Manila Standard - 2018 January 25 - Thursday

56,000 overcrowd evac sites in Albay

‘Tokhang’ nights over; cops to don body cams

LEGAZPI CITY―Thousands more have fled the erupting Mayon Volcano here, relief workers said Wednesday as foreign tourists arrived to watch the flaming lava and giant cauliflower clouds spurting from its crater.

More than 56,000 residents are now crammed in schools and other buildings two weeks after Mayon volcano began showing signs of unrest.

In other developments: • Health department has ordered a P5-million quickrelease fund to finance various activities, including the continuous monitoring of Mayon volcano.

The funds will also be used to buy supplies including water containers, hygiene kits, medicines and mosquito nets for the affected families.

• The Australian government on Wednesday announced a donation to help the communities affected by the eruption of Mayon volcano.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said

By Francisco Tuyay

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Story on B1

WARNING SIGN. Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. Chairman Andrea Domingo (left) and Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa and other key officials of the PNP lead the unveiling of a warning sign prohibiting government employees from gambling in casinos on Wednesday’s turnover rites of signages at Solaire Resort and Casino in Pasay City. Ey Acasio

TROOPS in Mindanao have arrested a Spanish man carrying grenades and bomb-making equipment and suspected of supporting a notorious militant group, authorities said Wednesday.

Abdelhakim Labidi Adib, 20, who described himself as a tourist, was detained Monday at an army checkpoint on Basilan island, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf kidnapfor-ransom group, they said.

The Army said Labidi Adib, a Spanish citizen of Tunisian descent, was with a suspected Filipino member of the Abu Sayyaf who escaped.

“Labidi Adib is a known Abu Sayyaf sympathizer and ardent supporter of the establishment of [an] Islamic caliphate here in the Philippines,”

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ASG-linked Spaniard arrested in Basilan

Capt. Exequel Panti, special forces commanding officer in Basilan, said in a sworn statement.

“He was arrested. He threw [away] his bag containing explosives while his companion jumped from a cliff,” Panti told reporters on Wednesday after flying the suspect to the justice ministry in Manila.

The Spaniard denied the military’s account.

Abu Sayyaf is infamous for kidnapping both locals and foreigners, and demanding ransoms of up to millions of dollars for their release.

Basilan has long been a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, which was founded in the 1990s with the help of Al-Qaida founder Osama Bin Laden.

Militants loyal to the Islamic State Next page

Alvarez assails Charter framers

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

U

More Pinoys found jobs in 2017—SWS

NDER fire from the Senate for saying the House of Representatives could pursue Charter change on its own, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Wednesday he would respect any Supreme Court decision on the question even as he attacked those who drafted the 1987 Constitution for being unclear.

“For me, that’s why we have a judiciary, so that if there is a disagreement, they can rule on it. I’m okay with whatever the Supreme Court rules,” Alvarez said in Filipino in a TV interview.

Alvarez earlier said the House would propose amendments to the Constitution with or without the Senate as long as it mustered votes from three-fourths of all members of Congress. The proposals could then be

submitted to the people in a plebiscite or referendum.

Alvarez said the House is dead set in pushing for Charter change to effect federalism, even without the Senate’s participation.

He also chided the framers of the 1987 Constitution for clarifying the manner in which constitutional amendments would be voted upon— jointly or separately.

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By John Paolo Bencito and Vito Barcelo

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez

Maute widow falls; 2 killed in 3-hour clash of Moro factions

By Francisco Tuyay

ALLEGED TERRORIST. Soldiers escort Abdelhakim Labidi Adib, a Spanish national dubbed an alleged terrorist as he arrives Wednesday at the Department of Justice to attend inquest proceedings. Adib was arrested at a checkpoint in Maluso, Basilan on Monday with a rifle grenade, a hand grenade, blasting cap, battery, cellphone, several IDs and other documents in his possession. Norman Cruz

POLICE will no longer knock on doors of suspected drug users or pushers at night, after the Philippine National Police said it would limit Oplan Tokhang operations to the daytime and office hours.

Supplemental guidelines issued by PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa prohibit police from conducting any “tokhang” operations at night and weekends.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos said part of the stricter guidelines requires Tokhang teams to be in their proper uniform and led by a police commissioned officer during the conduct of operations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday to Friday.

Carlos also emphasized the need for police to wear body cameras and similar video recording gadgets to document the anti-illegal drugs operations.

“When available, the use of body camera and similar video recording gadgets is highly encouraged in

SECURITY forces arrested the widow of the Maute group chieftain at her residence in Cotabato City Tuesday afternoon.

Senior Insp. Jemar delos Santos, spokesman for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police identified the suspect as

Najiya Dilangalen KaronMaute, 37, widow of Mohammad Khayam Maute, the top leader of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group.

The suspect was included in the Department of National Defense arrest order No. 2 dated June 5, 2017 for the crime of rebellion.

Mohammad Kayam Maute was killed during the

last stretch of intense fighting with security forces inside the main battle area in Marawi City in October.

Aside from Kayam Maute, also killed in the Marawi fighting was Isnilon Hapilon, the Abu Sayyaf Group chieftain and emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia.

Karon-Maute, 37, was being interrogated about her

role in the terrorist group.

The DND has issued arrest orders in pursuit of suspected terror group members in all parts of Mindanao, which has been placed under martial law since May 2017.

In Maguindanao, fighting between two groups of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels sent more than 2,000 Next page

JOBLESSNESS among Filipino adults dropped to 15.7 percent or an estimated 7.2 million in the last three months of 2017, according to the latest Fourth Quarter Social Weather Stations survey released Wednesday.

The December 2017 survey is the lowest recorded joblessness rate since the 9.8 percent in March 2004, and is 3.4 points below the 18.9 percent (or estimated 8.7 million) in September 2017, the opinion polling firm said.

Among those who said they were jobless, those who voluntarily left their old jobs was at 8.3 percent, or an estimated 3.8-million adults; those who involuntarily lost their jobs at 5.9 percent, or an estimated 2.7-million adults; while Next page

Duterte asks China for help in Asean’s anti-piracy drive

Oscars: Fantasy romance tops nominees, falls short of record

By Vito Barcelo and John Paolo Bencito

LOS ANGELES—The fantasy romance “The Shape of Water” topped the Oscars nominations list on Tuesday with 13 nods, one shy of the record, as the Academy also gave a rare nomination to a woman in the directing category.

In second place was the tense World War II epic “Dunkirk,” with eight nods, while the crime drama “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” generally thought to be the favorite in the best-picture category, picked up seven nominations.

But “The Shape of Wa-

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, who left for New Delhi on Wednesday, said he would ask China if it could patrol the international waters near the Philippines, to help tackle terrorism and piracy, like what China did in Somalia.

We cannot afford to be absent. It’s all trade and commerce and everything else under the sun, except that we do not have the platform for terrorism and other problems of law and order,” Duterte said during the simple depar-

ture ceremony at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for the three-day India-Asean Summit in Delhi.

Duterte was referring to the Celebes and Sulu Sea and Moluccas seas, near the border of Indonesia where the number of piracy cases in Southeast Asia accounted for 71 percent of the global total.

In implying that Asean neighbors could not accomplish anything, “it is because the waters [are] contiguous to the archipelago of the Philippines [and are] getting to be dangerous. And yet it is only Indonesia who’s active Next page

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WOEBEGONE SHUFFLE. A resident walks on a galvanized roof sheet and destroyed homes after a fire hit an informal settlers area along the coast in Bacoor in Cavite. Around 200 houses were destroyed affecting thousands of residents. AFP facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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ter,” Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-set story of love between a mute cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature, dominated the competition.

It scored nods for best picture, best director and best actress for its star Sally Hawkins.

Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer each scored nominations in the supporting acting categories, and the film was also nominated for best original screenplay, with the rest of its nods coming in technical categories.

The haul fell one short of Next page

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

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Debate heats up on Benham research A MARITIME law expert on Wednesday took exception to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque remark that “only China qualifies” to explore the resource-rich Benham Rise, listing down “modest” research expeditions Filipinos have undertaken in the area.

Roque’s claim is “completely wrong, based on ignorance, [and a] serious disservice” to Filipinos, scientists or not, said Jay L. Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea. It is also an “over-exaggeration of China’s potential role in the Philippine ocean sciences,” he said in a public Facebook post, later pointing out that while China is a “formidable” force in contemporary ocean sciences, “it is by no means the only one.”

In a related development, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the marine science research conducted by China was advantageous to the Philippines, stressing this had the least number of approval compared to other countries’ request including the United States, Germany, Japan, among others.

“There is so much talk about why we allowed the Chinese...

So whether it’s protecting the environment or any sovereignty rights, meaning economic rights, in Benham Rise, Philippine Rise, it’s more advantageous to us that more are doing research,” Cayetano said in an ambush interview.

More...

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first-time job seekers consisted of 1.5 percent or an estimated 691,000 adults.

Meanwhile, the use of artificial intelligence in the business process outsourcing will hit “harder” in the “next three to five years,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said Wednesday, as he urged the industry to upgrade the skills of its workers.

Voice-based services “is not not going to be necessary anymore when you have machines to do it,” Pernia told ANC’s Headstart.

According to gross domestic product data released on Tuesday, miscellaneous services, which includes BPO, grew 9.2 percent in 2017 from the previous year, compared to 19.8 percent from 2015 to 2016.

The BPO industry alone grew 12.3 percent in 2017 from 2016.

Pernia said BPO companies with the “old mode” of human interaction were unlikely to make future investments in the Philippines.

From call centers, the BPO sector must move to big data analytics, app development and related fields, Socioeconomic Planning Usec. Rosemarie Edillon said on Tuesday.

“We are seeing that it is reaching a plateau. The way for it to grow much, much more, for it to diversify, is to grow to value added services,” Edillon said.

The BPO industry, an economic lifeline for the Philippines, employs about 1.15-million people and, along with remittances from overseas workers, remains one of the top two earners of foreign exchange.

Adult labor force participation rate, meanwhile, was at 72.1 percent, or an estimated 45.5-million adults.

This is a one-point decrease from the 73.1 percent or an estimated 46.1-million adults in September 2017.

Asked on their optimism to have jobs in the future, some 53 percent said they were optimistic to have more jobs while pessimism that there would be fewer jobs declined to 12 percent in December—bringing a Net Optimism on Job Availability score to a new record high of “excellent” +41.

Those who believe there will be no change in job availability, meanwhile, fell by 3 points from 27 percent in September to 24 percent in December.

PH turns down P2.7-b EU aid

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE European Union’s ambassador on Wednesday confirmed that the Philippines had officially rejected a Trade-Related Technical Assistance worth 6.1-million euros or P380 million for 20,000 families particularly in Mindanao.

EU Ambassador Franz Jessen also confirmed that the Philippines would also reject an additional P2.4-billion in European aid for sustainable projects.

Jessen said the Philippines had officially rejected the European aid by leaving the TRTA

documents unsigned when it returned them to the EU office.

He said the Philippines has formalized the rejection by leaving the TRTA document unsigned and returned it to the EU office in Manila.

“It was formalized in the

sense that we had, for example, the TRTA, a document that actually had to be signed by the end of the year. And that has been returned to us unsigned,” Jessen said.

He then called on the Philippine government to step back and consider the interest of the Filipinos, particularly the 20,000 families who would be affected by the rejected aid and projects.

“I think if they take a step back and they look at what is actually in the interest of the Philippines and the Filipino people, they would realize that the principal issue that we’re discussing right

now actually may not be that important as it has become in the discussion,” Jessen said in a weekly breakfast meeting in Manila.

He said both parties had different sets of objections especially in the area of “rule of law,” “democracy” and “human rights”.

Jessen said the Philippine government had rejected the EU aid by the end of 2017.

The Philippines is a recipient of EU aid in different projects on justice, human rights, livelihood, health, the peace process, among other things.

The Department of Foreign

Alvarez...

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COURTESY CALL. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Poland's former President Lech Walesa pose for a souvenir shot during the Pole's courtesy call on the President at Malacañan Palace on Jan. 23, 2018.

PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO sported a jacket and shaved head, told state prosecutors he was in the Philippines on vacation and had come from “the jungle” of Basilan before his arrest.

But he repeatedly refused to answer questions about what he was doing in an island avoided by tourists over the kidnapping threat.

The Armed Forces charged Labidi Adib with illegal possession of firearms.

Adib underwent inquest proceedings before Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong and Assistant State Prosecutor Rodan Parrocha on Wednesday.

During the proceeding, the Adib said that the accusations against him were false and that he would provide evidence to prove his innocence.

He also denied knowing the

name of his Filipino companion, whom he claimed was his guide.

He also denied owning the black and red backpack and the explosives found inside.

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

He first went to Manila and then Davao and stayed for two months in Cagayan de Oro. “There are many beautiful women here,” Adib said, in Spanish.

He claimed that his real bag contained his clothes and eyeglasses but these were not presented to the DoJ prosecutors on Wednesday.

But when he was asked again about the purpose of his visit to Basilan, he refused to answer.

AFP with Rey E. Requejo

Maute...

56,000...

families fleeing from their homes in the last two days, police said Wednesday.

A teacher, identified by the Datu Saudi Ampatuan police office as Baidido Kamansa, 44, was hit by stray bullet in the head while a kilometer away from warring MILF fighters in Barangay Madia, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town.

Sr. Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguindanao police director, said those involved in the firefight were members of MILF 105th base command under Commander Haon Sindatuk and MILF’s 118th base command headed by Commander Datu Adam.

Two fighters from both sides were reportedly killed, according to police while six others were injured.

The group of Adam attacked the group of Sindatuk Monday morning, police said.

Heavy fighting lasted for about three hours.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said intervention by an international monitoring team eased tensions by Wednesday morning. With PNA

P31.6 million (A$775,000 worth of assistance would be provided through the Philippine Red Cross to provide the 30,000 people living in the evacuation centers with tarpaulins, sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans and hygiene supplies.

Volcanologists on Monday warned of a hazardous eruption within days and a no-go zone was extended from six kilometers of the crater to nine kilometers, forcing local officials to order further evacuations as ash rained down on communities.

At the shelters, people sleep on the floor and each shares a single toilet with 49 other people, the Philippine Red Cross said.

“Their numbers ballooned after the danger zone was expanded,” Rose Rivero, Red Cross administrator for the region, told AFP. Mostly farmers and their families, the evacuees are surviving on food handouts from the government and charities, with the Red Cross pitching in with drinking water, counseling, and hygiene items, she added.

“If we go back to its [Mayon’s] history of eruption, it would take three to four months before we could send them back to their homes,” Rivero said.

The state volcanologist office said there was little chance of that happening soon.

It reported five episodes of “intense but sporadic lava fountaining from the summit crater” overnight Tuesday, along with ash plumes five kilometers high.

Lava and incandescent rocks also rolled down the volcano’s flanks, it said in a Wednesday bulletin.

The eruption is also drawing curious American, European and South Korean tourists, local hoteliers said.

“They are attracted by Mayon’s activity. They want to have a closer look,” Nics Ortonio, a receptionist at the packed fourstar Oriental Hotel in Legazpi, told AFP. Guests rush out of their 5,600peso ($110) per day rooms to watch Mayon’s periodic outbursts in safety from the hotel’s terrace restaurant along with local diners, she added. AFP, with Rio N. Araja, Macon Ramos-Araneta and PNA

Oscars...

funnyman Jimmy Kimmel--will be held on March 4.

Organizers will be looking to rebound after last year’s flubbed announcement of the best picture winner--the trophy was initially given to “La La Land,” when the actual winner was “Moonlight.”

In a departure from previous years, there are very few clear front runners, making the race far more interesting.

With the #MeToo and Time’s Up campaigns against sexual misconduct and gender inequality dominating the 2018 awards circuit, the Oscars announcement was seen as an opportunity for the

industry to support female filmmaking―snubbed at the Golden Globes.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be seen as having righted that wrong to some degree, with its nod for Greta Gerwig, the director of “Lady Bird.”

Before Tuesday, just four women had been nominated for best director since 1927.

In the best director category, Gerwig and Del Toro take on Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) and Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”). AFP

ASG-linked...

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group, including Abu Sayyaf members, attacked Marawi City in May last year in what authorities said was part of a campaign to establish a Southeast Asian caliphate for IS. The Marawi siege lasted for five months and left more than 1,100 people dead and half the city in ruins.

Authorities said Labidi Adib arrived in the Philippines in October 2017, about the time the Marawi siege ended.

He had previously travelled to Morocco and Tunisia, said senior state prosecutor Peter Ong, citing information on his passport.

Labidi Adib, who on Wednesday

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the record for most nominations ever, held jointly by “La La Land,” “Titanic” and “All About Eve.” “This nomination is for every one of us who brought our hearts to this film,” Hawkins said in a statement retweeted by the movie’s official Twitter account.

“I’m here because of the greatness of others. I stand on the shoulders of giants.”

The 90th Academy Awards— the climax of Hollywood’s awards season, to be hosted by late night

From A1

“That’s the problem with the framers of the Constitution. They didn’t do a good job and now it’s all gone crazy. Yet they have the nerve to say we have the best Constitution in the world,” he said in Filipino.

“The Constitution or laws cannot be given a different meaning,” he added. “Whatever the ordinary citizen understands, that’s the interpretation, because how do you expect people to follow the law if they don’t understand it?”

Two more senators assailed Alvarez’s plan Wednesday.

Senator Francis Escudero said Alvarez’s own resolution called upon Congress to convene as a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution.

“The title in itself, ‘concurrent resolution,’ is already an admission that any proposal or move to amend the Constitution necessitates the separate votes of both houses of Congress,” Escudero said.

He said the Senate would not be bullied by the House, and would insist on voting separately on constitutional amendments.

Escudero also ruled out a plebiscite on proposed Charter change by 2018, in time with the barangay elections, or even in 2019, saying there are no funds allocated for such an electoral exercise.

“There is no way to hold that together with the 2018 elections because it does not come without a cost and given the very little time to prepare for it, that plan is already down the drain,” Escudero said.

This can only be funded through a request for supplemental budget

‘Tokhang’...

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Tokhang operations,” said Carlos.

Those who voluntarily surrender will not be subjected to mug shots and fingerprinting, the guidelines state.

The guidelines also impose sanctions against police personnel for unwarranted violations.

“Any violations of this PNP supplemental operations guidelines shall be dealt with under existing PNP disciplinary mechanisms,” he said.

It is stipulated that Tokhang operations shall be intelligencedriven, targeting suspected illegal drug suspects listed by the Directorate for Intelligence.

The guidelines must be observed during house visits in

Duterte...

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there,” said Duterte who leads the 17-member Philippine delegation.

If we cannot do it, we’ll just have to call China to come in and blow them off just like Somalia, that Aden Strait there, were it not for the presence of the Chinese, piracy could not be checked there,” Duterte said.

So we have to come up with a platform of how to deal with terrorism. I go for a hardline policy. Blow them up in the high seas...Otherwise, if we do not do the extreme measures, we’d always be at the mercy of criminals,” the President said.

In 2016, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to conduct joint maritime operation in the three nations’ waters which have significantly reduced hijackings and kidnappings in the strait.

While admitting the situation was more complicated, the Philippines, Duterte said, would need everything, from fuel,

Affairs announced last year that it would reject all forms of EU aid so that the latter would stop meddling in the Philippines.

But Jessen said the conditions attached to EU aid “are not specifically for the Philippines” but for the EU’s cooperation “with all countries in the world.”

“For me, it’s a bit sad that after 30 years plus of development cooperation, we suddenly get into this situation,” he said.

“And the independence of Philippine foreign policy―I’m still struggling a bit to understand how we are interfering in that.” that must conform with the Supreme Court ruling on the use of savings.

Any budget request, he added, must be approved by the two chambers of Congress, and any realignment of fund must not exceed the original allocation for the item needing a supplemental budget.

He added that any plan to hold it in 2019 must be included in the General Appropriations Act, which must also be approved by the Senate. “I have no idea if the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] will include that in their 2019 budget proposal. We will see the administration’s intention regarding this matter based on the budget they will submit for 2019.”

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Alvarez must put an end to the House’s efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution without the participation of the Senate.

He said constitutional expert agree that amendments to the Constitution require both chambers of Congress to convene as a constituent assembly.

“Indeed, it would be absurd for one chamber of a bicameral legislature to be able to change the fundamental law of the land without the participation and assent of the other chamber.”

Instead of attempting to undermine and bypass the Senate, he said the leadership of the House should work with the Senate leadership to create an inclusive and constitutionally sound plan to convene the chambers together in a constituent assembly.

He added that amendments done without the Senate would result in an illegitimate draft constitution which would be rejected by the people. support of anti-drug operations in communities, Carlos said.

In the visits, police are expected to persuade drug suspects to stop their illegal activities and enter a rehabilitation program.

Also on Wednesday, Dela Rosa said the PNP has been authorized to arrest any government employee caught gambling inside casinos nationwide.

“The problem isn’t a big one, but the President wanted to fulfill his promise to fight corruption, and gambling is associated with corruption,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino.

Before the policy was implemented, local government officials who were caught playing in casinos were simply asked to leave, Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. chairman Andrea Domingo said. manpower, the freight charges and the insurance.

The sea covers a much larger area, and the collective military capabilities of the three navies and coast guards failed to impress Duterte.

The Philippines is short of patrol vessels and aircraft, which explains the President plans to tap the help of China to fight terrorism and piracy near the country’s waters.

Before boarding the plane, Duterte said he might not attend a security meeting in Australia.

There’s an upcoming meeting in Australia. It’s all about security again. Let’s talk it over here.

Let us talk what would be the platform that we will represent.

Otherwise, I do not want to go to Australia,” he said.

He said “Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has always been asking me again and again if I can reconsider. So with an empty baggage there, we cannot end up something concrete, except that we talk all over again about cooperation and sharing of… [information].”

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Du30: Domestics abused in Kuwait AN ANGRY President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday threatened to ban hundreds of thousands of Filipinas from working as maids in the Middle East as he said domestic workers were being raped in Kuwait.

Over two million Filipinos, many of them maids, are employed in the region, helping to prop up the Philippine economy with billions of dollars in salary remittances to their families each year.

Last week, Duterte barred Filipinos from seeking work in Kuwait over reports of widespread abuse, exploitation and deaths, although the ban did not affect workers already in the Gulf state.

“One more incident about a woman, a Filipina worker being raped there, committing suicide, I’m going to stop—I’m going to ban” Filipinos working, he said.

“And I’m sorry to all the Filipinos there, they can all go home.”

“Let me be blunt about this because Kuwait has always been an ally. But

please do something about it and for the other countries of the Middle East.”

A visibly angry Duterte was speaking shortly before boarding a flight for India to attend a regional summit.

“Can I ask you now to treat my countrymen as human beings with dignity?” he added.

Duterte said last week that four Filipinas had died in Kuwait over the past few months in apparent suicides.

