Manila Standard - 2017 August 08 - Tuesday

BAUTISTA FACES PROBE OVER P1-B WEALTH

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

CLOUD OF DOUBT. Comelec

Chairman Andres Bautista denies during a news briefing Monday at his office allegations of his estranged wife Patricia that he has been amassing hundreds of millions of pesos in unexplained wealth. Norman Cruz

EMBATTLED Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista said he is ready to face any investigation into allegations made by his estranged wife Patricia that he had amassed P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth, saying these were lies.

Bautista said he welcomed Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre’s order, asking the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a probe after his wife claimed he had bank accounts and pieces of real property that were not reflected in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, which government workers are required to faithfully accomplish and submit every year.

“We can go asset by asset,” the Comelec chief in a press conference said, adding that if his wife can find the money she claimed to be deposited abroad, “she can have it.”

“I worked in an international

law firm, and [was a] partner of Allen and Overy law firm, worked as legal of Shangrila Philippines and also worked in another law firm in Hong Kong,” he said. “I think it is only right that I have dollar account and account in Hong Kong.”

Bautista said his wife made up the allegations against him when he could not meet her demand for P620 million following their separation in 2013.

“She has been asking for a lot of money and I told her again, these monies do not belong to me, because that belongs to my family members. And I do have substantial money which is shown in my SALN and I was willing to give her fair share of that but she just wants a lot more,” he said.

Bautista also suggested that his wife had a lover, but did not offer any details.

“I want to save my family, my children but a third party was involved,” he said.

He also accused his wife of stealing his documents without Next page his knowledge.

Envoys tone down rhetoric on ‘rights’

By John Paolo Bencito DIPLOMATS have “toned down” their brash criticism on the country’s human rights record as a result of his bloody war on drugs, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

“They have considerably toned down on human rights… But, mostly, they asked me about terrorism.

None [on human rights],” Duterte told reporters in a hastily called media interview at Malacañang.

US State Department Secretary Rex Tillerson and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop both paid courtesy calls on Duterte at the sidelines of Asia’s biggest security forum, the Asean Regional Forum, in Manila, as Washington tries to exert pressure on Southeast Asian Nations to ‘downgrade’ its relations and press sanctions on Pyongyang over its intercontental ballistic missiles.

The Duterte administration has repeatedly defended its drug war against critics, saying reported figures— from 7,000 to 9,000—were overblown.

Despite his repeated defense of the drug war, Duterte assured Tillerson the Philippines would remain as its humble ally in the east, as he lamented that the ongoing territorial row over the South China Sea row had become a “nagging problem” that has hounded the region.

“I’m your humble ally in Southeast Asia,” Duterte told the visiting US diplomat in his opening remarks.

The President stressed that while the regional landscape had changed, the long-standing friendship between Washington and Manila would remain. Next page

Nokor targets US only—envoy NORTH Korea said Monday it has no plans to use its nuclear weapons against any other country but the United States, but said it is ready to attack countries that will turn against it.

“We have no intention to use nuclear weapons or threaten with nuclear weapons any other country except the US, unless it joins the military action of the US against the DPRK,” Foreign Minister Ri

Yong Ho said in a statement released to reporters in Manila.

“The harder the US tries to get other countries to join in implementing the sanctions against the DPRK, the more it will reveal only the warranted and unfair points of the ‘sanctions resolutions’ of the UN Security Council against the DPRK,” it added.

Ri is in Manila this week for meetings Next page

VOL. XXXI • NO. 175 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

US, allies blast China Over island building, militarization of SCS

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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HE United States, Australia and Japan on Monday denounced Beijing’s islandbuilding and militarization of the South China Sea, in contrast to the increasingly tepid response from Southeast Asian nations over the festering issue.

China claims nearly all of the sea, through which $5 trillion in annual shipping trade passes and which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Its sweeping claims overlap with Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei—all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc—as well as Taiwan.

But in recent years Beijing has managed to weaken regional resistance by courting some Asean members.

On Sunday, Beijing scored a coup when Asean ministers issued a diluted statement on the dispute and agreed to Beijing’s terms on talks during a security forum which the bloc is hosting in Manila.

China insists that a much-delayed code of conduct between

it and Asean members over the disputed sea must not be legally binding, a demand to which Southeast Asian countries have so far acquiesced.

But in a joint statement after their foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the same gathering, the US, Japan and Australia delivered a noticeably sterner rebuke to Beijing.

Criticizing ongoing “land reclamation, construction of outposts, militarization of disputed features” in the disputed sea, the trio said any code of conduct must be “legally binding, meaningful and effective,” a demand noticeably absent from the Asean statement.

The three nations also called on China and the Philippines to Next page

ALLIANCE FIRM. President Rodrigo Duterte (right) shakes hands with visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prior to their meeting at

Malacañang Monday, on the sidelines of the 50th Asean regional security forum, an annual get-together among top diplomats from 26 countries and the European Union for talks on political and security issues in Asia Pacific. AFP

Broker links 6 Customs officials to bribery

Ozamiz City cop ‘most requested’ POLICE Chief Ronald dela Rosa said Monday he will transfer “most requested” Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido to another area with the government’s “next target.”

“There are many people requesting him, but we can’t just do that. He must first finish his work in Ozamiz,” Dela Rosa said.

He made his statement even as he dared the armed supporters of the Parojinog clan to push through with their threat against Espenido whose men were instrumental in the killing of Mayor Renaldo Parojinog, his wife Susan and three other members of his family on July 30. Next page

By Maricel V. Cruz and Vito Barcelo BUREAU of Customs broker Mark Taguba on Monday named several officials of the bureau who allegedly received bribe money to ease shipment of

goods into the country.

Taguba made the disclosure at the resumption of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Dangerous Drugs on the P6.4 billion worth of shabu transported to the country, chaired

by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace

Barbers, even as those he identified denied the allegations.

But the Bureau of Customs said no Filipino was involved in the shipment of the 605 kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” worth P6.5 Next page

Troops got wrong Maute brods—AFP

ACCUSATIONS DENIED. Customs broker Mark Taguba names during a congressional hearing Monday several officials of the bureau who allegedly received bribe money to ease shipment of goods into the country, allegations the identified officials immediately denied. Manny Palmero twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

S

TWO Maute brothers, identified as terrorist leaders in the now known Marawi siege, and supposed Islamic state emir Isnilon Hapilon were likely still alive, contrary to earlier reports, the military said Monday.

The two men supposedly killed by recent state offensives were not Omar and Abdullah Maute, but possibly their younger siblings who were not initially identified as among the terrorists, said Armed Forces spokesperson Next page Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla. manilastandard.net

PROTESTERS CHECKED. Police officers in riot gear frustrate protest-

ers’ attempt Monday to march on to the bayside US Embassy in Manila during the regional security forum being held in the city, criticizing the Asean region as, according to them, the site for fast rising inequality and persistent poverty. AFP

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High court justice retiring

By Rey E. Requejo

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UPREME Court Associate Justice Jose Mendoza will retire from the judiciary on Aug. 13 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Mendoza, a fraternity brother of President Rodrigo Duterte in the Lex Talionis fraternity in the San Beda College of Law, was

honored by fellow justices and colleagues at the Supreme Court during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday.

Roxas south lane closed to motorists

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Metro Manila Development Authority said Monday it will close this afternoon the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard in connection with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The closure of Roxas Boulevard from P. Burgos in Manila to Gil Puyat in Pasay City will begin at 2 p.m. and last until 9 pm.

A total truck ban will also be imposed in the area.

The MMDA, in coordination with the National Capital Region Police Office, prepared a traffic rerouting scheme for motorists to observe during the grand parade and landmark lighting activity at the CCP Complex.

NCRPO spokeswoman Kimberly Molitas said the CCP Complex had been declared as an Asean Delegates Zone, and so motorists must take the alternate routes.

“Affected trucks are advised to do a right turn on Edsa [Epi-

US,...

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respect last year’s international arbitration ruling, which dismissed much of Beijing’s claim in the sea.

The Philippines had been one of the most vocal critics of China and filed a case before a UNbacked tribunal.

But after the election of President Rodrigo Duterte last year, Manila has played down the tribunal’s verdict in its favor and instead pursued warmer ties with Beijing, a move that led to offers of billions of dollars in investments or aid from China.

Critics of China have accused it of assiduously dividing Asean, which operates on a consensus basis, with strong-arm tactics and checkbook diplomacy, enticing smaller countries in the bloc such as Cambodia and Laos to support it.

Vietnam, which had been pushing for stronger language in Manila, has been largely left to fend for itself since Duterte’s China rapprochement.

The US, Australia and Japan oppose Beijing building giant artificial islands that could be used as military bases, fearing it will eventually establish de facto control over the waters.

China insists the three countries should stay out of what it says are purely bilateral disputes with its neighbors.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned any interference from “outside parties” could jeopardize negotiations over the code of conduct.

Foreign Ministers Julie Bishop of Australia, Taro Kono of Japan and US State Secretary Rex Tillerson on Monday issued a joint statement calling on China and the Philippines to abide by the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision, saying it was “final and legally binding on both parties.”

But China has refused to recognize the tribunal’s authority and did not participate in its proceedings.

Reacting to their statement, Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar reiterated President Duterte’s position.

“Let me put this way, the President has stated on many occasions that the Philippines will re-

fanio delos Santos Avenue] and left to the South Super Highway to the Port Area,” she said.

Metro Manila police director Oscar Albayalde ordered his men to intensify police visibility, conduct patrols, provide route security and manage the traffic with the MMDA and local traffic enforcers.

“Should there be any concern, we encourage the public to report immediately through text or call the Task Force Manila hotline 0995-503-1670”, said Albayalde, the official tasked to oversee the security measure during the entire Asean Minister’s meeting and other related events from Aug. 2 to 8.

The grand parade from the Rizal Park to the CCP Complex will be open to the public.

Asean Task Force chief Napoleon Taas said the traffic plan laid out by the MMDA and the city governments of Manila, Pasay and Makati was meant to ensure the smooth conduct of the activities with the least inconvenience to the general public. spect the arbitral ruling and will raise it with relevant parties in proper time,” Bolivar said, On Sunday night, the Asean foreign ministers mentioned militarization in the South China Sea in a joint communique.

But the South China Sea has been a divisive issue for the 10-member bloc with the Philippines, this year’s host country, veering away from confrontation with Beijing, leaving Vietnam alone to assert its territorial rights in the disputed waters.

On Saturday, Asean failed to issue the customary joint statement due to the disagreement about whether to make oblique references to China’s rapid expansion of its defense capabilities on artificial islands in disputed waters.

By Sunday, a draft communique had been watered down in a way to avoid angering China.

The release of the statement came shortly after the ministers met with Wang and agreed on a framework for conducting negotiations on the decades-long row that included key clauses advocated by China.

“This is an important outcome of our joint effort,” Wang told reporters as he celebrated the agreement.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea, through which $5 trillion in annual shipping trade passes and is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.

Its sweeping claims overlap with those of Asean members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as Taiwan.

China has dramatically expanded its presence in the contested areas in recent years by building giant artificial islands that could be used as military bases, raising concerns it will eventually establish de facto control over the waters.

In what two diplomats involved said was another victory for Beijing on Sunday, Asean members declined to say in their joint statement that the hoped-for code of conduct with China be “legally binding.”

Vietnam, the most determined critic of China on the issue, had insisted during two days of negotiations that Asean insist the code be legally binding, arguing otherwise it would be meaningless. With AFP

Small players hike oil prices

Mendoza authored the high court decision in April 2014 that upheld the key provisions of the controversial Republic Act 10354, or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act. After passing the 1971 Bar examinations, he served as a legal officer of the Philippine Banking Corp., the Manila Electric Co. and the Gokongwei Group of Companies.

He joined the judiciary as a

research attorney in the Court of Appeals in 1977 before being promoted as a judge and later as a Court of Appeals justice.

The Judicial and Bar Council has already submitted to the President last month its shortlist of the nominees to replace Mendoza.

Among the nominees is Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., who was appointed earlier to the high court for the vacancy left by the retire-

ment of Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes.

The others in the shortlist are Court of Appeals Associate Justices Jaapar Dimaampao, Jose Reyes, Apolinario Bruselas, Ramon Hernando, Rosmari Carandang and Amy Lazaro Javier, and Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

President Rodrigo Duterte has 90 days to name Mendoza’s replacement in the high court.

Envoys...

aldea, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, while Tillerson was accompanied by US Ambassador to Manila Sung Kim. Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said among the issues Duterte had raised were terrorism and the Balangiga Bells.

“We expect the President to discuss with Secretary Tillerson a wide-range of relevant issues including the security situation in Marawi, the global threat of terrorism, increasing Philippine-US economic and people-to-people engagement, the Balangiga bells, among others,” Abella said.

“We also welcome the opportunity to address concerns such as human rights, if and when raised. We have included this issue in our discussion and engagement with foreign governments particularly Western democracies,” he added.

Soon as getting into office, Duterte waged his controversial drug war resulting in more than 3,151 deaths from July 1, 2016 to June 13, 2017 alone, according to government statistics.

Official data from the Philippine National Police have also pegged the number of homicide cases at 9,432 from July 2016 to March 2017.

pending election complaint before the Supreme Court.

In an interview on GMA-7, Bautista said he and his wife have had marital problems for a long time, saying she took a lover in 2013.

He added that her allegations were motivated by money.

“I tried to save the marriage because we have young children, so we went through counseling, but she seemed determined to leave,” Bautista said.

He added that her demands for money kept rising, and accused her of extortion.

Bautista said his wife obtained his private documents in November 2016 after she withdrew $117,000 from their joint bank account and employed armed men to have him barred from entering their home.

He said when he was in America, she made a withdrawal of $117,000 and P250,000 in their

joint account and moved the funds to her account.

“I was barred from entering my own home,” Bautista said.

“In fact, she put goons—armed goons—at our condo unit so that I would not be able to enter.”

When he was finally allowed in, Bautista said, he found his cabinets had been rifled through and that sensitive documents were taken.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he would not meddle in the case, even though he had met Bautista and his wife separately.

“I was not meddling,” Duterte told Palace reporters.

He said he told Bautista to fix whatever trouble he had with his wife.

The President added that he would not investigate the allegations of ill-gotten wealth because a case would be filed.

“I don’t want to preempt Congress or the Ombudsman,” he said.

For reasons of operational security, AFP public information office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo declined to say where the battalion was based.

But he added the officers and enlisted personnel of the unit were “disappointed” with AFP chiefof-staff Eduardo Año’s decision to cancel deployment of more troops.

“The Chief-of-Staff desisted on [sic] bringing this Army battalion due to the [recent positive developments] ongoing there,” Arevalo said.

A battalion’s strength is estimated to be around 300 to 500 officers and enlisted personnel.

Arevalo said the battalion’s deployment was finalized two weeks ago and that officers and personnel had packed their equipment, waiting for orders to go Marawi City, only to be informed that Año had canceled the order as there were sufficient troops in the area.

Earlier, ranking military and defense officials said the remaining Maute Group fighters, estimated at around 40 to 60,

were now pocketed in two barangays measuring less than a square kilometers.

Clearing operations have been slowed down by the Maute Group’s penchance in using improvised explosive devices, snipers and booby traps.

As of 7 p.m. of Aug. 6, the number of Maute Group terrorists killed has reached the 528 mark while number of government troops slain in the ongoing operations is now at 122 along with 45 civilians executed.

Recovered firearms are placed at 603 and rescued civilians at 1,728.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Foreign Police of the European Union on Monday said threats had gone “global” and Southeast Asia and Europe were facing common threats of terrorism and cybercrime, urging relevant countries for security cooperation to ensure critical infrastructure “resistant” to cyber-attacks, extremisms and terrorism. With PNA and Sara Fabunan

sion- Anti-Smuggling Bureau of GACC, issued a letter giving assurances there was no other drug shipment of the illegal drug to the Philippines during that period.

“We hereby certificated [sic] that no Filipino citizen was detected by ASB to be involved in the drug smuggling and that based on our intelligence, there was only one shipment of drug destined for the Philippines and no other shipment was related to

this case,” Zhang wrote.

Zhang congratulated the BoC’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Service headed by Director Neil Estrella for its prompt action on the intelligence information relayed by China on May 26, 2017.

He said the information was relayed to “Mr Rainier,” reportedly Estrella’s chief of staff, requesting quick action on the matter.

In other developments from the BoC:

of the Asean Regional Forum, of which it is a member.

Aside from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries, the forum also includes Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, TimorLeste, and the United States.

The Asean earlier expressed “grave concern” over escalating tension in the Korean peninsula as a result of Pyongyang’s missile tests, which have been condemned by the United States and other countries.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday ruled out a quick return to dialogue with North Korea, as he said new UN sanctions showed the world had run out of patience with Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Speaking to reporters in Manila, Tillerson said Washington would only consider talks if Pyongyang halted its ballistic missile program—something the North has insisted it has no intention of doing.

“The best signal that North Korea could send that they’re prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches,” Tillerson said.

He nevertheless held out the prospect of US envoys at some point sitting down with Pyongyang’s isolated regime and avoiding the escalating threat of war.

Tillerson’s remarks followed a rare exchange on Sunday between the foreign ministers of the two Koreas on the sidelines of the Manila forum, during which the North’s Ri showed no signs his nation had been intimidated by the latest rounds of sanctions.

In an effort to halt North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s drive to become a nuclear power, the UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously approved a US-drafted sanctions package against his nation that could cost it $1 billion a year.

The sanctions were in response to the North conducting two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month that Kim boasted showed he could strike any part of the United States.

John Paolo Bencito, AFP

rate properties of the victims.

“You are trying to scare us now?

You have many times scared the police. Tell the Kuratong Baleleng to bring it on,” Dela Rosa said.

The Parojinogs were killed after policemen under Espenido, armed with six search warrants, raided the Parojinog’s residences for loose firearms and illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said the PNP will validate possible areas where

Espenido may be transferred.

He said Espenido will receive a special award during the PNP’s Police Service anniversary on Wednesday for his contributions to the government’s war on drugs.

Espenido is the current chief of the Ozamiz City police who supervised the simultaneous raids on the houses of the Parojinog clan.

The mayor’s children, Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-

Echavez and Reynaldo Jr. had been arrested and are facing drug-related and illegal possession of firearms charges.

The mayor was included on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of public official allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

Manhunt operations are ongoing against another member of the political clan, Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo Parojinog. Francisco Tuyay

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“I am happy to see you again and you come at a time when the world is not good—especially the Korean Peninsula, of course, and the ever nagging problem [of South China Sea],” Duterte said.

“Whatever happened, I know you’re worried there … We are friends, we are allies, and we [are] also doing [our part] to help,” he added.

Duterte was joined by senior members of his Cabinet during the meeting, including Executive Secretary Salvador Medi-

Bautista...

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In a press conference, Patricia said she had in her possession bank books that showed Bautista had more than P329 million, a US dollar account worth P640,959, a Hong Kong dollar account worth P6.1 million, and condominium units in Taguig and San Francisco, USA. “I’ve been told that there is a political agenda behind this move. I think that there are other factors that are moving aside from the usual marital problems that married people have to contend with,” Bautista said.

However, Bautista declined to comment on speculation that the Marcos family was somehow involved because former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who ran for vice president but lost, had a

Troops...

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Omar and Abdullah, Padilla said, were likely still in Marawi, along with Hapilon, the supposed Islamic State emir in Southeast Asia.

President Rodrigo Duterte previously offered a P10-million reward for the “neutralization” of Hapilon and P5 million each for the Maute brothers.

Thousands of state troops are struggling to quell the siege the three terror leaders launched on May 23, which prompted Duterte to place Mindanao under martial rule.

The battle for Marawi, which entered its 77th day on Monday, has left at least 690 individuals dead, Padilla said.

As clearing operations in wartorn Marawi City was set to wind down, the Armed Forces of the Philippines suspended the deployment of another battalion as reinforcement to units still engaged in fighting Maute Group terrorists.

Broker...

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billion discovered in a warehouse in Valenzuela city based on the report by the China’s General Administration of Customs, the subject of the investigation by Congress.

Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said Zhang Xiaohui, head of the International Enforcement Cooperation Divi-

Ozamiz...

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Dela Rosa reacted after reports that the Kuratong Baleleng, a group involved in various criminal acts and supposedly had links with the Parojinogs, was planning to retaliate to avenge the killing of four members of the Parojinog clan in an early dawn raid in sepa-

SEAOIL Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum, Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc. and PTT Philippines on Monday announced they will increase gasoline prices by P1 per liter and diesel by P0.80 per liter.

The other oil companies were expected to follow suit while Seaoil and Petron said they will also increase the price of kerosene by P0.85 per liter.

On Aug. 1, the oil companies also raised pump prices by P0.50 per liter of diesel, P0.40 per liter of kerosene and P0.35 per liter of gasoline.

And on July 25, the oil firms raised the price of gasoline by P0.90 per liter, kerosene by P0.80 per liter and diesel by P0.65 per liter due to an “increase in demand from the US and China.”

Domestic pump prices follow the movement of world oil prices on a weekly basis as more than 90 percent of the Philippines’ fuel requirements are imported.

World oil prices have been going up due to rising demand and falling supply. Darwin G. Amojelar

Nokor...

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Defense chief guest at Philconsa meeting

CUSTOMS PROBE. Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chairman Robert Ace Barbers questions a resource person while Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas

listens during the continuation of the inquiry of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs Board at the House of Representatives on the P6.4 billion worth of shabu which ‘slipped past’ the gates of the Bureau of Customs. At right, BoC Chief of Staff lawyer Mandy Therese Anderson explains a point during the same hearing. Manny Palmero

Ombudsman files graft raps vs Lanao Sur exec

By Rio N. Araja

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HE Office of the Ombudsman ordered on Monday the filing of charges of malversation of public funds and graft against a Lanao del Sur official for misuse of P10 million for a ghost project in 2011.

Jamaloden Faisal, acting general manager of the Tugaya Water District, was accused of misappropriation of P10 million for the construction of a water supply system in Tugaya, Lanao del Sur. Named as co-respondent was Alikahn Ebrahim of Nascon Builders.

In January 2011, Faisal received P10,074,680 as part of the initial funding for the water supply improvement project.

According to the fact-finding investigation conducted by the Ombudsman field investigation unit, the water project was non-existent, and that fake liquidation documents were submitted by respondents to

support the ghost project.

A joint affidavit of inspection was also submitted by the team of investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation stating that “the reservoirs funded by the Local Water Utilities Administration are inexistent, based on the development map and detailed cost estimate of the project.”

“The firm was not involved in the project,” a Nascon Builders representative attested.

“The fact that the water supply improvement project is non-existent is sufficient proof to engender a well-founded belief that public funds were misappropriated for respondent Faisal’s own private

use or benefit,” the Ombudsman’s resolution read.

Meanwhile, a week after filing a criminal case against a deceased Mt. Province lawmaker, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said on Monday “that the death of a party to a case is not among the matters that her office is mandated to take notice of.”

She said that the Ombudsman is not expected to know or take notice of the death of an accused without proper manifestation from his counsel.

Morales invoked Section 1 of Rule 129 of the Revised Rules of Court, which applies to the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman, adding it is the duty of the party’s counsel under Section 16, Rule 3 of the Revised Rules of Court to inform the court promptly of such death.

On Aug. 1, the Ombudsman filed a graft case against Rep. Maximo Dalog with the Sandiganbayan in connection with the anomalous purchase of a Mitsubishi L-300 van when he was then a governor in 2006.

Also charged were ex-provincial accountant Theodore Marrero; exhealth officer Nenita Lizardo; exnurse Helen Macli-ing; ex-bids and awards committee chairman Paulo Pagteilan; ex-BAC members Lily Rose Kollin, Florence Gut-Omen, Edward Likigan and Soledad Theresa Wanawan; ex-budget officer Jerome Falingao, a member of the BAC’s technical working group; exexecutive assistant Abdon Imingan of the BAC secretariat; ex-technical inspector Abelard Pachingel, and private respondent Ronald Kimakim of Ronhil Trading.

Despite Dalog’s case dismissal due to his death last June, Morales said the case against the other respondents stays.

“Borrowing the words of the Supreme Court in People v. Henry T. Go (GR. No. 168539, March 25, 2014), the Office of the Ombudsman emphasized that the death of Dalog does not mean that the allegation of conspiracy between [his co-accused] can no longer be proved or that their alleged conspiracy is already expunged,’” she added.

CONGRESSMAN Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and Manuel M. Lazaro, president and chairman/CEO, respectively, of the Philippine Constitution Association announced that Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana of the Department of National Defense, will be the Guest of Honor and Speaker in Philconsa’s monthly membership meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, at 6:30 in the evening at the Diamond Ballroom, Diamond Hotel.

Lorenzana is expected to speak on the measures undertaken by the government to address and quell the Marawi rebellion.

The National Anthem will be led by Associate Dean Rita Linda V. Jimeno, VP FOR Constitutional Reforms. The Invocation will be delivered by Nelia T. Gonzales, Governor.

The Phillconsa Creed will be led by Retired Gen. Hermogenes C. Esperon, National Security Adviser. The welcome remarks will be delivered by Cong. Martin G. Romualdez, Philconsa President. The new members will be presented by Retired Lt. Gen. Edilberto P. Adan, to be inducted by Retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, President Emeritus, assisted

by Retired Justice Bernardo P. Pardo. The Guest of Honor and Speaker will be introduced

by Retired Gen. Dionisio R. Santiago, Governor/Chairman, Dangerous Drugs Board. Immediately after Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana’s speech, an open forum will be conducted.

