Manila Standard - 2017 May 02 - Tuesday by Manila Standard

CA TO DECIDE ON ENVIRONMENT CHIEF’S FATE By Christine F. Herrera

VOL. XXXI • NO. 77 • 5 SECTIONS 24 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Regina Lopez will defend herself for the last time today before the Commission on Appointments, which must decide by Wednesday whether her appointment is confirmed or rejected. President Rodrigo Duterte had reappointed Lopez on an ad interim basis after the CA bypassed her twice. But new CA rules bar the reappointment of Cabinet secretaries who fail to gain confirmation three times. Previously, 23 groups, including displaced mine workers, scientists and lawmakers, had lobbied hard to get the CA to reject Lopez’s confirmation, saying she was unqualified for the post. The President’s own party, the PDP-Laban, on Monday said it would support the appointment of a law professor at De La Salle University, Mark Kristopher Tolentino, as Environment secretary if the CA rejects Lopez this week. Meanwhile, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, whose district was host to Next page

Lopez scored for charcoal making plan By Christine F. Herrera

WELCOME ABOARD. President Rodrigo Duterte is given a tour of the People’s Liberation Army Navy Flagship Destroyer Chang Chun (inset) which is docked at the Sasa Port in Davao City on Monday for a goodwill visit to the Philippines, with which China established formal links in 1975. Accompanying the President are Armed Forces Chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, Defense Secretary Delﬁn Lorenzana and Navy Commander Vice Admiral Ronald Mercado. Those who welcomed Duterte and his party were PLAN Commander Admiral Miao Hua, Task Group Destroyer Commander Rear Admiral Shen Hao and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua. Malacañang Photo

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Regina Lopez has ordered the creation of a P9.4-billion backyard industry for charcoal making that would exclusively beneﬁt the private company Biochar, which is owned by her trusted lieutenant Undersecretary Philip Camara, a Lopez critic said Monday. In DENR Administrative Order 2017-05, a copy of which was obtained by the Manila Standard, Lopez orders all regional ofﬁces, bureaus and attached agencies of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Next page

War games with China Duterte visits Chinese destroyer, says joint exercises possible By John Paolo Bencito

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday visited Chinese warships docked in his hometown and raised the prospect of future joint exercises, highlighting his vow to improve ties with Beijing that soured over competing claims in the South China Sea.

Duterte made his visit a day after issuing a chairman’s statement on behalf of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc that took a soft stance towards Chinese expansionism and islandbuilding in the waterway. Duterte praised the Chinese Navy’s ﬂagship destroyer Chang Chun, which was docked at the Sasa Port in Davao City, as “very

impressive.” “It’s all carpeted inside. It’s like a hotel,” he said after being presented with a Chinese naval cap. “This is part of conﬁdence-building and goodwill and to show we are friends and that is why I welcome them here,” Duterte said of the threevessel ﬂotilla that arrived in Davao City on Mindanao on Sunday. Asked about possible joint exer-

cises between the Philippines and China, Duterte said “Yes, I said I agree. There can be joint exercises.” He suggested they be held in the Sulu Sea where Muslim extremist pirates have been active in recent months. Defense Secretary Delﬁn Lorenzana, however, said the joint war games “might take a while” as

Defense chief hits NPA over attacks

Trump aide defends invitation to Duterte By Sandy Araneta WASHINGTON—A top aide on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s invitation to President Rodrigo Duterte to visit Washington, saying the need to rally Asian allies over North Korea overshadowed concerns about Duterte’s brutal war on drugs. On Saturday, the White House said Trump had invited Duterte in a “friendly” call in which the leaders discussed the Filipino President’s ﬁght against drugs and the two countries’ alliance. The statement touched only lightly on Duterte’s brutal crackdown on crime, which has claimed thousands of lives and drawn international condemnation. But when White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was asked

Sunday why Trump was “honoring” Duterte with the White House invitation, he told ABC, “I’m not so sure it’s a matter of honoring this president.” “The issues facing us, developing out of North Korea, are so serious that we need cooperation at some level with as many partners in the area as we can get,” he said. That way, Priebus added, “if something does happen in North Korea, we have everyone in line backing up a plan of action that may need to be put together with our partners in the area.” Duterte had in the past regularly hit out at the United States, the Philippines’ one-time colonial ruler, for perceived hypocrisy over human rights. Last year he branded then US president Barack Obama a “son of a whore” for criticizing the drug war. Next page

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera THE New People’s Army’s unprovoked attacks on various Lapanday Food Corp. facilities in Davao City on April 29 emphasized the group’s terroristic inclinations, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday. He condemned the communists’ latest atrocities. “They just confirmed without a doubt their terrorist designation,” Lorenzana said. “They also confirmed my accusations that they are antiprogress, anti-development and anti-people.” In Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Valley Police Chief Eliseo Tam Rasco said the Maddela police chief in Quirino was relieved of

SWS: Fewer jobless in Q1 By John Paolo Bencito THE number of jobless Filipinos declined slightly in the first quarter from the fourth quarter last year, the polling firm Social Weather Stations said Monday. SWS said the survey, conducted among 1,200 respondents, showed that the number of jobless Filipinos went down to 22.9 percent or 10.4 million in the first quarter this year against 25.1 percent or 11.2 million in the last quarter of 2016. SWS revealed the results of its latest survey even as Senator Juan Edgardo Angara called on his colleagues in the Senate to cross party lines and approve his proposed measure that will give

employment to jobless workers in rural areas. He said his Senate Bill 947, “An Act Providing for Rural Employment Assistance Program and Appropriating Funds thereof,” or REAP, was now pending at the committee on social justice, welfare and rural development. He said the lack of signiﬁcant economic growth in the rural areas was likely contributing to the rising unemployment rate in the countryside. “Many studies have shown that poverty in our country is most severe and widespread in the rural areas, where almost 80 percent of the poor population live,” Angara said. Among the jobless in the ﬁrst Next page

these would need the concurrence of Congress for a possible visiting forces agreement. After his visit to the Chinese destroyer, the President said the repairs to the facilities on Philippineheld islands that are also claimed by China would continue, despite protests from Beijing. “That is part of our duty as naNext page tion,” he said.

Hacienda Luisita lessees get warning By Rio N. Araja

PROTEST MARCH. Different militant groups in the country’s National Capital Region—where 15 million of

the nation’s 106-million people live—march with an efﬁgy Monday along the often busy Quezon Boulevard underpass in the University Belt Area in Manila as they moved, under a scorching summer sun, closer to Liwasang Bonifacio by the Pasig River during the Labor Day protest. Norman Cruz

AGRARIAN Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano on Monday threatened to ﬁle charges against politicians, inﬂuential personalities and other individuals acting as aryendador or lessees of agrarian reform lands at the Hacienda Luisita for violation of the Agrarian Reform Law. Next page

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War... From A1

Duterte, elected last year, has distanced himself from traditional longtime ally the United States. He has played down his country’s territorial dispute with China in favor of seeking greater economic aid and investment from it. China has sparked regional concern by turning reefs and shoals in contested areas into artificial islands, installing military facilities and airstrips on some of them. But in the statement issued after he hosted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila, Duterte merely took note of “concerns expressed by some leaders over recent developments in the area.” He ignored last year’s international ruling outlawing China’s sweeping claims to the key waterway. Asean members the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the waterway, but China insists it has sovereign rights over nearly all of it. Duterte has said the Philippines and other nations are helpless to stop the islandbuilding, so there is no point challenging China in diplomatic and legal circles. China is not a member of the 10-nation Asean, but its ambassador to Manila worked hard to influence the tenor and content of the chairman’s statement, diplomats said. The visit of the Chinese vessels to Davao rather than Manila is widely seen as a personal gesture to Duterte. It is the first Chinese navy port call to the country since 2010, the Philippine Navy said, adding that “goodwill games” of basketball and tug-of-war were staged between the Chinese sailors and their Filipino counterparts in Davao. Opposition legislator Gary Alejano, a former military officer, said that in the Asean summit, “they [China] won by convincing Duterte not to include any statement about the [international] ruling.” “To make matters worse, Duterte even visited the Chinese warships. That only shows the President is trying everything to appease China,” Alejano said. “It is not about an independent foreign policy. It is about selling out and capitulating to China.” With AFP

ILO accord to protect govt workers’ right to organize P RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he will ratify ILO Convention 151 that will protect the rights of employees to organize.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said government employees will benefit from ILO Convention 151 because it will stop the contractualization of government employees. Duterte on Monday also vowed to protect the basic rights of Filipino workers as he paid tribute to the Filipino workers here and around the world on Labor Day. “Workers play a significant role in pushing for the rights to humane conditions at work, basic wages and organized acts includ-

ing collective bargaining and unionism,” Duterte said in his Labor Day message. “The government recognizes these basic rights of workers in all industries, and we are committed to protect and defend these rights.” Duterte said the Labor department had been tasked to ensure that Filipinos would find jobs here and need not leave the country. “Everyone who contributes labor as part of his commitment to nation-building deserves nothing less than a share of the fruits of his

hard work,” he said. In other developments: • The biggest labor organization, the Associated Labor Unions, on Monday warned of a possible uprising of the working poor if the government and employers continued to ignore the increasing joblessness, inadequate wages, insufficient social protection benefits and shortterm work arrangements. “We have been witness to a recent series of events where the poorest people were forced to raid rice warehouses, invade government housing units and claim ownership of the land,” group spokesman Alan Tanjusay said. “We do not condone or tolerate

Lopez...

mate change mitigation technology with poverty alleviation through community enterprise.” But Galvez said the program was unscientific and untested, with not a single pilot project to show how it works. “That’s pure baloney. Biochar is not even a technology. Camara’s Biochar company has no project to show it’s working. Gina Lopez is giving her USEC some P9.4 billion in public funds when this private company did not even have a track record to speak of,” Galvez said. “Gina Lopez is introducing a program that is untested and unscientific and will only encourage kaingin [slash and burn practices], violate the Clean Air Act and a move that will make a private company owned by Camara really rich at the expense of the public and the government. Gina creates a backyard industry for uling (charcoal) that legitimizes kaingin,” Galvez said. “That’s a clear case of graft and corruption and in the case of Camara, a clear case of conflict of interest,” Galvez said. Even before the program could start in full swing, Camara resigned

on April 7 after the Civil Service Commission ruled he was not qualified to be an undersecretary. “Biochar is neither an invention nor innovation as it is just a usual coal-making process done mostly in rural areas. With the DAO, DENR misleads the public by saying it is adopting a new technology. What Gina tries to propagate is an adaption of a private company’s business efforts using government funds. A clear case of graft: Biochar, a private company is not a non-profit organization, will manage the proffered business,” Galvez said. Biochar, Lopez said, is charred biomass strictly from agricultural wastes like rice hull and straw, bagasse, pill shell, mango seed, coconut husk and shell and corn cobs, which are produced by high heating or not less than 500 degree Celsius with very limited oxygen. Lopez clarified that cutting of any trees to serve as raw materials for biochar is strictly prohibited. “However, biomass coming from trees such as wood chips, seeds, twigs and branches can be permitted,” she added. Lopez said biochar has 52 known

uses, including as feed additive in animal farming, carbon fertilizer, insulator, protection against electromagnetic radiation, water decontaminant, biomass additive, ingredient in cataplasm for insect bites and abscesses, fabric additive for functional underwear, and filling for mattresses and pillows. Lopez explained that biochar also draws carbon from the atmosphere, providing a carbon sink on agricultural lands and that after its initial or cascading use, biochar can be recycled as a soil conditioner. Fully depreciated when finally returned to the soil, the black carbon will slowly build up in the soil and over a few generations, the soil’s biochar content could easily reach 50 to 100 tons per hectare. But Galvez questioned these claims, seeking any study to show that biochar would mitigate the effects of climate change. He also questioned why a private entity, Biochar, would manage a government program. Also on Monday, some environmental advocates said they were bewildered over the supposed influence being wielded by Leo

the mine audit team leader admitted having tampered with the audit results on the orders of Leo Jasareno, Lopez’s trusted adviser who had been sacked as chief of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau. “We await the attendance of Secretary-designate Gina Lopez and the rest of her cabal in the Committee on Good Government so I can show to her the shenanigans being committed by her most trusted adviser as

well as the other equally corrupt MGB regional directors who play God in their areas of jurisdiction,” Barbers added. “If this revelation does not move the Secretary, then I can only guess why,” Barbers said. The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines also said Lopez’s ad interim reappointment was “unfortunate” and said she is still unqualified for the job. President Duterte on Mon-

day night issued the ad interim appointments of Lopez and three other Cabinet members who have not been confirmed by the CA. “It is very unfortunate. We maintain our opposition and we hope that the CA will really look into the qualifications. Lopez is really not qualified,” Chamber of Mines of the Philippines legal and policy vice president Ronald Recidoro said . With John Paolo Bencito

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to implement the multi-billionpeso Biochar program nationwide. The order designates DENR Undersecretary Philip Camera, who is also the president of the privately held Biochar, as the manager and supervisor of the program. Earlier, Biochar was awarded the P9.4-billion contract without the benefit of a public bidding, and no feasibility or scientific study, said Manuel Galvez, a general partner of Airboard Co. and one of the 23 parties that opposed Lopez’s confirmation before the Commission on Appointments. It was Camara who drafted and recommended the approval of the administrative order that he and Lopez signed on Feb. 23, Galvez said. Camara said Biochar has the potential to provide alternative livelihood to local communities, given that the country consumes 22 million cubic meters of wood for fuel and charcoal per year. Lopez added that the Biochar program was a “remarkable cli-

CA... From A1

seven mine sites, wanted Lopez summoned to the House to explain the manipulation done to the mining audit that paved the way for the closure of 23 mine sites and the suspension of 75 mineral production sharing agreements. In an affidavit submitted to the Ombudsman, Barbers said

SWS:... From A1

Trump...

quarter, 11.2 percent or 5.1 million voluntarily left their jobs, 8.6 percent or 3.9 million lost their jobs due to circumstances beyond their control, and 3.1 percent or 1.4 million were first-time job seekers. Adult labor force participation increased slightly to 72.2 percent or 45.5 million from the previous quarter’s 72.1 percent or 44.8 million. SWS said its definition of “joblessness” was different from the government’s definition of “unemployment.” It defined jobless people as those without a job but were looking for a job. Those who were not working, without a job or not looking for one were excluded. But the net optimism that they will get a job in the next 12 months was down to 44 percent in the first quarter compared with last year’s 48 percent. Optimism that there would be more jobs in the next year was at 44 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter’s 48 percent. Those who believed that there would be fewer jobs in the next year rose to 15 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter’s 12 percent. Those who thought that job prospects would not change were steady at 27 percent compared to 2016’s last quarter of 28 percent. The latest survey from March 25 to 28 had a sampling error margin of ±3 percent. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

Defense... From A1

his post on Monday following the attack of at least 50 suspected communist rebels at the town police station on April 29. He said Chief Inspector Jhunjhun Balisi was relieved to pave the way for a deeper probe on the attack. Balisi accepted his relief but

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Duterte spoke of loosening the long-standing alliance with the US as he looked to court China, whose push to control most of the disputed South China Sea has alarmed neighbors. But the White House said Saturday that the two leaders, both elected to office last year, had helped orient the US-Philippine relationship “in a very positive direction.” The White House said Trump “enjoyed the conversation” with Duterte, and looked forward to attending the key US-Asean and East Asia summits in the Philippines in November. Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella confirmed Trump’s invitation, although he gave no indication of when the visit would take place. Duterte has not been shy about his brutal campaign against drugs, saying of his country’s addicts, “I’d be happy to slaughter them” the way Hitler killed millions of Jews. Police have reported killing 2,724 people as part of the anti-drug campaign, although authorities insist the shootings have been in self-defense. Many thousands of others have been

denied earlier reports that he was abducted by the communist rebels. In Davao City, Mayor Sara Duterte said she will pursue the peace talks with the New People’s Army despite an incident in which a fish vendor was hurt by an improvised explosive device. Lorenzana said the rebels were continuing their heinous acts even while their compan-

killed by shadowy vigilantes, according to rights groups. A Filipino lawyer last week filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court accusing Duterte of mass murder, alleging his war on drugs had led to about 8,000 deaths. When Priebus was asked whether Trump had raised that record with Duterte, he said he had not personally sat in on the entire phone call. But the purpose of the call, he added, was “all about North Korea.” “There is nothing facing the country and the region more important than what’s going on in North Korea,” he added. In the Philippines, Duterte’s pledge to stop the country turning into a narco-state has proved wildly popular with millions of Filipinos looking for a quick solution to crime and corruption. Duterte is the latest in a series of authoritarian leaders with whom Trump has established friendly relations, including Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And he often spoke warmly of President Vladimir Putin of Russia—until differences over Syria erupted. The United Nations High Commis-

ions at the National Democratic Front were negotiating for peace. “With each passing day, it is becoming clear to the Filipino people that what these communist terrorists want is to cow the entire nation into subservience by sowing fear and violence,” Lorenzana said. “The attacks in Davao and other crimes done by the NPA also make the Filipino people question the sincerity of the en-

these illegal actions, but we attribute these series of lawlessness as symptoms of an unresponsive government and inhumane employers and capitalists.” • Protesters and policemen faced off on corner of Kalaw and Bocobo in Manila as labor groups tried to make their way to the United States Embassy along Roxas Boulevard. The MPD anti-crowd dispersal teams were seen preparing water cannons to block the groups led by the Kilusang Mayo Uno. The tension only diffused after the protest leaders told their members not to break the line set by the police. • Thousands of workers staged a protest rally in Metro Manila

F. Pearl A. Gajunera, John Paolo Bencito, Vito Barcelo and Sandy Araneta

Jasareno, a close adviser of Lopez. Jasareno, former head of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, was fired by President Rodrigo Duterte last year but retained by Lopez as a consultant. Pio Mercado, spokesperson of the pro-environment group Caraga Watch, said Lopez’s “over-reliance with Jasareno will likely cause her downfall.” “And we don’t want that to happen because we support her [Lopez], we share the same advocacy,” said Mercado, whose group was tapped by Lopez as one of the non-government organizations that took part in last year’s nationwide mine audit. Caraga Watch, a multi-sectoral group composed of religious and progressive sectors, has accused Jasareno of corruption and other irregularities when he was still MGB director. “The problems hounding the mining industry today got worse when Jasareno was at the reigns of MGB. Before that, he was head of the tenements division, and was instrumental in approving dozens of new mining areas that should have been protected,” Mercado said. With Lance Baconguis

sioner on Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said Trump should preach about human rights to Duterte. “One hopes the message will be very clear and undiluted from the President of United States to the President of the Philippines,” Zeid said in a news briefing. A human rights watchdog urged Philippine allies, including the United States, to demand accountability for the victims of Duterte’s war on drugs. Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia Phelim Kine made the statement after the White House announced on Sunday that Trump invited Duterte to Washington D.C. during a phone conversation on Saturday. “Countries with close bilateral ties to the Philippines, particularly the United States, have an obligation to urge accountability for the victims of Duterte’s abusive drug war, rather than offer to roll out the red carpet for official state visits with its mastermind,” Kine said in a statement. The Palace did not confirm that Duterte had accepted Trump’s invitation. “Let us just say, he was wont to appreciate the gesture. His response remains to be seen,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. With AFP

tire communist movement to push for peace, since it seems everything is just lip service and double talk. It also brings to light the disconnect and lack of communication between the NDF, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and its cadres on the ground.” The unprovoked attack on LFC’s box and plastic manufacturing plants in Barangay Mandug, Davao City, on April

29 caused millions of pesos in damage. “We cannot stress enough that for the peace talks to succeed, the government must be talking to the real representatives of the communist movement,” Lorenzana said. “There must be an assurance that we are dealing with the actual leaders of their organization and not just some figureheads who are devoid of any control or influence.” With PNA

and other cities on Monday and pushed for the abolition of contractual employment, decent wages and the lowering of the prices of basic commodities. The labor groups led by Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino slammed the order issued by Bello six weeks ago and described it as a worse version of the previous order under the Aquino administration. The labor groups also demanded that Department Order 174 be immediately revoked for perpetuating the abusive practice of contractual employment.

Hacienda... From A1

“The aryendo system must stop. Those financiers or aryendadors who coerce, lure and swindle land reform beneficiaries must be charged for the obstruction of land reform in Hacienda Luisita, Mariano said. “Most farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita were forced by circumstances to give in to the aryendadors because they did not get any support from past administrations who covertly supported the resistance and manipulation of landowners. Mariano earlier declared as void the buying and leasing of lands awarded to Hacienda Luisita farmers. He invoked Republic Act 6657, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, that prohibits any sale or disposition of agricultural lands. “RA 6657 is clear on its prohibited acts, that awarded lands may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession or to the government,” he said. On March 7 to April 7, DAR conducted a month-long validation study covering some 5,031 agrarian reform beneficiaries at the hacienda. The study revealed that about 2,841 agrarian reform beneficiaries or 45.73 percent leased, mortgaged or rented out their awarded lands while 617 or 9,87 percent had already sold their lots to third-party buyers. On the other hand, 187 beneficiaries or 3.01 percent were engaged in joint-venture arrangements. The study also showed that the most common reason for leasing the awarded lands were financial difficulties and sickness in the family, while a number of respondents could not afford to cultivate the lots awarded to them because of the distance from their homes. Most of the beneficiaries admitted the last time they saw their lots was during the installation in 2013. “We know of wide-ranging disenfranchisement of farmworker beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita,” Mariano said.

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SEC official admits he ignored letters of stockholder By Rio N. Araja A SECURITIES and Exchange Commission official, who has been charged before the Office of the Ombudsman for graft and corruption, and grave misconduct, has admitted deliberately ignoring letters of a former majority stakeholder seeking to prevent the increase in authorized capital stock that led to the anomalous sale of shares of the Manila North Harbor Port Inc. In a 14-page paper sent to the Ombudsman, SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department director Ferdinand Sales admitted receiving a letter from complainant Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc. regarding the intra-corporate controversy surrounding MNHPI. HCPTI, with a previous majority share of 65 percent, urged the SEC to stop the application for capital increase as it would dilute the former’s shareholding in favor of San Miguel Holdings Corp. Last January, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued an order preventing fugitive 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Michael Romero from claiming ownership of his family-owned HCPTI, exposing challenges in the ownership of MNHPI that had been taken over by conglomerate San Miguel Corp. Reghis Romero, Michael’s father, sued him for falsifying documents to claim ownership of the family-owned HCPTI, operator of the 10-hectare Manila Harbour Centre Terminal. The younger Romero lost the case to his father and even went into hiding when an arrest warrant was issued against him in January. According to Sales, he received the letter on Dec. 15, 2015 from the HCPTI before the application for increase in authorized capital stock and the amendment of the articles of incorporation of MNHPI. “Respondent [Sales] receives several such letters in a day and in the course of a month’s time, sometimes they could reach around a thousand or more. It was therefore beyond his capability to monitor all such letters, more so where these letters were filed prior to the filing of an application,” he said.

LIVING WAGE ET AL. Farmers who are beneficiaries from the Madaum Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Inc. from Southern Mindanao hold a protest action Monday in front of the National Poilice Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City to denounce what they call the deliberate inaction of PNP Region 11 in complying with the request of Agrarian Secretary Rafael Mariano to assist the 159 beneficiaries in the 149-hectare farms inside Lapanday Food Corp. in Tagum, Davao del Norte. Manny Palmero

Atong Ang faces probe after raids on his gambling dens By Rey E. Requejo

ONTROVERSIAL Filipino-Chinese businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang will be investigated for possible criminal liabilities, including his alleged links to destabilize the Duterte administration, following the recent raids on his gambling dens in Northern Luzon, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. Aguirre said Ang and Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. should be investigated for possible tax evasion. “I will ask the BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] to determine the tax liabilities of the operations of Ang and his companies,” Aguirre said in text

message. The Justice secretary also disclosed that authorities would look into Ang’s links to personalities implicated in the alleged destabilization plot against the Duterte administration. “I have information on his connection with destabilizers.

