Manila Standard - 2018 February 01 - Thursday

WEDNESDAY SPECTACLE. The full moon rises from Legazpi City in Albay (left) on Jan. 31, with skywatchers hoping for a rare lunar eclipse that combines three unusual events—a blue moon, a super moon and a total eclipse—which was to make for a large crimson moon visible in many corners of the globe—as the blue moon began to pass through the Earth’s shadow, giving Filipinos a view of the total lunar eclipse. AFP with Ey Acasio and Chris Villarin

VOL. XXXI • NO. 349 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Ombudsman warned: Defy Palace, face legal sanctions

By Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo

O

MBUDSMAN Conchita CarpioMorales on Wednesday defied a Palace order to enforce a 90-day suspension against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang, saying that doing so would be unconstitutional and risk the independence of her office.

Citing a 2014 Supreme Court ruling, Morales said previous suspensions issued by the Office of the President against deputy ombudsmen were declared unconstitutional.

“The Supreme Court categorically declared unconstitutional the administrative disciplinary jurisdiction of the President over deputy ombudsmen,” Morales said in a statement.

“The Ombudsman cannot, therefore, seriously place at risk the independence of the very office which she has pledged to protect on the strength of the constitutional guarantees which the High Court has upheld,” she added.

Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, however, warned Morales that she is opening herself to administrative and criminal sanctions in defying the suspension order.

“Every official act is accorded the presumption of regularity. Until a competent Next page

Broker faces more raps for P6-b shabu

By Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz THE Department of Justice has filed criminal charges before the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court against nine people, including businessman Richard Tan and customs broker Mark Taguba, for their alleged involvement in the importation of P6.4-billion shipment of shabu last year.

This came after the DoJ investigating panel—composed by Asst. State Prosecutors Aristotle Reyes and Rodan Parrocha—found probable cause to indict Tan and Taguba for committing the crime of transportation and delivery of dangerous drugs penalized under Section 5, in relation to Section 26A of Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Law. Also charged with the same criminal offense before the Valenzuela City RTC were Chen Julong, alias Richard Tan or Richard Chen; Taguba; Li Guang Feng, alias Manny Li; Dong Yi Shen Xi, alias Kenneth Dong; Eirene Mae Tatad; Teejay Next page

TRENDSETTING RITE. President

Rodrigo Duterte leads the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the military camp at the Old City Hall in Marawi City on Tuesday. Joining him are Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Año, and Urban Housing Council chairman Eduardo del Rosario. Malacañang Photo

UP expert fears misuse of Benham

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Philippines officially allowed Chinese scientists to survey ocean currents in the country’s northeastern seaboard—but it is also possible for data gathered from a scientific expedition to be used for military purposes, a maritime law expert said Wednesday.

Professor and director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea Jay Batongbacal warned that the climate-focused research findings can be used for “some kind of military strategic advantage.”

“The data about currents can really be beneficial because you can gain knowledge of the weather and better predict La Niña and El Niño and prepare for disasters,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English at a roundtable discussion Wednesday.

“On the other hand, it’s true also that you can use the same data, use other methodologies and gain some kind of military or strategic advantage,” he said.

Earlier, the Philippine govenrment announced that it has officially allowed Chinese scientists to conduct scientific Next page

US official ‘cautiously optimistic ‘

By John Paolo Bencito THE United States is “cautiously optimistic” that the Philippines’ human rights record is improving as President Rodrigo Duterte presses on with his bloody anti-drug campaign that has claimed thousands of lives, an official said Tuesday.

Duterte has made a harsh anti-drug campaign the centerpiece of his administration, urging policemen to kill drug suspects and promising to protect them from prosecution.

The brutal drug war frayed ties with Washington under former President Barack Obama who criticized Duterte’s human rights record.

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PCOO disowns Mocha’s blogs

By Vito Barcelo

PRESIDENTIAL Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said Wednesday Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson’s blog was not an official page of the PCOO and was not representing government views.

He cleared the PCOO from the controversies involving Uson’s weird and Next page comical blogs.

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

Trump’s SUNA seeks Congress curbs on immigration WASHINGTON, United States—President Donald Trump bridged no compromise Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) on his drive to reduce immigration—which he painted in his first State of the Union Address as responsible for several ills.

In the same speech, Trump called for “one American family” after a year

marred by acrimony, division and scandal.

Delivering his biggest speech of the year, this most polarizing of presidents sought to put the spotlight on a robust economy, while pointedly calling on a packed joint session of Congress to enact tough curbs on immigration.

“Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,” he said.

“Tonight, I want to talk about what kind of future we are going to have, and Next page

MRT chief backs off after quit bid

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta METRO Rail Transit Line 3 general manager Rodolfo Garcia offered to resign on Wednesday after Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez rebuked him on the commuters’ continuing woes as a result of the MRT Line 3’s frequent breakdowns.

At a joint hearing conducted by the House committee on transportation and committee on public works and highways, Garcia offered his resignation over the MRT 3.

Senator Nancy Binay Wednesday called on the Transportation department to walk the talk and deliver on the promises they made about improving MRT3.

She said the department and its head Arthur Tugade had promised to improve the services of MRT 3 two years ago.

“Enough of the talks. Our people need action now. They can no longer reach their destination with the current condition of our MRT,” Binay said.

She made her statement after the Next page

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manilastandard.net

NEW MOON DAY. Evelyn Dorotan, owner of a lucky charm store in Binondo, Manila, carries an earth dog figurine in preparation for the 2018 Chinese New Year on Feb. 16, in which China’s time zone means the new moon day of the first Chinese lunar month. Norman Cruz

PH gets high marks on budget transparency

By John Paolo Bencito

THE Philippines ranked first in Asia and 19th globally in providing adequate and timely information on the national budget, according to the results of the latest 2017 Open Budget Survey

released Wednesday.

Making an improvement in two years, the Philippines scored 67 out of 100 for budget transparency in 2017, three points higher than the country’s 64 in 2015, when the biennal survey Next page was last conducted.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

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PCSO twits ‘friendly’ Cam P

HILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Alexander Balutan expressed his disbelief Wednesday over Sandra Cam’s claims that President Rodrigo Duterte and known gambling lord Charlie “Atong” Ang know each other very well.

“Really?” Balutan said after Cam claimed during a hearing at the House of Representatives that the President and Ang “are friends” The PCSO GM said Cam, whom Duterte appointed to the lottery agency’s board, and her gambling lord friend Ang have been dropping the name of the President and even his Special Assistant Bong Go “since they started to attack and vilify the current PCSO leadership of unfounded and baseless corruption allegations.”

Cam did so again Wednesday

during the hearing of the House Committee on Games and Amusement led by Parañaque 2nd District Rep. Gus Tambunting, Balutan noted.

At the hearing, the PCSO GM reiterated that Ang and Cam came to his office on Sept. 14, 2016 and made a P200-million monthly offer as payment to operate the agency’s Small-Town Lottery nationwide.

Balutan said he rejected the offer and immediately reported this to the President.

Cam denied there was such an offer.

Faeldon told: No work, no pay policy applies

By Francisco Tuyay FORMER Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon will not be compensated as deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense because of his inability to perform his job, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.

He cited the government policy of no work, no pay as a result of Faeldon’s long absence as a result of his incarceration.

He was named deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense in December last year with a monthly salary of P129,000.

“Since he is in detention in the Pasay City Jail, he will not be entitled to any salary because of the principle of no, work no pay,” Lorenzana said.

Faeldon was transferred to the Pasay City Jail by the Blue Ribbon Committee led by Senator Richard Gordon. This was after he was cited for contempt during the marathon hearing on the P6-billion shabu from China that was sent to Customs in July last year.

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But the Trump administration has been noticeably less critical.

In a telephone briefing with reporters, James A. Walsh, a senior US drug official within the State Department, said there were signs of fewer extrajudicial killings.

“Many folks have been tracking the EJKs in the Philippines and the trends are going down so there is some encouragement that we are seeing in some of our human rights training working,” the deputy assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement told reporters.

“I would describe the United States as being cautiously optimistic in the trends when it comes to a good... appropriate way for a drug campaign,” he added.

The Palace welcomed the State Department statement but insisted there were no EJKs in the Philippines.

PCOO...

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But he said Uson was not a source of fake news in the country as she was only expressing her views.

He said the PCOO could not influence or control Uson since she was engaged in a personal activity. Should he order bloggers like Uson to stop airing their views, he would be accused of “suppressing freedom of expression.”

He said when Uson became part of the PCOO, “I told her that all the news coming out from government media plat-

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In Asia, Indonesia follows at second spot with 64 points, followed by Jordan (63), Japan (60), and South Korea (60).

“We’re very proud of what

Lorenzana made his statement even as Faeldon’s lawyer said he was positive his client would soon be freed from detention.

“I am very hopeful. I am fully confident,” Jose Diño told CNN Philippines.

“A good lawyer can spot a winning case. I smell a winning case.”

Diño said he had filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking to declare as illegal the Senate blue ribbon committee’s order to detain Faeldon.

“Any lawyer will not file a petition if he does not have any reasonable expectation that he will win. Otherwise, he is liable to the Supreme Court for filing a frivolous complaint,” Diño said.

Lorenzana said Faeldon’s transfer to the Pasay City Jail was unexpected but predicted his eventual freedom to perform his job at the OCD. “His incarceration at Pasay Jail was totally unexpected. I was hoping he would be set free sooner so he could start performing his job,” Lorenzana said.

“While we welcome US State Department senior official James Walsh cautiously optimistic view of President Duterte’s successful anti-illegal drugs campaign, we maintain that there are no EJKs under the Duterte administration,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.

Andanar even urged the US State Department to request data from the government to get a proper “assessment of this administration’s human rights records on real figures.”

“These real figures were published many times over and are available to the US State Department, if it wishes to have it,” he said.

The government says almost 4,000 drug suspects have been killed by law enforcement under Duterte. But human rights groups charge that thousands more have been murdered by shadowy vigilantes in what they say could be a crime against humanity. With AFP forms are real news.”

Uson’s blog has five-million followers, but Andanar said people should not judge the PCOO based on what comes out of Uson’s blogs.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Duterte administration was not encouraging the spread of fake news.

He met a barrage of criticism when he said real news would not be determined without the existence of fake news.

“Without fake news, we will not know what’s real news. We will not know the lies from the truth. So, let there be a free marketplace of ideas,” Roque said. we’ve accomplished to date. In surpassing our Asian neighbors, we have further cemented our position as a global leader in Open Government. It encourages us to persevere, to do even better, in the years ahead.” said Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who welcomed results of the survey.

Cam said that during her recent trip to Bicol, Duterte admitted that he asked Ang to go to PCSO in September two years ago to help them. She said it was even Duterte’s close aide, Bong Go, who told her to accompany Ang to meet the PCSO officials.

The President visited Albay on Jan. 29 after his visit in India to check on the evacuees of the Mayon Volcano eruption and the state of the evacuation centers.

“I would like to reiterate the offer of Mr. Atong Ang. He is offering P200 million per month for the STL operation of the whole country,” Balutan revealed to the committee.

The GM said Ang went to his office sometime that September, with Cam claiming they were sent by the President.

“Sabi niya [Ang], ako ang mag-iisip ng formula pero I’m offering P200 million a month for the whole operation of STL,” said Balutan, who later brought Ang and Cam to then-PCSO chairman Jose Jorge Corpuz, who recently resigned, citing health reasons. “’Pag isa lang po ang nagmonopolize nito, walang PMRR [Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipts], wala tayong usapan na percentage [If only one person will monopolize the STL, no PMRR, we won’t have any percentage to speak of],” said Balutan.

Immediately after the meeting, Balutan personally reported to the President and asked how he would solve the Ang problem. “[The President] told me: Do not bend your rules. Just follow

your rules, even if it involves my son,” Balutan said quoting the President.

He noted the incident with Cam and Ang have photos and CCTV footage as proof.

Meanwhile, Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva commended PCSO officials for the record-breaking increase in the STL revenues and for not accepting “bribe” money.

“Mr. Chair, I would like to manifest my commendation to the officers of PCSO now. Yung 14 provinces and one city that were originally given AACs [Authorized Agent Corporations]―Tarlac from P23 million to P56 million, isn’t that how the business in Tarlac has increased? That is because of the PMRR,” said Villanueva during the hearing.

Ombudsman...

disregard of clearly worded jurisprudence” and its confidence that the Supreme Court would change its stance.

The Palace suspended Carandang for disclosing bank details of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.

In 2014 ruling, the Supreme Court voted 8-7 to disallow the Palace from disciplining a deputy ombudsman, saying this would violate the constitutionally protected independence of the Office of the Ombudsman.

But of the eight who voted against the Palace in 2014, only four—Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Lucas Bersamin and Marvic Leonen—are sitting judges.

The Palace said it is confident the Supreme Court would reverse its earlier decision, and has given Carandang 10 days to answer its suspension order.

The deputy ombudsman has been accused of using fabricated bank records against the President.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said it is incumbent upon Carandang to submit his answer within the required period.

After the lapse of the period provided, the Office of the President shall decide on the matter.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, released a copy of its 2014 judgment that barred the Palace from disciplining former deputy ombudsman Emilio Gonzales III, after Solicitor General Jose Calida claimed that the President has the authority to discipline a deputy ombudsman.

Voting 8-7, the Court ruled that the administrative authority being exercised by the Office of the President over the position of deputy ombudsman is unconstitutional.

In particular, the Court voided a section of the Ombudsman Act of 1989, which grants the President the power to remove a deputy ombudsman. It ruled that such a provision diminished the authority and independence of the Office of the Ombudsman.

nos, among other requirements.

Batongbacal said that the DFA data on Benham Rise can also be “misleading.”

“It can be misleading because it gives you the wrong impression that there are so many researches going on in Benham Rise,” Batongbacal said.

The DFA last week released its data to the media where it lumped together the number of marine scientific rresearch requests from different countries for Benham Rise and Luzon Strait.

But Batongbacal said that lumping together the MSR of Benham Rise and Luzon Strait may not be proper because both are “totally different areas.”

He said that the government could not protect the Philippine interests if the present administration itself is not fully aware,

does not pay attention, and does not understand these details.

Data from the DFA revealed that there are 13 MRS in the region.

The US, it stated, has been conducting research in Benham Rise since 2005 while China has been requesting an MSR in the region since 2004.

Also on Wednesday, the Philippine military said the presence of nine Chinese vessels in the disputed Scarborough or Panatag Shoal was nothing out of the ordinary GMA-7 quoted Lt. Col. Isagani Nato, Norther Luzon Command spokesman, as saying an aerial survey showed four Chinese Coast Guard vessels, four unknown vessels from China, and a Chinese fishing boat in the area Two of the Chinese vessels were found inside the shoal.

committee on correctional reforms, PDEA acting director for Intelligence services Jigger Montellana made the disclosure, saying the new drug players were convicted “big-time” Chinese drug lords whose names were not being monitored by intelligence agents.

Meanwhile, the Manila City Regional Trial Court, Branch 46, on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Taguba and seven others, in connection with the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs.

In a warrant of arrest, the RTC also ordered the arrest of

Li Guang Feng alias Manny Li, Dong Yi Shen Xi alias Kenneth Dong, Eirene Mae Tatad, Teejan Marcellana, Chen I-Min, Jhu Ming Jhyun and Chen Rong Juan.

Chen Ju Long or Richard Tan was not included in the arrest order because of a pending motion to dismiss.

No bail was recommended for the accused.

The arrest order came after the DoJ refiled before the Manila City court the case that was originally lodged before the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court, but the latter court dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction. With PNA

Transport department on Monday promised an improvement of MRT3 services by the end of February this year. Tugade said the department had already ordered spare parts for the train system.

Alvarez asked Garcia if he was serious in his offer to resign.

“Yes, your honor. I’m contem-

plating getting out,” Garcia said.

Alvarez said the commuters had long been suffering from the poor service of MRT3, including having to stand in long queues, the overcrowding in the trains and the system’s the frequent breakdowns.

Garcia said they were looking to augment the number of MRT3 coaches by using the Dalian coaches, but Alvarez said the signaling system of the Da-

lian coaches was not compatible with the system and challenged Garcia if he was sure of what he was telling the committee.

“I will resign if I’m not sure,” Garcia said.

His remarks irked the members of the joint committees, including Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas who said the committee could order his detention and asked him to apologize.

The DBM recently made changes on how the budget is being presented.

Starting 2018, the agency’s non-financial performance targets were included alongside with their budget proposals.

In previous years’ fiscal budgets, expenditures were being

presented in terms of the Major Final Outputs of the agency, or the outputs delivered by the agency to its external clients.

The Philippines also boasts a score of 41 in terms of the extent of public participation in the country’s budget process and budget oversight by the leg-

islature and the Supreme Audit Institution.

The country’s figure is more than three times the global average of 12 and is one of only four countries to achieve a moderate score in the category—sharing this distinction with New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

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court declares that such official act is in violation of the law and the Constitution, President Rodrigo Duterte’s order of preventive suspension from office of Deputy Ombudsmaan Carangdang is presumed to be valid and legal. It behooves therefore the public official authorized to implement the order to enforce the same against respondent Carangdang. Any willful refusal to do so or any deliberate act impeding such enforcement may open the said official to administrative and criminal sanctions,” Panelo said.

But when asked if Morales’ decision constitutes an impeachable offense, Panelo said: “It depends. If it is malicious and deliberate, it can be considered a betrayal of the public trust. Otherwise, it may not be.”

Morales also accused the Office of the President of “arbitrary

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research in the country’s territory, Benham Rise.

The government has been criticized for allowing China to explore the underwater plateau off the coast of Aurora province.

The research vessel Ke Xua Hao, which carries Chinese scientists and supposedly four Filipinos, arrived northeast of Palanan, Isabela on Jan. 23, one day before schedule, to carry out a survey of ocean currents that scientists believe drive climate phenomena.

The Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences was granted permission by the Department of Foreign Affairs to conduct the study, provided that its scientists are joined by Filipi-

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Marcellana; Chen I-Min; Jhu Ming Jhun; and Chen Rong Huan.

No bail was recommended for the accused.

In a related development: • The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Wednesday said the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison was continuing, citing an entry of new suppliers of illegal drugs at the national penitentiary.

At a congressional hearing conducted by the House sub-

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Bicam panel defers OK of Health secretary

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE powerful Commission on Appointments yesterday deferred its vote on the nomination of Francisco Duque III as secretary of the Department of Health owing to questions over the implementation of the P3.5-billion government contract for the antidengue vaccine Dengvaxia.

Although the vaccine was not implemented during the term of Duque, the CA committee on health chaired by Senator Gringo Honasan said it wanted more time to assess the secretary’s answers regarding the controversial vaccine.

“The fact that it [nomination hearing] was suspended means that we want to think about his responses to our questions. I’m not prepared to say that it’s already okay, that the commission was satisfied,” said Honasan.

He said the deliberations were temporarily halted because some issues must be pursued and studied, not so much with the oppositors to Duque’s appointment.

Three oppositions were filed against Duque’s confirmation before Honasan’s committee, but only two parties attended the hearing.

Dr. Nestor Dizon Jr., who was previously with the Quezon City health department, filed an opposition over his employment contract.

Dizon said he first raised the issue when Duque was still the chairman of the Civil Service Commission.

“It was an en banc decision.

So, it’s not as if I’m being projected [as] a whimsical chairman who decides on the cases as that of Dizon,” Duque said in his defense.

Leon Peralta, chairman of the Anti-Trapo Movement, raised the technical malversation case against Duque, along with other former government officials over the alleged misuse of about P530 million in Overseas Workers Welfare Administration funds.

Duque in reply noted that the Supreme Court had already cleared his name after charges were dismissed by the Ombudsman.

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what kind of nation we are going to be. All of us, together, as one team, one people, and one American family.”

He touched on a range of foreign policy issues—including, in an emotive moment, offering the spotlight to crippled North Korean amputee defector Ji Seong-ho, who waved his crutches in the air as he received a prolonged standing ovation.

Trump warned that Pyongyang’s “reckless” nuclear drive could “very soon” threaten the US homeland, while also eyeing the geopolitical challenge posed by adversaries China and Russia.

But Trump’s State of the Union, the third longest on record at one hour 20 minutes, was overwhelmingly focused on domestic concerns.

Among those looking on were dozens of cross-armed Democratic lawmakers, some decked in black to honor the victims of sexual harassment and still others wearing butterfly stickers in support of immigrants—two social issues that more than any others have roiled America in the age of Trump.

Also in the audience were members of Trump’s own family including the first lady, Melania, who recently canceled a joint trip to Davos, Switzerland and has not been seen with her husband in public since reports alleged he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels hush money over an affair, which the White House denies. AFP

News Malaysia hits ‘Nene’ on Sabah claims quip THE Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia slammed former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel’s statement on Sabah claims, expressing a warning that such remarks may harm the excellent bilateral relationships of Kuala Lumpur and Manila.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Dati Sri Anifah Haji Aman maintained that Sabah is recognized by the United Nations and the international community as part of Malaysia since the formation of the Federation on Sept. 16, 1963.

“The Government of Malaysia reiterates its position that Malaysia does not recognise and will not entertain any claims by any party on Sabah,” Aman said.

Pimentel, who is a member of the charter change consultative committee, on Tuesday said that he has included Sabah as part of the Philippine territory in his proposed constitutional amendments.

Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Justice panel wraps up probe of terror suspect

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Department of Justice on Wednesday concluded its preliminary investigation on the criminal charges filed by the military against a suspected Spanish terrorist who was arrested in Basilan last Jan. 22.

The DoJ’s panel of prosecutors submitted the complaint filed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines against Abdelhakim Labidi Adib after he submitted his answer and denied the charges of illegal possession of explosives.

Assisted by a lawyer from the Public Attorneys Office, Adib, a 20-yearold Spanish national of Tunisian descent, asked for the dismissal of the

case against him for lack of evidence, In his counter-affidavit, Abdelhakim Labidi Adib narrated that he came to the Philippines as a tourist, and not as what the military alleged him to be—a foreign terrorist aiding local terror groups in the south.

In its complaint, members of the Philippine Army said that they arrested Adib last Jan. 22 at a military checkpoint in Basilan. The

respondent was supposedly accompanied by an Abu Sayyaf member, who is one of their targets, but was able to escape by jumping off a cliff.

The military said they seized from Adib’s possession a hand grenade, rifle grenade, detonating devices and blasting caps.

The military suspected that Adib is a foreign terrorist aiding local terror groups in the south.

Records showed that Adib arrived in Manila on Oct. 10 last year and went straight to Davao where he visited several attractions before proceeding to Cagayan de Oro. He said he met a certain Abuzaid who claimed to be part of the Yakan tribe. He said he offered to take him to his tribe and introduce him to its culture.

However, Adib denied links to Islamic State or any

terrorist group.

“I went here in the Philippines as a tourist. I have no intention whatever to aid anyone in any terrorist activity especially in causing trouble to the community,” Adib said, adding that he was born in Spain to responsible and loving parents.

“My parents taught me so many traits especially in dealing with people around, in giving due respect as regards the practice of faith, religion and others,” he said.

