Ms sect b 20161211 sunday

B1

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2016

Opinion

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE

BOOKSGIVING: LET’S START A TRADITION OF GIFTING BOOKS

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A TIME TO RECEIVE

“ICELANDERS have a beautiful tradition of giving books to each other on Christmas Eve and then spending the night reading.” As Katherine Martinko goes on to relate in an article for Treehugger, this tradition is the reason for the timing of the publication of books in that bookloving nation of less than 350,000 people. (This is roughly the population of Mandaluyong City in 2010.)

Most books are released in Iceland from September to December, a time called Jolabokaflod—Christmas Book Flood. The holiday book season begins with the release of the Bokatidindi, a catalog of the year’s new books, a copy of which is mailed by the Iceland Publishers Association to each household for free.

“Booksgiving,” as I’ll dub their lovely custom, would be wonderful to adopt as a tradition for our own families. Like Santa Claus, start with making a list and checking it twice. It’s easy if your recipients already love books; all you have to do is ask them what they want to read next.

For those who aren’t quite there yet, they might enjoy graphic novels or comic books, the gateway to reading for many people. For children, consider Dr. Seuss books—they are a cultural touchstone and thus a “must-read,” as well as books on Filipino myths and legends. Other people might prefer magazine subscriptions, the latest “Daily Bread,” a cookbook, or a fashion and beauty book. The thing is to give something to read.

There are many bookstore sales this season, so take advantage of those cut-prices. Pre-loved and remaindered books such as those from Booksale and online used-book sellers are affordable options, and you are more likely to find art, crafts, and coffeetable books there at a huge bargain.

Don’t hesitate to give away favorites from your own shelves, if you are downsizing; an appreciative recipient will love the book all the more because it was your own.

Here are eight suggestions of books from the rich trove of Philippine writings: Fiction and Poetry: 1) The Music Child and the Mahjong Queen by Alfred A. Yuson: An earlier manuscript entitled “The Music Child” was shortlisted for the Man Asia Literary Prize in 2008. In Yuson’s third novel, he pushes the boundaries of realism yet again and blurs the genres of prose and poetry to create another literary gem.

2) Troya: 12 Kuwento by Joselito de los Reyes: A collection of a dozen stories on a chess theme that explores topics of corruption and the abuse of power.

3) Of That Other Country We Now Speak by Charlson Ong: Short stories that “inhabit a world fraying at the seams, morally adrift…Here we find the gritty realism of crime fiction as well as the enchantment of myth.”

4) Lyrical Objec ts: New and Selected Poems by Marne Kilates: A collection of 60 poems written over the three months’ before the poet’s 60th birthday. According to literary critic Gemino H. Abad, “Marne’s closest rival in poetry is only himself.”

Non-Fiction: 1) To Remember to Remember:

A

GRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol was reported as returning a watch worth P450,000, given to him as a Christmas present. The story was circulated well over the internet; it hailed Piñol’s gesture as one other government officials should imitate and claimed the Duterte administration was winning the war on corruption.

It might have been jarring if the secretary had accepted the gift and wore it proudly on his wrist. Then again, one gesture does not make a habit, and it would be interesting to see how other government officials from other agencies draw lines on this matter.

As it is, gift-giving is a big thing in the Philippines during the holidays. It is part of our culture to bring or send tokens, even to just professional acquaintances whom we do not really know.

For a people so steeped in personal relationships, refusing or returning gifts may be deemed offensive, no matter the existence of rules and guidelines that identify which is acceptable—and which is not.

This brings us back to gray areas, and what we are willing to tolerate.

The truth is, the issue is not about gifts, who they are from

or how much they cost. What lies at the core is the thinking that one may be beholden to another person who does favors or gives presents.

Government officials, by virtue of their jobs, should be careful about what they accept, whether or not they know the senders, deal with them, or are even friends with them. It’s an issue of ethics, one that is difficult to regulate or suggest.

Being careful not to hurt the feelings of others, especially those who have been nice or gracious to us, is a distinctly Filipino trait. We must remember though that rejecting gifts is not a rejection of the friendship of the people they are from. It is just a shunning of the dangerous possibilities these gifts might lead to.