Atty. Rodolfo O. Reyes, Vice President for NCR, will act as Moderator. Ret. Omb. Aniano A. Desierto will act as Master of Ceremonies.

Pimentel tells ERC chair: Resign now SUSPENDED Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Jose Vicente Salazar should show some ‘‘delicadeza’’ and resign his post already, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said Monday.

“There’s no point in Mr. Salazar clinging like a leech to his post. He should get out pronto,” Pimentel, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said.

“Mr. Salazar should save the ERC and himself from further embarrassment,” Pimentel added.

Malacañang suspended Salazar anew on Aug. 3, this time for a period of four months, after he was found guilty of insubordination.

The disciplinary action came just as Salazar completed serving a prior 90-day preventive suspension from office.

The Palace first temporarily barred Salazar from his post on May 2, to preclude him from influencing the outcome of the multiple administrative cases pending against him.

Salazar was convicted of insubordination after he defied Malacañang’s designation of Commissioner Geronimo Sta. Ana as officer-in-charge of the energy watchdog.

Salazar designated his own OIC—Ronaldo Gomez—who was then chief of the ERC’s Min-

danao Field Office.

Amid allegations of corruption, Salazar went on a monthlong leave in December last year, upon the advice of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. It was shortly before going on leave that Salazar named Gomez OIC. Salazar is still facing administrative charges for alleged serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, violations of the Government Procurement Act, and violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Salazar had been implicated in the anomalous ERC infomercial project that led to the Nov. 9, 2016 suicide of lawyer Francisco Villa Jr., the former head of the commission’s bids and awards committee.

A previous inquiry by Pimentel’s committee also uncovered two other anomalies in Salazar’s office that involved the performance of crooked contracts in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Government Procurement Act. The Pimentel panel ascertained that Salazar, an appointee of then President Benigno Aquino III, also ordered the renovation of the ERC chairman’s conference room and obtained new pest control services for the commission, both without a competitive public bidding.

Ban high-heeled shoes in workplace, govt asked P14b for

By Vito Barcelo A LABOR group has urged the government to forbid employers nationwide from requiring women employees to wear high-heeled shoes at work because it poses danger to their safety and health.

The Alliance of Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said that the Department of Labor

and Employment should issue a policy prohibiting employers to compel women workers from wearing high heels and should also cover not only salesladies but promodizers in supermarkets, waitresses, hotel and restaurant receptionists and flight attendants as well.

“We received many persistent complaints from salesla-

dies working in department stores and malls that they are in pain walking and standing for long hours performing their jobs in high heel shoes.

They also worry that it might have long-term damaged on them. This is a grave concern to their health and safety and so we are asking the DoLE to prohibit employers from requiring their employees to

wear high-heeled shoes in doing their work,” ALU-TUCP national executive vice president Gerard Seno said.

“Apart from the pain, working women also complain of injury after slipping, falling and tripping with high-heeled shoes on. This must be stopped.

Women workers should not be compelled to put on high-heeled shoes against their will. They

should not be exposed to any harm and danger at all times,” Seno said.

The government has no existing regulation that governs the wearing of high-heeled shoes in the workplace and gave the discretion to employers. Thus, women working under the company policy have no choice but to comply and endure the agony for long periods.

Mayors, govs urged to support STL anew FOLLOWING the support expressed by the Congress, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on Monday urged local government units anew to give their all-out support to the statesanctioned Small Town Lottery and help the government in its fight against illegal gambling.

PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan said such support from mayors and governors are very crucial so as not to waste the efforts of the government in fighting all forms of illegal gambling as this becomes the breeding ground of corruption.

Last week, the Congress expressed their support to the PCSO’s effort in increasing revenues for the government by expanding the STL nationwide as long as the government is getting its rightful share.

“Once again, I urge the mayors and governors and the local police nationwide to unite in the fight

against jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling, and identify those gambling lords, their coddlers and file appropriate charges against them,” Balutan said.

He said that although STL is winning the ground against illegal gambling, they still need all the help they can get to increase revenues for the government.

“Jueteng is still rampant and we must eradicate it the soonest possible,” he added.

Balutan believes that the efforts of the government will not go to naught as long as local government units and the police will cooperate to fight illegal gambling that continues to hinder the STL operations.

According to Balutan, in the first semester of 2017, cities and municipalities, congressional districts, and provincial governments all over the country received more than P271 million from STL operations.

ANTI-ASEAN MARCH. Thousands of small-scale farmers and fishermen coming from the provinces of Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon and parts of National Capital Region march towards Roxas Boulevard to stage a rally in Anda Circle in Manila protesting the 50 years of Asean, which they claimed resulted in 50 years of agricultural backwardness and declining food security and food sovereignty. Lino Santos

new cops, soldiers backed

By Maricel V. Cruz THE chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations on Monday said his panel would consider the President’s request for additional soldiers, policemen, firefighters and jail guards which would require at least P14 billion in funds.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, the panel chairman, said part of the amount was already incorporated in the 2018 P3.767-trillion national expenditure program, distributed among the various uniformed services.

“It is safe to say that that out of the computed requirement, P14 billion is already specifically provided in the proposed 2018 budget,” Nograles said.

If approved without any amendment, Nograles said that this would allow the Philippine National Police to hire 10,000 additional policemen, 2,000 additional personnel for the Bureau of Fire Protection, and 1,000 jail guards for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

“As to the additional soldiers, we already created in 2017 for the Philippine Army 8,892 positions, which we are currently filling up,” Nograles added.

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Opinion

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

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EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

A very public matter

C

OMMISSION on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista insists that his wife’s allegations that he has amassed more than P1 billion in assets not declared in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth can be attributed to their marital woes.

The couple has apparently been estranged for some time, and Mrs. Bautista, according to the poll chief, has been gathering documents in an attempt to extort money from him.

On Aug. 1, Patricia Paz Bautista submitted an affidavit to the National Bureau of Investigation saying she had

discovered what could be proof of her husband’s corrupt practices as head of the commission.

Mr. Bautista has categorically denied all accusations and branded them as lies.

He added that while he still hoped they could fix their issues or address them in a civil and decent manner, his wife’s recent actions indicated she had no desire to save their marriage.

“Her actions are motivated by greed and that she will stop at nothing to besmirch my reputation and that of my family for the purpose of financial gain,” he said.

We commiserate with the chairman at the breakdown of his 17-year marriage.

We will not, however, agree to dismiss

the tiff as a matter between husband and wife. The stakes are just too high.

Mrs. Bautista said she saw evidence of bank accounts and real estate holdings, aside from investments abroad, she had not known about before. The question on everybody’s mind is how the Comelec chief, who presided over the 2016 national and local elections having been appointed by former President Benigno Aquino III the previous year, was able to amass these assets on a government salary.

It is not at all difficult to link the unexplained wealth to the results of the previous polls, and to imagine what favors might have been traded in this context.

Mr. Bautista says his wife has allowed

herself to be used by certain groups to promote a political agenda.

But even the political fortunes of numerous personalities is not the issue here. That some may have benefitted and that some may have been cheated is still inferior to the idea that the will of the people may have been thwarted.

Certainly this is far larger and more profound than a squabble between husband and wife. This is the very essence of democracy, on which our society stands, that has been compromised.

Bautista should quit now and save the nation the trouble of a protracted impeachment process. We believe he has been irreparably tainted whether the charges are proven or not. A swift and impartial investigation should follow.

United in educating our youth

ter deciding to expand outside the province, the owners renamed it Luzon Development Bank.

Lica Group, the holding company, is based in Manila but has a “presence throughout the country. [its] core businesses are in Automotive, Real Estate and Hospitality, Financial Services and Office Systems,” according to Lica’s separate website (licagroup.com). The family business owns the Olympia Tower office building in Makati, the Rapide chain of car-repair shops, Old Swiss Inn restaurant, car dealerships in Alabang and Carmona, Cavite and Checkpoint Mall in Calamba, Laguna.

The TG Limcaoco identified

by Bautista is chief finance officer, managing director and head of finance of Ayala Corp., according to Bloomberg. But the Ateneo classmate, close friend of Bautista and member of the same landed Laguna-based KatigbakLimcaco clan is Rene “Timmy” K. Limcaoco; if that name sounds familiar to you, it should.

THIS is a good-news, feel-good column. If you do not want to rejoice at great things that sometimes happen in our country, if you only see bad in Duterte or the so-called Yellows and believe that only your political faction can save this country, stop reading as this is not for you.

I have always supported the idea of free education at all levels, certainly in public educational institutions and even for poor students in private schools.

I jumped with joy when I read the news that President Duterte last Friday signed the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. In the House of Representatives, I praise Kabataan Representative Sarah Elago (and her predecessors Terry Ridon and Raymond De Vera Palatino) and her colleagues in the Makabayan bloc for working against many odds to get this done. I have seen not just passion from Sarah but great legislative skills in getting this law from A to Z. This, of course, is the culmination of a long struggle by the youth sector.

While there is still a lot to do to implement this law properly, this is sweet victory and vindication for the student movement. As a former student leader myself— I was president of the UP Law Student Government in the late 1980s—I revel in this big victory.

Majority Floor Leader Rudy Fariñas, Appropriations Committee chairman Karlo Nograles, Higher Education Committee chairman Ann Hofer, and many others can also take credit for this gift to the Filipino youth. Any one of them could have blocked this or keep them in the black hole of bills that have not seen action.

Senator Bam Aquino was of course the chairman of the Senate Education Committee when this Act went through the legislative mill. He was its main, but not only, sponsor. He shepherded this bill to approval in the Senate, displaying awesome legislative acumen for a freshman senator. Indeed, in his first three years in the Senate, Senator Bam was instrumental in passing 17 laws —including the important Philippine Competition Act as well as the Go Negosyo Act and the Lemon Law. On this law, Senator Bam was visionary, innovative, passionate, and inclusive in building the legislative coalition.

For Senator Sonny Angara, a major proponent of this law, there is something wonderful in the knowledge that his father Senator Edgardo Angara, historically one of our most productive

Turn to A5

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But is it Andy’s money?

LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES IN THE end, the marital problems of Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista are really just tabloid fodder, of interest only to voyeurs who delight in schadenfreude. What’s of true importance is the question of whether or not Bautista enriched himself while head of the government’s election agency.

Of course, Bautista tells anyone who will listen that his wife Patricia had been “extorting” money from him, in part because she has to pay for the upkeep of her own new partner. But that is just a side issue; what needs to be uncovered is if Bautista sold his position in order, as his estranged wife says, to amass more than P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth.

With this in mind, I decided to look into the small, Laguna-based bank that Tish Bautista claims

had been used by the Comelec chairman to hide the bulk of the stash. According to her affidavit, submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation, her husband put in upwards of P300 million in Luzon Development Bank that was not reflected in his official Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, apart from other pricey real estate here and abroad that he kept a secret from his own wife.

Bautista’s SALN is of supreme importance because, as an impeachable official, he must recall that the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was convicted, removed from office and died a broken man because he was found guilty of not declaring all of his wealth.

Why would Bautista put so much money in LDB, when common sense would dictate that he should be keeping in it bigger banks that are more stable and secure? And why would Bautista be regularly depositing money in increments of P400,000 in the Laguna bank, in an appar-

ent attempt to keep his banking activity under the radar of nosy agencies like the Anti-Money Laundering Council?

Bautista, in various interviews, has explained that the money in LDB is not solely his but that of his parents and siblings, especially those who are abroad and

All of us will soon get to know more about how rich the Comelec boss has become. who are building up “nest eggs” for when they retire and return to the Philippines. (This excuse certainly does not free Bautista of liability; in fact, it raises questions of logic because Bautista’s

relatives have apparently been depositing undeclared money in his name while he was in government, when nearly all officials even divest their holdings before joining the civil service, in order to keep them out of the sight of state auditors.)

Besides, according to Bautista, he keeps so much money in LDB because he knows the owners – the Limcaoco family – and trusts them. One of his brothers, he said, was classmates in the Ateneo with banker Jose Teodoro “TG” Katigbak Limcaoco, one of the children of the bank’s founders, who also founded the Lica Group, the company that controls the diversified businesses owned by the same family.

But is that really all there is to it? My investigations say otherwise. *** According to its website (ldb. ph), LDB was founded by a group of businessmen led by Rene H. Limcaoco as Laguna Development Bank with a paid-up capital of P1 million in 1961. In 1975, af-

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ManilaStandard

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

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion

PRESIDENT Duterte said that as an incentive to the soldiers fighting it out with terrorists in Marawi, he will send them to Hong Kong with their wives or common-law partners. All expenses will be covered.

Santa Banana, why give the soldiers incentives when it is their duty to fight the enemies of the state? Then again, Mr. Duterte is the commander in chief and he must feel the soldiers deserve it. My only question, as a taxpayer, is this: Why include the wives and the common-law partners? *** Listening to the congressional hearings about the smuggling of shabu through the Bureau of Customs, I am convinced of the incompetence of that former mutineer, Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon.

When President Duterte appointed Faeldon to the post, I warned him against placing a newcomer to the bureau. There is an entrenched cabal of corrupt brokers and importers who act in tandem with Customs personnel. A “novato” like Faeldon would need at least six months to learn the system and procedures in the agency.

It became worse when Faeldon brought along his fellow Magdalo mutineers to occupy sensitive positions at the BOC. Thus, when shabu passed the express lane at BoC, the smuggling cartel in connivance with corrupt Customs officials went to town. In other words, “napalusutan si Faeldon.” He obviously did not know what was going on in his turf.

This is always the dilemma of a president. If he names an insider, he cannot be sure that the appointee is not part of the syndicate. If he chooses an outsider, corrupt officials in the agency will run circles around him.

This is exactly what is happening with Faeldon.

In my younger years as a journalist, I covered Customs.

I know for a fact that being Customs chief is a 24/7 job. It is worse when you have an incompetent commissioner at the helm. *** It appears that Philippine National Police Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is out of touch with reality.

Take the killing of the former journalist and PR consultant.

He and his brother were murdered in San Juan. And then, a councilor was shot dead outside a shopping mall in Las Piñas. A judge was slain and his wife was wounded in an ambush.

In these killings, no arrests have been made. The police still have to establish the motives of the perpetrators.

It seems that the police is failing in its job to serve and protect the people. Until these killings are solved and the perpetrators are brought to justice, we will no longer feel safe in our homes and on the streets. *** The Japanese are often associated with the Bushido Code. It

demands honesty, discipline and honor.

It is fascinating how the Japanese live these values. We saw this in action in 2011, when Japan was struck by a tsunami.

The discipline and consideration that they showed amid tragedy was remarkable.

Another aspect of this honor system is accountability. It is typical of the Japanese to accept responsibility for all the consequences of their actions.

Unfortunately, as in every culture, there are exceptions.

This may apply to the highprofile estafa case against top executives of the giant firm Fujitsu. The circumstances that led to this lawsuit are rooted in honor.

Berny Realty and Development Corp. sued Fujitsu Philippines and its board members Shiro Ogata, Hiroshi Nakamura, Junichi Sato and Tomoji Sato for failing to uphold a property sale that was agreed upon both verbally and in writing.

Fujitsu sold, through a broker, a 20-hectare property at the First Philippines Industrial Park in Tanauan, Batangas for P150 million. Ogata and BDRC representative Necisto Sytengco shook hands in the deal and this was witnessed by representatives. The agreement was later on formalized in writing which was signed by Sato.

Given the signed paperwork, BRDC issued checks amounting to P30 million as down payment, which was received by the broker. Naturally, knowing that they already bought the property, the BRDC spent another P5 million in repairs and secured all necessary Philippine Economic Zone Authority permits to proceed with the business.

It seems Fujitsu had a different idea.

Despite the perfected contract of sale and money changing hands, they refused to execute a Deed of Absolute Sale.

The supposed reason? They needed to obtain approval of the firm. Santa Banana, since when do you need the go-signal of the previous owner to sell something that you already own?

The plot thickens. After weeks and months of follow-up, and offering to pay the remaing balance, Fujitsu informed BRDC that it could no longer sell the property because it had sold it back to FPIP! Things became even more absurd when it was revealed that the FPIP bought the property back for only P110 million—P40 million less than what BRDC was ready to pay.

You have to admire these people, my gulay!

Whether there was conspiracy or collusion between Fujitsu and the FPIP is anybody’s guess.

Months ago, the Office of the City Prosecutor of Makati denied the motion for reconsideration of the Japanese executives, saying it found no merit in the counterargument of the expatriates.

An old Japanese proverb seems to apply here: “A hundred years cannot undo a moment’s loss of honor.”

But...

From A4

former Czech Republic Ambassador Josef Rychtar and the alleged anomalous awarding of the multi-billion-peso contract to purchase new license plates for motor vehicles by the Land Transportation Office.

Now why would Bautista deny any links to Timmy Limcaoco, his bosom buddy in Ateneo High School 4-A and younger brother of TG? Is the money in the Limcaocos’ bank in Bautista’s name even his, really, or someone else’s?

I guess, when the various investigations of Bautista start, all of us will get to know more about how rich the Comelec boss has become. And if he will be forced to give up money that is not his—or even his relatives’, either.

I warned about this happening.

Timmy Limcaoco was one of the undersecretaries appointed

by Mar Roxas when he assumed the post of transportation secretary early in the Aquino administration. Limcaoco was kept on by Roxas’ infamous replacement, Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, when the latter replaced Mar, who moved to the Interior department with the death of Jesse Robredo.

Limcaoco, the transportation undersecretary for planning, has been charged with graft together with Abaya and other officials in connection with two of the most egregious deals of the DoTC— the Inekon scandal exposed by

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Fools

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Incompetence at Customs

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

FORMATION GARY OLIVAR LAST week I wrote about my friend lawyer Larry Gadon’s perhaps-quixotic campaign to impeach the current Chief Justice on exactly the same charge that her immediate predecessor was impeached and dismissed for, i.e. the filing of an erroneous statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) as required of public officials.

It seems like simple justice, doesn’t it? “Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander,” as the trite saying goes. Which is why I was amazed at the strident reactions to Atty. Larry’s filing by two law school deans no less, both writing last Saturday.

One of them, from a prestigious Jesuit university, is a fellow columnist in the mainstream press; let’s call him Dean Divine. The other is from a crowded downtown university; let’s call him Dean Holy Mary (as you can see, I’m sacrally inclined).

First let’s understand where Dean Divine is coming from, in a

piece he wrote for online Rappler right after the Corona impeachment in June 2012: “The conviction of Renato Corona under Article II of the impeachment complaint against him should count as a victory in Philippine governance—first, by the successful completion of the impeachment process, and second, by setting the standard of accountability that should be met by our public officials.”

Okay, brave words indeed. But what does Divine have to say about Sereno’s impeachment on exactly the same grounds as Article II: the filing of an erroneous SALN? “There is absolutely no truth to [the SALN charge]…Chief Justice Sereno, at that time a private practitioner…was compensated professionally by the PH government and all the payments to her have been duly reported to the authorities.”

Does this sound like a resounding denial that she filed an erroneous SALN, never mind what other reports she may or may not have separately prepared? Not to me.

Divine goes on to object to every other allegation lodged against Sereno, both by Atty.

Larry and separately by VACC’s Dante Jimenez. Yet he had no such

qualms about the fishing expedition launched against Corona, when the opening salvo of something like two dozen different allegations ended up with just that single solitary charge: an erroneous SALN filing that can be remedied simply by filing an amended SALN. For his part, Dean Holy Mary, writing for online Interaksyon, rhetorically asks, “CJ Sereno poses no grave danger to the nation: Impeachment is a waste of time.”

Again this distressingly forgiving attitude, shared with Dean Divine, when it comes to Sereno but not Corona, although both were charged with the exact same offense.

I could go on and on, but let me close on Divine with his pontification: “A fool’s errand is defined as attempt to do something that has no chance of success…

Impeaching CJ Sereno is a fool’s errand…Our representatives are duly warned: fools attract fools, and only fools will endorse these complaints.”

Holy Mary says pretty much the same thing: “How can such impeachment cases prosper? Only when their champions in Congress are totally warped in their advocacies.”

Well. One thing you can’t accuse Divine of is foolishness.

That’s because, in 2012, PNoy took care to line the pockets of Congress with hundreds of millions in bribe money misappropriated from DAP in order to convict Corona. No longer was his impeachment just a “fool’s errand.”

Only three senators turned out to be “fools” and “warped.” Two of them, the redoubtable Joker Arroyo and Miriam Santiago, have gone on to the great debating chamber in the sky. The third, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., showed the steel in his spine, on this and other votes, that puts his ideological nemeses to shame.

The rest of the obliging congressmen and senators were not “fools” at all, not with all that cash for the taking. Neither did they allow their priorities to be “warped” by something as old-fashioned as conscience. You know who they were; their names are still on record.

Which of course begs the question of who were/are being played for fools in the Corona impeachment (when it succeeded) and now in the Sereno impeachment (if it fails). Dare we say, the Filipino people?

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Faeldon’s faildom HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA THERE is an interesting site in the Internet which deals with “new” words in the English language. One such word is “faildom,” which is defined as “when one fails too much it becomes one’s life.”

That word best describes Nicanor Faeldon, the beleaguered commissioner of the Bureau of Customs currently under fire for many controversies in the bureau, including a report that he allowed a shipment of shabu worth P6.4 billion from Communist China to the Philippines last week. The other allegations against him include his illegal raid on a warehouse of narcotics.

If those allegations against Commissioner Faeldon are true, and the current congressional investigations seem to confirm this, then the anti-narcotics campaign launched by President Rodrigo Duterte is in serious jeopardy.

At the very least, these revelations are clear indications that Faeldon has to go. Allowing him to stay in office any further will damage the credibility Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

What is truly telling is that the shipment containing 605 kilograms of shabu worth P6.4 billion slipped passed the Bureau of Customs supposedly undetected.

It was allowed access through the so-called “green lane,” a process reserved only for reputable and trustworthy importers, in gross violation of protocols.

When the anomaly was exposed in the news media, Faeldon offered

United...

From A4 legislators, also authored also the Free High School Law and

as well as co-authored the laws creating the Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skill Development Authority.

The senior Angara also was one of the most decisive and visionary presidents of the University of the Philippines. Senator Sonny himself is responsible for such laws as the Ladderized Education Act, the Open Learning and Distance Education Act, and the Unified Student Financial Assistance System Act. Truly, the Angaras, as legislators, can now claim together a great and lasting education legacy. They are both architects and engineers, at least in law, who have laid down the foundations of our current educational system.

Like the House, the leaders of the Senate can rightly share the credit for this law. Thus, Senate President Koko Pimentel, Finance Committee chairman Loren Legarda, current Education Committee chairman Chiz Escudero, the other co-sponsors of the Senate bill, and specially Senator Ping Lacson who can share in the credit as well.

In the executive branch, the leadership on this issue of Commissioner Prospero De Vera of the Commission on Higher Education is undisputed. He exhibited brilliant thinking, great courage, and formidable will, advocating this from the

the lame excuse that the x-ray machines in the Bureau’s inspection area are not sophisticated enough to detect narcotics.

If that is so, and Faeldon was aware of it, why didn’t he cause their replacement with state-ofthe-art detectors?

Faeldon’s lame excuse is belied by the revelation that a day before the shipment, a risk management officer of the bureau, acting on a tip from China, requested Faeldon to issue an alert order on the shipment. Faeldon ignored the recommendation.

There is more. When another tip from China provided an opportunity to recover the illegal drugs at a certain warehouse in Valenzuela City, Faeldon raided the warehouse without obtaining the requisite search warrant.

After locating the narcotics at the warehouse, Faeldon had the crates containing the drugs opened even before representatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency could arrive to process the haul. Faeldon’s act was in violation of the rules governing seizures of illegal drugs.

To justify what happened, Faeldon claimed that the PDEA representatives took so long to arrive at the warehouse.

Assuming that to be true, Faeldon should have ordered Bureau policemen and guards to secure the warehouse until the PDEA representatives arrived. He didn’t.

After the raid, Faeldon turned over just 100 kilograms of the smuggled shabu, again in violation of the law.

The Constitution provides that any evidence obtained in a raid conducted without a search warrant is inadmissible in evidence for any purpose in any proceeding. Since the raid was conducted without the requisite search

warrant, senators and congressmen investigating the anomaly fear that the evidence seized at the warehouse may be inadmissible in court, and will allow the smugglers and drug dealers concerned to escape criminal prosecution. Observers suspect that this is the reason why Faeldon conducted the raid without obtaining the requisite search warrant.

At the Senate investigation of this anomaly, Senator Richard Gordon was right in scolding Faeldon and his men. Gordon bluntly called them either incompetent or corrupt.

Despite his protestations of innocence in the news media, Faeldon’s actions and omissions betray him. To date, Faeldon and his people have not filed criminal charges against the owner of the smuggled shabu, a certain Richard Chen or Richard Tan. This has prompted Representative Harry Roque to suspect that Faeldon is protecting the drug smuggler.

Another anomaly discovered is the creation by Faeldon of a command center vested with the exclusive authority to issue alert orders.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the creation of that center is illegal because the Department of Finance has not issued any administrative order authorizing its creation.

