Manila Standard - 2017 April 07 - Friday

VOL. XXXI • NO. 56 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Joma, come home—Rody

By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday vowed to immediately end the many years of exile abroad for his former professor, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison, expressing concern over the leader’s health and urging him to return home.

After government and communist negotiators agreed to hammer out a joint interim ceasefire leading to a comprehensive settlement of the 48-year insurgency, Duterte reiterated his offer to pay up for the hospital bills of Sison.

He said government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III called him Wednesday and said Sison Next page was “very sick.”

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. A Catholic faithful creates various designs from leafy palm branches—locally called palaspas—as part of Christian worship on Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, to mark Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as foretold by the prophet Zechariah 2,000 years ago. Norman Cruz

Du30 asserts sea claims BI overtime pay pushed

Orders troops to take control of islets, reefs

By Rey E. Requejo

By John Paolo Bencito

CONGRESS must enact a new law to finance the overtime pay of Immigration officers and the lack of personnel at the airports, which has caused long queues and put the national security at risk, an official said Thursday.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said there was a need to speed up the passage of the law amending Commonwealth Act 613, or the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, and rationalizing the bureau by increasing its workforce and their compensation.

“We will fast-track the enactment of the new BI law. Of course, the President should certify it as urgent,” Aguirre said.

Since the proposed law is an appropriation measure, Aguirre said, the bill should first be passed in the House before it could be taken up by the Senate.

Next page

Aquino told to comment on DAP raps

By Rio N. Araja THE Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday ordered former President Benigno Aquino III to comment on the usurpation case he is facing in connection with the implementation of the P72billion Disbursement Acceleration Program from 2011 to 2013.

The Ombudsman ordered Aquino to file a comment on the Next page

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday ordered the military to fortify the country’s controlled islands in the South China Sea in a bid to strengthen Philippine claims over the disputed territories.

PRESIDENTIAL APPROVAL. President Rodrigo Duterte, speaking before troops at the Western Command

headquarters at Camp Gen. Artemio Ricarte in Puerto Princesa, Palawan on Thursday, reiterates his order allowing the urban poor to occupy the vacant housing units in Bulacan previously intended for police and soldiers.

Malacañang photo

Suspected IS couple nabbed in Taguig City JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II confirmed on Thursday the arrest of an Arab couple in Taguig City last week on the suspicion they are members of the terrorist Islamic State.

Aguirre identified the couple as Kuwaiti national Husayn AlDhafiri and his alleged wife Rahaf Zina, a Syrian national, who claims to be pregnant.

He said operatives of the Bureau of Immigration and the Armed

Forces of the Philippines arrested the couple on March 25 at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and the suspects are now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Aguirre said the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit and the AFP arrested the couple based on information provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The justice secretary said military intelligence indicated that Next page

Kadamay case blamed on anarchists

By John Paolo Bencito LEFTISTS were to blame for the spread of anarchy when protesters forcefully took over and occupied idle housing projects intended for the military and other uniformed personnel in Pandi, Bulacan, President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday.

Apologizing to soldiers for Next page

Benguet slams seizure of ore shipment

By Othel V. Campos BENGUET Corp. on Thursday cried foul when National Bureau of Investigation and Environment department agents seized its nickel ores up for export and arrested

the crew on board the vessel holding the ores at the Port of Candelaria in Santa Cruz, Zambales.

Company executive director Isidro Alcantara said the agents arrived early on Thursday without any prior notice and without

a mission order that would have sanctioned their action.

“This action is tainted with illegality and potential criminal liability,” Alcantara said.

“We follow the law, we abide Next page

“We tried to be friends with everybody, but we have to maintain our jurisdiction now, at least the areas under our control. And I have ordered the Armed Forces to occupy all the so many islands.

I think nine or 10. Put up structures and the Philippine flag,” the President said in an interview in Camp Ricarte in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

“We have to fortify [these areas]. I must build bunkers there or houses and make provisions for habitation,” he added.

Duterte said that he plans to visit Pag-asa (Thitu) Island on Independence Day, June 12, to raise the Philippine flag there.

Duterte said he was willing for the government to spend for fortifications in the islands, including the repair of an airstrip in Palawan.

“These islands might be taken,

so at least we should keep what is ours and make a strong point there that these are ours,” Duterte said.

“The money is there…. The development there has my full support, and we will spend for fortifications,” he said.

Duterte also reiterated his plan to change the name of Benham Rise, another territory claimed by the country in the Pacific Ocean, to “Philippine Ridge.”

“I will officially claim it as ours and rename,” he said.

In a statement, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said government troops are present in each of the nine islands in the West Philippine Sea. “We have nine islands in the Kalayaan Island Group or KIG that are already in our possession. We have Philippine Marine troops in every one of them,” he said. Next page

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News

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Not all officials adulterers’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and John Paolo Bencito

S

ENATE Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III criticized Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for his “inaccurate” remarks that all other government officials are guilty of having an affair outside of their marriages.

“That statement is inaccurate.

There are many other words more appropriate but not ‘all’,” Sotto told reporters at yesterday’s “Kapihan sa Senado.”

Sotto declined to make further

comment purportedly as a courtesy to the leader of the House of Representatives but President Rodrigo Duterte continued to defend his long-time friend.

“Alvarez actually is a Muslim.

Aquino...

Joma,...

motions for reconsideration filed by the complainants Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Benjamin Valbuena, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption founding chairman Dante Jimenez, theater artist Mae Paner, Antonio Flores, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap president Gloria Arellano, and Bonifacio Carmona Jr. Aquino and the other accused were given 15 days to reply after receiving the order.

On March 13, Zarate and company filed their motions for reconsideration questioning the March 7 Ombudsman resolution why Aquino was cleared of administrative and criminal charges.

They cited “errors” in the Ombudsman’s decision, called for Abad’s indictment for graft and technical malversation and maintained that the Ombudsman “committed grave errors of facts and laws” in evaluating Aquino and Abad’s culpability.

Ex-Budget secretary Florencio Abad also submitted his own plea and challenged his indictment for usurpation.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales found probable cause to indict Abad for violation of Article 239 of the Revised Penal Code, or the Usurpation of Legislative Powers.

The case stemmed from Abad’s issuance of National Budget Circular 541 to carry out the implementation of the P72-billion DAP. The circular authorized the withdrawal of unobligated allotments of agencies with low levels of obligations as of June 30, 2012.

“That’s why I offered him to come home and I’d pay for the hospital because I think he is about to...” Duterte without completing his sentence.

Sison, who sought political asylum in Utrecht, The Netherlands, was hospitalized in January, causing him to miss the third round of peace talks in Rome, Italy.

Sison, however, said he was ready to participate in the fourth round of talks.

Duterte urged the communists to stop the fighting.

“You want another 50 years? I grieve when I see a Filipino die.

But if you don’t want to stop, then let us fight for another 50 years. I don’t have any problems, I have many soldiers.”

On Thursday, the Palace expressed hope that the interim joint ceasefire agreed upon by government negotiators and communist rebels will put an end to further

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Suspected...

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Al-Dhafiri, also known as Warsh Al-Kuwaiti and Abu Muslim AlKuwaiti, was involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly involved in the operational planning of terrorist attacks.

Aguirre said Al-Dhafiri “has links to terrorism and is believed to pose a threat to the national security of the Philippines.”

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, for his part, said he received reports that the two suspects made several trips to the Philippines in 2016 although the Kuwaiti government had already canceled Al-Dhafiri’s passport.

They are known to have travelled to Cebu and Davao in January this year, where they had stayed for three and four days respectively, Morente added.

Morente said the names used by

Benguet...

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by the process, we intend to seek clarification from the President. I am confident that once the President hears about what happened, this will be resolved.”

In another development, Benguet belied the statements made by DENR Secretary Gina Lopez that the company is to blame for the condition of the open pit in San Marcelino, Zambales. It said the statements were false, misinformed, misleading and the same unfairly and maliciously impugned the reputation of the company.

Lopez erroneously assailed Benguet for abandoning the Dizon Mine and failing to rehabilitate it during her recent visit to the site with the media in tow. Benguet Corp. said that more than 20 years ago, Dizon Copper and Silver Mines Inc. (DCSMI) took over control and management of Dizon Mine as well as ful responsibility for its operation, maintenance and rehabilitation.

On the Candelaria port case, Benguet Corp. officials at the site said Lopez ordered the raid and arrest of the barge crew based on a memorandum order signed March 28, 2017 that disallow the transport and export of mineral ores.

Alcantara said the company did not receive any notice nor a copy of the alleged order.

He added Benguet is complete with all pertinent documents that will support their operations from extraction to transport and export.

He likened the incident to the issuance of suspension/closure order of some 26 mines where Lopez alleged that an order has been

BI...

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He made his statement even as lawmakers prodded Malacañang to reconsider reinstating the overtime pay of Immigration person-

He can father, he can live with so many women, because he is a Muslim. That’s why he can take them all, and all of them actually took his bait,” Duterte said.

“You cannot pin him down. He has his religion as a refuge.”

“So to all judges and fiscals, all you have to do is drop your religion and convert. And if you are accused now of the Department of Justice, you can say: ‘who says? Me?’,” the President added.

“Why would you put Alvarez behind bars? Try if you can. It’s too much. Bebot [Alvarez] is right. Let’s be frank here.”

Alvarez, the country’s fourthhighest official, publicly admitted having sired eight children, six of them with two women other than his wife.

Duterte had said that like himself, House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez—who has made public his extramarital affairs—had “many wives.”

“This is a world of hypocrisy.

Who among you here does not have a mistress?” the President said in a speech aired live on television on Tuesday night, adding it was “a non-issue.”

Duterte, in the televised speech to government employ-

ees in Manila, admitted his comments defending Alvarez’s affairs were “a chauvinist statement.”

“But really there are so many women and you [have] so short a time in this world. My God!” he said in comments that drew laughter from the crowd. “The thing there is that you’re able to support the children. That’s it.”

Duterte said that unlike married Christian Filipinos who are allowed a single wife, Alvarez “never converted to Christianity.

So he is not bound by the rules of the number of women that you can have.”

hostilities.

“We hope this prevents further hostilities and unnecessary loss of lives on the ground,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Abella said the interim ceasefire will immediately take effect as soon as the guidelines and ground rules are approved, and will remain in effect until a permanent ceasefire is agreed upon.

“The peace process, while seemingly slow, highlights the maturing social and political sense of the Filipino. Together let us build communities that are just and peaceful. This is what being an independent sovereign nation is all about,’ he added.

But the spokesman for the Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, said regular operations against the communist New People’s Army would continue until the ground rules and guidelines for the interim ceasefire are signed and approved.

“Prior to the signing and approval of these ground rules

and guidelines, current state of affairs—which is the nonexistence of a unilateral ceasefire on both parties—will still continue,”Padilla said in a television interview over ANC. Padilla also observed that the NPA rebels behaved differently in different areas of the country. “ In some areas, they seem to lean forward on the negotiations. In others, they seem to be much more aggressive and may indicate a noncompliance to some instructions from their negotiators,” he said.

The military on Thursday rejected demands from communist rebels for a temporary pullout of troops in rebel-infested areas in exchange for the release of four hostages.

“The conditions they are asking for are non-acceptable to us and the police as well as the President,” Padilla said.

Shortly after the declaration of a joint interim ceasefire, the National Democratic Front called on security forces to order a 10-day suspension of military operations

(SOMO) for the AFP and Suspension of Police Operations (SOPO) for the PNP in areas of Bukidnon, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and South Cotabato, where they are set to release six captured prisoners of war still in their custody as a “positive gesture” for the fourth round of peace talks.

The guidelines to be signed at the seaside town of Noordwijk at The Netherlands, will cover the areas such as those governing the presence of armed groups in local communities and creation of buffer zones; on prohibited, hostile and provocative acts including the collection of revolutionary taxes; and undertaking of joint socioeconomic projects.

Also contemplated in the agreement is the formation of a Joint Ceasefire Committee and the prospective role of a third party in ceasefire monitoring and other ceasefire mechanisms in the implementation of the ceasefire, including the handling of complaints and alleged violations.

the two suspects were not in the lookout bulleting when they entered the Philippines but they were not able to present corroborating identification papers when they were questioned by Immigration officials.

Aguirre said the two will be charged on the basis of Immigration laws as they are not properly documented.

The two officials confirmed the arrest of the two suspects shortly after an international conference in Singapore where security experts claimed that veteran Islamic State fighters from Southeast Asia are returning from the Middle East and are expected to rebase in Mindanao.

Instability and the easy flow of weapons have made Mindanao and nearby Philippine islands attractive to extremist groups, said speakers at the Milipol conference on homeland security in Singapore.

“Currently, IS is moving towards creating a territory in southern Philippines. The most recent communication issued by IS has announced that they have formally declared an East Asia division of IS in the southern Philippines,” counter-terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna told the conference.

“Our forecast for 2017 is that the threat in this region will grow because of the creation of an IS nucleus in the southern Philippines,” added Gunaratna.

“The instability in the southern Philippines and the availability of weapons, internal displacement, refugee flows... create the ripe conditions for foreign terrorists to come,” he told Agence France Presse after his speech.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam also told the conference that the southern Philippines “is becoming an area that is difficult to control despite the best efforts of

the Philippine government.”

“So that is an area that can serve as a sanctuary for returning fighters from the Middle East. It can be a place where would-be terrorists can go... they can train, arms seem to move fairly easily into that area,” Shanmugam added.

Parts of Southeast Asia have long struggled with Islamic militancy. Hundreds of radicals from the region, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, have flocked to join IS in Iraq and Syria.

But as IS suffers battlefield setbacks, officials and analysts fear these fighters would return to their home region.

Southeast Asia suffered its first IS-linked attack in January last year when extremists launched a deadly suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta.

In Mindanao, which has long battled a Muslim insurgency, a handful of groups have sworn allegiance to IS.

issued but none of the affected mines received any.

“I think, with the DENR, this is the new norm—shoot first, ask questions later,” he noted.

“What we most worried of is the arrest of the crew. We don’t know their whereabouts or where the NBI brought them. But we received intelligence reports that the arrested crew were brought to the house of a certain Dr. Molino, who is a close friend of Lopez and a militant anti-mining activist,” he added.

Benguet also expressed concern that company cannot reconcile the fact why the crew was arrested and why they weren’t brought to police custody instead.

The crew are not employees of Benguet Corp. per se, they are part of a contracting agency that serves to transport the nickel ores to their point of destination.

Benguet Corp. has a pending appeal to the President not to recognize the closure order issued by the Environment department.

“This is a clear case of disrespect and disregard to the President. The pending appeal means that everything should be status quo unless a decision is made,” Alcantara said.

In addition, the company also complains about another Environment order that unabashedly requires all mining companies to pay the P2 million per hectare as rehabilitation fund.

Benguet has, so far, disturbed all 300 hectares of raw land in the process carrying out its mining operations.

This means about P600 million in rehabilitations fees that the company supposedly owed the government.

Compared to other mining tenements, Benguet’s is a small mine. There are miners

nel, with one of them urging Immigration to give priority to the hiring of personnel who will man the airport terminals.

Rep. Tobias Tiangco said additional staff would help prevent Immigration personnel from working overtime, and Rep. Rodolfo

with permits to operate thousands of hectares of mining land that spells billions of pesos the department can collect anytime as rehabilition dues.

“There is nothing in the mining act that provides for this. Royalties, permitting fees and the likes are allowed but nothing like this. Mining companies are required to allot a percentage of their investment for the rehabilitation of mined areas, this is what they use to reconstruct the land and provide alternative livelihood for the host community,” Alcantara said.

On the Dizon Mine case, engineer Leo Jasareno, Lopez’s trusted and private Senior DENR Consultant, who was MGB Director before, had full knowledge of the fact that Benguet is not the responsible party for the rehabilitation of Dizon Mine. A simple due diligence, and verification of the facts beforehand would have shown that her tirade should have been directed at DCSMI which is the Claim Owner of the project under its Mining Lease Contracts. Benguet was the Operator but DCSMI subsequently in 1997, or more than 20 years ago, took over the control and management of Dizon Mine as well as the full responsibility for its continued operation, maintenance and rehabilitation.

When Benguet transferred back its operating rights to DCSMI, the mine was still operating and had plans for development of additional orebody. Further, all environmental infrastructures were in place—the waste dump, tailings storage facility and silt dams were well maintained and in good condition, notwithstanding the fact that in 1991, the mine was severely affected by the eruption of nearby Mt. Pinatubo.

By reason of his official position before,

Albano echoed him.

Reps. Gus Tambunting and Harry Roque made the same appeal.

Meanwhile, an official said stricter security measures will be enforced at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport beginning Saturday to ensure the safety and

engineer Jasareno had access to the following correct information regarding the Dizon Mine and should have properly advised Secretary Lopez of the truth and the facts, which show that Benguet operated the Dizon Copper Property from 1975 to 1997 by virtue of an operating agreement with DCSMI. In 1997, DCSMI opted to buy out Benguet’s remaining interest in the project.

Benguet and DCSMI executed a Memorandum of Agreement and Deed of Assignment on Dec. 12, 1997, under which Benguet transferred its operating rights and turned over all responsibilities in the mine to DCSMI. The agreements were registered in the Mines Recorder Office on Sept. 3, 2002 and duly approved by then DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez on December 11, 2002. When DCSMI took over the project in 1997, it was still a viable and operating mine and there was no declaration of endof-mine life. Mine rehabilitation or decommissioning was not yet required. DCSMI had planned to continue operating the mine.

The validity of the MOA and DOA on the transfer of rights and responsibilities in the Dizon project was confirmed by the Court of Appeals in its decision dated Feb. 15, 2006 in CA-GR SP No. 87738 and upheld by the Supreme Court in a resolution dated August 28, 2006 in GR No. 173131 in a case involving the issue of which company has liability to maintain the Dizon mine.

Benguet said it is “unfortunate and regrettable that inaccurate and misleading statements continue to be made not only about Benguet but even of other mines.

The company said it hopes that Secretary Lopez will correct the untruthful statements she has made on this matter.

With Rio N. Araja

convenience of passengers going to or coming from Manila to observe Lent.

Eddie Monreal, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority, said his office had also prepared a contingency plan to help Immigration officers process arriv-

ing and departing passengers.

Aguirre, who exercises administrative supervision over Immigration, said that Senator Loren Legarda had already committed to support the new bill in the Senate.

With Maricel V. Cruz and Joel E. Zurbano

MWSS board OKs water rate increase WITH the concurrence of the MWSS Board of Trustees, the implementation of the adjustments in the standard rates and second quarter Foreign Currency Differential Adjustments or FCDA has been approved upon the recommendation of the MWSS Regulatory Office headed by Joel Yu. This was announced by Metropolitan Waterworks Sewerage System Administrator Reynaldo Velasco after the MWSS board meeting Tuesday.

Velasco said FCDA is a mechanism to adjust the water rates as a result of the fluctuation in the foreign exchange rates.

“This is provided for in Amendment No.1 of the Concession Agreements of Manila Water and Maynilad with MWSS. Our job is to see to it that we respect and honor such agreement after it has been deferred twice for six months now,” Velasco said.

The peso has been depreciating vis-à-vis the US dollar and the exchange rate now stands at P50.30 to $1.

For Manila Water customers, the adjustments in Standard Rates and FCDA will result in an increase of P0.36 per cubic meter. With the adjustments, monthly bills of residential customers consuming 10 cubic meters per month or less and not belonging to lifeline customers will reflect an additional P1.91; P4.19 for those consuming 20 cubic meters per month; and P8.60 for customers whose water consumption is 30 cubic meters per month.

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He added that Duterte has ordered the repair of facilities on Pag-asa island.

“The President wants facilities built such as: barracks for the men, water [desalination] and sewage disposal systems, power generators, lighthouses, and shelters for fishermen,” he added

Kadamay...

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giving away housing units intended for them to members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahirap (Kadamay), Duterte said he was forced to resolve the issue to avoid more confrontations between the government and the urban poor group.

“I would want to make first the report that your houses were taken away by the poor like us. But those are the guys that were used by the left. And they are into such anarchical activities and I cannot just remove them right away, because the other awardees are from the police and the military,” Duterte told troops at Camp Artemio Ricarte in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

“If this thing will continue, then the soldiers and the police would intervene, then there could be bloodshed,” he added.

The President said he was not forgetting his obligation to provide housing for defenders of the State.

“That is your—consolation… But it doesn’t mean to say that government, I, have forgotten you. I said I commit to you now that there will be better houses to come.”

On Tuesday, Duterte urged soldiers and policemen to give up their claims to houses forcibly occupied by Kadamay members, saying he would build them better housing by December.

Leaders of Kadamay, however, asked Duterte if they could take over more housing projects meant for soldiers, policemen and firemen in Bulacan province.

Gloria Arellano, chairman of Kadamay, said her group wanted to occupy about 3,000 houses in Bocaue town and 877 houses in Bustos town that remained idle.

The Senate plans to investigate the illegal occupation of housing units in Pandi, Bulacan despite Duterte’s order to hand them over to the urban poor group.

With Maricel V. Cruz

News

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FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

House approves revised flag code

STIRRING SCENE.

Outgoing Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno and his wife Jocelyn display a heartrending frame during a farewell Mass at the DILG office in Quezon City on Thursday, three days after President Rodrigo Duterte fired him over corruption allegations— accusations the former Cabinet official claimed he was innocent of.

Manny Palmero

IN BRIEF PH prepares to repatriate 5,000 OFWs THE Department of Labor and Employment has urged thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia to avail themselves of the 90-day amnesty program offered by the Saudi government, as the Philippine government prepares to repatriate at least 5,000 undocumented OFWs this week.

The amnesty will cover undocumented and overstaying foreign individuals of Umrah, Hajj and visit visa holders; OFWs with expired iqamas (residence permits), or have never been issued an iqama; huroob cases or those who escaped from their employers; and OFWs who were abandoned by their employers, including their dependents.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that more OFWs want to go home but feared they might be arrested and have no idea how to apply for amnesty.

Bello said he had sent a repatriation team to KSA to assess the situation/condition of the workers to make sure their repatriation would be processed smoothly. Vito Barcelo

PDEA wants barangays off drug menace WITH help from the barangays, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency hoped on Thursday to lower the drug involvement of barangay officials from 40 percent to 30 percent.

Director General Isidro Lapeña said the barangays must be cleared “yearly” of the drug menace in four years.

Citing President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement, Lapeña said 40 percent of barangay officials were linked to illegal drugs.

With the recent activation of Operation: Double Barrel Reloaded by the Philippine National Police, the PDEA leads the barangay drug clearing program and assists in investigation of suspected drug personalities.

In addition, PDEA’s presence is mandatory in PNP anti-drug operations for highvalue targets and high-impact operations.

He suggested a target of 30 percent of barangays cleared with the drug problem every year.

As of March 29, Metro Manila had the highest drug affectation of 97.30 percent with the cities of Caloocan, Navotas, Valenzuela, Muntinlupa and Taguig obtaining a 100 percent.

