Manila Standard - 2017 August 17 - Thursday

Troops to help contain outbreak

By Francisco Tuyay and Anna Leah E. Gonzales

VOL. XXXI • NO. 184 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

THE Armed Forces will deploy 100 soldiers to San Luis, Pampanga to help with the culling of some 600,000 fowl because of an outbreak of bird flu, a military official said Wednesday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office head Col. Edgard Arevalo said 100 soldiers would be initially deployed to help with the culling of fowl after Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol sought military assistance in the villages of San Carlos and Sta. Rita in the town of San Luis, Pampanga.

The troops would be deployed Thursday, Arevalo said.

In a press briefing, Piñol said his office was having hard time culling about 600,000 fowl and preventing the spread of flu to other parts of Central Luzon.

The avian flu outbreak in San Luis, Pampanga was discovered following the deaths of around 37,000 fowl, mostly quail and ducks last April.

“I have asked the Philippine Army to provide us additional warm bodies to help us in depopulating the farms,” Piñol said in a morning press briefing Wednesday.

For now, Arevalo said although the Agriculture Department

WITH THESE EYES. President Rodrigo Duterte, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana try Wednesday in Malacañang to see through the new binoculars donated to the Armed Forces given by an anonymous donor.

Cops kill 32 in ‘shock and awe’ raids PHILIPPINE police killed 32 people in “shock and awe” raids aimed at scaring drug traffickers, authorities said Wednesday, after President Rodrigo Duterte admitted to setbacks in his controversial crime war.

Duterte has waged an unprecedented crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power that has seen police and suspected Next page

No reason to fear China ships—DFA

By Maricel V. Cruz and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

F Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat, during a news conference Wednesday at the national police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, following one of the deadliest operations of the government’s war on illegal drugs where police reported killing 32 people in a series of raids Monday on suspected drug traffickers across Bulacan. AFP

OREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano on Wednesday shrugged off the presence of Chinese ships near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea.

Cayetano, at a news conference at the situation in the West Philippine Sea, the House of Representatives where he said the presence of Chinese ships was was scheduled to brief lawmakers on not a cause for concern and did not war-

why we were not concerned about the US conducting freedom of navigation [operations in the West Philippine Sea].

Their ships are so huge. Why? Because they are our allies,” Cayetano said.

He refused, however, to confirm or deny Alejano’s information.

Instead, he said the country should learn to develop “mutual trust” with China in the same manner it trusts the United States, a longtime ally. Next page

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

By Rey E. Requejo, Vito Barcelo and Maricel V. Cruz

Next page

rant a diplomatic protest.

“The presence of ships alone does not mean anything,” Cayetano said in response to revelations by Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano that China had deployed two frigates and a Coast Guard vessel and two large fishing boats with their maritime militia just one to three nautical miles north of Pagasa Island.

“Let me ask congressman Alejano

CA thumbs down Social Welfare chief

Poll chief, wife, law firm probed for tax evasion THE Bureau of Internal Revenue has formed a five-member panel to investigate possible tax evasion cases against Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista after his estranged wife accused him of amassing close to P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Wednesday.

Aguirre said the BIR team will investigate possible violations of the National Internal Revenue Code, not only by Bautista, but also by his wife Patricia Paz, law dean Nilo Divina of the Divina law firm, Luzon Development Bank and other parties involved in the case.

In her affidavit, Patricia alleged that her husband had money in banks, condominiums,

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FIGHTING FIST. The poweful Commission on Appointments Wednesday rejects the ad interim appointment of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, with raised right fist outside the Senate session hall, the third Cabinet official appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to be turned down by the bicameral congressional body. Lino Santos

THE Commission on Appointments on Wednesday rejected the appointment of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, the third Cabinet official appointed

by President Rodrigo Duterte to be turned down by the bicameral body.

The vote came after the CA’s committee on labor and social welfare headed by Davao Oriental Rep. Joel Almario recommended the rejection of Taguiwalo’s appointment. Almario did not say how the voting went, but said they reached the majority vote of 13.

Other appointees rejected by the CA were Perfecto Yasay Jr. as Foreign Affairs secretary and Gina Lopez as Environment secretary.

In recommending to dismiss Taguiwalo’s appointment, Almario said they exercised “due diligence” to check whether or not the appointee “suits the position.”

Almario said the committee “looked into all angles of her background and character” to ensure that it based its recommendation on “real truth and solid fact...taking into consideration “the best interest of the people.”

During the past confirmation hearings, he said questions were raised against Taguiwalo’s appointment. Early in his speech, Almario cited Taguiwalo’s Next page

BIFF bomb expert dies

By Francisco Tuyay MILITARY and police operatives killed a bomb expert of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters after he resisted arrest in Maguindanao Tuesday night, an official said Wednesday.

Ebrahim Ali alias Ebs, 49, was slain after he resisted arrest and attempted to fire his gun at the authorities who came after him to serve an arrest warrant, said Capt. Arvin Encinas, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

He made his statement even as the Armed Forces of the Philippines vowed to neutralize the remaining Maute group terrorists who are in a one-squarekilometer area in Marawi City.

“We are firm in ending this rebellion in Marawi, and we are Next page

Du30 stands by Faeldon; solons want him out

By John Paolo Bencito and Maricel V. Cruz CUSTOMS Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, the man lawmakers want to quit his post, remains clean but the people around him were not, President Rodri-

go Duterte said Wednesday.

The President vouched for the credibility of the embattled former military man despite being in hot water for alleged gross incompetence for failing to stop the entry of P6.4 billion worth of illicit drugs from China.

“Faeldon, I will stand by him. Purely honest,” the President said during his speech at the 19th anniversary of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption in Malacañang.

Duterte said that many officials in the Next page

New generation of Red fighters emerges

By Cecil Morella A KEROSENE lamp flickers beside a Macbook in a jungle camp as aging Philippine communist leader Jaime Padilla plots the next step in one of Asia’s oldest

insurgencies with a new generation of fighters.

Fuelled by one of the world’s starkest rich-poor divides, a Maoist rebellion that began months before the first human landed in 1969 on the moon plods on

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even though the country now boasts one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

“There’s a big pool of young people who will pursue the people’s war even Next page

S

manilastandard.net

IN FORMATION. This photo, taken on July 30, 2017, shows guerrillas of the New People’s Army in formation in the Sierra Madre mountain range east of Manila, where one of its leaders, in an interview with a small group of newsmen, said ‘There’s a big pool of young people who will pursue the people’s war even if it takes us a hundred or more years.’ AFP

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Sereno impeachment backed

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE House of Representatives will act on the impeachment complaint filed against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno as soon as the complaint is endorsed by any lawmaker, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Wednesday.

He made the statement after the group Volunteers against Crime and Corruption filed a substitute impeachment complaint against Sereno that con-

tains several court records and documents that supposedly would support it.

Alvarez said the House will process the impeachment com-

Transport groups sue Uber; order hit, lauded VARIOUS transport leaders on Wednesday sued Uber System Inc. before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for operating 53,334 unregistered vehicles.

The complainants were president Vigor Mendoza II of the 1-United Transport Koalisyon, Melencio Vargas of the Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, Zenaida Maranan of the Federation of Jeepney Drivers and Operators Association of the Philippines, Efren de Luna of the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations, Roberto Martin of Pasang Masda, Orlando Marquez of the Makati Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association, and Fermin Octobre of the Unite for Mass Progress Equality and Reality.

In other developments: • A lawmaker on Wednesday slammed the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to suspend the operation of the transport network company Uber, calling it “harsh and arbitrary.”

Rep. Jericho Nograles said the decision of LTFRB to suspend Uber’s operation for one month would do nothing good but would only remove a riding option from the riding public.

Nograles said the riding public and the tens of thousands of Uber drivers and riders were being unnecessarily punished by the LTFRB. • Senator Win Gatchalian described as a “reckless decision” the LTFRB’s order to suspend UBER’s operations for one month. He said the move would cause further frustration to the hundreds of thousands of commuters who had no choice

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vigilantes kill thousands of people, leading to warnings by rights groups that he may be overseeing a crime against humanity.

Duterte said that what happened in Bulacan, where 32 alleged drug suspects were killed in just a day, was a “good” development, saying the daily killings would resolve the country’s drug problem.

“It’s good. If we can kill 32 people a day, maybe we can reduce what ails this country,” the President said, flaunting a thicker ‘drug list’ updated as of Aug. 8, 2017.

In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in a series of raids Monday on suspected drug traffickers across Bulacan province, which neighbors the capital of Manila.

“We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities,” Romeo Caramat, the Bulacan police chief, told reporters in Manila on Wednesday, adding 109 suspects had also been arrested.

“Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade.”

Caramat insisted the police had only killed the suspects in self-defense, and highlighted in the press conference that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids.

“We know we have done nothing wrong,” Caramat said. With AFP, John Paolo Bencito, and PNA

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and interest and shares in companies established overseas that the poll chief allegedly did not declare in his 2016 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth with a total estimated value of almost P1 billion.

Bautista declared a P176.3 million total net worth in his 2016 SALN. She also alleged that the poll chief had pay slips and checks received from the Divina law firm “as commission for assisting the law firm clients with the Comelec.”

Patricia also claimed that Bautista had 35 passbook accounts at LDB with a total balance of P329,220,962.

In BIR Special Order No. 7062017, a copy which the Justice Department released Wednesday, Commissioner Caesar Dulay designated Regional Director Glen Geraldino of Revenue Region 8 (Makati) as head

but to make the most out of Metro Manila’s inadequate public transportation system.

“To stop this situation from getting out of hand, I am calling on LTFRB to immediately recall the suspension order,” Gatchalian said.

• The horrendous traffic in Metro Manila would only be resolved if Congress gave him money to fix the situation, President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday.

“Traffic? You want it to be improve? Then give me money. I need money to … to whatever, to destroy there and change things,” Duterte said in his speech at the 19th anniversary of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption in Malacañang.

Duterte said the reservations expressed by members of Congress was not helping him fix anything― referring to the long pending bill giving him emergency powers before both houses of Congress.

The complainants sued Uber board members Karen Sam Walker, Rob Van Der Waude, Charlotte Feraren Aguba-Goco, Jacqueline Laurel Maria Elena Hernandez-Cueva and Manuel Cosico as well as Joseph Ravile and Jenell Flores, Uber drivers.

“Complainants are not against Uber, but they are against Uber’s stance of wanting to be above the law,” the charge sheet read.

On May 8, 2015, the Department of Transportation issued an order allowing the mobile app-based Uber, a 99 percent Dutch corporation belonging to Uber International Holdings B.V., to operate as a transport network company. Rio N. Araja, Maricel V. Cruz, Macon RamosAraneta and John Paolo Bencito

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asked for 400 men, the military is ready to mobilize at least 100 troops initially from the Northern Luzon Command based in San Miguel, Tarlac to San Luis, Pampanga.

Piñol said Wednesday he will seek an initial budget of P100 million to help farmers affected by the bird flu outbreak in Pampanga.

Piñol said a total of 36 farms have already been listed to be part of the depopulation process and these would involve 600,000 fowl. The DA earlier put the number at a lower 200,000 fowl in six farms.

“The offer to depopulate came from the farmers themselves because they are having difficulty selling their products.

I will ask the President for an immediate release of calamity funds. Based on our computation, P 52.8 million will be needed as compensation for those 600,000 fowl,” Piñol said.

Piñol said the culling is expected to be finished by Saturday as the Philippine Army already committed to send one battalion to help.

Piñol said that as of Tuesday, a total of 73,110 layer chickens, ducks, fighting cocks and native chicken have already been culled. He added that all culled birds would be accounted for and their owners compensated.

Piñol said he also ordered the investigation of the chief quarantine officer of Batangas port after it was reported that 1,500 eggs coming from Candaba and Batangas were seized in Katiklan of the probe team with Regional Director Manuel Mapoy and Revenue District Officers Petronilo Fernando, Bethsheba Bautista and Isabel Paulino as members.

In a letter, Dulay also sought Aguirre’s assistance in the BIR probe.

“To help in the effective discharge of the team’s investigative authority, kindly furnish it, through Director Geraldino, with any and all affidavits, reports and documents which your office may deem pertinent to the tax investigation,” the BIR chief said.

Aguirre ordered the NBI last week to probe the allegations against the Comelec chairman and build criminal cases that could be pursued if Bautista is removed from his post through impeachment or if he resigns or completes his term.

He directed the NBI to request bank records of accounts under Bautista’s name with the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

plaint as soon as it becomes a verified complaint.

“We are now processing the impeachment complaint. We will find out if it is sufficient in form and in substance,” Alvarez told reporters.

The VACC filed its substitute impeachment complaint against Sereno on Tuesday.

The group led by Dante Jimenez accuses Sereno of violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, but not one House member has endorsed its complaint.

Alvarez said the Office of the

Speaker would fulfill its mandate to dispose of the impeachment complaint provided at least one complainant endorsed it.

“The House committee on justice will conduct committee hearings on the complaint, especially now that the Supreme Court was the one which issued the certified true copies of court records and documents as bases for the allegations of the complaint. We need to deliberate on the complaint,” Alvarez said.

Jimenez, along with Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. lawyer Eligio Mallari and former

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participation in the underground movement in her youth.

In her third and final confirmation hearing, Taguiwalo was grilled on the Conditional Cash Transfer program, her views on the proposed national identification system and tax reform program, and her links with the National Democratic Front, which had nominated her for the post.

Under questioning, she admitted that the DSWD has limited capacity to implement the cash transfers intended for poor families under the tax reform program.

Under the tax reform proposal, some 10 million families will receive cash transfers of P200 per month for one year to cushion the impact of the excise tax on fuel.

“If the law is passed, the department will be able to administer the cash transfer for the 4.4 million current beneficiaries [of 4Ps] so it’s going to be a top-up. But the remaining 5.6 million, we won’t be able to handle,” Taguiwalo said.

“Now, [administering 4Ps] is already a heavy burden for our workers,” she told the CA. Taguiwalo said the DSWD is in discussions with the Department of Finance, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Land Bank of the Philippines on how to best handle the situation.

“It is a challenge right now. I hope the different government agencies can come together so that relief can be given to the poor, given the increases when the bill becomes a law. But I’m not saying it cannot be done. It will be difficult, an administrative challenge but it is not a challenge to our department alone,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the admission of Taguiwalo that the DSWD has a limited capacity to implement the cash transfers under the tax reform proposal just confirms his fears.

In endorsing the confirmation of the appointment of Taguiwalo, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said she should not be dismissed as one of the token leftists in the Cabinet.

“She was not put there as a memento to prove Digong’s Big Tent approach in forming a government.

Rather, I believe that she holds the post by virtue of her ability, and not by her affiliation,” said Recto.

She also said Taguiwalo was not in the Duterte Cabinet to represent one color in Digong’s rainbow Cabinet.

“She is there to serve all the colors in the tapestry of our democracy. She represents all of us, all our dreams, all our aspirations for our nation, our people, and our children. She personifies that elusive political ideal that persons of different persuasions can come together for the common good,” said Recto.

“If she is an ideologue, then the ideology she subscribes to is the same one we believe in, and that ideology is to serve the people,” said Recto.

“I am seconding her confirmation because she brings a fresh perspective in the DSWD—and that is to treat not poverty’s symptoms but its roots, for the poor need more than relief, but a release from the social shackles that prevent them from bettering their lives,” he added.

He expressed dismay over her failure to hurdle the CA vote.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said he voted for Taguiwalo’s confirmation because they have been together as members of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines in 2010 until 2013.

He also said Taguiwalo was a member of the faculty when he was chairman of the committee on education when he was congressman.

“And I saw her capability, her integrity and above all, her heart for the poor. And that is her foremost qualification why she should sit as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD],” said Angara as he expressed hope that the

airport.

“This is a violation of our memorandum circular. An investigation is now ongoing. We will impose administrative sanctions and even look at criminal liabilities should it be proven that they allowed shipments of the egg and egg products and poultry product,” said Piñol.

Piñol said they also received a report from the National Meat Inspection Service that a total of 21 tons of dressed chicken from Manila was confiscated in Cagayan de Oro port.

“We still have to ban the shipment from Luzon to Visayas or Mindanao and I hope that people will understand that. We will file charges because they are violating quarantine procedures.

They can accuse me of overreacting but I will not let this [bird flu] spread in Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.

Meanwhile, two poultry workers from San Luis who were said to be showing flu-like symptoms have tested negative for the bird flu virus, the Health Department said Wednesday.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the two farm workers can now return to work. They were given anti-viral prophylaxis to ensure their safety.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine on Wednesday released the results of the laboratory tests on the swab and blood samples collected from the workers, aged 18 and 28.

Ubial said out of the 14 farm workers who were tested, two were isolated after showing flu-like symptoms. She said one had fever and the other had a cough and colds.

DOH spokesman Eric Tayag urged the public not to panic, saying the DA is doing its best to prevent the infection from affecting other poultry farms.

At present, he said it’s an animal health problem because the bird flu virus infected only animals.

Tayag said getting anti-human influenza shots cannot protect a person against animal virus. However, it could prevent virus mutation in case a human sick with influenza gets exposed to an animal infected with bird flu.

“This [mutation] is what we have been closely looking out for because it was the start of the pandemic influenza [in the past],” he said.

Health experts have assured the public the Philippines is prepared to deal with the problem even if humans get infected by the outbreak in Pampanga.

He added that the country started preparing in 1997 when the first bird flu case was reported in Hong Kong.

Moreover, he said government hospitals are equipped with “personal protective equipment” for health personnel handling such cases. Health workers have also been trained in dealing with infectious diseases.

Poultry raisers in Candaba, Pampanga are losing P5 million a day because of the bird flu scare, even though they are outside the seven-kilometer control area where the disease has broken out, the town’s mayor Danilo Baylon said.

With Rio N. Araja, Macon RamosAraneta and Maricel V. Cruz

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talks because the NPA continued to extort money from businesses and ambush security forces.

Padilla, a slight, bespectacled ex-farmer who goes by the alias “Ka (Comrade) Diego,” heads the Melito Glor Command, one of the most important units of the NPA, the communists’ 3,800-member armed wing, military commanders told AFP. The unit operates across the south of the main island of Luzon, the country’s industrial heartland that lies next to the capital of Manila, typically attacking isolated security outposts and taking guns from slain police and soldiers.

It also collects “revolutionary taxes” from businesses, ranging from big power plants and even small pig farms, as well as local politicians, Padilla said. AFP

if it takes us a hundred or more years,” 70-year-old Padilla, one of the Philippines’ most-wanted men, said at a rare news conference for a small group of reporters.

Padilla, who joined the New People’s Army a few years after the insurgency began in the late 1960s, insisted the rebels were not concerned by President Rodrigo Duterte’s threats to end peace talks.

A self-proclaimed socialist, Duterte swiftly launched negotiations with the Maoists after winning presidential elections last year and there were high hopes he could end the rebellion, which the military estimates has claimed 30,000 lives.

But last month Duterte angrily declared there would be no more

Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras called for Sereno’s ouster.

In the substitute complaint, Jimenez and his colleagues attached the certified true copies of court records and documents that the VACC and VPCI had sought, and which all of Sereno’s 14 colleagues had unanimously approved.

Some of the records turned over to the VACC and VPCI were the high court’s revocation of Sereno’s order in 2012 to reopen a regional constitutional administrative office in Cebu without the approval of the high court. next DSWD secretary would possess the same qualifications.

Liberal Party president Senator Francis Pangilinan said the Duterte administration lost a committed Cabinet official with the rejection of Taguiwalo.

“As Senator Ralph Recto said, her guts and grit and her experience fighting the Marcos dictatorship, including time as political prisoner in three jails, should have made her confirmation automatic,” said Pangilinan.

In the 14 months that Taguiwalo was at the helm of the DSWD, Pangilinan said, she continued the Aquino administration’s successful CCT program, which benefited 4.4 million Filipino families.

“Echoing the Liberal Party position and contrary to the pronouncements of the President and the actions of his allies in Congress, she has also voiced her opposition to lowering the age of criminal liability of minors,” said Pangilinan.

“It is ironic that the allies of the administration rejected the President’s appointee,” he also said.

Liberal Party members in the CA, including Recto, Drilon, and Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV all voted in favor of Taguiwalo’s confirmation.

Under the CA rules, Taguiwalo cannot be reappointed because she had failed to pass muster for the third time.

The CA has not yet acted on the confirmation of another leftist, Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, and Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, a former Armed Forces chief who Duterte appointed three months ago after Lopez’s rejection.

In an interview, Taguiwalo said she failed to get the nod of the CA members due to her opposition to the tax reform proposal, and the congressmen’s practice of using their offices to secure assistance from the DSWD. She surmised there were also some issues on policy differences that worked against her confirmation.

With John Paolo Bencito and Rio N. Araja

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cor r uption-riddled agency embezzled their way to stashing cash from gover nment coffers.

“My god, I hope I will not offend a particular person, but they are the ones with good houses, good cars...” he added.

Despite the President’s statements, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez renewed his call to Faeldon to quit his post to spare Duterte from embarrassment even as the latter also admitted corruption in his agency persists more than a year after he was appointed to the office.

“I think he [Faeldon] should spare the President from further embarrassment especially that the Office of the President actively campaigns against illegal drugs and corruption,” Alvarez said.

Faeldon is facing congressional inquiries on the supposed P6.4 billion worth of shabu smuggling inside the Bureau of Customs later seized in a warehouse in Valenzuela City.

“This issue involves illegal drugs, and not just grams but kilos, even tons of shabu. It was also established during committee investigations that there was corruption involved here. So for those two main reasons, I think he should spare the President from further embarrassment,” Alvarez said.

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going to exert all efforts within the limits and bounds of the law to get the remnants of the Daesh [ISIS]-inspired Maute Group,” military spokesman Edgard Arevalo told reporters on Tuesday.

A Catholic bishop on Wednesday deplored the alleged plan of the Maute group to use civilian hostages as suicide bombers against security forces.

Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Peña said the “desperate” plan of the terrorists deservd strong condemnation.

“Horrible! Repulsive! These terrorists are really desperate, and that’s why they are doing this,” De la Peña said.

“What they are doing is abhorrent and they are hoping that the government will listen to them.”

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Cayetano lamented how most people “keep looking at China as the enemy and [that] every time they have a movement, we react too much.”

“If we start developing mutual trust with them, we [just] pick up and phone, call them [and ask] why do you have so many ships there?”

Cayetano said.

Cayetano said Alejano must reminded that “there’s a thin line between informing us and stirring up the situation.”

“There is no situation there that is a cause of lowering mutual trust among all of claimants [countries],” he said.

Nevertheless, Cayetano said he appreciates Alejano’s gestures to call the government’s attention.

He said the government will not likely file any diplomatic protest against China, saying the DFA is in constant communication with Chinese counterparts.

“That’s why we use diplomatic action,” he said. “In the past it’s our strategy to confront China every opportunity we have and diplomatic protest is one of the instruments we use. That’s not our strategy anymore, our strategy now is to have peace, stability and dialogue and so far it’s working.”

A former diplomat cautioned against megaphone diplomacy after Alejano reported the presence of a Chinese flotilla in the sandbars on Pag-asa Island, an area within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone.

The former permanent representative to the United Nations for the Philippines Lauro Baja Jr. said it is better to say nothing if there is no factual basis to the claim.

“I don’t know where Alejano gets his information and how he arrived at his conclusions… but keeping our mouth shut does not mean doing nothing,” Baja added.

Backchanneling is an accepted and effective diplomatic practice, he said.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said that the department has yet to receive official reports from concerned security agencies about the Chinese ships.

But Baja said Cayetano’s approach gave the rest of the world the impression that the Philippines is an apologist for China.

“The fish gets caught through its mouth. If our statements, by design or coincidence, reflect Chinese views, they will only give currency to the perception that we are apologists of China, like Cambodia and others,” Baja said.

This, he added, might confuse or amuse the international community about the way the Philippines conducts diplomacy.

UP professor Jay Batongbacal said Cayetano’s approach seems to be in accordance with a longstanding Chinese request not to play up disputes in the media.

“This deference is key to the new normal in Philippine-China relations or handling of the South China Sea disputes,” Batongbacal said.

Barongbacal said for the Philippines to make “unfriendly” comments may be undermine the agreement between Manila and Beijing for a renewed diplomatic relationship.

Cayetano’s statement was the latest indication of warmer ties between the Philippines and China after years of tension under the prior administration of Benigno Aquino III. Since taking power last year, President Rodrigo Duterte has sought closer investment and trade links with Beijing, including over resources in the South China Sea. Aquino brought China before an international arbitration tribunal over its claims to 80 percent of one of the world’s most strategic waterways, and won.

He also strengthened the Philippine alliance with the US to try to check China’s expansion in the South China Sea, where it has built a series of artificial reefs, creating a platform to assert its claims.

Malacanang on Wednesday said that they have yet to confirm reports on the presence of Chinese ships that were spotted near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea. “The Department of Foreign Affairs [DFA], in coordination with relevant national security agencies, is verifying reports that Chinese ships were seen near Pag-Asa Island in the West Philippine Sea,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement. With John Paolo Bencito Encinas said Ali, who was operating under Muhaiden Animbang alias commander Kagi Karialan, was to be arrested by the Army’s 603rd Brigade and police from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group when he challenged the authorities.

“The subject pulled out his gun from his sling bag when he was about to be arrested, prompting the arresting team to shoot him,” Encinas said.

He said Ali drew his gun after sensing the presence of security forces in his lair in Awang village in Datu Odin Sinsuat town around 7:15 p.m.

Reports said Ali was among the more than 300 people included in two arrest orders issued by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in connection with the implementation of martial law in Mindanao. With PNA and Vito Barcelo

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Mile Long up for grabs’

By John Paolo Bencito, Rey E. Requejo and Joel Zurbano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said that the government would sell the Mile Long commercial strip at the Makati financial district after Sunvar Realty Development Corp. said it would comply with the Makati court’s ruling to vacate the property.