Kuwait embassy officials in Manila could not be contacted for comment.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said separately that Duterte had reacted to a recent report on abuses in Kuwait.

“Statistics don’t lie and there is grave concern about the abuses in Kuwait,” he said.

There were more than 200,000 Filipinos in Kuwait and a “large” number were stranded in that country, were paid less than they were promised or were abused, Cayetano said.

AFP, Vito Barcelo

Mocha returns alumni award

By John Paolo Bencito

CHURCH ANNULMENT. Leyte (1st District) Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez delivers a sponsorship speech on her House Bill 6779 (An Act Recognizing the Civil Effects of Church Annulment Decree) Tuesday night at the House of Representatives. Romualdez stressed that once this bill becomes a law, a declaration of nullity decreed by the church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment. House Bill 6779 was passed after the second reading.

(Story on A6) Ver Noveno

Non-librarian choice questioned

By Rio N. Araja

T

HE chief librarian of the Ateneo de Manila University is urging Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales to investigate the perceived questionable appointment of a non-librarian to head the country’s National Library of the Philippines.

Dr. Vernon Totanes, AdMu Rizal Library director, filed a nine-page complaint with the Of-

fice of the Ombudsman, seeking a probe of what he called the unlawful appointment of Ceasar

Gilbert Adriano as NLP director IV. But he clarified he did not have any interest in Adriano’s post, citing his only interest “lies in safeguarding and defending our noble profession, with the same zeal in the same spirit that the Philippines recognized it.”

He echoed the position of the Philippine Librarians Association Inc., an accredited group of professional librarians, that President Rodrigo Duterte

Solgen asks SC to nix petitions

By Rey Requejo THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to affirm the constitutionality of the congressional approval on the one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.

In a 99-page memorandum, Solicitor General Jose Calida also challenged the petitioners to prove to the SC that the government had not successfully quelled rebellion, even as he sought for the dismissal of the petitions against the martial law extension for lack of merit.

Calida argued that the high court already ruled that President Rodrigo Duterte had “sufficient factual bases” to show that actual rebellion existed in the

region.

“In any event, the Court had already declared that there is rebellion in Mindanao, the onus lies on the petitioners to show that the rebellion has been completely quelled,” Calida stressed.

“Since petitioners have not shown facts to the contrary, they cannot ask the Court to set aside the extension of the proclamation and suspension,” the chief state lawyer said.

Besides, the Solicitor General said there was no need for the government to show the magnitude of the rebellion.

“Placing the requirement of public safety on a scale, or even continuum, will not only prevent the application of the laws but undermine the Constitution,”

Calida said.

“Martial law as an option of the President exists precisely to address a rebellion that endangers public safety,” the Solicitor General said, in justifying his plea for SC to dismiss the four petitions seeking to declare the martial law extension in Mindanao as unconstitutional.

In a nutshell, the petitioners argued that the extension, which was approved

by Congress in a joint session last December, lacked sufficient factual basis as Marawi City was already liberated and key leaders of the rebellion were reported dead.

However, Calida insisted that the liberation of Marawi City did not signal the end of the rebellion in the whole of Mindanao.

‘Reverse ruling on Veloso’s deposition’ THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Court of Appeals to reverse its earlier decision stopping Mary Jane Veloso, on death row in Indonesia after being convicted for drug trafficking, from giving deposition against alleged illegal recruiters.

In a motion for reconsideration, Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the reconsideration of the CA’s 11th Division decision preventing Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija RTC Branch 88 judge Anarica Castillo-Reyes from securing Veloso’s deposition in Jakarta against her alleged recruiter Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

Veloso has accused Sergio and Lacanilao of duping her into bringing heroin to Indonesia, resulting in her arrest and conviction.

In its ruling, the CA

granted the appeal of the accused Sergio and Lacanilao, agreeing to the petitioners’ argument that allowing the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia to get her deposition would violate their right to confront the witness face to face and to have compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence which is guaranteed under Section 14, Paragraph 1 of the 1987 Constitution.

Veloso’s camp said the deposition would boost her defense in the drug trafficking conviction in Indonesia.

The Solicitor General stressed that the appellate court “grossly ignored the extraordinary circumstances” of the case when it ruled against Veloso.

According to Calida, it should not have strictly ap-

plied Section 15, Rule 19 of the Rules of Court which states that prosecution witnesses may be conditionally examined only on two basis: that the witness is too sick or infirm to appear in court and that the witness has to leave the country with no definite date of return.

The chief state lawyer argued that Veloso should be exempted from the said rules considering that she is under detention in Indonesia that now has jurisdiction over her.

“The People respectfully submits that Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina OFW convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia and sentenced to death but granted retrieve, thus, remains under the custody of law in Indonesia, is suffering from an unusual predicament,” the motion stated. Rey Requejo

should not have appointed a non-librarian to replace the late Antonio Santos.

“When the position of NLP director was vacated with the early and unexpected passing away of Atty. Antonio, a lawyer (sic) and licensed librarian, we anticipated the appointment of another licensed librarian to the position,” the PLAI statement read.

“While recognizing and respecting the prerogative of the President of the

Philippines to appoint the person of his choice, we are deeply concerned about the implications of the appointment of a non-librarian as director of the NLP, who may be qualified in all other respects, except for what we consider the most basic one: that the appointee be a licensed librarian,” PLAI said.

Upon verification with the Professional Regulation Commission, PLAI found out Adriano—appointed by Duterte on

March 17, 2017—was not a licensed librarian.

Totanes said the appointment of Adriano could set a bad precedent, and that his appointment opened criminal liability for graft.

“The appointment of a non-librarian to the highest post in the highest library in the country may have an adverse effect in that other government agencies may take this as precedent to the appointment of non-librarians in their own institutions,” he added.

SAYING she was “bullied” by her fellow alumni, Communications Assistant Secretary Margaux “Mocha” Uson on Tuesday night decided to voluntarily return an award given to her by the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association Inc., which recognized her as an outstanding graduate in “Government Service.”

“A while ago it [the award] was returned.

They accepted it. I returned it because in the first place I didn’t ask them to give me an award,” the controversial blogger told reporters at the Manila International Airport before flying with President Rodrigo Duterte to New Delhi.

“I accepted the award because they gave it to me,” she added.

As this developed, USTAAI president Henry Tenedero also resigned from his post, saying he ”humbly takes full responsibility on what has happened.”

Tenedero drew flak after the alumni organization decided to give the Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service to Uson, a graduate of Medical Technology from the 407-year-old Catholic university.

Uson, a mouthpiece of the current administration, is accused of allegedly peddling “fake news” in her blog, which boasts to have more than five million engagements.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Consistency, please

N

O FOREIGN country should dictate our policy.

We are a sovereign nation that has its own way of governing. Our leaders, democratically elected, have the people’s mandate to run our nation’s affairs as they see fit.

These are words we believe in. Of course we are nobody’s vassal. That era has long gone.

We struggle to make sense, then, of cases where we haughtily and summarily reject help from other countries just because we feel they are meddling with how our country is run. Operative word: Feel.

For example, we learned this week from European Union Ambassador that we returned, unsigned, the EU-Philippines

Trade-Related Technical Assistance worth 6.1 million euro, or more than P383 million.

It’s a staggering amount that the administration decided to forego, believing it came with strings attached in the form of criticism of the President’s war against illegal drugs.

Ambassador Franz Jessen did not elaborate but said the government’s rejections are in connection with the words “rule of law,” “democracy” and “human rights” linked to the unsigned document.

A bigger amount, 39 million euro—P2.4 billion—that would have been for sustainable energy projects is also about to be rejected.

But while “meddling” is arguable, a rejection of such staggering amounts that would do much to help disaster- and war-stricken Mindanao could always be framed as idealistic even if impractical.

It is pride bordering on arrogance, but it tells us just exactly what values the Palace upholds: These are our affairs, we know

what’s best for us, we thank you for your offer, we acknowledge your good intentions but there are higher things we do not wish to negotiate, or compromise.

Unfortunately, the administration waffles in its obstinacy, depending on whom it is dealing with.

With China, our giant neighbor to the West, the tough words reserved for the EU and the rest of the world are whittled down to welcoming pleasantries.

Just recently it was announced we had allowed the Chinese to go to our eastern seaboard, far from the waters it wholly claims as its own, to conduct so-called research into the Philippine Rise.

The Palace spokesman, who in a previous life vigorously spoke out against China’s territorial incursions, now mouths off technicalities and says China is right, the Philippine Rise is not, per se, ours. What it is is part of our continental shelf, according to the United Nations.

Foreign affairs officials do not raise hell

when Chinese ships and other structures are spotted on contested territory. They don’t even mention our victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration—declared China’s nine-dash line had no basis in law —anymore. That decision does not seem worthy of even a mention during our officials’ meetings with their Chinese counterparts.

They appear open to joint explorations and investments in sensitive industries such as telecommunications, conveniently setting aside questions on its implications on data integrity and national security.

We cannot be blamed, then, for wondering if there is a sinister explanation to this inconsistency.

Any position, even the rejection of aid and investments if they came with strings attached, can be justified and even supported. Alas, what we are seeing indicates only absence of reason, and an abundance of whim.

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Why revolutions happen LAST Saturday at the 365 Club, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile weighed in on the discussion on the manner of constitutional change proposed by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. The Speaker says he and his minions in the supermajority at the House can move to change the charter by themselves.

We really should learn from history.

Not forgotten LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES ON THE corner of Edsa and White Plains Avenue in Quezon City, dozens of Philippine flags stand at attention in neat, equidistant rows. The national tricolors provide mute testimony to the heroism of an equal number of police commandos who died because their commanderin-chief would not rescue them when they were set upon by a numerically superior force, after they had performed their foreigndictated, reward-rich mission upon their leader’s behest.

A huge LCD screen that is usually rented out to purveyors of various con-

sumer goods a little down the highway from the awkwardly named (for this occasion, anyway) People Power Monument, in front of the national military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, flashes the names and photos of the 44 highly-trained warriors for the same reason that the flags are there. Remember those who died, both flags and screen images seem to say; do not let their sacrifice be in vain.

Today is the third anniversary of that defining moment in the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III, the horrible incident now called the Mamasapano Massacre.

And as far as I know, no one has been held responsible for the brutal killing

by Moro insurgents of 44 elite members of the PNP

Special Action Force in a deserted cornfield in a farflung, rebel-infested town in Maguindanao province, three long years after the fact.

Of course, the people who usually hang out at the monument every February

Aquino will not escape punishment for his sins, which cry to the heavens for restitution. to mark another occasion would rather that we forget all about Mamasapano and the 44 SAF troopers who

died there. As far as these people are concerned, it’s perfectly all right to charge Aquino with usurping a power that was already his (the official complaint says so) and to “move on,” as they urged us all three years ago, when Noynoy’s presidency was shaken to its foundations in the aftermath of the massacre.

It is no coincidence that these same Filipinos will not allow anyone to move on when it comes to events that they have long ago weaponized to serve their own partisan political purposes. The “never forget” crowd does want us to forget—but only the stuff that throws shade on their idol from Times Street.

But Mamasapano, like the PDAF/DAP scandals and the Dengvaxia debacle, to name just two other

national tragedies directly involving Noynoy, will never be forgotten. There is no question that Aquino’s failures have been seared into the national consciousness for good, or else we would be paying homage today to Aquino’s designated successor, the equally pedigreed and high-born understudy from Cubao, instead of to that uncouth provinciano who is everything that Noynoy and his chosen one are not.

I am under no illusion that the Filipino nation will see Aquino pay for Mamasapano and other crimes during this administration, given its lack of interest in the sort of political vendetta that Noynoy was famous for. But I am certain that one day, all of those who suffered under the in-

ept, thieving, hypocritical and unfeeling presidency that gave us Mamasapano and many more variations on the same theme will secure the justice that they deserve.

I will not believe that God will allow Noynoy to ride into the sunset, cigarette smoke trailing behind him, convinced that he was the best president this country ever had, that he always had the best interest of his “bosses” in mind and that he never, ever did anything wrong. It may take time, but Aquino will not escape punishment for his grievous sins, which cry to the heavens for restitution.

The flags along Edsa and the names and faces of the SAF 44 will not allow

The 93-year-old Enrile’s remark got me thinking about what is happening in our country.

He said revolution is intrinsic in every society and the people will effect the change that they cannot get from their elected leaders.

Enrile repeated this warning at last Monday’s breakfast forum among the Plaridel group of newsmen.

He and another former Senate President, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., were guests in the forum that delved into what is happening in Congress.

Enrile’s warning also applies to the stalemate between Alvarez and Pimentel’s son, Senate President Koko Pimentel.

Recall what happened at Edsa in 1986. Enrile, together with Gregorio Honasan and Fidel Ramos, broke away from the Marcos dictatorship. This led to the ouster of the late strongman, President Ferdinand Marcos.

This is a warning to all those who cannot seem to learn from history.

It now depends on President Duterte if he would allow Alvarez and his minions to ride roughshod on the constitutional provision that “Congress” is

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Opinion From A4

*** It’s a dismal failure for an administration to be unable to deliver on something as basic as car or motorcycle plates.

This, when our officials often congratulate themselves on their campaigns against illegal drugs, criminality and corruption.

The Supreme Court has lifted the temporary restraining order that supposedly prevents the Land Transportation Office from using donated plates. The legality of this was questioned.

I can speak for myself. I have paid for my car plates more than two years ago, and I am still using the old plates. Why have the Aquino and Duterte administrations not been able to deliver? *** Malacañang has expressed concern over the increase in the number of Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger.

An estimated 3.6 million families—families, not individuals—said that they experienced hunger in the December quarter. The numbers rose across the country.

In light of this development, Malacañang must conduct an information campaign to explain why hunger is still prevalent despite economic growth.

The Palace’s concern is a good sign. At least it is not dismissing the survey findings even when they are not favorable to the President.

Our economic managers must also look into why foreign investments that could create jobs and spur growth have been slow in coming. Statistics show the country is only getting the crumbs while our neighbors are getting the real thing. *** Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin said he would return the award he received from the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association.

He joined the outrage over the alumni group’s decision to give the same award to controversial blogger Mocha Uson.

The lawmaker scoffed at the USTAAI’s explanation that Uson earned the award simply by being a graduate of the school who is now working with government.

If that were true, then all UST graduates who are now working in government must now be given an award!

I agree with Villarin. Uson is a purveyor of fake news, an unrepentant violator of ethical standards of journalism and a free-flowing fountain of foul language and obscenity.

She has corrupted the values that Thomasians hold true, Villarin said.

Not surprisingly, Harry Roque is supporting Uson.

I don’t know what potion Uson gave the USTAAI to earn that award. What I know is that she does not deserve it. *** Read the society pages of some national broadsheets and you will see the same faces in them. Disgusting!

I have never liked these pages. They only reflect the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

We read stories about millions of Filipino families going hungry and yet these people see no problem with their conspicuous consumption.

Not...

From A4

such a miscarriage of justice to happen. Never mind if they cannot utter one word. *** This goes out to Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero: Why is impeached former Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista able to thumb his nose on the entire Senate and the justice system in general and you and your committee in particular?

How can Bautista fail to appear for three consecutive hearings called by Escudero’s committee, which is investigating how the disgraced former elections official stashed billions in some heretofore unknown bank and not merit the same thundering anger that the Senate is known to display to such recalcitrant “resource persons”? Aren’t people who make a mockery of the Senate by ignoring its summonses, even once, immediately hunted down and jailed for contempt?

This is a Senate where people who do appear and are bullied to answer the silliest of questions are ridiculed and threatened. A Senate where nothing is supposed to be kept hidden, no matter how trivial, in aid of legislation and the search for truth.

And yet Bautista, who is accused of everything from hiding billions from his lawful wife, who is entitled to half of his money, to rigging the elections has placed himself beyond the reach of the Senate. Why, Senator Chiz?

Escudero has declared that Bautista will now be compelled by the Senate to appear before it in the next hearing through a subpoena. Given his record of so successfully evading the simple chore of putting in an appearance in any venue (including the courts where he is facing charges and where he merely sends his hired legal help) where he would be asked uncomfortable questions, I must say I have next to no confidence that this will happen.

Bautista seems to have fallen off the edge of the earth. And none of the people whose job it is to find him seem to give a damn.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

The big shift

Why... composed of two chambers.

It is but logical that the Senate and the House must vote separately and not in a joint session. The 292-member House would make the 24-member Senate irrelevant, my gulay!

Alvarez is treading on thin ice. President Duterte must crack the whip now. The country is being pushed over the edge!

Why are we, the people, allowing this to happen?

THURSDAY, J ANUARY 25, 2018

OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ

THE proposed shift of the Philippines from a unitary system of government into federalism has been the subject of debates of many Filipinos since the President announced his preference for a federal form of government. Some disapprove of this shift, believing it a ruse to justify term extensions.

Supporters of a shift to the federal system believe that it will contribute to the country’s political and economic development.

I was born in the 1940s, in a democratic, unitary state. At that time, Filipinos were already experiencing poverty, hunger, and unemployment. I will not say that the Phil-

ippine presidents back then were no good. But it made me ask—what could be wrong, the governance, or the system of government in place?

We are in a different time now. I think it is necessary to amend the present system to be aligned with the conditions of the present and the foreseeable challenges of the future, instead of being stuck to a reaction from the past.

The current mode of running the country has been largely based, and dependent, on the appropriations by the national government for projects and programs for the country. The revenues generated by all government units, including the local government units are collected by the national government and are distributed to the LGUs

through the Internal Revenue Allotment, and to the government agencies through the General Appropriations Act. We have a highly centralized government that has resulted in an imbalance distribution of resources among regions and LGUs. In the proposed Philippine federal system, there shall be two constitutionally-established levels of government—the federal government and the regional government. The shift to federalism enables an equitable and widespread development in the country, by decentralizing political and economic power, to allow for independent, self-determined federal states.

If we adopt the federal system of government, each state/regional government will be required to produce its own in-

come. Towns, cities, and provinces will no longer be welfare-dependent.

Our country is rich in natural resources. In a federal government, provinces and regions that are rich in natural resources can enjoy the entirety of the revenues they generate by supplying raw materials and producing goods out of these raw materials. In the present system, natural resources such as minerals and agricultural products are considered to be national wealth and only a small percentage is given to the regional or provincial source. Obviously, this does not help the provinces and regions that much.

There are business process outsourcing companies expanding all over the country, and a rising number of overseas Filipino workers. Experts

project that by 2022, the BPO sector shall generate around $40 billion in revenues, with a 9-percent growth yearly. Meanwhile, OFW remittances may generate $66.7 billion, with a 7-percent growth annually. Under the federal system, those areas where the BPOs are located, or the OFWs are from, will be entitled to the revenues earned by these high income generating sectors.

The proposed shift into federalism also comes with a transition mechanism, particularly for regional governments so they can prepare for further decentralization.

As the debates continue, let us keep an open mind. Change is not always comfortable; but we should know that greater things may happen outside our comfort zones.

Pivot to China DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

THE administration likes to point out that it is on track to fulfill almost all of the campaign promises of President Duterte.

One area that the administration has been relatively quiet about, however, is the shift in our foreign policy direction towards China. It is muted at best but the shift is unmistakable.

This all started when the administration started its war on illegal drugs and former United States President Barack Obama issued a warning to the administration to follow due process to avoid excesses in the anti-drug campaign.

President Duterte responded with tirades calling the former US President names—and did not stop there.

He warned that he wanted to abrogate the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between our two countries and stopped the traditional yearly Balikatan exercises.

Being the astute politician that he is, however, he must have sensed the difficulty of completely breaking our decades-old defense relationship with the US. So, he stopped short of doing it.

There might be a backlash he cannot control and there are also close to 3 million Filipinos.

The President, however, he has single-handedly increased the favorable rating of China among Filipinos.

Our relationship with the US improved somewhat when President Trump took office but just slightly.

Our relationship with China, on the other hand, has gotten immensely better, and fast. In the two trips of the President to China, he brought home pledges of tens of billions of dollars in investment and development assistance. Senior Chinese officials also paid a visit to the country praising the newfound friendship between both countries.

China must be very pleased with itself with the way it has handled the Philippines. If not, the country would be very hard to please indeed.

We no longer hear our Department of Foreign Affairs talking about the United Nations arbitral ruling except for Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio who has taken it upon himself to champion our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. Our DFA will also soon be meeting

with its Chinese counterpart on a bilateral basis which China wants to discuss outstanding FilChinese issues including the West Philippine Sea dispute.

Where exactly is the President taking this country? Is it his intention to take the country from the Western democratic values that the country has grown accustomed to for more than a hundred years and make us embrace the values of our giant neighbor to our west? If so, should not the President at least open up with the people so that a public debate can ensue about the merits and demerits of such a move? That is after all, the essence of democracy where our government is based upon.

Right now, what we can see is that the President is the principal actor moving the country toward China regardless of what his critics are saying. I hope this strategic move by him to move our country away from our traditional allies and closer to China will end up being good for our country. If not, he will be pilloried in history.

For better or for worse, China is now the center of our foreign policy initiatives. This is in spite

of the fact that nothing much has changed when it comes to Scarborough Shoal. The Chinese are still there but because they allow Filipino fishermen to fish around the shoal, this seems to satisfy the current administration by not issuing any statements that would displease the Chinese leadership.

Even our desire to improve our facilities in Pagasa had to be stopped because of “advice” from China not to proceed.

The plan of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to protest the militarization of Kagitingan did not also push through.

The administration keeps saying that there will be a proper time to take the issue of United Nations decision on the Scarborough Shoal but one and a half years into the administration of President Duterte, this has not yet happened.

In the meantime, what has happened are the following: On the apparent instruction of the President, the third telco player that will come into the country to break the stranglehold of Smart and Globe is a Chinese company. This is in addition to another Chinese company controlling our power grid distribution.

Also on the instructions of the President, China

Award, schmaward

LET her keep it.

Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson has returned the controversial award given to her by the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association Inc. A photo posted yesterday on the organization’s Facebook page showed a framed medal and certificate being turned over to two USTAAI officers.

The group handed Uson and other recipients a Thomasian Alumni Award for Government Service at their glittering homecoming ceremony last Jan. 21.

Netizens, among them UST alumni, erupted in outrage and questioned the award. Uson has been slammed many times in the past for purveying

fake news and disinformation. Her virulent screeds and pronouncements have contributed toward polarizing Filipinos into “kaDDS” (die-hard Duterte supporters) and “yellows” (non-Duterte supporters).

UST’s student paper, The Varsitarian, condemned the award, saying that the USTAAI “has manifested the banality of evil and perpetuated a libel on UST,” and called upon the alumni organization’s officers to resign.

For its part, the administration of UST clarified that the award was not given by the university itself and disavowed any knowledge of the selection process.

