Manila Standard - 2017 February 14 - Tuesday

XXX 3 0 T H

A N N I V E R S A RY

Terrified survivors spend nights under the stars

By Lance Baconguis SURIGAO CITY—For the third night now, Antonio Tirol brought his family from their home in Boulevard, Barangay Taft to the Surigao del Norte capitol

grounds to spend the night under the stars.

Tirol and his family along with 136 other families—close to 1,000 people—have been coming here to sleep since the magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Friday night,

fearful of another temblor.

Since Friday, 130 aftershocks hit the city, accentuating the fear of another strong quake.

On Sunday, as thousand of residents gathered around the city gymnasium, two aftershocks hit

just minutes apart, sending people smaller than four square meters. said. scampering for open ground.

Antonio narrated that on the Antonio’s wife got up when Wrapping themselves in blan- night of the earthquake, his fam- something came crashing through kets and sleeping on plastic mats XPERIENCE•XCELLENCE•XCITEMENT ily was sleeping when the ground their roof. The balusters from their with just a makeshift roof made of shook. neighbors’ house on the third floor plastic sacks, the Tirols squeezed “At first, it is slow, then it got fell onto her back as she tried to themselves together in a space faster. It felt like forever,”Antonio cover their children.

Next page

XXX 3 0 T H

VOL. XXXI • NO. 4 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A N N I V E R S A RY

XPERIENCE•XCELLENCE•XCITEMENT

P2-b aid confuses Palace Budget chief says there’s confusion about it

By John Paolo Bencito

P

ALACE officials on Monday took back President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise of P2 billion in assistance to victims of the magnitude-6.7 earthquake that rocked Surigao province, saying this was money earmarked to soften the impact of the closure and suspension of some 28 mines for environmental reasons.

“I would like to clarify that.

The President was saying that in the context of the mining,” WOEFUL VICTIMS. Victims of the 6.7 shock which rumbled underneath Surigao del Norte on Friday night, who make a sorrowful sight under the sky or in a convention center, are in need of said Communications Secretary potable water and shelter materials, according to a spokesperson of the National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Center. Lance Baconguis Martin Andanar, after Duterte spoke of P2 billion in aid while talking to the earthquake victims in Surigao City. “He said if mining operations are closed, people will lose their jobs.” that the rule of law is followed,” said Drilon, a party mate of De

By Rey E. Requejo Andanar said he also consultDrilon said.

Lima in the Liberal Party. ed with Special Assistant to the THE Senate may not stop the servHe said the law only goes as far De Lima is accused of violatTHE small-town lottery being run “Congress is the one which gives President Christopher Go. ing of an arrest warrant against as ensuring that the arrest warrant ing the Comprehensive Dangerby the Philippine Charity Sweep- you your Charter, and we are telling “The P2 billion he mentioned, Senator Leila de Lima as the of- is not served inside the Senate ses- ous Drugs Act which imposes the stakes Office is “illegal” and you now that what you are doing is ‘This P2 billion, is this enough?’ fense she faces is not covered by sion hall. penalty of life imprisonment and must be stopped, Speaker Panta- not provided in your charter.”

This was mentioned by the Presthe immunity granted to the mem“Theoretically, it [the arrest a fine of P50,000 to P10 million. leon Alvarez told a congressional Alvarez made his statement ident when he was talking in the bers of Congress,” Senate Presi- warrant] can be served because Drilon made his statement even hearing on Monday. even as Police Chief Ronald context of mining problem, that dent Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon it is an alleged offense where the as Justice Secretary Vitaliano “Let’s not joke around each dela Rosa declared war on illegal when the operations are closed, told reporters on Monday. penalty is beyond six years, but Aguirre II on Monday described other here. What you are doing gambling nationwide with the fipeople will need livelihood,” “That’s quite unfortunate but we will object to any service of as “totally irresponsible” Senator Next page is illegal and is being done to nanciers of the lucrative business said Andanar. if that happens, we will see to it the warrant in the session hall,” Next page accommodate jueteng,” Alvarez as targets. told the hearing being conduct“By this pronouncement, the ed by the House committee on PNP is hereby declaring war on games and amusements.

Next page

Top cop targets gaming ‘Senate can’t stop De Lima’s arrest’ funders; STL in question

SC upholds forfeiture of Imelda’s jewelry set

Task force arrests two cops for extortion

By Rey E. Requejo

By Francisco Tuyay

THE Supreme Court has sustained the partial summary judgment rendered by the Sandiganbayan ordering the forfeiture in favor of the government of the socalled Malacañang jewelry collection, one of three collections confiscated from former first lady Imelda Marcos in 1986.

In a decision written by Chief

Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, the Court’s First Division denied the petition filed by Mrs. Marcos and her daughter Irene MarcosAraneta seeking the reversal of the Sandiganbayan’s decision issued on Jan. 13, 2014 declaring that the jewelry collection, which is assessed to be worth from $110,055 to $153,089, was part of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten Next page wealth.

WRY HUMOR. Jo Calderon, a 53-year-old florist, puts a sardonic twist to the Valentine’s Day flowers by arranging them homologous to a funeral wreath with messages like ‘Dying To Love You’ to be given to loved ones today. Norman Cruz

THE newly formed police Counter Intelligence Task Force tapped by PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa to rid the organization of scalawags have arrested two rogue members allegedly extorting money in Manila.

Operatives of the CITF under Sr. Supt Chiquito Malayo nabbed SPO2 Rodito Maglayun and PO3 Rowel Candelario on Quirino Avenue and Mother Ignacia early on Sunday following a complaint from a motorist.

The two policemen are members of the Manila Police District on United Nations Avenue, and they are accused of shaking down motorists―mostly taxi drivers―during the wee hours.

The CITF said Magluyan and Candelario were arrested after someone posing as a driver handed over P250 in marked money allegedly being demanded by the two policemen.

The two were brought to the Crime Laboratory Office in Camp Crame for examination and both tested positive for ultra-violet powder, the CITF said. Next page

PROTEST ACTION. Workers and families benefiting from the Zambales and Benguet mines hit their small gongs while others perform a native ritual dance at the date of the DENR in Quezon City on Monday in a protest action while nearby geology and metallurgy students from different schools (inset) also gather as well to protest the penalties of 28 mining firms. Manny Palmero

Students, workers blast mining audit

By Rio N. Araja and Anna Leah E. Gonzales PLACARD-BEARING students from the University of the Philippines trooped to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City Monday to seek full disclosure of its min-

ing audit that led to the closure and suspension of 28 big mining companies.

The students, members of the UP Mining Engineering Society (UP Miners) called on Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to lift her order to shut down 23 mining companies and suspend five oth-

ers, saying this would mean unemployment for new graduates of mining engineering, geology, metallurgical engineering and other affected fields.

“We, the University of the Philippines Mining Engineering Society, reiterate our stance and Next page

A2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

DOLE not sending OFWs in wake of executions T

By Vito Barcelo

HE Department of Labor and Employment said on Monday that it would suspend the deployment of household workers abroad if another overseas Filipino worker is executed, unless the recruitment agencies do everything to help stop the executions.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Beloo III said the department will push through with its plan to suspend the deployment of household service workers in countries

where OFWs were executed.

Bello met with officials and members of the Philippine Association of Legitimate Contractors and told the group to do everything they

Students,...

P2-b...

advocacies toward responsible mining and call for transparency in the process of the mining audit done by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” the group said in a statement.

“For as long as the transparency of the mining audit remains inaccessible, as future engineers, we shall keep invoking our right to access detailed information regarding the said mining audit in order for us to know what needs to be improved in the industry and to aid in the advancement of the profession towards environmental protection so as to avoid the suspension of more mining companies compromising jobs and Filipino families.”

Krist Jan Separa, a graduating UP mining student, said DENR’s closure and suspension orders could mean the loss of employment opportunities for future miners.

“As students of the University of the Philippines, we uphold honor, excellence, and the values of responsible mining.

We thus challenge the government to do the same,” UP Miners said.

The UP students challenged the credibility of the agency’s audit, led by Undersecretary Leo Jasareno, former Mines and Geosciences Bureau director, noting that even mine sites with an international ISO14001 certification acquired after over almost a year of audit did not pass with the DENR audit team, which included non-experts and anti-mining advocates.

Some students from the Adamson University, and members of the Coalition of Mine Workers, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. and Benguet Corp. joined the rally.

Danilo Calimlim, 63, a mining worker for Benguet Corp. and president of the Mine Workers League, said he cannot stand to see fellow miners suffer social injustice.

“We are supervised by mining engineers in our operations.

We are bona fide residents near the mine sites. Why would we allow irresponsible mining?

The mining audit team Lopez tasked to audit was composed of anti-mining advocates. She should allow us to be represented to strike a balance,” he said.

About P10.1 billion in taxes was generated from the mining industry in 2015.

The mining operations ordered closed down or suspended account for 46 percent or P4.6 billion of these tax revenues, according to the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines.

The chamber said Monday it would file its opposition against Lopez’s appointment as Environment secretary.

The group said its opposition to her confirmation is based on her recent actions and pronouncements, which showed “undeniable bias against and antagonism towards largescale mining, rendering her unfit and incapable of a responsible, fair, just and balanced implementation of the Constitution, the Philippine Mining Act and related laws and regulations, and of upholding personal interest and advocacies over public interest.”

“That’s how I understood it.

Because that’s what the President is saying, he was talking about the mining problem all throughout, then he inserted the P2 billion,” he added.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella echoed Andanar’s statement.

“The P2 billion [President Rodrigo Duterte] talked about was for those affected by proposed mining closures that the government would provide if and when it is implemented,” he said in a text message.

Another P2 billion, he added, was for medicine for indigents and rehabilitation of drug dependents—again, not for Surigao.

“For Surigao, the government is ready to provide whatever is assessed to be needed on the ground,” Abella said.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he would clarify the issue directly with the President.

“I think there is confusion about the P2 billion. I’m not really sure. But there was P2 billion released last year for medi-

From A1

From A1

Terrified...

From A1

“Until now, she still feels the pain. We have no money for checkups,” Antonio said as he was setting up their makeshift tent.

Just a block away from the Tirols, Marilou Buenaflor’s home was also severely damaged.

Buenaflor’s house tilted, jamming the door so that they had to get out through the windows.

The Boulevard, the stretch of road along the coast where Dinagat Island-bound pumpboats dock, was also damaged.

Cracks showed on the concrete pier, and concrete benches were broken. The Hotel Tavern, which lies at the northeastern end, was also heavily damaged.

Buenaflor said half of the floor of her house was lifted, then came crashing down. The walls were cracked, and the kitchen sink collapsed into their septic tank.

A few kilometers south from Boulevard, in Barangay Washington, Anita Cebuano also took her five children with her to sleep at the capitol.

They live in a community near the river. Anita’s nephew Joshua Iligan said the land where some houses were built cracked open, splitting houses.

Anita’s neighbor Marjorie Liwanan said that when the ground started shaking, the land split, water pipes burst open.

“Water burst up, showering us.

There was no power, it was dark, that is why we are afraid that when it will strike again, we will be hit in darkness. That is scary,” Liwanan said.

Dandy Paraguya from Barangay Mabua also brought his entire family.

Top...

From A1

illegal gambling,” Dela Rosa told reporters in Camp Crame.

He said the war on illegal gambling will not be bloody unless the targets will use arms to fight back.

“They [gamblers] are not like druggies. They don’t need to sacrifice their lives,” Dela Rosa said.

The committee on games and

can to stop the executions.

“I told them to talk with their counterparts about the situation of our OFWs. Their counterparts can ask their officials in the Middle East to commute the death sentences meted to our OFWs to incarceration,” said Bello.

He cited the case of Jennifer Dalquez, the OFW who was sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates. Dalquez was sentenced to death by the Al Ain trial court in Dubai after being convicted of killing her employer in December 2015.

“They must help our OFWs.

They are working hard for our country and it is only right that we protect them,” said Bello, adding that he is planning to go to UAE to ensure that all the assistance needed by Dalquez is provided.

Meanwhile, Bello said that he is still pursuing the case of OFW Elpidio Lano in Kuwait.

Lano was meted the death sentence for allegedly killing a fellow Filipino.

“We do not want another tragedy to happen. I will pursue this for the next three or four days until I get the family of Macaranas to forgive Lano,” said Bello.

cine and drug rehabilitation,” Diokno told CNN Philippines.

Quake victims can use the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Quick Response Fund for the most immediate concerns, Diokno said.

Speaking in his native Bisaya in most parts of the speech Sunday, President Duterte vowed to release P2 billion in relief for victims of the powerful Feb. 10 earthquake that struck Surigao City and neighboring towns.

Major Manila dailies, including Mindanao-based news organizations, reported the President’s promise to Surigao quake victims.

A check on official transcripts translated in English provided

by Malacañang showed that just before making his vow to release financial aid, the President was trying to offer a job to a resident.

“Where was that woman who gave me this seat? There she is.

Don’t avoid me. Are you from here? Don’t look around you because there are no women behind you. Are you from here? Do you want a job? If you’re jobless here, go with me to Malacañang and I will make you my secretary. I’m just kidding, please don’t take me so seriously,” Du-

terte told a quake survivor.

The President then mentioned that he would release money for the lost lives and those who lost jobs.

“But I will release money for you so prioritize those who lost their lives and source of living.

I’ll release a little. Is two billion enough for you? You won’t really be able to spend all that, will you? Why don’t we just buy them all a subdivision and house and lot,” he said to applause from the quake survivors.

Also in the same speech, Duterte warned erring mining companies to clean up their mess or face closure. He also talked about possibly resolving his feud with the communists.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Monday estimated some P108 million worth of damage to infrastructure in the province of Surigao del Norte following the magnitude-6.7 quake Friday night, which has already claimed eight lives.

Abella had earlier advised the media to listen to its “properly vetted” press conferences to better understand “the colorful language of the President,” who claimed that only two of five things he says are true.

“We have no more house, it collapsed last Friday,” Paraguya said as he showed journalists photos of his home, with walls collapsed.

The stories they told were similar.

They would return home during the day, pick up whatever is left and repair what they can, and replace what needs replacement.

The Philippine Red Cross Surigao City chapter has provided tents for the displaced but that is not enough.

People came bringing just sleeping mats and blankets.

Fear for another quake can be seen in their eyes.

“It is easier to sleep here at night than sleep in our houses,” Raul Subiri said.

Subiri brought his aging and sickly mother-in-law,who sleeps on a sofa they brought for her.

Subiri said the stilt bridge leading to their house on the river had been damaged.

“What if we sleep there and the ground moves again? We would plunge into the water,” Subiri said.

Fear was heightened by social media posts warning of a stronger quake.

“Where will we go if that happens?” one resident asked, after seeing such a warning on Facebook.

Fear and trauma are the common denominators of the people here that the government is trying to help.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development reported that as of Feb.12, there were 1,034 families affected, or 5,170 persons in 54 barangays.

The quake destroyed 155 houses and damaged 879 others.

The city government has declared a state of calamity, stating that 20 percent of the city’s popu-

lation of 154,137 was affected by the earthquake.

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Surigao del Norte on Monday released the initial damage assessment from Friday’s quake.

Maryjul Escalante, Surigao del Norte Provincial Information officer, said that based on the report submitted by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, as of Monday, they recorded a total damage of P665.720 million.

“We are expecting that the figure could rise as more updates are being received now,” Escalante said.

Escalante said that Gov. Sol Matugas has ordered all provincial government employees to support the recovery efforts.

The Department of Education on Monday said schools suffered P7.6 million in damage due to the quake.

Surigao City remains the most affected in the province, with seven reported deaths.

The PDRRMO identified the fatalities from this city as Robert Eludo, JM Ariar, Lito Wilson, Lorenzo Deguino, Roda Justina Taganahan, Jenelyn Ebale and Rommel Tano.

Wenefreda Aragon Bernal is the lone fatality outside of Surigao City.

All of the fatalities suffered blunt force trauma to the head with the exception of Taganahan, who suffered a heart attack during the quake.

The provincial government listed 550 families or 2,750 individuals as affected by the earthquake.

Provincial health officer Dr. Maria Isabel Makinano said that they are trying to prevent the spread of diseases. With John Paolo Bencito

amusements,led by Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting, conducted the hearing in response to the resolutions filed in Congress seeking to look into the proliferation of illegal gambling in the country and the alleged failure of the STL operators to generate enough revenues for the government.

Alvarez said the PCSO charter bans STL operations. “[The PCSO is a] “principal government agency for raising and

providing medical assistance and services and charities of national character, and as such shall have the authority to hold and conduct charity sweepstakes races, lotteries and similar activities,” Alvarez said.

He threatened to file charges against the PCSO officials before the Ombudsman should they continue their STL operations.

“You should stop your STL operation unless you want to be charged before the Office of the

‘Wanted’ Briton nabbed for fraud

By Vito Barcelo ONE of the United Kingdom’s top 10 most wanted swindlers being sought by the British authorities was arrested by immigration agents in Pampanga province.

Nabbed was Adam James Stagg at his home along Yellow Papua St., Don Bosco Compound, Mabalacat City, Pampanga.

Stagg has been hiding in the country for more than five years.

Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said Stagg, who is listed no. 7 in the UK’s 10 most wanted list of criminal fraudsters, will be deported as soon as the BI board of commissioners issues the order for his summary deportation.

“Like all other foreign fugitives that we have arrested, this Briton will be expelled and sent back to his country to stand trial for his crimes,” said Morente.

Stagg, who hails from Bristol, is wanted by both the Avon and Somerset police for the offense

Task...

From A1

The Manila City Prosecutor’s Office recommended filing robbery and extortion charges against the two who are now detained at the CITF headquarters in Camp Crame.

SC...

From A1

“Petitioners failed to satisfactorily show that the properties were lawfully acquired; hence, the prima facie presumption that they were unlawfully acquired prevails,” the Court said.

The Malacañang Collection is composed of smaller, less expensive pieces that the Marcoses left behind when they fled during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

In ruling against the Marcoses, the SC held that “the forfeiture was justified and that the Malacañang Collection was subject to forfeiture.”

The Court noted that the legitimate income of the Marcoses had been pegged at $304,372.43 from the period 1966-1986.

“We reiterate what we have already stated initially in Republic v. Sandiganbayan, and subsequently in Marcos v. Republic: that ‘whenever any public officer or employee has acquired during his incumbency an amount of property which is manifestly out of proportion to his salary as such public officer or employee and to his other lawful income and the income from legitimately acquired property, said property shall be presumed prima facie to have

of fraud by false representation.

British authorities have long suspected that Stagg had been living a luxury in Philippines after engaging in the fraudulent online sale of watches from October 2013 to June 2014.

He is said to have profited by as much as £20,000 from the racket wherein victims were duped into paying for designer watches they never received.

Police alleged that Stagg had set up a number of companies in the Philippines that sold watches to UK customers at prices that cost more than £100.

The victims, numbering to some 140, reportedly paid money into various bank accounts belonging to Stagg’s associates who then sent the money to him in the Philippines.

However, none of his victims ever received a watch and some even reported to police that they were threatened when they tried to find out why they didn’t get what they bought.

The CITF was formed last month following the suspension of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs to shift to ridding the PNP of rogue policemen.

Dela Rosa said the two policemen and 387 other policemen charged with various offenses will be transferred to Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu next week. been unlawfully acquired,” the Court said.

The Court also rejected the claim of the Marcoses that they were deprived of due process since there has been no trial or hearing for them to be able to prove that the jewelry were legally acquired.

“They allege that they were denied due process by not being given any opportunity to prove their lawful acquisition of the Malacañang Collection.

They allege that they were denied due process by not being given any opportunity to prove their lawful acquisition of the Malacañang Collection. This allegation cannot be given credence for being utterly baseless,” the Court ruled.

The Malacañang Collection is kept in the vaults of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas along with the Roumeliotes and Hawaii collections.

The 60-piece Roumeliotes Collection was seized from Demetriou Roumeliotes, a Greek national, at the Manila International Airport as he was about to leave the country in March 1986.

The Hawaii Collection, on the other hand, comprises jewelry found in the family’s luggage when they arrived at the Honolulu International Airport on Feb. 25, 1986.

Leila de Lima’s claim that the Department of Justice is rushing the issuance of an arrest warrant against her.

De Lima earlier claimed that the government was already moving to arrest her, but Aguirre disagreed.

“The claim of Senator De Lima is totally erroneous. As a lawyer and as a former secretary of Justice she should know that the DoJ does not issue warrants of arrest,” Aguirre said.

De Lima’s former driver and lover on Monday asked the Department of Justice to give him more time to submit his counteraffidavit on the complaint filed by the House of Representatives after he defied their summons

to attend its inquiry last year on the proliferation of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

Ronnie Dayan asked the department to give him until Feb. 22 to submit his counter-affidavit.

Aguirre on Monday ordered an investigation into the leaking of a confidential report of the Bureau of Corrections indicating that he approved the grant of special privileges to the New Bilibid Prison inmates who testified against De Lima.

He ordered Corrections Chief Benjamin Delos Santos to probe the leak and “file appropriate administrative charges [against] those officials and employees involved.”

The document dated Dec. 9, 2016 and signed by BuCor legal Alvin Lim says the inmates had been allowed to use cellphones inside their temporary detention cells.

Ombudsman for doing things that you are not authorized [to do]. STL is not a national lottery.

You should focus on the national lottery,” Alvarez said.

But PCSO chairman George Corpuz said the STL was being operated within the mandate of the PCSO. He said the 18 STL operators in the country were able to raise P4.7 billion in revenues in 2015 and P6.4 billion in 2016.

He said the PCSO even ex-

panded its STL operations in January by raising the number of STL operators to 56 with an estimated government revenue target of P27.8 billion for 2017.

Alvarez was not convinced.

“It will be better if you stop and cancel all the permits you issued to STL operators or else Congress will lodge a complaint against all of you before the Ombudsman,” he said.

Maricel V. Cruz, Francisco Tuyay and Florante S. Solmerin

‘Senate...

From A1

News IN BRIEF House extends passport validity THE House of Representatives on Monday night approved on third and final a measure seeking to extend the validity of Philippine passports to 10 years from the present five years.

The Lower House voted to pass House Bill 4767 with an overwhelming vote of 216 lawmakers.

The bill, principally authored by Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, amends Section 10 of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 by extending the validity of the Philippine passport from five years to 10 years.

The bill shall apply to all Filipino citizens, including minors, who have been issued Philippine passports.

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier endorsed enactment of the measure which will conform “to international best practices.”

Arroyo, a deputy speaker, said the c––urrent five-year passport validity was “rather too short given the tedious process and cost it requires to obtain or renew a passport.”

Maricel V. Cruz

A3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NDF: We should not be blamed for breakdown of peace talks

By Rio N. Araja and John Paolo Bencito

T

HE National Democratic Front on Monday called on the public not to blame them for the breakdown of the peace negotiations with the government.

The communists believe the abrupt decision to end peace talks and arrest members of the group is just the product of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “emotional” outburst.

NDF advisor Luis Jalandoni issued the statement after President Duterte scrapped the ceasefire with the NDF-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and ordered the arrest of NDF consultants.

The NDF call followed President Duterte’s appeal for peace to communist and Moro rebels on Sunday, urging them to instead plant rubber, coffee, and bamboos in mineral-rich Mindanao instead of fighting in the mountains.

In a speech before victims of the 6.8 magnitude quake that

rocked Surigao province, Duterte said the mountains battered by conflict would mean nothing to contribute in the development of the war-torn south.

“When we achieve peace, when we can finally put a stop to this fight that we have against these communists, and when I am able to calm down our Moros—Mindanao won’t have storms. It may rain but it won’t flood. So let’s plant in our minds that we are not natives here,” the President said in his native Bisaya.

Duterte said Mindanao’s resources were all useful, especially its mountains if attended to properly.

The President cited Mindanao’s riches—including rubber and coffee.

“Look at the ends of the mountains. There’s rubber. Look around the world and try to see just how many car tires roll every day. That is why rubber is in demand. If you plant rubber in the mountains, you won’t have any problem because if you plant rubber on five hectares, you’d be a millionaire. Look at how many cars change tires every day.

Every day those tires grow thin.

How many millions change tires every day? That is why if you have land, plant rubber,” he said.

“Coffee is also profitable.

Coffee is expensive because no one can buy coffee from Africa after they were hit with Ebola.

No one wants to buy coffee from Africa. In South America, their crops were infested with pests. They still haven’t reached Philippines,” he added.

Earlier, Jalandoni said the President’s decision and his statement branding communist insurgents as “terrorists” was simply an “emotional reaction.”

The CPP also chided Duterte for terminating the government ceasefire, ending the peace talks and saying there could be no

peace with the communist rebels.

“Judging by his record in his Oplan Tokhang, Duterte’s allout war is bound to set his fascist dogs in the Armed Forces of the Philippines in a wild spree of human rights abuses against the people and gross violations of civil liberties,” the CPP said.

After seeking a safe conduct pass for CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, the President tagged the NDF-CPP-NPA as “terrorists” who were no different from the Abu Sayyaf Group.

On Feb. 4, Duterte announced he was ending the peace talks with the communists, blaming on the rebels over their demand for the release of 400 political prisoners.

“I went out of my way, sometimes being humble. When they resort to insulting remarks, I swallowed my pride because I wanted to end a 50-year-old war. But apparently, it seems to me that these terrorists wanted another 50 years of killing of Filipinos,” the President said.

“They want us Filipinos to kill one another,” he added.

Duterte, who expressed

Sunday his disgust in the same speech over the shaved mountains because of destructive mining, said that planting bamboos in mountains could help in holding the soil to avert flooding.

“If you cut off trees, make sure you have something to replace [them] with, or else the soil will erode... Plant bamboo instead. Bamboo holds on to the soil really well. I’ll be back here,” he said.

Duterte stressed that all of Mindanao’s riches would not help its natives should infighting continue.

“Let’s achieve peace. All mountains that are full of conflict are useless,” the President said.

In the same speech, Duterte offered the hope that peace talks with the communist rebels would resume, and that his public conflict with them “will be resolved” soon.

The President also reiterated his warning to eradicate corruption and for the people in return should not turn to drugs.

“Don’t allow drugs to surface in your town. For me, if there is a pusher, there is a drug lord,” he said.