He said that after his studies, he moved to Switzerland where he worked and saved money because it was his dream to travel to a faraway country. He said he chose Philippines because he heard a lot of “good reviews” in the country.

“I began thinking about going to the Philippines when I heard so many good reviews and feedback about

the country that it is a touristic place with beautiful islands and scenery and above all, splendid people who are very accommodating and hospitable,” Adib said, in his counter affidavit.

“I did not stop thinking about the delicious food which is hard to refuse. I imagine that it is possible to have a happy life, filled with good times and happiness and devoid of many problems,” Adib added.

According to him, another reason why he came to the Philippines was “to find a good woman to complete my happiness and make my life with her.”

Adib said that it was not his intention to go to Basilan and that he went to the Philippines for a vacation.

He first went to Manila and then Davao and stayed for two months in Cagayan de Oro.

Davao traders, brokers face smuggling raps TWO Davao-based traders and three customs brokers are facing smuggling charges for importing used clothing or “ukay-ukay” worth P4 million, the Bureau of Customs said.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said the importation of prohibited used clothing and rags is illegal under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. “We want to safeguard the health of the people and maintain the dignity of the nation by declaring it a national policy to prohibit commercial importation of textile articles commonly known as Used Clothing and Rags”, he said.

Charged were Berkis Nuh Abdu, owner of Zainar trading firm and Griechelle Joyce Ballon Basio owner of G-Joyce and customs brokers, Asniel Mocaram Diamad, Remar Ferniz Mansari and Asniel Mocaram Diamad. Vito Barcelo

BI tells aliens: File 2018 annual report now THE Bureau of Immigration reminded all foreign nationals staying in country that the deadline for the 2018 annual report will end on March 1, 2018.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the period for the annual report is nonextendible and warned that aliens who fail to comply may be meted a fine or prosecuted for violating the country’s alien registration law.

Morente advised aliens who have not yet made the report to not wait for the deadline rush in order to avoid inconvenience.

He also encouraged aliens to report and remit their payments to BI designated offices, the list of which can also be accessed in the bureau’s website.

Vito Barcelo

Iloilo LGU exec faces graft charges THE Sandiganbayan has filed graft charges against a municipal mayor in Iloilo province.

Charged was Dingle ViceMayor Rufino Palabrica, who had allegedly favored a business entity owned by his wife for several construction projects in the municipality.

Based on the case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, Palabrica will face four counts of violation of Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

HEAVY TRAFFIC. Private and public transportation line up along East Avenue in Quezon City for emission and registration at Land Transportation Office main office. The long lines triggered heavy traffic along the area on Wednesday. Manny Palmero

‘30 percent of Marawi cleared of explosives’ AROUND 30 percent of Marawi City’s war-torn areas have been cleared of unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices left by ISIS-inspired terrorist groups, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Sunday.

In a statement, Joint Task Force Marawi deputy commander and spokesman, Col. Romeo Brawner, said the clearing operations were being conducted by the military’s Joint Engineer Task Group.

“The JETG continues its main mission of clearing explosives, completing around 30 percent of the most affected area,” said JETG head Major Gen. Arnold Rafael Depakakibo.

As of Dec. 15, 2,853 assorted unexploded had been recovered and disarmed by the JETG, with the support of the Explosives and Ordnance Disposal Company and K-9 Teams from the Philippine Army and Philippines Air Force.

Depakakibo said the JETG also completed the clearing of 20 kilometers of roads, three major bridges, a school and three places of worship immediately after the liberation of Marawi.

That had resulted in the timely conduct of postconflict needs assessment by the Department of Public Works and Highways, he said.

“We also continue our limited construction support to the government agencies involved in supporting the maintenance of evacuation centers,” Depakakibo said.

Aside from construction support, the JETG also assisted the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council in the construction of 500 temporary shelters for the evacuees.

Of that number, 250 units were given last week while the other 250 will be provided next month.

More than 500 military engineers are deployed in Marawi City as part of the JETG. The task group is supporting the recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Marawi that is being led by Task Force Bangon Marawi. With PNA

Lawmakers, labor slam SSS plan to hike contributions Bill on child

By Maricel V. Cruz and Vito Barcelo

TWO militant lawmakers denounced on Wednesday the plan of the Social Security System to increase its premiums to 14 percent, calling it as another burden to the Filipino people.

ACT Teachers Partylist Representatives An-

tonio Tinio and France Castro said that the planned increase, along with the recently enacted Tax Reform for Acceleratiolan and Inclusion law, was a double whammy to SSS members.

The lawmakers were reacting to the announcement made by SSS president and chief executive officer Emmanuel F. Dooc

who said that the agency plans to raise monthly contributions starting April, which, he claimed, would raise P45 billion in additional collections and extend its fund life by 12 years.

Dooc said that the SSS has already written a formal request to President Rodrigo R. Duterte, asking the president to issue an

executive order that would raise the monthly contribution rate to 14 percent starting April this year, or up three percent from the current 11 percent.

According to Dooc, the request also covers a proposal to raise the minimum salary credit to P4,000 from P1,000, as well as the credit cap to P20,000 from P16,000 currently.

“The combined results if we succeed in getting all these requests approved by the President is we will be able to collect more or less P45 billion in additional contribution revenues starting from April to end of this year,” Mr. Dooc told reporters during a press briefing at the SSS Sulit Conference 2018 at Crowne Plaza Manila.

Japanese-donated plane patrols over Scarborough A JAPANESE-DONATED Beechcraft King Air TC90, under the operational control of the Northern Luzon Command, conducted its first maritime patrol air patrol mission over the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), Zambales and other areas under NOLCOM supervision Wednesday.

“Given the task, the (T)C-90 plane, with a tail number of 390, made its maiden flight at 9:45 a.m. of Jan. 31, 2018, in the area of Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), Masinloc, Zambales. It has flown around the shoal for about 800 feet above

sea level sighting four Filipino fishing boats, together with nine Chinese vessels comprising of four Chinese Coast Guard vessels, four unknown Chinese vessels and a Chinese fishing vessel. Moreover, the Filipino pilots heard no challenge from the Chinese Cost Guard,” Nolcom spokesperson Lt. Col. Isagani Nato said.

Wednesday’s air patrol was the first ever for TC90 in Philippine service.

Its employment boosted the capability of the Navy to conduct limited airlift, reconnaissance and surveillance within Nolcom’s area-of-jurisdiction.

NLEX AWARDS. NLEX Corp. recognized three companies for their excellence in transport operations at the 5th NLEXcellence Road Safety Awards held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City. The awardees won in the Company Operational Excellence category, based on their road safety record, policies and programs. NLEX Corp., itself is a model of operational excellence, pioneered the first world-class expressway in the country, and is extending its projects to South Luzon, the VizMin and even in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. In the photo are NLEX Corp. COO Raul Ignacio (left), NLEX Corp. AVP of Marketing and Customer Experience Grace Ayento (right) with awardees (second from left to second from right) Lebria Transport & Allied Services Corp. account manager Gerly Lebria, Lebria Transport & Allied Services Corp. operations manager Mark Laurence Lebria, Partas Transportation Co. Inc. logistics manager Rock Bullet Pineda, OMEC Inter-trans Corp. president Eduardo Olego, and OMEC Inter-trans Corp. operations manager Richard Olego.

safety in motor bikes approved

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives, through viva voce voting, approved Tuesday night a bill seeking to provide special protection of child passengers in motor vehicles.

House Bill 6938, or the proposed “Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act,” declares it is the policy of the State to ensure the safety of children while being transported in any form of motor vehicle.

In filing the bill, Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing, one of the bill’s authors, acknowledged that the State recognizes the right of children to assistance, including proper care and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse and other conditions prejudicial to their development, including exposure to safety risks while aboard motor vehicles, the bill states.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Pants on fire

A

S PRESIDENT Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesday, a popular factchecking website crashed from heavy traffic.

PolitiFact was down for about five minutes halfway through Trump’s remarks. The web site, owned by non-profit Poynter Institute and run by a team at the Tampa Bay Times, adjudged the president’s statements between a range of “mostly true” to “pants on fire.”

The traffic pointed to the fact that

people wanted to know whether Trump was, as customary, trifling with the truth. Before his address, the website said 69 percent of the President’s remarks range between “mostly false” and “pants on fire.”

Between now and the next State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte, we hope similar credible sites would be available to the public.

Sites like VERA Files have pioneered fact-checking here, but they are seen as an exception, not the norm.

Such initiatives by independent and credible organizations would be priceless at this point. Now more than ever, Filipinos are grappling with the effects of fake news and

how it frustrates any informed and rational discussion on any topic.

It distracts us from what must be done and only fuels protracted, and pointless, bickering.

No less than the presidential spokesman said fake news served a purpose: Without it, we would not know what true news was. It’s a laughable argument, really. Last we looked, the word “news” did not need a preceding modifier. It is in its essence to be true.

This is a time when false information is deliberately created to serve some agenda. Falsities are then spread, either deliberately by individuals with malicious interests, or

unwittingly by those who do not know any better.

Emotions also just muddle real issues: being right or being wrong does not have anything to do with one’s political affiliations. Anybody has the capacity to lie to make oneself look good or conceal one’s wrongdoing.

These are trying times. We remember how it was when it was difficult to extract information from any source. These days, information, or what is passed off as such, is anywhere. It is just as bad, if not worse. If we were to feel passionately about anything, it must be about being taken for fools.

EVERYMAN

The idol of equality

By Eric Jurado

Duque feels the heat LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES IF HEALTH Secretarydesignate Francisco Duque thinks that he can get confirmed if he just keeps his head down and stays silent regarding the long-running Dengvaxia controversy, he is very much mistaken. Yesterday, the powerful Commission on Appointments made it clear that the anti-dengue vaccine will figure very prominently in Duque’s confirmation process and that the secretary can avoid the issue only at his own peril.

The chairman of the CA’s committee on health, Senator Gregorio Honasan, said the panel decided

to defer action on Duque’s nomination to give itself time to consider the health secretary’s responses to questions about the Dengvaxia scandal. “I’m not prepared to say that everything is OK, that the commission is satisfied [with Duque’s answers to inquiries about Dengvaxia],” Honasan said.

Of great importance to the commission, Honasan said, was how Duque intends to respond to the crisis that started when Dengvaxia maker Sanofi Pasteur declared late in November that its patented drug may actually cause severe dengue in persons who have not been infected with the disease before. The Aquino administration, of course, is also being accused of

prematurely allowing the vaccination of 830,000 young people through the school system, after pur-

Honasan and the CA are signaling that they will not have anything to do with the plot to bury the Dengvaxia scandal.

chasing P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia at the end of 2015.

Duque, who was appointed only last October

after his predecessor’s appointment was rejected by the same CA, has been charged with not being responsive and proactive enough to address the Dengvaxia situation.

In particular, Duque has not acted to investigate Department of Health officials involved in the controversial purchase, many of whom were also his subordinates and coworkers when he was health secretary in the Arroyo years.

Indeed, instead of preventively suspending DoH officials linked to the Dengvaxia program and collecting the evidence of their involvement —standard procedure in any serious internal investigation—Duque has obsessed over the refund

offered by Sanofi to the Philippine government.

Duque, as far as anyone knows, has not even come up with an authoritative registry of children given the vaccine, something that will help government quickly respond to those who may suffer ill effects as a result of vaccination.

Another knock on Duque’s response to the Dengvaxia problem is his failure to coordinate with government agencies outside of DoH which have also been ordered to investigate. For instance, instead of working closely with the Public Attorney’s Office, which has been directed to perform autopsies on the bodies of children believed to have died after being given the vaccine, Duque can only

say that he has written PAO chief Persida Acosta to “share data” with DoH but has not gotten any response.

Of course, it is unfair to accuse Duque of being part of an enormous coverup operation that seeks to absolve not only Sanofi but also past and present health officials without any real evidence. But I think it’s safe to say that Duque has been dragging his feet on the Dengvaxia crisis and has not shown any interest in taking the lead in addressing the situation proactively, in order to prevent more vaccinated children from joining the list of the 20 or so who have reportedly died after being given the drug.

AREN’T we all supposed to be equal? And yet the gap between rich and poor just keeps growing. We need to maintain equality among people. Isn’t vigorous government action necessary to keep the playing field level—to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking more than their fair share and oppressing everyone else?

There has been a lot said and a lot written about income inequality—about how unfair it is that a few people are very rich and the rest of us aren’t; that the income gap between the wealthy and even the middle-class, let alone the poor, is so large.

There’s only one problem with this complaint.

It’s wrong.

Income inequality is actually a good thing— when it is the product of a free market economy.

And your own life proves it!

An economy is made up of millions of individuals making decisions about their own lives—where and how much they want to work, what they want to buy, and so on.

You are one of those individuals.

In a free society, you are free to pursue a path in life that you believe best suits your talents. That talent might be teaching, or making music, or banking, or starting a small business, or raising a family. Whatever it is, this freedom helps to make life enjoyable, exciting, and meaningful.

But it’s also an expression of inequality. This is simply because we’re all different. We have different talents, different temperaments, and different ambitions.

That’s okay because— again in a free society—we can seek out opportunities that play to our personal strengths; that distinguish us from others.

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Opinion

WITH his dashing looks, it’s little wonder that 28-year-old tycoon Li Zeyan has wooed hundreds of thousands of women across China— not bad for an avatar in a mobile game.

Li is the most popular character in “Love and Producer,” a Chinese simulation game that has been downloaded more than 10 million times since debuting in December, mostly by women seeking steamy fantasy affairs with its four virtual suitors.

Its viral popularity has highlighted a huge potential market for the gaming industry in China, where one in four mobile phone gamers is a woman—numbers that are expected to grow.

The game, and a separate one also aimed at women in which users can “mother” an intrepid frog character, have leapt into the top ranks of China’s most-downloaded mobile games.

The frenzy over the games has focused attention on China’s “she economy”—the expanding consumer power of its hundreds of millions of smartphone-wielding women—just as game developers face slowing growth in the gigantic market for battle-and-strategy games aimed largely at Chinese men.

In “Love and Producer,” players choose from four Prince Charmings—business CEO Li, a scientist, a special agent and a famous singer—attractive “catches” that tap into the rising relationship expectations of Chinese millennial women.

China’s huge population of mobile users already increasingly live through their smartphones, communicating via messaging apps like WeChat, sharing on social media, and paying digitally for a range of goods and services with a tap on their phone screen.

“Love and Producer” now also offers the chance to have a virtual fling while sitting on the bus, said Liu Yixuan, a 19-year-old university student.

A third of my friends play the game and many insist on calling themselves Li’s ‘wife,’” Liu said.

“I’m intrigued by the characters’ good looks and the graphics, but other ‘wives’ are obsessed with talking to their ‘husband’, who will reply with sweet words in a deep and attractive voice.”

Game on Created by Nikki Games, a developer in eastern China, it was patterned on Japanese “otome,” or “maiden” games, simulated-romance worlds generally aimed at women.

China already is a mobile-gaming leader, with internet giant Tencent in particular raking in profits from games like the hit “Honour of Kings” in which players spend on things like outfits for their characters.

In “Love and Producer,” the player runs a fictional TV production company that they must save from bankruptcy, all while dating one or more of the male love interests.

Players complete tasks which allow them to collect cards that are in turn needed to realise a successful TV show—or an eventful “date” with one’s lover. Cards can also be purchased.

Steamy embraces occur, though the action stops there.

In the “real” world, one unidentified fan wished Li Zeyan a happy birthday in a giant illuminated message projected on a skyscraper in the southern city of Shenzhen on Jan. 13, a pricey stunt likely to have cost tens of thousands of yuan (several thousand dollars).

Various estimates put the percentages of US women who regularly play mobile games at 50 percent or higher, boosted by popular apps like the puzzle game Candy Crush.

Chinese consultancy iResearch said women accounted for 24.1 percent of gamers in China in 2016, but that figure is projected to climb.

“The overall mobile game industry faces a bottleneck in user growth, but female players have been unleashed in terms of playing time and their willingness and ability to pay,” said Wang Guanxiong, an independent industry analyst.

“Female players are more inclined to share on social media, including their inner thoughts, and are more loyal. They will be the breakthrough point for game companies the next two years.”

“Love and Producer” was recently leapfrogged by a Japanese-developed game called “Travelling Frog,” in which players prepare an amphibian avatar for a journey.

For a week earlier this month, it was the topdownloaded app in China in the iOS Store. AFP

Duque...

From A4

And then, there are the persistent reports that Duque is afraid to rock to boat on the scandal because some high-ranking members of Congress are also involved in the alleged coverup. These lawmakers, who sup-

posedly have the power influence the CA’s confirmation process, could reject Duque like they did his predecessor, Paulyn Ubial.

But I’m glad that Honasan and the other CA members are signaling that they will not have anything to do with the reported plot to bury the Dengvaxia scandal by

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Oplan Tokhang relaunched

Virtual beau captures Chinese hearts as female gaming blooms

By Morgan Huang

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ

IT WAS in October last year when President Duterte assigned the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as the sole agency in charge of the campaign against illegal drugs. This decision was made by the President due to the public outrage over alleged abuses by the police in the anti-illegal drug campaign.

After being sidelined for a few months, the Philippine National Police, on Monday, relaunched its “Oplan Tokhang campaign against illegal drugs. The resumption of the PNP’s anti-illegal drug operations comes

with stricter guidelines.

“Oplan Tokhang” operations should only be conducted from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Police officers are also required to report the illegal drug-related activities and personalities within their areas of responsibility to their superiors. It would be considered negligence of duty if they fail to do so.

A “one-strike policy” shall be implemented if PNP members under a chief of police are charged for illegal drug-related violations. A police director will be relieved from position when two or more chiefs of police under him are dismissed; likewise, police regional directors will be relieved if two or more provincial or city police directors are

dismissed due to illegal drug-related issues.

The new guidelines provide that only verified names by the PNP’s Directorate for Intelligence can be added to the drug watchlist. After verifying the list, the chief of police must coordinate the operational plan with the PDEA and local government units. A tokhang team shall have at least four PNP members who are chosen by the chief of police based on track record. The police should be joined by at least one representative of the local anti-drug abuse council, or at least one representative from the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office, or a civilian human rights advocate. A pre-deployment

briefing shall be conducted to finalize the plan. If a drug suspect surrenders, he/she should be referred to the nearest barangay hall, police station, or ADAC office for documentation. If he/ she refuses to surrender, the tokhang team must endorse him/her to the local drug enforcement units for a case buildup and negotiation. If he/she expresses intent to get rehabilitation, he/she must be endorsed to the LGU, or to a concerned agency such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development or the Department of Health.

After completing the operations, the Tokhang teams must evaluate their performance, and must submit an After Activity

Report to their senior officers for consolidation.

General Eduardo Año, Department of the Interior and Local Government Officer-in-Charge and concurrent National Police Commission Chairperson, has demanded accountability from the police, most especially now that their salaries have been increased. He therefore said that, “they better shape up or ship out.” He also vowed that these agencies will ensure that all guidelines are being diligently observed. I am looking forward to the fulfillment of these promises. After all, the overall achievements of the antiillegal drug campaign should not be clouded by defiant and corrupt enforcement officials.

It takes a thief to catch a thief be licensed by PCSO so that some kind of tax can be generated by the government particularly local government units. A close scrutiny of these socalled licensed operators, however, will reveal the same old jueteng operators partnering with local politicians.

If Sandra Cam was indeed appointed to the PCSO in order to stamp out corruption, she should have been appointed to an executive position and not as a member of the board which means that she is just one voice among the many. She is more comfortable working alone instead with a group. At best, her style is disruptive. But one thing that could be said about her is that she is willing to take on anybody.

She was one of those who came out swinging against her fellow Bicolana, Senator Leila de Lima whom she attacked as unfit because of her sexual dalliances. She also got into trouble because of a fracas that took place involving her in an airport.

Immediately after her appointment to the PCSO board, she issued a statement that she is there to stamp out corruption.

And then there was

that P6-million plus PCSO Christmas party.

To be fair, there may be something positive about her confrontational style.

The PSCO board will have to be on guard all the time.

But if she is in the PCSO board to stamp out corruption, why would she need 16 consultants as a board member? She should practice what she preaches.

And as if Sandra Cam was not enough imposition on the PCSO, President Duterte from out of the blue brought in gambling operator Charlie “Atong” Ang to clean up the PCSO mess.

Why Atong Ang? Only the President knows—but this must be under the old crime-fighting adage that it takes a thief to catch a thief. Whether this will work with Ang is of course another matter.

Ang was a close associate of former President Estrada and was credited for being one of the reasons for the downfall of the former president.

President Duterte is apparently of the belief that if anyone can straighten out the PCSO, it would be Ang. But how exactly can the man fix the PCSO mess

from the outside? From the kind of record of Ang has among his peers, it is doubtful if he is the right fellow for the job.

Ang, from what I have been told, is more suited to finding a way out from difficult positions or if negotiations have reached an impasse. It other words, he is more of a deal maker. There is also no incentive for Atong Ang to fix the so-called PCSO mess because if that happens, he will not be making as much money as he is making now.

PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan revealed in a congressional hearing that Ang offered him a P200-million bribe so he could control all STL operations throughout the country. Ang made the alleged offer in the company of Cam. Balutan went on to say that he has video recordings to prove that this encounter took place. Even with that, however, Cam denied the bribe claim. So it is now her word against that of Balutan.

According to Cam, the P200 million is actually the daily STL collection throughout the country. I believe that the amount is an understatement but granting that it

is true, that is something like P73.5 billion in total yearly revenues. The government tax take on the total revenues is therefore quite miniscule in relation to the total amount, which means that some people are getting rich at the expense of the government and reform is imperative.

The problem is getting the right person to do it. ** * We know that the instruction of President Duterte is to reform the PCSO so it can provide more charity to the indigent population and rid it of corruption or shall we say minimize corruption. But with Sandra and Atong at the PCSO, let us hope that it will not make the agency more problematic.

Balutan has his hands full with the two breathing down his neck. The relationship of the three is already in trouble before it even began and we can only speculate how this will develop and how the Palace will handle this.

Balutan accused Ang with attempted bribery and Cam called Balutan a liar. Something’s got to give. Whether Balutan stays or Cam and Ang go is something we have to wait and see.

If you find what you’re really good at and work hard, you might have great success and make a lot of money. If you’re an outstanding athlete, I’ll buy a ticket to see you play. If you’re a savvy investor, I’ll give you some of my money to invest.

As long as you have the freedom to guide your own destiny, you have a chance to reach your full potential—achieving success, however you define it. But if someone, say, a government bureaucrat, told you that your ambition had limits, that there was a ceiling above which you could not rise, I doubt

you’d be happy about it.

You’d feel like you were in a straightjacket.

Forced equality means less opportunity to pursue what makes you individually great.

But what about the growing gap between the rich, the 1 percent, and the rest of us, the 99 percent, that one hears so much about?

Isn’t that a bad thing?

Again, the answer is no.

Here’s why: In a free-market economy, people become wealthy making what the rich enjoy today into something almost everybody can enjoy tomorrow. The rich are the test buyers.

Consider the cellphone.

Now we all have them, but when Motorola manufactured the first one in 1983,

it was the size of a brick, had a half-hour of battery life, reception was terrible, and calls were very expensive. It cost $4000. But if no one had bought that $4000 brick, there wouldn’t be a $40 cellphone today.

