Manila Standard - 2017 May 18 - Thursday

CAYETANO GETS CONFIRMED IN 3 MINUTES

By Macon R. Araneta and John Paolo Bencito THE Commission on Appointments took all of three minutes Wednesday to confirm the nomination of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, but President Rodrigo Duterte’s appointments to the Health and Social Welfare departments continued to encounter rough sailing.

“I now have the distinction or the privilege of presiding over the shortest confirmation hearing of a Cabinet secretary,” said Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA’s committee on foreign affairs.

At the start of the confirmation hearing at 9 a.m., Rep. Rodolfo Albano moved in favor of Cayetano’s nomination.

As no objection was raised, Lac-

son declared Cayetano the new DFA secretary to succeed Perfecto Yasay Jr., who was rejected over questions about his citizenship.

Cayetano’s confirmation came a week after Duterte appointed him to the DFA on May 10, a day after the expiration of the one-year ban to appoint losing candidates. Cayetano was the defeated running mate of Duterte in the May 2016 elections.

During the plenary, the CA gave its consent to Cayetano’s confirmation.

The Palace welcomed Cayetano’s swift confirmation, saying he would be a welcome addition to the Cabinet.

Interviewed after his comfirmation, Cayetano said he supports the initiative of the President to pave the way for other countries such as Turkey and Mongolia to be part of

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Of course, we will support any of his initiatives. But, as he said, he will have to consult with other member states,” Cayetano said.

He said the willingness of President Duterte to allow Turkey and Mongolia to become members of the regional bloc was premised on the idea that small nations can do better by working together.

He said the President was just “opening the door” when he met with leaders of Turkey and Mongolia on the sidelines of the recently concluded Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

As Foreign Affairs secretary, Cayetano said he would continue to defend the President, but now in “more diplomatic language.”

SPEEDY CONFIRMATION. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (right) is congratulated by his Senate colleagues Pan“Definitely, the conversion from filo Lacson and Ralph Recto after getting his confirmation as Foreign Affairs Secretary from the bicameral ComNext page

mission on Appointments, which has taken less than 5 minutes to act on Cayetano’s appointment. Ey Acasio

PNP assured of China guns CHINA is offering to give 23,000 M4 carbine assault rifles to the Philippines, months after US lawmakers scuttled the sale of a similar number of long arms to the Philippine National Police over concerns about human rights violations, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa said Wednesday.

“We will not be buying... It will be

for free,” Dela Rosa said, calling the offer a gesture of goodwill.

The police chief said no deal has been signed yet, but said the donation will be done through a government-to-government agreement.

The rifles will be distributed to policemen assigned in rebel-infested

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VOL. XXXI • NO. 93 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘Sino rocket over PH reef’ DFA verifies info China has erected launchers on Kagitingan

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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HE Foreign Affairs Department said Wednesday it is verifying reports that China has built up rocket launchers in Fiery Cross Reef or Kagitingan Reef in the disputed South China Sea.

REEF ROW. Satellite images of the Kagitingan Reef (Fiery Cross), part of Spratly Islands Group where the Philippines and China have conflicting territorial claims. File Photo

2 more ASG DoJ, Ombudsman in tug-of-war over Napoles men killed By John Paolo Bencito in Sulu

By Francisco Tuyay and Florante S. Solmerin TWO more Abu Sayyaf bandits were killed during an encounter with security forces hunting the terrorist group on the outskirts of Patikul, Sulu Monday.

The latest killing of the still unidentified bandits in Sulu brought to four the number of Abu Sayyaf members slain since an 11-man terrorist team infiltrated Bohol province during the Asean Summit.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu, said the slaying of the two bandits took place in Patikul Hill at about 7 a.m.

Sobejana said troops from the 10th Infantry Battalion were Next page

THE opinion of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales should prevail in whether or not alleged porkbarrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles should be made a state witness in the planned reopening of the investigations on the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Wednesday.

He said Carpio-Morales could

still change her mind after she rejected Napoles as a state witness in the cases to be filed by the Justice Department.

“Under the law, it’s the Ombudsman who will prosecute the plunder cases. If that’s the opinion of the Ombudsman, then it should prevail,” Panelo said.

“I think what [Justice] Secretary [Vitaliano] Aguirre [II] wants is for the Ombudsman to consider such an alternative, but ultimately it’s the

Ombudsman who will decide…

[The future] Plunder cases [involving Napoles] are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.”

On Tuesday, Carpio-Morales vowed that her office would block any moves to turn Napoles into a state witness but said they were not bothered by the “exploratory talks” between the Justice Department and the Napoles camp.

Panelo said the Palace would have to defer to the decision of the

Justice Department to consider Napoles as a state witness.

“It could be that that’s the initial impression of the Ombudsman,” Panelo said.

“As I always say, there are as many opinions as there are lawyers. And lawyers can change their mind depending on the facts.”

Aguirre said Napoles could be a government witness on the new cases to be filed but not on the pending cases before the Sandiganbayan.

Kagitingan Reef is within the Spratly Islands, where China and the Philippines have conflicting territorial claims.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar reiterated that the Philippines has “dominion, sovereignty and jurisdiction” over the Kagitingan and Zamora reefs.

“We are currently verifying this information with our relevant agencies,” he said of a report in the Chinese state-run Defense Times that said that China has installed Norinco CS/AR-1 55mm anti-frogman rocket launcher defense systems on Kagitingan Reef to ward off Vietnamese military combat divers.

The rocket launcher defense system is designed to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers.

Although the report did not say when the systems were installed, it described the action as its May 2014 response to Next page

‘Impeach-Morales’ mulled

By Rio N. Araja THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Wednesday slammed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and vowed to file an impeachment complaint against her for absolving former President Benigno Aquino III in the massacre of 44 members of the Special

Action Force in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on Jan. 25, 2015.

Group founding chairman Dante Jimenez asked why Aquino was “removed” from the list of the people charged in the case before the Ombudsman.

“Based on the records of the Board of Inquiry of the Philippine Next page

House wants a hand on Neda projects

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rio N. Araja SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez has questioned the implementation of the administration’s infrastructure development program, saying the National Economic and Development Authority should first

inform the House of Representatives before it approves any projects for financing.

He wanted to put another layer in the procedures for project implementation as he said the House had the power of the purse. It was only proper that the lawmakers were first informed about what

projects the Neda would approve for financing.

“This will enable us to examine if these projects are worthy of being funded,” Alvarez told a congressional hearing.

He made the statement even as Senator Leila de Lima warned Next page

‘BAREHOUSE’. A near-empty warehouse of the National Food Authority-North District Office (Camanava Area). NFA supervisor Ariel Guevarra says the warehouse has 49, 870 sacks of rice, good for only three days. As the summer harvest of grains ends, authorities are mulling over the importation of rice to replenish NFA supply. (Related story on B3) Andrew Rabulan

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THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PNP...

From A1 provinces, which have been the site of recent attacks by the communist New People’s Army.

Dela Rosa said the offer of rifles was made during President Rodrigo Duterte’s last trip to China.

Last year, the PNP has had signed a contract to buy 26,000 Sig Sauer M4 rifles from a US manufacturer, but the US State Department stopped the deal over human rights concerns in Duterte’s war on drugs.

Dela Rosa said the PNP was still open to buying the US guns because the police force still needs more rifles.

“We are 175,000 compared to the 23,000 [rifles] that would be given my China,” Dela Rosa said. “We need more.”

The PNP is currently trying to modernize its arms and equipment to improve its capability to combat terrorist groups. Francisco Tuyay

More Pinoys get less optimistic

By John Paolo Bencito

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HE optimism among Filipinos that the quality of their lives will get better sank to its lowest since September 2015, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The survey, conducted among 1,200 respondents, found that 43 percent of those polled said the quality of their lives would improve in the next 12 months while 6 percent said it would get worse.

While the numbers yielded a net personal optimism score of +36, which was “very high,” SWS noted that this was the lowest net optimism score since

September 2015’s +33.

A December 2016 poll showed that the net personal optimism among those polled was +45.

“Before this, the net personal optimism had been at +40 and above for five consecutive quarters,” SWS said.

Meanwhile, optimism across geographical areas remained “very high” but showed a significant decline in Mindanao,

‘Sino...

are not on any island, but on maritime rights; the Philippines claims eight islands while China has eight reefs.

Reports of the missile buildup came as the Philippines and China were set to hold their first bilateral meeting on the South China Sea on Friday in Guiyang, China, with Ambassador Chito Sta. Romana leading the Philippine delegation.

“We will discuss areas where we have differences and try to understand each other’s position,” Sta. Romana said.

He added that both Manila and Beijing will also explore ways of managing their differences to further ease tensions in the South China Sea and to prevent any escalation or possible confrontation.

“The basic approach is really to manage the disputes and to be able to discuss in a frank and friendly way the developments in the South China Sea,” he said.

Recently he also said that both Manila and Beijing have agreed to hold meetings at least twice a year.

“Or more often in case the

need arises,” he said.

The envoy said the creation of the BCM is in line with the diplomatic track of President Rodrigo Duterte in resolving the territorial dispute with China.

“The problem is, if you put the dispute in front or center of the bilateral relations and then you use that, you have to solve this first before you can have trade, before you can have cultural links and so on and so forth. The result is the relations will be frozen because the disputes cannot be solved overnight. It will have to be discussed over months, if not years, or perhaps even decades of negotiations,” Sta. Romana said recently.

“So the basic approach of the Duterte administration has been to put it on separate tracks, take the dispute from the front and center, put it in a separate track, and there you discuss it, you deal with it, one by one, the issue of South China Sea, the issue of ownership, the sovereignty issue, the issue of tribunal award and the issue of the nine-dash line,” he added.

National Police, Aquino was culpable,” Jimenez told reporters.

“Even the Senate inquiry has recommended the filing of charges against Aquino.”

Jimenez said Morales wanted to block alleged pork-barrelscam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles from becoming a state witness against the lawmakers who misused their Priority Development Assistance Fund to ghost foundations to cover up the possible involvement of Aquino in the scam.

In January, Ferdinand Topacio, VACC legal counsel, accepted the challenge of Morales that the group impeach her and said the group, along with ex-Negros Occidental representative Jacinto Paras, would prepare a comprehensive complaint within 15 days or until Jan. 26.

Paras said they were now consolidating the other complaints and incorporating them into one solid impeachment complaint and would be filing it “very soon.”

He said they were carefully looking into the form and sub-

stance of the complaint before its filing.

“Originally, the parents and relatives of the other slain SAF troopers were not included as complainants. Now they will join us in the filing. That is why we are revising the complaint,” Topacio said.

At least 30 lawmakers have backed the filing of the complaint, he said, adding many of them had requested not to sign or be identified ahead of time for fear of reprisal.

“Those voting for Morales’ impeachment are facing graft and corruption charges. They raised the concern that if they were identified as early as now, the Ombudsman would swiftly act on their cases,” Topacio said.

“Do you know how powerful the Ombudsman is?”

Paras said Morales violated the 1987 Constitution and committed inordinate delays in resolving the cases at the Ombudsman and betrayal of the public trust “tantamount to tyrannical abuse of power.”

“Many cases filed by the Ombudsman have been dismissed by the Sandiganbayan not because of lack of merit but because of inordinate delays,” he said.

As far as Jimenez and the kin of the slain SAF members were concerned, they wanted Morales to resign.

“It’s been two years since my son, PO2 Nicky Nacino, was killed in the Mamasapano clash.

Still, we have not yet attained justice,” Felicitas Nacino said.

“We call on Morales to resign.”

Said Jimenez: “You could easily see the partiality of Morales when she vowed to do all just to block Napoles to turn into a state witness. Here is an Ombudsman talking and talking and talking left and right.

“You are biased. Better resign.”

Jimenez said Morales was “trying to protect Aquino.”

“Are you afraid that Napoles would drop the name of Aquino?” he said.

The VACC blames Aquino for authorizing then PNP chief Alan Purisima, despite his suspension, to give ex-SAF police director Getulio Napeñas the green light to conduct an operation to serve the arrest warrant on Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, or Marwan, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on Jan. 25, 2015. That resulted in the death of the 44 SAF men when they clashed with the Muslim rebels.

the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries led by Rep. Ben Evardone in questioning the Neda projects during a briefing Tuesday by the officials of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Development Bank of the Philippines on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a new Asianbased lending institution where the Philippines is a member.

Alvarez questioned the nature of the projects being undertaken by the Neda.

PDIC president Robert Tan told lawmakers the AIIB was a collaborative effort among 57 membercountries from Asia and around the globe, and a brainchild of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premiere Li Keqiang.

But as Tan discussed the Nedaapproved projects that are in the pipeline, such as phase 1 of the Metro Manila flood management project and the proposed bus rapid transit projects, the lawmakers noted that the projects for financing had no direct income benefit to the government, those were concentrated in Metro Manila and Congress

was notified about them only after the consummation of the projects.

“The projects mentioned are the ones where we cannot get direct income benefit,” Alvarez said. “No dams to provide irrigation which will address the shortage of rice.

We’ve been importing rice every year, and yet the government is not investing in infrastructure so we can produce rice for ourselves.”

Alvarez asked the bank officials to reconsider what projects should be supported for financing. “These should include projects where we have direct benefit, where we can recover the government’s expenses,” he said.

He urged the House committees to also require the Neda to submit the list of proposed projects of all agencies to Congress before their approval since the annual national budget emanated from the House.

“May I request the committee on banks as well as the committee on appropriations to require the Neda to submit the list of projects for approval because if they approve [these projects] without the concurrence of the appropriate com-

mittees, every year these will be liabilities of the Republic of the Philippines,” Alvarez said.

Rep. Henry Oaminal of Misamis Occidental, the committee’s vice chairman, echoed Alvarez and proposed that congressional consent must first be secured before government projects were evaluated and approved by the Neda and included in the National Expenditure Program.

“In my observation, the Neda only informs Congress of loan obligations when the projects are already consummated,” Oaminal said.

Evardone asked why the proposed projects presented during the PDIC briefing were concentrated in Metro Manila when the administration’s thrust was to develop the countryside.

“One of the priority visions of President Rodrigo Duterte is to develop the countryside,” he said.

“I think the regional projects are now also being considered seriously for proposals. We will follow up with the Neda and find out what are the possible projects that will be for the Visayas and Mindanao.”

From A1

2 more...

From A1

scouring the area when they chance upon some 15 bandits.

Two bandits were killed in the ensuing gunfight.

Ground troops recovered the two bodies as well as three rifles.

Sobejana said the fighting lasted for about five minutes before the ASG members fled in different directions.

The latest casualties bring to 81 the number of bandits killed since January, when the military launched a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.

Of the 81 bandits killed, 49 were slain in Sulu alone, while the rest were killed in Basilan.

At least 42 bandits were also wounded in various military engagements in the same period.

The government hopes to put an end to the ASG by June.

Military intelligence units, meanwhile, have stepped up operations to locate and arrest terrorists who fled the war zones of Basilan and Sulu, Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said Wednesday.

He said seven more members of the Abu Sayyaf Group were cornered by intelligence operatives together with elements of the 111th Marine Company at their hideout last Sunday in Barangay Muti Highway, Zamboanga City.

He said that after validating and confirming intelligence reports about the presence of Abu Sayyaf men, security forces immediately launched an operation to arrest the terrorists.

The operation was completed at around 10:05 p.m.

Galvez identified the arrested terrorists as Salip Alip, Benhar Hasin, Bargen Hasim, Karim Majad, Hadani Odjor, Mohammad Hatuirdin, and Jamric Ismani.

Galvez said the terrorists were about to rob a sari-sari store when the troops arrested them.

“Alip has a warrant of arrest for murder,” Wesmincom spokesperson Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay said.

She said Alip was among the men who murdered eight fishermen on Siromon island in Zamboanga City on Jan. 10.

House...

From A1 against the US$167-billion infrastructure projects of the Duterte administration that would be financed through foreign loans, and mostly from China.

She has filed Senate Resolution 377 calling for an investigation of the terms of any loan agreement with China to avoid putting the country in great debt or forcing it into commitments that could undermine its sovereignty.

“While there is a need to stimulate the economy, there is an even greater need for our economic managers to exercise extreme caution before advising our President to enter into any loan agreement of this magnitude, she said.

“Lest we end up with a debt that our children, our children’s children, and even several generations thereafter will not be able to repay, and with commitments that would violate the Constitution or undermine our sovereignty.”

Alvarez joined the members of

President Rodrigo Duterte’s home region.

The net optimism score in Mindanao dropped to +32 in March from +54 in December, a decline of 22 percentage points.

The survey also noted the significant drop of 17 points in the net optimism score among the Class E respondents polled, where the “very high” +46 rating in December fell to a “high” +29.

Some 35 percent of the respondents likewise stressed that they were “gainers” as their lives had improved over the least year, while 19 percent said they were “losers” as their lives had worsened.

Vietnamese divers who installed large numbers of fishing nets in the Paracel Islands.

China claims more than 90 percent of the South China Sea where Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims.

The Panganiban Reef, which is 70 nautical miles from Palawan and is located within the country’s 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has been occupied by China since 1994, when Beijing transformed the reef into a highly fortified military garrison.

There are more than 40 reef islands in the South China Sea which have been occupied and even garrisoned by other countries.

Vietnam occupied six islands, seventeen reefs and three banks; Taiwan has only one island and one reef; Malaysia has one artificial island and five reefs; Brunei claims a relatively small area including islands on Louisa reef; Indonesia claims

‘Impeach-...

From A1

SWS likewise noted the “very high” optimism of the respondents in the Philippine economy, with 47 percent of those polled saying the economy would get better in the next 12 months while 9 percent said it would deteriorate.

The +38 net optimism score about the economy, the SWS said, was 5 points lower than last quarter’s +43 rating.

Malacañang blamed the apparent loss of optimism among Filipinos on the rising food and gas prices.

“Net personal optimism was registered at +36, which could be attributed to [the] respondents feeling the pinch of inflation last March following the

increase in electricity cost[s] due to the Malampaya maintenance shutdown and [the] upward price adjustments in gasoline, diesel, kerosene and LPG,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

He downplayed the nonmovement in the perception of Filipinos’ personal quality of life from the December 2016 survey, which stood at +16, saying the “life for Filipinos did not become worse in the two quarters the survey was done.”

The First Quarter Social Weather Survey, conducted from March 25 to 28, had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for the national percentages.

House: Tax reforms up for fine-tuning

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives is poised to pass on second reading next week the Duterte administration’s proposed Comprehensive Tax Reform Package that leftists have denounced as anti-poor.

This came after Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez led an all-party caucus on Wednesday to finetune House Bill 4774, which aims to lower income taxes and finance the infrastructure programs of the administration.

“This is the crown jewel of the Duterte economic agenda,” Rep. Dakila Cua of Quirino, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, said at a news conference after the caucus.

Cua said the bill’s passage, which will raise taxes on fuel and petroleum products and lift some value-added tax exemptions will result in more revenues for the government.

Alvarez earlier said the House will pass the measure on third and final reading before Congress adjourns in June.

Among the key features: • The lowering of personal income tax rates as proposed by the Finance Department but indexed to cumulative Consumer Price Index inflation every three years; • A flat rate of 6 percent for the estate and donor’s taxes; • A broadening of the tax base by removing special laws on VAT exemptions, including those for cooperatives, housing and leasing, but retaining exemptions for seniors and persons with disabilities; • A staggered excise tax in-

crease for petroleum products from 2018 to 2020 but with no indexation to inflation, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as feedstock to be exempted from the hike; • A five-bracket excise tax structure for automobiles with a two-year phase-in period for the tax increases; and • Earmarking of 40 percent of the proceeds from the fuel excise tax increase for social protection programs for the first three years of the tax reform measure’s implementation.

Cua said the zero-VAT rate was also retained for the renewable energy sector and limited to direct exporters, pending the establishment of the DOF-proposed cash refund system, in which refunds can be obtained by the beneficiary-taxpayers within 90 days of their application for such exemptions.

The bill provides that employees earning P250,000 a year will be exempted from paying income tax.

Citing government data, Cua said 83 percent of tax payers belong to this category.

The bill also provides that for those earning over P250,000 but not higher than P400,000 or Bracket 2, a 20 percent tax will be imposed on the excess over P250,000 starting in the second half of 2017 to 2019.

It also proposes to retain the exemption of the first P82,000 of the 13th month pay.

Earlier, leftist lawmakers said the new tax package would hurt the poor because it would raise the cost of basic goods and services, while providing them no extra relief because they were not paying taxes anyway.

mothers like Taguiwalo.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean From A1 Rosell-Ubial also met rough sailing before the CA’s committee on politician to diplomat or from pub- health, which suspended her conlic servant in general to statesman firmation hearing, after Kabayan has to be there... I will continue to party-list Rep. Harry Roque acspeak for the President should the cused her of being incompetent, President order me to do so,” he lying to Congress and wasting government resources. said.

Roque cited Ubial’s declaration The CA’s committee on labor, employment and social welfare, that the Philippines was Zika-free, meanwhile, canceled the hearing when it was not, and for saying that for Social Welfare Secretary Judy the virus came from abroad, when Taguiwalo “for lack of time,” the it was actually spread locally.

Roque also accused Ubial of trysecond time it has done so. Taguiwalo, one of three leftists ap- ing to stop the implementation of pointed to the Cabinet and a vic- the dengue vaccine, a charge Ubial tim of torture during martial law, denied.

Roque also questioned Ubial’s described the delay as “a form of earlier plan to give condoms to torture.”

“This is a form of torture that I high school students to prevent am being subjected to by the CA AIDS instead of distributing them and its members. I am very willing to the gay community.

He also accused Ubial of turning to submit to their question[s] and answer all of them,” Taguiwalo a blind eye to anomalies in PhilHealth. said in a statement.

In answering the accusations, “I hope the esteemed members of the CA also realize that postpon- Ubial became emotional, saying ing or delaying my confirmation she had earned some enemies behearing has a negative impact in cause of her “strict approach to one way or another on the DSWD governance.”

“I rose from the ranks because my and how it delivers its programs and services to the public. We are superiors have consistently and conall placed in limbo--not just my- stantly recognized my commitment, self. It is for all these reasons that dedication and quest for openly I feel such deep dismay and disap- fighting corruption. Along the way, i have gained the respect and approbapointment,” she added.

Taguiwalo was supposed to face tion of my clients, peers and bosses.

CA members for the second time But certainly, I have gained a lot of detractors also,” she said. at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, but the She vowed to implement the hearing was rescheduled for next President’s orders to fight illegal week. drugs and corruption.

Thr first confirmation hearing on ACTS OFW party-list Rep. May 3 became controversial after Aniceto Bertiz III and Restituto Senator Vicente Sotto III made a Mendoza also planned to oppose disparaging remark about single Ubial’s appointment.

Cayetano...

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THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Alejano liable for ethics, perjury raps’

By Maricel V. Cruz THE leadership of the House of Representatives on Wednesday threatened to file perjury and ethics complaints against Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano should he insist on bringing the issues on dismissed impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court.

House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said he will recommend to Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez the filing of complaints against Alejano in order for the party-list lawmaker to stop the propaganda.

“If he will bring the dismissed impeachment complaint before the ICC, I may also recommend to file [the charges] for him to realize that he is not doing the right thing,” Fariñas told reporters at a news conference.

Fariñas earlier warned that Alejano could face perjury and ethics complaints for giving false allegations under oath against President Duterte as contained in the impeachment complaint that was dismissed by the House committee on justice last Monday.

As of the moment, Fariñas said there was no marching order yet from Alvarez to file the necessary complaints against Alejano.

“There was no instruction from the Speaker yet. I do not speak for the House.

The Speaker is the head of the House; when he says so, we will follow,” Fariñas said.

Fariñas reminded Alejano that President Duterte has been enjoying immunity from suit and the alleged issues being raised by Alejano did not fall under crimes against humanity or genocide which falls under the mandate of the ICC. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over the case Alejano cited in the impeachment complaint.

The ICC cannot meddle with the issue,” Fariñas said.

Earlier, Alejano vowed to face the consequences of his actions, including losing his seat in the House of Representatives. With Herand Kezia Pandaan

LEFT OUT. Supporters of Social Welfare Secretary-designate Judy Taguiwalo hold a vigil outside the Senate in Pasay City calling on the members of the powerful Commission on Appointments to confirm her as DSWD Secretary but the CA has decided to postpone her confirmation along with that of (right panel) Health Secretary-designate Paulyn Ubial .

Ey Acasio

‘Failure of leadership’ sparks LP exodus—solon

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE failure of the Liberal Party has prompted its members to leave then ruling political party and join the dominant Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan of President Rodrigo Duterte.

A House official who refused to be named said the former ruling party led by former President Benigno Aquino III is now in “disarray again” overthe alleged failure of the party leaders to keep its membership intact.

“There is a total absence of leadership [in the LP] and so many of its members are moving to [President Duterte’s PDP-Laban]. If this is not addressed, then the party may end up losing its members,” the lawmaker said.

From 32 members, the LP is now reduced to 27 af-

ter Reps. Ansaruddin Adiong (Lanao del Sur), Nancy Catamco (North Cotabato), Alfred Vargas III (Quezon City), Winnie Castelo (Quezon City), and Geraldine Roman (Bataan) joined the PDP-Laban last week.

As far as House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas is concerned, what is happening to the LP may cost the seat of its member, Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato as member of the Commission on Appointments.

Fariñas said a political party needs at least 24 members to retain the seat of their party-mate, Sato to the CA. Fariñas confirmed that Pangasinan Rep. Christopher de Venecia and Samar Rep. Edgar Sarmiento, both LP members, are also eyeing to join the PDP-Laban anytime soon as the two lawmakers have sent feelers to him about their transfer to the administration party.

De Venecia is the son of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. who was appointed by Duterte as special envoy for inter-cultural dialogue recently.

Another House source said that the young De Venecia may take his oath as a member of PDP-Laban during the planned road trip of House leaders to Northern Luzon to inspect roads and bridges aimed at promoting tourism.

“Since December, attempts

to raid LP members have been intensified. The appointment of former Speaker De Venecia to the Duterte government will speak for itself,” the source said, referring to the young De Venecia who will soon leave LP. While he did not name names, Fariñas said many politicians will take their oath as members of PDP-Laban during their road trip.

“We expect new PDP-Laban to take their oath as new party members along the way during our road trip,” Fariñas said.

But Fariñas denied that PDPLaban has been raiding LP members as he pointed out that they are the ones applying to join the ruling party.

“There was no such thing.

The LP members are the ones applying to the PDP-Laban,” Fariñas said. “Whoever is the President, there is the gravitation of politicians.”

Ex-Davao prosecutor goes to LRA Sandiganbayan approves PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s fellow former prosecutor in Davao City has been designated as new head of the Land Registration Authority in Quezon City.

In an appointment paper signed last May 10, the President appointed Renato Bermejo as administrator of LRA. LRA is an attached agency of the Department of Justice responsible for issuing decrees of registration and certificates of title and register documents, patents and other land transactions for the benefit of landowners, agrarian reform-beneficiaries and the general public.

Bermejo replaces LRA chief Eulalio Diaz III. Meanwhile, 10 candidates are vying for the position of special prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman, an agency constitutionally mandated to run after erring government officials and employees.

In an advisory, the Judicial and Bar Council revealed that among the applicants include former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Edilberto San-

doval, Makati City Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon, Acting Ombudsman Special Prosecutor Omar Sagadal, former Commission on Elections law department head Ferdinand Rafanan, and Polytechnic University of the Philippines law professor Arnold Bayobay.

Former Ombudsman Mindanao lawyer Eusebio Avila, former Ombudsman Prosecution Bureau director Diosdado Calonge, and lawyers Francisco Alan Molina, Raymundo Julio Olaguer, and Vernand Quijano are also on the list of potential successors to Special Prosecutor Wendell BarrerasSulit who retired last March 11.

The JBC said the nominees will undergo a public interview on May 24 at the Supreme Court.

“The public may submit to the JBC a sworn complaint, report, or opposition against any of the aforesaid candidates,” the JBC said, in an announcement.

Under the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Special Prosecutor has a fixed term of seven years.