Dismantle fish pens, fishers demand THE militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), together with environmental alliance Save Laguna Lake Movement, on Monday staged a picket in the offices of the Laguna Lake Development Authority and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to demand the immediate and unconditional dismantling of wide fish pens owned by large corporations and individuals in Laguna de Bay. Vast-tracts of fish pens in the 90,000-hectare brackish lake are now illegal after the government ceased issuing permits in line with its campaign to dismantle fish pens in Laguna de Bay to give way for the utilization of small fishers who have been deprived of their common fishing grounds for years due to fish pen proliferation and congestion.

Pamalakaya said data from the LLDA showed there were approximately 13,000 hectares of private fish pens in Laguna de Bay. But deeper study conducted

by Pamalakaya and SLLM claimed that 60 percent of the size of Laguna de Bay is occupied by private fish pens.

Pamalakaya and SLLM welcomed the government’s anti-fish pen campaign.

But it said it should be done hastily for the small fishers eagerly await their fishing zone to be reopened again for common use.

Pamalakaya said in a statement: “Getting rid of wide fish pens in Laguna de Bay is a good riddance. It is a welcome development towards reviving the dying lake because it contributes to the lake’s pollution through its chemicalbased feeds used to culture fish.

Sandy Araneta

SENATE HEARING. The Senate starts Monday a joint hearing on the construction of common station project linking the Light Rail Transit 1 and Metro Rail Transit lines 3 and 7. The construction of the common station is expected to start in December 2017 and completed by April 2019 after the transport department and other parties signed the memorandum of agreement last month. Lino Santos

Resolution to protect OFWs, Japanese Bill filed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta EIGHTEEN senators voted Monday to adopt a resolution concurring in the ratification of a social security agreement between the Philippines and Japan that would benefit an estimated 377,233 Filipinos in Japan and 17,021 Japanese nationals currently in the country.

Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon, co-sponsor of Senate resolution 283, said the agreement, signed on Nov. 19, 2015 and ratified last Jan. 12, 2017, sought to protect the social security rights of overseas Filipinos in Japan.

This would enable them to have access to social security benefits, including sickness, maternity, paternity, occupational diseases, invalidity, old age and survivor’s pension.

Drilon said overseas Filipino workers faced territorial or nationality-based restrictions which deny them access to social security benefits.

He said many receiving states do not cover foreign workers under their social security schemes, leaving Filipino workers with no access to basic safety nets while working abroad.

He denied that many employers faced the risk of dual coverage or payment of double contributions when they send workers on a temporary basis to another country.

“Labor protection should take the frontline in this age of globalization. We must take steps to guarantee the full protection of our workers here and abroad,” Drilon said in his sponsorship speech.

Drilon said the Philippine-Japan agreement contained standard provisions consistent and compliant with the universal declaration of human rights and various international labor organization conventions.

He said the agreement adopted and codified the fundamental principles of international coordination of social security

legislation such as equality of treatment which entitled the covered person in one state, his family members and survivors to social security benefits under the same conditions as nationals of the other state.

It would also allow covered persons to continue receiving his or her social security pension whether he or she would decide to reside in the Philippines or Japan and allow the tacking of creditable periods of covered persons under the social security schemes of the Philippines and Japan to determine eligibility of benefits.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and sponsor of Resolution 283, said the agreement sought to coordinate the pension programs for people who live or work in the Philippines and Japan wherein those covered by their respective social security systems would continue to receive the benefits due them whether they reside in the Philippines, Japan or elsewhere.

‘Officials tied to delay should be charged’

By Macon Araneta

FACTORY FIRE. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (right) with Cavite Gov. Crispin Remulla and General Mariano Trias Mayor Antonio Ferrer answer reporters’ questions during a news conference Monday regarding the preliminary report on the factory fire in Rosario, Cavite where at least two died and more than 100 were injured last Feb. 1. Lino Santos

SENATOR Grace Poe on Monday said charges should be filed against government officials responsible for the eight-year delayed construction of the common station that would link Metro Manila’s three elevated railways.

Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services that spearheaded a legislative inquiry into the MRT-LRT common station, said past Transport officials, in effect, held hostage the completion of the common station, which had been in limbo for nearly eight years.

“Let us not forget that because of them, we were held hostage for eight years—the completion of the common station,” said Poe.

She said the government should not get into agreements and change the plan later on because investors would not come in, adding that should be a lesson learned.

In the hearing, Poe said she asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to furnish her committee a copy of the previous agreements on the common station.

“In the past, whoever approved the previous agreement with naming rights as well as those who whimsically reneged on the same, all without public consultations and due regard to public interest, should be held accountable because of the undue delay that plagued this project,” Poe said.

to protect laborers

By Maricel V. Cruz SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez has filed a bill to ensure minimum wage earners get the pay as well as all the benefits that they deserve.

Alvarez said he filed the bill to curb the illegal practice of private sector employers of non-compliance with the proper and appropriate payment of minimum wage to their workers.

“Failure to pay the required minimum wage entails serious penalties. However, the current penalties are not strong enough to completely stop these unjust and unreasonable conditions suffered by labor workers,” Alvarez said.

Among others, the bill requires the payment of wages and wage related benefits of an employee through the automated teller machines of banks.

Alvarez’s bill also seeks to amend Presidential Decree 442 and provides for a new article requiring employees to shoulder all premium payments or contributions of minimum wage earners in Social Security System, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Home Development Mutual Fund and other social security and welfare benefit programs.

To ensure compliance, the bill penalizes non-payment of wages of workers in the private sector by a fine of P200,000 to P500,000 and/or imprisonment of not less than four years but not more than six years, or both.

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

A

Another war

T A press conference Monday, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa said the government is waging war against a new enemy: Illegal gambling.

The announcement is based on Executive Order No. 13 issued last week

by President Rodrigo Duterte. The order directs the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies to intensify the campaign against illegal gambling in all its forms.

They are expected to co-

Adelle Chua, Editor

bling in their jurisdictions and at worst profit from its operation. The campaign against highvalue targets will be carried out in one-time-bigtime efforts, whatever ordinate with the Depart- that means. ment of Justice, DepartDela Rosa is also quick ment of Information and to assure the people this Communication Tech- new war will not be nology and Department bloody even as it will of the Interior and Local use the same “tokhang” Government. (knocking and then The campaign will tar- pleading) approach. get gambling operators A disclaimer, of course: and local government of- It won’t be bloody unless ficials who, at best, do not targets use deadly arms do anything to stop gam- to evade or fight police-

men during the course of the crackdown. In fact, Dela Rosa said, he has already directed all police directors to follow the executive order and “strike hard” against all forms of illegal gambling.

The campaign is expected to start next week once the implementing guidelines of the order are released.

We have no quarrel with the fact that illegal gambling has bred much corruption and has had negative effects on the way Filipinos live. Indeed

it must be combatted for consigning people to a fatalistic view of success while enriching the private operators who do not even remit part of their earnings to the government.

Then again, we feel the same way about the war on illegal drugs. It’s a menace that must be eradicated, or at least minimized.

But we express the same wariness—distrust—that the same people tasked to implement the order will get

heady with their authority and simply do as they please. After all, was not the anti-drug campaign suspended because of reports of police abuse? Now that cops have just been given a new, but similar assignment, what guarantee do we have that they won’t just be continuing with their merry ways?

The government has just started another war.

We worry it will be like the last one: Unfinished, prone to abuse and ultimately unsuccessful.

Falling in love

Circling the wagons LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES PERHAPS, if the Department of Justice succeeds in jailing Senator Leila de Lima on drug trafficking, bribery and other serious charges soon, it should also throw her Liberal Party colleagues in prison with her. If that happens, I don’t believe you’ll hear a lot of protesting from the public, anyway.

I’m convinced that if the remnants of the LP in the Senate had any sense of propriety left, they would let justice run its course in the case of De Lima, their colleague and famous damsel in distress. But by circling the wagons to protect De Lima in a shameless display of partisanship, the LP senators have not only insulted the entire justice system, they have also shown how much they miss the Aquinoera policy of selective justice.

I don’t recall ever seeing such a pathetic display of party unity —which is often a good thing in politics, especially since our politicians often jump from one grouping to another for their personal benefit. But the LP’s show of solidarity for De Lima is being staged for all the wrong reasons and must be called out as the aberration that it really is.

By way of comparison, I still remember how De Lima, as secretary of justice in the previous administration, helped in a big way in the effort to jail not just one but three incumbent senators simultaneously. In order to pacify a citizenry calling for Congress’ blood over the pork barrel scandal, the ruling politicians deemed that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. had to be arrested and detained.

If anything, the jailing of the three senators was purely political, because the Aquino administration wanted to show that it was doing something about the scandal but could not bear to

throw any of its allies in jail. And the three senators’ party mates in the Senate at the time never, as far as I can remember, banded together to protest their arrests,

Drilon was in favor of the search for truth in the case of Enrile, et al., only to disparage it now that De Lima is its object. even on the very valid grounds that many other lawmakers had received money from the scam mastermind, Janet Lim Napoles.

While all the other senators

were quiet about the arrest and detention of the three, the head of the Senate at the time, Franklin Drilon, could only meekly request that they not be arrested inside the chamber. It is important to mention Drilon here because, while he declared (and rightly so) that the Senate cannot prevent the courts from serving legitimate arrest warrants against any senator, he is now singing an entirely different tune as far as De Lima is concerned. *** Drilon led two of his LP colleagues, Senators Francis Pangilinan and Benigno Aquino IV, in denouncing the purported plan of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre to arrest De Lima this week. In a joint statement, the three senators warned that the alleged impending arrest of their fellow LP members was intended to be used as “a political tool, propaganda and smokescreen and distractions for the public.”

I had to check if there was any other Franklin Drilon in the Sen-

ate and if this was the same person who, as Senate president, did not lift a finger to stop the arrest of his three colleagues in the previous Senate. And as far as I could tell, this is also the same Drilon who was also linked to Napoles and her multi-billion-peso scam—but who was somehow never charged as one of her biggest and most important beneficiaries.

Indeed, during the indictment of his three colleagues in June 2014, then Senate President Drilon said the filing of charges against them was “part of the constitutional and legal process, which we must accept.” “The search for the truth may be painful, but this is a process that strengthens our government institutions and reinforces the trust and confidence of our people in our justice system,” Drilon said in a statement. “[Ours is] a government of laws, not of men,” Drilon explained. “And no one is above the law.”

Again, I must stress that Drilon did the right thing when he kept Turn to A5

ON THIS Valentine’s Day in this time of Duterte and Trump, with trolling and fake news trending and Jollibee advertisements invoking bittersweet romance in our hearts, a review of the basics of love might be helpful.

In her essay “Eros and Agape,” Alice von Hilderbrand summarized the traditional Catholic teaching about love, which distinguishes between natural” love (eros) and “supernatural” love (agape). For this philosopher and theologian, “Christian literature usually refers to natural loves, such as the love between spouses, love for one’s children, love for one’s parents, love between siblings, love between friends.

Agape, that is supernatural love, is limited to love of God and love of neighbor.”

When we fall in love, explains von Hildebrand, we clearly perceive the beauty, charm, lovableness, and uniqueness of the person who touches our heart. There elicits in us a response of “enchantment,” explained this way: “The beloved one delights us, just as we are delighted by the perception of a grand sunset or of sublime music, with the crucial difference that in the latter cases, the beauty is impersonal.

In spousal love, the loved one is a person and therefore does not only possess a much higher metaphysical dignity but can return our love.”

Another dimension of eros is reciprocity. As explained by von Hildebrand, natural love longs for this: “Our heart is touched by the beloved, and we wish and hope that he will reciprocate our love. If love is not reciprocated, we experience deep bitterness.

Our love is accepted, but we are not loved in return.”

A reciprocated love elicits joy. For most people, a reciprocated human love is in fact identified with earthly happiness. Thus von Hildebrand cites the example of a lawyer who finds out that the girl he loves also loves him in return.

The young man exclaims, “But from now on my law practice is no longer important!” Indeed, von Hildebrand observes, “Those of us not totally poisoned by the shallow materialism pervading our society know that earthly success will never satisfy the longing God has placed in our hearts. We are made for love.”

As beautiful though as earthly love is, to love, in the sense of eros, is not morally obligatory.

For von Hildebrand, human beings have no obligation to fall in love despite its being one of the greatest experiences of human life.

Turn to A5

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

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

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

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

ManilaStandard

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

ONLINE MEMBER

PPI

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

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

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Adelle Chua Honor Blanco Cabie Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion Editor Night Editor Art Director Chief Photographer

Opinion

VALENTINE’S Day, supposedly a day for lovers, has some historical origins. We Filipinos copied the celebrations from the Americans. And as usual, we have managed to commercialize the event more than the Americans do.

Would you believe that my family thought of marking Valentine’s Day by having a family dinner, but found out as early as last week that our favorite five-star hotels in Makati and The Fort have already been booked? Hotels have raised their rates to accommodate couples who want to express their love to one another! I would not be surprised that even motels are all occupied. This is the favorite resorts of illicit lovers, my gulay.

There are many accounts of how Valentine’s Day began. Some trace it to an ancient Roman festival called Lupercalia. Other experts connect the event to one or more saints of the early Christian church. Still others link it with an old English belief that birds choose their mates on Feb. 14.

Before World War II, when I was in elementary and high school, we marked Valentine’s Day by placing paper hearts on our left chest.

These days, we go overboard.

The affluent mark it by dinners at expensive places. To the poor, it is just an ordinary day.

I send flowers to my wife on Valentine’s Day, as I have done for the past 61 years. I do the same on her birthday and on our anniversary. She tells me to stop this practice because flowers are getting too expensive. It is one occasion I don’t want to listen to her. After all, I vowed to keep loving her, for better or for worse, until death do us part. *** The former president of Colombia, Cesar Gaviria, gave some unsolicited advice last week to President Duterte in an opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times.

Gaviria, who was president from 1990 to 1994, cautioned Mr. Duterte against repeating his mistakes in the war on illegal drugs.

He advised the Philippine president that waging war on drugs through law enforcement—using the police and the military—is a futile exercise.

President Duterte called Gaviria an “idiot.” He said the Philippines and Colombia were different. In Colombia, drug cartels—like the one led by Pablo Escobar—manufactured cocaine and heroin in laboratories and distributed them to the United States and other parts of the world. In the Philippines, it is mostly shabu.

According to Duterte, shabu is more potent than cocaine and heroin. The former affects the brain, making criminals out of shabu users.

President Duterte also said that it was the United States that fought Colombia’s drug war. It sent its Drug Enforcement Agency people to that country and poured billions of dollars as well as other material aid.

Mr. Duterte misses the point.

What Gaviria said was that “winning the war against drug requires addressing not just crime, but also public health, human rights and economic development.” He also added that “no matter what Mr.

Duterte believes, there will always be drugs and drug users in the Philippines.

Gaviria said that the application of severe penalties against drug consumers makes it almost impossible for them to be treated.

Instead, they resort to dangerous habits and a criminal economy.

Taking a hardline against criminals is always popular for politicians, Gaviria said. “I was also seduced into taking a tough stance on drugs during my time as president.”

“The polls suggest that Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs remains popular. But he will find that it is unwinnable. I also discovered that the human costs were enormous.

We could not win the war killing petty criminals and addicts. We started making positive impacts only when we changed tack, designating drugs as a social problem and not a military one.”

But President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs is not dissimilar from that in Colombia.

What President Duterte missed in Gaviria’s piece was the need to go back to the basic problems of illegal drugs—criminality and corruption. Why do you think that the poor, who are mostly the targets of the drug war, resort to drug peddling and drug pushing?

Why do you think policemen are easily corrupted and become, themselves, the criminals that Duterte wants to eliminate? Santa Banana, it all boils down to poverty and joblessness.

On the streets of Manila, you see boys and girls sniffing solvents. They suffer from hunger and poverty. A drug user becomes a drug pusher so he can fund his addiction.

Sooner or later, he becomes a criminal.

Gaviria said: “A successful president makes decisions that strengthen the public good. This means investing in solutions that meet the basic standards of basic rights and minimize unnecessary pain.”

The poor are easy targets for drug cartels and their associates, including financiers and protectors from the police and other lawenforcement agencies. *** Incidentally, my wife and I have been watching “Narcos,” a Netflix series on the life and times of Pablo Escobar.

Santa Banana, watching all the killings during those years, including innocent bystanders, even children and women, I am reminded of what’s happening in the Philippines where more than 7,000 have already been killed.

In the show there are too many killings and Escobar manages not only to outwit the government of Colombia. He even escapes prison.

Escobar became very popular among the people because ala Robin Hood, he helped the poor.

Like the Philippines, the Colombian government also had its communist insurgency fighting the government while aligning themselves with the poor. Only recently, the Colombian government ended the FARC insurgency problems.

But the war in drugs continues, as it has for the past 50 years, because there is always a demand for drugs especially in the US and Europe.

Circling...

From A4

has been unmasked and ridiculed as the chief protector of the illegal drug syndicates in the national penitentiary. Unlike De Lima, who used a shotgun approach to suing people that the Aquino administration did not like—a strategy that was so flawed that most of the officials she charged were acquitted almost as soon as Noynoy Aquino stepped down —Aguirre insists on filing “airtight” charges, saying that this is the cause of the delay.

But of course, the selective justice meted out by the former boss of De Lima, Drilon, Pangilinan and Aquino during Noynoy’s time is already the stuff of legend. It’s just pathetic that Noynoy’s former minions think that the same Yellow standard of filing and pursuing cases only against perceived political opponents still prevails in the present day.

President Duterte misses the point of the Colombian ex-president’s remarks.

his hands off the case of the three senators who got in trouble with Napoles. But Drilon, together with Pangilinan and Aquino, really blew it when they cast doubts on the application of the same judicial process to their colleague De Lima less than three years later.

Why was Drilon very much in favor of the search for truth when it shone a light on Enrile, Estrada and Revilla, only to disparage a similar search when De Lima is now its object? Is De Lima—for her LP colleagues, anyway— above the law?

The irony of it all is that Aguirre, De Lima’s nemesis, has been drawing all kinds of flak for not yet filing the appropriate charges against the senator, long after she

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Friendlier skies

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Committing the same mistakes

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

FORMATION GARY OLIVAR LAST month I wrote about a budding online initiative to bring back the original name of our premier airport, Manila International Airport. Apart from the historical issues involved, I stressed that rebranding is a time-honored way of restoring the franchise of a product that’s gone bad.

Nonetheless, fixing the name is obviously only part of the answer. The bigger job of course is to fix the product itself. If that isn’t done, too, you end up with the double problem of bad product AND untruthful advertising.

And Naia’s problems are only part of a larger crisis that grips the country’s entire airport system, according to a policy brief drafted

by UA&P economist Cherry Lynn Rodolfo for the folks at USAID, who thankfully have not yet heeded the President’s earlier invitation for them to “go to hell.” *** Philippine air transport generated nearly P270 billion of real gross value-added in 2015, and contributes about 3.5 percent of GDP directly and through indirect, induced, or catalytic effects.

The industry supports 1.2 million jobs and carries most of our highvalue merchandise trade, not to mention higher-value tourists and OFWs. But despite our friendly skies, the outlook isn’t so friendly on the ground, where the planes must depart and arrive. Our air transport infrastructure ranks near the

bottom of Asean, just ahead only of Cambodia. Not surprisingly, the biggest problems are found in Naia. Among them: Runway congestion due to configuration—The airport has two intersecting runways, the longer Runway 06/24 (3.7 km long) and the shorter Runway 13/31 (2 km long). International aircraft are only allowed to use 06/24, and until recently 13/31 was limited only to aircraft departures. There are also not enough rapid exit taxiways servicing the longer runway.

Runway congestion due to utilization—This used to run as high as 60 aircraft movements per hour, versus the average and current maximum of 40. There are several reasons for high utilization: The airport is used by every type of aircraft, including general aircraft whose runway times are longer because of smaller engine displacement. As a result, there are relatively fewer passengers per aircraft movement, a sign of inefficiency.

Domestic flights are concentrated from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., mainly because most provincial airports are not night-rated and lack instrument landing systems to handle night flights.

Other utilization issues include lack of radar, non-standard air traffic control procedures, poor en-route communications with aircraft, and poor ground conditions at the airport.

The terminals are also congested, handling up to 20 percent above their combined design capacity of 30 million passengers in 2015. This may have eased somewhat today after a major redesign of Terminal 1 interiors to widen passenger movement areas.

*** So what should be done to make the ground as friendly as the skies for Philippine air transport? The USAID paper has voluminous suggestions, from which we can highlight the major ones: In air traffic management: Maintain the current cap of 40 aircraft movements per hour.

Transfer excess time slots to other airports while penalizing the practice of hoarding slots.

Transfer general aviation aircraft to Sangley and/or Clark. Fully implement the new Communications, Navigation and Surveillance Air Traffic Management system.

In airside operations: Install ground movement aids to ICAO standards. Construct those rapid exit taxiways. Update airfield and airport charts. Provide interconnections among the terminals—something you don’t have to be a transport economist to appreciate.

In the medium term, implement the privatization of Naia, which was launched last September as the very first airport IPP project of the new President.

Implement a dual airport setup for Mega Manila and develop Clark into the second premier gateway. This was recommended way back by both JICA and IATA. It calls for the joint development of both NAIA and Clark, while the government decides whether or not to build a long-term replacement for NAIA nearby.

The catchment area of Clark comprises northern Metro Manila, central and northern Luzon, where one-third of all OFWs reside. Obviously the need comes up for a high-speed rail connec-

tion from Clark to Manila, as well as completion of the NLEX/ SLEX connector to facilitate passenger movement to points farther south.

Both airports should serve both domestic and international flights, thereby enhancing Manila’s prospects to become a future regional hub.

Accelerate development of secondary international gateways as well as improving provincial airports. By allowing direct flights to the country’s best-known tourist attractions, tourism is promoted while NAIA is decongested.

Improvement means night landing facilities, performance-based instrument flight procedures, and longer and wider runways.

After languishing under PNoy, the new administration has revived PPP projects to privatize the operations, maintenance and expansion of five important secondary airports: Bacolod/Silay, Iloilo, Davao, Laguindingan, and the New Bohol airport.

The whole country wins with projects like these. It should be noted though that many of them are supposed to be well underway the first quarter of this year. The whole country should be watching closely to make sure that the new Secretary of Transportation, Art Tugade, measures up to what he’s been promising and what the country expects from him. *** Happy Valentine’s Day to our readers! As you enjoy your transports into delight tonight, just make sure you land with your feet on the ground.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Contraceptives, the Church and the SC’s TRO HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA IN DECEMBER 2016, this column discussed the status of Republic Act No. 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, commonly known as the RH Law, and the serious problems arising from its non-implementation. A reprise on that issue is necessary because of the immense proportions of those problems.

Republic Act No. 10354 was enacted by Congress in 2012, despite 15 years of intense opposition from the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. That opposition consisted of representations made in both the House and the Senate, and propaganda regularly announced in Sunday Masses, and in “spiritual assemblies” organized by lay church groups.

Angry bishops blacklisted congressmen and senators who voted for the passage of the RH Law and urged the faithful not to vote for those legislators in the 2013 elections. One controversial parish church even erected a billboard outside its main entrance which denounced senatorial candidates who supported the RH Law. Parenthetically, the billboard became an election issue because it was seen as illegal election propaganda by many. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that the billboard did not violate any election law.

A year later, opponents of the RH Law challenged its validity in the Supreme Court and obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against its enforcement.

In 2014, the Supreme Court fi-

Falling...

From A4 This is what distinguishes eros from agape for this Catholic thinker. In “supernatural love, “we are not responding to a particular individuality of a person but to his dignity as a person, as imago Dei.” Each person is a child of God, “created by him, loved by him.” Christ is our Messiah who died for every one of us: “No one is excluded, even though man can choose to exclude himself.”

According to von Hildebrand “In agape, we need not perceive the beauty of the neighbor whom we embrace in our love, for we know in faith that he deserves our love, even though this lovableness can be totally hidden from our sight. When he kissed a leper, St. Francis of Assisi was kissing Christ in him. Leprosy is not lovable. This was physical leprosy. Spiritual leprosy is infinitely

nally upheld the constitutionality of the RH Law but voided a few of its provisions.

Surprisingly, however, the opponents of the RH Law succeeded in derailing the enforcement of the RH Law one more time. By alleging in a petition filed in the Supreme Court that certain contraceptive products sold in the market are abortifacients, and that the health and drug authorities did not conduct any hearings on these products, the anti-RH Law groups convinced the Supreme Court to issue a TRO prohibiting the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from “granting any and all pending applications for registration and/or recertification for reproductive products and supplies, including contraceptive drugs and devices.”

The TRO requires all new contraceptive products and devices to undergo a protracted registration process with the FDA before they can be sold to the public.

The process may take from two to three years to complete.

All complaints against contraceptive products and devices, even those obviously designed to harass the registrant, must be entertained by the FDA. The waiting period can last for an additional ten years should the FDA-approved registration be challenged in court.

Records indicate that as a result of the TRO, the certificates of product registration of at least 77 contraceptive drugs and devices have been canceled. More are expected.

Because the TRO is for an indefinite period, industry experts estimate that there will be no new contraceptives in the market by 2018. That translates to an inevitable, unmanageable geometric increase in the country’s popula-

tion, which will definitely trigger more poverty nationwide.

It also creates a serious health menace because unwanted pregnancies will force unwed mothers desirous of concealing their predicament to resort to abortion without proper medical supervision. In such instances, death or infection is very likely.

Health and drug authorities in the Philippines, convinced of the paramount need to address the potential population nightmare and terrible health risks, are repeatedly urging the Supreme Court to lift the TRO. So far, there are no reactions from the court’s spokesman regarding this matter.

Meanwhile, contraceptives are fast disappearing from the pharmacies.

To underscore to the Supreme Court the urgent need to lift the TRO against the RH Law, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 12, which calls for the full implementation of the law. Economic planning officials believe that the executive order will convey to the Supreme Court and to the public the message that a year and a half of inaction on the RH Law is too long a wait, and that the government cannot afford to stand by indefinitely.

Political observers add that the TRO is an undue restraint, by reason of its indefinite nature, imposed by an unelected branch of the government against an official act of an elected branch.

