Manila Standard - 2018 December 25 - Tuesday

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

By Nat Mariano

Cops claim break in Batocabe slay

By Francisco Tuyay, Rey E. Requejo and Nat Mariano

B

ICOL police have identified persons of interest in the assassination of Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe and his police escort PO1 Orlando Diaz, who were gunned down in Daraga, Albay, on Saturday after they left a gift-giving event.

“The update from the Daraga police is that there are persons of interest in the case who are the focus of investigators,” said Chief Insp. Ma. Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of the Special Investigation Task Group Batocabe.

She said some concerned citizens and a possible witness have shared information Next page

CP B C es— o dw n a By Vito Barcelo es

“CHRISTMAS is a time for solidarity and peace-building. Christmas is not a drug to make us forget for few moments our aches and woes,” former Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Next page

Crime tak es a

N O CRIME was reported within the nine days of Simbang Gabi or Dawn Masses, the National Capital Region Police Office said Monday.

“The celebration of the nine-day Simbang Gabi in Metro Manila from December 16 to 24 were generally

San ta o ff t oc hee ROVANIEMI, Finr ch land—Santa ildr Claus has geared en up on Christmas eve

to deliver, full throttle, Yuletide presents to children round the world, in the different continents, with his helpers giving him a musical send-off at his Lapland home.

Rovaniemi is the administrative capital and commercial center of Lapland province, Finland’s Next page

h

PNP y— da oli

CASES of bullying will not stop with the expulsion of a bully, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said after Ateneo de Manila University dismissed a junior high school student who was caught on video bullying a schoolmate.

“If there is a kid who committed wrongdoing and the school [expelled] him, do you think the problem will stop?

No. I’m sure Ateneo is also aware of that,” Briones told the Manila Standard in an interview Sunday.

Briones said Ateneo should look into its implementing rules and regulations that deal with bullying.

“They should also look for other [bullying] instances because these instances are not being talked about by the kids to their parents,” she added.

“The parents, on the other hand, should know that the behavioral problems that the children have are connected with their families, so the parents of both the bully and the victim should know these things,” she added.

Teachers also have an obligation to check the behavior and attitude of their students, she said.

“Because the children don’t speak these problems to their parents casually, the teachers become more aware of these problems,” she said.

Briones said it would be better if private schools aligned their rules with Department of Education protocols for Next page addressing such matters.

VOL. XXXII • NO. 313 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Forg et a ch

Do more than just kick out a bully—Briones

Public told: Be alert as Reds mark founding

By Nat Mariano THE public should take the necessary security precautions and remain vigilant as the communist rebels celebrate their 50th founding anniversary on Dec. 26, the Armed Forces of the Philppines Monday.

In a statement released to the Philippine News Agency, the AFP accused Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Ma. Sison of ordering the New People’s Army to escalate attacks and violence over the holidays, despite its declaration of a unilateral ceasefire that the military has rejected.

“The threat of heightened atrocities marks another year of violence and manifests their nature as a terror group that works to undermine the government, disrupt national development, and damage public and private properties— all to the inconvenience of the Filipino people,” said Col. Noel Detoyato, chief of the military’s public information office.

With only atrocities to show for their 50 years in existence, the CPP and NPA have nothing to celebrate and no achievement of which to be proud, he said.

“Our soldiers on the ground and at all levels of command will continue to monitor and conduct security operations against the CPP-NPA-NDF. We are ready to secure any community threatened by them specially during this season of Christmas celebration,” Next page Detoyato said.

Next page

e! n i h or s

It’s

veand o l joy y, t i on n HOUSE U : Xm o Speaker Gloy o as ria Macapagal-Arroyo Arr expressed hope on Christmas

ain A r , as L O W m st PRESSURE i r Ch area off the

Pacific Ocean is threatening to enter the Philippines on Christmas Day and to develop into a tropical depression, the weather bureau said Monday.

Weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said Next page

Eve that the Filipino people would be inspired to be of service to the others as they celebrate the birth anniversary of the Messiah in the Christian calendar.

Next page

TSUNAMI TRIGGER.

This YouTube video grab from Capt. Mykola of Susi Air shows the eruption on Anak Krakatoa that triggered the tsunami that killed 281 people in Indonesia’s Banten province on Sunday

‘Anak Krakatoa’ feared to trigger further tsunamis CARITA, Indonesia—Indonesian rescuers raced to find survivors Monday after a volcano-triggered tsunami killed at least 281 people, with experts warning the devastated region could be slammed by more deadly waves.

Rescue teams used their bare hands, diggers and other heavy equipment to haul debris Next page

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News

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Anak Krakatoa’...

From A1 from the stricken area around the Sunda Strait, as thousands were evacuated to higher ground.

The powerful tsunami struck without any warning on Saturday night, sweeping over popular beaches of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java and inundating tourist hotels and coastal settlements.

More than 1,000 people were injured and the death toll “will continue to rise,” said disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave that left a tangled mess of corrugated steel roofing, timber and rubble at Carita beach, a popular spot for day-trippers on the west coast of Java.

“The military and police are searching the ruins to see if we can find more victims,” said Dody Ruswandi, a senior official at the disaster agency, adding that the rescue effort was likely to last a week.

In devastated Sukarame village, Sunarti waded through knee-deep water as she searched for belongings outside her destroyed house—and waited for aid to arrive.

“There’s been no help at all so far,” the 61-year-old said from the flattened hamlet.

“Some people are starving.”

Indonesian president Joko Widodo visited the area Monday.

It was the third major natural disaster to strike Indonesia in six months, following a series of powerful earthquakes on the island of Lombok in July and August and a quaketsunami in September that killed around 2,200 people in Palu on Sulawesi island, with thousands more missing and presumed dead.

The vast archipelago nation is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth due to its position straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

Experts say Saturday’s tsunami was likely triggered by a massive underwater landslide following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano in the Sunda Strait.

Unlike those caused by earthquakes, which trigger alert systems, such tsunamis give authorities very little time to warn residents of the impending threat. AFP

Forget...

From A1 Socrates Villegas said in his Christmas message to the Filipino people on Monday.

“The Filipino people must stand up for life and purity and to choose the Lord,” he said.

Villegas, archbishop of Lingayen and Dagupan, said Christmas means God has become like us in all things except sin. Christmas is about the courage of God to defeat evil by the power of love.

“The greater enemy to fight is cowardice and timidity. Tolerance is not a virtue. Tolerance of evil makes us accomplices. It is vulgar to laugh at vulgarity.”

The outspoken Villegas also took a swipe at the Duterte administration, saying there is violence against political opponents while unsolved murders continue to rise and there are more drugs to buy. “There are more criminals set free and the opponents are threatened with imprisonment. Everything is turned into a bad joke.

“The poor are poorer and the rich are getting poor. We scold children who bully their fellow children but we laugh at elderly bullies who flaunt vulgar humor.

“We, your bishops, are called ‘useless,’ and you have been encouraged to kill us.

You are admonished to stay home and not go to Church because you will just see hypocrites at Mass who worship a stupid God.” Still, Villegas expressed hope for the Filipino people this Christmas because God has embraced the people’s hunger and poverty.

“God has joined us in our aches and adversities. God is not far. He is near. He has emptied himself of glory and wrapped himself with our human dirt and ugliness so that we may be wrapped by his robe of mercy.

“It is Christmas. We are happy and we have hope in spite of the darkness we see.

This darkness is not godly. This is the same darkness that rejected Christ when he was born two thousand years ago.”

MMDA increases illegal parking fines

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Metro Manila Development Authority said Monday it will increase the fines for illegal parking in the National Capital Region starting Jan. 7.

The areas where parking is prohibited include the following: • All national roads in Metro Manila; • Primary and secondary roads in the cities and municipalities in Metro Manila that are: Within six (6) meters of any intersection or curved lane; Within four (4) meters of driveways or entrances to any fire station, hospital, clinic and other similar establishment; Within four (4) meters of fire hydrants; • On the roadside of any legally parked vehicle; on pedestrian crosswalks; in front of any authorized driveway; on the

sidewalks, paths and alleys not intended for parking; at the foot of or near bridges; • In any place where official signs have been erected prohibiting parking and/or have been declared as No Parking Zones by the MMDA, such as the Mabuhay Lane and Other areas where parking is prohibited.

MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia said the penalty for illegal parking for attended vehicles had been raised to P1,000 from P200; the fine for illegal parking for unattended vehicles was increased to P2,000 from P500; the fine for obstruct-

Public told:...

From A1

Cops...

He also reminded rebels seeking to return to their families and mainstream society that the lines of communication are always open for those that surrender.

Sison on Monday said the rebels do not feel intimidated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders to the troops to destroy the communists.

“Duterte is failing to intimidate the CPP and the revolutionary masses with his ranting and raving. He merely incriminates himself by openly inciting and ordering his armed minions to engage in mass murder on the basis of mere suspicion that entire legal organizations are communist,” said Sison in a statement two days before the 50th founding anniversary of the rebel group.

“He likewise incriminates himself by inciting and ordering his armed minions to ‘hamlet’ the Lumad people and engage in the unlawful confinement or detention of entire communities,” he added.

He said Duterte wanted to replicate the infamous massacre supposedly committed

by Indonesian President Suharto in 1965 to 1966. With PNA

relating to the attack and CCTV footage that showed the potential suspects.

She added that the P30-million reward for information leading to the arrest of the mastermind in the murders would help.

“The reward will be a big help by encouraging people who know anything to come forward,” she said in Filipino.

Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said they will explore all angles, including the possibility of extortion by the communist New People’s Army.

Albayalde cited intelligence information that the NPAs in the area were attempting to extort Batocabe, but said this was still be verified.

Police are also considering the involvement of a private armed group in the area, he said.

Meanwhile, the regional police cirector said the provincial police chief of Albay has been relieved from his post after the Batocabe assassination over the weekend.

Batocabe was distributing Christmas gifts in his hometown of Daraga, Albay when he and his police escort were shot dead by at least six assailants.

Earlier, the police chief of Daraga town was also removed from his post.

Batocabe, elected to the House in 2010, was eyeing the mayoral seat of Daraga in the 2019 midterm elections. He had voiced concern that rivals in the local race were using armed groups to influence the vote.

Batocabe’s son said Monday the family is still interested in contesting the mayoral post.

“That is not finalized as of the moment but there will be a Batocabe who will run for mayor for Daraga,” his son Justin told reporters.

In the House, opposition lawmakers led

by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman have commit-

It’s Christmas,...

From A1 the LPA was 1,515 kilometers east of Mindanao as of 11 a.m. on Monday, and was forecast to become a tropical depression to be named “Usman.”

Another LPA 325 km west-northwest of Puerto Princes City is expected to bring moderate to heavy rain in the Caraga region, Davao, South Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat.

But the LPA is not likely to develop into a tropical depression and is forecast to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility today.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rain due to the northeast monsoon will prevail in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, Aurelio said. Rio N. Araja

From A1

Do more...

From A1

“May the spirit of the Christmas lift our desire to be of service to others,” she said in a brief message.

The former President—2001 to 2010— also wished the Christmas spirit would usher in unity, love and joy among the 106 million predominantly Christan people.

“Let the holidays fill your home with love and joy. Have a blessed and meaningful Christmas,” Arroyo said.

“In our protocol the teachers have a duty to really observe the behavior of the children because they are the best persons to know the possible violations in school,” she said.

“A deeper understanding of the bullying problem is really important.”

Briones said that the DepEd has dealt with many cases of bullying that did not get the media coverage that the Ateneo case did.

“Ateneo is not the only school that has these problems. There are many instances of bullying [in other places] ,” she said.

Briones said bullying could have a serious effect on children, noting that in other countries, young students have even taken their lives due to the emotional stress and trauma after being bullied.

“Victims don’t get to tell their parents about it. Their classmates can’t even do much to help. Some teachers are also not aware of it. They might do something bad to themselves,” she said.

The DepEd, she said, has been campaigning against bullying by proliferating anti-bullying posters and establishing school councils.

Also, through Parent-Teacher Association in schools, parents and the teacher can discuss the problem among themselves, she said.

“Reporting [the incident], observation [of the students’ behavior], immediate action from the school, and the support from the parents are critical,” she said.

“We have solved so many cases and saved many children. They were not necessarily given media attention but when everyone cooperates, we can avoid having these incidents,” she said.

“This is really a wake-up call for us, especially for all the teachers, students, and even classmates that when they see instances of bullying, they have to report it,” Briones said of the Ateneo case.

“All these [positive] outcomes will only happen if all of us are going to cooperate,” she added.

With Rey E. Requejo

Santa...

From A1

Crime...

From A1

northernmost, only 6 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle—the distance of Makati’s Ayala Avenue and Ortigas Avenue via C-5.

Families gathered in temperatures of -22 degrees Celsius on Sunday night in Rovaniemi, which calls itself Santa’s official hometown, as his helpers put on a song-and-dance performance to wish him the best of luck on his.

The red-clothed Santa briefly spoke to the crowd, wishing them a peaceful and happy Christmas before leaving on a sleigh to stock it up with presents for his Christmas Eve journey.

“Hope you all have had a great year. Of course, there have been many things in the world that should have been different,” he said in English.

“Hopefully, Christmas would bring a little moment when the world and its people would calm down for a while to spend time with family and friends.”

peaceful, with no significant untoward incidents reported,” NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar said in a message to reporters.