Rio Araja

By Maricel V. Cruz

Du30: I was not misinformed when I fired DILG’s Sueno

By John Paolo Bencito and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he was not misinformed when he fired former Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno over allegations of corruption.

“I could never be misinformed. I am a lawyer,” Duterte told reporters at Camp Ricarte in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan..

Duterte maintained he would not tolerate even a “whiff” of corruption in the government. .

Speaking in a mix of Filipino and English, Duterte said “the first whiff of corruption, even if not true, goodbye. There are many replacements in government; we don’t run short of that. We have enough talent, those honest with integrity,” he said.

Maintaining his innocence over a Rosenbauer fire truck issue that cost him his Cabinet

post, Sueno said he had become a “sacrificial lamb” and a “victim of intrigue,” noting he felt embarrassed after he was dismissed as DILG chief.

Sueno also raised the possibility the President might have been “misinformed” about the firetrucks deal.

Without the chance to explain his side, Sueno sent a copy to Malacañang to explain his side on the corruption allegations against him.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III told reporters he had known previously that Sueno would be sacked from his post.

He told a news forum at the Senate that President Rodrigo Duterte himself talked about this during their trip to Myanmar and Thailand last month.

“I knew that the DILG Secretary was going because I’ve heard it from the President himself during our trip. But I didn’t tell anyone,” he said.

Sotto was part of the Philippine delegation who joined the President’s official visits to the two countries last March 19. The President fired Sueno only last April 3.

He said there were pieces of information that reached the President about Sueno which they did not know.

“The bottom line here is he has lost trust [in] these employees or [in] these appointees. As long as he has lost trust already, let us not talk about the information he knows about these people, whether good or bad,” Sotto said.

He added the fact that it took over two weeks for the President to dismiss Sueno was proof he

Juvenile Justice amendment backed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR JV Ejercito is supporting the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, which provides youth criminals aged 15 years old and below should not be imprisoned or punished even for a heinous crime.

Ejercito said the law had good intentions but was used and abused by criminals for their illegal activities.

“In my experience as mayor [of San Juan City], the youth were being used by syndicates for their criminal acts,” said Ejercito, a three-termer mayor before his mother Guia Gomez succeeded him in 2010.

“That is causing headache, but you can’t do anything because of the law,” the senator said.

He added in a mixture of Filipino and English: “We were able to arrest teenagers, but they had a ready photocopy of their pirported birth certificates.”

Ejercito said minor offenders who violated the law, especially heinous crimes, should not just go scot-free.

“It has been more than a decade since this has been passed and implemented. It is time to review and amend the law,” he said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson called on his colleagues to study the issue first, saying there was a “lot of misunderstanding.”

NOT RIGHT. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Thursday reiterates the compensation scheme at

the Bureau of Immigration is illegal, with its overtime pay system ‘unfair’ to other government workers, noting ‘corruption’ in the decades-old practice of directly spending the express lane funds collected by the BI for the overtime pay of its workers, especially contractual and job order employees. Norman Cruz

had validated whatever allegations against him.

However, Sotto refused to say if the corruption allegations against Sueno could be one of the reasons why the President fired him.

He said he was not authorized to disclose what they discussed during the trip as they were only two or three when the President talked about Sueno.

The senator noted the President was the appointing power; thus, he had a prerogative to remove his own appointees anytime he wanted.

“Even if he suddenly dislikes your face today, he can fire you.

That’s the prerogative of the President,” he said.

But Sotto said Duterte mentioned he would not have second thoughts firing his men once he heard even a whiff of corruption against them.

Earlier, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said he would inquire into the case of Sueno and asked for evidence, if any.

THE House of Representatives is poised to pass on third and final reading a bill seeking to strengthen the rules on the proper use and display of the country’s national symbols, including the Philippine flag, and the rendition of the national anthem.

House Bill 5224, which shall be approved on third reading when Congress resumes session next month, seeks to repeal Republic Act 8491, also known as the “Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines,” in light of contemporary changes in attitudes and idioms.

The bill, principally authored by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. also aims to instill love of country and underscore the importance of complying with standard expressions of respect for the country’s national symbols.

“Despite the existence of RA 8491, many Filipinos do not accord the respect due the Philippine flag and the national anthem,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said RA 8491 provides that reverence and respect shall at all times be accorded the flag, the national anthem, and other national symbols which embody the national ideals and which express the principles of sovereignty and national solidarity.

“The national flag is the symbol of the country while the national anthem embodies and expresses the aspirations, dreams, ideals, longings, commitment and determination, nationalism and patriotism, sentiment and spirit of the people.

One simple way to inculcate nationalism and patriotism, not just to the youth but to Filipinos of all ages, is to emphasize the importance of saluting the national flag and the singing of the Philippine national anthem,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, House committee on Mindanao affairs chairperson, said disrespecting the national anthem, which is a violation of the law, usually happens in cinemas where moviegoers do not even stand when the national anthem is being played.

MoA signed for needs of drug dependents

By Macon Araneta A 1.85 BILLION yen (P826 million) Memorandum of Agreement that would provide the drug rehabilitation needs of drug dependents, their families and communities nationwide was signed between the Department of Health and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said the partnership between the two countries supported President Rodrigo Duterte’s call for a drug-free society.

She said the joint cooperation augured well for the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs tasked

by President Duterte to suppress the country’s drug abuse epidemic.

Jica’s generous contribution will pave the way for developing the Consolidated Rehabilitation of Illegal Drug Users (Care) Program.

Ubial, who inked the deal for the government, explained that “Care primarily aims to provide opportunities for additional rehabilitation facilities, allowing treatment and care for drug

dependents; it also aims to reduce their risk of relapse, allowing them a walk through a path of recovery and integrating them back into society.”

Care shall further look into developing information materials on preventive education and awareness against illegal drugs and even for capacity building where this is needed.

Currently, there are 44 DoH-accredited treatment and rehabilitation centers in the country, which may not be enough to respond adequately to the needs of close to more than one-million reported surrenderers.

Many surrenderers and drug dependents require community-based rehabilitation services in their own communities.

Jica Chief Representative Susumo Ito declared “Care Program will fill this gap and thus, improve operational and service standards for recovering drug dependents.”

“I am very optimistic that the DoH’s holistic approach for a drug-free society is further enhanced with this Jica commitment,” said Ubial.

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Opinion

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

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EDITORIAL

Tax bill being sidetracked

T

HE success or failure of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, as in any administration, will be measured on how it dealt with the economy, not on how it waged the war on drugs. Sustaining an economic growth rate of 6 percent to 7 percent implies more investments and increased job opportunities—key factors that will significantly alleviate the poverty incidence and bridge the income gap.

President Duterte has the opportunity to push the Philippine economy closer to the strides achieved by its Asian

Adelle Chua, Editor

neighbors like Malaysia and Thailand. All he has to do is push the passage of tax reforms in Congress to raise

revenues and finance an ambitious infrastructure program.

Domestic issues like the deadly drug war that has claimed over 7,000 lives, graft and corruption and President Duterte’s use of vulgar language in response to his critics, however, have sidetracked the progress of the tax bill that aims to raise an estimated P163 billion a year.

Foreign investors and funding institutions are monitoring the discus-

sions on the tax reform bill. Investors and fund managers so far are not convinced that Congress will be able to pass the tax bill by June this year. Uncertainty over the fate of the new revenue measures has already weakened the peso past the 50-to-$1 level, leading to a higher inflation rate.

Proceeds from the tax reforms that seek to increase the rates on fuel and cars and at the same time reduce income taxes will form

part of the revenues the government needs to bankroll the $160-billion infrastructure program. Raising the revenue collections of the government is a fiscal discipline that will eventually be rewarded by foreign investors and global financial institutions.

Foreign investors praised the decision of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to increase value-added tax during her term. That

resulted in increased foreign investments, stable interest rates and prices and better investment-grade credit rating which, in turn, made the Philippines much more appealing to investors.

President Duterte has everything to gain once the tax reform package is passed into law. With increased revenues, his government will create more job opportunities, expand social services and minimize the drug menace.

PENSEES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO

The repackaging of Semana Santa

Outing a Yellow ‘sleeper’ LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES I FIRST heard the name of Undersecretary Maia Chiara Halmen Valdez when the head of the Philippine Coconut Authority, Avelino “Billy” Andal, identified this Palace functionary as the one behind the move to have Andal suspended. Maybe I should have paid more attention.

Andal claimed that Valdez was undermining the Duterte administration through her position as a subaltern of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr. Valdez, a lawyer, threatened to sue Andal for libel.

I learned that Valdez was a holdover from the Aquino administration, kept on after the departure of her former boss, Rene Almendras. And that she was also instrumental in the firing of National Irrigation

Administration chief Peter Tiu Laviña, a former close-in aide of President Rodrigo Duterte who served as spokesman of the latter’s wildly successful presidential run.

After successfully having Laviña removed and Andal suspended, my sources in Malacañang said, Valdez trained her sights on National Food Authority Administrator Jason Aquino. But Valdez, who represented Evasco’s office in the NFA Council—the agency that sets policy for the NFA—encountered resistance from Aquino because of what she wanted the administrator to do: Extend the rice importation program, specifically by allowing the entry of 70,000 metric tons of the staple.

Now, I don’t really know if Valdez was acting on Evasco’s authority. All I know is that the “unli” rice importation policy of the Aquino administration went against the stated direction of

both Duterte and his Agriculture secretary, Emmanuel Piñol, both of whom have been pushing for an end to importation and selfsufficiency in rice.

Duterte and his men should be wary of Yellow Trojan horses lying in wait to sabotage them.

When word of the NFAC standoff reached Duterte, Valdez’ amazing run of head-hunting victories came to an end.

Duterte fired Valdez, the Aquino

holdover, saying he would never be able to face the farmers who voted for him if he allowed further importations of rice that benefited only the importers and the middlemen.

What I want to know is how many more Valdezes, officials from the former Yellow regime that is now thankfully ended, are still in the Duterte administration. And if they are indeed, as the PCA’s Andal claimed, working at cross-purposes with the stated goals of the new administration and undermining its policies.

While I appreciate what Duterte and his men are doing by keeping some Aquino appointees in their posts, they should be wary of Yellow Trojan horses and sleepers lying in wait to sabotage them. Duterte may have outed one of them by firing Valdez, but how many more remain? *** I join all those cheering the signing in The Netherlands this week of the interim ceasefire

agreements between the Philippine government and the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front.

But I have another reason for joining in the jubilation, other than the obvious one of wanting peace in the countryside and seeing the end of the Asia’s longestrunning Communist insurgency.

In fact, I’d like to see a real, fullon peace deal, with all the bells and whistles, signed by both parties immediately. That’s because I want to know if the aging Utrechtbased CPP-NPA-NDF politburo headed by Jose Ma. Sison is still really in control of the cadres and their commands in the Philippine countryside.

Over the past couple of decades, most astute observers of the Philippine Left have concluded that Sison and his graying band of Communist expatriates who have found a home among the Dutch have already ceded all authority to

IN MY childhood days millennia ago, Semana Santa was somber.

Restraint was the norm. Laughter merited a severe tongue-lashing from elders who assigned themselves the task of guardians of the sacred days. Hanging out with friends in abandon could mean only one thing: somehow, you traced your lineage to Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas or perhaps even Judas, if he managed to establish a lineage before he hanged himself. When one stirred from the house, there was only one legitimate destination: church—and church services were very long.

The Office of the Tenebrae, for one, meant that a psalm, chanted in Latin, accompanied the extinguishing of each candle of the many-armed candle-stand.

Tenebra—darkness, until all was dark. St. John puts that very beautifully, if laconically, in his Gospel, saying that after Judas had been dismissed from the Upper Room, “erat nox”...It was night. The chanting of the Passion of the Lord also took considerable time—especially on Good Friday when three priests (unless there were three deacons) would chant the lengthy narrative according to John— and because not every priest can carry a tune with dignity, many congregations had to bear with the warbling of some priests who would chant their lines two or three flats away from the assigned key!

But there was piety and devotion. There was of course much to watch because the rites of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil are replete with symbolism, and popular devotion has added even more elements catering to the sentimental side of Filipino religiosity: taking the dead Jesus down from the Cross, and the Santo Entierro...the statue of the interred Jesus in a glass casket, and then the Salubong, the apocryphal but theologically defensible dramatization of the encounter between the Risen Jesus and his Mother! But there can be little doubt that most all took the discipline of Lent with utmost seriousness. Food establishments, if they kept open, refrained from offering meat dishes. In fact, up to a few years ago, fastfood

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Opinion FORMATION GARY OLIVAR

A wake-up call THE recent drop in presidential ratings taken by Pulse Asia over the period December 2016 to March 2017 might reasonably be taken as a wakeup call for the administration.

But it’s important to make sure that what we’re hearing is the right alarm clock.

On the upside, Duterte’s ratings actually registered a substantial increase among the upper “ABC” classes. He improved by +12 percent on the “trust” issue, and by an even higher +17 percent on “performance.” The double-digit improvement is even more notable considering that these are the people from whom come the majority of his high-handed, know-it-all critics.

What accounted for this?

Consider another, earlier survey that found that 82 percent of Metro Manila residents feel safer today in the midst of the anti-drug war. This may have been an important reason for the improvement in sentiment.

Deeper and more focused research is called for. *** On the downside, however, Duterte’s ratings among the “D” crowd dropped by -6 percent on performance and -7 percent on trust. The drops were even larger among the “E” crowd, by -8 percent and -11 percent, respectively.

The larger drops for the poorer “E” group may indicate where the reasons actually lie: in simple economics. Prices and jobs are the two most important issues for the poor, and the poorer one is, the bigger these issues become. Consider what also happened during the survey period: On prices: Consumer prices rose 3.4 percent yearon-year in March. This is the highest that inflation has been in over two years. A lot of it was due to a maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya gasfield, pushing up electricity prices. But it was serious enough to prompt National Economic and Development Authority head Ernie Pernia to warn about rising commodity prices.

On jobs: Local unemployment rose to 6.6 percent the first quarter of this year, from 4.7 percent the last quarter of 2016. According to online site tradingeconomics.com, this is the highest jobless rate in two years. Over the same period, the labor force participation rate also dropped from 63.6 percent to 60.7 percent.

What the wake-up call may be all about, then, is going back to basics. Bread-and-butter issues are what matter most to those who are poor. And because our country still has so many who are poor, those issues are also what should command the highest priority of attention by government. *** The President has the right to continue to focus his governance on the problems he

believes are what matter most to the country: drugs, criminality, corruption. Most of our people very clearly agree with him on this, and he can count on them to back him up no matter what the destabilizers and the foreign nitpickers say about it.

But he can also afford to be more expansive in the messages he communicates to the rest of us. The recent dip in his ratings may indicate the stirrings of unease over the direction the economy is taking. Economic issues and reform initiatives should thus take up more space in his public statements, to reassure the public and to improve the chances of success for those reforms.

The President often refers to, say, the tax reform package now pending in Congress as “Sonny Dominguez’s tax reforms.” This is his self-effacing way of deferring to those whom he believes are more knowledgeable about the issue at hand. It is consistent with his well-known humility, but perhaps not the best approach on issues that deserve his full-throated support.

Tax reform is critical because it is the only way we can raise enough money to spend for the infrastructure we need in order to support the kind of economic growth that will permanently reduce poverty.

Likewise, changing the Constitution to open up the economy to more foreign investors is critical to bringing in the outside capital we need to permanently create lots of new jobs.

These initiatives deserve to be known as Duterte’s tax reforms, Duterte’s economic liberalization, Duterte’s commitment to be both pro-poor AND pro-growth. It’s the best way to shore up what is otherwise the heartfelt support he enjoys among the masses. *** Luckily for us, the investment story about the Philippines continues to be positive.

According to Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the number of investment pledges totaled P51 billion in the first quarter of 2017, up by a whopping 50 percent year-on-year.

This was driven by more Filipino developers planning to set up more economic zones, as well as increases in locator numbers especially for IT and manufacturing.

Peza Director General Charito Plaza plans to triple or even quadruple investment pledges this year, following a 26-percent decline last year. This will include half a billion dollars in pledges from the Middle East, where she held a roadshow last February, as well as four billion dollars from American oil company OS Petro.

This is all great news. These are budding success stories that ought to be “owned” by the President, and rightfully so.

The President can also afford to be more expansive in the messages he communicates to the rest of us.

The...

From A4 chains had “Holy Week Specials” that featured tuna concoctions.

Processions were public demonstrations of faith, and the faithful joined them in penance for their sins and in solidarity with the suffering of Jesus. The estacion general de la cruz involved the whole town reciting the stations of the cross, Not too long ago, I asked my friend, Monsignor Gary Formoso, presently pastor of Bantay,

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Ilocos Sur—and he told me that the practice of the estacion general was alive and well in Bantay!

In my own parish, the Cathedral Parish of Tuguegarao, Fr. Gerry Perez has rallied parish benefactors to donate the statutes for Holy Week...and the response has been nothing short of enthusiastic.

But Holy Week has been repackaged. When you advertise Holy Week in a travel brochure or in a tourist guide, you have made of it a spectacle, something akin to a theatrical presentation —to which Holy Week easily lends it-

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

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Disturbing Duterte quotes BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO AT THE outset, let me make clear the title of this column. I did not not say “disturbed.” I said “disturbing.” Lest I’m haled to court, there’s a world of difference between the two words. When one is called disturbed, it means he or she is a borderline case needing professional help.

In this column, I must confess I’m the one who finds disturbing President Rodrigo Duterte’s series of public utterances.

Take his most recent ones on House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who admitted he has many “wives.” In siding with the multimistressed Alvarez, Digong said it was a non issue. Alvarez is facing a disbarment proceeding since the law is clear about extramarital affairs.

“Sino ba sa inyo ang walang mga babae (Who among you do not have mistresses)?” Digong asked an audience in an out-oftown appearance. He may not be rich, he said, but he is rich in that he has many girl friends who are rich. So, Senator Sonny Trillanes, take note. This explains why Digong has millions of pesos in his bank accounts—the President’s ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman and current live-in partner Honeylet Avanceña are wealthy.

Coming from the President of

this benighted republic, morality has reached a new low. The President being the elected leader has just set a new standard for public officials. But remember this is nothing new: former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada flaunted his extra-marital affairs and still got elected by the misguided masses.

And then, there was the incredible public statement of Digong he would pardon the policemen who gunned down Albuera, Leyte Mayor Roland Espinosa inside his detention cell.

“All they [the accused cops] have to do is plead guilty, and I’ll pardon them as I have to protect our policemen who risk their lives in the pursuit of the antidrug war.”

This is rather bizarre. How can there be risk in serving a search warrant to an unarmed man already inside his prison cell?

If we are to blame someone for giving the country a bad name in the international community, it’s really Digong. He cursed Pope Francis for the traffic gridlock during the papal visit to Manila.

Duterte called former US President Barack Obama “a son of a b*tch,” the clergy “hypocrites” and other choice words for the United Nations and European Union.

We are not going to be tempted to join in on the toxic trash talk going around. But someone else, actress Agot Isidro, called Duterte a psychopath. Bebot Alvarez, Malacañang’s in-house speaker for Digong, said detained

Senator Leila de Lima belongs in a mental hospital.

Alvarez is facing disbarment for his alleged serial dalliances with women. But that’s another story. The law after all has as many interpretations as there are as many lawyers His remark on De Lima, however, could put him in jeopardy for practicing psychiatry without a license.

Invitation to anarchy Two independent-minded senators—Dick Gordon and Ping Lacson—cautioned the President against his decision to let informal settlers own a public housing facility they illegally took over in Pandi town in Bulacan.

“This is an invitation to anarchy,” warned Gordon and Lacson.

They said it may be a good stroke of public relations, but it does not speak well of the government which is mandated to implement the law. This is a case where an illegal act by the mob was made lawful by government itself.

The Pandi housing project was meant for police and military personnel but the Katipunan ng Damayan Mahihirap or Kadamay swarmed in and occupied the empty houses. They claimed, they too, deserved housing and should be made beneficiaries of homes built by the National Housing Authority.

To appease military and police personnel for whom the NHA project was intended, President Duterte said he would make sure the AFP and PNP families would be given another, better housing project before the end of the year.

But the question is why the police and military personnel did not move into the Pandi housing project as soon as it was completed.

Perhaps the houses were too small for them? But the original beneficiaries cannot be blamed for not moving in right away because the area did not yet have electricity and water facilities. The informal settlers who are used to not having water and electricity seized the opportunity to take over and occupy the empty houses.

Digong support dips—survey President Duterte’s public acceptance ratings, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey in March, dipped slightly from 83 percent to 78 percent. Malacañang is unfazed and a statement issued by press office said the President still enjoys wide support from the public despite all the noises and issues against him. The issues facing the President include an impeachment case filed against him by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, the alleged extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs, his vitriolic verbal attacks on international institutions like the UN, EU and his soft response on Chinese encroachments in the West Philippine Sea and more recently Benham Rise.

Whether Mr. Duterte will make a 360-degree turn in his policy and style remains to be seen. But this is a president who will not be easily swayed by what his critics say about him. He will most probably stay the course.

He’s after all, only in his first nine months of his six-year term.

Duterte men’s redemption VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ I COULD feel the pain inside him as I watched ousted Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno bid goodbye to his management and staff at DILG yesterday morning.

Sueno’s main worry is his name becoming generic for “corrupt public official”—in the same way “Noynoying” has become generic for “a lazy and do-nothing public official,” or “Abad” rhyming with DAP or one who steals pork-barrel money by the billions.

Sueno was not convincing, though, why the public should not perceive him as corrupt.

The imported Austria-made fire truck deal to which he was linked involved a potential overprice of P1 billion or 1,000 million pesos—equivalent to recklessly spending Pl million a day for three years. With such gargantuan amounts, one can easily cross one’s threshold of integrity.

A billion is enough money to secure your financial future, hire lawyers to defend you in court against allegations of graft, and commission PR men to burnish your public image.

To be sure, the fire truck con-

Outing...

From A4 their remaining armed Philippine forces—numbering a few thousand now, from a high of up to 25,000 in the eighties, according to the military. In particular, the NPA is now believed to be operating autonomously where it still has a presence, subsisting on “revolutionary taxes” from local businessmen involved in mining, large-scale farming, self. The disposition of one who goes to Vigan, for one, or to Seville in Spain to “watch” the Holy Week Rites is that of an outsider.

It is the detached, if bemused, posture of an observer. And the more gaudily the carrozas are festooned to make them attractive sites for tourists, the more gory the acts of penance of the flagelantes, the less penance there really is, as they in are in fact putting on a show. And while there can be no doubt that Filipinos who ask to be nailed to crosses on Good Friday may have been initially moved to do so in

tract began with then DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo. It was nurtured by Mar Roxas.

The fire truck deal seems to be a jinx. Robredo drowned in a plane crash. Mar lost disastrously in the last elections to Duterte. And now Sueno is tarred, probably forever, by allegations of graft.

Sueno is a former seminarian.

His mother-in-law is 90 years old.