Church leaders claim that their opposition to the RH Law is in furtherance of their fight against abortion. That claim, however, is belied by a strong-willed Catholic nun who argues that one opposed to abortion is not necessarily pro-life, and that morality is deeply lacking if all one wants “is a child born but not a child fed,

not a child educated, not a child housed.”

The nun’s view raises compeling reasons why anti-RH Law groups should stop and rethink their position. Moreover, supporters of the RH Law posit that killing an unborn child is no different from letting a child be born into a life devoid of parental love, health care, a happy childhood, and basic education.

By far, the Church sponsored anti-RH Law campaign focuses only on the right to life, and conveniently ignores another one, namely, the right of the people to decide when to conceive children, which is embraced by the more comprehensive constitutional right to privacy.

Another legal consideration that should merit attention is church interference in political affairs—something prohibited under the principle of separation of church and state mandated by the Constitution. In exchange for the prohibition against religious meddling in government affairs, the Constitution grants tax-exemption privileges to religious institutions. The Church, however, enjoys the best of both worlds —it breaches the legal divide between Church and State, but delights in its tax exempt status.

Such duplicity borders on rank opportunism, something which goes against the virtues supposedly espoused by the Church.

By its nature, a TRO is something temporary. Observers argue that the one and half years of judicial indecision is far from temporary, and that any further extension of the TRO makes it tantamount to being virtually permanent. They add that the issue on contraceptive registration must be resolved once and for all before the population problem becomes a real nightmare.

worse because one is responsible for it. Yet, the greatest criminal, be it a Stalin or a Hitler, as long as he is alive, deserves our prayers, which express our concern for his true welfare: to turn back to God.” While eros, i.e. reciprocated natural love, is a condition for happiness, it is not the case with agape, the Christian love of neighbor. This is emphasized by von Hildebrandt: “There, my own earthly happiness does not depend on how or whether my neighbor responds to my love, but, instead, on whether he too will learn to share in Christ’s love for others.

Further, in love of neighbor there is no self-revelation, no desire to open oneself up to him. This selfrevelation is only justified when a true love between man and woman (eros) has been reciprocated.”

While eros is exclusive and limited to an individual person, this is the case in love of neighbor.

The latter is not exclusive. Per von Hilderband, such love “can

be directed to anybody, black or white, man or woman, stranger or acquaintance, old or young, born or unborn”, and finds “its sublime expression in Christ’s response to the man who said, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ in the parable of the Good Samaritan.”

Comparing eros and agape, von Hildebrand says that the latter is superior to the former: “The superiority of love of neighbor over natural love is to be explained by its supernatural quality, in its partaking in Christ’s love for our neighbor. Its virtue resides in its supernatural nature. By its very essence, this love is pure because it has its source in God’s love.”

Thus it is essential for Christians to aim and work, with God’s grace of course, to transform all our natural loves into supernatural ones, “and then enabling them to exude the perfume of holiness”.

“By so doing, spousal love would not only preserve its ardor and enchantment, but it would also fulfill

all its potential purified of human faults and imperfections,” von Hildebrand concludes.

In sum, eros must also transform into agape for the former to become perfect and complete.

This is why, according to a passage attributed to Venerable Fr. Padre Arruppe SJ, “Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Facebook: deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PRESENT: Vice Mayor Councilor “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO - Presiding Officer SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA MARIE ALETHEA SJ. CASAL-UY GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR. DIVINA A. JACOME LUIS S. JAVIER JR. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY MA. ARLENE M. ORTEGA NELSON S. PASIA ENRICO J. PUNO MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

LnB President

ARMANDO P. PADILLA

ABSENT: Councilor FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO “ ROMEO C. MEDINA-Sick Leave “ MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT ============================================================================= On motion presented by Hon. M.A.S.J. Casal-Uy, which was duly seconded by all Members present, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Makati approved City Ordinance No. 2017-020 on third and final reading.

CITY ORDINANCE NO. 2017-020 Authors: Hon. M.C.M. Yabut, Hon. M.A.S.J. Casal-Uy, Hon. D.A. Jacome, Hon. G.I.N. de Lara-Bes, Hon. N.S. Yabut Jr., Hon. A.P. Padilla, Hon. E.J. Puno and Hon. M.R.C. Tolentino

AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE MAKATI CITY LOCAL CULTURE AND ARTS COUNCIL, DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFORE AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, SUBJECT TO ALL LAWS AND EXISTING LEGAL RULES AND REGULATIONS. WHEREAS, the United Nations recognizes that culture is an essential component of human development, a source of identity, innovation, and creativity for the individual and the community and that it is important factor in social inclusion and poverty eradication, providing for sustainable economic growth and ownership of development processes; WHEREAS, the United Nations General Assembly, in two consecutive “Culture and Development” UNGA Resolutions 65/166 and 66/208 released in 2010 and 2011, respectively, called for the mainstreaming of culture into development policies and strategies, and underscored culture’s intrinsic contribution to sustainable development; WHEREAS, the 2013 UNGA Resolution on “Culture and Sustainable Development” emphasizes the important contribution of culture to the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development and to the achievement of national development objectives and the internationally agreed development goals; WHEREAS, the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Goal 11.4 is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable by strengthening efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage; WHEREAS, under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the State shall commit to foster the preservation, enrichment and dynamic evolution of a Filipino national culture based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression. In order to protect and promote the cultural treasure of the nation, the State shall conserve and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations and ensure equal access to cultural opportunities through the educational system, public or private cultural entities, scholarships, grants and other incentives, and community cultural centers, and other public venues; WHEREAS, Section 16 of RA 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, states that “within their respective territorial jurisdictions, local government units shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture…”; WHEREAS, Section 10 (e) (16), Article IV of Republic Act 7854, otherwise known as the Charter of the City of Makati to wit; the Sangguniang Panlungsod shall establish a City Council whose purpose is the promotion of culture and the arts, coordinate with government agencies and non-governmental organization and, subject to the availability of funds, appropriate funds for the support and development of the same.

WHEREAS, Republic Act 10066 otherwise known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, in various sections of Articles IV, V, and X has empowered local governments to actively conserve, preserve, protect, document, maintain, and promote local Heritage Zones, tangible and intangible cultural treasures, and other cultural and artistic expressions within its jurisdiction; WHEREAS, due to the rapid pace of economic, social, and physical development in the city, there is a need to give importance to its local cultural heritage and artistry to ensure that external factors and influences do not eradicate the distinct culture identity of Makati; WHEREAS, in order to promote nationhood and cultural unity; to instill pride of places among Makateños; and to raise the level of consciousness of the people on cultural values, there is a need to create a Local Culture and the Arts Council that will ensure the preservation, enrichment and promotion of the Filipino national culture in general and Makati’s own cultural and artistic identity in particular; WHEREAS, DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2002-81 dated 17 May 2002 likewise provides for the creation of Local Culture and the Arts Councils; WHEREAS, considering the necessity of having a Council to spearhead the conservation, enrichment, and promotion of Makati’s cultural and artistic heritage, the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Makati hereby approves the Creation of Makati City Local Culture and Arts Council.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED, AS IT IS HEREBY ENACTED, BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, BY VIRTUE OF THE POWERS VESTED IN IT BY LAW, IN SESSION ASSEMBLED, THAT: Section 1. TITLE – This ordinance shall be known as the “Makati City Culture and the Arts Council Ordinance of 2016”.

Section 2. CREATION – There is hereby created the Makati City Culture and the Arts Council, herein after referred to as the Council, which will spearhead the conservation, enrichment, and promotion of Makati’s cultural and artistic heritage.

City Mayor City Council Chair of the Committee on Tourism, Culture and International Affairs Representative, Cultural/Historical Society/Foundation

Members: a. President, Liga ng mga Barangay b. Head, Museum and Cultural Affairs Office c.

Head, Urban Development Department d. Head, International Relations Department e. Project Director, Makati Poblacion Heritage Conservation f.

President, University of Makati g. Senior Advisor to the Mayor h. Representative, Arts Society/Foundation i.

Representative, Media j.

Executive Director, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Private sector representatives shall be appointed by the City Mayor, chosen from a reputable list submitted by the Museum and Cultural Affairs Office. This appointment may be revoked and the representative/s may be replaced at any time at the discretion of the Mayor.

Section 4. TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP – A Technical Working Group (TWG) shall be created to assist the Council for research, planning, implementation, and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects for cultural and artistic development in the city. The TWG shall be a multi-agency body composed of members from the various pertinent city offices and departments, such as but not limited to the following: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. m.

Office of the Mayor Sangguniang Panlungsod City Administrator’s Office Museum and Cultural Affairs Office Urban Development Department Department of Engineering and Public Works Budget Department Information and Community Relations Department Law Department International Relations Department Liga ng mga Barangay DepEd Makati University of Makati

Standing committees within the TWG may be formed for specific functions and task.

Section 5. SECRETARIAT- A Secretariat for the Council, composed of the Museum and Cultural Affairs Office as head and the International Relations Department and Information and Community Relations Department as members, shall be formed to serve the following functions: a. b. c. d. e.

Call for meetings.

Coordinate events and activities.

Coordinate among all members of the council and TWG. Prepare minutes of meetings and documentations and keep all programs, projects, and activities of the Council for archive.

Assist the TWG in their tasks.

Perform any other duties that may be assigned by the Council.

Section 6. FUNCTIONS – The Council shall exercise the following functions and powers: a.

Formulate, consolidate and integrate policies and strategies for the City based on cultural rights that highlights the role of culture in sustainable development and its integral relation to economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental balance. b. Prepare annual, medium-term and long-term plans with corresponding budgets to be integrated in the local development plan. c. Ensure the protection, preservation and conservation of the local cultural and historical heritage. d. Oversee the planning and implementation of the Makati Poblacion Heritage Conservation Project and other City projects related to the culture and arts. e. Promote awareness of and appreciation for local culture, history and the arts. f. Establish partnerships with the private sector for cultural and artistic programs. g. Conduct periodic consultations with all stakeholders to identify grassroots-based cultural concerns, issues and agenda. h. Encourage the development of local cultural industries. i.

Encourage the establishment of local artistic, cultural or historical civil society organizations. j.

Conduct periodic inventory of local cultural objects and sites in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. k. Coordinate with existing local culture and the arts councils and other local, regional, and international organizations for culture and arts. l.

Review the annual budget for cultural and artistic programs of the city before presenting the same to the Sangguniang Panlungsod for approval. m. Submit an annual Culture and Arts in the City report on the developments and accomplishments. n. Perform all other tasks and functions related to the overall objective in the preservation, enrichment and promotion of culture and the arts in the City of Makati.

Section 7. MEETINGS – The Council shall meet once every month or when necessary.

Section 8. APPROPRIATION – Operational Cost for Makati City Culture and Arts Council is One Million Pesos (Php1,000,000.00) for the 1st year under Other Maintenance & Operating Expenses of the Museum and Cultural Affairs Office and to be adjusted annually.

Section 9. REPEALING CLAUSE – All existing ordinances, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 10. Let Copy of this Ordinance be furnished to all offices concerned for their information, guidance and reference.

Section 11. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE – This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

ENACTED BY THE SANGGUNIANG PANLUNGSOD OF MAKATI, METRO MANILA, in its Special Session held on 8 February 2017.

HON. SHIRLEY C. ASPILLAGA

HON. ROMEO C. MEDINA

HON. MARIE ALETHEA S.J. CASAL-UY

HON. MA ARLENE M. ORTEGA

HON. GRAZIELLE IONY N. DE LARA-BES

HON. NELSON S. PASIA P

HON. FERDINAND T. EUSEBIO

HON. ENRICO J. PUNO

Solidum said the government must learn its lessons from the magnitude-6.7 quake that shook Surigao City Friday night, killed seven people, injured over 200 people and destroyed the Surigao airport, buildings, roads and houses.

“We have many lessons to learn out of it, for Metro Manila and the other areas. [Several parts of Metro] Manila is prone to lique-

faction,” he told reporters.

Among the threatened areas are the Naia facility in Pasay City and South Harbor, Port Area in Manila, he said.

“There must be a redundancy system. We need to have another airport that can withstand a strong quake, such the Clark International Airport. We have to decide,” he said.

The government may maximize the Batangas International

NOTICE OF LOSS

ERRATUM

Notice is hereby given that the original receipt of a cash bond paid by Chen Binbin @ David Tan in the amount of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php100,000.00) as proof of payment required by the Order dated 6 October 2015 issued by then Commissioner Siegfried B. Mison was lost as per Doc. No.7; Page No.2; Book No.12; Series of 2016 before the Notary Public Atty.Dennis Arvin L. Chan.

There was an error in the address of Philippines Ports Authority main office ad placement of PPA Administrative Order No. 032017 dated February 11, 2017.

The correct address should have read as follows:

(MS-Feb. 14,15 & 16, 2017)

Leyte and Mindanao segments, possibly increasing chance for a new temblor there, noted Phivolcs science research specialist Rhommel Grutas.

“We can’t predict when that temblor will occur so communities atop such segments must prepare accordingly,” he said, cautioning about possible onslaught of another earthquake along PFZ. Grutas said PFZ’s Leyte segment extends northwards up to Leyte island in the Visayas.

PFZ’s Mindanao segment extends to Southern Mindanao, he continued.

In its latest situation report this week, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said the magnitude-6.7 earthquake Feb. 10 affected almost 5,200 people in Surigao del Norte.

PHILIPPINE PORTS AUTHORITY Bonifacio Drive, South Harbor, Port Area, Manila 1018 Philippines P.O. Box 436, Manila, Philippines Tel. No. (0632) 527-8356, Fax No. (0632) 527-4855 http://www.ppa.com.ph

HON. ON. MARY RUTH C. TOLENTINO

HON. DIVINA A. JACOME

HON. ON. EVELYN DELFINA E. VILLAMOR

HON. LUIS S. JAVIER JR.

HON. ON. MARIA CONCEPCION M. YABUT

HON. LEONARDO M. MAGPANTAY

HON. NEMESIO S. YABUT JR.

HON. ARMANDO P. PADILLA LnB President Certified true and correct by: ATTY. DINDO R. CERVANTES Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlungsod Attested by:

HON. MONIQUE Q. LAGDAMEO Vice Mayor & Presiding Officer Approved by:

(MS-FEB. 14, 2017)

And not as published.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGIO BRANCH 109, PASAY CITY

Republic of the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region REGIONAL TRIAL COURT Mandaluyong City Branch 211

MARISSA SAMSON DAGAM Petitioner,

IN RE: PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE COPY OF CONDOMINIUM CERTIFICATES OF TITLE NOS. 008-2015005599 AND 008-2015005600 IN LIEU OF THE LOST TITLES LRC Case No. MC16-865

-versus –

CIVIL CASE NO. R-PSY-16-23464-CV For: Declaration of Nullity of Marria Under Art. 36 of the Family Code ZHANG WEI, Respondent. x------------------------------------x

METRO UTOPIAN CONTRACTING, INC. Petitioner, x--------------------------------------------------x

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATIO TO: MR. ZHANG WEI HEART FOR THE DAY. Vendors carry hundreds of heart-shaped balloon along Timog #43 Lourdes St.,

ORDER This is a verified petition filed by the petitioner praying that the Court cancel and declare null and void the owner’s duplicate copy of CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600 which were lost, and to order and direct the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong, after payment of the fees prescribed by law, to issue in lieu/replacement thereof, a new owner’s duplicate copy of CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-20155005600 which shall in all respect be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate and in exactly the same terms and conditions annotated therein whatsoever, in accordance with Section 109 of Act No. 456, as amended by P.D. No. 1529, in relation to R.A. No. 26.

That petitioner is a corporation organized and existing by virtue and operations of Philippine laws with principal place of business at No. 455 Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City.

For the purpose, petitioner is represented by its President Enrico A. Doculan.

That petitioner is the registered and absolute owner of condominium unit and parking space located at Brgy.

Wack Wack, Mandaluyong City, and described under Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) Nos. 0082015005599 and 0082015005600 of the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong, with area of ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN SQUARE METERS AND NINETY EIGHT SQUARE DECIMETERS (114.98 sq.m.) and THIRTY SEVEN SQUARE METERS AND FIFTY SQUARE DECIMETERS (37.5 sq.m.), respectively.

That petitioner is in actual possession and occupation of the real estate properties and they have been declared for taxation purposes as evidenced by hereto attached latest Tax Declaration Nos. D-027-22910 and D-092722911.

HON. VIRGILIO V. HILARIO JR.

MAR-LEN ABIGAIL S. BINAY City Mayor

P

HILIPPINE Volcanology and Seismology director Renato Solidum warned on Monday the management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport of unimaginable devastation if a magnitude-7.4 earthquake rocks Metro Manila.

Port or Batangas Pier, instead of the South Harbor Pier, to deliver goods to Calabarzon areas and the National Capital Region, he said.

“This way, we can help lessen traffic in the metro, reduce gas consumption and lessen the impact of a strong quake [at the Naia and Port Area],” he said.

He said the Surigao airport collapsed due to liquefaction, the process by which wet sediment starts to behave like liquid.

Meanwhile, volcanologists predict another temblor may be in the offing along the Philippine Fault Zone which generated last week’s magnitude-6.7 earthquake in Surigao.

Movement of PFZ’s Surigao segment triggered such earthquake and may have also “disturbed” any of the adjacent

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Section 3. COMPOSITION – The Council shall be composed of the following:

Vice Chairman:

Heed Surigao quake’s lessons, Phivolcs says

By Rio N. Araja

Co-Authors: Hon. S.C. Aspillaga, Hon. F.T. Eusebio, Hon. V.V. Hilario, Jr., Hon. L.S. Javier, Jr., Hon. L.M. Magpantay, Hon. M.A.M. Ortega, Hon. N.S. Pasia and Hon. E.D.E. Villamor

Chairman: Co-Chairman:

News

A6

TODAY

That the Owner’s Duplicate Copies of the said titles were being kept by Mr. Doculan at petitioner’s then principal office at Unit 1075-3G, 3rd Floor, LEL Building, No. 1075, J.P. Rizal Street, Makati City.

That in December 2015, petitioner transferred its principal office to No. 455 Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.

By reason of this, all things which are being kept in the office were brought to the new office, including CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 0082015005600.

That all along, Mr. Doculan thought that all documents from the old office were placed and kept in their respective cabinets in the new office, only to find out that, in November 2016, CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600 are beyond recovery. In fact, they had a hint that those titles were lost during that time when petitioner transferred from one

office to another, and that they were not kept in the new office.

That accordingly, an Affidavit of Loss was executed which was later submitted for registration. Photocopy of the said Affidavit of Loss which was submitted for registration as Entry No. 2016010470 on December 2, 2016 at 1:47:07 PM for both CCT Nos. 008-2015005599 and 008-2015005600, before the Register of Deeds for the City of Mandaluyong. Meanwhile, copy of the Memorandum of Encumbrance evidencing such registration on the said titles can be seen on the second and third pages of each title.

That the said CCT’s are not mortgaged nor given as security to any loan whatsoever.

Neither said CCT’s are being subject of any attachment, execution or proceeding in any judicial or administrative body. And finally, said CCT’s have not been sold to any person or entity to guarantee any obligations or for any other purpose.

That the original copy the titles subject matter this petition is existing the Register of Deeds Mandaluyong City.

of of at of

Acting on the petition, this Court hereby orders petitioners to cause the publication of a copy of this Order at their own expense before the hearing on February 27, 2017 at 1:30 o’clock in the afternoon before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 211, 2nd Floor, Old Municipal Hall Building, Maysilo Circle, Mandaluyong City. Let a copy of this Order be published in the Manila Standard Today, a newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila selected by raffle pursuant to PD No. 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

Any interested person may appear and oppose the petition.

Petitioner is further directed to cause the service of copies of this Order together with the petition and annexes upon the Register of Deeds of Mandaluyong City, the Director of the Bureau of Lands, the Commissioner of the Land Registration Authority, the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Office of the Solicitor General, the proofs of service to be duly proven and established to the satisfaction of the Court.

SO ORDERED. Mandaluyong City, January 13, 2016.

(Sgd.) OFELIA L. CALO Judge Copy Furnished: -Atty. Nesauro H. Firme -Register of Deeds -Bureau of Lands -Dept. of Envi. & Natural Resources -Land Registration Authority -Office of the Solicitor General -Manila Standard Today (MS-Jan. 31, Feb. 7 & 14, 2017)

F.B. Harrison St., Avenue in Quezon City at P80 each for Valentine's Day’s celebration. Manny Palmero Pasay City

GREETINGS: You are hereby directed enter your appearance in th above entitled case with thirty (30) days from the la issue of publication here in a newspaper of gener circulation in the Philippine once a week for two (2 consecutive weeks and answe the Petition filed by petitione Marissa Samson Dagam wherein the petitioner pray that judgment be rendere Traffic Management technology. declaring the marriage betwee petitioner and respondent a The CNS/ATM facility will be null turnandover void by on the groun

CAAP: Airport radar repair to affect flights

By Joel E. Zurbano AVIATION authorities on Monday ordered the immediate repair of one of the radars being used by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, which they said, will affect some flights at the country’s premier international airport.

In a notice to airmen, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said some flights will be affected at the Naia because of the scheduled corrective maintenance of Tagaytay (monopulse secondary surveillance radar) beginning March 6 until March 11.

“CAAP advises the public that some flights at the Naia will be affected as a result of the airtraffic control system adjustment on the said dates,” said CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio.

CAAP Deputy Director General for Operations Capt. Manuel Antonio Tamayo said that coordination with Manila International Airport Authority and airlines operating at the Naia have been put in place and advisory on the revise flight schedules during the duration of the repair period will be coordinated with passengers through their respective airline carriers.

The radar repair will cover the overhauling of antenna and replacement of its drive motor and rotary joint that is long overdue and will be integrated with the soon to launch satellite-based Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air

main contractor Sumitomo-Thales JV to CAAP management by July this year.

When fully operational, the facility can monitor 80 percent of the Manila Flight Information Region as assigned to the Philippines by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Republic ofThe the Philippines National Capital Judicial Region project was partly funded by the Japan InternaREGIONAL TRIAL COURT Mandaluyong City tional Cooperation Agency.

Branch 211 IN RE: PETITION In a related development, the CAAP also FOR or-ISSUANCE O SECOND COPY OF THE OWNER DUPLICATE CERTIFICATE OF dered the immediate repair of Surigao Airport TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. which was damaged by the magnitude 6.727260 quake LRC Case No. MC16-86 last Friday night.

SPS. RICARDO B. VALDEZ and CAROLINA VARGAS VALDEZ, Aviation officials issued a directive closing thePetitioners, -versusoperations of Surigao Airport “effective at 7:23 a.m THE LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY, THE REGISTRY Saturday Feb.11, 2017 with 30 days validity.”

OF DEEDS OF MANDALUYONG CITY, developCAAP engineers from aerodrome Respondent x-------------------------------------------x ment management services are still conducting ORDER This is a verified petition filed by t inspections on the structural integrity of the petitioner praying that after due notic publication and hearing in accordance w damaged airport complex. the provision of PD1529 and other alli applicable laws thereon, judgme CAAP Area Center managerand Evangeline be rendered as follows: 1) Granting t instant petition; 2)that Ordering the Regist Daba said an earthquake of 6.7 magnitude of Deeds of the City of Mandaluyong forthwith issue a FriSecond Copy of t struck Surigao City at around 10:04 p.m. on Owner’s Duplicate Certificate of Transf Certificate of Title No. 2760 in favor of SP day damaged partially the concrete 1700 meter RICARDO B. VALDEZ and CAROLIN VARGAS VALDEZ, both of legal ag runway 18/36 of Surigao Airport that im-of 715 Pantale Filipino,needs and a resident Hulo, Mandaluyong City; 3) To relea mediate repair and rehabilitation. St., the issued Second Copy of the Owne Duplicate Certificate of Transfer Certifica Daba added that the airport terminal except of Title No. 27260 as no longer valid a effective; 5) Other reliefs just and equitab from some broken windows and crack tiles are likewise prayedsuffor.

That petitioners are the registered own fers only minimal damages. of a parcel of land located at the Bo.

Hulo City of Mandaluyong covered by TC No. 27260.

That said realty was acquired by t petitioners from the National Housi Authority and was paid in installme The National Housing Authority requir the petitioners to execute a Deed of Re Estate Mortgage in their favor to secure t payment of the balance in the amount P28,424.00. The Real Estate Mortga Contract was duly annotated in page 2 the Certified True Copy of TCT No. 272 under Entry No. 60686-T 27260.

Negros gov backs PCSO NEGROS Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo on Monday said he fully supports the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s expanded Small Town Lottery in his province as this would create thousands of jobs and legitimize the “underground economy” of illegal gambling.

“I will aggressively support the implementation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 13 against all forms of illegal gambling operations here in my province. Eliminating this social menace that destroys the moral fabric of society would end the culture of corruption by gambling lords and their cohorts in governments,” Degamo said in a statement.

Late last week, Duterte issued EO13 and ordered the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and all other law enforcement agencies to help games and amusement regulatory bodies curb illegal gambling operations in the country.

Just recently, PCSO launched the expanded STL with a total of 56 Authorized Agent Corporations in several parts of the country to generate a conservative amount of up to P30 billion, according to PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan.

PCSO Chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz said on top of raising billions for the national government’s revenue generation

program, the expanded STL That sometime on February 200 petitioners have completed the payme is expected to produce nearly of the mortgage obligations to the Nation Housing Authority. As a result of the f 500,000 jobs. payment of the Mortgage Obligation, t National Housing Authority executed t of Cancellation and Release of Re “Imagine the Deed figure STL Estate Mortgage dated February 4, 2005 can generate employment for by the Nation That after the issuance Authority of the Deed this year alone. Housing Actually, we of Real Esta Cancellation and Release Mortgage Contract, the National Housi are preparing again thereleased bidding Authority to the petitioners t Owner’s Copy of Transfer Certificate Title No. 27260. of 37 more prospective AACs That after the acquisition of the sa within this year. Owner’s Our estimate Copy of TCT No. 27260 fro National Housing Authority, petition is that if we canthe increase the VALDEZ w CAROLINA VARGAS entrusted the custody and kept the Owne employment through Copy andthe other STL, documents related there in her personal files at their house. the government can generate up to P40 billion of revenues,” Balutan said.