Senate to pass 3 landmark bills By Macon Ramos-Araneta THREE landmark bills—reforms to the country’s criminal justice system, mental health sector and local innovation and entrepreneurship—will be passed by the Senate on third and ﬁnal reading as it resumes its sessions today. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said the Senate was “very eager” to resume its work following the Lenten recess, starting with the approval of the amendments to the Revised Penal Code (SBN 14), Mental Health Act of 2017 (SBN 1354) and the Philippine Innovation Act (SBN 1355). The amendments to the Revised Penal Code, authored and sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, would “adjust the

amounts stipulated in various provisions of the 80-year-old Revised Penal Code to their present values, in order to ensure the proportionality of punishment.” The Mental Health Act of 2017, primarily authored and sponsored by Senator Risa Hontiveros, aimed to “promote mental health, promulgate a national mental health policy towards the enhancement of integrated mental health services, and the promotion and protection of persons utilizing mental health services,” among others. The Philippine Innovation Act, authored and sponsored by Senator Win Gatchalian, would “promote innovation and internationalization activities of micro, small and medium enterprises,” through the creation of the interagency National Innovation Council and other programs.

COLLEAGUES’ RALLY. (From left) Senators Francisco Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes are met by media people Monday after visiting detained colleague Leila de Lima at the Custodial Center in Camp Crame where they discussed the issues on death penalty. Lino Santos

We are now building up that angle,” Aguirre said. Police raided the gambling dens of Meridien in Tuguegarao City and Enrile and Peñablanca towns last Thursday and Friday and arrested 63 people involved in jueteng operations. Ang’s employee Edwin Articulo led the raiding team to a sport utility vehicle where jueteng was being drawn in Barangay Catayaoan, Lasam. Police also seized cash and computer units during the raid. The raid came after Ang accused Aguirre and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. of plotting to kill him to eliminate jueteng to expand government’s small-town lottery. Meridien, which secured a license to operate within the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority

in Sta. Ana town, expanded its operations to Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Bicol. But Aguirre already denied the allegation and dared Ang to present proofs. “Atong Ang should present evidence of his accusation and ﬁle the appropriate charges against me in court or any proper ofﬁce. I know he cannot because there is absolutely no truth to his accusation,” the Justice Secretary stressed. Aguirre said he believed Ang was retaliating after he led the raid on Fontana Leisure Park that busted the billion-peso online illegal gambling operation being conducted by his business partner and best friend Jack Lam. “This is clearly a demolition job against me, in conspiracy with the destabilizers of the Duterte administration,” Aguirre claimed.

Sabio’s conspirators to be investigated By Rey E. Requejo THE government will investigate the personalities behind the complaint filed by lawyer Jude Jose Sabio, counsel of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, before the International Criminal Court against President Rodrigo Duterte and 11 senior government officials. Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II hinted out there were people orchestrating the actions of Matobato and Sabio to destabilize the Duterte administration. “Matobato, Sabio and whoever is behind them are out to destabilize the Duterte administration by discrediting it before the international community. I believe that somebody is behind them because they will not be so brazen in their actions if there is no one holding the strings, purse strings included, behind the scenes. Ask them who is paying for their expenses in going to the ICC,” Aguirre said in a statement. Aguirre said: “Are these funders public officials at present? If yes, are they using the public funds of their offices to undermine the government? “If yes, they should be investigated and be made accountable. If, on the other hand, the funding is private, then it is still an act of destabilization. These destabilizers do not want the Filipino people to have a drugfree future. “They hate it when the great-

er majority of our countrymen benefit from the many gains of the Duterte administration. To them and their kind, I say, bring it on!” Aguirre also expressed disappointment with Sabio’s act. Aguirre added: “I am disappointed with Atty. Sabio. As brethren in the noble profession of lawyering, he has sunk so low. He has deliberately prostituted himself at the altar of greed and self-interest. “He has disregarded our Lawyer’s Oath that a lawyer shall not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any. “His present action totally disregarded the warning issued to him by the Supreme Court itself in the August 11, 2008 case of Judge Alden V. Cervantes vs. Atty. Jude Josue L. Sabio.” Solicitor General Jose Calida vowed to file a disbarment complaint against Sabio for filing baseless suits. Calida noted the SC sanctioned Sabio in 2008 for filing a groundless bribery charge against Judge Alden Cervantes, who was the presiding judge of the Municipal Trial Court of Cabuyao, Laguna until his retirement in 2005. The high court ruled that Sabio violated the proscription in the lawyers’ Code of Professional Responsibility against wittingly or willingly promoting or suing any groundless suit including baseless administrative complaints against judges and other court officers and employees.

IN BRIEF Alvarez hails SWS survey on death penalty SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday hailed the recent Social Weather Station survey showing that majority of Filipinos were for death penalty. “The survey result is an affirmation that the House made the right move in passing the death penalty bill,” Alvarez said. Last week, the SWS released the result of its March 25-28 survey showing that 61 percent, or three in five Filipinos, are for the revival of death penalty, one of the priorities of the Duterte administration. Alvarez echoed Malacañang’s statement the survey result was an affirmation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership and approval of his war on drugs. There were 1,200 respondents in the SWS survey and only 23 percent of them opposed the reimposition of capital punishment. Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone shared Alvarez’s view. Maricel V. Cruz

De Lima’s colleagues visit her NO DESTABILIZATION plan against the government of President Rodrigo Duterte was discussed when four of her colleagues from the Senate Minority Bloc visited her at the detention facility inside Camp Crame in Quezon City, Senator Leila De Lima said. De Lima is detained at the PNP Custodial Center on allegations of involvement in the illicit drug operations inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was Justice secretary. The neophyte senator was accused of receiving drug money from detained drug lords at the Muntinlupa penitentiary to bankroll her senatorial bid in May elections last year. De Lima has maintained her innocence and insisted the drug charges were fabricated as President Duterte vowed to destroy her for investigating him on extrajudicial killings in his drug war and summary executions by the Davao Death Squad when he was Davao City mayor. “Absolutely no destab plan was tackled as there is no such thing. Sorry to disappoint the paranoids among the Duterte sycophants…” De Lima said in a handwritten statement sent to reporters. De Lima said she and her visitors—Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros and Antonio Trillanes IV—talked about various matters, “from serious stuff, to mundane and funny ones.” Macon Ramos-Araneta

Opinion

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

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EDITORIAL

About a call

HERE is much ado over the call made by US President Donald Trump to President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday. “The ambit of the conversation between the two leaders include(d) the expression of commitment of US President Trump to the PH-US alliance and his interest in developing a warm, working relationship with President Duterte,” Malacañang Spokesman Ernesto Abella said. The White House, meanwhile, described the

Adelle Chua, Editor

meeting as very friendly. The two leaders discussed the concerns of the Asean on regional security, including the threat posed by North Korea. Trump supposedly told Duterte that he was looking forward to the US-Asean summit in November. Moreover, he invited the Philippine leader to the White House “to discuss the

importance of the USPhilippines alliance.” Trump’s critics used the phone call to bash the US President, who had marked his 100th day in office over the weekend. They said the invitation showed Trump was now “morally complicit in the killings.” Trump’s chief of staff denied, however, that the call meant he was “honoring” Duterte who had been gaining notoriety in the international scene for his brutal war on illegal drugs. The chief-of-staff insisted the issues develop-

ing out of North Korea are so serious and the US needed the cooperation of as many partners in the area as it could get. Here at home, the fuss is mostly about how cordial Mr. Duterte is to Mr. Trump, in contrast to how he behaved with the latter’s predecessor, Barack Obama, who he said was a “son of a whore.” Those more sympathetic to the meeting say a stronger alliance between the two will counterbalance Mr. Duterte’s apparent leniency toward China.

In all this, what stand out are the similarities between the two leaders— both speak their minds, talk too much, and appear to care little about getting facts straight, relying on their subordinates to explain what they supposedly really meant. Both Duterte and Trump are personalities perhaps more than they are presidents, and that is where the problem lies. Of course there should be a conversation between the leader of the Philippines and the leader of the United States.

The two are linked by military and political history as well as trade. There are Filipino communities, in varying sizes, in practically all states in the US. It is also true that the two countries share common security concerns both from rogue governments and terror groups. What would be strange is if they did not speak to each other. Let the conversation be about farreaching policy, rather than who said what or who can utter the more controversial statement.

The Emmaus road to revolution

rest of Asean as far as foreign relations are concerned. After all, especially during the previous administration, the Philippines has already experimented with pro-Americanism to a degree that has probably not been seen since the end of the colonial period in the last century. And where has our Americacentric foreign policy gotten us? By almost every metric available, whether economic, military or social, the Philippines has fallen behind its Asean neighbors. When push came to shove at Scarborough Shoal in 2012, as I keep saying, the US even proved that it did not have our back if we go against China—but then, everyone who knows how close the Chinese and the Americans really are already knew that. The truth of the matter is, even economically, Japan is more important than the US in the Asean region, which explains why the Japanese always seem to be plying everyone in Asean with the

IN A homily years back, the Pope reflected on the gospel account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who failed to recognize the risen Jesus Christ until he “broke bread” with them. He said that the two became “witnesses of the hope that is Christ! Because they met him, the Risen Traveler.” The Pope’s message is clear—“This Jesus, he is the Risen Traveller that journeys with us. And Jesus is here today, he is here among us. He is here in his word, is here on the altar, journeying with us,” “We too can become risen travelers if his word inflames our hearts, and his Eucharist opens our eyes to the faith and nurtures hope and charity in us,” urged the pontiff. On the road to Emmaus Jesus urges us to “walk alongside our brothers and sisters who are sad and despairing, and warm their hearts with the gospel, and break with them the bread of fraternity.” Aside from doing acts of charity and love, the Gospel, as the Pope points out, also enjoins us to lead a sacramental life. As the Pope reflects “The road to Emmaus becomes like a symbol of our journey of faith: the Scriptures and the Eucharist are the indispensable elements for the meeting with the Lord.” Like the disciples who were despairing at the death of the Lord, we “often arrive at Sunday Mass with our preoccupations, our difficulties and delusions.” “But the liturgy of the Word welcomes us,” just as Jesus explained the scriptures to the two disciples, “rekindling in our hearts the warmth of faith and hope,” he adds. More recently, in a Ted talk that has become like viral, not unlike the good news in the early days of Christianity, Pope Francis has called for a revolution of tenderness. He explained such a revolution in this way: “And what is tenderness? It is the love that comes close and becomes real. It is a movement that starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears and the hands. Tenderness means to use our eyes to see the other, our ears to hear the other, to listen to the children, the poor, those who are afraid of the future.To listen also to the silent cry of our common home, of our sick and polluted earth. Tenderness means to use our hands and our heart to comfort the other, to take care of those in need Tenderness is the language of the young children, of those who need the other. A child’s love for mom and dad grows through their touch, their gaze, their voice,

Turn to A5

The ‘new’ neighbor LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES WELCOME to the Asean neighborhood. Where have you been all this time, Philippines? What seems clear, after the holding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders’ summit in Manila over the weekend, is that the Philippines is finally embarking on an independent foreign policy and can no longer be relied upon to toe the American line. And since President Rodrigo Duterte earned an invitation from US President Donald Trump to pay the latter a visit while the summit was still going on, it seems that it’s not only our Asean neighbors—who have long looked askance at the Philippines for being dutifully, unabashedly pro-Washington long after it abandoned its colonial shackles—who are looking at us with newfound respect.

To be sure, there are always those who will say that Duterte has merely shifted alliances, replacing one great power, the US, with another in China. But that is the lazy conclusion that fails to take into account the sentiments of our own neighbors, who have long realized that the Chinese are more important to everyone in the region than the Americans across the Pacific. As far as our Asean neighbors are concerned, especially those with strong traditional ties to China like Singapore, Myanmar and Cambodia, the issue of which power is more significant in the region has long been settled in favor of the Chinese. The others, with the exception of the Philippines, have carefully and over decades charted their own policy independent of either Washington or Beijing, while concentrating on trade that is definitely skewed towards China. Besides, again with the notable exception of the Philippines

in recent years, Asean has always endeavored to convince everyone of the virtue of nonintervention in each member’s domestic affairs. Thus, while Manila has routinely sought to “regionalize” the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the

Manila is just playing catch-up with the rest of Asean as far as foreign relations are concerned. other countries with problems with Chinese expansionism in the disputed sea have routinely gone the bilateral route, and without involving the Americans at all.

This is also why our neighbors cheered (albeit mutedly, as is the Asean way) every time Duterte blasted the US and Europe for interfering in his war on illegal drugs. Nearly all of Asean, after all, had at one time or another been subjected to the same pressure that Duterte is feeling from the West—from Lee in Singapore to Pol Pot in Cambodia to Mahathir in Malaysia to Chano-cha in Thailand, nearly every Asean member has been given the Western third degree. And they survived all the attacks from Western media, parliaments, diplomats and human-rights groups. (Ferdinand Marcos didn’t, by the way, which is probably why the West believes that Duterte will also fall the same way he did.) *** So, while some Filipinos carrying dubious, pro-American political baggage may bewail the foreign policy reset that Duterte is advocating, Manila is actually just playing catch-up with the

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Opinion

SANTA Banana, I never thought that the police who are implementing President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs could go so low and commit barbaric acts against their fellowmen! The Commission on Human Rights discovered a secret cell hidden behind a bookcase in a police station in Tondo, Manila. In it were a dozen men and women. They had very poor ventilation and used plastic bags as toilets. This is the perfect example of what the war on drugs has come to. To make matters worse, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa defended the cops in question. He said the CHR’s timing was suspect because the raid took place during the Asean summit. Dela Rosa’s defense of a clearly illegal act under the Anti-Torture Act shows his ignorance of the law. It has also promoted the climate of impunity. According to police records, the arrest of the 12 men and women were not even recorded. There are claims the police were asking them to fork over thousands of pesos for their release. Look on the bright side. At least they were not summarily executed for “resisting arrest.” I cannot understand Dela Rosa’s defense of this dastardly act. That secret cell is an outright violation of the law. Are there any more secret cells we need to know about? *** It’s understandable, President Duterte’s bland chairman’s statement that ignored last year’s international ruling outlawing China’s sweeping claims in key waterways along the South China Sea. While some analysts and foreign policy observers said that it was a lost opportunity for the Philippines which hosted the summit, President Duterte knows that the inclusion of the arbitral ruling in favor of the Philippines using the Asean could further raise tension between the Philippines and China. For one thing, China doesn’t recognize The Hague’s arbitral ruling against its incursion into the South China Sea. More importantly, China wants bilateral, not multi-lateral, solutions in resolving maritime disputes. There’s also the fact that Asean members like Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are friendly to China. China has been turning reefs and shoals in areas of the sea claimed by the Philippines and other nations into artificial islands, and installing military fa-

cilities in them. Asean members Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also claim parts of the South China Sea, but China insists it has sovereign rights over nearly all of it. I say the real winner in the Asean summit was China, and thanks to President Duterte for holding his punches on the South China Sea disputes. *** The fact that illegal gambling prevails nationwide can be gleaned from reports that big-time gambling lords, including Charlie “Atong” Ang, are allegedly out to destroy President Duterte’s war on illegal gambling by conniving with some lawmakers to declare the expanded Small Town Lottery illegal. With the approval by the President for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to expand the STL, there’s now a quarrel between illegal gambling lords and politicians for their share of the profits from jueteng as it is known in Luzon, “masiao” in the Visayas and the “last 2” of anything in Mindanao. Those given STL franchises by the PCSO are also gambling lords. It is known that mayors, governors and even members of Congress get elected because of illegal gambling. They themselves are involved. Illegal gambling is a menace comparable to illegal drugs because of the extent of corruption involved in them. Of all people, President Duterte, a former mayor, should be aware of this. Corruption is said to go all the way up to Fort Aguinaldo and Camp Crame. And if jueteng were to be eradicated in Pampanga, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, the residents of the communities would protest since almost everybody is involved, like the “cabos,” who collect the bets, and the “cobradores,” who pay winning bets. It was easily adopted by Filipinos because of the high probability of winning with only a small amount of betting. That’s the reason why jueteng is being broadcast over community radio twice or thrice a day. It is popular among the poor. It’s the only way they can expect to earn money because of joblessness. *** I’m saddened by reports that Cafe by the Ruins, a restaurant in Baguio City, was gutted over the weekend. Whenever my family goes to Baguio, we almost always take a meal there. It has been there for as long as I can remember.

The ‘new’... From A4

It is all too present in this war against drugs.

same loans, expertise and aid that the Chinese are proffering. And Duterte realizes this all too well, with his de-emphasizing of our ties with Washington, which he is not really interested in as much as he is concerned about improving ties with not just Beijing but with Tokyo, as well. Of course, our long and unique relationship as a colony of Western powers with more than a mere economic interest in the Philippines puts us in a unique position compared to our neighbors, especially those who were colonized by mere

The Emmaus... From A4 their tenderness. I like it when I hear parents talk to their babies, adapting to the little child, sharing the same level of communication. This is tenderness: Being on the same level as the other. God himself descended into Jesus to be on our level. This is the same path the Good Samaritan took. This is the path that Jesus himself took. He lowered himself, he lived his entire human existence practicing the real, concrete language of love. Yes, tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility. Please, allow

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Belabored

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

A climate of impunity

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

FORMATION GARY OLIVAR AS OF last weekend, organized labor was reportedly awaiting some kind of Labor Day gift from the President. No one was talking about what it might be, but Big Labor was not shy about what they wanted in their early Christmas stocking: (i) even more radical action against contractualization, and (ii) some humongous increase in the minimum wage calculated to break the back of evil capitalist employers. *** It may be recalled that the beleaguered Labor Secretary Bello recently prohibited all forms of labor-only contractualization. This is the egregious practice of “endo” that allows employers to avoid paying legally mandated benefits (which can run as high as 30 percent of wages) by never regularizing their employees and keeping them only as contractors who are periodically fired and rehired. But no, this reform wasn’t good enough for our Big Labor friends, especially the Reds among them. They wanted an end to ALL forms of contractualization, including those with legitimate economic reasons, such as seasonal or project-based employment. In fact, they came right out and said that what they wanted was nothing less than for workers not to have to compete for work. Employers should not be able to obligate workers to com-

pete with each other, based say on skills, experience, let alone wages. In other words, command economy and not open markets. Does this make you see Red? In vain did Secretary Bello, a former justice secretary who presumably knows the law, protest that he had already done all he could under the law. Big Red Labor went even farther and called outright for his dismissal from his post. What makes this all the more suspicious is that Bello also doubles up as head of the peace panel talking with the NDF in Europe. The secretary famously has one of the most amiable personalities around. Unfortunately, friendliness often gets abused for ulterior agendas. With the peace talks heading into crucial discussions about socioeconomic reforms, is the Left now using the contractualization issue to put pressure on Bello when he wears his peacemaker’s hat? And how would you describe a group that abuses one of the President’s men, on one hand, while expecting an early Christmas gift from the Palace, on the other? The vernacular has a pithy phrase for it: “malalakas ang apog.” *** The other demand of Big Labor is a familiar slogan: higher minimum wages. Every Labor Day it comes up, again and again, like a broken record. I’ve always wondered where our leftist friends learn their economics, or even just plain common sense. Your wages go up, the prices of goods you pro-

duce also go up, so people end up buying the same amount in real terms. You print money to cover those higher wages, the prices of EVERYTHING go up. And who ends up with the shortest stick? The poor, of course, for whom inflation and unemployment are unfailingly their biggest concerns. In fact, there’s growing evidence that a high minimum wage actually discourages employment. The reasoning is very simple: If my small company can only afford to pay, say, P100 an hour in wages, I can hire five people at P20 an hour. But if the minimum wage is set at P25, I can only hire four, and the fifth guy, the least desirable one, goes home unemployed. In our country, where micro small and medium enterprises account for 99 percent of all companies, that is a lot of people being sent home jobless. No wonder unemployment is so stubborn. But that’s not all. With high minimum wages, we of course can’t compete with lower- wage countries for job-creating investments from abroad. Again, another reason for growing unemployment. And here’s the kicker: Despite our high minimum wages, our labor productivity is low. Put another way: In a cross-country comparison, the ratio of minimum wage to value-added per worker in Metro Manila was the second highest in the world, behind only Guatemala. Why would a foreign investor set up shop here when most of the value created by his workers ends up being retained by them as minimum wage?

So Big Labor is barking up the wrong tree, IF what they really want is to put everyone to work. The challenge on the one hand is to improve labor productivity, and on the other hand, to allow poor people to buy more with their limited wages. Improving agricultural productivity where we can, and importing where we can’t, is one way to bring down their food bills. *** Here’s a list of Labor Day gifts that would thus make more sense: Exempt MSMEs from the minimum wage so they can grow and become bigger employers. But find ways to assist them in extending mandated benefits like SSS and PhilHealth coverage. Amend minimum wage laws to allow workers to waive their minimum wage if they want. Alternatively, should the country ever go Federal, the various new states should be allowed to set their own wage policies. Then we’ll see which policies actually work. Restrict minimum wage increases to no more than the inflation rate, and ensure that they don’t discriminate against the low-skilled (the “fifth guy” in my example above). Subsidize the provision of worker training, which is a social benefit that all taxpayers should cover. Liberalized foreign investment will force the large local firms to compete for workers, while building more infrastructure will improve workers’ productivity. Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Update ROTC program before reviving it

robber-barons, their companies and their governments. Both Spain and the US decided that the Philippines was not only a source of easilyexploited resources but was a social and cultural experiment, as well. Which is probably the reason why it took us so long to fully join the Asean, under a president who really doesn’t care what the Americans think, say or do. But we’re here now and it feels good to finally belong to the Asean neighborhood. Suddenly, the US—with its nonetoo-subtle undermining of Duterte because of his decision to put the Philippines first, for a change— seems so far away. Just like it really is, literally.

