Manila Standard - 2017 February 27 - Monday by Manila Standard

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A N N I V E R S A RY

SAYYAF BEHEADS GERMAN HOSTAGE IN SULU By Francisco Tuyay ABU Sayyaf bandits beheaded a German hostage, 70-year-old Jurgen Kantner, after the deadline for his family to pay a P30-million ransom passed on Sunday.

Initial reports reaching military authorities said Kantner, who spent three months in captivity in the jungles of Sulu, was beheaded somewhere in Indanan, Sulu at about 3:30 p.m., 30 minutes after the deadline lapsed.

“He [German hostage] was beheaded somewhere in Jolo but his decapitated body could not be located yet,” a military source said. Another source relayed similar reports that Kantner had been beheaded.

“We received the same information. However, we are currently validating it. I have just concluded a meeting with local ofﬁcials of Indanan, where the beheading took place,” the source said.

Last year, the Abu Sayyaf In September 2015, the bandit made good on their threat to be- group abducted Ridsdel and Hall, head two Canadian captives— along with Norwegian Kjartan Robert Hall and John Ridsdel, Sekkingstad and Filipina MariXPERIENCE•XCELLENCE•XCITEMENT after their families failed to come tess Flor at the Island Garden up with the huge ransom the ban- City of Samal. Sekkingstand and dits demanded. Next page

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VOL. XXXI • NO. 17 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A N N I V E R S A RY

XPERIENCE•XCELLENCE•XCITEMENT

Gina Lopez biases hit

Chamber exposes conflicts of interest involving her family firms By Christine F. Herrera

NVIRONMENT Secretary Regina Lopez gave her family owned company an environmental compliance certificate to operate a geothermal power plant on a 14.03-hectare mountain in Kananga, Leyte in January while shutting down or suspending the operations of competitors, highlighting conflicts of interest that dog her appointment, mining officials said Sunday.

Residents of a mining town in Dinagat Island, fearing loss of jobs, hold up placards in protest against the closure of several mining companies and the suspension of other ﬁrms while Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez (inset) meets with stakeholders to explain her much-criticized mining order. LANCE BACONGUIS

jurisdiction. In a phone interview Sunday, VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez complained about De Lima’s detention at the Philippine National Police custodial center.

“The Lopez family’s many involvements in the energy sector highlight the glaring conﬂict of interest: How will she resolve the environmental catastrophes that involve her family’s energy business, such as the 2010 FPIC pipeline leak that effectively ruined the West Tower Condominium?” the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines said in a statement. Documents obtained by the Manila Standard show that

Residents Watchdog blasts special perks for Leila up in arms By Francisco Tuyay, Rey Requejo and Sandy vs mining E.Araneta closures By Lance Baconguis BUTUAN CITY—Residents in the mining town of Loreto on Dinagat Island staged a protest as Environment Secretary Regina Lopez arrived Saturday to consult with stakeholders in the wake of her decision to close a large number of mining operations. Protestors ﬂocked to Balanghay hotel to express their sentiments on the closure orders, which affect seven mines in Dinagat Island province and another seven in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur provinces. On Dinagat Island, the mining companies closed were AAMPHIL Natural Resources Exploration; Oriental Synergy Mining Corp.; SinoSteel Philippines HY Mining Corp.; Kromico Inc.; Oriental Vision Mining Philippines Corp.; Wellex Mining Corp.; and Libjo Mining Corp. Next page

what it says is the special treatment given to detained Senator Leila de Lima, who was arrested on drug charges Friday. A CRIME watchdog group is conAs the Volunteers Against sidering ﬁling a complaint before Crime and Corruption called for the Supreme Court to question De Lima’s detention in an ordi-

nary jail like common inmates, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the senator had put up a weak legal defense when she did not answer the charges against her, and questioned instead the Justice Department’s

De Lima’s co-accused in drug case gives up

By Sandy Araneta

FORMER Bureau of Corrections officer-in-charge Rafael Ragos surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation on Sunday morning, an official said. Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes confirmed Ragos’ surrender after receiving a call from NBI Director Dante Gierran who told him about it. Ragos was ordered arrested by Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court Branch 204 on Thursday last week along with Senator Leila de Lima and her former driver Ronnie Dayan. They were ordered arrested in relation to the alleged proliferation of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid

Prison during De Lima’s term as justice secretary. Citing Ragos’ afﬁdavit, the Justice department claims that De Lima received around P10 million from drug payoffs from November 2012 to January 2013. Ragos claimed he delivered the money to De Lima’s house in Parañaque City. De Lima is detained at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame while Dayan is detained at the Muntinlupa City Police Station. Balmes said the court would have to decide where to detain Ragos while the case was ongoing. Then Justice secretary De Lima appointed Ragos as Bureau of Corrections ofﬁcer in charge in November 2012.

CARACOL 2017. Garbed in colorful and varying costumes, participants in the annual Caracol Festival parade around the streets of Makati to mark the annual celebrations held every last Sunday of February. EY ACASIO

‘Dutertists paid for Rizal Park rally’ By John Paolo Bencito

EYE-POPPING. Siera Bearchell, Canada’s bet in the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant held in Manila, takes a refreshing pose at the Pop Up Store in SM Megamall during the shop’s grand opening on Sunday. MANNY PALMERO

THE Interior department said Sunday that no government funds were used in mobilizing support for a pro-Duterte rally and vigil at the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park. “There [were] no public funds used in staging this event,” Interior Undersecretary John Castriciones told the Manila Standard. “This [was] purely an MRRDNEC [Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee] initiative along with other private organizations.” Castriciones made his statement even as Social Welfare Secretary DILG Undersecretary John Judy Taguiwalo rejected a Philip- Castriciones

pine Daily Inquirer report saying tens of thousands of President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters who gathered at the Rizal Park were forced to attend the rally because their attendance was a prerequisite to the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. “If the implication is that the DSWD forced the beneficiaries of the 4Ps program to attend the rally in support of President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday [Saturday], we categorically deny it,” Taguiwalo said. But Castriciones confirmed the reports on an Interior department memo asking local government officials to mobilize their constituents who were ‘willing to participate’ in the pro-Duterte events Next page over the weekend.

13 inmates bolt jail in Pampanga THIRTEEN detainees facing drug charges escaped from jail on Sunday, the latest in a series of prison breaks, authorities said. The 13 slipped out of the jail in a police camp in San Fernando City, Pampanga, before dawn, said Derrick Arnold Carreon, spokesman for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. “They sawed through the bars of the metal grille,” he said, adding an investigation was under way to ﬁnd out how they got the saw. Next page

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Davao blast suspect remains in KL

Mohammad Abduljabbar Sema, 26, has been in Malaysian custody since his arrest on Nov. 24, 2016. Yasay said the Philippine gov-

ernment continued to monitor his case to make sure Sema’s rights were not violated while in Malaysian custody. “When Malaysia will make a

representation to the Philippines to surrender him after they complete their investigation in this regard, we will be very happy to receive him and for him to face whatever charges he may be facing when he is here,” Yasay told reporters in a brieﬁng on Thursday. Sema is the son of Muslimen Sema, the chairman of the largest faction in the Moro National Liberation Front and a former Cotabato mayor. His wife is incumbent Maguindanao Rep. Bai Sandra Sema. Last month President Rodrigo Duterte conﬁrmed VERA Files’ report on the arrest in Kuala Lum-

Gina...

mentation of the Constitution, the Philippine Mining Act and related laws and regulations, and of upholding personal interest and advocacies over public interest.” To discredit and marginalize the mining industry, the complainants said, Lopez has shortcut legal and administrative processes, disregarded due process and vested rights, and even ignored the sanctity of contracts between the government and its mining contractors. “Lopez is grossly unfit and does not have the administrative experience and competence to lead the DENR. Lopez has a poor track record in leading and managing environment and eco-tourism projects,” the complainants said. “The DENR is one of the largest departments of government, responsible for governing and supervising the exploration, development, utilization, and conservation of the country’s natural resources. It has thousands of employees spread over 16 regional offices, six attached bureaus and nine attached agencies,” the complainants said. In 2015, it had a budget allocation of P21 billion, P18 billion of which was under the direct control of the Office of the Secretary, they said. Lopez, they said, attended Assumption College and Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Boston, apparently “without earning any degrees.” However, she is supposed to have a master’s degree in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management and a doctorate in Humanities (Honoris Causa) from the Ateneo de Manila Naga University. Lopez, they added, spent 20 years as a yoga missionary in Europe, India, and Africa, returning

to the Philippines only in the late 1990s. Little is known about Lopez before she sat as the managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation. CA member Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said the commission would make Lopez answer allegations by Chamber of Mines officials that she used the familyrun foundation to corner multimillion-peso contracts that proved disadvantageous to the government. Chamber of Mines officials claim Lopez, as managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., had a memorandum of understanding to run the governmentowned La Mesa Ecopark, which charges an entrance fee of P50 per person. The foundation was supposed to keep 30 percent of the income, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System 40 percent, and the Quezon City government, 30 percent. But Commission on Audit reports showed that the foundation failed to remit the rightful share to MWSS and the Quezon City government. The mining industry group also lamented Lopez’s dependence on her favored consultant, former Mines and Geosciences Bureau chief Leo Jasareno. Although Jasareno has been fired twice by President Rodrigo Duterte, he continues to hold office in the DENR to advise Lopez, the mining officials said. “Jasareno has been holding on to his space in DENR, without any official position other than consultant, and has proven to be a very loyal and dependable ally to Lopez. He was present during the Feb. 2, 2017 press conference, where MGB officials had been barred entry,” the complainants

By Charmaine C. Deogracias

ALAYSIA has yet to complete its investigation on the son of two prominent Muslim leaders now detained in Kuala Lumpur in connection with the Sept. 2 Davao City night market bombing, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.

From A1

on Jan. 18, 2017, upon the orders of Lopez, the Environmental Management Bureau granted the Lopez-owned Green Core Geothermal Inc. an ECC to put up the Tongonan Geothermal Power Project in Barangay Lim-ao, Kananga, Leyte. The geothermaal power plant, complete with auxiliary systems and 138-kilovolt substation, sits on a 14.03-hectare mountain that is expected to produce 123 megawatts, the document shows. It was signed by Jacqueline Caancan, officer-in-charge under the Office of the EMB Director, “by the authority” of Lopez. These conflicts of interest and accusations of bias are likely to hound Lopez when she comes up for confirmation before the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday, March 1. “Apart from being an unnecessary duplication, Lopez’s mine audit is also tainted with manifest partiality and funding irregularities. Known anti-mining civil society organizations such as Alyansa Tigil Mina and their allied grassroots organizations were included as part of the mine audit teams,” said the CMP officials— Artemio Disini, Nelia Halcon and Ronald Recidoro – who filed an opposition to Lopez’s confirmation before the CA committee on environment and natural resources. In an 11-page opposition letter, they said Lopez’s recent actions show an “undeniable bias” against and antagonism towards large-scale mining, “rendering her unfit and incapable of a responsible, fair, just and balanced imple-

‘Dutertists... From A1

Photos of government vehicles that were mobilized to escort the participants going to the Quirino Grandstand circulated over social media in the wake of the event. The Interior ofﬁcial said the participation of local government units in the rally were likewise in support of the Interior department’s MASA MASID program, the barangay-based anti-criminality, anti-corruption and anti-illegal drugs drive at the community level. He said there was no need to criticize the rally. “Even if you read the memo of SILG [Ismael Sueno], you just have to extend support and nothing there was written that it [was] mandatory,” Castriciones said.

“If there [were] [funds used for the event], [those might have] come from the local chief executives in their own initiatives because they want[ed] to ride on to this activity.” Tens of thousands gathered starting Saturday for the pro-Duterte rallies across the country while other groups held separate gatherings to mark the 31st anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution. Castriciones said the number of supporters peaked at more than 900,000 around 11 p.m. while the police estimated the crowd at 215,000. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano were among those who joined the rally on the ﬁrst day and delivered short speeches. With PNA

Sayyaf... From A1

Maritess Flor who were held for months were freed after their ransom was paid. The fateKantner remained uncertain in the early hours Sunday before the two-week deadline given by his Abu Sayyaf captors lapsed. Security forces launched massive search. At press time, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla gave no word of Kantner’s fate. “The AFP through its area command, the Western Mindanao Command has not received any information regarding the possibility that the hostage was beheaded,” Padilla said. Kantner along with his part-

13...

Watchdog...

From A1

Elite police units have been mobilized to track down the 13 inmates, including a policeman. Members of the Philippine National Police Regional Safety Battalion were deployed along the possible escape routes. PDEA said they were coordinating with other PNP stations in Pampanga, Tarlac and Bulacan in the manhunt. Mass escapes from prisons, which are usually overcrowded, poorly maintained and inadequately guarded, are not uncommon. In the country’s biggest jailbreak, more than 150 inmates escaped a prison in Mindanao in January after about a hundred gunmen stormed the facility. In August 2016 members of a Muslim extremist group that pledges allegiance to the Islamic State group stormed a jail in the south and broke out 23 inmates. Francisco Tuyay with AFP

“VACC condemns the incarceration of De Lima at the PNP custodial center. It is a violation of the constitutional provision of equal protection and equal treatment under the law,” Jimenez said. De Lima is detained in a room with a receiving area inside the PNP custodial center, an area supposedly occupied by former senator Juan Ponce Enrile when he was detained for his alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam. In contrast, Jimenez said, De Lima’s co-accused, her former driver-body guard and lover, Ronnie Dayan, was in jail at the Muntinlupa police station. “Why is Dayan in Muntinlupa? De Lima should be put in an ordinary jail similar to Dayan,” Jimenez said. Jimenez also asked why former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael

pur of the young Sema but did not give derails. VERA Files sources said the arrest was based on a request from the Philippine National Intelligence Coordinating Council. “I have not received any reports particularly that his rights have been violated, and I know the parents and they have not come up with any complaint on this matter,” Yasay said. “I would imagine that he is being treated properly by the Malaysian authorities.” Sema was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he arrived from Bangkok after

traveling in and out of Thailand and Cambodia. When his 30-day visa-free entry was about to expire he decided to go to Malaysia, intending to return to Thailand after three days. Security ofﬁcials in the Philippines have tagged Sema in the bombing that killed 15 people and wounded 69 others. They are looking into reports that he allegedly provided the logistics to the Maute group, an alleged terrorist organization operating in Lanao del Sur. Sema’s brother Omar Yasser Sema was recently named a member of the expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission that will

said. That Lopez discredited and alienated the MGB—the agency directly in charge of the administration and disposition of mineral lands and resources—show she was “clueless” about her obligations as department secretary, the mining industry group said. Lopez also showed “a dangerous bias” against he mining industry, the group said. On June 22, 2016, the complainants said, upon her acceptance of President Duterte’s offer for her to head the DENR, Lopez said: “I don’t like mining, the foreigners and the rich are the only ones benefitting from it but the farmers and the fishermen suffer.” “As is well known, the stock market reacted negatively to the announcement of her appointment, with the market capitalization of mining companies dropping by as much as P48.6 billion compared with the level as of June 20, 2016, before the announcement was made,” the mining officials said. Although most mining companies had already been ISO 14001 certified as of May 2016, Lopez ordered a redundant audit, the mining officials said. Regional mine audit teams were created, composed of DENR officials representatives from the MGB, environmental management bureau and “third party experts.” But none of the invited members of the team were experts, the complainants said. “No geologists, social scientists, or even community health experts were part of the audit teams. The CSO [civil society organizations] representatives do not qualify as experts as they are clearly incompetent in these fields and can claim no relevant expertise. More

importantly, being anti-mining organizations, these CSOs have a clear conflict of interest and could not have contributed to a fair and impartial mine audit,” they said. “In fact, mining companies even report that the CSO representatives in their respective audit teams did nothing but air their opposition, unsupported by evidence, to the mining project being audited and conduct selective interviews with residents in the community,” they said. “Her actions conflict with government’s policy direction on mining to encourage responsible mining. In all, Lopez’s antimining bias, her cavalier attitude towards the rights of companies, and her careless disregard for the sanctity of contracts and administrative procedure make her absolutely unfit to be secretary of the DENR,” they said. Even before the start of the mine audit, Lopez declared the suspensions of 10 mining companies without the prerequisite notice, investigation, and hearing mandated under the Mining Act of 1995. For most member companies of the Chamber of Mines, exit interviews with the respective audit teams indicated that they had passed the audit, they said. One company, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co., was even issued a signed audit report stating that “the company substantially complied with the pertinent provisions of the environmental and mining laws, rules and regulations, thus no penalty is recommended by the team.” But Lopez later announced the closure or suspension of 28 mining companies and the cancellation of 75 mineral production sharing agreements, which would throw thousands of mine workers out of work, the companies said.

ner Sabine Merz were taken by the ASG while they were sailing off the coast of Sabah on board their 50-footer yacht in November last year. The ASG, in its last video footage released in February, showed Kantner surrounded by heavily armed bandits, one of whom held a bladed weapon tot the victim’s neck. Kantner, in a kneeling position with a bolo at the back of his head, appealed to his family and his government in German to save him. On Saturday, the military conducted a series of air strikes on suspected ASG positions somewhere in Patikul, Sulu, where the group holding the German hostages was sighted. However, there were no re-

ports of the immediate effects of the air offensive by rocket-ﬁring MG-520 attack helicopters and Huey choppers. Reports said the bandits are still holding 27 local and foreign hostages in the island provinces of Sulu and Basilan. On Thursday, heavily armed believed to be Abu Sayyaf bandits forcibly took six sailors from the Vietnamese ﬂag ship m/v Giang Hai 05 after they intercepted the vessel, which was cruising 17 nautical miles off Pearl Bank in Tawi-Tawi last Sunday. The six crewmen as Buy Xuan Vien, the ship captain; Do Huu Nghia, Chiefmate; Bui Trung Duc, 3rd mate; Nguyin Huu Trong, 2nd Engineer; Tran Viet Van, sailor; and Nguyen Quang Huy, oiler, are missing.

Ragos was detained at the National Bureau of Investigation following his surrender Sunday. Ragos, along with De Lima and Dayan were ordered arrested by Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial in connection with the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison. “Our lawyers will study the possibility of questioning the special treatment and test this provision of the Constitution of equal treatment,” Jimenez said. Aguirre, meanwhile, said De Lima had nobody to blame but herself for not answering the charges against her. “This is a very simple case. She did not ﬁle counter-afﬁdavit in the DoJ so it was easy for the judge to see probable cause and issue the warrant of arrest,” Aguirre said. He said De Lima’s focus on the issue of jurisdiction was a weak defense. The Justice secretary also noted that even the Court of Appeals did

not buy the senator’s argument that the drug cases should have been forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman when it denied her plea for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Justice Department from filing the cases in court. The DoJ chief also denied the claim of De Lima and her fellow senators in the Liberal Party that the arrest warrant appeared to be rushed. “It was not rushed. We were actually expecting the issuance of the arrest warrant as early as last Friday [Feb.17] when the cases were filed in the Muntinlupa trial court,” he said. He said De Lima’s motion to quash was not enough to weaken the Justice department’s finding of probable cause. De Lima’s lawyers said they would file a petition before the Supreme Court this week to question her arrest and again assail the jurisdiction of the regional trial court, insisting that the cases be heard in the

anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan. Aguirre insists, however, that the RTC has exclusive jurisdiction over the three cases, regardless of De Lima’s position, because trading in illegal drugs had no connection to the performance of her duties as secretary of Justice at the time. The three separate cases against De Lima, which accused her of receiving millions of pesos from illegal drug trade in New Bilibid Prison, were rafﬂed off to RTC Branch 204 Judge Juanita Guerrero, branch 205 Judge Amelia Fabros-Corpuz and branch 206 Judge Patria Manalastas-De Leon. The ﬁrst count in Branch 204 also included De Lima’s former driver and lover, Dayan and National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Rafael Ragos as her co-accused. De Lima is joined by her nephew Jose Adrian Dera in the second count in Branch 205. With Ma-

con Ramos-Araneta

draft the new Bangsamoro enabling law that will create the new Bangsamoro region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. ARMM was part of the peace agreement between the government and the MNLF in 1996 while the BBL is part of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in 2014 between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a breakaway group of the MNLF. (VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Residents... From A1

Those ordered closed in Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte were ADNAMA Mining Resources Corp.; Claver Mineral Development Corp.; Hinatuan Mining Corp.; CTP Construction and Mining Corp.; Carrascal Nickel Corp.; Marcventures Mining and Development Corp.; and Platinum Group Metals Corp. The consultative meeting are part of government efforts to make sure that the affected workers will be employed as the closure of mining operations will throw almost 20,000 people out of jobs. Lopez said her plan is to transition the towns from mining operations into ecotourism destinations that would benefit the town more. Lopez said the Caraga region is the mining capital of the Philippines, yet the people there are the poorest in the country. Lopez said it was ironic that Caraga is a beautiful region that is exploited by mining companies that contribute only five percent of their income to host communities and take the rest out fo the country. “That’s what happens when you mine, you invest here, 95 percent of the profits go out of the local community, that’s why they are still poor,” Lopez said. Lopez, during the forum at the Loreto town gymnasium, presented her plan on how she plans to transform the mining towns into eco-tourism destinations and how that would be made possible with the rehabilitation fund from mining companies. Lopez said that under the scheme, mine workers would be employed in the rehabilitation of mined out areas. Lopez said that in mine site revegetation alone, 200 hectares of land can employ 1,000 workers and the estimated income from this rehabilitation program is P12 million. But some residents said Lopez lacks an understanding of the quality of the soil in the mountains. Alfie Guc-ong from barangay Esperanza, where mining operations have already stopped, said that Lopez’s plans to plant carrots, napier and bamboo grass would be impossible because of the quality of the soil. Jason Tanor, another resident, said that even if they would use fertilizers, the growth would be very minimal. “Where would we buy the fertilizer? Even coconut does not grow there,” Tanor said. Melchor Manlunas, 71, who spent all his life on the island said the only thing they can do is to fish, but that also is very difficult because of the big waves in the area. Kleindel Estrada said that he was supposed to be regularized by a mining company but because of the closure, he is unsure where to get the money for his family. “Mining is the only life here,” Manlunas said. Asked if there were any tourism destinations in their town, they said there was only the beach, and that the town had only one lodging house, which is usually empty. “There are no tourists here, except during town fiesta,” Tanor said. Halfway through Lopez’s presentation, people started to walk out of the venue, losing interest in the proposed action plan that would helped them move from mining to ecotourism.

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

51 NPAs give up THREE weeks after the government waged an ‘all-out war’ against the New People’s Army, 51 members of the communist movement have surrendered to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, according to AFP Public Affairs Office Chief Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo. “And the exodus is expected to continue with numerous others sending their surrender fillers to the military,” said Arevalo. “While we are preparing for the eventual laying down of arms by these NPA members, their surrenders are without conditions apart from the program accorded by government to rebel returnees. On Feb. 23 alone, the AFP received 10 surrenderer from the NPA. Two more rebels gave up on Feb. 24, 2017—Allan Mating, 19 years old, surrendered to the 25th Infantry Battalion in Compostela Valley while Arjay Bangue surrendered with his M16 rifle to the 73rd Infantry Battalion in Davao Occidental, Arevalo said. Since Feb. 4, the AFP has already conducted 36 small unit operations against the NPA—averaging two encounters a day. During the same period, the AFP was able to capture 17 NPA members. Most recent of the arrests was the capture of top NPA leader Ernesto Samarita in Nasugbu, Batangas on Feb. 21. His group was responsible for the numerous atrocities and large scale extortions in Pico de Loro, Batangas, Arevalo said. The AFP has also recovered a total of 37 firearms from the NPAs since day one. Meanwhile, the body count on the rebels’ side reached 14 following the latest encounter on Friday. Two NPA members were killed in the operation launched by the Army’s 61st Infantry Battalion in Maayon, Capiz. The troops also recovered two shotguns and two hand grenades from the NPAs. “On the Government’s side, the AFP has already recorded 37 casualties of which, seven were killedin-action while 30 were wounded in operations launched against the NPAs,” Arevalo disclosed. The most recent operations were reported in Davao Oriental and Agusan Del Sur in Feb. 24. A Private from the Army’s 67th Infantry Battalion was wounded after an encounter with two NPA members in Brgy. Campawan, Baganga, Davao Oriental. Two other personnel, a Sergeant and a Private First Class were wounded in a firefight against 10 NPA rebels in Brgy. Limot, Viruela, Agusan Del Sur.

P2.6-B NLEX PROJECT.

Photo shows the new expressway lanes in the section between Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan and San Fernando City were expanded from 2x2 lanes to 3x3 lanes in each direction. This is part of the Manila North Tollways Corp.’s P2.6billion capacity expansion projects that is now ready to open in order to ease traffic congestion in the section between Sta. Rita, Guiguinto, Bulacan and San Fernando City. The new projects also include the construction of new expressway lanes on both sides of the 5-km long Candaba Viaduct. MNTC also built a new 2x2, 4-kilometer expressway in the Mabalacat City portion of the NLEX including two new bridges. “These completed projects will bring more travel convenience and improved public service along this key NLEX section that connects Metro Manila to the provinces in Central and Northern Luzon,” said MNTC president and CEO Rodrigo Franco.

Ex-general takes over MWSS T By Rio N. Araja

HE new administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, retired police general Reynaldo V. Velasco, has pledged to ensure affordable, clean and safe water for the 20-million consumers in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces and to pursue the agency’s flagship projects that will keep water supply flowing.

