Manila Standard - 2018 February 26 - Monday

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

S

manilastandard.net

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net

Advocacy series

Yasmin Kurdi plays the lead in the AIDS/HIV prevention advocacy drama

‘HINDI KO KAYANG IWAN KA’ SHOWBIZ C4

VOL. XXXII • NO. 15 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Fight for what’s right—Duterte

Calls for unity as nation marks 32nd anniversary of People Power uprising

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte called for unity on the 32nd anniversary of the Edsa People Power uprising even as he skipped the commemoration rites for the second year in a row on Sunday.

“The People Power Revolution has become the enduring symbol of our determination to fight for what is right and—during our country’s most crucial and trying times—to defend and uphold our cherished democratic values,” the President said in a statement released to the press a day ahead of the Feb. 25 celebration.

“May this occasion foster unity and solidarity as we pursue our hopes and aspiration for our nation,” he added.

HISTORIC MEETING. Former President Fidel V. Ramos leads the reenactment of the ‘Salubungan’ —the historic meeting or convergence between civilians and military officers in 1986—during the 32nd Edsa Peoples Power anniversary celebration held at the Edsa Monument. Manny Palmero

‘‘

Duterte urged the public to mark the 1986 uprising that he said showed the world “how a people’s courage and resolve can alter the course of our nation’s history.”

“Let us further enrich our democracy by empowering our citizenry, defending their rights and strengthening the institutions that safeguard their freedoms,” the President said.

Hundreds of people flocked to the People Power Monument in Quezon City to mark the anniversary of the uprising that toppled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, Edsa People Power leader, led the wreath-laying ceremony at the monument and the traditional “Salabungan” reenactment of the historic meeting of military officials and civilians in 1986.

Next page

“The Chief Justice cannot be held hostage to bombastic threats that are built entirely on lies.”

—Josa Deinla, lawyer of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno

FVR reprises jump for joy—with less vigor

By Ben Cal FOR 32 years in a row, former President Fidel V. Ramos, who turns 90 next month, repeated his famous Edsa People Power jump on Sunday—though with less in vigor and intensity—to mark the anniversary of the historic civilian-backed military revolt that toppled the authoritarian Marcos regime.

Ramos was one of the key players during the fourday Edsa People Power from Feb. 22 to 25, 1986. The others were former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, Senator Gregorio Honasan, Jaime Cardinal Sin, and former senator Agapito Aquino, brother of assassinated Senator Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Upon learning that Marcos and his family had fled Malacañan Palace, Ramos, who was then the Armed Forces vice chief of staff and chief of the Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police, jumped with joy at the height of the revolt on Feb. 25, 1986.

For the past 32 years, Ramos always makes a point of repeating his now famous Edsa jump during its anniversary.

Next page

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the Petron Dealers Association Mindanao Mini Convention held at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City on Feb. 24, 2018. While skipping the Edsa rites, Mr. Duterte cited the People Power as an enduring symbol of our determination to fight for what’s right. Presidential Photo

Widow of 2 militants yields guns, bomb parts—police THE widow of two slain militant leaders has been arrested for allegedly supporting extremist groups and possessing firearms and explosives, police said Sunday.

Juromee Dongon was married to a senior leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap group, Khadaffy Janjalani. After his death in 2006 she mar-

ried Malaysian bomb maker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was killed in 2015 in the Philippines, police said.

Authorities arrested Dongon along with her relatives in her home in Lanao del Norte province where they found firearms, ammunition and bomb-making components, a police statement said.

House panel sees Sereno impeached in mid-March

PH maid’s murder suspects nabbed in Damascus BEIRUT―The employers of a Filipino maid found dead in a freezer in Kuwait were both arrested in the Syrian capital Damascus, Lebanese and Philippine officials said Saturday.

Syrian authorities surrendered Nader Essam Assaf to Beirut on Friday because of his Lebanese citizenship, but his Syrian wife Mona remains in custody in Damascus, a Lebanese judicial official said.

The murder of Joanna Demafelis sparked outrage in the Philippines and prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to impose a departure ban on the Filipinos planning to work in Kuwait.

But the head of the Philippines’ Labor Next page

“She assists, associates, networks and supports terrorist groups,” regional police spokesman Superintendent Lemuel Gonda said.

“Juromee was linked with Abu Sayyaf during the time of Janjalani and then later Jemaah Islamiyah,” he added, referring to a Southeast Asian militant group.

Next page

By Rio N. Araja and Rey E. Requejo

CARACOL COLORS. Caracol Festival participants pose for a souvenir shot during the 2018 staging of the Makati Caracol Festival held at the Makati Circuit on Sunday. Caracol, derived from the Spanish term of snail, combines three major ethnic festivities and focuses on Mother Earth’s bounty. Manny Palmero

THE chairman of the House committee on justice said Sunday that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno could be impeached by the third week of March.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said after Monday’s hearing—the 14th on the impeachment petition against Sereno, the House would reach a decision by the third week of March.

He said two psychiatrists who supposedly gave Sereno a low score in a psychiatric test are set to testify. Also, the Bureau of Internal Revenue would make public the discrepancies in Sereno’s tax records.

Next page

A2

News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Plans afoot to reset barangay polls

By Rio N. Araja

C

ALOOCAN City Rep. Edgar Erice, an opposition lawmaker, said Sunday the postponement of the 2019 midterm elections was not yet dead in Congress.

He told dzBB radio that Congress was also batting to reset the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections from May 14 to October this year to give way to the plebiscite on the proposed switch to a federal form of government.

He made the statement even as Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said there were plans by some lawmakers, mostly allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, to railroad the process of amending the 1987 Constitution to enable them to extend their terms.

He told dzBB radio that the May 2018 Barangay elections would be postponed to October in order for it to be held simultaneously with the plebiscite on the pro-

posed amendments to the Constitution.

“What is frightening is that there is a plan to railroad the administration’s Charter change to extend their terms. The first casualty will be the cancellation of the elections in May and the people’s power to choose their leaders,” Drilon said.

Erice said during the Feb. 20 caucus by lawmakers in the National Capital Region, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali raised the resetting of the village elections amid the discussion on the original agenda on the implementation of programs in their respective legislative districts.

“That is the purpose. Actually, the purpose of the postponement of the barangay

[and SK] elections to October is to pave the way for a plebiscite of a Charter change wherein there would be a provision of a noel [no election in 2019],” he said.

Umali wanted to hold a federalism plebiscite simultaneously with the barangay and SK polls in October 2018, Erice said.

“There is a need for a postponement as a help to the President [Rodrigo Duterte],” he said, adding “if possible, move the [barangay and SK] elections to October simultaneous with the conduct of a plebiscite toward a no election in May [2019] for a change in the Constitution.”

According to Erice, Umali had asked them to take with them their constituents in the Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 Liga ng mga Barangay event at the Plaza Miranda, Manila, to back the call for the postponement of barangay and SK elections and federalism initiative.

Those originally invited to be present at the last caucus of the Metro Manila lawmakers but failed to attend were Speaker

Pantaleon Alvarez and House majority floor leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas.

Umali, an ally of Alvarez and Fariñas, attended the event.

He earlier filed a bill to reset the barangay and SK polls from May 2018 to May 2019, while Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel also authored a similar measure moving the elections only from May to October 2018.

When asked to comment on Erice’s claim, Umali said everything was possible.

“What I am saying is anything can happen. We are looking into that [postponement] because there is a need so we could be able to concentrate on federalism and the Charter change,” he told dzBB. “Of course, if that is what we [really] need so we could push for Charter change and the so-called federalism,” he replied when asked if the postponement of the barangay and SK polls could lead to the no-el scenario in May 2019.

Fight...

From A1

He was joined by Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno also arrived at the People Power commemoration.

A mass was held and officiated by Fr. Harold Rentoria, OSA, commissioner of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Some protesters led by a militant priest held a separate mass on the other side of the monument to protest the “dying democracy.”

Militants groups took to Edsa as early as Saturday evening to dramatize their opposition to the administration’s effort to amend the Constitution to shift to a federal form of government.

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Saturday said the spirit of Edsa was the “ideological opposition of authoritarianism” and called on Duterte to abandon “his dictatorial ambitions” and to go back to the ways of democracy.

She added that Duterte should learn the lessons of Edsa and accept that authoritarianism is an unsustainable framework of governance. Rio N. Araja

VICTIMS. Activist and former legislator Satur Ocampo (left) and fellow activist and former secretary of Social Welfare Judy Taguiwalo place lighted candles on photos of some activists who were alleged victims of Martial Law as they commemorate the 32nd anniversary of the People Power Revolution, near the Malacañan Palace in Manila on Feb. 25, 2018. AFP

PH...

House...

From A1

From A1

department said the decision on whether to lift or not to lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait was up to President Rodrigo Duterte.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III made the statement following the arrest of the suspects in the death of Demafelis.

“It will be the President who will decide on that,” Bello said when asked if they would issue a recommendation on the deployment ban.

The body of Demafelis, 29, which allegedly showed signs of torture, was found earlier this month inside a freezer in the abandoned apartment unit of the detained couple.

The two suspects have been the subject of an Interpol manhunt since Demafelis’ body was found more than a year after her family reported her missing.

“The couple were arrested in Damascus. They were the subject of an Interpol red notice and the Syrian authorities handed the husband over to Lebanese custody on Friday morning,” the official said.

“Syria kept custody of the wife because she is a Syrian national,” he added.

“Lebanon has asked Kuwait to pass on the husband’s police record.”

The official said that after leaving Kuwait, the couple had made a very brief stopover in Lebanon before traveling on to neighboring Syria.

The Philippines’ Foreign Affairs department also confirmed the second arrest in a statement late Saturday.

“With the two suspects now in custody, [Philippine authorities] will follow President Duterte’s instructions to vigorously pursue justice for Demafelis,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.

Duterte has vowed to bring justice to Demafelis’s family, lashing out at Gulf state Kuwait and alleging Arab employers routinely rape Filipinas, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps.

Kuwait has said it is investigating the reported deaths and abuses, and insisted there were only a small number considering that there are more than 250,000 Filipinos working in the emirate.

Duterte this week sent a team of labor officials to Kuwait to seek greater protection for migrant workers. AFP with PNA

“There is no controverting [the evidence]... no opposition since the chief justice did not participate [in the hearings]” he said.

“That is the way I see things are since we have already established so many things during the hearings, and that many issues have already been clarified. We do not only see the issues as [mere] hearsay since there have been eight justices [who] testified [against her],” he added.

After the committee hearing on Feb. 27, Umali said the committee would vote on March 6 on the determination of probable cause to impeach Sereno and take another vote on March 13 to approve the committee report with the articles of impeachment.

Plenary voting would come the following week.

“Tuesday is our last hearing on probable cause,” he said, saying the House plans to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate before Congress takes a Holy Week recess.

Umali said the two psychiatrists would come forward to testify and determine the authenticity of the complaint of lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, who said in his complaint that Sereno had failed the psychological exam when she applied for the top post in the Supreme Court.

Deputy Speaker and Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia previously named the two psychiatrists hired by the Judicial and Bar Council as Dr. Dulce Liza Sahagun-Reyes and Dr. Genuina Ranoy.

Umali said his panel is also expecting Internal Revenue Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa to secure clearance from the Office of the President to release the results of their investigation into Sereno’s tax records.

“To me, that issue is something since tax

FVR...

From A1

The former President who turned to column writing as a hobby renewed his call for all Filipinos to work together as Team Philippines to move the country.

“The Spirit of Edsa emanates from the Filipinos’ act of unselfish caring, sharing and daring for the common good—of believing that significant change could be achieved through lawful but courageous acts and decisions. Our People Power Revolution at Edsa could have ended in massive bloodshed. But, by God’s merciful wisdom, the 1986 Edsa crisis was

is the lifeblood in the doctrine of taxes,” he said.

ABS Rep. Eugene Michael de Vera earlier urged the BIR to look into Sereno’s supposed failure to pay the correct taxes on her alleged P37 million earnings for serving as government counsel in arbitration proceedings against the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc., the builder of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3.

Sereno’s camp said Sunday she will not quit despite threats of more legal cases to force her to resign as chief magistrate of the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Josa Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokespersons, reiterated this on Sunday following reports that more cases will be filed against her and a quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court.

Deinla said these moves were acts of “fear and desperation” by those who have also probably lost trust in the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.

“The chief justice cannot be hostaged to bombastic threats that are built entirely on lies... The chief justice has made it clear since the beginning of this well-orchestrated but pathetic telenovela masquerading as an impeachment proceeding, that she will not resign and will continue to dispense her faithfully sworn duty under the Constitution,” the lawyer said in a statement.

“We reiterate that the chief justice is looking forward to defend herself in the Senate when it convenes as an impeachment trial court and where, hopefully, her basic and constitutional rights will be recognized and respected,” Deinla added.

Gadon, the complainant in the impeachment case against her, earlier threatened to file more cases against Sereno and court officials accused of covering up her alleged illegal acts in the Supreme Court.

“I am calling upon Chief Justice Sereno, you should resign because it’s obvious that you violated the law. You violated the Con-

stitution. You committed several irregularities in the Supreme Court,” Gadon said.

Should Sereno refuse to resign soon, he said he would charge Sereno with graft for her purchase of a P5 million Toyota Land Cruiser as her service vehicle, her hiring of an information technology consultant who allegedly received hefty pay and allowances, and the alleged delay in the release of benefits for surviving spouses of deceased judges.

Gadon also vowed to file cases against SC Deputy Court Administrators Raul Villanueva and Thelma Bahia, Deputy Clerk Of Court Anna Li Papa-Gombio, Office of Administrative Services Assistant Chief Ma. Carina Cunanan, Fiscal Management and Budget Office chief Corazon FerrerFlores, court attorneys Michael Ocampo and Jocelyn Fabian, IT consultant Helen Macasaet, Sereno’s staff head Ma. Lourdes Oliveros and former staff head and now Sandiganbayan Justice Zaldy Trespeses.

Sereno’s camp belittled Gadon’s threat, calling it a “firecracker dud.”

“This latest stunt by attorney Gadon smacks of fear and desperation, and proves that he has completely lost faith in the impeachment proceeding in the House of Representatives,” Deinla said.

“Chief Justice Sereno’s detractors are expanding their weak ouster move to professional civil servants who refuse to lie and toe the line of those wishing to see the chief justice unjustly and unfairly removed from the Supreme Court. This deserves nothing but condemnation for using them as political tools in the impeachment,” she added.

Apart from the criminal charges, Sereno also faces a quo warranto petition to be filed by the Office of the Solicitor General next month that would challenge the legal basis of her appointment as chief justice in 2012 and could put her fate in the hands of her fellow justices in the SC - most of whom have testified in the impeachment proceedings against her.

resolved peacefully—and triumphantly—resulting in bloodless regime change that restored our democracy and civilian supremacy,” Ramos said in his Sunday column.

“Still, many wonder: Why did Edsa in February 1986 happen? Why did more than a million people, armed only with their convictions, democratic faith, and God’s protection, defy overwhelming odds—the threat of tanks, artillery, helicopter gunships, fighter planes and combat troops which could likely inflict sudden death or grievous injury?

“The answer simply is this: We gathered at Edsa and made our stand against dictatorship because we loved freedom,

and were tired of the political system imposed upon us. We wanted our freedoms back plus a better future for ourselves and for those after us.

“The Spirit of Edsa teaches us that every citizen—poor or rich, young or old, lowly or elite, Grade IV dropout or Harvard Ph.D, can make a vital difference by respecting the law, paying our taxes, raising a proper family, and helping those in need,” he wrote.

Ramos added that the spirit of Edsa did not belong only to the past, but to the present and the future.

“Like it or not, our People Power Revolution at Edsa is a continuing revolution— an unfulfilled vision we must win without

Dengvaxia death in Eastern Visayas revealed by PAO THE Public Attorney’s Office said Saturday it had discovered what it believed to be the first Dengvaxia-related death in Eastern Visayas.

PAO Forensic Chief Erwin Erfe said the results of the examinations on the exhumed remains of nine-year-old Wiljen Alcontin revealed bleeding in her brain, heart and kidneys.

He said that pattern was similar to those seen in the autopsies on children who allegedly died after receiving the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine.

Erfe made his statement even as Rep. Johnny Pimentel said Sunday former President Benigno Aquino III and former Budget secretary Florencio Abad were among the resource persons expected to attend the House hearing on the Dengvaxia controversy today, Monday, at 9:30 a.m.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Interior Department OIC Eduardo Año, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda Acosta, and former Health secretary Janet Garin had also been called to the hearing, Pimentel said.

Representatives of Sanofi S.A., the manufacturer of Dengvaxia, and Zuellig Pharma Holdings Pte., distributor of the anti-dengue vaccine, had also been asked to attend the hearing along with officials from various divisions, bureaus and services of the Department of Health, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines College of Medicine, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center.

Alcontin’s death certificate indicated tuberculosis, meningitis and sepsis secondary to pneumonia as the cause of death.

Wiljen and her identical twin Wincel reportedly received the Dengvaxia vaccine in August 2017. She died five months later while Wincel became sick but eventually recovered.

“She was strong and not sickly. She was intelligent but suddenly....” Wiljen’s mother Teresa recalled.

She agreed to exhume the body for another autopsy after she was contacted by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

Erfe said further testing would be needed.

“We will get tissue samples for laboratory examination. Her heart and kidneys indicated bleeding,” he said.

The Public Attorney’s Office has since conducted autopsies on 26 children, who were said to have died after receiving Dengvaxia, as part of a case buildup against the officials who approved the use of the vaccine.

Widow...

From A

Marwan was a leading member of Jemaah Islamiyah and a suspect in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people as well as in two deadly Philippine attacks.

He died in a raid in Mamasapano in Maguindanao that also left 44 police commandos dead. The US had offered a $5 million bounty for him.

In two operations on Sunday, police arrested Dongon as well as her two sisters and father, Gonda said, adding the family had “connections with terrorists.”

The Dongons faced charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The Abu Sayyaf had harboured JI militants in their bases in remote southern islands, including key suspects in the Bali bombings.

Security analysts have said widows of militant leaders played important roles in extremist groups as they enhanced the status of their second husbands.

Also arrested with Dongon were her sister Lorilie Dongon Atta and her husband SPO4 Andy Ascali Atta.

Earlier on Sunday, Dongon’s parents were also arrested in a joint police and military operation at Sitio Tinago Barangay San Juan, Baroy, Lanao del Norte.

Gonda identified them as Romeo Aborido Dongon alias Faisaland Norein Dongon Santos. AFP and PNA further loss of time and goodwill,” he said.

Ramos also said that unity, solidarity and teamwork will enable the Philippines to succeed in hurdling the country’s problems.

In his speech at the 32nd anniversary of the People Power uprising, Ramos said both citizens and government leaders must firmly instill the values of solidarity and unity the revolt inculcated in the past.

“First of all our 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, that was just the start of change, not the end,” he said in Filipino.

“The outcome, which is a better future for our Filipinos, must be done by the succeeding administrations,” he added. PNA

News

MoNday, february 26, 2018

A3

NPA officer arrested in Agusan Sur, yields grenade

GOODWill GeSTure. Vice President Leni Robredo and a parish priest lead her supporters in releasing white doves as a symbol of peace and goodwill after a Mass held at the St. Jude Thaddeus Parish Church in Naga City on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, in commemoration of the 32nd anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution. OVP Photo

12 inmates bolt Jolo jail

Senator pushes for protection wetlands

J

OlO—Philippine police said Sunday they were hunting for 12 inmates who escaped from a jail on a southern island that is the stronghold of Islamist militants.

A CONTINuING government commitment and a more extensive public participation in the conservation of natural wetlands in the country are needed to protect the environment, according to Senator Cynthia Villar.

Marking the observance of the 2018 World Wetlands Day at las PiñasParañaque Wetland Park, Villar said “We are all environment warriors with a common end-goal: To protect and conserve our environmental jewels.” Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources said Natural wetlands are crucial components in urban development. “We should all do our share in ensuring their conservation and protection so we can continue to give the future generation of Filipinos a clean and green Philippines.”

The lPPCHEA cleanup was followed by a nature appreciation walk, which showcased the treasures of the habitat - a175-hectare mangrove forest and marine habitat in the cities of las Piñas and Parañaque that serves as a sanctuary for 84 bird species, including migratory birds. It is also the breeding site of the vulnerable Philippine Duck. lPPCHEA is the 6th Ramsar site in the Philippines under the Ramsar Convention list of Wetlands of International Importance because of its vital role as a coastal urban wetland and bird sanctuary within Metro Manila.

Villar has been spearheading the country’s annual observance of the World Wetlands Day, which marks the day when the Convention on Wetlands was adopted in Feb. 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. This year’s theme, ‘Wetlands for a sustainable urban future,’ aims to emphasize the importance of preserving wetlands in the midst of rapid urbanization, and to raise awareness of the vital role that they provide in making urban areas safe, resilient and sustainable.

Villar cited that urban wetlands play significant functions in flood control, groundwater replenishment, shoreline stabilisation and storm protection, water purification, reservoirs of biodiversity, recreation and tourism and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Macon Ramos Araneta

The detainees were among 29 inmates who bolted from a prison inside a police station in war-torn Jolo on Saturday where they were being held mostly on drugs charges. The remaining 17 were recaptured the same day, police said.

Jolo is a base for the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group and authorities said they were investigating whether or not the inmates who escaped had links with the militants.

“A guard went on break, went to the toilet and when he left, the inmates

found a way to escape. They picked the lock of the jail cell and fled,” regional police spokesman Senior Insp. Jemar delos Santos told AFP. “We are heightening security around the perimeter of the island municipality and securing ports so that they would not be able to leave Jolo.”

The jail had a capacity of about 50 inmates and was located near a port, Delos Santos added.

Police replaced all the prison guards as they probed the jailbreak.

The Philippines frequently has mass

escapes from prisons, which are usually overcrowded, poorly maintained and inadequately guarded.

In the country’s biggest jailbreak, more than 150 inmates escaped a prison in the southern Philippines in January last year after about a hundred gunmen stormed the facility.

In July 2017, three inmates were killed and another was wounded as 14 prisoners escaped from a jail in Jolo.

Islamist militants in the mainly Catholic nation including Abu Sayyaf members pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group as they went on a rampage in the southern city of Marawi.

The five-month siege flattened Marawi, claimed more than 1,100 lives and sparked fears IS was seeking to establish a regional base. AFP

DAVAO CITY—A ranking member of the New People’s Army in northeastern Mindanao was captured in a joint police and military operation in Barangay Villalangit, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. The Eastern Mindanao Command on Sunday reported that Pablito Campos, also known as “Batik” or “Ponsoy,” front secretary of the Guerrilla Front 21A was captured by Sibagat police and the troops from the 3rd Special Forces Battalion under the 401st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army.