But he said the police had rescued close to 1,000 members of indigenous peoples who were begging for alms in Metro Manila.

Eleazar said that, from Dec. 11 up to 5 a.m. of Dec. 24, the police undertook a total of 126 rescue operations that resulted in the rescue of 967 people, 385 of whom were adults or 39.81 percent and 582 were minors or 60.19 percent.

This figure included 210 members (21.72 percent) of the Aeta community, 148 members (15.31 percent) of the Badjao community and 609 (62.98 percent) others.

A total of the 199 rescued Aetas and Badjaos were minors.

Eleazar ordered his five district directors to tighten the security around churches and residential areas to protect churchgoers and thwart burglars.

The five districts covered by the NCRPO are the Manila Police District, Quezon City Police District, Northern Police District, Southern Police District and Eastern Police District. PNA

Arroyo:...

From A

ing the road was increased to P1,000 from P150; and the fine for yellow-lane violation was increased to P1,000.

The increase in fines was based on the regulations signed by the Metro Manila Council, the governing board and policymaking body of the MMDA. Garcia warned vehicle owners they could be fined for illegal parking plus obstruction, and twice a day for the same violations.

He reminded motorists who park their vehicles in front of their houses that they do not own the road.

“Vehicle owners think they own the road in front of their houses, and they have benefited long enough,” Garcia said.

“It’s time for motorists and the government to utilize the thoroughfare.”

Garcia said motorists are prohibited ted to give P50,000 each for the immediate capture of the assassins of Batocabe and his police escort.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers remembered his late colleague Batocabe as a “hardworking” lawmaker and “very capable” vice chairman of his House committee on dangerous drugs, which Barbers chairs.

“Rodel was my vice chairman at fhe House committee on dangerous drugs. He was hardworking, relentless and passionate in his conviction,” the panel chairman wrote on his official Facebook page late Sunday evening.

“He was courageous and outspoken, especially on issues that greatly affect ordinary people,” Barbers said. “Unfortunately, his assailant came like a thief in the night, and when everyone was busy preparing for Christmas.”

Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, member of the Makabayan bloc, expressed hope that the perpetrator of this crime would be brought to justice soon.

He said what happened to Batocabe and his police security “highlights the climate of impunity prevalent in our country now.”

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, meanwhile, urged the Supreme Court to take action on a spate of killings of lawyers.

The IBP appealed to the SC justices to implement measures intended to protect lawyers after some of its members fell prey to criminals, with Batocabe being the latest victim.

“Via an open online petition, beginning with 78 lawyers who agreed to append their names thereto, we respectfully urge the Supreme Court of the Philippines, through the Honorable Chief Justice, to take immediate action to protect lawyers in the Philippines as they perform their function to protect their clients’ rights and uphold the rule of law,” the IBP said in a statement issued by national president Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo.

The IBP made the appeal as it con-

from parking their vehicles on all national highways, including the Mabuhay lanes.

“This directive covers all public roads except in subdivisions and roads covered by existing parking ordinances,” he said.

MMDA data show that at least 45,236 vehicles were fined for illegal parking in 2017.

During his second State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted all roads in the biggest cities cleared of all illegally-parked vehicles to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the metropolis.

He ordered the MMDA and local government units to immediately clear the roads and major thoroughfares of all obstruction, adding he wanted to have a golden age of infrastructure under his term with big-ticket projects such as roads, airports and bridges. demned the Batocabe’s murder.

“We join other sectors in condemning his daylight assassination, even as we remain shocked by the audacity of the concerted action that can only find success in an environment that fosters impunity,” the statement read.

The IBP also cited the killing of another lawyer, Erfe del Castillo, a member of IBP Negros Occidental who was ambushed but survived a rain of bullets in Talisay, Negros Occidental last Friday.

Just last month, lawyer Benjamin Ramos was shot dead by two unidentified men at the public plaza of Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental. Ramos was the secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers-Negros and was actively assisting the families of the victims of the Sagay 9 Massacre.

Also on Monday, the Palace denounced opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan for attributing Batocabe’s death to President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, calling his remarks “reckless and intellectually challenged.”

“Obviously, it is an attempt at gaining political mileage to boost the chances of its senatorial candidates. Using the death of Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe for such purpose however is a blatant disrespect to his memory,” he added.

Panelo said the Palace condemned the lawmaker’s death the moment they caught wind of the killing.

“To associate his death to the current government’s campaign against illegal drugs is grossly irresponsible and utterly unfair,” Panelo said.

He added that the state does not sanction the “daily killings” that Pangilinan cited.

“We reiterate that the President does not, and will never, condone extrajudicial and vigilante killings. Accountability remains a core of good governance and [the President] has made clear his stance relative thereto,” Panelo said.

News

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

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The year CJ post changed hands

By Rey E. Requejo

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HE biggest plot twist of 2018 in the Supreme Court came in the middle of the year—the ouster of sitting Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.

Following a tension-filled oral argument during the high court’s summer session in Baguio City last April that was opened to the public, what was said to be an “ordinary shouting match” between Sereno and her nemesis, Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, led to the 15-member bench voting 8-6 to remove Sereno from her post by granting the quo warranto petition filed by the Solicitor General last May. The quo warranto decision preempted the impeachment proceedings against Sereno before the House of Representatives, where five fellow magistrates—De Castro, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam—testified against the top magistrate.

The impeachment hearings, as well as the ouster of Sereno, had confirmed rumblings during her six-year tenure as chief justice that many of her colleagues didn’t like her.

What was supposed to be a record 18-year-term in the top judicial post was cut short after a majority of her

colleagues in the high court decided to remove Sereno and annul her appointment in 2012 by then-President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. In June, the Court voted 8-6 to deny Sereno’s appeal and rule with finality that her appointment by Aquino was invalid, because she was not qualified for the post due to lack of proven integrity, which was a key constitutional requirement.

The high court ruling cited Sereno’s failure to submit all required Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth when she was teaching law at the University of the Philippines and during her application for the post, effectively reversing the finding of the Judicial and Bar Council when it shortlisted her for the post.

The JBC had required submission of at least 10 SALNs, but Sereno only submitted three—for 1998, 2002 and 2006—yet still made it to the shortlist and was later appointed by Aquino.

The High Tribunal held that Sereno may be removed via quo warranto pro-

ceedings since it is “separate and distinct from impeachment.”

The majority vote was composed of Associate Justices De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Jardeleza, Tijam, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo.

The six magistrates who dissented from the ruling were Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Mariano Del Castillo, Estela Bernabe, Marvic Leonen and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

The justices also ordered an administrative case against Sereno for violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Code of Judicial Conduct “for transgressing the sub judice rule and for casting aspersions and ill motives to the members of the Supreme Court.”

Apparently unsatisfied with her answers as to why she attacked the justices before her media and public appearances during the pendency of the case, the Court initiated the administrative proceedings against Sereno and later unanimously decided to cite her in contempt, penalizing her with a “reprimand” and a warning of harsher punishment upon repetition of her violations.

The SALN controversy was not the only issue hurled against Sereno. She was likewise accused of enjoying lav-

ish benefits for government officials, including use of first-class flights and hotel accommodations in her official trips and use of a brand new P5-million Land Cruiser as service vehicle.

Sereno was also accused of delayed appointments in key judicial positions, supposedly to reserve them for her staff.

Personal grudges

Sereno’s term as Chief Justice witnessed not just differences in her opinions with other justices but also personal grudges with some of them.

De Castro had criticized Sereno for making unilateral decisions on several administrative matters and disrespecting the collegial nature of the Court.

During the hearings on the impeachment case against Sereno filed by lawyer Larry Gadon, De Castro revealed that Sereno unilaterally created an office in the judiciary—an act tantamount to usurpation of Congress’ legislative power and a clear disregard for the decision of her colleagues in the court.

De Castro said she was “taken aback” when Sereno invited her and the other justices in November 2012—just a few months after her appointment as Chief Justice in August that year—and “made it appear” the judiciary was reviving the Regional Court Administrative Office.

Lawmakers back DICT plan to construct more cellular towers

By Maricel V. Cruz LEGISLATORS on Monday expressed support for the call of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan for the construction of more cell towers to improve the country’s internet speed.

Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said if the construction of more cell towers is the main fator in making internet speed faster, then “let’s do it by all means.”

Belmonte noted that as it is, the Philippines is lagging behind other Asean

countries in terms of internet speed.

“I am in favor of faster internet speed.

If more cell towers is the way to do it, l vote yes,” Belmonte said Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, chairman of the House committee on public information, echoed Belmonte’s view.

“I totally agree. The DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] should prioritize farflung areas of the country to keep the pace of development,” said Evardone, a member of the House committee on information technology.

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez said “cell towers should be shared by all telcos and not just exclusive to one.”

“This way we can spread out its location and make our communications faster and more efficient,” Benitez, chairman of the House committee on housing and urban development, said.

Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting, however, noted there are factors to consider in the construction of more cell towers.

“Cell sites are important. But it is more complicated than that. Location and right of way should be considered.

Also, accessibility and speed are two

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different things,” Tambunting, chairman of the House committee on games and amusement, said.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said he hopes Honasan will be able to deliver faster internet service that is vital to country’s growth and development.

“I hope he makes good in his promise to make the internet faster. It is about time the Philippines will be at par with other countries regarding internet connectivity. If he will be able to improve internet services, this could contribute to our growth and development,” Pimentel said.

House passes bill expanding SBMA powers

By Maricel V. Cruz A BILL that strengthens and expands the powers of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Development Authority has been passed at the House of Representatives by a vote of 200 to six without abstention.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, principal author of House Bill No. 8720 mandates the SBMA to have authority and jurisdiction over all economic activities in the free port zone.

The measuren amends Republic Act No. 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992.

The expanded authority of the SBMA includes the power to inspect and register leisure ships and pleasure yachts of any ship owner.

For this purpose, the bill provides the SBMA shall administer and maintain an open register of leisure ships and pleasure yachts subject only to such rules and regulation to be promulgated by the SBMA in consultation with the Department of Transportation.

The bill also mandates the SBMA to administer and implement incentives granted to its registered business enterprises.

Likewise, the SBMA shall fix and impose just and reasonable rates and prices for the establishment, operation and maintenance of infrastructure, services and businesses in the Subic Special Economic Zone pertaining to electronic, web and cloud data operators and providers and telecommunications; shipping and maritime business and activities; airport operations; and all other similar matters inside the economic zone.

Once enacted, the bill hopes to improve the revenue collection of SBMA and thereby increase the shares of the local government units affected as well as that of the ational government.

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Members of the House of Representatives mourn the untimely demise of a distinguished colleague

HONORABLE RODEL M. BATOCABE Representative, AKO BICOL Party List Rep 15th, 16th and 17th Congress

on Saturday, 22 December 2018 at the age of 52.

His remains lie in state at the Arcilla Hall, Bicol University, Daraga, Albay.

Interment will be on Monday, 31 December 2018 at 12 o`clock noon in Daraga, Albay.

A Memorial Service in his honor will be held at the House of Representatives on Monday, 14 January 2019.

We request the pious readers to pray for the eternal repose of his soul.

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Opinion

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Culture of impunity I WISH my readers a merry and blessed Christmas.

Remember that the true essence of Christmas is loving your fellowmen and sharing whatever you have with them. This is just as God the Father shared his son, Jesus Christ, with mankind so that all may be saved from the ravages of sin.

On this day we should also pray that the violence and impunity in our country would end.

us.

It is very much upon

*** The problem with us Filipinos is that we are no longer shocked at these killings, whether they are directed at those involved in drugs, or are politically motivated.

The killings seems to be the new normal, and people look at these with apathy. My gulay, has it come to this?

We see these over media and all we can do is wish that we would not be the next?

And then of course we know that local elected officials take their politics seriously that the option of eliminating their rivals via extreme prejudice is a very real option.

In Ilocandia where I grew up, candidates see politics as a matter of life

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

and death. There is not much natural resource to sustain livelihood. Thus they have to depend on politics to survive.

As the midterm polls approach, expect more killings in the provinces.

This is why I have been suggesting to the President to start a campaign against private armies, hired killers and loose firearms.

The only way these can be stopped is for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Filipinos should also stop being apathetic and indifferent. *** Finally the Bulacan aerotropolis proposal of San Miguel president and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang has obtained the final approval of the National Economic and Development Authority. The project will be awarded in the first quarter of 2019.

This means that early next year, SMC’s P735-billion project to be built on a 2,500-hectare flatlant with four runways and a state-ofthe-art terminal will be up for a Swiss challenge.

Earlier, there were questions posed by the geniuses of the NEDA’s Investment Coordinating Council on the viability of Ang’s proposal. San Miguel gave the assurance that it has the financial clout to undertake the project.

Santa Banana, for a while I was beginning to think that the government has become the biggest stumbling block here.

NEDA secretary general Ernesto Pernia said that there was no government guarantee in the concession agreement as agreed with SMC. Recall that under the Aquino administration, the concession agreement entered into for the MactanCebu International Airport said the government must shell out a terminal fee of P20 billion.

This development in the Bulacan

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Tokens of kindness

IFT-GIVING is a Christmas tradition.

It’s the reason the season is also a time of great economic activity.

