Manila Standard - 2018 December 18 - Tuesday

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GRAY WINS MISS U, GIFTS PH ‘BEST XMAS’

By Eton Concepcion

VOL. XXXII • NO. 306 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Senate keen on probe of ‘parked’ pork

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HE Senate may hold its own investigation into the parking of pork barrel funds in the budgets for infrastructure projects, but it will wait for the House of Representatives to finish its probe, Senator Cynthia Villar said Monday.

“Let the House investigate this, [and determine] how huge amount of funds were inserted, allegedly by the Department of Budget and Management,” she said.

Both House and Senate on Friday exposed a kickback scheme by certain lawmakers, where large amounts of funds are “parked” in a legislative district by well-connected congressmen.

Once it conducts a probe, the Senate would scrutinize the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways and ask officials to explain any questionable budget insertions.

In the House, Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said the owner of CT Leoncio onstruction and Trading, which allegedly bagged millions in government contracts, would

skip a scheduled hearing because of a trip to the United States.

Andaya, chairman of the House committee on rules, said his committee had prepared to subpoena Consolacion T. Leoncio and others involved to compel them to attend a hearing on Jan. 3, 2019 in Naga City.

He said he wanted to ask Leoncio how her company was able to win such huge government projects that were later subcontracted to other companies.

MISS Philippines Catriona Gray was crowned Miss Universe on Monday in Bangkok after a trailblazing ceremony praised for featuring its first transgender candidate but marred by gaffes about the English-speaking ability of two Asian contestants.

Gray, 24, finished first ahead of the South African and Venezuelan finalists in the glittering televised event hosted by American comic turned TV host Steve Harvey and supermodel Ashley Graham.

In the final round, Gray earned applause describing her work in the slums of Manila.

“I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila and the life there is… it’s poor and very sad. And I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty of it, to look for beauty in the faces of the children and to be grateful. And I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe, to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson,” she said.

The model and singer concluded her answer by saying that she would like to teach people to be grateful so we could have an “amazing world where negativity could not grow... and children would have a smile on their faces.”

After winning she told reporters she would like to expand her work with an organization in the Philippines that promotes education on HIV and AIDS. “A few years ago I lost a close friend to health complications with HIV,” she said.

“So spreading awareness on that cause and encouraging people to get the simple test and knowing their status is definitely one of my first projects that I’d like to pursue.”

Gray—a student of music theory—beat more than 90 contestants from around the globe in the 67th installment of Miss Universe, which was held in the Thai capital’s Impact Arena.

Gray was a crowd favorite during the swimsuit and evening rounds of the competition showcasing her signature walk, which her fans refer as a “lava walk,” and her slo-mo twirl while wearing a fuchsia-purple swimsuit.

She continued to mesmerize the audience in a stunning, sultry red evening gown designed by Mak Tumang, who also created her IbongAdarna inspired national costume.

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PNP chief warns policemen: No to partisan politics

By Francisco Tuyay POLICE Chief Oscar Albayalde on Monday threatened his men with penalties if they are found engaging in partisan politics during the midterm elections in May 2019.

He said the members of the police forces should not in any way provide their services to any person, especially those seeking elective positions in 2019.

“We are repeatedly reminding our commanders on the ground not to be partisan. They should not participate in any political activity or side with anybody,” Albayalde said.

He made his statement even as the Commission on Elections on Monday advised the candidates running for the 2019 national and local elections to refrain from giving gifts, which the poll body would consider as premature campaigning.

But Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said there was no specific law penalizing candidates found campaigning prematurely.

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GLORIOUS SHADES OF GRAY.

Portion of P11-b shabu reaches Mindanao—PDEA SHABU worth P11 billion that supposedly slipped past the Bureau of Customs in August could have already reached Mindanao, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said Monday.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said there were similarities in impurities found in the shabu seized at the Manila International Container Port, in Metro Manila, Cavite and Mindanao.

“There was a high correlation. This only showed there was only one source, one manufacturer and the same way of producing the drugs,” Aquino said.

Aquino said the PDEA was stepping up its operations during the holiday season, when drug use is expected to rise because of the many Christmas parties.

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Catriona living mom’s dream

By Nickie Wang WHEN Catriona Gray was 13, her mom had a dream—her daughter was wearing a red dress and was proclaimed Miss Universe. She was crying when she told her daughter about that vivid vision.

Eleven years later, the 24-year-

old Filipino-Australian beauty was the one in tears as she waved to the crowd wearing the covete Miss Universe crown. She’s donned a show-stopping red and orange dress, inspired by Mount Mayon, a perfectly coned volcano found in her mother’s home province of Albay.

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Art Director Romel Mendez composed the photo mosaic of newly crowned Miss Universe, Catriona Gray as Manila Standard’s tribute to the triumphant Bicolana. Below, Catriona wearing a red-orange dress inspired by Mount Mayon found in her home province of Albay, waves to the audience after being crowned on Dec. 17, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. (Inset) Gray as a five-yearold charmer wins the Little Miss Philippines’ beauty pageant on TV.

Remittances up by 8.7% BUSINESS B1

News

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DOJ to revive Trillanes coup raps

By Rey E. Requejo

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HE Justice department will file an appeal before the Court of Appeals to revive its coup d’etat case against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV over his participation in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, an official said Monday.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he had discussed the matter with Solicitor General Jose Calida, and that they had agreed to file a petition questioning the decision of Makati City regional trial

court branch 148 that dumped the department’s motions for the issuance of an arrest warrant and hold-departure order against Trillanes.

“The Office of the Solicitor General will

Senate...

Gray wins...

Earlier, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno denied knowing Leoncio or favoring her company.

Leoncio also denied that her company was a single proprietorship.

Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte dismissed as “absurd and baseless” the allegations against Diokno.

While going after Diokno, Andaya said he believed President Rodrigo Duterte had nothing to do with the alleged budget anomalies.

In an interview on GMA-7, Andaya said four more mayors from the Bicol region had informed him about the parking of at least P200 million in infrastructure projects in the 2019 budget by an unnamed Cabinet official.

Earlier, Andaya said a mayor from the same region had told him that a former Cabinet official running in the 2019 elections was doing the same thing.

“It’s not only the senators who are parking funds, but members of the Cabinet also have these kinds of parked funds,” Andaya said in Filipino. “This is what five mayors who I talked to personally said.”

He declined to mention any names, however. Maricel V. Cruz, PNA

During the competition, which was broadcast live, candidates were asked questions on press freedom, legalization of marijuana, refugees and the MeToo movement.

This year’s event drew positive feedback for themes of inclusivity and an all-women panel of judges made up of business leaders and former Miss Universe titleholders.

Miss Spain’s Angela Ponce made history as the first transgender candidate in a competition once owned by President Donald Trump, whose administration has attempted to block military recruitment of transgender people.

“I always say: having a vagina didn’t transform me into a woman. I am a woman, already before birth, because my identity is here,” Ponce said Saturday, gesturing to her head.

She added she wanted her appearance to be empowering and that she hoped for a “new generation of human beings who are raised a lot better, more tolerant and respectful.”

But issues of tolerance and respect came center stage during the competition when Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers appeared to poke fun at Miss Vietnam and Miss Cambodia on social media for

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Think tank tackles complex problems buffeting PH THE top political, economic and security experts from the government, private industry and the academe tackled the complex problems facing the country during the Pilipinas Conference organized by the think tank Stratbase ADR Institute in Makati.

In a statement, Stratbase ADRi president Dindo Manhit said the Philippine government was confronted by several conditions that were critical to political and economic development.

“Governments, as the pinnacle of power in society, do not operate in a social vacuum. As such, in order to operate and deliver services to the general population, a two-tiered participation is imperative―for the people to engage in political and economic activities and for the people to guard their leaders,” Manhit said.

“In turn, the elected leaders should be held responsible and accountable for all actions. As rightful rulers, their leadership and actions should not presuppose a blanket authority that is accountable to nobody.”

Dean Ronald Mendoza of the Ateneo School of Government said the country’s economic institutions seemed to be improving, but its political institutions seemed to be lagging behind. As such, “politics could be our weakness moving forward.”

Franciso Magno, trustee and program convener for Governance of Stratbase ADR Institute, in his presentation, said “High levels of corruption are correlated with weak rule of law, lack of access to information, government control of social media and reduced citizen participation. In fact, what is at stake is the very essence of democracy.

“Filipinos want to vote their leaders but at the same time, they are quite ambivalent when it comes to support for checks and balances for having independence in different branches of government.”

Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, said “The elections in 2019 have become important―not only as a way to know his [Duterte’s] continued popularity but as a way to ensure his legislative agenda with federalism.

“The big question is what will happen if Duterte is not there. Duterte, at this time, has the capability and impact to maintain political stability which is the basic requirement for economic development.”

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file the petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals,” Guevarra told reporters.

He said the Solicitor General will challenge the decisions of Judge Andres Soriano against the department, and that the petition will be filed “maybe early January.”

The Justice department filed its motions before the RTC after President Rodrigo Duterte in August issued Proclamation 572, which voided the amnesty granted to Trillanes over his participation in the Oakwood mutiny and the 2007

siege of the Manila Peninsula.

The proclamation cited Trillanes’ failure to comply with the requirements for the grant of his amnesty, including the filing of his application and admission of guilt.

Trillanes, a fierce critic of the President, sought relief from the Supreme Court and filed a petition challenging the proclamation. But the high court dumped his plea for a temporary restraining order and remanded the cases to the trial courts.

not being able to speak English.

The comments went viral but Summers later posted an apology on Instagram, saying she did not “intend to hurt” her fellow competitors.

Gray’s victory was closely followed in the Philippines, where beauty pageants are hugely popular.

Social media exploded with clips of fans jumping for joy and hugging each other as the Filipina contestant went through each successive round and eventually won.

A spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte in a statement praised Gray’s win for putting the Philippines on the world map “for its beauty and elegance.”

Gray is the country’s 4th Miss Universe after Pia Wurtzbach (2015), Margarita Moran (1973) and Gloria Diaz (1969).

Lawmakers at the House of Representatives on Monday hailed Gray.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said Gray’s beauty is the embodiment of “Daragang Magayon,” the beautiful maiden in the legend of Mt. Mayon.

“Truly an Albayana, she was the most prepared candidate ever—if you prepare to fight calamities, the more you are prepared for victory,” Salceda said.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers said Gray’s victory is an inspiration to all Filipinos amid the challenging times.

Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman said

the new Miss Universe would make a great ambassador for “peace, love, and compassion” in the international community.

Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie KittilstvedtRomualdez, who was Binibining Pilipinas International 1996, congratulated Gray and said her victory was “a testament to the faith and resiliency of the Filipino spirit.”

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Gray’s answer in the Q&A was “superb” and said the way she carried her long gown was “the final win.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto urged the public to focus on Catriona’s victory as she represents the Filipinos’ collective values and aspirations as a people.

Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri said Catriona’s answer in the Q&A portion showed she had a lot of heart in caring for underprivileged children.

Senator Grace Poe said that a woman of style, substance, and brave heart “deserves the crown.”

“Thank you for flying the Philippine flag high,” Poe said in a statement, referring to Gray.

Senator Nancy Binay said that Catriona’s win is her “sweetest Christmas gift” to Filipinos. With Macon RamosAraneta, Maricel V. Cruz, PNA, AFP

of Young Focus NGO. Her charitable endeavors were the inspiration for her answer to the final question in the Q&A round when she was asked: “What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your life and how would you apply it to your time as Miss Universe?’

Catriona underscored that working in a Manila slum had taught her to find beauty in difficult situations.

Her journey to the crown was not without criticism and online bashing. Trolls labeled her as “not Filipino enough” to represent the country. But the harsh comments and criticisms did not faze her.

Instead, she proved that her being Filipino goes beyond her looks and skin color.

During the national costume show presentation, Catriona showcased a beaded tribal suit featuring the indigenous tribes of the ancient pagan Filipinos, alongside an over-sized Parol painted Christmas lantern pulled by a roller device. The costume was accompanied by a preChristian Shamanic dance of the historical Babaylan paganism.

At the same time, Catriona’s YouTube channel unveiled three videos that chronicle her journey from Pampanga to Leyte and to South of Mindanao to come up with a national costume that would represent “the entire Philippines.”

“I’m human first, beauty queen second. No one has perfect statistics. It really is just about empowering yourself and finding your own worth within yourself. I have mental fortitude. We are bombarded with so many different things whether it’d be from online or people around you that you need to have security around yourself,” she said.

Having focus and mental fortitude are important when one is involved in pageantry, she said.

She proudly promotes her advocacy, education.

“I guess I have my advocacy and I think that has grounded me. I didn’t have an advocacy just for the pageant, I’ve had it for three years [and] just having that thing to ground me and to humble me throughout the whole experience I think is a wonderful edge to have, “ she said.

Catriona is the fourth Filipina to win the coveted Miss Universe crown after Gloria Diaz in 1969, Margie Moran in 1973 and Pia Wurtzbach in 2015.

She’s the second Miss World finalist to crossover to Miss Universe and ultimately win the crown. Namibia’s Michelle McLean finished one of the Top 5 finalists in the Miss World pageant in 1991. In 1992, McLean represented her country in Miss Universe in Bangkok, Thailand and won the crown that year.

Wurtzbach shared a photo of the newly crowned Catriona on Instagram, writing: “This girl is on fire! You started strong and captured our hearts with your grace, commitment, and fearlessness! And that walk… how could anyone forget that walk?”

“Congratulations, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray! You have made us all proud! Raise your flag!” she said.

Diaz told ABS-CBN Catriona was “gorgeous and outstanding from the start, while Moran said she “was outstanding in her walk and performance in the question and answer.”

The Miss World organization also congratulated Catriona for becoming Miss Universe 2018 on Monday.

The pageant organization posted a photo of Catriona’s crowning moment on their Facebook page and expressed their well wishes to the new queen.

“Well done Catriona! Congratulations from all of us at Miss World to Catriona Gray on being elected Miss Universe 2018!!”

Miss World also mentioned Catriona’s achievements in her Miss World journey in 2016 where she finished as one of the Top 5.

TOP 3 FINALISTS.

Sthefany Gutierrez (left) of Venezuela, Tamaryn Green (center) of South Africa and Catriona Gray of the Philippines stand on stage after being selected as top three finalists during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant in Bangkok on Dec. 17, 2018.

AFP

Catriona...

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Born in Cairns, Australia, Catriona is an only child. Her father Ian Gray is Scottish and her mother Normita Magnayon is Filipino, a native of Oas, Albay.

Catriona first joined and won a beauty pageant, Little Miss Philippines, at age 5. When she was 16, she shot her first commercial.

Catriona has a master’s certificate in Music Theory from Berklee College of Music in Boston.

After high school, at the age of 18, Gray moved from Australia to Manila to start a modeling career, paying for her plane ticket with her earnings.

“I was both scared and excited to embark on that journey. I did not have the proper tools yet but I was excited to start making small steps,” Catriona told Manila Standard in an interview in July when she revealed her extensive training for Miss Universe.“I live by my father’s word of wisdom which is, ‘The longest journey ]begins with a single step,’” she said.

Catriona’s pageant journey started in 2016 when she became Miss World Philippines and represented the country at the annual Miss World pageant. She finished in the top five of the beauty tilt that year, which was ultimately won by Puerto Rico’s Stephanie del Valle.

“The crown represented a journey… until I realized that the journey could continue and exist without it. I truly believe that God always knows what’s best and I trust in his plan and perfect timing,” Catriona said after failing to win the Miss World crown.

Before joining her first national pageant, she started her own charity project called Paraiso: The Bright Beginnings Project, which aims to raise funds for a preschool in Tondo, Manila’s Smokey Mountain. She also supports the Love Yourself PH project, which advocates HIV/AIDS awareness, and volunteers as a teacher’s assistant to the students

‘Martial law extension has factual basis’ MALACAÑANG has expressed optimism that the extension of martial law in Mindanao will stand any legal challenge before the Supreme Court, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

He said he believed the high court would dismiss the petition to be filed by several opposition lawmakers questioning the constitutionality of extending martial law in Mindanao up to December next year.

“For as long as the government can clearly show that there is factual basis for the further effectivity of martial law, I guess that petition [that will be filed] is bound to fail,” Guevarra told reporters.

“The job of the Supreme Court is to determine whether there is factual basis for the extension. I guess all the necessary facts [were]laid when the Office of the President explained this.”

Guevarra said the Palace had already laid down all the facts for the martial law extension in its request that was approved by Congress recently.

Rep. Edcel Lagman earlier revealed a plan to again question before the high court the latest martial law extension in Mindanao.

But Guevarra said the factual grounds for the declaration of martial law continued to exist in Mindanao.

“We have no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the reports of our Armed Forces on the continued existence of rebellion and the requirement of public safety in Mindanao,” Guevarra said.

“For as long as the factual basis subsists, the DOJ supports the further extension of martial law in Mindanao.”

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio echoed Guevarra, saying the plan to extend Proclamation 216 that placed Mindanao under martial law during the Marawi siege in May last year may be pursued as long as the requirements in the law were still being met.

He cited the Supreme Court’s decision in July last year that upheld the constitutionality of Duterte’s martial law declaration and the ruling in February that affirmed the one-year extension of the proclamation until end of this year.

In upholding Proclamation 216, the high court held that the requisites for the declaration of martial law were present in Mindanao, particularly the existence of a “real and present rebellion that threatens the lives of our fellow Filipinos in Mindanao, and their much-cherish liberties.”

The high court also allowed the oneyear extension of the proclamation, saying the bases for the extension still existed as proven by the evidence submitted by the Armed Forces.

The Court also ruled that it had no power to review the decision of Congress to grant Duterte’s request for the one-year extension.

The Court said it could only step in once there was an arbitrary and improvident use of power by Congress under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution, which it said was lacking in this case. Rey E. Requejo

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Aquino said he and Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero were coordinating on how to prevent the entry of illegal drugs at seaports, where the PDEA has been allowed to conduct inspections.

He said the collaboration included workshops and planning sessions on how to intercept shipments of drugs.

Rio N. Araja

PNP chief...

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Government policy prohibits any public servant from favoring candidates seeking elective posts.

Under the Department of the Interior and Local Government law, the PNP’s authority includes enforcing all laws and ordinances relative to the protection of lives and properties; maintaining peace and order and take all necessary steps to ensure public safety; investigating and preventing crimes, effecting the arrest of criminal offenders, bringing offenders to justice and assist in their prosecution; exercising the general powers to make arrest, search and seizure in accordance with the Constitution and pertinent laws; detaining an arrested person for a period not beyond what is prescribed by law, and informing the person so detained of all his rights under the Constitution.

Albayalde’s call came after he directed his commanders to go after private armed groups and syndicates serving politicians.

Albayalde also plans to reassign police officers with relatives who are politicians to dissuade them from partisan politics. With Vito Barcelo

News Angkas operators face contempt for defying Supreme Court ruling ThE operators of motorcycle ridesharing platform Angkas may be cited for contempt if they continue to operate despite a Supreme Court order to stop operations.

Thousands of motorcycle riders continued to defy the high Court’s temporary restraining order against a Mandaluyong court ruling favoring Angkas, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Monday said.

The recent ruling allows the Metro Manila Development Authority, highway Patrol Group, and all deputized traffic enforcers to apprehend Angkas drivers.

LTFRB executive director Samuel Jardin said that if a group or a party continues to defy a court order, they may be cited for contempt.

Jardin said the Office of the Solicitor General can also initiate the charges against violators.

“We should implement the law and respect the Supreme Court order,” he added.

Meanwhile, various labor groups slammed the ruling to ban Angkas as well as the proposed double big plate on public vehicles.

“Workers are both riders and commuters, thus, imposing rigid and prohibitive rules in the streets adds more burden to the working people and reinforces class discrimination in the guise of road safety and anti-crime campaign,” Partido Man-

ggagawa said in a statement.

The group said the ban on Angkas operations denies thousands of working people a faster and safer mobility in Metro Manila.

“Banning Angkas and requiring double big plates on motorcycles will neither improve traffic conditions and road safety nor contain criminal activities of organized crime groups. Only organized communities, a disciplined police force, and a modern mass transport system can solve these age old public services deficit,” the group said.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines aired the same sentiment, saying workers utilize motorcycles as the most economical and fastest mode of navigating Metro Manila traffic.