NO TO SELECTIVE JUSTICE. Relatives of the SAF 44 victims confer with officials of the Volunteers

Against Crime and Corruptions led by founder Dante Jimenez, and legal counsel lawyer Ferdinand Topacio (not in photo), as they express their anger over the alleged ‘selective justice’ of Ombudsman Conchita C. Morales in excluding former President Benigno Aquino III from indictment in the Mamasapano massacre during a press conference in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

Jinggoy medical leave

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rio N. Araja THE Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Tuesday allowed detained former Senator Jinggoy Estrada to undergo a medical check-up for his aching right shoulder.

The court granted Estrada’s motion that the former senator be brought to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on Thursday to undergo a medical procedure after he experienced extreme pain in his right shoulder in the late afternoon of May 11. They said Estrada had been in pain since last April 2016.

The court gave Estrada at least six hours to undergo MRI and X-ray at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., or until the procedures are finished on Thursday.

The anti-graft court granted Estrada’s motion provided that he may only ben brought to the hospital and no other place not earlier than one hour before the appointment time and leave for his detention cell as soon as the medical checkup is done.

The court also directed the Philippine National Police to provide escorts and security measures for Estrada and control his use of communication and electronic gadgets.

Estrada’s lawyers also said Estrada was diagnosed to have “frozen shoulder” in November 2014, prompting the court to allow him to undergo therapy sessions at Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

Estrada was accused of pocketing P183 million in commis-

sions from the pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Janet Napoles.

He is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the one-month suspension of Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao Mayor Datu Umbra Bayam Dilangalen for simple neglect of duty.

The Ombudsman found inconsistencies in Dilangalen’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth from 2009 to 2010.

Based on the investigation, Dilangalen failed to declare in his 2009 SALN a house in Cotabato City acquired in 2000, another house in Kabuntalan, a parcel of land in Cotabato City, two cars acquired in 2004 valued at P1million, liabilities representing loans obtained from the Government Service Insurance System and Land Bank of the Philippines, and car loans.

The Ombudsman said Dilangalen failed to declare his house in Cotabato City and an agricultural land in Kapimpilan-Kabuntalan in his 2010 SALN. “These omissions became palpable when respondent declared the existence of the very same properties and liabilities in his SALN for the immediately following year,” Morales said.

“The respondent’s failure to pay attention to the details of his SALN had resulted in the inaccuracy of crucial information therein, making him liable for simple neglect of duty,” the decision read.

Federalism through Con-Ass pushed

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives will push for the convening of Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) by next year with or without the 25-man Constitutional Commission (ConCom) to begin the discussion on the proposed Charter Change to effect federalism, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said.

Alvarez said that by convening Con-Ass, lawmakers would be able to start deliberating on the proposal of President Duterte to shift to presidential-unitary form of government to a parliamentary-federal system.

He said convening the Con-Ass would push through with or without President Duterte’s appointment of the members of the Constitutional Commission (Con-Com) that has been tasked to recommend specific provisions to be amended in the 1987 Charter.

“With or without the Commission, by next year, Congress will start the Con-Ass debates,” Alvarez told reporters. “We can agree with the Senate that both Houses can be convened as Con-Ass.” Alvarez also said he is open to the two houses of Congress voting separately on the constitutional amendments, which Villafuerte pointed out is a big step in moving closer to the ultimate goal of shifting to federalism.

Alvarez earlier submitted the draft Executive Order to President Duterte to create Con-Com. With the creation of the ConCom, he said the results of its findings will be submitted to lawmakers who will be behind the convening of Congress into a Con-Ass. House Majority Floor Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the work of ConCom will be used in Congress’ deliberations of the proposed Charter Change.

For his part, CamSur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said the shift to a federal form of government is the “missing link” in President Duterte’s ambitious inclusive growth agenda as he welcomed the fresh commitment of the House leadership to commence moves in the legislature starting early next year that would clear the way for this systemic switch.

Villafuerte said the Duterte administration’s vision for the Philippines to eradicate poverty and grow into a high-middle income economy by 2040 can— and will—happen with the shift from our presidential setup to the growth-friendlier federal system of government.

“Malacañang is on the right track in pursuing its multi-trillion peso ‘Build, Build, Build’ agenda that aims to fill our decades-old infrastructure backlog. But redistributing wealth to the countryside needs more than just an ambitious strategy. It requires a bold makeover—as envisioned by President Duterte—of our system of government that has stunted countryside development with its built-in bias for so-called Imperial Manila,” Villafuerte said.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Breezing through

F

OREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was said to have breezed through his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments.

Such hearings are not always pleasant: the previous foreign affairs secretary designate was forced to admit he was a foreigner. An appointee for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources fought a long but losing battle for her post.

The secretary of Social Welfare and Development was ridiculed by a senator for being a single mother—and she has not even been confirmed yet.

Unfortunately for Cayetano, that breezing through is not bound to last.

On Wednesday came reports that China had installed rocket launchers in Fiery

Cross Reef—locally known as Kagitingan Reef—within Spratly Islands. There have been recent military installations on Kagitingan even as it merely existed underwater several years before. There is an air strip, an advanced radar system and a missile defense system—and now the rocket launchers.

China said in a newsletter that the installation was to ward off Vietnamese combat divers.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is still verifying these reports even as it has always asserted our “dominion, sovereignty and jurisdiction” over Kagitingan Reef and Panganiban Reef.

If logic, common sense and international law prevailed, both reefs would fall, without question, within the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines.

But China insists that such metrics do not exist because its so-called historic nine-dash line that must prevail. Even the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which in July 2016 ruled in favor of the Philippines and said China’s claim of 90 percent of the South China Sea was illegal, does not hold, well, water.

China just might have been emboldened by President Rodrigo Duterte’s toofriendly stance towards it. Mr. Duterte— who once joked about riding a jet ski into the disputed territory waving the Philippine flag—did not even mention our arbitration victory during the recent summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, giving the impression that the claim was not at all important to his administration. Other members of the Asean also have standing territorial disputes with China.

Mr. Duterte has also talked about joint explorations with China, showing himself a loyal ally.

Here then is the situation Mr. Cayetano finds himself in on Day One. The question is how he would comport himself, given his known devotion to his principal and his propensity to talk more than he needs to, as the country’s top diplomat. It is upon his shoulders, after all, to balance the protection of our interests with maintaining ties with the global community.

It’s one thing to be a friend; quite another to be a doormat. Cayetano is not likely to breeze through this delicate act, but if he wants to do his job well, he should be our face in asserting what we will and will not tolerate. Only then can we command some respect from our neighbor that keeps testing limits.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

Balikatan on life support

*** But while the Commission on Appointments wasted no time to confirm Cayetano, it once again withheld its approval in the case of Secretary of Social Welfare and Development Judy Taguiwalo. Taguiwalo was made to go through the wringer by members of Congress who wanted to make sure that she would continue the practice of playing nice with lawmakers, who see her department as an important conduit for patronage.

The thoroughly disgusting behavior of the commission towards Taguiwalo, who is by all accounts precisely what DSWD needs right now in order to shed its image as a repository of pork from which Congress members may withdraw funds at will, needs to be condemned in no uncertain terms. And Taguiwalo must not bow down to congressional brow-beating, even if it costs her the confirmation she has been seeking itself.

For far too long, both

THE Philippines and the United States are now in the middle of a watered-down Balikatan exercise. Unlike in previous years when the exercise was conducted with much fanfare and were centered on seaborne operations against an imaginary enemy, this year’s Balikatan is merely a training exercises for disaster relief operations. That it is being conducted at all must be the handiwork of the leadership of the President’s national security team.

The aversion of the President to the exercise is such that he never attended any of the opening ceremonies of the two Balikatans under his administration. This year’s Balikatan is actually no longer a military exercise in strict military terms but a disaster relief exercise whatever that means. We have to give credit to the planners of this year’s exercise in coming up with activities that might be categorized as a military exercise.

But the Balikatan is on life support and might not last much longer. How much longer it will continue is hard to say. The President, it seems, is bent on moving the country towards China. In the last few months, the Russian navy made two port visits to Manila and the President’s visit to the ships were much publicized.

The Chinese navy also made a port call in Davao upon the invitation of the President and was honored with a briefing when he boarded the Chinese navy vessels remarking that the ship is so modern that it is even carpeted. He has now suggested that the Philippines and China conduct a joint military exercise which Supreme Court Justice Antonio Corpus pointed could be problematic and impractical. As the Justice pointed out, how would the public view a joint military exercise with a country that has already occupied part of our territory but could it become a reality?

The conventional wisdom would suggest no, but President Duterte has shown that he is a maverick and does not care much about conventions. So, let us not be too sure. Besides,

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

Alan and Judy LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES I FOUND myself nodding in agreement when Senator Panfilo Lacson described his nowformer colleague Alan Peter Cayetano, the newly-confirmed foreign affairs secretary, as a good friend but “an annoying foe.” The image that I suddenly remembered was that of Cayetano’s former ally in the long-running hearings in the Senate to demolish then Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Antonio Trillanes, turning off Cayetano’s microphone in a fit of all-consuming, yes, annoyance.

Trillanes has remained his usual arrogant self, of course, becoming the most vocal enemy of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Senate. And Cayetano, as Duterte’s losing running mate in last year’s elections, was transformed as

the most prominent of the president’s apologists in the same chamber—thereby annoying Trillanes no end.

But ever since Duterte’s election, Cayetano also began training in earnest for the position long promised to him by the President: that of annoying the entire world as Digong’s presumptive foreign affairs secretary. Cayetano was seen less and less in the Senate as he started accompanying Duterte on his many foreign jaunts in the region and beyond.

The understanding back then was that Perfecto Yasay was merely a place-holder for Cayetano, who would take over at DFA as soon as the one-year ban on losing candidates expired. Yasay, of course, abbreviated his stay some more by fudging about his citizenship issues, which led to the appointment of Enrique Manalo as the new place-holder.

Cayetano finally got the trainer wheels removed from under him when he was told to

go to Geneva to defend the Philippines’ human rights record under Duterte in a United Nations shindig. He certainly annoyed the country representatives who came prepared with

Cayetano is that annoyingbut-great player from another team who is traded to the one you’ve been rooting for.

their knives to extra-judicially gut the Duterte administration at the conference, with the help of human rights advocates from

Manila who were also present.

But Cayetano was able to get a word in edgewise, as he is wont to do. Yesterday, he was deemed ready to annoy everyone in the world who wanted to dispute Duterte’s foreign affairs policy, from the South China Sea to the other side of the Pacific Ocean and beyond to the Atlantic, where Americans and Europeans are being treated to report after report about a supposed lawless, bloodthirsty dictator in the Philippines, as their thoroughly biased media routinely and unjustly depicts Digong.

As for me, Cayetano is that annoying-but-great basketball player from another team who is suddenly traded to the one you’ve always been rooting for.

You hate his guts because he’s not on your side, but you know he’s going to do well now that he’s on your team.

So annoy the hell out of them, Secretary Alan. It’s about time Duterte had someone like you to defend him on the world stage.

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

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Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion

FIRST, a joke.

Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa intends to run for the Senate and also wants to be a member of the Duterte Cabinet.

Santa Banana, what gall!

What has Dela Rosa done to stop extrajudicial killings that have embarrassed the Duterte government among his local and international critics?

Dela Rosa’s only achievement was to protect policemen involved in the detention of a dozen suspected people allegedly involved in illegal drugs in a secret jail cell in Tondo.

Now that was not funny, was it? *** China’s envoy to the Philippines Ambassador, Zhiao Jianhua, may have committed a serious diplomatic faux pas. He declared that the Philippines was illegally occupying Pag-asa Island, part of the Kalayaan municipality in Palawan.

Zhiao made the statement in response to questions from Filipino reporters concerning President Duterte’s tour of the Chinese warships which docked at the Sasa port in Davao City. in the course of a recent goodwill visit to the Philippines!

Reporters asked Zhiao why the Chinese military contingent to Subi Reef had warned and even challenged a Philippine Air Force plane carrying Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, AFP chief Eduardo Año, other Philippine officials and journalists, who were visiting Pag-asa located some 480 kilometers west of Puerto Princesa City.

This has not been reported in mainstream media.

Do you know what Zhiao said, speaking for his government, China? “We view the occupation of those islands by the Philippine side as illegal. And so the buildings on it are also illegal.”

Zhiao also told reporters: “In our position, we have ownership of those islands and reefs.

And whichever airplanes or aircraft intrude, we will give them warnings.”

Santa Banana, the Chinese envoy’s statements can only be interpreted as arrogance. He was being openly hostile to his host country, the Philippines.

I am not sure President Duterte heard Zhiao. Otherwise, he would have reacted.

Zhiao failed to consider common courtesy, let alone diplomatic niceties, which dictate that he should have taken cognizance of the sensibilities of his Filipino hosts.

His statements were particularly galling. The United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration had ruled last year that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights and ownership over the resources falling within its selfproclaimed “nine-dash line.”

In doing so, China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone.

In another country, Zhiao’s naughty pronouncement, abrasive language and boorish behavior may be sufficient for him to be declared as “persona non grata.” It would at least be enough ground for the Foreign Affairs office to send a strong note verbale to the Chinese embassy.

The Kalayaan Island Group, including Pag-asa, was incorporated in 1972 as a municipality of Palawan. Its status as part of the country was reinforced by Presidential Decree 1599 issued

by President Ferdinand Marcos in June 1978. This established an exclusive economic zone for the Philippines.

I wonder how President Du-

terte would react to Zhiao’s pronouncement that the Philippines was “illegally occupying” Pag-asa.

On the other hand, Zhiao may have been emboldened by the President’s conciliatory approach to China, and his support to Chinese moves and actions regarding the dispute.

This included deletion of any mention of the arbitral court’s decision in the statement released by him as Chairman of the recent summit meeting of the 10-member Asean held in the country.

Santa Banana, this makes some people wonder: On whose side is the President, really?

Zhiao acted like a guest you graciously welcome into your home but who tells you that you are illegally occupying the land which you have been tilling, and on which your home is built.

This behavior of Zhao is quite strange for a seasoned diplomat like him. The Chinese are known to be polite, humble, friendly and considerate. I should know—I have many friends in the Chinese-Filipino community.

Zhao may not be aware of it, but even some members of this community find him aloof and unapproachable. *** The revelation of Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison that the leaders of the National Democratic Front negotiating panel based in Utrecht do not have control over the movements of the new People’s Army, despite the ongoing peace negot iat ion between the gover n ment and the communist rebels tells us a lot.

The Comm u n i s t movement is no longer monolithic. Sison and his partner, Luis Jalandoni, no longer have control over the New People’s Army.

And that’s the reason why despite the ongoing peace talks in The Netherlands with CPP leaders and the insurgents’ political arm the NDF, the atrocities of the NPA continue. And their excuse is almost always that the Armed Forces continue to go after them.

Sison said that “the collective leading organs of the CPP, NPA, NDFP, which are based in the Philippines are the principal of the NDFP Negotiating Panel. They give orders and instructions to the NDFP negotiating panel, meaning that the controlling factor of the insurgency comes from the lower echelons.”

The reason is that a younger generation of cadres recently took over the CPP’s central committee. This was disclosed during the Second Party Congress last October.

So with whom is the government panel talking to? Does this mean that whatever is resolved between communist leaders in Utrecht is not final? Does this not make the peace talks useless and invalid? *** The Kasambahay Law mandates that household helpers including drivers should have a contract with their employers to qualify them for Social Security System membership and hence partake of benefits.

That’s about the most useless law there is since only about 10 percent of those it covers are observing it. Santa Banana, how can you have a contract with your household help when they come and go as they please?

Helpers prefer not to have contracts since becoming members of the SSS and PhilHealth cuts heavily into their pay. They prefer to borrow from their employers who don’t charge them interest.

This law is just impractical.

Imagine inviting a guest and hearing him tell you you’re illegally occupying the land you’re standing on.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Impeachment is not the answer

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

An arrogant diplomat

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ ON MONDAY, the impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte, filed by Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, was dismissed by the House Committee on Justice.

Rep. Alejano stated in his Verification that, “the material allegations are true and correct, based on his personal knowledge and as culled from authentic records”. However, during the hearing, he also admitted that he has no personal knowledge of the material allegations in the complaint. This was fatal to the impeachment complaint and rendered vulnerable all the material allegations as objectionable based on hearsay.

As members of the House Minority, we are equal to the task of impeaching a public official if the impeachment complaint is sufficient in

form and substance. The impeachment complaint filed by Rep. Alejano was insufficient in substance; and for us, was also insufficient in form. I see no justifiable reason to relax these rules, particularly in this case, where the complainant admitted to not having personal knowledge of his allegations.

The most recent Pulse Asia survey resulted in 78-percent performance rating of the President as of March 2017. This means that almost 8 out 10 Filipinos approve of the President’s performance. As district and sectoral representatives, we should be guided, and accord due recognition to the expressed support of our constituencies. As an example, my constituents in the Third District of Quezon are supporters of the President. Thus, it would be against my mandate to contradict their will.

There are talks of impeachment complaints against VP Leni Robredo and Ombudsman Morales, but these have not yet

been filed before the House of Representatives.

The impeachment complaint against VP Leni was due to her alleged betrayal of public trust when she released a video message to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, citing that 7,000 people were killed in the drug war of the Duterte administration, while the latter asserted that only 2,000 died in legitimate police anti-drug operations. Further allegations stated in the complaint were misstatement of items in her SALN and misuse of Pag-IBIG funds during her term as the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

While the impeachment complaint against VP Leni has not yet been endorsed in the Lower House, I highly encourage her to be more circumspect in her actions especially in the international stage.

It is known that the VP and the President belong to rival political camps, to the detriment

of our nation’s reputation where we, as a people, should project a united stand despite political differences. Her pronouncements, unfortunately, caused further dissonance in a government that should have been working together.

The Minority has not yet reviewed the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Morales. Should it be filed, this will be an opportune time for her to clear the serious allegations of selective prosecution.

These are interesting times in our nation’s history. Three constitutional offices, two of which occupied by the highest and second highest officials in the land, were threatened with removal by impeachment. This says a lot about our nation’s behavior, as we seem to allow the vicious cycle of impeachment, as a means to grab and return to power. In impeaching the President, for example, are those in support of his removal in a position to speak for eight out 10 Filipinos?

The answer is obvious.

Slavery in our time US-BASED Filipino journalist Alex Tizon died last March at the age of 57. He’d won a Pulitzer Prize (shared with a team), and was well-regarded for his writing in the journalists’ community both in the US and the Philippines.

His last piece was published posthumously by The Atlantic, and it garnered him perhaps more attention and publicity than he had experienced in his life.

The article, “My Family’s Slave,” tells of a woman Tizon and his siblings knew only as “Lola” for a long time.

“She was 18 years old,” Tizon says, “when my grandfather gave her to my mother as a gift, and when my family moved to the United States, we brought her with us.” She was reluctant to go, but was persuaded when Tizon’s mother promised to give her an allowance so she could send money home to her impoverished family.

That promise was not kept, and Lola—Eudocia Tomas Pulido—served the Tizons for 56 years, almost Tizon’s entire life. She slept on whatever sur-

Balikatan...

From A4 the joint military exercise that he wants is an anti-terrorism exercise to be conducted somewhere in the Sulu Sea. It is a scenario that is a little difficult to explain—but who would have thought that we would even be talking about it now? Just a year ago, our government was not even talking to China. That was clearly shown in the frosty interaction between former President Aquino and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Apec conference in Manila last year.

Today, it is a complete turnaround. We are now being offered a concessional loan of $500 million to buy Chinese weapons.

The Chinese also promised $24 billion in development assistance and there is now a distinct possibility of jointly developing the South China Sea even most of the area is located within our exclusive economic zone.

Alan...

From A4 Malacañang and Congress have been allowed to weaponize DSWD, conscripting it in the effort to secure votes, even if its mandate is really to help the poorest of the poor, especially in times of calamity. In the previous administration, the department fell into disrepute after Corazon

face was free—the couch, the laundry room among piles of clothes. She cooked, cleaned, babysat, performed all the domestic duties so that Tizon’s mother, a doctor, could work.

It wasn’t until Tizon was 11 or 12, he says, that he realized Lola’s situation in the family.

Unpaid, overworked, beaten, not given any privacy—she was a slave.

They never spoke of Lola outside the home, Tizon says, and it wasn’t until his mother was dead and Lola came to live with him that he was able to afford her some measure of comfort.

But by then Lola was old. It was too late for her; she couldn’t have her life back to live over in a way she would have truly wanted.

This arrangement—for a domestic to live with the amo’s (master’s) family abroad for little or no pay—is not unusual.

I heard of a similar incident about 15 years ago. The yaya (nanny) was brought to the US and paid a measly $150 a month.

The amount was low because, I was told, “she owes us for her plane fare.” Yaya slept on the floor of the children’s bedroom and seldom got days off. This story has a happy ending, though—she somehow met an elderly gentleman who doted on her, and they married.

Not everyone gets such a

serendipitous outcome—Lola certainly didn’t.

The cases of Lola and others in similar straits reflect that aspect of Filipino culture that still has not wholly eradicated the slavery practiced in the past.

Those who could afford them kept alipin—namamahay and sagigilid. With poverty still endemic in the country—at around 27 percent during the previous administration—and many, especially in the rural areas, uneducated and unskilled thus unable to get better jobs, there are those who enter into employment but in conditions where they are very dependent on their employers for the basic necessities of life.

This imbalance of power can foster the maltreatment and abuse of kasambahay, and many incidences are still heard of, though to a lesser extent after the Republic Act No. 10361 —the Domestic Workers Act or Batas Kasambahay—was made into law. With social media widespread and easy to access, it is now easier to report abuses.

Working abroad, particularly in the Middle East and some parts of Asia, is also risky for overseas workers who toil as domestic helpers. There have been many cases of “DHs” who have been starved, beaten, raped, and murdered by their “amo”—masters—with some

not having received justice to this day.

Website globalslaveryindex.org puts the Philippines at rank 33 out of 167 on its prevalence index, with the US at rank 52 and North Korea at rank 1. There are an estimated 401,000 Filipinos “living in modern slavery,” the majority of whom are in forced labor (OFWs whose employers withhold their travel papers, fail to pay their salary on time or at all). Other forms of slavery are commercial sexual exploitation, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, and pa-aling fishing (deep sea fishing by diving).

Tizon’s story strikes deep chords within Filipinos because it describes situations that are familiar to us. Though we do not condone, we understand the motivations for Tizon’s mother and Lola herself for behaving the way they did. This is because abject servitude and warped loyalty to benefactors is still a part of our societal mindset. These are repellent and reprehensible attitudes that we must do away with, if we are to aspire to the highest standards of human rights and values.

A new era in foreign relations has truly descended upon us. It is being masterminded by a President with very limited experience in foreign relations.

This however, is not unheard of.

There have been heads of state with little experience in foreign relations but went on to do wonders for their countries.

It will remain to be seen whether our President can pull it off or be swallowed by an emerging super power with big ambitions to supplant the United States and break out into the vast Pacific Ocean because to China, the South China Sea is just a stepping stone to the Pacific Ocean.

Also, the President has consistently said that he is not giving up Panatag Shoal to the Chinese. But sometimes, countries are judged more on what they do than what they say. It might be that in the future, if the country decides to pursue the case more aggressively, our traditional allies might not be

too willing to help.

Our country engages in foreign relations to promote our national interests. As they say in diplomacy, there is no such thing as permanent friends, only permanent interests. This is why it was a little surprising to read a headline in one of the broadsheets quoting President Duterte as saying that China is going to help us without any conditions. I do not know of any such thing. Besides, the billions of dollars in concessional loans are not free.

The country will have to pay the Chinese back. Unlike the concessional loans we get from Japan wherein the conditions are clearly stated, we still do not know the terms attached to the Chinese loans. For instance, what would be the interest rate? Will the arrangement be like the unimplemented north rail project where we borrowed $500 million but the loan has now ballooned to something like $800 million that the

government is now paying?

A lot therefore is still unknown. All we know are the huge amounts and the projects that will be financed. In addition, not all projects have been studied and planned. So, it will take some time for the projects to start. We might not even see them at all during the term of President Duterte. Before we know it, a new president will be inaugurated and might have other ideas in mind. We just do not know. Simply put, the amount of money being mentioned to finance all these projects under the BBB program is so dizzying that if something goes wrong, it could put the country in debt for generations to come. Already, there are some in government calling for the deficit to exceed the prudent figure of 3 percent of the national budget yet we have not seen many huge projects getting started. Maybe we should control our exuberance and be careful.

“Dinky” Soliman used the muchexpanded Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program in order to strengthen the hold of the ruling Liberal Party in poor, disasterstricken areas and to make politicians toe the party line.

Taguiwalo, picked by Duterte to end the practice of using DSWD for patronage, has already streamlined the agency, making it more responsive and efficient in the short time that

she has been running it. Under ordinary circumstances, Taguiwalo’s confirmation would have been a no-brainer, if what she has done so far—including keeping the politicians out—was the only metric used to judge her fitness for the post.

But Congress, which is still marooned in its discredited, patently unconstitutional porkbarrel time warp, has to make sure that Taguiwalo will give

them their pound of flesh. And Taguiwalo’s insistence that she is not going to use her position to dispense pork to anyone, regardless of political affiliation, is what’s causing the hold-up.

Forget the “communist” tag and the single-mother non-issue: Congress wants Taguiwalo to say that she will give them money—and they are not going to confirm her until she says she will play Congress’ dirty, extortionist game.

Dr. Ortuoste is a Californiabased writer. FB: Jenny Ortuoste / Twitter: @jennyortuoste, @gogirlracing (sports) / IG:@ jensdecember, @artuoste (art)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

A6 Standard

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

Manila

TODAY mst.daydesk@gmail.com

RECALL PETITION. Former San Juan City vice mayor Francis Zamora (center), submits to the Comelec office in San Juan City a petition calling for a recall election in the city on Wednesday, May 17. He, together with other petitioners, submitted binders containing 30,000 signatures of San Juan residents. They filed a recall petition against Mayor Guia Gomez, who is now serving the last of her three consecutive term as a local chief executive. Lino Santos

MMDA to enforce law on anti-distracted driving

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Metro Manila Development Authority will begin today (Thursday) apprehending motorists violating the Anti-Distracted Driving Law. Former President Benigno Aquino III signed in July 2016 Republic Act 10913 which prohibits drivers to use mobile communication devices when behind the wheel and even when stationary during traffic or on stop lights. The law stated that writing, reading, sending a text-based message, making phone calls, or

watching movies, surfing the internet, reading an e-book or performing any sort of computation on a mobile device by a motorist is not allowed.

“Yesterday, we have a meeting and we were given copies of the law, distributed to our district officers and briefed them about it. We will start apprehending tomorrow

[May 18],” said Victor Nuñez, MMDA legal and legislative staff officer.

“We will deploy men and there will be spotters. In every group, there will be one who will issue citation tickets against violators who will be flagged down when they were caught.”

Nuñez said the first offense has a fine of P5,000, the second offense goes up to P10,000 while P15,000 for the third offense including suspension of the driver’s license for three months and P20,000 for the fourth offense including revocation

of the driver’s license.

Heavier penalties that will be imposed for Public Utility Vehicle drivers, and drivers of school service vehicles or drivers of a common carrier of flammable or toxic materials. Those caught in violation within a 50-meter radius of a school will be fined P30,000 and driver’s license suspension for three months.

The law also covers motorcycles, trucks, cargo haulers carrying hazardous or flammable materials; and cyclists, pedicabs, ‘kuligligs’ and animal or human-powered vehicles.

Suspension on direct hiring lifted

By Vito Barcelo

THE Department of Labor and Employment lifted the suspension on the processing of direct hire overseas The law, however, clarifies Filipino workers which was that it is not considered as distemporarily suspended due to tracted driving if the driver is reports that some employees not holding the mobile device of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration like when in hands-free funchave illegally collected fees tion, using the speaker phone, from OFWs seeking to be exearphones and microphones. empted from a ban on direct Provided, that the placement hiring. of the mobile device or handsLabor Secretary Silvestre free device does not interfere Bello III recalled the suspenwith the line of sight of the sion of direct hiring of OFWs driver. after conducting an investigaThere are also exemption, following the discovery tions to the provisions of that some POEA were linked to the law: When used for illegal collection of fees.