In the 1960s, a computer cost over a million dollars.

Nowadays, thanks to billionaires like Michael Dell, we have incredibly advanced computers that cost us a few hundred dollars.

Remember what out-ofreach luxury flat screen TVs once cost? Only the rich could afford them. Today, your living room is essentially your own private cinema.

The free market is about turning scarcity into abundance. What was once

available to the few is now available to the many.

Wealth inequality is an important corollary to that truth.

So, should I resent the people who became wealthy because they have more money than I do, or should I be grateful for the economic system that allows them to enrich my life and the lives of millions of other people?

This feature of the free market—income inequality—can appear terribly unfair. But with a little further investigation, the real picture becomes clear.

Income inequality makes what once seemed like impossible luxuries available to almost everyone; it provides the incentive for creative people to gamble

on new ideas; it promotes personal freedom, and rewards hard work, talent, and achievement.

In sum, income inequality signals that individual liberty, opportunity, and innovation are all present in a free economy. Pretty good for something that’s supposed to be so bad.

Two final points: The 1% Club is always open to new members.

And you don’t have to be in the top one percent to have a very good life. And that, not the existence of the very wealthy, is what matters most.

deferring the secretary’s confirmation yesterday.

Of course, if the lawmakers on the commission suddenly change their tune and confirm Duque without further ado, the public will conclude (and who can blame them?) that the fix is in.

I’m just glad that the CA is finally recognizing the Dengvaxia scandal for

what it is—a terrible endangerment of hundreds of thousands of young Filipinos by their own government using public funds. And that they are now asking Duque the hard questions that they need to ask before confirming him.

The Dengvaxia controversy, unfortunately for Duque, his subordinate

officials and his predecessors, will not go away.

For the sake of all those who were given the vaccine, I am really praying that it doesn’t—and that all who perpetrated this crime are made to pay. *** It’s true, as Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales said yesterday, that a 2014 Supreme

Court ruling stands in the way of Malacañang’s order to suspend her deputy, the controversial Melchor Arthur Carandang. But it’s wrong for Morales to say that the suspension order is unconstitutional, because the 1987 charter only states that “protected” officials like Morales herself can only be removed by impeachment.

The constitution does not say that the deputies of impeachable officials like the Ombudsman need Congress’ intervention to be suspended or fired. I guess this is something that will only be resolved after Morales retires in July—taking with her all of her power to defend the person who appointed her and Carandang, as well.

DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

WE KNOW Sandra Cam as a former jueteng operator in the Bicol region who during one of those jueteng controversies suddenly found religion or the path to righteousness and started denouncing the illegal numbers game.

She was one of the many whistleblowers and eventually became the president of what will became known as the whistleblowers association. She and her group first came under the umbrella protection of retired Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz who at that time was waging a war to expose and stop the illegal numbers game.

But as it has in the past, the crusade of the good Archbishop failed and jueteng, under the guise of legality, is flourishing as the small-town lottery under the supervision of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

This is the reason why not much controversy surfaced over the last few years but STL is jueteng just the same. Under this scheme, operators will

The idol...

From A4

Eric Jurado is a hedge fund manager. He covers economic and political issues with liberty as his guiding star.

News

A6

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Sandigan lets Mike Arroyo take 5-day trip to Taiwan

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Sandiganbayan Seventh Division has allowed former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to travel five days to and from Taipei, Taiwan, saying he is “not a flight risk.”

The anti-graft court granted Arroyo’s motion to travel from Feb. 2 to 6, provided he will present himself to the division clerk of court within five days after his return to the Philippines.

Arroyo is facing graft charges at the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division owing to alleged irregularities in the Philippine National Police’s purchase of two helicopters in 2009.

The Ombudsman accused Arroyo and 19 others, including former national police chief Jesus Verzosa, of

causing "undue injury" to the government amounting to P34.6 million when the second-hand helicopters were sold to the PNP as brand new.

Arroyo did not cite a reason for the trip, and if any member of his family—including his wife, former president and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—will be joining him. He only submitted to the court his itinerary and hotel accommodation in Taiwan.

But Prosecutor Ferdinand Labog opposed Arroyo’s travel, calling it “unnecessary.”

The court said Arroyo’s P90,000 travel bond will “guarantee his faithful compliance” with the jurisdiction of the court. It said any violation will forfeit the bond and will cause the issuance of a warrant of arrest.

P3m in fake anti-impotence, OTC drugs seized in FDA raid C OMBINED agents of the Food and Drug Administration and the Philippine National Police have seized over P3 million worth of counterfeit over the counter and anti-impotence drugs during a raid Friday night at an abandoned storage unit in Sampaloc, Manila.

The FDA identified the owner or occupants of the raided unit on M. Dela Fuente St. in Sampaloc Manila as Florenda Dela Rose Cortez and her partner Mushtaq Tahir, allegedly a Pakistani national.

Forty-six big boxes containing 15 different brands of OTC medicines being manu-

Manila

Standard

TODAY

Republic of the Philippines MUNICIPALITY OF BINMALEY Province of Pangasinan

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.30

Arcade Stall No. BA 30 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE NO.06, S-2017

Sponsor: SBMELLEN F. ALIPIO and SBM LIGA PRESIDENT DOUGLAS R. DELOS ANGELES Co-sponsored by: ALL SANGGUNIANG BAYAN MEMBERS

4.31

Arcade Stall No. BA 31 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.32

Arcade Stall No. BA 32 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

SECTION 1. TITLE – This Ordinance shall be known as “An Ordinance Prescribing the Rates of Goodwill and Rental Fees of the Commercial Stalls at the BinmaleyCommercial Arcade, Providing its zoning/sectioning and regulations thereof”, also known as Binmaley Commercial Arcade Ordinance of 2017.

SECTION 2. SCOPE/COVERAGE- The provision of this Ordinance shall govern, prescribe, control, regulate and supervise the operation, administration, zoning/sectioning and regulation ofBinmaley Commercial Arcade located at Poblacion, Binmaley, Pangsinan.

SECTION 3.DEFINITION OF TERMS.As used in this Ordinance, the following terms shall mean as follows: 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7

Right to Occupy- authorized stall occupant given to a person after payment of fees as stipulated in the contract of lease.

Lessee in good standing – refers to a lessee who has no delinquencies, defaults and/or deficiencies in its payments to the Municipal Government ofBinmaley and/or has no records of violating the provisions of this Ordinance and/or the Contract of Lease.

Goodwill Fee – refers to the one time payment to be made by the first and original stall occupant as a premium for the privilege of renting the arcade stall/s, to show good faith and ensure faithful occupancy of the stall. It is non-refundable.

Transfer Fee – refers to the fee or charged paid to and collected by the Local Government from a transferee as a result of the transfer of the privilege over the stall/s made by the transferor and that the transfer was approved by the Commercial Arcade Committee .

Transferee – refers to a person who acquires the privilege over a fixed stall/salesbooth from an awardee of such.

Transferor – refers to an awardee of a fixed stall or salesbooth who relinquishes his privilege over such to another person.

Municipal Treasurer’s Clearance – is a clearance issued by the Municipal Treasurer or his/her authorized representative certifying therein that the winning applicant is not delinquent in the payment of taxes, fees and other charges due to the Municipal Government of Binmaley, Pangasinan and that he/she has complied with all the existing laws, rules, regulations and ordinances prior to the effectivity of this Ordinance.

SECTION 4. ZONING/SECTIONING OF STALLS AND THE CORRESPONDING GOODWILLAND RENTAL FEES.Zoning/sectioning of stalls and their corresponding goodwill and rental fees shall be as follows: 4.1

Arcade stall No. BA 1 shall be zoned as Auto/Motor Parts, Drugstore, Retail Store, Electrical and Hardware Supply, General Merchandise, School/Office Supplies; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.2

Arcade stall No. BA 2 shall be zoned as Auto/Motor Parts, Drugstore, Sari-sari Store, School/Office Supplies; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.3

Arcade stall No. BA 3 shall be zoned as Auto/Motor Parts, Drugstore, Sari-sari Store, School/Office Supplies; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.4

Arcade stall No. BA shall be zoned as Auto/Motor Parts, Drugstore, Sari-sari Store, School/Office Supplies; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.5

4.33

Chairman Vice Chairman Members Duties and Functions:

To conduct the opening of bids for the goodwill fee of the vacant stall/s adjudicated in the Binmaley Commercial Arcade.

b.

To make a study of the transfer of stallholders from one section to another or from one stall to another.

c.

To make a study of all phases on commercial arcade matters and to submit, comment on, and recommend such study to the Sangguniang Bayan; and

d.

SECTION 7. APPLICATION- No person or partnership shall be permitted to engage in any form of business in the Binmaley Commercial Arcade without first securing an application from the Market Specialist or his duly authorized representative and having said application duly approved by the same; provided that the lease award granted to stallholders shall constitute a permit or privilege to do business and the basis of collection of the fees as herein provided.Filipino citizens and residents of Binmaley shall be given preference in the award of the commercial stalls. All applications for the award of stalls shall be filed at the Office of the Market Specialist in the prescribed form and in triplicate copies.

Arcade Stall No. BA 5 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, Canteen and General Merchandise;

Arcade Stall No. BA 6 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop,Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA 7 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA 9 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA 10 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA 11 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA 12 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Arcade Stall No. BA No. 13 shall be zoned as Photo/Videography Shop, Pawnshop, Financial Institutions, Party Shop, Internet Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA No. 14 shall be zoned as Photo/Videography Shop, Pawnshop, Financial Institutions, Party Shop, Internet Shop, wedding and bake shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA No. 15 shall be zoned as Photo/Videography Shop, Pawnshop, Financial Institutions, Party Shop, Internet Shop, wedding and gift shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA No. 16 shall be zoned as Photo/Videography Shop, Pawnshop, Financial Institutions, Party Shop, Internet Shop, coffee shop, flower shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA No. 17 shall be zoned as Photo/Videography Shop, Pawnshop, Financial Institutions, Party Shop, Internet Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 18 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.19

Arcade Stall No. BA 19 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.20

Arcade Stall No. BA 20 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.21

Arcade Stall No. BA 21 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop; Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

4.22

Arcade Stall No. BA 22 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 23 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 24 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 25 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

4.29

Arcade Stall No. BA 29 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Those convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude; and

3.

Those convicted for any acts prohibited or made unlawful by any ordinance affecting local market ordinance, rules and regulations.

Grounds for Revocation of Contract- The following are grounds for the revocation of the Contract of Lease: 1.

Failure to comply with other requirements provided under the existing ordinance, rules or regulation affecting the administration and management of the Binmaley Commercial Arcade;

2.

Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the contract herein mentioned; and

3.

Violation of the provision against sub-leasing and other prohibited acts defined and covered by this ordinance.

SECTION 8. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS 8.1

Terms and conditions for the commercial stalls: a.

g.

j. k.

l. m. n. o. p. q. r.

s. t. u. v. w. x. y. aa.

ab.

ac.

ad.

ae. af.

Goodwill fee shall be paid in one-time payment by the winning applicant.

Failure of the winning applicant to pay in full the goodwill fee will lead to the cancellation/revocation of the contract.

Monthly rental fee shall be paid every 20th day of the following month.

Failure of the lessee to pay the monthly rental will subject him to payadditional 25% surcharge/penalty plus 2% interest per month but not to exceed 36 months.

Goodwill and rental fees shall be paid to the Office of the Municipal Treasurer.

In case the lessee is no longer interested in doing business in the stall, the lessee may turn over the said stall to the Municipal Government of Binmaley, Pangasinan.

Upon the occupancy, the lessee shall operate his business in accordance with the approved Municipal Ordinances and existing laws relative to zoning, sanitation and security.

All persons engaged in the sale or handling of food shall be provided with appropriate Health Certification valid for six (6) months from the date of issue of Municipal Health Officer or his duly authorized representative.

Any person who has been awarded the right to lease a stall in accordance withthe provisions of this Ordinance shall personally occupy and administer the same.

No alteration or changes shall be made by the lessee on the stall. In case of any improvement thereon, a written permit shall be obtained from the Municipal Mayor thru the recommendation of the Municipal Engineer and such improvement shall be at the expense of the lessee. Any improvement thereon shall become the property of the municipality of the contract.

The use of any stall as living quarters and/or sleeping quarters is strictly prohibited. No vendor or stallholder is allowed to remain inside the Binmaley Commercial Arcade beyond the market hours.

The Municipal Government of Binmaley, Pangasinan shall not be responsible for any damage to the physical structure of the stalls caused by theft or robbery. All articles or merchandise left in the stall shall be at the risk of the stallholders or owners at all times. The Office of the Market Specialist shall encourage stallholders to provide provisions to safeguard their commodities.

The Municipal Government of Binmaley,Pangasinan shall not be liable for any loss or damages which the stallholder/s and/or any third party may incur and/or suffer in the operation and/or management of the Binmaley Commercial Arcade.

It is prohibited for any person to resist, obstruct, annoy or impede any market employee or personnel in the performance of his/her duty.

No merchandise or article shall be sold, offered for sale or exposed for sale in the public market premises unless the same has been legally acquired by the vendors and/or stallholders.

Stallholders/vendors shall keep and maintain their stalls in clean and sanitary condition. They shall likewise be responsible for the cleanliness of the passageways, alleys, or spaces immediately in front or behind or by the side of their stalls, booth or spaces.

It shall be the responsibility of the stallholders and vendors to dispose the wastes they generate before closing time daily to the temporary depository facility.

All water supply lines within the stall booth space shall shouldered by the stallholder such as its bills and installation costs, provided, a written consent from the Office of the Market Specialist shall be secured before installation takes place.

All telecommunication lines, cables and electrical lines shall conform to the National Building Code, Philippine Electrical Code and other applicable laws. All telecommunication lines within the stall, booth or space shall be shouldered by the stallholder such as its bills and installation costs, provided a written consent from the Market Administrator’s Office shall be secured before installation take place.

All power supply lines within the stall, booth or space shall be shouldered by the stallholder such as its bills and installation costs, provided, a written consent from the Market Administrator’s Office shall be secured before installation takes place.

Stallholders are likewise required to provide and place at least one (1) fire extinguishers or fire fightingequipments themselves in their stalls.

In case of fire/conflagration in or near the vicinity it shall be the duty of stall occupants to report such incident to the proper authorities.

It shall also be the duty of stallholder/vendor or his/her representative to report to the Office of the Market Specialist and police station any untoward incidents, accidents or crimes that may occur within or near his/her vicinity.

Storing of any flammable materials, explosive materials or substance and toxic materials, such as agricultural insecticides and similar toxic chemicals, firecrackers and pyrotechnics, are prohibited in all stalls.

No awardee shall sublet or sublease the stall awarded nor shall any privilege acquired sold. Any person other than the stallholder found selling in the latter’s stall be considered prima facie evidence of subleasing and shall subject the stallholder to outright revocation of his/her lease award.

Transfer the privilege over stalls maybe allowed provided that transferor must first seek the approval of the Commercial Arcade Committee in which case a transfer fee must be paid by the transferee.

The revocation of contract of lease of stallholders shall be effected for causes as provided in the contract of lease and those pertinent provisions of this Ordinance. In addition, should for any reason a stallholder discontinue his business or stall is non-operational or closed for four (4) consecutive months without informing the Office of the Market Specialist, or is not paying his rental for four (4) consecutive months, such stall shall be considered vacant and its occupancy shall be disposed of in the manner prescribed in this Ordinance.

Upon the death of the stallholder, if the deceased leaves a surviving spouse or legal heirs who are not disqualified under the provisions of this Ordinance and who desire to continue the business of the deceased, the contract of lease may be transferred to the deceased’s spouse or legal heirs upon application therefore; provided, that the Office of the Market Specialist shall be notified within thirty (30) days after the death of the original stallholder/lessee of the desire of the spouse or legal heirs to succeed and upon payment of all necessary rents or lease due at the time of the original lessee provided that no transfer fee shall be exacted to the transferee up to the 2nd degree of consanguinity or affinity; provided further, that the name of the qualified, preferred relative of the stallholder/lessee, whether surviving spouse or legal heirs mentioned in his/her contract of lease.

Living within the enterprises/premises/buildings shall not be allowed. Likewise, no stallholder shall remove, construct and alter the stall, booth or space, including electrical ring or water connection without prior permit from the Office of the Market Specialist and approvalof the Municipal Engineer. Any unauthorized/illegal construction shall immediately be subjected to demolition/removal by the Office of the Market Specialist.

All items, commodities or merchandises shall be displayed in the stalls or market commodity or merchandise shall be displayed in the stalls, so as not to hamper, obstruct or impede the passage of aisles or to convenience of the market goers, and shall be arranged and displayed in a manner which shall not hamper the regular cleaning of the market premises.

The use of Video karera in any portion of the stalls shall be prohibited. Gambling of any kind and manner is strictly prohibited in the stall.

Drinking of liquor or any intoxicating beverage within the stall premises is prohibited.

SECTION 9.FINES/PENALTIES/CANCELLATION/REVOCATION OF STALL RIGHTS.Any violation of this Ordinance shall be penalized with a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred pesos (Php 2,500.00) and/or imprisonment not exceeding 30 days or both at the discretion of the court and shall be sufficient cause for the cancellation or revocation of a stallholder’s lease right or vendor’s privilege to occupy a stall at the Binmaley Commercial Arcade and his/her ejectment therefrom.

Any such stallholder whose lease right or privilege of occupancy has been cancelled or revoked shall be banned from leasing or occupying any stall at the Binmaley Commercial Arcade in the future.

SECTION 10. NO CONTEST PROVISION. Any stallholder who is cited for violation of this Ordinance and does not wish to contest the violation but is willing to pay voluntarily the fine imposed upon him/her prior to the filing of formal charges with the proper court shall be allowed to pay the imposed fine with the Municipal Treasurer’s Office to avoid being prosecuted within seven (7) calendar days from the day he/she was cited for violating any provision of this Ordinance, otherwise, a case shall be filed against the violator.

SECTION 11. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE- Should any provision of this ordinance be subsequently declared by a competent authority to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not so declared shall not be affected by such declaration and shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 12. REPEALING CLAUSE- Any Ordinance/s or any provision/s thereof found to be inconsistent with this Ordinance is/are hereby deemed modified, amended and or repealed accordingly.

SECTION 13. EFFECTIVITY- This ordinance shall take effect upon favorable review by the SangguniangPanlalawigan of Pangasinan and after its publication pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 7160.

ENACTED and PASSED this 12th dayof October, 2017 at Binmaley, Pangasinan.

WITH THE CONCURRENCE OF THE SANGGUNIANG BAYAN (SGD.) HON. ROLANDO D. FERRER

(SGD.) HON. VIOLETA P. SALAZAR

(SGD.) HON. VISMARK V. VALERIO

(SGD.) HON. ELLEN F. ALIPIO

(SGD.) HON. URBANO C. DELOS ANGELES III

(SGD.) HON. JOEL JOSE A. CARRERA

(SGD.) HON. FRANCO C. FRANCISCO, LL.B.

(SGD.) HON. JOCELYN V. BAUTISTA (SGD.) HON. DOUGLAS R. DELOS ANGELES Attested: (SGD.) HON. EDGAR C. MAMENTA Municipal Vice Mayor And Presiding Officer

This Contract of Lease consisting of____________ pages has been by the parties and their witnesses on each and every page thereof;

Arcade Stall No. BA 27 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

Delinquent stallholder;

BEFORE ME, a notary public, this __________ day of _____, 2017 at Binmaley, Pangasinan personally appeared _________________, Municipal Mayor and __________________ with the Residence Certificate Nos. As indicated below their respective names, both made known to me and to me known to be same persons who executed the foregoing instrument and they acknowledged to me oath that the same is their free act voluntary deed.

Arcade Stall No. BA 26 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 28 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

____________________________

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) MUNICIPALITY OF BINMALEY. . .) S.S PROVINCE OF PANGASINAN……………)

Witness my hand and notarial seal on the day place as herein above indicated.

Doc. No.____________ ; Page No. ____________; Book No.____________; Series of 2017.”

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.28

Res. Cert. No. Issued On Issued at

SIGNED IN THE PRESENCE OF: _____________________________

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.27

______________________________ Municipal Mayor (LESSOR)

Res.Cert.No. ______________ Issued on ___________________ Issued at ___________________

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.26

The transferee may acquire a stall from an awardee after complying with the requirements setforth by this Ordinance and after payment of the transfer fee in the amount of five thousand pesos (Php 5,000.00) only.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIT OF BINMALEY by:

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.25

b.

2.

i.

______________________________ LESSEE

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.24

The awardee may relinquish or transfer his/her privilege over the stall/s to another provided that there is an approval from the Commercial Arcade Committee and that proof of payment of the transfer fee is presented/submitted to the said Committee.

1.

h.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have hereunto set their hands this ___________ day of ______________ 2017 at Binmaley, Pangasinan.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.23

7.7

a.

Disqualification: The following are disqualified from being a stallholder in the Binmaley Commercial Arcade:

The Municipality of Binmaley, Province of Pangasinan, Philippines, a public corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of the Philippines herein represented by __________________________________, Municipal Mayor of Binmaley, Pangasinan, hereinafter called the LESSOR, and ___________________, of legal age, Filipino and with postal address at ____________________ hereinafter called the LESSEE. WITNESSETH:

1. That the term of the lease is for a period of Five (5) years from ____________ to ____________, and must be renewable provided that the lessee is a lessee in good standing. However, this contract may be terminated by either party by giving a written notice of termination at least thirty (30) days in advance.

2. That no building structure, stall, booth, or improvements of any nature shall be introduced within the leased premises without the written prior consent of the LESSOR and unless the same is in accordance with the kind of specifications approved by the Municipal Ordinance. All improvements so introduced without prior approval or done in violation hereof shall become property of the Municipality of Binmaley.