12-04-16

Turn to B2

HOLIDAY THOUGHTS LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA

IT IS 14 days before Christmas and in my home there is no sign of the holidays. No wreath on the door, no dancing lights, no tree. Certainly no trite carols on loop.

Last year we purchased a nine-foot tree and had a fairly happy time setting it up, engaging even the children’s friends. But now that the novelty of moving into a new place had worn off, I

Who’s feeling Christmassy yet?

am back to the usual holiday lethargy— wishing, instead, that the season were over and that everything would get back to normal, whatever normal may mean. Now I don’t even know where I stored all the décor after I had put them away.

I have plenty of reasons to feel this way.

First is the sorr y state of transportation. Getting from one place to another is oppressive as it is at any time of the year and at any time of day.

Everything gets magnified tenfold in December. For a good 10-11 kilometer distance, one has to set aside a good two hours one way. It’s decidedly longer Turn to B2

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Opinion

B2

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

HOLIDAY..

From B1

for those who take buses or trains. What alternatives do you have? Boorish cab drivers who demand extra payment before they consider taking you in and who have no qualms turning you away when you are not headed in the direction they are taking. You turn to either Grab or Uber--but the surges, even late at night when you’ve killed time at the office and found ways to be productive, or binge watch your favorite series, can still make you cry.

Second is the pressure to give presents. I do not mean the people who are truly close to us, to whom we want to give tokens of friendship or love or gratitude, and who will definitely feel happy and appreciated with a well-thought-out gift. I mean instead the mad rush to the malls just picking up something—anything—because turning up empty-handed does not help spread the holiday cheer.

Third, the expenses. This may not be a problem for those used to spending without thinking about the flip side: generating revenues. It is as if there is an exhortation to mankind to spend on food, on clothes, on big-ticket acquisitions. Perhaps there is the cushion of a bonus—for some. Woe to the few who do not know whether their employers would be human or compassionate enough to release their salaries, much less their 13th month pay, on time.

Four th is the contrived environment of cheer. Parties and reunions are being scheduled left and right. Food is consumed in copious, conspicuous amounts.

Pe o p l e g o to m a l l s e ve n w h e n they have nothing to do there.

See people they don’t even feel like seeing. Wear their jaws out smiling for photos. Spend thousands on their hair or use that insanely expensive bag for when they meet up with people they don’t care about but want to impress.

All these, in the backdrop of hypocrisy and duplicity and all the chilling things happening amidst us these days.

So who’s feeling Christmassy yet? *** Now the New Year—well that is a different story altogether.

I have always loved the New Year holidays. The kids and I are not big on the noise but we appreciate a good vantage point from where we can observe the fireworks from all parts of the city. I wrote about this in my New Year piece, “Charmed,” earlier this year (http://manilastandardtoday.com/ opinion/columns/chasing-happy-byadelle-chua/195845/charmed.html).

There is something about fireworks— how the burst of colors lights up the sky and serves as backdrop for the introspection one should be having as the last few minutes of the old year pass.

The thought of crossing over from one year to another contains a significance that trumps all other reasons for celebrating. In the past 12 months, we might have been naive, foolish, overbearing, lazy, misguided, arrogant, foolish. We might have encountered storms that, as I wrote a few weeks back, shook us to our core.

These may have made us doubt our worth, become terrified of trusting others, question whether life is fair and whether the future is still worth being hopeful about.

The answer to the last question—a resounding yes.

We d o s h u n t ra d i t i o n a n d superstition on New Year’s Eve. For instance, why buy 12 varieties of round fruit or splurge in an insane amount of food the family won’t be able to finish? Why wave a half-full piggy bank into the air while stashing none into your real savings account?

Why create a list of resolutions and then fall back into the same old patterns after just a few weeks?

What we—well, at least I—embrace is the opportunity to begin all over again without discarding the old. In each area of your life – career, family, relationships, friendships, finances, what were the accomplishments and, most importantly, what were the failures? Why were there failures? Look inwards and examine your strengths and vulnerabilities. Look outside and anticipate threats while identifying opportunities. And then, deliberately and realistically, under each area, create a vision of yourself by the end of next year, in three years, in 10. What is the plan—and more importantly, how does one get to that?