There are presents for loved ones and family members, as well as extended families and acquaintances. Sometimes Filipinos take the practice further by giving gifts to everyone they know for the sake of giving. They feel they will be criticized if they turned up empty-handed.

It’s a tradition rooted in good intentions, but could easily be overdone or misused.

What’s often overlooked is a kind of present that is intangible and has no monetary value.

Kindness has always been deemed both virtue and vice,

but in our present dog-eat-dog environment it is more often frowned upon. It is equated with weakness and an inability to assert oneself. To be kind means to allow other people to walk all over you.

But this assumes the worst about our fellowmen. It presupposes that other people will jump at the first opportunity to take advantage of one’s kindness. If we get rid of this assumption, however, kindness will only beget more kindness.

We are seeing a lot of dishonesty, and meanness, and strife, from schoolchildren in uniforms, trolls in front of computer screens, to men and women in positions of power. We are bombarded by the thought that the only solution to social ills is an iron-fisted approach that instills terror and

submission instead of compassion and decency.

It is heartbreaking to see that many actually believe that kindness is an undesirable quality and that real strength is shown by talking tough and taking extreme measures to assert one’s position.

Perhaps it is too late to tell this to Filipinos of a certain age and temperament. They have spent their lifetime living a certain way and will no longer see merit in changing their approach.

But for children, for whom Christmas is, anyway, examples of small acts of kindness—not grand gestures but simple acts in everyday settings—would be priceless as we educate them that not everything has a price tag, and not everything that is noisy and hard is strong.

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An unhappy Christmas FOR some persons and families, it will not be a happy Christmas. Personal crises do not choose a season to come visit our lives. We have no control when we have to face sickness and death. Unwelcome as they are in these holidays days, I know of people getting sick and dying in these days of Christmas.

Certainly, the assassins of my friend and UP Law contemporary Representative Rodel Batocabe did not choose to wait until the season is over to kill him.

In the slums of our cities, the death squads are still after the poor—no mercy even as nearby Simbang Gabi vigil and dawn masses are celebrated.

For the Philippines as a country, it will not be a happy Christmas. For one, there is the rido, what has become a bloody feud, between the New People’s Army and the military with hostilities expected to escalate tomorrow, the 50th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. The President has ordered the hamleting of indigenous peoples, repeating what the Americans did after the Balangiga incident and what Marcos perpetrated during martial law. He has also ordered targeting legal organizations, including human rights advocates, ensuring even more human rights violations.

How do we makes sense of all these violence and killings as we celebrate Christmas Day in 2018?

In a nutshell, Pope Francis explains what happens in today’s feast: “Jesus, the Saviour is born of the Virgin Mary.

The Crib makes us see the ‘sign’ which God has given us: ‘A baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger’.

Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we too set out to see this sign, this event which is renewed yearly in the Church.”

The Holy Father emphasizes that Christmas is an event which is renewed in every family, parish and community which receives the love of God made incarnate in Jesus Christ. According to him: “Like Mary, the Church shows to everyone the ‘sign’ of God: the Child whom she bore in her womb and to whom she gave birth, yet who is the Son of the Most High, since he ‘is of the Holy Spirit’. He is truly the Saviour, for

he is the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sin of the world. With the shepherds, let us bow down before the Lamb, let us worship God’s goodness made flesh, and let us allow tears of repentance to fill our eyes and cleanse our hearts. This is something we all need!

He alone, he alone can save us. Only God’s mercy can free humanity from the many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our midst. The grace of God can convert hearts and offer mankind a way out of humanly insoluble situations.”

How do we make sense of all the violence?

Indeed, as I pointed out at the beginning of this column, we have only to see around us to feel depressed and sometimes hopeless. Our society is so murderous that we are no longer shocked by everyday killings. We have become an angry and hateful society. Watch television, listen to radio or read comments and posts in social media to see how hateful and angry we have become.

The bullying incident in the Ateneo de Manila Junior High School was disturbing, but even more disturbing to me was how supposed adults reacted to the video, from calling for the lynching of the bully and his family to inventing stories about drugs in the school to fit the Duterte narrative in the war against drugs. I am glad and proud that the leadership of the university, especially our president Fr. Jett Villarin SJ and JHS Principal Jonny Salvador acted calmly, decisively, and always compassionately.

Sadly, our leaders are also fueling this hatred by regularly dishing out to the public their own share of acrimony, threats and recriminations. Human conflicts are now so common that people have come to trivialize them. Impunity rules everywhere.

I know Albay, where Representative Batocabe was killed, very well. It is a peaceful place. His assassination is, as far as I know, the first high-profile one in that province. I am afraid it will not Turn to A5

Torun gingerbread: The ancient luxury with a secret recipe

By Mary Sibierski TWO master bakers dressed in white use a long knife to carve a heavy, thick slab of molasses-colored gingerbread dough out of a huge metal vat, where, like wine, it has been maturing for a few months, deep in the cellar of one of the world’s oldest bakeries.

The bakers at the Kopernik Confectionery Factory in Poland’s historic central city of Torun taste the matured dough, checking whether each vat is ready for baking.

The factory has used a jealouslyguarded secret mix of spices since it opened in 1763 and has been serving up its popular brand of gingerbread non-stop ever since, with the exception of a few years’ hiatus during World War II. Only six of the factory’s bakers know

the exact proportion and types of spices that are used, according to spokesman Jakub Kopczynski.

“Cloves preserve the dough, which of course also includes flour and sugar, allowing it to develop its unique flavor as it ages,” he tells AFP. Cinnamon, ginger and pepper are also in the spice mix, he adds, though he politely refuses to divulge further details.

“Like fine wine, good gingerbread must be aged and like wine making, the process requires a lot of know-how,” he adds.

Around him are a hundred or so vats lined up in neat rows across the factory’s bottom floor, each of them weighing around 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds).

Vegan, kosher, non-GMO The bold, inviting aroma of ginger-

bread spice wafts through the sprawling factory on the edge of Torun.

The secret recipe draws on the city’s gingerbread tradition harking back to the Middle Ages when spices from India and the Middle East first began to arrive in Torun, later a major crossroads for Hanseatic trading routes.

Its origins may be ancient, but Torun gingerbread is also as trendy as it gets: the factory has acquired certification attesting that its products are vegan, kosher, non-GMO and that they do not contain palm oil.

“It’s always been our traditional standard; now we have formal recognition,” Kopczynski adds, having moved to another part of the factory, where a conveyor belt feeds gingerbread hearts into a 36-meter-long (119-feet) oven to Turn to A5

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Opinion Health for all HAD this piece of legislation been signed into law by now, it would have made a nice and fitting Christmas gift to the Filipino people, especially those living on the edge of poverty. Nevertheless, we hope this sees the light of day with the onset of the new year.

We’re talking about the Universal Health Care bill, which seeks to give our people access to affordable and quality health care.

The Senate approved the bill last October, while the House of Representatives passed its own version in September last year. A bicameral conference committee passed the consolidated version of the Universal Health Care bill on Nov. 27.

The measure will “provide all Filipinos immediate eligibility and access to preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care for medical, dental, mental and emergency health services, including outpatient drugs, by registering them to a primary health care provider of their choice.”

One of the salient features of the bill is the automatic enrollment of all Filipinos into the National Health Insurance Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. either as direct or indirect contributors. Direct contributors are those who have capacity to pay premiums, while the indirect contributors are indigents and senior citizens, among others.

The proposed law also aims to improve public health facilities and address gaps in human resources for better health service delivery.

The passage of such a bill is actually long overdue. The 1987 Constitution provides that the State “shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” Further on, we have this: “The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive ap-

Culture...

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airport is a Christmas gift, indeed. *** Santa Banana, it’s not New Year’s Eve yet but I am already hearing about injuries related to firecrackers.

This, despite government warnings that these can only bring harm.

The government should just ban the

Torun...

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bake for seven minutes.

The historic factory is a joint-stock company owned by current and former employees, who have shunned offers from foreign investors in order to prevent them from acquiring their prized recipe.

Named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the Torun-born father of modern astronomy who is known as Mikolaj Kopernik in Polish, the factory produced 3,500 tons of gingerbread this year, sold in Poland and across the globe.

Luxury item Polish high school student Jagoda presses a ball of gingerbread dough into a hand-carved wooden cookie mold in the shape of a horseshoe inscribed “szczescie,” or Polish for “luck.”

She has come with her class from the nearby city of Bydgoszcz for a handson baking lesson at the state museum of Torun gingerbread, nestled in the original red-brick Kopernik factory near the city’s historic central square.

“My family has a tradition of mak-

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be the last.

Before this violence, Pope Francis makes it crystal clear: God can change the face of the earth. He can transform our sorrow into joy, despair into hope.

This is the essence of Christmas. God, by his coming into this world, is telling us that evil cannot prevail over his love and goodness; that by reconciling and following him in faithful obedience, he can change our very lives to make the joy of Christmas an everyday experience.

Christ was also born during the most troubled time of the people of Israel.

The Jews were then colonized by the op-

proach to health development which shall endevor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost.

There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.”

The bill seeks to assure steady funding for the health care program from the incremental collections from the Sin Tax Law, 50 percent of the national government share from the income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., 40 percent of the charity fund from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, as well as contributions from the Philippine Health Insurance

We hope the Universal Health Care bill sees the light of day with the onset of the new year.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

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The most significant stories of 2018 While we await the enactment of this bill, we’re glad that the national government will spend P9 billion to deploy more than 13,000 health professionals to underserved communities next year.

The Department of Health is now enlisting 9,138 nurses, 3,650 midwives, 243 physicians and 241 dentists to provide additional medical services in the rural areas.

Of the P9 billion for the Human Resources for Health Deployment Program, P7.8 billion will come from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, with the balance of P1.2 billion from the DOH. To augment regular staff, the DOH has been contracting extra health professionals every year to serve under various programs. These include Doctors to the Barrios, where physicians serve for two years mostly in fourth to sixth-class municipalities that have not had a doctor in the last 24 months; Medical Pool Placement and Utilization, where physicians and medical specialists are deployed to DOHrun provincial hospitals; Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service, where nurses serve for six months in community rural health units and another six months in public hospitals; and Rural Health Midwives, where midwives are assigned to barangay health stations and rural health units to provide maternal and child care services, including basic as well as comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care.

The DOH encourages qualified health professionals looking for gainful employment to sign up so they can help underserved communities while getting adequate compensation. The acquired training from the service would also help qualified professionals land even better jobs in the future.

With universal health care and free college education in state-run universities, we move closer to a kinder, gentler and more humane society where everyone can have access to vital social services to improve their quality of life.

Merry Christmas!

Corp. and appropriations of the Department of Health.

What’s crucial is to ensure adequate funding for this landmark legislation. The DOH, in coordination with PhilHealth, may request Congress to appropriate supplemental funding to meet the financial requirements of the full implementation of universal health care.

Under the bill, PhilHealth payments for local government unit hospitals shall be set aside as a special health fund and be used to improve the health facilities and health service delivery of the LGUs. It also provides that all graduates of allied and health-related courses who are recipients of government-funded scholarship programs shall be required to serve for at least three years in the public sector. ernhil@yahoo.com

sale and distribution of firecrackers.

This is a recurring problem that never gets solved. *** I have my own Persons of the Year.

Mine are Miss Universe Catriona Gray, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio.

No one can argue that Miss Universe Gray indeed brought us great honor. And then, Arroyo showed us that after great hardships one can be

on top again. As for Inday Sara, surveys said she could make it as senator but she has decided to run for reelection. *** I’d like to take this opportunity to commend a nation builder —GMA 7’s Felipe Gozon who has made the Kapuso network no.1 in the Philippines.

His network has outperformed ABS-CBN. Gozon made it all possible.

ing decorated gingerbread cookies to give away as Christmas presents,” the 17-year-old tells AFP, holding a heartshaped cookie impressed with a flower motif in the palm of her hand.

Shaped as knights, angels, princesses or horse-drawn carriages, large gingerbread cookies and cakes, pressed from intricately carved wooden molds, were long among the most exclusive of gifts during the pre-industrial era up until the late 1700s.

“Because the imported spices were so expensive, gingerbread was a luxury item which only the elite could afford,” explains museum director Malgorzata Mikulska-Wernerowicz, adding that gingerbread bakers were also wealthy and stood high on the social ladder.

“Kings visiting Torun received gingerbread from the city council,” she says, standing next to a display with gingerbread molds carved in applewood and pearwood dating from the 1600 and 1700s.

‘Pepper-bread’ Invited by a local prince, knights of the Teutonic Order came from the Holy Land to found Torun, known in German as Thorn, in 1233.

The knights are believed to have

brought the first spices from the Middle East, triggering demand and with it, a lucrative spice trade that helped Torun become one of Europe’s wealthiest cities during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Gingerbread is still big business in Torun, with dozens of bakeries, shops and even a private interactive museum capitalizing on the tradition in the city of just over 200,000 residents.

Unlike the thin, crisp gingerbread snaps popular in Sweden or Britain, Torun gingerbread is chewy and meaty.

Traditionally based on honey, spirits, wheat and rye flour mixed with spices, records show that the Torun variety was already being made by local German bakers in the mid-1500s and drew its name from pepper—Pfefferkuchen— rather than ginger.

The modern-day Polish term for gingerbread—“pierniki”—also refers to pepper.

Legend has it that Copernicus himself enjoyed munching on the treat.

