Manila Standard - 2017 July 15 - Saturday

CLIMATE THREATENS ASIA GROWTH A BUSINESS-AS-USUAL approach to climate change will be “disastrous” for Asia, undoing much of the phenomenal economic growth that has helped it make vast inroads against poverty, the Asian Development Bank said in a report released Friday.

A continued reliance on fossil fuels will see the world’s most populous region face prolonged heat waves, rising sea levels, and changing rainfall patterns that will disrupt the ecosystem, damage livelihoods and possibly even cause wars, it said.

“Unabated climate change threatens to

undo many of the development advancements of the last decades, not least by incurring high economic losses,” the report from the Manila-based bank said.

By the end of the century, parts of the continent could see mean temperatures shoot up to eight degrees Celsius above

pre-industrial levels, as the global mean temperature rises by half that, it added.

“A business-as-usual scenario will lead to disastrous climate impacts for the people of Asia and the Pacific, especially for the poor and vulnerable popuNext page lations,” it said.

By John Paolo Bencito

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By John Paolo Bencito THE military said Friday the fighting in Marawi City will not be finished before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address on July 24, but vowed to finish it within the 15-day target made by the President himself.

“We are right into the 10 to 15 days of the President. But the 10 to 15 days is beyond the Sona by the way, so don’t expect it to be

P3.76-trillion budget for ’18 up at Sona PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will submit the proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018 to Congress on July 24, the day he delivers his second State of the Nation Address, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday.

He said the biggest chunks of the budget would go to education and infrastructure spending, and that this year would be the first time a President would be submitting his proposed budget on the day of the Sona.

“Why are we doing this? So we can have an early start for 2018,” Diokno told reporters.

“The 2018 proposed national budget, which we proposed and the President approved, has a total of P3.767 trillion, with the biggest allocation going to education and infrastructure development.”

The 2018 budget represents 21.6 percent of the projected gross domestic product next year and is 12.4 percent higher than the P3.35trillion budget for 2017.

Education will be having the biggest chunk of the P3.767-trillion budget or a total of P691.1 billion, with the Department of Education getting P613.05 billion, the Commission on Higher Education P13.5 billion, and the State Universities and Colleges P64.6 billion.

The Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Transportation’s will receive P643.3 billion and P73.8 billion, respectively.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of National Defense will receive P172.3 billion and

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VOL. XXXI • NO. 151 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

QUAKE DRILL. Members of a medical team conduct rescue operations during a dubbed Shake Drill throughout the metropolis Friday, aimed at promoting a culture of preparedness among Metro Manila residents for a possible 7.2-magnitude movement of the West Valley Fault. Lino Santos

Criminal raps vs ‘Noy’ Gov’t sets multi-year Marawi rehab plan

Liable for massacre at M’sapano—Ombudsman

By Rio N. Araja and John Paolo Bencito

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MBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio-Morales ordered the filing of criminal charges against former President Benigno Aquino III Friday for graft and usurpation of authority, saying he knowingly appointed his suspended police chief to head the ill-fated Mamasapano raid in January 2015.

The Ombudsman, who had cleared Aquino of homicide charges for the 44 Special Action Force police commandos that died in the raid, included former PNP chief Alan Purisima and former SAF director Getulio Napeñas in the charge sheet.

“There is no gainsaying that President Aquino was fully aware that the Office of the Ombudsman had placed Purisima under preventive suspension at that time,” Morales said, noting that text messages presented at a Senate hearing showed him discussing the operation with his police chief, who had already been suspended at

the time over allegations of graft.

Suspended public officials are barred from performing any public function, Morales said.

Under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code, any person who performs duties of a public officer without being lawfully entitled to do so faces six months to six years in jail.

The anti-graft law also makes it illegal for any public officer to “persuade, induce or influence another public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority.”

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Santiago eyed to head Bucor

TREMOR DISCUSSION. President Rodrigo Duterte discusses at

the Ormoc City airport with members of his Cabinet and local officials Thursday developments after a major earthquake damaged Leyte, devastated in 2013 by Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda.’ Presidential Photo

By Rey E. Requejo

By John Paolo Bencito THE government is ready to mobilize P5 billion for the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City, the Department of Budget and Management said Friday.

“The rebuilding of Marawi will be a multi-year task. It cannot be done in a few months or one year. So with that, we are talking of a multi-year effort. And in fact there is a task force created to prepare such a plan,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Friday.

In the meantime, the DBM has identified P5 billion in standby funds, most of it from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which can already be tapped.

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MAMASAPANO FALLOUT. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who administered the presidential oath of office to then incoming President Benigno Aquino III in 2010, has ordered the filing of criminal raps against him for culpability in the 2015 massacre of 44 troops in Mamasapano. Included in the charge sheet are former PNP director general Alan Purisima and former director Getulio Napeñas of the Special Action Force. File Photo

18 cops in ‘rubout’ case back to duty, face homicide raps

By Francisco Tuyay

PEDESTRIAN OVERPASS. Makati Mayor Abby Binay joins other officials at the inauguration Friday of the

new 38-meter long Senator Gil Puyat Avenue Pedestrian Overpass, part of the local government’s campaign to make the city sidewalks and streets ‘walkable’ for the people. Lino Santos

THE policemen, led by Supt.

Marvin Marcos who returned to active duty, still face homicide charges for the killing of Albuerra mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and another inmate in the Leyte sub-provincial jail, a police official said Friday.

“We just want to make it clear… The criminal case exists,” said PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos. “They will still have to face the homicide case for the killing of Mayor Espinosa and Raul Yap.”

By Marcos’ account, Espinosa

and Yap were killed when they resisted police officers serving a search warrant at their cells.

But a Senate investigation concluded that the raid on Espinosa’s cell was a rubout and recommended the filing of murder charges against Marcos and his men. The Justice Department later downgraded the murder charges to homicide, enabling the policemen to post bail.

Marcos and 18 others were recently returned to active duty on the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, who said he would pardon Marcos if he were convicted.

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JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Friday endorsed newly appointed Dangerous Drug Board Chairman Dionisio Santiago as director of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing Benjamin delos Santos, who resigned over a resurgence of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison.

Justice Undersecretary Erickson Balmes said Aguirre made his recommendation to the Palace despite Santiago’s recent appointment to the DDB. Santiago was a former Armed Forces chief and also once headed the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

The President designated Santiago as the new DDB head after he fired DDB chairman Benjamin Reyes for contradicting him on the statistics of drug addicts in the country.

Delos Santos resigned after Aguirre ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the resurgence of the illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary.

Delos Santos said he had tried to go on indefinite leave to give the NBI a free hand in its investigation but was prevailed upon not to go on leave. After that, he added, he decided to go back into Next page retirement.

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SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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But it said the region could avert disaster by shifting to renewable energy sources.

The 2015 Paris climate accord commits nations to keep global temperatures well below 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.

While a 2 degrees Celsius rise will be difficult to manage, “one can assume that a 4 degree Celsius increase would lead to humanitarian disasters in many nations and result in unmanageable migration flows or locked-in populations”, the report said.

Asia as a whole would see sea levels rise by 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) within this century, nearly twice the projected increase under the Paris deal, and face more destructive cyclones, it said.

In this scenario, the report said, the region’s coral reef systems would collapse from mass bleaching, with severe consequences for fisheries and tourism.

Melting Asian glaciers would cause both floods and water shortages, disrupting agriculture and increase dependence on rainfall to meet water needs.

The impact of such changes on access to energy and natural resources are all potential powder kegs for conflict, it said.

The study projects additional heat-related deaths of nearly 52,000 elderly people across the region annually by the 2050s, nearly 8,000 extra diarrheal deaths in South Asia, and some 10,000 more malaria and dengue deaths in Asia.

Asia’s global economic links mean that extreme climate events could disrupt supply chains not only in the region but also in the rest of the world, it warned.

Despite stunning economic growth that saw Asian per capita incomes rise 10-fold in the past 25 years, it remains home to the majority of the world’s poor, the ADB said.

This, along with the fact that a large share of its population inhabit low-lying coastlines, has made the world’s largest continent “particularly vulnerable” to climate change.

Myanmar, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan and Thailand are among the world’s top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events, it said.

The ADB vowed in 2015 to double its climate finance mitigation investments to $6 billion by 2020, including $2 billion to help countries shift to renewable energy. AFP

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P145.0 billion, respectively, to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard and to boost the Philippine National Police’s law-enforcement activities.

Social services will receive P1.45 trillion, or 38.5 percent of the proposed budget, while the economic services sector will receive P1.15 trillion or 30.6 percent of the proposed budget.

Diokno expressed confidence that the tax reform package bill pending in Congress would be approved before the end of the year.

18 cops...

‘Kill order taken out of context’

By John Paolo Bencito

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MBUDSMAN Conchita CarpioMorales on Friday insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated public calls to kill is “not acceptable” as she accused him of “goading people to kill” with his rhetoric against drug pushers and users.

“He’s goading people to kill “The directive to kill people people. That’s a problem,” Morales under any situation irrespective of said in an interview with Japanese the context is not acceptable.” broadcaster NHK. Morales also dismissed the

usual defense by Duterte’s spokesmen and other administration officials that Duterte’s tough talk was just “hyperbole.”

“His communications people say that’s hyperbole. They try to rationalize whatever he says, so the police or whoever he addresses believe him. That’s a different story,” Morales said.

But Malacañang defended Duterte.

“I think she has really taken it out of context,” Presidential

Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

“Again and again, we have stated how the President expresses himself and that particular statement might have been taken out of context.”

This is not the first time that Duterte and his men claimed that the President’s critics “misunderstood” his rhetoric.

They claim that Duterte’s threats are merely an “expression of frustration,” and that journalists should use their “creative imagination” when dealing with

his pronouncements.

Morales said the Office of the Ombudsman was set to consolidate all cases of summary killings.

“In our case, there have been some complaints which have a bearing with extra-judicial killings, which have a bearing on drugs, and especially the complaints against the detained senator [Leila de Lima]. So we try to consolidate all these complaints and conduct a fact-finding investigation,” she said.

Kurds air support for anti-terror drive

By Sara D. Fabunan

CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE. This recent undated handout photo released on July 14, 2017 by the Provincial Disaster, Risk Reduction and Management Office in Lanao del Sur shows rescuers inspecting body bags containing the remains and belongings of civilians believed to be executed by Muslim militants in Marawi.

The military earlier accused the militants of using trapped civilians as human shields or forcing them to loot homes, carry bullets and even shoot at security forces and murdering those who refused to comply. AFP

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Aquino, Purisima, and Napeñas face six to 15 years in jail if they are convicted of graft.

Usurpation of authority, on the other hand carries a penalty of up to four years.

A spokesman for Aquino, Abigail Valte, said the former president would file a motion for reconsideration, saying the Ombudsman may have misunderstood the facts and reached the wrong conclusion.

“An initial reading shows that there may have been a misappreciation of some facts surrounding the incident, leading to some erroneous conclusions. He will seek to clarify the same through a motion for reconsideration,” Valte added.

On Jan. 24, 2015, close to 400 SAF commandos launched Oplan Exodus to serve standing warrants of arrest against internationally wanted terrorists Zulkifli Bin Hir alias Marwan and Ahmad Akmad Uson, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

In the ensuing firefight that lasted several hours, 44 SAF troopers died.

A day after Aquino stepped down from office, relatives of some of the SAF troopers filed a criminal complaint against him,

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Govt...

PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa said returning Marcos and the 18 other policemen was a good idea because they were being paid their salaries anyway.

The Duterte administration on Friday vowed to cooperate with the planned Senate probe to investigate Marcos’ return to service, despite facing homicide charges over the death of Espinosa.

In a Palace news briefing, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said that the Palace, through the Philippine National Police (PNP), will respond to any probe questioning Duterte’s order to have Marcos reinstated.

“The government will cooperate. I mean the government through the PNP will cooperate with any investigation. We have always participated in any hearings and we will continue to abide by that,” Abella said.

On Thursday, Senator Panfilo Lacson said that they will be looking into Duterte’s order to have Marcos reinstated and the Justice Department decision to downgrade his case to homicide.

News of Marcos’ reinstatement drew a curse from Lacson, who was once a police chief.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently ordered the creation of Task Force Bangon Marawi to implement rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Marawi City, with the Department of Public Works and Highways expected to come up with a comprehensive master plan to map out these efforts. The President previously promised to give P20 billion for Marawi’s rehabilitation, at least P10 billion of which will be released in 2018.

Diokno said that the budgets and funding sources for 2017 and 2018 had been identified before the creation of the DPWH master plan to quickly respond to the rehabilitation needs.

Other funds could also be sourced from the respective budgets of different agencies such as Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Public Works and Hightways, the AFP Engineering Brigade, and foreign donors.

China has already donated P15 million for Marawi rehabilitation to boost the resources of Health and Social Welfare departments.

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accusing him of reckless imprudence resulting in 44 homicides.

Complaints of criminal negligence were also filed against Aquino and his co-accused.

Although thes Ombudsman dismissed these accusations, she agreed with the petitioners that Aquino was wrong in allowing Purisima, who was then suspended, to participate in the planning and management of the covert operation in Mamasapano.

“Certainly a public officer who is under preventive suspension in barred from performing any public functions and from meddling into the affairs of the government.

In other words, Purisima would not have been placed in such a position of continuing to conduct himself, in relation to Oplan Exodus, in a manner as if he was not under preventive suspension at that time, from his position as PNP chief, were it not for the complicity and influence of President Aquino,” Morales said.

She said there was probable cause that, “with the complicity and influence of President Aquino, the order of preventive suspension issued by the Ombudsman was violated.”

Aquino is liable under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act by acting with “complicity and influence” when he knew that Purisima was suspended

during the botched operation.

On the other hand, under Article 177, usurpation of authority is committed when a person falsely represents himself as a government official without being lawfully entitled to do so.

Aquino has five days upon receipt of the complaint to file a motion for reconsideration.

In the investigation, the Ombudsman said Aquino continued to receive Purisima’s advise, even though the police official was suspended over a questionable courier contract.

Malacañang welcomed the move to have Aquino indicted for Mamasapano, saying that the Palace is hoping that justice will soon be served.

“We respect the Ombudsman’s constitutional mandate to investigate public officials,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

“The President recognizes the heroic sacrifice of the Philippine National Police - Special Action Force 44, and it is his—and the nation’s—hope to finally bring justice to the victims and families of the Fallen 44 and put closure to the issue as part of the healing process,” he added.

Last January, Duterte met with the relatives of the SAF 44 in Malacañang to mark the deaths of their loved ones.

For the NDRRM Fund FY 2018, P25.5 billion has been allocated; while P10 billion of that amount has been allotted for the Marawi recovery and rehabilitation program.

In the 2018 budget, P310 million has also been allocated for 12 infrastructure projects under ARMM Regional DPWH. The Budget chief also said that the international community has expressed willingness to assist in the recovery of Marawi.

Among the international organizations that committed financial help are the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Diokno assured the public that all funds would be properly accounted for.

“Why is accountability important? Well, we learned our lessons from the ‘Yolanda’ incident. The Filipino people should know how the money was spent,” he said.

Meanwhile, member-agencies of the Inter-Agency Task Force Bangon Marawi are set to conduct a meeting with local officials and chief executives to formalize the initial rehabilitation plan.

Office of Civil Defense PostDisaster Evaluation and Management chief Lenie Alegre said

the sub-committees are expected to present their initial plans to the local government units by next week.

“So, even before we end the conflict, the government is actually planning ahead for early recovery and rehabilitation as well as possible reconstruction,” Alegre said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. reiterated the military’s continuous efforts to restore normalcy in the areas of conflict.

He said two engineering brigades are already on the ground and are working closely with local officials in preparing the temporary resettlement area for the evacuees.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said that the clearing operations of infrastructure in Marawi City are progressing well, with 48 more buildings cleared yesterday, July 13. Around 600 buildings remain to be cleared.

As for the donations for Marawi victims, as of July 13, donations for soldiers killed in action have soared to P5.5 million while donations for internally displaced persons have reached P779,727.21.

A PESHMERGA fighter who had seen action against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kurdistan joined overseas Filipino workers in Iraq who voiced their support for government forces battling the extremists in Mindanao.

In a letter handed to officials of the Philippine Embassy, Kurdish fighter Rebaz Hasan said he expects to see the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police defeat Islamic militants, even though they have as yet been unable to clear Marawi City of the terrorists.

“From the Kurdish Peshmerga to the Filipino Peshmerga, we express our solidarity with you in the fight against the Islamic State,” wrote Hasan, who comes from Sulaymaniyah in the eastern part of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Peshmerga, which is Kurdish for “those who confront death,” are the military forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. The Peshmerga have been fighting the Islamic State since the terrorist group, which is referred to in Iraq by its Arab acronym Daesh, attempted to storm the region in 2014.

The Peshmerga foiled that attempt and have since successfully defended a frontline that stretched more than 1,000 kilometers. When Baghdad launched the offensive to retake Mosul, the de facto capital of the Islamic State in Iraq, Kurdish forces served as spearhead.

“We hope and pray for your victory against Daesh!” Long live the Philippines! Long live Kurdistan,” said Hasan, who helped his Filipina sister-in-law renew her passport during a consular outreach mission in Erbil that was conducted by the Philippine Embassy over the weekend.

“The Peshmerga are respected fighters who despite being outgunned and outnumbered succeeded in holding their line against the Islamic State in 2014, thus preventing the terrorist group from entering and taking control of Kurdistan,” said Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato.

Also sending a letter of support to Filipino troops was Kurdish writer and journalist Bestoon Othman Khalid.

“As the Peshmerga succeeded in defeating the Islamic State from this part of the world, the barbaric terrorists appeared in Marawi,” Khalid said in the letter he emailed to the embassy. “The friendly people and government of the Philippines are now fighting this brutal terrorist organization.”

“As an international citizen from the Kurdistan region, I show solidarity with our Filipino brothers and sisters and wish them all the success in the fight against terrorism,” he said. “The Islamic State is a threat to the entire world. This is why we have to work hand in hand to fight this common enemy.”

Both Hasan and Khalid sent their letters in response to the appeal made by the embassy on behalf of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and the Department of Foreign Affairs for overseas Filipino workers to send messages and letters of support to troops fighting in Marawi.

The initiative is being undertaken in cooperation with the CivilMilitary Operations Regiment of the Philippine Army.

The Philippine Embassy in Baghdad and other embassies and consulates general abroad have been gathering letters, postcards and notes from overseas Filipinos in support of this initiative that seeks to boost the morale of soldiers and police officers serving in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao.

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before the Sona,” Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla told reporters.

Earlier, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said security forces were working toward ending the siege by the terrorists in Marawi within the “indicative target” raised by Duterte.

Padilla said about 600 buildings in Marawi City had yet to be cleared, with the government troops clearing about 50 structures a day.

But he said the campaign against the terrorists would not necessarily extend the imposition of martial law in Mindanao.

“I cannot go beyond what I just said because the recommendation primarily is not yet done and it is the decision of the leadership that will be the basis,” Padilla said.

“So whatever they decide on, for how long it will be extended, if it is extended, or if it’s lifted, the Armed Forces will just comply.”

Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa on Thursday said security officials were mulling over the proposals to reduce the scope of martial law being implemented in Mindanao, but there were calls for its possible extension before it lapsed on July 23.

“Right now the assessment is on its concluding stage and will be given to the chief of staff who will then do his vetting on the recommendation and eventually submitted to the secretary of National Defense for submission to the commander-in-chief,” he said, referring to Armed Forces Chief General Eduardo Año and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

“The secretary is the administrator of martial law and will necessarily have to have his inputs into the document.”

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officer-in-charge of BuCor since President Rodrigo Duterte took office.

Delos Santos was a graduate of the San Beda College of Law. He served with the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group where he earned his star rank before retiring from the service.

The Palace on Friday said that it has yet to accept Delos Santos’ resignation.

In a text message to reporters, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said that the Office of the President “has not received his letter of [resignation]” and has yet to decide on the matter. With John

Delos Santos said he had left his mark on the bureau, which has been wracked by corruption scandals.

“I am confident that the seeds of change have been amply spread in the rough and rugged road towards a reformed BuCor,” he said.

“I am sure capable successor will pick up from where I have contributed in our drive to stop drugs, crime and corruption,” he added.

Delos Santos assumed the post last November replacing retired police chief Supt. Rolando Asuncion, who was the Paolo Bencito

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SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Drill made people aware of drop, cover and hold’

By Joel E. Zurbano

SHAKE DRILL. The 3rd Metro Manila shake drill as shown in this photo is a yearly scenario-based drill conducted by the Metro Manila Development Authority and supported by local government units within the MM area, while the national simultaneous earthquake drill is spearheaded by the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

Norman Cruz

Cebu Pac resumes Ormoc flights

‘BIR’s incompetence led House to pass TRAIN bill’

By Joel E. Zurbano

OUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday said the government is forced to pass the controversial tax reform package that would impose P6 per liter tax on petroleum products to make up for the billions of pesos in tax liabilities of the big companies owned by the country’s oligarchs.

THE Cebu Pacific Air has announced that it would resume its regular flights to and from Ormoc City beginning July 14.

The airline, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Cebgo, resumes regular flights daily between Cebu and Ormoc, with the Cebu-Ormoc flight departing at 6:35 a.m. and the return flight leaving Ormoc at 7:40 a.m.

Cebgo resumed operations following a risk assessment at the Ormoc Airport, in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit the province of Leyte last July 6.

Cebu Pacific has extended its gratitude to CAAP for the expedient action to get the Ormoc Airport back to operational status as soon as possible.

Aviation authority officials said the Ormoc Airport resumed commercial operations on July 8 after they declared that the runway was usable and safe for aircraft flight operations.

The resumption came two days after it was hit by the tremor damaging both ends of runway 36 and 18.

CAAP chief information officer and spokesman Eric Apolonio said the Ormoc airport is back to normal, as all turbo aircraft now can land and take off after the Department of Transportation completed its inspection and repair.

He added that the terminal was opened after the repainting of displaced threshold markings to warn aircraft of the damaged portions of the runway.

Coring test on the runway and sub surface soil exploration survey was conducted by a technical team from CAAP and DOTr. Reports said the strong shaking caused cracks in some buildings and roads in the city and power was automatically shut off.

Apolonio also said right after the earthquake, CAAP airport manager VIII Danilo Abareta reported immediately to the main headquarters that engineers are inspecting the cracks in both ends of the runway.

Abareta, in his initial assessment report to CAAP Operations Rescue and Coordinating Center, said the Calbayog, Catarman and Tacloban airports, which are operating regular commercial flights, are in normal condition.

Other airport facilities being supervised by CAAP Vlll in Leyte are Biliran, Borongan, Catbalogan, Guiuan, Hilongos and Maasin.

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Alvarez made the statement as he asked the House committees on ways and means and on good government to conduct a joint probe on big companies which have tax liabilities, including the allegations that the BIR allegedly reduced the tax liabilities of Del Monte Philippines Inc. to only P65.4 million despite the reported assessment reaching P29 billion in supposed tax deficiency liabilities.

Alvarez said there would

have been no tax reform package had the BIR met its target collection.

“The House committee on ways and means can inquire on the matter jointly with the House committee on good government and public accountability,” Alvarez said in a radio interview.

Alvarez said the supposed P29-billion tax liabilities was “really foul.”

Aside from the P6 per liter tax on petroleum products,

another controversial provision under House Bill 5636, also known as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) would be the P10 per liter excise tax on sugar and sweetened beverages.

The House of Representatives earlier approved TRAIN on third and final reading by a 246-9 vote.

While TRAIN will no longer impose tax on personal income of not over P250,000, critics said the bill was anti-poor because the public would shoulder the increase in prices of basic goods and services as a result of additional taxes on fuel and SSB’s, among others.

The House ways and means committee chairman Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, asked the BIR to explain the allegations as Alvarez sought a congressional probe on the matter following the alleged plunder

case filed before the Ombudsman against Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay and 17 other officials and personnel in connection with the alleged reduction of the tax liabilities of DMPI resulting to the reported loss of P29 billion in potential revenues.

DMPI had denied the purported tax irregularities covering 2011 to 2013 as alleged in the plunder complaint filed against Dulay and other BIR officials.

Reports said a certain Danilo Lihaylihay, who described himself as a “taxpayer” last month filed a plunder case before the Ombudsman against Dulay and 17 other BIR executives, including his chief of staff Gaudencio Mendoza Jr., who allegedly gave the green light to DMPI to pay only P65.4 million despite the P29 billion in supposed tax liabilities.

MORE people are now aware of the “drop, cover and hold,” a series of actions that the public must do when a big quake strikes.

This was the assessment made by the Metro Manila Development Authority which described this year’s earthquake drill a success.

