Manila Standard - 2017 April 24 - Monday

40,000 cops, soldiers guard Asean summit

By Sandy Araneta SOME 40,000 policemen and soldiers will provide security during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit this week.

“What you see here now is just a portion of the total 40,000 that we will deploy for the 30th Asean Summit from Friday to Sunday,” acting Interior and Local Government Secretary Catalino Cuy said in Filipino, during the send-off ceremony for the security team Sunday.

A spokesman for the Metro Manila police office, Chief Insp.

Kimberly Molitas, said some 9,000 security personnel were present during the ceremony.

Also at the ceremony were Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa,

Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., director-general for operations of the Asean 2017 National Organizing Council, and other top security officials.

Paynor reminded the security personnel that the public should feel their presence even if the bulk of them would be virtually invisible.

“That gives a feeling of confidence to everyone that we know what we are doing,” Paynor said.

He said the security team must also use the summit next week to prepare for the summit in November where 22 heads of states will attend.

“Let us outpace ourselves. Let us sustain the effort that we have done. Every single meeting that we protect and secure, we up the ante, always improve the standard Next page

Maute camp under fire; Lanao Sur residents flee

By Nash B. Maulana MARAWI CITY—Fighting has displaced close to 2,000 people in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur, as government security forces intensified anti-terror offensives since the early hours of Saturday, officials and residents said.

Bomber aircraft pounded suspected lairs of the Maute terror group, which had declared allegiance to the Islamic State.

Residents said dozens of six-bysix military trucks carrying ground troops headed for Piagapo Sunday morning in an apparent full-scale operation.

The military has yet to officially disclose to media the magnitude of the anti-terror offensive.

But in an initial assessment report, the Office of Gov. Soraya AlontoAdiong said 416 families and 1,828 individuals have been evacuated to neighboring municipalities.

Alonto-Adiong said the province needed supplemental relief assistance, since the latest evacuation took place when the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Manage-

ment Council was hardly through attending to needs of families dislocated by last week’s magnitude 5.5 earthquake in nearby Wao town.

Jeannie Tamano, Provincial Information Office head, said the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office had packed 400 bags of food supplies consisting of rice, canned fish, packs of quick noodles, sugar and coffee.

Heavy fighting continued into Sunday, military officials said.

The group had moved into Piagapo from Butig Friday, said Brig.

Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista.

Government forces faced fierce resistance from the cornered terrorists, military officials said.

They added that the intensified campaign was in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to crush terrorism in Mindanao.

Initial reports said 15 members of the group had been killed, while the government reported no casualties so far.

Police and military forces in Lanao del Norte and Iligan City were under heightened alert, with checkpoints set up in vital areas.

VOL. XXXI • NO. 69 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WATER CANON SALUTE.

The logo of the 2017 Asean gets sprayed with colored water during a water canon salute as part of ceremonies Sunday to mark the Philippines’ hosting of the 30th Asean Summit from April 26 to 29, 2017. Witnessing the event are (left panel) Asean National Organizing Council Director General for Operations Marciano Paynor (4th, left) PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa and other PNP officials.

Norman Cruz

ASG beheads soldier, loses 3

By Francisco Tuyay and Sandy Araneta

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HE Abu Sayyaf Group beheaded an Army soldier days following his abduction by a group of bandits in Brgy.

Lagasan, Patikul, Sulu. In Bohol, the ASG suffered three more casualties during clashes with the government forces who were pursuing an ASG team out on a kidnapping mission.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana Commander of Joint Task Force Sulu said the body of Sgt. Anni Siraji was found at 3 p.m. Sunday somewhere in Brgy. Taglibi, Patikul, just a few kilometers from where he was taken.

Sobejana said the decapitated head was about 50 meters away from Siraji’s body, which was already in a state of decomposition, suggesting that the beheading was done three days ago.

He said that the beheading of

Siraji was hastily done as the bandits were being hunted after they clashed with the Army’s 32nd Infantry Battalion in Taglibi village on March 3, during President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Sulu.

Siraji was a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front who was integrated into the Army in 1996.

He was seized by seven armed men about 9:30 a.m. Thursday along the highway heading towards Brgy Lagasan, Patikul.

Sobejana said Siraji’s body was at the morgue of the Busbus Hospital and will be brought to his family by a navy vessel.

“In our assessment the beheading was done three days ago, hastily done because of our continuous

DoJ: Unify drug cases vs De Lima

NPA raids tourists’ hub in Davao Or.

By Rey E. Requejo THE Justice department has urged a Muntinlupa trial court to reconsider its decision rejecting its plea to consolidate its three drug-trading charges against detained Senator Leila de Lima.

“While we respect the court, we filed a motion for reconsideration of its decision,” Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said in a text message over the weekend.

A panel led by Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong filed the plea, insisting that the three cases against De Lima arose from a similar set of facts with common parties and issues and could be heard by one court.

The Justice department filed three separate cases against De Lima before the Muntinlupa Next page

AFTER ABU. Photo taken on April 22, 2017 shows Philippine soldiers taking position after a clash with gunmen in the town of Clarin, Bohol province. Four suspected Abu Sayyaf Group members were killed on the tourist island as government forces pursue remnants of the bandit group behind a foiled mass kidnapping attempt. AFP

PH placates China: Pagasa visit part of normal routine

By Francisco Tuyay and Sandy Araneta DEFENSE officials stood their ground Sunday after China protested a recent trip by top military brass to Pagasa Island, describing it as a routine visit to any of the country’s controlled territories.

On Saturday, Beijing expressed “grave concern” and dissatisfaction over the visit by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and

operations. They beheaded [him] and then they fled; they attempted to bring the head, but they eventually left it some 50 meters from the slope,” Sobejana said.

The military condemned the beheading of Siraji, who they described as a law-abiding and decent man helping the peace efforts of the government in Mindanao.

“We condemn the barbaric act by the Abu Sayyaf against Siraji.

They are both Tausugs, but still, they have beheaded their fellow Tausug,” Sobejana said.

Three more ASG men were killed on Bohol island as government forces pursued remnants of a team that had aimed to conduct kidnappings in the area, authorities said Sunday.

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Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año to Pagasa Island in the South China Sea, where China has overlapping claims.

But Año said the visit to Pagasa on Friday was part of the military’s normal visitation process.

“There is nothing wrong with our visit. It’s part of my job,” Año said.

Lorenzana, Año and journalists landed on Pagasa Island early morning Friday despite a series of

challenges from the Chinese coast guard.

“We never landed on any island except ours, where troops are stationed. Pagasa is a municipality of Palawan,” Año said.

The general said it was the job of the Department of Foreign Affairs to respond to the Chinese protest.

“As far as the AFP is concerned, we visited our troops manning our territory,” Año said.

After the visit, Lorenzana laid out plans to improve the structures on the island, and plans to immediately build a beaching ramp so that ships could more easily unload construction materials to be used in the rehabilitation of the Rancudo airstrip and other facilities urgently needed.

The chief of the Defense department’s public affairs office, Arsenio Andolong, said the trip Next page

DAVAO CITY―Communist rebels attacked Aliwagwag Falls in Cateel town, one of the main tourist destinations in Davao Oriental, around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday but were repulsed by soldiers, an official said.

“No tourist was injured in the attack,” Captain Rhyan Batchar, chief information officer of the 10th Infantry Division, said in a phone interview.

He said around 40 members of the New People’s Army’s Southern Mindanao Regional Command staged the attack that lasted for almost an hour and wounded a soldier.

He said a team from the 67th Infantry Battalion was assigned to Aliwagwag to secure visitors as tourists trooped there during summer.

“The place is secure right now.

Pursuit operation is ongoing against the fleeing rebels,” he said. PNA

Tesda-funded schools in Ecija ‘non-existent’

By Ferdie G. Domingo CABANATUAN CITY―A number of vocational-technical schools accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority have been found to be “ghost schools” or nonexistent, an official said Sunday.

Tesda deputy director general

Diosdado Padilla made the statement even as authorities have started running after the nonexistent schools that have been receiving funding from the agency.

“We have already uncovered the existence of these ghost schools and we have already filed charges against some of them,” Next page

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News

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Watchdog wants Jack Lam indicted

By Rey E. Requejo

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N ANTIcrime group on Sunday urged the Justice department to indict Chinese gaming mogul Jack Lam for violating the AntiDummy Law. The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption made the call even as the department’s prosecutors are set to resume the preliminary investigation of the complaint filed by the VACC against Lam on April 28.

During the preliminary hearing last week, the VACC filed an affidavit insisting that Lam should be held criminally liable for violating the anti-dummy law.

“It is most respectfully prayed that this Honorable Office find probable cause against the respondent for [violating the AntiDummy Law],” says the affidavit signed by Arsenio Evangelista.

He said Lam’s counsel failed to provide documents to support his claim that Fort Ilocandia is 60-percent Filipino owned, despite the assertion of businessman Charlie Ang. “Mr. Ang’s defense merely constitutes plain denials without substantiation,” the VACC said.

“There [is] no proof that the BVI companies are registered as doing business in the Philippines.”

Last December, the VACC, through its president Dante Jimenez and its legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio, accused Lam and four others of violating the anti-dummy law that prevents more than 60 percent ownership of foreign investors in real estate properties in the country like Fort Ilocandia in Ilocos Norte.

Topacio said the company used “layering” to conceal the truth that Fort Ilocandia was majority owned by Lam. “Through corporate layering, Fort Ilocandia through its dummy companies and its Directors and Officers are able to exercise, enjoy, use and exploit real property in the Philippines contrary to law,” the VACC said.

The group also sought to “declare the Asset Purchase Agreement entered into by Fort Ilocandia with Grand Ilocandia and WPI [Waterfront Philippines Inc.] to be null and void for being contrary to law.”

Grand Ilocandia is the original operator and owner of Fort Ilocandia Resort and Hotel when it participated in the deal that took place on Sept. 9, 2000.

Through the asset purchase agreement, Fort Ilocandia Holdings was able to acquire from Grand Ilocandia pieces of property and assets including Fort Ilocandia Resort and Hotel.

“There is a violation of the Anti-Dummy Law when a qualified Filipino citizen or national allows a foreign citizen or nonqualified person to enjoy rights, privileges, property or business the exercise of which is limited to Filipino citizens,” the VACC said.

Citing records from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the VACC said the stocks of Fort Ilocandia Holdings was being shared among Ilocandia Holdings Corp., which holds 59 percent of the Filipino shares; Intellectual Group Ltd. which owns 39 percent of the foreign shares; and less than one percent to Lam. However, the VACC found out that Lam seemed to also have a hold on IGL when it signed a May 6, 2000 memorandum on behalf of IGL over a P150- million loan given to WPI. The VACC also noted that Ilocandia Holdings has 39 percent foreign ownership through Corpsmart Ltd. and 59-percent Filipino ownership through Sevenseas Holdings.

“The corporate structure of the above corporations, despite being seemingly compliant with Philippine laws, warrants a deeper investigation as to their real foreign equities and those of their subsidiaries and/or affiliates,” the VACC said.

TO THE RESCUE. Aid- loaded trucks line up to the rescue of around 2,000 evacuees in Amai Manabilang town from besieged Piagapo where government troops clashed Saturday through Sunday with the Maute group of terrorists. Nash Maulana

ASG...

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The government said the dead suspects were stragglers from a boatload of Mindanao-based Abu Sayyaf gunmen who sailed to the central island of Bohol early this month as part of a plot to kidnap tourists.

The raid had signaled an escalation of the kidnapping threat from the Abu Sayyaf, who are based on remote islands and also blamed for beheadings and deadly bombings.

“Terrorism has no place in the Visayas [central] region,” said a joint military and police statement announcing the death of the

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to Pagasa Island was “a normal visit.”

“He routinely inspects all facilities under the department’s administrative supervision. Pagasa Island is one of those facilities,” Andolong said.

“The trip was meant to see what is needed to improve the living conditions, safety and personal security of Filipinos on the island, who rely on their government to see to their welfare in such a far flung place,” Andolong added.

The Palace on Sunday said the visit by Lorenzana and Año was part of efforts to improve the safety, welfare, and livelihood of

suspected kidnappers in Bohol on Saturday.

Six other Abu Sayyaf members had been killed in earlier clashes on the island on April 11, when three soldiers and a policeman were also slain, the authorities said.

The military said they had been pursuing up to seven of the remaining gunmen.

Three suspects were still on the run after the latest clashes, they said.

Duterte on Sunday said he has ordered the military to kill the remaining terrorists in Bohol.

“I want them dead. ‘Don’t bring them back to me alive,” Duterte said.

Abu Sayyaf members led by Muaamar Askali alias Abu Rami slipped into Bohol, through Inabanga town on April 11.

Joint police and military teams killed Askali and five other Abu Sayyaf members during clashes the same day.

Four more Abu Sayyaf members, including Bohol native Joselito Melloria, were killed by the military in clashes in Clarin town on Saturday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said three more Abu Sayyaf members are being hunted down by its troops in Clarin.

Bohol Gov. Edgardo Chatto said Sunday that the military has sealed

off Inabanga and Clarin towns as troops continue to pursue the remaining Abu Sayyaf intruders.

Also on Sunday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said military intelligence units would intensify operations against terrorists and their sympathizers.

“In fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte’s efforts to address that concern, the Armed Forces of the Philippines [AFP] has been directed to intensify its intelligence gathering activities on ISIS inspired groups and their supporters not only within our borders but also beyond,” said Lorenzana.

Lorenzana said the Abu Sayyaf has not established bases in

Central Philippines.

“They do not have bases in the Visayas,” he said said in a text message. “The only reason they came to Bohol is because one of their cohorts, Joselito Melloria, a Muslim convert and resident of Inabanga, Bohol was supposed to be their guide in their plan to kidnap tourists.

But their movement was tracked by the military intelligence.”

Melloria, also a member of the IS-linked terror group Ansar Khalifa Philippines who had converted to Islam, and joined the ASG in infiltrating Inabanga, Bohol, police and military officials said. With John Paolo Bencito, PNA and AFP

Filipinos living in the municipality of Kalayaan, which is part of the province of Palawan.

“The Philippines has long been undertaking customary and routine maritime patrol and overflight in the West Philippine Sea, which are lawful activities under international law,” said Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella.

“Such flights will likewise enable us to reach our municipality,” Abella said.

On the way to the island, the aircraft carrying the top defense officials was challenged by China four times.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the officials’ trip “runs counter to the important consensus reached between the two leadership(s) which

is to properly deal with the South China Sea issue.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs had insisted that Pag-asa Island is part of Palawan.

The disputed island near Palawan province is called Zhongye Dao by China.

It belongs to the Spratly Group of Islands, called Nansha Islands by the Chinese.

During his visit to Pagasa on Friday, the Defense chief said the government has allocated P1.6 billion for the development of the disputed island.

Lorenzana also announced that even President Rodrigo Duterte plans to stay overnight in the disputed island.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara on Sunday urged his colleagues in

the Senate to support his measure, which would transfer the Pagasa Island Cluster into a major ecotourism destination in the Philippines.

The bill, he said, was in line with President Duterte’s thrust to develop the island.

“With its impeccable beauty, the island is an ideal tourist destination…the rich biodiversity and Filipino heritage truly reflect the beauty of a paradise that our country should be proud of,” Angara said.

Pagasa Island, 480 kilometers off southwestern Palawan, is effectively occupied by the Philippines and the second largest island in the whole of Kalayaan Island Group (Spratlys). It’s the only Philippine-occupied island in the

Spratlys that is inhabited by civilians.

Over the weekend, De La Salle University’s Center for Natural Resource and Environment Research said the Philippines must lead other claimant states in the South China Sea to reinforce the international arbitration court’s ruling to “improve the national and regional fisheries management agenda.”

The agenda can include establishing trans-boundary marine parks, areas of joint protection or “no-take zones”, a setup that can work in the 100 or so small islands and reefs in the hotly contested Spratly Islands group, said Ma. Carmel Ablan Lagman of CENSER. With Macon RamosAraneta

Tesda-funded...

40,000...

DoJ:...

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Padilla said during the Nueva Ecija Press Club Inc.-sponsored Media Forum at the Philippine National Police hostel here.

He said the office of deputy director general Alvin Feliciano was the one tasked to run after the ghost schools.

Lani Romero, Tesda provincial director for Nueva Ecija, said none of the nonexistent schools were operating in the province where the agency had 90 accredited vocational-technical schools.

Padilla said the ghost schools were one of the reasons Tesda undertook a national audit of all its accredited schools.

He said Tesda had also launched a local barangay skills need mapping program, the tendering system, the national inspectorate team and a national reorganization program.

Under the BSNM, a central data base is being maintained in the country’s 42,036 barangays to make sure the trainees were actual persons or individuals and not ghost trainees.

“In the past, we have discovered that there are ghost trainees to whom money is given by Tesda so with this mapping, we make sure that the recipients of scholarships are warm bodies,” Padilla said.

that we have set up,” Paynor said.

Asean leaders and hundreds of delegates are expected to attend the summit at the Philippine International Convention Center from April 26 to 29.

Paynor said at least 2,000 delegates are expected to arrive for the summit this week.

Nine Asean leaders have also confirmed their attendance, he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte will chair this year’s 30th Asean Summit on April 29 involving the heads of state or government of 10 Asean member states, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Preparatory meetings, involving Asean ministers and senior officials, will take place from April 26 to 28.

The 30th Asean Summit is the first of two leader-level meetings that the Philippines will convene this year as chairman of Asean.

The second one, the 31st Asean Summit and Related Summits, will be held in November and will be joined by the Asean’s dialogue partners, such as Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.

Before the actual leaders’ meeting on April 29, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Indonesian President Widodo will hold state visits on April 27 and April 28, respectively.

RTC in February for allegedly receiving money from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

The cases were then raffled off to three different RTC branches: 204 under Judge Juanita Guerrero, 205 under Judge Amelia Fabros-Corpuz, and 206 under Judge Patria Manalastas.

Guerrero issued the arrest warrant against De Lima on Feb. 23 that led to her detention at the Philippine National Police custodial center.

During the hearing, state prosecutors moved to consolidate the three cases for practical purposes.

But in an order released last week, Guerrero denied the prosecution’s motion and held that the consolidation of the three cases would lead to prolonged trial. ‘‘The court finds no merit to consolidate the three aforementioned cases to one court because the accused are different and the cases involve different incidents, the order said.

The court agreed with De Lima’s camp that the consolidation would not really expedite the trial, but would actually prolong it in violation of her constitutional right to a speedy trial.

News

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

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Cimatu joins Du30 Cabinet P

By Sandy Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former military chief Roy Cimatu as “Special Envoy for OFW Refugees,” as part of moves to ease the plight of Filipino workers overseas, according to Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella.

Cimatu, a retired general, also served as Duterte’s special envoy to the Middle East, a post the general held during the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Earlier, Duterte promised a separate department that would focus on the concerns of overseas Filipino workers a day after he said that the creation of such agency requires the action of Congress.

“In a few months, you will have a department on OFW only,” Duterte told members of the Filipino community in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama.

At present, the Department of Labor and Employment handles issues related to OFWs. Before assuming office, Duterte vowed to create a separate department that would promote the welfare and address the concerns of the more than 2.4-million Filipino migrant workers worldwide.

Some Filipinos asked Duterte about the OFW department during their meeting with the president in Riyadh last Thursday. Duterte responded by saying that Congress has to pass a law creating such agency.

“The OFW [department] will be separate from the Department of Labor. It’s coming, but it would be in Congress... There will be a separate [agency for] sailors. Maritime authority will also be separated,” Duterte told about 2,000 Filipinos on Riyadh.

“The creation of a department does not belong to me,” he added.

Pending the creation of an OFW department, Duterte said he wants Filipino migrant workers to relay their concerns to him.

“I want you to have direct line with me, if not you can call any relative to call my attention,” he said in a speech delivered in Bahrain.

Duterte stressed that he would not tolerate any form of corruption or oppression under

his watch.

“I do not like abuses. I do not like corruption. I do not want oppression and we will be treated equally,” the President said.

He also reiterated his call for Filipinos to be assertive and to resist any attempt to extort money from them.

“If they open your luggage, tell them ‘Do not do that, I will slap you. Why will you open that?’” Duterte said.

Duterte advised Filipinos to apply for overseas work online and to avoid “fly-bynight” recruitment agencies. He vowed to ensure that the processing time of migrant workers’ papers would be reduced from six weeks to three weeks.

Duterte was in a three-country trip to the Middle East to strengthen diplomatic ties, lure investors and to interact with Filipino migrant workers, whose dollar remittances are keeping the Philippine economy afloat.

The President visited Saudi Arabia from April 12 to 14 and Bahrain from April 14 to 16.

In Manama, Duterte and Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa witnessed the signing of four bilateral agreements.

The agreements signed by the two countries were the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a High Joint Commission for bilateral cooperation; the memorandum of understanding between Bahrain’s Diplomatic Institute and Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines; the protocol amending the convention between the two countries for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital; and the protocol to amend and supplement the air services agreement between Bahrain and the Philippines.

Duterte was earlier in Doha for a threeday visit.

Farmers, fishermen to ‘take over Luisita’

EARTH DAY TRIBUTE. Children step on colored floorboards made of recycled tires at the e-luminart exhibit that showcases innovative approaches to recycling and reduced energy use as part of the celebration of the Earth Day at the SM City Marilao in Bulacan. Norman Cruz

Trash-to-cash drive gains steam

By Macon Araneta EFFORTS to promote proper waste management through trash segregation took center stage at the SM Supermalls in celebration of Earth Day on Saturday, with 60 SM malls in the Philippines taking part.

As this developed, Senator Loren Legarda called on the people to unplug gadgets and unused appliances, plant trees, segregate garbage, put up a rainwater collector at home, share eco-friendly practices in social media.

Legarda said these are simple practices we can start with and “there are many more.”

The senator encouraged everyone to do acts that would help save the planet not only during Earth Day but every day.

The nation’s biggest nationwide chain of malls has been at the forefront of promoting proper waste management in Filipino

households via the “Trash-toCash Recycling Market” introduced in 2007 and is held every first Friday and Saturday of the month at all SM malls.

SM Supermalls says it is enjoining households to collect and sort out their household recyclable throwaways—paper, plastic, metal, and glass waste—and turn these to cash.

The support of Filipino households point to the success of Trash-to-Cash—in 2016 alone, the program was able to recycle over a million kilos of paper, or the equivalent of pulp that can be processed into paper from 18,452 seven-year old trees.

With SM’s Trash-to-Cash firmly in place to highlight responsible solid waste management as a daily task, SM challenges Filipinos to make every day as a celebration of Earth Day. In conjunction with the April 22 celebration of Earth Day and as part of the 406th Foundation

Anniversary commemoration of the University of Santo Tomas, the UST College of Education (CE), College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD), and UST Museum, in partnership with SM Cares and SM Supermalls, presented collaborative project, “Likhang-Bayan Year 9: UST’s SweetART” fusing two advocacies: care for the environment and preservation and propagation of “pabalat,” a traditional Filipino art form.

The exhibit aimed to heighten environmental consciousness and emphasized man’s unique role as “steward of God’s creation.” It also aims to deepen appreciation for traditional Filipino arts as cultural treasures and encourages people to take part in their preservation and propagation.

Designs featuring flora, fauna, scenery, and environmental mottoes were showcased. Upcycling and photography projects

of UST Interior Design, Industrial Design and Advertising Arts students, respectively, were also included in the exhibit.

SM Cares, a division of SM Foundation, is the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of SM Prime Holdings.

A collateral activity of the exhibit will be workshop on “pabalat,” a wrapper made of Japanese paper with intricately cut tail ends used for traditional Filipino milk candies called “pastillas” on April 30, 2017. The workshop will be facilitated by UST Museum assistant director and professional Interior Designer Assoc. Prof. Anna Marie H. Bautista. UST Department of Food Technology faculty members Enelyn King and Essence Jean Logan will prepare flavored pastillas complementing some of the designs. This workshop will be held on April 30, 2017 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Skygarden, SM North Edsa.

MILITANT fishermen and farmers are joining forces to assert the farmers’ rights over Hacienda Luisita on the eve of the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the Hacienda’s Stock Distribution Option five years ago.

They have launched a campaign to occupy the 6,000 hectare sugar plantation in Tarlac City.

April 24, 2017 marks the 5th year of the SC decision junking the SDO and ordering the Department of Agrarian Reform to distribute 4,099 hectares of Hacienda Luisita to the rightful farmer-beneficiaries.

But five years after the SC ruling, farmers said they have yet to control their land , no thanks to deceptive maneuvers and harassments of the hacienda owners against the farmerbeneficiaries. The CojuangcoAquinos have used the tambiolo or raffle system in giving away the lands to the farmers.

“The case of Hacienda Luisita is the living example and

leading model of land reform denials, reversals and land grabbing by big landlords in the country,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairperson, said in a statement.

“Now is the high time for the farmers to occupy what is rightfully theirs. Even without the Supreme Court ruling, the farmers and farmworkers of Luisita have all the legal, moral and political right to control the vast-tract of sugar estate because they are the ones who cultivate and develop the land from the start,” Hicap said.

The fishermen said that the decades-long land dispute in Hacienda Luisita has already claimed numerous lives of farmers and peasant-advocates who fought for their right to till.

On April 24-25, Luisita farmers and its supporters from Manila and provinces in Central Luzon will hold a collective cultivation or bungkalan at Barangays Cutcut and Balete to enforce their claim on the land.

Sandy Araneta

Iloilo resident wins P137-m lotto jackpot AN ILOILO City resident who bought a P20-ticket in Barotac Viejo this city on Saturday won the Grand Lotto 6/55’s P137, 209,344 jackpot, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office said on Sunday.

PCSO General Manager Alexander F. Balutan said the winner placed bet on his favorite numbers (alaga) — 08 -15 -20 -23 -34 - 42 — which matched the winning numbers, 34-42-08-15-23-20.

The PCSO official said a Lotto bettor will be considered a winner of the jackpot even without hitting the winning numbers in the order they were drawn, as long as the bettor gets all the drawn combination.

Balutan said winners of the PCSO’s Lotto games as well as

the other lotteries and Scratch it cards may claim their winnings at the charity agency’s Main Office on Shaw Boulevard (corner Prince Street), Mandaluyong City.

In the April 22 draw of 6/55, 24 bettors will receive P63,000 each for guessing five of the jackpot numbers; 1,630 bettors will get P740 each for four correct numbers; and 25,187 to have P20 each for three correct numbers of the jackpot.

The draw generated sales of over P30.28 million from more than 1.5-million punters of 6/45, he added.

Balutan said the PCSO uses its Lotto revenue for its Prize Fund, 55 percent; Charity Fund, 30 percent, and Operating Fund, 15 percent.

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Opinion

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Unsafe at any speed?

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HERE is no longer any doubt that the Metro Rail Transit-3 has suffered from six years of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption that were the hallmarks of the Aquino administration’s approach to public transportation. The urgent question now is if the Duterte administration is doing enough and acting quickly enough to arrest the transit system’s rapid deterioration.

Tuesday, a train’s gearbox broke and snapped, causing a derailment in MRT-3 operations. This, he said, was equivalent to a car’s axle, which holds the wheels together, snapping.