“He came from a family of wealthy merchants so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t have indulged in gingerbread,” says Mikulska-Wernerowicz, with a twinkle in her eye. AFP

pressive Romans. They were governed

by Herod, a foreigner and a usurper, seen by the Jews as a lackey to the Roman oppressors. It was a divided society where life was cheap, brutish, and short.

Through Christ, the people were once again given hope; a renewed belief that God has not abandoned them, and the confidence that with his power behind them, evil cannot gain a foothold. Much more than this, God’s offer however is a gift to Jews and non-Jews alike. It is a universal invitation for mankind to gain salvation and eternal life in the company of a loving Father.

Saint Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria and doctor of the Church, once explained this way why the Messiah was sent to us: “There are public roads and paths

that are hardly passable, but steep and almost inaccessible, such that at time they force us to go up mountains and hills or at times to descend. Sometimes, they run along the edge of sheer cliffs, and other times they make us climb to considerable heights. If these high and steep places were to be lowered, and the deep ravines were filled up, then in every place the irregular heights would be leveled and steep and precipitous climbs would become flat and easily passable roads.

This is what the power of our Lord did in a spiritual sense. When he became man and took flesh, as the scripture says, he destroyed sin in his flesh and he brought down principalities and powers, the rulers of this world. He has prepared

GAA (General Appropriation Act), better known as the national budget, draw to a close, the air was full of charges and counter-charges regarding the crafting of who is indisputably the single most important document of the management of a modern dichromatic economy. A THOUGH anything could still happen senator, with the apparent concurrence between today and yearend, I believe it of Secretary of Budget and Management can be safely said that the following are Benjamin Diokno, charged the Speaker 2018’s most significant stories: and Majority leader of the House of RepInflation: Undoubtedly the most sig- resentatives. With humongous insertions nificant story of the year about to end has in the proposed GAA, the Speaker’s men, been the surge in consumer and producer on cue, made counter-charges against prices. It began in the year’s fist quarter, Mr. Diokno and demanded his resignawhen the increase in prices coincided tion. How the final GAA will look like with the beginning of its implementation. is uncertain; what is certain that the 2019 Blame for inflation -the worst since the national budget will be far from being world economic crisis of 2008-can be the document that idealistic economists rightly laid at the door of the first TRAIN dream about.

(Tax Reform for Acceleration and IncluBSP Intered sion) package. The Rate Increases. ad mi nist ration The BSP (Bangof President Duko Sentral ng terte has sought Pilipinas) raised to blame it on the its basic leading Here are what mismanagement rate three times a made the headlines of the national total of 175 basis rice situation, but this year. points- bringing the structure and it to 4.75 percent, workings of the its highest level Philippine econoin nine years. my suggest that the Considering that greatest culprit was TRAIN I’s raising of the objective of an interest rate hike the excise taxes on petroleum products, is to discourage borrowing, questions adverse impact on fuel prices was exac- were raised about the properiety of riserbated by the resurgence of world oil ing a monetary tool to address a probprices after a period of weakness. Con- lem essentially fiscal in nature. Many forming the close inter-relation between have argued that the inflation has been fuel prices and CPI (The consumer price caused not by excessive aggregate deindex), Congress, at the Duterte adminis- mand but by more expensive supplies tration’s urging,agreed to the suspension of goods and services, but the BSP reof the fuel excise taxes programmed by mains convinced that it has been doing TRAIN 2. the right thing.

Weakening of the peso. The year that’s Third Telcos Industry Player. After about to end saw the peso at its lowest much regulatory debate and bureaulevel in 12 years. Given the impact of a cratic hassle,the government delivered weakening currency on a country’s im- year-end, on candidate Rodrigo Duterte’s ports, the steady decline of the peso, the company’s promise to put an end to the scissors-like movement of Philippine Smart-Globe Telecommunications inexternal trade-burgeoning imports and dustry duopoly. The winner of the thirdstagnant exports-has cassed the nation’s telco bidding was Mindanao Islamic external trades deficit to balloon to a Telecommunications Co. Needless to staggering near-$40 billion. The deficit say, the 40-percent interest of Chinese has placed heavy downward pressure on government-owned China Telecoms Co. the peso, which in turn has made life dif- in raised questions related to national seficult for the inflation managers. curity.

External Trade gap. As already startDraft of proposed New Constitution. ed, that year’s Philippine’ external trade In keeping with the six-month deadline deficit was, at year-end, on the way to the set by President Duterte, the 21-mem$40-billion level. There’s nothing wrong ber commission charged with drafting a with an import trade that’s mostly com- Basic Law to replace the 1987 Constituposed of goods for production- machin- tion completed its work as mid-year and ery and equipment, intermediate goods presented the document to the Chief Exand raw materials- but there has to be a ecutive. Because it embodied a shift to a balancing trend on the export side of the federalist form of government, the Conledger. Unfortunately, no such balancing sultative Commission’s handiwork was trend can be discerned, and DTI (Depart- quickly opposed by the Duterte adminment of Trade and Industry) does not ap- istration’s economic managers speaking pear to have any kind of robust export in unison. With the economic managers’ program in the works. from opposition, the future of the proAt the rate things are going, this coun- posed new Constitution must be said to try could well incur another gargantuan be doubtful at best. external trade deficit in 2019. SomeRehabilitation of Boracay and 2019 thing’s got to give; in the absence of any Electoral Exercise. Other significant support on the exports side, it is the Du- stories of 2018 were the six-month cloterte administration’s Build Build Build sure of Boracay Island for rehabilitaprogram that will have to give. tion and the filing of CoC (certificates General Appropriation Act. As the pe- of candidacy) for the May 19, 2019 riod for Congressional action on the 2019 election.

Tougher laws needed BULLYING is a global problem. It happens everywhere, in schools, in workplaces, in our neighborhoods, and on the Internet as well.

Unfortunately, that bully in Ateneo is a minor. Therefore, he is instantly absolved from any criminal liability as prescribed by our juvenile justice law.

But we know that this karate champ has committed such a despicable, unprovoked violence against his defenseless schoolmates. There is reason to be concerned that he could carry on with this senseless violence in his adult life.

Understandably, there is widespread clamor to junk the law in favor of lowering the age of criminal liability because of frustration over the Pangilinan law that renders the anti-bullying law useless.

The Ateneo controversy may not be an isolated case of bullying. It may have been going on for quite some time in that premiere school on Katipunan.

One thing is certain: The same acts of violence terrorize other elementary and high school campuses nationwide.

This is why the public supports stricter and tougher laws against budding criminals and terrorists.

In one earlier survey, majority of the people favor the restoration of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime.

Similarly, Mindanaoans have favored the continued imposition of martial law in the South.

People are simply fed up with crime and the futility of current laws in preventing injustices and abuses against helpless victims.

Worse, those whom we trust to protect and to serve us are often the instigators of these injustices.

Finally, juvenile delinquency must not be tolerated in our society in any way as it breeds potential criminals.

for us the road of love, free and right for traveling without ups and downs, with no valleys or stretches of desert, by all level.

The twisted paths have become straight: Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all humanity will see the salvation of God. He was and is the only begotten Word of God that is, the living God mysterious begotten by God the Father, in his divine majesty, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, or a any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the one to come. He is the Lord of glory, and we have known his glory, even if once we did not know it, when, made man like us, according to the divine plan, he affirmed his equality with God the Father in power,

works, in glory, sustaining all things by his powerful word, accomplishing miracles with ease, commanding creation, resurrecting the dead, and effortlessly working wonders.”

This Christmas day, the Lord is once again renewing this invitation to us— follow him and gain eternal life. Because Christ came into this world, we can now face every Herod and Roman oppressor, every bully and every leader that inflicts hate and sow turmoil among us with courage and confidence, and yes with hope. And then we won’t have an unhappy Christmas but a blessed one.

To all my readers, may you have a Christmas of hope!

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Subic Port notches highest ever revenue THE Port of Subic made history this year by collecting the highest ever recorded annual revenue amounting to P22 billion, surpassing the total P21.6billion revenue goal for 2018.

The port’s P2.2-billion collection for the month of December already surpassed the monthly target by P270 million or up by 14.5 percent. The amount contributed to the annual surplus of P900 million or a deviation of +4.26 percent against its 2018 target.

Subic also posted a double-digit collection growth in the last quarter of the year, collecting import duties and taxes amounting to P2.182 billion in October, higher than its P2.095-billion revenue target for the month.

The actual collections of the port from import shipments in the entire month of November also reached P2.347 billion, the highest collection in its revenue history.

Last September, the port achieved a P93-million surplus for collecting P2.188 billion against its goal of P2.096 billion.

Subic has been consistently hitting an all-time high historical collection since the assumption of collector lawyer Rhea Gregorio.

“Port of Subic remains committed in its drive to collect revenues and vigilant in its efforts to prevent smuggling and the commission of fraudulent and illegal acts,” she said.

According to Gregorio, the positive performance of the port in ensuring that proper and correct duties and taxes are assessed and collected from import shipments is essential in meeting the collection target.

She also attributed the continuous improvement in Subic’s revenue collection to the implementation of tax reform law that imposed fuel excise tax hike and the higher exchange rate.

The government’s economic managers want the second round of the oil tax increase to push through due to the recent drop in world oil prices.

Excise taxes on diesel and gasoline would be increased by P2 per liter effective Jan. 1, 2019.

Subic has been heavily relying on the entry of oil imports for its monthly revenue collections.

In February, then commissioner Isidro Lapeña Jr. came up with a memorandum stating that all district collectors, deputy collectors for assessment, chief of Formal Entry Division, examiners, appraisers and all personnel in charge of assessment of the collection districts who failed to meet the target will be relieved. Joel Zurbano

9 suspected trafficking victims saved

By Vito Barcelo IMMIGRATION officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport rescued nine suspected human trafficking victims who disguised themselves as tourists in an attempt to leave for South Korea.

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the passengers were about to board an Air Asia flight to Taipei when they were intercepted by members of the bureau’s travel control and enforcement unit.

“They admitted that they were actually destined for Korea where they were illegally recruited to work as orange pickers in a plantation in Jeju Island,” Medina said.

He said the passengers initially claimed they were traveling as tourists to watch a Nanta acrobatic exhibition show in the said island.

“When asked, they could not explain and had no idea what the Nanta show is all about and their answers to questions by immigration officers were highly inconsistent,” Medina said.

“When pressed on the actual purpose of their trip, they confessed that they were hired to work with a promised monthly salary of P65,000.”

The victims, whose identities were not divulged due to a prohibition in the anti-trafficking law, were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and further investigation.

NAIA Terminal 3 BI-TCEU Chief Glen Comia said that the apprehension occurred barely three days after immigration officers also intercepted eight trafficking victims who were illegally recruited to work in Cyprus.

“It appears that only one syndicate was behind the recruitment of these victims,” Comia said. “This is a well entrenched trafficking syndicate that operates in both Europe and Asia.”

HOLIDAY DELICACY. An unidentified vendor arranges lechon bread at a stall in Quiapo, Manila. ‘Lechon’, or roasted pig, has always been a regular delicacy every festivity, especially during Christmas and New Year celebrations. Norman Cruz

MIAA to work closely with US Homeland Security dept.

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Manila International Airport Authority will work closely with the US Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration to boost security measures for the protection of air travelers.

The move, according to MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal, is in line with the agency’s program to enhance and improve security measures at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“We were informed by the TSA about their observations regarding procedures, processes, equipment and personnel posting at the NAIA following an assessment period from Sept. 26 to Dec. 5 this year, during which time the MIAA and the Office for Transportation Security have implemented measures to rectify and make improvements on security issues that were identified,” Monreal said.

For instance, new background check procedures for newly hired airport personnel will include neighborhood and NICA (National Intelligence Coordinating Agency) checks for those implementing security control, and submission

of new NBI clearances for all MIAA access pass holders will be required.

“Strict measures are being put into place in terms of personnel manning security checkpoints. In case of a delinquency report, the concerned personnel will be immediately pulled out from the line and will undergo retraining before being sent back on line. But, if a second delinquency incident occurs, then that personnel is out,” Monreal said.

The MIAA chief likewise noted that the procurement process for the needed equipment such as walk-through metal detectors, X-ray machines and alarm systems, are already ongoing, in compliance with government rules and procedures.

“Procurement for the necessary equipment are ongoing, but we need to understand that we cannot have these instantly.

These are not items off the shelves, and

manufacturing time after we place the orders may take six months. But, as instructed by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, we will make sure there will be no delays in the process so we can make use of these equipment within 2019,” Monreal said.

“Secretary Tugade is monitoring our progress on a day to day basis to ensure that even the smallest concern are being addressed. He doesn’t want us to just wait and do nothing. So, while we are waiting for the delivery of these equipment, such as standalone alarm systems, manual interventions have been strictly put in place, for instance, the posting of additional MIAA-contracted guards 24/7. All these, we do, because safety and security have always been a top priority for us at NAIA,” he added.

Monreal also disclosed that the International Civil Aviation Organization had furnished the MIAA and OTS copies of its latest security audit findings, saying that both agencies satisfactorily complied with ICAO standards with some comments and suggestions on implementing the corrective action plan crafted by the said agencies.