MMDA chairman Danilo Lim on Friday led the 3rd Metro Manila shake drill event to reinforce the drop, cover and hold message as well as the whole process of getting people to prepare themselves for an emergency situation.

“The shake drill is to prepare us for worst-case scenarios and we want to test how long it would take fo rall units to respond given the traffic and rush hour. It’s my hope for citizens to see the significance and importance of the simulation exercise. The earthquake does not follow our schedule nor respects our standard for convenience,” said Lim. Following the duck, cover and hold activity held at the MMDA main office in Makati City, which was participated by officials and employees, Lim left the agency to convene the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Council at the Emergency Operations Center at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

This year’s event was also participated by various government agencies and local governent units in cooperation with the private and the business sectors in cities of Taguig, Pasig, Makati, Manila and Quezon City in preparation for the Big One. In Ortigas, fire and anti-terror drills were also conducted aside from the quake preparation exercise.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director Renato Solidum said during the Friday drill, that in the event that Metro Manila experiences a magnitude 7.2 and intensity 8 quake, people must cover their heads and necks using their arms and get under desks and other shelters that are sturdy. He advised people to either hold on to their shelter or continue covering their heads and necks until the shaking stops.

“The importance of surviving the earthquake is for us to allocate our resources even better. If you survived you don’t need our help anymore, then we will find others who are in need of our assistance,” Solidum said.

DPWH repairs QC roads for Sona 20% power restored

By Vito Barcelo in Samar, Leyte THE Department of Public Works and Highways on Friday said all repairs and maintenance works of roads particularly in Quezon City will be completed before the second State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte will deliver his second Sona on July 24 where he is expected to report to the public his accomplishments for the past year.

“The repair and maintenance works include the asphalt overlaying, repainting of road pavements, road markings and cutting of grass along center islands,” DPWH-National Capital Region Director Melvin Navarro said.

“We still have some areas to complete, but these are minor jobs such as cutting of grass, repainting of pavements,” he said.”We will cut grass along Commonwealth Avenue center island to make it clear and clean.”

Navarro said he had already met with the engineers with regards to the work to be conducted along major thoroughfares although they do not know which route the President’s convoy would take going to the Batasan complex.

The DPWH official said that they do not have the exact route of the President in going to Batasan, but said that the department is committed to make all roads safe to all types of vehicles and pedestrians.

RISKS OF SMOKING. A man puffs a cigarette at a street in Quezon City, July 14, 2017. According to the Department of Health, there are 7,000 dangerous chemicals that are found in normal cigarettes that are also present in e-cigarettes. However, e-cigarettes are not covered by the nationwide smoking ban which will take effect on July 22, 2017. Manny Palmero

By Alena Mae S. Flores AROUND 20 percent of power supply to Samar, Leyte and Bohol has been restored and full restoration is eyed to be completed not later than July 31, the Energy Department said Friday.

Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said the department expects full restoration by July 19 or July 31, depending on the status of repair of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ 150-MW transformer 6 in Ormoc.

“We’re working on July 19 for 270 MW of supply to be delivered from EDC Energy Development Corp.

Yesterday, an initial 45 MW of power has flowed after the repair of transformer 3 and 5,” Fuentebella said.

“We will be able to reach 100 percent [restoration] by July 19 provided that transformer 6 is repaired,” Fuentebella said.

The National Grid, for its part, said re-testing of the 150MVA Transformer No. 6 in Ormoc Substation has been completed and replacement of the damaged bushing is already ongoing.

National Grid has already energized the Ormoc-Kananga 230kV Line 2 and is now providing feedback power to the Upper Mahiao and Malitbog geothermal power plants of EDC in Northern Leyte.

National Grid said it is continuously trying to energize the damaged transformer while other transformers at Ormoc Substation are also undergoing testing.

The company also started the transfer of 150 and 100 MVA transformers from Compostela Substation in Cebu to Ormoc Substation to replace the damaged transformers in the facility.

At the same time, National Grid said it is also currently assessing the High Voltage Direct Current converter transformer in Ormoc, and erecting an Emergency Restoration System for the Ormoc-Isabel 138kV line.

“NGCP is employing a parallel, simultaneous strategy of repair, replacement, and reconfiguration for its affected transmission equipment, and is pooling all its resources and exerting all efforts to restore, even partially, power transmission services by the July 31 deadline, as set by DoE, or earlier,” it said.

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Opinion

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

A question for Aguirre

T

HE director of the Bureau of Corrections did an unusual thing by quitting his post, citing his failure to quell the resurgence of the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.

This inability, former BuCor director Benjamin delos Santos said, has rendered him irrelevant.

It’s unusual because not a lot of government officials face up to their inadequacies and step down as they acknowledge they cannot perform their mandate. Filipinos are more familiar with the type who latch on to their posts, offering one ex-

cuse after another and blaming others for their failure.

Some feel obliged to make a show of resigning, but in fact await their principal’s expression of continued trust and confidence in them.

This being said, Delos Santos—and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II—still need to tell us how and why the drug trade returned amid all the chest-beating against it

by the current administration.

Did they not bring in inmates from the maximum security compound to Congress to shed light on what is happening? Did they not haul Aguirre’s predecessor to jail for alleged participation in the trade for her own benefits? Why, for all the aggressive anti-drug stance led by no less than the President, is this evil at the national penitentiary so difficult to stop?

Unfortunately, in his letter, Delos Santos said he would refrain from making further comments. He would take a vow of silence—which piques

our interest all the more.

Delos Santos had barely warmed his seat; the fraternity brother of President Duterte was only appointed last December. A little over six months into the job, however, he decides he can no longer bear it and quits, irrevocably.

And now he won’t talk.

There must be a compelling reason for the drug trade to persist in a place like the NBP. Failure to quell it is ignominious for an administration as exacting and as tough-talking as this one.

Mr. Duterte said last year that three quarters of illegal

drugs in the country are orchestrated by syndicates in the confines of the NBP. And now, even as members of the elite Special Action Force have been tapped to guard the inmates, there are reports of a resurgence—that is, if the problem ever really went away in the first place.

Secretary Aguirre has some serious explaining to do. Otherwise, his own relevance can be likened to the fake news stories he claims to so despise. Then again, he has always had a bit of trouble telling the difference between fact and fiction.

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

False stories about historical events

#Implement RH POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO FOLLOWING the Supreme Court’s April 2017 decision on the temporary restraining order that has affected women’s access to contraceptives, our hopes are up with the Department of Health’s and Food and Drug Administration’s commitment to abide by the SC directives.

The SC has ordered the DoH to amend the RH law’s Implementing Rules and Regulations so they adhere to the High Court’s rulings. DoH should also make a list of RH services being implemented by government and publish the same for everybody’s information. The FDA, for its part, must revise its procedures and processes in registering/certifying contraceptives so opposing groups

are afforded the chance to present their side.

As of the last meeting of the National Implementation Team on the RH law, the DoH has already drafted the amendments to the law’s IRR based on SC decisions. The FDA, on the other hand, also presented its draft amended process for registering and re-certifying contraceptives that include summary hearings as required by the high court.

We take these to mean that soon, we may be able to see the RH law’s FULL implementation. That is, discounting another legal challenge from the anti-RH groups.

Pro-RH Civil Society Organizations are also gearing up to help in this most important work in a bigger way. As an initial step, my group, the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines, together with the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health, and the Philippine Leg-

islators Committee on Population and Development, have joined forces in the conduct of community and LGU-based initiatives advocating for the law’s full implementation. This initiative will run in different areas in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

A lot is at stake here.

I have always said that for the law to truly benefit the women for whom it was passed, one, the law should be understood by them, especially when it concerns the services that should be provided to them; and, two, implementation of programs should capitalize on

the grassroots women’s capacities since they know their communities, and are known and trusted by other people living there.

Women should not be considered as mere beneficiaries but major players in making the RH law work for them.

Moreover, the role of Local Government Units cannot be underestimated. The LGUs are at the forefront of implementing programs as mandated by the RH law and the closest to people in terms of proximity.

LGUs are also the ones that know their constituents best.

This joint undertaking by DSWP, Likhaan, and PLCPD draws active participation from community women, LGUs and other RH groups. To start the action, we had a meeting with community women in Luzon together with Non-Government Organizations providing family planning services to poor women.

The meeting was also aimed at gathering information from the women on ongoing local initiatives on the RH law implementation. Present were leaders of community women’s organizations in Metro Manila, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Quezon. It was very plain during the discussions that these women are leaders in their own right, they know their communities well, and are knowledgeable about the goings on therein. These are women who are recognized in their communities for their many years of work for the disadvantaged.

Many of them have been involved in the more than a decade-long advocacy for the bill’s passage, and have been waiting for the chance to be actively involved in the implementation of the law they worked hard for.

During the sharing session of local initiatives, there are

THE proliferation of false news on social media is bad enough in a society where politicians peddle propaganda for news—like that obtaining in the Philippines.

What is strikingly alarming is the dissemination, also on social media, of what are supposed to be claims or accounts of certain historical events, but are essentially unverified tales of speculation and conjecture.

A recent documentary program on television featured ghost stories about the Manila City Hall building, which were mostly accounts given by veteran employees who had been working in that building for decades. Whether the supposed “sightings” of phantoms and paranormal activity inside the old building are true or not, is beside the point. What was disturbing is that there was a side comment by the narrator, which made it appear that the city hall building had already been around during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. That information is false. The Manila City Hall was inaugurated in August 1941, months before the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific.

Diligent research would have avoided the broadcast of that erroneous information. Sadly, viewers who do not know any better will get the wrong impression as to how old the Manila City Hall building really is. That dissemination of false information is a disservice to the people.

Another disturbing story about Philippine history is currently disseminated on social media. It’s about a certain account which states that Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, was once offered the presidency of the University of the Philippines in 1920. It is Turn to A5

Turn to A5 Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher

can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

Benjamin Philip G. Romualdez Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

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ManilaStandard

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

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Managing Editor Associate Editors City Editor Opinion Editor

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Night Editor Art Director Chief Photographer

Opinion

Demarcating our national boundary THE first document that officially demarcated our national boundary indicating the bounds of what constitutes the Philippine archipelago was the Treaty of Paris signed on Dec. 10, 1898 between the US and Spain. Article III of the treaty states, to quote: “Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line: A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the parallel of four degrees and forty five minutes (4 [degree symbol] 45’]) north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and forty five minutes (4 [degree symbol] 45’) north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty five minutes (119 [degree symbol] 35’) east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty five minutes (119 [degree symbol] 35’) east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7 [degree symbol] 40’) north, thence along the parallel of latitude of seven degrees and forty minutes (7 [degree symbol] 40’) north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning.”

Under that treaty, all the islands that comprise the Spratly Islands which we have renamed as Kalayaan Group of Islands, and the Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Shoal are all located outside the boundary. Thus, from Dec. 10, 1898 to July 4, 1946, when the US granted us our independence, we have been observing those boundaries as what comprise our national territory. During the colonial period, the US secured those boundaries as part of their colonial dominion for which the last sentence of Article III states: “The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.”

When the US granted us our independence, it never mentioned, even by way of reminder that the Panatag Shoal and the Kalayaan Group of Islands belong to the Republic of the Philippines. Surely, the US was aware that those islands are located outside the boundaries demarcated by the Treaty.

The Philippines, as successorin-interest, faithfully observed the same boundaries for like a Torrens Title handed to it, we can only impose our sovereignty and jurisdiction over the same areas.

As our dispute with China heats up, the US refuses to clarify this matter as a “buyer” of the archipelago from Spain for which it was given the title of ownership represented by the Treaty of Paris.

In that, one could infer that the US consistently acted in bad faith in not clarifying the boundary limits it bought from Spain and before it handed the archipelago to the Commonwealth government. Worst, it is now pushing the country towards a possible confrontation with China by insisting that those islands belong to us.

The US has not been candid enough like informing us that those islands are not part of the $20 million it paid to Spain in 1898. In fact, the only historical document we are holding that demarcates the Philippines as an archipelago are those ancient maps prepared by the friars and Spanish navigators. However, the official document indicating the area which Spain managed to maintain its effective occupation of the archipelago from 1521 Dec. 10, 1898 is demarcated in the Treaty of Paris.

Even if we take it that Tomas Cloma discovered the Spratly Islands in 1947 and firmed up his claim in May 1950 to declare ownership over those islands, that did not make sense because the US and the Ph i l i p pi n e s , as successorin-interest, maintained and recognized the same boundaries that were demarcated in that Treaty. It was ludicrous for Cloma to declare the islands as his private dominion in a manner that Ferdinand Magellan claimed to have discovered the Philippines.

Moreover, in June 1950, Cloma stole the flag of China (Taiwan) that was erected in one of the islands in the Spratly. By his subsequent act of surrendering the flag on July 7, 1956 and making an official apology to China, inferentially it means that he was acknowledging that China has prior sovereign right over those islands.

When the 1973 Constitution was ratified on Jan. 17, 1973, the country adopted the “archipelagic doctrine.”

Article I of that Constitution defining our national territory was rather self explanatory, to quote Section 1.

“The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all the other territories belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title, including the territorial sea, the air space, the subsoil, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and the submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction. The waters around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago, irrespective of their breath and dimension, form part of the internal waters of the Philippines.”

The archipelagic doctrine is an imaginary line to demarcate boundaries curved in accordance to the island’s

The 1898 treaty of Paris did.

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Concurring opinions in martial law decision

BACKBENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN

Part 1

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

TWO of the 11 justices who voted in favor of upholding the validity of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus were Justices Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo-De Castro, and Diosdado Peralta. Thus, they concurred with the ponencia of Justice Del Castillo in dismissing the consolidated petitions questioning the constitutionality of the presidential issuance. While they vary in emphases and approaches, all three tackled in their written opinions some of the technical and substantive issues raised in the consolidated petitions.

On the preliminary issue as to whether or not the petitions docketed as G.R. Nos. 231658, 231771, and 231774 are the “appropriate proceeding” covered by paragraph 3, Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution, both Peralta and De Castro were of the opinion that the petitions were correctly lodged before the Court to examine the factual basis for the declaration of martial law and the suspension of habeas corpus.

De Castro, however, was of the considered view that a petition under Section 18, Article VII is not the only appropriate proceeding. To her, the issue “may be raised in any action or proceeding where the resolu-

False...

From A4

claimed that the Board of Regents of U.P. considered Wilson as an ideal president for the state university, and that Wilson was offered an annual salary of about US$100,000.00 in 1920.

Truth to tell, Wilson was an intellectual giant and would have made an excellent university head, as seen in his academic credentials. Wilson had a doctorate degree, and he wrote extensively on political science and the American government. In 1902, he became president of the prestigious Princeton University. After that, he got elected governor of New Jersey under the Democratic Party. In 1912, he was elected president of the United States. Wilson was re-elected president in 1916, when Europe was at war.

According to the account on social media, Wilson did not accept the post, and so it went to another American, Guy Potter Benton, who became the third president of U.P. That story about Wilson having been considered for the top post in U.P. is highly unlikely.

Wilson himself could not have possibly even considered the offer, as the historical record will reveal.

#Implement...

From A4

glaring similarities in what the women said no matter if they are from different provinces and cities. One, most community women do not know about contents of the RH law and the services that it mandates to be provided to them. Two, teenage pregnancy is a big problem in both urban and rural poor communities. Three, while family planning programs exgeologic contours and make a straight line to connect the two islands under the jurisdiction of the Philippine archipelago measured from its outermost baseline, and that those bod-

tion of such issue is germane to the causes of action of a party or the reliefs prayed for in the complaint or petition.” Velasco, on the other hand, subscribed to the notion that a petition praying for an inquiry into the “sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law” is sui generis. Hence, according to him, it would be problematic to pigeonhole any petition to question the factual basis under the rules issued by the Court for doing so would put undue restraint to petitioners. For his part, Peralta said that the role of the Court is not to question the wisdom of the President in declaring martial law but to examine on whether he acted with grave abuse of discretion or on whether he acted arbitrarily.

On the main substantive issue as to whether the proclamation of martial law and the suspension of the writ rest on sufficient factual basis, Peralta, in his discussion, concurred with the position of the Office of the Solicitor General that the siege of Marawi City is not “merely a result of counter-measures against the government’s pursuit of Isnilon Hapilon, but is, in fact, a strategic and well-coordinated attack to overthrow the present government and to establish a wilayah in Mindanao.”

The siege, insofar as he is concerned, “shows a clear purpose to take over a portion of the Philippine territory.”

De Castro was also one with

the majority in saying that the President was justified in declaring martial law and that the respondents “had convincingly shown that the series of violent acts and atrocities committed by the Abu Sayyaf and Maute terrorist groups were “intended to lay the groundwork for the eventual establishment of a DAESH wilayah or province in Mindanao.”

On the propriety of placing the entire region of Mindanao under martial rule, Peralta pointed out that to limit martial law only in Marawi is absurd.

He reasoned that to follow a ‘’piece-meal” proclamation of martial law, the President would have to declare it repeatedly. According to him, since rebellion is a continuing crime, there is no need for actual rebellion to occur in every single town or city of Mindanao in order to validate the proclamation of martial law or suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in the entire island because the declaration itself already covers the whole of Mindanao. In addition, Peralta said that the rebellion being perpetrated by the ISIS-linked rebel groups is not limited to the acts committed in Marawi City. And that the criminal acts done in furtherance of the purpose of rebellion may be done even in places outside the City. Furthermore, the common intent of the ISIS-linked rebel groups is to take control of Mindanao from the government for the purpose of estab-

lishing the region as a wilayah.

For her part, De Castro likewise considered misplaced the contention that martial law should have been declared only in Marawi City. She adopts the position by the majority that the president was correct in his action. She explained: “Since the President possesses the means and wherewithal to access vital and classified information from the government’s entire intelligence apparatus, he is given wide latitude to define the metes and bounds within which martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus should take effect.”

As a final thought, Peralta reminded us of the powers entrusted to the President to protect the nation which could not afford to “stand still and be a helpless victim of ordinary crimes, terrorism, rebellion or invasion.” This was also reiterated by Velasco who warned us that “our fears should not hold us back from employing a power necessary to fight for our sovereignty and the integrity of our national territory under the auspices of democracy and civil authority.” He enjoined us to “concede that the framers of our Constitution, informed by lessons of history, guarded the “foundations of civil liberty against the abuses of unlimited power.”

The historical record indicates that Wilson’s health began deteriorating in September 1919, when he collapsed in the course of a nationwide speaking tour. A few days thereafter, Wilson suffered a stroke which paralyzed most of his body, and which incapacitated him for the rest of his term, which ended in January 1921.

Since 1919, Wilson avoided public appearances. Cabinet meetings were held in Wilson’s absence, and many bills passed

by Congress lapsed into law without his signature. During this period, Wilson’s wife kept the president away from even his close advisers.

Considering that Wilson was seriously incapacitated as early as the last months of 1919, it is doubtful if Wilson was seriously considered for the U.P. presidency, much less offered its presidency, in 1920.

Wilson, a Democrat, was succeeded as president in 1920

by Warren Gamaliel Harding, a Republican. Had Wilson, a Democrat, been the president of U.P. during the incumbency of a Republican US president, Wilson would have had a very difficult time getting political and financial support for U.P. from Washington, D.C. Another story circulating in the social media is that Presi-

dent Ferdinand Marcos placed the entire Philippines under martial law in September 1972 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1081. That is a false account. The operative act which paved the way for martial law in the country in 1972 is Presidential Proclamation No. 1081, and not a presidential decree. For the record, President Marcos started issuing presidential decrees only after he had placed the entire country under martial law by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1081.

There is another account in the social media which says that the proclamation of martial law in September 1972 abolished Congress. That is misleading information. The proclamation of martial law did not abolish Congress. It was the 1973 Constitution, which replaced Congress with the National Assembly as the legislative body, that did away with Congress. More specifically, it was the decision of the Supreme Court, promulgated in April 1973, which declared the 1973 Constitution in force and effect throughout the archipelago, which effectively abolished Congress.

It will be recalled that elections for, among others, eight seats in the Senate of the Phil-

ippines were up for grabs between the pro-administration Nacionalista Party and the opposition Liberal Party (LP) in the elections set for November 1971. The LP held its proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila on the night of Aug. 21, 1971. That evening, two grenades exploded at the makeshift stage of the event. Many were killed, and scores were injured.

Stories in the social media today erroneously recall that incident as the LP miting de avance, when it was actually the LP proclamation rally. A proclamation rally kicks off the campaign, while a miting de avance culminates the campaign, usually two or three days before election day. Since the election was in November 1971, it would have been unlikely for the LP to hold a miting de avance in August 1971.

That error may seem minor, but the wrong information has a tendency to be disseminated and, after some time, the wrong information is assumed to be gospel truth by many, simply because it’s on the social media and they don’t know any better.

It’s time accounts of historical events disseminated on social media be subjected to verification.

ist, there is imbalance in the availability of methods. Specifically, there are areas where contraceptive implants are not being provided. These are areas not yet reached by NGOs since the DoH and its agents are prohibited from promoting and administering these to women because of the SC TRO. Fourth and last, there is very little action on the issue of teenage pregnancy. In fact in more areas, nothing is being done.

Truly, there is much to do for the RH law to be fully implemented. This year is the fifth year of the law but until now, it has yet to benefit the tens of millions of women needing or wanting the services it is supposed to deliver. Thanks to the non-stop challenges by those who want to impose their beliefs and will on others. The promise of the law remains unfulfilled and this has got to change.

We need the TRO to be lifted

as soon as possible. Women need the FDA especially to fast track its compliance with SC orders. A lot is at stake here. Women’s right to choose how they will plan their families, young people’s future, and many times, women’s and girls’ very lives are at stake. #ImplementRH is the battlecry now.

ter separating Palawan from Mindanao and the Sulo archipelago, between Palawan and Mindoro, between Zamboanga and Negros Island and the wide body of water surrounded by

the islands of Leyte and Samar known as Leyte Gulf shall remain and treated as internal waters.

ies of water around, between and connecting those islands irrespective of breath and dimension shall form part of the internal waters of the Philippines. The great bodies of wa-

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News

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SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Marijuana-laced candies dangerous’

By Maricel V. Cruz THE chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs on Friday raised fears that schoolchildren might fall victim to candies laced with marijuana following the arrest of Bobby Albert Bobcock and Jan Allen Ledesma.

The two were arrested last Saturday for allegedly producing such illegal drug.

“News reports have it that Bobcock and Ledesma purportedly sold candies to college students only. But I fear that these marijuana-laced candies have reached several elementary schools prior to the capture of these criminals,” Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the panel chairman, said.

“A child would never know that these candies are spiked with drugs. For a young child, they might look like an ordinary treat, but clearly, they are very dangerous,” Barbers added.

Barbers also appealed to parents to always keep an eye

on their children.

Barbers said: “Studies show that consuming marijuana can have worse effects than smoking it. A child wouldn’t know about the dangers of illegal substance.

“So, may I remind all parents to be very vigilant— please tell your children to stay away from candies in strange and unfamiliar wrappings. It is also important that we monitor our kids’ activities all the time.”

Barbers, a co-sponsor of the death penalty bill of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, also renewed his call for the restoration of the death penalty on drug-related crimes, especially on those crimes that involve minors.

“I hope and pray that the capital punishment be restored as soon as possible. Let us not wait until the drug menace ruins the lives of our youth.

We must not show mercy for narcotics criminals who put our country’s future at stake,” Barbers said.

PILOT PROJECT. Maria Lagbes, a Filipino doctor who joined the Women Responders team, checks her first aid kit Thursday at the ambulance service headquarters in Dubai. Four women, two medics and two drivers are leading the pilot project for women-only pink ambulance service that aims to expedite medical care by helping patients feel more at ease. AFP

PNP asked: Identify banned ’crackers 20 percent discount for PWDs, elderly

By Joel E. Zurbano ALL senior citizens and persons with disability may soon avail themselves of a 20-percent discount when booking a domestic flight online, the Civil Aeronautics Board announced on Friday.

Last Thursday, the CAB approved a resolution requiring local airlines to give a 20-percent discount on tickets purchased via the carrier’s website or a mobile application.

Prior to this, the discount was only applied to face-toface transactions.

Under the Resolution, senior citizens, PWDs, or their representatives must input the passenger’s details including date of birth and ID number indicated in the Senior Citizen or PWD card.

The board directed airlines to establish in their websites the necessary system to be able to process the 20-percent discount based on the actual fare, including promotional fares directly sold by the airlines.

The discount, however, shall not cover lawful taxes and other fees and charges imposed in relation to domestic air travel.

A breakdown and summary of the amount to be paid must be known to the Senior Citizen or PWD before the completion of the transaction.