There is also the disturbing revelation from Senator Panfilo Lacson that every container smuggled into the country yields a payoff of at least P27,000 for corrupt customs personnel. That means an annual figure of a whopping P147 billion, a sum large enough to wipe out the current budget deficit in the government.

The anomalies do not end there.

It was also revealed by Representative Raneo Abu that Faeldon

hired 28 athletes and assigned them to his office as “intelligence agents.” Questioned about this, Faeldon simply said that athletes are in the best position to improve the public image of the Bureau.

What hogwash! The public image of the Bureau is best improved by openly firing corrupt customs officials and personnel and filing criminal raps against them. Once the public is convinced that there are no sacred cows in the Bureau, its image will improve drastically.

Hiring athletes as “intelligence agents” will not improve the public image of the Bureau.

Representative Robert Ace Barbers, who heads the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, asserted that the athletes hired by Faeldon are not even qualified to work for the Bureau. Barbers is right. How athletes can actually conduct intelligence work relating to big-time smuggling at the piers and ports is a big mystery.

Analysts believe that this anomaly in the Bureau strongly suggests that Faeldon and his long-time fellow coup plotter, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, are beefing up their war chest through the Bureau in preparation for another attempt to overthrow the government—this time the government under President Duterte.

Data provided by the Department of Finance indicate that the collection effort of the Bureau of Customs from the time Faeldon assumed office until May 2017 is the same as in 2015, and even less than in 2014. That’s failure plain and simple.

A few days ago, Faeldon announced that he had asked President Duterte to fire him. Faeldon should spare the president the inconvenience. He should do everyone a favor by resigning his post immediately.

beginning and sticking with it to the end even when it seemed the President might veto it.

In the field of public opinion, political analyst Malou Tiquia patiently explained what the bill was all about. I credit her writings for turning around policy makers, especially those who ultimately prevailed in convincing the President to sign the law.

Fr. Joel Tabora SJ, president of Ateneo de Davao University and the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines, and his colleagues worked hard to make the final version of the law work for private schools (which educate many more students than public universities and colleges). In his blog, Fr. Joel points out that “this law is not just about free tuition for those privileged to be accepted into state-run tertiary level schools like U.P. or Bicol State University or Mindanao State University.”

According to Fr. Joel: “It is about promoting access to quality tertiary education for all. That is the meaning of universal access, access for all. But is also not about promoting access to just any higher education. The legislators were aware, as parents and students are, that improving access to bad education is a sham . . . The legislators and the educators whom they consulted were aware that while state-run schools ought to deliver quality education, in many state-run schools quality is a work in progress. That work in progress would be seriously impeded were the state schools sud-

denly overpopulated by students entitled to free higher education. They were also aware that even if all state run schools were schools of highest quality, they would not be able to accommodate all Filipinos wishing to get quality higher education.”

Through the Tertiary Education Subsidy and the Student Loan Program, this law also assists students who cannot be accepted into state universities and who opt for quality education in private higher educational institutions. As a professor of many private universities, in Manila and Mindanao, I can attest that many of our students come from the poorest in society.

Budget Secretary Ben Diokno and many of our economists are right.

The numbers here are challenging but they can be made to work. Senator Legarda, who chairmans the Senate Committee on Finance, acknowledged as much. According to her, “If we are able to provide funds for universal healthcare, free irrigation, and higher budget for infrastructure, there is no reason not to provide for free college education.

After all, the Constitution states that education should be the highest budgetary priority. It is not enough that it is at the top of the budget list, we must also ensure that funds are sufficient.”

Secretary Diokno, an academic and a colleague in the University of the Philippines whose whole professional career has consistently been about the country investing property for the future, was attacked for the wrong choice of words about

college education benefiting only the individual. Knowing where Diokno’s heart is, that was taken out of context. Certainly, Diokno is right about targeting support for the poor.

If this law does not result in much bigger percentages of poor students getting college degrees, whether from public or private institutions, it would be a big failure and would not accomplish its objective of universal access to quality higher education.

CHED should adopt indicators that would track success along these lines.

Without qualification, President Duterte must be credited for prioritizing the youth and their future. He could have listened to his economic managers as President Aquino did when he vetoed the law on internally displaced persons, probably a sound short-term fiscal decision but a terrible social injustice. Duterte cannot get other things now: his military build up for example will be compromised and Build Build Build will have to more modest. But frankly, these two implications might be good for the country (the latter might be better achieved through public private partnerships).

So for everyone claiming this was the opposition that made this possible or that Duterte alone did this or a particular senator or another was the key person, I say CHILL. This was everyone working together for the whole country, united in educating our youth.

Facebook: https://web.facebook. com/deantonylavs/ Twitter: tonylavs

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

JV OKd to attend Japan health forum

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Sandiganbayan has granted the appeal of Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito that he be allowed to attend a four-day forum on global health in Tokyo, Japan.

At a hearing conducted by the anti-graft's Sixth Division, Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada approved the motion to travel by Ejercito from Aug.23 to 26.

In his motion, Ejercito said the Japan Parliamentary League for the World Health Organization asked him to attend its third meeting on the Asia Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health.

Attached to Ejercito's motion was an authorization to travel for the forum issued by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. Ejercito said he must be allowed to attend the forum not only as part of his function as legislator but also because of the fact that he is still presumed innocent on the anti-graft case leveled against him. He added he is not a flight risk.

Ejercito is facing a technical malversation case at the San-

Naia workers lauded, awarded

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Manila International Airport Authority on Monday recognized 17 workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for their outstanding performance, responsibilities and honesty in the line of duty.

MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal also led the awarding of honest airport-based rank-and-file employees who returned gadgets, cash and other valuable items which were left behind by passengers.

The recognition rites were held during the flag raising ceremony on Monday at the agency's main administration office compound in Pasay City.

Those commended include Airport Police Officers Danilo Inalves, Alvin Patayan, Fernando Panghulan, Marvil Cloyd Abalos, Barry Allan Alvaran, Jim Allan Alcantara and Imee Divine Sodela, all assigned at the Airport Police Department-Investigation and Intelligence Division.

Monreal said the police officers were recognized for meritorious conduct in the performance of their official duties and functions in planning and conducting covert surveillance operations that resulted in the arrest and filing of criminal charges against six members of the notorious Salisi Gang two months ago at Naia terminal 2.

Other awardees were security guards Arwin Matawaran, Rio Once and George Cablido for returning backpacks and a bag of passengers containing gadgets, important documents, cash month and other valuables at Naia terminals 2 and 3.

Also recognized were airport building attendants and job-order personnel Peachy Nolasco, Jake Ventura, Sylvia Dolot, Helen Falaminiano, Victor Magallanes, Danilo Martinez and Joenard Deverso Jr. Last month, a passenger praised the airport administration and three of its personnel for the return of his bag containing a laptop computer and other valuables which he left unattended when he was looking for an automated teller machine booth at the airport terminal 3.

diganbayan over the allegedly anomalous purchase of highpowered firearms worth P2.1 million during his tenure as San Juan City mayor.

“Accused is not a flight risk, as he is a Senator of the Republic and owes fidelity to the people who voted for him. His scheduled quick return to the country also manifests the absence of any intention on his part to flee,” Ejercito's motion read.

The Ombudsman’s case information filed by the Ombudsman, Ejercito alleged to have conspired with San Juan City officials for the purchase of high-powered firearms in February to August 2008 during his term as the city mayor.

The Ombudsman said the funds utilized for the purchase of the firearms was sourced from the city government’s calamity fund, despite the fact that there was no state of calamity at that time.

The Ombudsman also alleged the purchase was illegal as this was carried out without public bidding and without examination of the supplier’s qualifications.

GARLIC HEARING. Senator Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food questions Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Manny Piñol during the Senate Public hearing on Garlic Prices and Garlic Industry Development held at the Senate office in Pasay City. Lino Santos

Villar lambasts Piñol, BPI officials on garlic price hike

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

A

GRICULTURE Secretary Manny Piñol and other officials of government agencies involved in the garlic industry development were lambasted by Senator Cynthia A. Villar following the increase of the prices of garlic.

Villar, chairman of the Senate agriculture committee, berated the Bureau of Plant Industry, which she accused of killing the local production of garlic so that they and the importers can enrich themselves.

Villar said that based on her own investigation, import permits issued by the BPI to farmers and farmer cooperatives were being sold to the cartel for P350,000 of 50 metric tons.

Piñol, however, insisted that the garlic cartel, which has proven to be inimical to the interest of small

farmers and cooperatives, did not happen under his watch.

“But why did the price of garlic surge to P200 per kilo?” Villar asked.

Piñol said he had canceled the IPs after the cost of garlic soared to at least P200 per kilo.

“But why did you cancel the IPs only after the spike and not before the spike,” asked Villar, as she said that the DA should have canceled the IPs of those involved in the cartel.

But Piñol said he has no list of the supposed persons linked to the gar-

lic cartel and requested for a copy.

Villar also slammed BPI officials for allowing those listed in the factfinding report to be given import permits in the last three years.

Does it mean that this cartel happened without your knowledge?

Either they are part of it or they are incompetent,” she said.

In a media briefing after the hearing, Villar told reporters that there are four dummy groups.

“It’s a group, that's cartel. They will appear to be different but definitely, they are a group,” she said.

She added that the same names appeared in the list of groups supposedly controlling the suppy of garlic in the local market.

The question here, why did the DoJ, they have the list, not file a case. And then the BPI, they saw it, but they did not blacklist in their list of importers," said Villar.

During the hearing, Villar also

took to task Justice Assistant Secretary George Ortha II for his failure to prosecute garlic importers allegedly involved in a cartel.

She said the garlic cartel controls 75 percent, and that the names of those involved in the cartel is with the DoJ. “Are you hiding the complete report so that the names of those in the list will not come out,” Villar quizzed Ortha.

“Why are you hiding the annex?

You didn't want to file a case? Malakas sa inyo ’yung cartel? Remember, they are very rich ... Bakit hindi lalagyan ang DoJ at BPI, ako may P1 billion at P2 billion a month, kahit sino sa inyo malalagyan ko na. Ganyan ang rice eh,” she said.

“Let us publish the list to put an end to this problem and the BPI should remove them,” said Villar, who chairs the agriculture committee.

Villar said she was given a copy of a 2014 fact-finding report pro-

duced by the Department of Justice Office for Competition. She said a journalist gave her a copy of the report, which did not contain the annex, where the names of those involved in the garlic cartel appeared.

Villar suggested that the DoJ and BPI officials may be benefiting from cartels, as those involved, she said, are earning P1 billion to P2 billion a month by overpricing garlic.

Explaining the DoJ’s failure to file a case, Ortha said the factfinding report was forwarded to the National Bureau of Investigation, which conducted further investigation into the cartels.

He said the NBI then filed a complaint that has since been pending with the National Prosecution Service.

“After three years, it’s still pending? Don’t fool me. I’m so tired because you have been beating around the bush. I want to follow up that case,” Villar told Ortha.

New flour mills ‘temper’ prices

By Othel V. Campos

GARBAGE IN. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu, Metro Manila Development Chairman Danilo Lim and Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista conduct an inspection at the Payatas Dumpsite in Quezon City as they discuss plans to extend the dumping of garbabe in the dumpsite until December. Manny Palmero

House postpones SK, barangay elections THE leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday moved to postpone the scheduled October 2017 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to May 2018 with a holdover provision among incumbent village officials, a House official said on Monday.

House majority floor leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the House leadership reached a consensus following an all-party caucus where the House members agreed to hold the barangay elections in time for the Charter change plebiscite and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law in May next year.

By postponing the conduct of this October's barangay elections, Fariñas said the incumbent village officials will be retained in a holdover capacity.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous

drugs and author of House Bill (HB) 5359 which seeks to postpone the twin polls, said Congress can still beat the deadline to pass his measure.

“We still have enough time to postpone the barangay and SK polls. We hope Malacañang will certify the bill as urgent to make this possible,” said Barbers.

Aside from Barbers' bill, HB 5361 and 5380 were filed by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco and ANAC-IP party-list Rep. Jose Panganiban Jr., respectively.

The bills were entitled “An Act Postponing The October 2017 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, Amending For the Purpose Republic Act 9164, As Amended By RA 9340, RA 10656 and RA10923, Prescribing Additional Rules Governing The Conduct Of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections And For Other Purposes.” Maricel V. Cruz

STRONG competition from new flour mills and imported flour mostly from Turkey, Vietnam and Indonesia is tempering the rise in the price of locally milled flour as millers and importers try to jockey for bigger share of the market.

Still due to the surge in wheat prices worldwide caused by drought in spring wheat growing areas of the United States, flour prices will have to go up in the next months leading to the harvest in October this year, the Philippine Association of Flour Millers Inc. said in a statement Monday.

There are eight new flour mills in the country, up from only 12 mills two years ago. There are around 12 major flour importers bringing in flour from Turkey Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Romania and lately, China.

Imported flour has taken 10 percent of the country's 82-million bag flour consumption with Turkey controlling 70 percent of the imported flour market

share. Each flour bag weighs 25 kgs.

Wheat prices surged starting May this year and peaked at $8.22 per bushel, up 50.4 percent from $5.40 per bushel. The depreciation of the peso also contributed to the rise in wheat acquisition cost by local millers.

The Philippines imported 2.6 million metric tons of wheat last year, 95 percent of these from the United States.

Other sources of wheat are Canada and Australia but both these countries are also affected by drought.

The only bright spot in the horizon is the expected better than anticipated wheat harvest from Russia which trade analysts say is looking at a possible 70.5 million metric ton harvest.

Russian wheat though is generally of lower protein compared to US spring wheat. Analysts anticipate that low quality wheat buyers like Egypt, Bangladesh and other flat bread consumers may shift their attention to the Russian source thus relieving supply pressure from the usual US suppliers.

DoH sets HPV vaccination for schoolgirls THE Department of Health said on Monday that around 700,000 female public school students in 47 provinces will receive free vaccination against the human papillomavirus —a virus that causes cervical cancer as it launched the school-based immunization for the said virus.

The expanded program had a take-off inaugural vaccination activity at Addition Hills Integrated School in Mandaluyong City.

Done in cooperation with the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, over 180 Grade IV female students with consent from their parents were vaccinated with the quadrivalent HPV during the event.

Health Secretary Dr. Paulyn Jean RosellUbial said shifting the HPV vaccination from a community-based to a school-based approach enables her department to provide vaccination services to a ‘catch’ population.

"We will be able to reach high coverage

and dropout rate will be minimized. School health settings will provide good opportunities to integrate vaccine delivery with other health interventions like health information and warnings against tobacco and drug use,” explained Ubial.

She noted that making modern healthcare solutions more readily available for people has always been one of the foremost thrust of the local government, especially when it comes to preventing unnecessary suffering.

She said HPV vaccination is part of the DoH’s National Immunization Program. She said vaccination is a basic right of children and that “no child shall be deprived of this right.”

"Our children are one of the most important assets of this country; therefore, every effort should be made to promote their welfare and optimum development. They should be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.

And what better way to do this than through

vaccination,” she said.

Mandaluyong Mayor Carmelita Abalos also showed her support to the latest initiative of the health department.

The city's Congresswoman Queenie Gonzales, meanwhile, underscored the significance of vaccination in upholding health and quality of life for the family.

She said women have always been at the heart of the Filipino family and society. They are our mothers, sisters, and daughters.

"We must ensure their protection against diseases such as cervical cancer. Bringing the vaccines in schools, where the target beneficiaries are gathered, helps in intensifying the effort.”

Also gracing the occasion were Dr. Ponciano Menguito, DepEd Regional Director for NCR; Hon. Alexandria Gonzales, Representative-Lone District of Mandaluyong City; and Dr. Ariel Valencia, Regional Director of DoH-NCR. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Sports

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Bowie scorches 100-m dash L

ONDON—American Tori Bowie upset Jamaican favourite Elaine Thompson to win world 100m on Sunday, as New Zealander Tomas Walsh dominated the shot put with a stunning series of throws.

Before another packed-out session at the London Stadium, Greek pole vaulter Ekaterina Stefanidi and heptathlete Nafi Thiam also added world titles to the Olympic golds they won in Rio last year.

Earlier in the day, Kenya’s Geoffrey Kipkorir Kirui won the men’s marathon to make up for his country’s podium no-show in the last two championships, while Kenyan-born Bahraini Rose Chelimo edged veteran Edna Kiplagat to win the women’s race.

Twenty-four hours after the fireworks of the men’s 100m final when Usain Bolt was upstaged by arch-rival Justin Gatin, Bowie ensured the US team made it 2-0 in the sprint stakes over Jamaica on day three of the championships.

Bowie made up for her silver at the Rio Games with a savage dip at the line that saw her win in 10.85 seconds, just one-hundredth ahead of Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou, with Thompson fifth (10.98).

“The dive doesn’t feel too good now,” said US champion Bowie. “I

never give up until I’m over the line.”

Bowie fell to the ground after crossing the line and initially it was Ta Lou who celebrated only for the board to say otherwise.

“I had no idea that I had won,” said Bowie. “The only thing I knew was that tonight I was going to lay it all on the line.”

Thompson had started well, but faded after the halfway mark, unable to find an extra gear as she has done most of the season.

Ta Lou then emerged as the clear leader but Bowie ate into her advantage and then produced the dip of her life to take the title from under the diminutive Ivorian’s nose.

Imperial Walsh In the field, Walsh was in imperial form, producing his best, 22.03 metres, with the sixth and

final effort in the men’s shot.

The 25-year-old former builder edged out America’s defending champion Joe Kovacs, who posted a best of 21.66.

There was drama to the end, however, as Kovacs was left fuming that his final throw that appeared to be more than 22m was ruled, rightly, a foul.

Croatia’s Stipe Zunic took the bronze with 21.46m whilst there was disappointment for Olympic champion Ryan Crouser, who could finish only sixth with 21.20m.

“To pull it out on the last one is awesome,” said Walsh.

“I knew that Crouser was going to attack on the last attempt and it is so special for me to know that I was able to attack, too.”

Greece’s Olympic champion Stefanidi enjoyed a compelling

battle with American Sandi Morris in the pole vault.

The 27-year-old vaulted a national record of 4.91 metres for victory, failing three times at what would have been a championship record of 5.02m.

Morris, the world indoor champion and Olympic silver medallist on countback from Stefanidi in Rio last year, claimed silver with a best of 4.75m.

Cuba’s defending champion Yarisley Silva shared bronze with Robeilys Peinado of Venezuela.

Stefanidi’s feat was mirrored by Thiam, the 21-year-old Belgian doing just enough in the seventh and final event of the heptathlon, the 800m, to amass a winning total of 6,784 points, with overnight leader Carolin Schafer of Germany taking silver with 6,696. AFP

Pablo is PVL Player of Week POCARI Sweat’s Myla Pablo earned the Philips GoldPVL Press Corps Player of the Week for games played from August 2-6.

Thriving in games that mattered, Pablo kept the Lady Warriors’ hopes for a fourth straight championship alive.

Pocari Sweat got a lifeline as it avoided elimination with a 25-22, 16-25, 2325, 25-21, 15-12 win over Philippine Air Force in Game 2 of their semifinals series last Sunday.

Pablo came through with 20 attacks and two blocks to finish with 22 points and had 12 digs to power the Lady Warriors in tying the bestof-three series at one game apiece.

“We just kept the faith and showed teamwork,” said Pablo.

It was a huge bounce back victory for Pocari Sweat after last Saturday’s disappointing 20-25, 19-25, 20-25 loss in the semis opener.

Pablo led the Lady Warriors in Game 1 with 13 points and seven digs.

One of the leading contenders for the conference MVP honors, Pablo led all comers in scoring in the elimination round with 143 points on 128 spikes, 11 blocks and four service aces.

The former National University star wound up second in spiking department with 39.75 percent success rating and No. 9 in blocking with 0.42 average per set.

Pablo bested the BaliPure’s Aiko Urdas and Creamline’s Rosemarie Vargas for the weekly honors.

US athlete Tori Bowie (center) crosses the finish line next to Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure (L) and Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson to win the final of the women’s 100m athletics event at the 2017 IAAF World Championships at the London Stadium in London. AFP

Abad, Velez stay on collision course DAVAOEÑAS Danna Abad and Patricia Velez fashioned out straight-set victories over their respective rivals to roll into the semifinal round of the girls’ premier class in the PPS-PEPP Olivarez Open regional age group 2017 at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque yesterday.

But while the top seeded Abad dominated Francesca Cruz, 6-1, 6-1, the No. 5 Velez needed to toughen up to upend No. 2 Ma. Aubrey Calma, 6-4, 6-3, and reach the Final Four of the 18-and-under division of the Group I tournament sponsored by the Olivarez family as part of its longtime commitment to help in the country’s talent-search.

But Abad will have her hands full against No. 4 Nicole Bautista, who defeated Denise Bernardo, 6-1, 7-5, while Velez will face Bea Acena, who trounced Bliss Bayking, 6-0, 6-4, in the event serving as a prelude to the Open which features the country’s leading players and rising stars.

Meanwhile, 156 players slug it out for eight berths in the main draw of the Olivarez Open in the two-day qualifier starting today (Tuesday).

Top seed Johnny Arcilla and No. 2 PJ Tierro lead the battle for the top P50,000 purse staked in the 64-player men’s Open, while Clarice Patrimonio and Khim Iglupas are the top two seeds in the women’s side offering a top prize of P25,000 in the week-long event backed by PPS-PEPP, Stronghold Insurance, Milestone Guarantee Assurance Corp. and Sterling Insurance Company.

Gabriel Tiamson, on the other hand, stunned top seed Klyde Lagarde, 6-0, 6-0, to advance to the semis against Lordrenz Pacheco, who repelled Ramon Bentillo, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5; while No. 2 Vince Tugade romped past Athan Arejola, 6-1, 6-1, for a semis clash with Jeremiah Macias III, 6-1, 6-2, in the boys’ 18-U side of the event backed by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Other semifinalists were Marcus Del Rosario, Laurenz Quitara, Lagarde and Tugade (16-U); John David Velez, Jay Balaoing, Sal Andre Lago and Exequiel Jacutan (14-U); Marc Jarata, Reyman Saldivar Jr. and Lago (12-U); and Tenielle Madis, Alexi Jarata, Connor Cuizon and Samuel Salazar (10-unisex).

Madis actually took the first finals slot in the girls’ 12-U with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jiana Hernandez while the other matches in various girls’ divisions were still being played at presstime.

The top three placers in all age-group categories will gain ranking points for a chance to compete abroad and free training under the program of the Unified Tennis Group, composed of Cebuana Lhuillier, PPS-PEPP, Wilson, Toby’s, BMeg, Citigreen, Babolat, Tru-Flez and all regional allies from Regions 1-18. For details, call Bobby Mangunay, the PPSPEPP sports program development director at 0915-4046464.

Quezon City Football Club to represent PH in Gothia Cup QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Monday led city officials in sending off the U-13 team of the Quezon City Football Club that will represent the Philippines in the Gothia Cup 2017 to be held in Shenyang, China from Aug. 12 to 20.

Twenty-one young athletes, with age ranging from 11 to 12, are scheduled to leave for China on Aug. 12 with four coaching staff in partnership with the Laos Football Club.

The QC Football Club, headed by retired Marine Colonel Jameel RM Jaymalin, is under the Quezon City Street Soccer League Organizing Committee.

More than 40 countries will compete in the Gothia Cup 2017. The Gothia Cup is the largest world youth football tournament.

“This year nagkaroon ng invitation ang Gotiah Cup. Ito ang pinakamalaking world youth football tournament. Nagpadala sila ng invitation kay Mayor Herbert Bautista kaya nakipag-usap ang

Quezon City Football Club kay Mayor Bautista at Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte kung pwede itong magpadala ng team,” QCFC coaching staff JayR Ubales said.

Team members are the selected young football players from different communities in Quezon City, including Barangays Payatas, Socorro, Sto. Cristo, Tatalon, and Culiat.

The QC Football Club has competed in the Pilipinas Cup and placed fourth in the Borneo Cup 2016.

“Usually, financial grants ang ibinibigay ng Quezon City government sa Quezon City Football Club.

Kami’y natutuwa sa sinabi nina Mayor Bautista at Vice Mayor Joy na magpasa o mag-submit kami ng proposal kung paano mapapalaganap ang hilig sa football sa buong city at lahat ng barangay magkaroon ng football program,” QCFC coaching staff Ubales said.

“Malaki ang pasasalamat namin sa Quezon City government. Kung hindi dahil sa support nito ay hindi ma-

Autistic golfer dreams of Green Jacket ANSEONG, South Korea—Golf is among the most solitary of sports, its players engaged in a constant struggle with themselves as they compete against the implacable opponent of par.

But for autistic newly qualified professional Simon Seungmin Lee, it is a way to escape from his enclosed self and engage with the world.

The 20-year-old South Korean, who grew up in the US, has been medically assessed as having the communication skills of a child half his age—and the socialisation abilities of a 10-month-old baby.

But six years after taking up the clubs, and following five failed attempts, he secured professional status at a Korea PGA trial in May—one of the few autistic people to do so anywhere in the world.

His next goal is a tour card at the Korea PGA qualifying school in November.

“I love golf,” said Lee, who has difficulty speaking and whose mother helped him communicate throughout the interview.

“I want to win the Masters,” he added.

‘Good night, mother’ Lee started showing symptoms in his early childhood in the United States where his father, a South Korean diplomat, was stationed.