“Yang Sunvar na ‘yan, I’m selling it. Bidding ‘yan. If you want that piece of property, I’m putting that on notice,” the President said in his speech during the 19th anniversary of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption at Malacañang.

Duterte said that he will be selling the property off so he “can build more houses for the soldiers,” since the militant group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahirap squatted at the government property.

As this developed, the Sunvar Realty Development Corporation said that it would abide by the order of the Makati City Regional Trial Court to vacate the 2.9-hectare “Mile Long” properties owned by the government, which has been in its possession for 35 years already.

Sunvar made the announcement a day after the Office of the Solicitor General served them legal notice issued by the Makati City Regional Trial Court to vacate the property within three days.

Sunvar’s lawyer Alma Mallonga, confirmed that it was served with a “notice to vacate” within three days on Tuesday by the Makati City RTC, Branch 141, pursuant to a Resolution promulgated by the Court of Appeals on August 14 directing, among others, the trial court to enforce the 2015 Decision of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Makati Branch 61 ordering Sunvar to vacate Mile Long and pay back rentals amounting P1.6 billion exclusive of its legal interest.

The CA resolution directed the Sheriff of Makati RTC Branch 141 under Judge Mary Ann Manalac to enforce the eviction order.

Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Calida filed an urgent motion for execution before the CA after Sunvar failed to get a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court.

“While Sunvar has appealed the MeTC Decision, it is committed to abiding by the legal process. In accordance with that commitment, Sunvar will comply and vacate Mile Long,” the statement stated.

Sunvar recalled that some 35 years ago, it leased the undeveloped land of the government upon the understanding, that the lease period would expire in 2027.

It noted that it paid P16.8 million as advance rentals, and expended millions more to build roads, buildings, and infrastructure to develop the property now.

FOWL PLAY. A man sells a culled chicken in a side street of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. Prices of chicken in some areas dropped and stocks were slashed after an outbreak of bird flu in Pampanga. In Balintawak market, the price of chicken went down to as low as P120 per kilo, from around P140 to P150 prior to the reported bird flu outbreak. Last Friday, the government confirmed its first bird flu outbreak after 37,000 fowls died in six poultry farms in San Luis town, Pampanga. Lino Santos

Solon to DAR: Help fund free SUC tuition

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on appropriations has denied claims made

by Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano that the lawmaker is anti-poor for insisting on rechanneling unused public funds to finance the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

“I am not pitting the poor against the poor. I am maximizing the use of funds to benefit as many Filipinos as we can. The free tuition law is for all, and the measure is pro-poor, pro-farmer. In fact, kung susuriin n’yo

po, ito rin ay pro-construction worker, pro-tricycle driver, provendor at iba pa,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, the chairperson, said.

Nograles said that instead of throwing tantrums over the pos-

sibility that DAR would suffer budget cuts because of its low absorptive capacity, Mariano should “walk the talk” and help the government in ensuring the success of the free college education program.

Nograles also advised Mariano to work harder to ensure all the funds allocated to his department are put to good use.

According to the National Expenditure Program submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to Congress, the unused appropriations of DAR in 2016 was P6.3 billion and P3.5 billion in 2017.

As chairman of the appropriations panel, Nograles said he is mandated to make sure that all government funds are allocated

where they count most.

“If there are unused funds or underperforming agencies, the appropriations panel is mandated to look into this, so that funds will be used where it can maximize impact on our people,” Nograles said.

In 2016, a total of P2.8 billion in funds from DAR were reverted to the National Treasury as this represented funds which were unobligated and unused from their 2015 budget allotment.

Nograles noted that with only P16 billion raised so far to finance the free college education law, the entire government bureaucracy needs to pitch in to ensure its full implementation next year.

Alberta, Canada issues ban on OFWs

By Vito Barcelo A PROVINCE of Canada has temporarily stopped the hiring of overseas Filipino workers and other foreign workers in support of its program to instead hire Canadian citizens, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

The province of Alberta, Canada imposed a two-year ban for its employers from availing of its Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

The TFWP allows Canadian employers to hire expatriates on a temporary basis to fill up their vacancies if they will be able to

prove that there is not enough qualified Canadian residents or permanent residents for it.

In its website, the POEA said that the local government of Alberta banned the hiring of foreign workers because they have enough skilled local workers to fill in the vacancies.

Among the jobs that are banned for foreigners are Human resources managers; Engineering managers; Purchasing agents and officers; Production logistics coordinators; Civil engineers; Mechanical engineers; Electrical and electronic engineers; Geological and mineral technologists and technicians;

Civil engineering technologists and technicians; Industrial engineering and manufacturing technologists and technicians; non-destructive testers and inspection technicians; Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations; Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors; Welders and related machine operators; Electricians (except industrial and power system); Industrial electricians; plumbers; carpenters; Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades; Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews; Construc-

tion millwrights and industrial mechanics; Heavy-duty equipment mechanics; Motor vehicle body repairers; Transport truck drivers; contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services; Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers; Oil and gas well drilling and related workers and services operators; Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related laborers; Petroleum, gas and chemical process operators.

However, the POEA said the Alberta government will not suspend or revoke contracts that were issued prior to April 19, 2017.

Congress urged to pass land distribution bill

By Bill Casas

BUDGET INQUIRY. Senator Loren Legarda, chairman of the Committee Finance, throws questions at

DBM Secretary Benjamin Diokno during a briefing of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee on the proposed 2018 national expenditure program held at the Senate Office in Pasay City. Lino Santos

AFTER President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed the Free Tertiary Education Bill into law, farmers and land reform advocates from different sectors are also clamoring for the immediate passage of House Bill 555 or the Free Land Distribution Bill that seeks to provide social justice to landless farmers, and the distribution of all agricultural lands for free to actual tillers, farmers and all those willing to till the land.

“Free land distribution is long overdue. Congress cannot simply dismiss nor delay the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill [GARB] any further. There is a glaring absence of a genuine agrarian reform program that is needed to address landlessness and rural poverty in the country,” said Danilo Ramos, chair-

person of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

“We are calling on Congress to approve the free land distribution bill or GARB that has been pending at the backburner of the Lower House for the past ten years.Let the free land distribution bill see the light of day and give farmers what is due to them,” Ramos said.

Under House Bill 555, free land distribution will cover all public and private agricultural lands exceeding five hectares, lands that have been declared and/or reserved for non-agricultural uses but remain unutilized and undeveloped including military and school reservations and lands that have been reclassified or converted for commercial, industrial or residential uses but have remained undeveloped and previously used for agricultural purposes.

By DBM’s estimate, the government would need at least P50 billion per year to bankroll the free college education program in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) and Technical Vocational Institutes (TVIs).

“The Free Higher Education Law is an investment for our future so I would like to encourage all Heads of Government from secretaries down to the whole bureaucracy, if you have funds that cannot and will not be utilized, please let the Committee on Awppropriations know. The success of this law depends on how the whole government and the whole nation can work together. Magbayanihan po tayo,” Nograles said.

5 ‘flyers’ quizzed over bullets

By Joel E. Zurbano FIVE more passengers, one of them a Chinese national, were apprehended for bringing in live ammunition, empty bullets and other prohibited items at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The Chinese national was identified as Qin Wei who was caught with two empty shells of .22 caliber, one empty shell of .9 mm pistol and one of .45 caliber. He was about to board Air Asia Z218 flight to Shanghai around 7:30 pm on Tuesday at NAIA Terminal 3 when screening found the four empty shells in his possession.

Earlier on the same day, septuagenarian Leonila Marundan, of Taytay, Rizal, was also about to board Skyjet flight 711 bound for Busuanga, Coron when the authorities also in terminal 3 noticed one round of .380 cal. amulet inside her coach bag.

Sixty-year-old Romeo Hena, of 427 Western Divide UEP Zone 3, Catarman, Northern Samar, also brought one .22 caliber live ammunition but was intercepted at the terminal’s final security checkpoint.

Two departing passengers for Bacolod identified as Noren Ribalde and Rolando Garfel were both caught in possession of a key chain and an amulet early Wednesday morning at NAIA Terminals 1 and 3.

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Opinion

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Not the same

P

ALACE communication officials have released a trial balloon in the form of a department order that allows bloggers to cover presidential events.

They are open to comments, says Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

Andanar, who has been busy finding subordinates to blame for his department’s series of blunders but who refuses to acknowledge his own responsibility in them, says the accreditation of bloggers alongside members of the traditional media is just an interim policy that may still change.

According to the order, “social media practitioners” who are at

least 18 years old and who have at least 5,000 followers may apply for accreditation. The office of Assistant Secretary Margaux Uson, herself a vociferous pro-Duterte blogger prior to her appointment in government, would decide on the applications.

The order is strange on many counts.

First, why sign and release it if the matter were still open to discussion?

Then it is not, per se, an “order” but a “suggestion.” The lack of confidence in their own policy betrays Andanar’s low regard for his team’s own grasp of the situation.

Second, Andanar of all people, given his background in broadcasting, must be the first to maintain the essential difference between traditional media and social media.

It would not be snobbery or inaccu-

racy to say that journalists come from a more rigid background and have clear accountability to their news organizations and the people they serve.

In contrast, bloggers—or social media practitioners as Andanar prefers to call them—created themselves and are free to say anything they want. Their statements can be based on sound data, diligent research, but they can also be out of pure spite, lazy second-hand information or vested interest.

Bloggers do make the public discourse livelier, but not all of them abide by the same stringent ethical and professional standards that journalists aspire to.

Third, the process of choosing whom to accredit or whom to reject falls solely on the whim of Palace of-

ficials who may naturally wish to deal with “sympathetic” writers instead of those who would tend to ask difficult or uncomfortable questions. What if it were Assistant Secretary Margaux Uson, herself a vociferous blogger before she got her plum post, to make the call?

There are many ways to communicate, and traditional media are just one avenue. Certainly we should open ourselves up to the voices of others—but not at the expense of endangering the balance and oversight ideally provided by journalists. Lumping them with Internet personalities who get into the list just because they have thousands of followers or because they make good propaganda would just add to the already long list of gaffes Andanar’s office has committed.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

The 650k methamphetamine

mind you. Manay Judy has already lived a life fuller than anyone can reasonably hope for; but all of us, especially the poorest Filipinos whom she has helped in her short stint in the Cabinet, have lost a little hope, a little life, now that Taguiwalo is gone from government.

And Congress—both Houses of it, particularly its members who serve in the CA—made us lose Judy Taguiwalo. I wish we’d lost all of Congress instead. *** Malacañang Palace expressed sadness over the rejection of Taguiwalo and announced that the search is now on for her replacement. The entire nation can only hope that someone just a little like Manay Judy will be found who can fill the overly large shoes that she fit so snugly in.

That said, I sincerely wish that the CA can be revamped so that its membership would be more in tune with the reforms that this administration promised

WATCHING the Senate hearing on the confiscated 650 kilograms of methamphetamine that passed through the Bureau of Customs was a disappointment.

I am afraid that the critics saying that the BOC is a hopeless case may be right. Senator Panfilo Lacson says the daily take of corrupt officials in the bureau is P270 million a day. If this is accurate, then it shows that there is really no need to collect additional taxes from the already overburdened Filipino taxpayer if only the BOC can be more efficient and less corrupt.

There are certain things that the public can draw from the hearing. One is that the 650 kilograms of shabu confiscated was clearly a part of a much bigger shipment. More, in fact, got away. Another is that there is horrendous incompetence in the higher echelon of the BOC and that the syndicate inside the bureau is simply running circles around former Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon and his bunch of former mutineers who are now at the helm of the bureau.

The shabu caper shows that mounting a coup to overthrow a government is one thing; running a complicated, corrupt agency like the BOC is another. It is also becoming apparent that large amounts of illegal drugs are being funneled through Customs. This cannot be stopped because of deeply rooted corruption in the agency.

That the BOC is in need of drastic reform is clear even to the blind. The problem is how to do it. The President has requested P4.2 billion to hire 3,000 new customs personnel to improve collection in the Bureau of Customs but is this the right move? Would this not just add 3,000 corrupt individuals to an already corrupt system? Maybe the better solution is simply to implement existing regulations that are not being implemented by corrupt BOC officials. One is using the installed X-ray machines to examine every single container van instead of the color-coding scheme presently in use. This way, there are no exceptions.

When it comes to cargo, many decisions are in the hands of BOC officials— the source of the corruption.

Remove this and corruption drastically goes down. The

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

Our loss, not Judy’s LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES IN THE end, Judy Taguiwalo’s learning, experience, integrity, vision and popular support were not enough to get her confirmed.

The powerful Commission on Appointments added Taguiwalo’s scalp to its growing collection from nominees who failed to get confirmation, proving once again that ability, fitness for the job and any other praiseworthy and quantifiable metric are unimportant to the lawmakers who serve as gatekeepers to high office and dispensers of Cabinet-level jobs.

I can understand why the previous victims of the CA’s mostly arbitrary vetting process failed to make it through the wringer.

Perfecto Yasay lied about his citizenship and Gina Lopez came up against the power mining

lobby that counts congressmen as its chief agents and members.

But Judy Taguiwalo, the distinguished and accomplished University of the Philippines professor and activist, whose long career above- and underground the CA members can only dream of replicating, even if their entire careers were taken together and placed in a side-by-side comparison with hers? The woman who made the Department of Social Welfare and Development respectable and responsive again, especially after the depredations of the pork-mad Aquino-era legislators and that forgettable, corruption-prone woman with the brightly-colored shock of hair?

I am, as the musical says, agog and aghast. I feel that if Taguiwalo cannot be confirmed as DSWD secretary, then Mother Teresa of Calcutta should be posthumously excommunicated.

There is simply no reason to deny Taguiwalo her confirmation. And the members of Congress who did so must be

truly thankful that they are not required to explain their vote, because they most certainly cannot, in a way that will not incriminate them.

Indeed, a staunch advocate of Taguiwalo’s, DSWD Assis-

Congress made us lose Judy Taguiwalo.

I wish we’d lost all of Congress instead.

tant Secretary Lorraine Badoy, blames Congress’ addiction to pork barrel funds as the reason why the nominee was rejected.

Taguiwalo’s rectitude would not allow lawmakers to use the

vast social welfare funds controlled by the department, from the Conditional Cash Transfer to calamity allocations, to be used

by Congress as they had been before—as political weapons to ensure both their enrichment and reelection; and this was why she did not pass muster.

I can believe that Congress would have approved Taguiwalo’s nomination if she had promised that it would be business as usual at DSWD. But she would not, so she didn’t get confirmed.

Still, up to the very last moment, I was hoping that perhaps, this once, Congress would rise above its members’ self-interest and greed and make an exception in Taguiwalo’s case. I was wrong, dead wrong.

Our lawmakers cannot got against their nature. And so the nation lost not just the best social welfare secretary to ever hold that job, but perhaps the best Cabinet member of any administration, all-time.

It’s our loss, not Taguiwalo’s,

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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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Opinion TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

The root cause of the drug problem WHEN President Duterte assumed office, he said he would quell the drug problem between three and six months. But he is now in his second year in office and so far there seems to be no end in sight for the war against illegal drugs.

According to police estimates, which would include vigilante killings, there have been 5,000 already killed. Other estimates place the number between 7,000 and 9,000.

The problem is not so much the number of people involved or killed. The issue is whether all this can be ended.

The President must realize that the drug problem will never be eradicated during his term. For as long as there is demand for illegal drugs, the cartels will be willing to provide the supply. The Bureau of Customs is also corrupt and inept. Given our porous borders, drugs will continue to come in.

I have always said our drug problem is rooted in poverty and joblessness.

This is not to say, of course, that only the poor are addicted to illegal drugs. The rich also using it, for kicks. They have their own reasons for doing so.

I know all these because I used to be vice president for Bob Garon’s DARE Foundation.

I also said that going after users and pushers is just solving half the problem. What are we going to do with the users who need to be rehabilitated?

If the President truly wants to solve the drug problem, he should address the root cause of poverty and joblessness. The drug menace will not go away even if the administration kills all the pushers!

Lest I am misunderstood, I am not saying that President Duterte has not done anything to solve the drug problem. His commitment is commendable.

He wants to protect the future generation from the effects of drugs. He has been able to do things his predecessors were not able to do. This is why sur-

veys show that people continue to trust him as a strong president.

No, the killings are not the final solution. In fact, those killings have only spawned other problems. *** President Duterte has shown reluctance to fire Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon despite his glaring failure to curb smuggling, not just of goods but of illegal drugs!

Did not the President say he was ready to fire his appointees with just a hint of corruption?

Where there is incompetence, corruption persists. *** In my almost 70 years as a journalist, I have never seen so many impeachment attempts.

There are complaints against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for betrayal of public trust, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales for selective justice, and Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista for his unexplained wealth.

If all these pass the House, the Senate will have nothing else to do but try these officials instead of crafting laws!

What a circus! *** I have my doubts about the decision of the Palace Communications Secretary Martin Andanar to accredit social media practitioners, so long as they have more than 5,000 followers, to cover the President.

Who will monitor these people? Who will pass judgment on whether they are acting responsibly? What if they publish fake news? *** There was a typo error in what I wrote about the 45th anniversary of the 365 Club. The breakfast at Holiday Inn will be on September 23, not September 25.

This is an invitation to those who have been meeting us over the years. See you there.

Our...

From A4

the commission. Its decisions are as unappealable as they are unappealing.

The administration may have also erred in not pushing Congress harder on behalf of its nominees. While current policymaking is now more inclusive, as far as Malacañang and Congress are concerned, the job of paving the way for the confirmation of nominees like Taguiwalo seems to have been left to the lawmakers, with no guidance nor pressure from the Executive.

Perhaps Duterte should rethink his policy of letting our lawmakers do whatever they like, as long as they are acting within their power. We simply cannot afford to lose more people like Taguiwalo because Congress, once it is given power, can be trusted to use it for the interest of its members, the people be damned.

The President must address poverty first.

and which the people so desperately need. If President Rodrigo Duterte, whose support in Congress is even greater than his popularity among the citizenry, can only make the CA understand that it is not there to serve as a stumbling block to the administration, then the Taguiwalo debacle will not be repeated.

The CA, which was once given the unenviable task of rejecting presidential nominees who will only be reappointed ad infinitum, has clearly overstepped its mandate this time.

The institution of the “threestrike” bypass rule has weaponized it and made it a means to withhold confirmation for the flimsiest of reasons, as we have seen in Taguiwalo’s case.

There is no accountability for

The 650k...

From A4 only problem is getting that someone who can control his greed and think of the country instead of himself first. Should Captain Faeldon be replaced?

President Duterte should draw his own conclusions. Yes, he said that he believed in the integrity of Captain Faeldon.

But clearly, we need someone in the BOC who can maximize revenue collection especially when the agency is the secondhighest revenue collecting agency for the government.

Captain Faeldon is proving that the job is way beyond his training and experience. If indeed he was one of the first to encourage the President to run for office, he can perhaps be repaid with another position more in keeping with his training and experience. *** In law, there is such a thing as cruel and unusual punishment.

This basically means that any punishment imposed must be commensurate to the offense.

The penalty of P100 thousand fine and impounding of vehicles imposed by the Land Transpor-

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Give them what they deserve OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ ON several interviews with the media, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that the war in Marawi and its dragging resolution were due to failure in appreciating intelligence reports. Despite the P100-billion increase in intelligence fund in 2017, according to him, the department needs some time to actually reap the benefits of their additional budget for intelligence. During the budget briefing of the Department of National Defense on Monday, lawmakers inquired on how the military’s intelligence fund is being utilized.

For 2018, the DND has a proposed budget of P195.476 billion, which is eight percent higher than its 2017 approved

budget worth P181.36 billion. Out of the 2018 proposed budget, P144.679 billion is for the regular fund, while P50.798 billion is for the pensions of retired uniformed personnel.

In 2017, a total of P3.495 billion of intelligence fund and P2.083 billion of confidential fund were appropriated for the entire government. Confidential expenditures are not subject to the regular auditing rules of the Commission on Audit; thus, agency heads are required to submit a certification to justify their use of these funds.

The government’s total confidential and intelligence funds in 2018 would significantly increase to approximately P6.205 billion, P4.12 billion of which is for the intelligence fund and P2.085 billion is for the confidential fund. Would this amount be enough to end the war in Marawi and to prevent further attacks and similar

events from happening? While I trust that the Defense Secretary and the AFP and PNP Chiefs are using their respective confidential and intelligence funds effectively, I wish that a more decent amount of their respective budgets would be used to compensate our uniformed men better.

The Marawi crisis led to the death of more than a hundred soldiers and police. If we are to replenish the forces that we lost, we need to craft a more attractive compensation and benefit package to encourage more individuals who are dedicated to defend our country, to join the armed forces and the police. As a justification for this move, the government should maximize the productive years of service of the uniformed men.

The officials and enlisted members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, by virtue

of law, are forced to retire from service at the age of 56 or after a completion of a maximum of 30 years of active service, whichever comes later. However, to maximize the productive years of our uniformed personnel, I filed House Bill No. 5027, a bill that seeks to increase their retirement age to 60 or after completion of a maximum of 35 years of active service.

In the President’s recent State of the Nation Address, he committed to save money for the armed forces, primarily because we have already lost many soldiers and thousands are incapacitated to fight. I agree and support the President’s promise. Hence, come budget deliberations, the Minority will make sure that our uniformed men will receive the rightful compensation and benefits to compliment their patriotism, dedication and commitment to service.

Stop—prayer time!

THE Sangguniang Panlungsod of Santiago City, Isabela is imposing a mandatory daily minute of prayer that literally stops people in their tracks to comply.

City Ordinance 9THCC-044, implemented on Aug. 1, requires everyone to pause whatever they are doing at 6:00 p.m. to pray silently or verbally according to their own faith.

Even those driving vehicles must halt for one minute when the signal siren sounds. The only people exempted from this regulation are those driving emergency vehicles—ambulances and fire trucks.

The ordinance was authored

by Sangguniang Panlungsod member Paul de Jesus, chairman of the Committee on Public Ethics, as a measure to strengthen the faith of local residents, regardless of religious affiliation.

The regulation has the approval and endorsement of Santiago City Mayor Joseph Tan, Vice Mayor Alvin Abaya, and 11 other councilors.

The local government admits

that the ordinance was not properly disseminated, causing a division of opinion among residents. Some claim that it merely revives an old practice of the city, perhaps a reference to the Roman Catholic observance of praying The Angelus at dusk.

Others say it violates the principle of separation of church and state, and indeed this was my first reaction upon hearing about this ordinance.

Article II, Section 6, of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines states that “The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.” “Inviolable” means “never to be broken, infringed, or dishonored.”

“Church” means religion, religious bodies; State means the government, whether national or local. What is rendered inviolable or “unbreakable” by this law is the separation between the two, meaning the two must always be kept apart.

This is elementary but I have to explain it this way because it seems many politicians do not comprehend this simple and clear nine-word provision.

Moreover, Art. III, Sec. 5 provides that “The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference,

shall forever be allowed.”

In relation to the Constitution, why is this ordinance a bad idea? Because it broke that separation between church and state by making a regulation that mandates an act of worship. Worship should be exercised freely and enjoyed; what freedom or joy is there in forcing people to comply with an arbitrary rule?

Yes, it is arbitrary, because the ordinance reflects random choice or personal whim, rather than reason or a system. Why only one minute, while you’re at it? Why pray only once and not five times a day like the Muslims?

The measure also disregards the rights of those who are not religious. Why should they be forced to pray? In that sense, the ordinance is draconian, harshly imposing a desired behavior and curtailing personal freedom.

The ordinance is also absurd because it is impractical. Stopping your vehicle’s momentum abruptly when you’re driving at a fast clip? Walking, shopping, all activities to be suspended in mid-gesture, mid-sentence? Shall a surgeon suddenly halt in the middle of a delicate operation?

A woman while giving birth?

Everyone would have an eye on

the clock a few minutes before six at night, waiting for that siren blast—now that’s an inconvenient distraction that could lead to mishaps along the way.

It seems that this sloppilywritten and -executed ordinance might have been drawn up to satisfy some self-imposed target of the city’s ethics committee to come up with key results, some sort of accomplishment, anything. So they resurrected a custom that has its context and purpose in a time and culture long past.

The tradition of sunset prayer may be a part of Filipino culture, but it is not a tradition of all Filipinos, and culture changes, it does not remain static, it is constantly made and remade and influenced by time, people, technology, and a host of other factors. A sensitive and mindful leadership takes into account the welfare of all its constituents, not just some.

On the bright side, the ordinance has no penalty clause, and may thus be said to be “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Dr. Ortuoste is a Californiabased writer. FB: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, IG: @jensdecember, @artuoste

Trump’s new mistake YOU may have a sense of deja vu. Once again, Donald Trump’s administration is stirring up a trade dispute with China. Once again, it’s doing so ineptly and without any obvious objectives.

This time, the dispute concerns intellectual property, in particular China’s practice of asking US companies to transfer technologies as a condition of doing business there. Trump has directed the US Trade Representative to consider investigating the matter under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. If such a probe went forward, and turned up evidence of unfair practices, Trump would have a free hand to impose sanctions and other remedies.

In fairness, the administration has identified a real problem. In addition to IP transfers,

a recent report from the USTR noted, China continues to tolerate online piracy, counterfeiting, patent infringement, bad-faith trademark registration and other unfair conduct. By one estimate, such practices cost the US as much as $600 billion a year.

But this probe is an awful way to address the problem.

For starters, it won’t work.

Section 301 has been historically ineffective at achieving US negotiating goals, while consistently infuriating trading partners. One legal expert called it “probably the most criticized piece of US foreign trade legislation since the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act.” Invoking it wouldn’t do much to change China’s behavior. But it could very well undermine the global system of trade.