The document confirming the passenger’s seat reservation or booking must likewise indicate that the passenger was granted the 20-percent discount for proper verification at the check-in counter.

Passengers who avail themselves of the discount must present necessary identification upon check-in.

The resolution will take effect 15 days after publication.

After which, airlines will be given two months from date of effectivity to develop and fully implement a virtual system that would apply the discount on online transactions.

The discount shall not be applicable to tickets sold by virtue of indirect or external sales promotions which contain promises of gain, such as through winning in a contest, game, and other similar competitions which involve determination of winners.

By John Paolo Bencito

T

HE Interior department on Friday urged the Philippine National Police to immediately release the criteria that will determine which firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices are prohibited.

DILG Undersecretary for Peace and Order Catalino Cuy made the directive following the recent signing by President Rodrigo Duterte of Executive Order No. 28 which provides for the

regulation and control of the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.

Cuy said that PNP’s adherence to the stipulations of EO 28 would ensure reduction in

the number of injuries and casualties caused by the use of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices.

“The reduction of firecracker-related accidents will emanate from PNP’s criteria of banned firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices, which is why conforming to EO 28 is significant,” he said.

Under EO 28 and pursuant to Republic Act 7183, the PNP should promulgate the criteria on what constitutes forbidden firecrackers and pyrotechnic

devices within 30 days upon the effectivity of the EO No. 28 for the guidance of the public.

The EO was signed and has taken effect last June 20, 2017.

RA 7183 is the law which regulates the sale, manufacture, distribution, and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.

According to Section 3 of EO 28, the PNP must provide a specific list of firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices.

All firecrackers falling under such criteria may not be manu-

factured, sold, distributed, or used even as part of a community fireworks display.

Cuy said the order also tapped the PNP to carry out its provisions of granting authority or permission to licensed and trained personnel who would supervise the use of firecrackers in a secure, designated, and confined area.

“The PNP will give EO 28 the needed ‘teeth’ since majority of its implementation rests in its immediate adherence to its provisions,” he said.

‘PCOO has P2.8-m unliquidated cash advances’

By Rio N. Araja

GARLIC PRICE. Senator Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate agriculture committee, shows a copy of the report on the price increase of garlic during a news conference Friday in Quezon City. According to her, the resurgence of the cartel involves government officials and businessmen cornering the importation of garlic and controlling the supply. Manny Palmero

Ex-Cebu mayor De los Santos faces 12 criminal charges, is fined

By Rio N. Araja A FORMER mayor of Cebu is facing 12 counts of violation of Article 218 or failure to render accounts under the Revised Penal Code before the Sandiganbayan.

Former Alcoy mayor Nicomedes delos Santos was also found administratively liable for simple neglect of duty and ordered suspended for one month and one day.

“In case of separation from the service, the penalty is convertible to a fine equivalent to respondent’s salary for the same period,”

the resolution ordered.

Field investigators testified and presented documents to prove Delos Santos was not able to liquidate and account for his cash advances issued to him from November 2006 to July 2011 in the amount of P199,624.

Based on the list of unliquidated cash advances of the Commission, Delos Santos received funds to cover expenses for meals, snacks, travel expenses, police operation expenses, intelligence funds, honorarium for referees in a basketball tournament, Lakbay Aral and Aliwan Festival expenses and Suroy-

Suroy Sugbu expenses.

“Based on the [CoA] guidelines, respondent clearly failed to liquidate within the period required. In fact, he admitted that he only processed his liquidation after he received this complaint.

He submitted his liquidation report to CoA on April 8, 2016 and refunded three cash advances on April 7, 2016,” the resolution read.

“A prior demand is not required because nowhere in the provision does it require that demand be first made before an accountable officer is held liable for a violation of the crime.”

THE Philippine Communications Operations Office has a P2.8-million unliquidated cash advances as of December last year.

The Commission on Audit cited most of the cash advances were allocatted for the PCOO operations for President Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign and local trips.

At least 14 government officials and personnel failed to liquidate their cash advances with the proper timeframe.

CoA said any delay in cash advances “signified Management’s inadequacy in dealing with emergencies.”

Included on the list were Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella and PCOO assistant secretary Kris Ablan.

A stay-over of the Aquino administration, media relations undersecretary, was tagged.

The Commission mentioned Abella’s failure to liquidate P1.92 million worth of cash advances for the President’s trips to Brunei, Laos and Indonesia.

Abella, however, submitted a liquidation report on Nov. 9, 2016, or 53 days late, while Ablan failed to give a liquidation of P228,700 in cash advances for a “National Communications Workshop” held on Sept. 15, 2016.

He submitted a report 87 days beyond the deadline.

On the other hand, Marfil—full name not disclosed— also had unliquidated expenses as of December 2016 of P19,030 in cash advances for “unrefunded balance of media operational expenses.”

He submitted a delayed liquidation report by at least one year.

PCOO assistant secretary Ramon Cualoping III incurred an unliquidated cash advance of P90,747.66 intended for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits in Laos attended by Duterte, and presidential trips to Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore.

Even the Media Accreditation and Relations Office also failed to liquidate some of its cash advances.

“The Table showed delays in the liquidation of the travel advances for as long as 77 days in disregard of the rules and regulations on the granting of cash advance,” the CoA report read.

Based on CoA’s guidelines, cash advances for foreign trips must be liquidated within 60 days after return to the Philippines, while local travels’ liquidation must be completed and submitted within 30 days after the return of the personnel to their “permanent official station.”

Moreover, P22 million in additional cash advances were given to 36 personnel with delinquencies in previous cash advances, a violation of Presidential Decree No. 1445 and CoA Circular 97-002.

The PCOO through its accounting office reasoned out that the release of added cash advances despite delinquencies was granted due to the “urgency of the official trip or project.”

Its management urged CoA to take into consideration special functions of some employees “whose schedules need to follow the consecutive travels of the President,” and that the President’s overseas trips “happened one after another, thus the delay in the liquidation of some cash advances.”

Sports

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SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Saso stays on top by 3 strokes

S

AN DIEGO, California—It’s now Yuka Saso’s tournament to lose.

Saso put on another fine display of all-around consistency to card a two-under-par 70 on Thursday (Friday in Manila) and stay afloat by three strokes after the penultimate round of the girls’ 15-18 years competition in the IMG Academy Junior World Championships here.

The 16-year-old Saso survived the pressure test when pitted against two Japanese flight mates, with three birdies and a bogey at Torrey Pines North, moving 18 holes closer to a victory that a Philippine contingent badly needs after suffering stinging setbacks in the other divisions.

Rianne Malixi, the only PH girl who had a shot at winning, failed to deliver. Just a stroke behind the leader going to the final round, Malixi ballooned to a 75, her bid hurt by a triple-bogey on the 13th,

as she wound up third behind Canada’s Michelle Liu and Avery Zweigh of Texas at 217.

Sean Dominique Granada was the best performer among the boys’ bets with his 73-216, giving him a share of 18th place.

Worse, all five PH bets in the boys’ 15-18 years missed the cut.

“I’ll try to focus on my game tomorrow. I will be in the same situation like last year but hopefully, I’ll play better,” said the 16-year-old Saso, who has now led all three rounds after scoring a 66 and 69 the first two days.

Making up for a heartbreaking finish will be the biggest motivation for Saso who even had a larger lead of four strokes last year. The big lead was gone as early as the first six holes and Saso ended up sharing second, eventually losing in the count back.

It will be the same final threesome as in Thursday’s third round with Saso, leading at 228, joined by Japanese players Nao Ohbayashi, three behind at 208 after a 69, and Anna Kono, four back at 209 following a 70.

While aiming to give the Philippines its lone victory which would end a two-year skid, Saso will also try to prevent the Japanese from stretching their dominance as five of their players emerged as division champions with only the two 15-18 years diadems left to be disputed.

Though Ohbayashi won their duel in the third round, the former managed to just shave a stroke off Saso’s lead. After they matched birdies on the 10th and 11th, Saso parred the remaining holes to keep Ohbayashi at bay.

Fr. Martin Cup cage meet set THERE will be three junior division games this Saturday when the 15th Fr. Martin Cup Division 2 basketball tournament begins at the St. Placid gymnasium of the San Beda College-Manila campus in Mendiola.

The San Beda-Manila Red CubsA will clash with the Rich Golden Montessori School Spartans at 8 a.m., while San Beda-B takes on Diliman Preparatory School at 9:30 a.m.

The Letran Squires meet the La Salle Greenhills Greenies at 11 a.m.

Commissioner Robert de la Rosa said two senior-division matches will follow this Sunday, with the San Beda Red Lions taking on the Ateneo Blue Eagles at 8 a.m.

Guest team San Juan confronts Diliman College at 9:30 a.m.

This tournament is for varsity teams, which have players who are listed in their school’s developmental squad.

The competition is held annually during the ongoing first semester collegiate season.

Players who are in team B are allowed to play and this is for schools which are involved in ongoing collegiate tournaments during the first semester.

Suzuki...

From A8

moved by this opportunity to join in supporting our young children’s football dreams,” said Suzuki Philippines Assistant General Manager Cecil Capacete.

Last June, the SipaG football kids represented the country in a tournament in France, where they played against other football players aged 12 from teams representing 14 countries. Besides being the first Filipino team to play in Futbol Salou in Spain, they are the first to attend the Hazebrouck Youth International Cup in France and the first and only team from Asia to play in Dirinon.

For more information about Gawad Kalinga’s SipaG initiative, please visit its official page at http:// gawadkalinga.com/sipag.

PROMOTING BASKETBALL AMONG THE YOUTH. City Hoops Manila partners with Wilson Philippines in promoting basketball through

a year-round basketball grassroots program targeting different schools in the metropolis. Wilson will be the official basketball of City Hoops as it takes pride in providing innovative, fun, highly competitive and well organized tournaments for the benefit of the youth. Now on its 4th season, City Hoops basketball league will have 2 divisions and 3 conferences (with 36 teams per conference) in different age groups. Participating schools include Xavier School, San Sebastian College, San Beda Alabang, Ateneo de Manila, Claret School, Marist, UPIS, San Beda Taytay, UST, Adamson, Sacred Heart Pasig, Jubilee Christian School, Pace Academy and La Salle Greenhills. In photo are (from left) Errol Cajefe Elicanal, Brand Manager of Wilson; Homer Bautista, Managing Director of City Hoops Manila; and Rodolfo Claudio, President and CEO of Sports Resources, Inc., the exclusive distributor of Wilson in the Philippines. City Hoops Manila is a non-profit organization which aims to promote basketball among Filipinos of all ages. Wilson, on the other hand, is an industry-leading international sports gear brand that has been actively involved in the promotion of various local and international sporting events for many years now. Its products are available at leading sports retail and department stores such as Toby’s Sports, Olympic Village, CSI, Gaisano, All Shoppe Vista Mall and SportMart. Visit WilsonSportsPH on FB for more details.

NEW YORK—NBA standouts Kyle Lowry, Victor Oladipo and Kristaps Porzingis were among the players named by the league Thursday to rosters for next month’s NBA Africa Game at Johannesburg.

Team Africa, comprised of NBA players from Africa or who had an African parent, will face Team World, a lineup of global talent, on Aug. 5 in South Africa.

Indiana guard Oladipo, an American whose mother is from Nigeria and whose father is from Sierra Leone, joins a Team Africa lineup led by co-captains Luol Deng, a British native of South Sudan who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Thabo Sefolosha, a Swiss swingman whose father is from South Africa that most recently played for the Atlanta Hawks.

The Africa lineup also includes Orlando center Bismack Biyombo and Denver guard Emmanuel Mudiay of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Minnesota forward Gorgui Dieng of Senegal, Congolese-Spanish forward Serge Ibaka of Toronto, Cameroon standout Luc Mbah a Moute of the Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas center Salah Mejri of Tunisia, Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder of Germany whose mother was Gambian and Houston’s Clint Capela, a Swiss center whose parents are from Angola and Congo.

“Returning to Africa to play in the second NBA game on the continent is a dream come true,” Mudiay said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to participate and look forward to leading Team Africa to a win.”

Team World, captained by German star Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and American Kemba Walker of Charlotte, will feature Latvian Porzingis from the New York Knicks; Brazilian Leandro Barbosa, most recently with Phoenix, and Americans Lowry of Toronto, Jaylen Brown of Boston, Wilson Chandler of Denver, DeMarcus Cousins of New Orleans, Andre Drummond of Detroit, Courtney Lee of New York and C.J. McCollum of Portland.

Floyd, Conor take thrash-talk tour to NY Lady Warriors, NEW YORK—Floyd Mayweather was on the attack on Thursday, branding Conor McGregor a quitter as the four-stop tour hyping their cross-combat superfight hit New York.

“Eejit” and “Circus Clown” were the tamest epithets the former welterweight king, who retired from boxing with a perfect 49-0 record in 2015, threw at McGregor, one of the biggest stars of mixed martial arts. “(He) didn’t quit once, didn’t quit twice, quit three times!” said Mayweather. “”Real fighters never give up.”

McGregor, a two-division champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has conceded three defeats in 24 bouts, all by submission.

The two men are set to face each other in a boxing ring in Las Vegas on August 26 in what could be the richest fight in history.

Thursday’s show at the Barclays Center, home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, drew a proMcGregor crowd of more than 13,000.

It was the third such production in three days, with one more scheduled for London on Friday aimed at pumping up interest in the bout —although both men seemed to be running short of inventive invective even if the animosity between them is actually growing.

McGregor eschewed his sharp-tailored suits for a bare chest and white fur overcoat —which he swept from his shoulders as he took the stage to offer a flexed-arm pose that inflamed the crowd.

The Irishman then paced impatiently as Mayweather, draped in an Irish flag, made his way to the stage and they took their positions for the ritual staredown from opposite sides of the podium.

A giant step forward from each had them nose to nose and brought more cheers from the crowd before McGregor launched into a lewd, crude address.

“No one’s going to stop me walking around

this place like I own it,” he said.

Mayweather, meanwhile, was all indifference until it was his turn to launch into his profanity-laced response.

After a little back-and-forth with the crowd, he showered McGregor with handfuls of dollar bills from his backpack—a day after McGregor mocked the paltry stash of cash “Money” had brought to their promotional stop in Toronto on Wednesday.

“They’re all ones!” McGregor said.

“Because that’s all you’re worth,” Mayweather replied.

Mayweather, one of the most accomplished defensive fighters in history, admits there’s a level of uncertainty in the entire undertaking.

“Nobody knows that squared circle like me,” Mayweather told reporters. “I know angles. I know where to touch you at. I know what you don’t like. I don’t have to watch your tapes.

That’s something I’m blessed with. AFP

Petron off to Macau tourney

Members of the Petron team celebrate after sweeping F2 Logistics for the PSL All-Filipino Conference crown. Roman Prospero

THE Philippine Superliga yesterday rewarded newly-minted PSL All-Filipino Conference champion with a ticket to represent the league in the Macau Invitational Women’s Volleyball Tournament.

PSL president Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara said the Blaze Spikers earned the honor to compete in the Sept. 23-25 tournament by sweeping the AllFilipino Conference over ousted champion F2 Logistics via a sweep of their Best of Three Series late Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

A ranking member of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), Suzara said the tournament could help boost the development of the sport in the country.

He also said it is fitting that the league sends the All-Filipino champion team Petron as the country’s representative to Macau.

Aside from the Philippines, also fielding a team in the topnotch tourney are China, Hongkong and the host country.

It would be the first time for the Blaze

Spikers to represent the country in a foreign competition after donning the national colors in the AVC Asian Women’s Club Championship in Phu Ly, Vietnam in 2015.

“For winning the All-Filipino it is only fitting that we appoint Petron as our representative in the Macau tournament,” said Suzara, adding that the tourney would also serve as Petron’s preparation for the Grand Prix.

“We are very confident that Petron will be very competitive based on how it fared in the finals series against F2 Logistics. I’m sure they will play hard and make the country and the league very proud.”

Petron’s journey to the title of the All-Filipino tourney bankrolled by Rebisco, Gold’s Gym and Belo with TV5 as official broadcast partner did not come easy.

Despite coming up with a very competitive squad led by Most Valuable Player Aiza MaizoPontillas, Frances Molina, Mika Reyes, Sisi Rondina, Bernadeth Pons, Remy Palma and Ria Meneses, a lot of challenges still came the Blaze Spikers’ way.

Pasig rules DMCI Homes’ annual cage tourney PASIG City area emerged triumphant in the hardcourt battle among DMCI Homes communities this year, bringing home both the senior and junior division titles of the 2017 DMCI Homes Communities Basketball tournament.

The senior team of Pasig communities overcame a 13-point deficit in the second quarter to beat defending champion Acacia Estates 96-76 in the championship game held recently at the

Oladipo, Lowry, KP join Africa game cast

DMCI Homes Corporate Center Multipurpose Court in Makati City.

Senior division season Most Valuable Player Roy Cayanan and finals’ MVP Francis Camacho combined for 35 points to power their team’s romp in the third quarter to put the game away for good for Pasig communities.

The different DMCI Homes communities in Metro Manila were grouped into five areas for the competition.

Area 1 represents communi-

ties in Quezon City; area 2 for Acacia Estates, DMCI Homes’ township development in Taguig City; and Area 3 for residences in the south.

On the other hand, Area 5 covers eastern Metro Manila, while Area 6 constitutes communities in the Pasig City area.

Pasig seniors’ team head coach Noel Panganiban in an interview said they always look forward to playing in the annual summer league which

aims to foster closer community ties and encourage camaraderie, unity, and sportsmanship among residents of DMCI Homes condominium communities.

“This is a very good league. Aside from building camaraderie among residents, it also serves as an avenue to develop young players because of the high level of competition,” Panganiban said.

“We are very happy that we won the title this year,” he added.

Cool Smashers clash in key tiff Games today

10 a.m.- Café Lupe vs Air Force (men’s) 1 p.m.- IEM vs Mega Buiders (men’s) 4 p.m.- Pocari Sweat vs Creamline (women’s) 6:30 p.m.- Power Smashers vs Perlas-BanKo (women’s)

POCARI Sweat and Creamline brace for a fierce duel as they clash for the solo lead today (Saturday) in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

The Lady Warriors and the Cool Smashers will not only be putting their three-game runs on the line in their 4 p.m. encounter but also their pride—the match also featuring a personal duel between the league’s top two draws.

Alyssa Valdez, a four-time league MVP who currently leads in scoring, slugs it out with Myla Pablo, a two-time Finals MVP who is currently the spiking leader, with their almost evenly-matched bench raring to back their respective team’s aces.

“It is going to be a tough match because we’re playing Valdez and a team that is also stacked with veteran players,” said Pocari coach Rico de Guzman, referring to Valdez’ battletested backup crew, led by former Ateneo star playmaker Jia Morado, Rosemary Vargas, Lisa Mandapat, Pau Soriano and Ivy Remulla.

Valdez is also expected to go all-out and help deliver another win in her last game for Creamline as she is set to join the national team in its training in Japan for next month’s SEA Games.

Pablo, on the other hand, will be relying on Jeanette Panaga, Elaine Kasilag, Gyselle Sy, Siemens Dadang and Melissa Gohing, all members of the team that won the Reinforced Conference last month.

Pablo is actually running behind Valdez in scoring, pooling 71 points in three games, seven behind the former Ateneo ace but is tops in spiking with 41.98 percent success from 68 spikes out of 162 attempts with 10 faults.

Pocari, seeking a fourth straight championship in the league organized by Sports Vision, is also the top spiking team in the early going of the league backed by Mikasa and Asics with 33.52 percent success, with Creamline just behind with 32.67 percent.

LOTTO RESULTS

Members of the Pasig City Team are shown after their title conquest in the 2017 DMCI Homes Communities Basketball tournament.

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Sports

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

A8

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

PH team to focus on defense, mental toughness IMPROVING the defense and mental preparation will be the main goals when the national women’s volleyball team flies to Japan for a 17-day training camp this Tuesday.

The Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. said hopes are high on the Nationals as they shift their training to a higher gear in preparation for the AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship and the 29th Southeast Asian Games this August.

Based on the team’s official schedule, it will have a six-hour daily training with Japan V. Premier League powerhouse Okayama Seagulls from July 18 to 25 in Okayama City.

Then, the Nationals will move their camp to Osaka to train and play a series of friendlies with Ryokoku University, Osaka Superiors, Kobe Shinwa University and Osaka University of HSS before flying back to Manila on Aug. 2.

LVPI acting president Peter Cayco said they are optimistic that the national team will peak before competing in the Asian Seniors on Aug. 9 and the SEA Games on Aug. 21.

“This is the highlight of our preparation for two major tournaments ahead,” said Cayco during the national team’s sendoff yesterday at the Arellano Univeristy School of Law gymnasium, adding that Malacanang already issued an Executive Order that instructs various government agencies to provide support and make sure that the country’s hosting of the Asian Seniors will be a success.

Also present during the press conference were Rebisco vice president for marketing Lulu Dela Pena, Asian Volleyball Confederation executive council member Ramon Suzara, LVPI president Joey Romasanta, LVPI official Danny Ignacio and national team head coach Francis Vicente.

Suzara said the main agenda is to improve the team’s floor defense and blocking, while developing its mental preparation to stand a chance against Asian giants like China, South Korea and Japan.

“The priority of the camp is floor defense, blocking and mental preparation.

This is like what they went through in 1993,” said Suzara, also the president of the Philippine Superliga that has 13 of the 14 members of the national team.

“Our target is to make it to the Top 8 in the Asian Seniors.”

Team captain Mika Reyes spearheads the team together with veterans Jovelyn Gonzaga and Aiza Maizo-Pontillas as well as Kim Dy, Dawn Macandili, Kim Fajardo, Aby Marano, Rhea Dimaculangan, Frances Molina, Gen Casugod, Denden Lazaro, Alyssa Valdez, Jaja Santiago and Maika Ortiz.

Assistant coaches Brian Esquibel, Kungfu Reyes, Nene Ybanez-Chavez and Ronald Dulay were also in attendance.

Philippine volleyball team members (from left) Dawn Nicole Macandili, Kim Kianna Dy, Frances Xinia Molina, Alyssa Valdez, Alyja Daphne Santiago, Aisa Maizo Pontillas, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Abigail Marano, Genevieve Casugod, Maika Angela Ortiz, Mika Aereen Reyes, Rhea Katrina Dimaculangan, Kim Fajardo and Dennise Michelle Lazaro are shown after their presentation to the media. Lino Santos

Teodoro’s big baskets lift Heavy Bombers past Altas

By Peter Atencio

T

HE Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers drew big baskets from Teytey Teodoro before he fouled out in the closing minutes.

His big efforts, however, were enough to power the Heavy Bombers to a 68-54 swamping of the University of Perpetual Help Altas on Friday at The Arena in San Juan.

Teodoro banged 26 points for the Heavy Bombers, who picked up their first win in two matches in the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association

men’s basketball tournament.

This put the Heavy Bombers in a share of second at 1-1 with the Mapua University Cardinals, the Arellano University Chiefs and the San Sebastian Stags.

Teytey Teodoro, who fouled out with 1:38 to go, struck with eight of his 26 points in the last seven minutes.

He stepped it up with Abdel Poutouochi and Gio Lasquety just as JRU took the pains of nursing a five-point in the final period.

Poutouochi contributed 13 points and seven rebounds, while Lasquety also had 11 points to help JRU. After scoring a triple past a defending Keith Pido, the Heavy Bombers took off on a 14-5 burst.

Their scoring attack upped their lead to 66-52 with two minutes remaining.

“Bumalik na ‘yung team namin,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses.

Perpetual’s Prince Eze tal-

IT’S ONE and one for defending Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup champion Barangay Ginebra.

As main big man Greg Slaughter makes his return from almost a year-long absence due to his ACL tear, the Gin Kings have to deal with the impending absence of another critical big, Joe Devance.

Devance is set to finally undergo surgery on his ailing foot to fix his Plantar Fasciitis once and for all.

The versatile veteran chose to postpone his surgery to help Ginebra in its campaign in the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup. He attained the injury midway the opening conference.

Devance is expected to miss at least one month, meaning he’ll miss out on the Gin Kings’ first couple of games.

However, Slaughter, who has been out since late last season after tearing his ACL in the middle of Ginebra’s title run in the Governors’ Cup, is back in harness and is slowly but surely being injected into the thick of the team’s system.

He’s been participating in scrimmages and tune-up games already and is ready to go and help the Kings defend their crown.

The return of Slaughter will give Ginebra a lot of ceiling with prolific import Justin Brownlee and athletic big man Japeth Aguilar still in tow.

The Governors’ Cup starts next week on July 19.

