Manila Standard - 2017 July 18 - Tuesday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXXI • NO. 154 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

DON’T GEAR UP. Hundreds of jeepney drivers (above) join Monday a transport strike led by Piston president George San Mateo in Mendiola while members of the No-To-Jeepney Phaseout Coalition gather early for a caravan to protest against the government’s modernization program, with members seeking an audience with President Duterte on Department of Transportation’s modernization project. Norman Cruz and Ey Acasio

Aquino raps bound to fail, Du30 laments By John Paolo Bencito CASES ﬁled against former President Benigno Aquino III will be dismissed soon because the “silly charges” recommended by the Ombudsman were just for show and will ultimately fail, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday. Duterte was referring to the order of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales that Aquino be indicted for graft and usurpation of authority, for assigning his then suspended police chief, Alan Purisima, to oversee the ill-fated Mamasapano raid in January 2015 in which 44 police commandos were killed. In a chance interview Monday, Duterte said that Morales ﬁled the wrong charges against her ex-boss, Aquino, whom she had earlier cleared of homicide charges in the same case. “[The case] wasn’t lacking. It’s wrong at all levels. When [Aquino] makes a pronouncement, he can tell anybody he wants. When the President Next page

Congress sets special meeting on martial law By Maricel V. Cruz and Francisco Tuyay PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will call Congress to a special session on Saturday, July 22, to consider the extension of martial law in Mindanao, a notice sent by Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas to all members of the House of Representatives said Monday. Earlier, lawmakers said they were open to a recommendation by Philippine National Police Director-General Ronald dela Rosa that the President extend martial law in Mindanao. Reps. Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Sur and Harry Roque of Kabayan party-list said the military and the police know the situation in Marawi, which was overrun by Islamic Stateinspired terrorists on May 23. “I think Congress should support it until the problem is solved in Marawi. The government should not waver on this issue,” Evardone said. Barbers, a Mindanaoan, said an extension of martial law would be good for the people of Mindanao. “Yes I will support it in the Next page

Duterte, Morales in ‘war of words’ By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz

‘Ilocos Six,’ Marcos pleas for TRO up at SC en banc

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday told Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales “not to play God and shut up” after she accused him of encouraging people to kill drug offenders.

In a speech before new presidential appointees at the Palace, Duterte scored Morales for appointing herself as the “spokesman of the criminals” even though she was unaware of the magnitude of the country’s drug problem. He also insisted there was no law against threatening criminals. “Do not [be] the conscience of the community. You do not even know that the illegal drug trade has returned,” Duterte said,

By Rey E. Requejo

Carpio-Morales: Much ado...

Duterte: Don’t play God, shut up

directing his speech at Morales. “Since when did you anoint yourself the spokesman of the criminals? Shut your mouth because there’s a problem. I am really infuriated. Look, [the illegal drug problem] has returned,” he added. He also urged Morales, who is related to him by marriage, to be “circumspect.” “Don’t act like a saint. Do not play God and shut up. I am

Rody keeps high ratings in new poll

By John Paolo Bencito DESPITE his declaration of martial law in Mindanao, President Rodrigo Duterte continued to enjoy the trust and approval of most Filipinos in the latest Pulse Asia survey released Monday, which also showed the steady approval and trust ratings of the top government ofﬁcials and key institutions. Vice President Leni Robredo also welcomed her high majority approval on Monday. “We are grateful for and humbled by the continued trust given Next page

THE Supreme Court will deliberate today the petition of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and the six detained provincial ofﬁcials to stop the House of Representatives from investigating the alleged misuse of the provincial tobacco excise funds. The Court has included the petition in its regular en banc session Tuesday said is expected to act on relief sought by Marcos, including the issuance of a temporary restraining order to stop the House committee on good government and public accountability from investigating the purchase of P66.45 million

worth of motor vehicles by the provincial government. The Court is also expected to act on the plea of the petitioners for the issuance of a writ of amparo to protect the rights of the six provincial officials who have been detained at the House for more than a month. Earlier, the House refused to obey an order by the Court of Appeals to free the six officials who had filed a habeas corpus petition. The petitioners—Pedro Agcaoili, Provincial Planning and Development Office chairman; Josephine Calajate, provincial treasurer; Eden Battulayan, Next page

Pre-Sona attack eyed by Reds , ‘Bato’ warns By Sandy Araneta and Rio N. Araja PHILIPPINE National Police Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said Monday they had received information that the New People’s Army was planning to attack Davao before the second State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte. “We have heard that the Left,

the NPA, will make some preSona attacks and harassment in Davao,” Dela Rosa said. “We are preparing for that.” In other developments: • Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Monday they will deliver a counter-State of the Nation Address after President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his in Congress. “Let us wait for the Sona of Next page

Rape joke taken out of context—Du30 By John Paolo Bencito WHEELING THROUGH. An unidentiﬁed motorcycle driver, his wife and their children navigate the other day the ﬂooded road in Barangay Biwang in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat to return home, the only type of vehicles which could negotiate the damaged roads. It was not clear where the family had come from. Amiel Cagayan

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday insisted his rape joke was again taken out of context and that rapists would go to hell

if they raped children and a Miss Universe. Speaking before presidential appointees in Malacañang, Duterte said he never tried to pull off another rape joke when he

spoke about the heinous act in a speech over the weekend. “What I said was, ‘You know, even if you rape a one-year-old or a Miss Universe, just the same Next page

News

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

China province upbeat on PH F By Macon Ramos-Araneta

UZHOU, China―Chinese investors from the capital city of Fujian in this province are bullish on the Philippines as a potential growth area for their investments. The province’s officials told Filipino journalists who visited the province through the Chinese Embassy in Manila and Communication University of China in Beijing that, after Singapore, the Philippines comes in as the No. 2 market for Fujian’s foreign direct investments in Southeast Asia. They also said Fujian, one of the more prosperous and outward-looking provinces of China with a population of 1.68 million, is also the second largest export market in the region. Meanwhile, “News of combat drills in the disputed territories in the South China Sea defies the Asean’s efforts to reduce the es-

calating tensions with a binding Code of Conduct that promotes peace in the region,” Dindo Manhit, president of the international think tank Stratbase ADR Institute, said in a statement on July 17 China’s Air Force said its fighters and bombers conducted “multiple” long-range drills near Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. In an online statement published by Reuters on July 17, the Chinese Air Force said its aircraft flew through both the Miyako Strait, which lies between two southern Japanese islands, and the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines. Last year, trade between the

Congress...

Duterte,...

event the President declares it,” Barbers said of a possible extension. But Roque, a House deputy minority leader, said he would support an extension based on a security briefing the executive department would give the lawmakers. Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of the petitioners against martial law in Mindanao, on Monday reiterated that he and other opposition lawmakers will oppose any extension of military rule by President Rodrigo Duterte. Lagman, during the Samahang Plaridel, Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, said any extension or new declaration of martial law by Duterte can be questioned as it will violate the Constitution. “If there is an extension, it can be questioned. If there is a new declaration, it can be questioned. That is in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has the exclusive jurisdiction to check on the sufficiency, the factual basis of the declaration of martial law or its extension. It’s in the Constitution,” said Lagman. The Supreme Court had ruled against Lagman and other petitioners who had questioned Duterte’s martial law declaration. Last week, ranking defense and law enforcement officials reached a consensus on the need to extend martial law at a meeting in Camp Aguinaldo. The recommendation was forwarded to Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año and subsequently to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who sent it on to the President. President Duterte placed the entire Mindanao region under martial law on May 23 in an apparent attempt to contain the armed conflict in Marawi City perpetrated by Islamic Stateinspired Maute group terrorists. A source said there was no plan to expand the coverage of martial law beyond Mindanao. With Sandy Araneta

avoiding confrontations because your brother is the parent of my son-in-law,” Duterte said. Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Inday Duterte is married to lawyer Mans Carpio, whose father Lucas is the brother of the sitting Ombudsman. Reacting to remarks Carpio made to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, Duterte challenged Morales to show him a law that states that he should not issue threats against criminals. “Now, Ombudsman Morales, find me a law which says I cannot threaten criminals... Find me a law which would bar me for saying, ‘I will destroy you if you destroy my country.’ Because if you can do that, I will step down tomorrow,” he said. In a statement, Morales said she never said it was illegal to threaten criminals. “Ombudsman Morales is amused by so much ado about something she did not say... Her answer was ‘goading people to kill irrespective of the context is, to me, unacceptable,” her office said. “The President should review

From A1

Pre-Sona... From A1

our President. Let us wait what he will say regarding his achievements, in his promises during the campaign and shortly after he assumed the presidency,” Lagman said during the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel. “Second, let us look at his legislative agenda. He has reported priority measures, so let us see if the priority measures will be endorsed by the President to Congress during the second session of the 17th Congress.” • The peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas on Monday said it is preparing for the worst under the second year of Duterte’s presidency. “We have seen a preview of the worst things to come. We know what to do: We fight and defend our rights now and always,” Danilo Ramos, the newly

Rape...

From A1 you will lose your balls and I will kill you’.” Duterte said “What’s wrong? Why do you say I’m threatening people?” In his speech before FilipinoAmerican tourists visiting Davao City late Friday night, Duterte recounted his problem with the 1980s anti-communist group Alsa Masa, who would often ransack houses, rape women and children and take

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Aquino... From A1

said, ‘Come here Alan Purisima. You are my chief of the PNP. Please help me here.’ What’s wrong with that? He was not usurping [authority],” the President said. Duterte said that Aquino, as commander-in-chief, could call anybody to help him fight a criminal operation, even Purisima, who was suspended at that time. “All of those powers are vested in the President,” Duterte said. “The charges… are there to ensure failure.” Aquino’s ultimate shortcoming, Duterte added, was that he left 44 police commandos to die without reinforcements. On Friday, Morales diselected KMP chairman, said in a statement. “Things are taking a turn for the worst under Duterte. His first year is marked with unfulfilled promises, promotion of neoliberal policies and militarism. His declaration of martial law in Mindanao is enough reason for people to mobilize and protest his State of the Nation Address on July 24.” • Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Monday announced the suspension of all classes in all levels on July 24, 2017, during Duterte’s Sona. Dela Rosa said they had not monitored any other threats from the NPA but they were not discounting the possibility. He asked the public to cooperate with authorities in ensuring peace and order in their communities. He said government efforts to reach a peace agreement with the rebel groups were continuing. “Our quest for peace is never ending,” Dela Rosa said. them hostage. He then said he would congratulate a rapist if he would still commit the crime knowing he could die doing so. In a mix of Filipino and English, Duterte said: “What I don’t like is for children to be raped. If you mess up with a Miss Universe contestant, maybe I would even congratulate you for having the balls to rape somebody when you know that you are going to die,” Duterte said. In the same speech, Duterte again

Philippines and Fujian alone reached $6.9 billion. Li Lin, deputy director general of Fujian’s Foreign Affairs office, said the Philippines’ proximity and ties with China makes it an attractive investment market for Chinese industries like agriculture, mining and electronics. He said Fujian and the Philippines were very close. “We would like to cooperate with the Philippines in the areas that we are strong,” Li said. He said the entrepreneurs in the province were also looking into possible investments and joint ventures in the manufacturing sector, electronics, machinery and equipment and chemical industries in the Philippines. Li said they had those investments in Vietnam, Cambodia and in Bangladesh. “But the Philippines is much closer to us and we have a traditional relationship between us. I think the Philippines does not only have the

labor force but a big market for our products,” Li said. He said overseas investments were being encouraged by their companies and investors were being provided with incentives. Zhao Wei Ling, deputy director of the province’s Department of Commerce, said their businessmen were interested in the agricultural sector, labor-intensive industries and the mining sector. She said one reason for the interest in the Philippine market was the success of Chinese businessmen originating from Fujian province. “One of the main reasons for investing in your country is that there are a lot of overseas Chinese who came from Fujian. They are quite successful business people. Henry Sy Sr. and Lucio Tan, they are all from Fujian province,” Zhao said. She said Tan was a Chinese-born Filipino entrepreneur who owned Philippine Airlines, the Philippines’ flag carrier, and other companies

like Fortune Tobacco Corp. and Asia Brewery Inc. His LT Group also had interests in banking and property development. Sy, born in Jinjiang, is a Chinese-Filipino business magnate, investor and philanthropist who owns the SM malls. He is involved in real estate, tourism, banking, mining, education and health care. Tan and Sy are among the wealthiest in the Philippines. In the tourism sector, Li said, the province and the Philippines were also keen on improving tourist arrivals both ways. “We can see there are frequent people to people exchanges on both sides and the Philippines is a major tourist destination for Fujian people,” he said. He said the Philippines was a major destination for Fujian people. On the other hand, Philippine tourists coming to China are also increasing. He said more than 100,000 Filipino tourists visited Fujian province last year.

what she [the Ombudsman] said first,” the statement added. Morales last week said that Duterte’s repeated public calls to kill is “not acceptable” as she accused him of “goading people to kill” with his tough rhetoric against drug pushers and users. “He’s goading people to kill people. That’s a problem,” Morales said in an interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK. “The directive to kill people under any situation irrespective of the context, to me, that’s not acceptable.” Morales also dismissed the usual explanations by Duterte’s spokesmen, who said his tough talk was merely hyperbole. The statement also said Morales stood by her statements to the NHK. In the House, an ally of President Duterte said the articles of impeachment against Morales and Vice President Leni Robredo would likely be transmitted directly to the Senate for trial without passing through the committee on justice. Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, the committee chairman, said the impeachment complaints that could be filed against the two officials would likely get enough support from lawmakers

and not need to pass his panel. “If 97 or 98 of us [lawmakers] will sign the [complaints], these go directly to the Senate as the Articles of Impeachment. So… it may no longer pass the committee,” Umali said at a news conference. Under the impeachment rules, an impeachment complaint needs one-third of all members of the House for the complaint to go directly to the Senate for trial. As soon as formal impeachment complaints are filed either against Robredo and Morales with endorsers, or both, Umali said his panel is duty-bound to act on the impeachment complaints. “I cannot do anything about it [if impeachment complaint is filed]. The mandate of the House justice committee is compliance. With a formal endorser and a recital of facts as alleged, I will take charge and the committee on justice will hear it,” said Umali. Umali also denied any knowledge on the statement of Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles, a nephew of President Duterte and son of former speaker Prospero Nograles, that more impeachment complaints against Robredo are about to be filed next month with an en-

dorser. The draft impeachment complaints against Robredo by lawyer Oliver Lozano and the group of Bruce Rivera and Trixie CruzAngeles have yet to be endorsed by any House member. But Nograles would not say if he would be the one to endorse the complaints, but said he will surely be among the first to read it if such plans materialize. “Let us just wait for the next chapter,” Nograles said. On May 2, Nograles sent Rivera and Angeles away after they presented an impeachment complaint bearing his name as one of the complainants, since it was done without his consent. Because not one of the 292 House members would endorse it, the pro-Duterte group failed to file the complaint before the office of the House Secretary-General Cesar Pareja. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier threatened to file an impeachment complaint against Robredo for alleged betrayal of public trust for her video message to a United Nations event which showed her talking about extrajudicial killings being linked to President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. With Rio N. Araja

missed the charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide against Aquino for “lack of probable cause” even as she ordered the former president to be tried for usurpation of authority and a violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Morales’ move to downgrade the charges against Aquino drew condemnation from the families of the slain police commandos and officials of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, who wanted Aquino to be indicted for homicide. VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez agreed with the President, saying that the usurpation of authority charge was a ploy to dismiss the case against Aquino. He said he

would file a motion for reconsideration with the Office of the Ombudsman. Jimenez likened the case to a bus owner who allows a driver who has no license to drive the bus in which 44 passengers are killed in an accident. “What case will be filed? Reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide,” Jimenez said. Jimenez also slammed Morales for her decision. “Don’t make fools of us, Ombudsman Morales,” he said in Filipino. “We’ve long been made fools by a rotten system.” Jimenez said the police commandos were sent to Mamasapano because of an order from Aquino. Aquino should be charged both criminally and administratively, he added.

Jimenez said if the Ombudsman does not grant his group’s motion for reconsideration, they would bring the case to the Supreme Court. Jimenez said they earlier filed a case, together with the victims’ families and survivors of SAF 44, of 44 counts of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide on July 1, 2016, right after Aquino stepped down as president. A critic of the administration, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, on Monday said Senator Richard Gordon should revive the investigation into the cases of thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings instead of the ill-fated Mamsapano raid in 2015. With Sandy Araneta, Joel E. Zurbano

Rody...

From A1 us by our fellow Filipinos as shown by the higher ratings in the recent Pulse Asia survey,” Robredo said. In Pulse Asia’s June 2017 survey conducted among 1,200 adult respondents, Duterte received an approval score of 82 percent and a trust rating of 81 percent. The poll was taken a month after Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao following the clashes in Marawi City between the military and Muslim extremists. His declaration was challenged before the Supreme Court but the high tribunal upheld its legality. Meanwhile, Robredo maintained her 61 percent approval rating and 60-percent trust rating. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III’s approval ratings remained at 61 percent while his trust rating registered at 58 percent. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had basically the same approval rating of 43 percent, a trust rating of 41 percent. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, meanwhile,

gained a 48-percent approval rating while her trust rating was 43 percent. The disapproval ratings of the country’s top officials varied, or from 5 percent for Duterte to 17 percent for Robredo. Ambivalence toward their performance was most marked toward House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez at 38 percent and least manifest in the case of Duterte at 13 percent. Both Duterte and Pimentel obtained majority approval figures across all geographic areas (75 percent to 95 percent and 54 percent to 71 percent, respectively) and socio-economic classes (79 percent to 84 percent and 60 percent to 62 percent, respectively). Robredo, meanwhile, had majority approval ratings in most geographic areas and socio-economic groupings (60 percent to 66 percent and 60 percent to 72 percent, respectively), with Metro Manila and Class ABC being the exceptions (both at 44 percent). More than half of those polled expressed trust in the Senate (57 percent), the House of Representatives (52 percent) and the Supreme Court (56 percent). With Rio N. Araja

slammed the media perceived as critical of his presidency, including broadcast giant ABS-CBN and the newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer, which announced recently that tycoon Ramon Ang, who is known to be close to Duterte, was in talks to buy a majority stake from the Prieto family. Friday was the third time Duterte made off-color jokes about rape following his earlier remarks about having mistresses. While addressing military troops in

Iligan City in May at the height of the clashes in Marawi City, Duterte said he would back soldiers, even one who would be found guilty of rape while martial law was in operation there. He also sparked outrage at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign after he cracked a rape joke about the deceased Australian missionary Jacqueline Hammil. In defense of Duterte, Malacañang simply brushed off his remarks saying that he was not joking; rather, he was being sarcastic.

'Ilocos Six'... From A1

Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Encarnacion Gaor, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Genedine Jambaro, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; and Evangeline Tabulog, provincial budget officer— also asked the Supreme Court to order their release. The petition named as respondents House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, House committee chairman and Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel and House sergeant-at-arms Roland Detabali. In seeking writ of amparo, petitioners cited the “prolonged interrogations, indefinite detention, coerced confessions, presumption of guilt and torture” employed by respondents in earlier hearings. ]The so-called “Ilocos 6” remain in detention at the House for over one month while Marcos “has been threatened with arrest and incarceration in a ‘detention chamber’ by the respondents if she refused to participate in proceedings where her failure to answer questions in a matter satisfactory to respondents will lead to a similar fate of indefinite detention.” Petitioners also assailed the conduct of the House inquiry, saying it violated their constitutional rights when they subjected them to psychological torture and intimidation. Marcos earlier lamented that the House inquiry obviously stemmed from her political rivalry with Fariñas in Ilocos Norte as she appealed to lawmakers to spare the

Shell wins SC ruling on fuel imports By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court has dismissed with finality the appeal of the Bureau of Customs seeking to collect from Pilipinas Shell Corp. almost P1 billion, representing the total dutiable value of the firm’s crude oil importation in 1996. In an eight-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the SC’s Special Third Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the BoC, which sought to overturn the high court’s Dec. 5, 2016 decision. “The arguments raised by respondent in this pending incident are the very same arguments raised in the petition, which have already been evaluated, passed upon and considered in the Dec. 5, 2016 decision,” the SC resolution stated. “Ergo, the Court rejects these arguments on the same grounds discussed in the challenged decision and denies as a matter of course, the pending motion,” it said. “Acting on the Omnibus Motion [for reconsideration and referral to the court en banc] dated January 20, 2017 filed by public respondent Commissioner of Customs, the Court denies the same for lack of merit.” In its December decision, the high court stressed that Customs was already barred from collecting the dutiable value of the shipment amounting to P936,899,855.90 on the ground of prescription under Section 1603 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. The section provides that “when articles have been entered and passed free of duty or final adjustments of duties made, with subsequent delivery, such entry and passage free of duty or settlements of duties as well, after the expiration of one year, from the date of the final payment of duties, in the absence of fraud or protest or compliance audit pursuant to the provisions of this Code, be final and conclusive upon all parties, unless the liquidation of the import entry was merely tentative.” Besides dismissing the appeal, the high court also denied the BoC’s plea to refer the case to the court sitting en banc. The tribunal said that BoC’s motion was anchored primarily on the alleged applicability of Chevron Philippines Inc. v. Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs to its case. It said that could not be applied to Pilipinas Shell’s case considering the facts and circumstances of the two cases are not the same. The SC said that in the Chevron case, the evidence on record established that the oil company committed fraud in its dealings. “On the other hand, proof that petitioner Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. was just as guilty was clearly wanting,” the tribunal added. “Ilocos Six” and “just bring the fight back to Ilocos Norte.” She also repeatedly explained that the project was aboveboard, even showing to the public Commission on Audit records as proofs that “the project has fully liquidated and there’s never an anomaly or ghost project.” Marcos also shared photos of Fariñas even escorting her during the distribution of the vehicles to local farmers, adding that the lawmaker’s son Rodolfo Jr. and nephew Jeff Erickson even requested mini trucks from the questioned project. She added that there was nothing wrong in procuring the vehicles through a cash advance scheme instead of public bidding, saying such method is a legal and an acceptable option. Several mayors, vice mayors, barangay chairpersons and leaders of farmers’ groups expressed support for the embattled governor. They issued separate resolutions denouncing the threat of detention by the House should Marcos fail to appear in the ongoing investigation being conducted by the House committee on the alleged misuse of tobacco funds. The local executives also urged Marcos not to attend the July 25 hearing of the committee, believing she would not get a fair treatment from the body and will suffer the same fate of the “Ilocos 6” who were cited in contempt and subsequently detained. Marcos pointed out that the original documents of the transactions involved were taken from the Commission on Audit office inside the provincial capitol by a staff of Fariñas.

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TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN BRIEF Nationwide smoking ban starts July 22 THE Health department said Monday that the nationwide smoking ban will take effect on Saturday, July 22 as it urged establishments to create more outdoor designated smoking areas (DSAs) to comply with the requirements of President Rodrigo Duterte’s new executive order. In a Palace news brieﬁng, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said that there will be “no grace period” for smokers to adjust with the EO’s requirements, even if the Implementing Rules and Regulations—the set guidelines to assure compliance with the executive order—were still being ﬁnalized. “We’ll just have to see how the establishments will comply,” Ubial said, adding that local government units will take the lead in implementing the nationwide ban. “Unfortunately there’s a lot of vetting that has to be done with all the key stakeholders, the other government agencies. So it’s taking quite some time to issue the IRR,” she said. Ubial suggested that establishments should put up DSAs outdoors since indoor ones, with their many requirements, are much harder to put up. “We’re advising establishments to actually, hopefully, just establish outdoor designated smoking areas because it’s easier to comply with that,” she said. Indoor DSAs require a nonsmoking buffer zone with automatic door closer between the DSA and the rest of the building or vehicle. It should also not be within 10 meters of doors, areas where people congregate, or air intake ducts. She likewise admitted that it is a challenge for both private establishments and local governments to comply with the executive order by July 22. John Paolo Bencito

VACC founding chair bats for death penalty THE founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Monday reiterated their call for the reimposition of the death penalty in the country. VACC chairman Dante Jimenez, whose brother was murdered during the 1990s by drug lords, called for the death penalty’s reimposition when asked to comment on the Bulacan massacre, saying the three “persons of interest” tagged by principal suspect Carmelino Ibañez, a construction worker, were killed by unknown suspects. A fourth “person of interest” has gone missing. Jimenez said that there are so many killings now in the country because suspects do not fear the law since there is no death penalty. “Do you know why there are so many killings now? Everyday, because there is no death penalty. The legislative is ‘super bagal.’ How many massacres do you want to see in this country? How many killings now?,” said Jimenez. “Many have lost faith in the justice system. In 2006, do you remember [President] Gloria Macapagal Arroyo removed the death penalty. It’s now 2017, is there a change? We are advocates of the death penalty,” he added. Jimenez also said the Bulacan massacre is somewhat “similar”but also not the same, as the Vizconde massacre, due to the several changes of suspects. “There is a similarity. But not the same [to the Vizconde massacre]. Latest on Ibañez, the principal suspect, is that the DNA test is positive. It will now change the color [of the case],” said Jimenez who spoke during the Samahang Plaridel, Kapihan sa Manila Hotel. “The three persons of interests were killed since Ibañez mentioned something. But take note, they are just persons of interests. Question. Who killed them? [the persons of interest]. There are several interested parties here. Sympathizers, victims’ relatives, neighbors, vigilantes. Vigilante groups usually contact family members and ask them if they want to solve the case right away,” said Jimenez. Sandy Araneta

SIGNING FOR PEACE. Photo shows (from left) Al-Hajj Murad, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, President Rodrigo Duterte and Ghazali Jaafar, vice chairman of MILF, make the peace sign with other ofﬁcials during a ceremony where a draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law was submitted to the President at the Malacañan Palace in Manila on July 17, 2017. Duterte offered ‘genuine autonomy’ to Muslim minority to help him defeat Islamist militants who seized the southern city of Marawi. AFP

Duterte commits to support new BBL By John Paolo Bencito

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte vowed to support the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law submitted by the 21-member Bangsamoro Transition Commission on Monday, as long as it remains faithful to the Constitution.

