Manila Standard - 2018 February 03 - Saturday

CPP secretary captured Cops say Salinas nabbed in Ozamiz amid claims he was jailed since May

By Vito Barcelo

VOL. XXXI • NO. 351 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

IN BLOOM. A colorful 10-

foot replica of a dog, blooming with bright flowers, stands guard at the Eastwood Mall open park—a welcome sight for the forthcoming Valentine’s season and Chinese New Year.

This will be on display well into the summer season, according to officials. Manny Palmero

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HE government announced Friday the arrest of Rommel Dorango Salinas, said to be the secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, in Ozamiz City by local police and elements of the 10th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

A consultant of the left-leaning National Democratic Front of the Philippines, Salinas was arrested at 11 a.m. in Bernard Subdivision, City Hall Drive, Barangay Aguada in Ozamiz.

A warrant of arrest was issued against the 45-year-old in October 2013 for frustrated murder and destructive arson, Ozamiz police personnel said.

Salinas is the second NDF consultant arrested after Rafael Baylosis was nabbed in Quezon City on Wednesday, and following President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of the Front, the CPP and its armed wing the New People’s Army as terrorist organizations.

But Salinas’ lawyers said he was arrested long before this week, on May 11, 2017, and has been in detention since then.

Edre U. Olalia, president of the National Union of People’s Law-

CPP OFFICIAL NABBED. Police and Army troops say they have arrested and detained 45-year-old Rommel Dorango Salinas, secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued against him in October 2013 for frustrated murder and destructive arson. yers, said in a statement that “the report and press release going the rounds of media giving the wrong impression that he was only arrested yesterday in a subdivision is false and a cheap propaganda stunt to sow terror and confusion.”

Cristina Palabay from the rights group Karapatan also said Salinas has been detained in Ozamiz City since May last year, when he was arrested with Iglesia Filipina Independiente Bishop Carlo Morales, public school Next page

Aquino, 20 others face raps over poll violation

By Joel E. Zurbano

SolGen hits Panel findings reinforce dengue vaccine suspension Macon RamosMorales for ByAraneta questioning Rody’s order THE Health Department said Friday that an investigation by a team from the Philippine General Hospital into

By Rey E. Requejo THE state’s top lawyer on Friday tore into Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and insisted that President Rodrigo Duterte has the authority to discipline Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang.

Solicitor General Jose Calida challenged the assertion of Morales that President Duterte’s suspension order against Carandang constitutes disrespect of the 2014 Supreme Court decision, which nullified the order of then President Benigno Aquino III to dismiss Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales II. Calida reminded Morales that she previously

the death of 14 children given the Dengvaxia vaccine has strengthened its resolve to keep the dengue immunization program suspended.

In a statement, the department said the results showed

that Dengvaxia, manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, is unit for a mass immunization program that does not screen for prior infection or the presence of one or more additional diseases or co-

morbidity.

The report said that in three cases, a causal association was observed. The children died due to dengue despite being vaccinated with Next page

Pimentel sees ‘19 plebiscite for Cha-Cha

THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption on Friday filed a complaint with the Commission on Elections against former President Benigno Aquino III in connection with the controversial anti-dengue program implemented by the government during the May 2016 election period.

Also included on the complaint filed at the Comelec were former Department of Health secretary Janette Garin and former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, and current DoH officials.

VACC officials led by Dante Jimenez and former DoH consultant Francis Cruz alleged

that the respondents violated the Omnibus Election Code, which prohibits the release and use of government funds for election campaign within 45 days before a regular election or 30 days before a special election.

The complaint stated that “Aquino, Abad and Garin had caused the releases, disbursements or expenditures of over P3.5 billion in public funds in connection with the procurement of the Dengvaxia vaccine and implementation of the School-Based Immunization of Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine of the Department of Health (or Dengue Immunization Program) in the National Capital Region (NCR), Calabarzon Next page

Q4 of 2017 posted more common-crimes victims

By Vito Barcelo

SENATORS led by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III think a standalone plebiscite in 2019 for constitutional change would be better than it piggybacking on the coming barangay elections this May. Senator Francis Escudero also said the Commission on Elections has no allocated budget for a plebiscite this year, which would cost the government around P8 million.

Congress could pass a DENGVAXIA REPORT. (From left) PGH Experts Panel head Dr. Juliet Sio-Aguilar, Health supplemental budget for the Undersecretary Rolando Domingo, PGH Director Gerardo Legazpi and PGH forensic pa-

ABOUT 1.7-million Filipino families fell victims to violence and common crimes in the last quarter of 2017, the highest incidence of victimization since June 2016, according to a survey

by Social Weather Stations.

The SWS survey said the overall number of crimes in the country rose by 1.5 percent as many Filipino families reported that they had been victims of common crimes including violence, robbery, break-ins and carjackings.

The polling firm said at least 7.1 percent of Filipino families, or an estimated 1.6-million families, lost property to street robbers, pickpockets, burglars or carjackers within the past six months.

The survey result, conducted on Dec. 8 to 16, 2017, was 1.5 points above the 6.1 percent or an estimated 1.4-million families in September 2017 and the highest since the 11.4 percent Next page in June 2016.

Next page thologist Ma. Cecilia Lim announce the results of their investigation on Dengvaxia dubbed PGH Dengue Investigative Task Force. Norman Cruz

Next page

Protesting UP students Duterte tells lumads to trust AFP, not NPA warned of losing scholarships

By Vito Barcelo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday warned students of the University of the Philippines that they will give their slots to deserving lumad students if

they continue to participate in anti-government rallies.

In a speech at an indigenous peoples’ summit in Davao City, Duterte said UP students were frequently walking out of Next page

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TRUST the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not the New People’s Army, President Rodrigo Duterte told the lumad or indigenous people of Mindanao at a summit in Davao City on Friday.

The President said the government had aided the

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lumad while the NPA only extort from them.

“Who buys oxygen for you? Who pays for your hospital bills? Who pays for the vehicles to bring your sick [to the doctor]?

The NPA? (Expletive), the NPA will foot those bills?

They’d ask you to pay

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for it! They’d extort you and scare you into paying [revolutionary taxes] for all time,” Duterte said in Cebuano.

In contrast, the Presidents soldiers would only ask the lumad to let them sleep in their homes and leave soon after. Next page

LEADERS SUMMIT. President Rodrigo Duterte greets Supreme Tribal Council for Peace and Development chairman Datu Roel Ali and Mindanao IP Council for Development chairman Datu Joel Unad on his arrival at the Felix Apolinario Naval Station in Panacan, Davao City Thursday where he attended the Indigenous Peoples Leaders’ Summit. Malacañang Photo

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Bathing areas for evacuees set

By Vito Barcelo

P

UBLIC Works Secretary Mark Villar said Friday his department will build 333 temporary bathing areas with toilets in the 56 evacuation centers for the Mayon Volcano evacuees in Daraga, Albay.

He said the project was part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s instructions when he visited Albay to maintain cleanliness in the evacuation centers.

In other developments: • Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Anselmo Simeon Patron Pinili said Friday his agency had approved an additional P30 mil-

lion for the Mt. Mayon evacuees in Albay.

Earlier, President Duterte turned over a P5-million PCSO check to the provincial government during his visit in Albay.

• Thirty out of the 60 water supply sources in the temporary shelters in Albay had tested positive for contamination, a television report said Friday.

Consignee of P6.4-b shabu shipment cornered by NBI AGENTS of the National Bureau of Investigation on Friday arrested the consignee of the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that was smuggled through the Manila port in May last year.

NBI public information chief Nicanor Suarez said Eirene Mae Tatad, owner of EMT Trading, was arrested in Iloilo City on the strength of a warrant issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46, which is hearing the drug importation case filed by the Department of Justice.

Meanwhile, a Manila court on Friday ordered authorities to bring Customs fixer Mark Ruben Taguba II to the Manila City Jail after it denied his bid to remain under NBI custody.

Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 said Taguba’s motion lacked merit because the NBI had no mandate to oversee detainees undergoing trial for a criminal case.

That mandate, Montesa said, belonged to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which supervises city and provincial jails.

NBI Task Force Against Ille-

gal Drugs chief Ross Jonathan Galicia said Tatad’s brother-inlaw convinced her to turn herself in to government agents.

He said Tatad’s brother-in-law also accompanied the NBI in fetching her in Iloilo, where she was on vacation.

“We called her up and asked her if she was willing to give up,” Galicia said.

Tatad denied that she went on hiding, saying she only learned about the arrest warrant against her on Thursday.

She said she went to Iloilo to relieve herself of stress following the dismissal of the case at the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court Branch 171 for lack of jurisdiction.

The case was refiled with the Manila court last week.

Tatad’s camp also maintained that she was innocent of the allegations, and that she had only been used as a dummy by Customs fixer and co-accused Taguba.

Earlier, the Justice Department said Tatad had admitted she had a “consignee-for-hire” arrangement with Taguba, but she denied it.

Aquino...

the voters to throw their support or vote for the candidates for president, vice president and senator of his party in the May 2016 elections.”

In an interview with GMA News, Garin said the anti-dengue program was never used for political purposes.

“We in DoH worked and delivered, commensurate to what is expected of any government employee or official,” she said.

Abad, for his part, said they “took into consideration” the election ban when they released allotments and disbursed funds for the project.

The government stopped the implementation of the program following reports that Dengvaxia, made by Sanofi Pasteur, could be harmful to those who had not previously been infected by dengue.

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(Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Central Luzon during 45 days before the May 2016 elections ...”

The current DoH officials, according to VACC, were included in the complaint “for being involved, directly or indirectly, in the first round of implementation of the Dengue Immunization Program on April 4, 2016 or during the election ban.”

The complaint further stated that the public funds were used for partisan political activity of Aquino’s Liberal Party “in order to further the candidacies of his party mates, especially those vying for the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial post, or otherwise influence or entice

Q4...

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The increase in the crime rate was spread through both rural and urban areas.

The new rating is 1.3 percent higher than the September 2017 survey of 5.8 percent, which is equivalent to about 1.3-million families.

However, due to the recordlow property crime rate of 3.1 percent in June 2017, the resulting annual average for 2017 was a record-low 5.6 percent.

The survey also found 0.8 percent or 188,000 families had members hurt by physical violence within the past six months.

Protesting...

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their classes to join anti-government protests even if it was the government subsidizing their education.

“Those who don’t want to go to school, get out because I will bring the bright lumads there,” Duterte said.

This was 0.3 point above the 0.5 percent or 115,000 families in September 2017 and the highest since the 0.9 percent in June 2016.

The resulting 2017 average of 0.7 percent victimized by physical violence was lower than the 0.8 percent annual average in 2016 and similar to the 0.7 percent annual average in 2015.

SWS said the survey asked respondents whether any household member became a victim of street robbery, home breakins, carjacking or violence in the past six months.

“Victimization by common crimes reported in SWS surveys is much higher than the number of crimes actually reported to the police,” SWS said in its report.

“I will enroll them there in UP. A lot of Filipinos want a good education.”

Duterte said he will not stop UP students from skipping their classes to join protests or rallies but warned they will be replaced by other students who want quality education.

“Go ahead because I will get new ones, I will put them there,” he said.

During the tribal summit,

• The Department of Agriculture will distribute plastic sheets to farmers in Albay to help protect their crops from the ash spewed by Mayon Volcano, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Friday.

“The plastic sheets will be used in setting up low-level sheds to shield growing vegetables from the ashes spewed

by Mayon Volcano,” Piñol said in a statement.

State volcanologists said Mayon Volcano had been exhibiting a greater number of small but consecutive lava fountaining and ash explosions.

At past 9 p.m. on Thurs-

day, the restive volcano again spewed lava, pyroclastic f low that caused rockfalls. The lava fountain it produced generated an ash plume 1.25 kilometers high.

The volcano’s eruption volume has reached 45 million cubic meters―enough volcanic material to fill 18,000 Olympicsized swimming pools.

“There is pressure underneath the volcano,” said Paul Alanis, a science research specialist with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

Duterte had given P20 million but he said he would pledge another P50 million for

food and sanitation in the evacuation centers.

Villar said the immediate construction of toilets would help address the need for hygiene and sanitation facilities in the evacuation camps.

During a Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting, government agencies agreed they would manage the evacuation camps in the city or municipalities affected by Mayon Volcano.

Public Works will also manage the operations of the nine public schools and relocation centers for the evacuees fleeing Mount Mayon.

CPP...

pistols, 14 cartridges, and two magazines.

In a radio interview, Bello said the NDF official had a pending case and assured other NDF consultants without cases that they would not be arrested.

Bello also expressed hope that peace talks between the government and communist rebels will resume, adding that he has already held informal talks with Fidel Agcaoili, chairman of the NDF negotiating panel.

Duterte terminated the peace talks in November 2017, with both sides blaming each other for their failure to observe a ceasefire.

The President signed Procla-

mation No. 360, formally terminating the peace talks with the communist rebels.

NDFP Executive Committee member Luis Jalandoni said Baylosis’ arrest was illegal, citing their Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees with the government in 1995.

The government, however, said the Jasig is no longer in effect now that the peace talks have been scrubbed.

A Quezon City prosecutor recommended no bail for Baylosis and his companion for the offense of illegal possesion of explosives, police said Friday.

Olalia said the gun and a hand grenade were planted.

Secretary Francisco Duque III suspended the dengue vaccination program that had already administered the vaccine to 830,000 children.

The Health department later asked an independent group of experts from PGH to review the first cases of mortalities among Dengvaxia recipients.

The department said it would turn over the PGH report to the Justice department, which is investigating those who could be held accountable for the P3.5billion vaccination program.

“We will do everything possible in our power to monitor the children and provide them immediate medical care if needed. Likewise, the DoH will strengthen its systems and processes in the implementation of the National Immunization Program in order to address and prevent observed deficiencies in the roll-out of new vaccines, like Dengvaxia,” the department said.

At the same time, Duque announced interim guidelines on surveillance, dengue case management and patient referral and

risk communication to address the issues and concerns as a result of the dengue vaccination program.

Meanwhile, former Health secretaries and specialist doctors Esperanza Cabral and Manuel Dayrit and 100 doctors called for sobriety amid the panic and hysteria brought about by the Dengvaxia controversy.

“The unnecessary fear and panic, largely brought about by the imprudent language and unsubstantiated accusations by persons whose qualifications to render any expert opinion on the matter are questionable at best, have caused many parents to resist having their children avail of life saving vaccines that our government gives. Even deworming efforts are being met with suspicion and resistance, with many parents afraid to give consent; all because of the misinformation that has been allowed to take hold of the collective psyche,” a joint statement said.

The doctors said they fear that if the trend continues and parents refuse vaccination for their children, life threatening outbreaks may occur.

it would give lawmakers and the Comelec enough time to put the change to a vote.

“Because of our practical mind and attitude, we look at the next scheduled election in May 2019,” the Senate President said at an event late Thursday to launch the ruling PDP-Laban party’s book on federalism.

Pimentel, as PDP-Laban’s president, is a staunch advocate of a shift away from the country’s present unitary form of government, a sentiment spearheaded by President Rodrigo

Duterte even when he was still on the campaign trail.

He noted that the minority Liberal Party should lead the committee that would review changes to the Constitution to make it a bipartisan effort, and said he has spoken about with Senator Francis Pangilinan, who chairs the committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes.

Pangilinan has promised not to be an obstructionist in the Charter change or “Cha-Cha” process, Pimentel said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

“Why would you fight them?

Soldiers are the ones you should be giving favors to, not the NPAs. They would ask everything from you, even rice,” he said.

The President then announced the release of P100 million for lumad livelihood programs and agricultural development, and promised them housing units and jobs.

Soldiers, Duterte added, would never harass lumad families. “Are there any soldiers who [have] touched your wife’s legs?” he asked.

Instead, the President told the lumad to tell him where NPA camps are located, then stay away from them—presumably for a military raid to follow.

“The NPAs have camps here.

What you do is, you leave, because we will come for them.

Your soldiers will go for them

and clean them up. If you want to live here now, we will move you later. Just tell me where they are.

I’ll even fly the chopper, and you man the guns. Two guns, just like in the movies,” he said.

“Do we understand each other? Perhaps we’re not clear with this. We will start now, and tomorrow I will give you something. Prepare yourselves for eventual relocation if that is what you want,” the President said. With Francisco Tuyay

Duterte vowed to release P100 million to the tribal communities in Mindanao for livelihood programs and agricultural development and to counter the influence of communist insurgents.

He also pledged to facilitate the entry of investors and government assistance to the tribal areas.

He underscored the importance of education to lift lumad

communities from poverty and promised to provide free education to bright and talented young indigenous people.

He expressed his administration’s willingness to finance the education of brilliant young tribe members by sending them to the top universities in the country.

“I will send your children to any good school, or if you’re in

Manila and you want to send them to San Beda, Ateneo, La Salle, you may enroll them there and the government will pay for the tuition,” Duterte said.

To fend off the influence of the communist insurgents in the lumad areas, Duterte said the government will recruit qualified tribe people to become members of the Armed Forces.

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teacher Ma. Teofilina Morales, and IFI driver Isadome Dalid.

She said the arrests were for “trumped up charges.”

Meanwhile, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Silvestre Bello III, said the recent arrest of Baylosis was not part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on communists.

Bello said Baylosis was arrested for valid reasons.

Baylosis was arrested with a certain Guillermo Roque near Katipunan Avenue and Aurora Boulevard with two .45 cal.

Panel...

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Dengvaxia—two of which may be on account of vaccine failure.

“Therefore, further testing of tissue samples and antibodies is also necessary in these cases to complete the investigation,” the department said.

Three of the 14 cases were found to be coincidental because there was an inconsistent causal association to immunization.

Two cases were unclassifiable due to inadequate information available.

In six cases, mortalities were observed in vaccine recipients with other diseases, and the children died within 30 days of receiving the vaccine.

The Health Department said further testing of tissue samples was needed to complete the investigation.

In November 2017, Sanofi Pasteur announced that new clinical data analysis showed that Dengvaxia was more risky for people not previously infected by dengue. On Dec. 1, Health

Pimentel...

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plebiscite or Malacañang could request its allies in the House of Representatives and the Senate for it, Escudero added.

However, if advocates of a shift to a federal form of government― the issue behind the requested plebiscite for Charter change― can finish drafting their proposed constitution by this July, well ahead of the scheduled midterm elections in 2019, Pimentel said

Duterte...

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MRT wheels slip, force 1k passengers to get off ABOUT a thousand passengers on a southbound train on the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 were offloaded Friday afternoon as its wheels were “slipping or skidding,” officials of the Department of Transportation said.

The passengers had to get off at the Santolan Station in Quezon City around 4:40 p.m., with a replacement train arriving about 7 minutes later, DoTr officials said.

They said “flat spots” on the wheel caused the skidding that could be remedied by “preventive maintenance and replacement of wheelset components.”

The MRT only had eight trains running as of 5 p.m., the officials added.

The incident comes on the heels of Busan Universal Rail Inc., the former maintenance provider of the MRT 3, that the transportation department has no technical experts to maintain the rail system.

BURI noted that MRT 3’s engineers were hired on a contractual basis, “therefore are incapable [of rail maintenance operations] and lack a sense of accountability.”

SolGen...

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ignored the so-called “Aguinaldo doctrine” in indicting former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay for graft three years ago.

“When the Ombudsman skewered then Mayor Junjun Binay by finding him guilty of graft over the Makati Parking Building, did she respect the Aguinaldo doctrine, which was the prevailing jurisprudence at that time? No. Now, she chides the Office of the President for ordering the preventive suspension of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Carandang, which she characterized as ‘a clear affront to the Supreme Court.’ Look who’s talking,” Calida said.

Calida said Morales should not cite the SC decision on the case of Emilio Gonzales III, who had challenged before the Supreme Court the order of Aquino to sack him as deputy Ombudsman for gross neglect of duty.

The SC had ruled then that Section 8(2) of Republic Act No. 6770, or the Ombudsman Act, was unconstitutional “by granting disciplinary jurisdiction to the President over a deputy Ombudsman, in violation of the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman.”

However, Calida maintained that Gonzales’ case was different since the preventive suspension of Morales’ deputy was not a penalty.

“The Ombudsman was supposed to investigate the fraudulent claims against the President. She, however, recused herself and passed the baton to ODO Carandang to do this task. But ODO bungled his job by exposing the President’s fake bank accounts,” he said.

“She sanctimoniously invoked a distorted interpretation of the Ombudsman’s independence to shield her office from accountability. This is a travesty of justice,” Calida said.

The solicitor general said that Morales’ decision not to take part in the investigation on the President’s supposed bank records only created a “procedural, legal and ethical vacuum.”