Fortunately, commuters were spared from harm because the incident took place after the train had let passengers off at the North Avenue station, the lawmaker said.

But the results would have been disastrous had the train been filled with passengers, traveling at its cruising speed.

MRT-3 management merely The record is not encouraging. said reports reaching his office reported a system glitch, but it Last week, a party-list showed that the incident was not took them at least four hours to lawmaker accused the MRT-3 reported to the public in an put the wheels back on track, management of covering up a apparent effort to hide the Nograles said. derailment at the North Avenue negligence and inefficiency of The derailing at the North station on April 18. maintenance provider Busan Avenue station was not the only Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Universal Rail Inc. problem reported after operations party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles Nograles said at 8 p.m. on resumed following an annual

four-day maintenance check over the Holy Week.

On April 17, a southbound train stopped at the Magallanes station at 8:48 p.m. after it began emitting smoke, forcing passengers to get off. The problem led to a suspension of the MRT’s operation from Shaw Boulevard to Taft, and operations resumed more than an hour later.

Also on April 18, another train had to let off passengers at the northbound section of the Magallanes station at 6:38 a.m. because the doors malfunctioned.

The breakdowns came weeks after the Department of Transportation said “improved train operations and maintenance” had resulted in an increase in the number of riders during the first eight months of the Duterte administration.

The department said an average of 463,202 riders took the MRT-3 daily from July 2016 to March 2017, compared to 379,223 passengers over the same period the previous year.

What the department did not say was that public perception of the dangers of rail travel has not improved since a train overshot the tracks at the Taft Avenue station on Edsa and Taft Avenue in Pasay City more than two years ago, injuring 38 passengers.

The department also did not report that breakdowns have become so common on the commuter line that they are no longer news to a long-suffering public.

Clearly, several things need to be done.

First, the maintenance contract

with Busan, a service contractor that is clearly unqualified and out of its depth, needs to be reviewed—and if need be, cancelled. Congress as well as the relevant executive branch agencies must launch full-blown investigations into what seems, even on the surface, an odious service contract.

Second, past and present Transport officials and MRT managers who are responsible for the mess must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Third, this administration must resist the temptation to fall into the same trap that its predecessor wallowed in—telling lies and making outrageous claims—then believing them, even when the entire commuter train system was collapsing around us, making travel on the MRT unsafe at any speed.

‘A, basta!’

even abolish the whole legal regime altogether, although there seems to be something about the “economical ego” that makes owning an “incident” of subjectivity. Until we do that, however, and our Constitution continues to ordain a capitalist regime (albeit qualified by social justice provisions) and our Civil Code lays down the requisites of ownership as well as the requirements for the acquisition of title, it does not serve our purposes as an organized society to tolerate that brand of populism that, quite frankly, makes a mockery of law.

Persons submit to law because they want to be secure in what they can expect. I submit to the authority of the police and obey the provisions of the penal code because I want to be secure in the expectation that while I await public conveyance at the road curb, It will

THE worst spanking I had from my late mother happened when I was in Grade One. I was at the table for an early breakfast prior to leaving for school. My yaya Elisa (who died at 92 years just last December) served sinangag and tortang giniling.

I refused to touch the food, insisting to be served fresh pineapples with my sinangag.

She coaxed me into eating the breakfast, but I answered back, “A, basta!” and pushed the plate to the table’s edge.

My mom, who was yet on the way to the table, saw this and scolded me. I stubbornly refused to budge. Whereupon, she got hold of a belt and whipped me in the buttocks. I stubbornly looked at her, and yelled, “A, basta! ‘Yun ang gusto ko,” and ran away. She chased me and kept whipping me with the sinturon no end.

I recalled this incident upon reading the latest in Secretarydesignate Regina Lopez’ petulant remarks complaining at all the perceived “obstacles” to her environmental do-gooding, from “greedy” miners to their “protectors” in government, be they DENR officials whom she did not like, or members of Congress, or the Finance department, and now, the executive secretary.

She accused ES Salvador Medialdea of “counter-acting” her order requiring suspended mining companies to give two million pesos for every hectare of land affected by their mining activities, ostensibly to uplift the plight of the farmers and fishermen affected by what she considers an undesirable economic activity.

“Medialdea is going against the very spirit of the Duterte administration which is to help the poor,” the secretary-designate generalized.

Walang tama kundi siya.

Basta ’ya, the elitist bent wrapped in crusading clothes always and instinctively exclaims when fellow members of the human race dare to question the legality, propriety or economic repercussions of her rash decisions and pronouncements.

One should admire her crusading spirit, but wonders if all that’s needed for her to perform effectively as a member of the cabinet is spirit.

Medialdea for his part, calmly but immediately reacted by saying that he was just following the proper procedure.

“Rules under appeal remain until the President has decided to take action already”.

“Appeals to the [Office of the

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

‘Ex injuria non oritur jus’ FROM wrong, no right is ever engendered. That is a basic principle of law. It is, more fundamentally, an imperative of practical reasonableness.

One can never do wrong and expect transgression to mature into a moral or a legal claim.

That is the principle that has been foremost in my thoughts ever since Kadamay’s members commenced occupancy of the units of a housing project intended, I am informed, for armed forces personnel. It was bad enough that they defied all law and entered into occupation of that over which they absolutely had no title. It was even worse when government appeared to have acquiesced, promising to build better units for the intended beneficiaries—as if that cured the basic iniquity!

It is not the obligation of the State to provide decent housing that is in issue here—and even that is good subject mat-

ter for debate. Either the State is obliged to provide housing for all—as absurd as it is impracticable a proposition—or it is obliged to provide housing to none— which does not seem consonant with our Constitution—or it is its bounden duty to provide housing for some. And that, of course, is where the knotty problem lies: To determine who should be beneficiaries.

It is well known that those who had “homes along the riles” were provided with government housing, but many of these units were eventually transferred—“sold”—surreptitiously to others—with the grantees stealthily returning to their old haunts! Should they be given housing again?

And should shelter be provided without cost? If government constructs homes for the homeless without cost to them, it can do so only at taxpayers’

Should shelter be provided without cost?

expense. Is that distributively just? Would that be tolerable by the standards of Rawls’ dual principles of distributive justice?

From what we have been told—unless all the reports we got were more instances of “false news”—Kadamay is not espousing an ideology that rejects private ownership, one that maintains that housing and such other necessities must be socialized. In fact, by occupying housing units, they were usurping possession and claiming title—ex-

cept that it is a claim that causes the whole edifice of the law on property to shudder ominously: Need.

We need it, therefore we have a right to it. There are indeed some instances when reasoning in this fashion makes for a good moral argument. When a father’s very ill son has need of a life-saving drug that is beyond his means, morally, he has a right to it, although were he to spirit away the item, he may be prosecuted for theft. But this certainly was not the case here. Many of Kadamay’s members—from the pictures we have of them— appear fit to work and capable of gainful employment. Can they then be said to be in such a “need” as to justify their usurpation of what which is not theirs?

We can, of course, radically alter our concepts of ownership—and perhaps

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

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Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Romel J. Mendez Art Director Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

A5

The elephant in the room THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Dialogue Partners including the Summit of Leaders will hold their meeting on April 28. Hosted by Manila which is at the cynosure of attention because it is at the forefront of challenges in the simmering South Sea territorial dispute, the Asean gathering of leaders presents a window of opportunity for the Philippines to present its case before an international forum.

But will it seize the moment with President Rodrigo Duterte coyzing up to China? Asean in previous years has put a lid on the South China Sea issue. With Beijing exerting maximum pressure on Cambodia, Laos,and Myanmar, the 10-nation grouping failed to come up with a meaningful joint communique stating its stand against China’s aggressive claim on nearly the entire South China Sea. Will the the issue of the South China remain the elephant in the room Asean and Summit leaders continue to ignore.?

But it might be different this time. The stakes are getting higher and the SCS situation is now more incendiary since China has started building military installations on manmade islands from the reefs and shoals on disputed territorial waters. The United States, with President Donald Trump attending, has been in particular concerned about the militarization of the region and its effect on the freedom of navigation on international waters.

It has been a week of a show

of strength by the US in Syria, Afghanistan and more recently against North Korea nuclear arms threat.

The USS Carl Vinzons aircraft carrier was on its way to the Korean Peninsula reportedly for a preemptive military strike against Pyongyang. Fortunately for Kim Jung-Un, his launch of long-range range missiles exploded on take-off. Otherwise he and his cabal of military top brass would have been blown to smithereens by firepower from the USS Carl Vinzons and the warplanes ready to unleash the same Mother of All Bombs.

MOAB, a nonnuclear bomb designed as a bunker buster, was dropped on known ISIS lairs like caves in Afghanistan.

Bombs would have rained on Pyongyang’s parade as the North Korean leadership chose the celebration of the anniversary of Kim dynasty as the day to launch its long-range ballistic missiles.

China is feeling the heat of world opinion with the Group of 7 industrialized nations the latest to issue a statement urging Beijing to obey the ruling of the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague rejecting the Chinese claim of nearly the entire SCS. The G-7 is composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the US and Japan.

The July 12, 2016 Hague court decision upheld Manila’s case

against Beijing which has encroached on the West Philippine Sea. While appearing open to reconciliation with Manila, Chinese coast guards patrolling the area near Panatag and Pag-asa islands drove away Filipino fishermen who had returned to the area.

China also warned the Philippines not to fly over Chinese air space after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año took a surveillance flight to see the latest Chinese military activity in the Spratly islands.

So now we are told to stay away from our own air space?

The Duterte administration should not wait for the Chinese to be already at our doorstep before it makes a move. So much for an independent Philippine foreign policy when China uses it and bilateral relations to advance its interest in the region while it violates Philippine sovereignty. The Philippines should not be lulled into a false sense of security with gifts from China like loans, grants and financial development assistance.

The expression used to be “beware the Greeks bearing gifts,” an allusion to the large wooden Trojan horse which contained the enemy soldiers that opened the gates and led to the siege and downfall of the ancient city of Troy. There is always a lesson to be learned from history. The

country should now beware the Chinese bearing gifts. A Trojan horse can come in many forms.

We congratulate President Duterte for being named TIME magazine’s Most Influential Person. He should lived up to the title and stand up to China’s aggression in our territorial waters. If Digong does this, he will find himself fully supported by the Filipino people. It does not mean waging war or issuing stern statements, all Duterte has to do is say “no” to someone who’s already groping him.

Meanwhile, what’s this we hear Environment Secretarydesignate Gina Lopez wants to work with the New People’s Army for a better implementation of responsible mining?

In case Gina does realize it, what she said is practically treason. The NPA, as everyone else knows, is extorting revolutionary tax from mining companies.

What Gina should do is focus on getting herself confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Although reappointed by President Duterte after having been bypassed by the CA, she might get rejected next time she faces the bicameral committee.

This after she snapped at a BusinessWorld reporter who tried to interview her. Gina has since apologized for calling the reporter a mere employee who should not f*ck with her, Gina has since apologized. But the incident has left a lasting impression on the CA members who already have doubts about her fitness to be DENR secretary.

A united Asean can balance China AMID supposedly improved relations between Manila and Beijing, the Philippines again wakes up to a now all-too-familiar headline: Chinese forces driving Filipino fishermen away from the Spratlys. The Chinese Coast Guard reportedly fired warning shots to shoo Bataan fisherman away from Union Bank, a region in the West Philippine Sea where China had built artificial islands despite international outcry.

In a more recent encounter in the same region, Chinese forces stationed in Subi Reef challenged two Philippine planes carrying Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Año as they flew near a Chinese man-made island.

After being informed that they were flying over Philippine territory, the Chinese reportedly warned that their aircrafts were in the periphery of Chinese installations.

These developments, of course, are only the latest in what appears to be a vacillating relationship between the Asian neighbors. They undermine President Rodrigo Duterte’s much-publicized pivot to China, which has consequently imperiled its long-standing alliance with the United States. The

episodes also bitration case open put to quesagainst China thoughts last year. As tion the soundness of what player, orlando athe key PhilipMalacañang oxales rout i nely, pines is in the proudly debest position to scribes as the highlight the urDuterte administration’s “inde- gency of the issue as a political, pendent foreign policy.” economic, and security issue all Such claim to independence at the same time. has long elicited suspicions, with Manila’s hosting of the Asean pundits pointing out that it is a Summit thus represents an imfoolish expectation in light of a portant opportunity for the Duhighly globalized world. Other terte administration. It can shelve more glaring repudiations come its lukewarm reception to the from Duterte himself, includ- 2016 Hague ruling and reaffirm ing his recent quips about selling its value by contextualizing it as Philippine-claimed islands to the a matter of regional security, in Chinese. particular the rules-based order But what has long been glar- that Southeast Asia has long beningly missing from Duterte’s efited from. approach to the West Philippine After all, as the recent epiSea problem is the potentially de- sodes show, the Philippines is no cisive role of the Association of stranger to the difficulties in the Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), disputed waters, from Chinese which the country’s upcoming vessels loitering in Benham Rise hosting of the group’s summit is to the prospect of Chinese conhelping bring to fore. structions on Scarborough Shoal.

In terms of looking for longA positive sign is Department term solutions to the territorial of Foreign Affairs spokesperson spat, the Philippines can take ad- Roberspierre Bolivar confirmvantage of its chairmanship of ing that the maritime dispute is the regional bloc, in addition to among the “important topics” residual moral high ground from that the Asean leaders will disthe favorable decision on its ar- cuss. “The Asean would like to

‘A, basta!’

From A4 President] go to the executive secretary and not directly to the President. Our office applies the rules on appeal uniformly. The decision or order appealed from is temporarily stayed, unless the case falls under any of the exceptions,” Medialdea stated.

“The stay order does not contradict the President’s policy against destructive mining operations. It is provisional in character and may be set aside or modified at any time during the pendency of the appeal.

“It’s not a ruling on the merits; it merely seeks to preserve the status quo ante until it is lifted for justifiable reasons or until a decision is arrived at on the merits,” the executive secretary elucidated.

Lopez, however, accused the primus inter pares in the rarefied circle to which she has been designated, as hampering “social justice”.

“All I’m asking, and I gave the order, that you can remove the stockpile. You can, because it’s an environmental standard—just give P2 million for every hectare of farmland that you have disadvantaged out of the [rehabilitation] zone,” she said.

“What’s happened is Bingbong MediaIdea has given a directive to all the mining companies counteracting my order. [It’s like] he’s

going against the very spirit of the Duterte administration, which is to help the poor. So I’m not really happy about this at all,” she added.

Basta ya, Bingbong! How dare esto Bingbong counteract her order!

She speaks “ex cathedra” on all matters pertaining to the environment, never mind due process, never mind whatever laws there are.

Unfortunately, Atty. Bingbong cannot get his cinturon and beat her to proper senses.

Only El Digong and/or the Commission on Appointments can do so.

Vamos a ver. *** My lola always admonished us, “huwag magtatanim ng poot”.

The late chief Justice and later Senate president Marcelo “Tito Celing” Fernan once remarked about then President Joseph Estrada, who defeated him in 1992 for the vice presidency, as “dili mag-dumot” (Bisaya for what my lola admonished).

After Erap became president in 1998, his first choice for Senate president was Fernan, who unfortunately succumbed to the big C not long after.

In his 80th birthday celebration at the Manila Hotel last Wednesday night, he gallantly escorted the lady who wrested the presidency from him in 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, from entrance to the presidential table where sat personalities both colorful and con-

troversial.

Even Chavit Singson was there, among many others who had “dumped” him in the lowest point of his life.

No wonder now Manila Mayor Estrada at 80 remains cool and composed, not a withering old man consumed by “poot” or saddled by regrets over what might have been.

He takes life as it comes, one chapter at a time, one victory followed by misfortune, whether political or personal, and moves on.

Rather, bounces back.

“Kay dili mag-dumot.” *** Good news from Taiwan keep coming in.

First, their Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the lifting of visas for Filipinos and other Asean nationals who wish to visit this uber-green island on a 30-day stay as tourists.

Then last Tuesday, their Ministry of Labor announced that migrant workers (our 135,000 OFW’s included) can now avail of paid personal, bereavement and marriage leaves, similar to Taiwan nationals, for as long as they have been continuously employed for at least a year.

Last Thursday, the Cabinet of President Tsai certified a bill for approval by the Legislative Yuan (Parliament) which would seek to attract more foreign professionals to come and work in Taiwan. The incentives proposed are quite liberal, but let’s wait until their legislature passes it in final form.

in the very least be required to perform some form of service that will make housing for other homeless Filipinos possible as well, and then let us firmly decide too whether or not usurnot be fair game for anyone who wants to pation of real property is still an offense and practice his firing skills on me! whether forcible entry or unlawful detainer reIf Kadamay’s members are not asked to pay main actionable wrongs. Our laws are imperfor the units they have occupied, they should fect—and that belabors the obvious, because it

‘Ex injuria...

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maintain its centrality as a force of peace and stability in the region,” he said. “All these issues that are causing tension right now will be discussed by the leaders.”

More broadly, the chairmanship will give the Philippines optimum leverage in terms of diplomatically working with its neighbors to ensure that such rules-based order succeeds. It will serve its cause to recall, for instance, how Asean and China in 2002 committed to a nonbinding agreement on exercising self-restraint toward preventing and reducing tensions in the West Philippine Sea. Unfortunately, Beijing had chosen a unilateralist approach that recklessly violates the region’s common vision for stability. Thus, instead of a seemingly lax and arbitrary approach to such aggression, the Philippines must continue to work not only in upholding its sovereign rights and defending its national interests against unlawful action, but in actively leading a concerted regional effort toward strengthening multilateralism.

As things stand, a united Asean seems to be the only way to plausibly temper an aggressive giant.

Benham Rise DOES the average Filipino know that Benham Rise, also called Benham Plateau, is part of Philippine territory?

With an area of 13 million hectares, it is a quarter bigger than the entire Luzon island, making the Philippines’ total land area 43 million hectares from its old area of 30 million hectares. It is located off the provinces of Aurora and Isabela and is known to be rich in natural gas and marine biodiversity.

Why is Benham Rise significant and how was it officially declared as ours? No less than former President Fidel V. Ramos, who also wrote a series of articles on Benham Rise, called my attention to its significance and why I should be personally interested in it.

Despite its proximity to the Philippine archipelago, Benham Rise was not previously included in the territory of the Philippines. You see, based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or the Unclos, the continental shelf of a state comprises the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas 200 nautical miles or 370 kilometers from a state’s baselines or edges. Parts of the continental shelf that are not covered by the 200 nautical miles must be claimed and defended by a claimant state before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Using scientific data and hydrographic research materials obtained by the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey of the National Mapping, Research and Information Authority, the Philippines lodged a full territorial waters claim with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The Unclos approved the Philippine claim and declared Benham Rise as the Philippines’ extended continental shelf on 12 April 2012 or three years after the claim was filed and defended.

Former President Ramos was instrumental in the success of the Philippine claim because it was he, as then president, who issued EO 45 which institutionalized a synchronized, common reference system for accurate surveying and mapping of natural resources and cadastral limits.

This integrated all old surveys with the new networks.

As written by Professor Jay Batongbacal of the UP College of Law who was part of the technical team that prepared the claim over Benham Rise and its defense in the UN, the Philippine claim over the Benham Plateau began with a workshop in 2001. The workshop was meant to assist the Foreign Affairs Department and Filipinos the Namria on the implementation of should know we the Law of the Sea. own this.

Dr. Teodoro Santos of the UP National Institute for Geological Sciences proposed that Benham Rise, then a relatively unknown area of the Pacific Ocean, be claimed as a possible extension of the Philippine continental shelf. This resulted in the joint efforts of the government and the academe to make the necessary studies to support the Philippine claim. The Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey under Namria, thus sent its two survey ships, BRP Hydrographer Presbitero and BRP Hydrographer Ventura to do extensive hydrographic surveys in the Pacific Ocean east of Luzon. As an aside, my personal interest in this was that BRP Hydrographer Ventura was named after my father, the late Commodore Antonio P. Ventura, who was the longest-serving head of the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey. The results of the mapping and research done through these two vessels became the basis for the Philippine claim on Benham Rise.

Benham Rise was named after American geologist, Andrew Benham, who discovered the continental shelf.

What is significant about Benham Rise? It is much bigger than Luzon and is rich in living and nonliving resources such as marine flora and fauna supporting biodiversity as well as minerals and gas. According to lawyer Batongbacal, based on initial samplings, Benham Rise keeps a large amount of manganese needed in the production of steel. It also contains gas hydrates, a potential rich source of natural gas. On top of this, the rich marine life in the Rise can support the food security of the growing Philippine population.

It is important for us, Filipinos, to know that we own Benham Rise. While the Philippines has established friendlier relations with China under the leadership of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, we should know that we have the right to be vigilant and to assert what is lawfully ours. It is disturbing that Chinese vessels have been spotted in the Benham area although China has, on occasions, said that it recognizes that Benham Rise is part of Philippines territory. We should not forget how China has continued to build artificial islands on the reefs declared by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague as belonging to the Philippines.

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

is merely a restatement of the ontological principle that human persons are fallible! But the rule of law protects against two things: The instability and uncertainty of life in a state where laws have cased to bind, and the pretensions of an autocrat who promises a people respite from the vexations of life in a lawless society.

Both are evil! There is an argument in logic

called “reductio ad absurdum,” and it consists in showing that when not-p is absurd, then p must be true. That is a good argument for adherence to law! rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

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News

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘ERC execs must resign’

By Rio N. Araja

B

AYAN Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Sunday called for the resignation of all officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission, saying they failed to protect the rights of consumers from anomalous deals.

Zarate said the resignation of agency head Jose Vicente Salazar and all of his commissioners would serve well the scandal-wracked ERC. “As it is, they have failed to safe-

guard the welfare of electricity consumers and power rate hikes are not being stopped by the ERC. While Congress is now investigating the anomalies in the ERC and bills to

replace the onerous Electric Power Industry Reform Act, the ERC should be manned by people with integrity and competence to protect consumers,” Zarate said.

“One of the most controversial among these deals is the midnight deal on seven power supply agreements of Manila Electric Co.-affiliated power generation companies which would largely benefit it. The ERC issued the anomalous extension of the deadline requiring com-

petitive bidding in the PSAs of distribution utilities. The extended deadline as proposed by Commissioner Josefina Magpale-Asirit allowed Meralco to enter into sweetheart PSA deals with its seven sister and affiliated companies,” the lawmaker added.

Zarate said the sweetheart deal resulted in Meralco’s monopoly on power distribution.

“Because of such (deals), there has been a power monopoly, and that the consumers are

tied to the services of Meralco for the next 20 to 25 without a bidding. The extension effectively rendered the competitive selection process useless and inutile,” he said.

Salazar was earlier blamed for the death of ERC director Francisco Villa in November 2016.

Villa, who took his own life, left handwritten letters where he said he was being pressured to approve anomalous procurement contracts and hiring consultants without proper bidding and procedure.

Support for family of slain judges okd BATANGAS Rep. Raneo Abu said on Sunday the House subcommittee on judicial reforms has already approved a proposed measure seeking to provide support for the surviving spouses and children of judges, justices and other judiciary officials who are killed intentionally in line of duty.

He said the subcommittee chaired by Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso approved the proposal contained in House Bill No. 2683which Abu authored.

Several judiciary officials have been murdered, assassinated and brutally killed by criminals to obstruct the resolution of ongoing cases, Abu said.

“The risk alongside the job of these judiciary officials should be counterbalanced by providing them with a grant that will encourage them to fully perform their duties and responsibilities. Hence, this bill seeks to support the judiciary by granting benefits to their surviving heirs in case they are killed while dispensing justice,” he said.

The bill, if passed, would embolden judges and justices, especially the young ones, to dispense justice without fear, knowing the government would back and support them and their families, he added.

In a recent congressional hearing, Supreme Court administrator Jose Midas Marquez endorsed the proposed measure, noting that most of the victims were killed due to their decisions involving drugrelated offenses. Rio N. Araja

Magnitude 5.1 quake hits Surigao

BATTLE-READY. Tanks and armored personnel carriers are stationed near the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City for this week’s Asean Summit. Ey Acasio

Lawmaker: LGUs must set up drug rehab facilities CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte urged on Sunday local officials to take the Duterte administration’s war against drugs to their communities by setting up drug rehabilitation facilities and encouraging drug users to seek help.

Villafuerte, vice chairperson of the House committees on local government and on national defense, said local government units must intensify anti-drug efforts.

“The rehabilitation of drug users is integral to the campaign to wipe out our

country of narco traffickers and illicit drugs,” he said.

“Our local officials can do their share in helping ensure the success of this campaign as they are familiar with the people in their communities and can directly communicate with them,” Villafuerte

added.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Budget and Management earlier issued a joint memorandum circular updating the guidelines on the appropriation and use of the

20 percent Internal Revenue Allotment set aside for the development projects of the local governments.

Under DILG-DBM Joint Memorandum Circular 2017-1, “Special Drug Education Centers,” and “Drug Treatment/Rehabilitation

Centers,” were added to the list of allowable social development projects chargeable against the IRA funds.

In Camarines Sur, Villafuerte said the provincial government plans to put up an P800-million drug rehabilitation facility. Rio N. Araja

CoA questions 138 unmarked official cars in Vizcaya

By Rio N. Araja OUT of the 169 vehicles of the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government, only 31 or about 18.3 percent are marked “For Official Use

BUSTED. Quezon City policemen arrested three drug dealers during a buy-bust operation. At least P5.6 million worth of shabu were seized from the suspects.

Manny Palmero

Only” while four were registered as privately owned.

This was the observation made by the Commission on Audit in its 110-page audit report released on April 18.

CoA called the attention

of the Provincial officials for failing to ensure that all of the province’s vehicles bear the required official markings.

It reminded the local government that using government-owned vehicles with-

out official markings was a violation of CoA Circular No. 77-61 of 1977 or the Manual on Audit for Fuel Consumption of Government Motor Vehicles.

Under the circular, motor

vehicles acquired with taxpayers’ money are required to bear “For Official Use Only” stickers at least threeinches high on both sides, with the identity of the government agency or public

office also visible under the said mark.

CoA also found out that four newly purchased provincial vehicles acquired in 2015 and 2016 were registered as privately owned.

A MAGNITUDE 5.1 earthquake jolted Surigao del Sur on Sunday at 9:19 a.m.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it was tectonic of origin, with the epicenter located 22 kilometers northeast of Tandag town.

Intensity 2 quake was experienced in Bislig, Surigao del Sur while Intensity 1 was registered in Borongan, Eastern Samar.

According to Phivolcs, there was no reported damage to properties because of the quake.

Last month, various government agencies held simultaneous earthquake drills to prepare citizens in the event a big one hit the country.

Participants were briefed during the nationwide “Duck, Cover and Hold” shake drill on how to protect themselves during an earthquake: When in a high-rise building, move against an interior wall if you are not near a desk or table. Protect your head and neck with your arms. Do not use elevator.

When outdoors, move to a clear area away from trees, signs, buildings, or downed electrical wires and poles.

When on a sidewalk near buildings, duck into a doorway to protect yourself from falling bricks, glass, plaster and other debris.