“Water is life. Our mission is to do our utmost as we work together for the well-being of our consumers in Metro Manila and nearby areas. So let us all push for what is fair and just to our consumers,” said Velasco, a former PNP Special Action Force commander. Velasco, also noted for his managerial capability, said he will find ways to transform the agency’s many land assets into income-generating ventures or

revenue-earners to support development projects and further improve overall services. “We can dream of building a new parking building that can be a revenue earner and at the same time put sanity to our dysfunctional parking system here at MWSS, ” said Velasco, a decorated 3-star police general. Velasco vowed to pursue other flagship projects, like the Laiban Dam, Kaliwa at Kanan projects that will ensure ad-

equate, steady and sustainable water supply for our consumers in Metro Manila and adjoining provinces in the next 25 to 50 years,” he said. He vowed to respect the concession agreement with its two water concessionaires, Maynilad Water Services Inc. in the west zone and Manila Water Co. Inc. in the east zone, “and, of late, the Bulacan Bulk Water.” “While we make this assurance of mutual respect for our agreement, it also behooves upon these first two concessionaires to fast tract the implementation of the sewerage treatment plants [STPs], which I learned, has only more than 20-percent implementation rate, way beyond their promise and commitment,” he said. “For Bulacan Bulk Water, we will ask them to fast track their project so that we can earn additional revenues,” he added. He promised to be fair and just

to the MWSS and not only to its water consumers, but to the entire Filipino people. Gone are the days of excessive bonuses at the MWSS, he warned. “I plan to implement the salary standardization as approved by the government-owned andcontrolled corporation and the Department of Budget and Management. This is the only way we can all be accountable to our President and the public that we serve,” he said, speaking before employees and officials last Feb. 20. “I am sorry to disappoint some of you that the old practices and happy days in yesteryears are no longer with us and are not forthcoming under the Duterte administration which is dead serious in its campaign against graft and corruption,” he added. He said he will look after the welfare of all MWSS personnel as far as fair and just compensa-

tion is concerned. “I will work for the immediate release of your 2015 productivity boards and I have requested the deputy and administration and finance to expedite your performance bonuses for 2016. You should get in within this year depending how fast we can get the approval of higher authorities. Let us not wait for two years for the release what you truly duly deserve,” he told officials and employees. He thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for trusting him to assume a “huge responsibility” as MWSS administrator. “Of special mention is former President Fidel V. Ramos, my province mate and boss, who served as a co-founder along with former Defense Secretary Renato de Villa of the Special Action Force, myself being the first SAF commander, for vouching for my managerial capacity,” he said.

China traders keen on harbor projects

NEA vows transparent dealings THE National Electrification Authority says the public can expect improved transparency and accountability within the agency. At a news conference, Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said the a gency will take take measure to ensure that power supply agreements and related contracts entered into by electric co-ops are “legal and aboveboard.” The agency is “focused on ensuring that all dealings of the electric cooperatives are fair and transparent, and reflect the administration’s commitment to implement pro-people reforms,” he said. “These efforts are consistent with the directives of President Rodrigo Duterte and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who want us to prioritize the welfare and interests of power consumers,” he added. He said they have formulated policies operationalizing the existing guidelines for the competitive selection process of the power supply agreements of electric cooperatives. “This is necessary to ensure electric cooperatives are observing appropriate procurement procedures, including transparent and competitive bidding in the conduct of their operations,” he noted. He vowed to fight corruption and restore the faith of the people in the government. Rio Araja

Newly minted MWSS administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco (right) takes his oath of office before Public Works Secretary Mark Villar at the DPWH main building in Manila.

CHINESE investors are eager to partner with the country’s major port city developer, R-II Builders Inc., in Builders in Manila, Davao and Cebu that are envisioned to address congestion and provide convenience to its locators. Delegation from the China Development Bank led by its vice governor Zhou Qingyu and China National Technical Import and Export vice president Jiang Junhua visited the Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. at R-10 in Manila, which is being operated by R-II Builders, for their possible investment and role in the expansion and development of the said port. Red M. Romero III, vice chairman of R-II Builders, said that aside from the possibility of investing at the Harbour Centre Port Terminal, the Chinese group also intends to invest in their port operations in Davao and Cebu. “Well everybody is coming in especially these Chinese groups. This is not the first time we entertained Chinese groups, this group is very aggressive compared to the other Chinese groups,” Romero said. R-II Builders president Victor Songco said while there are local investors eying the projects, Chinese investors are showing more interest following President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to China last October where they were part of the delegation to lure Chinese investments into the country. R-II Builders recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Manila City government and the Philippine Reclamation Authority for the expansion of the 50-hectare Harbour Centre Port Terminal. The project, estimated to cost almost P7.4 billion, will add

another 20 hectares with a kilometer-long berthing facility to Harbour Centre Port Terminal to enable it to accommodate the fast increasing volume and size of vessels and cargos at the port. Part from the expansion of Harbour Centre Port Terminal, the R-II Builders is also planning to build the port terminals Consolacion International Container and Bulk Terminal in Cebu and the Davao Coastline Port and Development project in Davao City. The terminal in Cebu would sit on an 85-hectare reclaimed land, consisting of a 1,200-meter-long berth, 1,000-meter access road, 25-hectare container yard, and a 50-hectare industrial park. The project will help mitigate the container and bulk/breakbulk cargo traffic in Cebu City, whose port can no longer be expanded because of geographic limitations. The Davao project lies on a 214-hectare reclaimed property. With its proximity to East Asia countries, the Davao project will be a corridor for trade and commerce between the Philippines and the rest of the Asean Economic Community, Romero said. “The vice governor [of China Development Bank] expressed his interest to return when we discussed with him that aside from the Manila project, we also have in Davao and Cebu. They are very much Interested to go to Davao and Cebu,” Romero revealed. When asked if the Chinese businessmen have pledged the amount they would infuse into their company, Songco said: “As of now, no pledge has been made. But they are very much interested in financing the projects” in the three ports.”

Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

EDITORIAL

Unworthy champion

ENATOR Leila de Lima’s statement last week sought to frame her arrest on drug charges as a case of political persecution and portray her as a courageous defender of human rights and democracy. There may be human rights organizations outside the country that will unquestioningly swallow Senator De Lima’s line, but those of us who are familiar with her track record here tend to be far less gullible. Without commenting on her guilt or innocence on the charge that she beneﬁted from the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison when she was still Justice secretary, we can still conclude that the senator’s lengthy statement

Adelle Chua, Editor

was far from honest. For example, the senator seeks to cast doubt on the charges against her because the government is using convicted drug lords as state witnesses against her. She describes this as a “revolting plan” that follows a “badly written script.” Not too long ago, however, Senator De Lima herself tried to use a self-confessed assassin and serial killer to accuse President Rodrigo Duterte of heading the Davao Death Squad

when he was still mayor. Was the assassin’s testimony any less credible than those of convicted drug dealers? If we are to dismiss the testimony of witnesses simply because they are criminals as De Lima suggests, shouldn’t we do the same with the accounts provide by her star witness against Duterte? Yet, her statement is full of ad hominem attacks on the President, based on the testimony of her serial killer witness and a former policeman who reversed his own testimony to the Senate last year, when he said the DDS did not exist. Then De Lima talks up her record as a human rights defender, citing her time as the chairman of the Human Rights Commission and her six years as Justice secretary in the

Aquino administration. “I can look everyone straight in the eye and say: My track record as a public servant has never been tarnished by any wrongdoing, except until now based on manufactured lies,” she said. “I have never used and will never use my position for my personal interest.” Indeed, De Lima was the chairman of the Commission on Human Rights for two years under the Arroyo administration, from May 2008 to June 2010, then was Justice secretary for almost six more years from 2010 to 2015—until she ran for the Senate. In all these eight years, however, when she had the full support of the state machinery, De Lima never successfully prosecuted the case against then

mayor Duterte. Instead, she did the bidding of her boss, then President Benigno Aquino III, to go after his political enemies, including the incumbent chief justice of the Supreme Court at the time, and former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. De Lima was so eager to do her master’s bidding, in fact, that she deﬁed a Supreme Court order and prevented Arroyo from leaving the country for medical treatment. Later, still as Justice secretary, De Lima she deprived Mrs. Arroyo of her liberty for more than four years—then failed miserably in her attempt to convict her of plunder. In this time, the UN Commission on Human Rights declared that the Aquino administration had violated international human rights laws by keeping Mrs.

Arroyo under detention without the opportunity to post bail, as her other co-accused had already done. At no point during this time did Justice Secretary De Lima, the avowed defender of human rights, lift a ﬁnger to correct the injustice visited upon the former president. It is the height of hypocrisy now for De Lima to present herself as a defender of human rights, when she did so much to abuse those rights when she was in power. Senator De Lima is no political prisoner, as she would have us believe. She is just a prisoner with a spotty past. She is no worthy champion of democracy, regardless of what she claims. She has been weighed in the balances and found wanting.

Our democracy is like our religion

San Beda’s bid for university status SAN BEDA’S academic community is in earnest about its bid for university status. That raises the question: What for? The Philippines abounds in universities, too many, in fact, for education’s good! As in many things, we have outdone ourselves in creating universities. We have more per square kilometer than many more prosperous countries. For sure then, it will not do for Bedans to aim at just adding to the list of universities. But a Benedictine university— that is what is so exciting and promising about this prospect, the promise of a gift to the Philippines “ex corde ecclesiae...from the heart of the Church.” How does one teach the world that one is strongest on his knees? How does one imbue a society over which the arrogant prevail with the virtue of humility, born of “ora et labora...prayer and work?” Towards the end of the Prologue to his Regula (The Rule), which is the great

Benedict’s legacy not only to Western monasticism but to the world, he writes: “Therefore, we intend to establish a school for the Lord’s service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little severity in order to correct faults and to safeguard love. Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our heaves overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.” Although, by “school,” he meant the formation of the monk that the Rule was to bring about, there is every reason to read this passage as the basic charter of a Benedictine university: That its sons and daughters, humbly aware of

This concept of a Catholic university will be the ultimate outcome by which its success is measured, its existence justiﬁed.

their failings and zealous in charity, may tread the path of the Gospel.” Mendiola is not the quietest place in Manila. In fact, it is the favorite assembly point of all who have gripes against Malacañang’s tenant. But in one corner of the entire compound of

San Beda College is the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat— an enclave of peace, quiet, contemplation and prayer. As such, the Monastery is a constant reminder to the bustling academic community just outside its doors that for all the learning that may issue from classrooms and halls, there is much that is taught by the silence of the heart, where God can speak in whispers! And when a monk passes by —easily identified by the cowl that drapes over his shoulders —we are all reminded of a “kingdom not of this world” that gives all our labors and toil in this world enduring worth and value. Cuthbert, writing of the death of Venerable Bede, the College’s namesake, describes his holy passing: At three o’clock, Bede said to me, “I have a few treasures in my private chest, some pepper, napkins, and a little incense. Run quickly and bring the priest of our monastery, and

I will distribute among them these little presents that God has given me.” When the priests arrived he spoke to them and asked each one to offer Masses and prayers for him regularly. They gladly promised to do so. That was all that Bede had —pepper, napkins and incense —and all that he asked for were the prayers of his brothers. This is the abnegation that preaches the Gospel, that makes the monk ever a light shining on a hill. This is the poverty that contrasts itself markedly with the crass consumerism that makes victims of us all. This is what should draw the young to a Benedictine university. Yes, the skills of commerce, the intricacies of business, the challenges of economics will and should be expertly taught and thoroughly learned, but the spirit that should pervade all should be an option for “evangelical poverty.” Only in this way will a Benedictine university have a wealth to offer

MOSTLY form, little by way of substance. That is how our democracy is similar to the religion the majority of our population swears by. And it is perhaps in this context that what we commemorate as the “people power” revolution that was Edsa Uno has failed to live up to the expectations of many Filipinos. I recall how my mentor, Salvador “Doy” Laurel used to say about the then-imminent fall of the dictatorship: “It will be like a grand fiesta, with people pouring into the streets in joy, loudly proclaiming the return of their liberties, their freedom!” Well, it was indeed. An astonished world looked at us with admiration, as we were able to oust an entrenched authoritarian ruler without bloodshed. For a few shining moments in history, we were on center stage in the world. But after the euphoria died down, when it was time for us to roll our sleeves and get back to the tedious work of rebuilding a nation from the long night of freedom’s slumber, we faltered. What we so proudly claimed to be the return of democracy was just a return of form— the formal institutions of democratic order; the return of individual liberties and the recognition of individual rights; the establishment of the three branches of government, supposedly co-equal; freedom of speech and the guarantees thereof to media. But where was the substance? And after 31 years, how much substance? The oligarchy that Marcos promised to banish but instead merely re-cast into cronyism, a “zaibatsu” fueled by greed rather than love of country, was once more re-cast, returned through a mere change of power-wielders. Same script, different actors. In fact some of the old Turn to A5

Turn to A5

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Poetic justice SO MUCH has already been said of Senator Leila de Lima’s legal problems and arrest. Nearly every one thinks it’s ironic and karmic, and that she got what she deserved. I will not add anymore to this sordid story of someone else’s reversal of fortune. At most, I will call it poetic justice. Senator De Lima was the former justice secretary responsible for putting three other senators under detention. “There’s no such thing as a political prisoner. You’re a prisoner, period,” said Juan Ponce Enrile when asked about his opinion on De Lima’s claim that she is the first political prisoner under the Duterte administration. Enrile, who spent a year and two months under detention at the Philippine National Police hospital in Camp Crame, added that if you are accused and charged, you should be ready to defend yourself in a court of law. Enrile is out on bail for humanitarian reasons and pending the resolution on his petition for a bill of particulars on the plunder charges against him in relation to his pork barrel funds. De Lima, instead of ranting and raving, should take a cue from Enrile who made full use of his detention by reading books and adding to his prescient views of world history and current local and global events. His memory for names, places and events is uncanny for a 93-year-old man. Speaking at the sidelines of the 31st anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution on Edsa last week, the foremost player of that bloodless uprising against former President Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law regime said De Lima should just prepare to defend herself instead of portraying herself as a victim of political vendetta.

It is as it should be. The slew of charges against De Lima after all are not political but criminal—graft for allegedly receiving millions of pesos from drug lords to fund her senatorial campaign and abetting and allegedly allowing the drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa during her watch as justice secretary. Supervision of the national penitentiary is under the Department of Justice. Clearly, these are serious criminal allegations. They are far from being political. When all is said and done about this episode in Philippine history, the government should now focus on other more gutwrenching issues affecting the citizenry. There is the problem of unemployment—11.2million Filipinos are jobless. And then, those who are able to work have to struggle with the daily commute because of the horrendous road traffic and lack of an efficient public railway system. These are just two of the basic public services that government must attend to. Addressing these two major problems should and would offset all the brickbats President Rodrigo Duterte is getting. However, the government’s plan to phase out old jeepneys which often break down and aggravate the traffic problem in Metro Manila is being met with opposition. A nationwide strike today led by the operators and drivers’ group Piston could make life more difficult for commuters. Previous administrations failed to solve this perennial problem of traffic and lack of an efficient mass transport system. We hope the Duterte government

in its six-year term can help ease if not solve this problem. While under detention, De Lima said she would continue her work as senator. Why not ? Perhaps she could draft legislative measures on prison reforms. She has, after all, first-hand knowledge of what needs to be done to curb corruption, and special privileges for Very Important Prisoners. We will end our commentary on De Lima’s case on this note lest we are accused of kicking someone who’s already down. Enrile on Martial Law, People Power In light of the current unfolding events (without inferring any link to De Lima case) it is noteworthy to draw lessons from history. I am referring to former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who himself was once Justice secretary during Marcos time. In a speech delivered before the Wednesday Forum at the Cosmopolitan Church in the Philippines, he recounted in detail the events that led to the proclamation of martial law in the country. An accomplished lawyer and constitutionalist, Enrile did not disown his role in the drafting of the legal documents that laid the basis for martial rule. The historic task of doing so fell on Enrile’s shoulders who enlisted the help of Efren Plana for the research and basis for declaring martial law. All the elements for the declaration of Martial Law were present during those tumultuous times of student demonstrations and the increasing strength of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. There were instances when rebellious students were at Malacañang’s doorstep. On another occasion, they nearly mobbed President

Marcos and other government officials in Congress on Padre Burgos Street. This was on Jan. 26, 1970, when President Marcos was set to deliver a State of the Nation Address before a joint session of the House and the Senate. Indeed the nation’s state from 1970 to 1972 was total chaos. Anarchy prevailed. The deteriorating situation could only be stemmed with draconian measures. At that time, under the 1935 Constitution, the declaration of Martial Law was allowed under certain circumstances. The Armed Forces of the Philippines was stretched at 60,000 men, spread mostly in Central Luzon against the communist insurgents. The rest were deployed in other parts of the country. And so it came to pass: Martial law was declared on Sept. 21, 1972, and the rest is history. Will President Rodrigo Roa Duterte declare Martial Law without the necessary constitutional basis for doing so? Will he repeat history and pay the price for it? There are rumors of Duterte mulling emergency rule. There is also rumbling on the ground that a military coup to unseat him could happen. The opposition Liberal Party has denied it is behind such a plot. If Digong and his Davao confederates are firmly in control of the situation, why then do these rumors and speculations continue to gather steam? Could it be that the government itself is fanning the flame of uncertainty and unrest? We hope not because the country and the citizenry cannot and must not suffer another dictatorship. For a copy of Senator Enrile’s speech, you can request the Wednesday Forum of the Cosmopolitan Church in the Philippines. It is an interesting read.

Our democracy... From A4

in form with little substance. It’s really like our Roman Catholic religion, which the majority practice as a matter of formal routine. We are awed by the pomp, regaled by the rituals and the festivities redolent of incense, take the sacrament of communion without the appropriate contrition, yet in the end fail to possess the spirituality that means practicing the lessons of our faith in everyday life. One of the main reasons the State finds it exceedingly difficult to provide for the basic needs of our people is that over the last 31 years, we have doubled our numbers, mindlessly, as our Church has kept on preventing the State from implementing a rational and sensible population management program. Our local bishops close their eyes to the fact that we are about the only predominantly Catholic nation (the Vatican city-state excepted) which does not pro-actively implement Statesponsored reproductive health programs, let alone allow divorce. This religiosity in form with little spirituality is still a drawback from the time when Spain conquered the “indios” through sword and the cross, piggybacking the propagation of the faith on a retention of the familiar pagan rituals, as they did in Latin America and the Southeast Asian colony they named after their Rey Felipe. This lack of spirituality among many Catholics is perhaps the reason people do not listen when the bishops tell them that multiplication is based on the sanctity of the life

of the unborn. Survey after survey through the last 20 years would show that more than twothirds of Filipinos are in favor of birth control and reproductive health measures, despite pulpit exhortation or oratio imperata. In the words of Pope Francis, “inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful, between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, undermines the credibility of the Church.” Yet some of today’s bishops try to relive the power they exercised during the time of the frailes, through the “moral” influence they exercise among the political and business elite of this benighted land. This is why they have become so far removed from the reality of blight among the numerous poor. To be fair, many priests and missionaries working in countryside are still regarded by the poor as beacons of morality and guidons of hope, the sad part being that because of their empathy towards the plight of the marginalized, many have been attracted to the siren songs of the left. But the bishops are otra cosa. Mayor Inday Sara Duterte said it succinctly, when she reacted to the words spewed by Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan during the 31st anniversary of Edsa Uno. Her father the President wisely downplayed the anniversary in terms of ceremony and ritual, exhorting the people instead to reflect on what was right and what went wrong after the historic events of February 1986. Said Inday Sara: “Your

group is sadly a bunch of hypocrites. While you were up there riding high on your horses, you failed to notice that many of us down here empathize with what Rodrigo Duterte is saying because it is the hard truth.” Juxtapose that with what Pope Francis said about how inconsistency between pastors and the faithful undermines the credibility of the Church. Having been acolytefactotum of Cardinal Sin during those heady days of Edsa Uno y Dos, Villegas now sees himself not only as curator of the Edsa Shrine but has arrogated upon himself the role of protector of the diminished Edsa covenant. He mistakes form for substance, and cannot countenance a leader like Duterte who wants to give our democratic form the substance of equal opportunity. Duterte from his Davao habitat has seen why and how the shining moment that was Edsa failed. Now he wants to rectify it, albeit with great difficulty. Our lord bishops should well reflect on what Pope Francis said, ironically on the day preceding the Edsa they so miss, that “atheists are better than Catholic hypocrites”. Amen to that.

actors remained on the stage, still practicing their old tricks upon a population marginalized by the lack of real democratic power in a polity where the economy remains controlled by a very few, in a society of extreme inequality. The “elite,” which have through the years evolved from the hacenderos and ilustrados of the Spanish regime. They retained their privileges because they were co-opted by the American colonialists. Now they still hold the levers of power because they are fortified by a ruling class of Pinoys and Chinoys whose wealth is a function of rent-seeking. I have always maintained that democracy is not merely about formal institutions; it should be about equal opportunity. There is democracy when those born poor are afforded by democratic order the means with which and by which to advance their status in society, improve their quality of life, and provide for a sustainable future. That is what the bloodshed during the French Revolution eventually did for the people of France, now advanced into a quality of life with few equals. And while the Chinese do not up to now bask in the forms of a democratic order, their polity has given the people continuing liberation from the bondage of poverty. There is the substance of equal opportunity, even if bereft of the forms of democratic space. I repeat: ours is a democracy

to attend, posited: “A university does not earn the title ‘Catholic’ merely by giving religious instruction and by From A4 making it possible for the students to attend Mass. A school, in order to be Christian, ought to produce that other universities do not! Writing on “The Essence of a University in student committed to the cause of Christianity Our Changing Times,” Francis Gevers, a Leuven which both Church and the world need. Such a philosopher whose classes it was my great fortune Christianity should be an apostolic Christianity,

San Beda’s...

Atty. Jimeno’s column will resume next week.

OPEN THOUGHTS OrlaNdO OxalES

A messy experiment FOR many in the scientific and business community, the appointment of Gina Lopez to the helm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was a risky experiment that has quickly deteriorated into an industry-wide mess. President Rodrigo Duterte recalled in his first State of the Nation Address how Lopez badgered him in the wee hours of the morning, ostensibly about her advocacy. Tired from the endless interviews, the then president elect asked her, seemingly in jest, if she could head the DENR. He sounded noncommittal at best, but news of her appointment quickly spread online. It was quite the scintillating story: Finally, a crusading advocate—not a politician— as the state’s top manager of natural resources and the environment. Duterte’s casual remark thus escalated beyond his control; to save face, he praised Lopez’s commitment to the environment. Even then, there were concerns about the risk in the experiment, fears that her first official act soon confirmed. She ordered a mining audit of all large-scale mines in the country, an exercise that later proved to be farcical at best. With no semblance of transparency or regard for protocol, the result of the audit was predictable: A slew of suspensions, closures, and cancellation of contracts, summarily killing an industry that is supposed to represent one of the economic pillars of the President’s avowed development agenda. Never mind the long-term economic disaster that this experiment will precipitate, the livelihood of a million people is in danger of being wiped out. Global prices of nickel had risen seven percent. Hundreds of community infrastructure projects are put on hold. Local government units and indigenous groups are in danger of losing millions in revenues and royalties. A plethora of lawsuits on possible breach of contracts hang over the DENR, possibly overburdening the already-troubled department. Those watching by the sidelines inured to the emotional grandstanding in Lopez’s crusade can only sigh and agree with the President: What a mess! What thus began as a slightly awkward case of experimentation in a highly knotty department as DENR is proving to be an exceptional failure. Nearly two dozen petitions have been lodged What to the Commission of Appointments to reject thus began Lopez’s nomination. as a slightly Unfortunately, the antimining propaganda, of awkward case of which she has become experimentation the rallying point, is a well-oiled, well- is proving to be funded machine. It is a campaign that relies on an exceptional theater and spectacle, on failure. simplistic good-versusevil narratives, on wellproduced and carefully choreographed materials that fire emotion over sober science, drama over facts. All counter-arguments are dismissed as corporate spin, the conversation framed anew in an us-versus-them storyline. The campaign of Lopez has become a socio-political campaign cleverly crafted to build her persona as if she is a candidate running for a national position. Some speculate that this may be the hidden intent, a seat in the Senate. The Commission on Appointments should discern the substance from the relentless racket and realize what many already have: The insanity must end, and the DENR must be brought back to the developmental track. In the meantime, how do we rectify the egregious, seemingly irreversible mess? A good place to start is the planned audit of mining operations nationwide led by the Department of Finance. The audit will utilize “a pool of experts”—an excellent idea going by the Lopez audits—and will begin next month with the first batch of 28 operational mines, 23 of which were shut down following the July audits. “The order of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to either shut down or suspend the operations of 28 mine sites across the country will cost 17 affected cities and municipalities in 10 provinces over P821 million annually in forgone revenues,” the finance department said. The fact-finding teams will be scientific in their approach and take into consideration legal, social, economic, and mineral development perspectives, hopefully going over and beyond the hard-line ecological stand of the DENR leadership. State universities, specifically professors and scientists, will reportedly play a primary role in the audit, allaying fears that private sector engagement can hijack and potentially influence the investigation. This way, government will credibly hold all accountability. The findings will then be submitted to the cabinet-level Mining Industry Coordinating Council, which can make the recommendation to the President. The clarity in the procedure should be reassuring. Observers have noted that due process was the first casualty in the appointment of a crusading environment secretary. Questions of jurisdiction were raised. The sanctity of contracts. Are we not a government of laws, some asked. Groups even described the case as a failure in leadership. A singularity of vision, while admirable in some contexts, will hardly work in an area as complex and multi-faceted as environmental management. What to some is political will is myopia to others. The engagement of experts to audit mines will hopefully put sanity back to this crazy mess.

because a Catholicism which is not apostolic is dead Catholicism. Instruction and learning are ‘musts’, but they are by far insufficient to form and train apostolic-minded Christians of the type that is needed in the present situation of the Church—a Church in mission.” While a Benedictine university will be responsive to other indicia of excellence, this concept of a

Catholic university will be the ultimate outcome by which its success is measured, its existence justified. rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Senate pushes for review of LGU code By Macon Ramos-Araneta

FIGHTING FIRE. MMDA Chairman Tim Orbos and Bureau of Fire Protection Regional Director Wilberto Kwan Tiu lead the parade of ﬁre trucks during the kickoff ceremony for the Fire Prevention Month in March. Norman Cruz

Telco to build 2k cell sites S By Macon Ramos-araneta

enator Joseph Victor Ejercito on Sunday said a leading wireless services provider has committed to build 2,000 additional cell sites and expand LTE coverage across the country. Ejercito said Smart Communications disclosed its expansion plan during a recent hearing of the Senate Public Services Committee where the issue of user-per-density ratio was raised. The senator said the ratio stands at only one cell site for every 2,244 users even if the country is one of the heaviest users of social media

in the world. Smart Communications, for its part, only has 15,000 cell sites for its 47.1-million subscribers. It plans to roll out the ﬁrst 700 additional cell sites within the year, the senator said. “We learned that this is where the disparity lies. If Smart acts on building additional 2,000 cell sites,

this will surely bring down the user-per-density ratio and improve services,” said Ejercito. “We are willing to help improve its utilities and services. We can do this by incorporating all recommendations of the National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and also urban planning and telco experts for other issues such as putting up more cell sites,” he added. For his part, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III urged the NTC to direct telcos to adopt Mobile Number Portabilty, a feature that allows subscribers to retain their mobile phone numbers even if they switch to a different carrier.

