Manila Standard - 2017 August 02 - Wednesday

VOL. XXXI • NO. 169 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

REBUKED BUT RETAINED. Lawmakers reprimand Tuesday Bureau of Customs officials led by Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon (inset right) for ‘glaring ineptitude’ in handling the seizure of P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment from China, asking him to resign but, following a meeting at Malacañang, is retained by President Rodrigo Duterte. Manny Palmero

Duterte keeps Faeldon Declares ‘full confidence’ in him amid drugs mess at Customs Parojinogs rap police for arbitrary detention

By Francisco Tuyay TWO family members who survived the police assault on the home of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog that killed him, his wife Susan, his brother Octavio and 12 others will file arbitrary detention charges Tuesday against the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), which was behind the deadly raid.

Ferdinand Topacio, legal coun-

sel of Nova Princess Echavez and Reynaldo Parojinog Jr., said his clients will file arbitrary detention charges against the CIDG for illegally locking them up beyond the 36 hours allowed by law without filing a case.

Nova Princess ParojinogEchavez and Reynaldo Jr. were arrested after Sunday’s raid on the Parojinog compound.

She accused police of planting firearms and illegal drugs

By John Paolo Bencito, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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USTOMS Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon will continue serving as head of the Bureau of Customs despite calls from lawmakers for him to resign over his failure to stop the entry of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs from China, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Tuesday.

Speaking after President Ro- don to Malacañang late Tuesday drigo Duterte summoned Fael- afternoon, Dominguez said the

former Marine general continued to enjoy the President’s trust and confidence despite the latest controversy.

Duterte met with Faeldon after some 600 kilos of shabu (methamphetamine) from China slipped past bureau’s green lane in May. Also called to the meeting were Dominguez, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Cesar Dulay.

Authorities, acting on a tip from Beijing, eventually found the drug shipment in a warehouse in Valen-

was filed July 5.

The investigating panel composed of Assistant State Prosecutors Aristotle Reyes and John Michael Humarang has set the first preliminary investigation hearing of the drug charges on Aug. 14.

On Monday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II issued a lookout bulletin order against Lim and other respondents, ordering the Bureau of Immigration to monitor the possible flight by Lim and the other respondents. Next page

By John Paolo Bencito and Sara Susanne Fabunan

Mugshots of siblings Reynaldo Parojinog Jr. and Nova Princess Parojinog

Asean meet PNP monitors revival of Alex Boncayao Brigade won’t state arbitral rule

By Rey Requejo THE arbitral ruling invalidating China’s nine-dash line over the West Philippine Sea in the framework of the Code of Conduct among members of the Association of Southeast Nations and Beijing will not be mentioned, the Foreign Affairs department said Tuesday.

A toned-down joint communique, expected to be released this week at the end of the 50th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting would also follow the tone of the 30th Asean Summit last May, which failed to explicitly mention China’s militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea, Japanese news agencies reported.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Assistant Secretary Robespierre Bolivar said the framework, which would contain an outline Next page

NATIONAL police authorities are monitoring the resurgence of the communist Alex Boncayao Brigade to ensure no terrorism-like activities will occur as the country welcomes 26 Foreign Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other dialogue partners this week.

While there was no specific

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UN execs tell Rody: Curb rights violations

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Suspected drug lords summoned by DoJ THE Justice Department has issued subpoenas to Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim and seven other suspected drug lords to answer charges filed by the Philippine National Police for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. Aside from Lim, the department ordered Roland “Kerwin” Espinosa, convicted drug lord Peter Co, Marcelo Adorco, Max Miro and Lovely Impal to respond to the complaint, which

zuela City.

Both chambers of Congress are conducting investigations into the entry of the illegal drugs.

Lawmakers chastised Faeldon for “glaring ineptitude” in the handling of the illegal drug shipment.

At a congressional hearing conducted by the House committee on dangerous drugs, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the panel chairman, urged Faeldon to resign for incompetence.

“Commissioner, you are wasting the President’s trust,” Barbers

threat monitored so far, National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said the police were monitoring several “BalikIslam” or Christians who converted to Islam who were former hitmen of the communist Alex Boncayao Brigade, an active group of assassins in the 1980s.

The ABB had assassinated doz-

ens of people upon the orders of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“We are monitoring some groups who are actually present here in Metro Manila, who are Balik Islam and other former members of the ABB, suspected to be Balik Islam. So these are all being monitored in relation to this

meeting,” Albayalde told a Palace news briefing.

“We are watching several enclaves where there are large numbers of Muslim populations,” he said.

Albayalde said 13,000 police officers would be deployed for the 50th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Next page

UNITED Nations special rapporteurs on Tuesday called on the Duterte administration to urgently address growing reports of human rights violations amid threats by the President to bomb schools for indigenous peoples in Mindanao and alleged summary execution of children. ‘‘We are witnessing severe, multiple human rights violations, especially against indigenous peoples and human rights defenders,” three UN experts--Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children--said in a Next page statement.

HIV cases in PH now ‘fastest growing’ in Asia

By Macon R. Araneta

STRENGTHENED SECURITY. Army troops take their positions Tuesday atop a Simba Light Vehicle,

designed as a light armored vehicle for low-profile internal security roles, following heightened security at the bayside Cultural Center of the Philippines complex where the week-long 2017 Asean Meeting will be held starting Wednesday. Norman Cruz

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THE Philippines has become the country with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific and one of the eight countries that account for more than 85 percent of the new HIV infections in the region,” Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said Tuesday.

She said that, based on the latest data from the UNAIDS Report on the global HIV epidemic states, the new HIV cases among Filipinos more than doubled from

4,300 in 2010 to 10,500 in 2016.

She said these new infections occurred in 117 “high-burden areas” including the National Capital Region, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Cebu, Davao, Tagum, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Zamboanga, General Santos City, Koronadal, Butuan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Naga, Lucena, Angeles, Mabalacat, Tarlac, San Fernando, Cabanatuan, Olongapo and Baguio.

Ubial said 85 percent of the new HIV infections among Filipinos Next page

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Typhoon ‘Noru’ seen to boost monsoon TYPHOON “Noru” is likely to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring light to moderate rain and moderate to strong winds to Southern Luzon and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, the weather bureau said Tuesday.

The agency said Noru was 1,760 kilometers east-northeast of Basco, Batanes, on Tuesday and well outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 170 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 210 kph.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said cloudy skies and light to moderate rain and thunderstorms will prevail over the Ilocos, Cordillera, Zambales and Bataan.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.

Moderate to strong winds will blow from the southwest over Luzon and the western section of the Visayas, while the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough.

Elsewhere, the winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to west, and the seas will be moderate. PNA

News

Budget to be based on ‘GNH’

By Maricel V. Cruz

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HE House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations said Tuesday it will use the country’s Gross National Happiness in crafting the 2018 national expenditure program.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, the panel’s chairman, said the government must take into account the level of satisfaction of everyday living as the panel began scrutinizing the Palace’s proposed P3.767-trillion

national budget for next year.

Nograles said a country’s GNH was a key instrument in determining the priority programs that should be pursued by the government.

He said his committee would

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Suspected...

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Espinosa, confessed drug dealer and son of slain drug lord Mayor Rolando Espinosa, is currently under government’s witness protection program after he testified against Senator Leila de Lima, who has been detained on drug charges.

In a Senate hearing last year, Espinosa tagged Lim as the top supplier of illegal drugs in Central Visayas.

An earlier National Bureau of Investigation report to the Justice Department said Lim, who met with Duterte a year ago to deny that he was a drug dealer, was the same person on the President’s list of drug suspects released last year.

Rey E. Requejo

“We must make sure that every centavo of taxes collected from the people will benefit the people, especially the poor and long neglected areas of the country,” Nograles said.

He said that, on the macro basis, the proposed P3.767-trillion national budget for 2018 was consistent with the constitutional mandate allotting the largest funding figure for education.

“Next to education is infrastructure development highlighted by the President’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program that will not only spur rural development but also cre-

ate jobs in long-neglected countryside areas,” Nograles said.

During the initial budget deliberations on Tuesday, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government’s financial program for 2018 was focused on the “efficient and effective delivery of all government services.”

Nograles welcomed National Economic and Development Authority officials led by Secretary Ernesto Pernia over their pronouncement that the country “is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, next only to India.”

Duterte...

incompetent.”

Alvarez said his stand on Faeldon was not personal, even though the commissioner’s chief of staff, Mandy Mercado Anderson, had called the Speaker “an imbecile” in a Facebook post.

“I’m hoping and praying he tries so he realizes what an imbecile he is when he fails,” Anderson said of Alvarez, after he threatened to dissolve the Court of Appeals.

“Isn’t there anyone else in the House composed of 200+ representatives who can actually be speaker?? Nakakahiya na! [It’s embarrassing!]” she added.

Anderson also said she received an endorsement from Alvarez recommending a Customs employee for promotion. She said she reviewed the employee’s recommendation but found that she was not qualified.

Alvarez brushed aside suggestions that he was lobbying for the employee, and said it would soon be clear who the imbecile was.

Barbers said in many countries, public officials quickly leave office in the face of public scandal or failure to comply with government policy.

Faeldon was allowed to leave the hearing to meet with the President at 4 p.m.

The President later called Senate leaders to a meeting at the Palace an hour later, after a witness identified Customs officials allegedly involved in the entry of P6.4 billion worth of shabu.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III announced the meeting as he supported calls for Faeldon to resign.

Bureau officials were grilled on how the huge amount of drugs got through customs examiners.

Duterte also called Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to the meeting.

The meeting came a day after the Senate Blue Ribbon panel conducted a five-hour hearing on the shabu smuggled through Customs in May. The shipment was seized in warehouses in Valenzuela days after it entered the country.

During the executive session, a broker supposedly claimed that Customs officials were involved in the smuggling of shabu.

In a radio interview, Senator Panfilo Lacson said corrupt officials and personnel of the Bureau of Customs rake in at least P270 million a day from their so-called “three o’clock habit” on Fridays, which means an average of P98.55 billion--enough to cover for the government’s

P147-billion budget deficit.

“It’s an open secret. We all know the three o’clock habit,” said Lacson in an interview on radio dwIZ, referring to the weekly division of bribes at the bureau.

Asked before the Senate session if the three o’clock habit still continues, Lacson said he threw the same question to the Cusfoms officials when they appeared in last Monday’s Senate Blue Ribbon hearing, and he remembered “they merely smiled.”

“What does that mean? They [could have] categorically say there’s no more 3 o’clock habit, Friday afternoon but there was no answer,” said Lacson.

Lacson said brokers operating at Customs said unscrupulous Customs officials and personnel receive grease money of P27,000 to P30,000 per container in a day.

Lacson said Faeldon told the same Senate hearing that about 10,000 containers arrive daily.

“So P27,000 times 10,000, that’s P270 million per day. It’s payola. Multiply this by 365 [days], easily that’s P98.55 billion,” he said.

At this rate, he said, the bribes could wipe out the country’s deficit in just two years. But this went to corrupt officials and not the government, he said.

Lacson also saw the possible involvement of Chinese nationals in the drug shipment.

Sotto said the Chinese involved in the shipment should have been arrested since the bureau had earlier identified them and the shipment intercepted.

Senator Richard Gordon said the Customs officials were either incompetent or corrupt for letting the large shipment through so easily.

“This is really the gang who can’t shoot straight. Either you’re incompetent or you are corrupt.

That’s the whole point here,” said Gordon.

Gordon vowed to pinpoint through the investigation how the illegal shipment was able to pass through practically undetected, whether Customs personnel were involved and whether it was because of a change in the bureau’s systems.

Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee, emphasized the key role that the bureau played.

“We have to rely on the Customs commissioner and the Customs organization to really guard the front door of our country [so that] contraband [does not] enter,” he said.

were among males who had sex with males, cases that the Health department refers to as MSMs. “We believe the stigma plays a role in the low, shall we say, acceptance to testing and getting treated,” Ubial said.

“I think there’s still a lot of fear and also, shall we say, denial among certain population groups that they will not be infected.”

Ubial said the youth may be too embarrassed to inform their parents or relatives that they wanted to go to a testing center or vice versa.

“If parents are not comfortable talking to their teenage children, then we ask them to also come to the health facility and we will help them and counsel their children,” Ubial said.

Since HIV is one of the top health priorities of the government, Ubial said, the government had significantly increased the budget allocated to HIV in the past few years, and was now implementing programs that were expected to produce a positive impact.

She said her department together with the Philippine National AIDS Council, other government agencies, local government units,and partner civil soci-

ety groups were determined and committed to halt the increase in the number of cases and start reversing the trend of the epidemic in five years.

The department’s Public Health Surveillance department chief Genesis Samonte said “we’re not talking about those that are openly gay.

“What we’re saying is any male who has sex with another male for whatever reason is at risk for getting HIV based on our data,” said Samonte, adding that two out of every three new HIV infections would be among the 15-to-24year-old MSMs, with only a few young men fully aware of HIV, its symptoms and treatment.

West Philippine Sea. Carpio stressed that any joint exploration or exploitation with China of minerals in the disputed West Philippine Sea, which had been declared part of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, would violate the country’s sovereignty. ‘‘The language of the Constitution is explicit that the exclusive economic zone is part of the na-

tional territory and that it should be for the enjoyment and exploitation exclusively of Filipinos alone.

We cannot enter into joint development within the EEZ,” the senior magistrate said in an interview.

According to him, while the government may enter into contracts with China or other countries, such contracts cannot be done through sovereign agreements.

He said the other country may

act only as a contractor, but not as a sovereign entity.

“Other countries can enter as contractor but not as a sovereign [signatory] because that is prohibited by the Constitution—the EEZ is exclusively ours. We can ask other countries if they have the technology but we don’t give up our sovereign rights because that is prohibited under our Constitution,” Carpio said.

With John Paolo Bencito

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Parojinogs... inside her house, an allegation denied by Misamis Occidental police chief Senior Supt. Jaysen de Guzman.

“We will be studying all angles here. But for now, we were just given the search warrant but with one page missing and we also saw the statements by the arresting officers and other supporting documents in connection with the search at the Parojinog compound,” Topacio said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Justice department had yet to file criminal charges against Nova Princess and Reynaldo Jr. Proceedings scheduled for 1 p.m. were delayed after the CIDG team arrived late at 2 p.m.

Topacio earlier described the dawn raid Sunday as overkill.

“I’m all for the war on drugs... but there is such a thing as justified killing, and there is such a thing as overkill,” Topacio said in a TV interview.

Topacio said the wife of the mayor, Susan, could not have pulled out a gun and fired at the policemen during the predawn raid inside their home in Ozamiz City.

“An old woman could hardly have brought out an M16 or M14 to fire at the police,” he said in Filipino. “That’s very unlikely.”

In a radio interview after the raid, Ozamiz City legal officer Jeffrey James Ocang also said the mayor could not have engaged the police in a gunfight, and noted that the mayor, his wife, and provincial board member Octavio Parojinog all had gunshot wounds to the head.

adopt the GNH as one of its major considerations during the 2018 budget deliberations.

“We must fund programs that will make our people happy. Our national programs should be designed to ensure that our people are generally happy with their way of life,” Nograles said.

He stressed the need for the government to employ the “vitality of continuity, viability and synchronicity” of government programs to meet its mediumand long-term development goals in line with the Philippine Development Plan for 2017 to 2022.

BUSTED. The Bureau of Customs at the Ninoy Aquino International

Airport Terminal 1 arrests a Bolivian female passenger Monday night for trying to smuggle liquid cocaine hidden inside four winter jackets.

Eric B. Apolonio

PNP...

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Meeting and Related Meetings at the Philippine International Convention Center from Aug. 2 to 8.

The police contingent will secure about 1,700 foreign ministers, diplomats and other delegates from 27 countries who are expected to arrive in Manila this week. ‘‘We have actually started preparations on security matters since last year for this big event. And I think with all the preparations that we’ve made, the country is very much ready to host this 50th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,” he said.

According to the Metro Manila police chief, skeletal deployment in some hotels had been done to secure 24 foreign delegates who have arrived and security for the routes was already in place.

Besides securing the Cul-

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They said: “Children are not being spared and continue to be at high risk in a climate of prevailing violence. Allegations of summary executions, including of children, are also on the rise.

All these cases must be investigated thoroughly and perpetrators should be brought to justice.”

The condemnation is the latest by human rights advocates against Duterte, whose 13-month-old administration has triggered widespread alarm, notably over his deadly drug war.

“The Government of the Philippines must urgently address growing reports of human rights violations, including murder, threats against indig-

Asean...

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of the proposed COC, would be “endorsed” by foreign ministers of the 10 Asean member-countries at the end of the summit.

“I haven’t seen the actual, to tell you honestly, but the general headings...the outline, the nature of the Code of Conduct, what

tural Center of the Philippines Complex where the venues of the meetings will be held, the police are also tasked to secure the routes of the VIPs who will be billeted in 21 hotels in Metro Manila, particularly in parts of Parañaque, Pasay and Makati.

Albayalde said although the ABB was small and had long been dormant, the conversion of some of its members to Islam meant it needed to be watched, saying its members might have joined Islamic State extremists in the south and could be planning to disrupt the upcoming meetings of foreign ministers.

During the 30th Asean Summit last April, an area in Quiapo was bombed, leaving 14 people wounded, in what police and Malacanang said was triggered by a gang war there.

In the meantime, Albayalde said the PNP had not monitored any threats related to the Asean meetings. John Paolo Bencito with PNA enous peoples and the summary execution of children,” the panel of three experts said in a statement.

One of the experts, Agnes Callamard, has previously faced harsh criticism from Duterte loyalists over an unofficial visit she made to the Philippines in May that the government claims was not authorized.

“We are shocked by the increasing levels of violence,” the group added, specifically highlighting threats against human rights defenders, trade union leaders along with those fighting to protect land rights against business interests.

“All these cases must be investigated thoroughly and perpetrators should be brought to justice,” added the statement.

With AFP principles govern the behavior of [the nations]. I would think it’s something more generic so there’s no specific mention [of the arbitral ruling],” he said after his briefing.

In a related development, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte might be violating the Constitution if it pushed through with its planned “joint venture” with China in the

told Faeldon in Filipino. “You were put there so that you could be the man of the hour. You were from nowhere. We didin’t know what your qualifications were and why you were put there, because the President has full trust and confidence in you.”

“But you embarrassed the President in spite of the fact that we have a serious war against drugs. Shouldn’t you be answerable for that? You should resign to avoid further embarrassment to the President,” he added.

Barbers said Faeldon and the concerned Customs officials tainted the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

“You have undermined the efforts being taken by the law enforcers. You have a few hours to think about your resignation. All of you, you should all resign,” he said.

During the hearing, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Wilkins Villanueva said in the hearing that Faeldon refused to heed his advice on the proper procedures in handling the evidence.

Villanueva said that each time he would give advice on how to proceed with the case, Faeldon would consult a lawyer and overrule him. Faeldon admitted that the lawyer was his fiancée.

Instead of turning over the shipment to PDEA as required by law, the bureau turned the shabu over to the National Bureau of Investigation.

SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta also said he was disappointed with the bureau’s “incompetent” handling of the seized drugs and asked Faeldon if he were willing to resign.

But Faeldon said he would not quit unless the President tells him to do so.

“Your honor, I am a soldier, I do not treat this position as a job, it is a mission. And a soldier does not quit from his mission, but a soldier can be fired. So let the President fire me,” Faeldon said.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez backed calls for Faeldon’s resignation for gross incompetence, which could jeopardize the case against the suspects.

Lawmakers expressed concern that the insistence of the BoC to open the seized cargo of drugs as well as the careless handling of evidence would weaken the case against the suspects.

Alvarez said Faeldon was “grossly incompetent, not just

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Follow ‘balikbayan’ boxes law, DoF told

Honasan faces graft raps for ‘misuse’ of pork barrel

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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SENATOR Sonny Angara has called on the Department of Finance to provide appropriate tax benefits due to overseas Filipino workers as intended by the provisions on balikbayan boxes under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. During an oversight committee hearing on the review of CMTA’s implementation, Angara asked the DoF to revise its implementing rules on duty and tax-free balikbayan boxes, under Customs Administrative Order No. 5-2016.

The CAO’s implementing rules said that “all balikbayan boxes per sender in any calendar year shall not exceed P150,000.”

Such rule, Angara said , is contrary to the intent of the law which provides that OFWs can send up to three P150,000worth of tax and duty free balikbayan boxes, or not exceeding P450,000 in a year, given that the goods are not in commercial quantities.

He pointed out that the intention of CMTA is to not tax balikbayan boxes with a value not exceeding P150,000 for every three years or P150,000 divided by three.

“We passed this law to recognize the huge contribution of OFWs in our economy. Let us give what is due to them,” he said.

DoF Assistant Secretary Mark Joven, during the hearing, explained that there is an “ambiguity” in the language of the law, hence the different interpretation of the Finance department on the said provision.

Rep. Sharon Garin, a member of the oversight committee and who was part of the CMTA bicameral committee, said the DoF should have referred to the records of the bicam hearing in determining the intent of the law.

By Rio N. Araja

HE Office of the Ombudsman filed on Tuesday two counts of graft raps against Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged misuse of his P30-million pork barrel fund in 2012.

At the same time, the Office of the Ombudsman indicted former Leyte Eduardo Veloso for the same charge.

Veloso was also charged with two counts of malversation.

The Office of the Special Prosecutors said Honasan violated Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for the alleged anomalous use of his P30 million Priority Development Assistance Fund.

He is the fourth senator to be charged over their involvement in the pork barrel scam after former senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Juan Ponce Enrile who are

all facing plunder and graft raps before the anti-graft court.

The Ombudsman said Honasan funded P30 million worth of livelihood and enterprise projects in Muslim communities in Metro Manila and Zambales.

The National Council of Muslim Filipinos served as the implementing agency of Honasan’s PDAF, while its partner non-government agency was identified as Focus Development Goals Foundation Inc. The Ombudsman said the senator did not comply with the procurement rules, as the disbursement vouchers

and checks were already prepared with the foundation as the payee.

It said that the check was signed ahead of the signing of a memorandum of agreement among Honasan, the NCMF and FDGFI. Honasan approved a P29.1million payment to the NGO. In 2014, the Commission on Audit flagged Honasan’s project and recommended that the NGO blacklisted from any government transactions.

Meanwhile, Veloso received P24,200,000 from the Department of Budget and Management in 2007 as his share in the PDAF for the livelihood and development projects of his constituents in District 3.

Audit documents showed Veloso requested the Technology Resource Center as the implementing agency with Aaron Foundation Philippines Inc. as its partner.

Based on field verifications, the multi-million peso pork barrel fund was never used for the intended projects.

The Commission on Audit also dis-

covered that the AFPI had no financial capability to undertake the project for its measly capital stock contribution of only P68,000.

In 2007, AFPI declared a net loss of P5,840.

The Ombudsman also found probable cause to indict former TRC executives Antonio Ortiz, Dennis Cunanan, Marivic Jover, Francisco Figura and Maria Rosalinda Lacsamana.

“The concerned TRC officers did not even bother to conduct a due diligence audit on AFPI as to its capability or qualification to undertake the livelihood project. Instead, they accepted the sole representation of Congressman Veloso and AFPI to undertake the projects in contravention on existing procurement laws and regulations,” the resolution read.

The Ombudsman also said that Veloso had issued a defective memoranda of agreement entered into by and between the lawmaker and the foundation.

DoT eyes stiffer safety rules on field trips

By Bill Casas THE Department of Tourism has taken the lead in reviewing current regulations and guidelines on educational field trips to ensure safety of students.

This developed as delegates agreed to enforce stricter safety measures during the first Educational Tour Summit, sponsored by DoT and participated in by representatives from the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, academic institutions, tour operators, and tourism industry stakeholders.

The group, who convened at the Enchanted Kingdom Theme Park, one of the most visited student destinations in Calabarzon, zeroed in on the accountability and responsibilities of schools, parents, and other relevant government agencies while emphasizing the importance of out-of-classroom learning.

DoT Undersecretary Alma Rita Jimenez encouraged the academic institutions to work with DoT-accredited tour service providers in the wake of a number of serious accidents, the most recent of which was the tragic bus accident in Tanay, Rizal in February which claimed the lives of 14 college students,

a teacher, and the bus driver.

“The service providers that include the tour operators and other tourism facilities should be qualified, licensed, and certified to provide the services in the highest quality possible,” said Jimenez.

According to DoT Region IV-A Director Rebecca Labit, the freeze order released by CHED, banning field trips from February to June 2017, has affected the tourism industry, including numerous destinations, and businesses especially in Calabarzon which is one of the most visited destinations for educational trips.

“A timely response would be for all

sectors to come together and adopt stricter guidelines, commit to punishing violators, and pursue quality standards,” said Labit.