“I commit to support—in front of everybody—my covenant with you that I will support and husband this instrument as it goes in the legislators for its consideration,” the President said in his speech at Malacañang. “And there will be no objections of the provisions of all that is consistent with the Constitution and the aspiration of the Moro people.” Duterte, who later signiﬁed to certify the BBL as “urgent” said the draft bill stands as proof of the government’s resolve to “set aside our differences and stand united to achieve a com-

mon goal of peace.” “This moment is a signiﬁcant step forward in our quest to end centuries of hatred, mistrust and injustice that caused and affected the lives of millions of Filipinos,” the President said. “The draft Bangsamoro Basic law embodies our shared aspiration of a peaceful, orderly, and harmonious nation. After the age of armed struggle and violence, we will soon come up with the constitutionally consistent, legal document that will lay the foundation to establishing the real and lasting peace in

Mindanao,” he added. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front-led Bangsamoro Transition Commission on Monday submitted to Duterte its proposals for a draft Bangsamoro Enabling Law, which is a “20 to 30-percent improvement and revision” of the previous bill which failed to pass in the 16th Congress. MILF Implementing Panel chairman Mohaguer Iqbal said. “All provisions of the BBL are up for revision, as long as it answers our calls for inclusivity in the peace process,” he said. Giving important highlights of the draft BBL, Iqbal said that the BTC has taken into account the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro inked between the Aquino administration and the MILF in March 2014 and the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Ramos administration and the Moro National Liberation Front. Iqbal said that among the important revisions were: inclusion of a provisional gov-

ernment or the Bangsamoro Transition Authority which will serve as the “bridge” replacing the ARMM to a Bangsamoro Federal Government after the BBL passes in Congress, comanagement of metallic and non-metallic resources between the Bangsamoro Federal Region and the national government, socioeconomic reforms, provisions for a plebiscite, in deference to the 1996 Final Peace Agreement and—creation of offices for Christian Communities, Women and Youth. The submission of the new BBL to Duterte will be the end of MILF’s active role in its formulation of the new bill, as all stakeholders would have to wait for the discussions in Congress, which Iqbal expects to be finished at the first quarter of 2018. “The BBL would have to be presented to Congress during President Duterte’s [State of the Nation Address] and we do not have a direct deal on how it will shape up,” Iqbal said.

Aguirre names admin chief as BuCor OIC By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has designated the head of the Bureau of Corrections administrative division as ofﬁcer-incharge of the bureau following the resignation of Director Benjamin Delos Santos last week. Aguirre said that BuCor administration division chief Rey Raagas will supervise the day-to-day operations while awaiting Malacañang’s announcement on the new head of agency. “Mr. Raagas is hereby authorized

to perform functions in relation to the day-to-day operations of the Bureau, functions delegated to the director general pursuant to Department Order No. dated January 27, 2017 and such other ministerial duties that are essential in order not to disrupt public service,” Aguirre said in Department Order No.477 dated July 14. Aguirre exercises administrative supervision over BuCor. The Justice secretary said the designation of Raagas as BuCor OIC will be “in addition to his duties and responsibilities” as administration division head.

Aguirre earlier directed Delos Santos to stay in his post while President Rodrigo Duterte has not acted on his irrevocable resignation, including ﬁnding his replacement, but the latter refused, adding that the DoJ can name an OIC instead. Delos Santos said he decided to quit his post following the resurgence of the illegal drugs trade inside the New Bilibid Prison which he said has made him irrelevant. Aguirre earlier disclosed that the illegal drugs trade has again resumed its activity inside the national penitentiary although he

clariﬁed that it was not on the same level as the previous leadership. Last year, Duterte said 75 percent of all illegal drugs in the country came from drugs syndicate operating at the NBP. The resurgence took place despite the tight security measures being imposed by the authorities at the NBP, particularly at the maximum security compound where a contingent of elite police Special Action Force commandos were deployed to guard high-proﬁle detainees, including convicted drug lords.

Oil firms roll back prices by P.60/li By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL players cut pump prices by as much as P0.60 per liter starting Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world oil market. “Petron will implement the following price rollbacks effective 6 a.m. July 18: P0.20 per liter for Blaze100 Euro 6, VCS and Xtra Advance, P0.60 for Turbo Diesel and DieselMax, and P0.50 per liter for kerosene,” oil giant Petron Corp. said. Petron said the latest price rollback “reflects movements in the international oil market.” Aside from Petron, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines, Seaoil Philippines and Flying V issued advisories of the rollback. Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, meanwhile, cut pump prices by P0.50 per liter for diesel and P0.20 per liter for gasoline ahead of the pack, implementing the rollback at 6 a.m. Monday. The oil firms raised pump prices by P1.20 per liter for diesel, P0.90 per liter for kerosene and P0.70 perliter for gasoline effective July 11. Domestic pump prices follow the movement of world oil prices on a weekly basis.

Probe ordered on killing of Cavite provincial doc By Rey E. Requejo

STARK POVERTY. Residents living under a bridge eat lunch at the Estero de Vitas in Manila on July 16, 2017. The Philippine economy has sustained one of the fastest growth rates in Asia, ofﬁcial data showed on May 18, 2017 which analysts said signalled strong economic leadership from President Rodrigo Duterte even as he wages a deadly drug war. AFP

SECRETARY Vitaliano Aguirre II on Monday directed the National Bureau of Investigation to probe the recent killing of Cavite provincial health ofﬁcer Dr. George Repique Jr. in Trece Martires City, Cavite. In Department Order No. 486, Aguirre ordered the NBI to identify the perpetrators and build a criminal case against them. “The director of the NBI is directed to submit report to the ofﬁce of the undersigned on the development and status of the investigation,” Aguirre said. Police reports said Repique was shot dead by motorcycleriding gunmen in Trece Martires City at 8:30 p.m. last July 11. He was the third govern-

ment physician to be killed this year. In March, Dr. Dreyfus Perlas was gunned down in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte while ophthalmologist Dr. Sajid “Jaja” Sinolinding was killed in Cotabato City in April. The Philippine Hospital Association condemned the latest killing of a physician and called for a swift investigation and justice, describing Repique as a “progressive, strong-willed person” and a “compassionate physician and educator.” “We demand swift retributive justice for our beloved colleague, not only to give his life of service no less than what it deserves and a peace [to] his family,” said PHA president Dr. Jesus Jardin in a statement.

Opinion

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Stranded without options

HE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board has clariﬁed that there is yet no order against unlicensed transport network vehicle service units under ride sharing service providers Uber and Grab.

Some vehicles registered under the two companies do not have certificates of public conveyance; the LTFRB has stopped processing applications for them because of sheer volume. Online, there is a campaign supporting Uber and Grab amid rumors

Adelle Chua, Editor

the convenience they provide riders, even if it means slightly higher prices that the usual cab fare. Commuters who put a premium on their riding experience do not mind shelling out additional pesos to cover surges bethe government will en- cause the alternatives are force stricter measures on horrible specters. They them, forcing the riding either have to deal with public to deal again with taxi drivers or worse enboorish taxi drivers who dure the inconvenience demand additional fees —sometimes, danger— or refuse to convey pas- of the ill-maintained rail sengers on a whim. transits. Uber and Grab have beOther modes of transcome popular over the past portation like jeepneys couple of years because of also offer little consola-

tion. Monday’s transport strike has disrupted class schedules and caused commuting trouble to workers. Jeepney drivers and operators protest the proposed phasing out of units 15 years and older. The government’s transport officials should sort through these messes the soonest possible time. In the case of transport network vehicles, they should strike a balance between regulating the influx of new applications and ensuring that the limitations do not translate to lower supply

and thus higher prices of these services. They should also find a way to make cab operators responsible for the behavior of taxi drivers. Transport is a business, yes, but it is also public service. Jeepney operators should stop making commuters suffer when the phaseout idea had been floated long ago. They should have come up with a plan: Public utility vehicles, after all, need to be safe and cause no harm to their passengers. Finally, we are still waiting for improvements on

the rail system that has been the source of frustration among hundreds of thousands of riders every day. When a student or a worker goes out into the street, he must have enough transport options that he can decide which way is the best and most convenient for him given his capacity to spend. Getting an education and earning a living are already tough exercises as they are these should not be compounded by people’s suffering on the road.

Concurring opinions of San Beda Justices

Noynoy’s chief protector LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio-Morales is an Aquino fangirl and is his chief protector. If we agree on this premise, Morales’ decision to indict former President Noynoy Aquino on the lowwattage charges of graft and usurpation of authority in connection with the Mamasapano Massacre will make sense. Morales, of course, was the Supreme Court associate justice who swore in Aquino after his election in 2010. Aquino’s decision to take his oath before an associate justice was intended as an insult to the incumbent chief magistrate, Renato Corona, whom the new president believed had been appointed in order to protect his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and whom he had marked for politi-

cal execution. By March of the following year, the House of Representatives impeached another key Arroyo appointee, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Aquino replaced Gutierrez with the newly-retired Morales, who would be instrumental in the campaign to convict Corona, while ensuring that he would have two years after he stepped down in 2016 to prepare his own “stay out of jail” strategy. In between her appointment and now, a full year before she is scheduled to retire as Ombudsman, Morales and Aquino’s justice secretary, Leila de Lima, presided over the prosecution of everyone that Noynoy had the hots for, politically. That meant everyone from Arroyo down to agency chiefs identified with the old regime. In the meantime, Morales also protected all of Aquino’s key appointees and his elected cronies who were involved in everything from the pork barrel scam to,

yes, the Mamasapano massacre. Morales, in tandem with De Lima and with the help of the Commission on Audit and the Anti-Money Laundering Council, to name just two agencies used extensively in Aquino’s so-called campaign of “selective

Morales has done everything in her power to protect Aquino, in the time given to her to do it. justice,” threw Arroyo, two senators and host of others in jail for being on the wrong side of the vengeful president politically, mostly on trumped-up charges that have been, for the most part,

thrown out of court. But the biggest service rendered by Morales, who once declared in public that Aquino was absolutely free of corruption, was to acquit Noynoy in the two cases that had the most promise of landing him in jail after his immunity from suit expired last year. I’m talking about the Disbursement Acceleration Program scandal and the Mamasapano killings, which also became known as the SAF 44 massacre after the number of elite police commandos who were butchered by Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in January 2015. Just last March, Morales dismissed the complaints against Aquino in connection with the DAP scam for lack of jurisdiction. Aquino’s budget secretary, Florencio Abad, who masterminded the illegal confiscation of unused government agency funds and who presided over these funds’ transfer to the DAP, which had also been declared il-

legal by the Supreme Court, was indicted for usurping legislative authority—a slap on the wrist that carried the lightest penalty available. Last Friday, Morales once again assayed the role of Aquino’s foremost protector when she dismissed the complaint of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide filed against the former president and decided to indict him only on the infinitely less serious charges of graft and usurpation of authority. Again, Morales showed that she was willing to go all out to protect Aquino by prosecuting him on lesser charges that carried maximum penalties of six months in prison that were subject to bail. *** If Morales is not acting like Aquino’s chief protector, under an administration that can supposedly call the ex-president to account for his sins without any

IN THIS column, the fourth of my series on Lagman vs. Medialdea, the martial law decision, I discuss the separate concurring opinions of Justices Jose Mendoza, Noel Tijam, and Bienvenido Reyes, three members of the high court, who joined the majority in upholding President Duterte’s declaration of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the entire Mindanao. I grouped them together because they are all, like President Duterte, alumni of the San Beda College of Law. In a few years, it is possible that San Beda graduates will be a plurality, if not majority, in the Court and I thought it would be good to group them together to see patterns in legal thinking from this group. In his opening discussions, Justice Mendoza explained the nature of martial law as provided under 18, Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution. Citing the revered constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, he said that martial law is one that pertains to the traditional concept of martial law as espoused in American Jurisprudence. Quoting Justice Isagani Cruz as well, he further noted that the “declaration of martial law has no further legal effect than to warn the citizens that the military powers have been called upon by the executive to assist him in the maintenance of law and order and that while the emergency lasts, they must, upon pain of arrest and punishment, not commit any act which will in any way render difficult the restoration of order and the enforcement of law x x x.” He conceded that the present government must be mindful of the restrictions defined in the present Constitution delimiting its exercise as can be gleaned from the government’s issuances when the Department of National Defense, in its May 24, 2017 Memorandum cited the constitutional safeguards under Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution. On this score, he was of the opinion that for as long as the requirements under the Constitution are met, the president may choose which extraordinary power to exercise in order to address the issues Turn to A5

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Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Aquino must be jailed

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Summing up in Mindanao FORMATION GARY OLIVAR GENERAL Ed Año, the Armed Forces chief of staff, has submitted his report on the security situation in Mindanao to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. The contents of this report, according to President Duterte, are what he will rely upon in deciding whether or not to extend martial law in Mindanao. With a whole week to go before the State of the Nation Address next Monday, the President has enough time to fully reflect upon a decision that he can already disclose in his second annual report to the nation. If he’s inclined to lift martial law, an announcement to that effect would put a perfect highlight on what is expected to be a very wellreceived speech, framed by the record-high ratings he still enjoys after a year in office. There are a good number of reasons why the AFP might support the outright lifting of martial law either on its 60th day, as required, or very shortly thereafter. Among them: Wholesale rout of the enemy in Marawi. True, it still isn’t safe for every one of the thousands of civilian evacuees to return to their homes. Not every building has been cleared, not every sniper post taken out. But at this point, the question is no longer “if,” nor even “when,” but “how soon” complete

WITH the filing of criminal when he used taxpayers’ money to charges—usurpation of author- bribe senators to convict impeached ity and graft and corruption by Chief Justice Renato Corona. He Ombudsman Conchita Carpio created a mongrel called the DisMorales against former President bursement Acceleration Program, Benigno Aquino III for the Mama- later on ruled unconstitutional by the sapano massacre, where 44 mem- Supreme Court. bers of the Special Action Force The DAP was instrumental in imwere killed, two questions come to peaching the late chief justice. The mind: bribe was exposed by Senator JingWill Aquino get his comeuppance goy Estrada. This caused his arrest as the one who had ultimate respon- and detention; it was alleged he was sibility for the death of the men? involved in the pork barrel scam of More importantly, will the fami- Janet Lim Napoles. lies of the fallen 44 finally get jusOther political enemies of BS tice? Aquino—former Senate President It was BS Aquino who made Juan Ponce Enrile and Senator Bong former Police Chief Alan Purisima Revilla were also detained. the chief architect of Oplan Exodus, And while Secretary Florencio where the men were supposed to Abad was charged for the abuse and serve an arrest warrant on Malay- misuse of funds, Mr. Aquino still got sian terrorist off scot-free. Marwan. He Is it not obviwas killed, but ous then how another bomber, the Ombudsa Filipino, esThe Ombudsman man acts as the caped. protector of Mr. At that time, seems to be Aquino? Purisima was protecting him. suspended for *** another case— There is a an anomalous growing condeal with a coucern among rier for licenses! businessmen on the financing of the How can a suspended police of- Duterte administration’s Build Build ficer be in charge of such a sensitive Build infrastructure program. operation? Did not BS Aquino know No less than Ramon Ang, presithis was a violation of the law? dent and chief operating officer of This is the reason I ask: if Puri- the diversified conglomerate San sima and then-SAF chief Getulio Miguel Corp., says that some of the Napenas were charged, why is infrastructure projects, like regional Aquino, who was giving the orders, airports, have been put on hold due any less culpable? It defies reason to a change in approach. and logic! Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan has BS Aquino may now be facing likewise said some businessmen had criminal charges, but I still cannot concerns about whether the governunderstand why Morales is so hesi- ment has the capacity to execute tant to charge Aquino with homicide these large projects. through reckless imprudence. As a For the past 30 years, Ang said, Senate probe found, Aquino is ac- the private-public partnership countable and culpable for the men’s program has been working. Why deaths! change it? For the Ombudsman to simply Under Dutertenomics, in a hysay that the former President may be brid approach to infrastructure guilty of usurpation of authority and projects, the government will first graft and corruption is a recipe for bid the project and then auction dismissal! Who could Aquino have the operation and maintenance to usurped authority from when he is the private sector. The government the President? Sounds stupid, if you will rely on funds coming from ask me. bilateral loans or official developIf Morales must be credible, con- ment assistance. sidering that she was appointed by This, however, will take away opAquino himself, she should charge portunities from Filipino businesshim with homicide through reck- men who have become excited about less imprudence. Nothing less would the infrastructure program. suffice! Ang believes that using ODA Another question is why the SAF funds to build infrastructure projects men did not get help from the army, would make the country more inwho were near them at the time. debted than necessary. For example, This question has not been an- if the hybrid approach used funds swered until now. Who told the from China, Chinese companies military to stand down? I can see will bring in workers, equipment, ceno other with the authority to do it ment, steel, gravel, etc. “That is what than the commander-in-chief, Mr. happened to Africa, India, Sri Lanka Aquino himself. and Vietnam.” Until Aquino is indicted for hoI cannot understand what the micide, I cannot see justice for the economic managers of President SAF 44. Will the administration of Duterte want to prove by a hybrid President Duterte finally give it to approach. The PPP has done well for them? the country for the past 30 years. If it Aquino should go to jail. It’s ain’t broke, why fix it? karma for someone who was so We will be buried in debt! incompetent and vindictive and Government officials proposing hypocritical. the hybrid financing scheme say this *** is the fastest approach to build infraAnother issue for which Mr. structure. Aquino must be held accountable is Are we trying to please China?

FIRST, it was expensive garlic. Now, it’s expensive cement. Senator Cynthia Villar revealed that a cartel of garlic importers accredited by the Bureau of Plant Industry is behind the sudden meteoric rise in the price of garlic in the local market. Like garlic, a looming cartel has been attempting to manipulate the price of cement in the Philippines, with the connivance of unscrupulous elements from the very government agencies supposedly regulating their trade. The Department of Trade and Industry is mandated by law to regulate big industries—the cement industry included—for the protection of the public against substandard or hazardous products, unfair competition, and the manipulation of prices of consumer goods and industrial products. As a rule, the DTI discourages the importation of products which can be manufactured by Philippine industries. Under the economic principle of supply and demand, when the existing supply of products is less than the existing demand for those products, the price of the product increases. The converse is also true—where the supply is greater than the demand, the price drops. Whenever the supply of a product fails to meet the demand for it, the DTI allows the importation of the product. This way, importation stabilizes both the available supply and the price of that product. Importation also discourages

Noynoy’s... From A4

Concurring... From A4

political baggage, then I don’t know what she’s doing. She is clearly engaged in a rearguard action to ensure that Aquino isn’t thrown into jail, something that is understandable, given her close association and previous collaboration with the former president. But letting Aquino off in the DAP case, which involved “only” many billions of government funds is one thing. When Morales decided to inoculate Aquino from suit in the Mamasapano case, she is courting the ire of every Filipino who was outraged by the killing of 44 commandos who were only doing his bidding and who many believe were abandoned by their commander-in-chief, once they had done so. Did Carpio actually prevent Aquino’s further prosecution in the massacre case? Probably not, according to most legal experts, as long as new evidence is presented that will lead to the filing of fresh charges—especially concerning the massive coverup that followed the mass killing in the cornfields of Mamasapano, Maguindanao. But Morales certainly did everything in her power to protect the president who appointed her, in the time given to her to do it. Morales will retire next year, but she can no longer be faulted by Aquino for not keeping him out of jail after that time, when she is no longer able to do so. The important thing is that Morales has proven to everyone that she is Aquino’s good and faithful servant. Never mind if, by keeping Aquino from being properly charged and out of jail, she has proven deaf to the pleas to give justice to 44 elite policemen who could still be alive today, had some other president sent them on their fatal errand.

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

normalcy can return to the damaged city. Lopsided kill stats. At last count, the fatalities on the Maute/ISIS side exceeded 400 and counting, while losses on the government side were less than a hundred. This is only to be expected whenever rebels engage in frontal and positional warfare with a numerically and logistically superior opponent. Ending civilian casualties. What is truly distressing though is the still-uncounted number of civilian casualties, with bodies still being unearthed here and there. The toll this will take on the community’s morale is bound to be heavy. Nonetheless, we can at least be comforted by the thought that this human tragedy will inoculate potential recruits and their relatives to the blandishments of imported jihadist terrorism. Exemplary AFP. Contrary to the doomsday warnings of martial law critics, especially of the red and yellow varieties, the military behaved with utmost decorum, given the circumstances. No mosques were bombed. No abuses of civilians or prisoners were reported. The AFP even went so far as to chide their PNP brothers for promulgating a Muslims-only ID policy in Tarlac, or for sending scalawag cops to Mindanao duty as some form of punishment. As Secretary Lorenzana rightly pointed out, it is precisely hot spots like Marawi that demand the best cops, not the worst ones. International support. The incursion of ISIS into Marawi quickly

persuaded other countries to offer new resources that we can now rely upon. Our closest neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia, arranged to run joint sea and air patrols together with our forces. The United States, though unsolicited, sent firearms and materiel. The Chinese were profuse with pledges of aid, which we are still waiting for them to make good on. The high likelihood of Duterte’s lifting martial law in Mindanao can be gauged from the desperate lengths that yellow media outlets like Rappler and the Inquirer have gone to in order to keep alive the bogeyman of Marcos-style martial law being declared throughout the entire country. It’s pathetic, the sight of grown-ups trying to scare other grown-ups like little children. On the other hand, there is still a residual case that can be made for extending martial law in Mindanao, whether in full or only in the highest-risk areas. Among them: ISIS threat. In the wake of actual complete defeat in Mosul, Iraq and a similar imminent defeat in Raqqa, Syria, the ISIS terrorists have few other places to go. One of them is Southeast Asia, home to many Muslim-majority countries and the never-vanquished Muslim minority of Mindanao. In fact, the Philippines has already been declared as the next battlefront of the caliphate armies. Coming here will be much more convenient for Indonesian and Malaysian recruits to their bloody cause.