2 cols. x According to Degamo, he was already been informed that the local branches of PCSO, the police and the NBI have already issued stern warnings to stop illegal numbers games operations in the province.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Pacman asks fans: Pick my foe M ANNY Pacquiao on Monday asked his legions of Twitter followers to choose his opponent after announcing his next world title defence will be in the United Arab Emirates.

“See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao” the WBO world welterweight champion tweeted, appearing to scupper reports that he would next fight Australia’s Jeff Horn in Brisbane in April.

Pacquiao then posted a poll on

his official Twitter feed asking his 108,000 followers to choose either Horn, Terence Crawford, Amir Khan or Kell Brook as his next opponent in the UAE. The poll had received more than 10,000 votes by Monday morning.

A spokesman for Pacquiao told AFP he was due to meet his manager Michael Koncz later Monday and a statement about his next fight would be issued.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had been widely quoted last month in international media as saying that the boxing icon would be getting into the ring with the unbeaten Australian Horn in April and the Queensland tourism minister said they were in negotiations to host the bout.

But Pacquiao, 38, posted on his social media accounts that he would be fighting instead in the Middle East and seemed to indicate that while his opponent could still be Horn it could also be one of three other world-class boxers—American Crawford or Britons Khan or Brook.

Reports of a bout between Pacquiao and Horn had begun circulating last month but the Filipino southpaw said contracts had not been signed.

“We are still negotiating about that. Nothing is really final, the

date, who is the opponent. There are a lot of offers from other countries,” Pacquiao said last month.

Pacquiao announced a brief retirement last year but made a successful comeback against Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas in November,saying he still felt like a youngster.

The boxing hero initially said he was retiring to focus on his new role as Philippine senator after winning elections last year on the back of his sporting fame.

Arellano, Perpetual shoot for volley titles Games today

(Philsports Arena, Pasig) 12 nn.- LPU vs Perpetual Help (jrs) 3:30 p.m.- SSC vs AU (women’s)

ARELLANO University and Perpetual Help go for the jugular today when they face San Sebastian College and Lyceum of the Philippines University in the women’s and juniors’ finals, respectively, of the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Both the Lady Chiefs and the Junior Altas erased the thrice-tobeat advantage of the Lady Stags and Junior Pirates by winning the first two of games in the finals and would clinch the title if they win today.

AU dominated the series opener, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, last week and then survived reigning three-time league MVP Grethcel Soltones’ 26-hit performance to escape with an 18-25, 25-16, 25-11, 26-28, 15-13, Friday to move on the verge of snaring their second crown after winning it all two years ago.

For the Las Pinas-based school, it routed LPU, 25-21, 2518, 25-22, in Game 1 and then eked out a come-from-behind 25-16, 23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 1510 triumph in Game 2 to come close to pocketing their third straight crown and ninth overall.

Should both San Sebastian and LPU take Game 3, it will force a deciding Game 4 on Thursday.

Arellano University though is expected to go for it and dedicate the championship to the late wife of coach Obet Javier, Amy Marie, who passed away last week due to lung cancer.

“They want to dedicate it to her, but I told them not to be affected and just focus on the game,” said Javier.

Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao holds up his world welterweight championship belt upon his arrival at the airport in Manila last February 13. Pacquiao has asked his legions of Twitter followers to choose his next opponent after announcing he will defend his world title in the United Arab Emirates. AFP

Le Tour begins in Bicol on Feb. 18 FIFTEEN teams with two former champions and the eight running of the Le Tour de Filipinas is good to go down south of Luzon anew on Saturday (Feb. 18).

The “Eighth’s Amazing” edition of the annual race that opens the International Cycling Union Asia Tour season traces a familiar route but this time northward bound.

“The challenges of the Maharlika Highway in Bicol and Quezon province with the region’s scenic beauty as backdrop provides another perfect setting for the Le Tour de Filipinas,” race organizer Donna May Lina, president of Ube Media Inc., said.

“The Le Tour de Filipinas is not all about cycling as a sport, but as importantly Ube Media Inc.’s contribution to sports tourism,” she added.

Mark Galedo rides anew for 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines as he tries to snatch a second crown to the one he won in 2014. Providing a tough challenge for the veteran Filipino is Frenchman Thomas Lebas, who is returning with Kinan Cycling Team hopeful of duplicating his success in 2015 in this year’s race again presented by Air21.

Interestingly, 7 Eleven Roadbike Philippines will race with four men, one less than the fiveto-a-team lineup in the fourstage 728.59-kilometer race that has Petron and UPS as principal sponsors and Philippine Airlines as official airline partner.

Joining Galedo on the team are former Asian Juniors road cycling bronze medalist Rustom Lim, RJ Peralta and Spain’s Edgar Nieto.

A young Philippine national team is also on the roster of the race backed by Advanced Solutions Inc., Cargohaus Inc. CCN Sports Philippines, IWMI, NMM Customs Broker, Phenom Sportswear, UFL Philippines and WARM.

Foreign aces spice up ICTSI Anvaya Cove golf meet TWELVE Japanese, nine South Koreans and five Australians make up the bulk of the 33man foreign contingent set to slug it out with the local stars in the rich ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 15) at the Anvaya Cove Golf and Sports Club in Morong, Bataan.

Former Philippine Golf Tour winner Toru Nakajima and former Asian Tour campaigner Hirotaro Naito head the big Japanese crew vying in the P3.5 million event, which also drew the likes of Nicolas Paez of the US, Jose Rolz of Guatemala, Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia, Poland’s Thomas Bosco and regular PGT campaigner Guido Van der Valk of the Netherlands.

Jason Dawes, Kingsley Kelly, Rhett

McIvor, Frederick Park and Ian Tonumaipe’a will banner the bid of the aces from Down Under while Park Jun Sung, Kim Beom Soo and Lee Hyeon Tae will carry the cudgels for the big Korean delegation out to make an impact in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. With last year’s champion and recent The Country Club Invitational winner Miguel Tabuena opting to take a much-needed rest following a grueling five-week campaign here and abroad, the chase for the top P650,000 purse is expected to go down to the last shot or putt.

“This is going to be a wide-open race but the locals are ready and confident to keep the crown at home,” said reigning PGT Order of Merit champion Tony Lascuña, who is also

coming off a series tournaments, making him battle-ready in the 72-hole championship sponsored by ICTSI. Lascuña and the 28 other pros test the Anvaya layout today for the traditional pro-am where they will be paired with officials and guests of the event’s chief backers, including KZG, Pacsports, Custom Clubmakers, TaylorMade, Sharp, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, Event Captain, Ping and Pioneer Insurance.

Joining Lascuña in the title hunt are Angelo Que, Clyde Mondilla, Elmer Salvador, Jay Bayron, Cassius Casas, Zanieboy Gialon and Jobim Carlos along with Ferdie Aunzo, Jerson Balasabas, Rufino Bayron, Jun Bernis, Michael Bibat, Marvin Dumandan, Albin Engino.

Juvic Pagunsan, foiled by Tabuena at the TCC Invitational, also withdrew two days before the tournament, citing emergency.

But a host of local players are also in the fold, including Anthony Fernando, Mhark Fernando, Charles Hong, Keanu Jahns, Rey Pagunsan, Mars Pucay, Justin Quiban, Joenard Rates, Gerald Rosales and Orlan Sumcad.

Meanwhile, the second leg will be held at the Eastridge Golf Club in Binangonan, Rizal for the ICTSI Manila Masters on April 5-8, while Luisita Golf and Country Club will host the ICTSI Luisita Championship on April 26-29, before the five-leg Asian Development Tour kicks off with the ICTSI Orchard Golf Championship at the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Dasmariñas, Cavite on May 10-13.

Sponsors won’t support tennis association TOP supporters from the private sector have withdrawn its support of the Philippine Tennis Association, citing lack of trust with the personalities running the organization.

Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshop have both declared to continue their age-group tennis tournaments, but without the sanction of the PHILTA. They will instead introduce their own unified ranking system.

“We can no longer give support to an association we feel is mismanaged by two people (Buddy Andrada and Romeo Magat), who have not shown any platform and programs for the past many years. But we are only pulling out our support to the association, but not to the development of tennis in the Philippines.

We will continue our thrust of developing fresh talents through our age-group tennis circuit and we are upholding our support to our national team professional athletes like Treat Huey, Ruben Gonzales, Francis Casey Alcantara and Katharina Lehnert,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier and long-time tennis supporter.

Bobby Castro and Jean Henri Lhuillier

“We feel that PHILTA, under the leadership of Mr. Andrada and Mr. Magat have been grossly remiss in its mission of advancing the sport of tennis in the Philippines. We believe that for

Philippine tennis to advance, we need fresh ideas and new leadership,” said Bobby Castro, president and CEO of Palawan Pawnshop.

Cebuana Lhuillier and Palawan Pawnshop comprise more than 80% of the age-group tournaments in the country underlying the lack of programs from PHILTA. The two companies are also responsible for numerous men’s tennis opens, including some internationalladen tournaments.

The exit of these sponsors are just the first of what is expected to be a series of protest actions by different tennis stakeholders on Andrada’s insistence to retain the presidency.

Andrada recently reneged from his vow of leaving the presidency during discussions with the PHILTA board, ITF PRESIDENT David Haggerty and POC president Peping Cojuangco last October 2016.

He later confirmed to the PHILTA board on its last meeting on Dec. 14 , 2016 that he is stepping down from the presidency, but decided to stay on and not open the position in the recent PHILTA elections.

Toru Nakajima among foreign players seeing action in the ICTSI Anvaya Cove Invitational

PSC won’t assist sports groups with unresolved disputes NATIONAL sports associations which have unresolved leadership disputes will not receive any financial assistance from the Philippine Sports Commission.

PSC William “Butch” Ramirez issued this reminder again after former PSC board member Salvador Andrada remained as president of the Philippine Tennis Association for the next two years.

During the proceeding last Monday, four board members walked out, including businessman sportsman Jean Henri Lhuillier, who was seeking the post of president.

Ramirez said leaderships conflicts within NSAs will be among the four grounds why the agency will be compelled to suspend its support.

“If these things are not cor-

rected and resolved properly, anytime the PSC will suspend and stop funding,” said Ramirez.

The agency listed down its reasons not to support NSAs, and this includes unliquidated financial assistance and NSAs that have reportedly bullied and abused athletes, who were removed without due process.

NSAs with no updated Secu-

rities and Exchange Commission documents on elections and their financial statements won’t get financial support, too.

During the Philta polls, the 82-year-old Andrada said there was a misunderstanding when he announced his plans to quit his post last year.

Eleven of 12 board members showed up for the scheduled board meeting of the Philta

at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, Manila.

Lhuillier and his supporters were informed that the post of president will not be open for voting and was later informed that he can vie for vice president instead.

The offer was turned down and he walked out with four other members of the board.

Peter Atencio

LOTTO RESULTS 6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

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

A8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Maraguinot still learning from UAAP experience

By Peter Atencio FOR Jho Maraguinot, her third game in the ongoing 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines women’s volleyball tournament last Sunday was a learning experience.

And, its not only her, but to most members of the Ateneo Lady Eagles as they rallied past Far Eastern University, 25-19, 24-26, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11.

“May adjustments kami,” said the Lady Eagles 5’7 outside hitter after the Lady Eagles booked their second win in three contests.

Maraguinot talked of the team’s experiences in that game after she was named one of the sports ambassadors with University of Santo Tomas’ EJ Laure and University of the Philippines’ Isa Molde.

She said the team is now adjusting with its rotation, and the team takes care of situations especially when their opponents are ahead.

“We are learning a lot from our second win. Natataranta kasi (team) dahil mas experienced sila (FEU),” added Maraguinot, now on her third season.

The Lady Eagles are the runners-up the La Salle Lady Green Spikers last season.

In that game, Maraguinot finished with 18 points, while Michelle Morente added 17 hits and 14 digs as the Lady Eagles.

She stepped up with skipper Jia Morado , who showed up sick, but was still exceptional with 53 excellent sets.

So far, National University is ahead after they beat Adamson University, 25-15, 25-22, 25-19.

Jaja Santiago fired seven of her 15 points from the service zone, including four aces in the Lady Bulldogs, who posted their third straight triumph with La Salle.

Jasmine Nabor tossed in 29 excellent sets.

Sports New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) drives to the basket against the San Antonio Spurs on February 12, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. AFP

Knicks stop the spiral with win over Spurs N

EW YORK —The New York Knicks’s latest tough week ended on a high note on Sunday as Carmelo Anthony and company shocked the San Antonio Spurs 9490 at Madison Square Garden.

A victory over the secondbest team in the NBA was a welcome change of fortune for the Knicks, who are languishing well out of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference amid tensions between Anthony and club president Phil Jackson.

A feud between owner James Dolan and popular ex-Knick Charles Oakley also boiled over in ugly fashion on Wednesday.

Anthony said he was doing

his best to ignore the noise.

“I’m out here playing basketball, trying to enjoy the game of basketball,” he said. “Whatever happens outside the basketball court does not concern me.”

Instead, Anthony said, he and his teammates were focused on delivering the kind of consistent performance they’ve had trouble sustaining through four quarters this season.

In Toronto, Kentavious Cald-

well-Pope scored five of his 21 points in the final minute as the Detroit Pistons erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Raptors 102-101.

Caldwell-Pope made a 16-foot jumper and followed it with a three-pointer with 13.2 seconds left to give the Pistons a onepoint lead.

Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan missed a fadeaway jumpshot as time expired.

The Raptors, fourth in the Eastern Conference, lost for the 10th time in 14 games.

Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 22 as the Minnesota Timberwolves rolled past the injury-depleted Chicago Bulls

117-89 in Minneapolis.

The Bulls were without starters Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade as well as backups Nikola Mirotic and Paul Zipser.

The Timberwolves, who had lost five of their previous six games, took full advantage to give coach Tom Thibodeau a sweep of the season series against his former team.

In Sacramento, DeMarcus Cousins scored 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out 17 assists in the Kings’s 105-99 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Cousins was also whistled for his 17th technical foul of the season, for an elbow thrown in the first quarter that appeared to be inadvertent. Cousins, who has

FEU UST retain crowns

Folayang is next sports icon ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong sees Eduard Folayang as Philippines’ next global sports icon If there is one athlete who put the Philippines on the map of the international sporting scene, it is Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao has captured 13 world titles in eight different weight classes and was hailed “Fighter of the Year” three times by both The Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA).

As Pacquiao’s curtain call looms, ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong sees Filipino mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Eduard Folayang as the perfect successor of the 38-yearold pugilist from the South Cotabato suburb of General Santos.

“My dream is to see a local star

becoming a national star, and then he becomes a global superstar. I think that in Eduard Folayang, we have a big potential there,” he said.

“When Manny Pacquiao retires, he is going to leave a big void in the Philippines because he is a sports hero.

I believe Eduard Folayang has all the right makings of becoming the next flag bearer of the Philippines on an international stage,” Sityodtong said.

From meager beginnings to magnanimous victories According to Sityodtong, Pacquiao and Folayang have striking similarities as both men had tough beginnings with barely anything to start out with―from penniless homes to underprivileged surroundings.

In order to support their own families, Pacquiao and Folayang

dabbled into sports, seeing it as their only escape from poverty.

Squeezing through the eye of a needle to survive, Pacquiao and Folayang conquered difficult odds and established themselves among the best and the brightest athletes of their respective sports.

Despite their successes in their individual fields, Pacquiao and Folayang remained humble as the two highlydecorated fighters preferred not to scowl and flaunt what they have achieved.

“Manny’s story inspires everybody.

He evolved from a Manila street kid to a global superstar, but he remained so kind and humble. That’s what we saw in Eduard Folayang as well. Nothing has changed even if he is now a world champion. It’s just the same old Eduard as before,” Sityodtong said.

ONE Championship world lightweight champion Eduard Folayang is all smiles as he exits the ring after winning the world lightweight title. ONE Championship

Tropang Texters battle SMB

By Jeric Lopez

TNT KaTropa forward Troy Rosario (left) gets a shot off against San Miguel Beer defender Arwind Santos (29) during their encounter won by TNT. The two teams go at it again today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

THREE in a row.

That’s what streaking TNT KaTropa will be aiming at when it goes for a commanding 3-1 lead over skidding San Miguel Beer in their best-of-seven semifinals series in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippines Cup playoffs.

Still hot after taking a 2-1 series lead with impressive victories in the last two games, the Tropang Texters look to ride all their momentum to go for another one over the Beermen, who are in a must win situation, in Game 4 scheduled at 7 p.m. tonight at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City in a Valentine’s Day presentation.

Despite the lead and the golden opportunity at hand, TNT coach Nash Racela doesn’t want to completely be satisfied with what his team has accomplished

already served a one-game ban for amassing 16 technicals, will be suspended another game for an 18th tech.

Pelicans rookie Buddy Hield was ejected for the first time in his NBA career after he was assessed a flagrant foul for hitting Cousins in the groin in the second quarter.

Anthony scored 25 points and pulled down seven rebounds, Derrick Rose added 18 and Kristaps Porzingis contributed 16 with seven rebounds and four blocked shots to help the Knicks end a four-game skid.

New York came up big defensively, too, holding the Spurs to a season-low 36.3 percent shooting in the upset. AFP

up to this point.

He is well aware of San Miguel’s ability to turn on the switch when it matters.

“Coach Leo (Austria) and San Miguel are veterans. They’ve gone through so many wars. So we expect them to fight their way back We have to be ready for that,” said Racela.

He then credited his team’s chemistry and collective effort and mentioned that those will be the keys once again in Game 4.

“It’s still a collective effort for us. We have to rely on all our players and everyone’s contribution to continue our push against San Miguel.”

The two teams traded blows in Game 3 last Sunday night but TNT KaTropa, just like in Game 2, came out on top to take a vital 98-92 victory and take the series lead with it.

Veteran star Ranidel De Ocampo and rookie Roger Pogoy worked

together to spearhead the Tropang Texters to having the edge in the series.

De Ocampo scored 24 points in Game 3 while Pogoy wasn’t far behind with 22.

More importantly for TNT, it was able to limit three-time reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo to only 16 points as he dealt with foul trouble for most part in the second half.

For the first time this season, the aura of invincibility may have abandoned the defending champion at this point.

After racking up 11 straight wins and seemingly looking unbeatable, the Beermen lost their groove at a wrong time in the middle of a grueling semifinal duel.

San Miguel was unable to counter the Tropang Texters’ aggressive play in Games 2 and 3, resulting to losses and a 1-2 deficit that it is staring at now.

FAR Eastern University annexed its seventh straight men’s title, while University of Santo Tomas completed a three-peat in the women’s division Sunday in the UAAP athletics championships at the Philsports oval.

The Tamaraws drew strength on Janry Ubas gold medal feats in the long jump, triple jump, high jump and decathlon to collect 404 points to beat the Growling Tigers, who finished second with 244 points.

De La Salle, which shared the lead with UST in Day 1, settled for third place with 243 points.

FEU now has a league-best 25 championships, with Janry Ubas winning the men’s MVP plum.

Ubas, who also bagged a silver medal, broke the UAAP long jump record with 7.39 meters. He also shattered the league mark in the high jump during the decathlon competition with 2.05 meters.

Behind double gold medalist Louielyn Pamatian, the Tigresses amassed a five-day total of 490 points to win their seventh crown overall, besting the Lady Tamaraws, who tallied 401 points in second place.

University of the Philippines placed third with 165 points.

Pamatian, who topped the 1,500-meter and 800-meter run events on top of a silver finish in the 400-meter race, was named the season MVP in the distaff side.

University of the East, meanwhile, swept the boys and girls titles with 553 and 524 points, respectively.

Junior Warriors’ James Darrel Orduña and Ellah Therese Sirilan were named MVPs in their respective divisions.

Tax reforms to buck protectionism B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

B1

Gokongwei supports tax reforms IN BRIEF

Cemex, BDO sign $280-m loan deal BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s biggest lender controlled by tycoon Henry Sy, signed a $280-million pesoequivalent term-loan agreement with Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. BDO said the loan showed the bank’s firm support for the business prospects and positive long-term outlook of Cemex in the Philippines.

“We’ve been together from the boom of the cement industry, to the bust and then to the boom again. We are happy that Cemex has once again chosen BDO to be its partner,” said BDO senior executive vice president Walter Wassmer.

Cemex Holdings Philippines president Pedro Jose Palomino said the cement company appreciated the support BDO extended. The continued growth of Cemex’s subsidiaries―Apo Cement and Solid Cement―has made its Philippine operations as the most profitable in the Asian region.

Cemex Holdings Philippines launched a successful initial public offering last year where a total of 2,337,927,954 shares were subscribed at P10.75 per share, giving the company roughly P25 billion in IPO proceeds. Julito G. Rada

By Julito G. Rada

J

G SUMMIT Holdings Inc. president Lance Gokongwei expressed his support for the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, saying it is more equitable and simpler.

Gokongwei said he recognized the critical role that large taxpayers would play in the success of President Duterte’s reform agenda and tax reform program of the Finance Department.

“When it comes to tax policy and administration, our desire is but simple: first, a stream-

lined, not-too-burdensome set of procedures and processes that will make tax compliance straightforward and easy,” Gokongwei said at the kick-off ceremony of the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s 2017 tax collection drive.

“And second, a tax reform that will be equitable to our

wage earners, allow the government to fund vital infrastructure and social services while enabling corporate partners to remain competitive in this global trading order,” he said.

Gokongwei said large taxpayers carried a disproportionate influence of setting the right tone of compliance with tax laws, serving as “barometers of the overall environment of integrity―or lack thereof―in our country.”

Gokongwei said that in pursuing tax reform, “temporary inconveniences, hiccups and growth pains” were to be expected, but such concerns would not deter him and his

fellow large taxpayers in helping ensure the success of the reforms being put in place by the DOF both in tax policy and administration.

“To be considered as partners for change rather than to be treated with suspicion, to be consulted rather than to be threatened, to be given a seat at this table in seeking a just resolution of differences rather than being shut out, this humbles and inspires us no end,” he said.

The first package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program being pushed by the DOF calls for the lowering of personal and corporate income taxes, with the goal of shifting the tax burden

to the rich and large taxpayers.

It also includes several revenuegenerating measures to offset the losses from the income tax reductions and to raise enough revenues for the government’s unprecedented public investments program.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said expanding the scope of the BIR’s Large Taxpayers Service was a key component of the tax administration reforms under the Duterte presidency to complement the proposed overhaul of outdated tax policies to make the system simpler, fairer and more efficient, especially for the poor, low- and middle-income taxpayers.

PSE COMPOSITE INDEX Closing February 13, 2017

8000 7600 7200 6800 6400 6000

7,294.67 59.46

OFWs in Germany best Valentine giver FILIPINOS living in Germany send an average of $12.5 to $32.5 more than usual to their loved ones in the Philippines on Valentine’s Day, showing they are the most generous long-distance lovers in the world.

A report released by WorldRemit shows Germany-based Filipinos are followed closely by Filipinos living in Norway, who send on average of $24 more. At third place are those living in New Zealand who send on average of $12.5 more.

The global data were based on an internal analysis of WorldRemit’s top 10 recipient countries in the months of February 2016 specifically on, before or after Valentine’s day week.

“Looking at this year’s data, we can see that Filipinos in Germany, Norway and New Zealand are planning ahead and sending more money to their loved ones in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day,” Alix Murphy, director of mobile partnerships at WorldRemit, said in a statement.

“On average, these groups sent $12.5 to $32.5 more for Valentine’s Day compared to the previous week to mark the occasion,” he said.

Julito G. Rada

Okada delays grand opening

By Jenniffer B. Austria UNIVERSAL Entertainment Corp., the builder of Okada Manila integrated resort and casino in Parañaque City, postponed the grand opening of the $2-billion project by a month to March 2017.

Universal Entertainment said in a statement on its website that while the construction was sped up to complete various facilities within the complex including the VIP casino floors, restaurants, world-class fountains and other facilities, the grand opening of Okada Manila would occur by end-March 2017, instead of end-February 2017.

“We hereby announce that we have now reached the stage wherein we are targeting to hold the grand opening at the end of March 2017,” Universal Entertainment said.

Okada Manila, named after Japanese billionaire and project owner Kazuo Okada, opened its doors to the public on Dec. 21 to give the public a “preview” of the country’s largest world-class integrated resort.

The integrated resort launched its casino operations on Dec. 30, after it secured the approval from state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The project was originally scheduled to open in 2015, but was delayed to November 2016 and then to December 2016 due to “worse-than-expected weather conditions.”

PESO-DOLLAR RATE

Closing FEBRUARY 13, 2017 45.00 46.25 47.50 48.75 50.00

HIGH P49.890 LOW P49.950 AVERAGE P49.925 VOLUME 347.500M

P471.00-P690.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.80-P48.90 Unleaded Gasoline

PH-ARGENTINA COOPERATION. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (right) and Argentinian Ambassador to the Philippines Roberto Bosch discuss possible cooperation between the two countries during the latter’s courtesy call at the DA Office in Quezon City. Among them is the opportunity for the Philippines to export abaca fiber and coconut products. Piñol also urged the Argentinian envoy to look into a future collaboration on various agricultural facilities including solar-powered irrigation system and drying centers and importation of dairy cow embryo from Argentina to boost the local dairy industry.

ERC approves three Meralco retail suppliers

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Energy Regulatory Commis-

sion approved three Manila Electric Co.-affiliated retail electricity suppliers, allowing them to sell their output to contestable customers or those with a monthly average demand of at least one megawatt.

The three affiliated retail electricity suppliers are Vantage Energy Solutions and Management Inc., Solvre Inc. and MeridianX Inc. ERC spokesman Rexie Digal said the agency approved Meralco’s affiliated RES Vantage Energy on Jan. 10 and the latter already paid the license registration fee.

Meralco filed Vantage Energy’s application for retail electricity

supplier license on Nov. 29.

The move is in compliance with the recent Supreme Court ruling which stopped the Pasig regional trial court from proceeding with its temporary restraining order and injunction on the retail competition and open access scheme being implemented by ERC and the Energy Department.

“As a distribution utility affiliated RES, Vantage Energy intends to provide retail energy services which will include wholesale contracting, energy trading and sourcing, marketing, selling and aggregating electricity, billing, collection and the provision of other value added services to contestable customers,” Meralco said.

ERC also approved MeridianX’s license on Feb, 9 but the company

still needed to pay the license fee.