At the end of the summit, school officials committed to follow government policies on educational tours by providing the necessary permits and coordinating only with DoT-accredited service providers.

Government agencies likewise vowed to ensure that all service providers are trained and accredited but pointed out that this would not be possible if schools continue to work with non-accredited providers.

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

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EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Poor execution

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Bureau of Investigation and the Senate both concluded that Espinosa was murdered, a victim of summary execution, and that what transpired in the Leyte jail was a rubout, not a shootout.

Hauled before the Senate, police who participated in the raid failed to answer so many troubling questions. government custody in November Why was there a need to execute a last year inside his jail cell in a Leyte search warrant, when Espinosa was sub-provincial jail, while Parojinog already in government custody? was killed in his home, presumably Why was the warrant being served at 4 a.m.? How did the detained in a shootout with the police.

While we cannot say for certain that mayor obtain a gun with which to the Ozamiz City raid was aboveboard, fire on the raiding team? And if he we can deduce by the circumstances had a gun, what person in his right alone that there was certainly some- mind would choose to shoot it out thing highly irregular in last year’s with 18 armed policemen, within killing of Espinosa in his jail cell. So the narrow confines on a jail cell?

To all this, we add one more quesirregular, in fact, that the National

HERE is a tendency to connect the recent killing of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog to that of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa. Both men were mayors that President Rodrigo Duterte tagged last year as narco-politicians and both were killed in police raids conducted as part of his bloody war on illegal drugs.

But Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief, immediately spotted the key difference.

“Whatever the circumstances of the deaths, at least this time, the mayor and the others killed were not under detention in a government facility,” Lacson said upon learning of Parojinog’s death at the hands of a police raiding team.

Lacson was referring to the fact that Espinosa was killed while under

tion for the Justice Department. Why did Undersecretary Reynante Orceo downgrade the charges against the leader of the raiding team, Supt.

Marvin Marcos and his men, from murder to homicide? By what twisted logic did Orceo look at the evidence before him and decide that Espinosa had not been murdered?

Lacson, an administration ally, was outraged when the charges were downgraded, and even more irate when Marcos and his men were returned to active duty after serving a short, token suspension.

It is hardly any wonder that people have so little faith in the justice system, when errant police get a pass— even for what appears to be a poorly executed execution.

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ

TRAIN to give P354-b gain to the poor

Faeldon’s huge problem LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES THERE’S been great work done on one side of the illegal drugs problem, the end-user side. Now the Duterte administration must address the supply side, or all its work will be for naught.

The bloody assault on the Parojinog political warlord clan’s compound in Ozamiz City last Sunday was supposed to be a surgical strike on a major drug distribution network. The investigations being conducted by both Houses of Congress on the anomalous entry of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through the Manila port last May represent the effort to stem the problem of large-scale importation of narcotics from abroad, specifically from Chinese methamphetamine factories, or the other end of the festering drug problem.

At the center of the ongoing Congress probes is Customs

Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, the former Magdalo putschist whose resignation is being demanded in the House for gross incompetence. Faeldon has also reportedly been summoned by President Rodrigo Duterte to explain the scandalous entry, with the help of corrupt Customs personnel and brokers, of the huge shipment of high-grade shabu through our notoriously porous ports.

The Senate had earlier summoned Faeldon to shed light on reports that the drugs, which were seized in a Valenzuela warehouse late in May after Chinese intelligence authorities tipped off local authorities, breezed through the Customs “green lane” supposedly used exclusively by reputable, regular importers for the entry of legit goods. It became clear that the shabu shipment was given preferential treatment and did not cause any red flags to be raised, when they should have.

Then the House, which had been keeping secret custody of key witnesses involved in the

suspicious shipments, began its own probe yesterday. During the House hearing, Faeldon was taken to task by an official of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for bickering with PDEA

The police cannot possibly keep killing drug dealers if the flow of drugs into the country is not stopped. over the seized shipment, which the narcotics agents wanted to use to entrap the real importers and owners of the drugs.

Setting aside the issue of corruption which has always

plagued Customs, Faeldon’s apparent failure to stop the entry of the drugs at the port of entry is truly troubling. After all, the sheer size of the shipment, contained in five large crates, calls into question the efficacy of the supposed stringent inspection and examination procedures currently in place at the bureau.

Again, the problem of corruption at the bureau has always stymied every attempt to impose proper duties on imported goods, which has been blamed for the failure of the second-highest revenue generating agency to contribute more income for the government. What’s happening at Customs, which processes the release of 10,000 container vans of all kinds of cargo every day, is economic sabotage—but even that sounds like a petty crime, compared to the apparent use of legitimate ports to bring in shipments of illegal drugs.

Faeldon seems unable to stop the corruption at the ports, because his bureau still cannot even make the revenue targets set by the national government

one year after he has served as Customs chief. But if it becomes evident that he is also failing at the job of preventing the entry of illegal drugs into the country through the same ports that are already being used by all kinds of smugglers to deprive the government of revenue and kill competition in an open market flooded with cheap, untaxed goods, then Houston, we have a huge problem.

The centerpiece anti-drug campaign of Duterte is in dire danger of falling flat on its face unless the entry of drugs from abroad is stopped. The police cannot possibly keep killing big and small drug dealers if the flow of drugs into the country is not stopped; if the steady supply is not threatened, there will be no shortage of drug dealers to take the place of the Espinosas or the Parojinogs, given the fantastic profits to be made from the illegal trade.

Faeldon must show that he is not becoming a liability not only in the proper collection of Turn to A5

IN HIS State of the Nation Address on July 24, President Rodrigo Duterte lobbied hard before the senators for the passage of his Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, saying “revenues are the lifeblood of the government, which enable us to provide for the people’s needs.”

Looking at Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, the Senate Ways and Means Committee chair shepherding CTRP, the President said: “Ano bang gustong ninyong gawain, magluhod ako niyan [What do you want me to do, kneel before you to plead]?” “I call on the Senate to support my tax reform in full and to pass it without haste,” Duterte begged, to the applause of the audience. Then he looked around to find some people not joining the applause.

He saw Angara. “Si Angara ayaw rin mag-clap. [laughter] Bantay ka lang sa election tingnan mo. [laughter]. (Even Angara refuses to applaud.

Watch out in the next election,” Duterte smirked. The young senator is due for reelection in 2019.

Under Duterte, death (to drug lords and addicts) and taxes (for the rich) are a certainty.

His secretary of finance, Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez, is about to enforce the biggest tax settlement in history, with P25 billion against cigarette giant Mighty Corp.

“The fate of the tax reform is now in the hands of the Senate,” Duterte said. He congratulated the House of Representatives by passing the first of five packages of the CTRP, with an overwhelming 246 votes by congressmen representing 90 percent of the Filipino electorate.

Part of the credit for that huge mandate for tax reform goes to Albay Second District Rep. Joey Salceda, an economist by education, a management whiz by reputation, and an investment manager by wealth creation.

Duterte said “These [tax] reforms are designed to be propoor, especially when the people understand how the revenues will be spent. The passage of the Tax Reform Law is needed to fund the proposed 2018 budget …The poor and vulnerable [applause] are at the heart of my tax reform.”

Indeed, says Salceda himself, the House-approved tax package “is decidedly pro-poor.” In fact, it “delivers a total monetary impact of P354 billion annually on middle income and poorest Filipino households.”

Salceda calls the tax package Turn to A5

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ManilaStandard

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Opinion

PHILIPPINE National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa must either be reckless or naive when he vowed to end illegal gambling in a matter of 15 days. Or else, he said, regional and provincial chiefs will be relieved.

Illegal gambling has been going on in the country for decades. It goes by a different name for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, but it is essentially the same.

In Luzon, jueteng is some form of entertainment. The poor and the jobless get a chance to win a few hundred pesos with a P1 bet. Jueteng is popular in many places that radio stations even broadcast the results two to three times a day.

I don’t know exactly how gambling lords operate, but I have been told that local government officials—governors, vice governors, provincial board members, mayors, vice mayors and council members—partake of the money. Even members of the armed forces assigned to the region also get protection money; the same goes for police directors and chiefs.

Believe it or not, protection money reaches all the way to Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo!

I have been told that even parish priests receive donations.

Eradication of illegal gambling is easier said than done.

Perhaps Dela Rosa is too much like his boss, President Duterte, who is given to hyperbole.

Jueteng was brought to the Philippines by the Chinese during the Spanish colonial days.

Dela Rosa may relieve all the police directors, but I will bet my last peso that he would not be able to root out gambling. It is so deeply rooted in our culture. *** One does not need to be a rocket scientist to unravel the mystery involving the entry of shabu through the green/ express lane of the Bureau of Customs.

The fact that Customs got a tip from Xiamen Customs about the shipment of shabu two days after the smuggling tells us that syndicates from China are also involved. Would you believe that Xiamen Customs wanted Philippine Customs to protect its contact, Richard Tan, of the Valenzuela warehouse where the billions of pesos worth of shabu was found?

Miracles do happen at Customs. Recall that a shipment of contraband and highly dutiable goods disappeared on the way to the Port of Batangas, never to be found again.

I covered Customs many years ago and I know for a fact that it is the system itself that

makes smuggling possible. Take the case of imports withheld at a Customs area beside the Pasig River. It is so easy for the goods to disappear.

I myself have been a victim of corrupt Customs brokers. My wife and I brought back furniture from Los Angeles when my daughter decided to come home.

My gulay, I had to pay extra to facilitate the release of the furniture!

There was a time when the Customs Commissioner had all the desk drawers of Customs employees removed. It was the habit of people to keep their bribes in their closet.

Even the late President Ramon Magsaysay’s move to place young and idealistic Philippine Military Academy cadets at Customs backfired. The cadets ended up being corrupted by the system.

The solution is thinking out of the box. Other countries have privatized their Customs functions. That’s worth looking into. *** I agree with Senator Panfilo Lacson, former PNP chief, who is cool to a congressional investigation into the killing of Ozamis City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others. They supposedly resisted arrest when they were served warrants during a raid early Sunday morning.

Parojinog was a suspected drug lord, among the narcopoliticians earlier identified by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Reaction to this killing is mixed. Some say it is about time that justice catch up with the Parojinog family. They must be jailed, it is said, for their activities in drugs, carnapping and other crimes. The only reason they have not been jailed is that they share their loot with the people of Ozamis City. This is also why they are elected into office.

A congressional probe would be useless, a waste of time and resources. *** Republic Act 10361, otherwise known as the Domestic Workers Act is just about the most useless law passed by Congress.

I don’t know what percentage of the population observes this law. More importantly, kasambahay themselves would rather get employed on an ad hoc basis rather than follow the law.

I know family and friends who have no contract with their household helper. The helpers would rather work on a casual basis.

In many instances, contracts frighten helpers because employers would expect them to work for a certain period of time.

Faeldon’s...

From A4

Prior to assigning Cruz to the case, the Diocese of Antipolo —which has supervision over Lagarejos—attempted its own version of stonewalling, calling on the faithful to stop commenting unnecessarily on the sensational case, a call which quite naturally fell on deaf ears. The Church leadership also failed to use the opportunity to condemn sexual abuse committed by one of its own clerics, a monumental blunder, considering how it excoriated President Rodrigo Duterte in the past for making mere jokes about rape.

I trust that Archbishop Cruz —who took on illegal gambling lords and then-president Noynoy Aquino at the height of his powers—will leave no stone unturned in his investigation.

And that is what the Church needs to do: to come clean about this sex scandal, which nearly turned into a textbook example of the hypocrisy of the modernday Padre Damasos amongst us.

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO UNLESS you read about it, one would not know that there is a rift in the Gulf region among Qatar on one hand and five other Arab countries on the other. But it seems the rift is not as wide as a gulf that it cannot be bridged.

Qataris, being the strong, resilient people they are, continue to go on with their daily lives.

Qatar is an economically and politically stable country led by the Emir who’s attuned to the needs of the people. This is why the economic blockade and severance of diplomatic relations called by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt is a puzzle to the rest of the Gulf countries and the international community.

How Saudi Arabia which led the bloc against a fellow Arab state was able to muster the number has to be a concerted effort to malign and portray Qatar like an outcast in the Gulf region which it certainly is not. The Arab bloc accusation? A flimsy charge that Qatar is supporting international terrorism without providing the proof. Qatar cites the fact that the United Nations has not included this issue among its many global concerns.

Doha has called on Riyadh to talk and thresh out whatever problems there are between Qatar and its Arab neighbors Failing to get a positive response from the Saudis and their allies, the Emir called on Qataris to

continue their steadfast stand and resistance against outside pressure to undermine Qatar’s sovereignty.

For this unwavering defense, Qatar has the sympathy and support of Iran, a powerhouse in the region.

Qatar is self-sufficient in food supply and fuel with the recent discovery of gas resources. Iran can supply Qatar with crude oil if the need arises.

Qatar Airways flights barred from entering the airspace of the six countries that cut off diplomatic ties with Doha have hardly felt the effect of the boycott. Qatar Airways continues to fly to other international destinations , including daily flights to and from Manila.

Blinders and blunders Personally, I find it a vindication that the Manila Standard’s editorial last Monday validated my view that not even the President of the Republic can go around threatening to abolish duly constituted independent bodies like the Commission on Human Rights.

The Manila Standard editorial titled “Defend the Constitution “ reminded President Rodrigo Duterte of his oath of office when he assumed the presidency on June 30, 2016. To “defend the Constitution , execute its laws, and do justice to every man” is mandated in the Charter.

Why a lawyer and former public prosecutor like Rodrigo Roa Duterte failed to keep in mind these sacrosanct words in the Constitution is beyond our ken. It’s bizarre that the President even used as a platform his second State of the Nation Address in threatening to abol-

ish the Commission on Human Rights, a duly constituted and independent body.

This effrontery was lost on the nodding heads of the legislators who attended the annual event at the Batasang Pambansa. Even the opposition interviewed after the Sona did not raise this shocking statement of the President.

Have they gotten so inured to his outrageous public statements the lawmakers just ignore them?

This is a dangerous state of mind lest this President assumes it has public acceptance and he has the power to do almost everything.

Whatever the President says in public has the veneer of official policy. Duterte’s instructions to military and police personnel facing human rights violations not to appear before the CHR and the Office of the Ombudsman without seeking his clearance is an arrogance of power.

The Duterte directive to AFP and PNP personnel drew a strong rebuke from Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales who retorted “it’s none of the President’s business and he cannot meddle in investigations being conducted by this Office.” It was the first and strongest response of the former associate justice of the Supreme Court who has been at the receiving end of Digong’s acerbic diatribes.

It is also a wonder to us how some of the President’s men and those who are aspiring to be appointed can continue to defend Duterte’s and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s abuse of power. One, already ensconced in a sinecure with a high salary took time out to criticize a Bureau of Customs official for her “boorish behavior” for calling

Speaker Alvarez an “imbecile.”

The “imbecile” tag on Alvarez was made by Mandy Therese Anderson, the chief of staff of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon. She recoiled from the constant calls of the Speaker’s staff that she would get hell if she does not act favorably on Alvarez’s recommendation for the promotion of a certain Sandy Sacluti.

An imbecile, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is someone stupid with a low IQ. We won’t be surprised if Ms Anderson adds Deputy Speaker Rep. Miro Quimbo to her list of lowlifes for threatening to have her disbarred and render the BOC inutile with a zero budget. Slashing or totally withholding the budget of a government agency is the usual weapon of politicians against those who displease them.

But the BoC is already useless, if we are to believe Senator Richard Gordon during a Senate investigation who called bureau officials as either “incompetent or corrupt.” Gordon was reacting strongly to the feeble excuse of BOC officials who allowed P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment from China in and out of the Customs area. The huge smuggled shipment was fast-tracked through the so-called green lane which does not require rigorous inspection.

Yes, from China, supposedly a staunch friend of the Philippines which gives the country billions of funds in foreign aid.

The smuggling incident runs counter to President Duterte’s zealous war on drugs which he said has destroyed so many young lives and the disintegration of families.

Interesting times

It is so deeply rooted in our culture.

revenues from smuggled goods but also in the fight against illegal drugs. Or he really should prepare to leave his post as just another casualty of the seemingly uninterrupted corruption at the Customs bureau. *** The first correct thing that the Catholic Church did in the case of alleged sexual predator Monsignor Arnel Lagarejos was to appoint the well-respected Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz to conduct an investigation of the matter. Cruz, an acknowledged expert in Church law who has handled cases of erring clerics before, is a straight shooter who will certainly not allow himself to become part of a coverup of the case involving Lagarejos, who was arrested with a 13-year-old alleged sex worker over the weekend.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Regional rift at the Gulf

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Illegal gambling

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO NORMALLY, a State of the Nation Address is news for an entire week after its delivery. “Analysts” read between the lines.

Pundits try to dissect and even tear down the claims of the sitting president. And of course, except in the era of Digong, the lifestyle section oohs and aahs with the fashion sense (or lack of such) of the bejeweled ladies who make an annual show of the political event.

Of course, the sitting president is sui generis. What is there to analyze when he has bared all, in his colorful fashion? Why the need to read between the lines when he has ditched crafted lines into impromptu remarks that shows the real him?

Coming from our nearest neighbor to the north for the Sona, which was followed by our board meeting the day after, I observed that the expected flurry of post-Sona mortems came few and far between, eclipsed by scandals real or imagined, as usual using congressional investigations as stage.

First to come, which one of our MECO directors watched on live TV coverage from his cell phone while having lunch at Clark Freeport’s Binulo (very, very good Kapampangan food!) on Tuesday, was the Imee Marcos-Rudy Fariñas face-off in the House.

Suddenly, a sprightly Juan Ponce Enrile came as a surprise

TRAIN...

From A4

TRAIN—Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion.

TRAIN consolidated Salceda’s original HB 4688 and Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua’s HB 4774. Aimed at addressing the gross “inequality between the elite and marginalized Filipinos,” the consolidated version, House Bill 5636, adopted the title and most provisions of Salceda’s bill, including his expanded conditional cash transfers, and the proposals of the Department of Finance.

Cua and Salceda are chairman and senior vice chairman, respectively, of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The measure, the most significant—and most controversial—reform under the Duterte administration, was approved by 246 congressmen, voted against by nine (with one abstention) on its second and third readings on May 31.

TRAIN imposes hefty increase in excise taxes on oil and vehicles, an expanded value added tax, and tax on sweetened beverage and lotto winnings. It retains VAT exemptions for senior citizens and disabled persons, and on transactions by various cooperatives.

The higher tax revenues are suppose

in cameo role. Was he playing the North Star guidon to the surface cooling of tensions that followed? Where revelations sparked little fireworks, confessions turning into placid denouement that ended the hearing because the Ombudsman should now take over, as there was little to aid prospective legislation?

And would the Ombudsman, herself a proud daughter of the North, step up to the plate?

Given her reputation as a stickler for the evidence, should the younger daughter of the North, heiress to unbridled power, have reason to fear?

This saga ain’t over. It just moved to a different theater. *** Right after, we had the Customs imbroglio, where a huge shipment of shabu worth more than 6 billion deadly smackeroos came to the limelight. From what was touted as achievement by the BOC to an interesting layer-by-layer striptease of accusations of corruption so vile, or incompetence so patent.

And then you have the interesting side story on a pretty young lady lawyer who called the House Speaker an imbecile.

Social media trolls and quickreactors praised the “gutsy” lawyer for speaking her mind out.

While the more savvy and jaded saw through the sidebar as an attempt at cover-up over the larger story, which as Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday’s Senate hearing succinctly wondered, was how a certifiably “red” lane shipment got shunted off to the “green” lane go and go-quickly get-away.

BOC Commissioner Nick Fa-

eldon has more to explain than just dismissing the picture of him and a certain Richard Tan (or Chen, which is just the difference between the Fukien surname and the Mandarin, but same-same).

The case becomes curiouser and curiouser, with as many characters involved as in Alice in Wonderland. *** Not to be outdone, the police do their own thing, this time in Ozamiz, where a political clan that sprang from bank robbery provenance into the less (or more?) lurid world of political dominance was decimated in the dead of a Sunday dawn.

Whether it was a case of defending themselves against violent resistance towards a search warrant or a rub-out as the remnants of the political clan claim, the public does not seem to mind at all.

Even the usually loquacious Commission on Human Rights has yet to speak up. The political clan, after all, was accepted into the “immaculate” yellow brigade during the previous regime, without vetting, as is usual in the asinine world of Philippine politics.

Will we witness another round of Senate, or House hearings in aid of more political theater? *** One week in Manila and you get to hanker for the “staid” news in Taiwan, where often the headlines speak of the Hon Hai electronic giant wanting to invest billions of dollars in Trump’s America, or residents of a province demanding the closure of an environment-polluting factory.

The same “boring” news you get to read in The Bangkok Post,

or in Singapore’s papers. All of which are relegated, as in “Build, Build, Build” in the business pages, where more often than not, the column gossips about big businessmen and their political padrinos make for more interesting news.

Aaaah, the “inside stories.”

Interesting times indeed, all within a week. *** Which brings me to a real story: a “big” businessman who is wanted in Taiwan for embezzling billions of dollars flew out and into mainland China, where he allegedly “invested” his purloined wealth.

Years later, he turns up in the Philippines, and is lionized by a government official who was enchanted into la-la land by promised billion-dollar investments.

Without proper background check, the government official got business journalists writing about the big-ticket items her agency would soon shepherd into our economy, including a skyscraper in Roxas Boulevard that would rival Taipei’s 101, and an industrial park encompassing all of western Pangasinan’s ten (wow!) municipalities.

Think of “big bucks” turning into a diplomatic row. *** And more interesting times to come, it seems.

In the next few weeks, expect sudden “resignations.” For some, the news would be dismissed as a long time coming.

For others, it would be an eyebrow-raising, “what happened?

Bakit?”

Best to keep some reasons within the “silence of the lambs.”

to help bankroll Duterte’s ambitious P8.4-trillion infrastructure program over the next five years and give large cash dole to the poor.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III says TRAIN will ensure a steady revenue flow for the government’s massive infrastructure buildup and guarantee a “breakout growth rate” of above seven percent that will be sustained over the medium term.

The robust growth, in turn, will enable the government to pull down the poverty rate from 21.6 percent to 14 percent percent by 2022, making the benefits of growth inclusive for all Filipinos, promises the DOF chief.

TRAIN claims to personal income tax rates for 83 percent of Filipinos, enabling them to increase their disposable income, which, in turn, will drive the growth of the domestic market.

To make up for the alleged tax losses, TRAIN has companion measures to raise additional revenues of P133.8 billion in 2018.

Salceda believes TRAIN is “the only tool that could make the tax system more efficient, equitable and pro-poor, as the government cannot exclusively tax the rich because such a measure would immediately be struck down as class legislation.”

The Albay congressman estimates TRAIN will have a total monetary impact

of P354 billion annually on the country’s poorest households.

The consolidated measure aims to lower the PIT rates for 99 percent of the country’s taxpayers while expanding the VAT base and adjusting rates for consumption taxes like those on petroleum products and automobiles.

Contentious is the P6 per liter excise tax on diesel in three stages—P3 this year, P5 by January 2018 and P6 by July 2019. It would also increase the tax on lubricating oils and greases, waxes, regular gasoline, leaded gasoline, unleaded gasoline and aviation gas to a uniform P7 per liter, going up to P9 in 2018 and to PI0 in 2019. The present tax on these products ranges from P3.50 to P5.35.

Cars will be slapped excise taxes double current rates.

Salceda says P200 will be given monthly for one year to the poorest 50 percent households or 10 million families. Cash cards will given to jeepney drivers to help them cope with higher diesel prices because of higher diesel taxes. Low-income users of electricity (which will rise in cost with higher taxes) will get subsidies. Budgetary subsidies, Salceda explains, are better than using a tax system that supposedly protects the poor and the low-income earners.

Salceda estimates some P170 billion

annually will be taken from the rich to the middle class and transferred to low income households through subsidies.

The tax measure, he points out, is expected to “ultimately reduce poverty to single digit, grow the economy and transform the Philippines into an Asian economic powerhouse by 2028, with US$1.2 trillion GDP.” “TRAIN is the only tool that could make the tax system more efficient, equitable and pro-poor, as the government cannot exclusively tax the rich because such a measure would immediately be struck down as class legislation,” Salceda enthuses.

But sneers economist Solita Monsod in her column: “The total impact of TRAIN is negative for the majority of our people. It will reduce the household income of the bottom 60 percent of our households. Ironically, it increases the income of the top 40 percent of our households, except for the top one—tenth of one percent (those whose incomes are over P1.38 million a month)—their incomes are reduced by something like P8,000 a month. The richest ones, those earning more than P2.75 million a month, get their incomes reduced by P21,000 a month.” biznewsasia@gmail.com

A6

News

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

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Water firms celebrate 20th PPP

THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and Manila Water jointly observed 20 years of successful Public-Private Partnership yesterday, Aug. 1, with a simple celebration capped by a mass officiated by missionary priest Fr. Jerry Orbos.