Under the current system, the ﬁrst four numbers of a mobile phone number are assigned to speciﬁc carriers, thus forcing mobile phone subscribers to change numbers when switching to a different provider. “We have to institute measures that will remove the hurdles to real competition so that we are not held hostage by telco providers. If we are unhappy with our current provider, we should be able to bring our business elsewhere; if we see a competitor providing better deals, then we should be able to switch with as little inconvenience as possible,” said Pimentel. The senator said most mobile

phone users are reluctant to switch from one telco to another “because of the hassle of having to change your number and having to go through the trouble of informing all your contacts that you have a new phone number.” “There is no reason Filipino consumers should be denied this feature. The technology allows for this. The NTC knows that the numbers assigned to particular telcos do not belong to these telcos. These are, in a manner of speaking, owned by the government, and we are in a position to require telcos to allow their customers to retain these numbers even if their customers want to switch to their competitors,” Pimentel added.

Fisherfolk opposes LLDA’s anti-fish pen resolution By Sandy Araneta THE militant fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas on Sunday called on the Laguna Lake Development Authority to revise its board resolution ordering the dismantling of fish pens in Laguna de Bay. Pamalakaya said Resolution No. 518 will not spare small fish

cages and fish traps (baklad) in the 90,000- hectare brackish lake. The order would implement President Rodrigo Duterte directive to dismantle wide fish pens, fish cages and fish corrals in efforts to restore the lake’s ecological system. The campaign against wide fish pens was initially lauded by the small fisherfolk from Laguna de Bay as this will bring back their

common fishing grounds that were previously monopolized by big-aquaculture firms. Environment Secretary Regina Lopez earlier assured small-scale fisherfolk that they will be protected from the clearing operations. “We reiterate our ardent support with the government’s anti-fish pen campaign. Although both the LLDA and the DENR have ver-

bally assured us that small ﬁsh cages and baklad will be spared, we can’t relieve our worry because it is written in the board resolution itself that all enclosed structures, whether large or small will be ejected. We also fear that shanties and houses situated on top of the lake will be categorized as ‘other structures’ that is included in the resolution” Pamalakaya chairper-

son Fernando Hicap said. Environment Undersecretary Arturo Valdez said operations of ﬁsh pens in Laguna de Bay are considered illegal since Jan. 1 after the permits of operators expired on Dec. 31. “We have imposed a total moratorium on the renewal of permits. This means ﬁsh pens can be dismantled anytime,” he said.

Govt sets massive hiring of teachers, health workers By Rio N. Araja

FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. The World Mission Society Church of God conducts a cleanup drive at the Manila Bay along Roxas Blvd. on Sunday. Norman Cruz

THE government will hire 234,542 teachers and allied health professionals to build up public schools and improve the delivery of medical services, an opposition lawmaker said Sunday. “We are releasing these ﬁgures to help graduating high school students as well as ﬁrst- and secondyear college students decide on what courses they may take or shift to, if they are considering future employability in the public sector as a factor,” House deputy minority leader Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said. He said the Department of Education is set to hire a total of 181,980 teachers starting this year until 2020. Also beginning this year until 2022, the Department of Health will recruit 52,562 health practitioners,

39,466 nurses, 3,288 pharmacists, 2,862 medical technologists, 2,497 universal health-care implementers, 2,424 physicians, 1,114 dentists and 911 public health associates. “The fastest-growing profession in the years ahead will be teaching as DepEd steps up hiring to cope with the demands of a rapidly expanding public school system. The need for math and science teachers in particular will be exceptionally strong,” he said. In 2017 alone, DepEd is spending P15.5 billion to ﬁll up 53,831 new teaching positions. Excluding beneﬁts and allowances, classroom teachers in public schools now receive a monthly salary ranging from P19,077 for entry-level Teacher I to P39,768 for Master Teacher III. Pay rates will increase every year until they reach P20,754 for Teacher I and P51,155 for Master Teacher III starting Jan. 1, 2019, Campos said.

THE Senate committee on local government is pushing for a comprehensive review of the Local Government Code which aims to decentralize governance and allow autonomy for local government units. “Its review is long-overdue since it was enacted by Congress 26 years ago,” committee chairman Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said. “It is now imperative to institute reforms so it can truly fulfill its main objective which is to equally distribute growth in the country through autonomy grounded on decentralized and devolved public functions,” he added. Section 521 of the Code states that the Congress shall “undertake a mandatory review of this Code at lease once every five years and as often as it may deem necessary, with the primary objective of providing a more responsive and accountable local government structure.” Senator Risa Hontiveros, committee vice chairperson, stressed that the intent of the review is enhance LGUs’ autonomy and decentralization. The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines earlier urged the Senate committee to prioritize the increase in the revenue share of LGUs. Ulap also pressed for a simplified formula for the computation of LGU shares in Internal Revenue Allotment. At present, 40 percent of the national IRA is allocated to local government units. LGUs are also empowered to impose local taxes to allow them to generate more revenues. Angara, however, lamented that more than half, or up to 62 percent, of economic activity in the country is still concentrated in the National Capital Region (36 percent), Calabarzon (17 percent), and Central Luzon (9 percent).

‘New Davao intl airport authority needed’ THE Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City would be better off once it is being driven by a wholly devoted public corporate entity, just like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, a lawmaker said on Sunday. “Mindanao’s international gateway deserves its own corporate body that can truly concentrate in running an airport with world-class facilities, superior passenger and cargo services, and highly improved safety and security based on the best aviation standards,” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, a member of the House committee on transportation. At present, FBIA is still being operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, while the country’s gateways in Luzon and Visayas have long been under the management and supervision of the Manila International Airport Authority and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, both special entities created by law. “We are absolutely convinced that a dedicated authority for the FBIA will enable the whole of Mindanao to take full economic advantage of a highly efﬁcient international airport,” Pimentel, hwo is also a member of the House committee on Mindanao affairs, said. The bill seeking to establish the Davao International Airport Authority to administer and operate the FBIA has been awaiting approval since the 16th Congress. The measure has been revived in the 17th Congress by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Deputy Speaker and Davao City Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano.

Sports

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Lady Stags score 4-peat SUBIC BAY—San Sebastian College’s Grethcel Soltones and Alyssa Eroa turned back San Beda’s Ma. Nieza and Ma. Jeziela Viray, 16-21, 21-15, 15-11, yesterday to complete a “four-peat” in the 92nd NCAA beach volley tournament at the Subic Bay sands in front of the Subic Park Hotel. It was an impressive championship run for the Soltones-Eroa pair as they won it this year via 10-game sweep to run away with their fourth straight crown and emerge as the most titled NCAA school in the sport with seven crowns. The triumph was made more special after Soltones and Eroa came from a bitter loss in the NCAA indoor volleyball competition, where the Lady Stags blew a thrice-to-beat edge to the Arellano U Lady Chiefs, the eventual champions. “Goodbye and thank you coach for helping us get here,” Soltones, playing his last season, told San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb. In juniors’ action earlier, Emilio Aguinaldo turned back Letran, 24-22, 21-15, to reclaim the championship it last won two years back.

Lascuña eyes elusive PH Open golf crown

Tony Lascuña, the winningest player on the local tour the last five years, believes he still got what it takes to win big-time tournaments, particularly the one missing in his vast trophy collection -- the Philippine Open.

It’s final: Pacquiao fights Khan

HILIPPINE boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and British fighter Amir Khan confirmed separately on Sunday that they would face each other on April 23 after weeks of conflicting reports. Pacquiao tweeted: “Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for the April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted.#PacquiaoKhan”. Khan, 30, a few minutes

later posted on his official Twitter feed: “My team and I have agreed terms with Manny Pacquiao and his team for a super fight #pacquiaokhan #April23rd”. Neither of them gave a venue

for the match but a source in Pacquiao’s office said the bout would be in the United Arab Emirates. Pacquiao’s American promoter, Bob Arum, has previously been quoted as saying on the ESPN that “Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates, and the people there favor him fighting Amir Khan”. Spokesmen for the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Pacquiao could not immediately be con-

tacted for comment. Pacquiao, 38, previously confirmed on Twitter that he was “in negotiations” to face Khan despite Arum’s own efforts to arrange a fight with Australian Jeff Horn in April. Pacquiao tweeted on February 11: “See you in UAE for my next fight. #TeamPacquiao”. He also posted a poll on his official Twitter feed asking his 110,000-plus followers to choose either Horn, Khan, American Terence Crawford or Briton Kell

Brook as his next opponent. Khan had been leading the poll when it was taken down. 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. Pacquiao had 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. AFP

Superbods spice up Subic Ironman 70.3 THE Century Tuna Superbods: The Underpants Run will again provide the sizzler of an appetizer to the muchawaited Ironman 70.3 when it is held March 11 in Subic Bay. The Ironman side-event will feature the country’s Superbods finalists – who will all be running alongside the fancied names of the sport. It will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Subic Yacht Club and pass through a scenic route along the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. Inspired by the tradition at Kona, home of the renowned Ironman World Championship, Century Tuna is staging the Superbods Underpants Run for the third straight year. It is also open to all participants of this year’s Ironman 70.3 as part of Century Tuna’s commitment to promote a fun local tradition that also gives back to the community. Even non-participants are enjoined to participate in the event backed by marketing partners AlcoPlus, Cetaphil, Daylong, Devant, Department of Tourism Region 3, Omega Pain Killer, PLDT Subictel, Regent, Sanicare and Storck with The Philippine Star, Cignal, Hyper HD, AsiaTRI.com and FinisherFix as media partners. Meanwhile, some of the world’s top-ranked and rising Ironmen brace for the CT Ironman 70.3 on March 12, also in Subic, with defending male champion Craig Alexan-

der eyeing a second straight championship in the 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21km run event organized and produced by Sunrise Events, Inc. But Alexander faces a formidable set of rivals, headed by former 2015 champion Tim Reed, along with Tin Van Berkel, Dan Brown, David Mainwaring and Sam Betten of Australia, Germans Michael Raelert, Till Schramm and Johannes Moldan, Swiss Ruedi Wild and Sven Riederer, Eric Watson of Bahrain, Ritchie Nicholls of Great Britain, American Kevin Collington and South African Johan Stofberg. Firming up the elite men’s cast are Kyle Buckingham of South Africa, Dan Wilson, Jake Montgomery, Jason Hall and Guy Crawford of Australia, and Benjamin Williams and Iain Alexandriris of the US. Defending women’s champion Caroline Steffen, on the other hand, is priming up against Czech Radka Kahlefeldt, Germany’s Imke Oelerich, and Aussies Dimity Lee Duke, Kate Bevilaqua, Sarah Lester and Imogen Simmonds. Other backers of the annual event are 2Go Express, SBMA, MNTC, Gatorade, Saucony, Timex, Alaska, David’s Salon, Gu, Intercare, Prudential Guarantee, Santé Barley, TYR, DOT, TPB and Aces Subic Bay.

FOR Tony Lascuña, it’s now or never as far as his quest for the elusive Solaire Philippine Open crown is concerned. The reigning Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion admits he won’t be among the early list of favorites in the coming $400,000 event at The Country Club, saying the honor belongs to the power-hitters, not only from among the local players but also from the men of the Asian Tour and Asian Development Tour. “Given the TCC’s length, the long-hitters have the advantage,” said Lascuña, now 46 and who has long traded length for accuracy. “I’m not getting any younger and the field is teeming with young players who can hit it really long.” But the amiable shotmaker, the winningest player on the local tour the last five years, believes he still got what it takes to win big-time tournaments, particularly the one missing in his vast trophy collection. “There are a lot of good players now. I just want to be able to give myself a chance against them,” said Lascuña, whose best finish in Asia’s oldest National Open was joint second in 2014 won by Aussie Marcus Both at Wack Wack. Like majority in the full field of 132 players, Lascuña said he likes his chances in the upcoming event held in cooperation with Meralco and PLDT, especially in the presence of the wind. “The wind factor should partly take away the power-hitters’ edge but I have to play consistent and try to minimize my mistakes to get a chance. With my current form, I think this is my best chance to win the Open,” said Lascuña, who won five tournaments last year. The TCC could indeed play longer than its 7652-yardage with most holes expected to play against the wind or heavy crosswind, thus putting premium on more clubs and easy swings to put less spin on the ball. It could also boil down to the last chip or putt, given the layout’s sleek, undulating putting surface.

Best Center in Bulacan, Ozamis City James Harden of the Houston Rockets during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. AFP

22 treys power Rockets past Wolves LOS ANGELES—James Harden led a balanced scoring attack with 24 points as the Houston Rockets set a league record for three pointers with a 142-130 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. Harden also had 10 assists and finished five of 11 from beyond the arc for the Rockets, who improved to 42-18. Houston made 22 of 58 three pointers and it marked their eighth game this season with at least 20 treys, breaking the NBA mark set by the Golden State Warriors in the 2015-16 season. “There’s nothing we can do. They just run down the court

shooting the ball,” Minnesota forward Andrew Wiggins said. “You shoot 58 (three-pointers) and you’re bound to make 20 of them. They just put it up.” In Miami, the Heat continued its hot streak by taking advantage of Paul George’s ejection to beat the Indiana Pacers 113-95 at AmericanAirlines Arena. Pacers all-star forward George was ejected after getting hit with his second technical foul with 8:49 left in the third period. He scored 10 points and grabbing one rebound in 19 minutes. Miami won 16 of its past 18 games, getting a double-double from center Hassan Whiteside,

who had 22 points and a gamehigh 17 rebounds. The second technical, with 8:49 left in the third, took place when George, who thought he had been fouled while shooting a three-pointer, shouted at referee Gary Zielinski. “He was a puppet,” George said of Zielinski. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra “was in his ear. He called it. It’s not like I said something derogatory to (Zielinski). In Cleveland, Jimmy Butler had a triple-double and Dwyane Wade flirted with another in the Chicago Bull’s 117-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers who played without superstar LeBron James. AFP

THE Best Center visits Ozamis City and Bulacan for its Milosponsored basketball clinics starting March 26. The La Salle University Arts Center will be the venue of the five-day clinic (March 26 to 31) for students in Preparatory and Level with Chow Vega as contact person (09153418678, 09091996441, 09955311134 and 09177172104). The Microlink Institute of Science and Technology San Frafal Campus in 117 National Road, Sitio Puting Lupa, San Roque will be the venue for another five-day clinic in San Rafael, Bulacan from March 26 to 31. A Level 1 course will be offered to students who may contact Lineth Castillo (09261230282) for details. Meanwhile, Best Center opens its summer clinics for basketball and volleyball in April with the support of Milo. Clinics in Xavier School will hit the ground running on April for the basketball clinics set Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. for students in Preparatory Level (ages 5-8) Level 1, 2 and 3.

Cudiamat seeks 2nd straight Prima Pasta badminton title

Michael Kevin Cudiamat

DEFENDING champion and national player Michael Kevin Cudiamat guns for back-to-back men’s open title when the 10th Prima Pasta Badminton Championship starts this week at the Powersmash Badminton Courts in Pasong Tama, Makati City. Cudiamat, known for his strong serves and great stamina, will be competing against the country’s best male badminton players all over the archipelago in the annual tournament organized by Prima Pasta Chairman Alex Lim. “For this upcoming Prima Pasta tourney, I’m determined to defend my men’s singles title, but I’m sure it won’t be easy,” said the former Far Eastern University player. “I trained very hard for this tournament so I’m confident of my chances.” Other national players like Ross Leenard Pedrosa, Frell Keeyan Gabuelo and Solomon Padiz, among others, are going to give their best effort in this tournament, which began Feb. 23 until Sunday and then again on March 4 and 5. In the women’s open singles’ division, reigning cham-

pion Sarah Joy Barredo also aims to defend her title against strong participants like fellow national players Airah Mae Nicole Albo, Jellene Geviane De Vera and Mariya Anghela Canlas Sevilla, among others. The tournament, sponsored by Babolat and SMART Communications through the MVP Sports Foundation, will include the following events: Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles from Open class, to Levels A to G, while Open Class and Levels B to F will be available in the Women’s Doubles. The event is also supported by Boysen Paints, Morning Star Milling Corporation., Mabz Builders, ILO Construction, Monolith Construction, Monocrete Construction, Pioneer Insurance, Promax International, Regent Foods Corp., RFM Corp and Del Monte Phils. More than 2,000 participants from different cities and provinces will be playing in the tournament organized by committee chairman Alexander Lim in partnership with the Philippine Badminton Association and affiliated with the Philippine National Ranking System.

Trophies, medals and gift certificates will be given to all winners of the tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Badminton Association.

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

monday, February 27, 2017

Fajardo nears 5th BPC crown By Jeric Lopez ANOTHER trophy is bound to find its way into June Mar Fajardo’s cabinet. The three-time reigning Most Valuable Player is expected to be named as the Best Player of the Conference in the ongoing 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup. After leading San Miguel Beer to the finals and putting it in a great spot to defend its crown, Fajardo is head and shoulders above everyone else in the Best Player race, where he has far superior statistics. With this impending BPC win, Fajardo is set to have his fifth citation as he is bound to tie mentor and former teammate Danny Ildefonso for the most number of the said recognition in league history. Still, the humble giant plays down yet another personal accomplishment as his eyes are on the bigger prize at the moment. “Hindi ko muna iniisip ‘yan (BPC Award). Ang focus ko lang is matulungan ang team ko na makapag-champion muna,” said Fajardo. Other contenders for the BPC award are the Gin Kings’ Japeth Aguilar and LA Tenorio, Fajardo’s teammate Arwind Santos and GlobalPort’s Terrence Romeo.

Fil-Scottish eyes slot in PH squad

FIL-SCOTTISH trackster Connor Henderson said he is serious about his bid to earn a slot in the Philippine national athletics’ pool. This is the reason why he is deﬁnitely going to show up in the coming 2017 Ayala Philippine National Open Invitational Athletics Championships in Ilagan, Isabela. “I am planning to come there in 3 weeks’ time,” said Henderson in an online chat with the Manila Standard. Henderson, who is good in the 400-meter hurdles, said he will come early for the National Open, which will be held from March 28 to April 2. For many prospective members of the national team, the competition will serve as a tryout for the national pool. Peter Atencio

Sports Jeric Hechanova, Luisita team captain, receives the Championship Division trophy from PAL President Jaime J. Bautista (center) and Defense Secretary Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana (5th from left), at the close of the 31st PAL Seniors Interclub at Davao. The Luisita team that cut short the two-year reign of Canlubang is composed of Eddie Bagtas, Chito Laureta, Benjie Sumulong, Jingy Tuazon, Raffy Garcia, Rodel Mangulabnan, Edmund Yee and Alan Alegre

Orchard, Alta Vista, Iligan, Lumbia win Interclub titles

AVAO CITY – Orchard Golf Club, Alta Vista, Iligan and Lumbia won division titles Saturday in the just-ended 31st Philippine Airlines Seniors Interclub golf team championships.

Orchard scored a runaway 20-point victory in the Founders division, collecting 545 points after four days, including a closing 137 at Palos Rancho Verde. Louie Garcia and Ryan Abdon each had 46 points while Chito Servida added 45 for Orchard. Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club finished with 525 points after a final-round 141. Scorers were Francis Gaston 51, Toto Rivera 46 and Lito Ong 44. Three points behind was Manila

Golf Club while Valley Golf Club and Cebu Country Club tied for fourth with 521 apiece. Meanwhile, Alta Vista took home the Aviator trophy after nipping Manila Southwoods by a single point. The Cebu-based squad assembled 502 points, including 128 points at Palos. Scoring for Alta Vista were Ramon Sebastian 44, Roy Damole 43 and Emir Abutazil 41. It was a heartbreaking defeat

for Manila Southwoods which had the title in the bag only to learn that one of its players signed a wrong scorecard. Daniel Samaniego was disqualified for the infraction and as a result, Manila Southwoods slipped to second with 501 points. Riviera Golf Club took third place with 498. In a nerve-wracking finish, Iligan Golf and Country Club completed a come-from-behind win in the Sportswriters bracket at the expense of Baguio Country Club (BCC). Mel Siao carded 45 points as Iligan routed BCC, 104-88, at the Apo Golf and Country Club to wind up with 415 points. Other scorers for Iligan were James Capangpangan 30 and Pal Lomondaya 29.

Third place went to San Juanico Park which finished with 412 points. In the Friendship class, Lumbia Golf Club edged MSU Golf and Country Club by three points to win the title with 371 points. Lumbia had 84 points at Apo courtesy of Fred Abundo 34, Ralph Garcia 30 and Leo Solis (20). MSU wound up with 368, 10 points clear of third placer Travelers Golf Club. Among international teams, FilAm Hawaii was the best performer with 481 points followed by Team Coral Ocean Point 442 and Socal Redhawk 436. Luisita Golf Club won the championship division, ending the twoyear reign of Canlubang. Del Monte settled for third place. However, Canlubang took a con-

Echauz: A win by Centennial III is a win by PH team BORACAY—Centennial III turned back a frantic finish by Karakoa to complete its date with history in the 2017 Subic Bay to Boracay Race-Boracay Cup Regatta over the weekend here. The champion boat still won the overall title this year despite losing the last two races of the annual regatta to Karakoa, and emerged as the first-ever team to win three straight titles in the eighth-year history of the event. Centennial edged Karokoa for the championship by a single point

after completing a sweep of both the Subic Bay to Boracay Race and the Boracay Cup Regatta. Skipper Judes Echauz expressed how proud he was for the feat achieved by his all-Filipino crew that steered the TP 52 Davidson boat to another victory. “A lot of people have been saying that the Subic to Boracay passage race is the best in Southeast Asia. And having performed well in this regatta is an achievement on its own,” said Echauz during the victory party celebration at the

Seawind Boracay Island in this pristine paradise. At the same time, he added the victory of Centennial III is also a victory for the country, considering top-notch boats from Asian power Hong Kong and Singapore, along with Great Britain competed in the six-day meet that began Saturday of last week. “This is an international regatta and you’re not only competing against the top boats from Hong Kong but in Asia,” said Echauz. “We call it Standard Insurance

Centennial II, but it’s the boat that really represents the Philippine team,” added Echauz, also president of the Philippine Sailing Association. “So, whenever we win, it’s the win by the Philippine team.” By virtue of topping the last two races of the IRC Racing Class 1 of the event that forms part of the Asian Yachting Grand Prix season, Karakoa, skippered by Rey Ordoveza, finished a strong second behind Centennial III. Antipodes, an entry from Great

Britain and captained by Geoff Hill, finished third overall, followed by one-time winner Jelik of Hong Kong led by Frank Pong. The Boracay Regatta Cup also offers precious points for the coveted Asian Yachting Skipper and Yacht of the Year awards. Sanctioned by the PSA, the meet is fully backed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Watercraft Venture Corp., Seawind Boracay Resort, the Lighthouse Marina Resort, and Subic Sailing Club.

Debesay torments Cameron CAMERON HIGHLANDS-Dimension Data continued its winning streak with Eritrea’s Mekseb Debesay coming first atop the mythical Cameron Highlands, beating Australia’s Cameron Bayly by the length of a bike while Ryan Gibbons, third on the line only four seconds later, retained the yellow jersey and therefore gave the South African outfit a good chance to become the first team to win three Le Tour de Langkawi in a row after Youcef Reguigui and Reinardt

Janse van Rensburg did so in 2015 and 2016. “This is my first big victory”, reacted Debesay who only joined the WorldTour giants last year. “We rode together with my teammates all day. The finale was quite hard but I followed some good riders and I outsprinted them. It was always my childhood dream in Africa to become a successful professional cyclist. It’s a dream come true now. I’ve been inspired by my compatriots

Daniel Teklehaimanot and Natnael Berhane. They’re my heroes and I want to ride the Grand Tours like them in the same way I did today.” Bayly of IsoWhey Sports Swisswellness moved up to second overall as he finished right behind Debesay and ahead of a group of nine riders who surge atop the final climb and comprised hot favorites Egan Bernal and Daniel Jaramillo as well as race leader Gibbons.