Pan-Mindanao terror networks. The entire island is still host to a wide variety of rebellious groups, apart from the mainstreamed MNLF and MILF who are now deeply engaged in the peace process. Incident are still being reported from Sulu and Tawi Tawi to Lanao, Compostela, and Zamboanga. Breaking up these terror networks is vastly simplified by simple interdictory measures like roadblocks—which have already netted a large number of highvalue suspects—as well as aggressive measures like suspending habeas corpus, which buys more time to extract and act upon usable intel from captured rebels. Drugs and politicians. The huge cash hoard discovered in Marawi in the early days of the fighting there can only have come from the drug trade and/or well-heeled local politicians who support the rebels for a variety of reasons. Allowing these politicians to reclaim and again unrestrictedly lord it over their fiefdoms may simply mark the return of instability, increasingly fuelled by the easy money made from drugs. We may see in the next few days how the President has decided to deal with this issue. The country’s recent experience with the trauma of Marawi, coupled with the remarkably high trust reposed in Duterte, should at least help to quickly build public consensus behind whatever course of action he chooses. Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Sabotaging the infrastructure program HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

arising from the emergency. Tijam’s own opinion touched on a discussion of the issue of locus standi. He opined that while any citizen can file the action, the petition should however allege sufficient grounds for the Court to take further action which could be done if there is showing of a prima facie that demonstrates insufficiency of the factual basis in the declaration of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus especially since Court’s review is “to be confined only to Proclamation (No. 216), the President’s Report to Congress, and the pleadings.” Moreover, he agreed with the ponencia that the action questioning the sufficiency of factual basis of Proclamation is sui generis. On the main controversy petitions concerning the sufficiency of factual basis for martial law and the suspension of the writ, the justices offered

the local manufacture of substandard products. When manufacturers of substandard products know that better-quality imported versions of the same product are available in the local market, they are compelled to improve the quality of their products if they want to stay in business. Thus, importation stabilizes the prices of products, and fosters improvement in the quality of locally manufactured goods. Cement is vital to the local construction industry. If the supply of cement in the country does not meet the demand, the DTI authorizes the importation of cement. This way, cement users are protected from price manipulation and exorbitant prices. In the Philippines today, the supply of cement is the business of two local sources. The first consists of manufacturers-importers – big enterprises which operate integrated cement plants in the country, and which are authorized by the DTI and the Bureau of Customs to import cement to augment the volume of their production. The second consists of pure importers—small and medium-scale local companies which do not manufacture cement locally, but are authorized by the DTI and the BOC to import cement to stabilize the local supply. Unfortunately, a looming cartel made up of several manufacturers-importers working in collusion with some elements in the DTI and the BOC now is angling to control the price of cement in the country. The looming cartel keeps the price of cement expensive because that means bigger profits for the cartel. To accomplish this objective, the looming cartel keeps the

volume of locally manufactured cement so low, and makes it extremely difficult for the pure importers to import cement. This way, the low supply jacks up the price of the cement, and the inability of pure importers to import cement keeps the price up. More specifically, the looming cartel has managed to get the DTI through some officials to impose very strict requirements on the importation of cement by pure importers. Under the DTI’s Department Order No. 17-02 (as amended by DAO No. 17-05), pure importers are required to secure an import commodity clearance (ICC) prior to importation of the cement on top of PS marking, ostensibly for quality control. Manufacturers-importers, however, are exempted from this requirement. The exemption afforded to manufacturers-importers is an anomaly because manufacturersimporters and pure importers import their cement from the same foreign suppliers. It’s the same cement! Securing the requisite ICC is a bureaucratic nightmare. Consequently, the cement brought in by a pure importer is detained at the port of entry for several months. Thus, cement having limited shelf life is in danger of getting wasted. Prior to the issuance of DAO No. 17-02, the price of cement in the country was stable. In 2015, a bag of cement cost around P300. With the advent of cement imports which increased in 2016, the price decreased to P219. Prior to DAO No. 17-02, the price hovered to P197. An estimated 720 million bags of cement are needed in the country annually—a volume that local manufacturers cannot meet. Evi-

dently, resort to importation is unavoidable. The legality of DAO No. 1702/05 is being challenged. It is argued that DAO No. 17-02/05 violates due process of law because it is oppressive and capricious, and it was issued without proper consultation with interested parties. It also violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution because it gives an undue advantage to manufacturers-importers who are exempted from securing an ICC. This special treatment for manufacturers-importers likewise violates statutory prohibitions against unfair competition and unfair trade practices. Furthermore, since DAO No. 17-02/05 is a non-tariff barrier to free trade, it is prohibited under the World Trade Organization Agreement of 1994 and the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement. The Philippines is a signatory to both trade treaties. In defending DAO 17-02/05, the Solicitor General argued that unduly large importations of cement will saturate the market. The counter-argument: These can be prevented by limiting the volume of imports during a given period. The ICC requirement does not solve the problem. President Rodrigo Duterte has embarked on a Build, Build, Build program to achieve a “golden age of infrastructure” in the Philippines. With the looming cartel attempting to manipulate cement prices through some DTI officials, there are bound to be unnecessary delays in the implementation of his project. Heads must roll in the DTI and the looming cement cartel controlled by the oligarchs must never be allowed to flourish.

concise explanations on their respective positions. Justice Mendoza noted that the burden to prove the sufficiency of the factual basis lies with the government. This same position was also discussed by Tijam in his written opinion. That being said, all three justices agreed with the ruling by the majority on the existence of rebellion. Explaining his view in this regard, Mendoza said that first, it has been unquestionably established that the ISIS-linked local groups had planned to, and did, invade Marawi City. Second, they were heavily armed and posed a dangerous threat against government forces. Third, the occupation by the ISIS-linked groups paralyzed the normal functions of Marawi and caused the death and displacement of several Marawi residents. Fourth, they sought to sever Marawi from the allegiance of the government

with the goal of establishing a wilayah in the region. Reyes and Tijam both fully agreed; the latter expressing his belief on the existence of probable cause for the President to believe that rebellion was being committed. Reyes argued that the declaration of martial law and suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus are official acts of the President that enjoys the presumption of regularity. “The supposed lack of culpable purpose behind a rebellion enumerated under Article 134 of the RPC is more apparent than real. It is a mere allegation unsupported by any evidence” Reyes said. Citing the President’s report to Congress relative to Proclamation, and earlier military intelligence reports, he then proceeded to enumerate, much like in the majority opinion, the specific facts which clearly demonstrated the existence of

a rebellion. Thus, the President may not be faulted for using everything in his arsenal of powers to deal with the exigencies of the situation. The three justices were one in saying that considering the extant realities on the ground the Proclamation covering the entire Mindanao has sufficient factual basis. Tijam sums up the sentiment of his colleagues who were with the majority, when he said: “Those who criticize martial law are haunted by the abuses of the past and fearful of the potential dangers it may entail. But these apprehensions have no bearing when the noble objectives sought to be accomplished are the protection of the people and the defense of the state.” Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/deantonylavs/ Twitter: tonylavs

News

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

SINAG group wants erring men charged By Anna Leah E. Gonzales THE Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura has urged the Department of Justice to pursue cases earlier recommended by the National Bureau of Investigation against erring Bureau of Plant Industry officials and members of an importers group that cornered garlic import permits and allegedly dictated market prices. “We find it preposterous that the current DA-BPI officials are unaware of the investigation conducted by both the DoJ and NBI at their very office,” said Rosendo So, SINAG chairman. SINAG said the DoJ and NBI investigation revealed that one importers group cornered at least 75 percent of the total garlic importation in the country. The group said local garlic producers were still struggling from the 25-year policy of wanton garlic importation and smuggling in lieu of domestic production. “With only 6 percent of the country’s garlic requirements produced locally, importers and traders that form the garlic cartel continue to dictate prices since there’s no local production to counter the steep price of imported and/or smuggled garlic,” said So. The Philippines currently im-

IN BRIEF Bidder seeks TRO vs PCSO’s P10.9b A LOTTERY systems provider has recently filed a petition asking for a temporary restraining order from a Makati court against the bidding process of a P10.9billion five-year lease for a unified Nationwide Online Lottery System contract of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Documents obtained through a source showed the Philippine Gaming Management Corp.— which claims to be the exclusive supplier and lessor of lottery equipment to PCSO for Luzon —filed for an urgent relief before the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 143 to prevent the state lottery agency’s planned bidding for a new NOLS provider, scheduled to proceed on July 27. Prior to this, a pre-bid conference was held June 20, with 13 prospective bidders participating. It was the same court that granted PGMC’s petition for a writ of preliminary injunction in 2012 for alleged violations by PCSO on its claims to be the “exclusive” supplier/lessor of lottery equipment in Luzon. In its defense against PGMC’s petition in 2012, the PCSO asserted two documents the PGMC continues to question, the Equipment Lease Agreement and the Amendment to the Equipment Lease Agreement neither provides the PGMC with exclusive rights, adding that exclusivity was “repugnant with a government policy that proscribes monopoly power.” PCSO’s contract with PGMC is now nearing expiry, hence the need to procure a new online lottery system and reform it to continue raising and providing funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character.

ports about 93 percent of its garlic requirements. “Dependence on imports has destroyed the country’s ability to produce food. The sad plight that continues to befall the local garlic industry is a glaring manifestation of this reckless policy of wanton importation at the expense of food security and rural livelihoods,” said So. He added: “Some 20 years back, local production of garlic was enough to counter any deluge of garlic imports. Areas devoted to producing garlic in the early 90’s were at 10,000 plus hectares; today, it is less than 2,500 hectares. “More than these numbers, our concern is with the thousands of garlic farmers and their families that have lost their livelihoods. Other garlic farmers opted to shift to other crops like corn or tobacco with their income greatly reduced.” Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol earlier said the government would blacklist 43 garlic importers for failing to import the commodity amid high demand that eventually led to excessive prices in the domestic market. “We will blacklist importers. At the time that we needed to import, they did not import,” Piñol said.

FUND DRIVE. A policeman at the Police District Command inserts money Monday inside an empty water container-turned-coin bank at the MPDC

headquarters along UN Avenue. The law enforcement ofﬁcers started a fund-raising drive for government troops ﬁghting against Maute terrorists in Marawi City. Norman Cruz

House postpones release of legislators’ SALN By Maricel V. Cruz

HE House of Representatives has decided to postpone the supposed release this month of lawmakers’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth as of Dec. 31, 2016, a House ofﬁcial said on Monday.

At a news conference, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, House committee on justice chairperson, said the House leadership created an SALN review committee which he chairs to handle the deliberations and approval of the rules of the 17th Congress in the re-

lease of SALN. Umali said the SALN review committee would want to finalize first the details of the rules, including that of former House members like Vice President Leni Robredo, a member of the 16th Congress, whose old records on SALN are being re-

quested by some individuals. “Since I was designated as chairman of the SALN review committee, I want to go by the rules,” Umali said. “Having 292 of us here as members of Congress...it is so difficult to deal with each and every complaint that may come our way,” Umali told reporters. The Lower House was supposed to release by this time for public scrutiny lawmakers’ SALN as of Dec. 31, 2016. Lawmakers were required to submit to the House’s Secretary General’s Office the SALN documents until April 30, 2017. Umali said the House leader-

Umali played down talks that the House’s refusal to release the SALN release was to free lawmakers from possible court cases involving SALN. “It is much better if it is done in accordance with the rules. The rules of the game must be clear to everyone,” said Umali. Umali also revealed the House leadership would want to integrate Supreme Court rules on SALN requests with the House’s. “I want to start fresh and I want to start anew. And starting fresh and new means there must be a rule,” Umali said.

‘Marawi siege delays visa-free benefits’ By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Group warns on toxic imports IMPORTATION of toxic substances like chemical fertilizer is prohibited under Republic Act 6969 signed into law in 1990 by the then President Corazon Aquino. The law, “An Act to control toxic substances and Hazardous Wastes,“ specifies penalties for its violation, said Bayan Bago Ang Lahat, a private entity determined to disseminate into public focus issues it finds inimical to public interest. The Act notwithstanding, according to a press statement from Gerry Constantino, Babala informant, the flow of toxic substances remains unabated. Chemical fertilizer is acidic and stunts plant growth. “Why import toxic substances when we have equally effective vermicast organic fertilizer that has been proven safe to humans plants and environment?” he asks. In Japan, farmers have minimized the use of chemical fertilizer after a few farmers were hospitalized due to exposure to the toxic substance. Constantino also urged farmers to do their share of nurturing agriculture, noting the Philippines’ wealth in environment and agriculture.

ship could not decide yet what rules should govern in releasing the old SALN records of former House members like Robredo, a former representative of Camarines Sur. As chairman of the SALN review committee, Umali said he still has to decide if there is still a need for plenary approval and publication of the rules upon his panel’s approval of the SALN rules. But Robredo was no longer part of the 17th Congress, and was not covered by the SALN of lawmakers that should have already been released by this time.

NO TO EXTENSION. Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of the petitioners against martial law in Mindanao, on Monday reiterates he and other opposition lawmakers will oppose any extension of the declaration of martial law, as well as a new martial law declaration by President Rodrigo Duterte—at the Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel. Ey Acasio

THE Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office confirmed Monday the firefighting in Marawi City and other domestic concerns caused the delay in the granting of visa-free benefits to Filipino tourists. In a statement, Teco representative Gary Song-Huann Lin gave assurances that as soon as the “relevant administrative and inter-agency procedures and the relevant mechanism including the security check have been in place, Taiwan will announce the implementation of the visa-free benefits. “As a matter of fact, the Marawi siege is only one of the factors in regard to the progress of the visa-free initiatives,” Lin said. However, when asked to elaborate what other “considering factors” and which exactly “security check” they were referring to, Teco refused to comment. “As soon as the relevant administrative and inter-agency procedures and the relevant mechanisms including the security check-list [have been] in place, the Taiwanese government is expected to announce in September the actual date for the implementation for the visafree travel,” Lin said.

Based from a report in Taiwan News, Lin was quoted as saying his government would not provide visa-free entry for the Philippine passport holders until the unrest in Marawi had settled. The firefighting between the Philippine forces and the Maute group, organized bandits claiming to be members of Iraq and Syria Islamic State, had begun in May, after the latter attacked Marawi. The fighting continues even one week before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address on July 24. “We are reviewing the administrative and security procedures to ensure that people like Hapilon don’t enter Taiwan,” Lin said in a previous ambush interview. Isnilon Hapilon, currently at large, is one of the masterminds of the attack in Marawi, burning down the entire city on the Day of Ramadan on May 26. Hapilon, and some of his Abu Sayyaf units, have partnered with the Maute group to carry out the ISIS mandate. The ISIS-inspired local rebel groups occupied the PhilHealth Office and Salam Hospital in Barangay Lilod. They burned three buildings: the Marawi City Jail, LandBank Moncado Branch, and Senator Ninoy Aquino Foundation College.

GMA elected chair of Association for Philippines-China Understanding PAMPANGA Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been elected chairman of the Association for Philippines-China Understanding. In her acceptance speech, the former President said she was honored by her election to an organization which she helped organize in the early 1970s. With Arroyo as co-chairperson of APCU in the 1970s, APCU mem-

bers said her organization played a key role in the establishment of diplomatic relations with China. “First, thank you for the honor of being elected as chair of APCU. For the record, I did not ask for this position. But I did not hesitate to accept it either, if that will help revive an association that I helped establish way before I entered public life and one that I played an active role in until the demands of

public service took over my life,” Arroyo said. APCU is recognized and accredited by China as the official people-to-people organization in the country. Arroyo said it was the late Alejandro Roces, who had served as secretary of Education during the term of her father, President Diosdado Macapagal, who recruited her to help organize the

organization. As one of the founding members, Arroyo said it was through APCU that she came to know many unforgettable personalities, namely acclaimed painter Veronica Yuyitung, artist Jose Joya, writer Adrian Cristobal, Ambassador to Poland Patricia Ann Paez, retired Court of Appeals Justice Angelita Gacuta and Tony Barreiro, the father of media icon Bobby

Barreiro, among others. She pointed out that their biggest benefactor was the late Rufino Dee Unhong, the father of Donald Dee, president of the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines. Arroyo said the revival of APCU was timely considering the need to promote harmony and peace between the Philippines and China. Maricel V. Cruz

Sports

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Cignal, Mega Builders eye lead

2 LOGISTICS switches its title-retention bid a notch higher when it clashes with powerhouse Petron in Game 1 of their Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference best-of-three ﬁnals series today at the Muntinlupa Sports Center. CIGNAL TV Inc. and Mega Builders gear up for what promises to be a fierce duel of unbeaten teams with contrasting styles as they dispute the solo lead—and the first semifinal berth—tomorrow (Wednesday) in a key men’s Premier Volleyball League Open Conference match at the Filoil

Flying V Center in San Juan. The HD Spikers, seeking a follow-up to their recent Reinforced Conference feat, and the Volley Bolt, one of the league’s three newcomers making a big impact in the country’s premier men’s volley league, have swept their first four games in emphatic

Games tomorrow

10 a.m. – Air Force vs IEM (men’s) 1 p.m. – Mega Builders vs Cignal (men’s) 4 p.m. – Creamline vs Power Smashers (women’s) 6:30 p.m. – Perlas vs UP (women’s)

fashions, making their 1 p.m. clash truly a match to watch. But while Cignal anchors its surge on attacks, Mega Builders continues to bank on its blocking prowess in dismantling its rivals. In fact, Volley Bolt teammates Kim Malabunga and Francis Sauri emerged as the league’s leading blockers with 12 and 11, respectively, midway through the single

round elims of the tournament organized by Sports Vision. As a team Mega Builders has produced 40 kill blocks in four games with an average of 2.86 by set. They hope to flash their defensive skills again against the Ralph Diezmo-led HD Spikers, who have dished out 192 spikes, also in four games, with 46.72 percent success. After scraping past veteran team Army in five sets to mark its PVL debut, Mega Builders swept Café Lupe, Gamboa Coffee and Instituto Estetico Manila to zero in on one of

the semifinal berths in the league backed by Mikasa and Asics. But Cignal turned in a more explosive start, blanking Café Lupe, Gamboa Coffee and Army while ripping Sta. Elena in four. Air Force, toting a 3-1 card, also tries to firm up its semis drive as it faces IEM (2-2) at 10 a.m. Meanwhile, Sta. Elena’s Berlin Paglinawan emerged the league top scorer halfway through the elims with 69 points, including 67 attack points, with Air Force’s Alnakran Abdilla and Edwin Tolentino producing 68 and 63 hits, respectively.

Asian Cup triathlon set Aug. 13 OVER 30 elite triathletes are set to race and discover the scenic beauty of Mount Mayon and Albay Gulf as the 2017 Mt. Mayon ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup event fires off on Aug. 13 in Legazpi City. Presented by the City Government of Legazpi, headed by Mayor Noel E. Rosal, Ibalong Festival, and LEGAZPI, this year’s edition is not only bigger but also has become part of the Asian Cup series of the Asian Triathlon Confederation. Triathletes from Australia, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Ireland, Macau, Singapore, South Korea and the Philippines have signed up for the Elite contests. The Philippine contingent will be led by two-time champion Kim Kilgroe, along with national standouts Edward Macalalad, Jonard Saim, Julius Constantino, Paul Jumamil, Mark Hosana, Banjo Norte and Leyann Ramo. Also seeing action are national junior elite members Marcus Faytaren, Nicole Eijansantos, Juan Carlos Abad, John Caleb Barlin, Lucian Alejo, Samuel Ranque, Lauren Plaza, Jacqui Lamparero, Inaki Lorbes, Joshua Averion, Liam Tangan and Austein Morfe. The race will have Standard Distance (1.5 Km swim—40 Km bike—10 Km run) and Sprint Distance (750 Meter swim—20 Km bike—5 Km run) courses that will take participants from the water of Albay Gulf and towards Sto. Domingo and Bacacay along the long stretch of Legazpi Boulevard complete with a constant view of Mount Mayon in the distance before returning to Legazpi City for the finish.

LE TOUR GOES TO CATANDUANES. Le Tour de Filipinas Project Director Sunshine Joy Mendoza (ﬁfth from left) and Gilbert Gualberto (fourth from left), Operations Head of Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento, pose for posterity after the completion of the initial ocular inspection of the province over the weekend. The International Cycling Union race will kick off its ninth edition set from Feb. 18 to 21, with two stages in Catanduanes, birth place of the late two-time Tour champion Jose Sumalde. This marks the ﬁrst time that Catanduanes—upon the enthusiasm of Sarmiento—will host a major sports event. Also in photo are (from left) Ocular Team Assistant Jerry Moyo, LTdF Project Manager Nikka Bacalso, Air21 Bicol Region Head Ed Barrios and LTdF Technical Consultant and Elite National Commissaire Jun Lomibao, along with Sarmiento’s Operations Staff members Sinforoso Balin, Vicente Toledo and Pablo Panti.

Veterans rule 1st race of ‘17 MILO Marathon URDANETA— In true festive fashion, the city of Urdaneta showed its overwhelming enthusiasm in the first race of the 41st National MILO Marathon. Around 12,000 runners hit the streets to race the finish line. Running veterans Julius Sermona and Christabel Martes took the spotlight and placed first in the 21K male and female categories, respectively. They each took home the top purse of P10,000 in cash and a trophy, and booked their slots to the National Finals in Cebu on Dec. 3 to try and claim the MILO Marathon King and Queen titles.

LGR Hoops... From A8 Registration is now ongoing and participating teams have until July 28 to submit their line up. Entry fee for each division is P25,000 with a P15,000 reserva-

In the male category, Julius Sermona clocked in with the time of 1:15:31, followed by Hernani Sore in the second place (1:17:21), and Romulo Ballnas Jr. in the third place (1:20:45). In the female category, Christabel Martes posted a time of 1:23:45, while Rowena Valdez finished second place (1:47:12), and Quipsie Isabel Milagros in third (1:54:10). Despite the lack of training, former national athlete and running veteran Julius Sermona was able to hit his personal target. Having had a hectic spell of activities as an air force member, Sermona made up for the shortage and pushed through the

tion fee and P3,000 cash bond. Interested participants can call mobile nos. 0908-8162829, 09173775629 and 0927-5409731. They can also make their deposit at LGR Athletic Wears, Inc. thru its BDO Account No. 007330052229. LGR Hoops had already

competition with resilience and will. “The first few kilometers have not been easy for me,” he said. “It was difficult to pass through the lead, but I just kept my head in the game which eventually helped me sprint faster in the last eight kilometers.” Sermona believes that joining marathons not only stimulates one athlete’s passion for running, it also provides physical fitness. “Running, for me, is all about health,” he said. “Physical fitness is integral to a runner’s development, especially to the kids and I am very proud to be a part of a community that promotes these values.”

attracted more than 80 teams competing in different divisions and the league is expected to grow more with the inclusion of the Professional’s Division in future events. This means that professional licensed holders like engi-

neers, architects, doctors, lawyers and professors can join the tournament. The league just capped its third season with teams St. Luke’s, Zarks and RJS Construction ruling their respective divisions.

Capadocia, partner make net semifinals FORMER Philippine No.1 Marian Jade Capadocia and Austrian partner Anna-Lena Neuwirth reached the women’s doubles semifinals of the US$15,000 International Tennis Federation Women’s Circuit Amstelveen event in the Netherlands. Both unranked in the main draw, Capadocia and Neuwirth pulled off a stunning 6-0, 3-6, 10-3 win against the German tandem of Dominique Heinrichs and Jennifer Wacker to move into the quarterfinals opposite Stephanie Mariel Petit of Argentina and Ana Sofia Sanchez of Mexico.

Capadocia, a two-time Philippine Columbian Association Open champion, and Neuwirth made it to the semifinals via walkover. Playing against regular campaigner Emily Arbuthnot of Britain and Belinda Woolcock of Australia, Capadocia and Neuwirth, however, absorbed a 6-1, 6-3 defeat in the semifinals. “Nakakahinayang, pero ganoon po talaga. Okey lang po may mga susunod pa naman pong Circuit events,” said Capadocia, who earned 8 points or equivalent to 2,400 local points in the ITF doubles’ rankings.

Cage Champ. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Ofﬁce General Manager Alexander F. Balutan (6th from

left) recently awarded the championship trophy to Atty. Lauro A. Patiag (5th from left), Assistant General for Management Service Sector (MSS) after MSS bagged the PCSO’s 2017 In House Basketball Tournament held at the National Mental Hospital Gymnasium in Mandaluyong City recently. Others in photo are Arnel Casas Gaming and Technology Department Manager and Chairman Sports Committee, Ma.Teresita Carbonel Department Manager for Accounting and Budget, Walfredo Ignacio President of Sweepstakes Employees Union, Ariel De Ocampo Chief of the Draw Division, Jesusa Corpuz Department Manager for Corporate Planning and Orlando Malaca Division Chief Information Technology, Services Department. Joseph Muego

41st National Taekwondo Championships set July 22, 23 THE Philippine Taekwondo Association stages its biggest annual event —the 41st SMART/MVP SPORTS Foundation National Taekwondo Championships—on July 22-23 at the Rizal Memorial coliseum. Around 1,500 athletes or the equivalent of 300 teams from 12 different regions including ARMM, CAR, CARAGA and NCR and all branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police will vie for honors in the prestigious tournament, according to Organizing Committee Chairman Sung Chon Hong. The competition will have two Marcus Taraya of Seton School (left) and Roger del Rosario of Ilocos Sur are two of those expected to categories – advance and novice – in eight divisions, namely, Senior, Jucompete again in the national championships.

nior, Cadet (males and females) and Gradeschool (boys and girls). Each team, composed of 5 athletes and two alternates, will come from all over the country. Among these are Central Gymnasium, DLSU, CSB, Ateneo, UST, UP, UE, FEU, LSGH, San Beda College, UP Diliman, DPS, DLSZ, Las Pinas, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Army and PNP. Members of the Philippine team will also see action for their respective home squads in the tourney sponsored by PLDT, Meralco, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and MILO.

The tournament will utilize the taekwondo officiating system— PSS (Protective Scoring System), ESS (Electronic Scoring System) & Daedo PSS, IVR (Instant Video Replay). The different systems are expected to eliminate human error and upgrade all PTA championships. Elimination matches start at 9 a.m. on July 22, but the opening c e r e mo ny highlighted by the perfor m a n c e of t he Ph i l ip pi ne Demonstration Team will be staged at 1 p.m. on July 23. Martial arts enthusiasts specially children who are interested to learn the sport are invited to watch the competition.