IN LEGAL theory, the Philippines cannot declare war on Communist China for the latter’s illegal landgrabbing activities in the West Philippine Sea. That’s because even if Manila won its case against Beijing in the United Nations arbitration tribunal on the law of the sea, the 1987 Constitution renounces war as an instrument of national policy. That provision of the charter suggests that unless war is brought upon the Philippines, this country cannot start one by declaring war on other nations. The same charter, however, authorizes the Congress to declare “the existence of a state of war.” In 1943, President Jose P. Laurel of the Japanese-sponsored Republic of the Philippines officially announced that “a state of war currently exists between the Philippines on one hand and the United States and Great Britain on the other hand,” in lieu of the outright “declaration of war” demanded from him by Japanese military officials. From a practical perspective, however, war is war, whether it is declared outright or whether only its existence is declared. War means the Armed Forces of the Philippines will have to mobilize immediately. It also means prime commodities must be rationed, and hoarders must be arrested and detained. Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon created the Reserve Officers Training Corps, a program which required all ablebodied Filipino college students to undergo about two years of

on-campus military training. Upon finishing the program, the former-cadets become part of the so-called citizen army, ready for conscription to the military services in the event of war or similar national emergency. The ROTC program under Quezon looked good. Cadets marched on campus in smart military regalia, and underwent weekly training in the handling of light firearms, and in related military pursuits like map-reading and first aid. As time passed, however, Quezon felt that the ROTC program was woefully inadequate to prepare young Filipinos to fight as soldiers. This realization prompted Quezon to discontinue the ROTC program, even though he knew that war with Japan was imminent. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in December 1941, the ROTC graduates were quickly conscripted to active duty. Quite a number of them took their duties seriously and engaged the enemy. As Quezon feared, their ROTC training proved to be no match to the superior weaponry and resources of the Japanese invaders. Worse, since many of the conscripted Filipino troops were disorganized, most of them were captured by the enemy and kept as prisoners. Sadly, other ROTC graduates took the easy way out and simply avoided conscription by fleeing to the mountains. Manila fell to the Japanese in January 1942. In April 1942, Bataan surrendered. Corregidor followed in May 1942. Historians blame the fall of the Philippines not only on America’s complacency, but also on the absence of a sufficient home defense program in the country. The ROTC program was revived

in the country after the Philippines obtained its independence from America in 1946. During the latter years of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, the ROTC program was renamed the Citizen Military Training program. At any rate, the ROTC program was revived on the premise that it will prepare young Filipinos for the defense of the motherland should another war take place. The reinstatement of the ROTC program also assumed that lessons were learned from the mistakes committed during World War II. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Through the decades since 1946, many college students lamented that the ROTC program concentrated on drills and ceremonies, instead of actual military training. Sure, the program taught discipline, respect for authority, even nationalism, but its practical side was either obsolete or impractical. ROTC cadets were hardly allowed to discharge real firearms, even for target practice. Those who were allowed to do so, got to fire no more than two or three bullets. The rifles used in ROTC training were either obsolete or dummies, unlike the firearms used by the AFP and their adversaries in the communist insurgency and the Muslim separatist movements. Almost nobody in the ROTC program was allowed to handle grenades and explosives. None of the cadets actually got to do real work in military establishments. Towards the end of the twentieth-century, the ROTC program imitated the ways of the Philippine Military Academy. Hazing among cadet officers became rampant in many ROTC units. Cadet officer corps soon became military fraternities. Corruption also entered the

picture. After an ROTC cadet officer in one of the universities in downtown Manila exposed a racket among his colleagues, the cadet officer was brutally killed. His death caused so much public antipathy against the ROTC program that Congress eventually made ROTC optional for college students. In its stead, a national service training program because the requirement for a college degree. The ongoing Philippine problem with Communist China and the absence of a citizen army in the Philippines has prompted many well-meaning Filipinos to press for the return of the compulsory ROTC program. Unless it is updated and made practical, reviving the ROTC program would be useless. For the compulsory ROTC program to be useful, cadets must have working access to the latest firearms, explosives, and artillery so they can have a realistic knowledge of contemporary weaponry. The old ways of conventional map reading must yield to courses on how to track down the enemy using satellite technology, and getting familiar with local terrain. Military intelligence must use cyber technology. Hazing must be outlawed outright. Since the AFP has insufficient funds to acquire state-of-the-art fighter jets and warships, not to mention submarines and tanks, the AFP should acquire large numbers of anti-aircraft missiles, and helicopters. In lieu of fighter jets, the missiles can shoot down enemy aircraft. The helicopters can complement Filipino ground troops fighting invasion forces in the beaches and in the countryside. Filipino hackers, the best in the field, can fight the enemy in the cyber realm.

me to say it loud and clear: The more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly. If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other. There is a saying in Argentina: “Power is like drinking gin on an empty stomach.” You feel dizzy, you get drunk, you lose your balance, and you will end up hurting yourself and those around you, if you don’t connect your power with humility and tenderness. Through humility and concrete love, on the other hand, power—the highest, the strongest one—becomes a service, a force for good.” This call to be a different kind of revolutionary has resonated with me and it is this spirit which I hope will guide me in my engagement in public issues. I know

I will be criticized in some quarters for this—for always looking for the kinder perspective and a path that might bring people if not together at least to be able to dialogue with each other, for being independent and not taking partisan political positions, for both praising and criticizing both the current as well as previous administrations. More specifically and lately I have been attacked: for not joining the bashing that Presidents Duterte, Arroyo, Estrada, and Vice-President Binay received when a picture of them taken together became viral (the criticism of my refusal to bash them actually proved my point about the blind and selective judgment of those critics); for supporting journalists like Maria Ressa when their words are twisted for political points even

as they are only articulating the true and obvious; and, for evaluating the recent Asean summit as a mixed success (in the way the President engaged with his fellow leaders) and failure (the inexplicable surrender to China’s pressure on the language of the joint communique). I am tempted sometimes to just withdraw from social media as well as writing columns or making myself available to broadcast media. The anger and hate can be paralyzing especially for political topics. It is safer to write or talk about safer issues and pretend there is no difference of opinion among us. For example, my words about Duterte and a potential prosecution at the International Criminal Court have been distorted. I have been criticized for not supporting an ICC case (by anti-

Duterte people) while objectively saying that there is a strong possibility that it could move forward (by Duterte supporters). But that in fact is my position. I think that we still have not maximized the domestic mechanisms the Commission on Human Rights, the Ombudsman, and the Judiciary might provide for accountability. In this regard, I support Paula Defensor Knack’s perspective that such a case is premature. At the same time, I have warned our diplomats and government lawyers not to be complacent. This warning does not come from any inside knowledge of the workings of the ICC or any conversations with insiders, but from the many public and academic discussions of this issue among international law experts and academics, and above all from the public state-

ment of the ICC Prosecutor herself months ago. I think in the end we can assume that everyone that is involved here will do their job with diligence and integrity. Diligence, integrity, rational thinking, fidelity to truth, a belief in human goodness, an understanding that evil does happen and must be fought, above all, kindness—these to me are what I hope to always bring in anything I do in this revolution of tenderness. I am confident that the Risen Traveler will be with this ‘homo viator’ and that always, in persons and events, in my thoughts and feelings, and above all in the Eucharist, I will always recognize the Resurrected Lord. Hopefully, in my words and actions too, I will become an instrument of this affirmation—The Lord is risen! Indeed, He is risen!

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

News

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Oil firms cut prices, LPG charges today THE country’s oil companies are cutting pump prices by as much as P1 per liter and the price of cooking gas by as much as P4.85 per kilo effective Tuesday. The oil firms rolled back the price of kerosene by P1 per liter, gasoline by P0.85 per liter, and diesel by P0.70 per liter. “Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the prices of diesel by P0.70 per liter and gasoline by P0.85 per liter effective 6 a.m. on May 2,” the company said. Other oil firms issued separate announcements of their price rollbacks. At the same time, the oil firms cut the price of liquefied petroleum gas by P4.85 per kilo, or P53 per 11kilo tank, to reflect the movement of LPG contract prices in the world market for the month of May. Petron Corp. said in its advisory that its LPG rollback had taken effect on 12:01 a.m. of May 1. The company will also cut the price of its Xtend Auto LPG by P2.73 per liter. Eastern Petroleum, for its part, said it would cut the price of its LPG by P4.50 per kilo or P49.50 per 11kilo tank. World oil prices declined in the past weeks due to reports of increasing US crude production as its oil shale drilling activities increased, according to the Energy Department’s latest monitoring report. The report also cited data from US drilling company Baker Hughes, which showed US drillers added oil rigs for a 14th consecutive week, bringing the total count in America to 688. Alena Mae S. Flores

Andal, Sajid Ampatuan hit with 161 criminal charges By Rio N. Araja

HE Office of the Ombudsman has filed charges of graft and corruption, falsification of public documents, and malversation against two members of the Ampatuan clan accused in the Maguindanao massacre case before the Sandiganbayan, for ghost projects and illegal disbursements of public funds from February to September 2009.

Andal Ampatuan Jr., the former mayor of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, and his brother, former governor Sajid Islam Ampatuan, were slapped with 161 counts of criminal charges in a 483-page separate case information sheet. The Ombudsman recommended a P4-million bail for Sajid’s provisional liberty. Andal Jr. was

included in the charge sheet as Sajid’s co-accused in eight counts of graft. A P240,000 bail was prescribed for Andal Jr.’s temporary liberty. Andal Jr. is facing 58 counts of murder for the deaths of 58 people—including 32 journalists— in a massacre in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

He is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City for non-bailable offenses filed with the Quezon City court. Likewise named co-accused were former Maguindanao provincial engineer Landap Guinaid in 161 cases and former provincial administrator Norie Unas in 145 cases. Guinaid died in July last year in an ambush at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak, while Unas was the principal witness against then-President and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the electoral sabotage case filed in 2007. Incidentally, the massacre happened during Arroyo’s presidency. The first set of cases arose from the suspected falsification of accomplishment reports on the supposed completion of eight infrastructure projects worth P23.363

million in accordance with the approved plans and specifications “when in truth and in fact, there was no implementation of said project(s),” the Ombudsman said in its filing with the anti-graft court. The projects covered the rehabilitation of farm-to-market roads and common roads in Shariff Aguak, Rajah Buayan, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Piang, and the repair of the municipal hall in Shariff Aguak. According to the Ombudsman, at least P22.367 million in supply contracts for fuel and lubricants were awarded by the provincial government to a Shariff Aguak gasoline station owned by Andal Jr. without public bidding. Moreover, the projects’ transactions had undated purchase orders and unnumbered disbursement vouchers.

In the other set of cases, the Ombudsman filed charges over the alleged anomalous disbursements of a P72.256-million provincial fund to settle the payments of construction and lumber materials purchased from four suppliers for the rehabilitation of school buildings in Maguindanao. “No such purchases were made” and the purported suppliers were “fictitious and/or nonexistent,” the Ombudsman said, adding the Ampatuans “misappropriated the funds into themselves.” Sajid, Guinaid, and Unas were accused of connivance in the falsification of 137 disbursement vouchers and other supporting documents, to make it appear that the materials were procured and delivered, the Ombudsman added. In February, Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis Reyes allowed Sajid to post bail for the charges.

‘Settle tax row out of court’

House to subpoena ad man in ERC case

By Maricel V. Cruz

A LAWMAKER said Monday the House committee on good government and public accountability will subpoena Luis Morelos, the owner of advertising agency FatFree Inc. implicated in the anomalous infomercial project that led to the suicide of lawyer Francisco Villa Jr., the former head of the bids and awards committee of the Energy Regulatory Commission. “We’ve had two hearings already on the irregularities at the ERC, and Mr. Morelos failed to show up on both occasions, despite our invitations. We will compel him to attend our next hearing,” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, committee chairman. Morelos and ERC Chairman Jose Vicente Salazar are already under preliminary investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the infomercial project, based on a complaint earlier filed by the National Bureau of Investigation. “We support the complaint filed by the NBI before the Ombudsman. The action appears warranted, so we are all for it,” Pimentel said. Despite apparent pressure from some of his colleagues at the House, Pimentel said his panel intends to conduct a third hearing on the “fishy” infomercial project and two other anomalies in Salazar’s office. “We will have one last hearing, and then we will prepare and submit our committee report for plenary approval,” Pimentel said. Villa, who was also ERC Director for Planning and Information Service, committed suicide on Nov. 9, 2016. He left three letters indicating he was under extreme duress from Salazar to endorse the rigged infomercial project contract with Morelos’ FatFree. Villa, 54, shot himself in the head with his .38-cal. revolver inside his house in Parañaque City. He was the son of the late Ombudsman Francisco Villa Sr.

A HOUSE leader on Monday urged Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay to support President Rodrigo Duterte’s position for the government to enter out-of-court settlements with companies facing tax evasion charges This would generate funds for Duterte’s pro-poor programs, especially the upgrading of hospitals, said Cagayan Rep. Randolph Ting, chairman of the House committee on labor. Ting made the appeal after Dulay threatened to close Mighty Corp., the country’s leading Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company, this month. “The President already ordered to deal with them [through settlements]. They should be penalized, but their operations should not be canceled,” Ting stressed Monday as the nation celebrated Labor Day. The lawmaker said he believes the BIR under Dulay will support the President’s desires. “I do not think the BIR commissioner can ignore the order of President Duterte. I think he [Dulay] should follow the lead of the President, that should be the case here,” Ting pointed out. He also warned that Dulay’s threat against Mighty could have economic and employment repercussion, as government officials should instead work on ensuring investments and job generation program for Filipinos, he explained. “Government officials should consider the repercussions of this BIR plan,” Ting said. The lawmaker also supported Mighty’s request of to continue its operations and sales activities to protect their employees, despite the BIR filing a P9.5-billion tax evasion case against the cigarette maker before the Department of Justice last April 20.

NAUTICAL FUN. Local ﬁshermen aboard their boats decorated with colorful ﬂags parade along the sea coast in Banotan, La Union during the Piesta Ti Baybay, a kick-off event for the Diro Festival. Diro or honey is the town’s primary product. Christine Junio

MMDA clearing Edsa Balintawak site next By Joel E. Zurbano THE METRO Manila Development Authority is gearing up for its next road clearing operation, this time in Balintawak, Quezon City, one of the most critical areas of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or Edsa with the worst traffic situation. On Sunday, MMDA officials led by general manager and acting chairman Thomas Orbos inspected Balintawak, where they observed the presence of several vendors and illegal terminals of public utility vehicles such as jeepneys and tricycles in the area. The inspection “is in preparation for a ‘Baclaran’-style clearing operation soon,” said Orbos, referring to what his agency did along Roxas Boulevard in Barangay Baclaran near the Redemptorist Church in Parañaque

City, which is now cleared of vendors and illegal terminals. Aside from clearing the ser vice road along Roxas Boulevard, from C. Rivera St reet up to the corner of Edsa, of obstructions, MMDA personnel, in cooperation with the local governments of Parañaque and Pasay City, also cleaned the area previously occupied by illegally parked vehicles and numerous stalls. The MMDA is now consulting with vendors, PUV operators, local leaders, and owners of establishments in Balintawak to discuss the planned clearing operations that would ease traffic in the area. Orbos recently signed an agreement with the Quezon City government and the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board to get rid of all illegal bus terminals and other structures for

PUVs in the city. The move, Orbos said, is part of the government’s solution to the worsening traffic situation in the National Capital Region. MMDA records showed there are 85 provincial bus companies situated in Metro Manila. Fortyfive firms have terminals on Edsa, particularly in Cubao and Balintawak in Quezon City and Taft Ave in Pasay City. Under the agreement, the MMDA, LTFRB and QC government were authorized to conduct inspections and impose closure orders if the structures along Edsa are found operating without necessary permits. It also authorized the MMDA to impose the Nose-In Nose-Out scheme policy, which requires buses on Edsa to get in and out of the terminals in one simple maneuver. The policy also prohibited buses to load and unload

outside their respective terminals. Some private motorists have complained that illegal structures of bus and jeepney terminals, illegal operation of tricycles, sidewalk vending, extension of stores, and the loading and unloading of bus passengers at non-designated areas are reasons why there is road congestion. “We emphasize that finding viable measures to address the traffic problem in Metro Manila is a continuous process and may entail drastic changes and deviation from the present norms,” said Orbos. The MMDA chief also appealed to the public for cooperation and understanding for what the government is doing to solve the problem on traffic. The government earlier introduced new policies to ease traffic, and encourage private motorists leave their cars at home and use the public transportation instead.

Stakeholders to firm up ‘Project Basil’ By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

HAND TO MOUTH. Members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno participate in a boodle fight in Sta. Cruz Manila as they mark Labor Day. Norman Cruz

AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Monday said the governors of Laguna and Rizal and mayors of the towns and cities surrounding Laguna de Bay, along with fisher folk leaders and other agencies, will meet with officials of the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday to finalize the plan for the lake’s rehabilitation. “The meeting with the LGU executives, heads of agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Laguna Lake Development Authority and stakeholders living around the lake will put the finishing touches to ‘Project Balik Sigla sa Ilog at Lawa’ (Bringing Back Life to Rivers and Lakes),” Piñol said. The Agriculture department earlier said major river basins and lakes will be seeded with fingerlings of indigenous and noninvasive

fish species over the next five years in a program called “Project Basil” after the plan’s acronym in Filipino. The National Inland Fisheries Enhancement Program of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, an agency under the DA, was designed to provide Filipinos with greater access to available food, and address poverty and hunger in the countryside. Project Basil has identified seven major lakes and six major river basins all over the country as the initial areas targeted for the fingerlings seeding. The biggest of the first group of major lakes is Laguna de Bay with 90,000 hectares, followed by Lake Lanao (34,700 hectares), Taal (23,400 hectares), Mainit in Surigao del Norte (17,300 hectares), Naujan in Oriental Mindoro (11,000 hectares), Buluan in Maguindanao (6,500 hectares) and Sebu in South

Cotabato (354 hectares). The major rivers are the Cagayan River Basin (2.5 million hectares), Mindanao River Basin (2.3 million hectares), Agusan River Basin (one million hectares), Pampanga River Basin (974,000 hectares) Abra River Basin (512,500 hectares) and Bicol River Basin (377,100 hectares). Among the indigenous species to be seeded in the waterways are Ayungin, Biya, Kanduli, Martinique, the native catfish or “hito” and the black head eel or “igat.” Acceptable fish species that are not considered threats to the ecological balance in the lakes and rivers, like tilapia and bangus, will also be introduced. “Project Basil intends to clean up, rehabilitate and bring back Laguna de Bay to its old glorious and prosperous days when fishermen freely caught a lot of fish from the lake,” Piñol said.

Sports

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Age-group chess bets vie for PH slots

NE-HUNDRED-NINETY-SIX young players display their wares when the 2017 National Age-Group Chess Championships come off the wraps at the Robinsons Galleria in Cebu City on May 3. Culled from the Luzon, Vi- Team Philippines slots in an insayas and Mindanao qualifying ternational age-group tourney in legs with bets from Cebu beefing November. up the roster, the finalists vie for On tap are competitions in the

U8 age bracket, U10, U12, U14, U16, U18 and U20 for both boys and girls. Presented by the Province of Cebu and Marty Pimentel, the chess fest is sponsored by Robinsons Galleria and Cebu City Sports Commission, with Philippine Sports Commission extending support and National Chess Federation of the Philippines organizing it.

NCFP Chairman and President Prospero Pichay, Jr., Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez deliver inspirational messages during the opening ceremony preceding the hostilities. CCSC Chairman Edward Hayco welcomes the athletes, officials and guests while Cebu Provincial Sports Commission Executive Director Ramil Abing

introduces the guest speakers. NCFP Provincial Sports Coordinator Edilberto Velarde, Jr. declares the NAGCC open, and Commissioner Fernandez and consistent ASEAN age-group chess championships medalist Jerish Velarde will do the ceremonial moves. NCFP Executive Director Red Dumuk, a FIDE Arbiter acts as Tournament Director with Inter-

national Arbiters James Infiesto and Wilfredo Neri serving as chief arbiters for boys and girls, respectively. Also backing the NAGCC are Department of Education and PSC-Cebu. Cebu City owns the Guinness world record for the biggest chess tournament, drawing 43,157 participants from public schools.

Blue Griffins, Wang’s crush foes in MBL tilt

FINAL LEG. Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Chito Narvasa (front, third from left) and Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno (fourth from left) join members of Gilas Pilipinas prior to their departure to Cebu for the third and ﬁnal leg Sunday of the PBA All-Star Week.

COLEGIO de San Lorenzo-V Hotel edged Emilio Aguinaldo College, 72-69, and Wang’s Ballclub outsteadied Victoria SportsMLQU, 76-74, in a pair of exciting matches in the 2017 MBL Open basketball championship at the EAC Sports Center in Manila. The Blue Griffins unveiled a gem of an import in Chabi Soulmane to beat the Generals in a tense and closely-fought encounter between two collegiate teams with solid sports program. Soulmane, a 6’6” standout from Benin, Nigeria, asserted himself in the shaded area to finish with 19 points in his debut in the tournament sponsored by Smart Sports, Ironcon Builders, Star Bread, Dickies Underwear and Gerry’s Grill. Soulmane also teamed up with NCRUCLAA MVP Jun Gabriel to provide the backbone for the rocksolid defense of the Blue Griffins of coach Boni Garcia and manager Jimi Lim. Jethro Mendoza and Jeanu Gano carried the fight for the Generals with 27 points between them. Later, Wang’s relied on the troika

of Michael Juico, Mark Montuano and Jeff Tayongtong to survive Victoria-MLQU and improve to 2-1. Juico fired 18 points, including 10 in the first quarter. Montuano and Tayongtong added 17 points apiece for Wang’s of coach Pablo Lucas and managers Alex Wang and Noel Barraquio. Patrick Asturiano paced the Rainier Carpio-mentored Stallions with 21 markers. MLQU had two chances to win the game, but missed two well-contested three-point shots as the time expired. The scores: First game CDSL-V Hotel (72)—Soulmane 19, Vargas 9, Callano 9, Formento 8, Gabriel 7, Castanaros 5, Alvarado 4, Borja 3, Paclarin 2, Maravilla 2, Rosas 2, Burata 2, Laman 0, Astero 0. EAC (69)—Mendoza 14, Gano 13, Tampoc 10, Umali 8, Cadua 7, Robin 5, Diego 4, Ubay 3, Aguas 2, Martin 2, Estacio 1, Altiche 0, Natividad 0, Gonzales 0, General 0. Quarterscores: 14-20, 38-37, 59-52, 72-69

LA Clippers’ Pierce departs NBA with ‘no regrets’ Forum tackles LOS ANGELES—Paul Pierce said Sunday he departs the NBA with “no regrets” despite the bitter disappointment of the Los Angeles Clippers first-round playoff loss to the Utah Jazz. “I really enjoyed myself with this group this year. Regardless of what happened today with the basketball, I’m happy,” he said. “What I’ve been able to accomplish, what I’ve been able to do with my career, I gave every ounce I could. I have no regrets.” After the retirements of Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, the NBA is bidding farewell to another star of the 2000s in Pierce. The 39-year-old won a title with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and competed for another in the NBA Finals. But his bid to recapture that magic with former Celtics coach Doc Rivers in Los Angeles—where he

signed with the Clippers as a free agent prior to the 2015 season— didn’t pan out. But he was hailed by his peers as one of the greats. “Paul Pierce is ‘The Truth’” Bryant told The Players’ Tribune website—a nod to Pierce’s nickname. A video tribute on the website featured Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Oscar Robertson and an emotional Kevin Garnett, Pierce’s teammate in Boston and Brooklyn, among others. Pierce later tweeted his thanks. “Thanku to all my NBA brothers and sisters associated with the game a game Ive loved my whole life but now ready for a new chapter stay tuned,” he posted on the social media site. Pierce leaves the game with 26,397 career points, the 15th-most on the league’s all-time scoring list. On Sunday he played 22 minutes, scoring six points and pulling down

Paul Pierce

three rebounds. He left the court waving to fans in his hometown, where his time with the Clippers at last let him play regularly in front of family members, including his mother, Lorraine.