Vito Barcelo

HELD HOSTAGE OVER MISSED TRAIN. Dominador Abrillo, 38, takes a

seven-year-old boy as hostage along Anonas St. in Sta Mesa, Manila early Monday after he was refused to ride the PNR train. Abrillo was reported to be depressed and suffering from paranoia. Norman Cruz

Pump prices to remain stable despite OPEC cut

By Alena Mae S. Flores DOMESTIC pump prices will likely remain steady even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to cut back production starting January, an oil official said.

“I’m hoping a stable pricing with minimal increase or decrease of prices. No sharp movement on either direction with a more balance supply and demand situation after the announced cut of 1.5 million barrels daily,” Eastern Petroleum president Fernando Martinez said.

Eastern Petroleum and Chevron Philippines also announced a price rollback of P0.30 per liter for diesel and P0.15 per liter for gasoline effective 6 am Tuesday.

PetroGazz said it will also implement a similar price cut on Tuesday while others are expected to follow suit.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines and Seaoil Philippines were the first to announced oil price rollback of as much as P0.30 per liter effective last Saturday to reflect the movement of world oil prices in the domestic market.

Last Dec. 11, the oil companies implemented a P0.40 per liter increase for gasoline but rolled back the price of diesel and kerosene by P0.10 per liter and P0.45 per liter, respectively.

Total year-to-date adjustments for gasoline is seen at a net decrease of P0.20 per liter.

Net increase for diesel is expected to be lowered to P1.20 per liter while kerosene’s net increase will now be at P0.78 per liter.

World oil prices declined last week due to concerns of oversupply despite moves to cut production.

OPEC and its allies, including Russia, have agreed to cut production starting January by 1.2 million barrels per day.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi expects world oil prices to maintain at its current range of $50 to $60 per barrel by next year although he said any volatilities in the world market will have impact on prices.

tuesday, december 18, 2018

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DOTr: Report jeepney drivers who violate P1 fare rollback

By Vito Barcelo

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hE Department of Transportation has urged the riding public to report jeepney drivers who will continue to charge a minimum fare of P10 even after the provisional P1 rollback ordered by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

“Because of the continuous rollback in the price of fuel, Secretary Arthur Tugade directed us to implement a motu propio fare decrease. We will implement that, and no fee shall be charged for a new fare matrix,” LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III said.

The motu proprio rollback covers the first four kilometers of jeepney routes for the National Capital Region and Regions 3 and 4.

The transportation department reported mounting complaints from commuters that jeepney drivers con-

tinue to charge P10 fare even after the LTFRB ordered the rollback of the minimum fare to P9 as prices of oil products stabilized.

The LTFRB encouraged the public to report abusive jeepney drivers by texting their vehicle plate numbers.

Overcharging drivers and operators may be fined P5,000 on the first offense, and P10,000 to P15,000 for succeeding offenses. Their licenses may also be revoked.

Petitions to raise minimum fares for UV Express, jeepneys, and city and provincial buses are still pending before the agency, said LTFRB member Aileen Lizada.

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Opinion

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

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Hatred of the Church TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO MINIONS of President Rodrigo Duterte are trying to contain the damage done by the Presidential Management Staff’s attempt to make bishops and priests leave the Balangiga town plaza during the ceremonial turnover of the historic bells in Eastern Samar.

This was the aftermath of a Facebook post made Saturday afternoon by the Diocese of Borongan Crispin Vasquez. He said that the archbishop of the military ordinoriate of the United States and the Apostolic Nuncio were “told to go out” of the plaza.

The post also said that the President wanted just his friend, Archbishop of Davao Romulo Valles, to be in the area.

Some priests were even supposedly asked to take off their Roman collars so they would not offend Duterte, who had criticized Catholic priests and bishops in his previous remarks.

To add insult to injury, seats were placed in front of priests’ seats “to cover them.”

Obviously, the President’s staff were out to prevent the President from seeing his critics in front of him. Except Valles, that is.

The post, however, was been denied

by Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

Which is the truth? I would rather believe the post of the Borongan bishop.

But I can’t blame Andanar, either. It is his duty to lie for the President.

This incident leads us to question why President Duterte hates the Catholic Church so much. I can’t believe this is all because of the clergy’s criticism of his bloody war on drugs, Duterte has shown his disdain for the Church from the start. Recall he even cursed Pope Francis for causing traffic during his visit here. He called the Church the most hypocritical institution.

He later enumerated instances of corruption and sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

We return to the question—why?

In my 70 years as a journalist, I have never seen a president hating the Church so much. The late Jaime Cardinal Sin was the foremost critic of strongman Ferdinand Marcos, but even Marcos did not carry so much hatred.

Despite this, I am not ready to judge President Duterte. Only God can do that.

All I am saying is that the faith of millions of Catholics has not at all diminished. It’s the President’s credibility that is being diminished.

••• I am not an alarmist, but the P20billion project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to install

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

12,000 closed circuit television cameras in Metro Manila and Davao City by China Telecom should be looked into. China Telecom is owned by the Chinese government.

The agreement has reportedly been reached between DILG Secretary Eduardo Año and China Telecom during the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The funding would come from the controversial 2019 budget.

Senate President Protempore Ralph Recto has in fact filed a resolution to investigate the project which was among the 29 deals agreed upon during Xi’s visit.

Recto has raised the fear that the surveillance project could become a national security issue. He also said that this would cause the Chinese to gain access to Philippine National Police big data—and Filipinos will be paying for it.

Why is President Duterte so hostile to the Catholic clergy?

The administration needs to be transparent about other big-ticket projects it has entered into with China. Most Chinese firms are state-owned.

••• I congratulate Makati Mayor Abby Binay for the unveiling of the scale model of the Makati subway and its ceremonial drilling. This signaled the start of the work on the project. Abby’s father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also running for Congress, was present to show support for his daughter.

As I said before, this subway project may well be Mayor Abby’s legacy. It will be the first of its kind in the metro.

Once completed, the system will serve up to 27,000 passengers per hour per direction. The system also promises an interval of three to six minutes between trains.

A small group of city councilors tried their best to derail the project, but they failed.

Now these councilors are trying to hold hostage the plan of Mayor Abby to provide more benefits to senior citizens.

••• Warning: I am told that people around Regions 1, 2, and 3 and millions from Metro Manila seem to be going to Baguio City so much that it takes twice the time to get there, with Kennon Road closed.

They also say the road going to the city proper has become a big parking lot.

I will happily stay in Metro Manila during this holiday season.

Enablers

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HE various agencies of the United Nations enjoy great credibility. They are seen as both the authority and last resort on socioeconomic ills plaguing not a single country but many countries of the world.

One of these agencies is UNAIDS, tasked with fighting HIV and AIDS. But UNAIDS is facing another organizational battle, one that has been confirmed and condemned by an independent probe last week, which said it suffered from a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power.

As a result of the damning report, executive director Michel Sidibe said he would step down in June, six months before his term ends, “for an orderly transition of leadership.”

“The executive director of the UNAIDS secretariat has created a patriarchal culture tolerating harassment and abuse of authority and in his interviews with the

panel he accepted no responsibility for actions and effects of decisions and practices creating the conditions that led to this review,” the report said.

One employee, Martina Brostrom, narrated to CNN how she was assaulted by an assistant general, Luis Lourez, during a conference in Bangkok—and how Sidibe offered to give her a promotion if she dropped her claim. Two other women described similar encounters.

These developments show us that not even the most credible institutions are immune to individuals who misbehave and who act with impunity, and to cultures that tolerate and even enable such behavior. Women

who fall victims to men who use their power to get what they want should be encouraged and emboldened to name their attackers. Equally important as getting them to speak out, however, is ensuring that something is done to see the cases through to their just conclusion.

This includes institutionalizing systems for redress and breaking old-boys’ cultures that frustrate the complaints even before they are made.

Institutional leaders, whether they are in government, business, or civil society, play a great role in ending the age-old ills of harassment, discrimination, bullying and abuse. If a leader is first to joke about women, make light of a serious situation, or even pretend as though nothing is happening, then the organization is doomed, the toxic culture will prevail, and victims will have no choice but suffer in silence.

amounting to more than P81 million was mere circumstantial evidence which was not conclusive. The Court did not rule out the possibilities that these pieces of cir-

showed Revilla’s involvement in the crime particularly his endorsement of Napoles’ NGOs; 3. The thrust given to the confirmation letter purportedly given by Revilla to COA Assistant Commissioner to debunk the authenticity of his signatures in the questioned documents; 4. The authorization given by Revilla to Cambe to extend his participation to project implementation.

All circumstances, according to the dissent, were enough to convict. While, to the dissent, the testimonies of Luy and other witnesses taken separately may not establish the authority given by Revilla to Cambe, if however taken as a whole it proves the scheme that Revilla was to receive 50-percent share of the PDAF allocation. It is virtually impossible to find a direct evidence on such authorization.

The pork barrel scam would have remained undetected and could have bled

the national coffers dry for years had it not been for the whistleblowers.

Moreover, the AMLC Report, which was disparaged by the majority opinion as not being conclusive, is irrefutable proof of the burgeoning wealth of the accused.

As a whole, the unexplained wealth of Revilla is one glaring fact to gloss over. Why should it not be doubted that the various sums deposited to the account of Revilla came from Napoles? Was it not Napoles who caused the recording of these kickbacks in her ledger? All told, the majority, in the opinion of the dissent, took the cudgels for the accused when the latter did not even lift a finger to refute certain issues raised during the trial.

There are other graft and corruption cases against Senator Revilla. We will see they will be resolved. Suffice it to say that with this latest Sandiganbayan decision, our judicial system has been put to the test.

www.emiljurado.weebly.com

Philippine judicial system on trial AFTER four years of trial, the Sandiganbayan, First Division, rendered the much awaited decision acquitting former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla of the crime of plunder. The court said the prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that he received, directly or indirectly, rebates, commissions and kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistant Fund or PDAF. However, Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the PDAF scam, and the senator’s staff, lawyer Richard Cambe, were found guilty as charged and sentenced to reclusion perpetua.

The prosecution conspiracy theory revolves around the allegation that Senator Revilla was allotted a large amount of PDAF. Although he had no direct access to this money, he could trigger its release from the Department of Budget and Management. According to the prosecution, these amounts did not redound to the benefit of the people but instead went to line the pockets of a few, including the accused.

The prosecution evidence reposed their full faith in the testimonies of witnesses Luy, Sunas, Sula and Baltazar who admittedly were also part of the scheme and would have been charged together with the accused had they not been admitted to the Witness Protection Program. Star witness Benhur Luy said he never personally transacted with Revilla, but claimed he was sure that the millions-of-pesos’ worth of kickbacks he handed over to Cambe still

made their way to the senator. Prosecutors also obtained from the Commission on Audit (COA) a letter signed by Revilla confirming an earlier letter to auditors that the projects from his pork barrel were to be implemented by the Napoles NGOs. During the bail hearings, Desiderio Pagui, a handwriting expert examined the documents in open court and concluded that the signatures were forged.

The main decision, penned by Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, devoted a lengthy discussion on why the opinion of the handwriting witness must stand.

While Cambe’s participation in the PDAF scam was clear, that he carried out this task for and in the name of Revilla was not sufficiently established, according to the ponente. There was no evidence adduced that Revilla designated Cambe to represent him in the transactions. The fact that Cambe was under the senator’s employ for a long time was not sufficient evidence that he could represent him on the matter, the opinion added. In fact, the prosecution witnesses positively identified Cambe who transacted business with them and Napoles. However, there is no doubt, according to the opinion, that the prosecution failed to produce a single evidence that directly shows that Revilla received rebate, commission or kickback from the pork barrel scam. The circumstantial evidence presented was not enough to establish his guilt.

The graft court gave credence to the assertion by Revilla that his signatures as appearing in the questioned documents were forgeries which assertion was supported by a handwriting expert. To the graft Court, even the AMLC Report stating that in a span of four (4) years Revilla and his family made bank transactions

This is what the decision on the Revilla case tells us. cumstantial evidence could possibly exculpate the accused.

Justices Gomez-Escueta and De la Cruz registered their strong dissent to the majority opinion. The dissenters were primarily focused on 1. Credibility of the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, specifically that of Luy; 2. The strong links which

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Opinion Christmas travel FORMATION GARY OLIVAR LOS ANGELES—My wife and I are holed up in my brother-in-law’s place in Harbor City, an LA suburb that seems farther away from the international airport than I’d remembered. Ageing does have a way of telescoping one’s memories.

The trip over on a foreign airline wasn’t bad. But after what seemed to me an unusually rough plane takeoff from our layover at the Taipei airport, I promised my wife that we’d become PAL regulars again, for reasons that might be obvious to my readers: Seatmates you can schmooze with.

Attendants with the unique “Filipina touch”. Comfort food even in the skies.

And importantly, the peerlessly pacific air currents above our islands to which I’ve become accustomed, after nearly two years of flying around the country to speak and train on federalism.

Tomorrow we’re taking a local discount airline on our final leg to Philadelphia. I don’t look forward to the brusqueness of the experience, although it’s a small price to pay for American efficiency. And after all, the very first long-distance Christmas trip by a Family of note wasn’t that comfortable either: cold winter, rough transport, and overbooked accommodations that forced the Family elsewhere, into an animal stable.

Like them, this trip for me is also about a special child: the baptism of my very first apo, who to my delight will carry the same name as my father, brother, and son. As age advances, I don’t expect to be taking such long trips again, but this one promises to be memorable. Expect endless selfies! *** The recent repatriation of the bells of Balangiga from their exile in Montana provoked some spirited discussion about who should take the credit for it.

Oldtimers reminded everyone that the process was started by FVR. Duterte diehards wanted to heap all the credit on him. But the current President has set a gracious example by saying that

ward himself before that country went capitalist. That’s the communist leader Jose Maria Sison, whose factota see absolutely nothing illogical about branding Duterte a puppet of both the Americans and the Chinese.

But there’s more. Responding to Duterte’s executive order promoting localized peace talks, after the failure of national-level negotiations, Sison proclaimed that the EO “seeks to weaponize the civil bureaucracy for the military suppression of the revolutionary movement of the people.”

His double talk is remarkable. After all, any government is certainly entitled to defend itself any way it can against its sworn enemies. And any people’s movement that really enjoys the kind of popular support Sison claims should be ecstatic over the prospect of firearms being put in the hands of the people, among whom— to use their own picturesque language—they should be able to move about as easily as fish in the sea.

The likelier reason behind Sison’s intransigence—despite his interminable Have a Blessed protestations of peaceable intentions— Christmas, wherever you must be a well-founded fear of how efmay be in this season of fective localized peace talks might become. our Lord.

Reelectionist Davao city mayor Inday Sara set the tone by reaching out to her own homegrown guerrillas. Here’s Americans’ own hedging of late when- a toast to her and to other local governever they’re asked if their commitment ment executives in conflict areas who would extend to the atolls and islets can now do the deals they need to do for the sake of peace. we’re disputing with China.

Clearly, our aspirational Chinese *** friends are facing an uphill climb.

What better way to wind up this colThey’ll have a hard time wooing us with trade, aid and investment when, umn from abroad than to share what at the same time, they’re flouting inter- must now be the public joy back home national rulings in our favor, building over the proclamation of another Filipimilitary runways only miles away from na, Ms. Catriona Gray, as the next Miss our contiguous territory, and occasion- Universe?

I read about it online just now, but the ally harassing our sea-bound country(delayed) telecast of the pageant is still men.

Do they really want to win our hearts going on. Time for me to take a break and minds when they’re so obviously from writing and relish this high note dismissive of our own role in the world? on which the year will end for my counOne has got to be given up for the other. trymen. To all of them, to all of you: Wanting to have your cake and eat it too Have a Blessed Christmas, wherever you may be in this season of our Lord. isn’t a philosophy that endears. *** Readers can write me at Another guy with the same philosophy about cakes used to be a Chinese gbolivar1952@yahoo.com. this victory really belongs to everybody.

The return of the bells marks the latest high point in the Philippines’ most important trans-Pacific partnership.

Regardless of all the sound reasons why we should be diversifying our alliances, it’s in the hearts of the Filipino people that Americans can find their biggest asset in this relationship.

In an SWS survey, two-thirds of respondents said they believed that the United States would come to our aid if we were invaded by another country (no names mentioned, of course). Only one-third disagreed, and less than 10 percent had no opinion.

Tellingly, this trust in the U.S. was stronger among respondents who claimed to be familiar with the details of the West Philippine Sea maritime dispute. This, despite the processual hedges built into the US-Philippine mutual defense agreement, as well as the

ABOUT TOWN ERNESTO M. HILARIO IN EARLY 2016, when he was still mayor of Davao City in southern Philippines, presidential bet Rodrigo Duterte promised during the campaign to end the drug menace in the country in three to six months. He won handily, with a margin of six million votes against his nearest rival. And even when he had yet to take his oath of office as president on June 30, 2016, news reports started to trickle in of drug busts by police in various parts of the country, no doubt the precursor of an impending all-out war against drug trafficking he promised during the campaign.

Since June 2016 to October 30 this year, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has reported that almost 5,000 drug suspects have been killed in legitimate operations. In every instance, the police claim that the suspects chose to fight it out rather than to surrender.

The body count, however, does not end there. A total of 23,518 homicides took place from June 1, 2016 to October 28, 2018, or an average of 33 per day.

The police classify these as “deaths under investigation”, but human rights watchdogs consider these as extrajudicial killings or summary executions apparently by vigilante groups. The PNP has yet to disclose the results of the so-called “deaths under investigation” in the past two years.

Meanwhile, jails are bursting at the seams with thousands of mainly drug users and street-level drug pushers arrested by the police in so-called “buy-bust” operations now awaiting disposition of their cases. If many Philippine jails had been severely overcrowded in the past because no new facilities have been built to accommodate criminal suspects and convicts, they are even more congested now with inmates packed like sardines, taking turns sleeping in cramped and dingy quarters.

Despite the bloody outcome of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs in the last two years, the drug problem

Can this government deliver on its promise?

Duterte himself has publicy revealed the involvement of active and retired high-ranking police officers, local officials and even a few lawmakers as protectors of the illegal drug trade. But few have been brought to justice, even as there have been sensational cases of several town mayors named in the government’s blacklist of drug coddlers killed by the police.

The most damning evidence that the problem of illegal drugs has not been solved at all and may have even grown worse after more than two years is the smuggling of a large shipment of shabu worth P6.4 billion through the Bureau of Customs last year.

This year, another P11 billion worth of the contraband also slipped past Customs, prompting the dismissal of the bureau’s top official, a former police general.

Part of the problem is that the institution tasked by Duterte to be in the frontline of anti-drug operations—the Philippine National Police—is itself tainted by the involvement of some of its officers in the illegal drug trade.

In October, the country’s top cop, Director General Oscar Albayalde, disclosed that a number of cops belonging to task forces created for the sole purpose of running after drug traffickers were themselves involved in the the illegal trade. These erring cops were later named in Duterte’s blacklist of drug trade coddlers.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Interest hikes wrong response to cost-push inflation equation but by forces on the equation’s supply side. There was no surge in demand needing to be tamped down, and there was no build-up of pressure on RUDY availabilities of the factors of production.