3. Goodwill fee shall be paid in full payment upon signing of the contract by the winning applicant. Failure of the winning applicant to pay in full the goodwill fee will lead to the cancellation/ revocation of the contract; 4. In case the lessee is no longer interested in doing business in the stall, the lessee may turn over said stall to the Municipal Government of Binmaley, Pangasinan; 5.The LESSEE shall pay the monthly rental of the leased stalls every 20th of the month without express demand by the LESSOR. Delay in payment of monthly rental for four (4) cumulative months shall ipso facto cancel or revoke the contract; 6. That the monthly rental of the leased stalls as embodied in this Municipal Ordinance shall be payable to the Municipal Treasurer or his/her duly authorized representative; 7. In the event of failure to pay aforementioned rental within due time as herein prescribed, subject LESSEE shall be required to pay an additional 25% surcharge from the monthly rental fee, as the case may be; 8. That the LESSEE agrees and warrants that the leased stall shall be used by him/her exclusively for the purpose for which it leased and that he/she is prohibited from using the said premises for any other purpose. Further, it shall not be used as dwelling place or sleeping quarters by of the LESSEE or his/her employee, guests or customers; 9. That the LESSEE may assign, transfer or convey his/her rights of lease over the stall under lease or any portion thereof to his relative of the second degree of consanguinityor by affinity together with the written consent of the LESSOR. 10. That the LESSOR reserves the right to change the amount of rentals over the stalls under the Lease Contract and it can only be done by way of an ordinance enacted by the Sangguniang Bayan; 11. Any damage or injury on the stall herein leased due to the fault of the LESSEE or his/her helpers and/or other third persons who may have gained access to the leased stall, shall be repaired promptly at the expense of the LESSEE under the supervision of the LESSOR and that the LESSOR shall not be held responsible for any loss or damage which the LESSEE may sustain in the premises during the repair; 12. The LESSEE shall comply with all conditions, rules and regulations which have been or may hereunder be promulgated by duly constituted authorities and maintain the leased stall and its premises in a clean and sanitary condition and dispose of all rubbish or trash thereat only thru the means places indicated by the LESSOR or his duly authorized representatives; 13. The LESSEE shall pay and defray all the expenses of his/her consumption of electric current and such other utility services that may be connected to the lease stalls, and he/shelikewise bear the expenses for the repair of such facilities; 14.The LESSEEshall not claim any loss or damage on account of ordinary repairs that the LESSOR may order to be done on the building that may interrupt the use of the leased stall; 15. The LESSEE shall be responsible at all times for act done by his/her employees,agents, or other persons entering the leased stall; 16.The LESSOR shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which LESSEE may sustain on the leased stall due to any fortuitous event or force majeure; 17. Upon the termination or expiration of this contract, the LESSEE shall promptly surrender to the LESSOR the leased stall. Failure to surrender the same, said LESSEE shall be responsible to the LESSOR for all damages that they might occur by reason of said failure and/or refusal; 18. Upon the expiration or earlier termination of this Contract, the LESSOR hereby authorizes the LESSEE to remove from the stall, improvements of any nature introduced by the LESSEE on the leased premises if such could not produce any damage to the property, and to deposit all personal belongings of said LESSEE in a bodega where the latter shall bear all costs of transfer and storage; 19. The LESSOR and/or his/her duly authorized representative shall have the right to enter and inspect the leased stall at any reasonable time of the day to ensure compliance with the terms of this Contract; 20. The LESSEE hereby acknowledges and confirms that he has seen and inspected the premises herein and that it is in good condition and is suitable for the purpose for which it is leased and he/she agrees to surrender it peacefully, also in good condition upon the expiration or termination of this Contract; 21. The operation of Binmaley Commercial Arcade shall be opened at 4 o’clock in the morning and closed at 10 o’clock in the evening. However, on the 24th day to 31st day of December of every year, the Binmaley Commercial Arcade may be opened 24 hours. Any request for the extension of time should be subject to the approval of the Market Specialist; 22. The segregation of solid waste shall be made daily. Segregation should primarily be conducted by the LESSEE of the stall. Individual stall owners shall keep and maintain their stall in clean and sanitary condition. The LESSEEis required to have individual garbage cans. All garbage cans must be properly covered.

23. The failure of the LESSOR to insist upon the strict compliance with any of the terms and condition herein stipulated shall not deemed a relinquishment or waiver of any rights or remedy he may have, nor shall it be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach or default of the terms, conditions and covenants herein contained whichshall be deemed to have made, unless expressed in writing and signed by the latter; 24. In case of litigation for the collectionof any unpaid of fees or enforcement of any of the conditions of this contract, the LESSEE shall be liable for damages,and attorney’s fees apart from the costs and other expenses incidental to the suit.

Arcade Stall No. BA 8 shall be zoned as Bank/Financial Institutions, Law Office, Clinic, Drugstore, Grocery, School/Office Supplies, Internet Shop, and Canteen;

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.18

7.6

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS:

That the LESSOR lets and leases unto the LESSEE and the latter hereby agrees and accepts to lease a commercial stall at the Binmaley Commercial Arcade located at Poblacion, Binmaley, Pangasinan, in Arcade Stall No.__, zoned/sectioned as ______________ intended for the sale of ___________________ under the following terms and conditions:

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.17

7.5.1 TRANSFER FEE for Transfer of Privilege over the Stall/s.

f.

“CONTRACT OF LEASE

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.16

Awards and Contract – The Commercial Arcade Committee shall make the corresponding awards of the different arcade stalls herein mentioned within one (1) month from the approval of this ordinance and shall enter a contract with winning applicants immediately thereafter.

Contents of the Contract of Lease: The contract of lease between the Municipality of Binmaley as represented by its Municipal Mayor and the stallholder shall be prepared in quadruplicate copies shall be worded as follows:

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.15

Priority 3.Other interested parties.

7.5

d. e.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.14

Priority 2. Actual vendors residing outside Binmaley and doing business in Binmaley

The Market Specialist shall acknowledge receipt of the duplicate copy and keep a record book for such purpose. The triplicate copy shall be retained by the applicant.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.13

Applicants shall be prioritized as follows:

b. c.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.12

Adjudication of the stalls shall be by module and then by stalls, which shall be undertaken by the Commercial Arcade Committee through public bidding.

b)

The application shall be signed by the applicant in person or by his/her attorney-in-fact, with three copies of his/her picture, each to be pasted on the application if the same is approved.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.11

a)

Priority 1: Original occupants/stall holders of the old commercial building.

To recommend changes, modifications or amendments in the zoning/sectioning of stalls, in case there is any, at the Binmaley Commercial Arcade for approval by the Sangguniang Bayan.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.10

Municipal Administrator Market Specialist Local Finance Committee President of the Binmaley Commercial Arcade Stallholders Association NGO Representative

a.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.9

Adjudication of the stalls in the Binmaley Commercial Arcade be made through the following procedures:

SECTION 6. COMMERCIAL ARCADE COMMITTEE- There is hereby a Commercial Arcade Committee created for this purpose and under this Ordinance which shall be composed of the following:

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.8

7.4

SECTION 5. ZONING/SECTIONING AND NUMBERING OF STALLS- In consonance with the provisions of this Ordinance, the Market Specialist shall make the corresponding numbering of the different commercial stalls and their respective Sections as zoned under this Ordinance which will be in uniformed sizes and colors and be painted immediately beneath business name of the stall owner in the following manner:

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.7

Bids shall be written in the bid forms numberedand prescribed by the Commercial Arcade Committee.

It shall decide which stall shall be open for bidding first. The winning bidder and the correspondingstall number shall be announced after every bidding.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 3,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 250, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.6

7.3

Arcade Stall No. BA 33 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

Arcade Stall No. BA 34 shall be zoned as Coffee Shop, Parlor/Barber Shop, Pawnshop, Internet Shop, Flower Shop, School/Office Supply, Gown, Laundry Shop, Repair/Electronic Shop;

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Bidding for all stall shall be conducted by the Commercial Arcade Committee. Notice of public bidding shall be posted in three (3)conspicuous places in the Municipal Hall Compound. The Commercial Arcade Committee may at its option cause the publication of the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the Municipality of Binmaley. In this notice shallbe specified the number of the stall or booth, the section where located, and the last day of filing of said application for occupancy thereof. The same notice shall remain where it is posted for a period not less than ten (10) days immediately preceding the date of the bidding.

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum) 4.34

tory Enforcement Unit, said the raid was conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 28 Judge Jean Marie A. Bacorro-Villana in the presence of Bgy. 439. Zone 44 Chairman Rolando Sison and the building’s administrator.

Bantolo said the raid was part of a follow-up operation together with agents from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit’s AntiFraud Commercial Crimes Unit led by Supt. Raymund Liguden.

7.2

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

Be it ordained by the Sangguniang Bayan of Binmaley, Pangasinan in session assembled that:

and fake pharmaceutical and beauty products, produced locally or abroad, and sold in the market with the intent to deceptively represent their origins, authenticity or effectiveness.

To avoid being victimized by these merchants of fake medicines and beauty products, the consumers should purchase them only from governmentlicensed pharmacies and make sure they have the Certificate of Product Registration from the FDA, Puno said.

Allen B. Bantolo, Officer in Charge of the FDA's Regula-

3. DTI permit/license 4. Mayor’s Permit 5. Municipal Treasurer’s Clearance

Monthly Stall Rental --------------------------- Php 2,500.00 Goodwill Fee ------------------------------------ Php 200, 000.00 (Minimum)

OFFICE OF THE SANGGUNIANG BAYAN “AN ORDINANCE PRESCRIBING THE RATES OF GOODWILL AND RENTAL FEES OF THE COMMERCIAL STALLS AT THE BINMALEY COMMERCIAL ARCADE, PROVIDING FOR ITS ZONING/SECTIONING AND REGULATIONS THEREOF”, ALSO KNOWN AS BINMALEY COMMERCIAL ARCADE ORDINANCE OF 2017.

factured by a local drug company and the anti-impotence prescription drug brands Cialis and Tadalafil were seized during the raid.

“This continuing anti-fake drugs operation is part of the FDA’s Joint Task Force D-PUNCH, or Destroying Products Unfit for Human

Consumption campaign, together with the PNP,” FDA Director General Nela Charade G. Puno said.

The public or the consumers must always be vigilant against these fake medicines, for they may be contaminated, contain wrong or no active ingredient, could have the right active ingredient but at the wrong doze, and may cause more harm than good to their health if taken, Puno pointed out.

She said the Philippine drug market is now flooded with numerous unregistered

7.1

NOTARY PUBLIC

No applicant shall be awarded a market stall unless he complies with the following: a) b)

Applicant is not delinquent in the payment of taxes, fees and other charges due to the Municipal Government.

Applicant must secure a clearance from the Municipal Treasurer’s Office.

Applicant must submit, together with his application, the following:

1. Community Tax Certificate (Residence Certificate) 2. BIR/TIN (Tax Identification No.)

I hereby certify that the foregoing ordinance was adopted and approved by the Sangguniang Bayan during its regular session on October 12, 2017.

(SGD.) LIEZL V. CAMACHO Secretary to the Sanggunian

Approved: (SGD.) HON. SIMPLICIO L. ROSARIO Municipal Mayor (MS-JAN. 31 / FEB. 1 & 2, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

Manila

Standard

TODAY

Top business PH players in fundraising golf tourney FOR the sixteenth year, the Federation of Philippine Industries—composed of 34 industry associations and 132 corporations from across different sectors—will be hosting a fundraising golf tournament geared toward the advancement of Philippine businesses.

Senior executives and key stakeholders from the country’s Top 1000 Corporations will gather at the Tagaytay Midlands Golf Course on Feb. 9 to take part in a charity drive that has consistently proven crucial to the success of the FPI’s numerous advocacies to promote Philippine entrepreneurship.

As in the past years, this coming together of the Philippine business sector’s most civic-minded movers and shakers is a demonstration of FPI members’ generosity of spirit, as well as their commitment to support local industries in their vital role in the heightened competitiveness and in the continuous growth of the national economy.

Among the organization’s campaigns that the fundraising tournament will be benefiting are advocacies like anti-smuggling (which includes the fight against Illicit Trade), power and energy and environment sustainability. The FPI extends its gratitude to those who have already pledged to take part in the fundraiser, as it looks forward to the support of the many guests who are expected to lend a hand in the success of the tournament.

The 16th Annual Federation of Philippine Industries Golf Tournament will be co-presented by Coca Cola Femsa Philippines— part of the broader Coca-Cola Femsa group, the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world— and Coca-Cola Philippines, San Miguel Corp.and PMFTC while our Major Hole sponsors are Air Liquide Philippines; Alpla Philippines; Asia Brewery Inc; Banco De Oro; Chamber Of Automotive Manufacturers Of The Phil. Inc.; Eaglematrix Security Agency, Inc.

A7

POC skirts issue on February polls

By Peter Atencio

T

ALKS of the looming election ordered by a court ruling this February have been discouraged during the Philippine Olympic Committee General Assembly at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club on Wednesday.

Action in the “2018 World Slasher Cup Invitational 9-Cock Derby at the Smart Araneta Coliseum resumes today in the semifinal round. Currently the hottest topic among cockfight aficionados nationwide, the Slasher Cup drew the eliminations to a close yesterday with about 300 entries.

World Slasher Cup semifinals today THE “2018 World Slasher Cup Invitational 9-Cock Derby at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, currently the hottest topic among cockfight aficionados nationwide, drew the eliminations to a close yesterday with about 300 entries.

Action resumes today, Thursday in the semifinal round supported by Excellence Poultry & Livestock Specialists and PitGames Media Inc. of CEO Manny Berbano, who scored two wins in last Tuesday’s 2-cock elims.

The champion/s will be known on Feb. 7.

Early favorite among the foreign contingent is 2006 WSC champ Ferdie Patam of California, whose two entries (California Dreamers 1 and 2) tallied two wins each.

Patam will again field the

shifty Cowan Roundheads and bullstag hennies, a winning line he developed for the last 11 years. U nbeaten Craig Miller and John Rawlins of Wisconsin (Philbilies LSU), Butch Cambra of Hawaii (Bloodline Onipa NM Kanlaon) and Fil-Am Rene Medina (Arayat 2) join the fray today.

Last year’s back-to-back champion Frank Berin leads the locals, together with Excellence’s Biboy Enriquez, Joey Melendres of Australia, Anthony Marasigan, cockfight idol Rep. Patrick Antonio, Carlos Tumpalan, Rikki Reyes, James Uy, Jojo Alcovendas, and Boy Gamilla, among others.

Witness the exciting games live at the Big Dome.

For patron and box tickets, please visit Ticketnet box office at the Araneta Coliseum Circle,

beside yellow gate; or call 9115555 for more info.

Please follow the WSC official website at www.worldslashercup.ph, or the official Facebook page at @WorldSlasherCupOfficial for updates, information, videos and other content.

Veteran Biboy Enriquez, part of Araneta’s Pintakasi of Champions since the 1960s, led the locals with two victories. Other two pointers: cockfight idol and Rep. Patrick Antonio and Anthony Marasigan (two entries each), Jojo Alcovendaz, Boy Gamilla, Rep. Ping Amante, Jun Mendoza, Tony Marfori, Rikki Reyes, Jimmy Junsay, lawyer Edgar Santos, Mayor Ador Pleyto, Frank Berin/Mayor Francis Espiritu, Danny Ngan, James Uy/Lance dela Torre, Carlos Tumpalan and MRV entry.

Republic of the Philippines Province of Eastern Samar Municipality of Oras Invitation to Bid forConstruction of Oras Integrated Public Market and Bus Terminal 1. The Local Government Unit of Oras, through the General Appropriations Act of 2018 intends to apply the sum of One Hundred Thirty Five Million Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos Only (P135,350,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Construction of Oras Integrated Public Market and Bus Terminal (CB-INFRA-2018-001).

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Rep. Mikee Romero of GlobalPort-Philippine polo team poses with a member of Thailand Polo Association after winning the MVP award in the recent All Asia Cup at the VS Sports Club in Bangkok, Thailand.

GlobalPort settles for 2nd, but Romero named MVP THE GlobalPort-Philippine polo team fell short in its first-ever bid to win the All Asia Cup, but team captain and Rep. Mikee Romero (1Pacman Party-List) emerged as the toast of the tournament after winning the MVP award.

The GlobalPort side suffered an 8-6 defeat to the Thais in one of the toughest final matches in years.

“We fought gallantly but the breaks went their (Thais) way,” said Romero.

The event was highlighted by a tribute honoring Romero’s son, Miguel, who passed away last December.

Romero hoisted his son’s jersey in an emotional move before the awarding ceremonies.

Romero’s son was also a member of the national polo team.

The PH team advanced to the final after a stunning win over SEAG bronze medal winner Brunei.

Aside from Romero, other members of the team are Ricardo Garcia, Anthony Garcia and Adrian Garcia.

They made it to the medal round by topping their group elims, beating Indonesia and China.

Dee-Uy tops Yulo memorial golf KWAN Shing Dee and partner Neil Uy assemble a 297 and bag the team low combined for 160 Stableford points to gross plum with Aniceto Mandanas capture the overall championship while coming away with a 142 to emerge Mari Hechanova and Junjun Plana took the individual low gross champion. the low gross honors in the 40th Jose Yulo Memorial golf tournament at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club’s North and South Courses in Laguna last weekend.

P0.0 M+ Dee and Uy edged Christopher Yam and Jerboa Go, who pooled a 157, while P0.0 M+ Tommy Sliman and Joe Sullivan scored a 154 to finish third in Cangolf’s premier DIGITS member-guest tournament event held in memory of the former House Speaker.

DIGITS Hechanova and Plana, meanwhile, flashed their faEZ2 miliarity with the layout to

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 6 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 00-00-00 2 00-00

2. The Local Government Unit of Orasnow invites bids for Construction of Oras Integrated Public Market and Bus Terminal. Completion of the Works is required Twelve (12) Months. Bidders should have completed 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.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, cooperatives, and partnerships or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from LGU-Oras and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00AM-12:00NN and 1:00PM-5:00PM. 5. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested bidders on January 31, 2018 from the address below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of P 30,000.00.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6. The Local Government Unit of Oras will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 9, 2018, 10:00AM at Municipal Engineer’s Office, Municipal Building, Oras, Eastern Samar, which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7. Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before February 21, 2018 at 9:00AM. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on February 20, 2018 at 9:00AM at Municipal Engineer’s Office, Municipal Building, Oras, Eastern Samar. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8. The Local Government Unit of Oras reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9. For further information, please refer to: Engr. Artemio M. Maiso BAC Chairman Municipal Bldg. Oras, Eastern Samar 09087534230 khayde_cassie@yahoo.com (SGD) ENGR. ARTEMIO M. MAISO BAC CHAIRMAN/ Municipal Engineer (MS-FEB. 1, 2018)

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines President Ricky Vargas made one of his rare appearances in the gathering with executive director Ed Picson and informed POC members of a decision that was issued by the Court of Appeals last Tuesday.

But POC president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. moved to adjourn the meeting and walked away from the proceedings.

“I ruled already that there should be no talking about the case. You can talk on your own. This session is adjourned,” said Cojuangco before he stood up and left.

The Court of Appeals denied the POC’s petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order that would have stopped a Feb. 23 election for a new set of leaders as ordered by Judge Maria Gracia Cadiz-Casaclang of the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 155.

POC lawyer Simeon Garcia informed Vargas and Picson that the order has not officially been received by the POC. “There is no legal notice to the POC and as such, we cannot (comment). So, we will have to wait,” said Garcia.

The Court of Appeals made its decision known last Tuesday in a four-page ruling written by Associate Justices Ma. Filomena Singh, Ramon Bato and Edwin Sorongon. According to the ruling, “the court finds no grounds

ERRORS & OMISSIONS In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published.

We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

for the issuance of a TRO. The petitioners failed to establish a right in esse that deserves protection.”

The Vargas camp, through Picson argued that the initial order of Judge Cadiz-Casaclang was immediately executory, adding they should hold polls for the positions of president and chairman only.

POC board member Prospero Pichay of chess later discouraged Picson from discussing the court decision.

It will be recalled that Vargas and Tagaytay Rep. Abraham Tolentino of cycling, filed their candidacies for president and chairman, respectively, for the 2016 POC elections.

But they were disqualified by the POC Commission on Election composed of Chairman Frank Elizalde and members Bro. Bernard Oca and Rep. Conrado Estrella III. With the disqualification of Vargas and Tolentino, incumbent president Cojuangco Jr. went on to run for re-election unopposed.

Vargas and Tolentino filed and won a decision from the Pasig RTC on December 1 declaring the election held on November 25, 2016 null and void.

Early this month, the executive council of the POC came up with a unanimous decision to seek a seek a TRO in time for a Jan. 22 deadline that’s set by the court, but their motion was denied by the Court of Appeals.

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE:

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late Spouses Rafael S. Santayana & Aurea Cancio Santayana was extra judicially settled by and among their heirs as per affidavit executed on 28 December 2017 entered as Doc. No. 17510, Service No. 130-132, Series of 2017, of the Consular District of Consul KERWIN ORVILLE C. TATE of New York, Conn., Del., Main, Mass., N.H., N.J., Penn., RI. and Vt.; affidavit executed on 29 December 2017 entered as Doc. No. ACK17-12443, Series of 2017, Service No. 27966, O.R. 36 of Vice-Consul DARRELL ANN R. ARTATES for the District of Columbia & the States of Alabama, Fla., Ga., Kentucky, Md., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Va and W.Va., affidavit executed on 4Jan. 2018 entered as Doc., No. 246, Page No.77, Book No. 60, Series of 2018 of the Notarial Registry of PEDRO SANTOS, a notary public per PTR No.992068, IBP No. 101683, Roll No.8364, Appt. No. 89.

(MS-JAN. 25, FEB. 1 & 8, 2018)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION The public is hereby notified that the Philippine Representative Office of INPAY SWITZERLAND AG, with registered address at Unit 10A, 5th Avenue Cor. 26th Street, Crescent Park West, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines, will be CLOSED. The closure of the Philippine representative office will take effect upon approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(MS-JAN. 25, FEB. 1 & 8, 2018)

Republic of the Philippines Province of Batangas MUNICIPALITY OF LOBO Invitation to Bid Design and Build Scheme for the Construction of One (1) StoreyNew Public Market at Barangay Poblacion, Lobo, Batangas CONTRACT ID NO.8000-01-01-005-1.3.3 The Municipal Government of Lobo, has received a Loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines towards the cost of and it intends to apply the proceeds of this Loan to payments under the contract for the Design and Build Scheme for the Construction of One (1) StoreyNew Public Market at Barangay Poblacion, Lobo, Batangas with the sum of Eighty Million Pesos (Php80,000,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) chargeable to payments under the contract for Design and Build Scheme for the Construction of One (1) StoreyNew Public Market at Barangay Poblacion, this municipality. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bids opening.

Municipal Government of Lobo now invites bids for the Design and Build Scheme for the Construction of One (1) StoreyNew Public Market. Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II, Instructions to Bidders. Completion of the Works is required within 330cd.

Bidding will be conducted in accordance with relevant procedures for open competitive bidding as specified in the “Annex G”- GUIDELINES FOR THE PROCUREMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CONTRACTS FOR DESIGN AND BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of IRR of RA 9184, with some amendments, as stated in these bidding documents and is open to all bidders from eligible source countries as defined in the applicable procurement guidelines of the said RA. The contract shall be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bidder (LCRB) who was determined as such during post-qualification. The Approved Budget for the Contract for this project is Eighty Million Pesos ( Php80,000,000.00).

The Design and Build Contractor must have completed similar projects in the amount of at least fifty (50%) percent of the approved ABC in the five (5) years which are similar in nature provided further that the contractor has completed project in vertical structures/building. For the Pre-Detailed Design and Detailed Design portion of the contract, the bidder is required to hire the minimum number of people Project Coordinator, Architect, Civil/Structural Engineer, Electrical Engineer and Sanitary Engineer. For the construction phase the bidder is required to hire Project Manager, Project Engineer, Materials Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Foreman and technical personnel with relevant experience.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipal Government of Lobo, Batangas and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00am to 4:00pm, Mondays to Fridays.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from February 01-22, 2018 from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the bidding documents in the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php 50,000.00).