“The Ombudsman cannot also discipline [Carandang] for acts committed in a case where she inhibited herself as she will contradict herself.

Neither can [Carandang] be disciplined by the other deputy Ombudsmen due to lack of legal basis,” he said.

“Who will now discipline Carandang who was acting under Ombudsman Morales’ fiat?” he asked.

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Look into ‘motives’ of STL critics —solon

MIAA to file case vs social media user THE Manila International Airport Authority is considering filing a complaint against a social media user who posted an alleged incident of theft at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and branded airport personnel as “hoodlums.”

The Facebook post made by one Fe Cabalquinto last Wednesday—showing photos of alleged theft incident at the Naia Terminal 2 involving arriving passengers from the United States—drew the ire of Miaa general manager Eddie Monreal.

Monreal said Cabalquinto claimed in her post that her fellow passengers on Korean Air flight KE 621 were victims of baggage pilferage when they arrived at the terminal around 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 31.

“Mr. and Mrs. Valero from Cavite and Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Alamo from Iloilo were the victims of that sun-of-a-gun hoodlum of our own airport,” said Cabalquinto.

Joel E. Zurbano

Accused BoC intelligence exec cries foul A BUREAU of Customs intelligence official on Thursday cried foul after he was named as one of the several “unscrupulous” persons using the name of BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña to extort money to facilitate the release of shipments from the bureau.

Customs officer Dr. Richard “Ricky” Rebong denied allegations that he is using Lapeña’s name as he was on a “floating status” since 2013.

Rebong’s name was mentioned in an online article together with a certain Ronald “Abu” Sanchez, lawyer Jimmy Patricio, a certain “Col. Mapalo,” Teofilo “Jojo” Bacud and a certain “Col. Divina” who allegedly dropping the name of Lapeña to hasten the release of imported shipments in exchange for certain amount.

Lapeña, during a flag raising ceremony told the Customs employees that he is not asking anyone to act on his behalf, after receiving complaints that several “individuals” were approaching Customs stakeholders to help them release their shipments.

Vito Barcelo

Villar lauds PH gamefowl industry SENATOR Cynthia A. Villar, chairman of the Senate agriculture and food committee, is confident that the gamefowl industry will continue to be successful in the coming years.

Speaking during the 5th International Gamefowl Festival & Pigeon Pavilion at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Villar said the event is an effective platform for industry players to showcase their products and services.

She said it is also an opportunity for gamefowl raisers breeders, hobbyists and traders to be able to network and take advantage of business opportunities in starting local and international partnerships with other participants from here and abroad.

Moreover, she said the festival is a good venue for animal raisers, backyard farmers, breeders, small and large-scale farm owners as well as gamefowl enthusiasts and hobbyists to compare notes and to be updated with the latest trends and innovations in gamefowl industry.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

DESTROYER. The JS Amagiri (DD-154), an Asagiri-class destroyer from Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, arrives at port in Manila on Feb. 2, 2018. The Amagiri, with its crew of over 200 personnel, arrived at the port in Manila as part for a two-day goodwill visit. (Inset) Sailors work on board the ship.

Norman Cruz/AFP

House panel OKs inquiry on STL rules, remittances A

By Maricel V. Cruz

PANEL in the House of Representatives conducting an inquiry into Small Town Lottery operations across the country has approved a move to review and “rationalize” the rules and regulations governing this numbers game.

Camarines Sur Rep. and panel member LRay Villafuerte welcomed the move of the House committee on games and amusements which voted to conduct a formal study on the matter, particularly in light of numerous complaints against Accredited Agent Corporations or STL operators who have failed

to deliver their minimum monthly sales remittances as originally agreed upon with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Minority leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Danilo Suarez made the motion at a congressional hearing, which prompted the House committee on games and amusements who voted to further study

and “rationalize” the STL’s implementing rules and regulations.

Prior to Suarez’s motion, Villafuerte presented a comprehensive report detailing the blatant violations committed by Evenchance Gaming Corp., the AAC in his province.

“I am making it a motion for the chair to conduct a formal study, together with the PCSO and other agencies and the members of the committee, to come up with the correct PMRR [Presumptive Monthly Revenue Receipts] and ...a partner amendment to the IRR of STL. I so move, Mr. Chair,” said Suarez.

Suarez authored a House resolution seeking a congressional investigation into gambling operations in the country.

The PMRR refers to the

minimum monthly sales remittances that the AACs or STL operators have committed to turn over to the PCSO. Under the STL IRR, the failure to submit their respective monthly PMMRs on a regular basis is a ground for the suspension or revocation of the permits of the delinquent AACs. In his presentation at the hearing, Villafuerte said the government continues to be defrauded of revenues from STL operations since Jan. 1 as a result of the failure by the PCSO to collect higher documentary stamp taxes from these numbers game as provided under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act law.

Villafuerte said that under the STL-IRR, a 10 percent Documentary Stamp Tax

of the gross sales from STL operations should be charged against the PCSO’s Charity Fund, as provided under the law.

But under the TRAIN, the DST has been doubled, with the Bureau of Internal Revenue issuing Revenue Regulations 04-2018 stating that the DST should now be 20 percent including those from the gross sales on jaialai bets, horse race tickets, lotto “or other authorized number games,” Villafuerte pointed out.

Greg Buhain, who heads the BIR’s Regular Large Taxpayers Audit Division III, confirmed that the bureau has already notified the PCSO about the new DST rates that should be collected from the gross sales of STL operations under the TRAIN.

‘Fund pay hike and benefits of teachers in 2019 budget’ TWO militant lawmakers on Friday urged the Department of Education to set aside funds for the salary increase and benefits of public school teachers.

ACT Teachers partyList Reps. France Castro and Antonio Tinio said the funds should be included in the proposed 2019 national budget as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to his economic managers.

“With the forthcoming

April 19, 2018 deadline for the submission of the departments’ budget proposals to [Department of Budget and Management], we demand the DepEd leadership to finally heed the call of public school teachers by ensuring that the P29,668 minimum entry-level salary and the funding for benefits in the Magna Carta For Public School Teachers such as free medical examination and treatment at least once

a year and overtime pay be reflected in their proposal,” said Castro.

Castro said she already raised the issue with DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones during the 2018 national budget deliberations last August but they seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

She added that Briones, as DepEd secretary, should implement the Magna Carta and other laws and agreements concerning the rights and

welfare of teachers.

Tinio, for his part, batted for the inclusion of funds for the implementation the 2015 Collective Negotiation Agreement between the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region Union which is crafted to ensure that the 62,000 public school teachers they represent receive the economic benefits under the Magna Carta and be provided provisions for better working

conditions.

“Since the signing of the CNA in 2015, the Union’s lobbying efforts, especially for their CNA incentives, every budget deliberations had been consistently denied.”

Tinio noted. “This anti-union stance, however, did not stop public school teachers’ union in Regions VI and XI from successfully concluding their own CNAs with their respective regional offices,” he said. Maricel V. Cruz

3 DoJ employees ordered dismissed for unlawful acts

By Rey E. Requejo THREE employees of the Department of Justice have been ordered dismissed from service for their alleged involvement in unlawfully facilitating the travel documents of foreigners in Bureau of Immigration.

“I ordered the termination of several DoJ employees who have confessed to being involved in anomalies involving the purported processing of visas at the Bureau of Immigration,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said, in a statement.

Aguirre said that these persons would also be the subject of an immigration lookout bulletin order, which he will issue immediately and also ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct probe and file charges.

“Upon being informed of the discovery of these anomalies, I immediately tasked the NBI to investigate and to eventually file the necessary charges against them. I expect an in-depth and thorough investigation,” Aguirre said, without naming the dismissed DoJ employees.

CAUGHT. The Quezon City Police District, in conjunction with the District Drug Enforcement Unit led by District Director P/CSupt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar (right), served a search warrant that resulted in the arrest of Bernhardt Gagarin for drug pushing. Confiscated from suspect were 50 grams of shabu worth P250,000, three kilos of dried marijuana worth P75,000, 22 caliber, hand grenade and other paraphernalia at his home in Amorsolo St., Barangay Krus na Ligas, Quezon City. Manny Palmero

NEGROS Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. lamented how Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office was being accused of shortchanging the government of the revenues supposedly earned from Small Town Lottery.

“Naiinis ako kapag may nagsasalita ng hindi tama.

Kanina nakikinig ako sa balita, ang dami nagsasabi na hindi nakabayad sa PMRR [Presumptive Monthly Retail Receipt].

True! Pero sa totoo lang, alam ba ninyo na hindi naman buong PMRR ang dapat ibinabayad sa ating gobyerno? How can you give all your sales to the government?” said Teves.

During the House Committee on Games and Amusement hearing on Jan. 31, Teves explained STL operators only pay 39 percent of their PMRR to the government; 35 percent to the kubradors (sales force) and not the whole 100 percent based on the STL-Implementing Rules and Regulations.

“Kahit yung 39 percent mahirap i-achieve yun.

Paano pa kung may patama anu pang ibabayad mo?” said Teves. “Sa jueteng areas, kayang kaya nila ang STL dahil konti ang diperensya ng illegal sa legal. Paano aabutin ng player yun? Kaya dapat i-review [ang IRR].”

Teves, who is familiar with illegal gambling operations, revealed that he tried introducing other games in some areas, but it didn’t prosper.

“And if you ask oldtime jueteng operators, if one introduces jueteng to masiao areas, it will never be bought and vice versa,” he said.

Teves also disagreed with the allegation that STL agents were being used as jueteng fronts by illegal gamblers.

‘Put experts in managing IT systems in Comelec’

By Macon Araneta DUE to questions on the integrity and accuracy of the present automation process, Senator Win Gatchalian on Friday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to appoint Comelec commissioners who have expertise in managing systems or software technologies.

The senator made the suggestion following the retirement of two senior Comelec commissioners in Christian Robert Lim and Arthur Lim on Friday.

Gatchalian said the President should consider aspirants for the vaccant positions in the Comelec who are familiar with softwares used in automated elections to prevent doubts in the succeeding polls.

At present, the collegial body has four active members: Sheriff Abas, Rowena Guanzon, Luie Tito Guia and acting chairman Al Parreño.

Abas, an incumbent commissioner, was appointed Comelec chairman in November to replace Andres Bautista and reappointed on Jan. 16 after the Commission on Appointments failed to act on his nomination last year.

The CA must first approve his nomination before he can assume office as Comelec chief.

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Opinion

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Social animals

F

OR three years running, Filipinos have spent more time on social media than any other nationality, a recent survey shows.

Creative agency We Are Social and social media management platform Hootsuite found that on average, a Filipino user of social media spends three hours and 57 minutes a day on different platforms.

Runners-up are Brazil (three hours, 39 minutes), Indonesia

(three hours, 23 minutes), Thailand (three hours, 10 minutes) and Argentina (three hours, nine minutes).

We don’t think the survey factored in the insufferably low Internet speed in this part of the world that might have extended our time online, but the fact that Filipinos have kept the distinction for the third straight year gives us both validation and concern.

Validation, because even without hard numbers, anecdotal evidence would show just how much of our daily lives have become hinged to our social

media experience.

The word “friend” has taken on a new meaning. We are made aware of details of others’ lives whether we like it or not. Selfesteem has also become linked to the number of likes or shares one reaps. There is a version of ourselves that exists in the real world, and then there is an online persona, for some more cultivated than others.

Concern, because it is a distinction we are not sure we can be proud about.

In our experience, social media have also been an environment

where hate and ignorance flourish. Stories—sometimes real, sometimes fake—are shared and reshared. Comments, many of which are incendiary, haughty and unreasonable, are spread.

Agendas are pushed and many unsuspecting social media users find themselves swayed without knowing they are being manipulated.

That social media are intertwined with most people’s daily lives is no longer the question.

It is a reality that has long been upon us. What remains to be answered is whether the use is good, or healthy, or even sane.

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

Mocha Uson’s biased critics

our population. This will not be possible if parents refuse to consent to vaccination for their children because of fear.

It is also with very heavy hearts that we have witnessed some hard working, competent, honest and dedicated physicians and career personnel in the Department of Health, systematically maligned and deprived of their right to defend themselves while those who can and should come to their defense have remained silent. Available documentary evidence that might have been offered to prove the innocence of some of the accused has not been made public for reasons that we can only speculate on.

The public hearings have become avenues for “expert bashing” rather than a

IT SEEMS that the controversy over the award the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association recently bestowed upon Communications assistant secretary Mocha Uson has simmered down, drowned by the issues relating to the ongoing plans of Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Right after Uson was given the UST alumni award for government service in recognition of the public office she currently holds, her critics on social media had a heyday denouncing the alumni association for giving her an award which, according to them, she does not deserve. The anti-Uson critics also took the opportunity to accuse her of many things, including her alleged involvement in the dissemination of fake news.

At least two UST alumni threatened to return the awards given to them in the past by the UST Alumni Association, and opined that it is an insult for them to have received “the same award” from their alma mater. One of them, a sitting member of the House of Representatives, exploited the issue to the hilt by generating free political publicity for himself.

When Secretary Harry Roque, the president’s spokesman, congratulated Uson for the award, and said that the award practically validated Uson’s work in the government, Roque was included in the torrent of on-line attacks by antiUson groups.

When the criticism against Uson surfaced in the mainstream news media, UST Alumni Association President Henry Tenedero announced that

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Public welfare above all: The Dengvaxia controversy POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO PUBLIC panic over the Dengvaxia controversy is real. As a mother, I fully feel for parents whose children, numbering around 730,000, were administered the Dengvaxia vaccine. We can only imagine how scary and horrible it is to know that your child could die because you wanted him to be safe from dengue.

However, much of the panic is brought about by those whose interest is to politicize the issue and go after former public officials they want blamed for this problem. Irresponsible, careless, and bordering on the hysterical statements of non-experts,

politicians and wannabe politicians, including some media practitioners further aggravated what is already a messy situation. It also does not help to have the Public Attorney’s Office appearing too eager (despite the lack of credentials on medical issues and pathology) to “prove” that the 14 recorded deaths among children who received Dengvaxia shots were caused by the vaccine.

Speculations of all sorts and hasty conclusions abound instead of a wait for the official findings of those tasked by the Department of Health to get to the bottom of the issue.

It appeared like outside of some DoH officials, there is a dearth of sane, somber, and balanced voices on this problem.

Then I received a state-

ment from a group of medical practitioners calling on everybody to put public welfare above all.

The statement is signed by scientists, Deans of colleges of medicines, esteemed

Here is the statement of medical professionals in full.

members of the academe, exemplary clinicians and surgeons, past and present heads of various medical associations and nongovernment organizations, and two former Secretaries of Health namely Esper-

anza Cabral and Manuel Dayrit.

This is their full statement. I am convinced that people need to hear what these professionals have to say.

“Let us put public welfare above all else We, physicians and scientists who serve the country in various capacities and sectors, are saddened, dismayed and alarmed over the manner by which the Dengvaxia controversy has degenerated into a fiasco that has started to erode public confidence in the country’s vaccination programs and other public healthcare endeavors.

The unnecessary fear and panic, largely brought about by the imprudent language and unsubstantiated accusations by persons whose qualifications to

render any expert opinion on the matter are questionable at best, have caused many parents to resist having their children avail of life saving vaccines that our government gives. Even deworming efforts are being met with suspicion and resistance, with many parents afraid to give consent; all because of the misinformation that has been allowed to take hold of the collective psyche.

If this trend continues then we may find ourselves faced with outbreaks of debilitating and life-threatening diseases that we have already been able to control through our vaccination programs. The only way to continue to prevent deadly epidemics of these infectious diseases is to sustain a high rate of immunization/vaccination in

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Opinion Mocha...

From A4

“morality” and “uprightness” were not among the criteria for the award, and that the award can be given to any UST alumna in government service anyway.

After that, Tenedero resigned.

Uson, who had already received the award by the time Tenedero made the disclaimer, decided to return it to the alumni association, with her thanks just the same. She also publicly lamented that her critics had always denounced her for even the slightest incident.

Uson’s foregoing observation was confirmed last week when, after she erroneously stated in a report that Mayon Volcano was located in Naga City instead of Albay, her critics on social media lost no time in calling her a liar and a source of false information.

Upon learning of her error, Uson admitted her mistake in a public apology. Sadly, none of Uson’s critics bothered mentioning her public expression of contrite for the error.

Last year, Secretary Uson’s critics on social media scored her for her having performed in a program at one of the governmentoperated gambling casinos south of Manila. Her critics cited a government directive prohibiting public officials from patronizing the gambling casinos.

While Uson’s critics were quick in condemning her presence at the casino, they played down the fact that she did not go there to wager at the gambling tables, but to perform in a program, and after office hours at that. Her critics also failed to mention that the government directive they cited was issued at a time when the casinos in the country were engaged solely in gambling operations, and did not yet diversify to staging legitimate shows and performances that have nothing to do with gambling, as they do today.

The UST alumni who threatened to return their awards to their alumni association to protest the award given to Uson should have observed restraint.

They may disapprove of Uson and her work, but they have conveniently disregarded the fact that there are many other UST alumni who disagree with their negative views about Uson, and who even approve of Uson and her service to the government.

Public...

From A4

genuine search for truth.

There is no such thing as a perfect vaccine. The history of vaccination from the 18th century to the present is rife with controversy. A study of the history of these controversies teaches us lessons about the tragic consequences and harm to the general public that result when we allow hysteria to rule over logical and scientific judgment. The medical and scientific community must weigh the risks of any vaccine against its benefits; the potential to save lives against the possible adverse effects. Science is also not static. When new findings are known, recommendations change.

These decisions are best made and analyzed without the added burden of public misinformation and demonization.

Given the recent findings of Sanofi Pasteur and recommendations of the WHO, we support the DoH decision to suspend its Dengvaxia immunization program until there is a quick and cost effective way to determine whether a person has had dengue in the past or not. In the

In protesting the award given to Secretary Uson, these angry alumni are actually substituting their own judgment for that of their alumni association.

Their protestation amounts to their speaking for the UST Alumni Association—something they cannot do without the consent of their fellow alumni. To hold otherwise is to allow these anti-Uson UST alumni to impose their views on other UST alumni. That imposition is, by any standard, bullying. Ironically, bullying is one of the objectionable acts anti-Uson critics attribute to Uson.

Likewise, there appears to be no valid reason for the anti-Uson critics to denounce Roque for his positive remarks about the award given to Secretary Uson. It was, after all, an award given to Uson by her own alma mater. Being a bona fide award given by the alumni association of the oldest academic institution in the Philippines, Roque could correctly assume that it was conferred in valid recognition of whatever it is Uson did as an official in the service of the government.

Even if it were to be assumed that Roque is mistaken in his assessment of the UST alumni award given to Uson, Roque was still comporting himself in accordance with his constitutional right to express his own personal opinion, erroneous or otherwise, to the news media. The freedom of expression is not the exclusive right of private citizens; government personnel like Roque and Uson enjoy that right just as well.

What may be said about Roque’s remarks about the award does not, however, apply to Uson’s critics on social media. The critics were not simply expressing an opinion like what Roque did. These critics were engaged in unwarranted character assassination, and they were speaking on behalf of a university’s alumni without the consent of those they purportedly speak for.

It was proper for Tenedero to resign as UST alumni president. Having given an award to Uson, Tenedero should have defended the award to the very end.

Instead of doing so, Tenedero simply issued a belated disclaimer to the effect that “morality” and “uprightness” were not among the criteria for the award given to Uson. Being so, Uson did right in returning the award. She does not deserve that insult visited upon her by Tenedero. same light, given the findings that persistent, long term protection is given by the vaccine to those who have already gotten dengue infection, we urge the DoH not to remove the vaccine from the market altogether. Already we are faced with patients who have had dengue infection in the past, who are now at a loss because they cannot get their doses of Dengvaxia because it has been taken out of the market.

We urge our colleagues in the medical profession to consider the greater good in all their statements and actions and to be careful about unfairly slandering colleagues by careless, sweeping and unsubstantiated accusations.

We urge those who have documentary evidence that can truly shed light on the current controversy to please come forth with the truth. And we beg our legislators to be open to hearing both sides. Allowing half-truths to prevail is dangerous. It not only causes persistent confusion but has also caused mass demoralization among the dedicated and hardworking personnel and physicians of the DoH. This is both cruel and unjust.

Finally, amid all the controversy, let us please

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

A5

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The Ombudsman should be impeached ONE of the grounds of impeachment is culpable violation of the Constitution.

If the Ombudsman implements President Duterte’s order to suspend Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang, she will be culpably violating the Constitution and therefore she should be impeached.

Conversely, if the President insists on enforcing a law that has already been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, he is culpably violating the Constitution and can be subject to impeachment.