ROMERO Indeed, the BSP leadership repeatedly assured the Filipino people, the economy IN THE second (or third, depending on was not overheating. The comparatively the institution) semester of an economics- high employment and underemployment degree course a student is introduced rates reported by the PSA (Philippine to the world of prices, inflation and Statistics Authority) and private survey monetary-authority responses. The institutions hardly indicated overheating. teacher discusses with his students the On the other hand, the exciseimportance of price stability, the causes tax increases on fuels ordained by of price movements upward or downward TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and the appropriate remedial responses and Inflation) were clearly casting a from the national monetary authority, malevolent shadow over consumer prices which in this country is the seven- from Day One of the law’s implementation member Monetary Board, the maker of (January 1, 2018). DOF (the Department of the policies of the BSP (Bangko Sentral Finance) sought to push the blame toward ng Pilipinas). the agencies responsible for supplying The economics student is taught (1) the nation with food—particularly that upward movements of producer and rice, fish and vegetables—despite consumer prices, clear evidence of if not dealt with the inflationary sufficiently early, impact of the fuel can in time become tax increases or What is the lesson in full-blown inflation, production costs, (2) that an inflation this entire episode? electricity rates can be the result and transportation either of an upward charges. movement of costs, Though the or a cost-push inflation, or of a rise in ball manifestly was in someone else’s the demand for goods and services, or court—DOF’s—the nation’s monetary a demand-pull inflation and (3) that the authority gallantly picked it up, BSP has an array of monetary tools that insisting that the continuing rise of the it can deploy to deal with an incipient inflation rate above its 2-to-4 percent inflation. annual target was a monetary, not a It is made clear to the student that fiscal, problem. In effect, BSP was any anti-inflation strategy decided saying that the inflation was of the upon by the BSP will be successful demand-pull, not the cost-push kind. only if the monetary authority has And so it unleashed the weapon in its correctly determined the character of armory that is intended to quell producers’ the inflation. Is it an inflation of the and consumers’ spending appetites: cost-push variety, or is it a demand-pull interest rate increases. Between May and inflation? An anti-inflation strategy September, BSP raised its basic lending intended to deal with cost-push rate three times, to 175 basis points above inflation will have little or no remedial its 2009 level. What did those moves effect if the inflation that is raging is of accomplish, apart from preventing a the demand-pull variety. further widening of the yield differentials The misdiagnosis of the inflation of between Philippine and foreign money 2018 and the consequent wrong choice of placements? They made credit more anti-inflation strategy has been this year’s expensive for everyone, in the process big monetary-policy story. As the year raising costs of production, including nears its end, inflation appears to have those of goods intended for export. moderated—the November inflation rate In the meantime, the remedial measures of 6 percent contrasted with October’s 6.7 adopted by the Duterte administration percent—but credit for the improvement caused food supplies to increase. The clearly appears to belong to government resulting restabilization of food prices instrumentalities other than the BSP. validated the position that this year’s Anyone reasonably familiar with the inflation has been a cost-push affair. structure and workings of the Philippine And the lesson of the entire episode? economy should have known that this Interest rate hikes are the wrong response year’s inflation was triggered not by to an inflation rooted in cost-based forces on the demand side of the economic factors.

BUSINESS CLASS

Going after erring contractors

War without end persists.

Even a cursory glance at newspaper headlines these days would reveal that the illegal drug trade is thriving.

Police routinely arrest drug pushers in buy-bust operations, ranging from those caught selling from one or two grams of shabu worth hundreds to a few thousand pesos to those selling significant amounts of the contraband worth hundreds of thousands to millions of pesos to police assets.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

Duterte temporarily stopped the war on drugs in late 2016 after cops were tagged as main suspects in the killing of South Korean Jee Ick-joo right inside Camp Crame. More than a year after taking office, Duterte publicly admitted that his administration’s war on drugs had not achieved its target of ending the drug menace. On August 12, 2017 he said in the vernacular: “Others couldn’t do it. How much more for us? We can’t control it.”

In an op-ed commentary in the New York Times on February 7, 2017, titled “President Duterte is Repeating My Mistakes”, Cesar Gaviria, the president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, pointed out: “The polls suggest that Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs is equally popular. But he will find that it is unwinnable. We could not win the war on drugs through killing petty criminals and addicts. We started making positive impacts only when we changed tack, designating drugs as a social problem and not a military one...This means investing in solutions that meet the basic standards of basic rights and minimize unnecessary pain and suffering. Strategies that target violent criminals and undermine money laundering are critical. So, too, are measures that decriminalize drug users, support alternative sentencing for lowlevel nonviolent offenders and provide a range of treatment options for drug abusers...There is no doubt that tough penalties are necessary to deter organized crime. But extrajudicial killings and vigilantism are the wrong ways to go...The fight against drugs has to be balanced so that it does not infringe on the rights and well-being of citizens,” Gaviria said.

I wasn’t too long ago that Duterte admitted that the war on drugs would not be won even after he steps down in 2022. But recently, he recanted this statement and said the country would be drug-free by the time he leaves office three and a half years from now.

Can his government deliver on that promise? We really doubt it, considering that the drug menace is still prevalent after more than two years of a bloody war on drugs. ernhil@yahoo.com

POINT OF IMPACT ERWIN TULFO I’M QUITE certain that President Duterte will get to the bottom of the controversy over the continued irregularities in government agencies that award projects to favored contractors.

The uproar was set off by the explosive privilege speech of House Majority leader Rolando Andaya Jr., taking to task Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for multi-billion peso “insertions” surreptitiously earmarked for infrastructure projects.

Although Andaya, a former budget secretary under Gloria Arroyo, must know what he is talking about, not quite a few congressmen themselves have figured in pork barrel scams.

It’s also important to note that the House of Representatives had passed the P3.757-trillion national budget bill before Andaya dropped the bomb.

It’s been a long and common practice in the past administrations, particularly those involved in infrastructure program, to favor a few contractors in awarding plum and juicy projects in exchange for hefty commission, kickbacks or “tongpats” for signatory officials and politician backers, as well.

The same circumstances surround the case of CT Leoncio Construction and Trading Company from Sta. Maria, Bulacan, a little-known contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) that cornered at least 30 public works projects worth over P2 billion from the proposed 2019 national budget yet to be concurred in by the Senate.

Old hands at the DPWH attest that a few favored contractors are “personal choices” of the department heads or their chokaran lawmakers. Weeks or even months before the actual bidding schedule, the conspirators submit to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) the name of their preferred contractor who eventually wins in the bidding of contract.

My source added that the real criteria in choosing the contractor is simply its capability to pay advance commissions or kickbacks to the said officials even before any bidding is held, worse even when the funds have yet to be approved.

Unlike ordinary contractors, these “favored ones” can afford to shell out 10 to 20 percent commission or even more, depending on how many agency

officials down the line will be bribed, aside from the padrino lawmaker who gets the biggest piece of pie.

Miss “Virgie,” a small-time contractor, went to my office last week to divulge that a DPWH district official in Compostela Valley province had flatly barred her from joining the bidding for the P30-million repair and rehabilitation of a bridge and a P15 million flood control project in the said province last December 10.

She was also denied purchasing bidding documents, a requirement before one can join a government bidding program.

Asked why she could not join in the bidding, the DPWH official claimed, “Si congresswoman at si cong ang nagpapondo niyan at mayroon na silang nirefer na contractor sa amin. Hindi po natin pwedeng pakialaman yan.”

On a phone-patch interview over at Radyo Pilipinas the following day, the said DPWH district engineer denied the allegation, saying the contractor did not talk nor see her in her office during that time. But the contractor, who was on the other end of the line retorted, “Ang galing ninyong magsinungaling dyan!”

Days after the bidding, a certain company bagged two juicy projects.

My source said the winning bidder is personally close to two lawmakers.

This company has always allegedly bagged the projects endorsed by the said House reps’ pork barrel funds.

And is it true that the same scheme goes on over at the National Irrigation Administration under the administration of retired General Rolando Visaya?

My source said that a certain firm appears to be the favorite contractor of NIA these days, cornering over P1 billion projects for the repair, rehabilitation, and construction of irrigation systems in the Panay Islands.

My efforts to reach Administrator Visaya last Friday for comment proved futile as he is always out of his office reportedly doing inspections on “some projects” in the countryside.

Continuing corrupt practices, like these leakages, commissions, kickbacks, or “tongpats” in public works projects, are what beset the President’s program for genuine change.

Andaya pointed out that DPWH Secretary Villar, as well as President Duterte, have nothing to do with the pork barrel insertions for these anomalous deals.

Just like the war versus crime and illegal drugs, I believe that Manong Digong’s war on corruption will be “relentless and chilling,” as well.

In the meantime, let’s wait and see.

News

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NLEX gears up for heavy holiday traffic

Remove funds for DILG-China surveillance project—JV

By Darwin G. Amojelar and Vito Barcelo NLEX Corp. said it is ready for the Christmas and New Year holidays as it expects a 10 percent surge in vehicle traffic volume at North Luzon Expressway and SubicClark Tarlac Expressway.

With the peak travel season expected to start by the third week of December 2018, NLEX-SCTEX traffic personnel will render extended working hours beginning Dec. 14 for intensified operations.

The company said they will be prepared to assist motorists and closely monitor traffic conditions in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, Bocaue, Luisita, Tarlac, and Tipo toll plazas as well as at the SCTEX Mabalacat ramps and NLEX-SCTEX fuel stations.

During the peak hours of Dec.14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29, the Balintawak Toll Plaza will open a maximum of 28 toll collection points while Mindanao Avenue and Tarlac toll plazas will have a maximum of 10 and 28 toll collection points, respectively to better accommodate motorists going to the provinces in the north.

The Bocaue Toll Plaza will open 44 toll collection points during the same period.

Portabooths and portable toll collection handheld units will be used to lessen motorist waiting time at the toll plazas.

On Dec. 25, 26, and 27, the Bocaue Toll Plaza will open about 50 to 60 toll collection points to serve motorists bound for Metro Manila. The setup will be the same on Jan. 1 and 2, 2019.

The entry lanes of Tarlac Toll Plaza will also be increased to 5 instead of the usual 3 to facilitate faster transactions during traffic surges. Toll tellers at the said plaza will also be ready to issue pre-encoded transit tickets to southbound motorists.

The additional toll lanes at Angeles (2), Mexico (1), San Fernando southbound entry (1) and San Fernando southbound exit (2) will also be operational in time for the holidays.

Free towing services to the nearest exit will be available for Class 1 vehicles from 6:00 a.m. of Dec. 22 to 11:59 p.m. of Dec. 23 and from 6:00 a.m. of Jan. 1 to 11:59 p.m. of Jan. 2.

The tollway company will also set up counterflow lanes in strategic areas to ensure smooth traffic flow in case of untoward incidents.

Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority advised passengers to be at the airports at least three hours before their scheduled flight due to the sudden surge of departing and arriving passengers this holiday season.

The MIAA reported an increase of 10 percent of passenger volume this December at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals 1,2 and 3.

BI rescues eight trafficking victims at NAIA

By Vito Barcelo IMMIGRATION authorities intercepted eight suspected human trafficking victims who tried to leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport posing as tourists.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the passengers were intercepted at the NAIA terminal 3 before they could board their Emirates Airways flight to Dubai en route to their final destination in northern Cyprus.

Medina said the passengers, who included six men and two women, all admitted during questioning that their actual purpose in going abroad is to work without proper documentation. Their names were not divulged as forbidden in antitrafficking laws.

“Six of them were allegedly hired as cleaners in a restaurant while one of them was recruited as a cook,” he said.

Medina said that the trafficking attempt was foiled when one of the female victims was referred for secondary inspection to the Travel Control and Enforcement Unit by the Immigration officer who doubted her purpose of travel.

The passenger initially claimed said she and her companions were traveling to Cyprus for a vacation, but her answers to questions during the interview were inconsistent.

“When she was interviewed, she admitted that she is traveling to Cyprus to work, and she voluntarily showed a message exchange between her and her recruiter discussing the amount that each of them would pay the syndicate for processing and facilitating their illegal travel to Cyprus,” Medina said.

The passenger likewise confessed that they only met each other at a house in Manila where they were briefed before going to the airport. All eight were later intercepted upon interview byImmigration.

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

GUN RUNNERS. NCRPO Chief Guillermo Eleazar (left), together with PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde, inspect the seized firearms and ammunitions from big-time gun runner Edgardo Medel and Rose Marie Medel at Camp Crame. According to the PNP, the two regularly supplies high-powered firearms and heavy ammunitions to the Maute group, the Abu Sayyaf and rogue politicians. Manny Palmero

Samar congresswoman suspended for 90 days

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE office of House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was asked by the Sandiganbayan to enforce the 90-day preventive suspension of Samar Rep. Milagrosa Tan owing to the latter's alleged anomalous purchase of medicines.

This came after the anti-graft court's First Division, in a resolution dated Nov. 23, issued the suspension order against Tan, which was intended to prevent her from tampering with the evidence and influencing the witnesses pending the trial of her case.

The anti-graft court asked the office of Speaker Arroyo, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año to implement the suspension order since it was “immediately executory.”

“Indeed, it is mandatory for the court to immediately issue the suspension order upon a proper determination of the validity of the information. Section 13 unequivocally mandates the suspension of a public official from office pending a criminal prosecution.

The Sandiganbayan also suspended the provincial treasurer, Bienvenido Sabanecio Jr., the officer-in-charge of the provincial general service office, Arial Yboa, and the supply

officer, George Abrina, for the same period.

While still a Samar governor, Tan allegedly “willfully, unlawfully, and criminally” purchased various drugs, medicines, and dental supplies from Zybermed Medi Pharma owned by private respondent Roselyn Larce between March 28 and Aug. 21, 2007.

The Ombudsman claimed that Zybermed, a Pasig City-based business, was not licensed to operate in Catbalogan City.

The Commission on Audit, on the other hand, ruled that the purchase from Zybermed was “unnecessary and non-responsive to the exigencies of the service.”

While she pleaded not guilty to the charges, Tan said she should not be suspended because she is no longer the governor of Samar and, thus has no capability to influence potential witnesses nor affect relevant documents to the case.

Similarly, Tan said the prosecution only has to prove the necessity for the purchase

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año

of medicine and dental supplies despite an absence of witnesses.

But the Sandiganbayan enforced the suspension order against Tan and her coaccused as mandated by Section 13 of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. But it said the suspension order is not a penalty.

The division chairman, Associate Justice Efren dela Cruz, penned the resolution and Associate Justices Geraldine Faith Econg and Edgardo Caldona concurred.

Rebel surrenderees get loan under new deal IN LINE with the ongoing efforts to reintegrate former rebels and their families to mainstream society, Task Force BalikLoob and Land Bank of the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Agreement last Dec. 13 for the facilitation of loans to the former as part of the government's Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.

The signing of the MOA took place at the LBP main office in Malate, Manila, the TFBL said in a statement sent to reporters Monday.

It was signed by TFBL chairman, Defense Undersecretary Reynaldo B. Mapagu, and LBP president and chief executive officer Alex V. Buenaventura.

Under the lending program for FRs covered by the MOA, LBP may provide loans up to P100,000 to fund small and micro-enterprises, agriculture, and other means of livelihood.

FRs over the age of 21 who have no pending cases are qualified to avail of the loan program.

Those disqualified due to age or have pending cases can designate a family member, who will be listed as the borrower in their stead.

FRs can submit their loan applications to LBP lending units across the country, including proof of identification and certification from the Joint AFP-PNP Intelligence Committee.

Aside from processing, evaluating, and approving the loan applications of FRs based on their eligibility and lending parameters, LBP will also conduct loan counseling and financial literacy seminars to former rebels prior to release of their loans.

Mapagu, in his speech, thanked the Land Bank of the Philippines for supporting the government’s reintegration programs under the E-CLIP. PNA

GUN FOR HIRE. Officials of the National Bureau of Investigation presents Ricardo Linsangan Peralta who is suspected as a notorious gun-for-hire group leader. NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin said Peralta was arrested at a resort in Upper Biyaan, Barangay Balon Anito in Mariveles, Bataan. There are also reports that the suspect is involved in a multiple murders, kidnap for ransom, carnapping and attempted homicide. Norman Cruz

DUE to security concerns, Senator JV Ejercito said it is likely that the Senate would remove the funding for the P20billion surveillance and monitoring project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government with a Chinese firm.

Ejercito, finance committee vice chairman and defending the DILG budget, warned this would happen if concerned government agencies will fail to satisfactorily justify the project.

“Some senators will introduce amendments. If not satisfied with documents and information submitted, there’s a big chance that it will be taken out because of national security issues,” he said.

The DILG, together with China International Telecommunication Construction Corp., an affiliate of China Telecom, will implement the surveillance and monitoring project.

Upon the request of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Finance committee chairman Loren Legarda, asked the National Economic and Development Authority to submit documents pertinent to the Safe Philippines project which aims to install 12,000 closed circuit television cameras in Metro Manila and Davao City.

During the budget deliberations, Recto said the contract was signed by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año and the chairman of China Telecom, a partner of Mislatel which could be the country’s third telco.

He raised alarm over the project as, according to his sources, the equipment to be used would be provided by Huawei, which appears to be banned in many countries due to hacking allegations.

“Would there not be a security threat if we allow China Telecom to be part of a surveillance system of the DILG and the PNP?” he added.

“Here we are, discussing the possibility of giving China Telecom third telcom status. They will be part of the Safe Philippines with Huawei. They are blacklisted in many countries at least as supplier,” he said.

In a press statement Thursday, the DILG said the Safe Philippines emergency response and monitoring system is not primarily for surveillance but an integrated system to improve police response time as well as to deter and reduce crime.

Año said the project will level up the 911 emergency system of the DILGPNP and will be used to improve public safety, evidence collection in the event of criminal activities, incident prevention measures for disaster-related mitigation and response, and police and fire emergency response in addressing traffic and criminal incidents.

‘Use recycled wastes for Xmas decors’ SENATOR Cynthia Villar said on Monday that the use of recycled materials even in Christmas lanterns is great opportunity to promote environmental protection.

Villar’s hometown, Las Piñas City, has been touted as the best in recycling wastes—from kitchen wastes to garden wastes to organic wastes, which are then being given for free to farmers and urban gardeners.

She said that through the Villar SIPAG, plastic wastes are also turned into sturdy and durable school chairs, which are also being distributed for free to schools in Las Piñas and other parts of the country.

Aside from contributing to a healthy environment through the removal of wastes, they also help the government address the concerns of public schools on the lack of school chairs.

She added that water lilies, which once clogged the Las Piñas-Zapote River and waterways, had been turned into handicrafts, and coconut husks into coconet and charcoal.

“We are the best in recycling wastes,” said Villar during the city’s 13th Las Piñas Parol Festival which showcased the craftmanship of the city’s residents in making colorful lanterns from recycled and indigenous materials. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Couple selling arms, ammos to terror groups nabbed

By Francisco Tuyay A COUPLE allegedly supplying ammunitions and firearms to terrorist groups and private armed groups in Mindanao were arrested in Nueva Ecija on Sunday.

The police said the war materiel worth millions of pesos seized from the couple’s possession may have come from a government arsenal.

The cache of ammunitions consisting of 12,893 rounds for M-60 machine gun and armalite assault rifle and two highpowered firearms were intercepted by operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office from a Nueva Ecija based

couple at 6 pm on Sunday.

NCRPO director Guillermo Eleazar identified the alleged illegal arms dealer as Edgardo and Rosemarie Medel, residents of Landville Subdivision, Barangay Pambuan, Gapan, Nueva Ecija.

The ammunitions were placed inside a wooden box with an Armed Forces of the Philippines markings. Investigators suspect that the war materiels came from a government arsenal.

The seizure of cache of ammunitions, prompted Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to order an investigation into the matter.

“We’ll investigate how these ammo

ended up in the wrong hands,” he said.

The operation was made after NCRPO operatives acted on reports from their colleagues in Mindanao that arms supplies are being provided by the Medel couple who had also figured in previous arms transactions in Mindanao.

Prior to the seizure, operatives conducted a test buy of ammunition from Medel, who told undercover security officials that they can supply as many as 10 rifles.

The NCRPO operatives then initiated a buybust operations, sending undercover agents to purchase the weapons and ammunitions worth P1.2 million.

Sports Milliam resumes PPS tennis hunt in Naga, Cebu ALEXA Milliam seeks to cap a strong finish in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala age-group tennis season as she shoots for another threetitle romp in the PPS-PEPP Naga national age-group Manila tennis tournament starting Standard today (Tuesday, Dec. 17) at the Naga TODAY Tennis Courts in Naga, Cebu.

Milliam racked up a whopping 12-title haul in a four-week span the last two months, dominating the Dumaguete, Argao, Cebu and Negros Occidental stops of the circuit presented by Dunlop and put up by the country’s leading remittance center.

But while she looks to reign in her age division anew, the 14-year-old ace from Pontevedra, Negros, Occidental braces for a tough outing in the 16- and 18-andunder sections with Bliss Bayking, Rose Bahonsua and Bless Coderos out to stop her run in both categories.

Vinz Alforque and Sai Lago, on the other hand, are tipped to slug it out for top honors in the boys’ premier side with Emmanuel Carmona and Jayford Canono also out to fuel their respective title drives in the Group 2 tournament closing out the 2018 season of the annual circuit sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilsoin, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg. “Milliam will be as much as tested as the rest of the bidders, especially in the upper divisions. And we expect her to raise the level of her game to achieve another three-title haul,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Alforque and Lago also head the cast in the 16-U side which also drew Hans Cabellon, Nico Gampal and Ian Lim, while Lago, Cabellon and Lim are the top picks in the 14-U division that includes Gio Manito and Chad Cuizon.