Acknowledging the enduring success of the PPP framework in efficiently providing potable water in Metro Manila and nearby areas, MWSS Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco said that in August 1997, the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos entered into a 25-year Concession Agreement with two private consortia comprised of international and local partners that efficiently shifted the operational responsibilities of MWSS to Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (for the West Zone) and Manila Water Company, Inc. (for the East Zone).

Looking back, Velasco noted the following conditions before MWSS went into PPP saying that “there was generally poor service coverage all over the metropolis which was only 69 percent of the service area; unaccounted for water more than 70 percent; inefficient service with low water pressure and limited water availability; high non-water revenue; and minimal sewerage coverage.

These problems, aside from rigid procurement procedures resulting in delays in project implementation and inefficient.”

GENTLEMANLY ACT.

This photo taken during the Joint Session of Congress (07-22-2017) shows Ilocos Norte (1st Dist) and House Majority Leader Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas tying the shoelace of Senator Loren Legarda at the plenary hall of the House of Representatives. Through the guidance of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Fariñas, all members of the House arrived before the 4 p.m. session from Monday to Wednesday.

Ver Noveno

BI sets new travel rules for LGUs

By Vito Barcelo

O

FFICIALS and employees of local government units planning to tour or vacation abroad no longer need to present an authority to travel from their department heads to immigration officers at the airports.

BI Ports operation chief Marc Red Mariñas said LGU personnel need only to present a copy of their approved leave application to the immigration officer who in turn, will no longer ask for a travel authority as being done before.

However, the Bureau of Immigration said that the new travel rule does not apply to provincial governors and mayors of highly urbanized and chartered cities as they still have to secure a travel authority from the DILG undersecretary when going abroad, “regardless of the nature, purpose and duration of their travel.”

The new policy is now being

implemented by BI in all international airports and seaports pursuant to new guidelines on travel authority which the Department of Interior and Local Government issued to local government units and its employees last February.

The new BI rules provide that, henceforth, immigration officers will only require the presentation of travel authority from departing local officials and DILG employees if their trip is on official time or business.

For all other purposes, an approved leave application shall be presented to the primary inspec-

tor (immigration officer) in lieu of the travel authority, as stated in a memorandum issued by Marinas and airport operations chief Cecille Jonathan Orozco.

But the same rules said that for city and municipal mayors, vice mayors, provincial vice governors, and city and municipal councilors who will be abroad for more than three months, are still required to secure a travel authority from the DILG undersecretary for local government.

Otherwise, if the duration of the leave of absence of said officials is less than three months, an approved leave application will suffice.

Substitute bill covering hospital cadavers filed

By Maricel V. Cruz A PANEL in the House of Representatives has approved a substitute bill which requires hospitals, medical clinics and other facilities to release deceased bodies in their possession within 24 hours from the time of death to the family or relatives.

The House committee on Muslim affairs, chaired by Lanao del Sur Rep. Mauyag Papandayan, Jr., passed the unnumbered bill which substituted House Bill 2952 authored by Papandayan, Jr. which seeks to amend Republic Act 9439, also known as “An Act Prohibiting The Detention Of Patients In Hospital and Medical Clinic On Grounds Of Nonpayment Of Hospital Bills Or Medical Expenses.”

The bill seeks to amend Section 2 of RA 9439 so that patients who have fully or partially recovered and who already wish to leave the

hospital or medical clinic but are financially incapable to settle, in part or in full, their hospitalization expenses, including professional fees and medicines, shall be allowed to leave the hospital or medical clinic, with a right to demand the issuance of the corresponding medical certificate and other pertinent papers required for the release of the patient from the hospital or medical clinic upon the execution of a promissory note covering the unpaid obligation.

The promissory note shall be secured by either a mortgage or by a guarantee of a co-maker, who will jointly be liable with the patient for the unpaid obligation.

In the case of a deceased patient, the bill provides the cadaver shall be released within 24 hours from the time of death to the family or relatives in recognition of their religious practices and traditions as Christians, Muslims or Indigenous Peoples.

MMDA impounds 25,700 vehicles

By Joel E. Zurbano

PARTNERSHIP. Officials of water firms MWSS, Maynilad and Manila Water congregate after a Mass held on the occasion of the 20th year of their Public-Private Partnership among the three stakeholders.

Gov’t agents seize ‘liquid cocaine’ from Bolivian lady

By Joel E. Zurbano GOVERNMENT agents are investigating a Bolivian lady passenger who was caught smuggling prohibited drugs at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Monday night.

Maria Hinojosa Bazan was arrested by members of the InterAgency Drug Interdiction Task

Group following her arrival at the Naia Terminal 1 around 6:50 p.m.

The suspect arrived on board Ethiopian Air flight RT 628 from Addis Ababa.

Customs policemen found the cocaine in liquid form hidden inside the four winter jackets carried by the suspect. The illegal drugs are still being verified by the Philippine Drug Enforcement

Agency.

The authorities immediately conducted a search operation at the airport based on the information given by the International Police that a foreign passenger was carrying prohibited items.

Upon her arrival, Bazan was asked by a Customs examiner to fill up a declaration form and if she wanted to declare anything. The sus-

pect replied “nothing”. Airport and Customs officials then invited her at the exclusion room at the arrival area for rigid examination of her belongings in the presence of concerned officials.

After physical examination, the authorities the liquid substances hidden inside the passenger’s winter jackets kept inside her luggage.

Bazan, who is now in the cus-

tody of the PDEA, said she didn’t know there was prohibited items concealed in her luggage.

In October, airport and Customs authorities also arrested three foreigners caught in possession of a prohibited substance —methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu; and cocaine in powder and liquid form.

MORE than 25,700 vehicles were impounded by the Metro Manila Development Authority following a series of anti-illegal parking operations conducted in various parts of the metropolis from January to July.

This developed as MMDA chairman Danilo Lim commended Chairman Dulio Cailles of Barangay Baclaran in Parañaque City who ordered the relief of a village watchman who figured in a heated argument with towing personnel conducting anti-illegal parking operations in the area last week.

Lim said other community leaders should emulate the move of Cailles to sack volunteer watchman Michael Edison Torres who reportedly threatened to gun down members of the towing crew accredited by the MMDA. “We welcome such expression of support to our mission of clearing all roads in Metro Manila of all types of obstructions to improve the traffic situation,” he said.

The MMDA chief said members of the towing crew, with agency personnel, were just doing their jobs in hauling off illegally parked vehicles and other road obstructions.

“We stand by our personnel who are performing their duties but would not tolerate those abusive ones,” Lim said.

Sports

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Streaking Pirates stay clean at 5-0 L YCEUM of the Philippines University quashed the life out of a hapless College of St. Benilde with a 98-55 rout yesterday to extend its amazing streak to five in the 93rd NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan City.

Games tomorrow (Aug. 3) 2 p.m.- Letran vs St. Benilde (jrs) 4 p.m.- Letran vs St. Benilde (srs) It was over as early as the second quarter when the Pirates dominated the Blazers, 31-10, to turn a 16-11 first quarter lead to a huge 47-21 advantage at the break.

LPU never relented from there and led by as much as 46 points, 91-45, on a basket by CJ Perez with a little over

three minutes remaining in the game.

The 43-point winning margin was also the highest this season.

And it was caused mainly by LPU’s full-court pressure that forced St. Benilde to turn the ball over a seasonworst 40 times, resulting in a seasonhigh 46 points off it including 26 off fastbreaks, also a season-best.

“We made crucial stops, we just play as hard as we can,” said LPU coach Topex Robinson.

St. Benilde’s 40 errors was also the worst since San Sebastian committed 43 in a 76-82 defeat to Letran two

years ago.

Robinson later said it was payback for losing to St. Benilde, 61-65, last year.

It turned out that the one defeat was the Blazers’ first after 17 straight defeats.

“We remembered the time they (St. Benilde) beat us last year, they were 1-17 then they beat us, thats the motivation for us,” said Robinson.

The Blazers fell to their third defeat against a lone win.

In the second game, Letran went to Rey Nambatac in the fourth quarter to

eke out an 82-75 win against Arellano University and improve to a 2-3 slate.

Nambatac, playing in his final season, scored 15 points including 10 in the final period to help the Knights seal the win.

Jeo Ambohot, a 6’6” former volleyball player from Compostella Valley, had 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks against his old team, while Jeremiah Taladua, a transferee from LPU, had 13 points and 11 caroms.

The Chiefs skidded to 2-3.

The Scores: LPU 98 – Marcelino JC 17, Baltazar 16, Perez 14, Pretta 10, Tansingco 9, Marcelino JV 7, Nzeusseu 6, Caduyac 6, Marata 4, Ayaay 4, Santos 4, Serrano 1, Ibanez 0, Liwag 0

St. Benilde 55 – Naboa 14, Leutcheu 7, Belgica 7, Johnson 6, San Juan 4, Bunyi 4, Young 3, Domingo 3, Pili 3, Castor 2, Suarez 2, Dixon 0, Sta. Maria 0, Mercado 0, Velasco 0 QUARTER SCORES: 16-11, 47-21, 68-34, 98-55 Second Game LETRAN 82 – Ambohot 15, Nambatac 15, Taladua 13, Balanza 12, Calvo 9, Quinto 8, Balagasay 4, Pascual 4, Mandreza 2, Bernabe 0, Caralipio 0, Gedaria 0 ARELLANO 75 – Flores 17, Salado 15, Canete 12, Enriquez 10, Alcoriza 8, Concepcion 5, Dela Cruz 3, Nicholls 3, Taywan 2, Meca 0, Ongolo-Ongolo 0, Abanes 0, Padilla 0, Rivera 0 QUARTER SCORES: 18-25, 46-38, 57-58, 82-75

Los Angeles to host ‘28 Olympic Games LOS Angeles announced its intent to host the 2028 Olympics on Monday, paving the way for Paris to host in 2024 in a deal hailed as a win-win-win for both cities and the Olympic movement.

“I am proud to announce the Olympic Games are coming back to the United States of America,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said at ceremony at the StubHub Center stadium.

“In 2028, we are bringing the Games back to LA, one of the great capitals of the Olympic movement. A city that has always been a Games changer and will be again in 2028.”

Los Angeles had been in a race with Paris to follow Tokyo 2020 as the 2024 host with the winner to be named by the IOC on September 13 in Lima.

But the possibility that Los Angeles would abandon a 2024 bid and instead accept the 2028 Games has been growing since the IOC decided in July that it would attempt to award both Games at its Lima meeting.

Paris had remained insistent on hosting in 2024, on the 100th anniversary of the city’s 1924 Olympics.

LA officials, who had put forward a $5.3 billion bid for 2024, said an agreement had been reached with the IOC on financial considerations that would make waiting an extra four years feasible.

Bid chief Casey Wasserman said the IOC had waived various fees and payments that could ultimately save LA organizers millions.

The IOC will also advance $180 million to LA organizers to lessen the impact of the longer leadup time, money that normally wouldn’t be disbursed until closer to the Games kickoff.

“The IOC contribution as stipulated by the HCC is $1.8 billion and has the potential to exceed $2 billion according to the evaluation of the LA bid committee when taking into account the estimated value of existing sponsor agreements to be renewed and potential new marketing deals,” the bid committee said in a statement.

Garcetti added: “This deal was too good to pass up.”

The deal will bring the Games back to Los Angeles for a third time, after the city hosted in 1932 and 1984.

The agreement must still be approved by the Los Angeles City Council and the United States Olympic Committee -- both of which backed the 2024 bid.

City Council president Herb Wesson, an enthusiastic supporter of the Games, said the council committee on the Games would thoroughly vet the new proposals before making its recommendation to the full council for a vote hopefully within two weeks. AFP

TRIPLE CROWN. SC Stockfarm owner Oliver Velasquez displays his championship trophy after his horse Sepfourteen swept Philracom’s Triple Crown Series. He is joined by Philacom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, Executive Director Andrew Rovie Buencamino, Commissioners Wilfredo De Ungria, Bienvenido Niles Jr. and Victor Tantoco, Jockey John Alvin Guce, trainer Chito Santos and PRCI Racing Manager Antonio Alcasid.

10 teams join PSC-backed volleyball tilt DAVAO CITY - THE Philippine Sports Commission, in coordination with the city government of Davao through the Sports Development Division of the City Mayor’s Office, will hold the Kadayawan Girls Volleyball Tournament on August 11 to 13 at the University of Mindanao gym in Matina, Davao City.

In a meeting with coordinators of the Philippine Sports Institute and partners at a restaurant in Davao City Monday, PSC Commissioner Charles Raymond A. Max-

ey said players’ welfare need to be prioritized during the tournament.

“Kailangang mabusog ang mga bata, hindi sila dapat magutom,” Maxey said when budget for the players’ free snacks and lunch for three days was discussed.

Participants will also be given parade shirts, certificates and transportation subsidy.

The tournament, according to him, is for elementary public school teams that were determined by the Department of Educa-

PH hosts world’s toughest sport, IRONMAN 140.6

By Patricia Bianca S. Taculao FILIPINO triathletes now have the opportunity to become certified IRONMAN finishers in the Philippines as Century Tuna proudly presents the first-ever full IRONMAN 140.6 on June 3, 2018.

Century Tuna, along with Sunrise Events, will be hosting the milestone of holding the Philippines’ first full IRONMAN, which is double the demand in performance from the previous IRONMAN 70.3.

With the dramatic growth of the triathlon community, Century Tuna strongly believes that Filipinos are now ready to take on the challenge of a full IRONMAN. The IRONMAN triathlon is considered as the most physically demanding sport in the world due to the physical and mental strength needed to endure the 3.86-km swim, 180.2-km bike ride and 42.2-km run.

Not all triathletes are able to handle the magnitude of the challenge as currently, only around 300 Filipinos were able to complete a full IRONMAN overseas.

Greg Banzon, Vice President and General Manager of Century Pacific Food Inc., understands the sacrifices needed in order to complete this rare feat. Banzon, himself, has successfully completed his first IRONMAN triathlon in Korea in 2011. Banzon had to train twice a day for 20 weeks to become physically and mentally prepared.

“Challenging yourself to push your physical and mental limits to the extreme will seem like a painful task. Despite training hard, anything can still go wrong on race day. It was really the mental toughness and the resolve to finish the full distance that kept me going despite my body being at the brink of shutting down. But, you forget all that once you cross the finish line and hear the announcer call out your name and say ‘You are an IRONMAN!,’” said Banzon.

As Century Tuna hosts the 2018 IRONMAN Philippines, it also hopes to encourage more Filipinos to pursue their own fitness journey and bring the brand closer to its goal of making the Philippines among the healthiest and fittest nations in the world.

A fierce battle looms in all three divisions with the top two from the kiddies’, juniors’ and seniors’ divisions, plus the top female player gaining berths in the national finals slated in October.

Registration is ongoing on a firstcome, first-served basis with slots limited to 400.

For details, contact tournament coordinator Alex Dinoy at 09228288510. Registration forms can also be downloaded from https:// www.shell.com.ph/shell_chess.

Fee is pegged at P100.

Army, Sta. Elena dispute last PVL berth in semis Game today

10 a.m. – Army vs Sta. Elena (men’s)

KUNG FU SKILLS. A man demonstrates his kung fu skills during the first “72 Arts of Shaolin”

martial arts competition at a Shaolin temple in Zhengzhou, China’s central Henan province. AFP

Shell National Active Youth chessfest goes to Cagayan de Oro THE Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships swings to Mindanao this month with a huge turnout expected in the Northern Mindanao qualifying leg at SM City in Cagayan de Oro. Organizers of the country’s longest-running talent search brace for another banner field in the third leg of the five-stage regional elims on Aug. 12 and 13, the region being one of the hotbeds of the sport in its more than two decades of staging.

tion Davao City Division.

Maxey’s executive assistant Karlo Paolo Pates, for his part, said there are 10 confimed teams including San Roque Central Elementary School, Davao Central Elementary School, Santa Ana Central Elementary School, Maa Central Elementary School, Calinan Central Elementary School, Tugbok Central Elementary School, Baguio Central Elementary School, F. Bangoy Central Elementary School and one school each from Bunawan and Tibungco.

Events on tap are the kiddies for players aged 7 to 12 (born between 2004 to 2009), juniors for 13 to 16 years old (born between 2000 to 2003) and seniors for 17 to 20 (born between 1996 and 1999) for boys and girls.

Twenty players have made it so far to the grand finals set Oct. 7 and 8 at SM Mall of Asia, including Francois Marie Magpily of Gen.Pio National High School, who ruled the junior division and took the female spot in the NCR stop of the circuit sponsored by

Pilipinas Shell.

Meanwhile, Davao will host the next leg on Sept. 2 and 3 for the Southern Mindanao stage, also at SM City, before the regional elims winds up in Cebu for the Visayas qualifier on Sept.16-17 at SM City.

The circuit, sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, is held to discover fresh talents, especially in the countryside, and develop them to become members of future national teams. It has produced

top grandmasters, the foremost of which is current world No. 2 super GM Wesley So. The event is backed by Shell V-Power, Shell Advance, Shell Rimula, Shell Helix, Shell Fuel Save, and Shell Card and held in partnership with SM Supermalls.

It is open to all Filipinos, nontitled players who are bonafide students certified by their respective schools and registrars.

Previous grand final winners are allowed to compete again in their respective categories provided

STA. ELENA tries to reassert its mastery over Army as they dispute the fourth and last semifinal berth in the men’s side of the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan today (Wednesday).

The Sta. Elena Wrecking Ball subdued the Café Lupe Sunrisers in four in the final elims playdate last Saturday to force a playoff for the last semis seat with the Troopers at 4-3.

Gametime is at 10 a.m. with the winner facing top seed Cignal TV in the Final Four starting Saturday. No. 2 Mega Builders and third seed Air Force tangle in the other bestof-three semis match.

The Wrecking Balls toppled the Troopers in the elims face-off last July 16, 25-15, 2225, 25-21, 25-23, but the latter are raring to get back at the former, guaranteeing a fierce duel between two of the power-hitting teams in the league organized by Sports Vision and backed by Mikasa and Asics.

Sta. Elena’s Berlin Paglinawan, for one, topped the scoring derby with a total of 111 hits, including 107 spikes, with Isaah Arda in sixth while Army is No. 2 in blocking with Jayvee Sumagaysay producing 15 kill blocks for a set average of 0.54.

The Wrecking Balls also wound up sec-

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

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

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

PH Junior Volcanoes to compete in Asia U20

By Peter Atencio THE Philippine Junior Volcanoes will be in Hong Kong this week to take part in the Asia Under 20 Rugby Sevens Championships.

Their participation is backed by First Pacific. They will be led by experienced head coach David Johnston and his assistant, senior Men’s veteran Jake Robrigado Letts, an experienced member of the sevens game.

The tournament will be held at Kings Park on August 4 and 5.

The Junior Volcanoes are in Pool A with last year’s winners Sri Lanka followed by Malaysia, China, and Chinese Taipei.

Pool B will have last year’s runners up Korea alongside home favorites Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

The team has been in a high performance training camp since Friday.

This is the final phase of their preparations before departure on Thursday.

The national U20s is the Philippine Rugby Football Union’s youth program designed to develop, identify and train national rugby players to be transferred into the national men’s senior program.

Usain wants to leave racing with a bang SPRINT superstar Usain Bolt will seek a final golden hurrah when he takes to the track at the IAAF World Championships in London this week.

Bolt has dominated sprinting since taking double individual gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, going on to win a further six Olympic golds and also picking up 11 world titles.

World records of 9.58 and 19.19sec in the 100 and 200m when winning in the 2009 Berlin worlds were followed by the towering Jamaican winning consecutive world golds in the 100, 200 and 4x100m relay in 2011, 2013 and 2015, with the exception of a false start in the 100m in Daegu in 2011.

The 30-year-old scored triple gold at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in London and Rio, his sole hiccup being stripped of his 2008 Olympic relay gold after teammate Nesta Carter failed a drugs test.

It is a staggering tally for a track athlete who has admitted he wants to go out on a high as athletics seeks to turn a new page.

Sports San Miguel Beer guard Alex Cabagnot (center) tries to dribble past TNT KaTropa defender RR Pogoy (left) while TNT head coach Nash Racela shouts instructions from behind. The powerhouse squads renew their rivalry this PBA Governors’ Cup when they clash tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Powerhouses San Miguel Beer,TNT renew rivalry

By Jeric Lopez

A

COLOSSAL battle is once again set to resume.

Just a month after their titular showdown in the Commissioner’s Cup, giants San Miguel Beer and TNT KaTropa are set to meet again in a grudge match, this time in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup. With the championship duel still fresh in their minds, the Beermen (10) and the Tropang Texters (1-0) are set to cross paths again. They will both aim at a second straight win in their battle at 7 p.m. in an anticipated clash at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

On the other hand, TNT KaTropa wants nothing more than to exact revenge. Just ask import Michael Craig, who registered a triple-double in his debut.

“We want to get back at them so badly.

We’re really looking forward to meeting them again,” said Craig.

After losing its opening assignment to Meralco, Barangay Ginebra bounced back strongly by pounding GlobalPort, 124108 last Sunday to register its first win.

Ginebra coach Tim Cone felt that the defending champions finally got their act together and he was impressed.

“We did better in this first win. We got our rhythm, played off each other and got going. We hope we can continue to get better as we go,” said Cone.

Torres happy to fight alongside Kelly, Pacio in Macau FILIPINA fighter Jomary Torres says it’s as a privilege to be fighting sideby-side with fellow homegrown martial artists on the undercard of ONE: Kings & Conquerors in Macau. China on Saturday, August 5.

Torres, who squares off with rising Thai superstar Rika “Tiny Doll” Ishige, relishes the opportunity to

Winner No8 Battleground by AP Asuncion during the Philracom Charity Race 3rd PPP Racing Cup held at Santaana Park Naic Cavite. Lino Santos

PH road cycling team eyes 2 SEAG golds THE national road cycling squad is expected to win at least two medals in the coming Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Philcycling Deputy Secretary General Kamilla Sumagui, in a radio interview, said the riders and coaches have been working hard to make his happen.

The squad is composed of Mark Galedo, Ronald Oranza, George Oconer, Rene Mier, Rustom Lim, Dominic Perez, Marcelo Felipe, Jerry Aquino Jr, Ryan Cayubit and

Three hours prior, defending champion Barangay Ginebra (1-1) goes for a second straight triumph as well when it battles still winless Kia (0-3) at 4:15 p.m. in the curtainraiser.

Following successful openers, San Miguel and TNT KaTropa now get

to test each other to see who will retain a clean card.

The Grand Slam-seeking Beermen opened their campaign with a bang, waylaying Blackwater, 118-93, last Saturday as they picked up where they left off and reminded everyone which is the team to beat.

For the Tropang Texters, they shook off the cobwebs first before getting in the groove en route to downing Kia 106-96 last Friday.

In their heated finals confrontation in the Commissioner’s Cup, San Miguel Beer took the series and the championship with a 4-2 win in their best-of-seven campaign.

Obviously, the Beermen want to prolong their mastery over the Texters.

Marella Salamat.

They are set to leave for Kuala Lumpur on August 17 in time for the August 22 to 25 schedule.

“We are excited this time, especially that we are a bit more organized and prepared than before,” said Sumagui.

Track cyclists Kristian Reyes and Mervin Corpuz, who currently trainins at the UCI World Satellite Training Center in South Korea, will be there by August 24. Peter Atencio

represent the Philippines alongside combat veteran Eric Kelly as well as one-time flyweight world title challenger Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.

“I am very happy because all of us are representing the Philippines and not against each other. This is good. I hope all of us will win on fight night,” she said.

Kelly locks horns with former ONE Lightweight World Champion Kotetsu “No Face” Boku, while Pacio crosses paths with seasoned Japanese stalwart Hayato Suzuki in a three-round strawweight encounter.

“We get to represent the country.

It’s really an honor and a privilege.

We are one team in Macau. We are

all hoping for a clean sweep,” Torres said.

Torres, who holds a fledgling professional mixed martial arts (MMA) record of 1-0, is not expecting to be other competitor’s footstool to move up in the rankings as she intends to walk out with the victory in her ONE Championship debut.

BPOs face challenge from China B3

Business

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

B1

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, August 1, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE

TRILLION-PESO COMPANY.

Currency

Philippine Stock Exchange chairman Jose Pardo (left) and president Ramon Monzon (second from left) present a plaque of recognition to SM Prime Holdings Inc. executive committee chairman Hans Sy (third from left) and president Jeffrey Lim (right) on July 26 at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.