The battle lines have been drawn. Malacañang is bent on enforcing the 90-day suspension order against Carandang for releasing bank records of President Duterte and his family in connection with the accusation of plunder hurled by Senator Sonny Trillanes IV, President Duterte’s implacable nemesis.

The Palace seems resolute in carrying out the suspension order even as the Supreme Court, through its spokesperson Theodore Te, points out that the controversy as to whether the deputy Ombudsman is under the disciplinary powers of the Chief Executive has long been settled by the High Court in the 2014 case of Emilio Gonzales III, Deputy Ombudsman for Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers.

In the 2014 case of Emilio Gonzales III, the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Brion, emphasized the need for independence of the constitutional commission, including the Office of the Ombudsman, from any external interference, specifically from the executive. In the words of Brion: “In general terms, the framers of the Constitution intended that these ‘independent’ bodies be insulated from political pressure to the extent that the absence of ‘independence’ would result in the impairment of their core functions.”

For this reason, the Court declared unconstitutional Section 8(2) of RA No. 6770 (providing that the President may remove a Deputy Ombudsman).

Specifically, the Court ruled that subjecting the Deputy Ombudsman to discipline and removal by the President, whose own alter egos and officials in the Executive Department are subject to the Ombudsman’s disciplinary authority, places at serious risk the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman itself. The Office of the Ombudsman, by express constitutional mandate, includes its key officials, all of them tasked to support the Ombudsman in carrying out her mandate.

It is true that the Supreme Court can revisit the doctrine it established in Gonzales. But even if it did, the new doctrine can only apply prospectively.

Section 8 (2) has already been declared unconstitutional. It cannot be resurrected by judicial fiat.

There is no new law that is subject to constitutional inquiry. Congress must enact Section 8 (2) again for a new case to be litigated.

And just the same, a new doctrine will still be prospective.

Any form of political control by the Executive over the Ombudsman and her deputies would diminish its independence and would erode the principle of checks and balances, the bedrock of our constitutional democracy. The Executive cannot run roughshod over the categorical and clear-cut pronouncement by the Supreme Court to the effect that the Deputy Ombudsman cannot be subject to the disciplinary powers of the President. To insist in doing so is to thumb its nose at the Constitution and all sacred principles incorporated therein, like checks and balances.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is well within her constitutional right not to enforce the suspension order. She cannot be expected to fully trust her deputies and her subordinate officers if at anytime they can be pressured and controlled from powers external to her office. As it is, she herself is now subject to all sorts of pressure and intimidation, not the least of which is the threat of impeachment simply because she has demonstrated, true to her

constitutional mandate, independent-mindedness and grim determination to safeguard and preserve the boundaries of her constitutional duty.

The argument advanced

by Solicitor General Jose Calida that the Constitution does not bar the President from disciplining a deputy ombudsman stands on shaky ground. While it is true that Congress is vested with authority to determine how and in what manner non-impeachable officials, including the deputy Ombudsman, are to be removed, this does not mean that it can repose the authority to whosoever it pleases.

At all times, the Constitution is anchored on certain sacred core principles such as checks and balances, which subsumes in its concept the independence of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The present administration, propped up by the overwhelming numbers in Congress, has the penchant of flexing its muscles if only to demonize and emasculate its perceived opponents to advance its political agenda. The experience of the Commission on Human Rights after the House threatened to give it a measly P1,000 budget is a perfect example. Indeed, it is difficult to conceptualize when the Office of the Ombudsman, vested with the delicate and vital functions of pinpointing responsibility and recommending sanctions, can truly remain independent

and effective when the Sword of Damocles hover over her head and those of her subordinate officials and alter egos who are relentlessly being subject to undue influence and intimidation from extraneous forces for doing their job.

As the Constitution says —Public service is public trust. Every public official, from the highest to the lowest, owes his position to the people whom he must at all times be accountable to, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. No one, not even the highest of official of the land, is immune from accountability. Although the President is immune from suit during his tenure and can be removed only through impeachment, it remains his legal and moral duty to obey with utmost fidelity the rule of law. In the end, the people’s will as embodied in the Constitution, is the undisputed sovereign.

And to be subject to constant public scrutiny is part of the territory.

Yesterday Feb. 2, we celebrated the 31st year of the ratification of the 1987 Constitution. It is still our Constitution and we should respect it. The Ombudsman has committed to do so. I hope the President and his men will do the same.

Facebook: Professor Tony La Viña or deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

Constitutional redefinition of Church and State separation BACKBENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN EXCEPT for that balderdash proposal to revive the grant of autonomy to the troublemakers who almost razed to the ground their own city, the move to amend the poorly crafted and elitist Cory Aquino Constitution is, in truth, long overdue. There are many revisions that need to be introduced much that the present Constitution has become more of a burden to the Filipino people, and a source of conflict and antagonism among us.

This column believes that it is high time to introduce changes in the charter that was rammed into our throat by this Christian equivalent of ISIS who made sure they control our educational system, rewrite our history, and enjoy the privilege of not paying a centavo to the government they love to maliciously wag their tongue in the name of freedom.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a suffocating warning that should the supporters of the Duterte administration push ahead in amending the charter by convening Congress as a constituent body, it will accordingly be selfserving if there would be no election or extend the term for the incumbent officials. In their usual guile of wanting to deceive our people, the CBCP branded always put public welfare above all else.”

The DoH, in a briefing, just released the findings of the team of experts from the Philippine General Hospital that very meticulously, thoroughly, and carefully examined the 14 deaths claimed by some as having been caused by Dengvaxia.

Of the 14 deaths, the team identified three as Dengvaxia-related. Of the

the move as tantamount to a “creeping dictatorship.”

If only the Sanggunian Laiko ng Pilipinas headed

by Julieta Wassan analyzed her shot-in-the-dark assessment, one could clearly see her motive why our people should be prevented from amending the charter, except for her ridiculous fear that amending it could open the gates of hell. Somehow the Church exhibited its usual artifice to prevent right thinking Filipinos from bringing out the more pressing issue of tax-exemption which the clerics and their lackeys inserted in the 1987 Constitution riding high on the euphoria of bogus freedom and democracy.

The CBCP and its minions truly deserve to be called callous hypocrites.

Their argument that charter change could lead to possible dictatorship is to sidetrack the truth that the Church through its frontorganization that styled itself as Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting headed by Henrieta T. de Villa, was an accomplice to the commission of the massive and systematic electoral fraud ever committed in this country. The PPCRV no doubt acted in obeisance to the dictate of the US that it even teamed up with Rappler in 2016, whose license to operate was revoked by SEC for being a foreign-operated mass media organization.

The Church ignored the evil deed they committed in defrauding the people of their mandate. It focused three, they want to autopsy one because of the presence of antibodies which meant that the vaccine should have worked on the child. They also want to autopsy some other bodies to learn more.

The DoH and PGH must be commended for the work they did and the manner by which the briefing was done.

They took pains in explaining the details of the work from the start, which was

instead in imagining the dangers of dictatorship.

Maybe they can claim that no violence was committed, but definitely cheating the people of their mandate without their consent stirred a far-more ranging consequence—that of reducing their bankrupt democracy to a complete farce. Today, the Church and its confederate want this political swindle to be memorialized in history, unmindful that it left a deep scar of economic inequality in a society touted as the only Christian nation in Asia.

The Church has become a burden.

While the CBCP fear the prospect of repeating the past, it ignores the malaise that is eroding the fibers of our society like the rule of the oligarchy, the lording over of political dynasty, and the breakdown of law and order that is fermenting the seeds of political instability, insurgency and secessionism. Despite the apocalyptic symptoms, the Church allowed itself to be co-opted by the corrupted practice of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

One can easily observe how the Church became the virtual shepherd of the sons and daughters of the finding the best doctors with unassailable credentials to make up the 10-member team tasked to examine the deaths, up to the process they followed and the World Health Organization Causality Assessment tool that they used in determining as much as possible, if the deaths were caused by the vaccine in question.

Best of all, most of the PGH experts explained

corrupt elite reaping the fruits in charging exorbitant tuition fees tax free.

The Cory Aquino-appointed constitutional commissioners failed to reckon that when they extended to the Church the extraordinary privilege of tax exemption, all Churches, religious organizations and denominations should have reconciled themselves to the truth that accepting it would equally entail limitations and responsibility to their exercise of freedom as civilized members of society.

You call it respect, courtesy or decency, but just the same their loudmouthed members, including those nuns, should refrain from unnecessarily attacking the government.

The Church should have the common sense that it cannot eat the best food in the restaurant while lambasting the one that is footing the bill for the food they eat.

Taxing the Church is not a violation of Church and State separation. Rather, it was the clerics and their lackeys that violated the principle by according the Church right to slander the government in the name of freedom and democracy without them paying a centavo in tax. If only the Church observed their virtue of piety, not exactly to the Duterte government but to the State that ensures their very existence, the issue of taxing this modern-day parasite would not have been highlighted as urgent.

Setting aside other is-

sues like their firm grip on our educational system that has reduced the country to a theocratic state; the Church is virtually exempt from the payment of all taxes, including the payment of corporate and individual income tax, real estate or property tax, gift tax, and payment excise tax on all educational, scientific instruments and materials, including books for educational use. If their business falls in a gray area where there is doubt whether exemption should be granted, they readily hide behind the curtain of their foundation which they included in the list of tax-exempt business.

What is most anomalous is the numerous educational institutions they operate from the university level to pre-schooler Montessories. Ordinary children can only gawk at these luxurious facilities and the high educational standards Church-operated schools offer, which is natural for the high cost of tuition now running to a million pesos.

On the other hand, ordinary Filipinos pay income tax and real estate tax even as mere condominium owners small as match box. In effect, the Church today has become a burden for instead of separating the two institutions to give room to equality and balance, the Filipino people has been reduced to beast of burden doing the workload for their master and often lashed at the slightest sign of weariness.

things plainly and in Filipino so things were understandable even to nonmedical people. It is a relief to be assured that we have very capable and non-partisan physicians handling this problem.

The DoH should do more of these briefings so people understand and fears are addressed. The public, on the other hand, should listen to experts and not those who

grandstand for public attention. We must pay attention to voices of reason, not hysterics. Politicking does more harm than good when it comes to medical and scientific issues.

We must all put public welfare above all.

rpkapunan@gmail.com

bethangsioco@g mail. com @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Du30 ‘dictator tag disputed’

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE Philippines’ recent ranking as number one in Asia in terms of budget transparency undeniably refutes claims by critics that the Duterte administration is a despotic regime, an administration lawmaker said on Friday.

“This will be a bitter pill for administration critics to swallow, but the survey ranking is proof that President Duterte is a champion of transparency. His actions and policies are consistent with this fact,” House appropriations committee and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said.

The Open Budget Survey 2017 noted that the Philippines garnered transparency

or open budget index score of 67/100, placing it in top spot of the category in Asia and 19th worldwide.

The score is way above the global average of 42.

The survey is held every two years, meaning it has covered the majority of President Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure so far.

“How can you have a dictator for a president while his government is also considered as one

of the world’s most transparent?

The country’s sound fiscal and budget policies emanate from the Office of the President, and is only put into practice by the Department of Budget and Management and of course the House of Representatives which possess the power of the purse,” Nograles said.

Duterte took oath on June 30, 2016 following his landslide victory in the elections that same year.

Just 23 days after his inauguration, President Duterte gave transparency in government a boost by signing Executive Order 2, also known as the Freedom of Information Order.

In a related development: • The non-profit World Justice Project Rule of Law Index showed the Philippines was the

“biggest mover” in the WJP’s Rule of Law Index 2017-2018, released on Wednesday, which measures 113 countries’ adherence to the rule of law.

Since the WJP Rule of Law Index in October 2016, the Philippines dropped 18 positions to rank 88th out of 113 countries.

It ranks 13th out of 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific, which includes its Southeast Asian neighbors as well as New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and China.

WJP calls itself “an independent, multidisciplinary organization working to advance the rule of law worldwide.”

To get the results, it conducted over 110,000 household and 3,000 expert surveys.

It looked at the countries’ per-

formance across eight factors: The directive marked the first FOI law in the Philippines covering all government offices under the Executive Branch.

“What the previous presidents failed to do in their sixyear terms, President Duterte did in less than a month. The FOI directive is conveniently being forgotten by administration attackers but they are among those who benefit from it,” the Davao lawmakr said.

Although the House is under the Legislative Branch of government, Nograles said the House under Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has made a conscious effort to also adopt the pro-transparency move.

The Philippines’ budget transparency score for last year was three points higher

compared to the 2015 edition of the OBS survey (64/100).

The OBS 2017 survey also gave good scores to the country in terms of public participation in the budget process (41/100) as well as oversight (65/100).

Nograles said the scores in these two categories speak highly of how the House has been carrying out its mandate of crating the budget and ensuring that it is utilized properly.

“Under the Duterte administration, the House, together with the Commission on Audit, has made it a mission not to waste even a single centavo of taxpayers’ money. Every single centavo is there in the budget book for everyone to see,” Nograles said.

“To say that we enjoy all of these under a dictator makes no sense at all,” he added.

‘Brace for heavy traffic on Shaw’

By Joel E. Zurbano AUTHORITIES on Friday advised motorists and commuters to brace for heavy traffic on Shaw Boulevard and other main thoroughfares nearby due to the partial closure of Sevilla Bridge to give way for its rehabilitation.

A traffic rerouting scheme was released by the Metro Manila Development Authority and will be enforced Saturday evening (Feb. 3).

MMDA assistant general manager for planning Jose Arturo Garcia said the partial closure of the bridge, which connects Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City and P. Sanchez Street in Manila City, will begin at 10 p.m.

Ahead of the 17-month repair works, Garcia said the MMDA has been closely coordinating with the local government officials in the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Manila and Makati to mitigate the expected traffic congestion that the reconstruction

project would cause.

“We have been removing illegally parked vehicles and other obstructions along alternative routes for the past three weeks,” Garcia told a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Makati City.

Affected motorists are encouraged to take the following alternative routes: Eastbound • Motorists from Magsaysay Boulevard may turn right to Old Sta. Mesa/Valenzuela Street, right to Cordillera, left to Lubiran traversing to Boni Avenue going to Maysilo roundabout, and exit to FB Martinez Avenue, then right to Shaw Boulevard going to destination.

• Those from Magsaysay Boulevard may take V. Mapa Street, right to Old Sta. Mesa, left to Reposo Street, left to Valenzuela, turn right to V. Mapa, right to Bagumbayan Street, left Lubiran, left to Kalentong, and right to Shaw Boulevard going to destination.

ALLEGED CONSIGNEE. The National Bureau of Investigation presents friday to the media Eirene Mae Tatad (left), the alleged consignee of the P6.4 billion worth of shabu smugggled into the country last year. Norman Cruz

Talks on BBL may mean more LGU powers

By Maricel V. Cruz A LEADER of the House of Representatives on Friday said discussions on the Bangsamoro Basic Law might lead to more powers for other local governments, especially in other regions.

“It is one of the reasons why many people are supporting the BBL. It can be the trailblazer for greater local autonomy... be devolved under the bill could be the template other regions can aspire for (sic),” deputy speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya said “Many see the BBL as the opening for increased powers for the grassroots. There are those who believe that in the spirit of equality, the powers to be enjoyed by Bangsamoro should be enjoyed by the Bisaya, the Bulakenyo, or by the Bicolano,” Andaya said.

“After the BBL has been passed, there will be similar clamor by LGUs for more powers. And when that time comes, how can we deny, for example, Central Luzon’s request for Bangsamoro-like powers?”

He said the idea, fuelled by the BBL talks and the advocacy for federalism that regions could retain what they earn, “is getting traction, in all regions.”

Andaya said the administration stalwarts should not fear a “BBL-inspired ‘me too’ movement” for greater autonomy because after all, “we have been busy preaching the gospel of federalism.”

Those proposing to grant more fiscal powers and perks to the proposed Bangsamoro government should “be prepared to extend it to all, to apply it nationally. It should become the national standard,” Andaya said.

He said a tax-retention scheme in favor of local governments must become “the rule” once the said provision was incorporated into the BBL.

PDP must Seoul’s ‘new southern protect policy’ makes PH upbeat allies—JV

By Sara D. Fabunan

In Loving Memory of ALBERTO LAVAS ARAJA Husband of Manila Standard reporter Rio Araja of Camarin, Caloocan died due to a lingering illness on January 31, 2018. He was 84.

His remains lie in state at the St. Peter’s Chapel 103 near Sacred Heart Parish Church on Sct. Ybardolaza, District 4 in Quezon City.

Interment is on Feb. 6, 2018 at 10 a.m. at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

He is survived by his wife Rosario and children.

By Macon R. Araneta SENATOR JV Ejercito said Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III could have asserted his position as president of the PDP-Laban on the issue concerning his family’s political rival—the Zamora family—in San Juan joining the ruling party.

Asked if he believed Pimentel was pressured into accepting San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and his son, former vice mayor Francis Zamora, to the party, Ejercito replied: “I don’t think so, but I think he can assert because he is the head of the party.”

He said PDP should protect allies and supporters who have been with them since the start and not those who came into the picture only after Duterte won the presidency, “It was Sen. Joel [Villanueva] who first had the same problem... I think it’s happening all over that the PDP were giving in to rival groups and and that might be a problem come election time,” he said Friday.

Ejercito said he was now having second thoughts about joining PDP-Laban whose chairman is President Rodrigo Duterte.

“The father and son entered (PDP-Laban), perhaps, throught the Speaker, but it’s sad because those who truly worked hard for PDP...now were being sidestepped,” said Ejercito while referrng to the party’s secretary-general House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as behind the entry of the Zamoras to the PDP. The Zamoras took their oath a month after the Commission on Elections approved their petition for recall against Ejercito’s mother, San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez.

THE Philippines expects a deeper business engagement with South Korea following the visit here of a high-level investment mission from Seoul, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

A HIGH-level investment mission from South Korea visited the Philippines to look into promising business prospects in the Philippines’ flourishing infrastructure sector.

The visit—which pushed Seoul’s ‘New Southern Policy’ —was attended by 12 prominent Korean companies, composed of representatives from Korea’s conglomerates (chaebols) and major companies engaged in infrastructure development, energy generation and waterworks, participated in the mission.

The agency also said the visit of the Korean infrastructure investment mission was organized by the Asean Korea Center in coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center, DTI-Board of Investments and the Philippine Embassy in Korea

in view of the Korean business community’s interest to invest in the Philippines’ thriving economy.

The mission commenced with a visit to the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone.

During the visit, the Philippine Embassy in Korea, in a statement, underscored the Philippine government’s strong commitment to boost spending on infrastructure projects in the Philippines which is projected to reach P8.9 trillion up to the year 2022 as the Philippines accelerates infrastructure development under the “Build, Build, Build” program of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte that aims to usher in a Golden Age of Infrastructure in the Philippines.

The DFA invited the members of the mission to “join the Philippines in achieving greater growth and prosperity” and expressed optimism that “with Korea’s advancements in the infrastructure sector, there would be vast possibilities for partnership and cooperation for continued sustainable development in the Philippines.”

BOOK SIGNING. American Marc Goodman (seated), futurist and leading global security expert, after signing a book he authored titled ‘Future Crimes’ for former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the Cyber Security Summit in Global City in Taguig Friday. Ey Acasio

Sports

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

CAS lifts ban on 28 Russians P

YEONGCHANG—Sport’s top court CAS on Thursday overturned Olympic life bans on 28 Russians accused of doping, a decision hailed by Moscow but a major embarrassment for the International Olympic Committee just days away from the start of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that there was “insufficient” evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of statesponsored doping at the 2014

Winter Games, hosted by Russia.

The cleared 28, which includes Sochi cross-country gold medallist Alexander Legkov, are now eligible to

compete in the Pyeongchang Olympics starting next week, but their participation is by no means certain.

“Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation” to the 2018 Games in South Korea, the IOC explained in a statement.

Russia are banned from Pyeongchang over the doping scandal but 169 Russian competitors have been cleared to take part as neutrals.

The IOC warned that CAS’s verdict “may have a serious impact on the future

fight against doping”.

“Therefore, the IOC will analyse the reasoned decisions very carefully once they are available and consider consequences, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.”

The exonerated group were among 42 Russians— bobsleighers, cross-country skiers, competitors in the skeleton and ice hockey players— to appeal their bans.

Insufficient evidence In addition to clearing the 28, CAS also lifted the life bans of another 11 Russians

but barred them from competing at Pyeongchang.

Delivering its judgement CAS said: “In 28 cases, the evidence collected was found to be insufficient to establish that an anti-doping rule violation was committed by the athletes concerned.