His only grandson is two years old, he said. Both are not probably aware of his predicament —a loyal subaltern to Rodrigo Roa Duterte and yet was fired by the President on mere suspicion of corruption. As chairman of the smallish political party PDP-Laban, he headed the nascent movement early last year to convince Rodrigo Duterte to run for president because it was time for someone from Mindanao to be president and the long-time Davao City mayor was just the right man for the job.

Sueno recalled another Duterte loyalist whom the President unceremoniously dismissed, Undersecretary Peter Laviña, also a seminarian, who he had been with the mayor since 1988. Sueno said as boss of National Irrigation Administration, Laviña was too new on the job to come across juicy contracts. In Sueno’s case, he had been a town mayor (Koronadal) and a governor (South Cotabato). So he knew local government management. And

the fire truck deal? Two previous DILG chiefs have dipped their fingers into it, since 2011.

So it is not as it Sueno concocted the contract to make money.

It was, to use a cliché, a lowlying fruit.

After what happened to Sueno, Laviña and to a certain extent Perfecto Yasay, formerly of foreign affairs, it will be difficult for Duterte to recruit top talents for cabinet or sub-cabinet jobs.

Who wants a job that gets paid only P90,000 a month (gross), oversees hundreds of thousands of people, involves long and unusual working hours, and is subject to all kinds of blandishments?

I hope that Duterte, some day, from the goodness of his heart, will pluck these people from the depths of ignominy and give them chance at redemption.

That was exactly Sueno’s theme yesterday in his valedictory at the DILG. He called himself a “sacrificial lamb.” At the altar of public service? He likened himself to Jesus Christ.

In Duterte’s case, he has said he would like to go to Hell, grab’s Satan’s tail and use it to whiplash drug addicts and the corrupt.

In the meantime, Duterte is in no mood to be merciful. Because of his vicious war against drugs, various international organizations are after his scalp or if you want, a*s—politicians and do-gooders of the European Union, the Human Rights Watch, the Amnesty International, the

US State Department, the Washington Post, The Guardian, The Economist, and the New York Times—to name a few.

I have covered Philippine presidents from Diosdado Macapagal in 1965 to the present one, I have never seen a president who has caught so much global attention and struck the popular imagination as Duterte. He is both notorious and popular.

To Duterte’s credit, he remains hugely popular among Filipinos.

Nearly eight of ten (78 percent) Filipinos approve of his performance and 76 of every 100 Filipinos trust him, according to the Pulse Asia poll during March 15-17, 2017. From December 2016, the President is down five percentage points in job approval rating, and down seven percentage points in trust rating last March.

Duterte’s job approval is twice that of Donald Trump’s 34 percent by IBD/TIPP, 35 percent

by Quinnipiac, and 38 percent

by McClatchy/Marist in their March polls. In early April 2017, Trump’s ratings have hovered at 42 percent in Gallup, 46 in Rasmussen Reports, 43 in Economist/YouGov, and 46 percent in Reuters. Those ratings are nowhere near Duterte’s.

Though his is not a sinking ship yet, Duterte is early on unloading excess baggage. Smart move, Mr. President.

infrastructure development and other entities that go through or (heaven forbid) seek to set up shop in hinterland areas.

We’ll know soon enough if Sison and his pals who co-signed the Netherlands ceasefire and whatever other pact they agree to enter into with the government are only expressing the hope that the rebel leaders here will implement them on the ground. And if the NPA continues its depredations, the movement will once again be exposed

as insincere and a mere collection of independent entrepreneurs who do not take orders from anyone outside their small fiefdoms.

Of course, I would love for the Left to disprove this long-held belief, mostly in the ranks of the military, that it has lost its ideological moorings and has descended into banditry in order to survive. If Sison, from his Netherlands lair, is able to tell the cadres to lay down their arms and bring peace to the country-

side while he and his comrades in Europe hammer out a lasting agreement, he would have done a real service to his country.

Independent third-party monitoring of the newly-minted ceasefire will also be key to its success. Let the whole world watch both sides stick to their truce; if they can do that, the whole country will thank everyone on both sides of the table—and in the countryside, where all ceasefires will have to be tested.

changed, for Semana Santa that is merely the enacting of scripted parts—whether the script be by sentimental playwright or the script of the Church’s liturgy, can be staged by any group of actors—probably even a band of atheists. And it is a temptation difficult but not impossible to resist. When the devout give a whole morning to adorning the Altar of Repose that is used on Maundy Thursday, when those who play the role of apostles are moved to loathing for their sins as they take part in the ritual of

the washing of the feet, when someone kneels in genuine remembrance of the death of the Lord, as the words are uttered: “And he gave up his spirit”, Semana Santa is alive and thriving.

But it was Esau’s tragic mistake to trade his birthright for a pot of stew...and I pray that we do not trade our own for the coins tourists throw our way!

repentance for sins, despite the frowns of church authorities, there is equally no doubt that some go through the exercise for the sake of tourists whose hunger for the outlandish and the weird is sated “only in the Philippines!”

So it is that when the spirit of penance and piety and the dispositions of faith and devotion give way to catering to tourists’ fancy, all you have left is a “shell” of Semana Santa, a simulacrum of what it once as and should be. In the end, even the tourist is short-

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PH may lose UNFPA aid after US cuts support fund

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

T

HE Philippines, along with other countries, may no longer receive assistance from United Nations Population Fund after the United States government announced it would no longer fund its work worldwide in the future.

In a statement, the UNFPA said the Philippines, along with other countries like Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, may no longer be receiving any assistance combatting gender-based violence and reducing the scourge of maternal deaths.

The Trump administration’s decision is based on the erro-

neous claim that UNFPA “supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” in China.

UNFPA disputed the claim and pointed out that it never supported nor participated in a coercive abortion in China.

“UNFPA refutes this claim,

as all of its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination. Indeed, United Nations Member States have long described UNFPA’s work in China as a force for good,” the group said.

UNFPA has been working with local governments in ensuring that access to quality reproductive health services, including family planning, will be available especially for the poorest and disadvantaged communities who need these services most.

The United States is one of UNFPA’s founding members to protect and promote the re-

productive health and rights of women and girls.

“The support we received over the years from the government and people of the US has saved tens of thousands of mothers from preventable deaths and disabilities, and especially now in the rapidly developing global humanitarian crises,” the UNFPA stated.

“With previous United States contributions, UNFPA was combatting gender-based violence and reducing the scourge of maternal deaths in the world’s most fragile settings, in areas of conflict and natural disasters, including Iraq, Nepal, Sudan, Syria, the Philippines, Ukraine

and Yemen,” it added.

The UNFPA also said that despite the withheld of the funding, the group will always valued the US as a trusted partner and leader in helping “to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

“We, therefore, look forward to continuing our work with the United States to address these global concerns and to restore our strong partnership to save the lives of women and girls globally, within the framework of the global development goals, thereby leaving no one behind,” UNFPA said.

Jalosjos seeks to regain lost political rights

By Rey E. Requejo FORMER Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos is seeking absolute pardon for his statutory rape conviction after being released from jail eight years ago on commuted sentence.

This came after Jalosjos has applied for executive clemency to regain his full civil and political rights, particularly the restoration of his right to run for election through the revocation of the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office in his 1997 conviction.

Jalosjos, 76, is among the 36 applicants for presidential pardon published by the Board of Pardons and Parole, which is part of the vetting process for the eligibility of the applicants.

“Any interested party may send his/her written objections/comments/information relevant to the cases of above-named prisoners to the undersigned not later than 30 days from date of publication,” BPP executive director Reynaldo Bayang said, in the announcement.

The Department of Justice has administrative supervision over the BPP, which is tasked to screen the applicants for pardon and submit recommendations for approval of the President.

Executive clemency or pardon, which is a power given to the President to pardon any prisoner, provided for under Article VII, Section 19 of the Constitution, pertains to reprieve, absolute or conditional pardon with or without parole conditions, and commutation of sentence.

On the other hand, parole is the conditional release of a prisoner from a correctional institution after the person has served the minimum of his or her sentence.

Jalosjos was convicted by the Makati City Regional Trial Court to serve two life terms for raping an 11-year-old girl twice in 1996.

He was granted clemency in 2007 by then President Gloria Arroyo through commutation of his sentence to 16 years. He was initially released from the New Bilibid Prison in December 2007 after the grant, but was returned to incarceration after a month after it was found that he had not yet completed his commuted sentence.

MADRID FUSION. Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo, Foru de Debati president Jose Carlos Capel, Tourism Promotion Board chief

Cesar Montano and Spanish Ambassador Luis Calvo open this year’s edition of Madrid Fusion Manila gastronomical congress at the SMX in Pasay City. Lino Santos

Labor group demands Andanar resignation A LABOR group on Thursday questioned Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who heads the Presidential Communication Office, on his silence over the raging e-passport scandal rocking the state-owned APO-Productivity Unit.

Citing the contract with APO-PU is under Andanar’s supervision, the Philippine Association of Free Labor Unions called on Andanar to voluntarily step down to give President Rodrigo Duterte a free hand to look for a “more efficient replacement attuned to the challenges of the job.”

At the same time, PAFLU president Eleuterio Tuazon said the ongoing vilification campaign against the National Printing Office is a “vain and ill-advised attempt” to draw attention away from the questionable subcontract between APO-Productivity Unit and its private partner, the United Graphic Expression Corp.

“This [propaganda drive] is nothing but a deliberate effort to mislead the general public away from the more crucial issue of a blatant and shameless scheme to steal billions of pesos from the national coffers under the guise of improved passports,” Tuazon claimed.

He claimed it was not far-fetched to believe that Andanar has a hand in the smear drive against the NPO while at the same time, shielding APO-PU from public scrutiny on the unlawful passport deal with UGEC. “But what is hard to understand is how come Andanar applies an opposing stance on APO-PU on one hand, and the NPO, on the other hand, considering that both staterun printing facilities operate under the umbrella of the PCOO,” Tuazon noted.

He pointed out that it would be understandable for Andanar to deny any involvement in the demolition job, but described as “untenable” the Presidential Spokesman’s silence on the spurious subcontracting arrangement between the APO-PU and UGEC. The call to voluntarily resign came on the heels of the President’s announcement that Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno has been fired “for loss of trust and confidence.”

The Chief Executive earlier enjoined Andanar to refrain from performing his task as presidential spokesman amidst his frequent run-ins with media practitioners and other quarters that did not take kindly to his statements and pronouncements on

behalf of his boss.

The APO-PU labor union has reportedly sued Andanar’s predecessor, former secretary Herminio Coloma, for plunder arising from the alleged dubious disbursements amounting to P191 million during his watch as head of the PCOO. Coloma has also been tagged as one of the principal architects of Malacanang’s policy shift removing the task of passport printing from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and handing it over to the APO-PU, despite the fact that APO-PU did not have the expertise and the equipment to do the job.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, in a legal opinion issued at the behest of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., said APO-PU committed administrative and criminal offense in engaging the services of UGEC. Panelo said even a supplemental agreement would not legitimize the illegal subcontract between APO-PU and UGEC because the transaction was consummated in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Administrative Code, and pertinent rules and regulations on government procurement.

IN BRIEF LRT suspends Holy Week operations THE Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 will have no trips from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday in observance of the Holy Week.

In an advisory posted on its Twitter page, the Light Rail Transit Authority said maintenance works will be conducted on both rail line systems for these days.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are regular holidays, while Black Saturday is a special non-working holiday.

Normal operations will resume on April 17. PNA

Pagasa: No water dearth this summer METRO Manila’s main source of water, the Angat Dam, has enough water to last through summer, which may commence this weekend, a hydrologist of the state weather bureau said.

“It is unlikely for Angat to experience water shortage this April and May,” Richard Orendain said, referring to the country’s summer months.

Orendain projected that Angat’s water levels by the end of April and May would be higher than the dam’s rule curves, and would thus be sufficient for the needs of the facility’s service areas.

The government has set rule curves to guide the dam’s operation so it could meet its purposes.

Built in the 1960s, Angat Dam supplies water for irrigation, power production, and about 97 percent of Metro Manila’s needs.

Orendain put Angat’s water level last March 31 at 202.39 meters, higher than its corresponding 190.4 meters rule curve.

Projected water level by April 30 is about 194 meters, still exceeding the 186.40 meters rule curve, he said, adding that while the water level may further dip to some 186 meters

by May 31, it would still be higher than the dam’s 183.6 meters rule curve for this month.

“The data indicate Angat can supply this April and May, at the present rate of 61 cubic meters per second, water for this dam’s various purposes,” he said.

The expected Angat water level by the end of May indicates the dam could supply enough water until mid-June.

Despite the optimistic outlook, however, the weather bureau continues to urge the public to conserve water so supply could last longer.

Authorities have said that a possible recurrence of the drought-driving El Niño phenomenon this year is elevating the need for water conservation.

Pagasa earlier clarified that Philippine “summer” has not yet officially begun this year.

“Latest data indicate the annual northeast monsoon or ‘amihan’ has not yet even terminated,” weather forecaster Benison Estareja said after some reports cited the agency as having already declared April 5 the start of summer in the country. PNA

Anti-piracy team: Beware of fake computer software INTELLECTUAL property pirates are getting more and more creative to be able to sell their wares, especially with the more intense operations of the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team.

Instead of simply illegally copying discs of business software and operating systems, scrupulous merchants are also now mixing in pirated software along with the legitimate copies that they are selling.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, the copies are of very high quality and can easily deceive customers into thinking that they are buying legitimate software.

“The customers are basically paying for the price of an original but receiving pirated copies in exchange,” said NBI Agent Borromeo.

Late last year, the NBI Intellectual Property Rights Division implemented a search warrant at Gaisano Interpace Computer System operated by Michael Sia, a computer parts and software retailer at the Gilmore IT Center, a popular computer store hub.

The raid seized 26 high-quality unlicensed copies of the Microsoft Windows 10 Pro-

fessional operating system. The discs were marked “Made in Malaysia” and “Made in the United States” but were found to be pirated upon authentication.

The PAPT warned the public, especially businesses, to be vigilant and to be careful when dealing with computer stores that offer deals that are “too good to be true.”

It is advisable to buy from authorized retailers of any of their chosen software or tech products.

Microsoft Philippines is currently pursuing a case against Gaisano Interpace.

Formed in 2005, the PAPT is a joint effort from agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, Optical Media Board, the Philippine National Police and the IPOPHL, which joined the group in 2011. Its goal is to execute integrated and coordinated endeavors by the government to counteract the negative effects of software piracy on the local IT industry and the economy.

For more information on PAPT campaigns and details on PAPT crackdowns, call the PAPT Secretariat at (02) 512-9757 or visit www. papt.org.ph .

FIGHT VS PIRACY. Agents of the Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team inspects a computer shop in Quezon City that was allegedly caught selling pirated computer software.

Sports

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FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Five of six Filipino boxers lose T HANYABURI, Thailand—After a sizzling start of 6-for-6 on opening day Tuesday, the PHL-ABAP national boxing team ran into a spate of bad breaks and went 1-5 in the quarterfinals of the Thailand International Boxing Tournament in this quiet district some 50 kilometers north of Bangkok.

Cagayan de Oro native Carlo Paalam, 18, a bronze medalist in last year’s World Youth Championships in St. Petersburg, Russia, had his hands full

with Rio Olympics gold medalist and 2016 AIBA Boxer of the Year Dusmatov Hasanboy of Uzbekistan, dropping a 5-0 decision in the 49 kilogram light

flyweight division.

Then, 2015 SEA Games gold medalists flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and bantamweight Mario Fernandez had the unfortunate situation of facing boxers from host nation Thailand. Both got the shorter end of those deals with Bautista a victim of a 5-0 decision and Fernandez losing, 4-1.

James Palicte, who a day earlier had a smashing 2nd round TKO victory over Aussie Patrick McLaughlin in the 60 kg lightweight division,

succumbed to a unanimous decision against Rio Olympic bronze medalist, Akhmadaliev Murodjon, another member of the favored Uzbek team.

Welterweight Joel Bacho, who Tuesday made waves by beating Cuban Arisnoidys Despaigne, brought a whiff of fresh air as he demolished Taipei’s Huang Zhao Ching, 5-0.

Eumir Felix Marcial thought he would be the second Filipino to upset a Cuban in this tournament as he repeatedly scored-

solid combinations against Osley Iglesias Estrada. The judges however, returned a split decision, 3-2 in favor of Iglesias.

ABAP president Ricky Vargas was undeterred however.

In a text message to delegation head and ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson, he said that while “obviously we would have wanted our win streak to continue, that’s a tough tournament the boys are in.

I welcome the opportunity to test our skills against some of the best boxers in the world. This can only

Promoters mum on Pacquiao fight SYDNEY, Australia—Promoters refused to declare Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Australia’s Jeff Horn official on Thursday, saying “there is no event to be announced” until all contracts had been signed.

The Philippine world boxing champion’s camp announced in Manila on Wednesday that Pacquiao would challenge undefeated Horn in Brisbane in July.

But the consortium backing the fight, including the Queensland state government, and promoters Duco Events and Top Rank Boxing, were not ready to make a formal announcement.

“Until (the) process is completed, where all parties are contractually bound, there is no event to be announced,” Duco said in a statement.

“Media speculation has seen a lot of expectations created, and then dashed in months gone by with this event.”

The Filipino’s adviser told AFP in Manila on Wednesday the world champion, 38, would face Horn, 29, in on July 2.

It is the second time the bout has been touted, after Pacquiao earlier this year instead decided to pursue a big money fight with British boxer Amir Khan in the United Arab Emirates until the deal fell through.

Despite Duco’s caution, Pacquiao’s camp said Thursday it was keen for a quick win over Horn to set up a higher-profile title fight with Khan.

“We’re not able to fight Amir Khan because of Ramadan, so we decided to take this fight in the interim,” Pacquiao’s advisor Michael Koncz told Fox Sports in Australia.

Koncz said Pacquiao’s fans, when polled by the eightdivision world champion on Twitter, preferred him to fight Khan, with that prospect now on the table for October or November.

“We signed it, so yeah, we’re excited about it. But again, my preference was to fight Amir Khan,” Koncz

Tanduay hosts 4th Kap Golf Invitational

Philippine boxing icon and Senator Manny Pacquiao arrives for a session at the Philippine Senate in file photo taken February 13. Pacquiao is back in talks for a possible fight with unbeaten Australian Jeff Horn, the Filipino world champion’s adviser said. AFP

said. “That didn’t work out. We had this on the table so we decided to take it.

“Manny will train and do the best he can and hopefully we get the fight over with very quickly, we get out of there, we say hi to the Australian fans and media and

come home,” he added.

“Frankly and honestly, and nothing against Jeff Horn —I’ve never met the kid, I don’t know him personally – but the name recognition is I guess why the fans picked Amir Khan.” AFP

US Davis Cup team worried about Kyrgios BRISBANE, Australia – The United States admitted Thursday they are wary of the Nick Kyrgios factor in their quarterfinal with traditional Davis Cup rivals Australia in Brisbane this week.

Kyrgios, the in-form world number 16, stands in the way of the USA team, all of whom are ranked in the top 30 in singles.

The mercurial 21-year-old comes into the clash in the form of his career after an epic, three-tiebreak-sets loss to Roger Federer in last week’s Miami Open semi-finals.

He is drawn to face big-serving John Isner in the second singles

rubber with Kyrgios winning their most recent meeting in the final of last year’s Atlanta ATP event.

“Right now, a lot of people could argue he’s playing maybe the best tennis he’s ever played,” the 23rd-ranked Isner said.

“Everyone knows what he can bring to the table. He’s an incredible player but I’m a little bit used to the match-up.

“If our match does go to five sets I think it would make for a pretty cool atmosphere out there at the very least.”

Kyrgios said he was banking on strong home support in Pat

Rafter Arena against the Americans, after he battled a largely hostile crowd in his match with the popular Federer.

“I’m looking forward to getting back here and having some home support,” Kyrgios told reporters.

“I think anything is possible this year. I feel comfortable playing second.”

Rookie Jordan Thompson faces Jack Sock, the highest-ranked player in the tie at 15, in Friday’s opening singles match.

Thompson, ranked 79 and preferred to the higher-ranked but out-of-sorts Bernard Tomic by

captain Lleyton Hewitt, will be playing in the Davis Cup for just the second time.

The 22-year-old won both of his matches against the Czech Republic in February’s firstround tie in Melbourne.

“The positive is that Jordan has been in this situation before,” Hewitt said.

“He knew exactly what time he had to go out there and do all the right prep. It’s going to be two tough matches tomorrow but we’ll be up for the challenge.”

Thompson knows what he is up against to give Australia the

crucial first point in the best-offive match tie.

“He’s got a great serve and a really big forehand. He’s been in good form, I think he’s up there with the most wins this season so far,” he said of Sock.

Sam Groth and John Peers have been drawn to play Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson in Saturday’s doubles before the reverse singles rubbers on Sunday.

It will be the 47th installment of the most-played tie in Davis Cup history between the great rivals, with the Americans leading 26-20. AFP

Lady Tams reach Final Four FAR Eastern University got the job done, mak- committed two errors, a four touches violation on ing its third straight Final Four appearance with Nicole Tiamzon followed by a net touch violation a 25-16, 25-16, 27-25 victory over University of that closed out the one hour, 24 minute clash.

Earlier, Adamson University saved the the Philippines in the UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V best for last, as coach Air Padda finally notched her first win with a Centre last Wednesday.

(Smart Araneta Coliseum) 25-15, 25-19, 25-15 tramplinh With the season on the line, 8 a.m. – NU vs ADMU (Men) of University of the East. coach Shaq delos Santos was 10 a.m. – FEU vs UST (Men) Finishing the eliminations satisfied with the effort of his 12 noon – UST vs NU (Women) Lady Tamaraws to thrive under 4 p.m. – ADMU vs DLSU (Women) with a 8-6 slate, FEU will still make it to the semifinals even intense pressure.

“Sobrang ginusto ng players na maglaro tala- if National University beats University of Santo ga,” said Delos Santos, who cited their physical Tomas on Saturday that will forge a three-way and mental preparation for this do-or-die match. tie from third to fifth place.

With the rank points as the tiebreaker, the “Nakita naman namin na lahat ng pinaghirapan Tamaraws have the advantage with 26 points, namin. Sobrang happy and sobrang thankful.”

Bernadeth Pons scattered all of her 12 points leaving the Tigresses (24) and the Bulldogs (19) from attacks and had eight digs and six excellent battling in a playoff for the remaining remaining receptions, Toni Rose Basas also came through Final Four berth.

A win by UST, however will eliminate with 12 points while Remy Palma scored half of NU, joining defending champion De La Salle, her 10 points from spikes for FEU. The Lady Tamaraws were able to survive the Ateneo and FEU in the Final Four which will be marathon third frame after the Lady Maroons played after the Easter holidays.

FACE BALL. Logan Forsythe (11) of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws to first base after getting the forced out at second on Manuel Margot (7) of the San Diego Padres in the first inning during the MLB game at Dodger Stadium on April 5 in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers defeated the Padres 3-1. AFP

Keys, Williams bow out in Charleston tournament MIAMI—Top seed Madison Keys and former world number-one Venus Williams were the biggest casualties on a day of upsets at the WTA Charleston clay court event in South Carolina on Wednesday.