It also approved on the same day the application of Solvre, the retail electricity supplier of Meralco PowerGen Corp. which has yet to pay license fee. Meralco PowerGen is Meralco’s power generation arm.

Meralco’s head of legal department William Pamintuan said earlier they would comply with the Supreme Court’s decision on forming a new RES. “We emphasize, however, that our decision to form a new RES is without prejudice to the final resolution of the courts on the cases filed by the ERC and DOE involving the issue of the validity and continued operation of the local RES,” Pamintuan said.

Pamintuan said they also

filed a motion for reconsideration which was “not intended to prevent the implementation of valid RCOA rules which we have consistently supported but rather to seek legal redress against the recent issuance related to RCOA that are contrary to provisions of the Epira [Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001] and detrimental to fail competition and consumer interest.”

Meralco earlier asked for the issuance of the TRO from the Pasig RTC to stop the implementation of open access, as it would create irreparable damage to the company.

It said that as a distribution utility, it did not need to get retail electricity suppliers license as it was already covered by its franchise.

P27.90-P33.80 Diesel

OPRICES IL TODAY

P28.50-P36.85 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, February 13, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.9170

Japan

Yen

0.008803

0.4394

UK

Pound

1.248300

62.3114

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128906

6.4346

Switzerland

Franc

0.997606

49.7975

Canada

Dollar

0.764234

38.1483

Singapore

Dollar

0.703482

35.1157

Australia

Dollar

0.767900

38.3313

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652731

132.4164

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266652

13.3105

Brunei

Dollar

0.701016

34.9926

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028527

1.4240

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.5924

Euro

Euro

1.063000

53.0618

Korea

Won

0.000873

0.0436

China

Yuan

0.145402

7.2580

India

Rupee

0.014967

0.7471

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.225124

11.2375

New Zealand

Dollar

0.720000

35.9402

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032274

1.6110 Source: PDS Bridge

Maynilad spends P19b to reduce water leaks

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. said it spent P18.95 billion to replace old pipes since 2008 to reduce water leaks.

The west zone concessionaire said under its non-revenue water reduction program, it recovered 923 million liters per day of water since 2008.

The recovered volume is enough to fill up 370 Olympicsize pools every day and supply about 1.5 million households with potable water.

Maynilad’s NRW reduction program includes the regular replacement of old pipes.

The company said it was able to replace 1,709 kilometers of pipes, or about 43 percent of the total water network Maynilad inherited after re-privatization in 2007.

The company said it continued

to operate state-of-the-art leak detection technologies which enabled it to repair 27,936 pipe leaks in 2016 alone, bringing the total number of leaks repaired to 290,180 since 2008.

Maynilad’s NRW reduction program also includes meter and pressure management, active leakage control, primary line assessment, selective pipe replacement and district metered area.

Maynilad said this year, it would invest over P4 billion for the NRW reduction program, including 2.7 billion for pipe replacements in Quezon City, Navotas, Valenzuela, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas and Cavite.

Another P200 million will be spent for leak repair projects while the rest of the budget will go to the replacement of old water meters, network diagnostics and leak detection.

PDIC BOARD MEMBER. Finance Secretary and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Carlos

Dominguez III (left) administers the oath of office to Anita Linda Aquino as a director of the PDIC board, representing the private sector. Aquino previously held posts in various banks in Manila, New York and Singapore in the area of treasury/financial markets. She joins Rogelio Guadalquiver and Eduardo Pangan as private sector representatives to the PDIC board.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market advances; Metrobank up SMDC allocates S P16.7b for capex TOCKs rose for a second day, following another record close in New York as traders welcomed Donald Trump’s promise of details on tax reform and his softer tone on China and Japan.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, climbed 59 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 7,294.67 Monday. This pushed up total gains this year to 6.6 percent.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 28 points, or 0.7 percent, to settle at 4,408.86, on a value turnover of P5.9 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 112 to 91, while 40 issues were unchanged.

Fix of the six sectoral indices rose, with only the services sector registering losses. Among

the 20 most active stocks, 10 ended in the green, led by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second largest lender, which gained 2.7 percent to P79.35 and conglomerate Ayala Corp. which went up 2 percent to P809.

Meanwhile, most Asian shares followed the lead of Wall Street, where shares soared at the end of the week after the new US president finally broke his silence over fiscal policy, saying he would unveil a “phenomenal” tax plan within three weeks.

That was followed by his affirmation that he recognizes Beijing’s “One China” policy towards Taiwan and a positive weekend meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The developments fueled some much-needed relief to traders who had grown increasingly worried about Trump’s outbursts against both countries’ trade policies and his lack of detail on the domestic front.

“This is a big relief for investors given that Trump’s previous stance had raised serious foreign policy concerns, not to mention the prospect of severely damaged trade ties with the region and increased protectionism,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.

Adding to the positive atmosphere was a forecast-busting reading on Chinese trade, which

raised hopes a growth slowdown in the world’s number two economy could be bottoming out.

Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader, said in a note that the “apparently more conciliatory president Trump... added to the positive sentiment”.

He said: “Looking at the stock market rally specifically it’s worth noting that psychology is important in markets and it’s clear traders still want to believe in Donald Trump.”

Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.4 percent higher as a weaker yen continued to support the country’s exporters.

There was little excitement over data showing the Japanese economy grew one percent last year and enjoyed its longest run of expansion since 2013.

With AFP, Bloomberg

By Jenniffer B. Austria SM DEVELOPMENT Corp, the residential unit of property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc., allocated P16.7 billion for 2017 capital expenditures as it plans to launch new projects this year.

SM Prime said in an investor kit posted on its website SMDC would launch 11,000 to 15,000 residential units this year.

The projects, based on the average selling price of P3 million per unit, will have total sales value of P33 billion to P45 billion.

SMDC plans to expand its

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.26 34,000 48.25 11,100 94 759,520 4.12 12,000 114.4 1,861,140 1.28 267,000 38.75 229,100 16.18 54,200 19.74 620,100 7.6 200 1.6 154,000 830 20 0.78 9,939,000 79.35 3,527,140 0.75 1,577,000 14.24 41,300 59.8 142,940 237 5,920 125 730 43.55 605,000 212.6 939,290 1,790 330 79 45,510 1.28 40,000

108,140 530,165 70,915,210 50,500 212,956,273 347,280 8,883,740 871,908 12,259,842 1,520 248,950 16,600 7,741,630 277,887,409.50 1,191,930 588,512 8,584,639 1,403,240 91,405 25,512,200 199,865,214 593,295 3,586,407.50 51,400

453,525 26,533,773 2,722,939 -593,640 -1,620 -258,050 -19,250 43,325,294 1,087,357.50 2,874,200.00 -19,049,836 80,505 -

43.25 4.95 0.87 1.43 17.5 0.295 100 9.99 16.12 23.45 14.5 56.2 91.85 98 2 6.05 11.9 12.8 8.39 7.06 5.78 21.9 72.5 12.24 17.16 6.16 1.65 205.8 3.88 27.8 30.25 26.95 14.66 289.4 0.255 5.44 3.3 9.25 11.34 2.35 7.1 1.5 78.25 4.8 270 4.95 3.25 12.3 4.2 0.145 1.5 163.2 4.27 1.61 1.08

INDUSTRIAL 44 1,871,900 4.97 442,000 0.88 760,000 1.43 477,000 18.8 6,800 0.32 185,780,000 109.8 550 9.99 21,200,400 16.32 1,482,100 23.6 100,900 14.52 39,000 58 86,110 92 510 115 550 2.07 650,000 6.05 85,100 11.9 114,100 12.86 7,851,600 8.41 652,000 7.13 1,079,900 5.82 9,133,800 22.4 233,600 73.05 364,480 12.24 32,100 17.28 145,900 6.23 113,400 1.7 1,068,000 207 580,600 3.89 308,000 28 1,100 30.25 2,758,100 27 369,000 14.78 1,467,100 295.2 419,750 0.265 7,860,000 5.85 193,800 3.3 296,000 9.26 2,932,100 11.34 19,000 2.38 2,374,000 7.1 2,630,700 1.51 377,000 78.5 595,030 4.8 735,000 270 190 5 41,000 3.31 415,000 12.3 554,300 4.2 14,000 0.145 2,340,000 1.5 222,000 164.9 961,540 4.3 39,000 1.64 5,358,000 1.12 129,000

81,537,630 2,214,230 668,130 687,050 126,904 59,758,550 56,960 215,265,537 24,196,466 2,373,210 566,458 4,994,432 47,578.50 63,316 1,312,070 515,925 1,360,478 101,057,764 5,483,784 7,674,134 53,029,542 5,179,365 26,575,508 393,108 2,518,934 703,664 1,791,190 119,928,052 1,207,390 30,660 83,523,970 9,977,790 21,676,132 123,178,950 2,047,050 1,105,611 976,840 27,397,685 215,610 5,671,550 19,033,626 583,510 46,660,395.50 3,534,760 52,070 204,030 1,365,330 6,846,550 58,800 340,210 333,600 157,736,432 168,580 8,862,550 142,680

-3,061,260 30,140 -2,300 6,417,144.00 -6,675,700 0 48,118 62,100.00 64,037,182 859,087 -3,815,735 9,253,965 1,172,215 6,740,234.50 -539,376 55,440 -74,196,504 -19,639,290 -4,484,840 1,032,884 2,753,654 -1,479,350 749,100 -2,568,390 4,042,190 2,248,030 -15,130 -5,743,983 1,276,800 40,115,097 818,430 -

0.38 72.6 12.6 1.11 6.05 0.32 793 8.88 12.86 7.95 5.23 0.202 1,238 6.05 72.15 0.98 7.81 13.8 6.77 0.058 1.23 2.05 102.9 671.5 1.41 262.4 0.295 0.192 0.265

HOLDING FIRMS 0.38 10,260,000 74 1,290,920 12.8 2,288,100 1.11 15,000 6.05 82,300 0.335 4,890,000 809 157,770 8.91 3,576,000 13.04 5,535,500 8 425,200 5.23 400 0.202 110,000 1,240 157,585 6.05 200 73.4 1,188,420 1 6,005,000 7.89 151,700 13.86 2,265,400 6.8 10,017,500 0.061 1,295,800,000 1.23 8,000 2.06 124,000 103.2 84,160 679 251,910 1.5 9,015,000 266 14,260 0.295 2,900,000 0.192 3,210,000 0.27 510,000

3,909,650 94,599,887 29,210,718 16,740 500,370 1,607,400 127,256,205 31,983,969 72,051,926 3,389,243 2,092 22,370 195,674,410 1,210 87,086,624.50 6,039,070 1,195,248 31,375,790 68,152,995 83,099,850 9,840 255,810 8,696,474 171,045,535 13,593,120 3,789,146 860,700 616,320 136,750

76,000 20,829,912 6,772,850 9,351,355 3,188,068 -20,853,414 -84,883,605 26,127,279 -29,700 99,443 16,222,328 -23,931,565 -344,130 -28,523 -76,420,125 138,000 -956,876 -

1,994,686 4,022,410 1,733,860 123,107,100 488,275,480 2,345,830 100,600 16,102,830 7,140 661,100 1,940,000 6,956,550 76,472,890.50 5,810 287,810 45,413,510 12,419,540 4,097,860 85,000 70,688,600 2,395,770 1,479,900 37,012,740 9,872,570 25,768,335 2,076,350 148,900

-1,793,204 -7,270 902,030 137,889,260 -575,390 -9,698,060 7,140 86,360 376,380.00 4,462,406.50 -750 20,654,760 -257,500 -360,460 -16,071,330 48,900 -573,800 -67,220 -13,884,165 -891,200 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.27 46.75 93 4.2 114.2 1.34 38.8 16.2 19.82 7.6 1.69 830 0.8 77.7 0.76 14.26 58.55 237 125 40.15 213 1,780 78.8 1.29

3.27 48.3 94 4.3 115 1.37 38.85 16.2 19.84 7.6 1.69 830 0.81 79.5 0.77 14.26 61 239 125.5 43.55 215 1,800 79 1.29

3.16 46.75 92.7 4.12 113.8 1.28 38.7 16.08 19.74 7.6 1.6 830 0.76 77.5 0.75 14.24 58.55 237 125 40.15 212 1,780 78.55 1.28

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

43.5 4.99 0.87 1.44 17.5 0.3 100 10.2 16.36 23.6 14.92 56.2 95 98 2.05 6.07 12.04 12.8 8.4 7.14 5.82 21.9 72.5 12.28 17.16 6.24 1.7 206 3.99 27.8 30.45 26.95 14.74 290.2 0.27 5.44 3.3 9.45 11.34 2.4 7.25 1.52 78.35 4.89 274 4.98 3.28 12.36 4.2 0.146 1.5 164.3 4.53 1.74 1.1

44 5.07 0.89 1.49 18.8 0.34 109.8 10.38 16.4 23.6 14.92 59 95 120 2.07 6.09 12.04 12.98 8.45 7.14 5.83 22.4 73.15 12.28 17.3 6.24 1.73 207.2 4.01 28 30.8 27.3 14.9 296.8 0.275 6.09 3.34 9.51 11.36 2.42 7.34 1.57 78.5 4.9 275 5 3.32 12.5 4.2 0.146 1.56 164.9 4.53 1.74 1.12

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

0.395 73.9 12.74 1.12 6.2 0.34 793 8.9 13.12 8 5.23 0.205 1,261 6.05 72.3 1.04 7.81 13.8 6.82 0.066 1.23 2.08 103 671.5 1.43 265.8 0.305 0.192 0.265

0.395 74 12.8 1.17 6.2 0.34 809.5 9.02 13.18 8.14 5.23 0.205 1,267 6.05 73.5 1.05 7.9 13.9 6.84 0.069 1.23 2.09 104.2 681 1.56 268.8 0.305 0.192 0.28

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

7.16 1.03 2.63 1.58 36.2 3.33 5.03 0.53 1.02 1.27 0.165 0.58 53.5 0.75 0.148 1.69 1.04 1.19 4.25 3.72 0.159 0.36 0.72 5.07 25.35 1.6 3.3

7.16 1.06 2.67 1.6 36.4 3.34 5.03 0.55 1.02 1.3 0.17 0.59 55.5 0.75 0.155 1.78 1.08 1.29 4.25 3.76 0.164 0.375 0.77 5.15 25.35 1.6 3.34

7.12 1 2.6 1.23 36 3.32 5.03 0.52 1.02 1.26 0.165 0.57 53 0.72 0.147 1.69 1.03 1.19 4.25 3.71 0.158 0.34 0.66 4.92 24.75 1.58 3.3

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

29.85 1.03 0.92 5.04

30.5 1.04 0.94 5.04

29.85 1 0.91 4.99

30.5 1 0.92 5

2,677,300 9,828,000 182,000 1,623,500

81,176,030 9,896,970 167,190 8,119,430

27,370,775 30,000 -2,190,721

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CALATA CORP CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL A IMPERIAL B INTL CONTAINER IP EGAME IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MELCO CROWN METRO RETAIL NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT

7.79 46.1 1.5 0.53 0.059 10.7 5.31 7.05 0.065 2.39 95.85 9.6 8.62 2.28 1,800 6.21 16.42 3.94 16 109 76 0.0099 12.2 9.04 0.195 1.35 2.88 14.48 4.01 0.93 2.59 4.51 3.98 2.7 11.18 5.34 3.24 133 8.99 1,514 1.39 0.42 44.2 79.25 6.34 2.61 1.09 1.89 3.2 0.45

7.9 46.1 1.5 0.56 0.06 10.7 5.31 7.41 0.065 2.42 95.85 9.7 8.62 2.28 1,800 6.24 16.8 4.13 16 109 76.5 0.0099 12.4 9.05 0.196 1.36 2.88 14.48 4.02 0.93 3.75 4.63 3.98 2.77 11.18 5.4 4.83 133.1 8.99 1,530 1.39 0.43 44.2 82.7 6.42 2.62 1.12 1.89 3.22 0.46

7.75 46 1.46 0.53 0.056 10.5 5.31 7.05 0.063 2.37 93 9.6 8.61 2.28 1,771 6.16 16.18 3.94 15.56 109 75.8 0.0096 12.2 9.04 0.191 1.35 2.88 14.48 3.93 0.93 2.53 4.42 3.91 2.7 11.18 5.3 3.24 132 8.79 1,489 1.37 0.415 43.9 79.2 6.28 2.54 1.08 1.89 3.2 0.445

SERVICES 7.87 46 1.48 0.55 0.059 10.54 5.31 7.3 0.064 2.38 93.5 9.7 8.62 2.28 1,792 6.23 16.8 4.03 15.56 109 76.35 0.0096 12.4 9.05 0.194 1.36 2.88 14.48 3.93 0.93 3.35 4.6 3.91 2.73 11.18 5.4 3.58 133.1 8.8 1,505 1.37 0.42 44 80 6.3 2.56 1.11 1.89 3.21 0.455

71,800 5,400 32,000 31,000 142,150,000 6,500 1,100 3,976,600 20,910,000 2,903,000 311,410 5,300 127,700 30,000 28,420 74,000 156,300 7,552,000 4,300 20 1,250,520 3,000,000 45,800 470,000 13,690,000 634,000 5,000 3,000 1,883,000 2,000 17,346,000 6,569,000 3,818,000 1,291,000 1,000 91,800 1,541,000 1,430 473,900 130,080 8,473,000 3,030,000 1,699,700 186,310 194,300 3,470,000 10,418,000 11,000 358,000 1,240,000

563,237 248,515 47,410 16,660 8,217,970 68,408 5,841 29,087,563 1,335,190 6,921,670 29,295,541.50 50,910 1,100,494 68,400 50,937,275 457,603 2,575,132 30,511,400 67,336 2,180 95,418,690 29,100 565,920 4,253,300 2,638,730 857,290 14,400 43,440 7,474,120 1,860 56,037,990 29,974,590 15,153,200 3,534,370 11,180 491,840 5,864,420 189,686 4,184,737 195,663,260 11,644,380 1,278,600 74,770,590 14,861,241 1,225,402 8,909,970 11,476,480 20,790 1,147,810 555,550

47,100 8,880 -67,354 -4,743,210 128,000 -52,920 -7,981,508 11,808,805 44,600 -6,142,511 19,200 -5,230,970 -2,519,700 -315,310 -241,400 34,340 182,936 -82,205,350 13,900.00 59,500 -14,282,755 428,995.50 -189,000 -1,806,280 1,203,730 5,580 -

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

0.0032 2.32 5.8 1.82 0.5 0.46 11.2 2.59 0.26 0.186 0.196 0.011 0.012 1.8 7.05 2.62 0.98 0.011 0.012 4.08 0.015 9.8 3.47 136 2.93 0.0093

0.0033 2.37 6.17 1.83 0.5 0.46 11.36 2.59 0.26 0.186 0.196 0.012 0.012 1.86 7.24 2.62 1.01 0.012 0.012 4.1 0.015 10.2 3.47 136.3 3 0.0093

0.0032 2.12 5.8 1.82 0.47 0.45 11 2.43 0.255 0.182 0.196 0.011 0.012 1.72 7.05 2.43 0.98 0.011 0.012 4.08 0.014 9.75 3.38 134.6 2.86 0.009

MINING & OIL 0.0032 183,000,000 2.15 6,028,000 6.07 2,402,000 1.83 77,000 0.49 2,627,000 0.455 1,250,000 11.3 37,600 2.54 6,168,000 0.26 570,000 0.185 13,320,000 0.196 5,080,000 0.011 98,000,000 0.012 10,000,000 1.85 1,566,000 7.21 2,840,600 2.51 172,000 0.98 638,000 0.012 30,900,000 0.012 3,500,000 4.1 16,000 0.015 61,800,000 10.2 5,819,600 3.45 3,241,000 135.8 1,071,130 2.86 126,000 0.009 36,000,000

585,900 13,196,430 14,439,744 140,690 1,273,850 570,150 417,258 15,510,620 146,200 2,458,680 995,680 1,108,300 120,000 2,792,100 20,422,470 425,090 630,550 340,700 42,000 65,580 881,500 58,942,270 11,091,400 145,266,002 363,190 327,000

313,780 -2,750,415 82,470 -217,100 16,400 -1,409,909 70,352 -1,633,690 -72,534,041 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

46 535 528 106 104.5 5.86 1,020 1,030 1.03 109.4 1,072 1,025 106.3 2 77.3 81.1 76.6 78 80.1 77.6 78 78.5

46 535 528 106 104.9 5.86 1,020 1,030 1.03 109.4 1,072 1,025 106.3 2 77.3 81.1 76.6 78 80.1 77.6 78 79

46 535 528 106 104.5 5.85 1,020 1,030 1.03 109.4 1,070 1,025 106.3 2 77 81 76.6 77.5 80.1 77.6 78 78.05

PREFERRED 46 135,300 535 1,580 528 40 106 18,440 104.9 5,580 5.85 2,223,400 1,020 3,000 1,030 2,150 1.03 100,000 109.4 1,010 1,072 4,940 1,025 1,890 106.3 3,000 2 5,000 77 400 81 25,100 76.6 7,200 77.5 54,700 80.1 400 77.6 5,600 78 12,730 79 7,280

6,223,800 845,300 21,120 1,954,640 585,110 13,007,211 3,060,000 2,214,500 103,000 110,494 5,291,800 1,937,250 318,900 10,000 30,890 2,034,110 551,520 4,244,250 32,040 434,560 992,940 571,449

-5,303,800 -2,769,126 -

LR WARRANT

2.01

2.08

2

WARRANTS 2.04 353,000

711,560

-

ALTERRA CAPITAL ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

9.11 3.78 3.04 7.51

10.08 3.9 3.04 7.72

7.64 3.74 3.04 7.09

7.65 3.9 3.04 7.09

41,178,456 147,800 3,040 23,262,597

173,746 -10,749,653

FIRST METRO ETF

119.4

120

119.4

787,169

-

MS

PROPERTY 7.13 1 2.62 1.25 36.2 3.33 5.03 0.53 1.02 1.26 0.167 0.59 54.95 0.73 0.147 1.77 1.04 1.29 4.25 3.76 0.16 0.355 0.69 4.94 25.35 1.59 3.34

279,300 3,991,000 660,000 88,974,000 13,475,400 705,000 20,000 30,141,000 7,000 522,000 11,580,000 12,008,000 1,397,450 8,000 1,940,000 25,922,000 11,848,000 3,280,000 20,000 18,879,000 14,970,000 4,120,000 52,655,000 1,978,000 1,033,800 1,298,000 45,000

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

SHARES

23,504,064 268,729,384 1,360,477,819

PROPERTY

317,032,477

SERVICES

264,239,280

MINING & OIL

477,462,282

GRAND TOTAL

2,719,479,616

SME

4,820,000 39,000 1,000 3,167,200

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120 6,580

VALUE 1,782.48 (up) 14.37 1,150,630,680.907 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,192.97 (up) 63.68 1,399,884,514.029 HOLDING FIRMS 7,338.38 (up) 83.56 1,051,234,380.478 PROPERTY 3,362.83 (up) 30.13 SERVICES 1,430.54 (down) 3.09 1,070,541,451.99 MINING & OIL 12,279.58 (up) 121.46 831,185,103.6636 PSEI 7,294.67 (up) 59.46 292,606,108.7194 All Shares Index 4,408.86 (up) 28.35 5,861,465,272.9306 Gainers:91; Losers: 112; Unchanged: 40; Total: 243

portfolio of residential projects to include house and lot developments. Most of its current projects are high-rise buildings that cater to middle-income market.

Scheduled for launching this year is SMDC’s first house and lot development in Central Luzon.

SMDC did not disclose the exact location of the project, but said the gated development would offer house and lots, well-appointed amenities and a commercial development right beside it.

SMDC executive vice president Jose Mari Banzon earlier said the company expected 50 percent of its revenues and launches to come from house and lot and midrise developments and the remaining 50 percent from high-rise condominiums over the next couple of years.

The condominium builder also ventured into developing medium-rise buildings outside Metro Manila It launched Vine Residences at SM City Novaliches complex in October. The condominium project has a central park with sunken gardens, swimming pools a Nature’s Park and a camp site.

It also launched its first MRB project, Cheer Residences, within the SM City Marilao complex in Bulacan.

These planned MRB developments are mostly located in SM’s mall complexes that give residents the utmost convenience with a supermarket, department store and other dining and entertainment venues next door.

PLDT eyes P70-b sales in internet business

By Darwin G. Amojelar DAVAO CITY―PLDT Inc. said Monday it expects to generate P70 billion in revenues this year from its home and enterprise businesses.

“The drivers for the growth in 2017 and even perhaps the next couple of years would be driven by the enterprise and the home, considering the wireless business have suffered to a large extent from massive competition and price erosion, not only on the mainstream talk and text but actually spilled over to the data bundle pricing,” PLDT chief revenue officer Eric Alberto told reporters.

“The challenge for wireless is to really find a new base, rationality of the price and at the same time, looking for ways to enrich the customer experience by bundling content and other applications consumers want,” he said.

Alberto said the home and enterprise segments posted over P60 billon in revenues last year.

“We are targeting doubledigit [growth for this year], maybe P7 billion to P10 billion, depending on market conditions and the pace of adoption,” he said.

Alberto attributed the growth in the enterprise business to the aggressive rollout of enterprise data-driven services and solutions.

PLDT, together with digital enterprise solutions arm ePLDT, launched its eighth operating data center facility situated in Mindanao, the first such facility built in the region.

“Digital technologies and platforms are changing enterprise operations and how businesses grow and protect their digital assets,” Alberto said.

Business

Manila

Standard

TODAY

B3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

BIR upbeat on hitting P1.83-t collection goal

CLARK AIRPORT PITCH. Clark International Airport Corp. acting president and chief executive officer Alexander Cauguiran (right) briefs

Philippine diplomats holding posts in various countries about the developments at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga during their visit on February 10, in the hope of promoting the airport in their host countries. They include (seated, from left) Consul General Teresa Dizon de Vega of New York; Philippine Ambassadors Evan Garcia of Geneva and Jose Jimeno of Berne, Switzerland; Foreign Service Officer Jomar Sadie of the Philippine Embassy in Iraq; Charge d’Affaires Elmer Cato of Baghdad, Iraq; Ambassador Rowena Sanchez of Ankara, Turkey; and Ambassador Celia Feria of Lisbon, Portugal.