It is also important to recognize the importance of baby steps. We may not shed our old selves drastically, but what is crucial is that we are never stuck in the place we were in yesterday.

These days it is so easy to drown in the exuberance. Let’s try not to lose our heads, this season and onwards. adellechua@gmail.com

THE COSMIC CALENDAR

By Pecier Decierdo IN A few weeks time, we are going to change our calendars. Calendar years and other human attempts to measure, and sometimes impose, regularity into the celestial and seasonal cycles, are very interesting in their own right. I will write about what really makes up a year soon enough. But now, we will be using the calendar as a tool for understanding the time scale of the universe.

It is difficult to appreciate the depths of the time that has been.

When described in millions or billions of years, our brain just registers it as numbers. So let’s talk about them in terms other than numbers.

Before we do, let’s look at the numbers first. The oldest human civilizations flourished less than 10,000 years ago. Humans have been walking the Earth for around 200,000 years.

The non-avian dinosaurs went extinct around 65 million years ago. The Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, around the same time as the Sun. The universe is 13.8 billion years old.

Now that we have the millions and billions out the way, let’s talk about deep time some other way.

One famous exposition of the age

of the universe is through the Comic Calendar, a comparison between the history of the cosmos and the calendars we are all familiar with.

The concept was popularized by Carl Sagan in his book The Dragons of Eden and later in his series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. More recently, Neil deGrasse Tyson updated the calendar in the reboot of Cosmos.

In the cosmic calendar, the big bang happens at the stroke of midnight in New Year’s Day, the very beginning of our cosmic year. In this metaphorical year, the first stars are born on January 13. These stars and the others that formed after them joined to form the first galaxies on January 16. Our own Milky Way Galaxy, however, formed much later, on March 15. The Sun and Earth formed even later on September 1.

And now we’re halfway past the year and we haven’t gotten to life yet.

We think life couldn’t form on the early Earth. It was made of molten rock and was too hot. The first living things had to wait for Earth to cool down.

The oldest known rocks formed on September 16 of the Cosmic Calendar.

Life appears on September 28.

Life quickly got busy. By October

2, billions of the ancestors of today’s algae started turning sunlight and carbon dioxide to food and oxygen.

Photosynthesis ensues. By October 26, life has made its first major mark: the ox ygen levels in the atmosphere became significantly higher. The air we breathe today is a legacy of that era in time. Before then, the Earth’s atmosphere would have killed us.

For the rest of the Cosmic October, the only living organisms on Earth are single-celled life. These cells did not even have complex compartments in them. The compartments were “invented” on November 9. Sexual reproduction was “invented” on November 29. And still throughout this Cosmic November only singlecelled life existed on Earth.

The first multi-cellular life arose on December 5. By December 14, there were already simple animals, and by December 17 there were fish.

By the way, all this time life was only found in the sea. Plants, animals, and fungi started moving to land only on December 18. The dinosaurs begin their reign on the eve of Christmas, December 24. The first flowers bloomed on December

28. The dinosaurs end their reign on December 30.

With many of the dinosaurs gone, mammals start to flourish. By around 6 a.m. of New Year’s Eve the first apes appear. The apes became a diverse group for the rest of the day. By 9 p.m., the ancestors of humans and that of chimpanzees parted ways.

The first modern humans appear at 11:52 p.m. For more than 95 percent of our species’ existence, we lived as hunter-gatherers. Of the eight minutes remaining before the end of our year, the use of agriculture and civilization accounts for less than 5 percent. That means all of human history accounts for only the last 20 seconds of the cosmic calendar.

Personally, I find deep comfort in the depth of cosmic time. Just think about that. Entire eras of human history, which to us seem long and cosmically relevant, represent a tiny fraction of 20 seconds in an entire year. As you look back on the year that has been, and look forward on the year to come, try to think of the cosmic calendar. We all need a little cosmic perspective this New Year.

Decierdo is resident astronomer and physicist for The Mind Museum.