Keys was bundled out 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 by fellow American Shelby Rogers, who grew up in Charleston and delighted her home crowd with an aggressive performance that overwhelmed her compatriot.

“It’s really hard to explain,” Rogers said in an on-court interview. “I’ve played here so many years in a row, and it’s not always easy.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot of lessons

be good for them. Go Bacho!” he said.

The 24-year-old lad from Mandaluyong will face 2016 World Youth gold medalist Akhmedov Sadriddin in Thursday’s semifinal round.

“I know he’s good but I gained a lot of confidence with that win over the Cuban. Hopefully, it will carry me to the Finals and a possible gold here,” declared Bacho.

Coaches are Pat Gaspi, Romeo Brin and Elias Recaido Jr.

and I’ve grown up right here in front of this crowd. It’s so special,” the 24-year-old added.

Rogers will face Naomi Osaka in the next round after the Japanese player knocked out number 13 seed Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the day.

Elsewhere, Venus Williams was left baffled after losing a punishing three-set, second-round battle to Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

The veteran third seed bowed out in her opening match of the tournament, losing 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 to the 29-year-

old world number 37.

It was Siegemund’s second three-setter of the tournament, and the German admitted she was as surprised as anyone following a win in which she saved two match points.

“I have no idea!” Siegemund told an interviewer when asked to explain her victory.

“It was a really good match; it was going up and down. I just tried to believe in my game, and if I was down, I told myself I was going to get more chances.”

Siegemund squandered a match point in the second set and was then broken as she served for the match in the same set as Wil-

liams forced a third set.

Siegemund then recovered twice from breaks in the decider and saved two match points of her own as Williams served for the match at 5-4.

Siegemund broke however to level it at 5-5 and then held and broke Williams to clinch victory.

Williams admitted she had been unable to shake off Siegemund.

“I tried my best to think this could be the best match she’ll ever play in her life, honestly,” Williams said. “I basically won but still lost. AFP

TANDUAY Athletics gathers its growing family and friends today for the 4th Chairman Kap, the annual golf invitational in honor of Dr. Lucio C. Tan also known in the industry as “El Kapitan” at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

“This annual fellowship is one way to recognize all the hard work my father has done for the Company. We also recognize that all these would not have been possible without friends and partners who have been with us through the years,” said TDI President Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr. “And Chairman Kap is the perfect venue to share what we hope to accomplish with Tanduay Athletics.”

Driven by his unmatched passion for sports, Bong Tan formed Tanduay Athletics to provide opportunities for Filipino athletes to grow and excel in their sport.

Tournament chairman is Gerard Cantada in the system 36 affair that culminates with an awarding ceremony and dinner party. Giveaways and prizes include Usana products, gift certificates, gadgets and round trip tickets from PAL.

Estogero, Vitaliano top PPS netfest KIDLAT Estogero racked up two victories while Miles Vitaliano posted a win and a runner-up finish as they shared top honors in the Palawan PawnshopPalawan Express Pera Padala Cainta leg regional age-group tournament at the Brookside Hills and Village East Tennis Club in Cainta last Wednesday.

The top-seeded Estogero, from Imus, Cavite, thwarted Kean Enriquez’s fightback to score a 4-0, 5-3 win in the 10-unisex finals then the duo teamed up to clobber siblings Nhielle and Vhielle Dilao, 8-0, and annex the doubles diadem in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

The unranked Vitaliano, on the other hand, pulled off a thrilling 7-6(5), 6-4 victory over Danielle Carranza in the semis then overpowered Francesca Cruz, 6-1, 6-2, to snare the girls’ 18-andunder crown in the event backed by Asiatraders Corp. and the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson Toby’s and B-Meg. The Quezon City bet, however, fell short of her bid for a twinkill, dropping a 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 decision to No. 1 Mikaela Vicencio in the 16-U finals.

Other winners were Julia Ignacio, Mica Emana, Harvey Gilbuena, Elvin Geluz, Daniel Estanislao III and Luis Salvacion.

“With no player scoring two wins in singles further underscored the level playing field which makes the agegroup circuit more interesting,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

LOTTO RESULTS

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

Sports

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

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FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

Ukranian Zherebukh ties So at the top

By Peter Atencio WHILE Filipino grandmaster Wesley So played to another draw, Ukranian-American GM Yaroslav Zherebukh pulled off a surprise in the seventh round of the 2017 United States Chess Championship.

As So settled for a draw with Ray Robson in 54 moves of an English Opening, he found himself sharing the lead with Zherebukh when matches ended Wednesday The 23-year old Zherebukh, playing a bookline game for most of the encounter, upset world no.

3 Fabiano Caruana, causing a stir at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri.

Caruana, the defending champion, found his king and queen trapped at kingside when he gave up in 51 moves of a Ruy Lopez Opening.

So and Zherebukh now share the top spot with 4.5 points.

Both are half a point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura and Varuzhan Akobian, who share second with four points.

According to analysis, So was on the offensive, and managed to check the king with a queen f5 move. But a repetition of moves allowed Robson to escape defeat.

On the other hand, Zherebukh opened with a the aggressive lines of the e4 move.

And when Caruana committed mistakes starting with the knight h7 on the 23rd. Zherebukh gained the initiative and took control of the f4 square with a bishop and pawn exchange.

From there, Zherebukh started advancing and his rooks and queen started pressuring the kingside.

Caruana quit when Zherebukh threatened to gobble up a pawn or the queen with his rook f6 move.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) glides past Boston Celtics counterpart Jaylen Brown (7) during the game on April 5 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

Boston Celtics bow to King James, Cavs L

OS ANGELES—LeBron James scored 36 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers pounded rivals Boston to regain control of the Eastern Conference on Wednesday as Russell Westbrook’s bid for NBA history was delayed.

The titanic battle between Cleveland and Boston—neck and neck at the top of the conference—never materialized as a fired-up Cavs roared to a 11491 rout against a shellshocked Celtics.

The win completed a 3-1 season series for Cleveland over the Celtics, meaning the Cavs would win the head-to-head tiebreaker in the event of the two teams finishing regular season level.

The victory also gives the Cavs a useful psychological edge

over the Celtics as the two teams gear up for the postseason.

“We played Cavs basketball tonight. When we do that, we’re a pretty good team,” said James, who finished just four assists shy of what would have been a third straight triple-double.

All of Cleveland’s heavy hitters delivered performances to silence the home crowd in Boston. Kevin Love finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds while Kyrie Irving chipped in with 19 points.

“Obviously, we’d like to finish first in the East and have home court,” Love said. “I think tonight we put together a good string of basketball for just about 48 minutes. I felt like it had been a while since we put together a game like that.”

A second half points spree proved to be the foundation of the Cavs success, with 38 points helping ensure a 15-point cushion at halftime.

Another one-sided quarter in the third saw Cleveland race away to lead 90-66 with the Celtics powerless to halt the slide.

Isaiah Thomas led Boston’s scorers with 26 points.

“You name it, they were better in every category and made it really tough on us,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said. “They

played with more purpose, more pace. Again, you name it, they won it.”

In Memphis, Russell Westbrook inspired the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 103-100 win over the Grizzlies with a 45-point display, but was left just one rebound short of setting a new single-season triple-double record.

Westbrook, who had equaled Oscar Robertson’s 1961-62 season record of 41 triple-doubles on Monday, finished the night with 45 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

A triple-double is the achievement of double-digit totals in three of the five key statistical categories—points, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals—and is regarded as a barometer of allround versatility.

Belingon wants to finish Tauru KEVIN “The Silencer” Belingon is seeking a statementmaking victory as he is set to face Toni “Dynamite” Tauru on the undercard of ONE: Kings of Destiny at the Mall of Asia Arena, April 21.

The 28-year-old Baguio City native has had his fair share of highs and lows inside the ONE Championship cage since making his promotional debut five years ago, but he wants nothing short of leaving a lasting impression.

Belingon, a Wushu Sanshou practitioner who likes to throw a straight right-left hook combination and hard kicks at all levels but particularly to the legs, notched a first-round stoppage of Russia’s Yusup Saadulaev in October 2012.

Belingon finished Australian stalwart Than Vu in April 2013 by delivering a high kick before unleashing a volley of power punches that resulted in a second-round finish.

“The Silencer” attained a highlight-reel knockout of David Aranda Santacana in December 2013 when he uncorked a thunderous left hook that brought the Spaniard’s first ONE Championship outing to a dramatic and decisive close.

Belingon stressed that if the opportunity to score a finish presents itself against Tauru, he will not think twice to grab it.

“Of course, I want that finish. I am always looking for that. If there’s an opening to get the knockout or submission, I will go for that in a split second,” he said.

In his last bout, Belingon shied away from his relentless fighting style and resorted to a more tactical approach to get a unanimous decision win over Muin Gafurov last October.

Belingon stressed that he was seeking an emphatic triumph over Gafurov, but the

strategic nature of the bout did not give him the chance to do so.

“I wanted to finish Gafurov, but that’s not how the fight went. I needed another way to defeat him,” he shared.

From bell to bell, the onetime ONE Championship bantamweight title challenger banked on his lashing leg kicks and takedown defense to keep Gafurov at bay.

Belingon continued to dictate the pace of the match in the third and final frame, where he maintained his distance by consistently telegraphing his leg kicks while making Gafurov hesitate to cut the gap with his signature left hook.

Although Belingon’s method of defeating Gafurov was starkly different from his usual fighting style, he plans to win his fans over again as the 5-foot-5 Team Lakay standout is known for his highlight-reel finishes.

Djokovic spearheads Serbian challenge

Kevin Belingon acknowledges the cheers of the fans as he finds his hand raised in victory after another win inside the ONE Championship cage. ONE Championship

Powerhouses TNT, SMB test rivals

By Jeric Lopez

Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters forward JC Intal (7) protects the basketball against San Miguel Beer defender Chris Ross.

Westbrook’s pursuit of Robertson’s mark has captivated fans around the NBA this season, and catapulted him to the forefront of the race for MVP honors.

Westbrook came within a whisker of the rebound that would have set the record in the closing seconds, only to see the ball plucked away by Grizzlies guard Andrew Harrison.

“It would have been nice if he could have grabbed the ball,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.

“It bounced off his hands. I think that’s happened a lot this year where he has been close to [a triple-double]” added Donovan, insisting that the Thunder locker-room was not fixated on helping Westbrook achieve the record. AFP

TEAMS gaining steam plunge back to action in seek for more wins in the resumption of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup. Winners of two straight, TNT KaTropa (2-1) wants to keep moving up the ladder as it will be heavily favored against woeful sister team NLEX (0-4) in their 4:15 p.m. encounter at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City today.

Following that is a clash between Philippine Cup champion San Miguel (1-0) and Phoenix (2-2), who are both winners in their last assignments, at 7

p.m. in the nightcap.

After dropping their opening game, the Tropang Texters came around in their last two games, winning them systematically to build some much needed steam.

In their last game, they tripped another hapless team in Blackwater, 92-89, with rookie Roger Pogoy leading the way with 24 points.

On the other hand, the Road Warriors just can’t seem to do anything right as their agony continues.

They are still winless in four games and they remain at the bottom of the heap. They last dropped a heartbreaking 103-105 decision to league-leading Star.

In its debut last Sunday, it didn’t take long for San Miguel to find its touch as it gave erstwhile unbeaten and league-leading Meralco its first lost with a convincing 99-92 drubbing.

The usual suspects for the Beermen, June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos, are all in game mode already while import Charles Rhodes seems to be fitting in just fine with them as well.

Phoenix is also coming off an impressive victory the last time out.

The Fuel Masters gave Barangay Ginebra a rude welcome to the conference by taking a 94-91 squeaker last Saturday in Davao City, snapping a two-game slide.

PARIS—Novak Djokovic spearheads Serbia’s bid to reach the Davis Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2013 and reboot a career which has stalled since his history-making French Open victory.

Although Djokovic is still number two in the world the 29-yearold remains a shadow of the man whose maiden Roland Garros title in June last year allowed him to boast ownership of all four majors.

Shock early losses at Wimbledon, the Rio Olympics and Australian Open have been compounded by a recent elbow injury which sidelined him from the Miami Masters.

Since the start of 2017 Djokovic has won just seven matches but he insists that this weekend’s Davis Cup clash at home to Spain provides the perfect platform for the defence of his French Open title, the only Grand Slam still in his possession.

“I always draw very positive energy from these weeks,” said Djokovic, who won the Davis Cup in 2010, as he sat alongside teammates in Belgrade where the quarter-final takes place.

“I have shared some amazing moments in my career, in my life, with the people that are sitting at this table.

“Playing for our country in the official team competition—the only official team competition we have in (this) sport—is definitely very special,” added Djokovic, who is on an 11-match win streak in Davis Cup singles.

Five-time champions Spain won the only previous meeting between the two countries 4-1 in 2009, with Rafael Nadal defeating Djokovic in the decisive rubber. AFP

Market falls; Megawide, Cemex up B2

Business

Auto makers hiking prices

By Othel V. Campos

C

AR manufacturers and distributors are expected to further increase the prices of vehicles in the Philippines in the coming months, as the stronger US dollar and Japanese yen made imported units and parts more expensive in peso terms.

An industry executive said while several companies started adjusting prices as early as January, it could be followed by another increase in the coming months, as the peso weakened to a 10-year low against the greenback in the first quarter. The peso closed at 50.175 against the dollar Thursday, near the 10-year low of 50.4 a dollar registered on

March 3 this year.

Major automotive companies such as Toyota Motors Philippines Corp., Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Corp., Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. and Honda Cars Philippines now sell their compact sedan models for P1 million or more a unit.

Mitsubishi Motor Philippines said it rolled out a 5-percent price hike across all models including the Fuso trucks starting January 2017, while Toyota Motor did not respond to questions on the level of the price adjustment. Hyundai is expected to announce its new prices on Monday.

Car makers said that with the peso steadying at 50 a dollar, another upward adjustment in prices especially for imported vehicles might be needed.

Mitsubishi said a 3-percent to 5-percent price hike would translate into P10,000 to P20,000 increase in auto prices. The company imports Montero Sport and Strada from Thailand and Pajero, Lancer Ex, ASX and Fuso Truck and Bus models

from Japan. It began assembling Mirage 4 in the Philippines this year.

Mitsubishi vice president Froilan Dytianquin earlier said that 2016 prices were based on a foreign exchange rate of 47 a dollar. He said as most car companies were using the US dollar to import vehicles, they were also expected to increase their prices based on proper timing.

Dytianquin also said while Mitsubishi would like to maintain the prices of vehicles at current levels, it was compelled to raise them because the strong dollar significantly raised the import costs of these vehicles.

Mitsubishi, with the longest history of more than 50 years of vehicle production, was the first automaker to achieve the 500,000-unit production milestone in 2009 and posted a new record of 600,000 units in 2016.

Target production for 2017 is about 42,000 units, with the Mirage accounting for the bulk.

Water firms to raise rates

THE Asian Development Bank said Thursday the economic growth of the Philippines will likely decelerate to 6.4 percent this year from the revised 6.9-percent expansion in 2016, in the absence of election-related spending and as commodity prices rise.

ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook 2017 report that gross domestic product growth was expected to accelerate to 6.6 percent in 2018 or once the government ramped up public infrastructure investment.

“The Philippines is in a sweet spot for economic growth. The biggest contributor to growth is investment, both public and private, exceeding the growth contribution from consumption,” ADB country director Richard Bolt said in a statement.

“Effective implementation of the government’s newly announced development plan will help make growth more inclusive and reduce poverty,” Bolt said.

The Philippine Statistics Authority on Thursday revised upward the 2016 GDP growth to 6.9 percent from an earlier estimate of 6.8 percent on faster growth in sectors such as construction and mining and quarrying.

The government expects GDP to grow between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent this year, driven by robust domestic consumption, higher fiscal spending and investments, particularly in infrastructure.

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

B1

IN BRIEF Duterte’s tax plan to reverse fund exit

PHILIPPINE equities can lose their tag as the only emerging Asia market to suffer foreign fund outflows this year―with a helping hand from President Rodrigo Duterte.

Strategists say progress on Duterte’s promised tax reforms is needed to bring back global asset managers, who have offloaded $230 million of Manila-listed equities in 2017 while pouring $6.7 billion into India and $1.4 billion into Malaysia.

Investors are also looking for company profit growth to justify an index valuation that’s at the widest premium to emerging market peers in six months.

“The Philippines is a very attractive market to invest in but there are more obviously better opportunities elsewhere and there have been some headwinds in terms of the tax reform not passing, the earnings momentum depleting and also geopolitical risks,” Vanessa Donegan, who helps manage $456 billion as managing director at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said.

“We like the Philippines for its potential for increased infrastructure spending but how will the government get to finance that without getting this tax reform package through?” she said.

Bloomberg

GEOTHERMAL power producer Energy Development Corp. said it signed a P3.5-billion loan agreement with Union Bank of the Philippines to refinance debt.

“We advise the exchange that on April 5, 2017, EDC executed a fixed 15-year amortizing loan with Union Bank of the Philippines for a total amount of up to P3.5 billion. The facility will be used to refinance existing loans of the company” EDC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

EDC said it also accepted tenders offers from noteholders of its $300-million 6.5 percent notes due 2021.

“On 5April 2017, further to the tender offer memorandum, EDC accepted valid tender offers of notes from noteholders representing an aggregate of $65.920 million at a price of $1,110 per $1,000 principal amount of the notes,” it said.

EDC appointed Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. as dealer manager for the tender offer. The notes are listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. The company said the purpose of the offer was to better manage currency risk and better optimize debt maturity profile. Alena Mae S. Flores

Globe talking to 5 posh subdivisions

BANKING INTEGRATION. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. shakes hands with Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob during the signing ceremonies for the letter of intent to begin discussions under the Asean Banking Integration Framework at Mactan Island, Cebu. The LoI formalizes the intention of the BSP and the BoT to craft the specific provisions that will govern the entry of Qualified Asean Banks between the two countries. ABIF advances the underlying principles governing QABs which will be the vehicle for the achievement of regional banking integration.

ADB sees growth moderating to 6.4%

By Julito G. Rada

business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

EDC secures P3.5-b loan from Unionbank

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales CUSTOMERS of Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Manila Water Company Inc. will pay higher water rates this quarter, after the regulator allowed them to recover losses from a weaker peso against the US dollar.

MWSS said its board of trustees approved an average basic charge of P24.81 per cubic meter for Manila Water and a foreign currency differential adjustment of P0.69 per cubic meter this year, compared to a basic charge of P24.89 per cubic meter and FCDA of P0.25 per cubic meter last year.

“The adjustments in standard rates and FCDA result in an increase of P0.36 per cubic meter,” MWSS said.

This means that Manila Water customers who are consuming 10 cubic meters a month or less and not belonging to lifeline customers would see their monthly bills increase by P1.91. Those consuming 20 cubic meters per month will pay an additional P4.19, while those consuming 30 cubic meters a month will pay P8.60 more.

Meanwhile, MWSS approved a basic charge of P34.51 per cubic meter and FCDA of P0.24 per cubic meter for Maynilad in 2017.

The impact of FCDA on the monthly bills of Maynilad residential customers is an increase of P2.60 for those consuming 10 cubic meters a month or less; P9.76 for those consuming 20 cubic meters a month; and P20.09 for those consuming 30 cubic meters a month.

The 1997 concession agreements signed by MWSS and the two concessionaires provided that the standard rates for water and sewerage services should be adjusted each year effective Jan. 1. An amendment also provided FCDA as a tariff mechanism to recover or compensate for fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

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

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the Philippines had the ability to extend the 72 consecutive quarters of sustained economic growth as the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remained strong.

ADB said the Philippines’ strong economic growth in 2016 was largely due to consistently strong domestic demand, further lifted by spending in last year’s elections.

The ratio of fixed investment to GDP reached 23.8 percent last year, the highest in over a decade. Private consumption, comprising nearly 70 percent of GDP, grew 6.9 percent last year on higher employment rates and steady inflows of remittances reaching $29.7 billion.

Public spending also grew 8.3 percent with increased expenditure on social programs, including the conditional cash transfers, which reached 4.4 million poor families in the country.

Services, meanwhile, expanded 7.5 percent and industry registered an 8 percent growth last year.

Consumer price inflation remained modest, averaging 1.8 percent last year.

ADB said growth was expected to pick up next year as investment gained ground, particularly public infrastructure. Services, including business process outsourcing and tourism, will remain a growth driver, while inflation will likely edge up but remain within the BSP target of 2 percent to 4 percent, it said.

MAYNILA, PILIPINAS

PUBLIC ADVISORY BSP ISSUES REMINDER ON REGISTRATION PERIOD FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is reminding the public that under Circular No. 918 dated 2 August 2016, the BSP has granted a final one (1) year grace period (from 1 September 2016 up to 1 September 2017) within which applications for registration of foreign direct investments (FDIs) may be filed with the BSP [through the International Operations Department (IOD)]. The grace period covers investments already existing/recorded in the investee firm’s books, regardless of the date when inward remittance of foreign exchange (FX)/actual transfer of assets to the Philippines was made, provided all relevant registration requirements under the Manual of Regulations on Foreign Exchange Transactions (FX Manual), as amended, have been complied with. After said period, the general policy providing for a one (1) year prescriptive period shall apply. This means that all applications for FDI registration must be filed not later than one (1) year from date of actual inward remittance of FX/transfer of assets to the Philippines which funded the investment.

Concerned parties are, therefore, enjoined to file their requests for registration soonest to avoid crowding of applications towards the end of the grace period.

Applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis, provided all requirements are complied with. The checklist of requirements may be found in Appendix 10 of the FX Manual, as amended; and may also be downloaded from the BSP website at http://www.bsp.gov.ph/downloads/Regulations/MORFXT/ MORFXT.pdf.

Finally, the BSP wishes to clarify that registration of foreign investments is optional, as this is required only if the foreign exchange for repatriation of capital and remittance of earnings will be sourced from authorized agent banks or their affiliate foreign exchange corporations.

For inquiries, please contact the International Operations Department: E-mail: iod@bsp.gov.ph Web: www.bsp.gov.ph Telephone: (632) 708-7107 Fax: (632) 306-3091

GLOBE Telecom Inc. said Thursday it is in talks with five home owners associations to build cell sites in their respective exclusive villages.

The HOAs that immediately conveyed their willingness to help Globe to roll out cell sites are Magallanes, Bel-Air, Greenhills North, Ayala Alabang and Hillsborough.

Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo said representatives of the company were now in talks with the HOAs about the telecommunications infrastructure needed for their respective villages.

“We are confident that the HOAs will consider the benefits of a connected community in this digital age over the myths of health risks,” Castelo said.

Globe recently issued an open letter to customers residing in exclusive villages that it was unable to provide sufficient mobile and internet coverage in their homes due to continuing challenges in securing the necessary permits and right-of-way approval from HOAs and/or barangays.