“There will be a re-organizaemergency purposes such tion within the POEA,” Bello as an emergency call to a said. He said that the temporary law enforcement agency, or suspension of the processing health emergency. and issuance of Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) for all direct-hire OFWs was for their own protection to pre(TS-DEC. 1, 2015) vent them from falling victims to nefarious activities within the POEA. Bello directed the POEA and the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO) to resume the processing and issuance of OECs, which is one of the requirements under the rules and regulations of POEA on the recruitment and employment of OFWs to ensure protection and proper documentation.

Rody, Baste to headline separate TV shows

By John Paolo Bencito FATHER-AND-SON President Rodrigo Duterte and Sebastian “Baste” Duterte will soon lord over the airwaves with two new programs in rival television networks to be launched in the coming days.

In a teaser released by the Presidential Communications Office on Wednesday, Duterte will headline the planned national broadcast of his TV show as erstwhile Davao mayor, now “Mula Sa Masa, Para SaMasa,”

airing “soon” to cater to a more national audience. Joining him is PTV-4’s operations chief and Malacañang reporter, Rocky Ignacio to directly discuss his priorities and policies.

“The aim is to communicate the policies of the Duterte administration to the masses, straight from the President himself,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

An offshoot government tabloid, named “Masa” is being distributed bi-monthly.

Taiwan defers visa-free entry

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS

By Vito Barcelo

PASAY CITY

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID The Commission on Appointments (CA.), with offices located at the 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, Pres. Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City invites all Government Electronic Procurement System (G-EPS) registered bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for the health care benefits of its employees for the year 2017-2018.

Bidding requirements / bid forms may be obtained, beginning May 25, 2017 from CA. General Service upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P5,000.00. lnterested parties may get in touch with Ms. Weng Mirhan, BAC Secretariat at telephone no. 834-2708.

All rules relative to the eligibility, bid evaluation, and award of contract shall be governed by the provisions of R.A. 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act. A pre-bidding conference will be held on June 01, 2017, Thursday, 10:00 AM at the CA Conference Room, 6th floor, PNB Financial Center, Pres. Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City. Only those who have purchased the Bidding Documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarifications.

Public bidding will be held on June 13, 2017, Tuesday, 10:00 AM at the CA Conference Room, 6th floor, PNB Financial Center. Bid proposals will be opened in the presence of the participating bidders.

The approved agency budget for this contract is P 7,500,000.00.

The Commission on Appointments reserves the right to review all eligibility requirements, reject any or all bids, waive any defects contained therein and accept the offer most advantageous to the government, and the right to confiscate the bid bond and/ or pursue appropriate legal action should the winning bidder refuse to accept the award.

Further, the Commission on Appointments assumes no obligation whatsoever to compensate or indemnify the bidder for any expense or loss that they may incur in participating in this undertaking nor does it guarantee that an award will be made.

(MS-MAY 18, 2017)

JOEY C. FLAMINIANO Deputy Secretary for Administration Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

BLOCKED. Members of the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan are blocked at T.M. Kalaw St. by MPD Civil Disturbance Management contingent when they tried to proceed to the U.S. Embassy in Manila to condemn the Duterte administration’s decision to push through with the war games between the Philippines and the United States despite the Palace statement last year that the 2016’s Balikatan exercise would be the last. Norman Cruz

PCSO set to buy 4wd ambulances THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Ofice plans to purchase the first batch of four-wheel drive ambulances similar to the ones used by the Armed Forces of the Philippines that can also double as rescue vehicles for calamity operations.

PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan on Wednesday said they are

just waiting to distribute all the ambulances they already have before they start to procure new ones.

“We are just waiting for the old stocks of ambulance to be depleted and then we’ll get 4x4 rescue vehicles equipped with medical kits and accessories that can be used on rough roads,” Balutan said, hoping the PCSO

can purchase the vehicles before the end of the year.

“That’s the agency’s plan: to be able to give better assistance to Filipinos particularly those who live in remote areas.

But we must follow the procurement law,” Balutan warned.

“Rest assured that we will purchase from whoever has the best pro-

posal. It will undergo bidding. We want to process this carefully,” he said.

In the first quarter alone, a total of 166 ambulances, worth P130,072,800.00 were distributed to hospitals, health institutions, municipalities, provinces and city health offices in different priority areas nationwide.

TAIWAN has postponed the implementation of visa-free entry policy for Filipinos as it has to complete relevant administrative procedures and inter-agency coordination, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila said Wednesday.

“For the time being, prior to the full implementation of the visa-free arrangements, Filipinos should still follow the existing visa regulations and procedures to obtain visa(s) before travel to Taiwan, TECO said in its advisory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China will release the full details of the implementation of the said visa-free arrangements including the exact date of the commencement of implementing the visa-free treatment and its requirements either in September 2017 or at an appropriate date in due course.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports Abarquez, Lago score twin-kill in PPS net tilt ELSIE Abarquez and Sal Andrei Lago pulled off a pair of victories each to dominate their respective sides in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Bohol leg regional age-group tennis tournament at the Sto. Niño Tennis Club yesterday.

But while the top seeded Abarquez lived up to her billing and cruised to victories in the girls’ 16- and 18-and-under divisions, the fourth-ranked Lago upended No. 3 Andrei Estember, 6-1, 6-2, to pocket the boys’ 12-U crown.

The Sogod, Leyte rising star then worked his way up as an unranked bet in the 14-U side, stunning No. 3 Mykk Lungay, 6-0, 6-4, in the quarterfinal round, repulsing Jericho Otico, 4-6, 6-2, 10-6, in the semis before whipping Mike Dee, 6-0, 6-1, to clinch the crown.

Abarquez, from Carcar, Cebu, rapped Alexa Milliam, 6-1, 6-2, to bag the 16-U title then dominated Kiana de Asis, 6-2, 6-2, in the 18-U finals to likewise share the MVP honors with Lago in the Group 2 tournament hosted by Ubay, Bohol Mayor Costan Reyes and sponsored

by Palawan Pawnshop headed by president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Milliam also came away with two victories as the La Carlota, Negros ace toppled Jufe-Ann Cocoy, 6-1, 6-0, in the 12-U finals then beat Mia Gemida, 6-0, 6-2, to capture the 14-U diadem in the event presented by Slazenger which also served as part of the PPS-PEPP summer tour backed by Asiatraders Corp. and the new Unified tennis group, led by PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s and B-Meg.

A7

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Manila Jockey Club racefest offers record purse P14.5M T HE richest purse in the history of Philippine horseracing will be up for grabs on Sunday when the Manila Jockey Club Inc. (MJCI) celebrates its 150th anniversary at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite.

Eight races, highlighted by the Founder’s Cup, which itself offers a record prize of P6 million, comprise the P14.5-million racing extravaganza, presented by the MJCI and supported by the Philippine Racing Commission.

“Ito na ang pinakamalaking papremyo sa larangan ng karera sa ating bansa, first time po ito

and the P500,000 Philracom 3YO Locally Bred Stakes Race.

Also slated are the P1-M Fundador Cup, the P1-M City of Dreams Stakes Races, the P1-M Resorts World Stakes Races and the P1-M PCSO Stakes Cup. “Labing-tatlong horses po ang para sa ating selebrasyon ng maglalaban-laban sa Founder’s ating ika-150 taong anibersaryo Cup kung saan may mga forng MJCI,” said MJCI Racing eign (imported) entries po tayo.

Manager Jose Ramon Magboo.

May mga early favorites po, pero Other races on the table are alam naman ng bayang karerista, the 1st leg of the Triple Crown na depende pa din po sa araw na series, which offers P3 million ‘yun,” said Magboo. in total prizes and two other Battling for the Founder’s Philracom-backed races --the Cup crown are James Albert P1-million Hopeful Stakes Race Dichaves’ Adios Realty (US)

and Speightsland (USA), Joseph Dyhengco’s Atomicseventynine (USA) and Dixie Gold (PHI), SC Stockfarm’s Hitting Spree (USA) and Sakima (USA), Benjamin Abalos Jr.’s Lakan (PHI), Benjamin Abalos III’s Kanlaon (PHI), Hermie Esguerra’s Manalig Ka (PHI), Jeci Lapus’ Premo Jewel (USA), Cool Summer Farm’s Skyway (PHI), Divina Yap Dy’s Strong Champion (AUS) and Wilbert Tan’s Subterranean River (PHI).

As the birthplace of Philippine horseracing, the Manila Jockey Club was established in 1867 by Gov. General Jose dela Gandara

BaliPure, Pocari eye PVL lead Games today 1 p.m. – Air Force vs Army (men’s) 4 p.m. – BaliPure vs Pocari Sweat (women’s) 6:30 p.m. – Perlas vs Air Force (women’s)

Executive members of the 17th WUGC Organizing Committee are shown here, namely (from left) Emmanuel Edward Co, WUIGC OC Chair Marius Aseron, FESSAP president David Ong, Mayor Maylene Cayabyab, FISU’s Paulo Ferreira, WUGC Godfather Rodolfo (Bong) Pineda and Gov. Lilia Pineda of Pampanga.

Countdown for World University golfest begins

By Graham C. Lim PREPARATIONS begin in earnest as the International University Sports Federation gave its stamp of approval to the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club in Lubao, Pampanga as the host site of the 17th World University Golf Championship, to be organized by the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines from May 16 to 19 next year.

Dominic Wall, FISU’s Technical Director for Golf, made an ocular inspection of the newly-

constructed 18-hole golf course situated in Barangay Prado Siongco in Lubao on May 17.

Wall was accompanied by FISU’s Paulo Ferreira during the visit and, together with the Mayor of Lubao Maylene Cayabyab, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda and her husband Rodolfo (Bong) Pineda, WUGC Organizing Committee Chair Marius Aseron and FESSAP president David Ong, inspected the world-class 18-hole golf course located north of Metro Manila.

“I am quite impressed by this beautifully-designed golf

course,” said the Australianborn Wall, who now resides in Singapore. “Expectations are high that the prominent university golfers from around the world will take part in this world competition to be showcased by the host country and FESSAP.” According to David Ong, the Pradera Golf Course, which is less than a year old, has metamorphosed into a prime destination for Filipino golfers from North and Central Luzon and the biennial World University Golf Championship is one avenue for the world’s best golfers

to pit their skills as well as explore one of the country’s scenic tourist spots.

“This international event will not only promote golf as a sport for the younger generation of Filipino athletes but also boost tourism in our country.”

The 400-hectare Pradera Verde tourism estate is around five minutes away from the Dinalupihan exit of the SubicClark-Tarlac Expressway. The golf course, which will soon expand to 36 holes, itself sits on a 150-hectare area of the estate.

Members of the FESSAP

Marketing Team have been working at full force to pull off the most ambitious project by the organization, which is the sole university sports federation in the Philippines recognized since 2009 as a regular member of the FISU, which sanctions the Summer Universiade, Winter Universiade and the World University Championship in the various sports.

The local marketing group is a joint partnership between FESSAP’s WUGC Organizing Committee and Pradera Verde Marketing Group.

KTM RC 200, RC 390: Built for motorcycle racing THERE are motorcycles, and then there are racing bred motorcycles. True bike aficionados know the difference, and they won’t settle for anything less. For them, only a sports bike in its purest form will do.

And no other bikes are worthy of this criteria than the KTM RC 200 and the KTM RC 390.

Through KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc., the proud local manufacturer of KTM motorcycles in the country, the KTM RC 200 can already be yours at P159 K and the KTM RC390 at P279 K. The KTM RC 200 is your first step into KTM’s Ready to Race philosophy—a premium motorcycle that’s an eye-catcher for its outstanding style. With

The KTM RC 200 and RC 390

y Navarro and a group of around 100 founding partners, whose members come from prominent Spanish, American and Filipino families of Manila.

The centerpiece of the festivities is the 150th Anniversary Gala Celebration at the Winford Hotel and Casino on Saturday, a formal affair that will include an exhibit, dinner and entertainment, as well as an exciting program showcasing the past, present and future of the company. Prominent personalities from the diplomatic corps, government, business and international racing community are also expected to attend.

a water-cooled, singlecylinder, 4-stroke engine developing 19kW (26hp), it combines top performance with efficient millage, making it an excellent value for a full faired motorcycle. Other premium components are its USD front fork, multifunctional digital display, and radical break caliper.

Meanwhile, the KTM RC390 – agile, fast, and extremely sporty – is an unbeatable standout with strong racing genes – truly a breed apart. Powered by a water-cooled, single-cylinder, 4-stroke engine developing 32 kW (44 hp), it offers handling that’s spectacular, performance that’s incredible, and power that’s undeniably superior.

Other impressive features include its lightweight steel

trellis frame, the light alloy swing arm and its telescopic fork suspension.

So whether you’re on long, winding roads, navigating the city streets, or on the track, the KTM RC 200 and the KTM RC 390 is your obvious choice.

Step up and shift to the KTM line of motorcycles—a legendary, raceproven brand that traces its roots to Mattighofen Austria in 1953.

KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc. is a joint-venture partnership between Adventure Cycle Philippines and KTM AG of Austria. To take a closer look at the KTM RC 200 and RC 390, visit the existing and expanding KTM dealerships nationwide.

For the full listing of dealers, visit www.ktm.ph.

WIN NO. 4. Nicole Ordoyo hits one of her two RBIs to help National University pull off a 4-3 victory over Polytechnic University of the Philippines for its fourth straight win in the Cebuana Lhuillier-ASAPHIL National Softball Intercollegiate Championships at the Sto. Niño Ballpark in Marikina City Tuesday.

POCARI Sweat and BaliPure face off today in a grudge match for the solo lead while Perlas tries to recover lost grounds against struggling Air Force in the Premier Volleyball League First Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Warriors squandered a 2-0 set lead but recovered in time to repulse the Perlas Spikers, 25-17, 25-17, 22-25, 1825, 15-3, late Tuesday and regain the solo lead at 5-2 in the season-opening conference of the country’s longest-running volley league organized by Sports Vision.

BaliPure had earlier bounced back from a previous setback to beat Creamline in come-from-behind fashion, 2624, 17-25, 25-23, 28-26, to re-take the lead at 4-1, only to drop to second again after the defending champions stamped their class in the decider and blasted the Perlas Spikers.

That should make the 4 p.m. encounter between Pocari and BaliPure worth watching, not only for the sake of the lead but also for a brewing rivalry between two of the league’s most popular teams.

The Water Defenders swept the Lady Warriors, 25-23, 25-22, 25-14, the first time they met last May 4, dealing the defending champions their second straight-set loss following a similar 0-3 setback to the Power Smashers last April 30.

But Pocari, with Myla Pablo, Elaine Kasilag, Jeanette Panaga and Maricar Nepomuceno and the rest settling down, has found its winning ways since then, racking up victories after victories to seize control of the six-team field heading to the final stretch of the double-round elims.

NBA finals on ABS-CBN

ABS-CBN continues to bring NBA Playoffs games to more Filipino basketball fans with the free TV coverage of the NBA Conference Finals on ABS-CBN Ch.2 and S+A. Game 3 of The Western Conference Finals at the AT&T Center is on Sunday LIVE on S+A at 9 a.m., with the San Antonio Spurs looking to notch their first win in the series against the Golden State Warriors even as star player Kawhi Leonard is still doubtful to play due to an ankle injury. Game 4 will be on May 23, and if necessary, Games 5 to 7 will be on May 25, 27, and 29, all scheduled to air LIVE on S+A at 9 a.m.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern coast, the Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take on top seed Boston Celtics. The series opener airs via satellite on ABS-CBN ch.2 on Thursday (May 18) at 9:30 a.m., while Game 2 will be airing at 8:30 a.m. LIVE on ABS-CBN ch.2 on May 20 and Games 3 and 4 will be on May 22 and 24 at 9:30 a.m., also on ABS-CBN ch.2 Coaches Ronnie Magsanoc and Benjie Paras, commentator Boom Gonzalez, and sports analyst TJ Manotoc will be calling the games in this official free TV coverage of the NBA Conference Finals.

Celtics get top pick, Lakers 2nd LOTTO RESULTS NEW YORK—The Boston Celtics received a timely boost on the eve of their Eastern Conference showdown with Cleveland on Tuesday after discovering they will command the first pick in this year’s NBA draft.

The Celtics earned the top spot in the draft lottery four years after their decision to trade Paul

Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal that enabled multiple first-round picks to go to Boston.

That bold move paid off on Tuesday as the Celtics earned the top spot in the draft, giving them their first first pick since the introduction of the lottery in 1985.

It is also only the sec-

ond time the Celtics will pick first. The only other occasion occurred in 1950.

The Celtics traded Garnett and Pierce after six seasons together which included an NBA title in 2008.

The Celtics faced long rebuilding process but steadily improved to win top seeding in the Eastern Conference this year. AFP

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

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

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THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

Sports

ON TO THE GOLD-MEDAL GAME. Mclaude Guadana (left) of Batang Gilas leaves his defender Thai Wadman Aaron Saharat for a quick layup in the 2017 Seaba Under-16 Championship on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The Gilas juniors crushed the Thais, 113-46, to move a win away from the title following their third straight rout. RC Calimag scored 20 points while Ralph Go had 20 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks for Batang Gilas, who will face Malaysia on Thursday at 12 noon in the battle for the gold between two unbeaten teams. Roman Prospero

Dubs rip Spurs for 2-0 lead O AKLAND—Stephen Curry scored 29 points as the Golden State Warriors thrashed the San Antonio Spurs 136-100 to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference finals series on Tuesday.

Curry’s points haul included six three-pointers as the Warriors allround offensive power crushed a San Antonio Spurs line-up missing the injured Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

Curry also contributed seven assists and seven rebounds to put the Warriors just two wins away from reaching a third consecutive NBA Finals in the best-of-seven series.

No fewer than seven Warriors cracked double figures as the home side led from start to finish before their home fans at the

Oracle Arena.

“I thought in game one we didn’t come out with a sense of urgency,” said Warriors acting coach Mike Brown, who is standing in for the injured Steve Kerr.

“They came out with a sense of urgency tonight from the beginning and they did that for 48 minutes.”

The Warriors were quickly into their familiar scoring groove, sprinting into a 33-16 lead by the end of the first quarter and never letting up.

They led by 28 points -- 7244 -- by half-time and accelerated still further in the third quarter to lead 106-75.

“You always try to build momentum and sustain it, for sure,” Curry told reporters.

“We had a point of emphasis of starting the game with a lot more energy and focus on the defensive end so that we could just feel a little bit better about ourselves than we did last game in the first quarter.”

San Antonio’s depleted offense was led by Jonathon Simmons with 22 points.

Only one other Spurs player made double figures -- Davis Bertans with 13 -- while LaMarcus Aldridge was restricted to just eight points.

- ‘Lack of edge’ -

San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich gave a typically forthright assessment of his team’s obliteration.

“It’s not what I expected.

Disappointed,” Popovich said.

The blowout capped a miserable few days for San Antonio, who on Sunday had squandered a 25-point third quarter lead before Leonard suffered his ankle injury that left him sidelined on Tuesday.

Popovich suggested his team had been unable to mentally cope with the loss of Leonard for Game 2.

“The only way I can process is that I don’t think they believed. You have to believe.

“They didn’t start the game with belief. And it showed

Lascuna ties record 62, leads by 1 shot CARMONA, Cavite – Tony Lascuña put on a dazzling show of iron play and putting and produced a recordequaling 10-under 62, leading the assault on the Manila Southwoods’ Legends course that lay defenseless in the absence of the wind at the start of the ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship here yesterday.

Lexus Keoninh earlier raced ahead of the 110-player pack with a 63 that also featured 10 birdies against a bogey until Lascuña confidently rolled in two long putts on Nos. 17 and 18 to cap a brilliant bogey-free 31-31 card that shoved him past the American in the early going of the $60,000 event sponsored by ICTSI. “I just couldn’t do anything wrong with my irons. It seemed that every shot I took would land on the same, near spot where I wanted. And I made the birdie chances,” said Lascuña, who gunned down five birdies on each side inside six feet, except on No. 3 where he chipped in from about 20 feet.

Twenty eight others broke par in ideal morning conditions as the elite field tamed the layout’s last line of defense with superb putting with Jobim Carlos firing a 65 and Elmer Salvador leading a five-player group at fourth with 66s. They include American Nicolas Paez, Aussie Nathan Park and local Zanieboy Gialon.

with the lack of edge, intensity, grunt.”

Popovich meanwhile was critical of Aldridge for failing to assume the offensive responsibilities in the absence of Leonard.

“He’s got to score for us.

He can’t be timid. He can’t turn down shots. He has to score. He’s got to do it. No doubt about it,” Popovich remarked, declining to explain Aldridge’s poor performance.

“I’m not going to psychoanalyze him,” Popovich said.

“He doesn’t deserve that.”

Curry meanwhile had nothing but praise for Warriors youngster McCaw, who filled in for the injured Andre Iguodala with 18 points. AFP

Hidilyn lends silver medal to PSC for display at sports museum

By Randy Caluag AIMING to inspire more youth and women athletes to follow in her footsteps, Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz on Monday turned over her Olympic silver medal and other personal paraphernalia to the Philippine Sports Commission.

Accompanied by her mother, Emelita, the 26-year-old Diaz brought with her the silver medal she won in women’s weightlifting event of the Rio Olympics last year, as well as her competition gear, shoes, parade jacket and pants.

In a simple ceremony, PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez received the personal items from Diaz, who agreed to put her personal memento on display at the PSC Sports Museum located inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

“In behalf of the PSC, we will take care of your silver medal. We will cherish it for the common good of the country and of the community of sports. We will handle it like the instruction of the President to guard you 24 hours a day and like a very precious jewel,” Ramirez told Diaz.

“We will take care of it like the way we took Hidilyn as a precious gem and being the Pearl of Philippine sports. We will assure you that your achievement will be shared to others like your illustrious Olympic medal.”

Diaz will let the PSC put her original items on display, including her silver medal although she would get it back when a replica is ready to take its place in the display case.

The PSC Museum currently has a repository of valuable items from former national athletes such as plaques, trophies, competition uniforms, title belts, balls and even original medals of Olympians.

Ramirez, who was with commissioners Arnold Agustin, Mon Fernandez and Celia Kiram, said they will construct a new area for the sports paraphernalia for all visitors to see and appreciate.

“Dapat ‘yung sa may entrance like hallway, para everyday nakikita ng mga tao,” said Ramirez.

Diaz’s mother, Emelita, could only smile and rejoice in silence for the accolade her daughter has been getting.

Hidilyn Diaz (2nd from right) and mother Emelita (extreme right) with PSC Commissioners Mon Fernandez, Arnold Agustin, Celia Kiram and Chairman Butch Ramirez.

Diaz opens weightlifting gym

Banking on solid driving, Tony Lascuña churns out a course-equaling 10-under 62.

OLYMPIC silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz recently opened her weightlifting gym in Mampang, Zamboanga City as part of hear dream of helping kids learn the sport and turn their lives around.

“Primary purpose ko po talaga is gusto ko pong tulungan mga bata sa amin na ma-realize ang dream nila sa weightlifting. Sa weightlifting, posibleng magbago ang buhay nila at baka maging kagaya nila ako o baka sila pa ang mag-uwi ng gold medal sa Olympics,” said Diaz, who ended a 20-year medal drought in the Olympics with her silver in weightlifting, achieved during the Rio games.

The Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Athlete of the Year revealed that it pains her to see budding lifters in her hometown training in a cramped gym built with

sub-standard facilities, prompting her to make a better one.

She also built the gym near her “students,” so that they won’t spend for transportation going to and from it.

Diaz said that the chief instructor of her gym is regional coach Allen Jayfrus Diaz, a cousin, plus a couple of senior weightlifters from whom she also learned the fundamentals.

“Kapag umuuwi ako sa Zamboanga, tinuturuan ko ang mga bata and ina-advice ko sila kung ano mga kailangan nila iimprove at palakasin. Minsan din via Facebook group na lang, doon ko tinitignan ang mga mali nila sa training at sinasabi ko doon kung anong correction and dapat gawin,” said Diaz.

The St. Benilde student, how-

ever, still isn’t done yet. She feels that in order to fully become operational, her gym needs more equipment, such as rubber mats and barbells. She said Pioneer, Bosch and Bank of the Philippine Islands promised to help.

“Marami pa pong kailangan, sana po ang matulungan ako ng mga kababayan natin na makumpleto ang gamit sa gym,” said Diaz, who can be reached through her Facebook account.

Diaz said that she maybe studying now through a scholarship grant and is also involved with her weightlifting gym, but she is still, first and foremost, an athlete.

“Sobrang hirap, pero training pa din po ang priority ko, then school. Pangatlo ang social media para mag-connect sa mga bata,” said Diaz.

Gatorade fuels Jr. NBA PH National Training Camp THE world’s number one sports drink reinforced its staunch support for grassroots basketball as it teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the 2017 run of the Jr. NBA Philippines National Training Camp.

The exclusive training camp aims to develop raw basketball talent and educate young athletes on the importance of proper conditioning and proper hydration for optimum sports performance.

The participants were selected from Jr. NBA Regional Selection Camps in Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Manila, and Quezon, and from the Alaska Power Camp in Manila. This year’s participation rate no-

tably increased by 50 percent from last year, reaching over 30,000 players and coaches from all over the country.

Coaches from Focus Athletics provided the kids with an intensive training which included functional training exercises and hydration education. Elfrid Payton of Orlando Magic was present to assist in the training sessions and talk about the crucial role of hydration for anyone who wants to pursue a professional basketball career.

Payton, who was drafted 10th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, was named to the NBA AllRookie First Team in 2015. He averaged 12.8 points, 6.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game with

the Magic this season.

“It’s always an honor for us to work with Jr. NBA Philippines and help shape the future of Philippine basketball,” Pepsico Philippines Marketing Manager for Hydration Tony Atayde said. “As the global leader in sports hydration, we want to instill in them the value of proper hydration so they can maximize their potential and go on to become the next generation of top athletes.”

At the end of the National Training Camp, eight boys and eight girls were selected as Jr. NBA All-Stars. They will embark on an overseas NBA experience trip with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Orlando Magic’s Elfrid Payton shares professional tips to aspiring basketball stars.

Asia later this year.

BSP auction slightly oversubscribed B3

Business

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

Trade deficit likely to hit $28b

PSE COMPOSITE

INDEX

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

7,826.54 35.46

PESO-DOLLAR RATE Closing MAY 17, 2017

45.00 46.50 48.00 49.50

P49.760 CLOSE

51.00

HIGH P49.710 LOW P49.770 AVERAGE P49.742 VOLUME 453.500M

P427.00-P647.00 LPG/11-kg tank P38.25-P50.40 Unleaded Gasoline P27.75-P32.96 Diesel

OPRICES IL TODAY

P32.85-P41.15 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75

FASTER INTERNET. Converge ICT Solution, a company led by businessman Dennis Uy, launches new offerings with Internet speed of up to 500 megabits per second. Shown during the launching of FiberX, iBIZ, Converge Enterprises and FiberXtreme at Marco Polo Ortigas are (from left) Coverge ICT sales head Alan Smyth, chief operating officer Jesus Romero, brand ambassador Janeena Chan, marketing director Angela Gutierrez and sales head Edith Agayan. Lino Santos

JG Summit spending P48.2b for expansion

By Jenniffer B. Austria

J

G Summit Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon John Gokongwei, earmarked P48.2 billion for 2017 capital expenditures, higher than P41.9 billion it spent in 2016, to expand operations of core businesses.

A presentation to investors uploaded on the company’s website showed JG Summit’s core subsidiaries, Universal Robina Corp., Robinsons Land Corp. and Cebu Air Inc., would raise their own funds for this year’s capex.

URC, the group’s food manufacturing unit, budgeted P7.2 billion to expand the capacities of existing facilities both here and abroad.

Property unit RLC allocated P16 billion to construct new malls, offices, hotels and land banking activities.

The balance will be used for fleet expansion of Cebu Air, operator of Cebu Pacific and Cebgo; operating and maintenance capex of the petrochemicals group; and the expansion and maintenance projects of Robinsons Bank Corp.

JG Summit said in the first quarter alone, it already spent P9.3 billion.

JG Summit said URC’s business would be weighed down by increased competition, rising costs of inputs and foreign exchange movement.

RLC will focus on investment portfolio as

it remains conservative in terms of residential launches.

Cebu Air plans to optimize operations to adapt to current developments in the market, including using bigger planes and more hubs out of Manila.