FACES OF PYONGYANG

North Korean kids walk by portraits of the late leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. AFP

By Ed Jones PYONGYANG—Ask anyone to conjure up an image of North Korea and it would probably be of a mass military parade, with thousands of faces and feet moving in perfect sync.

Or it might be of a fleeting image captured surreptitiously from the window of a bus as unsuspecting subjects go about their day.

I have been traveling to North Korea since 2012 and both these scenarios feature regularly in the photos that I transmit when on assignment there, largely because the well-known limitations placed on visiting foreign media severely limit any alternatives.

But since AFP formally opened a bureau in Pyongyang in September 2016, I’ve been thinking of ways to try to change that.

Access to people is an important

BOOKSGIVING...

From B1 Reflections on the Literary Memoirs of Filipino Women by Cristina PantojaHildalgo: An in-depth analysis of the memoirs of a handful of Filipino women writers that narrate lived experience across generations and different locations and backgrounds.

2) The Camino Real to Freedom and Other Notes on Philippine History and Culture by Jose Victor Torres:

facet of my photography. But it can be something of a challenge in North Korea. Approaching people on the street for interviews or taking candid photos outside of designated areas is generally frowned upon.

Requests to speak to or take photos of specific people generally need to be made through the two local AFP staff who accompany us at all times, and their efforts to secure permission meet with varying results.

I was keen to find a project that would produce interesting photos, without compromising journalistic integrity, and be a comfortable way of working for all involved.

The idea of a portrait series seemed a good solution that would involve the subjects themselves—a difficult proposition in North Korea where there is an inherent suspicion of foreign media.

As a photographer, I am driven by interactions with people, and for some reason—a lack of imagination perhaps—my pictures suffer without them. With a portrait series, I saw a way to create that interaction.

My video colleague and I decided on a routine whereby he would also shoot a short full-length video portrait as well as a close-up of the same subject reciting their name and occupation. It was important to capture the portraits as quickly as possible to retain an element of spontaneity, and the subjects were told where to stand, but not how to pose.

After the first few attempts, our local staff seemed increasingly taken by the whole idea and became more confident about approaching subjects, who were generally happy to participate. Initially we approached people who we felt were more likely

to agree to have their photos taken, such as tour guides at the various monuments around Pyongyang that are easy to visit.

But we were quickly able to expand our approach to include others such as a young girl rollerblading on a public square followed by a ginseng farmer near Kaesong, and a soldier at Panmunjom, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

On many occasions it was not possible to gather more information about our subjects. Some were apprehensive about giving their names, while others were reluctant to state their occupation.

But despite the speed with which these portraits were taken and the reticence of most of those who agreed to pose, there was still a moment of intimacy involved—however brief— that felt authentic and unguarded.

AFP

“History and culture,” says Torres, “form a major part of who we are as Filipinos.

And when we forget this…then we open ourselves to ridicule from other countries… Maybe it is because we have failed to show the world who we are as a people…We do not know our history, we had forgotten our past.”

3) Indie Cinema at mga sanaysay sa topograpiya ng pelikula ng Filipinos

by Rolando Tolentino: A collection of essays by a film and communication expert on independent films in the country: how are they made, who their

audience is, and what their future is likely to be.

4) The Chief is in the House: My Little Journal of Angst and Peeves by Joel Pablo Salud: 50 humorous pieces by a seasoned editor and essayist, covering a wide range of topics from the personal to the planetary.

These are only a few selections from an encouragingly long list of books by Filipino authors, among them Fictionary, my collection of short stories released last month.

Imagine the recipient of your

book curling up with one you picked especially for them, reading with a cup of hot chocolate and plate of warm ensaymada by their side, feeding both their brain and belly.

Whatever your book choices may be, let’s make Booksgiving happen this Christmas and spread the love of reading among our beloveds!

Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember

World

Manila

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B3

TODAY

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2016 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PENTAGON CHIEF: 200 MORE US TROOPS FOR SYRIA DUBAI—Washington will send another 200 troops to Syria to help an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters seize the Islamic State group bastion of Raqa, Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Saturday.