“He started avoiding eye contact and replying with what the other person had just said. My heart sank one day when I said, ‘Good night Seungmin’, and he replied ‘Good night Seungmin’, instead of ‘Good night mother’,” she said of the phenomenon known as echolalia.

He tends to show attachments to certain objects—another common symptom—most notably a Patrick the Starfish character doll he was given when the family went to the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida 10 years ago.

Asked by his mother who he would rescue first from a sinking ship, her or the doll, Lee grimaced and groaned, unable to make up his mind. AFP

Antonio wins Chess Mates Rapid tourney IN preparation for bigger tournaments lined up for him this year, Grandmaster Joey Antonio dominated the recent 5th Chess Mates Rapid Open Tournament last Sunday at the Southgate Mall in Makati.

Antonio swept all of his opponents in the 7-round Swiss system tournament organized by Chess Mates, led by Gracielle Macaspac and sponsored by Southgate Mall.

Among those who were crushed by Antonio are Anatoly Pascua Jr., Ricardo Batcho, Jerome Villanueva, Rolly Parondo Jr., IM Ronald Dableo, Sherwin Tiu and Florel Cruz.

“Magandang preparasyon ito para sa mga susunod na tournaments na sasalihan ko. Hopefully, magtuluy-tuloy,” said the 55-year-old GM. Antonio is scheduled to compete through the help of his benefactors Col. Jim Santos and Atty. Coburn Anthony Orbe of Alphaland in the KL Open on Aug. 25 and the Battle of the Grandmasters 2017 National Open, where he is the defending champion.

He is also set to participate in the coming Asian Seniors in New Zealand in October and the World Seniors in Acqui Terme, Italy in November .

Antonio went home with the top prize of P7,500 and a trophy from the tournament participated by 55 rated and non-rated players.

LOTTO RESULTS Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Josefina Belmonte led city officials in sending off the Under 13 team of the Quezon City Football Club during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony program at QC Hall. The QCFC will represent the Philippines in the Under 13 category of the Gothia Cup 2017 in Shenyang, China from Aug. 12 to 20. With them are Councilors Godofredo Liban, Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar, Voltaire Liban III and the QCFC team coaches (far right).

giging possible na makapagpadala tayo ng mga players sa ibang bansa.

Pangatlong beses na itong magkocompete sa soccer football internationally. Hindi lang naman ang prestige na tayo ang magrerepresent sa

Pilipinas kundi ‘yung pagbabago sa buhay ng mga bata na naibibigay ng pagtulong ng city government. Bukod sa monetary consideration, mas malaki ang tulong ng city sa development ng mga bata,” he added.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Sports

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

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

Duterte to skip athletes’ SEAG sendoff

Jeff Chan, one of Rain or Shine’s main players in its two league championships, will be wearing the Phoenix uniform soon after he was sent by the Painters to the Fuel Masters in exchange for forward Mark Borboran and a second-round pick in the coming draft.

Chan headed to Phoenix

By Jeric Lopez

I

N A bid to change its recent mediocre fortunes in the Philippine Basketball Association, Rain or Shine made waves yesterday.

After a longtime partnership, the Elasto Painters surprisingly traded veteran gunner Jeff Chan to go in a new direction.

Rain or Shine shipped Chan, one of its main players in its two league championships, to Phoenix in exchange for forward Mark Borboran and a second-round pick in the coming draft Monday afternoon.

The transaction was already finalized and sent to the Commissioner’s Office for approval, but it is expected

to be official soon.

In fact, Chan already attended the Fuel Masters’ practice yesterday right after the trade.

The multiple-time national team member spent the last eight years of his career with Rain or Shine as one of the team’s stars after starting his career with Red Bull in 2008.

He is now headed to his third PBA team.

Chan is now expected to add more firepower to Phoenix with his outside sniping and scoring.

With this move, Rain or Shine expects two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap to step up and pick up more scoring cudgels for the team.

The Painters didn’t stop there.

With a pedestrian 1-2 card in the ongoing Governors’ Cup, the team also decided to change its import, replacing the ineffective JD Weatherspoon with J’Nathan Bullock.

The 30-year-old Bullock last played in Finland and he already attended Rain or Shine’s practice yesterday as well to start building chemistry with his new teammates.

So falls to Carlsen in US tilt WORLD champion Magnus Carlsen bounced back from a stinging loss in Round 4, coming away with a quick 29-move triumph over Filipino grandmaster Wesley So. The white-playing So used the Scotch Defense game in his encounter with Carlsen on Sunday in the 5th Sinquefield Cup 2017 Grand Chess Tour in Saint Louis, Missouri.

The win helped Carlsen, the world’s no. 1 player in the FIDE rankings, ease the pain he felt following a heartbreaking loss to solo leader Maxime VachierLagrave in 71 moves of an English Opening.

According to analysts, So stunned Carlsen with the Scotch Game.

He had an advantage before things went downhill following a pawn sacrifice.

Carlsen’s black pieces were able to penetrate the backrank and attack So’s weak pawns in the ensuing play.

The 23-year-old So, the current US Champion, was down by two pawns when he quit.

Vachier-Lagrave drew with Levon Aronian in 45 moves of a Guioco Piano to stay in the solo lead with 3.5 points.

Carlsen shares second (three points) with Viswanathan Anand, who won over Fabiano Caruana in 29 moves of an English opening.

Caruana had 2.5 points with Aronian and Sergey Karjakin, who drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi in 60 moves of a Pirc Defense.

So has two points with Hikaru Nakamura, Peter Svidler and Nepmniachtchi. Peter Atencio

The Elasto Painters also sent rookie Mike Tolomia to Meralco for fellow Gilas Pilipinas cadet Ed Daquioag.

Both Tolomia and Daquioag are part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that will try to defend the Philippines’ basketball title in the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur this August.

With Chan’s departure, the bulk of the scoring load will now rest on the shoulders of Yap. Problem is, the 35-year-old shooting guard was never his old self since being traded to the Painters by the Star Hotshots, who in turn, took in Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee. His averages of 7.7 points, 3.3 boards, and 1.3 assists in the ongoing Governors’ Cup aren’t exactly eye-popping.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has begged off from attending the sendoff ceremony this Thursday for the national delegation heading to the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Pressing matters, including the planned visit of US Secretary of State, is keeping Mr. Duterte busy.

Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez said he will instead represent Mr. Duterte in his absence.

“We in the board will take care of the athletes during the sendoff,” said Ramirez.

A total of 497 athletes that will see action in the Games starting Aug. 14 will be around for the sendoff.

It will be held at Hall One of the Golden Pavilion inside the CITEM compound along Roxas Blvd. in Pasay City.

The delegations of football and athletics make up the biggest delegates in the national contingent seeing action in the games.

There will be 20 players in the national under-23 men’s football squad, and an equal number in the women’s team.

On the other hand, athletics will have 25 in the men’s division and 13 in the distaff side.

Team Philippines will also be represented by 163 coaches, 70 support groups to include medical, secretariat and 13 technical officials.

Ramirez said they have earmarked a total of P350 million for the preparation and participation of the Philippines in the Games.

Peter Atencio

He ran the Milo race, saved a life, won a friend

By Peter Atencio

Glenn Atmosfera (left), shown here with a running teammate, flashes the no. 1 sign after taking part in last year’s Milo Marathon.

Generals face Chiefs, seek solo 3rd spot EMILIO Aguinaldo College guns for solo third spot, while Arellano University seeks a share of it with Letran as the two collide today in the 93rd NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan City.

The Generals trounced the Mapua Cardinals, 7772, on July 25 to improve to an even 2-2 (win-loss) record, while the Chiefs are coming off a stinging 75-82 defeat to the Letran Knights last week to skid out of the magic four with a 2-3 mark.

Sydney Onwubere is

Games Tuesday

(Aug. 8) (Filoil Arena, San Juan) 12 noon- EAC vs AU (jrs) 2 p.m.- EAC vs AU (srs) 4 p.m.- Mapua vs St. Benilde (srs) 6 p.m.- Mapua vs St. Benilde (jrs)

expected to spearhead EAC’s attack anew after exploding for 22 points, including a clutch triple the last time out.

A victory for EAC would push it to No. 3 ahead of idle Letran (3-3) and behind unbeaten Lyceum of the Philippines University (6-0) and defending champion San Beda (5-1).

For Arellano University, a triumph would catapult it back to the top four and joint No. 3 with the Knights.

Gametime is set at 2 p.m.

EAC coach Ariel Sison said it’s all about his team’s determination to win.

“We have a veteran squad and it’s a matter of getting that will to win,” said Sison.

Mapua and College of St. Benilde, which own identical 1-4 slates, for their part, aim to get out of last place as the two tangle at 4 p.m.

GLENN Atmosfera has been a regular of the Milo Marathon since 2013.

An occupational therapist and a barangay kagawad from the fourth district of Manila, Glenn has been a running buff half his life. As a member of a popular running club, Glenn is also a veteran of many races around Metro Manila. A weekend without lacing his running shoes for his usual running routine is like the Eraserheads without Ely Buendia – still good, but you know something’s missing.

Did we say he was a running buff? Yeah, we did.

As a fixture of the Milo Marathon for four years straight, Glenn told himself he wouldn’t miss it for the world.

And so there he was, hitting his stride, running the premier 42k category of the marathon’s Metro Manila eliminations. He wanted that finisher’s medal more than anything, a validation of all his year’s hard work in the running scene.

But someone changed his plan some six kilometers to the finish.

“I was on the 34-km mark near BIR Makati when I saw a man who stopped in front of RCBC,” recalled Glenn.

“It looked like he was dizzy and he was trying to catch his breath. I asked him if he was OK and told him to sit at side of the road, while I called for help,” the father of three added, unmindful of his own goal.

Glenn had all the chance to get the finisher’s medal--a prized addition to his collection of wares from various running events and ultra marathons. He

was only a couple of kilometers to the line anyway and was well inside the cutoff time.

He had a choice to continue, but chose not to as he decided to monitor his co-runner until medical personnel came, even if it meant the resilient and competitive Manileño would have to DNF (Did Not Finish) a race for the first time. Ever.

“Yes, not all runners are able to finish the time-pressured Milo Marathon, but helping someone is more important to me that time rather than finishing the race. It’s more than just getting a medal,” he said, even ignoring the advice of medics that he could now carry on with the run.

He wanted to stay with his co-runner until his condition stabilized.

“The greatest achievement in life is when you see people are happy and you know that you helped them without expecting anything in return,” said Glenn, a three-time race director and a head marshal for various fun runs.

For Glenn, who has a personal record of 04:30:00+ in the 42km category, there is always next year to look forward to.

“Babawi na lang ako next year,” said Glenn. “Pero if there’s someone who will be needing my help again, I would always help them. Maski ‘yung goal ko sa event, isasangtabi ko muna.”

He may not have secured that finisher’s medal. But he got a friend in return, and the respect of many.

Aboitiz taking over Vietnam’s Eurofeed B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

B1

SM Prime registers P14.4-b net profit

By Jenniffer B. Austria

PH ENTERS HALAL MARKET. The Philippine Halal Export and Development Promotion Board led by the Trade Department adopts the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10817 or the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion Act of 2016 which sets the direction of the Philippine halal sectors and takes advantage of the lucrative $3.2-trillion global halal market. Shown are (from left) Export Marketing Bureau director Senen Perlada, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Commissioner Aisha Flores-Malayang during the signing of the implementing rules.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, August 7, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar Peso

United States Dollar

1.000000

50.1850

Japan

Yen

0.009033

0.4533

UK

Pound

1.304500

65.4663

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127889

6.4181

Switzerland

Franc

1.028172

51.5988

Canada

Dollar

0.790326

39.6625

Singapore

Dollar

0.735132

36.8926

Australia

Dollar

0.791400

39.7164

Bahrain

Dinar

2.653857

133.1838

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

13.3823

Brunei

Dollar

0.732440

36.7575

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.030079

1.5095

UAE

Dirham

0.272264

13.6636

Euro

Euro

1.177800

59.1079

Korea

Won

0.000887

0.0445

China

Yuan

0.148599

7.4574

India

Rupee

0.015716

0.7887

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.233809

11.7337

New Zealand

Dollar

0.739400

37.1068

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033115

1.6619 Source: PDS Bridge

IN BRIEF Foreign reserves decline to $80.8b

THE country’s gross international reserves declined to a seven-month low of $80.786 billion in July, down by $0.53 billion from $81.321 billion in June, after the government settled some of its maturing foreign exchange obligations, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday.

Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the decline in reserves was also due to the outflows arising from the regulator’s foreign exchange operations.

“These were partially offset by revaluation adjustments on the BSP’s gold holdings resulting from the increase in the price of gold in the international market and net foreign currency deposits by the national government as well as BSP’s income from its investments abroad,” Espenilla said.

“This could adequately cover 8.6 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income. It is also equivalent to 5.5 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 3.7 times based on residual maturity,” he said.

Reserves hit an all-time high of $86.139 billion in September 2016.

This year, Bangko Sentral expects reserves to settle at $80.5 billion.

Julito G. Rada

UCPB declares P2b net income

UNITED Coconut Planters Bank, the 12th largest lender in terms of assets, said Monday net income in the first six months rose 12 percent to P2.01 billion from P1.8 billion a year ago, driven by strong consumer loans.

The bank’s loan portfolio expanded 15 percent to P153.37 billion from P133.38 billion a year earlier, fueled by the increase in consumer loans, particularly auto loans.

Total deposits also grew 23 percent to P284.33 billion from P231.48 billion in the same period last year.

“UCPB continues to post significant growth in its core business in the first semester of 2017. We were able to expand our loan portfolio and even exceeded our year-to-date 2017 target,” UCPB president and chief executive Higinio Macadaeg Jr. said in a statement.

“The strong demand for financing coupled with our other initiatives such as our strengthened relationships with partner dealers and agents boosted the rise in consumer loan availments. Our consumer loan portfolio was funded by low-cost deposits that we continued to build this year. This resulted to better margins,” he said. Julito G. Rada

Metro Pacific proposes two major expressways

By Darwin G. Amojelar

N

LEX Corp., a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Development Corp., submitted unsolicited proposals to the Public Works Department to construct two new expressways worth P122.4 billion that will connect the existing North Luzon Expressway and ManilaCavite Expressway.

The company submitted an unsolicited proposal to build the P60-billion C-5 Expressway, a 21.8-kilometer all-elevated expressway from the end of North Luzon Expressway Segment 8.2 in Luzon Avenue, Quezon City to Cavitex C-5 South Link.

The project will complete the missing seg-

ment of the C-5 Circumferential Expressway alignment, a crucial component of the Metro Manila Urban Expressway Network.

The C-5 Expressway project will provide fast and seamless travel for motorists east of Metro Manila and connect Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig and Pasay.

The company said the usual two-hour travel time during peak period via C-5 Road would be reduced to less than 30 minutes with the completion of the project.

NLEX also proposed to construct a P62.43billion NLEX-Cavitex Port Expressway Link, a 15-kilometer toll road that would use “push-tunnel technology” to minimize disturbance on existing infrastructure.

The first phase of the project will be from the end of the Radial Road 10 Spur Road Ramp of NLEX traversing R-10 up to Anda Circle in Manila, while the second phase will start at Anda Circle and will traverse Roxas Boulevard up to Cavitex.

The project will reduce truck traffic within its limited capacity road network

and significantly contribute in the decongestion of the metropolis 24 hours a day, the company said.

Cavitex Holdings Inc., which is also controlled by Metro Pacific Investments Corp., on July 3 submitted a letter of intent to build Cavitex-Sangley Extension Project.

The project aims to connect the Kawit Interchange of Cavitex to Sangley Point in Cavite City and neighboring provinces of Laguna and Batangas via a reclaimed road and viaduct spanning 4.63 kilometers.

Cavitex is a 14-kilometer toll expressway linking Manila to the southern province of Cavite.

Earlier, MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of MPIC, also submitted an unsolicited proposal to build Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway, a 46-kilometer road worth P25 billion.

The project aims to link Cavite Expressway and Cavite Laguna Expressway in Silang, Cavite to Tagaytay City and will terminate in Nasugbu, Batangas.

SM PRIME Holdings Inc.., the country’s leading integrated property company, said net income in the second quarter grew 15 percent to P7.79 billion from P6.75 billion in the same period last year.

This brought SM Prime’s first-half profit to P14.39 billion, up by 14 percent from P12.59 billion a year ago.

SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues rose 10 percent to P43.25 billion from P39.23 billion. Overall operating income increased 13 percent to P20.11 billion from P17.85 billion.

“SM Prime’s performance in the first half of the year reflects a more balanced revenue and income streams from our various businesses including the growing contribution from our provincial operations,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said.

“We are happy to report that our investments in the provinces are now bearing fruits, particularly in mall operations given that these account for more than half of our Philippine malls portfolio. In the coming years, we are expecting a growing contribution from our residential group as we are launching more housing projects across the country,” he said.

SM Prime said mall operations, which contributed 60 percent to total revenues, went up 10 percent to P25.68 billion from P23.42 billion last year.

Mall rentals improved 10 percent to P21.75 billion, driven by additional 1.1 million square meters in retail spaces from new malls and expansions in 2015 to 2017.

Same-mall-sales registered a growth of seven percent.

SM Prime now has 63 shopping malls in the Philippines and seven in China with a gross floor area of 7.8 million sqm and 1.3 million sqm, respectively.

Ayala Land’s income jumped 18% to P11.5b in first half PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said Monday net income increased 18 percent in the first half to P11.5 billion from P9.7 billion a year ago, on solid contribution from residential, mall and office businesses.

Ayala Land said in a statement consolidated revenues climbed 18 percent in the six-month period to P64.5 billion from P54.8 billion it earned in the same period last year, as revenues from real estate increased 18 percent

to P60.5 billion.

More than half of company’s revenues came from property development which included the sale of residential lots and units, office spaces and commercial and industrial lots.

“We’ve seen residential sales pick up in 2017, after a few years of relatively flat growth.

Given our pipeline of launches for the balance of 2017, we remain positive that we can sustain the growth in the second half of

the year. At the same time, our leasing business continues on its steady upward trajectory given the increasing contribution of our new shopping centers, offices and hotels,” Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said.

Reservation sales went up 11 percent in the first six months to P61.4 billion, translating into monthly sales takeup of P10 billion.

Dy said he expected reservation sales to remain strong in the

rest of the year, as the company was set to launch more projects in the second half.

ALI is slated to launch this month Azuella Cove, 25-hectare masterplanned, mixed-use community in Davao City. By the fourth quarter, ALI in joint venture wit LT Group Inc. will also unveil the 35-hectare Parklinks along C5 between Quezon City and Pasig City.

ALI chief finance officer Augusto Bengzon said the company would accelerate project launch-

es in the second half to meet the P100-billion project launch target for the whole of 2017.

“In the first quarter of the year, we launched P10-billion [projects] and in the second quarter of the year we launched P21billion [projects]. We see an acceleration in launches in the last to quarters of the year. We need to launch roughly P30 [billion] to P35 billion worth of projects each quarter,” Bengzon said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Metrobank’s earnings rise 5% as assets hit P2t

By Julito G. Rada METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest lender in terms of assets, said unaudited consolidated net income rose 5 percent in the first half to P9.5 billion over a year ago, as total assets reached a record P2 trillion.

Metrobank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it delivered above-industry performance in loans and low-cost deposits in the six-month period, which in turn supported the robust expansion in net interest income.

Total revenues hit P40.7 billion, while operating expense growth was capped at a single-digit level.

Total assets hit a new record of P2 trillion, cementing Metrobank’s leading position in the industry.

“Results from recent quarters demonstrate our ability to deliver quality earnings from our core banking business,” Metrobank senior vice president Jette Gamboa said in a statement.

“We are staying the course and executing in line with our strategic goals. Our deliberate effort to focus on our customers and continuous improvement in service delivery has positioned us to generate stable recurring income despite the volatility in the financial markets” Gamboa said.

Metrobank’s net interest margin continued to improve at 3.7 percent in the first half, still the highest among its peers. This was attributed to the loan book expansion in target segments, coupled with the overall increase in asset yields.

MICROENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARDS. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla, Jr. (second from right) and Citi Philippines chief executive Aftab Ahmed (left) lead the launching ceremony of the 15th Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards at Century Park Hotel Manila. With them are (from left) 14th CMA national winner Honie Navor, awards committee member Marixi Prieto and MCPI chair Fr. Jovic Lobrigo. Now on its 15th year, program recognizes entrepreneurs who have overtaken poverty with support from microfinance institutions as partners in financial inclusion and enterprise development.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market rises; FNI tops gainers

S

TOCKS rose for a third day, tracking the movement of Asian markets after rosy US jobs numbers offered an upbeat assessment of the world’s biggest economy.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 59 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 7,992.27 Monday. The bellwether was also up 16.8 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also went down 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,753.36, on a value turnover of P4.9 billion.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 99 to 88, while 59 issues were unchanged.

Fifteen of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by

miner Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc. which jumped 6.9 percent to P2.62 and convenience store operator Philippine Seven Corp. which advanced 3.6 percent to P175.

Meanwhile, most Asian stocks traded higher on positive data from the US. The world’s largest economy continued robust job creation in July, with the unemployment rate falling back to a 16-year low amid strong hiring in restaurants and health care, government data showed Friday.

The healthy jobs report was a dose of welcome news for an

embattled White House facing a stalled policy agenda and historically low public approval ratings.

“US companies continue to have [a] strong appetite for hiring as the economy and corporate earnings recover,” Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings, told Bloomberg News.

Asian equities returned to the highest in almost 10 years.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained 0.52 percent, or 103.56 points, to end Monday’s session at 20,055.89, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.48 percent, or 7.82 points, to close at 1,639.27.

Benchmarks in Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong also gained, following fresh highs on the Dow Jones Industrial Average when the greenback

climbed on better-than-forecast hiring data and a pick up in wage growth in July.

Iron ore futures in Singapore surged as steel prices also advanced. Oil held above $49 a barrel ahead of OPEC talks on complying with cuts to reduce global supply.

Broad-based hiring in July along with stronger household incomes and buoyant consumer confidence may give the Federal Reserve reason to raise interest rates later this year as it seeks to normalize monetary policy. Non-farm payrolls rose 209,000, against expectations for 180,000. The dollar’s bounce propelled it higher from the lowest since 2015 as investors sought faster growth in economies outside the U.S. China expressed confidence that new United Nations sanc-

tions would help bring North Korea to the negotiating table to end its push for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Vice President Mike Pence disputed a report Saturday suggesting that he may be among Republicans preparing for run for president in 2020 if Donald Trump doesn’t seek a second term, calling it “laughable and absurd.”

China’s foreign reserves probably expanded to $3.075 trillion in July. Japan’s leading and coincident indexes for June are due.

Later in the week we get Chinese and Japanese trade data, South Korean unemployment and Australian reports on business and consumer sentiment, as well as a slew of European factory output indicators, including German industrial production for June on Monday. With Bloomberg, AFP

LBC raises $50m from note issue

By Jenniffer B. Austria Logistics and money transfer service provider LBC Express Holdings Inc. said Monday it completed the issuance of $50 million worth of seven-year convertible notes to CP Briks Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based investment equity fund.

LBC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the convertible notes due 2024 could be exchanged for LBC shares equivalent to an 11.88-percent stake in the company based on the conversion price of P13 per share.