Disgusted with the USTAAI’s decision, three past honorees have returned their awards in protest—Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin, US-based novelist Bino Realuyo, and former Health Secretary Dr. Carmencita

Noriega-Reodica.

Reodica said “the award has lost its meaning and significance.”

Realuyo said he was “demoralized” by the recognition of and support given to Uson, “a political propagandist who thrives in attacking the highest ideals of Philippine democracy.”

Villarin denounced “all the lies, vitriol, and violence peddled by government officials like Mocha Uson.”

The resultant public uproar impelled USTAAI president Henry Tenedero to resign. In a statement, he said that he accepts full responsibility for all that has happened, but that the organization would not “rescind the recognition already conferred.”

Fending off the rain of brickbats with her customary insolence by branding the protesting UST community “OA” (over-acting), Uson returned the award anyway.

Again I say, let her keep

it. Here’s why: First, let us define our terms. The Oxford Dictionary says that an award is “a prize or other mark of recognition given in honor of an achievement,” and to my understanding an achievement involves excellence, skill, ability, courage, or other positive value.

Tenedero said that the only criteria applied in the selection of Uson for the ‘government service’ award were that she was a UST graduate and that she is working in government.

These are the shallowest selection measures I have ever come across. Having mass and occupying space is not an achievement.

Recognizing someone for having gone to school and holding a job makes the award a mere certificate of attendance.

Defending their decision to give the honor, Tenedero said in a television interview “’Yong core values na nabanggit

will conduct a maritime scientific study on the Philippine Rise. In 2016, a Chinese ship was spotted in the area but the Chinese said that it was only exercising the right to safe passage. Still, the ship was observed by our Navy to be zigzagging indicating that it was doing something else. Now, we are allowing them to do it openly but with a consolation price of Filipino scientists joining the study.

But why, of all people, the Chinese? Some opposition senators were asking could Filipino scientists not do the study alone, or perhaps with other countries? Why open the Philippine Rise to a country that already does not recognize our sovereign rights over Scarborough Shoal as mandated by the United Nations arbitral ruling?

The administration for its part has so far given unsatisfactory answers. Even the Presidential Spokesperson, Secretary Harry Roque, who before joining government service was a staunch critic of what China was doing, appears to be singing a different tune at the moment.

Maybe more transparency is needed. We need to understand the apparent fundamental shift toward China.

sa plaka—‘yong competence, commitment, c o m p a s sio n — r el a t ive ‘yan eh. Sino ang puwede magsabi na walang competence? Kasi noong kino-consider namin [ang bibigyan ng award], sa totoo lang, hindi naming tiningnan ‘yong morality, uprightness.”

But if an organization’s leaders don’t realize what a real achievement is, and if they can’t discern how values are manifested in a person’s behavior, and if they can honor a person who is neither moral nor upright, then they are unsound and unwise.

So for the superficial and arbitrary nature of its criteria, and for the poor judgment and shaky credibility of the award-giving body, the recognition given to Uson is devoid of real prestige and significance. It’s not a true award as we understand such honors to be.

Let her keep it.

News

A6

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Senate urges SC to disbar Divina, lawyers in fatal hazing incident

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Senate public order committee has asked the Supreme Court to immediately initiate disciplinary action or even disbarment against University of Santo Tomas Law Dean Nilo Divina and other alumni of the Aegis Juris Fraternity due to the death of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III during a fatal hazing rites in September last year.

Divina was also urged to resign from his position as the dean of the UST Faculty of Civil Law. “Mr. President, allow me to call the attention of Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and all the magistrates of the high court. We are speaking of the death of a young man who joined the fraternity in the hope of increasing his chances of becoming a member of the Philippine

Bar,” said Senator Panfilo Lacson in his sponsorship speech for the Committee Report regarding Castillo’s fatal hazing and the proposed AntiHazing Law of 2018 delivered on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon.

“Mr. President, it is undeniable that these lawyers have lost their moral fabric and became undeserving to be part of this noble and dignified profession.

As such, upon adoption of this report,

we will furnish the Supreme Court a copy of our report together with all the documents received by your Committee. May these documents be used as reference in the disbarment proceedings which we expect the Court to institute,” added Lacson.

Castillo, a freshman law student, succumbed to “severe blunt traumatic injuries” after attending the "welcoming rites" of the Aegis Juris

fraternity September last year.

Frat members responsible for Castillo’s death have already been slapped with criminal charges.

In his committee report 232, Lacson recommended that the SC also prioritize the actions against the following lawyers, who are alumni of the fraternity—Marvi Abo, Alston Kevin Anarn, Edzel Bert Canlas, Cecilio Jimeno,Ferdinand Rogelio, Eric

Fuentes, Cesar Ocampo Ona, Gaile Dante Acuzar Caraan, Henry Pablo Jr., Jet Dela Peña Villaroman,Cesar Dela Fuente, Niño Kjell Servañez, Manuel Angelo Ventura III, Michael Vito, Arthur Capili, Irvin Joseph Fabella, Edwin Uy and Allan Christophet Agati and all other members to be determined to have had knowledge of Atio’s death and failed to report the same to the authorities.

ILLEGAL GAMBLING.

Controversial gambling lord Atong Ang testifies at the Senate inquiry on the illegal numbers game. Aside from Ang, also testifying was former whistleblower and now PCSO director Sandra Cam. PCSO GM Alexander Balutan and new PCSO chairman Anselmo Simeon Pinili also said their piece during the hearing. Ey Acasio

Balutan dares Cam to file charges “FILE any corruption cases against me in court!”

This is the challenge Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan gave PCSO director Sandra Cam, during the Senate hearing on the amendment of the PCSO charter held Wednesday.

Irked by corruption accusations of Cam, Balutan said, “I was in the service for 37 years, four months, survived more than 50 military operations, four ambushes and with an impeccable record, do not challenge me, I will not cower.”

Balutan, a retired major general, is a former Vice Commander of the Philippine Navy, and a multi-awarded marine before his stint as PCSO general manager.

“This is the first time somebody has accused me of corruption,” he said, adding, “If they have proof, then why don’t they file it in court.”

“I always do my job with honor, integrity, and honesty,” he added.

With the a little more than a year as general manager, Balutan, together with Jose Jorge Corpuz, (who recently resigned as PCSO chairman due to health reasons), the PCSO earned a record high collection of P52,986,520.39 in lottery games, compared to P39,564,206.76 in 2016.

Meanwhile, Senator Manny Pacquiao quoted a verse from the Bible in urging PCSO officials to refrain from accusing each other.

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand, Pacquiao quoted Mark 3:24-25 during the hearing of the PCSO controversy involving its top officials.

“We have to fix first the problem from the inside,” Pacquaio said.

According to the senator, once the problem is fixed it is only then that “we could serve with harmony, unity, and solidarity.”

Du30 denies hand in Drilon’s ‘case’

By Vito Barcelo

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte denied that he had a hand in linking Senate Minority leader Franklin Drilon in the alleged Priority Development Assistance Fund scam masterminded by Janet Napoles.

“If I talked to somebody urging a case against you in PDAF, bring the person in my presence, and I will resign because you are my friend,” Duterte said before leaving for India.

The President said he would never initiate a case buildup against Drilon since he considers the veteran lawmaker his “friend.”

Drilon reportedly received

P5 million from Napoles who donated the money for the senator’s campaign in 2010 elections.

Duterte assured Drilon that he had no hand in the claims against the Drilon.

“It is not in my system, it is not in my style na maghabol,” he said. “I told you before in front of so many congressmen, I have nothing against you.”

Napoles, who is now detained at Camp Bagng Diwa for multi-billion peso plunder charges, revealed that she gave P5 million to Drilon but lamented that she did not get any help from the senator.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque has said that the claim must be investigated although he added that the Palace is leaving the investigation to the Department of Justice.

Told of the President’s statement, Drilon Duterte for saying that “he has his respect and he considers me a friend.”

Drilon also clarified that if I had disagreements with

the Duterte administration by launching smear campaign and false accusations against members of the opposition.

“This administration has a pattern that when it is cornered, they clean and divert the issue,” the LP said in a statement.

The former ruling party said the latest latest attack on the opposition concerned the allegation Drilon, LP’s vice chairman.

Drilon had strongly denied receiving any campaign contribution from Napoles.

“We have submitted our Statements of Contributions and Expenditures, which are open for public scrutiny,”

DENR to file raps vs Mt. Pulag ‘fire starters’

By Rio N. Araja ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy Cimatu on Wednesday ordered the filing of criminal raps against the culprits of a forest fire that destroyed 5.9 hectares of grasslands in the 557-hectare Mt. Pulag National Park in Benguet during a grassfire last Jan. 20.

“The Department of Environment and Natural Resources recognizes the impact of the fire had on the national park and we will pursue all legal avenues to bring those responsible to account,” he said.

He said the grassfire put the lives of the people who were at the park at that time in great danger and caused damage to

precious forest resources.

Authorities said the blaze was caused by an explosion from a butane gas stove brought by a group of hikers and trekkers from Cebu.

Ralph Pablo, director of the DENR-Cordillera Administrative Region, said seven mountaineers, led by one Kristomar Mackay, would face criminal charges for violation of Republic Act No. 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act and Presidential Decree No. 75 or the Forestry Reform Code.

According to Cimatu, the department would impose additional requirements for hikers wanting to climb Mt. Pulag in the wake of the forest fire.

EU FORUM. Franz Jessen, European Union Ambassador and head of the EU delegation to the Philippines speaks at a media forum in AdriatIco, Manila to discuss EU's role in developing countries like the Philippines. Norman Cruz

Piston president refuses to enter plea TRANSPORT leader George San Mateo of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide on Wednesday refused to enter a plea before a Quezon City court arraignment on charges of knowingly and willfully instructing members to hold a nationwide strike.

Judge Don Ace Alagar of the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court's Branch 43 entered a plea of not guilty

for the accused.

San Mateo asserted his right based on the Rules of Court allowing an accused to refuse to enter a plea.

The case stemmed from the transport strike organized by Piston and other transport groups in February 2017 to protest the public utility vehicle modernization program.

The Land Transportation Franchisng and Regulatory Board said San Mateo vio-

counts of violation of the AntiSexual Harassment Act. In his motion, Dosado said the anti-graft has no jurisdiction over his case due to his Salary Grade 26 rank of Full Colonel.

But the prosecution said Dosado's rank is covered by Presidential Decree 1606 which created the Sandiganbayan, and as amended by the Republic Act. 10660, or the Act Strengthening Further the Functional and

Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan.

The Sandiganbayan ruled in favor of the prosecution. It added that the alleged sexual acts were connected to his office since the victims were his subordinates.

"In other words, the official position held by the accused made it possible for him to have allegedly committed the crimes charged. Thus, it can be said that the crimes charged are inti-

said Drilon who added that they will not further give any comment on such obviously “fake news.”

LP president Senator Francis Pangilinan noted that such tactic was only meant to divert the attention of the public from the controversies hounding the Duterte administration.

Instead of explaining and answering the accusation, Pangilinan said the administration resorted to maligning reputation and peddling lies against critics.

Pangilinan noted that the current government is attacking those who do not agree with their policies or what they’re doing.

End ‘plateless era’—Poe

lated Commonwealth Act No. 146 or the Public Service Law. On Dec. 5 last year, San Mateo was about to enter the Quezon City Hall of Justice to post a P4,000 bail when policemen arrested him and took him to the Quezon City Police District Station 10 in Kamuning for booking.

Hours later, he was taken back to the Hall of Justice to allow him to bail himself.

Rio N. Araja

Motion of ex-colonel accused of sexual harassment denied THE Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has denied the motion of a former Philippine Army official to dismiss the charges filed against him for allegedly asking sexual favors on three occasions from two of his female subordinates in 2013.

The anti-graft court found enough basis to try former Army Procurement Center Commanding Officer Colonel Jessie Mario Dosado for three

the President, it is always on matters of policy.

“I have never attacked the President on a personal level,” also stressed Drilon.

“In fact, I remain grateful for, and acknowledge, the support the President gave me, as mayor of Davao City, in all my election campaigns.

I hope we remain friends. He has my full respect,” added the Senate leader.

“I have never said that the President talked to anyone to file a case against me, or anything to that effect,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party on Wednesday bewailed the diversionary tactic being employed by

mately connected to his office," the resolution read.

Dosado, who served as commanding officer of the Philippine Army Procurement Center, was charged by the Office of the Ombudsman with two separate counts of violation of Republic Act 7877 or the AntiSexual Harassment Act of 1997 based on the complaints filed by his secretary, and another lady subordinate. Maricel V. Cruz

Romualdez proposed bill on annulment backed

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives on Tuesday night approved on second reading a bill which seeks civil recognition of all religion’s church-decreed annulment to make it accessible and not expensive to many Filipinos.

House Bill 6779, or “An Act Recognizing the Civil Effects of church Annulment Decrees,” was approved in plenary session even as Rep. Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt-Romualdez of Leyte and Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, principal authors of the measure, pushed for the enactment of the measure. The bill was endorsed for plenary approval by the House committee on population and family relations led by Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones, also an author of the bill.

“Once this bill becomes a law, a declaration of nullity decreed by the church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment. This removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process,” Kittilstvedt-Romualdez, vice chairperson of the House

committee on government enterprises and privatization, said.

“The good of our children and the good of society hang in the balance with every decision to declare a marriage null and void. In this context, recognizing the civil effects of church annulment decrees will address the need to ensure that those who find themselves in such a difficult marital situation will have the benefit of a more efficient and affordable procedure that can help ease their conscience and may permit them to move on in freedom from a truly irreparable relationship,” added Kittilstvedt-Romualdez, wife of Philippine Constitution Association president and formerLeyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

While safeguarding the sanctity of marriage, Kittilstvedt-Romualdez said her measure could be in response to Pope Francis’ decision to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church after complaints that its current system is complicated, costly and often unfair.

SENATOR Grace Poe said on Wednesday that the government should end the “plateless era” in a fast and furious manner after the Supreme Court lifted the Temporary Restraining Order on the distribution of 700,000 motor vehicle license plates.

But Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the eventual distribution of car plates “might be a case of too little, too late.”

He noted that about half of the number of the plates had already been released to the vehicle owners before the High Court issued the TRO, Recto said.

It will be recalled that SC’s injunction covered 300,000 pairs of plates for cars and other four-wheel vehicles, and 400,000 plates for motorcyles.

“I would like to echo what millions of owners of vehicles with temporary, handwritten license plates want government to do: Please step on the gas," said Poe. “They have long paid for these plates. It is time to deliver them,” Poe said, noting “that the delay in the issuance is now as long as the period World War II was fought in the Philippines,” she added.

Poe sad it is hard to believe that it would take half a decade to issue a plate which does not even weigh a kilo while the assembling of twoton vehicles will only take less than a week.

The senator said that while “a myriad of legal and budgeting concerns must be threshed out” to restart the plate procurement process, “perhaps other legal ways can be explored to fasttrack the delivery of these plates."

The senator noted that car and motorcycle plates covered by the injunction, “even if they are fully released will hardly make a dent on the demand.”

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Sports Olivarez clobbers AIMS in NCRAA CALASIAO, PANGASINAN—Olivarez College continued to sizzle in the Sta. Lucia LandNCRAA men’s basketball tournament even as New Era stunned host team University of Luzon here at the Calasiao Sports Complex.

The Sea Lions were overpowering from start to finish on their way to a 105-57 demolition of Asian Institute of Maritime Studies in what was easily the most lopsided victory this season.

Behind the efforts of Jeric Prado, Raymond Andico and Louie Campos, the Sea Lions posted a 42-23 half time lead and padded it to as high as 52, 100-48, in the fourth period as the Mariners couldn’t get their game going.

Campos led all Olivarez scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds despite seeing action for only 15 minutes.

Prado added 16 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes as they moved into solo leadership of Group A, half a game ahead of idle Technological Institute of the Philippines (3-0).

But Olivarez’s win was nearly overshadowed

by New Era’s thrilling 77-73 win over host squad University of Luzon.

Jeff Comia made the big plays down the stretch, scoring two free throws and capping his heroics with a steal and a lay up to put his team ahead, 7470, with still more than a minute left.

The usually passionate Comia was called for a technical foul in the ensuing play, but made up for the lapse with a dagger basket coupled by Nemesis dela Cruz’s split charities to ensure New Era’s win.

Also winning was Philippine Merchant Marine School, which pulled off a 98-93 victory over PATTS College of Aeronautics.

A7

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Kerber, Halep in dominant wins

M

ELBOURNE—Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep were in dominant moods Wednesday to race into an Australian Open semi-final showdown, as the dream Grand Slam run of giantkiller Chung Hyeon continued.

Germany’s Kerber, champion two years ago, swept aside Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2, easily taming the American’s big serve and will go into her clash with the world number one on a 14-match win streak.

Top seed Halep was equally impressive on Rod Laver Arena in thumping sixth

seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-2, reeling off nine games in a row after going 0-3 behind in the first set.

South Korea’s Chung battled past unheralded American Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to become the lowest-ranked semi-finalist since Marat Safin in 2004.

Ranked 58, the bespectacled 21-year-old, nicknamed “The Professor”, proved too hot for his fellow quarterfinal rookie, although he needed six match points before claiming victory.

“I’m just trying to stay focused, it’s my first time in one of these matches,” said the delighted Suwon native, who is the first player—man or woman—from his country to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.

Sandgren, who wiped his Twitter account ahead of the game after being dogged by controversy over

his political views, paid tribute to the Korean.

“He’s a fantastic player,” he said, adding that he was also upbeat about his own future after a breakthrough tournament.

“I’m excited about that.

Hopefully I can keep playing well.”

Next up for Chung, who has already knocked out six-time winner Novak Djokovic and fourth seed Alexander Zverev, is either defending champion Roger Federer or veteran Czech Tomas Berdych, who play an evening match.

Kerber, who won the title in 2016, is in scintillating form after an unbeaten singles campaign in the Hopman Cup and her triumph in the Sydney warm-up.

Keys was expected to be a stiff challenge, having not dropped a set en route to the quarters, but she melted under the German’s relentless groundstrokes and pinpoint return of serve.

“I’m just trying to find the feeling back I had like 2016,” said Kerber, who had a forgettable 2017 after winning not only in Australia but also

the US Open in 2016.

“Madison is a hard hitter, and she served good. So I was trying to playing from the first point aggressive and moving good and also bringing a lot of balls back,” she added.

Stay calm The win ensures Kerber, seeded 21, will move back into the world’s top 10.

Halep comes next on Thursday, with the nuggety Romanian taming towering Czech Pliskova’s serve to scamper into the last four for the first time in Melbourne. AFP

Pacquiao’s Maharlika caging begins today

Germany’s Angelique Kerber signs autographs after beating Madison Keys of the US in their women’s singles quarter-finals match on day 10 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 24, 2018. AFP

A NEW battleground for cage supremacy will finally be unveiled tonight as the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League gets going at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Organized by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, the league’s inaugural conference, known as the Anta Rajah Cup, has lured 10 teams from Metro Manila— Parañaque, Caloocan, Valenzuela, Muntinlupa, Navotas and Quezon City—and key cities and provinces in Luzon—Bulacan, Bataan, Batangas City and Imus, Cavite—for the threemonth long tournament patterned after the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.

“I’m very humbled and excited at the same time to be working with Senator Pacquiao for this noble project of him to discover untapped talents across the country and give former pros another chance to prove their worth,” said MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.

Colorful opening rites, spiced up by several celebrity guests

Game Today

(Smart-Araneta Coliseum) 7 p.m. – Opening Ceremonies 8 p.m. – Caloocan vs Parañaque

who will be invited by Pacquiao himself, will be held at 7 p.m. before the Parañaque Patriots and the Caloocan Supremos kick off the hostilities at 8 p.m.

A brand new car and 10 motorbikes will also be up for grabs for lucky fans who will watch the opener live at the Big Dome.

“This league will be a great help to young players, including those in the provinces, aiming to make it to the pro ranks. Aside from discovering diamonds in the rough, we are also out to help former pros who want to prove they still have enough gas left in the tank,” said Pacquiao, the league’s founder and prime mover.

The Patriots, under multi-titled tactician Aric Del Rosario, and the Supremos, handled by coach John Kallos, will try to make an immediate impact before an expected sellout Big Dome crowd.

Velez, Carlos score Suarez Cup tennis twin-kill Kappel, Tio JOHN Velez and Macie Carlos fashioned out two victories each to become the first winners on the new season of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala age-group tennis tournament at the Colegio San Agustin in Bulacan recently.

Velez trounced Kenny Sing, 6-3, 6-1, to capture the boys’ 14-and-under crown then the Davao ace trampled Joshua Molina, 6-1, 6-2, in the 16-U finals while Carlos went two divisions up to stun Rafaella Villanueva, 6-0, 6-2, and snare the girls’ 18-U diadem in the

first PPS-PEPP Fr. Fernando Suarez Cup. The 13-year-old Carlos from the Keys School Manila also took the 16-U plum with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Gab Zoleta to share the MVP honors with Velez, one of the MCTA (Macs Crankit Tennis Academy) of Australia-sponsored players, in the Group I tournament held in honor of the healing priest and presented by Asiatraders Corp. with Slazenger and Dunlop as official balls.

Other winners were Urdaneta’s John Lim, Joshua Diva of QC, Ateneo’s Manuel Balce II,

Cagayan de Oro’s Casey Padilla and local ace Jenaila Prulla.

Lim ruled the 10-unisex with a 4-2, 4-1 win over Hadassa Pascua; Diva crushed Carson Bagadiong, 6-2, 6-2, for the 12-U diadem; while Balce, a Grade 12 Ateneo student and former member of the national junior Davis Cup team who earned an athletic scholarship at Eastern Washington U, fended off EJ Tugade, 62, 6-4, for the 18-U crown.

“It’s quite fulfilling to see young players like Carlos and Velez winning titles way above their age level. By providing them year-

round, ranking tournaments makes them better, tougher and ready to slug it out with players in higher age-groups,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Padilla, on the other hand, dominated Marielle Jarata, 6-0, 6-1, for the girls’ 12-U title while Prulla saved the day for the hosts by beating Julia Ignacio, 6-0, 6-2, and clinching the 14-U plum in the event sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.

World Cup winner Tabora named Prima Bowler of Year

Wacky Baniqued, a Triathlete awardee of Prima, is joined by Alex Lim and Jerry Lee, during the awards night at the Blue Leaf Pilipinas in Parañaque City.

NATIONAL bowler Krizziah Tabora was named Female Bowler of the Year, while Kenneth Chua grabbed his third consecutive male Bowler of the Year title recently in the Team Prima 25th Anniversary titled “The Great Gatsby Party” at the Blue Leaf Filipinos Event Place in Paranaque City.