“I can tell you today that the United States will deploy approximately 200 additional US forces in Syria,” Carter told Gulf policymakers in the Bahraini capital Manama.

They will complement 300 American special forces already in Syria to assist US-backed Kurdish-Arab fighters who in recent weeks began their offensive on Raqa. That operation coincides with a US-backed Iraqi effort to retake Mosul.

The two cities are the last major urban centres under IS control after the jihadists suffered a string of territorial losses in Iraq and Syria over the past year.

Carter told the Manama Dialogue security forum that the troop reinforcements will include bomb disposal experts and trainers as well as special forces.

Car bombs and elaborate networks of booby traps and mines have been the jihadists’ favoured weapons as they battle to defend what remains of the “caliphate” they declared across Iraq and Syria in 2012.

“We’re now helping tens of thousands of local Syrian forces to isolate Raqa,” from which they are only about 25 kilometres (15 miles), he said. AFP

COURT FREEZES ASSETS OF RIO’S MAYOR RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A court in Brazil ordered assets belonging to Rio de Janeiro mayor’s frozen over the weekend after a company that built a golf course for the August Olympic Games never paid a required tax.

Rio’s state court opened an inquiry in March 2016 into whether the mayor had granted “excessive” and “unjustified” benefits to Fiori Empreendimentos, which never paid an environmental impact fee of 1.8 million reais ($533,000).

Mayor Eduardo Paes said he would appeal the court ruling, which saw up to 181,000 reais of his assets frozen.

“Contrary to what the prosecution claims, the city council of Rio demanded... that Fiori Empreendimentos Imobiliarios pay the tax so that authorization could be granted for it to remove exotic vegetation” on the nature reserve where the course was built, the mayor’s office said in a press release, providing documents supporting its claims. However, the company has never paid the tax.

The golf course, which cost $19 million, was constructed in the city’s west.

There are two other private golf courses in Rio which did not meet standards to host Olympic golf competitions.

Paes’ term in office concludes at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Marcelo Crivella from the socially conservative Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), who won the mayoral race in October municipal elections. AFP

A family, survivors of the magnitude 6.4 earthquake walk through the entrance of refugee’s tent in Pidie Jaya, Aceh province. Every house in the village was flattened when a 6.5-magnitude quake tore through Aceh province in Indonesia’s west, killing more than 100 people. AFP

MEXICO QUIETLY MARKS 10 YEARS OF DRUG WAR

M

EXICO CITY—Ten years after Mexican troops were unleashed against drug cartels, the country will mark the anniversary without fanfare on Sunday, with murders rising again and the military eager to return to barracks.

President Enrique Peña Nieto, who inherited the drug war when he took office in December 2012, has promised his countrymen and women a “Mexico in peace.”

His government has created a new federal police force and imprisoned or killed several drug kingpins, but Peña Nieto has kept troops on the ground despite allegations of abuses and criticism

from human rights groups.

The administration has no events planned to commemorate the controversial deployment that was launched by his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, on December 11, 2006.

Ten days after taking office, Calderon deployed some 5,000 troops to his western home state of Michoacan – the start of a militarized campaign against drug trafficking.

Calderon’s six-year term was marked by a surge in murders, rising from 10,253 in 2007 to a peak of 22,852 in 2011.

The figure dropped in the first two years of Peña Nieto’s presidency, only to rise again in 2015.

Although murders remain well under the worst years of Calderon’s presidency, there were 17,063 homicides in the first 10 months of 2016, already surpassing last year’s 12-month total of 17,034.

Much of the bloodshed is blamed on ultra-violent turf wars between drug gangs.

The government has captured major fugitives, such as the Sinaloa drug cartel’s powerful leader, Joa-

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES PROVINCE OF BATAAN MUNICIPALITY OF LIMAY INVITATION TO BID The Bids and Awards Committee of the Municipality of Limay through the GENERAL FUND Budget CY2016 invites registered companies/service providers to apply for eligibility and if found to be eligible to bid, hereunder the projects/contracts. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of Project/Contract

IMF CHIEF ON TRIAL OVER TYCOON CASE Paris—IMF chief Christine Lagarde goes on trial in France on Monday over a massive state payout to a flamboyant tycoon when she was finance minister in a case that risks tarnishing her stellar career.