JG Summit Petrochemicals targets to award the construction contract for the planned $650-million expansion of its petrochemical facility.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Bank looks to grow its core income, as it plans to launch debit and credit card businesses as well as its bancassurance venture.

JG Summit posted a 22-percent decline in net income in the first quarter to P7.5 billion from P9.6 billion in the same period last year.

First-quarter revenues climbed 11 percent in the first quarter to P67.5 billion, on the strong performance of petrochemical business.

Thai company buys 40% of Nabas wind project

By Alena Mae S. Flores

PDIC DONATION. State-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. launches #ShareAShirt Upcycling Campaign in partnership with Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation Inc. The campaign involves PDIC personnel who donated their old PDIC field uniforms for upcycling to repurposed and useful materials such as bags and purses. Shown are (from left) PDIC president Roberto Tan, Gifts and Graces executive director Victoria Powell-Jalandoni and Lingap Community representative Joyce Acierto during the turnover ceremony in Makati City.

BCPG Public Company Ltd. of Thailand acquired a 40-percent stake in the 36-megawatt Nabas-1 wind power project in Aklan province.

PetroEnergy Resources Corp.’s wind power unit, PetroWind Energy Inc., in a statement welcomed the entry of BCPG into the project.

“We welcome BCPG into our network of esteemed partners, as our new shareholder in PWEI. We are grateful for their trust and confidence to do business not only with our company but also in the Philippines. We believe that their track record and management expertise will bring greater value to our business,” said PetroEnergy and PetroWind president Milagros Reyes.

Nabas wind facility consists of 18 wind turbine generators erected at elevations of 300 to 500 meters in the foothills of northern Aklan straddling the

towns of Nabas and Malay.

BCPG acquired the stake of CapAsia Asean Wind Holdings Cooperatief U.A. in the wind power project.

CapAsia is a Singapore-based private equity firm that invests in mid-market infrastructure assets and companies in Southeast Asia as its core market. CapAsia is majority-owned by the Rohatyn Group with Malaysianbased CIMB Group as a minority owner.

BCPG formalized its acquisition of the 40-percent stake of CapAsia in PetroWind on Tuesday.

BCPG, along with existing PetroWind shareholders PetroGreen Energy Corp. (40 percent) and EEI Power Corp. ( 20 percent) also signed a new shareholders’ agreement governing the company.

BCPG’s parent company is Bangchak Corp. is a Thailandbased company engaged in oil refinery operation and marketing the finished products through its service stations.

Insurance industry’s premium income jumped 19.5% in Q1 THE local insurance industry grew 19.5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago in terms of premium income, the Insurance Commission said Wednesday.

Data from the commission showed the industry’s total premium income hit P57.035 billion in January to March, up from P47.725 billion registered in the same period in 2016.

The life insurance sector raked

B1

Closing May 17, 2017

By Julito G. Rada THE country’s growing appetite for imported products will likely bloat the trade deficit to a record $28 billion this year, DBS Bank of Singapore said in a report Wednesday.

DBS said at the current pace, the trade deficit would account for almost 1 percent of gross domestic product, a record high, and likely put this year’s current account in a deficit of around -0.3 percent of GDP. Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that merchandise trade deficit widened 16 percent year-on-year to $6.5 billion. Last year, trade deficit amounted to $24.5 billion, or double the $12.2-billion shortfall recorded in 2015.

DBS said despite the record trade deficit expected this year, foreign inflows such as remittances from Filipinos working overseas would help cover the gap. “[There are] three reasons why we are not worried about this. First, overseas foreign remittance flows have also stayed robust. Foreign remittances came in at $2.6 billion in March 2017, also a record-high and this brings the first-quarter total to $7 billion,” the bank said.

“While there are still risks of a moderation going forward, total remittances are still set to reach about $28 billion this year. As long as remittances can offset the trade balance, the current account deficit will stay manageable,” DBS said.

The government said the widening trade deficit stemmed from a strong demand for imports rather than a slump in export growth. Both exports and imports increased 17 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

DBS said the jump in imports growth was driven by a strong demand of both capital and consumer goods, adding that monthly imports of capital and consumer goods were some 60 percent and 30 percent higher, respectively, than levels in early-2015.

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

in premiums totaling P44.08 billion, up 14.2 percent from P38.60 billion in the previous year.

Commissioner Dennis Funa said in a statement the positive growth in the premium income of the life sector could be attributed to the increase in the premiums generated from the sale of variable life insurance products.

“While the premium income in traditional life insurance de-

clined by 3.87 percent, the life insurance sector registered a 23.21-percent increase in premium income from the sale of variable life insurance products,” Funa said.

Non-life insurance sector also recorded a 19.4-percent increase in net premiums to P10.89 billion from P9.12 billion a year ago.

“One of the factors in the increase in net premiums written of the non-life sector is due to the

increase in the premiums generated from the fire and motor business. The fire business contributes to almost half or 48.24 percent of the total net premiums written of the non-life insurance sector. On the other hand, the net premiums written from motor business comprises 18.01 percent of the total net premiums written,” Funa said.

Funa said he was confident that the stronger growth in the

first quarter of this year could be sustained by the industry in the coming months.

Mutual benefit associations, meanwhile, contributed P2.06 million to the industry’s total premium income.

Total assets of insurance companies stood at P1.42 trillion as of end-March, up by 22.3 percent from P1.17 trillion in the same period in 2016.

Julito G. Rada

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, May 17, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

49.6510

Japan

Yen

0.008841

0.4390

UK

Pound

1.291900

64.1441

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128401

6.3752

Switzerland

Franc

1.014405

50.3662

Canada

Dollar

0.735078

36.4974

Singapore

Dollar

0.716897

35.5947

Australia

Dollar

0.742600

36.8708

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655196

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266681

13.2410

Brunei

Dollar

0.714337

35.4675

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0037

Thailand

Baht

0.028977

1.4387

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

13.5189

Euro

Euro

1.108300

55.0282

Korea

Won

0.000897

0.0445

131.8331

China

Yuan

0.145180

7.2083

India

Rupee

0.015618

0.7754

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.231481

11.4933

New Zealand

Dollar

0.688100

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033233

34.1649 1.6501 Source: PDS Bridge

IN BRIEF IMI completes British acquisition

INTEGRATED Micro-Electronics Inc. said it completed the acquisition of an 80-percent stake in STI Enterprises Limited, an electronics manufacturing services company based in the United Kingdom, as a part of a diversification strategy.

IMI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the acquisition was completed by subsidiary Integrated MicroElectronics UK Limited, after closing all conditions and obtaining regulatory approvals.

The acquisition is expected to strengthen IMI’s industrial and automotive manufacturing competencies, broaden its customer base, enable it to have access to the UK and facilitate its entry in the aerospace and defense sectors.

“IMI’s investment in STI is part of AC Industrial’s deliberate and focused strategy to own, develop, enable, manufacture, and commercialize disruptive technologies and solutions across various industries including industrial and automotive. The addition of STI to AC Industrials is also expected to generate significant synergies with other business units within the group,” IMI chief executive Arthur Tan said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

PLDT Home posts 12% revenue growth

PLDT Inc. said its fixed-line business posted a double-digit growth in revenues in the first quarter amid aggressive fiber optic rollout and affordable broadband plans.

PLDT Home reported total revenues of P7.8 billion in January to March, up by 12 percent from last year’s P7 billion. Of the total, voice revenues amounted to P3.02 billion, up by 6 percent, while data revenue went up 16 percent to P4.78 billion.

The company’s fixed-line business had 3.77 million subscribers as of endMarch, or 10 percent higher than 3.43 million last year.

PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said the highest growth was seen in PLDT Home’s data services as the company pushed stronger and world-class internet connection.

PLDT’s fiber-to-the-home service has passed three million homes as of end-March, on track to reach 4.4 million homes by yearend.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Globe to declare P22.75 cash dividend

GLOBE Telecom said its board of directors approved the declaration of the second quarterly distribution of cash dividend of P22.75 per share for holders of common shares.

The dividend will be paid to shareholders on record as of May 23, 2017, with payment date on June 7, 2017.

“The board approval of the second quarter cash dividend, totaling about P3 billion, is consistent with the company’s commitment in creating shareholder value,” Globe chief finance officer Rizza Maniego-Eala said.

Eala said the company’s board of directors also approved the declaration of the second semi-annual cash dividend for holders of its non-voting preferred shares on record as of Aug. 10, 2017.

The amount of the cash dividend shall be at a fixed rate of 5.2006 percent per annum based on the offer price of P500 per share for the six-month dividend period.

B2

Business

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Starmalls’ net profit rises 41% to P489m

By Jenniffer B. Austria STARMALLS Inc., the listed commercial arm of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., said Wednesday net income jumped 41 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, on the back of a double-digit increase in rental revenues.

Starmalls said in a statement first-quarter income reached P489 million, as revenues climbed 48 percent to P1.4 billion. Rental income increased 43 percent in January to March to P1.22 billion from P855 million a year earlier.

“We remain optimistic with the retail industry’s outlook for the rest of the year, as we continue to see sustained growth in the disposable income of Filipinos due to sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals,” said Starmalls chairman Manuel Villar Jr. “In addition, we are now taking advantage of the synergies

that have developed as a result of our integration into Vista Land,” he said.

Starmalls had 17 commercial assets in its portfolio as of endMarch and was continuing to expand its leasable space.

Starmalls president Jerry Navarrete said the group was ramping up its expansion program and would deliver additional leasable space in the coming years. He said the group was also looking at Vista Land’s over 600 hectares of land across the country that were suitable for commercial development.

“The company’s growth rate was robust as our expansion programs are already contributing to our financial performance in addition to the increased rental revenues from our existing malls brought about by favorable rental reversions and increased occupancy,” Navarrete said.

Market climbs; ICTSI, Petron lead advancers

S

tocks rose for a second day, ahead of the release of first-quarter economic growth data which are expected to meet the government’s growth target.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 35 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 7,826.53 Wednesday. It was also up 14.4 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, advanced 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 4,653.01, on a value turnover of P8 billion. Losers outnumbered

gainers, 98 to 92, while 58 issues were unchanged.

Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. which climbed 2.2 percent to P99.50 and oil refiner Petron Corp. which gained 1.7 percent to P10.50. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second largest lender, rose 1.1 percent to P89.

Meanwhile, Tokyo stocks ended lower on Wednesday as the yen strengthened against the dollar following explosive accusations that US President Donald Trump tried to quash an FBI probe.

The embattled administration is facing claims by recently fired FBI boss James Comey that the tycoon pressed him to drop an investigation into exnational security advisor Michael Flynn over his links to Moscow.

The White House denied the claims, but it was the latest in a string of crises that have raised doubts about Trump’s future and his ability to push through an economic agenda that includes tax cuts and big government spending.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017

NAME

OPEN

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.5 312,000 49.3 28,000 105.9 1,743,520 3.91 13,000 122.5 1,807,130 1.32 109,000 35 562,000 16.4 7,800 22.6 2,093,700 8.37 100 0.67 1,000 1.64 7,000 0.7 3,009,000 89 3,366,690 0.72 18,000 15.6 170,400 67.3 126,200 238.2 270 88.5 2,100 54.5 331,380 216.2 1,309,510 1,650 100 84 57,860 1.21 282,000

1,094,540 1,379,425 185,539,261 50,900 221,033,803 144,580 19,665,060 127,006 47,432,930 837 670 11,480 2,077,920 299,954,578 12,760 2,641,210 8,487,080 64,874 184,910 17,971,913.50 283,067,796 165,000 4,840,355 339,580

733,935 -16,886,825 48,285,956 1,390 -2,852,380 -340,240 89,343,415.50 7,000 -1,709,129.50 165,440 -1,707,042.50 -128,259,592 -165,000 -257,053 -

39.9 5.17 0.82 1.59 21.05 0.29 118.5 7.17 16.8 22.8 14.34 71 1.91 5.7 11.5 12.72 10.14 6.59 5.92 1.79 20 70.7 13.1 14.38 9.3 1.52 205 61.05 4.85 3.6 24.3 30.5 17.46 18.6 274.6 0.244 6.08 3.38 10.32 3.5 11.5 2.1 10.46 1.98 70.3 6.01 295.2 3.14 13.1 4.5 0.152 1.37 159 4.13 1.56 1.1

INDUSTRIAL 40 1,855,400 5.74 2,383,800 0.83 937,000 1.63 1,740,000 22.5 34,700 0.29 11,090,000 118.5 30 7.22 24,436,900 16.9 2,486,500 23.2 62,500 14.4 3,600 73.95 5,610 1.91 294,000 5.7 140,800 11.9 29,300 12.8 3,507,300 10.18 792,000 6.82 2,976,300 6.06 20,249,900 1.79 4,000 20.1 756,200 70.9 35,530 13.12 29,000 14.42 563,800 9.65 4,861,100 1.53 156,000 205 1,310,850 70 100 4.86 1,593,800 3.71 2,000 26 1,900 30.75 1,417,200 17.68 6,067,300 18.9 5,317,900 279 108,560 0.245 2,080,000 6.15 31,600 3.38 527,000 10.5 18,547,300 3.5 5,000 11.5 7,100 2.11 1,651,000 10.6 5,349,200 2 3,345,000 70.45 1,136,200 6.01 1,285,800 296.2 5,980 3.22 82,000 13.1 3,974,100 4.5 51,000 0.153 1,140,000 1.42 348,000 159.2 5,663,310 4.13 50,000 1.62 2,299,000 1.15 3,764,000

74,283,550 13,529,346 780,700 2,792,790 770,255 3,260,000 3,558 175,876,823 41,985,338 1,441,920 51,746 398,782 564,700 803,010 345,352 44,887,810 8,111,916 20,240,663 121,854,252 7,160 15,187,970 2,520,766 383,000 8,266,538 46,359,755 238,970 270,159,200 6,313 8,065,199 7,310 47,670 43,646,225 108,766,320 100,123,002 30,122,094 508,650 193,048 1,791,580 194,404,704 17,500 81,650 3,471,860 56,654,790 6,695,100 80,518,262 7,842,706 1,786,822 260,920 52,283,282 229,500 174,300 479,180 903,880,570 206,500 3,675,300 4,384,360

-9,370,595 4,046,703 2,633,369 31,046,146 95,650 10,949,400 -2,246,978 2,733,161 24,565,876 -5,002,250 -529,049.50 -3,747,528 13,878,198 -8,677,084 -19,764,755 -26,315,686 -16,176,460 2,072,746 39,240 -47,320 15,373,940 489,560 11,803,876 29,750 -17,068,646.50 605,000 897,348 -9,655,706 -29,070 -119,915,516 954,060 -

0.375 76.6 15.22 1.35 6.12 0.355 0.365 871 8.2 13.4 7.89 0.205 1,269 6.5 83 4.27 5 5.2 1.01 7.17 16.62 6.74 0.064 1.96 109.2 2.82 784 1.44 215 310 0.29 0.22 0.247

0.365 74.55 14.84 1.18 6.12 0.34 0.345 864 8.15 13.24 7.89 0.199 1,241 6.5 82.45 4.2 5 5.02 0.99 7.05 16.5 6.63 0.056 1.9 108 2.71 774 1.39 200 309 0.28 0.201 0.246

HOLDING FIRMS 0.37 310,000 76.1 1,257,720 15 14,598,900 1.18 3,477,000 6.12 1,200 0.345 4,680,000 0.35 5,200,000 869 232,380 8.17 1,055,300 13.32 3,746,300 7.89 1,100 0.199 1,640,000 1,260 128,815 6.5 1,300 82.85 2,951,690 4.2 15,000 5 21,100 5.1 52,300 1 2,620,000 7.14 96,300 16.5 2,260,100 6.68 21,106,300 0.059 372,190,000 1.96 1,679,000 109 228,730 2.73 46,000 778 343,920 1.43 1,899,000 210 100 310 4,480 0.29 110,000 0.22 130,000 0.246 300,000

114,250 95,802,296 219,717,640 4,340,090 7,344 1,622,000 1,825,350 201,846,115 8,631,979 49,913,822 8,679 326,420 162,165,555 8,450 244,557,792 63,410 105,500 266,490 2,604,040 688,534 37,301,838 141,043,166 22,129,760 3,236,200 24,931,343 126,640 267,598,285 2,697,270 20,650 1,388,128 31,100 28,210 73,830

11,124,718 67,649,674 809,150 65,718,320 6,189,574.00 22,271,214 2,050 7,477,210 -27,519,041.50 -219,920 185,888 -12,585,872 19,703,324 93,190 10,341,266 190,365,825 1,603,710 1,019,406 2,190 2,460

6.8 1.23 2.28 1.35 39 4.2 5.31 0.5 1.43 0.159 0.52 50.7 0.69 0.165 1.65 1.02 1.07 4.03 4.3 0.36 0.37 0.77 4.2 27.5 25.05 1.71

6.75 1.19 2.2 1.32 38.45 4.07 5.31 0.495 1.37 0.157 0.495 48.9 0.68 0.16 1.6 1 1.05 4.01 4.2 0.335 0.36 0.73 4.05 27.5 24.6 1.69

PROPERTY 6.75 463,000 1.2 4,486,000 2.24 814,000 1.33 5,859,000 38.6 9,451,000 4.07 3,243,000 5.31 23,600 0.495 6,210,000 1.37 154,000 0.157 1,310,000 0.52 16,509,000 50.2 449,760 0.68 155,000 0.16 1,770,000 1.64 3,392,000 1.01 2,966,000 1.05 551,000 4.03 26,000 4.27 38,004,000 0.35 93,230,000 0.365 480,000 0.74 21,168,000 4.05 834,000 27.5 600 24.75 1,748,900 1.7 930,000

3,133,904 5,411,320 1,820,380 7,814,800 365,379,960 13,323,130 125,316 3,093,900 213,240 205,820 8,329,480 22,432,955.50 105,900 284,290 5,561,810 2,992,230 583,030 104,760 161,537,460 32,563,250 174,150 15,833,250 3,418,580 16,500 43,426,005 1,585,480

-2,787,900 -18,450 -5,000 -35,458,365 -1,441,810 -1,236,750 1,590 234,000 6,797,045 1,650 -1,497,810 17,747,420 13,050 3,700 17,040 6,293,460 -86,700

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE 3.62 ASIA UNITED 49.2 BANK PH ISLANDS 106 BDO LEASING 3.99 BDO UNIBANK 122 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.39 CHINABANK 35.1 COL FINANCIAL 16.56 EAST WEST BANK 22.8 FILIPINO FUND 8.37 FIRST ABACUS 0.67 IREMIT 1.64 MEDCO HLDG 0.7 METROBANK 88 NTL REINSURANCE 0.7 PB BANK 15.5 PHIL NATL BANK 67.7 PHIL STOCK EXCH 241 PSBANK 88 RCBC 54 SECURITY BANK 217.4 SUN LIFE 1,650 UNION BANK 83.05 VANTAGE 1.23

3.64 49.3 107.1 3.99 122.7 1.39 35.1 16.56 22.8 8.37 0.67 1.64 0.7 89.7 0.72 15.6 67.8 241 88.5 54.5 217.4 1,650 84 1.26

3.5 49.2 105.9 3.9 121.6 1.32 34.9 16.04 22.6 8.37 0.67 1.64 0.68 88 0.7 15.5 67.1 238.2 88 53.6 214 1,650 83.05 1.19

ABOITIZ POWER 40.1 AGRINURTURE 5.7 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.84 ALSONS CONS 1.63 ASIABEST GROUP 21.05 BASIC ENERGY 0.305 BOGO MEDELLIN 118.8 CEMEX HLDG 7.25 CENTURY FOOD 17 CIRTEK HLDG 23.1 CNTRL AZUCARERA14.4 CONCEPCION 71 CROWN ASIA 1.92 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.72 DEL MONTE 11.5 DNL INDUS 12.8 EEI CORP 10.32 EMPERADOR 6.59 ENERGY DEVT 5.95 EUROMED 1.79 FIRST GEN 20.05 FIRST PHIL HLDG 70.7 GINEBRA 13.3 HOLCIM 15.02 INTEGRATED MICR 9.3 IONICS 1.54 JOLLIBEE 205.4 LIBERTY FLOUR 61.05 LMG CHEMICALS 5.17 MABUHAY VINYL 3.6 MACAY HLDG 24.3 MANILA WATER 31 MAXS GROUP 18.98 MEGAWIDE 18.8 MERALCO 274.6 MG HLDG 0.249 PANASONIC 6.08 PEPSI COLA 3.45 PETRON 10.4 PHIL H2O 3.5 PHINMA 11.5 PHINMA ENERGY 2.11 PHX PETROLEUM 10.46 PHX SEMICNDCTR 2.06 PILIPINAS SHELL 71 PRYCE CORP 6.23 PUREFOODS 295.2 ROXAS HLDG 3.2 SHAKEYS PIZZA 13.36 SPC POWER 4.5 SWIFT FOODS 0.153 TKC METALS 1.38 UNIV ROBINA 159.9 VICTORIAS 4.13 VITARICH 1.59 VULCAN INDL 1.1

40.1 5.8 0.85 1.63 23.4 0.305 118.8 7.26 17 23.2 14.4 73.95 1.93 5.72 11.9 12.86 10.32 6.87 6.06 1.79 20.15 71.9 13.3 15.02 9.7 1.54 209 70 5.3 3.71 26 31.05 19.2 18.96 279 0.249 6.15 3.45 10.52 3.5 11.5 2.13 10.6 2.06 71.2 6.23 299.6 3.22 13.4 4.5 0.153 1.42 160.4 4.13 1.62 1.19

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

0.375 75.9 15.16 1.2 6.12 0.345 0.345 867.5 8.2 13.28 7.89 0.205 1,253 6.5 82.5 4.27 5 5.02 1.01 7.05 16.62 6.7 0.063 1.9 109.2 2.82 775 1.39 200 310 0.28 0.201 0.246

8990 HLDG 6.8 A BROWN 1.23 ARANETA PROP 2.22 ARTHALAND CORP 1.32 AYALA LAND 39 BELLE CORP 4.2 CEBU HLDG 5.31 CENTURY PROP 0.495 CITYLAND DEVT 1.41 CROWN EQUITIES 0.158 CYBER BAY 0.52 DOUBLEDRAGON 50.7 EMPIRE EAST 0.68 EVER GOTESCO 0.165 FILINVEST LAND 1.64 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.01 IRC PROP 1.06 KEPPEL PROP 4.01 MEGAWORLD 4.26 MRC ALLIED 0.335 PHIL ESTATES 0.37 PHIL REALTY 0.76 PRIMEX CORP 4.19 PTFC REDEV CORP 27.5 ROBINSONS LAND 24.6 ROCKWELL 1.7

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

32.6 0.99 6.99 0.87 5.24

32.85 1 6.99 0.9 5.24

32.45 0.98 6.99 0.87 5.18

32.8 0.98 6.99 0.88 5.24

8,234,500 2,571,000 6,000 31,000 2,714,700

269,573,605 2,538,100 41,940 27,610 14,161,342

137,305,035 -3,495 -3,821,535

2GO GROUP 17.6 ABS CBN 43.85 ACESITE HOTEL 1.6 APC GROUP 0.51 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.046 ASIAN TERMINALS 10.3 BERJAYA 5.98 BLOOMBERRY 9.83 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.087 CALATA CORP 1.91 CEBU AIR 98 DFNN INC 8.86 DISCOVERY WORLD 2.42 EASYCALL 3.52 FAR EASTERN U 970 GLOBE TELECOM 1,996 GMA NETWORK 6.12 GOLDEN HAVEN 16.16 HARBOR STAR 2.96 IMPERIAL 3.55 INTL CONTAINER 97.4 IPEOPLE 12.3 IPM HLDG 8.98 ISLAND INFO 0.183 ISM COMM 1.36 JACKSTONES 3.67 LBC EXPRESS 17.4 LEISURE AND RES 3.79 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.96 MACROASIA 4.34 MANILA JOCKEY 2.38 MELCO CROWN 8.26 METRO RETAIL 3.9 NOW CORP 2.6 PACIFIC ONLINE 11.6 PHIL SEVEN CORP 170 PHILWEB 8.13 PLDT 1,631 PREMIUM LEISURE 1.55 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.405 PUREGOLD 43.5 ROBINSONS RTL 80.5 SBS PHIL CORP 5.9 SSI GROUP 2.36 STI HLDG 1.13 TRANSPACIFIC BR 2.2 TRAVELLERS 3.56 WATERFRONT 0.7 WILCON DEPOT 5.4

18.1 43.95 1.6 0.51 0.048 12.1 5.98 9.9 0.089 1.97 99.95 8.86 2.42 3.52 970 2,024 6.12 16.48 3.03 3.55 99.9 12.52 8.98 0.185 1.38 3.67 17.4 3.94 0.96 4.43 2.4 8.26 3.9 2.6 11.6 170 8.2 1,670 1.55 0.405 44 82.3 5.9 2.45 1.14 2.2 3.6 0.7 5.43

17.6 43.6 1.6 0.51 0.046 10.3 5.5 9.39 0.086 1.86 97.95 8.71 2.42 3.51 970 1,990 6.1 16.16 2.95 3.5 97.4 12.06 8.85 0.182 1.35 3.59 16.44 3.79 0.96 4.34 2.38 7.76 3.78 2.55 11.6 170 7.7 1,621 1.49 0.405 43.1 80 5.89 2.35 1.11 2.15 3.42 0.64 5.38

SERVICES 17.7 1,296,500 43.8 24,600 1.6 3,000 0.51 798,000 0.048 50,500,000 12.1 1,100 5.63 11,082,600 9.6 19,970,400 0.087 17,450,000 1.92 5,014,000 98.7 171,380 8.72 19,100 2.42 1,000 3.51 7,000 970 320 2,012 31,930 6.1 452,800 16.48 75,900 2.97 1,969,000 3.54 35,000 99.5 2,267,050 12.52 49,000 8.97 374,000 0.182 2,400,000 1.38 566,000 3.67 64,000 16.98 17,700 3.88 1,593,000 0.96 6,000 4.38 1,166,000 2.4 187,000 7.76 15,749,300 3.8 3,753,000 2.6 410,000 11.6 1,000 170 10 7.79 1,195,000 1,645 108,760 1.49 10,342,000 0.405 410,000 43.3 869,400 82.1 1,553,730 5.89 60,400 2.43 5,537,000 1.11 3,002,000 2.15 51,000 3.43 3,579,000 0.66 21,680,000 5.43 5,797,700

23,207,914 1,078,215 4,800 406,980 2,379,100 11,710 62,445,422 191,650,360 1,522,090 9,514,500 16,999,080.50 167,173 2,420 24,610 310,400 64,077,345 2,765,423 1,244,544 5,869,700 123,730 225,260,940.50 610,958 3,352,850 437,930 766,220 231,320 304,782 6,188,990 5,760 5,116,510 447,030 125,431,595 14,325,500 1,051,940 11,600 1,700 9,408,694 178,831,560 15,540,390 166,050 37,805,305 126,838,893.50 355,906 13,395,410 3,368,720 109,700 12,423,160 14,324,420 31,373,008

-204,422 -306,000 -94,000 42,295,895 9,680 2,155,320 -2,791,847 -6,541,790 83,030 -10,590 158,989,478.50 479,516 -5,460 173,800 1,272,410 2,195,460 -20,293,923 -7,726,440 -1,008,595 -41,017,290 -599,470 -757,835 9,147,620.50 266,228 -1,756,320 1,242,730.00 -1,010,560 22,480 17,836,712.00

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

0.0032 1.98 5.08 13 2.02 2.03 0.92 0.4 8.98 2.51 0.26 0.19 0.192 0.011 0.012 1.9 6.19 2.22 0.5 0.89 0.011 5.37 0.014 8.94 3.38 158.1 2.68 0.0089

0.0033 2.07 5.1 13.46 2.03 2.03 0.92 0.41 8.98 2.55 0.26 0.193 0.195 0.012 0.012 1.92 6.28 2.23 0.5 0.94 0.011 5.67 0.014 9.13 3.82 160 2.83 0.0089

0.0032 1.96 5.08 13 1.98 1.96 0.89 0.4 8.5 2.5 0.25 0.189 0.189 0.011 0.011 1.89 6.09 2.14 0.49 0.88 0.011 5.37 0.013 8.94 3.38 158.1 2.68 0.0089

MINING & OIL 0.0032 194,000,000 2.04 19,836,000 5.1 400 13.46 1,100 2.03 7,000 1.96 47,000 0.9 1,177,000 0.4 120,000 8.93 300 2.52 578,000 0.255 330,000 0.189 1,420,000 0.192 15,710,000 0.011 51,500,000 0.011 44,500,000 1.9 72,000 6.23 3,573,000 2.2 19,000 0.49 140,000 0.88 153,000 0.011 200,000 5.5 753,200 0.013 1,100,000 9 667,200 3.74 21,033,000 158.8 556,260 2.75 242,000 0.0089 4,000,000

624,300 40,101,180 2,038 14,346 14,110 94,140 1,055,130 48,700 2,641 1,458,900 83,700 269,710 2,991,290 591,500 489,600 136,420 22,153,170 41,140 69,000 136,010 2,200 4,168,234 14,400 6,037,754 76,568,120 88,407,929 667,280 35,600

44,900 -5,101,800.00 -509.9999 -17,780.00 -91,000 5,100 2,600 -2,808,150 11,000 -1,557,482 33,390 1,400 739,110.00 730,000 12,443,722 10,880 -

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

43.5 519 106.2 104.5 112.5 525 5.8 1,030 1.1 109 1,099 1,019 107 2.12 77.75 80.5 76.15 78.2 80.5 79.2 78.5

43.5 519 106.2 105 112.5 525 5.85 1,030 1.1 109 1,099 1,019 107 2.12 77.75 80.5 76.2 78.2 80.5 79.2 78.5

42.2 519 106.2 104.5 112.5 525 5.8 1,022 1.09 109 1,099 1,019 105.9 2.1 77 80.5 76.1 78.2 79.3 79 78.1

PREFERRED 43.5 14,900 519 250 106.2 30,000 104.5 63,450 112.5 100 525 400 5.85 1,359,300 1,022 120 1.09 15,000 109 310 1,099 300 1,019 1,375 106 4,320 2.1 3,000 77 900 80.5 17,840 76.2 154,150 78.2 14,000 79.3 65,850 79 40,400 78.3 118,980

648,020 129,750 3,186,000 6,630,535 11,250 210,000 7,886,136 122,800 16,430 33,790 329,700 1,401,125 458,012 6,320 69,315 1,436,120 11,737,912 1,094,800 5,222,429 3,193,100 9,329,173

435,000 -6,342,736 -

LR WARRANT

2.2

2.3

2.18

WARRANTS 2.21 186,000

415,270

-

SME 4.28 6.41 8.06

1,216,190 468,375 20,912,683

-91,066 4,021,406

346,456

-326,976

58,485

-

NAME SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

MS ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

4.32 6.35 7.92

4.32 6.45 8.11

4.25 6.35 7.92

FIRST METRO ETF 129

130

129

USD DMPL A1

10.5

TRADING SUMMARY

10.5

SHARES

FINANCIAL

15,358,288

INDUSTRIAL

153,054,814

HOLDING FIRMS

450,479,007

PROPERTY

228,917,589

SERVICES

193,409,427

MINING & OIL

362,461,820

GRAND TOTAL

1,406,644,644

10.5

283,000 73,500 2,604,500

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 130 2,680 DDS 10.5

5,570

VALUE 1,927.76 (UP) 7.35 1,096,321,641.15 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,014.63 (UP) 51.40 2,660,297,388.94 HOLDING FIRMS 7,950.53 (UP) 30.04 1,730,980,000.412 PROPERTY 3,557.80 (DOWN) 4.09 1,613.66 (UP) 8.33 1,035,241,712.52 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,632.57 (UP) 79.37 1,220,530,395,05 PSEI 7,826.53 (UP) 35.46 246,357,431.386 All Shares Index 4,653.01 (UP) 10.86 8,012,672,383.66 Gainers: 92; Losers: 98; Unchanged: 58; Total: 248

“At the very least the view is that Trump’s economic policies will be delayed over this, and the dollar is being sold,” Tomoichiro Kubota, an analyst at Matsui Securities in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.