Campos also served as the spokesperson of the Sub-Regional Committee of Westland of North Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee.

Eastmincom spokesman, Maj. Ezra Balagtey, said the operation also resulted in the confiscation of an M4 rifle, a fully loaded long magazine, three cellular phones, and one backpack containing one hand grenade from Campos’ possession.

The commander of the 401st IB, Col. Andres Centino, is expecting more arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army members with focused operations against the organizations which have been derailing development in the rural areas.

Centino said the capture of Campos shows that security forces adhere to the rule of law and the International Human Rights law.

Centino said Campos would face trial for all “atrocious acts [committed] against the people.”

Campos has been accused for the failed ambush of the Sibagat police personnel last July 29, 2017 at El Rio, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. PNA

Estrada donates to Mayon evacuees

By Vito barcelo

quake relief. Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Danilo Lim (right) supervises the loading of relief goods to trucks intended for the victims of Mayon Volcano’s eruptions. Norman Cruz

MANIlA Mayor Joseph Estrada donated P1 million to Mayon evacuees who are currently sheltered in an evacuation center in Daraga, Albay, as part of the city of Manila’s commitment to give assistance to hundreds of Filipinos affected by natural disaster.

The financial assistance was handed to Albay Mayor Gerry Jaucian by former senator Jinggoy Estrada, son of Manila Mayor Estrada.

The younger Estrada said that his father sent him to Albay to bring hope and inspiration and to never forget God on their way to recovery from the volcano eruptions.

“We are all hoping that we can survive and all of you can rise again,” the former senator said, citing the example of his father who also experienced trials but was able to recover.

He said Bicolanos will again recover and regain its beauty and become Thea tourist destination.

Estrada, an official of Anak ng Masa political party headed by his father handed the P1-million check to Jaucian.

“Pagpasensiyahan na po nyo ang kaunting nakayanan na maibigay ni Manila Mayor Erap Estrada. I congratulate Mayor Gerry and all municipal government officials for their readiness and preparedness during Mayon’s eruption,” Jinggoy said.

Water concessionaires’ teamup with MWSS paying off TWO utility concessionaires Manila Water Co.and Maynilad Water Services Inc. are one in saying that their partnership with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System which is celebrating its 140th anniversary has yielded results.

Providing water supply to millions of Metro Manila residents in the East and West zones, Maynilad and Manila Water take pride in having partnered with the MWSS through the Public-Private Partnership.

“Amid the challenges from the water crisis in the 1990s, including low water supply, poor sanitation, and water qual-

ity, MWSS has successfully transformed the water infrastructure in Metro Manila into what it is today,” said Manila Water Co. Chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala in his official message published in the MWSS @140 commemorative book.

For his part, Maynilad Maynilad chairman Manny V. Pangilinan lauded MWSS officials in his offficial message also on the commemorative book. “Your dedication has paid off as more Filipinos gained access to clean, safe and potable water at the comforts of their very homes. Your commitment has yielded fruits with better-treated and managed wastewater through more

efficient sewerage systems. You have been instrumental in making water and sewerage systems instruments of public health and safety,” Pangilinan said.

Manila Water president and CEO Ferdinand dela Cruz added, “We salute the MWSS for demonstrating the ability to reinvent itself all these years. Manila Water is proud to share with MWSS the more than 20 years of providing world class water and used water services for Metro Manila’s East Zone. We have come a long way since the signing of the Water Crisis Act by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1995 and the creation of

the Public-Private Partnership through a proven Concession Model which paved the way for arguably the most successful water PPP in the world.”

For his part, Maynilad president and chief executive officer Ramoncito S. Fernandez said, “In the 20 years that water and wastewater services have been privatized in the Greater Manila Area, millions have benefited from the fruits of our partnership. We are grateful that the MWSS has been our valued partner in promoting the welfare of our customers in the West Zone. Maynilad would not have been able to attain its

remarkable service milestones without the support of MWSS and our common eagerness to make our public-private sector partnership work.”

MWSS Administrator General Rey Velasco described the partnership with the water concessionaires as a “master stroke of genius” when former President Fidel V. Ramos awarded the contract to them. “We are promoting and enhancing the value of shared responsibility and commitment with our concessionaires and partners in service to provide safe, potable and affordable water to our millions of consumers,” Velasco said.

A4

Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Why many objections to change are wrong

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Bringing pressure to bear

A

I HAVE some idea of what I think our government ought to be. I have some thoughts about what should be written into the Constitution of the land. If I had neither, I would never have accepted membership in the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution. After all the committee’s members do not sit as instructed delegates.

They were, pointed out Executive Secretary Bing Medialdea, handpicked by the President for their supposed expertise and competence. There will be a time to listen to the people—when the proposal goes to Congress and their elected representatives debate the draft in their names, and when they troop to the polling places for the plebiscite.

For now, we must say our piece, coming from serious study, mature reflection and critical consultation.

I favor a change from the presidential form of government to one that is parliamentary. My principal reason for wanting this change is because it is a system that more easily holds the executive—the Prime Minister and his

CURIOUS thing happened in the wake of the Florida school shooting in which 17 people were shot dead by a disturbed 19-year-old using a legally bought AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Ordinary Americans, including the young survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, are making their voices heard in ways that might yet weaken the seemingly untouchable gun lobby and the politicians whose support it has bought over the decades.

One such politician was US President Donald Trump, whose solution to gun violence in schools was to arm the teachers, an idea he first posited to survivors and family members of school shootings. To nobody’s surprise, Trump’s talking points seemed to come out of the play book of the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has successfully blocked all meaningful gun control legislation in

the United States in recent history.

In the aftermath of the Florida massacre, the NRA’s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre went on a PR offensive, attacking the media, “European style socialists” and “elites,” whom he said were capitalizing on the tragedy to rob Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms.

Saying that children, like jewelry and money, must be protected by guns, LaPierre said schools were “virtually wide open soft targets for anyone bent on mass murder.”

“Evil walks among us, and God help us if we don’t harden our schools and protect our kids,” he said.

Over the years, the NRA has exercised tremendous political clout by mobilizing its five-million members and billions of dollars in support of politicians that oppose gun control.

Only a fraction of these funds are direct contributions; most of the money goes to ads that support pro-gun candidates and attack ads against those who would control the distribution of firearms. For example, in 2016, the NRA spent $20 million on attack ads against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and $10 million in ads and other campaign activities in support of the Republican candidate, Trump.

But anger over the latest school massacre and directed political action amplified by social media have put the influential NRA on the defensive.

In particular, a boycott movement, #BoycottNRA, has made swift progress in getting corporations to distance themselves from the NRA. On Saturday, Delta and United— two of the largest airlines in the world—joined a growing list of companies cutting ties with the NRA in response to public outrage over the Feb. 14 massacre.

The two airlines followed car rental giants Avis, Hertz and Enterprise, the Best Western hotel chain, the global insurance company MetLife, and more than a dozen other corporations that have severed affiliations with the gun group whose members had previously enjoyed discounts and privileges.

It is unclear how much of an impact the boycott movement will eventually have, but an NRA statement attacking the companies for their “shameful display of political and civic cowardice” seemed to indicate that the association was at the very least vulnerable to public opinion.

How the boycott plays out in the US may have implications here at home too, where anger and impatience over the inadequacies of government agencies to address public service in a timely manner, or tax policies that raise prices on all goods and services, might be effectively harnessed in a similar manner to punish politicians who fail to do right by their constituents.

I favor a change from the presidential form of government to one that is parliamentary.

Much ado about little SO MUCH undisguised glee and jumping around like little chimpanzees, to borrow a phrase from the late Senator Joker Arroyo, came after the report of US Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats was published.

What did that report state?

“In the Philippines, President Duterte will continue to wage his signature campaign against drugs, corruption and crime. Duterte has suggested he could suspend the Constitution, declare a “revolutionary government” and impose nationwide martial law.

His declaration of martial law in Mindanao, responding to the ISIS-inspired siege of Marawi City, has been extended through the end of 2018.”

That was it, folks!

How in tarnation could this be interpreted as portent of doom for the duly-constituted and still highly popular government?

But the little brown Americans among us spun the report culled mostly from international media assessment of the war against drugs as if our President had been condemned as a “threat” against democracy and freedom in this part of the world.

Some even speculate that this much-touted report is the beginning of the end of the Duterte administration that they wished never came to power.

“Handwriting on the wall” kuno.

And yet, every civilized government in the world likewise condemns drugs, corruption and criminality. And depending on their severity, governments adopt strong measures against these. That the current President has

This is colonial mentality at its worst.

Cabinet—more easily accountable to the people’s representatives. I am not thinking so much of resignations of the government or of the dissolution of parliament, measures that should be sparingly used, but decisively so when necessary, but of the ease with which a fumbling, inept and reckless department head can be roasted on the gridiron of parliamentary inquiry and forced to resign if found woefully remiss in his duties. And when matters reach boiling point and the government colossally fails the people, a vote of censure in the form of a no-confidence motion that garners the necessary parliamentary support results in the resignation of the government.

The objections are many, but most of the more serious ones are consistent. First, there is the nauseating line that the form of government really does not matter, because it will still be the same dastardly group of corrupt and thieving politicians who will occupy public office. Aside from being a most uncharitable and unsubstantiated generalization, the first failing of this objection is that it forgets that people make choices about their leaders, and if they choose to be paid into voting for candidates who make merchandise out of public office, then they surely get the government they deserve. But the more serious error consists in the failure to understand that structures (which include forms of government) do determine conduct, deportment and behavior. Children are schooled, because schools provide the structures of formation, and the Church is organized the way it is so that, by its structures of teaching, shepherding and wirship, believers grow in the faith and are nurtured in their beliefs. The selection of a prime minister as a result of the prevalence of a political party significantly diminishes the chances of a lone charismatic who woes his way into people’s hearts and imaginations with nary a platform except a dashing cut, if at all, or a sharp tongue. It also forecloses the election of a national leader because of sentimental attachments to his parents or to his family.

Then of course there is the matter of party politics. It is true that we do not really have party politics in the Turn to A5

A stolen revolution YESTERDAY the nation marked the 32nd anniversary of the People Power Revolution at Edsa. As in the last few years the occasion was not well attended. Except for former President Fidel V. Ramos, the Edsa People Power rites were attended mostly by persons who were not even at the historic moment. Cory Aquino was then in Cebu but she rushed to Edsa and ensconced herself at the Club Filipino. She only joined the crowd at the right time to seize the moment .

The event that toppled former President Ferdinand Marcos and swept a certain Cory Aquino to the presidency is a waning occasion. It is for most of impartial observers of history a revolution stolen from the main characters

It was taken away from the main characters who started it all.

who started it all.

The principal and key player in that upheaval—former Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile who led the armed uprising —is amused that the Aquinos and their yellow-clad supporters are basking in the glory of the

event that would have not happened had Enrile and Col. Gringo Honasan not made a stand at Camp Aguinaldo against Marcos and the military forces of Gen. Fabian Ver. But contrary to Marcos’ order not to fire at the crowd, Ver told then Marine General Artemio Tadiar to fire and disperse the demonstrators. But Tadiar did not obey Ver’s command and the rest is history.

There is much to be said of Enrile in this episode in the country’s history. What if he and his heroic band of mutineers decided to keep power for themselves? They could have too because if it were not for them the crowd at Edsa would not have had the Turn to A5

taken it as a “signature” campaign simply means that he will do all in his power to end or at least, marginalize these threats against our people.

And he is doing it well, as far as the verdict of his constituency, measured by periodic surveys, show.

To put such a premium on an intelligence assessment of a former colonial master betrays colonial mentality at its worst.

Much ado about little. *** The same thing can be said about the attempt to pin down the President’s special assistant, Secretary Bong Go on the matter of the Navy’s acquisition of two frigates. It turns out that all the negotiations towards the purchase happened during the previous administration, and that the choice of the combat management systems was left to the ship manufacturer. In short, it was a done deal, and Bong Go’s staff merely referred the complaint of a supplier back to the Navy officials who had to decide.

Both the previous FOIC and the present, as well as the Secretary of National Defense, Delfin Lorenzana, attested that Go never intervened in the process.

Again the enemies of the President were salivating at the prospect of grilling Go over the coals of a Senate investigation.

Once again, much ado about nothing. *** Those who saw how our President acted swiftly and decisively at the brutal slaying of Filipina overseas worker Joana Demafelis can only wonder how the inhumanity committed would have played out if we had a wimp instead of Duterte as President.

As of this writing, both husband and wife who were the employers of Demafelis had been apprehended, one in Lebanon and the other in Syria. Do you suppose the Kuwaiti government would have acted as swiftly in order to seek justice for the Filipina worker if not because Duterte took the bull by Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher can be accessed at: manilastandard.net Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandard.net

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager OIC-Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua

Managing Editor Associate Editors City Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Romel J. Mendez Art Director Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion The cost of congestion THE Japan Internanothing that can change tional Cooperation things except for truly Agency report said radical interventions.

Metro Manila’s traffic Many pin their hopes congestion is costing in the Duterte administhe country some P3.5 tration’s much-vaunted billion in lost opportunities a day, up Build Build Build agenda, an array of by a horrendous P1.1 billion that was some 75 “game-changing” infrastrucestimated just six years ago. ture projects—a “golden age,” some I myself drive about 6.5 kilome- call it—that are seen to bring muchters to work from Pasig to Makati and needed relief to long-suffering Metro waste an hour to an hour and a half Manila residents. each way. At least once a week, it gets One of these is the construction of really bad when the trip home crawls the Philippines’ first subway line, a and extends my trip to a stressful two- 25-kilometer railway that is expected hour drive! You know things are ter- to start later this year and up and runrible when we’re thankful when a trip ning partially by late 2021 or 2022. that ought to have been covered in 15 Officials target half of the projects minutes takes less than an hour. to be finished within the President’s The sad thing is that my experi- term. ence is far from isolated. Anyone Elsewhere, the change has to be who works in Makati and tries to fundamental: there has to be a way drive northbound to Edsa during the to reconfigure the city’s infrastrucweeknight rush hour should anticipate ture and mode of development, a close to an hour just drastic rethinking of getting out of the the public transporCommercial Busitation structure, in ness District. When particular, a timeyou hit Edsa from efficient bus system There is nothing that shifts from a Ayala or Buendia you start jostling for multi-franchise to a that can change your space in what zonal monopoly to things except seems like a walking eliminate the colofor truly radical procession with all rums and chaotic lanes packed. Every contest for passeninterventions. single night. gers in every bus From Makati to stop. If government the Ortigas Avenue is successful in flyover the problem building a metroareas are well known to all drivers, wide mass transport solution, the bottlenecks where motorists engage in jeepney problem will slowly disapa crazy contest to crisscross and honk pear as the riding public shifts to a their way around the traffic, all ulti- more convenient and safe way to get mately futile. Hopelessly problematic around the city. are Buendia Flyover, Kalayaan exit, These holistic solutions must then Guadalupe, Pioneer, SM Light Mall, be replicated in the growing cities Shaw, Megamall. Count them and outside Metro Manila, which can weep: seven bottlenecks in a short still advance new models of urban four-kilometer stretch! development and even start a reverse The common denominator, and exodus of workers to new jobs in the many have harped on this before, ap- regions that will greatly ease the conpear to be the buses going in and out gestion in the metropolis. of their designated lanes eating up In the meantime, we have to make three to four lanes of Edsa, already do with measures just to make things clogged with private vehicles. Just bearable. At one point, the installaseveral months back, we were told tion of the Highway Patrol Group that Manila ranked as the tenth most along Edsa brought some relief. As stressful city in the world, an ignoble the metropolis waits for the muchlist led by Baghdad, Iraq; Kabul, Af- anticipated infrastructure developghanistan; Lagos, Nigeria; Dakar, ment, a social marketing campaign Senegal; and Cairo, Egypt. Manila for both motorists and commuters ranks higher than war-torn Damascus, to obey traffic rules and instill basic Syria, at 11th. courtesy on the road would restore Clearly then, the traffic is just one some order and lessen the daily pain of the symptoms of a mega-city that is along Edsa. growing unmanageable by the day. By Already, the hours upon hours that 2025—less than a decade from now— each Filipino commuter spends on it is estimated that Metro Manila’s the road is quality time away from population would grow to 16 million, family and friends, an unseen social while Mega Manila, including the casualty that is not measured in any adjacent provinces Bulacan, Laguna, economic report but nevertheless has Rizal, and Cavite, is seen to balloon to real repercussions in the emotional a 38-million-people megalopolis, one well-being of Metro Manila residents. of the largest in the world.

These solutions that for now are just With how bad and seemingly irre- blinks in the horizon couldn’t come versible things have become, there is fast enough.

A stolen...

From A4

courage to face up to Marcos. It is a misconception to say that it was the crowd that emboldened Enrile and his group. Enrile, as anyone who knows him would say, is a man who would die for his convictions.

But Enrile is a man who like Marcos makes sure his draconian action is based on the law. He later parted ways with Cory Aquino whom he saw as not competent to run the country. Fidel Ramos who stayed close to Cory was consequently anointed to be housewife Cory’s successor. Former vice president Salvador Laurel also saw that Cory Aquino was not fit to be president and he too, resigned from Aquino’s revolutionary government after writing her a stinging message that the country was in crisis under her reign.

Messing with the wrong girl Someone should tell House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez not to talk too much. The title of Speaker does not mean he can speak on anything under the sun. For reportedly branding Davao Mayor Sara Duterte as part of the opposition, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte went on social media to slam Alvarez.

“How dare he called me part of the opposition. He is messing with the wrong girl,” said Sara Duterte Carpio.

She drew Alvarez’s alleged remark for forming a regional party apart

from her father’s ruling PDP-Laban.

The Davao mayor has a mercurial temper like her father. It will be recalled she once bare-knuckled punch in the face a city sheriff serving an eviction notice against informal settlers whose shanties were being demolished. Alvarez has denied branding Inday Sara as part of the opposition.

Alvarez who’s also from Davao has been making a lot of enemies since he assumed the post of House Speaker.

Aside from Inday Sara, he has legal tussles with Davao Rep. Tony Boy Floirendo.

Davaoeños are waiting to see what will happen if Alvarez and Inday Sara’s paths cross.It might turn out to be a bigger bout than the one between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Alvaraso being cooked up by boxing promoter Bob Arum.

We are not fueling the fire between Inday Sara and Alvarez. This is a looming match of their own making. Now the reason is surfacing as to why Alvarez wants to demolish the mayor—she is a looming rival to his House speakership.

Her supporters want her to run as a congresswoman in next year’s midterm elections. For sure she will win the congressional seat in her district and will then challenge Alvarez as House Speaker.

A word from President Duterte for the supermajority to install Inday Sara as House Speaker would be the end of Alvarez’s political career.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

A5

Silvio Berlusconi: Italy’s eternal comeback king SILVIO Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul who dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades, has stepped back into the ring at the age of 81, defying those who dared to believe he had thrown in the towel.

Despite sex scandals, serial gaffes and legal woes, the flamboyant tycoon has made an astonishing return from political oblivion to head his centre-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, which as part of a rightwing coalition is leading the race for the March 4 vote, according to opinion polls.

“Berlusconi has 12 or 13 lives, he’s like a cat squared,” said former premier Matteo Renzi, who is himself trying to win back the top spot next weekend.

Although barred from public office owing to a tax fraud conviction, Berlusconi is hoping to position himself as kingmaker in the next government if his coalition wins a majority in parliament.

While he has avoided the big campaign rallies in the run-up to the vote, he is a constant figure on television and radio stations and in newspapers, a number of which he owns through his Fininvest empire.

The one-time cruise ship crooner who has served as prime minister three times and once owned AC Milan football club, has had a tumultuous love affair with Italian politics, clinching his first election victory in 1994.

With his oiled-back hair and winning smile, he has ruled Italy for more than nine years in total.

He became renowned around the world for his buffoonish gaffes, friendships with the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, and a colourful private life epitomized by his notorious “bunga bunga” sex parties.

Today, his smile is noticeably a little frozen, the facelifts and make-up laid on “as thick as the carpet,” according to an editorial from La Repubblica newspaper, have left the veteran leader somewhat

transformed.

But his sense of humr is still in tact.

“I’m like a good wine, with age, I only improve, now I’m perfect,” he tweeted recently.

Football glory Berlusconi was born in 1936 in Milan to a bank employee father and a housewife mother who always staunchly defended her son’s virtues.

The young Berlusconi was a born entertainer.

A huge fan of Nat King Cole, he played double bass and entertained club audiences with jokes during breaks from studying law.

He worked briefly as a cruise-ship singer before launching a lucrative career in the booming construction sector and then expanding to set up three national television channels and buy Italian football club AC Milan, which he went on to sell in 2017.

Berlusconi’s political success has been linked to his football glory. But it is also closely entwined with the power of his broadcasting and publishing empire.

His first stint as prime minister lasted from 1994-1996. In 2001, he was elected again after a campaign which included sending a book boasting of his achievements to 15 million Italian homes.

He remained in power until 2006—the longest premiership in the history of postwar Italy—and as a divided left floundered, he was voted back in for a third time in 2008.

‘The knight’ in crosshairs of the law But his premiership ended in 2011 in a blaze of sex scandals and fears Italy was on the brink of a Greek-style financial implosion.

He nearly mounted a comeback two years later, winning almost a third of the vote with an energetic campaign that, as ever, played up his reputation as a winner—on the football pitch and in the boardroom.

But the man the Italian press dub “the

knight” has been unable to escape the clutches of judges determined to nail him.

The twice-divorced Berlusconi was forced out of parliament in 2013 after his conviction for corporate tax fraud was upheld by Italy’s highest court. He said at the time he would not “retire to some convent.”

But his influence waned quickly after he was given a community service order that he served out working with Alzheimer’s sufferers one day a week in an old people’s home.

In 2013 he was also sentenced to seven years for paying for sex with an underage 17-year-old prostitute Karima El-Mahroug, known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, and for abusing his powers to get her off theft charges, pretending she was the niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

The Ruby conviction was eventually overturned by an appeal court. Not entirely off the hook though, Berlusconi now faces trial over allegations he bought Ruby and other women’s silence with more than 10 million euros worth of gifts including houses and holidays.

Obama gaffe The former leader has gained notoriety for his off-color jokes and diplomatic gaffes, in 2013 likening German politician Martin Schulz to a Nazi, and describing US President Barack Obama as “suntanned.”

In a wiretap conversation leaked to the press, he also called German Chancellor Angela Merkel “an unfuckable lard-arse.”

The now-ageing politician has slowed down during the current electoral campaign, with a continuous flow of TV appearances but almost no public event. He also grappled with health issues in recent years, undergoing open heart surgery in 2016.