It would also lead to retaliation. China has already threatened to impede US soybean

imports, which totaled some $14 billion last year. It could also target cars, aircraft and other products, while generally making life difficult for American companies doing business there. Such a dispute would needlessly raise prices, reduce growth, harm exporters and jeopardize American jobs.

Trump’s timing, meanwhile, is unfortunate. The two countries have lately made real progress toward liberalizing trade. China recently backed new sanctions on North Korea, and its help will probably become more important in the days ahead. With the Communist Party gearing up for its 19th National Congress, these are especially sensitive times. The last thing either country needs is an open-ended trade war.

But the most important reason not to go this route is that the World Trade Organiza-

tion exists precisely to resolve such disputes. The US fought for years to establish a trusted global arbiter to enforce the norms of free markets and fair trade, and the world has greatly benefited. More to the point, so has America: A recent Bloomberg analysis found that the US has prevailed in 86 percent of the cases it has brought at the WTO. Trump’s predecessor lodged 16 trade-enforcement challenges against China without losing a single one.

If the administration hopes to change China’s behavior, it would be well within its rights to bring a formal intellectualproperty case at the WTO, ideally with the support of allies. If it wants to undermine the global system of dispute resolution, antagonize trading partners, and destabilize world affairs for no reason at all, it should keep doing what it’s doing.

tation Franchising and Regulatory Board to Uber and Grab operators is clearly excessive.

The reason Uber and Grab operators have flourished is because of the failure of taxi operations in the metropolitan area.

There has been so much complain about arrogant taxi drivers who select the passengers they want to take. Taxi cabs are also often dirty. The way that the taxi operations have been managed over the years is one of continuous deterioration of the quality of service.

Uber and Grab, on the other hand, can simply be contacted

by smart phones using an app.

One can go anyplace one wants in a clean and comfortable vehicle. Also, there is the safety factor that at least the owner or driver of the Uber and Grab vehicle can easily be traced if there is a problem.

The LTFRB is simply too slow to get into this new form of public transport. We know of course that the LTFRB is archaic—but why punish the riding public who wants a more efficient system?

Even if the agency has quasi-judicial powers, I am not too sure whether it can impose a P100 thousand fine and impound the

vehicle in what is essentially a moving traffic violation.

If the numbers being mentioned of about 100,000 Uber and Grab vehicles operating is right, one can imagine the economic cost of the one-month suspension of their operations. As I wrote in a separate column before, the Public Service Law was enacted in 1936 during the Commonwealth period. It was perhaps all right then for prospective public transport operators to simply go to the Public Service Commission as it was called then to request a provisional permit for jeepney or taxi operation. The

PSC, composed mostly of lawyers, will then decide whether a permit can be issued. This system is now obviously obsolete especially in highly urbanized Metropolitan areas like the National Capital Region with 12.5 million people. There is a need for a more technical and scientific system to regulate public transport. Congress should take the lead to overhaul our unresponsive system to make it more suited to the fastchanging times. But even Congress it seems is also too slow. So, while Congress and the LTFRB vacillate, the riding public will continue to suffer.

Bloomberg editorial

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News Bill filed amending anti-red tape law

CONGRESSIONAL HUDDLE. Leyte (1st District) Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez (left) huddle with (from right), House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, House Majority Leader Rudy Fariñas and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales shortly after the roll call of House members at the plenary hall of the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

DoT showcases PH fun in London

By Bill Casas AFTER dominating the London Waterloo and King’s Cross Stations and converting the entire Potters Field into a spectacular tourism showcase in 2016, the Department of Tourism through its London Office (PDOT London) moved to the heart of Canary Wharf and showcased the “FUN” brand of the Philippines to London’s financial capital.

Images of the Philippines’ best islands, tarsier, rice terraces and Manila jeepney, among others, dominated the 30 digital screens and 40 static posters inside Canary Wharf’s malls while the experiential zone took center stage right outside the main station to welcome city workers every morning to the tune of “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” from July 31 to Aug. 6, 2017.

Food sampling of turon and Filipino flavors of ube, mango and macapuno “sorbetes” saw the crowd fall in long lines while flair bartending show of Dennis Barela (multi-awarded Flair Bartending champion) wowed the crowd.

There were also cultural dances that drew the people, especially young professionals, to dance the Tinikling in their leather shoes and the virtual reality pods that gave people a glimpse of the Philippines.

“The Canary Wharf Station has 1.2M footfall a week. There are also more than 100,000 working professionals who hold office in the area. The consumer activation is meant toengaged the British consumers for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Philippines not only as a leisure destination but business as well,” said Gerry Panga, Tourism attaché.

Partners of PDOT London such as Premier Holidays, Hayes and Jarvis, Crystal Travel and Selective Asia created amazing holiday packages to the Philippines to entice the public to consider the Philippines for their holidays.

Their presence also made bookings readily available should anyone decide to book on the spot.

The national carrier, Philippine Airlines also took part to provide special fares to the Philippines.

Selective Asia, one of the Philippine partners, also prepared a nine-Night Holiday to the Philippines in cooperation with PDOT London and Philippines Airlines.

As this developed, Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo called for an intensified support of tourism stakeholders when she met representatives from the local government unit and private sector of Davao and Zamboanga Peninsula regions.

Teo has directed all DoT regional Offices to utilize the P5million funds for tourism–related projects to complement improved connectivity with visitor markets abroad and upgrade travel and accommodations services.

TO ADDRESS delays and inaction in issuing licenses and permits by government agencies, Senator Joel Villanueva on Wednesday sought for the immediate passage of Senate Bill No. 1311 or the Expanded Anti-Red Tape Act of 2017.

“For over a decade, we have been steadfast in our fight to cut the bureaucratic red tape, dismantle graft and corrupt practices, and improve the efficiency of delivering frontline services by our government agencies,” said Villanueva.

“We hope that with the strengthening of the law that we have sponsored in the past, we would come up with a legislation that will not only curb corruption but will also improve our country’s competitiveness in doing business,” he added.

The bill amends the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, a landmark legislation aimed at combating corruption, which Villanueva principally sponsored in the 14th Congress when he was still a party-list representative of CI-

BAC (Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption).

On Tuesday, Villanueva inserted some amendments to the said measure sponsored by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Under the proposal, the prescribed processing time for the applications of business entities classified as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) shall take no longer than three working days for simple applications and 10 working days for complex applications from the time the application is received.

For special type of businesses that require clearances, accreditation and/or licenses issued by government agencies, the prescribed processing time shall take no longer than thirty (30) working days or as determined by the government agency or instrumentality concerned, whichever is shorter.

The bill also considers applications for permit, license, or authority which were not acted upon within the prescribed period as automatically approved.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Binay asks poll body to suspend Smartmatic T

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

O ENSURE the integrity of the electoral process and remove doubts on its reliability, Senator Nancy Binay yesterday called on the Commission on Elections to suspend Smartmatic from taking part in the coming elections until all controversies involving the election system provider are resolved with finality.

Binay noted that there are a lot of issues being raised against Smartmatic even in the 2010 and 2013 elections.

“And so in the spirit of accountability and transparency, Smartmatic should be suspended and not allowed to participate in

the forthcoming elections in 2019 or until the cases being raised against the company are resolved with finality,” Binay said.

“It’s our right to suffrage that is at stake here and Smartmatic has been the service provider since 2010 and until now issues are

being raised and filed against it.

Prudence dictates that we should not allow Smartmatic to tinker with our elections until all issues against it are resolved,” she added.

Binay made the call as Smartmatic officials and Comelec personnel were charged for their unauthorized script change in the Transparency Server at the height of the transmission of votes last election.

She also said Smartmatic is facing other criminal cases with respect to its conduct of the 2010 and 2013 elections.

“Indeed, there is a pressing need to look into the allegations against Smartmatic because of the farreaching effect it may have on the country’s democratic processes.”

Binay said this is the reason for her filing of Resolution No. 376

last May 2017 to immediately constitute and convene the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System to look into the conduct of the May 9, 2016 elections.

Citing Republic Act 9369, Binay said the JCOC—which is composed of seven members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives—is mandated under Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Election Law to conduct a mandatory review of the implementation of the AES and make recommendations thereon to Congress every 12 months from the date of the last elections.

Binay, a member of the JCOC, in the same Resolution, also called on the Comelec Advisory Council to immediately submit its report on last year’s elections as it noted

that it should have submitted the said report within six months from the conduct of the elections.

The JCOC on the automated election system has at its chairmen and vice chairmen, respectively Senators Leila de Lima and Francis Pangilinan for the Senate and Reps. Sherwin Tugna and Luisa Lloren Cuaresma for the House of Representatives.

Binay added that convening the JCOC on the AES would provide the much-needed venue to make public the many issues that had plagued the conduct of the elections last year.

She added reforms need to be implemented not only in the AES law but in the Comelec itself to correct the practice of its officials of virtually ceding control of the elections to Smartmatic.

Drilon slams Pernia’s claim

COSTLY FIRE. Around 100 houses were burned and 250 families affected as a fire engulfed a residential area in San Miguel St. in Manila inside the Malacañang Complex at dawn Wednesday. The fire reached Task Force Bravo. Lino Santos

Cops rescue hostage, kill 3 suspects

By Francisco Tuyay AT LEAST three suspected kidnappers—two Indian nationals and a Filipino-Chinese—were killed in shootout with police Anti-Kidnapping operatives in a mission to rescue a kidnapped Indian businessman in Binan, Laguna Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Supt. Glenn Dumlao, PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group, said the suspects who was identified by the kidnapped victim were Inderjit/ Manjit Singh, Wilbert Ong and another still unidentified Indian.

Dumlao said the killing of the kidnaps suspects led to the rescue of kidnap victim Anial Kumar Sohal, an Indian business-

man, in the shootout with the kidnappers.

Police reports said Sohal was forcibly snatched last Aug. 13 by the suspects in Biñan, Laguna, wherein the suspects demanded P20 million for his immediate release.

Shortly after the incident, the victim’s relatives immediately informed authorities of Sohal’s predicament.

Dumlao said a relative of the victim was told by the suspects to bring P935,000 cash as an initial payment to be picked up at Southwoods tollgate in Biñan, Laguna on Wednesday.

On that date, the suspects on board a blue Toyota Corolla bearing license plate UMA 548

showed up at the pay-off point where a discussion transpired with the victim’s relative.

The relative of the victim demanded the suspects for a proof of life of Sohal. The relative was then told by the kidnappers that their kin was at a fastfood chain just near the pay-off point.

The police operatives, sensing that the victim was indeed at the fastfood eatery, subdued the three suspects.

However, the suspects challenged the arresting team, which in turn, killed the three suspected kidnappers.

Noticing the death of his cohorts, another suspect guarding the victim hurriedly fled leaving his captive behind.

SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday scored Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia for saying the “political noise” could put at risk our projected economic growth.

Speaking during the Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing on the proposed 2018 budget in the Senate finance committee budget hearing, Pernia said a possible “rising political noise” is one of the “risks and uncertainties” that could affect the country’s economic growth.

Drilon, vice president of the former ruling Liberal Party, asked Pernia what he meant by political noise. Pernia said it was just a general statement and the political noise could also come from any sector of society.

“Political noise is really a general expression. It can be from any sector of the society like labor. Protests, for example...

Demonstrations,” said Pernia.

Pernia also answered “yes” when Drilon asked him if he considers political noise criticisms to the Duterte administration.

“My goodness gracious, so you’re saying that this is a risk to growth?” Drilon blurted out as he questioned Pernia why such actions are regarded as risks to the country’s growth.

Pernia replied it would lead to disunity.”

“So we cannot criticize because we will be considered as causing disunity to the nation? So we cannot criticize [the administration] because we will be considered as causing disunity to the nation?” the member of the opposition bloc asked.

Pernia answered: “Well, ideally, we should all be united, right? To achieve our common goal.”

Drilon said he would not tolerate

the “impression” Pernia was trying to create.

“I just want to point that out because it's the second time I heard you say something along these lines. We will not tolerate this, Secretary Pernia. We will always correct this impression that you're trying to create,” said Drilon.

Pernia then told the senator that it was not his intention. But Drilon warned him and said the secretary should watch his words as a member of the Cabinet.

“Be careful with your language. You are a Cabinet secretary. Your statement reflects the sentiment of the administration insofar as planning is concerned.

And to say risk includes political noise, that is very disturbing of the trend of your thinking,” the senator said.

Pernia then said the political noise could also come from the "international community. But Drilon said it could also come from criticisms of the administration.

“I take exception to that. I strongly suggest that should not be repeated,” said the opposition senator.

Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda said her committee has formally started its review of the proposed P3.767-trillion budget for next year, which the administration has dubbed as “A Budget that Reforms and Transforms.”

“The national budget is the financial blueprint of a nation’s course towards economic development and progress. A prudent and judicious national budget will steadily steer our path closer to our development goals in this millennial age.

This is what we will ensure as we review the proposed 2018 national budget,” said Legarda.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Sports Bike King Duathlon lures 900 athletes

A7

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Fiery Tabuena leads by 2 C ARMONA, Cavite—Miguel Tabuena kept his fiery run despite a switch in tee-times, scorching the Legends’ backside with a 31 for a bogey-free 64 and a two-stroke lead over Ian Andrew of Indonesia halfway through the Aboitiz Invitational 2017 at the Manila Southwoods here yesterday.

MORE than 900 multisport athletes are set to race this year’s edition of the popular Bike King Duathlon franchise on Aug. 20.

The Bike King Duathlon brings back the excitement of racing along the Subic-ClarkTarlac Expressway for the bike leg and running on the rolling and hot terrain of Alviera in Porac, Pampanga.

Gun start is at 6 a.m. with two categories, the “long distance” 6 Kilometer run—60 Km bike—4 Km run for the seasoned participants, and the “short distance” 3 Km run—30 Km bike—2 Km run.

At stake are cash prizes of P10,000, P6,000 and P4,000 for the Top 3 Male/Female winners in the Elite category, plus trophies and gifts.

All top three male/female category winners will receive trophies and gift packs, while one trophy will be given to each of the top 3 Team Competition winners.

All top 3 relay teams will receive trophies.

The first leg of the run takes duathletes through the streets of Alviera. Upon reaching the halfway mark, they head back to the transition area to retrieve their bikes.

Once on the bike, athletes make their way to the Floridablanca exit and return to Porac to complete a loop of 30km along the SCTEX. Those doing the long distance must do 2 loops.

The second leg of the run is inside Alviera towards the SandBox with two loops for the 4 Km and 1 loop for the 2Km before crossing the finish line at the Alviera village.

Participants can claim their race kits at the 2nd floor of Royce Hotel & Casino in the Clark Freeport on Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or at Alviera in Porac by 4 a.m. on race day.

The awarding ceremony takes place at 11 a.m. at the SCTEX Duathlon Village.

As erstwhile joint leader James Bowen of the US failed to sustain his hot start and local ace Angelo Que recovered late to get back into the thick of things, Tabuena endured tougher condition in overcast skies in afternoon play, rattling off four straight birdies from No. 13 en route to an eightunder card.

But it was his back-to-back birdies from No. 7 that shoved him past Andrew as the former Olympian moved ahead at 15-under 129 while leading 50 others into the final 36 holes of the $100,000

championship serving as the kickoff leg of the inaugural PGT Asia Tour put up by ICTSI. “It’s going to be tough tomorrow (today), especially with Angelo (Que) around,” said Tabuena, who made just one bogey in his 65 in an early start Tuesday and credited his new TaylorMade M2 driver for his solid game despite a long layoff.

“I feel comfortable with it although the key tomorrow (today) is good driving and putting,” he added.

The 25-year-old Andrew, who

shot a bogey-free 66 for joint fifth with six others in the first round, actually turned in a more impressive two-day effort than Tabuena, hitting seven birdies, spiked by a three-birdie string from No. 13, to emerge the lone player with an unblemished card through 36 holes for a 131.

Que, who shared the opening day honors with Bowen on an eagle and six-birdie feat for a sizzling 64, stumbled with back-to-back missed green bogeys from No. 11 but rebounded with five birdies the rest of the way, saving a 69 and earning a spot in today’s featured flight at 133, four strokes off Tabuena.

“It was a good 69 for me. I played back especially in the early holes,” rued Que. Charles Hong rallied with a 65 and tied Singaporean Koh Deng Shan, runner-up to Malaysia Gavin Green here in last year’s ICTSI Manila Southwoods

Championship who carded a 70, at fourth at 136 while PGT Asia Tour Q-School topnotcher Pasavee Lertvilai slowed down with a 71 to drop to a share of sixth with Swede Fredrik From (70), Korean-American Micah Shin (68) and Arnold Villacencio (71).

Bowen found the going tough after an easy start, hitting just two birdies against a bogey and a triplebogey on No. 4 as he limped with a 74 to slip to joint 10th at 138 with Ira Alido (68), Aussie Andrew Campbell (71), Jobim Carlos (70), Rico Depilo (68), American Lexus Keoninh (67) and James Ryan Lam (70).

Defending champion Jay Bayron also stood too far behind at 139 despite a 67 in a tie with Tony Lascuña (69), Ferdie Aunzo (65), Thai Wisut Artjanawat (70), Zanieboy Gialon (72), Michael Bibat (74), Elmer Salvador (68), Macedonian Peter Stojanovski (70) and Indonesian Andrew Wirawan (73).

Capadocia stuns Iglupas, bags net title

MILO Philippines and FC Barcelona yesterday formalized a partnership that boosted grassroots football in the Philippines. Leading the press conference were (from left) Aquilino Pastoral III, PFF Grassroots Footbal Manager; Robbie De Vera, Sports Marketing Executive of MILO Philippines; Willy de Ocampo, Business Unit Manager of MILO Philippines; Mike Reyes, Ignite Sports Group Sports Marketing Manager and Lester Castillo, MILO Philippines Sports Executive. Marielle Santos

Milo PH, FC Barcelona give young booters a boost

By Patricia Bianca Taculao MILO Philippines launched a selection camp for children called “Road to Barcelona” to scout for the next football champions and give them an opportunity to train overseas.

A team of 10 kids will be sent

by MILO Philippines to join the “Road to Barcelona,” an international training camp in Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s home stadium.

From Sept. 2 to 3, there will

Tabuena

be a local selection camp for participants from different football communities at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig City.

MILO and FC Barcelona will grant two deserving young athletes the chance to train with international pros for one of the world’s most prestigious sports organizations, while the remaining eight for the official shortlist will be chosen based on the ranking system of the local camp.

The selection criteria emphasizes the right mix of values and skill at 60% and 40%, respectively.

FC Barcelona boasts of five principal values that coincide with MILO’s brand essence of enriching ambitions—humility, effort, ambition, respect and teamwork.

“MILO believes that so many children here in the country can greatly benefit from getting into sports. It’s time for Filipino talent to take on the world atage. We

want this to be a meaningful endeavor—one that builds dreams, makes them a reality, and shares the journey to the next generation of champions on and off the pitch,” said Sports Marketing Executive of MILO Philippines Robbie De Vera.

MILO teamed up with FC Barcelona to help build the dreams of young athletes through access to world-class coaching and venues.

“We are honored to have one

of the biggest football clubs in the world share in our commitment to build champions through sports. It is our hope that this values-driven partnership helps build kids’ dreams and realize them through the Road to Barcelona program. We’re inviting the passionate local sports community to be a part of this four-year journey with FC Barcelona,” said Business Unit Manager of MILO Philippines Willy de Ocampo.

Strong finish for Del Rosario

PH jins vying in World Cadet Championships CARRYING the colors of Meralco/ MVP Sports Foundation, the Philippine Cadet team will participate in the 2017 World Cadet Taekwondo Championships slated on August 24-27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Eight athletes—four male and four female—make up the national squad which will vie for honors against contenders from 69 other countries like Korea, France, Spain, Iran, Turkey, the United States, China and Chinese Taipei.

The Filipino entries are: Male—Lex Joshua Provido (vying in -33 kg), Mico Gabriel Chua (-37 kg), Raphael Ongkiko (-41 kg) and Richard Jude Cajulis (-53 kg).

Female—Arianne Espida (-37 kg), Gerianne Kendall Therese Pineda (-41 kg), Mary Angeline Alcantara (-44 kg) and Maria Carmella Santos (-55 kg).

Hamy Tabua is the head of delegation while the coaches are Alvin Taraya and Brix Darmo Ramos.

The Philippines has always been regarded as among the top contenders in various taekwondo international competitions. In the 2015 World Cadet championships, Wendil Jay Rama bagged a bronze medal for the country.

The national team is supported

by Smart Communications Inc., PLDT, TV 5 and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Six of the seven Filipino campaigners are shown above. From left are Mary Angeline Alcantara, Lex Joshua Provido, Raphael Ongkiko, Richard Jude Cajulis, Mico Gabriel Chua, Gerianne Kendall Therese Pineda and Arianne Espida.

Foreign Ironman competitors want to return to PH FOREIGN competitors in the recent IRONMAN said they want to return to the Philippines not only to conquer the ultimate challenge of next year’s triathlon, but also enjoy the unique Filipino hospitality again.

Some 2,700 triathletes from 52 countries participated in the 10th anniversary of the sporting event organized by Sunrise Events Inc., in cooperation with the Department of Tourism.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo welcomed the competitors and invited them to return for the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship next year.

MARIAN Jade Capadocia put on a strong start in the opening set then rallied late in the second to carve out a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over Khim Iglupas and snare the women’s singles crown in the Olivarez Cup Open Tennis Championship at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque yesterday.

But while the 22-year-old Capadocia ended Iglupas’ three-year reign, Johnny Arcilla extended his domination in the men’s side, breaking Eric Olivarez Jr. once in the first set then finishing off the Western Michigan U mainstay with his power game in the next, 6-4, 6-2.

The victory was Arcilla’s fourth in the last five staging of the event put by Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez along with Rep. Eric Olivarez and Dr. Pablo Olivarez as part of the family’s long-time commitment to boost the sport with the veteran Davis Cupper completing his romp without dropping a set.

It was a sorry setback for the 13th-ranked Olivarez, who had hoped to cap his run of reversals that included victories over fourth seed Vicente Anasta, No. 5 Leander Lazaro, and the second seeded PJ Tierro in the semis.

But after holding serve in the first game, he yielded the third and the duo held serve the rest of the way to net Arcilla the opening frame.

Arcilla then imposed his will in the second, breaking his rival in the third and fifth games to fashion out the romp and bank another P50,000 staked in the tournament backed by Palawan Pawnshop, Stronghold Insurance, Milestone Guarantee Assurance Corp. and Sterling Insurance Company.

Capadocia, who has won titles abroad as a junior player and a former PCA Open champion, broke Iglupas right in the second game of the first set, yielded the fifth but broke again in the sixth and eighth en route to victory.

Down, 0-2, in the next frame, Capadocia, who stopped Shaira Rivera in the semis, rebounded by breaking Iglupas in the sixth to draw level, broke in the next to grab the lead but after holding serve in the eighth game and posting a 5-3 lead, she wavered and dropped the next three games, enabling Iglupas to seize a 6-5 lead.

But Capadocia held serve in the 12th game then wore down Iglupas in the tiebreak to complete the straight-set win and pocket the P25,000 top purse.

“We are very happy and elated to have the biggest competitors in triathlon. You and your families are always welcome here. Have fun in one of the best islands in the world,” Teo said.

“Nine years ago, we didn’t even imagine having Ironman 70.3 here in the Philippines, and here we are holding our 10th year anniversary in Cebu, in partnership with the DOT,” said Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, Sunrise Events founder and chief executive.

Ironman 70.3 officials said the triathlon sport has enjoyed a worldclass venue in the Queen City of the

South, which earned raves for hosting last year’s Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championship at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa. Australian Tim Reed, who posted his best time (3 hours, 15 minutes and 7 seconds) during his third straight victory said: “I’ll definitely be back next year as Cebu is a special place for me.”

Female champion Amelia Watkinson of New Zealand said she was excited to come back not only to compete in Ironman 70.3 but to meet the local people.

Watkinson, who triumphed in last

year’s 5150 triathlon at Subic, Zambales, said: “I find people in Cebu very supportive and exciting with the crowd on the side of the streets smiling, waving little colorful banners, marching bands playing, cheering for us, go-go-go.”

Runner-up and the fan favorite Mauricio Mendez of Mexico said he is amazed with the beautiful sunrise of Mactan.

“It is so beautifully spectacular amid one of the tightest races I’ve ever run. I like how the race was professionally put together. I’m happy here in Cebu and will be back.” Bill Casas

PAULINE del Rosario charged back with a sizzling closing 65 to snatch runner-up honors in the Korean LPGA International Qualifying Tournament Stage 1 Royal Gems Golf and Sports Club recently.

Del Rosario, who has won two titles in the ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour in her rookie season, shot rounds of 72, 71 and 68 then capped her rally with that seven-under windup to pool a 12-under 276 total in the 72-hole competition.

The 18-year-old ICTSI-backed bet finished four strokes behind first stage winner Korean Chen Yu-ju, who tallied a 16-under 272.

Japanese Miki Nishimura was third with 278.

Her big finish earned her a spot in Stage 2 of the grueling qualifier in September and made her eligible to compete in the initial four of 22 events of KLPGA’s Dream Tour in 2018.

Del Rosario, also in the top 10 in the Order of Merit ranking in Thailand LPGA, will also be seeded in the KLPGA Jump Tour, which holds 16 tournaments annually.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

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

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

Sports

NLEX, Meralco return to PBA action

By Jeric Lopez

NLEX Road Warriors point guard Kevin Alas (with ball) drives strong to the hoop against a pair of Phoenix Petroleum Fuelmasters defenders RJ Jazul and Mark Borboran. The Road Warriors take the floor against the Blackwater Elite next.