“The evidence put forward by the IOC in relation to this matter did not have the same weight in each individual case.”

CAS’s decision was warmly welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We are very glad

for our athletes,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“The information about the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport proves that energetic work to stand up for our rights in court and elsewhere—it is justified, it can be effective and it should continue,” Peskov added.

“And we are hoping that this work will certainly continue.”

He said it was unclear whether the 28 who had their appeals upheld would now compete in South Korea. AFP

UAAP women’s volleyball begins THE Philippines’ top volleyball league is back.

The UAAP Season 80 women’s volleyball tournament opens today (Saturday), with a doubleheader that will be aired live from the SM Mall of Asia Arena on ABS-CBN S+A, S+A HD, and via livestream on sports.abs-cbn.com.

Jema Galanza and the Adamson Lady Falcons take the floor against National University Lady Bulldogs, led by superstar Jaja Santiago in the tournament’s curtain-raiser at 2 p.m.

Defending champions De La Salle University Lady Spikers and stars Kim Dy and Des Cheng, meanwhile, open their title defense against Cherry Rondina and the rest of the UST Golden Tigresses in the day’s main event at 4 p.m.

On Sunday, the University of the Philippines Lady Fighting Maroons takes on the University of the East Lady Red Warriors at 2 p.m. UAAP Season 80 hosts, the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws, on the other hand, gun for an opening-weekend win against last season’s finalist, the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles at 4 p.m.

Through the years, the UAAP women’s volleyball has become one of the mostwatched sporting events in the country whether on television, online, and onground. It has produced superstars like Rachel Anne Daquis, Abi Marano, Mika Reyes, Gretchen Ho, and Alyssa Valdez, who have inspired young Filipinas by showing them how sports can empower women to greatness.

TOUGH MUDDER. Officials of ProActive (from left) Michael Yu, Atty. Noel Agra, Jay Em, Justine Cordero, Nathan Bassett announce the schedule of first Tough Mudder this July 2018 during a press confernce in Taguig City. Tough Mudder is a series of hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle race designed by British Special Forces to challenge the toughest of the tough.

Norman Cruz

Classic edges Supremos in MPBL

FOR the second time in three play dates, a visiting team was able to pull the rug from under the host squad in the MPBL Anta-Rajah Cup. Valenzuela Classic-Yulz survived a big scare and got the much-needed break in the endgame before eking out a tense 79-78 win over the Caloocan Supremos-Lonrich late Thursday night at the Caloocan Sports Complex.

Paolo Hubalde split his charities off an ill-advised foul from Dawn Ochea, allowing the Classic to escape with the victory and make it to the win column after dropping its first match against the Batangas City Athletics-Tanduay.

Earlier, the Muntinlupa Cagers-Angeli’s Resort outlasted the Paranaque Patriots Yakimix, 67-60.

Allan Mangahas led the way for the Cagers, finishing with 15 points and three steals in a brilliant all-around play that put Muntinlupa in the win column after dropping a heartbreaking loss to the Navotas Clutch.

Fans inside the sports complex erupted when Mar Villahermosa drove the lane and knotted the count at 78-all with 12 seconds remaining in the game, but the celebration proved to be short lived as Ochea committed a foul on Hubalde in the backcourt to the dismay of the hometown cheering crowd.

That sent Hubalde to the charity stripe for a pair of free throws. The PBA veteran missed his first gift shot, but made the second.

Tesla electric cars to have own motor-racing competition NEW YORK—Tesla electric cars, which have a passionate following around the world, will soon have their own racing competition, a global sports organizer said on Thursday.

Electric GT Holdings said the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), motor sports’ governing body, has approved circuit races for the Tesla Model S P100D. “The Championship is the first all-electric circuit race series in the world and heralds the dawn of a new electric fu-

ture,” Electric GT said on its website.

Last week, the race-prepared model passed its official FIA crash test required for competition, it added.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has billed a model S P100D with “Ludicrous mode” as the third-fastest accelerating production car ever made, capable of going from zero to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in 2.5 seconds.

That is slower only than the LaFerrari and Porsche 918

Spyder two-seaters, according to Tesla.

No date for the races has been announced, but they will involve 20 international drivers racing for 10 professional teams, according to Electric GT. They will be organized in two rounds of 38 miles (60 kilometers) each, one in the day and another at dusk, after a threeheat qualifying round.

Competition for 100-percent electric vehicles has grown.

Formula E, which bills itself as the world’s first fully-elec-

tric international single-seater street racing series, brings competition to 10 cities around the world.

Since it began in 2014, the series has drawn an increasing number of automobile manufacturers. The 2018-2019 season will include Mercedes, Porsche and BMW. Volkswagen on Wednesday said a 100-percent electric prototype, driven by Frenchman Romain Dumas, will join the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in the United

States in June.

After winning Pikes Peak three times, Dumas aims to top the best time realized by an electric car in the race, the American Rhys Millen’s 8 min 57 sec 118/1000, which is also the third best of all times.

Dorna, which runs the MotoGP World Championship of motorcycle racing, is preparing for an electric motorcycle championship in 2019, when the RallyCross championship prepares to become the “E-WRX” in 2020. AFP

Malaysians top Predator tilt AFTER a three-month run, Asia Pacific Predator League 2018 concluded with Malaysian team Geek Fam emerging as champion, with BOOM.ID from Indonesia placing second and Quid Pro Quo from the Philippines securing the third spot in the gaming competition.

With a victory score of 2:1, Geek Fam clinched the top spot of Predator League 2018 and the top purse of $50,000. The team is composed of Skemberlu, March, ChYuan, and Oli dan Playhard.

Meanwhile, Indonesian team BOOM. ID and Philippine team Quid Pro Quo took home $25,000.00 and

$15,000.00, respectively.

Launched last October 2017, Asia Pacific Predator League is Predator Gaming’s brand new DOTA:2 league and the most anticipated eSports competition, which reached a total of 1,197 eSports teams for all around the world.

It was established as a means to empower amateur gamers to showcase their skills and talent on a global scene.

In the Philippines, the Predator League 2018 eliminations saw the participation of 127 registered teams. All elimination legs were done in partnership with THENET. COM, the gaming company’s eSports partner.

The preliminary round of APAC Predator League 2018 has run since October 2017 with great enthusiasm from gamers as evidenced by the high number of participants, reaching around 1,197 eSports teams from India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

The year 2019 will see a bigger Predator League as the tournament extends to reach 14 APAC countries, with final rounds to be held in Bangkok, Thailand.

For further information about Asia Pacific Predator League 2018, visit https://predator- Philippine Team Quid Pro Quo bags third place in recently concluded Asia Pacific Predator league.com/.

League 2018.

Harden carries Rockets past Spurs; Griffin stars in Pistons’ triumph LOS ANGELES—James Harden scored 28 points and dished out 11 assists Thursday as the Houston Rockets handed the San Antonio Spurs a rare home NBA defeat, 102-91.

Harden showed no sign of a let-down after his historic 60-point triple-double on Tuesday, producing seven points in the final two minutes as the Rockets thwarted a Spurs rally to notch their second win this season over San Antonio.

Down by double-digits much of the contest, the Spurs pulled within 92-85 with 2:49 remaining with the aid of a hook shot from LaMarcus Aldridge and a three-pointer

from Bryn Forbes.

The Rockets responded with a three-pointer form Harden, followed by his four-point play with 1:36 left.

“They’re great in this building,” Harden said of a Spurs team that endured just their fifth home defeat of the season.

“We knew they were going to make a run. We held our composure, made some big shots, got some defensive stops when we needed to and that was the game right there.”

Gerald Green added 15 points for Houston. Clint Capela chipped in 14, Ryan Anderson scored 13 and Chris Paul and P.J. Tucker scored 10 apiece

for Houston, who led 54-38 at halftime.

Griffin shines for Pistons In Detroit, Blake Griffin produced a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds in his debut for the Pistons, who held off the Memphis Grizzlies 104-102.

Griffin, who admitted he was shocked to be traded by the Los Angeles Clippers this week, got a warm welcome from the Detroit crowd in pregame introductions.

He delivered the pass to Anthony Tolliver for a three-pointer that gave Detroit a 101-100 lead with 1:49 to play.

Two free-throws from Tolliver stretched the Pistons lead to

103-100 with six seconds left and Reggie Bullock sealed with a final free-throw.

Andre Drummond, who promises to form a formidable front-court duo with Griffin, finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Pistons, who are ninth in the East and hoping the arrival of five-time All-Star Griffin can help propel them into playoff position.

“It was great to get a win,” said Griffin, adding that things will only improve as he gets more familiar with his new teammates.

“We came in off of one shoot around,” he noted. “We’ll keep getting better from here.”

Gary Harris was the hero in Denver, draining a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Nuggets to a 127-124 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Denver led by as many as 20, and by 17 in the fourth quarter before the Thunder mounted a furious comeback, knotting the score at 124-124 on Paul George’s three-pointer with 5.6 seconds to play.

Denver responded as Nikola Jokic fired an inbound pass to Harris in time for him to make the game-winner.

Jokic notched his third triple-double of the season with 29 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. AFP

Judiciary Magis’ Justice Midas Marquez takes on Senate Defenders’ (73) Harley Ng.

Kamao, Defenders gun for semis seats ANOTHER explosive and tough UNTV Cup schedule is expected as the quarterfinal starts on SunGames on Sunday day at the Pasig City (Pasig City Sports Center) Sports Center.

3 p.m. Senate vs PNP Malacañang4:30 p.m. Judiciary vs PSC Kamao (7-3) Malacañang-PSC and the Senate Defenders (7-3) own twice-to-beat advantages, while the former champions Judiciary Magis (6-4) and PNP Responders (6-4) are on survival mode.

In the first game, the Senate Defenders will try to send the PNP Responders to vacation in the middle of the season when they clash at 3 p.m.

The Defenders will be led by ballers/ legislators Senator Sonny Anagara and Sen. Joel Villanueva, together with Jeffry Sanders, Garri Sevilla and Marlon Legaspi, while the Responders will be spearheaded by former MVP Ollan Omiping, Harold Sta. Cruz and Anton Tolentino.

In the second game, a UNTV Cup Season 3 championship rivalry will be renewed as former two-time champion Judiciary Magis takes on former two-time first runner-up Malacañang-PSC Kamao at 4:30 p.m.

The Kamao will advance to the semifinals outright with a win.

The Judiciary basketball club will be led

by Justice Midas Marquez, together with former professional players Don Camaso, Chester Tolomia and Warren Ybañez, while the President’s men will be led by Christian Luanzon and Eric Dela Cuesta.

LOTTO RESULTS 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

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

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

Sports

Mirotic traded to NO Pelicans LOS ANGELES—Nikola Mirotic is headed from the Chicago Bulls to the New Orleans Pelicans after all, the teams announcing a trade on Thursday, two days after talks appeared stalled.

The Bulls will get Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen and a protected first-round draft pick in exchange for Mirotic and second-round draft pick.

“We would like to thank Niko for all of his contributions during his time with the Chicago Bulls organization,” Bulls executive vice president John Paxson said.

“We wish him the best with this new opportunity in New Orleans. As I have previously stated, this move has our best interests at heart as we continue to remake our team and position the Bulls for a successful future.”

The Pelicans are apparently now ready to pick up Mirotic’s $12.5 million contract option for next season. Mirotic had blocked a similar version of the trade on Tuesday when they didn’t guarantee picking up the option.

The trade ends Mirotic’s three and a half season tenure in Chicago.

This season opened with Mirotic sidelined after suffering a concussion and two facial fractures when he was punched by teammate Bobby Portis on Oct.17.

Mirotic missed 23 games, and said he didn’t want to play alongside Portis.

In 25 games for Chicago this season Mirotic is averaging 16.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

The Montenegro-born Spaniard was originally drafted with the 23rd overall pick in 2011 by the Houston Rockets. AFP

Petition paper urges POC to hold assembly

By Randy Caluag Nikola Mirotic, shown here scoring inside against the Milwaukee Bucks, was sent by the Chicago Bulls to the NO Pelicans for Jameer Nelson, Omer Asik and a first-round pick. AFP

Hotshots notch 5 win in a row, grab solo lead th

By Jeric Lopez

M

AGNOLIA survived a serious scare in the endgame before heaving a sigh of relief as it squeaked past gutsy Blackwater, 78-72, for its fifth straight win to earn solo leadership in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

Ian Sanggalang sank a go-ahead jumper with 56 seconds remaining to give the Hotshots back the lead, 74-72.

Along with key stops, the Hotshots followed up with four more points in the waning seconds to ice the win and keep their winning

Tabuena primed up for repeat TITLEHOLDER Miguel Tabuena hopes to be formidably armed when he sets out against the best of the best in the rich The Country Club Invitational unfolding Feb. 14 at the TCC course in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

A joint eighth place effort in the Singapore Open and a tied for 14th finish in the Myanmar Open last month put Tabuena’s buildup for the P5 million event in motion with the former Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner further honing up in the ongoing Malaysian Open.

He is also scheduled to play in another tournament in Australia before slugging it out with the cream of the local pro crop in what has long been considered as one of the country’s major championships for its prize fund and elite cast featuring the top 30 players in the 2017 PGT OOM ranking.

The young gun edged three-time TCC winner Juvic Pagunsan on the final hole in last year’s finale and his recent strong showing has made him the marked player in the 72-hole championship held in honor of ICTSI founder Don Pocholo Razon.

Tabuena pooled a 13-over 301 total at the wind-ranked Tom Weiskoph-designed layout to nail his first TCC crown but the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. sees a better output this time with the stellar field coming into the event in top shape following the conclusion of the sixth and seventh legs of the PGT Asia last month.

streak alive.

Magnolia improved to 6-1, eclipsing idle San Miguel (5-1), to grab the tournament lead for the first time and move closer to a berth in the quarterfinals.

Mark Barroca and Aldrech Ramos led the Hot-

shots with 14 points each.

The Hotshots cruised for most part of the game and it seemed like they were headed to another comfortable finish when they held a sizeable 7058 advantage with over seven minutes remaining.

However, the Elite did not go down without a fight as they suddenly stormed back into the game, erecting a swift 14-2 blitz to give itself a chance and tie the game at 72-all after a Mac Belo basket with 1:07 remaining.

Still, Magnolia kept its composure as it countered with a decisive 6-0 run in the final minute to escape Blackwater’s upset bullet.

Sanggalang’s key basket enabled Magnolia to regain the edge, while the succeeding points ensured victory.

Wasting no time, Magnolia burst out of the gates with all guns ablaze, immediately zooming to a sizeable 16-4 advantage just seven minutes into play to take control of the contest right away.

The Hotshots even held several 15-point leads in the second period and breezed through until the Elite’s last hoorah in the closing minutes.

The woes continued for the Elite as they have now lost four in a row, dropping to 2-5 for 11th place.

Magnolia missed the ser-

vices of star guard Paul Lee, who sat out due to an ankle injury. He will remain questionable in the team’s next game against San Miguel.

The scores: MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS 78—Ramos 14, Barroca 14, Melton 8, Sangalang 8, Pascual 7, Jalalon 6, Simon 6, Dela Rosa 6, Pingris 4, Herndon 3, Reavis 2, Gamalinda 0, Brondial 0.

B L AC K WAT E R ELITE 72—Belo 25, Maliksi 17, Cortez 8, Erram 6, Jose 4, Pinto 3, DiGregorio 2, Marcelo 2, Sena 2, Sumang 2, Palma 1, Cruz 0, Javier 0.

Quarter scores: 23-13, 42-29, 61-54, 78-72.

A PETITION letter addressed to Philippine Olympic Committee is being passed around urging the executive board to call for a special general assembly that will pave the way for an election as ordered by the court.

The petition, according to a source, is hoping to get enough signatures from different heads of National Sports Associations.

“We strongly urge the POC secretary-general to make necessary preparations for the said elections, including issuance of proper notices to all members with the agenda of the subject of elections, printing of ballots and other physical and logistical arrangements attendant to the said electoral activity, especially taking into account the 10-day prior notice required

by Article VI, Section 4 of the POC by-laws,” read the petition, coursed through POC secretary-general Steve Hontiveros.

“We hereby call for an extraordinary general assembly meeting on Feb. 23, 2018 for the election of President and Chairman in accordance with the Pasig RTC Decision and pursuant

to Article VI, Section 4 of the POC by-laws.”

Supporters of Alliance of Boxing Association of the Philippines president Ricky Vargas failed to impose on the POC board the re-election for the position of President and Chairman, during the regular general assembly last Wednesday, because the POC president Peping Cojuangco refused to talk about the issue.

Vargas, who was disqualified from the running as POC president in 2016, won a legal case at the Pasig Regional Trial court ordering the POC elections committee to hold elections on Feb. 23. The POC appeal was likewise denied at the Court of Appeals.

“It’s very clear to me that they (POC) don’t want to hold an election,” said Vargas citing that the POC may be held in contempt of court if the order will continue to be defied.

Tagaytay Rep. Abraham Tolentino contested for the vacant position for POC chairmanship but he, too, was disqualified on technicality by the POC elections committee composed of Francisco Elizalde, Bro. Bernie Oca and Red. Conrado Estrella.

Mystic Award, Manda rule Philracom’s Japan Cup races MYSTIC Award and Manda pulled off impressive wins against their elite imported and local fields in the Japan Cup Races recently at the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Carmona, Cavite.

Formerly known as the JRA (Japan Racing Authority) Cup, which has been going on for more than a decade, the prestigious event featured the local and imported divisions offering a total of P1 million in prizes.

Ridden by JD Juco, Mystic Award stayed with the pack three fourths of the way, before bursting into the finish for a five-length victory in the Imported Division (1,400 meters) of the Japan Cup over eventual second placer Anaffairtoremember (jockey Val R Dilema) and second runner-up War Dancer (RO Niu Jr).

The win was worth P300,000 for Mystic Award owner Jade Bros Farm, with owner Narciso Morales (Anaffairtoremember) and Rancho Sta. Rosa (War Dancer) receiving P112,500 and P62,500, respectively.

“Ang game-plan is magstay lang sa bungkos para ma-conserve ang lakas, at bumanat sa diretso. Hayun, natupad naman ang gusto ng mga boss,” said Juco.

It was practically the same five-length triumph pulled off

by Manda, ridden by Jockey JB Hernandez in the Local Division (1,400 meters), where the Benjamin Abalos Jr.-owned horse beat the likes of Mam Candy (Jockey Kevin Abobo) and Summer Romance (Val R. Dilema).

Manda owner Abalos Jr. pocketed the top purse of P300,000.

The Japan Cup is a reciprocal

Jockey JB Hernandez (7th from right), who steered Manda to victory in the Japan Cup Local Division, displays his trophy during the awards rites. He is joined at the winner’s podium by (from left) MJCI Manager Jose Ding Magboo, Philracom Commissioner Bienvenido Niles Jr., trainer Ruben Tupas, JRA officials Sadamichi Imabayashi and Masashi Shoju, representative of Manda owner Benjamin Abalos Jr., JRA’s Hiroyuki Koezuka and Commissioners Jose Santillan and Lyndon Guce.

arrangement between the Philippine Racing Commission and the Japan Racing Authority, which in turn, hosts the Annual

Philippine Trophy Race.

On the same day at the Manila Jockey Club’s Chantilly Bar, JRA officials Sadamichi

Imabayashi, Kazuhiro Youfu, Hiroyuki Koezuka and Masashi Shoju also presented their recommendations on how the

three premier race tracks— MJCI’s San Lazaro Park, Philippine Racing Club’s Santa Ana Park and Metro Turf can improve the conditions of their race courses.

In April of last year, JRA Facilities Co. LTD. Director Youfu and JRA Facilities Co. LTD. Adviser Imabayashi were invited by the Philracom to help raise the standards of the Philippines’ three premier racetracks.

“They presented their individual reports on each of the three race tracks in the country to emphasize kung ano ang kulang, kung paano mako-correct and how to maintain them. And from their findings and recommendation, we will put this as a requirement to the clubs,” added Philracom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez.

Romeo is PSA’s Fan Favorite awardee HIS explosive performances have turned him into the latest darling of Philippine basketball.

Terrence Romeo, the GlobalPort star who captivated fans with his scoring feats in the PBA, also sizzled in the international stage to help Gilas Pilipinas’ campaigns last year.

During the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, Romeo unleashed 26 points, including a sizzling 5-of-7 clip from three-point range, to power the national team to a stunning 96-87 victory over China last August in Lebanon.

In the same tournament, the

25-year-old guard also erupted for 22 points, highlighted by a 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, against South Korea.

He eventually finished as Gilas’ top scorer in the tournament with an average of 17.5 points.