Meanwhile, spicing up the fiveday event is the Legends competition featuring the men’s doubles 40s, 50s and 60s while another Legends men’s doubles 40s, 50s and 60s tilt will be played in Cabanatuan City on Dec. 28-30. For details, call PPS-PEPP Sports Program Development director Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

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sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

PG wrestlers shine in Singapore G

RAPPLERS Jhonny Morte and Alvin Lobreguito capped the year with a lot of promise that the Philippine Go For Gold wrestling team should capitalize on in preparation for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Lobreguito, a bronze medalist in the Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games last year, proved superior over Zhe-Xiu Liu of Chinese Taipei in the finals of the 57-kilogram men’s freestyle to pocket a gold medal recently in the prestigious Jagsport Wrestling Championships in Singapore.

Another gold-medal bet in the SEA Games, Morte topped the 65kg category of the same event at the expense of fellow Go For Gold grappler Jonathan Maquilan in a thrilling all-Filipino finale.

After Maquilan settled for the silver, twotime SEAG gold medalist Margarito Angana Jr. pulled off a similar ending after dropping his match against Eko Roni Saputra of Indonesia in the 61kg championship round. ``This is a good result for the wrestling team and I believe with continued support, they can bring us gold medals in the coming SEA Games,’’ said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go. Also bagging a silver medal in the men’s freestyle was Royce Madison King Tiu, who enjoyed a dominant position in the early stages of their 86kg finale before Brian Siano of the United States made great strides in turning his fate around to capture the gold.

to do in our buildup for the Games,’’ said Go For Gold project director Ednalyn Hualda.

Go For Gold is also supporting the SEAG preparation of the national teams in triathlon, sepak takraw, cycling, dragonboat and skate-

FEU booters edge Tigers

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Members of the Go For Gold Wrestling Team flash the no. 1 sign.

Overall, the Filipino grapplers brought home two golds and three silvers aside from two bronzes courtesy of Ronil Tubog (61kg) and promising junior wrestler Cadel Evance Hualda (80kg). ``It’s too early to tell if we are ready for the SEA Games. The team needs more international exposure, which we are planning

boarding, among others. ``We have already identified the athletes whom we should focus on for them to deliver a gold medal,’’ said Hualda.

Next year’s SEA Games will be hosted by the Philippines in Clark, Subic and venues within Metro Manila on Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

KART Talaroc struck in the 82nd minute as titleholder Far Eastern University edged University of Santo Tomas, 2-1, to finish its first-round campaign on top Sunday in the UAAP Season 81 juniors’ football tournament at the FEU-Diliman pitch.

The Tiger Cubs opened the scoring with Denzel Frank Celebrado in the 16th minute before the Baby Tamaraws leveled behind Josh Abundio’s 53rd minute goal.

With 10 points, FEU-Diliman is two clear off National University, which fashioned out a 2-0 win over De La Salle-Zobel.

Kier Napolitano and Daniel Sijub scored second half goals for the Bulldogs, who moved to second spot.

NU is one point ahead of idle Ateneo, which fell to third place.

UST remained in fourth with three points, while La Salle-Zobel is still without a point to show.

After the annual Christmas break, second round starts on Jan. 6.

National University blows out University of Luzon by 90 points NATIONAL University showed its might with a 90-point demolition of University of Luzon, while comebacking Xavier School eliminated reigning NCAA titlist Mapua University in the Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship ‘Rain or Shine Cup’ Sunday at the SGS gym in Quezon City.

Flashing the form that enabled them to stun the reigning UAAP titlist Ateneo Eaglets,78-62, in a tense duel that lasted almost three hours due to many technical fouls on Saturday, the Bullpups overpowered the Golden Doves of Dagupan City, 124-34, in Group A action.

And the Bullpups did it without Batang Gilas 6’7” center Car Tamayo, who was given a much-needed rest following his stellar performance against Ateneo’s Kai Sotto.

With the rest of the team’s stars being used sparingly, Harold Alarcon and Renzo Abiera took the opportunity to dominate and shine, scoring 22 points each in leading the Bullpups to the biggest winning margin since the event was established seven years ago by eight Fil-Chinese businessmen.

NU’s win over UL also towed Jose Rizal University to the quarterfinals. The Light Bombers downed Golden Doves, 101-68, last Saturday.

Equally ruthless were Xavier Golden Stallions, led by Miguel Tan, who handed the Red Robins their second straight loss with an 82-49 win in the event also sponsored by Poly Gloss, Freego, Dickies Underwear, Hapee Toothepaste, IronCon Builders, MEC Networks, Blackwater Sports, and Che’Lu Bar and Grill.

IronCon Builders owner Jimi Lim, Rain or Shine team manager Edison Oribiana and two-time MVP James Yap ( 6th, 7th and 8th from left) pose with players from National University and University of Luzon-Dagupan during the opening of the PSSBC-ROS Cup.

approved by the members: the Secretary of the DPWH as Chairman, and the Secretaries of Finance, Transportation, Budget and Management, and representatives of organized transport sector as members.

The Board Resolution together with a request for SARO release to concerned implementing agencies is, thereafter, sent by the Road Board to the DBM.

PRESS STATEMENT The Road Board does not control the Motor Vehicles Users’ (MVUC) Fund contrary to the allegations aired in media.

The charges are collected by the LTO upon registration of motor vehicles. The collections of the LTO are transmitted through designated banks to the Bureau of Treasury of the Department of Finance.

The Bureau of Treasury deposits the funds it receives from LTO to four (4) special trust accounts that correspond to the specific purposes for which the MVUC funds are mandated by law (RA 8794) to be used and in the proportion also as mandated by law: 80% for national road maintenance, 5% for local road maintenance, 7.5% for road safety, and 7.5 % for vehicle pollution control.

The total MVUC collection for a year are not all earmarked for spending yearly. The DBM, considering budget priorities, determines how much of the funds can be used in a year by setting an annual expenditure level. Thus, MVUC use has been limited by DBM determined annual expenditure levels to not more than Php12 Billion in the past decade - which amount is also not totally expended because of delays in DBM releases of SAROs and delays to project implementation by implementing agencies.

The DBM includes in the special provisions in the annual GAA allocation of the implementing agencies the corresponding portions of the MVUC funds which they can use for approved MVUC funded projects – 92.75 % to the DPWH which is in charge of national and local road maintenance as well as road safety projects, and 7.25% to the DOTr which is in charge of vehicle pollution projects.

So the use of funds and the specific purposes of fund use is legislated – the legislative authorization done through RA 8794 and through the annual GAA also in accordance with annual expenditure levels determined by the DBM. Requests for projects are submitted to the Road Board which, in turn, refers the projects for eligibility evaluation to the implementing agencies: to the DPWH for all local and national road maintenance and road safety projects, and the DOTr for vehicle pollution projects.

The DPWH checks for double funding and reliability or correctness of location and project costing. The DOTr does the same.

Only when the implementing agencies declare that projects are eligible and favorably endorse them to the Board will these projects be submitted for action and approval by the Board. The Board approves through Board Resolutions

The DBM controls the release of funds by controlling the release of SAROs for projects approved for MVUC funding. It releases SAROs only to the implementing agencies designated by law – the DPWH and the DOTr. Procurement activities – from bidding to award of contracts to payment of project costs are done by the implementing agencies. After SAROs are released to them. Liquidation of project funds and all accountability procedures are also the obligation of the implementing agencies.

Thus, clearly - the Road Board is limited to authorizing use of funds for eligible projects evaluated and endorsed by the implementing agencies, and to the monitoring of project status, funding status and periodic report preparations. It cannot propose or undertake projects on its own. Without requests which should be verified and compliant with requirements, the Board does not act or authorize any use of funds.

If there are corrupt activities, the most vulnerable to corruption are processes under the stewardship of implementing agencies. Since the new Board took over in September 2016, no project bidding was done by the Road Board and any contact between Road Board Secretariat personnel and contractors or project “entrepreneurs” who follow up on requested projects were banned. Those suspected of corrupt activities have been terminated. Like the PDAF, there will always be unscrupulous elements trying to influence the process. But the Board has acted with dispatch on reported incidents.

The demolition propaganda against the Road Board springs from a cultivated ignorance of the processes mandated by law for safeguarding of the MVUC funds. The new management has kept strictly within the mandates of the law and adhered to the processes required for the performance of its functions.

The responsibility over the management of the funds is, after all, a shared accountability of the DPWH, DOTr, DOF, DBM and transport representatives who constitute the leadership and membership of the Road Board.

To ensure transparency and accountability that MVUC funds are used for purposes mandated by law (RA8794), the Road Board, being composed of Department Secretaries, should be placed under the control and supervision of the Office of the President. MVUC Funds can complement the administration’s “Build, Build, Build Program” and ensure these are not waylaid by self-serving interests.

The DOJ rendered an opinion affirming that the Road Board should be under the Office of the President as mandated by the Administrative Code. Under the Code, all agencies created by law without any specific department to which they are attached are, by law, under the Office of the President. RA 8794 does not attach the Road Board to any department.

Sports

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

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

GM Gomez, De Guzman reach top 20 in Asian Chess GRANDMASTER John Paul Gomez and International Master Ricky de Guzman turned back GM Joey Antonio and FIDE Master Yoseph Theolifus Taher of Indonesia, respectively, to surge into the Top 20 after seven rounds of the 17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup) Sunday night.

The pair of wins catapulted Gomez and de Guzman into a nine-player logjam at 18th place with four points apiece, or just 1.5 points behind leaders GM Surya Ganguli of India and GM M. Amin Tabatabei of Iran.

De Guzman was clashing with IM Xu Yi of China, while Gomez versus GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in the eighth and penultimate round at press time.

The win by the 58-year-old de Guzman came a day after he drew with former women’s world champion GM Tan Zhongyi of China in this nine-round tournament sanctioned by National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Butch Pichay and bankrolled by the Phl Sports Commission and Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

Gomez, for his part, has been on a tear as he had racked up four points in the last five rounds after starting the tournament with a loss to second seed GM We Yi of China and defaulting his second round match with Filipino IM Daniel Quizon.

In the women’s division, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna downed Woman FIDE Master Allaney Jia Doroy to boost her chances of finishing in the Top 10.

Frayna, 22, has now zoomed to a five-player tie at 12th place with four points and could barge into the top 10 if she could hurdle WFM Dita Karenza, who trounced WFM Aashna Makhija of India, in the eighth round.

It was the second straight win for Frayna, the country’s first WGM eyeing to become the first Filipina to gain a men’s GM title, after she bested WFM Aay Aisyah Anisa of Indonesia the round before.

Indian IM Ruot Padmini split the point with Chinese IM Guo Qi to keep her stranglehold of the solo lead with six points.

Rizal, Salazar, Tanauan lead softball winners RIZAL opened the tournament with three straight shutout victories to pace Group B in the 2018 Cebuana LhuillierPhilippine Junior Women’s (18-under) Softball Championship at the Sto. Niño Softball Field in Marikina City, starting its campaign with a 9-0 win over the Quezon City All-Stars behind the heroics of pitcher Sathia Romero Salas, who threw three strikeouts.

Rizal then opened the busy game schedule on Sunday with a 28-0 shellacking of San Ildefonso with Mariel Sumanting pitching four strikeouts before scoring another 4-0 victory in the afternoon, led by Alex RomeroSalas, who collected eight strikeouts in a superb pitching display.

Taking the early lead in Group A, meanwhile, was Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology of Cebu, which raced to a 3-0 start after winning over Naga, 7-1, Talavera, 10-0, and Tacloban, 13-0.

Defending champion Tanauan also remained unbeaten in Group A after blanking Tacloban, 15-0, and thumping Los Banos, 10-3.

A total of 18 teams, divided into two groups, joined this weeklong tournament supported by Cebuana Lhuillier.

The top two teams in each group after the single, round-robin elimination will advance to the semifinal round.

“This is a good turnout of teams in this tournament as they come from different parts of the country and represent the best available talents in their respective places.

This will assure ASAPHIL that we will have a wider base of young players, I wish all the teams good luck,” said ASAPHIL President Jean Henri Lhuillier, a long-time supporter of softball in the Philippines.

San Miguel defeated Los Banos, 11-1, and Naga, 15-0, to also remain undefeated in Group A. In other Group B action, Pasig edged Manila, 5-4, on Saturday and outplayed Quezon City, 9-4, on Sunday to raise its clean record to 2-0.

Guard Terrence Romeo (right) then with the TNT KaTropa tries to dribble past Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok defender Jio Jalalon. PBA Media

TNT KaTropa ships Romeo to San Miguel

By Jeric Lopez

T

ERRENCE ROMEO is headed to the San Miguel Beermen.

The disgruntled spitfire was shipped by TNT KaTropa to the Beermen in exchange for Brian Heruela, David Semerad and two first round picks (2019 and 2020) in the Philippine Basketball Association yesterday.

This move came less than 24 hours after the Tropang Texters placed Romeo on the trading block after going AWOL (Absent without leave) for more than three weeks without any communication.

TNT was determined to immediately trade the three-time scoring champion, it acquired just last July from NorthPort

Batang Pier. The Tropang Texters want to start fresh minus the problems that Romeo presents.

San Miguel quickly snagged the chance as it quickly arranged a deal to land Romeo and add more firepower to its already star-studded backcourt composed of Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter.

Upon receiving the deal, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial and his crew reviewed the transaction before giving his approval.

The Beermen, in a separate transaction, also got Paul Zamar from the Blackwater Elite for two second rounders (2021 and 2022).

Those weren’t the only transactions on a busy Monday.

In yet another trade, the Elite shipped starting center Poy Erram to the NLEX

Road Warriors in exchange for rookies Paul Desiderio and Abu Tratter. The Road Warriors selected the pair fourth and seventh in the Rookie Draft last Sunday.

Romeo is a product of Far Eastern University. He won the 2011 UAAP Rookie of the Year and was a member of the UAAP Mythical Team during his junior and senior years.

He was half of FEU’s dreaded backcourt duo (beside RR Garcia).

In UAAP Season 76, he was awarded Most Valuable Player and became only the third guard to win the award following Garcia and PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos. He averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals to lead the league in points and steals while finishing third in assists.

He was selected fifth overall in the 2013 PBA draft by GlobalPort.

Belgium wins hockey World Cup title BHUBANESWAR, India—Goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch helped Belgium to their maiden field hockey World Cup title after edging out the Netherlands 3-2 in a dramatic penalty shoot out that went to sudden death on Sunday.

Belgium held their nerve until the end of four quarters— with the score level at 0-0—and then again through the penalty shootout as each team converted two of their five shots in the east Indian city of Bhubaneswar.

In sudden death Belgium’s Florent van Aubel—shooting

Belgium’s players celebrate with the World Cup trophy after defeating Netherlands in the field hockey final match at the 2018 Hockey World Cup. AFP

first—scored what turned out to be the winner, with the Dutch missing their chance to save the match at the packed stadium in the state of Odisha.

However world number three Belgium narrowly missed out on securing victory earlier in the shootout after Arthur de Sloover scored their fifth and final penalty shot—only to have it disallowed.

Replays – prompted by a Dutch request—suggested the ball had hit the foot of de Sloover before he found the back of the net.

“We have such a good team. I said it: we are going to win it.

Always tough against the Netherlands, but it is a beautiful end for us,” a delighted Vanasch said after the win.

“I was quite excited (before the shoot out) for sure. We trained really well for shoot outs... We have really good shooters as well, that’s the strength of Belgium,” added Vanasch, who was named man of the match for his excellent saves throughout the match.

Olympic silver medallists Belgium, who avenged their EuroHockey Nations Championship final loss to the Netherlands last year, became the sixth nation to lift the World Cup trophy since its inception in 1971.

Belgium’s previous best performance in the World Cup was a fifth-place finish in the last edition of the tournament in The Hague, Netherlands in 2014.

Netherlands, who missed out on what could have been a record-equalling fourth title along with Pakistan, had their chances but failed to break through a tough Belgium defence.

They had two penalty corners in the match but the Red Lions defended them successfully.

Earlier Tom Craig scored a hat-trick of goals to lead Australia’s 8-1 thrashing of England in the third-place play-off as the Kookaburras took a consolation bronze.

Blake Govers gave Australia, who lost the semifinal to the Netherlands and a chance to win three successive World Cup titles, an early lead in the eighth minute. AFP

Cablitas focuses on younger players

By Peter Atencio PROGRAMS in age group tennis will spur the development of the sport in the country in the coming years.

Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) president Antonio Cablitas said this during a five-day national training camp that was held in cooperation with the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The camp, which ran from Dec. 14 to 18 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Malate, Manila, was led Jonathan Stubbs, the newly appointed ITF Development Officer for South, Southeast and East Asia.

Stubbs, who started on his new role in January, 11 months ago, is supervising coaches in teaching the top boys and girls players in 12 to 16 years old levels from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and Metro Manila.

“This will further advance tennis development in the country. My thrust is to help the children,” said Cablitas.

The Hong Kong-based Stubbs is a high-performance coach who was appointed director of player development for the Hong Kong Tennis Association.

“In the future, they will be become the top men and women players in the country. I really would like to help in their development,” added Cablitas.

Stubbs, who was as national coach of the Brunei Tennis Association and the United Arab Emirates Tennis Association, is expected to be back again next year.

Fitness coach Jimbo Saret is also among the lecturers. He talked about conditioning in tennis while many-time Davis Cup team coach Martin Misa, shared his knowledge on planning and goal-setting.

“I would like to have a wide participation here, and it should be a continuing plan,” said Cablitas.

Petron guns for PSL crown against F2 PETRON is out to deliver the knockout blow and claim the crown when it collides with bitter rival F2 Logistics in Game 2 of their Philippine Superliga AllFilipino Conference best-of-three finals series today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Action starts at 7 p.m. with the Blaze Spikers looking to complete another historic sweep of this prestigious women’s club tourney bankrolled by Senoh, Mikasa, Asics, Mueller, Bizooku, Isuzu and UCPB Gen with Genius Sports as technical provider.

Also seeing action in this battle that also has ESPN5, Hyper HD and Aksyon TV as broadcast partners are Colegio San Agustin-

Games Today (Mall of Asia Arena)

4:15 p.m. – CSA vs La Salle-Dasmarinas 7:00 p.m. – Petron vs F2 Logistics

Binan and La Salle-Dasmarinas, who will collide at 4:15 p.m. in the Collegiate Grand Slam.

But all eyes will be on the main event.

After posting 10 straight wins in the preliminaries, the Blaze Spikers overcame Sta. Lucia in the quarterfinals and Cignal in the semifinals in convincing fashions, sparking speculations that they are on their way to sweep the conference.

The first time the Blaze Spikers swept the All-Filipino Conference

was in 2015 when superstars Dindin Manabat, Rachel Anne Daquis and Aby Marano joined forces to take the country’s most competitive volleyball league by storm.

George Pascua, now of Sta. Lucia, was the head coach while current Petron coach Shaq Delos Santos was his chief deputy.

Despite moving three sets shy of completing the golden feat, Delos Santos still insists that making history is the last thing on their minds.

“While it’s inspiring to break our own record, I always tell my players that we should not forget our main goal which is to win back-to-back (All-Filipino) title,” said Delos Reyes, who is still wary of a furious F2 Logistics fightback.

SARANGANI REVIVES TRIBAL WRESTLING. Indigenous peoples wrestle against each other in the championship round of Sbuno, the traditional tribal wrestling game in southern Mindanao, as during part of the 16th Munato Festival and 26th provincial founding day of Sarangani. The revival of the indigenous game is part of the provincial government’s Sulong Sarangani IP program aimed at reviving ancient sports and games, and bringing it back to the mainstream.

Founded in 1992, the province is home to Blaan, Tagakaolo, Tboli lumad tribes, and the Maguindanaon, Maranao and Taosug Moro groups which are noted for their rich cultural heritage and diversity.

IN BRIEF Lower WESM prices likely in December PRICES at the electricity stock market are expected to remain low this month due to decreased demand, Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. said Monday.

“The recent low spot prices provide an indication that they will continue to be low for the rest of December 2018 since lower demand levels are still expected during this time of the year,” IEMOP, operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, said in a statement.

IEMOP said WESM prices were relatively low for the past three years based on the company’s data.

The average monthly prices at the WESM started to decline in August this year compared to a year ago due to higher supply.

“Supply condition in generation OK, plus demand coming from the hotter months is slowly easing,” IEMOP president Francis Saturnino Juan said.

The average WESM rates began to decline in August to P2.661 per kWh from P3.423 per kWh in August last year.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Business

Demand for RMB from PH firms rises AMID improving economic relations between the Philippines and China, the demand for the Chinese currency RMB among Philippine companies is beginning to gain traction.

China remains one of the country’s top trading partners, and local companies that deal with China are beginning to realize the cost benefits of settling in RMB. It not only reduces costs, but also lowers foreign exchange risks.