Philippines may still host 2019 Southeast Asia Games T

By Peter Atencio

HE Philippine government is reconsidering its decision to withdraw its support on plans for the country to host the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

in the meeting, but his special assistant Christopher “Bong” Go was around to represent him and discussed the matters of the hosting rights with Ramirez.

“Antayin natin ang sasabihin ni Secretary Cayetano. I requested Secretary Cayetano to speak to Mr. Cojuangco,” said Ramirez following the end of a PSC board meeting yesterday.

Secretary of the Cabinet Leoncio Evasco joined the meeting with Public Works and Highways secretary Mark Villar and Transportation chief Arthur Tugade.

“Wala akong problema sa

hosting,” said Ramirez during the meeting.

Ramirez added that there is now a 95 percent chance for the Games to be held in the country, now that the talks on the keeping the hosting rights have been reopened.

Last month, the Philippine government withdrew its support for the country’s hosting of biennial meet in 2019.

Government officials that the planned rehabilitation of conflict-ridden Marawi City in Mindanao is its priority.

But, the POC general assembly unanimously voted to keep the country’s hosting rights and

make an appeal to President Duterte to reconsider.

Cojuangco then wrote a letter dated July 27, 2017 and appealed for President Duterte to support the hosting of the 30th SEAG. In his letter, Cojuangco noted the positive results that could come for the country in the face of the Marawi conflict.

“Let’s wait for Mr. Cayetano to discuss this. Its good news,” said Cojaungco, who is in Zambales.

The Philippines is set to present its plans for the hosting during a SEAG federation meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

JUST three days after their heavyweight clash top-tier teams NLEX Road Warriors and Meralco Bolts return to action against separate foes in their quest to move closer to a spot in the quarterfinals as the eliminations of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup resumes.

Still fresh off their big win last Sunday against the Bolts, the Road Warriors (5-1) go for their sixth win as they battle the rejuvenated Blackwater Elite squad at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tomorrow Friday.

After tasting its first defeat, erstwhile league-leader Meralco (4-1) attempts to bounce back as it duels the inconsistent Phoenix Petroleum Fuelmasters (2-3) at 4:15 p.m. in the opener.

NLEX and Meralco are two of the top three teams and they both want to keep their places at the upper echelon.

The Road Warriors listed their biggest win of the tournament, showing character in dealing the Bolts their first defeat with a tough 100-94 grinder last Sunday in a very competitive match.

NLEX coach Yeng Guiao likes what he sees from his team this conference so far and cited one factor that is helping the Warriors’ climb.

“I think the maturity of this team is now developing,” said Guiao. “This last win was a good test for us and it’s surreal to see our team as one of the top teams so far.”

NLEX will now be taking on its former import Bill Walker, who gave the Elite a new leash on life upon his return, leading his team to a 92-86 victory over the Fuel Masters last Aug. 6.

The scoring of Walker is now Blackwater’s lead weapon and it will be put to a test against the Road Warriors.

The Bolts, after experiencing their first setback, will try to avoid a second straight loss but they will have to deal with unpredictable Phoenix, which still doesn’t know who its import will be in the encounter ahead.

The Bolts, runner-up last year, are playing are playing well so far and would like to keep it going to move closer to clinching a spot in the next phase.

Foreign Affairs secretary Allan Peter Cayetano has been dispatched to lead talks with officials of the Philippine Olympic Committee on this matter.

Cayetano got his marching orders last Tuesday following a Cabinet cluster meeting in Malacanang.

Consultations with Philippine Sports Commission William “Butch” Ramirez and 2019 SEA Games organizing committee head, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, gave Cabinet officials a clear picture of what to expect, and the responsibilities involved.

President Duterte was not

Filipinos raise flag in SEAG

Catalan performs double duty at ONE: Quest for Greatness

KUALA LUMPUR—The wait for the elusive medal didn’t last long, coming on the same day the Philippine delegation was officially recognized in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in simple f lag-raising ceremonies Wednesday at the sprawling Kuala Lumpur Sports City here.

A total of 30 representatives from the national contingent composed of medical, secretariat and a handful of athletes graced the occasion in this prestigious multi-sport conclave that aims to promote camaraderie and cooperation among 11 Southeast Asian countries.

National squad administrator Rowena Eustuya represented chief of mission Cynthia Carrion while Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) executive assistant Gina Calaguas was also there in behalf of her boss, POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, who was supposed to land later in the day together with some ranking POC executives.

Also present were Philippine embassy officials headed by Consul Johann Veronica Andal, who represented Ambassador Charles Jose and attaché Emryss Esparto.

As the emcee announced the names of the SEA Games participants in alphabetical order, the Philippine tri-color was raised and the national anthem was played, prompting Filipino athletes, coaches and officials to beam with pride and hope for a better performance in the biennial meet that they have yet to dominate since hosting it 12 years ago.

“The ceremony is an occasion recognizing our presence in this sportsfest,” said Calaguas. “Like the rest of the SEA Games countries, this simply means that we are officially here.”

FILIPINO martial artist Rene “The Challenger” Catalan has a unique predicament on Friday, August 18 as he will be dividing his time between being a cage competitor and acting as a chief cornerman.

Catalan will be sharing the ONE Championship cage with grappling prodigy Bu Huo You Ga of China on the undercard of ONE: Quest for Greatness, which takes place at the iconic Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Meanwhile, one of Catalan’s younger brothers, Robin, will also be competing on the stacked card as he squares off with multiple-time Lumpinee World Champion and former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke later in the evening.

It will be the first time both family members are competing at the same ONE Championship event.

Not only does he have to focus on his own match, but Catalan also has to deal with the stress of coaching

his younger sibling to victory.

“There is pressure, definitely, both as a coach and as a competitor. As a coach, I am thinking about my athlete’s performances. And as a competitor, there is the pressure to win, and carrying Filipino pride on my shoulders,” he said.

Although ONE: Quest for Greatness will surely be a busy night for Catalan, it also presents an opportunity to make some incredible memories as Catalan envisions a scenario where both he and his brother advance their professional careers by becoming victorious on the card.

“It marks the first time that I will compete alongside my brother. It’s exciting. I hope that we will walk away as winners of our respective bouts. It will cause a big family celebration,” he said.

Riding high on a two-bout winning streak, the 38-year-old Iloilo native will have the chance to extend his win streak as he takes on Bu, who has won his last three outings.

Filipino MMA fighter Rene Catalan (right) unloads a roundhouse kick which is barely parried by opponent Zhang You Liang. ONE Championship

A proud native of a hill tribe in West China, Bu has a formidable base as a national Greco-Roman wrestling champion and has built upon that by adding elements of Wushu-Sanda, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and traditional Chi-

Nothing but gold for Tabal FOR Mary Joy Tabal, winning anything but the gold medal is not an option.

After settling for the silver in the previous edition in Singapore, Tabal declared readiness to win the gold when she competes in the women’s marathon competition of the 29th Southeast Asian Games before dawn this Saturday.

“My ultimate goal is to win the gold,” said the 28-year-old long-distance runner who grew stronger and wiser after seeing action in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year.

Tabal was hounded by controversy for resigning from the

Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association (Patafa) after the Singapore SEA Games.

But she pulled off a stunner when she submitted an impressive two hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds to finish eighth in the prestigious Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon in Ottawa, Canada last year, a victory that gave her a ticket to the Olympics.

She was reinstated in Patafa and registered 3:02:27 in the Summer Games for 124th place, no thanks to the punishing heat in the Brazilian capital.

This time, she’s ready.

“My training in Italy and Switzerland helped me a lot,”

said the 4-foot-11 Cebu native, who vowed to knock the crown off the head of SEA Games gold medalist Natthaya Thanaronnawat of Thailand.

Also expected to make an impact is Jeson Agravante, who will campaign in the men’s side.

Agravante suffered cramps before finishing 124th in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon last May where he clocked 2:56:59.1.

“Magaling na ako. Nakatakbo rin kami ni coach Rene (Herrera) sa Baguio at kondisyon naman na ako,” said Agravante, who made it to the national squad after ruling the Iloilo National Milo Marathon last December.

nese Kung Fu to his arsenal.

Most notably, Bu’s biggest achievement under the ONE Championship banner was when he was crowned as the ONE Hefei Flyweight Tournament Champion

in July 2016.

With the aim to be a more versatile combatant than his Chinese counterpart, Catalan revealed that he worked extensively on his ground game in training camp.

“For this fight, I added more emphasis to my ground game. Even though I am coming off a win, I shouldn’t be complacent. I trained with the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the country to hone my grappling skills,” he said.

While Catalan recognizes Bu’s potential, he believes that his seasoned background in combat sports will play a pivotal role in their threeround strawweight encounter.

“I may not have much experience in the cage, but I do have a rich background in Wushu-Sanda and boxing,” he said.

“I still believe that my striking is better than his stand-up game.

I am very comfortable in that aspect. If he wants to strike with me, it will be my pleasure.”

HD Spikers stop Volley Bolt to capture PVL Open crown FOILED in its sweep bid, Cignal TV came back strong in the fourth and hacked out a 25-23, 25-17, 22-25, and 25-22 victory over Mega Builders in sudden death to capture the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference crown at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.

Vince Mangulabnan set up Peter Torres for a quick attack then Ysay Marasigan foiled Fauzi Ismail’s spike to finish off Volley Bolt and nail their second straight championship in the league organized by Sports Vision after dominating the Air Force Jet Spikers in the Open Conference last June.

“They believed in the system and then showed their maturity,” said Cignal TV coach Oliver Almadro, whose wards took

the opener of their best-of-three series, 2523, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17. Volley Bolt forced a decider with an 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 2225, 15-13 victory in Game 2.

The National U-backed Volley Bolt actually made quite an impression in the elims which they swept then dominated the Jet Spikers in the semis to earn a crack at the championship on their maiden season in the league backed by Mikasa and Asics.

“I did not expect this championship in this conference. We know NU is way ahead of us,” said Almadro.

But the HD Spikers got going when the going got tough, easing out the Sta. Elena Wrecking Ball in the semis then taking the finals series’ opener in four.

BSP ready to lift rates if economy overheats

B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

B1

MetroPac offers P12-b MRT3 rehab

By Jenniffer B. Austria

M

ETRO Pacific Investments Corp. said Wednesday it is ready to present to the Transportation Department this week a P12-billion offer to rehabilitate and upgrade the glitch-prone Mass Rail Transit Line 3.

Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. K. Lim said the company would send a team to the Transportation Department to initially discuss and present the technical aspects of the proposal.

Lim said under the new proposal, Metro Pacific planned to initially invest P12 billion to rehabilitate and improve the service of MRT3, or double the P6 billion the company originally proposed.

Lim said the Transportation Department was expected to review the proposal.

Metro Pacific chairman Manuel Pangilinan described the new offer as a “better proposal” compared with the previous one.

“This is a much better proposal because it means more money for the government,” Pangilinan said.

“It will also be good for them [the government] to pass the hat to us, so that we will get the blame,” Pangilinan said.

The proposed takeover of MRT3 operations could entail fare adjustment as the company tries to improve passenger experience.

Pangilinan said aside from Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific also invited Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte Ltd. to join the company in the proposed rehabilitation of MRT3.

Ayala Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure are Metro Pacific’s joint venture partners in Light Rail Manila Corp., which is the operator of Light Rail Transit Line 1 and its Cavite extension project.

“We have extended invitation to the Ayala group and Macquarie along the same holding percentages in LRMC, which 55 percent for us 35 [percent] for Ayala and 10 [percent] for Macquarie,” Pangilinan said.

Metro Pacific first submitted a proposal to the Transportation Department in 2011, offering $523-million investments to rehabilitate and upgrade MRT3. The Aquino administration rejected Metro Pacific’s proposal and opted for an equity value buyout of MRT3.

The Transportation Department decided to pursue the buyout, but Congress did not approve the P53.9-billion allocation in the 2015 budget for the government’s takeover of MRT3.

MRT 3, which runs along Edsa from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City, serves over 500,000 passengers a day, or beyond its rated capacity of 350,000.

The railways system has been experiencing glitches caused by old trains and railways as well as problems in the signaling system.

LandBank earned P7.4b in 1 half st

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, August 16, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar Peso

United States Dollar

1.000000

51.2170

Japan

Yen

0.009037

0.4628

UK

Pound

1.287100

65.9214

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127820

6.5466

Switzerland

Franc

1.028278

52.6653

Canada

Dollar

0.784068

40.1576

Singapore

Dollar

0.731582

37.4694

Australia

Dollar

0.781800

40.0415

Bahrain

Dinar

2.653505

135.9046

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

13.6575

Brunei

Dollar

0.728916

37.3329

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.030048

1.5390

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

13.9453

Euro

Euro

1.173700

60.1134

Korea

Won

0.000881

0.0451

China

Yuan

0.149566

7.6603

India

Rupee

0.015597

0.7988

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.232883

11.9276

New Zealand

Dollar

0.723400

37.0504

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033019

1.6911 Source: PDS Bridge

By Julito G. Rada STATE-OWNED Land Bank of the Philippines, the country’s thirdlargest lender in terms of assets, said Wednesday net income in the first semester reached P7.43 billion, nearly unchanged from last year, but exceeding the mid-year target of P6.88 billion by 8 percent.

“We are confident about meeting our full-year target of P13.75 billion, as income from loans and investments remain strong,” LandBank president and chief executive Alex Buenaventura said in a statement.

Revenues from loans rose 7 percent, as gross loan portfolio increased to P597.1 billion from P490.6 billion while income from investments also grew 9 percent to P9.2 billion from P8.4 billion in the same period last year.

Return on equity as of end-June was at 14.55 percent, while net interest margin stood at 3.03 percent, both above latest industry averages.

Total assets grew 15 percent to P1.5

trillion from P1.3 trillion last year.

Total deposits jumped 17 percent to P1.32 trillion from P1.13 trillion, while total capital stood at 97.4 billion, a 9-percent hike from the same period last year.

“We continue to double our efforts in strengthening our financial position as we are determined to keep contributing significantly to improving the lives of our priority sectors, especially small farmers and fishers,” Buenaventura said.

LandBank remains the biggest lender to the agricultural sector, especially small farmers and fishers as well as micro-enterprises and SMEs. LandBank attained a net income of P13.6 billion in 2016, up by 2 percent from P13.3 percent in 2015.

Assets reached P1.4 trillion, up 17 percent from P1.2 trillion in 2015, primarily driven by an 18-percent growth in deposits which rose to P1.24 trillion from P1.05 trillion, on the back of significant increase in private deposits.

IN BRIEF PH to resume beef imports from Britain

THE Philippines is expected to resume importing beef from the United Kingdom, 10 years after it imposed a ban amid the mad cow scare.

The British Embassy in Manila said Wednesday it recently struck a trade deal with the Philippines for a 34 million pounds or $44 million worth of beef exports to Manila.

The Department of International Trade team at the British Embassy Manila provided significant support to UK beef exporters to successfully bring in beef to the Philippines.

“I am delighted to see that British beef is coming back to the Philippines and look forward to serving this fantastic British product at the Residence and at other British Embassy events,” said British Ambassador-designate to the Philippines Daniel Pruce.

Beef reared in the UK will now join pork, poultry, lamb and dairy on the list of UK food and drink shipped to the Philippines. Othel V. Campos

DPWH studying C3 Expressway

THE joint venture of Ayala Corp. and SM Investments Corp. may revise the alignment of its unsolicited proposal to build an elevated expressway linking the cities of Manila and Pasay through the Ayala central business district because of the conflict with a road project of the Public Works Department.

“There might be some technical [issues]. That’s why we are reviewing it

[the C3 Elevated Expressway]. We are still studying the effects to our existing projects. That’s why we are studying it,” Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said.

“We have our own C3 project going to Makati,” Villar said.

Villar said his agency had asked AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., the joint venture of Ayala and SM, to submit a full feasibility study for the proposed P25-billion C3 Elevated Expressway.

“The process will start once they submit the requirements,” Villar said.

The elevated toll road will run about 8.6 kilometers, linking Sta. Mesa, Manila to the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City. Darwin G. Amojelar

2Go’s net income falls 79% to P120m

LOGISTICS company 2Go Group Inc. said Wednesday net income in the first half fell 79 percent to P120.1 million from P567 million it booked a year ago.

The country’s largest shipping and logistics company blamed the decrease in net profit to the recognition of nonrecurring restatement adjustments for provision for bad debt and inventory and related party adjustments and an increase in fuel prices.

The company said excluding non- recurring restatement adjustments, net income in the first half of 2017 would have reached P327.2 million, compared to P612 million in the same period in 2016.

2Go said consolidated revenues increased 14 percent to P11 billion in January to June from P9.8 billion a year earlier.

Passage revenues rose 11 percent to P2.57 billion from P2.31 billion, while freight revenues increased 3 percent to P2.14 billion from P2.08 billion.

Darwin G. Amojelar

B2

Business

THURSDAY,AUGUST 17, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market sustains gains; Jollibee, Semirara rise S

Manila Water, IFC eye Asian projects

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales MANILA Water Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Manila Water Company Inc., signed a memorandum of understanding with International Finance Corp. to explore opportunities in providing water, used water and environmental services in Asia-Pacific.

Manila Water Asia Pacific and IFC said in a statement the plan was to jointly identify, evaluate, develop and implement projects that would benefit geographies across Asia Pacific.

More than a billion people in the region is estimated to lack access to proper water supply and sanitation and is continuously challenged by the increasing exposure to waterrelated illnesses.

IFC brings into the partnership its assistance in promoting sustainable private sector investment and forging alliances to improve the

lives of impoverished communities in developing countries.

IFC will identify opportunities, as well as the prospective governmental entities, local partners and project owners to whom Manila Water Asia Pacific may work and share their technical expertise.

The Manila Water subsidiary will share the enterprise’s 20 years of experience and leading expertise in transforming the lives of millions of people from the different parts of the Philippines to the key cities of Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Manila Water Philippine Ventures and Manila Water Asia Pacific president and chief executive Virgilio Rivera Jr. said IFC, the World Bank investment arm, played a catalyst role during the initial years of Manila Water’s east zone concession, providing debt financing and subsequently taking an equity position.

TOCKS rose for a third day, sending the benchmark index near a record high, ahead of the release of second-quarter gross domestic data and as tension in the Korean peninsula eased.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 37 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 8,046.59 Wednesday. It was the market’s highest finish since it settled at 8,071.47 on July 28, 2017 and the all-time high of 8,127.48 on April 10, 2015.

The broader all-share index also advanced 21 points, or 0.5 percent, to end at 4,751.09, on a

value turnover of P12.7 billion.

Gainers outnumbered losers, 121 to 68, while 55 issues were unchanged.

Twelve of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by restaurant chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. which climbed 6.2 percent to P239 and coal producer Semirara Mining and Power Corp. which went up 4.1 percent to P176. Puregold Price

Club Inc. rose 2 percent to P48.15.

Meanwhile, Asian equities were mixed Wednesday after an uninspiring US session that saw the dollar grind higher, with attention turning away from geopolitics and back to economic data. European equity-index futures suggested a higher open.

Markets are settling down after a tumultuous few days spurred by heightened tensions between the US and North Korea. South Korean shares climbed as traders returned from a holiday. The latest data showed American consumers splurged in July, dragging Treasuries lower and buoying the greenback. Gauges of volatility in Japan, Hong Kong and the US continued a retreat as calm returned to stock

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017

NAME

OPEN

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 4.21 471,000 59.6 41,700 106.1 338,050 3.98 4,000 128.8 2,319,710 1.3 24,000 35.4 97,500 15.9 8,200 31.9 618,500 1.65 1,000 0.69 803,000 86.2 2,408,910 0.87 462,000 13.2 7,700 26 20,500 61.45 132,370 241.8 130 91.95 10 53 243,960 255 647,320 1,788 95 86.4 136,490 1.36 54,000

2,036,670 2,476,366 35,850,634 15,920 299,084,245 31,220 3,455,575 131,220 19,588,620 1,650 551,500 207,263,569.50 398,070 101,430 533,000 8,129,731.50 31,084 919.5 12,808,040 166,123,310 164,515 11,784,819 73,370

48,300.00 1,902,966 1,783,277 -78,248,163 603,850 6,093,540 -216,181.50 -6,528,220.50 11,910 1,117,067.50 4,586,546 129,375 2,445,683 -

39.25 9.01 0.81 1.4 25.05 0.239 133.2 5.68 16.8 165.3 30.95 18.64 62 69 1.94 5.35 11 9.98 14.98 13.02 7.2 6.91 1.7 17.1 67 14.82 12.6 12.94 1.75 225 3.48 3.25 20.2 31.6 17.9 18.68 277.2 0.218 11.4 2.96 7.17 9.52 7.35 10.1 1.77 11.98 65 6.97 306.8 4.22 4.4 2.43 12.38 4.56 1.18 145.1 3.82 2.09 1

INDUSTRIAL 39.3 1,487,300 9.14 2,471,700 0.82 757,000 1.4 261,000 25.7 20,000 0.244 1,500,000 133.2 50 5.7 4,623,000 16.92 1,107,200 165.3 20 31.7 529,300 19.38 62,500 64 101,850 69 10 1.95 158,000 5.4 312,000 11.2 66,800 10.04 10,491,000 15.14 1,213,700 13.4 534,600 7.3 182,300 6.93 21,392,100 1.75 22,000 17.3 1,380,100 67.05 34,660 14.88 1,900 12.68 64,800 13.54 3,176,500 1.8 274,000 239 2,324,150 3.5 63,000 3.4 7,000 22.8 1,700 31.6 1,331,800 18.2 274,800 18.7 1,882,400 277.4 352,740 0.239 2,410,000 11.58 34,800 2.96 364,000 7.17 82,200 9.6 1,579,100 7.54 18,100 10.1 500 1.79 789,000 12.1 802,000 65.25 97,500 7.1 205,400 307 11,100 4.3 5,058,000 4.4 10,000 2.59 1,366,000 12.4 1,516,000 4.56 60,000 1.2 4,000 147 2,644,100 3.82 3,000 2.1 15,316,000 1 195,000

58,530,400 22,637,881 620,590 367,690 509,185 361,520 7,221 26,353,354 18,720,636 3,306 16,721,595 1,193,360 6,517,166 690 307,080 1,680,808 746,728 105,368,113 18,351,812 7,136,000 1,329,043 148,838,550 38,400 23,881,102 2,329,409.50 28,210 821,560 42,815,464 494,330 545,621,748 220,270 23,400 35,235 42,189,415 5,020,616 35,327,704 97,926,016 554,000 400,142 1,107,060 591,195 15,146,925 135,411 5,050 1,408,180 9,634,120 6,352,173 1,449,049 3,412,272 21,747,710 44,200 3,463,900 18,895,072 273,600 4,760 388,657,459 11,460 32,475,660 195,100

-23,512,475 -10,638,810.00 -8,388,004 2,449,560 -3,160 38,400 6,492,926 -71,930 -78,892,736 3,233,898 -179,742 -133,384 13,617,489 -1,094,408.00 -1,571,916.50 58,420 8,960,390 391,933,080 15,145,735 656,932 1,236,864 -34,154,966 -623,560 -1,512,136.00 437,880 -849,372 1,523,059.50 1,221,723 -1,169,536 26,400 501,910 1,354,572 -39,160,603 11,460 130,190 -

0.35 73.25 13.5 1.08 7 0.305 0.325 893 7.52 15.7 7.82 1,172 7.57 71.05 5.09 5.42 0.89 6.8 17.58 0.43 6.51 0.045 2.07 99.75 2.62 825 0.87 1.59 190.1 302 0.28 0.196 0.223

HOLDING FIRMS 0.36 3,350,000 73.75 444,080 13.6 5,600,800 1.1 45,000 7 23,000 0.315 570,000 0.325 10,000 900 423,650 7.59 1,776,500 15.9 9,101,200 7.82 2,900 1,180 136,730 7.89 30,400 72.55 623,970 5.09 3,100 5.42 100 0.91 1,773,000 7 6,845,100 17.58 2,742,200 0.43 20,000 6.62 19,804,800 0.046 13,200,000 2.09 171,000 100 112,870 2.62 2,000 831 313,330 0.87 7,000 1.6 465,000 190.1 10 302.6 70 0.28 230,000 0.205 170,000 0.224 11,500,000

1,191,700 32,733,920.50 76,122,060 49,500 161,000 177,650 3,250 381,138,945 13,487,729 144,692,502 22,706 161,411,990 233,574 45,199,100 15,779 542 1,594,750 47,112,385 48,718,782 8,600 130,569,191 596,700 356,200 11,289,913 5,240 261,048,320 6,090 748,730 1,901 21,170 64,400 33,620 2,575,500

35,500 6,758,522.50 -39,158,424 57,037,450 -1,583,003 23,131,056 -69,546,580 4,395,174.50 1,527 5,638,530 -805,078 -50,931,046 -10,500 -1,894,452.50 -1,467,735 -

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE 4.11 ASIA UNITED 59.5 BANK PH ISLANDS 106 BDO LEASING 3.98 BDO UNIBANK 128.8 BRIGHT KINDLE 1.31 CHINABANK 35.3 COL FINANCIAL 16.14 EAST WEST BANK 31.45 IREMIT 1.65 MEDCO HLDG 0.69 METROBANK 86 NTL REINSURANCE 0.85 PB BANK 13.2 PBCOM 26 PHIL NATL BANK 61.1 PHIL STOCK EXCH 238.4 PSBANK 91.95 RCBC 51 SECURITY BANK 258 SUN LIFE 1,726 UNION BANK 86 VANTAGE 1.34

4.59 59.6 106.5 3.98 130.2 1.31 35.55 16.14 31.95 1.65 0.7 86.35 0.88 13.2 26 61.95 241.8 91.95 53.6 260 1,788 86.4 1.36