‘Tariffied set better for NFA’ SENATOR Cynthia Villar said the National Food Authority would be assuming a better role under a tariffied system and that is making sure the poorest sector of society would continue to have access to cheap rice.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food and principal sponsor of the rice tariffication bill, made this statement after President Rodrigo Duterte gave the assurance that even with the liberalization of the rice industry, NFA would continue to provide the public particularly the less fortunate with rice that is affordable and safe.

“We should start with making sure the 4.8 million beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer program, will be provided with rice that is produced by local farmers,” Villar said.

“This way, we will continue to provide local farmers the market for their produce and at the same time provide CCT beneficiaries with safe and quality rice,” she added.

Villar noted that this scheme would help farmers increase their productivity and profitability by allowing them to produce the rice requirement under the P28-billion rice subsidy of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), at a time when imported rice starts flooding the market.

The senator has been calling for a review of the 4Ps program after it failed to bring down poverty figure in the country, which remains at 27 percent after spending billions of pesos and years of 4Ps implementation.

She has been advocating for a CCT program tied up with agriculture like what is being done in Brazil and Thailand. Macon Ramos-Araneta

EASY LANES. Motorists traveling along Edsa, the main highway in Metro Manila, experience no hobbling vehicular traffic on both sides of the former Highway 54, a daily sight of traffic gridlocks except on Christmas Eve and Good Friday. Manny Palmero

Enrile notes ‘something lacking’ in open debate

By Macon Ramos-Araneta FOLLOWING his remarks on senators resorting to discussions over coffee rather than open debate in the current Senate, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile says he finds “something lacking” in the way the present members of the Upper House tackles issues of national and international concern.

“In my opinion, there is something lacking in the treatment of issues and problems that are coming up in that forum of the people. Mind you, the House of Representatives and the Senate, in a democracy, are not just making laws,” said Enrile.

“They are the forums where you discuss national issues that impinge on the lives of the people that are governed,” said Enrile, who is running as a senatorial candidate in the 2019 midterm elections.

For the former Senate President, this is the reason why voters must look at the experience and expertise of those being elected into the lawmaking body.

“You must have people there who have enough sense, enough experience, enough understanding of the national issues that they are tackling. I’m not saying that [present senators] don’t have that,” Enrile added.

Unfortunately, he said, the breadth and the width and depth of their experience were not enough.

He explained that open debate could lead to pivotal laws of national concern that could change the course of the country’s history.

Using an anecdote from his first term as senator from 1987-1992 as an example, Enrile said, “We were able to discuss all the problems of the country, so much so that the once very sacred treaty that we have with America—the military bases agreement—was up for revision and extension.”

“There was only one among 23 other senators that was against it. I was the 2nd one who was against it,” he added, saying: “Bobby Tañada and I were able to convince 10 others to go along with our position and that is why we knocked out the extension of the military bases of the United States.”

4 dead, 4 hurt in MILF shootout over land dispute CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao—Four members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were killed while four others, including two civilians, were wounded as two MILF factions traded bullets in Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao on Sunday, the military reported.

The warring MILF groups are locked in a long-standing family feud over ownership of vast parcels of land in Barangay Kaya-Kaya of the town, sources told PNA. Over a hundred civilians have fled to safer grounds after the groups of Datu Item and Commander Bravo Lindungan, both of the MILF 106th Base Command,

began exchanging shots and 40-mm mortar fire around 9 a.m. Sunday.

Reports reaching the office of Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, police director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, showed the two warring MILF leaders were squabbling over ownership of land, some of which had bananas planted for export.

The MILF fatalities were identified as Kage Lasam, Saudi Endal, and a certain Paking and Sury, while those wounded were Agus Endal and a certain Bryan, all under Datu Item’s group.

Maj. Arvin Encinas, spokesperson of Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said some

civilians were also injured in the crossfire.

They were identified as Denden Guiapal, 17, of Barangay Kaya-Kaya, and Jana Sangki, 25, of adjacent Barangay Kakal.

“The civilian victims went out too late.

They were caught in the crossfire and hit by stray bullets,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, 6th ID chief, directed the Army’s 601st and 1st Mechanized Brigade to help local officials and the MILF leadership in settling the conflict peacefully.

The displaced families are now being attended to by the local government of Datu Abdullah Sangki. PNA

Sports

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

A7

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Notorious strait could decide Sydney-Hobart race record

Mantahas, improvised dragonboats made out of two hulls of the typical fisherman’s outrigger boat to simulate the excitement of sprint paddling, cleave through the waters of the Tabuk Mangrove Park.

Palompon emerges as hub of watersports in Visayas T

HE town of Palompon, Leyte strengthened its positioning as a mecca for watersports with the successful staging of the recent Abre Grande sports festival which featured a 15-km kayak marathon and a mantaha regatta.

Organized by the Palompon Municipal Eco-tourism Council Inc. and supported by 2Go Travel Supercat and the Department of Tourism-Region 8, the sports fest is the kick-off to the monthlong Lawig Festival which is part of the town’s patronal feast of St. Francis Xavier.

According to Mayor Ramon Oñate, the sports extravaganza and the festival seek to promote environmental protection through eco-water sports and rediscover the town’s precolonial heritage of sailing and maritime trading.

Legaspi wins Mandaluyong chess tourney MERIDIAN Educational Institution, Santa Rosa head coach Gary Arcamo Legaspi capped another memorable campaign after winning the Mandaluyong Two Knight Chess Tournaments (2150 and below non-master), Sunday, December 23, 2018 at the Barangay Bagong Silang covered court in Mandaluyong City.

Legaspi collected 6.5 points on six wins and one draw to win the top prize P6,000 in the sevenround tournament hosted by Antonio Cruz Jr. and supervised

by National Arbiters Alexander “Alex” Dinoy and Alfredo Chay of the Chess Arbiter Union of the Philippines.

Jan Francis Mirano of Aklan came second with 6.0 points to receive the runner-up prize of P4,500.

Narquingel Reyes of Rodriguez, Rizal, John Lee Antonio of Makati City and Alfredo Rapanot of Cagayan de Oro City occupied third, fourth and fifth places, respectively with 5.5 points each.

Rounding up to the top nine with 5.0 points each are Rowell Roque of Valenzuela City, Paolo Angelo Garcia of General Trias City, Cavite, Ramel Ramilla of Antipolo City, Rizal and Mark Gerald Reyes of Rodriguez, Rizal.

Paul Sanchez, meantime tallied 4.5 points to finished tenth place and won the top Mandaluyong City award.

He said that Kalanggaman is also an emerging scuba diving site with lush coral walls and marine life on both sides.

The tandems of homegrown paddlers Marjun Montealto and Joemer Montealto of Team Cyclist Palompon and Diosdado Paradero Jr. and Arnold Panilag of Team JoPao capitalized on their home water advantage to capture the first and second places, respectively, of the kayak marathon.

Visiting competitors Danilo Atendido and Joebert Abad of Team LGU

Dimasalang from Masbate province edged the rest of the pack to secure their third-place finish.

The paddle fest ran from the Kalanggaman island, named last year as the country’s most amazing sandbar by the travel portal Skyscanner, to Palompon town proper.

In the mantaha category, Cambinoy Mangrove and Livelihood Association Paddlers and Brgy. Parilla 4Ps Paddlers, snatched the top two honors, with Dimasalang Masbate National High School Paddlers settling for third.

The mantaha is an improvised dragonboat made out of two hulls of the typical fisherman’s outrigger boat to simulate the excitement of sprint paddling. Crewed by eight paddlers, a drummer and a rudder man, the

300-meter race was held at the town’s Tabuk Mangrove Park.

Now on its eighth edition, Abre Grande also included with duathlon for kids and open categories (run, bike, run), long board competitions, and a 6.42-km trail run at the Palompon Terrestrial Eco-Adventure Park.

Literally meaning “grand opening”, it is a recipient of the Pearl Award from the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP) for being country’s best sports tourism event in 2017.

Meanwhile, Palompon town was elevated to the group’s Hall of Fame for winning the Best Tourism-Oriented Local Government Unit (Municipality Level) for three years in a row because of this event.

SYDNEY, Australia—A new record time for Australia’s toughest yacht race could be thwarted by shifting winds in the notoriously wild Bass Strait after the 2018 Sydney-Hobart begins on Wednesday.

The forecast is for a gusty start with a favorable strong north-easterly breeze, although a possible southerly change could thwart the supermaxis’ record bid and turn the treacherous strait into “a parking lot”.

The gruelling annual contest, in its 74th edition, will see 85 yachts depart Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, December 26, at 1:00 pm (0200 GMT) for the brutal 628-nautical mile (1,163-kilometer) dash across the Tasman Sea to Hobart.

This year’s bluewater classic will mark the 20th anniversary of a fatal storm that saw six sailors lose their lives in mountainous seas and wild winds as strong as those in a category two tropical cyclone.

The devastating deep depression that struck in 1998 saw just 44 yachts out of 115 finish the race, with sailors this year set to observe a moment of silence on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Boxing Day morning would feature light winds, before a “very stiff north to northeasterly sea breeze” develops in the afternoon.

“If it is a fairly early sea breeze, we could see quite a fast start for the yachts... going out of (Sydney) Heads,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Simon Louis told AFP. Predictions had been for north to northeasterly winds of up to 25 knots with gusts to 35 knots along the entire route.

But latest forecasts indicate a possibility of a trough developing over the eastern Bass Strait between Tasmania and the Australian mainland.

“If that happens, then we’ll see much lighter winds developing in the second half of the race over eastern Bass Strait and eastern Tasmania.”

Such a situation could turn the Bass Strait into a “parking lot”, quipped David Sudano, the navigator for 51-footer Primitive Cool.

Also standing between the yachts and a new race record is Hobart’s famously sluggish River Derwent, which could slow the front runners by hours with its windless holes.

Described as the “Everest” of ocean racing, this year’s Sydney to Hobart features five supermaxis—including last year’s record-breaking Comanche—and 13 international entrants. AFP

Patriots, Cowboys grab NFL playoff berths, Eagles alive

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass during the first half against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on December 23, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. AFP

WASHINGTON, United States— New England and Dallas secured NFL playoff berths with home triumphs Sunday while New Orleans claimed a post-season homefield edge and reigning champion Philadelphia stayed in the title chase.

The Dallas Cowboys joined the New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams and Chicago in the National Conference playoffs while New England and Houston joined Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers in the American Conference playoffs, leaving four playoff spots up for grabs.

New England became the first team in NFL history to reach the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons as the Patriots beat Buffalo 24-12 but Tom Brady threw for only 126 yards and a touchdown, sparking injury fears for the 41-year-old quarterback, a five-time Super Bowl winner.

“I feel great. I feel 100 percent. I’m not injured,” Brady said. “We didn’t have our best passing day. But we won, so I think everybody is feeling pretty good.”

The Patriots captured their 10th consecutive AFC East division title, a feat matched only in North American sports by baseball’s Atlanta Braves, and 16th in 18 seasons.

Touchdown runs by James White

and Sony Michel gave the Patriots a 14-0 half-time lead and Brady tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman to thwart a Bills rally as New England (10-5) improved to 7-0 at home this season.

At Dallas, Dak Prescott threw for one touchdown and ran for another while Jaylon Smith returned a fumble 69 yards for a touchdown to power the Cowboys over Tampa Bay 27-20 and clinch a third NFC East crown for Dallas in five seasons.

Prescott connected on 20-of-25 passes for 161 yards and Ezekiel Elliott ran 18 times for 85 yards as the Cowboys improved to 9-6.

“We have a very tough defense that gives offenses hell every week. We’re a tough, gritty offense -- I think the sky is the limit for us,” Elliott said.

Philadelphia’s Nick Foles threw for a club-record 471 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Eagles over Houston visiting Houston 32-30 to sustain their hopes of becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl winner since New England in 2004 and 2005.

Houston’s DeShaun Watson ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more, the last of them a 35-yarder to Vyncint Smith with 2:04 remaining that put the Texans ahead. AFP

FM Elorta rules Chess Circle Club-All Masters Rapid Chess FIDE Master David Elorta emerged the winner of the one-day Chess Circle Club-All Masters Rapid chess tournament which concluded last Saturday, December 22, 2018 at the second floor Activity Hall of Alphaland Makati Place in Malugay Street, Makati City.

Elorta, a habitue of Tarrasch Knight Chess Club in Guadalupe Mall, collected 6.0 points to win the seven-round tournament going home with the top purse of P10,000 and “Eugene Torre Trophy” in the National Chess Federation of the Philippines sanctioned tournament.

Chess Circle Club International founding head/ president Leonardo “Nards” Jimenez and vice president Exy Perez in close cooperation with Asia’s First

Grandmaster Eugene Torre, Lea Bautista and Alphaland Corporation organized the tournament which attracted 26 country’s chess masters.

Grandmaster Darwin Laylo, Fide Master Nelson “Elo” Mariano III and International Master Angelo Young occupied second, third and fourth place with 5.0 points each.

International Master Oliver Dimakiling led the huge group of 4.0 pointers that includes National Master Noel dela Cruz, National Master Edgardo Garma, National Master Edmundo Gatus, National Master Giovanni Mejia, Woman International Master Marie Antoinette San Diego, Fide Master Narquingden Reyes and Fide Master Randy Segarra.

San Diego along with Woman Fide Master

Allaney Gia Doroy and Woman Fide Master Samantha Glo Revita won the top three lady award while Fide Master Adrian Ros Pacis got the top senior plum.