LBC said if the entire $50-million notes were converted into shares, the ownership of majority shareholder LBC Develop-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 4.01 15,000 59.8 22,340 105.7 473,220 3.95 55,000 129 4,277,890 1.27 21,000 36.15 250,800 9.04 100 16.14 20,000 32 342,100 0.66 5,000 1.63 3,000 915 440 0.69 1,287,000 87 1,256,620 0.86 982,000 14 6,600 65.45 7,530 239.8 380 110 410 90 100 52.2 470,580 234.6 298,430 86.2 144,650 1.33 91,000

60,150 1,333,099.50 50,023,411 217,250 550,555,209 26,570 9,074,615 904 320,504 11,008,795 3,300 4,890 404,400 889,420 108,772,360.50 828,050 88,570 500,065.50 91,204 45,310 9,000 25,201,846.50 69,580,706 12,472,498.50 121,040

1,278,223.50 -1,125,319 110,193,934 411,850 3,631,005 -100,740 -14,182,285 -33,639.50 8,392,503 39,664,556 -

39.45 9.22 0.81 1.36 30.1 0.25 159.3 5.76 18.04 29.95 15 65.55 70 82 1.95 5.26 11.3 12.18 14.96 13.44 7.66 6.9 18.42 68.2 14.86 13.18 13.26 1.85 216 59.05 3.61 3.35 21 31.35 19.3 18.06 279.2 0.24 12.52 3.13 7.26 9.55 8.18 10.1 1.86 12.38 66 7.14 307 4.5 4.6 2.7 12.96 4.86 0.143 1.23 149.1 3.92 2.4 1.02

INDUSTRIAL 39.9 865,800 9.4 2,922,100 0.82 989,000 1.37 273,000 30.5 9,300 0.25 4,430,000 180 290 5.79 3,990,900 18.04 517,600 30.7 1,176,100 15.9 19,100 67 990 70 1,180 82 50 1.97 287,000 5.45 1,048,400 11.36 413,400 12.22 612,500 15.2 865,100 13.86 1,766,700 7.67 415,000 6.91 31,040,900 18.44 1,262,500 69.2 115,360 14.9 21,400 13.2 88,100 13.36 2,747,200 1.91 773,000 219 459,170 59.05 160 3.9 113,000 3.4 61,000 23.3 22,000 31.65 300,200 19.3 1,642,200 18.1 4,551,800 280 171,770 0.242 1,360,000 13.76 490,200 3.15 121,000 7.27 212,500 9.62 1,161,900 8.4 844,700 10.1 30,000 1.86 1,196,000 12.44 2,692,900 66.1 33,440 7.15 187,000 308 78,250 4.5 10,000 4.6 2,000 2.84 1,503,000 13.02 298,500 4.94 22,000 0.145 440,000 1.27 302,000 151.5 1,927,790 3.92 4,000 2.48 26,852,000 1.02 64,000

34,433,585 27,280,615 810,970 372,060 285,540 1,115,650 51,393 23,150,601 9,383,398 36,090,820 299,440 67,070 82,600 4,100 562,250 5,655,230 4,696,742 7,468,912 13,127,662 24,298,088 3,203,622 214,612,715 23,367,546 7,951,901 318,750 1,163,058 36,780,820 1,469,330 100,516,382 9,448 424,240 210,670 489,350 9,503,890 31,696,766 82,381,228 48,091,928 326,420 6,682,560 380,200 1,548,245 11,181,352 7,125,929 303,484 2,237,190 33,712,100 2,209,750.50 1,345,790 24,068,380 45,000 9,200 4,171,580 3,872,704 107,720 63,420 380,050 291,621,140 15,840 66,808,030(1, 65,300

-5,499,610 1,447,756 -14,969,482 -1,917,854 833,665 20,100 -135,424 -1,039,954 8,484,702 -4,072,818 1,957,756 -90,706,462 872,534 6,793,165.50 516,120 2,728,488 72,200 29,006,124 265,280 0 -7,139,110 4,452,288 -52,730,782 13,284,096 204,000 15,800 -2,882,694 491,158 269,340 -1,001,628 338,251 -14,247,090 -31,500 -447,920 3,337,130 44,120 20,180 -89,191,635 346,929.9998) 33,660

0.39 75.1 14.3 1.17 6.97 0.32 879.5 7.6 15.9 7.84 6.05 0.222 1,222 8.17 76.5 5.9 5.6 1 7.45 18.5 0.455 6.8 0.048 0.98 2.09 2.6 101.4 818 0.87 1.78 305 0.295 0.235

0.375 74.8 14.14 1.13 6.9 0.315 873 7.48 15.64 7.62 6.05 0.216 1,205 7.8 74 4.86 5.45 0.98 7.1 17.9 0.43 6.73 0.047 0.97 2.05 2.6 101.1 797 0.87 1.69 304 0.285 0.223

HOLDING FIRMS 0.38 9,980,000 74.85 380,940 14.16 1,793,700 1.17 48,000 6.97 58,500 0.315 1,150,000 878 74,320 7.5 1,699,300 15.66 3,372,000 7.62 5,900 6.05 3,500 0.222 250,000 1,220 69,090 8.12 79,500 76.5 783,680 4.86 13,000 5.6 2,800 0.99 184,000 7.1 2,986,000 18.18 602,900 0.45 680,000 6.75 11,213,600 0.048 5,400,000 0.97 11,000 2.07 159,000 2.6 35,000 101.3 45,330 813.5 214,040 0.87 11,000 1.7 1,883,000 305 7,960 0.285 240,000 0.235 970,000

3,804,450 28,527,583.5 17 25,433,930 55,900 406,905 362,300 65,216,640 12,779,471 52,821,826 45,734 21,175 54,060 84,242,370 630,981 59,574,516 75,077 15,560 181,920 21,656,099 10,998,460 303,500 75,697,716 254,300 10,690 327,970 91,000 4,591,189 173,610,410 9,570 3,261,560 2,423,224 69,650 218,050

192,500 ,668,488.0001 -3,820,860 43,709,745 -1,213,398 4,492,688 50,609,665 78,100 9,761,146 -1,944,374 526,082 -45,000 18,003,168 1,851,428 -73,515 -914,268 -

5.5 1.57 6.78 2.34 1.02 42.1 3.78 4.89 5.3 0.53 1.24 1.55 0.213 0.51 49.5 0.73 0.163 1.9 1.68

5.37 1.45 6.06 2.29 1.01 41.6 3.68 4.79 5.3 0.52 1.19 1.51 0.192 0.51 47.7 0.7 0.154 1.86 1.57

453,207 45,600,340 1,284 46,390 1,657,410 237,761,405 11,470,450 4,144,140 265,000 5,940,850 119,800 39,500 19,016,160 205,020 5,130,760 2,108,730 456,850 20,211,000 48,631,450

10,286 -31,440 -78,558,780 541,390 86,880 -44,940 217,860 0 -148,350 -259,150 2,162,480 2,215,000

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

4.01 59.7 106.2 3.95 128 1.26 36.2 9.04 16.1 32.5 0.66 1.63 915 0.7 86.05 0.87 13.34 67.5 240.8 110 90 54.55 230 86.5 1.33

4.01 59.8 106.2 3.95 129.8 1.27 36.4 9.04 16.14 32.7 0.66 1.63 925 0.7 87 0.87 14 67.6 240.8 115 90 54.55 234.8 86.55 1.34

4.01 59.05 105 3.95 127.5 1.26 36.15 9.04 16 31.95 0.66 1.63 915 0.69 86 0.82 13.34 65.45 239.8 110 90 52.2 230 86.1 1.33

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

39.95 9.4 0.82 1.36 30.95 0.26 159.3 5.86 18.44 30 16.2 65.55 70 82 1.95 5.26 11.36 12.2 15.22 13.7 7.74 6.95 18.48 69.4 14.86 13.2 13.74 1.89 216 59.05 3.77 3.35 21 31.85 19.36 18.16 280 0.24 12.52 3.15 7.3 9.6 8.67 10.2 1.89 12.5 66 7.42 307 4.5 4.6 2.81 12.96 4.86 0.144 1.27 153.5 4 2.51 1.03

40 9.47 0.83 1.39 30.95 0.26 184.9 5.9 18.44 31.6 16.2 68.5 70 82 1.98 5.5 11.46 12.22 15.24 13.86 7.76 6.95 18.66 69.4 15 13.3 14.04 1.92 219.6 59.05 3.9 3.53 23.3 31.85 19.36 18.18 280.8 0.242 14.4 3.15 7.3 9.69 8.89 10.2 1.89 12.78 66.4 7.49 308 4.5 4.6 2.88 13.06 4.95 0.146 1.27 155 4 2.53 1.03

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

0.385 74.9 14.2 1.13 6.9 0.315 879 7.6 15.66 7.84 6.05 0.216 1,205 8 74 5.8 5.45 1 7.35 18.2 0.43 6.75 0.048 0.98 2.05 2.6 101.1 797 0.87 1.75 304 0.29 0.223

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

5.45 1.46 6.06 2.29 1.02 41.9 3.78 4.79 5.3 0.53 1.24 1.51 0.194 0.51 49 0.71 0.155 1.89 1.61

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.99 4.78 0.34 0.59 0.55 4.75 24.8 1.77 3.24 34.4 1.01 7.48 0.9 5.95

1 4.9 0.35 0.61 0.55 4.82 25.1 1.8 3.24 34.4 1.02 7.5 0.9 5.95

0.99 4.78 0.34 0.56 0.52 4.75 24.8 1.77 3.19 33.7 1 7.48 0.88 5.86

0.99 4.82 0.345 0.56 0.53 4.79 24.95 1.78 3.19 34 1.02 7.5 0.88 5.91

289,000 35,985,000 41,290,000 35,260,000 7,101,000 290,000 1,167,300 219,000 154,000 4,154,600 1,149,000 3,200 298,000 1,671,400

287,430 173,170,430 14,222,550 20,213,550 3,784,800 1,388,840 29,143,900 390,660 491,670 140,778,145 1,166,740 23,988 263,050 9,864,072

39,325,980 86,300 -43,330.00 -144,450 19,525,410 -57,182,475 -4,122,939

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD 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 MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

24.2 43.6 1.84 0.68 0.042 5.33 8.85 0.075 102.1 10.8 2.22 2,018 6.2 15.78 2.57 3.15 105.5 8.6 0.17 1.39 3 15.88 4.26 1.68 12 0.59 2.27 8.99 3.92 16.4 2.37 11.42 5.11 169 9.2 1,638 1.59 0.415 47 87 6.06 4.63 1.45 3.42 1.4 8.69

24.65 43.9 1.84 0.76 0.043 5.37 9.08 0.076 103 10.84 2.22 2,048 6.21 15.92 2.62 3.18 105.5 8.6 0.171 1.42 3.08 15.88 4.26 1.79 12 0.59 2.41 9 3.92 16.4 2.4 11.44 5.12 178 9.33 1,648 1.6 0.415 47.05 87 6.06 4.65 1.45 3.48 1.42 8.82

23.2 43.5 1.8 0.67 0.041 5.32 8.85 0.073 102 10.6 2.22 2,014 6.17 15.78 2.57 3.15 103.7 8.6 0.169 1.34 2.98 15.88 4.12 1.59 11.3 0.59 2.27 8.75 3.86 16.4 2.33 11.38 5.11 169 9.08 1,638 1.58 0.41 46.4 86.9 5.93 4.49 1.35 3.42 1.35 8.54

SERVICES 23.5 43.5 1.81 0.71 0.042 5.32 9 0.075 102.1 10.6 2.22 2,046 6.17 15.8 2.62 3.16 105 8.6 0.171 1.34 3.08 15.88 4.14 1.61 11.54 0.59 2.41 8.98 3.91 16.4 2.35 11.44 5.12 175 9.24 1,640 1.6 0.41 47 86.95 5.93 4.62 1.41 3.42 1.38 8.8

388,000 127,300 185,000 111,239,000 37,500,000 66,200 7,009,400 7,080,000 243,720 61,400 1,000 36,585 194,100 79,000 595,000 58,000 1,807,450 262,000 2,580,000 305,000 104,000 300 2,149,000 10,527,000 1,546,700 15,000 20,000 2,595,000 1,963,000 2,600 2,308,000 25,300 21,000 801,550 491,600 46,735 6,366,000 1,720,000 1,041,700 1,194,400 291,600 5,973,000 29,042,000 64,000 24,137,000 3,186,800

9,281,315 5,561,300 334,400 80,700,340 1,594,500 352,228 63,044,855 526,780 24,912,084 654,950 2,220 74,205,090 1,202,057 1,248,426 1,540,730 183,620 189,561,327 2,253,200 438,500 418,370 310,660 4,764 8,938,800 17,398,730 17,951,732 8,850 47,890 23,001,082 7,655,060 42,640 5,459,090 288,172 107,514 136,273,850 4,545,312 76,658,150 10,147,690 708,450 48,951,755 103,888,682 1,740,362 27,434,650(6, 40,356,570 219,780 33,404,810 27,830,446

-59,725 501,980 -2,000.00 -9,114,563 -29,250 8,280,733 -23,796 -16,712,680 -23,700 -15,651,067 24,700 -610,320 1,910,544 -11,537,236 -709,350 -587,500 -102,400 256,180 -11,407,000 -2,717,620 22,203,550 21,373,736 423,900.0003) 8,816,840 -20,580 1,768,890 -1,417,123

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 PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.0029 1.59 5.29 1.89 1.85 1.22 0.385 8.4 2.45 0.31 0.188 0.192 0.011 1.79 6.29 1.91 0.58 1.04 0.011 0.012 2.5 8.84 3.76 167.9 0.0081

0.003 1.64 5.4 1.89 1.85 1.24 0.385 8.5 2.65 0.31 0.188 0.192 0.011 1.82 6.47 1.96 0.59 1.04 0.011 0.012 2.67 8.84 3.8 168.4 0.0081

0.0028 1.59 5.2 1.89 1.85 1.2 0.385 8.36 2.45 0.3 0.185 0.192 0.01 1.79 6.29 1.91 0.56 1.02 0.01 0.012 2.5 8.8 3.65 167.5 0.008

MINING & OIL 0.0028 400,000,000 1.6 3,112,000 5.2 550,100 1.89 1,000 1.85 12,000 1.22 1,154,000 0.385 110,000 8.36 46,000 2.62 28,730,000 0.3 2,290,000 0.185 6,950,000 0.192 1,570,000 0.011 158,200,000 1.8 88,000 6.4 4,174,000 1.96 108,000 0.59 653,000 1.04 187,000 0.011 3,300,000 0.012 22,900,000 2.67 7,000 8.8 267,100 3.7 4,345,000 167.8 445,870 0.008 8,000,000

1,148,600 5,012,270 2,880,658 1,890 22,200 1,405,670 42,350 386,459 74,033,500 687,600 1,286,310 301,440 1,697,700 158,440 26,582,027 206,540 369,850 192,190 33,600 274,800 17,670 2,351,529 16,168,220 74,852,099 64,300

836,480 -108,637 195,750 -2,598,916 -3,920 509,836 -49,480 -10,363,172 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF F FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

43 516 515 105.6 105.5 107 111 515 5.95 1,015 1,023 1,013 113.4 2.32 81.7 79 79 78.95 79.95

43.5 516 515 105.6 105.5 107 111 515 5.95 1,015 1,023 1,013 113.4 2.33 81.7 79 79 78.95 80

43 516 515 105.6 105 107 111 515 5.93 1,015 1,023 1,013 113.4 2.25 80 78 79 78.95 79.95

PREFERRED 43.5 40,000 516 3,150 515 100 105.6 400 105.4 7,030 107 700 111 100,000 515 5,000 5.93 60,100 1,015 920 1,023 200 1,013 50 113.4 2,000 2.25 28,000 80 46,150 78 100 79 148,200 78.95 25,200 79.95 56,000

1,721,000 1,625,400 51,500 42,240 740,823 74,900 11,100,000 2,575,000 356,397 933,800 204,600 50,650 226,800 64,020 3,702,370 7,850 11,707,800 1,989,540 4,478,670

227,900 42,240 -303,620 -

LR WARRANT

2.44

2.44

2.26

WARRANTS 2.33 805,000

1,858,130

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.81 5.19 6.4

3.81 5.3 6.44

3.71 5.09 6.08

3.71 5.1 6.1

1,781,310 532,844 41,220,103

-10,710 -15,946,913

FIRST METRO ETF

119.5

120.9

119.5

288,505

4,836

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 5.48 1.54 6.78 2.32 1.01 41.85 3.68 4.82 5.3 0.53 1.23 1.52 0.213 0.51 48 0.71 0.154 1.87 1.68

83,100 29,756,000 200 20,000 1,638,000 5,681,500 3,093,000 859,000 50,000 11,293,000 100,000 26,000 92,410,000 402,000 106,600 3,001,000 2,940,000 10,744,000 29,435,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

10,031,540

INDUSTRIAL

105,944,602

HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES

44,858,102 320,697,941 266,712,016

MINING & OIL

647,409,408

GRAND TOTAL

1,402,934,956

SME

476,000 104,100 6,698,800

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120.9 2,400

VALUE 1,983.83 (up) 14.36 841,656,189.74 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,179.60 (up) 20.45 1,257,538,020.018 HOLDING FIRMS 7,961.51 (up) 80.40 652,527,437.62 PROPERTY 3,757.83 (up) 0.60 1,668.83 (up) 10.05 799,324,031.77 SERVICES MINING & OIL 12,878.44 (up) 61.85 1,078,478,334.027 PSEI 7,992.27 (up) 59.45 210,207,178.3345 All Shares Index 4,753.36 (up) 18.98 4,883,554,349.93 Gainers: 88; Losers: 99; Unchanged: 59; Total: 246

ment Corp. would go down to 70.45 percent from the current 84.59 percent.

The company’s public float will increase to 17.74 percent from 15.41 percent.

“The proceeds from the issuance of the instrument shall be used to fund the growth of the business of the company, including capital expenditures and working capital,” LBC said.

CP Briks is an investment holding entity managed by Crescent Fund Management Pte Ltd., which in turn is a Singapore-based private equity and special situations investment firm focusing on category-leading companies benefiting mainly from the consumerdriven and urbanization trends in Southeast Asia, China and Australia.

The fund raising activity is on top of the planned P1.5billion follow-on offering.

LBC last month said it would refile with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement for a P1.5-billion share sale.

It plans to sell 69.1 million common shares, consisting of 10 million primary shares and 59.1 million secondary shares at an indicative offer price of P22 per share.

URC posts 24% drop in income to P2.9b UNIVERSAL Robina Corp., the food manufacturing unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., said Monday net income fell 23.6 percent in the second quarter to P2.9 billion from P3.8 billion a year ago, as expenses grew faster than revenues.

Second-quarter revenues rose 11.9 percent to P30.1 billion from P26.9 billion in the same period last year.

Cost of sales climbed 14.3 percent to P20.7 billion.

URC said net income in the first half also went down 14.2 percent to P6.2 billion from P7.28 billion in the first half of 2016. Sales of goods and services in branded consumer foods segment increased 9.2 percent to P49.26 billion from P45.12 billion.

Meanwhile, Robinsons Land Corp., the real estate arm of JG Summit, said net income in the second quarter dropped 9 percent to P2.9 billion. Second-quarter real estate revenues inched up 1 percent to P10.09, billion while hotel revenues rose 7 percent to P919 million.

The company’s commercial centers group posted a 6-percent growth in revenues to P5.24 billion on full-year rental revenue contribution of lifestyle centers which opened in 2015 and revenue contribution from three new malls and two mall expansions that opened in 2016.

Sales from its residential business hit P3.3 billion, while revenues from office building division reached P1.5 billion.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Business

B3

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

DoubleDragon set to sell P7.5-b shares

By Jenniffer B. Austria

MAKINO IN PH. Makino, a world leader in precision machining and engineering services, has set foot in the Philippines with the

establishment of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Makino Philippines Inc., which recently registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as an economic zone export enterprise. Shown after a ceremonial signing of the agreement are (from left) Jules Pio, MAP Associate; Erwin Navarez, MAP tax advisor; Richard Lozano, MAP country manager; Peza director general Charito Plaza; Maureen Sy, president, Lemon Sweater Consultancy Inc., consultant of MAP; and Sandra Cheng, MAP associate.

DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. plans to raise up to P7.5 billion through a share sale.

DoubleDragon said in disclosure to the stock exchange it also revised upwards its 2020 vision by targeting 1.2 million of leasable space from an initial goal of 1 million square meters and net income of P5.5 billion from P4.8 billion.

DoubleDragon said its board approved the sale of up to P7.5 billion or 150 million common shares through a follow on-offering, a move that will improve the liquidity of the stock and enhance its balance sheet with higher equity levels.

“This planned follow-on offering will be very timely because for the past two years, the company has been very active in numerous international roadshows and conferences, and

we have met with over 300 institutional investors across the world. The planned offering will provide them the opportunity to secure a position in DoubleDragon during its high growth years,” said Hannah Yulo, DoubleDragon chief investment officer.

The property firm is undertaking such move as it aims to become one of the blue chip stocks in the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange Index in the near term.

“Steady trading activity in the stock is one of the important criteria in its inclusion in the PSEi and the company believes that a follow-on offering will not only increase trading volumes in the stock but will also allow the entry of a good base of institutional investors to further strengthen the position of DD in the international investment community,” DoubleDragon said.

Aboitiz taking over Vietnam’s Eurofeed

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

PDP-Laban will not outlive Duterte UNDER this country’s system of government the presidency of the upper chamber of Congress is the third-highest official in the land.

That being the case, the holder of that office is expected to have sufficient knowledge of contemporary Philippine history. Particularly true in this regard is knowledge of the history of contemporary national politics.

When I first read the reports of what Senate president Aquilino Pimentel III said to his hosts during his recent visit to China upon the invitation of the national directorate of the Communist Party of China (CPC), I did not know how to react. Was Mr. Pimentel caught off-guard? Was he merely being polite to his hosts? Or was he being serious?

What did the Senate president say that has made me ask these questions? This is what one of the reporters who were with him in Fujian province wrote: “President Duterte’s political party is enlisting the help of the Communist Party of China to train its members. The ruling Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is in talks with CPC for a partnership, including having members of Mr. Duterte’s party learn the ways and ideology of China’s sole governing party. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, president of PDP-Laban, reportedly discussed cooperation in ‘party-bidding,’ among other things, when he met with senior CPC officials …”

It is reasonable to infer from the reporter’s dispatch that Mr. Pimentel (1) wants to strengthen his party during the remaining five years of President Duterte’s term and (2) believes that PDP-Laban will be a significant player in this country’s politics after June 30, 2022, when Rodrigo Duterte steps down from Malacanang.

If the Senate president is determined to strengthen his party – with help from whatever country – he has a gigantic task ahead of him, for PDP-Laban has gone a long way since the heady days immediately following the EDSA Revolution. PDP-Laban is now a miniscule party indeed, some cruel commentators consider it a political joke. And if Mr. Pimentel really believes that PDP-Laban will remain a major player in Philippine politics after President Duterte’s term, he is totally incognizant or oblivious of contemporary Philippine political history.

Before September 21, 1972 the Nacionalista Party (NP) was one of the two giants of Philippine politics, but when President Ferdinand Marcos created his own martial-law party, the Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan (KBL), the NP shrank to near-nothingness because most of its members had taken the KBL membership oath. When President Corazon Aquino gave her tacit blessing to the newly established Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) as the premier political party in the post-EDSA Revolution legislature, the representatives of the Filipino people deserted the KBL en masse and aligned themselves with the powerful LDP. LDP was, in turn, to suffer karma when President Fidel Ramos’s political advisers created the Lakas Tao Party – the subsequent affiliation of the National Union of Christian Democratic and the Muslim Democrats made it the Lakas-NUCD-UMDC – and encouraged the members of the LDP, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and other parties to join Lakas-NUCD-UMDC in a grand coalition.

President Joseph Estrada did not go all-out to make his Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) the leading party, but President Gloria Arroyo, fearful of her political security sought to break the lingering potency of Lakas-NUCD-UMDC by establishing her own party, KAMPI. When Benigno Aquino III went to the 2010 hustings astride a Liberal Party horse and was elected President, his advisers enticed the members of Lakas, KAMPI, LDP and other parties to join forces with the Liberal Party in order to bring about the achievement of President Aquino’s governance agenda. Thus came into being the super-majority of the 15th Congress and the 16th Congress.

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, the Aquino super-majority was replaced by the Duterte super-majority. Until very recently the members of the current super-majority proudly identified themselves as Liberal; in the not too distant past they were equally proudly KAMPI or Lakas or LDP. Given this political history and this political culture, does Koko Pimentel really believe that PDPLaban will be a significant Congressional player when Rodrigo Duterte shall have stepped down?

Forget about partnering with the CPC to train the PDP-Laban members in the “ways and ideology of China’s sole governing party,” Mr. Senate president History has shown that a CPCstrengthened PDP-Laban is not likely to outlive the Duterte Presidency.

E-mail: romero.business.class@gmail.com

A

BOITIZ Equity Ventures said Monday it is expanding its animal feeds business in Vietnam with the acquisition of a controlling stake in Europe Nutrition Joint Stock Company (Eurofeed).

Aboitiz Equity said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Pilmico International Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired 70 percent of Eurofeed for $3.7 million. “Eurofeed is a joint stock company organized under the laws of Vietnam,” said Aboitiz.

Aboitiz said the amount of the acquisition was based on the enterprise value of $5.3 million minus long-term and short term debt as reflected in the books of Eurofeed at closing date.

Aboitiz said the agreement was subject to a closing audit

review, execution of a shareholders’ agreement and the delivery by the sellers of the corresponding amended investment certificates, and other corporate documents.

Aboitiz earlier said Pilmico was expanding its market in Southeast Asia.

Pilmico last year purchased 100 percent of Pilmico Viet Nam Trading Company Limited (Pilmico Vietnam Trading) for 800 million Viatnamese dong.

Pilmico Vietnam Trading is a limited liability company operating in Vietnam.

The company is engaged in the wholesale of food products, beverages, agricultural and forestry raw materials.

Pilmico Vietnam Trading will be the vehicle used for the importation and distribution of Pilmico products in the Vietnam market.

Aboitiz earlier said it planned to spend P4 billion to expand the production capacity of Pilmico from 2017 to 2020.

Pilmico president Sabin Aboitiz said during a recent analysts’ briefing the company aimed to increase the sow level capacity of hog farms to 20,000 heads by 2020 from 14,000 heads at present and raise the output of animal feeds business to 153 tons per hour from 113 TPH. The company also intends to expand its aqua feeds capacity to 64 TPH by 2020 from 44 TPH by end-2017 and increase the production of ready-to-lay hen to 1 million heads by 2020 from

172,000 heads in 2017.

The group broke ground on several projects including the expansion of meat processing and feedmill plants and a grains storage facility in Tarlac province.

Aboitiz said the company also recently incorporated a trading office in Indonesia as a part of the thrust to expand within Southeast Asia.

“Asean way in the future is going to be big. When you look at our acquisition in Vietnam, that gave us access to 600 million population. So the opportunities are quite good. We are excited to expand that,” Aboitiz said.

Pilmico is currently expanding its customer reach in the Association of South East Asian Nations region while diversifying national operations.