When driving, pull over to the side of the road and stop. Avoid overpasses and power lines. Stay inside your vehicle until shaking stops.

When in a crowded store or other public place, move away from display shelves containing objects that could fall. Do not rush for the exit.

When in a stadium or theater, stay in your seat, get below the level of the back of the seat and cover your head and neck with your arms.

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum warned that with an Intensity 8 earthquake, the scenarios of fire incidents, collapsed structures and hazardous traffic incidents would occur. Rio N. Araja

Sports

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

Wasle, Weiss rule XTERRA Danao

Diaz to grace Prisaa opener IBA, Zambales—Brazil Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz will grace the opening ceremony to inspire the athletes taking part in the PRISAA 2017 National Games which go full blast today in 18 venues, with Zambales Sports Complex in Iba serving as the main hub of the weeklong sports conclave.

A product of Universidad de Zamboaga, Diaz, 2016 PSA Athlete of Year and daughter of a tricycle driver, will deliver an inspiring message to encourage athletes from various colleges and universities from 17 regions to show their worth in their pet sports and have the opportunity to play for the country in future international competitions.

Philippine Sports Commission executive director Atty. Carlo Abarquez and Philippine Sports Institute executive Mark Velasco will represent Chairman William Ramirez.

PRISAA officials, headed by chairman Dr. Emmanuel Angeles, former PSC Commissioner Fr. Vicente Uy, executive director Prof. Elbert “Bong” Atilano, National PRISAA president Fr. Daniel Presto, Governor Amor Deloso and Iba Mayor Rundsted Ebdane, are also on the stage to listen to Diaz’s speech.

South African Bradley Weiss (right) and Carina Wasle of Austria tackle the punishing bike stage en route to topping their respective sides in XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon in Danao, Cebu on Sunday.

Roy-Limjap tops Southwoods tilt

J

OSE Roy and Justin Limjap pooled 114 points to capture the overall gross crown while Nicolas Magpantay and Johnny Violeta bagged the net title in the Southwoods Invitational at the Legends and Masters courses in Carmona, Cavite over the weekend.

Roy and Limjap, who shared the lead with the Rene Floro-Felix Tienzo tandem after the first half of the 36-hole championship spread over four days, sustained their form at resumption of Southwoods’ premier member-guest tournament and assembled with 114 aggregate.

The Violeta-Magpantay tandem, on the other hand, emerged the overall net champions with a 129 in the annual event backed by Platinum sponsors Mitsubishi Motors Phils. Corp./Diamond Motors Corp., Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel, Mit Air and The Turf Co. Michael Chan and Anthony Tan combined for a 124 to cop the Division I crown, edging the Florene

de los Santos-Inez del Rosario pair, which turned in a 123 and nipped the Arnold Jumalon-Rene Samontan tandem in the countback for runner-up honors.

Martin Gonzalez and Edwin Gumila scored a 126 and repulsed Nani Almeda and Lelet Zarcal, who shot a 125, for Division II diadem, while Manolo Agojo and Edsel Opulencia came through with a 126 to run away with the Division III plum, three points clear of Jun Ymbong and Tomas Maceda, who shot a 123.

Sharing the spotlight were Korean Jae Hong Hwang, who drove home the brand new Mitsubishi Mirage car courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors and Diamond Motors, and Cecilio San Pedro, who won

Atty. Jose Roy (left) and partner Justin Limjap (second from right) hold their trophies as they pose with Manila Southwoods director Peng Perez de Tagle (center) and Southwoods general manager Mark Watson (right) after bagging the overall gross crown in the Southwoods Invitational.

a seven-night Greece and Croatia cruise for two courtesy of Royal Caribbean and Baron Travel during the grand raffle draw.

The Dan Reyes-Gerard Villacarlos and Wilfredo Fernandez-Jeffrey Ocampo pairs put in identical 127s but the former prevailed via countback and snared the Division IV title

in the tournament backed by Silver sponsor San Miguel Purefoods Corp. and Bronze sponsors Camp John Hay Golf Club, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices, Club Leisure Management, Inc., CP Optics, Inc., Forest Hills Golf and Country Club, G & W Clubshares, GG & A Clubshares,

Greens & Turf, John Hay Coffee Services, Inc., Le Chef, Manila Southwoods Manor, Mega Manila Pest Management Specialist, MRT Dev. Co., Netforce International, Resorts World Manila, Romago, Inc., The Manor at Camp John Hay and The Forest Lodge and Warbird Security Agency.

Suson, Cari lead net winners MARC Nicole Suson from Cebu City continued his winning ways in the Baybay City leg in Leyte of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group tennis Championship Series, while local player Anica Giorgia Cari matched his feat in the girls’ side with both players ruling the 16-under and 18-under categories in their division.

Suson was unstoppable in both finals, beating the same opponent in Stephen Zion Guia with ease.

He won the 16-under with a 6-1, 6-0 victory and duplicated the feat in the 18-under finals with the same score.

On the other hand, Cari disposed of another local bet Mariniel Gorgonio in the same fashion, winning, 7-5, 6-0, in the 16-under championship match before repeating against the same foe, 6-1, 6-0 in the 18-under finals of the tournament supported by Dunlop as the official ball.

“Suson is playing consistently at a high level and it will be sooner than later that he makes his mark at the national level,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, President /CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier.

The other winners in the boys’ side were Zamboanga del Norte’s Aaron Jacque Geromo in the 14-under after defeating Ashton Benne Villanueva from Ozamis City, 6-3, 7-5; Leyte bet Sal Andrie Eugenio in the 12-under as he overwhelmed Maasin’s Ruzzel Bert Manlimos, 6-2, 6-1, in their championship meeting; and local player Manuel Jocson blanked Ormoc City’s Benedicto Lambonao for the 10-under crown.

DANAO, Cebu – South African Bradley Weiss showed his top form in Danao’s sun-scorched, punishing terrain to run away with back-to-back titles in the XTERRA Philippines Off Road Triathlon series yesterday.

Pacing himself well in the highly-challenging and lengthy course torched by 40 degree heat and humidity, Weiss pulled away in the mountain roads en route to annexing the XTERRA Danao Cebu diadem as a followup to his triumph in last year’s XTERRA Albay.

Weiss covered the challenging 1.5K swim, 40K mountain bike and 10K trail run course in 3 hours and 16 minutes, checking in nearly seven minutes ahead of runner-up Sam Osborne of New Zealand (3:23:33).

Kiwi Kieran McPherson took the bronze in the event organized and produced by Sunrise Events, Inc. with 3:24:27 while fancied Australian Ben Allen, who suffered a flat tire thrice in the bike, settled for fourth in the 11-man field with 3:44:26 followed by American Will Kelsay (3:50:48) and Pinoy Joseph Miller (3:52:04).

Austrian Carina Wasle, meanwhile, hit paydirt after two previous heartbreakers on Phl soil, scoring a wire-to-wire victory in the women’s pro division. Wasle posted 4:07:49 to beat Aussie Penny Slater (4:36:21) and American Jessica Koltz (5:22:53) with plenty to spare.

“Very tough race. I’ve been racing professionally for six years now and this one’s probably the hardest and hottest race I’ve ever done,” said Weiss.

“It’s so challenging that if you finish, you’ve already done a fantastic job. So to come up with a win is absolutely an amazing result; I couldn’t ask for more,” he added.

Recognizing a long race ahead, Weiss swam conservatively at first then made his move in the steep mountains of barangay Sabang, catching up with the pacesetters towards the end of the first loop.

“Starting the second loop, I put the hammer down and went for it,” said Weiss, who established a six-minute gap heading into the run phase at Cebu Technological University Danao.

Eagles rip Gilas U-16

OLIVAREZ SPORTS CLINICS. Promoting sports and a drug-free lifestyle, the city government of Paranaque offers basketball and volleyball tournaments to its young residents which fired off this weekend in Barangay San Antonio. Mayor Edwin Olivarez (left) urged kids and teenagers to take advantage of the offers in different venues as sports teaches strategies and values such as friendship, sportsmanship and discipline.

Ringia, Guarde share PPS GenSan honors KORONADAL’S Janus Ringia came away with a pair of straight-set romps to dominate the boys’ division while Carlyn Bless Guarde stamped her class in the girls’ side in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Gen. San leg regional age group tennis tournament in Gen. Santos City yesterday.

Ringia ripped Christian Villarin, 6-4, 6-2, to clinch the 16-and-under crown then thwarted Steven Sonsona, 6-4, 6-3, for the 18-U title while Guarde survived Ezra Enriquez, 4-6, 6-3, 10-8, in the 16-U finals then the Sultan Kudarat ace mas-

tered her rival from Salog, Zamboanga, 6-4, 6-3, to pocket the 18-U plum in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

The twin wins likewise netted Ringia and Guarde the coveted MVP plums aside precious ranking points staked in each leg of the nationwide circuit backed

by Asiatraders Corp. and the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s and B-Meg. Brent Cortez from Tubod, Lanao scored a 1-0 (ret.) win over top seed Da-

vid Velez to snare the boys’ 14-U title while Enriquez bounced back from her twin setbacks to Guarde by taking the 14-U crown with a 6-1, 6-1 romp over Jonamil Prado.

Digos City’s Andrei Padao stunned top seed Joji Taketomi, 6-2, 6-2, in the semis then overpowered Rey Napala, 6-1, 6-2, to capture the boys’ 12-U diadem while Glan, Sarangani’s Angelie Ripdos ripped Sunshine Remollo, 6-1, 6-2, to win the girls’ 12-U title and top seed Al Rasheed Lucman crushed Taketomi, 4-1, 4-0, for the 10-unisex plum.

Coach E holds FUN-damental Camp for boys, girls IT’S summer time and Coach E is once again presenting the Summer FUN-damental Camp for boys and girls aged four to 16 years old.

These young kids will have a great opportunity to spend their summer the productive way thru the FUN-damental Camp, which will unfurl in eight venues.

For eight sessions, beginning April 19 until May 28, these young players

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sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

who want to elevate their game to the next level will get a chance to experience the low student-coach ratio giving every participant a more hands-on training.

Parents of interested participants can contact 6311195 and 6684347 or call and text mobile no. 09088846947.

You may also e-mail coachebasketball@gmail.com. Online payment is available through Coach E website,

www.coach-e.com, via Paypal. Registration is walk-in.

Classes will be held at the following venues – the Mother Goose Nursery School in San Juan, Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City, Greenhills West Village in San Juan, Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, The Zone in Makati, Valle Verde 2 in Pasig, San Beda College in Alabang, and Gatorade Hoops Center in Mandaluyong.

From April 19 to May 26, the MWF classes in Mother Goose Nursery School and Celebrity Sports Plaza are slated from 10 a. to 12 noon.

Greenhills West Village had also scheduled its MWF sessions beginning April 19 to May 26 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Classes in Ateneo starts on April 19 and ends on May 26. The schedule will be every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 to 4 p.m.

THE Ateneo Blue Eagles turned back the Batang Gilas National Under-16 national men’s team, 84-77, Thursday at the start of the 23rd Fr.Martin Cup Summer Basketball tournament.

Transferee William Navarro fired 20 points for the Blue Eagles, who took the early lead in Group A when action ended at the St. Placid gymnasium of the San Beda College-Manila campus in Manila.

Meanwhile, RC Calimag powered the Batang Gilas with 20 points.

The Enderun College Lady Titans, getting a lift from Ella Rodriguez, prevailed over University of Santo Tomas, 68-66, in the women’s contest.

Rodriguez scored with a drive and a split charity in the last 6.1 seconds, allowing the Lady Titans to overtake the Tigresses in the closing seconds.

Thirty-five teams have signed up in the men’s, women’s and junior divisions of the tournament.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Sports

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

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MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

Bacolod bet, cancer survivor steal show

By Peter Atencio SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique-A former sprinter from Bacolod and a cancer survivor from Cebu stole the thunder from National Capital Region bets in Day 2 of the gymnastics’ event in the 2017 Palarong Pambansa here.

Thirteen-year-old Kiana Alagaban (Negros Region) stood her ground after she, Cebu’s Daniella de la Pisa (Region 7) and Divina Sembrano (NCR) finished with three gold medals each.

The three emerged as the first triple gold medallists of the meet when action ended at the Evelio B. Javier gymnasium of the Binirayan Sports Complex here.

Alagaban, a former 100-meter sprinter from Taytung High School, unseated Metro Manila-based Breanna Labadan in the individual all-around action of the elementary girls’ event of rhythmic gymnastics.

De la Pisa, a seventh grader from the University of Visayas, beat NCR bets Divina Sembrano, Krysta Maguidato and Jhazzel Limenzon on three of four fronts. De la Pisa took the sport after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 4, and later recovered from it.

Sembrano, drawing inspiration from the presence of a former champion now training her, first ruled the individual allaround event before anchoring NCR to the team gold of the secondary girls’ events of rhythmic gymnastics.

Then, the 13-year-old Sembrano, who is instructed by former champion Mage Wagan, and Limenzon came up with a 1-2 finish to outscore De la Pisa in the club competitions.

NCR, with Wagan, a most bemedalled athlete in 2011, as one of its trainers, still came up with the team honors in the secondary and elementary level despite the opposition they got from Negros Region and Region 7.

The Big City athletes finished with 107.5 points, while Negros Region settled for a close second with 102.08 points.

Alagaban, a seventh grader from Taytung High School in Bacolod, eased out Labadan for the gold with her tally of 39.79 in a tight contest in the individual all-around. Labadan ended up with 39.40 points.

De la Pisa now has three golds and two silvers.

Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies shoots the ball against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. AFP

Gasol floater sinks Spurs; Dubs put Blazers on brink L OS ANGELES—Marc Gasol lifted Memphis to a 110-108 overtime win over the San Antonio Spurs with a clutch jump shot at the buzzer that allowed the Grizzlies to level their playoff series at 2-2.

Gasol’s floater over Spurs defender LaMarcus Aldridge with 0.7 seconds left capped a thrilling back and forth first round playoff contest Saturday in front of a crowd of 18,100.

Kawhi Leonard scored a playoff career high 43 points for the Spurs, including San Antonio’s final 16 points in the fourth quarter.

“Both teams played their hearts out,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Just a fantastic basketball game. The fans got their money’s worth. Marc made a great shot. L.A. (Aldridge) contested it very well, it (went) down.”

Leonard added eight rebounds, six steals and three assists. Leonard’s fade-away jumper with 12 seconds left in regulation

gave San Antonio a 96-94 lead.

But Leonard’s brilliant performance was in vain as Mike Conley led Memphis with 35 points and had nine rebounds and eight assists.

Conley, who had 11 points in the final quarter, answered with a floater in the lane with four seconds left to tie the game at 96.

Leonard then missed a 21-footer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

Memphis won despite making a franchise postseason record 23 turnovers that led to 31 San Antonio points.

Meanwhile, Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors stormed back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-113.

Klay Thompson tallied 24 points on Saturday for the Warriors, who seized a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven firstround Western Conference playoff series.

CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Damian Lillard added 31 for the Blazers, who will try to stay alive with a win in game four on Monday.

“They had a lot of adrenaline but we were able to withstand their runs and get back in the game,” said Curry. “I love these kind of moments. I have confidence in myself to make those shots.”

Golden State was without forward Kevin Durant (calf injury), guard Shaun Livingston (finger) and forward Matt Barnes (ankle).

Warriors coach Steve Kerr also did not attend the game because of illness. His was replaced by assistant coach Mike Brown.

After the final buzzer, Curry collected the game ball and said he planned to deliver it to Kerr.

“Our coach is going through a lot right now,” Curry said. “He told us to go out and ‘win one for the Gipper.’”

Koronadal out to smash 2 Guinness world records

Koronadal City Mayor Peter Miguel (right) explains the mechanics of how the city will break two marks in the Guinness World Records as Kawasaki Philippines president Hisashi Nishizawa listens.

ASTC Subic Bay triathlon draws record field A RECORD field is expected in the NTT ASTC Subic Bay International Triathlon which will fire off on April 29 and 30 at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The event, with the hashtag #baliksubit2017, lured 996 entries as triathletes from all walks of life take the challenges in super sprint, sprint and standard distances in the country’s longest-running international triathlon competition.

Attention will now be focused on the nation’s aspirants to the 2017 Southeast Asian Games set to be hosted by Malaysia this August as 2015 Singapore edition gold medalists Nikko Huelgas and Claire Adorna with Kim Mangrobang, Fil-Am Kim Kilgroe, John Chicano, Jared Macalalad and Mark Hosana face off with the

rivals from Singapore , Malaysia and Indonesia and other foreign crack entries from Japan, Australia, Korea, Macau, Portugal, Hong Kong , Syria and Chinese Taipei.

In the YOG contest of the event supported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Finis, Century Tuna, Philippine Star, Gatorade, Standard Insurance, The Lighthouse Marina Resort, ACEA Subic Bay, Subictel, Foton, PTT, Moonbay Marina The Villas, Asian Center for Insulation, Subic Bay Traveler’s Hotel (official hotel), Subic Holiday Villas, Subic International Hotel and media partners Raceday Triathlon, SBR.ph, Trilife Magazine and AsiaTRI. com, the Philippines’ Wacky

Baniqued, Joshua Ramos, Inaki Lorbes, Nicole Eijansantos, Karen Manayon and Lauren Plaza will have their hands full dealing with strong competitors from Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore and Kazakhstan.

Invited to do the firing gun start and the giving of the awards are SBMA chairman Martin Diño, SBMA administrator Atty. Wilma Eisma, TRAP president Mon Marchan, ASTC President Justin Park and Philippine Paralympic Committee president Mike Barredo.

For more information, visit the TRAP’s website: www.triathlon. org.ph. or Facebook pages https:// www.facebook.com/TriPhil/ and https://www.facebook.com/ITUSubit/

WITH the participation of the rich and powerful, including a bevy of celebrities, Koronadal City is confident and ready to smash two existing marks in the Guinness World Records six days from now.

After months of meticulous preparations – not to mention putting up multi-tiered security measures – Mayor Peter Miguel expects the city to become a “Motorcycle Haven” of the South when the three-day 23rd National Federation of Motorcycle Clubs Annual Convention begins on Friday.

“We will have a lot of VIPs joining our bid to make it to Guinness, but we will not reveal their names for security reasons,” said Miguel.

But the highlight of the convention presented by Kawasaki will be on Saturday as the city attempts to break the Most Engines Started Simultaneously and the Most Motorcycle Horns Sounded Simultaneously.

Miguel said Guinness officials decided to scratch the Most Number of Motorcycle Parade after elevating the bar to as many as 22,000.

With the support of Kawasaki, Petron, BMW, Ducati, Suzuki, KTM, and Department of Tourism, Miguel expects 5,000 motorcycle enthusiasts to converge in the bustling city – all eager to feel and experience the first class hospitality not only of Koronadal City but nearby towns like Banga, Surallah, Lake Sebu, Tupi, Polomolok and Tantangan.

“Wala ng alinlangan ito, go na go na tayo sa Koronadal,” said Miguel. “We’ve already coordinated with different government agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, even the Bureau of Fire Protection and emergency groups and hospitals,” said Miguel.

Kawasaki Philippines president Hisashi Nishizawa promised to raffle off two brand new big bikes for the nine-day motorcycle event.

“We are very happy to join such big event like this, to join Mayor Peter B. Miguel,” said Nishizawa.

The annual convention already started yesterday and Miguel said that the organizers already line up several activities, including conferences, symposia on road courtesies and traffic regulations, skills trainings and other capacity building seminar-workshop for thousands of motorists.

“We’ve been holding big events in Koronadal City, because we’re positioning our place as a place for sports tourism. And this festival, this is the biggest and we are all excited,” said Miguel.

“The biggest happening, of course, is our attempt to break two world records, and we’re confident we can do it as thousands of participants from all over the country, not only from Koronadal City, will join us in this event,” added Miguel.

Lillard scored 22 points and McCollum 17 as the Blazers went into halftime leading 67-54.

Elsewhere, DeMar DeRozan, held scoreless from the floor a game earlier, struck for 33 points and nine rebounds to lead Toronto over Milwaukee 87-76.

The visiting Raptors pulled level with Milwaukee at 2-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series, which continues Monday in Toronto.

In Atlanta, the Atlanta Hawks led wireto-wire en route to a dominating 116-98 victory over Washington, cutting the Wizards lead in the playoff series to 2-1.

- ‘He’s a crybaby’ Forward Paul Millsap registered his second consecutive double-double by finishing with 29 points and 14 rebounds as the Hawks clawed their way back into the Eastern Conference series.

Millsap was 12 of 20 from the floor and had five assists. The only blemish on his night was missing four-of-nine free throws.

Desperate GlobalPort wins

By Jeric Lopez IN desperation mode, GlobalPort showed urgency, easily demolishing woeful Mahindra, 105-86, to notch a much-needed win in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

In the absence of Terrence Romeo due to injury, his partner Stanley Pringle stepped it up a notch and led the Batang Pier with 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting, to go with five assists as his offense took center stage.

Import Malco White helped him out with 16 points and 17 rebounds.

The Batang Pier broke the game wide open in the second quarter after a solid opening frame.

A highlight-reel alley-oop slam of James Forrester from Mike Cortez’s feed gave GlobalPort a gigantic 47-31 spread with just less than two minutes left before halftime.

Overall, the Batang Pier outscored the Floodbuster, 27-19, in the second to take a sizeable 49-36 advantage at the turn.

GlobalPort was able to do this thanks to Pringle’s solid start as he scored 17 on 8-of-10 shooting of his total points in the first 24 minutes.

From there, GlobalPort cruised and did not look back as it likewise took care of business in the second half.

Just five minutes into the third, the Batang Pier increased its lead further, taking a huge 21-point cushion, 62-41.

The teams entered their duel with only one win each. The game was essential as the winner will get itself back in the hunt for a place in the top eight.

Fortunately for the Batang Pier, it came out on top and it now improved to 2-5 and kept its hopes alive.

Mahindra suffered its fifth straight defeat and fell to 1-7, still in 11th place.

The scores: GLOBALPORT 105 - Pringle 24, White 16, Pessumal 14, Cortez 12, Quinahan 11, Aban 10, Forrester 7, Paredes 6, Ababou 5, Mamaril 0, Pennisi 0.

MAHINDRA 86 - Wright 23, Celda 18, Paniamogan 14, Corpuz 8, Deutchman 6, Elorde 4, Salva 4, Caperal 2, Mallari 2, Yee 2, Ballesteros 1, David 1, Galanza 1, Revilla 0, Teng 0, Guevarra 0.

Quarterscores: 105-86

DTI to register direct sellers B3

IN BRIEF 8990 Holdings bares P7-b Cebu projects MASS housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. said it will spend P7 billion to construct two large housing projects in Cebu province.

8990 Holdings said in a statement it launched Deca Homes Mactan Prime and Urban Deca Homes Mactan which are located in Lapu Lapu City.

Deca Homes Mactan Prime is situated within a 30-hectare property and has an estimated project value of P4.2 billion. Once completed, the gated community will provide 3,507 home units with a community gathering area and 16,000 square meters of commercial space.

Urban Deca Homes Mactan is a 15-hectare that will offer 6,828 units upon completion of the project with total sales value of P6.5 billion. The development offers studio and two-bedroom units and paves the way for working professionals and start-up families to own their own condominium units that are easily accessible to the city center.

The two projects account for close to 70 percent of the company’s current residential pipeline in Cebu. Both projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

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Peza rejects online gaming

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Philippine Economic Zone Authority closed the door on online gaming companies which are seeking to locate in IT parks and business process outsourcing complexes in Metro Manila.

Peza director-general Charito Plaza said the investment promotion agency made its position clear, despite the Office of the President’s standing request to legalize and authorize the operations of online gaming/betting companies inside Peza-accredited facilities.

“We refused and we won’t allow it. We’ve spoken to the BPOs and the IBPAP [IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines]....There were loose talks there are gaming firms disguising as BPOs to operate inside a BPO building, when the truth is that

these gaming entities are locators of Apeco [Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority] and Ceza [Cagayan Economic Zone Authority] and not

by Peza,” Plaza said over the weekend.

She said IBPAP was also firm on its position not to allow gambling inside IT parks and Peza-accredited buildings where legitimate BPO were companies operating.

Plaza said several online gaming companies sought membership from IBPAP, but the group refused to have them as members.

She said while gambling was allowed inside the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport and Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport, the Peza board decided not to allow it inside Peza-accredited facilities.

Plaza said the Office of the Solicitor General allowed gaming companies from Apeco and Ceza to operate in Metro Manila, pending the construction of the digital/technical infrastructure that would support their operations in Cagayan and Aurora.

A case cited was that of Rizal Commercial Bank-

ing Corp.’s building in Makati City, which allowed an online gaming company to set up in the location reportedly without informing Peza.

Plaza said because of the incident, Peza urged building owners where BPO companies and IT companies were operating to become more circumspect when taking in tenants to protect the image of the BPO industry in general.

“After all, the BPO industry is still one of the major dollar earners and drivers of the economy,” Plaza said.

“The Peza board, in our meeting two weeks ago, came up with a resolution that any IT park or BPO building hosting gambling operations will be stripped of the benefits they get from and will face dis-accreditation by Peza,” she said.

Plaza said online gambling and business process outsourcing, though both dollar earners, were two different things with very distinct socio-economic impact.

“Therefore, we and the IBPAP shared the same view that mixing legitimate business and gambling under one roof is not a good business decision,” she said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

GE remains bullish on local energy sector GLOBAL energy solutions provider GE is optimistic about the opportunities in the Philippines as power companies begin to realize the importance of new technologies in bringing higher level of efficiencies and less environmental impact.

GE Power regional senior executive for sales Massimo Gallizioli said the company was bidding for a coal project in the Philippines, but declined to identify it because of confidentiality issues.

“The Philippines is a merchant market so it’s a very competitive market, and clearly in the region we are not the only technology. So it’s a very challenging market where all the best technologies are competing and the customer is in the best opportunity to pick the best solution and the best price,” Gallizioli said.

“It’s [Philippines] becoming an important market because it’s going towards the high level of efficiency,” he said.

GE recently turned over the Manjung 4 ultra- supercritical power project which has a generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts to Tenaga Nacional Berhad in Malaysia.

Manjung 4 is the first of its kind in the Southeast Asia. Ultra-supercritical technology is the current gold standard for coalfired plants anywhere in the world. The Manjung 4 power plant forms part of the 4,100-MW power complex in Perak, Malaysia. Alena Mae S. Flores

LABOR DAY PREPARATION. Senior officials of the Labor Department hold a news briefing ahead of the Labor Day celebration on May 1. Labor Secretary

SilvestreBello III (third from left) and Undersecretaries (from left) Claro Arellano, Dominador Say, Joel Maglunsod and Bernard Olalia also lead the discussion on the implementation of Department Order No. 174, protection of migrant workers, resolved labor cases and Labor Day activities in Intramuros, Manila.

Mighty’s closure seen to hurt Economists expect inflation to pick up 55,000 tobacco farmers in PH By Julito G. Rada HUNDREDS of thousands of Filipinos will be affected if the government makes good on its threat to close down homegrown tobacco company Mighty Corp., according to a top executive.