The 26-year-old former Miriam College student was the run away winner in the award after winning the last year’s prestigious Bowling World Cup title putting her on the level of Filipino bowling legends Paeng Nepomuceno and Bong Coo. “This is another award that I will treasure and be proud of for the rest of my life. And 2017 turned out the best year of my life because after winning the World Cup, people recognized me here in abroad,” said Tabora, who already clinched her fifth Prima Pasta Athlete of the Year honor.

“Filipinos abroad, they even threw party for me and asked to have pictures with me.

They kept saying that they are so proud of

me. It’s very fulfilling knowing that I brought pride to our country. Also, I gained more friends in social media and in person,” she added.

Chua, 26, captured last year the first Philippine Bowling Federation Philippine International Open, TBAM Open Masters and Philippine Seniors Open Championship titles, while settling for a silver medal in the Asian Indoors and Martial Arts Games.

Those achievements were enough for him to snare his fourth overall Bowler of the Year award during the annual event organized by Team Prima chairman Alexander Lim. Ivan Malig and Daphne Custodio won the Male and Female Junior Bowler of the Year awards, respectively.

Clarice Estrellado and Stephen Diwa copped the Most Improved Bowler citation, while the Bowler of the Year for Cebu/ Davao winners were Dianne Galendez and Heber Alqueza.

Alvarez’s MVP-like show powers Jose Rizal U past St. Benilde SHOLA Alvarez came through with an MVP-like performance as Jose Rizal University eked out a shock 25-21, 25-22, 2521 win over College of St. Benilde to stay on course for a Final Four seat in the women’s division of the 93rd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Arena in San Juan City.

Alvarez, who improved her craft playing in the Premier Volleyball League for champ Pocari Sweat, did almost ev-

erything as she fired a matchhigh 21 points she laced with 20 kills, while flashing her impressive defensive skills with 13 digs and eight receptions.

Thanks to her, the Lady Bombers have jumped to a tie at fifth spot with the Lady Blazers 3-3 (win-loss) records, or half a game behind San Sebastian Lady Stags (3-2), thereby boosting their chances of making the semifinal round for the first time since the Final Four was introduced.

JRU now looks at sweeping its last three outings against Mapua (0-5), Letran (2-3) and LPU (1-5) to accomplish its goal.

“Making the Final Four is a goal for us and we believe in ourselves that we will,” said JRU coach Mia Tioseco.

In the other game, San Beda College survived Lyceum’s upset try and escaped with a come-from-behind 22-25, 1925, 25-11, 25-17, 15-7 win to rejoin Arellano University at the

helm with six wins.

Cesca Racraquin went on attack mode and fired 26 points, including six service aces.

JRU, which is seeking to make the next round for the first time since the Final Four was implemented, has been making heads turn with a five-set upset win over San Sebastian, runner-up in the last three seasons.

The Kalentong-based school also snatched a set from defending champion Arellano Univer-

sity and Perpetual Help and was leading, 5-2, against San Beda in the fifth set before collapsing in the end.

Rookie sensation Dolly Grace Versoza provided Alvarez relief by scattering 16 points.

In the men’s division earlier, reigning titlist CSB routed JRU, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20, to improve to joint No. 2 with AU with 5-1 records each.

Perpetual Help leads with the way with a pristine 6-0 card.

rule ICTSI kiteboarding SWEDE ace Atte Kappel put up another dazzling act to rule the men’s Masters Class while young Christian Tio annexed two titles in the second leg of the ICTSI Philippine Kiteboarding Tour Season 5 in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu recently.

Kappel, a regular campaigner in the ICTSI circuit and among the top 5 Twin Tip racers in the world, bested an elite pool of rivals to clinch the crown in the premier category of the three-day event which drew local and international riders.

Philippine Kiteboarding Association president Jay Ortiz and Carlo Leongson finished second and third, respectively, while first leg winner Bong Fernando from Boracay struggled to place fourth in the event featuring riders 40-years-old-and-above.

Tio, on the other hand, reigned supreme again in his pet Freestyle then surprised the field in the Men’s TT Slalom race, edging Puerto Galera-based swimming champ Aryzx Garcia. ICTSI team rider and 2016 Tour champion Doque delos Santos from Boracay ended up third in the event backed by title sponsor International Container Terminal Services Inc. and tour partners Cabrinha, Greenyard Boracay, Cobra Energy Drink, Aboitiz Foundation, and Float Captain.

Others who shared center stage in the event, which featured Twin Tip Slalom Border Cross Racing, Freestyle and the high flying Cabrinha Hang Time Challenge, were the Netherlands’ Mariska Wildeberg, Remel Rentillo, Tony Baysa and Aiden Candava and Helena Lundberg, also from Sweden.

Wildeberg, one of the top riders for Flysurfer, sustained top form as she topped the ladies racing division after ruling the Lakawon event last month. Manila-based Kara Leongson placed second while Jingjing Gajisan from Boracay and Boracay-based Aussie Ali Dudfield came in third and fourth, respectively.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Sports

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

A8

LeBron surpasses 30,000 points LOS ANGELES— LeBron James made NBA history on Tuesday, hitting the final shot of the first quarter to become the youngest player ever to reach the 30,000 career regular season point milestone.

James, who turned 33 on December 30, surpassed Kobe Bryant as the youngest player to hit the 30,000 figure.

Bryant was 34 years and 104 days old when he reached the mark.

The Cleveland superstar James did it by nailing a step back jump shot against the San Antonio Spurs with 1.1 seconds remaining in the first for his eighth point of the contest.

James finished with 28 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the field in the Cavaliers’ 114-102 loss to San Antonio, boosting his total to 30,021.

James came into the game needing just seven to scale the height only six others have achieved so far. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points), Karl Malone (36,928), Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Dirk Nowitzki (30,808) on the select list of high scorers.

“Congrats #KingJames. Welcome to the club!!!” Nowitzki wrote on Twitter.

James opened his scoring night with a drive and a left-handed layup with 7:19 left in the first quarter. He added two more points on a finger roll layup with just over four minutes left. He got to within one point of the mark with 64 seconds to go with his first successful jump shot of the game.

“Congratulations to LeBron on reaching 30,000 points—yet another milestone in an extraordinary career that continues to inspire,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. AFP

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers battles Kyle Anderson of the San Antonio Spurs fora lose ball at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. James surpassed 30,000 points, but his team fell to the Spurs, 114-102. AFP

Meralco 5 stops bleeding

By Jeric Lopez

K

NOWING it cannot fall further behind in the ladder, Meralco finally had its best showing, running over Kia and sending it back to earth, 105-76, to stop its bleeding in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Nino Canaleta continued his fine form, scoring a game-high 17 points, including three triples to go with six rebounds to once again pace the Bolts, while Jared Dillinger added 13 markers.

The much-needed win was a

Another draw for Wesley

By Peter Atencio RUSSIAN grandmaster Peter Svidler, playing black, tried to force his way into the queenside backrank.

But, Filipino GM Wesley So managed to force a draw by perpetual check in 38 moves of a King’s Indian Attack in Round 9 of the 80th Tata Steel Chess Masters Tournament.

Svidler accepted the draw after he pushed his queen to the e4 file for the second time last Sunday at the Wijk Aan Zee, the Netherlands.

The draw put So in third spot, toting 5.5 points with Vladimir Kramnik.

So now braces for a big showdown with world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the next round.

Meanwhile, GM Anish Giri pulled off a 39-move triumph over Maxim Matlakov in 39 moves of a Reti Opening.

Giri took the solo lead with 6.5 points and later found his unofficial FIDE ranking move up from no.

15 to no. 9 in the world.

Matlakov’s dubious rook move in the 35th immobilized his passed pawn. This happened after Giri forced a bishop and knight exchange and had Matlakov in the edge on Giri’s passed pawn at the b4 file.

Carlsen and Shakh Mamedyarov fell behind after settling for draws with their respective rivals.

The 2837 ELO-rated Carlsen played a marathon encounter with Viswanathan Anand before they drew in 95 moves of a Ruy Lopez Closed.

Mamedyarov halved his point with Kramnik in 27 moves of a Guioco Piano.

big boost for Meralco as it got back into the thick of the race with the teams right above it, improving to 2-3 in the process.

“We really needed this win to stay with the other teams and more importantly, for us to get

some rhythm after losing our previous games,” said Meralco coach Norman Black. “Hopefully, we can continue getting into better shape as a team.”

Anjo Caram gave Meralco a boost off the bench, contributing 12 points.

Playing with a lot of urgency and gusto, Meralco was able to build an early 27-21 cushion at the end of one.

From there, the Bolts instantly tightened their grip on the game even more, uncorking a 14-4 blast to start the second period and carve a comfortable 16-point spread, 36-21, after a Canaleta

basket with 6:43 remaining before halftime.

By the turn, Meralco was already ahead by 19, 60-41.

That first-half surge proved to be the deciding factor as Meralco was in cruise control the rest of the way, securing the victory to snap out of its three-game dry spell.

In the second half, Meralco established its largest lead in the closing minutes, a 34-point bubble, 104-70, after a basket from Mac Baracael with 1:11 left.

After ending its long r un of futility the last time out, Kia was once again back to

its losing ways as it dropped to 1-5 for the conference, remaining at the cellar.

The Scores: Meralco 105—Canaleta 17, Dillinger 13, Caram 12, Amer 10, Hodge 8, Faundo 8, Hugnatan 7, Tolomia 7, Ballesteros 6, Newsome 6, Baracael 5, Salva 5, Sedurifa 1, Lanete 0, Bono 0.

Kia 76—McCarthy 17, Yee 14, Gabriel 13, Galanza 9, Tubid 8, Celda 8, Caperal 3, Jamon 2, Sara 2, Khobuntin 0, Cabrera 0, Ababou 0.

Quarterscores: 27-21, 60-41, 79-58, 105-76.

Bayron, 3 others share ICTSI Pradera golf lead with 68s LUBAO, Pampanga—Rufino Bayron stumbled with a late bogey and dropped to a four-way tie with three foreign aces that surprisingly held the fort in the early going of the ICTSI Pradera Verde Classic, all carding 68s for a one-stroke lead over six others at the start of the ICTSI Pradera Verde Classic here yesterday.

Bayron, seeking an end to a string of so-so finishes in the Philippine Golf Tour Asia, bucked the heat and the wind that bedeviled the games of the pre-tournament favorites but failed to complete a bogey-free card with a missed-green bogey on No. 16 for a pair of 34s.

That enabled Aussies Andrew Campbell and David Gleeson and Lexus Keoninh of the US to make it a crowded leaderboard with Jay Bayron, James Ryan Lam, Orlan

Sumcad, Americans John Michael O’Toole and Nicolas Paez and Dutch Guido Van der Valk shooting identical 69s.

Jobim Carlos and Keanu Jahns churned out a pair of 70s in tough condition at the 7315yard flat to stay in early contention in the $100,000 event serving as the seventh leg of the region’s newest circuit sponsored by ICTSI. Except for Jhonnel Ababa, last week’s winner at Eagle Ridge, and Riviera titlist Clyde Mondilla, the three other PGTA leg winners found Pradera’s length too tough to overcome with Wack Wack champion Tony Lascuña settling for a one-birdie, onebogey round (72) and Splendido winner Rene Menor and CAT Open titlist Justin Quiban groping for 73s.

“The course is too long, made tougher by the wind on

some holes. It’s for the long hitters. I tried to offset it with my iron game but could only settle for regulation pars,” rued the 48-year-old Lascuña, winner of Tuesday’s pro-am.

As the power-hitting Campbell, Gleeson and Keoninh took charge midway through the day, Rufino Bayron, the former amateur hotshot who last won in 2015 at Orchard, sneaked into the lead with birdies on Nos. 3, 5, 10, 13 and 14, only to fall with a flubbed par-putt on the 16th.

Campbell, who like Rufino Bayron never got into contention at least in the last three PGTA legs, preserved a solid backside 33 with a birdie on No. 2 while Gleeson, who tied for 18th at Eagle Ridge, bounced back from a bogey on No. 5 with birdies on Nos. 7, 10, 11, 13 and 16 to gain a piece of the lead.

A poor chip shot on No. 16 costs Rufino Bayron the solo lead.

PH karatekas don’t trust their officials anymore MAJORITY members of the karate national team are hopeful the internal problem within their federation will will finally come to an end in order for them to fully concentrate in their training for the Asian Games in Jakarta.

The training of the karatekas is currently left under the supervision of the Philippine Sports Institute, under technical director Marc Velasco following the decision of the Philippine Sports Commission to suspend all national team coaches amidst the issue over alleged misappropriation of government funds by the Philippine Karatedo Federation.

The controversy also led to the suspension of financial assistance to the PKF by the PSC pending the result of an

Members of the PH Karatedo Team at the PSA Forum Peter Paul Duran

ongoing investigation being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation regarding the matter, although the national athletes continue to receive their monthly allowances from the government sports agency.

“Nakakalungkot isipin na nandito tayo sa ganitong

sitwasyon na ito,” said Mae Soriano, a bronze medalist in the last Asiad in Incheon, South Korea. “Kaming mga atleta rin kasi ‘yung nadadamay kaya as soon as possible, gusto ko na rin na matapos ito para kami ay maka-focus na rin sa training.”

Soriano was one of the 18

national team members, who signed and released a formal manifesto expressing their loss of confidence to the leadership of the PKF under president Joey Romasanta and secretary general Raymund Lee Reyes.

They issued their official stand during Tuesday’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Tapa King Restaurant in Farmer’s Market, Cubao, where they furnished members of media copies of their statement for the very first time.

Commissioner Ramon Fernandez of the Philippine Sports Commission accompanied the group of karatekas composed of Soriano, Rexor Tacay, John Paul Bejar, Jayson Ramil Macaalay, Miyuki Takay, Orencio James (OJ) Delos Santos, and team captain

Engene Dagohoy.

The seven karatekas sought the help of Fernandez when they learned in his Facebook post about the budget the PSC gave to the PKF for use in their training abroad prior to the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“We found out that our federation officials have been cheating on us and have been using us to make money out of our hardships and sacrifices for the federation,” part of the athletes’ statement read. “We thought all this time the PSC was not giving us enough support because every time we travel, our leaders will always say the PSC did not give us enough funds for us to sustain our trip and four our plans and programs.”

Led by Dagohoy, the ka-

ratekas related their ordeal while in training camps in Europe, on how they had to make use of the meager budget given them by the PKF. “We all realized that if we don’t speak up, we’re gonna suffer the next year, and also the next generation of athletes are going to suffer like we did,” said Delos Santos, the acknowledged speaker of the group during the same forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Tapa King, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Fernandez reiterated the support of the PSC to the athletes.

“Ang message na sinabi sa akin in chairman (Butch Ramirez) on this is ‘Mon, we’re going all the way out in this case,’” said the former PBA great, a four-time league MVP.

LGUs

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

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

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Didipio mine exceeds 2017 gold production

Makati Mayor Abby Binay (right) receives a certificate of appreciation from Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga (center) from the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom, and Dr. Andres Winston Oreta (left) from the De La Salle University, Manila, during an international workshop on disaster resilience hosted by the schools. The mayor shared Makati City’s formula for disaster preparedness and resilience in adopting the “Making Cities Resilient Tools” under the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction with participants in the five-day workshop at Century Park Hotel. UNISDR has certified Makati City as a “Campaign Champion for Making Cities Resilient” and “Role Model City” while the World Bank has named the city one of “East Asia’s Climate Resilient Cities.”

CABARROGUIS, Quirino—OceanaGold Corp. achieved record annual gold production and exceeded the top end of its 2017 gold production guidance range in its Didipio Gold and Copper Mine project in Nueva Vizcaya province, the mining firm’s officials said.

“We are very pleased to report a strong finish to 2017 for OceanaGold as we achieved record quarterly production leading to the sixth consecutive year that we have achieved our annual guidance,” Mick Wilkes, OceanaGold president and chief executive officer, said in a report.

Wilkes said OceanaGold’s Didipio Mine has 176,790 ounces produced, including 39,256 ounces produced in the fourth quarter, which has exceeded its 2017 production guidance range of 150,000 to 160,000 ounces.

The company has also a copper production of 18,351 tons for the same year, including 3,687 tons in the fourth quarter, which is within its 2017 production guidance range of 18,000 to 19,000 tons. Brenda Jocson

Early school listup set

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE city government of Makati announced on Wednesday that the early public-school registration for the year 2018-2019 will last from Jan. 27 until Feb. 28.

Mayor Abigail Binay called on parents and guardians to take advantage of the early registration and enroll their children, even those who are not currently enrolled, to fulfil their role as development partners of the city government.

“It is the continuing

thrust of the city to provide unhampered access to quality education for all. Students in our public schools are recipients of free school uniforms, school shoes, and supplies through Project FREE (Free Relevant and Excellent Education).

All they need to do is re-

port to school and study,” the mayor said.

She called on parents and guardians to take advantage of the early registration and enroll their children, even those who are not currently enrolled, to fulfil their role as development partners of the city government.

According to DepEdMakati superintendent Rita Riddle, during the early registration period, all public schools in the city will be open to accommodate participants, from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Enrollees need to bring a copy of their birth certificate for age verification.

She said the chief objective of the initiative is to promote equal access to education especially for those from underprivileged families.

It also seeks to understand the barriers to accessible education and identify interventions to bring outof-school youth to school and ensure that they do not drop out.

Additionally, the early registration aims to reach the expected number of

students for school year 2018-2019 in preparation for the opening of classes and ensure that all five-year old children are enrolled in preschool.

Meanwhile, DepEdMakati division heads and supervisors will closely monitor the registration process. Schools are required to submit weekly reports to help them determine if they still need to take further action such as going house-to-house to encourage more participants.

Last year, the city

through its Project FREE has distributed free school uniforms, shoes and school supplies to some 90,000 Makati public school students in all its public elementary and high schools.

As of June 30, 2017, the city has a total of 48,283 enrolled students from Kinder to Grade 6 while Grades 7 to 12 has a total of 39,299 students. On the other hand, under the Alternative Learning System (ALS), the city has a total of 2,093, and 518 students for Special Education (SPED).

Impact of TRAIN on Grab tackled GRAB Philippines recently gathered its driverpartners and operators from all over the country for a driver’s forum to discuss the implications of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

The event was one of the largest driver forums organized and was attended by Grab officials, Board Member Atty. Aileen Lizada of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, and other stakeholders. Driver-partners and operators from Visayas and Mindanao were also able to attend the forum via video conferencing.

During the discussion, Lizada helped Grab Philippines explain to its driver-partners and operators the implications of the new law, and the next steps of the LTFRB regarding recently filed petitions for fare adjustment considering the expected impact of additional taxes on petroleum products.

“We received already your petition for fare increase and we have gone through it. And there will be a special board meeting to initially discuss these petitions,” Lizada said.

She also mentioned that LTFRB will seek the assistance of National Economic and Development Authority in assessing the fare increase request of Grab for them to have an acceptable formula for everyone.

NEW BUILDING. Bonifacio Lui (third from left), Welfare Committee chairman of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc., leads the turnover of the deeds of donation to Alaminos, Laguna Mayor Samuel F. Bueser during the inauguration of a two-classroom school building donated by FFCCCI member Ambassador Carlos Chan. Witnessing the event were (from left) the Chamber’s Manuel Co and Robert Kho Tian Ang and other public officials. Benjie A. Antioquia

Manila extends deadline for biz tax payments to Feb. 9

By Bill Casas MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada announced on Wednesday that city taxpayers have until Feb. 9, 2018 to settle their business taxes, permits and licenses and fees without surcharge or penalty.

The extension of the deadline for payments of all taxes licenses and fees was made following the approval of the City Council of City Resolution No. 8, series of 2018.

The resolution was passed through the mayor’s initiative as he wrote to the City

Council to accommodate the volume of taxpayers queuing last week at the City Hall to beat the deadline.

Resolution No. 8, series of 2018, has extended until Feb. 9 the filing of application for the renewal of business permits and licenses and the payment of busi-

ness taxes and fees, without surcharge or penalty.

It also entitles taxpayers who pay their business taxes in full to a 10-percent discount for the duration of the extension period.

“We urged our taxpayers to take advantage of the extension and to avoid incur-

ring additional penalties and surcharges,” Estrada said.

In his letter, the mayor cited the failure, as planned, to kick off the processing of the renewal of business permits of around 50,000 commercial establishments operating within the city.

QC dad files bill to prevent dynasties

By Rio N. Araja DESPITE its slim chance of approval, Quezon City District 2 Councilor Ranulfo Ludovica has filed an anti-political dynasty measure.

To defend his AntiPolitical Dynasty Relationship Ordinance of Quezon City, Ludovica said its political affairs are being run “mostly by those coming from the exclusive domain of inf luential, prominent and celebrated families and clans.”

Under the proposal, no member of the immediate family or relative within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity of the incumbent elective official or other persons, who are not incumbent elective officials, shall be allowed to hold or run simultaneously in a citylevel elective office.

If the measure is passed, any violator would suffer a oneyear jail term and could even face an administrative case.

Ludovica said he would stand by his proposal even if fellow councilors—who are directly targeted by the ordinance—would frown on him.

“I know many would scorn me, but I would not change my position,” he told the Manila Standard.

“I also know the proposal will have slim chances to pass, but at least someone like me tried to do what is right,” the councilor added.

SBMA eyes regular passport skeds

By Butch Gunio

DEED SIGNING. Former Laguna Governor Jeorge ER Ejercito (seated right) and his wife, Pagsanjan Mayor Maita Ejercito (second from right) lead the signing of the deed of donation from the Ejercito and Hocson families for 704 square meters to the students and teachers of Dr. Augusto Ejercito Hocson Elementary School in Brgy. Lambac, Pagsanjan, Laguna on Tuesday. With them are Councilor Jet Ejercito (standing, third from right), School Principal Arlen Cabantog (seated, second from left), Barangay Captain Ricky Caballes (seated left) and DepEd district supervisor Lourdes Gecolea (seated center). Roy Tomandao

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is pursuing a regular schedule for the processing of passports in this free port to serve residents of the Subic Bay area and nearby communities.

SBMA Chairperson and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said she has requested the Department of Foreign Af-

fairs (DFA) to conduct passport processing here at least twice a year and, later, to establish full consular services at the Subic Bay Freeport.

“The plan is to start with a passport issuance office, which will evolve into a consular affairs office,” Eisma said in a media briefing on Monday.

The SBMA official made this announcement after the successful conduct of a mobile passport processing

activity at the Ayala Harbor Point Mall here on Jan. 13, where some 700 passport applications were processed by visiting DFA personnel.

The project was spearheaded by the DFA and SBMA, with the DFA contingent led

by Office of the Consular Affairs Regional Center Chief Bayani Sibug and the SBMA technical working group headed by SBMA Office Services Department chief Gerardo Hermoso, Jr.

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

World

Teen kills 2, hurts 18 in Kentucky shooting

W

ASHINGTON—A teenage boy opened fire with a handgun at a Kentucky high school early Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), killing two fellow students and wounding more than a dozen people in the latest mass shooting to hit the United States.