Lagarde denies the charges of negligence, arguing she was acting “in the state’s interest” in making the payment to Bernard Tapie, the former owner of sportswear giant Adidas and Olympique Marseille football club.

If found guilty, Lagarde could receive a one-year prison sentence and a 15,000 euro ($15,900) fine.

Whatever the outcome, the case risks damaging the image of 60-year-old Lagarde, a former corporate lawyer who progressed through the finance ministry to her current role as one of the world’s most powerful women.

The case also threatens the credibility of the International Monetary Fund, whose last three managing directors have faced trial.

Lagarde, who was named to a second term in February this year, has received the full backing of the IMF over the case.

She will be tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic, a tribunal that hears cases against ministers accused of wrongdoing in the discharge of their duties. AFP

quin “El Chapo” Guzman.

But the weakening of major drug cartels such as the Beltran Leyva, Zetas, Gulf and Knights Templar has led to the emergence of smaller gangs that seek to diversify their business through kidnappings and extortion.

“The war has become much more complex. The level of death has escalated,”Raul Benitez Manaut, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, told AFP. The drug cartels have terrorized the population by leaving the decapitated bodies of their rivals on roadsides or hanging them on bridges, while mass graves are regularly found in the countryside.

AFP

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Mechanical & Electrical Works for Limay Municipal Building Supply and Installation of Public Address & BGM System, L.E.D. Wall System, and Portable Sound Reinforcement System

Location

Sources of FUNDS

Duration

Approved Budget Cost(ABC)

Cost of Bid Doc’s.

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

3 Months

13,800,00.00

25,000.00

Limay, Bataan

GEN FUND

1 Month

18,500,000.00

25,000.00

Bidders should have completed, within two previous 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.

A woman holds a placard reading “Arrest Park Geun-Hye” during a small rally in central Seoul following the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. AFP

SOKOR PROTESTS TAKE ON CELEBRATORY MOOD AFTER PARK OUSTER SEOUL—A day after South Korean lawmakers successfully impeached scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye, hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take to the streets of Seoul on Saturday for a scheduled protest turned celebration.

For the seventh straight week, the capital braced for one of the huge candle-lit rallies that have become the signature of a mass movement aimed at removing the deeply unpopular Park from office.

Although the national assembly voted to strip Park of her executive powers on Friday, activists say they intend to keep up the pressure with the impeachment still requiring final approval from the Constitutional Court – a process that could take months.

And many are adamant that the president should resign immediately and face criminal prosecution. Until the court rules, Park’s au-

thority is only suspended and she retains the title of president and the immunity from prosecution that goes with it.

And she still has her supporters, many of them elderly voters who remain steadfast admirers of her father, the late military dictator Park Chung-Hee – credited as the architect of the South’s economic transformation but vilified as an authoritarian rights abuser.

A large portrait of a young Park with her father formed the centrepiece of pro-Park rally in Seoul on Saturday morning that drew around 15,000 people.

Waving national flags, they carried banners that read: “President Park, Don’t Cry” and “Nullify impeachment.”

“When the (anti-Park) protestors stage rallies, they don’t carry any national flags. This is because they are all pro-North Korea leftists,” said Kim Sa-Rang, a 78-year-old church pastor. AFP

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

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

Interested bidders may obtain further information from BAC OFFICE, Limay Municipal Building, National Road, Brgy. Townsite, Limay, Bataan at the given address during office hours, 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders starting on December 13 to December 20, 2016 from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Document.

The Bids and Awards Committee will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on December 13, 2016, 2:00P.M.. at Limay Municipal Building, which shall be open to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before 1:00P.M., December 26, 2016. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the Bid Documents. Bid opening shall be on 2:00P.M., December 26, 2016 at Limay Municipal Building. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Submission of Class “A” documents and Financial Statements at least seven (7) calendar days and the Technical Documents (completed/on-going projects) at least fifteen (10) calendar days before the deadline for the submission or opening of bids.