Sta. Lucia Realty joins PH Superliga

Jesse James Ewart of 7-Eleven Roadbike PH makes his climb in the Le Tour de Langkawi. Roman Prospero

AFTER nearly a decade of absence in big sport leagues, Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. will make a grand return this year when it becomes the youngest team in the Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference starting March 4 at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan. The Realtors, who campaigned in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1993 to 2010, will be

sponsoring a squad composed of superstars from the National Collegiate Athletic Association with a young mentor in Michael Carino at the helm. Sta. Lucia, however, may carry a different moniker in the PSL. PSL president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said he expects the squad owned by SLR Chief Exequel Robles to be competitive right in

its debut and give PSL mainstays Petron, Cignal, Foton, Generika and neophyte Cocolife a run for their money. “Sta. Lucia is known for its fighting spirit and winning tradition when it was still involved in professional basketball,” said Suzara, a ranking executive of the Asian Volleyball Confederation and the International Volleyball Federation.

solation when rookie Abe Rosal won the individual title with rounds of 53 and 52 points. The 70th PAL Interclub Platinum sponsors are Mareco Broadcasting Network, A&E Networks Asia, RMN Networks, The Manila Standard, Fox Networks Group, Rolls-Royce, TV5, MasterCard, TFC and Business Mirror. Major sponsors include Asian Air Safari, Airbus, Primax Broadcasting Network and Sabre Airline Solutions while Corporate sponsors are Baron Travel Corporation, Boeing, MX3, GE Aviation, Bombo Radyo Philippines, Asia Brewery, Tanduay Distillers, Sabre Airline Solutions and Tourism Promotions Board. The donors are Shangri-La at The Fort, Trinity Insurance and Eton Properties.

PH bags bronze in Asian winter tilt TEAM Pilipinas struck with five goals in the first period to score a 9-2 win over Macau and grab its first-ever bronze medal in Division 2 of the ice hockey competitions of the 8th Asian Winter Games. It was the only medal won so far by Philippines in the weeklong meet held from Feb. 19 to 26 in Sapporo and Obihiro, Japan. Carl Montano, Miguel Alfonso Relampagos and Paul Gabriel Sanchez led the Filipino assault in the opening minutes, according to results released online. Montano drew first blood with the first goal finding its mark in the one minute and 46-second mark. Then, Relampagos struck twice at 6:53 and 14:13, before Sanchez then made his presence felt at 12:31 and 17:16. In reaching the bronze-medal play, the Filipinos won two games and lost one in Group 2. They dropped their opening match to Kyrgyzstan, 5-10, before bouncing back with a 14-2 beating of Qatar, and an 8-3 triumph over Independent Olympic Athletes. Turkmenistan took the gold after they got past Kyrgyzstan, 7-3, in the finals. The team brought with them the experience they had after reaching the finals of the second division Hong Kong Invitationals for two consecutive years. Peter Atencio

Energy, Semirara approve 50-mw Antique coal plant B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

IN BRIEF Liquor makers oppose tax increase LIQUOR producers are pushing for a more simplified tax system in lieu of the current and the proposed tax increase. Olivia Limpe-Aw, president and chief executive of Destileria Limtuaco & Company, the oldest distilled spirits manufacturer in the Philippines, said members of the industry were drafting a unified position that they would submit to the Finance Department. “Our industry has had tax increases in the past. As such we are now heavily taxed. The proposal to further increase ad valorem tax in distilled spirits may dampen demand and may result to the decline of the industry,” she said. She said while the industry was waiting for the proposed final tax rate, the company was doing initial studies on the socio-economic impact of the tax hike. The position paper will be submitted as soon as the final rates are declared and impact is calculated, she said. “There is no development yet as to how much the taxes will be increased. The government is still busy finalizing the tax rate for industries with pending tax hike,” she said. Othel V.Campos

More companies mull over expansion

MORE companies across all industrial sectors plan to pursue expansion in the next quarter compared to a quarter ago, as they remain optimistic on the growth trajectory of the economy. Results of the latest Business Expectations Survey of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed that the percentage of industrial firms with expansion plans increased to 34.9 percent from 31.7 percent in the previous quarter. Among sub-sectors, agriculture, fishery and forestry recorded the strongest expansion plans, followed by manufacturing, electricity, gas and water and mining and quarrying. “This suggests that more firms will continue to hire new employees than those that indicated otherwise. Firms across all sectors were bullish in their hiring intentions,” Bangko Sentral said. The percentage of total respondents in the mining and quarrying sector that indicated their intention to expand in the next quarter increased to 21.6 percent from 13.7 percent a quarter ago; manufacturing, 35.5 percent from 31.5 percent; agriculture, fishery and forestry, 38 percent from 37.1 percent; while electricity, gas and water declined to 30.9 percent from 40.1 percent. The major business constraints identified by respondents in the first quarter were domestic competition―cited by 53 percent of total respondents―and insufficient demand leading to low sales volume, cited by 24 percent of total respondents. Julito G. Rada

Govt wants Malaya as LNG facility

THE bidding for the 650-megawatt Malaya thermal power plant in Pililla, Rizal may be pushed back as the Energy Department wants the bidders to convert the plant into a liqueﬁed natural gas facility, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said over the weekend. “So that we will not lose power of about 600 MW and we want to have available capacity so we said part of the condition is to convert it [Malaya] to LNG power plant,” Cusi told reporters. Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. earlier set the bidding for the Malaya facility on March 8, with four companies expressing interest to join the auction. Cusi, who sits as a co-chair of PSALM, said the winning bidder should be “willing to convert it to a more superior technology that would qualify as baseload source like LNG.” “LNG can be easily converted from diesel…We have to study the legalities,” the energy chief said. Cusi said PSALM was now studying the proposal. “If we have to rebid it because of that reason, I think it would be better if we rebid,” Cusi said. Alena Mae S. Flores

Tieng consortium eyes three Cavite runways By Darwin G. Amojelar ALL-ASIA Resources and Reclamation Corp., a consortium led by tycoon Henry Sy and the Tieng family, proposed to build three runways in Cavite province, including one at the Danilo Atienza Airport in Sangley Point. AARC said that under the proposal, it would keep the present Danilo Atienza airport in Sangley as a third runway to handle private jets and smaller low-cost carriers to complement the initial two long independent runways that its international gateway airport would have. “We have submitted an unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate Danilo Atienza and ﬁnish it in one year. If the government accepts this, we can absorb all general aviation from Naia [Ninoy Aquino International Airport] and some low-cost carriers so Naia can handle more commercial ﬂights,” said ARRC vice chairman Edmundo Lim. Lim said the government would not have to spend a single centavo on the Danilo Atienza and the international gateway airport projects.

“We have long been ready with our foreign partners to do both. Hopefully, the government decides soon enough even for the Danilo Atienza project only because it will make Naia more efficient,” he said. Small private jets, sometimes with only a passenger or just the pilot, and those that transport seafood, use the same space and time to land and take off at Naia in Parañaque City, which is a reason for delays in commercial flights that carry hundreds, he said. Lim also said Luzon should have a new gateway airport aside from Clark to handle both northern and southern markets. “We need two international airports. The millions of passengers from Pasay, Paranaque, Cavite and Batangas, for example, should not travel north via the streets of Metro Manila to fly. The same goes for those from Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan who do not have travel to Manila,” he said. Lim said said this would help ease the traffic problem in Metro Manila as both airports are strategically located.

Economic outlook still favorable—IMF mission By Julito G. Rada

HE economic outlook for the Philippines remains favorable this year, but will be challenged by external headwinds, particularly the sluggish regional growth and the impact of US monetary policy tightening, the International Monetary Fund said at the conclusion of a mission visit to Manila.

An IMF mission visited Manila on Feb. 20 to Feb. 24 to assess recent economic developments. The mission met with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., the secretaries of the economic cluster, senior government ofﬁcials, private sector representatives and the ﬁnancial community. IMF resident representative to the Philippines Shanaka Jayanath Peiris last month said the country’s gross domestic product was expected to expand 6.8 percent in 2017,

slightly faster than its previous estimate of 6.7 percent, following a strong fiscal stimulus with budget deficit widening towards 3 percent of GDP. “The economic outlook continues to be favorable, although subject to external headwinds. In 2017, growth is projected at 6.8 percent on continued strong domestic demand and a mild export recovery,” the mission’s statement said. It said inflation was expected to rise to 3.6 percent (from the average of 1.8 percent last year) due to higher commodity prices, pass-through from peso depreciation and strong economic activity. It said a higher infrastructure and social spending was expected to increase the budget deficit to 3 percent of GDP. “The outlook is subject to downside risks, including from lower regional growth, capital outflows from US monetary policy tightening and heightened global policy uncertainty. Upside risks include a faster pace of budget execution and higher global growth,” IMF said. Experts believe the Fed will raise interest rates next month, as chairman Janet Yellen hinted of a looming policy adjustments during a recent meeting. IMF said Bangko Sentral should remain

vigilant to signs of overheating or an undue acceleration of credit growth, although the ﬁnancial sector continued to remain sound. “Over the medium term, a continuation of sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms would be important to sustain investor conﬁdence and make growth more inclusive. Key reforms include those aimed at raising productive investment, opening up the economy to greater competition and foreign investment, and reducing poverty such as by removing the quantitative restrictions on rice imports,” it said. The 2017 Article IV consultation mission plans to visit Manila in the middle of this year to discuss the economic outlook and medium-term policy challenges in more details, it said. The inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee set the growth target at 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent in 2017 and 7 percent to 8 percent in 2018 and 2019. The economy grew 6.8 percent last year, near the upper bound of the Duterte administration’s target range of 6 to 7 percent for 2016. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said sustaining the economic growth would be a challenge if the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program would not push through.

BUSINESS MATCHING. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (fourth from left) shares the toast with Security Bank Corp. president

Alfonso Salcedo (fourth from right) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. corporate finance and strategic advisory division head Makoto Kobayashi (third from left) for the successful business matching event organized by MUFG. MUFG gathered more than 85 micro, small and medium enterprises for the largest and first of its kind business matching event in the country which resulted in 200 meetings overall. Also shown are Japan embassy economic minister Makoto Iyori (third from right) and senior officials from MUFG and Security Bank.

Ang offers Bulacan lot to build an industrial park for Chinese ﬁrms By Othel V.Campos THE group of businessman Ramon Ang has a standing offer to develop an industrial park in Bulacan province or in Mindanao for Chinese investors, an industry executive said over the weekend. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman emeritus Francis Chua said Ang was interested in hosting the industrial park either in Bulacan where he also proposed to build an international airport, or in Mindanao where his group has

vast tracts of land. “They have the biggest lot. The [Chinese] can choose if they want it in the south or if they want it in the north,” Chua said at the sidelines of the the Philippine-China Investment Forum at Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City. Chua said Ang was offering the 2,000-hectare lot in Bulacan province, where he proposed to develop a new international gateway and another 8,000-hectare property in Mindanao. China Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said China was

willing to invest more in the Philippines. He said Filipinos currently had more investments in China than Chinese investors had in the Philippines. “Apart from concrete projects, we will be investing to build an industrial park in the Philippines. We are now working with Philippines authorities on this. We feel that the industrial park will boost the Philippines’ [manufacturing] capacity and create more employment,” he said. China has eight industrial parks in Southeast Asia. Jianhao said now was the proper time to have an

industrial park in the Philippines, as a show of renewed cooperation and to further strengthen trade and bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing. “We are very conﬁdent of the future of both countries. Our bilateral trade and relations remain resilient. China, despite difﬁculties, remains the second biggest trading partner of the Philippines,” he said. China canceled the Joint Commission on Economic and Trade Cooperation that was supposed to take place on Feb. 24 because of a shift in strategic leadership posts,

said Chua. The Chinese government replaced Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng with Minister Zhong Shan who would be in Manila by March to sign the JCTEC with the Philippines. Meanwhile, China’s vice premier will visit Manila on March 18 to attend another meeting as a follow-through on the renewed cooperation between the Philippines and China. The investment forum aims to forge stronger partnership between the two countries on various invest-

ments and business initiatives. The Philippine panel was led by Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, supported by Trade undersecretary and Board of Investments managing head Ceferino Rodolfo and representatives from the National Economic and Development Authority, International Chamber of Commerce Philippines, Philippine Silk Road International Chamber of Commerce, Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Philippines.

Business

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market likely to trade sideways By Jenniffer B. Austria

TOCKS are expected to trade within a narrow range this week, amid the lack of strong market movers here and abroad.

RCBC Securities said investors would likely remain focused on the release of earnings of listed companies, in the absence of major developments that could push the market out of the current sideways path. Among the companies scheduled to release their fourth-quarter income reports this week are Metro Pacific Investments Corp., SM Investments Corp. and Manila Electric Co.

“Chartwise, the week’s close at 7,258.99 continues to suggest the market will remain range bound between the 7,000 and 7,400 levels in the near term. Only a move above the 7,500 levels will call the bulls back to play,” BDO Unibank chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said. Investors will also closely monitor the continued depreciation of the peso against the dollar and may backpedal on

renewed concerns over another round of US interest rate hike, analysts said. The PSEi, the 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange index, last week closed higher by 0.2 to 7,258.99 on Feb. 24, while the broader all-share index climbed 0.2 percent to 4,395.08. Except for the property and services indices which went down 1.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, all other counters ended in the green, led by holding firms which gained 1 percent and industrial which rose 0.5 percent. Foreign investors were net sellers by P1.04 billion last week, while average daily turn-

over declined to P6.4 billion from the previous week’s average of P7.1 billion. Top gainers last week were Lucio Tan-owned PAL Holdings Inc. which advanced 9 percent to P5.69 and LT Group Inc. which went up 7.1 percent to P15. Puregold Price Club Inc., the retail unit of tycoon Lucio Co, rose 3.8 percent to P46.20, as it is set to join the PSEi on March 13. Heavy losers included Filinvest Land Inc. which declined 8.8 percent to P1.65, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. which dropped 6.2 percent to P39.15 and Emperador Inc. which retreated 4.5 percent to P6.80.

PSE to seal merger with bond exchange THE Philippine Stock Exchange said it expects to finalize the terms and conditions for the acquisition of Philippine Dealing Systems within the next couple of weeks. PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat said the bourse was regularly providing regulators an update on the deal and that only one or two technical items were still being discussed prior to a final agreement. Sicat also expressed confidence the PSE would finally secure the approval of the Se-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

FEBRUARY 20-24, 2017 Close Volume

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp. PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

3.45 48.4 118.00 95.00 40.35 4.24 1.30 9.99 16.1 20 7.71 0.66 1.69 835.00 0.680 80.3 0.75 14.4 25.75 58.65 89 120 239 39.15 202.6 1780.00 79.05 1.24

Aboitiz Power Corp. Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons. Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp. Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp. First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp. Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co À’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. Petron Corporation Phil H2O Pilipinas Shell Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. À’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel ‘Pure Foods À’ Shakeys Pizza SPC Power Corp. Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp. Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp. Vulcan Ind’l.

43.5 5.48 0.85 1.4 19 0.280 95 14.92 9.62 16.3 165.6 94.95 99 23.4 60.5 2.18 6.2 11.8 12.960 6.80 5.98 7.98 1.68 21.55 73.7 12.78 16.78 6.75 1.710 201.80 73.00 8.17 3.7 28.45 30.5 27 15.9 290.00 0.260 6.60 3.43 9.00 3.7 78.6 11.56 2.38 7.15 1.93 4.93 4.95 2.03 2.89 266 12.1 4.24 0.152 1.50 165.1 4.52 1.73 1.08

Abacus Cons. À’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor À’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp À’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ F&J Prince ‘B’ Filinvest Dev. Corp. Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp. Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. LT Group Mabuhay Holdings À’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica À’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp À’ Seafront À’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Transgrid Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.380 73.15 12.78 1.17 6.35 0.375 0.390 801 9.2 13.00 6.3 7 8.09 0.190 1235 6.05 77.00 4 7.9 0.97 15 0.455 6.88 3.01 0.0570 1.200 2.010 2.55 106.80 2.5 668.00 1.51 0.88 185.00 267.000 0.2900 0.1880 0.255

8990 HLDG Anchor Land Holdings Inc. A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop À’ Arthaland Corp. Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. À’ Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. À’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp. Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc.

6.800 6.10 1.03 2.600 1.170 36.050 3.5 5.13 0.510 1.03 1.350 0.169 0.570 55 0.740 0.165 0.99 1.65

Value

FINANCIAL 801,480.00 4,266,350.00 1,447,749,122 498,669,390.00 34,564,925.00 835,670.00 1,186,940.00 1,998.00 806,618.00 32,216,676.00 91,870 9,920 303,350.00 441,300.00 14,675,940.00 496,863,984.50 4,123,780.00 3,586,858.00 1,987,775.00 22,287,253.50 316,240.00 1,584,969.00 959,728.00 73,245,620 949,383,156.00 1,390,455 138,517,512.00 29,650.00 INDUSTRIAL 6,479,800 282,198,690.00 5,073,800 26,678,670.00 1,303,000 1,130,450.00 1,683,000 2,363,080.00 86,100 1,719,524.00 85,020,000 23,148,250.00 97 20.00 95,500 1,442,660.00 44,861,100 429,372,563.00 13,673,300 222,514,226 250 44,668.00 4,990 473,297.00 620 61,744.00 811,800 18,922,100.00 1,683,840 100,949,820 7,426,000 16,238,800.00 1,038,200 6,354,611.00 108,400 1,280,812.00 33,916,400 427,967,987.00 36,354,000 251,495,605.00 67,490,000 401,830,484.00 2,234,400 17,835,718.00 52,000 88,130.00 6,603,800 143,302,965.00 437,010 32,276,081.00 402,600 5,152,862.00 437,900 7,478,728.00 4,948,900 32,983,215.00 3,028,000 5,236,690.00 2,538,330 517,151,940.00 9,860 710,124.50 17,534,700 131,196,371.00 30,000 110,360.00 2,100 58,645.00 3,039,700 92,333,005.00 2,154,100 58,379,885.00 19,456,300 318,182,480.00 1,527,080 442,320,242.00 356,480,000 106,407,900.00 317,100 2,053,953.00 1,635,000 5,634,080.00 23,591,500 212,234,629.00 11,000 41,500.00 3,679,000 290,803,502.50 44,900 510,976.00 8,930,000 21,072,030.00 4,213,600 29,809,731.00 32,452,000 67,342,830.00 963,700 4,659,482.00 3,681,700 18,336,771.00 8,000 16,280.00 834,000 2,413,170.00 28,170 7,592,150.00 11,156,200 135,605,110.00 250,000 1,055,560.00 16,800,000 2,538,780.00 863,000 1,295,940.00 8,273,400 1,363,714,479 4,323,000 19,067,420.00 13,243,000 22,573,390.00 389,000 419,240.00 HOLDING FIRMS 45,450,000 18,087,700.00 4,349,540 319,132,213.00 32,983,200 424,652,544.00 155,000 178,850.00 82,600 517,474.00 67,230,000 25,449,300.00 2,070,000 788,300.00 816,490 654,207,815 7,626,400 69,490,734.00 53,621,800 705,026,974.00 225,500 1,386,777.00 10,000 70,000.00 44,500 358,884.00 2,930,000 567,840.00 627,455 773,679,200.00 47,900 288,329.00 6,401,410 493,560,855.50 6,000 24,000.00 6,284,200 48,996,649.00 38,979,000 38,153,830.00 12,667,700 185,460,920.00 1,000,000 444,900.00 150,315,400 1,031,167,478.00 15,000 45,150.00 1,316,290,000 78,955,170.00 3,000 3,600.00 539,000 1,077,650.00 8,000 20,400.00 1,774,770 188,695,573.00 54,000 139,010.00 1,238,390 838,271,035.00 2,562,000 3,830,630.00 119,000 103,850.00 270 50,095.00 65,680 17,559,738.00 2,860,000 839,950.00 2,950,000 558,390.00 1,090,000 277,800.00 PROPERTY 2,385,500 15,680,174.00 33,900 206,790.00 5,442,000 5,642,040.00 1,029,000 2,682,000.00 267,904,000 306,850,520.00 65,783,900 2,414,208,380.00 35,627,000 125,835,890.00 62,300 314,723.00 37,801,000 19,665,420.00 115,000 122,290.00 4,918,000 6,704,270.00 37,440,000 6,340,420.00 19,798,000 11,144,590.00 1,799,150 98,282,502.00 507,000 357,020.00 100,290,000 18,708,480.00 22,625,000 22,646,170.00 46,784,000 79,607,580.00 241,000 88,300 12,397,920 5,234,470 856,600 194,000 876,000 200 50,100 1,611,100 11,500 15,000 188,000 520 21,051,000 6,203,000 5,376,000 250,200 78,500 373,640 3,520 13,180 3,970 1,848,300 4,579,890 780 1,754,900 18,500

FEBRUARY 13-17, 2017 Close Volume Value

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 20-24, 2017 Close Volume

Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp. Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp. Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

1.30 3.7 0.164 0.3250 0.640 29.05 4.94 24.50 1.68 3.35 29.40 1.03 7 0.900 4.770

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. À’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPeople Inc. À’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp. Manila Broadcasting Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

7.91 47.35 1.48 0.540 10.68 5.16 7.40 0.0660 2.42 93.5 9.75 2.09 8.85 1000 1831 6.14 16.38 15.52 3.70 75.45 4.20 116 12 0.0093 9.06 0.194 1.3600 3.2 14.04 3.98 0.95 3.26 17.50 5.1 3.78 2.780 11.2 5.69 3.15 138.00 9.00 1400.00 0.420 1.420 46.20 79.20 6.16 2.44 1.130 1.74 3.3 0.415

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

0.0032 2.22 5.70 11.48 1.8400 1.9800 0.465 0.450 11.06 2.400 0.250 0.186 0.195 0.011 0.0110 1.85 6.7 2.33 0.4950 0.9200 0.0110 0.0120 4.19 9.10 3.19 0.0140 141.00 2.85 0.0090

191,876,919.00 161,940.00 1,508,821,765.00 25,212,350.00 63,640.00

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

47.25 535 540 106 104 112.8 115.2 530 5.84 1020 1040 1.03 107 1045 1096 1011 77 82 78 79.8 78 79.5 78.05 2.39

LR Warrant

2.200

31,810 9,320,000 5,150,000 2,740,000

8,500,572.00 2,780,450.00 989,700.00 717,300.00

Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Philab Holdings Xurpas

2.93 3.58 7.2 8

3,022,300 2,000 7,623,000 4,077,000 415,524,000 68,942,700 11,195,000 2,131,900 85,053,000 310,000 1,147,000 102,340,000 30,754,000 3,795,430 927,000 13,090,000 21,577,000 80,269,000

20,829,962.00 12,400.00 7,688,900.00 10,702,580.00 513,543,130.00 2,495,645,125.00 37,182,460.00 10,724,161.00 44,856,490.00 314,080.00 1,477,070.00 17,273,340.00 17,821,780.00 209,696,635.00 665,730.00 2,079,990.00 22,289,100.00 143,240,440.00

First Metro ETF

120

3.26 48.4 116.20 95.00 39.5 4.28 1.32

164,000 76,400 11,230,730 6,478,500 737,700 127,000 407,000

512,040.00 3,679,650.00 1,286,979,405 611,463,289.00 19,955,358.74 529,930.00 608,780.00

16.18 19.96 8.88 0.68 1.69 855.00 0.690 79 0.74 14.36 25.50 60.00 91 124 240 41.75 211.2 1800.00 79.10 1.29

595,900 5,465,300 52,500 20,000 278,000 1,490 57,448,000 11,155,240 4,620,000 80,000 54,700 1,277,380 3,460 2,970 28,220 1,242,900 2,904,730 1,530 209,890 60,000

9,587,050.00 108,440,636.00 404,784 13,600 457,480.00 1,282,250.00 42,020,100.00 884,975,113.00 3,473,020.00 1,141,956.00 1,375,285.00 76,995,865.50 312,260.00 364,407.00 6,752,394.00 53,046,740 397,359,320.00 2,764,285 11,660,300.00 77,200.00

43 5.23 0.86 1.41 19.08 0.280 100 14.84 9.22 16.6 170 95 100 23 58 2.12 6.21 12 13.020 7.12 5.84 8.04 1.68 22.2 75 12.20 17.04 6.6 1.750 205.00 71.50 6.34 3.85 28.45 30 26.9 16 287.40 0.385 6.98 3.45 9.15 3.59 78.6 11.50 2.39 7.10 1.85 4.8 5.00 2.37 2.99 270.2 12.68 4.52 0.149 1.52 161.1 4.45 1.73 1.16

8,172,800 12,127,000 2,141,000 3,740,000 71,600 412,980,000 750 97,500 106,464,100 8,924,800 2,080 2,950 990 1,239,100 417,790 3,712,000 2,303,700 354,400 38,230,100 5,898,600 75,815,000 2,709,400 33,000 8,885,095 1,921,050 130,000 573,800 17,303,700 4,655,000 4,081,480 490 48,826,100 94,000 5,600 10,580,400 949,200 24,118,300 1,307,640 302,650,000 2,525,500 2,693,000 12,802,700 5,000 1,985,490 44,900 10,491,000 5,684,900 24,439,000 1,405,000 273,600 17,000 1,825,000 66,260 8,831,300 185,000 17,560,000 1,287,000 11,022,010 20,492,000 16,543,000 203,000