“It’s tough if you come up short of your goals,” Pierce said. “Every year you set a goal to be champions and it’s a tough pill to swallow every year.” “I’ve been in the league 19 years and had to swallow 18 tough pills.” Preparing to leave Staples Center on Sunday, Pierce indicated the magnitude of retirement had not fully sunk in. With his departure, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter are the only members of the 1998 NBA draft class still playing. Perhaps when next season is approaching, and he isn’t trying to gear himself up for another long campaign, he will understand what retirement means, he said. “Maybe in those months, when I get up and I don’t have to practice, it’ll hit me more,” he said. When it does, he does not expect to have any second thoughts about the decision to depart. “I enjoyed this ride,” Pierce said. AFP

Cocoy, Po dominate 19th HEAD junior tennis tourney in Bacolod BACOLOD native Jufe-an Cocoy dominated the sixth leg of 19th HEAD Junior Tennis Satellite Circuit by winning two crowns recently, while second seed Caesar Po conquered the 18-and-under boys’ singles class at the Panaad tennis courts in Bacolod City. Cocoy relied on her strong backhand to beat Ma. Hannah Divinagracia, 6-0, 6-2, to clinch the 12-and-under girls’ singles crown and she also defeated Shedel Aigley Gica, 6-4, 6-4, to win the 14-and-under girls’ singles trophy. Po, on the other hand, won over RJ Dejilla, 7-5, 6-1, to bag the 18-and-under boys’ singles crown, but the third seed Dejilla bounced back in the 16-and-under boys’ single finals division by getting back

at Po, 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 (retire) to win the crown. The tournament is supported by Chris Sports, the nationwide sports retail chain, Toalson strings, UBE Express, the Premium Airport Bus Service, media partners People’s Television, Aksyon Sports, Business Mirror, Philippine Locale, Cook, Health and Fitness, Pilipino Mirror and Philippines Graphics. Top seed Marben Erl Mosquera blasted Joshua Raymundo, 6-0, 6-1, to take home the 14-andunder boys’ singles trophy, while Kerwin De Asis bashed Giovani Dimate, 6-1, 6-3, for the 12-andunder boys’ singles title of the tournament organized by HEAD Philippines distributor Dynamic sports. Ma. Hannah Divinagracia nipped Giovani Dimate, 5-4 (5),

5-4 (2), to claim the 10-and-under unisex singles’ crown. In other singles’ finals results, top seed Kiana De Asis crushed Shedel Aigley Gica, 6-2, 6-3, to gain the 16-and-under girls’ diadem, while Valerie Desoyo won over Jewel Milliam, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to snare the 18-and-under girls’ title. Meanwhile, the champions in the doubles’ category were Kerwin De Asis and Joshua Raymundo (14-and-under boys); Caesar Po and Mark Crisosto (18-and-under boys); and Shedel Aigley Gica and Kiana De Asis (18-and-under girls). The seventh leg of the satellite junior tennis circuit or the first venue of the Luzon leg is now ongoing this week at the Civic Center tennis courts in Caesar Po in action at the HEAD Jr. tennis Bacolod leg tournament Naga City.

PH finishes with 1 gold, 3 silvers, 3 bronzes in Singapore Open By Peter Atencio UNIVERSITY of Perpetual Help bet Francis Medina took the gold medal in the men’s 400-meter hurdles of the recent Singapore National Open Athletics’ meet. He reached the finish line in 51.3 seconds, moving him close to the bronze-medal standard of 51.36 seconds in the 2016 Southeast Asian Games. Andrian of Indonesia, who set that

bronze-medal standard in the 2015 SEA Games, was second in 51.59, according to results released on the official website of the tournament. Laos bet Inthavong Kingkeo finished in 56.09 seconds for the bronze. Medina, who trained under American coach Roshaan Griffin when he was here a few months ago, improved on his time of 52.82 he set in the Philippine National Open last month. Overall, Philippine national pool

members who joined, earned a total of one gold, three silvers and three bronze medals. Rhea Joy Sumalpong settled for the silver in the women’s discus throw with her heave of 43.29 meters, behind Yap Jeng Tzan of Malaysia, who won the gold in 45.89 meters. Immuel Camino took the other silver for the Philippines in 9 minutes, 30.7 seconds in the 3000-meter steeplechase, behind Chou Ting Yin of Chinese Taipei (9:11.36).

Riezel Buenaventura and Emily Obiena ended up with a silver and bronze-medal feat in the women’s pole vault, after they cleared 3.4 and 3.2 meters, respectively. Rachel Isabel Yang of Singapore had a 3.4 meter effort, and won on a better tiebreak with Obiena for the gold medal. JR Lasangue settled for the bronze medal in the men’s high jump, along with Anfernee Lopena in the 100-meter dash.

tennis, karate

A NEW-FOUND friend of Philippine tennis and the medalists in the recent Thailand Open make up today’s guests list in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Golden Phoenix Hotel along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue, Sunrise Drive in Pasay City. Fadi El Soury, chairman of Mac’s Crankit Tennis Academy, will explain before the 10:30 a.m. session presented by San Miguel Corp., Golden Phoenix Hotel, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the plan of his group to bring two young Filipina tennis players to Australia, where they will undergo a professional training camp. Sharing centerstage with him are members of the Philippine karate team that had a successful campaign recently in Thailand. They will be accompanied in the public sports program aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918 by Philippine Karatedo Federation secretary-general Raymund Lee Reyes.

Tabasa is MCC chess champ SIXTEEN-year-old Luis Angelo Tabasa of Tondo, Manila ruled the first Metropolitan Chess Club Young Knights Training Games recently at Kostka School in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City. Ranked No. 4, Tabasa stamped a perfect score of seven points after seven rounds of play in this one-day event held exclusively for the first batch of the Milo Checkmate Summer Program being held in various parts of the National Capital Region and the provinces. With his feat, Tabasa pocketed the top prize of P1,500 and took the first slot on the way to Quest for Excellence set to be held on May 13. In second place was 10-year-old Allan Gabriel Hilario of Bulacan with 6.0 points and the third finisher was Matthew Ian Wang of Pasig City with 5.5 points. Hilario, who also won the 12-under plum, went home richer with a total purse of P1,500 and earned the first of the three slots for Malolos, Bulacan. Wang got P750 and took the second slot for NCR qualifiers to MCC Quest for Excellence. A special prize of P500 each were also given to Jaeden Urbina who won the Top 8-under honor and Maria Angelica Alcoreza as the Top Lady performer. Chess magazines were likewise awarded to the winners from 4th-15th placers.

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

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

Gilas PH looking good in eyes of coach By Jeric Lopez GILAS Pilipinas is off to a rousing start in its preparations for the upcoming SEABA Championships, to be hosted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. After announcing his 12-man roster for the SEABA tilt late Friday night following the nationals’ win over the Luzon All-Stars in Lucena, Quezon, coach Chot Reyes immediately looked forward to the first chance of seeing how well his newly composed team can perform and he wasn’t disappointed. For the first time Sunday night, the SEABA 12 fought as a unit and passed its initial test. The Gilas players headed to SEABA are Terrence Romeo, June Mar Fajardo, Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario along with newbies Matthew Wright, Raymund Almazan, Allein Maliksi, Jio Jalalon and Roger Pogoy. Gilas Pilipinas came all the way back from 15 points down and showed dominance in the closing moments when it took out the Visayas All-Stars, 125-112, of the Philippine Basketball Association Sunday night in the finale of the three-leg All-Star Week in Cebu City. Initially, the nationals were still feeling each other and the chemistry wasn’t there yet, but as the game went on, they quickly adapted and turned the tide to their favor to cruise late. At the forefront were Abueva and Romeo, two of the team’s top guns, as they scored 26 and 25 points, respectively, to help the team gain its first victory as a core. If the fine start wasn’t enough, the team will get an extra boost with the arrival of one of its resident stars. Naturalized import Andray Blatche is set to arrive anytime now this week to join the team in its final stretch before plunging into tournament action. He is the 12th member of the team and is expected to be one of the focal points of attack. The SEABA Championship will be played from May 12 to May 18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Marcin Gortat (right) of the Washington Wizards appears to be balancing the ball on his head in a rebound battle with Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics during the second quarter of Game One of the Eastern Conference Semiﬁnals at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

Thomas loses tooth, but lifts Celtics past Wizards W

ASHINGTON—Isaiah Thomas shook off having a tooth knocked out and the heartache of his sister’s funeral to score 33 points Sunday, powering the Boston Celtics over Washington 123-111 in an NBA playoff game.

Thomas went 11-of-23 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the free throw line and contributed nine assists as the Celtics battled back after surrendering the game’s first 16 points to beat the visiting Wizards in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference second round opener. “It was a team effort,” Thomas said. “We got down big. We didn’t give up. We didn’t put our head down. From the first guy to the last, everybody contributed and we got the win.” The Boston guard flew across the country to play after speaking Saturday at his sister Chyna’s funeral in Washington state. She was killed two weeks ago in a car accident. “Basketball, when I’m on the court, it just keeps me going,” Thomas said. “I do everything for my sister now and

that’s all I can do. That’s all I can do.” In the weekend’s only other playoff game, the Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-91 to win their first-round Western Conference series 4-3. They will face NBA win leader and defending conference champion Golden State in the second round starting Tuesday. Thomas napped at home and on the flight to Boston and ignored coach Brad Stevens saying he didn’t have to play. “It’s tough, but it’s the playoffs,” Thomas said. “No excuses. I decided to play and I just tried to give it all I got for my team, and we came out with the win.” Thomas also had his left front tooth knocked out after being struck in the face by an elbow from Washington’s Otto Porter midway into the first quarter. Thomas saw his tooth pop out and

fall onto the court and, not missing a beat, went over and picked up the tooth off the floor and later handed it to a Celtics trainer, broadly displaying a bloodied gap-toothed smile on the bench after going 3-for-3 following the dental mishap and leading all first-half scorers with 19 points. “It just bothers me to talk,” Thomas said. “My tongue goes right through my tooth... I’ve always had teammates that I’ve always clowned them about their tooth being out, and now I’m one of them. Hopefully, we can replace it as soon as possible.” ‘Continual amazement’ The effort by Thomas left both coaches awestruck. “I don’t know (how Thomas does it). I wish I had that kind of character,” Stevens said. “Just been in continual amazement the last couple of weeks with his ability to function and excel on the basketball court. Today is just another chapter of that.” “He’s one of the biggest winners in this league,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “He plays with everything he has. I can’t imagine being able to do it myself if I were in the same situation.” The Celtics outscored Washington 36-16

in the third quarter, in which they seized their first lead at 73-71 and stretched it to 95-80 entering the fourth before holding off the Wizards down the stretch. Jae Crowder added 24 points for the Celtics while center Al Horford had 21 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Bradley Beal scored 27 points while John Wall added 20 points and 16 assists. Washington’s Markieff Morris injured his left ankle when he landed on Horford’s foot after a second-quarter jump shot. Morris said he will play in game two Tuesday but medical tests will be done Monday. ‘It was a battle’ At Los Angeles, Utah’s Derrick Favors came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds after Rudy Gobert got into early foul trouble while Gordon Hayward added 26 points as the Jazz pulled away in the third quarter to oust the Clippers from the playoffs. The Jazz, who had not won a playoff series since 2010, led 96-80 with 5:30 remaining before the Clippers made a closing charge, pulling within 98-90 on J.J. Redick’s 3-pointer with 3:28 remaining but coming no closer. AFP

Perlas stops Cool Smashers

Tabuena firms up ICTSI golf cast MIGUEL Tabuena hopes to cash in on his impressive run of form at Luisita as he joins the elite international cast clashing in the $60,000 ICTSI Luisita Championship beginning tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Luisita Golf and Country Club. The 22-year-old shotmaker swept two events at the Tarlac layout in 2015, running away with the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open then besting a tough field to rule the rain-shortened Philippine Open. He, however, campaigned abroad and missed Luisita’s two-event hosting last year. But the former Order of Merit winner is back in the local tour hunt after missing the Manila Masters leg last month due to injury, his bid this week boosted by a strong joint fifth finish in the Yeangder Heritage in Taiwan last Sunday. Tabuena primes up for the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. as he leads the other top

pros in the traditional pro-am tournament today (Tuesday) where they will be paired with officials and guests of the event’s chief backers, including ICTSI, BDO, KZG, Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Sharp, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and PLDT. But Tabuena is in for a tough challenge this week with a crack field out to foil his shot at the top $10,500 purse, including fellow local aces Tony Lascuña, Frankie Miñoza, Jay Bayron and Elmer Salvador along with Jhonnel Ababa, Mhark Fernando, Rufino Bayron, Gerald Rosales, Ferdie Aunzo, Cassius Casas, Orlan Sumcad and young turks Jobim Carlos, Justin Quiban and Ira Alido. A slew of talented foreign shotmakers are also in the fold although they will not only be bracing for a showdown with the local aces but also the hot condition at one of the country’s toughest championship courses. Reigning Solaire Philippine Open

champion Steve Lewton of England heads the foreign challenge, along with Americans James Bowen, John Catlin, Paul Harris and Brett Munson, Koreans Park Jun Sung and Kim Sung Wook of Korea, Ryoma Miki, Yuta Sudo and Shota Ishikawa of Japan, South African Mathiam Keyser, Canadian Lee Sang Gyun, Finnish Teemu Putkonen and David Gleeson, Rhett McIvor, Jason Dawes and Nathan Park of Australia. Dutch Guido Van der Valk is also raring to nail the elusive first win on the Philippine Golf Tour after blowing a number of title bids with late-round foldups. Others tipped to contend for the crown are Englishman Jake Shepherd, Thai Annop Tangkamolprasert, Japaese Narutoshi Yamaoka, Bangladeshis Mollah Zamal, MD Shakha Sohel, MD Dulal Hossain, MD Jakir Jakiruzaman and MD Ismail, and Indonesian Sujarwo. After Luisita, the tour heads to Or-

Games today 1 p.m. – Sta. Elena vs Cafe Lupe (men’s) 4 p.m. – BaliPure vs Power Smashers (women’s) 6:30 p.m. – Perlas vs Air Force (women’s)

Miguel Tabuena back in the local hunt

Ateneo, La Salle rekindle rivalry in volleyball’s grandest stage A FIERCE rivalry will be refueled as Ateneo and La Salle clash in Game 1 of their muchanticipated UAAP Season 79 women’s volleyball championship series at 4 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Lady Eagles and the Lady Spikers cross paths for the sixth straight time in the tournament’s biggest stage—with the former eyeing to regain the throne and the latter eyeing for a back-to-back. In the men’s division, threepeat seeking Ateneo, playing for the first time in 23 days after completing a double-round elimination sweep, takes on National University in the Finals’

opener at 12 noon. The Lady Eagles looked superb as the two-time champions topped the eliminations with a 12-2 record. Ateneo, whose losses came against National University twice in the eliminations, then toppled Far Eastern University in the Final Four to qualify in the bestof-three title round for the sixth consecutive season. De La Salle will try to beat Ateneo without two of its aces in graduates Ara Galang and Mika Reyes. True enough, the Lady Spikers have encountered humps early in the elims but the Taft-based squad was able to hurdle everything by finishing second with

Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 12 noon – ADMU vs NU (Men Finals) 4 p.m. – ADMU vs DLSU (Women Finals)

11-3 record. De La Salle then overcame University of Santo Tomas in the other semifinals pairing to advance in the Finals for the ninth straight season, keeping its quest for a 10th crown alive. The Lady Eagles prevailed over the Lady Spikers twice, 2426, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25, in the first round, and 12-25, 25-20, 2521, 25-19, in the second round, with Michelle Morente rising on both occasions.

The 5’7” Morente gave the Lady Spikers a lot of headaches on offense and defense, as she scored and collected a combined 41 points and 34 digs in those twin Lady Eagles wins. “I think better kami this year kasi distributed ang bola when it comes to setting,” said Morente. “Si Jia, nadi-distribute niya.” Aside from Morente, the Lady Eagles have their usual starters Jho Maraguinot, Bea de Leon and Kat Tolentino, as well as Maddie Madayag, Kim Gequillana and Ana Gopico, who can respond once they are called by coach Tai Bundit. De La Salle committed a lot of errors in those losses, giving Ateneo 31 free points in the

first round and 36 in the second round, a thing coach Ramil de Jesus wants to correct in the Finals. The Lady Spikers’ edge is obviously their blocking, where Majoy Baron and first year player Aduke Ogunsanya can dominate, as well as Kim Fajardo’s ability to trick her opponents in crucial stages by spiking aside from her splendid setting. Of course, Ateneo’s main worry is De La Salle libero Dawn Macandili, who works hard by keeping the ball in play by weathering the Lady Eagles’ attacks. “Nai-inspire ‘yung team ‘pag nakikita na halos nagpapakamatay na siya sa bola,” said De Jesus on Macandili.

THE Perlas Spikers bucked the fancied power-hitting Alyssa Valdez and Creamline with endgame spunk to pull off a 23-25, 25-22, 25-19, 2521 victory and force an early three-way tie for the lead in the Premier Volleyball League at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan late Sunday. The Spikers yielded 15 attack points but made up for this with solid serving while coming through with strong finishing kick from the second set on to pound out the come-from-behind one-hour, 38-minute victory. Amy Ahomiro fired 17 hits while Dzi Gervacio added 13 markers and Kathy Bersola chipped in nine points as they neutralized Valdez’s 25-hit output in the opener of the Reinforced Conference of the country’s premier league organized by Sports Vision. Meanwhile, BaliPure and the Power Smashers dispute the early lead at resumption of action at 4 p.m. today while Perlas also shoots for its second straight win against Air Force at 6:30 p.m. Sta. Elena and Café Lupe tangle in the lone men’s match of the tournament backed by Asics and Mikasa at 1 p.m.

Eagle Cement sees proﬁt jump

Business

SMC plans bus rapid transit along Skyway By Darwin G. Amojelar

ONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. said it plans to develop a bus rapid transport system along Metro Manila Skyway, which will run from Susana Heights in Muntinlupa City to Balintawak in Quezon City.

“Our dream is to put up a bus rapid transit in Skyway. We will put a landing station everywhere. So, imagine from Susana Heights going to Balintawak, you can ride a bus just like a train,” San Miguel president and chief operating ofﬁcer Ramon Ang said. Ang said the plan was to use electric buses for the proposed BRT system. “We will design and construct it, then we will invite bus operators to join me and operate,” Ang said.

He did not provide other details for the project. The Duterte administration earlier announced that it was looking at building BRT systems in Metro Manila, Davao and Cebu to resolve trafﬁc congestion in these areas. San Miguel’s infrastructure unit, San Miguel Holdings Corp., in partnership with state-run Philippine National Construction Corp., operates Metro Manila Skyway. SMHC is constructing the P26.7-billion Skyway Stage 3 Project―a 14.8-kilometer, six-lane elevated expressway that will connect the end of Skyway near Buendia in Makati City to Balintawak. SMHC and PNCC signed an agreement last week to jointly undertake the expansion of toll roads under their existing joint venture worth P554 billion. The expanded road network will include extension of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project and the Metro Manila Expressway, or C6/Skyway Stage 4.

Under the agreement, SMHC and PNCC will build San Pedro-C6 Laguna Lake Road, extending the South Luzon Expressway from San Pedro, Laguna and passing along the shores of Laguna Lake and ending at C6 in Taguig. Other projects are Tanauan-Tagaytay Expressway or Sky 8; TR5 which will extend SLEx from the end of TR4 in Pagbilao, Quezon to Matnog, Sorsogon; Sky 7, which will connect Taguig to Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City; Buendia Interchange and Ramp Extension to Macapagal Boulevard; and Sky 9 or the Pasig River Alignment which will include ramps to Buendia, Pioneer and Bonifacio Global City. San Miguel and PNCC were also studying a P700-billion expressway that will connect Quezon, Bicol provinces and Northern Samar. San Miguel posted a net income of P52 billion in 2016, up 80 percent from 2015. Revenues rose 2 percent to P685 billion last year.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

SMDC readies move to expand to Asean By Jenniffer B. Austria SM Development Corp., the residential unit of property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc., said it began sending people to study Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand as a part of its Asean expansion. SMDC executive vice president Jose Mari Banzon said the company deployed people to different countries to make evaluations and recommendations. Banzon said the company would prioritize the three Asean members as priority markets for residential expansion because of their demographic profile and potential for growth. “We are still in the very preliminary stage. We have started sending people to different countries for them to make their evaluations,” Banzon said. He said while SMDC was still conducting studies, the company was already looking at the possibility of building mid-rise residential developments in these countries. Banzon earlier said the company would consider joint venture partnerships to support the Asean expansion. SMDC is currently building its first two residential towers in Chengdu, China. Banzon said SMDC would start pre-selling the residential units in Chengdu this month. Banzon said the construction of the residential buildings in Chengdu reached the ground level, which would now enable SMDC it to start pre-selling the units. SMDC is building a seven-tower residential condominium on a two-hectare property beside its mall in Chengdu. It would start preselling the first two towers which are expected to be completed by 2019.

RP Energy set to start construction of 600-MW coal plant this year By Alena Mae S. Flores REDONDO Peninsula Energy Inc., which is controlled by a unit of Manila Electric Co., expects to start the construction of a 600-megawatt coal-ﬁred power plant in Subic, Zambales this year, an executive said. Meralco president Oscar Reyes said RP Energy was hoping to get an approval from the Energy Reg-

ulatory Commission on the power supply agreement this month. “We are eagerly awaiting the release of the approvals of our power supply agreements…We see the critical need for these power plants to come online to meet growing power requirements within the next three to four years,” Reyes said. Meralco’s power generation arm, Meralco PowerGen Corp.,

owns a majority stake in RP Energy. Other shareholders are Therma Power Inc., a whollyowned subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp. and Taiwan Cogeneration International Corp. The ﬁrst three months of 2017 saw spikes in power generation charges because of the combined effects of thinning supply from scheduled shutdowns and forced outages of power plants and the unexpected

impact of the April earthquakes on Batangas natural gas plants. RP Energy signed the supply agreement for the first 300 MW with Meralco (225 MW) and Aboitiz Energy Solutions Inc. (75 MW) and filed it with ERC in April 2016. The first unit is ready for construction and is targeted to be completed by the third quarter of 2020. The second 300-MW unit

shall follow within 12 months, subject to the resolution of rightof-way issues. RP Energy already ﬁled a formal offer of evidence with ERC in March, effectively concluding the hearing process. Reyes said said the company was following up the ﬁnal approval of the PSA to enable the issuance of the notice to proceed to the engineering, procurement

and construction contractors and project ﬁnancing drawdown. RP Energysigned a P31.5billion long-term ﬁnancing with three banks in January for the construction of the project. “In the meantime, we have proceeded with all the necessary pre-construction works so that we can mobilize the EPC contractors soon after approvals are obtained,” Reyes said.

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Business Pure Energy to start Quezon hydro plants By Alena Mae S. Flores

MOBILE-BASED CROP LOAN. Farmers can apply for loans to ﬁnance and increase farm production through the country’s ﬁrst mobile-

based digital agricultural crop loan service offered by Producers Savings Bank Corp. via Lendr, FINTQ’s award-winning and pioneering digital lending platform. Shown during the launching of Mobile Crop Loan product via Lendr are (from left) FINTQ managing director Lito Villanueva, Voyager president and chief executive Orlando Vea, PLDT Inc. chairman Manuel Pangilinan, Producers Bank chairman and chief executive Andres Cornejo, Producers Bank board director Gilda Pico and Producers Bank president and chief operating ofﬁcer Manuel Castañeda III.

PURE Energy Holdings Corp. said it formed a consortium to start the construction of P660 million worth of mini hydropower plants in Quezon province. Pure Energy said subsidiaries Blue Energy Holdings and Management Corp. and Repower Energy Development Corp. teamed up with Giga United Power and businessman Willy Ocier to build two mini-hydro plants in Real, Quezon. “After years of pre-development work, we look forward to starting the construction phase of our two mini-hydro projects in Quezon province. These power plants will harness our abundant river waters to generate electricity in a clean and sustainable manner,” Blue Energy president and chief operating ofﬁcer Christopher Tiu said in a statement. The consortium will commence work on the access roads and construction is expected to be on full swing this month. The project is expected for completion in 2019. The Lower Labayat and Upper Tignoan mini-hydropower plants are expected to produce 1.4 megawatts and 1.5 MW once completed. “Furthermore, we expect to generate more than 400 jobs through these projects,” Tiu said. The hydropower plants will power around 7,000 households and deliver an average of 65 percent of plant capacity year round upon project completion. The projects will avail of the feed-in-tariff rate of P5.90 per kilowatt-hour for run-off-river mini hydropower.