Meanwhile, the homeowners in Dasmariñas Village voted to retain the Outdoor Distributed Antenna System inside their subdivision lon April 2 five days after Globe issued the open letter. Darwin G. Amojelar

B2

Business

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market falls; Megawide, Cemex up

S

TOCKS retreated from a six-month high Thursday, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street as investors were spooked by Federal Reserve minutes showing it is mulling over a plan to tighten monetary policy by sucking cash out of the financial system.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 18 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 7,565.32, as four of the six sectoral indices declined.

The heavier index, representing all shares, shed 2 points to settle at 4,508.81, on a value turnover of P9.5 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 101 to 91, while 43 issues were unchanged.

Eleven of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by ATN Holdings Inc. “A” which

surged 30.4 percent to P0.45 and Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc. which climbed 6.6 percent to P7.59. Megawide Construction Corp. rose 3.4 percent to P17.58.

Meanwhile, New York’s three main indexes turned lower on news that central bank policymakers were considering stopping, or at least slowing, the policy of reinvesting the income received from its $4.5 trillionworth of Treasury bills and other assets.

Because the Fed’s involvement in the bond market helps suppress interest rates, its decision to leave it would reduce the amount of cash in the system.

The report overshadowed data showing a better-than-forecast jump in private-sector hiring, days ahead of closely watched jobs figures from the government.

“This is huge news for traders in fixed interest and global markets more broadly. It means that a source of demand in US fixed interest markets is going to be reduced,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader, in a note.

“Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but taking the Fed out of the bond market will reverberate across global financial markets,” he said.

Experts said the bank’s deci-

sion to flag the move may have been to prepare markets in advance, in a bid to avoid the socalled “taper tantrum” of 2013 that hit stocks after the Fed’s decision to cut back its monetary easing program.

The minutes of the March meeting—in which the bank hiked interest rates—also showed policy board members saw “considerable uncertainty” about the effects Donald Trump’s pledged tax-cut and infrastructure spending stimulus would have on the US economy.

The tycoon’s promises helped fuel a four-month surge across global markets but that faltered in March after his failure to push through a key healthcare bill raised concerns about the chances for the rest of his agenda. With AFP, Bloomberg

Puregold’s income rises 10.5% to P5.5b

By Jenniffer B. Austria PUREGOLD Price Club Inc., a supermarket chain operator led by businessman Lucio Co., said Thursday it booked a net income of P5.53 billion in 2016, up 10.5 percent from P5 billion in 2015, as it continued to pursue an aggressive store expansion.

Puregold said consolidated net sales increased 15.9 percent to P112.6 last year, boosted by the opening of 26 new Puregold stores and two S&R Membership warehouse outlets.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 48.2 71,500 105.9 1,653,710 122 2,561,040 1.23 30,000 41.5 568,300 16.2 1,800 20.6 1,552,100 7.74 100 0.66 10,000 1.63 10,000 0.71 21,245,000 87 5,595,230 0.7 190,000 14.72 72,100 25.2 5,000 56.9 30,170 242.4 1,630 118 110 39.3 10,100 210.4 425,290 1,720 20 79.65 29,970

3,443,140 175,391,445 312,178,601 35,480 23,567,900 29,050 32,396,850 774 6,690 16,300 14,826,230 479,926,270.50 133,000 1,059,894 126,000 1,708,535.50 393,884 12,980 394,880 89,456,504 34,450 2,387,150

1,830,020 93,587,108 -19,922,872 5,316,155 -3,240 5,030,110 -586,000.00 163,954,455.50 1,260,117.50 375,330 25,060,880 -327,362.50

41.6 5.07 0.8 1.41 18.3 0.243 103.8 7.2 16.4 167 23.1 14.5 66.05 2 5.95 12 12.6 9.22 6.05 5.98 1.77 21.85 72.5 12.2 14.76 7.75 1.51 198.2 71 5.35 3.78 30.75 25.7 17.08 273.6 0.24 7.12 3.62 8.62 3.64 11.38 2.14 8.3 1.88 72.15 4.85 295 4.66 2.76 13.2 4.75 0.145 1.36 170.8 1.54 32.45 1

INDUSTRIAL 42 790,600 5.23 1,562,100 0.8 27,000 1.41 45,000 18.86 2,200 0.25 3,260,000 103.8 10 7.59 29,498,900 16.4 2,817,000 192 320 23.5 140,400 14.78 3,000 67 20,420 2.02 172,000 5.95 3,000 12.2 4,300 12.66 688,800 9.6 5,984,300 6.09 2,705,800 6 10,882,700 1.77 2,000 21.9 1,692,200 73 41,560 12.2 2,400 14.8 145,800 7.85 1,525,700 1.62 1,162,000 200 624,550 71 200 5.37 671,400 3.8 14,000 30.9 1,602,900 25.8 392,800 17.58 9,526,700 277.4 126,570 0.244 6,060,000 7.24 123,700 3.69 292,000 8.62 4,314,800 3.64 3,000 11.42 12,100 2.15 1,698,000 8.35 2,110,800 1.9 344,000 72.35 423,670 4.85 30,000 300 69,030 4.74 14,000 2.76 5,000 13.2 1,527,200 4.75 8,000 0.145 800,000 1.37 201,000 174.5 1,017,490 1.56 1,313,000 32.45 200 1 33,000

33,140,950 8,059,483 21,600 63,570 40,702 805,610 1,038 219,677,095 46,350,296 55,406 3,269,375 43,644 1,368,055 346,820 17,850 51,776 8,709,086 56,692,298 16,536,543 65,278,584 3,540 37,110,885 3,023,749 29,280 2,162,492 11,922,477 1,852,180 124,474,340 14,200 3,645,924 53,160 49,561,195 10,135,775 165,948,992 34,908,974 1,463,960 894,316 1,057,410 37,578,938 10,920 137,876 3,650,560 17,671,366 653,570 30,575,702.50 145,530 20,701,920 66,100 13,800 20,385,392 38,000 116,000 274,040 175,954,936 2,038,640 6,490 33,000

6,450,920 1,668,634 36,773,841 3,797,830.00 10,470 -30,550 1,230,875 -638,652 -3,175,368 -9,443,833 15,840,493 -529,265 248,080 -550,120 6,899,445 -50,480 25,033,354 540,325 40,011,025 -1,368,090 -73,034,368.00 25,457,104 -58,190 -7,602,386 37,628 3,016,450 10,131,437 66,560 662,666 58,200 -11,190,720 9,520 -154,264 7,250.00 93,470,049 -660,500 -

0.37 73.7 13 1.11 6.21 0.345 0.345 855 8.48 11.84 7.8 0.178 1,141 6.35 77 5.26 1.02 7.75 15.6 6.34 0.055 1.03 1.96 103.1 2.66 730 0.86 1.38 273 0.29 0.185 0.247

HOLDING FIRMS 0.385 1,850,000 74.7 853,250 13.4 149,132,700 1.15 70,000 6.3 88,300 0.45 300,740,000 0.46 78,910,000 865 150,570 8.5 642,000 12 21,951,300 7.82 2,300 0.181 140,000 1,142 57,660 6.35 6,900 78.9 4,022,980 5.26 500 1.04 4,270,000 7.99 1,653,400 15.66 1,411,300 6.42 43,153,700 0.056 54,690,000 1.17 4,000 1.96 7,000 104 345,880 2.74 13,000 738 818,770 0.86 1,000 1.38 826,000 275 14,830 0.29 960,000 0.185 90,000 0.247 90,000

696,800 63,601,561 1,944,579,446 77,820 551,289 137,516,000 35,702,800 130,377,320 5,459,848 263,399,824 17,944 25,220 66,170,440 43,820 314,049,381 2,634 4,444,870 13,040,842 22,179,430 276,823,208 3,055,300 4,540 13,720 36,034,143 35,060 606,306,855 860 1,143,670 4,065,914 278,900 16,850 22,800

7,500 6,782,078.50 -44,564,178 -774,550 25,480,775 1,064,105 -130,970,880 -1,503,455 11,430 -41,306,404 5,300 -55,918 -10,599,312 141,807,661 5,700 5,896,041 343,203,520 -732,314 7,600 7,950

6.78 0.94 2.31 1.27 34.95 3.87 5.14 0.5 1.03 1.21 0.156 0.52 54.25 0.69 0.173 1.65 0.98 1.18 3.65

PROPERTY 6.8 789,900 0.95 3,295,000 2.31 64,000 1.3 4,836,000 35 9,341,000 3.9 2,683,000 5.14 100 0.5 5,027,000 1.03 1,000 1.26 10,000 0.157 2,250,000 0.54 963,000 54.3 482,940 0.7 80,000 0.18 14,290,000 1.66 1,438,000 0.98 1,788,000 1.18 47,000 3.71 42,626,000

5,371,690 3,211,950 148,230 6,241,370 327,908,620 10,465,090 514 2,555,590 1,030 12,510 352,700 506,390 26,408,326 55,700 2,543,490 2,389,360 1,755,040 55,460 158,083,740

-5,262,209 -41,329,195 1,849,480 -406,100 -3,878,590.50 -190,550 -13,557,840

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

47.5 106.8 123 1.13 41.5 16.2 20.7 7.74 0.67 1.63 0.66 85 0.7 14.7 25.2 56 242.6 118 39.1 211 1,730 79.65

48.25 107 123 1.23 41.6 16.2 21.3 7.74 0.67 1.63 0.72 87 0.7 14.72 25.2 57.1 242.6 118 39.3 212 1,730 79.8

47.5 105.7 121 1.13 41.1 16.1 20.55 7.74 0.66 1.63 0.66 84.6 0.7 14.7 25.2 56 240 118 38.8 209 1,720 79.65

ABOITIZ POWER 42 AGRINURTURE 5.24 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.8 ALSONS CONS 1.42 ASIABEST GROUP 18.96 BASIC ENERGY 0.245 BOGO MEDELLIN 103.8 CEMEX HLDG 7.23 CENTURY FOOD 16.58 CHEMPHIL 167 CIRTEK HLDG 23.45 CNTRL AZUCARERA 14.54 CONCEPCION 66.05 CROWN ASIA 2.03 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.95 DEL MONTE 12 DNL INDUS 12.66 EEI CORP 9.25 EMPERADOR 6.1 ENERGY DEVT 5.99 EUROMED 1.77 FIRST GEN 22 FIRST PHIL HLDG 72.95 GINEBRA 12.2 HOLCIM 14.88 INTEGRATED MICR 7.75 IONICS 1.52 JOLLIBEE 198.2 LIBERTY FLOUR 71 LMG CHEMICALS 5.44 MABUHAY VINYL 3.81 MANILA WATER 31.3 MAXS GROUP 25.85 MEGAWIDE 17.08 MERALCO 275 MG HLDG 0.244 PANASONIC 7.12 PEPSI COLA 3.62 PETRON 8.84 PHIL H2O 3.64 PHINMA 11.4 PHINMA ENERGY 2.16 PHX PETROLEUM 8.38 PHX SEMICNDCTR 1.88 PILIPINAS SHELL 72.15 PRYCE CORP 4.85 PUREFOODS 295.2 RFM CORP 4.66 ROXAS HLDG 2.76 SHAKEYS PIZZA 13.8 SPC POWER 4.75 SWIFT FOODS 0.145 TKC METALS 1.36 UNIV ROBINA 171.8 VITARICH 1.59 VIVANT 32.45 VULCAN INDL 1

42 5.24 0.8 1.42 18.98 0.25 103.8 7.7 16.6 192 23.5 14.78 67.5 2.03 5.95 12.3 12.7 9.6 6.18 6.04 1.77 22.2 73 12.2 14.9 7.85 1.65 200 71 5.58 3.81 31.5 26 17.72 277.4 0.245 7.25 3.69 8.9 3.64 11.42 2.16 8.45 1.92 72.55 4.86 300.2 4.76 2.76 13.8 4.75 0.145 1.38 174.5 1.59 32.45 1

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

0.385 75 13.4 1.15 6.3 0.51 0.5 888 8.52 12.08 7.82 0.181 1,160 6.4 79.75 5.27 1.06 7.99 15.98 6.49 0.057 1.17 1.96 106 2.74 755 0.86 1.4 275 0.295 0.19 0.265

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

0.375 74.5 13 1.11 6.21 0.345 0.345 888 8.52 11.84 7.8 0.178 1,141 6.35 78.95 5.27 1.03 7.87 15.98 6.43 0.057 1.03 1.96 104.9 2.74 730 0.86 1.38 274 0.29 0.19 0.265 6.8 0.95 2.31 1.3 35.7 3.95 5.14 0.52 1.03 1.21 0.157 0.53 55 0.69 0.173 1.66 0.98 1.18 3.7

6.83 1.01 2.32 1.31 35.7 3.96 5.14 0.52 1.03 1.27 0.157 0.54 55.95 0.7 0.184 1.67 0.99 1.18 3.77

VOLUME

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

0.295 0.31 0.63 4.8 23.9 1.8 3.34 30.05 1.01 7.7 0.89 5.19

0.25 0.29 0.6 4.67 23.6 1.77 3.29 29.25 0.99 7 0.87 5.06

0.28 0.305 0.62 4.73 23.8 1.78 3.34 29.9 1 7 0.89 5.19

429,580,000 930,000 4,596,000 662,000 1,986,200 104,000 2,000 6,275,400 1,437,000 1,600 83,000 1,880,000

119,099,700 282,850 2,818,580 3,125,410 47,125,305 184,500 6,630 187,159,090 1,436,150 11,766 73,300 9,659,027

-609,900 6,200 6,200 13,211,565 49,536,565 -2,343,020.00

2GO GROUP 12.4 ABS CBN 46 ACESITE HOTEL 1.42 APC GROUP 0.53 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.046 ASIAN TERMINALS 12 BLOOMBERRY 8.28 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.072 CALATA CORP 2.14 CEBU AIR 95 DFNN INC 8.45 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.58 EASYCALL 4.5 FAR EASTERN U 998 GLOBE TELECOM 2,088 GMA NETWORK 6.72 GOLDEN HAVEN 16.22 GRAND PLAZA 15 HARBOR STAR 3.55 IMPERIAL 3.57 INTL CONTAINER 91.1 IP EGAME 0.0092 IPEOPLE 12.3 IPM HLDG 8.99 ISLAND INFO 0.184 ISM COMM 1.28 JACKSTONES 3.49 LBC EXPRESS 14.5 LEISURE AND RES 4.41 MACROASIA 4.58 MANILA JOCKEY 2.48 MELCO CROWN 6.79 METRO RETAIL 3.77 MLA BRDCASTING 16.7 NOW CORP 2.9 PACIFIC ONLINE 11.52 PAL HLDG 5.5 PAXYS 3.06 PHIL SEVEN CORP 160 PHILWEB 8.19 PLDT 1,745 PREMIUM LEISURE 1.59 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.435 PUREGOLD 43.75 ROBINSONS RTL 77.7 SBS PHIL CORP 6.15 SSI GROUP 2.25 STI HLDG 1.1 TRANSPACIFIC BR 1.75 TRAVELLERS 3.22 WATERFRONT 0.385 WILCON DEPOT 5.15

12.54 46.2 1.42 0.55 0.046 12.1 8.35 0.074 2.16 98 8.45 2.59 4.5 998 2,108 6.91 16.36 15 3.59 3.59 92.15 0.0092 12.8 9 0.188 1.29 3.63 15 4.56 4.6 2.6 6.88 3.88 16.98 3.04 11.52 5.55 3.06 160 8.21 1,748 1.6 0.435 43.9 77.7 6.15 2.25 1.1 2.36 3.22 0.395 5.24

11.96 46 1.42 0.53 0.045 12 8.08 0.07 2.11 95 8.4 2.34 4.5 998 2,050 6.72 16 15 3.39 3.54 91 0.0092 12.3 8.99 0.183 1.28 3.48 14.5 4.38 4.32 2.47 6.64 3.77 16.7 2.9 11.52 5.35 3.05 160 7.8 1,705 1.55 0.42 43.3 75.65 5.96 2.2 1.08 1.75 3.2 0.375 5.08

SERVICES 12.04 1,081,200 46 170,600 1.42 221,000 0.53 602,000 0.045 45,100,000 12.1 5,200 8.14 10,420,500 0.071 38,370,000 2.11 820,000 98 707,640 8.4 71,200 2.59 8,000 4.5 20,000 998 10 2,070 103,585 6.91 2,783,600 16 97,500 15 600 3.4 2,517,000 3.54 136,000 91 4,882,710 0.0092 6,000,000 12.8 4,800 9 280,000 0.183 5,360,000 1.28 65,000 3.5 20,000 15 1,300 4.44 2,463,000 4.36 863,000 2.47 139,000 6.64 8,679,700 3.8 1,392,000 16.98 1,500 3.02 2,570,000 11.52 2,900 5.45 16,600 3.05 144,000 160 225,710 7.8 761,100 1,719 154,380 1.6 38,884,000 0.425 2,830,000 43.85 3,032,600 76.05 1,101,540 6 26,200 2.22 513,000 1.09 4,103,000 2.19 428,000 3.22 156,000 0.395 730,000 5.2 19,912,700

13,238,254 7,851,875 313,820 322,380 2,039,900 62,620 85,585,494 2,723,650 1,747,930 68,471,945.50 599,532 20,420 90,000 9,980 214,617,800 19,026,853 1,567,104 9,000 8,754,550 482,240 445,159,371.50 55,200 59,746 2,517,500 992,670 83,460 69,920 19,450 10,934,410 3,794,030 344,380 58,849,032 5,306,730 25,232 7,697,420 33,408 90,445 439,990 36,113,600 6,056,962 265,510,470 61,306,640 1,221,450 132,640,210 83,727,200.50 157,265 1,139,220 4,498,750 904,960 501,620 286,700 103,222,187

205,480 -213,000 20,431,664.00 -59,640 29,088,849 200,872 92,797,220 28,470 3,540 11,745,079.50 -59,200 -1,500 -2,473,680 -1,293,940 -5,394,577 -3,056,470 373,810 363,490 208,000 -2,184,128 81,120,165 77,930 84,000 21,313,295 -49,311,138.50 -10,960 -377,960 -303,100 25,658,755.00

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

0.0032 1.52 5.29 11.5 0.58 0.395 8.88 2.75 0.25 0.179 0.196 0.011 0.011 1.79 6.09 2.13 0.455 0.9 0.012 0.013 8.04 3.52 153.4 2.71

0.0034 1.53 5.29 11.5 0.62 0.4 9.25 2.76 0.255 0.181 0.196 0.012 0.011 1.8 6.19 2.14 0.455 0.9 0.012 0.014 8.33 3.53 153.4 2.71

0.0032 1.39 5.29 11.4 0.58 0.395 8.63 2.64 0.246 0.174 0.19 0.01 0.011 1.79 6.02 2.06 0.45 0.87 0.012 0.013 8.04 3.34 149.9 2.51

MINING & OIL 0.0034 310,000,000 1.44 12,812,000 5.29 1,700 11.5 1,000 0.59 9,495,000 0.4 700,000 9 13,800 2.76 2,682,000 0.25 720,000 0.18 3,100,000 0.19 1,530,000 0.011 20,200,000 0.011 31,000,000 1.8 55,000 6.1 3,883,400 2.12 7,000 0.45 40,000 0.88 77,000 0.012 8,100,000 0.014 52,600,000 8.33 985,100 3.34 1,660,000 150.1 731,590 2.51 12,000

1,003,300 18,386,090 8,993 11,480 5,663,270 279,200 123,536 7,266,440 178,070 554,590 293,350 220,800 341,000 98,830 23,740,491 14,720 18,100 67,320 97,200 689,100 8,184,285 5,652,430 109,798,593 31,160

-2,973,340 -529 -39,500 -1,096,750 -14,551,938 879,765 707,020 -

DD PREF FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

105.5 116.5 6.13 1,035 108 105.6 80.8 77 79 78 78.1 78.5

105.5 116.5 6.26 1,045 108 105.6 80.8 77 79 78 78.1 78.5

105.5 116.5 6.13 1,035 107.8 105.5 80.5 77 79 78 78.1 78.2

PREFERRED 105.5 1,550 116.5 12,000 6.18 1,780,000 1,045 4,780 107.8 20,050 105.5 5,000 80.5 30,350 77 70 79 30,000 78 110 78.1 64,460 78.2 65,520

163,525 1,398,000 11,031,542 4,983,850 2,161,400 527,560 2,443,280 5,390 2,370,000 8,580 5,034,326 5,135,520

0 -7,744,859 0 -

LR WARRANT

2.35

2.46

2.31

WARRANTS 2.32 685,000

1,621,810

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.75 6.73 10.38

3.75 6.75 10.46

3.58 6.57 10.1

SME 3.58 6.65 10.2

1,331,350 1,440,268 10,897,234

14,320 331,500 749,804

FIRST METRO ETF 125.5

125.8

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 124.7 124.7 13,300

1,670,979

-125,237

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

OPEN 0.25 0.31 0.6 4.77 23.6 1.78 3.29 29.95 1 7.7 0.87 5.14

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES MINING & OIL GRAND TOTAL

SHARES

35,092,870 99,447,210 667,596,449 539,520,484 213,196,742 461,150,418 2,017,665,998

367,000 217,300 1,064,100

VALUE FINANCIAL 1,903.82 (down) -0.89 INDUSTRIAL 11,172.31 (up) 58.43 HOLDING FIRMS 7,606.67 (up) 0.83 PROPERTY 3,285.6 (down) -30.68 1,589.26 (down) -11.53 987,533,421.007 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,009.56 (down) -205.64 1,793,233,707.799 PSEI 7,565.32 (down) -18.89 182,749,888.913 All Shares Index 4,508.81 (down) -2.96 9,534,840,327.77 Gainers:91; Losers:101; Unchanged: 43; Total: 235

1,237,008,035.16 1,243,460,527.48 4,075,511,226.68

Income from operations grew 13.3 percent to P8.1 billion in 2016 from P7.15 billion in 2015.

“Our 2016 same-store sales growth of 6.2 percent for Puregold stores and 4.4 percent for S&R stores were driven by continued strong consumer demand even after the elections. For 2017, we will continue to build another 25 new Puregold stores and 2 S&R Membership Warehouse [outlets] to cater to the growing Filipino consumers,” Puregold president Vincent Co said.

Puregold group had a total of 329 stores nationwide as of end-2016.

These include 277 Puregold stores, 12 S&R membership shopping warehouse outlets, 23 S&R New York Style QSR stores, 9 NE Bodega Supermarkets and 8 Budgetlane Supermarkets.

Cosco Capital Inc., the holding company of Co, reported a 5.4-percent increase in net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company to P4.73 billion last year.

Puregold and S&R contributed 59 percent of Cosco’s total profit, followed by the commercial real estate segment with 22 percent and liquor distribution with 16 percent.

The group’s specialty retailing segment, composed of Liquigaz Philippines Corp. and Office Warehouse Inc., accounted for 7 percent of the net profit.

AGI posts net profit of P22.8b ALLIANCE Global Group Inc., the holding company of billionaire Andrew Tan, said Thursday net income attributable to common shareholders climbed 6 percent in 2016 to P14.8 billion from a year ago, on improved operating efficiencies across all subsidiaries.

AGI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues were flat at P139.7 billion last year, while reported net income climbed 5 percent to P22.8 billion from P21.7 billion in 2015.