The unnamed 15-year-old student, now in custody, is alleged to have carried out the attack at Marshall County High School in Benton, a small town in western Kentucky.

Two students of the same age died of gunshot wounds, while 13 other people were shot and five suffered other injuries during the shooting, Kentucky State Police said, adding that those hurt ranged in age from 14 to 18 years old.

Students ran from the scene after hearing shots, local media reported, and the school was placed on lockdown as the incident unfolded.

They were later bused to a neighboring school where parents could retrieve them, the Marshall County Tribune-Courier newspaper said.

Fourteen of those hurt were male and six were female. Four of them are still in hospital—three in “critical but stable” condition and one in “stable” condition, according to police.

The suspected shooter was apprehended in a “nonviolent” manner and will be charged with both two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin said.

One of the students died at the scene and the other after being taken to a hospital.

The shooter struck just as the school day was starting.

“The incident began at 7:57 am (1357 GMT) when a 15-year-old student armed with a handgun entered the high school and started shooting,” Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rick Sanders said.

A 911 emergency call was placed soon after, and first responders were at the scene by 8:06 am, he said.

The suspect “was apprehended by the sheriff’s office officer that was the first to arrive,” Sanders said.

State police had recently been in the area “teaching students and faculty how to respond to an active shooter situation, and everybody in that high school reacted appropriately,” he said.

An “SRO,” or “School Resource Officer”—a law enforcement officer responsible for safety at the school—was present. AFP

REHEARSAL. Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police participate in a rehearsal for the Indian Republic Day parade inside a stadium in Srinagar on Wednesday. India will be celebrating its 69th Republic Day on Friday, Jan. 26. AFP

JALALABAD, Afghanistan—Gunmen blasted their way into Save the Children’s office in Afghanistan’s restive east on Wednesday, witnesses and officials said, in an ongoing attack that has wounded at least 11 people.

After blowing up a car outside the British charity’s compound in Jalalabad city, the attackers used a rocket propelled grenade to storm the complex.

“I can hear two attackers...

They are looking for us,” an employee hiding inside the building told a friend in a WhatsApp message seen by an AFP reporter.

“Pray for us ... Inform the security forces,” the man begged.

Nangarhar governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP the attack started at 9:10 am (0440 GMT)—shortly after staff would have arrived at the office.

“A group of armed men then entered the compound.

So far 11 wounded people have been brought to hospitals,” Khogyani added.

Mohammad Amin, who was inside the compound when the attackers launched the raid, told AFP from his hospital bed that he heard “a big blast.”

“We ran for cover and I saw a gunman hitting the main gate with an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) to enter the compound. I jumped out of the window,” Amin said.

Afghan TV news channels showed a thick plume of black smoke rising above the compound and what appears to be at least one vehicle on fire outside the office.

Another witness told AFP: “It might be a complex attack. I am hearing gun fire from inside Save the Children compound.”

Wednesday’s assault comes days after Taliban gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, killing at least 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Insurgents armed with Kalashnikovs and suicide vests attacked the landmark Intercontinental Hotel, going from room to room searching for foreigners during the more than 12-hour ordeal.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Jalalabad attack and no one from Save the Children’s office in Kabul was available to comment.

The attack on Save the Children is the latest violence to strike a foreign aid group in war-torn Afghanistan.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced in October it would “drastically” reduce its presence in the country after seven employees were killed in attacks last year.

The decision by the charity, which has been working in Afghanistan for over three decades, underlined the growing dangers for aid workers, who have increasingly become casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.

Nangarhar, a restive province bordering Pakistan, is a stronghold for the Islamic State group and has a significant Taliban presence.

US and Afghan forces have been carrying out ground and air operations against IS fighters in Nangarhar. AFP

World powers point fingers at Russia for Syria chemical attacks Aussie PM PARIS—Two dozen countries agreed Tuesday to push for sanctions against perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria, with United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying Russia “ultimately bears responsibility” for such strikes.

Twenty-four nations approved a new “partnership against impunity” for the use of chemical weapons, just a day after reports they were used in an attack that sick-

ened 21 people in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, which Tillerson said was suspected to involve chlorine.

“Whoever conducted the attacks, Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in East Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons since Russia became involved in Syria,” Tillerson said after the international meeting in Paris, and ahead of further talks

with ministers from several countries on ending the conflict.

“There is simply no denying that Russia, by shielding its Syrian ally, has breached its commitments to the US as a framework guarantor” overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles, as agreed in September 2013, he added.

Despite its pledge to destroy such weapons, the Syrian regime has been re-

peatedly accused of staging chemical attacks, with the United Nations among those blaming it for an April 2017 sarin gas attack on the opposition-held village of Khan Sheikhun which left scores dead.

There have been at least 130 separate chemical weapons attacks in Syria since 2012, according to French estimates, with the Islamic State group also accused of using mustard gas in Syria

and Iraq.

Russia twice used its UN veto in November to block an extension of an international expert inquiry into chemical attacks in Syria, to the consternation of Western powers.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia Tuesday rejected Tillerson’s accusations and instead called for a “truly impartial” international investigation of the chemical attacks. AFP

Merkel, Macron take Davos starring roles DAVOS, Switzerland— European leaders take the stage at the Davos summit Wednesday, jostling to position themselves as a counterweight to United States President Donald Trump before his “America First” show rolls into town.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in the Swiss ski resort fresh from rallying big business bosses on Monday in his drive for a “renaissance” in French and world business.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the other hand, needs to settle her own leadership problems

before leading the resistance to Trump, who appears on Friday.

Merkel was late in confirming that she would attend, tearing herself away from efforts to form a new government back home after an election setback in September.

“Merkel doesn’t have a government yet. Macron is the new deal,” one prominent business delegate at Davos, PR company boss Richard Edelman, told AFP. For German economic daily Handelsblatt, Merkel is heading to Davos with her hands “tied.” AFP

Thai coup firebrand charged with treason BANGKOK—The firebrand leader of anti-government protests that presaged Thailand’s 2014 military coup was indicted on treason and terrorism charges on Wednesday linked to the deadly demonstrations.

Suthep Thaugsuban, whose protest movement paralyzed Bangkok for months and led to the toppling of the elected government in May 2014, was formally charged alongside eight other Democrat party politicians.

The protests against former premier Yingluck Shinawatra were marred by violence that left 28 dead, generating unrest the army said warranted its power grab— the 12th successful takeover since 1932.

Suthep, a former deputy

Gunmen attack Save the Children office

prime minister and nemesis of the billionaire Shinawatra clan, gave barnstorming speeches across Bangkok, leading daily marches in a self-proclaimed “shutdown” of one of Southeast Asia’s largest cities which lasted for weeks while armed guards patrolled protests sites.

The military dispersed the rallies after toppling Yingluck and has run the country ever since.

Suthep and eight other Democrat politicians—a faction seen as aligned with the army—were charged with “treason, illegal gathering, and incitement,” said the state prosecutor’s deputy spokesman Prayut Petkhun.

Suthep and Chumpon Julsai, a former Democrat MP, were also charged with ter-

rorism, he told reporters.

The case comes as the kingdom’s rancorous political scene—which has been dormant since the coup—stirs back to life ahead of elections slated for late 2018, but whose timeframe keeps slipping.

The junta has yet to lift its ban on politics, making it difficult to track shifting alliances among the kingdom’s power brokers.

But the treason and terrorism case could end any lingering political aspirations held by Suthep.

The Shinawatras’ ousted Pheu Thai party has also been severely weakened since the coup, with former premier Yingluck fleeing the kingdom last year to avoid a corruption conviction she says was politically motivated. AFP

JAIL FOR LULA. Members of the Movement Vem Pra Rua (Come to the Street) demonstrate against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva outside the Federal Regional Court building in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday. Lula was sentenced in July 2017 to 9.5 years behind bars after being convicted of corruption in Brazil’s huge ‘Car Wash’ graft scandal. The court in Porto Alegre said it will rule on his appeal on Wednesday. That could decide whether Lula—hugely popular during his 2001-2010 two-term presidency—can take part in the October 2018 presidential elections, in which he is currently the frontrunner. AFP

Indon jailed for ‘spreading communism’ BANYUWANGI, Indonesia—An Indonesian environmentalist has been sentenced to 10 months in prison under a tough anti-communism law, a legacy of one of the darkest chapters in its history.

A court in East Java handed down the sentence Tuesday after finding Heri Budiawan, 38, guilty of spreading communism during a demonstration last year against the opening of a local gold mine.

Some protesters were seen carrying banners with an image of a hammer and sickle—a widely-recognized

symbol of communism— during the protest and Budiawan was fingered as the rally organizer.

Three other banner-carrying protesters were also charged under the rarely-used law and are awaiting trial.

A change to the criminal code in the late 1990s made it illegal to spread communism or other leftist ideologies, with possible sentences of up to 12 years in jail.

“We are thoroughly dissatisfied with this verdict—this is a threat to democracy and freedom of speech,” Budi-

awan’s lawyer Ahmad Rifai told AFP Wednesday.

Indonesia had one of the world’s biggest communist parties before massacres in the mid-1960s left some 500,000 dead, including party members and suspected leftists.

The mass killings happened as long-ruling dictator Suharto seized power.

During his 32-year rule, the government’s official narrative was that the killings had been necessary to rid Indonesia of communism. AFP

hails new TPP; critics blast deal SYDNEY—Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday hailed the revival of the Trans Pacific Partnership as a boon for jobs, but critics questioned how much Australia would really gain from a deal that excludes the US. After Canada Wednesday agreed to rejoin 10 other nations in resurrecting the trade pact, Turnbull termed the deal a multibillion-dollar trade windfall for Australia.

“It is a big deal,” the prime minister told reporters. “A big trade deal at a time when many people said it couldn’t be done, after the United States pulled out, after President Trump was elected.”

“We are firmly of the view that a free and open IndoPacific, open markets, free trade, the rule of law, encouraging investment and trade through our region is manifestly in our national interest and in the interests of all of the countries in the region.”

In addition to Australia, the pact now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership includes Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

The agreement, expected to be formally ratified in Chile in March, will incorporate all commitments from the original TPP, except for a limited number of provisions suspended temporarily and some remaining issues to be finalized.

It means new bilateral agreements for Canberra with Canada and Mexico, as well as increased access for many Australian agricultural products to member states.

The deal seeks to remove 98 percent of tariffs within the trade bloc.

The TPP looked doomed last year after President Donald Trump withdrew the US, dismaying allies but fulfilling an election pledge.

AFP

Shell uses P1.8-b IPO proceeds for expansion B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

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Ayala unit to build 300 MW of solar projects in Vietnam AYALA Corp. said power unit AC Energy Holdings Inc. teamed up with BIM Group of Vietnam to jointly develop over 300 megawatts of solar power projects in Ninh Thua province, Vietnam.

“AC Energy is very keen to participate in the fast-growing Vietnam power sector, with pioneering investments in renewable energy.

We are delighted to partner with BIM Group, which has a significant presence in Ninh Thuan province, which in turn has among the best solar irradiance in the country,” AC Energy chief executive John Eric Francia said.

An initial 30-MW solar project broke on Jan. 23 with Conergy Asia & ME as the construction partner. Investment for the first phase of the project is expected to reach 800 billion Vietnamese Dong and to be completed within the year. The project can be expanded up to 300 MW. Francia said Vietnam offers good investment opportunities because of its feed-in tariff for solar and wind and strong demand for power.

BIM Group is a diversified corporation in Vietnam with investments in tourism, real estate, agriculture, commercial services and renewable energy.

AC Energy has investments in renewable energy and conventional power plants. It expects to exceed 2,000 MW of attributable capacity by 2020.

Francia said company was also looking at possible thermal or coal investments in Indonesia.

“We’re looking to expand internationally, that is true for both RE and thermal…In Indonesia, we are looking to participate not only in RE, where we are well entrenched but also thermal opportunities,” Francia said.

AC Energy began to expand regionally with two investments in Indonesia—Sidrap wind and Salak-Darajat geothermal plants.

Alena Mae S. Flores

BANKERS AT BSP. The 2018 board of trustees of the Chamber of Thrift Banks pay a courtesy call on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. (seated, third from left), ahead of the CTB national convention on April 10 at Dusit Thani Manila where Espenilla is the keynote speaker. With Espenilla are (seated from left) BSP managing director Mary Jane Chiong, CTB and Wealthbank president Gregorio Anonas III, BSP deputy governor Chuchi Fonacier, CTB executive director Suzanne Felix, CTB secretary and BPI Family Savings Bank president Ma. Cristina Go and CTB auditor and Card SME Bank senior managing director Mary Jane Perreras. Behind are (from left) CTB trustee and Sterling Bank of Asia president Cecilio San Pedro, CTB first vice president and China Bank Savings president Alberto Emilio Ramos, CTB trustee and City Savings Bank president Catalino Abacan, CTB trustee and RCBC Savings Bank president Rommel Latinazo, CTB trustee and First Consolidated Bank vice chairman Argeo Melisimo, CTB trustee/past president and Philippine Business Bank chairman emeritus Alfredo Yao, CTB trustee/convention chair and Sun Savings Bank president Francisco Dizon, CTB trustee and Palawan Bank president Eric Mondragon, CTB second vice president and Isla Bank chairman Jose Ma. Lopez-Vito III, CTB trustee/past president and Queen City Development Bank chairman emeritus Rogelio Florete and CTB consultant Benjamin Yambao.

ERC now has no commissioners Amdocs, PLDT sign P

By Alena Mae S. Flores

$300-m IT agreement

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PLDT Inc. said it signed a sevenyear, $300-million agreement with US software company Amdocs to upgrade and modernize the former’s information and technology systems.

“Our strategic collaboration with Amdocs is a key component of our digital transformation to enhance customer experience, engagement and product delivery,” PLDT and Smart chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said.

“With this agreement in place, we can focus on our core mission of serving our customers in the best possible way through powerful, pervasive connectivity, and relevant cutting-edge digital products and services created by ourselves or with partners like Amdocs and others who are leaders in their fields,” Pangilinan said.

The managed transformation agreement among PLDT, Smart and Amdocs involves transformation services which include the development of state-of-the-art, digital capabilities for convergent sales operations, digital customer experience across multiple channels and service fulfillment and network rollout systems.

The agreement also involves managed services that cover the operation and modernization of the IT environment of PLDT and Smart encompassing application development and maintenance across critical IT components, such as customer relationship management, billing, subscription and campaign management.

“This milestone engagement will help boost our growth, and position us to take the lead in the next wave of digital innovation brought by new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation technologies. It is a partnership in real terms,” Pangilinan said.

OWER industry players on Wednesday asked Malacañang Palace to resolve the leadership impasse at the Energy Regulatory Commission after the agency implemented an order this week to suspend all its four commissioners.

“A fair and functioning ERC is critical for the energy sector to work. A working regulatory body balances the welfare of the paying consumers, interests of the private investors, and the government’s desire for reliable and ample power,” Aboitiz Power Corp. president and chief operating officer Antonio Moraza said.

Moraza issued the statement after the ERC implemented the suspension order against the four commissioners of the agency. “The order is already implemented,” ERC spokesman Floresinda Digal said when asked for comment.

ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera previously held in abeyance the implementation of the suspension order pending a directive from the Office of the President.

“Already implemented as

directed. We needed to wait for this directive as OP is the appointing authority. That is what the law provides,” Devanadera, a former Justice secretary, said.

The Office of the Ombudsman ordered a one-year suspension of four ERC commissioners in December for allegedly exempting Manila Electric Co. from the competitive selection process in power supply agreements. The four commissioners are Josefina Patricia Asirit, Alfredo Non, Geronimo Sta. Ana and Gloria Yap-Taruc.

Only newly appointed ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera was left to man the commission, thus leaving the agency “paralyzed” to issue crucial decisions in the energy sector.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi also asked the Office of the President to appoint temporary

IN BRIEF Banks see PH growing 6.7%

TWO European banks said they expect the Philippine economy to sustain the 6.7-percent expansion in 2017 this year.

The Manila unit of the Netherlands-based ING Bank said the Philippine economy would grow 6.7 percent on robust household and government spending.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said household spending should continue to benefit from the sustained remittance growth and a moderately weaker exchange rate.

“Domestic demand-driven growth will continue to support 2018 GDP growth at a rate of 6.7 percent. Household and government spending are likely to post strong growth again in 2018,” Cuyegkeng said.

Standard Chartered also maintained its growth forecast of 6.7 percent this year. “The implementation of infrastructure projects, mostly in 2018, is a big factor [for growth],” Chidu Narayanan, Standard Chartered Bank economist for Asia, said in a news briefing in Makati City.

He said growth could top 7 percent in the years ahead under the Duterte administration but would depend on the pace of implementation of the government’s infrastructure projects. Julito G. Rada

Now Corp. eyes 3rd telco slot

NOW Corp., a listed company controlled by the Velarde family, expressed interest to bid for the third telco slot to challenge the duopoly PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. “Definitely, we will participate. That’s for sure,” Kristian Pura, head of business development of Now, told reporters at the sidelines of the preliminary conference and consultation for selecting a new major telco player.

“We are open to forming a consortium of local and foreign telcos. Several groups already reached out to us. We are engaging with them and we will be finalizing some details but as of now, I cannot comment,” he said.

Now has cellular mobile telephone service license as early as 2006, but never rolled out its network because of lack of mobile radio frequencies.

Pura, however, said the March deadline of the Department of Information and Communications Technology in

commissioners while Devanade- able capacity this year with the MW Therma Visayas baseload ra requested that the implementa- completion of hydro and coal- power plant in Toledo City, Cebu tion of the suspension be put on fired plants located around the and a stake in the 400-MW Paghold. country. bilao 3 baseload power plant in “We are appealing to the naThe company owns the 340- Quezon. tional leadership to resolve Manila the ERC issue as soon as Standard TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES PHILIPPINES CORPORATION TODAY possible so the commission 32nd Floor G. T. Tower International, Ayala Avenue corner can get back to work and H. V. dela Costa Street,Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City act on many pending issues awaiting their decision,” STATEMENT OF CONDITION Moraza said.

As of December 31, 2017 Devanadera warned that the suspension would have ASSETS far-reaching consequences P 10,122,139,545 as it puts in peril energy in- Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 1,086,028,248 vestments with pending ap- Deposit in Banks 175,953,436 plications before ERC worth GS Purchased Under Reverse Repurchase Agreement with BSP GS Purchased Under RRA Sold Under Resale Agreement 0 P1.588 trillion.

57,869,418,117 Broken down, the amount Loans and Receivables (Net) (Long-Term Portion of P 56,176,427,019) 0 involves capital expenAvailable-for-Sale Securities (Net) 1,200,000 ditures application worth 118,050,752 P384.5 billion, point-to- Real Property, Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (Net) 176,999,321 point projects estimated Real and Other Properties Acquired (Net) 2,174,477,146 at P2.2 billion, sale of sub Other Assets (Net) TOTAL ASSETS P 71,724,266,565 transmission assets costing P900 million, power supLIABILITIES ply applications worth P1.2 trillion and accrued interest Bills Payable P 61,679,673,595 from the feed-in tariff al- Accrued Taxes and Other Expenses 529,145,203 lowance of P526.7 million. Deposit for Future Subscription Aboitiz Power said it was Other Liabilities 2,665,308,064 awaiting the issuance of cerTOTAL LIABILITIES P 64,874,126,862 tificate of compliance for projects and approval of its CAPITAL ACCOUNTS power supply agreements.

P 2,900,000,000 Aboitiz Power is set to add Capital Stock 3,950,139,703 500 megawatts of attribut- Retained Earnings

selecting the new major telco player was “too tight.”

This was supported by Converge ICT Solutions, TierOne Communications International Inc. and G-Telecoms which said they needed to prepare their respective technical and marketing studies first. Darwin G. Amojelar

BSP auction oversubscribed

THE P40-billion auction of week-long term deposits offered by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Wednesday was more than three times oversubscribed on sustained investors’ appetite for short-term instruments.

Data showed that total tenders reached P119.582 billion, exceeding the P40-billion offering. The deposits fetched a weighted average accepted yield of 2.92 percent and a bid coverage ratio of 2.98 percent.

The Bangko Sentral said despite the oversubscription, it would keep the weekly volume of P40 billion in the next auction on Jan. 31 and still without the 28-day instruments.

Previous undersubscriptions before the holiday season prompted the Bangko Sentral to offer just the week-long P40 billion instruments as investors preferred the shortterm deposits to the 28-day term deposits.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said that in reducing the weekly volume from the previous P80 billion to P40 billion, the regulator did not have to “mop up excess liquidity in the system in a big way.”

Julito G. Rada

PH, Australia trade growing

TRADE between the Philippines and Australia is expected to sustain its growth in 2018 following a 70-percent increase over the past seven years.

Australian trade commissioner to the Philippines Elodie Journet said trading across the region was now a lot easier with the Asean-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement which reduced tariffs for a long list of product lines to zero.

“Since Asean ANZ FTA was forged in 2010, we’ve seen an increase in trade between the Philippines and Australia by 70 percent,” she said.

“I think there is a strong synergy between our two economies. We’re seeing successful companies and I anticipate that we’ll actually grow more. We don’t see us as a one way street because we are also seeing great appetite and interest from Filipino organizations to invest and engage in Australia, as well,” she said. Othel V. Campos

Sub - Total Less: Treasury Stock TOTAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTS

P P

6,850,139,703 0 6,850,139,703

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND CAPITAL ACCOUNTS

P

71,724,266,565

COMMITMENT AND OTHER CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS Other Contingent Accounts Note: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

P

0

Held for Trading Securities comprise of Government Securities of P0 and Equity Securities - Common Shares of P0 Non-performing loans and ratio to total loan portfolio: 929,052,709 ; 1.33% Classified loans and other risk assets: P 2,524,484,103 General loan loss reserve: P 635,314,105 Specific loan loss reserve: P 531,747,845 Return on equity (ROE): 11.92% DOSRI loans/advances and ratio to total loan portfolio: None Past due DOSRI loans/advances and ratio to total portfolio: None

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) We, Marlon M. Pernez,Vice-President-Comptroller and Atsushi Murakami, President of the above-mentioned NBQB, do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the statement of condition are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(Sgd.) MARLON M. PERNEZ Vice-President-Comptroller

(Sgd.) ATSUSHI MURAKAMI President

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 19th day of January 2018, affiants exhibiting to me their SSS No. 03-9877612-7 and Passport No. TZ1056363 issued at Japan..