353,863,015.00 62,811,291.00 1,858,800.00 5,285,390.00 1,358,814.00 130,076,700.00 76,970.00 1,437,868.00 1,019,642,274.00 146,229,800 386,475.00 272,742.50 107,446.50 29,014,350.00 23,883,208 7,676,690.00 13,970,954.00 4,201,542.00 490,896,986.00 42,001,661.00 441,168,355.00 22,181,431.00 55,940.00 32,769,500.00 142,597,031.00 1,584,604.00 9,820,270.00 40,331,214.00 7,985,260.00 838,660,686.00 34,200.00 305,406,635.00 361,480.00 155,820.00 318,842,065.00 25,743,975.00 373,489,490.00 380,828,766.00 107,632,150.00 14,278,036.00 9,160,070.00 118,765,959.00 17,950.00 156,700,358.50 510,390.00 24,963,320.00 40,870,796.00 44,692,270.00 6,753,460.00 1,372,765.00 40,520.00 5,824,600.00 18,132,142.00 111,651,276.00 778,550.00 2,613,250.00 1,928,870.00 1,772,211,555 96,942,000.00 27,829,980.00 224,850.00

0.375 73.00 12.82 1.20 6.15 0.360 0.335 781 8.99 13.00 5.9

29,200,000 7,631,880 59,535,400 745,000 358,900 92,080,000 2,390,000 1,358,280 10,010,200 29,756,100 72,700

10,967,250.00 558,378,130.50 768,121,804.00 881,880.00 2,176,760.00 31,924,300.00 801,150.00 1,076,174,280 89,868,016.00 387,968,724.00 426,869.00

8.14 0.210 1220 5.95 75.25

606,000 710,000 808,900 11,300 7,675,800

4,836,570.00 143,560.00 993,028,565.00 67,950.00 570,856,440.00

7.9 1 14 0.450 6.8 3 0.0600 1.230 1.990

2,929,300 28,585,000 42,940,600 6,360,000 120,740,600 13,000 4,884,840,000 8,000 821,000

23,009,365.00 28,907,800.00 622,491,144.00 3,223,300.00 817,348,445.00 39,930.00 318,553,980.00 9,840.00 1,655,670.00

107.00 2.62 671.50 1.48 0.86

1,819,950 60,000 2,257,280 16,714,000 74,000

270.000 0.3000 0.1920 0.260 6.660 6.20 1.02 2.680 1.060 36.250 3.33 5.03 0.520 1.10 1.340 0.172 0.570 55.35 0.710 0.165 1.01 1.80

FEBRUARY 13-17, 2017 Close Volume Value

Value

2,193,000 108,331,000 97,540,000 5,040,000 196,697,000 400 5,893,000 6,673,700 886,000 348,000 50,935,100 43,936,000 15,600 829,600 25,110,000

2,939,160.00 401,206,640.00 16,445,270.00 1,617,100.00 124,465,750.00 11,620.00 28,374,290.00 166,323,605.00 1,501,730.00 1,162,810.00 1,509,201,775.00 44,787,920.00 108,226.00 825,200.00 121,541,210.00 SERVICES 731,800 5,846,533.00 83,400 3,964,190.00 372,000 547,570.00 2,039,000 1,084,240.00 650,800 7,017,314.00 26,800 138,505 39,003,400 296,113,814.00 60,530,000 4,019,200.00 15,281,000 36,714,830.00 1,578,760 147,741,535.00 33,200 323,405.00 208,000 476,040 2,209,900 19,375,452.00 3,490 3,376,400.00 520,970 945,224,180 795,100 4,883,625.00 465,300 7,725,106.00 1,400 21,882 22,088,000 83,212,800.00 10,401,890 788,274,893.50 11,431,300 64,006,469 950 107,320 37,200 447,236.00 532,100,000 5,218,250.00 2,351,000 21,297,420.00 41,290,000 7,985,220.00 1,712,000 2,387,000.00 485,000 1,565,450.00 7,600 107,006.00 6,469,000 25,619,060 93,000 97,120.00 10,820,000 33,656,910.00 1,600 27,700 31,767,600 164,469,625.00 3,536,000 13,469,240.00 35,064,000 104,876,740.00 1,945,400 21,748,434.00 267,900 1,489,153 131,000 424,600.00 1,760 244,860.00 3,271,100 29,786,308.00 480,410 686,503,450.00 10,320,000 4,359,600.00 58,804,000 79,668,320.00 39,932,000 1,833,930,670.00 2,889,490 230,038,914.00 612,700 3,782,871.00 2,944,000 7,256,010.00 61,499,000 70,403,460.00 61,000 102,090.00 17,503,000 58,590,600.00 6,470,000 2,681,250.00 MINING & OIL 618,167,000 2,514,000.00 70,119,000 146,056,430.00 2,554,100 14,694,110.00 600 6,639.00 394,000 728,100.00 137,000 266,170.00 1,540,000 727,250.00 3,290,000 1,492,350.00 107,800 1,162,448.00 26,963,000 65,534,270.00 2,100,000 530,980.00 27,370,000 5,086,070.00 3,720,000 729,520.00 147,900,000 1,640,600.00 47,900,000 3,272,700.00 2,424,000 4,415,690.00 15,507,900 105,682,613.00 577,000 1,349,780.00 468,000 218,715.00 1,112,000 1,040,580.00 39,200,000 438,800.00 2,000,000 24,000.00 52,000 212,960.00 5,152,600 48,035,279.00 4,426,000 14,165,610.00 295,900,000 4,214,200.00 10,565,890 1,525,969,222.00 223,000 643,910.00 15,000,000 135,300.00 PREFERRED 281,000 13,278,325.00 23,370 12,348,100.00 180 95,450 206,190 21,874,185 1,079,340 112,331,625.00 40 4,512.00 13,900 1,599,180.00 3,740 1,982,200.00 2,628,900 15,373,975.00 550 561,000.00 1,260 1,311,100.00 50,000 51,500 223,820 23,945,138.00 3,640 3,822,310.00 490 537,480.00 10,000 10,129,740.00 130,520 10,040,619.00 204,750 16,758,718.50 14,330 1,107,920.00 88,000 7,076,200.00 10,800 837,500.00 108,910 8,553,977.50 1,086,200 85,594,178.00 7,000 16,170.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 958,000 2,058,610.00 SME 19,000 55,690.00 796,000 2,878,820.00 888,400 6,512,156.00 20,885,600 166,570,671.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 30,380 3,648,926.00

1.40 3.73 0.173 0.3400 0.690

16,161,000 111,848,000 360,370,000 9,620,000 202,198,000

21,573,980.00 417,462,250.00 63,428,450.00 3,347,600.00 143,099,090.00

4.9 25.30 1.69 3.35 29.90 1.05 7 0.930 4.850

10,451,000 7,590,300 3,410,000 538,000 55,423,400 65,686,000 100 924,200 17,769,500

51,307,680.00 190,707,425.00 5,505,970.00 1,769,530.00 1,652,956,445.00 67,677,210.00 700.00 961,690.00 87,273,689.00

8.13 47.2 1.45 0.530 10.6 5.4 7.32 0.0660 93.5 93.5 9.84 2.29 8.71 980 1790 6.16 16.78 16.00 3.95 75.4 17.34 107 12.02 0.0100 9.06 0.193 1.4200 3.26 14.1 3.92 0.93 3.09

1,210,300 75,400 233,000 2,086,000 9,000 23,400 39,040,600 97,910,000 15,966,790 2,407,280 31,300 229,000 779,600 1,940 267,500 842,000 370,200 800 18,445,000 17,883,442 713,400 2,760 565,100 209,000,000 2,370,000 43,760,000 3,475,000 6,395,000 11,400 5,811,000 2,000 30,133,000

9,784,155.00 3,534,015.00 339,690.00 1,154,970.00 94,830.00 124,407 289,304,527.00 6,410,080.00 71,111,420.00 226,227,157.00 303,965.00 493,620 6,935,070.00 1,887,940.00 480,821,175 5,208,344.00 6,135,430.00 12,800 73,895,280.00 1,452,311,844.50 13,027,597 328,625 7,619,186.00 2,055,300.00 21,475,497.00 8,407,350.00 4,704,490.00 23,028,330.00 162,404.00 22,943,920 1,860.00 97,121,200.00

5.1 3.90 2.780 11.16 5.22 3.3 143.40 8.79 1455.00 0.430 1.280 44.50 81.45 6.25 2.47 1.150 1.75 3.25 0.415

52,523,400 10,563,000 5,893,000 81,200 572,000 3,594,000 153,270 1,292,000 617,910 10,140,000 75,564,000 6,590,800 2,689,050 864,600 28,519,000 178,412,000 231,000 3,689,000 7,070,000

260,766,647.00 41,377,560.00 16,161,080.00 907,776.00 3,111,296 8,718,190.00 21,019,040.00 11,346,460.00 912,579,005.00 4,295,450.00 101,030,620.00 291,721,465.00 213,617,140.00 5,430,764.00 70,710,420.00 148,813,660.00 399,250.00 11,831,350.00 2,998,800.00

0.0033 1.99 5.90

871,700,000 25,742,000 9,942,600

2,812,700.00 53,827,820.00 60,769,648.00

1.9500 2.2600 0.495 0.445 11.00 2.370 0.250 0.184 0.190 0.012 0.0120 1.72 6.97 2.43 0.4600 0.9400 0.0110 0.0120 4.05 9.28 3.23 0.0140 137.00 2.9 0.0092

168,000 3,000 5,228,000 6,210,000 310,300 23,204,000 5,330,000 39,800,000 7,630,000 200,100,000 43,600,000 6,031,000 13,946,400 1,269,000 80,000 1,447,000 70,700,000 21,000,000 94,000 36,908,700 8,472,000 1,097,000,000 6,482,590 249,000 44,000,000

310,900.00 6,270.00 2,549,810.00 2,804,850.00 3,302,776.00 56,955,330.00 1,338,980.00 7,310,750.00 1,481,140.00 2,232,700.00 523,200.00 10,246,880.00 99,254,023.00 3,034,680.00 36,850.00 1,403,770.00 784,100.00 252,000.00 384,140.00 353,216,613.00 28,445,320.00 15,385,000.00 880,869,528.00 714,530.00 400,400.00

48 535 529 107 104 112.8 115 530 5.85 1020 1026 1.04 109.4 1070

492,100 75,490 8,450 45,260 64,790 50 16,000 33,980 18,128,900 5,040 7,995 352,000 24,750 12,830

23,210,905.00 40,387,195.00 4,466,320 4,813,750 6,772,423.00 5,640.00 1,839,780.00 18,010,270.00 106,058,443.00 5,140,800.00 8,234,470.00 362,920 2,707,650.00 13,746,920.00

1020 77 82 76.5 79.75 77.5 78 79 2.3

10,465 6,600 70,890 239,100 81,370 110,170 128,670 216,790 11,000

10,753,250.00 508,290.00 5,761,055.00 18,524,490.00 6,538,259.00 8,540,627.00 10,001,982.50 17,051,884.00 23,050.00

2.160

7,023,000

16,502,320.00

2.95 3.65 7.6 7.64

3,000 818,000 401,400 19,762,100

8,990.00 3,039,400.00 3,107,822.00 150,067,797.00

119.2

43,610

5,197,505.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Pacifica À’ Abra Mining IP E-Game Ventures Inc. MG Holdings Philodrill Corp. À’ Arthaland Corp. Phil. Realty À’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. Manila Mining À’ Megaworld

VOLUME 1,316,290,000 618,167,000 532,100,000 356,480,000 295,900,000 267,904,000 196,697,000 150,315,400 147,900,000 108,331,000

STOCKS Ayala Land `B’ Universal Robina SM Prime Holdings SM Investments Inc. I.C.T.S.I. Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Ayala Corp `A’ Cemex Holdings GT Capital PLDT Common

VALUE 2,495,645,125.00 1,772,211,555.00 1,652,956,445.00 1,508,821,765.00 1,452,311,844.50 1,286,979,405.00 1,076,174,280.00 1,019,642,274.00 993,028,565.00 912,579,005.00

curities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Competition Commission about the transaction. PSE revived its plan in August last year to merge the country’s equities and bond exchanges after a similar proposal was rejected by the SEC in March 2016. PSE earlier proposed to acquire a majority stake in PDS based on an enterprise value of P2.25 billion. The acquisition, however, required the exchange to seek an exemptive relief from the SEC. The Securities Regulation Code states that no single industry or business group should own more than 20 percent of an exchange. After a careful review, the SEC rejected the petition of PSE, citing the exchange’s “failure to present clear and convincing evidence” that it was entitled to an exemptive relief and that its acquisition of PDS would not negatively impact on the PDS’ ability to effectively operate in the public interest. The purchase of PDS, operator of the nation’s bond exchange, will be mostly funded with debt. The merger is expected to help the Philippines meet requirements for a cross-border trading platform linking Southeast Asian stock markets. Jenniffer B. Austria

Wilcon postpones listing to March 31 WILCON Depot Inc., an operator of home improvement and construction supplies stores, postponed by a week the timetable for its planned P7.9-billion initial public offering. Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Wilcon’s offer period would now be on March 20 to March 24, instead of the initial target of March 13 to 17. Listing date was also set on March 31, instead of March 23. The final offer price for the IPO will be released March 17. Wilcon’s public offering, approved by the SEC last week, would become the first IPO this year. It is also the biggest IPO application filed with the SEC in 2017. Wilcon plans to sell up to 1.393 billion common shares at an offer price of up to P5.68 per share. Net proceeds from the fund raising activity will be used to finance store expansion, debt repayment and other general corporate purposes. The company said of the expected proceeds, it planned to budget P6.08 billion for store network expansion, including construction and building of new stores. It intends to add 29 new stores over the next five years and expand its presence to Cavite, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cabanatuan, Bicol, General Santos, Davao, Lucena, Isabela, Tagum, Tuguegarao, Surigao and Cabanatuan. The home improvement and construction supplies retailer is also looking at acquisitions to accelerate the expansion. “The company’s target acquisitions must have a strategic fit with its current operations and opportunities for the company to explore other business segments and add value to the new businesses using its existing competitive strengths. The company is still in the early stages of evaluating this option and there are no definitive agreements signed,” Wilcon said. Jenniffer B. Austria

Business Prioritizing Small vs. Micro Businesses ALLOW me to share views on SME development originally written by my former BENEL LAGUA colleagues at Small BusiREEN IGHT ness Corp., Charles Belgica and Odette Baua. The advocates of SME development are often asked why they believe SMEs to be the vehicle for national social and economic development. “Why SME development when SMEs are only 8 percent of the total number of enterprises in the country? Why not focus on micro enterprises which represent 90 percent of all enterprises?” The immediate answer that comes to mind is that this situation shows that most of our micro- enterprises do not develop to become SMEs. Either they are not sustainable and their growth peters out, or they remain a micro-enterprise forever. This is the reason the country does not have many global brands and businesses in the international market place. The situation calls for efforts in incubating micros to become SMEs, and SMEs to eventually become large enterprises. Clearly, the gap in our development efforts is bringing micro enterprises to the next level of development which is becoming an SME. Hence, the need to focus on SME development starting with the graduating micros. By their very nature, SMEs have characteristics that enable them to be catalysts for development. Their growth will pull people up out of poverty and ultimately uplift standards of living. SMEs are More Stable Even as we recognize that most businesses start from being micro, it is our best option that we invest or finance SMEs. First, is that unlike micro-enterprises, SMEs are at a level that is more stable and resilient having passed through the start-up stage and having paid the “tuition fees” for beginning enterprises. The entrepreneur running the SME is also more experienced having survived the early years of the enterprise. So it is theoretically less risky for the lender to finance SMEs, it being with more permanence and stability than micro enterprises. Multiplier Effect Assisting SMEs has more impact than smaller enterprises. As SMEs grow so do allied businesses along its value chain. For example, in a manufacturing enterprise, from product design to procurement of raw materials, packaging and marketing will have various businesses either in the form of services or material inputs that are benefited by an SME’s growth. As the volume of production grow, so does the levels of contribution of the businesses in the value chain. So in effect, the development of an SME positively contributes to the growth of other SMEs as well. Sustainable and Alive A typical SME grows at an average of 10 percent per year. And a really good SME may grow at a faster rate. Regardless of their rate of growth, the fact is SMEs are “alive” and grow. For lenders this is a good thing because they can grow their loan portfolio as SMEs grow. The lender’s relationship with SMEs is sustainable as the business with SMEs grows over the years until they become big enterprises. Job Creation Because they grow and have a multiplier effect, they are good job creators. Yes, SMEs actually provide jobs for people within the community they are located. As they grow they create jobs not only within itself but also in the value chain. At the macro level, in India for example, recovery in job losses during the recession was led by SMEs as they showed steady growth in job creation, creating about one million jobs per year. Overall, SMEs provides 40 percent of all jobs in India. In Canada, a developed country, SMEs create about 100,000 jobs annually. In China SMEs provide 80 percent of jobs. In the Philippines, more than 60 percent of jobs are provided by SMEs. Contributes to Economic Production SMEs also contribute significantly to the country’s GDP. In the Philippines value added to GDP is about 37 percent. SMEs in our neighboring countries have value added to GDP which are much higher than those of Philippine SMEs. Japan for instance has more than 50 percent, China 45.4 percent, South Korea 46.5 percent, and Thailand 40 percent. The value added from SMEs in the case of the Philippines can still be significantly improved. Germinate New Industries Big business especially in developed societies originates from SMEs. And so did precursors of new industries. Japan which has a number of top global brands started many of these products in business incubation centers as SMEs. In the early 20th century, even large corporations such as Toyota, Honda and Sony started out as small backstreet factories. Historically, manufacturing, in its earliest form, was carried out by artisans with assistants. These were small workshops usually based at home that did work on special projects. Usually, these artisans form guilds, which protected their “industry.” Furthermore before the industrial revolution most manufacturing were located in the rural areas which were household-based. These were technically SMEs, but the term was still unknown then. The point here is that SMEs have the potential to germinate and bloom into new industries and the revitalization of SMEs can promote competition in the marketplace, creating new industries and becoming the motive force behind economic restructuring. In more contemporary times, we see garage-based workshops which later became Microsoft, e-bay, Amazon, and spurred the dot.com era. There are numerous other examples of success stories of SMEs becoming big. Here are some of them aside from those already mentioned: Apple, Disney, HP, Amazon, Dell, Starbucks, Mattel, Harley Davidson, e-Bay, and many more. Can stabilize society (inclusive growth) Given the benefits of a robust and vibrant economy with a strong SME sector as its backbone, the social and economic life of people will be at par with those of the more developed societies of the world. A strong SME sector will be able to stabilize developing societies. As providers of jobs, maker of new industries, contributors to economic growth, stable, growing and having the ability to spread wealth among the people, SMEs by themselves are able to stabilize societies.

Benel D. Lagua is Executive Vice President at the Development Bank of the Philippines. With an AIM-MBM and a Harvard-MPA, he is a part-time faculty of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University. The views expressed herein are his own and does not necessarily reﬂect the opinion of his ofﬁce as well as the faculty and administration of DLSU.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Energy, Semirara approve 50-mw Antique coal plant By Alena Mae S. Flores

HE Energy Department and Semirara Mining and Power Corp. are set to sign an agreement to develop a 50-megawatt mine mouth, coalﬁred power plant in Antique province that is expected to deliver reliable and cheaper power to Mindoro provinve and nearby areas. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said over the weekend power from Semirara’s mine mouth coal project would be delivered via submarine cable to address the electricity demand of Mindoro, considered an off-grid area. Semirara, owned by the Consunji Group, is the country’s biggest coal producer with mining operations in Caluya, Antique province. “The MoA (memorandum of agreement) will be signed. There will be a submarine cable worth P1.4 billion... Mindoro’s economic

landscape will change (because of the project),” Cusi said. He said the project would undergo a competitive selection process and expressed confidence of receiving bids from electric cooperatives due to the costly P14 per kilowatt-hour cost in the area. Cusi said the project would likely be completed in the next three years. “We’re just permitting. EPC (engineering, procurement and construction contractor) will be chosen by Semirara,” the energy official said. Cusi expects island provinces like Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon to be connected to the power plant in order to enjoy reliable power supply. “The problem is we have 7,000 islands. Very few have consistent power for 24 hours, most of them just eight at 10 hours,” he said. “For the country to be developed, it should not only be the mainland that will get power. We should also help develop island provinces so they can develop industries because now power is intermittent in those areas,” Cusi said. He said the government was trying to find a solution for a “consistent” power supply at

affordable prices. “We are also talking of LNG (liquefied natural gas) but the problem is logistics nightmare in transporting the fuel,” Cusi said. The Philippine Chamber of Coal Mines has been pushing for the development of coal-fired mine mouth power plants to address the country’s need for power at reduced generation cost. PhilCoal officials said putting up power plants at the mouth of the coal mines would reduce transmission and transportation costs, which could increase the generation cost. Officials cited 10 potential sites for minemouth power plants in proximity to the electricity grid and high-voltage direct current substations. “For mine-mouth basically, we’re trying to remove the transport cost. Because if the plant is separate from the mine site, there’s handling that will add up to the cost of coal,” PhilCoal executive director Arnulfo Robles said earlier. The cost of generating electricity from these sites is estimated to range between P2.61 per kWh and P4.45 per kWh compared with the average generation cost of P5.425 in 2014.

P20-M DBP LOAN. The Development Bank of the Philippines approves a P20-million clean revolving credit line to the ARDCI NGO Group to provide funds for re-lending to eligible sub-borrowers primarily for livelihood and other eligible projects. At the signing ceremony (seated, from left) are ARDCI chief executive officer Victor Bernal; ARDCI president Rogelio Bitome; DBP executive vice president Benel Lagua; and DBP first vice president Daniel Gonzales. At back (from left) are DBP manager Roderick Yap; ARDCI finance and administrative services unit head Evelyn Teves; DBP assistant vice president Regina Dimayuga; Raymund Seña of DBP; and DBP chief accounts management specialist Marilyn Leon.

Marcventures set to plant 6m trees 2 schools MARCVENTURES Mining and Development Corp. is speeding up a six-million tree planting program for Surigao del Sur province after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last month ﬁnally gave the go-ahead to the activity two years after it was ﬁrst submitted for approval. Marcventures said in a statement said less than a month after the DENR approval, it signed a memorandum of agreement with the mayors of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza towns, all in Surigao del Sur, to plant six million trees throughout the province where the company operates.

The program covers the planting of three million in trees mandated by the DENR, for which Marcventures first submitted a proposal to the DENR in February 2015. Environment Secretary Regina Paz Lopez approved the program last month, after all issues such as where the trees would be planted had finally been resolved. Another three million trees will be planted also in partnership with the Surigao del Sur local governments as part of the company’s regular tree replanting activities. The regional DENR has submitted an inventory of 1.5 million seedlings from various sources in the five municipalities which will

provide employment. According to Marcventures vice chairman Isidro Alcantara, the MoA signatories hope to plant not only endemic species but also cash crops like coffee and cacao so that the livelihood component of the program will be recurring and could provide sustained yearly income for beneﬁciaries in the area. Alcantara thanked Lanuza Mayor Salvacion Azarcon, Madrid Mayor Grace Kimura, Carmen Mayor Jane Valeroso-Plaza, Cantilan Mayor Philip Pichay, Carrascal Mayor Vicente Pimentel III, and Surigao del Sur Governor Vicente Pimentel Jr. for vigorously backing the tree planting effort.

1ST PH CAFÉ AMAZON. PTT Philippines, a unit of PTT Public Company Limited, Thailand’s largest gas and energy company, has opened the local franchising for its coffee shop chain Café Amazon. PTT Philippines president and chief executive ofﬁcer Sukanya Seriyothin said with the master franchise authority from PTT Thailand, the company could now start offering the franchise to local investors. Café Amazon will not be exclusive to PTT gasoline stations. Above is ﬁrst store in the Philippines located at the PTT SCTEx station in Concepcion, Tarlac.

back TRO vs. power regulations

ATENEO de Manila University and San Beda College Alabang supported the Supreme Court’s decision to issue a temporary restraining order against the retail competition and open access rules of the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy “Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001) clearly provides for the voluntary migration of end-users to the contestable market and there appears to be no basis for the mandatory migration ordered by ERC and DoE through their issuances,” the statement read. “Admittedly, it would be very difﬁcult for academic establishments like San Beda College Alabang to meet the proposed deadline by ERC and DoE of February 26, 2017 forcing customers to enter into new retail supply contracts or otherwise suffer the consequence of being disconnected from the distribution utility or being made to pay a supplier of last resort a 10 percent premium between the higher contract cost and the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market,” said Fr. Aelred Nilo, OSB, director for ﬁnance, administration and gneral Services of San Beda College Alabang. “ADMU believes that our government and regulating bodies should ultimately seek to protect our basic, constitutional right to freedom of choice. And this right should extend to all electricity consumers,” Ateneo De Manila president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin SJ. Said.