When asked about his eventual successor though, he responded: “It’s not easy to find a genius, but as I’ll live to be 120, I will find one.” AFP

Rohingya exodus still growing, six months into crisis HUNDREDS of desperate Rohingya Muslims are still pouring over the Myanmar border into Bangladesh every week, bringing harrowing accounts of torture and murder, six months after a military crackdown sparked the massive refugee crisis.

One of the recent arrivals, Nur Mohammad, said his village in Myanmar’s Rakhine state was surrounded by Buddhist vigilantes for days before they were allowed to leave.

“The Moghs [Buddhists] torched our houses, kept us confined and starving,” Mohammad said. “Villages are razed to the ground. We walked for days through mountains to reach here.”

Thirty-year-old Enayetullah was among the 200 Rohingya who crossed the Naf river into Bangladesh on Friday.

Most of his neighbors had left earlier, part of a 700,000-strong Rohingya exodus since Aug. 25, leaving behind desolate and burned-out villages.

“We stayed all these months hoping the situation will be fine. But in recent weeks, security forces have taken away our young men. If they abduct 10, only one returns,” Enayetullah told AFP. Enayetullah also accused Myanmar security forces of torching his shop, prompting him and his three brothers to flee their home in Mognapara village near the town of Buthidaung.

The military crackdown in the north of Rakhine has been termed “ethnic cleansing” by the United Nations and the United States.

While Bangladesh and Myanmar talk of repatriating the refugees, the influx

continues. Some days 200 people cross the border, on others a few dozen make the perilous journey. More than 2,500 have entered the overflowing camps in Bangladesh so far in February.

Hundreds of Rohingya villages have been torched in the crackdown, according to refugees and monitoring groups.

Human Rights Watch said Friday that another 55 villages have been razed since November.

The Rohingya have been systematically stripped of their legal rights in mainly Buddhist Myanmar in recent decades and face rampant discrimination.

Myanmar denies seeking to eradicate the minority but refuses to give UN investigators access to an area where thousands of Rohingya are believed to have been killed.

In November Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to repatriate some 750,000 Rohingya over two years.

Last week Dhaka sent a list of 8,000 names to Myanmar for verification.

No going back But Rohingya leaders bluntly refuse to return. The UN says anyone who goes back must be a volunteer, while Myanmar shows no sign of accepting the Rohingya as full citizens.

“If they send us back, we’ll be tortured or killed. We would rather be killed here in Bangladesh. Here, at least I’ll get a Muslim burial,” said Mohammad Elias, whose group has staged protests against repatriation in recent weeks.

According to the UN, since the repatriation deal was signed on Nov. 23, nearly 70,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangla-

desh through different routes in and near Cox’s Bazar district.

“Those who came in recent days said they were tortured,” Mainuddin Khan, Teknaf town police chief, told AFP. Some Rohingya who remained in Rakhine’s three main Muslim districts said the situation has improved in parts of the region, but life in the empty villages was unbearable.

Maun Maung Tin, a Rohingya from Maungdaw, said it was impossible to buy or sell goods and they were afraid to complain to authorities.

“The new refugees say that they feel unsafe, threatened and harassed at home, in villages that are often abandoned,” said Kate Nolan, coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Bangladesh.

Aid agencies say there is still a critical risk of life-threatening diseases in the overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, where most refugees live in flimsy tarpaulin-andbamboo huts.

A new threat looms with the cyclone season that starts in April. The massive storms have killed hundreds of thousands along the coast in the past five decades.

“We are concerned about the nature of the shelters, how robust they are and if they are really prepared and equipped for the heavy rains,” said MSF’s Nolan.

Despite the cyclone risk, the Rohingya say they are unwilling to go back.

“At least there is adequate food here and there is no one to kill or torture you,” said Enayetullah.

AFP

Why...

necessity that we should remain midgets, politically.

And a Parliamentary government makes necessary the flourishing of a party-system. No one can become a prime minister unless he heads a dominant party and there can be no party, unless people know what it stands for, and how it distinguishes itself from other parties. It will take time, just as it took time to form bad habits, such as the unfettered use of family wealth to win public office. But I am not giving up

on our nation.

So, on Tuesday, when the Consultative Committee votes on whether we shall recommend a presidential, parliamentary or a hybrid form, I shall vote for a parliamentary government. And since I have said my piece, there will be no need for a long speech from me!

ploy Filipinos to take serious note, and our own labor officials in foreign countries to be on their toes, always. *** Next month the pollsters will again do their first quarter 2018 research on public opinion. Those results are likely to come out in April.

Once more the naysayers speculate that the President’s popularity rating will go down drastically. Which is why they have attributed every price increase to the administration’s tax reform law, called TRAIN. They tried vainly to link the movement in rice prices to TRAIN as well, which is farthest from the truth, which is negligence and short-sightedness on

the part of those in charge of food security.

They made a mountain out of the anthill that they saw in SND Lorenzana’s marginal note about Bong Go’s “interest” in the management systems of the navy frigates. They made much ado about the intel report emanating from Washington DC. They are trying to paint efforts to revise a hopelessly outdated Constitution to a sinister plan to establish a Duterte dictatorship.

Tell you what: sure there will be a dip, largely caused by recent inflationary patterns which affect the marginalized most. But it won’t be a serious dent, we fearlessly predict.

From A4

Philippines. But we can develop this manner of organizing our body-politic.

Why should we give up on the Filipinos’ capacity to make choices on the basis of issues rather than on the idolization of personalities? The Filipino has shown herself to be extremely gifted and clever in several respects. Certainly, there is no

Much...

From A4

the horns, and banned deployment of workers to Kuwait?

Another president would have been content to merely sympathize with the family of the slain OFW, make a few noises, and then allowed the bizarre crime to fade from memory. But because Duterte refused to blink, despite entreaties by OFWs bound for Kuwait, and stood for the rights of our people no matter how poor they were, the host government had to seek Interpol assistance to apprehend the obvious culprits.

Duterte’s resolute action will get leaders of all other countries which em-

rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

A6

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 Standard TODAY mst.daydesk@gmail.com Manila

AFP wants 4 more missile-capable warships

T

O FULLY protect the country’s vast maritime domains and resources, the Philippines needs four more modern frigates aside from the two contracted with South Korean shipbuilder, Hyudai Heavy Industries.

“Based on our Modernization Program, we will require six of the frigates until 2028 Philippine Navy,” flag-officer-in-command Rear Adm. Robert Empedrad said during the Frigate Acquisition Project hearing at the Senate.

“That is our Third Horizon. We need four more after we get these two ships,” he added, referring to the two missile-capable warships that the country is acquiring from HHI. These will be armed with weapons capable of neutralizing surface, sub-surface and air threats aside from its electronic warfare ability.

The P18-billion contract for the Navy frigates became the subject of a Senate probe amid allegations that Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go tried to influence the deal.

Go firmly denied the accusations against him, which he described as “fake news.”

“This was finished during the Aquino administration. Nothing was changed and nobody tried to intervene in the contract,” Go said.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said it was impossible for Go to have intervened since the bidding was over and the project was already awarded to Hyundai.

‘Go beyond Metro Manila for traffic cure’ TRAFFIC is not just a Metro Manila disease but one which has spread all over the country, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said as he urged the government “to look beyond” the National Capital Region in applying cures to the transportation crisis.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency last week presented its latest figures on the worsening traffic in Metro Manila which showed that it is now costing P3.5 billion in lost opportunities per day—higher than the estimated P2.4 billion in 2012.

“Filipinos should never forget that we

deserve better public transportation—a better traffic situation. It is affecting our well-being,” Angara said.

“If public transport is not drastically improved, these missed economic opportunities will also replicate themselves in the big cities in Visayas and Mindanao like Metro Cebu and Cagayan de Oro,” he added.

The senator has sought to create transportation demand management programs that will reduce the volume of cars in the roads as well as encourage students and workers to use public transport system. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Republic of the Philippines Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

2018-085

InvItatIon to BId Procurement of varIous drugs and medIcInes 1. The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act of 2018 intends to procure the following projects listed below: Cost of Bidding Documents (Php)

2018-086 2018-089 2018-090 2018-093

IB No.

Name of Contract

ABC (PHP)

2018-082

85,038,000.00

50,000.00

2018-085

Procurement of Losartan 50mg Tablet Procurement of Equine Rabies Immunoglobulin (ERIG)

260,450,000.00

50,000.00

2018-086

Procurement of Vero Cell

320,000,000.00

50,000.00

2018-110

2018-089

Procurement of Fluconazole

51,972,598.50

50,000.00

2018-111

2018-090

Procurement of Valganciclovir

25,327,500.00

25,000.00

2018-112

2018-093

Procurement of Praziquantel

84,280,000.00

50,000.00

2018-113

98,072,512.50

50,000.00

2018-114

17,841,450.00

25,000.00

2018-115 2018-116

2018-095 2018-109 2018-110 2018-111 2018-112 2018-113

Procurement of Lamivudine 300mg + Tenofovir 300mg + Efavirenz 600mg Procurement of Lamivudine 150mg + Zidovudine 300mg Tablet Procurement of Etofenprox 20% WP Procurement of Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Screen Procurement of Etofenprox 10% EW Procurement of Temephos (GR)

50,000.00

12,103,830.00

25,000.00

2018-137 2018-139 2018-141

19,468,900.00

25,000.00

2018-115

23,023,000.00

25,000.00

2018-116

Procurement of Cyphenothrin

27,285,500.00

25,000.00

2018-117

32,645,800.00

25,000.00

2018-135

Procurement of Insecticide Treated Screen Procurement of Oral Rehydration Salts

15,255,204.00

25,000.00

2018-137

Procurement of Zinc

21,386,000.00

25,000.00

2018-139

Procurement of Amoxicillin

12,010,500.00

25,000.00

2018-141

Procurement of Fusidate Sodium/Fusidic Acid Procurement of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Procurement of Influenza Polyvalent Vaccine Procurement of Polysaccharide Polyvalent Pneumococcal Vaccine Solution for IM/SC Injection Procurement of Inactivated Poliomyelitis Vaccine Procurement of Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine Procurement of TB Drugs for Adult Category 1 Procurement of TB Drugs for Children

14,705,684.10

25,000.00

4,756,000,000.00

75,000.00

360,000,000.00

50,000.00

360,000,000.00

50,000.00

336,000,000.00

50,000.00

83,000,000.00

50,000.00

434,700,000.00

50,000.00

105,600,000.00

50,000.00

2018-154 2018-155 2018-156 2018-088 2018-160

2. The DOH now invites Bids from eligible Bidders for the procurement of the above-caption projects. Delivery of the Goods is required as specified in Section VI. Schedule of Requirements. Bidders should have completed contracts similar to the cited projects as stated in the ITB. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

4. Interested bidders may obtain further information from the COBAC Secretariat, Ground Floor, Building 6, DOH, San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila and inspect the Bidding Documents at 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

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

The DOH will hold a Pre-bidding Conference and the Submission and Opening of Bids at COBAC Conference Room, G/F, Bldg. 6, DOH, San Lazaro Cmpd., Rizal Ave., Sta. Cruz, Manila on the schedule given below: IB No.

Name of Contract

2018-117

86,829,600.00

25,000.00

2018-153

2018-109

50,000.00

12,848,000.00

2018-152

2018-095

57,558,187.50

Procurement of Pyriproxyfen (GR) Procurement of Deltamethrin

2018-114

5.

2018-082

Activity (Date & Time) Submission Pre-bidding and Conference Opening of Bids

2018-135

2018-152 2018-153 2018-154 2018-155 2018-156 2018-088 2018-160

OFW STRUGGLE. Filipino domestic workers take part in a protest against President Rodrigo Duterte in Hong Kong on Feb. 25. AFP

DoH bats for measles vaccination amid outbreak IN THE face of the current measles outbreak declared in Zamboanga City, the Department of Health has vowed to win back the trust and confidence of the public on its vaccination program following the controversy surrounding the anti-dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia.

“Although some sectors may attribute the outbreak to the Dengvaxia issue, it is Procurement of Losartan 50mg Tablet Procurement of Equine Rabies Immunoglobulin (ERIG) Procurement of Vero Cell Procurement of Fluconazole Procurement of Valganciclovir Procurement of Praziquantel Procurement of Lamivudine 300mg + Tenofovir 300mg + Efavirenz 600mg Procurement of Lamivudine 150mg + Zidovudine 300mg Tablet Procurement of Etofenprox 20% WP Procurement of Long Lasting Insecticide-Treated Screen Procurement of Etofenprox 10% EW Procurement of Temephos (GR) Procurement of Pyriproxyfen (GR) Procurement of Deltamethrin Procurement of Cyphenothrin Procurement of Insecticide Treated Screen Procurement of Oral Rehydration Salts Procurement of Zinc Procurement of Amoxicillin Procurement of Fusidate Sodium/Fusidic Acid Procurement of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Procurement of Influenza Polyvalent Vaccine Procurement of Polysaccharide Polyvalent Pneumococcal Vaccine Solution for IM/SC Injection Procurement of Inactivated Poliomyelitis Vaccine Procurement of Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine Procurement of TB Drugs for Adult Category 1 Procurement of TB Drugs for Children

actually the result of low measles vaccine coverage in the past years which led to the accumulation of susceptible individuals,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

Surveillance reports showed that measles cases started to increase in Zamboanga City in August 2017. For the first two months of 2018 alone, a total of 166 measles cases were recorded.

Duque advised parents to immediately isolate children with fever and rashes and seek consultation for those with complications such as pneumonia or diarrhea and for health workers to seek laboratory confirmation for suspect cases.

“Let me reiterate that vaccination is still the best protection against this particular disease,” he said. Macon Ramos-Araneta

InvItatIon to BId for the Procurement of JanItorIal servIces under ITB No. PB18-02002MAB

06 March 2018; 10:00 A.M.

20 March 2018; 9:00 A.M.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming public bidding for the Procurement of Janitorial Services under ITB No.PB18-02-002MAB. Approved Budget for the The annual ABC is in the amount of Fifteen Million Eight Hundred Contract (ABC) Ninety-Seven Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Nine Pesos and 20/100 (PhP15,897,859.20), VAT-Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction, while the total ABC for two (2) years is in the amount of Thirty-One Million Seven Hundred Ninety-Five Thousand Seven Hundred Eighteen Pesos and 40/100 (PhP 31,795,718.40), VAT-Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction.

Location: Casino Filipino-Manila Bay Southdrive Road, T.M Kalaw Extension, Ermita Manila Approximate Floor Area: 6,500 sq. meters Required Personnel:

Janitorial Shift Rotation:

Others No. of Days Work: Contract Duration: Source of Fund:

Sixty (60) regular, trained and healthy janitors, including working supervisors, broken down as follows: Male - 35 Female - 25 TOTAL 60 First Shift - 6:00am to 3:00pm (22 janitors) Second Shift - 1:00pm to 10:00pm (20 janitors) Third Shift - 9:00pm to 6:00am (18 janitors) (Inclusive of one (1) hour break) • At least High School Graduate • Preferably 21-35 years of age Seven (7) days a week; Three Hundred Sixty-Five (365) days a year Within a period of Two (2) Years commencing from the date of receipt of the winning contractor of the Notice to Proceed.

Corporate Budget for CY 2018

Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

06 March 2018; 10:00 A.M.

20 March 2018; 9:00 A.M.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

PAGCOR will hold a Pre-Bid Conference, which shall be open to prospective bidders.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of bidding activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids

6.

Bid must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before the date given above. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated below: Amount of Bid Security Form of Bid Security (Not less than the required percentage of the ABC) (a) Cash or cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank. (b) Bank draft/guarantee or irrevocable letter of credit issued by a Universal Two percent (2%) or Commercial Bank: Provided, however, that it shall be confirmed or authenticated by a Universal or Commercial Bank, if issued by a foreign bank. (c) Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety or insurance company duly certified Five percent (5%) by the Insurance Commission as authorized to issue such security. (d) Bid Securing Declaration No percentage required Bid opening shall be at COBAC Conference Room, G/F, Bldg. 6, DOH, San Lazaro Cmpd., Rizal Ave., Sta. Cruz, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

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

8. For further information, please refer to:

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

Date, Time and Venue February 26, 2018 to March 19, 2018 March 5, 2018, 1:00 p.m Conference Room Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita March 19, 2018, 1:00 p.m Conference Room Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita March 19, 2018, 1:00 p.m onwards Conference Room Executive Office Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Section (PS), acting as the BBAC Secretariat, of Casino Filipino-Manila Bay and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at BBAC at Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila during office hours of PAGCOR from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos (PhP25,000.00).

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee of the Bidding Documents not later than the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids.

Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, Southdrive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from Procurement Section (PS) or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents.

Bidders shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of his bid, and PAGCOR will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process.

Bidders should note that PAGCOR will accept bids only from those that have paid the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the venue of the bid opening. Late bids shall not be accepted.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - TieBreaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: a) In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper. b) The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

COBAC-A Secretariat Building 6 Department of Health San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila Tel. Nos. 651-7800 local 1625 to 1627; 1650 to 52 Facsimile No.: 711-6061/740-6830

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(SGD) ROGER P. TONG-AN, DMPA, MAN, RN Undersecretary of Health COBAC-A Chairperson (MS-FEB. 26, 2018)

Please address all communications to the Branch Bids and Awards Committee thru the BBAC Secretariat, Casino Filipino – Manila Bay, Second (2nd) Floor Casino Filipino-Manila Bay, South drive Road T. M Kalaw Extension Ermita, Manila Tel No. 804-8700 local Nos. 5021,5022 and 5024.

CORNELIUS M. GOZE (SGD) Chairperson Branch Bids and awards committee (BBac) casino Filipino-manila Bay (MS-FEB. 26, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Russia ends 26-year title drought G

ANGNEUNG, South Korea – Russia dramatically ended a 26-year men’s hockey title drought on Sunday, defeating Germany 4-3 in over-time in a championship-game thriller for the only gold medal by Russian men at the Pyeongchang Games.

Germany’s Felix Schutz (R) adn Russia’s Yegor Yakovlev clash in the men’s gold medal ice hockey match between the Olympic Athletes from Russia and Germany during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung. AFP

Subic to Verde Island Regatta race kicks off

SUBIC BAY--The 200-mile Subic Bay around Verde Island Passage Race and the Subic Bay Cup Regatta sailed off Saturday with 17 yachts sailing in four categories presented by Standard Insurance Inc. Showcasing teams from different countries in the six-day sailing Grand Prix include Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines, organized by Subic Sailing Team and held under the auspices of the Philippine Sailing Association the Asian Yachting Grand Prix.

In this year’s regatta event, the racing class I (IRC I) of big boats of 75-footers above will have defending champion and powerhouse Centennial III, skippered by Judes Echauz, the co-recipient of the Executive of the Year award from the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its annual PSA Awards Night this Tuesday.

However, Centennial III’s perennial rival Hong Kong’s Jelik of magnate Frank Pong failed to participate this year for unknown reasons.

Another Hong Kong’s 100-foot Scallywag, formerly known as Ragamuffin 100 that was recently bought by Malaysian-born Seng Huang Leng, is not also joining.

Instead, Centennial III will be challenged by Hong Kong’s Antipodes captained by Geoff Hill and another local entry Karakoa, helmed by Ray Ordoveza, according Jie Combalicer, of Standard Insurance and one of the event administrator.

In the IRC II, Germany’s Emocean, skippered Michael Raueber is the new campaigner in the division which its challenger include Sydney GTS 43 Mandrake III manned by Nick Burns and David Witt, Sabad of Bobby Benares, local veteran campaigner Selma Star of Jun Avecilla.

Another challenger is Philippine’s Misty Mountain of George Hacket, Combalicer said.

Meanwhile, two sailing teams from Hong Kong will compete in the Cruising Class, with the Asia Pacific Sailing, skipped by veteran sailor Stephen Wu Snifu, up against Li Jian’s ASPARAS.

Kirill Kaprizov scored the power-play goal that will be forever remembered in Russian hockey history 9:40 into the extra period to set off a joyous celebration as the Russian squad raced onto the ice and flag-waving supporters roared with delight.

Russia -- competing in South Korea under a neutral flag as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” -- had not won hockey gold since the 1992 Albertville crown.

Then they were the Unified Team, only a few weeks after the breakup of the Soviet Union, whose hockey dynasty captured eight Olympic golds.

This year’s Russians were unable to see their flag raised or hear their anthem played as part of the punishment for the systemic doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, competing under the Olympic flag and anthem as the OAR. Denied even their usual uniforms, the Russians opted for one resembling the NHL Detroit Red Wings, who boasted championship teams known for Russian stars.

The Germans were seconds from pulling off a Wunder auf Eis (Miracle on Ice) upset after winning three one-goal shockers to reach the final.

Finally they settle for silver but also their best-ever Olympic finish, surpassing bronzes in 1932 and as West Germany in 1976.

Nikita Gusev netted a steep-angle shot with 6:39 remaining in regulation time to give Russia a 2-1 lead, only for Germany’s Dominik Kahun to equalise 10 seconds later, Frank Mauer’s centering pass finding Kahun unguarded in the slot. AFP

Blaze Spikers scramble past Cignal HD in PSL STA. ROSA CITY – Petron overcame a massive second-set meltdown and pulled off a 25-17, 8-25, 25-20, 25-17 victory over Cignal in the Chooks to GoPhilippine Superliga (PSL) Grand Prix Saturday at the Sta. Rosa Sports Center.

American imports Lindsay Stalzer and Hillary Hurley came up strong, leading the Blaze Spikers to a strong finish in this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as broadcast partner.

Stalzer and Hurley, the duo that spearheaded Petron to the finals of last year’s Grand Prix, combined for 27 of the Blaze Spikers’ 44 attack points while providing leadership down the crucial stretch.

They finished with 18 points apiece

Games Tuesday

(Muntinlupa Sports Center) 4:15 pm – Smart vs Cocolife 7 pm – Foton vs Cignal

on top of eight combined aces as the Blaze Spikers took an early lead with a 2-0 win-loss card in this tourney that also has Asics, Mikasa, Mueller, Senoh, Grand Sport and LGR as technical sponsors.

“We had some troubles in the second set,” said Petron head coach Shaq Delos Santos. “It’s good that we were able to recover and finish strong.”

After trailing by just two, 8-10, the

vaunted floor defense of the Blaze Spikers conked out, allowing the HD Spikers to uncork 15 consecutive points to claim the second set, 25-8.

But Stalzer and Hurley connived in the attack zone to give Petron an early lead, 8-5, entering the first technical timeout.

Cignal import Jeane Horton connected on a backrow attack to pull the HD Spikers closer, 14-17, but the American reinforcements caught fire anew, giving Petron a third-set victory, 25-20.

Sonja Milanovic of Bosnia finished with a team-high 23 points while Horton chipped in 20 markers for the HD Spikers, who suffered their first loss after a rousing debut against Cocolife last Tuesday.