SM Retail eyes 500 Alfamart stores By Jenniffer B. Austria

M Retail Inc., the retail holding company of conglomerate SM Investments Corp., plans to aggressively expand its convenience store chain Alfamart with 500 stores over the next two years.

SM Retail executive vice famart stores this year, or an avpresident Robert Kwee said in erage of 10 to 12 a month. a recent interview the company Kwee said with the aggressive planned to open 120 to 140 Al- store rollout, the group could hit

500 outlets in the next two years, or more than double the current network of 210 stores. The group is quietly expanding the Alfamart stores in Southern Luzon, especially in Cavite province. The company recently penetrated Metro Manila as a part of its expansion. The group pilot-tested Alfamart stores in the country in the second half 2014, targeting urban areas with high-density population and trafﬁc to determine if

there was demand for this type of retail format. Alfamart is one of Indonesia’s largest convenience store retailers. Meanwhile, SM Investment said it had no plan to list its retail holding company at this time. “The company will think about such listing when the time is right and it will create more value for the shareholders,” SM Investments vice chairperson Teresita Sy said during the company’s re-

cent stockholders meeting. SM Investments consolidated its retail companies under SM Retail Inc.in July 2016, bolstering its position as one of the leading retail companies in the Philippines. The consolidation was seen to be both value and earnings-accretive, given the stores’ competitive position, synergies with SM Supermalls and strong growth potential. It said the merger would add greater diversity and a more ex-

tensive footprint to the group’s portfolio. SM Retail had more than 2,300 stores across various retail brands as of end-2016, including SM Store, SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, Savemore, WalterMart, Alfamart and specialty stores. SM Retail posted consolidated net income of P10.6 billion in 2016, or 7.4 percent higher than a year ago, while consolidated revenues increased 8.4 percent to P176.5 billion.

Taguig cold storage gets BoI perks By Othel V. Campos ONE Stop Warehousing Solutions Inc. secured tax incentives from the Board of Investments for its P920-million cold storage and blast freezing facility in Taguig City. The BoI said the project qualiﬁed as a preferred activity under the Agribusiness and Fishery category of the Investment Priorities Plan. The facility is set to be fully operational by August and will generate 47 jobs. It is expected to provide cold storage for up to 3.8 million pallets annually with blast freezing for 4,380 pallets. The cold storage warehouse will cover 13,333 square meters, with 9,300 square meters solely for cold storage. In addition, the facility will have 11 fortyfoot container bays and 12 small truck bays to maximize load and unload cargo efﬁciency.

“The project is expected to address the needs of the growing food processing industry in the country. With the government’s renewed focus on agriculture to boost food security, the demand for such facilities will continue to grow,” Trade undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said. Potential clients of the facility are trading companies and suppliers for hotels, meat traders and processors, distributors of local marine products and multinational food and beverage firms. The project is the first cold storage and blast freezing facility owned by OWSI. The firm, a unit of Magsaysay Shipping and Logistics, has been a trusted provider of warehouse management by food and beverage firms. It currently operates thirteen warehouses providing logistics

warehousing and inventory management. Aside from warehousing, OWSI also operates three container yards around the country, providing storage, stripping and stuffing, cargo staging area and other related container yard services. OWSI will employ global standards on operational execution and a modern warehouse management system to keep track of inventory and ensure complete accuracy while promoting operational efficiency and real time access to integrated and relevant information. The company will adhere to first-expiry, first-out handling to ensure food safety and only the freshest food is sent out of their storage facility. Plastic pallets will be used for blast freezing in compliance with the National Meat Inspection Service regulation.

MEDIA CITY. Century Properties Group and Revolution Precrafted sign a joint venture agreement with Bakrie Group of Indonesia to develop Media City, Sports City and Technology Corridor in the Philippines. Media City is envisioned as a mixed-use development that will host a state-of-the-art multi-media content development center that will be distributed primarily in Indonesia, the Philippines, the rest of Asean and the world. Shown during the signing of the agreement are (from left) Revolution Precrafted Properties founder and chief executive Robbie Antonio, Century Properties Group chairman and chief executive Jose Antonio, Bakrie Global Ventura chief executive Anindya Novyan Bakrie and Bakrie Global Ventura Director and Viva Media Baru president and chief executive Anindra Ardiansyah Bakrie.

3 rural bank groups seek BSP approval to merge Albay interested to join By Julito G. Rada premier Asian food expo THREE groups of rural banks are seeking the approval of the Monetary Board, the policymaking body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, to merge under the Consolidation Program for Rural Banks, Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said. “There are currently three applications... and they are really moving ahead. I think these would be approved within this year...,” Espenilla said in a statement. Espenilla said the Monetary Board recently amended the implementing guidelines of CPRB to give chance to everyone seeking to avail of the program. Under the original CPRB guidelines, the combining banks should be at least ﬁve with a combined unimpaired capital of at least P100 million. The revised guidelines said that if the proponent banks were less than ﬁve but if the surviving bank would have a risk based capital adequacy ratio of at least 12 percent and a combined capi-

tal of at least P100 million, the application might be accepted, provided that the Countryside Financial Institutions Enhancement Program Technical Committee would favorably endorse the said application. Espenilla said of the three groups applying for merge, one of them had only four banks but their capital was above P100 million. “Our [original] requirement is a combined capital of at least P100 million and at least five banks. One of those groups has more than a hundred [million pesos] but four [banks]. The [new] policy was just to allow that flexibility,” Espenilla said. “We amended the guidelines to accommodate that... What the board did was to approve for that particular group and then generalize the rules,” he said. CPRB started on Aug. 25, 2015 and gave rural banks until Aug. 25 this year to avail of the program. The head offices or majority of the branches of merging banks should also be located in the same region or area.

Rural banks whose head ofﬁce is located in a nearby region may be included, provided that the objectives of the consolidation program sare met. Proponent banks may avail of funding assistance for ﬁnancial advisory services, business process improvement services and capacity building support services. To avail of the incentives, banks must submit a letter addressed to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and BSP. In case the resulting RBCAR and the unimpaired capital of the surviving bank are below 12 percent and P100 million, respectively, the proponent banks shall infuse additional fresh capital to meet the minimum capital requirements. In the event that the resulting RBCAR of the surviving bank falls short of the 12-percent requirement but is at least 10 percent, the surviving bank may avail of the equity investment facility of the Land Bank of the Philippines to bring the RBCAR to the required 12 percent.

Upon BSP issuance of the certificate of authority to operate as the surviving bank, the proponent banks shall secure from the Securities and Exchange Commission the certificate of registration of the surviving bank. CPRB was established in recognition of the need to further strengthen and enhance the viability of rural banks given their importance in providing essential financial services to the community, particularly in their specialized or niche markets, and in promoting financial inclusion and financial stability in the economy. The program seeks to encourage consolidations and mergers among rural banks to bring about a less fragmented banking system by enabling rural banks to improve their financial strength, enhance their viability, strengthen management and governance, generate synergies and economies of scale through common infrastructure, systems and resources and expand their market reach.

LEGAZPI CITY ― Albay culinary producers, particularly from its second congressional district, are set to participate in IFex Philippines, Asia’s premier ethnic food and ingredients show on May 19 to 21 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda’s congressional ofﬁce is negotiating on behalf of local food manufacturers for slots in the food show, particularly those with export-ready products to help them gain access into the international market. Salceda supported Albay’s food industry via the Culinaria Albay brand, which he pioneered during his nine-year stint as governor of Albay province. Culinary tourism helped boost Albay’s economy. IFex Philippines is the country’s biggest international trade exhibition of the Philippines’ and Asia’s ethnic and specialty food, vegetables, tropical fruits, seafood, beverages, bakery and confectionery, meat and poultry, Halal-certiﬁed, as well as natural, organic and

healthy food products. The Bicol province’s forthcoming participation in IFex Philippines 2017 follows the impressive successes of the Culinaria Albay brand in the recent Madrid Fusion food expo on April 6 to 8 at SMX Convention Center in Mall of Asia, where buyers ― having familiarized themselves with Albayano ethnic gustatory tastes ― showed interest in native Albay foods. Following the Madrid Fusion Manila food exposition, three international chefs and food writers from Russia, London and the Middle East chose Albay and Sorsogon for their post expo destinations, a validation of Culinaria Albay’s forward march, Salceda said. Negotiations are also being undertaken for Albay to join the World Street Food Jamboree on May 31 to June 4 this year at Mall of Asia, with 28 of the world’s best Street Food Masters from 12 countries dishing out authentic mouth-watering heritage street foods.

Business

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Group prefers ceiling on prices By Othel V. Campos

DBP-DOST FUND. Development Bank of the Philippines president and chief executive ofﬁcer Cecilia Borromeo (second from right) and Science and Technology Secretary

Fortunato Dela Peña shake hands after signing an agreement on the DBP Bankability Enhancement for SETUP Technopreneurs program. The initiative addresses the ﬁnancing needs of beneﬁciaries of the Science Department’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading program that helps small and medium enterprises in adopting technological innovations to boost productivity and competitiveness. With them are DoST director Edgar Garcia (left) and DBP executive vice president Benel Lagua.

Eagle Cement sees profit jump By Jenniffer B. Austria

agle Cement Corp. of business tycoon Ramon Ang said the company may double its net profit to P8 billion in the next six to seven years on increased production capacity to meet rising demand. Eagle Cement president president John Paul Ang said in a recent interview a doubling of the company’s income was achievable, citing its capability to meet the increasing demand for cement. “I am not looking at market share. But I have a target profit figure. Last year, we had P4

billion and I have been asked if I want to double it and when will I be able to achieve that. I said if you don’t do it in six or seven years, it means we did not do it in a trajectory that we want. But we will get to that (because) we have the capacity,” Ang said. He expects cement demand in the Philippines to grow in the

coming years. “When I started in 2008, the Philippine cement market was at 15 million tons. Last year, Philippine market amounted to 26 million MT. That is 11 million in almost 10 years or a growth of over 1 million MT per year,” Ang said. Ang said the company sustained its growth trajectory in 2017 after posting strong firstquarter earnings. He said the company’s net income, revenues, Ebitda and volume all posted ‘high teens’ growth in the first three months of 2017 as the market expanded. “Last quarter we grew high teens and this year first quarter we also grew high teens,” Ang

said. Eagle Cement is raising as much as P9.2 billion through an initial public offering scheduled this month. The company plans to use proceeds from the fund raising activity to ﬁnance the construction of a new cement facility in Cebu. Ang said the company planned to inaugurate the new P12..5billion Cebu cement plant by the second half of the year, or right immediately after the IPO. The cement plant will have a capacity of 2 million MT, boosting the company’s total production to 7.1 million MT. Eagle Cement will sell up to

575 million common shares for a maximum price of P16 apiece. Eagle Cement after the IPO will have public ownership of 11.5 percent and a market capitalization of P80 billion. The company hired SB Capital Inc., PNB Capital and Investments Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. as underwriters. It scheduled the offering from May 3 to May 10 and the listing date tentatively on May 17. Eagle Cement earlier said it expected to sustain the growth momentum this year after reporting a net income of P4.11 billion in 2016, up 11.7 percent from P3.68 billion in 2015.

US-Asean group head hits predatory brokers THE chairman of the US-Asean Business Council has warned his peers about a worrisome trend in the insurance industry. Evan Greenberg, who concurrently heads the world’s largest property and casualty insurance company, wrote a public letter criticizing insurance brokers for their “abusive behavior” and their propensity to “enrich themselves at the expense of both their customers and underwriters.” “Cloaked in the mantra of ‘customer best interest’ or ‘treating customers fairly,’ these brokers seek the cheapest price and broadest coverage, at commission terms that by any measure are excessive,” Greenberg wrote before the delegates and participating business leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit arrived in Manila last week. “Forcing underwriters to suc-

cumb to the lowest common denominator is hardly in the customer’s, or industry’s, best interest,” he said. Greenberg said these so-called predatory behaviors had shown up around the world, including Southeast Asia, and were simply unsustainable from an underwriting perspective. He cautioned this might lead to customer and regulatory backlash, and usher in a movement toward disintermediation. Greenberg’s observations are signiﬁcant in light of the Asean Summit’s objectives, which focus on accelerated economic integration and reforms among member-nations. Insurance plays a key role in supporting economic growth, including improved resilience, mitigating country risk, and helping economies recover after catastrophes.

AIRPORT TOUR. Clark International Airport Corp. president and CEO Alexander Cauguiran (right) briefs

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno on the latest developments at the Clark International Airport during a tour of the airport last week.

A NON-PROFIT, non-stock consumer group has asked the Trade Department and the National Competition Commission to reconsider a decision stopping the prior approval of suggested retail prices on basic necessities and prime commodities. Laban Consumer president Victorio Dimagiba, a former Trade official, on Monday cited the importance of SRPs on such commodities. “The Trade Department as a regulator should continue to perform this legal duty, notwithstanding that the manufacturers and producers can always claim that their product’s SRP is “reasonable considering among others, the competition (and) profitability, and that they cannot price themselves out in the market without losing market shares,” he said. “We also want to emphasize that the Trade Department evaluation of SRPs are based on standards and criteria prescribed by the Price Act. It was not arbitrary and guess work,” he added. Dimagiba noted instances where a mandated price ceiling was allowed. He said criteria are taken into consideration in the determination of “reasonable price ceiling”—supply, cost to producer, manufacturer, distributor or seller, exchange rate, amortization, cost of machinery, change in the cost of labor, transportation, distribution, power and other factors or conditions in aid of the determination of the reasonable price ceiling. “All these valuable data are now lost to Trade Department when SRP setting becomes an absolute decision of the manufacturers. To rely solely on monitored prices at the retail level is deceiving. As an example, a 500 ml bottled water can generate data of as low as P12 and as high as P70 per bottle,” he said. The Price Acts considers hoarding, profiteering and cartel illegal as acts of price manipulation. The pre-approved SRPs provide a critical standard and available data will determine and prove if price manipulation like profiteering or cartel is being committed. Dimagiba said a proposal to repeal the cartel provision of the Price Act was not successful. The pre-approved SRPs, meanwhile, could have facilitated the work of the Philippine Competition Commission insofar as violations involving the trade and movements of basic necessities and prime commodities are concerned. The PCC can impose fines triple the amount provided by the Competition Act.

Shahani, Fabella and Philippine higher education DID Congress act wisely in 1994 when it decided to break up the Department of Education, Culture and Sports into three entities, namely, the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority? Is the Philippine education system stronger and better as a result of a structural change that was meant to be ameliorative? These questions have repeatedly been asked over the last two decades. They were asked again in the aftermath of the death a few weeks ago of former Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani, the younger sister of former President Fidel Ramos. Senator Shahani was the chairman of the Senate committee on education at the time the DECS-restructuring bill was ﬁled in and deliberated upon by the upper chamber of Congress. The secretary of Education, Culture and Sports was Dr. Armand Fabella, president of Jose Rizal College (now a university), who had been the chief economic adviser of President Diosdado Macapagal. Armand Fabella was only too happy to accept President Ramos’s offer of the education portfolio; although an economist by training and

experience, his close involvement with Fabella-founded JRC imbued him with a desire to help Philippine education directly. There was as much educator’s blood running through Armand Fabella’s veins as economist’s blood. Senator Shahani’s and Secretary Fabella’s paths had of course crossed numerous times previously. Not only were the Ramoses and Fabellas prominent members of Manila society, but as the sibling of President Ramos he was bound to come into contact with her often, both ofﬁcially and socially. But it was in relation to Armand Fabella’s being secretary of Education that the paths of the senator and the secretary crossed momentously. People who were close to Armand Fabella know that his swift, I-don’thave-to-put-up-with-this decision to resign from his position was precipitated in large measure by his disappointment over the endorsement by the Senate committee on education of the DECS-restructuring bill ﬁled by Senator Edgardo Angara. Fabella must have felt that presidential sister Leticia Shahani, as committee chairman, could and should have done more to prevent Senate approval of a piece of legislation that would lead to DECS’s dismemberment.

That Armand Fabella would resign if the Angara bill became law was no secret to many people within and outside DECS. President Ramos himself knew it. “Well ahead, [Fabella] was telling me already that [he was going to resign] because breaking up the Department of Education into three agencies was coming,” the nation’s 12th Chief Executive told Roel Landingin, the author of a biography of Armand Fabella, two decades after the event.” He told me, ‘Mr. President, [the new law] is coming and I want you to know that I am intending to resign. Not because I consider it a demotion but because with three heads of the education system it will be harder to go through with the reforms that you want. I told him, please don’t leave ….. but he was no longer keen on the job.” Landingin went on to write: “[Fabella] realized the need to oversee the various educational levels – elementary, high school and college – as parts of an integrated system [and that] the regulation of basic education and tertiary education must be linked and coordinated, not delinked and separated from each other.” Under the Angara bill the Commission on Higher Education would be a totally autonomous body and the secretary of

Education would not be a member of the Commission or of the state-owned universities and colleges providing teacher training. The result would be a cutting of the link between the State and private institutions providing teacher training and the biggest employer of teachers, viz., the Department of Education. In a letter to Senator Shahani, Fabella argued that the Secretary of Education should be the head of CHED “so that education can continue to speak with one voice.” But all of Fabella’s arguments went unheeded. The Angara bill was approved by Congress and the new law was sent up to President Ramos, who signed it. “Fabella promptly resigned from the Ramos Cabinet,” Landingin wrote. This brings me back to the two questions that I posed at the beginning of this column. Did Congress act wisely in 1994 when it decided to break up DECS into three independent entities? And is the Philippine education stronger and better as a result of that Congressional decision? Like Armand Fabella, I believed that the bill slicing up the Philippine education system into three parts was an unwise measure. Indeed, I was shocked

when I ﬁrst heard of Senator Edgardo Angara’s plan to introduce a bill that would place responsibility for tertiary education and technical/vocational education in two new institutions. Apart from establishing an additional layer of bureaucracy, the creation of two new institutions seemed to me like a case of converting a single problem into three problems. If the plaint was about inadequate attention to tertiary education and technical/vocational education, could that not have been addressed within the then-existing educational structure? Armand Fabella thought that it could, and I fully agreed with him. As for the second question, I believe it is fair to say that whatever advances have been achieved by this country’s educational system have been the result of private-sector initiatives. Since the start of its operations, the Filipino people have been waiting for a CHED grand design or master plan for Philippine tertiary education. Twenty-three years later they’re still waiting. Given the atmosphere of unimaginativeness and non-dynamism that has pervaded CHED from the outset, it will probably be a very long wait. E-mail:

rudyromero777@yahoo.

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

Japan’s labor shortage prompts regular hiring

BIKE CULTURE. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (center left) rides a bike during an event to launch the public bicycle sharing system, which aims to promote a clean transport culture, in downtown Beirut on April 30, 2017. Lebanon launched a bike-sharing program in its capital Beirut, hoping to cut down on the congested city’s notorious trafﬁc and pollution. AFP

JAPAN’S tightest labor market in decades shows signs of reversing a long shift toward the hiring of temporary workers. The number of full-time, permanent workers is rising for the first time since the global financial crisis, outpacing growth in temporary jobs over the past two years. “The labor shortage has become so bad that companies can’t fill openings only with parttimers,” said Junko Sakuyama, Tokyo-based senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. Japan’s 2.8-percent unemployment rate is the lowest since 1994 but most of the hiring over the past decade or so has been for temporary, often part-time positions, known as non-regular. A shift back toward permanent hiring could help sluggish consumer spending pick up. Economists say a decades-long move toward non-regular jobs is partly to blame for weak consumer demand. Non-regular workers now make up more than a third of the workforce. Many work part time, and all on average receive less pay, few benefits, little training and no real job security. It’s too early to declare a trend reversal, but the number

of regular jobs grew by 260,000 in March from a year ago, while part-time, temporary and contract jobs rose by 170,000, the internal affairs ministry reported on Friday. Last year, 510,000 permanent jobs and 360,000 non-regular ones were added. The ratio of non-regular workers in the workforce stood at 37.5 percent in 2016, the highest on record dating to 2002, according to government data. It should decline as more women become regular employees in sectors with severe labor shortages such as retail and elderly care, Sakuyama said. The impact on wages and consumer spending could be limited. Those sectors hiring more regular workers offer lower pay and suffer from lower productivity, meaning they have narrower margins to grant raises. A return of inﬂation this year will limit real wages, too. Regular workers get paid about 53 percent more than nonregular ones on a comparable monthly basis, according to the labor ministry. But they’ve seen slower pay increases because the unions representing them often favor job security over aggressive bargaining. Bloomberg

US budget discards Trump’s goals U S House and Senate negotiators reached a bipartisan deal on a $1.1-trillion spending bill that largely tracks with Democratic priorities and rejects most of President Donald Trump’s wish list, including money to begin building a wall along the USMexican border.

The compromise measure, released early Monday morning, would keep the government open through the end of September. Under House procedures, a vote could be held as early as Wednesday.

GOP leaders eager to focus on health-care and tax overhauls bowed to Democratic demands to eliminate hundreds of policy restrictions aimed at curbing regulations, leaving the Trump administration with few victories.

Oil falls as Libya expands output OIL declined as rigs targeting crude in the US rose for a fifteenth week and output from Libya rebounded. Futuresin New York lost as much as 0.5 percent after gaining 0.7 percent Friday. The number of oil rigs operating in US fields advanced to the most since April 2015, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Libya’s crude production rebounded to more than 700,000 barrels a day as the Opec member’s biggest oil field and another deposit in its western region resumed pumping after a halt. Oil has fallen the past two weeks amid concern growing US output will offset efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to trim a global glut. American production increased to the most since August 2015 and Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih has acknowledged that the first quarter of Opec-led curbs failed to bring stockpiles below the five-year average. “The rising US rig count will continue to keep a lid on prices until we see inventories come down,” said Gary Burton, a Melbourne-based analyst with IG Ltd. “The price has flatlined around this $49 mark and there’s little volatility to drive the price from there.” West Texas Intermediate for June delivery lost as much as 26 cents to $49.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and traded at $49.08 at 11:10 a.m. in Dubai. Total volume traded was about 54 percent below the 100-day average. The contract on Friday increased 36 cents to $49.33. Brent for July settlement lost as much as 31 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $51.74 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.39 to July WTI. Brent for June delivery expired Friday after adding 29 cents to $51.73. Bloomberg

The White House sought funding to begin building the border wall, as well as $18 billion in cuts to domestic agencies, and both demands were rebuffed. The spending deal includes money for Planned Parenthood, despite Republican demands to defund the group over its provision of abortions. Trump will be able to point to a $15-billion boost for the Pentagon, although $2.5 billion of that money is contingent on the administration delivering a new plan to ﬁght Islamic State. It also falls well short of the $30 billion he had originally requested.

Trump will get $1.5 billion for border security, but it can’t be used for the border wall or additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to one congressional aide. There are also no new restrictions on money going to so-called sanctuary cities that don’t fully enforce federal immigration laws. “Reports that the package makes a major down payment towards the president’s security priorities are encouraging,” John Czwartacki, a spokesman for the White House Ofﬁce of Management and Budget, said in a statement.

Republicans failed to get a number of conservative provisions in the bill, including one that would have blocked the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule limiting financial advice to retirees. Overall, the compromise resembles more of an Obama administration-era budget than a Trump one. The National Institutes of Health, for example, would see a $2-billion boost, reflecting the popularity of medical research among lawmakers. The deal includes $990 million for famine aid, along with a $1.1 billion boost for disaster recovery funds.