From importers to real-estate developers to hotels, more and more businesses are hedging their costs by opening RMB accounts. Daiichi Properties Inc., whose developments have shaped the skylines of Ortigas Center and Bonifacio Global City, has seen a shift in its supply chain to China.

“As with many companies today, our materials and contractors are indirectly and directly from China. With the large amount of supplies we source from the mainland, settling in RMB has allowed us to be more efficient in our transactions,” said Daiichi Properties president Salvador Uy.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

B1

By Julito G. Rada

SM-BDO REMITTANCE TIE-UP. BDO Unibank Inc. senior vice president and head of remittance distribution Genie Gloria (center) leads the SM-BDO collaboration to reach out to millions of overseas Filipinos and and enable them to send their money to their beneficiaries in the Philippines in a safe and secure manner. Recipients can go to BDO branches inside SM malls to open a Kabayan savings account or withdraw their remittances using any ATM. With Gloria during the SM-BDO Pamaskong Handog to Filipino OFWs at SM Mall of Asia Music Hall are BDO vice president for business administration and support Rosemarie Valdez (left) and senior vice president for development Ferdinand Bacungan (right), along with Filipina OFWs. Bobby Cabrera

Cusi prefers to abolish underperforming PNOC E

By Alena Mae S. Flores

NERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi said he wants to abolish staterun Philippine National Oil Co. or consolidate it with subsidiaries, given its inability to move forward with the planned liquefied natural gas project.

“I want to abolish things that are not performing, offices that are not performing. I told Admiral [Reuben Lista] that maybe it would be better to close down PNOC if it is not performing,” Cusi, who is also the ex-official chairman of PNOC, said.

PNOC is the country’s oil and gas company whose subsidiary PNOC Exploration Corp. owns a 10-percent stake

in the Malampaya gas project. It also owns PNOC Renewables Corp. which has investments in hydro and solar projects.

“I want to consolidate them as one…

But I want to assure that it’s not going to be as simple as that,” he said.

Cusi said he also expected to receive criticisms for this plan which would have an impact on the employees of PNOC. Cusi, however, said PNOC faced constraints as it needed to get Congressional approval for its projects, including the government’s first LNG terminal project.

“It’s their budget and they do not know how to use it…I told the board that if I were you, if I were PNOC and I own PNOC as a businessman, it will just build the terminal. I will decide on that. And then I will look for partner as I go along. This is a project that is important,” he said.

PNOC has been unable to do its projects amid the lack of budget from

Congress. Cusi said he might be forced to integrate and merge PNOC EC and PNOC RC. “I said, we might as well close them because I want PNOC to be like Petronas ... That’s a GOCC [governmentowned and controlled corporation], a company that is created by law to help improve the life of people. Now, you have the money, you don’t use it, and I’m now angry. That is supposed to help people,” he said.

PNOC president Reuben Lista earlier said he wanted to bring back the glory of the company by being a world class oil and gas firm.

PNOC has been tasked to develop the country’s LNG hub in preparation for the depletion of the Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan. The company, however, has not found a prospective partner.

PNOC is also in negotiations for the sale of its banked gas or unutilized gas from the Malampaya gas field to finance its LNG project.

P60-b ecozones, IT centers await nod of Duterte ABOUT P60 billion worth of economic zones and information technology centers are awaiting approval from the Office of the President.

Industry sources said two property consultancy firms expressed concern over the delay in the proclamation of new economic zones.

The proclamation is supposed to be announced by the President.

Sources said while applications were moving, they were not meeting the expectation of investors and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

Around 17 to 22 information technology centers are waiting for the presidential proclamation. These IT centers expressed concern that the slow processing of approvals could affect the growth of the IT and BPO industry in the Philippines.

The OP, however, has a standing commitment to speed up the economic zone proclamation.

Sources said new IT center applications were mostly in Metro Manila.

“They cannot do away with Metro Manila as the prime location of most IT locators. They will have to set up their main branch in Manila and expand in the provinces as their redundant sites,” sources said.

Othel V. Campos

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

Remittances grew by 8.7% in October

PAL launches flights from Clark to Antique PHILIPPINE Airlines expanded its operations in Clark with the launch of twice weekly flights to San Jose de Buenavista in Antique from Clark International Airport.

“This new route empowers Antiqueños to fly straight to the heart of Central Luzon,” said PAL vice president for corporate communications Josen Perez de Tagle.

The new twice weekly PAL service between Clark and Antique is operated with brand-new 86-seater Bombardier Next Generation Q400 aircraft.

Through the new route, PAL hopes to promote Antique’s tourist attractions, including the Binirayan festival, scuba diving, medical hot springs at Siraan, Sibalom Natural Park, the making of muscovado sugar in Patnongon and Laua-an, Bugtong Bato Falls and many more.

The PAL Next-Generation Q400 aircraft—fitted with six Economy Plus premium seats and 80 regular Economy seats—has the quietest and most spacious cabin of its kind. Produced by Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier, the Q400 NG flies faster and more comfortably than other island-hopping airplanes, with a baggage hold big enough to accommodate surfboards. Darwin G. Amojelar

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor

CLARK-ANTIQUE FLIGHT. Clark International Airport Corp. acting president and chief executive Jaime Alberto Melo (from left), PAL Express Clark branch manager Christopher Lebumfacil, Transportation Undersecretary for aviation and airports Manuel Antonio Tamayo, PAL area manager for Metro Manila and Luzon Ma. Divinagracia Virata and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general Jim Sydiongco cut the ribbon for the inaugural flight of PAL Express between the Clark International Airport and the Evelio Javier Airport or the Antique Airport.

Kia aims to revive brand in PH, eyes sales of 10,000 units in 2019

By Othel V. Campos KIA is reviving the brand in the Philippines under Ayala Corp.’s AC Automotive Inc. with target sales of 10,000 units in 2019.

Kia Philippines president and chief operating officer Manny Aligada said the company was looking at a long-term campaign to future-proof the brand through innovation and disruptive technology.

“In 2018 to 2019, we will stabilize the brand and start expanding our existing dealer network, the one responsible for the 10,000 sales in 15 years. But we are also looking at opportunities for growth in Metro Manila, pushing to the North and to Mindanao,” he said.

The company plans to improve facili-

ties of its dealer network to align with global standards and incorporate digital capabilities in engagement in sales.

Kia currently has a stable dealership network of 37 nationwide, including 10 in Metro Manila and 27 dealers in the provinces.

The company said another ingredient for its growth recipe would be mindfully building representation with fleet accounts and customers.

Kia has nine model line-up spread in a number of segment from mini passenger cars, subcompact sedan/compact sedan, sub-compact SUV, mid-size SUV to MPVs, and cab and chassis.

However, it has yet to complete the commercial segment.

The company plans to bring in pick-

up models, vans, trucks and buses to fillup the lacking 40 percent of the commercial segment.

Aligada said Kia sales and market eroded in the last four years, although sales peaked at 10,000 units in 2015 and market share rose to 4 percent.

Market shared dipped to 0.6 percent with sales of 2,400 units in 2017.

“We expect market shares this 2018 to remain at less than 1 percent, but we’re certainly bullish in the years to come,” Aligada said.

The brand plans to bring in three model units in 2017 to help drive sales.

Kia model-line in the Philippines include the Picanto, Rio Sedan, Rio HB, Forte, Soul, Sportage, Sorento, Carnival and cab and chassis model K2500.

Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas climbed 8.7 percent in October to $2.5 billion from a year ago, the fastest growth in six months, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said Monday.

Espenilla said in a statement the top sources that contributed to the increase were the United States, Canada and Taiwan.

The figure brought total cash remittances in the first 10 months to $23.8 billion, or 3.1 percent higher than $23.1 billion registered in the same period in 2017.

“Cash remittances from both landbased [$18.7 billion] and sea-based [$5 billion] workers grew by 2.8 percent and 4.2 percent year-on-year, respectively,” Espenilla said.

“By country source, 79 percent of the total cash remittances for the first 10 months of 2018 came from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong,” Espenilla said.

Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also grew 8 percent in October to $2.8 billion from $2.6 billion a year ago, also the fastest in six months.

Personal remittances in the first 10 months hit $26.5 billion, up 2.9 percent year-on-year.

Personal remittances from landbased workers with work contracts of one year or more rose 2.8 percent to $20.3 billion, while those from seabased and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year increased 4.2 percent to $5.5 billion.

Government economic managers expect remittances to grow 3 percent, taking into consideration the pace of global economic growth. In 2017, money sent home by overseas Filipinos reached a record $28.06 billion, up 4.3 percent from $26.90 billion in 2016.

The higher cash remittances in 2017 was supported by the increase in transfers from both land-based and sea-based workers by 4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

Bangko Sentral expects FDIs to top $10b in 2018 THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday it expects a record net inflow of foreign direct investments this year and surpass the $10-billion net inflow last year.

It said FDI net inflow this year could reach $10.4 billion, higher than the actual $10 billion posted in 2017. It is also higher than the forecast of $9.2 billion made in May this year.

FDI net inflow in the first three quarters climbed 24.2 percent to $8 billion from $6.5 billion a year ago, as investors continued to consider the Philippines as one of the best places to invest in.

The BSP said in a statement that the double-digit expansion in net FDI for the period was on account of the increases registered in all FDI components.

“Investment inflows continued, buoyed by investor confidence in the Philippine economy on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and high growth prospects,” the regulator said.

Investments in debt instruments reached $5.5 billion, an increase of 19.6 percent from the $4.6 billion recorded in the comparable period in 2017.

Net equity capital investments also climbed 52.1 percent to $1.9 billion from $1.2 billion a year ago. Bulk of the equity capital placements during the period emanated from Singapore, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan and China.

These investments were channeled largely to manufacturing, financial and insurance, real estate, arts, entertainment and recreation and electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply activities.

Reinvestment of earnings amounted to $614 million during the period.

Julito G. Rada

B2

Business

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks end flat again; SMC up

T

HE stock market closed nearly flat again Monday in mixed trading, with investors waiting for a catalyst to push the benchmark index higher.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slipped 3.97 points, or 0.05 percent, to 7,520.40 on a value turnover of P5.9 billion. Losers edged gainers, 98 to 93, with 45 issues unchanged.

Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second-biggest lender in terms of assets, fell 1.5 percent to P79.80, while SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. dropped 1.3 percent to P940.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp., however, climbed 6.5 percent to

P151.20, while First Gen Corp.of the Lopez Group advanced 4.6 percent to P20.40.

The rest of Asian markets mostly rose Monday as traders look ahead to a key meeting of the Federal Reserve, and a Chinese policy-setting conference this week.

However, there is still caution on trading floors after Friday’s sharp sell-off fueled by concerns over China’s economy, and despite a tweet from Donald Trump suggesting a trade deal could be hammered out between Washington and Beijing.

Hong Kong rose 0.1 percent in the afternoon, Shanghai climbed 0.2 percent and Tokyo finished 0.6 percent higher, while Sydney put on one percent and Singapore jumped 1.2 percent.

Seoul and Taipei each gained 0.1 percent while Wellington added 0.3 percent. There were also gains in Mumbai.

Steve Goldman, fund manager at

Kapstream Capital, told Bloomberg TV in Sydney that “we’re going to see a lot of volatility” in the new year because of global uncertainty.

While there are signs the world’s top two economies are beginning to move towards a resolution in their bitter tariffs spat, there are increasing concerns about the global outlook following another dour set of indicators out of China.

A string of below-par readings this year have highlighted a slowdown in the Asian giant and observers are forecasting leaders will unveil fresh measures to pep up the economy, which is on course for another year of relatively weak growth.

A speech from President Xi Jinping on Tuesday to mark 40 years since China’s economy began opening up will be closely watched, and that is expected to be followed by the start of a conference setting out the country’s 2019 economic plan.

“We should expect a raft of stimulus measures from China policymakers in an attempt to stabilise the domestic economy,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA. The Fed will conclude its rate-setting policy meeting Wednesday and while expectations are for another hike in borrowing costs, comments from chairman Jerome Powell will be closely watched for an idea of its plans for 2019.

In light of the China-US trade row and signs of weakness in the global economy, the bank has sounded a little more dovish in recent weeks, fueling speculation it will slow down its pace of rate hikes—which has provided some muchneeded support to equities.

“The upcoming (Fed) meeting and China’s policy-setting meeting, have been the most actively discussed topics around the markets,” Innes added. “And both events have a smoothing effect on risk sentiment.” With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59.2 10,440 93.8 1,107,120 2.16 19,000 129.8 2,151,730 1.57 4,089,000 26.85 255,400 15.7 800 12 147,600 4.2 587,000 0.67 100,000 1.43 6,000 0.5 9,540,000 79.8 3,302,450 0.9 175,000 12.5 140,800 18 600 43 234,100 184 230 118 50 65 1,140 28 109,700 160 491,170 63.95 67,770

617,491.50 104,065,948 41,280 279,092,220 6,134,480 6,889,500 12,700 1,776,700 2,548,930 67,000 8,460 4,733,900 263,048,573 155,120 1,757,842 10,800 10,116,965 42,158 5,900 75,514.50 3,081,915 78,659,934 4,359,026

529,395 -54,344,516.50 -92,114,299 2,695 -497,098 -39,450 -49,099,595 -4,470 494,166 585,575 -1,821,285 -31,998,984 -4,263,631

33 17.1 1.02 1.23 0.242 1.77 15 180 30.8 15.64 37 1.68 6.8 6.56 10.28 14.8 8.02 7.06 19.5 63.9 25 1.95 6 9.05 1.76 297 8.5 26.55 10.24 17.94 380 0.176 5.9 1.38 3.99 8.17 5.51 8.3 0.94 10.5 46.7 5.67 4.75 1.84 1.41 10.68 79.75 5.18 0.124 0.86 126.8 1.79 16.1 1.61

INDUSTRIAL 33.5 1,987,400 17.3 463,600 1.04 2,722,000 1.28 62,000 0.25 40,000 1.78 8,962,000 15.56 4,444,200 180 10 31 143,900 15.64 3,800 37.25 206,600 1.76 48,000 6.98 287,300 6.6 24,500 10.44 3,342,700 14.82 4,000 8.04 129,700 7.13 7,211,700 20.4 4,274,000 64.85 505,660 25.05 117,900 2.05 13,821,000 6 10,100 9.4 2,436,500 1.79 56,000 300 1,255,210 8.5 1,000 26.55 206,000 10.34 350,700 18.5 7,555,200 386 135,170 0.176 20,000 5.9 3,000 1.4 4,246,000 3.99 2,000 8.18 1,741,400 5.57 238,700 8.3 3,900 0.97 4,893,000 10.68 236,500 46.9 282,300 5.67 100 4.8 565,000 2.01 3,020,000 1.42 89,000 10.98 512,400 82 974,680 5.24 440,600 0.128 190,000 0.9 814,000 128.5 1,582,590 1.82 7,203,000 16.1 800 1.7 11,970,000

66,677,725 8,035,702 2,809,310 76,940 9,840 16,058,430 68,934,936 1,800 4,457,735 60,158 7,683,725 84,040 1,992,722 161,607 34,811,706 59,202 1,046,326 51,371,151 86,305,992 32,740,582 2,948,335 27,906,750 62,052 22,791,614 100,270 378,665,862 8,500 5,617,395 3,637,640 140,729,512 52,303,268 3,520 17,700 6,048,240 7,980 14,275,940 1,329,927 32,370 4,729,250 2,517,198 13,247,315 567 2,687,050 6,285,690 125,660 5,596,462 79,206,332.50 2,289,210 24,290 732,500 203,069,448 13,114,090 13,420 19,936,730

-20,410,945 -380,190 -135,440 -5,344,200 197,684 0 17,600 -42,480 23,594,106 -8,882 -137,944.00 -10,658,872 47,868,332.00 -30,560,524.50 2,657,565 266,890 -39,424 8,224,870.00 54,474,832 -2,195,435 -652,132 -3,374,590 14,401,414 -3,614,920 -1,925,976 86,235.00 -359,250 -21,560 -1,043,640 -2,534,300 11,600 1,186,826 -2,717,608 -49,385 -149,073,167 429,710 -10,200 90,130

0.58 54.6 12.22 0.81 6.25 26.5 1.35 1.36 915 7.02 12 9.96 920 6 51.9 0.57 4 16.7 0.6 4.7 0.037 1.17 2.31 2.6 143.8 2.58 932 1.33 447 270 0.25

HOLDING FIRMS 0.6 9,140,000 54.9 661,070 12.42 6,413,800 0.82 5,000 6.5 109,800 27.2 351,500 1.37 3,863,000 1.4 291,000 927 367,430 7.13 223,100 12 5,493,900 10.06 640,500 920 55,030 6 400 53.2 1,285,570 0.57 46,000 4.05 615,000 16.76 3,786,600 0.62 439,000 4.7 12,952,000 0.037 5,400,000 1.17 56,000 2.35 380,000 2.6 46,000 151.2 1,066,640 2.58 5,000 940 134,540 1.33 98,000 451 70 278.8 150,130 0.25 3,140,000

5,424,660 36,415,890 79,590,064 4,090 712,610 9,668,875 5,332,950 398,610 340,385,910 1,597,232 66,795,488 6,413,164 51,446,730 2,400 68,010,743 26,530 2,479,900 63,515,214 265,050 61,205,960 199,800 66,850 883,600 119,600 158,905,891 12,900 126,443,005 130,840 31,490 40,715,300 796,750

-256,430 -8,265,095 -10,324,816 685,840 -147,750 -136,884,820 193,394 -34,006,100 945,442 -6,919,220 -19,724,742.50 -670,970 -7,930,010 148,200 -30,422,370 74,000 -54,503,079 -64,757,050 -

5,807,666 2,442,650 523,222 207,510 11,276,630 321,919,065 4,793,890 2,052,120 81,630 8,159,800 860 4,400 3,705,560 574,900 2,905,219 10,048,106 34,000 6,728,780 1,764,340 124,937,840 20,952,800 4,550 42,003,090

-134,654 -134,260 -10,800 -81,000 -88,950 101,130,265 -3,919,540 -125,880 -3,545,050 2,690,000 -1,831,124.00 -2,106,840 107,000 -48,442,510 50 1,590,930

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

59.1 94.9 2.2 129.7 1.59 27.7 15.9 12 4.11 0.67 1.4 0.48 80.45 0.89 11.8 18 43.5 182 118 69.9 28 160.5 64.7

59.2 94.9 2.2 131 1.59 27.7 15.9 12.1 4.49 0.67 1.43 0.51 80.45 0.9 12.5 18 43.5 184 118 69.9 28.45 162.8 65.5

59.1 93.8 2.16 127.8 1.5 26.85 15.7 12 4.09 0.67 1.4 0.475 78.7 0.87 11.8 18 42.7 182 118 65 28 159.9 63.95

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA GREENERGY HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE 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 RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SMC FOODANDBEV SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

33 17.28 1.02 1.29 0.25 1.85 15.56 180 30.8 17.98 37.5 1.76 6.9 6.6 10.28 14.8 8.03 7.11 19.5 64.5 25 2.01 6.16 9.07 1.84 298 8.5 27.95 10.9 18.1 387.2 0.176 5.9 1.4 3.99 8.18 5.8 8.3 1 10.78 47 5.67 4.75 1.9 1.41 10.68 81.2 5.23 0.128 0.89 128.5 1.83 17 1.73

34.5 17.5 1.05 1.29 0.25 1.86 15.72 180 31.75 17.98 37.5 1.76 7.25 6.6 10.52 14.82 8.18 7.24 20.45 65 25.5 2.09 6.18 9.45 1.84 305 8.5 27.95 10.9 19.36 390 0.176 5.9 1.52 3.99 8.3 5.8 8.3 1 10.78 47.7 5.67 4.8 2.39 1.44 11.5 82 5.25 0.129 0.92 128.5 1.86 17 1.73

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

0.59 55.5 12.24 0.81 6.5 28 1.36 1.36 915 7.26 12.46 10.1 950 6 52.9 0.58 4.13 16.78 0.6 4.76 0.037 1.25 2.37 2.6 144 2.58 942 1.33 447 271.2 0.26

0.61 55.7 12.48 0.82 6.5 28.25 1.42 1.41 930 7.3 12.58 10.1 950 6 53.45 0.59 4.13 16.8 0.62 4.78 0.037 1.25 2.37 2.6 153.2 2.58 950 1.34 451 278.8 0.26

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

7.74 0.86 10.98 1.77 0.69 42 2.25 4 6.02 0.415 0.86 0.88 0.255 0.38 8.03 18.24 0.49 1.46 1.08 4.8 0.425 0.455 2.29