“At the moment there’s a strong sense of investors trying to gauge how far this will go. It’s a situation where you can’t completely rule out the possibility of impeachment down the road, so it’s difficult for investors to buy.”

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.53 percent, or 104.94 points, to 19,814.88, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was down 0.53 percent, or 8.41 points, at 1,575.82.

The dollar weakened to 112.31 yen, from 113.15 yen in New York.

S&P 500 Index contracts declined with European and Asian equities on reports that Trump asked FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The dollar was already in retreat after a report that the US president shared terrorism intelligence with Russian officials, an action he has since defended. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped for a sixth day, crude extended losses and volatility indexes climbed.

With Bloomberg, AFP

Converge plans to buy more companies

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE telecom company led by businessman Dennis Uy is looking at acquiring players outside of Metro Manila this year in a bid to expand its footprint nationwide.

“We’re still looking because acquisition is one way to grow faster. So, whether a cable company, a small telco or a mid-size telco, we are interested,” Converge ICT Solutions chief operating officer Jesus Romero told reporters.

“There are ongoing discussions,” Romero said.

Romero said the company already acquired a small telecom company in Angeles City, Pampanga last year.

“Anybody who wants to exit, we are interested,” he said.

Romero said the company would spend P1.5 billion this year to expand its access network, IT backbone and platform.

Converge laid out more than 6,000 kilometers of fiber optic, servicing clients from Baguio City to Batangas.

Converge’s pure fiber optic offering in Metro Manila already covers cities such as Valenzuela, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa. It plans to further expand its reach by putting up networks in Nasugbu, Batangas and San Fernando, La Union.

“With Converge fiber broadband products, whether you are at home or at the office or your place of business, your Internet experience will surely be made better. And the best part of it is that it costs the same as your DSL connection, but made faster,” Uy, the president and chief executive of Cobverge ICT said.

The company expects to earn about P3 billion this year, up from last year’s more than P2 billion.

Converge ICT is offering FiberX, which offers internet speed of up to 100 megabits per second with no data cap.

It also offers FiberXtreme with speed of up to 500 Mbps and iBIZ for small and large enterprises.

Business

B3

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

NFA Council wants more imports of rice

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales to require participating traders

PORT EXPO. ICTSI’s Batumi International Container Terminal hosts the 6th Black Sea Ports and Shipping on 17 to 18 May at the Port of Batumi, Georgia. It is the largest annual maritime transport conference and exhibition in the Black Sea–Caucasus region. BICT is a unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. Close to 40 private companies, organizations and government agencies have signed as exhibitors to the Batumi event.

THE National Food Authority Council ordered the NFA management to sign the remaining import permits from the 2016 minimum access volume, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco said Wednesday.

“We ordered the NFA management to sign the remaining import permits covering 54,000 metric tons from the 2016 MAV that are already in our domestic ports, and publish the extension until June for the remaining 20,000 metric tons to augment our industry stocks,” Evasco said in a statement.

MAV refers to the volume of commodities allowed to be imported by a member country as a commitment to the World Trade Organization.

The 2016 minimum access volume is the last before the lifting of the quantitative restriction on rice next month.

Evasco earlier announced the NFA Council approved the importation of 805,000 metric tons MAV of rice this year.

He said the NFA Council directed the NFA management to amend the MAV guidelines

to import 25 percent brokens rice from their 25 to 30 percent quota.

Evasco said the move would ensure adequate supply and stabile consumer prices at levels within the reach of low-income families.

“Private importers in practice usually import 5 to 15 percent brokens rice or so called premium rice which goes to commercial stocks. However, this time, the council will require private importers to allocate around 25 to 30 percent of their quota to import 25 percent brokens of rice. This move is to guarantee availability of affordable rice in the local market,” said Evasco.

“The Council believes that we should let the private sector do the importation of rice instead of NFA. They know the market forces way better than NFA. Under the law, the NFA is mandated to insure adequacy of supply and stability of commercial prices at levels within the reach of low income families. The NFA therefore is not required to directly participate in the market,” Evasco said.

BSP auction slightly oversubscribed The rural banking system program must work A KEY part of my thesis about the slow development of the Philippine economy since the 1950s is the poor and deteriorating performance of the agricultural sector. Until the start of the government effort to develop an industrial sector, Philippine agriculture had pride of place in the national economic scheme. Then all the bad things began to happen.

One of the bad things that happened to the Philippine agriculture was the increasing neglect of the rural banking system by a government focused on developing a banking system centered on commercial (and, later, universal) banks. Established in 1952, the rural banking system was intended by the economic policymakers to lead the way to national economic prosperity. But, for reasons that have since been fully documented—especially mismanagement by the mostly-family owners, inadequate government support and flawed regulatory enactments—the rural banking system gradually lost its luster and progressively degenerated into the collection of weakly managed, financially unstable institutions that it is today.

Over the years the government, led by the monetary authorities, have put into place programs intended to stop the systemic decline and to invigorate the remaining rural banks. But, truth to tell, the programs exhibited halfheartedness and were neither forcefully nor sustainedly implemented.

And so the decline has continued. At least one-third of the number of units that were at the rural banking system’s peak have since fallen by the wayside. Today, one regularly sees newspaper announcements made by PDIC (Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation) about a rural-bank closure. That the rural banks are dying like flies is not far from the truth.

Enter another government program for the invigoration of the rural banking system. This time it is a Consolidated Program for Rural Banks (CPRB). The joint proponents of CPRB are the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas—for obvious reasons—PDIC and the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP). The press release issued after the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement for CPRB stated that the program “aims to provide incentives to encourage mergers and consolidations among the 572 rural banks operating in this country, enabling them to improve their financial strength, enhance viability, strengthen management and governance and expand market reach.”

The stated aims of the latest program are all motherhood-type phrases. “Improve financial strength, enhance viability, strengthen management and governance and expand market reach” – these have all been uttered before.

Making CPRB work where predecessors have failed is one of the prime tasks of the administration of new BSP governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. He must ensure the successful implementation of this latest effort to strengthen the rural banking system. In this connection Mr. Espenilla may remind himself of the old saying “You can take a horse to water but you may not be able to make it drink.” He may find that forceful implementation of CPRB will require the banging of heads—figuratively, of course—of unworthy members of rural bank managements.

The commercial banks cannot yet adequately service this country’s 1,442 municipalities. For this and other reasons the rural banks are needed. CPRB must be made to work.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE weekly volume of P180 billion offered by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the term deposit auction on Wednesday was slightly oversubscribed as investors’ strong appetite for week-long deposits offset the sluggish demand for the month-long instruments.

Data posted on its Web site showed that total tenders for the auction reached P182.33 billion, or P2.33 billion higher than the weekly volume. The seven-day P40- billion worth of deposits lured total bids of P55.3 billion, with a weighted average accepted yield of 3.24 percent. Bangko Sentral made a full award of P40 billion.

The month-long P140-billion instruments, meanwhile, attracted total bids of only P127.03 billion and fetched a weighted average accepted yield of 3.47

IN BRIEF Meralco begins hydro project MANILA Electric Co. through joint venture Pure Meridian Hydropower Corp. recently broke ground for its three-megawatt run of river hydro project in Lalawinan, Quezon province.

The project is in partnership with Repower Energy Development Corp., a unit of Pure Energy Holdings Corp., Pure Meridian chairman Alfredo Panlilio said in a statement it was the second project under the partnership with Meralco. Panlilio is also senior vice president of Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor.

Pure Meridian also held the groundbreaking for the Pulanai mini-hydro project in Bukidnon in December.

“We reiterate our earlier pronouncement that our investments in the various run-of-river mini hydro projects are a manifestation of our unwavering commitment to support the development of the renewable energy sector,” Panlilio said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

percent. The regulator awarded the total bids of P127.03 billion to investors.

Bangko Sentral officials earlier noted strong demand for the week-long instruments as banks found their relatively high rate more attractive.

Bangko Sentral officials also pointed to the successful issuance of retail treasury bonds by the Bureau of the Treasury recently as the main reason for investors’ less appetite for the month-long term deposits.

The Bureau of the Treasury in

April raised a total of P175 billion from its latest issuance of threeyear retail treasury bonds, including those generated from roadshows conducted nationwide.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. cited reports that banks were setting aside funds for their reserve requirement compliance.

Despite the successive undersubscription, Bangko Sentral will keep the weekly volume of P180 billion in its next auction on May 24, 2017. Bangko Sentral early this month increased the weeklong volume to P40 billion from P30 billion, while the month-long volume was reduced to P140 billion from P150 billion.

Previous over-subscriptions in 2016 prompted the regulator to increase by P50 billion the weekly volume from the previous P130 billion to P180 billion starting Dec. 1, 2016 to more effectively siphon off excess liquidity in the financial system.

The amount of week-long

deposits was increased by P20 billion to P30 billion from P10 billion, while the month-long deposits were increased by P30 billion to P150 billion from P120 billion.

The adjustment on Dec. 1 was the sixth time that Bangko Sentral increased the volume. From the original volume of P30 billion, it was increased to P50 billion, P70 billion, P90 billion, P110 billion, and P130 billion.

Bangko Sentral adopted the interest rate corridor system in June last year so that through calibrated auctioning, the transmission of monetary policy would improve.

On May 16, 2016, Bangko Sentral set the interest rates for the formal shift of its monetary operations to an interest rate corridor that started June 3. The rate on overnight lending facility of 6 percent was reduced to 3.5 percent, 3 percent in the overnight borrowing from 4 percent; while the special deposit account rate of 2.5 percent was kept steady.

NGCP, SSS in talks over Pasay lot NATIONAL Grid Corporation of the Philippines and the Social Security System are discussing options on the pension fund’s Pasay property, where NGCP wants to construct a 230 kV substation project.

Social Security Commission chairman Amado Valdez said he was grateful to NGCP officials who agreed to look into other properties for the construction of the Pasay 230kV substation project.

“More than anything else, the welfare of our members and pensioners are our primary concern.

We want what is best for them and we will ensure that their rights are protected,” said Valdez.

NGCP said the Pasay 230-kV substation project was designed as the long-term solution to meet

the increase in demand for power in the nation’s capital, and effectively distribute the existing load of transmission facilities serving Manila Electric Co. The project includes a provision to connect the substation directly to a substation in Bataan through a high voltage submarine cable. The province of Bataan hosts numerous power plants that supply electricity to Metro Manila.

“While we recognize the concerns of SSS, our primary concern remains to be the integrity of the power grid. Any alternative location must not only be suitable and viable for the project, it must, more importantly, be the most optimal for the grid,” said NGCP in a statement.

The SSS earlier filed a petition through the Office of the

Government Corporate Counsel questioning the propriety of the complaint for expropriation by NGCP against the property of SSS in Diokno Ave. in Pasay City.

A writ of possession for the 6.5-hectare SSS property issued by the lower court is still in effect, and grants NGCP possession of the same. NGCP has agreed to temporarily stop activities within the area, but clarified that the needs of the grid were its paramount concern.

“This project, in particular, plays a crucial role in power stability for Metro Manila. NGCP is eager to begin this project at the soonest possible time as we want to avoid any delays that will ultimately compromise the power supply to Luzon’s load center,” NGCP said.

SMC tollway unit bares lower income THE tollway unit of San Miguel Crop. said net income dropped by double digits in the first quarter of the year due to the expiration of its tax perks last year.

South Luzon Tollways Corp. posted a net income of P712.81 million in the first quarter, down 12 percent from P812.20 million last year.

SLTC blamed the decline in net income to the expiration of income tax holiday in 2016.

The company’s toll revenue rose 8 percent to P1.39 billion from P1.29 billion due to higher traffic volume indicating high socio-economic activity in the south.

Majority of vehicles that pass through SLEX belong to the Class 1 category, which account for about 83 percent of the total traffic volume.

Darwin G. Amojelar

DBP scholarship. The Development Bank of the Philippines, through its corporate social responsibility

initiative DBP Endowment for Education Program, has benefitted 3,567 poor but brilliant Filipino students nearly nine years since its inception in 2008. DBP president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo (center) congratulates one of the scholars during the graduation rites at the Magsaysay Institute of Shipping.

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

B4

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

Business

London office vacancies surge

By Jack Sidders

M

ODERN office buildings are all the rage in central London, with a swath of companies including UBS Group AG moving into new premises in the last 12 months. The problem for landlords is finding someone to replace them.

A growing number of unoccupied older properties caused the overall office vacancy rate to climb to 5.8 percent at the end of the first quarter from 3.9 percent a year earlier, according to data compiled by Deloitte LLP. That was the biggest increase since 2009.

“The demand for new space is still there; the demand for sec-

ond-hand space isn’t necessarily as hot,” said Shaun Dawson, a research manager at the firm.

Investors pulled back from London real estate immediately after last year’s Brexit vote, fearing that the UK’s departure from the European Union would cause a collapse in demand for office space. While high-profile

lease agreements by companies including Apple Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG have helped ease concerns since the June 23 vote, the latest data from Deloitte show there are limits to the market’s recovery.

The amount of office space available to rent climbed 36 percent in 2016 and by a further 19 percent in the first quarter, Deloitte said in a report published on Wednesday. That’s almost entirely made up of space that has become available as a result of companies downsizing or moving offices, the data show.

UBS, for example, completed a large office move last year, vacating several older buildings in favor of a single new London

headquarters.

The amount of office space under construction in central London fell 6 percent to 13.1 million square feet (1.2 million square meters) in the six months through March, the first drop recorded by the biannual survey since September 2014. That was after developers completed 3.9 million square feet of new office space in the period, the most Deloitte has recorded since 2004.

“We have started to see developers hold off,” Dawson said, citing increasing construction costs and weaker demand because of political uncertainty. “We are feeling that post-Brexit blip.”

British Land Co., the UK’s second-largest real estate invest-

ment trust, committed to redeveloping 100 Liverpool Street before it had secured a tenant after the building’s main occupier, UBS, vacated the property at the end of 2016.

“There is going to be uncertainty ahead and it’s going to be very hard to call,” Chief Executive Officer Chris Grigg said Wednesday on Bloomberg TV when asked about Brexit. “There’s going to be continued polarization: if you’ve got something that is average, I think you’re going to struggle.”

British Land published its fullyear earnings on Wednesday. The landlord fell as much as 2.5 percent, the most since March 30, in London trading. Bloomberg

Lloyds back in private hands LONDON―British bank Lloyds, bailed-out by the UK government at the height of the financial crisis, said Wednesday that it had returned to full private ownership.

“Lloyds Banking Group has... notified the market that the government’s stake in the group has been reduced to zero; as such, the group has returned to full private ownership,” it said in a statement.

The government had been steadily offloading its stake as LBG recovered, resulting in € 21.2 billion ($27.4 billion, 24.6 billion euros) returning to the taxpayer.

This is €894 million more than the government’s initial investment, including more than €400 million in dividend payouts, Lloyds said Wednesday.

“Today the government has sold its last shares in Lloyds Banking Group, receiving more money than was originally invested,” said LBG chief executive Antonio HortaOsorio.

“Thanks to the hard work of everyone at Lloyds, we’ve turned the group around.”

The British government bailed out Lloyds following the 2008 world financial crisis at a cost of €20.3 billion, handing the state a 43-percent stake in the bank.

The government still owns 73 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland, which was rescued with €45.5 billion of taxpayers’ cash during the crisis in the world’s biggest bank bailout.

“RBS still casts a long shadow over the banking bailout... seeing as the taxpayer funding package was twice as big,” said Laith Khalaf, analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Progress has been slower at RBS because it had more problems to start with, and it’s difficult to see how the government can realistically sell off its... stake in the bank without taking a financial hit.”

On the London stock exchange, shares in LBG rose 0.8 percent to 70.69 pence in early deals on the benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was 0.3-percent higher overall.

US fund manager BlackRock remains the bank’s single biggest stakeholder with around seven percent.

“It’s been a long and winding road back to recovery, but finally the government has sold its last stake in Lloyds, almost a decade after the taxpayer bailed the bank out,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst, Khalaf.

“Lloyds is now back to business as usual, and the withdrawal of a large seller from the market should be positive for the share price.” AFP

PRICEY CAR PARK. A general view shows a multi-story car park (left) in the Central district in Hong Kong on May 17, 2017. A Hong Kong tycoon has paid US$3 billion for a prime commercial lot—currently occupied by a multi-storey car park—as costs in one of the world’s most expensive metropolises continue to soar. AFP

Asians embrace digital change ASIA’S emerging economies are embracing the digital revolution.

From the Philippines to Indonesia, developing nations across the region are jumping on the digital bandwagon faster than expected given their relatively low income levels, according to a new report by Deloitte LLP. For economic policy makers, the shift matters. Governments, businesses and consumers are using digital technologies to leapfrog development hurdles.

In India―which already has more Facebook users than the US―digital transactions jumped 59 percent in March from December last year, the first month after the government announced a demonetization plan last year, Deloitte said.

In Indonesia, there are 1.3 mobile phones per capita in the country and most Internet users prefer mobile access, boding well for greater connectivity between government services and the wider populace; Indonesia also has more Twitter users than the UK, Deloitte estimates show.

“Asia has become the center of global economic growth and by embracing digital, it will continue to lead global economic growth over the coming decade,” Deloitte said.

China is now the world’s largest e-commerce market, while Singapore and other Asian countries have been gaining ground in the global competition for attracting and developing business talent amid a drive to build high-tech hubs.

Growth potential is still significant across multiple industries in poorer nations, Deloitte notes. In Indonesia fewer than one in 10 small businesses describe themselves as having advanced online capabilities while 73 percent are offline or have very basic online capabilities.

At the same time, the Philippines, India and Indonesia still have some of the lowest digital banking penetration rates in Asia. Bloomberg

Malaysia eyes sale of Proton as Mahathir’s auto dream dies

By Matthew Campbell and Choong En Han PROTON was supposed to drive Malaysia into the future―not into a ditch.

In its day, automaker Proton Holdings was a source of national pride and the centerpiece of a bold strategy by Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s leader for more than two decades, to turn his country into an industrialized powerhouse equal to Asian Tigers like South Korea and Taiwan. The former prime minister founded the company in 1983, calling its first sedan, the Saga, an icon of “national dignity.”

Mahathir’s dream is now in tatters and Southeast Asia’s first auto brand is in severe financial trouble, even after receiving more than $3 billion in subsidies since its foundation. Proton is seeking to sell a stake of as much as 51 percent to a foreign buyer in order to keep factories open and develop new models.

After months of talks, Proton parent DRB-Hicom’s board plans to meet this week to discuss proposals from China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and France’s PSA Group, a person with knowledge of the situation said Friday, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. DRB-Hicom declined to comment on the sale process.

Proton’s travails are symbolic of Malaysia’s broader failure to break out of what economists call the middle-income trap. Despite stacks of studious white papers and a raft of mega-projects intended to jump-start productivity, growth in gross domestic product has declined below 5 percent, trailing government targets, and a quarter of the population receives aid from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government to top up low incomes.

Mahathir’s legacy With a major part of his legacy at risk, Mahathir, who led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, is strenuously opposed to giving foreign investors control over Proton, which was privatized in 2012. “My personal view is that it must remain a national car,” the 91-year-old said in an interview in Putrajaya, the purpose-built

capital outside Kuala Lumpur that was another signature project during his tenure.

“It is a national car industry. It’s not just about a car. It’s about engineering.

A country without engineering skill and knowledge will never become a developed country,” he said.

Proton was conceived as both a statement about Malaysian-style industrial planning –proof that a developing country could haul itself to the commanding heights of the global economy―and a practical source of inexpensive vehicles for Asian consumers. When it was launched in 1985, the Proton Saga sedan started at just under 18,000 ringgit, or about $7,200 at the time, and sold briskly in Malaysia and elsewhere in the region, as well as the UK. Yet despite the Saga’s patriotic origins, foreign technology played a significant role under the hood. The sedan was based on the chassis of Mitsubishi Motors’ four-door Lancer Fiore, and the Japanese company provided major components for

many of Proton’s later models. It would take until the late 1990s for Proton to be able to develop new cars completely on its own.

Tariff protection For most of its history, Proton benefited from tariffs of as much as 300 percent on imported cars. Combined with rules that allowed consumers to spread cheap car loans over as long as nine years, the company was able to establish a dominant position in the Malaysian market.

Yet even with that home-field advantage, Proton’s success proved fleeting. At the high-water mark of sales in 1993, Proton accounted for 74 percent of new cars sold in Malaysia. In 2016, a decade after the government slashed tariffs on foreignmade vehicles as part of its participation in a Southeast Asian free-trade pact, the figure was 12.5 percent.

Aside from tariffs, analysts point to multiple culprits for Proton’s failure to compete with international automakers.

For example, in its short history the company’s cars have racked up an unenviable

Mahathir reputation among Malaysians for quality problems. One notorious issue involved power windows that would jam shut, requiring drivers to open their doors and lean out into the road to hand over cash at toll booths. Bloomberg

LGUs

Estrada assures Quiapo Muslims

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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By Sandy Araneta MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has vowed to go hard on criminals that threaten to destabilize peace and order in Quiapo, particularly at the district’s Islamic Center, following successive bomb blasts that killed two persons and injured 20 more.

During a “Peacebuilding Forum” at the City Hall on Tuesday, Estrada told the city’s Muslim community and religious leaders that the Manila Police District will relentlessly hunt down criminals in Quiapo, including those behind the three explosions.

He also assured that the rights of every Muslim citizen will be respected, especially during legitimate police operations.

To guarantee constant communication with the Muslim sector in Manila, Estrada is set to appoint Hajji Moh’d Ersad “Bebot” Mali as adviser and head of the Manila Muslim Affairs Office at the City Hall.

Mali is the head administrator of the Golden Mosque in Quiapo. With an honorary salary of P1/year, he will advise the Office of the Mayor on issues and concerns relating to the Muslim communities in the city.

“Please be assured there will be no discrimination,” Estrada told the Muslim leaders and community representatives. “We are not targeting any specific ethnic or cultural group. Criminals are the ones we are after, and our Manila police have every intention of abiding by the rules of procedure when doing their jobs.”

Estrada and the Muslim leaders at the Islamic Center have pledged to implement joint measures to suppress criminality in Quiapo, including illegal drugs.

“We will ensure constant coordination with concerned community leaders and barangay officials,” Estrada said. “This is especially true for police operations centered on individuals and groups identified as involved in illegal drug trade.”

Gomez faces election recall T

By John Paolo Bencito

HE fight is not yet over for warring political clans in the City of San Juan, Metro Manila’s smallest city.

On Wednesday, supporters of former vice mayor and defeated mayoral bet Francis Zamora filed a petition before the local Commission on Elections seeking an election recall for the mayoral post, citing “loss of confidence” in incumbent Mayor Guia Gomez.

Gomez, however, called the petition a “desperate attempt” for the Zamoras to gain power and insisted the petition would

be deemed “defective” by the Comelec.

Zamora’s supporters gathered 30,000 signatures of residents who supposedly want another election and presented it to the Comelec in a bid to unseat Gomez, now on her third and last term as mayor.

Their petition alleged that Gomez committed “corrupt acts, incompetence, abuse of power and dereliction of duty.”

“Even before the elections, the people are already longing for change because the Estradas are in power for almost 46 years in San Juan. Just last August, they’re already lording here for 48 years already,” Zamora told the Manila Standard in a phone interview. “[A list of] 30,000 people— this is a manifestation of the real sentiment of the people here now,” he added.

Gomez was the common-law partner of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who was mayor of San Juan for 17 years.

Estrada is now the mayor of Manila, and Senator JV Ejercito is their son. JV was also mayor for nine years and congressman of

San Juan for three years.

Gomez, however, accused Zamora of buying signatures in the guise of financial assistance to secure signatories for their recall petition.

“They are paying our countrymen more or less P5,000 per individual under the guise of ‘cash for work’ to get signatures,” the 75-year-old Gomez said in a statement. “Even the relatives of our community leaders are saying these are mere fantasies and hoaxes.”

With a registered voting population of just over 71,000, San Juan only needs a little more than 21,367 voters for the recall to proceed, Zamora said.

“This is more than double of

IN BRIEF DA grants Isabela P1.19b in farm aid

AIRPORT OPENING. Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Cuaresma and Gov. Carlos Padilla lead the ribbon cutting for the opening of the Bagabag Airport, which welcomed its first commercial flight in 15 years with the maiden voyage of Wakai Airlines from Clark International Airport. The airport’s opening has raised hopes for stronger tourist traffic to the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Mt. Province and Ifugao. See story on C2. Ben Moses Ebreo

Davao sets series of talks on new Revenue Code

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DAVAO CITY—A series of public hearings will be conducted by the city government to discuss proposed amendments to the Revenue Code of Davao City.