Net income contribution of Pilmico dropped 25 percent in the first quarter to P292 million from P389 million a year ago.

Cusi sees more energy investments after EO 30

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Energy Department expects to attract more investors to build energy projects in the Philippines after the government issued an executive order to reduce permits and cut red tapes.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier signed an EO No. 30, directing concerned government agencies to act upon applications for permits involving energy projects of national significance not exceeding within a 30-day period.

The EO further said that if no decision was made with the specified processing time frame, the application is deemed approved

by the concerned agencies.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the EO would make it easier for investors who want to build energy infrastructure in the Philippines by streamlining bureaucracy and removing time-consuming hurdles to investments.

“This executive order will see energy projects amounting to at least $70 million being classified as projects of national significance as well as mandate the streamlining of permitting process of all government agencies under the Energy Investment Coordinating Council,” Cusi said.

“This will change the way we process our energy projects. No

longer will it take up to three years for an agency to respond to a proposal for a project. Instead, these agencies must act on a proposal within 30 days, otherwise, the proposal is deemed approved.

Speed is of the essence here and we are determined to see that we pull in the best investments and build our projects on time to deliver on our domestic plan,” he added.

Data from the Energy showed it awarded 755 renewable energy projects with a potential generation capacity of 16,948 megawatts as of end December 2016.

Latest records from the department showed hydro power

obtained the biggest number of approvals with 413 projects and with a potential combined capacity of 10,792.37 MW. Solar projects followed with 150 projects approved with a potential capacity of 4,077.22 MW. Wind projects came next with 58 projects approved and equivalent to a potential output of 1,038.95 MW, and geothermal with 43 projects involving a potential capacity of 684 MW. Biomass followed with 45 projects approved with a potential capacity of 312.38 MW and ocean energy with seven projects approved equivalent to a potential output of 26 MW.

MOST OUTSTANDING.

Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. scores a big win in the recent 20th Outstanding Filipino Retailers & Shopping Centers of the Year Awards night, as the company’s Metro Department Store is named the winner in the Most Outstanding Full Line Department Store Category.

Shown during the awarding ceremony at the Solaire Resort and Casino are MRSGI chairman and CEO Frank Gaisano and MRSGI vice president for corporate affairs Anna Marie Periquet (second and third from left, respectively). They are flanked by (from left) Philippine Retailers Association vice chairman Mars Chua and PRA VP Rose Ong.

BDO reclaims top honor in Euromoney awards BDO Unibank has reclaimed the Best Bank in the Philippines honor at the recently concluded Euromoney Awards for Excellence.

The London-based financial publication said “the award returns to BDO this year, the biggest bank in the Philippines and one in excellent health.”

Euromoney particularly highlighted the 2016 financial performance of the Bank, including its consistently strong capital base.

“Last year, it delivered the highest profits ever in the industry and did so with a 15 percent rise in net interest income; 16 percent expansion of the loan portfolio; 15 percent increase in total deposits and a 15 percent rise in fee-based income,” it said in a statement.

Euromoney also noted the bank’s solid capital base, which it further bolstered in January 2017 when it successfully completed its rights offer, raising a

total of P60 billion in fresh capital and boosting the bank’s consolidated capital adequacy ratio to an estimated 15.7 percent.

“BDO is seeking new niches and markets. Key imperatives are reaching more remote parts of the Philippines and supporting micro enterprises all over the country,” the statement said.

“Life insurance is growing after the assumption of full control over the bank’s joint venture

with Generali. Wealth management has great potential through a joint venture with Nomura Group, and there is progress in auto financing and digital infrastructure,” it added.

Euromoney Awards for Excellence was established in 1992 and was the first of its kind in the global banking industry.

Euromoney has been the leading publication for covering the growth of international finance for nearly 50 years.

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

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

Business

40-b euro Brexit bill speculation, says UK THERESA May’s office dismissed as speculation a report that the UK is prepared to pay a 40 billion-euro ($47 billion) bill to leave the European Union, while leading Brexit supporters pushed back against paying anything at all.

The figure surfaced in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, which cited three government officials it didn’t identify as saying Britain would offer the sum in a bid to push the discussion toward a future trade deal. On Monday, though, a government official who asked not to be identified talking about issues that haven’t been resolved called it speculation, and leading Brexit supporters in the prime minister’s own party rejected any notion of a payment.

“There is no logic to this figure,” Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker, said on Twitter. “Legally we owe nothing.” A colleague, John Redwood, told LBC radio: “There is absolutely no legal need or political need to offer them anything at all, full stop.”

The Brexit bill is key to unlocking progress in the discussions as time ticks down toward the March 2019 deadline when Britain will depart the bloc, deal or no deal. A third round of talks with EU negotiators is scheduled for later this month, and the bill, alongside the border with Ireland and the rights of EU citizens, is one of three issues the EU lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, says progress must be made on before talks can move on to discussing the future trading relationship.

“This business that we have pay to get them to talk about trade is just completely ridiculous because they need to talk about trade more than we need to talk about trade,” Redwood said. “We all know that they will talk about trade before March 2019 because it’s in their interests to do so, and we have absolutely no need to pay them a penny to get them to talk about something they need to talk about.” Bloomberg

RENAULT IN IRAN. Thierry Bollore (from left), deputy director of Competitiveness at Renault, Mansour Moazami, chairman of the board of directors of IDRO Group, and Kourosh Morshed Solouk, deputy director of the Iranian Automobile Importers Association, shake hands as they attend a signing of a deal ceremony in Tehran on August 7, 2017. French auto giant Renault finalized a deal with Iranian partners to produce 150,000 cars a year. AFP

Strong euro worries European firms

By Antonio Rodriguez

P

ARIS―Some European exporters are beginning to worry about the strengthening euro which has rebounded from near parity with the dollar after Donald Trump’s election, though analysts see little immediate risk to growth.

Europe’s single currency surged on Wednesday to $1.1910, its highest level since early January 2015, before retreating to $1.1770 late Friday.

For European businesses heavily reliant on exports, es-

pecially in Italy and France, the strong euro could hurt the bottom line.

“There’s a general nervousness that this strong euro is beginning to impact European corporate profits―we are starting

to see it in this quarter’s results,” William Hamlyn, investment analyst at Manulife Asset Management, told AFP. Still many analysts say economic fundamentals are in favor of the euro, compared to the weak dollar and the feeble pound which has been hammered ever since Britain voted last year to exit the European Union.

And the impact of a strong euro is different depending on the country. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, has nothing to fear for the moment, said Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding, noting the euro is

still far from its long term equilibrium rate of $1.25.

Only about a quarter of German exports are pegged to the dollar, said Ilja Nothnagel, International expert at the German chambers of commerce DIHK. Italy would be the country “most affected by the increase in value of the euro,” said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at trade credit-insurer Euler Hermes.

“If the dollar/euro rate should remain stable at this level, we will be at a disadvantage,” admitted Licia Mattioli, vice president for international affairs at the Italian employers’ organization

Confindustria.

“The effect would be crosswise on our exports, which have grown the past few years towards America. We are exporters to the United States in a number of sectors: fashion, accessories, jewels, food , automobiles, machinery...,” she said.

However, Lucia Tajoli, professor of economic policy at Polytechnic in Milan, notes the euro is not “super strong” and thinks Italian exports due their growth in recent years can take some pressure.

“They could suffer a little but there shouldn’t be extremely

Paris’s urban rooftop hives hope to preserve honeybees

By Isabel Malsang and Solange Uwimana PARIS—To check the beehives he has set up on the roof of the sprawling Monnaie de Paris on the banks of the River Seine, Audric de Campeau slips on a harness over tan-colored trousers.

The beekeeper then hooks his leg harness to a metal cable anchored to the roof’s edge, running the length of the entire structure.

“It’s not dangerous, but my insurance insists on it,” he says.

Elegantly dressed in a tweed jacket, pink shirt and straw hat customized with a protective net, he steps carefully between the rafters to reach the three beehives he set on the flat side of the roof.

From there, the 34-year-old will head to the roof of the neighboring Institut de France, another historic building with a majestic domed center.

He will don the same leg harness on the rooftop of the Boucheron fine jewelry boutique overlooking the Place Vendome square, on the other side of the Seine, before making his way to his three beehives.

In the distance, the Eiffel Tower rises far above the slanted Parisian rooftops.

“I’m lucky, my office is in the sky,” he says, smiling, adding that he does have “to climb a lot of stairs.”

De Campeau is an urban beekeeper, and his beehives sit atop monuments and office buildings and on rooftop terraces.

The French capital boasts more than 700 beehives, according to 2015 figures, most located on rooftops such as

This file photograph taken on July 18, 2017 shows French beekeeper Audric de Campeau as he checks his beehives set on the roof of The Mazarine Library at The French Institute in Paris.

To check the beehives he has set up on the roof of the sprawling Monnaie de Paris on the banks of the River Seine, Audric de Campeau slips on a harness over tan-colored trousers. AFP

those of the haute cuisine Tour d’Argent restaurant, the Grand Palais and the Musee d’Orsay.

More and more companies, including AFP, are also adding beehives to the tops of their office buildings.

Beehives have long sat on the roof of the Paris Opera, and the Luxembourg Gardens has had beehives since 1856.

‘Worrying’ bee decline Urban rooftops are one of the ways the city is fighting against the “worrying” decline in the bee population, a trend France recognized early on despite its elevated use of pesticides.

The country is one of Europe’s leading users of pesticides.

The more pesticides are used, the more pests develop resistance to them, which leads to even more intensive use of pesticides.

Bees around the world—especially in Europe and North

America—have been decimated in recent years by a mysterious blight called “colony collapse disorder,” in which entire populations disappear or die out.

Research has pointed an accusing finger at agricultural pesticides, viruses, fungi, parasites, poor weather, malnutrition because of fewer flowers—or some combination of the above.

According to the EU economic and social advisory committee (EESC), “nearly half of wild bee species have disappeared in just 30 years.”

But more than just the survival of the bees is at stake.

Scientists have calculated that 1.4 billion jobs, and three-quarters of crops, depend on pollinators, mainly bees.

All told, there are some 20,000 bee species that fertilize more than 90 percent of the world’s 107 major crops.

At the same time, the United Nations estimates that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinators— mostly bees and butterflies—are at risk of extinction.

In an effort to defend the bee, the northern French city of Lille began providing pesticide-free environments in 2007.

The southern city of Montpellier soon followed by installing beehives on the roofs of many high schools.

Though experts say it may not solve the problem, Lille’s environmental services said 80 species of wild bees that had disappeared from the area have returned since beginning the program.

‘Liquid gold’ De Campeau sees his mission as two-fold: take care of the health of his bees while also producing what he calls “liquid gold” for his company, “Le Miel de Paris” (Paris Honey).

Depending on the agreement he has with building owners, either he sells the honey or they use it. At the Monnaie de Paris, chef Guy Savoy uses de Campeau’s honey in his restaurant desserts.

He sells his homemade honey in 200ml bottles for 34.90 euros ($41).

As well as honey, de Campeau also makes mead—an ancient alcoholic honey-based drink –in oak barrels once used for wine or sherry that are stored in a secret cellar 30 meters (100 feet) underground.

For a man who spent his youth illegally exploring the underground Catacombs of Paris, de Campeau feels right at home.

“Stable temperature, high humidity, perfect to prevent evaporation, and zero vibration,” de Campeau said, adding that these factors are essential for raising a blend “worthy of a great vintage.” AFP

heavy impacts,” she told AFP. For France, the rise of the euro is going to be “felt strongly in some sectors such as aeronautics,” said Subran, adding that big enterprises involved in major exports have shown in the past they know how to adapt to a rising euro.

For the moment, the strong euro is not bothering Spain as two thirds of its exports are to EU countries. However, growth in exports outside the bloc―which has increased by five percent during the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 2016―could ultimately be affected. AFP

Indonesia economy up 5% in 2nd quarter INDONESIA’S economy expanded slower than economists estimated in the second quarter of 2017 as public spending fell.

Highlights of the GDP report gross domestic product rose 5.01 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the statistics bureau in Jakarta on Monday. Economists predicted growth of 5.08 percent.

First-quarter growth was 5.01 percent, previously reported data show. GDP rose 4 percent from the previous three months. Economists expected a 4.07 percent gain President Joko Widodo has undertaken a major infrastructure program to bolster an economy that’s growing slower than neighbors including the Philippines and Malaysia. But a budget deficit approaching the 3 percent legal limit has forced the state to curb expenditures.

While the government has revised its 2017 growth forecast up a notch to 5.2 percent, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is still falling short of the 7 percent Widodo targeted when he came into office almost three years ago.

Bank Indonesia signaled Friday it may return to an easing bias to support economic growth after cutting rates six times last year.

The central bank recently loosened rules on the amount of money banks must hold in reserves.

There’s yet to be a “significant acceleration” in Indonesia’s economic growth and unlikely to be much improvement in the second half of the year, said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. “The recovery is ongoing, just at a slower pace than we have previously expected,” he said, adding that it would have implications for Bank Indonesia’s policy stance for the rest of the year. Bloomberg

Vizcaya miner FCF, workers sign CBA

LGUs

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

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

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By Ben Moses Ebreo QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya— FCF Minerals Corp. and its workers recently signed their first collective bargaining agreement, designed to provide and ensure their welfare, benefits and harmonious relationship between the management and the rank and file employees of the mining firm.

“With this CBA, more benefits will be assured to around 500 rank and file employees. This will also promote peace and harmony between the company management and our workers,” said Peter Storey, FCF Minerals Corp. general manager for operations.

The CBA took effect on May 4, 2017 and lasts until May 5, 2022.

The firm operates the goldmolybdenum mine in barangay Runruno here.

Storey said the major provisions of the CBA cover the revised salary structure, general wage increase and performance appraisal rates, paid leaves, days and hours of work, health, safety and recreational program, and retirement pay and separation pay in cases of redundancy or retrenchment.

Stricter Manila smoking ban

By Bill Casas

F

OLLOWING President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of the executive order enforcing a nationwide smoking ban, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Monday tasked concerned city hall offices to ensure the prohibition on the smoking and sale of tobacco products in school zones is strictly enforced.

SUSTAINABLE PROJECT. Dr. Lourdes Almeda-Sese, president of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna (second from left) and Biñan City Rep. Marlyn Alonte-Naguiat (center), president of the Zonta Club of Laguna, display the bags woven from recycled materials by the mothers of Sitio Balimbing in Biñan, Laguna. This livelihood and capability-building effort, a joint project of Lingap-SMCL and ZCL, is on its third year. Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation serves as the marketing arm for the women, and their products are being sold at department stores such as SM Kultura and Rustan’s. Roy Tomandao

Kalinga sustains road network projects

By Dexter A. See TABUK CITY, Kalinga—Kalinga continues to be granted funds for the development of its provincial road network and sustainable livelihood projects from national and international funding agencies.

Officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government

in Kalinga recently turned over a major road project to the provincial government, led by Acting Governor James Edubba, while two other road projects broke ground.

The newly improved Burayucan section of the Bulanoa-LayaBalong provincial road, which had a project cost of P75 million under the Conditional Matching

Grant to Provinces program of the DILG was turned over to the provincial government. It will help improve the accessibility of the residents in barangays Cabaruan, Balong and Laya East, Edubba said.

DILG Undersecretary Austerie A. Panadero, DILG-CAR Regional Director Marlo Iringan, DILG

Kalinga Director Mayer Max G. Adong, Provincial Planning And Development Officer Flordeliza G. Moldera, and Edubba led the ground breaking ceremonies for the improvement and upgrading of the P99.5-million Cabaruan-Sucbot provincial road, and the upgrading of the P73.99-million CabaritanDugpa provincial road.

Estrada said he wants to prioritize the smoking ban in and around school premises and vicinities to protect schoolchildren from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

“Even before the nationwide smoking ban, we’ve been strict when it comes to smoking in public places such as schools, but with the President’s EO [Executive Order 26], we will be stricter, especially in school zones,” Estrada said.

He has tasked the Office of the City Administrator to come up with guidelines on how to ensure that the school grounds and its immediate vicinities are 100-percent smoke-free.

“We will not be lenient,” Estrada warned. “Violators will face the severest sanctions mandated by the law.”

Division of City Schools-Manila superintendent Dr. Wilfredo Cabral said they have been working closely with city hall in enforcing the smoking ban.

“We’ve come up with issuances in support of this antismoking regulation. What we have been doing is coordinate

with concerned city hall agencies such as the health office and licensing, since we do not have jurisdiction over business establishments selling tobacco products,” Cabral said.

EO 26 prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products within 100 meters of a school, public playground, youth hostels and recreational facilities for minors, including those frequented by minors.

No Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) are also allowed in “centers of youth activity” such as play schools, preparatory schools, elementary and high schools, colleges and universities, youth hostels, and recreational facilities for minors.

“Schools are considered smokefree zones so they really cannot smoke or sell cigarettes within the school premises,” Cabral said.

At least two school principals in Tondo have so far reported to city hall for appropriate action several establishments, stalls, and sidewalk and ambulant vendors selling tobacco products within their respective school vicinities, he added.

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LGUs

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

DoH turns to solar to power RHUs T

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

HE Department of Health in Mimaropa will install 29 Solar Home Systems in all identified rural health units in the region requiring an alternative source of energy that will supply electricity 24/7, DoH Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo said Monday.

“We will be installing these in health facilities that are located in island barangays, mountain communities and remote areas of the provinces that have limited

sources of electricity, those that are powered by generators and those that has no means of reliable energy at all,” said Janairo.

“Having a medical emergen-

cy in the evening or delivering a baby during nighttime without interruption can help health workers provide proper treatment and care during birthing, maternity care, surgery and other medical operations,” he added.

In 2014, DoH-Mimaropa piloted three health facilities for the feasibility and sustainability of the SHS in the province of Marinduque. These are the Dolores Barangay Health Center in Sta. Cruz, the Bantay Rural Health Unit II in Boac, and the Maniwaya Health Center on an island barangay in Sta. Cruz.

The installation and configuration of the 29 SHS, Janairo said, will be handled by the Department of Science and Technology in Mimaropa.

“We have already identified primary birthing stations, barangay health centers and rural health units where these units will be placed,” he said.

Each health facility with SHS will have 150 watts of electricity that can operate a personal refrigerator for 24 hours, four electric fans for eight hours, 12 LED bulbs for a maximum of 10 hours, and a compressor for dental equipment for six hours.

Currently, 14 RHUs have SHS installed in Mimaropa.

These are in Barangays Paraiso in Lubang and Guitna in Looc, both in Occidental Mindoro; Barangays Poblacion in Baco and Poblacion in Mansalay in Oriental Mindoro; RHUs in Torrijos, Gasan, Buenavista, and Mogpog in Marinduque; Magdiwang RHU and San Jose RHU on Carabao Island in Romblon; and RHUs in Agutaya, Cagayancillo, Dumaran and Linapacan in Palawan.

“We will install 15 more SHS in all RHUs with RxBox in other areas of the region to help power

these devices that will enable remote consultations with patients in these far-flung communities.”

Janairo assured.

The RxBox enables health workers to remotely diagnose, monitor and treat patients and are designed to provide improved access to life-saving health care services.

The regional office has allocated P1,145,500 for the upgrade of existing SHS and installation of the 29 RxBox sites with a counterpart of P245,000 for the installation and other incidental costs that will be shouldered by DoST-Mimaropa.

Ampucao gains P6m in Philex projects

By Dexter A. See TUBA, Benguet―Philex Mining Corp. has turned over five infrastructure projects under its 2016 annual budget allocation worth over P6 million to Itogon town’s Barangay Ampucao, an event graced by government officials and described by Benguet Gov. Crescencio Pacalso as “a result of good relations between the company and its stakeholders.”

All located along Philex Road, the projects are the P3.6-million rehabilitation of a sloped protection wall in Sitio Samuyao; construction of a P1.25-million slope protection wall in Sitio Upper Camp; a 25-meter long grouted riprap worth P537,773 in Sitio Ud-udan; a 26-meter long grouted riprap in Sitio Balekangkang worth P391,516; and a 16-meter long grouted riprap with perimeter fence in Sitio Sta. Fe worth P285,711.

“We know that Philex has been religiously implementing various projects in its outlying communities through its SDMP (Social Development and Management Program),” Pacalso said during formal ceremonies at the Barangay Hall of Ampucao.

“The management of these projects’ implementation has been good. There has been participation and cooperation with the communities,” he added.

Philex Mining’s SDMP covers health, education, livelihood projects, and public infrastructure. The current year’s budget for SDMP, IEC (Information, Education and Communications) campaign, and DMTG (Development of Mining Technology and Geosciences) is mandated as 1.5 percent of a miner’s total operating expenses in the previous year.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Office of Atty. Rowena De Castro Matira

Notary Public for Quezon City UNION BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES Mortgagee, -versusCASE NO. FRE# 17-778 EXTRAJUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE UNDER ACT NO. 3135, AS AMENDED MARILOU M. GHOSE married to SANJAY KEVIN GHOSE both represented herein by their Atty.-Infact, Theresita M. Banlasan Mortgagor/s x-----------------------------------x

2nd NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SALE

Pursuant to the terms of the Real Estate Mortgage dated and notarized on 22 April 2016, executed by MARILOU M. GHOSE married to SANJAY KEVIN GHOSE, Filipino and Indian citizen respectively both represented herein by their duly designated Atty. In-fact, Theresita M. Banlasan by virtue of Special Power of Attorney dated April 21, 2015, with residence and postal address at 61, Brgy. Sambag, Jaro, Iloilo City, Mortgagor/s, in favor of UNION BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES, Mortgagee, to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness in the total amount of PESOS: ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN & 98/100 (PHP 1,852,427.98) Philippine Currency, exclusive of accrued interest as of June 01, 2017; excluding attorney’s fees, expenses of foreclosure sale and other charges, the undersigned Notary Public for Quezon City, hereby gives notice to all parties concerned and to the public in general that on 29 August, 2017 at 9:00 in the morning or soon thereafter at the main entrance/ lobby of the City/Municipal Hall of Quezon City, he/she will sell at public auction to the highest bidder and for cash, in Philippine Currency, the property covered

by Condominium Certificate of Title 004-2015020828 issued by Registry of Deeds for Quezon City, including the improvements thereon and more particularly described as follows: Registry of Deeds for Quezon City

Condominium Certificate of Title No. 004-2015020828

LAGUNA’S PRIDE. Undersecretary Dave Almarinez (center, in white), president and CEO of the Philippine International Trading Corp., shakes the hand of Bay Mayor Bruno Romos as he visits the city of Biñan, which Almarinez used to represent as board member of the First District of Laguna. Friends and supporters joined the PITC chief in his first official visit to the province since assuming office. Roy Tomandao

Delay ‘SSB’ tax, store owners ask Du30 Baguio THE impending tax law on sugarsweetened beverages, currently being studied carefully by both houses of Congress, is seen to grossly impact the C, D, and E classes of communities across the country, local food manufacturers and grocery owners said Monday.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or House Bill 5636, formerly known as the Comprehensive Tax Reform Package, proposes taxing SSBs, which the group said “has been an ongoing issue, and various sectors are appealing to President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider” signing the proposal into law.

Based on the latest study done by the Philippine Chamber of Food

Manufacturers, Inc., the proposal to impose an excise tax of P10 per liter of volume capacity on SSBs “will not only be the highest in the world, it will also hit the poor the most,” the group added.

In a statement, the chamber said that if the TRAIN is approved and the proposed new tax is passed, a 3-in-1 coffee sachet, currently priced at P5, would then cost P8.

A one-liter bottle of juice concentrate currently priced at P9 would have a retail price of P30, a liter of iced tea currently priced at P20 will be P30, and carbonated drinks currently sold at P15 per liter will cost P25.

However, this impending tax measure, based on the PCFMI

study, is seen to increase prices of the usual commodities commonly purchased by Filipinos in the lower classes of society.

This has led to sentiments of food makers and store owners that HB 5636 “is increasingly seen by those who will be directly impacted as anti-Filipino and anti-poor,” specifically sari-sari store owners, whose biggest income apparently comes from selling SSB products.

“A typical sari-sari store owner earns an average of P1,000 per day. About 30 to 40 percent of that total, around P300 to P400, comes from the sale of coffee, juice and carbonated drinks, so almost half of our net income is from the sale of sweetened beverages,” said

Philippine Association of Stores and Carinderia Owners (Pasco) president Victoria “Nanay Vicky” Aguinaldo.

“I therefore appeal to our good President, as well as to all our congressmen and senators to please carefully reconsider the passing of this new tax measure into law or at the very least, delay it until a better alternative is available,” Aguinaldo said.

“I think they need to revisit this proposal again and possibly make the necessary adjustments and improvements to ensure that it won’t be as detrimental to the poor, more specifically, the sarisari store and carinderia owners, as it is right now,” she added.