4.1 59.1 105.1 3.98 128.5 1.3 35.1 15.9 31.2 1.65 0.68 85.5 0.84 13.06 26 61 238.2 91.95 51 255 1,725 85.95 1.34

ABOITIZ POWER 39.35 AGRINURTURE 9.12 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.83 ALSONS CONS 1.43 ASIABEST GROUP 25.7 BASIC ENERGY 0.239 BOGO MEDELLIN 151.9 CEMEX HLDG 5.68 CENTURY FOOD 17 CHEMPHIL 165.3 CIRTEK HLDG 31.65 CNTRL AZUCARERA18.64 CONCEPCION 62 CONCRETE A 69 CROWN ASIA 1.94 DAVINCI CAPITAL 5.4 DEL MONTE 11.22 DNL INDUS 10.3 EAGLE CEMENT 15.02 EEI CORP 13.38 EMPERADOR 7.22 ENERGY DEVT 6.92 EUROMED 1.75 FIRST GEN 17.1 FIRST PHIL HLDG 68.5 GINEBRA 14.82 HOLCIM 12.7 INTEGRATED MICR 13 IONICS 1.79 JOLLIBEE 225.4 LMG CHEMICALS 3.48 MABUHAY VINYL 3.25 MACAY HLDG 20.35 MANILA WATER 31.75 MAXS GROUP 17.9 MEGAWIDE 18.7 MERALCO 278 MG HLDG 0.218 PANASONIC 11.7 PEPSI COLA 3.1 PETROENERGY 7.25 PETRON 9.54 PHIL H2O 7.6 PHINMA 10.1 PHINMA ENERGY 1.8 PHX PETROLEUM 12.02 PILIPINAS SHELL 65.25 PRYCE CORP 7 PUREFOODS 308 RFM CORP 4.3 ROXAS HLDG 4.4 SFA SEMICON 2.43 SHAKEYS PIZZA 12.5 SPC POWER 4.56 TKC METALS 1.18 UNIV ROBINA 147 VICTORIAS 3.82 VITARICH 2.16 VULCAN INDL 1.01

39.5 9.23 0.83 1.43 26 0.245 151.9 5.72 17 165.3 31.8 19.38 64 69 1.95 5.4 11.22 10.3 15.2 13.4 7.31 7.01 1.75 17.38 68.5 14.88 12.78 13.84 1.84 245 3.5 3.4 22.8 31.85 18.46 18.94 278.8 0.239 11.8 3.1 7.25 9.64 7.6 10.1 1.81 12.1 65.25 7.1 308 4.3 4.5 2.61 12.6 4.56 1.2 148.5 3.82 2.17 1.01

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

0.365 74.2 13.64 1.14 7 0.315 0.325 901.5 7.61 15.98 7.83 1,186 7.99 72.8 5.09 5.42 0.93 7 18.24 0.43 6.67 0.046 2.1 101.3 2.62 844 0.87 1.64 190.1 302.6 0.28 0.205 0.224

0.365 73.95 13.6 1.14 7 0.305 0.325 896 7.56 15.96 7.83 1,180 7.93 72 5.09 5.42 0.93 6.9 18.1 0.43 6.64 0.046 2.1 101.3 2.62 825 0.87 1.64 190.1 302 0.28 0.196 0.223

VOLUME

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

4.92 0.285 0.53 0.495 4.84 24.25 1.78 3.25 34.55 0.99 0.86 5.89

5.03 0.29 0.55 0.51 4.84 24.25 1.79 3.25 34.95 1.01 0.89 6.08

4.89 0.285 0.51 0.495 4.64 24 1.77 3.19 34.4 0.99 0.86 5.83

4.98 0.285 0.53 0.51 4.7 24 1.79 3.19 34.7 1 0.87 6.02

57,713,000 16,390,000 16,222,000 4,760,000 1,410,000 1,858,300 153,000 16,000 5,326,300 99,000 147,000 9,131,100

286,363,100 4,691,000 8,490,110 2,375,450 6,607,030 44,781,320 271,860 51,240 184,683,660 99,020 127,510 54,155,107

565,460 5,700.00 11,130 15,000 435,930 -8,940,010 5,340 3,200 20,670,265.00 -3,149,534

2GO GROUP 21 ABS CBN 42 ACESITE HOTEL 1.56 APC GROUP 0.6 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.038 ASIAN TERMINALS 11.2 BERJAYA 5.2 BLOOMBERRY 9.87 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.073 CEBU AIR 101.1 CHELSEA 10.2 DFNN INC 9.25 GLOBE TELECOM 2,058 GMA NETWORK 6.18 GOLDEN HAVEN 15.88 GRAND PLAZA 14.5 HARBOR STAR 2.45 IMPERIAL 3.1 INTL CONTAINER 103.8 IPEOPLE 12.32 IPM HLDG 8.69 ISLAND INFO 0.16 ISM COMM 1.32 JACKSTONES 3 LBC EXPRESS 15.56 LEISURE AND RES 4.12 LORENZO SHIPPNG 1.55 MACROASIA 11 MANILA BULLETIN 0.56 MANILA JOCKEY 2.33 MELCO RESORTS 8.63 METRO RETAIL 4.04 MLA BRDCASTING 20 NOW CORP 2.43 PAL HLDG 5.2 PHIL SEVEN CORP 178 PHILWEB 9.39 PLDT 1,740 PREMIUM LEISURE 1.59 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.4 PUREGOLD 47.2 ROBINSONS RTL 88 SBS PHIL CORP 5.87 SSI GROUP 4.2 STI HLDG 1.24 TRAVELLERS 3.4 WATERFRONT 1.19 WILCON DEPOT 8.8

21 42 1.65 0.62 0.039 11.2 5.2 10.08 0.073 102 10.46 9.25 2,080 6.19 15.9 14.5 2.5 3.2 103.8 12.32 8.69 0.166 1.32 3.1 15.56 4.19 1.69 11.16 0.56 2.41 8.86 4.18 21 2.45 5.2 178 9.66 1,749 1.6 0.405 48.15 89 6.06 4.33 1.34 3.41 1.22 8.87

20.65 41.75 1.56 0.58 0.037 11.2 5.01 9.86 0.071 100.6 10.14 8.93 2,020 6.15 15.8 14.5 2.35 3.1 103.2 12.16 8.69 0.16 1.32 2.98 15.4 4.09 1.5 10.92 0.56 2.33 8.6 4.03 18.6 2.38 5.05 177 9.28 1,720 1.57 0.4 47 87.5 5.61 4.16 1.22 3.33 1.19 8.64

SERVICES 20.8 40,000 41.75 38,700 1.65 181,000 0.61 8,852,000 0.039 26,200,000 11.2 300 5.01 13,000 9.95 7,480,200 0.073 4,810,000 101 1,473,660 10.3 8,789,300 8.93 103,100 2,050 18,430 6.18 82,700 15.9 61,900 14.5 100 2.46 1,132,000 3.2 47,000 103.3 634,260 12.16 2,000 8.69 250,000 0.165 1,590,000 1.32 60,000 3.1 143,000 15.4 1,500 4.14 516,000 1.65 21,989,000 11.08 1,079,900 0.56 16,000 2.41 1,545,000 8.69 3,217,600 4.18 5,827,000 21 4,700 2.4 1,564,000 5.18 7,200 178 870 9.58 1,702,100 1,740 60,090 1.6 5,446,000 0.405 170,000 48.15 3,853,500 88 686,940 6.03 1,802,300 4.21 3,846,000 1.32 38,446,000 3.4 587,000 1.2 4,869,000 8.72 7,426,600

832,260 1,619,220 293,040 5,297,840 993,800 3,360 65,843 74,815,017 345,390 148,858,640 90,510,032 930,505 37,762,150 511,115 979,046 1,450 2,769,870 147,840 65,653,525 24,480 2,172,500 262,380 79,200 434,210 23,158 2,130,270 35,374,870 11,930,484 8,960 3,647,360 27,963,562 24,087,640 93,480 3,785,320 36,608 154,850 16,220,244 104,550,430 8,681,810 68,400 183,074,585 60,464,485 10,430,879 16,214,450 49,967,440 1,990,120 5,842,320 64,618,942

-8,260 14,500.00 47,523,382.00 -50,253,835 -2,492,280 -276,875 -4,231,380 14,840 -8,162,455 9,000 -82,800 403,050 1,129,998.00 -6,675,635 -39,560.00 -444,690 -58,740 -6,538,420 -2,229,640 -2,364,240 -85,841,070 -28,950,311.50 878,160 13,173,740 923,800 -118,810 -480,768

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

0.0029 1.6 4.88 1.88 1.2 0.38 8.42 2.45 0.28 0.179 0.191 1.83 5.77 1.89 0.52 1.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 2.31 8.38 3.45 168.6 0.008

0.0029 1.64 5.1 1.88 1.27 0.39 8.42 2.48 0.285 0.182 0.201 1.87 5.89 1.9 0.56 1.03 0.011 0.011 0.012 2.54 8.47 3.46 176.8 0.008

0.0028 1.59 4.88 1.88 1.19 0.37 8.36 2.44 0.27 0.179 0.191 1.83 5.72 1.83 0.52 1 0.01 0.011 0.011 2.31 8.32 3.31 168.6 0.008

MINING & OIL 0.0028 435,000,000 1.63 3,207,000 5 54,000 1.88 612,000 1.26 6,650,000 0.39 1,550,000 8.36 500 2.45 1,289,000 0.275 680,000 0.18 4,590,000 0.201 70,000 1.87 28,000 5.73 4,114,200 1.88 15,000 0.56 209,000 1.01 112,000 0.011 2,700,000 0.011 2,000,000 0.012 3,700,000 2.54 48,000 8.32 228,000 3.36 2,927,000 176 559,970 0.008 1,000,000

1,218,300 5,178,150 271,980 1,150,560 8,112,920 589,300 4,195 3,157,950 186,650 826,500 13,570 51,500 23,705,713 28,020 111,300 113,920 27,900 22,000 42,800 119,360 1,905,316 9,879,800 97,239,025 8,000

89,600 742,400 6,200 24,000 -1,910 735,201 27,465 71,620 21,689,009 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B FGEN PREF F FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PF PREF 2 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

41.05 517 106 112.2 112 518 5.88 1,019 107 1,120 1,016 2.12 77 81 77 79 81.5 79.9 79.5 80.2

41.75 517 106 112.2 112 518 5.9 1,019 107 1,120 1,016 2.22 77 81.9 77 79 81.5 79.9 79.7 80.3

40.75 517 106 112.2 112 516.5 5.86 1,019 107 1,120 1,015 2.12 77 80.05 77 79 81.5 79.9 79.5 80.2

PREFERRED 40.75 253,700 517 100 106 10,000 112.2 10 112 9,990 516.5 1,020 5.9 126,200 1,019 930 107 1,000 1,120 890 1,015 1,000 2.22 8,000 77 4,290 80.1 57,900 77 500 79 47,350 81.5 2,500 79.9 50,000 79.7 90,000 80.3 2,070

10,397,930 51,700 1,060,000 1,122 1,118,880 526,845 744,530 947,670 107,000 996,800 1,015,340 17,460 330,330 4,688,776 38,500 3,740,650 203,750 3,995,000 7,163,380 166,201

-5,509,915 -1,118,880 -738,670 38,500 -3,995,000 -16,040

LR WARRANT

2.3

2.3

2.24

WARRANTS 2.26 321,000

726,650

-

3.83 5.48 5.76

3.75 4.2 5.49

SME 3.83 5.38 5.66

464,090 275,410 16,411,100

-5,500 -3,332,938

121.1

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120.4 121.1 72,730

8,792,740

-

NAME

OPEN

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

MS ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

3.78 5.3 5.5

FIRST METRO ETF 120.7 8990 HLDG 5.4 A BROWN 1.34 ANCHOR LAND 6.78 ARANETA PROP 2.2 ARTHALAND CORP 0.95 AYALA LAND 42.4 BELLE CORP 3.6 CEB LANDMASTERS 5.05 CEBU HLDG 5.3 CENTURY PROP 0.52 CITY AND LAND 1.36 CITYLAND DEVT 1.51 CROWN EQUITIES 0.206 CYBER BAY 0.495 DOUBLEDRAGON 45.8 EMPIRE EAST 0.7 EVER GOTESCO 0.146 FILINVEST LAND 1.8 GLOBAL ESTATE 1.65 IRC PROP 0.98

5.4 1.35 6.78 2.28 0.96 43.25 3.67 5.1 5.32 0.53 1.44 1.54 0.227 0.5 45.8 0.71 0.147 1.89 1.65 0.98

5.36 1.33 6.78 2.19 0.92 42.1 3.56 5 5.25 0.51 1.31 1.51 0.206 0.495 44.75 0.69 0.146 1.8 1.62 0.96

PROPERTY 5.37 491,500 1.34 4,029,000 6.78 8,100 2.19 376,000 0.92 4,434,000 42.5 11,215,400 3.57 2,470,000 5 3,188,700 5.32 8,700 0.53 16,120,000 1.42 1,597,000 1.54 60,000 0.227 157,680,000 0.5 4,702,000 44.8 178,800 0.71 151,000 0.147 280,000 1.87 51,162,000 1.65 6,079,000 0.96 70,000

2,640,812 5,393,530 54,918 825,920 4,155,820 476,904,980 8,844,690 15,966,222 46,094 8,408,700 2,211,060 91,080 34,916,340 2,333,345 8,023,090 105,380 40,890 94,933,850 9,989,560 67,690

-2,448,379 -54,918 -307,470 -96,758,840 865,700 30,050 1,253,130 277,340 -749,600 148,500 -5,307,570 7,080 44,776,390 -6,520 -

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

SHARES

VALUE

9,840,569

856,653,330.40

430,763,650

7,969,549,158.40

79,775,620

1,382,777,327.45

PROPERTY

377,568,129

1,269,797,611.12

SERVICES

167,384,866

1,079,148,520.56

MINING & OIL

471,513,462

153,983,627.488

GRAND TOTAL

1,539,987,884

12,737,858,429.72

122,000 54,100 2,891,400

FINANCIAL 1,998.63 (up) 1.85 INDUSTRIAL 11,069.38 (up) 109.81 HOLDING FIRMS 7,915.96 (up) 32.90 PROPERTY 3,799.76 (up) 18.45 SERVICES 1,701.00 (up) 4.30 MINING & OIL 12,877.56 (up) 299.68 PSEI 8,046.59 (up0 37.18 All Shares Index 4,751.09 (up) 21.36 Gainers: 121; Losers: 68; Unchanged: 55; Total: 244

markets.

The revival in US retail sales bolsters prospects that growth will accelerate in the second half, the latest clue on the strength of the world’s largest economy ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, due to be published on Wednesday. Policy makers have been flagging they may announce plans to reduce the central bank’s balance sheet in September and then potentially raise interest rates again this year.

In other economic news, Australian wage growth matched estimates in the second quarter, rising 0.5 percent from the previous three-month period and 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Wage growth has hovered at a record low in recent quarters as the economy adjusts to a post-mining boom environment.

Japan’s Topix index closed little changed. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.6 percent, reopening after a holiday.

The Hang Seng Index added 0.6 percent in Hong Kong, while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.5 percent.

Singapore’s Straits Times Index was Asia’s worst performer on Wednesday, falling as much as 1.1 percent, as banks and interest-rate sensitive stocks dropped.

With Bloomberg, AFP

Roxaco to develop 87 hectares in Palawan

By Jenniffer B. Austria ROXACO Land Corp., the property development arm of Roxas and Company Inc., signed a joint venture agreement with the Sandoval family to develop an 87-hectare property in Busuanga, Palawan into a master planned resort estate.

RCI chairman Pedro E. Roxas said in a recent interview the project called Sananda Bay would be implemented in phases and would target various segments of the market including local tourists, business travelers and foreign visitors looking for quality resorts in Palawan.

The parties will initially develop 20 hectares of the property starting 2018.

The master plan for the property is still being finalized, including the planned capital spending.

Roxas said Roxaco would have a 90-percent stake in the joint venture while the Sandoval family, who owns the land, would take a 10-percent stake.

This will be the third leisure resort development of Roxaco, after Anya Resort and Residences in Tagaytay City and Punta Fuego in Batangas.

Roxaco in joint venture with Singapore-based Vanguard Hotels group recently opened its fourth Go Hotel in Ermita, Manila.

The Go Hotels ErmitaManila, under license with Robinsons Land Corp., will have 219 rooms and other facilities that will cater to both domestic and international travelers.

Roxaco-Vanguard already operates Go Hotels North Edsa-Quezon City, Manila Airport Road-Parañaque and Cubao, Quezon City branches. Slated to open in early October is Go Hotels in Timog, Quezon City. These five Go Hotels will have more than 1,000 hotel rooms.

Business Quezon City tops competitiveness list

By Othel V. Campos QUEZON City emerged as the most competitive highly urbanized in the Philippines, followed

by Manila and Davao, based on the 2017 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index.

Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown, figured in the top 3 list for the first time in five years, during the 5th Annual Regional Competitiveness Summit and Awards at the Philippine International Convention Center Wednesday.

The Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index measures the LGUs’ competitiveness based on several pillars: economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure and resiliency.

Davao’s inclusion displaced Makati City from the list. It was also cited as highly urbanized in terms of infrastructure and resiliency.

Antipolo City, Rizal was the most competitive component city, followed by Naga City in Camarines Sur and Tagum City, Davao del Norte as second and

third placers, respectively.

Among the most competitive first and second-class municipalities, Cainta, Rizal ranked first, followed by Taytay and Angono, also in Rizal.

Baler, Aurora was as the overall most competitive 3rd-6th class municipality, followed by Mambajao, Camiguin and Tayug, Pangasinan.

The National Competitiveness Commission also cited the most competitive provinces, led by Rizal, followed by South Cotabato and Cavite.

Pasay, Quezon and Makati City ranked as the first top urbanized cities for economic dynamism while General Trias City, Cavite; San Fernando City, Pampanga; and Naga City led the race for component cities.

Also under the economic dynamism pillar are the top 1st-2nd class municipalities that included Cainta and Taytay, Rizal and Santo Tomas, while leading the 3rd-6th class municipalities were Mambajao, Tayug and Dumanjung, Cebu.

B3

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

BSP ready to lift rates if economy overheats

By Lilian Karunungan

T

HE Philippine central bank is prepared to raise interest rates if it sees signs the economy is growing too fast, while tolerating a weaker currency for now, according to Governor Nestor Espenilla.

“When you do start jacking up interest rates is when we see signs of overheating in the economy,” he said in an interview in Singapore on Tuesday. “We’re not there yet,” he said, adding that the peso’s decline should be a signal to companies to avoid too much foreign borrowing and hedge their currency risk.

Economic growth in the Philippines, already among the world’s highest, probably accelerated in the second quarter, officials said before data due

Thursday. The country is set to post its first annual currentaccount deficit in 15 years amid strong domestic spending and an infrastructure program that’s pushing up imports. The budget shortfall is widening and the peso has dropped 3.2 percent against the dollar this year, the worst performance in Asia.

Espenilla, who took over as governor last month, is “much more laissez faire” about the currency and isn’t worried about peso weakness, Citigroup Inc.

analysts including Johanna Chua in Hong Kong wrote in a note released Wednesday. Solid fundamentals will eventually cap declines, they wrote.

The Philippine currency closed at a new 11-year low of 51.35 per dollar on Wednesday.

“The peso is market-determined,” Espenilla said. “In accepting that the currency will adjust and will be more volatile, that also sends a signal. It creates market discipline as well.”

Formerly deputy governor at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Espenilla kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3 percent on Aug. 10 in his first policy decision since taking office. Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the central bank will raise rates by at least 25 basis points this year.

Inflation and the fiscal position

remain under control, the governor said.

The current-account deficit isn’t blowing up in a way that’s hard to sustain, and previous surpluses were due to underspending, he said. Nevertheless, any shortfall will be kept within 1 percent of GDP, which is “very manageable and sustainable” and consistent with the Philippines’ economic growth potential of 7 percent, Espenilla said.

Gross domestic product data for the second quarter will probably exceed the 6.4 percent pace recorded in the first three months of the year, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday. GDP increased 6.4 percent last quarter from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Bloomberg

Del Monte protests wrong computation THE inexplicable math of the Bureau of Internal Revenue may be the reason why the agency keeps missing its revenue targets. Its assessments on the tax liabilities of Del Monte Philippines Inc., for one, is baffling. The BIR could have easily avoided the simple error in tax assessment of Del Monte if some of its personnel had training in basic accountancy.

Del Monte, in its defense before the Ways and Means Committee of Congress, said it had dutifully paid the correct taxes over its 91 years of corporate existence, adding it was the first time in its history that it was embroiled in a tax controversy.

Del Monte recounted that the average annual deficiency taxes it paid from 2006 to 2010 amounted to P15.4 million. The assessed average annual deficiency taxes from 2011 to 2013, however, reached a staggering P2.9 billion, representing a huge increase over the previous five-year average.

Del Monte naturally protested the unreasonable assessments, prompting the BIR later to impose an assessment of P65 million for three years, or an average annual tax of P21.7 million and slightly above what the company had been paying the previous years.

The company has described BIR assessments without any basis when ranged against its actual audited earnings.

“For example, it is reported in the press that the preliminary assessment for deficiency taxes for 2011 was P21 billion which was proven non-existent. Neither the BIR issued, nor DMPI received the purported assessment,” the company said in a statement.

Del Monte’s annual sales revenues in 2011 totaled just P16.8 billion, indicating an absurd situation where a company’s owed income taxes exceeded total revenues. An international auditing firm, according to Del Monte, has verified its annual tax liabilities and payments.

Inflated assessments Del Monte cited three major reasons for the inflated preliminary assessments. The charges of interest and penalties amounting to P3.3 billion for 2012 and 2013 naturally are huge because they were based on inflated tax liabilities. Consequently, the same charges are automatically lessened upon reduction of the alleged tax liabilities.

The company also cited the disallowance of various expense items by the BIR which were corrected after presentation of the proper documents.

“Discrepancies in the amounts of these expenses during BIR’s initial review led the BIR to disregard these expenses until proven satisfactorily by DMPI. An example of this was the use of gross sales in computing income taxes instead of net sales which in one year alone (2012) resulted in a reduction of P300 million in taxes.,” Del Monte said.

Another example was BIR’s disallowance of Del Monte’s cost of sales because the the tax collecting agency claimed it did not have sufficient details in the income tax return.

“When DMPI provided a more detailed breakdown of the cost of sales, the BIR recognized such costs and reversed the tax deficiency by about P400 million for 2012,” the pineapple exporter said.

The BIR, meanwhile, did not fully take into account the fiscal incentives given to Del Monte as a company operating within the enclave of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. The omission contributed to the wrong preliminary assessment of the BIR. Being a Peza registered entity, Del Monte is entitled to a different and lower tax regime for its export sales and some local sales. The company is one of the major exporters of pineapples in the world.

Confusion Claims that Del Monte received a preliminary assessment notice of P21 billion from the BIR for 2011 have beclouded the issue.

The assessment, as stated earlier in this column, is grotesquely strange since Del Monte only had net revenues of P16.8 billion in the same year and the tax deficiency cannot be higher than the revenue of the company.

The BIR later said it never issued a notice of P21 billion, while Del Monte declared it never received the same information.

“The truth is the BIR issued DMPI a PAN for P14.9 million after extensive audit, which DMPI paid. For 2012 and 2013, a substantial portion the BIR’s PAN consisted of interest and penalties. For 2012, of the P3.4 billion PAN, only P1.8 billion was the assessed basic tax deficiency, while for 2013, of the P5.2 billion PAN, only P3.5 billion was the assessed basic tax deficiency,” the company said.

Del Monte also protested BIR’s preliminary assessments for 2012 and 2013, providing supporting documents over a period of several years that led to the BIR to reconsider its preliminary assessments, resulting in lower taxes due for the two years in question.

E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or business@manilastandard.net or extrastory2000@gmail.com

EMIRATES-BCCP PARTNERSHIP. Emirates Airline and the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines sign a deal to encourage BCCP members to explore the world with Emirates. With this, BCCP members will enjoy discounted fares of up to 10 percent off when they book tickets online with promo code PHBCC17 by Oct. 15 via www.emirates.com/ph. This is applicable for travel until June 30, 2018. Shown sealing the deal are BCCP executive chairman Chris Nelson (left) and Emirates Philippines country manager Satish Sethi.

Semirara to tap local coal for 50-MW plant

By Alena Mae S. Flores The Energy Department and Semirara Mining and Power Corp. signed an agreement to build a 50-megawatt mine-mouth power plant in Antique province.

“We assisted the development of a mine-mouth coal-fired power plant or a power plant using indigenous coal as fuel to address the growth in the baseload demand and required reserves of Semirara Island along with other neighboring islands and provinces,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a

statement.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by Cusi, Semirara Mining president and chief operating officer Victor Consunji and chairman and chief executive Isidro Consunji on Aug. 14.

National Power Corp. president Pio Benavidez, National Transmission Corp. president Melvin Matibag, Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative General Manager Patrocinio Panagsagan Jr. and Occidental Mindoro Electric Cooperative general manager

Alfred Dantis witnessed the signing.

Cusi said Semirara Mining would construct an initial 50MW mine-mouth plant while Transco would enable the construction of the transmission lines.

“It will provide reliable, secured and much more affordable power to Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon, and even Palawan, which already signified interest,” Cusi said.

The department will endorse the power project as an energy

project of national significance under Executive Order No. 30 issued by President Rodrigo Duterte in June.

The project will form a part of the annually updated Philippine Energy Plan and Power Development Plan.

“What we are doing is creating solutions for our perennial energy problems in the island provinces,” Cusi said.

The Energy Department issued Coal Operating Contract No. 5 to SMPC for a coal mining project in Semirara Island in Caluya, Antique in 1977.