Hillary Hurley (left) of the Petron Blaze Spikers tries to block an attack by Jeanine Mae Horton of Cignal. Roman Prospero

Bulacan Kuyas beat Quezon City Capitals MALOLOS – There’s no place like home for the Bulacan Kuyas-Ligo Sardines.

After struggling in the early goings of the tournament, the Kuyas are now back on track capped by their big 95-81 home win over the Quezon City CapitalsRoyal Manila late Saturday night for their first back-to-back victories in the MPBL-Anta Rajah Cup at the Bulacan

Games Tuesday, Feb. 27

( Navotas Sports Complex) 7 p.m. – Batangas vs Muntinlupa 9 p.m. – Navotas vs Bataan

Capitol Stadium here.

In winning their second straight game, the Kuyas have now improved their win-loss record to 3-3 and fortified their hold of sixth spot in this tournament put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with former PBA MVP and league 40 Greatest Member Kenneth Duremdes serving as the commissioner.

Nietes leads citation PSA awardees

REIGNING International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Donnie Nietes leads a long list of individuals and entities to be cited during the SMCPSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Awards Night this Tuesday at the Maynila Hall of the Manila Hotel.

Nietes, who successfully retained his title against Juan Carlos Reveco of Argentina Sunday in Inglewood, California sits atop the list of 27 citations that will be handed out by the country’s oldest media organization in the formal affair presented by MILO and Cignal TV. Joining the long-time boxing champion are Grandmaster Joey Antonio, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games gold medal winners Margaret Ochoa and Annie Ramirez, and former ONE Championship lightweight title holder Eduard Folayang.

Also receiving citations are EJ Obiena, Carlos Yulo, Toni Leviste, Kareel Meer Caniezo Hongitan, Jan Paul Morales,Ivan Malig (bowling), Arnel Mandal, Divine Wally, Jomar Balangui, Pauline del Rosario, Bianca Pagdanganan, Elien Rose Perez, Veronica Ompod.

Completing the list are Jacob Ang, Milo Rivera, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Centennial III, Cignal, Ceres Negros FC, Philippine softball team, Philippine women’s football team, and Shell National Youth Active Chess.

The citations are apart from the same award to be given to all gold medal winners in the 29th Southeast Asian Games and the 9th ASEAN Para Games in the yearly rite which has the Philippine Sports Commission as major sponsor and fully supported by the Philippine Basketball Association, Mighty Sports, Globalport, Rain or Shine, and Smart.

NIETES

Returning Paras powers Titans past Generals Games Tuesday (PATTS) 10 a.m. -- TIP vs. New Era 12:00 n.n. -- DLSU-D vs. PLMun 2 p.m. De Ocampo vs. UL 4 p.m. PATTS vs. UMak

ANDRE Paras returned from a severe ankle sprain injury and inspired the AMA University Titans in getting back on the winning following a convincing 105-62 triumph over the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals in the Sta. Lucia Land-NCRAA men’s basketball tournament at the A.R. Valdez Hall of PATTS College of Aeronautics.

With the win, the Titans ended up their win-loss record at 6-1 to get back on top of the standings in Group B, which means they will be heading as the No.1 team in the wildcard phase, which begins on Tuesday. The team ended up in a tie with the Philippine Merchant Marine School, which the Titans defeated on opening day.

Paras missed the last three games of the Titans, but his return boosted the squad, which went off to a 62-37 lead and was never seriously threatened.

Daniel Salonga finished with 27 points and five steals while Owen Graham had another monster game, coming away with a double-double effort of 22 points and 18 rebounds.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Sports

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

A8

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Nietes KOs challenger in 7th round

D

ONNIE “Ahas” Nietes continued to add to his legend with a decisive seventh round knockout of Argentinean challenger Juan Carlos Reveco in Inglewood, California to retain his International Boxing Federation flyweight title.

Nietes pressed the action from the beginning. Early in the seventh he caught Reveco with a flurry of body shots and then unloaded a left uppercut that sent the challenger crashing to the canvas.

Reveco beat the count but his corner men, realizing the futility of going on, threw in the towel. The referee stopped the fight and awarded the victory to Nietes 53 seconds into the seventh round.

Per CompuBox statistics, Nietes landed 100 of 407 punches, while Reveco could only connect on 40 of his 318 punches.

Nietes tallied his 41th victory with 23 knockouts. Reveco, a former two-time world champion, suffered his fourth professional defeat in 43 bouts.

Nietes stalked the cautious challenger firing surgical jabs which connected while Reveco would often miss wildly.

Nietes continued his strategy of controlled aggression until he finally caught the challenger with a combination to the body and a left uppercut which turned out to be

the knockout punch.

Nietes first won the crown with a hard-earned decision over Thailand’s Komgrich Nantapech April 29 last year in Cebu City.

The 35-year-old Nietes, a former WBO light flyweight and WBO minimumweight champion, hasn’t lost a fight since his 10-round split decision loss to Angky Angkotta September, 2004.

In the main event of the evening Thai dynamo Srisaket Sor Rungvisai retained his World Boxing Council title by beating challenger Juan Estrada on Saturday, holding on in the later rounds to come out with a close majority decision.

Srisaket compiled a big lead by winning almost all of the first seven rounds in the 12-round super flyweight title fight at the Los Angeles Forum.

But the hard-hitting 31-year-old couldn’t get the knockout he was hoping for against the Mexican, and even looked the more tired of the two in the final round.

Ledecka battled inner demons on the way to Olympic glory Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots the ball over the blocking hand of Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams on February 24 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

Warriors finally beat OKC Thunder LOS ANGELES – Kevin Durant delivered 28 points and Stephen Curry finished with 21 points and nine rebounds as the Golden State Warriors improved to 46-14 with a 112-80 win over Oklahoma City.

After a see-saw first half the defending league champion Warriors got in a groove, going on a 21-1 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to seize control and turn Saturday’s contest into a blowout.

The Warriors also avenged a pair of losses to the Thunder in November and just before the NBA All-Star Game break earlier this month.

“We’re champions. We’re 46-14 and

we’ve got one of the best road records in the league,” Durant said.

Elsewhere, the Miami Heat used a balanced scoring attack to halt a three-game losing streak by rolling over the struggling Memphis Grizzlies 115-89.

Tyler Johnson scored 23 points for the Heat, who are battling for a post-season spot after winning for just the second time in their last 10 games.

Memphis has lost nine games in a row, the longest current losing streak in the NBA. Justise Winslow scored a season-high 17 points for the Heat while Wayne El-

lington drained five three pointers and finished with 15 points.

Miami outscored Memphis 50-30 in the paint, 13-2 on fast breaks and 26-8 off turnovers.

In New York, Kyrie Irving tallied 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, leading the Boston Celtics over the New York Knicks 121-112 for their second victory in two nights since the all-star break.

In Portland, Damian Lillard scored on a driving layup with nine-tenths of a second to play as the Portland Tr a i l Blazers rallied to beat

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – Czech sensation Ester Ledecka overcame suffocating pressure and inner demons to complete a historic Olympic ski-snowboard double, her coach has revealed.

The 22-year-old dominated Saturday’s snowboard giant parallel slalom – a week after stunning the world of alpine skiing with victory in the super-G – establishing herself as the athlete of the Pyeongchang Games.

Ledecka’s parents and coaches had been concerned about the intense hype surrounding her bid to become the first woman to capture gold in different sports at the same Winter Games.

“The amount of pressure that was on her was incredible,” said snowboarding coach Justin Reiter.

“People are people and Ester has her own internal strife. We worked really closely with our team and her parents to manage it as best we can and help her.

“She was protected from the media all this time,” added the American.

“While the super-G gold was amazing, of course it was unexpected – she came here with the goal to medal in snowboarding.

“If she chose to just absorb all the energy from the super-G medal and kind of check off the Olympic medal, we’d be having a different conversation today. But because of who Ester is and because of the way she functions, that’s not enough.”

Reiter paid tribute to Ledecka’s work ethic in balancing two sports, while admitting it is hard to pull the adrenalin junkie away from the slopes.

“The number one thing I wanted to do with Ester was to empower her to make choices so that she can become a true champion,” said Reiter.

“She displayed that this season by prioritising her health over her training. In the past she was always train, train, train, train, train and really didn’t rest enough.

Martial arts changed Kingad’s life TEAM Lakay standout Danny Kingad is focused on becoming the ONE Flyweight World Champion. Since making his professional debut three years ago, he has compiled a stellar 8-1 record.

He continues his pursuit of ONE glory when he takes on Bali MMA’s Gianni Subba on March 9 at ONE: Visions of Victory at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In the main event, the ONE Flyweight World Championship is on the line, as reigning kingpin Adriano Moraes defends his title against the surging Reece McLaren.

Kingad is a formidable fighter who is well-trained, disciplined and skilled in both striking and grappling. That wasn’t

always the case.

When Kingad was a sophomore at Pinsao National High School, he was a party animal who smoked and drank too much. That all changed when he was introduced to wushu by his cousin. The deeper he got into the martial art, the more it affected his life in a positive way, as it taught him self-control.

“My cousin wanted me to go to varsity, so I started to train incessantly,” Kingad states.

“He is the reason I spend so much time training. I did a lot of running as well, to go along with my training in wushu. I really like how the art of wushu pushes you to discipline yourself. I desired to learn more about the techniques of wushu and to learn more about myself, as well,” he said.

Tiger prowls at Honda Classic MIAMI – Tiger Woods fired a one-under par 69 in the third round of the Honda Classic on Saturday, and said the first sub70 round of his comeback gives him a shot at leader Luke List.

List carded a four-under par 66 at PGA National for a seven-under par total of 203.

Woods, seven shots back on even par 210, insisted he wasn’t out of the running on the demanding course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

“I put myself where I’ve got a shot going into tomorrow,” Woods said. “I’m going to have to shoot something under par for sure. If I can go ahead and post a

number early, you just never know.”

The 14-time major champion notched his first score in the 60s in nine rounds this year.

In fact, it’s his first score in the 60s on the US PGA Tour since he carded a 68 in the third round of the 2015 Wyndham Championship.

Since then, debilitating back trouble had seen Woods largely sidelined. He missed all of 2016 before an abortive comeback bid in 2017 ended with spinal fusion surgery last April.

So far in his latest comeback he’s finished tied for 23rd at Torrey Pines and missed the cut last week in Los Angeles.

Danny Kingad (right) spars with one of Team Lakay’s coaches in preparation for his bout at ONE: Visions of Victory in Malaysia. ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

Lady Archers nip Lady Eagles to grab top spot DE LA SALLE nosed out fierce rival Ateneo, 1-0, to finish the first round on top of the table in the UAAP Season 80 women’s football tournament last Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Alexi Arrieta nailed the spot kick in the 38th minute which turned out to be the Lady Archers’ winning moment.

De La Salle is now level with University of Santo Tomas at nine points, but

the defending champions grabbed the top spot by virtue of better goal difference.

Earlier, Aloha Bejic netted a brace Far Eastern University prevailed over University of the Philippines, 2-1 to claim its second win.

The Lady Tamaraws, who moved up at seven points, lost coach Let Dimzon who was sent off in the 73rd minute but was still able to held on with the victory.

Cristina Delos Reyes converted the 12th minute penalty to open the scoring for the Lady Maroons.

Bejic then struck in first-half stoppage time before giving FEU the lead with a 54th minute goal.

With four points, the Lady Eagles dropped to fourth spot, while the Lady Maroons remained without a point in last place.

IN BRIEF BSP downplays inflation concerns

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. downplayed the possibility that the reduction in the reserve requirement for banks will result in faster inflation.

Espenilla issued the statement over the weekend, a few days after the policy-making Monetary Board announced a one percentage-point cut in the reserve requirement of banks from 20 percent to 19 percent.

“Analysts’ fears of ensuing looser monetary policy that can fuel more inflation is really unfounded,” he said.

“What BSP is executing is just an operational adjustment that should have a neutral effect on the monetary policy stance. If BSP wants to change the monetary policy stance, BSP will signal that overtly, by changing the policy rate [the overnight RRP rate],” he said.

He said the establishment of the interest rate corridor mechanism since 2016 gave BSP the fine maneuvering room to conduct monetary policy and gradually bring down reserve requirement ratio of banks.

“Moreover to the extent that speculators use RRR reduction as pretext for peso depreciation, BSP sells FX from its reserves to manage excessive peso volatility. That in itself also has the effect of draining peso liquidity from the system which causes a selfcorrection,” he said. Julito G. Rada

Singapore firm takes over Gardenia plant

GARDENIA Bakeries Philippines Inc. said it is slowly shifting to logistics and product development as parent firm Gardenia International Pte. Ltd. took over the manufacturing function to rationalize Philippine operations.

Gardina Bakeries Philippines president Simplicio Umali said the Singapore-based parent company was more focused on bringing in investments into bread manufacturing after the creation of another unit - Nutribake Food Products Inc. - the company’s manufacturing arm in the Philippines.

“This is to facilitate the foreign direct investments of Gardenia International into the country.

This will also make their operations in the Philippines more focused and cost efficient,” he said.

Nutribake, founded in the second quarter of 2017, produces mass based, more affordable bread mostly Filipino bakerily fares such as Kababayan and Kalihim.

“We take charge of our distribution and use our own funds for the improvement in our delivery, invest in our fleet of delivery trucks, and develop new products,” he said.

The company’s main plant in Sta. Rosa Laguna manufactures the premium bread line such as loaves and other premium breads. Othel V. Campos

Smart LTE speed improved in Q4

SMART Communications Inc. said its long-term evolution download speed across the country rose 38.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 on improved mobile broadband network.

Smart, citing an OpenSignal survey which measured the performance of operators in major Asian markets, said its LTE download speed was 12.7 megabits per second in the fourth quarter, up 38.5 percent from the same period in 2016, and ahead of gival Globe Telecom’s 7.5 Mbps.

The results also showed that Smart LTE speeds ranked 28th, while its competitor placed 40th out of 43 operators included in the rankings, which included operators from Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Smart LTE speeds led the way in all the regions of the country: 13.3 Mbps in the National Capital Region, 12 Mbps in the Visayas, 12.8 Mbps in South Luzon, 14.7 Mbps in Mindanao and 11.4 Mbps in North Central Luzon, compared to the competitor’s 8.5 Mbps, 6.6 Mbps, 6.4 Mbps, 7.9 Mbps and 7 Mbps, respectively.

“These results are proof that our multi-year investments in network improvements are paying off.

By continuously expanding our LTE networks, we are bringing a faster and more responsive network to our customers across the country,” PLDT and Smart senior vice president for network planning and engineering Mario Tamayo said. Darwin G. Amojelar

Business Govt rejects Filinvest-JG bid for Clark airport deal

By Darwin G. Amojelar

T

HE Department of Transportation said it rejected the unsolicited proposal of conglomerates Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc. to operate and maintain Clark International Airport.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the Filinvest-JGS joint venture’s unsolicited proposal for Clark O&M contract was rejected because the government was set to announce a public bidding for the project.

Tugade said the parameters and guidelines for the bidding of operations and maintenance of Clark Airport would be published in newspapers in March.

“Who wins take the O&M. It’s a matter of time. There’s already an approval,” Tugade said.

This means the government will hold a public bidding to invite other companies interested in the project, instead of giving the Filinvest-JGS joint venture the status of original proponent.

The Filinvest-JGS joint venture earlier submitted a proposal to develop, operate and maintain the commercial assets of Clark International Airport, which include facilities for general aviation and fixed- base operations and real estate.

Earlier, Megawide-GMR won the bidding for the construction of a new passenger terminal in Clark Airport, when it submitted the lowest financial proposal of P9.36 billion on Dec. 14.

Clark International Airport is the second main gateway into the country, and the new 100,000-square meter terminal will double its capacity to eight million passengers a year, boosting air transport capacity for the Greater Manila Area.

The project is expected to ease

the strain on the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport and help create jobs and increase development in Central Luzon, a growing economic center.

Clark International Airport is envisioned to be Asia’s next premier gateway. It now has an annual capacity of four million passengers.

Airlines operating in Clark include Qatar Airways, Cebu Pacific, Tigerair, Jin Air, Asiana Airlines, Dragon Air, AirAsia Berhad, Philippine Airlines and Emirates Airlines.

These airlines mount flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Macau, Pudong, Incheon, Doha, Dubai, Davao, Cebu and Kalibo.

The Megawide-GMR won a 25year concession agreement in December 2013 that involved the renovation of Terminal 1 of Mactan Cebu airport as well as the design, financing, construction and operation of a second terminal. It submitted the highest bid of P14.4 billion.

The P14.4-billion premium paid

by GMR-Megawide was on top of the P17.5 billion that would be spent on a new passenger terminal.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

B

Energy probes e-Trike project of Aquino govt

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Energy Department is seeking an investigation on the electric vehicle project launched by the Aquino administration.

The Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy-Efficient Electric Vehicles Project sought to roll out 100,000 units of electric tricycles funded from a loan from the Asian Development Bank.

“We want to investigate how the entire e-Trike process, and learn from it. What really happened?” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

Cusi formed a team to conduct the probe together with representatives from other agencies such as the National Economic Development Authority and the Finance Department.

Cusi cancelled part of the ADB funding, scaling it down to P1.73 billion covering 3,000 units from the original project cost of P21.672 billion which was supposed to cover 100,000 e-trike units.

Cusi questioned the cost of the e-trike estimated at around P450,000 per unit, which he called exorbitant.

The department instead awarded 200 etrikes to Marawi City for its rebuilding efforts. Some units will also be donated to Cebu and Bohol as part of their energy resiliency efforts.

The donation will be made through the Task Force Bangon Marawi (with a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the turnover of the e-trikes.

Group asks parents to trust vaccination

A CONSUMER group called on Filipino parents to exercise caution and circumspection before believing in claims made by some “medical experts,” who it said did no research about Dengvaxia vaccine.

The Consumer-Commuter Association of the Philippines also urged parents not to lose faith in the public vaccination program of the Department of Health. By not sending their children to public health centers, parents lose the chance of protecting their kids from diseases more lethal than dengue, it said.

CCAP co-convenor Bency Ellorin said the group was concerned about the decreasing numbers of Filipino parents subjecting their children to vaccination.

CCAP said an outbreak of other diseases such as measles was possible if parents continued to refuse appeals by health workers to subject their children to vaccination.

Davao city Mayor Sarah Duterte declared a measles outbreak following the deaths of four children and about 200 people were reported suffering from measles symptoms in January. A month later, on Feb. 9, Zamboanga city mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar declared a measles outbreak after she noted a 1,343 percent increase of measles cases involving kids in the city.

The Regional epidemiology Surveillance Unit of Deparent region 11 recorded 317 cases of measles outbreak only for the month of January. CCAP said an officer of the Davao health office that the outbreak was a direct cause of the Dengvaxia scare.

“Parents are now deathly afraid of subjecting their kids to vaccination. Our CCAP members blame these so-called ‘health experts’ who claim to have knowledge about dengue when they are actually experts of other diseases,” said Ellorin.

WEATHER FOR BUSINESS. Weather Solutions seals a deal with Japan’s Weathernews at the signing of a memorandum of understanding led by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. chief operating officer Sabin Aboitiz (fourth from right) and Weathernews representatives Hirokazu Koro, Yuta Seto and Yasushi Shiga. With them are (from left) WeatherPhilippines Foundation Inc. general manager Dave Valeriano, Aboitiz Foundation Inc. first vice [resident and chief operating officer Maribeth Marasigan, Weather Solutions president Jojo Marasigan, WeatherPhilippines president Susan Valdez and AEV first vice president for digital Jojo Guingao. As the first weather-centric social enterprise in the country, Weather Solutions offers available historical and real-time weather data, forecasting and consultancy to organizations across various industries.

BSP governor recovering from First Gen expects renewable projects to displace costly coal plants tongue cancer

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said he is on his way to a full recovery after being diagnosed with tongue cancer in November 2017.

Espenilla said in a statement to reporters over the weekend he discovered he had a tongue cancer before the close of 2017, but fortunately it was at an early stage “and quite localized.”

“I underwent surgery soon after to remove the problem. That was successful. My doctors say I’m now cancer-free. So I don’t expect this curve ball to slow me down. For insurance, I also had to go through radiation therapy as advised by doctors. That’s completed now,” Espenilla said.

Espenilla said the radiation therapy on him had unavoidable side effects, such as difficulties in speaking due to dry throat and mouth sores.

“That should go away in time and my doctors expect me to achieve more or less full recovery in a month or so.

Now, that’s my personal normalization. I just have to hang on and be patient,” he said.

“Meanwhile, it’s work as usual for me. Onward with the financial market reforms! I hope this answers the questions of those who may be wondering about my health. I am confident that this personal medical issue will not distract from the important work at hand. Thanks always for the support,” Espenilla said.

Espenilla said he was currently in a Holy Land pilgrimage in Israel for his “normalization,” with some of his gradeschool classmates, including a priest.

COAL-fired power plants will become underutilized because of their “exorbitant costs,” as renewable energy becomes more competitive, a top executive said over the weekend.

First Gen Corp. chairman Federico Lopez said in a recent forum in Cebu City the Philippines should not build more coal plants because they “will be underutilized, whose exorbitant costs will be saddled on to captive utility consumers.”

He said renewable energy had become competitive and would change the

energy landscape of the Philippines in the future.

“Economically priced renewable energy is here, will only get cheaper and in due time will permeate our lives whether we like it or not. There is no stopping that,” Lopez said.

“Price competition is intense and retail competition and open access is underway. Low price is still the main driver of electricity consumers. This has driven down profit margins of all power producers. But we’re driving down costs

in our geothermal business, both the old fashioned way and through the use of new technology,” he said.

First Gen controls Energy Development Corp., the country’s biggest geothermal power firm. First Gen has a coal-free power generation portfolio.

“Our portfolio that blends flexible natural gas fired plants and geothermal [which is the only competitive 24/7 RE technology today] is a better combination for serving this type of demand called midmerit. Having said that, in fact natural gas

and geothermal, with just 1/3 and 1/10 the carbon emissions respectively of even the most advanced coal plants, are capable of beating the latter’s prices at baseload today,” he said.

He said there was also a need to change the ambivalence of the government about climate change issues.

“Despite our countrymen’s vulnerability to the effects of global warming, only token importance is given to such concerns in national public policy,” he said. Alena Mae S. Flores

Energy World set to complete LNG hub ENERGY World Corp. said its liquefied natural gas terminal in Pagbilao, Quezon is now 90-percent complete and is set to become a hub of LNG distribution around the country once it becomes fully operational.

EWC said in an investor presentation submitted to the Australian Securities Exchange that the facility would be capable of handling 3 million metric tons per annum of LNG. It said the first tank could support 3,000 megawatts of gasfired power plants.