“It is a solid bill that reﬂects our common values and that will help move our nation forward, and I urge its quick approval by the Congress and the White House,” House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey said in a statement early Monday. He said the measure represents a $25-billion increase in national defense funding over current levels. In addition, he noted provisions including an extension of miners’ health beneﬁts and increases in health research and opioid addiction treatment and prevention. Bloomberg

Birtain’s exit offers hope for Irish oyster farmers By Douglas Dalby GREENCASTLE, Ireland―For many on the oyster-rich shores of the River Foyle estuary on the northern tip of Ireland, Britain’s departure from the European Union cannot come soon enough. The hope is that Brexit will solve a decades-old sovereignty dispute over the waterway between British-ruled Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The stand-off has led to a boom in the unauthorized cultivation of oysters on Lough Foyle, which licensed Irish oyster farmers say threatens their lucrative export industry. “After almost 100 years of failing to deal with the issue, Brexit will now force the two sides to settle the issue once and for all,” said Seamus Bovaird, a former manager of the Lough Foyle Fishermen’s Co-Op. When Ireland was partitioned in 1921 the main focus was on establishing peace after a bruising war of independence that led to the creation of two states on the island. Whether by accident or willful neglect, the British government and the newly-created Irish Free State left the ownership of Lough Foyle out of the terms of the negotiated settlement. ‘A marine gold rush’ Elsewhere along the open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, residents and businesses are concerned that new customs checks will be imposed once Britain is out of the EU. But on Lough Foyle, Brexit spells greater legal certainty, according to Enda Craig, a member of the Loughs Agency, a cross-border body that supervises the waters but has no powers over aquaculture. “When Brexit comes in it will force the hand of the Irish government because... the EU will have to ask it where its borders lie and then regulation can be enforced,” Craig told AFP. Four years ago there were 2,000 oyster beds, now the Loughs Agency estimates there are around 30,000.

In this photograph taken on April 26, 2017, discarded oysters are pictured on an oyster farm at Ture in Co Donegal on Lough Foyle, on the border with Northern Ireland (background) and Donegal. For many on the oyster-rich shores of the River Foyle estuary on the northern tip of Ireland, Britain’s departure from the European Union cannot come soon enough. The hope is that Brexit will solve a decades-old sovereignty dispute over the waterway between British-ruled Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. AFP

Only a small fraction have ofﬁcial licenses. With few employment prospects in the area, many have seized the opportunity created by the territorial spat. These oyster farmers consider themselves unlicensed rather than illegal but they still shy away from publicity and have consistently refused interviews. Craig compared the proliferation to the Klondike gold boom in Canada at the end of the 19th century. “This is the Irish equivalent of the Klondike―a marine gold rush with no enforcement, no guaranteed health and safety supervision or environmental controls,” he said. Lough Foyle has strategic status too, providing access for the busy port of Derry in Northern Ireland. Once Britain leaves the bloc, this could mean British shipping having to use EU waters.

‘A no-man’s land’ The majority of the oysters are believed to be exported to France―by far the biggest market for the lucrative shellﬁsh. This is a grey area as oysters farmed by unlicensed operators risk being mixed with legitimate ones once they are in the hands of intermediaries. In December last year, then Northern Ireland Fisheries Minister Michelle McIlveen warned that authorities were powerless to act. The increase in unregulated oyster trestles “is causing a navigation issue... and a general health and safety hazard,” she said. Bovaird said squabbling over jurisdiction could have serious consequences for Ireland’s 58-million euro ($61.5-million) licensed oyster export market. “This is a no-man’s land and it has

the potential to destroy the Irish oyster industry,” he said. “As sure as night follows day someone on the continent will be hospitalized from food poisoning and it will blacken the reputation of Irish oysters in general,” he said. Richie Flynn, aquaculture executive at the Irish Shellﬁsh Association, worries the lack of traceability “could cause untold reputational damage to our members.” “You are dealing with a sensitive product that looks and tastes perfect but you don’t feel very perfect if you consume something that’s not been looked after properly.” Traditionally, Irish oysters have been sold for the quality end of the French market, or to Asia. The Lough Foyle oysters are ‘B’ category, meaning they must be puriﬁed or cooked prior to consumption. AFP

LGUs

NV tribe pins hope, future on a blanket

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—A traditional blanket of the Isinai tribe here is being exhibited at the provincial museum in this town in a bid to promote and preserve the tribe’s cultural heritage. The “Ues Pinutuan” is now being displayed to draw awareness on their rich culture and traditions as they are considered as one of the treasured carriers of Isinai identity and history. “We are in high expectations that this blanket will serve as our hope for the passage of Isinai culture and traditions from one generation to another,” said Bayani Larosa, an Isinai elder from Dupax del Sur town. Dr. Analyn Salvador-Amores, an anthropologist from the University of the Philippines in Baguio City, said the Ues Pinutuan is one of the remaining pieces of material culture left as evidence of the Isinai ethnic identity. The Isinai is an ethnolinguistic group found in central Cordillera, north of Luzon, specifically in the towns of Aritao, Bambang, Dupax del Sur, and Dupax del Norte. Amores said there is scarce literature about the tribe – its history, people and culture and efforts -- to revitalize the Isinai as an endangered language. “Information on the Isinai local history and cultural practices have not been well documented, and have been passed down only through oral tradition,” she said. Amores expressed optimism the promotion of the tribe’s traditional blanket will spur the revitalization of the Isinai culture, which should be passed on continuously to the younger generations. Otherwise known as Kinuttiyan or Aladdang in the Cordillera, the Ues Pinutuan blanket is one of the few remaining pieces of material culture left as evidence of the Isinai’s ethnic identity. The Ues Pinutuan was produced in an intricate process of Ikat technique, indigo dyeing, and backstrap weaving. Amores said that while the Isinai tribe has scant written and oral documentation of its history and culture, one can invoke a significant material culture to trace the local history of its place and people.

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

SELLING URCHINS. A sea urchin vendor offers a sample of his goods to tourists visiting White Island, the famous sandbar off Camiguin Island, on Sunday. The island off the northern coast of Mindanao is seeing a surge of visitors in the middle of the summer vacation season. Lance Baconguis

Bounty on mosque attackers B

ULUAN, Maguindanao—Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu on Monday offered reward money for any information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects in the Grand Mosque grenade attack in Talayan, Maguindanao. “We are ready to raise the amount so justice will be served to the victims,” Mangudadatu told reporters of the April 21 bombing of a mosque

in Talayan town that injured members of the town’s political family. The governor did not say how much bounty he was offering.

In the grenade attack that came after the Friday congregational prayer, Mayor Nathaniel Midtimbang of Datu Anggal Midtimbang town was injured, along with his father, Datu Ali Midtimbang, former mayor of Talayan. Six others, including two police escorts of the town mayor, were also injured. Police said two men on board a motorbike tossed two hand grenades as the victims and other participants in the

Friday prayer were emerging from the mosque located along the national highway fronting the Talayan town hall. The second grenade did not explode. Police said the motive of the attack remained unknown. The elder Midtimbang ran but lost to Mangudadatu in last year’s gubernatorial elections. Mangudadatu stressed he already reconciled with the Midtimbangs and his other

4-pronged rehab plan for Antamok By Dexter A. See ITOGON, Benguet—Benguet Corp. will embark on a fourpronged approach to implement its final mine rehabilitation and development plan to complete its mined out Antamok open pit here. Lawyer Froilan Roger C. Lawilao, BC administration department head, said included in the final plan they submitted to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau includes the establishment of an ecotourism park, the temporary residual containment area for the generated waste of the municipality, the construction of an engineered sanitary landfill with a waste-to-energy component, and the establishment of a Minahang Bayan within the mined-out area. “We already made initial consultations with the host and neighboring communities, and were able to gather inputs that we will incorporate in our submitted

final mine rehabilitation and development plan for consideration by the concerned government agencies,” Lawilao stressed. The BC official pointed out the rehab plan will still undergo a rigid process that includes consultations with the concerned stakeholders before its implementation, “that is why the company is working on the appropriate details to benefit all concerned parties.” Lawilao said there is a need for the company to sustain the required information and education campaign for its Antamok landfill project, because people have misconceptions on the planned landfill and waste-to-energy facility within their communities. He claimed it is important to disabuse the minds of the people that when matters of landfills are being discussed, there is always an impression of it being likened to the Irisan open dumpsite in Baguio City “when it is not the case.”

THE Quezon City government has assured the riding public it is doing its best to mitigate the impact of heavy traffic due to the construction of the P69.30billion Metro Rail Transit line 7 connecting the city to Bulacan. In an interview, Dexter Cardenas, the city’s Traffic Operations Division head, said they have talked to village residents in affected barangays in Fairview

to allow the use of their private roads to private cars as one of the traffic reduction measures of the inter-agency task force. “We have also met with the managers of different schools, too,” he told the Manila Standard. Among the few of the affected schools in the areas are the Our Lady of Fatima University, OB Montessori, AMA Computer College and STI College. The traffic impact in Fairview “is not yet that heavy than the

political opponents after he was proclaimed governor. Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguindanao provincial police director, said responding policemen have recovered a motorbike abandoned along a dirt road leading to Datu Anggal Midtimbang town. Tello said the suspects abandoned the motorbike and transferred to a waiting white Toyota Innova and sped away. The police took custody of the motorcycle, he said. PNA

General Trias set to honor graduates

TREE PLANTING FOR CHANGE. Laguna Provincial Police Office chief Senior Supt. Cecilio R. Ison Jr. leads

policemen in a mass tree-planting activity along the river bank at Barangay Patimbao in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on Friday. The police joined drugs surrenderers, local government officials, non-government organizations, the private sector and the local media in the event called ‘Nalulong Noon, Makakalikasan Ngayon’ (Addicts Before, Environmentalists Now). Roy Tomandao

QC ‘doing its best’ to ease MRT 7-induced traffic By Rio N. Araja

usual” because of the summer vacation, he said. The problem of traffic lies in the “volume of vehicles,” and in any road engineering construction, he noted However, he said with or without the MRT line 7 construction, traffic is already heavy in Fairview, Bulacan’s gateway to Metro Manila, during the rush hours of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. “There are more road users

than roads,” he said. Despite the closure of roads in Fairview, Cardenas said traffic will not worsen. “With the other agencies, the city government has recommended the partial road closures only so that the other lane or lanes can still be passable to the motorists,” he said. A road expansion of Regalado Highway by 1.5 meter each side is also being undertaken to ease congestion to be brought about

by the MRT line 7 construction, he noted. Because of the rerouting scheme, establishment of directional signs, deployment of more traffic enforcers, and massive information drive, traffic along Commonwealth Avenue to Fairview is not that worse, he said. On April 17, the phase 1 project began along Commonwealth to Fairview with the closure of one lane along Regalado Avenue for two months.

GENERAL TRIAS, Cavite— The local government of General Trias City will honors 333 distinguished graduates on its 58th Gawad Parangal on May 3, Wednesday, at the General Trias Cultural and Convention Center in Barangay Sampalukan here. Dr. Ireneo Lumubos, chairman of GenTri Doctor’s Medical Center, will be the guest of honor and speaker of the program. Andrilyn Fresa, who finished summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major in human resources management from ISHRM School of Cavite, will be the receiving the Gawad Labong together with 22 other awardees in that category. City Mayor Antonio “Ony” Ferrer, Cavite 6th District Rep. Luis “Jon Jon” Ferrer IV, and Team GenTri officials will lead the awarding cerermony of Gawad Vibora, Gawad Salgado, Gawad Mojica, Gawad Labong, and Gawad Grepo, awards which started in 1959. Earlier, around 33 companies and nongovernment organizations joined the city’s cleanup drive and tree planting program. Volunteers cleaned a portion of the Ilang Ilang River and picked up tons of garbage. They also planted hundreds of narra, mango and guyabano seedlings along the riverside.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

Standard TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 C2 TODAY Manila

End of ‘endo’ helps 424 workers P ALO, Leyte—The drive to end illegal contractualization has benefited 424 workers in Eastern Visayas in the first four months of the year, but more efforts should be done to help employees get regular jobs in the next months.

Department of Labor and Employment Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga emphasized the need to conduct more orientations in the bid to help employers realize the value of ending “endo” or la-

bor-only contracting. “Hopefully, we can ask them to volunteer regularizing because that’s the first thing we ask, or else we will impose what is stated in the law,” Sarcauga told reporters during the

Labor Day regional celebration at the Leyte Academic Center. With more than 1,000 workers regularized in 2016 in six provinces in the region, the DoLE official said they would redo orientations to employers on the ending of labor practices. Under the Labor Code, companies may only use contractual arrangements for positions that are seasonal or projectbased in nature, and are not part of the core function of their operations. During the Labor Day commemorative program, the gov-

ernment conferred the appointment to 14 regularized workers of Philippine Smelting and Refinery Corp. or Pasar in Isabel, Leyte and nine employees of Ultrasteel Corp. in Tacloban City. Niño Eparwa, 30, of Matlang village in Isabel, Leyte, was one of the Pasar workers appointed as a regular employee after five years as a helper and plant operator. The young father will receive P20,000 monthly pay as plant operator on top of rice subsidy, house allowance, scholarship for his child, and leave benefits.

“I have peace of mind now that I have a stable job because I am entitled to more benefits. This is such a big help to our family,” Eparwa said. The labor department expects that the number of workers benefiting from the move to curb illegal contractualization will continue to rise every month with the inspection of more establishments. The DoLE adopted two tracks in eliminating illegitimate contractualization, including laboronly contracting or “endo.” In the first track, the DoLE

Cop chief relieved after NPA raids town TUGUEGARAO CITY—The Maddela police chief in Quirino was relieved of his post Monday following the attack of at least 50 suspected New People’s Army rebels at the town police station on Saturday night. Police Chief Supt. Eliseo Tam Rasco, Cagayan Valley regional police director, said the relief of Police Chief Inspector Jhun-jhun Balisi took effect on May 1 to pave the way for a deeper probe on the attack. Balisi has accepted his relief, saying he immediately heeded the order from higher authorities. He denied earlier reports he was abducted by the NPA rebels. Balisi said he left his station to go to the Quirino provincial police office when the communist guerrillas attacked Maddela station. Police Senior Inspector Reynaldo Gonzales, erstwhile 1st Maneuver Platoon commander of the Quirino Public Safety Company based in this town, will replace Balisi temporarily. Police Officer 2 Jerome Cardenas was killed in the attack, as he was the first hit by a volley of fire from the communist rebels. The attackers also burned a dump truck while fleeing. PNA

ASEAN KIOSK.

Philippine Information Agency Deputy Director General Gregorio Angelo Villar (fifth from left) and Tuguegarao City Mayor Bienvenido de Guzman II lead regional government agency officials in the inauguration of the Asean Kiosk at the city airport. The kiosk seeks to promote awareness among overseas Filipino workers, local and foreign tourists about the Asean meetings the Philippines is hosting this year. Ben Moses Ebreo

Lepanto passes audit, keeps ISO 14001 certificate MANKAYAN, Benguet—Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. has maintained its ISO 14001 certification after TUV Rheinland Philippines Inc. affirmed the company’s zero non-conformance during an ISO audit completed last March 22 to 24. “We are pleased to advise that, following TUV Rheinland Philippines’ audit of the Environmental Management System of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company on 22 to 24 March 2017, it has been

recommended that the ISO 14001 certification of Lepanto dated 12 May 2016 be maintained,” Lepanto stated in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange. TUV Rheinland’s audit covered LCMC’s Corporate Office in Makati City, its warehouse in Malolos, Bulacan, and the Lepanto Mine Division here. In the audit findings, TUV Rheinland highly commended LCMC management’s commitment for continual improvement.

PUBLIC INFORMATION SHEET FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD AND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING

Applicant’s Name: Syngenta Philippines, Inc. Applicant’s Address: 12th Floor, Two World Square, # 22 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Town Center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, 1630 Philippines 3. Telephone Number/ Facsimile Number, E-Mail Address of the Applicant Tel. +63 2 370 2100; Fax: +63 2 856 9260; E-mail: c/o ba_cau.duong@syngenta.com 4. Name of Responsible Officer/Authorized Representative Duong Ba Cau, President and Commercial Unit Head, Philippines Felipe S. dela Cruz, Jr., Regulatory Affairs Territory Lead, ASEAN 5. Description of the Regulated Article for Direct Use (mention the crop, transformation event, new trait conferred, name of the gene transferred, method of transformation, and advantages of the trait conferred) Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 is a corn stack hybrid developed by conventionally crossing Bt11, MIR162, MIR604, TC1507, 5307 and GA21 corn. Bt11, MIR162, MIR604, TC1507, 5307 and GA21 are transgenic corn events developed through modern biotechnology. Bt11 contains cry1Ab gene encodes the Cry1Ab protein which provides protection against Asiatic corn borer. It also contains pat gene which codes for the production of the enzyme phosphinothricin-N-acetyltransferase (pat) which confers tolerance to glufosinate. MIR162 contains the vip3Aa20 gene which provides protection against other Lepidopteran insects and pmi gene which encodes the phosphomannose isomerase protein that enables plant cells to convert mannose to a readily metabolized compound, fructose-6-phosphate, thereby improving the energy status of the cells and avoiding the accumulation of derivatized mannose. pmi also allows the positive selection for the recovery of the transformed plants. MIR604 contains the mCry3A gene which encodes the mCry3A protein that provides protection against rootworm and the pmi gene which allows the positive selection for the recovery of the transformed plants. 5307 contains eCry3.1Ab gene which provides protection against rootworm and the pmi gene as a selectable marker. TC1507 corn contains the Cry1F gene which produces the Cry1F protein that when ingested by the insect, causes gut paralysis and eventual death. Event TC1507 also produces the PAT protein which provides tolerance to glufosinate herbicide.. GA21 contains the mepsps (modified 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene which confers tolerance to glyphosate. 6. If to be imported, Country (ies) of Origin of the Regulated Article United States, Canada or from other countries which will have cultivation approvals in the future 7. Brief Summary of Potential Effects on Human and Animal Health and the Environment (summarize human and animal health and environmental assessments done and studies implemented indicating potential effects on human and animal health and the environment) Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 corn has been adequately assessed to demonstrate its safety as food, feed, and its safety to the environment. Studies conducted show that the proteins produced in the Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 corn hybrids (Cry1Ab, PAT, Vip3Aa20, PMI, mCry3A, Cry1F, eCry3.1Ab and mEPSPS) do not have homology to any known or putative mammalian toxin and allergen. There is no evidence that these proteins will interact to form new toxin or allergen. In addition, the modes of action of these proteins are distinct and no interaction has been detected. Moreover, the overall concentrations and patterns of expression of the Cry1Ab, PAT, Vip3Aa20, PMI, mCry3A, Cry1F, eCry3.1Ab and mEPSPS proteins are generally similar between Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 and single events Bt11, MIR162, MIR604, TC1507, 5307, and GA21. Furthermore, Southern analyses demonstrated that the corn stack hybrid has stably inherited the introduced genes from the parental Bt11, MIR162, MIR604, TC1507, 5307, and GA21 corn, respectively, in a predictable manner. 8. Brief Summary of Potential Benefits (Describe how the new trait will benefit farming, the farmer, the environment, and society as a whole) Since Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 corn will be a traded commodity, the society will be the main beneficiary in case importation will be required to supply the industry with grains of corn and corn products to feed millers, for use in poultry, livestock, aquaculture, and other industries. 9. Countries Where Approvals Have Been Granted (for FFP; for Commercial Propagation) Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 corn has already been approved in United States (food, feed, and cultivation), Canada (cultivation and feed), Mexico (food, feed and processing), Korea (food and feed), Japan (food and feed), Taiwan (food), South Africa (food, feed, and processing), Brazil (food, feed, and cultivation), and Colombia (food and feed). The public is hereby invited to submit their comments to the BPI Director (within 60 days from date of publication) on the Proposal for the Importation of Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21 corn for direct use as food and feed, or for processing Director Bureau of Plant Industry San Andres, Malate, Manila Telephone Number 525-7857 Fax Number 521-7650 E-Mail bpibiotechsecretariat@yahoo.com Approved for Publication: (SGD) VIVENCIO R. MAMARIL, PhD OIC-Director Bureau of Plant Industry Date: SUBSCRIBE AND SWORN TO ME BEFORE THIS ______DAY APRIL 26, 2017 IN CITY OF MAKATI METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES. AFFIANT EXHIBITING HIS/HER COMPETENT ID__________________ISSUED IN_________________ ON_______________.

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

1. 2.

(MS-MAY 2, 2017)

TUV also lauded the company’s efforts in waste management with the installation and maintenance of its very own Engineered Sanitary Landfill inside the mine site. The audit report also commended the company’s continuous effort in electricity and water management. “The zero-non-conformance finding affirms that we stay true to our vision of being a worldclass Filipino mining company committed to responsible and sus-

NATIONAL HOUSING AUTHORITY

PROPOSAL FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD ND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING Bt11 x MIR162 x MIR604 x TC1507 x 5307 x GA21

DOC. No. 49 PAGE No. 11 BOOK No. 183 SERIES OF2017

regional offices conducted series of consultations and meetings to encourage employers to voluntarily regularize workers who are under “endo” and labor-only contracting arrangements. For the second track, labor laws compliance officers inspected establishments, principals, and contractors that are practicing labor-only contracting arrangements. Those found to be engaged in labor-only contracting are subjected to mandatory conferences to assist them in their compliance with labor standards. PNA

Request foR expRession of inteRest The National Housing Authority (NHA), through the NHA-Board approved Corporate Budget for the year 2017, intends to apply the sum equivalent to the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract: Ref. No.