Sierra Madre Highway: Environment WHEN Benham Rise began to appear in newspaper headlines at the start of 2017, most Filipinos were shocked to learn that there was such a maritime area close to the Pacific Ocean side of Northern Luzon. That was not surprising because Northwestern Luzon—the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Aurora—has undergone less economic development than the rest of this country’s largest island.

Production growth and environmental conservation are the two sides of the development coin, and its comparative paucity of economic activity has meant that the eastern seaboard of Northern Luzon has largely been able to preserve its national resources—its forests, its farms, its ecosystems and its waters. The forests cover the Northern Sierra Madre Range, which comprises no less than 359,486 hectares. The entire area is protected by the protected area management system, which is administered by the Protected Area Management Board.

Because of the absence of infrastructure, three towns along the Pacific coast of Isabela —Divilacan, Maconacon and Palanan— have remained largely inaccessible. Travel to and from the towns is done by boat and light aircraft. “There is no road that links the provincial capital, Ilagan, with the coastal areas,” laments the governor of Isabela, Faustino Dy III. e inevitable result has been painfully slow socio-economic development in Divilacan, Palanan and Maconacon. “[Their residents have been deprived] of basic necessities and social services, such as health, and it is difficult to reach them in times of emergency and calamity.”

ll of that will change with the completion three years hence of an 82-kilometer highway across the Sierra Madre mountains that will link Ilagan’s Barangay Sindon Bayabo with Divilacan’s Barangay Dicatian. The P2.28-billion project is scheduled to break ground in December this year. The PAMB has apparently issued the necessary resolution reclassifying the area affected by the highway.

In compliance with the law that protects the rights of indigenous peoples—the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act—the government of Isabela has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the approximately 1,800 Dumagat and Agta residents of the area. he project would have broken ground much earlier were it not for the concerns raised by the Cagayan Valley Regional Development Council and the Roman Catholic diocese of Ilagan regarding the proposed highway’s likely impact on the area’s biodiversity and ecosystems.

Apparently the concerns have been laid to rest.

Governor Dy naturally believes that the completion of the highway—and the consequent opening up of the Sierra Madre range—will administer a big boost to the economies of Isabela’s three coastal towns.

Their tourism industries will be the biggest winners. He cited, in particular, Divilacan’s 119-hectare beach and freshwater bathing areas.

As its economic development proceeds, a country finds itself having to bring into the production process more and more of its best natural resources. Eventually its crown jewels become targets for possible

deployment in the production process.

Agonizing decisions then need to be made.

Chief among this country’s remaining crown jewels are its virgin forests. At last count these had been reduced to approximately 7 percent of the nation’s forest cover—thanks to the past (and continuing?) depredations of illegal loggers – but they remain among the most valuable of this country’s crown jewels. The forests of the Sierra Madre range and the forests of Northeastern Mindanao are the most important of this country’s remaining virgin forests. They are the only things that stand between the Philippines and the overpowering force of climate change.

Should the Sierra Madre range be opened up to allow for economic development? Is the construction of the proposed highway through the pristine forests of the Sierra Madre an inevitable and reasonable price to pay for the economic development of Northwestern Luzon’s coastal communities? Questions such as these will increasingly be asked of this country’s economic policymakers as the progress of Philippine economic development places increasing pressure on the nation’s diminishing natural resources.

In the case of the trans-Sierra Madre highway project, the environment- or economic-development debate appears to have been resolved in favor of economic development.

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

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

B4

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

Business

More CEOs leaving Trump panel

By JOHN BIERS

N

EW YORK―The honeymoon is definitely over.

When US President Donald Trump was elected last November, big business rejoiced.

In June, optimism among American CEOs was at a three-year high on hopes that Trump would succeed in implementing his progrowth agenda, including tax cuts.

But Trump has now lost support from several executives who left an advisory panel on manufacturing over his response to a violent white supremacist rally in Virginia―a sign that big business is disenchanted with the billionaire leader.

The head of the powerful AFL-CIO union, Richard Trumka, added his name to the list of defectors that also includes the heads of Merck Pharmaceutical, Under Armour and Intel, as well as the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

“We cannot sit on a council for a president who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism,” Trumka said in a statement.

“We must resign on behalf of America’s working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups.”

Trump, never one to shy away from controversy, fired back.

“For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place,” he tweeted.

“Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!” But there was a definite feeling that other shoes were ready to drop.

“CEOs quit Trump’s Panel: Who’s Next?” asked a headline on Bloomberg News television.

Economist Joel Naroff said he suspected more would like to protest, but are “caught in a bind.”

“On one side, their job is to maximize the return to the shareholder. On the other side, they can’t be blind to the social implications of their companies’ actions,” Naroff said.

In the early days of Trump’s presidency, which began in January, most of the signs from big business were positive.

The Manhattan real estate tycoon-turned-world leader ran as a friend of the business community who pledged to enact tax cuts, streamline regulations and take other steps to boost growth in the world’s biggest economy.

But discontent first surfaced in January, when Apple chief Tim Cook and other criticized Trump’s controversial travel ban.

Then in June, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Disney’s Bob Iger removed themselves from White House advisory panels over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal.

Nevertheless, the Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Index published in June, which measures corporate spending and hiring plans over the next six months, rose to 93.9 for the second quarter, the highest since the same period of 2014.

“I know the vast majority of (CEOs) believe that really positive tax reform remains more than possible,” Business Roundtable president Joshua Bolten told reporters.

Of course, Trump’s business agenda has faced other obstacles during his six months in office, and it was not clear that a downward turn in his popularity among blue-chip industry leaders would hinder his progress.

But executives are certainly facing a tough choice on whether to stay in the camp of a president who has overall low approval ratings―but also has both a passionate following among a majority of Republican voters and tax plans they favor.

For some, the choice was clear.

“After this weekend, I am not sure what it would take to get these CEOs to resign,” former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, a Democrat, wrote in a Washington Post commentary. AFP

EGG FAIR. Members of the World Brotherhood of the Huge Omelet create a 6500 egg omelet within a 4-meter diameter frying pan on

August 15, 2017 in Malmedy. Ten thousand hen’s eggs will be used for the traditional event in the town near the German border despite a scandal sweeping Europe involving eggs tainted with the insecticide fipronil. AFP

Qatar economy still strong despite sanctions DOHA, QATAR―Qatar’s economy has been hit by the sanctions imposed by a Saudiled Arab bloc but the emirate’s economy is strong enough to survive, analysts say.

Since June 5, Saudi Arabia and allies Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates shut down air, maritime and land links with Qatar, and imposed economic sanctions, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorists” and of being too close to Iran.

Qatar, denying the charges, accuses its Gulf neighbors of seeking to strangle its economy.

The heavily air-conditioned malls of Doha, a city in the throes of a $200-plus billion construction boom as it aims to make a splash on the world

stage by hosting football’s 2022 World Cup, remain busy as ever, as do its roads.

To counter the sanctions and trading curbs, ally Turkey and neighboring Iran have been pouring in food supplies by air and sea.

“In the medium- to longterm, perhaps people who live here will feel” the effects, but for the time being, “we haven’t felt any big difference”, said Mohamed Ammar, who heads the Qatari Businessmen Association.

For Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori, CEO of the Qatar Stock Exchange, the worst is already over. The second most highlycapitalized bourse in the Middle East plunged seven percent

on June 5 and lost almost 10 percent in the first three days.

“We were surprised and the market also was surprised, so the market really reacted to the news like any other market of course,” he said.

But “the Qatar economy is very strong, it’s the strongest economy in the region... investor trust and confidence in the market is still there,” said Mansoori.

The level, however, remains around six percent lower than during pre-crisis Qatar.

And analysts are predicting a long drawn-out crisis which will affect investor confidence, with Bloomberg assessing at the end of July that Qatar’s economy was showing “the strain.”

Venezuela becoming pariah for foreign airlines

By Alexander Martinez CARACAS, Venezuela―Jeanne Costes was stranded in Caracas for nearly a week, one of thousands of people affected by a withdrawal of foreign airlines balking at Venezuela’s unrest and collapsing economy.

The 26-year-old French tourist residing in Peru had flown in from Paris with a connecting flight booked to Bogota. But her airline was Colombia’s Avianca, which suspended its Venezuela flights just as she arrived in Caracas.

Her ordeal ended early this month, when she was put on another airline, but only after nights spent in a hotel hearing the clashes of protesters and security forces in demonstrations that have left nearly 130 people dead in the past four months.

“We want to sue Air France (which provided the Paris-Caracas leg) and Avianca, because they knew very well what was going to happen once we were here,” Costes told AFP. The pullout of foreign airlines began in 2014, when Venezuela’s economy began to slide in tandem with declining prices for oil―the country’s all-important export.

Since then, the country has seen a drought of US dollars, hard currency which the government has been monopolizing since 2003 with currency controls.

As a result, the airlines have a massive pile of $3.8 billion owed to them but stuck in Venezuela, according to the International Air Transport Association.

With no way of repatriating their income, most airlines last year stopped accepting Venezuela’s currency, the bolivar, for ticket purchases, demanding only dollars, an industry source said.

‘Not profitable’ Others have simply left.

Between 2014 and 2015, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Alitalia, LAN from Chile, Brazil’s TAM and Gol, and Tiara from Aruba ceased services.

Last year, Dynamic from the US and Germany’s Lufthansa followed suit.

This year has seen Avianca, Delta and United abandon Venezuela. Aerolineas Argentinas’ flights became sporadic from August 9, when the airline started deciding week-to-week whether to fly to Caracas.

This file photo taken on July 27, 2017 shows screens of Avianca Airline showing information of suspended flights at the airport of Maiquetia, Venezuela. A group of airlines have stopped flying to Venezuela since the the government owes them millions of dollars, and due to social unrest and insecurity, leaving the country increasingly isolated. AFP

Many of the airlines pulled out or pulled back “because the route isn’t profitable enough to justify the risks,” Humberto Figuera, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association, told AFP. A source in the sector said it was possible Avianca left because Venezuela-Colombia political ties had deteriorated after Bogota accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of establishing a “dictatorship.”

A dozen foreign airlines are still operating in the country, but some have reduced their services, like American Airlines, TAP from Portugal, Air France and Spain’s Iberia.

Pilots with Spain’s Air Europa have asked their airline to stop putting them up overnight in Caracas because of safety issues.

Iberia is already parking crews overnight in the Dominican Republic for the same reason, Figuera said.

The brazen August 8 shooting death of a Venezuelan who was checking in at Caracas’s airport underlined the dangers in the country, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. In 2016, an Egyptian was murdered by muggers in front of the terminal.

‘Grim’ situation The developments mean the number of available seats out of Venezuela have fallen by a third since 2013, and are now very pricey to buy―more than double the cost of comparable ones in nearby countries.

Panamanian company Copa remains the main airline carrying on almost as usual. Its outward flights from Caracas are overbooked weeks in advance, in all classes, but its inbound ones are halfempty.

Figuera said that, despite the industry wariness, no problems had been reported with Venezuela’s air control, runway conditions or aircraft fuel supplies.

However, tariffs for using the country’s airports or flying through its airspace were significantly higher than in other countries in the region, he said.

“The current situation is grim, and may become worse unless there is a change in Venezuela’s leadership,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst heading the Atmosphere Research Group.

“Venezuela is an unstable country right now. No airline CEO will put her or his colleagues’ lives at risk, or risk having aircraft worth tens, possibly hundreds, of millions of dollars caught up in a country that could possibly collapse.”

Andrew Charlton, of the Swiss-based Aviation Advocacy consulting firm, stressed that “airlines like stability and safety” and the situation in Venezuela “is not good.” AFP

“Data released last week showed that foreign deposits at Qatar’s banks fell the most in almost two years last month as customers withdrew funds, pressuring liquidity available locally for businesses and the government,” it said.

Amy McAlister of consultancy firm Oxford Economics said central bank data showed reserves were running at their lowest level since May 2012, a slide of 30 percent compared with June 2016.

“Uncertainty will have prompted banks and portfolio investment funds to withdraw money from Qatar, leading to a fall in reserves as the central bank tries to ease liquidity pressures,” she said. AFP

Nafta talks open amid high hopes WASHINGTON―Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States open the first round of talks Wednesday to revamp the 23-yearold regional free trade agreement some see as a demon and others as a savior.

Between those extremes, there are high expectations but vastly different views on how to remake the North American Free Trade Agreement into a deal that pleases all sides, and fulfills President Donald Trump’s repeated campaign promises to help US workers.

Trump famously denounced Nafta as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere,” and promised to pull out of the agreement he said has destroyed US jobs, but succumbed to pressure to renegotiate instead.

Given recent criticism over his handling of North Korea, Venezuela and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump will need to have something he can call a victory out of the talks.

However, he recently warned again that he will “terminate Nafta” if “we don’t get the deal we want.”

While some view statements like this from Trump as bombast, Fred Bergsten, director emeritus of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warned, “Failure is an option.”

“We don’t like to say that, we don’t like to think about it, but it’s true,” he said, warning of serious consequences to the US economy.

Even with that threat hanging over the talks, negotiators are going into the first of several rounds of negotiations optimistic about updating the pact that was signed before the internet was a force, and covers a market of nearly 500 million people.

Large negotiating teams from Canada, Mexico and the United States will meet through Sunday to develop the new text of the pact. They are due to reconvene September 5 in Mexico City.

The timeline for the talks is expected to be aggressive, given elections in Mexico in July 2018, as well as the US legislative calendar.

A USTR official confirmed plans to add a chapter on digital trade, as well as incorporating side agreements added after the fact on environmental and labor standards. AFP

R10 NLEX link to boost north MM

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

By Jun David

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor Roger M. Garcia, Assistant Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

C1

THE mayors of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela are optimistic that the Radial Road 10 or R10 section of the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Segment 10 will bring more economic opportunities for their cities and their residents.

Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco, who attended the groundbreaking of the 2.6-kilometer elevated expressway last Tuesday at R10 corner C3 Road in the city’s Barangay North Bay Boulevard South, said the project will boost trade and commerce in northern Metro Manila.

“Our city will become more accessible to other provinces in Luzon. We also expect that this project will bring livelihood opportunities for Navoteños,” Tiangco said.

Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan said the economy will truly develop in the Camanava area once the R10 section is completed. He ordered the city’s Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management to assure the smooth flow of traffic despite the ongoing works there.

Malapitan said the travel time from Caloocan to Bulacan will be shortened by more than 30 minutes once the section is completed.

Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar, Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta III, Caloocan Planning and Development Officer Aurora Ciego, and NLEX Corp. president Rodrigo Franco also attended the ceremony.

The R10 section forms part of the 5.65-km Segment 10 of the elevated expressway, which connects the McArthur Highway in Valenzuela with Gov. Pascual Avenue in Malabon and C3 Road in Caloocan.

The Department of Public Works and Highways website said the section will “decongest Metro Manila by providing access to NLEX without passing through Edsa or the Balintawak Toll Plaza.”

It is also expected to improve the movement of cargo from the Port of Manila by providing a direct connection between R10 and NLEX. DPWH sees the section will “reduce travel time from NLEX Valenzuela to R10 from 23 to 11 minutes via Balintawak-Edsa Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar (second from right) leads the lowering of a time capsule during the groundbreaking ceremonies of the 2.6 km Radial Road 10 Monumento, and from 26 to 13 minutes via section of the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 on Wednesday. With Villar are (from left), Malabon Mayor Antolin Oreta, Caloocan City Planning Officer Aurora Ciego, Navotas City Mayor John Reynald Tiangco, and NLEX Corp. president and CEO Rodrigo Franco. Lino Santos Balintawak-A. Bonifacio/C3.

Herbert running for House in 2019

By Rio N. Araja

Q

UEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista will run for Congress to represent the city’s District 3 after his term ends in 2019, City Hall sources said Wednesday.

District 3 Councilor Allan Benedict Reyes, a last-termer, will be running against Bautista in the next local elections, the Manila Standard sources added.

District 2, meanwhile, will be a star-studded race of congressional hopefuls.

Councilor Precious Hipolito-

Castelo, a former child star, actress and newscaster, will run to replace her husband, incumbent Rep. Winston Castelo.

She could be facing another former celebrity, Councilor Roderick Paulate, who is seeking to represent District 2, composed of barangays Bagong Silangan, Batasan

Tagaytay City RTC orders Failon arrest THE Regional Trial Court in Tagaytay City has ordered the arrest of ABS-CBN’s Ted Failon following a libel case filed by former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino over several “libelous and defamatory” statements made by the radio and TV host in his program aired over DZMM late last year.

However, Failon―Mario Teodoro Etong in real life―paid the P10,000 bail recommended by the court for each of the accused on Wednesday.

The mediaman was charged along with Gerald S. Oro, Abigail Lucas-Rondilla and Irene Grace J. Manotok of ABSCBN. The group “will have to answer the charges, which crossed the bounds of ethical journalism,” said Judge Raquel Gutay of Tagaytay RTC Branch 18, who issued the arrest order Failon was accused of libel after he reported several purchases of second-hand motorcycles bought by the MMDA under Tolentino’s tenure on his DZMM program on December 3, 2016.

Tolentino, a former mayor of Tagaytay, was able to prove that purchasing second-hand units is allowed by law and that he used his personal funds to make the emergency purchase on behalf of the MMDA owing to the visit of Pope Francis to Manila at the time.

In a statement, Tolentino’s lawyers noted their earlier petition that that there was no legal basis for the allegations of Failon, considering that no public funds were used.

They asserted that what was libelous was “the intensity of the radio and television reporting done by Failon, which was twice daily for almost two weeks in December of 2016, reporting over and over again with malicious frequency at every opportunity he can talk over radio and TV.” Failon, the lawyers added, “even included in his year-end report the said purchase, as if something anomalous happened, when in fact there was none, and which damaged the integrity and reputation of Tolentino.”

The former MMDA chief also intends to file a separate civil action for damages.

Hills, Commonwealth, Holy Spirit and Payatas.

According to city officials, actor Dingdong Dantes, a commissioner of the National Youth Commission under the Aquino administration, has been visiting some areas of District 2 and talking to a lot of people.

“I believe [Dantes] is run-

ning, too,” one of the sources told Manila Standard.

In District 4, former councilor Jesus Emmanuel “Bong” Suntay, a lawyer and president of the Philippine National Taxi Operators Association Inc., will take on last-term Councilor Marvin Rillo for a seat in the House of Representatives.

District 4 Rep. Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., the former House speaker and QC mayor, earlier told Manila Standard he would no longer seek any elective position after his full term in 2019.

With about 20 months to go before the May 2019 elections, Vice Mayor Joy

Belmonte, daughter of Feliciano Jr., is certain to r un for mayor, with District 3 Councilor Gian Carlo Sotto, son of Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto, already tabbed as her r unning mate.

A son of a prominent family in Quezon City will also join the vice mayoralty race, sources said.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

LGUs

Standard

C2

TODAY THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

Bulacan looks forward to changes

By Rey Espiritu

C

ITY OF MALOLOS―Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado underscored the coming infrastructure developments in Bulacan that will change its landscape during the 439th Founding Anniversary of the province at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium here on Wednesday.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Notice is hereby given that Ms. Divina Gracia Buenafe officially resigned as Director and is no longer connected with TEEKAY BUSINESS PROCESS SERVICES, INC. effective August 21, 2017. Any transactions made by her on the company’s behalf will not be honored.

TEEKAY BUSINESS PROCESS SERVICES, INC. (MS-AUG. 17, 2017

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC Notice is hereby given that Ms. Divina Gracia Buenafe is no longer Director of TEEKAY SHIPPING PHILIPPINES, INC. effective August 21, 2017. Any transactions made by her on the company’s behalf will not be honored.

TEEKAY SHIPPING PHILIPPINES, INC. In compliance with POEA Requirement POEA-033-SB-040417-R-MLC (MS-AUG. 17, 2017

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

InvItatIon to BId for the Procurement of nIne (9) Lots materIaLs and servIces for offIce InterIor fIt-out Works for PaGcor corPorate under ItB no.PB17-058COR-08 The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming public bidding for the Procurement of Nine (9) Lots Materials and Services for Office Interior Fit-Out Works for PAGCOR Corporate under ITB No. PB17-058COR-08.

Brief Description

Lot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description Supply and Delivery of Various Electrical Fixtures and Materials.

Supply and Delivery of Painting Materials Supply and Delivery of Various Plumbing, Hardware and Construction Materials Supply and Delivery of Various Protective Equipment Supply and Delivery of Steel Rack Component Supply, Delivery and Installation of Roll Vinyl Supply, Delivery and Installation of Glass Doors and Window Supply, Delivery and Installation of Accordion Door Supply, Delivery, Testing and Commissioning of Air Conditioning Unit

The complete schedule of deliveries is provided in Section VI (Schedule of Requirements) of the Bidding Documents which will commence from the date of receipt by the winning supplier/contractor of the Notice to Proceed.

Approved Budget for The total ABC is Twenty-Five Million Five Hundred Eighty-Eight Thousand Three the Contract (ABC) Hundred Thirty-Two Pesos and 13/100 (PhP25,588,332.13), VAT Exclusive, ZeroRated Transaction with breakdown as follows:

“Next year, we will finally see the changes in our province. The framework has been laid out for the MRT 7, the Manila North Railways, coastal roads and flood control projects,” Alvarado said.

“We will finally get to use the water we’ve been fighting for in the Bulacan Bulk Water rights, as well as its technopark, the rehabilitation of Angat Dam, and the [repair of the] rubber check gates of Bustos Dam,” he added.

Bulacan is supplying more than 60 percent of the fish, meat

and vegetables consumed in Metro Manila, and was recently awarded as one of the top seven provinces in agriculture, the governor announced.

“If before our heroes were armed not just with bolos and spears but with their bravery and their love for country, now we are armed with everything we need to uplift our lives, and while we are marching to a brighter tomorrow, let us retain our spirit of unity and brotherhood,” Alvarado said.

Jaime Veneracion, a historian and professor at the University of the Philippines, shared the difference between being a resident of Bulacan and being a Bulakenyo.

“We are not from Bulacan just because we know its history, we are Bulakenyos if we show our love for our motherland, and

consider ourselves proud Filipinos,” Veneracion said.

Rep. Jose Antonio “Kuya Jonathan” Alvarado, the event’s guest speaker, said there’s no better gift to the province on its birthday but the gift of progress and unity.

“Why don’t we continue our spirit of bayanihan [cooperation]? Why don’t we fill our province with trees, keep our rivers from being filled with trash that causes the cancer that kills our citizens? If we don’t help each other, we are wasting the lives God has given us. Let us always find ways to improve ourselves,” the congressman said.

The lawmaker also shared that Bulacan is the first province in the country that implements free tuition in state colleges like Bulacan State University and Polytechnic University of the Philip-

pines-Pulilan.

“To all Bulakenyos who have witnessed our country’s freedom, to all Bulakenyos who continue to fight for our economic freedoms, to the teachers and partners who keep their children in school, this day is for you,” he added.

Meanwhile, Gawad Singkaban―an awards program that will recognize the Outstanding Tourist Destination, Agri-Tourism, Hotel and Resort, Restaurant, Travel Agency, Tourism Office, Tour Guide and Most Supportive Media Award on Television in Bulacan―was launched.

The finalists for the Sineliksik Bulacan Docu Fest 2017, a documentary film competition that depicts the history of each town in the province, was also announced.

Judge praises NV leaders’ cooperation courts,” said Judge Paul Atolba of RTC Branch 30.

Atolba said the provincial government and the judiciary only communicate when the latter requests for office equipment or supplies, which is often granted as a way of assistance.

He also thanked the officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Parole and Probation Administration, and the Philippine National Police for being partners of the judiciary in the administration of cases filed and being heard at the RTC. Atolba said they are currently following the Revised Guidelines for Continuous Trial of

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— A member of the judiciary here has praised the leaders of the province for their non-interference on various cases filed before the Regional Trial Courts here.

“If you have cases and you approach the governor, the vice governor, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the provincial administrator, any other official of the province asking them to intervene in your favor, you will definitely get a negative response because our leaders here in Nueva Vizcaya respect the merits of law and independence of the

Criminal Cases under A.M. No. 15-06-10-SC, which calls for the speedy trials of all criminal cases effective Sept. 1, 2017.

Under regular rules by these guidelines, arraignment and pre-trial shall take 30 days, presentation of the prosecution’s and accused’s evidence shall take six months or 180 days, and promulgation of decision shall take 90 days from submission of case for decision.

Under special laws/rules, for drug cases, trial must be finished within 60 days from filing of information, and decision should come 15 days from submission of case for resolution.

For environmental cases, the

court is allowed 30 days for arraignment and pre-trial, three months for trial, 30 days for memo, and 60 days from last day to file memoranda to come up with a decision.

Atolba said the local courts will have “little difficulty” because 77 percent of cases filed in court are criminal cases, classified as drug cases, environmental cases, intellectual property rights cases, and arraignment and pre-trial of cases referred to mediation.

“Our schedule is already full until the end of September this year, but we will try to comply with this directive the best way we can,” he said.

Delivery Schedule

Description

ABC (VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction)

Supply and Delivery of Various Electrical Fixtures and Materials.