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue is optimistic of meeting the collection target of P1.829 trillion this year despite the threats of mining closures affecting tax collection efforts by the government.

BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay downplayed the significant impact of the mining closures to tax collection campaign, saying the agency could recover from other tax sources that might be lost due to shutdown of mining operations. “... Maybe [there could be a] dent on excise but we are going to recover on income and all the other VAT [value-added tax]. [It just needs] more strict implementation so if there is any dent, then we will try to recover it,” Dulay said.

BIR plans to collect P1.829 trillion this year, or 13 percent higher than P1.620 trillion in 2016.

Early this month, Environment Secretary Regina Lopez announced that out of the 41 metallic mines in the country, 21

would be closed down, six to be suspended and only 12 passed a mining audit. But on Feb. 10, a presidential spokesman said Malacanang would observe due process before shutting down or suspending 28 mining operations in 10 provinces.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said aside from employment, local government finances and the sustainability of the economy might be affected by the decision of the government to close down and suspend the operations of these mining companies.

Dulay the agency would also “hire more people to do the collection.”

Meanwhile, Dulay clarified that the agency was not singling out homegrown cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. in its investigation on the alleged use of fake cigarette tax stamps, saying the agency was looking at the proliferation of fake stamps that affect all the manufacturers.

Julito G. Rada

Tax reforms to buck protectionism

By Julito G. Rada

F

INANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Monday the passage into law of the proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Program under the Duterte administration will create a strong buffer to shield the Philippine economy from the wave of protectionism sweeping across the globe.

Speaking at the resumption of a hearing conducted by the House ways and means committee, Dominguez said unless the tax reform bill endorsed by the Department of Finance

Globe supports telecom proposals

By Darwin G. Amojelar GLOBE Telecom Inc. is supporting bills filed in the Senate, especially those that refer to the adoption of a nationwide mobile number portability and streamlining of the permitting process for cell sites to improve efficiency of telecommuting.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, has authored several proposed measures directly affecting the telecommunications industry that will speed out the rollout of telecom services in the country, improve speed and service of the internet, and lower the cost for the consumers.

“We have always taken the position that government support is indispensable in enhancing the country’s ICT capacities, which is vital in growing the economy,” Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo said.

“We hope that any move to reform the telco industry should include formulation of policies that would fast track the development of the ICT industry as a whole to further boost economic development,” he added.

He pointed out that GSMA reported in October 2016 that the mobile ecosystem in Asia Pacific, consisting of network operators, infrastructure service providers, retailers and distributors of mobile products and services, handset manufacturers and mobile content, application and service providers, maked a significant contribution to their respective economies in terms of economic growth, job creation and public funding.

According to GSMA, the total value added generated by the mobile ecosystem was around $440 billion (or 1.8 percent of gross domestic product) with network operators accounting for well over half of this total.

was passed soon enough, millions of the country’s “hardcore poor, those with no skills and no opportunities” would remain trapped in the cycle of poverty.

“Given the uncertainty created by resurgent protectionism, we are likely to see volatility and risk-aversion among many of our trading partners. Slowing global trade translates into weaker global growth, Dominguez said at the hearing of the panel chaired by Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua. “We should seize the ‘Cinderella moment’ we now have to quickly move the fiscal reform package and create a buffer for the most vulnerable among our people,” the finance chief said.

Cua is author of House Bill No. 4774, which contains the

CTRP’s first package that aims to make the tax system more progressive by lowering the personal income tax rates to make them at on par with those of other economies in the region, expanding the value added tax base and adjusting the excise taxes on oil and automobiles.

Dominguez assured the House committee that most cars “will still be affordable” under the CTRP, while the more expensive ones would be slapped with higher excise taxes to “ensure progressivity” of the proposed tax system.

“We are at a critical juncture

today. The easier path is to continue with existing policies that might bring high growth but will also sadly maintain high poverty and economic exclusion.

The more challenging path is to reform the fiscal and economic policies so that growth happens with equity,” he said.

Dominguez said the government must draw up a tax reform program that would enable the government to raise an additional P718 billion for education, P139 billion for health, P267 billion for social protection, welfare and employment, and P1.73 trillion for urban and rural infra-

structure.

“By failing to act boldly at a most opportune moment, we will betray our people. We will condemn our nation to the vicious cycle of high inflation, high interest rates and inhospitable business conditions that we endured before,” he said.

“Without the tax reform package, our GDP growth cannot be sustained by at least 7 percent.

Without a dramatic increase in investments, the country will be consigned to growth below 6 percent—a purgatory for an emerging economy with great potential.”

Valenzuela fire ruling sent wrong message A RECENt judicial decision involving Valenzuela City mayor Rex Gatchalian and a factory fire in his city has raised questions about the nature and extent of the role of a local chief executive in the governance—more specifically, the maintenance of safety and order—in a province, city or municipality. The decision covered the loss of dozens of lives in a fire at a Valenzuela City factory that was found by a subsequent investigation to have been grossly deficient in worker-safety arrangements.

In the wake of the fire, Mayor Gatchalian was accused of gross negligence in having taken no steps to bring about factory-owner compliance with building safety standards. In his defense, Valenzuela City’s chief executive asserted that his office took no corrective action because the city council had not approved the necessary set of building safety regulations and there accordingly was nothing for his office to enforce. Mr. Gatchalian’s position was favorably considered and the mayor was exonerated from any culpability for the tragic deaths of dozens of factory workers.

If the law on criminal negligence is interpreted literally—literal interpretation of laws appears, after all, to be in vogue these days—exonerating the mayor was the proper judicial thing to do.

But should it be interpreted literally, as in the administrative situation in Valenzuela City?

Consider the implications of the court ruling for the governance of a province, a city or a municipality. If the President of the Philippines is the parens patriae, maintaining a parental watch over all the citizens of this country, is not the mayor the parens civitatis, constantly looking after the welfare of all the citizens of his city or municipality? Just as the President of the Philippines cannot be interested in the welfare of only some Filipinos, so a city chief executive has to look after the welfare of all the inhabitants of the city. That includes its workers, whether working in factories or not.

Another implication of the court ruling exonerating Mayor Gatchalian from culpability is that a mayor’s accountability stops at the city council’s door and that a mayor’s administrative responsibility arises only when there is an ordinance for him to enforce. In other words, if the city council approves an ordinance on a particular matter, the mayor has an enforcement duty to perform, if the city council fails to legislate on a particular matter, the mayor does not have to do anything with regard thereto. This is absurd.

In this country’s system of government, the Executive Department is not called the primus among the three pares—the other pares being

the legislature and the courts—for nothing. It is the Gatchalian exoneration should be DILG primarily the job of the Executive Department— (Department of the Interior and Local Government), represented in the Valenzuela City case by Mayor the local governments and BFP (Bureau of Fire Gatchalian—not the city legislature, to ascertain Protection). Because of its impact on the insurance the problems of the city and its residents and industry, Insurance and Surety Association of the craft appropriate legislation for the legislature’s Philippines ought to be a co-appellant. consideration and approval. The legislature should not be expected to take the lead in finding out E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com what problems and ailments beset the province or city or municipality; its Republic of the Philippines principal job is to examine proposals Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE for legislation and either approve or Invitation to Bid disapprove them.

PROCUREMENT OF VARIOUS VACCINES The problem arises when—as in 1. The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act CY 2017 and Continuing Appropriations Act CY 2016 intends to procure the following vaccines listed below: the Valenzuela City case—the city Cost of Bidding Single Largest or municipal legislature neglects IB No. Name of Contract ABC (PHP) Documents (Php) Completed Contract At least Twenty Five 2017- Procurement of Inactivated to enact an ordinance laying down 330,000,000.00 50,000.00 Percent (25%) of the ABC 134 Polio Vaccine within the specified period regulations intended to ensure the 2017- Procurement of Pneumococcal 4,543,625,000.00 in the Section III. Bid 75,000.00 135 Conjugate Vaccine Data Sheet safety and protect the health of factory DOH now invites Bids from eligible Bidders for the procurement of the above-caption workers. What happens in such a 2. The projects. Delivery of the Goods is required as specified in Section VI. Schedule of Requirements.

Bidders should have completed contracts similar to the cited projects as stated in the ITB. The situation? Does the chief executive of description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. the city or municipality, who should 3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nonbe knowledgeable about the state of discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government the area’s factories, do nothing, in the Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with belief that he is not required to enforce at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant ordinances that do not exist? Or should similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183. he try to correct a bad worker-safety 4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the COBAC Secretariat, G/F, Bldg.

6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound, Sta. Cruz, Manila and inspect the Bidding environment by ordering the crafting Documents at 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday. of an appropriate ordinance, which the It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), provided that Bidders who interested to participate shall pay the city or municipal government can then applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

Activity (Date & Time) enforce? With such an ordinance in IB No. Name of Contract Submission and Pre-bidding Conference place, there can be no repetition of the Opening of Bids 2017-134 Procurement of Inactivated Polio Vaccine exculpation of Mayor Gatchalian from 21 February 2017; 06 March 2017; of Pneumococcal Conjugate 9:00 A.M. 9:00 A.M. 2017-135 Procurement Vaccine responsibility for the numerous deaths 5. The DOH will hold a Pre-Bid Conference and the Submission and Opening of Bids at COBAC resulting from his city’s recent factory Conference Room, G/F, Building 6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila on the schedule given below: fire.

Bid must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before the date Mayor Gatchalian should not have given above. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated below: been exonerated by the court. He should Amount of Bid Security have been held partly culpable for the Form of Bid Security (Not less than the required percentage of the ABC) deaths resulting from the factory fire (a) Cash or cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank. in his city. He was well aware that (b) Bank draft/guarantee or irrevocable letter of credit issued by a Two percent (2%) Universal or Commercial Bank: Provided, however, that it shall be Valenzuela City is full of factories confirmed or authenticated by a Universal or Commercial Bank, if issued by a foreign bank. large and small and he should not have (c) Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety or insurance company duly certified by the Insurance Commission as authorized Five percent (5%) known that there was no factory-safety to issue such security. (d) Bid Securing Declaration No percentage required ordinance in place. He should not be opening shall be at COBAC Conference Room, Ground Floor, Bldg. 6, Department of allowed to get away with saying that 6. Bid Health, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted. where there is no ordinance, there is no 7. The DOH reserves the right to reject any and all Bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award corresponding responsibility on the part the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. of the mayor.

8. For further information, please refer to: The decision to exonerate Mayor COBAC-A Secretariat Gatchalian was a mistake. The mistake Building No. 6 Department of Health should be corrected. If not corrected, it San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila will send out a bad message, viz., that Tel. Nos. 651-7800 local 1625 to 1627; 1650 to 52 Facsimile No.: 741-9775 local chief executives need not take (SGD) GERARDO V. BAYUGO, MD, MPH, CESO III actions.

Undersecretary of Health COBAC – A Chairperson A key player in any effort to reverse (MS-FEB. 14, 2017)

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

B4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Japan’s economy grew 1% in ’16

T

OKYO―Japan’s economy expanded 1.0 percent in 2016 as a bump in exports and capital investment offset weak spending at home, data showed Monday, although it was unlikely to erase concerns about Tokyo’s faltering war on deflation.

The gross domestic product data showed four consecutive quarters of growth―the longest expansion since 2013― but the annual figure was lower than the 1.2 percent growth registered in 2015, according to the Cabinet Office.

Government spending measures and a drop in the yen were key growth drivers, even as Japanese consumers kept a tight lid on spending.

“This is really an exportdriven recovery we’re talking

about,” said Izumi Devalier, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities.

“Private consumption has been pretty weak still, and unless we get private consumption fired up, it’s hard to see growth accelerating very strongly from here.”

Japan’s once-booming economy has suffered from years of deflation, which can discourage spending by consumers as they postpone purchases until prices drop further or just save

their money, creating further pressure on businesses.

Doubts have been growing over Japanese leader Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics”―a mix of massive monetary easing, government spending and red-tape slashing―with growth still fragile and inflation well below target.

But exporters have benefited from the fall of the yen―which boosts their profitability―since Donald Trump’s November US presidential election victory.

The yen has lost about 10 percent of its value against the dollar since the poll as traders bet Trump’s planned infrastructure spending and tax-cuts will drive growth in the world’s top economy and perk up inflation, in turn pressuring the US central bank to ramp up interest rates.

During the fourth quarter, Japan’s exports grew 2.6 percent, building on an expansion in the previous three months.

Businesses appeared to be feeling more confident as capital spending grew 0.9 percent, reversing a decline in the previous quarter.

“In the latter half of 2017, the growth rate is likely to pick up pace,” Takuji Aida, Tokyobased chief economist at Societe Generale, said in a commentary.

But private spending, which accounts for more than a half of Japan’s GDP, declined as the weaker yen boosts the cost of imports, which threatens to put a further squeeze on spending, said Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics.

“We expect the yen to weaken

further towards 130 by the end of this year, which will result in a surge in prices of imported goods and undermine households’ purchasing power,” he said.

The dollar was buying 113.91 yen in Asian trading on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, Trump’s protectionist rhetoric has raised concerns about Japan’s economic prospects.

Trump has previously accused Japan of devaluing the yen to boost exports, grouping it with other countries which he says are taking “advantage” of the United States.

But the new US president dropped his previously harsh rhetoric towards Tokyo in a cordial summit with Abe over the weekend. AFP

Lagarde optimistic about US economy DUBAI―International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Sunday voiced optimism for US economic growth under President Donald Trump but warned it could herald trouble for the rest of the world.

“From the little we know, and I will insist on the little we know, because this is really work in progress... but from the little we hear, we have reasons to be optimistic about economic growth in the United States,” Lagarde said at the annual World Government Summit in Dubai.

Lagarde predicted tax reform and more investment in infrastructure were both likely under Trump, whose Thursday teaser of fresh tax cut proposals pushed Wall Street stocks to new records.

The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all closed up 0.6 percent Thursday after the new US president promised a “phenomenal” tax cut plan would be unveiled within two or three weeks.

Yet the IMF chief did not mince words in raising concern over the global repercussions of a boon in the US economy.

“Now that’s the good news,” said Lagarde. “The more worrying news, if you will, is that it will have consequences on the rest of the world, and we are seeing it.”

She highlighted the strength of the dollar against other currencies, predicting a hike in interest rates regulated by the Federal Reserve.

“That’s a tightening that will be difficult on the global economy and for which economies will have to prepare,” said Lagarde.

The IMF in January raised the US growth estimate a tenth of a point this year to 2.3 percent, and four-tenths of a point to 2.5 percent for 2018.

The World Bank, meanwhile. has not changed its forecasts for the United States, citing the uncertainty of Trump’s policy plans.

Both the IMF and World Bank continue to point to uncertainty as a mitigating factor for economic projections in the United States.

The two organizations are expected to announce clearer forecasts at the World Economic Outlook in April.

Lagarde, whose organization has backed taxation in the largely energy-rich and tax-free member countries of Gulf Cooperation Council, was also unwavering in her support for the impending regional five percent valueadded tax. AFP

People cross an intersection in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on February 13, 2017. Japan’s economy expanded 1.0 percent in 2016 as a bump in exports and capital investment offset weak spending at home, data showed on February 13, 2017, although it was unlikely to erase concerns about Tokyo’s faltering war on deflation. AFP

Oil prices hold gains near $54 per barrel OIL held gains near $54 a barrel after the International Energy Agency said Opec achieved a record 90 percent initial compliance with its output-cut deal while demand grew faster than expected.

Futures were little changed in New York after advancing 3.2 percent over the previous three sessions. Saudi Arabia reduced production by more than it had pledged, while higher demand is helping to rebalance the market, the IEA said Friday. Opec is due to release its monthly report Monday, offering the group’s first update on its progress. In the US, drillers increased the rig count to the highest since October 2015, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Oil has fluctuated above $50 a barrel since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations started trimming supply from Jan. 1 to ease a global glut. The market will shift into a deficit during the first half of this year and US crude stockpiles will shrink amid a decline in imports as the curbs take effect, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said last week.

“If Opec confirms the compliance to cuts, there could be more upside from here for oil,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “At this stage, prices are still stuck within a range.

Rising shale output is keeping a lid on gains at the moment.”

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was at $53.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 14 cents, at 3:02 p.m. in Hong Kong. Total volume traded was about 43 percent below the 100-day average. The contract gained 86 cents to $53.86 on Friday. Prices averaged $52.61 last month.

Brent for April settlement traded 9 cents lower at $56.61 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Prices advanced $1.07, or 1.9 percent, to $56.70 on Friday.

The global benchmark traded at a premium of $2.39 to April WTI. The 11 Opec nations bound by the accord reduced output by 1.12 million barrels a day to 29.93 million a day last month, according to the IEA report.

Global oil inventories will fall by 600,000 barrels a day during the first half of the year if the group sticks to its agreement, the agency said. Bloomberg

Struggling retailers seek silver bullet in Amazon era

By John Biers NEW YORK―Want a coffee while you shop? A glass of wine? Those are just few of the gimmicks being rolled out by retailers as they fight to boost store traffic―and ensure their survival in the Amazon era.

Stores are testing artificial intelligence programs to guide shoppers through their aisles, and swipe-right, swipe-left games, that borrow from dating apps to offer them personalized pickings.

Others have added coffee shops, restaurants and even alcohol in an attempt to drag consumers away from their laptops and back in the dressing room.

“It has to be a better experience” and not just “a simple warehouse of goods,” said Chris Donnelly, managing director at Accenture Strategy, a business consultancy.

“There’s got to be more of an emotional, experiential connection.”

The new tech and add-on perks look set to become even more critical following another bad holiday shopping season that has sharpened focus on the oversized US retail footprint.

Experts predict some brickand-mortar stores will survive the period of reckoning, but there will be fewer of them, and the survivors will be more customer-friendly.

A recent Accenture report predicted the next decade will be “the golden age of the consumer,” offering a “growing array of products and services, often personalized to their specific needs and wants.”

But with that comes disruption and Accenture warned of a painful shakeout ahead as old-

Oak Labs engineer Wesley Bliss demonstrates their interactive touchable mirror inside a makeshift dressing room at their office in New York on February 7, 2017. Oak Fitting Room, equipped with an interactive touchable mirror, delivers advanced technology to the retail world. Shoppers can tap on the mirror to request a different size or color of corresponding items or to seek assistance from an associate. AFP

fashioned malls close and jobs are lost.

Experimentation Retailers are showing signs of the strain.

Last week, Ralph Lauren Corp. announced the surprise departure of chief executive Stefan Larsson due to disagreements with the company founder. Tiffany’s chief executive resigned this week.

Macy’s last month announced plans to close 100 stores and eliminate some 10,000 jobs and reportedly has approached rival Hudson’s Bay over a potential merger.

Those woes have sparked a greater willingness to try new things.

“There’s just a lot of experimentation going on,” said Steve Laughlin, IBM’s general manager for global consumer industries. “I would argue not nearly enough.”

Industry insiders are bullish on greater use of hand-held tablets so employees can call up a client’s purchase history or parry questions from well-informed customers about pricing and product information.

Retailers also are turning to data analytics, and IBM is working with them to make use of big data from smartphones on customer patterns, for example to see if shoppers are visiting the shoe department but not buying anything.

Chains like Target and Macy’s have even hired their own engineers to review data.

But the new technologies come with risks. Nordstrom in 2013 said it was pulling the plug on a smartphone tracking program after some customers raised privacy concerns.

Retailers also are divided on how to make use of ubiquitous mobile apps. Some view them as valuable tools―notably for sending promotions or coupons to customers in or near their stores.

But others say mobile apps can detract from the in-store experience.

“When they come to the store, you don’t want them to interact

with the app,” said Ronny Max, a retail industry consultant who specializes in behavior analytics.

“The whole point of them coming to the store is so they can interact with the store.”

Interactive dressing room One new feature generating interest is the interactive dressing room, unveiled at Ralph Lauren’s 5th Avenue flagship store in New York and a handful of other stores.

The technology, developed at Oak Labs, a company started in 2015 by former eBay employees and others, gives customers an electronic link to staff while they are trying on clothes.

Customers can request different sizes and colors without having to get dressed again and go back into the store.

“You’ve shown a lot of intent if you’ve picked up an item and gotten undressed,” said Michael Franklin, co-founder and chief business officer at Oak Labs.

The system also can translate between different languages, suggest complementary items and process transactions.

Oak Labs declined to provide pricing details, but claims the technology boosted average purchases by 55 percent in the handful of places it has been tried.

Fans of the technology say it also can play a role in managing inventory and addressing problem items, such as a jacket that is repeatedly tried and set aside because of poor fit.

But analysts doubt that such deluxe dressing rooms can be a silver bullet for the sector: high costs mean there is little chance of them being rolled out widely in the United States anytime soon. AFP

VALENTINE’S DAY IN THE AGE OF THE MILLENNIAL

IS VALENTINE’S DAY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

still relevant for millennials?

By Maan D’Asis Pamaran

T

HE recent reactions to a certain fast food chain’s set of online ads brought to fore the feelings of the connected generation when it comes to Valentine’s Day. It was not just about couples finding love (or losing it), the last one featured a mother and son coping with the loss of a loved one.

This brings about the question of how Millennials feel about the day when #feels is supposed to trend fashionably.

Almost everyone passed through that stage where they were coerced to handcraft heart cards to give out to classmates and parents, the pressure then was more about making your cards look pretty.

As one grows up, the challenge becomes having people to actually give cards to. So many local Facebook pages are now dedicated to those who are ‘sawi’ or ‘pinaasa’, and every post finds reactions and comments by a generation who seems to find difficulty dating despite the ease of swiping left or right. To those who were lucky enough to find someone to celebrate Hearts’ Day with, do they even celebrate it at all?

Some say they do, because their Significant Other may feel left out if they don’t spring a surprise or at least hand out the token bouquets and chocolate boxes. It does come with a certain measure of pride to post on social media that you are fulfilling #relationshipgoals, after all. A lot of them do say, though, that their heart isn’t really in it.

Quest for authenticity One characteristic that marks Millennials is their quest for authenticity. Yes, it may seem hipster-ish, but they really do try to deviate from the mainstream.

Valentine’s Day is viewed as a marketing ploy that is a message of consumerism hidden within the sweet candy box, and therefore receives a less –than-enthusiastic,

even cynical response.

They don’t find it romantic, states a study published in the GBrief, a US website dedicated to understanding how the Millennial mindset works. It says, “Fiftyeight percent (58%) of Millennials think Valentine’s Day is overrated, and a surprising 27% even go so far as to say that they avoid going out in public on Valentine’s Day. One third of Millennials don’t even celebrate Valentine’s Day to begin with.”

The expense of Valentine’s Day is another factor that make them dislike it, the study adds. This is true even in the Philippines, where a fancy meal costs around P1,500 per head. No matter how those fastfood ads try to suggest that consumers spend their V-Day dates with them, nothing beats getting dressed up with somewhere to go.

It is the thought that counts, of course, and some Millennial drumbeaters are now suggesting to their followers that they make the occasion more special by making the Valentines themselves.

This goes back to their value in the quality of authenticity.

Online Millennial mag Primer extols the virtue of creating something to show their love, with handcrafted items or even a heartfelt handwritten love letter.

Cooking dinner is another given alternative to going out, and we must admit that it is equally as impressive.

Now it goes full circle, as creating handmade cards goes back Turn to C4

HOTEL SOGO

cares for less fortunate families HOTEL Sogo Group, through SOGO Cares Program, successfully implemented Adopt-a-Family Christmas Project 2016.

The event is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the hotel and its desire to give back to society.This Christmas project benefited 34 marginalized families living within the company’s area of responsibility (AOR).

This project is designed to give members of depressed communities, who were especially selected by local officials and endorsed to the Sogo branch managers, a chance to celebrate the holiday season at Hotel Sogo—specifically to enjoy a 24-hour room accommodation with free snacks and meals plus a take home Sogo Cares package as holiday gifts for each family. “Gusto kong maramdaman nila ang kasaganahan ng kapaskuhan tulad ng Turn to C4

C1

C2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

LGUs

Erap backs planned smoking ban U

By Sandy Araneta

RGING his constituents “to keep a healthy heart and lungs” every Valentine’s Day, Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Monday called on Manileños to follow his example and quit smoking for good.

Estrada, a former President, also conveyed his support to the proposed nationwide smoking ban of President Rodrigo Duterte, saying it is now time to enforce an antismoking policy owing to increasing cases of tobacco-related diseases among Filipinos.

The mayor said it has been “his fervent prayer,” as the father of the city, that all 1.7 million Manileños remain fit and healthy—the principal reason he has been implementing a wide array of health programs and services in the city since he assumed office in 2013.

“Love your heart, quit smoking. This is my Valentine’s (Day) wish for everyone, for every Manileño,” Estrada said in time for the observance of National Heart Month this February, as provided under Proclamation No. 1096 signed on Jan. 9, 1973.

“For the sake of your family and loved ones, stop smoking. It won’t do you any good,” he added.

The mayor has directed the strict implementation of City Ordinance No. 7748, which prohibits smoking in all enclosed areas like hospitals, schools, public buildings, shopping malls, and other public places in the city.

City Hall employees can only smoke in three designated areas: at the Arroceros, Taft Avenue, and Freedom Triangle gates, he added.

“We will start here at the City Hall. I enjoin everyone, from rank-and-file employees to department heads and even city councilors, to comply with this anti-smoking ordinance. We will be very strict,” Estrada warned.

Estrada, already 79 years old, has kicked the habit after he was briefly hospitalized last December owing to asthma attacks. He said he has started chewing sugar-free medicated lozenges instead of smoking after being

discharged from the hospital.

The mayor invited Manileños to attend the city government’s grand Valentine’s Day event today, dubbed “Baywalk Manila: A Night to Remember” along the Roxas Boulevard Baywalk fronting Raja Sulayman Park.

“This is a modest gift from my administration to the citizens of Manila, especially to the lovers out there. I want, during this Valentine’s Day, that we must love each other more, and to spread more our loving one another,” Estrada said.

The event starts at 4 p.m. with the Manila City Hall band playing its repertoire, as well as cul-

IN BRIEF

RED, RED ROSES.

A flower trader in Baguio City’s public market shows off her stock of red roses in time for Valentine’s Day today.

Baguio is the first drop-off point for the flowers grown and harvested in farms across Benguet and Mountain Province.