“Since about three to four years ago, the group has made a deliberate effort to significantly raise our level of spending to expand our geographic footprint both here and abroad, and ensure a more sustainable growth in future earnings,” AGI president Kingson Sian said.

AGI has investments in real estate, gaming, liquor and fast-food sectors.

Megaworld Corp., the group’s property unit, now has 22 mixed-use developments all over the Philippines, spanning about 3,700 hectares. It expanded its office and commercial leasing businesses which now contribute about half of operating profit, providing the company with earnings stability.

Emperador’s flagship product, Emperador Brandy, is being marketed in 51 countries, making its way to become a global brand.

This followed the acquisition of Whyte and Mackay in 2014 and Bodegas Fundador in 2015, which added quality and well-known Scottish whisky brands and Spanish brandy products in the portfolio, as well as access to over 100 markets across the globe.

Travellers International’s Resorts World Manila maintained its position as a popular tourist destination with its diversified non-gaming amenities and attractive entertainment offerings. Jenniffer B. Austria

Motoring

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

B3

FASTLANE Hyundai launches subcompact SUV

Mazda MX-5 RF

Mazda, SEAT

win2017 Red Dot design awards T

he all-new Mazda MX-5 RF has been announced as a winner of the “Red Dot: Best of the Best” title at the 2017 Red Dot product design awards, while the all-new Seat Ibiza also took a Product Design 2017 accolade

The Red Dot Awards have been among the most prestigious design competitions in the world since they were first created in 1955 by the Essen, Germany-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, providing international recognition to design quality and innovation.

The Mazda KODO: Soul of Motion design language philosophy may have sounded a little grandiose when it first made its debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, but it’s been nothing short of an enormous success for the company ever since. The new philosophy came in when Laurens van den Acker left the company, and his successor replaced his controversial Nagare design language with an approach seen as more serene than provocative.

KODO takes its inspiration from a powerful animal’s stance when waiting to pounce on prey, or from the ancient Japanese martial art of kendo when a sword is about to strike.

The MX-5 RF is basically the retractable fastback version of the current MX-5 roadster, which itself drove away with the exact same award back in 2015.

The RF retains much of what’s

made the MX-5 such a huge success, but it adds that hard top that takes just 13 seconds to retract at the push of a button and can be operated while driving at speeds of up to 6mph or 10 km/h.

The “Best of the Best” award is exactly what its name suggests as it’s the highest honor available from the internationally

acclaimed annual competition, so a design has to be genuinely outstanding and groundbreaking to take the prize. According to the award organizers, designs named as “Best of the Best” winners are products created by design visionaries who manage to deliver a perfect balance of harmony of quality, desirability and usability.

For three decades now, the Ibiza has been the cornerstone of the Seat range, and the latest model is now able to stake a claim to being the best design the Spanish brand has ever delivered into the supermini segment.

Design is about more than just

looks though, and the Seat won the award thanks to its dynamic behavior and driving quality, its impressive on-road stability, significant improvements to its interior quality, safe and userfriendly technology, and its enhanced comfort.

A panel made up of 40 experts from around the globe assembled to decide the winners of the 2017 Red Dot awards in 47 categories, which included cars and motorcycles. Jurors can be from any industrial manufacturing company, although they cannot participate in a vote where products they may have been involved with are contenders.

Seat Arona. It won’t just be sharing design cues with the i30 either, as it’s also expected to utilize the same turbocharged 1.0-liter and 1.4-liter petrol and 1.6-liter diesel engines.

There’s more than just ambition behind that intention to be Europe’s leading Asian automaker by 2021 though; there’s also a clearly defined plan. Hyundai has stated it intends to build on its growing credibility by launching no fewer than 30 new models and derivatives between now and then. Since the firstgeneration Santa Fe went on sale in 2001, the company has notched up more than 1.4 million SUV sales.

Concrete details about pricing and specifications for the all-new Hyundai Kona have yet to be revealed, but expect to see the subcompact SUV make a public debut sometime in the summer with vehicles landing for sale in dealerships in October. AFP

Toyota earmarks $35m for fuel cells JAPANESE auto giant Toyota has announced plans for investing around $35 million in materials science research projects in a bid to accelerate the design and discovery of advanced materials for batteries and fuel cells.

Through its Toyota Research Institute (TRI), the manufacturer is proposing to work with research entities, universities and other companies to develop advanced materials to help make batteries and fuel cells for powering future zero-emissions and carbon-neutral vehicles more efficient.

Nobody doubts the days of fossil fuels are numbered for both commercial and passenger vehicles, but electric and hydrogen fuel cell models are still a minority appeal due to their restricted range and practicality. Identifying new, more efficient materials for advancing battery and fuel cell technology is therefore crucial in making these vehicles a truly viable alternative to petrol and diesel-powered models.

This new research will combine advanced computational materials modeling, experimental data from new

sources, machine learning and artificial intelligence to try to reduce the lengthy periods typically associated with this type of research and development.

Somewhat controversially, Toyota announced last year it didn’t see all-electric vehicles (EVs) as a viable solution for sustainable mobility in the short-term. But the new projects do show Toyota is still very serious about all-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles going forward.

Toyota and others have a long way to go to catch up with Tesla though, who only quite recently unveiled what’s thought to be the longest-range consumer electric vehicle in the world, the Tesla Model S 100D. The 100D boasts an EPA-rated range of some 335 miles on a full charge, while massmarket rivals are currently working towards more modest 200-mile ranges at best.

Of course, the challenge for Toyota isn’t achieving such impressive range from an EV; it’s offering it to consumers for considerably less than the $92,500 base price of the Tesla. AFP

SEAT Ibiza

Built tough by Overland WITH the summer season beating down upon us, its time to load up and explore Mother Nature with Western Europe and Asia’s biggest off-road equipment, Overland. Overland’s Atlas Series roof racks are engi-

HYUNDAI is a motor manufacturer with big ambitions, and one of those ambitions is to become the leading Asian automotive brand in Europe by as soon as 2021. To rival the likes of Honda and Toyota is a huge undertaking requiring a huge increase in sales, and that will inevitably mean a lot of new models launched between now and that target date. The latest of these new models has just been revealed as the Kona, a subcompact SUV that will take the brand’s range of SUVs offered for sale in Europe to four.

The Kona will therefore be the smallest member of a family that also includes the Grand Santa Fe, the Santa Fe and the Tucson.

The Hyundai borrows its name from one of the Hawaiian islands, its styling will be along the lines of the current i20 and i30 hatchbacks, and it will go headto-head with rivals such as Nissan Juke, Vauxhall Mokka X and the imminent

neered by people who are active 4-wheelers who know first-hand the requirements on how to protect your off-road rig.

With its vast experience and knowledge of taking on the rugged terrain, Overland makes it

their business to protect your SUV from the harsh elements of Mother Nature, while maximizing your vehicle’s load. The Atlas top load system can be utilized to store equipment and luggage and it aggressively trans-

forms your vehicle’s rear bed.

Tested in the harsh jungles of Malaysia and Thailand, the roof racks are tested to withstand the elements like acid rain and extreme heat. You won’t find a more thoroughly designed and manufactured vehicle protection and luggage carrier system than Overland’s line of front, rear, side bumper protection and now the Atlas Series Roll Bar system. Designed to look good and to be functional, the Atlas Series is made of high quality iron, high strength and lightweight material and is available in black or glossy gray color. The Atlas Series also has limited edition version of which only 200 pieces will be made available worldwide. Overland bumper systems and roof racks are aftermarket equipment designed for SUV’s and trucks manufactured by Toyota, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet, Ford and Isuzu.

Protect and enhance the capacity of your SUV with Overland. It is available at Autobuff, Banawe Q.C.; WERNZ Off-road Shop; Goldcars Banawe and in dealers nationwide.

Takakura is new Honda Cars prexy HONDA Cars Philippines Inc. , Honda’s automobile business unit, names Noriyuki Takakura as its new President and General Manager effective April 1, 2017.

Prior to his move to HCPI, Takakura held his post as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Australia Pty., Ltd. for four years, where he was in charge of Australia’s automobile business unit.

With his 15-year stint in Honda, he gained his expertise in Product Planning, Marketing, and Sales.

Toshio Kuwahara, who previously led HCPI, will be appointed as the new General Director of Honda Vietnam Co., Ltd. , where he will be assigned both automobile and motorcycle business units. With his extensive experience in Sales, Marketing, and Dealer Network for both Honda operations globally, working with HVN will be a great opportunity for him to share his knowledge and skills, similar to the impact he has left in the Philippines, Honda said in a statement.

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Edi tor DIN O DIREC TO III A ss t . Edi tor

B4

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

Motoring

Show

stoppers at the

MIAS

This rare 2017 Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and Shelby 350R were among the show stoppers at the Motul booth

Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

W

orldbex, the organizers of the highly anticipated annual Manila International Autoshow (MIAS) delivered yet another historic run as an estimated 128,000 visitors checked in for the four-day auto show.

The superb line up of superbikes at the CTEK booth was a hit at the show

Mazda’s drop top MX-5RF was a superstar

Motor Image presented the all-new global platform Impreza

With 21 major players from the automotive industry, four motorcycle manufacturers and more than a dozen corporate displays spread over the 34,000 square meter display hall of the World Trade Center, visitors were treated to an automotive display that rocked their visual senses. Hands down, the stars of the show were the display booths of Honda Cars Philippines Incorporated (HCPI) and Motul Philippines.

After its successful debut at the Geneva International Motor Show, the star of this year’s MIAS is the Honda Civic Type R. The Type R represents the brand’s racing and development of high performance vehicles.

Sporting an extensive aerodynamic design characterized by its muscular and aggressive frame, the Civic Type R is equipped with a 2.0 liter turbo engine that pumps out a healthy 320bhp with peak torque of 400Nm. Mazda’s drop top beauty, the MX-5RF created a stir when it was unveiled to the public, as it attracted attention like bees to honey.

The next booth which created

Wheel Gallery’s resto-mod Toyota Land Cruiser was a crowd favorite

a loud buzz and the most visited garage queens. The owners use and Creta variants; the Chalduring the show was the corpo- and abuse these supercars,” ex- lenger SRT Hellcat of Dodge; the rate display of Motul Philippines plains Gono.

Mopar edition Jeep Wrangler, the which had a combined value of With Honda and Motul leading Subaru Impreza of Motor Image; 250 million pesos worth of met- the display of this year’s theme a collectible resto-mod Toyota al. According to Carlos Gono, of “Beyond Performance”, other Land Cruiser of Black Rhino and President of Motul Philippines, notable launches were that of the display of expensive superthe sports cars displayed at their Hyundai with its Genesis G90 bikes by CTEK Battery chargers. booth were highly collectible and very rare limited edition supercars. Visitors ogled at the one of five McLaren Prototype 433 675LT; one of 12 Ferrari Novitec Rosso F12; one of 25 Mercedes Benz CLK DTM Cabriolet; one of 500 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 350R and one of 799 Ferrari TDF F12. “I was talking to the owners of these amazing cars since November of 2016 for this year’s MIAS. I wanted the public to know that we also have rare supercars here in the country.

The good thing about these cars is that they Honda was the star of the show with its Civic Type R Honda was the star of the are daily driven and not show with its Civic Type R

Bacolod rebranded as ‘SEA City of Smiles’ BACOLOD CITY—Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia has rebranded this city as “Southeast Asia’s City of Smiles,” as he vowed they will keep in step with the integration of economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“I know there will be challenges as well as opportunities that the Asean integration will bring, and I assure everyone that our people will not be left behind, not in the process of integration and certainly not in ensuring we get a fair share of the opportunities as well,” Leonardia said when he welcomed delegates to the 15th Asean meeting of Senior Officials Responsible for Information held here recently.

The meeting drew about a hundred representatives from Asean countries.

Leonardia said while integration has risks, as change in general always does, Bacolod is ready to share its uniqueness with the rest of Southeast Asia.

In fact, the mayor recalled, Bacolod was the first local government unit to connect with the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss how the city can actively participate in the process of the Asean integration, which will happen in due time.

“Amid the unprecedented Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor growth we are now enjoying,” Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor Leonardia said, “we realize that jimbo.gulle@gmail.com we cannot do it alone, that it is with the community of nations, of cities mslocalgov@gmail.com across the world, that sustainable, LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 equitable growth and development is possible.”

The Asean meet ended on a high ONE ASEAN. Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia (middle, in blue jacket), PCOO Undersecretary Noel George Puyat (third from right), Dino Apolonio (second from right), general note, with DFA officials talking of manager of PTV, and PCOO Assistant for Finance Kissinger Reyes (rightmost) hold hands with Asean senior officials for a traditional unity photo in front of the Bacolod City another one to be held in Bacolod Government Center. later this year, Leonardia said, as he congratulated the local organizing committee that helped managed the meeting.

In its assessment report, the Asean Security Task Force cited Leonardia for providing logistical support and for “tirelessly working in

By Sandy Araneta said are heavily burdened by ever tioning system or GPS and screen synergy with the local government increasing fuel prices, costs of that can monitor the passengers’ to ensure security of delegates and parts, and other maintenance fare. It also has a closed-circuit camachieve ‘zero incident.’”

S HE sees the entire city of Manila running spare expenses, apart from the daily era and an LCD screen onboard.

ASTF commander Police DiVizcaya village chief electric cars soon, Manila Mayor Joseph “boundary” they must pay to their “I’m seeing the whole of Marector Napoleon Taas said in his killed in Bambang report, “What we witnessed here “Erap” Estrada is now looking to introduce operators that averages around nila running on electric vehicles,” P1,000 a day.

Estrada said during Wednesday’s in the City of Smiles is a ‘whole of BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya— electric jeepneys or E-jeepneys in the capital city.

Should the planned e-jeepney launch of the E-trike project, government’ cooperation working A barangay captain in this town project push through, Estrada said which was also attended by TakaEstrada said an E-jeepney, like city government is also considerlike never before.” was gunned down Thursday he will also implement the “drive-to- hiro Innami and Yvone De Castro, the electric tricycles or E-trikes ing e-jeepneys in the city.

“Our successful handling of the morning by still unidentified asown” financing scheme like with the president and vice president for that the city started distributing to Estrada gave away 50 E-trikes meeting only bolsters our consailants.

E-trikes, where the driver-recipient Marketing and Sales, respectively, indigent tricycle and pedicab driv- to the first batch of driver-benefifidence that indeed, Bacolod is Police said Mario Parolan, 55, only should pay a boundary of P150 of BEMAC Electric Transportaers last Wednesday, is better than ciaries. ready for the big things that globalcaptain of barangay San Fernana day with zero interest. tion Philippines Inc. the old gasoline-fed jeepneys sim“Even the jeepney drivers, they ization, especially with the Asean do, was shot dead before 8 a.m.

About two years ago, an eDescribing the project as an ply because it does not consume should have their own jeepneys. integration, will bring,” the mayor while riding his motorcycle. jeepney proponent, in cooperation “honest-to-goodness livelihood expensive fuel, has no noise, no What happens is that during added.

Witnesses said Parolan was with the transport group Pasang program,” the mayor reiterated he fumes, and no emissions. [jeepney] strikes, only leaders are Leonardia concluded that while shot by masked gunmen on Masda, relaunched the Commu- is giving the poor drivers of tricy“Yes, even E-jeepneys, even- the ones making money,” Estrada Bacolod is the Philippines’ City board a motorcycle upon reachnity Optimized Managed Electric cles and pedicabs an opportunity tually,” Estrada said during the pointed out. ing the road in front of Benson’s of Smiles, after the Asean meet, Transport or COMET jeepneys to increase their income and beformal launch of the E-trike liveThe Manila mayor said he Enterprises, and sustained a henceforth it will be called “South gunshot wound in the head. He that run on rechargeable batteries. come operators themselves in two lihood project in Binondo, where sympathizes with the plight of the East Asia’s City of Smiles.” was rushed to the nearest hospiEach COMET has a global posi- to four years. he was asked by reporters if the lowly jeepney drivers, whom he

LGUs

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Erap wants e-jeepneys, too IN BRIEF A

tal but declared dead on arrival.

Parolan has been a barangay captain for many years, and has run many times for a seat on the municipal council. He is a member of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines and Kabalikat Civicom Association, Inc. Novo Chapter. Ben Moses Ebreo

Showcase of Mindanao culture unfolds in malls

By Ayunan G. Gunting-Al Hadj LAST week, the huge atrium of The Block at SM North Edsa in Quezon City was the venue of three major exhibitions. No doubt, the third booth was the largest— and it showcased the colorful culture of the Muslim tribes of the Philippines.

Hands down, it attracted the most visitors with an opulent display of artifacts from the various tribes that inhabit Mindanao, from the Yakans to the Maranaos. Visitors were taking selfies with the young male and female models garbed in traditional Muslim attire.

Not to be outdone was the musician who played traditional music using the indigenous instrument called the kulintang, which was brought in from Maguindanao.

Like the young models, the musician, Mona Ahmad, was dressed in a traditional malong, and was a

popular selfie model.

The exhibit, dubbed “Muslims in The Philippines: History and Culture,” was organized by the Anak Mindanao Party-List spearheaded by Rep. Sitti Djalia A. Turabin-Hataman. This touring show was designed by curator Marian Pastor Roces of TAO, Inc. and sponsored by SM Malls.

From SM North Edsa, the exhibit will move to SM Aura at the Bonifacio Global City, and on to other SM malls in Metro Manila and Luzon, organizers said.

Rep. Hataman, wife of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who hails from Basilan, has long been the champion of Mindanao’s tribal culture. Through this show, she aimed to impart its colorful heritage to the rest of the Philippines. She is hoping the Filipinos of Luzon will learn more and understand the Mindanao culture, which has been thriving in the Philippines for over a thousand years now.

2 children rescued thru ‘Kean’ hotline

Anak Mindanao Party-List Rep. Sitti Djalia A. Turabin-Hataman (center), in traditional Tausug ‘malong’ and garments, joins other dignitaries in cutting the ceremonial ribbon of the ‘Muslims in The Philippines: History and Culture’ exhibit at The Block at SM North Edsa in Quezon City.

The exhibit includes a timeline that follows the history of Mindanao, particularly the member provinces of the ARMM, which covers Basilan, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

Highlights of the show include century-old artifacts, such as weapons, musical instruments, and decorative items from the Maranaos, Maguindanaos, the Tausugs, and Yakans, among other tribes, some

of which came from the antique collection of Rep. Hataman.

With this exhibit, Hataman hopes to impart the way Filipinos Muslims play a pivotal role in forming the overall heritage of

Makati arrests 454 motorists for blocking pedestrian lanes

By Joel E. Zurbano MAKATI City traffic enforcers have apprehended a total of 454 motorists for blocking pedestrian lanes in various parts of the city, barely a month after Mayor Abigail Binay ordered the strict enforcement of traffic regulations for the safety of pedestrians.

Binay’s directive came on the heels of complaints from residents about rude motorists refusing to give way to pedestrians. Vehicles blocking “zebra lanes” at intersections and other designated pedestrian crossings have also been

observed around the city.

“Giving way to pedestrians is a basic road courtesy upheld by our Traffic Code. Sadly, many motorists have become insensitive to the danger they pose on pedestrians when they obstruct pedestrian lanes or fail to slow down before reaching a designated crossing,” Binay said.

Last year, a total of 204 pedestrians were injured in accidents involving various types of vehicles in the city, based on a report of the Makati Police.

Binay warned motorists the drive against traffic violators in

the city will continue without letup to ensure that discipline and the rule of law will prevail.

Under Article 20, Section 105 of the Makati Traffic Code of 2003, a driver approaching a pedestrian crossing shall travel at such a speed that he or she will be able to stop the vehicle before reaching the pedestrian crossing.

It also requires the driver to give way to any pedestrian who is on a pedestrian crossing, and prohibits any part of the vehicle from encroaching on a pedestrian lane at a stoplight.

Traffic enforcers from the city’s Public Safety Department conducted the intensified operation in the Central Business District (Zone 1), and in other major roads and intersections in the city covered by Zones 2 to 7 from March 4 to March 24. The most number of violators apprehended was in Zone 1 with around 200.

Mayor Binay also directed the PSD to review the existing provisions of the Makati Traffic Code and identify those that need to be amended as well as those that are already obsolete and should be deleted and/or replaced.

She cited the need for heavier penalties for violations that “directly endanger lives,” such as the violation of provisions under Section 105 of the Makati Traffic Code that metes out a mere P200 fine with community service.

On the other hand, she reminded pedestrians to strictly abide by restrictions imposed by traffic rules for their own protection.

“Pedestrians should be mindful of their duty to obey the law. They can avoid accidents by paying close attention to traffic signals and being alert while on the road,” she said.

DAVAO CITY—Two children were rescued by the city’s Social Welfare Office through the socalled “Kean Gabriel” hotline after they were reportedly abused by their guardians.

On Monday, the team rescued “Celine,” a three-year-old girl who welfare officers said was mistreated by her aunt at San Rafael Village this city. The mother left the young girl to the care of her older sister, while she was working as a house helper.

According to Social Worker Teresita Obang, “Celine” had two black eyes when they rescued her, and the child’s private parts were swollen owing to apparent physical abuse.

Meanwhile, Obang’s co-workers rescued five-year-old “Keshia,” who was reportedly beaten with a beaded cloth by her biological mother after a younger sibling tripped under her care on April 1, as the mother tried to attend to their mini-grocery. The young girl had bruises on her arm.

F. Pearl A. Gajunera

ERRATUM In the story “Mining firm improves literacy in Vizcaya town” by Ben Moses Ebreo, which appeared on page C2 of The Standard’s April 6 (Thursday) issue, the source quoted in the second, fourth and sixth paragraphs should have been Peter Storey, FCF Minerals Corp.’s operations manager.

Further, the story should have mentioned the literacy programs carried out in Barangay Runruno were related to FCF Minerals’ Community Development Program, not its Corporate Social Responsibility programs. We regret the errors.

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World

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

Rosa Parks house moved to Berlin

IN BRIEF Hollande seen as a ‘bad president’ PARIS―Seventy percent of the French people believe outgoing Socialist leader Francois Hollande was a “bad president”, according to a new poll published on Thursday.

The 62-year-old decided not to seek re-election in December, bowing to the inevitable in the face of catastrophic approval ratings that showed just four percent of the population approved of him at one point.

His five-year term has been marked by a series of terror attacks, stubbornly high unemployment and revelations about his private life that saw him photographed cheating on his partner in January 2014.

Although 70 percent of the respondents told pollster Odoxo they viewed him as a bad president, the survey of 1,001 people taken at the start of April showed parts of his legacy are seen positively.

A majority (54 percent) judged his security policies and social reforms such as bringing in gay marriage favorably, but on the economy, only 16 percent approved of his approach.

France goes to the polls on April 23 for the first round of a two-stage election to choose a new leader.

Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old former protege of Hollande, is seen as the front runner, followed by farright leader Marine Le Pen and scandal-hit righ twinger Francois Fillon. AFP

3 arrested over cow vigilante murder NEW DELHI―Police said Thursday they have arrested three people for murder over the death of a Muslim man attacked while transporting cows in northern India, where vigilantes patrol the streets to protect the animal Hindus consider sacred.