Lascuna seek 3rd PGT title TONY Lascuña gears up for an uphill battle in pursuit of back-to-back crowns and third title on the Philippine Golf Tour as he takes on an elite field the ICTSI Classic beginning tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas. Winner here in 2015, Lascuña boosted his confidence to reclaim the crown from last year’s champion Clyde Mondilla by winning the last PGT event, the ICTSI Forest Hills Championship where he warded off an early final round charge by Jhonnel Ababa, turned back Miguel Tabuena midway through before beating Zanieboy Gialon by three. “I’m good and confident. I just hope my putting will click in all four days,” said Lascuña, who also won the ICTSI Manila Masters at Eastridge last April. But he admits it will take a lot of hard work plus luck to beat a field bolstered by the return of Japan PGA Tour campaigner and Anvaya Cove Invitational runaway winner Angelo Que, along with Mondilla, Gialon, Ababa and a slew of others making up the 75-player roster in the P2 million event sponsored by ICTSI. Mondilla, for one, is out to snap a skid after stringing backto-back victories at Southwoods and Philippine Masters. He struggled to finish tied for fifth at Calatagan won by Gialon then retired in the second round at Forest Hills after a 73-76 effort. Gialon also hopes to sustain his impressive form that netted him a win and a runner-up finish in the last two tournaments of the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

Swimming gold rush for PH in Asean tourney SINGAPORE—Filipino tankers produced another scintillating performance at the pool as they collected four more gold medals in the 9th Asean School Games Sunday at the Singapore Sports School. Following their fiery start on opening day of competition Saturday when they won two golds, the Ilustre swimmers were even deadlier this time with four to raise their total to six in the annual event aimed at promoting Asean solidarity through school sports. Spearheading the second-day gold rush were Maurice Sacho Ilustre and FilipinoBritish tanker Bhay Maitland Newberry. The 17-year-old Ilustre, a standout De La Salle Zobel in Muntinlupa City, lived up to his billing as one of the rising swimming stars in the country by topping the boys’ 100-meter freestyle and 100m butterfly. Ilustre, also the secondary division’s most valuable player in the 2017 Palarong Pambansa, clocked 55.97 seconds in capturing the boys’ 100m butterfly gold over Singaporean rival Rhys Jun Kai NG (56.36) and Indonesian Damanik Alexander (56.41), who took the silver and bronze medals, respectively. His astonishing ASG campaign so far didn’t end there as Ilustre collared his second gold for the day, winning the boys’ 200-m freestyle event. He clocked 1:53.21 in besting Ahmad Fathoni Erick of Indonesia (1:56.13) and Tsien Ee Tan (1:56.29) of Malaysia. Erick and Tan settled for silver and bronze, respectively. Ilustre, in an interview at the sidelines of the swimming competition, said standing at the victory stand gave him goosebumps. “Sobrang saya po talaga. Iba talaga ang feeling kapag pinapatugtog ang ating national anthem during victory ceremony,” he said. He learned the ropes of the sport when he was four-years-old from his dad, Bong. Competing in his first international competition, Ilustre had the privilege to train in the USA for four weeks along with other Filipino tankers courtesy of the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Sports Institute.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Sports

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

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

Perpetual president: NCAA erred Games today (July 18) 8 a.m.- Letran vs EAC (jrs) 10 a.m.- San Beda vs CSB (jrs) 12 nn.- Letran vs EAC (srs) 2 p.m.- San Beda vs CSB (srs) 4 p.m.- AU vs Jose Rizal (srs) 6 p.m.- AU vs Jose Rizal (jrs)

Switzerland’s Roger Federer celebrates after winning against Croatia’s Marin Cilic during their men’s singles ﬁnal match on the last day of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Federer won, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. AFP

Wimby champion Federer wants to play until he’s 40 L ONDON—Buoyed by his record-setting eighth Wimbledon title, Roger Federer warned rivals Monday that he could play until he’s 40, spearheading a late-life era of supremacy alongside Rafael Nadal.

Federer eased past injury-hit Marin Cilic to become the oldest Wimbledon men’s champion of the modern era on Sunday, breaking the tie for seven All England Club titles he had shared with Pete Sampras since his last triumph in 2012. It also gave him a 19th Grand Slam title in his 29th final at the majors. With his 36th birthday just three weeks away Federer believes that he could still be playing the tournament when he’s 40. “You would think so, if health permitting and everything is okay,” said Federer, who won his first Wimbledon title in 2003.

His confidence in his longevity is based on the radical transformation he’s made to his playing schedule since his semi-final defeat to Milos Raonic at Wimbledon in 2016. He immediately shut down his season, missing the Olympics and US Open, to rest a knee injury. As a consequence, his world ranking slumped to 17 in January, his lowest since 2000. But the gamble paid off as a rejuvenated Federer won a fifth Australian Open on his return before adding back-to-back Masters at Indian Wells and Miami.

He skipped the clay court season in the knowledge that a fully-fit Nadal was always likely to dominate the French Open. Back on grass, Federer won a ninth Halle title before easing to his stunning Wimbledon landmark. Wimbledon, where he became the first man to win the trophy without dropping a set since Bjorn Borg in 1976, was only his seventh tournament of 2017. By contrast, the unfortunate Cilic was playing his 15th, so it was hardly surprising that wear and tear contributed to his downfall, albeit in the shape of a humble but debilitating blister. Federer’s match-win record for 2017 now stands at 31-2. His appearances on the tour will remain limited. He hinted he may sit out the Montreal Masters and play only in Cincinnati before

an assault on a sixth US Open where he hasn’t won since 2008. Eager to play As always, it’s a decision he’ll make with those closest to him just as he did when he took his six-month break in 2016. “I did ask them the question sincerely, to everybody on my team, if they thought I could win majors again,” Federer explained. “Basically the answer was always the same from them: that they thought if you’re 100% healthy and you’re well-prepared, you’re eager to play, then anything’s possible. “That’s how it played out, so they were all right. I believed them. I had the same feeling. I think that’s why the break last year was necessary to reassess and get back to 100% physically.” Federer is also within touching distance of returning to the world number one ranking by the end of the year. AFP

KIA hires former GlobalPort import

PH team’s challenge is how to be cohesive By Peter Atencio

By Jeric Lopez KIA Picanto finally has an official import for the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup. After original choice Chane Behanan was measured over the height limit last week, Kia scrambled to look for a replacement with less than a week before the opening of the season-ending conference and it was able to find one, a familiar face. The Picanto are tapping former GlobalPort import Markeith Cummings to be their reinforcement. This was right in the nick of time as Kia is scheduled to play Phoenix in the initial game of the tournament tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. Cummings suited up for the Batang Pier in the same tournament four years ago in 2013, helping his team then make the quarterfinals. Aside from that, Cummings has been a veteran in the NBA DLeague. He will have an acid test right away in his first game back as he is set to face returning prolific import Eugene Phelps of the Fuel Masters.

PERPETUAL Help Chief Executive Officer and president Antonio Tamayo yesterday said the NCAA committed a mistake when it allowed the Perpetual Help-St. Benilde game last Tuesday to continue despite the knowledge that the Altas wore the wrong uniform. “They were wrong to allow our team to play and penalized us twice by slapping us a technical foul and gave the other team a free throw before the game started and then forfeit it later,” said Tamayo, who added that the NCAA should have allowed league commissioner Arturo “Bai” Cristobal to make the decision. “The league should empower Commissioner Bai Cristobal and let him decide anything related to basketball matters,” he said. “I believe they should not forfeit the game under the process undertaken by the commissioner.” Perpetual Help lodged the protest Wednesday as it seeks to overturn the NCAA decision to forfeit its 69-65 victory over St. Benide. At press time, the Management Committee chaired by Fr. Glyn Ortega, OAR, of host San Sebastian was holding an emergency meeting seeking to find a resolution of the issue. The forfeiture came after the Altas wore their dark maroon uniform instead of the designated white jersey. The Mancom also forfeited Perpetual Help’s juniors’ game against La Salle-Greenhills, which actually won, 64-60. Tamayo said they admitted their mistake and believes the game should have been defaulted outright. Instead, the game pushed through resulting in forfeiture. Meanwhile, Cameroonian cagers Hamadou Laminou and Sydney Onwuberre are expected to put up big performances again as the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals meet the Letran Knights at 12 noon today at the Arena in San Juan. Posting their second win will allow them to join the Lyceum Pirates in the lead of the 93rd NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Philippine national team members are shown with Senator Allan Peter Cayetano. Roman Prospero

Gilas PH whips Chinese Taipei B, 93-82 KEVIN Ferrer’s hot hands after the halftime break fueled a scoring attack that powered Gilas Pilipinas to a 93-82 demolition of Chinese Taipei B, 93-82, Monday in the 39th William Jones Cup basketball tournament at the Taipei Peace International Basketball Hall, Taipei.

Ferrer scored off Kiefer Ravena’s assist at the start of the third, touching off 9-0 run to open the third period and sending the Philippines on their way to their second win in three games. His basket forced a 44-all tie, and from there, Gilas went on nurse a 5344 edge.

Gilas has a 2-1 win-loss record to share second place with Lithuania and Iraq. The team is behind unbeaten Canada (3-0) in the league standings. Jio Jalalon tallied 13 points and five assists, while Ravena contributed 10 points, seven assists, and two steals. Peter Atencio

ADJUSTING to each other’s style of play will be a challenge that members of the Philippine national women’s volleyball team is taking on. Team skipper Mika Reyes said this on the eve of their departure for Japan. “Panibagong adjustment ito para sa amin. Yes, magagaling (teammates), individually. Ang pinakamahirap kung paano kami mag-jell as a team,” said Reyes. The nationals leave for Japan today and will start training with spikers from elite clubs and universities in Japan this week. They will be Kobe and Osaka from July 18 to Aug. 2. Their presence there is part of their preparations for the 19th AVC Asian Senior Women’s Championship set from Aug. 9 to 17 in Binan City and Muntinlupa City and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur

from Aug. 19 to 31. Early Monday, they had a breakfast sendoff with Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano at the Orchid Gardens Suite in Vito Cruz, Manila. In their first week in Osaka, the lady spikers will train with the first division squad Okayama Seagulls in the morning before they have tuneup games in the afternoon. The following day in Kobe, they will have trainings and tuneup matches with players from Ryokoku University, the Osaka Superiors, Shinwa University and Osaka University. The nationals will be skippered by Mika Reyes and Abigail Marano and will be composed of Denise Lazaro, Kim Fajardo, Rhea Dimaculangan and Maika Ortiz. Also part of the team are Genevieve Casugod, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Jaja Santiago, Alyssa Valdez, Frances Molina, Dawn Macandili and newcomer Kim Dy.

LGR Hoops opens Season 4 on Aug. 12 LGR Hoops, the fastest growing commercial league for people from all walks of life, is opening its Season 4 on Augu. 12 to cater to a bigger audience competing in different divisions. Following the success of Season 3, organizers of the tournament have decided to expand the different divisions—the Novice, Novice Plus and Corporate Divisions—and put a ceiling to

every category to make sure the balance competition. The Novice Division, which is normally for players who use the sport as recreation, will have a six-feet-and-below event. For players who want to take their game to the next level, the Novice Plus division is their sanctuary. The division is open to players not taller than 6-foot-3, who haven’t played profes-

sional, amateur and collegiate leagues. In the Corporate Division, players of unlimited height are allowed to play provided that they haven’t played in professional, amateur and collegiate leagues and they must be regular employees in the company which they’re representing. Two more divisions were added this coming season—the 5-foot-10 and

below division and the 38 years old and above, whose players should not exceed the 6-foot-2 height limit. In the 38-years-old-andabove division, players who previously played in the amateur league and collegiate players who last played in the league in 2012, can compete. Players from this category must submit their NSO certified Birth Certificate. Turn to A7

Members of the RJS Construction team celebrate after winning the championship over Wednesday Basketball in the LGR Hoops Novice Division. LGR Hoops

Peso drops to new low of 50.70:$1 B3

Business

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

Ang buys out Prieto of ‘Inquirer’

USINESSMAN Ramon Ang said Monday he is acquiring the Prieto family’s controlling stake in Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the country’s largest newspapers which earned the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte. broadcaster ABS-CBN as “sons of whores” and warned them of karmic repercussions for criticizing him for alleged human rights abuses in the drug war. He also threatened to use the government’s television station to shame the two families, and the subject has been a recurring theme in many of the president’s speeches. Inquirer Group chair Marixi Prieto said she resumed negotiations with Ang, whom she described as “longstanding friend and business partner” for the sale of the Prieto family’s interest and major share in the Inquirer Group. “This culminates a series of talks that began between the two parties in 2014, and restarted early this year after the Prieto family completed its annual review of business plans in Inquirer Group and other business interests,” Prieto said. Prieto said the family’s decision to divest from the Inquirer after 25 years was a strategic move that would maximize growth opportunities for the Inquirer Group. “The family is conﬁdent that Mr. Ang will uphold the Inquirer Group’s commitment to pursuing the highest standards of journalism,” Prieto said. “His investments and business expertise will unlock added value in the Inquirer Group’s newspaper publication, internet communications, social media, corporate skills training, radio broadcasting and logistics delivery,” Prieto said. With AFP

MONEY sent home by Filipinos working overseas rebounded 5.5 percent in May to $2.310 billion from $2.188 billion a year ago, on sustained demand for skilled Filipino workers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday. “This was boosted by the remittances from land-based [at $1.8 billion] and seabased [$0.5 billion] workers, representing 6.2 percent and 3 percent increase, respectively,” Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in a statement. The 5.5-percent growth in May offset the 5.9-percent decline in April 2017. This brought cash remittances in the ﬁrst ﬁve months to $11.346 billion, up 4.5 percent from $10.859 billion registered a year ago. The primary contributors to the growth

CITADINES MILLENNIUM OPENING. CDO Holdings Inc. and Ascott Ltd. formally open the Citadines Millenium Ortigas, a 32-story tower that offers 293 serviced residences, 96 residential units and 11 commercial spaces for lease. Shown at the facade of Citadines Millennium Ortigas in Mandaluyong City with a limited edition of Bentley SUV are Ascott Ltd. regional manager for the Philippines and Thailand Arthur Gindap and CDO Holdings president and chief executive Elsie Chua.

in May remittances were the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also rose 7.1 percent in May to $2.588 billion from $2.416 billion in the same month last year. This expansion was also a turnaround from the 5.2-percent decline in April. This brought personal remittances in the ﬁrst ﬁve months to $12.613 billion, up 5.2 percent from $11.993 billion a year earlier. Bangko Sentral is keeping a conservative 4-percent growth target for remittances this year amid the improving trade and rosy outlook for the global economy. Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the 4-percent expansion would translate into a record $28 billion remittances this year from $26.9 billion posted in 2016.

Four German BPOs expand in PH By Othel V. Campos FOUR German companies plan to set up or expand their shared services and customer support operations in the Philippines to serve their global clients, according to the Trade Department. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, July 17, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.6230

Japan

Yen

0.008892

0.4501

Pound

1.310300

66.3313

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128112

6.4854

Switzerland

Franc

1.038637

52.5789

Canada

Dollar

0.790639

40.0245

Singapore

Dollar

0.729661

36.9376

Australia

Dollar

0.782100

39.5922

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651816

134.2429

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266652

13.4987

Brunei

Dollar

0.727008

36.8033

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.029542

1.4955

UAE

Dirham

0.272264

13.7828

Euro

1.147700

58.1000

Korea

Won

0.000887

0.0449

China

Yuan

0.147621

7.4730

India

Rupee

0.015534

0.7864

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.233046

11.7975

New Zealand

Dollar

0.734200

37.1674

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032999

1.6705 Source: PDS Bridge

IN BRIEF Industry group opposes sugar tax

Fuso truck fair kicks off in July

Remittances rebound 5.5% By Julito G. Rada

THE Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. is opposing the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, saying the bill is “anti-poor.” FPI president Jess Arranza said Monday the proposed measure was discriminatory to people who were relying on sugar to boost their energy. “If they are taxing beverages with sugar, then they should tax all. How about the coffee shops like Starbucks and Seattle’s Best? Why only threein-one coffee mixes, juices and softdrinks? But our stand is for the government to exclude sugary drinks from taxes,” he said. A Finance ofﬁcial said that the proposed inclusion of taxes on sugarsweetened beverages could generate an additional P47 billion for the government coffers under package 2 of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program. Under the CTRP, sugar-laden drinks will be imposed an excise tax of P10 per liter. Studies showed that instant coffee would see a price increase of 48.41 percent after an excise tax of P10 per liter was imposed, raising the price of a sachet of coffee from P5 to P8. Powdered concentrate will go up in price by 108.61 percent, or from P9 per sachet to P19, while prices of tea drinks will jump 52.48 percent, from the current P20 to P30 per bottle. Othel V. Campos

By Jenniffer B. Austria

Ang, who serves as the president and chief operating officer of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and a campaign contributor in Duterte’s 2016 presidential bid, confirmed in a statement the Inquirer Group of Companies’ official announcement that it posted on its social media account. “I have accepted the offer of the Prieto family to invest in Inquirer Group. I am looking forward to be part of this venerable institution and work with men and women who made it what it is now” Ang said. “The publication will continue to uphold the highest journalist standards and make a difference in the society it serves,” Ang said. Ang said he was making the investment on a personal capacity, and not on behalf of San Miguel. Ang did not divulge the value of the transaction, pending a due diligence on the Makati Citybased newspaper. The RufinoPrieto family owns 67 percent of the paper, while the group of businessman Manuel Pangilinan holds 12 percent. The Prieto family made the announcement months after Duterte threatened a shame campaign against them over critical coverage of his drug war. Neither side mentioned the paper’s longstanding dispute with Duterte, who has said Ang helped fund his presidential campaign. In March, Duterte described the Inquirer and major television

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

said the Philippines was now attracting more German and other European companies in the BPO sector. “The IT-BPM [information technology-business process management] sector of Germany selected the Philippines as the location of their shared service centers catering to the Asia Pacific markets,” he said. Lopez identified the four German firms as Fresenius Medical Care, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merk Inc. and BMW. Fresenius Medical Care, a unit of Fresenius Kabi Global, operates 21 dialysis clinics all over the country. “They see the need to further expand their operations in the country to 25 clinics by end 2017 and up to 37 by 2020,” Lopez said. It opened a shared service center in Alabang in 2015, servicing the accounting and finance operations of 30 countries with a plan to increase manpower to 130 in the next three years from 77 in 2017. Fresenius Kabi also plans to open IT-BPM operations in the Philippines in the short term. Boehringer Ingelheim which has been in the Philippines for 50 years will open a shared service center in October 2017 with 200 employees. Merck opened its IT-BPM operations in the Philippines in July 2016 with an initial 125 employees, offering procurement, accounting, human resources and IT services for its North America and Asia-Pacific markets. The company plans to expand its operations in the next three to four years by expanding services and scope and increasing its labor force to 800 people by 2020. BMW tapped Bosch Communications Center in the Philippines to accommodate inquiries from its Asean clients.

MITSUBISHI Motors Philippines Corp. kicked off the ﬁrst Fuso Truck Fair nationwide on July 10 to July 15. The campaign highlighted MMPC’s Fuso light, medium and heavy-duty truck line-up in MMPC dealerships and exclusive Fuso showrooms. Additional savings and special giveaways were provided to truck buyers during the period. MMPC dealers displayed a variety of Fuso truck models mounted with optional rear bodies for wide range of application. While the Fuso Truck Fair ran from July 10 to 15, promo discounts provided on the week long campaign would be valid until July 31. Exclusive Fuso merchandising giveaways will also be given to customers who will register and reserve a unit or conﬁrm purchase within the display period. Customers who will purchase any of the models during the promo period will automatically avail of discounts. Customers must present proof of payment (reservation receipt, purchase order or sales invoice) to dealers. Giveaways must be claimed until 60 days after the display period.

Business

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market climbs; Marcventures up China Bank prepays S $158-m, 3-year loan TOCKS rebounded Monday in line with the movement of Asian markets on rising optimism for global growth boosted by data from China and following another record close on Wall Street.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 48 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 7,934.50, as ﬁve of the six major sectors advanced. The heavier index, representing all shares, also gained 17 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,753.01, on a value turnover of P6.6 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 105 to 103, while 51 issues were unchanged. Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by MRC Allied Inc. which climbed 12.9 percent to P0.395 and Marcventures Holdings Inc. which went up 10.3

percent to P2.04. Waterfront Philippines Inc. rose 9.9 percent to P1.45. Meanwhile, most Asian markets rose on stronger-than-expected growth figures in China. The world’s number two economy expanded an annualized 6.9 percent in AprilJune, beating forecasts in an AFP survey and indicating it is stabilizing after a years-long slowdown. However, while the reading was the same as the previous three months, officials warned of “uncertain factors abroad and long-term structural contradictions” at home. China is trying to shift from an economy reliant on state investment to one powered by consumer spending. Its leaders are also attempting to clamp down on bad debt, which analysts fear could spark a financial crisis if not dealt with. Rob Subbaraman, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings in Singapore, told Bloomberg News that while fiscal stimulus remains an important driver of growth “it’s also encouraging to see more signs of

rebalancing, with the pickup in retail sales growth.” Shanghai stocks plunged more than two percent before the release of the GDP ﬁgures, on worries about the government’s drive to deal with the debt crisis. But they partially recovered afterwards and ended down 1.4 percent. Most other regional investors built on last week’s solid gains, tracking fresh highs for the Dow and S&P 500 prompted by below-par US inﬂation and retail sales data. The US readings missed forecasts and fueled speculation that the Federal Reserve’s plans to raise interest rates this year could be put on the back burner. This sent equities higher since borrowing costs look likely to remain low. Hong Kong was up 0.3 percent in the afternoon and Seoul closed 0.4 percent higher. Singapore was 0.1 percent higher while Wellington, Taipei and Manila all saw healthy rises. But Sydney ended 0.2 percent down. Tokyo was closed for a public holiday. With Bloomberg, AFP

By Julito G. Rada CHINA Banking Corp., the eighthlargest lender in terms of assets, said Monday it paid off a threeyear $158- million syndicated loan a year ahead of schedule. It was originally scheduled to mature in June 2018. “The strong growth in foreign currency deposit has enabled us to not only raise the balance earlier than expected,” China Bank executive vice president and chief operating ofﬁcer William Whang said in a statement to the stock exchange.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, JULY 17, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.7 20,000 58.8 65,710 103.1 1,033,830 122.8 1,671,160 1.33 228,000 36.6 516,700 16.16 6,400 32.8 3,539,200 7.93 300 0.66 66,000 1.71 108,000 875 650 0.7 620,000 91.9 4,839,240 0.86 245,000 15.6 4,600 25 5,200 67.95 63,110 248 1,930 117 230 88.15 1,100 59.05 59,260 221.4 306,290 1,600 665 86.4 136,420 1.43 53,000

74,300 3,842,867.50 105,707,443 205,428,157 316,740 18,916,645 103,676 117,588,560 2,379 43,730 184,830 571,565 430,860 444,615,486 206,380 71,582 129,470 4,275,994.50 473,286 27,240 96,965 3,498,882.50 67,934,312 1,064,290 11,787,306 75,860

2,186,307.50 10,887,425 -33,594,709 1,789,740 -11,087,795 -24,510 -128,250 -430,700 -34,682,312.50 31,140 -79,840 752,345.50 -4,940 96,965 2,776,003 22,426,050 -

40 8.97 0.83 1.42 30.25 0.265 187.5 7.2 18.3 179 29.05 14 65.1 71 94.5 2.01 5.28 11.36 12.4 15.5 11.2 7.8 5.77 18.8 67.9 15 13.6 15.78 2.02 215 59 3.9 3.45 22.15 31.3 19.9 18.3 269 0.243 8.5 3.18 7.08 9.56 7.88 10.48 1.95 10.5 67.1 6.36 301 4.54 5.1 2.91 13.2 4.47 0.145 1.36 161 4 2.07 30 1.03

INDUSTRIAL 40.05 894,800 9.19 3,470,700 0.84 4,715,000 1.42 2,741,000 30.65 97,100 0.265 5,010,000 189 10,990 7.29 5,588,500 18.5 60,800 179 10 29.45 514,100 14.02 9,500 66.5 11,390 86 14,700 95.25 490 2.03 123,000 5.28 371,300 11.4 111,500 12.48 2,381,000 15.52 2,670,500 11.86 3,932,000 7.95 1,177,400 5.91 10,811,100 19.08 2,154,600 68.15 110,740 15 51,500 13.68 68,200 15.78 1,887,600 2.16 9,965,000 215.2 653,330 64 5,340 4 299,000 3.45 39,000 23.95 6,400 31.6 830,200 20 573,900 18.8 1,679,000 274 664,230 0.243 3,180,000 8.9 250,800 3.2 1,437,000 7.18 309,600 9.61 2,563,900 7.9 302,500 10.5 900 1.99 2,164,000 10.68 3,891,300 67.5 289,950 6.56 28,400 305 6,030 4.55 1,515,000 5.1 372,100 3.07 16,105,000 13.24 155,700 4.48 64,000 0.146 460,000 1.39 141,000 161.5 316,900 4.08 410,000 2.08 3,959,000 30 4,200 1.06 13,000

35,894,850 31,811,889 3,967,160 3,915,840 2,963,005 1,334,600 2,299,602 40,792,201 1,120,186 1,790 15,171,060 133,236 760,673.50 1,231,322.50 46,635 249,150 1,963,255 1,273,392 29,560,034 41,438,186 46,348,266 9,357,848 63,779,990 41,051,370 7,561,251.50 779,520 929,812 30,244,092 21,186,570 140,607,874 329,939.50 1,206,690 134,550 143,125 26,216,455 11,503,973 31,331,352 181,430,140 776,040 2,204,136 4,597,050 2,219,208 24,636,119 2,421,955 9,434 4,299,520 41,581,052 19,533,362 185,913 1,824,828 6,893,540 1,903,318 48,555,230 2,064,736 287,450 67,030 194,440 51,237,264 1,714,760 8,309,090 126,150 13,720

-3,673,805 798,249 266,130 28,600 2,700 -2,571,186 121,644 1,232,310 69,000 -215,844 8,226,232 2,416,178 -5,151,514 4,602,613 35,846,885.00 -3,427,914.00 -5,017,287 3,000 -324,914 -2,304,296 -3,299,370 75,238,748 -39,500 -106,950 -9,592,905 3,163,879 524,986 -7,682,590 -170,700 -325,980 -2,667,147 3,938 50,000 1,497,572 -1,470,971.50 -621,780 -300,320 864,450 11,538,960 466,086 8,245,782 321,000 -27,300 24,030 -

0.375 75.75 14.06 1.19 7.1 0.335 868 1,006 8.05 15.4 7.8 0.22 1,207 7.79 81 5.7 5.55 5.33 1 7.09 18.5 6.77 0.053 1.1 2.22 103 2.7 800 0.92 1.55 303.8 0.29 0.212 0.28