Projects

Titling Works at Phase 2, 3 and 3B Consolidation/ 2017- and 04- Subdivision Survey of 218 Phase 2, 3, and 3B Tala Development Project, Caloocan City

ABC/ Source of Funds (P)

Duration (c.d)

13,996,469.60 Corporate Receipts

360

Work Description Consolidation/ S u b d i v i s i o n Survey and Individual Lot Titling Works

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of the financial proposals. The NHA now calls for the submission ofeligibility documents for the above-cited project. Checklist of requirements for eligibility is available for examination upon submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI) addressed to the BAC 2 Chairperson and upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P13,000.00 at the BAC 2 Secretariat Office, 2nd Floor NHA Main Building, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Interested Consultants must submit their eligibility documents on or before May 9, 2017, not later than 10:00 a.m. at the SLB-AMO Conference Room, Annex Building, NHA Main Complex, Eliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. Opening of Eligibility Documents shall follow immediately after the deadline of submission of eligibility documents. Applications for eligibility will be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion. The BAC 2 Secretariat may be contacted at Telephone No. 928-8272. The BAC shall draw up the short list of consultants from those who have submitted eligibility documents/Expression of Interest and have been determined as eligible in accordance with the provisions of R.A. 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). The short list shall consist of maximum of seven (7) prospective bidders who will be entitled to submit bids. The criteria and rating system for short listing are: a) Applicable experience of the consultant and associates, considering both the overall experiences of the firm and the individual experiences of the principal and key staff including the times when employed by other consultants; b) Qualification of personnel who may be assigned to the job vis-à-vis extent and complexity of the undertaking; and c) Current workload relative to job capacity. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the IRR of RA 9184 and 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. The NHA shall evaluate bids using the Quality-Cost Based Evaluation/Selection (QCBE/QCBS)procedure. The weights to be allocated for the Technical and Financial Proposals and the criteria and rating system for the evaluation of bids shall be indicated and provided in the Bid Data Sheet. The NHAreserves the right to reject any and all bids, annul the bidding process, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. (SGD) AR. SUSANA V. NONATO Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee 2 (BAC 2) ( M S - M AY 2 , 2 017 )

tainable mining. We remain true to our commitment to the community and the environment,” said Bryan U. Yap, LCMC president and chief operating officer. The ISO 14001 certification initiative was led by Lepanto’s EMS Team headed by Knestor Jose Y. Godino, vice president-HRAD and Overall Environmental Management Representative, vice president and resident manager for LMD-EMR, Engineer Thomas S. Consolacion; and MEPED man-

ager and deputy EMR, Rolando C. Reyes. The Environmental Management Representatives were assisted by the EMS Committee Members, document controllers, internal auditors, training and awareness team, environmental emergency response team members, pollution control officers, top management and all members of the organization, Yap said in Lepanto’s Phisix filing. Dexter A. See

‘Docs on Wheels’ program helps 600 By Jessica M. Bacud ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan—A Doctors on Wheels project sponsored by a hotel chain recently completed its 17th medical and gift-giving mission this year at the Don Leopoldo Sison Convention Center here, benefiting nearly 600 indigents patients and persons with disabilities. Doctors and nurses, sponsored by Hotel Sogo and the local government, gave free medical consultations and provided medicines to almost 300 residents, while 300 persons with disability gained from the gift giving. The medical mission and gift giving was organized and assisted by the Philippine Science Journalists Mega Manila, Publishers Association of the Philippines Inc., Hotel Sogo–Sogo Cares, Island Nest Hotel Resort owner Gerlyn Enorme, Kiwanis International President Engr. Fausto ‘Ping ‘Lopez, Kiwanis Club of Hundred Islands, The Generics Pharmacy and the City of Alaminos. “Hotel Sogo supports similar local government initiatives as part of its corporate social responsibility program, and is committed to delivering services to the people, from safe shelters to medical assistance through its program, the Doctor on Wheels,” stressed Nicel Lavente, Sogo supervisor and project head. “Hotel Sogo has always be-

lieved in being of service to the less Filipino apart from the customers who patronize our hotels.” The activity aims to improve health and health awareness among indigent residents by extending free medical services and providing free medicines, said Jennifer Las, Hotel Sogo Corporate Social Responsibility manager. City Administrator Dr. Emielou E. Gellado thanked the hotel company along with the doctors, nurses and staff and the media practitioners and publishers from PScijourn MegaManila and the Publishers Association of the Philippine Inc. for the successful event that helped residents. Lopez and the Kiwanis Club of Hundred Islands joined the activity as part of their social responsibility, as the project benefited not only patients but also the less fortunate children with disabilities as well. PAPI president Nelson Santos said it was well-timed for PAPI to be involved in the undertaking in reaching out to the underprivileged. “It was a privilege to be a part of the commitment of Hotel Sogo in giving medical services and gift giving to the less fortunate residents here,” said Estrella Gallardo, PSCijourn president. In 2016, Hotel Sogo conducted 53 medical missions. As part of its CSR, it renders free medical services to marginalized residents in the countryside.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World IN BRIEF 24-hour strike on May Day in Greece ATHENS―Greek trade unions marked May Day on Monday with a 24-hour nationwide strike and protests against looming new cuts demanded by the country’s creditors in return for bailout cash. Under pressure from its creditors―the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund― the government agreed to adopt another 3.6 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in cuts in 2019 and 2020. Athens conceded fresh pension and tax break cuts in return for permission to spend an equivalent sum on poverty relief measures. The measures are to be approved by parliament by midMay, with the government hoping to reach an overall deal at a May 22 meeting of eurozone ﬁnance ministers. “Bailout government and the creditors have been squeezing the people and workers for seven years,” civil servants’ union Adedy said ahead of demonstrations planned in Athens and other major cities. A general strike will be held against the cuts on May 17. AFP

Eight men arrested for ‘gay party’ SURABAYA―Indonesian police have arrested eight men for allegedly holding a “gay party” in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, police said Monday. Officers busted 14 men holding the party in two hotel rooms in Surabaya, the second biggest city in Indonesia, around midnight on Sunday. Some of the men were watching gay porn and performing “deviant sexual acts”, said Shinto Silitonga, Surabaya police’s head of detectives. Police named eight men as suspects and filed preliminary charges against them under Indonesia’s tough anti-pornography law. Two of the eight could face up to 15 years in jail for initiating and facilitating the event. Six others were released. “This is the first time we enforce the law and arrest gay people in the city,” Silitonga told AFP. Except for Aceh province, which upholds sharia law, gay sex is not illegal in Indonesia, which mainly follows a criminal code inherited from former colonial ruler the Netherlands. However, there was a backlash against the country’s LGBT community last year with government ministers publicly making antigay statements. AFP

Castro’s last Labor Day parade HAVANA―The Cuban government’s traditional May Day parade Monday is the last to be overseen by President Raul Castro―and the first without his late brother and revolutionary predecessor Fidel. The May 1 rally draws hundreds of thousands of Cubans into Havana’s Revolution Square in a sea of red, white and blue national flags and portraits of Fidel Castro. But he died in November and Raul Castro, after just over a decade in power, has said he will step aside in February 2018. Raul Castro has been cautiously opening up Cuba’s state-run economy and strengthening its foreign relations -- notably by reestablishing diplomatic ties with the United States. But Monday’s parade has the feel of the end of an era. It is not clear who will take Castro’s place next year. Most rumors suggest it will be Miguel Diaz-Canel, 56, vicepresident of the State Council. Despite ministerial experience and party credentials, he is seen as lacking a support base in the military. “There is very high uncertainty about 2018,” said Pavel Vidal, a former official of Cuba’s central bank and an academic at Colombia’s Javeriana University. “One could expect a process of continuity” of Raul Castro’s reforms, he added, “but not at the same speed.” Cuba’s economic fortunes depend largely on another country that will see May Day marches on Monday: Venezuela. AFP

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

A month of deadly violence C ARACAS―May Day protests risk being rough in Venezuela on Monday as it marks one month since deadly clashes erupted in a political crisis with no end in sight.

Protesters took to the streets from April 1 to demand elections after the courts tried to strengthen President Nicolas Maduro’s grip on power. Marches in various cities erupted into clashes between riot police and protesters which have since left 28 people dead, according to public prosecutors. “We are not going to cool down the street,” said senior opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara, however. “On May 1 we must show our strength, that we are in the majority and that we want to have our say in elections.” The opposition has accused Maduro of installing a dictatorship. It blames him for an economic crisis that has sparked food and medicine shortages in the major oil-exporting nation. Even residents of traditionally pro-Maduro districts have been joining in the protests against him in recent days. “I have been a month now joining in all the protests because I want my country to be free of this dictatorship,” said Yoleida Viloria, 42, a hairdresser from the poor neighborhood of Petare in eastern Caracas. The president has vowed to continue the socialist “Bolivarian revolution” launched by his late predecessor Hugo Chavez. Maduro has rejected opposition calls for general elections before his term ends late next year. He has said he is willing to

hold regional polls that were postponed in December. But the electoral authorities have not set a date. “Any election in the short term would be a defeat for Chavismo,” said Edgard Gutierrez, an analyst with pollster Venebarometro. But the electoral prospects for the center-right opposition coalition look slim. Popular Will party leader Leopoldo Lopez is in jail. Prominent opposition leader Henrique Capriles of the Justice First party has been ofﬁcially banned from politics by authorities. Opposition parties are obliged to go through an electoral registration process that could lead to some of them being excluded. But aside from dangerous street protests, some of them see the prospect of regional elections this year as their only remaining lever for pressuring Maduro. “We have to win back votes, even though these elections will not resolve the underlying problem,” said Miguel Pizarro, an opposition member of the legislature. “We have to take part and combine the elections with resistance in the street to change the government.” Maduro on Sunday welcomed an offer by Pope Francis of Vatican mediation but opposition leaders rebuffed the overture, insisting that there must be a timetable for general elections. AFP

ONSTAGE. Alyssa Edwards speaks onstage during the 3rd Annual RuPaul’s DragCon day 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 30, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Tot’s disappearance haunts Portuguese resort PRAIA DA LUZ―Scarred by Madeleine McCann’s disappearance 10 years ago, the seaside resort town of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal is struggling to shake off the mystery surrounding the British toddler. “The residents are all fed up... 10 years later we want to forget all this. It’s a shame that this case shed a bad light on this lovely place, it’s totally unfair,” says Ron Clark, a 68-year-old retired British soldier. “Praia da Luz doesn’t deserve this. There has been too much fake news,” said David S. Jones, 72, a writer from London who has lived there for 45 years. Many British expatriates in the city gather in the shady courtyard of the Baptista supermarket,

spending mornings buried in British newspapers and drinking tea. But the subject of “Maddie” rouses the group, interrupting the calm routine. About 200 meters away, the blinds of apartment 5A at the Ocean Club hotel complex are closed. Madeleine disappeared from one of the apartment’s rooms on May 3, 2007, days before her fourth birthday, while her parents were having dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant. Was it a kidnapping? An accidental death? Homicide? After 10 years, hundreds of hours of questioning and numerous searches, the case remains a mystery to Portuguese police and Scotland Yard. The girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, say they are con-

vinced their daughter was kidnapped and have vowed to do “whatever it takes” to ﬁnd her. British police scaled back their search in 2015 after launching a new investigation in 2011. Scotland Yard said this month that they were still pursuing “critical” lines of inquiry. The tenth anniversary of her disappearance is a “horrible marker of time, stolen time”, Kate McCann wrote on Facebook. There are no more photos of the blonde girl on Praia da Luz’s cobblestone streets or near the whitewashed church frequented by the McCanns. “We haven’t forgotten her. We still pray for Maddie every Sunday as we do for all missing children,” says John Payne, 76, a member of

the Anglican parish. The only visible trace is on some traffic signs, where “STOP McCann circus” is spray-painted in stenciled white letters, reflecting the frustrations of many in the city. The McCanns seem to have few supporters in the ancient fishing village in Portugal’s southern region of Algarve. It is a slice of paradise for the overwhelmingly British population, which makes up two-thirds of the town’s 3,500 inhabitants. The huge amount of media attention spooked vacationers, especially families with young children, in the years after the girl’s disappearance. “The hotel sector suffered for three or four years. The Ocean

Club lost a lot of clients, which had a ricochet effect on other hotels too,” says the town’s deputy mayor Nuno Luz. The Ocean Club laid off workers, Luz said, paring staff levels back to just 20 employees from 400. “But meanwhile, tourism has returned to normal levels,” he said. Holiday-makers stroll along the palm-lined promenade that borders a sandy beach where children play on a cloudy day ahead of the high tourist season. “It’s a safe place. I have been coming here regularly with my children aged of seven, ﬁve and two years,” says Jo White, a 38-year-old Briton with a big smile. AFP

‘Baghdaddy’: New York turns war into musical

DEMONSTRATION. People walk in front ofa huge placard depicting a chain and reading ‘freedom is our religion’ during a May Day demonstration in central Kiev organized by Ukrainian left wing parties and trade unions on May 1, 2017. AFP

NEW YORK―The Iraq war may not sound like musical comedy, but an Off-Broadway revival is spinning intelligence failures and tragedy into a farce that offers potent messages for Donald Trump’s America. “Baghdaddy” officially opens on Monday, telling the true story of an Iraqi defector, code named Curveball, whose claims about weapons of mass destruction became justification for the US-led invasion in 2003. “If you put ‘Hamilton’ and ‘The Office’ in a blender you would have this show,” says producer Charlie Fink of the Broadway smash hit about American founding father Alexander and the US television sitcom. The plot opens in the present day with disgraced CIA spies gathering at a support group― think Spooks Anonymous―as they seek understanding and redemption for the mistakes that haunt them years later. The action then switches back in time to Frankfurt airport, where the informant offers to trade apparent secrets about Saddam Hussein’s presumed bio-weapons program for political asylum. German intelligence consults

the CIA, where analysts driven by ambition, ofﬁce crushes and intransigent bosses see Curveball as a ticket out of everyday routine and a fast-track to promotion. But the growing farce quickly gives way to the 9/11 attacks, swapping comedy for tragedy and the onset of a war still being fought today, 14 years after an invasion found no weapons of mass destruction. It’s a fast-paced script woven into a tight score that blends traditional musical theater and camp dancing with hip-hop tracks that carry a stark warning that history should not repeat itself. Fink says it is more relevant than ever in today’s climate of “fake news” and “alternative facts” as some fear that Trump could drag the country into another conﬂict, if not in Syria then over North Korea. “It has an immediacy that it didn’t have in 2015 and a sense that we’re doing this all again,” says Fink, referring to a short run two years ago. “It feels like a time when rules are being rewritten and authority is listening to its instincts, rather than listening to facts and analysis. And that’s scary,” says Fink. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

Video market loves Russell

World

Media warn of ‘Trump risk’ S EOUL―South Korean media on Monday warned of a “Trump risk” threatening the alliance between Washington and Seoul amid high tensions over the North’s weapons ambitions.

The two countries are bound by a defense pact and 28,500 US troops are stationed in the South. But the new US president has said in recent interviews that Seoul should pay for a “billion-dollar” US missile defense system being deployed in the South to guard against threats from the nucleararmed North. He has also pushed for renegotiation of what he called a “horrible” bilateral free trade pact that went into effect five years ago, calling it an “unacceptable... deal made by Hillary”. The remarks stunned Seoul, with South Korean politicians immediately rejecting his push for payment for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD battery. Tensions are high over the North’s nuclear and missile programs―it has ambitions to develop a rocket that can deliver a warhead to the US mainland―and the threats on both sides have raised fears of conflict. “Trump’s mouth rattling Korea-US alliance” said a front-page headline in South Korea’s top-selling Chosun daily on Monday. “There are issues that are far more important than just money,” it said in an editorial. “If either country keeps reducing the alliance to the matter of money or the economy, it is bound to undermine basic trust.” Seoul, it said, needed to come up with “various Plan Bs” for the future. The THAAD system is being installed at a former golf course in the South. This has infuriated China, which sees it as compromising its own capabilities and has responded with a series of measures seen as economic retaliation, even as Washington looks to Beijing to rein in Pyongyang. Trump told CBS on Sunday that if the North carried out a sixth nuclear test he “would not be happy”. “And I can tell you also, I don’t believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either,” Trump said. “We’ll see” whether that signified military action, said Trump, who also described the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un as a “pretty smart cookie”. Over the weekend Seoul’s presidential office said US National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster had appeared to backtrack on THAAD, telling his South Korean counterpart by phone that the US would bear the cost of the missile deployment as initially agreed. But McMaster told Fox News Sunday that the “last thing” he would ever do was contradict the president, and that “the relationship on THAAD, on our defence relationship going forward, will be renegotiated as it’s going to be with all of our allies”. Another major South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, accused Trump’s administration of sending “confusing and contradictory messages”, creating a “chaotic situation” that dealt a “huge blow” to the bilateral alliance. “The US must be well aware of the pain and backlash Seoul has endured to push for the THAAD deployment,” it added. Asked in the Fox News interview about the possibility of mass casualties in South Korea in the event of conflict―Seoul is within range of the North’s conventional artillery―McMaster responded: “What the president has first and foremost on his mind is to protect the American people.” AFP

DRESS REHEARSAL. Australian Ballet’s dancers perform during a dress rehearsal for ‘Nutcracker-The story of Clara’ at the Opera House in Sydney on May 1, 2017.

N. Korea says another nuke test coming SEOUL―North Korea warned Monday it will carry out a nuclear test “at any time and at any location” set by its leadership, in the latest rhetoric to fuel jitters in the region. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running high for weeks, with signs that the North might be preparing a longrange missile launch or a sixth nuclear test―and with Washington refusing to rule out a military strike in response. A spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said Pyongyang was “fully ready to respond to any option taken by the US”. The regime will continue bolstering its “preemptive nuclear attack” capabilities unless Washington scrapped its

hostile policies, he said in a statement carried by the state-run KCNA news agency. “The DPRK’s measures for bolstering the nuclear force to the maximum will be taken in a consecutive and successive way at any moment and any place decided by its supreme leadership,” the spokesman added, apparently referring to a sixth nuclear test and using the North’s ofﬁcial name, the Democratic Republic of Korea. The North has carried out ﬁve nuclear tests in the last 11 years and is widely believed to be making progress towards its dream of building a missile capable of delivering a warhead to the continental United States.

It raises the tone of its warnings every spring, when Washington and Seoul carry out joint exercises it condemns as rehearsals for invasion, but this time fears of conﬂict have been fuelled by a cycle of threats from both sides. The joint drills have just ended, but naval exercises are continuing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) with a US strike group led by the aircraft carrier US Carl Vinson. The Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman said if the North was not armed with “the powerful nuclear force”, Washington would have “committed without hesitation the same brigandish aggression act in Korea as what it committed against other countries”. AFP

LOS ANGELES―If not for Kurt Russell’s mainstream, boyish good looks, the phrase “cult star” would work for this unpredictable actor whose career includes some of history’s bestloved box office flops. Picture the 66-year-old’s performances in comedy crime caper “Big Trouble in Little China,” sci-fi horror film “The Thing” or buddy cop movie “Tango and Cash,” and it’s easy to see why he has just about attained “national treasure” status. In truth, these movies, like many of his best-known roles, made no significant money during their theatrical runs, and each was panned by critics before enjoying a second lease on life in the home video market. “I’ve done things that I loved that didn’t get a very good release or were ill-timed or that people didn’t want to see, but then got found and became cult movies,” Russell told AFP in an interview in Los Angeles. “’The Thing’ was not at the time well received. Now it’s considered one of the great horror movies.... ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ was a movie that was completely misunderstood by a lot of people, loved by some. It really has a big cult following.” This month sees Russell as the common denominator in two of 2017’s biggest blockbusters, with “The Fate of the Furious” having broken worldwide box office records and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” expected to be one of the largest domestic openings of all time. “When that happens, it’s nice. It’s just nice to have the moment happen where two of them go ‘boom boom,’” the actor said, settling into his chair in a West Hollywood hotel. Sitting firmly to the right of the political spectrum―he calls himself a libertarian―Russell is a passionate supporter of gun ownership rights and enjoys hunting elk at the Colorado ranch he shares with his partner of 34 years, the actress Goldie Hawn. A Tinseltown outsider in almost every respect―even his LA home is an hour’s drive to the coast from Hollywood Boulevard―he has never won a major acting prize, doesn’t go to many showbiz parties and is not even a member of the Academy. His first movie was a twoweek shoot with Elvis Presley in “It Happened at the World’s Fair” (1963), but he made his name as a young teen on a series of family-friendly live-action Disney movies. He became friendly with Walt Disney and has often recounted how, shortly after the mogul’s death in 1966, he was shown a sheet of paper on which the great man had scrawled his last written words: “Kirt Russell.” Disney took his plans for the young actorand the reason for the odd spelling―to the grave but it was not the last time opportunity knocked briefly for Russell before being snatched, or pushed, away. AFP

Junta chief accepts Trump invite

DAY 3. Singer Kenny Chesney performs on the Toyota Mane Stage during day 3 of the 2017 Stagecoach California’s Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 30, 2017, in Indio, California. AFP

BANGKOK―Thailand’s junta chief has accepted an invitation to visit the White House from President Donald Trump, his spokesman said Monday, the latest autocrat to be embraced by the US leader. The offer came during a phone conversation on Sunday night, part of a ﬂurry of calls Trump made to Southeast Asian leaders over the weekend trying to shore up regional support over the troubled Korean peninsula. On Sunday he extended a White House invitation to Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, whose brutal antidrugs campaign has claimed thousands of lives and led to warnings from rights groups about possible crimes against humanity. “The Prime Minister thanked and accepted President Trump’s invitation to visit the United States,” junta spokesman Major General Werachon Sukhonhapatipak said in a statement, adding that the offer to visit had been reciprocated by Bangkok.

Thailand’s former army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power three years ago, anointing himself prime minister and ushering in the kingdom’s most autocratic government in a generation. The coup strained ties with the Barack Obama administration as the military jailed dissidents, banned protests and ramped up prosecutions under the kingdom’s draconian lese majeste law. But the generals who now run Thailand―a former staunch US ally that has moved closer to Beijing since the coup―know they are now less likely to be berated for their dismal rights record under Trump, who has had much fewer qualms about embracing autocrats. He also recently called Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on winning a controversial referendum that will dramatically increase his powers. And Trump’s rhetoric towards China, a popular punch-

ing bag during the campaign, has noticeably softened since his meeting with President Xi Jinping in Florida last month. Many Southeast Asian nations have looked to the Trump administration with some trepidation. He has shown little appetite for his predecessor’s Asia “pivot” and he swiftly scrapped the TPP trade deal after taking office. Trump is due to visit two regional summits―in Vietnam and the Philippines―towards the end of the year. The Thai junta statement was light on specifics but said Trump “had confidence in the Thai government” and that the two countries were ready to “enhance bilateral cooperation in all dimensions”. Like Trump, the arch-royalist general Prayut enjoys berating the media and speaking off the cuff at length, including during weekly “Bringing Happiness Back to Thailand” speeches that are broadcast on all channels. AFP

HE BLOOMING, a solo exhibit of Meliza Gonzales held recently at the Sunshine Place, showcased why art is for all ages and why it’s never too late to become an artist. Meliza, who had no previous experience in painting began attending workshops at the senior center under Art Association of the Philippines President Fidel Sarmiento in 2015. At that time, “she thought that life has plateaued with grown-up kids taking more control of their lives,” shares one of her daughters, Giliza. It was her husband Gil who encouraged her to take painting lessons at the Sunshine Place. While she was hesitant at first, Meliza took the big leap, and with the guidance of Maestro Fidel, the blooming went into over drive. It was not long before Meliza participated in the Sunshine Place’s group exhibits for its art class students. The Blooming, her first solo exhibit, features her acrylic paintings—from florals, greeneries and forests, to cityscapes and memories of the provincial life. Meliza is grateful for the different kind of fulfillment and confidence that the art program has brought. She shares that through painting she has rediscovered another side of herself after raising children and having a career in banking and in the food business. Sarmiento, on the other hand, was elated over this special achievement of one of his most hardworking students. Meliza, he says, is always the first to arrive at the Sunshine Place to work on her paintings, but also the last to leave. He adds that she “showed potential ever since she began her first painting which looked like a professional’s work.” Sunshine Place offers art classes to seniors, as well as adults, teens and kids. At the core of the workshops, are mentoring sessions in hands-on techniques, application of different brushes and basic strokes, and color rendering. Participants get to explore different styles in creating still life, landscape, cityscape, underwater, animals and portrait paintings. Sunshine Place, a senior recreation center under the Felicidad Tan Sy Foundation, is a venue for adults to live actively, through engaging in recreational classes and age-appropriate physical training programs. It is the venue to be entertained, to socialize and to reflect; a place of happiness and wellness for one’s mind, body and soul.

Life

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

CULTURE & MEDIA

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

Bridge in Autumn, acrylic on canvas (24x30)

Meliza Gonzales and why art is for all ages

For more information, visit the Sunshine Place at #56 Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati City; or call (02) 856-4144 and (0917) 515-5656; and email seniorhubjupiter@gmail.com. Meliza Gonzales, husband Gil and their children: Patrick Xavier, Maria Marga, Marie Anne, Maria Andrea, Maria Giliza, Rafael and Jonathan. They are joined by family friend and University of Asia Pacific Professor Dr. Paul Dumol (left) and RFM President and CEO and ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chair Joey Concepcion (7th from left).

Larong Bata, acrylic on canvas (16x20)

Banqueta, acrylic on canvas (18x24)

Open the ‘Chakra Doors’

100 years of Cesar Legaspi THE Cultural Center of the Philippines and 100 Years of Cesar Legaspi present Lying in State, the much-anticipated launching exhibit of National Artist Cesar Legaspi’s birth centenary. Lying in State is on view at the CCP’s Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery) and on the 2nd and 3rd floor hallway galleries until June 4. Featuring the artist’s public art projects and state commissions, including those from the collections of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Museum of the Philippines, and Malacañang Palace, Lying in State features unique collaborations with younger generations of artists from diverse fields: from lantern makers of Pampanga to media artists taking off from Legaspi pieces employing animation and video projection. Viewing hours are from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s free to the public. Aside from the exhibit itself, a series of related activities will be held until June at the CCP as an educational component to the exhibition.