(Sgd.) TEODORO D. VILLAPEÑA, JR. Notary Public for Makati City Appointment No. M-10, until 31 Dec. 2019 42/F GT Tower Int’l Ayala Avenue cor. H.V. Doc. No. 406 Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City Page No. 83 IBP No. 019808/Bats/01-03-2018 Book No. XXIX PTR No. 6607893/Makati/01-03-2018 Series of 2018 MCLE Compliance No. V-0016626 Attorney Roll No. 47647

C2

Business

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Shell uses P1.8-b IPO proceeds for expansion

By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL refiner and retailer Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. said Wednesday it fully utilized the gross proceeds worth P1.842 billion from its initial public offering in November 2016.

“The net IPO proceeds have been fully utilized,” Pilipinas Shell said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

The company said it used the bulk of the proceeds for the retail network and offerings growth amounting to P732.6 million, followed by refinery maintenance, turnaround and upgrade at P305.3 million, supply and distribution network enhancement at P182.3 million and working capital and other corporate expenses at P135.7 million.

The government required the company to undertake an IPO in compliance with the Oil Deregulation Act of 1998 which mandates oil refiners to list their shares at the stock market.

Pilipinas Shell owns the country’s second biggest oil refinery with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day in Batangas province.

The company’s retail network reached 1,014 retail stations nationwide as of end-September 2017.

Stocks decline; BDO, LT Group lead losers T HE stock market retreated Wednesday as investors started taking profits before testing again the 9,000-point mark that the Philippine Stock Exchange Index nearly touched Tuesday.

The PSEi fell 78.79 points, or 0.9 percent, to P8,920.23 on a value turnover of P8.5 billion. Losers beat gainers, 115 to 103, with 40 issues unchanged.

LT Group Inc. of tobacco and airline tycoon Lucio Tan dropped 4.3 percent

to P22.50, while Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-biggest lender in terms of assets, lost 2.4 percent to P118.10.

BDO Unibank Inc., the largest bank, declined 1 percent to P157.90, but casino operator Bloomberry

Resorts Corp. climbed 5.3 percent to P11.86.

Most Asian markets, meanwhile, shrugged off profit-taking Wednesday and pressed on with a new year rally that has sent Hong Kong to successive records, though the dollar suffered fresh losses against its major peers.

Optimism about the global economy which was reinforced this week by the International Monetary Fund, strong earnings reports and Donald Trump’s tax cuts have helped fuel a surge in

global equities which many expect to continue.

“The earnings season is going phenomenally well, and the government shutdown on Friday was reversed (on Monday) so we’ve got the government behind us for the next couple of weeks,” Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, told Bloomberg News.

“But the reason the stock market is up is very simply that investors are reflecting on the fact that earnings are much better than expected.”

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.38 411,000 59.5 9,170 118.1 2,759,330 3.83 44,000 157.9 3,351,130 1.98 1,149,000 36.9 221,700 15.5 5,100 30.75 469,900 0.66 7,000 1.77 171,000 0.57 982,000 102 2,255,180 1.19 6,800,000 13.68 77,100 57.65 203,620 236 2,640 89 280 54.4 1,923,790 251.8 553,110 1,955 435 89 153,570 1.23 75,000

1,391,400 542,969 326,453,977 168,190 528,657,521 2,294,680 8,185,415 79,050 14,450,380 4,620 293,010 554,230 227,682,226.50 8,242,180 1,051,696 11,727,646.50 631,620 24,786 105,088,301.50 139,206,540 850,685 13,604,819 92,270

357,400 -188,341,482 -56,260,909 -1,980 4,024,715 3,351,060 114,555,497.50 483,500 -6,150,509 -263,232 -18,403,626 -6,587,808 -6,383,744 -

41.1 11 0.61 1.3 17.14 0.212 130 4.68 16.02 53.5 18.5 61.5 58.5 1.9 5.3 10.62 12.14 15.02 12.88 8.5 5.55 1.72 15.88 62.6 31.05 10.38 17.7 1.9 281.4 4.06 3.13 20.85 28.45 17.96 19.68 331.4 0.195 9.29 2.77 4.82 9.1 6.36 8.3 1.73 12.12 64.85 6.2 602 4.71 2.05 3.83 1.59 15.3 5.45 0.132 1.14 168.8 2.9 2.01 25.75 0.8

INDUSTRIAL 41.75 870,300 11.06 685,400 0.62 339,000 1.32 320,000 17.32 4,900 0.218 1,130,000 130 40 4.76 3,729,000 16.1 942,200 56 912,310 18.56 2,400 64.6 201,010 58.5 510 1.91 46,000 5.6 27,500 10.9 13,200 12.16 2,953,300 15.08 5,677,300 12.88 236,800 8.54 2,590,200 5.57 7,664,500 1.72 8,000 15.88 1,385,600 62.9 48,660 31.6 400,700 10.62 412,500 18.12 3,202,700 1.9 1,944,000 282 714,160 4.08 78,000 3.22 58,000 20.85 1,000 28.5 1,178,100 18 440,900 19.9 9,543,500 333.8 211,790 0.202 1,200,000 9.3 153,900 2.85 7,847,000 5.06 353,000 9.1 5,270,200 6.6 228,100 8.3 1,600 1.74 3,565,000 12.12 263,900 65.25 338,640 6.2 5,500 606 55,670 4.72 172,000 2.05 1,000 3.85 47,000 1.6 4,539,000 15.56 970,500 5.47 194,000 0.133 660,000 1.17 128,000 170 1,732,500 2.9 628,000 2.04 5,134,000 25.75 4,900 0.82 298,000

36,213,090 7,613,682 209,330 420,160 84,610 241,990 5,200 17,826,400 15,144,820 51,996,921.50 44,544 12,369,149 29,850 87,530 150,510 141,410 36,245,854 85,439,062 3,075,330 22,425,638 43,038,144 13,760 22,118,032 3,055,417 12,712,840 4,385,064 57,937,210 3,730,410 203,090,764 317,640 186,120 20,850 33,579,245 7,940,182 189,855,246 70,680,972 239,830 1,436,864 22,830,270 1,750,330 48,241,577 1,470,468 13,280 6,332,770 3,219,930 22,086,781 34,100 33,812,165 810,790 2,050 180,770 7,293,990 15,098,326 1,064,229 88,110 146,820 294,042,195 1,827,090 10,497,440 128,905 241,690

13,057,385.00 -242,870 132,000 -2,150 4,183,780 9,763,770 281,309.50 7,560 5,614,716 1,145,348 -699,384 5,140,861.00 15,844,783 -4,904,636 1,521,857 -112,982 -35,185,516 19,250 13,602,118 -8,686,875 52,192 21,554,754.00 28,773,498 0 7,721,260 -19,500,498.00 -74,328 17,500 3,077,055.50 117,520 419,400 -4,523,080 10,056,052 24,942,268 901,050 -

0.295 75.25 15.8 0.95 6.98 0.395 0.45 1,031 1,075 7.51 14.52 7.51 4.75 1,338 7.46 77.5 5.5 0.68 5.56 22.2 0.305 6.64 3.35 0.04 1.34 2.2 2.5 136.9 1,076 1.62 178.2 279 0.24 0.182 0.2

HOLDING FIRMS 0.31 450,000 75.25 841,770 16 5,898,000 0.99 33,000 6.98 14,800 0.42 5,670,000 0.465 3,070,000 1,035 351,680 1,075 5 7.52 6,309,700 14.52 4,574,600 7.6 12,800 4.75 5,000 1,338 155,360 7.5 3,600 78 1,332,650 5.5 1,000 0.68 266,000 5.6 594,300 22.5 10,017,600 0.34 300,000 6.65 10,428,500 3.35 6,000 0.041 30,900,000 1.41 8,549,000 2.65 20,034,000 2.51 23,000 138 335,630 1,088 341,800 1.64 447,000 178.2 20 280 7,610 0.25 1,750,000 0.182 90,000 0.206 3,180,000

134,450 63,691,539 93,971,206 31,430 103,441 2,324,550 1,420,400 364,486,025 5,375 47,685,402 67,081,680 96,911 23,770 209,442,420 26,960 104,394,411.50 5,792 180,990 3,321,382 227,765,970 95,850 69,663,099 20,100 1,258,400 12,573,250 52,265,750 57,570 46,374,594 370,809,440 727,200 3,564 2,128,548 436,800 16,380 676,670

-24,107,551.50 4,215,180 -156,768,190 649,290 -7,774,100 -117,894,765 -25,044,539.50 1,638,274 -17,169,945 -19,804,478 -75,000 -208,360 301,383 -88,652,100 -1,543,318.00 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.5 58.6 120.7 3.9 159.5 1.92 36.75 15.5 31 0.66 1.71 0.55 100.2 1.28 13.62 57 241 88.2 56 252 1,956 88.4 1.25

3.5 59.7 120.7 3.9 159.5 2.08 37 15.5 31 0.66 1.77 0.57 102 1.29 13.68 57.8 241 89 56 253 1,956 89.45 1.25

3.22 58.5 117.4 3.8 156.9 1.92 36.75 15.5 30.6 0.66 1.69 0.55 99.9 1.14 13.5 57 236 88.1 54.4 251.2 1,955 87.5 1.23

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

41.8 11.22 0.62 1.3 17.68 0.212 130 4.73 16.02 55.8 18.58 61.5 60 1.91 5.3 10.68 12.36 15.04 13.08 8.78 5.6 1.72 16.18 62.6 32.7 10.4 17.8 1.97 282 4.06 3.19 20.85 28.7 18.08 19.74 335 0.2 9.33 2.81 4.82 9.16 6.57 8.3 1.88 12.4 64.9 6.2 612 4.72 2.05 3.95 1.69 15.5 5.46 0.132 1.15 169 2.97 2.02 26 0.81

41.8 11.22 0.63 1.33 17.68 0.219 130 4.84 16.18 60 18.58 64.85 60 1.91 5.6 10.9 12.4 15.4 13.22 8.9 5.68 1.72 16.2 62.9 32.7 10.8 18.24 1.97 288.8 4.08 3.28 20.85 28.7 18.08 19.98 335 0.205 9.4 2.96 5.06 9.28 6.62 8.3 1.89 12.4 65.8 6.2 612 4.72 2.05 3.95 1.69 15.68 5.62 0.134 1.17 171 2.99 2.07 26.5 0.82

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

0.3 77 16.02 0.95 7 0.395 0.465 1,045 1,075 7.6 14.84 7.66 4.76 1,352 7.5 80 5.9 0.68 5.57 23.5 0.32 6.8 3.35 0.042 1.34 2.22 2.51 140.9 1,092 1.63 178.2 280 0.26 0.182 0.2

0.31 77.25 16.02 0.99 7.05 0.425 0.465 1,049 1,075 7.62 14.84 7.66 4.76 1,365 7.5 80.35 5.9 0.69 5.6 23.5 0.34 6.8 3.35 0.042 1.59 2.85 2.51 140.9 1,092 1.64 178.2 283.8 0.26 0.182 0.228

8990 HLDG A BROWN ANCHOR LAND ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CEBU PROP A CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP

6.39 1.01 13.1 2.17 0.9 45.6 3.85 4.85 5.82 5.7 0.475 1.14 1.12 0.224 0.47 39.2 0.64 1.88 1.35 0.77 5 0.31 0.35 0.56 5.3 37

6.39 1.03 13.5 2.2 0.93 46.3 3.88 4.87 5.84 6.04 0.475 1.14 1.13 0.236 0.47 40.45 0.64 1.88 1.38 0.77 5.06 0.31 0.355 0.57 5.43 39.95

6.28 0.98 12.66 2.17 0.9 45.4 3.83 4.8 5.72 5.7 0.47 1.12 1.12 0.224 0.46 39.15 0.63 1.85 1.34 0.75 4.99 0.3 0.35 0.54 5.22 36

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

20.7 2.12 3.21 39.6 1.05 16 0.83 5.9

20.85 2.12 3.23 39.6 1.05 19.5 0.84 5.97

20.5 2.03 3.21 38.6 1.02 15.8 0.82 5.82

20.8 2.03 3.23 38.9 1.03 19.5 0.82 5.86

1,700,600 1,938,000 68,000 6,591,500 572,000 1,302,800 86,000 9,420,000

35,175,190 3,967,900 219,330 256,796,320 588,640 24,244,288 71,090 55,252,307

3,231,340 -22,500 -101,008,555 -476,812 -44,407,400

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

22 34.2 1.38 0.44 0.046 11.6 4.86 11.3 0.07 100.1 8.8 8.5 8.99 2.6 60 1,749 5.94 49 11.3 4.5 2.72 114 13.98 8.32 0.139 1.54 3.17 15.4 4.05 1.16 24 0.53 5.54 8.29 3.66 18.38 4.62 10.74 10.54 2.79 106 6.95 1,507 1.26 0.35 54 98 5.6 3.22 1.6 3.36 4.08 0.99 9.36

23.75 34.3 1.38 0.45 0.047 11.6 4.86 11.86 0.07 101.2 8.8 8.79 8.99 2.72 62 1,751 5.96 72 11.3 4.63 3.4 114 13.98 8.32 0.144 1.55 3.32 15.78 4.07 1.17 24.35 0.53 5.7 9.17 3.75 18.38 5.35 10.74 10.68 2.8 115.5 7.5 1,508 1.27 0.38 54.4 100 5.79 3.41 1.62 3.38 4.18 0.99 9.5

21.3 33.65 1.36 0.435 0.046 11.6 4.86 11.3 0.069 100.1 8.8 8.46 8.1 2.54 51.15 1,722 5.93 45 11.26 4.5 2.7 110 12.6 8.3 0.139 1.41 3.17 15.4 3.99 1.12 23.55 0.52 4.88 8.22 3.64 18.28 4.32 10.68 10.5 2.78 106 6.95 1,505 1.23 0.35 53.7 97 5.55 3.19 1.57 3.08 4 0.96 9.35

SERVICES 22.85 33.65 1.37 0.44 0.047 11.6 4.86 11.86 0.07 100.2 8.8 8.75 8.7 2.6 52 1,730 5.95 68 11.26 4.5 3.09 110.1 12.62 8.3 0.143 1.45 3.2 15.76 4.04 1.15 24 0.53 5.1 9.17 3.7 18.28 5.31 10.68 10.5 2.8 113 7.31 1,507 1.27 0.38 53.95 99.75 5.78 3.4 1.57 3.15 4.08 0.98 9.5

1,204,600 226,800 145,000 580,000 8,600,000 5,000 9,000 27,860,900 8,510,000 830,820 3,200 2,223,800 142,600 293,000 508,260 80,970 448,900 2,551,100 1,300 3,893,000 956,000 771,010 47,200 3,700 13,120,000 1,927,000 7,000 1,900 892,000 425,000 5,607,600 203,000 3,506,400 20,970,300 249,000 1,500 91,615,000 37,000 13,400 65,000 245,840 5,048,400 124,060 6,736,000 60,000 991,950 54,000 174,800 3,303,000 3,638,000 3,958,000 609,000 3,813,000 9,844,000

27,545,215 7,662,230 198,270 255,400 402,300 58,000 43,740 325,812,456 592,960 83,430,226 28,160 19,372,167 1,210,306 755,020 28,012,899.50 140,324,060 2,668,158 159,392,375 14,676 17,756,200 3,001,610 86,394,234 605,300 30,750 1,861,340 2,845,890 22,430 29,938 3,596,040 480,740 134,411,600 107,570 18,146,594 185,489,153 916,670 27,510 453,493,830 395,892 140,910 181,930 27,831,975 36,939,309 186,952,720 8,444,670 21,300 53,544,852 5,365,447.50 993,879 11,080,350 5,793,850 12,701,280 2,487,760 3,699,790 93,114,138

-69,930 166,269,242 50,753,315 -52,760 -339,751 77,100 764,685 42,351,260 -236,960 -727,750 6,410,083 -1,660 77,460 -39,890 16,390,690 121,565,948.00 -91,470 -17,240,360 5,560 -3,460,574 -11,825,371 72,816,510 -1,781,150 14,426,693 1,707,610 39,030 1,330,260 1,971,510 54,380.00 -294,820 63,371,301

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

0.0023 1.5 4.91 1.6 0.33 7.25 2.48 0.198 0.153 0.157 0.0093 0.0098 1.67 6.22 1.44 0.45 0.93 0.013 0.013 0.012 2.17 6.62 9.2 38.9 0.0069

0.0023 1.53 4.91 1.61 0.33 7.48 2.48 0.198 0.154 0.16 0.0097 0.0098 1.68 6.26 1.44 0.45 0.93 0.013 0.013 0.012 2.35 6.8 9.21 39.05 0.007

0.0022 1.49 4.9 1.59 0.325 7.24 2.46 0.191 0.153 0.156 0.0093 0.0098 1.65 6.02 1.39 0.45 0.92 0.012 0.013 0.011 2.17 6.62 8.88 37.85 0.0069

MINING & OIL 0.0022 29,000,000 1.51 4,170,000 4.9 146,000 1.61 701,000 0.325 40,000 7.48 2,700 2.46 1,444,000 0.195 920,000 0.153 4,810,000 0.156 620,000 0.0097 5,000,000 0.0098 1,000,000 1.65 549,000 6.02 6,643,100 1.44 29,000 0.45 120,000 0.92 133,000 0.012 10,600,000 0.013 600,000 0.011 85,300,000 2.35 12,000 6.8 224,000 8.92 2,383,400 37.85 2,911,100 0.007 3,000,000

63,900 6,297,440 716,300 1,123,420 13,150 19,605 3,563,870 180,170 736,030 98,440 47,500 9,800 910,350 40,655,604 40,840 54,000 122,460 127,500 7,800 978,000 28,020 1,507,707 21,445,449 112,506,015 20,800

-44,140 -32,000 7,410 19,800 8,369,733 5,500 -22,561 -1,676,320.00 -33,894,235 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR HOUSE PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

33.8 527 108.2 104 113 5.7 101.3 1.05 105.8 1,098 1,002 103.1 112 2.02 76.6 80.7 79.1 78 76.8 79

33.8 527 108.2 104 113 5.7 101.3 1.05 105.8 1,098 1,002 103.1 112 2.11 76.7 80.7 79.1 78.5 77 79

33.2 509 108.2 104 113 5.67 101.3 1.05 105.7 1,098 1,002 103.1 112 2 75.5 80.7 78.6 78 76.5 79

PREFERRED 33.2 313,200 527 2,120 108.2 3,460 104 1,220 113 8,600 5.68 182,600 101.3 8,370 1.05 112,000 105.7 750 1,098 200 1,002 100 103.1 2,000 112 40 2.11 30,000 75.5 11,870 80.7 900 78.6 23,200 78.45 31,880 76.55 66,700 79 10,200

10,481,150 1,092,830 374,372 126,880 971,800 1,036,138 847,881 117,600 79,313 219,600 100,200 206,200 4,480 60,960 898,924 72,630 1,829,190 2,499,856 5,127,036.50 805,800

-4,605,050 -921,057 543,981 -755,593 -

LR WARRANT

2.44

2.44

2.35

WARRANTS 2.4 282,000

666,970

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

9.26 3.6 4.67

9.27 4 4.74

8.52 3.5 4.64

8.68 3.54 4.65

27,297,370 674,900 5,979,970

160,563 -119,820 -237,160

FIRST METRO ETF

135.9

135.9

134.9

7,347,783

-

49,776

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 6.29 0.99 12.86 2.17 0.93 46.25 3.86 4.87 5.82 6.04 0.47 1.12 1.12 0.236 0.47 40.45 0.63 1.85 1.38 0.75 5.04 0.305 0.35 0.55 5.3 39.95

491,300 6,969,000 29,800 243,000 2,454,000 13,342,800 313,000 468,000 117,300 7,600 5,460,000 21,000 17,000 69,030,000 1,530,000 184,400 22,000 75,386,000 3,119,000 70,000 16,426,000 27,360,000 720,000 11,454,000 2,965,100 10,200

3,095,935 6,930,890 385,656 528,650 2,243,380 612,657,085 1,205,510 2,260,270 681,329 43,728 2,589,850 23,540 19,090 15,980,340 712,700 7,307,640 13,890 139,576,130 4,208,780 52,680 82,624,580 8,380,900 253,350 6,332,240 15,787,211 396,500

-466,715 11,394 128,506,075 385,120 193,930 42,982 -465,600 5,650 68,400 -9,350 4,071,740 -46,688,010 -135,000 -17,036,310 -1,559,150 -22,400 139,390 7,200

USD DMPL A2

10.2

10.2

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

SHARES

21,986,217 82,027,118 116,227,574

PROPERTY

269,077,653

SERVICES

242,287,049

MINING & OIL

160,526,629

GRAND TOTAL

896,772,251

10.2

SME

3,111,100 185,000 1,280,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 134.9 54,230 10.2

DDS

4,880

VALUE 2,263.75 (down) 13.27 1,427,347,944.54 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,936.35 (down) 3.05 1,479,586,475.606 HOLDING FIRMS 9,136.44 (down) 154.74 1,755,659,557.25 PROPERTY 4,077.26 (up) 4.51 SERVICES 1,675.49 (up) 9.68 1,364,842,533.05 MINING & OIL 11,810.82 (down) 157.56 2,200,797,999.20 PSEI 8,920.23 (down) 78.79 191,297,055.264 All Shares Index 5,205.69 (down) 8.92 8,460,874,756.21 Gainers: 103; Losers: 115; Unchanged: 40; Total: 258

Adding to the buying spree in equities is what some analysts describe as the “fear of missing out” on the money-making rally.

Regional investors looked to have run out of puff in the morning, though, with most indexes falling into the red on profit-taking.

But Hong Kong bounced back in afternoon business to sit 0.2 percent higher and touch a new record high, while Shanghai ended up 0.4 percent.

Sydney and Singapore each rose 0.3 percent, while Seoul put on 0.1 percent. Wellington, Mumbai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur were also higher.

However, Tokyo was unable to join the recovery and fell 0.8 percent, with exporters hit by a strengthening yen.

Taipei also fell while Jakarta retreated from Tuesday’s record close.

On currency markets the dollar sell-off continued as investors bet on tighter monetary policies by major central banks, bringing them in line with the Federal Reserve.

Markets are also spooked by possible trade frictions after Trump slapped stinging tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines, while talks on revising the Nafta pact begin.

Sterling held above the $1.40 mark it broke Tuesday on the improving chances of a “soft” British exit from the European Union. With AFP

Cirtek sees P500m from e-commerce

By Jenniffer B. Austria CIRTEK Holdings Philippines Corp. said it expects newly acquired electronic commerce firm MultiPay Corp. to contribute at least P500 million in revenues this year.

Cirtek chief finance officer and treasurer Anthony Buyawe said in a news briefing the company would spend P1 billion to launch 16 new e-commerce solutions over the next two the three year.

Cirtek acquired a 49-percent stake in MultiPay, a leading provider of e-commerce system integrations, for an initial investment of P100 million in December.

Buyawe said by using Cirtek’s technology and capital MultiPay would be in the position to launch for products to the market.