Supply and Delivery of Painting Materials

Seven Million Five Hundred Thirty-Four Thousand Fifty-Nine Pesos and 15/100 (PhP7,534,059.15) One Million One Hundred Three Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Seven Pesos and 75/100 (PhP1,103,267.75) Eight Million Two Hundred Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Thirty-Three Pesos and 10/100 (PhP8,217,233.10) One Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-Four Pesos and 58/100 (PhP172,264.58) Nine Hundred Nineteen Thousand Three Hundred Pesos (PhP919,300.00) Six Million Seventy-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Sixty-Two Pesos and 55/100 (PhP6,077,562.55) Eight Hundred Thirty- Thousand One Hundred Seventy Pesos (PhP830,170.00)

Lot

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Source of Funds

Supply and Delivery of Various Plumbing, Hardware and Construction Materials Supply and Delivery of Various Protective Equipment Supply and Delivery of Steel Rack Component Supply, Delivery and Installation of Roll Vinyl Supply, Delivery and Installation of Glass Doors and Window Supply, Delivery and Installation of Accordion Door Supply, Delivery, Testing and Commissioning of Air Conditioning Unit

One Hundred SixtyThousand Eight Hundred Seventy-Five Pesos (PhP160,875.00) Five Hundred Seventy-Three Thousand Six Hundred Pesos (PhP573,600.00)

Corporate Budget for CY 2017

NOTE: Bidders may bid in any or all lots Bidders should have completed, within the lastthree (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Calabarzon police granted NEA warns Palawan, PNP Special Unit Award Mindoro power firms CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—The Calabarzon Police Regional Office was awarded the Special Unit Award on the Accounting of Illegal Drug Personalities for exemplary achievement in the implementation of Campaign Plan: Double Barrel from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, officials said.

The award means PRO Region 4A “significantly contributed to the attainment of a drug-free Philippines in the Anti-Illegal Drugs Campaign of the present administration.”

President Rodrigo Duterte conferred the award to Calabarzon Regional Director Chief Supt. Ma. O Ranada Aplasca during the 116th Police Service Anniversary Celebration on Aug. 9 at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

The event, dubbed as “Buhay ng Pulis

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

1598 M.H. Del Pilar corner Dr. J. Quintos Streets Malate, Manila Tel. Nos. 522-0000, 551-2200 connecting all departments

PAGCORwill hold a Pre-Bid Conference, which shall be open to prospective bidders.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of bidding activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents

Date, Time and Venue August 11, 2017 to September 6, 2017 August 25, 2017 (Friday), 2:00 p.m.

2. Pre-Bid Conference Corporate Lounge, 6th Floor, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1558 M. H. Del Pilar cor. Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila September 6, 2017 (Wednesday), 10:30 a.m.

3. Deadline for the Submission and Corporate Lounge, 6th Floor, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1558 M. Receipt of Bids H. Del Pilar cor. Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila September 6, 2017 (Wednesday),10:30 a.m. onwards 4. Opening and Preliminary Examination Corporate Lounge, 6th Floor, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1558 M. of Bids H. Del Pilar cor. Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila Interested bidders may obtain further information from theProcurement Department (PD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, of PAGCOR and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila during office hours of PAGCOR from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, based on the following schedule: Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000.00 and below More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million

Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Pesos) 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee of the Bidding Documents not later than the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids.

Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth(6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del PilarStreet corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Payment Slip which may be secured from PD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents.

Bidders shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of his bid, and PAGCOR will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process.

Bidders should note that PAGCOR will accept bids only from those that have paid the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the venue of the bid opening. Late bids shall not be accepted.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC)shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two (2) or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: a) In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper. b) The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Please address all communications to the BAC thru PD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911, 336-6906 and/or 521-1542 local 223 or 671.

RODERICK R. CONSOLACION (SGD) Chairperson Bids and awards Committee (BaC) 1

Handang Ibuwis, Para sa Katahimikan at Kaayusan ng Bayan,” recognized the efforts and contributions of Philippine National Police personnel and units in its quest for outstanding performance in the field of public safety and security.

“This recognition is very important to us. This symbolizes the hardships and perseverance of my men in our fight against illegal drugs and criminalities in our area,” Aplasca said.

“But this award is not possible if not for the support of all the people whom we share the same vision of a drug-free society. To them we share this honor and pride. This award will definitely serve as a great motivation for us to deliver our mandated task to a higher level,” he added. Roy Tomandao

INVITATION TO BID The Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites consultants/ suppliers/manufacturers/distributors/contractors to bid for the hereunder projects: Approved Budget Bidding for the Contract Documents Fee (ABC)

Items ITB - GS-20170615-01(2) One (1) Lot Supply, Delivery and Installation of HP ArcSight Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Upgrade

ITB - GS-20170621-02(2) Supply and Delivery of 491,000 Pcs. 2018 LANDBANK Wall Calendar

ITB - GS-20170807-01 Supply and Delivery of 400,000 Pcs. LANDBANK Europay MasterCard Visa Cash Card with Personalization and Kitting

Delivery Period

P 22,950,000.00

P

11,500.00

Delivery Period: Within sixty (60) calendar days after receipt of Notice to Proceed Installation Period: Seven (7) calendar days after delivery

P 10,556,500.00

P

5,300.00

Within thirty (30) calendar days upon approval of digital proofs

P 14,440,000.00

P

7,300.00

To be discussed during the Pre-Bid Conference

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, with an amount of not less than 50% of the ABC for ITB-GS-2017615-01(2) & GS20170621-02(2) and not less than 25% of the ABC for ITB-GS-20170807-01. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRRs).

The schedule of activities are as follows: ACTIVITIES 1. Issuance of Bid Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference

3. Submission / Opening of Bids 4. Post-Qualification 5. Notice of Award

SCHEDULE August 17 to September 7, 2017 August 24, 2017 - 2:00 PM Bidding Room, 25th Floor, LANDBANK Plaza Building 1598 M. H. Del Pilar corner Dr. J. Quintos Streets, Malate, Manila September 7, 2017 - 11:00 A.M. Procurement Department, 25th Floor, LANDBANK Plaza Building 1598 M. H. Del Pilar corner Dr. J. Quintos Streets, Malate, Manila September 8 to 14, 2017 September 19, 2017

Bid documents will be available to prospective bidders upon payment of the applicable Bidding Documents fee to the LANDBANK Cashier.

LANDBANK reserves the right to (a) reject any and all bids at any time prior to the award of the contract; (b) waive any minor formal requirements in the bid documents; (c) accept such bids, it may consider advantageous and beneficial without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

(MS-AUG.17, 2017)

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE National Electrification Administration will issue show cause orders to Palawan Electric Cooperative Inc. and Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative Inc. for their failure to provide quality service despite repeated complaints from member-consumers.

“We need to ensure that ECs are responsive and always on the lookout for the best interest of their consumers. In this case, we are in receipt of numerous complaints against the two cooperatives,” NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong said in a statement.

Palawan and Oriental Mindoro have been experiencing frequent power outages.

“We are issuing these show cause orders against Paleco and Ormeco why they should not be sanctioned or be hailed to the proper courts for gross negligence or gross neglect of their duty to their member-consumers,” Masongsong said.

NEA Deputy administrator Artis Nikki Tortola, for his part, said other electric cooperatives found to have violated the reliability standards set by the Energy Regulatory Commission will likewise be asked to explain why they should not be administratively sanctioned.

The Technical Services and Engineering Department of NEA recently conducted an investigation into reliability performance of all the electric cooperatives, including Paleco, under the supervision of the state-owned corporation.

“In connection with the results of our fact-finding probe of the Palawan blackouts, a show cause order will be issued

by NEA in relation to all ECs, including Paleco, who have violated the reliability standards, directing such ECs why they should not be administratively sanctioned for such violations,” Tortola said.

NEA, however, said any violation committed by the electric cooperatives in connection with the Philippine Distribution Code and Philippine Grid Code, will be dealt with by ERC. Tortola said the agency only assists the electric cooperatives in its compliance with the PDC and PGC, which are both ERC issuances.

“However, by way of sanctions and penalties, or what may be the liability of Paleco, NEA merely assists the ECs in its compliance through engineering assistance, funding and management and any violations committed in connection with any ERC issuances may be sanctioned by the appropriate body, which is the ERC,” he said.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World Australian opposition scoffs at top envoy SYDNEY―Australia’s opposition Labor Party on Wednesday rejected extraordinary claims from the country’s top diplomat that it conspired with New Zealand leftists to try to topple the government.

Labor’s Penny Wong accused Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of “a Kiwis under-the-bed scare campaign” to divert attention from government woes, invoking anti-communist “Reds under the beds” fears of the Cold War. “This sort of behavior, I don’t think is particularly good for democracy,” Wong told reporters.

The international spat stems from Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s revelation this week that he was a New Zealand citizen, meaning he may be forced to step down under rules barring dual nationals from sitting in Australia’s parliament.

That would be a disaster for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s conservative government, which only holds a one-seat majority.

Officials in Wellington said Joyce’s status came to light after queries from Australian journalists.

However, New Zealand Labor MP Chris Hipkins also admitted asking questions about the issue last week after talks with an Australian acquaintance, since revealed as Wong’s chief of staff Marcus Ganley.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Ganley’s involvement showed Wong was “up to her neck in it”, along with Labor leader Bill Shorten.

Bishop stood by an allegation made Tuesday that the New Zealand and Australian opposition parties were trying to “undermine the government of Australia”, even suggesting the plot could be global.

“I’d like to know if Bill Shorten is directing his troops to ask these questions in other parliaments around the world?” she told Sky News.

Wong conceded her staffer’s actions were unwise but said they amounted to “a chat with a mate [Hipkins]” rather than a secretive attempt to bring down the government.

“That Ms Bishop can seriously suggest that there is some act of treason here is ridiculous,” she said.

Wong said Bishop’s “extraordinarily reckless and irresponsible” accusations risked straining relations with New Zealand, one of Australia’s closest allies.

New Zealand’s center-right Prime Minister Bill English said Bishop’s comments were made “in the heat of the moment”.

“Look, I can understand why they’d take it seriously over there, she’s in a government with a majority of one,” he told reporters.

“But we wouldn’t want to let those comments get in the way of a positive relationship.” AFP

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

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Sierra Leone appeals for aid F

REETOWN―Sierra Leone’s president issued a desperate appeal for help a day after flooding ravaged the country’s capital, killing more than 300 people and leaving hundreds more missing.

POSE. Actresses Andrea Rosen, left, and Kathleen Rose Perkins pose at a party for the final season of Showtime Networks’ ‘Episodes’ at The Nice Guy on August 15, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Indian, Chinese troops clash in Himalayas SRINAGAR―Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a monthslong standoff between the two armies.

Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defense official said.

He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back. The incident occurred as the nations are locked in a tense standoff in another border region.

“There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the latest reports, but she added that “Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace on the India-China border”.

“We always patrol along the Chinese line of control. And we urge the Indian side to abide by the line of control and relevant conventions between the two sides,” Hua said.

Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control.

“These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more

serious but no weapons were used,” a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The Pangong lake area lies over 13,000 feet high on the Tibetan plateau.

The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometers away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months.

The border trouble began in June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doklam territory―known as “Donglang” in Chinese. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan.

India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. AFP

President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears and said the devastation was “overwhelming us”, as he toured Regent, one of the worst-hit areas.

“Entire communities have been wiped out,” Koroma said Tuesday. “We need urgent support now.”

As the city began to bury its dead, foreign governments began mobilizing aid, with Israel pledging to provide clean water, medicines, blankets and other essentials.

The UN said it was evaluating humanitarian needs in the country and that “contingency plans are being put in place to mitigate any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhea”, according to spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

He noted that the International Organization for Migration had released $150,000 in emergency funds.

Heavy rains streaming down a hill in Regent triggered a landslide that engulfed homes three or four storeys high, many of them built illegally.

Koroma toured Regent’s Connaught hospital and central morgue, which has been overwhelmed by bodies.

The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response center in Regent.

The Red Cross said 600 people were still missing.

Red Cross official Nasir Khan told AFP the death toll was around 300 on Tuesday evening, but a separate morgue assessment put the figure at 400.

Sulaiman Zaino Parker, an official with Freetown’s city council, said 150 burials took place on Tuesday evening and that many would be laid to rest in graves alongside victims of the country’s last humanitarian disaster, the Ebola crisis, in nearby Waterloo.

“We have started burying some of the mutilated and decomposed bodies. All the corpses will be given a dignified burial with Muslim and Christian prayers,” Parker said.

The graves would be specially marked for future identification, he added.

The Red Cross said it was struggling to excavate families buried deep in the mud that engulfed their homes, though several bodies were pulled up by diggers in Regent on Tuesday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

“We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss,” said Abu Bakarr Tarawallie, another Red Cross official.

Regent residents told AFP that boulders and rocks had killed many in their homes, while a hill partially collapsed as floodwaters streamed down the slopes.

One resident, Abubakar Mansaray, said it took just two minutes for the mudslide to suffocate families in the darkness.

“Many unfinished buildings were at the hilltop, with those sprawling shacks all gone,” he told AFP. Dozens of injured survivors were receiving treatment, the Red Cross’s Tarawallie said, but some residents said they had received no assistance by Tuesday morning.

Three days of torrential rain culminated on Monday in the Regent mudslide and massive flooding elsewhere in the city, one of the world’s wettest urban areas. AFP

Palestinian’s home demolished

AFTER THE FLOODING. Members of the Nepali Army help clean mud left from the floods that hit parts of Biratnagar’s domestic airport, some 240 kms from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, on August 16, 2017. At least 221 people have died and more than 1.5 million have been displaced by monsoon flooding across India, Nepal and Bangladesh, officials said on August 15, as rescuers scoured submerged villages for the missing. AFP

JERUSALEM―Israeli forces demolished the home on Wednesday of a Palestinian who fatally stabbed three Jewish residents of a nearby settlement as tensions soared last month over Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The military confirmed the demolition in the village of Kobar in the occupied West Bank.

Residents said army vehicles and bulldozers entered the area north of Ramallah around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) and surrounded the two-story house, one floor of which was still under construction.

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities also arrested the father, mother and three brothers of the 19-year-oald attacker, Omar al-Abed, according to villagers.

The family members are suspected of having known of Abed’s plans to carry out the attack in the nearby Israeli settlement of Neve Tsuf, also known as Halamish, and of failing to prevent it, Israeli media reported.

The Israeli army said the assailant had spoken of AlAqsa and of dying as a martyr in a Facebook post.

He was shot while carrying out the attack and later arrested.

The July 21 attack came with tensions high over the highly sensitive mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Violence erupted in and around the compound last month after three Arab Israelis shot dead two policemen on July 14 before being killed by security forces.

Israel responded to the July 14 deadly shootings by installing metal detectors at the entrance to the holy site, used as a staging point for the attack.

For nearly two weeks, worshipers refused to submit to the checks and held mass prayers in surrounding streets.

Ensuing protests and clashes left seven Palestinians dead and the stabbings of the Israelis at the settlement was car-

ried out at the height of the tensions.

The crisis abated when Israel removed the detectors.

The Jerusalem holy site, which includes the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden-topped Dome of the Rock, is the third-holiest in Islam and the most sacred for Jews.

Central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the compound is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.

Palestinians fear Israel will gradually seek to assert further control over it, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly he is committed to the status quo.

Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers, calling it a deterrent against future violence.

However, human rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment, with family members forced to suffer for the acts of relatives. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

World

Trump sparks another firestorm over unrest N EW YORK―US President Donald Trump sparked another political firestorm Tuesday when he doubled down on his initial response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was “blame on both sides.”

The Republican president― who one day ago solemnly denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as “criminals and thugs”―also hit out at what he called the “alt-left” over the weekend melee.

Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday’s unrest in the Virginia college town, where a rally by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators.

The violent fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old

suspected Nazi sympathizer, James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured.

In a rowdy exchange with journalists at Trump Tower in New York, Trump made clear on Tuesday that he was fed up with the continued questioning about the issue.

“I think there is blame on both sides,” Trump said.

As he spoke, his new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a former Marine general, appeared displeased during the president’s long tirade, standing rigidly.

“You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now,” Trump continued.

“What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story.”

“What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day,” Trump said.

Trump’s comments were immediately welcomed by David Duke, a former “grand wizard” of the Ku Klux Klan and a key figure at Saturday’s rally.

“Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists,” Duke tweeted.

But on the political left, the

president’s words were met with indignation.

“Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts,” said Tim Kaine, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate and senator from Virginia.

The state’s other Democratic senator, Mark Warner, tweeted: “No words.”

Trump’s fellow Republicans also didn’t mince words.

“We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive,” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote on Twitter.

“This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity.”

And the condemnations also spilled beyond the political realm.

NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted: “Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!” AFP

William, Harry lead tributes to mother LONDON―Two decades on from the death of princess Diana, her sons Princes William and Harry are working to keep her legacy alive with unusually emotional tributes after years of official silence.

As the 20th anniversary of her death on August 31 approaches, the brothers have opened up for the first time about their mother, her life, and her impact on them and on the causes she championed.

William was 15 and Harry 12 when Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

How deeply their loss affected them is something they have only recently begun to discuss.

“Twenty years on, Harry and I felt that it was an appropriate time to open up a bit more about our mother,” William said.

“We won’t speak as openly or publicly about her again.”

The pair featured in a 90-minute program entitled “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy” broadcast by British channel ITV earlier this year.

“This is the first time that the two of us have ever spoken about her as a mother. Arguably, probably a little bit too raw up until this point. It’s still raw,” said Harry.

Harry recently revealed that he sought help in the last few years as he struggled to deal with his suppressed grief.

In 2007, the princes staged a benefit concert at Wembley Stadium and a memorial service at which Harry gave a tribute.

But this year marks the first time that the brothers have spoken in such emotional depth.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Harry opened up about the trauma of having to walk behind his mother’s coffin through

London for her funeral.

“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today,” he said.

In those tense days 20 years ago, many Britons voiced anger at a perceived lack of empathy from the royal establishment.

Some feel the royals have been happy to see Diana replaced in the limelight.

Patrick Jephson, Diana’s former private secretary, said the princess had been airbrushed out.

“There had been a period since her death during which the royal establishment has been uncertain how to treat the memory of Diana,” he told AFP. “For much of the last two decades she has been the name that cannot be spoken in royal circles.

“Therefore it is with a note of slight defiance and determination that her children have said ‘no, there’s lots of good to remember, let’s celebrate her life’.”

The brothers have commissioned a statue of Diana which will go in the public grounds of Kensington Palace, their home which was also their mother’s base.

A garden has been created at the London palace in her honor.

The princes also attended a private service on July 1 to rededicate their mother’s grave at her ancestral home on what would have been her 56th birthday.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans, officiated at the grave, to which the public does not have access.

In their royal duties, William, 35, and Harry, 32, have also taken up the baton for their mother’s causes. AFP

Zambia opposition chief freed, charges dropped LUSAKA, Zambia―Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was released from prison Wednesday and the treason charges against him were dropped shortly before his trial was to begin in Lusaka.

Hichilema has been in custody since April over an incident in which he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade.

His trial, which was due to begin during the morning, had threatened to rock a country known for its relative stability.

“Hakainde Hichilema and his 5 co-accused have been released from prison with the treason charge dropped,” the United Party for National Development (UPND) said in a statement.

Lillian Kayuni, director of public prosecution, told the court she would be “entering a nolle prosequi”-sa formal notice of abandonment.

Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in last year’s presidential election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rival of trying to overturn the election result.

Hichilema and five aides denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday where police officers in riot gear had sealed off the court precinct as scores of UPND supporters waited outside.

Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991.

But last year’s election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) party and the UPND. Hichilema, 55, says the election was rigged and has refused to recognize Lungu as the president of Zambia.

In June, parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers for boycotting a Lungu address three months earlier.

And last month, Lungu invoked a state of emergency, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after a series of arson attacks blamed on opposition parties.

The government has also increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia’s reputation as a stable democracy.

Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu’s life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera.

The two men were both traveling to Western province for a traditional ceremony.

Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema’s house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides.

A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention. AFP

WELCOMING CEREMONY. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, right, welcomes Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas during an official welcoming ceremony before their meeting at Cankaya Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on August 16, 2017. AFP

‘He makes hate fashionable’

DANCE FESTIVAL. This photo taken on August 15, 2017 shows dancers of the Ukiyo-ren playing Japanese flutes during the Awa Odori festival in Tokushima. The four-day dance festival attracts more than 1.2 million people annually. AFP

LOS ANGELES―Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James blasted Donald Trump on Tuesday for making hate “fashionable again”, saying individuals must combat racism and not look to the “so-called president”.

James reacted swiftly after the US president reiterated his opinion that there was “blame on both sides” in the deadly racial unrest in Charlottesville at the weekend.

“Hate has always existed in America.

Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!” James tweeted shortly after Trump angrily defended his controversial initial response to the white supremacist rally on Saturday that erupted in clashes with counterdemonstrators.

Trump’s reaction on Saturday, that there was violence “on many sides”, provoked a backlash and on Monday he singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis involved as criminals.

But in an exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday, a clearly irked Trump again said that both groups were at fault in inciting violence.

James, who has long been outspoken about matters of race and social justice in

America and endorsed Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton for president, had tweeted his dismay at the events in Charlottesville over the weekend.

“It’s sad what’s going on in Charlottesville,” James tweeted on Saturday. “Is this the direction our country is heading?

“Make america Great Again huh?!

He said that,” added James in a dig at Trump’s celebrated campaign slogan.

James, whose Los Angeles home was daubed with a racial slur on the eve of the NBA Finals in June, spoke out again on Tuesday night, at a LeBron James Family Foundation event in Sandusky, Ohio.

“I have this platform and I’m somebody that has a voice of command and the only way for us to get better as a society and for us to get better as people is love,” he said. “And that’s the only way we’re going to be able to conquer something as one.

“It’s not about the guy that’s the socalled president of the United States, or whatever the case ... It’s about us.

“It’s about us looking in the mirror.

Kids all the way up to the adults,” James said. “All of us looking in the mirror and saying, ‘What can we do better to help change?’” AFP

Life HEALTH & WELLNESS

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

D1

Jimmy Gil father at 70

A

T 70, veteran broadcast journalist Jimmy Gil did not expect to father a child. And why would he? He already has five grown-ups from his first marriage. When his first wife passed and he remarried, the topic of having kids was never discussed. But to his and everyone’s surprise, he now has a healthy ninemonth-old baby girl named Anna Cristina.

to erectile dysfunction. The next common cause is exposure of the testis to high temperatures leading to shortened sperm lifespan,” tells Dr. Aligui.

Dr. Aligui adds, “Sperm count, motility, and morphology are also things to consider in male infertility. The magic number is 60 million and no lower than that is necessary for fertilization. Motility should be fast and morphology must be normal.”

Good nutrition, rest, acupuncture, and stress management, such as yoga are some of the suggested ways to treat low sperm and motility. And then there is Enduranz Capsule for Men as a natural, male support supplement that has been in the Philippine market for over 10 years with no reported adverse effects.

“It works because the multi-herb combination of natural food in a supplement was designed to help restore male energies lost over the years,” states Filler.

Enduranz Capsule for Men has four active ingredients: Tongkat Ali which is a miracle herb as it brings back the normal testosterone level that declines with a man’s aging. The other herbs in Enduranz Capsule for Men are Malunggay, which has antioxidant properties and high calcium content; Banaba, which improves glucose and metabolism and contributes to weight loss; Gotu Kola, known to be an aphrodisiac because of its capabilities to enhance mental abilities, improve blood circulation, and combat stress.

“Tongkat Ali helps in male infertility problems and erectile dysfunction and is also proven to produce arousal and sexual motivation. It acts by converting “biologically inactive male hormone testosterone to a “biologically active” one. It does not add testosterone, it acts to activate the body’s own male hormone.

Long term use of Tongkat Ali will build muscles because that is one of the functions of testosterone,” explains Filler.

DADDY AT 70. Jimmy Gil is a father once again thanks to his healthy lifestyle, a food supplement for men, and—in his words—divine intervention.

“It’s unexpected but it’s a welcome surprise, she’s a welcome surprise.

Half of it is divine intervention, the other half is Enduranz Capsule for Men,” says the ‘Jimmy Gil Live’ host which airs over dzBB, weekdays from 8 to 9 p.m.

“We are equally happy of Jimmy’s beautiful blessing and we couldn’t be happier to have him on board to tell his personal experience. Jimmy is a living testament to what Enduranz Capsule for Men can do when taken as instructed,” tells Jerome Filler, Natural Quality Corporation regulatory pharmacist.

According to Filler, Enduranz Capsule for Men has helped countless couples who may have had difficulty starting a family or having another child. He tells: “The aspiration of many Filipino couples to have their first born or maybe an older couple who already has a first child and may be hoping for their last baby or bunso is not uncommon.”

But the desire of starting a family or having another child is more often than not challenged by factors such as couples favoring their careers, or couples forced to separate geographically for work.

Dr. Gemiliano Aligui, Medical Consultant of Nattural Quality Corporation, quotes recent news headlines telling a disquieting story as studies done on Western men have shown that sperm counts in men have been dropping by as much as 50 percent coupled with marked deterioration of sperm quality. This is cause for concern for couples nowadays.

Restored vitality

Jimmy’s youngest daughter took seven years in the making. “To be honest, it wasn’t on the agenda... My attitude towards food supplement is it helps me keep my overall health not necessarily along the line of baby production,” opens Jimmy.

The real reason Jimmy started taking the food supplement was a good friend recommended Enduranz Capsule for Men to him because he used to get easily tired, sluggish, lethargic, etc. The outcome was just great, “nanumbalik ang aking sigla at lakas pagka lalake, at ang side effects pa

Words from the wise

ay nabawasan ang aking katabaan at nagkaroon ako ng mas maraming lean muscle mass.”

Dr. Aligui adds, that as men age and gain weight, especially in the mid torso area, their level of available testosterone levels also drops. That is why there is truth in associating a six-pack abdomen for men with virility and healthy testosterone levels.

“I was 200 lbs and I felt it. I didn’t feel weak but I was having a hard time climbing up stairs, I felt sluggish, lethargic. Upon the advice of my doctor, I started brisk walking every day, cut down on my rice intake to half, and

took Enduranz Capsule for Men,” Jimmy shares.

It was a steady slow start for Jimmy as he didn’t immediately notice the effects of his change of lifestyle. This is usually the case with a natural nutritional support for men like Enduranz Capsule for Men, for it has a gradual build up but it also lasts longer. It is this gradual buildup which men must appreciate since it is an assurance that Enduranz Capsule for Men is really natural with no side effects. Enduranz Capsule for Men is being exported to the US and other parts of the world.