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

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Business

Brexit worries British farmers LONDON―Dependent on foreign workers and subsidies from Brussels, Britain’s small but important agricultural sector is losing sleep over the possible fallout from Brexit, but hopes a future outside the EU will open up new export opportunities. Since Britain voted last June to exit the European Union, the country’s finance, car and airline sectors have been lobbying the loudest for continued access to the European single market. The agricultural sector― which represents less than one percent of Britain’s national output―has been less vocal, although the stakes are just as high. Meurig Raymond, chairman of Britain’s National Farming Union, has said Brexit presents “a huge opportunity for agriculture” but has warned of the need for continued access to an EU-wide workforce. Being outside the single market could make it difficult for British farms to hire workers from elsewhere in the EU for the often back-breaking seasonal picking and harvesting. Around six percent of the 480,000 people working in the UK agricultural sector were born outside the country, according to the most recent official data from 2014. But Prime Minister Theresa May insists that Britain will leave Europe’s single market or tariff-free zone in order to control EU immigration in a so-called “hard” Brexit that will force the country to seek a series of new trade deals globally. Britain imports twice as many farm products from the EU as it exports. And of agricultural produce made in the UK, 72 percent is sent to the European Union. For Britain’s farmers, Brexit would also mean an end to vital and decades-long European subsidies paid for by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. In 2015, CAP provided farmers with just over 3.0 billion euros, or about 55 percent of their total revenue. Without such aid, British farmers may either have to sell their produce at a loss or consumers will be forced to pay more for local goods that make up for nearly two-thirds of the nation’s food basket. AFP

FRENCH TOAST. French President Francois Hollande tastes wine during a visit to the 54th International Agriculture Fair (Salon de l’Agriculture) at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on February 25, 2017. AFP

Miners regain sparkle as metal prices recover S YDNEY, Australia―Increased Chinese spending on housing and hopes of an infrastructure bonanza in the US and India are driving a recovery in resources giants, analysts said, with major miners raking in huge proﬁts.

A slowdown in the global economy, particularly in the world’s top consumer China, and a supply glut hammered prices in recent years, pushing many ﬁrms to the brink of collapse and forcing others to slash jobs and spending. But with Beijing rediscovering its appetite for key metals―and the economy showing signs of stabilizing―optimism is returning, although there are lingering worries the recovery might not last. “Most miners are going to be making very good cash, and better cash than they have been making for years,” UBS commodities analyst Daniel Morgan told AFP. “Their cost bases are lower and in many cases they are back to sustaining capex (capital ex-

penditure) rather than growing capex. So right now they’ll be minting cash and improving their balance sheets.” Iron ore, a key ingredient in steelmaking, has been representative of the commodities roller coaster. After hitting a peak near US$200 a ton in 2011, it tumbled some 80 percent to below US$40 in late 2015. Since then, it has rallied to spike above US$90 in February, surprising analysts. Copper prices have also rallied, with a strike at BHP’s Escondida mine in Chile―the world’s biggest copper pit―also providing support. The main factors behind the broad-based revival have been supply constraints and a shift in

Chinese demand, said CLSA’s head of resources research Andrew Driscoll. Chinese authorities introduced policies supporting the nation’s crucial property market while also increasing credit, helping drive infrastructure investment. “Demand was persistently better than what was expected, led by those two sub-sectors, for much of the year,” Driscoll told AFP. At the same time, supply constraints emerged as the central government enacted environmental reforms that made it more costly to produce polluting commodities in China. The November election of President Donald Trump, who has touted massive infrastructure spending, and the Indian government’s vow to fund the modernization of roads, airports and railways also boosted sentiment. Back in business The world’s two biggest miners―BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto―this month reported bumper proﬁts for 2016 after

plunging into the red the previous year and Brazil’s Vale also said Thursday it experienced a strong earnings boost on the back of record production. Coal giant Anglo American joined the party Tuesday, powering back into the black, while the surge in coal prices has led to the reopening of mines by operators including Swiss commodities giant Glencore. US-listed coal miners such as Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal are also returning after a slew of bankruptcies. Warrior Met Coal, which owns bankrupt Walter Energy’s main assets, is hiring workers while Peabody Energy has plans to relist sometime this year. “That’s an interesting example of how things have gone full circle. We’ve come out at the other end, these companies have been restructured and it’s a much stronger coal-price environment,” Driscoll said. “They... are likely to become signiﬁcant companies again.” AFP

Uber’s image ruined by scandals SAN FRANCISCO―Accusations of sexism, cut-throat management, and a toxic work environment have Uber trying to pull its image out of a skid as competition revs in the ondemand ride market. “Experienced managers know how to prevent these kinds of problems, or make it look like there isn’t a problem at all,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said while discussing Uber’s travails. “It is showcasing a severe lack of skill at the top.” Uber hired former attorney general Eric Holder to review workplace conditions after an ex-employee alleged sexual harassment and sexism at the firm. Susan Fowler, an engineer who worked at Uber until the end of last year, said in a blog post that her manager made sexual advances shortly after she joined the company. She said she complained to upper managers and the human resources department, but was told that it was the man’s “first offense” and that they wouldn’t feel comfortable punishing a “high performer.” Fowler told of later meeting other women engineers at the company who said they had experienced similar harassment, including inappropriate behavior from the same manager she had reported. Men engineers were gifted leather jackets, while women were left out, she noted. “In the background, there was a game-of-thrones political war raging within the ranks of upper management in the infrastructure engineering organization,” Fowler said, comparing the scene to a hit fantasy television drama in which rival nobles viciously vie for power. “It seemed like every manager was fighting their peers and attempting to undermine their direct supervisor so that they could have their direct supervisor’s job.” A New York Times report on Friday depicted a “Hobbesian environment” at Uber in which workers were pitted against one another and misbehavior by top performers was overlooked. The story included tales of a director shouting a homophobic slur in a meeting; a manager threatening to beat an underperforming worker with a baseball bat, and women employees groped at a Las Vegas retreat where cocaine was used in bathrooms during private parties. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said that Holder and another attorney will look into issues raised by Fowler, “as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly.” AFP

Oil giant Sinopec tapping China’s vast geothermal reserves By Julien Girault BAODING, China―Chinese state-run energy giant Sinopec has drilled hundreds of wells across the country without finding a single drop of oil. But that was precisely the point: instead of black gold, the almost mile deep holes are providing clean heat for local homes. While two-thirds of China’s electricity is generated by coal, almost all of the homes in northern Hebei province’s Xiong district―home to 400,000 people― are heated by wells as deep as 1,500 meters (5,000 feet). In a new apartment in the district, a 60-year-old retiree watched his granddaughters hop about in bare feet, impervious to the frost outside. “This floor heating works like a dream,” said Li Fuzeng. “And they say it’s clean energy.” The temperature inside his home was 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) and a citrus tree in the corner showed no signs of winter. Chen Menghui, director of Sinopec’s geothermal branch in Hebei, said the process depends on a cycle of running water. “These underground wells are pumped with water, which comes out at a temperature of around 70 C before flowing into the heating system,” he said. Though experts say there is immense potential in China’s

subterranean heat reserves, they remain largely unexploited, accounting for less than 0.5 percent of the Asian giant’s energy consumption. Sinopec’s geothermal projects in China make up for more than 40 percent of the total number of homes heated by geothermal energy in the country, making them a potential model for how it can tap this resource. An Icelandic ally Before launching itself into the geothermal industry, Sinopec found an unusual partner in the Icelandic company Arctic Green Energy. Sinopec needed technical support and Iceland is regarded as the leader in extracting energy from the ground. In a joint venture beginning in 2009, they invested 400 million yuan ($58 million) into the Xiong project, where they drilled almost 70 wells. The idea was to apply the technology that had already been tested in the Nordic country to northern China. “Iceland, on the mid-Atlantic ridge, has exceptional resources, with temperatures exceeding 250 C―hot enough to supply power plants,” said Wang Yanxin, a geological research ofﬁcer at Sinopec. “In China, with the exception of Sichuan and Tibet, there are hardly any temperatures exceeding 150 C, which forces us to

A worker (center) from Sinopec Company, shows the technic of heat pump to journalists in Zangangzhen, Heibei province on February 23, 2017. Sinopec, the Chinese oil giant near Beijing, pulls out the heat from the ground with an Icelandic technology, a clean but very expensive energy source, actively encouraged by the authorities. AFP

concentrate on heating systems,” he added. Sinopec, which has suffered in recent years from the tumble in oil prices and the slowdown of the Chinese economy, appears to be investing further in renewable energy, including solar and wind, as well as geothermal. The company has geothermal facilities in 16 Chinese provinces, allowing it to heat some 40

million square meters of homes and factories―and avoiding an estimated three million tons of CO2 emissions. One potential benefit of the project could be a significant reduction in local air pollution, a problem that has plagued much of northern China. According to Sinopec, Xiong has become China’s first “smokeless town” by eliminating the

coal-ﬁred heating systems common throughout other parts of the country. The moniker is not entirely accurate, though. Although the city has done away with polluting furnaces, Li’s neighborhood is still regularly covered with a thick layer of pollution coming from surrounding industrial districts. Still, Sinopec aims to develop 20 such “smokeless cities” na-

tionwide by 2020. The company’s ambitions align with the ruling Communist Party’s plan to significantly reduce air pollution in Chinese cities, in part by increasing the use of clean energy to replace carbon-based fuels. That goal includes a ten-fold increase in geothermal resources: growing electrical output to 530 megawatts by 2020 and tripling the floorspace of buildings heated by geothermal energy. Although it sounds like a big number, it would still be a drop in the bucket of overall Chinese electricity production (5.638 billion megawatts in 2014) and very modest compared to Iceland (close to 700 MW) or the United States (3,930 MW). ‘Meager profits’ Lin Boqiang, the director of the energy research centeee at Xiamen University, is skeptical of the project. “It’s clean, but compared to solar or wind, the cost of geothermal is incredibly high,” he told AFP, questioning whether the project could survive without state support. “Its future is certainly not as assured as solar... The market for Sinopec is still marginal.” At Sinopec, Duan Qiaohong, who is responsible for the Communist Party committee involved with the Sino-Icelandic joint venture, discussed the problem in veiled terms. AFP

Tomas hits SRP land sale sans contract CEBU CITY—Mayor Tomas Osmeña has vowed to get back the combined 45.2 hectares at the South Road Properties that were bought in 2015 by three big property developers apparently without a valid contract. In a speech during the 80th Charter Day celebration here Friday, Osmeña expressed confidence he will get the properties back. “That’s what I said in my Charter Day [message], ‘I will get it back.’ I did not say I will try to get it back. And I’m doing this for the Cebuanos,” Osmeña said. In June 2015, city hall during the term of Mayor Michael Rama sold the three lots at the SRP. Some 26 hectares were sold to the consortium of Ayala Land-Cebu Holdings Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. But Osmeña doubted there was ever a valid contract for the sale of the 45.2 hectares of prime property. “If there’s a contract of sale, so where is it? And the contract has to be approved by the City Council. Let’s ask the question first, where is the contract that the Council approved?” he said. Osmeña raised the issue after Filinvest Land Inc. backed out from a deal for a 19.2-hectare also at the SRP. “If the council doesn’t have it in the records, then there is no contract,” he pointed out. The three land developers paid an P8.3-billion downpayment for the lots during Rama’s term, after winning a public bidding for them at P36,000 to P38,000 per square meter, Osmeña said. The sale was closed at P16.76 billion. Osmeña, however, remained cautious. “We have to proceed one step at a time. We have to study the situation first. There are many legal matters involved.” The SRP was developed and is owned by the City of Cebu, with 300 hectares in total on reclaimed land along the city’s east coast. Osmeña said the city could have sold the lots at a higher price. Junex Doronio

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

FLOWER POWER. Participants in the Panagbenga Festival in Baguio City create this fantastic rendition of the hit TV series ‘Game of Thrones’—complete with dragons and the Iron Throne made mostly out of flowers—that residents and tourists witnessed on the second day of the festival on Sunday. They also caught a glimpse of reigning Miss International Kylie Verzosa (inset), a native of Baguio who joined the annual festivities. Dave Leprozo and Bernadette Lunas

Jueteng stays alive in north B By Abe Almirol

AYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—As the Feb. 28 deadline for the submission of applications by gaming companies seeking a Small Town Lottery franchise from the state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office nears, illegal gambling operators in various towns of Cagayan Valley have continued to clandestinely hold three jueteng draws daily, Manila Standard has learned.

A bet collection sheet believed to be used by the illegal gambling operators was obtained by the Manila Standard from a bet collector, who asked not be named. It bears the heading “Meridien Vista Gaming Corp.” with a printed address “Ceza, Sitio Racat, Brgy. Rapuli, Sta Ana, Cagayan Valley.” Meridien is believed to be one of the companies that applied for an STL franchise from the PCSO. The Standard tried to verify this information by calling a phone number posted on

a website bearing company’s contact details, but the number could not be reached. The bet collection sheet, indicating “2-22-17 PM” as the draw date, has seven handwritten pairs of “jueteng” numbers with bets of P5, P5, P35, P20, P10, P15 and P20. Known bet collectors from various towns of Cagayan Valley reached by the Standard, also requesting anonymity, confirmed jueteng is “business as usual,” although draws are being moved around from one

clandestine location to another. “Bet collection is being done discreetly, unlike before that bet collectors are shouting out the winning combinations of a previous draw when they are collecting bets in public markets,” a collector revealed to the Manila Standard. Sources asked not to name their towns, fearing that elected officials and the local police station chief might be placed in “hot water,” as Malacañang has warned of severe consequences for those involved in illegal gambling. This fear was reinforced when Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa was seen dropping by a remote town of Nueva Vizcaya unannounced. Dela Rosa was on his way back to Manila from Kalinga province, where he attended the wake of four policemen who died on duty while serving a warrant against a most wanted person. Earlier, PCSO chairman Jorge Cruz told a Malacañang press briefing that STL “will be the only legal numbers game in the

country.” He argued that STL will make it easy for law enforcers to curb jueteng. However, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has disputed PCSO’s claim and questioned the authority of PCSO to award STL franchises. He argued that Republic Act 1169 “is a special law conferring upon the PCSO the power to hold and conduct charity sweepstakes, races, lotteries and other similar activities in national scale.” “Very specific ha? National scale. Is the STL you’re authorizing national [in] scale? The draws are provincial scale. Don’t fool us, you’re just looking for a justification for jueteng,” Alvarez said in a press statement pointed at PCSO. Anti-gambling advocates in this province doubt that STL will just be used as a front by jueteng operators. PCSO’s Cruz candidly admitted that STL franchise applicants are “the same jueteng lords already operating in provinces and cities nationwide.” A total of 224 corporations applied last year,

and 56 have already qualified. Cruz revealed a formula to discourage STL franchise holders from holding illegal draws. First, PCSO will require the franchise bidder to comply with a Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt to be paid monthly. Second, an applicant is required to deposit a huge performance cash bond, equivalent to one month PMRR. “One province is expected to generate PHP 225 million in revenues a month!” exclaimed Cruz, without naming the province. “The PMRR is computed as 30 percent of the voting population of the area times the P2.50 average bet times three draws a day over 30 days.” Given the huge investment, STL franchise holders “are discouraged to go back to illegal bookies’ jueteng operation because their franchise will be revoked and their performance cash bonds forfeited the moment they are caught,” Cruz explained. He stood firm that PCSO’s mandate is to look for funds needed by the government.

Erap wants MHD to step up immunization drive QC pays MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has ordered the Manila Health Department to step up the city government’s free immunization program, to keep thousands of children and infants in the city protected from vaccinepreventable diseases. Estrada has tasked MHD to press on with its immunization activities in the barangays to reach more target beneficiaries, saying: “I want every in-

fant and child in Manila fully immunized, especially those from poor families, even if I have to use all the resources of the city, just to keep them healthy and strong.” As of 2016, 31,115 children in Manila one-year-old and younger have been declared fully immunized, or those who have been inoculated with vaccines for seven major human diseases—smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever,

whooping cough, polio, and measles, according to MHD chief Dr. Benjamin Yson. “This is our marker of success when an infant completes the basic vaccinations upon reaching the age of one. We’re still trying to get to many more infants and children as we move around in the barangays,” Yson said. The vaccinations, the MHD chief said, cost a minimum of P5,000 in private hospitals and

clinics, whereas in Manila, these are all provided for free in 59 community health centers and six city-run hospitals. “We call on all mothers in Manila to bring their babies and children to their nearest health center, as we work to fill or complete their immunization shots against these infectious diseases,” Yson said. For dengue, Yson said the MHD continues to administer the vaccine Dengvaxia to

schoolchildren aged nine and older. The anti-dengue vaccination started last June. In 2012, the World Health Organization estimated that vaccination prevents 2.5-million deaths each year. With 100-percent immunization, and 100-percent efficacy of the vaccines, one out of seven deaths among young children could be prevented, mostly in developing countries, making this an important global health issue, the WHO added.

Foundation grants 3rd building to school in Bogo BOGO CITY, Cebu—Four new classrooms will augment the existing classrooms of the Marcelo B. Fernan Polambato Elementary School here as SM Foundation turned over a two-storey school building constructed in partnership with DFS Group Limited, the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, whose stores are in various airports worldwide. The structure—furnished with 200 student arm chairs including 20 arm chairs for lefthanded students, four teacher’s desk sets, 16 wall fans, eight blackboards, four wall clocks and four washrooms—is the third school building donated by SMFI to the school. It also brings the total number of school buildings donated by SM Foundation throughout the country to 80 since 2002. Brigith Jugasan, principal of the Marcelo B. Fernan Elementary School, expressed her gratitude to the benefactors for the generosity and care they extended to the school. “As the principal of this institu-

The three SM School buildings in the Marcelo B. Fernan Polambato Elementary School campus.

tion and on behalf of the Department of Education, it is my honor and privilege to thank the SM Group of Companies through SM Foundation, DFS Group Limited, and the Fernan family for their never-ending support to the Polambato people in giving all the school buildings that our learners will be using,” Jugasan said. Jugan Elementary School, also in Cebu, was a beneficiary of SMFI’s school building program.

Bogo City was among the most devastated communities hit by Typhoon “Yolanda” (international name “Haiyan”) in 2013. To facilitate its rehabilitation, SM Foundation immediately helped by turning over two school buildings to Fernan Polambato school in partnership with Deutsche Bank. This is apart from 200 new homes constructed in the SM Cares Village here, to provide

shelter to those who lost their dwellings in the wake of the typhoon. Communities hosting SM Malls and SM Store are being supported by the SM Group through the SM Foundation Inc. with its commitment of providing not only quality education, livelihood training but quality health care as well. SMFI has refurbished and renovated two medical facili-

ties here in the Cebu City Medical Center and the San Remigio Main Health Center, as well as conducted medical missions. It also completed nine farmers’ training programs and planted 10,000 saplings under its Grow A Million Trees program. All these are benefiting Cebu, including 169 college scholars and 165 technical-vocational scholars supported by the SM scholarship program.

Philhealth of Toda members

QUEZON City is moving for the enrollment of the members of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations in the city to the sponsored program component of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth. City Resolution 6960, principally authored by Councilor Allan Butch T. Francisco, highlights the city government’s commitment to provide its residents, especially the poor, access to quality medical and health care services. Before the resolution’s approval, the QC government, through the city’s Social Services Development Department, has already included Toda members for coverage to Philhealthsponsored programs. In 2016, the QC government set aside P120 million to cover the PhilHealth enrollment of some 50,000 beneficiaries to the sponsorship program, which include contractual employees of the QC Hall, barangay officials, solo parents, persons with disabilities, and children in conflict with the law. Of the total 50,000 target beneficiaries, the city has served 42,700 clients, including some 19,251 indigent clients; 3,726 contractual employees; 3,269 TODA members; 9,657 solo parents; 4,858 PWDs and 443 children in conflict with the law. To date, Quezon City leads local government units in the number of beneficiaries enroled to the PhilHealth-sponsored program.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 Standard C2 TODAY Manila

PWDs gainfully employed in Vizcaya By Ben Moses Ebreo

AYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Born with incomplete limbs, Marlon Suni used a bicycle with a sidecar as he studied at Careb Elementary School and Murong National High School in Bagabag town where he was born.

Often tired, he was pulled by his friends’ bicycles as they went to school. Suni was constantly bullied, yet he did not crack and carried on. “I just let the bullying pass through my ears and kept on studying,” Suni recalled while inside the Provincial General Services Office of the provincial government here, where he now works as an administrative aide. Suni, 40, along with fellow persons with disabilities—Roy Bacolod, 39, of Barangay Poblacion in Aritao town and Jerry Limboc, 43 of barangay Roxas in Solano town—became members of the Provincial Federation of PWD Associations Inc. in the

early 1990s. Suni was hired at the PGSO after earning his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, major in General Science at the PLT College here. Bacolod, who finished a Desktop Publishing course at the Vizcaya Institute of Computer Science, is with the Provincial Engineering Office, and Limboc, a Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in computer systems graduate at St. Mary’s University, is with the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, also as administrative aid. “It was a tough journey, but with patience, perseverance, commitment and dedication, we

Marlon Suni works at the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial General Services Office. Ben Moses Ebreo

made it. Our gratitude goes to our Provincial Capitol family, specially to Gov. Carlos Padilla and former governor Ruth Padilla,” said Suni, who was a scholar of the Nueva Vizcaya Press Club. Suni, Bacolod and Limboc also owe their jobs to livelihood opportunities given by the provincial government to the PWD Federation in the ’90s. These include the

PWD Canteen, tea house, boating lagoon, and bike rentals as initial business ventures. They were part of the PFPWDAI members who took vocational courses on Canteen Management from the Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Dagupan City. Local tourists and villagers who visit the provincial capitol

to avail of their services provide income for the PWD workers. Inspired by their unwavering business interest, the provincial government has maintained its ties with the PWD federations through several administrations. “With our canteen, many of the employees of the provincial government were then availing of our meals daily, to be paid in full by the end of the month,” Suni said. At present, the PWD group claims a membership of more than 1,000 provincewide through their municipal chapters in the 15 towns of Nueva Vizcaya. Through collaboration with agencies such as the Technical Skills and Development Authority, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Science and Technology, and the Department of Trade and Industry along with the provincial government, many of the PFPWD members also started their own ventures to earn for their families. In many instances, PWDs in the municipalities were honored

for their productive contributions in their respective communities from national government agencies and private organizations in the country. Governor Padilla also vowed more assistance for the PWD group members in terms of livelihood and employment opportunities at the provincial government. In fact, some PFPWD members were recently trained in boat fabrication at the Lower Magat Eco-Tourism Park in barangay San Luis in Diadi town, funded by the provincial government and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. The materials for the fabrication of fiberglass boats were donated by the SN Aboitiz Power Magat, which also donated the five boats made by the PWDs. “This is part of their preparation to operate and manage the boating and fishing lagoon at the LMETP as additional source of PFPWD members’ income. We have many plans for them to be more empowered so that they can help others to improve their lives,” Padilla said.

Searca food, climate degrees set By Brenda Jocson

DENTAL CARAVAN. A total of 513 children in Binakayan Elementary School, Kawit, Cavite benefited from

the dental caravan and pediatric healthcare service by the Provincial Government of Cavite through the initiative of OPG-Extension Office in cooperation with the Provincial Health Office–Dental Department on February 21. Volunteer doctors, dentists, nurses and technical staff from the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital and the dental team of the Philippine Air Force-15th Strike Wings rendered free dental check-ups, fluoride application, tooth extraction and pediatric check-ups. Free medicines and vitamins were also given to the children. Benjamin Chavez

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—The Philippine-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture or Searca said a graduate course focusing on food security and climate change is underway under the Southeast Asian universities consortium. Searca Director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said 16 partners attended a workshop at Kasetsart University in Bangkok from February 14 to 16 to develop a quality plan and finalize the training tracks for the new Master of Science in Food Security and Climate Change degree. “Climate change is a global issue

IN LINE with its commitment to bring water access to underserved communities, Coca-Cola Philippines will allocate 10 ram pump projects under its Agos Program annually to Special Areas for Agricultural Development to be identified by the Department of Agriculture. A memorandum of agreement was signed for the purpose by Agriculture Secretary

INVITATION TO BID

The Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) invites all interested bidders to bid for the LEASE on an “as-is where-is” basis of the following properties: Location

TCT No.

Calamba City, Laguna 060-2012010213 The property is a vacant lot located on the southwest side of the National highway within Bgy. Parian, about km from Calamba crossing and about 4km from Calamba City Hall. It is located along a main thoroughfare where land development is generally for commercial purposes. Lease Term: 15 years

Area (sqm)

Floor Price (PhP)

3,600

P4,305,600/yr. P358,800/mo.

Bid forms and Bidding Guidelines and Terms of Reference for the Lease of PNOC Property may be secured from the Disposal Committee Secretariat at the 2/F Estate Management Department, PNOC Bldg. 6, Energy Center, Rizal Drive, BGC, Taguig CityfromFebruary 28 – March 21, 2017, 9:00 am to 3:00 pmafter payment of a non-refundable amount of P2,000. The prebidding conference and the public bidding shall be conducted on March 15, 2017 (2:00pm) andMarch 22, 2017 (2:15pm), respectively, at the G/F PNOC Bldg. 6. Should the above-mentioned dates be declared non-working holidays, the bidding activities shall be held on the next working day. II. INVITATION TO SUBMIT OFFER TO NEGOTIATE LEASE OF PROPERTY The PhilippineNational Oil Company (PNOC) invites all interested parties to negotiate for the LEASE on an “as-is where-is” basis of the following properties: Location

TCT No.