The citation was given to SMPHI after it made a historic record last month, as the first publicly listed company in the Philippines to breach the P1-trillion market value mark.

British bank cuts GDP goal to 6.5%

By Julito G. Rada

BRITISH bank Standard Chartered on Tuesday reduced its 2017 growth forecast for the Philippine economy to 6.5 percent, from the earlier estimate of 6.8 percent because of high base effects and slower expansion in the first quarter.

Edward Lee, the bank’s head of economic research for Asean, said in a briefing in Makati City the first-quarter growth was slower than expected, but remained fastest among Asean-6 countries, which also include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

“The domestic strength will continue to push economic growth... The economy is expected to pick up in the second half,” Lee said.

The Philippine economy grew 6.4 percent in the first three months, slower than the 6.8-percent expansion a year ago, pulled down by sluggish spending. Government spending picked up in the first quarter of 2016 in the run-up to the presidential elections.

Standard Chartered said despite the lower-than-expected growth, the Philippines remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

Lee also said exports would continue growing for the remainder of the year while inflation would continue to be manageable. This would encourage the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to keep the policy rates steady this year, he said.

Standard Chartered said in April the Philippines was expected to grow 6.8 percent this year.

Lee said the Duterte administration’s proposed comprehensive tax reform program would be positive for the economy, which would enable the government to have extra revenues to fund development projects vital for economic growth.

“The tax reform program shows the government’s commitment for further economic growth,” Lee said.

The government expects the Philippine economy to grow between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent this year, anchored on higher fiscal spending, robust domestic demand and investments. Last year, GDP grew 6.9 percent, near the upper bound of the target range of 6 percent to 7 percent.

Unit

US Dollar Peso

United States Dollar

1.000000

50.5020

Japan

0.009070

0.4581

Yen

UK

Pound

1.321600

66.7434

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128041

6.4663

Switzerland

Franc

1.034768

52.2579

Canada

Dollar

0.801475

40.4761

Singapore

Dollar

0.738280

37.2846

Australia

Dollar

0.800200

40.4117

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651324

133.8972

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266681

13.4679

Brunei

Dollar

0.735565

37.1475

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.030058

1.5180

UAE

Dirham 0.272287

13.7510

Euro

Euro

1.184400

59.8146

Korea

Won

0.000894

0.0451

China

Yuan

0.148610

7.5051

India

Rupee

0.015584

0.7870

Malaysia

Ringgit 0.233645

New Zealand Dollar

0.751300

Taiwan

0.033114

Dollar

11.7995 37.9422 1.6723 Source: PDS Bridge

IN BRIEF PCC approves 92 merger applications

BoI: Investment pledges increase 40% to P294.8b

By Othel V. Campos

I

NVESTMENT pledges in the first seven months jumped 40 percent to P294.8 billion from P240.4 biĺlion recorded in the same period in 2016, the Board of Investments said Tuesday.

Trade Secretary and BoI chairman Ramon Lopez said the latest investment figure was a clear indication of the continued confidence of domestic and foreign investors in the country’s sound economic policies and attractive business environment.

“The country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda drove investor confidence to a higher level. Presiden-

tial visits and the agency’s investment missions abroad have increased the interest of investors, as they gained awareness of the Philippines, convinced of the country’s potential,” he said.

Committed investments in July alone reached P106.8 billion from 32 projects, a 347 percent surge from P23.9 billion in 30 projects in the same month last year.

“What further makes the Philippines attractive are plans of the administration to ramp-up infrastructure spending that is seen to increase economic activities, the country’s demographic dividend, highly-skilled workforce, and the strategic location of the country, which can serve as a gateway to the rest of the Asean market,” Lopez said.

Employment generation from the seven-month projects were expected at 58,758, up 57 percent from 37,487 in the same period in 2016. The number of projects approved by BoI also went up 40 percent to 268 from 192 in 2016.

Lopez said July marked the first month of the

2017 Investment Priorities Plan implementation.

Among the investments approved this year are Mindanao-based projects such as the P3.5-billion hydropower project of Alson’s in Maasim, Saranggani; the P2.1-billion hydropower project of Repower Energy Development Corp. in Maramag, Bukidnon; and another P1.5-billion hydropower project of the same company in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon; the P455-million corrugated boxes for export project of Smartflute Corrugated Packaging Company in Carmen, Davao del Norte; and the P179-million Go Hotel in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte.

The biggest project registered this year was the P79.2-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 project of San Miguel Corp. which involves the construction of a 23-kilometer railway line from San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan to MRT-3 North Avenue in Quezon City and the 22-kilometer asphalt road from Bocaue Interchange of the North Luzon Expressway to the intermodal terminal in Tala.

Uber warns of higher fare with LTFRB suspension

By Darwin G. Amojelar RIDESHARING app Uber on Tuesday warned of higher fare and worsening road traffic in Metro Manila with the the suspension by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board of transport network vehicle services accreditation.

Uber Philippines general manager Laurence Cua told reporters about 200,000 rider requests were unfulfilled on a weekly basis because of the lack of partner drivers and the stringent regula-

tions from the government.

Cua said these passengers struggled to find other means of transportation, or decided to bring their own vehicles, which further worsened the traffic situation in Metro Manila.

He said 67 percent of Uber riders used to drive their own vehicles.

“Since the fourth quarter of last year, the gap between supply and demand is increasing. The demand is going up and the supply [is] having a hard time catching up,” Cua said.

The Land Transportation and

Regulatory Board announced on July 22 the suspension of TNVS applications. Cua said about 14,000 riders were unable to book a ride because the drivers were worried that they would be apprehended.

“We also saw prices rising about 17 percent,” he said.

There were 30,000 active Uber drivers as of July, down from 66,000 drivers last year. Of the total, 2,000 TNVS operators had certificate of public convenience.

“Uber actually halted activation since July 19. This was

even before the LTFRB issued the legal order. We actually have been in compliance with the request to stop activation for almost two weeks now and were are looking forward to explain our side and explain what we’ve done and to ensure that we’re in full compliance with LTFRB order,” Cua said.

LTFRB ordered Uber and Grab on July 26 to stop accepting new transportation network vehicle service applications and submit an updated list of the accredited TNVS as of June 30, 2017.

THE Philippine Competition Commission said it approved 92 notifications for 111 mergers and acquisitions worth P1.9 trillion.

PCC commissioner Stella Luz Quimbo said the agency reviewed about 111 notifications during the first phase and approved 92 mergers so far.

“We have the shortest review period compared to other jurisdictions like the US. But we make sure that everything is above board and that we follow the stringent screening of the commission,” she said Tuesday during the joint membership meeting of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Management Association of the Philippines.

Companies with pending merger or acquisition worth P1 billion and above are required to file an application with PCC. Quimbo said the threshold was significantly lower than in other countries “but these things we can revise.”

Othel V. Campos

BCDA set to open Clark airport bidding STATE-RUN Bases Conversion and Development Authority is inviting prospective bidders to join the auction for the development of a P12.55-billion new passenger terminal in Clark International Airport in Pampanga province.

BCDA said it was coordinating with the Transportation Department for the bidding of the engineering, procurement and construction contract of Clark International Airport facilities, including the development of a new passenger terminal. It would be open to local and foreign firms.

The project information and memoranda and the instructions to bidders will be available by Aug. 10, while the invitation to pre-qualify and bid may be purchased for a non-refundable fee of P1 million, it said.

The project aims to construct a new passenger terminal building to accommodate 8 million passengers per annum as well as the construction and installation of all required associated facilities – both landside and airside, to support the operations of the new terminal. The construction period is between 2017 and 2020.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Security Bank’s profit climbed 8% in first half

HOME BUILDER. Wilcon Depot Inc. founder and chairman emeritus William Belo (center) receives

the prestigious Philippine Retailers Association President’s Award this year for his invaluable contribution to the growth of the home building retail sector. With Belo during the awarding rites at Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City are (from left) PRA vice chairman Mars Chua, president of Sportshouse; chairman Lorenzo Formoso, chairman of Federation of Asia-Pacific Retailers Associations; president Paul Santos, president of Picture City; vice chair Ma. Alegria Sibal-Limjoco, president of Central Books; vice president Rosemarie Bosch Ong, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wilcon Depot; and vice chairman Jorge Mendiola, president of SM Retail Inc.

SECURITY Bank Corp., the fifthlargest lender in terms of assets, said net income in the first half grew 8 percent to P5.2 billion from a year ago, driven by a double-digit increase in net interest income.

“This result was driven by a 26-percent or P1.9-billion increase in net interest income to P9.3 billion. Non-interest income including trading gains was P2.9 billion, a 15-percent or P0.5-billion decrease,” the bank said in a statement Tuesday.

Security Bank said in the second quarter alone, net income grew 32 percent to P2.43 billion, as net interest income rose 24 percent to P4.9 billion.

“In the first half of 2017, the increase in net interest income was driven by a 27-percent growth in the loan portfolio to P340 billion and a 26-percent growth in depos-

its to P380 billion,” it said.

Low-cost deposits increased 21 percent and wholesale loans grew 25 percent, of which corporate loan growth was 23 percent and middle-market loan growth was 27 percent.

Consumer loans increased 49 percent and net interest margin stood at 3.2 percent in the second quarter, up from 3.1 percent in the first quarter 2017. Service charges, fees and commissions grew 4 percent to P1.1 billion.

Operating expenses, excluding provisions for probable credit losses and impairments, went up 16 percent. This was driven by manpower cost growth of 23 percent as new branches, retail lending and e-commerce platforms were staffed. The bank opened 25 new branchesin the last 12 months to June 2017. Julito G. Rada

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

8990 registers 44% profit drop to P1.2b

By Jenniffer B. Austria MASS housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. said Tuesday net income in the first half fell 44 percent to P1.22 billion from P2.18 billion a year ago, following the delayed launching of new projects, shortage of construction finishings and momentum build-up from newly launched projects.

The company said in a statement first-half revenues dropped 36 percent to P3 billion from P4.7 billion in the same period last year, even as it launched five projects offering 32,992 units in the first six months.

Net income dropped 58 percent in the second quarter to 485 million from P1.15 billion in the same quarter in 2016.

It said despite the poor firsthalf figures, it was still bullish

on the prospects for the second half of the year, as it planned to launch six projects in the second half that would add 27,772 units to its inventory.

“We have already anticipated a slow start in 2017 given, historically, a change in government normally leads to a temporary disruption in our growth as a result of these political changes,” 8990 Holdings president Januario Jesus Atencio III said.

Atencio said the company was hoping an upturn in the second half would enable it to meet its 2017 fullyear profit and revenue targets.

The property earlier projected a P5.4-billion profit this year, up from last year’s P3.81 billion.

Revenues are expected to reach between P10 billion and P13.5 billion this year, up from P9.41 billion in 2016.

Stock market slumps; Bloomberry advances

S

TOCKS fell for a second day at the start of the so-called ‘ghost month’ as investors took profit following the release of lowerthan-expected earnings by several companies.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 111 points, or 1.4 percent, to close at 7,906.60, as all six major sectors declined.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also fell 42 points, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 4,723.91, on a value turnover of P6.2 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 114 to 86, while

48 issues were unchanged.

Five of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by hotel operator Waterfront Philippines Inc. which jumped 15 percent to P1.38 and casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. which advanced 2.3 percent to P9. Budget carrier Cebu Air Inc. rose 2.1 percent to P103.10.

Meanwhile, stocks climbed

in Asia after Japanese corporate earnings, Chinese manufacturing and South Korean export data reinforced confidence in global growth.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose to the highest since 2007 as equity indexes from Tokyo to Sydney advanced with raw-material producers adding to the recent rally. The bullish start to August for Asian stocks looks like spreading to Europe where futures tipped a higher open.

Global equities remain near alltime highs, with data this week from China and Japan reinforcing optimism for growth after figures on Friday showed the US economy accel-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.65 7,000 59.4 8,120 103.9 953,680 3.96 2,000 124.5 2,334,460 1.35 41,000 36.2 306,100 16.16 800 32.15 705,200 8.08 5,200 1.68 68,000 960 1,020 0.69 1,034,000 86.85 2,077,950 0.82 705,000 14 152,700 67.45 26,380 239 580 119 210 90.35 1,170 56.5 126,980 228.6 537,750 1,700 100 86.3 60,060 1.38 166,000

25,550 481,433 99,115,237 7,920 290,670,660 53,650 11,128,295 12,878 22,679,580 41,988 114,480 979,200 713,560 180,445,785 576,110 2,126,666 1,772,186 138,290 24,190 105,563.50 7,158,435.50 123,311,172 170,000 5,183,120.50 228,330

174,624 -26,263,737 129,749,837 8,100 362,000 -2,368,920 -15,720,057 -133,650 970,920 929,115 4,701,140.50 33,313,086 -153,000 50,086.50 -16,440

38.95 8.77 0.82 1.36 30.2 0.26 6.09 18.34 30.9 14.86 72.95 70 1.94 5.28 11.52 12.14 14.84 12.5 7.4 5.86 1.69 17.3 65.7 14.5 12.9 13.2 1.92 220 3.7 32 19.5 17.54 276.2 0.241 9.7 3.14 7.82 9.47 7 1.86 11.9 66.2 6.69 306 4.43 4.11 2.75 12.88 4.88 0.145 1.34 153.1 3.91 2.1 1.03

INDUSTRIAL 39.05 398,200 9.2 2,103,300 0.84 2,420,000 1.37 2,233,000 30.5 86,100 0.26 890,000 6.1 11,598,600 18.34 157,900 30.9 5,272,800 15.16 1,200 72.95 181,670 71 5,810 1.94 61,000 5.28 11,900 11.6 29,600 12.14 5,521,900 14.88 1,352,600 13.44 5,559,900 7.65 673,900 5.93 13,706,800 1.75 14,000 17.54 796,000 65.8 854,890 14.5 3,100 13.2 168,000 13.42 1,852,300 1.98 1,606,000 223 346,240 3.8 77,000 32.25 165,800 19.5 172,700 17.88 718,000 278 110,960 0.242 340,000 10.84 977,500 3.15 1,717,000 7.9 326,000 9.48 2,874,600 7.5 664,400 1.87 3,583,000 11.98 791,100 66.4 196,650 6.7 149,200 306 18,190 4.49 21,000 4.2 16,000 2.78 1,773,000 13.02 866,700 4.9 107,200 0.145 260,000 1.34 123,000 153.1 1,571,650 3.91 49,000 2.15 4,913,000 1.04 60,000

15,548,985 19,046,378 1,992,890 3,075,990 2,613,155 232,850 70,791,585 2,900,430 166,973,640 18,012 13,261,907 409,639.50 118,550 62,884 343,320 67,236,306 20,123,258 73,977,146 5,094,919 81,317,079 24,320 13,927,932 56,274,075.50 44,950 2,211,962 24,846,158 3,169,770 77,046,680 286,270 5,330,850 3,378,996 12,792,468 30,777,404 82,180 10,228,003 5,491,570 2,573,836 27,508,379 4,923,254 6,742,990 9,516,582 13,027,058 998,923 5,588,034 94,380 66,360 4,938,240 11,258,328 525,434 37,700 165,880 244,079,827 192,760 10,626,920 62,100

-3,158,820 -1,932,584 82,000 68,500 -25,690,275 -136,016 9,601,125 0 -467,046 2,689,664 10,402,510 2,499,997 9,411,543 7,298,480 -2,628,013.50 32,746 5,179,272 -39,600 46,586,424 739,695 1,280,774 2,977,556 451,022 2,790 -8,669,836 -3,940 1,473,272 294,890 307,490 -1,138,720 -18,000 45,730 10,670 1,899,896 236,582 10,150 -164,585,162 188,820 -1,306,090 -

0.41 75.4 14.4 1.13 6.9 0.33 0.325 877.5 7.79 16.3 6 0.23 1,220 8.39 79.5 6.14 1.01 6.97 18.14 0.47 6.79 3.22 0.048 0.99 2.1 101.7 2.66 808 1.72 304.2 0.295 0.239 0.239

0.39 74.15 14.2 1.13 6.9 0.32 0.32 864 7.67 15.92 6 0.22 1,198 8 76 5.8 0.99 6.76 17.6 0.43 6.65 3.22 0.047 0.98 2.05 101.5 2.65 799.5 1.65 304 0.285 0.224 0.235

HOLDING FIRMS 0.395 12,220,000 75.25 296,450 14.34 9,600,900 1.13 5,000 6.9 33,000 0.325 450,000 0.325 200,000 865 76,370 7.69 2,698,200 16 12,532,200 6 710,000 0.22 1,020,000 1,200 134,105 8.39 173,700 76 1,452,460 5.8 6,400 0.99 1,617,000 6.82 769,600 17.9 3,136,800 0.465 230,000 6.66 8,970,400 3.22 3,000 0.048 13,300,000 0.98 74,000 2.1 1,092,000 101.6 100,170 2.65 25,000 807.5 270,170 1.7 4,973,000 304 170 0.295 90,000 0.232 1,290,000 0.235 1,950,000

4,856,700 22,285,249 137,345,490 5,650 227,700 145,500 64,050 66,123,335 20,783,964 200,626,046 4,260,000 224,900 161,032,900 1,391,214 111,248,237.5 ( 38,102 1,602,900 5,240,331 56,208,910 106,050 59,831,072(28 9,660 628,500 72,710 2,259,790 10,177,027 66,280 217,649,420 8,450,120 51,684 25,950 299,750 460,500

80,000 1,030,148 -51,328,062 -22,073,075 356,277 115,471,572 4,600 -47,207,375 69,054,893.5) -2,187,516 18,827,072 -47,000 ,896,330.9996) 4,700 2,128,654 35,859,705 12,160 4,480 -305,960

5.82 1.45 6.77 2.35 1.04 42 3.78 4.7 5.36 5.5 0.53 1.2 1.53 0.19 0.52 46 0.75 0.166 1.78 1.55 1.03 4.12 4.95 0.345 0.63 0.57

5.73 1.41 6.1 2.3 1.01 41 3.74 4.58 5.35 5.5 0.51 1.19 1.5 0.188 0.5 45 0.72 0.16 1.75 1.47 1.01 4.12 4.79 0.335 0.59 0.56

7,562,448(3, 2,827,620 10,497 1,107,140 2,531,360 740,456,480 6,882,900 6,063,400 40,170 5,500 9,503,960 144,060 375,590 710,150 373,870 4,178,295 71,360 351,550 32,405,170 18,028,190 522,430 16,480 368,153,450 7,015,950 13,353,900 3,013,830

009,440.9999) 6,770 -173,250 37,100 -436,330,615 157,190 920,400.00 -1,526,600 20,230 6,060 188,000 -51,000 2,059,305 -130,270 6,074,170 51,500 16,480 68,312,400 170,000 13,950 40,880

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.65 59 105 3.96 125.5 1.3 36.4 16.06 31.9 8.07 1.69 960 0.69 87 0.82 14.5 67.5 241 115 89.95 56.5 234 1,700 86.25 1.36

3.65 59.5 106 3.96 125.5 1.35 36.45 16.16 32.5 8.08 1.7 960 0.7 87.05 0.84 14.5 67.5 241 119 90.4 56.55 234 1,700 86.3 1.39

3.65 59 103.5 3.96 124.2 1.3 36.2 16.06 31.9 8.07 1.68 960 0.69 86.6 0.81 13.5 66.5 237.6 115 89.95 56 228 1,700 86.25 1.36

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LMG CHEMICALS MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O 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 VULCAN INDL

39 8.86 0.83 1.39 30.45 0.26 6.13 18.4 34.6 14.86 73 70.1 1.97 5.29 11.52 12.3 14.96 12.7 7.49 5.97 1.69 17.3 66 14.5 12.9 13.2 1.93 225 3.73 32 19.8 17.54 279 0.242 9.7 3.2 7.9 9.47 7.19 1.9 12.18 66.2 6.69 308 4.5 4.11 2.75 13.1 4.9 0.145 1.36 160.9 3.94 2.18 1.03

39.4 9.24 0.84 1.41 31.15 0.265 6.17 18.4 35.1 15.16 73 76 1.97 5.29 11.6 12.3 14.96 13.5 7.65 5.97 1.75 17.54 66 14.5 13.28 13.5 2 225 3.8 32.45 19.8 17.92 279 0.242 11.1 3.2 7.94 9.69 7.57 1.91 12.18 66.4 6.7 308 4.5 4.2 2.85 13.1 4.99 0.145 1.37 160.9 3.94 2.2 1.04

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

0.405 75.4 14.32 1.13 6.9 0.32 0.32 869 7.73 16.3 6 0.23 1,213 8 79.05 6.14 1.01 6.97 17.6 0.43 6.77 3.22 0.047 0.99 2.07 101.6 2.66 807 1.7 304.2 0.285 0.224 0.237

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

5.82 1.44 6.1 2.35 1.03 42 3.78 4.65 5.36 5.5 0.52 1.2 1.53 0.188 0.52 46 0.72 0.16 1.76 1.47 1.02 4.12 4.82 0.34 0.59 0.56

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

4.73 30.1 25.7 1.78 3.22 34.9 1 7.48 0.89 5.9

4.81 30.1 25.7 1.78 3.24 34.9 1.02 7.48 0.89 5.96

4.65 30.05 24.85 1.76 3.2 33.85 1 7.48 0.88 5.9

4.75 30.05 24.85 1.76 3.2 33.85 1.02 7.48 0.89 5.95

684,000 500 1,342,000 93,000 403,000 6,376,200 1,674,000 200 27,000 1,705,700

3,261,070 15,040 33,793,600 164,770 1,289,780 217,186,880 1,679,340 1,496 23,990 10,115,388

-425,330 10,630,240 12,840 -44,248,005 -1,897,344

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

23 43.1 1.8 0.6 0.042 5.4 8.8 0.078 101 9.68 10.72 970 2,110 6.19 15.32 2.87 3.31 106 8.6 0.172 1.32 3.28 15.38 4.5 1.69 11.66 9 3.96 2.27 11.46 5.1 2.91 168.5 9.38 1,636 1.59 0.4 47 86.8 6.06 4.31 1.47 3.37 1.22 8.81

23.25 43.9 1.81 0.64 0.043 5.4 9 0.08 103.8 9.68 11.74 970 2,130 6.21 15.5 2.87 3.39 106.2 8.6 0.172 1.34 3.28 15.96 4.6 1.78 12.06 9 3.96 2.27 11.46 5.1 2.91 170 9.38 1,636 1.59 0.405 47.2 87 6.07 4.5 1.49 3.45 1.38 8.86

22.5 43.1 1.76 0.57 0.042 5.32 8.71 0.078 101 9.68 10.7 970 2,070 6.18 15.3 2.8 3.31 105 8.5 0.17 1.32 3.15 15.38 4.48 1.69 11.66 8.77 3.84 2.2 11.46 5.1 2.9 168.5 9.01 1,603 1.57 0.4 46.9 86.8 6.05 4.25 1.46 3.35 1.22 8.62

SERVICES 22.5 43.9 1.8 0.62 0.042 5.32 9 0.08 103.1 9.68 10.7 970 2,130 6.2 15.3 2.84 3.39 105.7 8.55 0.171 1.32 3.17 15.96 4.49 1.75 11.8 8.98 3.87 2.23 11.46 5.1 2.9 169 9.22 1,603 1.58 0.4 47.2 86.95 6.05 4.4 1.47 3.45 1.38 8.74

116,500 222,300 88,000 16,224,000 40,400,000 12,500 11,326,500 6,510,000 1,077,120 1,300 1,727,500 80 45,940 31,000 13,000 2,060,000 3,000 1,508,870 316,200 4,660,000 728,000 100,000 400 1,327,000 2,279,000 2,942,400 1,139,800 6,721,000 1,341,000 900 15,400 4,000 2,380 573,900 109,645 7,741,000 1,950,000 220,300 239,140 1,315,900 7,459,000 21,259,000 569,000 77,110,000 4,246,100

2,648,290 9,699,180 158,070 9,952,940 1,698,300 66,876 100,744,467 510,720 110,989,849 12,584 19,034,030 77,600 97,319,820 192,060 199,674 5,832,940 10,010 159,608,440 2,709,670 797,620 962,060 317,510 6,270 6,002,390 3,952,020 34,985,098 10,131,932 26,093,980 2,992,710 10,314 78,540 11,630 401,930 5,266,627 177,178,875 12,240,770 781,200 10,385,120 20,788,920 7,973,813 32,830,660 31,288,380 1,926,710 101,119,890 37,153,194

301,500 -178,740 84,000 -23,844,282 4,680 65,191,902 444,700 47,140,360 40,439,651 7,920 1,214,546 3,004,602 -3,997,340 452,500 29,070 -102,785 -1,389,212 -79,097,395 1,219,600 280,000 7,767,390 -4,053,646 -244,020 16,779,100 268,110 -766,010 -4,440,519