David Chan

Bistek’s father passes away, 82 FORMER Quezon City Councilor Herminio “Butch” Bautista, father of Mayor Herbert Bautista, passed away Sunday night at the Philippine Heart Center. He was 82.

Bautista was an actor, film director, writer and chairman of Barangay Immaculate Conception before his election to the City Council in 1988. He is survived by his children—Mayor Herbert, District 4 Councilor Hero Clarence Bautista, and actress Harlene Bautista.

His remains lie in state at the Loyola Memorial Chapels along Commonwealth Avenue for public viewing.

“We request the public to pray for the eternal repose of his soul,” the Bautista family said. Details of funeral arrangements will be announced later. Rio N. Araja

Pangasinan Day committee created LINGAYEN, Pangasinan— Gov. Amado I. Espino III has created a committee to plan and execute a program of activities for the celebration of Pangasinan’s 437th Foundation Day on April 5.

Through Executive Order No. 0013-2017, Espino created the committee by virtue of Provincial Ordinance No. 143-2010, or “An Ordinance Declaring and Citing April 5, 1580 as the Official Foundation Day of Pangasinan,” enacted by the provincial board on Feb. 15, 2010.

Chaired by Espino and co-chaired by Vice Governor Jose Calimlim, the honorary members are lawyer Gonzalo T. Duque, chairman of the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission, and all members of the provincial board.

The Executive Committee is co-chaired by lawyer Nimrod S. Camba and Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs officer Maria Luisa A. Elduayan. Dexter A. See

N. Vizcaya families get startup funding BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—At least 148 families here received cash assistance from the provincial government to start up small enterprises in their communities.

The beneficiaries were given P10,000 each through the “Search for Idol Kong Pamilya” program of the provincial government, designed to uplift the living conditions of poor but ideal families in the province.

Gov. Carlos Padilla and his wife Ruth, the former governor, personally handed the checks to the beneficiaries at the Provincial Capitol in this town.

The beneficiaries came from the towns of Kayapa, Aritao, Sta. Fe, Solano, Kasibu, Bagabag, Alfonso Castaneda, Ambaguio, Quezon, Bayombong, Bambang, Villaverde, Diadi, Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur. Ben Moses Ebreo

tural performances from the different schools in the city.

Among the highlights are a special love drama skit, simultaneous releasing of 1,000 balloons, each bearing a Manileño’s love message to their loved ones; and a Valentine’s dance for 1,000 pairs of lovers.

The highlight of the program is the launch of a video entitled “Manila Water Bucket Challenge” featuring the challenge-invitation from the Rowers’ Club of the Philippines to the public to pour over their heads a bucket of water fetched from Manila Bay—which is noted for its pollution.

Chilly 9.4 degrees in Baguio, 2 degrees in Pulag BAGUIO CITY—Temperatures here dropped to 9.4 degrees Celsius at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, the state weather bureau said.

Letty Dispo of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the lowest temperature recorded for 2017 so far was 9.2 degrees on Sunday, Feb. 12.

It was 7 degrees at Mt. Santo Tomas, which is 2,260 meters above sea level, and as low as 2 degrees at Mount Pulag (2,922

masl), recorded last month.

Chilly temperatures may still be experienced until the end of February, and is attributed to the northeast monsoon from China and Mongolia, Dispo said.

The average temperature in Baguio is from 10 to 12 degrees Celsius.

Baguio and the province of Benguet will experience isolated light rains but will generally have good weather throughout the week, Dispo added.

Pagasa-Baguio is anticipating

a low temperature of 7.5 degrees until the end of the month.

The coldest temperature recorded in 2016 was at 5 a.m. on Jan. 26—10.8 degrees at the Central Business District.

The mercury dropped to 10.5 degrees Friday morning from Thursday’s 11.8 degrees, before plunging to a single digit early Saturday.

The coldest temperature recorded in Baguio was 6.3 degrees Celsius on Jan. 18, 1961.

The cold spell in the city and oth-

er highly elevated areas in Benguet and Mountain Province usually prevails from November to March, because of the prevalence of the northeast monsoon that brings the winter winds from China and Siberia.

Health authorities advised residents and visitors alike to wear jackets, bonnets, socks and thick clothes when going outdoors to make sure they will not catch a cold or related diseases, which might spoil their stay in the city.

City health officials urged the public to keep their immune systems strong by eating the right food that would help their bodies ward off the illnesses.

Last month, the coldest temperature that was recorded was 11 degrees Celsius sometime after the New Year and the coldest temperature in the city ranged from 11 to 5 degrees Celsius before again dropping to 9.6 degrees Celsius Saturday morning.

PNA, with Dexter A. See

Random drug testing for QC biz urged Bacoor THE Quezon City Council is pressing for the implementation of the city’s drug-free policy among businesses in the city, as part of a continuing effort to address the country’s drug problem.

Under City Ordinance 2539-2016 authored by Councilors Gian Carlo G. Sotto and Godofredo T. Liban II, the council stressed the need for employees of establishments to undergo random drug testing.

The drug testing, which is strictly confidential, will conform with procedures prescribed by the Department of Health, and drug testing centers must be duly accredited by the agency.

An establishment is also required to provide preventive mechanisms such as frisking, body search and bag inspection, to ensure no prohibited drugs are brought or used in the workplace.

The Quezon City Business Establishment Drug-Free Ordinance of 2016 also mandates business owners to inform the QC Anti-Drug Abuse Advisory Council should any of its officers and employees be found positive for drug use after a confirmatory test.

KTV bars, night clubs, super clubs, spas, massage parlors, disco houses, bars and restaurants are among the businesses covered by the ordinance. Also covered are establishments with 10 or more employees.

45-day drug plan launched

DONATION. Skyway O&M Corp., operator of the Skyway system, turned over five new motorcycles to the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group-NCR to increase its mobility and visibility in patrolling the 30-kilometer elevated and at-grade Skyway System. Earlier, SOMCO and PNP-HPG signed an agreement to work closely in monitoring and managing traffic along the system, particularly on choke points. In photo is SOMCO operations head Alec C. Cruz (right) with PNP HPG-NCR police senior inspector Capt. Leopoldo M. Vitug Jr. during the turnover ceremony for the vehicles.

The Council also passed other resolutions and ordinances to strengthen the city’s campaign against the use of illegal drugs.

It has prescribed drug preventive education seminars for

students taking the National Service Training Program and a partnership between the city government and the National Reference Laboratory for Environmental and Occupational

Health, Toxicology and Micro Nutrient Assay of the East Avenue Medical Center for the drug testing services of city government employees and barangay workers.

BACOOR, Cavite—The city government has launched a 45-day community-based program for recovering and “determined” drug dependents.

Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla said the program aims to rehabilitate the identified drug dependent surrenderers of “Operation Tokhang” of President Rodrigo R. Duterte and the authorities led by Bacoor city police chief Supt. Christopher F. Olzao, Mercado-Revilla said.

Bridges of Hope, a foundation that runs a therapeutic Community to treat people with drug, alcohol, and behavioral addictions, is the private sector partner of the city project.

A certificate of completion will be given to successful participants who attend and complete the 45 days of orientations and seminars, community cleanup, morning exercises, Bible study and sharing, sports fest, film showing, and reflections, along with other activities that will help the drug dependents recover, the mayor said.

Work will be provided to the spouse and children of the participating surrenderers while they are attending the 45-day program run through the Technical Education Skills Development Authority. Benjamin Chavez

World IN BRIEF Jazz great Al Jarreau dies at 76 LOS ANGELES―Al Jarreau, the affable jazz singing great who reached new audiences by seamlessly merging styles and through television, died Sunday days after announcing his retirement. He was 76.

The seven-time Grammy winner -- a rare artist to win in jazz, pop and R&B categories -- died in a Los Angeles hospital where he had been treated for fatigue, his manager said.

Jarreau, who grew up in Milwaukee, where he heard his parents play music in church, is best known for the singles “We’re in This Love Together” and “After All.” Many also heard his voice, even if they did not know it, in the theme to “Moonlighting,” the hit 1980s television series that brought Bruce Willis to prominence.

Jarreau’s other notable appearances included a prominent role on “We Are the World,” the 1985 song by a mega-cast of music Alisters to raise money for famineravaged Ethiopia.

In a tribute, his manager Joe Gordon described Jarreau as the ultimate gentleman who never stopped appreciating his listeners or the myriad people who worked for him directly or indirectly.

His second priority was music but “his first priority, far ahead of the other, was healing or comforting anyone in need,” Gordon wrote on Jarreau’s website. AFP

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Fresh democracy calls in HK H

ONG KONG―The vote for Hong Kong’s new leader kicks off this week, but most of its 3.8 million-strong electorate will have no say in choosing the winner, prompting calls for an overhaul of a system skewed towards Beijing.

Netanyahu to test Trump pledges JERUSALEM―Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warmly welcomed Donald Trump’s election as US president, will visit the White House Wednesday to test his supportive campaign pledges against emerging policy.

Since taking office, Trump has edged away from unqualified backing for Netanyahu’s drive for more Jewish settlement in territory the Palestinians claim for a state, and also from a pledge to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Mark Heller, a political scientist at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, said the embassy issue was “marginal, to the extent that such a promise is unlikely to be kept”.

The prospect of a Trump rethink challenges the hopes of the settler lobby, a driving force in Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government, and others on the Israeli right who want to see at least partial annexation of the West Bank.

In an interview published on Friday in the pro-Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom, Trump said settlement growth was not “good for peace”.

Netanyahu has announced more than 5,000 settlement homes since Trump’s January 20 inauguration, as well as the first new settlement for more than 20 years. AFP

UN to meet on N. Korea missile test UNITED NATIONS―The UN Security Council will hold an urgent meeting on Monday on North Korea’s missile launch, the first test since US President Donald Trump took office.

The United States, Japan and South Korea requested the consultations after North Korea confirmed it had “successfully” tested a ballistic missile on Sunday.

The council meeting is expected to begin around 5 pm (2200 GMT), said the Ukrainian mission, which holds the council presidency.

North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said a “surface-tosurface medium long-range ballistic missile” was “successfully testfired” on Sunday, describing it as a “Korean-style new type strategic weapon system.”

The missile flew about 500 kilometers before falling into the sea, South Korea’s defense ministry said.

The launch was seen as a test of the response from Trump, who pledged “100 percent” support to Washington’s regional ally Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country would be in range of a hostile North Korean missile launch, called the test “absolutely intolerable” during an impromptu press conference with Trump in Florida. AFP

C3

CELEBRATION. Recording artists SYMON, left, and Maty Noyes join a celebration of music with Republic Records, co-sponsored

by FIJI Water, at Catch LA on February 12, 2017, in West Hollywood, California. AFP

Serbians seek justice for Kosovo victims BELGRADE―Calling their dead “second-class victims”, Serbian families of civilians killed by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian rebels in the late 1990s hope a new court at The Hague will finally bring them justice.

Nineteen international judges were appointed this month to the tribunal, which will try crimes allegedly committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in its fight for independence from Serbia, a conflict that left 13,000 dead.

Global attention has long focused on the mass killings and atrocities by the Serbian forces of the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

An 11-week NATO bombing campaign pushed the troops out of the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory in 1999, and Kosovo declared its independence a decade later.

But the alleged crimes committed by the Kosovo rebels, against Serbians but also against Roma and fellow Albanians deemed to be collaborators, have attracted relatively little scrutiny.

“No one has been adequately punished or justly condemned” over missing family members, said Natasa Scepanovic, who leads an association for families of Serbian victims.

“We have been discriminated against since the beginning of our sad story,” she told AFP. The claims were raised in a 2008 book

by Carla del Ponte, the ex-prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

A few years later, a Council of Europe report reiterated the allegations against several former KLA leaders, some of whom had become high-ranking Koso-

vo officials.

“There cannot and must not be one justice for the winners and another for the losers,” Dick Marty, a Swiss prosecutor who led the council’s inquiry, said in his report.

In particular, he accused Hashim Thaci -- now the president of Kosovo -- of leading a mafia-style network involved in assassinations and unlawful detentions.

Thaci has denied the accusations and said he is willing to cooperate with the tribunal, telling AFP last year that he had “nothing to hide”.

The Council of Europe report noted the disappearance of almost 500 people, including about 400 Serbs, after Milosevic’s forces withdrew from Kosovo in June 1999, when the KLA had “virtually exclusive control on the ground”. AFP

It is the first leadership vote since mass prodemocracy protests in 2014 failed to win political reform and comes as fears grow that China is tightening its grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

As the first round of voting begins, the four candidates are wooing the public -- dropping in to no-frills cafes to eat local dishes with ordinary folk. But to little avail.

The winner will be chosen by a committee of 1,200 representatives of special interest groups, weighted towards Beijing. According to a count by local media, only around a quarter are in the pro-democracy camp.

The representatives are selected by a pool of around 230,000 voters from sectors ranging from business to education, and include the city’s 70 lawmakers.

Democracy campaigners and some residents say it is inevitable the winner will answer to Chinese authorities -- activists already vilify current leader Leung Chun-ying as a puppet of Beijing.

“The members of the electoral committee are only looking out for their own interests, how can they represent the Hong Kong people?” says engineer Stone Shek, 49.

Hong Kongers were offered the chance to vote for the next leader in a Beijing-backed reform package, which stipulated that candidates must first be vetted, triggering the huge 2014 “Umbrella Movement” rallies.

The proposal, dismissed by protesters as “fake democracy”, was eventually voted down by lawmakers and the reform process has since been shelved.

Shek said rejecting the proposal was the right thing to do.

But others fear Chinese authorities will never compromise.

“They didn’t heed the tens of thousands that came out to protest the Umbrella Movement,” said IT worker Tony So, 42, who believes anyone over 18 should be able to vote for the leader.

Election committee members start nominating their favourite candidate in the first round of voting on Tuesday.

Each needs 150 votes by March 1 to participate in the final election by the same committee on March 26.

Tough former deputy leader Carrie Lam is considered Beijing’s favourite, while ex-finance secretary John Tsang is the other main contender, seen as a more moderate voice and leading in public opinion polls.

They take on hardliner Regina Ip and former judge Woo Kwok-hing, who is considered most sympathetic to the democracy camp.

Veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung -- known as “Long Hair” -- has said he may enter the race, but as yet there is no clear candidate from the prodemocracy side.

Many democracy supporters thought there was little point fielding a candidate who would have no chance with the pro-Beijing committee, says activist and academic Chan Kin-man.

Instead, democratic committee members would likely back Tsang as the “lesser evil”, he told AFP. Activist Benny Tai, who founded the Occupy movement that helped galvanize the 2014 protests, compared the election to a “horse race” that residents can observe, but not influence.

“We need to work hard to maintain the movement and we will continue to strive for democracy,” he told AFP. Afp

Trump savaged at the Grammys LOS ANGELES―Leading rappers came together Sunday to rip into US President Donald Trump at the Grammy Awards, using the telecast to denounce his anti-immigrant stance.

Hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest joined emerging experimental rapper Anderson .Paak and the more commercially successful Busta Rhymes in the strongest political statement of the evening.

Busta Rhymes denounced Trump as “Agent Orange” -- conflating his somewhat tanned appearance with the Vietnam War-era herbicide.

“I just want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all the evil you’ve been perpetuating,” Busta Rhymes said in a mock award acceptance speech.

“We come together! We the people!” he shouted as fellow performers knocked through a wall -- a reference to Trump’s vow to build a major barrier on the border with Mexico.

More than a dozen people, many appearing to be of Middle Eastern heritage and some wearing veils, walked proudly but silently toward the stage during the performance.

The rappers during the show also paid tribute through images of Phife Dawg, a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest who died last year.

Artists overwhelmingly opposed Trump during last year’s election, although the tycoon turned their stance on its head by casting himself as a voice of average Americans.

An avid user of Twitter, Trump has not been shy about voicing his anger at the celebrities who criticize him, such as Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep in her speech at the Golden Globe Awards. AFP

MORNING MIST. People are seen in the morning mist on the Charles Bridge in Prague on February 13, 2017. AFP

C4

VALENTINE’S DAY IN THE AGE OF THE MILLENNIAL

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Hotel...

From c1 karamihan”, says Sue Geminiano, Hotel Sogo’s marketing manager.

“Hotel Sogo’s social responsibility is geared towards reaching out to build better communities,” stated Bae Jennifer Sibug Las, Hotel Sogo’s CSR manager, who ensured the success of Adopt-a-Family Christmas Project 2016. She hopes to inspire every individual to help.

Sogo Cares is the hotel’s integrated approach in reaching out to as many Filipinos in the most practicable manner. This program provides basic necessities such as food, clothing, shelter and medical care to those who need help. In doing so, it aims to instill and develop the spirit of “PAGMAMALASAKIT,” or concern, and sense of support, assistance and acts of volunteerism.

To find out more about this and other Hotel Sogo events and promos, like / follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/ hotelsogo), Twitter (#hotelsogo) and Instagram (@hotelsogo).

Is Valentine’s...

From c1 to the aforementioned arts and crafts activity in the classroom. It goes even deeper than that, because as in the preschool days when those cards are not just for a special someone, Valentine’s has become all-inclusive again. GBrief says that Millennials celebrate the holiday with all of their loved ones, not just their “baes”.

Since they feel that Valentine’s Day isn’t all that romantic, they are as likely (7 percent) to buy gifts for siblings and even co-workers, compared to the older generations.

All things considered, marketers can still breathe a sigh of relief. All those red hearts hanging from the malls’ walls are there to stay, at least for this generation.

Many Millennials say that they will still celebrate Valentine’s Day, and go to restaurants or buy gifts, with men expecting to spend more than women.

So, to those who have found their “forever”, we wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! To those who are single for whatever reason, it is quite all right to be heart-happy and celebrate it with the loves of your life.

Love is for everyone, and this tradition has evolved to encompass all, whether the label is “in a relationship”, “unattached”, or “it’s complicated”.

Right Here, White Now. Taylor eyelet fit and flare dress.

Sheen Chic.

Shine in an Eliza J brocade dress.

FALL IN LOVE

with fit and flare at SM fashion forum

A

FIT and flare silhouette is the ultimate way to show your feminine side. A classic since the 1950s, it’s still one of the most flattering shapes to choose from. Just a little glam, always perfectly feminine, and all occasion appropriate, it’s perfect for V-day dates and for those nights on the party circuit.

Fit and flare dresses first rose to popularity during the 1950s thanks to the famed designer Christian Dior with his New Look silhouette–a slim fitting bodice and flouncing skirt. Flattering yet sophisticated, fit and flare dresses have twirled their way through the decades and remain a wardrobe favorite for

women everywhere.

Fashion Forum offers a wide selection of all-occasion perfect fit and flare dress styles. Photographed at the elegant S Maison at Conrad Hotel Manila, these are clothes that highlight a modern romance with pretty printed tea-length numbers, bold and subtle brocades, lovely lace numbers.

Fashion Forum is a multi-brand boutique showcasing contemporary labels from the US. It always has fresh selections from many US brands, including Adriana Papell, Donna Morgan, Julian Taylor, Maggy London, Eliza J and Miss Couture.

You’ll love these fit and flare dresses which are available at Fashion Forum at select The SM Store. Styles may vary per store.

Fashion Forum is located at the SM Store in SM Megamall, SM Makati, SM Mall of Asia, SM North EDSA, SM City Cebu, SM Lanang Premier, SM City Bacolod, and SM Aura Premier.

Pretty in Print. Taylor botanical belted print dress.

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

CULTURE & MEDIA

D1

Source of Life by John Frank Sabado

S

IRIB, a Cordilleran word for wisdom, is a collective exhibition featuring the works of the Baguio-based Tam-Awan Village Artists (TVA). It focuses on the important individuals, principles of life and values passed down to the next generation of Cordillerans—that have shaped their distinct identities. With the goal of ennobling the heritage inherited by the new past and shares archaic wisdom by showcasing contemporary canvases and sculptural forms.

Highland artists share wisdom in

‘SIRIB’

Unique from TVA’s previous collective exhibitions at the ArtistSpace which explored shared Cordilleran heritage, Sirib focuses on wisdom passed on to the people of Cordilleras by their ancestors and “living legends.” As such, each work in the show presents an interpretation, or unique perspective on time-tested and age-old Cordilleran maxims, beliefs and customs.

Breathing new life into these truisms and adages, 19 contemporary artists descend the highlands to reveal their distinct art at the ArtistSpace: Jordan Mang-Osan (Igorot Solar Drawings), Marge Dela Cruz-Gomez (Family Traditions), Clinton Aniversario (Sacred Creatures), Dianalee Denis (Childhood Memories), JoAnne Bray Siadto (Ikat Revival), Art Lozano (Traditional Abstract), Edwin Macadaeg (Sands of Heritage), Marlyn Bulayo (Indigeous Portraits), Eden Cawang (Cultural Colors), Gretta Apolinar (Cosmic Influences), John Frank Sabado (State of Nature), Mark Tandoyog (Mountain Inspirations), siblings Alfred Dato (Contemporary Cordillerans) and Alfonso Dato (Cordilleran Spirituality), Jen Lorenzo (Solar Explorations), Herwin Buccat (Creatures in the Trees), Jerry Buccat (Stories of the Supernatural), and Randy Nimer (The Community in Photographs).

Finally, this exhibition seeks to empower the Cordillerans of today by presenting them as descendants of a great clan, “born from a legacy of nobility, dignity, bravery and survival.”

The exhibit will be on display at ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum in Greenbelt 4 and runs until Feb. 19.

Canadian author Judy Johnson

Love beyond romance

God Bless Our Trip by Mark Tandoyog

Kafala Clock by Eden Cawang

Chanum Foundation

Chanum Foundation Inc. is dedicated to the promotion of arts, culture and heritage. It is behind the noted artists’ haven “Tam-awan Village” in Baguio City. This has been one of the popular tourist destinations in the city for 20 years. It is also a member of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts – National Committee on Art Galleries

Apo Wang-od solar drawing by Cordilleran visual artist Jordan Mang-Osan

(NCCA-NCAG). Artists from Luzon, mostly from the north—either seasoned or up-and-coming—compose the Tamawan Village Artists (TVA).

Since 1998, the TVA have been exhibiting various artworks and conduct-

ing art workshops among adults and children interested in art.

ArtistSpace is on the Ground Level, Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City.

Look How Grandma Weaves by Marge Dela Cruz Gomez

Cannes winner artist at MCAD show THE 63rd Cannes International Film Festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or awardee Apitchapong Weerasethakul will showcase his works in “Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness” at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) from Feb. 17 to May 14.

The artist will present a compilation of the experimental short films and video installations, to include his haunting masterpiece Uncle Boonmee Who Can

Recall His Past Lives, which delves on a singular realist-surrealist style wherein he portrays the everyday alongside supernatural elements suggesting a distortion between fact and folklore, the subconscious and the exposed, and various disparities of power.

Apart from Uncle Boonmee, his feature films include Cemetery of Splendour (2015), Syndromes and a Century (2006), Tropical Malady (2004), The Adventures of Iron Pussy (2003), Blissfully Yours (2002), and Mysterious Object at Noon (2000).

Thai artist Apitchapong Weerasethakul showcases his works in the Philippines

This solo exhibition likewise features his photographs, drawings, sketches and archival material that explore threads of socio-political commentary.

His passionate opinions on class, labor, sexuality, science and spirituality have influenced his practice from early on in his career to the present.

Born in 1970 in Bangkok and raised in the northeastern Thai city of Khon Kaen, Weerasethakul works independently in his country’s commercial film industry, and is active in promoting experimental and independent filmmaking through Kick the Machine, which he founded in 1999.

With Gridthiya Gaweewong, he established the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival in 1997.

Weerasethakul’s work has been presented widely in art and film contexts internationally, including the Sharjah Biennial in the UAE (2013), dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, Germany (2012), Liverpool Biennial (2006), Busan Biennial (2004), the Istanbul Biennial (2001).

He has participated in individual and group exhibitions at art spaces including Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; New Museum, New York; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; and Musée d’Art Modern de la Ville de Paris.

“Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness,” curated by Gaweewong, is produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New

“PEOPLE are consistently drawn to beauty, simplicity and order; to kind, respectful, accepting environments.

We are inspired by goodness, humility and the innocence of children. At this time the human heart longs for the experience of kindness, acceptance, respect and peace.”

Canadian author, mentor and facilitator Judy Johnson’s many programs worldwide revolve around this statement because it is something she firmly believes. Thus, when she speaks about love in a Valentine this week, the discussion may include romantic love but is also very likely to transcend that.

Johnson is Brahma Kumaris Philippines’ guest speaker in a two-week lecture and workshop series that started Feb. 9 and ends Feb. 20.

On Thursday, she will be at the BK Makati Center to talk about a popular and timely theme, “It’s Time to Love.” This free public program starts at 6:30 p.m.

“The good things in life, the things we long for—love, peace and happiness—we cannot see,” she says.

“Rather, each one is a feeling, an experience. We associate our deepest, sweetest feelings and remembrances with situations where we experienced them and the people we experienced them with. Once we remember, the mind opens to a new way of seeing: with an open heart, a stronger heart.”

Johnson will autograph copies of her two latest books, which will be available for sale after the program.

“The 7 Secrets of the Universe,” published in July 2014, follows four teenagers at the point of global disintegration, on a quest that require them to decipher reality from illusion.

“The Alphabet Series: Virtues A-Z,” co-authored with Debbie Castle and launched last year, submits that virtues are expressions of “the beauty of the soul” and, as such, “creates a foundation for a deeply satisfying life and (ultimately) a better world.” It is the product of a series of experiential sessions designed to “understand the variety of positive qualities within each human being,” held in Brahma Kumaris centers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

For details about this Makati event, call Sister Vicky at tel. no. (02) 890-7960.

Judy Johnson’s ‘The 7 Secrets of the Universe’ follows four teenagers on a quest to decipher reality from illusion

Weerasethakul’s haunting masterpiece ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’

York. The tour is made possible, in part, with the generous support from MAI IAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai; ICI’s International Forum and the ICI Board of Trustees.