(The Arena in San Juan) 8 a.m. Letran vs EAC (jrs) 10 a.m. San Beda vs La Salle Greenhills (jrs) 12 nn Letran vs EAC (srs) 2 p.m. Letran vs EAC (srs) 4 p.m. Arellano vs JRU (srs) 6 p.m. Arellano vs JRU (jrs)

lied 12 points and 16 rebounds, while GJ Ylagan also added 12 markers.

Technically, the Altas’ record now stands at 0-2 after they won their matchup with College of St. Benilde last Tuesday, but forfeited it due to an error with their uniforms.

Meanwhile, Hamadou Laminou eked out 21 points

for the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, who started their campaign with a 74-64 subduing of the College of St. Benilde Blazers.

In the junior division, the University of Perpetual Help Junior Altas rebounded from their loss to La Salle Greenills with a 79-78 beating of the JRU Light Bombers.

Jielo Razon and Erol Bongal hit 25 and 21 points, respectively, for the Junior Altas.

Inand Fornillos and Joel Cagulangan made 16 and 14 points, respectively, to carry the Greenies to a 82-59 blasting of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Brigadiers.

Wimby forces juniors to change underwear

Slaughter back in action for Gin Kings

By Jeric Lopez

Games Tuesday

ON THE CUSP OF HISTORY. US player Venus Williams reacts after winning against Britain’s Johanna Konta during their women’s singles semifinal match of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships in Wimbledon, London. The 37-year-old, who won 6-4, 6-2, returns to the All England Club title match after an eight-year absence and will be the oldest Grand Slam champion in the Open era if she beats Spain’s Garbine Muguruza on Saturday. AFP

LONDON—Four boys in the Wimbledon junior event have fallen foul of the All England Club’s strict all-white clothing policy after showing up on court sporting black and blue underwear.

Top seeded doubles pair Zsombor Piros of Hungary and China’s Wu Yibing were handed white underwear by a courtside official and sent back to the locker room to change.

Piros had blue underwear beneath his white shorts while fellow 17-year-old Wu had opted for black.

One of their opponents, Brazil’s Joao Reis da Silva was also sanctioned but he protested, claiming his grey underwear should have been acceptable.

“We changed but the Brazilian guy refused at first because he said grey was OK,” explained Piros.

“He was gone for about 30 minutes so it took a long time to start the match.”

Da Silva’s partner Mohammed Ali Bellalouna was the only player with white underwear.

Piros and Wu, the top seeds, won that match on Wednesday.

However, sporting their new white underwear, they lost in the second round on Thursday against Sebastian Korda and Nicolas Meija.

“The blue and black shorts were our lucky pants,” said Piros, who had worn his more colourful at-

tire in the early rounds of the singles tournament.

“There were no signs to indicate we were supposed to wear white underwear. I only got caught out because a little bit of blue was showing.

“Some umpires don’t say anything. Maybe they prefer not to focus on the underwear.”

Piros said the white replacements rustled up by tournament officials were very comfortable.

“They never asked for them back,” he added.

“If I come back to play here again, I will remember not to wear blue or green.”

Despite the clothing conundrum, Piros said he wasn’t unhappy at the saga. AFP

Suzuki PH supports Gawad Kalinga REFLECTING its continued support to aspiring Filipino football players and stronger partnership with the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, Suzuki Philippines, the country’s pioneer compact car manufacturer, recently distributed soccer balls and other items to Gawad Kalinga’s sports program SipaG. Suzuki Philippines donated more than 900 items consisting of soccer balls, gym bags, T-shirts and rally towels to SipaG members.

The turnover ceremony was held last July 5 at the Gawad Kalinga Activity Area, where Suzuki executives and GK representatives joined in handing out the football items to 30 kids aged 12 and below, each one representing GK’s SipaG clubs.

“Suzuki PH is honored to be part of such a heart-warming cause

that aims to build up young and aspiring football players. It is important for them to be raised and trained this early, and Gawad Kalinga has given us this wonderful opportunity to be a part of these young children’s lives,” Suzuki Philippines General Manager Shuzo Hoshikura said.

The football division of the SipaG program has more than 14 football clubs nationwide, including those based in Mandaluyong; Smokey Mountain, Manila; Palo, Leyte; and even as far as Davao and Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao.

The recipients of the donated items include both existing and new football teams that will open this year in far-flung areas such as Tawi-Tawi, Siargao, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Butuan and Marawi, where play therapy will

be conducted among the kids affected by the war.

The turnover ceremony also included exciting games and prizes for the young ballers, all of whom actively participated. Suzuki executives also joined the games and enjoyed the friendly and competitive atmosphere. Winners were given school supplies such as intermediate pads, pens and pencils in support of the children’s school needs.

“Suzuki Philippines recognizes the vital role of sports in shaping the lives of young children. We could not be any happier to be supporting such talented young players from Gawad Kalinga’s SipaG program. Gawad Kalinga’s advocacy has truly been to inspire and bring change to the lives of many of our Filipino brothers and sisters. This is why we are deeply Turn to A7

Suzuki Philippines donated more than 900 items consisting of soccer balls, gym bags, T-shirts and rally towels to SipaG members.

SEC clears Vista bonds B2

Business

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

B1

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

EastWest increasing capital to P50b

By Julito G. Rada

E

AST West Banking Corp., the 13th-largest lender by assets and the financial unit of the Filinvest Group, will increase its authorized capital stock from P20 billion to P50 billion to sustain growth momentum.

The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the board approved the higher capital base in a special meeting Friday.

It said the increase would consist of “4,500,000,000 common shares with par value of P10.00 per share or a total par value of P45 billion and 500,000,000 preferred shares with par value of P10.00 per share or a total par value of P5 billion.”

“We have fully issued our existing authorized common stock.

Our CET-1 ratio as last reported is around 10 percent and EW is growing fast,” bank chairman Antonio Moncupa Jr. said in a text message.

“To sustain the growth momentum, it is pretty obvious that we need to raise capital. Although nothing is certain at this time if we will do a stock rights (offering)...,” Moncupa said.

EastWest posted a 54-percent jump in net income in the first quarter to P1.2 billion year-on-

year driven by robust loan growth and improving productivity.

Moncupa said with the strong performance in the first three months, a 25-percent increase in net income for the whole year could be possible. He said a steady increase in productivity could be expected after the bank completed its expansion and as its “stores” or branches matured.

“We expect revenue growth to continue besting increases in costs. At the rate we are going, a 25-percent increase in income this year to around P4.25 billion is doable,” Moncupa said earlier.

The board also approved Friday the declaration of stock dividends equivalent to P7.5 billion from the corporation’s unrestricted retained earnings as of Dec. 31, 2016.

“This represents the minimum

25 percent subscribed and paidup capital from the increase in capital stock of the corporation.

Record date for the stock dividends shall be fixed by the Securities and Exchange Commission,” the bank said.

The bank will also increase the members of its board of directors from nine to 11 in to enhance the board’s effectiveness in conducting business. These matters will be endorsed for approval of the stockholders in due time, it said.

Meanwhile, Moncupa declined to comment on earlier reports saying East West was planning to sell a 20-percent stake to foreign lenders, saying this was just “speculative” statements with no basis at all. “... I cannot comment on any speculative statement. I don’t know where this story is coming

from,” Moncupa said in a text message.

An earlier report from Bloomberg in May 2017 said East West was working with an adviser to sell about a 20-percent stake to a foreign bank.

Since the domestic banking industry was further liberalized in June 2014, some local banks tied up with foreign lenders through stock sale in their bid to comply with the regulator’s higher capital requirements and to fund loan growth.

Security Bank Corp., the fifthlargest local bank in terms of assets, for instance, sold P37 billion worth of stake in 2016 to Japan’s biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. It is considered the biggest investment so far by a foreign financial institution in the country.

PH bans Russian poultry products

SMART SHINES. Smart Communications’ efforts to improve the daily lives of Filipinos through mobile technology are recognized at the 15th Philippine Quill Awards. Smart received second-runner up honors for Company of the Year, as well as 12 Excellence and nine Merit Awards.

Smart’s winning programs sought to make the mobile internet experience more accessible, affordable, and meaningful to Filipinos; use technology to enhance education, disaster preparedness and response, health services, and customer experience; and engage the workforce better through digital technologies.

BIR: Mighty tax settlement offer hard to resist A $500-MILLION tax settlement offer by a tobacco maker may be difficult for the Philippine government to refuse as it struggles to raise funds.

Caesar Dulay, head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue responsible for 80 percent of revenue, said he is keen on accepting a P25 billion compromise offer from Mighty Corp. to settle three complaints for alleged unpaid taxes worth P38 billion. While it is the Finance Department which will decide on the offer, that amount is too hard to resist, he said in an interview on Thursday.

Revenue rose 8.9 percent in the first half of the year, missing a goal of a 12 percent increase,

the tax commissioner said, citing preliminary data that’s not been made public. The tax agency is tasked to raise P1.83 trillion this year, an increase of about 16 percent.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office a year ago, needs more revenue to finance an ambitious $180-billion infrastructure plan and a deadly war against drugs that’s killed thousands.

The government is also pushing for higher taxes on oil and cars as it aims to cap the budget deficit at 3 percent of gross domestic product.

The tax agency is hiring 10,000 employees of which 70 percent are accountants, the

commissioner said. As many as 1,200 people have already been hired as of June and the plan is to get 1,000 more the rest of the year.

“Let’s face it: voluntary compliance is low yielding,” said Dulay, a lawyer who has been friends with Duterte since they were students. “We have to continue enforcement, specifically the filing of cases against tax evaders.”

A plunder complaint filed against him and more than a dozen officials for an alleged anomalous reduction in the tax liability of Del Monte Philippines Inc. is hurting the agency, Dulay said.

The commissioner said he had

no personal knowledge of Del Monte’s tax assessments.

Del Monte, in a statement this month, said it has been diligently paying its taxes and the levies it paid in 2011 to 2013 were correct. The tax agency had validated Del Monte’s tax payments, Dulay said.

“Collection is affected. The morale is low because the bureau is on the limelight,” Dulay said.

“People are afraid to conduct assessment; they want to play it safe. I have a problem.”

The tax agency is also asking lawmakers to exempt the bureau from a law that sets a uniform salary scale for all government workers. Bloomberg

STAKEHOLDERS of the oil and gas industry have sought inclusion in the coverage of Executive Order 30 creating an energy council that will declare “projects of national significance.”

Energy Department director Rino Abad said the stakeholders asked for clarification of the coverage of the EO, which seemed to focus mostly on the power sector.

Abad said the industry should wait for the creation of the Energy Investment Coordinating Council headed by the department that will draw up the guidelines for the declaration of “projects of national significance.”

“We have to wait for the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) of the EO. The industry wants to be included,” Abad said.

In the event the upstream energy sector was not covered by the EO, Abad said stakeholders recommended the issuance of an executive order or law “declaring indigenous petroleum and coal exploration and development as projects of national significance.”

Alena Mae S. Flores

percent in April.

Meanwhile, the downward adjustment in electricity rates as well as the drop in crude oil prices in the month caused non-food inflation, such as of utilities and transport, to ease.

Deutsche said price surveys were not conducted in the province of Lanao del Sur in June amid the armed conflict in the capital city of Marawi, thus, the province’s exclusion in the CPI data might have also contributed to last month’s lower inflation reading.

“With June inflation coming in 30bps below our expectation, we are revising our 2017 inflation forecast 10bps lower to 3.1 percent, now in line with the BSP’s. We see inflation inching higher from here, to peak at 3.1 percent, as against our earlier view of 3.3-3.4 percent, within August to October,” it said.

Julito G. Rada

NEWLY listed Cebu Landmasters Inc. said it booked P2.87 billion in reservation sales in the first half of the year, nearly approximating P2.94 billion registered in the full year of 2016.

CLI in a disclosure to the stock exchange attributed the strong sales take-up during the first six months of the year to the positive market reception on newly launched projects, namely 38 Park Avenue in Cebu IT Park, MesaTierra in Davao and Casa Mira South economic housing project in Naga, Cebu.

“We are very pleased to report our strong reservation sales performance for the first half of 2017,” CLI president and chief executive Jose Soberano III said.

“This is a testament to the strong demand for CLI’s diverse range of real estate offerings in Vis-Min which encompass the high-end, mid-market, and economic residential products along with our growing commercial and hospitality portfolio,” Soberano added.

Jenniffer B. Austria

BDO receives BSP’s ‘Gold Hall of Fame’

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas honored BDO Unibank with a “Gold Hall of Fame” accolade in BSP Stakeholders Awards.

The bank, which won its first Hall of Fame in 2010, was conferred the Gold Award after it was declared the “Top Commercial Bank that Generated the Largest Overseas Filipino Remittances” for 2016. BDO is the first local bank to receive the Gold Hall of Fame under this category.

BDO’s consistent leadership in the remittance sector continues to garner the bank top honors from Bangko Sentral. Prior to this recent win, BDO was named the Top Commercial Bank that Generated the Largest Overseas Filipino Remittances from 2008 to 2010 and 2013-2015.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, July 14, 2017

BSP likely to keep rates steady—Deutsche Bank BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas is likely to keep rates steady beyond 2017 after consumer prices further eased in June to 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent a month ago, Deutsche Bank said in a research note released Friday.

“Following price developments over the past three months and the BSP’s remarks during meetings in June, we now expect the BSP keeping rates steady for the next nine months,” the bank said.

Consumer price pressures again eased in June as both headline and core inflation moderated by 30 basis points from the previous month to record 2.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

June inflation was pulled down by slower increases in food and most non-food prices. Prices of food and non- alcoholic beverages rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in the month as against the 3.7 percent increase in May and 4.2

Oil, gas firms seek inclusion in EO 30

Cebu Landmasters reservation sales up

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales THE Department of Agriculture has temporarily banned the entry of poultry and wild bird products from Russia following the outbreak of H5N8 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

The Philippines in a memorandum order signed by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol will temporarily refuse the importation of domestic and wild bird products—including poultry meat, day old chicks, eggs and semens—from Moscow Oblast, Rostov Oblast and Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

Based on the official reports submitted by Russia’s Vice Minister of Agriculture Evgeny Nepoklonov to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), 15 outbreaks of H5N8 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus were noted in the three federal subjects affecting birds from February 28,2017 to May 3, 2017, as confirmed by the All-Russian Research Institute for Animal Health.

“There is a need to prevent the entry of HPAI virus to protect the health of the local poultry population,” said Pinol.

The order calls for the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance of the commodities.

Piñol also instructed the DA veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors to closely monitor all major ports, and stop and confiscate all shipments of the products.

IN BRIEF

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency Unit US Dollar Peso

DBP AWARDS. Development Bank of the Philippines vice president and investment banking head

Francis Nicolas Chua shows off the three awards bagged by DBP during the recently-concluded The Asset AAA Asian Infrastructure Awards in Hong Kong. State-owned DBP bagged three awards for its role in promoting infrastructure development in the country during The Asset AAA Asian Infrastructure Awards held in Hong Kong on June 28, 2017. It won the Transport Deal of the Year for the Philippines and Regional Overall for the Light Rail Manila Corp.’s P24-billion project loan facility.

United States Dollar

1.000000

Japan

Yen

0.008828

0.4456

UK

Pound

1.294400

65.3426

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128069

6.4651

Switzerland

Franc

1.034126

52.2037

Canada

Dollar

0.786164

39.6863

Singapore

Dollar

0.728014

36.7509

Australia

Dollar

0.772600

39.0016

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651746

133.8628

Saudi Arabia Rial

0.266681

13.4623

Brunei

Dollar

0.725374

Indonesia

Rupiah 0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

1.4869

UAE

Dirham 0.272272

13.7446

Euro

Euro

1.140200

57.5584

Korea

Won

0.000880

0.0444

China

Yuan

0.147388

7.4403

India

Rupee

0.015515

0.7832

Malaysia

Ringgit 0.233073

0.029455

New Zealand Dollar

0.732200

Taiwan

0.032937

Dollar

50.4810

36.6176

11.7658 36.9622 1.6627 Source: PDS Bridge

B2

Business

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks retreat; LT Group rises

T

HE stock market declined Friday on further profit-taking, ignoring the gains in Wall Street overnight after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen indicated a softer approach to raising US interest rates.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 50.95 points, or 0.6 percent, to 7,885.90 on a value turnover of P7.48 billion. Losers beat gainers, 104 to 94, with 54 issues unchanged.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-biggest lender, dropped 2.4 percent to P92, while SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. lost 1.8 percent to P33.

LT Group Inc. of airline and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan surged 7.4 percent to P17.88, while East West Banking Corp. of

the Gotianun Group advanced 6.5 percent to P33.40.

EastWest, the 13th-largest bank by assets and the financial arm of the Filinvest Group, is increasing capital base from P20 billion to P50 billion.

Asian traders, meanwhile, headed into the weekend cautiously upbeat Friday following a broadly positive week across global equity markets.

The Dow on Wall Street posted a second-successive record as investors cheered the more dovish tone from the central bank, which has been moving to tighten monetary policy as the world’s top economy continues to pick up.

The positive lead provided fresh support to Asia, though the gains were tempered by profit-taking.

Tokyo ended 0.1 percent higher, Sydney added 0.5 percent and Singapore was 0.8 percent up while Seoul put on 0.2 percent.

Hong Kong, which is at its highest level

since mid-2015 following a four-day rally, was 0.1 percent higher, while Shanghai ended up 0.1 percent.

Second-quarter earnings are also in focus with US banking giants JP MorganChase and Wells Fargo due out later in the day, while Netflix and Johnson & Johnson are among those up next week.

“The US profit reporting season looks likely to be a key market driver over the next couple of weeks,” said CMC Markets chief markets analyst Ric Spooner in a commentary.

“Another good... season will be very supportive for stock markets and continue the current bias against being too trigger happy in response to potential risk events.

However, full valuations mean there’s not a lot of margin for error. Stocks that underperform are likely to be dealt with harshly.”

On foreign exchanges, the dollar struggled to maintain Thursday’s gains after the previous day’s sharp losses fueled by

Yellen’s statement.

Yellen on Wednesday said the US central bank would keep raising the benchmark lending rate gradually as long as the world’s top economy continued to grow as expected, taking into account inflation remained below its two percent target. But on Thursday she stressed policy decisions could change as new data come in.

Eyes will be on the release of June consumer inflation later Friday, which has taken on more significance in light of Yellen’s remarks, although forecasts suggest it will remain below the Fed’s two percent target.

Analysts warned the greenback faced pressure over the long term as global central banks begin to wind in their financial crisis-era stimulus and come into line with the Fed. Most in view is the European Central Bank, which is mulling tightening measures as the long-troubled eurozone stirs back to life. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2017

NAME

OPEN

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 58.5 71,590 102.7 1,402,930 3.98 5,000 123.5 6,546,550 1.31 50,000 36.6 165,500 16.2 99,400 33.4 7,085,700 7.93 200 0.67 5,000 1.72 10,000 880 580 0.7 782,000 92 4,338,100 0.83 817,000 15.5 54,800 24.6 4,000 67.8 236,170 245.6 1,640 117 3,010 88.15 400 59.2 19,280 220 631,390 1,660 470 86.2 16,230 1.43 182,000

4,175,653 144,119,852 19,900 811,127,843 65,500 6,057,415 1,594,368 228,984,105 1,586 3,350 17,280 510,150 539,970 404,083,917 685,230 849,194 98,390 15,957,322 403,816 360,550 35,487 1,137,395.50 139,041,490 785,400 1,400,511 253,340

3,111,072 -93,511,226 -48,702,550 62,190 801,000 -40,067,420 -48,135,118 209,660 40,144 4,577,373.50 -68,988 7,915 777,349.50 -14,151,492 -502,500 -172,597 -

40.05 8.82 0.83 1.45 30.5 0.265 138 7.05 18.3 29 14.14 68.5 70 2 5.3 11.44 12.4 15.52 10.98 7.75 5.76 18.74 67.8 14.66 13.32 15.92 1.95 213.4 4 3.4 32 20 18.22 267.2 0.245 6.91 3.19 7.1 9.53 7.62 10.4 1.93 10.4 67 6.35 301 4.53 5.1 2.72 13.2 4.49 0.146 1.35 160.8 4.01 2.08

INDUSTRIAL 40.05 1,888,500 9.15 6,314,200 0.84 2,154,000 1.46 1,398,000 30.5 113,000 0.27 2,310,000 190 5,090 7.35 2,449,700 18.5 23,300 29.6 765,800 14.14 3,100 68.5 640 71 1,400 2.04 274,000 5.35 36,600 11.44 53,000 12.46 749,200 15.54 2,212,600 11.2 993,700 7.8 2,582,700 5.77 19,632,400 18.8 636,400 67.9 114,570 14.8 18,700 13.68 56,400 16.02 1,386,400 2 3,723,000 215 455,230 4.01 141,000 3.4 61,000 32.5 665,600 20.15 351,000 18.3 4,784,700 269.8 579,820 0.247 14,790,000 8.36 801,500 3.2 1,630,000 7.11 62,300 9.58 2,245,900 7.88 200,900 10.4 2,200 1.95 613,000 10.58 3,242,900 67 220,280 6.37 143,600 302 12,490 4.55 32,000 5.12 57,600 2.95 14,895,000 13.36 642,300 4.49 259,000 0.146 20,000 1.4 333,000 161.5 788,170 4.28 314,000 2.09 4,627,000

76,000,645 57,155,406 1,791,830 2,040,220 3,455,155 622,650 900,265 17,657,420 429,898 22,762,925 43,834 43,865 98,900 555,420 195,710 608,490 9,342,736 34,387,600 11,136,074 20,205,531 113,573,148(37 11,954,956 7,797,590 276,046 755,122 22,253,938 7,499,080 97,700,416 569,570 210,550 21,626,235 7,064,820 87,502,874 155,634,152 3,791,810 6,433,150 5,215,400 442,996 21,511,611 1,573,030 22,880 1,192,090 34,298,116 14,854,740.50 916,676 3,765,944 145,220 294,072 42,943,420 8,528,806 1,174,090 2,920 456,360 127,228,462 1,310,870 9,725,580

-17,523,190 -6,740,101 37,800 219,000 7,649,469 323,536 295,500 -3,450 -123,036 4,821,858 939,226 946,042.00 10,183,737 ,186,239.0004) 2,326,792 -5,231,919.50 225,904 1,166,228 352,490.00 44,788,276 0 10,553,865 584,500 -3,334,778 4,484,400 189,280 -953,390 -3,738,105 -64,020 -2,115,462 -8,250,183.50 -189,230 -2,771,752 131,630 -591,770 398,826 -32,556,844 5,238,630

0.375 75.75 14.04 1.21 6.89 0.34 0.34 875 8.04 15.38 7.82 6.01 0.223 1,210 7.79 80.1 5.85 5.55 1 7.14 18 0.44 6.73 0.053 1.12 2.28 103.4 2.69 793.5 0.94 1.5 304 0.29 0.212 0.285

0.37 74.6 13.86 1.18 6.7 0.335 0.33 853 7.96 14.88 7.68 5.91 0.213 1,195 7.58 78.85 5.8 5.55 0.98 6.97 16.8 0.44 6.66 0.052 1.06 2.21 102.5 2.61 786 0.9 1.45 302.6 0.29 0.212 0.275

HOLDING FIRMS 0.37 600,000 75 1,110,910 14 2,179,500 1.19 195,000 6.85 50,100 0.34 820,000 0.34 310,000 853 331,460 8.04 681,500 15.1 6,883,000 7.8 27,500 5.91 11,900 0.22 440,000 1,200 66,080 7.79 88,700 79 885,340 5.8 3,600 5.55 300 0.98 1,259,000 6.97 2,859,800 17.88 18,542,800 0.44 10,000 6.7 19,327,700 0.052 22,910,000 1.1 90,000 2.22 1,487,000 102.5 117,720 2.69 15,000 789.5 373,240 0.93 433,000 1.49 717,000 304 6,130 0.29 100,000 0.212 80,000 0.28 2,370,000

222,150 83,383,312.50 30,370,116 232,090 341,968 274,800 103,650 283,388,875 5,441,229 103,925,228 213,980 70,599 96,630 79,316,525 690,175 70,037,589.5 ( 20,895 1,665 1,239,530 19,987,217 324,737,260 4,400 129,335,652 1,197,230 97,260 3,330,390 ( 12,101,968 39,340 294,769,600 395,480 1,061,310 1,858,310 29,000 16,960 658,550

-36,984,406 -7,958,482 -110,670 -108,023,330 1,791,062 63,665,266 -4,400 2,026,635 26,423,696.5) -7,812,115 52,882,460 1,188,073 562,629.9998) -343,729 -95,364,565 309,960 -394,180 -170,800