Retired judge Oscar Barrientos, now the executive vice president and spokesman of the beleaguered homegrown firm, said about 7,000 Filipino employees, 55,000 tobacco farmers and their estimated 350,000 family members and dependents were relying on MC for livelihood.

“We call on the Bureau of Internal Revenue to act more responsibly in making statements regarding the case of MC and take into consideration the repercussions of a cancellation of the license to operate of the company,” Barrientos said.

“The BIR should consider that this case impacts Mighty’s employees, tobacco farmers and their families, as well as suppliers and distributors who depend on the

company,” he said.

Barrientos also called on the government to ensure due process for Mighty as it faces charges of tax evasion.

“We reiterate our pledge to fully cooperate with the government. But while we welcome the filing of these charges as an opportunity to clear the name of the company and its officers, we hope the BIR will also show prudence in the conduct of its probe of the firm,” Barrientos said.

Mario Cabasal, president of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers Associations and Cooperatives, said tobacco farmers would bear the biggest impact once MC’s operation was shut.

“Most of us depend on Mighty for the purchase of our tobacco. They are our biggest buyer of local tobacco. If the government makes good on its threat to close down Mighty, tobacco farmers will bear the brunt of the closure,” Cabasal said.

PRIVATE sector economists expect inflation to accelerate this year and next because of rising oil prices in the global market, tax reform implementation and higher government spending.

Results of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ survey of private sector economists for March 2017 showed that the mean inflation forecast for 2017 rose to 3.4 percent from 3 percent in the December forecast. The average inflation forecast for 2018 also went up to 3.5 percent from 3.1 percent.

“Analysts attributed their higher inflation expectations to a weaker peso, persistently high global oil prices, the implementation of tax reform, rise in electricity rates due to higher oil prices and maintenance shutdown of some power plants and higher government spending on infrastructure,” Bangko Sentral said.

The increase in the mean inflation forecast also accounted for the possible occurrence of El Niño dry spell in the latter part of 2017 and possibly a transport fare hike as a result of higher oil prices.

“These were seen to outweigh the downside risks brought by a possible return to low global oil prices, the slowdown of the Chinese economy and the yuan devaluation, as well as the risk of recession and deflation in Japan and the Eurozone,” it said.

Based on the probability distribution of the forecasts provided by 23 of 30 respondents, there was an 88.6 percent probability that average inflation for 2017 would settle between the 2 percent to 4 percent range.

Respondents assigned an 84.9-percent probability that inflation would also fall within the 2 percent to 4 percent target range in 2018.

Inflation in March picked up to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent in Feb-

ruary, on higher prices of electricity, gas and other fuels. It was the fastest since November 2014 at 3.7 percent.

This brought the average inflation in the first quarter to 3 percent, the midpoint of the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the whole year.

Inflation in the non-food group accelerated to 2.8 percent from 2.5 percent in February 2017, and from 0.4 percent in March 2016. This was mainly due to the faster year-on-year price adjustments of electricity, gas and other fuels which rose to 9.3 percent.

The hike was partly caused by a 20-day maintenance shutdown in the Malampaya natural gas field, resulting in the closure of three power plants―Ilijan, Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo. The shift to liquid fuel from natural gas pushed up household electricity rate to P9.67 per kilowatt-hour.

UK offers to finance infra projects

HEALTHCARE ENTREPRENEURS. Endeavor Philippines and Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. host an event dubbed “Scaling Healthcare Ventures in Southeast Asia” under the #HealthcareRedefined series, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers within the sector. Shown are (from left) Dr. Amit Kakar of Bamboo Capital Partners, Nick Ray of Queen’s Road Capital, Endeavor Philippines managing director Manny Ayala, Endeavor Philippines manager for entrepreneur selection and growth Johanna Wiese, CXA Group founder and chief executive Roasline Chow Koo, Endeavor Entrepreneur founder and chief executive of mClinica Farouk Meralli and Christian Besler of AC Health.

THE United Kingdom said the Philippine government can tap a 4.5-billion-pound exportimport facility to help fund the Duterte administration’s unprecedented public investment program.

The Finance Department said in a statement the UK made the offer during a meeting between UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. Fox told Dominguez that the Philippines could look into the UK’s export-import facility to explore financing options for its massive infrastructure program.

“We hope that you can tap this rather undertapped resource,” Fox was quoted as saying.

Dominguez said he welcomed Fox’s offer. He said while the Philippine government was tapping foreign funding sources, it also planned to implement a comprehensive tax reform program to generate revenues internally for its infrastructure buildup.

The finance chief said that as a result of President Duterte’s foreign policy rebalancing,

the Philippines was able to further strengthen its bilateral ties with Asia’s economic powerhouses such as Japan and China, which both pledged a combined $9 billion in official development assistance and investments.

Dominguez informed Fox that the government planned to develop a second international airport, build high-speed trains between Manila and Clark in Pampanga and possibly connect it to a commuter rail system in the south, along with improving Luzon’s ports to help decongest Metro Manila and encourage investments in the countryside.

For regions highly dependent on agriculture, the government will improve existing and build new irrigation systems to boost farm productivity, Dominguez said.

Dominguez said President Duterte’s rebalancing of foreign policy proved timely, given that the Philippines would be hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during the group’s 50th founding anniversary this year.

Julito G. Rada

B2

Business

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks seen consolidating at 7,500

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

HARE prices are expected to move sideways during this week’s shortened trading period, ahead of Manila’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings.

Luis Limlingan, managing director of Regina Capital Development Corp., said the market could take a cue from the upcoming Asean meetings that would discuss investment and trade within the region on April 26 to 30.

Offices and schools in several cities in Metro Manila will be closed on April 27 and 28.

“There is the possibility of earlier win-

dow-dressing due to the shortened trading period. In addition, markets may react to the upcoming French elections and incoming US data will be focusing on purchasing manager’s index and home sales,” Limlingan said.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said market participants remained on the sidelines last week, as they awaited the first-quarter corporate earnings report.

“Chartwise, the week’s close at 7,578.16 suggests the market to consolidate in the 7,500 to 7,600 levels in the near-term,” Ravelas said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, dropped 0.7 percent over last week’s five-day market trading to close at 7,578.16 on April 21, while the broader all-share index slid 0.5 percent to 4,532.10.

The market’s decline was largely due to a

confluence of geopolitical uncertainties and global decline in crude prices, according to analysts.

Services posted the biggest weekly drop among the sub-indices, as it fell 2.2 percent.

It was followed by mining and oil which dropped 1.4 percent and industrial which went down 1 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers by P1.18 billion last week, while the average daily turnover reached P10.6 billion.

Top gainers last week were Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. which jumped 23.1 percent to P48, DMCI Holdings Inc. which rose 5.1 percent to P12.78 and Philippine National Bank which climbed 4.6 percent to P60.15.

Heavy losers included GMA Network Inc. which retreated 12 percent to P6.20, GT Capital Holdings Inc. which went down 5.3 percent to P1,208 and PLDT Inc. which fell 4.61 percent to P1,698.

SEC to issue rules on 15% public float THE Securities and Exchange Commission is set to release rules that will increase the minimum public float requirement of listed companies to 15 percent from the current 10 percent, a top official said.

SEC commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong told the Manila Standard the new rules, subject to comment by affected sectors, would give listed companies one year to comply with the higher public float requirement.

Herbosa said aside from the

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

APRIL 17-21, 2017 Close Volume

Value

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

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

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

3.1 48.65 118.50 104.70 4.00 1.26 35.85 9.99 16.76 20.8 7.75 1.7 775.00 0.680 83.5 0.72 15.5 25.30 60.15 86.55 110 240 48 215.4 1680.00 79.70 1.2

216,000 72,100 18,091,280 4,145,960 382,000 125,000 7,717,300 200 1,672,100 2,809,700 45,800 158,000 320 8,044,000 10,755,850 1,391,000 133,700 3,400 2,450,280 3,400 1,380 42,280 7,116,000 4,616,010 1,125 390,410 56,000

FINANCIALS 668,410.00 3,496,580.00 2,146,961,294 437,213,632.00 1,533,850.00 148,510.00 279,708,830.00 1,998.00 28,238,582.00 58,363,115.00 354,952 268,580.00 247,350.00 5,414,410.00 889,291,024.50 1,021,480.00 1,992,902.00 88,080.00 144,792,732.50 304,974.50 152,006.00 10,143,832.00 320,978,655 998,881,244.00 1,882,190 31,111,218.50 67,240.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp.

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

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

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

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

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

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

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

41.35 5.66 0.83 1.56 18.58 0.249 114.8 14.22 7.91 16.9 180 23.5 86 94.95 70 1.95 5.72 12 12.760 9.20 6.46 6.08 1.7 22 73.2 12.50 15.68 7.9 1.610 208.00 69.00 5.11 3.72 28.45 32.1 24.3 19 0.244 281.00 6.30 3.78 8.95 3.5 11.40 2.18 8.65 2.10 72.9 5.08 4.75 2.01 2.75 300.6 13.94 4.5 0.144 1.40 170 4.41 1.74 31.50 1.03

6,533,900 10,204,200 7,797,000 7,338,000 43,500 19,190,000 800 34,000 50,474,900 2,029,200 140 932,900 4,480 110 2,909,180 3,441,000 70,400 242,400 22,298,100 5,785,900 8,590,400 42,644,200 8,000 6,863,700 481,750 22,200 728,900 9,213,600 1,407,000 2,986,120 930 27,462,000 267,000 3,400 5,593,100 173,100 5,938,100 14,960,000 769,550 581,700 3,697,000 22,981,900 13,000 109,100 16,441,000 16,277,100 11,012,000 2,233,230 391,400 4,282,000 35,000 129,000 93,310 7,202,700 942,000 27,390,000 1,105,000 2,915,000 40,000 31,834,000 4,600 209,000

INDUSTRIAL 271,021,900.00 56,018,673.00 6,564,320.00 10,966,230.00 802,870.00 4,737,230.00 85,161.50 485,584.00 409,081,460.00 34,484,712 23,506.00 21,780,265.00 384,766.50 10,157.50 206,935,195 6,778,240.00 404,734.00 2,902,906.00 288,314,260.00 53,746,176.00 55,235,473.00 258,567,880.00 13,600.00 148,634,300.00 35,165,157.50 276,416.00 11,698,518.00 71,707,215.00 2,283,960.00 617,233,362.00 64,170.00 150,828,349.00 1,014,920.00 91,470.00 181,038,300.00 4,276,500.00 111,204,156.00 3,618,580.00 216,783,700.00 3,683,401.00 14,168,780.00 206,499,408.00 45,580.00 1,245,316.00 35,478,340.00 139,183,039.00 22,739,010.00 159,838,511.00 1,962,581.00 20,352,640.00 70,360.00 355,480.00 27,999,590.00 100,567,152.00 4,406,160.00 3,996,900.00 1,580,350.00 497,067,686 166,540.00 55,847,180.00 145,290.00 209,150.00

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Magnum Holdings Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

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

0.370 75.35 14.70 1.15 6.20 0.415 0.435 861 8.3 12.78 5.4 7.85 0.192 1208 6.40 83.05 4.7 5.44 0.99 7.59 15.9 0.415 6.51 3.55 0.0570 1.070 1.860 2.49 110.40 2.76 711.00 1.41 0.85 285.000 0.2900 0.1970 0.242

20,310,000 5,632,180 48,690,600 123,000 234,000 203,920,000 48,930,000 652,860 4,403,200 57,874,600 2,400 486,100 5,920,000 642,155 2,236,400 7,161,090 5,000 6,300 15,151,100 5,128,300 10,377,100 20,000 79,164,800 6,000 322,130,000 32,000 967,000 1,000 2,000,950 899,000 1,469,140 763,000 405,000 40,630 3,420,000 1,660,000 1,400,000

HOLDING FIRMS 7,579,800.00 426,913,662.50 705,750,714.00 137,450.00 1,455,361.00 88,811,950.00 21,746,600.00 560,686,890 36,579,720.00 704,940,894.00 13,738.00 3,758,393.00 1,149,130.00 771,470,405.00 14,354,072.00 587,429,909.00 23,100.00 31,867.00 20,591,680.00 39,476,520.00 160,561,360.00 8,300.00 513,037,440.00 21,240.00 18,951,440.00 34,480.00 1,803,330.00 2,490.00 218,513,024.00 2,507,540.00 1,053,735,805.00 1,083,160.00 333,100.00 11,543,916.00 981,750.00 325,070.00 338,510.00

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

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

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

6.800 0.96 2.340 1.450 35.600 3.87 5.27 5.96 6 0.495 1.03 1.300 0.154 0.540 52.25 0.700 0.173 1.66 0.97 1.06 5.59 4.1 0.380

1,061,300 5,620,000 439,000 104,092,000 22,274,900 7,649,000 1,039,800 21,200 15,900 27,154,000 179,000 1,040,000 23,120,000 21,462,000 1,230,720 107,000 13,090,000 29,628,000 12,020,000 39,789,000 4,000 217,700,000 1,243,260,000

PROPERTY 7,245,878.00 5,352,940.00 1,007,810.00 148,596,480.00 784,534,225.00 29,784,560.00 5,402,765.00 119,152.00 96,654.00 13,505,490.00 180,910.00 1,330,580.00 3,596,850.00 11,673,330.00 65,671,350.00 74,700.00 2,332,140.00 48,683,440.00 11,787,300.00 41,852,580.00 19,640.00 881,831,250.00 428,968,450.00

APRIL 10-12, 2017 Close Volume 3.17 48.5 121.00 104.80 3.92 1.22 38.2 8.53 16.2 20.8 1.72 775.00 0.680 84.5 0.72 14.7 25.80 57.50 90.4 111 240 39 217 1710.00 79.65 1.21 42 5.4 0.83 1.43 19.2 0.255 15.00 7.92 17.14 170.1 23.5 91 72.5 1.99 5.89 12.02 12.780 9.44 6.46 6.12 1.7 20.95 72.9 12.20 16.18 7.84 1.610 208.80 71.00 4.88 3.72 28.90 32.55 25.2 18.58 0.244 284.00 6.47 3.9 9.25 3.54 11.38 2.17 8.39 1.90 72.05 5.05 4.75 2.01 2.75 300.2 13.5 4.6 0.146 1.42 174 4.41 1.69 3.00 1.03 0.375 75.50 14.32 1.13 6.32 0.420 0.450 857 8.4 12.16 5.43 7.80 0.179 1275 6.20 81.45 4.3 1.02 7.87 15.5 6.48 0.0600 1.080 1.860 2.54 107.80 2.61 719.00 1.46 0.85 284.000 0.2900 0.1840 0.250 6.850 0.97 2.310 1.320 35.000 3.95 5.15 0.510 1.00 1.270 0.156 0.540 53.9 0.680 0.180 1.65 1.00 1.10 4.02 4.05 0.290

Value

310,000 26,900 7,748,300 1,473,050 141,000 49,000 3,568,200 600 180,400 1,425,800 0 110,000 140 5,613,000 10,580,790 116,000 151,800 16,500 42,350 6,470 1,720 29,500 112,400 2,139,990 465 150,110 192,000

1,029,130.00 1,311,730.00 936,599,166.00 154,741,114.00 553,320.00 58,850.00 144,547,235.00 5,118.00 2,922,340.00 29,550,265.00 0.00 182,930.00 109,450.00 3,799,130.00 915,479,483.00 81,440.00 2,231,470.00 416,100.00 2,427,816.50 561,578.00 195,385.00 7,119,064.00 4,390,330.00 458,234,734.00 799,475.00 11,961,188.50 232,120.00

5,554,300 4,113,600 1,252,000 786,000 8,400 54,240,000 0 26,100 32,255,800 2,489,000 20 425,300 2,000 0 517,100 1,079,000 648,500 184,700 9,652,100 3,746,100 11,257,900 44,081,800 42,000 7,623,000 1,991,830 86,900 4,087,900 14,567,600 1,844,000 1,794,010 70 2,975,100 62,000 9,200 3,944,100 1,202,900 3,828,900 23,500,000 471,650 1,865,500 39,671,000 10,095,300 47,000 30,200 9,565,000 9,365,700 1,091,000 4,924,020 141,000 760,000 408,000 78,000 17,060 1,799,800 55,000 7,240,000 500,000 3,334,000 112,000 19,384,000 0 652,000

232,289,190.00 21,928,665.00 1,013,550.00 1,113,650.00 158,320.00 14,074,030.00 0.00 382,406.00 249,365,778.00 42,047,898.00 3,402.00 9,940,820.00 177,550.50 0.00 36,562,182.00 2,124,030.00 3,705,594.00 2,211,962.00 123,000,654.00 34,965,864.00 72,837,022.00 269,307,252.00 71,330.00 163,013,195.00 143,521,169.50 1,061,302.00 64,773,162.00 115,317,161.00 2,966,260.00 373,906,020.00 4,970.00 14,728,567.00 232,710.00 272,415.00 124,876,935.00 29,769,300.00 70,529,960.10 5,704,050.00 132,906,240.00 13,223,403.00 154,375,210.00 92,044,744.00 168,980.00 344,374.00 20,668,600.00 78,722,130.00 2,054,650.00 354,747,667.00 694,110.00 3,630,630.00 820,080.00 214,830.00 5,118,912.00 24,202,758.00 257,340.00 1,041,780.00 697,720.00 571,362,423.00 489,520.00 32,818,620.00 0.00 650,700.00

3,100,000 3,317,840 33,530,000 68,000 68,100 177,600,000 117,560,000 591,710 8,971,500 46,103,800 11,000 279,500 490,000 653,395 180,800 4,126,620 20,000 0 4,524,000 745,400 11,469,100 0 55,418,800 0 755,990,000 70,000 3,925,000 5,000 1,112,930 90,000 1,111,030 203,000 28,000 37,360 760,000 600,000 1,900,000

1,157,700.00 249,739,963.00 467,740,190.00 75,540.00 429,888.00 77,610,850.00 61,987,200.00 509,572,675.00 76,175,872.00 559,356,576.00 60,181.00 2,163,576.00 89,610.00 816,491,320.00 1,139,498.00 332,720,671.00 85,550.00 0.00 4,687,240.00 5,866,669.00 178,488,576.00 0.00 358,807,172.00 0.00 45,277,230.00 76,210.00 7,450,770.00 12,650.00 119,629,266.00 233,620.00 805,528,255.00 288,820.00 24,170.00 10,480,502.00 220,400.00 110,970.00 460,470.00

288,800 1,653,000 230,000 57,546,000 18,669,100 4,289,000 74,500 0 0 11,079,000 194,000 415,000 10,640,000 2,819,000 1,714,180 504,000 23,340,000 22,911,000 21,530,000 8,095,000 66,000 181,104,000 365,990,000

1,965,095.00 1,587,900.00 530,970.00 78,959,240.00 658,185,725.00 16,856,170.00 383,672.00 0.00 0.00 5,549,770.00 194,940.00 517,470.00 1,668,100.00 1,497,480.00 94,132,160.00 348,470.00 4,367,770.00 37,581,400.00 22,231,690.00 9,065,120.00 265,330.00 726,976,110.00 106,285,900.00

STOCKS

APRIL 17-21, 2017 Close Volume

APRIL 10-12, 2017 Close Volume

Value

Phil. Estates Corp.

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

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

0.3000 0.610 27.50 4.28 26.00 1.72 3.34 29.65 1 7 0.900 5.300

5,330,000 72,443,000 500 5,337,000 14,977,500 767,000 68,000 19,596,400 12,166,000 800 379,000 8,256,600

1,667,500.00 44,730,370.00 13,750.00 22,876,450.00 386,802,995.00 1,346,320.00 225,380.00 581,705,245.00 12,145,530.00 5,537.00 337,980.00 43,325,867.00

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

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

DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPeople Inc. `A’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

12 46 1.53 0.540 0.044 11.02 5.31 8.71 0.0720 2 106.6 10.34 8.83 2.64 4.00 971 2020 6.20 16.30 14.98 3.23 88 3.69 0.0091 12.68 9.00 0.183 1.4500 3.67 15 4.52 0.95 4.76 16.90 2.37 6.75 3.76 3.000 11.5 5.50 3.05 168.00 7.93 1680.00 1698.00 0.415 1.540 41.75 79.85 6.18 2.29 1.030 1.92 3.2 0.465 5.230

2,068,000 67,600 261,000 9,827,000 205,900,000 20,000 33,500 36,687,100 161,730,000 45,836,000 2,016,820 1,100 640,900 100,000 13,000 1,130 393,275 3,266,600 457,000 1,600 8,547,000 11,506,860 352,000 52,000,000 54,700 1,609,200 65,200,000 7,224,000 732,000 83,100 11,428,000 294,000 3,107,000 11,600 303,000 28,465,000 9,096,000 13,870,000 19,900 177,400 188,000 264,580 5,536,800 118,070 567,510 4,160,000 41,226,000 12,063,200 3,480,000 244,300 29,508,000 53,945,000 100,000 4,565,000 31,340,000 33,531,700

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0033 1.45 5.20 11.48 1.7500 1.7100 0.9 0.420 9.00 2.570 0.250 0.180 0.192 0.012 0.0120 1.84 6.12 2.11 0.8800 0.0110 0.0120 4.05 8.59 3.16 0.0120 148.60 2.87 0.0084

110,000,000 66,278,000 155,500 200 554,000 255,000 55,779,000 9,540,000 15,700 6,841,000 1,530,000 29,700,000 1,160,000 106,100,000 3,000,000 808,000 11,655,200 394,000 620,000 48,600,000 10,400,000 50,000 2,623,200 6,727,000 511,900,000 2,097,870 230,000 4,000,000

MINING & OIL 362,900.00 102,707,180.00 821,197.00 2,296.00 986,460.00 446,620.00 45,917,890.00 3,929,200.00 137,616.00 17,747,040.00 380,170.00 5,357,670.00 223,680.00 1,168,500.00 35,500.00 1,427,570.00 71,578,286.00 819,520.00 550,520.00 538,900.00 124,600.00 201,900.00 22,402,123.00 21,643,440.00 6,596,000.00 313,913,779.00 631,610.00 33,700.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

45.9 107.5 535 525.5 104.5 103.9 115.5 525 5.72 1017 1031 1.06 10737 1030 1020 105 121 76 80.1 76 81.6 80 78 78.1 78.5

152,700 10,480 22,920 26,990 45,800 100 42,760 21,480 18,808,200 31,885 5,910 660,000 21,160 50 400 38,900 16,400 33,400 88,710 17,820 135,820 200,720 162,910 171,910 350,250

PREFERRED 7,027,380.00 1,126,600 12,109,550.00 14,181,615 4,815,181.00 10,390.00 4,944,628.00 11,236,290.00 108,069,035.00 32,531,195.00 6,093,590.00 695,500 2,278,932.00 50,580.00 408,000.00 4,089,982.00 1,882,800.00 2,539,025.00 7,107,023.50 1,360,955.00 10,807,710.00 16,047,453.00 12,723,832.00 13,481,079.00 27,404,145.00

LR Warrant

2.480

5,205,000

SERVICES 25,164,558.00 3,109,655.00 404,390.00 5,169,130.00 9,231,500.00 230,554.00 180,680 314,661,850.00 11,941,950.00 94,758,960.00 210,582,651.00 11,363.00 5,613,245.00 260,150 51,720.00 1,097,130.00 798,819,400 20,586,481.00 7,489,436.00 23,442 27,320,950.00 1,018,171,506.50 1,297,410 474,000.00 680,596.00 14,496,006.00 12,310,280.00 10,435,700.00 2,723,530.00 1,256,444.00 52,510,380 280,090.00 14,200,230.00 189,854 740,440.00 186,688,197.00 34,868,870.00 42,647,020.00 230,846.00 965,888 573,100.00 43,707,806.00 44,141,148.00 196,065,020.00 979,176,450.00 1,750,900.00 65,403,610.00 509,652,415.00 275,098,861.50 1,498,205.00 68,042,270.00 57,253,330.00 164,820.00 14,679,370.00 14,148,650.00 175,607,256.00

WARRANTS & BONDS 13,114,890.00 SME 5,898,490.00 12,702,269.00 172,543,050.00

Italpinas Philab Holdings Xurpas

3.88 7.08 9.72

1,508,000 1,753,100 17,569,700

First Metro ETF

126

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 105,370 13,223,991.00

0.2900 0.650 27.50 4.7 25.85 1.76 3.34 30.20 1.01

Value

2,700,000 26,572,000 1,200 425,000 12,870,000 532,000 1,724,000 11,201,200 6,162,000 0 891,000 5,035,200

803,450.00 17,065,230.00 33,040.00 1,959,640.00 328,158,175.00 945,430.00 5,755,770.00 335,625,905.00 6,196,830.00 0.00 787,700.00 26,226,911.00

1780.00 0.435 1.620 42.20 78.00 6.20 2.39 1.100 1.91 3.19 0.400 5.280

2,964,000 153,800 180,000 8,928,000 367,500,000 8,900 37,000 30,890,800 101,400,000 4,780,000 3,342,250 3,500 301,600 23,000 24,000 1,020 210,205 6,613,300 157,400 800 3,572,000 3,138,770 196,000 54,000,000 230,500 951,200 17,670,000 1,965,000 941,000 30,400 6,378,000 30,000 2,837,000 600 573,000 8,095,900 5,901,000 2,962,000 565,500 867,300 52,000 551,310 1,416,900 0 425,815 5,730,000 13,913,000 9,005,700 1,866,290 527,900 22,918,000 19,062,000 522,000 2,258,000 670,000 23,256,600

36,043,064.00 7,078,565.00 257,400.00 4,598,610.00 16,572,200.00 93,884.00 197,816.00 265,156,804.00 7,190,550.00 10,155,190.00 346,565,022.00 34,160.00 2,528,247.00 59,580.00 91,220.00 989,400.00 435,561,700.00 46,365,719.00 2,573,322.00 11,648.00 11,638,620.00 282,191,642.50 701,260.00 497,100.00 2,879,378.00 8,567,352.00 3,208,050.00 2,636,120.00 3,516,060.00 458,980.00 28,682,120.00 29,720.00 13,096,910.00 10,200.00 1,359,240.00 54,240,160.00 22,463,030.00 8,905,970.00 6,517,882.00 4,607,154.00 158,900.00 90,581,150.00 11,182,894.00 0.00 753,978,925.00 2,487,350.00 22,467,850.00 384,835,525.00 147,059,553.00 3,235,903.00 53,621,380.00 20,926,420.00 956,140.00 7,218,220.00 264,950.00 121,777,729.00

0.0034 1.57 5.20 11.48 1.8000 1.8500 0.74 0.400 9.09 2.700 0.250 0.182 0.196 0.012 0.0110 1.85 6.12 2.12 0.8800 0.0120 0.0120 4.12 8.48 3.38 0.0140 151.50 2.83 0.0090

137,000,000 30,148,000 168,200 27,400 794,000 116,000 34,793,000 5,930,000 9,700 2,634,000 330,000 22,070,000 2,190,000 78,000,000 4,400,000 195,000 8,469,300 186,000 220,000 11,300,000 7,400,000 31,000 1,617,600 2,554,000 65,200,000 2,094,970 211,000 11,000,000

449,600.00 47,104,370.00 879,214.00 296,634.00 1,415,840.00 203,200.00 25,188,310.00 2,331,700.00 85,926.00 7,119,780.00 82,130.00 4,026,860.00 427,230.00 908,700.00 48,400.00 351,300.00 52,291,050.00 388,590.00 192,820.00 124,800.00 81,800.00 128,570.00 13,784,437.00 8,500,940.00 860,300.00 318,779,066.00 607,910.00 93,800.00

46.3 107.5 530 526.5 104.5 112

1020 105.9 112 77.85 80 76.7 77 80 77.2 78.5 78

71,300 6,100 200 200 510,800 480 0 160 8,584,900 205 2,045 900,000 59,140 0 4,550 650 900 530 99,030 36,140 76,000 92,510 36,590 10 398,790

3,297,950.00 653,390.00 106,000.00 105,300.00 52,640,832.00 53,730.00 0.00 83,900.00 54,286,235.00 210,635.00 2,106,575.00 945,000.00 6,370,294.00 0.00 4,641,000.00 68,835.00 100,800.00 41,260.50 7,936,845.50 2,771,978.00 5,917,860.00 7,400,300.00 2,825,180.00 785.00 31,116,571.50

2.390

447,000

1,061,170.00

3.95 6.6 10.16

927,000 403,400 3,545,000

3,616,120.00 2,626,778.00 36,648,238.00

126.1

37,710

4,749,004.00

0.910 5.250 12.44 46 1.43 0.530 0.046 11.02 5.69 8.60 0.0710 2.19 104.8 9.76 8.40 2.6 3.02 970 2058 7.05 16.50 14.50 3.29 90 3.60 0.0091 12.78 9.03 0.183 1.3600 3.8 14.5 4.54 0.97 4.59 17.00 2.42 6.7 3.80 3.030 11.66 5.40 3.15 165.00 7.86

524 6.34 1025 1030 1.05 107.7

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS MRC Allied Ind. Philodrill Corp. `A’ Pacifica `A’ Megaworld Apollo Global ATN Holdings A Boulevard Holdings Abra Mining Manila Mining `A’ Arthaland Corp.