Pehlu Khan, a 55-year-old farmer, died of his injuries on Monday after hundreds of vigilantes attacked his cattle trucks on a highway in Alwar in the state of Rajasthan.

Police are still trying to identify most of the 200 vigilantes who attacked Khan and injured six others as they transported dozens of cows into a neighboring state.

Alwar police chief Rahul Prakash said they arrested three late Wednesday after examining video footage shot by onlookers and broadcast by the media.

“We saw the videos and identified at least five people who were at the spot. We called those five people to the police station and found that three of them were directly involved in assault on the victims,” Prakash told AFP. Slaughtering cows is illegal in many Indian states and some also require a license for transporting them across state borders.

Prakash said police have registered a murder case against all three and have arrested 11 survivors of the attack, charging them under various sections of Rajasthan’s cow protection law.

Vigilante squads that roam India’s highways inspecting livestock trucks for any trace of the animal have proliferated since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014.

Rajasthan’s BJP home minister Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters earlier that both sides were to blame for the incident on Saturday. AFP

HARVEST TIME. Indian laborers pick golden marguerite, or yellow chamomile, flowers in a field on the outskirts of Amritsar on April 6 ,2017. AFP

Mexican exporters await Trump moves M EXICO CITY―The bustling, cheaplabor assembly plants that dot the Mexican side of the US border are booming, but President Donald Trump’s stances on taxes and trade have them worried.

Trump wants to renegotiate the NAFTA trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, which has been in force for a generation, and his Republican Party has floated tax reform ideas that would hurt Mexican companies.

“Everyone is waiting to see what move the United States is going to make,” said Mario Hernandez of KPMG, a consultant for companies that run the so-called ‘maquiladora’ plants in Ciudad Juarez, across the frontier from El Paso, Texas.

These companies provide work for 2.7 million people there and in other states near the frontier. They import components from other countries, mainly the United States, assemble them-into appliances, medical equipment, auto parts and pieces for the aerospace industry―and then export them.

The system helps companies save money because labor is much cheaper in Mexico than in the US. The sector’s output expanded its revenues from the equivalent

of about $128 million in 2010 to $239 million in 2016, adding 800,000 jobs.

But alarm bells sounded in this industry in Mexico when Trump came to power in January and pledged to renegotiate NAFTA or pull out altogether if he does not win new terms that he likes.

A full 80 percent of Mexico’s exports go to the United States.

INDEX, an association that represents the maquiladora industry, says its strategy is “to be right next door” alongside Mexican officials who might end up renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with the US and Canada.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of NAFTA, some companies have put investment plans on hold.

Cesar Ochoa, a lawyer in Ciudad Juarez who advises companies interested in doing business in Mexico, said things have indeed been slow since the beginning of the year when Trump took power.

“I do not know if the rest of the market is in the same situation as me, but right now things are dead,” said Ochoa.

“It may be a golden age for the ‘maquiladoras’ but the only problem is that dark cloud on the horizon,” said Ochoa, insisting that companies want clearer signals from Trump as to what kind of trade ties he seeks with Mexico.

Mexico’s auto industry is also on edge about the prospect of changes to NAFTA, due to Trump’s belief that it is too beneficial to Mexico, to the detriment of Americans. AFP

BERLIN―Rosa Parks fled the American South for Detroit in the 1950s at the height of her civil rights struggle. Now the house where she sought asylum has itself found refuge in a city an ocean away: Berlin.

US artist Ryan Mendoza, who is based in the German capital, helped rescue the dilapidated two-story structure from the wrecking ball and rebuilt it board by board in his garden.

This week he will invite the public to have a look.

Mendoza, 45, says the house’s odyssey holds up a mirror to two societies: his bitterly divided homeland grappling with the rise of President Donald Trump, and Germany, where more than a million people fleeing war and misery have sought asylum in the last two years.

“By disregarding this house, the United States has shown a disregard for civil rights,” Mendoza said, as he gave AFP a preview of the reconstructed clapboard structure in the city’s ethnically diverse Wedding district.

“Civil rights are not just important for black people but also for white people who want to differentiate themselves from their racist forefathers. The Germans completely understand what this house has to say.”

Having lived in Europe for more than two decades, Mendoza said Berlin’s earnest reckoning with its own dark history as well as a mood of “love and tolerance” made it the right haven for the house.

“Maybe it’s not a coincidence that the city that is now taking into refuge this house is a city born out of a wall being broken down, and the country that is so intent on building a wall up is the country that has lost this house,” he said.

Parks, an African-American seamstress, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955, triggering a wave of ultimately successful protests against racial segregation. AFP

Colombia opens probe into deadly landslide MOCOA, Colombia―As survivors braved the increasingly sickening smell of decomposing flesh to find their loved ones, Colombian authorities on Thursday investigated who is to blame for the devastation of a landslide that now has claimed more than 300 lives.

The national comptroller, Edgardo Maya, ordered a probe to determine whether authorities in the town of Mocoa correctly enforced building codes and planned adequately for natural disasters.

“But this is not about punishment.

It’s about prevention. What good does it do to punish people now, after [so many] deaths?” he said.

Mayor Jose Antonio Castro, regional governor Sorrel Aroca and their predecessors face a separate investigation by prosecutors, according to Colombian media reports.

Survivors, meanwhile, continued

the grim search for the more than 300 missing, or defended what was left of their homes from looters.

Guided by the smell of rotting flesh, desperate residents pleaded with rescue teams for help digging through the mud and rubble in places they thought their relatives might be.

“It’s been smelling really bad here since yesterday. There has to be a body,” said a relative searching for 46-year-old Luis Eduardo Zuniga along with 10 other family members.

Digging in the mud with shovels, sticks or their bare hands, they excavated the area around the semi-collapsed house where he was last seen.

They finally found a team of medics and firefighters to help― seven volunteers from the town of Santander de Quilichao, a 10hour drive away. AFP

CHERRY-BLOSSOM SEASON. Pigeons fly over cherry blossoms in a park in Tokyo on April 6, 2017. Japan’s cherry-blossom season kicks off boozy parties across the country and draws tourists from far and wide. AFP

US envoy: Trump does see Russia as a problem NEW YORK―President Donald Trump does consider Russia a problem, his ambassador to the United Nations and rising US administration star Nikki Haley insisted before an often-hostile New York audience Wednesday.

“I have hit Russia over the head more times than I can count and it’s because if they do something wrong we’re going to call them out on it,” she told the annual Women in the World Summit.

“The things they’ve done with Crimea and Ukraine... and how they’ve covered up for [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad, those types of things we’re not going to give them a

pass on,” she said.

“So I have had conversations with the president where he very much sees Russia as a problem.”

The Republican president has come under sustained fire from political opponents for not voicing tougher criticism of Russia at a time when US law enforcement agencies and lawmakers are probing alleged ties between his campaign and the Kremlin.

“Everybody wants to hear his (Trump’s) words, but look at his actions,” said Haley, adding that Russia opposed strengthening of the US military and US energy expansion.

“The president has done both of those,” she told the opening

night of the eighth annual summit that was founded by journalist Tina Brown.

The remark was met by jeers from an, at times, hostile crowd in a largely Democratic-voting city where many dislike the president.

The United States and Russia are on a collision course over Syria after an horrific chemical attack early Tuesday killed at least 86 people in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun in northern Syria.

Trump came to office promising both to improve ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin but earlier Wednesday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Russia to rethink its support for Assad.

Haley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina who endorsed Trump’s primary election rival Marco Rubio last year, said she had “a lot” of interaction with the president.

“I talked to him this morning,” she said, adding that she was in Washington at least once if not twice a week for the president’s National Security Council meetings and was also working to keep US senators informed.

Her conversation with a television anchor spanned just over 20 minutes and was several times interrupted by an apparent heckler. She was applauded for remarks in support of veterans and military families. AFP

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ENERGYSAVING TIPS FOR THE SUMMER

Smart... from C4 “These energy-saving tips not only guarantee reduction in power consumption to spare the public from unwarranted price increases, but most importantly helps us to maintain and balance the power supply in the grid, thus avoiding supply deficiency,” Cusi said.

Cusi also enjoined government agencies to include setting the thermostat of air-conditioners no lower than 25°C; replacing aircon units with inverter-type ,and switching fluorescent lamps with lightemitting diode (LED) lights. Aside from requesting government institutions, the department asked nearly 70 malls nationwide to set their cooling system’s temperature to 25°C as a way to temper their huge buildings’ demand for electricity. “We, the government, have to be the best examples to our people in managing our energy consumption,’ Cusi said.

“Government agencies will continue stewarding our kababayans and private companies in achieving energy security for the country through efficient and judiciously managing electricity usage,” Cusi said.

The department has also also initiated the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program (NEECP) which is envisioned to promote energy efficiency and conservation as a way of life for every Filipino and at the same time mitigate the impact of price increases and the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido, III explained that among the major components of the NEECP are the information, education and communication campaigns to increase the consumer’s level of awareness while instilling values formation on the benefits of energy efficiency and conservation.

The department’s Don Emilio Abello Awards, meanwhile, recognizes companies and energy Managers who make significant contribu-

tions to the reduction of energy consumption by implementing technologies and techniques.

Pulido said the Government Energy Management Program also aims to sustain the judicious and efficient utilization of energy resources by integrating the concept of energy efficiency into the operations and procurement practices of government agencies and government offices.

Only recently, the department conducted a Regional Workshop on Energy Efficiency and on Minimum Energy Performance in the Commercial and Industrial Sectors which was initiated by the European Union-Switch Asia (EU-Switch Asia) through the European Union-High Efficiency Motors (HEMs) Project. The workshop was organized in partnership with the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE) and other local and international organizations. The event was aimed at sharing knowledge and experiences in promoting energy efficiency in industries within the ASEAN region and at the same time, designing and implementing the minimum energy performance standards for electric motors.

Volatile issue “Energy has become a volatile commodity and serious concern world-wide. The Philippines through the DOE has continued to exhaust all means and technologies to sustain a stable supply for the country,” Pulido said.

“The DOE is intensifying its efforts to empower the consumers innselecting the most efficient appliances available in the market through our Standards and Labeling Program which involves the posting of energy guides to indicate the energy rating of a particular appliance that was tested

by DOE in our Lighting and Appliance Testing Laboratory,” he said.

Pulido said the department created the website wattmatters.org.ph, which allows consumers to check the wattage, efficiency rating and consumption of household appliances such as television sets, refrigerators, air-conditioning units, etc. This website also provides practical energy conservation tips to consumers in order to save in their electricity bills. “It is also noteworthy to mention the Energy Efficiency Road Map 2017-2040 which targets the sectors of Transport, Residential, Industrial and Commercial establishments that will guide in the generation of energy savings of approximately 25,644 Thousand Tons of Oil.” he said. Pulido, however, said the department recognizes that these are still not enough and is encouraging the active participation of the public and private sectors as well as the country’s international partners to help us in achieving our goal of becoming a more energy efficient nation.

Stricter standards Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, for his part, called for the imposition of stricter energy efficiency and conservation standards to ensure the stability of the country’s power supply amid expected surges in energy demand during the summer.

“Past administrations have mostly focused on additional generating capacity to address perennial energy shortages. That needs to change. The government must give greater weight to energy efficiency and conservation strategies in its long-term plan to ensure the stability of the power supply,” said Gatchalian, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy.

Gatchalian has been conducting committee hearings on Senate Bill No. 30, a proposal to institutionalize energy efficiency and conservation policies. The senator stressed the need to enforce Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) on machinery equipment, appliances, vehicles and other fuel-using combustion equipment, and electronic devices to ensure that homes and businesses consume the least amount of power. Under this system, manufacturers, importers, and dealers will be required to comply with the MEPS and display an Energy Label showing the energy requirement and consumption efficiency of the products. “The imposition of stricter energy efficiency standards will cut down monthly electricity costs and reduce consumption. That will be a win-win situation for both the consumers and the power sector,” Gatchalian said. The MEPS system will be carried out by multiple agencies, led by the Department of Energy (DOE), which shall develop and implement a Mandatory Energy Efficiency Rating and Labeling System (MEERLS) for designated products.

Vital support The department will have vital support from the Trade Department (require manufacturers, importers, and dealers to comply with MEPS and display the energy label); Science and Technology Department (conduct research and development programs in facilitating energy efficient technologies); Transportation Department (compliance of vehicle owners, manufacturers, and importers with MEPS for road transport vehicles), Interior and Local Government Department (LGU compliance with the mandatory implementation of energy efficiency and conservation measures); and Public Works and Highways Department implementation of Guidelines on Energy Efficiency and Conserving Design in Buildings).

Local government units will monitor energy consumption by business establishments and enterprises, which will become part of the requirements for business permit renewal. “Prevention is always better than cure, so goes the popular saying. In the case of the energy sector, it is better to conserve and use power efficiently to ensure a stable supply instead of acting haphazardly when power reserves become insufficient. Let us all be responsible consumers and work together to resolve the perennial power supply problem, once and for all,” Gatchalian said.

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 advertise@thestandard.com.ph

An intelligent ref that helps you save on energy S AVING energy at home is the number one priority these days.

Necessary steps have to be taken to lessen the electricity bill.

Most of the time it’s not enough to be mindful about leaving the lights or appliances on. With certain appliances that run 24/7 at home, how can you be sure that you’re still saving on energy?

Hence, being careful in choosing appliances that need to run all day is important.

The appliances we choose should be able to save on energy without compromising performance. One of the appliances that run 24/7 is the refrigerator and it’s very important to make sure that its cooling performance is not compromised to keep your food fresh.

With Whirlpool being in the forefront of producing revolutionary and state-ofthe-art appliances, it’s no wonder that the Whirlpool IntelliFresh Refrigerator can provide you with energy efficiency and excellent cooling performance.

The IntelliFresh Refrigerator has a Tri-Sensor Advanced Technology that is

designed with several sensors that detect the amount of food inside and the ambient temperature outside and adjusts it accordingly to give you the best cooling performance consistently without wasting energy.

The refrigerator also enables faster cooling allowing you to both easily preserve food and produce ice faster. Now you won’t have to worry about food going bad or running out of ice. It also guarantees 7-day freshness for fruits and vegetables which keeps your leafy greens from wilting and fruits from rotting with its Microblock Technology.

With all these features combined, the Whirlpool Intellifresh Refrigera-

tor makes for a great addition to your kitchen. You will be able to keep your food fresh while still saving on energy for as low as P9 per day, as proven by the Meralco Testing Lab. And with a 10-year warranty on compressor, 2-year warranty on parts, and 1-year warranty on service, this refrigerator can serve your family for a long time.

You can find out more about this product by visiting the website www.whirlpool.com.ph. Whirlpool home appliances are exclusively distributed by Excellence Appliance Technologies, Inc. through leading appliance stores nationwide. For more information, you may call (02) 230 1555.

ENERGYSAVING TIPS FOR THE SUMMER

Gianna Maniego, Supplements Editor

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

Smart tips for an energy-efficient home

By Alena Mae S. Flores

W

prices.

ith summer upon us, the Energy Department once again called on the public to promote energy efficiency and demand side management to avoid spikes in electricity

“Demand-side management is one of the measures that we are encouraging our consumers to practice. By doing this, our energy consumption is made more efficient and economical, with the beneficial effect ultimately reflected and felt through our electric bills,” says Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. “When energyefficiency becomes second-nature to us, we are able to cushion whatever impact may be caused by spikes in the cost of electricity,” Cusi said. Cusi said the department has come out with “consumer-friendly tips, very simple and very doable energy saving tips.” With this in mind the department, through its Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB) developed the following appliance-focused and consumermanaged energy-saving tips aimed primarily aimed at helping Filipino energy consumers manage their electricity consumption.

• Start with cleaning fluorescent lights regularly as dust can decrease its illumination. Incandescent bulbs should be replaced with compact fluorescent lamps.

• • •

For airconditioners, the department says consumers should choose a unit with high Energy Efficiency Ratio. Having a high EER guarantees a more efficient motor and consumes less electricity.

Consumers should also select an aircon whose cooling capacity is appropriate for the size of the room.

Always keep the filter and condenser clean and keep doors and windows closed when the aircon is operating. Reducing aircon use to two hours a day results in savings of P30.50 per kilowatt-hour in consumption or P346.50 per month.

• Air conditioned room temperatures should be kept at 25 degrees to effect a savings of 12.6 kWh in consumption-equivalent to P138.60 per month.

• Choose refrigerators with high EEF as it consumes less electricity. Defrost refs and freezers regularly.

• Avoid unnecessary opening and closing of the refrigerator. This can save consumers around P28.40 per month.

• Ironing clothes should be done at one time, once or twice a week and should be done during off-peak hours (before 9 am and after 9 pm). Iron thick clothes first and thin clothes last.

• Ironing during the weekends. Reducing ironing hours by one hour would generate savings of P44 per month.

• Television sets should be turned off and their plugs removed when not in use.

• Electric fans should be cleaned regularly. By setting the electric fan at low instead of high, consumers can save about P52.80 per month.

• Reducing one hour of TV use will save consumers P19.80 per month.

• Reducing computer use by one hour will result in P49.50 savings per month while using a desktop instead of laptop enables the consumer to save about P330 per month.

Turn to C3

C4

Life

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

SHOPPING

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

D1

Tropical Shop’s organic body butter, tanning oil, essential oil, body and lip balm are made with natural ingredients like moringa and coconut oil

The Flora Verde spa range is made of mild, organic and natural ingredients

S

UMMER is the best time for going natural. It’s a great season to make that lifestyle choice to add more natural and organic food to your daily diet. You’ll not only be beach-ready, but the increased antioxidants will make you stronger and healthier.

It’s also the perfect time to try out naturally produced beauty and skincare products that will not only give you that sparkling summer glow, but will also help promote a healthier environment.

Most of all, going natural is a wonderful way of discovering delightful Filipino products at Kultura’s Naturally Pinoy Summer Bazaar in partnership with Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles until April 9 at ground floor, Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall.

Explore the different tastes of traditional Filipino delicacies with a healthy twist: The Cracking Monkey, Xocolat, Theo & Philo, Tropical Fruit & Winery, Banana Thins, YSML-Gustazo, Manille, Kickstart Coffee, Gourmet Farms, Malagos Chocolates, Healthy Pinoy, MSC, and Pili & Pino The bazaar is a treasure trove of all-natural beauty products like body butter infused with virgin coconut oil and lipsticks with natural oil that is extracted from the pili fruit. Indulge your mind and body with handmade soaps and essential oils from Flora Verde, Cocobody, Tropical Shop, Precious, Oryspa, Pili, Forest Magic and Daila. These products are not only made with ingredients, but have been subjected to extensive research to be safe and compatible with your skin.

Be summer-ready with Kultura’s beach essentials from Tropiko, Hijo, La Obra, Bags in the City, Dam Good Stuff, Casa Merced, Islas Filipinas, and Lagu beach mats at the fair.

Catch more activities and homegrown brands at the Naturally Pinoy Summer Bazaar at Mega Fashion Hall, Ground Floor of SM Megamall, also at Mall of Asia, Main Mall Atrium on May 18 to 21.

Uniquely Filipino delicacies, personal care, and summer essentials are available at selected Kultura stores in SM Aura Premier, SM Makati, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Lanang Premier, SM City Cebu, SM Seaside, and SM City Cebu.

Kultura boutiques are also located in Pico de Loro, Taal Vista, and the Molo Mansion, Iloilo. Visit its website at www.kulturafilipino.com.

Naturally Pinoy summer bazaar

Pili beauty products such as lipsticks and essential body oils have 100 percent natural pili and elemi oils as base and active ingredients

IT’S the time of the year when your bedroom needs a redo. Move the bed to one side or the armchair to another corner. Better yet, buy new pieces for a new season At Pottery Barn you can find several pieces that can readily fit your square and make it as cozy as possible.

Crosby bedroom collection in espresso Surround yourself with the classic beauty of English Colonial furniture that has been updated with modern details when you add pieces from the Crosby Bedroom Collection to your sleep space.

Choose the entire collection, which includes a bed, tall dresser and bedside table in rich espresso. Or, choose your favorite pieces from Crosby and mix them with other traditionally styled espresso or white bedroom furniture from Pottery Barn to create the exact look you want. Then, to maintain that look, dusting the wood with a soft cloth is all that’s needed to keep it looking like new.

Cocobody natural products are infused with Virgin Coconut Oil, rich in antimicrobial medium chain triglycerides

graceful camelback silhouette with a low profile that allows more room above for stylish decorating.

Fillmore curved upholstered bed The slightly angled silhouette of this bed’s headboard, bordered with nailhead trim, creates a stylish backdrop that works well with a variety of bedding styles and lets your decorator style flourish.

Tyler armchair in Erin linen oatmeal Nailhead trim accents the sophisticated profile of this chair. Details like end caps on the arms and square legs complement the graphic frame. It’s a piece that mixes well with other styles while adding a clean, updated look to a room.

Turner square arm sofa in leather burnished saddle

Calistoga bedroom collection in Calhoun oak Imagine coming home after a long day and breathing a sigh of relief as you walk into your bedroom. You’re enveloped in the gentle, understated elegance and beauty of a wine country inn. That is precisely the experience you get when you make the Calistoga Bedroom Collection from Pottery Barn a part of your bedroom decor. The Calistoga collection features the look of natural fibers and stunning wood grain with the warmth of oak. Match these furniture pieces up with adornments that speak to you, including earth-toned drapes and

Turner Square Arm Leather Sofa Comfort meets quality. With its high back, thick arms and down-filled cushions, Turner is one Pottery Barn's most comfortable seating collections.

Eagan multipanel mirror in silver finish Available in large (44x55), small (28x33) and extra-small (18x24), this spectacular mirror makes a grand statement in an entryway or living space. Small florets where the framework intersects add just the right flourish.

Crosby Bedroom Collection features classic English Colonial furniture updated with modern details

Summer means refurbishing your bedroom

Callahan dining side chair in performance tweed desert Modeled after a vintage piece, this plush dining chair is detailed with graceful curves and cabriole legs.

Calistoga Extra Wide Dresser comforters. Spread natural-fiber rugs on the floor to complete the look.

Raleigh camel back upholstered bed The Raleigh bed is crafted by own master upholsterers in the heart of North Carolina. The headboard features a

Aurora collection (sham and duvet) One bright, magnificent medallion fills the entire duvet cover to take center stage in your bohemian bedroom.

The shams (sold separately) feature a complementary print for a complete, styled look.

In the Philippines, Pottery Barn is located at Central Square in Bonifacio High Street Central and Estancia, Capitol Commons.

Visit facebook.com/PotteryBarnPH or follow @ potterybarnPH and @ssilifeph on Instagram for more information.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

Madrid Fusion Manila 2017 Uma Uma’s Aligue Ramen

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ITH its theme Towards a Sustainable Gastronomic Planet, which will explore how to transform gastronomy while respecting environmental limits and enhancing cultural traditions, Madrid Fusion Manila holds its third International Gastronomy Congress at the SMX Convention center at the SM Mall of Asia until tomorrow.