Even FIBA took notice of Romeo’s game highlights, which have garnered hundreds of thousands of views and have been featured in its official website.

Such exploits that thrilled both local and international fans earned Romeo the Mr. Fan Favorite “Manok ng Bayan” Award

in the SMC-PSA Awards Night on Feb. 27 at the Manila Hotel.

The special citation presented

by Chooks to Go, headed by Bounty Agro Ventures Inc.’s Ronald Mascariñas, aims to honor the player who left a lasting impact both on and off the cour t.

Romeo, a former Far Eastern University standout, also emerged for the third straight season as the PBA’s leading scorer by posting an average of 23.3 points to bag the scoring champion honor from the PBA Press Corps.

The Globalport star will be among the athletes and person-

alities to be recognized in the traditional festivities staged by the country’s oldest media organization and presented by MILO and Cignal TV. World champions Jerwin Ancajas, Krizziah Lyn Tabora, and Carlo Biado, recipients of the PSA-Tapa King Athlete of the Year award, lead the long honor roll which makes up part of the program that has the Philippine Sports Commission as major sponsor and backed by Mighty Sports, Rain or Shine, Globalport, and the Philippine Basket- Terrence Romeo ball Association.

Stocks rise to end 3-day slump B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

B1

Asean bucks China steel furnaces

By Othel V. Campos

T

HE Asean Iron and Steel Council, which counts Philippines as a member, raised concerns over the transfer of obsolete induction furnace facilities from China into the region to produce sub-standard quality carbon steel products.

The group in a statement urged the governments of countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to prohibit the import of induction furnaces from China, or ensure the

imported furnaces would be used for the foundry industry as a melting equipment to produce various types of casting products if the importation cannot be stopped.

“Our main concern

arising from the above development is that Asean could become a dumping ground for these obsolete and outdated machinery and equipment, which, because of their inherent technology limitations and constraints, could adversely impact the orderly development of the iron and steel industry in the region,” the council said.

An estimated 600 induction furnace producers in China as of June last year were involved in the production of sub-standard quality steel products in the

north Asian country.

The combined capacity of the induction furnace producers is estimated at around 120 million metric tons compared with the total output of 30 million to 50 million MT in 2016.

Induction furnace facilities generally lack proper environmental control and are not equipped with waste gas treatment system, releasing harmful gases and generate high degree of pollutants to the environment.

As far back as 2002, the Chinese government raised

its concern over the existence of the establishments, many of them operating illegally in several parts of the country producing lowquality steel.

The induction furnace facilities have no process of removing the harmful elements in the liquid, resulting in a safety hazard since these steel products are used in the construction of buildings and infrastructures.

Another is high energy consumption.

Induction furnace generally consumes over 550 kwh of electricity

to produce one ton of steel.

Its electricity consumption can reach as high as 800 kwh/MT. When the Chinese government decided to totally ban the use of induction furnace in the end of June 2017, it took with it an estimated output of between 30 and 50 million MT of construction steel, mainly rebar, from the Chinese domestic market.

This has led to a sharp surge in the prices of rebar, not only in China but also for countries importing

steel from China.

The Chinese government also strictly prohibits companies from moving the facilities and restarting the operation to other regions of China. However, there is no law that restricts the export of the induction furnaces.

The steel group alleged that since ASean had been the dumping ground for finished steel products, it has also become a preferred destination for the export of the obsolete and unwanted equipment from China.

January inflation hit 3.4%, says ING

By Julito G. Rada

Manila

Standard

TODAY

ING Bank Manila said inflation in January likely rose to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent a month ago, a trend that if sustained could compel the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise interest rates as early as March.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a report Friday he was expecting a not-so-significant effect of higher excise taxes to consumer prices for the month.

“We expect a moderate impact of higher excise taxes from the tax reform package in the first month of implementation. We forecast a 3.4-percent January inflation rate,” he said.

“Second round effects are still to be determined in March-June. Significant second-round effects could cause inflation to breach the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent,” he said.

He said an inflation report next Tuesday that was in line with Bangko Sentral’s

forecast could raise inflation expectations “which may spur BSP to tighten as early as the March meeting,” he said.

Cuyegkeng said Bangko Sentral’s inflation forecast of 3.5 percent to 4 percent for January surprised markets, which was actually higher than the government’s 3.3 percent estimate for the month.

Bangko Sentral earlier said January inflation likely accelerated to as high as 4 percent from 3.3 percent a month ago, driven mainly by higher food and fuel prices.

The regulator’s Department of Economic Research said inflation could settle within the 3.5 percent to 4 percent range for the month.

“The increase in the prices of domestic petroleum product on account of higher global crude oil prices along with higher food prices due to weather-related disturbances could contribute to the rise in inflation for January 2018,” it said.

040608 (Bank Code)

METRO SOUTH COOPERATIVE BANK

IDC Centre, Zapote Street cor. Kalayaan Avenue, Brgy. Sta. Cruz, Makati City

BALANCE SHEET

As of DECEMBER 31, 2017

SSS HELPLINE. Social Security System members may now get their Personal Reference Number by calling the SSS

PRN Helpline at 920-6446 to 55 or local toll-free Hotline 1-800-10-2255-777 anytime from Mondays to Fridays. The SSS recently announced the mandatory use of PRNs in the payment of members’ contributions in line with the implementation of the Real-time Posting of Contribution Payments project.

Plan to install independent WESM operator up

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE board of Philippine Electricity Market Corp. approved the transition plan to create an independent market operator for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

PEMC, chaired by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, operates the country’s trading floor for electricity.

As prescribed in the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, the IMO should take over the management and operation of the WESM from PEMC. “In light of this development, the IMO will be incorporated as a nonprofit company which is independent of the government and industry participants,” PEMC said in a statement.

PEMC will remain the governing body of the spot market with board of directors composed of participant representatives and independent members.

“By the second quarter of 2018, PEMC and the IMO shall enter into an operational agreement to formalize turnover of the use of the Market Management System and other trading platforms as well as the transfer of market operations functions.

Alongside these milestones, personnel placement and employment for the two companies will be completed in June,” PEMC said.

Cusi stressed to the PEMC board the importance of implementing the IMO transition within a specified timeline.

IN BRIEF

PAL increases flights to China

Philippine Airlines said it is increasing its flights frequency on existing routes and opening up new destinations in mainland China in support of the government’s campaign to lure two million Chinese tourists annually.

The Lucio Tan-led carrier will raise its flights between the Philippines and Greater China from the current 99 times weekly to 103 times weekly starting March 25.

“The spike is due to the shift to daily Manila-Jinjiang and Manila-Guangzhou (Canton) services from the current five times weekly on each route,” PAL said.

PAL’s multiple flights from various Chinese cities were a major factor in the huge 43 percent increase in the Philippines’ tourist arrivals from mainland China to 968,447 visitors in 2017.

Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan combined contributed several hundred thousands more tourists, for a combined a total of 1.33 million tourists hailing from the Greater China region. Darwin G. Amojelar

GMA, ABS-CBN dispute ratings

GMA Network Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp. said they posted higher television ratings nationwide in January this year.

According to the latest data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, GMA registered winning numbers in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) with an average of 43.7 percent total day people audience share in January, beating ABS-CBN’s 38.6 percent.

In the morning block, GMA recorded a 42.3-percent people audience share versus ABS-CBN’s 35.4 percent, while GMA garnered 47.3 percent in the afternoon line-up compared with ABS-CBN’s 36.8 percent.

ABS-CBN, meanwhile, said it hit an average audience share of 46 percent in January, or 12 points higher than GMA’s 34 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.

ABS-CBN kept its lead in other areas such as Metro Manila, where it registered an average audience share of 42

“This has been long overdue; it has been delayed for more than a decade. Now is the best time to usher in its independence as provided in the law,” Cusi said.

Cusi earlier vowed to put in place the IMO for the WESM by June.

“By June 2018, you will see an independent market operator and you will see an independent PEMC without DOE,” Cusi said.

PEMC said a special meeting among market participants would be held on February 6 to constitute the PEMC membership as part of the transition process.

A special PEM board meeting will also be held to finalize and approve the amendments to PEMC’s articles of incorporation and by-laws.

percent against GMA’s 27 percent, in Total Luzon where it got 43 percent against GMA’s 35 percent, in Total Visayas where it garnered 55 percent against GMA’s 27 percent, and in Total Mindanao where it hit 51 percent against GMA’s 32 percent. Darwin G. Amojelar

Bill to improve PH business rank

THE Finance Department said the passage into law of the proposed Secured Transaction Systems Bill will strengthen the country’s position in the “getting credit” indicator in the Ease of Doing Business index worldwide.

In a statement Friday, the DoF said the passage would boost the country’s ranking by about 100 notches—from rank 142 among 190 countries to 42.

The Secured Transaction Systems Bill is at advanced discussions in both houses of Congress. The bill is on second reading in the Senate and scheduled for third reading in the House.

The DoF said if passed, the bill would bring several benefits, such as encourage more lending to MSMEs and agriculture since it offers entrepreneurs opportunity to use movable collaterals (e.g., inventory, receivables, crops, livestock, equipment) to back up their loan applications.

Julito G. Rada

Cusi says consumers saved P3b

THE Energy Department saved consumers around P3 billions in its efforts to ensure the imposition of the new excise tax rates on petroleum products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law is fairly and responsibly implemented by oil companies.

The department estimates that its actions saved consumers around P2.64 billion for liquid petroleum fuels, and P58.4 million from liquid petroleum gas or LPG. The department, through its Oil Industry Management Bureau, conducted meetings with the industry stakeholders for guidelines, providing advisories to the public, conducting random inspections, data gathering and reviewing the inventory, examining the paper trail even prior to the implementation of the TRAIN. Alena Mae S. Flores

ASSETS Cash and Cash Items Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Due from Other Banks Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Available-for-Sale Financial Assets-Net Held-to-Maturity (HTM) Financial Assets-Net Loans and Receivables - Net Loans to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Interbank Loans Receivable Loans and Receivables - Others Loans and Receivables Arising from RA/CA/PR/SLB General Loan Loss Provision Other Financial Assets Equity Investment in Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures-Net Bank Premises, Furniture, Fixture and Equipment-Net Real and Other Properties Acquired-Net Non-Current Assets Held for Sale Other Assets-Net Net Due from Head Office/Branches/Agencies, if any (Philippine branch of a foreign bank) TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES Financial Liabilities at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Deposit Liabilities Due to Other Banks Bills Payable a) BSP (Rediscounting and Other Advances) b) Interbank Loans Payable c) Other Deposit Substitute d) Others Bonds Payable-Net Unsecured Soubordlnated Debt-Net Redeemable Preferred Shares Special Time Deposrt Due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Other Financial Liabilities Other Liabilities Net Due to Head Office/Branches/Agencies/(Philippine branch of a foreign bank) TOTAL LIABILITIES STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Capital Stock Other Capital Accounts Retained Earnings Assigned Caprtal TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS Guarantees Issued Financial Standby Letters of Credit Performance Standby Letters of Credit Commercial Letters of Credit Trade Related Guarantees Commttments Spot Foreign Exchange Contracts Securities Held Under Custodianship by Bank Proper Trust Department Accounts a) Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts b) Agency Accounts c) Advlsory/Consull Derivatives Others TOTAL CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Gross total loan portfolio (TLP) Specific allowance for credit losses on the TLP Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) a. Gross NPLs b. Ratio of gross NPLs to gross TLP (%) c. Net NPLs d. Ratio of Net NPLs to gross TLP (%) e. Ratio of total allowance for credit losses to gross NPLs (%) f. Ratio of specific allowance for credit losses on the gross TLP to gross NPLs (%) Classified Loans & Other Risk Assets, gross of allowance for credit losses DOSRI Loans and receivables, gross allowance of credit losses Ratio of DOSRI loans and receivables, gross of allowance for credit losses, to gross TLP (%) Gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables Ratio of gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables to TLP (%) Percent Compliance with Magna Carta (%) a. 8% for Micro and Small Enterprises b. 2% for Medium Enterprises Return on Equity (ROE) (%) Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) on Solo Basis, as prescribed under existing regulations a. Total CAR (%) b. Tier 1 Ratio (%) c. Common Tier 1 Ratio (%) 1/ Deferred Charges not yet Written Down Unbooked Allowance for Credit Losses on Financial Instruments Received

Amount Current Quarter Previous Quarter 66,643,017.61 645,034.93 63,340,031.45 63,340,031 .45 906,387,604.19 695,166,895.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10,000 000.00 10,000,000,00 2,193,201,449.40 2,091,041,343.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,224,833,192.18 2,117,673,085.78 0.00 0.00 31,631,742.78 26,631,742.78 17,937,089.12 19,512,567.98 0.00 0.00 34,602,469.71 35,802,977.62 183,815,130.87 102,730,572.33 3,565,097.80 3,615,544.45 0.00 0.00 3,479,491,890.15 3,021,854,966.83 0.00 2,089,932,768.55 0.00 683,712,499.93 0.00 683,712,499.93 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 5,912,921 .74 35,245,931.45 0.00 2,814,804,121.67

0.00 2,046,980,978.90 0.00 332,091,666.68 0.00 332,091,666.68 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7,816,274.63 53,072,558.02 0.00 2,439,931,478.23

575,276,024.30 (309,737.00) 89,721,481.18 0.00 664,687,768.48 3,479,491 ,890.15

531,333,142.88 9,364,321.77 41,226,023.95 0.00 581,923,488.60 3,021,854,966.83

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,727,942.47 2,727,942.47

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,730,102.47 2,730,102.47

2,334,121,605.84 109,288,413.66

2,220,961 ,499.44 103,288,413.66

349,783,099.28 14.99% 240,494,685.62 10.30% 40.29% 31.24% 45.00 309,253,747.39 13.25% 0.00 0.00%

427,859,051 .32 19.26% 324,570,637.66 14.61% 30.37% 24.14 45.00 336,605,811 .70 15.16% 0.00 0.00%

14.51% 28.01% 6.00%

20.32% 34.72% 3.00%

18.42 606.03 0.00 0.00 0.00

17.22 452.38 0.00 0.00 0.00

BOARD OF DIRECTORS FR. SERAFIN F. PERALTA Chairman ATTY. MICKEL M. BORIGAS Vice-Chairman DIRECTORS ROBERT V. AREVALO PATRIA T. CHIONG ROMEO A. DE JESUS DORIS R.DORIGO NORMA G. GUHITING EDITA S. LAURON ROBERTO C. MASCARINA PEDRO A. PLAZA DIVINA C. QUEMI PEDRO E. RIEZA, JR. JUANITO P. ROSINI NICOLAS H. VERONILLA EXECUTIVE OFFICER Renelia V. Estioko President

1/ Common Equity Tier 1 is only applicable to all Universal and Commercial Banks and their subsidiary banks.

Republic of the Philippines ) Makati City) s.s.

I/We, RODA L. CRUZ and RENELIA V. ESTIOKO of the above-mentioned bank do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the above balance sheet are true and correct to the best of my/our knowledge and belief.

RODA L. CRUZ Finance Head

RENELIA V. ESTIOKO President

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 23rd day of January 2018 at Makati City, affiant exhibiting his/her/their Passport No.P1057056A, issued at DFA NCR EAST on December 01, 2016 and Passport No. P1747134A, issued at Manila City on January 25, 2017.

Doc. No. 475 Book No. 96 Page No. 248 Series of 2018

B2

Business

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks rise to end 3-day slump T

HE stock market climbed Friday to snap a three-day slump as investors went on bargain-hunting on select issues.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 72.03 points, or 0.8 percent, 8,810.75 on a value turnover of P7.8 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 123 to 72, with 58 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, added 2.4 percent to P294, while Megaworld Corp., the largest lessor of office spaces, climbed 1.2 percent to P4.96. Parent Alliance Global Group Inc. increased 2.4 percent to P15.60.

Integrated Microelectronics Inc., a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., advanced 6.6 percent to P21.20. The Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P5-billion stock rights offering of IMI that will entitle shareholders to acquire one share for every 5.335

common shares owned.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. surged 4.9 percent to P152.

The rest of Asian markets swung on Friday with some recovering from early losses but traders remain on edge as over a rise in US Treasury yields to four-year highs, while fresh US political turmoil is also causing unease.

Tokyo ended 0.9 percent down while Singapore shed 0.2 percent and Seoul dived 1.7 percent.

But Hong Kong, which in January chalked up a series of records, reversed the morning sell-off and was up 0.1 percent in the afternoon helped by bargain-buying.

Shanghai closed up 0.4 percent, Sydney rose 0.5 percent and Wellington was 0.4 percent higher. Bangkok and Jakarta were also higher.

Equity traders around the world have

been firing on all cylinders in recent months, sending markets to record or multi-year highs, on confidence in the global economy, healthy earnings and optimism over Donald Trump’s tax cuts.

That improvement has also led central banks to temper their crisis-era stimulus measures, which has led to a rise in bond yields, including the key US Treasury market.

The price of benchmark 10-year Treasury bills is at levels not seen since April 2014, sparking fears a lift in interest rates will hit economic growth and divert money from equities.

With the Federal Reserve already in the midst of a rate raising cycle—it is tipped to hike at least three times this year—there is increasing concern about the impact on world markets.

“The performance of the bond market has

got to be beginning to flash red to equities,” Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer of Penn Mutual Asset Management, said.

“It seems we’re reaching a critical level on interest rates that could throw some cold water on the party in the equity market.”

And Geoff Lewis, Hong Kong-based senior strategist for Asia at Manulife Asset Management, told Bloomberg Television: “If we see a sharp move up that would be a negative shock for the equity markets.”

On Thursday the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Wall Street fell, although the Dow edged up.

The dollar was up slightly against its major peers but it is struggling to stage a strong recovery against the pound and euro as dealers bet on tighter monetary policy at the European Central Bank and preferable terms for Britain when it leaves the European Union. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.51 25,000 59 16,670 120 890,230 3.7 506,000 153.5 2,215,050 1.89 259,000 36.15 90,500 9.99 400 15.6 7,300 29.1 796,700 12.1 196,900 1.69 12,000 0.55 87,000 98.6 2,075,730 1.5 16,564,000 13.4 91,400 25.95 100 57.7 37,230 246 33,170 104.1 340 88.25 130 51 62,090 243.4 1,108,330 1,995 30 91 14,840 1.23 72,000

88,100 983,067 106,439,881 1,875,820 339,752,448 482,160 3,264,950 3,996 112,670 23,158,125 2,378,461 20,180 46,430 205,010,365.50 25,500,970 1,225,292 2,595 2,170,729.50 8,160,560 35,692 11,476 3,161,861 269,728,946 59,670 1,352,239 88,560

232,055 7,168,482 33,240 -97,703,676 -3,660 948,810 -3,080 6,040,310 -96,248 24,380 -65,049,130 142,770 -641,633 5,419,380 -716,150 -176,846,584 -354,304.50 -

40.6 12.62 0.62 1.3 19.02 0.221 122 4.27 15.8 189 49.9 56.3 1.9 5.31 10.6 11.82 14.8 12.12 7.62 5.6 1.65 15.76 60.8 29.8 10.2 20 1.8 285 55 4.1 3.2 19.32 28 17.98 21 332 0.192 2.85 4.8 9.64 6.4 8.29 1.65 12.52 61.45 6.2 625 4.9 3.43 1.57 15.1 5.41 0.131 1.1 159.6 2.81 2.03 0.84

INDUSTRIAL 41 984,800 12.8 1,845,700 0.63 726,000 1.32 13,000 19.2 25,600 0.23 9,890,000 122 190 4.47 7,138,000 15.8 1,515,600 189 50 51 392,640 57 1,180 1.91 230,000 5.55 7,200 10.6 6,500 11.82 4,389,200 14.8 122,700 12.36 2,237,000 8.06 1,242,900 5.68 3,489,700 1.66 30,000 16 1,014,900 63.05 397,840 30 451,100 10.36 31,000 21.2 5,692,600 1.87 604,000 294 943,050 55 60 4.2 428,000 3.29 9,000 20.85 700 28.35 504,900 18.18 117,300 21.5 1,340,900 336.2 301,540 0.197 520,000 2.89 2,071,000 4.96 256,000 9.8 4,914,900 6.64 317,800 8.29 2,400 1.66 295,000 12.7 380,800 61.6 920,080 6.2 5,000 630 95,430 4.95 131,000 3.79 46,000 1.58 539,000 15.44 277,800 5.47 14,800 0.131 3,160,000 1.1 34,000 162.2 835,240 2.95 12,000 2.07 2,863,000 0.84 440,000

