deneen Davis not only engage audiences with their smooth harmonies but also charm concert fans with their unique brand of showmanship.

Having played most of their shows in their local

The Platters and Elvis Presley tribute artists to perform at Resorts World Manila

Branson, the Golden Sounds of The Platters have also brought their outstanding act all over Europe and Asia. This month of hearts, RWM welcomes their nostalgic sounds at its award-winning NPAT stage together with another prized tribute artist in Johnny “Elvis” Thompson.

MTV USA and Las Vegas have named Thompson the no.1 tribute artist of the king of rock n’roll having performed in Las Vegas for 15 years before going on tour all over the world including countries such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico, China, France, Finland, and Belgium.

Now based in Asia, Thompson rejoins the Golden Sounds of The Platters to relive the magical music era of the ‘50s and the ‘60s in one unforgettable Valentine show.

Tickets to the Valentine event of 2017 are available at the RWM Box Office and all TicketWorld outlets. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities get a 20 percent discount on ticket purchases.

For more information, visit www.rwmanila.com or call the Tourist/Visitor Hotline at (632) 9088833 or (632) 891-9999.