0.365 75.05 13.94 1.16 6.8 0.33 855 1,006 7.96 15.12 7.8 0.2 1,199 7.48 79.8 5.48 5.55 5.33 0.98 6.97 17.68 6.65 0.051 1.05 2.16 102.5 2.61 790 0.92 1.49 303 0.285 0.212 0.255

HOLDING FIRMS 0.365 4,870,000 75.4 650,020 13.98 3,079,100 1.17 318,000 7 231,100 0.33 1,490,000 867 139,590 1,006 10 7.96 442,000 15.2 6,352,500 7.8 1,000 0.201 940,000 1,207 202,845 7.77 13,000 80 867,500 5.48 33,500 5.55 300 5.33 20,000 1 1,616,000 7 306,700 18 5,518,600 6.71 15,190,300 0.051 109,070,000 1.05 55,000 2.17 1,901,000 102.9 64,040 2.7 49,000 795.5 246,380 0.92 1,000 1.55 3,655,000 303.8 9,060 0.29 260,000 0.212 20,000 0.255 960,000

1,788,550 49,062,596.50 43,062,384 373,270 1,614,436 496,800 120,563,220 10,060 3,524,800 96,664,342 7,800 190,620 243,743,015 101,043 69,421,823.50 187,186 1,665 106,600 1,600,810 2,153,235 99,402,134 101,892,544 5,595,020 58,710 4,141,520 6,588,427 129,650 195,956,395 920 5,590,330 2,752,382 74,900 4,240 249,400

-47,450 79,151.50 -1,966,724 -160,130 11,857,220 -594,474.00 77,679,928 49,285,360 -6,544,437 -940,935 16,736,110 696,906 14,560 12,800 3,914,772 29,258,700 -920 1,471,220 -960,008 -14,000

6 1.46 2.46 1.14 41.6 3.82 5.51 5.95 5.99 0.65 1.19 1.58 0.2 0.53 47.95 0.81 0.161 2 1.76 1.1 4.73 0.41

5.89 1.39 2.35 1.11 41.2 3.76 5.33 5.8 5.98 0.63 1.17 1.53 0.192 0.51 47.1 0.78 0.161 1.94 1.56 1.06 4.62 0.365

5,726,317 8,925,960 1,595,940 4,197,190 234,712,435 2,313,650 64,499,879 127,882 7,778 27,421,270 450,650 1,502,030 3,278,000 1,477,810 3,419,145 6,645,260 49,910 113,143,540 126,072,520 724,850 88,532,260 169,328,050

-4,323,123 714,440 1,545,130 -75,440 -4,021,582 -1,866,240 39,000 196,930 -770,120 1,299,980 -3,411,510 4,042,720 -504,480 -17,275,070 -9,833,050

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

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

3.75 58.5 102.5 124 1.28 36.55 16.2 33.6 7.93 0.66 1.71 880.5 0.69 92 0.83 15.48 24.7 67.5 246 120 88.15 59.2 221.2 1,602 86.2 1.43

3.75 58.8 103.3 124 1.42 36.7 16.22 34 7.93 0.68 1.78 881.5 0.7 92.45 0.86 15.6 25 68 248 120 88.15 59.2 222.8 1,602 86.5 1.45

3.7 58.35 101.4 122.2 1.28 36.55 16.16 32.65 7.93 0.66 1.71 875 0.69 91.5 0.83 15.48 24.55 67.5 245 117 88.15 58.1 221.2 1,600 86.2 1.43

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

40.3 9.17 0.84 1.46 30.9 0.275 190 7.36 18.5 179 29.55 14 68.1 71 94.5 2.01 5.3 11.4 12.48 15.56 11.22 7.8 5.77 18.84 68.8 15 13.78 16 2.05 215.2 60 4 3.45 22.35 31.5 20.25 18.3 270 0.247 8.88 3.2 7.2 9.58 8 10.48 1.97 10.62 67.4 6.36 303 4.55 5.26 2.99 13.38 4.52 0.145 1.36 162.7 4.28 2.1 30.1 1.03

40.3 9.23 0.85 1.46 30.95 0.275 240 7.45 18.5 179 29.65 14.14 69 95 95.25 2.05 5.3 11.5 12.48 15.56 11.98 8.04 5.91 19.16 68.85 15.2 13.78 16.32 2.17 215.8 64 4.09 3.45 23.95 32.5 20.5 18.8 274 0.247 8.9 3.21 7.2 9.66 8.5 10.5 2.02 10.76 67.5 6.59 305 4.58 5.26 3.1 13.38 4.52 0.146 1.4 162.9 4.37 2.13 30.1 1.06

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

0.37 75.75 14 1.19 6.89 0.335 863 1,006 8.04 15.12 7.8 0.22 1,207 7.79 80.5 5.7 5.55 5.33 1 7.09 18 6.7 0.052 1.1 2.2 102.6 2.68 792 0.92 1.5 303.2 0.29 0.212 0.28

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

5.94 1.45 2.46 1.13 41.2 3.82 5.35 5.8 5.98 0.63 1.18 1.57 0.198 0.52 47.1 0.79 0.161 1.95 1.7 1.09 4.63 0.37

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.38 0.64 4.66 36.8 24.5 1.82 3.28 32.9 1.04 0.95 5.94

0.395 0.66 4.79 36.8 25.25 1.89 3.28 33.6 1.05 0.97 5.96

0.375 0.63 4.5 36.7 24.4 1.82 3.2 32.9 1.02 0.92 5.88

0.39 0.64 4.62 36.8 24.85 1.87 3.2 33.4 1.02 0.92 5.96

2,630,000 13,664,000 1,738,000 2,200 2,292,300 1,410,000 824,000 4,940,100 1,308,000 1,685,000 4,483,700

1,011,450 8,702,930 8,086,590 80,940 56,852,795 2,620,860 2,640,690 164,074,605 1,348,000 1,586,070 26,549,149

-50,560 1,019,620 -6,994,790 -934,400 54,053,810 -6,548,064

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR DFNN INC FAR EASTERN U GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN GRAND PLAZA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

23.5 42 1.84 0.51 0.043 11.18 5.32 9.9 0.087 97.9 9.7 8.65 970 2,010 6.24 15.36 13.22 3.1 3.48 102.2 12.66 8.68 0.186 1.5 3.34 15.68 5.03 1.82 9.75 0.62 2.32 8.9 4.3 16.78 2.6 11.5 5.27 160 10.84 1,736 1.6 0.445 46.3 86.8 6.06 4.86 1.45 1.89 3.59 1.34 8.24

23.5 42.05 1.97 0.51 0.044 11.18 5.32 9.9 0.089 97.9 9.7 8.74 970 2,060 6.25 15.7 13.22 3.1 3.49 104 12.66 8.68 0.187 1.59 3.39 15.9 5.32 1.82 9.85 0.62 2.32 9 4.39 16.78 2.62 11.5 5.3 167 11.1 1,740 1.6 0.455 46.9 87 6.1 4.92 1.54 1.89 3.68 1.49 8.4

22.5 41.95 1.84 0.5 0.042 10.8 5.32 9.75 0.087 97 9.6 8.61 970 2,010 6.22 15.36 13.22 3 3.48 102.1 12.66 8.48 0.185 1.5 3.3 15.5 4.99 1.68 9.6 0.61 2.25 8.75 3.99 16.78 2.58 11.46 5.26 160 10.56 1,715 1.58 0.435 46.3 86.8 6.05 4.66 1.45 1.89 3.57 1.33 8.06

SERVICES 22.95 42 1.9 0.51 0.042 10.8 5.32 9.8 0.088 97.5 9.6 8.74 970 2,032 6.24 15.36 13.22 3.01 3.48 102.7 12.66 8.5 0.185 1.53 3.39 15.9 5.23 1.79 9.77 0.61 2.25 8.8 4.05 16.78 2.58 11.46 5.3 167 10.72 1,725 1.6 0.435 46.8 87 6.06 4.66 1.52 1.89 3.66 1.45 8.1

422,100 23,000 1,972,000 1,056,000 65,600,000 1,200 100 1,705,400 21,250,000 462,190 10,000 71,000 210 41,605 261,500 28,200 100 1,340,000 9,000 555,660 9,500 288,400 6,750,000 883,000 330,000 7,200 5,301,000 1,022,000 1,328,000 82,000 51,000 1,086,900 17,523,000 500 1,303,000 12,800 3,400 80 1,679,200 132,590 1,254,000 3,710,000 699,200 496,970 1,079,000 7,057,000 39,784,000 4,000 4,613,000 100,481,000 8,064,000

9,620,735 966,050 3,753,880 538,000 2,777,900 13,058 532 16,737,000 1,854,710 45,049,004 96,030 617,294 203,700 84,579,700 1,631,250 435,508 1,322 4,046,260 31,340 57,138,478 120,270 2,496,510 1,257,280 1,359,680 1,091,520 112,682 27,561,340 1,795,540 12,929,527 50,040 115,380 9,571,353 71,539,670 8,390 3,370,050 146,952 17,919 13,084 18,036,006 228,927,545 2,002,520 1,634,000 32,682,945 43,228,182 6,539,588 33,555,950 59,187,200 7,560 16,840,060 142,374,510 65,887,544

-74,630 58,800 -102,000 3,167,946 -18,668,730.50 -53,349,340 8,049,556 120,270 -98,580 -45,960 33,000 4,854,820 106,480 -1,503,832 -14,854,170 12,900 -1,554,756 4,186,915 14,384,370 -6,806,149 -96,960 5,673,570 -79,500 11,589,800 -361,740 8,246,146

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 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.003 1.73 5.29 2.05 2.01 1.08 0.385 8.48 2.66 0.29 0.201 0.204 0.011 0.012 1.87 6.42 2.03 0.62 1.1 0.01 0.01 0.012 2.7 8.96 3.05 160 0.0085

0.0031 1.74 5.29 2.1 2.05 1.08 0.395 8.68 2.76 0.295 0.206 0.204 0.012 0.012 2.05 6.63 2.03 0.64 1.27 0.01 0.01 0.013 2.7 9.06 3.13 161 0.0085

0.0029 1.71 5.1 2.05 2.01 1.02 0.385 8.48 2.66 0.285 0.195 0.2 0.011 0.012 1.87 6.38 1.97 0.61 1.08 0.01 0.01 0.012 2.7 8.96 3.01 160 0.0085

MINING & OIL 0.0031 1,599,000,000 1.71 4,204,000 5.19 238,500 2.1 54,000 2.05 76,000 1.04 1,780,000 0.395 170,000 8.49 8,000 2.75 6,116,000 0.295 50,000 0.196 13,870,000 0.2 820,000 0.011 17,200,000 0.012 300,000 2.04 62,049,000 6.5 11,458,500 2 49,000 0.62 1,099,000 1.25 5,113,000 0.01 1,100,000 0.01 18,200,000 0.013 304,500,000 2.7 16,000 9 10,742,700 3.01 999,000 160.2 717,580 0.0085 3,000,000

4,858,600 7,218,700 1,245,996 112,230 155,640 1,848,720 66,650 67,861 16,562,270 14,550 2,752,810 166,940 189,300 3,600 118,198,430 74,569,098 97,710 671,310 6,120,890 11,000 182,000 3,655,200 43,200 96,686,067 3,042,730 114,984,486 25,500

7,200 0 -595,090 -153,630.00 10,200 -66,144 801,000 20,400 112,354,120 -27,604,716 3,940 30,500 -600,000 -3,931,862 21,560 -4,682,894 -

ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF F FGEN PREF G FPH PREF C GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

42 107 105 112.5 115 510 1,005 1,020 1.05 108 106 113.5 2.03 76.6 80.6 77 79 78 78 77.5

42.2 107 105 112.5 115 510 1,005 1,020 1.05 108 106 113.5 2.03 76.6 81 77 79 78 78 79

42 107 104.9 112.5 115 510 1,005 1,018 1.05 108 106 113.5 2.03 76.25 80.15 77 79 78 78 77.5

PREFERRED 42 6,500 107 930 104.9 500 112.5 10 115 490 510 30 1,005 50 1,018 1,305 1.05 59,000 108 1,030 106 50 113.5 730 2.03 4,000 76.25 10,500 80.75 22,550 77 18,250 79 32,900 78 18,400 78 11,300 78.95 58,130

273,235 99,510 52,464 1,125 56,350 15,300 50,250 1,329,200 61,950 111,240 5,300 82,855 8,120 800,672 1,815,057.50 1,405,250 2,599,100 1,435,200 881,400 4,564,375

260,635 -

LR WARRANT

3.08

3.3

3.08

WARRANTS 3.28 3,768,000

12,135,220

48,000

205,960 23,733,463 45,866,047

-1,215,658

6,132,522

110,985

NAME

PROPERTY 5.89 1.4 2.35 1.13 41.45 3.8 5.33 5.95 5.99 0.64 1.19 1.53 0.192 0.52 47.1 0.78 0.161 1.95 1.56 1.06 4.71 0.395

969,100 6,340,000 673,000 3,741,000 5,659,900 611,000 12,004,600 22,000 1,300 42,924,000 383,000 965,000 16,810,000 2,842,000 72,000 8,364,000 310,000 57,414,000 76,770,000 678,000 18,870,000 434,510,000

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.88 5.89 8.1

3.89 6.09 8.1

3.88 5.89 7.8

FIRST METRO ETF

119.1

119.5

119.1

USD DMPL A1

10.5

TRADING SUMMARY

FINANCIAL

15,617,312

INDUSTRIAL

103,191,710

HOLDING FIRMS

159,036,216

PROPERTY SERVICES

727,835,062 304,285,567

MINING & OIL

2,063,387,038

GRAND TOTAL

3,383,208,847

3.89 6.03 7.86

SME

53,000 3,954,400 5,796,900

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.5 51,320 10.5

DDS

10,570

VALUE 1,955.51 (DOWN) 0.62 1,182,937,351.05 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,169.85 (UP) 50.88 1,282,572,778.43 HOLDING FIRMS 7,942.91 (UP) 62.04 1,324,365,815.97 PROPERTY 3,720.17 (UP) 33.11 1,694.66 (UP) 0.15 1,200,444,248.135 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,738.35 (UP) 8.36 1,051,532,295.95 PSEI 7,934.50 (UP) 48.60 453,569,262.35 All Shares Index 4,753.01 (UP) 17.19 6,571,362,222.86 Gainers: 103; Losers: 105; Unchanged: 51; Total: 259

Whang said the bank was able to repay the loan sooner because of the “favorable changes in market conditions.” The loan was paid in two tranches: $60 million in March this year and the remaining balance on June 29, 2017. China Bank successfully returned to the capital market in June 2015 after its $125-million floating rate certificates of deposit issue in 1996 and 1997. The proceeds of the loan were deployed into better yielding assets as well as funding for corporate borrowers and project financing deals. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. was the mandated lead arranger and book runner. KDB Group (The Korea Development Bank - Seoul head office, KDB Asia Ltd. – Hong Kong) and Mizuho Bank, Ltd - Singapore branch were the mandated lead arrangers. Doha Bank Q.S.C. was the lead arranger. The arrangers were Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., CTBC Bank Co. Ltd. Singapore, The Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank Ltd., Taiwan Cooperative Bank and Taishin International Bank Co Ltd. China Bank posted a 6-percent increase in net income in the first quarter to P1.47 billion, driven by strong growth in lending and core fee-based income.

ICTSI upbeat on Laguna terminal LAGUNA Gateway Inland Container Terminal, a dry port facility in Calamba City operated by International Container Terminal Services Inc., is gearing up for brisker business with the recent issuance of LGICT’s interim operational guidelines by the Bureau of Customs. “LGICT is an innovation we launched to improve the flow of trade in southern Luzon. As an extension of the seaport, specifically ICTSI’s flagship Manila International Container Terminal, the Laguna dry port is at the heart of manufacturing activities. We are bringing the trading gateway at the doorstep of the economic zones,” said ICTSI senior vice president and head of Asia Pacific region Christian Gonzalez. “We thank Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon for supporting us in LGICT. The interim operational guidelines will give us headway in priming the dry port for container volumes in the coming months. We are glad to be the pioneering facility of this kind in the country,” he said. Commissioner Faeldon issued Customs Memorandum Order No. 12-2017 providing guidelines on clearance procedures for import and export containers at the LGICT. The memorandum was issued pending the approval of a customs administrative order on accredited customs facilities and warehouses. The Laguna dry port is the first customs facility under the 2015 Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, and the first off dock container yard in southern Luzon. In February, the BoC certified LGICT as an authorized off dock customs facility, enabling the BoC to extend its functions and activities at the dry port.

Business

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

PLDT Capital planning new investment deals By Darwin G. Amojelar

CMAP INDUCTION. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. (left) inducts the new ofﬁcers of the Credit Management Association

of the Philippines led by president Luis Arriola (second from left), president of St. Jude Media Organization Inc., at Fairmont Hotel at Makati City. Other ofﬁcers are (from left) Jun Bacabac of Orix Leasing, Lhen Maneja of Puregold Finance Inc.; Tina Maullon of Directories Philippines Corp.; Efren Collado of Maybank Philippines Inc.; Jennifer Tan of Neltex; Melinda Alvarez of Phinma Property Holdings Corp.; Jezreel Pimentel of China Bank Savings Inc.; Ayette de Leon of Bahay Financial Services; and Gilbert Benedict of Unicapital.

THE investment arm of PLDT Inc. is looking at more investment deals next year to expand its portfolio. PLDT chairman and president Manuel Pangilinan said the mother ﬁrm would revisit the portfolio of PLDT Capital next year. Pangilinan said he expects some acquisition for PLDT Capital by next year. “It’s not big (acquisition), some interesting opportunities,” he added. PLDT Capital was formed in 2015 with an initial budget $50 million to support PLDT business units, which include Smart, ePLDT, Digital5 and Voyager to expand their portfolio of digital services in the Philippines, the rest of Southeast Asia and other developing economies in the world.

PLDT Capital is an important pillar for the PLDT Group to sustain its digital pivot. Last year, PLDT Capital invested $5 million in Matrixx Software, a California-based provider of real-time, integrated infrastructure for the business of digital service providers. Matrixx provides a real-time digital commerce platform for creating and monetizing content and services. In 2015,PLDT Capital invested $10 million in Phunware, a US-based mobile devices and application company; $5 million in Singapore’s Paywhere; and $5 million in AppCard. PLDT, partly owned by Hong Kong’s First Paciﬁc Co. Ltd. and Japan’s NTT group, earlier reported a net income of P4.95 billion in January to March, down 20 percent from P6.21 billon in the same period last year.

Peso drops to new low of 50.70:$1 $379 million Friday. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. HE peso fell to a fresh low against the earlier said he was not alarmed greenback Monday, its weakest level since by the latest movement of the peso against the US dollar, more than 10 years ago. saying its weakness is “not The peso lost five centavos since the 50.755 average on Sept. unusual.” to close at 50.70 from 50.65 on 4, 2006. Total volume traded “It’s actually just reflecting Friday. It was its weakest level reached $256 million, down from market conditions and underlying fundamentals. We’ve seen nothing particularly unusual about this, it’s the nature of the exchange rate to fluctuate,” he said at the sidelines of an event at Bangko Sentral. He said the Bangko Sentral would let the exchange rate reflect underlying market THERE is a word so antiquated and conditions. so out of favor that I thought I would “What we look at isn’t much not have much exposure to it during the exchange rate but the the rest of my life. That word is

By Julito G. Rada

Donald Trump, 21st century mercantilist

mercantilism. And there is a word so much in favor and so prominent in the present world that I find myself confronted by it at almost every turn. That word is globalization. Mercantilist theory is all about what economists call the balance of trade. A country that practices mercantilism is focused on exporting more goods and services to other countries than it imports from them and employs all the tools at its disposal—economic as well as political— to achieve a surplus in that two-way traffic. Diplomacy as well as such economic means as biased tariffs, skewed incentives and currency manipulation are deployed to ensure a positive trade balance. In contrast, globalization theory rests on the principle that the operations of producers are optimized, and the welfare of consumers is maximized, when the world economic environment is a level playing field and world trade is conducted with minimal restraint. This is the exact opposite of the protect-our-producers, beggar-our-neighbor environment fostered by mercantilism. With the spirit of globalization guiding world trade, the producers of all nations fiercely compete with one another, in the process giving rise to efficiencies that translate into declining consumer prices and stable living conditions for people all over the world. Since its early days as a British colony the US has been a staunch practitioner of good old-fashioned trading, trying to sell to the world market at least as much of its products as it bought from it. Records show that since its early years the young North American republic maintained trade relations not only with the Western Hemisphere and European countries of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan after the opening up of that country to the world in the 1850s. Realizing that trade disputes had been one of the principal causes of the wars between the European Powers in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, the now-powerful US made the maintenance of order and stability in world trade—no more tariff wars, no more trade embargoes—one of the cornerstones of its post-World War II international agenda. At the Bretton Woods conference that set up the United Nations system the US proposed the establishment of three international institutions: an International Monetary Fund (IMF) to function as a central bank of central banks, an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, or World Bank) to provide the underdeveloped countries with long-term financing for economic development and a World Trade Organization (WTO) to regulate and police world trade. The proposals to create the IMF and the World Bank were universally accepted, but certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) were objected to by some of the major powers. As a stopgap solution, a world trade organization was brought into being but bearing the name GATT and not WTO. Only in the 1990s did the UN General Assembly agree to replace GATT with WTO. All the efforts that the US has exerted during the last seven decades to prevent a reversion to the bad trade practices of the pre-World War II era are currently under threat from the policies and actions of the administration of newly elected President Donald J. Trump. These policies and actions have turned the world’s most powerful country from being the poster-boy of globalization to its leading purveyor of mercantilism. During the Presidential campaign Mr. Trump made so secret of what he called “trade deals that are bad for America.” He set his sights on two of the most important regional trade groupings in world history: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving around a dozen countries in the Asia-Pacific area and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area), which comprises Canada, Mexico and the US. True to his word, upon entering the White House Donald Trump issued an executive order withdrawing the US from TPT and announced his administration’s intention to seek a renegotiation of NAFTA’s terms. The NAFTA renegotiation has yet to start. Labeling those two countries “unfair” traders, Mr. Trump has denounced China and Germany for running trade surpluses with the US—selling more to the US than buying from the US—and thereby “taking jobs away from American workers.” He declared that those counties achieved their surpluses with the US through unfair trade practices: currency manipulation, in the case of China, and aggressive marketing in the case of Germany. Germany has protested the accusation, and Mr. Trump lately has had to withdraw his currency-manipulation charge against the Chinese. Clearly, when it comes to international economic relations—as with international relations generally—Mr. Trump is in over his head. He needs a crash International Trade 101 course, from which he will learn that the US was one of the prime movers for the establishment of WTO and is one of its principal supporters and enforcers. Hopefully the US will change its trade course as a result. In the meantime, say hello to Donald J. Trump, 21st century mercantilist. E-mail: rudy.romero@gmail.com

underlying conditions. Today, the underlying conditions are quite healthy, as a result prices reflect those condition... Our focus is keeping inflation low and banking system strong. These are still existing today,” Espenilla said. He said volatility continued to exist because of policy uncertainties and political tensions and it was “very difficult to say what’s affecting it on a daily basis.” University of Asia & the Pacific economist Victor Abola last week said the weakness of the peso could also be traced to the expected stronger imports in the third quarter which is further putting pressure on the local currency.

Earlier, Business Monitor International, a unit of Fitch Group, said the peso might close the year at 50.50 to a greenback, a downward revision of its previous estimate of 50.00. It said the fragile political outlook in the Philippines and the expected additional rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve would put more pressure on the local currency. He said also weighing down on the peso was the Trump administration’s threat to go ahead with more protectionist policies, which could negatively affect the Philippine economy and its external position. BMI considered the Philippine peso one of the worst-performing currencies in Asia year-to-date,

having broken support at around 50 against the dollar in mid-June. But it said while there was scope for further spot weakness over the coming months given rising real rates in developed markets, the peso was not expected to weaken excessively. The peso closed at 49.72 to a dollar on the last trading day of 2016. The Cabinetlevel Development Budget Coordination Committee just recently kept the peso-dollar exchange rate this year at 48 to 50, although admitting that global economic and political developments have been affecting the trend in emerging market currencies, including the peso.

Vista Land pegs rates of P5-b bonds Ayala to offer P5b more in notes HOUSE and lot developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. has set the coupon rates for its sevenyear and 10-year bond offerings worth P5 billion. Vista Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the sevenyear bonds due will carry an interest rate of 5.7512 percent a year, while 10-year bonds due 2007 will have an interest rate of 6.2255 annually. The offering period will start from July 18 to July 27, with the issue date set on August 4. Credit Rating and Investors Services Philippines Inc. (“CRISP”) has rated the bonds AAA, the highest rating its assigned.

The bonds, which have a principal amount of P3 billion with an oversubscription option of up to P2 billion, will be the first tranche to be issued out of the P20-billion bond shelf registration of the company approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Vista Land plans to use proceeds from the initial tranche to finance the company’s planned commercial developments, including the completion of the Evia Lifestyle Center in Daang Hari, Las Piñas and the development and of Vistamall Malolos in Bulacan. 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 is one of the leading integrated property developers in the Philippines and the largest homebuilder in the country. It provides a wide range of residential products to customers across all income segments, and has recently expanded into the mass market retail mall and BPO segments through the acquisition of Starmalls. Vista Land since starting operations in 1977 has built over 300,000 homes. Jenniffer B. Austria

CHILE TRADE. Ambassador Jose Miguel Capdevila of Chile (center) makes a courtesy call on George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (right), to discuss how a free trade agreement will improve trade value and volumes between the Philippines and Chile. Jesus Varela (left), chairman of the PCCI intellectual property rights committee, joins Barcelon in welcoming Ambassador Capdevila.