VOLUME 1,243,260,000 511,900,000 322,130,000 217,700,000 205,900,000 203,920,000 161,730,000 110,000,000 106,100,000 104,092,000

STOCKS Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Investments Inc. I.C.T.S.I. Security Bank PLDT Common Metrobank Megaworld Globe Telecom Ayala Land `B’ GT Capital

VALUE 2,146,961,294.00 1,053,735,805.00 1,018,171,506.50 998,881,244.00 979,176,450.00 889,291,024.50 881,831,250.00 798,819,400.00 784,534,225.00 771,470,405.00

issuance of the new rules on minimum public float, the corporate regulator would also issue the required 15-percent minimum public offering requirement for all initial public offerings.

“Once the policy rules go out, all IPOs must have minimum public float of 15 percent and all other listed firms will have one year to comply with the 15 percent public float requirement,” Amatong said.

Amatong said the SEC approved the P9.2-billion initial public offering of Eagle Cement even though it was floating only 11 percent of shares to the public because the company expressed willingness to increase the public ownership to 15 percent once the final SEC rules came out.

The increase in the minimum public float to 15 percent is in line with the SEC’s goal to bring the figure up to 30 percent to boost liquidity in the stock market and make the Philippine capital markets at par with neighboring countries.

The Philippine Stock Exchange earlier opposed the plan of the SEC to increase the public float requirement for listed firms, claiming that the average public float of listed companies was already more than 30 percent.

The PSE said it would better to let the companies decide for themselves when to sell additional shares additional to the public. Jenniffer B. Austria

Puregold allocates P2.5b for ’17 capex PUREGOLD Price Club Inc., the second largest supermarket chain operator in the country, said it earmarked P2.5 billion for capital expenditures this year to build more grocery and conveniences stores nationwide.

Puregold said in a presentation during an analysts briefing it budgeted P1 billion for the rollout of 25 new Puregold stores, P1.2 billion for the construction of two S&R stores, P150 million for 25 new Lawson stores and another P150 million for 10 S&R quick service restaurants.

Funding for this year’s spending will come from internally generated cash and short-term untapped bank credit lines, it said.

The grocery chain owned by billionaire Lucio Co expects consolidated net sales to grow 8 percent to 10 percent this year, slower than the 15.9-percent increase registered in 2016.

Sales will primarily be driven by positive net sales growth from existing Puregold and S&R stores, Puregold said.

It also expects 2-percent to 3-percent same-store-sales growth for Puregold and S&R stores.

The opening of 25 Puregold stores and two S&R outlets and the full operation of previously acquired supermarkets NE Bodega and Budgetlane will also help the company achieve its net sales target this year, it said.

Puregold said it would continue to pursue acquisitions and expansion in new locations.

Puregold had a total of 329 stores as of end-2016, with consolidated net selling area of 486,700 square meters.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Business Busan not negligent in MRT3 operation

By Darwin G Amojelar BUSAN Universal Rail Inc. said it is not “remiss” in operating the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 amid reports of service disruptions in the system.

“The recent incident at MRT3 was a result of its aging condition that has needed a total rehabilitation for some time now,” Busan Universal said over the weekend.

“It is unfair to continuously put the blame on the maintenance service provider—for every incidence of train stoppage—that are generally and more often caused by the system’s current condition,” it added.

Busan made the statement after the Transportation Department threatened to partially terminate its contract due to a series of service disruptions at MRT3.

The Transportation Department cited 116 unloading incidents at MRT3 due to technical problems from January to April 19 this year.

The department noted 586 unloading incidents in 2016.

“Given the age of the system, which is nearly 20 years, breakdowns and temporary shutdowns are to be expected even with regular and proper maintenance and calibration,” Busan Universal said.

“Together with the MRT management and its engineers, we are currently investigating the cause of the latest incident and will revert our joint findings as soon as necessary. As a matter of fact, train removals and other such incidents have been a regular occurrence since day 1 of MRT 3,” it added.

Busan also said it did more than what was specified in its contract of services despite the present old conditions of the MRT trains, citing a the delivery of more trains from 13 to 21 as of today.

B3

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

DTI to register direct sellers

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Department of Trade and Industry will require all companies seeking to venture into direct selling to register to further protect consumers from getting involved in or becoming prey to scams.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the department will put mechanisms in place to accredit direct selling companies through a body that the department will create shortly.

“What we would want to do is to accredit direct sellers before they are able to sell to consumers. We will use the so-called 8-point test to accredit these

companies,” he said.

The body may be composed of purely representatives from the Trade Department.

Lopez explained said the government saw the importance of placing added measures on direct selling to safeguard public interest and the well-being of consumers.

“Direct selling is good busi-

ness, another income opportunity for many Filipinos—low entry cost if not free. But what we are guarding here is against letting loose new form of scam that may hurt retail or any related business and also as protection to end-users,” he said.

Only registered and Tradeaccredited direct selling companies would be allowed to offer their services, said.

The Direct Selling Association of the Philippines said the group has already identified lawmakers who could sponsor the anti-pyramiding bill in both houses.

“We’re partnering with the Trade Department to help us draft it. Initially the department would like it to be part of the

Consumer Code but we thought it will be better to have it as a separate law to give it more teeth,” said DSAP communications officer Leni Olmedo.

The bill will seek to address consumer and product scams that arise from networking or pyramiding schemes.

These are made possible through direct selling activities that taint the operations of legitimate direct selling companies.

“Companies when they register you will not know if they are direct selling until they start operating. In the future, should there be any company registered as direct selling and asked to be part of the screening committee, we’ll see whether

the compensation on sales and communication plan is compliant, so they won’t do trial and error or pyramiding. It’s more instructive for companies than policing,” Olmedo said.

The Philippines is among the last few countries in Asia that does not have an anti-pyramiding law.

Meanwhile, the Trade Department plans to improve the Philippine ranking on the Ease of Doing Business to 58 in the next few years. The Philippines ranked 99 among 190 countries included with the World Bank’s program.

Lopez said the government is trying to reduce further the steps and days in registering a business.

CAMARINES SUR LOAN. State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines grants a P550-million term loan to the provincial government of Camarines Sur to finance 343 priority developmental projects in the different municipalities of the province. Shown during signing of the loan agreement are (from left) DBP Naga relationship officer Helen Jacinto, provincial budget officer Leah Yamson, provincial treasurer Adrian Ongog, DBP Naga branch head Ariel Peña, Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Janis Ian Regaspi-Cleofe, Eliseo Segui of DBP and DBP regional operations officer Roderick Barbado.

Ayala seeks expansion of Pagudpud wind farm BSP bucks rice imports

By Alena Mae S. Flores PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte—AC Energy Holdings Inc. plans to expand the 81-megawatt wind farm it operates in Caparispisan, Pagudpud under unit North Luzon Renewable Energy Corp. by 69 MW, a top executive said over the weekend.

AC Energy, the energy arm of Ayala Corp., owns 36 percent of North Luzon Renewable, the owner and operator of the country’s second biggest wind farm.

The company has submitted an application to the Energy Department to expand the capacity of the Caparispisan wind project to 150 MW. “The expansion will have to still depend

MARGARET MUNSAYAC

GREEN LIGHT The Rotary Club Four-Way Test “Of the things we think, say or do: • Is it the truth?

• Is it fair to all concerned?

• Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

• Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

WHEN I was a kid, I frequently see this four-way test engraved on bridges around my hometown. I never minded it as much but I remember reflecting on my actions whenever I stumble upon it. Looking back on it now, I realize that even then I had already been subconsciously weighing my actions based on my internal distinction of what’s right from what’s wrong.

Testing our ethics Every day, we are faced with different situations that test our ethics. In the workplace, from small things like taking home office supplies for personal use to large scale things like reversing the company’s financials to make the numbers appear favorable.

on several factors. One is the pre-development, the permitting, including service contract. We’ve already applied and we are still waiting,” AC Energy president John Eric Francia told reporters.

Francia said the company was preparing the project in time for the implementation of the renewable energy portfolio standards, or RPS, which require companies to secure a certain percentage of their respective annual energy demand from renewable energy resources.

“We are working on that so we will be on push button mode already by the time RPS becomes a reality,” he said.

DGA NLREC, a wholly-owned unit of Mitsubishi Corp., owns 28 percent of the Ca-

parispisan wind project, while the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure, or Pinai, composed of the Government Service Insurance System, APG and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd., holds 32 percent.

UPC Philippines Wind Holdco I B.V. owns the remaining 4 percent.

Francia said the company was open to teaming up with UPC on a new project also in Ilocos Norte, which has a potential to generate 150 MW to 200 MW of power.

He said Ayala has no stake in the planned UPC wind project but “we will talk.”

“If that expansion happens or before it happens, we undertake to discuss it with UPC,” the official said.

On ethics and stewardship What makes the issue of business ethics complicated is that those who are implicated for unethical behavior in an organization claim often times that they are not bad people. How can one who thinks of himself as good if he engages in bad behavior? Is it just human nature? That given the opportunity and motivation, people are ready to cut throats for money and power.

Doing what is right Of course that is not new.

In the news there is always a piece about greed and corruption in all levels of society. It is disheartening but it should not make us cynical on how we view our world. We may not be able to control what is happening around us, but it is important that in our own ways, we strive to do what is right.

I would like to believe that people are born inherently good. How we turn out to be as we grow is a combination of our environment and experiences. As a future leader, I have to ensure that I will lead by example and influence others to do the same.

Legacy for future generations One way to encourage others to live with integrity is by instilling that they have a legacy to leave for the future generation as this can influence their moral awareness. Thinking about what kind of future I want the next generation to have heightens my ethical concern and intensifies my moral emotions.

In Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si, he emphasized that instead of having a polarized view of capitalism and technology, we should be united to care about what we have in common—Earth, our home. Before we all get greedy in wanting to have a piece of everything, we should be reminded that the earth’s resources are finite.

Recovering the values The misdirected notion of dominion over our environment has caused a dismissive attitude towards nature and human life itself. As Pope Francis put it honestly and accurately, “Nobody is suggesting a return to the Stone Age, but we do need to slow down and look at reality in a dif-

ferent way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.”

I don’t want the future generation to inherit a world incapable of sustaining them. I want them to see the beauty of it so they will constantly be reminded that we are all stewards of the earth.

More than this macro view of how I picture my legacy should be, I will in my everyday life, seek to be a morally compassionate person grounded on virtues.

The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. This essay is part of a journal she kept in fulfillment of the requirements of the course, Lasallian Business Leadership with Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics.

Visit her blog at https://mfmunsayac.wordpress.com/.

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

because of ample supply

under the government-to-government arrangement. In the case BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas of other imports, it is the private Deputy Governor Diwa Guini- sector that will spend for the shipgundo is not in favor of a govern- ments.

Guinigundo said the private ment-to-government importation of rice at the moment, saying the sector normally does it based on supply of the staple remains suf- the dynamics of the province or ficient and will be augmented by the city, or the supply and demand the dry season harvest until June. in that area.

“So, the likelihood of the pri“If you look at the latest number issued by the National Economic vate importer to make a mistake and Development Authority and in terms of supply and demand the Philippine Statistics Author- is quite remote because it’s their ity, you’ll see that in terms of the money that’s at stake. So we allow number of days, the rice inven- the private sector to do importatory covers 69 days versus the 71 tion...,” Guinigundo said.

He said the National food Audays in the same period last year,” thority Council, where the Bangko Guinigundo said in an interview.

“Which means that the summer Sentral governor sits as a member, harvest starts in April and it con- did not activate the standby apcludes in June of this year. So at the proval of 250,000 metric tons of end of March, you have 69-days’ government-to-government imworth of inventory, which means portation of rice due to sufficient that by the end of June you’re still supply of rice.

He said if really needed, the okay. And that’s the reason why people are saying we shouldn’t im- standby approval for 250,000 metric tons of government-toport,” Guinigundo said.

He said the state had to spend government importation could for the amount of importation easily be activated.

By Julito G. Rada

PRU LIFE UK SUPPORT. British life insurer Pru Life UK is once again extending its support to the annual Safe Trip Mo Sagot Ko initiative, through the SAFE STEPS Road Safety program by its regional community investment arm, Prudence Foundation. Now on its sixth year, SMSK is a year-long motorist assistance campaign spearheaded by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. Shown are Metro Pacific Tollways officials listening to media inquiries during the panel discussion.

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

B4

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

Business

Top Fed exec sees two more rate hikes FEDERAL Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said a recent patch of weak economic data likely won’t throw the US central bank off track for two more interest-rate increases this year.

“There are reasons to think that the first quarter was, again, below what the rest of the year will be,” Fischer said Friday in an interview on CNBC. Asked if two more rate hikes for the year still feels appropriate, Fischer said, “We’re feeling that way and so far haven’t seen anything to change that.”

Fischer also said that major economies around the world have recently shown signs of renewed strength, contributing to an optimistic tone at the ongoing spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.

“A large part of the upbeat tone comes from the fact that China is doing better, Europe is doing better,” he said.

“We’re seeing positive changes throughout much of the world.”

Fed officials raised rates in March and stuck to projections that signaled they would make a total of three quarter-point moves this year. Since then investors have pulled back on their expectations for rate hikes after a closely watched measure of inflation unexpectedly fell and estimates of first quarter growth have declined.

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow gauge currently estimates that from January through March the economy grew at an annualized pace of 0.5 percent.

“There is a very large weather aspect of the division between February and March data,” Fischer said.

He also played down the drop in inflation.

“The two surprises were energy prices and then a very large decline in the price of cell phone usage,” he said. “It actually had an impact on the overall inflation rate. So that is a one-time shock which we believe will not continue to reduce the inflation rate as we move ahead.”

Asked about President Donald Trump’s comments that the dollar may be too strong, Fischer said, “We do not take a particular statement, by even a president, into account in making our decisions on the interest rate.” Bloomberg

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hold a conversation on the US Economy at the World Bank IMF Spring Meetings April 22, 2017 in Washington, DC. AFP

IMF softens position vs trade protectionism T HE IMF’s steering committee adopted the position on trade taken by the Group of 20 last month in an effort to accommodate Donald Trump’s administration, which is considering how far to go in fulfilling the president’s campaign pledges to impose tariffs and reshape international accords.

A communique from the International Monetary and Financial Committee, released Saturday in Washington, said that officials “are working to strengthen the contribution of trade to our economies.” Such language echoes a statement last month from G-20 nations, which have a similar makeup as the IMF panel, reflecting the Trump administration’s call to rethink the global order for commerce.

Like the G-20 communique, the committee’s statement omits a call from its previous missive in October to “resist all forms of protectionism.” Asked about that change, Agustin Carstens, the Mexican central bank governor

who serves as chairman of the IMF committee, said the statement still reflects broader agreement that nations want a level playing field on trade.

“What we try to do in these types of meetings is to strike a positive, constructive balance,” Carstens said at a press briefing on Saturday. “And the use of the word protectionism is very ambiguous.” The main goal is to take advantage of trade, and “I think everyone is in line that we need free and fair trade,” which is reflected in the communique, he said.

It’s unclear how far Trump will go in shaking up the workings of the global economy. For

example, Trump backed down from a campaign promise to label China a currency manipulator this month, and proposed changes to Nafta circulated in Congress fall short of his earlier get-tough message.

Since the joint statements at gatherings such as the G-20 and the IMF require assent from members, the change in the US position on trade from the Obama administration is forcing modifications in language that was previously uncontroversial.

In addition to the trade stance, the latest communique omits language from October that welcomed “the entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change.” Trump is contemplating whether to make good on his campaign promise to withdraw from the deal.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, speaking at the same briefing as Carstens, said the statement reflects support for her global policy agenda, which includes a call for countries to “not leave the mounting eco-

nomic consequences of climate change for future generations.”

The IMF panel released the statement during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The IMFC is the IMF’s top advisory panel, and is composed of 24 ministers and central bankers from nations including the US, China, Germany, Japan and France.

Some positions remained little changed. The IMFC statement reiterated pledges from October to “refrain from competitive devaluations” of currencies and to avoid targeting “our exchange rates for competitive purposes.”

The outlook for the world economy is sunnier than six months ago, with the statement saying that the “global economic recovery is gaining momentum, commodity prices have firmed up, and deflation risks are receding.” At the same time, “while the outlook is improving, growth is still modest and subject to heightened political and policy uncertainties.” Bloomberg

Venezuela crisis hits American companies WA S H I N G T O N ― T h e political and economic crisis in Venezuela is costing US companies dearly, as General Motors can attest following the unexpected nationalization of its plant there.

The big auto-maker shut down its operations in Venezuela and laid off its 2,700 workers after the government on Wednesday seized the plant, which had been idle because of the chaotic market environment. The group had been operating in the South American country for 69 years.

GM isn’t the only US business to be walloped by Venezuela’s crisis.

Kimberly-Clark, a personalcare paper group, had its factory taken over last July, and posted a charge of $153 million to de-consolidate its Venezuela operations.

Biscuit-maker Mondelez― behind America’s well-known Oreo brand―also took a onetime charge of $778 million to reconfigure its Venezuela operations as an investment in its accounts, to prevent them dragging the group’s earnings down. Although Mondelez products still sell in Venezuela, it’s unable to track sales.

Same story for Pepsi, which reported a $1.4-billion loss last October from its Venezuela business.

The conditions in Venezuela are a formidable challenge for any company, with hyperinflation, capital controls, political turbulence, mass demonstrations and consumers who have barely enough money to buy food and basic items.

The country was once considered one of the juiciest markets for US businesses, boasting the biggest oil reserves in the world, a free-spending middle class with a taste for American products, and proximity.

But a slump in global crude prices coupled with mismanagement has devastated the country’s economy.

And nearly two decades of Socialist rule by late president Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro have badly frayed ties with the US, which has halved the amount of Venezuelan oil it imports.

Venezuelan authorities regularly accuse Washington of being behind the unrest they are dealing with.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in an uncomfortable position, having been the boss of American oil giant ExxonMobil before becoming President Donald Trump’s diplomatic chief.

In 2014, the Venezuelan government was ordered by a World Bank disputes tribunal to pay ExxonMobil $1.4 billion for nationalizing an oil field.

But that ruling was overturned on appeal in March this year to the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. AFP

Bordeaux ’16 vintage quality likely to push wine prices higher

By Guy Collins THE Bordeaux 2016 vintage is shaping up to be potentially the best for at least six years, comparable in structure and richness with the landmark 2009 and 2010 wines and in some respects surpassing them, according to producers and merchants interviewed this month.

Buyers who attended trade tastings in the region agreed quality is high and indicated they expect that to be reflected in increases of 10 percent or more for ’16 release prices relative to 2015s. The wine is sold forward while still maturing in barrels and will be offered to the international trade over the next few weeks.

The vintage comes after a difficult period for Bordeaux, which saw prices peak in 2011 on the back of speculative buying, then slump more than 40 percent in the following five years. A run of poor harvests between 2011 and 2013 was followed by an improved crop in 2014 and a highquality vintage in 2015. Now producers are saying 2016 marks a new high point.

“It has the structure of 2010 but the elegance of 2015, 2009,” according to Veronique Sanders

A tasting glass of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2016 Bordeaux wine.

Bloomberg

of Chateau Haut Bailly in Pessac-Leognan. “The tannins are very round.”

The character of the vintage was shaped by highly unusual weather, which featured a very wet spring followed by an exceptionally dry summer and then cool nights and warm days in September and October allowing grapes to ripen while preserving their freshness.

August temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius more than normal while the month had 30 per-

cent more sunshine than average, according to a study by Laurence Geny and Axel Marchal of the University of Bordeaux. The first 13 days of September were the hottest since 1950, followed by brief rain and then more sun which gave renewed impetus to ripening.

“It’s rare to have such balance,” Philippe Dhalluin of Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac said. “It’s due to the summer.

Maturity came very slowly.”

At nearby estate Chateau Pi-

Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Bordeaux.

Bloomberg

chon Baron, owned by Axa Millesimes, Christian Seely said that amid the favorable vintage “tannins needed to be controlled,” while across the road at Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Nicolas Glumineau summed up the vintage as “everything in balance.”

Over on the right bank 2016 was “a great combination of the terroir and the technique,” according to Marielle Cazaux at Chateau La Conseillante in Pomerol, while Jean-Valmy

Nicolas at nearby Chateau Figeac in Saint Emilion said the estate’s 2016 was “the best Figeac produced in the modern era.”

Stephanie de Bouard-Rivoal of Chateau Angelus in Saint Emilion said the 2016 vintage was characterized by “a lot of freshness, precision” and that while the favorable harvest weather would have allowed the estate to produce more bottles, “we decided to be more selective.”

Her cousin Thierry Grenie de

Bouard, who joined her last year in the estate’s top management, said 2016 was exceptional for its “long maceration, long extraction.”

“A vintage which seemed so challenging at the beginning totally exceeded expectations,” James Snoxell, head of buying at Armit Wines in London, wrote in his vintage report. “The vintage turned out to be a remarkably successful one.”

UK buyers will have to contend not only with potentially higher release prices for the wines, but also an 8 percent drop in the pound against the euro since last June’s referendum on Britain leaving the European Union, which will exacerbate any premium.

Philippe Kalmbach of the Wine Source Fund said that while unchanged prices, excluding currency fluctuations, would be the “best-case scenario,” he anticipated price increases since Bordeaux producers were reaping the benefits of investment in new wine-making facilities and cellars. “With all this investment, there is a feeling they can’t make a bad wine,” he said. “The tannins feel very silky.” Bloomberg

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

C1

COFFEE SMILES. Students of Amadeo National High School smile with their colorful headdresses during the Pahimis Coffee Festival in Amadeo, Cavite on Saturday.

Dennis Caparas Abrina

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

New Manila system gets biz listed in 30 minutes T

By Sandy Araneta

O MAKE the City of Manila more conducive to business, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has introduced a new registration and licensing system where business owners and new investors could process their Mayor’s Permit in 30 minutes, guaranteed.

Estrada introduced the new scheme at the start of the annual business permit application and renewal this January, which resulted in increased collection of business taxes and fees by the city government.

“There is no reason to make business owners and investors line up before they could do business here in Manila. They would be discouraged if they find it difficult to start a busi-

ness here,” Estrada said.

While his administration has significantly eased the process of starting up businesses in Manila since he assumed office in 2013, Estrada pointed out he wants to come up with more programs and policies to attract more investors.

In 2015, the National Competitiveness Council recognized the City of Manila as the most competitive highly urbanized

city, dethroning Makati City, which won in 2014.

It was a recognition of Manila’s various achievements in infrastructure development, social services, health, education, ease of doing business, and environmental protection, among others.

Lawyer Fortune Mayuga, chief of the city’s Bureau of Permits, said the new system introduced by Estrada has received positive feedback from local business owners.

Under the new scheme, business owners and new investors could process and get their Mayor’s Permit in 30 minutes or less, because the Bureau of Permits has integrated the payment of Fire Safety Inspection Certificate, Zoning Permit, Sanitary Permit, garbage fees, and others, in one window.

“Unlike before, you had to go first to different offices and

windows to apply for and pay for permit fees, now you just queue at one window, one cashier. Only one queueing for all,” Mayuga explained.

During the previous years, she said it would take hours to complete the transaction and secure a Mayor’s Permit (business permit), which, most of the time, could not even be processed in one day because of long lines at the BFP office and other city hall departments.

“But now, if you have the money, you can finish it in 30 minutes, or less,” Mayuga assured.

The new system also discouraged the illegal operations of fixers, she added. “If you can do it in 30 minutes, why get a fixer?”

Mayuga said.

Since 2014, more business establishments opened in Manila, resulting in a steady increase of income from taxes and business fees, according to Mayuga.

Bus tragedy unveils need for govt docs

By Abe Almirol BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—People would normally ask during an emergency, “Where have all the doctors gone?”

Such was the reaction of some people during the recent bus accident in nearby Nueva Ecija that killed 34 and injured 43 others.

It turned out that such question is a very serious problem at the Veterans Regional Hospital and other government hospitals here.

At the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital in Bambang town, which is nearer to the crash site, Dr. Edwin Galapon, the Provincial Health Officer of Nueva Vizcaya, arrived from his office at the Capitol to personally lend a hand to the physicians on duty led by Dr. Arlene Jara.

After administering first aid, survivors were rushed to the 200bed capacity Veterans Regional Hospital - the Department of Health-designated Trauma Center and Blood Center in the region.

All government hospitals and rural health units of Nueva Vizcaya

Water analysis for QC pools set

Erap backs Atienza pitch for MM gov MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada is open to the proposal of Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza—his former rival and former Manila mayor—to elect a governor and vice governor for Metro Manila.

But Estrada said the mayors of the 16 cities and one municipality comprising Metro Manila should be consulted first about this matter.

“Each mayor should be asked about it first,” Estrada told reporters during the inauguration of the modernized Quinta Market in Quiapo last Wednesday. “All mayors are elected by people.

That’s why the leader of the mayors [as Manila governor] should also be elected by the people.”

As a city mayor, Estrada is

a member of the Metro Manila Council, the policymaking body of the Metro Manila Development Authority.