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) provided that bidders shall pay the non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The Municipal Government of Lobo, Batangas will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 08, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the SB Session Hall, 2nd floor, SB Building, Municipal Compound, Poblacion, Lobo, Batangas, which shall be open to all interested parties Bids must be delivered on or before February 22, 2018 at 12:00 PM at the Office of the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator, 2nd floor, Sotto Building, Municipal Compound, Poblacion, Lobo, Batangas. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Securing Declaration or bid security in the amount of Php 1,600,000.00 in the form of Cash or Cashier’s/ Manager’s check or Bank Guarantee issued by a universal or commercial Bank.

Bid opening shall be on February 22, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the SB Session Hall, 2nd floor, SB Building, Municipal Compound, Poblacion, Lobo, Batangas,. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The Municipal Government of Lobo, Batangas 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, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: ENRICO M. HOSMILLO SECRETARY Office of the Municipal Mayor 2rd Floor, Sotto Bldg. Mun. Compound, Poblacion,, Lobo, Batangas Tel No. 09558805252, Sgd. ISAGANI T. LABRADOR Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee Tel No. 09175452067 (MS-FEB. 1, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

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

A8

Historic night for Harden

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

James Harden of the Houston Rockets dunks against the Orlando Magic at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. James Harden is the first player in Rockets history to score 60 points in a game, and he’s the first player in NBA history to produce 60+ points and 10+ assists in the same game. James Harden has also become the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double with at least 60 points scored.

The Rockets won, 114-107. AFP

TNT extends Kia’s slide

By Jeric Lopez

T

NT KaTropa stepped on the gas in critical stages in the second half to subdue woeful Kia, 90-85, in the resumption of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Veterans Jayson Castro and Kelly Williams carried most of the load for the Tropang Texters throughout the contest.

Williams scored a game-high 23 points with eight rebounds, while Castro had an all-around

Padilla, Velez lead net roster JOHN David Velez goes for another double-title feat while Casey Padilla hopes to shine at home as they lead the title chase in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala CdO regional age-group tennis tournament beginning today (Thursday, Feb. 1) at the Nazareth Tennis Club in Cagayan de Oro. Close to 200 entries are slugging it out in nine age categories plus five in the doubles side of the Group 2 tournament serving as the second leg of the 50-stage nationwide circuit sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Velez topped the boys’ 14- and 16-and-under divisions in the Fr. Suarez Cup in Bulacan last month although the rising star from Davao has opted to skip the 14-U battle and test his mettle in the 18-U side where he is expected to slug it out with top seed Steven Sonsona from Tubod, Lanao, both in the 16and 18-U play.

“After the successful Fr. Suarez Cup, we expect another fierce battle for top honors and ranking points among the region’s leading age-groupers, particularly in the boys’ side” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Padilla, meanwhile, seeks to draw inspiration from the home crowd as she shoots for the crown in the girls’ 12- and 14-U categories of the five-day tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp. and sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.

effort, scoring 22 points of top of nine rebounds and four assists.

The win moved TNT up to fourth place with a 4-3 mark.

On the other hand, Kia slipped further down to 1-6 at the bottom as its chances of making it in the

post-season became even more bleak.

A late blitz in the third period allowed TNT to gain leverage and control.

For most part, it was a neck-toneck battle as both teams were exchanged punches.

Neither team gained a significant upperhand through most of the first three quarters, until TNT KaTropa created some much needed separation to end the third.

A key 11-0 run to end the third enabled the Texters to turn a 58-62 deficit into a crucial 6962 advantage heading into the

final frame.

That spurt proved to be the deciding factor as TNT held on in the payoff period by keeping Kia at bay, even as the Picanto had a final surge.

Kia erected a 6-0 run to get itself back in the game and trim its deficit to only two, 83-85, with 1:35 left after a Jackson Corpuz basket.

But the Texters immediately answered to ice the game, scoring four straight points courtesy of RR Garcia on successive plays to make it 89-83 for the Texters with only 44 ticks left.

That proved to be the dagger

and the Picanto was unable to recover.

Rashawn McCarthy led Kia with 21 markers.

The Scores TALK N TEXT 90—Williams 23, Castro 22, Garcia 13, Semerad 7, Torres 7, Rosario 6, Pogoy 5, Carey 3, Reyes 2, Onwubere 2, Hernandez 0.

KIA 85—McCarthy 21, Corpuz 17, Galanza 9, Camson 8, Yee 7, Khobuntin 6, Lastimosa 5, Escoto 5, Tubid 3, Gabriel 2, Sara 2, Ababou 0.

Quarters: 28-24, 42-29, 69-62, 90-85.

Commissioner Marcial wants to reinvigorate PBA

By Charles Dantes PHILIPPINE Basketball Association Commissioner Willy Marcial promised fans and the media that a brighter future awaits the nation’s number one basketball league during the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Wednesday at the Tapa King-Araneta Center, Cubao.

The weekly forum between sports personalities and sportswriters turned into a much lighter discussion as Marcial, the known press darling that he is, shared his insights on how to get fans back to watch and support PBA again.

“Ang vision ko ay maibalik ang mga fans natin,” said Marcial.

He wants players to be more close to the fans, citing the likes of great PBA cagers, Robert Jaworksi and Alvin Patrimonio as the best example of players treasuring their faithful fans.

“Sumikat sila Alvin (Patrimonio) at Senator (Robert) Jaworski kahit alasdiyes na ng gabi na kumakamusta pa din sa mga fans,” said Marcial.

Other than the plan to reinvigorate PBA, Marcial also took notice of the officiating of game officials and unity between players and referees.

On Sunday, Marcial implemented a way for fans to further understand PBA rules by letting technical director Eric Castro speak during the post-game interview and explain the technicalities involved during the endgame confusion that marred the San Miguel-Barangay Ginebra Philippine Cup encounter.

“Basta may controversial call na technicality at hindi judgment call, papupuntahin ko si Eric to explain everything,” said the 56-year-old Marcial, who began his career in the league as statistician and panel scorer back in the 1980s.

“At least magkakaroon na ng idea ang lahat, including the fans, kung ano talaga ang rules ng liga. Hindi ‘yung puro haka-haka lang. But lahat naman ‘yun (calls) ire-review namin kinabukasan,” he said.

Marcial, the long-time head of the league’s External Affairs and Communications department and former assistant to the commissioner, disclosed he’s set to meet with all 12 coaches within the week to discuss and get their inputs about officiating.

Asked about the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League organized by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Marcial answered that there is no problem between the two basketball leagues.

“Okay tayo diyan, maraming opportunities ang players natin. Marami tayong mabibigay na trabaho, hindi lang players, coaches at pati na din ball boys,” he explained.

Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Willy Marcial

Alvarez’s career performance carries Jose Rizal U past Letran JOSE Rizal University rode on a career effort by Shola Alvarez as it turned back Letran, 22-25, 2826, 25-17, 25-16, yesterday to remain in the Final Four hunt in the 93rd NCAA women’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan City.

The power-spiking Alvarez unloaded 30 points, which is not only her best in JRU uniform but also a season-high, to help propel the Lady Bombers at joint fourth with the San Sebastian Lady Stags with 5-3 (win-loss) records while staying in the race.

JRU could strengthen their chances even more if it could hurdle an already eliminated Lyceum, which lost to Emilio Aguinaldo, 25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 17-25, 15-11, earlier, on Tuesday.

The Lady Bombers started out slow, dropped the opening

set and trailed by as much as nine points in the second, 8-17, and looked headed to a loss.

But Alvarez went on attack mode as she teamed up with prized rookie recruit Dolly Grace Versoza, who chipped in 17 hits, in willing JRU back

in the game to steal the second set in a heart-stopping finish.

After dropping what could have been an easy 2-0 set lead, Letran was never the same from there and helplessly watched Alvarez do her work and slid to 3-5 and out of contention.

Toby’s holds ‘Sports for Hope’ event

Toby’s Youth Sports Foundation donates school supplies, clothes, and sports equipment during a basketball clinic for patients of the Department of Health–Treatment & Rehabilitation Center.

TOBY’S Youth Sports Foundation, a non-profit foundation established by sports retail giant Toby’s Sports, recently announced that it recently held a sharing program at the Department of Health—Treatment & Rehabilitation Center in Camp Bagong Diwa, as part of its commitment to uplift the lives of Filipino youth through sports, recreation and fitness.

In partnership with the Rotary Club of Greenhills, Toby’s Sports conducted a basketball clinic for the patients of DoHTRC Bicutan with the help of certified basketball coaches.

To complement the physical

fitness programs of the camp, TYSF and other event sponsors donated various sports equipment, school supplies and clothes. A screen projector was also given to aid in the educational services of the institution.

During the event, Jose Claudio Jr., TYSF Trustee, gave an inspirational message to the patients, encouraging them to strengthen their faith and stay on the course of positive change, despite the many challenges they face. He reminded them that their stay in the facility is temporary, and through determination, they will soon be with their families, stronger and better.

“For over a decade, this project has been an important tradition for Toby’s Youth Sports Foundation, with the aim of helping the facility in its rehabilitation programs for children, particularly substance—abusing street children housed in the Bahay Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center,” Claudio said. “We help them the best way we know how—through sports and fitness,” he added.

The DoH also awarded Toby’s Sports and the Rotary Club of Greenhills with a plaque for their valued and enduring effor ts in youth development.

LOS ANGELES— James Harden became the first player in NBA history to record a 60-point triple double as the short-handed Houston Rockets defeated the Orlando Magic 114-107 on Tuesday night.

The 60 points were also a franchise single game record as he surpassed Calvin Murphy, who scored 57 points in 1978. Murphy was in attendance at the game as a member of the Rockets’ Root Sports television broadcasting crew.

He reached the 60-point milestone with a four-point play, stepping back and draining a three pointer while being fouled by Mario Hezonja. Harden then made the free throw as the crowd rose to its feet. Murphy smiled and clapped as his scoring mark fell by the wayside.

“Tonight I was ultra aggressive,” said Harden. “I was in attack mode.”

Harden collected his 10th rebound just moments later to earn his third triple double this season. He made 17 of 18 free throws and was 19 of 30 from the field with five baskets from beyond the arc. He also had four steals and one block.

Harden scored 18 points in the final quarter to record his ninth career 50-point game.

“I was so locked in and focused on how I could impact the game.

Even the coach talking, I couldn’t hear him at all,” Harden said.

“It feels like any other NBA game other than I was trying to put the team on my back.

“I was just aggressive.

It was a much needed win for us.” AFP

PH tennis woes not yet over THE Philippine Tennis Association continues to be hounded by issues.

In a recent letter to the Philta Board of Trustees, International Tennis Federation president David Haggerty clarified that ITF vice-president Anil Khanna met with Philta and Philippine Olympic Committee executives in his capacity as Asian Tennis Federation president and therefore cannot give any assurances or comments on ITF’s behalf.

Haggerty also reminded Philta that ITF is still expecting a full response to the issues raised in its Oct. 20, 2017 letter such as the amendment of by-laws, submission of reports on the tennis activities and accomplishments in the past 3 years, among other concerns.

The ITF and the POC have yet to recognize Atty. Antonio Cablitas as Philta president. The POC maintains that Atty. Cablitas is not a member of the Philta Board and the committee is still not recognizing the most recent Philta presidential elections.

ITF has since supported POC’s stand and even stated in its letter that no presidential elections shall be made prior to the amendment of the Philta by-laws.

“We are open for communication and would like to find out more details regarding the amendment of Philta by-laws. We can’t agree on anything at this time since there is nothing discussed yet regarding this.

We really think that Philta must first address the issues raised by the ITF in their letter or we may face sanctions or suspension under By-Law 7 of the ITF Constitution,” said Philta Board of Trustees Jean Henri Lhuillier, Randy Villanueva, Julito Villanueva, and Gerard Maronilla.

PSE approves P5-b rights offering of IMI B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

B

Skyway told to scrap new scheme IN BRIEF

BSP raises weekly auction volume to P60b BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas increased the weekly volume of its term deposit facility auction on Feb. 7 to P60 billion from the current P40 billion on investors’ renewed interest in long-term instruments.

Data from the Bangko Sentral website showed the regulator would offer again the 28-day instruments beginning Feb. 7, which were absent during the past auctions as investors preferred the week-long deposits.

Bangko Sentral will offer P40 billion worth of week-long deposits plus P20 billion worth of 28day deposits.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the return of liquidity to the banks was evident after the holiday season and the impact of the sustained release of public funds for infrastructure and other social projects. “... a gradual adjustment in the TDF volume was announced this morning. Market players continue to express interest in the 28-day TDF,” Guinigundo said.

Julito G. Rada

By Darwin G. Amojelar

T

HE Transportation Department ordered the Toll Regulatory Board to scrap the new collection scheme at the Skyway and revert to the old one immediately.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said a new toll collection system should not be put in place until it could be implemented smoothly.

“In governance, public convenience always comes first. It’s always public good over regulation,” said Tugade.

Skyway O&M Corp. began implementing a modified toll collection system on Jan. 27, coinciding with the opening of a new toll plaza on the northbound section of

the elevated Skyway.

The new scheme resulted in heavy traffic and the Skyway management temporarily reverted to the old “pay as you enter scheme” effective Tuesday night.

“These changes have to be communicated well to the public. We cannot afford confusion on the road because that will surely result in congestion,” Tugade said.

“Travel should be faster along expressway. Additional toll plazas should accelerate travel, and not the other way around,” Tugade said.

Skyway O&M Corp. said, however, it would stick to the new toll collection scheme for the Skyway system through a gradual implementation and with motorists’ convenience in mind, following a successful modified rollout Tuesday evening.

The Skyway operator also assured the Transportation Department and the public that it would continue to focus its attention

on addressing concerns about the new toll collection scheme at the elevated expressway.

The company said that as a result of traffic situation brought about by the new system’s implementation, and in response to the call of motorists, it proactively implemented a fine-tuned system using the old “pay-as-you-enter” scheme for vehicles coming from Alabang, Sucat and Bicutan for both cash and RFID payments.

Only Class 2 vehicles – buses and delivery vans which comprise 27 percent of total vehicular volume – are now required to utilize the new runway toll plaza, also for both cash and RFID payments. Class 2 vehicles, given its size, take in almost 50 percent of total daily volume on the Skyway system.

“So far, we have significantly cut down congestion from the system’s pre-imple-

San Miguel selling P30b worth of bonds

By Jenniffer B. Austria

NLEX widens exit lane in San Fernando NLEX Corp. said it expects to complete the construction of an additional lane at the San Fernando, Pampanga interchange northbound exit by March to address the heavy volume of vehicles in the area, especially during rush hour.

The expansion project will widen the 336-meter northbound exit ramp heading toward Pampanga’s capital city, increasing the number of deceleration lanes to two.

It said the improvement was seen to benefit motorists, merchants and commuters going to San Fernando City from Bulacan and Manila.

The San Fernando Interchange has been one of the busiest interchanges on the NLEX as it is near business/commercial centers and offers access to other provinces in the north such as Nueva Ecija, Bataan, and Zambales.

“This project is part of our company’s pursuit of improving the traffic flow in and out of the expressway,” NLEX president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco, said.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Erring power companies to get penalty THE Energy Department will issue rules in June penalizing power companies found to have caused a forced outage in the power grid, especially through negligence.

“We already have the draft.

We will hold public consultations and the target is to sign by June,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi stressed the need to undergo public consultations to ensure all concerns of the power sector were heard and addressed.

“So everything will become clear and they won’t say that we just make the policy,” he said.

Fuentebella earlier said the department would investigate the reason for the forced outage of power plants and determine their culpability, whether the shutdown was intentional or due to negligence. Alena Mae S. Flores

Clark eases business transactions COMPANIES in the Clark Freeport Zone expect a speedier government processing with the creation of the One Stop Processing Center.

The processing center located at the former Clark Polytechnic School will speed up the processing time for government services such as Social Security System registration and membership, PhilHealth payment premium contributions and members registration, Pag-ibig contribution and other services offered by the Labor Department.

Clark Development Corp. president Noel Manankil said the new infrastructure was made possible through the partnership of CDC with government agencies and the Mabalacat City of Pampanga.

“This effort is very desirable for Clark and I hope you (referring to the government agencies) can make the similar arrangements with other regulatory agencies of the government,” he said.

Othel V. Campos

mentation level to last night’s modified scheme. That means it works, but we realized we cannot be too aggressive in deploying it as it has adversely affected a lot of motorists who have yet to get used to the system,” SOMCO said.

SOMCO said there was no single solution to the congestion problem. “We need to work together. While we continuously improve our system and seriously take into consideration our motorists’ feedback, we will need everybody’s cooperation in order to be successful,” it said.

It also asked the public not to be too quick to dismiss ideas that could work but would require a little sacrifice from everyone especially since “we all have a stake in the issue of traffic congestion.

SOMCO said it would continue to track traffic trends specifically the effects of the improvements and changes made in the system over time.

PLDT-AMDOCS DEAL. Telecommunictions and digital services provider PLDT Inc. and wireless subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. sign a seven-year $300-million partnership with global software provider Amdocs to modernize and manage their business technology systems to improve customer experience and enable their business units to become more agile in developing and offering more innovative services. Signing the pivotal partnership are (from left) Amdocs Philippines Inc. president Aviv Sneh, Amdocs Hungary managing director Weiming Li, Amdocs divisional president for Asia Pacific Dror Kalush, PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel Pangilinan, PLDT chief corporate services officer Ray Espinosa and PLDT Business Transformation Office Group head Ricky Vargas.

CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. said it is raising up to P30 billion through a peso bond offering to refinance debt and invest additional equity in existing businesses.

San Miguel said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it would issue P20 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds with an oversubscription option for another P10 billion, representing the third tranche of the company’s P60-billion bond shelf registration previously approved by the SEC. The bonds will be comprised of 5-year Series E Bonds due 2023, 7-year Series F Bonds due 2025, and 10-year Series G Bonds due 2028.

The conglomerate tapped seven banks including BDO Capital and Investments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investments Corp., ING Bank, SB Capital Investment Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank as the joint underwriters and book runners for the offering.

The bonds will be listed with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

San Miguel said proceeds from the bond sale would be used to refinance existing US dollar denominated obligations or to invest in existing businesses, including SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp. and San Miguel Properties Inc.

Growth in money supply, bank loans moderated in December—BSP Pancake

By Julito G. Rada DOMESTIC liquidity or the money supply circulating in the financial system and bank loans posted slower growth in December compared to the previous month, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

The Bangko Sentral said domestic liquidity, or M3, grew 11.9 percent to P10.6 trillion in December 2017, slower than the 14-percent expansion in November.

Domestic claims grew 13.4 percent in December,

lower than the 14.7 percent increase in November as growth in credit to the private sector eased to 15.7 percent from 16 percent.

“The growth in M3 remains broadly consistent with the BSP’s prevailing outlook for inflation and economic activity. The BSP will continue to monitor domestic liquidity closely to ensure that the monetary conditions remain conducive to maintaining price and financial stability,” the Bangko Sentral said.

Data also showed that outstanding loans of com-

mercial banks, net of reverse repurchase placements with the BSP, expanded at a slower rate of 19 percent in December from 19.3 percent in November.

The growth of bank lending inclusive of RRPs decelerated to 18.1 percent in December from 18.4 percent in November.

The Bangko Sentral said that on a month-on-month seasonalIy-adjusted basis, commercial bank lending for loans net of RRPs and loans inclusive of RRPs both increased 0.7 percent.

Loans for production ac-

tivities―which comprised 88.9 percent of banks’ aggregate loan portfolio, net of RRP―grew 18.5 percent in December, as in the previous month.

The growth in production loans was driven by increased lending to real estate activities (19.3 percent); electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (25.4 percent); wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (20.1 percent); manufacturing (11. 7 percent); and financial and insurance activities (16.8 percent).

Bank lending to other sectors also increased during the month except in agriculture, forestry and fishing (-13.7 percent) and administrative and support services activities (-30.4 percent).

Growth in loans for household consumption slowed down to 17.2 percent in December from 20.6 percent in November. The slower increase in motor vehicle loans and salarybased general purpose loans offset the faster expansion in credit card loans and the growth in other types of household loans.

ICTSI starts operations in Lae, Papua New Guinea PORT operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said unit ICTSI South Pacific International Container Terminal started operations at the Lae Tidal Basin in Lae, Papua New Guinea after securing the PNG government’s approval.

“We know the next few weeks will be a difficult transition, particularly given the quick adoption of N4 [Navis N4] to the working environment. Team SPICT is extremely excited and committed, however, to face the challenges of delivering such an upgrade to the way the terminal is managed.

With the support of the local port users and our international shipping partners, we believe that the benefits of automating processes and information flow will accrue to each and every one of the ports users very quickly,” ICTSI head for Asia Pacific Christian Gonzalez said.

SPICT, as part of the concession agreement, will begin the transition by immediately rolling out the terminal’s new operating system, Navis N4. Port of Lae us the largest container handling facility in PNG. “We anticipate further benefits from delivering the MHCs [mobile harbor cranes] to the site and look forward to seeing a continuous improvement in operations at SPICT from the deployment of the TOS [terminal operating systems] to achieving the first MHC move in the near term,” Gonzales said.

The system, a first of its kind in PNG and the global standard for container terminal planning and operations management, is expected to quickly streamline the flow of information at Lae’s international container terminal and significantly increase seaside and landside productivity levels. Darwin G. Amojelar

INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDUP. Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary for legal affairs and priority projects Karen Olivia Jimeno provides an outlook of the various ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure development projects and Belt and Road Initiatives at Finance Asia’s Invest Philippines Conference on Jan. 30 at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City. As the largest global infrastructure project rolls out across Asia, the one-day Invest Philippines event highlights opportunities for investors looking to explore new markets and trading partners.

to open 12 branches in Saudi RESTAURANT operator Max’s Group Inc. said it signed a deal to bring homegrown brand Pancake House to Saudi Arabia.

Max’s Group said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it signed a partnership with AlBader National Establishment for Real-Estate Development to open 12 Pancake House stores in Saudi Arabia within the next five years.

“Our international business continues to build on its momentum sustained from last year. We are excited with the prospect of entering a familiar territory this time around with another one of our loved brands. We believe the brand’s attributes and offerings will successfully make its way into the mainstream population,” said Max’s Group president and chief executive Robert Trota.

Al-Bader National Establishment for Real-Estate Development chief executive Badr Hamdi Hamed Albalawi said his company was excited to bring Pancake House to Saudi Arabia.

“We have been searching for a renowned brand to spearhead our venture into the food sector with the intention to deploy a substantial amount of investment. We find the brand’s assorted menu mix and all-day dining concept appealing to various demographic profiles. Moreover, we have experienced the brand ourselves as customers, and are now thrilled to become part of the Max’s Group family. We thank them for entrusting us and look forward to a lasting partnership,” he said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

B2

Business

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

PSE approves P5-b rights offering of IMI

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P5 billion stock rights offering of Ayala Corp. unit Integrated Microelectronics Inc. IMI is offering up to 350 million common shares that will entitle current shareholders to acquire one share for every 5.335 common shares owned.

IMI’s major shareholders AC Industrial Technology Holdings Inc. and Resins Inc., which own 63.46 percent in the company, have committed to subscribe, in addition to their entitlement, any rights shares not taken up by other stockholders.