Games for Three (1972), oil on wood from the collection of CCP (Photo by Philip Escudero)

For more information, contact the CCP Visual Arts & Museum Division, Production & Exhibition Department at landlines (02) 832-1125 local 1504/1505, or (02) 832-3702, mobile (0917) 603-3809, email ccp.exhibits@gmail.com, or visit www. culturalcenter.gov.ph.

CHAKRA DOORS, the fifth solo show of Manila-based Indian visual artist Manju Gagoomal at the ArtistsSpace of the Ayala Museum promises to be more than six-foot canvases based on Rajisthani doors. It was her trip to Rajisthan in 2014 that served inspiration for this show. It is an expression of the artist’s love and passion for her motherland India and a tribute to her parents, children, siblings and family. Inspired by Indian architecture and spirituality, the exhibition showcases huge stretches of canvas that depict abstracted images of beautiful Indian doors, which are the artist’s representations of herself through the Hindu concept of Chakras (Sanskrit for “wheel”), or energy thresholds or centers of the body based on Hindu belief. A global artist who practices and teaches Brahmasatya, Manju considers each door a self-portrait emitting the colors and energies of the nine major chakras. It is interesting that she chose to portray these doors as closed but she feels they are open as viewers just have to go in them themselves. Chakra Doors connects her art and meditation healing world, her youth, the present and her future wishes. As such, she presents a deeper insight into herself in this exhibition. On the other hand, her interest in painting finishes shows in the exhibition as it juxtaposes different textures, mediums and faux finishes. Viewers will find themselves perplexed and enthralled with the beautifully crafted faux finishes of the abstracted doors that will transport them back in time to Rajisthan. Chakra Doors runs until May 8 at ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum.

Manju Gagoomal’s fifth solo show features Rajisthani doors

The door paintings on display are closed but the artist feels are open

Life

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

CCP celebrates

NICK JOAQUIN CENTENNIAL

HE Cultural Center of the Philippines celebrates the birth centenary of National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquín with artistic activities highlighting his works at 1 p.m. on May 4 in various CCP venues. The event, entitled Nick Joaquín. He lives is supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). It is free and open to the public.

There will be a screening of Sari Dalena’s film Dahling Nick at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde (Dream Theater) at 1 p.m. followed by an opening ceremony of the celebration, 4: 15 p.m. at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater). The ceremony will be highlighted by a dance performance entitled Amada by Ballet Philippines, poetry reading by writer Pete Lacaba, a theatrical presentation of an excerpt of Nick Joaquín’s How Love Came to Juan Tamad, and the unveiling of Nick Joaquín’s Portrait and Commemorative Stamp Design, among other activities. Likewise, Aparador ni Quijano de Manila, an

exhibition featuring Joaquin’s personal items and portraits opens at 5:30 p.m at the Pasilyong Victorio Edades. “Small Beer,” an informal discussion about Nick Joaquín’s life and works, will follow at the Atrium and 4th Floor Hallway at 6 p.m. and will also include the launching of The Woman Who Had Two Navels and Tales of the Tropical Gothic, published by Penguin Random House. Nick Joaquín was named National Artist of the Philippines in the field of literature in 1976, the highest recognition given by the state for an artist in the country. He was regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino

writer in English writing so variedly and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino. He also enriched the English language with critics coining “Joaquinesque” to describe his baroque Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms. Aside from his handling of language, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera writes that Nick Joaquin’s significance in Philippine literature involves his exploration of the Philippine colonial past under Spain and his probing into the psychology of social changes as seen by the young, as exemplified in stories such as Doña Jeronima, Candido’s Apocalypse and The Order of Melchizedek. Nick Joaquin wrote plays, novels, poems, short stories and essays including reportage and journalism. As a journalist, Nick Joaquin used the pseudonym Quijano de Manila. His voluminous works included The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of the Five Bat-

The works of National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin will be highlighted in a series of artistic activities in various CCP venues

tles, Rizal in Saga, Almanac for ManileFor inquiries, contact the CCP Interños, and Cave and Shadows. textual Division at 832-1125 loc. 1707 Nick Joaquín passed away on April or 0919-3175708 or ccpintertextualdivi29, 2004. sion@gmail.com.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

PPO Sunsets at Makiling

The six recipients of Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 2017 Local Tour Grants Program

Tour grantees for 2017 THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) thru its Cultural Exchange Department announced the six recipients of 2017 Local Tour Grants Program. The following regional performing groups are this year’s tour grantees: from Mindanao, RMMC Teatro Ambahanon (Gen. Santos City), MSU-IIT Integrated Performing Arts Guild (Iligan City); from Visayas, Little Boy Productions (Cebu), Maskara Theater Ensemble (Bacolod); from Luzon, Sining Banwa Performance Collective (Albay), UPLB Choral Ensemble (Laguna). Each of the grantees will receive a tour grant of P60,000 each to enable them to implement a short tour and render two performances with audience interaction of their local productions

within or outside their region from July to September this year. Through the Local Tour Grants Program, the CCP CED endeavors to support and motivate local cultural performing groups to achieve artistic excellence and promote local art and cultural expressions in various venues and communities and more importantly, present the flourishing of arts and culture in the regions. Since it was re-established in 2014, the program has assisted 19 region-based performing groups and reached an audience of 39,011 in 27 communities/provinces from 2014 to 2016. For more information, contact the CED at tel. no. (02) 832-1125 local 17081709, telefax (02) 832-674 and email address ccp.ced2014@gmail.com.

BRING picnic baskets and enjoy the sunset at the mountaintop venue as the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country’s premier orchestra, serenades the public with classical strains from beloved operas on May 6, 5 p.m. at the Tanghalang Maria Makiling of the National Arts Center in Los Baños, Laguna. The event, presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc., is free to the public. Entitled PPO Sunsets at Makiling, the program includes overtures, arias, and ensemble pieces from well-known operas including Verdi’s La Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen, De Leon’s Noli Me Tangere, among others. The concert’s music director and vocal coach is international Filipino baritone Andrew Fernando. PPO Sunsets at Makiling is one of the CCP’s flagship outreach programs in the arts that bring the PPO to audiences in Los Baños and other cities and towns outside Laguna for a rare experience of live orchestral music. Set in the beautiful backdrop of sunset in the mountains, the concert features light popular works written by the great classical music masters. This year, the PPO will be joined by young tal-

PPO Sunsets at Makiling’s program includes overtures, arias, and ensemble pieces from well-known operas

ented opera singers in a performance of excerpts from well-loved operas. Conducted by PPO Associate Conductor Herminigildo Ranera, the annual concert brings opera closer to its audience as it features up and coming opera singers including soprano Nerissa De Juan, mezzo soprano Ma. Krissan Manikan, tenor Lorenz Lapresca, and baritones Belford Mabunga and Joseleo Logdat. An open theater located on the slopes of Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, the Tanghalang Maria Makiling is a National Arts Center structure that can accommodate up to a thousand complete with state of the art lights and sound system suitable for low, medium and large scale productions and performances.

Established in 1976 as a haven for young and aspiring artists, the National Arts Center is tucked away in mythical Mt. Makiling, Laguna. Its various buildings and facilities are scattered over 13.5 hectares of the Makiling Forest Reservation and also houses the Philippine High School for the Arts, a government-run secondary educational institution for gifted young artists. The NAC’s unique location offers a perfect vacation hideaway and its laid-back and contemplative atmosphere sets the mood to relax, unwind and recharge one’s energies. Jeepneys to the National Arts Center will be available at the Baker Hall of the University of the Philippines Los Baños from 2 p.m. onwards on May 6 for P0 (one way).

OPERA IN CINEMA

HD season 4 ends with ‘Tristan Und Isolde’ RICHARD WAGNER’S Tristan und Isolde is the sixth and last offering of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Metropolitan Opera in HD Season 4 on May 9, 6:30pm at Cinema 3 of Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Tristan und Isolde opened the Met season in a new production by Mariusz Treliński (the director responsible for the 2014–15 season’s double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle), and was served by a cast of outstanding Wagnerians: Nina Stemme as Isolde, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, and René Pape as King Marke, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, in one of his rare appearances at the Met. The New York Times regarded the said opera as an “audacious new production… Compelling, vulnerable performances… from a strong cast, especially the astonishing soprano Nina Stemme… [Her Isolde is] outstanding... from steely rawness to melting warmth.” Stuart Skelton “sings with musical integrity and feeling.” Simon Rattle conducts with “impressively balanced clarity and

richness, coolness and intensity, intelligence and impetuosity.” The CCP’s Met Opera in HD series, in cooperation with The Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc. features screenings of the latest operatic productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York through High-Definition digital technology. For more information, please call Greenbelt 3 cinemas Customer Service Hotline: 757-7883 or CCP Sales and Promotions at 832-3706; e-mail address: ccpsalesandpromo@gmail.com.

Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme in the title roles of ‘Tristan und Isolde’

Dulaang Filipino’s rendition of ‘Oedipus’ wins Best International Show by the International University of La Rioja Award in the recent IV Premios Escenamateur ‘Juan Mayorga’ de las Artes Escenicas

THEATER

Dulaang Filipino wins prize from Spanish amateur theater federation

DULAANG FILIPINO (DF), the resident theater company of De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), was recognized Best International Show for their rendition of Oedipus. The honor was conferred by the International University of La Rioja Award (UNIR) in the recent IV Premios Escenamateur “Juan Mayorga” de las Artes Escénicas. The prize, which promotes and supports the amateur theater in Spain, recognizes the best production from around the world based on online video submissions. Oedipus bested nominees from Algeria,

Colombia, France, Israel and Ukraine. DF’s Oedipus is a one-hour reduction of Sophocles’ Theban trilogy, consisting of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, in Filipino translations by Rolando Tinio and Onofre Pagsanjan. The production, directed by Riki Benedicto, was performed at the UP Theater Council’s Curtail Call Play Festival in 2014 and at the Mont-Laurier International Theatre Festival in Quebec, Canada in 2015. The Premios Escenamateur is organized by Spanish Amateur Theater Federation (Escenamateur), with the

support of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the The Spanish General Society for Authors and Publishers. Escenamateur was founded in 2009 to boost the status of and recognition for the work undertaken by amateur theater groups. It is also a esteemed arbiter of various public and private institutions, both from Spain and abroad, through its active presence in International Amateur Theatre Association (AITA/IATA) and International Council of Latin Culture Amateur Theatre Federations (CIFTA).

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

N A rare team-up, two of the most talked about stars from rival networks are featured for the ﬁrst time in the latest Cebuana Lhuillier TV commercial.

Popstar Princess Sarah Geronimo and Pambansang Bae Alden Richards share the screen along with the former’s mother Divine Geronimo to endorse the products and services of the microﬁnancial company. Called “Hero’s Welcome,” the TVC features the Geronimos revisiting their old neighborhood while recalling their family’s humble beginnings and

narrating how Cebuana Lhuillier, particularly its pawning services, has been a great help when they were struggling to make both ends meet. Mother and daughter visit a nearby Cebuana Lhuillier branch and Richards welcomes and introduces the company’s newest offering; microloans. The success story of the Geronimos and the addition of a new range of products is symbolic of the company’s impact in the lives of Filipinos and its evolution from a pawnshop to a full-service microﬁnancial institution, which offers complete microﬁnancial solutions including pawning, remittance, microloans, and microinsurance, among others. According to Cebuana Lhuillier, the bringing

together of the two stars is the company’s treat to their customers as it celebrates it 30th anniversary. “This is a very important year for Cebuana Lhuillier so we brought together two of our endorsers in one TVC, along with Mommy Divine who has been a client of ours even before her daughter entered show business. It is also a good way to show how the company has helped Filipinos in the last 30 years and introduce new ways that we can support even more individuals and families.” Sarah has been a Cebuana Lhuillier endorser since 2008 while Alden Richards became the brand’s ambassador last year and has since headlined a three-part series of heart-warming Cebuana Lhuillier remittance TVCs.

Inspiring reality and lifestyle shows WHETHER you’re daydreaming about gourmet dishes and desserts, imagining your ideal house or vacation, FYI has got just the right line-up to feed you some inspiration. Begin with Feed Your Wanderlust, Thursdays, 8 to 10:45 p.m. starting on May 4. Follow the promising home-cooks of MasterChef New Zealand Season 4 and Season 5 and the passionate bakers of The Great Australian Bake Off as they showcase their talents and go through a series of grueling challenges. Brand new series Gok’s Fill Your House for Free airs 9:50 p.m. every Monday. Author, television presenter and fashion consultant Gok Wan has reopened the “Fill Your House for Free” shop in Glasgow, stocking it with furniture, which has been sourced for free. Each day, Gok will invite a family to embrace upcycling and prove to them that

you can really transform your house without breaking your bank. With plenty of practical tips and inspirational advice, Gok will show that second hand is not second best. Many of us daydream about what it would be like to drop off the grid and live a simpler life. Starting at 8:55 tonight, Unplugged Nation follows a family each week and leave the city life behind and a take the leap into off-grid living. The families will learn what it takes to live the “unplugged” way of life – from growing their own food, running their own electricity to fending for themselves – then they will decide whether they can hack it off-grid or need to move back to the city. Look forward to new episodes of Waterfront Housing Season 2 8:55 p.m. every Wednesday. Real estate expert Nick Waldner will help prospective buyers ﬁnd the home of their dreams in the perfect

MasterChef New Zealand

waterfront location. Nick will unearth oneof-a-kind properties for water craving buyers and give them a peek inside some of the most incredible waterfront homes. Seven Year Switch Season 2 is back with new episodes, 9:50 p.m. every Saturday. The series follows the journey of another four couples that have hit breaking point in their marriage. Each of the couples will participate in an extreme innovative experiment of switch therapy in which they swap partners and partake in experimental marriages in order to help determine if different traits and characteristics in a partner could make their marriage stronger. Will their temporary partners be able to ﬁll the void they’ve been yearning for, or will they discover that the grass isn’t always greener? FYI™ is available on SKYCable Ch 79; Cable Link Ch. 44; Dream Satellite Ch 21.

Gok’s Fill Your House for Free

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, May 2, 2017

ACROSS 1 Post-toast sound 6 Roof problem 10 Sidewalk — 14 Wheel spokes 15 Pulpit 16 Parroted 17 Bounding main 18 Made do 20 Artichoke heart? 21 — up (adorn) 23 Abominable 24 Lhasa — 25 Butter container 26 Slow tempo 29 Fan noise 33 Pine product 34 Bandleader Count — 35 “Addams Family” cousin 37 In that case (2 wds.) 38 Light bender 39 Patella site 40 Hectic place 41 Bart or Ringo 42 Cipher expert 43 Bliss 45 Hair color 46 “— -la-la!” 47 Purple flower 48 Lax 51 Social positions 53 Back-fence yowler

56 Squatting down 58 Prefix meaning “image” 60 — vera lotion 61 Spicy stew 62 Nifty 63 Dorm view 64 Leather item 65 Ewoks’ home DOWN 1 Gator kin 2 Draw together 3 — fixe 4 Ms. Peeples 5 Bill Murray movie 6 Dogie stopper 7 Tall birds 8 Advice giver 9 Bout enders 10 Greenish melon 11 Bldg. units 12 Paws 13 Swirling water 19 Harden by use 22 GI entertainers 24 Moneyexchange fee 25 Rickrack 26 Border st. 27 “Moll Flanders” author 28 Org. cousin 29 Frightful, in slang 30 Gorbachev’s

domain 31 Shiva devotee 32 Guide 34 Bikini halves 36 Sea bird 38 Universe creator, along the Nile 39 Gemsbok cousins 41 Tend the furnace 42 Culinary style 44 Slugged 45 Clumsy vessel

47 Gold brick 48 Hoopster — O’Neal 49 Doozie 50 Dwarf buffalo 51 Exasperate 52 Indigo plant 53 Insect eater 54 Latch — 55 Drop anchor 57 Stick up 59 Five score yrs.

Great Australian Bake Off

29TH CCP independent film and video tilt accepting entries THE Cultural Center of the Philippines is inviting Filipino filmmakers to join the Ika-29 Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video (CCP Independent Film and Video Competition) on Aug. 5-7 at the CCP. All works must be strictly independent works and not produced for commercial screening. Schoolbased works (i.e. theses) are eligible. Entries must have been completed not earlier than June 4. Competition categories are: Short Feature/ Narrative, Experimental, Documentary and Animation. Each participant may submit a maximum of three entries in each category. Cash prizes will be given to winners of the different categories. Special Awards will be given for Best Regional Entry and Best Entry for/on/by Children. Honorable mention may be awarded by the jury. Winners of the competition will be announced in the awards ceremony on August 7 at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde (CCP Dream Theater). Pre-selected entries to the competition will be screened from Aug. 5-7 at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde. The Gawad Alternatibo will be held as part of the 13th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition on Aug. 4-13 at various CCP venues and Ayala Theaters. Deadline for submission of entries is not later than 6 p.m. on May 31 (Wednesday) at the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division Office (Media Arts Division), 4th Floor, CCP Main Bldg. Entry forms, guidelines and mechanics can be downloaded from the CCP website at www. culturalcenter.gov.ph and Cinemalaya website at www.cinemalaya.org Established in 1987, the Gawad Alternatibo is considered the longest-running independent film competition of its kind in the ASEAN/Asian region. Many of today’s outstanding filmmakers and media practitioners are alumni of Gawad Alternatibo. For inquiries, call CCP Media Arts at 832-1125 locals 1705 and 1712.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017

‘On The Job 2’ mini series in August on HOOQ HOOQ Team celebrates another milestone as it announces second installment of “On The Job” on its second anniversary

Seasoned director Erik Matti

T’S confirmed.

ISAH V. RED Besides the much-awaited On The Job mini series, there will also be a new movie in August. Director Erik Matti made the announcement at the second anniversary celebration of HOOQ recently. “Yes, we are doing a new On The Job movie and it would accompany the upcoming mini series as well. The movie will be shown ﬁrst followed by the series a few weeks after,” Matti told Manila Standard. “It is the ﬁrst time we will be doing a movie with a series component so it’s a big risk and a scary challenge,” he added. Matti said they are shooting the movie concurrently with the scenes for the initial episodes of the series. The new OTJ movie furthers the theme of the 2013 original that deals with politics and corruption, but this time it will also involve the media, inspired by real events. The cast, announced last year, is led by Bela Padilla, Arjo Atayde, Christopher de Leon, Dominic Ochoa, Jake Macapagal, Smokey Manaloto, Ria Atayde, Levi Ignacio, and Renz Fernandez with Leo Martinez reprising his role as the evil General Pacheco. “The movie will cross over. Let’s put it this way, the movie is complete. But there’s something there that will make you watch the series,” describes

Jane Cruz-Walker HOOQ Philippines country manager. OTJ is the first and biggest local production exclusively made for a video on demand service such as HOOQ. “In the industry, we always talk about how we can uplift the quality of content. This is one platform where you can really have that opportunity because you can experiment, you can be daring, you can be bold. You are not limited (in exploring possibilities).” This is where Erik Matti’s On The Job (OTJ): The Series comes in as HOOQ’s first venture into producing original content, Walker notes. HOOQ – the largest Video on Demand service in SouthEast Asia, has had a very productive start since it began two years ago, delivering the best of both Asian and Hollywood entertainment to homes across Asia. HOOQ now has subscribers in the millions, all of whom can enjoy over 30,000 hours of quality entertainment, and this will be increased with new partnerships from Paramount Pictures, BBC Worldwide and Endemol Shine. Globe At Home customers can get up to six months access to HOOQ with plans P1,299 and up, while Globe mobile customers can also get up to six months trial on selected prepaid and postpaid plans. You may also visit www.hooq. tv to sign up for a seven-day free trial. *** GMA Network recorded an unprecedented feat in Philippine broadcast history – winning no less than three Gold Medals in just one festival year alongside three finalist certificates at the 2017 New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition held in Las Vegas, U.S.A. on April 25. Bringing honor to the country anew were multi-awarded GMA Public Affairs programs – Reporter’s Notebook, Front Row, and Reel Time. GMA-7’s investigative program Reporter’s Notebook bested other nominees in the Community Portraits category for its “Pasan-Pasang Pangarap” episode. The documentary, reported by Maki Pulido, showed how two brothers had to haul sacks of charcoal to save up money for schooling. The documentary program Front Row, in turn, won a gold medal in the Human Concerns category. Its winning episode, “Bata sa Bintana,” featured the story of 13-year-old boy Zoren whose health conditions rendered him so weak that his contact with the outside world is only through their window. Meanwhile, GMA News TV’s Reel Time gave the country its third gold medal this year. The reality documentary program won in the National/International Affairs category for its “Maling Akala” episode. Aside from discussing the sensitive issue of extrajudicial killings, the documentary brought youngsters who believe that drug addicts should be killed face to face with former drug addicts who have succeeded in reforming their lives and are now community leaders. The Kapuso Network also took home three finalist certificates in this year’s New York Festivals: Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’s “Gintong Medalya” episode in the Community Portraits category; Entertainment TV’s Someone To Watch Over Me in the Telenovelas category; and GMA News TV’s Investigative Documentaries in the Community Portraits for its ‘‘PAAralan” episode.

HOOQ models during the company’s anniversary party

Receiving the awards for GMA Network were (from left) Jayson Bernard Santos (EP, Reel Time), Joseph Conrad Rubio (EP, Front Row), John Eumer Yanga (Researcher, Front Row), Arlene Carnay (Senior AVP, Public Affairs), Izza Beatriz Bermudez (Researcher, Reporter’s Notebook), Ian Simbulan (EP, Reporter’s Notebook), Maria Arilia Tolentino (Segment Producer, Reporter’s Notebook), and Clyde Rolando Mercado (Senior AVP, Public Affairs)

Five moments when you are your own supergirl WE ALL know that women sometimes just have to power through the demands of everyday life. From the office to the homes, they are experts at juggling many things at once. And more often than not, we actually know real-life Supergirls, who literally save lives and change the world with their wit, passion and dedication. These women take everything that’s thrown at them, all the time handling life’s challenges as part of an elaborate balancing act. Here are just a few ways women are so SUPER: 1. When you build a career on multitasking Supergirls are multi-taskers. Moms have perfected this skill long before their babies were even born. They can juggle all kinds of tasks at the same time – cook, change nappies and clean up – all the while keeping a high-ﬂying

professional career. You go girl! 2. Supergirls do everything for their families Women will do just about anything for their families. Sacrificing almost every aspect of their lives to ensure their family’s happiness. This makes them everyday superheroes for their husbands and children. 3. Extending a helping hand Supergirls have big hearts that leave a lot of room for helping people, just like Kara Zor-El of Supergirl whose life revolves around helping and saving people’s lives. Women nowadays always find time to make a difference in the lives of others, which is nothing short of above and beyond. 4. Battling villains Life is not always rainbows and butterflies, sometimes it can throw a curveball. However,

despite all the setbacks, you can always count on our Super Girls to respond and take swift action. Just like Supergirl facing off her nemesis, women fight through adversity and always end up with the upper hand. 5. Saving the day while still finding the time to relax Even Supergirls need time to pamper themselves. Though women might be faced with a thousand tasks every day, self-care is always important. So whether it’s a quick trip to the salon, or an hour or two of relaxation at the spa, women will always find time to destress from the hustle and bustle of their daily routine. For all you supergirls out there, sit back and relax while watching Warner TV’s Supergirl, 9 p.m. every Monday.