Elorta also won the 2nd Canon Carlsen Kasparov Chess Club’s Weekly Open Rapid Chess Tournament (Open division) dubbed as Imus Open Rapid Chess Championship at the City Mall along Aguinaldo Highway in Imus, Cavite last Oct. 21, 2018.

Last Wednesday, December 19, 2018, Elorta also topped the Christmas Open Blitz Chess Tournament dubbed as “Pamaskong Alay ng Ajedrez Blitz Fun Palaro at Pagtipon-tipon” held at the Philippine Academy For Chess Excellence (PACE) number 56 Mindanao Avenue, Project 6, Quezon City.

Sports

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

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

PSC-DOJ partnership meant to keep NSAs in line THE partnership forged by the Philippine Sports Commission with the Department will help ensure good governance among the national sports associations.

Deputy Executive Director Guillermo Iroy said this after the PSC signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Justice last Wednesday.

“This is the first that there is an agreement with the DOJ. This will ensure good governance among the NSAs,” stated Iroy.

With the agreement, financial assistance that have been mishandled and criminal cases involving athletes and coaches, and other sports officials can now be properly tackled by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Legal steps can be taken with little trouble by the PSC with the help of the DOJ The PSC can tap the National Bureau of Investigation, which will be involved once again in efforts to resolve legal cases the concerns the national sports association, athletes, coaches and officials.

PSC chairman William Ramirez said that guidance from the DOJ is needed since accountability is expected of the PSC. The PSC plans to adopt no liquidation, no assistance policy in the coming year.

This is for NSAs which have internal disputes and those that have unliquidated financial assistance within 30 days after getting funds from the PSC. In line with the requirements of DOJ, the agency is creating a task force that will coordinate and work closely on standing cases and other conflicts that may be referred by the PSC. Iroy cited the last year’s activities when the NBI filed cases of malversation against a sports official in karatedo.

Philippine Karatedo Federation official Raymund Lee-Reyes got in trouble after the national team went to Germany for training in July 2017.

Six members of the national squad were among those filed complaints before the PSC, and cases of malversation of public funds and property were eventually pursued against Reyes, who alleged that they did not fully receive their allowances during the trip. Peter Atencio

‘Mighty Mouse’ looks forward to stacked GP DEMETRIOUS Johnson can’t wait for stacked Flyweight Grand Prix to begin.

Johnson—who defended his UFC Flyweight World Title an unrivaled 11 times—got his first taste of the promotion in person on his recent trip to Singapore for ONE: Heart of the Lion and the experience made “Mighty Mouse” even more motivated to make his debut in The Home Of Martial Arts.

“The team was awesome with so much energy,” says the AMC Pankration athlete.

“The production of the show was so cool. I loved the old-school ring entrances with the fireworks and the whole nine yards, Nora the ring announcer is fantastic, and the fans were great!”

Johnson will make his debut in his new home as part of the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix, which will begin on 31 March in Tokyo, Japan at ONE: A New Era. His first assignment will be to get past Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu in the quarter-finals and set up a bout in the next round against one of the division’s other elite athletes.

With so many potentially exciting match-ups for the American in the bustling weight class, the eight-man tournament has piqued his interest.

“I’m excited for it – it’s going to be a fun time,” says the 32-year-old.

“I cannot wait to see how the brackets work out, and to just get going.

“I’m just hoping I can stay healthy, as I think that will be the most difficult part – competing so often – but I will fight as much as my body will let me.”

The top spot in the flyweight division has been hotly contested in recent times.

Current ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio sits at the top of the pile, and he will defend his World Title against former titleholder Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes in a rubber match in January.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (center) glides to the hoop against a pair of Los Angeles Clippers defenders during their game won by the Warriors, 129-127. AFP

Curry lifts Warriors over LA Clippers

L

OS ANGELES—Stephen Curry scored the last of his 42 points on a driving layup with a half-second remaining Sunday and reigning NBA champion Golden State edged the Los Angeles Clippers 129-127.

Kevin Durant added 35 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors (23-11), who won for the eighth time in 10 games despite the Clippers hitting 18-of-23 threepoint attempts.

Curry did not play when the Clippers beat the Warriors in overtime earlier this season but the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player lifted Golden State on his shoulders in the rematch and

closed out the victory with his dramatic winning shot.

“Just got to make a play and not rush and beat them downhill and I made the play,” Curry said. “It was a great way to finish.”

In another dramatic finish, Oklahoma City’s Paul George missed a three-point shot at the buzzer and Minnesota held off the Thunder to win 114-112.

Andrew Wiggins scored 30 points to lead the Timberwolves while George had a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds.

Russell Westbrook had a triple double in a losing cause with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Celtics win, Lakers lose Kyrie Irving scored 25 points to lead the Boston Celtics over visiting Charlotte 119-103 while Tyler Johnson scored 20 of his 25 points in the third quarter of

Miami’s 115-91 win at Orlando.

Jaren Jackson scored a game-high 27 points to lead visiting Memphis over the Los Angeles Lakers 107-99 despite 22 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and seven assists by LeBron James.

Bahamas big man Deandre Ayton, the top pick in June’s NBA Draft by Phoenix, scored 26 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a losing cause as Brooklyn ripped the visiting Suns 111-103.

Damian Lillard scored a game-high 33 points to lead Portland over Dallas 121118 in overtime. Luka Doncic, a 19-yearold Slovenian rookie forward, sank a three-pointer at the buzzer to pull Dallas level at 107-107 and force overtime.

Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points, hitting 5-of-10 threepoint shots, to lead the Chicago Bulls over host Cleveland 112-92. AFP

Barroca, Hotshots have little time to rest THE Magnolia Hotshots will have little time to rest before they start their campaign in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All Filipino Conference, which gets going on Jan. 13.

For Governors Cup MVP, every moment of rest counts.

“Mabilisan lang. Kailangan maging sharp. Konti lang ang pahinga,” said Barroca during their of their Governors Cup title win at the SMC Head Office in Mandaluyong City.

The Hotshots finished with a 3-2 win-loss in the best-of-seven affair with the Alaska Aces, and after taking Game 5, with a 102-86 win at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.

In the coming conference, the 32-year-old Barroca is again expected to lead the team with Paul Lee, along with a younger Jio Jalalon.

Former San Sebastian star Michael Calisaan, the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, will be around to add flavor their frontline.

Barroca said he is also upbeat with the return of Marc Pingris.

The 37-year-old Pingris, who is nine-time PBA champion, is back after undergoing surgery last March to repair a torn ACL. “Pabalik na si Ping. Kumpiyansa kami sa pagbalik niya.

Kumpiyansa kami na maka-final 4 ulit,” added Barroca.

The presence of speedy guards like Barroca in the rotation allowed Magnolia to pick on its game during the recent conferemce, with total steals per game of 11.44.

They were also able to score an average of 20.23 points off turnovers and 7.05 fast break points.

The Magnolia victory completed a Triple Crown feat for San Miguel Corp. after the Hotshots topped the Alaska Milk Aces in their PBA Governors Cup title playoff.

As the Hotshots ruled the season-ending tourney, SMC pulled a grand slam as the San Miguel Beermen annexed the Philippine Cup title then Barangay Ginebra Kings reigned

Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok guard Marc Barroca (right) protects the basketball against Alaska Aces defender Chris Banchero. PBA Media

supreme in the Commissioner’s Cup. It’s the seventh straight championship for the SMC Group, ninth in the last 10 tourneys and 14th in the last 16.

But it’s the first time that the three different teams from SMC split the three crowns.

In the previous season, the Beermen won the first two conferences, then the Kings ruled the last confab. Peter Atencio

PH wants to improve FIBA 3x3 ranking

By Peter Atencio EARN points that will improve the Philippine standings in the FIBA 3x3 world rankings.

Commissioner Eric Altamirano said this was the goal of Chooks-toGo Pilipinas 3x3 League basketball tournament which kicks off with a pre-season cagefest on Jan. 14 at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.

That’s because the top 16 teams in the world will make it not only to the Tokyo Olympics but other future international tournaments in the future.

“Ito ay isa sa mga initiatives na ginagawa ng Chooks to Go to promote the sport, to grow the sport, and help the federation (SBP) garner points,” said Altamirano.

So far, twelve city-based club teams will be among the first to join the tournament.

The cagefest will have participants of the the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League as initial entries.

“Ito na ang unang pagkakataon ng 3x3 tournament (at the national level) sa Pilipinas. Although 3x3 leagues are already happening around the world,” said Altamirano during a meeting of team owners last weekend at the Bar One restaurant of the Holiday Inn-Ortigas Center.

The tournament is part of the process of selecting talented players who can be part of the national men’s 3x3 team.

The chosen players, once the process is completed this year, will join Kobe Paras, who has joined World 3x3 events twice.

Paras is the first official member of the national squad, and a talent search will now be focused on three new members of the team who will join him.

Among the club teams which have showed up are the Bataan Risers through their owner Borgy Hermida. San Juan through Jeremy Go, along with Bulacan (Britt Reroma), Manila Star (Roman Ang) and the Marikina Shoelanders (Elvis Tolentino).

There’s Quezon City Zarks (Christian Roxas), Taguig (MC Abolucion), Valenzuela Classics (Voltaire Oro), Cebu Hotshots (John Roa) and Bacoor Strikers (Dennis Abella).

Citi teams up with Paralympic Committee CITI entered into a partnership agreement with the Philippine Paralympic Committee (NPC Philippines) to become an official partner through 2020. The agreement is in furtherance of a global agreement between Citi and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Through the partnership, Citi aims to raise awareness for the Paralympic Movement, support Para athletes, and advocate for societal change in perceptions around disability.

The international agreement supports 18 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) as they prepare for upcoming World and Regional Championships, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

“Citi Philippines is exceptionally proud to be part of the global Paralympic Movement,” said Citi Philippines Country Officer Aftab Ahmed at a signing ceremony held at Citi Plaza in Taguig.

“Our goal is to make a difference as a responsible corporate citizen by helping to promote inclusiveness and equality for all. We very much look for-

ward to supporting the nation’s talented Paraathletes,” said Ahmed.

Citi began its global relationship with the Paralympic Movement in 2012 with its sponsorship of the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams. In 2018, Citi served as a sponsor of the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Wheelchair Rugby World Championship in Australia, World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships in Ireland, Asian Para Games in Indonesia, and Para Powerlifting Americas Open Championships in Bogota.

“We are delighted that Citi joins the NPC Philippines as a corporate partner and we look forward to working together to further awareness of how our Para sports program drives social inclusion,” said NPC Philippines President Michael Barredo.“This new partnership will catalyze our efforts in pursuing our vision of enabling our Filipino Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence and excite and inspire the world.”

NPC Philippines President Michael Barredo (left) and Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed celebrate the new partnership during a signing ceremony held at Citi Plaza in Taguig.

IN BRIEF Pretzelmaker opens 3rd outlet in SM Clark CLARK FREEPORT--Pretzelmaker, one of the favorite snacks in the US, has found its new home in SM Clark.

Pretzelmaker on Saturday opened its third store in the Philippines after Festival Mall and SM South Mall.

Carlos Miguel Eleazar Ochoa, the country manager of Vavel Food Inc., the Pretzelmaker master franchisee in the Philippines, said the company decided to locate in SM City Clark because of the mass appeal of the mall.

“We are also planning to open other branches in Makati City such as in Ayala Mall and other malls including the [Villar] Vista malls,” Ochoa said.

He said Pretzelmaker will also soon open three to four stores next year, hopefully at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Boracay and SM Mall of Asia and Baguio City.

“We are slowly trying to expand outside of Metro Manila but not too fast because we have to make sure that we have a very good support system and management group before we can venture out. So far, SM City Clark is our farthest store from home base,” Ochoa told reporters here. Jess Malabanan

Business

PLDT expands fiber services to Marikina PLDT Inc. said it extended the reach of its fiber-to-the-home services to Marikina City in Metro Manila, the country’s bustling shoe capital.

Through a partnership with the Marikina City local government, PLDT’s FTTH roll-out covers all the 16 barangays of Marikina, namely Barangka, Calumpang, Concepcion Uno, Concepcion Dos, Fortune, Industrial Valley, Jesus Dela Peña, Malanday, Marikina Heights, Nangka, Parang, San Roque, Santa Elena, Santo Niño, Tañong and Tumana.

The rollout enables residents in these areas as well as those in villages like Vista Valley, Provident, Monte Vista, Cinco Hermanos, Goodrich, Patricia Homes, Friendly Village, Pangilinan, Rancho Estate, among other subdivisions, to enjoy PLDT Home Fibr’s world-class internet services in their homes.

Businesses in Marikina, including those located along Lilac St., Shoe Ave., Bonifacio, Gil Fernando, and Sumulong avenues can likewise be served by PLDT’s FTTH facilities.

Darwin G. Amojelar

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

B1

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SHENZHEN EXCHANGE VISITORS. A delegation from the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc., subsidiaries Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines and Capital Markets Integrity Corp., and affiliates Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. and Philippine Depository Trust Corp. visit the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on November 29 to 30, 2018. The exchange visit provided the delegation an opportunity to learn more about SZSE’s listing and disclosure regulations, market services and connectivity, market data products, and trading, surveillance, and clearing and depository systems.