40,361,855 23,522,126 456,100 16,990 493,708 2,257,320 23,180 31,807,100 23,946,496 9,450 19,967,444 67,140 437,690 39,712 68,900 52,288,578 1,828,838 27,635,256 9,930,331 19,786,133 49,530 16,171,970 24,839,538 13,568,330 319,928 120,016,380 1,104,610 275,351,026 3,300 1,757,600 29,100 14,136 14,291,390 2,115,462 28,746,750 100,897,028 101,260 5,985,330 1,256,530 48,030,905 2,105,300 19,896 488,420 4,892,450 56,752,120 31,000 60,135,720 647,210 172,550 861,380 4,247,044 80,440 415,220 37,400 135,293,908 34,570 5,855,800 369,690

-8,301,210 -1,116,820 -213,440 -6,191,910 20,500,500 16,720 -5,730 3,857,658 13,320 -25,319,966 -1,666,941 -7,216,590 6,846,344 -447,092 -21,315 20,878,280 44,687,020 -4,851,385 538,272 -821,325 -12,089,854 344,950 99,050 19,719,812 1,329,068 16,580 -2,201,364 -15,468,313.50 1,850,915 -132,720 41,654 7,950 -35,501,239 -115,880 -

0.305 76.65 15.6 0.98 7.05 0.56 0.59 1,055 7.59 14.56 7.52 0.186 1,360 7.3 77.5 5.36 0.8 5.69 23.15 6.59 0.043 1.26 2.89 152 1,030 1.65 283 0.25

0.29 75.15 15.24 0.95 7.05 0.49 0.54 1,038 7.45 14.32 7.49 0.185 1,341 7.21 76.4 5.36 0.72 5.51 22.55 6.42 0.042 1.25 2.6 144.9 1,010 1.62 279 0.242

HOLDING FIRMS 0.3 1,600,000 75.3 867,190 15.6 13,588,400 0.98 55,000 7.05 7,200 0.55 51,084,000 0.57 9,274,000 1,050 181,770 7.5 1,395,600 14.56 2,126,000 7.5 40,900 0.185 240,000 1,350 52,425 7.3 23,300 77.4 1,517,440 5.36 600 0.74 4,044,000 5.69 174,400 23.15 934,200 6.46 24,740,800 0.042 12,700,000 1.25 100,000 2.64 25,682,000 152 1,416,080 1,030 728,100 1.62 823,000 283 4,720 0.25 430,000

467,350 65,446,778.50 209,844,586 52,700 50,760 26,929,150 5,155,980 190,802,495 10,473,719 30,874,560 306,630 44,440 70,922,190 168,786 117,353,143.50 3,216 3,049,970 985,903 21,518,765 159,985,756 535,600 125,940 70,487,930 211,445,937 742,674,905 1,341,570 1,330,402 107,260

-33,262,685 3,275,574 495,000 -13,394,830 4,676,689 -1,123,524 7,400 8,326,545 -56,888,331.00 541,650 -1,621,850 -41,967,028 -4,443,560 299,994 -389,326,665 16,500 16,860 -

6.22 0.95 16.5 2.16 0.91 45.85 3.82 4.75 5.89 0.47 1.1 1.11 0.26 0.455 39.75 0.66 0.137 1.89 1.39 0.79 4.98 0.335 0.34 0.56 4.8 42.65 21.1 2.02

6.05 0.93 15.32 2.15 0.88 45 3.76 4.64 5.8 0.46 1.1 1.09 0.244 0.44 38.7 0.66 0.137 1.85 1.34 0.76 4.9 0.325 0.335 0.54 4.5 33 20.65 2

4,521,465 1,957,980 936,750 43,080 1,279,640 437,239,665 4,301,470 2,708,980 185,605 1,811,150 19,800 98,370 15,265,120 66,900 7,279,695 139,920 30,140 768,900 4,911,710 136,120 247,988,690 10,214,200 228,750 944,250 7,397,350 464,285 59,695,980 215,150

-1,137,433 -28,210 135,446,060 -772,420 1,109,050 130,607 -451,150 3,300 -321,800 -1,665,310.00 77,220 407,700 -1,370 40,541,490 -50,500 -30,520 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.58 59 119.9 3.77 152.5 1.81 36 9.99 15.6 29.1 9.38 1.67 0.53 98.6 1.57 13.42 25.95 58.9 246.6 105 87.95 51.6 245.2 1,960 91 1.23

3.58 59.7 120 3.77 155 1.92 36.2 9.99 15.6 29.5 14.24 1.69 0.55 99.2 1.63 13.46 25.95 58.9 247 110 88.9 51.6 245.2 1,995 91.45 1.23

3.51 58.45 118.7 3.7 152.5 1.81 36 9.99 15.4 28.8 9.38 1.67 0.53 98.2 1.49 13.4 25.95 57.6 245.2 104.1 87.95 50.65 242.4 1,960 90.5 1.23

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG 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 MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

40.6 12.68 0.63 1.3 19.12 0.23 122 4.27 15.88 189 50.55 56.3 1.91 5.5 10.6 12.02 14.8 12.32 7.9 5.6 1.65 15.82 61 30 10.54 20 1.84 287.2 55 4.2 3.21 20.85 28.5 18.1 21.55 333 0.195 2.9 4.93 9.75 6.65 8.29 1.65 12.52 62.3 6.2 630 4.9 3.94 1.61 15.2 5.48 0.133 1.1 160 2.81 2.08 0.84

41.3 12.82 0.63 1.32 19.98 0.232 122 4.49 15.88 189 51 57 1.91 5.55 10.6 12.1 15 12.4 8.14 5.69 1.66 16 63.2 30.9 10.54 21.75 1.88 294 55 4.2 3.29 20.85 28.5 18.18 22 336.2 0.197 2.9 4.98 9.82 6.75 8.29 1.71 13.02 62.3 6.2 632 4.95 3.94 1.63 15.48 5.48 0.133 1.1 162.5 2.96 2.08 0.85

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

0.305 75.15 15.24 0.95 7.05 0.5 0.59 1,038 7.45 14.56 7.49 0.186 1,341 7.25 76.4 5.36 0.79 5.55 22.6 6.5 0.043 1.26 2.62 145 1,024 1.63 280 0.242

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 MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL

6.22 0.94 16.48 2.16 0.91 45.5 3.79 4.66 5.89 0.465 1.1 1.1 0.25 0.455 38.8 0.66 0.137 1.89 1.36 0.79 4.9 0.33 0.34 0.54 4.7 33.5 20.9 2.01

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

3.27 36.7 1.02 19.5 0.83 6.9

3.27 37.1 1.04 22 0.86 7.26

3.24 36.05 1.02 19.02 0.81 6.7

3.26 36.95 1.04 19.1 0.86 6.7

364,000 13,406,900 225,000 2,502,700 179,000 20,818,700

1,183,370 489,681,845 231,700 50,649,161 146,040 142,897,619

-474,500 -261,057,110 -74,880 120,375 -56,582,986

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS 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 RACING 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

20.25 32.8 1.38 0.46 0.049 11.6 12.26 0.067 99.35 8.8 9.29 8.8 2.8 50.05 1,900 5.85 133.9 11.26 5.25 3.1 110.9 13.28 8.32 0.155 1.67 3.37 15.5 4.08 1.11 23.1 0.51 4.62 8.76 3.68 17.02 5.87 10.06 2.85 9.35 105 7.15 1,556 1.23 0.35 53 94.65 5.62 3.04 1.52 0.59 3.87 0.95 9.3

20.9 33 1.38 0.46 0.049 11.6 12.4 0.068 101.2 8.8 9.31 8.95 2.81 54.25 1,900 5.91 180 11.26 5.7 3.1 112 13.28 8.32 0.156 1.69 3.37 15.5 4.14 1.22 24.05 0.53 5.02 9 3.68 18.42 6.01 10.18 3.49 9.35 109.9 7.2 1,567 1.23 0.365 53.8 96.95 6.41 3.12 1.53 0.63 3.88 0.95 9.64

19.6 32.7 1.35 0.45 0.047 11.6 12 0.067 99.3 8.8 9.11 8.6 2.64 47.55 1,892 5.85 132 11.26 4.98 2.81 110 13.28 8.25 0.146 1.58 3.13 15.4 4.01 1.11 23.1 0.51 4.62 8.76 3.66 17.02 5.61 10.02 2.85 9.35 104 6.8 1,540 1.22 0.35 52.85 94.65 5.61 3.04 1.5 0.53 3.83 0.92 9.25

SERVICES 19.6 33 1.38 0.45 0.048 11.6 12.1 0.068 100.9 8.8 9.16 8.7 2.76 49.4 1,899 5.9 173 11.26 5.37 2.85 110 13.28 8.31 0.146 1.63 3.36 15.5 4.14 1.12 23.65 0.52 4.89 8.87 3.68 18.42 5.64 10.18 3.02 9.35 105 6.91 1,558 1.23 0.365 53 96.9 6.39 3.12 1.52 0.6 3.85 0.92 9.62

227,400 54,600 34,000 1,640,000 7,300,000 9,000 5,704,200 3,650,000 169,110 1,300 818,000 81,800 66,000 523,500 17,545 313,700 795,530 100 36,385,000 42,000 608,280 300 62,400 21,430,000 1,457,000 13,000 6,600 643,000 3,225,000 5,888,700 37,000 2,000,000 2,820,900 157,000 5,800 14,726,600 2,400 788,000 1,700 104,490 732,100 47,835 403,000 290,000 1,030,760 355,130 3,080,500 177,000 5,358,000 263,323,000 603,000 1,842,000 10,878,500

4,519,401 1,792,615 46,080 753,400 349,500 104,400 69,480,164 246,190 16,945,087.50 11,440 7,517,376 714,120 180,070 26,714,825 33,291,645 1,841,566 130,051,694 1,126 195,874,672 127,260 67,365,623 3,984 517,144 3,210,250 2,367,000 41,640 101,770 2,624,200 3,756,160 139,508,540 18,950 9,699,000 25,146,917 576,240 102,118 84,348,956 24,246 2,497,030 15,895 11,131,049 5,052,462 74,535,360 495,030 102,450 54,615,355 34,043,915 19,327,981 541,840 8,129,850 155,186,580 2,321,470 1,713,470 102,792,893

29,840 58,000 -5,345,278 62,980 7,746,782 8,800 119,220.00 0 194,550 1,659,100 480,125 514,524 -36,987,635 15,100 -41,000 -54,300 72,882,350 12,122,805 249,600 979,149 -29,700 -10,647,803 271,999 -25,324,240 -222,530 3,600 -7,215,642.50 -5,224,290.50 1,244,798 -30,560 1,346,370 -5,626,710 838,950 22,947,568

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK 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 ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.0024 1.51 4.9 13.18 1.62 0.32 7.5 2.6 0.19 0.153 0.16 0.0093 0.0094 1.65 6.7 1.42 0.92 0.012 0.013 0.011 2.16 6.77 9.15 37.25 0.007

0.0025 1.55 5 13.18 1.62 0.32 7.76 2.63 0.19 0.154 0.161 0.0095 0.0094 1.67 6.92 1.42 0.93 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.32 6.97 9.38 37.9 0.007

0.0023 1.5 4.9 13.18 1.59 0.32 7.3 2.6 0.189 0.153 0.157 0.0092 0.0094 1.65 6.65 1.35 0.92 0.012 0.012 0.011 2.15 6.77 9.01 37.2 0.007

MINING & OIL 0.0024 2,101,000,000 1.53 2,531,000 5 480,000 13.18 900 1.62 222,000 0.32 120,000 7.36 7,100 2.6 1,184,000 0.189 120,000 0.153 6,160,000 0.157 1,550,000 0.0092 7,000,000 0.0094 1,000,000 1.65 264,000 6.89 7,074,100 1.39 45,000 0.92 146,000 0.012 1,500,000 0.012 900,000 0.011 13,700,000 2.16 268,000 6.94 195,300 9.13 1,730,600 37.9 7,554,900 0.007 38,000,000

5,043,100 3,848,670 2,394,700 11,862 357,110 38,400 54,815 3,091,310 22,690 943,650 246,030 65,500 9,400 435,780 48,569,666 61,580 134,540 18,000 11,400 154,700 589,160 1,348,510 15,909,761 281,737,380 266,000

-46,480 -254,950 -16,200 15,720 -21,980 457,667 -7,800 198,777 1,171,315 -11,151,675.00 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PF PREF 2 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I

32.5 518 527 109 104.2 111.6 523 5.6 1,011 1,015 101.3 1.04 107.9 1,041 1,005 2 77 81.2 75.7 77.05 81 79.7

33 518 527 109 104.5 111.6 523 5.79 1,011 1,015 101.9 1.04 107.9 1,041 1,005 2 77 81.2 75.7 77.05 81 79.7

32.5 518 527 109 104.2 111.5 523 5.6 1,006 1,015 101.3 1.04 107.9 1,041 1,002 2 76.5 81 75.7 77 81 78.1

PREFERRED 33 65,300 518 20 527 40 109 110 104.5 1,250 111.5 4,200 523 4,800 5.78 407,500 1,006 100 1,015 50 101.9 610 1.04 17,000 107.9 200 1,041 165 1,002 2,250 2 10,000 76.5 9,290 81 212,230 75.7 3,500 77 7,000 81 37,240 78.1 52,940

2,138,530 10,360 21,080 11,990 130,610 468,312 2,510,400 2,283,420 101,000 50,750 61,859 17,680 21,580 171,765 2,254,965 20,000 711,205 17,190,638 264,950 539,150 3,016,440 4,134,678

29,420 -2,178,100.00 -

LR WARRANT

2.48

2.48

2.41

WARRANTS 2.41 239,000

579,530

-

14,518,690 31,010 2,341,670 6,524,440

-176,190 -1,806,450

2,361,451

-

82,422.40

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 6.18 0.95 15.5 2.16 0.9 45.85 3.77 4.74 5.89 0.465 1.1 1.09 0.245 0.455 39.5 0.66 0.137 1.87 1.39 0.79 4.96 0.325 0.335 0.55 4.65 37 20.85 2.01

738,700 2,092,000 59,600 20,000 1,431,000 9,582,700 1,135,000 575,000 31,600 3,900,000 18,000 90,000 61,080,000 150,000 184,800 212,000 220,000 410,000 3,559,000 177,000 50,066,000 31,130,000 680,000 1,725,000 1,610,000 11,900 2,858,800 107,000

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

7.85 3.09 4.19 4.42

8.2 3.11 4.25 4.42

7.73 3.06 3.9 4.2

FIRST METRO ETF

133.4

134

133

USD DMPL A2

10.2

10.28

10.2

T RADING S UMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

8.07 3.06 4.02 4.27

SME

1,822,000 10,000 579,000 1,523,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 134 17,730 DDS 10.28

SHARES

VALUE

25,162,940

995,160,794.35

64,305,508

1,189,325,645.675

156,786,992

2,137,734,334.30

PROPERTY

214,610,896

1,562,420,639.80

SERVICES

421,822,120

1,575,520,830.62

MINING & OIL

2,193,225,152

365,407,575.5589

GRAND TOTAL

3,079,872,255

7,851,376,023.45

8,080

FINANCIAL 2,223.55 (up) 3.59 INDUSTRIAL 11,891.59 (up) 121.04 HOLDING FIRMS 9,007.76 (up) 90.86 PROPERTY 3,993.89 (up) 36.35 SERVICES 1,718.11 (up) 11.89 MINING & OIL 12,083.05 (up) 212.70 PSEI 8,810.75 (up) 72.03 All Shares Index 5,181.82 (up) 50.90 Gainers: 123; Losers: 72; Unchanged: 58; Total: 253

Cirtek eyes stock split to attract investors

By Jenniffer B. Austria CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. is studying the possibility of conducting a stock split to boost liquidity and lure more investors into the company.

Cirtek vice chairman and group president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said the planned stock split could occur by the second half of the year.

“This will give the people who might have missed the run-up (in the company’s share price) to buy Cirtek shares,” Dispo said.

A stock split increases a corporation’s total number of shares outstanding without altering the firm’s market value or the proportionate ownership interest of existing shareholders.

From a 52-week low of P22.50 per share, share price of Cirtek surged 188 percent after it recently hit a 52-week high of P65 on positive outlook on the company after completing two significant acquisitions.

Cirtek in July purchased 100-percent stake in Quintel, a leading provider of advanced high-efficiency, high-performance antenna solution headquartered in New York, USA for $77 million.

The acquisition is expected to boost Cirtek’s revenues by $100 million starting this year.

Quintel is a leading innovator of spectrum and space-efficient base station antennas for wireless networks. Quintel’s major customers include two of the top five telecommunications carriers in North America.

Viterbo of SEC quits job SECURITIES and Exchange Commission commissioner Blas James Viterbo has tendered his resignation due to medical reasons.

SEC spokesperson Armando Pan in a text message confirmed Viterbo submitted his resignation letter through Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on Feb. 1.

“He will prioritize his medical check up because he has irregular heart beat,” Pan said.

A corporate and tax lawyer by profession with a background in management and finance coupled with practical experience in public policy and entrepreneurship, Viterbo was appointed SEC Commissioner on May 20, 2014 with a fixed term of seven years or until 2021.

Prior to joining the SEC, Viterbo was director and treasurer of a private corporation with business interests in mass media, power generation, commercial and and tourism realty development.

He served as a member of the board of directors of the Development Bank of the Philippines, where he advocated good governance initiatives.

He sat in DBP’s Trust, Audit, and Human Resource Committees, and represented the bank as a member of the governing board of the Maritime Industry Authority.

Previously an entry-level legislative-technical staff lawyer in the office of then Senator Manuel Roxas, Viterbo obtained his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accountancy degrees from the University of the Philippines–Diliman.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Standard

TODAY

Christie’s sales hit a record $7.3 billion LONDON―Sales at Christie’s hit a record high last year of £5.1 billion (5.8 billion euros, $7.3 billion), boosted by blockbuster sales including Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi”, the auction house said on Friday.

The Britain-based auction powerhouse was responsible for the sale of seven of 10 top works of art sold globally in 2017, including the Leonardo, which was bought for $450.3 million.

“2017 has been a year to remember for Christie’s both for its record growth and some unforgettable moments,” said Guillaume Cerutti, Christie’s chief executive officer.

At New York’s November Impressionist and Modern evening sale, six auction world records were made, with Vincent Van Gogh’s “Laboureur dans un champ” fetching $81.3 million and Fernand Leger’s “Contraste de formes” making $70 million.

Auction sales led the growth in 2017 with a 38 percent increase totalling £4.6 billion, while sales of art online, via Christie’s live platform and online absentee bidding, reached £165.6 million.

New clients at Christie’s provided a significant boost to the auction house, accounting for 31 percent of all buyers with online sales remaining their preferred point of entry. AFP

18 hurt as van slams into crowd in Shanghai SHANGHAI―A van caught fire and plowed into pedestrians on a crowded pavement outside a Starbucks in central Shanghai on Friday, injuring at least 18 people, three of them seriously, authorities and witnesses said.

The incident occurred at People’s Park in the heart of the city around 9.00 am (0100 GMT), when crowds of residents would have been on their way to work.

A Shanghai police statement said a preliminary investigation indicated that the driver of the van, a 40-year-old man, had been smoking while driving and that the vehicle had contained “dangerous substances” that apparently ignited.

Zhang Sai, a security guard at an adjacent building, told AFP the van was on fire when it veered out of control and jumped the curb, striking some pedestrians and sending others scurrying to get out of the way. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3 , 2018

World

Manila

B3

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

Tough assignment in Mexico M

EXICO CITY―Washington’s top diplomat was to sit down Friday with the leader of the country that President Donald Trump has perhaps disparaged more than any other, the United States’ neighbor Mexico.

As he confronts the first stage on his first Latin American tour since being named secretary of state, former oilman Rex Tillerson will talk trade, crime

and immigration with President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Before setting off, Tillerson laid out a vision of the US and Latin America―the “democratic hemisphere”―

working together to build a prosperous future, but first he will have to overcome the aftermath of Trump’s aggressive brand of diplomacy.

Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “perhaps the worst deal in the history of the world,” has said immigrants from across the southern border

bring crime with them and remains determined to build a frontier wall.

On some positions, Trump has softened his rhetoric since his inauguration a year ago, but in this week’s State of the Union address he spoke more about cross-border crime and immigration than any other foreign policy topic.

Pena Nieto meanwhile is

under pressure at home not to give up too much ground to his pushy northern neighbor, even though Mexico and Canada are keen to save NAFTA from Trump’s threat to rip it up and start anew.

Tillerson, in Latin America to build support for a tough stance against Venezuela’s beleaguered government and make the case for closer economic ties and

warn of Chinese encroachment, is not the US trade representative and could do without the row.

But, when he sits down on Friday with Pena Nieto and his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland the trade deal will be in the foreground of their agenda, and he has adopted an optimistic approach, whatever Trump’s rhetoric. AFP

VISIT.