Proposed increases in local taxes, fees and charges will be discussed in these hearings with various stakeholders. The basis for the adjustment will be presented, and the public will be given the chance

to ask questions and clarifications, the Office of the Mayor said.

The first public hearing was held last May 12 at the office of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc., which was attended by various members of the business sector.

The next public hearings will be on May 24 at the Sangguniang Panlungsod Conference Room for 1st District stakeholders; May 25 at the Buhangin

70% of Makati tax target hit in 4 months

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Makati City government on Wednesday announced it has already attained 70 percent of its P14.5-billion revenue goal for this year in the first four months of 2017.

Jesusa Cuneta, officer-in-charge of the Office of the City Treasurer, said the city government collected almost P10.2 billion from January to April, nine percent higher that its P800 million collection it made on the same period last year, without increasing taxes.

During the same period, the city collected almost P5.3 billion in business tax, which is 62.9 percent of target for the year and seven percent higher than last year.

Mayor Abigail Binay noted the importance of sustaining the city’s strong relationship with the private sector in ensuring its economic stability.

“The robust growth of our revenues will allow the city government to continue investing in public health, education and social services, and further enhancing the business climate,” she said.

Records of the city Business Permits and Licensing Office show a total of 1,704 new businesses registered since January.

what is required,” he added.

The Zamoras were former allies with the Ejercito-Estrada clan, but recently engaged them in a heated battle for key posts in the city in the last elections.

While the elder Zamora, Ronaldo—San Juan Representative and House Minority Leader— won the congressional seat over former councilor Jana Ejercito, Francis and his vice mayoral running mate, senior councilor Totoy Bernardo, lost to Gomez and Janella Ejercito.

Of the protest, Gomez said: “Look, one year after the elections, is it possible for them (Zamoras) to get thousands of petitioners in just six days?”

The next highest collection came from realty tax at almost P3.9 billion, or 95 percent of target for the year. It is also nine percent higher than actual realty tax collection for the same period last year.

Other revenue sources included in the city treasurer’s report are Fees and Charges, P426.9 million; Economic Enterprise, P67.7 million; Interest Income, P66.1 million; Internal Revenue Allotment, P354.7 million; and Share from Economic Zone, P92.2 million.

Makati is among a few local government units in the country that are not dependent on the IRA. A few months after Binay took her oath as mayor of the country’s financial center, several reforms and innovations were made in the systems and operations of the city government to make its services more efficient, accessible and convenient to residents and taxpayers.

These include the convergence of all frontline offices involved in tax payment and renewal of business permits at the ground floor of Makati City Hall Building II, which relieved taxpayers of the burden of going from one building or floor to another. The absence of fixers was also noted by satisfied taxpayers.

Gym for 2nd District stakeholders; and May 26 in Calinan for 3rd District stakeholders.

For the past 12 years, the city government has been using the 2005 Revenue Code as the basis for collecting local taxes.

The proposal to amend or revise the city’s tax code came in the wake of the city government’s “increasing need for more funds for the delivery of public services,” and the development and construction of various

infrastructure projects.

“There is a need for the city government to maximize revenues (collections). We need more funds to address the increasing demands of public service. We will get them from the taxes, fees and charges,” said Erwin Alparaque, head of the Technical Research and Action Team, which was tasked to study and draft the proposed 2017 Revenue Code of the City of Davao.

“For the last 12 years, the city

government of Davao was not able to come out with the adjustment of the rates. There were no increases in tax rates including the rates for fees and charges.

Under the local government code (Republic Act 7160), an LGU, through the Sangguniang Panlungsod, can adjust the rates of taxes once every five years, which shall not exceed 10 percent of the existing rates of the taxes,” he added.

FRESH PRODUCE.

An elderly vendor hawks her fresh chili and freshwater shells harvested from the coast of Abra province in the market at Bantay, Ilocos Sur. Dave Leprozo

CAUAYAN CITY, Isabela– Farmers in this province will receive P1.19 billion worth of farm assistance and projects from the Department of Agriculture as announced during the recent farmers’ forum at the Faustino Dy Coliseum here.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol declared this as he was joined by DA Regional Executive Director Lucrecio Alviar Jr., Governor Faustino Dy III, Rep. Napoleon Dy, Rep. Rodito Albano, Anak-IP Party-list Rep. Jose Panganiban, Board Members Atty.

Randolph Arreola, Manuel Alejandro, and Rolly Tugade and executives of the different towns here.

“We need to provide better services for our farmers, thus this assistance will boost the agriculture production in Isabela being the top producer of corn and number two in rice production,” Piñol said.

“Food security and sufficiency can be achieved through three ways: Fast and effective technology transfer; easy credit scheme for farmers; and efficient marketing strategy of farm products,” Piñol stressed during the “Patangan: Gobyerno ken Umili” forum. Jessica Bacud

More ‘JO’ workers welcome with SSS MARIVELES, Bataan–Social Security System Mariveles Branch Head Jordan Herrera expressed optimism that more government “job order” employees in the province would become SSS members.

The branch head made the statement following their successful Memorandum of Agreement signing last week making job order employees of the Barangay Alas-asin here members of SSS. About 125 JO employees of Alas-asin are qualified to become SSS members on a voluntary basis, as 86 employees already signed up to become members.

Alas-asin turned out the first barangay in the province of Bataan to sign an agreement with the SSS. “We want more JO employees in the province to become SSS members,” he said. “We are hoping we can include in the program JO employees of the Municipality of Mariveles.” Butch Gunio

Quezon City joins ‘Brigada Eskwela’ effort

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City has joined the nationwide kickoff of Brigada Eskwela, an annual collaboration between the Department of Education, private sector and volunteers in the preparation and improvement of public

school facilities before the start of the school year.

Brigada Eskwela will last until May 26 with the theme “Isang DepEd, Isang Pamayanan, Isang Bayanihan Para sa Handa at Ligtas na Paaralan” (One DepEd, One Community, One Cooperation for

Prepared and Safe Schools).

It also known as “Bayanihan para sa Paaralan,” a nationwide public school maintenance week held every third week of May. Teachers, parents and local community residents gather to repair classroom armchairs and

tables, clean classrooms, and do other required maintenance.

The creation of Brigada Eskwela was brought about by the Adopt-a-School program in 1998, in partnership with private companies and professionals who are willing to share their resources to public education.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard TODAY

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT 6th JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 54- BACOLOD CITY

TODAY

MARIA CRISELDA CAROGRANDGAIGNAGE, Plaintiff,

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CIVIL CASE NO. 16 - 14770

Bagabag airport now open

-versusANANIAS CARO, JR., AND JECELLY TAN, JEFFREY TAN, JR., CRIS JAMES VARGAS AND MARY CAROLINE VARGAS, HEIRS OF MARIA CECILIA P. CARO, Defendants, x--------------------------------------------------x SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION WHEREAS, on July 26, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Complaint for Judicial Partition with Prayer for Inventory and Accounting: WHEREAS, on January 26, 2017, Plaintiff, through counsel, filed a Motion for Leave to Serve Summons by Publication; WHEREAS, on January 31, 2017, the Hon. Eduardo S. Sayson, Presiding Judge, Branch 54 of this Court issued an Order granting the same; NOW, THEREFORE, Defendant, Ananias P. Caro, Jr. is hereby summoned and required to file with Branch 54 of the Regional Trial Court of Negros Occidental, 6th Judicial Region, Bacolod City, his Answer to the Complaint filed against him in the instant case within sixty (60) days from date of last publication of this Summons, serving a copy thereof to the Plaintiff. Upon failure on their part to do so, aforesaid Plaintiff will take judgment against him by default and may demand from said Court the reliefs prayed for in the Complaint.

Let this Summons together with the Complaint be published by the Plaintiff at her expense in a national newspaper of general circulation once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks. Likewise, Plaintiff shall, at her expense, deposit a copy of this Summons as well as the Complaint, in the Bacolod Post Office postage prepaid and by registered mail, addressed to Defendant at his last known addresses.

SO ORDERED. Bacolod City, Philippines, February 7, 2017. (signed) GIA L. ARINDAY Clerk of Court V

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT 6th JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH _______ BACOLOD CITY -o0oMARIA CRISELDA CAROGRANDGAIGNAGE, Plaintiff, -versusANANIAS CARO, JR., AND JECELLY TAN, JEFFREY TAN, JR., CRIS JAMES VARGAS AND MARY CAROLINE VARGAS, HEIRS OF MARIA CECILIA P. CARO, Defendants, x------------------------------------------------x

By Abe Almirol

B

AGABAG, Nueva Vizcaya—After 16 years, Bagabag Airport reopened its runway to commercial flights on Wednesday.

A Dornier 328 aircraft owned

by Platinum Skies touched down at 10:01 a.m., bringing in an entourage of tourism officials and private individuals who were among the 28 passengers on board.

The maiden flight, which took off from Clark International Airport in Angeles City, was made possible by a partnership between Wakay Air Transport Services, Inc. and Platinum Skies, a carrier owned by former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson.

Wakay Air guaranteed a four-

days-a-week flight schedule to Bagabag over the next six months.

According to Leonardo R. Afan Jr., officer-in-charge of the Civil Aviation Authority, the flight frequency synchronizes with a fourday, three-night packaged tour.

The tours are designed to bring tourists to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces of Ifugao—still about two hours by land from here— and the scenic town of Sagada in Mountain Province.

Flying in from Clark, however, would allow international

CIVIL CASE NO. 16 - 14770

DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR NO. 01-2017 11 May 2017 TO :

SUBJECT

Account No.

:

HEADS OF ALL NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, GOVERNMENT -OWNED OR -CONTROLLED CORPORATIONS/ GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND PROVINCIAL, CITY, MUNICIPAL AND BARANGAY TREASURERS (LOCAL TREASURERS) AMENDED GUIDELINES ON AUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT DEPOSITORY BANKS

Section 1. Section 3 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “3.1

“Authorized Government Depository Banks” (“AGDBs”)” refer to banks where NGAs/ GOCCs/ GFIs/ GICPs/ GCEs and LGUs are allowed by law to deposit Government Funds and maintain depository accounts, or by way of exception, a bank allowed by the Department of Finance and the Monetary Board to hold government deposits subject to prescribed rules and regulations.”

3.2

“Government Financial Institutions (“GFIs”)” refer to financial institutions or corporations in which the government directly or indirectly owns majority of the capital stock and which are either: (1) registered with or directly supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (“BSP”); or are (2) collecting or transacting funds or contributions from the public and thereafter, placing them in financial instruments or assets such as deposits, loans, bonds and equity including, but not limited to, the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System.

3.3

“Government Funds” include public moneys of every sort and other resources pertaining to any agency of the government, including LGUs and GOCCs.

3.4

“Government Instrumentalities with Corporate Powers (“GICPs”) / Government Corporate Entities (“GCEs”)” refer to instrumentalities or agencies of the government which are neither corporations nor agencies integrated within the departmental framework, but vested by law with special functions or jurisdiction, endowed with some if not all corporate powers, administering special funds, and enjoying operational autonomy usually through a charter including, but not limited to, the following: The Manila International Airport Authority, the Philippine Ports Authority, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, the Laguna Lake Development Authority, the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the Cebu Port Authority, the Cagayan de Oro Port Authority, the San Fernando Port Authority, the Local Water Utilities Administration and the Asian Productivity Organization.

a. Bank deposits Estimated Amount

Metrobank Account No. unknown P 50,000.00 Metrobank 079 707953029 4 P 50,000.00 Metrobank 079 7079 53366 8 P 75,000.00 Metrobank 079 7079 53379-0 P 75,000.00 BPI 001 323 2515 48 P 50,000.00 the exact amounts of the same are yet to be determined. b. Vehicle - Toyota Hi-Lux Black double cab 2.5 4D. c. Drugstore business – Farmacia Caro, renamed by Defendants as Farmacia E.D. Caro, located at Lacson Street, Bacolod City, in front of the Corazon Locsin Memorial Regional Hospital.

7. Aside from the aforementioned properties leftby Eulalia Caro when she died, after her death, out of the funds of her estate, a house and lot was bought on July 14, 2014, the location and the certificate of title are to be determined or brought to the Court for inventory and accounting by the Defendants as explained in the succeeding paragraphs.

8. By virtue of the laws on Intestacy, the Plaintiff, Defendant Ananias P. Caro, Jr. and the children of Maria Cecilia P. Caro each own One Third (1/3) of the properties left by Eulalia De La Paz Caroincluding the properties bought out of the funds of her estate, the children of Maria Cecilia P. Caro collectively owning 1/3 of the estate; 9. The estate of Eulalia De La Paz Caro remains undivided until this time and it will be to the best interest of all heirs that the same be partitioned judicially.

10. Since the death of their mother on November 14, 2014 and up to now, Plaintiff has been requesting the Defendants to partition the above-mentioned estate properties so that she could get her 1/3 share, but defendants refused to do so; 11. Defendants Ananias Caro, Jr. and Defendants Cris James Vargas and Mary Caroline Vargas, heirs of Maria Cecilia Caro, are the ones who are in possession of the estate properties, including the house and lot purchased out of the estate funds, keeping the bank accounts and managing the drugstore business left by Eulalia De La Paz Caro; 12. The total value of the estate properties is not less than Five Million Pesos (P 5,000,000.00); 13. There is an urgent need to submit an inventory of the estate properties, including the fruits, interest and income thereof, as well as to render an accounting, to effect an accurate distribution and partition among the heirs, who are the Plaintiffs and Defendants in the case; 14. Hence, Plaintiff is availing the aid of the Honorable Court to order the Defendants Ananias Caro, Jr., Cris James Varas and Mary Caroline Vargas to submit an inventory of the properties of the estate of Eulalia Caro, including its fruits, and to render an accounting; 15. In addition, petitioner seeks the aid of the Honorable Court to direct the partition of the estate properties in accordance with the laws on intestate succession pursuant to Section 1, Rule 69, Section 1, Rule 74 of the Rules of Court and the Ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Spouses Maria Butiong and Francisco Villafria, substituted by Dr.Ruel B. Villafria, Petitioners, versus Ma GraciaRinozaPlazo and Ma. Fe RinozaAlaras, Respondents, G.R. No. 187524, August 5, 2015.

b.

Development Bank of the Philippines;

c.

Philippine Postal Savings Bank;

d.

Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines;

e.

United Coconut Planters Bank - authorized to accept funds from NGAs/ GOCCs/ LGUs until further notice from the BSP, and subject to limitations that may be prescribed by the Monetary Board; and

f.

Philippine Veterans Bank - authorized to accept funds from NGAs/ GOCCs/ LGUs, and subject to limitations prescribed by the Monetary Board.

CERTIFICATION OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING This is to certify under oath further that I have not filed a similar case or a case with the same issues with any other Court, quasi-judicial body or government agency and to the best of my knowledge, no such action or claim is pending therein; that if I should thereafter learn that a similar action has been filed or pending therein, I shall report that fact within five (5) days therefrom to the Court or Agency wherein the original pleading and sworn certification contemplated have been filed, in compliance with the Supreme Court Administrative Circular No. 04-94.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name this 14thday of May 2016 atsGravenwesel. (signed) MARIA CRISELDA CARO GRANDGAIGNAGE, A f fi a n t CONSULTATE GENERAL OF THE PHILIPPINES ANTWERP - BELGIUM --------------------------------------------ACKNOWLEDGMENT BEFORE ME, PETER VAN BOGAERT, Consul General a.h. of the Republic of the Philippines, at the City of Antwerp, Belgium, duly commissioned and qualified on this 14th day of the month of May 2016, personally appeared the following person: NAME: MARIA CRISELDA CARO (copy Belgian passport + I.D. attached) BORN: FEBRUARY 25, 1960 PASSPORT: Nr: EJ835537 DATE OF ISSUE: MAY 15, 2013 PLACE OF ISSUE: SCHILDE (BELGIUM) known to me and known to be the same person who executed the foregoing documents and acknowledged the same in his free act and voluntary deed.

This instrument consisting of five (5) pages, including the page whereon the acknowledgment is written, has been signed by the party and witnesses and related to a COMPLAINT. For the contents of the foregoing document, the Consulate General of the Philippines at Antwerp, Belgium, assumes no responsibility.

WITNESS MY HAND AND SEAL, at the place and on the date first above written.

May 18, 25 & JUNE 1, 2017

(signed) PETER VAN BOGAERT Consul General a.h.

“ 5.4 Deposits with banks other than those listed in Section 5.2 may be allowed, only if any of the following circumstances exists: 5.4.1 The banks listed in Section 5.2 cannot provide the required banking products and services; 5.4.2 The banks listed in Section 5.2, or their collection facilities, are not accessible within a twenty (20) kilometer radius; or 5.4.3 There are security and safety risks.”

Section 4. Section 5.5 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “5.5

Where any of the circumstances under Section 5.4 exists: 5.5.1 The NGA/ GOCC/ LGUs shall request prior approval from the BTr for NGAs/ DOF for GOCCs/ BLGF for LGUs, to open and maintain an account in a bank other than those listed in Section 5.2. It shall submit the following to the BTr/ DOF/ BLGF, as applicable:

“5.2 NGAs, GOCCs and LGUs, specifically allowed by law, rules and regulations to retain income and/or for operations and/or working balances, shall deposit and maintain Government Funds with any of the following banks: a.

VERIFICATION I, MARIA CRISELDA CARO GRANDGAIGNAGE, of legal age, Belgian and a resident of Fortsteenweg 36, 2970 s-Gravenwesel, Belgium state under oath that I am the Plaintiff in the above-entitled case and I have caused the filing of the instant complaint; I have read the allegations and contents therein and I declare that the same are true and correct based on my own personal knowledge and based on authentic documents.

Section 3. Section 5.4 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 2. Section 5.2 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:

PRAYER

a.

Letter from the Head of the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU or its duly designated officer stating: (i) the terms of the deposit, purpose for opening and maintaining an account with the proposed bank, and the specific circumstance under Section 5.4; and, (ii) that the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU shall comply with fiscal and financial reporting requirements of the BTr/ DOF/ BLGF;

b.

In the case of a GOCC, it shall submit: (i) a copy of the board resolution authorizing the GOCC to deposit funds with the proposed bank, (ii) its latest audited financial statements issued not more than eighteen (18) months at the time of the submission of the request, and (iii) a Summary of its Daily Collection Report for the last three (3) months;

c.

In the case of an LGU, it shall submit: (i) a certification from the proposed bank that no elective or appointive government official of the LGU concerned is a director, officer or stockholder of the bank, unless certified that it is the only bank operating in the territorial jurisdiction of the LGU; and, (ii) a copy of the Resolution of the local Sanggunian authorizing the LGU to deposit funds with the proposed bank with the approval of the Local Chief Executive, and directing the Local Chief Executive and all concerned officers to perform all such acts to ensure full compliance with fiscal and financial reporting requirements of the DOF and the BLGF;

d.

In cases where the circumstance in Section 5.4.1 is prevailing, the letter from the Head of NGA/ GOCC/ LGU shall identify the specific banking products or services required, and, if so required by the BTr/ DOF/ BLGF, provide certifications from those listed in Section 5.2 that the banking products or services cannot be provided;

e.

In cases where the circumstance in Section 5.4.2 is prevailing, the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU shall submit a vicinity map showing (i) the locations, and (ii) the distance between the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU, and those listed in Section 5.2, and (iii) the distance between the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU and the proposed bank;

f.

In cases where the circumstance in Section 5.4.3 is prevailing, the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU shall submit a report or certification from the Philippine National Police Provincial Office confirming the existence of the security risk; and

g.

Other information that the BTr/ DOF/ BLGF may require in the course of its evaluation.

Land Bank of the Philippines;

5.2.1 NGAs and GOCCs shall secure written authority to open deposit accounts and/or deposit Government Funds from the duly authorized official of the BTr/ DOF in all banks, including those listed in Section 5.2, in accordance with relevant laws, issuances, and regulations of the BSP. NGAs and GOCCs shall submit a notarized waiver: (i) allowing the BTr/ DOF to examine, inquire, or look into all its deposits or accounts in all banks, including those listed in Section 5.2, and (ii) allowing the BTr/ DOF to require the banks, including those listed in Section 5.2, to submit reports/statements with respect to its accounts.

Subject to the existence of any of the circumstances under Section 5.4 and prior approval under Section 5.5, a GOCC may be allowed to deposit Government Funds and maintain accounts with banks other than those listed in Section 5.2, provided that the account balance shall be either: (i) equivalent to its operating expenses of up to three (3) months based on its latest audited financial statement; or (ii) up to the maximum deposit insurance coverage of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) of P500,000.00, whichever is lower. All Government Funds deposited in banks other than those listed in Section 5.2 shall be used solely for operations, and no other deposits shall be maintained for special projects or investment purposes. Any amount in excess of the authorized cash balance in Section 5.4 shall be transferred to the TSA or to any of those listed in Section 5.2.

5.2.2 Subject to the existence of any of the circumstances under Section 5.4 and prior approval under Section 5.5, provinces, cities, and municipalities may be allowed to deposit Government Funds and maintain accounts with banks other than those listed in Section 5.2, provided that municipalities are allowed to deposit Government Funds, without need of the BLGF’s prior approval, for the maintenance of an account that shall have a balance up to its maximum maintaining balance provided in Schedule A of this Circular. All LGUs shall comply with the requirements of Section 5.5.2, and other relevant laws, issuances, and regulations of the BSP.”

ing of the airport with Undersecretary Alma Rita R. Jimenez of the Department of Tourism.

They were joined by Bagabag Mayor Johnny Sevillena and other mayors of Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya and Mountain Province towns.

“Business opportunities will multiply after this long-awaited resumption of flights. Ifugao is more aggressive in this move to reopen the airport, and they have been urging us to do something,” Padilla said in his speech during the opening ceremonies.

Andy Fariñas, owner of MM Fariñas Travel and Tours based in Solano, expressed optimism the local tourism industry will get a much-needed boost now that Bagabag is back accommodating commercial flights. “If there’s tourism, there’s business,” he said.

maintained. The NGA/ GOCC shall furnish the bank a copy of the certification of the exemption from automatic remittance of interest income, which may be granted by the BTr/ DOF upon confirmation of the legal basis submitted by the NGA/ GOCC.”

“Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations (“GOCCs”)” refer to any agency organized as a stock or non-stock corporation, vested with functions relating to public needs whether governmental or proprietary in nature, and owned by the Government of the Philippines directly or through its instrumentalities either wholly or, where applicable as in the case of stock corporations, to the extent of at least a majority of its outstanding capital stock. Provided, however, That for purposes of this Circular, the term “GOCC” shall include GICP/GCE and GFI as defined herein.”

3.5.

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiff respectfully prays of this Honorable Court that after due notice and hearing, an ORDER be issued: 1. Declaring the Plaintiff and the Defendants heirs of Eulalia Caro; 2. Ordering the Defendants Ananias Caro, Jr, Cris James Vargas and Mary Caroline Vargas to submit an inventory of the estate properties of the late Eulalia Caro; 3. Ordering the Defendants Ananias Caro, Jr., Cris James Vargas and Mary Caroline Vargas to render an accounting of the estate properties, its fruits, income and interests of the money in the banks belonging to the estate, to include an accounting of the assets and income of the drugstore Farmacia Caro from the time Eulalia Caro died until the present; 4. Ordering the partition of the estate properties in accordance with the laws in intestate succession so that petitioner can get her one-third (1/3) share in the estate of Eulalia De La Paz Caro.

Petitioner also prays for such other reliefs and remedies consistent with law, justice and equity Bacolod City, May 16, 2016. (signed) JOY B. BARBASA-ALBA Co-Counsel for the Plaintiff Room No. 6, 2nd Floor, LD Centre 7th – Lacson Streets Bacolod City Roll of Attorneys No. 39598 IBP No. 1008496 1/08/2016 PTR No. 6351188 1/11/2016 MCLE Compliance No. V-0001344 Until April 14, 2019 (signed) ELIAS A. GATANELA, JR Co- Counsel for the Plaintiff Room No. 4, 2nd Floor, LD Centre 7th – Lacson Streets Bacolod City Roll of Attorneys No. 45552 IBP Lifetime Member No. 08536 PTR No. 6344633 / 1-6-2016/ Bacolod City MCLE Compliance No. V-0001391 Until April 14, 2019

tourists to bypass the busy Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, which is eight to 10 hours away from Ifugao by land. The Bagabag-Clark flight cuts that travel time in half.

At the airport, the Nueva Vizcaya Tourism Office hung banners featuring other interesting spots and events Bagabag is close to, such as Imugan Falls, St. Vincent Church in Dupax del Sur, the Ammungan Festival every May, and the Capisaan Caves.

One of the first passengers on the flight was Rep. Luisa L. Cuaresma of the lone district of Nueva Vizcaya. She traveled with the delegation from the Department of Tourism.

Governors Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya and Pedro Mayam-o of Ifugao graced the historic reopen-

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

For: JUDICIAL PARTITION WITH PRAYER FOR INVENTORY AND ACCOUNTING

COMPLAINT COMES NOW, Plaintiff, through the undersigned counsels, to this Honorable Court, most respectfully states: THE PARTIES 1. Plaintiff Maria Criselda Caro Grandgaignage (hereinafter “Maria Criselda” for brevity) is of legal age, married, born a Filipino citizen and now a Belgian citizen, and a resident of Fortsteenweg 36, 2970 s-Gravenwesel, Belgium and for purposes of this action, she may be served with orders, decision, notices, and other judicial processes through her counsels at their addresses indicated on page 4 of this Complaint; 2. Defendant Ananias P. Caro Jr.,is of legal age, Filipino citizen, and a resident of 10312 Sandlewood lane, Northrige, California, 91326, U.S.A., 3. Defendant Jecelly Tan is of legal age, Filipino, and a resident of 384 E, Adela Street, San Miguel, Manila; Defendant Jeffrey Tan, Jr. is of legal age, Filipino and a resident of 22 Atok Street, Brgy. Sto. Domingo, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City; Defendants Cris James Vargas and Mary Caroline Vargas are Filipinos of legal ages and residents of Farmacia Caro Building, Lacson Street, Bacolod City.

THE CAUSES OF ACTION 4. Plaintiff Maria Criselda and Defendant Ananias Caro, Jr., and the late Maria Cecilia P. Caro are the only children and only heirs of the late EulaliaDe la PazCaro, who died on November 14, 2014 at St. Luke’s Medical Center, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, Metro Manila, without a will and leaving no debts. A copy of the Certificate of Live Birth of Plaintiff Maria Criselda is hereto attached as Annex “A” and made an integral part hereof. A copy of the Certificate of Death of Eulalia de la Paz Caro is hereto attached as Annex “B” and made an integral part hereof.

5. After the death of Eulalia De La Paz Caro, her child Maria Cecilia Caro died single on January 21, 2015, and was survived by her children namely: Defendants Jecelly Tan, Jeffrey Tan, Jr., Cris James Vargas and Mary Caroline Vargas; 6. At the time of her death,Eulalia De la Paz Caro, who was a widow, left personal properties, as follows:

Bank

LGUs

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

5.5.2 The NGAs/ GOCCs/ LGUs shall require the proposed bank to: (i) within one (1) banking day, notify the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU, if the bank’s authority to accept government deposits has been revoked pursuant to relevant laws, issuances, or regulations of the BSP; and, (ii) within five (5) banking days, submit to the BSP proof of receipt of such notice.

On the last business day of March of every year, the heads of NGAs/ GOCCs/ LGUs shall submit the following to the BTr/ DOF/ BLGF: (i) a report on its receipt of a notice of revocation of authority from any bank where it maintains an account, if any; and, (ii) a list of its accounts in all banks.”

Section 5. Section 5.5.2 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby renumbered as Section 5.6, and amended to read as follows: “5.6 Where (i) any of those listed in Section 5.2 establishes or operates a branch or extension office within the territorial jurisdiction or in the locality where the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU or any of its branches, field offices, departments, divisions or operating units holds or conducts its office or business, or (ii) the exceptional circumstance under Section 5.4 is no longer prevailing, whichever comes first: the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU shall transfer all funds and cash balances to banks listed in Section 5.2 within three (3) banking days; provided, that in the case of an NGA, proper reporting of cash balances on the bank accounts should be made to the BTr or its field offices before and after the closure of the account with the proposed bank.”