7.78 0.87 13.54 1.84 0.79 42.6 2.33 4 6.4 0.435 0.86 0.88 0.255 0.415 8.03 18.98 0.49 1.46 1.11 4.89 0.435 0.455 2.35

7.54 0.79 10.82 1.74 0.68 41.8 2.25 3.91 5.7 0.41 0.86 0.88 0.249 0.38 7.93 18.24 0.48 1.43 1.06 4.76 0.41 0.455 2.2

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.415 3.57 20.95 1.98 34.5 1.22 5.6 0.7 5.15

0.415 3.6 21.4 1.98 35.4 1.26 5.78 0.7 5.19

0.395 3.53 20.65 1.97 34.4 1.22 5.6 0.7 5.13

0.4 3.56 20.9 1.98 34.9 1.26 5.75 0.7 5.19

960,000 350,000 4,804,500 16,000 10,841,200 625,000 319,300 30,000 1,595,200

387,950 1,241,900 100,090,245 31,660 380,560,455 780,780 1,816,658 21,000 8,241,697

-53,580 -16,296,855 -32,132,205 -4,463,070

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY CEBU AIR CHELSEA DFNN INC EASYCALL FAR EASTERN U GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER ISLAND INFO ISM COMM LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA JOCKEY METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B NOW CORP PAL HLDG PAXYS PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

14.8 20 1.59 0.415 0.039 13.5 3.47 9.35 73.6 6.6 7.5 16.92 915 2,038 5.33 320 3.1 1.9 98 0.114 5.8 14.5 3.38 0.74 14.5 5.23 2.48 2.1 2.27 3.38 7.71 3.45 113.5 3.26 1,141 0.85 0.32 42.6 76.1 7.65 2.29 0.73 0.415 5.25 0.7 12.1

15.7 20 1.75 0.425 0.04 13.5 3.66 9.7 74 6.6 7.6 18 915 2,044 5.39 325 3.1 2.09 100.2 0.145 5.83 14.5 3.45 0.81 14.7 5.4 2.48 2.13 2.27 3.48 7.73 3.46 113.7 3.26 1,164 0.87 0.35 42.9 79.5 7.65 2.36 0.73 0.43 5.29 0.73 12.1

13.68 19.8 1.48 0.415 0.039 13.5 3.45 9.2 73 6.5 7.5 16.92 915 2,000 5.32 320 3.05 1.9 96.45 0.114 5.72 14.3 3.37 0.74 14.5 5.2 2.39 1.98 2.27 3.18 7.68 3.12 113.5 3.1 1,139 0.84 0.32 42.4 76 7.2 2.28 0.7 0.415 5.25 0.69 11.9

SERVICES 14 19.8 1.55 0.425 0.04 13.5 3.66 9.62 73 6.51 7.6 17.2 915 2,000 5.33 325 3.06 1.9 99 0.133 5.72 14.3 3.41 0.81 14.6 5.4 2.42 2.06 2.27 3.24 7.73 3.46 113.5 3.16 1,164 0.86 0.35 42.5 79.5 7.65 2.34 0.73 0.43 5.29 0.71 11.9

940,800 160,700 3,891,000 220,000 9,500,000 200 5,745,000 16,202,500 52,370 641,300 75,400 117,400 470 15,270 221,900 640 652,000 38,000 1,690,660 263,190,000 3,287,300 300 126,000 409,000 1,022,900 32,900 3,206,000 364,000 5,000 2,024,000 8,100 56,000 25,980 863,000 120,825 14,382,000 390,000 5,187,400 283,400 389,400 1,226,000 5,922,000 41,740,000 945,200 2,954,000 1,877,600

13,661,730 3,183,504 6,157,240 93,300 371,100 2,700 20,365,770 154,439,406 3,840,410 4,183,605 567,797 2,011,330 430,050 30,699,020 1,185,441 206,500 1,996,830 72,960 167,759,539.50 35,584,990 18,933,579 4,330 428,560 311,330 14,896,258 171,408 7,760,540 739,740 11,350 6,675,010 62,309 187,950 2,949,059 2,735,230 139,174,650 12,324,910 128,650 220,483,955 22,091,499 2,892,546 2,844,640 4,245,830 17,744,900 4,969,965 2,100,030 22,475,028

-2,900 406,500 -239,400 97,325,033 -976,846.50 32,580 37,500 -54,554 -3,236,300 -70,360 -62,875,049 -300,980 -2,608,012 23,350 6,618,476 -245,690 -85,900 101,010 -1,134,520 -58,104,315 127,140 -129,712,585 13,125,746.50 386,970 1,337,970 -147,150 -735,986 -1,223,142

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

0.002 1.6 2.89 16 1.25 1.13 2.04 7.63 1.68 0.211 0.099 0.0063 0.0064 1.25 2.16 1.08 0.57 0.98 0.012 0.013 3.24 2.65 15.2 24 0.0062

0.002 1.6 2.89 16 1.42 1.13 2.04 7.63 1.68 0.215 0.099 0.0065 0.0064 1.25 2.16 1.08 0.57 0.98 0.013 0.013 3.24 2.65 15.24 24.1 0.0062

0.0019 1.57 2.61 16 1.25 1.13 1.99 7.13 1.62 0.211 0.099 0.0063 0.0064 1.2 2.09 1.03 0.57 0.92 0.012 0.012 3.02 2.59 14.88 23.3 0.0061

MINING & OIL 0.002 203,000,000 1.57 1,317,000 2.61 53,000 16 300 1.42 76,000 1.13 1,000 2.01 1,006,000 7.5 56,900 1.68 1,375,000 0.215 30,000 0.099 70,000 0.0065 17,000,000 0.0064 9,000,000 1.25 58,000 2.09 11,739,000 1.07 77,000 0.57 3,000 0.97 255,000 0.012 13,800,000 0.012 1,900,000 3.1 3,000 2.59 2,722,000 14.92 1,252,000 23.3 3,020,100 0.0061 2,000,000

405,200 2,077,800 151,290 4,800 102,060 1,130 2,013,700 409,802 2,294,860 6,400 6,930 109,100 57,600 72,300 24,835,310 79,660 1,710 242,880 166,600 23,200 9,360 7,102,740 18,815,338 71,180,365 12,300

31,600 -13,590 -383,777 -1,350,540 -10,109,470 189,930 -4,748,674 -19,216,855 -

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

18.7 455 492 98.05 98.9 101.1 480 5.21 925 95 101.3 980 995 75.95 76.55 74 73.95 74.9 75 73.25 74.75

19 455 499 98.05 98.9 101.1 480 5.21 925 95 101.3 995 995 75.95 76.6 74 73.95 74.95 75 74 74.75

18.66 455 492 98 98 101.1 480 5.21 925 95 101.3 980 995 75.95 76.55 74 73 74.5 72.7 73.25 72.6

PREFERRED 19 47,200 455 170 499 120 98 9,100 98 5,720 101.1 60,000 480 20 5.21 30,000 925 2,000 95 100 101.3 300 995 140 995 300 75.95 1,700 76.55 44,600 74 10,200 73 3,970 74.5 90,840 75 2,520 73.25 81,400 74 21,910

886,450 77,350 59,110 891,824 562,900 6,066,000 9,600 156,300 1,850,000 9,500 30,390 138,550 298,500 129,115 3,414,526 754,800 292,185 6,780,137 184,400 5,962,652 1,620,187

-695,582 -

LR WARRANT

1.98

1.98

1.93

WARRANTS 1.97 109,000

213,280

-

ITALPINAS XURPAS

4.4 1.29

4.45 1.33

4.34 1.27

4.36 1.33

415,090 5,857,460

-160,730

FIRST METRO ETF

111.9

112

111.2

584,337

-

MS

PROPERTY 7.75 0.82 12.02 1.8 0.79 42.5 2.28 3.92 6.4 0.415 0.86 0.88 0.255 0.4 7.95 18.54 0.49 1.43 1.06 4.81 0.42 0.455 2.33

751,100 2,950,000 42,200 117,000 15,453,000 7,611,500 2,095,000 522,000 14,100 19,250,000 1,000 5,000 14,780,000 1,430,000 364,800 538,800 70,000 4,663,000 1,637,000 25,903,000 49,320,000 10,000 18,706,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

23,933,095

INDUSTRIAL

99,903,024

HOLDING FIRMS

57,480,499

PROPERTY

194,519,277

SERVICES

402,439,585

MINING & OIL

269,905,802

GRAND TOTAL

1,052,748,120

SME

95,000 4,466,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 112 5,220

VALUE 1,773.16 (down) 12.39 897,443,274.04 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,978.85 (up) 15.85 1,400,012,119.423 HOLDING FIRMS 7,389.82 (down) 40.29 1,149,204,805.79 PROPERTY 3,661.12 (up) 19.95 SERVICES 1,446.69 (up) 15.62 1,368,296,594.905 MINING & OIL 8,005.38 (down) 193.17 983,931,935.53 PSEI 7,520.40 (down) 3.97 130,202,003.402 All Shares Index 4,510.10 (up) 3.60 5,935,949,642.84 Gainers: 93; Losers: 98; Unchanged: 45; Total: 236

Metro Pacific signs P20-b loan to finance capex in 2019

By Jenniffer B. Austria INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. signed a P20-billion term loan facility to fund planned capital expenditures in 2019.

Metro Pacific said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the loan would have tenor of 10 years.

“Proceeds of said term loan facility will be used by MPIC to fund capital expenditures and for other general corporate purposes,” Metro Pacific said.

The company tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corp and BPI Capital Corp as arrangers and book runners.

Metro Pacific chief finance officer David Nicol earlier said the company planned to issue bonds and borrow from the banks to raise funds to finance the group’s spending plans in 2019.

The conglomerate is also looking at a possible selldown in its water utility unit Maynilad Water Services Inc. and an initial public offering of its hospitals group as other ways to generate fresh capital to fund big-ticket infrastructure projects.

Metro Pacific’s tollroad group has several ongoing projects, including the expansion of the North Luzon Expressway, the Cavite-Laguna Expressway, NLEX-SLEX connector road and the Cebu Cordova Link Expressway.

Including concession fees and financing costs, the group expects to spend approximately ₱99.7 billion to build the roads. It could increase by approximately ₱25 billion if Metro Pacific eventually wins the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway after receiving an original proponent status for the project.

The group’s water business is also on expansion mode after securing several water distribution contracts.

Metro Pacific recently received an original proponent status on a P22-billion, waste-to-energy project in Payatas, Quezon City.

Ayala Land allots P10b to expand Seda hotel brand MAJOR property developer Ayala Land Inc. earmarked P10 billion to expand the portfolio of its homegrown hotel brand to 3,268 rooms by 2020.

Seda group director of sales and marketing Melissa Carlos said in a press briefing the company was set to open five hotels over the next two years that would add another 1,405 rooms.

Seda Hotel is set to launch next year a second tower in Bonifacio Global City with 342 rooms, Seda Residences Makati with 293 rooms; and Seda Cebu IT Park with 214 rooms.

The group will complete Seda Manila Bay in Aseana City, Parañaque City in 2020 with 350 rooms and a second tower for Seda Nuvali with 206 rooms.

“We are also expanding into new categories such as serviced residences, resorts and large city formats as part of our efforts to tap the MICE market and weddings in addition to business and leisure,” Carlos said.

Seda currently has 1,863 rooms under its portfolio from nine properties, namely BGC, Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, Nuvali in Laguna, Iloilo, Quezon City, Bacolod, Cebu and Lio Tourism Estate in El Nido town, Palawan.

Seda initially focused on serving the needs of business travelers with boutique city hotels with less than 200 rooms. Carlos said it recently ventured into large format city hotels with Seda Vertis North in Quezon City which has 438 rooms, and into resort hotels with Seda Lio with 153 rooms.

Carlos said the brand’s flagship Seda BGC had been so successful that expansion was now under way that would add 342 more rooms in a second tower, including 48 serviced residences ranging from studios to two-bedrooms.

“We knew as early as our first year of operation that Seda BGC would need an expansion sooner than later,” she said.

Studies show that BGC in 2018 showed the highest demand among Metro Manila business areas following a net office take-up of 33 percent as of the third quarter.

It was followed by Quezon City at 26 percent, where Seda Vertis North is serving the market; and the Manila Bay area or Bay City at 12 percent, where the hotel hopes to tap the market by 2020. Jenniffer B. Austria

World

B3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Saudi Arabia criticizes US resolutions as ‘interference’

R

IYADH―Saudi Arabia on Monday slammed as “interference” the US Senate resolutions over its war in Yemen and critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, warning that the move could have repercussions on its strategic ties with Washington.

INAUGURATION. A general view of Cambodia’s 400-megawatt Lower Sesan 2 hydroelectric dam is seen during the

inauguration in Stung Treng province on December 17, 2018. Cambodian premier Hun Sen on Monday opened the largest dam in the country, swatting away warnings about the disastrous impact it could have on the environment and local livelihoods. AFP

IN BRIEF

Strasbourg attack victims honored STRASBOURG―More than 1,000 people gathered in Strasbourg Sunday to honor the victims of an attack on the city’s popular Christmas market that left five dead.

People, many in tears, gathered around a makeshift shrine of flowers and candles at the foot of the enormous Christmas tree at the Kleber Square in the city center.

“We wanted to be here to show that we are not giving up and that we continue to live,” Jonathan, 25, told AFP in the snow-covered square.

The ceremony, organized by local rights associations with the approval of the city authorities, included music, singing and several readings.

The traditional minute of silence was replaced by a minute of noise, during which people shouted and applauded to express their solidarity with the victims.

The crowd then spontaneously burst into a rendition of the Marseillaise, France’s national anthem.

“Fanaticism has struck right at the heart of Strasbourg, our open city, capital of human rights,” said Christine Panzer, co-organizer of the gathering.

“We reject all hate speech in the fight against dark forces.”AFP

Thousands protest ‘slave law’ in Budapest BUDAPEST―Protesters threw smoke grenades at police who responded with tear gas in Budapest on Sunday as thousands of people rallied against a new “slave law” passed by the government of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

More than 15,000 people, according to local press reports, joined the demonstration -- the first rally since Orban returned to power in 2010 to bring together all opposition parties, from greens to the far right, under the same banner.

The protest was called by unions and opposition parties outraged at the reforms that increase the annual overtime hours that employers can demand from 250 to 400 hours and allows payment to be delayed by up to three years.

The government says the changes are needed by employers short of manpower and will benefit those wanting to work extra hours.

Sunday’s protest ended up at Parliament Square, where protesters chanting “Orban get lost!” have been gathering since the law was adopted on Wednesday. AFP

Canada mulls over canceling Saudi arms deal over Yemen MONTREAL-Canada is looking into ways to cancel a giant 2014 weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday, as criticism mounts over the kingdom’s role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Riyadh-led war in Yemen.

Trudeau had earlier said that it would be “extremely difficult” to withdraw from the contract, signed by the previous conservative administration, “without Canadians paying exorbitant penalties.”

But as evidence emerged of direct Saudi involvement in Khashoggi’s murder on October 2, Canada in late November announced sanctions against 17 Saudi nationals linked to killing.

“The murder of a journalist is absolutely unacceptable and that’s why Canada from the very beginning had been demanding answers and solutions on that,” Trudeau said Sunday in an interview with CTV. “We inherited actually a (Can)$15 billion contract signed by (former prime minister) Stephen Harper to export light-armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“We are engaged with the export permits to try and see if there is a way of no longer exporting these vehicles to Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The penalty for breaking the contract could exceed Can$1 billion, Trudeau said in an interview with CBC Radio in

October.

Trudeau has been criticized by political opponents and Human Rights activists for failing to cancel the contract.

London, Ontario-based manufacturer General Dynamic Land Systems Canada inked the deal in 2014 to supply 928 LAV 6 armored personnel carriers to Saudi Arabia.

The deal, worth US$11.5 billion, was the largest arms deal in Canadian history.

But the contract was scaled back earlier this year, amid protests, to 742, dropping heavy assault versions equipped with cannons that activists and opposition politicians warned could be used against civilians and to help Riyadh wage war in Yemen.

Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote for The Washington Post and had been a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was lured to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, killed and dismembered, according to Turkish officials.

After lengthy denials, Saudi authorities admitted responsibility for the murder and said 21 people had been taken into custody. However, a CIA analysis leaked to the US media went further, pointing the finger at the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.

In October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country would suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the murder. AFP

The Republican-controlled Senate voted on Thursday to end American military support for a Riyadh-led war in Yemen, and separately held Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for Khashoggi’s killing.

The largely symbolic vote dealt a fresh warning to President Donald Trump, who has staunchly backed the Saudi regime in the face of intense global outrage that analysts say has left the kingdom diplomatically weakened.

“The kingdom condemns the latest position of the US Senate that was based on unsubstantiated allegations and rejects the blatant interference in its internal affairs,” the foreign ministry said in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency.

On the Yemen measure, which more broadly attacks the president’s prerogative to launch military action, 49 Democrats or their allies voted in favor, along with seven Republicans, while another three Republicans abstained.

The Senate also approved a resolution condemning Khashoggi’s murder and calling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, “responsible” for it.

The Saudi ministry warned that the kingdom would not tolerate any “disrespect” of its rulers.

“This position by the US Senate sends the wrong messages to all those who want to cause a rift in Saudi-US relationship,” the ministry said.

“The kingdom hopes that it is not drawn into domestic political debates in the US to avoid any... significant negative impact on this important strategic relationship.”

A day after the Senate vote, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again defended US ties with Saudi Arabia on national security grounds, saying the kingdom

Rush faces fresh allegations of bad behavior

Hundreds flee Nigerian village

KANO, Nigeria―Hundreds fled late Sunday after Boko Haram burned their homes near Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri, residents told AFP. Boko Haram fighters in several trucks stormed Maiborti village, five kilometers outside Maiduguri, firing indiscriminately and setting fire to homes, they said.

A military officer who did not want to be identified said troops and fighter jets were deployed to the village and scrambled to push out the militants after “fierce battle”.

It was not clear if there were casualties in the attack which once again highlighted the fragile security situation in the restive region.

“They [Boko Haram] came around 5:30 pm (1630GMT) and started firing in the village which made us abandon our homes and flee to Maiduguri,” Maiborti resident Abacha Kaka told AFP. Militia leader Babakura Kolo said the jihadists were later forced out of the village by troops with aerial support.

“Unfortunately, the terrorists succeeded in setting fire to the village and burning it down completely,” he added.

Boko Haram has in recent months launched attacks in a bid to capture Maiduguri, the birthplace of its founder Mohammed Yusuf. AFP

was a bulwark against common foe Iran.

The Senate resolution acknowledged the US-Saudi ties were “important” but called on Riyadh to “moderate its increasingly erratic foreign policy”.

“Prince Mohammed and Saudi Arabia, even prior to introduction of the Senate resolution, were discovering that the Khashoggi killing had weakened the kingdom internationally and had made it more vulnerable to pressure,” said James Dorsey, a Middle East expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

The resolutions cannot be debated in the House of Representatives before January, and would likely be vetoed in any case by Trump.

But the Senate votes send a strong message to the White House over anger on both sides of the aisle towards Riyadh.

Khashoggi, a Saudi contributor to the Washington Post, was killed on October 2 shortly after entering the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in what Riyadh called a “rogue” operation.

The murder has tarnished Riyadh’s international reputation, and Western countries including the United States, France and Canada have placed sanctions on nearly 20 Saudi nationals.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for a “credible” probe into the murder.

Anger at the human cost of the war in Yemen has also prompted a harder line in Congress about the US military’s role in backing Saudi-led coalition strikes against Huthi rebels.

Since the coalition launched its campaign in 2015, the conflict has killed nearly 10,000 people, according to the World Health Organization. But some rights groups believe the toll to be far higher. AFP

ANNIVERSARY. Pyongyang residents bow before the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il during National Memorial Day on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on December 17, 2018. North Korea is marking the seventh anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il. AFP

North Korea warns Washington over its latest sanctions SEOUL―Nuclear-armed North Korea condemned the United States over its latest sanctions measures, warning Washington’s approach could “block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever”.

After a rapid diplomatic rapprochement this year that culminated in the Singapore summit in June between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, progress has stalled in the talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.

In Singapore the two men signed a vaguely-worded statement on denuclearization, but have since disagreed on what it means.

Now Pyongyang is demanding sanctions relief and condemning US insistence on its nuclear disarmament

as “gangster-like”, while Washington is pushing to maintain the measures against the North until its “final, fully verified denuclearization”.