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May visit Yu Garden in Shanghai. AFP

29 women arrested as headscarf protests intensify TEHRAN―Tehran police have arrested 29 women for appearing in public without a headscarf as the protests against the dress code in force since the Islamic revolution of 1979 intensified, Iranian media reported Friday.

Those arrested were accused of public order offenses and referred to the state prosecutor’s office, the Fars, ILNA and Tasnim news agencies reported without elaborating.

Chief prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri had played down the escalating protests on Wednesday, saying they were “trivial” and “childish” moves possibly incited by foreigners.

He had been asked about a woman detained earlier this week for standing on a pillar box in a busy street

without the mandatory headscarf.

Unprecedented images of at least 11 women protesting the same way had been widely shared on social media.

A prominent human rights lawyer told AFP on Tuesday that one of the detained women had her bail set at more than $100,000 (80,000 euros).

Montazeri said those flouting “hijab” rules―which require headscarves and modest clothing―must have been encouraged by outsiders.

But even religiously conservative Iranians have voiced support for the protests, with many saying that religious rules should be a personal choice.

At least two photos shared on Twitter on Wednesday showed women in traditional black chador

robes, standing on pillar box with signs supporting freedom of choice for women.

One held a sign reading: “I love my hijab but I’m against compulsory hijab.”

Female activist Azar Mansouri, a member of the reformist Union of Islamic Iranian People party, said attempts to control female clothing had failed over many decades.

“Women show their opposition to such forceful approaches by their very clothing, from resisting covering their hair to wearing long boots and leggings,” she wrote in a series of tweets this week.

Women have increasingly flouted the Islamic republic’s clothing rules in recent years and often let their headscarves fall around their necks. AFP

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.

Wagner ‘person of interest’ in Natalie Wood’s death LOS ANGELES―US police have named actor Robert Wagner a “person of interest” in the 1981 drowning of his wife, legendary film star Natalie Wood, whose death has been an enduring Hollywood mystery.

New witness testimony has emerged on the circumstances surrounding the death of Wood, who drowned in November 1981 during a sailing trip with then husband Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the yacht’s captain, California police said Thursday.

Wagner, 87, has been named a

Fidel Castro’s eldest son commits suicide HAVANA―The popular eldest son of the late Cuban president Fidel Castro committed suicide on Thursday, state media reported. He was 68 years old.

“Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who had been treated by a group of doctors for several months due to deep depression, took his life this morning,” Cuba’s official newspaper Granma reported.

“Fidelito”―as he was known on the Caribbean island nation―had initially been hospitalized for his condition and then continued with outpatient follow-ups.

Born on September 1, 1949, he was the son of the revolutionary Castro’s first marriage to Mirta Diaz-Balart.

The younger Castro was very popular in Cuba even though he never held a political position.

He bore a strong resemblance to his father: both were tall and had bushy beards. AFP

person of interest―short of being a formal suspect―and a “new sequence of events” has been presented, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said in a statement.

Wood was one of the top actresses of her day, starring alongside James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” and in “West Side Story.” She was nominated for an Oscar three times.

Her death shocked the nation and drew blanket coverage.

Investigators initially ruled it an accident when her body was found in waters off southern California af-

ter a night of heavy drinking aboard the yacht.

The probe was reopened in 2011 after the captain said he had heard the couple arguing that night. Wood’s death certificate was amended in 2012 to cite “drowning and other undetermined factors” as causes of death.

Now, “for the first time, we have witness statements that portray a new sequence of events on the boat that night,” said Nishida.

One witness reported hearing yelling and crashing sounds coming from the couple’s stateroom. AFP

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that 8990 LUZON HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, with office address at 2nd Floor PGMC Building, 76 Calbayog corner D.M. Guevarra Streets, Mandaluyong City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a new developer of economic and low-cost housing project (Deca Clark Residences and Resort Phases 9, 10 & 11) with a capacity of 1,253 economic and low-cost units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Brgy. Margot, Angeles City, Pampanga.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELlTA F. ARCELLANA Officer-in-Charge Infrastructure and Services Industries Service

(MS-FEB. 3, 2018)

INVITATION TO BID No. 01- 2018 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Interim Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office (INSIMO), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), hereby invites Domestic Contractors, registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), to bid for the hereunder contracts. Bids received in excess of ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

ITEM/DESCRIPTION

Approved Budget for the Contract

Duration

1. Jubasan CIS Contract No. NSIMO# 01 – 2018 – Construction of Concrete Canal and Canal Structures

Php 2,368,340.52

120 cd

Php 2,000

Php 28,095,092.36

360 cd

Php 28,000

Php 1,422,453.78

90 cd

Php 1,000

2. Sinimangan CIP Contract No. NSIMO# 02 – 2018 – Completion of Dam, Construction of Concrete Canal and Canal Structures.

3. Kinaguitman CIS Contract No. NSIMO# 06– 2018 – Repair of Concrete Canal and Canal Structures

Documents

The Prospective Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project whose value must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the “Government procurement Reform Act”.

Prospective Bidders are not allowed to participate if they have negative slippage in their on-going contracts. Individuals with Special Power of Attorney (SPA) are not allowed to transact and participate in the procurement utilizing another construction firm. The pre-bid conference shall be open only for those who have purchased the Bid documents.

The schedule of BAC activities is listed as follows: PROJECT NAME

Issuance of Bid Documents (Date and Time Schedule)

Pre- bid Conference (Date and Time Schedule)

Receipt & Opening of Bids (Date and Time Schedule)

1. Jubasan CIS Contract No. NSIMO# 01 – 2018

Starting January 25, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

February 05, 2018 (10AM)

February 16, 2018 (9AM)

2. Sinimangan CIP Contract No. NSIMO# 02 – 2018

Starting January 25, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

February 05, 2018 (10AM)

February 16, 2018 (9AM)

3. Kinaguitman CIS Contract No. NSIMO# 06– 2018

Starting January 25, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

February 05, 2018 (10AM)

February 16, 2018 (9AM)

The BAC will issue a complete set of Bidding Documents from the address above and upon payment of its respective non-refundable amount to the cashier.

The NIA 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.

(SGD) CESAR R. ECHANO BAC Chairman (MS-FEB. 3, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Dino Ray Directo III, Editor

B4

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

Trucks &Buses

Yusuke Miki, Deputy GM of Marubeni Corporation; Vicente T. Mills, Chairman of Hino Motors Philippines; Masahiro Kumasaka, GM of Hino Motors; Hiroshi Aoki, President of Hino Motors Philippines; Shigehiro Matsuoka, Managing Officer of Hino Motors Ltd.

Hino unveils Euro 4 fleet for Ph market Text by Dino Ray V. Directo III

I

N their resolve to contribute to lessen the country’s carbon footprint and as a response to introduce innovative transport solutions in the domestic market, Hino Motors Philippines (HMP), unveiled their latest line of Euro 4 powered trucks and buses.

Hino’s line-up of vehicles boast of increased engine durability, more cost efficient and environment-friendly emissions.

“We are very excited to share our latest vehicles with our valued partners. As a reliable one-stop shop, we are equipped to provide 360-degree support to all our clients’ trucking requirements—from assembly to chassis, body and, more importantly, aftersales and maintenance,” states HMP Chairman Vicente T. Mills, Jr. The Euro 4-compliant fleet includes refrigerated vans, cargo cranes, dump trucks, cab & chassis trucks, tractor heads, wing van, Cerito bus, Grandeza bus and Hino’s version

of a modern jeepney, the Hino Jeepney Class 3AC. The new modern jeepney is part of the prototype for the government’s public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program, which aims to remove dilapidated jeepneys from the road which are rolling coffins. Designed like a mini bus, this Hino jeepney has a 23 person seating capacity.

With the Philippines’ aggressive infrastructure plan under the Duterte administration, the company sees continuous increase in trucking requirements, whether for brandnew trucks or for maintaining trucks. “The boom in infrastructure construction increases opportunities for transport businesses and truck and bus requirements over the next couple of years. The rise in domestic travel activities will also provide more impetus to the bus industry. Any increase in the movement of people will require the services of modern buses. Further, fleet replacement in compliance with Euro 4 and such requirements will translate into more sales,” Mills explained.

“Hino is honored to have been given the opportunity to incorporate this ecological innovation to the Hino quality of trucks and buses. As we affirm our commitment to supporting the community, we will continue to leverage our ability to assemble and distribute quality trucks and buses designed to address the different needs of Filipinos in the most efficient way possible,” HMP Presi-

dent Mr. Hiroshi Aoki said.

Hino envisions a more “connected community” and is keen to help people and goods go where they need to go. HMP has been engaged in the assembly and exclusive distribution of quality Hino trucks and buses in the Philippines for more than 40 years.

Known for providing safe, durable and reliable trucks, HMP meets the transport needs of businesses ranging from small and medium enterprises to big corporations.

Established in March 1975, HINO MOTORS PHILIPPINES CORPORATION (HMP), formerly Pilipinas Hino, Inc.,is a joint venture among Filipino investors, Hino Motors, Ltd and Marubeni Corp. of Japan. Originally majority-owned by the local partner, HMP has been relaunched under the new majority ownership of Hino Motors, Ltd. A participant in the Commercial Vehicle Development Program (CVDP), HMP is engaged in the assembly and distribution of quality HINO trucks, buses and spare parts. Hino Motors Philippines Corporation is the first bus body manufacturer in the country to receive ISO 9001:2000 Certification, a distinction that serves as a proof of unmatched product quality. Its leadership in the industry can be attributed to the durability and cost-effectiveness of Hino products and this is reflected in its tag line “Global brand, lifetime value.”

EVAP aims for safer public transport system

Metal FRESH

Peterbilt Celebrates 1,000,000th Truck Delivery

PETERBILT marked another milestone in their corporate history the 1,000,000th truck unit rolled off the assembly line last January 30. The truck was a Peterbilt Model 567 Heritage, customized by the truck maker to celebrate this important milestone.

“Peterbilt is the industry leader in product quality and customer value,” said Kyle Quinn, PACCAR senior vice president and Peterbilt general manager. “Peterbilt’s 78-year quality legacy bridges customers from owner-operators to large fleets – each of them benefits from Peterbilt’s premium quality, advanced technology, high residual value and low total cost of ownership.”

“Since the early days of production in 1939, Peterbilt has been the preferred brand of drivers and owner operators built on a reputation of unrivaled quality and customer value. Today that customer preference has expanded to include medium and large fleets that appreciate not only the distinctive styling and driver preference but attributes such as low cost of ownership, integration of technology and class leading uptime and durability, all supported by a strong and extensive dealer network,” add Quinn..

To commemorate this event, Peterbilt will celebrate by hosting a SuperFan campaign to identify the ultimate fan of the iconic brand.

This extraordinary celebration of Peterbilt’s history and heritage will connect directly with thousands of Peterbilt drivers and fans

and give them a platform to individually express the role that the brand has played in their lives.

The Peterbilt SuperFan promotion will recognize five SuperFans through a promotional campaign culminating with a special presentation at the 2018 Mid America Trucking Show (MATS). One finalist will be selected as the top SuperFan and will be honored with the keys to the unique, 1,000,000th production unit, a Peterbilt Model 567 Heritage, fully customized to celebrate this remarkable milestone.

Peterbilt is accepting submissions from fans throughout the United States and Canada via a dedicated website at Peterbilt.com/SuperFanSearch through December 22, 2017. People are encouraged to visit the website and submit their stories, videos and photos that show the passion that makes them a SuperFan. The five finalists will be selected just after the New Year.

“The Peterbilt brand is built on loyalty, it is the lifeblood of our business. We want to reward that loyalty and the 1,000,000th truck milestone will be the perfect opportunity. We will hand over the keys of a very special Model 567 Heritage to our biggest fan at a special ceremony at Mid America Truck Show. We have the best and most loyal customers and fans in the industry, and I’m excited to see and hear their stories,” said Quinn.

THE Filipino’s dream to have an eco-friendly transport is still alive. The PUV Modernization Program of the Department of Transportation mandates that the modern PUV must have either a brand new Euro 4 compliant diesel engine or an electric motor. It must therefore have less of the toxic exhaust fumes or none at all.

Preparatory to this, the InterAgency Council for Traffic (IACT) composed of the DOTr, PNP Highway Patrol Group, Metro Manila Development Authority, Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board are now busy taking out non-roadworthy jeepneys off the road. In its Tanggal Bulok, Tanggal Usok campaign, about 80% of the jeepneys tested failed either due to excessive exhaust fumes, tires with no more tread at all, lights that are not functioning, poor brakes, rusted and poorly painted bodies and unsafe electrical wirings.

Rommel Juan, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines says that it is in this light that EVAP is working closely with the DOTr to provide the electric vehicle solution component of the program. “We are now waiting for the release of the Route Rationalization Plan of the DOTR which will be-

come the basis for implementing its Omnibus Franchising Guidelines. This is so that we can determine where electric vehicles, particularly EJeepneys, will be applicable for deployment”.

“Electric vehicles are perfect for those last-mile trips” he says. “After commuters hop on the train or the bus to get out of the city and head back home, EJeepneys are the perfect vehicles to transport them to the last mile to get them nearer to home.

In residential areas where a quiet environment is a must, electric vehicles are the perfect mode of transport”.

“Under the PUV Modernization Program, the DOTr plans to upgrade some 200,000 old jeepneys which are more than 15 years old with the modern PUV. It will also determine what type of vehicles will ply on particular roads and how many of them will be granted franchises to operate. In the process, there may even be new routes in the cities or provinces that will be identified”.

Juan reveals that EVAP members are now gearing up for the impending increase in the demand for EJeepneys in the next three to five years. “The EV industry has been with us for about eight years now and there are already proofs of concept for electric jeepneys and tricycles that have been and are still oper-

ational. These are in the Alabang area particularly the Filinvest 360 loop, the Muntinlupa LGU and in certain universities and resorts with large premises. But now, it is time to roll out EV applications nationwide”.

EVAP is now in full support of the DOTr in its PUV Modernization Program, developing and exhibiting two EJeepney protototypes at the Eco PUV Showcase during the PhilApex 2017 Show last October where 16 modern PUV prototypes were presented to the public for the first time. Public response was positive even to the more modern look of the Jeepneys that veered away from the iconic look of the Jeepneys of old. It has side doors instead of rear doors, no hood and a higher ceiling height that allows for standing passengers. Emergency exits are mandated and some units will even have provisions for PWD passengers. It has also been designed to be airconditioned. The modern PUV even has a either a brand new Euro 4 compliant diesel engine or an electric motor, brand new parts and components from bumper to bumper and an automated fare collection system, CCTV, GPS, wifi and speed limiter to boot! All these are in consideration of the environment and of the safety and convenience of the riding public.

Life

bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor E manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife

HealtH and environment

@MstandardLIfe saturday, february 3, 2018

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RELAX IN THIS VIEW. The Farm at San Benito, a medical wellness resort in Lipa City, Batangas, offers numerous ‘Healing Retreats’ through detox cleanses, wellness spa treatments, and organic food that help individuals live a healthy and balanced life.

Detox your way to a fresh start A

WARENESS of healthy eating and exercise is currently on the rise, mostly among millennials and yuppies. While this is a considerable improvement, there is crucial stage in leading a healthy life many miss out on—detox.

According to Dr. Rommel Tinio, regular detoxification is essential in bringing back the body’s naturally healthy state. While there is an abundance of do-it-yourself detox

The Farm has ample space where guests can engage in physical activities, such as yoga in the garden.

EARLy detection of a disease always saves lives. This is especially true for cancer.

Cancer that is detected early is more likely to be treated successfully. The chances of the disease’s spread in the body are also reduced significantly.

Medical expert and MediCard president and chief executive Dr. Nicky Montoya underscores the importance of undergoing early screening particularly for some of the most common cancers, which are cervical, colon, and breast.

Cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the cervix grows out of control.

Women aged 21 to 30, or are sexually active, should have a pap test or pap smear, a microscopic analysis of cervical tissue samples, every three years. High-risk women have to be screened more often.

Risk factors include a family history of cancer, use of birth control pills for five or more years, and a history of HPV (Human papillomavirus) infection. A pap test takes about 10 to 20 minutes. The doctor swabs the cervix to get a sample of cells.

The sample will be sent to a laboratory for testing and the results will be available after a few days.

Colon cancer test

Several screenings are available to detect cancer of the colon such as colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and stool

The Detox D’Lite program comes with a medically guided fasting wherein guests only consume nutrientdense whole foods.

programs in the market, there are key components such as the restoration of the antioxidants that may be left out, making it unsuccessful.

Dr. Tinio, as the resident medical director of The Farm at San Benito, and his team of medical professionals spent 10 years of careful research and development in perfecting the art of detoxification.

Over the years, The Farm at San Benito has helped thousands of people in their successful quest to live a healthier and balanced lifestyle through integrative medical services, preventive health awareness, and nutritious foods in their purest form.

The 48-hectare medical wellness resort in Lipa City, Batangas offers numerous distinguished and effective “Healing Retreats” through detox cleanses, wellness spa treatments, and organic food, which resulted to a revolutionary change to the Philippine tourism and health industry.

The Farm has already won 53 prestigious international awards including “The Best Medical Wellness Resort in the World” from SENSES Germany which put it on the map as one of the leading medical wellness destination in the Asia Pacific region.

To date, it is the only Medical Wellness Retreat Destination in the Philip-

Which cancer tests do you need to take today?

pines that offers comprehensive programs addressing to some of the most common illnesses in today’s busy society like diabetes, obesity, hypertension as well as stress and depression, acquired naturally and holistically.

Dr. Tinio recommends to do detox cleansing at least once a year, right after the indulgent holidays. The Farm at San Benito offers a variety of world-class detox programs such as Detox D’Lite, an all-inclusive 4-night program starting at US$1,744++ (or about P90,000) per person. The Detox -D’lite is upgradable to a 6-night weight management for an additional US$872++ (P45,000).

This detox program comes with full immersion to clean living through medically guided fasting primarily on pure vegetable juices and nutrientdense whole foods, physical movement and fitness, and medically-supervised treatments and services to support in the elimination of toxic and harmful substances trapped in the tissues of the body, while restoring the body’s optimum ability to absorb nutrients. To complete the holistic and balanced approach of The Farm, there are also mental and spiritual enrichments.

For inquiries and reservations, contact (02) 884-8074 or 0918-8848078 or e-mail info@thefarm.com.ph.

stool is tested for small traces of blood that may indicate colon cancer.

“People should undergo colonoscopy starting from age 45. younger people should consider testing if they are at high risk,” says Dr. Montoya. Risk factors include family history of cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity, smoking, type 2 diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, and a diet high in processed meats.

Breast cancer test (Mammogram)

A mammogram, or X-ray of the breast, is so far the best way to detect breast cancer early. Women aged 50 to 74 should undergo mammogram every two years, especially if they have a high risk of getting the disease. Risk factors are dense breasts, menstrual periods that begin before age 12 or end after age 55, not having a child before age 30, postmenopausal hormone-replacement therapy, obesity, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption.

At MediCard Lifestyle Center Breast Clinic, women breast surgeons can screen for lumps using digital mammogram and breast ultrasound, or even conduct biopsy using mammotome, which enables them to collect tissue samples and make highly accurate The Breast Clinic in MediCard Lifestyle Center in Makati has surgeons who specialize in breast conditions. breast cancer diagnosis without the need for open surgery. testing. In colonoscopy, the colon is the rectum or colon, through a flexible copy but it only examines the rectum Visit a MediCard clinic near you or checked for cancerous or precancer- tube with a light and camera at the tip. and the lower (sigmoid) portion of the check out their website at www.medious polyps, or abnormal growths in Sigmoidoscopy is similar to colonos- colon. For stool testing, a sample of the cardphils.com for more information.

Life

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saturday, february 3, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

10 questions to ask

when choosing a health insurance plan

HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. Do your research before you avail of a health insurance plan to make sure it’s the right fit for your lifestyle.

A

VAILING of a health insurance is a highly individual exercise because each person has different needs. A freelancer’s requirements, for instance, will be very different from that of an employed parent. Someone who lives a sedentary lifestyle will have different needs from someone more active.

To help Filipinos decide, Maria Health, the country’s first online healthcare exchange platform, has listed the top 10 questions to ask when evaluating health plans from different health maintenance organizations (HMO).

1. WHY SHOULD I GET AN HMO COVERAGE? There are different types of health insurance plans such as a medical insurance plan that covers one’s medical and surgical needs or prepaid health cards that cover a specific treatment or medical procedure. Plans by an HMO have a more comprehensive coverage from its network of healthcare

providers.