The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Municipality of Limay reserves the right to accept or deny any bid, to annul bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, refer to: RAQUEL A. LEONGSON BACOFFICE Tel. No. : 613-8011 (SGD.) ROMARIO C. PANANGUI BAC – Chairman (M S-D E C . 11, 2016)

B4

Sports

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2016 Riera U. Mallari, Editor / Reuel Vidal, Issue Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

BAGUIO CITY HONORS ONE TITLIST FOLAYANG Pocari’s Myla Pablo (18) tries a drop shot against Customs’ Thai setter Nattanicha Jaisaen (13) during Game Two of their Shakey’s V-League Reinforced Conference title clash at the Philsports Arena.

PABLO CONTRACT CHANGES THE GAME ONE Championship Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang leads the parade held in his honor which started at Luneta Hill Drive of SM City Baguio, traversed Session Road and ended at the Baguio City Hall grounds. Thousands lined the route along Session Road to see and cheer for their local hero.

By Reuel Vidal

B

AGUIO CITY—Thousands of residents of this city atop the mountain turned out to show their love and appreciation for local hero ONE Championship Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang with a parade and ceremonies at the Baguio City Hall last Friday, December 9.

Eighth World Wushu Championship, 9th Asian Wushu Championship and 8th Sanda World Cup gold medalist Divine Wally was likewise honored.

The parade started along Luneta Hill Drive of SM City Baguio, wound down Session Road and ended at the Baguio City Hall grounds. Thousands of Baguio residents lined the route to cheer, shout and wave at their heroes.

Folayang, who was in traditional Igorot warrior gear complete with “bahag” or g-string, expressed his appreciation for the show of favor and affection by the people of Baguio.

“I didn’t expect this kind of reception. I am very grateful for their love and support. They are part of my long and difficult journey. They were with me during my first fights. I lost some fights but they remained at my side. It’s that way anyway. Heroes may lose early but always win in the end,” said Folayang.

The ONE Championship title holder said that everyone in Baguio is a winner because a new generation of heroes will surely follow in their footsteps.

“I expect that many more fighters will emerge.

There will be many more fighters in Baguio who will become champions. This legacy of winning will not stop with us but will continue through the

younger generation,” said Folayang.

He added that the work is not yet done and that there are more challenges to overcome.

“While the journey to the championship was difficult I know that to stay a champion will be even harder. I need to be a more responsible and be a good steward of this responsibility given by God. I just pray for the grace to be able to be a good role model and live up to this responsibility,” said Folayang.

Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said Folayang is a perfect example of individuals who sacrifice to develop their God-given.

“This is proof that Baguio and the Cordilleras can also be competitive at the global stage. The people didn’t mind the traffic created by the parade. They are very happy to meet their heroes live and in person. This is just the beginning and not the end. I know that many more sporting heroes will follow in their footsteps,” said Mayor Domogan.

University of Cordilleras Dean of Office of Student Affairs and Services Aloysius Mapalo said Folayang will now serve as inspiration for other students as well as alumni of UC. “He (Folayang) started as student-athlete in Wushu and persevered in the sport. Everyone at UC is proud of what he has accomplished. He becomes a role model for all students and students athletes alike. He showed that hard work and sacrifice will be rewarded,” said Mapalo.

Folayang won the ONE Championship Lightweight World Championship in Singapore last month in front of 12,000 screaming fans inside the Singapore Stadium at the One Championship— Defending Honor.

Folayang scored the crushing victory early in the third round after barely surviving Aoki’s takedowns and submission attempts during the first two rounds.

As the third started Aoki swallowed a flying knee while lunging forward to attempt another

ONE Championship Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang, wearing traditional Igorot warrior gear, receives a plaque of appreciation from Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who also wore a ‘bahag.’ Beside them are Team Lakay coach Mark Sangiao (right) and other Baguio City hall officials.

takedown. He grabbed Folayang instinctively but the Filipino fighter pushed him aside.

Folayang pinned Aoki to the cage and delivered another vicious knee. Aoki turned his back and assumed a fetal position while Folayang rained down vicious blows to the side of his head which forced Referee Yuji Shimada to halt the bout.