Govt focusing on agri to increase production I

By Julito G. Rada

MPROVING the agriculture sector will continue to be one of the top priorities of the Duterte administration to raise farm productivity and achieve rice sufficiency, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said over the weekend.

Dominguez said the focus would help avoid a repeat of the supply problems in rice and other major food items that led to the elevated inflation rate in the second half of 2018.

Dominguez recalled that improving agricultural output and raising farmers’ incomes through education and the use of new farm technologies emerged as the number one actionable recommendation of the private sector in the four “Sulong

Pilipinas” events held in November.

“We will focus on agriculture in the coming years. We know that the major reason for the inflation this year has been the logistics problems we have had in agriculture as well as production problems,” Dominguez said in a recent business forum.

The government responded swiftly to the high inflation rate that hit 6.4 percent in August and 6.7 percent in September and October through a series of measures recommended by the economic team. The government streamlined the procedures for agricultural imports, given that food supply issues were among the main drivers of inflation during these months.

The measures include Administrative Order No. 13 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Sept. 21, removing administrative restrictions on the importation of agricultural products.

The President also issued Memorandum Order 26 directing the Departments of Agriculture and of Trade and Industry to implement measures to reduce the gap between the farm gate and retail prices of

agricultural products.

MO 27, meanwhile, ordered the DA, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Philippine National Police and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to “adopt measures to ensure the efficient and seamless delivery” of imported agricultural and fishery products from ports to markets, while MO 28 directed the National Food Authority to immediately release existing rice stocks in its warehouses.

The directives issued by the President formed part of the measures unveiled in early September by the Economic Development Cluster of the Cabinet to help rein in inflation.

The other measures included the DTI, NFA, PNP, National Bureau of Investigation and farmers’ groups forming monitoring teams to closely watch over the transport of rice from ports to NFA warehouses and retail outlets and the DA replicating the issuance of certificates of necessity to allow fish imports to be distributed in Metro Manila’s wet markets and other markets of the country.

Group created to discuss issues against ‘Angkas’ Darwin Amojelar THE Department of Transportation has ordered the creation of a technical working group to discuss issues on the prospect of two-wheel vehicles operating as public transport, or “Angkas.”

The TWG will be comprised of representatives from the DOTr, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Philippine National Police–Highway Patrol Group, Metro Manila Development Authority, Senate, House of Representatives, commuter welfare groups, road safety advocates, motorcycle manufacturers, motorcycle organizations and law schools.

The TWG aims to discuss the appropriate standards and capacities of a motorcycle and its driver for public transportation service.

These include determining the proper type of motorcycle that can be granted a franchise, the minimum cubic centimeter capacity of motor, travel speed of motorcycle taxis, franchise route, seat and helmet requirements and training requirements for motorcycle bikers looking to register as a Public Utility Vehicle driver.

The TWG will also discuss regulatory concerns on accountability for passenger safety in the event of an accident.

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

Billionaire Andrew Tan bullish, eyes expansions

WESM operator eyes changes in regulations INDEPENDENT Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines Inc. is proposing changes in the rules to streamline and reduce the processing time for customers switching under the Retail Competition and Open Access regime.

IEMOP, operator of the country’s Wholesale Electricity Market, submitted proposals to encourage participation and enhance competition in the retail electricity market through process enhancements and reduction of entry barriers.

WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity while IEMOP is the newly-constituted body that took over the operations of WESM from Philippine electricity Market Corp. in September.

“Through this rules-change initiative, we express our commitment to continually seek the enhancement of the current market processes and foster more competition,” IEMOP president Francis Saturnino Juan said.

IEMOP recommended the voluntary registration of contestable customers as trading participants in the WESM in lieu of their mandatory WESM registration. Alena Mae S. Flores

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

PRETZELMAKER IN CLARK. Vavel Foods Inc. opens the third Pretzelmaker store in the Philippines at the SM City Clark on Dec 22.

Carlos Miguel Eleazar Ochoa (in white polo short), country manager of Vavel Foods, Pretzelmaker master franchisee in the Philippines, poses with the crew after the opening of the outlet. Jess Malabanan

Local steel sector calls for strict emission and safety standards

By Othel V. Campos

THE local steel industry is calling for the strict implementation of emission and product safety standards on all steel products made in the country in the light of the entry of induction furnace operators that are being discouraged in China.

The Philippine Iron and Steel Institute noted that induction furnace operators found the Philippines an attractive location because of the lax implementation of local regulations.

“While we lack the necessary rules to inhibit the entry of these induction furnaces, the government should enforce the law on emissions and quality standards,” Pisi president president Roberto

Cola said in an interview.

Most induction furnace operators have set up operations in the provinces, where the permitting process is relatively easy after under declaring their capacity.

Cola noted that even China had recently clamped down on polluting steel factories through strict local regulations on environment sustainability.

The Philippines welcomed the entry of Chinese steel induction furnaces despite their heavy contribution to China’s air pollution.

The Pisi noted the increasing capacity of induction furnaces in the total production of rebars from 150,000 to 200,000 metric tons a year to 450,000

to 500,000 MT. About six to seven induction furnace facilities are operating in the Philippines with a combined capacity of 450,000 to 500,000 tons, while two more plants are under construction in Misamis Occidental and Davao provinces.

The Environment Department has committed to look into the operations of five steel mills using induction furnace to produce rebars.

The companies, members of the Philippine Induction Smelting Industry Association, are facing charges of alleged violation of labor and environmental laws, particularly the Clean Air Act or Republic Act No. 8749.

The Asean Iron and Steel Council ear-

ALLIANCE Global Group Inc., the listed holding company of billionaire Andrew Tan, remains bullish on the economy as it plans to sustain the aggressive expansion of its core businesses in 2019.

AGI chief executive Kevin Tan said in a recent interview the group would continue to expand its property, gaming, infrastructure, liquor and quick service restaurant businesses.

Tan said property unit Megaworld Corp. was set to launch more township projects across the country that would contain several office, condominium and retail components.

The conglomerate’s gaming and leisure unit Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. has lined up more hotel projects as tourism sector remains strong.

Travellers is set to open Sheraton and the Okura at the Newport township in 2019 and launc the Ritz Carlton hotel in 2020.

Tan said Travellers was also set to resume the construction of a second integrated resort project—West Side City—within the government-sponsored PAGCOR Entertainment City.

“As far as our West Side City development is concerned, we will start the construction by early next year in time to be finished it by 2021,” Tan said.

He said the company recently completed the new master plan for the $1-billion West Side City would have gaming and various leisure and entertainment attractions.

“I think we’re going to be focusing quite a lot on entertainment.

We want to create this Broadway of Asia concept so we’re putting together a few theaters. Because right now, the theater industry in the Philippines is growing but we feel it is very fragmented all over,” Tan said.

DOTr to finalize Bulacan airport concession deal THE Department of Transportation is expected to finalize shortly the concession agreement for the Bulacan International Airport Project after it was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board on Dec. 21, 2018, the Neda said in a statement Monday.

“Following the Neda Board meeting, the DOTr will proceed with finalizing the concession agreement and convey the Ndea board approval of the report to the proponent, SMHC (San Miguel Holdings Corp.),” Neda said.

“The revised concession agreement will go through a final review of the Office of the Solicitor-General and the Department of Finance before it is advertised to parties for a Swiss Challenge,” Neda said.

The Neda Board approved on Dec. 21 the report on the negotiation results of the concession agreement for the Bulacan International Airport project.

The concession agreement is between the Department of Transportation and San Miguel Holdings Corp.

The Bulacan International Airport project—an unsolicited public-private partnership proposal—involves the construction, operation, and maintenance of the airport on a 2,500-hectare land in Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila Bay. The proposal entails a total project cost of P735.63 billion. The original proponent, through an unsolicited BuildOperate-Transfer arrangement, will assume the total project cost.

Key features of the Bulacan International Airport concession agreement include no government guarantee or any form of subsidy.

“These are substantial features, proving the project is adequately advantageous to the government,” Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a statement.

“They certainly raise the bar on unsolicited PPP projects,” he said. Julito G. Rada

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Business

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Asian stock markets mixed on Mnuchin’s Fed comment HONG KONG―Asian stocks were mixed Monday after a weekend call by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to top US banking executives aimed at stemming the market panic which resulted in Wall Street experiencing its worst week in a decade.

The Dow and the Nasdaq ended Friday with their biggest weekly drop since the start of the global financial crisis as investors took fright over a government shutdown in Washington, President Donald Trump’s public feuding with the Federal Reserve and the US-China trade war returning to the forefront.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday on Monday but Hong Kong dropped 0.40 percent in a pre-Christmas half day of trading while Sydney closed up 0.48 percent. Shanghai was trading up in afternoon trade while Seoul slipped.

The mixed regional bag came after Mnuchin spent much of the weekend in damage control mode following multiple media outlets reporting that Trump had privately asked cabinet members if he has the authority to fire Fed Chair-

man Jerome Powell.

Last week, the central bank hiked rates, infuriating Trump who has ignored the traditional respect for the Fed’s independence, calling it “crazy,” “out of control” and a greater economic threat than China.

Mnuchin denied the reports of Trump seeking Powell’s scalp, tweeting on Saturday that the president told him: “I never suggested firing Chairman Jay Powell, nor do I believe I have the right to do so.”

The following day, Mnuchin announced he had called senior executives from six of the largest American banks to discuss the market turmoil and received assurances.

“The banks all confirmed ample liquidity is available for lending to consumer and business markets,” the Treasury said in a statement attached to a tweet from Mnuchin announcing the calls.

“We continue to see strong economic growth in the US economy with robust activity from consumers and business,” Mnuchin was quoted in the statement as saying, adding that he would convene a call with the President’s Working Group on financial markets later Monday. With AFP

LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING. Crowds walk along Broadway in Manhattan two days before the Christmas holiday on December 23, 2018 in New York City. With a continued strong economy and a low unemployment rate, millions around the country are flocking to malls and making last minute online purchases during one of the busiest weeks for retail stores in the season. AFP

Opec: Oil prices to recover early 2019 K

UWAIT CITY―Oil ministers from leading Opec nations said Sunday they expect prices will arrest their recent slide and rebalance early next year, when a deal on new production cuts takes effect.

Opec president and UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei. AFP

OIL prices have shed more than 36 percent since early October to trade at $54 (47 euros) per barrel, due to fears of oversupply and weak global demand.

But president of Opec and UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said that the surplus in the oil market was small compared to 2017 and expected it to vanish in one or two months.

“Based on available figures, we have around 26 million barrels of surplus... compared to 340 million barrels in early

2017,” Mazrouei told a press conference in Kuwait City.

“I think that we can easily do with this surplus and reach market rebalance in one or two months... in the first quarter of next year,” he said.

Opec―a cartel of producer countries that has long manipulated output of the commodity, to influence global prices in members’ favor―and non-Opec members agreed in early December to trim production by 1.2 million barrels a day from Jan-

uary 1, in a bid to shore up sagging prices.

Mazrouei said that there has been higher than anticipated supply on the market in recent months, as US sanctions on Iran have had a less pronounced effect on the country’s oil exports than had been expected.

Iraq’s Oil Minister Thamer al-Ghadhban said that there is a consensus among Opec and non-Opec producers to comply with the new agreement to trim output in a bid to stabilise the market.

He said the new agreement is valid for six months and the ministers will meet in April to assess the impact of the cuts.

Ghadhban said he believes that the new measures taken by producers will “stop

Brazilians now more bullish on their economy, survey shows

South Korea to fine BMW $10m over engine fires SEOUL―South Korea said Monday it will fine German automaker BMW 11.2 billion won ($10 million) for allegedly dragging its feet in recalling cars with faulty engines linked to dozens of engine fires.

BMW vehicles bursting into flames made headlines in South Korea earlier this year, with local media reporting more than 40 cases in 2018 and some parking lots refusing to accept BMW cars over fears they could catch fire.

The auto giant recalled more than 170,000 vehicles in South Korea with a faulty exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler, which the firm blamed for the fires.

In August, it announced a recall for Europe and some Asian countries―including South Korea―of 480,000 cars affected by the same problem, before expanding it to more than one million additional diesel cars two months later.

“BMW announced earlier that it had become aware of the connection between the faulty EGR cooler and the fire only on July 20 this year,” the South Korean transport ministry said in a statement, announcing the results of a five-month probe.

“But we discovered that...

BMW’s German headquarters had already formed a special team in October 2015 tasked with solving the EGR cooler problem.”

In addition to the fine, the ministry will also ask prosecutors to investigate BMW for allegedly delaying acknowledgement of the issue on purpose and dragging its feet on the recall.

In South Korea, six out of 10 imported cars are from Germany, with BMW selling nearly 39,000 in the first six months of this year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. AFP

the slide in oil prices.”

Mazrouei said that producers are ready to renew the agreement or increase cuts in case the market does not balance.

“If the production cuts of 1.2 million barrels a day is not enough, we will meet again to see what is enough and apply it,” he said.

During their meeting next April, the producers are also expected to sign a longterm agreement to formalize cooperation between Opec and non-Opec members over oil output.