By Jenniffer B. Austria PROPERTY giant Ayala Land Inc. plans to raise another P3 billion to P5 billion in short dated-debts after successfully generating P4.3 billion from the issuance of the pioneering short term financial instrument. Ayala Land chief finance officer Augusto Bengzon said in an interview at the sidelines of the listing of P4.3 billion worth of short-dated notes due 2019 the company planned to issue similar offerings as early as next month. Bengzon noted a strong take-up of Ayala Land’s notes offering, the first short-dated securities to be listed or enrolled under Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.’s Qualified Buyers (QB) Board. Bengzon said the company because of the strong demand instructed underwriters to come up with a follow-up offering to be issued as early as next month, with the size ranging from P3 billion to P5 billion. “This is actually more costeffective. It’s longer at 21 months versus commercial papers. The coupon is 2.75 percent versus short term loans of anywhere between 2.6 to 3.25 percent. I believe the cheapest short term loans are in the vicinity of 6 percent if you do a survey of all the banks. So Ayala Land gets very preferential short term rates, but this one is even more preferential, given that it’s quite cheap,” Bengzon said.

Energy commits to roll out 3,000 e-trikes this year By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Energy Department has committed to roll out 3,000 units of electric tricycles within the year as it ﬁnalizes changes in the loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank. Energy Department director Patrick Aquino said the agency planned to come out with amendments to the ADB loan to ﬁnance the electric tricycle program, which was scaled down to P1.73

billion from the original project cost of P21.672 billion. “We’ve rebranded it, it’s now the tricycle modernization program to align it with the overall transport modernization program of government. We are already in the advanced stages for the amendment of the loan agreement,” Aquino said. The ADB loan, which sought to roll out 100,000 e-trikes, falls under the agency’s Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy-Efﬁcient

Electric Vehicles Project. “Major change (in the ADB loan agreement) is to open it up to other channels for distribution. We’ve come out with a business model wherein we separated physical unit from the charging infra and the battery, which we feel is a viable model for duplication and sustainability,” the ofﬁcial said. He said the Finance and Energy departments and the ADB planned to have the amendments in place before the end of July and complete

rollout of units within the year. “The (local government unit) guarantee, we’ve worked to have a language that softens it to be more in line with what you’re seeing in the PUJ modernization program of the (Department of Transportation) wherein we offer low ﬁnancing, no cash out, no down payment,” Aquino said. He said the department also strengthened or highlighted the vehicle useful life program component and continued push for solar charging station.

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

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

Business

Britain, EU launch new talks on Brexit BRUSSELS, Belgium―Britain and the European Union launch a new round of fraught Brexit negotiations Monday with Brussels pressing weakened British Prime Minister Theresa May to quickly set out her divorce strategy. Brexit minister David Davis travels to Brussels to meet Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, for a second round of hugely complex haggling on Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc, scheduled for March 2019. Ahead of four days of talks this week, Frenchman Barnier warned that the “hard work starts now” following the largely ceremonial first round of talks in June, and that the “clock was ticking” to reach a deal. The EU has demonstrated increasing confidence in recent weeks, accusing Britain of dithering over whether it wants a “hard” or “soft” Brexit more than a year after the shock referendum that propelled May to power. Davis said the focus would be the sensitive issue of citizens rights, and that “real progress” was paramount. “We made a good start last month, and this week we’ll be getting into the real substance,” Davis said in a statement ahead of the talks. Barnier and Davis last month agreed on a potential timetable for negotiations towards a future trade relationship, which Britain would like to start as soon as possible. But Brussels insists it will only start discussing the future once there has been “sufficient progress” on key issues involved in Britain’s withdrawal―an estimated 100-billion-euro ($112 billion) exit bill, citizens rights, and the border in Northern Ireland. “On each one of these early phase topics, our goal is to ensure that we are all working from the same basis with shared goals,” Barnier told reporters on Wednesday. AFP

2ND MRT LINE. Members of the media board a Malaysia Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train after the ofﬁcial launch of the MRT Sungai BulohKajang line in Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2017. The government launched the second phase of the city’s MRT system, with the ﬁrst phase recording a total of two million passengers since it began operation in December 2016, according to the government. AFP

China’s economy grew 6.9% in Q2 By Laurent Thomet

EIJING, China―China posted betterthan-expected second quarter growth on Monday, but analysts warned that the momentum will not last as authorities clamp down on rising debt.

The economy expanded 6.9 percent in April-June, the same as the previous three months and better than the 6.8 percent tipped in an AFP survey. “The national economy has maintained the momentum of steady and sound development

in the ﬁrst half of 2017, laying a solid foundation for achieving the annual target and better performance,” national statistics bureau spokesman Xing Zhihong said. “However, we must be aware that there are still many unstable

and uncertain factors abroad and long-term structural contradictions remain prominent at home,” Xing told reporters. Industrial production grew 7.6 percent in June while retail sales were up 11 percent, both better than the previous month, according to the official data. But analysts expect a deceleration of the overall economy. “China’s strong first half to the year won’t last,” Julian EvansPritchard, China economist at Capital Economics, said in a note. “The recent crackdown on financial risks has driven a slowdown in credit growth, which

will weigh on the economy during the second half of this year,” he said. Debt-fueled investment in infrastructure and real estate has underpinned China’s growth for years but Beijing has launched a crackdown over fears of a potential financial crisis. Fitch Ratings on Friday maintained its A-plus rating for the country for China but said its growing debt could trigger “economic and financial shocks.” The statement followed Moody’s decision in May to downgrade China for the first time in almost three decades

on concerns over its ballooning credit and slowing growth. President Xi Jinping called for tougher regulations to crack down on ﬁnancial risks during a weekend National Financial Work Conference, which sets the tone for reforms, according to state media. The government will continue to deleverage the economy through prudent monetary policy and by reducing leverage in stateowned enterprises, Xi said. The conference showed that authorities will intensify ﬁnancial regulation “unprecedentedly, through a much more centralized

Australia cautiously entering medical marijuana market By Daniel De Carteret MELBOURNE, Australia―At a secret location in Australia’s southeast, Peter Crock delicately tends to a two-monthold cannabis cutting. Barely knee high, it is one of about 50 governmentsanctioned “mother plants” to be cloned for future generations of crops for the country’s fledgling medicinal marijuana industry. “I think we’ll see Australia punch above its weight, both in agriculture research as well as medical technology,” says Crock, the chief executive of Cann Group Limited, the firm granted Australia’s first commercial grower’s license. “As different conditions come online we are going to see the market grow rapidly.” Following Canada, Israel, and more than half the US states, who through varying approaches have legalized medicinal marijuana, Australia has signaled its intention for a homegrown industry. But a patchwork of regulations that guard access for many desperate patients, and a lack of confidence among doctors in prescribing the drug, are acting as impediments. While recreational marijuana use remains illegal in Australia laws passed last year permit medical use, with a dozen licenses since issued, ranging from cultivation and research to manufacturing. At least 10 sector-related firms have listed on Australia’s stock exchange, while tens of millions of dollars has been pledged for clinical trials investigating treatment for

This picture taken on June 9, 2017 shows Peter Crock, chief executive of Cann group limited, examining twomonths-old cannabis cuttings at an undisclosed location in Australia’s Victoria state. AFP

conditions including epilepsy and relief for the terminally ill. Driven by a growing recognition of treatment for chronic pain, arthritis and migraines, the global market is estimated to reach US$55.8 billion by 2025 with the US, Canada and Israel leading the way, US-based analyst Grand View Research says. ‘Conservative government’ But unlike those markets, which have liberal patientaccess, Australia has a “very conservative government” that wants a regulatory framework in place up front, says Adam Miller, founder of medical cannabis start-up BuddingTech. “They’re doing things by the book so that when they have the evidence required to satisfy

not only Australia’s but other countries’ governments, and medical bodies, they will be able to export those products to those countries,” he added. Last year, researchers at the University of Sydney estimated a legal domestic medical market would initially be worth more than Aus$100 million (US$75 million) a year. Miller, who was drawn to the industry after researching alternatives for his seriously-ill mother, says unlocking the local market requires easing patient access and educating doctors. But not at the expense of the pharmaceutical industry’s integrity. “Any new products that are going to be distributed to a large number of patients need to go through the

same mechanism that any other drug would go through, and cannabis is no different,” he says. Doctors acknowledge the plant’s potential in palliative care, epilepsy and spasticity but remain guarded in its broader use, citing limited scientiﬁc proof. “It’s been around since prehistory and if it was the panacea for a whole range of medical conditions it was claimed to be by some advocates, then we would have been using it for a long period of time,” says Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon. ‘Pretty angry pretty quickly’ But for many, change is too slow. Arielle Harding had her ﬁrst epileptic seizure at 15-monthsold. Suffering from about 100

a day, treatment with traditional drugs made things worse. Her desperate parents recently tried small doses of Cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive marijuana derivative in liquid form and Arielle, now five, shows few signs of her condition. “At first we were just overjoyed that that had happened but you also find that you get pretty angry pretty quickly, when you realize that we could have had this three years ago and what a difference that would that have made,” her father Tim recalls. The legal CBD oil he purchases is not an elixir, but like thousands seeking cannabis treatment in Australia, Harding says he is unable to explore the drug further for fear of breaking complicated laws. A 2015 Roy Morgan poll found more than 90 percent of Australians support legalizing marijuana for the seriously ill, but advocates say it struggles for recognition because of its “demonized” past. “It is really important to realize that you can get the medicinal benefits from cannabinoids without necessarily being intoxicated,” says Iain McGregor, academic director at the University of Sydney’s cannabis research hub. “We can actually pull apart the intoxicating recreational effects from the therapeutic effects, and again that allows doctors to prescribe with more confidence if it is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid.” As attitudes change, encouraging more research, McGregor is optimistic about the plant’s potential “to produce incredible therapeutics for a whole range of diseases that are currently very difficult to treat.” AFP

and empowered organizational set-up”, ANZ’s China economist Raymond Yeung said in a note. “Debt reduction will become an important consideration in monetary policy,” Yeung said, predicting more corporate defaults and a tightening of credit policy among banks. Despite the economic deleveraging, however, “we do not think this event will trigger an immediate monetary tightening.” Analysts expect tighter restrictions on property purchases and bank lending will continue to weigh on the economy in the months ahead. AFP

US firms struggle to employ workers WASHINGTON―A growing share of US employers are struggling to hire new workers and some have raised wages as a result, according to a survey released Monday. The National Association of Business Economists said its quarterly survey showed members were a little less sanguine about the prospects for strong economic expansion over the next year, although most still expect sustained quarterly growth of better than two percent With unemployment already very low, anecdotal reports indicate employers around the country are struggling to fill open positions and have been obliged to boost compensation to lure in new candidates. But official figures show only sluggish wage growth and weak inflation―with average hourly earnings disappointingly up less than 0.2 percent in June―something that has puzzled policymakers at the Federal Reserve, although it has not yet prompted them to alter their course of gradual interest rate increases. “Slightly over one third of panelists reports that their firms have experienced some difficulty in hiring,” NABE survey chair Emily Kolinski said in a statement. The survey of 101 NABE members showed rising sales, profits, hiring and capital spending. However, “Pricing power― or lack of it―and labor costs are generating some headwinds for a significant number of firms,” she said. AFP

LGUs

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

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

FLOWER PARK. The City of Baybay in Leyte recently opened the ‘16,000 Blossoms’ park, a mountain-top garden adorned by 16,000 LED lights, to mark its 10th cityhood day. Located at Lintaon Peak, Baybay’s highest point, the park is comprised of white and red roses embedded in the grassy meadow forming the phrase ‘I Love Baybay.’ (See story on C2.)

‘Keep hopes high for Marawi City’ I

LIGAN CITY―As the government gradually shifts its efforts toward rebuilding and rehabilitating the Islamic City of Marawi, Mindanao Development Authority Chairman Datu Abul Khayr Alonto assures the new batch of graduates from Marawi that the battle-scarred city will rise stronger and better.

In his Commencement Speech ates of the Mindanao State Unidelivered to around 2,000 gradu- versity Main Campus last July 13,

the Maranao leader expressed his hope for the future professionals to contribute to nation-building and work with the government in rehabilitating Marawi. “My dear graduates, use what you have learned from MSU to broaden your perspectives, to remain confident and optimistic in Mindanao, to be hopeful about its future and deeply committed to being an instrument of peace,” Alonto said.

This is the first time for MSU Marawi to hold its commencement exercise outside of the campus, holding the ceremonies instead at MSU Iligan Institute of Technology, following the siege by Maute group terrorists that befell the city last May 23. “What happened in Marawi 52 days ago, is unfortunately personal to all of us; for somehow, there are amongst us who must have lost their loved ones; a family member,

a friend, colleague, classmate or teacher; and there are those who will never ever make it to march in this halls or witness this kind of event in their lives,” he added. The first Muslim MinDA Chairman, however, noted that despite what happened, Mindanao still holds great potential to be the country’s frontline for economic growth owing to its rich, largely untapped natural resources and a competitive and literate labor force.

Makati shuts 3 biz over permits

Senate ‘best served’ by move to Antipolo By Reuel Vidal THERE are three things that matter in property and real estate: Location, location, location. The Philippine Senate, therefore, would be best served if it accepts the offer to relocate to a 25-hectare parcel of land in Antipolo City, which it will donate to the legislature free of any charges or encumbrances, according to Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III. The Senate is considering relocating from its present location in Pasay City to another site because of the hefty P119 million annual rent that has to be paid for the use of the GSIS Building near Roxas Boulevard. The Senate’s choices have been narrowed down to Taguig or Antipolo, according to reports. The Antipolo location is on a

hilltop with a panoramic 360-degree unobstructed view of the neighboring areas, including Metro Manila and the rest of the province of Rizal. The Antipolo mayor said the Secretariat of the Senate already visited the site. “It’s beautiful. In fact, the Secretariat of the Senate already conducted an ocular. Everyone, all the members of the Secretariat, all the employees. They were instructed by Senate President Koko Pimentel to inspect the place. Everyone thought the place was beautiful. It’s on top of a hill with an unobstructed 360 degree view,” said Ynares. The proposed Senate home is accessible because it is right beside the eight-lane MarikinaInfanta Highway (Marcos Highway), which connects Metro Manila to Quezon Province. Antipolo has less traffic com-

By Joel E. Zurbano

An artist’s rendition shows the prime location of the proposed Senate Building in Antipolo City, on top of a hill with an unobstructed 360 degree view in a 25-hectare parcel of land beside the eight-lane Marikina-Infanta Highway (Marcos Highway), which connects Metro Manila to Quezon Province.

pared to the perennially gridlocked location in Taguig, and is actually closer to the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, making it more accessible to members of the House of Representatives for bicameral hearings and meetings. Additionally, moving to Antipolo instead of Taguig will

save P1.2 billion on land acquisition and another P4 billion in savings for the construction of a sprawling complex instead of a skyscraper, which will be necessary if they relocate to Taguig, Ynares said. The mayor said the Senate will again convene after the President’s State of the Nation

Address on July 24 to decide once and for all whether to relocate the Senate to Taguig or Antipolo. The popular choice is Taguig, but Mayor Ynares hopes the benefits of Antipolo’s location, plus the estimated billions of pesos in savings will sway the Senators to choose his city instead.

Taguig increases allowances for college scholars THE city government of Taguig has increased the allowances of students enrolled under its Lifeline Assistance for Neighbors In Need (LANI) scholarship program aim to give children of less fortunate families fair opportunity to study. Those availing from basic colleges, state universities and colleges,

local colleges and universities, and Basic Plus scholars will be receiving P15,000 and P20,000, respectively, each set of students receiving a P5,000-increase per school year. “We hope that through this, many of them will graduate and finish with flying colors. Because with excellence among our con-

stituents, we may truly think big, dream big not just now but especially in the years to come,” said Taguig Mayor Laarni Cayetano. On July 13, a total of 1,293 LANI scholars were the first to experience the upgraded educational assistance after they received their allowance during the first batch of LANI

scholarship allowance distribution for this semester at the Taguig City University Auditorium. Every semester, the city distributes scholarship allowances to three batches of scholars usually composed of around 13,000 students, under the program, which was pioneered in 2011 with an ini-

tial budget of P100 million. The allowance given ranged from P15,000 to P60,000, depending on what type of scholarship the student has availed of—Premier, Full, Priority, Basic, SUC/LCU, Basic Plus, Leadership and Educators Advancement and Development or Review. Joel E. Zurbano

QC dads to be feted in Councilors League’s 30th year By Rio N. Araja AN OFFICIAL of the Metro Manila Councilors League has lauded the contribution of the Quezon City council for the establishment of the Philippine Councilors League in 1988.

QC District 1 Councilor Peter Anthony “Onyx” Crisologo highlighted the role of the late city councilor Guillermo “Willy” Altuna in the creation of a national councilors league. “It was Quezon City that gave birth to the PCL 29 years ago.

“Throughout history, our darkest hours are always followed by our finest moments. We are at this point where time and circumstances accord us excellent opportunity to build a strong nation in Mindanao and dismantle the national divide,” Alonto said. He noted there is a need to capture the historical dimensions of development in order to bring back lasting peace in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao.

The people must know that,” he told the Manila Standard. Altuna was the first PCL national chairman. “We also give credit to our veteran councilors, now incumbent District 3’s Eufemio Lagumbay, District 1’s Victor

Ferrer Jr. and District 2’s Godofredo Liban II. Twenty-nine years ago when they were still young councilors, they were responsible for the PCL creation, too,” Crisologo said. During the recent sixth board meeting of the MMCL

held in Marikina City, Crisologo said they agreed in principle to give Altuna, along with Lagumbay, Ferrer and Liban, the special recognition “they long deserve” on Sept. 2, 2018 during the PCL’s 30th founding anniversary.

THREE more business establishments in Makati have been shut down for operating illegally in the city, bringing to 230 the total number of establishments ordered closed by Mayor Abigail Binay since July last year. Ordered closed for operating without permits were Dalat Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine in Barangay San Antonio and Pimentel Welding Shop in Barangay Rizal. On the other hand, Loreamar Spa Services, also in Barangay San Antonio, was also closed for violating the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003. The establishment was the subject of a raid by the Makati police late last month. Personnel of the Makati Business Permit Office served the closure orders on the business establishments upon the directives of Mayor Binay. Upon taking office last year, Binay ordered the BPO, City Building Official, and other concerned city agencies to intensify efforts to crack down on businesses operating illegally in the city. The present administration has taken a strict stance on the enforcement of the city revenue code “to protect the interest of legitimate businesses that have underpinned the sustained economic growth of Makati.” The imposition of the Mayor’s Permit and other regulatory fees by the city government to regulate any business activity or undertaking conducted within Makati is part of the police powers granted under the Local Government Code of the Philippines.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

Manila

Standard

TODAY JULY 18, 2017 TUESDAY,

Baybay opens ‘16k Blossoms’ park T

HE City of Baybay, Leyte recently opened the “16,000 Blossoms” park, a mountaintop garden adorned by 16,000 LED lights, as part of its 10th cityhood day.

Located at the Lintaon Peak, is comprised of white and red the city’s highest point, the park roses embedded in the grassy Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Roxas Boulevard Corner Pablo Ocampo, Sr. Street Manila 1004

meadow forming the phrase “I Love Baybay.” According to Baybay Mayor Carmen Cari, the park is part of the city’s tourism development plan, which will transform the area into the Lintaon Ecotourism Zone. Once completed, the park will have an information center, view deck, pavilion, picnic areas, and other tourist facilities. The proposed zone overlooks the city, the Camotes Sea, and

the nearby islands of Cuatro Islas in Inopacan town and Camotes in Cebu. A tall image of the city’s patron saint Immaculate Conception will also be erected to make it a pilgrimage site, due to its proximity to the Diocesan Shrine of San Antonio de Padua. The church, which draws over 300,000 devotees annually to venerate the saint’s image, which is believed to be miracu-

lous, is the region’s top cultural attraction and part of Baybay’s more than 647,000 annual day visitors, the highest in Region 8 based on data from the Department of Tourism. Cari said she will endorse the project to the Regional Development Council of Eastern Visayas to make the site as a regional attraction to boost its tourism potentials. Baybay, the biggest munici-

pality in Leyte, was proclaimed a city on June 16, 2007 and was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012 after a series of legal battles. It is host to the Visayas State University, one of the country’s biggest agricultural learning institutions, plus a long coastline, a heritage lane showcasing ancestral houses, and several factories of pulp paper and virgin coconut oil.

InvItatIon to BId for the Supply, Delivery and Installation of Soundproofing of the DOF Building (3rd to 6th Floor) Project

The Department of Finance (DOF), through the General Appropriations Act of 2017 intends to apply the sum of THIRTY SEVEN MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (PhP37,200,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION OF SOUNDPROOFING OF THE DOF BUILDING (3RD TO 6TH FLOOR). 1. 2.

4. 5.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. The DOF now invites bids for Supply, Delivery and Installation of Soundproofing of the DOF Building (3rd to 6th Floor) Delivery of the Goods is required within One Hundred Twenty (120) Calendar Days. Bidders should have completed, within the last 5 years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, cooperatives, or organizations with at seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat at the address given below during office hours. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders starting on July18, 2017 up to August 7, 2017 at the BAC Secretariat, 8th Floor, EDPC Building, BSP Complex, Pablo Ocampo Sr. Stree corner Roxas Boulevard, Malate Manila upon payment of a non-refundable fee in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos (P25,000.00) It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids. The schedule of bidding activities is as follows:

ACTIVITIES Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid Issuance and Availability of Bid Documents Pre-Bid Conference Request for Clarification Issuance of Supplemental Bid Bulletin Deadline for Submission of Bids Opening of Bids

SCHEDULE July 18, 2017 starting July 18, 2017 July 25, 2017, 10:00 am July 28, 2017 July 31, 2017 August 7, 2017, 9:30 am August 7, 2017, 10:00 am

The DOF will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 10:00 a.m., July 25, 2017 at the DFG Conference Room, 4th Floor DOF Building, Roxas Boulevard, Malate, Manila , which shall be open to prospective bidders.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the the 8th Floor, General Services Office, EDPC Building, BSP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Malate, Manila on or before 9:30 a.m. August 7, 2017. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Bid opening shall be on 10:00 a.m., August 7, 2017 at DFG Conference Room, 4th Floor, DOF Bldg, BSP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Malate, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. 9. The DOF reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders. 10. For further information, please refer to:

BAC Secretariat 8th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex, Pablo Ocampo, Sr. St. corner Roxas Boulevard Malate, Manila Telephone No. 526-8475 Telefax : 525-4227 lte@dof.gov.ph / matienza@dof.gov.ph (SGD) GIL S. BELTRAN Undersecretary and BAC Chairman (MS-JULY 18, 2017)

PHARMA CONFERENCE. Philippine International Trading Corp. Undersecretary Dave Almarinez talks to attendees of a conference organized by the Pharmazone company on high quality, inexpensive pharmaceutical products to be manufactured in the Philippines. this is Job creation with significant social impact and to the economy. Almarinez said the Philippines can potentially take the lead in Southeast Asia with the huge interest of both local and foreign industry players, including new players, to come in and invest in pharma companies that could get a piece of the industry’s multibillion-dollar revenues for the Philippines. Roy Tomandao

P40m in Philex works done Marvin Padinay, a civil engineer who works as projects coTUBA, Benguet—Adhering to its ordinator at the firm’s ComRel, duty of implementing public in- said a total of 67 projects were defrastructure in its host and neigh- livered to outlying communities boring communities, Philex Min- (both host and neighboring) last ing Corp. has completed P40.34 year, to the tune of P24.5 million million worth of projects—such or 36.58 percent of the 2016 total as farm-to-market roads, bridges, infra budget of P66,987,723.13. electrification, and potable water The construction of a retaining systems—from the whole of 2016 wall in the Tuba barangay of Camp until the first half of this year. 3 topped all the other projects done The total amount represents last year at P1.58 million and was 60.23 percent of the P67-million completed in July 2016. budget allotted for the various In 2017, a P3.61-million rehainfrastructure projects under the bilitation of a slope protection company’s 2016 SDMP, or Social wall in Itogon’s Sitio Samoyao, Development and Management Brgy. Ampucao, led the two othProgram, according to Aurora er projects delivered during the Dolipas, manager of the Com- second quarter with a combined munity Relations Department at cost of P5.95 million. Philex’s Padcal mine here. ComRel’s Marvin Agustin, “More projects are ongoing and who monitors the infra projects we have been working very hard being implemented, earlier said to deliver these during the second the company completed P15.84 semester,” she said. “These as million worth of public inframuch represent our commitment structure during the first half of to community development as our 2017 that was part of the 2016 adherence to responsible mining SDMP, with those delivered over the past more than six dec- between April and June alone ades of operations.” amounting to P5.95 million and, for the first quarter, P9.88 million. Philex Mining NOTICE OF ERRORS had set aside P81.53 EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF & million for its 2016 ESTATE OMISSIONS

By Dexter A. See

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late FELIX H. LIMON was extrajudicially settled by and among his heirs as per affidavit executed on July 10, 2017 and entered as Doc. No. 284, Page No. 58, Book No. 1 Series of 2017 of the notarial registry of Atty. Jerome L. Flojo, a notary public for and in the Cities of Pasig, San Juan and Municipality of Pateros.