(Republic Act No.: 4728) IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the unit identified and described as: UNIT 36 – A RESIDENTIAL STUDIO TYPE WITH BALCONY CONDOMINIUM UNIT LOCATED AT THE THIRD FLOOR LEVEL OF “PINE CREST BUILDING 3” WITH AN AREA OF 24.14 SQUARE METERS, MORE OR LESS. in the diagrammatic floor plan appended to the enabling or master deed of the condominium project annotated on TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE N-324780; N-324781 which embraces and describes the land located at AURORA BLVD., COR. BALETE DRIVE, NEW MANILA, QUEZON CITY with an area of SEVEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN AND FIFTY-TWO (7,677.52) Square Meter, is registered in the name of: Owner: MARILOU M. GHOSE MARRIED TO SANJAY KEVIN GHOSE BOTH OF LEGAL AGE, FILIPINO AND INDIAN CITIZEN Address: OMAN, AIR PO BOX 58, PC-III-SEEB, MUSCAT OMAN. All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above stated time and date.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on 05 September, 2017 at 9:00 in the morning or soon thereafter at the same place without further notice.

Pursuant to law, copies of this Notice shall be posted for not less than twenty (20) days in at least three (3) public places in the City/ Municipality where the mortgage property is located and shall be published once a week for a least three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation before the date of the foreclosure sale.

Done at Quezon City, July 25, 2017.

(Sgd.) ATTY. ROWENA DE CASTRO MATIRA Notary Public Warning: It is absolutely prohibited to remove, deface or otherwise mutilate the instant notice form and its place until after the date of the public auction sale.

Copy Furnished: ASSET RECOVERY GROUP UNION BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES UnionBank Plaza, Meralco Avenue Corner Onyx & Sapphire Roads, Ortigas Center, Pasig City MARILOU M. GHOSE married to SANJAY KEVIN GHOSE 61, Brgy. Sambag, Jaro, Iloilo city

(MS-Aug. 8, 15 & 22, 2017)

NEW LOGO. Officials of Mariveles, Bataan, led by Vice Mayor Lito Rubia (second from right), pose with the newly unveiled logo of the municipality. Also in photo are (from left) Councilors Em Reyes, Tito Catipon and Angel Sunga, Tourism Officer Charlene Versoza, and Councilor Joey Carandang. Butch Gunio

chefs are PH bets in cookfest BAGUIO CITY—Three young chefs of the city’s only exclusive club stamped their class in the recent National Food Showdown and earned the right to represent the country in an international competition in Singapore this year.

Crispian Dave Pettoco, Phobe Pocais and Jayson Cacheco will represent the country in Singapore, competing against the best in the world culinary industry, said Anthony de Leon, general manager of the Baguio Country Club and president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio.

The three won in the professional category of the national food showdown representing Luzon, as they bested culinary professionals from other parts of the country.

De Leon said the competitors will vie against chefs from Japan, China, Singapore, France and other European countries, who already signified their intention to join the prestigious competition.

Pettoco said that in Singapore, the three BCC chefs will highlight Filipino dishes.

“We want to lift up the Filipino dishes, but we have to wait for the advice of the organizers on what ingredients to capitalize on, as that would determine what dishes they will be showcasing in the international tilt,” he stressed.

“One thing is for sure, we want to feature Filipino dishes,” Cacheco added.

During the national competition from July 20 to 21 at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City where they vied against representatives from the Visayas and Mindanao, the BCC chefs worked hand-in-hand on an appetizer, main course and dessert, using egg as the primary ingredient of their dishes. Dexter A. See

World

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

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11 killed in church shooting in Nigeria

MUSIC FESTIVAL. People take part in the 4th edition of the electro music festival called “Chateau perche” on August 5, 2017 at the medieval castle in Ainay-le-Vieil, central France.

The festival takes place every year in the heart of private castles in central France. AFP

S. Korea prosecutors demand 12 years jail for Samsung heir S EOUL―South Korean prosecutors on Monday demanded the heir to the Samsung empire be jailed for 12 years over his role in the corruption scandal that brought down the country’s last president.

At the final hearing in the trial of Lee Jae-Yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, prosecutors called him the “ultimate beneficiary” of crimes committed in the scandal, which culminated in the impeachment and dismissal of president Park Geun-Hye. If the judges convict him and agree with the sentence recommendation it will be among the harshest penalties ever passed on a top executive of a chaebol, the business groups that dominate Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Lee and four other executives

of Samsung -- the world’s biggest smartphone maker and the country’s largest firm -- are accused of bribing Park’s powerful confidante with millions of dollars to win presidential favors and ease a controversial 2015 merger deal.

“The defendants were closely tied to power and sought personal gains,” the prosecutors said.

They sought a 12-year sentence for Lee, who is also charged with embezzlement and hiding assets overseas among other offences, 10-year terms for three of his coaccused, and seven years for the last of the defendants in the trial.

Lee denied any wrongdoing.

“I once again deeply regret and apologize for causing a huge disappointment,” he told the court in his final statement, choking up and pausing at one point for a sip of water.

Lee has been in custody for the past six months, and said that during his time in detention he realized he had “many shortcomings” and there were some things he “failed to oversee” as a business leader.

But he insisted: “I never sought favors from the president for personal gain.”

Lee, 49, has effectively been at the helm of Samsung, which has revenues equivalent to about a fifth of the country’s GDP, since his father was left bedridden by a heart attack in 2014.

Taking the stand for the first time in his defense last week, he

claimed he had no role in decisionmaking at the wider Samsung group and “mostly listened to other executives”.

His lawyers say the allegations were unjustified and the defendants never sought anything in return for the money that was donated.

The verdicts will be given on August 25.

A Samsung Group spokeswoman said it had no comment on the prosecutors’ request.

Despite the arrest of its de facto leader and a humiliating recall fiasco of its flagship smartphone last year, Samsung Electronics shares have risen strongly in recent months on soaring profits, driven by strong demand for its memory chips.

They closed down 0.25 percent on Seoul’s stock market on Monday.

One of the favors Lee allegedly sought from Park was state approval for a controversial merger of two Samsung units in 2015, seen as a key step to ensuring a smooth power transfer to him.

The deal was opposed by shareholders who said it willfully undervalued shares of one of the firms.

But it eventually went through after the national pension fund -- a major Samsung shareholder -- approved it.

“The special prosecutors failed to give any evidence for the existence of such a succession operation,” Lee’s lawyers argued at Monday’s hearing.

Choi Gee-Sung, a former Samsung Electronics vice chairman and a co-defendant, reiterated his claims of responsibility, saying the allegations were the result of his own decision to “protect the company” from Park’s confidante Choi Soon-Sil. AFP

WARRI, Nigeria―At least 11 worshipers were shot dead at a church in southeast Nigeria on Sunday, with authorities suggesting the bloodshed was due to a local feud.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, describing the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege,” his office said.

Buhari said “there was no justification whatsoever to target church worshipers and kill them in cold blood.”

At around 6:00 am (0500 GMT) at least one gunman opened fire at Saint Philip’s church in Ozubulu, near the city of Onitsha, unleashing terror on the congregation.

Chukwuma Emeka said he had just stepped out of the church to stretch his legs “when I heard gunshots and screaming and people running inside.”

“When the chaos subsided I went inside, I saw my fellow church members dead in a pool of their own blood and many others were screaming in pain.”

Attacks on churches are rare in southern Nigeria, where there is a predominantly Christian population.

The country’s mainly-Muslim north has been gripped by a violent campaign by Boko Haram jihadists, who specialize in targeting religious centers.

There were varying accounts of what happened in Ozubulu.

Witnesses said five gunmen in masks stormed the church, but police said the killing was the work of a lone shooter.

“So far, 12 persons have been confirmed dead and deposited in the mortuary here,” a worker at Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital told AFP. Garba Umar, Anambra State police Commissioner, later said 11 people were killed while 18 were injured as a result of the shooting.

Several worshippers with gunshot wounds were also receiving treatment at the hospital, the source said. Witnesses said they feared that up to 20 people may have died.

Umar said the attacker was a gunman who “went on a shooting spree, killing and wounding” worshippers. AFP

HK cleans up after palm oil spill HONG KONG—A clean-up operation was under way in Hong Kong Monday after a massive palm oil spillage from a ship collision in mainland Chinese waters clogged some of its most popular beaches.

The coast was coated with rancid-smelling sticky white clumps of the oil as it washed in Sunday, with 11 beaches still closed to swimmers Monday in the height of a summer heatwave.

There are still lumps of the solidified oil on the beaches and the sea water in some areas is greasy.

Hong Kong comprises more than 200 islands with glittering bays, but there are increasing concerns about pollution and rubbish blighting its shores.

On Pui O beach, on the island of Lantau, cleaners raked through the famous black sand Monday morning retrieving lumps of palm oil mixed with other trash, from plastic water bottles to children’s toys.

Although there is still a red flag up and the beach is officially closed, some people still ventured

into the water.

One 61-year-old surfer, who gave his name as Simon and is a regular at the beach, said there was still oil in the water.

“It got under my feet and on my board. It’s all slippery,” he told AFP. “Yesterday there was big chunks along the beach and in the water.”

He added that there was often rubbish on the beach, often left by visitors.

“I live here now, I have to put up with it. I don’t like it,” said Simon, who is an airport worker originally from Hawaii.

Beach announcements told determined swimmers at the closed beaches to get out of the water Monday.

But Agnes Mercado, 49, a regular at secluded South Bay on Hong Kong Island, was determined to take her morning dip, although she said she would not submerge her upper body.

“Of course I’m worried about it, but it’s even worse than this on

some days,” she said of the pollution.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said beach workers were using absorbent strips to prevent the spread of the oil and that government departments had been notified to clean up the water.

In a statement late Sunday it described the palm oil as “harmless to the human body”.

But environmentalists still fear the potential impact and say the government has not done enough to contain the spillage.

“Whilst we may not see birds covered in black oil, palm oil is hazardous to wildlife in that it attracts bacteria,” said Gary Stokes of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Stokes added that the oil will dissolve and break down, which could also remove oxygen from the water and kill marine life.

Swathes of rubbish frequently clog the coastline with authorities and environmentalists pointing the finger at southern mainland China as the source. AFP

ONSTAGE. Singer/Songwriter Sonya Isaacs of The Isaacs performs during Sam’s Place - Music For The Spirit hosted by Steven Curtis Chapman at Ryman Auditorium on August 6, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. AFP

Macedonia determined to solve name row with Greece SKOPJE―After a quarter-century-long dispute that has blocked its entry to NATO and the European Union, Macedonia seems determined to end the row with Greece over its name.

The quarrel between Skopje and Athens dates back to Macedonia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and has poisoned neighborly relations.

From the outset Greece denied its neighbor the right to use the name Macedonia, which is also the

name of a northern Greek region.

Greeks have cited concerns about historical appropriation -- both sides, for example, claim Alexander the Great as their own -- and that the name Macedonia implies a broader territorial claim.

Athens and the European Union recognize the small landlocked country by its provisional name, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), under which it was also admitted to the United Nations.

Skopje has long insisted that this designation was only provisional, but in June, new Social Democratic Prime Minister Zoran Zaev seemed to relax the line of his nationalist predecessors.

“With a FYROM reference we can become a member of NATO,” Zaev said on a visit to the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

As a member of both NATO and the European Union, Athens has vetoed Macedonia’s attempts to join both blocs, but a calendar

of bilateral meetings is now in place to try to resolve the dispute.

In everyday conversation, Greeks usually refer to the neighboring country as “Skopje”, the name of its capital city.

Back in 1992, a million Greeks -- one tenth of the population -took to the streets in protest over the name issue in Thessaloniki, the main city in the Macedonia region.

Tensions grew in 2006, when Skopje airport was named “Alexander the Great”. The building in 2011

of a huge monument of the warrior king on a horse added fuel to the fire.

Under international pressure, the statue in central Skopje was officially named “Warrior on a horse” but that did not deceive anyone -- especially as, a year later, authorities inaugurated a giant statue of Philip II of Macedon, Alexander’s father.

The issue remains hugely sensitive on both sides.

Greece’s migration minister Yiannis Mouzalas last year faced

calls to resign after referring to the country as “Macedonia” instead of “FYROM” during a television interview about the migrant crisis.

Mouzalas quickly apologized “for this error, which does not reflect my position and my convictions on the subject of FYROM”.

On Tuesday, the Greek women’s handball team was punished at the European Championship after refusing to play in Skopje against Macedonia’s team wearing national logo bearing that name. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

First bar for deaf opens in Colombia

World

Defiant after new sanctions M ANILA―North Korea on Monday angrily insisted the tough new United Nations sanctions would not stop it from developing its nuclear arsenal, and warned it would not negotiate while being threatened by the United States.

The message of defiance was the first major response to the US-drafted sanctions that the UN Security Council unanimously approved over the weekend that could cost North Korea $1 billion a year while restricting crucial economic links with China.

The sanctions were a “violent violation of our sovereignty”, Pyongyang said in a statement carried by its official Korea Central News Agency.

“We will not put our self-defensive nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table” while it faced threats from Washington, it said, “and will never take a single step back from strengthening our nuclear might”.

North Korea threatened to make the United States “pay the price for its crime... thousands of times”.

The statement came as North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho was in the Philippine capital of Manila for a security forum with the top diplomats from the United States, China, Russia and other Asia-Pacific nations.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday ruled out a quick return to dialogue with North Korea, saying the new sanctions showed the world had run out of patience with Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Speaking to reporters at the forum, Tillerson said Washington would only consider talks if Pyongyang halted its ballistic missile program.

“The best signal that North Korea could send that they’re prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches,” he said.

Tillerson held out the prospect of US envoys at some point sitting down with Pyongyang’s isolated regime and avoiding war, although he refused to say how long the North might have to refrain from testing more long-range missiles.

“I’m not going to give someone a specific number of days or weeks. This is really about the spirit of these talks,” he said.

The sanctions were in response to the North conducting its first two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month that Kim boasted showed he could strike any part of the United States.

Tillerson’s remarks followed a rare exchange on Sunday between Ri and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-Wha, at a dinner to welcome all the foreign ministers.

Kang urged Ri to accept Seoul’s offers of military talks to lower tensions on the divided peninsula and for discussions on a new round of reunions for divided families, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

But Yonhap reported that Ri retorted: “Given the current situation in which the South collaborates with the US to heap pressure on the North, such proposals lacked sincerity”.

US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-In, spoke on the phone on Sunday and agreed the North “poses a grave and growing direct threat”, according to a White House statement.

Trump later took to social media to hail the vote, thanking Russia and China in a Twitter post for backing the sanctions that either could have halted with their UN veto.

Trump said he was “very happy and impressed with 15-0 United Nations vote on North Korea sanctions”.

Tillerson, who held separate talks in Manila with foreign ministers Wang Yi of China and Sergei Lavrov of Russia on Sunday, also sought to emphasise a united stance against the North. AFP

PREMIERE. Showgirls in shark masks attend the premiere of “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming” at The LINQ Hotel & Casino on August 6, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

‘Taliban and IS massacred 50 civilians’ KABUL―The Taliban and Islamic State group jointly massacred dozens of civilians in an Afghan village, officials said Monday, highlighting rare co-operation between the insurgents that could increase the strain on Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces.

The fighters killed more than 50 men, women and children in the remote Sayad district of northern Sar-e Pul province on Saturday after overrunning the Afghan Local Police (ALP) -- a government-backed militia -- in a 48-hour battle, according to local officials.

“It was a joint operation by Daesh (IS) and Taliban fighters. They had recruited forces from other provinces of the country and attacked Mirzawalang village,” Zabihullah Amani, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP. The spokesman alleged that dozens of Taliban and IS group fighters under

the command of Sher Mohammad Ghazanfar, a local Taliban commander who Amani claims pledged allegiance to IS, launched a co-ordinated attack on the area on Thursday.

“The fighters overran the area and it led to the massacre of innocent and defenceless civilians,” he said.

Most of those killed were shot but some were beheaded, Amani said.

Verifying information from poor, mountainous areas of Afghanistan made inaccessible by fighting and with patchy communications is difficult, and AFP was not able to access the village.

Mohammad Noor Rahmani, head of Sar-e-Pul’s provincial council, said 44 of the 50 victims were believed to be civilians, with the ALP militia also suffering casualties.

“This is not the final toll. It might

change because the area is inaccessible and no telephone networks are working to get an update,” he told AFP. The Taliban and Islamic State fighters have regularly clashed since the latter gained a foothold in eastern Afghanistan in 2015, as the two vie for supremacy in the war-torn country.

An Afghan security source told AFP there had been around three incidents in the past where fighters from both groups had teamed up to deal a blow to Afghan forces in certain areas.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, confirmed to AFP that it had captured Mirzawalang village but said it had done so alone. It also denied allegations it had killed civilians.

“It was an independent operation by our mujahideen forces. There is no cooperation with the Islamic State on the operation,” said the spokesman. AFP

BOGOTA―It is not yet dark, but the two girls sitting at a table in a Bogota bar flick on the lamp on their wooden table.

It is the signal to the bartender that they want a drink, in Colombia’s first-ever bar for the deaf.

The Sin Palabras Cafe Sordo -- No Words Deaf Cafe -- is the first of its kind in the country, Maria Fernanda Vanegas, one of three owners, told AFP. It is located in the trendy Chapinero neighborhood of the Colombian capital, surrounded by heavy metal, gay and reggae joints.

“Its aim is for us, people who can hear, to adapt to the deaf, and not the other way round, which is always the case,” said Vanegas.

The No Words cafe has large screens playing music videos with the lyrics in sign language, and a dance floor that pulses with music to dancers who cannot hear it.

The menus are also translated into sign language and there are games such as Jenga or dominos for customers to play.

Vanegas and her partners Cristian Melo and Jessica Mojica all have good hearing, but dreamed of opening a cafe for the more than 50,000 people in Bogota who do not.

Colombia has more than 455,000 deaf or hard of hearing people, according to the last census carried out in 2005.

People with normal hearing also frequent the bar, which is as noisy as any other in the capital.

But the difference is that here, most of the talking is done with hands.

“It’s the first time I can feel the music,” said Erin Priscila Pinto, a first-time client enjoying a drink with her old friend Carol Aguilera.

“That makes me really happy because it’s the first time I can dance,” said the 23-year-old photography student.

All six waiters at the bar are deaf too, and even though many of the clients do not know sign language, they manage to convey their orders with gestures or by writing them down.

The bar also features small cards showing the basics of sign language for drinkers interesting in expanding their repertoire.

“I feel much more at ease with waiters who are deaf. Everything is much easier,” said Pinto.

There is no need to actually speak in the bar.

“Communicating with people with normal hearing can be a bit tricky at first because we don’t understand them,” said waiter Juan Carlos Villamil, 26. “But we get by somehow or other.”

Some new clients are surprised at first, but they end up getting the hang of sign language, he said.

The idea for the cafe came to the owners when they saw a group of deaf people having a coffee, and asked them about their social lives. Now they want to open more bars like this across Colombia and elsewhere.

It is not all plain sailing however. AFP

Wary over US role in Afghanistan

SURGERY. This file photo taken on February 23, 2014 shows British rock band Rolling Stones guitarist

Ronnie Wood reacting to Japanese fans upon his arrival with his band members at the Tokyo international airport. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood revealed Sunday that he underwent emergency surgery earlier this year after a cancerous lesion was found on his lung. AFP

MANILA―President Donald Trump has asked his advisers “tough questions” about American strategy in Afghanistan and is not willing to continue on as before, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday.

The White House has launched a review of the US plan for Afghanistan after 16 years of war, and reports suggest that Trump’s national security team is divided on whether to send more troops or to pull out.

Speaking in Manila on the sidelines of a regional security forum, Tillerson did not reveal his own advice to the president -- but said Trump would not be content with continuing the fight as before.

“The president is not willing to accept that, so he is asking some tough questions,” Tillerson told reporters.

Tillerson said the president’s National Security Council has met three times on the issue and that Vice President Mike Pence

has joined Trump in taking a close interest in the strategy review.

“The president is asking some very, very pointed questions, and I think good questions that he should be asking,” Tillerson said.

“And perhaps these are questions that no-one has been willing to raise in the past,” he continued.

“So we want to give him good thorough answers and good thorough analysis to go with that -- a very clear-eyed view, a very realistic view of what the future is likely to look like.”

Trump’s generals have called the Afghan conflict a “stalemate” and even after years of intensive help from the US and other NATO nations, Afghanistan’s security forces are still struggling to hold back an emboldened Taliban.

In an early move to address the situation, Trump gave his Pentagon chief, former general Jim Mattis, broad powers to set troop

numbers. But several months later the level remains stuck at about 8,400 US and about 5,000 NATO troops.

Mattis wants to wait until the White House has come up with a coherent strategy for not just Afghanistan but the broader region, notably Pakistan and how it deals with terror groups, before he commits to adjustments.

But reports have suggested that other Trump advisers, including his influential strategy chief Steve Bannon, favor cutting American losses by pulling out or sending private military contractors to replace troops.

“How does this all play out and where does this go?” Tillerson asked, rhetorically.

“It’s one thing to say we’re just going to keep fighting because there’s no other options.

There are always other options,” he said.

“And so that’s what the president’s asked us to fully explore.”

AFP

Life

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

CULTURE & MEDIA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

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Raul Isidro’s

LANDSCAPES

A

RTISTSPACE and Galerie Joaquin present Landscapes, an exhibition showcasing Raul G. Isidro’s best pieces from his Abstracted Landscapes series.

‘Landscape II’ 2017, acrylic on canvas 72 x 30 in

‘Shooting Stars’ 2012, mixed media 24 x 24 in

Painted landscapes have a long and rich tradition in visual art history. They were first depicted mimetically, as artists were often commissioned to paint works for patrons who longed for a particular scene, or to record a historical event. At the dawn of the Modernist age, artists became more concerned about depicting a landscape’s emotional spirit.

Thus, landscapes became more and more abstracted.

Isidro, a renowned figure in Philippine Modernism, turned rock landscapes into complete organic abstractions that recall the zen-inspired swaths of Japanese calligraphy. His works imbue audiences with a sense of calm with minimalist aesthetics and a strong, bold palette.

A native of Calbayog in Samar, Isidro is a product of the Fine Arts program of the University of Santo Tomas where he finished with a degree in Advertising. During this period, Isidro found himself in the presence of National Artist Victorio Edades, the Father of Modernism in the Philippines, and other stalwarts of the Late Modernist period such as sculptors Ramon Orlina and Eduardo Castrillo.

Isidro first exhibited at Solidaridad Bookstore’s Gallery in 1969, at the invitation of National Artist for Literature and Solidaridad owner F. Sionil Jose, and has had over 50 solo shows since then.

From this first show, the foundations of Isidro’s practice were laid, and he soon became known as a formidable abstractionist, eventually garnering multiple awards such as inclusion in 1979’s group of Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), and the Outstanding Thomasian Award in 2006—an honor he shares with Ramon Orlina. He also won the Cultural Grant Award from the Australian government in 1981 and was a 1st prize awardee at the Printmakers Association of the Philippines Annual competition in 1972.

It was also in 1972 that Isidro began what eventually became a long association with the Fine Arts program of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU), where he nurtured the department which was founded by pioneering printmaker Manuel Rodriguez Sr. Through his tenure at PWU, where he eventually became Director of the College of Fine Arts in 1975, Isidro became heavily involved in printmaking—which also served to enhance his approach to painting. His two mediums served to complement each other in ways that were, at times, revolutionary.

Isidro is known for being dedicated to abstraction as a purist of the aesthetics, which he has always regarded as the highest form of painting.

‘Untitled’ 2016, acrylic on canvas 20 x 16 in

“I was looking for symbols that I could use as themes,” the artist told art critic Leo Benesa in 1980. And Isidro uses the depth of abstraction to demonstrate these themes.

Landscapes will be on view at the ArtistSpace until today.

ArtistSpace is at the Ayala Museum Annex, Ground Level, Makati Avenue corner De la Rosa Street, Makati City.

It is open from Monday to Sunday, 10 AM to 7 p.m.. Admission is free.

For more information, please call or e-mail Camille Abello at camille@ galeriejoaquin.com, (02) 723-9418 or (02) 723-9253, or Jane Salvador at artistspace@ayalafoundation.org, (02) 759-8288.

Design, art, autism

The humble beginnings of dance group Hashtags is told in their book ‘Hashtags Journal’

DESIGN Art, Autism, an exhibit DESIGN, aimed to raise awareness about art artists with autism and their designs, was recently featured at the School of Design and Art (SDA) Gallery of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

The paintings of Jorel Alegre, Vico Cham, Julyan Harrison, Chico Joaquin, Samantha Kaspar, Karl Oliveros, Muneer Pena Pena, and Daniel Sanchez explored the practice of art therapy and the role it plays in their development. The stu students of the college’s Fashion De Design and Merchandising, Industrial Design, and Architecture courses supplemented functional sustain sustainable merchandise inspired by the works of the artists.

The exhibit was curated by Center for Campus Art Director Architect Gerry Torres Torres, in cooperation with Unilab Foundation, Center for Inclu Inclusive Education, and Vico’s Artism.

PAGES

‘Hashtags Journal’ tops bestsellers list IT’S Showtime Kilig ambassadors, the Hashtags, mark another milestone as the group’s first ever book venture, Hashtags Journal (ABS-CBN Publishing) tops the National Book Store’s bestsellers list for nonfiction for the month of July.

The book, released in May, talks about the multi-talented group’s humble beginnings, first impressions, brotherhood, and creating new goals—giving fans an unprecedented sight of the Hashtags journey.

The all-male group is composed of Zeus Collins, McCoy De Leon, Jimboy Martin, Nikko Natividad, Ronnie Alonte, Tom Doromal, Ryle Santiago, Luke Conde, Jameson Blake, Jon Lucas, and Paulo Angeles. After their official television launch in It’s Showtime in November 2015, the group instantly became a hit among viewers and garnered thousands of followers online.