IMI set the offering period from Feb. 19 to Feb 22 and the listing date tentatively on March 2.

The company will peg the final offering price on Feb. 7, based on the discounted volume-weighted average price of the company’s common shares traded in the PSE for a determined number of trading days ending on the pricing date.

The company has tapped BPI Capital Corp. as underwriter for the offering.

Stock market plunges; SM Investments drops

T

HE stock market extended a slump Wednesday on profit taking and big losses on Wall Street overnight.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 146.47 points, or 1.6 percent, to 8,764.01 on a value turnover of P11.5 billion. Losers overwhelmed gainers, 142 to 61, with 52 issues unchanged.

SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy dropped 6 percent to P1,025, while major devel-

oper Ayala Land Inc. fell 3 percent to P44.25.

Now Corp., controlled by the Velarde family, plunged 10.3 percent to P5.66. The company last week expressed interest to bid for the third telecommunications slot to challenge the duopoly of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc.

LT Group Inc. of tobacco and airline tycoon Lucio Tan slipped 2.2 percent to P22.45.

The rest of Asian stocks, meanwhile, struggled Wednesday as traders tracked sharp Wall Street losses despite a major speech by US President Donald Trump extolling his administration’s economic achievements.

Shanghai finished down 0.2 percent, while Tokyo shed 0.8 percent to extend its losing streak for a sixth straight day.

In Japan, tech firm Fujifilm announced 10,000 job cuts by March 2020 in its Fuji Xerox subsidiary, which it said was facing an “increasingly severe” market environment.

In his annual State of the Union address, Trump said taxes had been slashed, jobs created and “the stock market has smashed one record after another.”

He also struck a conciliatory note, calling for Democrats’ support for a $1.5-trillion investment plan to renew the country’s

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.6 142,000 59.5 7,230 119.2 2,239,420 3.75 211,000 153 4,855,580 1.9 626,000 36.3 172,000 9.99 500 15.6 6,300 28.9 1,100,900 8.27 1,200 0.68 3,000 1.69 24,000 1,000 5 0.54 655,000 99.5 2,079,690 1.27 8,491,000 13.46 179,000 59 96,790 245.4 1,510 107 300 89 130 50.2 555,270 246 807,430 1,945 15 90.05 27,080 1.23 106,000

492,520 428,387 266,768,923 792,640 741,958,385 1,190,640 6,261,145 4,995 96,600 31,486,985 9,882 1,980 40,560 5,000 346,070 204,836,655.50 10,731,900 2,400,290 5,708,429 370,834 31,830 10,943.50 27,972,748.50 198,519,016 29,125 2,458,165 130,380

341,087 87,787,421 -162,176,157 575,610 10,732,735 16,640 -17,282,556.50 106,980 2,690,890.50 49,200 -4,211,402 -62,371,330 823,759 -

40.7 12.5 0.63 1.3 18.5 0.218 114.6 4.2 15.62 47.9 18.48 62.5 56.25 1.89 5.3 10.6 11.9 14.72 12.02 7.99 5.61 1.65 15.8 61.5 29.9 10.4 17.9 1.8 282 55.55 4.09 20.05 27.85 17.96 20.7 333 0.193 8.43 2.85 4.86 9.45 6.03 8.01 1.62 12.6 62.45 600 4.8 2.05 3.8 1.51 14.94 5.41 0.131 1.1 161.3 2.84 2.02 24.5 0.8

INDUSTRIAL 41 1,853,800 12.7 1,013,300 0.64 1,731,000 1.3 413,000 19.02 48,900 0.222 2,930,000 115 200 4.2 8,096,000 15.62 411,100 50 483,910 18.5 8,400 62.5 250 60 870 1.91 292,000 5.36 10,100 10.6 33,300 12.18 2,346,700 14.74 3,389,900 12.3 1,466,100 8.16 1,638,600 5.68 2,565,600 1.65 5,000 15.98 1,272,900 61.9 20,130 30.2 305,200 10.5 83,600 19.2 3,384,700 1.82 2,558,000 284.8 910,980 55.55 200 4.11 292,000 20.75 2,500 28.3 1,098,000 17.98 665,900 21.4 3,497,700 338.6 376,550 0.2 850,000 8.77 14,300 2.9 8,719,000 4.89 30,000 9.6 2,207,900 6.1 97,900 8.29 15,800 1.63 463,000 12.6 493,500 62.45 97,800 621 75,250 4.82 95,000 2.05 2,000 3.8 1,000 1.56 855,000 15.2 3,560,200 5.41 151,200 0.131 3,780,000 1.1 376,000 161.3 1,484,370 2.84 31,000 2.05 12,326,000 24.5 200 0.82 296,000

76,060,615 12,817,542 1,119,020 539,170 938,278 643,850 22,960 34,690,140 6,549,432 23,693,168 155,244 15,625 49,119.50 556,460 53,716 353,608 28,273,788 49,973,834 17,938,846 13,320,758 14,507,922 8,270 20,179,682 1,253,513.50 9,186,820 875,004 64,141,276 4,664,410 258,922,120 11,110 1,200,830 50,765 31,042,705 11,972,266 73,820,680 126,972,780 167,990 125,229 25,396,750 146,180 21,084,409 600,020 127,702 756,620 6,377,850 6,148,613.50 46,090,510 456,790 4,100 3,800 1,324,970 53,760,322 825,301 501,290 418,950 240,324,517 88,540 25,991,910 4,900 237,490

-4,499,485 -547,764 52,920 -10,851,950 3,624,580 581,205 -348,298.00 7,434,342 1,036,000 -1,131,640 585,809 12,146,430 -5,138,338 658,083 30,000 234,362 -4,850,664 16,380 -63,665,824 10,025 -4,412,970 -8,732,714 20,817,480 47,983,684 30,670 18,751,810 9,080,651 -2,635,682 -961,983 2,006,745 312,390 -224,370 1,720,938 -40,950 13,200 -125,137,955 60,040 -358,890 -

0.295 75.85 15.04 0.93 7.05 0.44 0.5 1,035 7.18 14.16 7.5 5 1,309 7.31 76.15 5.31 5.35 0.69 5.4 22.2 0.32 6.41 3.35 0.039 1.25 2.46 2.5 142 2.6 1,010 0.76 1.6 280 0.24 0.19

HOLDING FIRMS 0.295 200,000 76.8 1,370,360 15.34 8,842,300 0.94 13,000 7.05 7,800 0.59 370,160,000 0.64 122,377,000 1,050 263,715 7.2 2,504,900 14.4 11,161,400 7.6 63,900 5 3,500 1,345 157,060 7.31 171,700 76.5 2,043,250 5.31 3,600 5.35 1,500 0.69 892,000 5.51 4,408,800 22.45 7,460,100 0.345 110,000 6.46 25,079,800 3.35 45,000 0.041 24,600,000 1.3 463,000 2.53 1,682,000 2.5 141,000 144 947,160 2.6 19,000 1,025 1,231,500 0.76 3,000 1.61 1,597,000 281 320 0.255 2,780,000 0.22 380,000

59,800 104,898,664.50 135,393,048 12,210 54,990 216,766,550 80,879,710 276,639,575 18,144,356 160,444,866 479,898 17,500 211,133,685 1,255,214 156,449,831.50 19,760 8,025 622,570 24,252,172 166,841,075 37,850 161,944,297 150,750 986,400 589,320 4,242,030 352,540 135,927,117 49,400 1,267,579,900 2,280 2,569,710 90,080 703,140 74,000

-26,503,911.50 -797,598 3,130,000 -19,353,675 -840,630 -36,494,870 112,500 -45,697,100 -92,627,926.50 11,212,743 -62,831,835 1,339,630 10,000 3,709,399.00 -780,388,510 -80,500 -

5,992,391 3,900,330 598,700 262,420 2,128,940 983,985,020 2,196,040 6,155,720 440,692 2,534,900 67,650 363,370 2,096,040 228,950 9,432,160 428,400 27,400 43,183,660 17,428,470 155,540

-2,650,366 -6,160 -530,843,580 -430,640 -8,064 -291,650 -3,300 -292,560 -88,000 945,015 95,570 5,400 -

NAME

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

3.55 58.2 119 3.8 155.4 1.93 36.6 9.99 15.6 28.25 8.2 0.65 1.69 1,000 0.53 99.6 1.23 13.4 59.1 245.2 104 83.05 50.25 247 1,935 91.45 1.23

3.6 59.6 120.8 3.8 155.4 1.93 36.6 9.99 15.6 29 8.27 0.68 1.69 1,000 0.55 99.6 1.32 13.46 59.1 246.6 107 89 51.5 250 1,945 91.45 1.23

3.43 58.2 117.8 3.75 151.6 1.88 36.1 9.99 15.32 27.9 8.2 0.65 1.69 1,000 0.52 97.5 1.19 13.4 58.85 245.2 104 83.05 49.9 244 1,935 90.05 1.23

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

40.9 12.66 0.65 1.31 19.38 0.22 114.6 4.45 16 49 18.48 62.5 56.35 1.9 5.36 10.7 12.1 14.88 12.46 8.2 5.61 1.66 15.98 62.7 30.5 10.64 19 1.9 284.2 55.55 4.2 20.05 28.85 18 21.1 334 0.196 8.77 2.86 4.86 9.6 6.25 8.05 1.68 13.3 63.6 617.5 4.8 2.05 3.8 1.57 15.16 5.62 0.131 1.12 163 2.86 2.04 24.5 0.8

41.2 12.72 0.66 1.32 20 0.226 115 4.45 16 51 18.5 62.5 60 1.92 5.36 10.7 12.18 14.88 12.46 8.2 5.68 1.66 15.98 62.7 30.5 10.64 19.2 1.9 285 55.55 4.2 20.75 28.85 18 21.45 338.6 0.2 8.8 2.95 4.9 9.6 6.5 8.29 1.68 13.3 63.6 621.5 4.82 2.05 3.8 1.59 15.3 5.62 0.135 1.14 163.4 2.86 2.15 24.5 0.82

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

0.305 77.75 15.3 0.94 7.05 0.44 0.5 1,045 7.3 14.3 7.6 5 1,350 7.5 77.85 5.59 5.35 0.7 5.58 22.7 0.345 6.5 3.35 0.04 1.33 2.58 2.51 142 2.6 1,060 0.76 1.64 282 0.26 0.194

0.305 77.75 15.48 0.94 7.05 0.65 0.75 1,061 7.48 14.54 7.6 5 1,352 7.5 77.85 5.59 5.35 0.71 5.66 22.7 0.35 6.52 3.35 0.041 1.33 2.59 2.51 144.6 2.6 1,061 0.76 1.64 282.8 0.265 0.22

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

6.3 0.94 15.08 2.17 0.91 44.8 3.88 4.7 5.88 0.465 1.1 1.11 0.238 0.445 39 0.66 0.137 1.86 1.34 0.76

6.4 0.94 15.4 2.17 0.91 45.4 3.88 4.7 5.88 0.47 1.15 1.15 0.238 0.445 39 0.68 0.137 1.88 1.35 0.77

6.18 0.92 14 2.16 0.89 44.25 3.83 4.62 5.76 0.46 1.1 1.11 0.232 0.44 38 0.65 0.137 1.84 1.32 0.75

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

4.88 0.31 0.345 0.54 4.85 37 20.75 2.01 3.23 37.7 1.02 15.1 0.86 6.83

4.97 0.345 0.345 0.55 4.85 37.1 20.95 2.05 3.24 37.7 1.04 15.64 0.86 7.3

4.83 0.3 0.335 0.53 4.68 33 20.4 1.95 3.21 36.9 1.02 13.1 0.83 6.52

4.95 0.335 0.34 0.55 4.76 35.5 20.9 2.02 3.23 36.9 1.02 13.7 0.83 6.99

25,856,000 142,040,000 1,390,000 5,152,000 747,000 6,700 4,668,600 1,915,000 254,000 14,513,100 122,000 892,900 130,000 54,736,800

127,367,260 45,892,900 474,050 2,755,260 3,525,420 237,340 96,885,450 3,820,860 819,860 537,771,790 124,650 12,744,942 108,650 382,412,264

24,260,390 316,300 20,400 -490,580 -9,400.00 6,620 2,215,905 765,950.00 -74,520 -337,540,220 15,000 -207,537,380

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

20 32.9 1.35 0.435 0.047 11.58 5.2 12.26 0.067 99.2 8.8 9.26 8.27 2.77 50 1,859 5.87 99 11.26 4.9 2.8 109.9 13.48 8.3 0.139 1.56 3.19 15.6 4 1.08 22.05 0.52 4.55 8.6 3.63 18.4 6 10.26 2.76 107 6.84 1,520 1.24 0.34 53.7 97.95 5.58 3.11 1.53 0.61 4 0.93 9.3

20.2 32.9 1.4 0.44 0.048 11.58 5.2 12.44 0.068 99.3 8.8 9.4 8.8 2.98 50.5 1,900 5.88 100 11.26 4.91 2.8 113.5 13.48 8.3 0.153 1.8 3.33 15.6 4.1 1.09 22.05 0.52 4.55 8.6 3.72 18.5 6 10.3 2.76 108 6.84 1,570 1.24 0.37 53.7 97.95 5.8 3.11 1.53 0.84 4.08 0.93 9.35

18.52 32.4 1.32 0.435 0.044 11.58 5 12 0.067 99 8.8 9.06 8 2.6 42 1,847 5.85 93.2 11.2 4.55 2.77 108.9 12.56 8.3 0.138 1.54 3.12 15.12 4 1.03 21 0.52 4.3 8.23 3.6 17.02 5.2 10.26 2.76 105 6.58 1,520 1.22 0.34 52.3 94.6 5.58 3.04 1.5 0.56 3.92 0.9 9.2

SERVICES 19.5 32.5 1.4 0.435 0.048 11.58 5.17 12.28 0.068 99.1 8.8 9.3 8.78 2.7 46.2 1,900 5.88 98 11.2 4.69 2.77 113.5 13 8.3 0.142 1.68 3.29 15.2 4.1 1.03 21.3 0.52 4.5 8.5 3.72 18.4 5.66 10.3 2.76 106 6.69 1,569 1.23 0.36 53.3 94.6 5.8 3.06 1.51 0.62 3.97 0.9 9.26

486,000 38,800 95,000 780,000 178,900,000 1,500 10,000 10,185,400 10,670,000 241,100 30,000 2,993,700 239,600 163,000 241,000 75,945 152,200 160,580 6,800 7,523,000 139,000 961,670 27,600 20,000 44,990,000 7,570,000 42,000 8,300 536,000 722,000 4,190,700 503,000 636,000 10,755,500 1,062,000 8,000 76,922,300 10,800 20,000 95,350 1,333,100 101,760 1,520,000 1,240,000 918,860 963,410 166,900 1,593,000 4,326,000 1,293,830,000 1,080,000 7,905,000 6,629,000

9,354,808 1,265,005 126,990 340,200 8,042,300 17,370 51,300 124,809,458 718,450 23,896,527.50 264,000 27,513,801 2,045,113 435,490 11,135,400 142,691,160 892,742 15,680,182.50 76,254 34,889,630 386,500 106,940,514 352,970 166,000 6,563,220 12,699,550 135,470 126,532 2,154,940 770,580 89,139,465 261,560 2,822,540 90,829,434 3,852,510 144,258 432,504,731 111,118 55,200 10,098,501 8,942,505 159,041,350 1,862,350 437,300 48,829,046.50 91,906,654.50 965,420 4,872,010 6,526,400 938,342,260 4,260,640 7,154,770 61,384,685

518,460 -17,370 29,137,318 5,528,878.50 6,302,271 31,400 111,209,035 -9,800 -211,350 -1,679,691 -5,810 -311,710 -38,300 1,934,570 1,213,452 760,600 673,225 79,059 -45,736 22,680,770 -193,100 -13,395,357 -76,511,776 787,020 113,600 3,096,290 -36,814,020 1,034,920 679,550 10,591,943

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

0.0022 1.52 4.8 12.02 1.68 1.59 0.325 7.23 2.59 0.188 0.154 0.156 0.0094 0.0095 1.65 6.6 1.35 0.95 0.012 0.012 2.19 6.68 9.2 37.95 0.0068

0.0023 1.52 4.9 13.48 1.68 1.6 0.325 7.29 2.59 0.195 0.154 0.157 0.0094 0.0095 1.72 6.61 1.41 0.95 0.012 0.012 2.19 6.82 9.22 37.95 0.007

0.0022 1.5 4.8 12 1.68 1.57 0.32 7.22 2.53 0.188 0.153 0.156 0.0093 0.0095 1.64 6.57 1.35 0.91 0.012 0.011 2.16 6.68 8.88 36.85 0.0068

MINING & OIL 0.0023 86,000,000 1.51 3,449,000 4.85 86,000 13.38 4,300 1.68 18,000 1.6 1,484,000 0.32 390,000 7.23 65,400 2.54 1,726,000 0.188 220,000 0.154 8,440,000 0.157 190,000 0.0093 101,000,000 0.0095 7,000,000 1.7 692,000 6.59 1,925,300 1.4 9,000 0.93 231,000 0.012 4,900,000 0.012 17,900,000 2.16 83,000 6.7 275,600 8.88 3,817,300 37.9 3,922,200 0.007 7,000,000

189,700 5,198,910 416,300 51,932 30,240 2,350,760 125,800 472,427 4,413,540 41,540 1,294,670 29,730 949,300 66,500 1,151,390 12,685,133 12,360 212,190 58,800 207,600 179,590 1,856,406 34,298,251 146,055,690 48,200

-67,200 25,500 -66,500 2,701,783 -6,012 1,125,782 -25,455,640 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B2 DD PREF FGEN PREF G HOUSE PREF A PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 2B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

32.55 515.5 104.3 111.1 101.2 991 1,098 2 77 81 77 79.1 77 77.9

32.6 515.5 104.3 111.1 101.3 1,048 1,098 2 77 81.2 77 79.1 77 77.9

32.15 515.5 104.2 111 101.2 990 1,098 2 77 81 77 78.65 77 77.9

PREFERRED 32.5 306,100 515.5 100 104.2 39,490 111 2,000 101.3 1,500 1,048 1,600 1,098 100 2 5,000 77 1,090 81.2 7,100 77 1,000 78.65 13,080 77 7,100 77.9 13,400

9,946,945 51,550 4,114,996 222,010 151,900 1,618,810 109,800 10,000 83,930 576,320 77,000 1,033,242 546,700 1,043,860

-1,098,645.00 -

LR WARRANT

2.4

2.4

2.35

WARRANTS 2.39 387,000

922,850

48,890

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

7.74 2.87 3.81 4.55

7.74 2.87 4.78 4.55

7.08 2.87 3.8 4.34

7.2 2.87 4.63 4.34

16,684,432 8,610 11,697,780 7,112,000

417,646 -54,700 -40,470

FIRST METRO ETF

134.4

134.4

132.3

3,764,367

1,329

USD DMPL A2

10.2

10.2

10.2

20,400

-

MS

PROPERTY 6.29 0.93 15.4 2.17 0.9 44.25 3.83 4.63 5.88 0.465 1.15 1.12 0.238 0.44 38.2 0.67 0.137 1.87 1.32 0.77

956,700 4,180,000 41,500 121,000 2,377,000 22,132,500 571,000 1,327,000 76,200 5,480,000 60,000 323,000 8,920,000 520,000 245,900 639,000 200,000 23,329,000 13,127,000 203,000

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

SHARES

23,897,516 79,415,238 591,284,274

PROPERTY

347,797,153

SERVICES

1,688,966,618

MINING & OIL

251,380,434

GRAND TOTAL

2,989,356,919

SME

2,281,300 3,000 2,682,000 1,612,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 132.8 28,360 10.2

DDS

2,000

VALUE 2,223.98 (down) 20.05 1,694,760,090.96 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,790.56 (down) 58.47 1,345,591,472.739 HOLDING FIRMS 8,957.81 (down) 231.96 3,153,637,214.23 PROPERTY 3,939.56 (down) 88.82 SERVICES 1,710.73 (up) 4.05 2,395,831,384.08 MINING & OIL 11,937.95 (down) 73.57 2,686,773,456.536 PSEI 8,764.01 (down) 146.47 212,431,442.604 All Shares Index 5,124.83 (down) 69.81 11,528,330,262.95 Gainers: 61; Losers: 142; Unchanged: 52; Total: 255

creaking transport infrastructure.

But despite an initial positive ripple from the address, Asian bourses largely failed to shrug off a strongly negative Wall Street lead, where the Dow on Tuesday posted its largest decline since May. In his speech Trump also called for “fair” trade and declared that “the era of economic surrender is over.”

Although he did not name any country, Trump has often hit out at what he calls unfair practices in Asia, accusing Beijing of killing US jobs and recently angering China and South Korea with new tariffs on solar panels and large washing machines.

“America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our wealth—our nation has lost its wealth but we’re getting it back so fast,” said Trump.

The dollar continued its recent slide following Trump’s speech, which failed to clear up last week’s confusion triggered by comments from the US treasury secretary that appeared to favor a weak greenback.

The Asian declines meant that, despite an overall upbeat January for equities, this week’s share sell-off continued into a third day.

Asian investors have locked in profits at the month-end and ahead of a series of key earnings reports and policy announcements. With AFP

UnionBank starts offer of LTNCDs

By Julito G. Rada UNION Bank of the Philippines of the Aboitiz Group, the 10th-largest lender in terms of assets, said Wednesday it started the offering period for P3 billion worth of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits.

The bank said in a statement the launch followed the approval by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the issuance of up to ₱20 billion worth of LTNCDs in tenors of 5.5 to 10 years in multiple tranches over a period of one year.

“The bank’s initial offering of at least ₱3.0 billion, with an oversubscription option, will have a tenor of 5 years and 6 months with an indicative rate of 4.125 to 4.375 percent per annum,” it said.

The final rate for the LTNCDs will be determined prior to the end of the public offer period, which will run from Jan. 30, 2018 to Feb. 9, 2018.

Interest payments will be made quarterly.

Minimum investment in the LTNCDs has been set at ₱50,000 and increments of ₱10,000 thereafter. The issue date is set on Feb. 19, 2018.

“Union Bank is offering the LTNCDs to improve its deposit maturity profile and support business expansion plans,” the bank said.

It tapped Standard Chartered Bank as the sole lead arranger and bookrunner for the issuance. Standard will also act as selling agent, along with UnionBank and Multinational Investment Bancorporation for the offering.

extrastory2000@gmail.com

Business/World

Manila

Standard

B3

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

TODAY

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Killer whale in France mimics human speech PARIS―Her head above water, Wikie the killer whale looks at the human trainer next to her pool, listens, then loudly vocalizes: “Hello.”

It is not a perfect imitation, but, astonishingly, recognizable.

It is the first scientific demonstration of an orca mimicking human words, which also included “Amy”―the name of Wikie’s handler―”Bye-Bye” and “One-Two-Three”.

“We were not expecting a perfect match, like a parrot,” researcher Jose Abramson of the Complutense University of Madrid said of the experiment reported Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Yet in a trial with six different words or phrases, some of Wikie’s attempts were “a very high quality match”, especially given that orcas’ vocal anatomy is “totally different” to ours.