Tip: ensure to do thorough research by reading up on the offerings of health plan providers.

2. WHAT DOES THE PLAN COVER? Know what services the plan will include and how much will it cover.

Other items to consider: emergency services, ambulance transport, and medicine.

Tip: Before you start with your search, take the time to list down and prioritize the things that you want in a healthcare plan. Use this list to determine which plan covers your needs.

3. WHAT HOSPITALS

ARE PART OF THE PLAN’S NETWORK? Given the traffic problem in the Philippines, the location of hospitals in a health plan’s network should be an important consideration.

Tip: Ask if the HMO could give access to major hospitals in your area, whether private or public. Also, inquire if they include access to clinic systems such as those found in malls.

4. IS MY CURRENT DOCTOR INCLUDED IN THE COVERAGE? Not all HMOs allow this, so you have to pay attention if this is offered.

Tip: To make things easier, you could ask your doctor which healthcare plans they are part of. If there is an HMO you really want but does not include your doctor, ask if they are willing to be accredited by the HMO. 5. HOW DOES THE PLAN HANDLE OUT-OF-NETWORK MEDICAL SERVICES? Check if the HMO reimburses medical services availed from doctors, hospitals, and clinics that are not part of their accredited network.

Tip: Ask if the HMO provides reimbursements at a special HMO or discounted rate if you avail of out-of-network medical services.

6. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET SICK WHILE TRAVELING? If you travel a lot, you would want global health coverage, since hospital visits outside your home country can prove costly.

Tip: Ask the HMO how much, if any, of the costs the plan will cover if you need to go to the doctor while traveling.

7. DOES IT HAVE RESTRICTIONS ON MY PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS? If you have a chronic or a pre-existing condition such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, make sure to get a health plan that includes such conditions.

Tip: Ask how long pre-existing conditions are excluded from the health plan.

8. ARE ANNUAL EXAMINATIONS INCLUDED? Some HMOs include routine examinations like mam-

mograms, physical exams, basic laboratory tests, and even immunizations in their health plans.

Tip: Ask if the health plan includes an annual physical exam and what types of tests are included. Also ask if the additional tests recommended by doctors during the routine examinations will also be covered.

9. WHAT OTHER BENEFITS ARE INCLUDED? Some health plans also cover dental, vision care, and even medical prescriptions.

Tip: Ask for specific details about these additional services. For dental, are minor surgeries included or are just routine check-ups? For vision, are multiple examinations allowed or just a limited number a year?

10. HOW CAN I AVAIL OF THE SERVICES? Some HMOs have a complicated utilization process while others make it very easy to go in for medical services.

Tip: Ask what you need to do to avail of services covered by the health plan.

HEALTH BULLETIN

The good and bad about cholesterol

Varilux brand ambassador Piolo Pascual proves that vision changes should not hinder your way of life

The truth about vision changes

AS we age, our senses tend to become less sharp. Our vision, in particular, undergoes significant changes. The eyes gradually lose the ability to adapt and change focus quickly. This naturally developing condition is called “presbyopia.”

Presbyopia usually starts around the age of 40 and affects even those without a history of vision problems.

“People with presbyopia have a hard time reading fine print and need to hold reading materials farther than arm’s length,” says essilor Philippines general manager Dr. emelita Roleda. “At the same time, they have problems seeing objects at close range. we recommend to those suffering from this condition to use progressive lenses to correct near and distance vision.”

Although presbyopia is a natural age-related condition, there are misconceptions about it. One myth about it is that it is preventable. It is not a disease but a natural part of aging, thus unavoidable even for those with 20/20 vision.

Some people also believe that correcting presbyopia can worsen the condition. But if untreated, presbyopia will only lead to eye fatigue and make daily tasks harder to do.

Another mistaken notion is that few solutions for presbyopia are available.

But in this day and age, near vision blurriness is easily manageable. One can use reading glasses which basically aid in seeing print clearly. eyeglasses with bifocal or progressive lenses are also available. A bifocal lens features two areas of vision correction, near and far, which are divided by a distinct line that sits horizontally across the lens. Progressive lenses are a more sophisticated solution because not only do they eliminate the visible lines found on bifocals, but they also provide a more natural correction of presbyopia.

Using advanced research and technology, essilor offers an effective way to seamlessly correct presbyopia while at the same time providing updated aesthetics. Varilux, the world leader in progressive lenses, gives dynamic clarity and greater comfort in any distance. It’s perfect to use whether you read a book, use a computer, or look into the horizon while traveling.

For more information, visit www.essilor.com.ph.

MOST people fear cholesterol, believing it is all bad. But new studies found that people actually need some cholesterol to be healthy.

Cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance produced by the liver. The body transports cholesterol from the liver by coating it with a water-soluble “bubble” of protein called lipoproteins. Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) carry cholesterol to the tissues. This is the “bad” cholesterol. High LDL levels are linked to increased risk for heart disease.

High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) carry excess cholesterol back to the liver, which processes and excretes it. The more HDLs, “good” cholesterol, the body has, the lower the risk of heart disease.

The body actually needs a good amount of cholesterol to function properly.

Cholesterol is essential for cell structure, healthy brain development, as well as in producing hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and adrenal hormones. It also boosts metabolism because cholesterol helps the body produce vitamin D. Cholesterol produces bile acids that help the body digest fat and absorb essential nutrients.

Dr. Nicky Montoya says, “A healthy HDL level may protect against heart attack and stroke.” Too much LDL, on the other hand, causes fatty buildups or plaques that narrow arteries, raising the risk for heart attack and stroke.

Too high LDL levels can cause atherosclerosis, a dangerous accumulation of cholesterol and other deposits on the walls of the arteries, reducing blood flow. That can lead to Engaging in a two and half hours of workout each week is vital in maintaining a healthy cholesterol level

chest pain and heart attack if it occurs in the arteries of the heart, and stroke if it occurs in the arteries of the brain.

A low cholesterol level can also cause health problems.

“Some pregnant women with low total cholesterol are more likely to give birth prematurely and have babies with low birth weight. Low total cholesterol level has also been linked to cancer, hemorrhagic stroke, anxiety and depression,” says Dr. Montoya.

He recommends keeping the total cholesterol level under 200 mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre), about the average for adults.

A normal cholesterol level can be maintained through a healthy lifestyle. Lean meat and fish should be added to the diet at least twice a week. Two and a half hours of workout each week can also help lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. Most importantly, Dr. Montoya advises against smoking as it damages the walls of the blood vessels resulting in the accumulation of fatty deposits.

He also recommends regular cholesterol test, a blood test that measures the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. A cholesterol test is essential, especially if a person has a family history of high cholesterol levels or heart disease, is overweight, drinks alcohol frequently, smokes, has diabetes, kidney disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, or underactive thyroid gland. He suggests testing every five years beginning at age 20.

MediCard has free-standing clinics in key cities nationwide that offer blood cholesterol test and consultations.

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018 nickie.standard@gmail.com

Nickie Wan, Editor

Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra music director Yoshikazu Fukumura

Renowned US-based French pianist Monique Duphil will give a piano masterclass at the CCP

CULTURAL CENTER

unveils 2018 performance lineup

T

HE Cultural Center of the Philippines unveiled its 2018 performance season and presented its year-long programming in a press conference held recently at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino.

CCP welcomes the new year with forthcoming productions from the CCP resident companies - the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theatre, Tanghalang Pilipino, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, UST Symphony Orchestra, National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), and the Philippine Madrigal Singers.

Marking its 49th anniversary, 2018 will be a year of celebrations. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the center’s resident orchestra company, will celebrate its 45th anniversary with a concert featuring classical masterpieces under the baton of its music director Yoshikazu Fukumura, as well as outreach concerts and performances all over the Philippines.

Both the Saturday Group and Philippine Arts Educators will celebrate their 50th anniversary with respective exhibits this coming March. In May, the Association of Pinoyprintmakers will hold an exhibition for their 50th anniversary.

The Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, which is considered the longest-running independent film competition of its kind in the ASEAN region, will have its 30th run this year. The competition harvests the best films in various categories such as Short Feature/Narrative, Experimental, Documentary and Animation.

This year, the CCP also celebrates the life and works of National Artist Lucresia R. Kasilag with a concert dubbed CCP Gala: The Concert for the King, in September. Tita King, as she was fondly called, spent her life developing the Filipino

Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ is one of the hihlights of CCP Met Opera in HD at the Ayala Cinema.

audience’s appreciation of music. She worked to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music and fuse it with Western influences, an approach that current Filipino composers emulate. She became the CCP

president from 1976 to 1986.

On Feb. 8 and 9, CCP will host the UNIMA Chinese Puppetry, showcasing the magnificent and mystical tradition of Chinese puppetry and featuring performances by the Yangzhou Pup-

petry Troupe, the Pingyang Puppetry Protection and Inheritance Center, and the Sichuan Huge Puppet Theatre.

Russian Classical Ballet will perform Swan Lake, featuring two of the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet Theatre dancers Alexander Volchkov and Nina Kaptsova, from Feb. 27 to March 11 at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo.

Come July, the CCP and NCCA will jointly hold the conferment ceremony and tribute to the awardees of the Order of National Artists, the highest national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts.

In October, the CCP will recognize outstanding Filipino visual artists through the Thirteen Artists Awards.

In September, the CCP will launch the Encyclopedia of Philippine Arts. Akapella Open International 2018, a competition for contemporary a capella groups which aims to promote the love for contemporary a capella and appreciation for vocal harmony performance, will happen in October.

Other highlights of 2018 CCP

season calendar include: the Young Artists Series; Marawing Salamat: The Best of Opera and Fashion for Marawi featuring Pagliacci; 2017 Gawad Buhay Philstage Award; Triple Threats, a series of concept concerts featuring real life couples Julienne Mendoza and Stella Cañete, Robert Seña and Isay Alvarez, Franco Laurel and Ayen Munji Laurel; Wifi Body.ph, a competition for choreographers; Festival of Arts and Ideas; CC�P Ballet Competition 2018; Performatura: Spoken Work Festival; CCP Met Opera in HD at the Ayala Cinema; and Kabataang Gitarista.

There are also the CCP regulars such as the Pasinaya, considered the largest multi-arts festival in the country where Filipino people can pay as much as you want and see as many as you can; the Virgin Labfest, the annual festival of raw, untested and un-staged one-act plays; Cinemalaya, the largest independent film festival with the aim to support cinematic works by upcoming and veteran Filipino filmmakers.

For more information, please call CCP at 832-1125 and visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.

Escape the Ordinary this February on GEM AN UNEXPECTED new student changes the lives of her classmates in Back to School at 35.

Strangers throw boring routine out the window in the reality show, Grab the Chance. Finally, cute and extraordinary robots help their owners change their lifestyles for the better in Koshoku Robot.

Back to School at 35 A new student arrives at Kunikida High School, but the gorgeous woman is not what she seems. Ayako Baba (Ryoko Yonekura) joins the third-year class as the students’ new classmates, which leaves them wondering about the intentions of this 35-year-old woman who is back in high school. While something is not quite right about her, Baba deals with issues like bullying and truancy. Just what is Baba’s true identity and motive? Will she survive high school and confront her secret past?

Back to School at 35 premieres Feb. 5, and will air every Tuesday at 9 p.m..

Grab the Chance Have you always wanted to take the leap from the world’s highest bungee jump in Macau? What about swimming with the dolphins in Hawaii? Maybe even skydiving? This oncein-a-lifetime opportunity could just be waiting for you on the corner of the street! Can you decide on the spot when presented the opportunity and grab the chance to change your life?

Grab the Chance premieres Feb. 12, and will air every Monday at 10.10 p.m..

Koshoku Robot At the 0 X Food Company chain store, a customer can exchange points for a 25-centimeter tall robot that will assist with their dietary needs. Follow the trio of these robots, Ottori (Hikaru Yaotome), ujaki (Yuya Takaki), Yancha (Daiki Arioka), who have distinctively different owners as they are matched o suit and support their owners’ dietary and lifestyle needs. Watch their cute interactions as they make ure that their owners eat and no longer be lonely.

Koshoku Robot premieres Feb. 21, and will air every Wednesday and Thursday at 9 p.m. thereafter.

GEM is available on SKYCable Channel 116 in Metro Manila and on Channel 222 in Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, and Baguio, as well as other cable operators nationwide.

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

OREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano recently spearheaded groundbreaking ceremonies for a new track and field and swimming center, as well as National Government Administrative Center (NGAC), in Capas, Tarlac.

Cayetano, who is chairman of the 2019 Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee, said: “we were assured that these facilities will be built months ahead of the SEA Games in November 2019,” Cayetano said of the P13.16 billion project.

‘SMART, GREEN CITY’ The NGAC, which will serve as back-up offices for government institutions and agencies in Manila should the metropolis be struck by a natural disaster, will be part of

a 9,450ha “smart, green city” being developed 208 km north of Manila by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in Capas City.

The BCDA is developing it into the Philippines’ first “smart, green, disaster-resilient city”, in partnership with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation.

New Clark City will reportedly be bigger than Manhattan in New York by the time it is fully developed in 30 to 40 years with a population of

about two million. It is expected to contribute about 1.57 trillion pesos a year to the national economy.

It sits between two former United States military compounds: Clark air base, now a thriving free port; and Subic naval base, now a trading hub and economic zone north of Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has been backing private efforts to develop new urban centres across the Philippines to better disperse economic opportunities and de-clog Manila, an already overcrowded city with an overstretched infrastructure that causes massive traffic jams and experiences frequent breakdowns of public services.

Manila is the densest city in the world, with 18,000 people per sq km, twice New York’s level.

RIZAL MEMORIAL SPORTS COMPLEX UP FOR REHAB With Cayetano at last week’s event were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar Sen. Joel Villanueva, BCDA president Vince Dizon,

FAST-PACED CONSTRUCTION VIA ‘BUILD, BUILD, BUILD.’ Makati Congressman Monsour del Rosario

expressed optimism that major parts of the NGAC and its sports facilities will be up and running in time for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, as part of President Duterte’s ‘Build,Build, Build’ program.

National sports center, track, swim venues to rise in Tarlac

INFRASTRUCTURE KICKOFF. At the NGAC groundbreaking were Congresswoman Pia Cayetano; DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade; DPWH Secretary Mark Villar,; BCDA President Vince Dizon, DFA Secretary Allan Peter Cayetano; Embassy of Malaysia Deputy Chief Mission Rizani Irwan Muhamad Mazlan; Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea; Alloy MTD Philippines Inc. Chairman Isaac David; Tarlac Governor Susan Yap; Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda; Senator Joel Villanueva; Representatives Monsour del Rosario; Karlo Nograles; Albee Benitez; PMS Head Ferdinand Cui; Undersecretaries Rene Solidum, Cathy Cabral, Karen Jimeno and Finance Assistant Secretary Paola Alvarez.

CHOOSING WISELY FOR A COMMUNITY ROOST. The

Residences Commonwealth by Century Properties is in a setting that is as auspicious as a community can get: smack in the center of a property boom in Quezon City.

Various offices and commercial centers are rising here, opening up opportunities for the property’s appreciation, and bringing the conveniences of living closer. Other “auspicious” developments of Century Properties are the Acqua Private Residences and Azure Urban Resort Residences. With Residences Commonwealth, the locations of these developments are striking: Mandaluyong, Bicutan, and Commonwealth, all centers of activity, from commercial, educational and religious standpoints.

Acqua is at the border of two great cities— Makati and Mandaluyong. Azure is located at the crossroads of the South Luzon Expressway and Bicutan, Parañaque.

GREENING SUBIC WHERE IT COUNTS MEMBERS of the Subic Bay Freeport community band together throughout the year to protect their coastal environment and neighborhoods. Hundreds of volunteers from various Subic Bay groups, government agencies such as the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), backed up by the Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. (RP Energy), regularly scour the provincial coastlines, picking up refuse, and conduct regular workshops on garbage recycling, as well as sustainable livelihood projects and environmental awareness for fisher folk. Over the past years, RP Energy’s officials teamed up with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices (CENRO) in Zambales and Bataan provinces, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), SBMA Ecology Center, as well as stakeholders like the the Blacksmith Institute, University of the Philippines Los Banos College of Human Ecology, and Subic Bay Integrated Aquatic Resources Management Council, to come up with creative campaigns (“Protect The Bay”) and workshops on marine environmental laws and best practices in coastal marine management.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez and Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. Also present were Makati Congressman and taekwondo secretary general Monsour del Rosario, the national team chief of mission for the 2019 SEA Games; and former PSC chairman Richie Garcia, a special assistant to the POC president.

As part of the environmentfriendly project, the BCDA plans to build a 20,000-capacity track and field stadium and a 2,000-capacity aquatic center as the main venues for the centerpiece events of athletics and swimming.

“Both facilities must be ready months ahead of the Games because it will have to be tested if they are performance-ready,” said Cayetano, “although the PSC is looking at alternative venues just in case.”

He said that together with the POC and the PSC “we are still determining where the SEA Games opening ceremonies will be held: in Clark, Subic or Bulacan. It will be held outside of Metro Manila.”

Ramirez echoed Cayetano’s sentiments, saying: “I am also confident that these two venues will be built on time even as we rehabilitate our other government-owned venues such as those inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.”

WORLD-CLASS SPORTS FACILITIES The BCDA has conferred with officials of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and the Philippine Swimming Inc. so that both sports facilities meet international standards.

PSI secretary general Lani Cayetano said the Asian Aquatic Sports Federation had sent its Jordanian technical director, Ibrahim Daddeh, to talk with BCDA officials so the aquatics venue would comply with the International Swimming Federation, known by its French acro-

nym FINA, regulations.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary general Renato Unso said PATAFA sent a technical official from the International Association of Athletic Federations regarding the track and field stadium.

CENTER OF THE FUTURE Malaysia’s MTD Capital submitted last year an unsolicited 122 billion peso proposal to build a 207ha national government administrative centre at New Clark City, similar to Putrajaya in Malaysia.

The cost for the 9,450 ha New Clark City being developed north of Manila is $40B. The project is expected to contribute a year to the Philippine economy, when it it is fully develiped in 30 to 40 years.

Like Putrajaya, it will house satellite offices and major administrative offices of various departments and agencies. There will also be an extension office for the Philippine president and executive buildings, as well as sites for embassies and international schools.

The Philippine government has earmarked about 8 trillion pesos for the infrastructure needed to support efforts like New Clark City.

The Singapore consulting firm Surbana Jurong is helping the Philippine government prepare detailed design standards and guidelines for New Clark City.

Surbana Jurong is one of the largest Asia-based urban, industrial and infrastructure consulting firms in the world, with 120 offices in more than 40 countries.

Its flagship project is the Suzhou Singapore Industrial Township, a 7,000ha industrial park with an integrated “work-livelearn-play concept”. It also provided services for the Bakun hydroelectric project on the Balui tributary of the Rejang River in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Cutting edge tools and machinery showcased TOMITA Industrial & Machinery Inc., the local distributor of Zekoki tools such as grinder, planer, cut-off machine, vacuum cleaners, and brush cutters recently participated in the PhilConstruct 2017-2018 exhibit held at SMX Convention Center. The event served as a gateway for industry movers, local suppliers, and buyers to come together to learn more about the tools and equipment manufactured, produced, and used by the general public. At the event were (from left to right): Tomita Industrial Machinery sales managers Mark Jayson Verzon; Mario Mationg; Aaron Ormoc; John Francis Niones; Jesson Canales; Melvin Bongcayao; Tirso Rojo Jr.; Joseph Angelo Paat; Benjie Bermejo; Jay B. Arreglo; CEO Manuel Y. Ormoc; and Wilson A. Sing, general manager.

FUTURE-READY SOLUTIONS. Alstra, the

“This is part of our social responsibility,” said Litz Santana, VP for external affairs of Meralco Power Gen Corporation.

“We believe in supporting our community, not by giving dole-outs, but by helping them realize the benefits of environmental awareness, preservation and sustainability.”

More recently, RP Energy established a program to set up mangrove forests along the bay, expand RP Energy’s giant clam farm, and the launch Task Force Subic Bay, which serves as a monitoring group beefed up by various local stakeholders.

commercial division of Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC), co-presented the recent 20th PhilConstruct HVAC/R Expo at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, where it introduced its end-to-end systems powered by global brands Carrier, Otis and Toshiba. Alstra touted sustainability as their business priority, emphasizing the need for buildings to adapt to the latest technologies that combine comfort with energy-efficiency. “Our factories focus on research and development, and we’re always looking for ways to save on power consumption, and to be environmentally responsible,” said Rajan Komarasu, group director of Alstra. Alstra held side sessions focusing on conserving energy via new developments in air-conditioning and elevator technologies.