In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

(MS-JULY 11, 18 & 25, 2017)

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that ROBINSONS LAND CORPORATION with office address at 22nd Floor Robinsons Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue corner Poveda Street, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Operator of Tourist Accommodation Facility under the Special Laws-Tourism related Facilities (Go Hotels Iligan) on a non-pioneer status, with project site located at Robinsons Place Iligan, Brgy. Tubod, Iligan City, Lanao Del Norte.. Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication. (SGD.) JOY JOSETTE L. LACHICA Officer-In-Charge Infrastructure & Services Industries Service (MS-JULY 18, 2017)

community-development projects under the SDMP, which, besides public infrastructure, also covers free health-care services to stakeholders and medical missions in remote areas; scholarships for students in elementary, high school, college, and technical-vocational; and livelihood programs. Padcal, Philex Mining’s sole operating mine, has Camp 3 and Ampucao for its host barangays, while its neighboring barangays consist of Camp 1 and Ansagan (both in Tuba) and Dalupirip (Itogon). Its final 2016 report on social projects also showed that Philex Mining set aside P16.31 million for its media and public campaign on the benefits derived from mining, and another P10.87 million for the development of the industry. A large-scale miner is mandated to set aside for the current year an amount equivalent to 1.5 percent of its total operating expenses the previous year. The amount is then divided into 75 percent for SDMP, 15 percent for the information, education, and communications (IEC) campaign, and 10 percent for the development of mining technology and geosciences (DMTG).

DSWD allots P31m for elderly pension BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—The Department of Social Welfare and Development has allotted more than P31 million for the social pension of elderly in the province. Jane Pumaras, DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program provincial coordinator, said the fund will benefit 21,053 senior citizens in the municipalities of Ambaguio, Aritao, Sta. Fe, Kasibu, Kayapa, Alfonso Castaneda, Diadi, Bagabag, Solano, Villaverde, Quezon, Bayombong, Bambang, Dupax del Sur and Dupax del Norte towns. “All municipalities with cash pay-out and fund transfer have already conducted their first and second quarter pay-out. Schedule of third quarter pay-out for cashpay out municipalities will be by July 2017,” she said. Pumaras also said 27 active and validated centenarians will receive their P100,000 benefit as provided by law from DSWD this year. The centenarians will come from the towns of Ambaguio, Aritao, Bambang, Bayombong, Diadi, Dupax del Norte, Dupax del Sur, Kasibu, Quezon, Sta. Fe, Solano and Villaverde. Ben Moses Ebreo

SM sets 50,000 trees for Baguio BAGUIO CITY―SM City Baguio reaffirmed its overwhelming support to the efforts of the concerned government agencies and the local government by planting 50,000 assorted tree saplings in different plantation sites this year. Last July 14, a day before the 30th founding anniversary of the Cordillera Administrative Region, some 250 SM City Baguio employees, together with representatives from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, local government of Baguio, Baguio Regreening Movement and the Baguio Water District, trooped to the Busol watershed. There, they planted 20,000 assorted saplings as part of the company’s commitment to bring back the greenery of the city’s environment. These saplings were part of the 50,000 committed by the company within the Busol watershed, as Deyan Construction, SM City Baguio’s reforestation contractor, will be the one to plant the remaining balance of unplanted trees. SM City Baguio’s contractor will be planting another 50,000 Benguet pine saplings in the perimeter of the 139-hectare property in Sto. Tomas School Area and Camp 7 for the remainder of the year. Last year, SM City Baguio planted some 50,000 assorted tree saplings within the perimeter of the city-owned property in Sto. Tomas and Camp 7 with the support of employees from the local government, to jumpstart its commitment to plant 500,000 assorted tree saplings in the different parts of the city within five years. From 2012 to 2014, the mall giant planted within the Busol watershed 24,092 assorted tree saplings, which was the initial wave of trees planted within the city’s premier watershed that supplies some 40 percent of the city’s potable water supply. Dexter A. See

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

Oscar winner Landau dead at 89

PROMOTIONAL DANCE. Models wearing new bikinis pose for the media following a promotional ﬂash mob dance performance in Tokyo on July 17, 2017. The event was organized by the Japan Swimsuit Association to promote the latest swimsuits. AFP

Trump back on the offensive W ASHINGTON―US President Donald Trump, fresh from a political holiday in Paris, went back on the offensive Sunday as a new poll showed his popularity dropping amid doubts about Russian election meddling and deepening frustrations over stalled health care legislation. In an early morning tweet, Trump used some of his toughest language against a favored target, the press, saying: “With all of its phony unnamed sources & highly slanted & even fraudulent reporting, #Fake News is DISTORTING DEMOCRACY in our country!”

Trump also sent one of his private lawyers, Jay Sekulow, onto ﬁve Sunday talk shows to argue that there was nothing illegal about his eldest son Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting last year with a Russian attorney following a promise of damaging information on Democratic rival Hillary

Clinton. “What took place at the meeting... is not a violation of any law, statute or code,” Sekulow told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He repeated an earlier assertion that Trump is not the subject of any current investigation into alleged Russian efforts to tilt last year’s election in the Republican’s favor. The concerted pushback came as a Washington Post-ABC News poll near the six-month point in Trump’s administration showed him facing signiﬁcantly declining approval ratings, down from 42 percent in April to 36 percent today. Similarly, the president’s disapproval rating has jumped ﬁve

points to 58 percent, according to the survey of 1,001 adults. Trump responded to the poll in a tweet, saying: “The ABC/Washington Post Poll, even though almost 40% is not bad at this time, was just about the most inaccurate poll around election time!” Nearly half of the respondents―48 percent―said they “disapprove strongly” of the president’s performance in ofﬁce, a low level never reached by expresidents Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, both Democrats, and reached only once by George W. Bush, during his second term. And 48 percent said they saw American global leadership weakening since Trump entered the White House, while 27 percent

Chinese censors can’t bear the Pooh BEIJING―Has Winnie the Pooh done something to anger China’s censors? Some mentions of the lovable but dimwitted bear with a weakness for “hunny” have been blocked on Chinese social networks. Authorities did not explain the clampdown, but the self-described “bear of very little brain” has been used in the past in a meme comparing him to portly Chinese President Xi Jinping. Posts bearing the image and the Chinese characters for Winnie the Pooh were still permitted on the Twitter-like Weibo platform Monday. But comments referencing “Little Bear Winnie”―Pooh’s Chinese name―turned up error messages saying the user could not proceed because “this content is illegal.” Winnie the Pooh stickers have also been removed from WeChat’s ofﬁcial “sticker gallery,” but user-generated gifs of the bear are still available on the popular messaging app. Comparisons between Xi and Pooh ﬁrst emerged in 2013, after Chinese social media users began circulating a pair of pictures that placed an image of Pooh and his slender tiger friend “Tigger” beside a photograph of Xi walking with then-US President Barack Obama. In 2014, a photographed handshake between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was matched with an image of Pooh gripping the hoof of his gloomy donkey friend Eeyore. And in 2015, the political analysis portal Global Risk Insights called a picture of Xi standing up through the roof of a parade car paired with an image of a Winnie the Pooh toy car “China’s most censored photo” of the year. AFP

said it was stronger. That would seem to show mixed results, at best, from a series of high-proﬁle foreign visits by Trump, including to Saudi Arabia and to a Group of 20 meeting in Germany, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump’s Bastille Day visit to Paris came a day after the poll ended. Two thirds of respondents said they do not trust Trump, or trust him only somewhat, in negotiating with foreign leaders. Republicans’ legislative struggles may also be weighing on Trump’s popularity. Twice as many of those surveyed preferred the Obamacare health program as those who favored Republican plans to replace it. AFP

LOS ANGELES―Veteran actor Martin Landau, whose versatile screen career stretched from the 1960s TV series “Mission: Impossible” to his Oscar-winning turn as Bela Lugosi in “Ed Wood,” has died at 89, his publicist said Sunday. Brooklyn-born Landau died Saturday of unexpected complications during a hospital stay in Los Angeles, according to a statement issued by publicist Dick Guttman. “We are overcome with sadness to report the death of iconic actor Martin Landau,” said the statement. “He had just celebrated his 89th birthday.” Screenwriter Joss Whedon said Landau’s turn as philandering eye doctor and brother of Jerry Orbach in Woody Allen’s 1989 “Crimes and Misdemeanors” was “perfect.” “RIP Martin Landau,” he added on Twitter. Landau got his start on Broadway in the 1950s, before a 1959 film debut in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller “North by Northwest.” “I had tea with Mr Hitchcock one afternoon and asked him how he could have cast me in that part, because what I was playing in (the play) ‘Middle of the Night’ was so different,” Landau told the Los Angeles Times last year. “’My dear Mah-tin,’” Landau said in impersonating the British filmmaker, “’you have a circus going on inside you. If you can do that part in the play, you can do this little trinket of mine.’” Landau’s film roles ranged from the grand to the quirky, from “Cleopatra,” to “The Greatest Story Ever Told” and “Nevada Smith.” That was before he met with massive success playing the master of disguise Rollin Hand in the “Mission: Impossible” TV series―in which his wife Barbara Bain also starred. He was nominated for three Emmys and a Golden Globe in 1968. AFP

From the underground, fresh take on Prog rock

NEW SEASON. DJ Ms. Nix attends a block party celebrating HBO’s new season of ‘Insecure’ on July 15, 2017 in Inglewood, California. AFP

QUEBEC CITY―If the progressive rockers who briefly dominated the cultural landscape in the 1970s were just getting started today, how would they sound? Perhaps like the band Atsuko Chiba. The Montreal-based group played Sunday on the final night of the 50th anniversary edition of Quebec City’s summer festival, which featured massive acts from Metallica to the Backstreet Boys but also aimed to give space to emerging artists. Atsuko Chiba takes inspiration from prog rock, the movement that gained force in the early 1970s and treated music more as classical symphonies than as radio-friendly jingles. But prog rock, as Atsuko Chiba’s guitarist and synthesizer player Kevin McDonald noted, was itself an amalgamation of influences, and the Montreal group casts its net wide. “Wasabi Hands,” the opening track off its latest EP, “The Memory Empire,” is dominated by a heavy bass as a whirl of guitar effects builds and the tempo switches gears. In a clear departure from classic prog rock, Karim Lakhdar’s vocals on the song take their cue from hip-hop and punk, deliver-

ing punches in a style reminiscent of Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha. “Damonsta Titillates,” another track off “The Memory Empire,” floats with sci-fi electronica over 10 minutes before exploding into furious guitars and screams. “For me, prog rock has always been about pushing boundaries and trying to do something a little bit different -- bringing a tasteful amount of technicality while also trying to write very interesting and evolving musical numbers,” McDonald said. All five members of Atsuko Chiba grew up listening to King Crimson, one of the pioneering prog rock bands. “We are fans of prog rock for sure―we will wear that influence pretty proudly,” McDonald said with a laugh. “But we’re also fans of a whole bunch of other things, too, like hip-hop and punk and rock music and electronic music.” Atsuko Chiba, which sounds like the name of a Japanese woman, has no connection to Japan. McDonald chose the moniker on a whim as the band formed six years ago after watching the anime film “Paprika.” AFP

Opposition praises poll as blow to Maduro CARACAS―Venezuelans go to the polls Sunday in a vote organized by the opposition aimed at gauging public support for Maduro’s plan to rewrite the constitution, against a backdrop of worsening political violence. With authorities refusing to approve a vote presented as an act of civil disobedience and supporters of President Nicolas Maduro boycotting it, voters seemed set to reject the president’s controversial scheme. The symbolic “plebiscite” comes two weeks ahead of a Maduro-backed vote to elect a citizens’

body that would revise the constitution. The opposition has told its supporters to stay away. The cross-purpose initiatives have given rise to international worries -- voiced by the Catholic Church and the head of the UN, Antonio Guterres -- that the chances of bringing both sides together for dialogue has become more remote. That, in turn, is stoking fears of more protests and running street battles with police, which have been persistent for the past three and a half months. Nearly 100 people have died in the unrest

since the beginning of April. While Maduro is deeply unpopular―with 80 percent of Venezuelans criticizing his rule, according to the Datanalisis survey ﬁrm―he enjoys backing from some, mostly poor, parts of the population and, most importantly, from the military. Many Venezuelans, though, are less focused on the political power play than they are on getting by day by day under their country’s crushing economic crisis, which has meant shortages of food and medicine. The opposition, which accuses Maduro of trying to gather dictato-

rial powers with the constitutional rewrite and other steps, said all was prepared for Sunday’s vote. “Everything is ready,” one opposition ﬁgure, Maria Corina Machado, told AFP. She predicted the vote would “not only reject the Constituent Assembly”―the body Maduro is seeking to have elected to come up with a new constitution―”but will give a mandate for a change of the regime, the end of the dictatorship and the start of a transition with a government of national unity.” But Maduro, giving a national

radio and TV broadcast, portrayed the vote as merely an “internal consultation by the opposition parties” with no electoral legitimacy. “I call on all Venezuelans to participate peacefully in political events tomorrow, with respect for others’ ideas, with no incidents. Peace is what I ask,” he said. He directed his followers instead towards a rival poll exercise that, unlike that of the opposition, has been approved by electoral authorities: a dry-run simulation of the election to take place on July 30. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

Trash crisis blights Lviv city

World

Seoul seeks talks with North S EOUL―South Korea on Monday offered to hold rare military talks with the North, aiming to ease tensions after Pyongyang tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The offer of talks, the first since South Korea elected dovish President Moon Jae-In, came as the Red Cross in Seoul proposed a separate meeting to discuss the reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. The South’s defense ministry proposed a meeting to be held on Friday at the border truce village of Panmunjom, while the Red Cross offered to hold talks on August 1 at the same venue. If the government meeting goes ahead, it will mark the first official inter-Korea talks since December 2015. Moon’s conservative predecessor, Park GeunHye, had refused to engage in substantive dialogue with Pyongyang unless the isolated regime made a tangible commitment to denuclearization. “We make the proposal for a meeting... aimed at stopping all hostile activities that escalate military tension along the land border,” the defense ministry said in a statement. The Red Cross said it hoped for “a positive response” from its counterpart in the North, hoping to hold family reunions in early October. If realized, they would be the first in two years. Millions of families were separated by the conflict that sealed the division of the two countries. Many died without getting a chance to see or hear from their families on the other side of the heavily-fortified border, across which all civilian communication is banned. With the passage of time, the number of survivors has diminished, with only around 60,000 members of divided families still left in the South. “North Korea should respond to our sincere proposals if it really seeks peace on the Korean Peninsula”, Cho Myoung-Gyon, Seoul’s unification minister in charge of North Korea affairs, told reporters. Cho stressed that Seoul “would not seek collapse of the North or unification through absorbing the North,” and urged Pyongyang to restore inter-Korea communication channels including a shuttered military hotline. Moon, who took power in May, has advocated dialogue with the nuclear-armed North as a means of bringing it to the negotiating table and vowed to play a more active role in global efforts to tame the South’s unpredictable neighbor. But Pyongyang has staged a series of missile launches in violation of UN resolutions, most recently on July 4 when it test-fired its first ICBM, a move which triggered global alarm and a push by President Donald Trump to impose harsher UN sanctions on the country. Washington has also called on China, the North’s sole ally, to put more pressure on Pyongyang to rein in its nuclear ambitions, which have advanced rapidly under the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un. The latest ICBM test―which Kim described as a “gift” to the Americans―was seen as a milestone in Pyongyang’s quest to build a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that can hit the US mainland. The proposed meetings, if realized, would be a “rare opportunity to ease tension that has built up for 10 years”, said Cheong Seong-Chang, analyst at Sejong Institute think tank. “It would at least help let off some steam out of the current crisis, although the North would still maintain that it would not give up its weapons programs,” he said. The agenda for the meeting could include moves to suspend propaganda campaigns operated on both sides of the border for years, Cheong added. AFP

AWARDS GALA. Barry Zito and Amber Seyer walk the red carpet at the 2017 Starkey Hearing Foundation So the World May Hear Awards Gala at the Saint Paul River Center on July 16, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. AFP

Finnegan’s epic is escapist bestseller PARIS―William Finnegan tested the patience of his publisher in the 20 years it took him to write his remarkable memoir of his lifelong obsession with surfing, “Barbarian Days”. “I gave up a couple of times, but she always believed,” the laconic American writer told AFP. Her zen attitude paid off. The book has been heaped with awards including a Pulitzer prize and become a runaway bestseller, with former president Barack Obama among its many fans. The New York Times called it a classic, the “finest surf book ever”―and up there with Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” as an account of what happens when “ideas of freedom and purity take hold of a young mind and fling his body out into the far reaches of the world”.

Finnegan’s youthful odyssey “as a weird frontier guy” in search of the perfect wave took him from the Los Angeles suburbs to the jungles of Java and apartheid South Africa, surviving on his wits and the kindness of strangers. Sports Illustrated, not normally prone to literary eulogizing, declared that “reading this guy... on waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullﬁghting, William Burroughs on controlled substances and Updike on adultery.” Such praise surprised no one more than Finnegan, who spent his childhood between the beaches of California and Hawaii, where his father worked as a producer and union ﬁxer twisting arms to get television series like “Hawaii Five-O” made. “I had visions of people throwing the book across the room because they

couldn’t bear another description of a wave,” he told AFP. “But people who’d never surfed in their lives told me they completely went with it.” Still more were taken with his limpid style and lightly worn sea lore, such as how ancient Polynesian mariners navigated not only by the stars but by dipping their testicles in the briny. “Strange but absolutely true,” Flanagan insists. Now 65, the distinguished war correspondent and New Yorker magazine journalist had kept quiet about his surfing side “until well into middle age”, knowing that his years as a surf bum―a species not renowned for their intellectual acuity―might sit awkwardly with his writerly ambitions. AFP

LVIV―Ukraine’s western city of Lviv is famous for its picturepostcard graceful domes and cobblestone streets but it’s not such a pretty sight in the back alleys, which are blighted by growing mountains of garbage. Waste has not been removed from some neighborhoods in the city of 700,000 people since May, with the stench scaring off tourists and a rat infestation threatening public health. The trash piles have built up due to an apparent political impasse between the Ukrainian government and the authorities in the city, arguably the most European-looking in the postSoviet nation. Kiev accuses Lviv’s mayor of failing to handle waste management but the mayor blames the crisis on a “garbage blockade”. Last month, locals took action into their own hands, blocking city streets to protest about the situation, with some even setting fire to the mounds of waste. Lviv resident Mariya Sydorovych, 58, told AFP that despite summer heat of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) she does not dare open the windows. “It’s just an indescribable stink. Some rubbish piles have reached the level of the second floor,” she said. “We have garbage cans near the playground. Children have not been playing there for weeks, because they cannot stand it.” Doctors share residents’ concerns about the possible deterioration of the health of the city’s inhabitants. “If we do not ensure removal of garbage from Lviv in time, we could face dangerous consequences for the health of Lviv residents,” Volodymyr Zub, the city council’s health department chief, told AFP. “Such a situation can lead to frequent and prolonged outbreaks of intestinal infections. Under such conditions, the number of rodents that are carriers of dangerous diseases may increase.” While many locals accuse city authorities of causing the crisis, Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi told AFP that it was impossible to move the rubbish out of the city because of a “garbage blockade”. He said the problem started in May 2016 when the main landfill for Lviv’s waste caught fire and four firefighters died, prompting state authorities to shut down the site. “But since then we have a problem of where to move our 600 tons of garbage daily,” 48-year-old bespectacled Sadovyi lamented. “With 5,500 landfills in Ukraine, I thought that we would be able to solve the problem but all these landfills began to close to my city one after another.” The embattled mayor went further, accusing the government of pressuring landfill owners across the country not to accept refuse from Lviv in order to discredit him not just as mayor, but also as leader of the Samopomich political party. AFP

Father of zombie movie dead at 77

PARTY. Actress Lisa Joyce attends a block party celebrating HBO’s new season of ‘Insecure’ on July 15, 2017, in Inglewood, California. AFP

WASHINGTRON―US filmmaker George A. Romero, whose 1968 cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” spawned the zombie movie genre, died on Sunday aged 77. Tributes poured in from Hollywood and beyond for the legendary director who, according to his manager Chris Roe, passed away “listening to the score of The Quiet Man, one of his all-time favorite films.” “He died peacefully in his sleep, following a brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer, and leaves behind a loving family, many friends, and a filmmaking legacy that has endured, and will continue to endure, the test of time,” Chris Roe added in a brief statement. Shot in black-and-white on a budget of just over $100,000, “Night of the Living Dead” daringly featured black actor Duane Jones as its lead in a script about a group of people attempting to survive an attack by re-animated corpses. Some film scholars later suggested it was a subversive critique

of US society during the 1960s, while its gory realism was reminiscent of footage from the Vietnam war that was airing on American TV at the time. The film went on to gross over $30 million worldwide, and led to five sequels including “Dawn of the Dead” and “Day of the Dead”inspiring an entire genre that remains a Hollywood staple to this day, though the director admitted he was himself influenced by Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel “I Am Legend.” “Night of the Living Dead” was added by the Library of Congress in 1999 to its National Film Registry for works considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Other notable works include 1981’s “Knightriders”, about a traveling medieval reenactment troupe that jousts on motorcycles, and 1982’s horror anthology “Creepshow” written by author Stephen King. Leading tributes to the director, King tweeted: “Sad to hear my favorite collaborator―and good old friend―George Romero has

died. George, there will never be another like you.” Director Eli Roth meanwhile hailed Romero for “confront(ing) racism 50 years ago” with his casting of Jones in “Night of the Living Dead” while also inventing the genre’s tropes that remain to this day: “The infectious bite. Shoot the head. Everything.” “George Romero deserved to get 5% of every zombie movie made after 1968. But he didn’t. And he was always classy about it,” added ﬁlm critic Scott Weinberg. Guillermo del Toro, who wrote and directed creepy 2006 fantasy classic “Pan’s Labyrinth” and produced 2013’s supernatural horror “Mama” wrote: “Romero has passed away. Hard to ﬁnd words right now. The loss is so enormous.” Much of Romero’s work was shot in or around Pittsburgh, where Romero had attended Carnegie-Mellon University after moving away from his hometown New York where he was born in 1940 to a Cuban father and a Lithuanian-American mother. AFP

Life EXHIBIT

A young Yakan from Basilan plays the kulintang—a living testament to the rich cultural history of the Philippines

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

CULTURE & MEDIA

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

promotes understanding

Muslim culture

By Ayunan G.Gunting-Al-Hadj

HE sophistication of Mindanao is highlighted in a touring exhibition.

The aims of Congresswoman Sitti Hataman of Anak Mindanao Party List are to show Muslims as part of Philippine society and to dismiss the labels refugees, uncultured, or aggressive people. Coming from a royal family, she knows. Sitti was brought up in a household steep in tradition, such as preparing food in a sacred manner, weaving mats in meditation, chanting epics and living up to royal protocols. The touring exhibit, “Muslims of the Philippines: History and Culture,” is one of the fruits of Sitti’s bill on the establishment of an institution for Sulu and Mindanao arts to promote understanding of culture and lifestyle of the South. “Sitti wanted to convey the face of the Moro outside of the stereotype. Putting up a museum would be expensive, but the logistics should not stop us from bringing the culture closer to the people,” says curator Marian Pastor Roces, founder of TAO, Inc., a company that organizes exhibits. “Muslims of the Philippines” presents artifacts, textiles, musical instruments, folk art with the objective that education will dispel ignorance and biases. Sponsored by the Autonomous

Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), it serves as an introduction to Muslim culture for the rest of Filipinos to understand better their brothers and sisters in Mindanao and themselves as a nation. “Muslim Filipinos are also indigenous. What makes them different from other groups is that they embraced Islam. The first Muslim missionar ies in the 14th century adapted to the existing culture in the Philippines instead of imposing theirs. I learned about other non-Muslim indigenous communities when I worked for NGOs and the Anak Mindanao, which upholds the rights of indigenous people. Understanding the indigenous culture made me realize that our ancestors were way ahead of their time. They have been mislabeled as uncivilized or uneducated. Their knowledge of the sciences, agriculture, literature, engineering, and maritime was advanced.