“This will support our adjacent 650MW combined cycle gas fired power plant, and provide expansion options for both EWC and its third-party gas clients,” the company said.

It said the deep water jetty of the terminal was capable of handling all sizes of LNG vessels.

“The LNG terminal at at Pagbilao will act as a hub terminal. LNG can be imported to the hub terminal and then distributed in smaller cargoes to users around the Philippines,” it said.

The company said there were multiple options for distribution including pipelines, shipping and land transport solutions.

EWC said it expected LNG demand to significantly grow once LNG became available in the country. EWC is one of the companies that submitted unsolicited proposals to state-run Philippine National Oil Co. for partnership to develop an integrated LNG facility in the country.

“We are being approached by a number of provinces and islands wishing to secure LNG supplies. We are having initial discussions with industry players on their needs for LNG,” EWC said.

EWC received an approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission to develop a point-to-point transmission facility to connect its 650-MW combined cycle gas plant to the power grid.

ERC allowed EWC to develop the P694-million transmission facility to connect its power plant to the New Pagbilao Station of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. Alena Mae S. Flores

AAP’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY. The American Association of the Philippines, which groups the American community, the US embassy and American corporations in the country, celebrates its 70th anniversary with a George Washington Charity Ball at City Club, Alphaland, Makati on Feb. 17. AAP also used the occasion to raise funds for scholarship and assist beneficiaries in dire straits and indigent Americans. Shown are (from left) US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, Care.com founder Sheila Marcelo and AAP chairman Rick Sobreviñas.

B2

Business

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market to extend correction

By Jenniffer B. Austria

T

HE stock market may further correct this week, with trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange likely to be fueled by investors repositioning ahead of the month-end window dressing and the release of corporate earnings.

“Earnings will be the main driver and some speculation as to the MSCI and FTSE rebalancing (sometime during beginning of March), may fuel trading activity this week,” Regina Capital and Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said.

Limlingan said investors would be looking for guidance from US latest economic data such as home sales and jobs data.

“The minor support of 8,500 has been broken so many will be watching whether we can hang on to the next major one at 8,400,” Limlingan said.

COL Financial also expects the market to continue with its correction with the Philippine Stock Exchange Index expected to drop to 7,900 to 8,100 anytime from March to May of this year.

“Although we recognize that there is a possibility that the PSEi could go below 7,900 before it bottoms, we believe that 7,900 to 8,100 is a good level to start accumulating stocks, fundamentally speaking,” COL Financial said.

The PSEi last week dropped 1.68 percent to 8,467.56, tracking regional decline, on concerns of higher inflation and interest rates.

Except for the services and mining and oil indices, which rose 2.26 percent and 4.54 percent, respectively, all other sub-indices ended in red led by industrial which declined 2.17 percent, holding firms by 1.99 percent, property by 1.54 percent and financials by 1.5 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for week by P2.3 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P9.3 billion from the previous week’s average of P8.2 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Villar-led stocks namely Goldean Haven Inc., which jumped 79.6 percent to P300 and Starmalls Inc., which advanced 39 percent to P25.10.

Share price of telecom firm Now Corp. climbed 12.3 percent to P15.70 after the company reported that it obtained a 25-year franchise extension from Malacañang.

Weekly top price losers were Universal Robina Corp., which declined 6.8 percent to P143; Security Bank Corp., which dipped 4.1 percent to P247.40; and JG Summit Holdings Inc., which decreased 3.9 percent to P72.50.

Global stocks mostly rose Friday, with Wall Street turning in a strong performance, as fearful speculation on US rate hikes took a back burner.

Worries about rising interest rates have hovered over the market since the strong February 2 US jobs report raised the prospect that the Federal Reserve could accelerate its pace of rate increases.

But the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond, seen as a proxy for interest rates, pulled back Friday. That helped produce what was by the far the market’s best trading day of the week.

And in its semi-annual report to Congress, the Fed appeared to tamp down concerns that higher wages would boost inflation.

“Investors are in a good mood... and the Fed’s report seemed to indicate that we may not need as many rate hikes as they once thought,” Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said in a note.

The S&P 500 finished up 1.6 percent, with technology and petroleum-linked shares especially strong. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

FEBRUARY 19-23, 2018 Close Volume

Value

FEBRUARY 12-15, 2018 Close Volume Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources China Bank Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Far East Bank Ferronoux Holding Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

59.6 147.00 119.60 3.70 1.68 35 8.5 15.3 27 3.71 3.7 8.60 0.67 1.7 900.00 0.530 96.65 1.59 12.9 23.35 56.95 85.25 104 236.2 46.35 247.4 1930.00 90.00 1.2

32,520 13,729,020 9,750,440 361,000 3,149,000 1,229,900 7,000 223,700 4,091,700 106,000 914,000 25,300 10,000 267,000 1,650 2,775,000 14,896,300 91,398,000 127,100 33,800 360,830 790 2,660 75,970 765,900 2,103,750 405 88,790 181,000

FINANCIAL 1,917,538.50 2,085,280,464.00 1,191,828,345.00 1,341,160.00 5,457,550.00 43,918,065.00 102,306.00 3,451,544.00 110,351,375.00 386,850.00 3,364,140.00 221,390.00 6,680.00 439,720.00 1,506,850.00 1,477,610.00 1,454,582,418.00 156,581,760.00 1,668,218.00 826,910.00 20,704,753.00 67,365.50 274,080.00 18,049,262.00 35,501,135.00 532,371,304.00 788,450.00 8,002,399.50 217,300.00

58.1 150.30 120.00 3.75 1.77 36 8.5 15.5 26.95

28,810 4,098,580 7,653,240 131,000 1,872,000 1,231,500 1,200 201,500 3,400,000

1,714,895.00 616,943,209.00 905,899,126.00 486,340.00 3,470,960.00 44,749,780.00 10,210.00 3,098,794.00 95,020,220.00

8.56 0.65 1.64 970.00 0.540 96.8 1.57 13.2 25.00 56.80 85.05 103 239.8 47 258 1880.00 90.00 1.19

35,100 16,000 106,000 430 6,342,000 8,614,300 62,044,000 150,500 300 308,180 1,180 220 5,630 1,166,200 1,696,400 115 136,550 542,000

308,185.00 10,430.00 175,270.00 409,800.00 3,500,700.00 834,706,588.00 105,503,460.00 1,956,686.00 7,585.00 17,696,102.00 101,436.50 22,660.00 1,344,014.00 57,192,935.00 423,218,430.00 217,025.00 12,426,095.00 649,970.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp.

Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

38.65 12.9 0.58 1.3 18.2 0.216 108 20.00 3.77 16 250 51.5 55.6 82.1 62.05 1.89 5.43 10.6 11.200 14.12 10.90 7.65 5.53 1.73 15.32 62.8 29.50 10.00 18.6 2.140 282.00 47.20 4.45 3.05 19.98 27.4 17.04 20.7 0.196 319.20 8.11 2.88 4.75 9.10 6.3 8.00 1.58 13.00 56.95 6.3 4.80 3.3 3.61 625 2.1 16.44 5.48 0.131 1.05 143 2.65 1.88 25.95 1.68

7,559,000 7,975,300 3,343,000 3,088,000 688,400 16,730,000 1,720 74,300 34,931,000 11,463,600 6,610 2,760,570 12,730 10 138,790 1,170,000 79,300 97,500 26,049,500 1,215,900 8,485,900 1,426,700 10,042,200 96,000 7,577,300 603,950 589,800 468,600 10,438,200 18,174,000 3,205,020 560 5,211,000 65,000 6,500 3,992,600 1,254,000 8,634,400 5,570,000 1,077,100 209,100 19,632,000 499,000 8,999,300 3,003,300 260,300 1,994,000 3,347,000 2,300,400 716,400 378,000 13,968,000 728,000 228,070 25,037,000 7,594,700 650,800 15,020,000 1,340,000 11,161,800 759,000 21,239,000 300 85,263,000

INDUSTRIAL 297,687,530.00 102,844,818.00 1,946,740.00 3,981,990.00 12,619,274.00 3,635,690.00 195,514.00 1,446,374.00 137,505,600.00 182,084,376.00 1,416,923.00 142,323,445.00 274,157,553.00 821.00 8,548,062.00 2,217,090.00 425,982.00 1,024,930.00 300,158,600.00 17,411,336.00 93,314,872.00 10,765,225.00 55,563,814.00 167,320.00 116,647,958.00 37,605,329.50 48,155,315.00 4,680,871.00 199,078,456.00 37,972,770.00 914,721,172.00 27,921.50 22,644,730.00 199,250.00 124,975.00 110,789,745.00 21,674,080.00 171,136,118.00 1,061,760.00 350,441,576.00 1,678,634.00 54,002,150.00 2,335,690.00 83,258,220.00 19,962,540.00 2,099,374.00 3,135,610.00 43,697,786.00 131,750,724.50 4,319,288.00 1,802,150.00 55,657,840.00 2,665,140.00 144,336,015.00 55,912,450.00 127,865,102.00 3,535,722.00 1,965,990.00 1,425,890.00 1,651,461,842.00 2,051,320.00 39,637,670.00 7,785.00 132,174,490.00

39.4 12.88 0.59 1.3 18.26 0.215 120 19.98 4.01 15.7 160.8 52 59 82.3 61 1.96 5.6 10.6 11.460 14.4 11.02 7.70 5.55 1.75 15.78 61.6 29.00 10.06 19.98 2.070 285.00 50.90 4.08 3.12 19.24 27.4 17.4 19.08 0.194 322.00 8.22 2.75 4.64 9.35 6.38 8.27 1.52 13.00 56.65 5.8 4.88 4.5 3.88 618.5 2.31 16.62 5.48 0.131 1.07 153.5 2.75 1.9 24.05 1.32

5,389,500 4,551,800 3,268,000 3,971,000 187,800 7,909,000 380 31,500 35,803,000 3,049,500 310 2,160,970 11,160 10 747,440 3,176,000 61,600 226,100 5,949,700 1,429,300 3,615,700 2,257,700 24,607,800 818,000 2,879,800 796,870 637,600 241,300 9,257,800 63,768,000 3,511,480 2,740 447,000 110,000 7,200 5,626,700 1,219,300 16,297,700 5,220,000 725,520 86,100 24,890,000 707,000 4,319,000 683,800 145,000 2,489,000 24,247,400 1,532,880 359,100 735,000 53,880,000 4,005,000 354,960 56,997,000 4,325,800 687,900 15,910,000 2,232,000 4,372,610 322,000 15,772,000 400 77,473,000

213,196,735.00 58,659,322.00 1,937,230.00 5,106,090.00 3,437,056.00 2,053,830.00 41,998.00 605,010.00 143,805,820.00 46,883,756.00 54,190.00 113,937,341.50 660,370.50 823.00 46,604,898.00 6,320,620.00 343,511.00 2,440,968.00 68,354,916.00 20,788,060.00 39,962,556.00 17,072,738.00 137,623,150.00 1,453,180.00 45,309,962.00 49,333,935.50 18,686,480.00 2,417,724.00 187,323,206.00 139,770,480.00 985,446,454.00 130,612.00 1,824,040.00 341,370.00 138,768.00 154,641,660.00 21,392,692.00 309,464,948.00 999,310.00 232,563,012.00 711,605.00 69,580,170.00 3,349,420.00 40,281,781.00 4,214,502.00 1,189,247.00 3,870,800.00 310,679,620.00 88,012,981.00 2,095,639.00 3,598,560.00 121,806,660.00 17,697,800.00 227,500,695.00 140,173,950.00 70,572,600.00 3,762,323.00 2,134,770.00 2,431,560.00 679,274,524.00 887,840.00 29,661,840.00 9,620.00 101,363,920.00

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Keppel Holdings `B’ Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.300 75.80 14.50 0.89 7.23 0.630 0.640 1060 7.54 13.60 4.56 7.50 0.185 1326 7.25 72.50 5.21 5.22 5.39 0.68 5.21 23.25 0.325 5.75 3.27 0.0390 1.130 3.340 2.55 141.00 2.67 960.00 1.64 284.800 0.2330 0.1720 0.188

1,760,000 4,975,950 38,913,400 4,727,000 1,078,600 105,525,000 24,833,000 1,697,940 3,196,400 14,838,900 4,000 1,086,400 170,000 447,310 53,200 8,537,560 78,000 13,300 500 3,386,000 7,428,900 11,098,100 890,000 219,175,800 1,000 156,000,000 1,111,000 65,561,000 206,300 1,906,210 86,000 1,708,310 9,867,000 19,940 2,600,000 1,500,000 2,440,000

0.295 75.00 14.34 0.96 6.87 0.560 0.630 1095 7.3 13.80 4.55 7.59 0.185 1324 7.22 75.50 4.96 5.32 5.38 0.68 5.28 22.95 0.340 5.85

970,000 3,854,840 37,591,400 8,874,000 44,300 301,906,000 74,344,000 920,615 5,038,800 14,785,000 5,000 150,200 100,000 256,925 9,200 6,360,210 9,800 13,800 300 3,575,000 6,094,000 5,036,300 160,000 230,708,900

288,600.00 283,846,066.50 554,616,438.00 9,458,680.00 306,445.00 198,919,110.00 49,427,740.00 958,556,510.00 37,033,515.00 201,284,144.00 22,790.00 1,131,171.00 18,500.00 336,062,660.00 65,511.00 470,985,182.00 48,937.00 74,296.00 1,614.00 2,469,570.00 32,456,906.00 114,428,325.00 51,950.00 1,345,454,025.00

0.0390 1.170 3.050 2.55 145.10 2.69 989.00 1.64 278.000 0.2350 0.1800 0.190

107,400,000 1,130,000 168,366,000 523,000 1,881,280 181,000 1,270,700 3,379,000 18,260 1,370,000 630,000 1,270,000

4,164,100.00 1,330,570.00 587,237,330.00 1,345,360.00 267,852,315.00 476,710.00 1,251,321,975.00 5,549,160.00 5,079,648.00 326,880.00 113,540.00 241,960.00

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Cebu Prop. `A’ Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’

6.880 0.98 15.12 2.180 0.880 43.900 3.75 4.5 6.1 6 0.425 1.08 1.040 0.290 0.455 32.95 0.620 0.134 1.79 1.32 0.70 4.75 0.580 0.3150 0.510

7,109,700 39,723,000 219,000 1,649,000 11,330,000 52,629,400 3,683,000 8,064,000 1,410,800 40,200 48,590,000 162,000 868,000 476,210,000 19,280,000 2,699,900 1,800,000 1,080,000 45,285,000 13,679,000 2,014,000 114,006,000 2,925,880,000 7,540,000 19,320,000

7.220 1.01 15.00 2.180 0.850 44.600 3.7 4.49 5.8 5.76 0.430 1.08 1.060 0.231 0.495 35 0.630 0.135 1.79 1.31 0.70 4.8 0.335 0.3050 0.510

23,132,500 52,886,000 821,000 984,000 13,460,000 34,266,900 1,385,000 7,001,000 244,100 21,100 54,130,000 539,000 3,236,000 134,756,600 48,290,000 1,635,200 1,267,000 870,000 31,721,000 12,395,000 1,935,000 126,901,000 299,450,000 12,140,000 21,777,000

160,495,784.00 52,784,280.00 15,210,695.00 2,129,600.00 11,680,530.00 1,517,237,240.00 5,072,040.00 31,392,460.00 1,398,132.00 120,709.00 23,861,550.00 586,550.00 3,481,840.00 41,131,510.00 23,888,600.00 58,790,775.00 804,200.00 118,810.00 57,040,640.00 16,394,600.00 1,388,120.00 620,278,640.00 100,200,950.00 3,764,200.00 11,230,040.00

HOLDING FIRMS 524,450.00 377,090,273.50 571,399,728.00 4,585,750.00 7,999,715.00 63,055,070.00 15,259,950.00 1,815,638,205.00 23,867,169.00 204,163,724.00 18,240.00 8,160,379.00 31,480.00 598,427,095.00 386,626.00 636,074,456.50 435,584.00 70,450.00 2,695.00 2,282,840.00 39,127,072.00 250,645,335.00 274,050.00 1,277,207,727.00 3,270.00 6,269,100.00 1,268,060.00 215,761,880.00 621,710.00 274,319,654.00 223,160.00 1,668,130,615.00 16,598,840.00 5,566,182.00 601,940.00 266,640.00 462,850.00 PROPERTY 50,041,402.00 38,836,780.00 3,432,794.00 3,522,350.00 9,829,370.00 2,354,324,845.00 13,591,740.00 35,483,820.00 8,395,138.00 242,400.00 20,768,600.00 178,540.00 920,770.00 127,042,890.00 9,278,350.00 92,661,430.00 1,239,250.00 147,310.00 81,684,420.00 17,995,410.00 1,411,410.00 544,563,720.00 1,298,204,800.00 2,297,950.00 9,751,075.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 19-23, 2018 Close Volume

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

35.60 4.52 19.90 2 3.2 35.40 1.01 25.1 0.810 6.500

9,100 17,054,000 11,792,500 6,238,000 1,277,000 51,178,400 1,325,000 17,981,900 99,000 38,435,900

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

17.98 31.85 1.3 0.440 0.059 11.54 4.87 14.00 0.0670 99.5 8.9 7.6 8.26 2.45 40.00 960 1743 6.21 300.00 11.00 5.69 110 2.95 13 8.30 0.135 1.5200 3.3 14.38 3.99 1.04 28.70 18.00 0.500 5.12 7.85 3.38 15.700 10.2 11.00 2.9 8.64 113.60 7.20 1566.00 0.345 1.190 49.00 94.00 6.05 2.93 1.440 0.51 3.45 0.910 10.600

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Phinma Petro Semirara Corp.

United Paragon

FEBRUARY 12-15, 2018 Close Volume Value

Value 297,775.00 78,345,460.00 236,896,045.00 12,096,150.00 4,086,230.00 1,847,942,825.00 1,335,020.00 455,880,914.00 80,890.00 251,361,985.00

35.00 3.91 20.00 1.95 3.23 36.10 1.01 16.4 0.830 6.550

6,300 6,874,000 7,456,500 4,150,000 333,000 29,777,000 3,016,000 2,828,100 571,000 27,865,300

219,370.00 27,157,570.00 150,631,188.00 8,252,620.00 1,073,700.00 1,064,021,460.00 3,041,030.00 49,924,705.00 464,410.00 180,941,336.00

SERVICES 333,300 5,949,388.00 237,100 7,603,675.00 196,000 256,210.00 8,180,000 3,540,500.00 2,298,710,000 137,148,470.00 91,000 1,052,890.00 6,300 32,059.00 80,238,800 1,132,522,560.00 108,980,000 7,267,610.00 1,119,560 112,575,606.50 4,910 44,537.00 23,104,300 183,240,317.00 912,700 7,373,836.00 441,000 1,088,520.00 895,000 40,105,265.00 5,255 5,046,795.00 194,600 350,090,280.00 1,480,900 9,243,202.00 2,098,680 573,708,007.00 2,800 30,910.00 63,097,100 351,315,626.00 5,708,660 628,141,486.00 1,605,000 5,112,780.00 400,700 5,360,366.00 99,800 827,460.00 31,330,000 4,211,180.00 3,521,000 5,228,880.00 517,000 1,688,650.00 42,500 622,630.00 5,127,000 20,158,100.00 1,572,000 1,640,300.00 20,435,600 574,903,190.00 13,900 238,816.00 551,000 276,270.00 10,134,700 51,972,710.00 21,597,900 175,685,297.00 5,787,000 19,584,740.00 310,693,300 4,480,797,710.00 30,900 313,584.00 349,800 4,127,972.00 449,000 1,328,700.00 8,400 69,892.00 432,780 47,037,497.00 39,470,700 309,955,308.00 454,130 711,709,980.00 3,384,500 1,097,450.00 11,379,000 13,531,670.00 8,487,160 428,728,133.00 3,550,330 335,481,602.50 553,400 3,314,801.00 3,317,000 9,478,020.00 35,444,000 51,723,950.00 409,290,000 212,552,535.00 2,479,000 8,706,800.00 27,337,000 25,005,440.00 31,751,500 349,525,048.00

17.7 32 1.31 0.430 0.057 11.6 5.33 14.00 0.0660 100.1 8.7 8.65 8.40 2.42 44.00 965 1800 167.00 168.50 11.30 5.65 110 2.91 13.1 8.30 0.135 1.5200 3.55 14 3.80 1.05 26.00 18.00 0.510 4.47 8.55 3.38 13.980 10.3 12.00 2.98 8.2 110.00 6.15 1515.00 0.350 1.200 51.00 95.70 6.20 2.87 1.450 0.53 3.51 0.930 10.840

539,800 233,900 733,000 3,720,000 657,564,000 11,300 6,000 59,813,600 101,790,000 533,550 3,200 8,388,400 248,800 500,000 1,708,670 24,960 122,525 1,515,300 500,070 21,400 27,007,000 2,444,780 544,000 9,000 44,500 43,790,000 10,236,000 1,838,000 22,200 4,221,000 2,983,000 9,630,700 34,500 379,000 3,207,000 24,390,800 3,010,000 422,069,000 185,100 451,900 164,000 22,000 481,290 6,701,000 334,205 2,090,000 17,919,000 4,855,800 2,137,610 1,690,400 4,476,000 34,370,000 731,125,000 2,965,000 38,375,000 55,424,000

9,838,114.00 7,489,530.00 959,610.00 1,621,300.00 41,303,530.00 131,080.00 29,816.00 817,375,188.00 6,621,500.00 53,500,002.00 106,360.00 74,553,305.00 2,089,191.00 1,300,240.00 93,174,577.00 24,086,400.00 218,618,045.00 36,774,458.00 84,150,480.00 268,694.00 154,668,337.00 268,855,334.00 1,615,270.00 113,632.00 369,390.00 6,027,500.00 15,976,950.00 6,419,610.00 327,786.00 16,318,670.00 3,131,050.00 247,182,115.00 626,264.00 202,560.00 14,408,820.00 211,754,710.00 10,281,890.00 5,475,901,103.00 1,861,922.00 5,273,362.00 463,690.00 180,420.00 52,301,990.00 42,966,135.00 513,473,240.00 727,400.00 21,588,070.00 244,125,336.50 203,309,780.00 10,433,524.00 12,936,170.00 48,787,010.00 428,569,830.00 10,648,880.00 36,665,380.00 616,742,308.00

0.0025 1.77 5.01 18.98 1.6200 1.6700 1.7 0.305 7.30 2.350 0.225 0.146 0.153 0.009 0.0096 1.45 6.19 1.4 0.4350 0.9200 0.0120 0.0120 6.22 17.12 0.0110 2.1800 37.30 0.0069