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 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

0.0029 1.59 5.41 1.9 1.85 1.22 0.39 8.6 2.62 0.34 0.187 0.191 0.011 1.89 6 1.95 0.65 1.03 0.01 0.011 0.012 2.49 8.84 3.2 169.6 0.0081

0.003 1.61 5.48 1.9 1.85 1.23 0.4 8.61 2.67 0.34 0.188 0.191 0.011 1.95 6.1 1.95 0.65 1.07 0.01 0.011 0.013 2.5 8.9 3.5 171 0.0081

0.0028 1.59 5.25 1.9 1.85 1.17 0.39 8.41 2.59 0.31 0.18 0.191 0.011 1.88 5.94 1.93 0.62 1.03 0.01 0.011 0.012 2.49 8.83 3.2 166.9 0.0081

MINING & OIL 0.0029 193,000,000 1.6 1,786,000 5.28 220,200 1.9 40,000 1.85 5,000 1.19 2,313,000 0.39 3,630,000 8.55 4,800 2.67 1,034,000 0.32 9,570,000 0.186 4,070,000 0.191 100,000 0.011 300,000 1.9 92,000 6.1 1,356,900 1.95 18,000 0.64 6,613,000 1.07 169,000 0.01 1,400,000 0.011 2,500,000 0.012 2,200,000 2.5 23,000 8.89 391,800 3.49 4,332,000 167 1,769,670 0.0081 4,000,000

560,000 2,846,540 1,181,518 76,000 9,250 2,753,940 1,432,850 40,547 2,729,450 3,076,850 750,700 19,100 3,300 174,420 8,198,182 34,980 4,229,670 175,270 14,000 27,500 26,500 57,490 3,471,230 14,748,170 297,514,262 32,400

87,000 1,600 -728,828 -9,250 654,686 -27,500 24,000 259,341 -128,080 30,027,144 -

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

43.75 516 105 112.5 525 6 1,011 1,010 1.06 108 1,040 1,011 105.1 113.4 76.5 80.1 77 81 78.9 78.5 79

44 516 105.4 112.5 525 6 1,011 1,010 1.06 108 1,040 1,020 105.4 113.5 76.55 80.1 77 81.05 78.9 78.9 79.9

43.75 516 105 107 525 6 1,011 1,010 1.06 107.4 1,037 1,011 105.1 113.4 76.5 80 77 81 78.9 78.5 79

PREFERRED 44 198,400 516 2,000 105.4 60,270 108 6,170 525 40 6 150,500 1,011 400 1,010 2,370 1.06 7,000 107.6 40,800 1,037 300 1,011 2,150 105.4 10,330 113.5 4,020 76.55 10,300 80.1 82,500 77 940 81.05 2,240 78.9 5,000 78.9 1,640 79.9 210

8,715,700 1,032,000 6,328,354 660,445 21,000 903,000 404,400 2,393,700 7,420 4,382,048 311,175 2,188,825 1,085,692 455,870 788,418.50 6,601,550 72,380 181,477 394,500 129,116 16,599

7,397,350 -903,000 -

LR WARRANT

2.52

2.6

2.51

WARRANTS 2.53 939,000

2,402,320

-

594,150 3,200 762,859 13,107,780

-250,550 22,170 -6,942,844

536,673

-

52,500

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 5.75 1.43 6.77 2.3 1.02 41 3.75 4.64 5.35 5.5 0.53 1.19 1.51 0.188 0.51 45.5 0.75 0.16 1.76 1.54 1.01 4.12 4.85 0.34 0.6 0.56

1,308,500 1,975,000 1,600 480,000 2,472,000 17,967,000 1,831,000 1,307,000 7,500 1,000 18,226,000 121,000 247,000 3,770,000 735,000 92,200 98,000 2,170,000 18,444,000 11,793,000 513,000 4,000 75,563,000 20,640,000 21,751,000 5,367,000

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.92 3.2 5.56 7.36

3.92 3.2 5.56 7.39

3.85 3.2 5.3 7.17

FIRST METRO ETF

121.5

121.5

119.5

USD DMPL A1

10.5

10.5

10.5

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

SHARES

9,322,872

INDUSTRIAL

85,324,120

HOLDING FIRMS

79,614,017

PROPERTY

219,263,357

SERVICES

227,905,420

MINING & OIL

241,041,314

GRAND TOTAL

864,590,188

3.85 3.2 5.45 7.2

SME

154,000 1,000 141,100 1,818,400

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.5 4,480 10.5

DDS

5,000

VALUE 1,952.27 (down) 16.78 747,305,589.65 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,012.15 (down) 134.05 1,248,231,805.90 HOLDING FIRMS 7,916.68 (down) 77.20 1,105,845,568.81 PROPERTY 3,713.78 (down) 85.19 SERVICES 1,667.72 (down) 8.75 1,499,651,546.92 MINING & OIL 12,828.68 (down) 47.10 1,220,992,560.68 PSEI 7,906.60 (down) 111.45 344,192,235.23 All Shares Index 4,723.91 (down) 42.95 6,181,225,568.69 Gainers: 86; Losers: 114; Unchanged: 48; Total: 248

erating in the second quarter.

South Korea’s exports jumped 20 percent in July from a year earlier, topping expectations, as strong global demand continues to underpin the nation’s economy.

Washington remains a fixation of traders, with President Donald Trump ousting communications director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days on the job.

The Reserve Bank of Australia held the benchmark at 1.5 percent while warning that a rising currency is expected to subdue inflation and weigh on the outlook for growth and employment.

The Aussie gyrated after the decision, briefly dipping below 80 US cents before jumping as high as 80.43 cents.

Asia markets started the month on a high, buoyed by another Wall Street record close and strong earnings results, as the dollar came under fresh pressure from instability in the White House.

Equity indexes from Hong Kong to Sydney all recorded positive figures, as oil extended a rally with the WTI contract trading above $50 per barrel for the first time since May. The Dow shrugged off the latest developments in the Trump administration to finish at its fourth straight record.

Analysts said sentiment on Wall Street remains upbeat in the wake of largely positive earnings reports. Of the nearly 300 companies in the SP 500 that have reported results so far, more than three-quarters have exceeded earnings expectations, according to Wells Fargo Advisors.

With AFP, Bloomberg

Chelsea’s IPO gets stronger demand INVESTORS snapped up shares of shipping and logistics company Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp., with its initial public offering oversubscribed three times, the lead underwriter handling the transaction said.

BDO Capital and Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said demand from local institutional and retail investors for CLC shares was strong at both levels at the end of the offer period Monday.

“Several institutional buyers participated as they had demand from their retail and trust group. Brokers demand was also so strong and many were asking for additional shares,” Francisco said.

“Overall the IPO was three times oversubscribed,” he said.

Francisco said the company did not get cornerstone investors as demand from local investors was more than enough to cover the IPO. The CLC shares will be listed on the main board of the Philippine Stock Exchange on Aug. 8.

It will be the fourth company to conduct an IPO this year after Wilcon Depot Inc., Eagle Cement Corp. and Cebu Landmasters Inc. CLC is the the logistics and shipping arm of Udenna Corp., the holding company of Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy. The businessman from Davao built and grown companies like Phoenix Petroleum into major industry players.

CLC is working toward becoming the prime mover of vital goods, cargoes and passengers in the Philippines and eventually a regional player by expanding organically and creating synergies with 2Go Group Inc. and affiliates within the Udenna Group. Jenniffer B. Austria

Business

B3

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

San Miguel unit eyes hydro project in Tarlac

By Alena Mae S. Flores

EXCELLENCE AWARDS. The Philippine Franchise Association presents the 2017 Franchise Excellence Awards to Famous Belgian Waffle

on July 19 at the SMX Convention Center. Famous Belgian Waffle founder and chief executive officer Euclid Cezar (fifth from left) and vice president Katrina Cezar (fourth from left) receive the award in the presence of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (third from left). The FEA is the seal of recognition in the Philippine franchising sector given to homegrown and foreign franchises that embody global competitiveness and sustainable growth.

STRATEGIC Power Development Corp., a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., has sought a service contract with the government to develop a planned 500-megawatt Bulsa pumped storage hydro project in Tarlac province, documents from the Energy Department show.

The company also has a pending application to build a combined 310-MW hydro power project in Apayao in the Cordilleria Administrative Region.

This includes the 300-MW Pudtol 1 and the 10-MW Pudtol 2 hydro projects.

A separate project is the 10MW Cupis run-of-river also in Apayao.

Strategic Power earlier expressed interest in the development of the San Roque Upper East Pumped Storage hydropower project with a capacity of 600 MW and the 400-MW San Roque Upper West Pumped Storage.

It is looking at the San Roque

Optimization Hydropower project in San Manuel, Pangasinan with a capacity of 400 MW. Also included in the list of planned hydro projects of Strategic Power is the 200-MW pumped storage hydro in Aklan and a similar 500-MW facility in Aurora province.

Strategic Power is the independent power producer administrator of the 345-MW San Roque hydro project in San Manuel, Pangasinan.

It trades the electricity output of the San Roque hydro facility, while San Roque Power Corp., the joint venture of Marubeni Corp. and Kansai Electric Power Co. Ltd., is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the powergenerating facility.

The San Roque hydro plant, designed as a build-operatetransfer project, holds a 25-year power purchase agreement with National Power Corp.

San Miguel won the right to manage the supply contract of the San Roque plant in 2009 with a $450-million bid.

BPOs face challenge from China T

By Ditas Lopez

HE Philippines’ $23-billion outsourcing empire is facing mounting risks: China is rising quickly as a competitor, the government wants to cut some incentives and a siege in the south of the country is worrying investors.

“We need to put our act together,” Rey Untal, head of the Philippine association of outsourcing companies, said in an interview in Manila. “The other countries know how big this IT business process outsourcing pie is globally and they want to increase their share. This is not a static world.”

Armed with a high-level of English proficiency, a young population and cheap labor, the Philippines has emerged as one of the global leaders of outsourcing with companies such as Accenture Plc among those who’ve invested. But its position is now under threat with China ranked ahead of the Philippines in terms of competitiveness, advisory firm Tholons said in a June report.

“It really is a significant wake-up call,” Untal said on July 28. “It’s good in a way. Sometimes you need to be jolted. Many of the countries that compete with us directly are enhancing all the parameters that make them competitive―talent, infrastructure, incentives.”

In recent years, China has built state-of-the-art technology parks and funded universities to offer courses specifically on outsourcing. China is targeting $100 billion of outsourcing revenue by 2020, focusing

on digital, high-technology services, according to a plan by the Ministry of Commerce.

The IT Business Process Association of the Philippines is aiming for $39 billion of revenue by 2022. The industry is the country’s biggest source of private jobs, according to London-based research and consulting firm Oxford Business Group, with more than a million workers in 2016.

Aside from competition, the industry is also bracing for a government plan to reduce some tax incentives. The finance department plans to submit a bill to lawmakers to remove the preferential tax rate on salaries of some executives working in regional headquarters including those of outsourcing companies.

At the same time, rising security risks in the south could damp appetite for expansion in the provinces. The government is waging a protracted

battle with Islamic State-linked militants in Marawi City, and has placed the island of Mindanao under martial law until the end of the year.

“Business process outsourcing is very important for dollar supply, especially now that the country might slip into a current-account deficit,” said Michael Enriquez, chief investment officer at Sun Life of Canada Philippines Inc. in Manila. “There’s a lot of threats to the growth of the sector, but BPOs will continue to prosper here as long as there’s government support.”

The risks of a slowdown in outsourcing coupled with faltering remittances and higher trade deficits may exacerbate the weakness in the peso, Asia’s worst performing currency this year. The central bank is forecasting the nation’s first currentaccount deficit in 15 years in 2017, removing a key support for the currency. Bloomberg

PH, Czech sign economic agreement

By Othel V. Campos TRADE Secretary Ramon Lopez and Czech Ambassador to the Philippines Jaroslav Olša Jr. signed Monday an agreement on economic cooperation to strengthen trade and investment relations between the two countries.

“What we are having here is a milestone between our two countries. The strengths and resources complementarities have long been untapped. It is our desire to be with alternative markets and forge new partnership,” said Lopez.

He cited potentials to cooperate on technology-oriented industries, auto and aerospace parts, electronics, agri-based, energy, transportation and tourism.

“Tourism is the beginning of trade, I say that all the

time, because when people come and see how beautiful and interesting things are, they return back and say why don’t you come and do business,” said Olša.

Lopez encouraged the Eastern European country to explore possible cooperation on the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises.

He cited other prospects, including food and beverage, agriculture and agri-processing, energy and defense and security solutions.

“I am optimistic that Czech’s industry strengths can be a good start in identifying areas of mutual cooperation,” he added, noting that aerospace development was a viable cooperation area.

The discussions noted that the Philippines could capitalize on Czech’s industry strengths

Walls IT IS the beginning of August. Across the country, business managers are in the middle of the planning season. In my household, my youngest is celebrating her first birthday after university graduation. Like many individuals her age, she is faced with choices.

In today’s fast-changing environment, choices for organizations as well as individuals very often explicitly involves being flexible and keeping options open. Flexibility, of course, is almost never without cost.

Trade-offs Strategy requires choices and choices are about trade-offs. That is probably the one statement I repeat the most when discussing strategy in the management classroom.

For businesses, the essence of strategy is clarity concerning the customer and the value offer. Lack of clarity not only wastes resources, it often results in confusing the market. In the digital age when the customer is bombarded by messages from multiple sources, a clear and strong brand identity is criti-

to implement the Manufacturing Resurgence Program and complement activities to address the existing gaps in the implementation of different industry roadmaps.

The Philippines can increase exports of mid-priced apparel to Czech’s rising demand.

There is also potential for frozen marine products, dried fruits and vegetables in the Czech market. These products are eligible under the European Union Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (EU GSP+) that allows entry of goods at zero percent tariffs.

The two countries can also cooperate on information technology-business processing management, knowledge process outsourcing, processed and specialty food, energy, design-driven products and aerospace aeronautics.

cal to market positioning.

The same thing is true when making life choices. In fact, choices are more important. This is a reality I often come face to face with because I teach and coach entrepreneurs. The life of the entrepreneur is often a tug of war between the needs of the business, the needs of his family, and his own personal needs. Like any decision that requires choices and tradeoffs, at the heart of every key choice we make is a scarce resource. For entrepreneurs, very often, the key resource that is most visible is capital—cold, hard cash. But, as most entrepreneurs already know, capital is easy to find if the business is going well. Human capital—talent, relationships—those are tougher both to find and keep. But even this is not the scarcest resource. An entrepreneur’s most important resource is the same as everyone else’s. It is time.

What really matters When we talk about strategy, we always say that strategy is essentially a plan for getting from where you are now to where you want to be. In developing a plan, the first important question is what is your goal?

The piece of advice I offer the most to individuals starting out on careers is not to pay too much attention to pay or position. In the early years, the most important resources to gain are

SHELL CITED. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s North Mindanao Import Facility in Cagayan De Oro is conferred a plaque of recognition for its relentless support in the implementation of its social performance programs and activities for Barangay Puntod in Cagayan De Oro City. The facility received the plaque for its advocacy on environmental protection and disaster preparedness. NMIF terminal manager Walter Raagas (center) and his staff display the citation.

skills and relationships. This, however, still leaves much open. Which skills?

Which relationships?

The reality, of course, is no one can possibly be great at all things. If you are to be great at something, you must give it time. In fact, time is at the heart of all our trade-offs.

These last few weeks, as I have been talking to entrepreneurs, I have repeated something which I think is important. It would be a tragedy to wake up one day to find that you have built a successful company, amassed great wealth, gained national and even international business influence, but have alienated the ones you love. What is your professional success worth? Is it worth your family? Is it worth your health? Is it worth your happiness?

No one, of course, would actually say they would choose work over health or over family. Unfortunately, that choice is never posed as a single momentous question. It is a choice we make every day, every hour. Each day we decide to work on a report and skip the gym, each day when we grab junk food because we are running after a deadline, each day when we spend an extra hour of time at work and come home only to find our children sleeping, we make a choice. One day, we just wake up to find that we have slowly let go of the things that are most important while chasing the momentarily significant.

Table This morning, I woke up to a message that had this bit of advice: “When you find extra wood, build tables, not fences.” Funnily enough, I had been thinking the exact opposite. Not, of course, that I condone making enemies or excluding anyone from claiming their civil rights. I was thinking more about personal time.

On my social media accounts, I often post this statement: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

In business strategy, this means that companies need to stay away from being involved in matters that are not aligned with their basic positioning or their strategy. It siphons resources away from the truly important.

Here is what we know. The average life expectancy in the Philippines is about 68 years. If you have great genes and take care of yourself, you have longer. Whether you end up with a life span of 68 or 105, the reality is that you have a finite life span. For a significant portion of that life span, you will not have the same energy, strength, and flexibility that you have as a young adult. Here’s the even more important thing, if you are a parent, your children will be children for a very short period of time. Those years when they look to you to read them a good night story or want to tag along wherever you go,

they last only a few years.

Here is the other thing. Every choice you make—the job, the hobby, the extra project—they take time. They take time that you could be spending doing the things you love with the people you love.

So here, I amend my advice to young people. Time is your most important resource. Skills and relationships are important but choose well. Guard your time. Surround yourself with people who care about you, people who will remind you of what is important. Avoid people who will tempt you with the unimportant. Build walls because walls play a very important role. They guard what is inside.

Your table can only hold a certain number of people. Be careful who you reserve seats for. You cannot give time to what is important if you have given it to the merely urgent or the tempting.

Learn to say no. Do not give your all to work. No job is worth your all.

Find time to laugh and love. Find time to live. Embrace your joy with courage. Happy birthday Sam! Readers can email Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com. Or visit her site at http://integrations.tumblr. com. For academic publications, Maya uses her full name, Maria Elena Baltazar Herrera.

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

B4

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

Business

Oil holds gains above $50 a barrel O IL held gains above $50 a barrel before US government data forecast to show crude stockpiles extended declines, trimming a glut.

CENTRAL BANK STRIKE. Demonstrators hold placards depicting an image of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, as they protest

during a strike against pay, outside the Bank of England in the City of London on August 1, 2017. Staff at the Bank of England began a threeday strike Tuesday, the first at Britain’s central bank in more than 50 years, as part of a dispute over pay. AFP

Saudi bares mega Red Sea tourism project SAUDI Arabia plans to turn hundreds of kilometers of untouched Red Sea coastline into a global tourism destination governed by laws “on par with international standards,” as part of its goal to transform the economy and reduce its reliance on oil.

The Red Sea project will cover 34,000 square kilometers―an area bigger than Belgium―between the cities of Umluj and Al Wajh, boasting 50 islands, beaches as well as dormant volcanoes, according to an official statement sent to Bloomberg on Tuesday. It will be developed by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.

Korea’s exports up 20% in July SOUTH Korea’s exports topped expectations in July, as strong global demand continues to underpin the nation’s economy.

Exports jumped 20 percent in July from a year earlier, a seventh straight double-digit increase and the ninth consecutive gain, data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed. The median estimate of economists was for a rise of 16 percent. Imports advanced 15 percent, matching estimates. The resulting trade surplus was $10.6 billion.

Surging exports and investment have supported Korea’s recovery even as weak consumption at home has limited overall growth. President Moon Jae-in last week laid out policy plans to boost jobs and wages to stimulate domestic activity, and an 11 trillion won extra budget approved last month is expected to help sustain the uptrend for Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.

Exports are projected to continue growing during a sustained recovery in global trade, but downside risks include the possible spreading of trade protectionism, the US Federal Reserve reducing its balance sheet and falling oil prices, the trade ministry said. The US has formally requested talks on revisiting a trade deal that came into force in 2012, amid tensions with the Trump administration over trade.

Export growth will slow in the second half of the year to high single-digit rates, partly due to a base effect, but the deceleration shouldn’t be cause for concern, said Park Sang-hyun, the chief economist for HI Investment & Securities in Seoul. “Pressure from the US regarding trade will likely increase, but aggravation of the situation could also cause side-effects for the US, so we believe the impact won’t be too strong,” said Lee Sangjae, an economist at Eugene Investment & Securities. Bloomberg

One of the documents referred to the project as a “semi-autonomous” area and said it would be governed “by independent laws and a regulatory framework developed and managed by a private committee,” a sign that it will seek to ease the strict rules on tourism elsewhere in the conservative kingdom. Tourists from most nationalities will not require a visa, or will be able to obtain one online.

If successful, the Red Sea project will transform an industry that relies almost solely on millions of Muslim pilgrims visiting holy shrines in Mecca. The kingdom, which practices a strict

version of Sunni Islam, bans alcohol, imposes a strict dress code and has curbs on gender mixing.

Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s drive to overhaul the economy after the plunge in oil prices, authorities are already relaxing rules on the entertainment industry to bolster nonoil revenue. By 2020, the kingdom plans to have more than 450 clubs providing a variety of cultural activities and events. It also aims to double household spending on recreation to 6 percent.

The initial groundbreaking of the Red Sea project is expected in the third quarter of 2019 and the first phase will be completed

by the fourth quarter of 2022, including “the development of hotels and luxury residential units, as well as all logistical infrastructure―including air, land, and sea transport hubs,” according to the statement.

The project will create as many as 35,000 jobs “once it’s up and running” and contribute 15 billion riyals ($4 billion) to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, according to the statement. The Public Investment Fund, headed

by Prince Mohammed, will inject initial investments into the project and start partnerships with international companies.

Bloomberg

Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent in New York after climbing 9.6 percent the previous six sessions. Inventories probably fell by 3.3 million barrels last week for a fifth weekly drop, according to a Bloomberg survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration Wednesday. Stockpiles have lost almost 26 million barrels since the end of June.

Oil has climbed above $50 a barrel for the first time since May amid optimism that output curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are rebalancing the market and trimming global inventories.

US crude imports from Opec slid 2.6 percent in May from April and shipments from the group may fall further this month as Saudi Arabia deepens cuts.

“The expected draw in crude” is supporting the market, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. If the decline in inventories is confirmed, “we’re probably going to have steady numbers going into tomorrow.”

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was at $50.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 21 cents, at 9:43 a.m.

London time. Total volume traded was about 6.5 percent below the 100-day average.

The contract gained 0.9 percent to $50.17 on Monday.

Brent for October settlement rose 12 cents to $52.84 a barrel on the London-based

ICE Futures Europe exchange, and traded at a $2.39 premium to WTI for the same month. The September contract expired Monday after advancing 13 cents to $52.65.

US inventories remain about 90 million barrels above the five-year average, according to the EIA. The nation pumped 9.41 million barrels a day through July 21, near the highest level since 2015.

A US ban on Venezuelan trade would lead to a reshuffling of oil flows with likely limited impact on prices, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The Trump administration on Monday sanctioned Venezuelan President Nicola Maduro—who has led Venezuela since the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013—accusing him and his government of undermining democracy. He becomes the fourth head of state sanctioned by the US, joining North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia is considering a flexible tax system for stateowned oil company Aramco that would increase royalty payments when crude prices rise, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

“The extent of the drop in US inventories over recent weeks has been quite constructive and the market is responding to that,” said Ric Spooner, an analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Bloomberg

MUFG arms itself with $9-b war chest for acquisitions

By Gareth Allan and Shingo Kawamoto MITSUBISHI UFJ Financial Group Inc.’s trust banking arm is seeking acquisitions abroad and has 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) to spend as it seeks to become one of the 15 biggest asset managers worldwide.

“We’re going to make acquisitions on a scale we never have before,” Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. chief executive officer Mikio Ikegaya said in an interview in Tokyo. The unit aims to boost assets under management to 100 trillion yen by as soon as 2020 from 60 trillion yen now, he said.

Under a strategy announced

by MUFG in May, the financial group will transfer about 2,600 corporate accounts with 12 trillion yen in loans from Mitsubishi UFJ Trust to its main lending unit next year. Removing those assets from the trust bank’s balance sheet will free up capital for takeovers as it seeks to build a new business model focusing on fee-generating businesses like asset management and consulting, Ikegaya said.

A wave of consolidation is sweeping the asset-management industry as firms seek to cope with pressure on fees due to stricter regulations and competition from lowcost passive funds. This year, Standard Life Plc agreed to acquire Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in a deal valued at about $5 billion, Janus Capital Group Inc. and Henderson Group Plc completed

Mikio Ikegaya, president of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp., speaks during an interview in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, March 31, 2016. Bloomberg

their merger, and Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. announced plans to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3 billion.

Possible Targets Ikegaya said he is looking for opportunities to take controlling stakes in firms in the US, Europe and Asia, while noting that no specific transactions are in progress yet.

Possible targets could include relatively inexpensive index managers or highly specialized active managers as well as smart beta funds, the CEO said.