It was a spectacular finish and the culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice by Folayang.

INTAL DRIVES FUEL MASTERS

THE Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (2 wins, 1 loss) find themselves tied in the standings at the unlikely spot of second place behind just the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters (3-1) and it’s largely because of the mature play displayed by their main man JC Intal.

The 2016-2017 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup is actually one of the most competitive conferences in years. The teams are all bunched up in the standings.

Just behind the leagueleading Elasto Painters and tied with the Fuel Masters are the Meralco Bolts (2-1), the San Miguel Beermen (2-1), the GlobalPort Batang

Pier (2-1), TNT KaTropa (2-2), the Blackwater Elite (2-2) and the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (1-1).

The other teams include the Alaska Aces (1-2), the NLEX Road Warriors (1-2), the Star Hotshots (1-2) and the Mahindra Floodbuster (1-3).

The Fuel Masters will need Intal to continue playing with maturity and poise if they hope to be competitive this conference.

There has never been a question about Intal’s skills as a basketball player. He has length, he has size, he can jump out of the gym or score from anywhere on the court.

But he has always been “gig-

il” when inside the court and has never played with poise or maturity... until now.

After losing their first game the resurgent Fuel Masters tallied back-to-back victories to climb into contention this conference.

Intal scored five of his team-high 22 points in the final minute of the game to help Phoenix complete a surprise 92-85 victory over defending Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer in Antipolo last week.

Phoenix followed up that victory with another win four days later after the 6’4” Intal knocked down 24 points and grabbed seven

rebounds as the Fuel Masters breezed past winless Mahindra Floodbuster, 114-104.

The 33-year-old Intal averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists to earn the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for the period of Nov. 29-Dec. 4.

Despite his physical tools Intal has been a PBA journeyman at best.

He was drafted fourth overall by the Air21 Express in the 2007 PBA draft. He joined the Barangay Ginebra Kings in 2009. Playing behind established stars Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand Intal became at best a reliable role player.

Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters star player JC Intal (7) protects the basketball against San Miguel Beer defender Chris Ross.

IT finally happened.

Philippine women’s volleyball officially gained its first millionaire player after Myla Pablo inked a P4.6 million contract with Shakey’s V-League squad Pocari Sweat.

The 5’9” former National University open spiker committed to the Lady Warriors for five years. She also received a brand-new Hyundai Accent as a signing bonus.

This changes everything not just for volleyball but for women’s sport in the Philippines.

Filipinas can now pursue careers as professional athletes much like their male counterparts in the Philippine Basketball Association and the United Football League as well as the Azkals in the Philippine national team.

Pablo, 23 is a product of National University where she took up Marketing Management.

Pablo, playing for the NU Lady Bulldogs, was named Best Spiker in the UAAP Season 75. She was also chosen Best Spiker in the 2013 Shakeys V-League Season 10 when the NU Lady Bulldogs won the league championship for the first time.

She later won Finals Most Valuable Player during the 2015 Shakeys V-League Collegiate Conference Season 12 when the NU Lady Bulldogs also became champions.

She repeated as the Finals Most Valuable Player and earned second Best Open Spiker honors during the 2016 Shakeys V-League Open Conference Season 13 playing for Pocari Sweat.

Shakey’s V-League rival Philippine Superliga has signed other players to similar contracts but only for one-year at most. Rachel Anne Daquis and Jaja Santiago reportedly got P80,000 a month from RC Cola and Foton.

Volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez was supposed to have gotten a P100,000 a month from Bureau of Customs.

But said contracts were not long-term.

While the Shakey’s V-League admittedly started everything which led to the booming popularity of women’s volleyball the subsequent birth of the PSL and the rivalry between the two leagues have led to the pay bonanza now enjoyed by the women volleyball superstars.

It remains to be seen whether the rivalry between the Shakey’s VLeague and the PSL will ultimately do more harm than good to Philippine volleyball.

In the short term at least, players like Myla Pablo, who will be getting lucrative contracts, are reaping the benefits of that rivalry.