Cirtek Holdings group vice president and president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said the acquisition would give Cirtek access to superior e-commerce solutions, which would fortify its posture in the market as a fullyintegrated solutions provider.

“The consolidation of Cirtek’s core strength in hardware and connectivity with MultiPay’s expertise in software and technology systems makes us confident that we will be able to provide effective and innovative e-commerce solutions to the emerging markets in the region,” Dispo said.

“The consolidation of Cirtek’s core strength in hardware and connectivity with MultiPay’s expertise in software and technology systems makes us confident that we will be able to provide effective and innovative e-commerce solutions to the emerging markets in the region,” he said.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

CLASSIFIEDS

TODAY

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Twenty Three Million SevenHundred Eighty Nine Thousand Six Hundred Twenty Six & 08/100 (P23,789,626.08) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for STW for Municipality of Bongabon, Laur and Gabaldon– Supply & Delivery of Two Hundred Sixty Four (264) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories- ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2018-NE-10. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Twelve Million Seven Hundred Ninety Five Thousand Nine Hundred Thirty Five & 24/100 (P12,795,935.24) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for STW for Pampanga PIP (AMRIS AREA), Candaba PIP& San Luis PIP– Supply& Delivery of One Hundred Forty Two (142) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories- ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2018-BU-04. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for STW for Municipality of Bongabon, Laur and GabaldonSupply & Delivery of Two Hundred Sixty Four (264) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories. Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA BANE IMO –Nueva Ecija Satellite Office Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for STW for Pampanga PIP (AMRIS Area), Candaba PIP and San Luis PIP - Supply & Delivery of One Hundred Forty Two (142) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories.Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan.

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

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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 will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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.

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.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of Twenty TwoThousand (P22,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 30, 2018 at 3:00pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of Thirteen Thousand (P13,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 29, 2018 at 2:30pm.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 13, 2018 at 2:30 pm. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 13, 2018 at 4:00pm. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 12, 2018 at 12:00 noon. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 12, 2018 at 1:00pm. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

For further information, please refer to:

For further information, please refer to:

ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888

ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888 SGD. ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018

SGD. ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson (MS-JAN. 25, 2018

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Fourteen Million Eight Hundred Sixty Eight Thousand Five Hundred Sixteen & 30/100 (P14,868,516.30) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for STW for Municipality of Zaragoza, Aliaga and Cuyapo– Supply & Delivery of One Hundred Sixty Five(165) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories- ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2018-NE-08. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Twenty One Million EightHundred Ninety Seven Thousand Two Hundred Sixty Nine&46/100 (P21,897,269.46) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for STW for Municipality of Rizal, Carranglan, Pantabangan, San Jose City and Lupao– Supply& Delivery of Two Hundred Forty Three(243) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories- ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2018-NE-09. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for STW for Municipality of Zaragoza, Aliaga&Cuyapo - Supply& Delivery of One Hundred Sixty Five (165) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories.Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA BANE IMO –Nueva Ecija Satellite Office Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for STW for Municipality of Rizal, Carranglan, Pantabangan, San Jose City and Lupao- Supply& Delivery of Two Hundred Forty Three (243) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories.Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA BANE IMO –Nueva Ecija Satellite Office Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of FifteenThousand (P15,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 30, 2018 at 2:00pm.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 13, 2018 at 1:30 pm. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 13, 2018 at 2:30pm. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

For further information, please refer to: ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of Twenty OneThousand (P21,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 30, 2018 at 2:30pm.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 13, 2018 at 2:00 pm. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 13, 2018 at 3:15pm. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

For further information, please refer to: ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888 SGD.ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson

SGD.ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson (MS-JAN. 25, 2018

ERRORS & OMISSIONS

In Classified Ads section

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

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

must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement

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

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

is published.

We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig)

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

Region 3 Bulacan-Aurora-Nueve Ecija-Irrigation Management Office

Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan (044) 766-3888 niabaneimoes@gmail.com

Telefax No. (044) 766-3888 TIN No. 000-578-009-000

C3

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE:

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that 8990 HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, with office address at 2nd Floor PGMC Building, 76 Calbayog corner D.M. Guevarra Streets, Mandaluyong City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a new developer of economic and low-cost housing project (Deca Homes Gensan 1) with a capacity of 245 economic and low-cost units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Sitio Cahilsot, Brgy. Calumpang, Gen. Santos City.

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

us immediately.

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

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018)

InvItatIon to BId for Supply, delIvery, InStallatIon, ConfIguratIon, teStIng and CommISSIonIng of data Center – ImuS Complex under ItB no. pB18-01-020Cora (reBIddIng) The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming rebidding for the Supply, Delivery, Installation, Configuration, Testing and Commissioning of Data Center – Imus Complexunder ITB No. PB18-01020CORa (Rebidding).

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

Twenty-Nine Million Five Hundred Forty-Five Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Three Pesos (PhP29,545,133.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction.

Location

PAGCOR Imus Complex, Bayan Luma VI, Imus, Cavite

Delivery Schedule

Within one hundred fifty (150) calendar days commencing from the date of receipt by the winning contractor of the Notice to Proceed.

Source of Funds

Corporate Budget for CY 2018

Bidders should have completed, within the lastten (10) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

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

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

PAGCORwill hold a Pre-Bid Conference, which shall beopen to prospective bidders.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, PostQualification 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: 1.

2.

Activities Issuance of the Bidding Documents Pre-Bid Conference

3.

Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids

4.

Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION (Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Email Address:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

Date, Time and Venue January 25, 2018 to February 15, 2018 February 2, 2018 (Friday), 2:00 p.m.

Corporate Lounge, Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate, New World Manila Bay Hotel & Casino, 1588 M.H. Del Pilar corner Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila.

February 15, 2018 (Thursday), 2:00 p.m.

Corporate Lounge, Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate, New World Manila Bay Hotel & Casino, 1588 M.H. Del Pilar corner Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila.

February 15, 2018 (Thursday), 2:00 p.m. onwards Corporate Lounge, Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate, New World Manila Bay Hotel & Casino, 1588 M.H. Del Pilar corner Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from theProcurement Department (PD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, of PAGCOR and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at the Eighth (8th) Floor, PAGCOR House Annex, Carmen Building,1105 UN Avenue corner Ma. Orosa Street, Ermita, Manila during office hours of PAGCOR from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

InvItatIon to BId January 19, 2018

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Fourteen Million Eight Hundred Sixty Eight Thousand Five Hundred Sixteen & 30/100 (P14,868,516.30) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for STW FOR MUNICIPALITY OF MALOLOS, PULILAN & CALUMPIT - Supply& Delivery of One Hundred Sixty Five (165) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories for municipality of Malolos, Pulilan & Calumpit- ITB No. R3BANE-EGPIP-2018-BU-02. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office , Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan through the GAA 2018 intends to apply the sum of Twenty Nine Million Nine Hundred Seventeen Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Seven & 04/100 (P29,917,257.04) Pesos being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Bulacan PIP– Supply& Delivery of Three Hundred Thirty Two (332) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories for municipality of San Miguel, San Rafael, Dona Remedios Trinidad, Angat, Norzagaray and San Ildefonso- ITB No. R3-BANE-EGPIP-2018-BU-03. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

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 theapplicable fee of the Bidding Documents not later than the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for STW FOR MUNICIPALITY OF MALOLOS, PULILAN & CALUMPIT - Supply& Delivery of One Hundred Sixty Five (165) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories for municipality of Malolos, Pulilan & Calumpit Baliwag. Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

The National Irrigation Administration – Bulacan-Aurora-Nueva Ecija Irrigation Management Office now invites bids for BULACAN PIP - Supply& Delivery of Three Hundred Thirty Two (332) sets of 8HP Diesel Engine & Pump and Accessories for municipality of San Miguel, San Rafael, Dona Remedios Trinidad, Angat, Norzagaray and San Ildefonso.Delivery of the Goods and Services is required Thirty (30) calendars days upon receipt of Purchase Order on NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

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.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NIA-BANE IMO. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of FIFTEEN THOUSAND (P15,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 29, 2018 at 1:30pm.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on January 22, 2018from the address below upon payment of non-refundable fee of TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND (P25,000.00) PESOS. Pre-bidding Conference is on January 29, 2018 at 2:00pm.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 12, 2018 at 9:30 am. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 12, 2018 at 10:15am. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bids shall be dropped on designated drop box at the address below on or before February 12, 2018 at 10:00 am. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below on February 12, 2018 at 11:00am. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

For further information, please refer to: ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888

The NIA – BANE IMOreserves 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.

For further information, please refer to: ENGR. CLARITA G. SILVERIO BAC Secretariat NIA-BANE IMO Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan 044-766-3888

SGD. ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson

SGD. ENGR. MA. BLANCA B. ALDOVINO BAC Chairperson

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018

RESERVE YOUR AD SPACE NOW!

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 should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del PilarStreet corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Fee Slip which may be secured from PD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents.

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 062005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC)shall use a nondiscretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two (2) or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: a) b)

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper.

The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

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

Please address all communications to the BAC thru PD, Eighth (8th) Floor, PAGCOR House Annex, Carmen Building,1105 UN Avenue corner Ma. Orosa Street, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: (02) 526-0573 and/or (02) 524-3911.

(SGD) RODERICK R. CONSOLACION Chairperson Bids and awards Committee (BaC) 2

(MS-JAN. 25, 2018)

email us at advertise@manilastandard.net or call us at 832-5547 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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

C4

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

Business

Canada okays Pacific trade pact

By Jacques Lemieux

M

ONTREAL―Canada announced Tuesday it will sign on the Trans Pacific Partnership, moving to diversify its trade relationships as Canadian, US and Mexican negotiators kicked off a sixth round of talks on a 1994 free trade pact that Washington has threatened to dump.

Canada had initially balked at joining the proposed TPP last year, acting as the main holdout in negotiations after US President Donald Trump decided in early 2017 to go it alone under his “America First” policy.

But with Trump also threat-

ening to pull the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement and time running out to reach a deal on Nafta, Canada found itself on the hot seat.

“We’re seeing a lot of trade skepticism around the world in

general right now,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“People are worried or become increasingly convinced that trade deals benefit the few, not the many, benefit a country’s bottom line, benefit multinationals, but don’t benefit ordinary workers,” he said.

The prime minister described how governments must now “demonstrate convincingly” to workers the merits of free trade.

“That is what we’re working very hard on in Nafta and I know that the work we were able to do with our fellow CPTPP partners at this point is going to be

good not just for Canadians but citizens of the entire group of 11 countries in Asia that are part of this,” he said.

Canada’s decision to join the TPP, which has been rebranded the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP, came after two days of talks in Tokyo.

The parties will aim to sign the deal to create one of the world’s largest trading blocs by early March, said officials.

The agreement will incorporate all commitments from the original TPP, except for a limited number of provisions suspended temporarily, and some remaining issues to be finalized.

China is not included in the TPP, as the pact was initially driven by the former US administration as a counterweight to surging Chinese power in Asia.

In Montreal, Canada and Mexico, which is also a CPTPP member, signaled their readiness to offer concessions and to propose “creative solutions” to break a deadlock in negotiations and to ultimately convince the United States not to follow through on its threat to withdraw from Nafta.

The pact, which Trump last week derided as “a bad joke,” binds nearly 500 million consumers, and provides Canada and

Mexico with privileged access to the US market.

This sixth round of Nafta negotiations “will be critical,” because the most contentious issues are on the agenda, according to a Mexican government statement.

“Everything will be on the table,” commented Canadian Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne, noting that 28 of the 30 Nafta chapters had yet to be revised.

In a sign of its hardening protectionist stance, the US administration on Monday imposed duties on washing machines manufactured in Mexico and South Korea, as well as on solar panels imported from China. AFP

Indonesia set to slap 57% tax on electronic cigarettes JAKARTA―Chain-smoking Indonesia is moving to stub out its booming e-cigarette sector, sparking criticism that the government is siding with giant tobacco firms at the expense of public health.

The Southeast Asian nation has one of the world’s highest smoking rates―some 65 percent of adult men smoke―with a pack costing just $2.

Cigarette advertising is everywhere across the vast archipelago which once had the dubious distinction of being home to one of the world’s youngest nicotine addicts― a chain-smoking toddler who made global headlines in 2010.

Smoking cessation products are tough to find and Indonesia stands out as a key growth market for global tobacco firms increasingly shut out of countries with tough anti-smoking legislation.

Despite its tobacco-haven sta-

tus, e-cigarette cafes have been popping up across Indonesia in recent years amid debate over their safety.

In response, Jakarta said it will impose a whopping 57 percent tax on non-tobacco alternatives starting this summer.

Hasbullah Thabrany, health expert and advisor for the National Commission on Tobacco Control, warned that while customs and excise law required the government to set taxes for such products, it was possible that authorities were using the levy to take sides.

He added: “I do believe that the policy sides with the [tobacco] industry.”

Rhomedal Aquino, spokesman for the Association of Indonesian Personal Vaporizers, told AFP: “We agree with a tax plan to control consumption, but a 57 percent duty is too high―it will kill a growing industry.” AFP

Saudi Arabia is promoting sites such as the little-known Al Wahbah crater in a bid to kickstart tourism. AFP

Saudi Arabia issuing tourist visas to counter drop in oil revenues AL WAHBAH―Gazing at a shimmering salt pan below, a group of first-time Saudi hikers descended craggy slopes into a volcanic crater, part of a hidden trove of natural wonders being promoted to kickstart tourism.

Saudi Arabia will soon begin issuing tourist visas, opening up one of the last frontiers of global tourism―a sector touted as the desert kingdom’s “white oil”― as it steps up diversification efforts to wean itself off its crude oil dependence.

But the conservative country, notorious for sex segregation and its austere dress code, is seen as an unlikely destination for global tourists aside from Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

Now in the midst of historic

social change, the kingdom is seeking a place on the global tourism map by promoting sites such as the Al Wahbah crater, widely unheard of even within Saudi Arabia with the near absence of local tourism.

On a warm winter weekend, Amr Khalifa, a private tour operator, brought a group of firsttime Saudi campers to hike to the bottom of the crater.

Clutching hiking poles, the hikers picked their way through the slippery, boulder-strewn path to the salt pan.

“I told my friends about Al Wahbah,” said Jeddah-based corporate banker Mohamed Bahroon. “They had no clue.”

The little-known crater, barely a four-hour drive from the western city of Jeddah, is a remnant of volcanic activity―local folk-

lore, however, has it as having been formed when two mountains were so passionately in love that one uprooted itself to unite with the other, leaving a bowl-shaped depression in its place.

In recent months, authorities have built roads and markers to the site and erected picnic shelters around the rim of the crater.

“The key challenge is to make such tourism sites accessible,” said Khalifa, adding that he only had one camping group at the site that weekend.

Tourism is one of the center pieces of Vision 2030, the blueprint to prepare the biggest Arab economy for the post-oil era, which was conceived by powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In August the kingdom an-

nounced a multi-million dollar project to turn 50 islands and other pristine sites on the Red Sea into luxury resorts.

It also plans to develop historic sites such as the centuries-old Mada’in Saleh, home to sandstone tombs of the same civilization which built the Jordanian city of Petra.

The kingdom aims to nearly double the annual number of tourists it attracts to 30 million by 2030, with the sector projected to become one of its top revenue earners.

Tourism chief Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz told AFP last month that preparations were afoot to launch electronic visas in the first quarter of 2018 to “all nationals whose countries allow their citizens to visit” the Gulf state. AFP

Contest for 2nd Amazon headquarters heating up WASHINGTON―With billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs at stake, Amazon’s quest for a second North American headquarters has thrust 20 cities into a cutthroat “Hunger Games” style contest―but at what cost?

The US technology and lifestyle giant last week narrowed its list of candidates from 238 applications for the prize, which could provide an estimated $5 billion in investments and 50,000 new jobs.

Amazon expects to announce a decision later this year on “HQ2,” which will be equal to its Seattle headquarters, and is asking the finalists to refine their pitches.

This winning city would get a massive economic infusion that could instantly transform it into a major technology hub, said Brookings Institution fellow Joseph Parilla.

“The size and scale of Amazon’s investment in its current headquarters has been absolutely transformative for that city, and so we would expect on the positive side for that to occur in a winning city as well,” Parilla said.

Parilla said each tech job created would have a “ripple effect,” creating another three to five jobs for the local economy, including from some firms seeking a presence near Amazon.

While many political leaders are embracing the challenge, some analysts have derided the move as a stunt akin to the dystopian novel where citizens must watch youths fight to the death. AFP

The three groups that make up the Senate THE 23-member Senate of the 17th Congress is usually spoken and written about as though it were composed of two groups, viz., the six Senators who usually vote against the measures proposed by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte (Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan, Leila de Lima, Antonio Trillanes IV, Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino) and the rest of what presiding officer Aquilino Pimentel III has christened “the thinking chamber.” I prefer to think of the Senate as being made up of three groups.

The first group – the easiest to put together – is composed of firsttermers, i.e., the Senators who were elected in 2016. They are Sonny Angara, Bam Aquino, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Manny Pacquiao, Joel Villanueva and Miguel Zubiri. Being first-termers, they are unschooled in the traditions and practices of the Senate and are still finding their way

in the thinking chamber. They are the members whom Leyte Representative Vicente Veloso spoke derisively about in a radio interview last week. True, Senators Angara, Ejercito, Hontiveros and Zubiri have served in the House of Representatives; however, being a Representative clearly is not the same as being a Senator, as Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has confirmed by some of his recent statements and actions.

The second of the three groups into which I have chosen to divide the present Senate is made up of Senators who are not first-termers, i.e., have previously served one or more terms.

They are Franklin Drilon, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan Jr., Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Ralph Recto and Vicente Sotto III. I have chosen to include Cynthia Villar in this group because, although she is a first-termer, her husband Manny was a two-termer who became the Senate’s president.

Because of osmosis, I do not look upon Cynthia Villar as a first-termer.

The remaining Senators make up the third of the three groups into which I have chosen to divide the Senate. Because of her extensive experience in the Executive branch of the government – as Secretary of Justice and chairman of the Commission on Human Rights – I have included Leila de Lima in this group. The other members of this group are Francis Escudero, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino Pimentel III, Grace Poe and Antonio Trillanes IV. As their names and records suggest, this is a potent group.

It is almost certainly correct to say that the Filipino people perceive of the Class of 2016 as a group of Senators strongly disposed toward – some would say subservient to – President Duterte.

The exceptions, of course, are Risa Hontiveros and Bam Aquino. The firstterm group has shown thus far that they

either are incapable of independent thinking or are susceptible to pressure from Malacanang.

The group of which Franklin Drilon is a member is the Senate’s oldtimers group. The other Senators, especially the first-termers, look to them for guidance, advice and information. With the exception of Mr. Drilon, all of the members of this group have shown themselves to be favorably disposed toward the Duterte administration.

In many of his recent statements Speaker Alvarez has glossed over the fact that, unlike the members of his chamber, the Senators are elected by all of the Filipino people. In contrast, the Representatives are elected by districts controlled by political dynasties. It is said that the Senate is made up of 24 independent republics; though some of the new Senators have thus far not shown much independent thinking, this saying is essentially true.

There are a number of major issues that will shortly be coming up to the Senate for resolution. Topping the list of those issues are Charter change – in particular the contentious question of the manner of voting in a constituent assembly – a shift to the federal type of government and the move to impeach the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Despite actual threats from Mr. Alvarez and veiled ones from Malacanang, the Senators have closed ranks and resisted the push for a jointvoting constituent assembly. Will the members of the thinking chamber rise to the occasion again when each of the other contentious issues comes up?

More to the point, will the members of the three groups rise to the occasion?

They will have to prove their president Koko Pimentel right – that their chamber is, indeed, the thinking chamber.

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

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com thuRsday, januaRy 25, 2018

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Life shopping

DO GOOD WITH DENIM. Gap Philippines brought Recycle Your Blues to the Denim Fest at SM Megamall Atrium.

Recycle your blues G

AP wraps up the season of giving with denim donations from its Recycle Your Blues campaign

Gap Philippines has received a total of 4,584 pairs of denim jeans collected from the Recycle Your Blues campaign. In Metro Manila alone, Gap received 3,649 pairs of donated denim jeans for adults and 187 pairs for kids. All collected denim jeans from Metro Manila were turned over to Pangarap Foundation, a beneficiary of Hands on Manila that provides community development programs for street children and their families. The denim jeans collected in Cebu and Davao were donated to International Care Ministries for their advocacy towards helping less fortunate families in southern Philippines.

im drive campaign that invited everyone to donate any old pair of denim jeans at their nearest Gap store. Upon donation, participants received a 40 percent off voucher for their next denim purchase.

Hands On Manila, introduced and developed by the Hands On Network, was established in August 2001 as the pioneering Hands On Network affiliate in the Asia Pacific Region. Founded in 1992, the Hands on Network is an innovative alliance of volunteer organizations and has successfully implemented their method in various American cities. Their flexibility model for volunteer service allows members to incorporate volunteering into their Recycle Your Blues campaign Recycle Your Blues was a nationwide den- day-to-day schedules.

IT’s a new year once again and it’s time to say goodbye to the year that was and look forward to all that 2018 has to offer. The year signals a fresh start for everyone and ushers in even greater things ahead.

The beginning of the year comes new goals, new resolutions, and new ambitions for all. It’s no different at Ayala Rewards Circle (ARC), Ayala’s premiere rewards program, as they seek to enrich their members’ experience even more.

Park with ease in more Ayala Malls

Parking has always been a hassle in the malls. Fret not ARC members, as free valet parking is now available in even more malls across the country.

Members enjoy free valet parking at select Ayala Malls, namely Alabang Town Center, Ayala Malls the 30th, Greenbelt, U.P. Town Center and now solenad and TriNoma. Five free valet

parking e-vouchers are available for each member that can be redeemed via the ARC mobile app. The voucher entitles the member to four hours of valet parking at these malls except in Alabang Town Center (three hours) and in malls with fixed rates. This benefit is available until Dec. 31, 2018. Terms and conditions are also found in the mobile app.

New shopping destinations across the country

Pangarap Foundation received all 3,649 denim donations from Metro Manila on Dec. 15, 2017 at their children’s shelter in Pasay City. The denim donations will be given to former male street children, who sought refuge in Pangarap shelters and to families at Paliparan site III in Dasmarines City in Cavite. Leah Lanzuela, executive director of the foundation, received the donations from Gap and surprised the Gap team with a dance performance from the kids of the Pangarap shelter. Pangarap Foundation provides an all-boys’ shelter for former street children and works to address the children’s mental development, physiological, emotional, psycho-social, and spiritual needs. It provides three major intervention services: Caring services (shelter, food, clothing, advocacy, legal, medical, and dental); Healing services (social, Turn to C2

New Year, New Things

Ayala has opened new customer destinations in more locations around the Philippines. Cloverleaf mall in Balintawak, Quezon City, has recently opened and members can enjoy lounge access when they need a break from shopping.