Estrada agrees with Atienza’s House Bill 4758 that the governor and vice governor should be duly elected to effectively carry out their duties instead of being beholden to the ones who appointed them. “[The governor] should be elected by the people, not appointed. I do not object to it as long as the people vote for it,” he pointed out.

Under Atienza’s bill, the Metropolitan Manila government will be headed by a governor and a vice governor, like how provincial governments are run. It cites megacities such as New York and Tokyo as its model. Sandy Araneta

CAVITE STL. Cavite officials Paulo Sandig, Bacoor City Administrator Jerome Olivares, Philippine Charity

Sweepstakes Office Chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz, PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan, Cavite City Mayor Totie Paredez, Alfonso Cavite Mayor Virgilio Varias, and Enrico ‘Oki Doki’ Tiamson of AAC-Authorized Agent Corp.

8 Level Up Gaming Corp. raise their fists in support of PCSO’s Small Town Lottery during a press conference last Thursday in Pasay City. Balutan said PCSO’s STL sales has expanded to P2.8 billon this year alone, benefiting 60,000 patients to date. Norman Cruz

Mindoro tears down beach stalls for tourist park

By Robert A. Evora SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro—The local government has ordered the demolition of 83 business stalls located on a major beach front here to give way to the construction of a park that will cater to the needs of tourists coming to this town, the island’s

major trade hub.

The 83 small business stalls, operated by the Aroma Beach Cluster Occupants Association, are in coastal Brgy. San Roque, the venue of the second landing of General Douglas MacArthur with his allied forces on Dec. 15, 1944.

The Aroma Beach Walk

and the provinces of Quirino, Ifugao, and southern Isabela refer their patients to VRH for emergency and in-patient tertiary care.

Also, patients from private hospitals in Nueva Vizcaya, the Medical Mission Group Hospital and the PLT Hospital, refer their patients to VRH. “In fact, before this accident, we are already setting up a nationwide caravan to recruit 102 doctors from all over the country,” says William Gurat, a nurse by profession who works as a human resource management specialist at the VRH. “It is good you dropped by our office so you can help disseminate information that would convince doctors to work with us,” Gurat told Manila Standard.

A review of the document provided by the Human Resource Department of the hospital revealed that some job items for Medical Officer III and Medical Officer II were created way back in 1998. These were either not filled up or the incumbent has resigned.

serves as a favorite hang-out of townsfolk and visitors here as the venue of their “nightlife entertainment.” Resto bars, restaurants, videoke houses and other “watering holes” abound in the area. It has a clear view of the Mindoro Strait, a part of the West Philippine Sea. In implementing the executive

order of San Jose Mayor Romulo M. Festin, Municipal Administrator Noel K. Vitug cited alleged violations committed by the 83 stallholder operators as their “continuous refusal and deliberate defiance to comply with Municipal Ordinance 672 to implement removal of all illegal structures [no building and

fencing permits].”

The demolition of the stalls is expected to be completed before April 29, the birthday of Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato, because it “will be presented as a birthday gift to her,” former Brgy. Chairman Ruben T. Insigne, Abcoa president, said, quoting Vitug.

QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has ordered the city health department to conduct water sampling analysis in all public and private swimming pools in the city to determine the quality of the water in these facilities.

Mayor Bautista described the move as necessary to ensure public health and safety.

“With more people expected to spend their summer vacation in swimming pools and other bathing places, it is but imperative that we take extra precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of diseases that maybe contracted from contaminated pool water,” Bautista said.

As provided under the Sanitation Code, the city health department may recommend the revocation of the sanitary permits issued to them when it is deemed necessary for the protection of public health.

The business permits and licensing office was instructed to closely coordinate with the city health department. Rio N. Araja

CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTAYELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK CYAN Manila Manila REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

Standard Standard

Philippines from the date of filing of this petition up to the time of his admission to Philippine citizenship; 20. That he once heretofore filed a petition for citizenship in court but the same was dismissed9 without prejudice; IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF JALAL 21. That Ann Michelle Lao-Frigiliana, of legal age, ABOUGHAULA (also known as “JALAL married and residing at 407 Inocencio Street, Pasay ABDULHASSAN ABOUGHAULA” and “JALAL City and Melody Raquel Gobencion Mercado-Al HASSAN ABOUGHAULA”) TO BE ADMITTED AS Amrey, likewise of legal age, married and residing at CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, 10 Cresta Street, Sta. Mesa Heights, Quezon City, Filipino citizens will appear and testify as NAT. CASE NO. R-PSY-16-24627-CV who are both witnesses10 at the hearing of this petition.

NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 119, PASAY CITY

TODAY TODAY

JALAL ABOUGHAULA, Petitioner. x ------------------------------------------------------------------ x

ORDER

PRAYER WHEREFORE, Petitioner most respectfully prays of this Honorable Court that he be admitted a citizen of the Philippines. th

Manila, Philippines, this 07 day of November, Before this court is a Verified Petition for Naturalization filed

by JALAL ABOUGHAULA dated November 7, 2016 stating 2016. among others, that: 1) the petitioner is a Refugee under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for JALAL ABOUGHAULA Refugees; 2) presently residing with his family since March Petitioner 2015 and now his latest residence immediately preceding Assisted by: the date of this petition is at 1D Anchor Tower Bay Gardens, Metropolitan Park, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City and more; ROSELINO COLUMNA CANDOY 3) he has resided continuously in the Philippines for not less Counsel for the Petitioner than thirty (30) years immediately preceding the date of this 2362 Oro-A Street, San Andres Bukid, Manila 1017 petition; 4) he was born on May 1, 1967 in Kuwait; 5) he Contact No.: 0927-8676745 is married to Gloria Lugtu, a Filipino citizen, 50 years old born on March 6, 1966 in Angeles City, celebrated on April Email Address: roscanic.esq@gmail.com 15, 1993, at No. 420 G. Araneta Avenue, Quezon City; 6) PTR No. -4943229; Manila: 01/8/16 they have two (2) children named, Alyah Lugtu Aboughaula, IBP No. -1022162; Manila IV; 01/8/16 born on February 6, 2002 at Paranaque City, who is now RoA No. 38500 at her Grade 9 in Southville International School and MCLE Compliance No. V-0017909; Pasig City; Colleges, and Aeshia Lugtu Aboughaula, born on April 7, 2009 at Paranaque City. ho is now at her Grade 2 also in 03/03/16 Southville International School and Colleges; 7) due to his marriage, he is entitled to the benefit of Section 3 of VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION Commonwealth Act No. 473 which reduce to five (5) years the ten (10) year requirement of continuous residence; 8) he speaks and writes English and Pilipino; 9) his occupation is Republic of the Philippines } a Director of M. S. Brain’s Int’l. Manpower Services, Inc., with City of Manila } S.s. business address at M/F Laurel Foundation Bldg., corner M.H. del Pilar and Pedro Gil Streets, Ermita, Manila, and x----------------------------------------x derives a monthly income of more or less P 50,000.00; 10) he is of good moral character and believes in the principles JALAL ABOUGHAULA, of legal age, under oath, underlying the Philippine Constitution; 11) has learned and hereby deposes and says: embraced the Filipino customs, traditions and ideals, that he is not an anarchist nor polygamist; 12) he has never been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude nor 1. He is the petitioner in the above-entitled petition; suffering from any mental alienation or incurable contagious 2. He caused the preparation of the above-entitled diseases nor a citizen of a nation at war with the Philippines; petition and has read the allegations thereof which he 13) he is in good faith to become citizen of the Philippines attests as true and correct of his own knowledge and and renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and based on authentic records at hand; fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty particularly Palestine; 14) that he will reside continuously 3. No other petition or proceeding for naturalization in the Philippines from date of filing up to his admission to involving him has been filed with any other court, Philippine Citizenship: 15) that he has all the qualifications tribunal, agency or office (except as above-stated in required under Sec. 2 and none of the disqualifications paragraph 20 of the petition whereby the same was under Section 4, of Commonwealth Act No. 473; 16) that dismissed without prejudice); he has complied with the requirements of the Naturalization Law and complied the ten-year requirements of continuous 4. To the best of his knowledge, no such petition or proceeding is pending in any such court, tribunal, residence in the Philippines.

Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, agency or office; let the hearing thereof be set on November 16, 2017, at 8:30 5. Should he learn hereafter that a similar petition o’clock in the morning, on which time and date, any person or proceeding has been filed or is pending before may appear and show cause why said petition should not any such court, tribunal, agency or office, he hereby be granted. undertakes to report such fact within five (5) days Let a copy of this Order and petition be published at therefrom to this Honorable Court. petitioner’s expenses at least once a week for Three (3) consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette and in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines to be IN WITNESS WHEREOF, he has hereunto set his selected through a raffle to be conducted by the Executive hand in ____ this 7th day of November 2016.

Judge of this Court. That said Order and the petition be posted in a public and conspicuous place in the Office of the Clerk of Court and also let a copy of this Order together with a copy of the petition and its annexes be furnished to JALAL ABOUGHAULA the Office of the Solicitor General for him to appear and represent the Republic of the Philippines on the aforesaid Affiant hearing.

Likewise, let a copy be furnished to the United Nations SUBSCRIBED and SWORN to before me at City Refugee Agency, Makati City, Bureau of Immigration, PNP, of Manila this 7th day of November 2016 affiant Camp Crame, Quezon City, MeTC of Pasay City, and exhibited to me his Alien Certificate of Registration National Printing Office (Official Gazette), Quezon City.

No. E-181261 issued at Manila on December 10, SO ORDERED. 1999 (as carried over on ACR-I-Card under S S R N Pasay City, Metro Manila, February 20, 2017.

(Sgd.) BIBIANO G. COLASITO Acting Presiding Judge

1610JA0811103213 with Card Serial No. 000 661 577).

Big ‘Pistay Dayat’ slated

By Dexter A. See

L

INGAYEN, Pangasinan—Beach activities and adventures that offer the “distinctly Pangasinan summer experience” are the latest addition to the assorted events of Pistay Dayat 2017 celebration, apart from its highly anticipated traditional events.

Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Officer Malu Elduayan revealed the beach events and adventures, which are either community-led or sponsored, are expected to draw large crowds of Pistay Dayat revelers from various parts of Pangasinan, nearby provinces, and even tourists from various countries.

“By having these events all set at the Capitol beachfront—aside from traditional Pistay Dayat events like the Limgas na Pangasinan and the Banca Parada,

the Province presents a different glitter and taste in this year’s Sea Festival,” Elduayan said.

Sure crowd-drawing events by giant television networks in the country are Pistay Dayat Summer Saya with Kapamilya stars on the eve of April 29 and GMA 7’s Kapuso Night on May 1.

Starting Saturday (April 22), the public is invited to take part in the “Liket tan Gayaga ed Aplaya,” featuring Insiong Tamayo and local DJs, which starts at 8 p.m.

On April 23, the 3rd Music Festival “Tanol Pangasinan” will be staged, introducing 20 local bands at the Capitol beachfront.

Added features on the ongoing 10th Trade and Tourism Expo at the Pangasinan Training and Development Center compound are nightly activities that include the SingLaban and Dancin’Vasion talent search, a sponsored activity led by the Magic Appliance Center.

Revelers could also experience gastronomic delights like sumptuous dishes and refreshing drinks at the 1st Pistay Dayat Food Park set at the back of the Veterans’ Memorial Park, and be mesmerized by the acoustic performances of bands and talents of Pangasinense performers showcased via the “Keliaw na Talento ed Dayat” (Pistay Dayat Got Talent).

A fire dance, a standup comedy show, “Sayawan at Musi-

kahan sa Dagat” (Dancing and Singing at the Ocean), acoustic jam, and a national band concert are offered by the San Miguel Brewery starting on April 25 in a village set up at the Capitol beachfront.

The public is also invited to take part in the “I Love Pangasinan” beach party on April 28 at 6 p.m. onwards, which is preceded by a zumba dance in the afternoon.

Two sporting events—Paboksing ed Gulpo and Beach Volleybelle tournament—also sizzle at the Capitol beachfront as the Pistay Dayat revelry reaches its climax.

Now on its eighth year, the boxing bouts of young Pangasinense boxers are slated on April 28 at the back of the Urduja House, while the beach volleybelle competition is set on April 30 and May 1 at the Capitol beachfront.

Regional Bids and Awards Committee - Region V G/F Cinema Building, Panday Street, Goa, Camarines Sur

4422

INVITATION TO BID The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), through its Regional Bids and Awards Committee (RBAC) V, invites Rural Banks and Cooperatives to bid ffor the hereunder projects:

OFFSITE Province and Municipality

ANNEXES

ALBAY Bagacay Camalig City of Ligao City of Tabaco Daraga (Locsin) Guinobatan Guinobatan Jovellar Legazpi City (Capital) Libon Malinao Manito Oas Pio Duran Polangui Polangui Santo Domingo (Libog) Santo Domingo (Libog) Tiwi Tiwi Albay Total CATANDUANES Bagamanoc Baras Bato Caramoan Gigmoto Pandan Panganiba (Payo) San Andres (Calolbon) San Miguel Viga Virac Catanduanes Total MASBATE Aroroy Baleno Cawayan City of Masbate (Capital) Claveria Dimasalang Milagros Mobo Palanas Placer Masbate Total

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF JALAL ABOUGHAULA (also known as “JALAL ABDULHASSAN ABOUGHAULA” and “JALAL HASSAN ABOUGHAULA”) TO BE ADMITTED AS CITIZEN OF THE PHILIPPINES, Naturalization Case NO.R-PSY-16-24627-CV JALAL ABOUGHAULA, Petitioner. x -------------------------------------------------------------------------- x

PETITION COMES NOW, the PETITIONER and unto this Honorable Court, most respectfully avers: 1. That Petitioner’s full name is JALAL ABOUGHAULA; 2. That he is a Refugee recognized1 under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; 3. That he is presently residing with his family at 1D Anchor Tower Bay Gardens, Metropolitan Park, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City since March 2015 and more so has resided continuously in the Philippines for not less than thirty (30) years immediately preceding the date of this petition, to wit: since March 30, 1986 and in Pasay City for not less than one (1) year; 4. That his last place of foreign residence was in Kuwait and that his former places of residence prior to his present residence were as follows, to wit: (i) Unit B9 Columbia Towers, Santol Street, Sta. Mesa, Manila (ii) Lot 2 Block 11 Multinational Avenue, Multinational Village, Parañaque City 5. That he was born on May 1, 1967 in Kuwait; 6. That he is married and is the father of two (2) children; 7. That his wife, Gloria Lugtu, is a Filipino citizen, 50 years old, and born on March 6, 1966 in Angeles City, whom he married on 15 April 19932 in accordance with Islamic rites; 8. That the name, sex, date and place of birth, and residence of his children are as follows: Name: Alyah Lugtu Aboughaula3 Sex: Female Date of Birth: 06 February 2002 Place of Birth: Parañaque City Residence: 1D Anchor Tower Bay Gardens, Metropolitan Park, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City Name: Aeshia Lugtu Aboughaula4 Sex: Female Date of Birth: 07 April 2009 Place of Birth: Parañaque City Residence: 1D Anchor Tower Bay Gardens, Metropolitan Park, Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City 9. That he arrived5 in Manila, Philippines on March 30, 1986 by air on board Kuwaiti Airways; 10.That due to his marriage to a Filipino citizen, he is entitled to the benefit of Section 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 473, which reduce to five (5) years the ten (10) year requirement of continuous residence; 11.That petitioner is already qualified for naturalization as he had complied with the reduced five-year requirement of continuous residence in the Philippines (in view of his marriage to a Philippine citizen) and in this connection, he is invoking the provisions of Article 7 of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (to which the Philippines acceded6), specifically, paragraph no. 2 thereof which states, as follows –

Number of CCT Type Service Fee/ Approved Budget for Beneficiaries Beneficiary the Contract (ABC) 2,456 4,001 279 28 166 10 1,562 1,671 441 3,597 53 1,768 4,769 2,605 382 164 3

Regular Regular Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP

2,101

Regular

38.00

399,190.00

230 1,590 27,876

MCCT IP Regular

50.00 29.50

57,500.00 234,525.00

741 854 998 2,263 500 1,453 627 1,115 845 1,525 1,776 12,697

Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular

PhP 35.00 33.00 32.00 33.00 33.00 33.00 35.00 28.00 32.00 35.00 29.80

Php

5,997 2,205 5,916 1,865

Regular Regular Regular Regular

PhP 29.00 29.00 38.00 25.00

Php

3,793 2,264 5,579 3,362 2,442 5,186 38,609

Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular

38.00 29.00 27.50 25.00 29.00 38.00

PhP 27.00 38.00 35.00 50.00 40.00 50.00 29.50 29.50 40.00 38.00 40.00 38.00 38.00 38.00 34.99 38.00 50.00

Php

331,560.00 760,190.00 48,825.00 7,000.00 33,200.00 2,500.00 230,395.00 246,472.50 88,200.00 683,430.00 10,600.00 335,920.00 906,110.00 494,950.00 66,830.90 31,160.00 750.00

129,675.00 140,910.00 159,680.00 373,395.00 82,500.00 239,745.00 109,725.00 156,100.00 135,200.00 266,875.00 264,624.00 869,565.00 319,725.00 1,124,040.00 233,125.00 720,670.00 328,280.00 767,112.50 420,250.00 354,090.00 985,340.00

Province and Municipality CAMARINES NORTE Capalonga Capalonga Jose Panganiban Jose Panganiban Paracale Paracale Santa Elena Santa Elena Cam. Norte Total CAMARINES SUR Bato Buhi Buhi Calabanga Caramoan Del Gallego Goa Goa Lagonoy Lagonoy Lupi Ocampo Ocampo Pamplona Pasacao Presentacion (Parubcan) San Fernando Tinambac Camarines Sur Total SORSOGON Barcelona Bulusan Bulusan Castilla City of Sorsogon (Capital) Donsol Donsol Juban Magallanes Matnog Matnog Pilar Pilar Prieto Diaz Prieto Diaz Santa Magdalena Sorsogon Total

Number of CCT Type Service Fee/ Approved Budget for Beneficiaries Beneficiary the Contract (ABC) 36 2,519 41 2,840 38 3,005 6 3,220 11,705

MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular

PhP 50.00 25.00 38.00 38.00 50.00 21.00 50.00 38.00

Php

9,000.00 314,875.00 7,790.00 539,600.00 9,500.00 315,525.00 1,500.00 611,800.00

1,930 551 4,212 4,640 4,025 1,533 16 534 1 2,270 1,982 850 3,151 2,227 3,451 1,703

Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular Regular Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular Regular Regular

PhP 38.00 50.00 35.00 21.75 38.00 40.00 50.00 37.50 50.00 38.00 38.00 50.00 38.00 38.00 29.40 38.00

Php

366,700.00 137,750.00 737,100.00 504,600.00 764,750.00 306,600.00 4,000.00 100,125.00 250.00 431,300.00 376,580.00 212,500.00 598,690.00 423,130.00 507,297.00 323,570.00

1,887 4,767 39,730

Regular Regular

1,736 88 1,566 4,900 2,219

Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular Regular

PhP 38.00 50.00 29.50 38.00 29.50

629 962 2,454 3,414 29 3,504 244 3,492 577 1,633 1,387 28,834

MCCT IP Regular Regular Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular MCCT IP Regular Regular

21.99 38.00 29.50 38.00 50.00 38.00 40.00 27.00 50.00 29.50 38.00

325,507.50 905,730.00

34.50 38.00 Php

329,840.00 22,000.00 230,985.00 931,000.00 327,302.50 69,158.55 182,780.00 361,965.00 648,660.00 7,250.00 665,760.00 48,800.00 471,420.00 144,250.00 240,867.50 263,530.00

ONSITE Province and Municipality ALBAY Bagacay City of Ligao City of Tabaco Daraga (Locsin) Guinobatan Legazpi City (Capital) Libon Malilipot Malinao Pio Duran Polangui Albay Total

“After a period of three years’ residence, all refugees shall enjoy exemption from legislative reciprocity in the territory of the Contracting States.”

12. That he speaks and writes English and Pilipino; 13. That his lawful trade or occupation is as Director of M.S. Brain’s Int’l. Manpower Services, Inc. with business address at M/F Laurel Foundation Bldg., corner M.H. del Pilar and Pedro Gil Streets, Ermita, Manila, and as such director, he derives an average monthly income of Php 50,000.00, more or less; 14. That his children of school age, whose names, educational level and school are indicated below, are enrolled at private school systems recognized by the Department of Education (DepEd) were Philippine history, government and civics are taught as part of the school curriculum and where student enrolment is not limited to a particular race or nationality, to wit:

MASBATE City of Masbate (Capital) Masbate Total

Name of Child Educational Level School Alyah Lugtu Aboughaula Grade 9 Southville International School and Colleges7 Aeshia Lugtu Aboughaula Grade 2 Southville International School and Colleges8 15. That he is of good moral character and believes in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution and had conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of his residence in the Philippines in his relations with the Constituted Government as well as within the community in which he lives; has mingled socially with the Filipinos and has evinced a sincere and genuine desire to learn and embrace their customs, traditions and ideals; 16. That he is not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments; that he does not defend or teach the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the success and predominance of one’s ideas; that he is not an anarchist, or polygamist or a believer in polygamy or in the practice of polygamy9; that he has never been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude;; that he is not suffering from mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases; that he is not a citizen or subject of a nation at war with the Philippines; 17. That he has all the qualifications required under Section 2, and none of the disqualifications under Section 4, of Commonwealth Act No. 473; 18. That he has complied with the requirements of the Naturalization Law (Commonwealth Act No. 473) regarding the filing with the Office of the Solicitor General of his bona fide intention10 to become a citizen of the Philippines; 19. That it is his intention in good faith to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and particularly to Palestine of which at this time he is a citizen or subject; that he will reside continuously in the

LGUs

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

ITB No. LBP-RV-0417-002 Services of Rural Banks or Cooperatives for the distribution of DSWD Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program Cash Grants to beneficiaries for CY 2017 payrolls for July 2017 to March 2018 Payouts, Regional Coverage B

Doc. No. 457 Page No. 93 Book No. VII Series of 2016.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT PASAY CITY, BRANCH 119

C2

Number of CCT Type Service Fee/ Approved Budget for Beneficiaries Beneficiary the Contract (ABC) 1,746 595 857 311 3,418 594 1,412 277 288 1,599 231 11,328

Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular Regular

PhP 22.49 23.00 22.95 23.00 24.00 23.00 22.00 17.50 24.00 19.99 14.00

Php

400

Regular

PhP 23.00

Php

46,000.00

Php

46,000.00

400

196,337.70 68,425.00 98,340.75 35,765.00 410,160.00 68,310.00 155,320.00 24,237.50 34,560.00 159,820.05 16,170.00 0

Province and Municipality CAMARINES NORTE San Vicente Cam. Norte Total CAMARINES SUR Bato Goa Camarines Sur Total CATANDUANES San Andres (Calolbon) Virac (Capital) Catanduanes Total SORSOGON City of Sorsogon (Capital) Donsol Gubat Pilar Sorsogon Total

Number of CCT Type Service Fee/ Approved Budget for Beneficiaries Beneficiary the Contract (ABC) 544 544

Regular

PhP 22.00

Php

59,840.00

1,045 219 1,264

Regular Regular

PhP 20.99 24.00

Php

109,672.75 26,280.00

1,249 150 1,399

Regular Regular

PhP 24.00 24.00

Php

149,880.00 18,000.00

1,029

Regular

PhP 23.00

Php

118,335.00

3,910 3,815 3,132 11,886

Regular Regular Regular

21.99 24.00 24.00

429,904.50 487,800.00 375,840.00 Php 1,658,255.40

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, with an amount of at least 50% of the ABC. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use the non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria.

Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

The payout service shall cover July 2017 to March 2018 only.

Each set of bidding documents shall cost a non-refundable fee, in accordance with section 17.4 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRRs) of R.A. 9184.

1

As shown in a Certification issued to that effect by the Department of Justice, machine copy of which is hereto attached as Annex “A” and made integral part hereof.

2 As shown in their Certificate of Marriage, machine copy of which hereto attached and marked as Annex “B” and made integral part hereof.

3 As shown in her Certificate of Live Birth, machine copy of which is hereto attached as Annex “C” and made integral part hereof.

4 As shown in her Certificate of Live Birth, machine copy of which is hereto attached as Annex “D” and made integral part hereof.

5 As shown in his Affidavit of Arrival, machine copy of which is hereto attached as Annex “E”, and made integral part hereof.

7 (located at 1281 Tropical Avenue, cor. Luxembourg Street, BF Homes International, Las Piñas City) 8 (ibid) 9 Petitioner hereby takes exception to this statutory (dis) qualification (on account of his Islamic faith) and hereby invokes the benefit of the en banc ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Alejandro Estrada v. Soledad Escritor (A.M. No. P-02-12651, 22 June 2006) part of which ruling is hereby quoted, to wit: “Be that as it may, the free exercise of religion is specifically articulated as one of the fundamental rights in our Constitution.

It is a fundamental right that enjoys a preferred position in the hierarchy of rights – “the most inalienable and sacred of human rights,” in the words of Jefferson. Hence, it is not enough to contend that the state’s interest is important, because our Constitution itself holds the right to religious freedom sacred.

The State must articulate in specific terms the state interest involved in preventing the exemption, which must be compelling, for only the gravest abuses, endangering paramount interest can limit the fundamental right to religious freedom. To rule otherwise would be to emasculate the Free Exercise Clause as a source of right by itself.”

10 As shown in his Declaration of Intention, machine copy of which is hereto attached and marked as Annex ‘F” and made integral part hereof; 9 Per Order dated September 19, 2013 issued by the Regional Trial Court of Parañaque City (Branch 258) in Spec. Proc. Case No. 09-0126 10 who executed their respective supporting Affidavits, copies of which are hereto attached and correspondingly marked as Annex “G” and Annex “H” and made integral part of this petition.

(MS-Apr. 24, May 1 & 8, 2017)

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post Qualification and Awarding of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIVITIES

SCHEDULE

1. Advertisement/Issuance of Bid Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Pre-Qualification 4. Deadline of Submission / Opening of Bids / Bids Evaluation 5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Bid Evaluation Post Qualification Approval of Resolution / Issuance of Notice of Award Contract Preparation and Signing Issuance of Notice to Proceed

April 24 to May 15, 2017 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM) May 2, 2017 - 1:00 PM 3rd Floor, LANDBANK Building, Panganiban corner Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City May 8, 2017 May 15, 2017, 12:00 Noon - Deadline for Submission of Bids LANDBANK Naga Rotunda Branch, Naga City 1:00 PM - Opening of Bids 3rd Floor, LANDBANK Building, Panganiban corner Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City May 16, 2017 May 17 to 18, 2017 May 22, 2017 May 23, 2017 May 24, 2017

Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of the applicable non-refundable amount to LANDBANK. The LANDBANK ANDBANK reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to the award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

REGIONAL BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE Region V

CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTAYELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK CYAN

(Sgd.) ALFONSO C. RUIZ II

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World

Manila

Standard

TODAY

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

C3

Protesters remember the 20 killed C ARACAS―Dressed in white, Venezuelan protesters opposed to President Nicolas Maduro marched in silence in several cities on Saturday to pay respects to the 20 people killed in three weeks of unrest.