It was hard not to jump for joy when Wikie first “spoke”,

WELCOMING CEREMONY. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a military honor guard with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. AFP

Abramson told AFP, adding the research team had not quite known what to expect.

“When we tried ‘hello’ and she did the sound... some emotional responses came from the trainers. For us [the scientists] it was very difficult not to say anything...”

Seeking to measure orcas’ ability to copy new sounds, Abramson and a team turned to Wikie, a captive killer whale at the Marineland Aquarium in Antibes, southern France.

Trained to perform tricks for Marineland visitors, Wikie was a good candidate as she had already learned the gesture commanding her to “copy” what her trainer does.

As part of the trial, the killer whale was asked to mimic never-before-heard sounds made by other orcas with different dialects from different family groups.

Then, she was made to repeat human words. AFP

Trump zeroes in on N. Korea, Iran W ASHINGTON―US President Donald Trump used his biggest stage Tuesday to warn of the nuclear threat from North Korea, as fears grow again in Washington that conflict may be looming.

In recent weeks, US officials have laid the groundwork for a pivot to strategies for a world of renewed great power competition with the likes of Russia and China.

In his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation, Trump described Moscow and Beijing as challenging “our interests, our economy, and our values.” But he saved his harshest words for Iran and North Korea.

“North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland,” he warned, implying he has a narrow window to respond to Pyongyang’s ambition.

“We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening.”

Singling out Iran and North Korea―which along with Iraq

formed his predecessor George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil”― seemed calculated to raise the specter of new conflicts.

It came as a respected Korea expert, tipped to become Trump’s ambassador to Seoul, revealed he had dropped out of the running and criticized the idea of a preemptive strike.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have been pushing a diplomatic strategy to convince North Korean leader Kim JongUn to come to the table and negotiate away his nuclear arms.

But other senior figures have reportedly endorsed the idea of a “bloody nose” strike to damage Kim’s nuclear sector and show the US means business, hopefully without provoking a

wider war.

Victor Cha, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International studies and until Tuesday a candidate for US ambassador to Seoul, rejected this in the Washington Post.

“A strike [even a large one] would only delay North Korea’s missile-building and nuclear programs, which are buried in deep, unknown places impenetrable to bunker-busting bombs,” he wrote.

“A strike also would not stem the threat of proliferation but rather exacerbate it,” he added, warning that Kim might try to sell nuclear weapons to “bad actors” for money or revenge.

Cha also pointed out that millions of South Koreans and tens of thousands of American expats and troops would be at immediate risk of a North Korean counterstrike.

“The president would be putting at risk an American population the size of a medium-size US city... on the assumption that a crazy and undeterrable dictator will be rationally cowed by

PH merchandise trade: a story of continuing decline “THE higher balance of payment (BOP) deficit of 2017 was brought about largely by the widening merchandise trade deficit for the first eleven months of the year …” This statement, taken from a report issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on January 19, is the latest chapter in the sad story of this country’s merchandise export trade in the post-World War II era. It is a story of war-caused destruction, commodity controls, currency speculation, black markets, devaluations, export incentives, growth of raw-material imports processing, increasing policy attention to non-merchandise exports and, all through the journey, less than total government commitment to Philippine merchandise trade.

The end of World War II found Philippine external trade in a very difficult position. Long-unmet demand for imported goods coincided with a merchandise export sector whose infrastructure had largely been destroyed by the War. Foreign exchange and commodity controls were the inevitable result. The controls were not fully lifted until the end of 1965.

In a milieu of government inability to implement controls efficiently, corruption and currency speculation became increasingly intractable problems. Misdeclaration of import and export values—overvaluation of imports and undervaluation of exports—became rampant. A full-blown currency black market developed.

In the vibrant commodity markets created the postwar reconstruction of the Western economies, the traditional Philippine export industries—minerals (especially gold, copper and chromite), coconut products and sugar— flourished anew. But because of speculative export undervaluation, the government did not receive export tax revenues and foreign exchange inflows in their entireties.

Upon the termination of all controls in 1965 continuing depreciation of the peso set in. This, of course, was favorable for the merchandise trade sector. A further boost was given to the sector by the roll-out of the first Export Priorities Plan (EPP) by the newly created Board of Investments (BOI).

The termination of the peso’s official P2 to US$1 parity rate in February 1972 and the shift to the floating rate currency system finally unshackled

the nation’s currency – and the merchandise export sector—from administrative intervention.

The stricter implementation of the ban on long exports reduced the Big 4 of Philippine merchandise export trade to the Big 3. The termination of the preferential sugar quota with the Laurel-Langley Agreement’s demise in July 1974 reduced it to the Big 2. And relentless inroads of other laurics – especially palm oil and soybean oil—sharply eroded the position of Philippine coconut oil in the world vegetable oils market.

The ground lost by the leading merchandise exports was made up for by the growth of the electronic products—especially semiconductors—industry.

By the 1980s the Philippines had become a leading source of semiconductors and electronic-products exports had come to account for just over 50 percent of total Philippine merchandise exports. Strictly speaking, however, electronic-products manufacturing is a laborexport industry, considering that the raw materials for the manufacture of such products are all imported.

Where should one look for the explanation for the unrelenting decline of the Philippine merchandise exports sector/ The most obvious place is the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) phenomenon that was born in the early 1970s.

With the rapid strengthening of the flow of OFW remittances—in 2017 the figure was, I believe, $28 billion—there has been a palpable diminution of government interest in strengthening this country’s merchandise export trade. With the official gross reserves at $81 billion, can there really be strong and substantial government—that squarely means the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)— preoccupation with that trade? I don’t think so.

The ball is in the hands of DTI. BOI and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) jointly. Unless there is a marked difference in the present operating situation for Philippine merchandise exports, including the present administration’s negative attitude toward mining, 2017’s “widening trade deficit” is definitively not the last that BSP will report.

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

a demonstration of US kinetic power,” Cha wrote.

According to the Post, Cha’s refusal to entertain the idea of a preemptive strike cost him his ambassadorship, and Trump’s speech suggested he was in no mood for compromise.

“Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation,” he declared.

“We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and to our allies.”

Trump also upped the ante in his stand-off with Iran, vowing US support for street protests against Tehran’s clerical regime.

And again he compared himself favorably to his predecessor Barack Obama, suggesting that it had been a mistake not to back the failed 2009 Green Revolution in Iran.

“When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent,” he declared. AFP

Alarm over resurgence of racism in Germany BERLIN―German leaders are increasingly alarmed about a resurgence of anti-Semitism 73 years after the Holocaust, stemming from an emboldened far right and an influx of refugees from countries hostile to Israel.

Germany is marking the 1945 liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz with solemn ceremonies, but also warnings of the need for stronger vigilance.

On the anniversary on Saturday, Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned revisionist forces seeking to call into question the country’s commitment to atoning for its Nazi past.

She said fighting anti-Semitism and racism must be a “daily task”.

“It is inconceivable and shameful that no Jewish institution can exist without police protection, whether it is a school, a kindergarten or a synagogue,” she said.

Merkel, who a decade ago became the first German chancellor to address the Israeli Knesset, has committed to creating a new position of commissioner on anti-Semitism under the new government she hopes to form by March.

The move was prompted in part by demonstrations in Berlin in December against the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital which saw some protesters chant anti-Semitic slogans and torch Israeli flags.

Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said at the time that although Berlin opposed the move

by US President Donald Trump, it strongly condemned the aggressive rallies in German cities.

“One has to be ashamed when hatred of Jews is put on display so openly on the streets of German cities,” he said.

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

InvItatIon to BId for the Supply and delIvery of four (4) lotS paGCor employeeS’ unIform for two (2) yearS under ItB no. pB18-01-021Cora (reBIddInG)

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming rebidding for the Supply and Delivery of Four (4) Lots PAGCOR Employees’ Uniform for Two (2) Years under ITB No. PB18-01-021CORa. Brief Description

Lot No. 1 2 3 4

Delivery Schedule

numBer of employeeS Guaranteed Provision for Additional 4,786 1,201 2,157 329 1,990 293 6,845 329

deSCrIptIon Design, Supply and Delivery of Uniforms Design, Supply and Delivery of Dealers Uniforms Supply and Delivery of Security Personnel Uniforms Supply and Delivery of Nameplate

Note: Bidders may bid on one or any of the lots.

UNIFORM (Lots 1 – 3) Delivery Schedule for Guaranteed Orders First Delivery - within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from receipt of Notice to Proceed Second Delivery - within one hundred fifty (150) calendar days from receipt of Notice to Proceed TOTAL

Number of Complete Employees/ Sets LOT 1 LOT 2 LOT 3 2393 1079 995 2393

1078

995

4786

2157

1990

NAMEPLATE (Lot 4) Delivery Schedule for Guaranteed Orders

Quantity LOT 4 3423 pieces

First Delivery - within ninety (90) calendar days from receipt of Notice to Proceed Second Delivery - within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days from receipt of Notice to Proceed TOTAL

3422 pieces 6845 pieces

Approved Budget The total ABC is Ninety-Three Million Seven Hundred Thirty-One Thousand Eight Hundred Fiftyfor the Contract Five and 24/100 (PhP93,731,855.24), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction (ABC): The ABC for each of the four (4) lots are as follows: ABC VAt-exCLusiVe, Lot No.

desCriptioN

zero-rAted trANsACtioN

proVisioN for GuArANteed order AdditioNAL order Forty Million Eight Nine Million Eight Hundred Sixty-Eight Hundred SeventyThousand Seven Eight Thousand Five Hundred Two Hundred Thirty-Eight Pesos and 37/100 Pesos and 05/100 (PhP40,868,702.37) (PhP9,878,538.05)

Fifty Million Seven Hundred FortySeven Thousand Two Hundred Forty Pesos and 42/100 (PhP50,747,240.42)

Sixteen Million Six Hundred Thirty-One Thousand One Hundred Fifty-Eight Pesos and 56/100 (PhP16,631,158.56)

Nineteen Million One Hundred SixtySeven Thousand Seven Hundred Nine Pesos and 88/100 (PhP19,167,709.88)

1

Design, Supply and Delivery of Uniforms

2

Design, Supply and Delivery of Dealer Uniforms

3

Supply and Nineteen Million One Delivery of Security Hundred Fifty-Seven Personnel Uniforms Thousand One Pesos and 39/100 (PhP19,157,001.39)

4

Supply and Delivery of Nameplates

One Million Five Hundred SeventyFour Thousand Three Hundred Fifty Pesos (PhP1,574,350.00)

Two Million Five Hundred Thirty-Six Thousand Five Hundred Fifty-One Pesos and 32/100 (PhP2,536,551.32)

totAL

Two Million Eight Twenty-One Million Hundred ThirtyNine Hundred Five Thousand Ninety-Two Thousand Eighty-Three Eighty-Four Pesos and 55/100 Pesos and 94/100 (PhP2,835,083.55) (PhP21,992,084.94) Two Hundred One Million Eight Fifty Thousand Hundred TwentyFour Hundred Four Thousand Eight Seventy Pesos Hundred Twenty Pesos (PhP250,470.00) (PhP1,824,820.00)

Source of Funds: Corporate Budget for CY2018

Bidders should have completed, within the last three (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”.

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.

PAGCOR will 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 RA 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of bidding activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids 4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

Date, Time and Venue January 31, 2018 to March 9, 2018 February 9, 2018; 2:00 p.m., Meeting Room 1, 5th Floor, PAGCOR House, #1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila March 9, 2018; 10:00 a.m., Meeting Room 1, 5th Floor, PAGCOR House, #1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila March 9, 2018; 10:00 a.m. onwards,Meeting Room 1, 5th Floor, PAGCOR House, #1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Department (PD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, of PAGCOR and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at Eighth (8th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Annex, 1105 Carmen Building, UN Avenue cor. Orosa St., 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 More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million

Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Pesos) 5,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00

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 Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Fee 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.

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 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) b)

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper.

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, 8/F, PAGCOR House Annex, Carmen Building, 1105 UN Avenue cor. Maria Orosa St., Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911.

(Sgd.) ARNOLD FERDINAND C. SALVOSA Chairperson Bids ANd AwArds Committee (BAC) 4 (MS-FEB. 1, 2018)

QCGH tops MM in donations of human milk

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

B4

By Rio N. Araja

thursday, february 1, 2018

LGUs LocaL government units

REBUILDING MARAWI. President Rodrigo Duterte (center) inspects some of the 60 houses in the Bahay Pag-Asa Phase 2 in Barangay Mipaga, Marawi, Lanao Del Sur donated by the Tarlac Heritage Foundation and the Chinese Filipino Business Club and built by engineers of the 1st Infantry Division, Mechanized Infantry Division, 54th Engineer Brigade, and 2nd Mechanized Brigade of the Philippine Army. The President discussed the project with THF co-founder Isa Cojuangco Suntay (in pink shirt) as Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Brig. Gen Arnold Fernandez, Commander of the Philippine Army’s 54th Engineering Brigade, Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen Rolando Joselito Bautista, and Major Gen. Roseller Murillo, Commander of the 1st Infantry Division surround him.

SBMA bullish on 2018 outlook

By Butch Gunio SUBIC BAY FREEPORT —The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority is optimistic that renewed investor confidence in the freeport would sustain the upbeat mood in what has been hailed as the fastest growing free trade zone in Asia.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the agency expects more investment projects in 2018 to top the P2.54 billion in total committed investments generated last year.

The Subic Bay Freeport is now home to more than 1,500 investor-companies with more than $11 billion in total cumulative investments and employing a total workforce of more than 124,000 employees.

“We recorded a total of 176 new investment proposals and 63 expansion projects proposed by existing investor-companies last year, but we anticipate more investments this year because we’re opening new areas for development and, at the same time, putting more value into existing facilities so that we could attract more takers,” Eisma said.

The SBMA Business and Investment Group said the agency processed 56 new investment projects in the first quarter of 2017, 27 in the second quarter, 49 in the third, and 44 in the last quarter to generate a total of P1,448,358,341 in committed investments last year.

The 2017 investment projects also yielded a projected employment total of 2,667.

The 63 expansion projects proposed last year by existing firms here brought a total of P1,088,313,616 in new investments and a total of 821 additional jobs.

Davao biz taxes rise

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera

D

AVAO CITY—The City Government of Davao will raise business taxes by 10 percent in 2018 for the first time in 12 years.

Erwin Alparaque, head of the city Tax Research and Action Team or TRACT, said the Davao City Revised Revenue Code has been stagnant for over a decade, and reason why

there is a need to amend it.

Under the Local Government Code of 1991, a local government unit may amend its tax revenue code once every five years.

“The amendment of our

Tax Revenue Code is for the city to generate more funds to support the projects and services the city offers,” Alparaque said.

The tax increase is minimal, he said, compared to other highly urbanized cities who have strictly amended their revenue codes every five years.

“We only just implement a 10-percent increase, we have not considered a cumulative increase in our

local taxes, though it took us more than a decade to amend our revenue code,” the TRACT head said.

Last year, the city council approved the amendments to the revenue code.

Through this, Davao expects to boost its tax collection and increase the city’s annual budget for 2019.

Next year, the city will also implement the amendments to the General Market Value tax table that will

FEDERALISM MEET.

By Romeo Dizon

Cagayan de Oro to build P60-m parking facility

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY —The city government will build a four-storey parking building at Divisoria, the city’s oldest commercial center, to relieve vehicle congestion in the downtown area.

City engineer Rolando Pacuribot said the project would be funded both by the local and national governments through the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Senate President Aquilino Martin “Koko” Pimentel

sea for nine hours after they were carried away by strong currents and waves off Apo Island on Monday afternoon.

Lt. Junior Grade Donna Liza Ramacho, the Dumaguete Philippine Coast Guard station commander, alerted the coast guard station command in Apo Island and other units to launch a search operation.

After hours of scouring the area, the Coast Guard had to call off the search due to darkness and would have resumed it the following day.

impact its real property tax collection.

Despite the General Market Value amendments, Alparaque explained the city will still use the current 1.5-percent real property value instead of the maximum 2 percent as prescribed by law.

Earlier, the city government reported new records with more than 40,000 businesses registered and a total investment value of P270 billion for 2017.

Mayor Sara Duterte said the city surpassed its 2016 mark of 39,238 business establishments and total investment value worth P230.83 billion.

Duterte announced this before 300 delegates of the 50th Annual Installation of Officers and Board of Trustees of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the SMX Convention Center Davao on Jan. 28.

Mideast, Korean bizmen seek New Clark projects

Binan Rep. Marlyn ‘Len’ Alonte-Naguiat (left) applauds beside House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as they met Wednesday with presidents of the Provincial Liga ng mga Barangay from the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, who all expressed their full support for the government’s drive toward federalism. Over 4,000 barangay captains and councilors filled the Alonte Sports Arena for the community mobilization program and turned over their manifesto of support, which Alvarez as PDP Laban Secretary General received.

III has also committed to help seek additional funding, Pacuribot added, as the city government could not afford to finance the project on its own.

Pacuribot said the city would need to shell out P60 million for the four-deck structure, based on initial studies. He expected the project to start within the year if the city could obtain the additional funding.

Meanwhile, Cagayan

2 missing foreigners rescued at sea

DUMAGUETE CITY—A Canadian and an Indian with American citizenship, who went scuba diving in the renowned dive destination of Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Oriental, have been rescued, several hours after they were reported missing at 4 p.m. Monday.

The divers were identified as Matthew La France of Canada, 41, temporarily residing in Lipayo, Dauin, and Swayam Rawla, 30, with local address at Dumaguete Spring Hotel, also in Lipayo, Dauin.

The two had been at

THE Quezon City General Hospital ranks first among hospitals in Metro Manila as the top provider of breast milk, the city government announced Wednesday.

The city-owned hospital was able to distribute 29,250 milliliters of milk, more than the shared amount of 37 other hospitals combined in the metropolis.

Based on a report by the city’s human milk bank, QCGH alone has 120 recipients, while the other hospitals in Metro Manila have 171 recipients combined.

The amount of milk donated in the National Capital Region also rose from 98,854 milliliters in 2016 to 186,752 milliliters in 2017.

Of last year’s total, 43,535 milliliters of milk were sourced from QCGH. The top three lying-in clinics that received the most donated milk were the AJ Maximo lying-in in Novaliches at 28,725 ml., Kamuning lying-in (11,640 ml.) and Batasan lying-in (10,750 ml.).

The three health centers that received the most milk donations were Batasan (3,095 ml.), Bagbag (2,770 ml.) and Gulod (2,715 ml.)

Last year also saw a rise in qualified milk donors, from 1,191 in 2016 to 2,177, of which 182 donors came from QCGH.

However, they received word that a cargo vessel bound for Iloilo City had seen the two divers in the water and rescued them.

Around 9:20 p.m. Monday, one of the crew members of M/V Fortune Gold, a 74-meter Philippineflagged cargo vessel loaded with 57,000 sacks of cement, heard shouts for help at sea.

It took the boat’s crew 25 minutes to finally find the divers, who were afloat with their respective diving gear, said ship captain Ricarte Hibalay of Bohol. PNA

de Oro traffic czar Nonito Oclarit said the city would continue to implement traffic decongestion measures, one of which was enforcing discipline among motorists.

For instance, Oclarit said the Divisoria area would become a no-park zone and that vehicle owners would need to walk if they wanted to shop within the six-block commercial center.

“Without parking in the narrow street sides of Tirso

Neri and Abejuela, we can expect a smoother flow of vehicles in that area,” Oclarit said.

He said the JR Borja portion at Cogon market was also being opened as a twoway street.

In the next few months, he said the agency would turn its attention at the area surrounding westbound public market in Bulua, where traffic flow would imminently increase in the light of the opening of a mall there. PNA

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga—Foreign businessmen from the Middle East and Korea are interested in investing in the P1.2-trillion New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac, the Clark Development Corp. said.

Noel Tulabut, CDC communication head, said the interest in the NCC was disclosed by the 28 members of the Foreign Trade and Service Corps of the Department of Trade and Industry during a briefing with the governmentowned firm.

The delegation of commercial representatives and trade attachés were received by Noel Manankil, president and CEO of CDC, Tulabut said.

The NCC is an ambitious project of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, which supervises the CDC, with several features like the National Government Centre for satellite offices, commercials, sports facilities, educational institutions, agriculture tourism and housing projects.

The FTSC is composed of commercial attachés and trade representatives of gov-

ernment stations in different foreign countries. They said several of their host countries were inquiring what kind of business they can do in the Philippines, specially at the NCC. “Target of their interest is the New Clark City, which consists of 9,600 hectares of land located in Capas, Tarlac,” Tulabut said.

“The foreign businessmen inquired what projects are available at the NCC that they can join,” said Emmanuel Nino Ang, a DTI commercial representative based in Korea.

The Korean businessmen are keen on participating in engineering and construction projects at New Clark. Ang said representatives of firms in both industries are visiting the Freeport soon to see for themselves what projects they can get into.

Commercial Attaché Eric Elnar, who is based in United Arab Emirates, said the same interest was also expressed by Arab businessmen there.

A member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, UAE, which is composed of seven emirates, are interested in the development of theme parks inside the city.

TO THE DOGS.

Pet lovers led by local pet fashion icon Ms. Bernie Alfonso (center) hold up their dogs and other animals during the unveiling of the SM Pet Club ID launch over the weekend. Also in photo are SM City Taytay Marketing Manager Fiona Maranan and SM Pet Park ambassador Coco Chanel.

Norman Cruz

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com thursday, feBruary 1, 2018

shopping

C1

French costume jewelry brand opens first store in Manila

By Bernadette Lunas

M

UCh like Nereids, the sea nymphs in Greek mythology, from which it got its name, French luxury costume jewelry brand Les Nereides swims to the Philippine shores to open its first store at Greenbelt 3 in Makati.

Friends and business partners Peejay and Anne Yambao, Arthur and Martha King, Kristine Dee, Ninoy Roco, and Paul Syjuco thought it would be a good idea to bring the brand to the country where sales of costume, more affordable jewelry overtakes that of fine jewelry.

“According to the news, the pawnshop business has lost revenue by 70 percent versus the past decade; they’re basically saying no one is pawning fine jewelry anymore, which means people are not purchasing as much fine jewelry as before,” Peejay, the president of a consumer goods distributor company, shared with Manila Standard.

Big fans

But to bring just about any costume jewelry brand was out of the picture, it had to be something they believe in and love. Peejay’s wife, Anne, is a big fan of Les Nereides, so much so that she always go to their stores abroad to buy a piece or two.

Anne shared, “I’ve loved the brand since I bought from their shop in Santorini. The pieces

are eye-catching, the designs are well thoughtout, and the craftsmanship is undeniable.”

“Les Nereides is an inspiration from my wife,” related Peejay. “Recently, in all travels we went to, she always went where Les Nereides is.”

And it was those visits in the stores abroad where Peejay saw a business opportunity. “I observed the people coming and going, and [saw that] everyone who came in actually went out with a bag.”

Peejay, despite having no prior experience in jewelry or accessories business, got in touch with the executives of Les Nereides last year.

“I emailed them about a product inquiry and somehow got into a discussion about bringing the brand to Manila. They liked the trajectory and principles of my company which enabled us to win their business,” he shared.