As well as building scale, the deals would help the company deepen its expertise in managing funds, he added. Ikegaya said he wants to encourage customers to shift more of their deposits into investments, and making acquisitions would help the firm attain the size and “level of quality” needed to achieve this. Japanese households have 1,800 trillion yen in financial assets, about half of which are sitting in bank deposits earning paltry interest.

When asked when the company might achieve the target

for assets under management, Ikegaya said “by the end of our next medium-term business plan in 2020 could be one guide.”

While there are no Japanese firms among the world’s top 15 asset managers―a list headed by BlackRock Inc.― Mitsubishi UFJ Trust isn’t the only one to aspire to that distinction. Asset Management One Co., formed last year through a merger of units of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co., plans to double managed assets to more than 100

trillion yen, CEO Yasumasa Nishi said in September. He didn’t give a time frame.

Real Estate MUFJ Trust is also seeking to expand its real estate business into areas such as office management. Ikegaya said he plans to establish a division to handle this as soon as October and increase staff to about 100 from 20 now. The bank, which currently focuses on handling property transactions, will also consider investing in its customers’ real estate development projects.

Bloomberg

LGUs

Manila Bay cleanup fills eight truckloads

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

By Bill Casas THE sustained cleanup operations ordered by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada along the coast of Manila Bay continued on its sixth day Tuesday with as much as eight truckloads of garbage collected so far by city hall workers.

This as Estrada is again set to lead on Sept. 16 the International Coastal Cleanup Day, the world’s largest annual preservation and protection event and volunteer effort for beaches and waterways.

“This is again an opportunity for us not only in the City of Manila but also in the entire country to show to the world our concern to the environment, to our seas and oceans,” Estrada said.

He stressed, however, that caring for the environment should not be done only in one special day but year-round, similar to the city government of Manila’s aggressive and continuous cleanup of the shorelines of Manila Bay. “What it would have been like if every single human being, every human soul, would contribute to preserving our oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers? Imagine its positive impact to conservation of precious marine life and slowing down climate change,” Estrada pointed out.

During the 2015 ICC Day in Manila, Estrada led 8,351 volunteers and 700 Manila City Hall employees and garbage haulers, who were later joined by 1,000 others from 20 private groups, in cleaning up the Baywalk area along Roxas Boulevard.

Held every third Saturday of September, ICC Day was started by the US-based environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy in 1986 to engage volunteers in collecting marine debris from the world’s waterways.

Around 90 countries, including the Philippines, regularly participate in this event.

Since Thursday, July 27, at the height of Typhoon “Gorio,” Estrada tasked the city’s Department of Public Services to clean up the Baywalk area that had been swamped by tons and tons of garbage swept away by heavy rains.

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

More impounding sites sought

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Metro Manila Development Authority is looking for alternative impounding sites to accommodate the increasing numbers of apprehended illegally parked vehicles.

The numbers of apprehended vehicles increased after the MMDA’s intensified clearing of road obstructions and illegally parked vehicles in a bid to ease traffic in Metro Manila, especially on both major and secondary streets connecting Epifanio de los

Santos Avenue or EDSA. MMDA traffic supervising officer for operations Edison Nebrija said the agency is searching for the right place to be developed as alternative site. Their present impounding area in Tumana in Marikina City can no longer ac-

commodate the number of vehicles towed for illegal parking and other traffic violations.

“This is the current situation in our Tumana Impounding Area. This is a 2.5-hectare land filled to the farthest corner,” said Nebrija in his Facebook account, showing photos of the already congested MMDA impounding area in Marikina City.

Right now, Nebrija said, the MMDA is “inspecting available parcel of land in Marikina as a possible alternative impounding site with the sustained operation we are conducting right now on illegal parking.”

Since the MMDA started the campaign, its Anti-Illegal Parking Operations Team have apprehended 70 to 100 vehicles daily.

Based on the latest data released by the MMDA public information office, a total of 25,715 vehicles were apprehended from January to June this year for illegal parking.

In the first two months of 2017 alone, the authorities towed 3,128 illegally parked vehicles on the roads of Metro Manila. A total of 1,770 vehicles were apprehended and towed in January and 1,358 in February.

The present impounding site,

City Mayor Herbert Bautista and District 1 Councilor Mayen Juico flank Princess Vire (center), a resident of Sinagtala, Barangay Bahay Toro, who represented the Philippines in the World Championship of Performing Arts in California, USA. Vire bagged two gold and two silver medals in four categories: Vocal pop category (gold medalist), team Philippines production (gold medalist), vocal contemporary category (silver medalist), and vocal Latin category (silver medalist) during the competition.

ment is also offering free spaying and neutering for dogs and cats as a population control measure.

City chief veterinarian Alexis Siblag said more than 80 percent of the total dogs and cats in the city has been subjected under the TCARD program via house-tohouse visits to vaccinate pets.

Under the program, the local government has so far provided free anti-rabies vaccination shots to 15,712 cats and 50,373 dogs, or a total number of 66,499 animals in all of the city’s 28 barangays.

According to Siblag, 70 percent of the total population must be given the vaccine shots in order to control rabies.

Siblag said a human could also be afflicted with rabies through the bite of an infected mammal. Ninety eight percent of human transmissions, however, are caused by dogs.

The Taguig City Health Office currently has five Animal Bite Treatment Centers in Barangay Ibayo-Tipas, Barangay Old Lower Bicutan, Barangay Pinagsama,

Barangay Upper Bicutan, and Barangay. North Signal which are open to provide Taguigeños bitten by rabies-exposed animals with free treatment and vaccination.

The Department of Health has recorded 226 deaths in 2015 due to rabies, a fatal disease transmitted to humans through animal bites most commonly by dogs.

Rabies exposure is classified into three categories: The first category involves touching, feeding, licking of healthy skin with no mucous

membrane contact, casual contact with rabid patient; The second category involves superficial scratch/abrasion on the person without bleeding, nibbling/ nipping of uncovered skin with bruising; and The last category involves a single or multiple transdermal bites/scratches, licking of mucous membrane, all head and neck exposures, exposure to rabid patient, handling of infected remains of an animal, and licks of broken skin.

Joel E. Zurbano

Munti hauls awards for nutrition projects IN CELEBRATION of Nutrition Month, the National Nutrition Council (NNC) has lauded Muntinlupa City for its exemplary performance in the implementation of nutrition program management and delivery of nutrition services.

NNC Deputy Executive Director Dr. Azucena Dayanghari awarded Muntinlupa with Very Satisfactory Performance in Nutrition Program Management citation, Most Improved Nutrition Program Management, Best in Program Effectiveness, and Most Innovative Local Government Unit in the 2017 Regional Nutrition Awarding Ceremony last July 28 at Novotel Manila, Quezon City.

Dr. Dayanghari congratulated all local government units in this year’s awarding for their efforts to forward more inclusive programs despite trappings of urbanization.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi attributed the recognition to having an active and fully functional City Nutrition Committee based on

having a capacity of 500 vehicles, is almost occupied since then, MMDA officials said.

Apart from Marikina, the two other MMDA impounding sites are located near the University of Life (Ultra) in Pasig City and in Libertad Street in Pasay City.

MMDA general manager Thomas Orbos recently said the huge number of apprehended vehicles is clearly an indication that many car owners have no proper garage or adequate parking space.

“But it does not give them the right to park their vehicles anywhere they want,” Orbos said.

PRINCESS OF POP. Quezon

66k pets vaccinated in Taguig anti-rabies drive MORE than 66,400 pet owners in 28 barangays in Taguig have benefited from the city government’s Anti-Rabies Campaign since its launch in March, Mayor Laarni Cayetano announced on Tuesday.

“We are happy that the recent report shows that we have exceeded our goal and have vaccinated 80 percent of the total pet population in such a short period of time,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano said aside from the free vaccination shots under Taguig City Anti-Rabies Drive, the city govern-

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the Local Nutrition Committee Functionality Checklist of the National Nutrition Council.

Prevalence of underweight children zero to five years old in Muntinlupa was significantly reduced from 5.07 percent in 2014 to 1.53 percent in 2016.

Nutrition interventions implemented by the CNC include: “Tamang Timbang Tungo sa Malusog na Kinabukasan” (Proper Weight Toward a Health Tomorrow) supplementary feeding program, “Pabasa sa Nutrisyon” (PSN or Reading for Nutrition) classes for mothers of undernourished children, Breastmilk Letting Caravan through partnership with private health institutions, and home visits by Barangay Nutrition Scholars, among others.

Also receiving the awards for Muntinlupa City were Rep. Ruffy Biazon, City Health Officer Dra. Magdalena Meana, Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Mauro de Gulan, and other city government executives.

Students from Muntinlupa

Receiving Muntinlupa City’s awards from the National Nutrition Council are (from left) NNC-NCR Regional Nutrition Program coordinator Milagros Elisa Federizo, NNC deputy executive director Dr. Azucena Dayanghari, Muntinlupa City Health officer Dr. Magdalena Meana, Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, and Rep. Ruffy Biazon.

also won in the Regional Nutrition Month Competitions: Photo-Essay, First Place by Muntinlupa National HS Grade 12 student Janelyn Joyce Paje, and On-the-Spot Poster Making,

First Place by Muntinlupa Business HS-Sucat Annex Grade 8 student Jhonathan Bufete.

Every year, NNC awards LGUs with top scores in the Monitoring and Evaluation of

Local Level Plan Implementation, which aims to validate the effectivity and effectiveness of the nutrition and related programs by local nutrition committees.

QC eyes Kalasag national crown

QUEZON City has won this year’s Gawad Kalasag-National Capital Region competition for the second year as it challenges to exceed its present status, make the Hall of Fame and take the national title in 2018.

“We take the challenge to break the hairline and take the national award, hopefully next year. That places the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in a spot that whether they like it or not, we need to get the award for first place next year. That is the challenge,” Quezon City Administrator Aldrin Cuña said.

Cuña made the speech on behalf of Mayor Herbert Bautista after Quezon City dominated this year’s NCR leg of the Gawad Kalasag.

Quezon City was adjudged the Best City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in the highly urbanized city category, which automatically makes the city as the National Capital Region’s representative in the Gawad Kalasag national-level competition.

“We will prepare again next year for the national award, for the regional we have to maintain our ranking, our leadership in the region. Next year, we get the hall of fame,” Cuña said.

Gawad Kalasag—an acronym for “Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan” (Fighting Calamities and Disasters, Safety Through Personal Skills)—is an annual award given by the Office of Civil Defense since 1998. Rio N. Araja

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LGUs

Standard WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 C2 TODAY TODAY Manila Manila

‘Federalism won’t hinder autonomy’

By Dexter A. See

B

AGUIO CITY―The Duterte administration’s plan to change the current unitary form of government to a federal form will not hinder the Cordillera region’s renewed quest for autonomy, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan stressed Tuesday.

Instead, Domogan said federalism would compliment Cordillerans’ move for self-governance, considering that both aspects of government “have almost the same principles.”

Federalism and autonomy are both anchored on the devolution of powers from the central to the

regional and local governments, the mayor said.

They also give increased responsibility to regional and local governments in the discharge of their duties and responsibilities, the chance for the local governments to identify priority development projects, and

ANNEX F

an increased share of resources, among others, Domogan said.

“Thus, there is no actual conflict between the two options available for the Cordillera to embrace,” he added.

However, the mayor explained the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao are in a “special situation” at the moment because of the constitutional provision that mandates the establishment of autonomous regions in the two areas.

Autonomy, Domogan noted, “is the only legal justification of the national government to address the historical injustices committed” against the two regions, which led to their “neglected development.”

“Thus, the national govern-

ment will have the basis to treat the two areas in a special manner for the Cordillera and Muslim Mindanao to catch up with the rapid pace of development in larger regions like the National Capital Region and Central Luzon,” he said.

Domogan said the road map embraced by the Regional Development Council in the Cordillera, which is autonomy towards federalism, is the right approach for the region to survive problems that will arise in the future once the government will shift form.

“Let us take advantage of the present administration’s support to the Cordillera’s quest for autonomy while supporting the shift to federal form because it

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

PUBLIC INFORMATION SHEET FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD AND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING (to be accomplished by the Applicant and notarized) PROPOSAL FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD AND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING OF DAS‑444Ø6‑6 SOYBEAN 1. Applicant’s Name: Dow AgroSciences B.V., Philippine Branch 2. Applicant’s Address: 23F 6750 Building, Ayala Avenue, 1221 Makati City, Philippines 3. Telephone Number/ Facsimile Number, E-Mail Address of the Applicant: Tel : Fax : Email :

PROPOSAL FOR DIRECT USE AS FOOD AND FEED, OR FOR PROCESSING OF DAS‑68416‑4 SOYBEAN 1. Applicant’s Name: Dow AgroSciences B.V., Philippine Branch 2. Applicant’s Address: 23F 6750 Building, Ayala Avenue, 1221 Makati City, Philippines 3. Telephone Number/ Facsimile Number, E-Mail Address of the Applicant: Tel. : Fax : Email:

02 819-1986 local 2203 02 815-2180 or 02 840 2352 BGErmita@dow.com

4. Name of Responsible Officer/Authorized Representative: Bella Victoria G. Ermita Regulatory Specialist 5. Description of the Regulated Article for Direct Use (mention the crop, transformation event, new trait conferred, name of the gene transferred, method of transformation, and advantages of the trait conferred): Soybean transformation event DAS-444Ø6-6 carries three genes aad-12, 2mepsps, and pat, which express the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-12 (AAD-12), double mutant 5-enolpyruvylshikimate3-phosphate synthase (2mEPSPS), and phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT) proteins, respectively. The newly introduced proteins provide tolerance to the herbicides 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), glyphosate and glufosinate, respectively. DAS444Ø6-6 was developed through the use of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Herbicide tolerant DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean will provide growers with greater flexibility in selection of herbicides for the improved control of economically important weeds and provide an effective weed resistance management solution.

6. If to be imported, Country (ies) of Origin of the Regulated Article United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Argentina

4. Name of Responsible Officer/Authorized Representative: Bella Victoria G. Ermita Regulatory Specialist 5. Description of the Regulated Article for Direct Use DAS-68416-4 was developed through the use of an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to insert the aad-12 gene from Delftia acidovorans which confers tolerance to herbicides such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and pat gene from Streptomyces viridochromogenes providing tolerance to glufosinate and used as a selectable marker during the soybean transformation.

8. Brief Summary of Potential Benefits (Describe how the new trait will benefit farming, the farmer, the environment, and society as a whole) Herbicide tolerant crops have played, and continue to play, a central role in improving agricultural productivity and protecting the agricultural environment. Herbicide tolerant crops have enabled the widespread adoption of conservation tillage practices that preserve soil health, can improve water quality, and improve efficiency of utilization of agricultural inputs, while improving weed management and increasing farm income. By enabling the use of 2,4-D and glufosinate herbicides in addition to glyphosate, DAS-444Ø6-6 soybeans will allow the use of one more tool to control weed resistance. The availability of DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean will allow growers to proactively manage weed populations while avoiding adverse population shifts of troublesome weeds or the development of resistance.

9. Countries Where Approvals Have Been Granted (for FFP; for Commercial Propagation) DAS-444Ø6-6 has been approved for import, food, and/or feed uses in the U.S.A, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan.

DAS-444Ø6-6 has been approved for propagation in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and U.S. The public is hereby invited to submit their comments to the BPI Director (within 60 days from date of publication) on the Proposal for the Importation of DAS-444Ø6-6 Soybean for direct use as food and feed, or for processing Director Bureau of Plant Industry San Andres, Malate, Manila Telephone Number 521-1080 Fax Number 521-1080 E-Mail bpibiotechsecretariat@yahoo.com Approved for Publication:

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC ishereby givenby SEVEN SEAS RESORTS AND LEISURE, INC., a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with office address at 7th Floor, Pacific Star Building, Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Makati City (the “Corporation”), that: 1.

Food and feeds derived from DAS-68416-4 soybean can be considered to be comparable and substantially equivalent to commercial soybean except for the introduced herbicide tolerant traits based on information provided on the genetic material, history of human consumption, the nutrient and anti-nutrient components, and the similarities between the usage of non-transgenic soybean and DAS-68416-4 soybean.

During the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Corporation held on April 18, 2017 in MakatiCity, at which meeting a quorum was present, atleast a majority of the members of the Board of Directors approved the decrease in the Authorized Capital Stock of the Corporation from Seven Hundred Million Pesos (P700,000,000.00), in lawful money of the Philippines, divided into Two Hundred Million (200,000,000) Common shares and Five Hundred Million (500,000,000) Preferred shares with a par value of One Peso (P1.00) per share, to TWO HUNDRED MILLION PESOS (P200,000,000.00), in lawful money of the Philippines, classified into One Hundred Twenty Million (120,000,000) Class A Common shares and Eighty Million (80,000,000) Class B Common shares both with par value of One Peso (P1.00) per share,with the passage and approval of thefollowing resolutions: “RESOLVED, as it is hereby resolved, that Seven Seas Resorts and Leisure, Inc. is hereby authorized to file an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the amendment of its Articles of Incorporation to decrease its authorized capital stock from Seven Hundred Million Pesos (P700,000,000.00), in lawful money of the Philippines, divided into Two Hundred Million (200,000,000) Common shares and Five Hundred Million (500,000,000) Preferred shares with a par value of One Peso (P1.00) per share, to TWO HUNDRED MILLION PESOS (P200,000,000.00), in lawful money of the Philippines, classified into One Hundred Twenty Million (120,000,000) Class A Common shares and Eighty Million (80,000,000) Class B Common shares both with par value of One Peso (P1.00) per share.

Safety of the AAD-12 and PAT proteins to humans has been established based on their, 1) lack of acute toxicity in mice, 2) rapid digestion in simulated gastric fluids, 3) lack of homology with known protein toxins or allergens and 4) heat lability.

RESOLVED,FURTHER,thatin accordancewiththenextpreceding resolution, Article Seventh of the Articles ofIncorporation shallbe, as itherebyis, amended to read as follows:

DAS-68416-4 soybean plants with the composition of a nontransgenic control soybean was compared. These analyses measured key nutrient and anti-nutrient levels in DAS-68416-4 soybean that was unsprayed, sprayed only with 2,4-D herbicide, sprayed only with glufosinate herbicide or sprayed with both 2,4-D and glufosinate. The compositional analyses indicated that DAS68416-4 soybean is substantially equivalent to non-transgenic soybean and does not confer unexpected or unintended effects.

“SEVENTH: The authorized capital stock of the Corporation is TWO HUNDRED MILLION PESOS (P200,000,000.00), in lawful money of the Philippines, classified into One Hundred Twenty Million (120,000,000) Class A Common shares and Eighty Million (80,000,000) Class B Common shares both with par value of One Peso (P1.00) per share. (As amended by the Board of Directors and stockholders on April 18, 2017)

Finally, field trials conducted in the USA did not provide evidence that the occupational hazards associated with the cultivation, storage, handling and processing of DAS-68416-4 soybean are any different from conventional soybean.

Class A Common Shares shall be issued and transferable only to Philippine nationals while Class B Common Shares may be issued and transferred to non-Philippine nationals.

(As amended on 8-3-95 and as further amended by the Board of Directors and stockholders on April 18, 2017)

8. Brief Summary of Potential Benefits Herbicide tolerant crops have enabled the widespread adoption of conservation tillage practices that preserve soil health, can improve water quality, and improve efficiency of utilization of agricultural inputs, while improving weed management and increasing farm income. By enabling the use of 2,4-D and glufosinate herbicides, DAS-68416-4 soybeans will allow the use of one more tool to control weed resistance. The availability of DAS-68416-4 soybean will allow growers to proactively manage weed populations while avoiding adverse population shifts of troublesome weeds or the development of resistance.

9. Countries Where Approvals Have Been Granted (for FFP; for Commercial Propagation) DAS-68416-4 has been approved for import, food, and/or feed uses in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Taiwan.

DAS-68416-4 has been approved for propagation in Brazil, Canada, and U.S. The public is hereby invited to submit their comments to the BPI Director (within 60 days from date of publication) on the Proposal for the Importation of DAS-68416-4 Soybean for direct use as food and feed, or for processing Director Bureau of Plant Industry San Andres, Malate, Manila Telephone Number 521-1080 Fax Number 521-1080 E-Mail: bpibiotechsecretariat@yahoo.com

VIVENCIO R. MAMARIL, PhD. Director Bureau of Plant Industry Date:

VIVENCIO R. MAMARIL, PhD Director Bureau of Plant Industry Date:

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me by Vivencio R. Mamaril known to me to be the same person who presented the foregoing instrument and signed the instrument in my presence, this 3rd day of April 2017 at Taguig City, affiant exhibiting to me his GSIS#2001089805

Nexus System.

The first of its kind in the country, the event is supported by the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of the Philippines led by Glenn S. Banaguas, the Harvard Club of the Philippines led by Jose Buenaflor Jimenez III, the Development Academy of the Philippines led by Liza Makinano, the Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute, and Global Green Growth Institute led by Marlene Vinluan.

NOTICE OF DECREASE OF AUTHORIZED CAPITAL STOCK

7. Brief Summary of Potential Effects on Human and Animal Health and the Environment

Approved for Publication:

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me by Vivencio R. Mamaril known to me to be the same person who presented the foregoing instrument and signed the instrument in my presence, this 3rd day of April 2017 at Taguig City, affiant exhibiting to me his GSIS#2001089805 issued on ______ at______.

THE Province of Masbate recently adopted “Climate Smart” measures in a forum facilitated by the Climate Change Commission to help make it resilient to the impact of climate change.

Spearheaded by Vice Governor Kaye Revil, the event dubbed “Leadership for Climate Resilient Development” communicated the requirements of the CCC on how to tap financial resources from the People’s Survival Fund Tutelage and the Food-Energy-Water (F-E-W)

United States of America, Canada

Foods and feeds derived from DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean can be considered equivalent to existing soybean foods and feeds. DAS444Ø6-6 is not materially different from conventional soybean except for the introduced herbicide tolerance traits. DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean has been shown to be compositionally and nutritionally equivalent to conventional soybean. Moreover, since DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean is considered to be comparable and substantially equivalent to commercial soybean, the substitution of traditionally bred soybean

by DAS‑444Ø6‑6 soybean will not be of any nutritional significance for any population groups. Safety of the AAD-12, 2mEPSPS and PAT proteins to humans has been established based on their 1) lack of acute toxicity in mice, 2) rapid digestion in simulated gastric fluids, 3) lack of homology with known protein toxins or allergens and 4) heat lability.

of the federal state where the region will belong.

Once the Cordillera will achieve autonomy prior to the shift to federal form, Domogan said the region will be secured because what the federal state will have to do is to place a provision in its Constitution that it recognizes the existence of the autonomous region, including the powers that it currently enjoys and the resources that it currently gets from the government.

He urged Cordillerans not to be carried away by the sugar-coated words of autonomy critics because they are not actually supporting the overall development of the region but they are only after their personal and political interests.

Masbate adopts climate measures

6. If to be imported, Country (ies) of Origin of the Regulated Article

7. Brief Summary of Potential Effects on Human and Animal Health and the Environment (summarize human and animal health and environmental assessments done and studies implemented indicating potential effects on human and animal health and the environment)

Environmental assessments of DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean were carried out by field testing DAS‑444Ø6‑6 soybean in the major soybean growing regions in the U.S.A. Assessments included evaluation of agronomic performance, phenotypic characteristics and susceptibility to disease and insect pests. Results of the field trials demonstrated that DAS-444Ø6-6 soybean and conventional soybean are equivalent.

There was no evidence indicating that the occupational hazards associated with the cultivation, storage, handling and processing of DAS-444Ø6-6 soybeans are any different from conventional soybean

02 819-1986 local 2203 02 815-2180 or 02 840 2352 BGErmita@dow.com

will be the only means by which the local governments comprising the region will be intact and will be recognized as an autonomous region within a federal state,” Domogan stressed.

He claimed federalism advocates are currently hounded on how to actually divide the country into feasible federal states, aside from the issues on the distribution of the country’s national wealth, the retirement packages of government officials and employees, the distribution of the government agencies to the federal states.

Thus, small local governments like those in the Cordillera will continue to get the least share compared to the big provinces that will be included as members

Any issuance or transfer of Class A shares to nonPhilippine nationals shall be null and void and shall not be recorded in the books of the Corporation.”

2.

This Notice is being given in compliance with the requirements for the Corporation’s application for decrease of its authorized capital stock.