6 1.55 2.43 1.14 41.85 3.86 5.38 5.28 0.66 1.19 1.58 0.2 0.53 47.95 0.79 0.161 1.95 1.91 1.11 4.76 0.35 0.4

5.91 1.41 2.4 1.12 40.95 3.78 5.23 5.28 0.63 1.18 1.5 0.196 0.52 47.05 0.76 0.16 1.86 1.68 1.06 4.62 0.34 0.355

7,312,296 26,551,240 2,236,440 3,124,310 278,422,890 5,317,010 24,913,125 95,568 71,219,970 20,090 2,449,090 1,291,030 1,252,410 3,239,810 8,902,610 60,840 139,736,990 208,117,460 1,218,730 72,215,410 8,302,800 394,300

-4,853,377 9,620 -96,000 226,000.00 -28,591,485 -511,760 -1,523,728 -9,118,520 156,000 -513,110 -6,348,670 26,949,110 512,840 -6,494,100 41,400.00 -

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED 58.4 BANK PH ISLANDS 104 BDO LEASING 3.98 BDO UNIBANK 124.5 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.31 CHINABANK 36.6 COL FINANCIAL 16.1 EAST WEST BANK 31.6 FILIPINO FUND 7.93 FIRST ABACUS 0.67 IREMIT 1.76 MANULIFE 880 MEDCO HLDG 0.7 METROBANK 94.3 NTL REINSURANCE 0.85 PB BANK 15.44 PBCOM 24.55 PHIL NATL BANK 67.75 PHIL STOCK EXCH 246 PHILTRUST 119 PSBANK 90 RCBC 58.5 SECURITY BANK 220.8 SUN LIFE 1,675 UNION BANK 86 VANTAGE 1.36

58.5 104 3.98 124.5 1.31 36.7 16.2 33.4 7.93 0.67 1.76 880 0.7 94.6 0.86 15.6 24.6 67.8 249 120 90 59.2 221.6 1,675 86.4 1.46

57.3 102.4 3.98 123 1.31 36.55 16.02 30.75 7.93 0.67 1.72 875 0.69 91.9 0.83 15.44 24.55 66.3 245.6 117 88.15 58.5 219.6 1,660 86 1.36

ABOITIZ POWER 40.35 AGRINURTURE 8.82 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.84 ALSONS CONS 1.47 ASIABEST GROUP 30.95 BASIC ENERGY 0.27 BOGO MEDELLIN 140 CEMEX HLDG 7.06 CENTURY FOOD 18.4 CIRTEK HLDG 29.3 CNTRL AZUCARERA14.14 CONCEPCION 69 CONCRETE A 70 CROWN ASIA 2.05 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.42 DEL MONTE 11.5 DNL INDUS 12.5 EAGLE CEMENT 15.6 EEI CORP 10.98 EMPERADOR 7.92 ENERGY DEVT 5.76 FIRST GEN 18.78 FIRST PHIL HLDG 68.4 GINEBRA 14.72 HOLCIM 13.4 INTEGRATED MICR 16.32 IONICS 1.95 JOLLIBEE 214.6 LMG CHEMICALS 4.18 MABUHAY VINYL 3.45 MANILA WATER 32.5 MAXS GROUP 20.2 MEGAWIDE 18.3 MERALCO 269 MG HLDG 0.25 PANASONIC 6.91 PEPSI COLA 3.2 PETROENERGY 7.12 PETRON 9.6 PHIL H2O 7.9 PHINMA 10.4 PHINMA ENERGY 1.95 PHX PETROLEUM 10.6 PILIPINAS SHELL 67.9 PRYCE CORP 6.35 PUREFOODS 304 RFM CORP 4.53 ROXAS HLDG 5.12 SFA SEMICON 2.72 SHAKEYS PIZZA 13.22 SPC POWER 4.57 SWIFT FOODS 0.146 TKC METALS 1.37 UNIV ROBINA 163 VICTORIAS 4.1 VITARICH 2.1

40.45 9.15 0.84 1.47 31.4 0.27 202 7.35 18.54 30 14.14 69 71 2.05 5.42 11.5 12.54 15.6 11.4 7.92 5.82 18.82 68.4 14.9 13.68 16.32 2.09 215.6 4.18 3.5 32.55 20.2 18.32 269.8 0.265 9.2 3.2 7.2 9.69 8 10.4 1.95 10.7 67.9 6.54 305 4.55 5.12 2.95 13.36 4.57 0.146 1.4 163 4.3 2.13

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

0.375 75.75 14 1.21 6.89 0.335 0.335 875 8 15.2 7.8 6.01 0.213 1,206 7.79 80 5.85 5.55 1 7.14 16.86 0.44 6.7 0.053 1.11 2.28 103.4 2.61 791.5 0.94 1.46 302.8 0.29 0.212 0.275

8990 HLDG 6 A BROWN 1.48 ARANETA PROP 2.43 ARTHALAND CORP 1.13 AYALA LAND 41.55 BELLE CORP 3.8 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.25 CEBU HLDG 5.28 CENTURY PROP 0.65 CITY AND LAND 1.19 CITYLAND DEVT 1.57 CROWN EQUITIES 0.197 CYBER BAY 0.53 DOUBLEDRAGON 47.5 EMPIRE EAST 0.78 EVER GOTESCO 0.16 FILINVEST LAND 1.87 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.85 IRC PROP 1.08 MEGAWORLD 4.73 MRC ALLIED 0.345 PHIL ESTATES 0.4

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL REALTY 0.68 PRIMEX CORP 4.41 PTFC REDEV CORP 37.8 ROBINSONS LAND 24.3 ROCKWELL 1.76 SHANG PROP 3.28 SM PRIME HLDG 33.6 STA LUCIA LAND 1.02 STARMALLS 7.38 SUNTRUST HOME 0.94 VISTA LAND 5.94

0.68 4.65 37.8 24.45 1.8 3.28 33.7 1.03 7.38 0.94 5.95

0.64 4.28 35.05 24.25 1.73 3.2 32.9 1.01 7.38 0.91 5.85

0.65 4.62 36.8 24.45 1.78 3.28 33 1.03 7.38 0.94 5.94

23,919,000 2,607,000 13,200 602,700 2,354,000 438,000 12,354,400 3,692,000 400 333,000 4,143,300

15,630,750 11,828,270 487,545 14,686,960 4,139,270 1,404,560 408,310,110 3,771,990 2,952 309,950 24,523,883

54,120 7,657,200 -3,127,140 64,000 -187,804,500 -7,984,638

2GO GROUP 24.3 ABS CBN 42 ACESITE HOTEL 1.88 APC GROUP 0.5 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.044 ASIAN TERMINALS 11.18 BERJAYA 5.35 BLOOMBERRY 9.71 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.088 CEBU AIR 98 CENTRO ESCOLAR 9.7 DFNN INC 8.7 FAR EASTERN U 970 GLOBE TELECOM 2,094 GMA NETWORK 6.23 GOLDEN HAVEN 15.48 GRAND PLAZA 13.2 HARBOR STAR 3.13 IMPERIAL 3.51 INTL CONTAINER 102.2 IPEOPLE 12.12 IPM HLDG 8.7 ISLAND INFO 0.184 ISM COMM 1.46 JACKSTONES 3.44 LBC EXPRESS 15.8 LEISURE AND RES 4.95 LORENZO SHIPPNG 1.89 MACROASIA 9.76 MANILA BULLETIN 0.6 MANILA JOCKEY 2.32 MELCO RESORTS 8.98 METRO RETAIL 4.3 NOW CORP 2.62 PACIFIC ONLINE 11.52 PAL HLDG 5.2 PAXYS 3 PHILWEB 10.94 PLDT 1,739 PREMIUM LEISURE 1.59 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.435 PUREGOLD 46.3 ROBINSONS RTL 87.95 SBS PHIL CORP 6.07 SSI GROUP 4.76 STI HLDG 1.58 TRANSPACIFIC BR 1.9 TRAVELLERS 3.48 WATERFRONT 1.28 WILCON DEPOT 8.44

24.3 42 1.88 0.5 0.044 11.18 5.57 9.95 0.088 98.1 9.7 8.7 970 2,094 6.23 15.5 13.2 3.19 3.6 102.7 12.12 8.7 0.186 1.6 3.44 15.8 5.09 1.98 10 0.62 2.32 9.01 4.44 2.63 11.52 5.3 3 11.1 1,739 1.6 0.45 46.6 87.95 6.15 4.99 1.58 1.9 3.57 1.34 8.55

23.5 41.95 1.83 0.5 0.043 11.16 5.35 9.71 0.087 97.4 9.57 8.65 970 2,054 6.22 15.44 13.2 3.09 3.48 100.8 12.12 8.5 0.184 1.46 3.44 15.8 4.9 1.82 9.5 0.59 2.32 8.83 4.25 2.6 11.5 5.2 2.86 10.84 1,699 1.58 0.425 46.05 86.95 6.05 4.7 1.54 1.9 3.48 1.23 8.22

SERVICES 23.5 922,000 42 18,800 1.83 475,000 0.5 491,000 0.043 12,000,000 11.16 3,000 5.57 3,000 9.95 6,024,300 0.088 6,880,000 98 62,060 9.57 10,100 8.65 1,122,300 970 10 2,070 12,050 6.23 224,800 15.44 37,400 13.2 100 3.11 5,631,000 3.48 45,000 101.4 699,120 12.12 10,000 8.5 347,400 0.185 5,480,000 1.52 1,657,000 3.44 2,000 15.8 4,100 4.96 987,000 1.83 1,637,000 9.7 6,116,900 0.62 171,000 2.32 14,000 9.01 1,116,300 4.29 18,884,000 2.6 825,000 11.5 10,500 5.29 4,500 2.86 5,000 10.84 925,100 1,720 140,300 1.6 2,875,000 0.44 8,360,000 46.3 753,400 87 740,870 6.05 898,000 4.86 19,051,000 1.55 10,428,000 1.9 2,000 3.53 500,000 1.32 41,717,000 8.25 12,270,300

21,826,290 789,500 874,050 245,500 517,800 33,520 16,666 59,370,263 600,520 6,065,984.50 97,957 9,709,210 9,700 24,911,050 1,399,495 578,804 1,320 17,652,680 158,680 70,890,965 121,200 3,013,761 1,012,800 2,532,590 6,880 64,780 4,893,620 3,099,240 59,920,267 103,370 32,480 9,995,048 81,603,410 2,149,120 120,910 23,765 14,440 10,069,054 240,865,715 4,590,460 3,642,700 34,912,985 64,452,945.50 5,440,292 92,511,070(1, 16,239,270 3,800 1,756,570 54,131,070 102,080,205

2,180 -14,640 26,469,580 -1,066,435 1,314,800 -5,504,870 23,009,191 -42,460 85,400 -1,690,812 -5,652,534 -29,100,360 3,000 -335,262 -45,727,925 -44,500 -3,258,945 -23,680,347 809,850.0003) -2,336,150 546,820 -23,350 28,535,782

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING 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 PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING

0.0029 1.72 5.38 2.05 2.01 1.02 0.385 8.53 2.66 0.285 0.201 0.207 0.011 0.012 1.86 6.25 1.99 0.66 1.08 0.01 0.012 2.7 9.05 3.11 160.1

0.0031 1.74 5.38 2.05 2.01 1.05 0.385 8.6 2.72 0.29 0.212 0.22 0.012 0.012 1.89 6.35 2.01 0.66 1.13 0.01 0.013 2.7 9.05 3.13 160.6

0.0029 1.71 5.23 2.05 2.01 0.98 0.385 8.47 2.66 0.285 0.2 0.206 0.011 0.011 1.85 6.25 1.97 0.63 1.08 0.01 0.012 2.7 8.95 3.05 160

MINING & OIL 0.003 1,338,000,000 1.72 3,604,000 5.23 159,900 2.05 16,000 2.01 2,000 1.05 3,398,000 0.385 200,000 8.5 35,700 2.71 3,106,000 0.29 40,000 0.2 33,270,000 0.206 11,460,000 0.012 1,900,000 0.012 33,000,000 1.85 618,000 6.33 1,756,100 2 119,000 0.63 521,000 1.08 654,000 0.01 9,000,000 0.013 214,100,000 2.7 33,000 8.99 1,129,000 3.05 1,789,000 160.3 1,356,660

3,997,500 6,186,870 840,293 32,800 4,020 3,419,520 77,000 303,443 8,356,300 11,550 6,831,060 2,448,090 21,100 395,000 1,147,350 11,082,784 238,300 329,850 723,820 90,000 2,570,700 89,100 10,133,131 5,487,080 217,311,434

-243,000 0 98,941 47,000 1,413,220 1,042,350 -222,500 -1,034,083 4,091,834 -4,135,614

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

41.9 516 107 105.4 112.5 114 516.5 5.98 1,006 1,019 1.05 108 1,036 1,020 106 113.5 2.01 76.6 76.2 79 78.7 78

42.2 516 107 105.4 112.5 114 516.5 6.05 1,006 1,020 1.05 108 1,036 1,020 106 113.5 2.32 76.6 77 79 78.7 79

41.9 515.5 107 104.9 112 114 516.5 5.98 1,003 1,018 1.05 108 1,036 1,015 106 113.5 2.01 76.6 76.2 78 78 77.2

PREFERRED 42 27,200 516 4,710 107 93,650 104.9 7,670 112 2,770 114 500 516.5 1,120 6.05 1,645,000 1,003 5,500 1,018 2,080 1.05 5,000 108 70 1,036 530 1,015 1,905 106 37,200 113.5 10 2.32 8,000 76.6 530 77 199,370 78 53,800 78 9,910 79 331,710

1,142,670 2,429,020 10,020,550 805,943 311,590 57,000 578,480 9,927,857 4 5,521,490 2,120,660 5,250 7,560 549,080 1,933,600 3,943,200 1,135 18,140 40,598 15,350,250 4,221,850 773,141 26,115,556.50

907,570 51,650 ,563,856.9996 -

LR WARRANT

3.1

3.19

3

WARRANTS 3.02 750,000

2,304,620

9,030

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.88 5.64 8.23

3.92 5.85 8.25

3.88 5.64 8.06

SME 3.92 5.83 8.06

462,340 300,435 32,451,531

-6,206,863

120

119

5,878,564

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 5.91 1,230,800 1.43 17,929,000 2.4 931,000 1.13 2,764,000 41.2 6,753,000 3.78 1,403,000 5.31 4,688,300 5.28 18,100 0.63 111,453,000 1.18 17,000 1.55 1,583,000 0.197 6,550,000 0.53 2,402,000 47.1 68,500 0.78 11,411,000 0.161 380,000 1.93 72,614,000 1.69 116,119,000 1.07 1,122,000 4.62 15,554,000 0.35 23,950,000 0.375 1,080,000

FIRST METRO ETF 119.5

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

22,809,649

INDUSTRIAL

102,922,892

HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES

86,081,336 458,656,346 173,345,477

MINING & OIL

1,659,460,335

GRAND TOTAL

2,507,499,226

119,000 51,800 4,002,400

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.1 49,390

VALUE 1,956.13 (down) 17.03 1,788,734,731.90 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,118.97 (down) 13.94 1,086,552,042.386 HOLDING FIRMS 7,880.87 (down) 37.03 1,545,217,453.22 PROPERTY 3,687.06 (down) 42.15 1,694.51 (up) 1.88 1,690,891,568.59 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,729.99 (down) 14.02 1,051,975,153.02 PSEI 7,885.90 (down) 50.95 282,158,516.465 All Shares Index 4,735.82 (down) 17.90 7,484,624,750.73 Gainers: 94; Losers: 104; Unchanged: 54; Total: 252

SEC clears Vista bonds

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Securities and Exchange Commission approved the P20-billion bond shelf registration of homebuilder Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. The SEC said it also approved Vista Land’s initial tranche offering of P3 billion worth of seven and 10-year bonds with an oversubscription of up to P2 billion.

The remaining unissued bonds will be placed under shelf registration which the company may issue over the next three years.

Vista Land plans to use proceeds from the initial tranche to finance planned commercial developments, including the completion of the Evia Lifestyle Center in Daang Hari, Las Piñas City and the development of Vistamall Malolos in Bulacan province.

The property firm has tapped Chinabank Capital as issue manager and underwriter for the fund raising activity. The bonds will be listed at Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.

Vista Land this year has allotted P35 billion for capital expenditures, including P26 billion for lot residential development and P9 billion for its leasing business.

It recently announced intention to accelerate project launches with the rollout of P42 billion worth of developments this year, higher than the original target of P30 billion, as it expects 2017 to be a banner year for the company.

Vista Land has projected a double digit growth in revenues this year.

For its leasing business, the company plans to hit 1 million square meters of gross floor area this year and 1.3 million by 2018. The bulk will come from commercial and shopping malls it will build under the Starmall and Vista Mall brands.

D&L eyes expansion on rising demand D&L Industries Inc., the country’s largest specialty foods ingredients, plastics and oleochemicals company, has earmarked up to P420 million for 2017 primarily to fund the group’s working capital requirements.

D&L Industries president Alvin Lao said during the annual stockholders’ meeting capital spending remained stable, with the group still finalizing plans to expand the production capacity.

Lao said the company would make an announcement on the expansion within the third quarter of the year.

“While plant capacities are not yet at critical levels, we are approaching the point where we need to plan ahead since it will take two to three years to expand and we do not want to be caught unprepared,” Lao said.

The planned expansion is in preparation for the expected increase in demand for specialty food ingredients, plastics and chemical products from the company’s clients both here and abroad.

Meanwhile, D&L Industries has been ranked second on Campden FB’s Top 50 Global Challengers, a list of family businesses with impressive growth rates and turnover of between $200 million and $6 billion.

D&L Industries was among two Philippine companies featured on the list, given its history of consistent earnings growth and profitability.

“It’s an honor to be mentioned alongside such outstanding business families from all around the world,” Lao said. Jenniffer B. Austria

Home / Design

B3

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

From B4

Equity Ventures Inc. They have joined forces to develop the P123.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike.

ALI is also investing P170 billion to develop a 700-hectare mixed-use estate in Cavite similar to other Ayala projects in Makati, Bonifacio Global City and Nuvali.

Biggest horizontal project Megaworld is drumbeating its biggest horizontal project to date, the 1,000-plushectare mixed use Twin Peaks project in the Tagaytay-Batangas corridor with the first-of-its-kind vineyard concept.

These all point to the possibility that the southern corridor will be the next crown jewel of real estate in the next 10 to 20 years.

The provinces of Laguna, Cavite and Rizal are close to Metro Manila and for this reason, they are popular areas to buy a home for the capital’s millions of workers, according to the Lamudi report. The cities of Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite, San Pedro and Santa Rosa in Laguna, and Taytay, Cainta and Antipolo in Rizal are home to numerous residential subdivisions that offer houses from as low as P1 million in Cainta to as high as P35 million at Ayala Southvale in Bacoor.

The region also boasts a buoyant leisure real estate market, especially Tagaytay City in Cavite and the towns of Nasugbu and Calatagan in Batangas. Vacation homes, condos and beachfront houses within master-planned communities are quite common in these areas, such as Playa Calatagan, Pico de Loro, Twin Lakes and Tagaytay Highlands.

Killing the goose that lays the golden egg?

The building boom has also seen an unprecedented surge in “business parks”, with BPO firms as the largest consumers of office spaces taking up 37% of available inventories in Metro Manila. From now until 2022, the industry is seen to expand by 9% a year, and along with it, a corresponding increase in office space take-up is expected.

The possible thinning of power supply in the coming years, and the resulting energy security threat this poses on the Philippine economy, looms as a dark cloud over the prospects of the BPO industry.

As it stands, BPO firms in the Philippines already operate at a 6% cost premium versus those operating in India. This is due to higher wages and office rentals. With the additional burden of unsustainable power supply, and the resulting higher electricity bills, coupled by the need for additional working capital, the cost differential between India and the Philippines could widen to 15%, effectively obliterating Philippine competitiveness.

Exacerbating the situation is the relative ease to duplicate BPO operations in other locations. With this, the Philippines could face massive closures and outward migration of BPO firms.

The industry could lose occupants for 3.2 million sq.m. of existing office space and some 850,000 square meters of take-up over the next three years. This could cause Metro Manila’s vacancy rates to balloon to over 30% by the year 2020 on a worst case scenario.

To compromise the competitiveness of the local BPO industry will have far reaching effects not only on the property market, but to the entire economy.

Manalac noted that the BPO industry employs some 1.3 million people most of whom have adopted skill sets that have made them globally competitive. They generate $24 billion in export revenues that help balance our current account. BPOs are present in 26 cities nationwide, and have proven to be the most potent instrument for community development and inclusive growth.

“In the last 15 years, the BPO industry has spawned a new middle class while igniting the retail, education, transport, and housing sectors in the cities it operates in.

All these are put at risk under the cloud of weak energy security,” he said.

These gains would likely be derailed, Manalac said, by a return to the crippling blackouts during the 1990s, which drove the Philippine economy close to collapse.

“The culprit then was the failure to build power stations when they were needed most,” he said.

FROM PLASTICS TO ‘GRAND’ REAL ESTATE. Moldex Realty recently introduced one of its four major projects that will be launched on its 30th year – The Grand View Tower (whose lounge is seen in here). The company is known for its flagship condominium development, the grand series: Grand Towers Manila, the 55-storey Grand Riviera Suites, and 1322 Roxas Boulevard (Golden Empire Tower). The 42-storey mixed-use Grand View, situated along Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue – only a few steps from LRT 1 Gil Puyat Station — is positioned to be a reasonably-priced alternative to Makati, BGC, and Bay area properties. As it celebrates its 30 years in the real estate industry, Moldex Realty will also launch three major projects in Southern Metro Manila – Fern Parc, Moldex Residences Silang, and Heritage Spring Homes West.

Metrogate Silang Estates. “For 30 years, our company has been steadfast in our commitment to deliver beyond what’s expected through design excellence, expert planning and honest engineering for our residential developments,” said Bob Zulueta, Moldex Realty executive vice president.

ERC ‘enjoined’ to act fast FPI’s Arranza told the Manila Standard that they have enjoined the ERC to act fast on the more than 90 Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) pending with the commissions since April last year.

“We welcome the continued push of the Department of Energy (DOE) to streamline the processing of energy projects that will ensure energy security,” Arranza said.

President Duterte issued on 30 June 2017 Executive Order (EO) No. 30, creating an Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) led by the DOE. The EICC was tasked to lead national government efforts to harmonize, integrate and streamline regulatory processes, requirements and forms relevant to the development of energy investments in the country.

Arranza said both the government and private sector have long been pushing for energy projects to be tagged as “Projects of National Significance.

“That is why we are concerned on the reported delays of several projects because of the lack of PSA approvals,” he added.

FPI said the delays in the approval process significantly affect the development of baseload power plants, which can produce reliable electricity 24/7. These plants take around three to four years to build.

“Power plant developers should start constructing their projects now to ensure that we will have sufficient supply that will support the country’s economic growth,” Arranza said.

‘WALK MORE, DRIVE LESS.’ AboitizLand, the real estate arm of the Aboitiz

Group, recently launched Seafront Residences, a 43-hectare beachside residential development in San Juan, Batangas. The project will accommodate 800 homes, and serve more than 1,000 ‘vecinos’, or residents, a term used by the developer to refer to people who live in the communities it builds. Seafront Residences is the first buildout property of AboitizLand. It’s partners include DPZ Partners; SC&A Architects and Planners; Budji Layug+Royal Pineda Designs Architects Inc. for architecture and interior design; Crearis Corp. for landscape architecture; and GHD Pty Ltd for site infrastructure and utilities design. “Houses, shops, and services will be closer together amid a traditional neighborhood structure, encouraging people to walk more and drive less,” said Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, first vice president of operations, AboitizLand.

FORM AND FUNCTION COMBINED. Kohler’s newest integrated toilet system takes an ordinary bathroom to magnificent heights: the Veil. The Kohler french curve toilet seat (See here) is equipped with a sensor that automatically opens and closes the seat cover as users approach, and depart. Users will immediately experience true comfort upon sitting on it, thanks to the seat’s ergonomic design.

The Veil seamlessly integrates innovative technology, comfortable design, and functional features that will take a toilet users’breath away immediately upon their first encounter.The self-cleaning bidet nozzle—which cleans delicate areas with sterilized water sprayed according to how the user wants it—is automatically cleaned after each wash and sanitized with UV light every 24 hours. Just what the doctor ordered.

DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE. Property developer Ortigas & Company was recently honored in the 2017 Dangal ng Pasig Awards by the Pasig City local government for its contributions to the city. The company was awarded Number 2 Taxpayer for its contributions to Pasig’s strong economic performance, thanks to its property portfolio in the Ortigas central business district, and lifestyle hubs Frontera Verde and Capitol Commons. Ortigas & Company was also recognized for its support for Mayor Robert “Bobby” Eusebio’s “Iskul ni Bobby” program.

Receiving the award for Ortigas & Company were President and chief executive officer Jaime E. Ysmael (fourth from left); and senior vice president and chief operating officer Thomas F. Mirasol (third from left). They were joined by (from left to right): Pasig City assessor Robert Mina; treasurer Marita Calaje; Mayor Robert “Bobby” Eusebio and his wife, former City Mayor Maribel Eusebio.

SMART OFFICE IN A SOUTHERN CBD.

Soon to rise at Filinvest City in Alabang, the 32-storey Parkway Corporate Center is the first office condominium under the WorkSpaces by Filinvest banner that offers investors pre-selling smart office units for sale.

While developments are largely concentrated in other parts of the National Capital Region, Alabang remains an attractive location, due to its proximity to the CALABARZON and adjacent communities. Parkway Corporate Center is positioned at the heart of Filinvest City, a thriving, integrated 244-hectare metropolis that combines modern conveniences with nature. Designed by H1 Architecture and Design, Parkway Corporate Center comes with units averaging 36 square meters in size, allowing for flexibility and combinability depending on the need, which is good for boutique companies and SMEs averaging six to 30 employees. Companies in need of bigger spaces have the option of taking whole floors.

CENTRAL LUZON, WITH CLARK ON POINT. Long the center of the Philippines’

commercial activities, Metro Manila is straining to accommodate a growing population and a myriad of business activities. Pushing outside the capital is now a national priority—and Central Luzon, with Clark as its hub, is ready to lead the next wave of growth. Atop one part of the old US Airforce Base and adjacent to Clark International Airport is a 177-hectare site that is morphing nto an important commercial and logistics hub. Clark Gateway City is one of the largest development sites in Luzon and already has easy access to air, sea, and land connections. Clark Gateway City is the brainchild of the Global Gateway Development Corporation (GGDC). As a sign of what’s to come, Medical City hospital opened in Clark Gateway City in 2014, bringing the best of the Philippines’ healthcare into Central Luzon. Close by is the growing campus of the University of the Philippines in Clark. Once an extension of UP’s flagship campus in Diliman, UP Clark is being expanded into a 3-hectare permanent campus.

TAKING A LEAF FROM SINGAPORE. Growing

townships, like this one in Cavite, will need all the reliable, affordable baseload power it can get.

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

B4

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

Energy security worries PH real estate players, manufacturers

“GO NORTH,SOUTH, EAST, WEST YOUNG MAN!” Due to tight supply

of land in Metro Manila, real estate developers are pushing the envelope to tap the country’s rural-urban fringe areas, or “outskirts.”.

Gov’t urged to ensure that ’build, build, build’ thrust has enough power

By Joel D. Lacsamana

B

USINESS industry leaders made up of corporate manufacturers and real estate developers recently expressed concern over delays being encountered by several power projects that will ensure the country’s supply in the coming years.

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), which is composed of 34 Industry Associations and 120 corporation manufacturing members, urged the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to act on pending power supply agreements (PSAs) that have been opposed by a concerted group of environmentalists, militant groups and lawmakers, as well as business interests involved in the Renewable Energy (RE) sector.

FPI Chairman Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza told the Manila Standard that “energy security is a very important concern for local businesses since all of our members are manufacturers that need stable and reliable supply for their operations.”

The FPI, Arranza explained, is one with the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in its “build, build,

build” infrastructure program, which can only be supported if the industries work together. “In this case, the energy sector plays a crucial role in ensuring affordable and reliable supply,” he pointed out.

In a Congressional hearing last week, legislators expressed similar concern over the slow pace of the ERC approval for the PSAs (most of which had been under the agency’s scrutiny for the past year), amidst a backdrop of of supply shortfalls, indicated by yellow and red alerts, which purportedly show that the country’s power supply cannot match the growing needs of economic development, and overall consumer demand.

At one point in the hearing, Congressman Danilo Suarez confronted the ERC commissioners, and asked when the PSA’s would be acted upon since “it cannot be denied that the country’s baseload is very thin.”

Rough sailing Big real estate developers, on the other hand are fearful that large-scale mixeduse projects which are being explored by more and more industry players —in large part due to tight supply of land in Metro Manila, and the attractiveness of rural-urban fringe areas (more known as the “outskirts”)—could face rough sailing ahead should the lack of sustainable power supply threaten these “townships” that have been sprouting across the country.

“Despite a slowdown in the residential condominium market in Metro Manila, developers will continue to pursue township developments in and outside of the capital,” acknowledged Andy Manalac, former chairman of the National Real Estate Association (NREA) and head of Havitas Developments Corp.

“For any infrastructure, you need power, that is, reliable and affordable electricity. But how can you build the necessary infrastructure to support these township developments, and grow the communities where they are put up, if there is no reliable power to sustain them?,” he asked.

“These developments will remain glorified office parks with condos if development progress is slow,” he warned. “If power is not assured, decent jobs won’t be created, and these townships will not be able to attract highly skilled labor nor businesses to sustain their developments.”

David Leechui, CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants Inc., agreed, stressing that adequate, and affordable power supply will help industries to to generate jobs “which is the most viable solution for us who build crucial infrastructure in the low-cost housing industry.”

“The more jobs created by businesses, the more affordable the houses become for their workers,” he explained.

Leechiu and others in the low-cost housing business believe their sector faces one of the biggest challenges, together with the Philippine government. Accord-

ing to The Philippine Housing Industry Roadmap: 2012-2030, presented by the Subdivision & Housing Developers Association Inc. (SHDA) to the Bureau of Investments (BOI), if nothing is done or no special housing program is created, the country’s housing backlog will reach 6.5 million by 2030.

A power crisis as envisioned by industry observers, could exacerbate these numbers: recent reports revealed that the country’s housing backlog is already estimated at 5.7 million.

Speed of infrastructure building in real estate projects, now a worry From Alabang to Balintawak, from Pasig to Laguna, from Pampanga to the Visayas, construction cranes and earth movers crisscross the country in an unprecedented 13-year construction boom.

With thousands of new office buildings, commercial and condominium develop-

ments and housing projects flooding the market, property pundits wonder — can this growth momentum be sustained by the energy needed to power the speed of infrastructure building unfolding over the landscape?

One popular urban-rural fringe area is Calabarzon —comprising the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. It boasts the country’s second largest gross regional product at P1.644 trillion and a buoyant real estate market.

According to a Lamudi Philippines report, Calabarzon is the Philippines’ second most economically important region after Metro Manila.

Major property developers like Ayala and Megaworld have been investing heavily and creating portfolio growth forecasts well beyond a 20-year cycle.

Last year, a joint venture was entered into by and among leading conglomerates Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), SM Prime Holdings Inc., Megaworld Corp. and Aboitiz Turn to B3

Affordable housing fair launched today in Makati

Two-day event to offer ‘right property to fit one’s budget’

NEED FOR INFORMATION. The Lamudi housing fair this weekend addresses the lack of information of what is readily available for the affordable market. At the press conference to launch the fair were Bhavna Suresh Chathambeth, CEO of the Lamudi Group and Gabriel D. Laurel, VP strategy and corporate development of Property Company of Friends, Inc.

REAL estate website Lamudi opens today a property fair targeting the country’s affordable housing segment at the Glorietta 3 activity center in Makati City.

To run till tomorrow, the event will gather together property developers and sellers from all over the country to inspect the showcase of affordable properties on tap, and offer to as many Filipinos as possible the right property that best fits their budget.

“Home-ownership is one common aspiration shared by all Filipinos, but due to the continuous growth of the industry and consequent increase in property

prices, this dream is becoming elusive to many Filipinos, especially to those who do not know where to search,” said Bhavna Suresh Chathambeth, CEO of the Lamudi Group (Lamudi Philippines and MyProperty.ph).

“This slice of the market needs most attention not only from the government but from private players as well. That’s why we want to jump-start the work by organizing the very first affordable-focused housing event,” Suresh said..

Fair partners to give free seminars Lamudi partnered with CNN Philippines to bring in knowledgeable people in

the industry to discuss affordable housing.

Lamudi also tapped investment professionals and real estate experts to talk about investing, hassle-free property purchase, and more in a series of free seminars during the event.

The country’s key shelter and socialinsurance agencies—Pag-IBIG Fund and Social Security System (SSS)—will take part in the two-day event. SSS will talk today about investment in foreclosed properties, and how SSS can help during an investment. Pag-IBIG Fund will conduct a home buying seminar tomorrow.

Freebies thrown into the mix

The event is free. Visitors can also get a chance at exclusive property discounts from real estate developers, and win freebies as well as exciting raffle items from the partners and exhibitors.

Foreclosed properties auction and virtual reality in real estate will also available in the event.

The Lamudi fair is the second installment of its housing fair series that started November of 2016. The first edition was attended by more than 5,000 visitors. Guests are expected to double this year as the event will cater to the biggest chunk of the housing market.

LGUs

TRAIN bill sees swift passage LEAD proponents of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill, the comprehensive tax reform package of the Duterte administration, have expressed strong optimism the Senate version of the measure will have smooth sailing in the upper chamber when Congress resumes sessions later this month, with the bicameral committee eventually enacting it by September this year.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, the bill’s principal author, said in about 107 presentations on TRAIN already conducted nationwide, he has answered and discussed the most asked questions about the bill.

The discussions were held mostly with transport groups, youth groups, civil society organizations, people’s organizations, and local government units around the country.

The presentations and other related information initiatives being waged by teams from the Department of Finance “shall have cleared the most misunderstood aspects of the proposal,” said Salceda, vice chair of the House ways and means committee.

The House overwhelmingly approved the measure, which garnered 246 affirmative votes, nine negative and one abstention during its final reading on May 31.

Certified urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte, the measure is seen to deliver a monetary impact of about P354 billion annually, resolve income inequality between the poor and the elite, and further enhance the country’s global competitiveness and credit rating.

The approved TRAIN version consolidated Salceda’s original HB 4688 with Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua’s HB 4774 and several others. It adopted the title and most provisions of Salceda’s bill, including the conditional cash transfer provision and the proposals of the Department of Finance.

Contrary to some misunderstanding and misperceptions by certain sectors, Salceda said the TRAIN measure is “decidedly pro-poor and will in fact deliver a total monetary impact of P354 billion annually on middle income and poorest Filipino households.”

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

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Seniors study free at Umak T HE Makati City Council has passed an ordinance granting free tuition to senior citizens aged 70 and above who wish to pursue a college or master’s degree at the University of Makati (Umak).

Two other newly passed city ordinances have granted incentives to those aged 60 and above who will graduate from any public senior high school in the city, or from college or graduate school at Umak.

Mayor Abby Binay said the city government wanted to help the city’s elderly residents to fulfill their dream of getting their school diplomas.

“We were inspired by two senior Makatizens who gradu-

ated from our local senior high school and university this year.

Through these new legislations, we aim to acknowledge their contributions to society and encourage them to pursue higher education,” Binay said.

The mayor hailed senior citizens who exemplify the belief that age is not a hindrance to education. “They are the pride of Makati and they serve as an inspiration to many, young and old. In turn, we will support

them in achieving their dreams,” the mayor stressed.

Based on City Ordinance No. 2017-063 passed last May 10, Makati residents who are 70 years old and above and who desire to enroll in college or in graduate school, in any course of their choice, will be admitted as scholars and shall be exempted from paying tuition fee at the city-run Umak.

The University of Makati, together with the Makati Social Welfare Department, City Legal Department and City Budget, will be coming up with the implementing rules for the said ordinance.

On the other hand, City Ordinance No. 2017-061 and City Ordinance No. 2017-068 have

granted incentives to residents who are 60 years old and above, regardless of their academic standing, upon graduating from any public senior high school in the city, and from college and graduate school at Umak, These were passed on May 10 and May 24, respectively.

To avail themselves of the benefits under the said ordinances, interested senior Makatizens must present a voter’s certificate stating that he or she is a registered voter in Makati, and a barangay certificate as proof of residence in the city.

Under City Ordinance No. 2017-063, however, enrollees must also comply with additional minimum requirements, including passing the entrance

examination, certificate of good moral character, transcript of records, among others.

Last April 17, Armando Buhay Albes Sr., 78, of barangay West Rembo, finished his degree in A.B. Political Science major in Local Government Administration at Umak.

On April 4, 79-year-old Salvacion Flores Nacario, also residing at West Rembo, graduated from junior high at Fort Bonifacio High School.

At present, senior citizens in Makati receive cash gift from the city government under its BLU Card program, with those who are 60 to 69 years old receiving P3,000 annually; 70 to 79 years old, P4,000; and 80 years old and above, P5,000. Joel Zurbano

GIANT SALAD. Chefs in La Trinidad, Benguet mix part of a massive 1.3-ton salad bowl that served 2,000 people in an event to promote the town’s vegetable industry. Liza T. Agoot/PNA

P2-b Isabela road via coastal towns half finished GSIS sets

By Jessica M. Bacud ILAGAN CITY, Isabela—The construction of the P2-billion 82-kilometer Ilagan-Divilacan road, which will link the four coastal towns in the province and passes through the foothills of the Northern Sierra Madre mountain range, is now 50 percent complete, the provincial government said Friday.

“The road that links mainland Ilagan City to the coastal

areas will boost the economies of these locales, considering Divilacan’s 119-hectare beach and freshwater areas that have lured tourists,” Gov. Faustino G. Dy III said.

Once the road is completed, it will afford the townsfolk easier access in transporting their merchandise and availing of the basic necessities and social services from the provincial government, Dy stressed.

Vice Governor Antonio “To-

nypet” Albano said the road will ease the accessibility of residents in the coastal towns of Palanan, Divilacan, Maconacon and Dinapigue to the mainland.

The road starts in Sindin Bayabo village in Ilagan City and ends in Dicatian village in the coastal town of Divilacan, Albano added.

Lawyer Noel Manuel Lopez, the Provincial Administrator, reiterated there is no existing road that links these areas directly to their neighboring municipalities.

Only planes and boats are the available transportation there, which make it more difficult to reach these coastal towns in times of calamity and disasters.

“With this road project, the economy in the coastal areas will improve,” Lopez said.

According to Forester Geronimo Cabaccan, Jr, Environment and Natural Resources Officer during the 2nd Regional MultiSectoral Forest Protection Committee meeting here, at least 37

km of the 82-km road project is now accessible.

He said the project, started in March 2016, covers Barangays Cabisera 10 and Sinon Bayabo in City of Ilagan and Barangays Sapinit, Dicambangan, Dicatian and Dimapula in Divilacan.

Geronimo said the project contractor employed 654 total workers to complete the project on time, and 85 percent or 556 laborers came from the local communities.

Firm honors 5 LGU Health Champions TO PROMOTE health governance, pharmaceutical firm MSD in the Philippines, together with the Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership and Jesse M. Robredo Foundation, recently honored five local government units as “Champions for Health Governance”, which is now on its third run this year.

The five outstanding LGUs honored as CHGs were: • Plaridel, Bulacan with its Ugnay Serbisyo sa Bayan, which is a monthly initiative that provided basic goods and services to the underprivileged through the grassroots approach; • Salcedo, Eastern Samar for its Health Emergency Management, which organizes trainings in barangays on water sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, mental health, basic first aid, and basic life support; • San Felipe, Zambales for its Health and Treatment Innovation

Drive Kalusugan program that deployed health workers in farflung barangays to conduct free consultations and health education on solid waste management, disaster risk reduction and management, anti-tobacco policies, HIV programs, and anti-dengue and malaria campaigns; • San Gabriel, La Union’s constituency empowerment, which espouses constant dialogues with the community through “Panagrikna ti Umili” (PTU or “Pulse of the Town”), which helped the LGU determine primary needs and encouraged participation in the community’s health programs; and • Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, for its continuous partnership with different stakeholders such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police, to launch projects like Libreng Gupit (free haircuts) and Sagip Mata (eye examinations), as well as offer free medical and dental services.

Vice President Leni Robredo (third from left, back row) joins (from left, back row) Dr. Beaver Tamesis, managing director of MSD in the Philippines, DoH Undersecretary Herminigildo Valle, and Nagcarlan Vice Mayor Amie Hernandez, executive director of Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, in the Champions of Health Governance Awards.

The winning LGUs each received cash grants worth P100,000, which is meant for additional funding for their local health programs.

“Addressing the most press-

ing health concerns in our communities is not something we can do alone. We need to work with like-minded stakeholders to achieve our goals,” noted Dr. Beaver Tamesis, managing director of

MSD in the Philippines.

“The CHG Awards is a true testament of working together for the cause of health, as partners from the government, private sector, Turn to C2

loans for Marawi members

THE Government Service Insurance System opened its emergency loan program in Marawi City from July 5 to Aug. 3 to assist its members and pensioners who have been affected by the armed conflict in the area.

Qualified to avail of the program are active GSIS members working or residing in Marawi City and old-age pensioners living in the area.

A total of 11,128 members and 592 old-age pensioners are set to benefit from the program, which has a total budget of P282 million.

“Since the clashes between military forces and the terrorist group have been preventing the city council to convene and issue the required resolution declaring Marawi as a calamity area, GSIS decided to forego the requirement and immediately offered the loan to help its members and pensioners in the area,” GSIS officer in charge lawyer Nora Malubay-Saludares said.

Members who are availing of the loan for the first time may apply for a P20,000 emergency loan, while those with loan balance may borrow P40,000. Old-age pensioners may apply for a P20,000 emergency loan.

The deadline for the submission of loan application is Aug. 3, 2017.

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LGUs

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

SNAP hydro plant starts November

By Jessica M. Bacud

S

ANTIAGO CITY, Isabela—SN Aboitiz Power-Magat (SNAP-Magat) is set to complete its first greenfield project, an 8.5-megawatt run-of-river hydropower plant in Ramon, Isabela this year.

SNAP president and chief executive officer Joseph S. Yu said the plant is already 85 percent completed and will commence commercial operations in November during his message at

the second Philippine Hydro Summit in Makati.

“This is our first project to come through our greenfield pipeline, so we are very excited. We have been working hard to ensure we

finish on time and within budget, as well as within safety, social, and environmental standards. Barangay Ambatali is also now our host barangay, a welcome addition to what we hope would be a growing number of SNAP host communities,” Yu stressed.

With a project cost of $47.1 million (P2.38 billion), the Maris hydro plant will generate renewable energy by utilizing the water flow from Maris Reservoir into Maris Main (South) Diversion Canal.

Maris hydro is located in Barangay Ambatali, downstream of

SNAP’s large hydro plant, Magat.

The project broke ground in 2015.

SNAP is also the proponent of a bigger hydro project in Ifugao, the 390-MW Alimit hydro. The project is a multi-facility complex comprised of the 20-MW Olilicon hydro, 120-MW Alimit hydro, and the 250-MW Alimit Pumped Storage, and it requires a 42-km 230 KV transmission line to move power from the plant to the grid.

The project aims to combine the waters of the Alimit River and Ibulao River to generate

electricity. The complex encompasses four ancestral domains in the municipalities of Aguinaldo, Lagawe, Lamut, and Mayoyao, with 81 host barangays under these domains, Yu said.

“There are enormous challenges faced by large hydro proponents like SNAP—not least social acceptability, market viability, and complex processes,” Yu added. “But we are gaining momentum in the permitting process so we hope to continue working with the government, indigenous peoples’ representa-

tives, and industry partners.

When managed responsibly, large hydro can power positive change for the country, industry, and communities.”

SNAP Group is a joint venture between SN Power and Aboitiz Power. It owns and operates the Magat hydro that has a nameplate capacity of 360 MW with maximum output of 380 MW, and is located on the border of Isabela and Ifugao.

SNAP also owns and operates the 105-MW Ambuklao hydro and the 140-MW Binga hydro in the province of Benguet.

‘Vizcaya roads built to quality’

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—The Department of Public Works and Highways has assured locals that the national road projects previously implemented in the province have passed the quality standards of the agency.

Engineer Rodolfo Torralba, district engineer of the DPWH’s First Engineering District here, in a letter to Vice Gov. Lambert Galima Jr., said the department’s Central and Regional offices conduct a quarterly quality assurance inspection of projects being implemented in the province, which are consolidated annually.

“Consequently, we have received a high Annual Rating on Quality Control Performance on project implementation,” Torralba said in the letter, a copy of which the Manila Standard was furnished.

Torralba made the report after the provincial board earlier approved a resolution seeking an inquiry on the implementation of various road projects in the province, which allegedly met their “untimely and/or early deterioration.”

Torralba said their 2015 rating on ARQCP contained in a memorandum dated March 18, 2016 showed 83.18 percent, ranking them at 92nd out of the 171 district offices in the country.

ADOPT A TREE SIGNING. Officers and staff of Manila Standard sign the memorandum of agreement with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) of Tabang in Bulacan and the Briquetors Association of the Philippines for the Standard’s adoption of a two-hectare site in Bulacan under the ‘Adopt-A-Tree’ National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In photo are (seated from left) Briquetors Association president Jorge P. Pasagdan, DENR Central Development Management Officer Julita A. Mustapha, NGP Focal Person Cenro-Tabang Isagani M. Navalta, Cenro Tabang’s Roger V. Encarnacion, Standard OIC for Operations Anita F. Grefal, and Standard Publisher Rolando G. Estabillo. Standing (from left) are Lucy Manahan, DMO 3 of Cenro-Tabang, Standard Circulation Manager Edgar M. Valmorida, Standard Advertising OIC Baldwin R. Felipe, and DENR Central Office’s Roy Gulane.

Villages turn to hydroponics, aquaponics BPSU wows Cavite visitors

CLARK FREEPORT—Hydroponics and aquaponics, two modern methods of growing food without using soil, are now being implemented by 900 students, including 100 persons with disability (PWDs) in the surrounding communities of this economic zone.

Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture that uses mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Aquaponics refers to

any system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics in a symbiotic environment.

Pioneered by Dr. Chito F. Sace of the Central Luzon State University, the new farming methods are sustainable because they produce more food with less water, the professor said.

Sace said these farming

techniques use 90 percent less water, as it is just being recycled in a tank. The systems also use a soil-less culture “because the plants receive its essential elements from nutrients and solutions in the water, needed for their normal growth and development.”

The production method uses vertical gardens, and its “personalized model” uses less than a square meter in area at 1.6 meters

in height, with layers of “growing tubes” for leafy vegetables and herbs production under a protected structure, he said.

The beneficiaries of the modern farming technique are 600 students of F.G. Nepomuceno Memorial High School, 216 students of Mabalacat Elementary School in Mabalacat, and 100 PWDs in the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat, Sace added. Romeo Dizon

NV town cashes in on folks’ ‘weigh in’ KASIBU Nueva Vizcaya—This upland town has found a way to generate funds for nutrition program purposes.

The monthly regular “weigh in” among its villagers to attain their appropriate nutritional weight per age has brought in at least P7,000 to the Municipal Nutrition Council.

The system requires a P5 fee for normal weight plus an additional P1 for every kilogram of excess weight among residents.

This is part of the MNC’s awareness campaign to reduce malnutrition cases in the municipality, supported by the Sangguniang Bayan members.

The practice has been hailed by the team of National Nutrition Council evaluators, who recently visited the province in its bid to earn and sustain the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition Program Implementation.

“This is just one of the many interventions that we believe are

beneficial for the implementation of the nutrition program in Nueva Vizcaya because of its fund generation for nutrition program activities,” said Ellen Ruth Abella, team leader of the National Nutrition Evaluation 2017.

She also praised other positive initiatives in the province such as purchase of balance beams, presence of alternative health care, the search for “Idol kong Pamilya, Entrepreneur, Tabulilit,” a no-smoking ordinance, barangay initiative to augment resources, and a sufficient supply of mother and child books.

Other initiatives include the MNC’s focused intervention to families with severely malnourished children, strong linkages with various active organizations and strong support of municipal and barangay legislative bodies through passage of nutrition-related resolutions, ordinances and executive or administrative orders, among others. Ben Moses Ebreo

Firm...

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terior and Local Government, the initiative recognizes top performing local government units for their health governance initiatives that are aligned with the United Nations sustainable development goal of ensuring healthy lives and the promotion of wellbeing for all, and supports the government’s thrust of giving universal healthcare for all Filipinos.

“We at MSD believe that to be

non-government organizations, and the media come together to search and honor efficient and effective health programs executed and led with ethics and integrity at the local level,” Tamesis added.