Unlike demonstrations in recent days, the rallies in Caracas, Maracaibo, Barquisimeto and San Cristobal passed with no major violence reported between protesters and police.

A few minor scuffles briefly broke out in the east of the capital when police forced back the crowd with tear gas. A female journalist said she was assaulted by pro-government heavies downtown and a male journalist was detained for hours by intelligence officers, their union said.

For the first time since the turmoil in the streets started at the beginning of April, the demonstrators were able to cross Caracas, including several districts loyal to Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Tense negotiations saw security forces who had been blocking their way step aside to allow them to march to their destination, the headquarters of the Catholic bishops’ conference.

Protesters also marched to the Catholic Church’s episcopal seats in several other cities across the country, tightly guarded by the police and national guard.

The opposition is seen as close to the Church, which the government accuses of playing politics against it.

The “silent protest” was a test of the authorities’ tolerance for peaceful demonstrations.

The center-right opposition has accused the leftist government of repressing past protests and sending armed thugs to attack them.

Many wore white T-shirts emblazoned with the word “peace.” Others carried white flowers or Venezuelan flags, while one protester wielded a giant wooden cross.

In Caracas, a priest and an evangelical pastor led a mass for the demonstrators from the back of a truck.

Some of the protesters said they were not afraid of the government.

“We’ve got nothing left to lose. The gov-

INSTALLATION. Lamp Beside the Golden Door art installation by Gustavo Prado during day 2 of the 2017 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Weekend 2) at the Empire Polo Club on April 22, 2017 in Indio, California. AFP

Trump gives wine makers a hangover LOS ANGELES―California’s wine producers are getting nervous about US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, fearful of its impact on a sector already suffering labor shortages and facing competition from the cannabis industry.

Though the outlook for US wine in 2017 looks rosy, with yet another banner year on the horizon, California producers say they expect some hand-wringing come harvest season in September, when more workers are needed in the fields.

“The labor pool in recent years is definitely smaller than it has been... and there are fewer people available,” said Michael Silacci, wine maker at Opus One in the Napa Valley, where there are more than 400 wineries.

“There is concern about immigration policies changing and the situation in agricultural areas is becoming more shaky,” he added. “People are wondering what is going to happen and keeping a watchful eye on what is taking place with other agricultural crops.”

There are some 4,200 wineries across California -- the largest wine-producing state in America -- with about 600,000 acres (243,000 hectares) used to grow wine grapes, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Wine makers say the challenge increasingly is finding skilled labor from a shrinking work force overwhelmingly made up of Mexicans, and Trump’s rhetoric targeting that community is certainly not helping matters.

Moreover, they add, native-born Americans are not exactly lining up to prune the vines or pick the grapes, given the backbreaking nature of the job.

Another concern looming large over the industry is the burgeoning multi-billiondollar cannabis sector, which is set to grow exponentially following the legalization of recreational marijuana in California -- one of the biggest markets in the country.

Cannabis producers have become “the new apex farmer,” the ones with the most cash who can draw laborers with higher wages, said John Truchard, CEO of John Anthony Vineyards and FARM Napa Valley, a farm management company.

“Napa Valley cabernet is the apex farmer today and cannabis certainly beats Napa Valley farming because their revenues are double,” he added, referring to the main grape variety grown in Napa. AFP

Regional Bids and Awards Committee V G/F Cinema Building, Panday Street Goa, Camarines Sur 4422

ernment’s already taken everything, all possibility of living our lives with dignity,” said protester Jessica Muchacho, 33.

“The government has to back down, it has to listen to the people,” said a protesting lawyer, Rosibel Torres.

One of the opposition leaders, Henrique Capriles, urged the crowd “to keep coming out into the streets -- this isn’t the time to give up, it’s a time to resist.”

The opposition plans to return to a more confrontational strategy on Monday, when it is calling for Venezuelans to block roads in a bid to grind the country to a halt.

Its leaders blame Maduro for the unraveling of oil giant Venezuela’s once-booming economy, which has left the country with shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.

The spark that set off the neardaily protests was an attempt by the Supreme Court to take over the powers of the oppositiondominated Congress.

Although it partly reversed course after an international outcry, the move fueled widespread indignation in Venezuela that was heightened when an order came down barring Capriles from politi-

Republic of the Philippines Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT LED TELEVISION 32” IB No. 2017-197 1.

The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act of 2017, intends to apply the sum of Sixteen Million Nine Hundred Ninety Three Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty Seven Philippine Pesos (PhP16,993,867.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Procurement of LED Television 32” under IB No. 2017197. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The DOH now invites bids for the procurement of the above-captioned project.Delivery of the Goods is required within the period specified under SECTION VI. Schedule of Requirements.

Bidders should have completed, within two (2) yearsfrom the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project, equivalent to fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the COBAC Secretariat, G/F, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given above during 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on 24 April to 16 May 2017 from the address above and upon payment of an applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Philippine Pesos (PhP25,000.00).

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) provided that Bidders who are interested to participate shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The DOH will hold a Pre-bid Conference on 02 May 2017, 10:00 AM at the COBAC Conference Room, Ground Floor, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, Sta. Cruz, Manilawhich shall beopen to prospective bidders.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the COBAC-C Secretariat at the address below on or before 16 May 2017, 9:00 AM. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

INVITATION TO BID The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), through its Regional Bids and Awards Committee (RBAC) V, invites RURAL BANKS and COOPERATIVES to bid for the hereunder project: ITB No. LBP-RV-0417-001 Services of Rural Banks or Cooperatives in the Distribution of DSWD Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Program Cash Grants to beneficiaries for CY 2017 payrolls for July 2017 to March 2018 Payouts -- Regional Coverage A (Very Difficult, Difficult and Easy Area)

Bid Opening shall be on 16 May 2017, 9:00 AM at the COBAC Conference Room, Ground Floor, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

The DOH reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to: COBAC-C Secretariat Department of Health San Lazaro Compound Sta. Cruz, Manila Tel. Nos. 651-7800 local 1625 to 1627; 1650 to 52 Facsimile No.: 741-9775; 740-6830 (SGD) NESTOR F. SANTIAGO, JR, MD, MPHC, MHSA, CESO III Assistant Secretary of Health COBAC-C Chairperson

OFFSITE Province

Number of Beneficiaries

CCT Type

Service Fee per Beneficiary

241 2,478

MCCT IP REGULAR CCT

PhP 50.00 PhP 33.00

93 5,277

MCCT IP REGULAR CCT

PhP 50.00 PhP 31.50

1,170 17,678

MCCT IP REGULAR CCT

PhP 50.00 PhP 33.00

cal office.

A sociologist, Francisco Coello, predicted that “the people will continue to protest,” demanding early elections.

On Thursday, protests descended into a night of clashes, riots and looting that left 12 people dead in Caracas. More pockets of violence erupted Friday night.

Residents described terrifying scenes Thursday night and early Friday.

“It was like a war,” said Carlos Yanez, a resident of the El Valle neighborhood in southwestern Caracas, where 11 people were killed.

The two sides blame each other for the unrest.

Maduro, the heir of the leftist “Bolivarian revolution” launched by the late Hugo Chavez in 1999, says the protests are part of a USbacked coup plot.

Pressure on the socialist president has been mounting since 2014, when prices for Venezuela’s crucial oil exports started to plunge.

According to pollster Venebarometro, seven in 10 Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro, whose term does not end until 2019. AFP

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

(MS-APR. 24, 2017)

ALBAY ALBAY ALBAY TOTAL CAMARINES NORTE CAMARINES NORTE CAMARINES NORTE TOTAL CAMARINES SUR CAMARINES SUR CAMARINES SUR TOTAL MASBATE MASBATE TOTAL SORSOGON SORSOGON SORSOGON TOTAL

32,530

REGULAR CCT

PhP 33.00

109 492

MCCT IP REGULAR CCT

PhP 50.00 PhP 33.00

Php Php Php Php Php Php Php Php Php Php

60,250.00 408,870.00 469,120.00 23,250.00 831,127.5.00 854,377.50 292,500.00 2,916,870.00 3,209,370.00 5,367,450.00 5,367,450.00 27,250.00 81,180.00 108,430.00

Republic of the Philippines NUEVA ECIJA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Cabanatuan City 044-463-0226 www.neust.edu.ph INVITATION TO BID The Nueva Ecija University or Science and Technology through the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Invites Contractors registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) to apply for eligibility and if found eligible, to bid for hereunder contracts: PROJECT TITLE

LOCATION

DURATION

APPROVED BUDGET FOR CONTRACT (PHP)

FUND SOURCE

1

PROPOSED PERIMETER FENCING PROPOSED PERIMETER FENCING (PHASE II) PROPOSED METAL INNOVATION CENTER PROPOSED MINICONVENTION CENTER (PHASE II)

NEUST Fort Magsaysay Campus, Palayan City

150 CD

5,410,000.00

GAA/NEP 2017

NEUST Gabaldon Campus, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija

210 CD

35,000,000.00

GAA/NEP 2017

25,000,000

NEUST Main (Sumacab) Campus, Cabanatuan City

240 CD

14,041,518.30

Special Trust Fund

25,000,000

NEUST Main (Sumacab) Campus, Cabanatuan City

240 CD

10,000,000.00

Trust Fund/ NGP

10,000,000

2

ONSITE Province CAMARINES NORTE CAMARINES NORTE TOTAL CAMARINES SUR CAMARINES SUR TOTAL SORSOGON SORSOGON TOTAL

Number of Beneficiaries

CCT Type

Service Fee per Beneficiary

614

REGULAR CCT

PhP 23.50

6,447

REGULAR CCT

PhP 24.00

763

REGULAR CCT

PhP 24.00

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) Php Php Php Php Php

72,145.00 72,145.00 773,640.00 773,640.00 91,560.00 91,560.00

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, with an amount of at least 50% of the ABC. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use the non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria.

Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

The payout service shall cover July 2017 to March 2018 only.

Each set of bidding documents shall cost a non-refundable fee, in accordance with section 17.4 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRRs) of R.A. 9184.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post Qualification and Awarding of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

3

4

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified In the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations or Republic Act 9184 otherwise known as the - Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

Interested contractors are required to present to the BAC original copies or the following documents on the scheduled dates for Receipt or LOI’s stated hereunder: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Valid and Current Mayor’s permit/Municipal License Valid Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) License DTl Certificate or Business Name Registration/SEC Registration Certificate Certificate or PhilGEPS Registration Certificate or BIR Registration Statement of all ongoing government and private contracts. Including contracts awarded but not yet started, if any, whether similar or not similar In nature and complexity to the contract In be bid Audited financial statements, stamped “received” by the BIR or its duly accredited and authorized institutions, for the immediately preceding calendar year, showing, among others, the total and current assets and liabilities Computation or Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC) Tax Clearance Certificate

Bidding documents shall be issued only to those contractors declared by the BAC to be eligible for the bidding upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding documents stated above.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIVITIES

AMOUNT OF BIDDING DOCUMENTS (PHP) 10,000,000

NO.

SCHEDULE

April 24 to May 15, 2017 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM) May 2, 2017 - 1:00 PM 3/F LANDBANK Building, Panganiban cor. Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City 3. Pre-Qualification May 8 to 15, 2017 May 16, 2017, 12:00 NN - Deadline for Submission of Bids 4. Deadline of Submission / LANDBANK Naga Rotunda Branch, Naga City Opening of Bids / Bids Evaluation 1:00 PM - Opening of Bids 3/F LANDBANK Building, Panganiban cor. Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City 5. Post Qualification May 17 to 30, 2017 6. Awarding by RBAC/HOBAC May 31 to June 2, 2017 7. Head of Procuring Entity’s Approval June 5 to 7, 2017 8. Issuance of Notice of Award June 8 to 13, 2017 9. Performance Bond June 14 to 23, 2017 10. Issuance of Notice to Proceed June 24, 2017 1. Issuance of Bid Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference

Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of the applicable non-refundable amount to LANDBANK. LANDBANK reserves the right to (1) reject any and all bids at any time prior to the award of the contract; (2) waive any minor formal requirements in the bid documents; (3) accept such bids, it may consider advantageous and beneficial to the Bank, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

REGIONAL BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE Region V

The schedule of the bidding activities is as follows: Activities 1. Advertisement/Receipt of Letter of Intent 2. Issuance of Bid Documents 3. Pre-bid Conference 4. Submission of Bids 5. Opening of Bids 6. Post Qualification

Schedule ApriI 24, 2017-May 1, 2017 May 2, 2017,9:00AM BAC Office. 2nd Floor. AD Bldg. NEUST Gen. Tinio St.. Cabanatuan City May 2, Z017, 9:00AM NEUST President’s Office Conference Room, Gen. Tinio St., Cabanatuan City May 15, 2017,8:00 AM - 5:00 PM NEUST President’s Office Conference Room Gen. Tinio St., Cabanatuan City May 16, 2017, 9:00 AM NEUST President’s Office Conference Room Gen. Tinio St., Cabanatuan City May 17, 2017.10:00AM NEUST President’s Office Conference Room Gen. Tinio St., Cabanatuan City

Bids must be delivered on or before the deadline for the submission of bids and it must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the Instruction to Bidders. The bids shall be opened in the presence of the bidders or their duly authorized representatives. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The participating bidders/contractors should have completed a similar project with the value of at least 50% of the ABC and have key personnel and equipment (Listed in the Eligibility Forms) available for the prosecution of the contract. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass and fail criteria in the eligibility Check/Screening as well as the examination of the bids. The BAC will conduct post qualification of the lowest calculated bid.

The Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology (NEUST) reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to annul the bidding process and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Approved by:

(MS-APR. 24, 2017

(SGD) ATTY. BENER O. BAUTO Officer-In-Charge, BAC for Infrastructure Email: neustmain@yahoo.com NEUST Gen. Tinio Street, Cabanatuan City 3100 Telefax No. 044-6003594/044-4630226

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

World COACHELLA MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL. Lady Gaga performs on the Coachella Stage during day 2 of the 2017 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Weekend 2) at the Empire Polo Club on April 22, 2017, in Indio, California. AFP

Glimmers of hope for Turkey opposition ISTANBUL―Turkey’s embattled opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can still find glimmers of hope in a shifting political landscape despite the strongman winning a controversial referendum that will hugely enhance his powers.

The ‘No’ vote polled 48.59 in the April 16 poll after a lopsided campaign that saw the ‘Yes’ dominate the airwaves with Erdogan speeches and flood the streets with pro-government billboards.

Opposition leaders have also challenged the result, claiming rigging and a last minute change to the rules by the election board distorted the outcome, an argument vehemently rejected by the authorities.

But analysts say that the official results make troubling reading for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Erdogan, who just two days before the poll confidently predicted that ‘Yes’ would win with up to 60 percent.

The results showed support for ‘Yes’ down among the young -- especially first time voters -and in big cities with both Ankara and Istanbul backing ‘No’ despite having AKP mayors.

The electoral map showed Turkey more divided than ever, with the ‘No’ vote dominating from Thrace down into the Mediterranean coast and into the Kurdish-dominated southeast but ‘Yes’ holding strong in the Anatolian interior and the Black Sea region.

Meanwhile, the AKP’s alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) failed to work with many nationalist voters defying the support of the MHP’s longstanding and enigmatic leader Devlet Bahceli for the new presidential system.

Pro-government columnist Abdulkadir Selvi wrote in the Hurriyet daily that the results should be an “early warning” for the AKP ahead of November 2019, when presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously and most of the constitutional changes come into force.

“The political landscape is obviously changing,” Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara Office Director for the German Marshall Fund of the United States, told AFP. “There are worrying signs for the AKP but we should not exaggerate. This was a referendum, not an election.” AFP

Disability stalks injured in quake KATHMANDU―The day after Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake, Samrat Basnet opened his doors to the wounded as hospitals overwhelmed with thousands of victims had to send away those without life-threatening injuries.

Two years on Basnet is still caring for a handful of the 22,000 Nepalis injured in the disaster, many left with preventable disabilities after slipping through the cracks of a woeful health care system.

With just seven health workers for every 10,000 people, Nepal was grossly ill-equipped when the massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, 2015, leveling whole villages and killing 9,000.

Small, impromptu clinics like Basnet’s picked up the slack. As patients were discharged from hospitals to clear beds, Basnet tended to their injuries on mattresses in his cramped office in Kathmandu.

But the hospital engineer never imagined he would still be their carer two years on.

“There are hundreds of times I thought I could have stopped this, I could have gone back to my normal life,” he said.

“But when I see these patients, I cannot do that.”

After the earthquake, a seemingly endless stream of injured poured into Kathmandu needing treatment.

Once patched up, the hospitals sent the injured away. Many had nowhere to go or were sent back to damaged homes where they could not receive necessary follow up care.

“In the districts, there was

not any rehabilitation or surgery facilities, so the people who required rehabilitation didn’t get it,” said Sunil Pokhrel, a physiotherapist with the charity Handicap International.

“That’s why they have developed the stiffness of the joint, infections in the wounds.”

There is a lack of data on the number of people who have been left permanently disabled by the earthquake, but some estimates say it could be as high as 3,000.

A report released last year by the United Nations Development Program said a significant proportion of disabilities in Nepal were preventable, caused by avoidable complications and a lack of follow-up care like physiotherapy.

Krishna Hari Pudasani, 28, used to work as a trekking guide but today is paralyzed, bedridden by tetanus from a small cut to his ankle.

“I am feeling very bad, because he used to work hard and earn and now he is in this condition,” said Pudasani’s father Lilanath, as he fed his son via a feeding tube.

Basnet’s first patient was a woman he found in an alleyway with severe head injuries.

She had been patched up at a hospital then discharged but needed ongoing care, so Basnet brought her home where he had medical equipment on hand.

Soon overwhelmed doctors and nurses were on the phone, asking if he could take a few more. Within a few days, every room in Basnet’s office was full as he tended to around 25 patients.

Today he still cares for six people injured in the earthquake, most of whom have required repeated follow up surgeries. AFP

Security heavy as France votes in election nail biter P

ARIS―France began voting Sunday under heavy security in the first round of the most unpredictable presidential election in decades, with the outcome seen as vital for the future of the beleaguered European Union.

PATROL. Members of the Malian Army, of the pro-government GATIA (Groupe Autodefense Touareg Imghad et Allies) and of the MSA (Mouvement pour le salut de l’Azawad) are seen during a stop of a mixed patrol in the surroundings of the northern Mali district of Meneka in the Gao district on April 19, 2017. AFP

Australia, New Zealand hit back at N. Korea SYDNEY―Australia and New Zealand stiffened their rhetoric against North Korea Sunday after the isolated state threatened Canberra with a nuclear strike, urging it to think twice before “blindly and zealously toeing the US line”.

The move comes as US Vice President Mike Pence wraps up an Asia tour, which has included visits to South Korea, Japan and Australia partly to reassure allies amid fears that Pyongyang may be readying for a sixth nuclear test.

“If Australia persists in following the US’ moves to isolate and stifle North Korea... this will be a suicidal act,” a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said after Australian Foreign Minister Julie

Bishop called the hermit state a “serious threat”.

The spokesman, speaking to the North’s official KCNA news agency, warned Bishop to “think twice about the consequences”.

Australia’s close ally New Zealand has since accused North Korea of having “evil intent”.

Defense Minister Gerry Brownlee told Television New Zealand Sunday people knew little about Kim JongUn’s regime but “you would assume that underneath him there is a very big machinery of people who have equally evil intent”.

“It’s North Korea that is sending the missiles into the Sea of Japan and making the

various outrageous threats including the threats overnight to Australia,” he added.

Australia’s Bishop added Sunday that the North Korean government “should invest in the welfare of its long-suffering citizens, rather than weapons of mass destruction”.

The reclusive state has long been seeking to develop a longrange missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five atomic tests, two of them last year.

Pence vowed Wednesday that the US would counter any attack with an “overwhelming and effective” response after a senior North Korean official pledged weekly missile tests and “all-out war” if the US took

any action against it.

In Sydney, Pence maintained calls for Pyongyang’s sole ally China to do more to rein in its neighbor.

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also urged China to use its leverage over the hermit state, describing the North Korean regime as “reckless and dangerous”.

He added that Australia and the US were “absolutely united” in their determination to achieve a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

Super carrier Carl Vinson is due to start joint exercises with Japan’s navy on Sunday, Tokyo’s defense ministry said, with the drills expected to last several days and involve two Japanese warships. AFP

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are the favorites to progress to a run-off on May 7 but the result is too close to call in a deeply divided country.

Le Pen, the 48-year-old leader of the National Front (FN), hopes to capitalize on security fears that were catapulted to the fore of the campaign after the fatal shooting of a policeman on Paris’s Champs Elysees avenue claimed by the Islamic State group.

Aiming to ride a wave of populism that led Donald Trump to the White House and Britain to vote for Brexit, Le Pen also wants to pull France out of the eurozone and has threatened to take the country out of the EU as well.

Her ambitions have led observers to predict that a Le Pen victory could be a fatal blow for the EU, already weakened by Britain’s vote to leave the bloc.

Macron, 39, is seeking to become France’s youngest ever president and has campaigned on a strongly pro-EU and probusiness platform.

Seeking to benefit from a worldwide move away from established political parties, the former banker and economy minister formed his own movement, “En Marche” (“On the Move”), that he says is “neither to the left nor to the right.”

But polls show scandal-tainted conservative candidate Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, and hard-left firebrand JeanLuc Melenchon are also in with a fighting chance of finishing among the top two candidates and reaching the all-important second round. AFP

Life

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

FOOD

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

D1

Channeling your inner ‘KUIADORE’ O THE JOYCE OF EATING JOYCE BABE PAÑARES

And there is an abundance of delicious food that you would literally be led by your nose to that unassuming stall selling street food, the long queue of locals waiting for their turn to be served a sure indicator that your tummy is in for a treat. Or, perhaps to that Michelin-starred restaurant where you can kiss a substantial percentage of your month’s salary goodbye for a three-course meal.

In Osaka, Japan’s second largest city and considered as its food capital, there is no scarcity of gustatory pleasures that would make you unleash your inner ‘kuiadore’—a Japanese term that roughly translates to “eat until you drop.”

Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki are Osaka’s iconic snacks. If you see an octopus sign, some guy cooking takoyaki in round molded griddle pans could not be far behind. Served in a boat-shaped container, one order usually has around six to eight pieces of piping hot savory balls with a chunk of octopus tentacle inside, doused in a piquant sauce and Japanese mayonnaise and topped with dried bonito flakes and green onions. Some stalls, like the ones outside Osaka Castle, offer grated cheese as free additional topping. Okonomiyaki, also known as Japanese pizza, literally means to grill anything you want. Following the Osaka-style of cooking okonomiyaki, all ingredients (such as shrimp, pork belly slices, and cabbage) are cooked in batter with tem-

SAKA – The cherry blossoms are in full bloom. The skies are clear and sunny. The tail end of winter provides a cool breeze – a respite from Manila’s sweltering temperature. pura scraps, and topped with mildly sweet sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, dried seaweed, and dried bonito flakes.

Ramen At the heart of the Dotonbori area is a popular ramen house that is packed with Japanese workers. A floating dragon welcomes customers, followed by Japan’s iconic vending machine where you would get a ticket for your ramen. You give the ticket to the staff in exchange for a number, and within less than five minutes they will call out your number and serve your chosen ramen.

The soup is tonkatsu (pork broth) style and the noodles are served with thinly sliced chashu pork. You can adjust the flavor of ramen with the complimentary kimchi, Chinese chives, and roasted garlic. Oh, and remember to take off your shoes as you slurp your ramen while seated in the restaurant’s tatami mat. Smoking is allowed inside the restaurant, and beer is the only drink you can buy inside Kinryu. For non-alcoholics, you can bring in your beverage of choice from the many vending machines outside.

Sushi and Sake You can learn how to make authentic sushi at the Umemori Sushi School. Here, you would take 20 grams of Japanese rice and top this with different kinds of seafood – salmon, tuna, prawn, fish roe, and squid among others. Your finished product will serve as your lunch, along with clear noodle soup

Raw crab sashimi

Takoyaki, an iconic Japanese snack

and prawn tempura. There are also several sake breweries in Japan, including Hakutsuru Sake Brewery, which has been in operation since 1943. It is located in the Nada district of Kobe, which has high-quality natural spring water and cold winters – two elements ideal for brewing sake. Hakutsuru also offers sweet varieties of Japan’s poison of choice, including the citron- and plum-flavored sake.

Crabs Kani Doraku is a famous crab restaurant found in several locations in Japan, easily identified by its iconic giant, moving crab billboard outside its restaurants. The original store in Dotonbori serves both king crabs and snow crabs.

The lunch set menu, starting at around ¥3,000 is less expensive than the meals served for dinner which can fetch for as high as ¥9,000. From boiled crab to crab tempura, to miso crab and crab sushi, you can have your fill at this store, as long as you make sure to reserve ahead as the restaurant is almost always full.

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

A Japanese robot greets visitors at Hakutsuru Sake Brewery.

‘Rice’ to the occasion

RICE. It is a staple in Filipino cuisine. It is equally important in other Asian cuisines, particularly in Japanese and Thailand, which also rely heavily on rice in its traditional dishes. In Japanese cuisine, there can be no sushis, makis, temakis and other delightful rolls without rice, which is the main ingredient.

Classic Japanese favorites, such as Ebi Tempura, Chicken Teriyaki and Beef Teppanyaki, are best eaten with steamed rice or Chahan fried rice. As for Thai dishes, which border on the spicy, they achieve a perfect balance in taste when paired with freshly cooked rice. Thai cuisine even has a dessert, Sticky Rice with Mango, that’s w ell-loved the world over.

To show case the versatility of rice, Mrs. Lam Rice recently tapped SKD Culinary Arts graduating student Joel Navarro to create recipes using different varieties of rice distributed by ECT Enterprises under the Mrs. Lam Rice brand.

One of the recipes that he prepared is a Thai recipe featuring Mrs. Lam Rice’s Thai Hom Mali Jasmine Rice. The Mrs Lam Thai Hom Mali Jasmine rice is not just 98 percent pure but also the best in the market. In view of this, here is a new twist on your Thai Rice recipe:

Thai Kao Kluk Kapi - 60 ml vegetable oil - 2 pieces egg, w hisked - 15g dried shrimps - 100g pork belly, thinly sliced - 15g sugar, w hite - 15ml soy sauce - 15ml palm oil

- 15g shallots sliced - 14g chilies, chopped - 30g shrimp paste - 30ml oyster sauce - 200g Mrs Lam Thai Jasmine Rice - 30g basil leaves - Black pepper, ground

Osaka-style okonomiyaki

Tonkatsu-flavored ramen

How to cook 1. Heat oil in a pan 2. Cook egg into omelet. Remove omelet from the pan, slice and set aside 3. In the same pan, fry dried shrimp, remove from the pan and set aside 4. In the same pan, add pork and fry until golden brown. Set aside 5. Prepare sugar soy sauce. In a pan, cook sugar and soy sauce until caramelized. Set aside 6. In a separate pan, heat oil. Sauté shallots and chilies in the pan 7. Add belachan, oyster sauce and sugar-soy sauce mixture to the pan. Cook until heated through 8. Add dried shrimp, fried pork and sliced omelet to the pan. Stir to combine w ell all ingredients 9. Add rice to the pan. Mix w ell to combine ingredients 10. Add basil leaves to the pan. Season with ground black pepper 11. Mix w ell to combine ingredients. Continue cooking over medium heat 12. Transfer to plate. Arrange cucumber, green mango, coriander and sausage on the plate For more Mrs. Lam Rice recipes, visit their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/mrslamrice. Mrs. Lam Rice is available in Cash and Carry, Corinthian Village Supermarket, Landmark Supermarket (Makati and Trinoma), Merkado Supermarket, Metro Gaizaon (Luzon and Cebu), Pioneer Center, Rustans, Rustans Supermarket, Shopwise, Unimart and Wellcome Supermarket.