Other Ayala malls that also opened in December are Ayala Malls Feliz (Marcos Highway cor. J.P. Rizal, Bgy. Dela Paz, Pasig) and Ayala Malls Marikina (Liwasang Kalayaan, Marikina).

ARC Concierge is available 24/7 for airline, hotel, and dining bookings here and abroad

Never too early to plan a getaway

Ayala Rewards Circle members enjoy free valet parking at select Ayala Malls until end of 2018

After Christmas, summer is our next big season to plan for. Let the ARC Concierge help you. Available 24/7 for your airline, hotel and dining bookings both here in abroad, the concierge can help you get better deals for your next destination with these ARC-exclusive privileges.

Get 20 percent off on best available rates and 10 percent off on food and beverage outlets at sEDA hotels nationwide. On top of seda’s seven existing branches (sEDA Vertis North, BGC, Nuvali, Abreeza, Atria, Centrio), sEDA

Capitol Central in Bacolod is also now ready to welcome ARC members.

Make your Palawan visit even more worth your while. stay at El Nido Resorts (El Nido Apulit Island, El Nido Miniloc Island and El Nido Lagen Island) or the newly opened Lio Estate Resorts (Casa Kalaw, Balai Adlao, El Nido Cove Resort, Hotel Covo) and enjoy a range of benefits from complimentary room upgrades to a private dinner set-up just for you and your guests.

For f light options, Air-sWIFT, the Philippines’ only boutique air-

line offering daily round trip f lights from Manila to El Nido, also has treats for ARC members: additional allowance of five kilos of check-in baggage (more pasalubong!) and waived rebooking fees. Apart from El Nido, Air-sWIFT also f lies to Caticlan, Clark, Basco and Cebu.

Watch out for new f light destinations in the coming months!

Want to know more? Check the ARC mobile app and visit www.ayalarewardscircle.com or www.facebook. com/ayalarewardscircle.

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thursday, january 25, 2018 isahred@gmail.com

Life

t s a l s t n e m o m e Mak p o P d i o r a l o P h wit

Polaroid Pop is a sleek digital camera that lets you instantly print photos with its integrated printer features

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Terminus and Of False Gods and Mad Kings

Students showcase best game design La Germania has been part of Chef Rolando Laudico’s journey as a chef

Perfect New Year’s Resolution New Year is a time for resolutions, and one of which is giving more to people you love. For celebrity chef Rolando Laudico or Chef Lau for short, giving means preparing a homecooked meal — a seven- to 10-course meal at that.

As one of the foremost names in the local culinary scene, Chef Lau is known as an extraordinary cook, a creative restaurateur, and a rock star in and out of the kitchen. Despite his busy schedule, running his catering and restaurant businesses, he makes sure to make his loved ones feel extra special. “I basically cook everything! Instead of giving them individual gifts, that’s my gift for all of them.”

His typical menu for these family gatherings? “There must be some sort of lechon, so I’ll roast a suckling pig or a pork belly, plus do other roasted dishes like beef and turkey,” shares Chef Lau. “we’ll have a festive rice dish like paella or risotto, and pasta as well. And there’s always seafood like a fresh whole fish, which I either bake, steam, or grill.” His wife, Chef Jackie—who is known for her pastries and patis-

Chef Lau cooks all his specialties for his loved ones

serie—will make the desserts.

As an example, New Year’s eve “midnight dinner” was a special affair at the Laudico household. One that is a true labor of love.

Cooking for the family usually starts with an early morning trip to the market to buy fresh produce and ingredients. The husband and wife duo then starts to prep their respective dishes as soon as they get home. Chef Lau says, “Some dishes that I make are quite traditional, but some I like to put a twist using different ingredients. So aside from what’s fresh and available in the market, I’ll use whatever’s in my pantry or my refrigerator.” He typically spends the rest of the day prepping then cooking an assortment of dishes, depending on what his family requests for him to cook.

Chef Lau is very much in his element while in the kitchen, cooking up a feast. He considers his cooking range a trusted old friend. “For me, a cooking range has to be powerful and precise at the same time,” he shares. “I use a lot of cooking methods from searing to slow cooking. I braise, I broil, so it’s important that the stove and oven range I use delivers heat consistently.

For example, if you’re cooking lechon and the heat distribution isn’t even, your roast won’t brown evenly as well.”

Over the years, Chef Lau has tried and tested a brand that is made in Italy and loved in Filipino homes. “I learned how to cook in my mother’s kitchen using a La Germania, and I think it’s still around! The La Germania is indestructible!”

In fact, La Germania has been a part of his journey as a chef since he was a young boy of seven up to becoming the culinary powerhouse he is today. “Chef Jackie and I also used La Germania to start our catering business 17 years ago – I remember it was a five-burner stove and oven, which still works up to now,” adds Chef Lau. For family gatherings, Chef Lau says, “Prepare ahead.

The less stuff you leave for the last minute, the less stress for you and more time you can spend with your family. For my wife and me, after we buy the ingredients from the market, we prep them right away for dinnertime, so we can cook the dishes fast. Also, be able to multi-task and cook more than one dish at a time. You can do this easier if you have a goodsized stove with several burners and a large oven. Lastly, cook something that you know and are comfortable making.

If you’re doing a new dish, do practice beforehand so there’s no more guesswork.”

This year, gift your family and loved ones a delicious and memorable family dinner from your own kitchen – with the help of trusted names in the culinary scene.

For more info on Bertazzoni La Germania, go to ph.lagermania.com

GAme design students of De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) dominated the list of finalists in the Game On competition of the recent eSports and Gaming Summit (eSGS).

Ten other universities and colleges, namely Asia Pacific College, CIIT Philippines, De La Salle University, FeU Institute of Technology, Holy Angel University, iAcademy, Jose Rizal University, mapua University, San Sebastian College-Recoletos, manila, and University of St. La Salle likewise put forth their best games for the tournament.

School of management and Information Technology (SmIT)-Game Design & Development Program Chairperson Norman Lee confirmed Benildean finalists comprised 11 out of a total of 32 entries.

Games by the college featured at the event were Terminus, Enter the Exit, Into the Light, Morpheus, Responsum,

Spell Weaver, Santelmo, Gestalt, NOIR, Tear of the Forest, and Of False Gods and Mad Kings.

At last year’s eSGS, DLS-CSB Game Design students took home the lion’s share of prizes, including the muchcoveted Game of the Year for Tesselate, the joint creation of students Vincent Layog, Erickson Melchor, Joshua Soya Joshua, and Paul Andrada.

Organized by the Game Design Association of the Philippines (GDAP), the three-day event is an annual showcase of the best and the newest in the world of gaming, ranging from top game publishers, independent game developers and games on PC, consoles and mobile.

During the competition, entries were showcased in the Game On area, where leading and seasoned game development industry experts tested and experienced the students’ creations.

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psychological, psychiatric, and spiritual); and Teach Services (formal and non-formal education). Pangarap Foundation also has its outreach community in Paliparan, Dasmariñas where it has started a community development program that helps over 45,000 former informal dwellers of metro manila. The development program helps sustain the recovery of the street children who were reconciled with their families and to prevent others from ending up back on the streets.

International Care ministries (ICm) received 748 pairs of jeans from Gap Davao and Cebu, which will be given to families suffering from severe poverty in nearby communities. ICm is a Christian organization has been serving the less fortunate families in the Philippines since 1992. In partnership with community leaders from thousands of slum communities, ICm delivers programs that transform the lives of more than 100,000 destitute people each year believing that no one should live in abject poverty. ICm currently operates in ten locations throughout the central and southern Philippines including Davao, Cebu, General Santos, and Dipolog.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

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Top directors and emerging filmmakers on status of PH cinema FEU short film bags MSFF first prize FAT You, a short film by third year college students at Far Eastern University (FEU), won first prize in the 19-21 age group (Further/Higher education) category of the inaugural Manila Student Film Festival held on Jan. 16 at the International School Manila Fine Arts Theater.

Written and directed by Ronnel “Thirdy” Rivera III, the winning short film is about a fat girl who is afraid to show up in their class reunion after being bullied by her former classmates because of her physical appearance.

In his acceptance speech, Rivera thanked the organizers for initiating the event. “It lets us express ourselves through films.”

The winning filmmaker also reiterated his film’s message. “Our film’Fat You is for all the fat people not only in the Philippines but all over the world.

Let’s fight fat-phobia,” he stressed.

The Plus Size Production film stars Marry Grace Yagi and Lexcel Quina with support from Robby Delgado, FEU Theater Guild actor Ron Christian Alos and FEU UAAP Season 80 courtside reporter Sydney Allison Crespo, among others.

A scene from the short film 'Fat You'

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ILMMAKERS in Philippine cinema will discuss the present state of moviemaking in the country in Pelikulang Pilipino Ngayon: Problems and Possibilities, at the School of Design and Arts (SDA) Cinema De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), from 12:30 to 2 p.m. tomorrow.

The forum, held in cooperation with the Directors Guild of the Philippines, is open to the public.

Jose Javier Reyes, DLS-CSB Film Department Head, will be the moderator of the panel composed of Joel Lamangan, Ronnie Bertubin, Paul Soriano, and Paolo Villaluna.

Joel Lamangan who started his career in entertainment as a member of Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), is an award-winning film and television director and actor. He rose to fame through his acclaimed films The Flor Contemplacion Story, Sidhi, Deathrow, Hubog, Aishete Imasu 1941, Blue Moon, and Mano Po. Ronnie Bertubin, a producer and assistant director earlier in his career, is an actor and director known for the movies Last

Viewing, Ku’te, Gayak, Sikil, and Kurap.

Paul Soriano, the grandson of ’50s actor Nestor de Villa, began his career as a director for television commercials.

He later transitioned into moviemaking, helming movies such as A Journey Home, Thelma, Kid Kulafu, and Dukot.

His latest film Siargao won Second Best Picture in the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival.

Paolo Villaluna is a TV commercial, television, and film director. He was named as one of the “most significant digital frontliners of the indie movement,” emerging in the 2000s, ushering a new era of filmmaking in the nation.

The De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts (SDA) Cinema is located at 950 Pablo Ocampo Street (Vito Cruz Street), Malate, Manila

Paulo Villaluna

Joel Lamangan

Paul Soriano

First Mr. Philippines pageant launched A NEW national pageant for Filipino men has been launched in response to the government’s call to help in the promotion of tourism, culture and the art. The “First Mr. Philippines 2018” was unveiled recently by the Mr. Philippines, Inc. (MRPI) President and CEO Francisco Z. Blanco, Jr. and Vice-President Reynaldo Jun Cortez Fradejas, with the support of businesswoman and philanthropist Marieta G. Ortega, who will act as executive producer for this year’s inaugural edition of the Mr. Philippines pageant.

Mr. Philippines 2018 is anticipated to become one of the biggest male pageants in the country that focuses

on the promotion of human development, healthy body physique and good character. It will provide for a platform on addressing social and cultural as well as sensitive issues on sexual differences. It will also promote the welfare of the Filipino youth to discover their innate talent and to foster camaraderie and peace among the men. Foremost, as a pageant, Mr. Philippines 2018 will be a showcase of the healthy bodies and minds of the individual human being.

The mission and vision of the Mr. Philippines pageant include the opportunity for Filipino men to achieve their full potential and talents; promotion of equality and develop respect for women;

inspire the youth to a drug-free living; to serve as platform for the pursuance of dream thru education; empowerment of male to achieve goals and aspirations; and promotion of healthy lifestyle among men and to serve as catalyst for change in society.

The winner of the first Mr. Philippines 2018 will be the epitome of the real Filipino men embodying social development of an individual towards social responsibility. The candidates will wear official outfits provided by Icon Productions 888. Mr. Philippines 2018 is set to culminate in the Grand Coronation night on June 23.

– Text and Photos by Eton Concepcion

THE CCP 13 Artists Awards 2018 now accepting nominations THE Cultural Center of the Philippines is now accepting nominations for the prestigious triennial visual art award program, the CCP Thirteen Artists Awards (TAA). Art organizations, heads of art schools/programs, museum and gallery curators and directors, art critics, and past Thirteen Artists Awardees may submit a maximum of three nominations each. Deadline for acceptance of nominations is 6 p.m. on Jan. 31.

Nominated artists must possess a series of eligibility requirements including: a

body of work characterized by artistic integrity, innovativeness, and forcefulness of ideas; responsiveness to contemporary realities; evidence of sustained artistic activity for the past three years; engagement with contemporary visual art forms; Filipino citizenship; and being born after 1978.

The TAA began as a curatorial project of the CCP Museum in 1970. In 2009, the CCP TAA was established as a triennial event.

What has characterized the work of the awardees, then and now, is a fresh visual language,

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Thursday, January 25, 2018

ACROSS 1 Breakfast treat 6 Coagulate 10 Sgt. Preston’s group 14 Form a butte 15 Hefner 16 Popular cookie 17 Pinnacles 18 “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” singer 19 Junk 20 — daisy 22 Disappointments 24 911 responder 26 Pan-fries 27 One without equal 31 Unseld of the NBA 32 Weeping over 33 “Tosca” tunes 36 Filly’s mother 39 Roman legion 40 Dingbat 41 Wolf, in Mexico 42 West of old films 43 Exam option 44 Like a corset 45 Low-lying clouds 46 Throb 48 Brawl 51 Sugar Ray stat 52 Assumptions

Joey Reyes

54 Bounced back 59 Late-night Jay 60 Sir — Guinness 62 Cosmic payback 63 Lahore language 64 Governess in “The King and I” 65 Spanish hero (2 wds.)

66 Private’s supper 67 “— —, old chap” 68 Tail ends DOWN 1 Arthur and Lillie 2 Cats do it 3 Unrousable state 4 Sappho’s verse 5 Savings (2 wds.)

6 Ernesto Guevara 7 Calm 8 Gawks at 9 Where the outlaw went?

10 C-3P0 and R2D2 11 Russell — of “Gladiator” 12 Intends 13 Stew containers 21 “I love,” to Lupe 23 Club fee 25 Slow mover 27 London buggy 28 Mystique

29 Coating of frost 30 — day now 34 ER personnel 35 Clueless 36 Portuguese lady 37 Aid and — 38 Manner 40 Japanese port 41 — Gatos, Calif.

43 Central points 44 Offensive tackle 45 Well-known 47 Luau music 48 Jacques, in song

49 50 52 53 55 56

Rips apart Capriati foe Green gage Vaccines Full of vigor Whale of a movie 57 Sultan’s cousin 58 A&W rival 61 Utter loudly

innovative solutions to artistic problems, and sustained creative output.

Guidelines for nominating and official nomination forms are available at the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division office, 4th floor CCP Main Theater Building, or may be downloaded from the CCP website: www. culturalcenter.gov.ph.

For more information, contact the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division at (632) 832-1125 loc. 1504/1505 and (632) 8323702, mobile (0917) 6033809, email ccp.exhibits@gmail.com.

Organizers of the inaugural Mr. Philippines during its media launch

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

‘G DIARIES’ SEASON 2

finds new allies to preserve environment Gina Lopez (fourth from left) with G Diaries Season 2's G Squad gathered to bring viewers to amazing sights and destinations in the country

ISAH V. RED

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ATURE just gained new allies as ABS-CBN stars led by love teams Elmo Magalona and Janella Salvador and Maris Racal and Inigo Pascual join former Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary Gina Lopez in a younger and more vibrant G Diaries, the second season of which premieres on ABS-CBN on Feb. 11.

Gina and the Kapamilya stars, who will comprise the program’s “G Squad,” will bring viewers to amazing sights and destinations in the country such as Samar, Lobo in Batangas, Sibuyan Island in Romblon, Iba in Zambales, Kinatarcan Island in Cebu, and even along the iconic Pasig River to encourage community development and reverence for nature as they experience the cultures and lifestyles of the local communities.

Also taking part in the fun and advocacy of the program, which will air every second Sunday of the month, are other members of the “G Squad” like Sue Ramirez, Gretchen Ho, Loisa Andalio, Kristel Fulgar, Antonette Taus, Young JV, and Boyband PH. Bringing a young and fresh

look and feel to the program this season is director Alco Guerrero, known for his work in Pinoy Big Brother, Maalaala Mo Kaya, Binibining Pilipinas, and the digital concerts of OneMusicPH. G Diaries, a project and production of ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc., was seen previously in June 2017 on ABS-CBN. For the second season, Gina said the program would be more focused in showing the efforts of local communities to protect and preserve their natural resources amid progress and development.

“We will do it one community at a time. We will show how each community has done it and show that things can be done. We will show the heroism of the community, the government, and businesses, and what can be achieved when people work together from a space of love,” she said.

Gina also welcomes the entry of the G Squad, which she believes will bring the advocacy for the environment closer to people, considering the star power and influence of the artists among the youth and the masses.

“Our great ABS-CBN stars who love our environment and our nation will go around the different parts of the Philippines with me, enjoy themselves, and invite you all to go there, because, if you go there, the locals will be inspired and you will be inspired as well. We will all be inspired together. We will work together in love,” she said.

Don’t miss the return of G Diaries. *** Recently, I met a guy from Ireland and the UK by the name of Laurence Canavan. He has been in the Philippines for sometime and helping people get trained in the ‘cage’ to make their dreams come true. He said of his decision to stay longer: “That was in 1992. The next

Former Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary Gina Lopez

time I came back, I totally love the kindness of your people. And that was the time I met my wife, Vianca. I met people who got me to put up the Cage Gladiators here. People who have been dreaming and wanting to do MMA but has got no resources.

“I was given the chance to be able to give back. By training and sponsoring people.

This has been in existence for them longest time but nobody knows about it. Fighters have been competing and winning but people are not aware. With your help guys, this can be recognized, because we want the Philippines to be its center in the whole of Asia.

“We’ve put up a non-profit organization with the mission to help people who wants to fight for a living and live to fight.

This is to train them, especially impoverished Filipino fighters to have a good future. We will get people and companies to sponsor them and share with them the business aide of it. I have seen a lot of them who really has the passion to pursue fighting in MMA. For pride. For glory.”

Why he want to help Filipino fighters?

“I always say, your country has given me so much. The hospitality is immense. You don’t go to a restaurant to eat.

But a lot of homes are opened to you and you beome part of the family. So much love.

“I have made a life here. I have fought. As a soldier. As a gladiator. This has long been happening in your country. The fighters are hungry for more.

So, we’re doing everything as it should be. We’re helping Filipino fighters campaigning in major MMA organizations. We will put up a website so they can see all the updates about the training, the fights so it will be its central office in the country.”

Some of the scholars include ONE Championship fighters Jeremy Miado, Mikuni Munsayac, Jomar Rush, Jason Vergara, Eric “The Natural” Kelly and Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly.

Added Laurence, “Cage Gladiators also has scholars in UFC. They include CJ “Goldenboy” De Thomas,

Jenel “The Demolition Man” Lausa and Rolando “The Incredible” Dy. The URCC fighters include Drex Zamboanga and Rex De Lara.

Glen Ranillo is a Cage Gladitor in the PXC. There’s even a boxer in Roman “The Hitman” Canto.”

In the future, big MMA events are in store, which they plan to hold annually. *** But who is behind the series of MMA shows in Manila?

She is no other than Ana Bautista, former actress now events manager and organizer At the recent press conference for Laurence Canavan, she said, “Just giving you an idea about my company and what I’d been doing after giving up acting. This presscon is intended for Laurence Canavan whom I manage.”

Ana is behind ABL Entertainment (ABL Company, Inc) is tie-up and affiliated of VIVA Entertainment, Inc. for Talent/ Artist/ Performer management and Event. ABL Entertainment is a Multi-media productions company founded in March 2015.

“Our expertise is producing high concept films from the process of conceptualization, script writing, filmmaking, film editing, and distribution. In addition, we

have our in-house talents and models for Events/ TV and Movie productions and advertising opportunities,” she said.

She added, “Our production specialize in preparation of screenplay, development of directors script, casting of actors, detailed plan and cost estimate affiliated with Viva Entertainment, Inc. Budgeting, Accounting and legal advice will be done by Viva Entertainment, Inc.” ABL also partners with two organizations, Cage Gladiators and UGB MMA to promote and advance Pinoy Mixed martial arts via philanthropic support, promotional events, as well as fully promoted competitive MMA events. *** It’s time for the Oscars® and again HBO will carry the 2018 awards across Asia.

Subscribers can enjoy the ultimate Oscars® experience across multiple screens on TV and connected mobile devices on HBO Asia’s network of channels and online platforms. Stream all the Oscars® programs on HBO GO and watch them on HBO as well as catch live and exclusive updates and interviews from the Oscars®, direct from Hollywood, on HBO Asia’s Oscars® microsite and social media platforms.

Event organizer Anna Bautista (left) with Cage Gladiators founder Laurence Canavan

Zac Efron’s winning performance in

‘THE GREATEST SHOWMAN’

Zac Efron in his winning performance in 'The Greatest Showman'

NURTURING an impressive body of work that encompasses both film and television, Zac Efron has proven to be one of Hollywood’s most soughtafter talents.

Efron became a household name with the launch of the 2006 Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel phenomenon High School Musical as Troy Bolton. He reprised his role as Troy Bolton, head of the basketball team, in High School Musical 2, which broke cable TV records garnering 17.5 million viewers. He also starred in the Disney feature film High School Musical 3: Senior Year, the third installment of the extremely successful High School Musical franchise.

HSM3 set a box office record as the highest grossing opening weekend total for a musical. He also starred in the box-office smash summer film Hairspray, which won the Critics’ Choice award for Best Ensemble.

Continuing his box-office breaking records with musicals, Efron gives an all-out different kind of performance in his latest movie The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Keala Settle and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II directed by Michael Gracey who makes his feature film debut.

Though much of The Greatest Showman is drawn from the

outlines of P.T. Barnum’s life, the fictional characters of Efron and Zendaya bring in fresh points of view. Carlyle also intrigued him.

“Phillip Carlyle is someone who has grown up very privileged, but he’s not happy where he’s at and he feels very sort of caged in and jaded,” Efron explains.

“Then he meets Barnum and he sees that P.T. just doesn’t care what people think. It’s liberating for Phillip and the beginning of a great friendship.”

For Efron, Carlyle’s first experience in Barnum’s circus is one of a man having the haze lifted from his eyes. It becomes more than an epiphany when his eyes meet those of aerialist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). The

character gave Efron the chance to get caught up in the kind of cinematic moment that most inspires him. “Falling in love in a musical number on camera is one of my absolute favorite things to do in the world,” he confesses. “I’m not ashamed to say it. I know it’s pretend but when you get to live in that kind of moment for a scene or two, it feels amazing. It brings you back to Gene Kelly and Singin’ In The Rain. Are there any better ways to express true love than in song?”

The Greatest Showman opens Jan.31 (also available in IMAX screens) in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.