The exhibition is sponsored by Royal Thai Embassy, National Book Store, Craftpoint Brewing Company, Premier Wine & Spirits, Inc., and Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc. The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design is located at the DLS-CSB School of Design and Arts Campus, Dominga Street, Malate, Manila. It is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Tuesday to Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

‘The Alphabet Series: Virtues A-Z’ is about understanding the variety of positive qualities within each human being

Life

D2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

‘Noli’ a big eye-opener

By Pablo A. Tariman

T

HE two-weekend run of Felipe Padilla de Leon’s “Noli Me Tangere” came to a glorious end on Feb. 3 with lead singers getting endless cheers from a predominantly young audience, mostly millennials.

Easily the vocal standout was tenor Nomher Nival as Crisostomo Ibarra whose consistent, if not solid, ringing tone was reciprocated with a deafening applause during the curtain call followed by a standing ovation.

Vocally, he is the most electrifying Ibarra after Nolyn Cabahug who sang it at the CCP in a 1987 production.

The way Nival enunciated the text and making every note count affirmed he was a vocal sensation even if the opera had no popular aria (though known for “Kay Tamis Ng Buhay Sa Sariling Bayan” sang by Maria Clara and the showstopper, “Awit ng Gabi ni Sisa”).

The Basilio of Mari Ferrer Yapjoco received an equally deafening audience response. In his performance, acting and singing blended beautifully.

“Kay Tamis ng Buhay” sang by the Maria Clara of Nerissa De Juan was for the most part beautifully delineated.

The Sisa of Irene Ednave was well acted with a few fairly unstable moments. She wrapped up the popular aria with dispatch with some notes a bit off the mark as they went higher.

The rest of the cast did just as well including the Padre Damaso of Greg de Leon, the Elias of Jilbert Chua, the Kapitan Tiago of Ronnie Abarquez and the Tia Isabel of Thea Perez, among others.

For the most part, imaginative direction is not one of the good qualities of this production. The narrative looked choppy from awkward scene changes and some of the dramatic moments were lost to the audience due to unimaginative blocking.

Dazzling costume designs can shine in fashion shows but in opera, everything should blend and not call attention to itself.

But this production has good plus factors.

It has fairly good marketing and networking which enabled the production to reach out to a young audience.

A moving performance by Basilio played by young theater actor Mari Ferrer Yapjoco. (Inset) Irene Ednave as Sisa and Nomher Nival as Crisostomo Ibarra The cast of ‘Noli Me Tangere The Opera’ in prayer before a performance. Photo by Oliver Oliveros

For another, it gave good jobs and exposure to young talents and musicians.

It also promoted the timeless appeal of the opera, which has been losing audiences since the new millennium It was easy to note that the young audience that filled up the orchestra and balcony sections of the CCP main theater were first-timers in the venue the way they gingerly reacted when the theater darkened to reveal the impressive set and costumes of the New York-based Jerry Sibal who debuted as director in this CCP co-production.

The UST Orchestra under conductor Hermie Ranera was in fine form after several performances although there

were few instances when they tend to drown the singers.

The opera’s intro about the malignant “social cancer” exposed in Rizal’s time was revealing. It got one to reflect that nothing much has changed as rampant corruption has been passed on from the colonizers to the colonized.

If you just monitor the senate hearings, corruption actually found new practitioners in the modern day ‘Indios’ with present-day Dona Victorinas flaunting their wealth only to be exposed by the Ombudsman.

Like it or not, the imagery of the assorted characters in Noli Me Tangere have uncanny equivalents in contempo-

rary Philippines.

Dona Victorina could have been scam queen Janet Napoles who takes a bath in a bathtub of whitening milk, or a controversial senator with her coterie of alleged lovers. It could have been a billionaire professing love for her country while hosting fundraising balls for a foreign candidate and surreptitiously funding another one in her native soil.

Padre Damaso being exposed as the real father of Maria Clara could have been any present-day religious figure exposed as keeping assorted mistresses.

When a national figure revealed he was a victim of childhood molestation by a man in holy cloth, the poignant aria of

Basilio (Sisa’s son) could be easily deconstructed to expose another side of present-day Padre Damasos.

It may be noted that the most hated character in Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere— next to Doña Victorina—was the same symbolic figure that caused the conviction of tourist guide Carlos Celdran “for offending religious feelings.”

On Sept. 30, 2010, Celdran carried a placard bearing the word “Damaso” during a mass at the Manila Cathedral denouncing the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’s anti-Reproductive Health Bill stance.

Opined baritone Andrew Fernando who played the part in the New York and Resort World productions: “I find the part of Padre Damaso an exciting role.

The journey in learning his music and his character has been truly amazing. Both are dramatically and musically challenging. The different nuances of the role are indeed worth exploring. The deeply hated character is a joy and pride to portray.”

The De Leon opera premiered at the FEU Auditorium in 1957 with the composer on the podium. It was staged in 1974 at the CCP with the Ibarra of Don David, the Maria Clara of Ruby Salazar, the Sisa of Fides Cuyugan Asensio and the Padre Damaso of Jimmy Melendres.

Its last CCP production was in 1987 courtesy of Fides Cuyugan Asencio’s Music Theater Foundation with the Crisostomo Ibarra of Nolyn Cabahug, the Sisa of Asensio (alternating with Luz Morete) and the Maria Clara of Andion Fernandez with the Philippine Philharmonic conducted by Oscar Yatco.

It ran for several weekends in a long running production at UP’s Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero Theater in 2011 and 2012 under the direction of Alexander Cortez.

In 2013, “Noli” had its first New York run at the Kaye Playhouse of Hunter College in New York with an orchestra under the baton of Michael Dadap and presented by the Foundation for Filipino Artists, Inc. led by Chairman Loida Nicolas Lewis.

It may be noted that of the major singers in the cast, only baritone Andrew Fernando (as Padre Damaso) was singled out by the New York Times in its review.

The 2014 revival at Resort World had the Maria Clara of sopranos Rachelle Gerodias and Myramae Meneses and the Padre Damaso of distinguished baritones Andrew Fernando and Jonathan Velasco, the Ibarra of tenors Sal Malaki and Ivan Nery and the Sisa of Antoni Mendezona, among others.

Here’s hoping more operas get staged at the CCP in 2017.

Bamboo Organ Festival pays tribute to titular organist

By Bernadette Lunas IF PAINTINGS need a museum to be viewed, musical instruments need a festival to be heard—and a musician to play them.

In the case of Las Piñas City’s International Bamboo Organ Festival, one man is owed for his immense contribution in making the music fest a success.

The 42nd year of the Organ Festival honors Professor Armando Salarza, the titular organist of the country’s only bamboo organ for 25 years. Aside from being the 200-year-old musical instrument’s organist, Salarza, who studied under Johann Trummer, is also the choirmaster of the Las Piñas Boys Choir.

“Admirable is the fact that he stayed in the Philippines, knowing that it would have been much easier for him to build a career abroad,” said the Bamboo Organ Foundation, Inc. in a statement.

But his love for the pipe organ has driven him to work for the future of young musicians and the musical instrument itself, teaching Organ at St. Scholastica College of Conservatory of Music and UP College of Music.

This year’s festival, happening on Feb. 16 to 22, features five foreign performers, the Spanish instrument cornett, and the new pipe organ of San Ezekiel Moreno Oratory (SEMO) designed by Filipino organ builder Cealwyn Tagle and made by Diego Cera Organ Builders, Inc. Coming to the Philippines for the Bamboo Organ festival are organist Luc Ponet from Belgium, flutist Raphael Leone from Austria, guitarist Carsten Linck from Germany, cornett player Lambert Colson from France, and organist and Salarza’s mentor Trummer also from Austria.

To serenade the VIP guests on the Gala Night (“Ensalada de Natividad”) on Feb. 16 at Las Piñas Church are the Villancico Vocal Ensemble and the Las Piñas Boys Choir, in a program of German, Spanish and Latin American Baroque music. Up-and-coming talent Dr. Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng will conduct their performance this year. Previ-

ous conductor Eudenice Palaruan, meanwhile, arranged the Filipino villancico “Parvulus filius” for this occasion.

Musika Sophia, Ponet (playing the bamboo organ), Colson (cornett), Leone (flute), Linck (guitar), Renato Lucas (cello) and Salarza (organ and harpsichord) will provide the instrumental intermissions during the two-hour concert.

A repeat program of the opening night is scheduled on Feb. 17.

The open court of the Las Piñas Church will serve as the stage for “Concert Under The Trees” on Feb. 18. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Herminigildo Ranera will perform alongside soprano Stephanie Quintin, singer Morissette Amon, Leone and Linck.

On Feb. 19, a Festival Mass to be presided

by Bishop Jess Mercado of the Diocese of Parañaque is scheduled at the SEMO. This will mark the debut of the new pipe organ, with the Las Piñas Boys Choir (conducted

by Salarza) performing the “Little Organ Mass” composed by Franz J. Hydn with Trummer on the organ.

Ponet, attending the festival for the fourth time, will hold his organ recital on Feb. 20 at the Las Piñas Church SJA Auditorium, in collaboration with Colson and Leone, presenting music from the 16th to the 20th century. A special feature of the show will be Ponet’s “Souvenir from the Philippines” which he composed for the bamboo organ, piccolo and cornett.

The spotlight will be trained on SEMO’s new pipe organ at the closing concert entitled “The Splendor of Choral Music.” Salarza will accompany the Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club under Shangkuan-Chen in program featuring the choral music of Parry, Britten, Rutter, Stanford, Dubra and Mendelssohn.

Tickets for the Feb. 17, 18, 19, 20 and 22 concerts are priced at P200, P400, P600 and a special discounted ticket for P100 for students. They are available at TicketWorld, Ticketnet and SM Tickets outlets, as well as at Bamboo Organ Foundation (8257190 or 820-0795).

The 42nd International Bamboo Organ Festival honors its titular organist for 25 years, Professor Armando Salarza

Musika Sophia

Villancico Vocal Ensemble

Las Piñas Boys Choir

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Daniel Matsunaga on his break up with

Erich Gonzales FIVE YEARS OF SPECTACULAR ENTERTAINMENT.

Buddah-Bar executives thank their loyal customers during the bar's fifth year anniversary

Buddha-Bar

Manila’s Cabaret Night

T

HE world-class bar that offers fine dining and entertainment experience, recently celebrated its 5th year anniversary with an evening of spectacular entertainment, heartstopping music, exquisite wine, and non-stop dancing.

“For five years now, Buddha-Bar has been a place where the best parties are held. We are fortunate for the loyal patronage extended by our many customers who recognize the kind of entertainment only we can provide,” said Angelito Agustin, head of Operations of

Buddha-Bar Manila.

The event was highlighted by live performances

by Silk Band, Can-Can Dancers, and Buddha Bar’s resident DJ Joseph Alturas. Former Myx VJ and Kulay Band member, Angel Jones hosted the said event.

“In this celebration, we chose the theme Cabaret Night as a way of thanking our customers for partying with us for the last five years.” added Agustin.

As a member of the Paris-based Buddha-Bar International franchise, Buddha-Bar Manila has brought the exquisite taste of Modern Asian and Western cuisine and the vibrancy of classy entertainment earning a place among the city’s sophisticated party-goers as a venue that provides a unique ambiance, distinct music and vibe, and world-class service.

In previous years, Buddha-Bar the 1st

Philippine Ukulele Festival, the Josie Natori Fall and Winter Collection Fashion Show in 2013, E! News Special with Anne Curtis and the annual worldwide free music festival, Fete de la Musique.

Notable international artists Renee Olstead, Kenny Wiz, The Fray, and Jonas Brothers, have also performed.

On April 29, Buddha-Bar will hold the grand raffle draw and will give away a brand new Maserati. Agustin further said, “It is our desire to continue providing a world-class experience that you deserve. Rest assured that we will continue to provide top-notch service and excellent food and drinks. We look forward to more years of serving you.”

Buddha-Bar Manila is located at Picar Place, Kalayaan Ave, Makati City. For inquiries and reservations, please call 8566719, 8566859 or 09989833918.

A celebration of success IT WAS a fun, rodeo-themed Gas (IPG) CEO Shoichi evening of camaraderie Watanabe, IPG Chief and loyalty as employees Finance Officer Willie of ISLA LPG Corp. (ILC), Sarmiento, and ILC the leading LPG solutions General Manager for sales company carrying the brand Tonito Gonzalez. Also Solane, gathered together present were IPG board at V Corporate Center in member, Bobby Kanapi, Makati City to celebrate and Edgar Aglipay of the company’s success as a Emme Subic Transport. business enterprise.

Employees came in “We have had a busy and cowboy costumes and successful year. We have enjoyed a group dance been offered opportunities competition, raffle, rodeo for growth, and we rides, and other fun have responded to these activities. Long-service opportunities with success, awards were also given thanks to the initiatives, to Solane employees, ILC dedication, competence, CEO Ruben Domingo, and hardwork of each and Dennis Ballesteros, everyone of you working Marvie Labayen, Mona individually and most of all, Top executives (from left) Ruben Domingo, Willie Sarmiento, Shoichi Watanabe, and Edgar Aglipay Jao, and Larry Alagao. as a team,” said ILC CEO With the company’s Ruben Domingo. successful campaign, they for others, and the society as a whole. In line with Part of the company’s prosperous year can be this, they also unveiled a newly revamped Solane definitely have much to celebrate. credited to the recently launched “Dapat Lang” website.

For more information, visit their new advocacy campaign, wherein they emphasized the Taking part in the festivity were the top executives website, www.solane.com.ph, and Facebook importance of doing the right thing for the family, led by Domingo, ILC CEO, ISLA Petroleum and page, www.facebook.com/solane.ph.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, February 14, 2017

ACROSS 1 Chitchat 4 Lasagna base 9 Motor lodges 13 “Eso —” 14 Galley slave 15 Dictionary’s Webster 16 Sales slip, briefly 17 Just scraping by 18 Came apart 19 Curly-tailed dogs 21 Lightweight silks 23 Winter warmer 24 Lightning flash 25 Nutmeglike spice 27 Juicy fruit 31 Prunes the hedge 34 Ballgame stat 36 Promise 37 Feel grateful 38 “Sour grapes” coiner 40 SSW or NE 41 Grab the phone 44 Water-power org.

45 Correspond 46 35mm setting (hyph.)

47 Latin hymn word 49 Type of gasoline

53 Jaunty lid 57 Blew it (2 wds.)

60 Ms. King of music 61 All, in combos 62 Conjecture 64 The very —!

65 We, in Le Havre 66 Postgame wrapup 67 Bottle part 68 Good golly!

69 Winding curves 70 Acquired DOWN 1 Sticky-footed lizard 2 Meat jelly 3 Undersides 4 Veep’s superior 5 Space-shuttle assent (hyph.)

6 Fast 7 Choir voice 8 Debate 9 Exhaust opposites 10 Koh-i- — diamond 11 Ancient ointment 12 “— All That” (1999 film) 13 Bric-a- — 20 Rte. mappers 22 Drinks like a cat 24 Withered

26 Sear a steak 28 German import 29 Cattle stall 30 Not there 31 Sugar unit 32 Has 33 Ant at a picnic 35 Mach 1 exceeder 36 On — — with 39 Exiled Roman poet 42 Rapacious 43 Thrust-andparry sword

45 Mocking 48 Arab cloak 50 Flip over 51 Cat’s-paws 52 These have many extras 54 Bull-riding event 55 Go to the polls 56 Durable wood 57 It’s hit with a mallet 58 Melville title 59 Difficult duty 60 Mushrooms 63 No, to a laird

AFTER his controversial breakup with Erich Gonzales, hunk actor Daniel Matsunaga aired his side of the story when he was asked about his celebration of Valentine’s Day. “I have friends, I have my family. They all love and support me, so, it’s still the same,” Daniel replied.

But he never denied the fact he was hurt and still hurting. “It was not an easy one. Lahat naman ng tao na naiinlab ay nasasaktan. The important thing is the lesson we learned and how we pick up the pieces for us to be whole again,” he added.

Some people gave the break malice by implying money was the cause.

“That’s why I am making this pakiusap because that item is putting me in a bad light. Whatever I have earned or gotten from my working in this country was all hard earned money. Pinaghirapan ko at wala akong inutangan na hindi bayad o pinagsamantalahan ko. Whatever happened between us ni Erich was all between us. No third party, no money matters. Let’s just respect po siguro kung ano man ang naging decision namin,” the hunk continued.

Daniel plans to continue his showbiz career.

According to him, his manager has entertained several offers including a big summer job, that can’t be revealed yet.

“Life is so short. Life should be lived happily. One day, we will all cross paths again and it’s always best to wear your best smile,” he concluded. **** In an interview by colleagues Shirley Pizarro and Dolly Anne Carvajal after Diego Loyzaga lambasted his father in social media, Cesar Montano quipped, “I am hurt. But all I did was try and protect him like any father would.”

The award-winning actor and now Chief Operation Officer of the Tourism Promotions Board admitted that his son has a problem and that he needs help.

“There is nothing I want more than to be able to help him. I only want what’s best for him. He is my son. I love him,” said Cesar in another interview.

Although no details were further discussed in Cesar’s interviews by Dolly Anne and his publicistspokesperson Shirley, both interviews centered on Cesar’s trying to help and protect Diego. Nothing from Diego’s laments and tirades were answered.

His big concern on the young actor’s sake was all the father was trying to look into. **** Maja Salvador is very visible on TV nowadays.

She is practically in every available live or taped shows on her home network, ABS-CBN. “Siyempre po kailangan. Sa ating balikat nakasalalay ang Wildflower,” explained Maja when we bumped into her at the lobby of ABS-CBN. We told her that we just saw and enjoyed her interview in Kuya Boy Abunda’s show the night before, and here she was, on her way to doing a sexy dance production number in It’s Showtime.

“I was just in that show last week to promote our Valentine movie I’m Drunk, I Love You with Paulo (Avelino). Naglaro na kami sa isang game portion, Dapat iba naman ang gagawin ko kasi Wildflower naman ang prinu-promote ko. Dapat kasing sexy ni Ivy (her character in the soap) ang gagawin ko,” she said.

Maja admits she never felt so obligated in promoting her new soap. “But it’s so worth it po.

Wala din naman kasing inaasahang magpursige kundi ako, dahil bida nga po ako rito. But I’m so proud of this one. This is a role of a lifetime na hindi dapat pinalalampas at itatago na lang. This needs to be promoted. Maganda ang show namin,” stressed the very beautiful and nice actress.

Wildflower actually started airing yesterday on the Kapamilya Gold before TV Patrol.

“Bago pa man lang yung mga seryosong balita, kami na muna ang babalita sa inyo,” an alluring Maja smiled.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Kapamilya’s newest

romantic drama and psychological thriller Taking afternoon TV viewing to another level. "The Better Half" lead cast JC de Vera, Shaina Magdayao, Denise Laurel, and Carlo Aquino

Life begins at 40 for actor and brand ambassador Piolo Pascual

W

ATCH out for another unique story of love and obsession in The Better Half, ABS-CBN’s Half newest romantic drama and psychological thriller that shows how far people go for the person they believe will fill their other half.

The series started airing yesterday.

Four of ABS-CBN’s best actors–Shaina Magdayao, Carlo Aquino, JC De Vera, and Denise Laurel –play characters who go to extraordinary lengths for love as their lives get entangled in lies, betrayal, and dark secrets.

ISAH V. RED

the team behind the hit shows Be Careful With My Heart, Dream Dad, and Ningning – all directed by Jeffrey Jeturian – produce the series.

Camille (Shaina) and Marco (Carlo) aremarried couple and their relationship is tested by fate when his airplane crashes, leaving a big scar in

his wife’s heart.

Believing her husband is already dead, Camille meets Rafael (JC), the man helps her forget about her past. But just when they think they can start a new life together, Marco resurfaces and returns to Camille’s life, but now married to Bianca (Denise).

As their paths cross once again, will Marco and Camille turn their backs from the new life they have without each other, or will they just throw away the love and dreams they once built together? Will Rafael and Bianca let their other halves go, or will they fight for their love? How far will they go to prove they are the better half for the person they love?

Also in The Better Half are Epi Quizon, Nadia Montenegro, Rommel Padilla, Carmi Martin, Zeppi Borromeo, Maila Gumila, Bart Guingona, Mari Kaimo, Joyce Ann Burton, Regine Angeles, Junjun Quintana, and Pooh. Completing the cast are Gilleth Sandico, Kate Alejandrino, Tiptip Fucoy, Delphine Buencamino, Lemuel Pelayo, Vincent Lim, and Johan Santos. *** There’s a saying that goes “life begins at 40.”

However, this is also the age when undesirable physical developments start to appear, and one of the most telling signs of being four decades old are eye problems that begin to set in, such as presbyopia, Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and cataracts.

But is it possible to keep one’s vision healthy at age 40?

One celebrity who can say yes to this is Piolo Pascual whose expressive eyes have allowed him to dominate

both the big and small screens.

His eyes light up in romances, pierce through rivals in action-thrillers and brim with tears in dramas, as shown by his lead roles in blockbuster films such as Milan, Dekada ’70, and Relaks It’s Just Pag-ibig, as well as popular series like Mangarap Ka, Lobo, Apoy sa Dagat and Hawak-Kamay.

Piolo is also known as a fitness advocate who walks his talk. He fits time for exercise and outdoor activity in between tapings and public appearances. He watches his food intake, these days focusing more on vegetables rich in Vitamin A to maintain his eyesight, and tries to get as much sleep as possible given his hectic schedule.

During the surprise birthday party thrown by his family and close friends from showbiz, Piolo continued to emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s health, and ensuring and protecting clear eyesight. He understands that people who enter their 40s, like himself, become prone to presbyopia or near-vision blurriness, hence he recommends having the eyes checked up regularly. He also believes that the key to keeping the eyes and vision healthy into midlife is prevention, protection and correction. And so, he recommends the use of Varilux® lenses for his fellow fortysomethings who find themselves with presbyopia.

Varilux® progressive lenses are recognized worldwide as an optimal solution to achieving natural, sharper vision in any distance, with smooth transition in between. Using patented W.A.V.E 2.0 and Binocular Booster™ lens technologies, Varilux® lenses help those in the prime of their lives see effortlessly in any distance, and also help boost their active lifestyles.

Piolo shares, “We need healthy vision to see and enjoy every moment in our life, which is why it is important that we take care of our eyes. I am glad that I can raise awareness by being an ambassador of Essilor. I’ll continue doing my best in promoting healthy vision to everyone.”

For more information about The Essilor Group, visit www.essilor.com.ph.

Rex Smith ‘live’ at Estancia PICTURE a most romantic post-Valentine’s Day evening at Estancia, a topnotch retail facility where you can find an array of fine international fashion brands and retailers.

Estancia is nestled regally within Capitol Commons, a 10-hectare mixed-use development along Meralco Avenue corner Shaw Blvd. in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The area used to be where the Rizal Provincial Capitol was.

Owing to Ortigas & Co.’s expertise in transforming some of the country’s most iconic places to destinations that provide unique experiences without losing their historical charm, Capitol Commons is poised to set a new standard for modern urban development. The benchmark has become all about a confluence of modern living spaces, office facilities, and commercial areas that showcase premium retail and entertainment options.

On Feb. 17 at 7 p.m., families, young people, residents of Capitol Commons and visitors alike, and lovers will converge at the Estancia Bridgeway.

It will be the venue of a free concert featuring the timeless tunes of Rex Smith, an American actorsinger and teen idol during the poster-plastered wall era of the late ‘70s. He performed live at the 1982 Miss Universe pageant in Lima, Peru. Among Rex Smith’s hits are “Simply Jessie,” “Forever,” “Everlasting Love,” “You Take My Breath Away,” “Don’t Give Up On Us,” and “Let’s Make A Memory.”

Rex Smith Live at Estancia will be a walk down memory lane when music sounded soothing and soft rock and pop was king. Featured artist is JV Decena of “Showtime’s” popular segment “Tawag Ng Tanghalan.’’

The air will be filled with love songs that even in the age of social media will never grow old. At

the Rex Smith Live at Estancia concert, love will be the order of the day while taking in the whole breadth of Capitol Commons with its tall buildings and the lovely park between Estancia and Royalton Condominium. The park is a welcome sea of green, like an oasis right in the middle of a business district.

Rex Smith Live at Estancia is a free concert but with limited seating.

Strange Bathtub. Mia Goth in a scene from psychological horror thriller film directed by Gore Verbinski

‘A Cure For Wellness’ in cinemas tomorrow

American singer and '80s love song superstar Rex Smith

FROM visionary director, Gore Verbinski, A Cure for Wellness is a chilling and mindbending psychological thriller. Embarking on the movie, Verbinski wanted to make a thriller with the depth, insight and power of classics in the genre that he admired, such as The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick), Don’t Look Now (1973, Nicolas Roeg) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968, Roman Polanski). The idea of a quick fix cure, together with society’s malaise and the obsession with perfect health were topics that fascinated Verbinski, whose films include the hugely successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and the Academy Award® winning animated film, Rango.

Dane DeHaan stars as Lockhart ,a driven Wall Street stockbroker sent by his firm to a remote alpine medical spa on a mission to retrieve the company’s CEO, Pembroke (Harry Groener), a patient at the spa, who has told his staff that he has no intention of returning to New York. Lockhart arrives at the tranquil sanitarium where the residents are supposedly receiving a miracle cure. In fact though, they seem to be getting sicker. As he investigates the dark and baffling secrets behind the spa, he meets a young woman, the hauntingly beautiful Hannah (Mia Goth), a patient herself. He also

gets to know another patient, the eccentric Mrs. Watkins, played by Celia Imrie, who has done some detective work of her own. Soon, Lockhart is diagnosed with the same condition as the other patients by the institution’s director, the ominous Dr. Volmer (Jason Isaacs), and finds that he is trapped in the alpine retreat.

Lockhart begins to lose his grip on reality and has to endure unimaginable ordeals during the course of his own ‘treatment’.

“We started exploring the notion of a health spa in the Alps, a wellness center that doesn’t actually make you well,” says Verbinski, “and it slowly evolved from there. It became pretty clear to us that this was going to be a genre piece, and we started playing around with the concept of inevitability. It’s the sense that there is a sickness, a sort of black spot on your x-ray that won’t go away!”

“It’s almost like a huge roller coaster, but the film is also asking a lot of important questions,” comments DeHaan. “At times, you are really feeling terrified. But if you are in a communal setting like a theater, you know you are safe and you know that what is happening on screen is completely removed from reality.”

A Cure For Wellness from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. opens tomorrow.