MINING & OIL 8,624,000,000 21,643,400.00 214,576,000 389,975,170.00 1,028,000 5,131,100.00 258,100 5,022,920.00 257,000 418,930.00 6,000 10,060.00 25,866,000 45,391,960.00 1,480,000 452,500.00 172,700 1,254,749.00 18,519,000 43,793,510.00 16,870,000 3,790,330.00 20,504,000 3,777,110.00 5,380,000 822,280.00 140,400,000 1,385,000.00 5,000,000 48,000.00 1,845,000 2,723,870.00 9,020,800 56,928,435.00 441,000 609,340.00 220,000 95,950.00 543,000 486,730.00 184,400,000 2,219,300.00 40,200,000 498,000.00 5,962,200 41,645,170.00 192,313,600 3,147,093,288.00 372,300,000 4,279,400.00 3,646,000 9,588,150.00 6,174,136 227,117,850.00 32,500,000 253,900.00

0.0023 1.49 4.96 17.80 1.6600 1.6900 1.7 0.310 7.35 2.400 0.195 0.148 0.158 0.009 0.0094 1.46 6.4 1.38 0.4400 0.8600 0.0130 0.0120 6.64 12.32 0.0110 2.0300 35.15 0.0068

1,878,368,000 13,576,000 1,131,000 82,000 92,000 6,000 9,871,000 2,610,000 69,500 12,730,000 1,070,000 39,454,000 15,250,000 39,000,000 1,000,000 2,085,000 8,920,100 542,000 150,000 1,093,000 272,800,000 1,300,000 3,879,400 89,414,000 76,300,000 205,000 6,540,100 17,000,000

5,289,200.00 20,407,870.00 5,615,540.00 1,173,376.00 157,620.00 10,140.00 16,523,660.00 817,650.00 524,933.00 31,519,850.00 209,060.00 6,830,670.00 2,347,120.00 356,000.00 9,400.00 3,051,350.00 56,939,594.00 737,870.00 66,250.00 946,680.00 3,352,300.00 15,600.00 25,352,892.00 1,022,760,431.00 861,900.00 418,900.00 232,547,415.00 118,100.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Alco Preferred B Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ DD PREF First Gen F First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I Swift Pref

31.45 108.9 501 516 103.6 103.5 111.5 505 520 6.16 1000 1005 101.6 1.03 108.4 1035 1100 1000 102 109 76.2 80 75.7 77 78 78.1 2.27

1,612,900 13,030 52,060 5,900 53,280 450 195,650 10,000 17,190 2,340,300 55,330 20,860 172,340 1,169,000 66,840 15,680 2,060 3,560 59,770 32,930 22,180 518,010 16,320 47,000 92,140 54,860 41,000

31.55 108 510 512 104 107.9 110.7

176,600 46,000 13,410 30,440 24,250 1,110 29,610

5,670,445.00 4,956,020.00 6,839,565.00 15,700,990.00 2,517,483.00 115,009.00 3,285,127.00

525 6 1005 1018 101.3 1.04 108.4 1041 1175 998 103 114 77 80 75.45 77 78 78 2.18

17,930 286,400 15 16,015 48,550 1,113,000 39,670 2,000 5 10,460 65,380 50 11,050 85,630 6,600 22,000 197,550 51,470 69,000

9,413,250.00 1,733,117.00 15,075.00 16,139,765.00 4,923,477.00 1,157,330.00 4,186,510.00 2,082,000.00 5,875.00 10,463,910.00 6,734,290.00 5,700.00 847,141.00 6,876,985.00 497,970.00 1,690,681.00 15,342,313.00 4,019,593.50 136,440.00

LR Warrant

2.280

WARRANTS & BONDS 1,767,000 4,045,740.00

2.260

3,300,000

7,567,000.00

2.8 5.83 3.94 3.5

45,000 17,755,700 15,150,000 8,251,000

127,300.00 108,870,833.00 74,159,270.00 30,923,620.00

PREFERRED 51,423,155.00 1,394,267.00 26,636,835.00 3,048,460.00 5,548,544.00 46,765.00 21,774,950.00 5,051,700.00 8,977,770.00 14,460,015.00 55,519,680.00 21,043,475.00 17,503,930.00 1,129,320.00 7,085,449.00 16,232,900.00 2,266,020.00 3,555,150.00 6,147,440.00 3,589,370.00 1,694,214.00 40,232,464.00 1,237,824.00 3,613,020.00 6,917,414.50 4,282,420.00 92,250.00

SME 134,810.00 312,747,205.00 10,282,060.00 38,985,240.00

Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Philab Holdings Xurpas

2.81 6.1 3.98 3.63

46,000 44,499,800 2,617,000 10,311,000

First Metro ETF

129.5

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 256,720 33,634,091.00

130

133,010

17,230,187.00

10.5 10.3

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 2,660 27,882.00 5,000 51,500.00

10.2 10.28

12,140 6,000

124,132.00 61,680.00

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining MRC Allied Ind. Apollo Global Crown Equities Inc. Transpacific Broadcast Philodrill Corp. `A’ NOW Corp.

Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Apex `A’ PhilexPetroleum

VOLUME 8,624,000,000 2,925,880,000 2,298,710,000 476,210,000 409,290,000 372,300,000 310,693,300 219,175,800 214,576,000 192,313,600

STOCKS NOW Corp.

PhilexPetroleum Ayala Land `B’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Prime Holdings Ayala Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Universal Robina Metrobank MRC Allied Ind.

VALUE 4,480,797,710.00 3,147,093,288.00 2,354,324,845.00 2,085,280,464.00 1,847,942,825.00 1,815,638,205.00 1,668,130,615.00 1,651,461,842.00 1,454,582,418.00 1,298,204,800.00

PSE pegs stock rights offering at P252 apiece THE Philippine Stock Exchange priced its stock rights offering at P252 per share that will enable the local bourse to raise as much as P2.89 billion to fund the planned acquisition of Philippine Dealing System and Holdings Corp.

The offer price represents a premium over the stock’s closing price of P236.2 on Friday.

BDO Capital and Investments Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said the pricing of the PSE rights offering “show the belief of investors in our capital markets.” BDO Capital is one of the underwriters handling the year.

“PSE will also raise the funds needed to close the acquisition of PDex,” Francisco added.

He noted a strong demand for the PSE rights offering from local institutional investors.

With the rights offering firmly underwritten by BDO Capital and First Metro Investments Corp., the PSE in a statement said the rights offering finally reduced the broker ownership in the exchange to below 20 percent as required by the Securities Regulation Code.

“This is a reform that has remained unresolved for many years. It took no less than (Finance) Secretary Dominguez to ensure that full compliance is finally achieved,” PSE chairman Jose Pardo said.

The PSE is offering 11.5 million shares to all its existing shareholders of record as of March 1, 2018. The offering period is set from March 12 to 16, 2018.

Broker shareholders will not be allowed to participate and subscribe to the shares to comply with the SRC provision that no single industry can own over 20 percent of the voting rights of a stock exchange.

“The road to compliance was a long multi-step process which concludes with the SRO. It took time as part of the process involved the revocation of the trading participant status of inactive brokers and this required a period of six months to afford said inactive brokers with due process,” PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon said.

SEC set to complete review of 2GO audit THE Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to complete its preliminary investigation on the auditing discrepancies involving the 2016 and 2015 financial statements of logistics firm 2GO Group Inc. SEC chairperson Teresita Herbosa said the special hearing panel conducting the investigation was set to present its findings before the end of February.

“They (special hearing panel) requested for additional time to complete their investigation. They will present their findings by the end of February,” Herbosa said.

The new management of 2GO, led by businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp. and SM Investments Corp., hired SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. to conduct an auditing review after taking over the logistics company in April.

A special audit of 2GO’s financial statements showed the accounts in the previously audited financials required a restatement “to ensure fair presentation of financial statements and establish accountabilities”.

Based on the restated 2016 and 2015 financial statements of the company, 2GO posted profits of P344 million and P109.1 million, respectively.

The restated figures are significantly lower than the net incomes of P1.33 billion posted in 2016 and P1.08 billion in 2015 earlier filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

RG Manabat, the local partner of international accounting firm KPMG, was the auditors of the 2016 and 2015 financial statements of 2GO Group.

Former 2GOGroup Inc. chief Sulficio Tagud Jr. denied the allegations.

The SEC in July launched an investigation into the financial reporting issue.

The SEC’s Market and Securities Regulation Department and Office of General Accountant sought an explanation and clarification on the issue from the previous management of 2Go led by Tagud, RG Manabat and SGV. Jenniffer B. Austria

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

Business/World

TODAY

B3

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

UN backs Syria ceasefire U US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the council after the vote, accusing Moscow of stalling.

“As they dragged out the negotiations, the bombs from Assad’s fighter jets continued to fall. In the three days it took us to adopt this resolution, how many mothers lost their kids to the bombing and the shelling?”

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia rejected accusations of footdragging, saying that negotiations were needed to arrive at a demand for a ceasefire that was “feasible.”

“What is necessary is for the demands of the Security Council to be underpinned by concrete on-theground agreements,” he said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has described Eastern Ghouta as “hell on Earth,” said the ceasefire must be “immediately” implemented.

To win Russia’s approval, language specifying that the ceasefire would start 72 hours after adoption was scrapped, replaced by “without delay,” and the term “immediate” was dropped in refer-

NITED NATIONS―The UN Security Council has unanimously demanded a 30-day ceasefire in Syria, as the new air strikes on the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta took the civilian death toll from seven days of bombing to more than 500.

With support from Russia, the Security Council adopted a resolution on the ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid deliveries and medical evacuations, but the measure did not specify when the truce would go into force beyond saying it should be “without delay.”

After the council vote on Saturday, Syrian warplanes backed by Russian air power launched new raids on a town in Eastern Ghouta, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least 127 children are among the 519 dead in the bombing campaign that the regime launched last Sunday on the rebel enclave, just outside Damascus, the British-based monitor said.

At least 41 civilians were killed in Saturday’s strikes, including eight children. Russia has denied taking part

in the assault.

Quickly following up on the vote, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak by phone on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for the truce to take hold “in the coming days,” the Elysee palace said in a statement.

To this end France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will also go to Moscow on Tuesday.

The UN vote was initially expected to be held Thursday, but was repeatedly delayed as diplomats were locked in tough negotiations to avoid a veto from Russia, which is militarily supporting President Bashar Al-Assad.

“Every minute the council waited on Russia, the human suffering grew,”

The dark triad in a different light REAL CARPIO SO

“It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars.”

—Richard Evans)

GREEN LIGHT

IN GREEK mythology, Narcissus saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it. He stared at his reflection until he died.

Narcissists are persons who are “characterized by an excessive love for themselves, have a sense of entitlement, are attentionseeking and display exploitative behavior and feeling of superiority... tend to view others as inferior beings and believe that they are uniquely special and thus entitled to attention and praise... ” Often, narcissists are poor listeners. They only listen for the kind of information they seek. They feel superior. They don’t easily learn from others. In the guise of teaching, they indoctrinate. They shape subordinates into pale reflections of themselves. They often dominate discourse and discussions in meetings. In the pretext of teamwork, narcissists insist that the group agree with them.

However, narcissists are often the ones who see the big picture.

They are not keen on analysis. Rather than understanding the future, they seek to create it. Because they crave to be the center of attention, they are skillful communicators. As a result, they are able to present a compelling vision of the future that attracts a strong following.

In The Productive Narcissist, American psychoanalyst Michael Maccoby argues that narcissism is a positive trait primarily for two reasons: narcissists are “visionaries who foresee compelling concepts and strategies for the company, and they are able to articulate a vision well and therefore build strong followership.”

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat and politician. Without his meaning to, he gained recognition for his book The Prince.

Machiavellianism is used to “define manipulative and cunning personalities who use any means necessary to achieve one’s aims... they are politically oriented, seek to have control over followers, use impression management tactics and are deceptive for self-benefit... tend to be cold, callous, insincere, and manipulative.”

In fiction and in reality, Machiavellian characters exhibit duplicity in their thoughts, speech and actions. Often masquerading themselves as noble, they lie and manipulate others. Self-interest is the only raison d’ etre, with the end justifying the means. Without burden of morality, everything is all part of a master plan to gain or maintain power and influence.

Wary of sycophants, Machiavellians ironically dislike being flattered. Preferring to be feared than loved, they set clear objectives that have to be strictly met. Quick and decisive, they waste no time on excess study and analysis. Having cultivated friends in ‘high places,’ they often have first access to information.

Psychopath is a term that is usually associated with negative connotations. It includes “a range of personality traits such as grandiosity, egocentricity, deceptiveness, lack of empathy and remorse, impulsivity, irresponsibility, and a tendency to violate social norms... greatly impulsive, have low remorse and tend to be thrill seekers... tend to engage in anti-social behaviors.”

Clinically, psychopaths exhibit characteristics of boldness, disinhibition, and meanness. They have high tolerance for stress, unfamiliarity and danger. They are often high in self-confidence and social assertiveness. However, they lack planning and foresight, and could not control their urges. They demand immediate gratification, and have poor behavioral restraints. Moreover, they lack empathy and close attachment with others.

In The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us about Success, Oxford researcher Kevin Dutton argues that psychopaths are “poised to perform well under pressure... just the sort of people we can count on in a crisis.”

With fearlessness, a psychopath is not paralyzed when others are troubled or fearful. He is assertive and seldom procrastinates. Because of his lack of empathy, he is able to analyze situations objectively. With no burden of human sentimentality, a psychopath does not take things personally, and decides based purely on available data and cold facts.

A narcissist may crave attention. He may use charisma to seek prestige and status. But he is a visionary. A Machiavellian may use flattery to influence others. He may employ deception and subterfuge to get desired results. But he is skilled in negotiation and is good in forming alliances. A psychopath may be impulsive. He may often tend to antagonize. But he often tests the limits and is bold in taking risks.

In psychology and organizational behavior, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are collectively known as the Dark Triad. They have long been maligned as malevolent and harmful.

It’s time to look at them in a different light.

Real Carpio So lectures on strategy and human resource management at the Management and Organization Department of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University.

He is also an entrepreneur and a management consultant. He welcomes comments at realwalksonwater@gmail.com. Archives can be accessed at realwalksonwater.wordpress.com. The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

ence to aid deliveries and evacuations.

In another concession to Moscow, the ceasefire will not apply to operations against the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda, along with “individuals, groups, undertakings and entities” associated with the terror groups.

That would allow the Syrian government offensive to continue against AlQaeda-linked jihadists in Idlib, the last province in Syria outside the control of Damascus.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said it was now important to ensure the ceasefire turns into reality on the ground, vowing to be “extremely vigilant... in the hours to come and the days to come.”

“Nothing would be worse than seeing this resolution remain a dead letter,” he said.

Russia has vetoed 11 draft resolutions throughout the Syrian conflict to block action that targeted its ally. In November, it used its veto to end a UNled investigation of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. AFPIn Eastern Ghouta, news of the UN vote on the ceasefire was greeted with a shrug. AFP

Endangered elephants protected KUALA GANDAH―A herd of elephants tramp through jungle before lumbering into a river under the watchful gaze of their keepers, training at a Malaysian sanctuary for their vital work in reducing human-animal conflict.

The sanctuary in Kuala Gandah, central Malaysia, is an area of secluded rain forest where the “mahouts”―as the keepers are known―care for a 26-strong group of endangered Asian elephants.

A handful were rescued after suffering injuries or being orphaned, but most of them have been domesticated and trained to aid the National Elephant Conservation Center’s effort to help elephants who become embroiled in conflicts with humans.

They accompany a highly-trained team on their missions to find and subdue fellow pachyderms whose habitats have been encroached on, and are putting themselves and villagers at risk.

Since the center started operations about 30 years ago, its staff have relocated more than 700 wild elephants, taking them away from inhabited areas and deep into the jungle.

Malaysia is home to vast tracts of rain forest and a kaleidoscope of exotic wildlife from elephants to orangutans and tigers, but the numbers of many rare species have fallen dramatically in recent decades.

Some have been hunted for their body parts that are then sold on the black market, but a growing number are falling victim to human-animal conflict―which happens when the rapid expansion of plantations or development of settlements

encroaches on animals’ natural habitats.

Many elephants in Malaysia have been injured or killed after coming into contact with humans when they wander onto the country’s ubiquitous palm oil plantations, or enter settlements and eat crops.

Villagers and plantation workers sometimes target them, viewing them as pests and not realizing they are endangered and protected by law.

One elephant among the herd at the 30acre (12-hectare) sanctuary, Selendang, lost part of its leg after it was caught in a snare trap, and has been fitted with a prosthetic limb.

On a recent visit to the center, a dozen of the resident elephants marched in single file with their trunks swinging as their mahouts put them through the paces during a morning workout.

They emitted trumpeting sounds before splashing into a river, where the mahouts scrubbed their bellies and trunks.

There are believed AUCTION SALE to be some 1,200 wild CINTHY PAWNSHOP Asian elephants in All unredeemed pledges peninsular Malaysia, during the month of 2017 will be down from as many OCTOBER sold to public auction as 1,700 in 2011. on: MARCH 24, 2018 MESA – 8:00 AM # “If their remaining STA. 3630 Ramon Magsaysay habitat faces rapid de- Blvd. Sta. Mesa, Manila JUAN LANUZA & forestation, I think be- at SONS- AUCTIONEER fore the end of the century, there will be no more wild elephants AUCTION SALE left,” warned Ahimsa PENTHOUSE PAWNSHOP Campos-Arceiz, a All unredeemed pledges Malaysia-based elduring the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be ephant expert. AFP sold to public auction

The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act CY 2018 intends to apply the amount of One Hundred Fifteen Million Two Hundred Forty Two Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Four Philippine Pesos (PhP115,242,924.00) for the project listed below. Bids received in excess of each ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening: Name of Contract

Procurement of Syphilis Antibody Rapid Diagnostic Test Procurement of IB No. 2018-158 Hepatitis B Viral Load Reagents Procurement of Point IB No. 2018-159 of Care HIV Viral Load Reagents TOTAL IB No. 2018-157

2.

ABC (PHP)

Cost of Bidding Documents (Php)

58,500,000.00

50,000.00

37,992,924.00

25,000.00

18,750,000.00

25,000.00

Single Largest Completed Contract At least Twenty Five Percent (25%) of the ABC within the specified period in the Section III. Bid Data Sheet

115,242,924.00

The DOH now invites Bids from eligible Bidders for the procurement of the above-caption projects.

Delivery of the Goods as specified in Section VI. Schedule of Requirements. Bidders should have completed, within the specified years from the date of submission and receipt of bids a contracts similar to each of the above-cited procurement projects stated in the Bidding Documents. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/ fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the COBAC Secretariat, G/F, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound, Sta. Cruz, Manila and inspect the Bidding Documents at 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents for each procurement package listed above may be acquired by interested bidders on 26 February to 20 March 2018 from the address above and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB Resolution No. 04-2012, dated 24 February 2012, in the amount specified above.

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

Bidding Documents Fee may be refunded in accordance with the aforementioned Guidelines based on the grounds provided for under Section 41 of 2016 Revised IRR of RA 9184.

6.

The DOH will hold a Pre-Bid Conference and the Submission and Opening of Bids at the COBAC Conference Room, G/F, Building 6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound, Rizal Avenue, Sta. Cruz, Manila, which shall be opened to all interested parties on the schedule given below: IB No.

Name of Contract

IB No. 2018-157

Procurement of Syphilis Antibody Rapid Diagnostic Test Procurement of Hepatitis B Viral Load Reagents Procurement of Point of Care HIV Viral Load Reagents

IB No. 2018-158 IB No. 2018-159

7.

Activity (Date & Time) Pre-bidding Conference Submission and Opening of Bids

06 March 2018; 10:00 AM

20 March 2018; 09:00 AM

Bids must Bids must be delivered to the address stated below. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated below: (a) (b)

(c)

(d)

Form of Bid Security Cash, Cashier’s/manager’s check issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank.

Bank draft/guarantee or irrevocable letter of credit issued by a Universal or Commercial Bank: Provided, however, that it shall be confirmed or authenticated by a Universal or Commercial Bank, if issued by a foreign bank.

Surety bond callable upon demand issued by a surety or insurance company duly certified by the Insurance Commission as authorized to issue such security.

Bid Securing Declaration

Amount of Bid Security (Not less than the required percentage of the ABC)

Two percent (2%)

Five percent (5%) No percentage required

Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

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

9.

For further information, please refer to: COBAC-C Secretariat Department of Health San Lazaro Compound Sta. Cruz, Manila Tel. Nos. 651-7800 local 1625 to 1627; 1650 to 52 Facsimile No.: 741-9775; 740-6830

(MS-FEB. 26, 2018)

on MARCH 3, 2018 at BETTER - 8:00 AM at # 82 Betterliving Subd. Parañaque City at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

INVITATION TO BID PROCUREMENT OF VARIOUS GOODS

IB No.

PHNOM PENH―Voting for Cambodia’s Senate began Sunday in an election decried by critics as a “farce”, with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party set to dominate months after the country’s only viable opposition party was dissolved.

The vestiges of Cambodia’s democratic project crumbled late last year when Hun Sen oversaw a crackdown on the press, civil society and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was disbanded in a court ruling not long after its leader Kem Sokha was arrested on treason charges.

Though the Senate vote arouses little interest in Cambodia because the upper house is seen as a rubber-stamp body and candidates are elected by other officials rather than the public, the result is a clear prelude to the national poll set for July.

“We expect to win overwhelmingly,” CPP spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP, brushing off allegations that the election is undemocratic.

“CPP is regretful that we lost a main challenger but we cannot help them because they violated the law,” he said, referring to the opposition party.

The majority of the 62-seat Senate body is elected by thousands of local commune councilors and members of the National Assembly.

But the opposition CNRP will have no say as its parliamentary and commune seats were redistributed to other parties following the dissolution in November.

The CPP now holds more than 95 percent of the commune councilor positions, comfortably enough to sweep the vote.

A total of four groups, including the royalist Funcinpec Party, are contesting the poll.

It is the first time that the Senate election is being held without a main opposition party. The six-yearterm Senate was formed in 1999 and its first election was held in 2006.

Opposition figure Sam Rainsy, who helped cofound the CNRP, said in a statement from abroad that the Senate election was a “farce” and urged the international community to condemn it. Western democracies and rights groups have slammed Hun Sen’s effort to clear out rivals.

The EU and the US have pulled support for the election in July, while Germany has suspended preferential visa treatment for private travel for Hun Sen and his family.

Sebastian Strangio, author of “Hun Sen’s Cambodia,” said the main effect of the CPP’s recent clampdown “has been simply to remove the pretense [of a functional democracy] and entrench a new era of less apologetic one-party domination.” AFP

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

Republic of the Philippines Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE 1.