Life

D2

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

New culinary student champs A

FTER grueling weeks of training and intense kitchen action, the new champions in the country’s longrunning campus-based culinary search, JOLLY University (JU), are finally revealed.

In a frantic yet exciting finish at Le Pavilion Tent in Pasay City, four elite JU finalists competing in the various categories have outclassed rivals with their most creative, best-tasting JOLLY-inspired entries in the following categories: Bernice Angeline Tenorio of University of Sto. Tomas (Grand winner, Individual Category-Main Dish) for her “JOLLY Chicken and Mushroom Empanadilla”; “Fish Humba with Assorted Mountain Vegetables” by La Consolacion-Manila (Team Category-Main Dish); “Lyurot Crema E Manga Pasta” by La C o n s ol a c io n - Ba t a ng a s (Team Pasta Category); and “JOLLY Chestnut Cream Corn Twist Shak”

by Lyceum of Subic Bay (Team Mocktail Category).

La Consolacion CollegeMa n ila’s Arolf Gene Torres took home the Audience Tenorio won the grand prize in Individual Category-Main Dish for her JOLLY Chicken and Mushroom Empanadilla

B ITS

JU4 grand champion Bernice Tenorio from UST (center) receives her prize from (from left) AVP Marketing FAC Ruby Dela Cruz, Mommy Blogger President Lanie Lluch, JU Headmaster Chef Mitchie Sison and FAC general manager Ramon Daez

Choice award for his “JOLLY Mushroom Beef Meatball Kaldereta with Cheese Crust” entry.

“I’m so happy and honored to be chosen (from) among my fellow finalists. I dedicate my victory to my mom, whose recipe inspired me in coming up with a hearty, easy-to-do JOLLY-

themed dish entry. I’m very thankful to JOLLY and Fly Ace Corporation for this unforgettable opportunity and for the memories, which I believe greatly helped me grow as a future chef and kitchen practitioner. As a graduating student, I regard this win as a very wonderful gift,” said Tenorio.

The Main Dish cooking champion is followed by Johann Christian Fonacier of Manila Tytana Colleges for his “Pigar Pigar with Tomato Mango Salsa and Crumbled Kesong Puti Soft Taco” dish and Adryx Ivan Royz Rafols of La Consolacion College-Manila for his “Tinuktok na Kabute sa Gata” entry.

The ultimate cooking finale has successfully attracted hundreds of support-

AND PIECES

Tim Hortons now in Manila

Marco Polo’s new Executive Chef WITH the recent win of Forbes Travel Guide’s 5-star, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila sets new and higher standards starting off with its culinary expertise with the coming of the new Executive Chef, Alisdair Bletcher.

With over 40 years of culinary experience in the hospitality industry, Chef Alisdair has gained his expertise from several luxury international hotels and resorts such as Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, and China, to name a few.

He was most recently assigned as Executive Chef in a luxury resort and spa, and private island in the beautiful Maldives.

The Philippines is nothing new to Chef Alisdair, as he spent a few years of his childhood to study in one of the most prestigious schools in the Metro. He was also the Executive Chef of two international hotel brands in the country, before they closed their doors.

ers and participants from various universities from greater Manila schools including those from North and Central Luzon.

“One of the objectives of Fly Ace Corporation is to bring the best food and beverage brands from all over the world to the Filipino home and having this JOLLY University is one of the many activities where we aim to give back to customers and consumers. Fly Ace is quite passionate to help teach the youth. As they are the future chefs of the country, we feel it’s our responsibility to help train them in becoming better leaders,” said General Manager of Fly Ace Corporation Ramon Daez.

Celebrating the theme “It’s More

JOLLY in the Philippines, held in conjunction with the Grand Cook-Off is the JOLLY Congress which features some of the country’s top industry practitioners and leaders: Leo de Leon of Allegro Beverage, life coach, author JC Libiran, Marilyn Pabustuan-Perion of UCPB, Karla Reyes of La Petite Fromagerie, Liza Morales of CCA Manila, Food Magazine editor-in-chief Nana Ozaeta, film director Ivan Payawal, nutritionist Cheshire Que, Vberni Regalado of Philippine Star, Jose Mari Oquinena of Gawad Kalinga, Chef Angelica Atanacio of Anghelica’s Desserts, Rebecca Lee of wheninmanila. com, and Bryan Kong of Crazy Katsu.

Games, freebies, and random raffle prizes were also given away to lucky audience members.

Now on its fourth successful year, JOLLY University offers student participants an unforgettable experience to develop their culinary, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills as future culinary and industry leaders. JU is an advocacy campaign by JOLLY Food Line, the No. 1 canned vegetable brand in the country. To date, JU has evolved into one of the biggest and successful culinary search events and pivotal learning platform for the Filipino youth.

“I thank all those who have participated and continuously supported JU’s mission throughout the years. This year, we have expanded our reach as more and more schools participate in this annual event. As we celebrate JOLLY Food Line’s 20 years, expect the brand to continue to provide Filipino consumers with nutritious and good quality canned vegetable and fruit products,” concluded Jun Cochanco, Jr., president of Fly Ace Corporation.

This year’s JU grand winners received P50,000 worth of cash and prizes, trophies, culinary training workshop under CCA Manila, and an internship program under Fly Ace Corporation where they will receive comprehensive, job-ready skills development training from the industry’s best practitioners.

AFTER more than 50 years of serving and bringing smiles to Guests in the Great White North, the iconic Canadian café and bake shop Tim Hortons is now in the Philippines.

In partnership with TH Coffee Services Philippines Corporation, Filipinos can now enjoy Tim Hortons premium coffee, freshly baked goods, delicious sandwiches and wraps, and other food products.

The Philippines prides itself on being a foodie nation and the Tim Hortons brand is excited to introduce its new Guests to its famous Timbits and popular Double DoubleTM – a uniquely Canadian term for coffee served with double cream and double sugar, done the Tim Hortons way. Guests can

also enjoy an assortment of menu items including the Bagel B.E.L.TTM (bacon, egg omelet, lettuce, and tomato), hot breakfast sandwiches on a Homestyle biscuit, plus fresh sandwiches, wraps, and soups made with quality ingredients. Other specialty hot and cold beverages Tims offers include lattes, espressos, smoothies and the Tim Hortons signature creamy cool Iced Capp.

Founded in 1964 by Canadian hockey legend Tim Horton, the brand has established itself as part of Canada’s national identity, right next to hockey and maple syrup. Tim Hortons® proudly builds local partnerships and programs to not only contribute, but strengthen the communities in which it serves.

Chef Alisdair Bletcher is named new Executive Chef of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila

As the hotel recently gains its five-star rating, the hotel sets a culinary path for something better than the best. And with the four decades of expertise by Chef Alisdair, he will truly bring the hotel to greater heights.

‘Pasalubong’ for kids BRINGING home pasalubong for kids have always been part of our culture.

This time, Red Ribbon introduces another exciting and indulgent treat with the latest addition to its mamon staples—the new Red Ribbon White Choco Almond Mamon.

Red Ribbon’s White Choco Almond Mamon perfectly blends soft, fluffy, melt-in-your mouth white chiffon, creamy white chocolate and crunchy almond bits for a combination that is both heavenly and indulgent. It’s a sweet treat that kids and grown ups cannot resist.

“We, at Red Ribbon, are always finding ways to give our customers new treats that they will enjoy and love. The new mamon variant promises a new exciting experience,” said Ned Bandojo, head of marketing of Red

Ribbon. “The right combination of white chocolate and almonds makes this a treat that will turn even the simplest moments into a sweeter and more memorable experience,” The new White Choco Almond Mamon joins Red Ribbon’s other mamon flavors like the Butter Mamon, Cheesy Mamon, Caramel Mamon, Creamy Mamon, Mocha Mamon, Cookies and Cream Mamon, and Ube Mamon. Like the other much-loved mamons, the White Choco Almond Mamon is sure to make a perfect pasalubong and pambaon treat.

Customers can now enjoy the new mamon for only P24 a piece. However, if they buy the five-piece bundle pack, they can get it for only P99.00, saving up to P21.00. The White Choco Almond Mamon is available at all Red Ribbon stores nationwide.

Tim Hortons, Canada’s biggest coffee and doughnut chain, enters an agreement with TH Coffee Services Philippines Corporation to open restaurants in the Philippines. Present during the agreement signing were (from left) Anthony Pagano, vice president of Tim Hortons International; Enrique Y. Yap, Jr., president and CEO of TH Coffee Services Philippines Corporation; Neil Reeder, former Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines; Elias Diaz Sese, president of Tim Hortons; William Y. Tieng, chairman of TH Coffee Services Philippines Corporation; and Ronald C. Tieng, treasurer.

Jollibee Salted Caramel Choco Sundae INDULGE in Jollibee’s signature creamy vanilla ice cream smothered in decadent salted caramel and drizzled with luscious chocolate syrup, the Jollibee Salted Caramel Choco Sundae is Jollibee’s answer to customers’ cravings for more specialty or artisan cold dessert flavors at an affordable price.

Perfect for those sweet-tooth thrill-seekers who are always looking for something more than their usual sundae experience with more striking flavor

combinations, the Jollibee Salted Caramel Choco sundae is the right balance of salty and sweet that could elevate any sundae experience.

The new Salted Caramel Choco Sundae is available at all Jollibee stores for dine-in, take out, and drive-thru transactions for only P29.

“You can also add P20 to any of our Value Meals for a mini-serving of this delightful treat,” says Jollibee Philippines’ assistant brand manager for Complementary Products Shaun Si.

MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

H

Support the

BO confirmed a July 24 debut for the new seasons of the hit comedy series Ballers and Insecure.

Ballers returns for its 10-episode third season the same time as the U.S. on July 24 at 10 a.m., with a same day primetime encore at 10 p.m. exclusively on HBO. The show looks at the lives of former and current football players, following former superstar Spencer Strasmore (Dwayne Johnson), who has reinvented himself as a financial manager for current players in sun soaked Miami.

Rob Corddry, John David Washington, Omar Benson Miller, Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, Jazmyn Simon, London Brown, Arielle Kebbel, Dulé Hill, Richard Schiff and Andy Garcia also star.

The eight-episode second season of Insecure premieres same times as the U.S. on

July 24 at 10.30 a.m. with a same day primetime encore at 10.30 p.m. also exclusively on HBO. Starring Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, and Lisa Joyce, the series follows the friendship of two black women as they deal with their own real-life flaws while attempting to navigate dif-

Manobos

‘BALLERS,’ ‘INSECURE’

NEW SEASONS DEBUT on HBO in July ferent worlds and cope with an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences. Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore created the

series with Issa Rae, Prentice tive producers. Larry Wilmore Penny, Melina Matsoukas, Mi- serves as a consultant. chael Rotenberg, Dave Becky Both series will be available and Jonathan Berry as execu- on HBO GO.

Talented newcomer plays titular role in ‘Gifted’

AN IMPRESSIVE ensemble of actors led by Chris Evans along with Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan and Jenny Slate support young multitalented actress McKenna Grace as she takes on the titular role in director Marc Webb’s Gifted.

Evans plays Frank Adler, uncle and guardian of Mary (Grace) in Gifted who both lead normal lives until Evelyn (Duncan), Frank’s mom and Mary’s grandmother, decides to take custody of her grandchild. Frank’s sister entrusted him to raise Mary after she died for fear that her daughter might also be subjected to the pressures she’s been through as a prodigy. But as soon as Evelyn finds out about Mary’s intellectual state, Frank finds himself in a custody battle to keep Mary under his care.

On finding the right child-actor, director Webb insists there was a good reason for the massive search.

“I couldn’t have made Gifted unless I found the right Mary Adler. It was the biggest hurdle to making the movie. There’s an emotional depth and sophistication you don’t see very often in an actor, but for a child, that’s a level ofvirtuosity that is incredibly rare.”

Mckenna remembers it was very stressful meeting Marc Webb for the first time. “They had given me the wrong sides (scenes) to read, so he just gave them to me in the hallway. I had five minutes to memorize them. But once the audition was over, we just talked and had a fun time. I wanted this movie more than any movie I’ve ever wanted.” She says that she and Webb “had an amazing connection together. He was the perfect director for this job because we needed someone with a big, caring, loving, heart. He let me take my time when there was a crying scene. I would walk in,

Young actor McKenna Grace (left) and Lindsay Duncan, stars of the American drama "Gifted"

and he’d sit by the camera and he would cry with me, so then I didn’t really feel alone.”

Mckenna says she also learned a lot from working with Evans. “He was very focused on the set, and sometimes he would sit down and help me with my script.” Evans treated her “more like a friend, like

he treats Mary. I really like that he treated me that way, except he did try not to say bad words around me.”

Mckenna proves she has a different kind of perspective, genius or not. When asked what the message in Gifted means to her, she gives a most moving and simple answer: “At the end of the

Janine’s mom no ill feelings for Elmo ACCORDING to Lotlot de Leon, she has no ill feelings towards Elmo Magalona, her daughter Janine Gutierrez’s boyfriend for two years before he moved to the Kapamilya Network where he became very busy and is said to be one of the main causes for their split-up.

“There’s no bad blood whatsoever between us, that’s for sure. It was between him and Janine. Definitely, I’m out of the picture so I’m okay with Elmo,” says Lotlot.

Many say that it’s a very nice gesture from the actress considering that her daughter got brokenhearted with the break-up.

“Well, let’s just say that I see things in a different perspective. I believe that something good came out of their split-up. I believe it had to happen for Janine to grow as a person, same with Elmo. It’s for their maturity. I hope they still remain friends. I can only wish Elmo the best.”

Lotlot understands that perhaps, Janine and Elmo are not really

meant for each other.

“That’s true! For one, they’re still both young to be that serious in love.

One thing more, they are focused in their respective career. Well, life is like that.

“I don’t have anything bad to say against Elmo. He’s a nice lad. He was part of the family. We loved him during that time when he and Janine were still together. As I’ve said earlier, maybe their relationship was not meant to be. It’s better to just leave it at that, right?”

The Destined to be Yours mainstay is confident of her daughter Janine despite everything that she’s gone through.

“She’s a bright lass. I respect and support whatever decision she makes in life. I’m proud that so far, she makes the right choices,” avers Lotlot.

Her career is also on the upswing at present. She stars in the upcoming film “1st Sem” where she plays the

role of a mother to three boys played by newcomers Darwin Yu, Michael Bagtas and Sebastian Vargas.

“Somehow, I was able to relate to the role. My character Precy is a single mom so I had to relive all the stages in my life when I’ve gone through a similar experience.

It wasn’t really difficult but also brought back painful memories along the way.”

Lotlot is proud of the project because it’s critically acclaimed and has won for her top acting plums in the recent All Lights India International Film Festival.

“I’m grateful because my work was recognized in the international scene. I hope our local viewers will appreciate this coming-of-age comedy drama which touches on so many emotions about communication and family,” she states. ***

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, April 24, 2017

ACROSS 1 Lump of dirt 5 Notch shape 8 Ink a contract 12 Surfer slang 14 Fritz’s possessive 15 Helm position 16 Pierre’s school 17 Holm and Fleming 18 Coniferous tree 19 Bright meteor 21 Not mentioned 23 7 and 11 24 Give it a go 25 — Moines, Iowa 26 Convenient (2 wds.)

30 Great Lakes tribe 32 2012 Pixar movie 33 Abundant 37 Expose or reveal 38 Jargon 39 Billionth, in combos 40 Grasp 42 Sweepstakes 43 Caterpillar foot 44 Sermon giver 45 Refrain syllables 48 Hear clearly 49 “She Done — Wrong” 50 Portable PC 52 Removing, as a splinter

57 Survey finding 58 Fresh 60 Bat’s navigational system 61 Castle defense 62 Elevator inventor 63 Viennese sweet 64 “You Are My Destiny” composer 65 Choke or joke 66 Burmese utterance DOWN 1 Julia Child, e.g.

2 Focal points 3 Foul smell 4 Wide valley 5 Osso buco base 6 Half of zwei 7 Making certain 8 Chumps 9 Epic of Troy 10 Wish granter 11 Has to have 13 Fillet a fish 14 Gentle 20 Join on 22 Nikita’s no 24 Vogue 26 “Waterloo” group 27 Bushwhack 28 Dwell on

29 Ward off 30 Veld antelope 31 Madrid mister 33 Trouser feature 34 Feedbag filler 35 A law — itself 36 Before long 38 Flock gatherer 41 Thus 42 Weakest, as an excuse 44 Dessert choice 45 Andes ruminant 46 Tori Spelling’s dad

47 Articulate 49 AAA recommendations 51 Londoner’s farewell (hyph.)

52 Stick 53 Climb sharply 54 Concerning (2 wds.)

55 Defense gp.

56 Ballooned 59 Flight board info

Iza Calzado reveals her plan of settling down in three years’ time.

Since her boyfriend is British (Ben Wintle), many ask if she will be ready to give up her acting career in case she will eventually live abroad.

“I might come home here in the Philippines from time to time to do projects. I can also take classes there. You know, I’m open to everything. You don’t know where life will take you so whatever is given to you, make the most of it,” she avers.

The award-winning actress assures though that wherever she goes, acting will always be there.

“I simply love this craft. I’d like to perform, to be around people. I enjoy the entertainment industry so much. So, I will always find an opportunity to act.”

Is the possible even if she were already old?

“Yes! I can see myself doing acting stuff until such period. As long as there are good offers,” ends Iza.

day, no one can tell you if your family is perfect or not. You may just have a mom, or you may just live with your daddy, or two moms and two dads, or you may live with your grandparents, or you may have an uncle like Mary does.

People say that the perfect family has to have a mom and dad, a big amazing house and a lot of money.

But as long as you have a loving, caring person that you live with, then I think that’s perfect for you.”

Gifted opens May 3 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

ICON Hotel and the Hope for the Youth Foundation have joined hands for a benefit concert entitled Magkaisa at Icon Hotel Timog Avenue on April 29.

The concert is part of the Magkaisa Relief Operations Project to help the tribal communities within Caraga affected by massive flooding in Lapaz and Talacogon towns in Agusan del Sur. The benefit concert will feature Aiza Seguera, Gary Granada, Naligayan Band, Tres Marias, Gift Cerna, DUMAKI Artists, Gion Gounet, Bae Miriam Sanchez, Wasalak Band and Salvation.

Tickets from P500 to P1,500 are available at the gate with all proceeds for the Manobos.

“The help may not be sufficient enough but somehow would become a morale booster for the victims so that they will know that there are people out there who still and will always care for them”, said Bae Jennifer Sibug Las, corporate social responsibility manager.

Meanwhile, a Unity Ride Relief Operation and Donation Cans in Icon Hotel will be launched as part of the Relief Operations Project with major sponsors House of Representatives, Pioneer Industries, and Hotel Sogo.

Current partners are Warriors of Nature, Gawad Sulo Foundation, Inc., Road Raiders Philippines, Incorporated and Santolan Riders Brotherhood Club MCPF. For inquiries and ticket reservation, please call Bae Jennifer Sibug Las at 09154445548.

Anchors (from left) Mike Enriquez, Arnold Clavio, Ali Sotto, and Joel Reyes Zobel make "Dobol Sa News TV" newscast a strong brand in TV ratings game

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017

ISAH V. RED

I

T SEEMS competition on television is forking with news becoming the new battleground. With a free TV channel converted into a news channel and gaining a foothold in the ratings game on the newsfront and the cable news channel’s efforts to maintain its leadership on the satellite block, GMA News TV, sister channel of leading TV station GMA 7, is beefing up its morning block starting today.

Thank God, the Kapuso network has realized that the channel can’t be a hybrid for too long and has decided to slowly convert it into a real news TV channel before CNN Philippines overtake them in the competition.

So, GMA News TV tapped the network’s flagship radio station DZBB to revamp its morning programming and put on board four of today’s most listened to morning radio programs on the block as Dobol B Sa News TV. News headlines, weather bulletins, traffic reports, public service announcements, and entertainment tidbits heard on DZBB is now broadcast simultaneously with GMA News TV Channel 11 from 6 to 11 a.m., Monday to Friday.

Leading the personalities in Dobol B Sa News TV are Mike Enriquez and Arnold Clavio with Joel Reyes Zobel and Ali Sotto. Mike delivers the latest news in the morning via Saksi sa Dobol B. He is joined later at 7 a.m. by Joel in Super Balita sa Umaga Nationwide. Together they

GMA News TV boosts morning programming

deliver the biggest news stories and latest news updates.

Meanwhile, the morning banter of Mike, Arnold, and Ali makes its TV debut in Sino? as the fun continues when the three give commentary on the day’s news through the musical JengJeng and Balitawit. Afterwards, they discuss the issues that made it to the news that day in Dobol A Sa Dobol B. Responding to the ever-changing needs of the viewing public, News To Go gives viewers a rundown of the latest breaking news and trending online topics come 11 a.m. with Howie Severino and Kara David, which is followed by Balitanghali with Connie Sison and Raffy Tima.

"News To Go" anchors Kara David and Howie Severino

LIFETIME continues to shine the spotlight on women and celebrate every mom’s special day this May. From protecting their families, to diving into daring business ventures, these stories pay tribute to the various fearless women in our lives.

Aspiring entrepreneurs take a brave step into the competitive world of fashion in all-new series Project Runway: Fashion Startup, premiering on May 8. These designers pitch their concepts to a panel of experts whom they must impress enough to invest in their dreams. Special appearances of some of the biggest names in the industry, including icon Tommy Hilfiger are in the series, 9 p.m. Mondays.

Unwind after a full day of festivities on May 14, as Lifetime’s Mother’s Day Stunt brings you a line-up of films sure to tug at your heartstrings. At 8:30 p.m., follow the lifelong bond of two unlikely friends in the contemporary remake of the 80’s cult comedy Beaches, starring Idina Menzel as aspiring singer CC and Nia Long as Hillary, the

daughter of a prominent civil rights lawyer who struggles to find her own voice.

At 10:05 p.m., meet the driving force behind NBA’s Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant in The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story. The 21-year-old single mother, Wanda, selflessly cast aside her dreams to make way for her son’s own. This is the inspiring story of how one of the greatest basketball players in the world became the man he is because of the woman who always had his back.

Stay in for Lifetime’s original movies, like Mommy I Didn’t Do It, airing May 13, Saturday at 9 p.m. and again at 12:05 a.m. on May 14. This thrilling sequel of the reimagined Hitchcock classic sees Ellen Plainview discovering the truth about her daughter’s innocence as she goes on trial for a murder.

The suspense continues as The Wrong House follows a couple that finds the perfect house for their family in the Los Angeles suburbs. Witness how their lives begin to unravel as a local

Now, GMA News TV should start rethinking what to do with their afternoon and evening blocks to be true to its nomenclature. Otherwise it will remain a hybrid while its competitors both on free TV and cable advance and be the real news stations in the local broadcasting industry. *** Kapamilya star Judy Ann SantosAgoncillo proves that having a hectic schedule and pursuing varied interests can’t stop her from spending time with her family as Friday nights are blocked off for family TV time.

“We bond a lot in front of the TV, especially when it’s Friday night because the kids don’t have class(es) the next day and they don’t have tutorials. They are allowed to sleep a little bit late and enjoy what they want to watch as long as Ryan Agoncillo and I are with them,” the newest SKYdirect ambassador explained.

As a mom, Judy Ann believes that watching television together plays an important role in building stronger family relationships. She even reveals that she and Ryan try to answer their children’s questions honestly and accurately whenever they watch TV. “The kids are very open to us when it comes to asking questions when we watch TV. When they see something that they don’t understand, they ask questions and we, as parents have to answer them honestly and accurately.

We love that they ask us questions because the children are honest and open and we discover their interests, so it helps us determine what programs to encourage them to watch,” Judy Ann added.

Among the TV shows that she encourages her children to watch are Tagalog shows, especially educational shows like Matanglawin, which airs on ABS-CBN HD on SKYdirect,

personal trainer takes a special interest in their new home that soon turns into a life-threatening obsession at 9 p.m. on May 27.

Get back to the heart of the clutter as the latest season of Hoarders launches on May 12.

The team is stopping at nothing to help families struggling to let go of insignificant things that fill up their lives and homes. Watch as each compulsive collector go through the journey 9 p.m. every Friday.

The all-new series, Vivica’s Black Magic, kicks up the heat as actress Vivica A. Fox hunts down the hottest hunks for her newest venture Black Magic, an exotic male revue set to make every ladies’ night an unforgettable experience. Of the hundreds who auditioned, only eight magic men are left to prove they’re worthy of a spot in the sexiest show on the West Coast.

Catch the sizzling new series 10 p.m., Fridays starting May 19.

Lifetime™ is available on SKYCable Ch 65 and Lifetime™ HD Ch 199; Cable Link Ch. 223; Dream Satellite Ch 28; Destiny Ch 44.

the direct-to-home pay TV service (satellite antenna) of SKY Cable, the cable and broadband unit of ABSCBN that provides a diverse channel lineup with programs that appeal to every family member, so her kids can learn how to speak Tagalog fluently.

News and sports, lifestyle, cartoons, and even movies are some of the content that SKYdirect’s channels feature, which enhances home life by providing the whole family opportunities to b o n d while watching their favorite shows together, or by allowing individual members to enjoy their c h o s e n programs.

SKYdirect also aims to give Filipino families located i n

areas unreachable by cable access to information and entertainment since the service is available nationwide.

Apart from ABS-CBN HD, exclusive channels available on SKYdirect prepaid and postpaid plans include S+A HD, ABSCBN Regional, ANC, Cinema One, MYX, Lifestyle, Jeepney TV, DZMM TeleRadyo, and TMC. Through SKYdirect plan variants, families can also watch top-rating cable channels like Cartoon Network, HBO, Disney, Nickelodeon, FOX, Warner, RTL-CBS, TLC, AXN, and History.

Subscribing to SKYdirect is even more affordable since kits are now priced at P2,699 from the original price of P2,990.

SKYdirect prepaid plans are available on various plans, like Plan 99, Plan 250, and Plan 450, while postpaid plans are available on Plan 250 and Plan 450 variants.

For more information, visit mysky.com.ph.

Seasoned actress Judy Ann Santos is inspired to pursue varied interests while juggling her time as a hands-on mother and a TV personality

Redefine fearlessness on Lifetime

Lifetime turns up the heat with "Vivica's Black Magic," a series that features an all-male exotic dance group