Washington last week added three senior North Korean officials to those subject to sanctions over human rights abuses, including Choe Ryong Hae, who has been considered a right-hand man to Kim. In a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency, the North said Trump had repeatedly expressed his desire to improve relations with Pyongyang, but the US State Department was “bent on bringing the DPRK-US relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire”.

DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name.

In recent months high-ranking US poli-

ticians including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had “almost every day slandered the DPRK out of sheer malice”, added the Sunday statement by the policy research director of the foreign ministry’s Institute for American Studies.

Using sanctions and pressure “to drive us into giving up nuclear weapons” would be the “greatest miscalculation”, it added, and would “block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever”.

A second summit between Trump and Kim -- who exchanged personal insults and threats of war throughout 2017 -- is expected to be held next year, with the US leader facing criticism over the planned talks since North Korea has taken few concrete steps to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. AFP

SYDNEY―Academy award-winner Geoffrey Rush on Monday faced fresh allegations of inappropriate behavior by an actress, amid his defamation battle with an Australian newspaper over separate claims.

Australian actress Yael Stone, who stars in Netflix hit “Orange is the New Black”, told The New York Times that Rush had danced naked in front of her in their dressing room, when she starred opposite him in the theater production “The Diary of a Madman” in 2010 and 2011.

The 33-year-old also says he used a mirror to watch her as she showered, and sent her erotic text messages.

Rush said in a statement published by the US newspaper that Stone’s allegations were “incorrect and in some instances have been taken completely out of context”.

“However, clearly Yael has been upset on occasion by the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work,” the Australian actor added.

“I sincerely and deeply regret if I have caused her any distress. This, most certainly, has never been my intention.”

Stone told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she did not complain at that time, wanting to protect her budding career.

She said while she had been uncomfortable with Rush’s behavior, she rarely chided him and played a “court jester” role instead. “(I was) very inexperienced, he was this person who is an internationally lauded star, he’s pretty much won every award you can win,” she told ABC, in an interview to air Monday. AFP

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

Recycled items adorn Antipolo’s Christmas tree THE City Government of Antipolo recently paid homage to Mother Earth as it lit up its Disneyland-themed Christmas tree, made up of some 12,000 recycled plastic bottles, cups and cartons.

Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III said Antipolo has been implementing the earth-friendly concept for its Christmas celebrations in past years as the city’s commitment to environmental sustainability in its governance programs.

Their earth-friendly thrust is in compliance with the YES (Ynares Eco-System) to Green Project, which covers clean and green environment, and livelihood opportunities through recycling and utilization of raw materials and by-products of local produce.

The project is based on Executive Order No. 11 issued in 1993 by Rizal Governor Rebecca Ynares.

The city is a recipient of the Environmental Compliance Audit (ECA) Platinum Award 2017 from the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which includes the enactment of its Basura Code, regular tree-planting activities, Linis Creek Program, and other environment-related measures.

The tree lighting was attended by Governor Ynares, Vice Mayor Josefina Gatlabayan, Antipolo first lady Andrea Ynares, Rep. Romeo Acop, Chiqui Roa-Puno, Robbie Puno, Antipolo city and barangay officials, and provincial board members.

The event served as the kick-off to the City’s month-long tourism-oriented Christmas Fiesta, which included a grand parade, drum and lyre contest and marching band contests, the Mutya ng Antipolo pageant, the earthfriendly YES parol and belen design contest.

It also features concerts of rock bands Imago and Grace Note, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the traditional Simbang Gabi, the Bida sa Kusina Series, and the 143rd Sumulong Day Bigsayawit as a tribute to its home-grown patriot Don Juan Sumulong.

Pampanga Food Street soon up in Clark Freeport CLARK FREEPORT—Tourists and guests in this Freeport will soon have a better experience of Kapampangan culinary delights and local products through Pampanga Food Street that will soon open here.

The Pampanga Food Street will feature 43 stalls, which will showcase authentic Kapampangan cuisine and souvenir items. It is located along the Cardinal Santos Street adjacent to the Parade Grounds.

The Clark Development Corp. Engineering Services Department recently announced that construction of the park will soon be finished to offer better experience to tourists and guests visiting this Freeport.

ESD also reported that the development and improvement of the CDC Children’s Playground, also near the Parade Grounds, is ongoing. The work involves site development, landscaping, installation of playground equipment for the over-all beautification of the site.

Other improvement projects in this Freeport include the asphalt overlay along M.A. Roxas Highway and the provision of bike lanes The Pampanga Street Food (PSF) is located along the Cardinal Santos road near the 2.21 kilometres length parade ground of the former American base which was abandoned in 1992 due to the rejection of the Philippines senate extension of the Military Bases Agreement followed by the eruption of Mt.Pinatubo in June 15,1991.

The culinary capital of the country will offer to the visitors different but delicious foods such as morcon, stuffed frog, water buffalo tocino, mole crickets, sisig, fermented rice with vegetables, bringhe, and crab fats, among others.

The street food park is part of the over all preparation of the region as the next growth center of the country for business, leisure, sport, tourism and families to enjoy during holidays and weekend. Romeo Dizon

CHRISTMAS FEEDING. A candidate of the Miss Philippines 2018 pageant feeds a young mendicant rescued from the streets on

Monday during the feeding program held jointly by the beauty contest organizers and the Quezon City Police District at Camp Karingal.

Manny Palmero

Village disaster plan formulated

S

AVE the Children Philippines and the Local Government Academy have partnered to develop a Quality Assurance System that would help barangay disaster risk reduction and management officers plan for calamities, especially villages in high-risk areas.

With initial support from the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, the two groups have developed the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (BDRRM) Plan Quality Assurance Tool and Simplified BDRRM Plan Template—the main components for the QAS for Barangay DRRM Plans.

The system has been piloted in 7,006 barangays in the three regions of Caraga, Eastern Visayas, and the National Capital Region in 2017.

QAS features a technological and approach innovation that aims to empower local government units when it comes to preparedness. More information can be found at www.alertandready.ph.

According to Junica Soriano, Alert and Ready Communities Manager from Save the Children: “The Quality Assurance System consolidates best practice standards and processes by on-ground practitioners.

“It provides barangay LGUs clear

benchmarks against which to measure and improve their DRRM plans. The QAS enables LGUs to further enhance their strengths and target investments where there is room for improvement,” Soriano added.

In 2017, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council issued Memorandum Circular number 1 series of 2018 that formally adopts the QAS for quality-based barangay DRRM planning in the Philippines.

This means that all barangays in the country can now benefit from using the BDRRM plan review and enhancement features of the Quality Assurance System.

The system, tools and policies surrounding the QAS were jointly created by government agencies, local government units, non-government organizations, civil society organizations and learning resource institutes.

For Silvestre Barrameda, OIC Division Chief of the Local Government

Training Development Division, it’s not a black-and-white rule to be followed by all. The importance of bringing the QAS to the barangays is to give an idea of important elements of preparedness planning.

“There were a lot of people who got to appreciate the new template because now there’s minimum guidelines to developing a DRRM Plan, and there’s more clarity as to what a quality DRRM plan looks like,” Barrameda added.

But like any other country-wide initiative, there are still challenges in promoting preparedness and resilience.

For Barrameda, as in the case of the QAS, the challenge lies in the delivery mechanism—the communication system to be used.

“We have to consider important questions like how many people can reach the communities to explain these things without diluting the substance and meaning?” he asked.

As for Soriano of Save the Children, the challenge also has to do with changing mindsets and practices towards preparedness and resilience-building actions. “It is a matter of prioritization.

And for us, making resilience governance child-sensitive,” she said.

However, the success factors far outweigh the challenges.

PLATINUM WINNER.

Carmen Copper executive vice president and chief operating officer Dennis M. Mandia (second from right) and assistant vice president for Safety, Health, Environment, Community Relations and External Affairs Ignacio B. Alburo (right) receive the PMIEA Platinum Achievement Award via (from left) Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Wilfredo G. Moncano and PCIEERD deputy executive director Raul Sabularse. This capped the 65th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference’s Awards Night and Testimonial Dinner at the CAP-John Hay Trade Center in Baguio City.

Pinoy diabetics at 12m by 2040, doctor warns

By Macon Ramos-Araneta [First of two parts]

THE number of diabetics in the Philippines is projected to rise by 12 million by 2040, largely driven by more cases of type 2 diabetes due to the growing prevalence of obesity, sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets.

According to Dr. Jeremy Robles of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, the rise is projected to come from the most vulnerable part of the population: the millennials, business process outsourcing (BPO) workers, and overseas Filipino workers.

“These three groups are constantly exposed to work strain and/or emotional stress; have working environment that do not support physical activity; as well as having little or no access to affordable and nutritious food,” says Dr. Robles.

He believes the increase in the number of diabetics with serious health problems is likely to put an “unprecedented burden” on the national healthcare system and will continue to do so in the next two decades.

Previously seen in people over the age of 40, type 2 diabetes today, are now affecting an estimated 3,600 children and young adults in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom where nearly 7,000 cases were reported this year, according to medical journal, the Lancet.

“Disturbingly, this trend is reflected internationally. The millennials will be more susceptible as they are not eating better and exercising more, possibly due to environmental, lifestyle, and other factors,” explains Dr. Robles.

The danger is more pronounced among BPO workers―estimated to be over 1 million Filipinos―who mostly answer phone calls from different time zones and are thus, prone not only to sore throat, cough and sleep problems but also to risk factors linked to the development of diabetes: inactivity, weight gain, uncontrolled high blood pressure, as well as abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

“The same goes to our fellow Filipinos working abroad who often skip meals, work long hours, and even skip days-off to the point that they overlook their own health,” warns Dr. Robles.

“A lot of them forget the value of exercising, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep in their quest to provide a better life for their families back home. These unhealthy habits leave them vulnerable to health risks such as diabetes,” he added.

The doctor says type 2 diabetes can be managed through lifestyle changes and moderate weight loss. “Diabetes management requires awareness. If you have diabetes, you need to know how foods affect your blood sugar levels. It’s not only the type of food you eat but also how much you eat and the combinations of food types you eat.” (to be continued)

MMSU students calamity-ready MORE than 1,000 students from Mariano Marcos State University in Ilocos Norte recently participated in the TNT Tropang Ready Disaster Preparedness Caravan organized by PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications.

TNT Tropang Ready is a learning program that tours schools all over the country to boost the disaster readiness skills of students and their friends or “tropa.” The program aims to mobilize them to lead their families and communities to safety during calamities.

During the training, MMSU students learned emergency preparedness and response techniques, including what to do when an earthquake, a fire, or a strong typhoon strikes. Resource speakers included representatives from the provincial government and emergency management experts.

TNT Tropang Ready is part of Smart’s advocacy on disaster preparedness, #SafePH, which promotes preparedness through mobile solutions and on-ground activities to help communities mitigate disaster risks.

The program has recently been feted the winner in the Community Engagement category at the prestigious Golden World Awards, which recognizes public relations practices that meet international standards of excellence.

Belmonte eyes ‘government school’ for QC’s future leaders

By Rio N. Araja IF ELECTED as Quezon City mayor in 2019, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Tuesday vowed to create its own government school that would be designed to develop the theoretical and practical knowledge of its future leaders.

The importance of honing the city’s young leaders is a challenge that should be addressed by the current and former leaders, Belmonte said.

“We are planning of putting up the Ma-

nuel Luis Quezon School of Government where we can mentor our youth leaders, for them to enhance their skills not only on theories about governance, but also on the practical use of the knowledge they have learned,” she added.

“It is a challenge for us to hone our future leaders because it is them who will take over once we retire from the public service. And since it is us who have experienced, and are experiencing the difficulties of being a leader, we should do our best to impart those lessons to others,

so they can apply it and bring the best reforms to our city,” Belmonte said.

She cited the importance of the former barangay officials who would be tapped once the institute materialize.

“I don’t want your experiences and skills go wasted the moment you retire from the public service. That’s why we will call for your participation to teach and share about the practical aspect of leadership and those that are not usually discussed in a theoretical approach,” the vice mayor said.

Students of Mariano Marcos State University in Ilocos Norte learn how to use a fire extinguisher during the TNT Tropang Ready training of trainers session.

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HAT do you do on your days off? Catch some Zzzs? Bingewatch on Netflix? Run a few errands? These 400 employees had a better idea to spend their rest day: to volunteer and help communities. volunteerism is behind pharmaceutical company GlaxosmithKline’s orange Day. During this day, employees get one paid day off to volunteer at a non-profit organization of their choice.

All GsK employees are entitled to employee volunteering, which means they can take one paid day off per year to pursue an authorized charity activity. Although there are multiple ways of volunteering at GsK, orange Day is a key flagship program launched in 2009.

“We encourage our employees in GsK to volunteer and contribute to our local communities. it helps our employees gain new experiences and skills, creating a deeper understanding of patient needs. Employees come back with a different view and serve as change agents in GsK,” said sriram Jambunathan, general manager for GsK Philippines Pharmaceuticals. on nov. 23, 400 GsK Philippines employees visited 16 Gawad Kalinga sites and two smile Train partner institutions in the country, including Antipolo in Rizal, sagay in negros occidental, naga in Camarines sur, Quezon Province, Laguna, Pasig-san Jose, Muntinlupa, Pasig, sta. Mesa, Bataan, Cagayan de oro, Cebu, Caloocan, Davao, Gen. santos, La Union, and Las Piñas.

The company believes that by volunteering, employees are challenged to think differently, develop leadership skills, and heighten cultural agility.

Further, GsK believes the employees can also be instruments in helping create positive, sustainable change for non-profit partners, and the communities they serve; and that through their experiences, they bring fresh ideas and new energy back to the company. “one day of volunteering can have impact on the health and well-being of local communities where we operate. As well as this, volunteering is also a great way to demonstrate and live our values outside of the organization,” said Ritesh Pandey, general manager for GsK Philippines Consumer Healthcare.

As GsK medical representative Maan Bacila puts it, orange Day serves as reminder of how blessed employees are to be part of the company. she said, “We are given a chance to share our blessings of love and abundance by inspiring people to do more and feel better, thus live longer, through improving and working on our current situations, no matter how hard or challenging it may be.”

“From the bottom of my heart, i felt fulfilment because as we are all focusing to deliver business performance this 2018, we pause for a while to

Life

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

health and environment

@mstandardLIFe tuesday, december 18, 2018

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Giving self to others

Pharma firm employees volunteer for a day GSK’s Rommel Abuda (left) and Macky Estur help beautify the Gawad Kalinga Sagay community in Negros Occidental.

share our blessings with others, not only material things but also our precious time, and warm hugs, and contagious smiles,” shared Leah inigo, also a GsK medical representative.

Leah Inigo (second from left) and her GSK teammates in a Gawad Kalinga site.

GSK’s Jo Arciaga and Kent Jobo in Gen. Santos City.

How to indulge responsibly this holiday season

By Tiffany Santuyo, RND ‘Tis may be the much-awaited season to indulge in never-ending spread of delectable treats and sweets as well as traditional family recipes, yet it is important to be responsible in filling your plate at the many parties you’re attending.

As a registered nutritionist-dietitian, i make certain that i am hands-on during the holiday season, when the kitchen is at its busiest, to ensure that my family and friends get to enjoy reunions, get-togethers, and parties without denting their diets. i also remind my students at the school of Hotel, Restaurant, and institution Management at the De La salle-College of saint Benilde, where i teach courses on nutrition and wellness, food chemistry, and culinary, not only on what we eat, but also on how we consume them.

For everyone who enjoys feasts, here are my top three quick tips to observe:

Mind your starters

Tiffany Anne Santuyo, a registered nutritionist and dietitician, shares tips for indulging responsibly.

the stimuli we receive from our immediate environment greatly affect our decision to purchase groceries or consume food.

For instance, people eat in greater amounts in an environment where one feels safe and comfortable or where the ambiance is good. Psychologists call this “environmental stimuli.” What affects our consumption may likewise come from other factors such as smell, Go for small Here’s a tip: The smaller the dish, the color, visual appeal, and size. faster it will be broken down and absorbed. For example, between steel-cut Prior to being a full-time educator at and rolled oats, the latter has a higher Benilde, Tiffany Anne Santuyo worked capacity to make you feel full longer as a figure consultant at Slimmers World due to its size. same concept goes with International, health specialist for Dr. Smith Dietary Supplements, diet coach whole fruit and fruit juices. for FitFactory.com, and nutrition consultant and researcher at VMV Skin ReTake the cue several researchers have noted that search Centre and Clinics.

Appetizers not only stimulate your palate for a sumptuous feast, but likewise aids in initiating digestion. Eat bite-sized food before the main course.

Low-calorie starters such as soups or salads stave off hunger, therefore reducing the volume of your intake for the entire meal.

Sarabjit Paul, site director for GSK Philippines Manufacturing Plant, at Gawad Kalinga Sibol Paraisong Pambata.

‘Tis the season to prioritize oral care (too) EvERyonE’s teeth and gums are going to be subjected to quite a challenging season what with the several get-together and parties happening this month. oral healthcare advocates for Gumtect Doug and Chesca Kramer share how important it is that they take care of their teeth and gums, so they don’t miss out on any “foodie moments” when they celebrate the holidays with their family and friends.

“Despite our busy schedules, we enjoy the gatherings and reunions to relax and catch up over food,” says Doug. “i have a really sweet tooth, and i enjoy having conversations over dessert, but for me to be able to just enjoy the food, i also make sure these -ber months are ‘care months’ for my gums and teeth so there’s no hassle of gum problems.”

Doug advocates oral care with the use of Gumtect Gum Care toothpaste, which works to promote healthy gums, protect against harmful mouth bacteria, and moisturize and strengthen the gums.

As for Chesca, her already hectic schedule as a mom can only get busier with holiday activities. she shares that with her sensitive teeth, she needs to take care of her gums so pangingilo (dental hypersensitivity) doesn’t get in the way of her indulging in her favorite holiday dishes with her loved ones.

According to a study in 2011 by the national Monitoring and Evaluation Dental survey, 48 percent of Filipinos suffer from some form of gum disease. Receding gums are often accompanied with tooth sensitivity.

Commonly caused by wearing of the thin outer covering of the tooth (enamel), over-brushing, acidic food, and gum receding, dental hypersensitivity begins when the inner part of the tooth is uncovered. This results in a brief yet sharp sensation in the tooth.

Oral care advocates Chesca and Doug Kramer

Dr. Jv Jaurigue, external vice president of the Philippine society of Periodontology, stresses the importance of proper oral care. “oral care is essential to our health. Rather than dealing with complications and difficulties of gum diseases, it is better to prevent them from happening,” he advises.

Chesca recommends using Gumtect sensitive toothpaste and Gumtect sensitive mouthwash as they are specially formulated with Dynamic Desensitizing system that helps relieve tooth sensitivity.

Oral care advocates make ‘ber months’ their ‘oral care months’ what with several feasts happening this holiday season.

Life

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tuesday, december 18, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

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NTERNATIONAL beach apparel brand Reef pledges to make sure beaches stay clean and healthy.

To achieve this, Reef is targeting to accomplish 1,500 beach clean ups, remove 150,000 lbs. of trash, and engage 30,000 volunteers around the world this year, in the hopes that their industry and communities play an equally big role in enacting meaningful change for the planet.

Globally, the brand has partnered with Surfrider and has, as of this writing, cleaned up 840 beaches and collected 206,871 lbs. of trash, which is beyond the target mentioned, with the help of 30,654 volunteers.

In the Philippines, Reef hosted its annual Free the Sea Movement, a funfilled three-day event and coastal cleanup that aims to promote responsible travel and environmental conservation.

Now on its third year, Reef’s Free the Sea Movement in San Juan, La Union was created in partnership with WWFPhilippines, and intended to encourage people to live a sustainable lifestyle by not using single-use plastics that are harmful to the environment, specifically oceans.

One hundred volunteers participated in the clean-up during the Free the Sea Movement 3. The event also included Plastic Solutions’ talk on eco-brick making. Reef is also part of WWF-Philippines’ Ayoko ng Plastic campaign, which seeks to lessen, and eventually eliminate single-use plastics within the country by raising public awareness of the issue of plastic pollution.

Single-use plastics are among the biggest pollutants found in our oceans today. In 2016, plastic production amounted to as much as 335 million metric tons, approximately half of that amount used for single-use purposes. A whopping 32 percent of plastic packaging are being left to the environs, with 8 million tons winding up in the ocean each year.