Portion of PNOC Building 5 Roof Deck The property is situated at the PNOC compound within the Bonifacio Global City, a premier business district where land development is of mixed-use. It is beside STI College and British School Manila; and near Kidzania, Market Market and Serendra Condominium. The site is ideal for installation of telecommunication equipment and related facilities. Lease Term: 5 years Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija The property is an idle lot located along Gabaldon St. in an area where land development is generally for commercial use. It is secured by a barbed wire fence with one (1) guard posted thereat. Lease Term: 10 years

T-114825

Area (sqm)

Floor Price (PhP)

73* max. leasable area, includes the equipment room, cable route and wall for mounting the frame panel/s

P1,026,768/yr. P85,564/mo.

117

P85,176/yr. P7,098/mo.

*area includes the equipment room, cable route and wall for mounting the frame panel/s PNOC shall accept Letter of Intent (LOI) to Lease PNOC property starting the first working day after the publication of the Invitation to Submit Offer to Negotiate (February 28, 2017) from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. As long as the property has not been leased, PNOC shall accept LOIs one (1) month before expiration of the validity of the floor priceon June 30,2017 (Portion of PNOC Building 5 Roof Deckproperty) and May 28, 2017 (Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija property). The offeror shall submit the LOI together with the signed Negotiation Guidelines, Terms and Conditions for the Lease of Property to the Disposal Committee Secretariat at the 2/F Estate Management Department, PNOC Bldg. 6, Energy Center, Rizal Drive, BGC, Taguig City. The Negotiation Guidelines, Terms and Conditions may be secured from the Disposal Committee Secretariat after payment of a non-refundable amount of P2,000. Award of the lease of the above properties shall be based on the BEST BID/OFFER received from the bidders/offerors. PNOC reserves the right to accept any bids/offers or portions thereof as may be advantageous to PNOC, to reject any and all bids/ offers, to cancel the bidding/negotiation process, or to waive any formality thereto without incurring any liability to the affected bidders/offerors. PNOC assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders/offerors for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid/offer.For inquiries, please call tel. nos. 8126071/7897669 or cellphone no. 09175312772.

ATTY. GRACIELA M. BARLETA Chairman Committee for the Disposal/Utilization of PNOC Real Estate Properties (MS- FEB. 27, 2017)

neering techniques, and social and political disciplines. “In particular, we need to produce graduates who can very well fit the professional profile needed by various institutions in order to strategically respond to the twofold concern on climate change and food security,” Saguiguit said. Searca said as the atmosphere does not have borders, climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions require international solutions. “Graduates of the new course will thus be prepared to act in different cultural, social, and institutional environments across countries and regions by internationalizing their studies through mobility,” Saguiguit said.

Water flows under ‘Agos’ project

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL OIL COMPANY

that exacerbates existing threats to food security and livelihoods. As Southeast Asia remains dependent on the climate-sensitive sectors of agriculture and forestry, it is now in an even more vulnerable position,” Saguiguit said. The project, which is under the Searca-initiated Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources, is expected to push for internationalization of higher education institutions in the region. Since interdisciplinary skills are needed to address food security and climate change, Saguiguit said the key pillars of the new curriculum will be natural sciences, agricultural and engi-

before this Court sitting at the Second Floor, Rm. 237, Hall of Justice Bldg., Quezon City at which date, time and place, all interested persons are hereby IN RE: PETITION FOR THE cited to appear and show CORRECTION OF ENTRIES cause, if any, why said petition IN THE REPORT OF BIRTH should not be granted. CHILD BORN ABROAD OF Let this Order be published PHILIPPINE PARENT OR PARENTS PARTICULARLY at the expense of the petitioner in a newspaper of general THE NAME OF THE CHILD circulation in the Philippines FROM MARK ALLAN GOMEZ once a week for three (3) TO MARK ALLAN MENDOZA consecutive weeks, to be VERIÑA, THE FULL NAME OF selected by raffle pursuant to THE MOTHER FROM GEMMA PD 1079. The Office of the F. GOMEZ VERIÑA TO IMELDA Clerk of Court is directed to ALEJANDRA MENDOZA report to the Court the result VERIÑA, NAME BEFORE of the raffle, with notice to MARRIAGE FROM GEMMA petitioner within ten (10) days from receipt thereof. F. GOMEZ TO IMELDA ALEJANDRA MENDOZA AND The Philippine Statistics DATE OF BIRTH OF MOTHER Authority, the Office of the FROM JUNE 3, 1967 TO APRIL Solicitor General and any 23, 1965, AND THE DELETION person who has any opposition OF THE PLACE AND DATE OF hereto may file the same, MARRIAGE TANTAY NEG. OR. within fifteen (15) days from notice of the petition, or from PHIL. 25 MAY 1995, the last date of publication of such notice. IMELDA ALEJANDRA MENDOZA VERIÑA, Furnish a copy of this Petitioner, Order and petition to the Philippine Statistics Authority versus and the Office of the Solicitor General. R-QZN-16-13951-SP SO ORDERED. ALLAN S. VERIÑA, GEMMA Quezon City, Metro Manila, GOMEZ, THE CIVIL December 21, 2016. REGISTRAR GENERAL, PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY AND THE (Sgd.) ALFONSO C. RUIZ II Presiding Judge PHILIPPINE CONSULATE

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Branch 216, Quezon City

GENERAL, HONGKONG, SAR, THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Copy furnished: Respondents. Office of the Solicitor General x--------------------------------------x 134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi ORDER Village The petitioner, Imelda Makati City Alejandra Mendoza Veriña, filed Atty. Edwin Arreola a verified petition praying for: Concepcion, Jr. a) Correction of entry – Full Counsel for Petitioner name of child from “Mark Allan Santa Maria, 2705 Ilocos Sur Gomez” to “Mark Allan Mendoza Philippine Statistics Authority Veriña’; b) Correction of entry – Name East Avenue, Quezon City of mother from “Gemma F. RTC-OCC, Quezon City Gomez Veriña”, to “Imelda Quezon City Alejandra Mendoza Veriña’; c) Correction of entry – Name Imelda Alejandra Mendoza of Mother before Marriage from Veriña “Gemma F. Gomez” to “Imelda Petitioner Alejandra Mendoza”; Nanguneg East, Narvacan, d) Correction of Date of Birth of Mother from “June 3, 1967” to Ilocos Sur “April 23, 1965”; and e) Cancellation of entry – Place and Date of Marriage, “Tanjy Neg. Or. Phil., 25 May 1995”;

Emmanuel Piñol and Coca-Cola Philippines vice president for Public Affairs and Communications lawyer Adel Tamano. The agreement highlights Coca-Cola’s support to bring water access to 10 SAAD communities, which is aligned with the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of the Duterte administration. One of these is the promotion of rural value chain development to increase agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism. “It is the thrust of Coca-Cola to support the development of these communities together with the Department of Agriculture,” said Tamano. “This project will hopefully contribute in providing water access to the beneficiary communities and help in the government’s campaign to develop more small-scale farmers in the countryside.” More than a basic commodity, Tamano said water access “for these people will bring them hope to dream of a better future for their families and children.” Coca-Cola Philippines launched the Agos Program in 2011, aiming to bring back to nature and the communities every drop of water used in the production of its beverages. One of its projects is the Agos ram pump, a simple technology that elevates water without the need for electricity. The technology harnesses the momentum of naturally-flowing water into reservoirs, which in turn supplies water into common tap stands near households. The Agos Program has benefitted 129 water-deprived communities. Moreover, Coca-Cola Philippines is also implementing sustainability programs focused on women economic empowerment through the 5by20 Sari-sari Store Training and Access to Resources or STAR Program and for well-being through the Minute Maid Nurisha supplemental program.

Gemma F. Gomez Respondent Paratong, Narvacan, Ilocos Sur

The Philippine Consulate in the Report of Birth of the General Child Born Abroad of Philippine Hongkong SAR, thru: The Parent or Parents. Department of Foreign Affairs The Court hereby sets the Macapagal Avenue, Petition for hearing on March Parañaque City 29, 2017 at 8:30 in the morning (MS-Feb. 27, Mar. 6 & 13, 2017)

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (left) and Coca-Cola Philippines vice president for Public Affairs and Communications lawyer Adel Tamano sign the agreement for the Agos Program.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World IN BRIEF Drunk driver injures 28 in New Orleans WASHINGTON―A suspected drunk driver plowed a pickup truck into a Mardi Gras parade Saturday in New Orleans, leaving 28 people injured, including children, ofﬁcials said. “At this time it appears that it’s a subject who was highly intoxicated, who struck a number of vehicles and then veered off hitting a whole bunch of innocent people,” New Orleans Police Chief Michael Harrison told reporters. Seven of those injured declined to go to the hospital, an ofﬁcial at the press conference said. The age of the victims ranged from an approximately three- to four-year old child who was in stable condition, to people in their 30s or 40s, he added. According to Harrison the vehicle driver is under investigation for drunk driving “and of course hitting all the people who were injured.” The driver plowed into the crowd just before 7:00 pm (0100 GMT Sunday) as spectators watched the Krewe of Endymion parade, which is part of the city’s famous Mardi Gras celebrations. AFP

1 killed as car rams pedestrians FRANKFURT-One person was killed and two were injured Saturday when a man rammed a car into pedestrians in the southern German city of Heidelberg, said police, adding that it did not appear to be a terror attack. After the crash, the driver, a 35-year-old German man, fled on foot armed with a knife on a busy city center street but was shot and wounded by police. Police said a 73-three-year-old German man who suffered serious injuries died later in hospital. A statement said a 32-year-old Austrian and a Bosnian woman aged 29 were injured by the car. “At the current stage of the investigation there is nothing to suggest that it was a terrorist” act, the police said. Officers had tracked down the driver with help from witnesses and opened fire on the suspect who was “seriously wounded”, police said. They said there was “no additional information on the state of health” of the driver. German daily Bild reported that the suspect was suffering from psychiatric troubles, but authorities have made no comment on that claim. The police cordoned off the area and a helicopter hovered overhead on Saturday evening. Germany has been on high alert since a Tunisian allegedly rammed a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin in December, killing 12 people, before being shot dead days later by police in Italy. AFP

Morocco eyes new markets R

ABAT, Morocco―Morocco’s key tourism sector barely grew last year amid security challenges, but operators are hoping Chinese and Russian visitors will boost their fortunes in the coming years

Australia and Indonesia restore ties SYDNEY―Australia and Indonesia announced the full restoration of military ties Sunday as the countries’ leaders held talks following a brief spat over teaching material deemed offensive to Jakarta. Indonesia had reported the suspension of all military cooperation with Australia from December before clarifying that only language training had been put on hold. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said after two hours of talks that he and Indonesian President Joko Widodo had “agreed to the full restoration of defence and training activities”. On his ﬁrst visit as head of state to Australia, Widodo told reporters the two neighbors had also agreed to seal a major economic partnership deal. “We are both committed to concluding a high quality bilateral free trade agreement, the Indonesia-Australia comprehensive economic partnership, by the end of this year,” Turnbull told reporters. But there were few details on the deal. The military row between the neighbors erupted after a visiting Indonesian ofﬁcer raised concerns about the material at a language training facility in Perth. Indonesia’s military chief General Gatot Nurmantyo said it involved “unethical stuff” which “discredits Indonesia and its military, even the nation’s ideology”. He said it concerned East Timor—which seceded from Indonesia after a bloody occupation—and the nation’s founding philosophy “Pancasila”, all deeply sensitive topics in Jakarta. AFP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

OFFICIAL VISIT. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz inspects a ceremonial guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur on February 26, 2017. AFP

While political turmoil and jihadist attacks have battered the sector in Egypt and Tunisia, Morocco registered 10 million visitors last year, according to the Moroccan Tourism Observatory. That was a barely perceptible rise of 1.5 percent from 2015, it said. But hoteliers in the narrow streets of the capital Rabat’s old city were cautiously positive. “Last year was better than 2015. And the first two months of 2017 augured an even better year,” said Hanane, manager of a local guest house. Tourists are easy to spot wandering through Rabat’s old city with its craft stalls, Andalusian-style houses and a 12thcentury kasbah overlooking the Atlantic. But while tourism revenues rose 3.4 percent to $6.3 billion (5.9 billion euros) in 2016, visitor arrivals to Morocco have fallen far short of an ambitious official target of 20 million per year by 2020. A growing number of visits by Moroccans who live abroad -- counted as tourists when they come home -- accounted for much of the sector’s buoyancy. Foreign visitor arrivals last year were down by 0.9 percent. Karim, owner of a travel agency in commercial capital Casablanca, said more work was needed to drum up new business. “The situation is pushing us to look for new markets outside Europe,” he said. “But overall, it can be said that there was a slight recovery in 2016.” Authorities are hoping for an influx of Russian and Chinese tourists, who currently account for just one percent of total visitors.

That is far behind the French, who make up almost a third of arrivals—a ﬁgure that includes many of Moroccan origin. “Europeans still top the list, but the number of Chinese visitors is growing,” Hanane said. “Since visas for the Chinese were abolished in June, a door has been opened.” Tourism remains a vital pillar of the Moroccan economy and the country’s second biggest employer, after agriculture. The sector accounts for 10 percent of national income and, along with exports and remittances from Moroccans overseas, it is one of the country’s main sources of foreign currency. Former imperial city Marrakesh, with its UNESCO-listed old town, and the coastal town of Agadir have long been key attractions. They remain popular—in contrast to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, where visitor numbers have plummeted following the Arab Spring uprisings and repeated jihadist attacks. Morocco has not experienced an attack since a 2011 bombing in Marrakesh’s famed Jamaa El Fna Square, which killed 17 people, mainly European tourists. Today, security forces stand guard at Morocco’s main tourist sites. The government, a key security partner of European countries, regularly announces it has dismantled jihadist cells. But while the kingdom remains safer than other countries in the region, visitor numbers have stubbornly refused to rise. The local press calls the sector’s performance “lackluster and disappointing” compared with a 2010 plan to double arrivals. AFP

Trump to skip the annual correspondents’ dinner WASHINGTON―President Donald Trump ratcheted up his feud with the US media Saturday, announcing he will skip the annual correspondents’ dinner one day after a row erupted over White House press access. By skipping the April 29 event Trump breaks a tradition in which the US president is the guest of honor at a light-hearted roast held by journalists and studded with celebrities. “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

The White House Correspondents Association, which has organized the annual dinner since 1921 to raise money for journalism scholarships, said it would go ahead with the event as planned. The dinner “has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment [on freedom of the press] and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic,” WHCA president Jeff Mason tweeted. Trump built his presidential campaign on criticizing the mainstream US press -- whose editorial boards overwhelmingly opposed his election -- and has intensiﬁed his rhetoric since taking ofﬁce, routinely

accusing the media of bias in overstating his setbacks and downplaying his accomplishments. Trump’s cancellation comes one day after the White House triggered widespread outrage by denying access to an off-camera brieﬁng to several major US media outlets, including CNN and The New York Times. Smaller outlets that have provided favorable coverage of the Trump administration, such as Breitbart and the One America News Network, were allowed to attend the brieﬁng by spokesman Sean Spicer. The WHCA said it was “protesting strongly” against the de-

cision to selectively deny media access, and would bring it up with the Republican administration. The New York Times described the White House decision as “an unmistakable insult to democratic ideals,” while CNN called it “an unacceptable development” and the Los Angeles Times warned the incident had “ratcheted up the White House’s war on the free press” to a new level. Hours earlier on Friday, speaking at the annual CPAC gathering of conservative activists and politicians, Trump slammed the mainstream US media as “the enemy of the people,” and labeled the fourth estate “fake news” and the “oppo-

sition party.” Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, a former head of the right-wing news site Breitbart, predicted at CPAC on Thursday that relations with the media would only get worse as the president rolls out his agenda. It is not uncommon for Republican and Democratic administrations to brief a limited number of select reporters on specific themes. However, Friday’s White House event was initially billed as a regular briefing open to credentialed media before it was reconfigured as a closed event for a cherrypicked group of participants, taking place in Spicer’s office. AFP

Veteran of Obama era to lead the Democrats WASHINGTON―Opposition Democrats on Saturday chose Tom Perez as their new leader, tapping an establishment figure to lead the fight against President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. Perez, a labor secretary under former president Barack Obama and the party’s first HispanicAmerican leader, immediately named the contest’s runner-up, leftist lawmaker Keith Ellison, as the party’s deputy chairman. “Someday, they’re going to study this era in American history... and ask the question, of all of us, where were you in 2017 when we had the worst president in the history of the United States?” said Perez, 55. “And we will all be able to say, the united Democratic party led the resistance, ensured this president was a one-term president and elected Democrats across this country.” Ellison, an 53-year-old African American who is the first Muslim elected to the US Congress, warned that “we don’t have the luxury to walk out of this room divided.” The fight over who would chair the Democratic National Committee appeared at times to be a

proxy battle between the supporters of defeated 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her leftist primary rival Bernie Sanders. Perez, who won 235 votes against 200 for Ellison—a strong Sanders supporter—was seen as the establishment pick. A third candidate, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg—a gay, 35-year-old Rhodes Scholar and military veteran—dropped out of the race before the vote, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia. Unlike in other democracies the leaders of the two main US parties wield little inﬂuence on policy, with leading party lawmakers holding far more clout. But this backstage role is taking on greater signiﬁcance following Clinton’s surprise 2016 defeat, and as Democrats prepare for next year’s midterm elections and the 2020 presidential vote. Perez succeeds interim chair Donna Brazile, who took over after Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz was ousted in mid-2016 when leaked emails showed that some DNC members, who are pledged to be neutral in presidential primaries, favored Clinton over Sanders. AFP

FOGGY DAY. A Palestinian ﬁsherman stands on his boat in Gaza City’ during heavy fog on February 26. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

World

Kim Jong-Nam killed by ‘serious paralysis’ K UALA LUMPUR―The autopsy results on Kim Jong-Nam suggest he was killed by “very serious paralysis” due to a lethal nerve agent, Malaysia’s health minister said Sunday, as the airport terminal where he was assassinated was given the all-clear. The estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader would have died “in a very short period of time”, Health Minister S. Subramaniam added. Malaysia revealed Friday that the 45-year-old victim was killed with the VX nerve agent, which is so deadly it is listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction. Police are holding two women suspected of staging the attack as well as a North Korean man. They want to speak to seven other North Koreans including a senior embassy ofﬁcial, but four of the suspects ﬂed Malaysia on the day of the murder.

The two women can be seen shoving something into Kim’s face in leaked CCTV airport footage of the brazen February 13 attack. He later suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital. Nerve agents prevent the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body’s “off switch” for glands and muscles. Without that switch, glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing. Subramaniam told reporters the cause of death was now “more or less conﬁrmed”. The scene of the killing, the

budget terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, was swept by civil defense personnel in hazmat suits overnight before being declared safe. Police sealed off large areas of the Terminal Two departures hall as a few curious onlookers watched. “The police cordon was at three areas—the scene of the attack, the bathroom where the two female suspects washed their hands and pathway leading to the airport clinic—[and] has been taken down,” a police spokesman said. The operation came almost two weeks after Kim’s death and puzzled some travelers. Student Hariz Syaﬁq, 21, who was due to take a domestic ﬂight later, told AFP: “Yes, I’m worried a bit. Why didn’t they quarantine the airport? “It’s a bit strange.” Both women suspected of carrying out the attack insisted they thought they were taking part in a prank video, although Malaysian

police have said they knew what they were doing. One of the two female suspects in custody, 25-year-old Indonesian Siti Aisyah, reportedly told a senior diplomat Saturday she had been paid just 400 ringgit ($90) for her role, adding she believed she was handling a liquid like “baby oil”. The other woman, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, told Hanoi ofﬁcials she had been tricked into killing Kim and thought she was taking part in a prank for a comedy video. Indonesia’s deputy ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin, who was granted consular access to Siti Saturday, reportedly said she did not know Huong. Police have said one of the women arrested after the attack fell ill in custody, adding she had been vomiting. However, Erwin said Siti was physically healthy while Vietnamese ofﬁcials said Huong was “in stable health”. AFP

REHEARSALS. Actress Amy Adams during rehersals for the 89th An-

nual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 23, 2017, in Hollywood, California. AFP

Terminal where he died given all clear KUALA LUMPUR―The Kuala Lumpur airport terminal where Kim Jong-Nam was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent was given the all clear Sunday, as two women suspected of carrying out the attack insisted they thought they were taking part in a prank video. The scene of the brazen February 13 killing of the North Korean leader’s half brother was swept by civil defence personnel in hazmat suits overnight, after Malaysia revealed Friday the victim died from VX nerve agent which is so deadly it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. Two women can be seen shoving something into Kim’s face in leaked CCTV airport footage of the ambush. He later suffered a seizure and was dead before he reached hospital. One of the two female suspects now in custody, 25-yearold Indonesian Siti Aisyah, reportedly told a senior diplomat Saturday she had been paid just RM400 ($90) for her role, adding she believed she was handling a liquid like “baby oil”. The other woman in custody, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, told Hanoi officials she had been tricked into killing Kim and thought she was taking part in a prank for a comedy video. Police sealed off large areas of the terminal’s two departures hall where the attack was carried out ahead of the sweep for traces of the highly potent toxin as a few curious onlookers watched. Authorities later declared the area safe after nothing harmful was found. “The police cordon was at three areas—the scene of the attack, the bathroom where the two female suspects washed their hands and pathway leading to the airport clinic—(and) has been taken down,” a police spokesman said. The operation came almost two weeks after Kim’s death and puzzled some travellers. Student Hariz Syafiq, 21, who was due to take a domestic flight later, told AFP: “Yes, I’m worried a bit. Why didn’t they quarantine the airport? “It’s a bit strange.” Indonesia’s deputy ambassador to Malaysia Andreano Erwin, who was granted consular access to Siti Saturday, said she did not know Huong according to reports. AFP

Massacre victims demand justice

ONSTAGE. Bassist Hugh McDonald of Bon Jovi performs with guitarist/producer John Shanks at T-Mobile Arena on February 25 in Las Vegas. AFP

White Helmet workers will not attend Oscars BEIRUT―Rescue workers from Syria’s White Helmets group - the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary—will not attend this weekend’s Academy Awards ceremony because of intensiﬁed regime bombing and a rejected passport. Raed Saleh and fellow White Helmet member Khaled Khatib had been set to attend Sunday’s ceremony in Hollywood, where “The White Helmets” is shortlisted for best short documentary. “After 3 days at airport, not allowed to travel to #oscars2017 had US visa - but passport not ac-

cepted. Sad, but important work to do here,” Khatib tweeted Saturday from Istanbul. US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Friel said that “individuals need valid documents to travel to the United States,” declining to comment further. Earlier, Saleh told AFP he wasn’t going because of a heavy workload “due to intensiﬁed regime strikes on the provinces of Damascus, Daraa and Homs.” “There are many things that have to be done on the ground, such as managing operations and providing emergency vehicles,”

he added. Khatib, who shot much of the footage, had obtained a US visa but cited the same reasons earlier for not traveling. “I won’t travel to OSCAR due to intensity of work, our priority is helping our people,” he tweeted in English. “I was going to leave on Tuesday, but there was too much work because of the bombing,” Khatib told AFP by telephone. “I’m also working on producing another ﬁlm about the White Helmets that has to be ready in two weeks. I will not go.”

The two rescuers had feared they could be barred from attending the ceremony because of US President Donald Trump’s late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries, including Syria. The ban has since been lifted by a US federal court, and on February 18 the pair received their visas. More than 310,000 people have died since Syria’s conﬂict erupted in March 2011, and more than half of the country’s citizens have been forced to ﬂee their homes. AFP

TAIPEI―For Pan Hsin-hsing the sight and smell of lilies held a particular horror for many years -- the pungent flowers decorated the room where his executed father lay before the funeral. He was just six years old when Pan Mu-chih, a doctor and local politician, was arrested, tortured and killed in a 1947 massacre that was the precursor to years of political purges in Taiwan, known as the “White Terror”. A last note from his father was scribbled on a cigarette pack given to him by a sympathetic jailer and smuggled out to the family. “Don’t be sad, I die for the residents of our city. I die with no regret,” it read. On Tuesday, Pan will speak at a national commemoration for the victims of the crackdown by troops under nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang party governed Taiwan at the time. On behalf of many who lost loved ones, he will call for longdelayed justice. Pan’s father was a critic of the KMT and was killed by a firing squad alongside other local politicians in southern Chiayi city, where there were anti-government riots. Those riots were part of islandwide civilian unrest which started on February 28, 1947, after an inspector beat a woman selling untaxed cigarettes in Taipei. The immediate crackdown on protesters is estimated to have killed up to 28,000 people. Pan also lost his 15-year-old brother, who was shot after going out to look for their missing father. The family pretended the young boy had committed suicide for fear of repercussions if they told the truth. Another of his eight siblings held their dying father in his arms after finding the train station where the execution took place, says Pan, his voice cracking. The body was brought to their family’s clinic, where he had worked as a doctor, and laid out in the waiting room so people could pay their respects. Pan says another of his brothers and a sister were jailed for months as “communist spies”, several of his siblings have struggled with depression. For years, he associated lilies with that terrifying time. AFP

Life

By Martha del Moral

HERE is this quaint new place tucked in Commonwealth in Quezon City that will make every hang out worthwhile. Sessions Bar and Resto is a staple go-to whenever city life begins to get a little too consuming. With its wide variety of food choices and cozy ambience, this is the ideal place to catch up with friends and loosen up from stress. The comprehensive menu includes a list of the ingredients of each meal, which helps customers choose the dishes they like easier. Putting the promising food choices to test, I tried three things from their menu: Vigan Longganisa Pasta, Vigan Longganisa Pizza and Creamy Salpicao Flakes. Pizza is always a priority and so I dug in, tasting the freshness of the vegetables at first bite. The garlicky longganisa had a hint of cheese, making it a perfect match. They were so well combined that no ingredient overpowered the other. Also, its soft taco crust is actually made fresh every day, as well as their cheese. The Vigan Longganisa Pasta is simply mouth-watering. You can’t miss the taste of the local longganisa in every chew, and it does not swim in oil. Guilt free, definitely. The toasted bread on the side, which is usually French bread by default is actually pan de sal; a rightful twist to a modern Filipino dish. Meanwhile, the Creamy Salpicao Flakes came as a surprise because it is different from the dish I know. The modern twist to the dish made it more enticing. Eventually I figured out that they had to call it “flakes” since the beef is shredded. The taste did not disappoint, and with an empty stomach, I’d definitely call for rice. To my surprise, the price range is pocket-friendly. The pizza is just P190.00 and the pasta is P165.00. There’s service charge, but you’ve got to pay only on cash basis. The place is fabulous and the staff is very warm to the customers. They can also provide a private space for special dinners that doubles as spot for enjoying an acoustic session. They also have nights where OPM icons like Franco, Sandwich, and Rivermaya play for the customers. For those looking for a place for dinner or simply a place to hang out with friends, Sessions Bar and Resto will be waiting for you at the Royal Place Arcade, Don Antonio Drive, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. Visit its social media accounts; Sessions Bar and Resto on Facebook and @sessions_G15 on Instagram.