Cambodia’s Senate election proceeds with no opposition

(SGD) MARIA FRANCIA M. LAXAMANA, MD, MHSA, CHS Assistant Secretary of Health COBAC - C Chairperson

AUCTION SALE P O B CASA D E E M PE Ñ O S All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 9, 2018 at the ff. branches: ST. FRANCIS - 10:30 AM at # 40 Kingfisher St., St. Francis, Meycauayan, Bulacan POBLACION – 11:30 AM # 721 Barrera St., Poblacion, Baliuag, Bulacan at JUAN LANUZA & SONSAUCTIONEER

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

AUCTION SALE TAMCAR PAWNSHOP CORP. All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 7, 2018 at the ff. branches: BUSTILLOS -2:00 PM at # L2522-28 Road 216, Earnshaw Bustillos, Manila MARCH 10, 2018 at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER ( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

AUCTION SALE PEARLAS PAWNSHOP CO., INC. All unredeemed pledges during the month of O C TO B E R 2 0 1 7 w i l l b e sold to public auction on M A R C H 0 3 , 2 0 1 8 a t t h e ff . branches: MONTILLANO - 12:30 PM at 249 Montillano St., Alabang, Muntinlupa City MARCH 6, 2018 SUMULONG – 9:00 AM # 24 Sumulong Hway Sto. Niño, Marikina City CONCEPCION – 10:00 AM # 1 9 B a y a n B a y a n a n Av e . , Concepcion, Marikina City MARCH 7, 2018 G. N U E V O – 9 : 0 0 A M Ta n H o c k B l d g . , C o r. E D S A , Makati City MARCH 10, 2 0 1 8 B . B A R R I O - 11 : 3 0 A M # 3 5 M a l o l o s Av e . , B. Barrio, Caloocan City MARCH 9, 2018 VA L E N Z U E L A – 1 2 : 0 0 P M # 11 5 F a u s t i n o S t . , Punturin, Va l e n z u e l a City at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER ( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

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.

AUCTION SALE

AUCTION SALE

NORTHERN LEGASPI

N.C. TAMBUNTING

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 10, 2018 at NAVOTAS - 2:30 PM at # 256 Champaca St., Navotas Metro Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 6, 2018 at PATEROS - 8:00 AM at # M. Almeda Cor. B. Morcilla St., Pateros, Metro Manila at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

AUCTION SALE

AUCTION SALE

WESTCHESTER

RACATAM PAWNSHOP CO., INC.

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 7, 2018 at the ff. branches: HERRAN 8:00 AM at # 1101 P. Gil St., Paco, Manila STA. ANA – 10:00 AM # 390 AP Reyes Cor. JP Rizal St., Makati City at JUAN LANUZA & SONSAUCTIONEER

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 7, 2018 at the ff. branches: BLUMENTRITT – 10:30 AM #1687 M. Hizon St., Blumentritt, Manila VARONA – 8:30 AM 1872 F. VARONA ST., BRGY 95, ZONE 8, TONDO, MANILA MARCH 24, 2018 at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

AUCTION SALE

AUCTION SALE

CITRINE PAWNSHOP CO., INC All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 3, 2018 at RITZ - 12:00 PM at Stall # New Muntinlupa Public Market, Alabang Muntinlupa City JUAN LANUZA & SONSAUCTIONEER

PANG NEGOSYO PAWNSHOP

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 07, 2018 at the ff. branches: COUNTRYSIDE - 12:30 PM at 49 Countryside Ave., Sta. Lucia, Pasig City JUNCTION – 2:30 PM # Star Valley Plaza Mall, Junction at JUAN LANUZA & SONSAUCTIONEER

AUCTION SALE

AUCTION SALE

LUIROM PAWNSHOP CO., INC. All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 03, 2018 at the ff. branches: SUCAT - 9:00 AM at #3 Dr., A. Santos Ave., Sucat, Parañaque City MUNTI – 1:30 PM #659 National Road, Poblacion St., Muntinlupa City MARCH 07, 2018 SAN JOAQUIN – 1:30 PM # 9 M. Concepcion San Joaquin, Pasig City MARCH 10, 2018 10TH AVE. – 2:00 PM # 245-B 10TH Ave., Brgy., 60 Zone 6, Caloocan City MARCH 10, 2018 MARILAO – 1 PM #5 NETWORK AVE., MERALCO VILL. LIAS MARILAO BULACAN MARCH 7, 2018 GAGALANGIN – 8:45 AM #2 JUAN LUNA ST., COR. GUIDO ST., TONDO MANILA MARCH 24, 2018 STO NIÑO – 9:30 AM #30 ST., THERESE COR, ST. PETER, P3 STO NIÑO MEYCAUAN BULACAN at JUAN LANUZA & SONSAUCTIONEER

MAKATI LUXURY JEWELRY PAWNSHOP CO.,

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

All unredeemed pledges during the month of OCTOBER 2017 will be sold to public auction on MARCH 03, 2018 at BF Homes – 10:00 AM # 43 President’s Ave., BF Homes, Parañaque City SPL - 3:00 PM at Casa Hacienda San Pedro, Laguna on MARCH 07, 2018 at the ff. branches: ROMULO - 10:00 AM at 135 13TH Ave., Cor. P. Tuazon, Cubao, QC SANTOLAN – 4:00 PM 526 ADR Bldg., Dela Paz, Santolan, Pasig City on MARCH 7, 2018 JP RIZAL – 11:00 AM # 529 Olympia St., JP Rizal, Makati City ALPHALAND – 5:00 PM G11 South Gate Towers, P. Tamo Ext., Makati City MANUELA – 3:00 PM G/F Starmall, Wack2, Mandaluyong City MARCH 10, 2018 RETIRO - 12:30 PM # 270 N.S. amoranto Street, Retiro QC. ROTONDA – 2:00 PM # 1 Sto. Tomas St., Rotonda QC at JUAN LANUZA & SONS- AUCTIONEER ( M S - F E B . 2 6 , 2 0 18 )

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

B4

LocaL government units

monday, february 26, 2018

SBMA, Thai firm OK feasibility study of major infra projects

By Butch Gunio

STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS. At least 26 high-end cut flower bedecked floats joined this year’s Panagbenga Festival Parade in Baguio City. Dave Leprozo Jr.

Belmonte touts success rate of ‘Tindahan’ push

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Sunday cited the high success rate of her livelihood program through the “Tindahan ni Ate Joy.” She said since its launch in 2012, the program has produced hundreds of successful entrepreneurs with almost 1,000 solo parents now operating their own variety stores.

With a success rate of 85 percent, the livelihood program has achieved its purpose of providing economic empowerment to solo parents, mostly women, who have no one else to depend on in raising their children, she added.

“This is one of my flagship programs, my favorite. Our program’s success rate is now at high 85 percent,” she said.

Under the “Tindahan ni Ate Joy,” a qualified solo parent is granted P10,000 worth of grocery merchandise as a startup business support.

“These are the women who got widowed, separated from their husbands, or were abandoned by their spouses for another,” Belmonte said.

“They were left with the burden of raising their family alone, so we came up with a [livelihood] program to help them stand up,” she added.

Unemployed solo parents, living with school-age children, between 30 and 60 years old, and members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. are entitled to the program as the program provides trainings and seminars about entrepreneurship.

She said, however, there have a few unsuccessful, adding “they were unsuccessful because of natural calamities not because of their personal shortcoming.”

Previously, Belmonte on Friday called on barangay chairperson to refrain from recruiting inept watchmen or barangay public safety officers as “political accommodations.”

She said the village watchmen are the communities’ first line of defense and are supposed to be the active partners of law enforcement authorities in crime prevention and emergency response.

“We encourage our punong barangay not to recruit BPSOs just for political accommodations,” she said.

“We all know the Filipino culture— [in] giving political accommodations to those who have helped,” she added.

The shortage in the number of policemen assigned in Quezon City could be offset by the presence of barangay watchmen, who should be physically and mentally fit for the job, she said.

Marawi students back to school via LEAP plan M

ARAWI CITY—Back-to-school season starts here this month with a study grant package for students returning to college and even to learners at secondary and grade school levels, thanks to the Lanao Sur Educational Assistance Program.

Classes at lower school levels have fallen behind schedule due to the recent war here and in nearby areas against a Daesh-styled home-grown terror group.

College classes reopened from a semester break just in time for the new school year calendar starting in September.

Lanao Sur Governor Bedjoria Soraya Alonto-Adiong said the provincial government has earmarked local support fund into the LEAP and opened the program to competitive exams for poorand-deserving students among families displaced by the recent war.

To the Maranaos, there’s nothing like education. Lanao del Sur hosts in this city the main campus of the Mindanao

State University, the island’s biggest state learning institution.

In one of his seven visits at the height of the war last year, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said, “only those who understand how much we care for the future of the Moro youth will understand why we have to wage this war even at the cost of the lives of the soldiers dying.”

Awarding of financial study grant continued Sunday from last week for 1,184 students of different public and private schools, who passed the LEAP exams, said Jennie Alonto Tamano, head of the Provincial Public Information Office.

Tamano said 724 elementary pupils passed, while 275 high school learners

and 185 college students have made it to the LEAP financial study grant competitive exams.

College students each received P2,000 in monthly financial study grant paid retroactively from October, the weeks after the second semester classes began. Also receiving three months each of P1,000 monthly stipend were 275 high school students and P 500 monthly each for three months to 724 elementary pupils.

Alonto Adiong said the LEAP forms part of the Seven-Point Agenda of her administration to directly provide financial grant support for education of children born and raised among poor families.

“The program is also envisioned to protect our children from some scheming recruitment advanced by extremist groups in the guise of offering them overseas scholarship program,” she said. Nash B. Maulana

WETLAND CLEANUP.

Senator Cynthia A. Villar and MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim lead the cleanup activity at the Las PiñasParañaque Wetland park during the celebration of the World Wetlands Day 2018. The senator says the wetland as a tourism site offers a unique experience, where visitors are encouraged to participate in volunteer activities such as cleanups, tree planting and watering, while appreciating its wonders.

The 500 participants from different organizations also engaged in bird watching and a nature walk. Lino Santos

The city government shall recognize public elementary and secondary schools with the “healthy” school cafeterias, he said.

The healthiest public-school cafeterias will be given cash rewards, he added.

To be able to receive the healthiest public-school canteens award, the school must score at least 80 percent of the overall rating based on the criteria in the ruling provided by the city council, such as the

securing of sanitary and health permits, good grooming and personal hygiene of canteen personnel, adherence to food safety and proper waste management.

The school with the highest rating will receive a P10,000 cash award to be utilized for the promotion of student health, refurbishing of the school canteen, and procurement of equipment and supplies for the canteen’s improvement. Rio N. Araja

Pag-IBIG reports 2017 records at NCR forum PAG-IBIG Fund apprised its stakeholders and partner-developers in the National Capital Region of its recordbreaking 2017 accomplishments during a forum held in Makati City.

“We’ve been holding this bi-annual event for four consecutive years now to regularly report to our stakeholders the Fund’s performance, particularly in home financing. We also recognize our top partner-developers who contributed in terms of quality accounts and helped us meet our goals.

“This is in support of the transparency and good governance directives of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the BALAI Filipino (Building Adequate, Livable, Affordable, and Inclusive Filipino Communities) program of Pag-IBIG Fund and Housing and Urban Development Coor-

dinating Council (HUDCC) Chairperson Eduardo D. del Rosario,” said Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti.

Deputy CEO Marilene C. Acosta reported the 2017 home loan accomplishments, with NCR contributing the biggest share in the corporation’s total housing loan takeout value at P27.7 billion or 42.5 percent of the record-breaking total P65.1-billion takeout values in 2017. This translates to 40,815 units built or purchased in 2017 in NCR out of the total 80,964 units built nationwide.

“I am positive that our low-income members will be encouraged to get a home loan and take advantage of our lowest ever 3 percent per annum interest rate for a P450,000 loan under the Affordable Housing Program. Regular Housing in-

Tacloban City takes care of garbage issue

By Robbie Pangilinan

QC to award healthiest public-school canteens QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has signed a measure institutionalizing the giving of awards to the healthiest public-school canteens.

He backed City Ordinance 2594 of 2017 authored by Councilors Julienne Alyson Rae Medina of District 5 and Irene Belmonte of District 4 seeks to acknowledge public school canteens that offer the healthiest food choices for students.

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangkok-based Mahanakorn Partners Group Co., Ltd. for the conduct of studies on the viability of various infrastructure projects proposed for construction inside this premier Freeport.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma and MPG managing partner Luca Bernardinetti on Tuesday signed the agreement here that would allow MPG to conduct studies free of charge on infrastructure undertakings under the proposed “Greater Subic Bay Freeport Multimodal Transport and Access and Logistics Support Projects.”

According to Eisma, the proposed projects are in support of President Duterte’s “Ten Point Agenda” to accelerate infrastructure spending and pumpprime economic development through productivity, trade and investment.

“The projects focus on the different infrastructure developments to be established in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to catalyze its upgrading towards being a premier free port zone in Asia and the Pacific,” Eisma said.

“We want to help resolve congestion at the Port of Manila and ease traffic gridlock in the metropolis while shifting the momentum of development north toward the corridor of new wealth in Subic and Clark,” she added.

Eisma said that Subic and Clark are now at the epicenter of development as drivers of economic growth in the country.

Part of the study to be conducted will focus on the proposed construction of a 17.273-kilometer bypass road connecting the Subic seaport terminals directly to the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway to provide exclusive routes for cargoes brought in and out of Subic Freeport.

Another project for study is the proposal to build a 17-kilometer bypass road Subic seaport to Segment 7 of the North Luzon Expressway, a two-lane cargo trucks expressway and railway system, and a 25-kilometer bypass road from Tipo Road in Bataan to Castillejos, Zambales en route to the Redondo Peninsula to open a 3,000-hectare new industrial site.

terest rate is also at the lowest ever rate of 5.375 percent per annum for a one-year fixed re-pricing period,” Ms. Acosta said.

Meanwhile, CEO Moti presented the 2017 record-breaking operational highlights that include the highest ever gross income of P43.33 billion, record-high net income of P30.27 billion, first-ever P27.29 billion declared dividends and the highest ever dividend rate of 7.61 percent.

“This is our gift to our 17.65 million members, the owners of the Fund. Because of their faithful contributions and availment of our programs, Pag-IBIG Fund is now a P488.74-billion corporation, with a total of P36 billion in members’ savings.

As a result, we were able to raise the dividend rate to 7.61 percent, the highest so far in the Fund’s history,” CEO Moti added.

NEW TRUCK. Hans Sy, president of SM

Prime Holdings Inc. turns over a brand-new fire truck (inset) to Charles Yu, president of the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire brigade in Pasay City on Thursday. The new fire truck was named ‘SM Tanker’ in honor of the SM Mall of Asia. Norman Cruz

MAYOR Cristina Gonzales Romualdez created a composite team to address garbage issues in six areas of the city where garbage collection is most problematic.

Garbage monitoring units were set up at Congressman Artemio Mate Ave., Real St. (in front of St. Peter), Sagkahan (near Astrodome), San Jose (near the airport), Burayan (near Algo Homes) and Abucay.

“The city government is serious about maintaining a clean, green, and resilient city after experiencing the destruction brought by the 2013 Super Typhoon “Yolanda.” This is top priority,” said Mayor Romualdez, who has mobilized the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, the Solid Management and implementing partner city offices to immediately enforce they city ordinance.

The monitoring team’s tasks include: educating residents on proper waste disposal and warning the public to not throw garbage outside the assigned collection hours. Offenders will face penalty charges and fines.

The 134 barangays of Tacloban will also undergo an orientation workshop on Solid Waste Management so they can create a Solid Waste Management Plan.

Life

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

food

monday, february 26, 2018

C1

Get to know

6 different kinds of Scotch Barman-turned-Diageo Scotch whisky ambassador Ervin Trykowski recently hosted an exclusive masterclass on different types of Scotch, in celebration of the International Scotch Day. During the class, Trykowski talked about six of the world’s favorite Scotch brands today. Here are the notes on the featured labels:

Johnnie Walker Black Label lso known as the “Iconic Blend,” Johnnie Walk Walkalso er Black Label is recognized as the benchmark for all other deluxe Scotch blends. Created using only whiskies aged for a minimum of 12 years from the four corners of Scotland.

It is rich, complex, and incredibly well-balanced; full of dark fruits, sweet vanilla, and signature smokiness. a popular serve for this brand is the Johnnie Ginger, which consists of Johnnie Walker Black Label and ginger ale.

Master barista Fabrizio Aquè prepares an espresso during the opening of illycaffè’s third branch in the Philippines.

Italian treasure in every cup

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Johnnie Walker Gold Label reserve, also known as the “Celebration Blend,” is the perfect fit for indulgent celebrations and the ideal whisky for Scotch-based cocktails.

Known for its creamy smoothness, it opens with a luxurious burst of delicate nectar and gentle smokiness that develops into sweet fruits and deeper, velvety, honeyed tones before giving way to sublime, lingering whispers of smoke and oakiness in the finish.

Cappuccino made with illy espresso and high-quality, fresh milk

B

LaCK as night and sweet as sin. This was how neil Gaiman, in Anansi Boys, described coffee – that universal wake-me-up, pick-me-up, go-to-drink for most people, and Filipinos are no exception to this. according to the Philippine Coffee Board Inc., coffee consumption is rising among Filipinos in all forms, be it roasted or ground, instant or specialty.

In 2017, coffee consumption stood at 170,000 metric tons, of which less than a fourth is covered by local production.

It came as no surprise then that Italy’s premium coffee brand, illy, opened last week another location at Paseo Center, one of makati’s most active business hubs.

“Coffee has become an integral part of the Filipino lifestyle,” said Joey Esteban, president of Delizio Fine Foods Inc., the exclusive distributor of illy in the country.

“We open our third store at a unique time. People are identifying with the brand. Coffee has become an affordable luxury,” added Esteban.

The new location reflects the shift toward a younger, quirkier, and more comfortable vibe of the renovated first two branches – the first at rockwell and the second at mall of asia. “illy has been accepted in the Philippines. Our coffee is more balanced.

There is no need to cover up acidity. If anything, what we offer is consistency in every single cup for our global market,” said Esteban. andrew nathan, general manager

of illy for asia-Pacific, said the company’s 85-year-old heritage ensures a unique taste and fragrant aroma recognized by coffee connoisseurs around the world as the “treasure of Italian coffee” in every cup.

The company, illycaffè, produces and markets only one blend of highquality coffee worldwide made from nine kinds of pure arabica coming from South america, Central america, India, africa, and China.

“Taste and aroma are always the same in each cup of coffee sipped in any country of the planet,” added nathan. and that global market covers almost 7 million cups of illy coffee enjoyed every day all over the world, sold in more than 140 countries and available in over 100,000 of the best restaurants and bars.

Globally renowned master barista trainer Fabrizio aquè, a graduate of illy’s very own Università del Caffè that is responsible for training budding baristas within asia-Pacific, attended the event and held an exclusive media hour at the Paseo Center branch, the largest among the three Philippine-based branches. aquè invited guests to appreciate espresso and the classic cappuccino the Italian way, which means using proper cups and serving it with a side of biscotti, a tradition Marocchino caldo: a shot glass with a bottom layer of hot chocolate, illy espresso that illycaffè respects. dusted with cocoa, and topped with hot “Our aim is not to open hundreds of frothed milk branches in the Philippines. What we offer is for people who want to expe“When the founder of illy started the rience a higher expression of Italian company in 1933 in Trieste, Italy, he had coffee,” said Esteban. a singular vision of coming up with the best coffee in the world,” said nathan.

I’m at joyce.panares@gmail.com.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Known as the “rare Blend,” Johnnie Walker Blue Label contains mature malt Whiskies that present a multi-layered symphony of flavors that work together in harmonious balance.

Jim Beveridge, the master blender, selects from rare casks from the Speyside and Highland distilleries that include fruity and delicated Cardhu and Clynellish, with flavors of honey and fresh fruits; warm rounded Benrinnes delivering rich spicy notes; and wonderful Islay malts including Caol Ila for the unmistakable signature Johnnie Walker smokiness.

Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old made with spring water so pure its stream was unlawfully diverted on a number of occasions, Dufftown’s signature smooth whiskies are achieved by a secret combination of both american and European oak casks.

The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old, which hails from the Speyside region, is an easy to enjoy whisky with a smooth nutty and dried fruits profile.

Dalwhinnie Distillers Edition Dalwhinnie embodies the gentle spirit of the Highlands, offering delicate floral aromas, wispy hints of heather, and a soft, subtle finish. It is double-matured in Oloroso casks.

It has a rich sherry-sweetness, spicy complexity, and a very dry oaky finish.

Talisker 10 Espresso freddo shakerato: double illy espresso with liquid sugar

Affogato al caffè: illy espresso topped with thick, dense ice cream and whipped cream with cocoa powder.

The most award-winning malt in its class, the Talisker 10 is the only malt bottled at 45.8 percent aBV. Its unique, smoky-sweet and powerful characteristics make it easy to recognize. It has a powerful peat-smoke with sea-water saltiness nose, the smell of the liquor of fresh oysters, and a citrus sweetness, creating a huge, long, warming, and peppery finish.

During his masterclass, Trykowski said, “Smoky, fruity, honeyed, the list goes on—Scotch has such an expansive reach in flavor and quality, and every sip is a discovery.”

Life

C2

monday, february 26, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

DeLiCiOUs DisHes. The east coast of Singapore is home to some of the culinary gems in the country, such as, (from left) Fish Ball Story’s bowl of handmade fish balls, fish cakes, and noodles, US Beef Prime Rib Eye at Garang Grill, and laksa at 328 Katong Laksa.

E

Culinary gems in Singapore’s east coast

VERy day, tourists arrive at the Changi International Airport and quickly head to the city center for main attractions like the Gardens by the Bay, Universal Studios Singapore, or the Singapore Flyer. what they don’t realize is that on their way there, they also pass by Singapore’s east coast, a nest full of culinary gems in a quiet residential area.

Being an enthusiastic foodie who loves looking for hidden treasures, celebrity and vlogger Mikael Daez easily discovered that there is more to Singapore’s east coast than meets the eye.

There was no better match for Daez’ spunk and spontaneity than Passion Personality Bjorn Shen, a renowned rebel chef who has been known for his fearless culinary creativity with his restaurant, Artichoke, one of Singapore’s top restaurants. with the help of his trusty food guide, Daez went on a gastronomic journey unlike any other.

As the 30-year-old commercial model ventured on Singapore’s east side, he saw that visitors will be spoilt with choices that cater to their every craving, like mouth-watering boneless chicken rice at the Katong Shopping Centre or rich shrimp noodles at Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House, and a whole lot more.