The event also included free surfing clinics for the volunteers and a fun Music Festival Night graced by bands including Orange & Lemons, G2 & the Bundocks, Coeli, The Geeks Ph, Rusty Machines, Eazyhead, We are Imagi-

Apparel brand pledges for cleaner beaches

Reef’s Free the Sea Movement is a fun-filled 3-day event and coastal clean-up that aims to promote responsible travel and environmental conservation.

nary, and Cheats.

Aside from mounting coastal cleanups, Reef is also committed to supporting environmental pro-

Reef’s sandals enhanced with Eco-One, an organic additive that enhances the biodegration process.

grams of local communities. Recently, the brand donated cash and goods to the La Union Surfers Club to support the organization’s environmental efforts in the area.

“A lot of our programs next year will be geared towards encouraging people to live a sustainable lifestyle,” says Reef Philippine marketing head Marnelli Gaerlan. “Most of our products are now PVC-free and we even have sandals enhanced with Eco One which makes them 100 percent biodegradable.”

Eco-One is an organic additive that enhances the biodegradation process through a series of chemical and biological processes when disposed in a biologically active landfill. A normal plastic bag could take hundreds of years to breakdown, but with Eco-One, the material will biodegrade over a shorter period of time.

Bands perform during the Music Night Festival in San Juan, La Union.

Pregnancy 101: Understanding the symptoms PREGNANCy is one of the most exciting events in a woman’s life. however, the experience is different for every woman—while some sail through it without a twinge of a problem, others face a couple of distressing situations like morning sickness.

To help women know whether a certain pregnancy sign is normal or not, Christia S. Padolina, M.D. listed symptoms that typically accompany pregnancy and recommended when one needs to call their healthcare professional.

Common pregnancy symptoms include spotting, swelling, and vomiting and nausea..

Spotting

The items sold in Divisoria that have been found containing huge amounts of lead.

Give love—not these items— on Christmas day ThEy say it’s the thought that counts when it comes to presents, but toxics watch group EcoWaste Coalition reminds gift-givers on what products not to give this Christmas.

The group has identified holiday gift items sold from P150 and below that consumers should refrain from buying because of their undisclosed lead content.

Lead is a highly poisonous chemical that is known to cause irreparable and irreversible mental and physical impairment. young children are most susceptible to the adverse effects of lead exposure as their brains and nervous systems are still developing.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order 2013-24 prohibits lead and lead compounds in the production of children’s toys, and sets a 90 parts per million (ppm) total lead content limit for lead in paint.

The EcoWaste Coalition procured several items from retailers in Divisoria, Manila and subsequently screened for lead content using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence analytical device.

Among the items found to contain lead above 90 ppm include: a red and yellow-coated “Naruto Shippuden” fidget spinner (198,900 ppm), a tall

yellow-painted “hi, I’m Monkey” vacuum flask (33,400 ppm), a short yellow-painted “Despicable Me” vacuum flask (28,600 ppm), a green “Mickey Mouse” glass cup (25,800 ppm), a yellow “Spongebob” glass cup (24,300 ppm), a “Wonderful” xylophone (9,696 ppm), “Kai Xin” laser toys (630 to 4,632 ppm), a mini-xylophone (1,994 ppm), “Funny Toys” lizards (1,885 ppm), and toy farm animals (1,161 ppm).

The items provided no information and warning about their lead content, and were all inadequately labeled. The toys, in particular, lack the required market authorization from health authorities.

“It’s nice to give and receive gifts during this joyous season. however, not many of us are aware that we might be giving dangerous gifts laden with hazardous substances such as lead, which can result in intellectual disability, developmental problems, and other health woes,” said Thony Dizon, chemical safety campaigner for EcoWaste Coalition.

Additionally, the group advised consumers to avoid giving dolls, soft balls, and squeaky toys that are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, which may contain toxic additives such as lead stabilizers and phthalate plasticizers.

Why it happens -- Spotting or light bleeding during pregnancy commonly occurs during the first trimester. In fact, approximately 20 percent of pregnant women will experience spotting, and most of them will go on to have a healthy pregnancy.

One common cause of spotting is implantation bleeding, which occurs six to 12 days after the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining. Typically happening during the early stage of pregnancy, implantation bleeding is often mistaken as the beginning of a regular menstrual period. This type of spotting may last anywhere from a few hours to a few days “but do not worry because it normally occurs to pregnant women.”

When to seek assistance -- Any kind of vaginal bleeding can be a symptom of a larger problem. Thus, whether you are bleeding or spotting, it is best to contact your healthcare provider and answer detailed questions about your experience (e.g. the amount of blood you’ve lost or your overall feeling).

Swelling

Why it happens -- Normal swelling

or edema is often experienced in the hands, face, legs, ankles, and feet due to the accumulation of excessive fluid in the tissues. While it can happen to anyone, edema is particularly common among pregnant women since their bodies produce approximately 50 percent more blood and body fluids to meet the needs of the developing baby. Swelling may be experienced at any point during pregnancy, but usually occurs around the fifth month and increases toward the third trimester.

When to seek assistance -- Watch out for a sudden swelling in your hands, feet, and face accompanied with rapid weight gain, as this may be the early signs of preeclampsia, a pregnancy condition characterized by high blood pressure (hypertension) and increased protein in the urine. Compared to normal edema, this swelling is more severe.

Contact your healthcare professional if you experience any of these red flags.

Nausea and vomiting

Pregnancy is one of the most exciting events in a woman’s life, but the experience is different for every woman.

Why it happens -- Nausea and vomiting are common conditions during pregnancy. Although often called “morning sickness,” nausea and vomiting can occur at any time of the day. This pregnancy woe often develops during the first five to six weeks of pregnancy and might get worst in the ninth week. however, this usually improves by 16 to 18 weeks of pregnancy.

In some cases, nausea and vomiting may continue until the third trimester in 15 to 20 percent of women, and until delivery in five percent of women.

When to seek assistance -- Nausea and vomiting are usually not harmful to the developing baby, but can have a serious effect on the pregnant woman’s everyday life, including their ability to work or do normal activities. Call your healthcare professional to avoid possible dehydration, which might prevent you from gaining a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy.

Since spotting, swelling, nausea, and vomiting are common pregnancy conditions, it is difficult to know when new symptoms are simply part of being pregnant or actually an indication of a serious problem, especially if it is a woman’s first time to get pregnant. That is why it is important to talk to a healthcare professional regularly to help and guide them along the way.

In addition to a trouble-free gestation, women are advised to take a maternal milk that will supplement them and their baby with essential nutrients.

Promama, a delicious vanilla tasting nutritional milk drink, is designed to support pregnant women during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and lactation. It is scientifically formulated with key nutrients, such as folic acid, DhA, choline, iodine, and iron, needed for fetal brain formation and development in the womb.

Entertainment

Kapuso stars lend voices to the characters of Korean drama

‘MY GOLDEN LIFE’

Stars Ken Chan, Sanya Lopez, Bruno Gabriel and Ayra Mariano are lending their voices to the characters in the top-rating Korean drama, 'My Golden Life.'

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AST night, GMA Network brought to Philippine television this year’s well-loved and highest-rating Korean drama, My Golden Life.

The newest Koreanovela on primetime, featuring a voice cast from various Kapuso stars, tells the story of two women whose life turned upside down because of their mother’s misguided love.

Ken Chan breathes life to Dion Choi, a gentleman with admirable physique and elegance. He is the only heir to Haesung Group and the head of Strategic Planning Team.

Gillian Seo is voiced by Sanya Lopez.

She is known for her competitive spirit and cheerful personality. Gillian is on a two-year contract with the marketing team of Haesung Group.

Meanwhile, Bruno Gabriel is the voice behind Luke Sun. He is Gillian’s cheerful and feisty high school friend who runs a DIY furniture shopping mall.

Ayra Mariano plays Giselle Seo, Gillian’s twin sister, who works part-time at a local bakery.

Dion and Gillian crossed paths in a car accident. Despite meeting each other in an unfortunate situation, he was more surprised when his mother reveals that Gillian was his missing sister. Gillian joins the rich family to have a better life without knowing that she is actually not the family’s long-lost daughter.

What will happen once Gillian’s real identity comes out? What will she do once she finds out that the people she calls family are not really her own?

My Golden Life, which premiered on Monday, Dec. 17, airs right after Onanay on GMA Telebabad.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

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nickie.standard@gmail.com

Erwan Heussaff’s

unstoppable drive for adventure THE year is coming to an end, and Erwan Heussaff Heussaff’s wrapping up 12 months’ worth of adventures. From January to December, the content creator was all over the world, from the Philippines’ best-kept secret paradises to vast African plains.

All the while, he captured astonishing sights and documented diverse cultures.

Driven by a desire to explore and learn, Erwan is unstoppable in what he loves to do the most.

Here are two of the Filipino-French’s favorites from his jam-packed year: Exploring the coastlines and caves of Eastern Visayas In a series of vlog episodes called Going Coastal, Erwan went to Samar last August to visit the island’s stunning shores and complex cave-river systems.

On his first day, he drove down south to Calicoan Island, an up-and-coming surfer’s paradise.

After being greeted by locals, Erwan wasted no time in answering the call of the ocean as well as capturing the pristine coastline.

The following day, the chef drove up north to another surfer hub, Borongan.

Eager to try out local cuisine, Erwan headed to the local market to buy ingredients for linubihan nga kinis, a local seafood dish made with mud crabs, ginger, turmeric leaves, bell pepper, aromatics, coconut meat, and coconut water.

To cap off his island adventure, Erwan went to the heart of Samar on his last day to explore the cascading Pinipisakan Falls and the expansive Sulpan Cave.

“Getting there wasn’t easy. Our boat broke down and we trekked for hours before reaching the caves and falls,” shares the vlogger. “But that didn’t stop me from getting great photos of the forest and landscape with my Galaxy Note9. I still had power left after many hours of shooting outdoors.”

Conquering the peaks and plains of Kyrgyzstan The following month, Erwan flew to Central Asia to explore the mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan. Raring to experience the nomadic lifestyle, the connoisseur and his Kyrgyz friend Chip drove to the peaks south of the pristine Issyk-Kul lake. They were greeted by Chip’s uncle and aunt, and a feast filled with lepyoshka and local jams.

After helping himself to sweet treats, Erwan took to the great outdoors while

Erwan took every opportunity to capture the wonders of Samar with his Galaxy Note9.

Chip’s family prepared prime cuts of lamb for the evening.

“The plains and peaks extend as far as the eye can see, and the winds were gusting forcefully. It was nature at its rawest and most rugged.”

At the latter part of his Kyrgyzstan adventure, Erwan watched the World Nomad Games, an international competition dedicated to ethnic sports practiced in the region. With delegates from international communities, the event showcased diversity in the form of performances, grand attires, and actionpacked games.

“I had a splendid time documenting various cultures from around the world.

I kept taking quick snapshots with my Galaxy Note9 without worrying about running out of storage,” he shares.

Unstoppable content creation anytime, anywhere Through all these adventures, Erwan utilizes a state-of-the-art assortment of gadgets, including the Galaxy Note9, to shoot his videos and take note of the smallest details. The powerful smartphone helps him take clear photos and jot down ideas quickly, no matter the circumstances.

“There were so many times during my trips where breathtaking sights or artistic inspiration would appear out of nowhere.

I’m glad that my Galaxy Note9 is smart and capable enough to capture these moments. The Intelligent Dual Camera adjusts well to any subject or condition, so I always get great shots.”

With more travels in store for the content creator next year, it’s only a matter of time before we see another well-produced vlog from Erwan.

Erwan‘Halik’ Heussaff’s unstoppable drive forRosales adventure is unpredictable— Jericho JERICHO Rosales is both happy and proud with the success of his currently airing soap opera over at ABS-CBN titled Halik where he shares stellar billing with Sam Milby, Yam Concepcion and Yen Santos.

“I think what’s good with our show is that it’s not predictable. The viewers are in for exciting twists and turns in the plot,” he says.

The competent actor also cites how the four leads meticulously approach their respective characters.

“That I believe is another of our strong points. All of us have collaborated in handling each character.

Like in my case, I ask myself, where shall I take Lino, my role? It’s a man’s perspective. We have lots of male viewers and they really follow every episode.

They wait for my character’s decision in many crucial points in the story. That’s why I ask real people and their comments guide me in my delineation of the role.”

Echo opines that true storytelling plays an important role in their program’s present popularity.

“It spells the big difference. We are concerned with how realistic the scenes should be mounted, where people won’t find them corny. This is the reason why I give my all in my performance. The kind of acting I give in movies, the same I give in Halik. I think of quality entertainment which our loyal viewers deserve.”

The Kapamilya reveals that their soap will have an extension.

“I just don’t know exactly until when but the production asked for my schedule up to March of next year. I was actually planning for a vacation on February but they’re still fixing everything.”

Do inevitable things like this affect his relationship with his wife (Kim Jones)?

“Like I have to postpone or reset our vacation if ever? Nope, she understands the demands of my job.

She’s so supportive!”

At this point, Jericho cannot ask for more and that’s what matters.

“Imagine, I have a hit show in which the cast, directors and crew are all my friends. If you’ll only witness how relaxed and comfortable we are on the set. For me, it’s better than starting a new show which entails huge adjustment again. In here, we’re okay and we’re just working diligently,” he ends. *** Speaking of her entry to the forthcoming 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival One Great Love, Kim Chiu assures that it is so far her most mature screen portrayal.

“Well, of course, you’ll hear from lots of stars that they’re different in their latest potboilers. It has become a fad come promotion time. But in my case, I

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, December 18, 2018

ACROSS 1 Oater action 6 Expensive coats 10 Grouchy person 14 Goose-bumpy 15 Pointed arch 16 Mantra chanter 17 Monsoons 18 Earthen jar 19 Wednesday’s god 20 Slick 22 America’s Cup activity 24 Geologic time division 26 “Anyone home?” (hyph.)

27 Lobster part 31 How — things?

32 Channel markers 33 Sheath or sack 36 Cave, perhaps 39 Dispirited 40 Rob 41 Hole up 42 Mi. above sea level 43 Student quarters 44 Dents 45 “Gal” of song 46 Asserts 48 Porous gems 51 Affirmative vote 52 Male voice

54 Make beloved 59 Fall birthstone 60 Very thin model 62 Eucalyptus eater 63 Vile and nasty 64 Ocean-going bird 65 Rocker — John 66 Slide downhill 67 Lockbox document 68 Stopwatch button DOWN 1 Glacier Bay sight 2 Not fake 3 Soprano’s piece 4 Finishes first 5 Wanes 6 Rock’s — Fighters 7 Not attractive 8 Deliver a message 9 Beach 10 Attire 11 Wireless set 12 Organic acid 13 Loud sound 21 Over there 23 — d’oeuvres 25 Auto-safety advocate 27 Mr. Eban 28 Without value

29 Praise loudly 30 Stare at 34 Outer border 35 Emerson opus 36 Bell sound 37 Verge 38 Loch — monster 40 Carved out 41 Clamor 43 Flit about 44 More vacant, as a look 45 Took a cruise 47 Civil War general

48 Of the Vatican 49 Expunge 50 Catch 52 Short, jerky motions 53 One, in Frankfurt 55 Mete out 56 Raids the fridge 57 Burn soother 58 Harangue 61 Gave a meal to

can really say that this is a fresh take for me. It’s really something different from my previous starrers.”

According to the chinky-eyed star, she stepped up in this Eric Quizon megger.

“It’s like I’m five steps higher here. I really went out of my comfort zone in this one. It’s the first time that the people will see me figure in a love scene. In my entire career, it’s only now that I agreed to do such. That just goes to show that I have so much faith in the material. I want the public to see a different Kim in this film,” she assures.

The petite actress is proud of the fact that in her latest big screen offering, she’s hands-on.

“I was given the chance to give suggestions in the scenes being shot, particularly mine. I’m very happy that Direk Eric was open to my ideas. I’m so happy that they appreciate my comments and suggestions.

It was the first time that I experienced being able to express my viewpoints to our director in order to improve a scene.”

Meanwhile, she praises her two male co-stars in the film.

“Dennis (Trillo) is quiet but intense. Everyone knows his calibre as a thespian. JC (De Vera) is also good. I’m really honored to share the screen with such talented actors!”

Kim is certain that film buffs will like their offering.

“For sure, they’ll do. It’s a fresh combination and the storyline is very relatable. I’m excited with how the viewers will accept it. I hope that come Dec. 25, they’ll take time to watch it. It’s a definite must-see,” she states.

'Halik' is extended due to its outstanding performance in the ratings game.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018

Miss Universe

Catriona Gray a social media star Catriona Gray was crowned Miss Universe on Monday, capping a two-year long journey from her heartbreaking loss at Miss World.

Catriona has risen as visionary beauty queen and social media star overnight with just 600 thousand followers on Instagram a few days before the pageant to an army of two million followers

a few hours after her coronation in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 24-year-old Filipino-Australian won the Philippines' fourth Miss Universe crown, pulling all the stops from a giant lantern strapped to her back, a slow-motion twirl in a hot pink bikini, and a long gown inspired by the lava of the majestic Mayon Volcano.

Nickie Wang

Momoa thrilled his fans in Manila during a fan meet event held at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.

VERY WANG NICKIE WANG

The

KING OF ATLANTIS

Momoa with co-star Amber Heard and director James Wan wowed the crowd at the 'Aquaman' Asian movie premiere in Manila.

H

AWAIIAN-BORN actor Jason Momoa is bringing diversity into the superhero world by playing half-surface dweller, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry otherwise known as Aquaman.

The 39-year-old actor was in town together with co-star Amber Heard and director James Wan for the Asian premiere of their latest film, an action-packed adventure that spans the vast, visually breathtaking underwater world of the seven seas.

“I can’t believe that we’re almost in 2019 and there is no brownskinned superhero. It’s the biggest honor to represent the islands and to represent diversity,” Momoa told the crowd at the jampacked SM Mall of Asia Music Hall during the film’s fan meet.

Aquaman is a colossal warrior who learns of his rightful claim to the throne of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, but is also a self-ascribed outcast both above and below the oceans’ surface.

He lives his life as Arthur Curry, a man raised by his surface dweller father, Tom, despite being the first-born son of Queen Atlanna. His very existence provides a potential bridge between the dwellers of the sea and the surface, but it will be up to him one day to unite them.

“Like Arthur, I was a half-breed, split between Iowa and Hawaii, so I could definitely identify with that. And from the Philippines to Hawaii to Tahiti and Fiji… Many islands have their celebrated water gods. That resonated with me instantly,” Momoa related his diverse ethnic background to his character.

Working together, Wan and Momoa sought to deliver a big screen take on the iconic DC Super Hero that honors his comic book roots, but is also a reinvention for today’s movie audiences, living in today’s world.

From the start, the director suggests, the two shared a unique understanding of Arthur’s own dilemma. “Why I think Jason really connected with this character is his being of two worlds himself,” said Wan, who also grew up divided between two different cultures. “Jason is a Hawaiian who grew up in middle America. He never quite felt like he fit into either world. And that’s something I understand as well, as an Asian guy born

in Malaysia who grew up in Australia. Having such a strong Australian upbringing, I’ve retained my Chinese/Malaysian heritage as well.”

If the character of Arthur Curry was decreed to rule the undersea kingdom of Atlantis, Momoa may have been equally destined to play the role. In addition to his divided origins, elements of his islander life helped Momoa connect to the character more deeply as well.

“I studied marine biology growing up in Iowa,” Momoa added, drawing further comparisons between himself and the character he plays. “Surprisingly, they had this campus in the middle of Des Moines, and it was all aquatics—sharks, eels and so on. I really love the ocean, being an islander. It’s something that absolutely scares me, yet draws me in. It’s calming.

It’s always evolving. It’s always moving. Like fire, you can just stare at it. The mind’s constantly entertained by it. You can get lost in it.”

Momoa, who regularly surfed the South Pacific waves outside his seaside rental home in Australia’s Gold Coast during the film shoot, added that “in Polynesia, the shark is the protector for our family.

They call it the mana, the supernatural power. I had this dream that I’m surfing and see a big shark.

I’m like ‘Hey, bro! I’m one of you!’ I wish I really could talk to fish, to sharks. Of course, now that I’m Aquaman...”

Starring opposite Momoa, Amber Heard offers, “The filmmakers allowed who Jason is to inform our version of Aquaman, and Jason has really recreated the character. I think it is a very refreshing, modern, cool, totally different version of Aquaman that goes beyond what we would expect from the comics, but feels true to them at the same time.”

From Warner Bros.

Aquaman is now screening nationwide.