This is in line with the Department of Tourism’s ongoing goal to establish the Philippines as a center of gastronomy in Asia. And in partnership with SM, the event will be a platform for a discussion by some of the world’s best chefs on the future of food and how best to nourish appetites through sustained ways of cooking without

Times and Bloomberg were talking about the biggest food trends that will happen this 2017, and of the biggest food trends will be Filipino cuisine. We’ve gone a long way during these three years.”

During the event, guests were given a taste of sustainable gastronomic experience from S Maison restaurants with Uma Uma’s Chef Satoshi Nakamura, Rossini’s Chef Davide Lombardi and XO 46 Heritage Bistro’s Head Chef Rustan Mateo.

Madrid Fusión Manila is poised to once again draw the world’s top chefs and food: these include Spanish chefs Paco Pérez of the 2 Michelin Star restaurants Miramar and Enoteca; Jordi Roca and Alejandra Rivas of the 3 Michelin Star El Celler de Can Roca, which was no. 2 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016; Pedro Subijana of the 3 Michelin Star and 3 Repsol Sun restaurant Akelarre; Josean Alija of the 1 Michelin Star and 3 Repsol Sun restaurant Nerua; and Rodrigo de la Calle of the 1

in France.

Fusion Madrid Manila will truly be a global culinary exchange with Kamilla Seidler and Michelangelo Cestari of the 1 Michelin Star restaurant Gustu in Bolivia; Julien Royer of the 2 Michelin Star restaurant Odette in Singapore; Vicky Lau of the 1 Michelin Star restaurant Tate Dining Room and Bar, 2015 Asia’s Best Female Chef in Hong Kong Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer of Locavore Ubud, No. 49, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 in Indonesia; and Tony Yoo of the Dooreyoo restaurant and pioneer of New Korean Cuisine in South Korea.

Filipino chefs will definitely give us much to be proud about: Sally Camacho Mueller, runner up in the second season of Top Chef, Just Desserts in the US; Jordy Navarra of Toyo Eatery; Robby Goco of Green Pastures and Cyma restaurants, a local pioneer in the slow food movement

As part of MFM, SM Supermalls and DoT also bring the well-loved Flavors of the Philippines (FOTP) Festival, more than a week-long celebration of the country’s local flavors until April 8 in select SM malls to promote a fun-filled, mall-bonding experience for foodies across the country to enjoy.

The FOTP activities are designed to bring the culinary festival of MFM to an SM mall closer to home.

There will be gourmet fairs in at least 16 SM malls, including SM North Edsa, Aura, Megamall, Mall of Asia, Clark, Cebu, Cavite, Tarlac, Cabanatuan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Davao.

More activities are set to delight mall goers and their families at these malls. There will be food symposiums and food tastings, as well as exhibitions of delectable global and local gourmet food products.

This year’s events underscore SM’s commitment to continue innovating and making the mall-going

Uma Uma’s Chef Satoshi Nakamura

Madrid Fusion’s representative Miel Esteban, Tourism Board Promotion’s Joselito Gregorio, SM SVP for Operations Steven Tan, SM SVP for Marketing Jon Jon Agustin, Department of Tourism Director and Officer for Marketing Development Group Verna Buensuceso and SM AVP for Permier Malls 3 Perkin So are working together towards a sustainable gastronomical planet.

XO 46 Heritage Bistro’s head chef Rustan Mateo

exhausting sources of ingredients in a much more fragile world.

DOT Director and officer in charge for Marketing Development Group Verna Buensuceso enthused about how Madrid Fusion Manila has changed our culinary landscape during the press conference at S Maison at Conrad Hotel. “When we started our campaign three years ago, Philippine food was one of our best kept secrets,” she said. “And nobody actually knew much about what Filipino food is all about.”

At the start of 2017, however, “many publications like New York

Michelin Star El Invernadero.

European chefs will also take center stage during the event: Gert de Mangeleer of the 3 Michelin Star restaurant Hertog Jan in Belgium; Simon Rogan of the 3 Michelin Star L’Enclume and 1 Michelin Star Fera at Claridge’s in the UK; Magnus Ek of the 2 Michelin Star restaurant Oaxen Krog & Slip and pioneer of New Nordic Cuisine in Sweden; and Tatiana and Katia Levha, who were included in Conde Nast’s list of 10 Young Chefs to watch in 2016, of the Le Servan restaurant

and sustainable dining experience; and Gene Gonzalez of Café Ysabel restaurant, the only Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awardee in culinary arts.

SM again plays host to this historic event and welcomes Madrid Fusion as it comes to Asia for the third time and puts Manila in the heart of culinary interest worldwide. It will again host a Welcome Night at the scenic SM by the Bay for the official delegates highlighting the best of Philippine food, art, and culture, with lechon prepared in many unique ways on April 6.

experience more fun and extraordinary for customer through keeping the spotlight focused on local culinary traditions that are gaining world acclaim. As MFM acknowledges the Philippines as a major culinary destination in Asia, SM Supermalls shares this purpose with the government to help build and solidify the country’s reputation in the global culinary scene.

Watch out for more information updates on Madrid Fusion Manila and on Flavors of the Philippines and visit www.smsupermalls.com.ph.

Leading auditing firm marks a decade of excellence A TRANSITION to new leadership to further strengthen its legacy and a quality growth story marked the start of the 10th anniversary celebration of KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. (KPMG RGM&Co.), a member firm of KPMG International, held recently at the exclusive Tower Club in Makati.

During the event, top executives of the company traced the beginning of the KPMG RGM&Co. story which began in 2007, when its chairman and chief executive officer Roberto G. Manabat, together with Vice Chairman and COO Emmanuel P. Bonoan, embarked on building what would become one of the strongest professional services firms in the country. Guided by the KPMG values of excellence, trust, and commitment to the firm’s clients and people, they assembled a dynamic team of young leaders to continually motivate the rest of the organization.

As with any pioneering endeavor, however, the early years of the firm saw its share of challenges. “We had to prove to our

Optel, Ltd. managing director Don Felbaum, KPMG R.G. Manabat and Co. chairman and CEO Roberto G. Manabat, and Hanes Brands Philippines, Inc. president Gerardo Alejandro

KPMG RGM & Co. tax partner Leandro Ben M. Robediso, Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, Inc. consumer insights manager Eliza Longalong, and marketing director Emily Mitchell

From left: Rustan Commercial Corporation president Donnie Tantoco, Cargill Philippines sales director for food ingredients in Asia Pacific Roy Tharakan, KPMG RGM & Co. vice chairman and COO Emmanuel P. Bonoan, chairman and CEO Roberto G. Manabat, and Cargill Philippines president Philip Soliven

international partner, KPMG, that our governance processes met the highest standards,” Manabat recalls. In the face of all the hurdles, the intrepid team persevered, the tenet of quality growth pushing them forward.

The past 10 years made an interesting journey for the growing band of resilient professionals as they have developed into one cohesive team, each day affirming their commitment to be relevant to the firm’s clients and the Philippine business community.

Bonoan noted that the firm’s current leaders have since been followed by a succession of young and bright partners who have established new service lines. Thus, from 250 people, KPMG RGM&Co. now boasts of 1,000 dedicated employees housed in its own building, KPMG Center.

During the event, which was attended by media friends, customers, and industry leaders, the firm announced that this year is a transition year as Sharon G.

From left: KPMG RGM & Co. chairman and CEO-designate Sharon G. Dayoan, advisory partner Michael H. Guarin, Mary Kay Philippines general manager Sobee Dueñas, KPMG RGM & Co. chief finance officer Pacifico M. Castañeda, and Consunji and Bonifacio Law Offices managing partner Atty. Robby Consunji

Dayoan assumes chairmanship with the support of Bonoan, as well as the company’s chairman emeritus Roberto G. Manabat, and vice chairman and head of advisory Henry D. Antonio.

Even as it stands as one of the top tier tax firms in the Philippines and the fastest growing practice within the KPMG network in the Asia Pacific, KPMG RGM&Co. refuses to rest on its laurels, forging ahead through constant innovation and the relentless desire to better serve its clients and its own people.

From left: Manila Electric Company vice president and head of corporate business group Victor Genuino, KPMG RGM & Co. advisory principal Ma. Cynthia C. Hernandez, Manila Electric Company vice president and head of utility economics Atty. Lawrence Fernandez, KPMG RGM & Co. risk management partner Ma. Gracia C. Diaz, and audit partner Emerald Anne C. Bagnes

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

GMA rules nationwide ratings in March

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ROADCAST leader GMA Network, Inc. (GMA) continued to lead over competition in nationwide TV ratings, according to data from the industry’s trusted ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

From March 1 to 31 (with March 26 to 31 based on overnight data), GMA maintained its advantage in National Urban Television Audience Measurement

(NUTAM) with 41.7 percent people audience share; leading ABS-CBN’s 36.3 percent with 5.4 points.

GMA ruled across all day parts in NUTAM including the

‘Pan de Musika’ open mic tonight

Kapuso telefantasya 'Encantadia' remains at the top spot in National Urban Television Audience Measurement

hotly contested primetime block.

Primetime telefantasya series Encantadia remains the most watched program nationwide bagging the top spot. Also among the top five in the list were Kapuso programs Magpakailanman and Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.

Also in the list of top programs nationwide were Destined to be Yours, Pepito Manaloto, 24 Oras, Hay Bahay, Meant to Be, Tsuperhero, Ika-6 na Utos, 24 Oras Weekend, Eat Bulaga, Sunday Pinasaya, Full House Tonight, and Case Solved.

The Kapuso Network also dominated competition in Urban Luzon, which accounts for 77 percent of the total urban TV

household population in the country, with an average people audience share of 48.3 percent as against ABS-CBN’s 30.3 percent.

Nielsen data is gathered through a greater number of sampled homes nationwide in comparison to Kantar Media.

With approximately 900 more homes surveyed in Total Urban and Rural Philippines compared to Kantar, Nielsen data is statistically considered more representative of the total TV population.

In 2016, Nielsen TV Audience Measurement increased its client pool to a total of 36 clients/ subscribers, which now include 12 local TV networks, five regional clients, two blocktimers,

and 17 media agencies.

GMA subscribes to Nielsen along with other local networks TV5, Aksyon TV, CNN Philippines, Net 25, Solar Entertainment Corporation, Viva Communications Inc., among others; regional network Fox Networks Group; blocktimers CBN Asia and TAPE Inc.; and major advertising and media agencies such as EbiquityFaulkner, Dentsu Aegis Network (Carat, Mediaforce Vizeum, Dentsu), GroupM (Mediacom, Mindshare, MEC and Maxus), Omnicom Media Group (OMD, PHD and M2M), Zenith Optimedia, and Starcom Mediavest.

Lee Yeong and Ra-On’s status gets complicated in

‘LOVE IN THE MOONLIGHT’ Hong Ra-on finally revealed her true identity to Prince Lee Yeong

THINGS get more complicated after Sam Nom finally revealed her true identity as Hong-Ra-on (Kim Yoo Jung) to Prince Lee Yeong (Park Bo Gum) in the hit primetime Koreanovela Love in the Moonlight.

Just as when the two can go all out in showing their affection for each other, the king orders his son Lee Yeong to marry Jo Ha Yeon. What prompted the king to promise the crown prince in marriage with another? How will Ra-on take this? Will Lee Yeong fight for his love for Raon?

Love in the Moonlight continues to shine bright

in the national TV ratings. From March 27-31 the series got an average national TV rating of 11. percent compared to rival program with only 8.3 percent. Netizens also continue to create a buzz on social media as the show’s official hashtags consistently make it to the top Twitter trends every weeknight.

Even celebrities are hooked with the love story of Lee Yeong and Ra-on like Vice Ganda, who is very vocal in expressing his love for Bo Gum and Jinyoung through his Twitter account.

Love in the Moonlight airs weeknights after A Love to Last on ABS-CBN.

Better late than never

MUSIC, poetry lovers, and the public are invited to Pan de Musika open mic night organized by talented young artists of Songwriters Philippines and Kamuning Bakery Cafe tonight at 7:30 p.m. onwards.

Among the music artists of Songwriters Philippines performing in this second session of Pan de Musika include Jana Garcia, Don So Hiong, Nicole Abuda, Bryan Amparo, and Romel Sengco, with Santy Leonardo hosting.

Reading poems are poets from Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA) like Anna Liza Madayag Gaspar, Manuel Abis and others.

Kamuning Bakery Café supports many cultural and civic projects, such as the now popular tertulia-inspired Pandesal Forum where newsmakers and leaders dialogue with media and intellectuals.

Kamuning Bakery Cafe is a 78-year-old bakery and cafe at Judge Jimenez St. corner K-1st Street, Quezon City.

Music artists and poets can call 4161637, 9292216, 4126628, office 4151692, 4126685 or Joanna 09302481553, 09059302339 or Mela 09338604252 or 09228901893 or text 24-hours 09188077777 or 09178481818.

Send email to kamuningbakerycafe@ gmail.com.

Artists and poets can also register at Kamuning Bakery Café branch store at SM North Edsa’s secondfloor East Bridge.

Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, and George Foreman traverse Asia with comic sidekick Jeff Dye in fish-out-water travelogue series 'Better Late Than Never'

THE adventure of a lifetime for four celebrated men from across different genres kicked off in Tokyo on April 2 with the premiere of the addictive new series Better Late Than Never.” This fishout-water travelogue series follows cultural icons Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, and George Foreman as they traverse Asia exploring different countries and cultures.

With no schedule and no itinerary, the only help will come

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Friday, April 7, 2017

ACROSS 1 Bothersome sort 5 Urged, with “on” 10 Responds 14 “Miami Vice” cop 15 Babble on 16 Mr. Atkins of country music 17 Goddess’s statue 18 Drab, as colors 19 Moon ring 20 Big-hearted 22 — Khan 23 Frisk about 24 Spanish noblemen 26 Wanted-poster word 29 Screams (2 wds.)

33 Far-reaching view 34 Dry white wine 35 Any ship 36 Equal to the task 37 Cut of beef 38 Slant 39 Umbrage 40 Scare badly 41 Walrus hunter 42 Some from the Baltics 44 Ill-humored

45 Pinnacle 46 Very thin model 48 Rings up 51 Scuffed along 55 Jai — 56 Sand unit 58 Mark’s successor 59 Retina cells 60 Coat for a house 61 Nasty mood 62 Bad-mannered 63 Monica of tennis 64 Capture DOWN 1 Math subj.

2 Broad-based 3 Computer graphic 4 Put up with 5 — Downs (racetrack) 6 Cluster 7 Schmoozes 8 Dog days in Dijon 9 “— Rosenkavalier” 10 Downhiller’s run 11 Whale chaser 12 Football cheer 13 Ancient colonnade 21 Sub — (secretly) 22 — -jerk reaction 24 Enjoy a pint

25 Ape a pig 26 Do the trick 27 Virgo’s neighbor 28 Archipelago dot 29 Great disorder 30 Willow shoot 31 Orange-andwhite rental (hyph.)

32 Peevish 34 Avignon’s river 37 Canned meat 38 Most deceitful 40 Incites Rover 41 Get real! (2

wds.)

43 Bag 46 Bellyache 47 Cousins’ moms 48 “It Walks by Night” author 49 Baseball family name 50 Alan or Cheryl 51 Lift anchor 52 Green moth 53 Mr. Satie 54 Be overfond 56 JAMA readers 57 — Dawn Chong

from comic sidekick Jeff Dye, a young tech-savvy comedian with an agenda of his own and who isn’t above leading the men off track.

Navigating their way through six cities and four countries, the five men make connections with the local population, immerse themselves in local traditions and sample exotic food—all the while dealing with the unexpected twists and frequently hilarious turns that any trip presents. Checking off items on their own personal ‘bucket list,’

the men will also reveal different sides to their personalities as they support one another and find themselves bonding in surprising and meaningful ways.

“We had to build a relationship quickly for the show and when you put five total strangers together, you just don’t know how it is going to be received,” said Terry Bradshaw, four-time Super Bowl champion for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “We had a blast, an absolute blast and I’ve got all of these new friends.”

The five men will travel to

iconic cities across Asia starting in Tokyo, Japan where they are immediately out of their element and can’t even find their way out of the train station. Other cities include Kyoto, Hong Kong, Seoul, Phuket and Chiang Mai. Each stop is packed with hilarious cultural experiences, heartwarming spectacles and unexpected twists as the legends take on this unforgettable adventure.

Better Late Than Never airs Sundays, 8:00 p.m. on Sony Channel.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017

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FTER much anticipation, GMA Network proudly introduced the star-studded cast of Mulawin vs. Ravena in a grand reveal with a live TV coverage seen in 24 Oras recently.

Heart Evangelista-Escudero plays the iconic character Alwina

Bea Binene as Anya

Derrick Monasterio as Almiro

Headlining the biggest G M A N e t w o r k ’s telefantasya of GMA this 2 year is Kapuso Drama King Dennis Trillo returning as Gabriel, Alwina’s childhood friend in love with her and becomes the King of Halconia.

Also in the cast is Carla Abellana portraying the role of Aviona, wife of Rodrigo and one of the most loved and recognized Mulawin in Avila.

Kapuso Premier Actress Lovi Poe is Magindara, a mermaid guarding Lake Venado. She is the one and only daughter of Sandawa and known as the goddess of the sea.

And joining in her first-ever full length telefantasya is Asia’s Songbird, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid as Sandawa, the immortal goddess of nature.

Also playing very special roles are Philippine TV’s Sweetheart, Heart Evangelista-Escudero breathing life to the iconic character of Alwina, sugo ng mga Mulawin. It can be recalled that Alwina gave birth to a child destined to be the savior of their race and the human world. Kapuso actor Tom Rodriguez is also in the series as Rodrigo, Aviona’s husband and Anya’s father.

Ariel Rivera joins the cast as Panabon, a member of the Council of Elders in Avila and the representative of the Tabon (Mulawin half-bloods).

Featured as well in this primetime series are the hottest young Kapuso love teams—Bea Binene as Anya, half-blood daughter of Aviona banished from Avila, Derrick Monasterio as Almiro, son of Alwina and Aguiluz, Bianca Umali as Lawiswis, the love of Pagaspas’ who, after 12 years, has blossomed into a beautiful young Avian and Miguel Tanfelix reprises his role as grown-up Pagaspas, a former owl who transitioned into a young Mulawin.

One of GMA’s talented actors Kiko Estrada plays the role of Rafael, the mortal enemy of Almiro.

Completing the cast are: Mga Mulawin Valerie Concepcion as Tuka, adoptive

Carla Abellana as Aviona

KAPUSO

Lovi Poe as Magindara

introduces cast of

‘Mulawin vs. Ravena’

mother of Lawiswis; David Licauco as Malik; and Roi Vinzon as Daragit, the de facto ruler of Mulawin after the death of Aguiluz; Mga Ravena: Chynna Ortaleza as Reyna Rashana, sister of the former Ravena King Rasmus; Dion Ignacio as Siklab, the clandestine crown prince of the Ravena; Winwyn Marquez as Ribay; and TJ Trinidad as Greco, a soldier and Gabriel’s right-hand man.

The actors who will play equally important roles in the mortal world are

Angelu De Leon as Lourdes, the adoptive mother of Pagaspas, Bobby Andrews as Dionisio, Anya’s adoptive father, Joko Diaz as Antonio, Charee Pineda as Savana, Rafael’s mother and ruthless owner of Hacienda Montenegro and Nova Villa as Lola Elo, mother of Rodrigo and adoptive grandmother of Almiro.

Dominic Zapata and Don Michael Perez who is also the concept creator and head writer of the series direct Mulawin vs.

Ravena, airing soon on GMA Telababad.

Bianca Umali as Lawiswis

‘Wowowin’ crowns its

first Gandang Filipina Gandang Filipina 2017 winner Michelle Arceo (center) with 2nd runner up Lady Justerinnie Santos and 1st runner up Camille Angelica Canlas

ALL 23 candidates of Wowowin’s “Gandang Filipina 2017” were able to exhibit their hometown’s distinct traditions on national television, but Michelle Arceo of Mandaluyong City was the most graceful of them all.

With the distinguished panel of judges including GMA Films and GMA Worldwide President Annette Gozon, GMA First Vice President Joey Abacan, esteemed Filipino designers Avel Bacudio, JC Buendia and Randy Ortiz, Arceo won the hearts of the people with her wit and charm.

Arceo grew up in America, but she decided to go back to the Philippines and care for her mom who sacrificed a lot for their family. Now that she has been crowned as the first Gandang Filipina winner, she has decided to give back and offer her winnings to her mother.

Aside from P500,000 cash, Arceo also took home a brand new car. Her fellow winners, 2nd Runner Up Lady Justerinnie Santos of Bulacan took home P100,000 cash, while 1st Runner Up Camille Angelica Canlas of Cebu won P50,000.

Miguel Tanfelix as Pagaspas

‘The Complex’ airs on the web this April FOLLOWING two successful seasons of Forever Sucks, D5STUDIO takes on an all new mystery-thriller series intended to send its online viewers all sorts of fright.

The Complex follows Alex, a male nurse who moves into an apartment complex and meets Anj, a beautiful but mysterious girl. Alex soon experiences strange happenings and vivid haunting dreams. He soon realizes that the hallways, corners and walls of The Complex conceal a secret begging to be revealed.

At the helm of this thriller, D5STUDIO tapped awardwinning indie filmmaker

Prime Cruz (Sleepless, Ang Albie already appeared in films most recently, the blockbuster Lou Veloso, whose recent or not Alex stays or leaves like Aswang, Shake, Rattle & scarefest, Pwera Usog. performance in Erik Matti’s will depend on his relationship Manananggal Sa Unit 23B).

Veteran character actor Seklusyon was lauded by critics, with JR. Boo is known for In an exclusive interview, Cruz Roll Fourteen: The Invasion, and was cast as Mang Rene, the being part of the memorable explains, “The Complex is resident maintenance guy in The ensemble cast of Joel Ferrer’s a different type of mysteryComplex and the one who has screwball comedy feature, thriller, hooked more on lived in the building the longest. Baka Siguro Yata. mood and ambience and not As for the rest of the cast, D5 And then there’s JR’s longtime just on jump scares.”

Studio held auditions for various girlfriend Pia who is fiercely In casting for the key roles, key roles. protective of her man. Portrayed D5STUDIO turned to Albie In casting the dark and cryptic by Kate Alejandrino who has Casiño to play the role of Anj, the director suggested recently delivered memorable Alex, a 24-year old nurse Emmanuelle Vera hailed for performances in acclaimed indie who left his hometown of her performance in the indie features like Bitukang Manok, Tacloban City for a fresh start romantic comedy-drama, Ang Lila and most recently, the lesbian in Metro Manila.

Kwento Nating Dalawa. drama, Baka Bukas.

Albie became a household Indie actor, Boo Gabunada The Complex premieres name in 2015 following his plays JR, a fellow tenant who exclusively on D5STUDIO and stint in the popular teleserye, moved into the complex two on youtube.com/D5Studio on On the Wings of Love. No months before Alex. Whether April 15. stranger to horror features,