The ‘Muslims of the Philippines: History and Culture’ exhibit, which showcases musical instruments, textiles and artifacts, among others, aims to bring the Muslim culture closer to the people

Deeply spiritual, they remember the Supreme Being in their everyday tasks. They had a higher responsibility towards all of creation,” explains Sitti. Muslims of the Philippines: History and Culture has been well received by the public when it toured the SM malls recently. Filipinos, who don’t normally read exhibit notes and captions, were captivated by the pre-history and history of Islam in the Philippines. The texts were designed on large light boxes and panels. Many also read Roces’s detailed chronology of the people and events that defined Mindanao from 1889 to 2000. “For those, who want to see the epic

and are interested in serious reading, there is the timeline showing the massacres, the governance, succession and the cultural milestone,” she says. The exhibit was held from July 10 to 14 at the DLSU College of Saint Benilde. Roces explains that she has to work within the challenges of lack of climate control to protect the objects, space and tight security. “Given these limitations, I wanted a well-designed exhibition to match the artistry of their culture. The arts of Marawi and Tawi-Tawi are very sophisticated. It’s an aspect that is not part of the national consciousness,” she says. Sections were divided according to ethnolinguistic groups. Roces notes that

the word “tribe” is incorrect. Hence, these group--such as Maranaw-Maguindanao-Iranon, Tausug and Samals-are categorized according to their language and how they eventually became part of Muslim Mindanao The exhibit features the famous banig weaving from Tandubas and Laminsa, Sulu. These extraordinary mats are rare as Sulu is remote to outsiders. Glasses contain artifacts such as weaponry, which reveals the Muslim’s advanced craftsmanship. Among them are the kampilan, a long, single-edged sword with an ivory handle, which shows the strength of the MaranawsMaguindanao and Tausugs in metal tradition and the pirah, a wider version of the bolo or scabbard, with a birdlike horn hilt, produced by the Yakan. The show also highlights the textile tradition with the pis siyabit, a silk head cloth from the Tausugs, and the saputangan, a square head kerchief showing the rich tapestry (a handwoven fabric with complex patterns). At the onset of the Marawi siege Congresswoman Sitti and Roces collaborated on a new section on the culture of Lanao del Sur’s capital. “People didn’t know where Marawi was and how it looked like,” says Roces. She adds that among Marawai’s offerings are the famous Lake Lanao, the spectacular art and the environment of nature and heritage. Among the schools, Maranao State University has been progressive in having a charter that promotes cultural understanding and diversity. Turn to D2

Expressions of Muslim culture at S Maison MALLGOERS had a rare glimpse of Expressions of Muslim Culture during the recent Eid’l Fitr celebrations at S Maison at Conrad Manila. An exhibit highlighting Muslim calligraphy art featured the works of National Artist Abdulmari Imao, Davao artist Kublai Millan, and Persian calligraphy artist Tandis Taghavi, showing how art can unify all nations, all faiths, and all generations. Spearheaded by the Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc. (MKFI) and SM with support from Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID), the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and the National Commission of Muslim Filipinos, the holding of the festivities in Manila is an excellent springboard to build better understanding and appreciation among Filipinos of ethnic, racial, and religious diversity in the country. National Artist Abdulmari Imao was born in the Siasi Island in Sulu, but spent most of his growing up years in Pata, Jolo. He later sailed to Manila with the auspicious sarimanok on his shoulder. As a painter and a sculptor, Imao infused traditional Islamic design with modernist patterns, resulting in vivid works that yearn for local color and the dream of a unified nation. Known for his unique adaptation of traditional Mindanaoan motifs like the sarimanok – the mythical bird with fish figure, Imao persevered to continue the carving and painting of his Tausug fore bearers with a mod-

Allah Calligraphy, 2012 by Abdulmari Asia Imao (Brass, 14.5 x 9.5 x 4 inches).

Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc. Chairperson Santanina Rasul, with daughter Fatima Rasul, son Amroussi Rasul with wife Cecille celebrating Eid’l Fitr Festival at S Maison, Conrad Manila.

ern sensibility by combining these motifs with cubism. The recipient of numerous awards for his works, he was conferred the Order of the National Artist for sculpture in 2006. Madame Tandis Taghavi’s style, strokes and techniques give audiences a glimpse of her country’s craftsman-

ship, ingenuity and cultural history. A holder of an extra excellent diploma in the Nastaaligh style in Persian calligraphy, her artworks also show that Persian calligraphy is one of the most revered arts in the Middle East. Ray Mudjahid Ponce Millan or better known as Kublai showcased different

mosque images in his canvas paintings – domes, minarets, and moons. Born in Cotobato City, he graduated from a Fine Arts course from the University of the Philippines, and then returned to Mindanao, painting and sculpting subjects relating to the culture of his hometown. Kubali is known for two monumental works: Kampilan in the City of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and the Risen Christ in the church of Tagum City. He also created the giant durian monument at Davao International Airport, as well as the giant eagle and Bagobo

children in People’s Park, Davao City. The Festival of the Breaking of the Fast or Eid’l Fitr is a worldwide celebration that marks the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan. It is an important event that usually falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. More than that, it is a time of joy, forgiving, and thanksgiving among Muslims as they take the occasion to strengthen the ties with family and friends, giving gifts and alms and feast together. The Eid’l Fitr Festival is one of the many exciting cultural events at S Maison.

Life

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

ART, DANCE, AND MISCELLANY at Sunshine Place

UNSHINE Place in Makati offers many things to different people.

Beginning July 21, Barbara “Tweetums” Gonzales will conduct “Wholehearted Class.” It is open to all former “Discovery Writing” and “Digging Deeper” students of Gonzalez. Barbara ‘Tweetums’ Gonzalez is a Philippine Star columnist. (Second Wind, Every Saturday). A 1991 National Book Awardee and Manila Critics Circle choice, she is the author of How Do You Know Your Pearls Are Real? On Single Parenthood and Other Ms. Adventures.” Regular classes are scheduled every Friday, 10 a.m. – 12 nn until Sept. 22 on the 2nd Floor Senior Hub. Rates are P7,000 (VAT inclusive) for non-seniors and P5,000 for seniors. Deadline of enrollment is on 19 July. Also, you can learn to decorate porcelain with its new Porcelain Painting classes beginning tomorrow 19. The first of its kind in Manila, porcelain-painting classes will be given by Mee Lee Casey, a Malaysian instructor to five-workshop batches for the year. Her 20 years of teaching and learning experience in UK, Singapore, Hong Kong Taiwan and Australia will be shared in a four-day session workshop of mixing paints, handpainting, firing, and adding one’s personal touch to the porcelain. The four-day workshop schedule is

Barbara ‘Tweetums’ Gonzales will conduct her ‘Wholehearted Class’ at Sunshine Place

Seniors can tap their way to health with the help of Danny Vinculado’s tap dancing workshop

as follows: Batch 3: July 19, 20, 26, 27 (Wednesdays and Thursdays); Batch 4: Aug. 22, 24, 29, 31 (Tuesdays and Thursdays); and Batch 5: Sept. 4, 6, 11, 13 (Mondays and Wednesdays) from 10 a,m. to 4 p.m..

The four session full course rate for new students is P6,000 (seniors) and P8,400 (non-seniors). Returning students’ rate per day is P1,500 (seniors) and P2,100 (non-seniors). Starter kit is P3,000. And, if you still have rhythm in your

body or the stamina to do it, tap your way to health. Strike your heel and toe on the floor and learn tap dancing. The workshop will be conducted by Danny Vinculado. Vinculado started dancing at a young

age with the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dance Group. He widened his knowledge and interest in dance by studying ballet, jazz, folk and contemporary dance both here and abroad. He became part of the Metropolitan Dance Theater and Hotlegs as a choreographer, and has been associated with Bodytalk, Dance Masters, and Hamstrings. The workshop schedule is for eight sessions that started on July 14 and will run until Sept.1 every Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the 4th floor, Senior Hub. Workshop rate is P5,600 for non-seniors and P4,000 for seniors. For details and slot reservations contact Sunshine Place at (632) 856-4144; 856-4162 and (0917) 515- 5656 or email seniorhubjupiter@gmail.com

Art activities nationwide

Mary Divine Austria (middle) receives her Dakilang Ina award from Pamana Awards USA founder Boy Lizaso (right). Joining her on stage is her husband National Artist Tam Austria

Businesswoman is Pamana awardee MARY Divine S. Austria is a realty developer and a businesswoman. She is married to known-painter and National Artist Tam P. Austria. They have two children -- Mike and Sistine. Both are also in business. Mike, though, would sometimes let his passion take over. Currently in ABS-CBN’s La Luna Sangre , he plays one of the vampires in Richard Gutierrez’s (Sandrino) group. Sistine has been married to an American-Dutch for six years. She has a fouryear-old son.

An engineer (she earned her degree at University of the East), Divine is a good wife, mother, and grandmother. Also a philanthropist whose a regular charity calling is giving to Tahanan ng Walang Hagdan and Blind Association of the Philippines. Recently, she was awarded as Dakilang Ina during the Pamana Awards USA 2017-2018 at Diamond Hotel awarded by founder Boy Lizaso on July 4. She celebrated her birthday on July 16, at the Manila Polo Club with a ballroom dance party theme with her family, relatives and friends.

ART workshops and activities continue to be at the forefront of the education programs of Faber-Castell here in the Philippines. June ushered to art activities offerings at different venues nationwide. From May 29 to June 4, coloring activities and workshop with Tippy Go (GooglyGooeys) were held at the SM Art Fest Cebu. A Basic Calligraphy Workshop was conducted in Art Bar Serendra by Meeya Cruz on June 9. From June 9 to June 11, Faber Castell participated in the Art Mod Fair 2017 at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall through art workshops conducted for all ages. The fair was organized by ArtisteSpace offering a rare opportunity for both new and serious collectors to acquire contemporary artworks On June 10, art facilitator Arlene Javier conducted a Modern Calligraphy Workshop. Participants, both and young alike, were guided through the execution of the art of writing using FaberCastell Calligraphy Brush Pens. The skillful rendition of letters and characters through various styles of writing is as old as every culture all over the world. The workshop offered a renewed appreciation of the art of calligraphy and the kind of discipline required to execute this art form. On June 11, a Floral Painting Workshop designed for art enthusiasts of all ages was facilitated by Carla Chua. A step-by-

Faber-Castell art materials help everyone make their imagination alive

step process was demonstrated on how to apply colors to a flower using the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. The FaberCastell art materials was named after Albrecht Durer, a German artist popularly known for his prints, who made watercolour sketches during one of his sojourns to Italy, in his early life as an artist. During these art activities, Faber-Castell provided the art materials for free. Special tokens were distributed to lucky participants during the workshops.

Philippine Team Places Third at National Model United Nations in NY CONSULAR and diplomatic students from over 200 universities and colleges from around the world convened at the recent National Model United Nations (NMUN) held in New York City. The Philippines was represented by De La Salle University (DLSU), University of the Philippines (UP), and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB). The 28-member delegation of DLSCSB, headed by School of Diplomacy and Governance (SDG) Dean George Binay, together with students Anton Miguel Valde and Adrianne Mariae P. Evangelista, ranked Third overall, and received the award as Honorable Mention Delegation. The National Model United Nations, sponsored by the National Collegiate Conference Association in the United States, is considered to be the biggest annual Model United Nations. It serves as an opportunity to bring together the next generation of international student-leaders from

Benilde’s contingent represented Mexico during the simulation. Various position papers that the Benildeans presented in the following committees also received distinction as Outstanding Position Papers: General Assembly First Committee (GA1),General Assembly Third Committee (GA3), High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), Commission for Social Development (CSocD), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and World Food Programme (WFP). The 28-member delegation of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde represents the Dean Binay shared “We congratulate Philippines at the National Model United Nations in New York everyone for their bravery and tenaccolleges and universities. During the the United Nations. The closing cer- ity to overcome their limitations, most weeklong event, participants repre- emony is traditionally held at the UN especially our delegates who have no sent different countries in activities Headquarters, graced by top officials prior experience whatsoever. It was an uphill climb but we all made it.” that simulate the operations within behind the organization’s success.

It is the aim of Faber-Castell to continue to promote art appreciation and provide platforms for developing skills in drawing, calligraphy, lettering, painting for art aficionados, students, children, and as a venue for shared family experiences. For more information on upcoming art activities of Faber-Castell, please call Majenta Ocampo, Faber-Castell Marketing group through mobile 09773562166.

Exhibit... From D1

Representing the Maranao heritage is the okir design on panolong or the extended beam of yet another cultural treasure, the torrogan, the bungalow with flaring eaves. The okir designs are expressed through colorful and elaborate arabesque patterns. Echoing the sentiment of the times, a reflection on Marawi by a Maranao émigré is also on display. “We want to say that there has been a huge amount of artmaking from these people which is a contrast to their stereotype as violent people,” explains Roces. “We can’t live with stereotypes. The death of clear thinking leads to war. Let us look beyond stereotypes and appreciate their challenging history but gorgeous art.” Explains Sitti, “We’ve had misunderstandings because we don’t know each other. We just keeping on talking through peace tables and dialogues yet so much have left been unsaid. Perhaps, through this exhibition we could let people experience who we are and connect us with each other. This should not be strange to the Filipinos because it is part of the Filipino people. In knowing us, you will know yourselves.”

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

2017 Pinoy Kpop Star Competiton at SM City North Edsa’s Skydome

HE Korean Embassy’s Korean Cultural Center recently treated mallgoers to a K-Pop Festival during the 2017 Pinoy K-Pop Star competition at the SkyDome in SM City North EDSA. A joint project of the The Korean Cultural Center of the Korean Embassy in the Philippines, in partnership with SM, the 2017 Pinoy KPop Star competition aims to promote Korean music and culture And the mall crowd was not disappointed as twenty ﬁnalists showed off their K-Pop talents as they aimed to be the Philippines’ representatives to the K-Pop Festival and the KBS K-Pop World Festival, in the performance and vocal categories, respectively. PHP or Power House Philippines was declared as the Grand Prize Winner in the vocal category, and will represent the

Korean Cultural Center Director Lee Jincheol awards the VOLO PRO VERITAS, the 2017 Pinoy KPop Star Grand Winner in the performance category

Philippines in the Online Regional Finals for the 2017 K-Pop World Festival in Changwon, South Korea. The dance duo MiU won second place and Venisse Nicole Siy, third. Volo Pro Veritas danced their way to become Grand Champion, and will represent the Philippines in the 2017 K-Pop Festival in Changwon, South Korea. The group So Nice won second, while Fatal third. The panel of judges was headed by the new Korean Cultural Center Director and Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines’ First Secretary, Lee Jincheol. They clearly had a difﬁcult time selecting the winners. Other judges included

Finalist PARADOX sings “Bday” by Ikon

Robi and Gretchen together again ROBI Domingo and Gretchen Ho are back together for the second season of University Town (U-Town), where they will feature each UAAP school every Sunday at 1 p,m. on S+A and S+A HD in preparation for the upcoming 80th Season of the country’s premier collegiate league. After visiting bowling great Paeng Nepomuceno and volleybelles Pau Soriano and Amanda Villanueva in their alma mater, Adamson University, the duo went to University of the East (UE) last Sunday to know more about the school that produced UAAP greats like Robert Jaworksi and James Yap, and current UAAP tennis sensation AJ Lim. The duo, known as “Robichen,” met the Armada Dance Group, the school’s UAAP street dance representatives, and the UE Pep Squad, mingling with the UE community to get a closer look at the lives of their studentathletes. They also met the Executive Vice President of the school,

Former ﬂames Robi Domingo (rightmost, third row) and Gretchen Ho (leftmost, their row) joined by the UE Pep Squad in the second season of ‘University Town’

Carmelita Mateo, who gave them a rundown of the school’s colorful history and track record in the ﬁelds of accounting and dentistry; and school maintenance staff, Del Gonzales, who has endeared herself to UE students and players

of different generations. Robi and Gretchen also learned more about legendary Red Warriors like Jaworski and fan favorites ike James Yap, Paul Artadi, and Paul Lee, while the voice of ABS-CBN and UE

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, July 18, 2017

ACROSS 1 Sunflower grower 7 Truckers’ radios 10 Send packing 14 Fly a plane 15 Garden implement 16 Singer — Murray 17 Cheerful color 18 Compass dir. 19 Ceilings 20 Crooked 23 Not glossy 26 “Fox and — Friends” 27 Less than ten 28 Hint 29 “Norma —” 30 Any miss 31 New England cape 32 Shark warning 33 Early missionary 37 Exultant cry 38 Business mag 39 Place of noisy chaos 40 Immeasurable time 41 Gridiron gain 43 Place of refuge 44 Set 45 — Enterprise 46 Diner sandwich

47 Tobacco holder 48 Powder base 50 — kwon do 51 More ancient 52 “The Godfather” star 55 Very large 56 Cl- or Ca++ 57 Very or too 61 Burden or responsibility 62 Eland cousin 63 Teeny-tiny 64 Proofer’s word 65 Skirt bottom 66 Detain DOWN 1 Jay successor 2 St. 3 Zero 4 Military greeting 5 Make amends 6 Repairs a seam 7 Pierre’s sweetheart 8 Worker’s incentive 9 Flow slowly 10 Makes a comeback 11 Pizza topping 12 Not deserved 13 Harper in “Far North”

21 Opportunity 22 Detach 23 Kirk and Spock’s friend 24 Luau welcome 25 Henry VIII’s house 29 Circus arenas 30 Polo or baseball 32 Complete flop 33 Showy flower 34 Half-hearted 35 Jeweler’s lens 36 Come in 42 Most boring

46 Circus showman 47 Shore bird 48 Gibe 49 Dispute 50 Juicy steak (hyph.) 51 More peculiar 52 Electrical units 53 Almost, in poems 54 Vine valley 58 Wool supplier 59 Scale tones 60 Wagered

alumnus Peter Musngi mentored a student in his alma mater. For more information and stories, visit ABS-CBN’s sports hub sports.abs-cbn.com and follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter.

celebrities Dasuri Choi and Yohan Hwang, as well Gigi Yia, editor-in-chief of the Kpop magazine, and Jessica Yuan, past president of the Philippine KPop Convention, Inc. The event was packed beginning with opening numbers by last year’s Pinoy Pop Star winners: Exotix, in the performance category, and Andrea Fe Padilla in the singing category. A special performance by Dasuri Choi, the

Korean Cultural Center of the Korean Embassy K-Pop dance instructor and Eat Bulaga’s Korean Dancing Diva, was a hit among K-Pop lovers. Yohan Hwang, the Grand Touristar of ABS-CBN’s I Love OPM, on the other hand, serenaded the K-Pop fans as the festival’s closing act. The 2017 Pinoy KPop Star competition is one of the many exciting cultural events at the Skydome in SM City North EDSA.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017

‘I M READY’ now on DZBB G

MA News and Public Affairs’ disaster preparedness campaign IMReady is bound to take radio by storm as Kapuso resident meteorologist Nathaniel ‘Mang Tani’ Cruz hosts I M Ready sa Dobol B on Super Radyo DZBB. Every Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m., I M Ready sa Dobol B airs a variety of comprehensive weather reports, weather trivia, and tips on how to be prepared for different types of calamities. It also has a well-known segment Magtanong kay Mang Tani, which allows listeners to call in or send an SMS to Mang Tani for any weather or disasterrelated questions. Mang Tani, who is regularly seen on various GMA news programs, is glad to have the chance to share more of his expertise and at the same time educate more people on the importance of being ready for any disaster that could come in our way. “When they created the I M Ready project, the intention is really to instill readiness on the people. And then imagine we have 20 tropical cyclones a year, talagang kailangang maging handa tayo. Alam naman natin na ang Pilipinas ay isa sa mga ﬂood-prone, landslideprone, typhoon-prone, lahat na yata ng klase ng mga natural hazards ay meron tayo. Nakikita na tayo lalong lalo na sa 24 Oras at sa Unang Hirit, ang kailangan naman ngayon ay makarating tayo sa mas malawak na publiko, at ito nga ay sa pamamamagitan ng radio,” he said. Through this radio program, it is much evident how dedicated Mang Tani is about inculcating the importance of being prepared for all types of risks that are caused not only by natural forces but also of those that are caused by people. “Ang paghahanda, hindi ginagawa kung kailan nandiyan na ‘yung panganib, kundi ito ay ginagawa habang wala pa. Hindi kailangang maging mayaman ang isang komunidad para makapaghanda. Ang

kailangan lang ay sapat na kaalaman, alam kung saan pupunta, sinu-sino ‘yung mga dapat mauna, at dapat lahat ng miyembro ng pamilya alam kung ano ang gagawin kapag may parating na panganib,” he emphasized. Fittingly dubbed as ekspertong totoo, Mang Tani has more than two decades of experience in weathercasting. Prior to his stint on GMA, he previously worked in PAG-ASA and in the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia. “Ang pagiging meteorologist, masyadong teknikal yan. At ‘yung aming lengwahe, kami-kami lang halos ang nakakaalam. Ang gusto ko talaga, maibaba yung mga impormasyon na alam namin upang mas maunawaan ng publiko. Ang pinakamasarap sa akin ay kapag ako ay nagbabalita, naiintindihan ng mga nanonood at nakikinig kung ano ang sinasabi ko. Dahil oras na maintindihan nila yan, alam na nila kung anong paghahanda ang kanilang gagawin. ‘Yung timeliness at accuracy ng forecast mo ay malalaman mo lamang kung yung pinagbibigyan mo ay nakahanda at alam kung anong dapat na gawin,” said Mang Tani. Be more informed and get ready with Kapuso resident meteorologist Mang Tani in I M Ready sa Dobol B every Saturday, at 10 to 11 a.m., on Super Radyo DZBB 594 kHz. Listeners can also send their questions for Mang Tani on Facebook at Super Radyo DZBB 594kHz or Twitter via the handle @dzbb with the ofﬁcial hashtag #MagtanongKayMangTani. For more information, visit www.gmanetwork.com/radio/ dzbb.

Mang Tani hosts I M Ready sa Dobol B

A THANK YOU program to show

LOVE

Kapamilya stars, led by Vice Ganda, Coco Martin, and Piolo Pascual (fourth, ﬁfth, and sixth from left), tapped to promote ’Kapamilya Thank You,’ ABS-CBN’s newest customer loyalty program.

ABS-CBN, leading media and entertainment company, is rewarding Filipinos who patronize its products and services through its newest customer loyalty program called “Kapamilya, Thank You.” Those who sign up for a “Kapamilya, Thank You” membership may earn points and get rewards such as a meet and greet with a Kapamilya star, tickets to ABS-CBN Studio Tours and shows like “ASAP” and “It’s Showtime,” freebies from ABS-CBN Store, free access to ABS-CBN TVplus’ KBO and

GRAPHIC ARTIST and painter Robert Alejandro is serving as guest host for the remaining episodes of Art 2 Art this month. This is the ﬁrst time in its 10-year history that Art 2 Art has invited another artist to anchor the program after host, Ballerina ng Bayan Lisa Macuja, had to undergo an operation unexpectedly. With the blessings of the ballerina, who is now in recovery, Alejandro was enlisted to take over hosting duties. “I feel so honored to be asked to do this,” said Alejandro, who expressed both nervousness and excitement about substituting for Macuja. He was previously an Art 2 Art guest, talking about his art and using it to advance various advocacies. Alejandro was able to draw on his previous broadcasting experience, having hosted his own art show, Art is Kool, and having been a reporter for the investigative program, Probe, for ﬁfteen years. Art 2 Art continues to celebrate arts organizations marking special milestones this year. On July 23, Albert Avellana relates the story behind Avellana Art Gallery, which he started 20 years ago. He has been guiding the artists through their careers, featuring their works in

SKY Pay-Per-View, and free SMS, data, or calls via ABS-CBNmobile. To become a member, interested Kapamilyas can register for free via thankyou.abs-cbn. com and enroll the ABS-CBN and Sky Cable products and services they are currently subscribed to. After registration, Kapamilyas can start earning Thank You Points through simple activities like watching Kapamilya shows on TV or iWant TV, entering the hashtag of the day, paying their Sky Cable bill, registering

to ABS-CBN TVplus’ KBO, and loading their ABS-CBNmobile SIM cards. Accumulated Thank You points can be used to redeem gifts and other rewards that members can choose from on the website (thankyou.abs-cbn.com) like free tickets to Kapamilya shows. Alternatively, they may also choose to share the love and gratitude by donating their Thank You points to ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya. Meanwhile, Kapamilyas who have existing accounts with any ABS-CBN website like iWant

TV, can use their registered email and password to sign up for “Kapamilya, Thank You.” Membership in “Kapamilya, Thank You” is valid as long as a user has been actively using his/her membership in the past 6 months. ABS-CBN, the country’s leading media and entertainment organization that is now rapidly transitioning into an agile digital company, is the ﬁrst among the TV networks to roll out a rewards program for its loyal customers. For more information, visit thankyou.abs-cbn. com.

Robert Alejandro hosts ‘Art 2 Art’

Art 2 Art guest host, visual artist Robert Alejandro (foreground), with representatives of the Philippine High School for the Arts led by director Vim Nadera (standing, rightmost)

a tree-ﬁlled compound in Pasay, which is also known to showcase unconventional art. The current president of the Museum Foundation of the Philippines, Avellana is also preparing for the MaArte art fair in August, which raises funds for the National Museum. On July 30, stalwarts of the Philippine Educational Theater Association – president CB Garrucho and veteran actor Fernando Josef – talk about the group’s golden anniversary and share anecdotes of going into the ﬁeld and spreading the word about theater among grassroots communities and also staging productions at PETA’s Quezon City headquarters. Produced by the Manila Broadcasting Company, Art 2 Art airs every Sunday, 3:30 to 4 p.m., on radio via DZRH (666 khz on the AM band), on cable television via RHTV (Ch. 129 on Skycable in Metro Manila, Ch. 18 on Cignal TV and Ch. 3 on Cablelink) and online livestreaming at http://dzrhnews television. tv. The show may also be viewed through the Facebook account DZRH News Television. For inquiries, please e-mail art2artdzrh@ gmail.com or visit the Ballerina ng Bayan page on Facebook. Past episodes of the program may be viewed on YouTube, at the Art 2 Art with Lisa Macuja channel.