Section 6. Section 3 of Department Circular No. 03-2016 (Requests for Extension of Deadline) is hereby deleted. The provision on “Sanctions” of Department Circular No. 01-2015 is hereby reinstated and renumbered as Section 6-A, and shall be implemented starting July 1, 2017.

Section 7. NGAs and GOCCs shall submit notarized waivers required under Section 5.2.1 for all existing accounts within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Department Circular.

Section 8. All other orders, circulars, memoranda, issuances contrary or inconsistent herewith, including Department Circular No. 03-2015 dated August 24, 2015, and Department Circular No. 02-2016 dated July 8, 2016, except Sections 1 and 3, are hereby revoked and/or modified.

Section 9. This Circular shall take effect immediately, upon publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

(Sgd.) CARLOS G. DOMINGUEZ Secretary

Section 2. Section 5.3 of Department Circular No. 01-2015 dated June 1, 2015, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: “5.3 To remove revenue and expenditure floats: 5.3.1 The NGA/ GOCC/ LGU, may engage the payment and collection services of banks other than those listed in Section 5.2, thru a transaction fee-based arrangement, without the need for prior approval from the DOF, in the case of GOCCs, or from the BLGF, in the case of LGUs: provided, that in the case of NGAs the implementation of any payment and collection system should require approval of BTr for consistency with the TSA framework; provided, further, that the proposed bank will only serve as a collection bank for the account of the NGA/ GOCC/ LGU: provided, finally that, all collections of collection banks shall be transferred to any of those listed in Section 5.2, or in the case of NGAs/ GOCCs, to the TSA or to any of those listed in Section 5.2, on the next banking day counted from the collection date.

5.3.2 All interest income earned by deposits of NGAs/ GOCCs shall be remitted quarterly to the National Treasury, unless expressly provided by law that interest earnings of the account shall accrue to the fund for which the account was opened or

SCHEDULE A Prescribed Maximum Maintaining Balance of LGUs with banks that are not listed in Section 5.2 LGU - Income Classification

Maximum Maintaining Balance (Php)

Municipality – 1st Class

15,000,000.00

Municipality – 2nd Class

10,000,000.00

Municipality – 3rd Class

7,500,000.00

Municipality – 4th Class

5,500,000.00

Municipality – 5th Class

3,500,000.00

Municipality – 6th Class

2,500,000.00

Barangay

500,000.00 (MS-MAY 18, 2017)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World

Manila

Standard

TODAY

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

C3

Braving mines, execution to flee IS A IN ISSA, Syria―The main section of a camp for the displaced in the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa is full, but civilians fleeing the Islamic State group keep on arriving.

FYC EVENT. From left, Brad North, Darran Tiernan, Amy Duddleston and Margery Simkin speak onstage at the ‘American Gods’ Crafts FYC Event at Linwood Dunn Theater on May 16, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Official cites threat to China and Russia TOKYO―A top US Navy commander on Wednesday pushed for a “sense of urgency” over North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, stressing it even threatens Pyongyang’s allies China and Russia.

Admiral Harry Harris, who heads the Pacific Command, spoke during a visit to Japan after North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test raised further alarm over the pace of its weapons development.

North Korea on Sunday launched what appeared to be its longest-range ballistic missile yet, claiming it was capable of carrying a “heavy nuclear warhead” in a test aimed at bringing the US mainland within reach.

Pyongyang carried out two atomic tests last year, and has accelerated its missile launch program, despite tough UN sanctions aimed at denying leader Kim Jong-Un the hard currency needed to fund his weapons ambitions.

“In every test he [Kim] makes, it’s a success because it takes North Korea one step closer to be able to deliver a nuclear-tipped missile anywhere in the world,” Harris said.

“I must assume Kim Jong-Un’s claims are the truth, because I know his aspirations certainly are... That should provide all of us with a sense of urgency to address this problem now,” he added.

The United States said the missile landed close to Russian terri-

tory, but Moscow later said it fell in the ocean about 500 kilometers away and posed no threat.

Harris, however, stressed that China and Russia, the North’s traditional backers, can no longer look the other way.

“The dangerous behavior by North Korea is not just a threat to the Korean peninsula... it’s a threat to China, it’s a threat to Russia,” Harris told a an academic forum in Tokyo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the test was dangerous, but warned against attempts to “intimidate” Pyongyang.

Harris is visiting Tokyo to discuss North Korea and other issues with Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who he met Tuesday.

He called for nations to “ratchet up sanctions” on the North, reiterating that the world needs to “bring Kim Jong-Un to his senses, not to his knees”.

After the missile launch on Sunday, the United States, Japan and South Korea called a UN Security Council meeting to press North Korea to change course and dismantle its missile and nuclear programs.

Earlier this month naval exercises were conducted in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, with South Korean and Japanese aircraft also taking part. AFP

Moon warns of risk of clashes with North SEOUL―South Korean President Moon Jae-In warned Wednesday there was a “high possibility” of military clashes along the border with North Korea as tensions mount over Pyongyang’s weapons ambitions.

Moon, who was sworn in last week, warned that the North’s nuclear and rocket programs were “advancing rapidly”, days after Pyongyang launched what appeared to be its longest-range missile yet.

“I will never tolerate the North’s provocations and nuclear threats,” he said on a visit to the defense ministry, urging the South’s military to adopt a “watertight defense posture”.

“We are living in the reality where there is a high possibility of military clashes” along the disputed sea border off the Koreas’ west coast or along the heavilyfortified land frontier that divides them, he said.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have ramped up

in recent weeks with the Trump administration saying military action was an option under consideration and the North threatening massive retaliation.

Left-leaning Moon favors engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table, but after Sunday’s missile launch said dialogue would be possible “only if Pyongyang changes its behavior”.

The North claimed the rocket was capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, although there are doubts whether the country could build a warhead small enough to fit into a missile.

The two Koreas―technically still at war after the 1950-53 conflict ended only with a ceasefire―have occasionally clashed along the border.

The North’s shelling in 2010 of the southern border island of Yeonpyeong killed four people in the first attack on civilians since the war, sparking brief fears of an all-out conflict. AFP

The camp is a stark affair, with dusty tents flapping in the wind atop white gravel that covers inhabitants in a fine white dust.

People have been arriving at the camp for months, but the pace has picked up as the Syrian Democratic Forces militia presses its offensive against IS. The US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is pushing towards Raqa city, IS’s most important remaining bastion in Syria.

The newest arrivals at the central camp are forced to take refuge beyond the bounds of the established tented area, even setting up along the side of the nearby road.

“There are more than 20,000 people in the camp now, and the numbers are growing by the hour,” camp director Jalal alAyyaf told AFP. “Since the beginning of the battle of Raqa six months ago, more than 100,000 people have arrived at the camp, some of whom have now gone back to their villages and others have gone to stay with relatives in other areas,” he added.

He urged international aid

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

INVITATION TO BID May 9, 2017 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office (BANE IMO) Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan, through its Bids and Award Committee (BAC), invites Contractors to bid for: ITB No. R3-BANE-EEEIS-2017-NE-72 - CALAANAN CIS located in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) is 17,349,499.46 with contract duration of 240 calendar days. Bid Documents cost P17,000.00

groups to “increase assistance for the displaced, whose numbers have exceeded the capacity of the city’s local council”.

Hundreds of men and women crowded round a truck distributing rations, with one woman carrying away a box of World Food Program items on her head.

Elsewhere, women gathered at a red water tank to wash clothes, and two young boys struggled to carry a jerrycan of water together.

Children throng the camp, among them a toddler sitting in the gravel and chewing a piece of plastic, seemingly oblivious to the white dust coating his red trousers.

Nearby, two boys played on a makeshift swing, sitting on loops of yellow rope tied to a metal frame.

And in a tent, a family tried to

use a pink pacifier to settle a baby crying inside a bundle of blankets stuffed into a wire rocking crib.

But despite all the hardships, the camp is safe, and far from the horrors residents say they endured under IS control and during their escape.

New arrival Abu Ahmed, 47, fled from the Al-Rashid Farms area north of Raqa city and described a harrowing journey.

“They fired on our vehicles and set fire to our tents while we were fleeing,” he said.

“They mined the bridges, and mined areas before they withdrew from them,” he told AFP. Khalid, a resident of Al-Sabahiya district in Raqa, arrived at the camp two days earlier and still looked exhausted.

“We couldn’t believe that we had arrived here,” he said.

“Daesh prevents those who want to come here -- it damages their vehicles to stop them escaping,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “They executed several people who tried to escape a few days ago.” AFP

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

INVITATION TO BID

The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office (BANE IMO) Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan, through its Bids and Award Committee (BAC), invites Contractors to bid for: ITB No. R3-BANE-RREIS-2017-BU-74- ANGAT RIS (AMRIS) South Main Canal Lining in Plaridel, Bulacan. The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) is P18,462,912.04 with contract duration of 240 calendar days. Bid Documents cost P18,000.00 Interested bidders must have experience in undertaking similar project within the last three (3) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding.

Any bid above the ABC as stated above each ITB shall be rejected outright.

Issuance of Bid Documents; (upon May 17, 2017 @ 10:00 AM payment of non-refundable amount as stated aboveNIA BANE, Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan each ITB) Schedule of Activities; NIA, BANE IMO

Submission and Opening of Bids:

Interested bidders must have experience in undertaking similar project within the last three (3) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding.

Pre-Bidding: May 24, 2017 at 9:00 AM Closing Time: @ 12:30 PM

Any bid above the ABC as stated above each ITB shall be rejected outright.

Site Inspection : May 22, 2017 at 9:00 AM

Issuance of Bid Documents; (upon payment of non-refundable Rafael, amount as stated above each ITB)

May 11, 2017 @ 10:00 AM NIA BANE, Tambubong, San Bulacan

Schedule of Activities; NIA, BANE IMO

Submission and Opening of Bids:

Pre-Bidding: May 18, 2017 at 10:30 AM

Closing Time: June 1, 2017 @ 12:30 PM

Site Inspection: May 16, 2017 @ 9:00 AM

Opening of Bids: June 1, 2017 @ 1:00 PM

(MS-MAY 18, 2017)

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bohol MUNICIPALITY OF CANDIJAY Invitation to Bid for Improvement of Candijay Integrated Water System, Level III Project 1.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol through the General Appropriations Act (BUB-DILG) FY 2016 intends to apply the sum of Seven Million Seven Hundred Thirty Nine Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Seven Pesos and Sixty Eight Centavos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Improvement of Candijay Integrated Water System, Level III project. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol now invites bids for 1657.575 lm Pipelaying Earthwork; 7380 lm Installation of Transmission Pipeline; 120 lm Installation of Service Pipeline; 1 unit Steel Bolted Water Tank (T4) (53.0 cu.m.); 5 sets Installation of Air-Release Valves; 5 sets Installation of Blow-off/Drain Valves; 8 units Construction of Pipe Supports and Thrust Blocks; 11 units Construction of Valve Boxes/Casings; 7380 lm Pipeline Hydro Testing/System Disinfection & Test Run and 2 units Signboard Completion of the Works is required within 150 day-contract duration. Bidders should have completed a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

INVITATION TO BID May 3, 2017 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office (BANE IMO) Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan, through its Bids and Award Committee (BAC), invites Contractors to bid for: ITB No. R3-BANE-RRREIS-NIS-2017-BU-61 - ANGAT RIS (AMRIS) Improvement of South Main Canal Lining/Lateral J located in Plaridwel, Bulacan The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) is P18,304,913.76 with contract duration of 240 calendar days. Bid Documents cost P18,000.00 Interested bidders must have experience in undertaking similar project within the last three (3) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding.

3.

May 5, 2017 @ 10:00 AM NIA BANE, Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan

Schedule of Activities; NIA, BANE IMO

Submission and Opening of Bids:

Pre-Bidding: May 12, 2017 at 1:00 PM

Closing Time: 12:30 PM

Site Inspection : May 10, 2017 9:00 AM

Opening of Bids: May 24, 2017 @ 1:00 PM

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from LGU Candijay, Bohol and inspect the

5.

Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 pm during working days.

6.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested bidders on May 24 to June 6, 2017 from the address below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount ofTen Thousand Pesos.

(SGD.) ROBERTO J. DELA CRUZ Chairperson – BAC (MS-MAY 18, 2017)

It may also be downloadedfree of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

1

7.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on May 24, 2017 at Municipal Session Hall, Poblacion, Candijay, Bohol which shall be open to prospective bidders.

8.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before June 6, 2017, 10:00 A.M. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on 10:00 A.M. of June 6, 2017 Municipal Session Hall, Poblacion, Candijay, Bohol. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

May 24, 2017 @

The NIA-BANE assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of bids. Also, NIA reserves the right to reject any or all bids at any time prior to award, waive any defects therein and to declare the bidding a failure for whatever reasons it may deem appropriate.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, cooperatives, and partnerships or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

Any bid above the ABC as stated above each ITB shall be rejected outright.

Issuance of Bid Documents; (upon payment of non-refundable amount as stated above each ITB)

Opening of Bids: June 6, 2017 @ 1:00 PM

(SGD.) ROBERTO J. DELA CRUZ Chairperson – BAC

(MS-MAY 18, 2017)

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

June 6, 2017

The NIA-BANE assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of bids. Also, NIA reserves the right to reject any or all bids at any time prior to award, waive any defects therein and to declare the bidding a failure for whatever reasons it may deem appropriate.

The NIA-BANE assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of bids. Also, NIA reserves the right to reject any or all bids at any time prior to award, waive any defects therein and to declare the bidding a failure for whatever reasons it may deem appropriate.

(SGD.) ROBERTO J. DELA CRUZ Chairperson – BAC

May 15, 2017

9.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10. For further information, please refer to:

ENGR. ALBERTO G. BERNALES Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Office National Highway, Poblacion, Candijay, 6312, Bohol mpdccandijay@gmail.com Mobile Number : 09088913362

(MS-MAY 18, 2017)

(SGD) JOSEPHINE T. MANLUPIG BAC Chairperson

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

World

‘Trump asked to drop investigation of Flynn’ W ASHINGTON―Donald Trump’s beleaguered White House was rocked Tuesday by a pair of explosive allegations―that he personally tried to quash an FBI investigation, and that he disclosed highly classified information to top Russian officials.

The Republican billionaire’s administration, now just barely four months old, was left reeling by the one-two punch, which sparked instant outrage from the Democrats demanding a full explanation.

Either claim on its own―that he divulged top-secret information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an Oval Office meeting, or that he pressed FBI director James Comey to drop a probe into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn― would plunge any White House into serious crisis.

But the reports―both reject-

ed by Trump’s team―add to a mounting perception of an administration in a perpetual state of chaos.

As overwhelmed White House staff struggled to explain Trump’s decision to tell Lavrov about a specific Islamic State bomb threat gleaned by Israeli intelligence, the New York Times dropped another bombshell.

The paper―citing two people who read notes written by Comey―reported that when Comey met Trump the day after Flynn resigned, the president tried to halt any FBI investigation.

“I hope you can see your way

clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump is accused of telling Comey, according to a memo written by the former FBI chief, who was sacked last week.

“He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

In a letter to acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, the Senate Oversight Committee demanded that all memos and other documents or recordings relating to communications between Trump and Comey be turned over by May 24.

“If true, these memoranda raise questions as to whether the president attempted to influence or impede the FBI’s investigation as it relates to Lieutenant General Flynn,” wrote committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican.

The White House quickly denied any suggestion that Trump was trying to obstruct justice―a criminal offense―in his dealings with Comey.

“While the president has repeat-

edly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation,” a US official said on condition of anonymity.

“The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr Comey.”

Trump spent much of the day trying to put to rest separate allegations that he revealed sensitive information to Lavrov and Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, arguing he acted within the law.

White House aides refused to say whether the information pertaining to the group’s bombmaking capabilities was classified.

But the president took to Twitter to insist he had the “absolute right” to share “facts pertaining... to terrorism and airline flight safety” with Russia. AFP

Israel tries to contain fallout from sharing JERUSALEM―Israel sought Wednesday to contain the fallout from Donald Trump’s sharing of its intelligence with Russia, while not commenting directly on the move ahead of the US president’s visit next week.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lauded the defense ties between the United States and his country, saying it would continue to be “unprecedented” in scope.

But he made no mention of Trump divulging intelligence to Russia that a US administration official said had originally come from Israel.

“The security relationship between Israel & our greatest ally the United States, is deep, significant & unprecedented in volume,” Lieberman wrote in English on his Twitter account.

“This relationship w/ the US is unprecedented in its contribution to our strength. This is how it has been & how it will continue to be.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had not responded to requests for comment, while the foreign ministry declined comment.

The US president is scheduled to visit Israel next week―a trip that White House officials indicated would still go ahead.

The United States is Israel’s most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion in defense aid each year.

“Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump,” said Israel’s ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.

Most famous movie house is turning 90 LOS ANGELES―Shirley Temple did it barefoot. Mel Brooks wore an extra finger.

Whoopi Goldberg buried her dreadlocks.

Steve McQueen and actress wife Ali MacGraw did it facing the wrong way.

An old aphorism says that to visit Los Angeles and not see the iconic hand and foot prints of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the imposing courtyard of the TCL Chinese Theater is like going to the Middle Kingdom and not walking The Great Wall.

On Thursday, the world’s most famous picture house celebrates 90 years at the epicenter of the movie business, the venue of many of Tinseltown’s most glamorous showbiz moments through 16 presidents, a world war and three huge earthquakes.

The night before, veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott becomes the 304th star to sink his hands and feet into the cement squares in the theater’s forecourt―maintaining a tradition celebrated by Hollywood’s finest, from Mary Pickford through John Wayne and Sophia Loren to Jack Nicholson and Brad Pitt.

“It’s a real honor to get placed out in the forecourt and when you look at the people we have out there, going back now nine decades, it’s incredible,” Levi Tinker, resident historian at the Chinese, told AFP. “You have some of the biggest, brightest, most iconic names in Hollywood history.”

It all started when movie theater impresario Sid Grauman, one of Hollywood’s best known showmen, leased the former home of matinee idol Francis X. Bushman and opened the Chinese on May 18 in 1927 after raising $2 million.

Silent screen star Norma Talmadge clumsily stepped into wet cement on the construction site, witnessed by Grauman who―spying an opportunity―shrugged off her embarrassed apologies and said he would use the footprint to promote the opening.

Stars have since seen the ceremonies as a career highlight, often going to a great lengths to ensure their square stands out from the crowd.

Shirley Temple, the youngest honoree in 1935 at just five years old, appeared barefoot, quickly deciding it was a good way to distract the press from the fact that one of her baby teeth had just fallen out.

Marilyn Monroe wanted to dot her ‘i’ with a diamond before being persuaded that the precious stone would probably be stolen. She sunk an earring into her square instead and the exposed half was stolen anyway.

More recently, Mel Brooks concealed until the last minute that one of his hands had a fake sixth finger.

“You think after all this time there would be hardly any room. But there’s enough space out there to go on for a number of years still,” said Tinker, although he added that some big names were missing.

Audrey Hepburn was among the few to decline, while James Dean was readying to lay his prints in the presence of “Giant” co-stars Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor when he was killed in a car crash at the age of 24.

Older than the Oscars or the Walk of Fame, the Chinese was Grauman’s third LA cinema after the lavish Egyptian a few blocks away and the downtown Million Dollar Theater. AFP

The story grabbed the front pages of every major Israeli newspaper, with the exception of the pro-Netanyahu freesheet Israel Hayom.

The Washington Post reported late Monday that Trump revealed what it said was highly classified information on the Islamic State group (IS) during a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow’s Washington ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

It said that Trump told Lavrov about a specific IS bomb threat.

The intelligence reportedly came from a US ally that did not authorize Washington to share it with Moscow.

A US administration official confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity that the original intelligence came from Israel, which was initially reported by the New York Times.

Trump took to Twitter to insist he had the “absolute right” to share “facts pertaining... to terrorism and airline flight safety” with Russia.

But the intelligence scandal could corrode trust among allies who shared classified information with the United States on the understanding that it will go no further.

Israel’s top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported in January that Israeli intelligence officials had been told in a meeting with US colleagues that “Israeli intelligence information, methods of operation and sources” could leak from a Trump administration seen as having close ties to the Kremlin. AFP The paper said the fears were compounded by Russia’s links with Israel’s arch-foe Iran. AFP

Demand for justice for slain reporter

FASHION WEEK. A model parades an outfit by swimwear label Tacoola at Fashion Week in Sydney on May 17. AFP

CULIACAN, Mexico―Friends and family paid their final respects Tuesday to slain journalist Javier Valdez, who apparently paid with his life for his award-winning reporting on the country’s violent drug gangs.

Media and rights groups protested earlier Tuesday to demand the Mexican government catch the killers of the fifth and most high-profile journalist murdered this year in the country’s drug-trafficking ganglands.

The front pages of major newspapers displayed portraits of the martyred Valdez, 50, an Agence France-Presse contributor who was shot dead in broad daylight on Monday in northwestern Sinaloa state.

Journalists took part in a demonstration in downtown Culiacan carrying pictures of Valdez on Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday, the same day Valdez was cremated, friends and loved ones paid their respects at a funeral service. Relatives said his ashes will be interred at a cemetery in Culiacan.

The awarding-winning journalist was one of the most prominent reporters on Mexico’s deadly drug war. He had been a contributor to AFP for more than a decade.

President Enrique Pena Nieto said he had ordered “an investigation of this outrageous crime.” He vowed to defend press freedom, “fundamental for our democracy.”

Press rights group Articulo 19 said that was the first time Pena Nieto had reacted publicly to the recent wave of journalists’ killings―a sign of rising pressure on the president.

The killing fanned a wave of anger at the authorities, with rights groups saying corrupt officials are preventing journalists’ killers from being punished.

“How long will there be killings without pity and with impunity?” said Valdez’s own weekly publication, Riodoce.

“Murderous impunity,” ran the headline of an editorial in La Jornada, the national daily for which Valdez worked as Sinaloa correspondent.

Some media in Sinaloa canceled their Tuesday editions in protest.

“This wave of violence shows the state of emergency in which Mexican journalists are living,” said Emmanuel Colombie, Latin American director of Reporters Without Borders.

“The Mexican government must take action proportionate to the seriousness of the situation and strengthen protection for journalists as soon as possible.”

Numerous media and human rights organizations including Amnesty International called for an impartial investigation.

They accused the authorities of failing to prosecute those responsible for killing journalists in broad daylight, sometimes in front of their families.

“It has become brazen and cynical,” said Ana Cristina Ruelas, Mexico director of Articulo 19, a group that defends press freedoms. AFP

Life

Influenza is considered a leading cause of morbidity in the Philippines

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

HEALTH & WELLNESS

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

D1

Coping with the F

LU, or trangkaso in the local dialect, is an illness well known to all. Everyone seems to have been through it at one time or another; yet no one is immune, despite having been infected as the virus comes in various forms. Moreover, one cannot underestimate the flu virus as influenza can kill you.

In many instances, Filipinos regard the onset of the infection as a simple fever, yet if not attended to on time, that case of lagnat caused by the virus could be debilitating and even fatal.

In the Philippines, influenza is considered a leading cause of morbidity.

According to National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the Department of Health, one out of 100 Filipinos gets sick of influenza every year.

Influenza is responsible also for up to 500,000 deaths worldwide.

The most vulnerable groups for influenza are young children as well as adults, aged 50 or above. Health studies both here and abroad ay vaccination among these age groups against flu is strongly recommended.

With the advent of the flu season, protecting yourself and your loved ones against the threat of influenza is urgent.

This is the objective of the Trangkaseason public health information campaign.

Trangkaseason aims to generate a high level of people’s awareness on the threat of flu, and provide the public with the needed information on how to prepare and to protect themselves and

their families from this deadly disease.

Studies have shown that the single best way to prevent seasonal flu is to get a flu shot or to get vaccinated every year. The flu season comes yearly from June to November with a virus that can change from season to season. Because of this, it is vital to maintain an annual vaccination schedule to keep oneself fully protected. There is truth to the saying that, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” This is close to the truth about flu, as the cost of hospitalization could run into tens of thousands of pesos, without even counting the wasted days and personal suffering that influenza can cause.

Many Filipinos are known to be reactive to illness rather than taking preventive measures. In the long run, the latter will cost everyone less.

Trangkaseason seeks to transform this mindset and inform everyone on the importance and ease of getting vaccinated against flu. Hopefully, a fully informed and knowledgeable population would not only look at prevention as the best way of maintaining one’s health, but also on the value of being proactive in the face of any health threat such as the flu season.

FLU SEASON

From left: Dr. Cecilia Montalban, President of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination; celebrity influencer Lyn Ching-Pascual; Dr. Sally Gatchalian, Immediate Past President of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines and VP of the Philippine Pediatric Society; and Dr. Ning Villa, Program Development Director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination and Technical Advisor Consultant of World Health Organization talk about flu at the Trangkaseason press launch

Flu vaccination is available at your that provide them for free to indigent yourself and your family members in family doctor or health center and there families. Consult your doctor or seek this coming flu season. are government facilities or programs medical advice on how you can protect

Experts in degenerative diseases in ECHO Summit 2017

UNICEF representative Lotta Sylwander and CHSI and PageOne public relations agency receive the Anvil awards for ‘Goodbye, Dumi! Hello Healthy’ campaign

Anvil honors

WASH communication campaign PUBLIC Relations Society of the Philippines’ (PRSP) “A Communication for Development (C4D) campaign on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene” (WASH) was recognized as one of the best communication programs in 2016 Dubbed as “Goodbye, Dumi! Hello, Healthy,” the C4D campaign won two Gold Awards and two Silver Awards at the 52nd Anvil Awards.

With funding from UNICEF, “Goodbye, Dumi” was implemented in Masbate in support of the Phased Approach to Total Sanitation (PhATS) strategy and the National Sustainable Sanitation Plan (NSSP) of the Department of Health (DOH).

Since its kick-off in October 2015, the campaign helped increase the access of households to sanitary toilets in 20 barangays from 38 percent to 85 percent in a span of six months. Twelve of these 20 villages have been declared as Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) villages. Open defecation is now eliminated.

A local non-government organization, the Center for Health Solutions and Innovations Philippines, Inc. (CHSI), designed and implemented the campaign in Aroroy, Cawayan, and Milagros. The multi-pronged campaign used various communication platforms to influence local leaders, recruit community allies and influence the behaviors of men, women, boys and girls.

UNICEF Representative Lotta Sylwander received the awards, together with CHSI and PageOne, a public relations agency that has helped in bringing the messages of the campaign online and in the print media.

“Goodbye, Dumi” is currently being rolled out in Albay, Eastern Samar, Capiz, Northern Samar, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat.

LEARNING doesn’t stop—especially for those in the medical field.

For United Laboratories, Inc. (Unilab), bringing the world’s top-caliber medical experts to the country for a yearly lecture on holistic approaches to curing certain ailments is one step to help ensure that the knowledge and practice of Filipino physicians is keeping up with the rapidly evolving medical trends.

For the third straight year, Unilab assembled another elite cast of four globally renowned physician-educators for the 2017 Experts’ Convergence for Health Outcomes (ECHO) Summit with the theme “Pearls and Pitfalls in the Diagnosis and Management of Silent, Degenerative Diseases.”

“ECHO Summit is an expert multi-specialty conference usually targeted for internists.

Aside from the topics of neurology, cardiology, endocrinology and women’s health, which were started last year, this year’s ECHO Summit will focus more on degenerative conditions,” said Dr. Caridad Purugganan, BioFemme Medical Director and part of the 2017 ECHO Summit organizing committee.

“ECHO is an advocacy that doctors will continue to seek out and rely on for new concepts on various management options. ECHO is an avenue where Filipino medical practitioners could look forward to getting expert opinion from global experts, the best in their fields,” Dr. Purugganan added.

The 2017 ECHO Summit featured four specialists in hypertension, endocrinology, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry and psychotherapy, with focus on addressing degenerative diseases.

Degenerative diseases are results of changes in the human body, particularly deterioration of tissues and organs, due to normal bodily wear or bad lifestyle choices.