Here are some of the cool places Daez, together with Shen, discovered on this side of the Lion City: First up on their food-filled itinerary was 328 Katong Laksa in Joo Chiat, home of the creamy coconut-based noodle soup called laksa. one of Singapore’s national delicacies, this dish has a unique and irresistible taste that’s both milky and spicy and comes with thick noodles, cockles, prawns, and fishcakes.

top recommendations include Garang Chilli wings, Chilli Crab Rillet with deep fried mini mantou, and Crispy Pork Jowl, which are grilled on a traditional Spanish Mibrasa charcoal oven to bring out bold flavors and served best with a bowl of spicy Garang Rice.

There are so many incredible food experiences to try out in the Lion City such as eating like a local in famous hawker centers like Maxwell Hawker Center and Chinatown Complex, or attending fun food festivals like the Michelin Guide Street Food Festival this March, the world Gourmet Festival in April,

and the Singapore Food Festival in July, but heading down the east coast definitely has to be at the top of the list.

Dedicate a day during your Singapore stay for an east coast food trip at food locations which offer a wide range of dishes like signature tofu from Ampang Niang Tou Fu, Indian curries at Zaffron’s Kitchen, a cup of artisanal coffee at Carver’s & Co., or some sweet ice cream at Birds of Paradise.

So the next time you pass by the rows of homes on the east side, don’t forget to look beyond it and explore the exciting possibilities.

Bites

Mikael Daez goes on a food trip with Chef Bjorn Shen

Visitors can easily find stalls and restaurants selling this flavorful dish, but for passionate foodies who won’t settle for anything but the best, 328 Katong Laksa is the go-to place. Touted as one of the five best laksas in Singapore, its version remains undefeated among competitors both local and international as its special recipe outdid even the laksa creation of famous chef Gordon Ramsay in a cooking showdown back in 2013.

Next stop was at Fishball Story in Geylang where the foodie celebrity tasted the springiest fish balls he’s ever had.

This simple stall is more than it seems as it was awarded with a well-deserved Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2016. For

food enthusiasts, its Fishball Noodles are sure to make one feel like they’re dining in a Singaporean home as it reminds even the locals of home-cooked meals. This comes as no surprise because the food stand’s ingredients are handmade and homemade, from its bouncy fish balls made of 100 percent yellowtail fish, down to the sambal chili which perfectly complements the noodles when tossed with crunchy fried shrimps.

To end their food journey on a delicious note, Daez and Shen dropped

by Garang Grill. The word “Garang” means “fierce” or “powerful” which explains the strong smoked dishes one can savor at the neighborhood grill. Their

Love is sweeter with chocolates Two chocolate brands made sure they did not only make the previous Valentine’s Day sweeter, but more engaging and exciting as well.

Cadbury Dairy Milk and Toblerone, both brands of global snack company Mondelez Philippines, won the hearts of the public through their creative campaigns. “we take Valentine’s Day very seriously, it is our chocolates’s biggest day of the year,” enthused Arlene Amante, brand manager for Chocolates.

Amante shared, “Valentine presents the opportunity not only to have more consumers taste our products but also to have more imaginative gifting options for family and friends Sweethearts Elmo and Janella give each other Cadbury Dairy Milk through Toblerone. Cadbury Dairy Milk on the other hand Chocolate with its Valentine Sleeve. will allow you to express your feelings in more creative and diverse channels through unique experiences.”

This year, the gift of Toblerone offered much more than deliciousness, as it came with the opportunity to imaginatively and thoughtfully show love. The chocolate label helped consumers give creatively caring gifts through the Valentine’s Blank Pack. This has the iconic Toblerone pack on one side, one-of-a-kind illustrations from local artists on another, and a blank space on the third side which consumers can use to personalize their gifts.

Cadbury Dairy Milk also launched its biggest Valentine event in the Philippines to date, dubbed Love out Loud, featuring the brand’s limited edition Valentine’s Pack with the customizable heart tag.

Held at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig, the Love out Loud event offered two eye-catching ways to express feelings: through Cadbury Dairy Milk’s very first Valentine installation, the “Love Arc,” which was filled with hundreds of the brand’s heart tags with special messages from the consumers themselves, inspired by Paris’s Pont des Arts love locks bridge; and the “Love out Loud wall” which projected the messages on the heart tags through Consumers hanging their love tags high-tech step of scanning.

McDonald’s Fish & Fries

the return of Fish and Fries

McDonald’s version of the classic English dish, fish and chips, is available at its outlets again.

The scrumptiously tasty Fish & Fries features a tender fish fillet with golden crunchy coating—paired with the “world Famous Fries” that is crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It goes perfectly well with either creamy Tartar Sauce, Sweet & Sour, or tangy Thousand Island dipping sauce.

McDonald’s Fish & Fries is also available in two-piece Fish & Fries meal and Fish & Rice dish.

Go to the nearest McDonald’s branch or dial 86236 to get a taste of this delectable dish.

iPhoto

Foreign chef studies Filipino cuisine James walsh (in gray apron), a banquet and sous chef at the Montage Palmetto Bluff, a luxury resort in South Carolina, recently visited the Philippines for a Filipino Cuisine knowledge exchange program at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management. walsh attended several classes and laboratory sessions, which included Butchery, Principles in Menu Planning, Seafood Cookery, Baking and Pastry, and Nutrition Lectures, all geared towards Filipino Cuisine.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Simply Red...

From C4

Ellen Page in a scene from the highlyvisceral post-zombie movie, 'The Cured.'

The undead lives again in

T

‘THE CURED’

HE much-anticipated (94 percent in Rotten Tomatoes) horror-thriller movie The Cured starring Ellen Page (X-Men films, Inception, Juno) sees a post-zombie world as an antidote is finally found and brings zombies back to life after a virus turned them into cannibals.

In The Cured, the treated zombies are brought back to an unforgiving society that is not willing to give them a second chance. The movie traces back to writerdirector David Freyne’s short film entitled The First Wave about an outbreak of a zombie virus that introduced a possible cure.

From this short film now comes his full-length feature The Cured that follows Senan (Sam Keeley), a young man who is now haunted by the horrific acts he committed while infected. As he tries to restart his life along his widowed sister-inlaw Abi (Page), Senan soon finds himself in an angry world not willing to give second chances to the cured.

From recent interviews with director

Freyne, the filmmaker shared about how the concept of fear helped developed the film, “It started with the idea of what it would be like to be haunted with memories of what you did, but seeing it through trapped eyes [because] you weren’t in control. And then it was about how fear is exploited in the world at the moment, how anger is exploited in the world at the moment by people for their own ends. And how quickly you can go backwards.”

The Cured has so far received initial rave reviews during its early preview at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), including from The Hollywood Reporter, stating that “This may be one of the first horror movies where you may

wind up preferring the zombies over actual people, who can be the real hell.”

Likewise, Variety chimed in, “Just when you thought nothing new could be done with the undead, The Cured pulls off a fresh take on zombie terrain;” and Kerri Craddock from TIFF also expressed that the movie is glorious zombie flick, “Like any great zombie flick, The Cured works on several levels: it’s a gloriously terrifying horror-thriller packed with enough jump scares to satisfy genre fans, yet it also displays an intellect and heart that provoke empathy even as it takes aim at the ways in which humans beings fail each other.”

A jump-out-of-your-seat thriller, The Cured opens Feb. 28 in cinemas nationwide from Axinite Digicinema.

New chapter in Richard Gutierrez’ career RICHARD Gutierrez considers his being a Kapamilya via the hit prime time offering La Luna Sangre a new chapter in his showbiz career. The actor said that ABS-CBN has given him good exposure and he can only be thankful for every opportunity.

“It’s a fresh start for me, a good chapter if I may say so. As an actor, I’m excited with what’s going else to happen in the coming days,” he starts.

“Obviously, they’re doing a great job.

I’m amazed. That’s the reason why they are an industry leader, and it’s nice to work with only the best.”

Looking back, Chard has no regrets if at current, he is no longer the Prime Time King, unlike when he was with former mother studio GMA where he reigned supreme in the ratings chart starting with Mulawin in 2004.

“Well, I’ve had my fair share of triumph in the past no doubt. My eleven-year stay as a Kapuso opened lots of opportunities for me then. Imagine, I was churning in one hit show after the other. That was indeed an amazing phase in my career.

“But I guess, in the passing of times, I evolved both as a performer and individual. I believe that as long as you’re passionate about your craft and open to further improvement, you still have a long way to go in the ‘biz.”

Richard discloses the reason why he opted not to renew his contract with

HANDSOME VILLAIN. Richard Gutierrez is an effective antagonist in the top-rating series, 'La Luna Sangre.'

GMA during that time.

“For the record, it was my choice.

Perhaps, I got too tired. My workload was continuous. I got burnt out. I wasn’t enjoying already. I didn’t know myself then as well as my true friends. I went through an emotional roller coaster during that period but I’m thankful that I’ve undergone such because it helped me become more mature.”

Because of that experience, the popular star realized a lot of things about handling stardom.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, February 26, 2018

ACROSS 1 Weed preventer 6 Diva’s melody 10 Drove too fast 14 Insurance center 15 Duds 16 Region 17 Adjuncts 19 Ship’s tiller 20 Sugar amts.

21 Before 22 Expire 24 Hotfoot it 26 Hombre’s address 28 Relaxes 32 Stop sign 36 Thunders 37 Strides 39 Glasgow refusal 40 Equal to the task 41 Taxi alternatives 42 Wet down 43 Digital watch display 44 Second showing 45 Sulked angrily 46 Least busy 48 Nonstop 50 Robbery 52 Rte. mappers 53 Hinder 56 Loud thud 58 Fastener 62 Not clothed 63 Creepy feeling

(2 wds.)

66 Golden calf, e.g.

67 Sicilian spewer 68 Alliances 69 Bastes 70 Short distance 71 Diamond weight

33 Dwarf cousin 34 Caravan halts 35 Requires 38 Sun Devils’ sch.

41 Attacks 42 Luau lure (hyph.)

44 Marsh grass 45 Watchdog org.

DOWN 47 Moves around 1 Zoo barrier an axis 2 Refs 49 Title 3 Reindeer herder 51 Meat cut 4 Grinning cat (hyph.)

5 Chinese 53 Wading bird dynasty 6 Culture dish goo 7 Storms 8 Dublin’s loc.

9 Failures to be present 10 African desert 11 Warm-up 12 Congers 13 Noblewoman 18 Exploit 23 Bushels 25 DEL neighbor,on a PC 27 Time of the mammals 28 Europe-Asia divider 29 Peace Prize founder 30 Ralph — Emerson 31 Jets forth

54 Produced 55 Stern opposite 57 Immediately 59 Roman love god 60 Pet-adoption org.

61 Hey you!

64 Baseball’s Mel — 65 U.K. network

“I realized that I had to go through all that stuff to know what really matters. I’m no longer the happy-go-lucky type. Now, I don’t take things for granted when it comes to my career. I treat it more as a profession.

“During my time-off, when I lived in Switzerland and the States for a while, I was able to rejuvenate myself. I gained my mojo back, so to speak. Everything appeared to be fresh once again. It’s not all about high salary. You do it because you love acting. I’m happy to say that at this point, I’m into that stage in which I love my craft!” ends Richard. *** When asked if she and James Reid became sweethearts in the past, Sin Island star Nathalie Hart denies the rumor.

“Oh, no way!” she says.

The controversy started to spread when an old picture came out in the Internet in which James was on the verge of kissing her.

“Gosh, it’s so embarrassing. Ha-ha-ha!

I don’t want to be bashed by the JaDine fanatics. In the first place, that photo was taken before they became an official love team. Everybody knows that at present, James and I have our respective love life.

He and Nadine (Lustre) are going on their second year while I’m happy with my Spanish boyfriend!”

The actress reiterates that the photo in question was taken years ago.

ABS-CBN’s record label Star Music revealed the fresh music offerings of its new artists -- the fast-rising Agsunta band, actor JC Santos, acoustic singer Migz Haleco, singing duo Miko and Gab, and Filipino-Japanese artist Natsumi Saito.

Agsunta, the band that made waves among Filipino millennials online, finally introduced its own music through the much-awaited, self-titled debut album with acoustic and soft melodic rock tunes led by the single “Di Ba Halata.”

Composed of Jireh Singson, Mikel Arevalo, Josh Planas, and Stephen Arevalo, the group has several viral videos on YouTube and Facebook, particularly from the Agsunta Song Request webisodes featuring unique OPM versions, as well as from the Agsunta Jam Sessions uploads of its jamming activities with popular musicians.

JC, who just signed a recording deal with Star Music, also released his first single “Pwede Naman,” by Gabriel Tagadtad and produced by Kiko Salazar. He first ventured into theater performances before acting in movies and TV. Hewill also launched his debut self-titled album on Feb.18 at Robinsons Place Manila.

Miko Juarez and Gabriel Umali or more popularly known as Miko and Gab, the singing group behind the single “Hugot,” have likewise joined Star Music as the record label’s featured singing tandem.

The two met as contestants in the show Pinoy Boyband Superstar in 2016 and eventually became friends doing frequent covers, which gave them opportunity to discover that their voices sound good together. Boy Abunda’s Asian Artists Agency manages the career of Miko and Gab. Also promoting his latest single under Star Music is acoustic bae Migz who officially launched the track “’Pag Ika’y Nagmahal.”

Formerly part of the duo Migz and Maya and interpreter of “Bes,” one of the song finalists in Himig Handog 2017, he is currently part of ASAP “Jambayan.”

The Voice Kids season 1 contestant Natsumi of Camp Kawayan, meanwhile, launched her debut self-titled album comprised of six tracks. Her carrier single, “Para Lang Sa’yo,” came out in October.

According to the young singer’s official Facebook page, her Natsumi album will also be available in Japan very soon. *** Well-loved channels Cinema One, Jeepney TV, MYX, and Lifestyle (to be re-launched as Metro very soon), and leading news and foreign cable offerings will be part of this year’s Philippine Premiere Cable TV Convention where insightful talks, and exciting displays and activities await guests at the SMX Convention Center from April 3 to 6.

ABS-CBN’s Creative Programs, Inc. (CPI), owner and distributor of local and foreign cable channels that have become part of Filipinos’ viewing habits, will once again join the Philippine Cable

Singing duo Miko and Gab

Singer-actor JC Santos joins the Star Music family

Television Association’s (PCTA) annual gathering, the biggest meet of cable operators in the country with this year’s theme “Evolve” to highlight today’s industry innovations.

Among the must-see stops for PCTA members and guests in the CPI booth are the interactive displays and experiential activities of CPI’s owned channels as well as that of premiere news platforms ANC and DZMM TeleRadyo, sports channel ABS-CBN S+A, foreign cable channels FOX Family Movies, FOX Action Movies, KIX, Thrill, Celestial Classic Movies, Comedy Central, and the newly launched sports channel of ABS-CBN highlighting the World Cup 2018, Liga.

Aside from the wide-array of spectacle, CPI will also mount an exclusive pre-convention party on April 3 (Tuesday) for its cable operator clients featuring performances of various Kapamilya artists.

CPI head of marketing, events, and cable operations Teresita Villareal and PCTA 2018 convention chairman Dr. Venancio Lo recently signed an agreement, officially making the former one of the major sponsors of this year’s Convention. *** Do you have what it takes to become the next GMA Network Excellence Awardee?

GMA Network is inviting all outstanding graduating students of communication and technology based courses to vie for the 2018 GMA Network Excellence Award (GNEA).

The search is open to any bona fide Filipino graduating student (academic year 2017-2018) of Mass Communication, Multimedia Arts, Advertising, Electronics Communication Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Information Technology.

GNEA recognizes excellence through the demonstration of leadership, academic performance, and social responsibility. The candidate must be graduating with honors and is active in socio-civic activities.

To join, submit the Entry Book, which contains the accomplished application form, related work, transcript of records, certificate of candidate for graduation, certificate of good moral character, and recommendation letter.

GMA Network will confer two awards – one for the best Com munication student and another for the outstanding student of a technology based course. Each winner shall receive P50,000 and a plaque.

For more details about GNEA, contact Unis M. Loleng at 9827777 local 1108 or email GMAExcellence@gmanetwork. com or visit www.gmanetwork.com/ excellenceaward.

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Advocacy series

ABS-CBN's top-rating shows in January

Kapamilya says, ‘We’re on top!’

LAST week, this column featured Kapuso network’s claim as the leader in the ratings survey in January based on NUTAM figures. And not a few days later, we got this statement from the competing network claiming the victory in ratings citing, of course, figures from its favored survey provider, Kantar Media.

And so, who, between, the two networks is really no. 1?

If we base it on Kantar Media, ABSCBN opened the year strongly in January, hitting an average audience share of 46 percent, or 12 points higher than GMA’s 34 percent.

Hence, Kapamilya network ruled in both rural and homes, particularly in Metro Manila where it garnered an average audience share of 42 percent versus GMA’s 27 percent.

ABS-CBN also had more viewers in Total Luzon where it posted 43 percent, compared to GMA’s 35 percent; in Total Visayas where it registered 55 percent versus GMA’s 27 percent; and in Total Mindanao where it hit 51 percent, beating GMA’s 32 percent.

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano (39.9 percent) still reigned in national TV ratings in January while Pilipinas Got Talent (38.1 percent) instantly impressed viewers nationwide with its world-class Pinoy talents.

TV Patrol (32.6 percent) remained the most watched newscast. Drama anthology MMK (31.2 percent), on the other hand, captivated and brought inspiration to

viewers with the reallife stories of its letter senders.

Meanwhile, the soon-to-end La Luna ISAH V. RED Sangre (30.5 percent) gripped fans with its thrilling revelations led by on-screen tandem Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo.

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN also ruled across all time blocks, particularly in primetime (6 p.m.to 12 mn) where it recorded an average audience share of 50 percent, or 18-points higher than GMA’s 32 percent. The primetime block is the most important time of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investments in to reach more consumers effectively.

The Kapamilya network also led the morning block (6 a.m. to 12 nn) with 41percent versus GMA’s 32 percent; the noontime block (12 nn to 3 p.m.) as it registered 47 percent, compared to GMA’s 35 percent; and the afternoon block (3 to 6 p.m.) with 43percent, beating GMA’s 39 percent.

In 2017, the network said, ABS-CBN reigned in national TV ratings all year round as it scored an average audience share of 46 percent, or 12-points higher over GMA’s 34 percent.

As I wrote in last week’s column, the competition will continue, for so long as advertisers continue to rely on ratings figures rather than the quality of programs, and as long as networks continue to peddle their stars more like commodities in a wet market.

Continued on C3

READY FOR THE CROWN

BPCI introduces official Binibini candidates ALL EYES are on the 40 official candidates of Binibining Pilipinas 2018 as they were officially introduced to the members of the media and sponsors during their Press Presentation on Feb. 21 at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center.

Wearing their swimsuits, the gorgeous women competing in the country’s most prestigious beauty pageant scintillated the guests with their beautiful physique and winsome personality as they introduced themselves and posed for photos at the hotel’s pool area.

The roster of aspirants this year is composed of registered professionals, flight attendants, entrepreneurs, public personalities, models, students and pageant veterans all vying for the chance to represent the Philippines in international beauty tilts. They are the cream of the crop, having been chosen by the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. executive committee led by chairperson Mrs. Stella Marquez Araneta in a rigorous screening process.

Reigning queens Miss Universe Philippines Rachel Peters, Binibining Pilipinas International Mariel de Leon, Miss Intercontinental first runner up Katarina Rodriguez, Miss Globe first runner up Nelda Ibe, Miss Grand International second runner up Elizabeth Clenci, and Binibining Pilipinas Supranational Chanel Olive Thomas also graced the event and got to share some valuable tips to the candidates.

Pageant fans and followers will also get a chance to catch the ladies in the National Costume Competition at the Kia Theatre on March 3, and see them up close in the much-awaited annual Parade of Beauties, slated on March 10 at the Araneta Center grounds.

Join the ladies on their journey that culminates on Coronation Night, March 18, Sunday, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. For tickets to the National Costume Competition, and the Coronation Night, visit www.ticketnet. com.phor call 911-5555.

‘HINDI KO KAYANG IWAN KA’ today on GMA

By Nickie Wang

H

IV/AIDS is still claiming too many lives, and as we deal with this crisis, a timely television series will tackle this serious and fatal disease by bringing to light the struggles of a woman who is HIV positive and how she battles her own frailties and demons in life.

Entitled Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka, this series directed by Neal del Rosario, aims to raise HIV awareness and educate viewers on its effects upon a person’s life.

In the new series, Yasmien Kurdi breathes life to Thea Balagtas, a simple provincial girl with a promising career as a public accountant. After marrying Marco (Mike Tan) and raising their fraternal twins together, her blissful life shatters when she tests positive for HIV. Without knowing who she got it from, Marco is led to believe that she cheated on him and files for legal separation, taking their kids with him. Her disease worsens and she loses her will to live. But when she unexpectedly meets her daughter a few years later, she finds it in herself to fight more than just HIV-her greatest opponent, herself.

“This is a very personal project. I have learned that for every 100 persons tested for HIV, seven to 10 are positive. And they’re getting

younger,” the 29-year-old actress told the press during the media conference for Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka. Yasmien further stated that the lead cast had to go through an immersive seminar so they could deeply understand what HIV/AIDS is all about, spread awareness among people regarding preventive measures against the disease, and be prepared on the roles that they play in the new series.

Joining Yasmien in the cast is Martin del Rosario and Jackie Rice. Martin plays Lawrence De Leon, Thea’s college friend from a well-off family. Secretly, he is in love with her even though he dates a lot of women and develops HIV from this. Meanwhile, Jackie is Ava Imperial, Marco’s beautiful and socialite exgirlfriend. She shuffles to and from the United States for pleasure and business. Even though she flirts around, she is still bent on settling w i t h Marco.

Also p a r t of this groundbreaking project are actress and TV director Gina Alajar, Shamaine Buencamino, Charee Pineda, Ina Feleo, Mike “Pekto” Nacua, Catherine Rem, Caprice Cayetano, and Seth Dela Cruz.

Behind this drama is the creative team composed of Creative Director Roy Iglesias; Concept creator Zita Garganera; Head writer Suzette Doctolero; Creative Head for Afternoon Prime Block Dode Cruz and Creative Consultant Kit Langit.

The program is another original creation of the GMA Drama group under the supervision of Senior Vice President for Entertainment Content Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable; Vice President for Drama Redgie Acuña-Magno; Assistant Vice President for Drama Cheryl ChingSy; and Program Manager Anthony Pastorpide.

Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka premieres today after The Stepdaughters on GMA Afternoon Prime.

Yasmien Kurdi plays the lead in the timely advocacy drama ' Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka,' which premieres today.

The cast of GMA Network's newest afternoon soap (from left): Martin del Rosario, Yasmien Kurdi, Mike Tan, and Jackie Rice