A TOUCH OF WHIMSY.

Les Nereides offers handmade and hand painted necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings whose designs feature enchanted forests, flower gardens, coral gardens, ballerinas, and animals.

Like a fine jewelry

Despite the tag, “costume” does not mean shabby for Les Nereides. Founders Pascale and enzo Amaddeo built the company in 1980 by producing pieces using techniques employed by fine jewelry makers.

Turn to C2

A giant way to welcome

2018

Hundreds of mascots, entertainers, and giant balloons delighted mallgoers at SM Mall of Asia during the Grand Mascot Parade

The SM Mall of Asia lives up to its size as it welcomed 2018 in a giant way.

Thousands of kids and kids-at-heart trooped to SM MOA for the Grand Mascot Parade, a spectacular procession of giant adorable mascots, the first time the mall mounted such an event as a highlight of its much-awaited annual New Year celebration.

Since 2008, the Mall of Asia has been treating kids and their families to a holiday spectacle

through its Grand Festival of Lights Parade. Last December, the float parade featured Santa, MOA’s magical friends, and an array of holiday characters, dancing to well-loved holiday tunes atop six floats lined with LeD lights.

Unwrapping the first day of 2018, SM pumped up the celebration by adding giant inflatables to the delight of spectators. held at the North and South Arcades of the mall, the Grand Mascot Pa-

rade featured SM’s very own Leo the lion, hannah the panda, Gerry the giraffe, Macky the monkey, Benny the bunny, Cyril the squirrel, ellie the elephant, and hailey the hippo, as well as The Powerpuff Girls, Doraemon’s friends, Darth Vader, and the Storm Troopers, among others.

A special meet and greet with the characters was held at the Seaside Boulevard. Families had the chance to enjoy taking pictures with their fa-

vorite characters. The event was made grander by an impressive fireworks display.

For exclusive news about SM Supermalls, visit www.smsupermalls.com or follow SM’s official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and get an insider access to all the fun happenings at SM Supermalls nationwide through SM’s Viber Public Chat.

Life

C2

thursday, february 1, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

How to get your finances back on track

SAVE NOW, SHOP LATER. If you start saving up for your Yuletide expenses as early as today, you are less likely to blow your Christmas bonus in one go come December.

D

ID you shop a lot of gifts for your loved ones and for yourself during the holiday season? Most likely. Overspending is a common scenario when you have ample funds in 13th month and bonus season, and getting back to budget is a challenge once the new year rolls in.

Bouncing back from a financial setback is not as you’ve overspent the last two months. Being aware of hard as it seems. By taking these steps to recovery, the gap makes it real in your head and you will most adapting a better way to save and spend next time likely be motivated to spend less in the coming weeks. will be effortless.

This also allows you to break down how much you need to set aside each payday so you don’t get Recap your expenses to know where intimidated by the gap you have in your finances.

you start

The best way to start assessing how much you need to Tighten your belt and focus on investing get back into your cash flow is taking note of how much Though returning to your regular spending hab-

its seems like something you can do after the holiday rush, it’s wisest to discipline your buying arm.

Don’t jump at the first discounts you see at malls or another “best buy” just yet. Instead, start setting aside for the future and keep your money safe with a unit-linked life insurance plan.

BPI-Philam’s got an array of insurance plans from their Wellness Series that meet your specific needs and fit easily in your monthly cash flow.

Visit www.bpi-philam.com for more details.

Unit-linked products like Life Ready Plus give you the necessary protection you need through insurance while allotting a portion of your premium on building your wealth. Keeping another set of funds you won’t be able to disrupt with impulse

Natori Mandarin Gown

Use this time until the next holiday to improve your budgeting skills

Some people will advise you to start saving up for your Yuletide expenses as early as now so you don’t end up blowing your Christmas bonus all in one go. Others will tell you to build a holiday fund by selling items you don’t need or use, gradually growing it throughout the year.

Whatever you decide on, choose a budgeting strategy that’s doable for you. By personalizing your saving style, you’ll be more flexible when it comes to setting aside money and be more creative with the money you have for expenses.

Shop and win a BMW

Gifts of love WORDS of affection are appreciated and actions done with love are enough. But if you want to show how much you care with tangible objects, Rustan’s Department Store has a couple of wonderful tokens for the love of your life.

Sparkling jewel is a classic Valentine’s gift for the ladylove. From rose and yellow golds to diamonds and other precious stones, Adami & Martucci and Tiffany & Co. have beautiful selecCrossfliketa Patent Heels in Flamenco from tions to add sparkle to the seaChristian Louboutin son. Lovely trinkets from Swarovski and Orelia, meanwhile, will definitely be the Lucky Cat Figurine will definitely be a statement piece for the house that may delight of the recipient.

Allow the ladies to exude confidence bring luck in love, among other things.

Rustan’s further rewards shoppers with and feel beautiful in their own skin with luxurious wear from Josie Natori perks as they pamper their special someone.

From today until Feb. 14, customers with and Trina Turk. Statement pieces like a Christian Louboutin evening bag and a minimum single receipt purchase worth high heels with that stunning shade of P5,000 will receive a complimentary crimson are stylish wardrobe pieces any 8-piece box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Aside from gifting that special woman will appreciate and keep someone the perfect gift, sweep for years of celebration. them off their feet with a romantic For men, a handsome Montretreat. Shop today until March blanc timepiece or writing in4 at participating stores and get strument is a thoughtful and a chance to win a dream getafunctional gift that he can way to Tokyo. One winner keep close every day. will be given two roundtrip Give different gifts for business class tickets every type of man—eccourtesy of ANA, and a lectic socks from Happy 3D/2N stay in a deluxe Socks for the creative, suite at The Peninsula elegant ties and pocket Tokyo; and another will squares from Tie Bar receive two roundtrip for the driven professionbusiness class tickets coural, and specially designed tesy of ANA. USBs and hard drives from For every P3,000 spent on Milli X Ferrari for the techie any merchandise from participatcar lover. ing Rustan’s Department Stores For discerning homemakin Makati, Shangri-la, Alabang, ers, excite them with an array Gateway and Cebu, earns one elecof wonderful and elegant pieces tronic raffle entry. The deadline of - from Lladro’s vintage table Montblanc registration of raffle entries is on décor and accents, to tea sets Heritage March 4, before store closure. Winfrom the Royal Doulton. For an Chronométrie added whim, a quirky Mani The Twincounter Date ners will be drawn on March 15.

buys grows your money better and makes sure you have it when you need it.

THE green light is still on at Araneta Center as its Bright, Magical, and Wonderful car promo, where the winner can drive home a new BMW car, is ongoing until Feb. 5 For every P1,000 single purchase receipt from any Araneta Center establishment (Gateway Mall, Gateway Tower Mall, Ali Mall, New Farmers Plaza, Farmers Market, Coliseum Circle restaurants, Telus Arcade, Cyberpark I, Shopwise Arcade restaurants, Araneta Center Bus Station, Araneta Center Bus Port, and Manhattan Parkway, Parkview and Heights Arcade) or single or accumulated receipt amounting to P1,000 worth of any Petron

French...

From C1

Designed in France, each piece is meticulously handmade by artisans.

The malleable brass is gilded with 14k fine gold and the enameling is delicately done.

The pieces live up to the whimsicality of the brand’s name, as each is finely wrought to depict detailed images of enchanted forests, colorful flower gardens, coral gardens, animals such as snakes and rabbits and birds, and ballerina dancers. There are also refined pieces made of hand carved glass stones, perfect as formal wear accents.

Taking care of Les Nereides items is quite easy, according to Peejay.

Don’t expose them to water, alcohol or acid; clean them using dry, soft cloth; store them in their original packaging or protective pouch.

Exclusive, not expensive

For its inaugural collection, the local team brought in 350 unique designs from Les Nereides portfolio. Each de-

products, entitles a shopper to join the Bright, Magical, Wonderful car promo and get a chance to win a brand new BMW 118i M sport model car.

In addition, four lucky shoppers will also win P10,000 worth of shopping spree.

Shoppers may redeem their raffle stubs at the Gateway Food Express in the Gateway Mall, the Food Plaza in New Farmers Plaza, and the concierge areas of the Gateway Mall, Ali Mall and New Farmers Plaza.

The grand draw is set on Feb. 5.

For more details, visit aranetacenter.net and Araneta Center’s Facebook page. sign only comes in two to three pieces in order to give their clients exclusivity.

The diminutive pieces start at P2,000, while the big pieces range from P20,000 to P30,000.

The Philippine distributors divulged their plan to open five more stores in the next two years. Currently, Les Néréides has around 100 stores and 300 point-ofsales in 40 countries around the world.

Les Néréides Manila is located at the ground level of Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City. For inquiries, follow and contact @LesNereidesManila on Facebook or Instagram.

Glittered midnight blue ballerina and charms bracelet

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

om left) Shaquille petition judges (fr

Reality com

rry. rkley and Brent Ba

O'Neal, Charles Ba

‘THE DUNK KING’ premieres on Warner TV

F

ILIPINOS Are undeniably some of the biggest basketball fans in the world. Even FIBA called us as the Most Valuable Fans after the 2014 FIBA World Cup, showing our passion for the sport whether it’s played in arenas or on the streets.

This February, Warner TV has a special treat for Filipino basketball fans. For the first time on Philippine TV, the network is bringing you the hit reality contest that has captured the hearts of basketball fans all over the world, The Dunk King.

The Dunk King, a TNT Original Series, is a reality competition that offers basketball enthusiasts a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to show off their creativity and skills when it comes to dunking. It features dunkers from different parts of the world in their quest to become the next dunking celebrity and win USD 100,000 in the process.

The show is hosted by Terrence J and Kenny Smith with basketball icons as judges including Shaquille O’Neal who’s arguably the best (and biggest) center position of all time, Charles Barkley, NBA’s most dominant power forward during his time, and Brent Barry who played for the San Anto-

nio Spurs and was once named the NBA Slam Dunk Contest Champion.

Watch these ballers as they employ various tricks and stunts, take the leap from obscurity, dunk their way to celebrity status, and earn the coveted title of Dunk King.

The reality competition premieres today at 8:10 p.m. on Warner TV. Weekly episodes airs every Thursday.

Warner TV is available on Cignal SD Channel 126, Cignal HD Channel 235, SkyCable SD Digital Channel 34, SkyCable HD Channel 197, and Destiny Cable Channel 34. For more things Warner TV, visit the channel’s website at http://www.warnertvasia.com/ and join the conversation on social media on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ WarnerTVAsia/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ warnerbrostv/).

SPACE JAM. 'The Dunk King' is a reality competition that offers basketball enthusiasts a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show off their creativity and skills when it comes to dunking.

Star-crossed lovers in CCP Met Opera in HD THE star-crossed lovers whose love and death reconcile the feuding Montague and Capulet families takes the center stage in the fourth offering of the CCP Met Opera in HD Season 5, to be screened on Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m. at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3.

Based on William Shakespeare's timeless romance story, the Charles Gounod opera Roméo et Juliette stars actresses Diana Damrau, Amanda Woodbury, Pretty Yende alternating as Juliette, with actors Vittorio Grigolo and Stephen Costello sharing the role of Roméo. Actors Virginie Verrez and Paula Murrihy play Stephano, Elliot Madore and Yunpeng Wang as Mercutio, and Mikhail Petrenko and Matthew Rose as Frere Laurent.

When Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo starred opposite each other in Manon at the Met in 2015, the New York Times observed, “the temperature rises nearly to boiling every time Damrau and Grigolo are on stage together.” Now they’re back as opera’s classic lovers in Gou- Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo as Romeo and Juliet in CCP Met Opera nod’s lush Shakespeare adapta- in HD Season 5's opening salvo

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, February 1, 2018

ACROSS 1 Bonkers 6 Cyclotron targets 11 Rug texture 14 Craggy abode 15 Maritime 16 Lyric poem 17 Comical 18 Big Dipper neighbor 19 Rover’s doc 20 Trustworthy 22 Largest mammal 24 Moon features 28 One on a quest 29 Subside 30 Variety of onion 32 Goddess’s statue 33 Tumults 35 Move the puck 39 Bronte governess 40 Hostel 41 Fontanne’s husband 42 Bumper mishap 43 Put in the ledger 45 Falco or Sedgwick 46 Gossipmonger 48 Kind of job 50 Uproar 53 Cast material 54 Willow twig 55 Cads 57 Ice melter

58 60 65 66 67 68 69

Kuwaiti leaders Place for a pilot Umbrage Retirement plan Writer — Dillard Radio’s PBS On pins and needles 70 Out-and-out DOWN 1 Fellow 2 Above, in verse 3 Sierra Madre gold 4 Less than one 5 Shouted 6 Rooney and Warhol 7 Rhett’s hangout 8 Plum shape 9 PC competitor 10 Not as busy 11 Kim of “Picnic” 12 Fred Astaire’s sister 13 Jennings or Falk 21 Vein contents 23 With hands tied 24 Reacted to onions 25 Change colors 26 Oak-to-be 27 Fax forerunner 28 Airline to

Stockholm 30 1492 vessel 31 Sea eagle 34 Delicate hue 36 Listen in 37 Rudely sarcastic 38 Take the helm 43 USN rank 44 Tick off 47 California motto 49 Bahamas resort 50 Violinist’s aid 51 Seize power 52 Prospector,

maybe 53 Aggressive 55 Very funny person 56 PTA and NEA 59 Guys 61 HBO alternative 62 Sudbury’s prov.

63 Contend for superiority 64 Always, to Byron

tion.

Gounod opera has been notable for its series of four duets for the main characters and the waltz song "Je veux vivre" for the soprano.

Conductor Gianandrea Noseda takes care of the sumptuous score.

Also, the Bartlett Sher’s new production has already won acclaim for its vivid 18th century milieu and stunning costumes during runs at Salzburg and La Scala.

The CCP Met Opera in HD series features screenings of the latest operatic productions of the Metropolitan Opera of New York through the high-definition digital video technology and Dolby sound recreating the experience of watching an opera production at the Met “live.” It is co-presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Metropolitan Opera of New York and the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc., in cooperation with the Ayala Malls Cinemas.

For inquiries, please call CCP Sales and Promotions at 832-3706, or e-mail ccpsalesandpromo@ gmail. com, Greenbelt 3 Cinema Customer Service Hotline at 7577883. You may also visit www.culturalcenter.gov. ph.

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018 Maryo J de los Reyes was an acclaimed film and television director. He began his career in the 1970s and was known for the films ‘Magnifico,’ ‘Naglalayag,’ and ‘Bagets,’ to name a few.

It’s a wrap for

MARYO J. DE LOS REYES D

IRECTORS would say “It’s a wrap,” when the last sequence of a film or TV show is done. And that’s what Maryo de los Reyes could have said when he succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest last Saturday night, Jan.28.

I got news that film/ TV director who was born Mario Margarito Jorolan de los Reyes on Oct. 17, 1952 had suffered a fatal cardiac arrest at around 10 p.m. in Dipolog City where he was in a wedding reception of a couple.

He was one of the principal sponsors, I learned.

The news didn’t sink in immediately as the director, a classmate at the UP College of Mass Communication (then at our time was still just an institute) looked healthier than I was the last time I saw him at the birthday party of Dennis Evangelista after the press conference of Baby F. Go’s BG Production International at Marco Polo in Ortigas Centre a couple of weeks before his fatal heart attack.

But the posts on Facebook of his close friends and colleagues in the indus-

UP, he joined the ranks of new directors in Philippine cinema, among which were Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal.

At a young age, Maryo stunned critics with his debut feature High School Circa ’65 (1979) that paved the way for his entry to the mainstream cinema eventually with movies, like Gabun, the Nora Aunor starrers Annie Batungbakal and Bongga Ka Day, the iconic Bagets and its sequel, Bagets 2.

Maryo also astonished the movie audience with his tearjerkers Hindi Mo Ako Kayang Tapakan, Saan Darating ang Umaga, Sinun-

UP College of Mass Communication Alumni Association.

Apart from being a brilliant director, he had been a mentor to various actors in the industry and a catalyst in shaping their careers. He was a consultant at GMA Artist Center and was deeply involved in its Talent Development program.

Mario’s remains lie at the Loyola Commonwealth Chapels and inurnment will be on Saturday.

The industry is mourning, so do his friends, high school and college classmates, not to mention his relatives who were surprised at his sudden departure.

I pray that Maryo rest in peace in God’s mercy and loving kindness. Bye for now. *** ESPN5, the multimedia licensing and co-brand-

try confirmed he had really gone.

I can’t believe it until today that a friend in the industry who was just several months younger than I am had gone ahead. Our common classmate Gardy Labad was frantic on FB that no one among Mario’s relatives was with him in Dipolog.

Maryo and I shared some things in common. Like me, he, too, was an ex-seminarian, and we both loved the theater and the movies. In his younger years, he was with PETA along with fellow exseminarian and Boholano, Gardy Labad. In college, he spearheaded Dulaang Kapiterya to allow mass communication students to showcase their acting talents in plays created for theater in the round (the venue was the cafeteria at the back of the college, which has long been demolished).

During our days as broadcast communication majors, I’ve always known where Maryo was headed for… the theater, the movies as a director and television, And it happened, really, as he after graduating at the

galing Mong Puso, Kaya Kong Abutin Ang Langit, Sa Ngalan Ng Pag-ibig, Tagos ng Dugo, My Other Woman, Kapag Napagod Ang Puso.

More recently he made Bamboo Flowers and also another Nora Aunor-starrer Naglalayag in 2004.

He also directed the inspirational film Magnifico in 2003 that won the Crystal Bear in the 2004 Berlin Film Festival Children’s Category and Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Grand Prix for Best Feature Film in the same festival. It also garnered major recognitions in the FAMAS Awards, Gawad Urian Awards, Golden Screen Awards and FAP Awards in the Philippines.

On TV, audiences would never forget his work on GMA 7 that included Someone To Watch Over Me, Pari Ko’y, Niño, Magkano Ba Ang Pag-ibig, Pahiram Ng Sandali, Little Star, Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak, Biritera, Munting Heredera, Magdusa Ka, “Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?, among others.

Maryo was also the festival director of ToFarm Film Festival. And, for several years was president of the

ing collaboration between ESPN and TV5, is launching local, ESPN5-branded editions of ESPN.com as well as subscription sports streaming service ESPN Player that can be accessed by sports fans in the Philippines. With the launching of these local digital properties on Jan. 31, Filipino sports fans will have an exciting new digital gateway for all the latest news, scores, video and more from the Philippines sporting scene and around the world - anytime and anywhere.

The digital launches are the latest developments in the collaboration between TV5 and ESPN after TV5 successfully launched the co-branded ESPN5 channel in October and produced a local edition of the iconic SportsCenter show in December. The long-term agreement leverages a winning combination of two respected media brands, and serves Filipino sports fans via their combined expertise and high-quality compelling content.

“ESPN has a strong connection with fans around the world because we are

ISAH V. RED

fans ourselves, driven by a similar obsession for sports,” said Joyee Biswas, head of Southeast Asia, ESPN. “The launch of our new co-branded digital multi-sports products for Philippine sports fans showcases our digital leadership and offers sports fans outstanding news, features and video experiences around top sports of interest to Filipino sports fans. These new products perfectly complement TV5’s recently launched ESPN5 channel and reinforce our signature ‘Game around the Game’ analysis across platforms.”

Vincent “Chot” Reyes, president of TV5 said, “We are proud to be able to feature Philippine sports news, stories from the PBA, PSL, GILAS, and all other sporting events TV5 covers as part of ESPN’s digital platforms.

Now we can truly give our audience the broadest array of sports content when they want it, where they want it.”

ESPN Website The new ESPN.com brings Filipino sports fans a clean, dynamic presentation and the editorial team powering coverage on the website and app combines writers, reporters and editors from both TV5 and ESPN. Together, the combination

will offer sports fans a combination of local and global sports content including scores, analysis, news, video, blogs and more.

Both the new ESPN.com and ESPN app offer sports fans a simple, clean and fast design – where content is the hero. Built on technology and content management platform that power the world’s #1 portfolio of digital sports properties, they reflect ESPN’s mobile-first focus with digital products, and allow easy discovery and navigation of ESPN’s enormous library of content and brings Filipino fans easy, powerful personalization.

ESPN.com: The new ESPN.com features responsive design, automatically adjusting to any screen, delivering a dynamically optimized experience for fans on Android and iOS smartphones and tablets, as well as laptops and desktops. The design and user experience is familiar to the app experience – delivering continuity for the Filipino user – regardless of how they engage ESPN on digital devices.

The ESPN Player, a subscription sports streaming service, will offer LIVE and on demand sports including NCAA College Sports, X

Games and IndyCar. NCAA College sports will include Basketball (March Madness and Final Four), Volleyball, Football, Lacrosse and ESPN College studio shows.

Full linear simulcasts of the SEC Network, ESPNU and Longhorn Network will also be available on ESPN Player. Additionally, fans will be able to stream ESPN’s X Games, a thrilling display of the best athletes in action sports, including at least four scheduled events in 2018: X Games Aspen, X Games Norway, X Games Minneapolis and X Games Sydney.

Filipino sports fans will also be able to watch every race from the Verizon IndyCar series LIVE and on-demand.

The exclusive coverage includes driver cams and comprehensive coverage of the iconic Indy 500 race.

ESPN player promotional codes with 12-month access will be bundled with selected SMART Postpaid plans (including iPhone Plans), and later to Smart Prepaid and Smart Bro. The ESPN Player is compatible with Apple TV (though AirPlay) and ChromeCast with a monthly recurring pass at 99 Philippine Pesos per month. Devices supported include Mobile, Desktop and Tablet. ESPN

Player will give sports fans access to enjoy sports they love anytime, anywhere.

The long-term collaboration between TV5 and ESPN has a daily Philippine edition of SportsCenter at the conclusion of the PBA. The iconic sports news and highlights show will be a 30-minute daily program produced LIVE and exclusive each day by ESPN5 from the TV5 studios in Manila, bringing Filipino fans the latest sports news and developments from the Philippines and around the world, with daily content contribution from SportsCenter US. Covering the latest in sports news, highlights and updates in its signature fastpaced format, SportsCenter will concentrate on the biggest stories of the day and the sports that matter most to Filipino fans, including PBA, NBA, American Football, Volleyball and more.

Hosted by a rotating roster of some of the Philippines most popular sportscasters including Aaron Atayde, Lia Cruz, Magoo Marjon and Amanda Fernandez, the show will air live on TV5 after the PBA and other prime time sports 7 days a week.

SNAPSHOT

DJ Tom Taus at Movenpick INTERNATIONAL DJ Tom Taus headlined the grand launch after party of Movenpick Resort and Spa Boracay on Jan. 29. The disc jockey performed three special sets dishing out party tunes like “Despacito,” “Havana,” and “Mi Gente” right at the resort’s Sol Marina Beach Club. The spectacular Grand Opening party was themed “Cirque du Paradiso” and included performances by Boracay drumbeaters and showgirls, fire dancers, wheel stunts, aerial dancers and a firework show. The after party featured live music from a rockeoke band followed by local DJs spinning dancefloor tunes on the poolside stage.