“It’s inevitable, even machines do wear and tear, so us humans cannot be that much efficient as we grow older. But we can certainly do something to avoid being subjected to stresses and maintain our health and wellness,” Dr. Purugganan pointed out.

“We Filipinos are living longer, but the question is what’s our quality of life? It’s the quality that is very relevant. People may not be aware that they can do something to address degenerative diseases, which is a way of improving the quality of life,” Dr. Purugganan added.

Among the medical experts that Unilab brought in for the 2017 ECHO Summit was Dr. Rod Baber, clinical professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Sydney Medical

Dr. Siegfried Kasper of Medical University of Vienna and Dr. Reuven Zimlichman of E. Wolfson Medical Center join Unilab’s 2017 ECHO (Experts’ Convergence for Health Outcomes) Summit

School. He discussed the importance of proper lifestyle and diet management in preventing the early onset of osteoporosis, particularly in women in the menopausal years.

Dr. Baber’s discussion revolved around the importance of building up one’s bone mass, which defines the healthiness of a person’s bones, to prevent early brittleness of bone structure leading to osteoporosis. Dr. Baber will also highlight the effects of menopause in speeding the fragility of bones due to hormonal changes in a woman’s body.

In 2013, Dr. Baber received The Distinguished Service Medal from The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrician and Gynaecologists for his contribution to the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Meanwhile, Dr. Reuven Zimlichman discussed one of the most common degenerative diseases known to man: arterial aging. Arterial aging includes the series of functional and structural changes in the blood vessels that occur with age.

One’s physical age may not be the same as his or her arterial age, says Dr. Purugganan. If one’s arteries are getting older at an unprece-

dented speed or time at a young age, he or she could suffer from cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, renal failure, among others.

Most of the factors that catalyze arterial aging include genetics, smoking, alcohol drinking, lack of physical activities, mental stress and unhealthy diet.

“The message of Dr. Zimlichman’s talk was, if you opt for wellness and a healthy lifestyle as early as possible, then you would prevent the onset of degenerative diseases much better,” Dr. Purugganan explained.

Dr. Zimlichman is the current chairman of the Department of Medicine and head of the Department of Hypertension at the E. Wolfson Medical Center. He is also serving as the Director of The Brunner Cardiovascular Research Institute at Tel-Aviv University.

Dr. Paresh Dandona, M.D., PhD, a distinguished professor at the University of Buffalo and Founder of the Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York, meanwhile, will lecture on the latest breakthroughs on the effects of testosterone replacement treatment in relation to people diagnosed with diabetes.

Life

D2

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

P

UBLIC service is the heart of Generika Drugstore’s operations.

Constantly driven to meet the healthcare gap in the country, it is continuously looking for impactful ways to help Filipinos stay healthy. Its newly opened affordable wellness store in Signal Village Taguig is one of these efforts. A sign of even better innovations to come, it is their very first store with almost all of the shopper’s needs in mind.

The affordable wellness store in Signal provides a wider product offering than the usual Generika outlets. While it still has quality, affordable generic medicines, it also has a full line-up of Nutrawell Nutraceuticals (vitamins, food supplements, and personal care products). Nutrawell is Generika’s own house brand sourced and manufactured from reliable manufacturers here and abroad. The store will also have affordable wellness, baby care, and adult nutrition offerings. Customers can also purchase consumer goods in this new store.

The greatest innovation in the affordable wellness store is its inclusion of ample space for Gabay Generika PLUS Services.

Customers can now comfortably avail of value-adding services such as Libreng Konsulta with doctors, patient counseling, free blood pressure and scheduled blood sugar testing, and the mobile laboratory. With this great addition, affordable wellness stores can help promote the preventive aspect of wellness – not just the curative.

“Our new Affordable Wellness Store at Signal Village Taguig is just the beginning

GENERIKA opens in Taguig

Generika opens its affordable wellness store in Signal Village Taguig

of even more impactful public service efforts.

At Generika, it is our goal to be the Filipino’s partner in achieving better health and wellness – and through our stores, we can serve an active role in our customer’s health”, says Generika COO Jay Ferrer.

The new store in Signal Taguig is in line with

Generika’s efforts to have over 1000 stores by 2020—especially in underserved communities.

More public service efforts are slated for this year, helping Filipinos avail of the affordable and quality medicine and healthcare they need.

To learn more about Generika Drugstore, simply visit www.generika.com.ph.

From left: Dr. Rizzy Alejandro, AC Health Head of Marketing, Strategy and Business Development; Mary Rose Ulit, Generika Drugstore Corporate Pharmacist; Fr. Rick Llorag; Jay Ferrer, Generika Drugstore Vice President for Operations and COO; and Raymond Cruz, Family Doc Head of Finance

Soothing skin relief THE sizzling summer season is here and we’re all a bit hot and bothered because of it. But that’s no reason to sweat the small stuff because the perfect summer “salve-ation” is in the palm of your hand.

Golden Cup Balm is Thailand’s no.1 balm, made with herbal and natural ingredients that promote a feeling of wellbeing. With this golden multi-tasker in

hand, all your summer blues will be soothed away.

Feeling heat-induced headaches, nausea, or a stuffy nose from a summer allergy? Let the healing essential oils of Camphor, Clove and Peppermint work their relaxing magic when massaged to the forehead, temples and nape to ease the pain, or underneath the nostrils to decongest as you inhale the soothing spa-like scent.

Golden Cup Balm soothes pains and woes brought by the summer season

How about insect bites from a day on the beach or muscle pain from too much fun in the sun? Golden Cup Balm’s non-greasy formulation, enriched with Eucalyptus, Clove, Peppermint and Camphor, acts as an insect-repellant and smoothens away any minor skin itch and relieves muscle and joint soreness.

Golden Cup Balm is truly the perfect summer partner to have when the heat is on and all it takes is the power of a deep breath or a simple DIY selfmassage to get you from being hot and bothered, to calm and stress-free.

Golden Cup Balm is available at Mercury Drug, Watsons and other leading drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.

For more information about Golden Cup Balm and Golden Cup Oil, visit www.goldencup.com.ph, like @goldencupbalm on Facebook or follow @goldencup_ ph on Instagram. You can also call (02) 410-0340 and send an email at goldencupbalm.ph@gmail.com

New relief for Filipinos suffering from fatal lung disease FILIPINOS suffering from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a debilitating and fatal lung disease with a median survival of 2-3 years after diagnosis, now find a new way to treat IPF with the recent approval and local availability of OFEV (nintedanib) in the Philippines.

A progressive and life-threatening lung disease, IPF causes permanent scarring of the lungs and impedes breathing by decreasing the amount of oxygen that the lungs can supply to the major organs of the body. Individuals with IPF may experience symptoms such as breathlessness during activity, a dry and persistent cough, chest discomfort and finger clubbing globally, IPF affects as many as 1443 people per 100,000 worldwide, primarily affecting patients over the age of 50, prevalent in more men than women.

Meanwhile, according to Dr. Dina V. Diaz, head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the Lung Center of the Philippines, current prevalence of IPF in the Philippines remains unclear

because of the rarity of cases and difficulty in diagnosis.

Indeed, Dr. Diaz shared that accurate diagnosis of IPF can be difficult as it requires specific testing, resulting in initial misdiagnosing occuring in half of patients because symptoms are similar to respiratory diseases like COPD, asthma, congestive heart failure, tuberculosis and pneumonia. The standard for IPF diagnosis often requires a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) consisting of clinicians, radiologists, pulmonologists, and histopathologists to reach the correct IPF diagnosis; MDT diagnosis is important as it improves patient management and avoids unnecessary testing.

Dr. Diaz said there’s no known medical cure yet that can completely reverse the disease; its treatment options are also limited to lung transplant, stressing the high unmet need for safe and effective treatments that can alter the course of IPF. “IPF is chronic and irreversible; there’s yet to be a medical treatment

OFEV or nintedanib which is believed to reduce progression of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis—causes honeycombing in the lungs (shown in right photo)—is now available in the Philippines

that is proven to reverse the disease. For a long time, treatment is limited to relieving symptoms and slowing disease progression,” said Dr. Diaz.

But Filipinos suffering from IPF now have better means to manage the disease with the recent local approval and availability of nintedanib. Nintedanib targets growth factor receptors, which have shown to be involved in the mechanisms by which IPF occurs. It is believed that nintedanib reduces disease progression in IPF and slows the decline in lung function by blocking the multiple pathways that are involved in scarring processes.

“Approval of this treatment is a significant milestone towards helping the local health sector in expanding the current treatment options available for IPF; but above all it’s a notable advancement in improving the quality of life of Filipinos with this rare disease,” said Dr. Diaz.

Approval is based on results from the replicate Phase III Inpulsis trials, involving 1,066 patients from 24 countries, including Asia. Results showed that OFEV slowed disease progression by reducing the annual rate of decline in lung function by 50 percent in a broad range of IPF patient types including patients with early disease. Only OFEV also significantly reduces the risk of acute IPF exacerbations by 47 percent, as demonstrated by evidence from the pooled analysis of the Tomorrow and Inpulsis trials.

The recommended dose of OFEV is 150mg twice daily, administered approximately 12 hours apart, with option to reduce dose to 100mg twice daily to manage side effects.

Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, a holistic medical center, offers services for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis

Viral hepatitis prevention and early detection HEPATITIS is defined by the World Health Organization as an inflammation of the liver usually caused by hepatitis viruses referred to as types A, B, C, D, and E. These five viruses can cause an acute hepatitis commonly characterized by fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, and jaundice.

Aside from these five main viruses, which are identified as major causes of potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread, hepatitis can also be caused by other infections, toxic substances including alcohol, and other drugs, and autoimmune diseases.

A report in Medical Observer, a Philippine-based medical and health online publication has recorded that about one in seven adults are infected with hepatitis B and more than half a million with hepatitis C. The same report also indicated that hepatitis B accounts for more than two thirds of all cases of liver cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the country.

The Sustainable Development Goals ratified in September 2015 have identified hepatitis as a priority.

The said disease is now the seventh leading cause of mortality around the globe, with 1.4 million recorded deaths in 2013.

Because of this, the WHO in partnership with other organizations and institutions worldwide, are now calling for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health problem.

During the second meeting of the Strategic Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) for Viral Hepatitis in the Western Pacific Region conducted from Jan. 25 to 27 in Hanoi Vietnam, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has reviewed the status of viral hepatitis burden in the region, including the Philippines.

Several priority action areas of the

regional action plan were enumerated including the broad-based advocacy and awareness, national policy, data and surveillance, prevention, screening, care and treatment.

Among the solutions pointed out in the meeting are prevention strategies which includes vaccination, motherto-child transmission, safe injection, harm reduction and other strategies including testing and treatment.

“It is crucial for Filipinos to know the common causes of the disease, prevention and treatment strategies,” Dr. Mariano Lopez, medical director at Fe Del Mundo Medical Center said.

Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, now a holistic medical center, was founded

by Dr. Fe Del Mundo, a distinguished Filipino scientist and pediatrician who received various awards including the Elizabeth Blackwell Award as a “Woman Doctor of World Renown” and the 15th International Congress of Pediatrics Award as the “Most Outstanding Pediatrician and Humanitarian” in 1977.

“As a medical institution, we play a big role in helping eliminate viral hepatitis in the country by promoting awareness among the community. We take part in this worldwide movement to eliminate viral hepatitis by educating our patients about the importance of prevention and early detection of hepatitis,” Lopez added.

The hospital is offering services for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis. FDMMC has also upgraded facilities for other medical fields including allergology-immunology, hemodialysis, physical rehabilitation, endoscopy, hematologyoncology, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, with various subspecialties in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, anesthesia and pain management, and comprehensive diagnostic services.

THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

Pinoy actors win in New York

Indie actors Ronwaldo Martin and Hasmine Killip in the award winning film "Pamilya Ordinaryo"

HASMINE Killip and Ronwaldo Martin bagged the Best Actress and Best Actor awards, respectively, for their roles as a teenage couple in Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary People) at 2017 Harlem International Film Festival in New York.

The festival ran from May 4 to 7.

In the film, Killip plays Jane, a 16-year-old mother, while Martin is her equally young partner Aries.

Jane and Aries barely make both ends meet as they are living in the streets while raising their newborn baby. The young couple’s problems worsen when their infant was stolen.

The award is Killip’s sixth acting recognition for Eduardo Roy Jr.’s film. The others are Best Actress at Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Hanoi International Film Festival, Fantasporto-Oporto International Film Festival and 12th Cinemalaya Film Festival, and a Special Jury for Performance citation at the London East Asia Film Festival.

This is the first acting award for Martin, brother of actor Coco Martin.

Harlem International Film Festival showcases features, documentaries, shorts, animation, youth projects, episodic works and cutting edge music videos. Conceived from the belief that people have unique experiences and perspectives to share, the film festival celebrates the art of cinema by constantly seeking and screening fresh works.

J

ENNYLYN Mercado is back in the kitchen with the recent launch of GMA News TV and CDO-Foodsphere’s Every Day Sarap with CDO second season.

Learn how to make delicious, quick and easy recipes for the whole family using CDO products including CDO Idol Cheesedog, CDO Ulam Burger, CDO Liver Spread and Danes Classic Cheese.

Jennylyn shares her excitement now that she’s back hosting the program. She is very pleased and thankful for the warm support of viewers and CDO through the years.

“I feel happy na madami ang nagenjoy sa show and grateful ako sa CDO na kinuha nila ako ulit kasi naramdaman ko na mahal nila yung show, she said.

While sharing her secrets in cooking delicious, unique and satisfying meals, Jennylyn promises that this new season is filled with more enjoyable conversations as she will be accompanied by guest Kapuso stars who will help her in preparing specialty dishes.

Moms can expect recipes made more delicious because of the meaty and cheesy CDO Idol Cheesedog, the Number 1 Cheesedog. Kids will surely be delighted with these recipes as every bite of CDO Idol Cheesedog is filled with creamy cheese bits.

Likewise, enjoy the quick and easy recipes made special with the strong beefy taste and aroma of CDO Ulam Burger. Viewers will be amazed to discover that beef patties are not just for bread as the show features how to prepare variations to your favorite beef dishes using CDO Ulam Burger.

Jennylyn will also teach you how to level up your all-time favorite dishes using CDO Liver Spread as it adds a richer, thicker, and more flavorful sauce to your everyday viands.

And lastly, Jennylyn will share her newest discovery in the market – the new Danes Classic Cheese. She will make

your favorite cheesy recipes creamier and cheesier that your kids will surely enjoy.

“Now that I am more creative in making dishes, mas madami kaming recipes na lulutuin at definitely mas madaming kwentuhan at chikahan ang mapapanuod sa aming second season,” she said.

Jennylyn likewise takes her cooking expertise to a whole new level as she shares more food facts and trivia to the viewers.

Every Day Sarap with CDO airs Monday to Fridaysat 8:20-8:30 a.m., 3-3:10 p.m. and 7-7:10 p.m.; on Saturdays at 8:20-8:30 a.m., 3-3:10 p.m. and 4:50-5 p.m.; and on Sundays at 12:25-12:55 p.m., 4:50 to 5 p.m. and 5:40-5:50 p.m. on GMA News TV.

Strong debut of ‘Goblin’ and ‘Legend Of The Blue Sea’ THE Korean drama fever is definitely back in the country as ABS-CBN premiered on May 8 two of the biggest Koreanovelas of 2016 — Goblin and Legend of the Blue Sea. The two shows not only scored high in national TV ratings, but also dominated Twitter trends nationwide and even worldwide.

Goblin, starring international Korean star Gong Yoo, instantly captivated viewers, hitting a national TV rating of 12.1 percent compared to its rival program, which only scored 6.1 percent. The episode’s official hashtag #GoblinOnABSCBN also trended on Twitter worldwide as fans shared positive feedback about the show’s top caliber production.

Jennylyn Mercado whips up easy-to-cook meals in the second season of "Every Day Sarap"

Kim Go-eun and Gong Yoo, lead stars of the fantasy series "Goblin"

Meanwhile, Lee Min Ho’s much-awaited TV comeback also debuted strongly. Legend of the Blue Sea scored a national TV rating of 15.5 perent versus its rival program’s 11.8 percent.

The show also created buzz on social media and made it to the top trending topics on Twitter Philippines. Some netizens were enticed to watch the show for the first time while some already watched the drama a couple of times.

Legend of the Blue Sea airs weekday afternoons after The Better Half, while Goblin airs weeknights, after A Love to Last or follow @KapamilyaNovela on Twitter. You only on ABS-CBN. For updates, like https://www.facebook. can also catch up by watching the show’s past com/abscbnkapamilyanovelas/ on Facebook episodes via www.iWanTV.com.ph.

Daryl Ong’s songs

R&B sensation Daryl Ong to hold a concert at the Music Museum

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, May 18, 2017

ACROSS 1 Ration out 5 Traffic cone 10 Ten-four buddy 14 Mo. expense 15 Caribbean nation 16 Bait 17 Type of survivor 18 Shuttle course 19 Radius companion 20 What bread needs to be 22 Mopped up 24 Pinch, in a way 25 Business abbr.

26 Larry, Curly and Moe 30 Embassy staffer 34 Blacken 35 Feigns 37 Speakeasy risk 38 Genesis craft 39 Kennel sound 40 Winter sports item 41 Tall stalk 43 “— St. Blues” 45 Proofer’s word 46 Politico of old Rome 48 Whines 50 Planet warmer 51 Moo goo — pan

52 Basement sink 56 Horse’s “lunchbox” 60 — spumante 61 Raga instrument 63 Lavish party 64 Dizzy of baseball 65 Raise spirits 66 Wanes 67 Tweeted 68 Cut off 69 Antique auto DOWN 1 Cologne fragrance 2 School near Windsor Castle 3 Scrabble playing piece 4 Beatles’ “— Rigby” 5 Fly-catching birds 6 House lot 7 Ad — (wing it) 8 He gave us a lift 9 Scatterbrains 10 Part of a train (2 wds.)

11 Daffodil or tulip 12 Type of eagle 13 Pored over 21 Mr.

Hammarskjold 23 Hill builder 26 Duelers’ pride 27 Low dice roll 28 Bucket of song 29 More timid 30 More than adequately 31 Social stratum 32 Backpacker 33 Works in the newsroom 36 Road-map org.

42 Gallant 43 Pluses

44 More gung-ho 45 Iota 47 Well-known pharaoh 49 Pearl — Bailey 52 Gamblers’ rolls 53 Cruising 54 Getz or Musial 55 Liver secretion 56 Fortune 57 Ali who said “Open sesame!”

58 Priests’ attire 59 Nasty cut 62 Hebrew T

FALL in love with the music of RnB heartthrob, Daryl Ong, when he returns to the Music Museum in DARYL sONGs tomorrow.

Produced by ABS-CBN Events and Star Events, DARYL sONGs is an evening of love songs with the ASAP Soul Sessionista performing a mix of original hits as well as some of his famous covers.

The alumnus of The Voice of the Philippines Season 2 popularized many chart-topping hits included in the biggest ABS-CBN teleseryes’ official sound track in recent years. Among these are “Basta’t Kasama Kita” and “Ikaw” from “FPJ’s Ang Probinsiyano”, “Ikaw Na Nga” from “Bridges of Love,” “To Love Again” from “Til I Met You” and “Stay” from “On The Wings of Love.”

Great performances await the audience in this one-night musical concert with special guests Jay R, Jona, Thor, and Vice Ganda.

Another must-watch at the show is the performance by Voices of 5” Daryl is part of this singing group with Daryl Reyes, Solomon Glass, Johann Mendoza and Walton Zerrudo.

Tickets at P2,500.00 for VIP, P2,000.00 for patron, and P1,000.00 for balcony seats are available at Ticketworld a(891-9999) and Music Museum box office (721-6726).

For more information on ”DARYL sONGs”, visit Starmusic.ph or follow Star Music’s official social media accounts at Facebook.com/starmusicph, or @ starmusicph on Twitter and Instagram.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017

Tarsiers are Bohol's little attraction

A TRIUMPH FOR

OPM legend Basil Valdez in concert at The Theater at Solaire. (Inset) The OPM icon with special guest Sharon Cuneta .

B

ASIL Valdez performed before a jam-packed venue at The Theatre at Solaire in his recently concluded concert Basil Valdez @ Solaire, marking his 40th anniversary as a solo recording artist.

As expected, Basil delivered his promise: an unforgettable evening of immortal love songs written for him by some of the greatest Filipino songwriters – George Canseco, Gerry Paraiso, Cecile Azarcon, Manoling Francisco, Arnel de Pano, and the concert’s musical director and his longtime friend, Ryan Cayabyab among many others.

In terms of visual set-up, the concert was actually very simple – the stage was perfectly lit to set its laidback yet grand mood; Basil stood and performed against the magnificent backdrop of the 42-piece ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and the spotlight was focused mainly on him. But then again, audiences did not come to see the show to witness a visual spectacle. Basil, his voice, and his songs that triumphantly withstood the test of time were the only elements that really mattered that evening.

To last for 40 years (and counting) as one of the best balladeers in the industry with almost 50 certified hit songs under his belt is no easy task and that is where the allure, fondness, and respect of people for Basil emanates from.

Basil’s songs have become part of the soundtrack of countless Pinoys regardless of gender, age, and class. No wedding is complete without “Ngayon

Basil At Kailanman” and conversely, nine out of 10 funerals will always play his heartbreaking ballad “Hindi Kita Malilimutan,” and every song of Basil’s in between has played a major role in representing pivotal events in almost every person’s life.

Basil opened the show with his standard classic “Nais Ko” with his original back-up vocalists of 40 years: Elise Cortez, Sylvia Macaraeg, and Babsie Molina. The term “singing songs hit-after-hit” is not an exaggeration when it comes to a Basil Valdez concert as he performed hit song after hit song until the audiences lost count: from “Kastilyong Buhangin” to

“Paraisong Parisukat;” from “Ngayon At Kailanman” to “Hanggang Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan;” from “You” to “Ikaw.”

Basil’s duet with Megastar Sharon Cuneta lifted the souls of the crowd to unimaginable heights as they performed a show-stopping rendition of “Tubig At Langis” while Basil’s outstanding collaboration with the Ateneo Chamber Orchestra in his ballad “Ngayon” left the audience speechless and wanting more.

And Basil did give more as he aptly ended the musical event with a sampling of his inspirational classics “Lead Me Lord” and “Lift Up Your Hands.” For

his encore, Basil performed “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” plus two other surprise songs that led the audience to an energetic standing ovation that rightfully honored the singer and his amazing body of work.

Due to insistent public demand, Basil Valdez @ Solaire will have a one-nightonly repeat on May 26 at The Theatre at Solaire.

For tickets, contact Ticketworld (891-9999 or at www.ticketworld.com. ph) or call NY Entourage Productions at 552-7473. For more information follow NY Entourage Productions on Twitter and Instagram (@nsyshows) and like nsyshows on Facebook.

Viral video bags Best Short Form award GLOBE Telecom’s advertisement for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, entitled “Mask”, bagged the award for Best Short Form in the recently held 2017 Brand Film Festival New York. Globe Telecom is the first Philippine brand to be part of the film fest’s roster as well as the sole winner for Asia this year.

The winning ad was part of the company’s #CreateCourage campaign about people fighting battles that others might not immediately see - and how even a fragile child can demonstrate immense strength in the face of adversity. The campaign was done in partnership with Disney as part of a multi-year alliance with the entertainment giant.

The Brand Film Festival New York showcased 2016’s most artistic, creative and effective branded content films - from YouTube videos to longform documentaries. Held annually, it is a unique gathering that honors a new generation of marketing storytellers while rewarding the brands, agencies, and craftspeople leading the way in their fields.

Entries were open to any organization within the U.S., Americas, and AsiaPacific. Categories included sports, branded program, brand documentary, and virtual reality, among others.

Submissions came from various brands, agencies, production companies

"Mask," a short film produced by Globe Telecom, is an ad to promote the latest "Star Wars" film

and more. The jury comprised of top creatives from the worlds of PR, advertising, digital, production, film and media. This year’s jury chair was Judy John, Leo Burnett’s CEO Canada & Chief Creative Officer in North America.

The Globe advertisement told the story of Alex, a young Star Wars fan who hides her sickness behind a Stormtrooper mask, and whose mask helps her to be bold even when facing others. The #CreateCourage campaign encouraged people to change their social media profile pictures to creative photos of them wearing Stormtrooper helmets and to complete the caption “#CreateCourage to ____.” The most inspiring posts won special prizes - from movie passes to

limited edition Rogue One gift packs, as well as a trip to the Orlando Star Wars Celebration held last April.

Going beyond the online engagement was also the company’s use of the material to call for donations for the rehabilitation of the pediatric cancer clinic of the Philippine General Hospital that Disney also supported.

“Creating societal value is important to us in any campaign that we take on. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had very inspiring values that allowed us to come up with the story for the ad.

We are humbled with the opportunity to give children a voice through this ad, shedding light on their resilience despite challenges. Being recognized by an institution such as the Brand Film

Festival New York is truly an honor for all of us at Globe,” said Albert de Larrazabal, Chief Commercial Officer, Globe Telecom.

The #CreateCourage ad also received a citation in the Best Corporate category at the Brand Film Festival awards alongside Nutella® Originals Presents: Spread the Happy Series, Season 1 and CableLabs and Ivory Worldwide for ‘The NearFuture’. It also garnered a silver award at Asian Ad Fest.

“Mask” also led in the Philippines’ Kidlat Awards which is an annual creative competition celebrating the country’s best and most creative advertising work. Globe brought home the coveted Grand Kidlat award in the Film category as well as Gold awards for Best Direction and Best Editing.

When it was launched in December 2016, the ad hit viral status in a matter of days, reaching 45 Million views from around the world. In the first two days of the campaign, the ad received 3.9 million views, 88,000 shares, and 144,000 reactions on the Globe Facebook page.

It was also the only Filipino ad to be featured in CNN International’s article on 2016 Holiday Videos, a selection of ads which highlighted tolerance and togetherness; this despite the fact it was not a Christmas-themed story. It has also been featured in international websites such as The Huffington Post, Adweek, and Mashable to name a few.

‘Destination Philippines’ on CNN International PREVIOUSLY, the Philippines was believed to be made up of 7,107 islands, but just recently the country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources revealed that the archipelagic nation is actually constituted by 7,641 islands. These islands are known for their tropical climate and beautiful beaches, but there are more to discover about the Philippines and this month, CNN explores what else this stunning SouthEast Asian archipelago has to offer on Destination Philippines.

Highlights of the 30-minute special include: Geological Wonder Vulcan Point is an island, within a lake, on an island, within a lake, on an island. Make sense? It will when you see it. This geological wonder is a result of Taal Volcano, which was last active in 1977. It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33 historical eruptions.

Flying High!

Every year, enthusiasts from all over the world gather for one of the most visual experiences in South East Asia, the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. With more than 100 pilots operating hot air balloons, the fiesta includes synchronized flights, night-time performances, aerobatic exhibitions, formation flying, radiocontrolled aircrafts, paragliding, skydiving, and more.

Philippines’ First Female-Run Craft Brewery The tropical island of Palawan is home to the Philippines’ first female-run craft beer brewery. The microbrewery handproduces around 300 cases a month, and is experimenting with the plentiful local crop of coconuts to make an affordable product for the local market.

Conservation King Tarsiers are small creatures with giant eyes and are an endangered species native to the Philippines. The Philippine Tarsier Foundation dedicates itself to creating a sanctuary for these furry animals in a forest on the island of Bohol to ensure future generations have the opportunity to meet one of the world’s smallest primates.

Heaven on Earth The limestone cliffs of Sagada are home to hundreds of hanging wooden coffins. Two nearby burial caves also serve as the resting place for coffins hand-carved from tree-trunks and nailed to the walls. It’s an ancient ritual which the indigenous Igorot tribe has followed for around 2,000 years.

The 30-minute special airs on May 19 (5:30 p.m.), May 20 (8 p.m.), May 21 (3:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.), May 22 (11:30 a.m.), May 23 (5:30 p.m.), and May 24 (11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.)

CNN is available on SKYCable Channel 28, SKYCable HD Channel 181, Cignal Channel 40, Cignal HD Channel 128, Destiny Cable (Digital) Channel 28, Destiny Cable (Analog) Channel 20 and Cable Link Channel 19.

Hanging coffins in Sagada