Through their now bestselling book, the boys were able to look back and appreciate their road to success.

Hashtags member Tom recalled their incredible journey—from their auditions and becoming official record artists to having their very first big concert.

“No one can stop you from being amazing,” shared Tom of the group’s learning to welcome and embrace opportunities that come their way.

Group leader Zeus also revealed what made their bunch a success. He said, “In Hashtags, there is no competition.

We move and dance as one.”

Aside from interesting details about each Hashtags member, the book also comes with tips and activities to inspire readers to nurture their talents and passion.

Hashtags Journal is exclusively available at all National Book Stores nationwide at P185.

From left: Jann Emille Peña, Mary Janette Peña, Muneer Peña, Thea Peña, and Alfredo Peña

Artist Julyan Harrison (middle) with his mother Rachel (right) and cousin Jennifer Fernandez (left)

Life

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

The Manila Symphony Orchestra with guest conductor Darrell Ang and guest soloist Iskandar Widjaja at the Irwin Lee Theater in Ateneo

Filipino young musicians

triumph in Mozart’s territory

By Pablo A. Tariman

Conductor Jeffrey Solares with the members of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra in Vienna, where the group won second place in the String Orchestra category at the 11th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Festival.

(Photo from the Facebook post of Sara Gonzales)

T

HE three-year old Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) under the baton of Jeffrey Solares won second place in the string orchestra category of the recently concluded 11th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Festival in Vienna.

The competition was held on July 6 at the famous Golden Hall of the Musikverein considered one of the best concert halls in the world.

The concert of winners took place on July 11.

“We all feel blessed just being here in Europe and having this opportunity to play in all these wonderful venues.

Winning in the competition is just a bonus for us,” said conductor Solares who noted that the founders of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) all came from the city of Vienna which is synonymous with the names of Mozart and Beethoven.

The MSO was founded by a Viennese musician named Alexander Lippay in 1926 and later nurtured by Viennese musician and concentration camp survivor Herbert Zipper whose life was the subject of a documentary nominated in the Oscar awards.

Noted Solares, “The entire building of the Musikverein was a veritable temple for classical music. What a great privilege and life experience to perform and conduct an orchestra of young Filipinos in these halls where Brahms, Mahler, Furtwangler, Bernstein, Dudamel, and many great artists have performed! And the acoustics made you feel you are so brilliant and you don’t want to stop playing at all. The hall was constructed like a musical instrument that was designed to enhance the sound of your own instrument.”

The MSJO played a 25-minute program that included Mozart’s Divertimento in D (the contest piece), Bartok’s Rumanian

Folk Dances, Cayabyab’s Ondoy Ondoy, which was specially composed for MSJO’s European concert tour.

The Filipino youth musicians’ performance was greeted with a long applause one of the judges had to wait for the cheers to die down before he could deliver his message. Noting the orchestra’s excellent preparation, the judge gave thanks to the Philippine delegation and commended the MSJO soloists With the Philippine delegation was Ernesto “Judz” Echauz, chairman of Standard Insurance Group of Companies, which is the main sponsor along with Ayala Malls.

Earlier, the members of the MSJO attended the opening ceremonies at the St. Stephen Cathedral where Mozart got married and where he received the last rites when he died at the age of 35.

They also visited the Mozart house in the historic city Meanwhile, the MSO was featured in another concert with guest conductor Darrell Ang and guest soloist Iskandar Widjaja (IDN/GER) on violin Aug. 5 at Irwin Theater in Ateneo and Aug. 6 at the Circuit in Makati City.

The program included Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole, Dvorak’s Symphony No.8 and a new composition by a Filipino composer.

Meanwhile, the main highlight of the opening season concert of the Manila Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Molina last month was the monumental Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27 mounted at the Circuit in Makati.

Happening as it did when the coun-

try was reeling from the ongoing war in Marawi, the Rachmaninoff symphony was at once timely as it conjured images of gloom and hope, of the world’s uncertain conditions and reflects the weary, almost hopeless outpouring of humanity in the third movement. The electrifying finale at once conveyed new hope for humanity.

Like it or not, the MSO was in good shape in this piece de resistance and what an incredible show of energy and stamina!

Under Molina’s baton, the sound was rich and intoxicating and it smoldered from one musical phrase to another.

But the adagio of the third movement brought out a familiar sound (it inspired many pop compositions including Eric Carmen’s “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again”) and here you see Rachmaninoff as the Master of Melodic Contours.

Its opening was breathtaking and in a few moments came the sea of lyrical outpouring which could melt the heart.

Brilliant was the only word that

came to mind as one heard the last movement with the familiar theme from the first movement.

The last notes of the symphony resulted in an audience too stunned to react and no doubt mesmerized as one by one, they stood to give the orchestra a rousing standing ovation.

It has been a long time since one saw a symphony being cheered as ecstatically as this one.

Moreover, the first part of the concert is abnormally short (less than 30 minutes) but they were enough to showcase Nonong Buencamino’s Tiamis, which is about the unrequited love of Leonor Rivera and Jose Rizal.

Originally scored for cello and piano, the piece became an orchestral piece with cellist Arnold Josue as soloist.

As it were, the piece brought us to another time and another place with its poignant and lyrical outpouring. It ended with the last lonesome notes of the cello and instantly, it captured the nobility and

depth of the once and future love of the Filipino hero and his Leonor Rivera.

The latest MSO concert is but one of the many facets of the Filipino musicians who remain the enduring symbols of what is amazing about the Filipino artists.

With no visible government support, the MSO has managed to sustain its season offerings and the people behind it and yet still find time to teach young musicians in its MSO music academy and to hone a new generation of musicians in its MSO Junior Orchestra.

The musicians of the MSO carry many of the redeeming qualities of the Filipino performing artist.

Without a home of its own and with no rehearsal hall of its own, these musicians survive by the skin of their teeth, so to speak.

One hopes the new administration will find time to listen to Filipino musicians who symbolize what is good and enduring about the Filipino as music interpreter.

pians and musicians alike, while the Mountain Dew Skatepark, Gatorade Blue Pitch Football Field and City Kart Racing tap into the adventurous spirits.

With the opening of the MSO Music Academy, Circuit Lane breathes in a fresh avenue for the musically-inclined to further develop their talents.

“Nothing makes us prouder than to see

the Filipino shine, more so with providing the youth with different opportunities to explore and hone their talents and skills.

More than just a lifestyle destination, we at Ayala Malls value what truly moves our shoppers—rewarding experiences that espouse the Filipino ingenuity in music and arts,” says Rowena Tomeldan, Ayala Malls Group Head.

New home for MSO

AYALA Malls sets up a new stage for Filipino talent to shine with the opening of the new MSO Recital Hall in Circuit Lane, Makati. Complementing the MSO Music Academy in Glorietta, the MSO Recital Hall will be the main rehearsal venue for the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO).

Following the loss of their former rehearsal hall two years ago, Ayala Malls has become both the training and performance ground for the gifted musicians of MSO and MSJO. Since then, mall goers have been privileged to hear and witness open rehearsals and pocket performances from the seasoned musicians of MSO. The MSO Music Academy at Glorietta 5, the first of its kind in a mall setting, has also paved the way for more young talents to discover and harness their musical talent. What was originally a venue partnership between Ayala Malls and MSO has then evolved to Music Everywhere, an advocacy to make classical music accessible to the public. Now, MSO and MSJO have found their permanent home at Ayala Malls Circuit Lane.

Founded in 2014, the MSJO is the youth orchestra program of the Manila Symphony Orchestra Foundation, Inc., and is composed of the most advanced students of the MSO Music Academy, the esteemed Philippine High School for the Arts.

The MSJO recently made headlines winning second prize for the String Orchestra Category Competition at the 11th Summa Cum Laude (SCL) International Music Festival held in Vienna, Austria, on July 8. With young musicians ages 9 to 21 years old, the MSJO is one of the youngest seven competitors who qualified to compete in the

festival. They went up against ensembles composed of various choirs, bands and orchestras from 14 countries all over the world. Under the leadership of Prof. Jeffrey Solares, the MSJO also performed Classical and Baroque masterworks, alongside original Filipino compositions as they toured in major concert venues across Europe, such as Vienna, Munich, Salzburg and Prague.

On the exciting international stage, Filipino talent was praised and applauded.

This was also the first time the MSJO entered any competition.

Despite being a new group, the MSJO has been on concert tours around the country since 2014, when it was first established. They have performed in numerous major concert venues and destinations like the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Rizal Park Open Air Auditorium and The Ayala Museum in Makati City, among others.

This year, the MSJO enchanted the mall goers of Ayala Malls with their performances of classical pieces as well as their own rendition of popular songs such as Guns ‘N Roses “Sweet Child Of Mine” to name a few. These were part of their fundraising efforts to build the MSO Recital Hall as well as to raise money for the MSJO’s participation in the SCL International Festival.

Until today, Ayala Malls continues to be a partner of the Manila Symphony Orchestra, opening up more opportunities for the children of the MSJO to thrive. This year, more shows are to be anticipated as Ayala Malls’ Circuit Lane hosts both open rehearsals and pocket performances.

Catering to the active, creative and digitally savvy community around Cir-

Members of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra perform at their newest rehearsal venue, the MSO Recital Hall in Circuit Lane, Makati City

cuit Makati, Circuit Lane offers a multiplicity of choices in dining, shopping and entertainment. A sprawling strip of popular and unique concepts, Circuit Lane also hosts a range of entertainment facilities fit to fulfill one’s artistic or active aspirations. Powermac Center Spotlight and Globe Circuit Grounds offer amenities for up and coming thes-

TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

D

REAMPLAY, City of Dreams Manila’s DreamWorks-inspired interactive play space, celebrates its second anniversary with another King Julien’s Dance Off competition open to all children dance groups from around the country.

are found not only on keyboards, but also in strangers,” she added.

SKY Life regularly treats loyal subscribers with experiential lifestyle rewards.

The SKY subscribers stayed at the beautiful Casa Kalaw resort, and were treated to an

adventure-packed itinerary that included the best of what the island has to offer: island tours, beach and water activities, games, parties and socials at the best restaurants and bars in Lio, photo shoots, and of course, lasting memories.

King Julien is the official mascot of DreamPlay, the DreamWorks movie-inspired creativity play center at the City of Dreams Manila

Following preliminary screenings, eight finalists will vie for the top prize worth over P100,000 at the Grand Finals on Aug. 27.

The contest is open to all kids’ groups between the ages of seven to 14 with eight to 12 members each group, and can be composed of all boys, all girls or mixed. Interested kiddie dance groups must download the entry form from the City of Dreams Manila website: www.cityofdreamsmanila.com/ dreamplaydanceoff and submit a two-minute dance video entry with an English song from any DreamWorks movie until Aug.16 for the qualifying round.

On Aug. 17, the DreamPlay management team, in the presence of a DTI representative will review and deliberate each qualified entry to determine the top eight grand finalists. The final eight groups will be announced the following

day on City of Dreams Manila website and DreamPlay Facebook page. The finalists will also be sent an official e-mail confirmation.

Criteria for judging during the qualifying round includes choreography – creativity, style and originality (40 percent), execution – timing, coordination

SKY Life, SKY’s lifestyle rewards program for loyal subscribers, took 10 of their loyal subscribers to the ultimate getaway in Lio, an island paradise in El Nido, Palawan via the “SKY Life Wanderlust: The Great Lio Adventure” promo.

The trip to Lio was the first of its kind for SKY and their subscribers. In just two weeks, the promo garnered more than 200 entries, and for the first time, SKY chose as many as 10 subscribers to experience the ultimate, exclusive, all expensespaid weekend adventure trip.

The winners were treated to three memorable days at Lio,

the country’s first ecologically sustainable tourism destination that’s home to hotels, resorts, and the hottest new commercial and beach side establishments alongside breathtaking beaches.

For weeks following the event, the winners gushed about their experience, which gave them a chance to meet like-minded new friends, share inspiring stories, and form lasting bonds.

“The trip was really amazing, all expenses-paid, and I met wonderful people with inspiring stories—now that’s priceless,” said Trina Burgos, one of the SKY winners who joined the trip.

“I learned that special characters

Dreamplay’s 2nd anniversary and projection (30 percent), over-all impact – star quality (20 percent), and costume – tasteful and themed according to song choice (10 percent) for a total of 100 percent.

The eight finalists will each perform a five-minute dance number at the grand finals in

Chaos, City of Dreams Manila where only one dance team will be chosen as King Julien’s Dance Off champion with the grand prize of P80,000 in cash, a DreamPlay trophy and a special invitation to perform in upcoming events at DreamPlay. The grand champion members will each be provided

SKY rewards loyal subscribers

Lucky Sky subscribers spending an island vacation in Palawan

Screen time gets even better with M&M STILL can’t get over the recent blockbuster superhero flicks or already missing your favorite series on VOD? Call up your friends and loved ones because this calls for binge watching. Fluff your pillows, turn on the AC and prepare blankets and tissues.

Bring out the stacks of awesome movies and TV series that will have everyone laughing, crying, or leaving them in shock and get your phones ready to snap, post and share every fun moment.

But wait a minute. You must never forget the highlight of your screen time - the snacks. Not satisfied with a simple batch of buttered popcorn?

Open up a bag of fun with M&M’S®, the perfect screen time graze-snack companion.

M&M’S® is once again bringing you spontaneous fun through the M&M’S® Screenbite Awards! Share your screen time moments, fun time with M&M’S® and get a chance to win a trip for two (2) to Universal Studios Japan, a lot of M&M’S® chocolates, movie tickets or exclusive M&M’S® merchandise!

All you need to do is to visit the Screenbite Awards website www. screenbiteawards.com. Take a photo or video of you and your friends’ reactions while watching a TV series, movie, or any video on any screen (e.g. TV, Mobile, Laptop) and snacking on M&M’S®.

There are three categories you can choose from. M&M’S® Red, the leader of the gang, strong-willed, fierce and daring represents all

the ACTION. One of Red’s mottos is, “Never underestimate the power of chocolate and M&M’S®!”

M&M’S® Yellow, the friendliest and funniest of them all, loves Comedy and enjoys seeing his friends laughing like crazy. Yellow says, “Life is better when you’re laughing…and eating M&M’S®!” And finally, it’s no surprise that the beautiful and passionate M&M’S® Green, represents ROMANCE. This confident gal also has an emotional side that can get teary-eyed while watching a good love story. Ms. Green affirms, “All you need is love. But a little M&M’S® now and then won’t hurt!”

The biggest treat is for the lucky grand winner who will win a trip for two to Universal Studios Japan. “No guts no glory! Let’s get this show on the road!” says Red. Be sure to capture your or your group’s reaction while watching videos and consuming M&M’S® – after all, sharing the screen time experience makes it even more fun. Multiple entries are allowed so keep on posting to get more chances of winning! Promo will run for seven weeks starting until Sept. 21, at 11:59 a.m..

For full contest details, visit www.facebook.com/MMsPhilippines.

So what are you waiting for? Sit down, watch, enjoy M&M’S® and join the M&M’S® Screenbite Awards 2017 because screen time is now more fun with M&M’S®!

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, August 8, 2017

ACROSS 1 Talks on and on 5 A vital sign 10 Loafer 14 Throw off heat 15 Solemn assents 16 Cut it out 17 Proficient 18 Mubarak predecessor 19 Bear, to Brutus 20 Sweethearts 22 Thrift shop transactions 24 Tell a fib 25 Kayak user 26 Marvelous 30 One kind of flight 34 “Exodus” name 35 Pilot’s sighting 36 Auburn tint 37 Wheel covers 40 Showing the way 42 Brainstorms 43 Blyth or Landers 44 Take a gander 45 Round starters 46 Indistinct speakers 49 Like some canoes 52 Conquistador’s quest 53 Salad garnish

with an annual pass for unlimited DreamPlay access, a photo op with DreamWorks characters, DreamShop voucher worth P1,000 and Chez Gingy voucher worth P1,000.

The first runner-up will be awarded with the prizes of P25,000 in cash and DreamPlay trophy.

Every member of the runner-up dance troupe will have a weekend pass at DreamPlay, a photo op with DreamWorks characters, DreamShop voucher worth P500 and Chez Gingy voucher worth P500.

Consolation prize for the other kiddie groups who qualified for the grand finals includes P10,000 in cash and a DreamPlay plaque.

Each of their members can have a photo opportunity with the Dreamworks characters and bring home a complimentary DreamPlay ticket, DreamShop voucher worth P500 and Chez Gingy voucher worth P500.

The criteria for judging in the Grand Finals are choreography – creativity, style and originality (40 percent), execution – timing, coordination and projection (30 percent), costume – tasteful and themed according to song choice (10 percent), audience impact – stage presence (10 percent), and over-all impact – star quality (10 percent) for a total of 100 percent.

The distinguished panel of judges for the grand finals includes City of Dreams Manila’s Property President Geoff Andres, General Manager for Non-Gaming Operations Marlon Hirsh and DreamPlay Senior Manager Arnold Uriarte.

Terms and conditions apply, per DTI-FTEB No. 8572 Series of 2017. For more details and information, interested parties can call 800 8080, e-mail guestservices@cod-manila.com or visit www.cityofdreamsmanila. com.ph.

56 Diviner 60 Briefcase closer 61 Steel rod 64 Common amphibian 65 Resound 66 Neutral tone 67 Bee colony 68 No-hitter king 69 Augmented 70 Verve DOWN 1 OK 2 Lectern 3 Brick oven 4 Addison’s partner 5 Chose not to participate (2 wds.)

6 Ms. Thurman 7 Showed the way 8 Canine warning 9 Helena rival 10 Hunkered down 11 Cast 12 River into the Seine 13 LAX guesses 21 Female principle 23 Raw-fish delicacy 25 Turmoil 26 Sir, in India 27 Goody-goody

28 Malicious gossip 29 No —, ands or buts 31 Licorice flavoring 32 Hidden 33 Hits the ceiling 38 Ask a favor of (2 wds.)

39 Real estate 40 Large antelope 41 Not tied down 43 Poet — Lowell 47 “It’s freezing!”

48 Abhor

50 Main artery 51 Make bread 53 Sonny’s ex 54 Suggestive 55 Labor Dept. division 57 Wind into loops 58 Fluid rock 59 Paradise 62 Frost victim 63 It has long arms

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2017

Universal Music Asia signs Anggun Therese Malvar of the film "Hamog"

ISAH V. RED

I

AM not optimistic about Filipino films. It has been more than a century when we have started making movies, thanks to the influence of the Americans who brought with them to the islands the concept of making and showing movies on makeshift movie theaters even before the second world war, which by that time, the stranglehold of Hollywood movies on the Filipino audience had been absolute, and Filipinomade movies wrestled with those slick English-language motion pictures at the box offices along Avenida Rizal.

Tagalog movies then were screened in theaters on Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo (Globe, Dalisay, Boulevard) and in some theaters on Claro M Recto (then known as Azcarraga).

With some aggressive local leaders, like Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas, a festival of Tagalog movies was created, at that time, to coincide with the celebration called “Araw ng Maynila” in which theater owners that normally screened only English-language films were required to show local movies. Eventually, Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino became what is now known as the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) held during Christmas Day and lasts until several days after the New Year of the following year.

The idea worked for the local film community that has been in constant struggle for bigger box office receipts on ordinary days.

Other film festivals followed suit but they weren’t as big as the MMFF. On Aug. 16 to 22, and to coincide with Linggo ng Wika, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) under its new Chairman Liza Diño-Seguerra, is holding another Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. This isn’t like the MMFF in terms of scope. The films here, 10-12, are pre-screened some even had been featured in other festivals here and abroad but never had the chance to have a wide release commercially. Some had even won accolades in festivals abroad but not many Filipinos are aware of these films.

“The idea of this festival,” says DiñoSeguerra, “is to bring these films closer to more Filipinos so that they will know what the local filmmakers have been doing and some even making the Philippines proud of them in festivals abroad.”

What a noble purpose, really. But my mischievous self asks, “Will these new festival attract Filipinos to the theaters nationwide and watch the films the festival is showing?”

I don’t really know, but with Globe

"Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B," topbilled by Ryza Cenon and Martin del Rosario is one of the highlights of the week-long Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino

PISTA NG PELIKULANG PILIPINO

Can it draw more Filipinos to patronize local movies? being one of the supporters of the festival, there could be some buzz. Still, can the buzz translate to box-office receipts?

Let’s find out some of the films the festival is highlighting. *** Horror meets hugot in Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B, a tale of a manananggal in a different angle.

Jewel is a mysterious woman who lives alone in the city. Her secret led her to settle into a lonely existence. That is, until she meets Nico, a broken-hearted, downand-out guy who also feels unloved like she does.

Jewel is torn between wanting to love him and wanting to save him from herself. The film premiered in 2016.

Ryza Cenon and Martin Del Rosario star in the film by Prime Cruz. The film earned praises as the story strips off a familiar Philippine mythical character of its monstrosity. The controlled way of humanizing a manananggal is what it different from films of the same subject..

Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B is produced by The Ideafirst Company Inc. with Executive Producers Jun Lana and Perci Intalan. *** The Cinema One Originals’ selection Hamog, and Cinema One and Salida Productions’ horror movie Salvage join 10 other.

Ralston Jover’s Hamog (Haze) tells real-life scenarios of four street children who cannot help but resort to the routine of crime to survive daily life. Two unexpected events soon occur that will

"BAR BOYS." The film about life in law school is directed by Kip Oebanda (center) and stars (from left) Enzo Pineda, Kean Cipriano, Carlo Aquino, and Rocco Nacino

JC de Vera and Jessy Mendiola, stars of the found footage film, "Salvage"

challenge and push the kids to make tough choices.

It is the only local film so far that competed in two International Federation of Film Producers Associations or FIAPF A-list film festivals and won in both. It earned the Outstanding Artistic Achievement award for Ralston at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Silver St. George Best Actress Award for lead female actor Therese Malvar in Moscow International Film Festival.

Aside from the FIAPF recognitions, the film also won the Russian Critics Choice Award for Best Film.

Therese’s performance also earned her the New York Asian Film Festival’s Rising Star award. Joining her in the cast are Zaijan Jaranilla, Sam Quitania, Bor Lentejas, OJ Mariano, Anna Luna, Mike Liwag, Lou Veloso and Kyline Alcantara. *** Meanwhile, the found footage film Salvage stars Jessy Mendiola and JC de Vera in a thrilling story of a news team in search of clues. A series of killings has occurred in a remote and haunted province believed to be due to supernatural attacks.

The Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s movie was cited for Best Film Editing in last year’s Young Critics Circle.

The movie also received positive reviews from film directors. *** Bar Boys marks the return of the youth genre in Philippine cinema.

The film, written and directed by young filmmaker Kip Oebanda, tells the story of a barkada (composed of Rocco Nacino,

Carlo Aquino, Enzo Pineda and Kean Cipriano) whose friendship is challenged when three of them go to law school and one gets left behind. The bigger trial, however, lies ahead. They try to stick together through insurmountable readings, nerve-wracking graded recitations and irresistible temptations. Their families, relationships and convictions are brought to the breaking point as their prepare for the most difficult test: passing the bar exam.

Anna Luna and Odette Khan are also in the cast Oebanda got the idea for the film when he watched a local horror film with a lawyer-character, and his movie companion quipped that law school is the ultimate horror film.

“It’s really a love story because friendship is a form of love,” says the director. *** These are just among the films that will be screened during the festival. To find out the other titles, you have to download the PistaApp to your mobiles, tablets or laptops from Google Play or iTunes.

ANGGUN has signed a one-of-akind pan-Asian recording deal with Universal Music Asia. Her new English album is expected to be released by the end of 2017.

World Music Award winner, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and Asia’s Got Talent judge, Anggun has achieved global recognition.

Anggun’s debut international album, Snow On The Sahara, sold over two million copies outside of Asia, including achieving TriplePlatinum status in Italy, Platinum in France and Gold in Switzerland alongside several other countries.

Her song, “Snow On The Sahara,” was in the Billboard Top 20 (Pop Songs & Dance Charts). Since then, Anggun’s songs have landed in charts in numerous countries.

She has performed hundreds of concerts across Europe and now gained an extensive global audience.

Last year, she had the privilege to enter the cast of famous wax figures at the legendary Madame Tussauds Bangkok museum in 2016. As one of the judges on the highly successful and record-breaking TV series, Asia’s Got Talent, Anggun is building another step in her incredible border-breaking music career.

George Ash, president, Universal Music, Asia Pacific said, “Anggun is without doubt an incredibly talented artist. Throughout her career, she has been lauded not only in Asia but around the world, proven by the fact that she is the best-selling female Southeast Asian artist outside of Asia. She has countless international accolades and her work on Asia’s Got Talent will lay the foundations for future generations of artists. We are very proud to be working alongside her on her muchanticipated forthcoming English album and look forward to an exciting year ahead.”

Anggun said, “I am so proud to partner with Universal Music Asia on this new album. The team is truly amazing and dedicated to both music and artists. I have been working very hard on my new English album, writing songs while having short breaks during my extensive tour across France and Belgium over the past few months.

I’m really excited to showcase several collaborations with some of the most talented songwriters and producers I have ever met and worked with. This is probably my best album so far and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Anggun’s new single is expected for release this fall and the album release date will be announced soon.