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

FOOD

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Quick getaway at

SESSIONS BAR AND RESTO

Creamy Salpicao Flakes is perfect with rice

NEW HANGOUT. Sessions Bar and Resto is an ideal place to catch up with friends while indulging in sumptuous meals.

Vigan Longganisa Pasta combines the freshness of vegetBles and the savory flavor of longganisa and cheese

Vigan Longganisa Pasta is a tasty, guilt-free treat

The bar and restaurant offers cozy ambiance and wide range of food choices

A taste of Tuscan A NEW year symbolizes the perfect time to change our lifestyle for the better. During this time, everyone tries to take charge of what they are getting out adding to their life for the new year; some tries to focus and level up their cooking adroitness by putting something distinct that will add up to the spice and taste of their food. Bertolli, one of Italy’s leading brands for olive oil and balsamic vinegar, imbibes the taste of Mediterranean lifestyle, which makes every recipe made and prepared with it simple but appetizingly delicious and healthy. A splash of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil is enough to make the taste of your salad extra special. Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil offers rich and authentic flavors to cater to a wide range of distinct taste preferences and dishes. Aside from the rich taste and fragrant aroma of Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a drizzle of Bertolli Balsamic vinegar can create a natural taste that perfectly complements salads, meats, vegetables, sauces or even desserts. Bertolli Balsamic Vinegar is an exceptional blend of concentrated and cooked grape and Italian wine that elevates the flavor of your dish. Adding the inimitable taste of Bertolli Olive Oil and the intense flavor of the Balsamic Vinegar to simple dishes will surely reveal different layers of delight for your new year and new life. Bertolli believes that a robust meal experience awaken the senses and inspires to connect with the persons we are eating with. Here are two quick and easy yet scrumptious recipes to spice up your 2017:

Caprese Salad

Preparation Time: 10 minutes Serving: For 4 people Ingredients: 4 Ripe, firm tomatoes (or sub with 2 dozen cherry tomatoes) 2 Medium sized sliced balls (or blocks) of Mozzarella 10 Fresh Basil Leaves 1TSP Bertolli balsamic vinegar 2TSP Bertolli Extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper

Instructions:

Slice Mozzarella and Tomatoes. Arrange them together on the dish with the Mozzarella covering the tomatoes. Dress the dish with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar. Add pinch of Salt and Pepper. Garnish the plate with fresh basil leaves. Roast Meat with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Preparation time: 30 minutes Serving: For 4 People Ingredients: 600/700g meat (bottom round) 3TSP Bertolli Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 Desalted Anchovy Fillets 1clove garlic salt and black pepper small branches of rosemary 1TSP Bertolli Balsamic Vinegar

Create simple but tasty and healthy meals with Bertolli’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar that add rich taste and fragrant aroma to any recipe

Instructions:

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Life

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Running on Coffee

THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES

CCORDING to a Turkish proverb, coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love. Now we may have our own preferences as to how strong or sweet our coffee should be, but there is no denying that it is the hot poison of choice for most Filipinos. According to a January 2017 Euromonitor International report, coffee consumption in the Philippines posted a strong growth last year on the back of higher disposable incomes of Filipino consumers. Versatile and easy to prepare coffee mixes have also become more appealing to consumers, who have increasingly hectic lifestyles. A 2014 Euromonitor study also showed that while the Philippines is ranked 25th among the top countries where most coffee drinkers are located, we are number one among our Asian neighbors at 0.608 cup a day, followed by Singapore (0.379) and South Korea (0.329). These are perhaps among the reasons why organizers of the Philippine Restaurant, Café and Bar Expo (Philresca) are excited for the first-ever businessto-business gathering of coffee suppliers, distributors, and stakeholders from allied services from March 2-4 at the World Trade Center. Apart from the exposition, Philresca will also host the Philippine National Barista Championship and the Philippine National Latte Art Championship, the winners of which will be sent to compete against their best counterparts from participating countries during the world championships this year. “Beyond business, we envision Philresca as an educational venue to discover new talents and sharpen the craft of future service leaders to the next level, and in the process bolstering the position of Filipinos in the global coffee industry and serving as a launching pad for local coffee businesses to be introduced to a wider market,” said May Juan, president of Philippine Asia Confer-

South Korean barista Umpaul demonstrates his skills that earned him top spot in the 2016 World Latte Art Championship.

The Philippines produces four commercially viable coffee varieties: Arabica, Liberica, Excelsa and Robusta.

ences & Exhibitions Inc. Juan said based on government forecast, the local restaurant, café, and bar industry is expected to gainfully employ 795,000 individuals this year. “The local barista community is also very active. We expect to see a lot of our Filipino baristas engaging in leveled up professional competitions, both local and international, by 2017,” she added. Amy Ball, creative director of World Coffee Events – which manages competitions such as the World Barista Championship, the World Cup Tasters Championship, and the World Latte Art Championship, among other prestigious events— said the Philippines is slowly but steadily rising as

Amy Ball (L), creative director of World Coffee Events, and May Juan (R), president of the Philippine Asia Conferences and Exhibitions Inc.

an important emerging market for the evergrowing coffee community. “There’s a lot of growing excitement about the Philippine coffee market right now and how it is going to evolve and engage with the international coffee community at large. Barista is also a growing profession here as well and it’s very exciting,” she said. “We aim to generate a feeling of community among Filipinos while still maintaining unique coffee culture and identity. Though the specialty coffee community here is fairly new, the energy is high and the momentum is already there. Through these events, we also hope to inspire collaboration among coffee communities from all over the world,” Ball added. The Philippines is one of the few countries that produces the four varieties of commercially viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica (Barako), Excelsa and Robusta. Climatic and soil conditions in the Philippines—from the lowland

Kenneth in Little Manila YOU may remember him in the 80s as Kenneth Peralta, the actor. Binalot’s founders recently saw him in Dubai not as an actor but as a restaurateur and Brand Manager for the Little Manila group. Ken knows what the Filipino market wants while making sure the Emirati bosses are pleased with Little Manila’s operations. Binalot boss and founder Rommel Juan had a good time discussing holiday events with Ken who so understands what food and drinks the OFW community looks for. “They like events and celebrations here,” Ken tells Rommel. The Pinoys enjoy the constantly evolving menu of the Little Manila restaurants, which are monitored closely by Ken. Ken knows the local event people, the Fili-

For feedback, send comments to joyce.panares@gmail.com

THIRST-QUENCHER

Del Monte’s

pino community, the media and most of all, the LM regulars. “Families come here on Fridays in big groups,” he declares. “This is why we open early for pan de sal, Spanish bread, ensaymada and coffee,” he continues. The rest of the week, workers, groups and barkadas look for the newly launched Corporate Lunch combo, Bilao meals and Fiesta Combo of Binalot, which can feed a family of eight to 10 as planned by in-house Executive Chef Jojo Joaquin. Binalot opened almost two years ago and is set to open more outlets in UAE and the Middle East. For the Pinoy market, there is nothing like having a meal with family and noshing on the Pinoy-vorites like Tapa, Inihaw and Binagoongan Baboy especially since

new healthier fizz

Former actor Kenneth Peralta helps bring the well-loved dishes of Binalot to Filipinos in Dubai

Binalot offers comfort food that Pinoys miss abroad.

to mountain regions – make the country suitable for all four varieties. The local coffee industry has indeed come a long way since the first coffee tree was introduced in Lipa, Batangas in 1740 by a Spanish Franciscan monk. In 1880, the Philippines was the fourth largest exporter of coffee beans, and when the coffee rust hit Brazil, Africa, and Java, it became the only source of coffee beans worldwide. The glory days of the domestic coffee industry, however, lasted only until 1889 when an insect infestation destroyed virtually all coffee trees in Batangas. Today, the country produces 30,000 metric tons of coffee a year,barely covering half of the 65,000 MT annual coffee consumption. The Philippines hopes to regain its position as a top producer and exporter of coffee, reflecting the industry’s history—one that is as rich as its flavor.

pork dishes are offered only in a few restaurants in the predominantly Muslim country. “Pork is what Pinoys miss,” Ken says. And with the locally available ingredients Chef Jojo and Ken asked Binalot to add some different Pinoy dishes to its Manila menu specifically for the Dubai community like the Beef Adobo, Chicken Sisig and Chicken Liver Steak which became bestsellers. “All is well,” says Juan after observing how the Little Manila group has made Binalot accessible to Filipinos and even foreigners who have become friends or spouses of some Filipinos. “There are different nationalities here,” he says, noting that some Pinoys have married other nationalities now trying Pinoy food for the first time. “And maybe if they choose to come home to retire in Manila, they will still look for Binalot,” Juan beams proudly. For more information about Little Manila and Binalot, check LittleManilaME and BinalotFiesta on Facebook. Or, log on to www.binalot.com.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Glad to be back on the Kapuso network

The show's second episode "Mula Sa Kalikasan" looks into the use of wood and stone to build structures. (Inset) "Dayaw" host Sen. Loren Legarda.

LEGARDA

HE crusade for the preservation of the country’s culture and heritage continues for Senator Loren Legarda as her documentary series Dayaw returns for a third season on ANC, the ABSCBN News Channel every Thursday with live streaming on abs-cbnnews. com/live and on ANC’s Facebook page.

in third serving of

A six-part, 30-minute weekly program that focuses on the ways, beliefs, and practices of the indigenous peoples in the Philippines, it is Legarda’s project. She is a known advocate of indigenous peoples’ (IP) rights. The series is in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the government agency dedicated to the promotion of Philippine arts and culture, and ANC, the country’s premier 24/7 all-English cable news channel. With the goal of promoting appreciation and preservation of traditional arts and culture, the series is now streamed online via ABS-CBN News Online and ANC’s Facebook page to enable more people to catch the show, wherever they may be. After exploring the facets that bind Filipino indigenous peoples such as respect for nature in the ﬁrst season, and zooming into the arts and traditions of different IP groups that contribute to the identity of the Filipino in the second season, the theme for Dayaw this season is “Materyales Fuertes,” the tangible materials chosen by indigenous craftsmen to create tools, ornaments, and structures that have helped build our nation. According to Legarda, the audience can better understand our heritage based on the material things our ancestors have used and will also appreciate more the passion and creativity of our IPs. U “ nlike many of us who only buy what we need, our indigenous peoples make and build their own things—from clothes, accessories, mats, baskets, pots, to vessels, houses, and other structures—which are built following procedures and techniques that are signiﬁcant to their indigenous community. Through our tangible

"Dayaw" is a 30-minute program that trains the spotlight on the ways and beliefs of indigenous people in the country.

‘Dayaw’

heritage, we see expressions of a culture, we witness creativity that only those who are culturally enriched and one with nature can possess,” she explained. The first two episodes, “Hinabing Lakas” Parts 1 and 2, focus on expressive fibers of distinct cultures, and how fibers weaved into textiles, baskets, mats, and utensils express our identity, celebrate life, and represent the strength and resilience of the weavers. The third episode, “Mula sa Kalikasan” looks into the use of wood and stone by our ancestors to build structures dedicated to agriculture, exploration, and the community, and how these materials have helped shape an evolving image of a nation. Episode 4, entitled “Ginto, Pilak,

Garing” takes on the treasured and precious materials, the glittering materials that have been skillfully used to create beautiful things; while Episode 5, “Putik at Papel” showcases how simple materials like clay and paper have been used to make unique works of art. To wrap up the season, Legarda will give emphasis to the simplest yet most powerful material ever used by Filipinos – words. The episode “Sa Diwa, Sa Salita” celebrates the most inspiring materials from which we have sought to build a nation. The former ABS-CBN broadcast journalist said the TV series has been very helpful not only in promoting our heritage but also in allowing more people to understand the ways and means of

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, February 27, 2017

ACROSS 1 Firm grip 6 Punning poet 10 Sgt. Preston’s group 14 Nina of fashion 15 Postkindergarten 16 Newsman — Abel 17 Grouchy Muppet 18 Fanatic’s feeling 19 Blackberry stem 20 Hotel-suite amenity (2 wds.) 22 Crashes (2 wds.) 24 Ballpoint point 26 Wilts 27 Chinese veggie (2 wds.) 31 Place to stay 32 Crewmate of Sulu 33 Clumps of grass 36 Dawn drops 39 Calf-length 40 Composer — Anderson 41 Instance 42 —’wester 43 Microsurgery tool 44 Zesty dip 45 Director — Burns

46 In worse taste 48 Sudden pang 51 Vocalist — Sumac 52 Undue influence 54 Tracked down 59 Coal scuttles 60 Poker stake 62 Spice tree 63 Old ruler of Venice 64 Clock part 65 Four-bagger 66 Went swiftly 67 This, to Pedro 68 Ache DOWN 1 Snowball 2 Climb the ladder 3 Bank no. 4 Leave a mark 5 Amazon menace 6 — Perce tribe 7 Obi-Wan player 8 Pottery bit 9 Mirth 10 Guess 11 Jewelry fastener 12 Without 13 Quick look 21 Carioca’s city 23 Pros and — 25 Computer mouthfuls 27 Mooches

28 Great Lakes state 29 Striped antelope 30 Dernier — 34 Suffix for forfeit 35 — -niner 36 Melting-watch artist 37 Latin I verb 38 Get threadbare 40 Tongue 41 Ailurophobe’s fear 43 Hubble component 44 Stiff

45 Greeted warmly 47 Lb. or tsp. 48 Crowd in 49 Pie slice 50 Sea eagles 52 Profs, probably 53 Iowa, to Jacques 55 Soothing herb 56 Comet’s gaseous cloud 57 Hardly — 58 “Silent Running” actor 61 Time span

IPs, their concerns, and how we can make them active and valuable partners in development and nation building. “I am glad that I am able to continue my advocacy of raising awareness about our IPs through Dayaw. When more people are aware, they appreciate our culture and eventually we can engage them in our advocacy to protect our heritage and our IPs,” she said. Dayaw airs on ANC, 6 p.m., Thursday. For more information on Dayaw, visit the ofﬁcial Facebook account of NCCA (https://www.facebook. com/NCCAofﬁcial) and news.abscbn.com/anc, or follow ANC on Facebook (https://www.facebook. com/ANCalerts) and Twitter (@ ANCalerts).

JANICE de Belen is happy and proud to be part of the latest GMA prime time offering titled, Destined to be Yours (premiering tonight after Encatadia) featuring the phenomenal AlDub love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. “And who wouldn’t be? It’s a grand project which features one of contemporary ‘biz’s most popular and sought-after screen tandems. I have a feeling that this will become a certified charttopper. I’m fortunate that this serves as my homecoming soap for the Kapuso network. I know that they have a sure winner on this one,” she says. Apart from Alden and Maine, the soap, which is under the helm of Irene Villamor also boasts a competent cast. “We have the veterans and the reliable like Ms. Boots Anson-Rodrigo, Gardo Versoza, Lotlot de Leon, Ina Feleo, Ronnie Henares and Mr. Tommy Abuel plus the young Kapuso stars Dominic Roco, Sheena Halili, Juancho Triviño, Koreen Medina, and RJ Padilla. You see, it’s a nice mixture of talents. The story is also one that is sure to appeal to the fans so, what more can you ask for?” Asked about the show’s lead stars, Janice is hats-off to AlDub’s work attitude and ethics. “Their professionalism is laudable. They exude natural warmth and chemistry on and off-screen which makes their tandem charming. Maine and Alden don’t need to have a put-on just to make their followers believe that they’re sweet or something. What they show the public is what they really feel about each other. It’s simply awesome.” Does she believe that the two will eventually end up with each other in real life? “Well, in any love team, that’s the fans’ ultimate wish---for their on screen romance to become a reality. I’ve been through that phase as well. With Alden and Maine, they work perfectly together. If they will become lovers for real, it’s a big bonus for their supporters. Of course, they will be very delighted when that happens. “But in case they will not become real-life partners, they can still woo their fans with their unparalleled chemistry as I was pointing out a while ago. Sometimes, it’s good to see a screen pair that just works nice together, like Cong. Vilma Santos-Recto and Mr. Christopher de Leon. They need not be romantically involved to draw the admiration of the fans. As for Alden and Maine, it’s still early to tell but personally, I find their love team cute,” ends Janice. ******** According to Gerald Anderson, he and Bea Alonzo enjoy each other’s company and are not hastening things to become an official couple. “Yes, we don’t want to rush things,” he avers. “As of now, we just enjoy going out together. There are lots of things we discover about each other in each passing day. I also learn so many lessons from her and I hope she also gets some from me. It’s nice to have someone whom you can share your thoughts, aspirations and dreams with!” Does he feel inspired with Bea’s presence in his life at this point? “Oh, of course! In the first place, that’s the main reason why you go out on a date with someone, right?” Many ask if by the time they become an item, they will reveal it to the public. “I don’t see anything wrong with that. You may see me as a private guy. When it comes to love life, I’m not really that open. But if this thing I have with Bea will really become deeper, I will not certainly hide it,” Gerald states.

The next box ofﬁce royalties? Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil's "My Ex and Whys" has grossed more than P200 million at the local tills.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017

Valentine’s blockbuster

Maine Mendoza and Alden Rihards will answer the question, "Chance encounters or simply destiny?" in their ﬁrst TV series "Destined To Be Yours"

DATE MOVIE

NDOUBTEDLY, the Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano tandem is the ISAH V. RED biggest onscreen sweetheart to hit the screens this Valentine season. My Ex and Whys has breached the P200-million mark and it’s making Star Cinema executives and the film’s director Cathy GarciaMolina doubly happy. Molina is widely considered now a directing icon, particularly in the romcom genre. My Ex And Whys is her very first film project with LizQuen tandem. In the movie, Enrique and Liza play ex-couple Gio and Cali. Cali cannot move on after she learned that Gio cheated on her. They are reunited in an unexpected project that can bring them back together. Gio wants to prove that he is a changed man. Cali refuses to believe him initially, but when they travel to Korea for an event. Cali begins to doubt her feelings for Gio. She thinks she is falling all over again for Gio. My Ex And Whys is the first movie featuring Enrique and Liza after the blockbuster hit Everyday I Love You in 2015. This is also their first project since the mammoth success of their top-rating primetime TV series Dolce Amore, aired on ABS-CBN last year. Individually and as a pair, Enrique and Liza are two of the most influential young actors in the industry today. Both of them have multiple product endorsements. They are almost always featured in magazine covers and editorial spreads. LizQuen has the unwavering support of countless fans that watch their TV shows and movies, not to say buy the

products they endorse. So, why is this movie faring better than the others of the same kind? The answer is simple. The ﬁlm has a young perfect-looking tandem on screen – audiences fantasize about beautiful pairs on screen – throw in a simple love story set in picturesque sceneries and - presto! – the movie is a potential hit which it is. My Ex And Whys is still screening in cinemas nationwide *** Just before Destined To Be Yours' worldwide premiere, the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza joined in the celebration of the colorful Panagbenga Festival in Baguio along with the cast of the hit romantic comedy series Meant To Be. Last Saturday, Meant To Be’s Barbie Forteza together with leading men Jak Roberto, Ivan Dorschner, Addy Raj, and Ken Chan were in the Kapuso Fans Day at Sunshine Park in the afternoon. Yesterday, Alden and Maine (AlDub) rode the Kapuso Float during the muchcelebrated Panagbenga Float Parade, they were joined by their co-stars Koreen Medina and Juancho Trivino for a Kapuso Fiesta at Sunshine Park at

Nierves. “Each time we launch a beauty innovation, we aim to satisfy the wants and needs of the woman who will wear it..” Marian shares, “Hindi lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat na kilalang kilala ang Avon. Kapag beauty products at sinabi mong Avon, yun na yun. Hindi lang pagpapaganda ang nadudulot ng Avon kundi nakakatulong din ito sa kabahaihan at sa pamilya nila. I am honored and proud to be joining such a well-known and well-loved brand. And I’m so excited for every Filipina to try the new lipstick collection!”

Barbie Forteza (center) and her leading men -- (from left) Ken Chan, Ivan Dorschner, Addy Raj, and Jak Roberto -- in the top-rating romantic drama, "Meant To Be."

10 a.m. Destined To Be Yours premieres tonight after Encantadia. Kapuso fans down south also had an extravaganza with Jennylyn Mercado in General Santos City’s Kalilangan Festival. She was wither her My Love from the Star leading man, new Kapuso actor Gil Cuerva. The two were in KCC Mall for a Kapuso Mall Show. GMA will also be in Tagum City in Davao del Norte tomorrow for the celebration of Tagum City Musikahan Festival. Stars of upcoming teleserye Impostora – Kris Bernal and Rafael Rosell – will be in a Kapuso Mall Show 4 p.m. at NCCC Mall Tagum. The cast of Meant To Be continues its series of regional shows as Barbie, Jak, Ivan, Addy, and Ken treat their fans to a Kapuso Fiesta at the New City Hall in Tagum City. Show starts at 8 p.m., also tomorrow. ***

Avon, the Philippines’ no.1 directselling company and leader in the beauty industry, ofﬁcially introduced Marian Rivera as the newest face of the iconic makeup brand. Marian joined Avon Philippines Makeup Ambassador Angel Locsin and Simply Pretty Ambassador Kathryn Bernardo, along with Jennylyn Mercado, Jodi Sta. Maria, Julia Montes, Yassi Pressman, Ruffa Gutierrez, Paulo Avelino and Richard Yap . “On our 130th year, we are thrilled to welcome the beautiful, multi-faceted Marian to our ever-growing family. Not only is she a superstar, she is also a philanthropist, a wife, and a mother— she is a woman who has it all. And we believe she is the perfect representation of Avon’s belief that every woman can have it all,” says Avon Philippines General Manager Emie Aguilar- Marian Rivera is now an Avon Lady

Why do we enjoy seeing someone else fail? WE’VE all experienced that guilty—but somewhat delightful—feeling when watching other people going through bad times, from harmless public humiliations to outright disasters. Should this sound a warning of humanity’s decline? Not quite, science says. In a study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, neuroscience experts Dr. Mina Cikara of Harvard University and Dr. Susan Fiske of Princeton University said our minds are wired to feel schadenfreude, a German loanword that means “pleasure felt when another person experiences misfortune.” However we don’t feel the same level of joy in each instance of failure. According to the results of an experiment by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan, how we react depends on how we feel about the victim. The way we view ourselves also determines our feelings of schadenfreude. Here’s a closer look at what studies tell us about this feeling: 1. A case of self-esteem The American Psychological Association published a study, which revealed that people with low self-esteem are more inclined to feel schadenfreude when someone successful undergoes hardship. The study explained that these people feel threatened by high achievers and often look for chances to afﬁrm themselves. 2. Rivals

A screengrab of one of the most epic clips "Fail Army" curated for the show's third season.

When Dr. Cikara, Dr. Fiske, and cognitive science expert Dr. Matthew Botvinick of Princeton University conducted a study on the behavior of Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees fans, they found out that the opposing team’s defeat resulted in increased activity in the ventral striatum, a part of the brain associated with self-pleasure. The

same result occurred when fans talked about their desire to harm supporters of the rival team. 3. Green with envy Researchers from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan conducted an experiment where subjects had to imagine themselves as protagonists in a social drama.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans showed that the pain nodes in the subjects’ brains flared when they imagined encountering characters they envy. The imagined downfall of these characters also resulted in the activation of their brains’ reward centers. 4. Empathy meets cruelty An experiment that aimed to measure empathy shows that empathy centers in men and women’s brains lit up when someone they considered “honest” received an electric shock. When somebody considered “dishonest” went through pain, participants had fewer emphatic responses, showed decreased activation in their brains’ pleasure centers, and expressed desire for revenge. Why we love failure caught on tape Past personal experiences may confirm what studies tell us about schadenfreude, but they also shed light on why we laugh so hard at mishaps caught on tape. Shows like Fail Army take viewers on a rollercoaster ride as they watch hilarious epic fail moments submitted by fans. The new recruits for Fail Army Season 3 are ready to make you roll over in laughter. From little accidents to catastrophes that blow out of proportion, Fail Army compiles the best and most amusing fails from all over the online world. Catch the brand new season of Fail Army from Mondays to Fridays, 9:30 p.m., first and exclusive on RTL CBS Extreme.