“I felt the renewed energy as I would

walk in the Greenhills area five or six days a week to keep up with my goal of 10,000 steps a day. I did start losing weight as I initially set out to do. And then I also felt that it was helping me with my intimate relationship with my wife.”

Nature’s fertility capsule

According to Dr. Aligui, herbs and medicinal plants expert, male infertility is a condition related to incapacity to have children.

“The most common cause is stress, which reduces a man’s testosterone level, leading to impotence due

“Having an intimate relationship with your partner is one of the cornerstones of a healthy relationship,” shares Jimmy while adding, “Together with that is being open to your wife and of course you have to be understanding and patient at times. Those, I think, are the elements of a happy relationship. A very important component in the dynamics of healthy couples is good communication.”

As for having a baby at his age, Jimmy realized that he can still play the role of a doting father.

“I feel I am more knowledgeable now when it comes to the baby. I’d know why she’s crying, whether it’s because she’s hungry or she needs a diaper change, I’d know already. And diaper changing is so easy compared to before,” he concludes.

For more information visit gonatural. com.ph/ph/enduranz and like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ enduranzph/Enduranz

Kapuso Foundation receives P1M from Mitsubishi GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) received a donation of 1 million pesos from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) for its steel hanging bridge construction project in Buhi, Camarines Sur. The project dubbed, “Kapuso Tulay para sa Kaunlaran” aims to replace the broken down bridge in Barangay Iraya in Buhi, Camarines Sur which was severely damaged by Super Typhoon Nina (December 2016) and was the only access of residents to get to the local elementary school.

GMAKF Founder and Ambassador Mel C. Tiangco welcomed Mitsubishi’s donation which will fund its first steel hanging bridge construction project. “It is from our heart that we are thanking Mitsubishi for the trust that they are giving us and, in turn, I also give them our assurance that the money that they are wholeheartedly giving will really go to those who deserve it,” Tiangco said.

On the other hand, MMPC President

and CEO Yoshiaki Kato expressed his eagerness to help transform and improve the lives of people through their company’s simple act of generosity.

“May this project create a big impact to the residents and to further encourage the children of Barangay Iraya to pursue their education,” said Mr. Kato.

Tiangco and Kato were joined by GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, GMAKF EVP and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog, and MMPC FVP for Vehicle Sales & Marketing Froilan G. Dytianquin during the donation turnover ceremony held last July 6 at the GMA Network Center.

From left: MMPC FVP for Vehicle Sales and Marketing Froilan G. Dytianquin, President and CEO Yoshiaki Kato, GMAKF EVP and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog, Founder and Ambassador Mel C. Tiangco, and GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon at the donation turnover ceremony.

Life

D2

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

GET FIT at Alabang Town Center’s

‘Mall Into Shape’ W HILE others are hitting the gym to achieve their svelte physique, Alabang Town Center is helping you be healthy for a lifetime with its newest initiative, Mall into Shape.

The Mall into Shape program came to life to encourage residents of the South to find inspiration and support to jumpstart healthier lifestyles.

Part of this mall-wide campaign is Fit Bites. Fit Bites is your healthy foodie guide when dining out as it identifies healthy dishes from your favorite Alabang Town Center restaurants. Get professional advice on different kinds of diet trends, dishes, ingredients, and eating habits (for free) by following the official Facebook page @alabangtowncenter.

Who says you cannot bring sexy back since summer is over? You can still get in to the rhythm of an active lifestyle every Tuesday and Thursday, 6 p.m., at the Town Plaza. Gold’s Gym Alabang has been hosting Mixxed Fit & Retro Fit Classes that are open to all and free of charge.

Catch their group exercise classes, Strong by Zumba, every Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. at the Town Plaza, as well as other adrenaline-pumping classes, including Aero Taichi (Mondays, 9 a.m.), Snail Runners Meet (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 p.m.) and Zumba

Latina (Fridays, 6 p.m.).

Alabang Town Center is not all about health, but also heart. Earlier this year, the mall kicked off its charitable activities with Education Empowers: Walk & Run for Education, a joint community drive by Fondo Manila, Colliers International and Ayala Alabang Village. More health-for-a-cause programs will soon be rolled out in the coming months.

Whether it’s for health or for fun, make the change to a healthier, happier you with Alabang Town Center.

For more information about Alabang Town Center and its Mall into Shape Campaign, visit www.facebook. com/alabangtowncenter

Fondo Manila Coach Patrick Joson, Jerome Nelmida, Joshua Nelmida, Matteo Guidicelli, Rhory Santos, Dyan Castillejo and Alabang Town Center Marketing Manager Tintin Yabao join ATC’s Walk and Run for Education activity

YOUR dad has done the most amazing things to give you and your siblings a good life. After all these years, it’s time for you to give him with the best gift ever—caring for his health. The Philippines’ premier healthcare institution Makati Medical Center lists common injuries, ailments, and diseases that fathers who work in particular industries or professions are prone to.

Note that these are not restricted to men but are worth checking out if only to help protect your hard-working dad from such afflictions.

Back problems. “There are multifactorial causes for low back pain,” says Vicente Antonio A. Reloza, MD, Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. “Some of these include a sedentary lifestyle, weakness of one’s core muscles and the beginning changes of aging. A combination of these, plus loads placed on the spine such as in improper lifting, may lead to a more specific diagnosis such as a herniated disk.” When a disk herniates or “slips” it can impinge on an exiting nerve. In this case, pain is usually felt not only in the low back area but in either or both legs as well.

Lower back pain can be prevented by keeping in mind proper body positioning. “If at work, for example, make sure to use the seat back rest to keep you from slouching,” says Dr. Reloza.

“When at home and needing to lift a heavy water bottle off the floor, for example, bend both knees, keep object close to you and lift up keeping your back straight.”

He adds, “For severe pain, sudden in onset, you can place a cold pack over the painful area, ten to fifteen minutes at a time every four hours for the first three days. After three days, a hot pack may be used. It also would be best to visit a specialist such as a Rehabilitation Medicine doctor who will prescribe a physical therapy program aimed at pain relief, improving your core strength and flexibility. For your safety, muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory medications should be used under the guidance of a medical specialist and should not be taken for an indefinite period of time.”

Heart disease. The heart is the or-

Various fitness and nutrition events kicked off Alabang Town Center’s Mall Into Shape campaign

Back problems? Heart disease?

Here are work-related ailments dad may be suffering from Working fathers are prone to have back pain, which is caused by sedentary lifestyle, weakness of core muscles, or aging.

gan responsible for delivering gallons of blood to the entire body, so it plays a highly critical role in your health and wellbeing. “The engine of our body is the heart”, says Lourdes B. DorionDiaz, MD of the Section of Cardiology.

“It is made up of muscles and blood vessels which pumps around two gallons of blood for our body every day.

It is very important that we maintain it in good condition always as it is affected by non-modifiable factors, like our genes, or modifiable factors, through healthy lifestyle like proper diet, exer-

cise, not smoking, and personality or attitude. Tell your dad to go for a checkup even if he does not feel anything. For how do we say that we truly have a good engine when we don’t have it checked?”

The common heart diseases are heart attacks, heart failure, and coronary artery disease. So help your dad nourish his heart by constantly reminding him to drink two liters of water a day, to eat food rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as broccoli and salmon, and to make time for regular exercise. Managing stress levels is also a way to

prevent developing heart disease and a host of other illnesses.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This is an inflammatory disorder that is caused by repetitive stress and movements and usually afflicts the wrist and hands. It derives its name from the space in the wrist—called carpal tunnel—that is surrounded by bones and ligaments.

The median nerve that sends signals to the brain so that the hands can move properly passes through this space.

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when repeated bending or movements of the

wrist, for example, cause inflammation or swelling.

The symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are pain, a tingling sensation, and shaking of the hand. Normally, people in occupations that involve heavy lifting, or repeated movements of the wrists and hands like painting, mechanical work, typing, carpentry, assembly work, and the like, are at risk of this disorder. So if your dad starts showing symptoms, doctors would advise that he rest, take antiinflammatory drugs, use cold packs, wear a splint and, if possible, avoid activities that could aggravate the injury.

Perforated eardrum. The eardrum is a thin membrane that separates the outer ear from the inner ear.

A perforated—or ruptured—eardrum has a tear or hole that is usually caused by infections, changes in air pressure, injuries, and sudden loud noises or explosions.

A perforated eardrum usually heals on its own. However, there are cases when medical intervention or even surgery is needed, especially when it leads to infections and hearing loss.

Symptoms of a perforated eardrum include sharp pain and ringing sound in the ear, hearing loss, and bleeding or fluid discharge. If your dad travels a lot by air, or is exposed to noise and other environmental hazards, advise him to protect his ears by wearing the appropriate hearing protection devices.

Remember this: as your parents grow older, it’s time for you to take care of them. Thank your dad in the best way possible by ensuring that he remains healthy for many more years to come.

For more information, please contact MakatiMed On-Call at (02) 8888 999, email mmc@makatimed.net.ph, or visit www.makatimed.net.ph.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

20 awards for Kapamilya at Hiyas Ng Sining Onscreen couple Bayani Agbayani and Karla Estrada

Bayani, Karla return for ‘Funny Ka, Pare Ko’ new season

ABS-CBN Integrated Corporate Communications head Kane Errol Choa (left) accepts the award for Best Station

Best Female Radio Broadcaster Zen Hernandez (center) with her colleagues holding the award for Best Radio Station

A

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, the reigning top program in the country that celebrated its 100th week on television recently, bagged Best TV Series while its lead star Coco Martin was named as the recipient of the Natatanging Hiyas ng Sining sa Telebisyon.

Coco’s former co-star Arjo Atayde, who played the villain Joaquin in the top-rating series, took home the Best Actor in a TV Series award.

Other Kapamilya stars who won were Sylvia Sanchez (Best Actress for The Greatest Love), Zanjoe Marudo (Best Actor-Single Performance for MMK: Anino), and Coleen Garcia (Best Actress-Single Performance for MMK: Kadena).

Meanwhile, in the film category, Star Cinema’s Everything About Her picked up four awards including Best Film-Mainstream, Best Film Director-Mainstream (Bb. Joyce Bernal), Best Supporting Actor (Xian Lim), and Best Actress (Vilma Santos).

The Hiyas ng Sining is given by the newly formed GEMS organization that is composed of teachers, academic professionals, and students from prestigious educational institutions in the Philippines. It aims to recognize excellent projects and personalities in the field of television, film, radio, literature, and theater.

BS-CBN continues to receive recognition from the academic community as its entertainment and news programs, movies, journalists, and artists bagged 20 awards including TV Station of the Year at the first-ever Guild of Educators, Mentors, and Students (GEMS) Hiyas ng Sining Awards.

DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, which has served the country for over 30 years, was hailed Radio Station of the Year and raked in other awards including Best Radio Program-AM Station (DZMM 63”), Best Male Radio Broadcaster-Opinion (Julius Babao), Best Female Radio Broadcaster-Opinion (Zen Hernandez), and Best Male Radio Broadcaster-Entertainment (Ahwel Paz).

Atom Araullo, who is also one of the journalists of ABS-CBN, was named Best TV Program Host for his work in Red Alert, while Boy Abunda won Best TV Program Host for The Bottomline with Boy Abunda.

British Film Institute restoration reveals 1920s London life on the Underground tube system THE British Council is screening the classic 1928 Anthony Asquith film entitled Underground for the 11th International Silent Film Festival at the Shangri-La Plaza Cineplex, 7:30 p.m. Sept.1.

The film, set on and around the London underground tube system, revolves around the lives of the Londoners of the time, and the romance between the four main characters. The film stars Brian Aherne, Elissa Landi, Cyril McLaglen and Norah Baring.

The British Council first joined the International Silent Film Festival last year and this year’s film choice will be accompanied by the music of the dub band Goodleaf. The festival offers the rare experience of watching silent films accompanied by live performances as musical scores.

“It will be an enjoyable evening of film and music. The London tube connects the world’s first underground railway, which opened in 1863.

We hope that through films like Underground, we are able to encourage more reflections on how everyday people’s lives – then as now – are greatly affected by a city’s public transport system,” shares Malaya del Rosario, British Council head of Arts and Creative Industries.

Underground was made by British Instructional Films at Elstree and Cricklewood Studios on location in London, including scenes shot at Lots Road Power Station in Chelsea. It was Asquith’s second feature film in a career that spanned 37 years, with four short films and 38 feature films.

Asquith is considered a highly influential figure in British cinema but during his time, the film industry constantly attacked him due to his aristocratic background – his father was the Prime Minister from 1908–16, his mother was a society figure and his older sister married a Romanian aristocrat.

He is best known for his adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, which won him an Academy Award for Best Screenplay and which was later turned into a musical screenplay. He also directed The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), which Variety praised as the “best known version of Oscar Wilde’s perennial classic.”

Within the industry, he sat as the president of the Association and Television Technicians (ACCT), and contributed to the improvement of pay and conditions for workers.

In 2009, the British Film Institute restored Underground following the discovery of an alternative print at the Brussels Cinematheque Royale and advancements in photo-chemical and digital techniques.

The dub band Goodleaf consists of Edy Varde on melody/mutated vocals, Jolly Navarro on keyboard, Ryan Goan and Cliff Pama on guitar, Jas Sonido on drums, Ranjit Alabos on keyboard, and Marco Hautea on bass guitar.

Goodleaf minister their music with various influences, such as Ambient, Trip Hop, Post Punk, Vintage Dub from King Tubby to Jah Shaka. Their first album, Dub Pilipinas, was their first LP to be released on Inity Records.

The International Silent Film Festival runs from Aug. 31 – Sept. 3 at the Shang Cineplex, Shangri-la Plaza.

Admission is open to the public on a first come, first served basis.

For screening schedules and other inquiries, please visit http:// britishcouncil.ph or the official International Silent Film Festival facebook page.

Restored in 2009, "Underground" is a 1928 British silent drama directed by leading English film director Anthony Asquith and starring Brian Aherne and Elissa Landi.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, August 17, 2017

ACROSS 1 Tend toward 6 Black hole, once 10 Tot’s wheels 14 Dull green 15 Specify 16 Part to be played 17 Inventor of dynamite 18 Tel — 19 War god 20 Even smaller 22 Simple tunes 24 Mouse cousin 26 Type of sausage 27 Withholds 31 Denims 33 Begins admitting customers 34 Bellow 35 Clock sound 39 Perjured 40 Cabbies 41 Blissful spot 42 Neutral shade 43 Chooses 44 Tenet 45 Grove 47 Reddish-brown 48 Range of influence 51 Wears 53 Shiver 55 Dancer Fred — 60 Peeve

61 Movie theater sign 63 Of yore 64 Right on!

65 Parched 66 Tibet’s — Lama 67 Breathe hard 68 Kind of tissue 69 Bond-buyer’s concern DOWN 1 Type choice 2 Healing plant 3 Intuition 4 Part of the range 5 Experiences once more 6 Canine warning 7 Hebrew letter after shin 8 At the center of 9 Old plays, restaged 10 Some marchers 11 “The Kiss” sculptor 12 Strange 13 High-IQ group 21 Daughter of Hyperion 23 Metal in bronze 25 Released a CD 27 Handout 28 Spectacular 29 — -do-well

30 Incentive 32 Antlered animals 34 Barks shrilly 36 Bad day for Caesar 37 Grant 38 Nautical mile 40 Despairing 44 Guardianship 46 Moon or sun 47 ER staffers 48 Seat-belt feature 49 — donna 50 Trojan War

cause 52 Cowboy flick 54 Suit, so to speak 56 Asian mountains 57 Doing nothing 58 Actual 59 Writer — Bagnold 62 Lyrical Gershwin

BAYANI Agbayani and Karla Estrada are back as Bigboy and Karla Delyon for the new season of Funny Ka, Pare Ko on CineMo with newest cast mate, I Can Do That first grand winner, Wacky Kiray, 5 p.m. every Sunday.

The Delyon family was seen vacationing in Baguio with the Komikeros to celebrate their son’s graduation at the end of season three.

After a two-year time jump, Jay-ar (Igi-boy Flores) is now in college, taking up culinary arts, while the eatery of Bigboy (Bayani Agbayani) and Karla (Karla Estrada) Delyon continues to grow. They expanded their eatery into a fullblown restaurant with their inlaws, Pags (Alora Sasam) and Dong-Dong (Jayson Gainza), who closed their salon in favor of the diner.

While the Delyons continue to share their success with the Komikeros through the bottling and selling of “Bigboy’s Famous Adobo,” there are those who want to see the Delyons fail.

Joining the cast is Wacky Kiray. He is known as the first

grand winner of celebrity talent show, “I Can Do That” but has also guested on the show in the previous season.

Wacky said he is happy to join a cast of established comedians, “It feels good because I’m with great actors in the field of comedy and sitcoms.”

He will join the group as a neighborhood laundry shop owner. However, only time can tell if he’ll be a friend to the Delyons or be like Victor (Jobert Austria), who is out to ruin Bigboy and his business.

Karla and Bayani are very thankful for the continued support for the show, which won Best Comedy Program at the 15th Gawad Tanglaw Awards.

Bayani, the 25th KBP Awards’ Best TV Actor for a Comedy Program, says, “It makes us happy that a lot of people enjoy the show,” a feeling that Karla shares saying, “We’re overwhelmed with the support of the people.”

Catch new episodes of latest season of “Funny Ka, Pare Ko,” every Sunday at 5 PM on CineMo.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017

ISAH V. RED

Vhong Navarro and Lovi Poe reunite in Regal Entertainment comedy flick,"Woke Up Like This"

W

HAT would you feel if you woke in a different body – if you’re a man you woke up a woman or vice versa?

That’s exactly what happens to the characters Vhong Navarro and Lovi Poe play in the upcoming movie Woke Up Like This (Regal Entertainment, Inc).

Navarro has recently starred in Mang Kepweng Returns and it was just a couple of months back before Regal Films offered him to be the leading man of Lovi Poe in the comedy Woke Up Like This.

Vhong and Lovi were paired previously in a chilling episode of Shake, Rattle & Roll XVI. This time, the pair offer a different cinematic experience.

The film is a major challenge for Poe who shows she’s not just body and face but a comic talent to reckon with as well.

She was last seen sizzling hot in a Regal film with actor Derek Ramsay titled The Escort.

As everyone knows, Vhong Navarro is a fullfledged comedian and his role in this new film with Poe is just a breeze, but, of course, he says the audience will find his role refreshing, something new and he’s sure he’ll bring the house down with his antics. He plays Lando, known in the neighborhood as “king of the basketball court.” A dutiful son, he assumes the role of being the head of the family when his father (Joey Marquez) meets with an accident.

Vhong Navarro has a new flick in the pipeline.

But Lando is also less of a sportsman when he is on the court and has a big dream to join the big league. Well, that will be sidelined when he wakes up one day and finds out he has the body of a woman…someone he doesn’t even know.

Meanwhile, Love plays Sabrina, known among her friends as the “ramp queen,” beautiful, sexy but very competitive. She is vying to be the Supermodel of the Whole Wide Philippines. But that will not happen when she wakes up trapped in a man’s body.

Why has Lando and Sabrina gone through this gender swap? Well, the two didn’t want to tell during the press conference at the Regal Events Place recently. And neither the director Joel Ferrer wanted to spill the beans. All three chimed, “Watch the film and you’ll find out why.”

The actor will be co-starring in Woke Up Like This with Lovi Poe, whom he previously worked with back in 2012 for an installment of the Shake, Rattle, and Roll horror franchise.

For your information, the film opens on Aug. 23 after the weeklong Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino in cinemas nationwide. *** Anthony Vincent Bova arrived in the Philippines on Aug. 13 to radiate a different learning experience on GMA Artist Center stars and introduce the most reliable acting technique developed by actor-author Eric Morris.

Based in New York, Bova is personally endorsed

by Morris to teach the Artist Center stars his method, The Eric Morris System, considered to be more personal and intimidating to the actors as it requires facing inner fears and weaknesses.

“What attracted me to the Eric Morris System is that this work answered so many questions that other techniques didn’t know to ask. One of the biggest traps actors in general fall into in this age of naturalism as an artist is they act natural. It’s still acting. They act natural as opposed to being natural,” Bova explains.

Bova delves more about the method of “being” in a three-day intensive acting workshop. Through the workshop, the actors will bear truth to the acting coach’s sincerity and professionalism, which help them trust the process.

His mentor, Morris, has a special regard for the Philippines as he had worked with some of the most critically acclaimed and internationally awarded actors, like Laurice Guillen, Johnny Delgado, Michael de Mesa, and Leo Martinez among many others. Morris has been giving his blessing to his protégé, Bova, to teach his system of work for over 20 years now.

Aiming to help the future generation of actors develop the skills of an effective performer, GMA Artist Center together with Laurice Guillen Actors Studio and Anthony Vincent Bova will work together to establish a higher standard for the actors’ performance in the Philippines.

Vhong Navarro, Lovi Poe

IN GENDER SWAP MOVIE IMAGINE being engrossed in a film and feeling the weight of the characters’ joys and tragedies tug at your fragile heartstrings. Imagine being left with a heart full of feels as the credits roll. Then just as the cinema lights turn up, you see the characters you were rooting for in the flesh, like they’ve jumped out of the big screen.

Moviegoers at the Gateway Cineplex screenings of hit indie romcom Kita Kita were treated to a surprise appearance

by Empoy Marquez (Tonyo), and Alessandra De Rossi (Lea) on Aug. 3.

Fans screamed in delight upon recognizing the film’s unlikely love team that addressed with excitement the fan and thanked them for the support.

“Para sa kanilang lahat ito,” said Empoy, during a brief interview with the pair before entering the cinemas to surprise the fans.

When asked how she felt about the public’s reception of the film in relation to Filipinos’ shifting viewing habits from mainstream cinema to indie, Alessandra said she was “shocked” because the original plan was to break away from the normal rom-com format, and despite other

filmmakers’ recommendations of sticking to the tried and tested formula, the movie became a hit, “binasag namin ‘yung formula, tapos ito, kumita.”

She added, “‘Yun talaga ‘yung plan, pero para lumaki siya ng ganito, nakaka-shock. Pero very,

people are given the chance to show authentic stories. He added how mainstream and indie are now becoming one and the same, “Ngayon patas na lang…mainstream, indie, nag-co-collide sila.”

Set in the scenic streets of Sapporo, Japan, the hit film tells the story of Lea (de Rossi), a blind woman who slowly falls for comic figure Tonyo (Marquez).

Directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo and produced by Philippine cinema industry big shots Bb. Joyce Bernal, and A-list actor Piolo Pascual, a huge part of the film’s success could also be attributed to Alessandra and Empoy’s (“Alempoy” as they call themselves) undeniable chemistry.

Alessandra quotes from some people who have seen and loved the film that it’s very “natural,” “parang kasama ka sa journey ng characters, like they are your friends.”

For more information on exciting activities, advanced screenings and meet-and-greet events at Gateway Cineplex, you may visit www.gatewaycineplex10.com, or the Gateway and Ali Mall Cineplex Facebook page at @gatewaycineplex.

‘Alempoy’ surprises fans at Gateway Cineplex

very grateful ako sa lahat ng naka-appreciate ‘nung change na ito.”

Empoy says he is happy about this shift, because

Newest prepaid plan features exclusive Kapamilya channels

THROWBACK. Some of the local actors who took the class of Eric Morris System, among them were Pinky Amador, Joel Torre, Laurice Guillen, Michael de Mesa, and the late Johnny Delgado, to name a few.

AN EXCITING Kapamilya viewing experience is now available to Filipino families nationwide as SKY introduces Kapamilya 99, the newest SKYdirect prepaid plan that features ABS-CBN’s entertainment, kiddie, music, news, and sports channels.

Among these channels are ABS-CBN HD, Cinema One, DZMM TeleRadyo, ANC, MYX, Jeepney TV, TAG, Lifestyle, S+A HD, CineMo, YeY, ABS-CBN Regional Channel (ARC), and Knowledge Channel for only P99 a month.

Families can enjoy hit Kapamilya shows, like FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, La Luna Sangre, and ASAP, in lifelike moving images and enjoy the cinematic sound via ABS-CBN HD. Moms can relax while watching hit movies and classic teleseryes on Cinema One, Jeepney TV, and TAG. They will also find the latest on travel, food, and fashion trends like Piolo’s food and travel show, ‘‘The Crawl”on Lifestyle.

Dads get to catch sports events on S+A HD, action movies on CineMo, and news and current events on ANC, DZMM TeleRadyo, and ABS-CBN Regional Channel (ARC).

Kids and teens meanwhile, can tune into the various shows

of MYX for the latest on music, watch YeY for cartoons, and watch Knowledge Channel for educational shows.

Kapamilya 99 also includes local channels, PTV4, INC, UnTV, ZoeTV, EWTN, SKYdirect Freeview channel, Star Cinema on SKY PPV, and the Aquarium Channel.

For existing subscribers, load your SKYdirect box with Kapamilya 99 plan by texting KAPAMILYA99 <space> <BOX ID> to 23667 using your ABS-CBNmobile, Globe Prepaid and TM load.

Meanwhile, subscribers who will convert their ABSCBNmobile load into a SKYdirect Kapamilya 99 load will also get five extra days on their plan. To subscribe to SKYdirect, text SKY to 23668.

SKYdirect is the satellite TV service of SKY that gives Filipino families nationwide access to a rich channel lineup with the aim of strengthening the relationship of families at home. SKY Cable Corporation is the cable, direct-to-home, and broadband unit of ABS-CBN. For more information, visit mysky.com.ph and follow SKY on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MySKYCable), Twitter (@myskyupdates), and Instagram (@myskyupdates).