Supported by the Department of Health and Department of the In-

CHANGING OF THE GUARD. PSupt. James M. Cipriano (standing left) turns over the command flag of

the Nueva Vizcaya Public Safety Company to PCSupt. Leumar U. Abugan, Nueva Vizcaya police director, while incoming company commander PSupt. Marvin P. Foliante stands in attention during the turnover ceremony at their headquarters in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya on Friday. Foliante vowed to rally his men to meet both the challenge of Oplan ‘Double Barrel Alpha’ and the emerging need to increase Internal Security Operations against the rising activities of the New People’s Army in the region. Abe Almirol

a champion and have impactful health programs, one must be willing to innovate—and all the LGUs for this run of CHG Awards exemplify this, as evidenced by the number of lives changed for the better in their localities despite some physical, geographical, economical and financial barriers that they have encountered,” Tamesis said.

In her keynote message, Vice President Leni Robredo affirmed

the need for a multi-stakeholder commitment in providing nutrition and protecting peoples’ health, as she honored the winners and finalists of the CHG Awards for demonstrating excellence in governance for healthy communities.

“We need heroes like our enlightened local executives here today. Hearing everyone’s stories of difficulties and triumphs inspire all of us to find more ways to

conquer barriers and reach out to more people,” said Robredo.

“We have silent public health crises that beg for innovative solutions and even more intense collaboration between all stakeholders. Let’s do this for our children, people, nation, and our collective future,” the Vice President added at the CHG awarding ceremony at the Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Manila.

BALANGA CITY―Officials and personnel of Cavite State University Rosario Campus were impressed with the Bataan Peninsula State University research program and existing income-generating projects during a visit here.

More than a hundred CVSU officials and members of the academe recently visited the BPSU Orani and Main Campuses to examine the latter’s good practices, led by CVSU Rosario Administrator Dr. Jose Lisama.

Dr. Hermogenes Paguia, BPSU director of Research Development Office, discussed the university research program highlighting year-end accomplishments.

“You see what we are doing here in our research program with good result, of course in sync with the university vision through the leadership of president, Dr. Greg Rodis,” Paguia told visitors.

“We are glad that you chose to visit our university for your benchmarking activity,” he added.

Lisama and other officials of the Cavite university said they will closely coordinate with the BPSU to be able to adopt effective school practices.

BPSU director for Production and Enterprises Jose Paulo Tuazon discussed the incomegenerating projects of their campuses, in particular the fishpond and garment projects in Orani Campus.

Innovation Technology and Support Office manager Arlyn Ibañez discussed the functional International Patenting Office and university partnership to protect university inventions and innovations. The office is under the Research Development Office.

Dr. Flora Canare, BPSU Main Campus director, joined in welcoming the visitors from CVSU. Butch Gunio

World IN BRIEF Anti-Beijing lawmakers disqualified HONG KONG―Four prodemocracy lawmakers were disqualified from Hong Kong’s parliament Friday in a move that will worsen the growing fears the city’s freedoms are under serious threat from Beijing.

Former Umbrella Movement protest leader Nathan Law was among the group barred by the High Court judgment in a case brought by the city’s Beijingfriendly government.

It sought to remove them from the legislature for changing their oaths of office to reflect their frustrations with Chinese authorities last year.

The judgment comes after Beijing issued a special interpretation of Hong Kong’s miniconstitution, the Basic Law, to insist that oaths be taken in a “sincere and solemn” manner.

The High Court said the interpretation was “binding” on all Hong Kong courts.

“The word ‘solemn’ bears the commonly understood meaning of being dignified and formal,” the judgment said.

Concerns that China is squeezing semi-autonomous Hong Kong have sparked calls by some activists for self-determination or even independence for the city which have angered China.

The four legislators dismissed Friday were not staunchly pro-independence but two of them have advocated self-determination for Hong Kong.

The interpretation last November was prompted by a string of protests during the swearing in of lawmakers following citywide elections.

Two pro-independence legislators have already been disqualified by the High Court after they inserted expletives and draped themselves with “Hong Kong is not China” flags during their oath-taking. AFP

Singapore hangs drug trafficker SINGAPORE―Singapore on Friday executed a Malaysian drug trafficker despite a plea for clemency from the United Nations and the concerns expressed by rights groups over the alleged flaws in his trial.

Prabagaran Srivijayan was arrested in 2012 after 22.24 grams (0.8 ounces) of heroin was found in the car he was driving when it was stopped at a checkpoint going to Singapore.

He was sentenced to death two years later after being convicted of drug-trafficking. Trafficking certain volumes of illegal drugs into Singapore carries a mandatory death penalty unless certain conditions are met for the sentence to be commuted.

The 29-year-old was executed in prison on Friday, the city-state’s Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

Executions in Singapore are carried out by hanging.

The bureau said the amount of drugs he was caught with “is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 265 abusers for a week”.

He had maintained his innocence and had launched appeals in both Singapore and his home country, including a bid in Malaysia’s Court of Appeal to get the neighboring city-state referred to the Hague-based International Court of Justice.

His appeals in Singapore, including a last-ditch court challenge Thursday and an appeal to the president, were all rejected.

The United Nations had opposed the planned execution, with the UN rights body’s Southeast Asia office this week urging Singapore not to proceed while the Malaysian appeal was still pending.

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

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Judge weakens Trump ban

W

ASHINGTON―A federal judge in Hawaii has exempted grandparents, grandchildren and other relatives of people in the United States from the Trump administration’s travel ban targeting travelers from six majority-Muslim countries.

SPORTS AWARDS. Internet personalities Family Fun Pack attend Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles. AFP

Indian film kicks off New York awards NEW YORK―The International Indian Film Academy fired the opening salvo in a weekend of glitz, glamor and music for its annual awards, sending fans wild with excitement by hosting Bollywood stars in Times Square.

Hundreds of people―overwhelmingly South Asians joined by bemused onlookers, confused tourists and a smattering of Western converts to Bollywood―cheered a fashion show and shrieked in delight when actors Shahid Kapoor blew kisses and Varun Dhawan performed on stage.

The crowd turned into a sea of camera phones and raised arms, a taste of the excitement building among Indian cinema fans in New York, the heart of a tri-state area home to around 1.8 million IndianAmericans.

“It’s so nice, I feel so proud,” beamed Neelam Singh, a 47-year-old software consultant and mother of one.

“It looks like a mini India,” she said of the so-called IIFA “Stomp” party in Times Square.

Living in the United States for more

than 20 years, she and her girlfriends have been planning what to wear for weeks, some jetting in from as far as Atlanta and Panama in the hopes of seeing their idols.

Events kick off in earnest Friday with a concert honoring A.R. Rahman, the movie composer who won two Oscars in 2009 for best original score and best original song for “Slumdog Millionaire.”

That bonanza―together with the awards ceremony on Saturday―will be held at the 82,500-seat MetLife Stadium, an outdoor NFL venue across the Hudson River in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“We need you to pray a little for the rain Gods to be on our side,” joked Kapoor on Thursday with downpours forecast.

The 18th edition of the awards, which some dub the Oscars of Bollywood, comes at a time of growth for Indian film in North America.

The organizers have been on a publicity blitz, ringing in the Nasdaq stock

exchange bell Wednesday, drumming up sponsorship and marketing.

Mohammad Asif, founder of the Bombay Theater in Queens, said that since he set up shop in the mid-1990s, the number of cinemas showing Indian films in the United States has grown from around 15-20 to 200.

He attributed the increase to the thriving Indian economy, bigger film budgets, an increase in the South Asian diaspora, and growing popularity among Afghans, Arabs, Russians and Caribbean immigrants.

Increased cross-over with Indian stars such as Priyanka Chopra having roles in Hollywood is giving India more visibility and global exposure.

“This is really India’s soft power at its best, as we strive to develop our relationship with the United States further,” consul general to New York, Riva Ganguly Das, told an IIFA press conference.

But if IIFA’s hopes to reach out to new audiences by holding its awards ceremony each year overseas, it still has some way to go. AFP

The decision by Judge Derrick Watson on Thursday was a victory for the opponents of the ban, who say it singles out Muslims in violation of the US constitution.

The Trump administration insists the restrictions are necessary to keep out terrorists.

The US Supreme Court had allowed part of the ban to go into effect on June 29, putting an end, at least temporarily, to five months of skirmishes in the lower courts.

Specifically, the court allowed a 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day ban on refugees, with exceptions for people with “close family relationships” in the United States.

The Trump administration defined that to be parents, spouses, children, sons- and daughters-in-law, siblings and step- and halfsiblings.

But Watson found that “the Government’s narrowly defined list finds no support in the careful language of the Supreme Court or even in the immigration statutes on which the Government relies.

“Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents,” he wrote.

“Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The Government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be.”

Watson ordered Homeland Security and the State Department not to enforce the ban on “grandparents, grandchildren, brothersin-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins of persons in the United States”.

The judge also ruled that refugees who have assurances of a placement by an agency in the United States should also be exempt.

Douglas Chin, attorney general for the state of Hawaii, which filed the lawsuit against the Trump administration, welcomed the ruling.

“The federal court today makes clear that the US Government may not ignore the scope of the partial travel ban as it sees fit,” said Chin.

“Family members have been separated and real people have suffered enough. Courts have found that this Executive Order has no basis in stopping terrorism and is just a pretext for illegal and unconstitutional discrimination.”

The Departments of Homeland Security, State and Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Friday.

While the ban itself did not single out Muslims, judges in lower courts had cited Trump’s repeated statements during last year’s presidential race that he intended to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

His original measure, issued by executive order in January, set off chaos at airports and was almost immediately blocked by the courts. AFP

Cook Islands creates Pacific Ocean reserve WELLINGTON―The Cook Islands has created one of the world’s largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.

Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometer (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation’s parliament late Thursday.

Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.

“It’s a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing,” he told AFP. The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC. But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbors, means it has a huge maritime territory.

Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.

He said the marine reserve,

known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.

“When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids,” he said.

“I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up.”

The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.

However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totaling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.

Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.

“Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world,” the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.

“We not only recognize that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals -– it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us.” AFP

SUPERFOOD EVENT. A guest at Sephora’s SuperFood event at Smogshoppe on July 13 in Los Angeles. AFP

World

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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‘White Terror’ recalled in Taiwan

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

China censors scrub tributes to Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo B

EIJING―China’s censors raced Friday to scrub social media networks of candles, RIP and other tributes to Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo as they sought to silence the discussion on the prominent dissident’s death.

The 61-year-old democracy activist died Thursday from liver cancer while under heavy police guard at a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang―but most Chinese remain clueless about his death or even who he was.

A search for news of his death on Chinese search engine Baidu turned up no results and China’s Twitter-like Weibo blocked the use of his name and initials “LXB”.

Even the most obscure homages to Liu on Weibo were removed.

One user who posted “RIP” was advised it had been deleted “because it violated relevant laws and regulations”―even though the post did not mention the activist by name.

RIP is now among the search terms blocked on Chinese social media networks.

Grieving users who had posted candle emojis on Weibo saw them erased. When accessing Weibo on a personal computer the symbol is no longer among the emoticon options.

On the Weibo mobile app, however, the candle was still available but attempts to post it were blocked and triggered a message saying “content is illegal!”.

The Chinese word for “candle” is also barred.

China tightly controls the internet through a censorship system known as the “Great Firewall” and closely monitors social media networks for sensitive content.

Social media sites have been cleaned of comments praising the dissident.

“He is the brave one for this time. The history will remember him whether alive or dead,” one user said in a Weibo post that was later deleted.

Another said: “You, who was just freed, made the world different; we, those who are still in prison, salute you.”

Even a Chinese language article about German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, the last Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody, that had been circulating on the mobile messaging app WeChat can no longer be accessed.

A search for the most commonly used Chinese translation of Ossietzky’s name also returned no results on Weibo but it was not blocked on Baidu.

The circumstances recalled the situation in 2010 when Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while serving an 11-year sentence for “subversion”―online searches for his name and references to his award, including the empty chair that represented him at the Oslo ceremony, were blocked.

Not all online posts were sympathetic to Liu, a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests whose advocacy for democratic reform infuriated the government.

The state-run Global Times daily posted on its Weibo account: “The deceased has gone and people are playing a magnificent show pretending to be sad. We are a group of onlookers eating watermelon for one night.”

The post has been removed but screen shots of it have been widely shared.

As international media descended on the hospital that had been treating Liu for more than a month, most locals appeared to be oblivious about the political prisoner, whose name is extremely sensitive in the Communist country. AFP

LAST BULL RUN. A participant is hit by a bull as others run ahead of Miura’s fighting bulls during the eighth and last bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain. AFP

TAIPEI―When saxophonist Chen Shen-ching was jailed during Taiwan’s “White Terror” political purges, it was music that helped him hold on to his sanity.

Banned from taking his instrument into prison he scrawled songs on scraps of paper and memorized them during his 12 years behind bars.

As the island prepares to mark 30 years since martial law was lifted and it began its journey to become a vibrant democracy, Chen is one of a number of creative Taiwanese who want to ensure those dark days are never forgotten.

Now 75, he continues to sing his prison songs at political rallies and human rights events.

“I hope people will listen, sing them and want to learn more about White Terror history,” Chen told AFP. At 32, with a promising musical career and a young family, Chen was given a life sentence for sedition after joining a group advocating Taiwan independence―taboo under nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.

His father died soon after he was arrested and he penned a tribute song to help him through his grief.

“I taught others to sing it and we often cried,” Chen said.

“For a musician, playing a sad song helps release emotions.”

He composed 20 songs in jail reflecting the inmates’ homesickness and mental anguish.

Chen was freed in 1986 as part of a prison amnesty and slowly managed to rebuild his life in southern Taiwan.

He still wants the self-ruling island to split from China and often performs at pro-independence rallies.

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has said it would respond with force if it ever announced a formal breakaway.

Chen is glad he never wavered from his beliefs.

“I did what I did for my ideals,” he says.

“So, I have no regrets.”

Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to Communist forces on the mainland, but saw himself and his authoritarian government as the legitimate rulers of the whole of China.

Under his rule, political opponents were killed and imprisoned, there was no free press and songs deemed vulgar or proCommunist were banned. AFP

Beijing under pressure to release Liu’s widow SHENYANG―China faced international calls Friday to free the widow of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo after global condemnation over the Communist regime’s refusal to grant the democracy champion’s dying wish to leave the country.

The United States and the European Union urged President Xi Jinping’s government to let Liu’s widow, the poet Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010, leave the country.

Chinese doctors said she was by her husband’s side when he lost his battle with liver cancer on Thursday at age 61, more than a month after he was transferred from prison to a hospital in

the northeastern city of Shenyang.

Liu’s main doctor said he was able to say goodbye to his 56-year-old wife and in his final moments told her to “live well”.

But authorities have restricted her contact with the outside world and her whereabouts were unknown following the death of her husband, a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests whose advocacy for democratic reform infuriated the government.

“I call on the Chinese government to release Liu Xia from house arrest and allow her to depart China, according to her wishes,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

The EU urged Beijing to let Liu Xia

and her family bury the dead democracy campaigner “at a place and in a manner of their choosing, and to allow them to grieve in peace”.

Jared Genser, a US lawyer who represented Liu, said all contact with Liu Xia had been cut off in the past 48 hours.

“I am deeply worried about what’s happening with her right now,” Genser told CNN, adding that it would be hard for the government to still justify holding her without charges.

“The world really needs to rally and mobilize to make sure she can go wherever she wants and that she can bury her husband wherever she wants,” he said.

Liu Xia’s parents both died over the last year, and the poet, who was never interested in politics, has suffered from depression, according to friends.

“After the death of Liu Xiaobo, our most important goal is to save Liu Xia from the bitter sea,” Hu Jia, a Beijingbased activist, told AFP. “We will also use public opinion and public opinion pressure to urge the Chinese Communist Party to open the cage door, so Liu Xia can get free” along with her brother, Hu said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang rejected the criticism of China’s handling of Liu’s death, adding that doctors made “all-out” efforts to treat him. AFP

Protest leader rues Liu’s death TAIPEI―Exiled Tiananmen Square student protest leader Wu’er Kaixi said on Friday the world had “failed to save” Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, whom he described as his mentor.

Wu’er is one of the best-known figures from the pro-democracy movement that took over the square in Beijing in 1989, prompting a bloody crackdown in which at least several hundreds are believed to have died.

He fled China and now lives in Taiwan, but said he had managed to stay in touch with Liu via Skype before his imprisonment.

Wu’er said Liu was a key adviser to him during the student movement before Chinese authorities sent in tanks to crush the peaceful protests.

“The world has failed to save one of the most conscientious and genuine Chinese,” said Wu’er, speaking of Liu who was a professor of Chinese literature at the university where he was studying at the time.

“You can say we tolerated and indulged the Chinese government to kill him,” he told AFP in Taipei.

Liu―who was detained in 2008 after calling for democratic reforms and sentenced to 11 years in prison―died in custody aged 61 on Thursday in a heavily guarded hospital, where he was transferred from prison to treat latestage liver cancer.

Wu’er called on world leaders to put pressure on the Chinese government to release Liu’s wife Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010.

Liu had been one of the main reasons why the movement had remained peaceful and non-violent, he added.

“I’m his little prodigy. He was my mentor,” he said.

Wu’er said the last time he saw Liu was in 1992 because he was barred from returning to the mainland while Liu could not leave.

“His relations with me was really close.

We were like family,” he added. AFP

BASTILLE DAY PARADE. Soldiers dressed as World War I Sammies carry the US flag as they lead US troops marching during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris. AFP

Life

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

TRAVEL AND LEISURE

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

D1

COLORADO’S RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATER

Host to names

in offbeat music genres

The Red Rocks Park and Ampitheater has been a venue to hundreds of performances, from John Denver to The Beatles

By Honor Blanco Cabie

R

ED ROCKS, Colorado—Visitors heard the 84-year-old musician and singer Willie Nelson tell his audience—a mix of local and foreign tourists including some from the Philippines—recall his performance at the open-air Amphitheater here.

“The weather was fine, then it began to rain, then the sky cleared up again, but I discovered the audience never left,” the song-writer, author, poet, actor and activist told the socialized audience, comfortably seated before a big screen.

Easily among the country’s most recognized artists in country music, Nelson—born Willie Hugh Nelson— was addressing the audience through a documentary on the 9,525-seat natural outdoor theater, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Nelson, who sang “Always On My Mind” at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New York in 1990, was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound.

“Always On My Mind” was written by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, recorded first by Gwen McRae—as “You Were Always On My Mind”—and then by Brenda Lee in 1972.

Hundreds of other performers from here and abroad—the first performance at the amphitheater was in 1941, five years after construction began—included The Beatles and John Denver, the latter described by AllMusic as “among the most beloved entertainers of his era.”

It has held regular concert seasons every year since 1947, according to officials.

Born Henry John Deutschedorf, the American musician, singer-songwriter, record-producer, activist, actor and humanitarian, began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s.

Starting in the 1970s, Denver was one

AWAY from the hustle and bustle of the busy metropolis lies a paradise where the blues meet the greens, where each and every moment becomes a most pleasurable experience and where the good life unfolds.

Located in San Rafael, Bulacan, El Masfino Hotel and Resort is just an hour and a half drive away from Quezon City. When the bypass road is finished, it would only take 45 minutes to get to this lush haven.

Boasting landscaped greens and a whole lot of world-class amenities and facilities, El Masfino Hotel and Resort is the perfect getaway for those who just want to relax and unwind and enjoy the finest things in life: Play a game of golf at the Royal Northwoods Golf Course—over 60 hectares of lush landscape with 18 holes.

Golf lessons are also offered, making the sport accessible to everyone.

Indulge in delicious cuisines at the Country Club, where a one-of-akind gastronomic experience awaits.

Choose from a wide array of food and beverages guaranteed to tickle your tummy’s fancy.

Swim all you want, all day long, as you switch between our lap pool and wave pool. Having fun under the sun was never this cool.

Bond with your friends and loved ones while trying out the Obstacle Course, where laughter becomes second nature as you try to out do each

of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and among its best-selling artists, that by 1974 he was firmly established as America’s best-selling performer, 23 years before he died at age 53 on Oct. 12, 1997.

Others who had the opportunity to perform at the 351-hectare Amphitheater, 6,400 feet above sea level, were the Beatles, the English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, who visited the Philippines in the 1960s.

The Beatles’ performance on Aug 26, 1964 at Red Rocks was the earliest notable rock-and-roll performance at the geologically formed amphitheater, the only concert not sold out during their US tour.

The members—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—became popularly regarded as the foremost and most influential group of the rock era, less than a decade after the hip-swinging Elvis Presley ruled the rock ‘n’ roll stage with his “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” among other tunes popular in the air lanes at the time.

Rooted in skiffle beat and the 1950’s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles that ranged from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelic and hard rock, often, in the eyes of music critics, incorporating classical elements and unconventional techniques in innovative ways.

When Ringo Starr returned to Red Rocks with his All-Starr Band on June 28, 2000, he asked if anyone in the crowd were at the Beatles concert 36 years earlier.

On Aug 26, 2004, the East-Coastbased Beatles-tribute band “1964”

The natural rock formations found at Red Rocks, which evolved over the last 250 million years primarily through the process of plate movements, are mainly composed of iron oxide.

A panoramic view of the City of Denver from the amphitheater.

was flown to Denver to re-enact the Beatles concert at the site exactly 40 earlier to the date.

The unique setting has led to the venue becoming a favorite for many performers: Jimi Hendrix played at Red Rocks on Sept 1, 1968, along with Vanilla Fudge and Soft Machine.

Amphitheater officials said the first performance of each season had been the “Easter Sunrise Service,” a non-denominational service

every Easter Sunday.

The open-air Amphitheater is a rock structure, 16 kilometers west of the state capital Denver, owned and operated by the City and County of Denver located in the Red Rocks Park, part of the Denver Mountain Parks system.

Officials take pride in their Red Rocks, whose design consists of two natural monoliths—Ship Rock and Creation Rock—standing 300 feet each, which provide acoustic protection for

Exclusive quick getaway up north El Masfino Hotel and Resort offers world-class amenities amid a lush landscape in San Rafael, Bulacan

beauty of this sanctuary while enjoying other while having immense fun in sweat it out with their friends.

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any performance during any of the four seasons here.

There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind the stage, a big vertical rock angled outwards from stage right, several large outcrops angled outwards from stage left and a seating area for up to 9,525 people in between.

Amphitheater officials said in the first decade of the 20th century, John Brisben Walker had a vision of artists performing on a stage perched on what they called the perfect acoustic surroundings of Red Rocks, which might have been witnesses to the shuffle of Ube tribe in earlier times.

Between 1906 and 1910, Walker produced several concerts on a temporary platform.

From his dream, officials said, the history of Red Rocks as an entertainment venue began.

Aside from the platform, Walker also built the Mount Morrison Cable Incline funicular railway which carried tourists from a base at what today is the parking lot of the amphitheater up to feast on the view from the top of Mount Morrison – the incline operated for about five years beginning in 1909.

Geologically, the rocks surrounding the amphitheater designed by Denver architect Burnham Hoyt, officials said, are representative of the Fountain Formation.

The place was originally known as the “Garden of the Angels” (1870s-1906), and then as “Garden of the Titans” during the Walker years (1906–1928).

But the park had always been known by the folk name of “Red Rocks,” which became its formal name when Denver acquired it in 1928.

The amphitheater’s rocks—mainly composed of iron oxide, which gives them their color red—are named “Creation Rock” on the north, “Ship Rock” on the south, and “Stage Rock” to the east.

As Nelson’s “you were always on my mind” faded out and the big screen before the audience started rolling up the credits, musicians in the audience knew the artists would be playing da capo al fin.

away from their usual activities.

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And at the end of the day, retreat to one of the rooms that guarantee utmost comfort and relaxation.

El Masfino Hotel & Resort was recently featured in ABSCBN’s Tapatan Ni Tunying as one of the top summer destinations for 2017, a testament of its beauty and quality services offered.

According to Michael P. Celis, brand marketing head, El Masfino Hotel & Resort is “your quick getaway up north. We offer day tours and overnight stays for people who just want to take time to reconnect with themselves and their loved ones as they commune with nature. El Masfino Hotel & Resort is also the perfect venue for team building activities, weddings and the like.

Imagine: celebrating milestones at this private sanctuary that’s very Instagram worthy. The good thing—it’s not that far away from the city. Definitely worth the trip” Indeed, El Masfino Hotel & Resort has something for everyone in need of a good, quality break from it all. Best to see and experience for yourself.

For more details, you may like El Masfino Hotel & Resort on Facebook or call 0917-5421865.

Life

D2

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

MERCURY RISING

My Father’s Hometown

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

S

EVENTY-THREE kilometers south of Cebu City is the town of Dumanjug, where my father was born. My grandparents raised him and his seven siblings there where they also went to school until they had to move to Cebu City for their college education.