(MS-AUG. 2, 2017)

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

INVITATION TO BID July 6, 2017 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office (BANE IMO) Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan, through its Bids and Award Committee (BAC), invites Contractors to bid for: ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2017-NE-02 Supply of One Hundred Fifty Five (155) units 8HP Diesel Engine and Accessories (Six (6) units for each Municipality Sto. Domingo, Pantabangan, Carranglan, Peñaranda and Rizal; Eight (8) units for each municipality of Aliaga and Talugtog; Ten (10) units for each municipality of Zaragosa and Lupao; Seventeen (17) units for Bongabon. Thirty One (31) units for municipality of Gabaldon and Forty One (41) units for municipality of Laur all in the province of Nueva Ecija.

The Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) is P 14,549,366.40 with contract duration of 30 calendar days. Bid Documents cost P 15,000.00 Interested bidders must have experience in undertaking similar project within the last three (3) years with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding. outright.

Any bid above the ABC as stated above each ITB shall be rejected

Issuance of Bid Documents; (upon payment of non-refundable amount as stated above each ITB) Schedule of Activities; NIA, BANE IMO

July 31, 2017 @ 10:00 AM NIA BANE, Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan

Submission/Opening of Bids

Pre-Bidding: August 8, 2017 at 1:00 PM Closing Time: August 22, 2017 @ 1:00 PM Opening of Bids: August 22, 2017 @ 1:30 PM The NIA-BANE assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of bids. Also, NIA reserves the right to reject any or all bids at any time prior to award, waive any defects therein and to declare the bidding a failure for whatever reasons it may deem appropriate.

(SGD.) ROBERTO J. DELA CRUZ Chairman - BAC

(MS-AUG. 2, 2, 2017) 2017) (MS-AUG.

(MS-AUG. 2, 2, 2017) 2017) (MS-AUG.

(MS-AUG. 2, 2017

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World Etihad helping on Aussie terror plot SYDNEY―Etihad Airways said Tuesday it was helping Australian police with their investigation into an alleged plot to bring down a plane, as authorities sifted through evidence from counter-terrorism raids.

Four men were arrested in Sydney on Saturday evening, with security tightened across all major Australian domestic and international airports as investigators search several homes across the city.

Local media on Monday reported that the men, who have not yet been charged, planned to use poisonous gas or a crude bomb disguised as a meat mincer, although the details of the alleged plot have not been confirmed by police.

“The Etihad Airways aviation security team is assisting the Australian Federal Police with its investigation and the matter is ongoing,” the Abu Dhabi-based carrier said in a statement.

“Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely.

Safety is the airline’s number one priority.”

Its statement came as Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported that an Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi, which could have carried up to 500 people, was the target.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said on Sunday an improvised explosive device was involved.

Unidentified officials told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the suspects―reportedly Lebanese-Australian―might have links to the Islamic State group in Syria.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan told the national broadcaster he would not comment on the IS links, but stressed the significance of the attack if it had taken place.

“What is very clear is that, if these allegations were to have gone ahead, it would have been just an enormously dreadful thing to have happened to our country,” he said late Monday. AFP

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

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Maduro hit with sanctions C

ARACAS―The United States hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with direct sanctions on Monday over a disputed and deadly weekend vote, calling him a “dictator,” while the leader refused to heed what he slammed as “imperial orders.”

SPECIAL SCREENING. Actress Abbey Lee attends the special screening of Columbia Pictures and MRC’s ‘The Dark Tower’ at the Museum of Modern Art on July 31, 2017, in New York. AFP

Migrants learn French on the banks of a Paris canal PARIS―Sitting in rows on a grassy embankment overlooking a Paris square, around 50 asylum-seekers recite the alphabet in French following a young woman pointing to letters on a whiteboard.

“Ew”, 22-year-old Louise shouts, attempting to make herself heard above the passing traffic and the music spilling out of a nearby bar.

“Ooh!” comes the reply from the group of mostly Sudanese and Afghan youths, struggling to pronounce the tricky French ‘u’.

The migrants are attending free openair language classes organized by a refugee support group at a dozen locations around the French capital.

On a warm July evening two classes are under way on the banks of the Bassin

de la Villette, part of the canals in northeast Paris near where migrants are often found sleeping rough.

While Louise, who did not wish to give her full name, teaches beginners, Pierre Piacentini, a retired nurse, instructs Level 2 students on how to describe the various ailments they may find themselves explaining to a doctor.

Many in Piacentini’s group are regulars at the daily classes, who show up come rain or shine.

“They were here when it was minus five degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit), they’re here when it rains, when it’s hot, when they have the sun in their faces.

They’re really into it basically,” the energetic, white-haired volunteer said.

A rare sight anywhere in the world

in the 21st century, the teaching taking place under the trees in Paris causes passers-by to stop and stare.

Founded in November 2015 at the height of the migrant crisis in Europe, the association BAAM aims to give asylum-seekers some of the support withheld by the state while their asylum claims are being processed.

That includes language classes, with the French government only offering lessons to people who have received refugee status.

“The problem is that the asylum processing times are very long. People want to learn French and they can’t,” complained Julian Mez, one of the founders of BAAM (French acronym for Office of Reception and Assistance for Migrants). He accused the state of holding

up the integration process.

President Emmanuel Macron, elected in May, has promised to cut the waiting times for asylum claims from around 18 months at present to six months.

By the time the changes take effect the Level 2 students may have graduated on to the subjunctive tense.

Omar, a 28-year-old Sudanese, began classes nine months ago. Before, he said, he knew “nothing”.

“Now, I speak well,” he said proudly, in correct French.

On the evening AFP visited the students were learning the vocabulary for the various parts of the body.

“I’ve got a pain in my back,” Piacentini tells the class, pressing a hand to his lower back and wincing with mock agony. AFP

The measures were unusual in that they targeted a sitting head of state, but their reach was mostly symbolic, freezing any US assets Maduro might have and banning people under US jurisdiction from dealing with him.

“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters.

Maduro lashed out at the move, saying it smacked of American imperialism.

“I will not obey imperial orders,” he said.

“I am so proud, Mr Donald Trump,” Maduro joked in English, before switching to slang in Spanish: “Go for it, already. I am being targeted with sanctions because I do not obey the orders of foreign governments.”

Colombia, Mexico, Peru and other nations joined the US in saying they did not recognize the results of Sunday’s election, which appointed a new “Constituent Assembly” superseding Venezuela’s legislative body, the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Maduro’s own attorney general, Luisa Ortega―who broke with him months ago over his policies―also said she would not acknowledge the body, calling it part of the president’s “dictatorial ambition.”

The European Union expressed “preoccupation for the fate of democracy in Venezuela” and said it, too, doubted it could accept the results.

And Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson warned that Venezuela “stands on the brink of disaster.”

“Nicolas Maduro’s government must stop before it is too late,” he said.

However, old allies Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Russia stood by Maduro, who shrugged off mass protests and a previous round of US sanctions on some of his officials to see through the election.

Cuba, Venezuela’s closest ally, charged that “a well-organized international operation was under way, led from Washington, with the support of the OAS chief, aimed at silencing the voice of the Venezuelan people, and forcing them into submission with attacks and economic sanctions.”

The National Electoral Council claimed more than 40 percent of Venezuela’s 20 million voters had cast ballots Sunday.

According to the opposition, voter turnout was closer to 12 percent, a figure more aligned with the lack of lines at many polling stations.

Surveys by polling firm Datanalisis showed more than 70 percent of Venezuelans opposed the new assembly.

Further protests were called for Monday and beyond, stoking fears that the death toll of 120 people killed in four months of protests against Maduro could rise further.

“I feel awful, frustrated with this fraud,” said Caracas resident Giancarlo Fernandez, 35.

Demonstrators defied a ban on protests set

by Maduro that threatened up to 10 years in prison for violators.

Ten people died in violence surrounding Sunday’s election, which saw security forces fire tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition to put down protests. Among those killed were two teens and a Venezuelan soldier.

Boycotted by the opposition, and voted for largely by state employees fearful for their jobs, the Constituent Assembly was made up solely of members of Maduro’s ruling Socialist Party. AFP

Three on trial for gang-rape

GREAT PARADE. This file photo taken on August 02, 2009, shows Scottish musicians of the Methil Pipe Band parade playing bagpipes in Lorient, western France, during the celtics nations Great Parade of the “festival interceltique de Lorient” (Interceltic Festival of Lorient). Scotland is the guest of honor of the 47th Lorient Interceltic Festival, where more than 700,000 people are expected to celebrate 10 days of Celtic music from August 4 to August 13, 2017. AFP

SINGAPORE―Three British men went on trial in Singapore on Tuesday accused of gang-raping a 23-year-old woman while visiting the city-state for a stag party.

Khong Tam Thanh, 22, Le Michael, 24, and Vu Thai Son, 24, face up to 20 years in jail and a caning if found guilty of assaulting the Malaysian woman while she was drunk and unconscious at the end of the night out.

All three, British citizens of Vietnamese descent, deny the allegations.

In an opening statement, prosecutors said the defendants were in Singapore in September as part of a group of nine for a bachelor party, and attended an electronic music festival called Ultra Singapore.

The groom, the brother of Khong, was also on the trip.

They met the woman in a popular nightspot in the city-state, where she had been partying with a friend.

After she had agreed to have sex with one of their friends, a British citizen of Vietnamese origin identified as Richard Ahn, he took her to his hotel room.

After the pair had sex, Khong, Le and Vu took turns to enter the room and

raped the woman as she lay drunk and unconscious, the court heard.

“Having consented to having sexual intercourse with one individual, she was then raped by three other men,” Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan told the Singapore High Court.

“Intoxicated and asleep, she was unaware of what was going on around her.

She was taken advantage of and raped in quick succession by the three.”

The men took care to make as little noise as possible but the victim woke up as Le assaulted her, the court heard.

They all face one count each of raping the alleged victim in the early hours of September 10 last year. Khong and Vu, who work as beauticians in Britain, face additional charges of sexual assault by digital penetration. Le is unemployed.

Ahn, 24, absconded while under investigation. The alleged victim lives in Johor Bahru, the southern Malaysian city bordering Singapore. She cannot be named because of a court order protecting her identity.

Rape is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and caning, a punishment that dates back to British colonial rule. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

C4

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

Yingluck defiant as verdict looms

World

Almost 500 face trial in Turkey’s failed coup A NKARA―Nearly 500 people arrested in the crackdown following the failed July 15, 2016 coup in Turkey go on trial Tuesday accused of conspiring to oust the government from an air base seen as the plotters’ hub.

A total of 486 suspects will go on trial in a purpose-built courtroom outside Ankara, charged with crimes ranging from murder, violating the constitution and attempting to kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.

They are accused of running the coup bid from the Akinci air base northwest of the capital, which the authorities regard as the headquarters of the plotters where orders were sent out for fighter jets to bomb parliament.

Almost all the suspects―a total of 461 individuals―are held in custody while seven are still on the run and the remainder charged but not in jail.

Among the main suspects named in the indictment but still on the run is US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of ordering the attempted July 15 putsch.

Gulen, who is based in a secluded compound in the US state of Pennsylvania, strongly denies the charges.

Those held in custody include former air force chief Akin Ozturk who, like several suspects, is also on trial in another case related to the coup bid.

Another chief suspect is theology lecturer Adil Oksuz, whom Turkish officials accuse of being the so-called “imam” of the plot by coordinating the action on the

ground in Turkey with Gulen.

Businessman Kemal Batmaz is meanwhile accused of assisting Oksuz.

Oksuz was detained following the coup’s defeat, but was subsequently released and is now on the run. Batmaz is in custody in Sincan prison outside Ankara.

Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar and other senior commanders were held hostage at the base during the coup attempt before they were freed on the morning on July 16.

The base was seen as the coup bid headquarters where commands were given for the F-16 fighter jets to attack and fly them above the capital.

The Turkish parliament was bombed three times by F-16s.

The indictment refers to the suspects’ alleged involvement in bombing parliament, areas close to the presidential palace, the special forces’ headquarters and the Ankara security headquarters.

The government has suggested the base could be turned into a memorial or park a few weeks after the failed putsch.

The trial is taking place in Turkey’s largest courtroom established inside a prison complex in Sincan to hear coup-related trials and has space for 1,558 people.

The courtroom has previously hosted mass trials related to the coup bid including one which opened in February of 330 suspects accused of murder or attempted murder.

And in May, 221 suspects were put on trial accused of being the ringleaders of the failed coup.

The attempted coup left 249 people dead, the Turkish presidency says, not including 24 coupplotters killed on the night.

Anadolu reported there would be heavy security including 1,130 security personnel inside and outside the courtroom as well as snipers, armored security vehicles and a drone. AFP

BANGKOK―Embattled Thai ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra said she was a “victim of politics” in a defiant closing defense on Tuesday at her trial for negligence over a rice subsidy scheme that could see her jailed.

Supporters at the Supreme Court, many with banners reading “We love Yingluck” and “We’re by your side”, mobbed the former prime minister, whose personal appeal in her heartland has surged as her legal travails have deepened.

Yingluck’s government was toppled by the army in 2014 and she was then retroactively impeached.

She faces a criminal charge of negligence over a flagship policy to pay farmers nearly twice the market rate for their crops.

The scheme poured billions of dollars into her rural voter base but also allegedly caused massive graft as brokers sold sub-par rice or declared inflated inventories to scoop up the subsidy.

It left Thailand with huge stockpiles of unsold rice.

The court will issue a verdict on August 25, a ruling that could see Thailand’s first female prime minister jailed for up to 10 years.

In an impassioned hour-long speech to the court, Yingluck said she implemented the scheme in good faith to boost the incomes of Thailand’s poorest.

Calling for the charge to be dismissed she denied turning a blind eye to graft, saying the case was a politically motivated attack led by junta leader Prayut Chan-OCha. “I hope I can rely on the court to consider the case based on the facts and (political) environment when I was prime minister and

not on the current environment,” she said reading a 17-page defense.

“I am a victim of a subtle political game... I was not involved in corruption and I did not consent to corruption. I have done nothing wrong,” she added.

Her trial over the outcome of a government policy is unprecedented in Thailand, a febrile kingdom where legal claims and counter claims swirl around most key political players.

A guilty verdict also incurs an automatic lifetime ban from politics―a potential gut punch to the Shinawatra clan whose candidates have won every Thai general election since 2001.

The Shinawatras are hated by the arch-royalist army and their supporters among Bangkok’s elite, who for a decade have turned to coups and the courts to regain power after losing elections.

The ruling will be a test of the kingdom’s stability after a decade defined by coups and bloody street protests.

It is also a bellwether of the resolve of Yingluck’s supporters in the face of a junta which has comfortably corralled them since seizing power in 2014.

“The trial is an injustice,” said 77-year-old farmer Perm Duangchan, who traveled several hours to greet the ex-PM at court.

“I want her to win the case so she can come back and help the country.”

In a sign of government concern over potential unrest hundreds of police were at the court on Tuesday as the 18-month trial neared its end.

Yingluck has the right to appeal any conviction. AFP

Trump fires Scaramucci as media chief WASHINGTON―Foul-mouthed spin doctor Anthony Scaramucci was axed as White House communications director Monday, just 10 days after being named to the post and hours after Donald Trump installed a new chief of staff.

The 53-year-old New Yorker―whose profanity-laden rant against colleagues gained him global notoriety―was fired as four-star general John Kelly began his quest to impose order on an administration careening out of control.

During its first six months in office, Trump’s White House has been beset by scandal, investigations, infighting, leaks, sackings, resignations, stinging legislative defeats and historically low approval ratings.

Scaramucci was brought in a little over a week ago to get the White House back on message, but quickly prompted negative headlines of his own.

He publicly called then colleague and chief of staff Reince Priebus-who was forced out last week-a “paranoid schizophrenic” and denounced chief White House strategist Steve Bannon in lurid sexual terms.

The White House refused to say whether it was Trump or Kelly who precipitated Scaramucci’s shock departure, but it seems clear that both were unhappy with his presence.

“The president firmly felt that Anthony’s comments were inappropriate for a person in that position,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Sanders added that everyone in the West Wing-including Scaramucci―reported to Kelly, a return to tradition for a White House that has been anything but.

“General Kelly has the full authority to operate within the White House, and all staff will report to him,” said Sanders. “That includes everybody at the White House.”

Kelly inherits the day-to-day running of an administration that -- far from marching in lockstep -- looks like a regiment pinned down by heavy fire, getting conflicting orders from their commander and squabbling over the way forward.

In previous administrations, the chief of staff has acted as a chief operating officer: organizing staff, managing the president’s schedule and deciding who gets access to him when.

In Trump’s White House, a rotating cast of family and staff with unclear roles and opaque job titles seemed to be able to walk into the Oval Office at will or get the president’s ear.

Despite Kelly’s apparent empowerment, many question whether anyone can rein in the mercurial, Twitter-happy Trump, who has appeared to encourage the infighting among various factions vying for influence in his administration.

After an Oval Office swearing-in ceremony before the afternoon theatrics, Trump confidently predicted Kelly, a 67-year-old combat veteran, would do a “spectacular job.”

“I predict that General Kelly will go down as, in terms of the position of chief of staff, one of the great(est) ever,” Trump said. AFP

ONSTAGE. Lana Del Rey performs at House of Blues San Diego on July 31, 2017 in San Diego, California. AFP

‘Trump dictated son’s statement on Russia talks’ WASHINGTON―President Donald Trump personally dictated a misleading statement in which his son Donald Trump Jr. said a meeting with a Russian lawyer during the 2016 election was focused on adoptions, The Washington Post reported Monday.

It later emerged that during that fateful June 2016 meeting, Trump’s eldest son, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and then campaign manager Paul Manafort met with a Russian government attorney who, an intermediary claimed, had incriminating information about Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton.

The subject line of the email from Trump Jr inviting Kushner and Manafort to the meeting read “Russia-Clinton-private and confidential.”

In his initial statement on the meeting, Trump Jr. said the group “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of

Russian children,” and insisted that “it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow-up.”

The Post said the president dictated the statement to his son while on a flight home from the G20 summit in Germany.

Trump Jr. later sent shock waves through Washington by releasing a series of emails that detailed how he had attended the meeting after being promised “very high level and sensitive information” that was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr Trump.”

Trump has rushed to his son’s defense, and lambasted what he calls a political “witch hunt.”

In defending his son, Trump said: “I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting...

Politics is not the nicest business in the world, but it’s very standard.”

Citing people familiar with the discussions, the Post said the president’s legal team planned to present the meeting as a potential setup by Democrats seeking to entrap Trump Jr. and thus Trump himself, who at the time was the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

The meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has thrust Trump Jr. into the center of a growing scandal over whether Trump’s associates colluded with Moscow to tilt the 2016 election in the Republican’s favor.

Former FBI director Robert Mueller is probing, in his capacity as special counsel, the Russia connection independently of the Senate panels.

The Post said advisers worry that the extent of Trump’s direct involvement in his son’s response could put the president―already under fire for other efforts to undermine the Russia probe―and

key advisers in legal jeopardy.

“This was... unnecessary,” one presidential adviser told the Post on condition of anonymity.

“Now someone can claim he’s the one who attempted to mislead. Somebody can argue the president is saying he doesn’t want you to say the whole truth.”

Suggesting Trump is increasingly acting as his own lawyer, strategist and publicist, the adviser added: “He refuses to sit still.

“He doesn’t think he’s in any legal jeopardy, so he really views this as a political problem he is going to solve by himself.”

One of Trump’s attorneys, Jay Sekulow, said in response to the report: “Apart from being of no consequence, the characterizations are misinformed, inaccurate and not pertinent.” AFP

Life

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

FASHION & BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

D1

Jinkee Pacquiao

CELEBRATES

her life’s greatest possibilities SEXY MOMMY. Jinkee Pacquiao, wife to Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and mother to five children, proves that women can look and feel beautiful if they truly want to.

I

F YOU have heard of the saying that “behind every great man is a woman,” the name Jinkee Pacquiao would most likely come to mind.

The wife of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has successfully made a mark plainly by being a loyal and supportive wife to Manny and mother to five children ages 3-16.

While every wife and mother out there will be the first to declare serious responsibilities as a woman is not a walk in the park, Jinkee makes everything look easy, even if she had to carry herself above and beyond the glare of public scrutiny (mostly brought about

by her husband’s interesting career choices in sports and politics).

She said, “Being a wife and mother is tough but I have learned to be strong in everything that I’ve been through.

I learned to have more patience and understanding. Most of all, I learned that love and forgiveness are the key.

Have a biblical perspective and positive outlook in life. I learned to always pray to God in everything! He answers prayers.”

Jinkee exemplifies a woman who dared to make a change about her self, became courageous in her choices, and is now celebrating the inspiration she found within. She comes out of her experiences beautiful and strong, inside and out.

Jinkee did Laser Liposuction with Dr. Vicki Belo way back in 2010 (seven years ago when she only had three kids) because she wanted to be more confident with herself. “The result of my liposuction was great. I had two more kids after that, so I really got inspired to take good care of my body,” she said adding, “I’m very thankful for Dr. Belo for being a true friend. She makes me

beautiful. Malaki talaga ang naitulong niya sa akin when it comes to beauty.

Salamat kay Dr. Belo, it changed me, I became confident with myself. Now when I look in the mirror, I am happy. I feel beautiful.”

Belo Laser Liposuction gives you instant curves and slimmer body that will motivate you to keep it or even look better through diet and exercise. The same transformation inspired Jinkee to change for the better. So, to all women out there, here’s Jinkee’s advise, “Don’t be afraid to try and reach for your dreams. It’s possible to achieve what you want if you don’t give up.”

To maintain her healthy lifestyle, Jin-

kee says, it is important to have a positive outlook in life, get the right perspective and always hope for the best.

Personally, Jinkee says, “Love and forgiveness is the key! We should love God and love people. And then everything follows. And I also don’t forget to exercise four times a week, eat healthy foods, minus the sweets and softdrinks.”

To find out more about Belo Laser Liposuction, please go to www.belomed.com or check out www.belomed. com/blog/jinkee-choose-love-nothingwrong-wanting-look-feel-beautiful or you can email the Belo Medical Group at info@belomed.com.

Meeting Portuguese designer Ricardo Preto FASHION FOOTNOTES

ISAH V. RED I WAS on a regular jaunt at Shangri-La Plaza one weekend and happenstance at Rustan’s the Portuguese designer Ricardo Preto was busy attending to shoppers at his corner in the store’s men’s department.

The sales ladies pulled me to the designer’s side and introduce me to him as one of the store’s regular clients. Immediately, Preto showed me his collection all of which he said was made in Portugal exclusively for Rustan’s.

He showed me off a couple of shirts and pairs of pants. I picked a couple and wished the designer and his collection would do well in the Philippines.

In 2007, Ricardo Preto started showcasing collections at Lisbon Fashion Week under his own label, Ricardo Preto.

While the brand’s core business is Women’s ready-to-wear, bags, and shoes, it also offers Menswear and accessories.

The designer said he’d be back in Manila in Autumn *** Was in Hong Kong two weekends ago where the summer sale is at the peak, while a storm kept most of the shoppers in their hotel rooms.

The day before the SAR administration in Hong Kong declared a tropical cyclone

warning no. 8, had a window shopping spree at the Ocean Terminal where I saw a Jimmy Choo boutique and ogled the men’s shoes and bags.

There’s a Jimmy Choo store in Manila, but it only sells ladies shoes, bags, and some accessories. So, I wonder why the SSI Group sends PR materials about Jimmy Choo’s men’s collections when it’s not available in the country.

Jimmy Choo ladies collection is located at Rustan’s Makati and Shangri-La Plaza East Wing. *** Also, in Hong Kong, summer is the season for sale, and so the shoppers from nearby countries like Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines flock to the city for bargains. I met a family of three whose father was shopping for a watch and went to the Patek Philippe store in Kowloon.

I asked why do Filipinos prefer to shop abroad than in their own country? Is it cheaper to buy in Hong Kong than buy the things you want in the Philippines.

This should be a challenge to retailers of imported brands to convince Filipinos it’s better to shop in the Philippines than anywhere else. But, first, let the retailers fill up the stores first with merchandise so local shoppers won’t dream of going somewhere and spending their money there.

In Hong Kong, most of the shoppers are tourists who fly in to the city for the bargains.

Can’t we make Metro Manila a shoppers paradise, too?

Portuguese designer Ricardo Preto was in Manila recently

Fitzroy Embossed stars on grainy leather Jimmy Choo’s Derek Velvet with official Navy Gold badge embroidery Mark - Croc printed nubuck in light olive

Vlad - Croc printed nubuck in neon blue

Life

D2

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

W

ITH her latest streetwear collection, Vomit Art, Manila-based fashion designer, Kaye Morales, has been looking to the world of triathlons in order to keep herself motivated and inspired.

“Triathlon training has been a lifechanging experience for me,” says Morales. “I wake up early, so the moment I’m done training, I go straight to work. It keeps me stronger, disciplined, and focused.”