I remember my grade school years. Dumanjug was a sleepy town where my siblings and I spent the summer months. Our grandparents’ house was along the main road, in front of which was the town’s cockpit. This meant our neighborhood had a festive atmosphere on Sundays, but very quiet the rest of the week.

In fact, it was so quiet that my siblings and I, joined by our cousins who, like us, also spent their summer months there, would play on the main road itself. Danger was unheard of because a bus or a jeepney would pass along the road only around every 30 minutes or so. At nighttime, it gets even lonelier, as we played on the moonlit road without interruption from any vehicle passing by.

Everything was so simple then, yet we had so much fun, running around the town plaza, or walking along the beach right next to it, or targeting with our slingshots the seed pods hanging from kapok trees, or simply telling stories about anything and everything that children love to talk about. It was pure, simple, unadulterated fun.

I also remember that our aunt, the only one unmarried among my father’s siblings, would always be vigilant, seeing to it that we stopped whatever we were doing, to pray, every time the bells at nearby St. Francis of Assisi Church pealed at Angelus. She would also bring us to church often and made sure that we behaved, as we sat ourselves properly in the pews.

We stopped spending our vacations in Dumanjug when we were already in high school. For one reason or another, our hierarchy of preferred destinations changed. In fact, I was already in col-

Dumanjug’s Welcome Plaza

The artist’s impression of the soon-to-be-finished Board Walk

lege when I visited Dumanjug again, and that was upon the invitation of the Town Mayor who asked me to crown the Fiesta Queen. After that, many decades passed before I made another visit, bringing with me my sons, taking them around, to show them where and how I spent my early childhood years.

Fast forward to the present, Dumanjug is no longer a sleepy town. In fact, it is now bustling with activity, enjoying unprecedented growth economically and socially, thanks to the bold and decisive initiatives of young Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica. His youthful optimism and earnest desire to make a difference in the lives of his constituents have accelerated the development of

this once sleepy town, which will soon be declared a First Class Municipality.

Aside from the overall aesthetic improvements of the town proper, and concrete roads in almost all barangays, the Mayor will soon inaugurate the newly constructed hospital, making available better and faster health service to the residents. Sports enthusiasts are happy that the humongous MegaDome, with Taraflex flooring and state-of-theart sound and scoring equipment, ideal for athletic events, will also be officially opened in a month or so.

Since the town doesn’t really have natural attractions to show off to visitors, the local government has finalized plans to transform the town center into

a destination for leisure and recreation. cal Disaster Risk and Reduction ManA beautifully designed food court with agement Office, with three ambulances, an open-air viewing deck on top, will modern rescue equipment, and a Conhouse the present-day mix of refresh- trol Room with video monitors showing ment parlors and food stalls, so that the important premises covered by strategiplaza where these small establishments cally installed CCTV cameras. are currently found will maintain its I’m sure that my late father and his charming appeal. siblings, who have all passed on, are But what I am now grinning from excited about is the YOUR SATURDAY ear to ear, lookplanned boardwalk ing down from Up along the bay, which CHUCKLE There, seeing how a will provide resiMom and Dad were trying once sleepy, dreary dents and visitors a to console Susie, whose dog, and old-looking mubreathtaking view Skipper, had recently died. nicipality has been of the sea, much like “You know,” Mom said, “it’s transformed into a the popular boardwalk in Atlantic young, vibrant and not so bad. Skipper’s probably colorful community, City, which draws up in Heaven right now, thanks to its youththousands of tourhaving a grand old time with ful “head honcho.” ists every day. This God.” Susie stopped crying If only the town up-and-coming atand asked, “What would God could sing, I’m sure traction will have want with a dead dog?” it would blurt out its own complement the popular Frank of food and bevSinatra ditty, “You erage outlets, and will have a colorful doodle that says make me feel so young…”, and I could “I Love Dumanjug,” a perfect spot for almost hear my father, with his smiling eyes, sing along. photo opportunities.

Of course, a very important developFor feedback, I’m at ment is the town’s security and public bobzozobrado@gmail.com safety. Dumanjug now has its own Lo-

Waterfront Hotels and Casinos Moves Up and Ahead OPERATING with the maxim, “We’re at the Center of it all”, Waterfront Hotels & Casinos is gearing up for the projected increase in tourist influx by upgrading its services and facilities to become a true hub of ease and luxury.

The conglomerate of four superb properties – Waterfront Pavilion Hotel & Casino Manila, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino, Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino, and Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao – assures a comfortable stay in any of its rooms and suites.

All of the well-appointed accommodations are equipped with every manner of creature comfort such as plush beds, handsome furnishing, tasteful details and decor, a large flat-screen TV with cable connection, and free Wi-Fi to provide a most exceptional leisure and business experience.

Correspondingly, Waterfront Hotels is beefing up its in-house food and beverage amenities in all four properties to give gourmets and foodies alike a wide array of culinary choices to indulge the appetite and satisfy cravings for excellent food. The properties are likewise equipped with other important facilities such as spacious ballrooms and conventions centers for private functions and business seminars, business centers,

Take a dip in Waterfront Hotel’s pool

executive lounges for those staying the executive suites (at the Waterfront Manila and Cebu hotels), swimming pools for children and adults, and a gym for the health- and fitness-conscious.

Being truly at the “center of it all”, the four Waterfront hotels are conveniently situated in locations that are easily accessible to business, entertainment, leisure and cultural destinations in the cities they are in.

Waterfront Pavilion Hotel & Casino in Manila is located near the central business district of Manila, the US Embassy and government agencies. It is also a short ride away to the commercial areas of downtown Manila and Chinatown on Ongpin street. Adjacent to Rizal Park, it is situated close to such historic and cultural destinations as the National Museum and National Library, the walled city of Intramuros, the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex, and the quaint Malate district. The hotel offers superb international and homegrown culinary treats at Seasons, and mouth-watering pastries and excellent coffee at the Patisserie.

Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino is cradled in a lush garden right at the nerve center of Cebu’s commercial and leisure district. A few minutes

Waterfront Hotels and Casinos takes pride in its convenient location, well-appointed rooms with premier amenities, and exceptional service

away from the Cebu IT Park and Ayala Center, it is an ideal place for business seminars or brief meetings. The hotel boasts seven dining outlets that offer a wide array of scrumptious choices— Uno (international buffet and a la carte menu), Mizu (Japanese), La Gondola (Italian), Tin Gow (Chinese), Treff (bar snacks, spirits and liqueurs), Madeleine (fresh-from-the-oven pastries, coffee and tea) and the Lobby Lounge (local and international a la carte menu). The Pool Aquarius, located at the center of the swimming pool, offers a great assortment of international refreshments and snacks. It also has nine function rooms and twwo grand Ballrooms.

Just a stone’s throw away from the Cebu International Airport in Mactan, Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino in Lapu-Lapu City is the perfect hotel for business travelers on the go. Here, they

can simply walk out of the airport, hold their meetings or seminars in any of the hotel’s function rooms, and leave on the next flight out. But for those who wish to stay longer and experience the beauty and excitement of Mactan Island, the hotel is the best jump-off point to the numerous white-sand beach resorts lining the coast.

It is also near the exclusive Cebu Yacht Club and the Mactan Economic Processing Zone (MEPZ). The hotel serves fine culinary selections at Uno (international buffet and a la carte menu), Lobby Lounge (Filipino and international ala carte menu), and Verandah (light snacks and refreshments, Filipino and international ala carte menu).

Picturesque Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao faces the Davao Gulf and makes an ideal setting for family vacations, reunions, a romantic honeymoon, or even a corporate convention that mixes business

with pleasure. It is also just a few minutes away from Davao City’s burgeoning commercial and business district where SM Lanang and the SMX Covention Center are located. In the hotel, guests can have their fill of flavorsome gastronomic delights in the hotel’s many F&B outlets – Café Uno (breakfast and lunch buffet, and all-day ala carte menu) Pizzaiolo (an array of variations on the pizza, freshly-baked cakes and pastries, and ala carte menu), La Parilla (grilled seafood and barbecues), and Vinta Bar (cocktail drinks and bar).

Evolving and innovating with the changes in the hospitality and tourism industries, and the demands of new lifestyles, the enhanced facilities and services at the 4 Waterfront hotels exemplify a concerted and conscious move to be at the front and center of a luxurious and memorable vacation and business experience.

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

Life Skills to Students COCA-COLA FEMSA Philippines (KOF-PH) and Teach for the Philippines (TFP) recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the continuation of the successful Coordinates for Life (CFL) program.

CFL —as the name suggests—seeks to give children a values roadmap that trains them to deal with everyday situations. The program was developed in Mexico and specifically modified to cater to the Philippines. So far, the program has made it possible for TFP to directly coach over 5,500 students and their families, as well as 3,000 public school educators, on life skills.

CFL consists of four types of workshops that make for a complete journey towards empowerment.

Deciding Your Future applies an experiential method to teach children about nutrition, bullying, peer pressure, and lawfulness. Preparing for Tomorrow trains teachers, parents, and others who have a role in educating children to become better facilitators of child development. Guiding Your Steps is a series of conferences targeting both educators and children, which seeks to resolve common issues that affect children.

Finally, Sharing Roads is a collection of eighteen topics and issues that can be solved as a family, at the school, or in informal groups. It facilitates interaction between educators and children to help develop life skills among children.

“With Coordinates for Life, our public school students are guided towards making better life choices. By augmenting our program with this series of life skills workshops, we hope our children grow up to become critical thinkers and responsible contributors to our country’s progress,” said Elizabeth Zobel, chairman of Teach for the Philippines.

“The workshops address gaps in the education system that are both critical and real,” said Clarissa Delgado, cofounder and CEO of TFP. “We are fortunate that Coca-Cola

FEMSA Philippines asked us to work with them to bring Coordinates for Life to the Philippines as the program is in sync with our goal of providing all Filipino children with an inclusive, relevant, and excellent education. These critical skills exist outside of a regular curriculum, and learning these skills have a direct impact on improving our choices – thereby improving our lives.”

For this coming school year, it is expected that the Coordinates for Life program will provide life skills training to an additional 2,000 students and 40 public school teachers across the country.

During the MOA signing, Fabricio Ponce, CEO of CocaCola FEMSA Philippines, emphasized how the project perfectly realizes KOFPH’s vision of communities empowered through dynamic partnerships with advocacydriven organizations.

“Our company is honored to continue collaborating with Teach for the Philippines, said Ponce. “This renewal of partnership with the organization is a continuation and reinforcement of our shared journey towards shared successes.”

Atty.

Juan Lorenzo Tañada, director of Legal & Corporate Affairs for FEMSA Philippines, also took the opportunity to add that the company has always been about journeys.

“KOF in itself made a journey from Mexico to the Philippines and that Coordinates for Life is a faithful reflection of its corporate philosophy,” said Tañada.

“In Filipino, journey translates to lakbay,” he continued. “And within the word lakbay is another Filipino word—akbay—which means to have one’s arm around one’s companion. This single word encompasses this entire advocacy, symbolizing our company’s bond not simply with our partners Teach for the Philippines, but with the communities involved, most especially the children and their families.”

Hero’s welcome for

LIZA SOBERANO

Teen star Liza Soberano with the Darna licensed statue , designed and produced by Halimaw Sculptures.

F

ANS gave Liza Soberano a hero’s welcome fit for this generation’s newest Darna when she graced the recently held ToyCon 2017 at the SMX Convention Center, where ABS-CBN also formally launched the Ravelo Komiks Superheroes merchandise.

Liza drew the loudest cheers as she formally opened the event via a ribbon cutting ceremony alongside international stars such as Stefan Kapicic from Deadpool, Lindsey McKeon from Supernatural, Karen Fukuhara from Suicide Squad, Charlie Bewley from Twilight, and Kevin Mcnally from Pirates of the Caribbean.

“I’m very happy to be with people who keep our comic industry alive because this is where Darna really started,” said Liza.

Aside from ToyCon attendees, Liza also got the chance to finally meet the Ravelo family when she visited the Ravelo Komiks Superhero booth that featured not only Darna but also Captain Barbell and Lastikman merchandise plus the licensed statues of Darna, Captain Barbell, Lastikman, and Valentina.

“They were really warm and they welcomed me to the Mars Ravelo world. I am really happy to meet them and I hope one day I can pass the legacy and make them proud,” shared Liza.

As a gift, the Ravelos gave Liza the first four panels of the first Darna Komiks with a dedication that read, “The magical stone has been passed on to many and after a long search, luckily you have

Baskin-Robbins’ amazing welcome for

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’

From left to right: Elizabeth Zobel, Chairperson of Teach for the Philippines; Fabricio Ponce, CEO of Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines; Clarissa Delgado, co-founder and CEO of TFP; Atty. Juan Lorenzo Tañada, Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs for FEMSA Philippines

BASKIN-ROBBINS, the world’s most loved ice cream brand, welcomes the world’s friendliest superhero, Spider-Man, with special offers to celebrate his latest big screen adventure, the much-awaited Marvel blockbuster film, Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Buy a double value scoop of your favorite of Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavor and get a free themed waffle cone upgrade.

Promo runs until July 31.

Baskin-Robbins pays tribute to the Spider-Man: Homecoming film premiere with its July Flavor of the Month, Movie Theatre Popcorn, buttered popcorn flavored ice cream with crunch clusters and a salted caramel ribbon.

You can also celebrate the launch of your favorite Marvel film with Baskin-Robbins delicious cakes. Choose from a wide variety of designs, shapes and sizes and ice cream flavors, like the new Cotton Candy n’ Cake, cake-flavored ice cream with cotton candy ribbon and cotton candy flakes.

Celebrate with the rest of the world and join Baskin-Robbins in welcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.

For more information and updates on Baskin-Robbins, check out www.baskinrobbins.ph or their social media accounts: facebook.com/baskinrobbinsph, Twitter, and Instagram @ baskinrobbinsph.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Saturday, July 15, 2017

ACROSS 1 Municipal 6 Man in a mask 11 Cleaning implement 14 Overly trusting 15 German sub (hyph.)

16 Pipe bend 17 Stick-on design 18 Reluctant 19 Narrow inlet 20 Published 22 Disney site 24 Parcels out 26 Kudos 27 San Joaquin Valley city 28 Go below freezing 30 Luau strummer 31 Ascends 33 Laird’s household 37 First-known variable star 39 Toddlers’ perches 40 Insect colony 41 New Age singer 42 Slanted type 44 52, to Livy 45 Rajahs’ wives 47 “Key Largo” star 49 Feel at home 52 Andes ruminant

53 Witless 54 Hologram makers 56 Summer hrs.

57 Ghostly noises 59 Things on a list 63 “You don’t say!”

64 Guru’s domain 65 Gives up land 66 Lubber’s aye 67 Bashfully 68 Carve a canyon DOWN 1 And, to Fritz 2 — Dawn Chong 3 Razor brand 4 Is of use 5 Wrestling holds 6 Many South Africans 7 Band member 8 Thoroughfare 9 Wharf denizen 10 Different ones 11 Maurice’s thanks 12 Mixed bags 13 License — 21 Foot covering 23 Repair 24 Alan of “Gattaca” 25 Cautious 26 Feasible 27 Smoke

28 Wingless insects 29 Movie spool 32 Not pro 34 Delicate hue 35 St. Teresa’s town 36 Simon or Armstrong 38 Composer — Copland 43 Whim 46 Weak 48 Furniture mover 49 Hen 50 Result

51 Thin strips of wood 52 Test, as ore 54 Tennyson’s “The — of Shalott” 55 Indigo plant 58 She loved Lennon 60 Shogun’s capital 61 Sz. option 62 NNW opposite

been chosen to continue Darna’s courage and greatness. Thank you for accepting!”

To cap off her visit, Liza had a meet-and-greet with select fans and gamely posed with them for selfies.

Another highlight in the ToyCon 2017 is awarding of the Pinoy Pop Culture Icon to Mars Ravelo for his significant contributions in the comic industry.

When asked what she thought of portraying Darna, the young actress admitted that doing action is totally new to her and that she is excited to start filming the project.

“I am very excited but I am also nervous because it’s the first time that I would be doing anything like this. I have always been doing romance and comedy films. Doing an action film for the first time is something different and something I am excited to tackle. I am very excited for everyone to watch it,” she explained.

Watch out for Liza as she takes flight as the newest Darna in the movie to be directed by Erik Matti under the production of Star Cinema.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017

G

yrs ago to visit a friend.”

Some welcomed Bisaya, the dialect that Rodrigiuez speaks in the series. @EverDFangirl said, “Tom speaking bisaya... Lingaw kaau! Hehehe.”

The pilot episode Hope and Ponce crossing paths for the first time in a food fair in Davao.with Ponce irks Hope with his “Dabawenyo Dude” attitude.

Back in Manila, Hope continues to look after her family’s chocolate business, at the same time trying to find a heart donor because her congenital condition continues to worsen. Yet, the two are seemed destined to meet each other again. Ponce followed his girlfriend Aileen (Catherine Rem) to the city with the intention of convincing her to go home to Davao with him. Firm with her decision to work in Manila, Aileen took off only to meet a car accident. And as if fate were playing a game, Hope suffers a heart attack.

Viewers can only expect superb performances from the cast that includes Betong Sumaya, Maey Bautista, Ricardo Cepeda, Glenda Garcia, Racquel Villavicencio, Joel Saracho, Geraldine Villamil, Natileigh Sitoy, Kevin Sagra, and Phillip Lazaro.

Produced by GMA Public Affairs, I Heart Davao airs weeknights after My Love From The Star on GMA Telebabad.

MA Network’s new primetime program I Heart Davao debuted on a high note on its pilot episode, beating its rival program and dominating social media on June 26.

Starring Carla Abellana and Tom Rodriguez with Benjamin Alves, the first romantic comedy series shot in Davao lorded over competition in TV ratings, getting a 7.4 percent people ratings (based on overnight data) against ABS-CBN’s A Love to Last. The rival program only managed to get 6.2 percent based on Nielsen Philippines TAM’s Urban Philippines people data.

I Heart Davao also made waves on social media, with #iHeartDavaoPilot becoming one of the trending topics in the Philippines.

Fans celebrated the return of real and reel life couple Abellana and Rodriguez, saying the series gave them a night filled with kilig and laughter courtesy of the love-hate banter of TomCar’s characters Ponce and Hope. @DMamerta shared, “after 3 years, waaaah new romcom for TomCar. Excited!” Another netizen, @shawiedred said, “Waaahhh @gmapublicaffairs thanks for this bittersweet serye of #tomcar grabeehh k in love sina Ponce at Hope @akosimangtomas @carlaangeline d k talaga ito tatantanan from start to finish never mind the puyatan basta for TomCar all the way.”

The beauty of Davao perfectly captured in the show’s beautiful cinematography mesmerized Netizens. Some could not help but reminisce about their trips to the province. @IngeniosusMe said, “Naalala ko tuloy nung nagpunta ako sa Davao

Reel and real life couple Tom Rodriguez (left) and Carla Abellana (center) with 'I Heart Davao" co-star Benjamin Alves (right)

PILOT EPISODE OF

‘I Heart Davao’

DRAWS VIEWERS, NETIZENS

‘Kita Kita’ breaks

ABS-CBN is still most watched network in June

traditional movie norms ROMANTIC comedy films sell plots with the unwritten rule featuring hotshot couple.

But times are changing. The big, young movie going market of today has developed a different take on embracing the idea of falling in live on and off camera.

The people behind Spring Films – spearheaded

by Joyce Bernal, Erickson Raymundo, and Piolo Pascual – makers of the hit Kimmy Dora series and Relaks It’s Just Pagibig, understand this new calling, proving the point by producing a movie that broke the norms and is likely to create a new trend in empowering the rom-com genre.

The touchingly innovative film Kita Kita, starring Alessandra de Rossi and comedian Empoy Marquez, was shot in Hokkaido, Japan.

Empoy’s character is literally starstruck at Alessandra’s, though the latter can’t reciprocate because she’s blind.

Believe it or not, the seeming odd pairing is now the talk of the town. Credit goes to social media for nurturing the idea of someone falling for someone’s affectionate character instead of her physical characteristics.

De Rosssi plays a blind woman who is being taken care of the character played

by Empoy. They’re in Japan and he obviously cares. She seems to be falling for him too, though she does not see him.

Such plot make for a thrilling movie for audiences who will sure root for the two and wishing they end up together even after the eyesight of De Rossi comes back.

The pair is now billed “Alempoy,” with a little punch line to it – “Ang

love team na di mo inakala! or “The millennial love team.” Indeed, it is a love team of the new age.

“The movie is about finding love in unexpected times. Watching it will make us believe that love should be felt, more than seen,” says a movie insider, “ What matters is you have a sense of humor and you truly treat someone special and important.”

In cinemas on July 19, Kita Kita marks the first time De Rossi and Empoy team up for a project.

A follow up movie tacking zombie apocalypse in in the works. Simply put, exciting times are ahead for these two stars who are yet to peak.

Whether Alempoy is going to be a byword remains to be seen. But as far as big step is concerned, the team up is bound for a long, fruitful journey.

Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence in casual chic outfit while on the streets of New York

PAPARAZZI

Jennifer Lawrence wears Elsa Peretti® necklace ON JUNE 21,Jennifer Lawrence was spotted on the streets of New York City wearing an Elsa Peretti® Mesh scarf necklace, a contemporary mesh scarf and necklace in genuine 18k gold, designed by Tiffany & Co. and Italian jewelry designer Elsa Peretti.

Peretti was inspired by the movement and fluidity of organic forms when designing this stunning, versatile mesh, which can be elegantly draped around the neck and shoulders.

The form is malleable and ergonomic in the way it drapes over the body’s contours.

Tiffany & Co. manufactures products and operates Tiffany & Co. retail stores worldwide, and also engages in direct selling through Internet, catalog and business gift operations.

For additional information, please visit Tiffany.com.

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Available in Rustan’s Makati and Rustan’s ShangriLa only.

MORE Filipinos are watching shows on ABS-CBN, particularly in June.

This is based on data from Kantar Media, which showed that ten out of the most watched programs nationwide were produced by ABS-CBN, as the network garnered an average audience share of 46 percent among rural and urban homes versus GMA’s 34 percent.

Leading the list was the Coco Martin starrer FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, which posted an average national TV rating of 35.5 percent. Viewers continued to follow the life of Cardo (Coco) as the program entered its new chapter, which marks Cardo’s journey to seek justice for the death of his son Ricky Boy. Securing the second spot was the network’s newest primetime series La Luna Sangre with its first two weeks posting an average national TV rating of 34.1 percent. Apart from Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla’s comeback on television, viewers also tuned in to Richard Gutierrez’s debut as a Kapamilya, the special participation of Angel Locsin and John Lloyd Cruz, and the charming child stars of the series.

Also bringing excitement to viewers were the much-talked about battle rounds of The Voice Teens (33.9 percent). MMK (33.3 percent), meanwhile, continued to touch the hearts of viewers with its letter senders’ inspiring stories.

TV Patrol, on the other hand, remained as the most watched news program in the country with average national TV rating of 30.3 percent, beating rival program 24 Oras (20.2 percent).

Bringing lessons about love and family to young audiences every Sunday was Wansapanataym with 29.5 percent. Another values-laden

series My Dear Heart (27.5 percent) also touched the heart of viewers with its heart-rending finale, which showed how love can change people for the better and sacrifice for their loved ones.

The thrilling revelations in Wildflower also hooked viewers as it remained unbeatable in its timeslot with a national TV rating of 23.1 percent.

Also included in the top 10 shows are John Lloyd Cruz and Toni Gonzaga’s sitcom Home Sweetie Home (21 percent) that reflects Filipino families’ strength through ups and downs, kiddie gag show Goin’ Bulilit (20.5 percent), and current affairs program Rated K (20.5 percent) led by Korina Sanchez.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN’s primetime block (6 p.m.-12 mn) also hit an average audience share of 50 percent, beating GMA’s 32 percent by 18 points.

The primetime block is the most important part of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment in to reach more consumers effectively.

The Kapamilya network also led the morning block (6 a.m.12 nn) with an average audience share of 43 percent compared to GMA’s 31 percent, the noontime block (12 nn-3 p.m.) with 43 percent versus GMA’s 39 percent, and the afternoon block (3-6 p.m.) with 44 percnt versus GMA’s 38 percent.

ABS-CBN also maintained its lead in other areas such as Total Balance Luzon where it recorded an average audience share of 47 percent versus GMA’s 37 percent, in Total Luzon with 42 percent versus GMA’s 37 percent, in Total Visayas with 55 percent versus GMA’s 28 percent, and in Total Mindanao with 55 percent versus GMA’s 29 percent.