Away from the design room and the fashion world, Morales has always held a passion for sports; having engaged in activities such as wakeboarding, surfing, and diving. Looking for another challenge, the designer turned her attention to triathlons.

“It’s all about discipline,” Morales shares. “I used to be a night owl who’d be in bed by four in the morning. But now, with all the training I have to do, on top of my work as a designer, I make sure I sleep before 10, then I get up by four. It goes to show how far discipline can take you.”

Morales finished her first triathlon this year at the Subic International Triathlon, an experience she described as “nervewrecking.” “I cried the moment I crossed the finish line. If there’s one single thing that racing triathlons have done for me, it’s that it has helped me calm my anxiety.

With work and sports, there are so many things I have going on in my life, that until recently, I just never took the moment to calm myself down.”

Currently, Morales has been training hard for three more triathlons, a bike run, and several swim races, all scheduled throughout the year, starting with the Regent 5150 Triathlon on June 4.

“Knowing I’ve signed up for all these races is really going to make me train harder. It doesn’t matter if I cross first place or last, I want to cross the finish line at my physical best.”

How fitness keeps designer

Kaye Morales MOTIVATED Kaye Morales has found a new love in triathlon, which helps her become more focused and disciplined to take on her other roles

If this weren’t enough, Morales will be using the momentum from this year’s triathlons for something even bigger: Ironman Philippines. For almost 40 years, the Ironman competition has proven itself to be one of the most grueling triathlon competitions in the world. The contest combines bike riding, swimming, and running into a single competition that spans a total

distance of 70.3 miles.

“Ironman will be my biggest test,” Morales says. “It’s been my biggest dream since I’ve started training. I can’t help but force myself to excel at every single thing I involve myself in and Ironman is no different. If I can complete Ironman, there’s nothing that can stop me from accomplishing what I want.”

From running Kaye Morales Atelier

to competing in several triathlons this year and next, there is no denying that Kaye Morales is a highly motivated and passionate woman.

“What can I say? I’ve been bitten by the race bug!” says Morales. “Crossing the finish line is an amazing feeling. It’s a natural high you can’t get from anything else and that’s something I want to experience again and again!”

Morales finished her first triathlon this year at the Subic International Triathlon, an experience she described as ‘nerve-wrecking.’ Currently the designer/athlete is training for three more triathlon events

VA N I T Y C O R N ER

JAPAN’S ANSWER TO STUBBORN MAKEUP

Jake Galvez Picks: OFRA Highlighter and Sleek Matte Me Lipsticks

Pong Niu Picks: NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream and K-Palette Lasting 2-way Eyebrow

THOSE who wear makeup, or even those who don’t but go out and about, need a highly effective yet gentle makeup remover to clean their face of the day’s makeup, dirt, dust, and grime.

Japanese brand Biore offers Biore Micellar Cleansing Water and Biore Micellar Cleansing Water-Oil Control as effective makeup removers that care for the skin, too.

Using micellar water is easy: just pour a few drops on a cotton pad, gently press on skin for five seconds, then swipe. Both variants promise to lift off makeup in one swipe, leaving skin feeling clean and refreshed.

In addition, Biore Micellar Water leaves skin, not only clean, but moisturized and smooth as well thanks to its collagen-enriched natural mineral water from the Japanese Alps.

Biore Micellar Cleansing Water and the Oil Control variant are available at any Watsons outlet nationwide. ***

DIFFERENT SCENTS FOR DIFFERENT WOMEN

Jigs Mayuga Picks: Happy Skin Moisturizing Matte Lippie and NYX Eye Concealer

Bambi Fuentes Picks: Kiehl’s Lip Balm, Maybelline Ultimate Precision Liquid Eyeliner, and Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer

Pro picks at SM Beauty SOME of the country’s top beauty experts recently got together for a Glam Session at SM Makati which launched the SM Beauty Pro Card. Over 200 makeup artists received the card during the event.

The SM Beauty Pro Card gives them 10 percent discount for purchases at the SM Beauty Section the entire year. Moreover, the PRO-Card holders enjoy perks from the store, such as first dibs on new collections and exclusive invite to events.

The event also included a Glam Session for makeup artists in learning new makeup trends. While a lot are still on the research to land on the trusted cosmetics, SM Beauty helped by asking the experts.

These included Bambi Fuentes, Jesi Mendez, Fanny Serrano, Jigs

Mayuga, Jake Galvez, and Jing Monis, who shared some of their favorite picks from the SM Beauty Section, which carries about 200 local and international beauty brands.

Global brands like Dior, MAC, Kiehl’s, Clinique, NYX, Sleek, and KPalette ranked high along with lipsticks from homegrown brand Happy Skin.

SM Beauty Glam Session was co presented by BYS Cosmetics. Other brand sponsors include LA Girl, Max Factor, Covergirl, Maybelline, NYX, Features & Shades, Happy Skin, Burts Bees, Hask, Real Techniques, Eco Tools, Watsons, Purederm and Miine. The event was also presented by Guerlain, Elizabeth Arden and Shiseido.

Follow SM Beauty on www.facebook. com/smbeautyph and @smbeautyph on Instagram.

WOMEN looking for casual scents that they can use everyday can finally find their match in Blackwater Women’s line of fragrances.

Those looking for delicate floral scents can choose from Blackwater Women Flora, whose range includes Love Blues, Hidden Smile, Calm Heart, and Pearl Beauty. The four scent options of Blackwater Women Activ, namely So Pink, So In Love, So Nice, and So Kind, have more complex notes that give off fresh and noticeably fashion-

able appeal for on-the-go gals.

Blackwater Fame for Women are for ladies who know what they want. This range features two easy-to-distinguish fragrances choices: Glamorous and Clarity—a clean and fresh scent, and a deeper and more sensual fragrance.

These fragrances for women are available in department stores and beauty stores nationwide. ***

KEEP YOUR BROW GAME STRONG SOMETIMES, your brows can speak louder than words. From light brows to sparse brows, Maybelline New York, the world’s no. 1 makeup brand, offers eye brow products that are on point in addressing your brow concerns through the Fashion Brow Collection Each product from the Maybelline Brow Studio collection is specially formed to help you fill in your brows whether they be thin, unruly, thick, shapeless, or sparse. Get the brow look you want in three easy steps or less with the wide variety that Maybelline is bringing you which includes: Fashion Brow Duo Shaper, Fashion Brow 3D Cream Pen, Brow Precise Fiber Filler, Fashion Brow Palette, and Fashion Brow Pomade Crayon.

For more information about Maybelline, visit www.facebook.com/MaybellinePhilippines.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

DEEJAY POBLETE Musician and conductor Edgar Macapili (on guitar) and his family advocate for the recognition of the Siraya Tribe in Taiwan

Preserving language through music “IT’S obvious that what strongly connects the Philippines and Taiwan is still F4,” I told the executives from Taiwan Trade (TAITRA) and the business and lifestyle reporters from the country’s leading print news outlets.

It was our first night in Taipei when Taiwan Association Inc. top guns Allan Lin and Seimo Huang invited us for dinner at TAITRA’s exclusive lounge at its headquarters. After talking about business and trade, someone among my peers brought up the question if someone from the group was still familiar with F4, the Taiwanese boy band that starred in the phenomenal drama Meteor Garden in 2001. Laughter erupted and then from discussing the Philippines and Taiwan’s business landscapes, the night ended with everybody talking about the famous boy group and the possibility of bringing in at least one of them to Manila for the Taiwan Expo happening at the SMX Convention Center from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

I then wondered, apart from pop culture, what other things do the two countries have in common. I believe it was answered on our third day.

We visited the Siraya Scenic Area in Tainan (some 260 kilometers from Taipei) to meet a community of the Siraya Tribe. Upon our arrival, we were welcomed by Edgar who greeted us Magandang hapon. Then he laughed saying that’s the only phrase he knows in Tagalog. I later learned that he was just kidding.

After we settled down, Edgar, his wife whom he refers as the princess of Siraya, and his two children welcomed us with a song entitled “There is Peace in the Land of Siraya.” Playing the guitar, Edgar took us to a strange yet very familiar experience.

The song, which was composed

by Edgar’s father-in-law, sounded very familiar. The lyric sounded just like any other folk songs back in the Philippines.

Edgar Macapili is a full-blooded Filipino originally from Zamboanga.

The musician and conductor is a polyglot but struggles to speak straight Tagalog. He is fluent in Chavacano, Bisaya, English, Mandarin, and Siraya.

I’m very familiar with all the languages and dialects he could speak except for the latter. According to Edgar, the language almost died.

No one was speaking it for 200 years because of the dominant Chinese culture in Taiwan until 1997 when he arrived in the village.

“People here tell me that I am their angel because I helped them revive the language. What I do now, I compose songs in Siraya. We join music festivals to promote and reintroduce our music and culture. I believe that is the best way to preserve a language is through music,” Edgar affirmed.

Joining Edgar on our table was his 75-year-old father-in-law who said that Edgar was the instrument in revitalizing the language.

“This place is home to cultural activists and they promote their culture and let the society know that Siraya people still exist,” he said in his mother tongue translated by Edgar.

When Edgar was doing extensive work to revitalize the Siraya culture in music, arts and language he encountered major hurdles.

“We didn’t have any basis for the language. We didn’t have any dictionary, no documentation or whatsoever. And no one spoke Siraya, same thing that happened to other dialects and languages,” Edgar narrated.

But things changed in 2002 when a professor, who was aware of Edgar’s advocacy, brought the Book of Mathew written in Siraya. It was a 17th century translation of the Gospel produced when the Dutch came to Taiwan to Christianize the Siraya people.

Referring to the book, Edgar said that people in their community could read the romantization of the words but they couldn’t understand, they didn’t know the meaning of words printed on the pages of the book.

“When I saw the book, it was like Eureka. The words were very similar to Bisaya language. So, that’s the beginning of the good thing that’s happening. What I did I, researched for eight years and translated the book, word per word, in Chinese.

In 2008 we published the first Siraya dictionary. Now we have 14 elementary schools that teach, Siraya language in Tainan county.

His wife, Uma Talavan, who holds an important position in the local government, was very optimistic of our visit to their community. She said, their family has been advocating to be recognized by the national government. It means, they can put up centers to promote their language and culture.

“My wife sits as the executive secretary in the promotion office of Siraya in Tainan City. She has recently spoken with the president of Taiwan, she was given 5 minutes and the president promised that we will be formally recognized. There are 16 recognized indigenous tribes in Taiwan, hopefully it will be 17 by the end of the year,” Edgar said.

Edgar and the rest of the Siraya Tribe are fighting for their identity by ultimately seeking to be recognized.

Just like their songs, with words deeply rooted to its Austronesian origin, the family of languages, which Tagalog belongs, speaks volume of our strong connection with indigenous Taiwanese. And no, it’s not just F4. It’s a long history that is more significant than pop culture.

Transcending rock chic

D

ESPITE being born and raised in Los Angeles, Deejay Poblete remains proud of her Pinay roots.

Born to a family of talented musicians, she knew early on that music was her birthright, and that a career in music wasn’t too farfetched.

Prodded by her ever-supportive relatives, she moved to Manila in 2007 to try out her luck and pursue her dreams.

A year later, she met fellow musician Noah Zuñiga, and soon after formed the nucleus of the pop/ rock band, Kley, which eventually released its eponymous debut album in 2012, featuring the single, “Tsismosa.”

In 2012, Deejay was the champion of Pinoypop Superstar and won the attention of the OPM industry with the song “Dulo ng Dila,” her duet with RnB King, Jay-R, and which

WHEN individuals who share the same passion for dance and music come together, everything turns electric. There’s something about dance groups that never fails to entertain, captivate, and excite audiences. Great performances can make you feel and experience that overflowing expression of emotion and passion.

Renowned dance company UPeepz exemplifies these as they proudly represent their alma mater locally and internationally, and helping them in honing their craft is the powerful, punchy bass of Sony’s Extra Bass audio system.

A company of different dance styles and people of unique backgrounds, UPeepz prides in being open to new experiences and individuals. There is no harbored prejudice to anyone as the passion and love for dance serves as the ultimate common denominator.

UPeepz always seeks to strike the right balance between having fun and training seriously in preparing for gigs and competitions. As the team continues to set the bar higher for themselves while inspiring others in the dance community, they commit to no less than excellence, which entails hours and hours of rehearsals.

Music plays a vital role in the life of dancers. It’s their bread and butter.

“Sound quality is something that we cannot take for granted because choreographers are always looking,

DOWN 1 Pedro’s house 2 Elevator inventor 3 WWW addresses 4 Rice entrees 5 Least involved 6 Not alerted 7 Connery of 007 fame 8 Ill-tempered 9 Peak for Heidi 10 Lavish 11 Vast expanse 12 Chooser’s word 13 Made sharp 21 Den 22 Poi source 25 Flow back 26 Sphagnum moss 27 Flying prefix

28 Rock shop curiosity 30 RN employer 33 Verne’s skipper 34 Hoof-onpavement sound 35 Horror-flick street 37 Talk 39 Grain separator 42 Alvarez or Bunuel 43 Yada yada ...

45 Face shape

digging, and indulging in every beat and rhythm to best interpret music for our dances. We’ve been known for our hard-hitting, basspumping routines, so Sony’s Extra Bass technology captures that true, aesthetic listening experience, from practices to performances,” said Chips Beltran, UPeepz director.

“We find the speakers really strong and are very convenient with its seamless connection capability to our devices —phones and laptops that contain our mixes. Did I also mention how gorgeous they are? The colors really pop out and the lights get the attention of everyone in the room.

More than its eye-catching look, the superior sound quality and the functionality are the things we love most about it,” Chips shared.

UPeepz’s style and genre embrace diverse routines beyond bass-pumping and hard-hitting songs. They also specialize in genres ranging from RnB, Jazz, OPM, and whatever suits their mood or seems fun to dance to. UPeepz continues to let people feel the passion and feel the bass through dance as ambassadors for Sony Extra Bass.

“We’ve had so much fun so far, and can’t wait for more projects collaborating with Sony! Dance and music is what keeps us on our toes, and we always strive to produce quality art that bonds us as one family and hopefully inspires others in the process.”

“We at Sony will always push for

Renowned dance company UPeepz

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

56 Tropical fruits 57 Revoked 62 Noted lab assistant 63 Tizzy 64 Ebbets Field great 65 Fishing gear 66 In this place 67 Clear data 68 Unbounded joy 69 Cal Tech grad 70 Banana oil, e.g.

Kley lead vocalist Deejay Poblete

she loves most—including the music she grew up on.

This is the reason why she’s more receptive to her creative muse, as she and her band continually brainstorm for more original musical outputs.

She says, “For me creating new music is important because every time that new song comes out, it is an opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.

I think it’s important to tell our stories that represent our life and culture. Growing up, music was my companion. It kept me sane.”

Drawing inspiration from their recent OMO concert tour, Deejay initially felt apprehensive about the crowd’s reception to their new stuff, but in the end, she realized her fears were unfounded.

“The OMO tour was an awesome movement to spread original music. I love how it demands us to share our original music and not covers.

“It’s also great for people because we allow them to discover new music. I also love that each show is a great unique experience,” she exclaims.

UPeepz’s Passion in every step with Extra Bass

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Sporty car 6 Middies’ sch.

10 Ancient barbarian 14 Posh hotel lobbies 15 “Hud” Oscarwinner 16 Reflection of sound 17 Thresholds 18 Hornet kin 19 Light in a tube 20 Attacker 22 Flirt with 23 Phobia 24 Pined for 26 Going by 29 Amigo 30 Start of a bray 31 Oak or pine 32 Dribble 36 Painter — Chagall 38 — Jones Average 40 Put on the block 41 “Becket” actor 44 Name in fashion 47 Tattoo word 48 Crackpot 49 Surround 51 Fissure 55 SEATO counterpart

also served as their entry to the PhilPop Music Festival during the same year.

Despite her rock star leanings, Deejay gives new meaning to the term “rock chick.” Her dynamic stage presence and her chameleonlike vocal versatility make her a shoo-in for the soul, funk and RnB genres as well.

Kley soon signed up under the HomeWorkZ Music label, and became part of their recent Original Music Only (OMO) bar tour, which exposed their music to an everexpanding fan base.

Having been weaned on a musical appetite of rock covers, Deejay acknowledges that part of her maturity comes from learning when to walk away from the things

46 Condo buyer, maybe 50 Bad bets 51 Adhere closely 52 Supergiant in Orion 53 Chew the scenery 54 Gnawed away 58 Broken-off glacier 59 Solar radiation 60 Latin I verb 61 Big bucks?

63 Haggard novel

people to discover their passions in music, sound and visuals. We work on getting the right products to our customers and make it a point that our technology will provide them with an immersive experience they want. Our Extra Bass products, such as the GTK-XB7, will help fuel our customers’ passion for deep, punchy music,” said Nobuyoshi Otake,

president and managing director, Sony Philippines.

To learn more about the various home entertainment products spanning EXTRA BASS, visit the Sony Centers and Authorized Dealers across the country. For more information, visit www.sony.com.ph, or follow twitter.com/SonyPHinc and Instagram.com/sonyPHinc.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 2017

W

E VISITED the set of the long-time afternoon ISAH V. RED soap Ika-6 na Utos and chanced upon Angelika de la Cruz while having her vegan lunch in one of the rooms of the house in Quezon City used as the location for the series.

She said it gave her a feeling of joy when GMA Network offered her to be in the series with her friend Sunshine Dizon.

Here are excerpts from the brief chat we had that day.

Kumusta ka? Pumayat ka. (How are you? You seem to have lost weight.)

Nag vegan ako. Mag fo-four months na. Bonus ang pagliit. Pero mas healthy ang feeling mo. Yung sugar ko normal na. hindi na ako acidic.

Comeback project mo ang Ika-6 na Utos?

Tinawagan ako ni Shine. Kasi alam niya na hindi pa ako nagtatrabaho. Ang usapan namin ni Tito Perry next year pa ako magtatrabaho. One year pa lang ako nakapahinga. Kasi nga siyempre may trabaho ako sa Malabon, pinapalaki ko ang anak ko. Gusto ko balik ako sa dati kong weight. Para kumportable. Yung last kong show hirap na hirap ako nun. Tsaka hindi ako kumportable pag unfit ka.

What did Shine tell you?

Tinawagan niya ako. Nakakatawa nga. Una text.

Sabi niya, “Mars, handa ka na bang mag work. Payat ka na ba?” kasi alam niiya nag struggle ako dun.

Tapos sabi niya yung sa Ika-6 Na Utos. Sabi ko sige, tingnan ko. Kung ready na katawan ko.

Who is Geneva?

Si Geneva, she is annoying. Isa siyang epal. Hindi pa siya full blown monster. Si Georgia kasi monster na. Kasi kahit gusto niya si Angelo, hati pa rin siya sa hinahanap niya ang pamilya at pinakamamahal na kapatid which is Georgia. Same parents kami.

Umalis si Geneva, nag-Japan siya tapos hindi na siya bumalik. Hindi siya maka focus kay Emma.

Are you happy about Mika?

Siyempre, stage sister ako. Si Mika kasi very simple, mabait na bata yan. Tsaka sweet siya. Gusto lang niya kasi yung nagwo-work siya habang nagaaral siya.

You’re a government official. Is there no conflict between what you do as a public servant and playing a villainess in the soap?

Siyempre pag niloloko ako ng constituents ko, “oy ang sama sama mo dun. Oh, galing na galing ka naman sa akin, inis na inis ka.” basta malapit ka tao, jo-joke mo lang.

Did you feel there’s challenge in being part of the show?

Oo siyempre, bawat show may challenge. Kasi kailangan I challenge mo ang sarili mo. Kailangan siyempre mas nakakainis ka. Pero yung first part ng story, annoying pa lang ako. Kasi andun na yung characters nila, established na tapos papasok ka lang.

Kumbaga papasok ka pa lang, siyempre ilulugar mo pa lang ang character mo. Its not my time to shine.

Former U-Kiss member Alexander Lee with Heart Evangelista while taping in Seoul

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte

ANGELIKA

DELA CRUZ

happy to be back as villainess

Were you also excited?

Oo pero hindi pa kagaya ng ginagawa namin nung nakaraan sa past. Meron na nga kami na eksena na nakakatawa. Nabasa ko yung script.

Tawa ako ng tawa. Ixe-Xerox niya ang mukha ko.

Nakakatawa. Habang binabasa ko, tawa ako ng tawa. Kinukwento k okay Shine. Tapos sabi ko, alam ko na ang jologs ng Ika-6 Na Utos kasi ang daming nakaka relate. Tawa kami ng tawa. Tapos may eksena sila ni Georgia, sabi niya, “Mars manood ka.” Eh nandun din ang asawa ko, nakakaloko ang fight scenes. May gulong gulong pa. ay ang taray!

Sanay naman na kami.

But, you were glad Sunshine thought of you for the character?

Oo naman. Iniisip ko nga naghi-hibernate ako.

Siyempre nakakatuwa na ganun.

Pero masaya talaga sa set. Hindi ka haggard.

So, folks, it looks like Ika-6 na Utos will stay on your afternoon screens longer, as Geneva’s character hasn’t been explored yet to the fullest.

Anyway, it’s the top-rating daytime show, so can GMA Network complain? *** After months of anticipation, GMA Network is proud to announce that Alexander Lee is Heart Evangelista’s leading man in My Korean Jagiya.

Alexander is a professional actor in Korea and former member of the boy band U-Kiss. He bagged the coveted role of Jun Ho in My Korean Jagiya, the first and original Kapuso series partly shot in Seoul, South Korea. Apart from him, several Korean actors will also play important roles in the primetime soap.

The former K-Pop idol said he is very excited

on his latest project with GMA 7, “I’m really glad to finally work with GMA again after so many years. I remember the last time was when U-Kiss performed in Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman and Party Pilipinas. I had really good memories of GMA because you were very kind, friendly and caring.”

Alexander said he did not think twice accepting the role because he is thrilled to return to the country and to finally work with Heart.

“First, when I heard the word ‘GMA,’ I was already confident that it would be a good project.

Afterwards, knowing that Heart Evangelista would be in it, it won my heart completely! Of course, it was a tough decision to give up all my current work here in Korea for this project, but I’m definitely sure it will be worth it. After seeing the project proposal, I was really excited because it is very meaningful.

I personally really love the cultural exchange between the Philippines and Korea. It would be a never-before-seen project so I decided to join,” said Alexander.

The production team of My Korean Jagiya recently went to Seoul to tape important scenes for the drama series.

Heart, meanwhile, revealed that working with Alexander is a breeze, “He is so easy to work with and as time goes by, we are more comfortable with each other. He is really a good actor. And I’m so excited for everybody to get to know him and see the show.”

Completing the all-star cast of My Korean Jagiya are Janice de Belen, Ricky Davao, Iya Villania, Edgar Allan Guzman, Valeen Montenegro, Frances Makil, Jinri Park, and Myke Salomon.

Kapamilya claims more Filipinos tuned its SONA coverage FILIPINOS continue to show their trust in ABS-CBN News as they tuned in to the country’s largest news organization’s multiplatform and immersive coverage of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.

On television, ABS-CBN’s Pangakong Pagbabago: SONA 2017 got a national TV rating of 16.6 percent covering urban and rural homes based on data from Kantar Media.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN’s flagship newscast TV Patrol also led all primetime news programs after the SONA with a 30.2 percent national TV rating.

Kantar Media is a multinational market research group that specializes in audience measurement in more than 80 countries. It uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes, representing 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.

Online, more netizens also followed the events and watched the speech of the President on ABS-CBN News’ Facebook, which as of July 25 already has 464,674 views, the most views among all media networks that streamed their SONA coverage on Facebook.

This year, ABS-CBN added a few layers to its coverage to give Filipinos a fuller experience of the President’s report on his administration’s achievements and plans for the nation. It introduced the digital TV concept on the special SONA 2017 microsite on ABS-CBN News Online (news.abs-cbn. com/sona2017), which did not just house all special reports and stories related to the SONA but also offered live streaming of the SONA coverage on ABS-CBN, ANC and DZMM, giving netizens the freedom to choose which one to watch.

Netizens also got a closer view of all the happenings as ABS-CBN journalists used their mobile phones to gather and send their stories from the streets, inside the Batasang Pambansa complex, or other key areas in the nation.

ANC also gave a louder voice to the people through a town hall forum moderated by Karmina Constantino and Tony Velasquez, where representatives from different sectors in society got the chance to speak about their expectations on the government as well as give their reactions to the President’s report.

Meanwhile, Filipinos were kept updated about SONA-related issues and topics throughout the day via the news coverages on DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 on AM radio, DZMM TeleRadyo on cable and ABS-CBN TVplus, on ABS-CBN and S+A on free TV, and online on iWant TV.