Opec has lately been cooperating closely with Russia and other non-cartel producers, in a bid to impose greater control over global output and prices. AFP

A poster promoting tenants rights is pictured secured to a lamppost in Dublin City centre on December 10, 2018. In Dublin, average rents have risen to between 1,600 euros and 2,000 euros, created by a “perfect storm” of factors including increased immigration, depleted stocks of social housing, an aversion to building tall structures and simple greed following a hardscrabble recession. AFP

Rocketing prices push families in Dublin into homelessness

By Joseph Stenson DUBLIN, Ireland―Sharing a studio flat in Dublin with two other people, Greek security guard Aris complains about the housing crisis that forces him to live in cramped conditions.

“It’s quite rough,” said Aris, who splits the 850 euros ($970) a month rent for the 30-square-meter flat.

With scant storage space, personal belongings are relegated to the ground. A kitchen hob is within arm’s reach of one mattress, while the other two are pushed together.

“It’s not humane conditions to live in Dublin,” said 42-year-old, who moved to Ireland three years ago.

Rocketing prices have impoverished renters and pushed families into homelessness, leading to weekly protests in the streets of Dublin by affordable housing campaigners.

Aris’s situation is not rare in the capital, which is currently in the midst of a “perfect storm” that is driving the average rent to between 1,600 euros and 2,000 euros.

Increased immigration, depleted stocks of social housing, an aversion to building

tall structures and simple greed following a hardscrabble recession are all factors.

Dublin’s increasing role as a tech hub is also bringing high-earners to the city, while Airbnb is capitalizing on the popularity of the city as a weekend-break destination―to the detriment of people looking for long-term rentals.

At one point this year, the property site Daft.ie said there were just 1,258 properties available for long-term rent in Dublin, while Airbnb offered 1,419 short-term lets.

‘People are desperate’ The irony is that Ireland witnesses an unprecedented property boom in the runup to the 2008 financial crisis―a period known as the Celtic Tiger years.

Construction of new properties ground to a halt after the crash, setting the scene for the current squeeze on housing stock as the Irish population grows rapidly due to a high birth rate and significant immigration rates.

The results are clear in long-term rental advertisements: Rooms with vanishingly little floorspace are advertised for 1,000 euros and ranks of bunk beds in single rooms.

“There’s such a pent-up demand for housing across all the tenures, that people are desperate,” said John-Mark McCafferty, head of housing charity Threshold.

“There’s a whole suite of different situations, whether it’s people going into some level of poverty or people living in acutely overcrowded situations, and it’s affecting people’s quality of life.”

At the bottom of the property ladder, people are falling off the lowest rung― unable to keep up with rents that have risen 10 percent on average in the last year alone.

The most recent housing ministry figures show 1,295 families were in need of state-funded emergency accommodation during a single week in October.

In August, images of a young mother staying overnight with six of her children in a police station―bedded down on metal waiting room chairs for want of emergency accommodation―shocked the nation.

One month later balaclava-clad policemen and private security evicted protesters from a grandiose but empty house in central Dublin. Many saw the move as heavy-handed. AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO―Brazilians’ optimism that their economy, Latin America’s biggest, will soon improve has shot up dramatically, according to a poll released Sunday just over a week before a new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, takes office.

The Datafolha survey showed 65 percent of respondents believed the economy―which is still limping after a record-busting recession that ended two years ago―would be doing better within months.

That was a huge jump over the Brazilian polling firm’s last survey in August, when only 23 percent thought an improvement was coming.

The survey was released ahead of the January 1 inauguration of Bolsonaro.

The formerly obscure politician found electoral success in October on a pro-business agenda promising to cut Brazil’s towering debt, usher in privatizations and back powerful agricultural and mining interests over environmental concerns.

He also won voter support by railing against the leftwing Workers Party which ruled Brazil from boom to bust between 2003 and 2016, and which has been marred by multiple corruption scandals.

The Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said the optimism rating was the highest recorded since Datafolha started polling on it in 1997.

It added that while public optimism usually spiked before a new president took over, the sense of buoyancy ahead of Bolsonaro’s presidency was higher than for his predecessors.

Datafolha polled 2,077 people across the country on December 18 and 19 for the survey. The margin of error was two percentage points.

According to the survey, two-thirds of Brazilians believe their personal financial situation will improve in 2019 and nearly half reckon unemployment will decline.

Bolsonaro enjoys 75 percent popularity in Brazil, according to a survey published December 13 by another polling firm, IBOPE. Analysts say that public backing could help Bolsonaro push economic reforms through Congress, where he is relying on ad-hoc alliances with deputies sharing his base’s views.

World

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

MASS WEDDING. In this photo taken on December 23, 2018, Indian brides pose before a mass wedding in Surat, some 270 kilometers from Ahmedabad. A total of 261 women without fathers were married to partners in a mass wedding organized by the charitable PP Savani & Movaliya Groups. The majority were married in Hindu ceremonies, while three Christian and six Muslim women were included. AFP

Journalists appeal their sentence

‘Crouching Tiger’ star Chow to donate fortune on his death HONG KONG―”Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” star Chow Yun-fat may be a heavyweight from the golden era of Hong Kong cinema but the famously frugal actor has vowed to donate his vast wealth to charity after he dies.

Also known to western audiences for films such as the Oscar-winning “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the gangster classic “A Better Tomorrow”, Chow has endeared himself to fans in recent years with a modest lifestyle.

Multimillionaire Chow, 63, joined Forbes’ list of highest paid actors in the world for the first time in 2015, sharing 24th place with Russell Crowe.

Yet in Hong Kong -- a city with no shortage of flashy socialites and stars -- he can be spotted taking public transport and lining up for tickets to watch his own movie.

Now he has pledged to give away his entire fortune, reportedly HK$5.6 billion (US$715 million).

“This money isn’t something you possess forever. When you’re gone one day, you have to leave it to others to use it,” he told South Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation in an interview aired last week.

“You can’t bring the money in your bank account with you after you die,” he said, adding his wife “strongly sup-

ports” his decision.

Hong Kong’s wealth gap was at its widest last year for nearly half a century, fueling discontent as the former British colony marked two decades under Chinese rule.

Sky-high prices and the cost of living outstrip many ordinary residents’ salaries, with apartments becoming increasingly cramped and generations of families forced to share.

Meanwhile, the city’s mega-rich continue their display of extreme wealth and pursuit of status symbols.

Chow, affectionately nicknamed “Brother Fat” in Hong Kong, has won praise for taking an opposite tack.

Local media give wildly varied estimates of his wealth but say he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Chow has said he has no idea how much he is worth.

His wife Jasmine Tan has previously described how her husband often eats at street stalls and only gave up his beloved Nokia flip-phone when it died after years of use.

Dozens of billionaire business figures have signed up to “The Giving Pledge” started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet encouraging the world’s wealthiest to donate their fortunes.

But Hollywood and Asian acting stars are noticeably absent from the list. AFP

Y

ANGON―Lawyers lodged an appeal Monday to free two Reuters journalists jailed for their reporting on Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, decrying the sentence as a “mistake” that has already resulted in the pair being locked up for a year.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were arrested in December 2017 and later sentenced to seven-year prison terms for what prosecutors said was a breach of official secrets law for the possession of classified material on security operations.

Reuters disputed the charge and said the two were set up by police after probing the massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslims during a military crackdown.

Their conviction in September sparked widespread global condemnation, including from US Vice President Mike Pence, who asked civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to intervene.

But calls for their release have fallen flat inside Myanmar, where Suu Kyi has yet to speak up for the reporters publicly.

Their trial was criticized by rights groups as a sham and payback for uncovering the September 2017 massacre in Inn Din village in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

During the trial a whistle-blowing policeman told the court his superior ordered a sting to entrap the reporters.

On Monday lawyers for the pair submitted an appeal to the High Court.

“This seven-year jail sentence is a mistake,” the journalists’ lawyer L.Khun Ring Pan told the bench, in a hearing attended by embassy officials and free media advocates as well as the wives of the jailed journalists.

“They were trying to find out who was involved with the (Inn Din) case.

That’s why they tried to meet the police... they did not ask for anything secret.”

More than 720,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh since the military’s crackdown last August, bringing accounts of rape, arson and mass killings.

UN investigators have said the evidence warrants charges of genocide against the country’s top generals, but the army maintains it was defending itself against Rohingya militants.

“We hope for fairness. We want them to be free,” Wa Lone’s wife Pan Ei Mon told AFP while a second lawyer Than Zaw Aung said “we hope to hear good news” when the appeal judge rules over coming days.

Media advocates say the journalists’ convictions under the British colonialera official secrets law aimed to muzzle media investigating allegations of atrocities in Rakhine and other sensitive issues in Myanmar as it emerges from decades of junta rule.

“This is unacceptable for a country that claims to be transitioning towards democracy,” Daniel Bastard from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told AFP. Myanmar dropped six places in RSF’s latest World Press Freedom Index. AFP

Order signed for US troops’ exit in Syria

WASHINGTON―The order to withdraw American troops from Syria has been signed, the US military said Sunday, after President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart agreed to prevent a power vacuum in the wake of the controversial move.

The announcement that US troops would leave the civil war-racked country -- where they have been deployed to assist in the multinational fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group -- shocked global partners and American politicians alike.

“The execute order for Syria has been signed,” a US military spokesperson told AFP when asked about the withdrawal order, without providing further details.

Turkey was a rare ally that lauded Trump’s momentous decision on Syria, a country where it will now have a freer rein to target US-allied Kurdish fighters who have played a major role in the war against IS but are deemed terrorists by Ankara. Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone on Sunday and “agreed to ensure coordination between their countries’ military, diplomatic and other officials to avoid a power vacuum which could result following any abuse of the withdrawal and transition phase in Syria,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement. AFP

Christmas joy missing in Syria town

FOG AND SMOG. A Pakistani woman and her child walks during dense fog and smog in Lahore on December 24, 2018. AFP

ARBIN, Syria―With Christmas approaching, Nabil al-Aash dusts off religious books as he attempts to tidy up the war-scarred Saint George Church in the town of Arbin, northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus.

Retaken in the spring by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad during a brutal offensive to capture the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, Arbin is anything but festive.

Rubble from razed buildings spills out into deserted streets lined with burnedout cars and twisted scraps of metal. The town looks more apocalyptic than merry.

Arbin’s only church, Saint George’s flame-scorched walls and empty nave are a testament to the seven-year conflict that has left more than 360,000 people dead and displaced millions.

“There’s no celebration here. Christian homes are destroyed and their church is destroyed,” says Aash.

The restoration of the Greek Orthodox church, built in 1873, “will take a lot of

time, money and effort”, he adds.

“There’s not a single icon left -- all of them were either burned or stolen,” said the 55-year-old, approaching the altar.

“We also found broken crosses.”

Aash fled Arbin in 2012 as fighting engulfed the town, plagued afterwards for years by violence and a crippling siege imposed by Damascus.

But after regime forces retook the area, he decided to return home.

“I grew up in this church, I spent all of my Christmases here... it was once overflowing with joy,” he remembers.

“I almost collapsed when I saw it.”

For him, the festive spirit “won’t return until the residents and parishioners do”.

After a blistering offensive backed by Russian air power, government forces in April retook Eastern Ghouta, a key rebel foothold at the gates of Damascus.

The military push and years of shelling flattened large swathes of the area and forced most of its pre-war population to flee. AFP

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

Trees for Catanduanes set

V Earth.

ISITORS to the island province of Catanduanes can enjoy its natural allure, and at the same time make a meaningful share in nurturing Mother

This after the provincial government adopted a unique program that provides tourists the opportunity to plant trees during their stay.

Provincial tourism head Carmel Bonifacio-Garcia said the “One Tourist, One Tree” program encourages foreign and domestic tourists to plant a tree in areas identified by the provincial government.

She said the program was born in 2015

to help promote responsible and sustainable tourism in Catanduanes by incorporating the tree-planting activity into the itinerary of the guests, as well as for sporting events.

The undertaking also supports the programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources aimed at reforesting the archipelago to mitigate the impact of climate change, Garcia said.

The province is listed by the DENR as among the country’s most important biodiversity areas.

For the past four years, some 1,280 trees have been planted at Mt. Cagmasoso in San Andres, Pag-Asa Radar Station in Bato, Puraran Beach and Balacay Point in Baras, Carangyan Beach in Pandan, Simamla Breeding Station, a government facility in the capital town of Virac.

In addition to the tree-planting effort, the province is also localizing environmental measures to ensure the carrying capacity and sustainability of the tourist spots.

Catanduanes takes pride in its 60,000 hectares of forests, considered as the largest green patch in the Bicol region,

which includes the Watershed Forest Reserve—1,500 hectares of old- and second-growth forests—and vast abaca plantations that are home to various wildlife species.

It is also the Philippines’ top producer of the abaca fiber, and such bounty is celebrated in the annual Abaca Festival every summer.

Sitting east of the mainland Bicol peninsula, Catanduanes is a booming destination for its powdery beaches, unspoiled islands, enchanting waterfalls, panoramic viewpoints, marine sanctuaries, and surfing areas, topped by the iconic Puraran “Majestic” spot in Baras, which hosts international tournaments.

Farmers training to help meet CL demand for goat

By Romeo Dizon

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—A total of 600 goat raisers and farmers in Central Luzon are expected to boost the country’s current stocks of 3,274,991 heads to meet the increasing demand after they graduated from a course teaching new technology in raising the animal in Tarlac over the weekend.

The Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) data show that Tarlac tops the other provinces in Central Luzon with a production of 4,362 goats last year.

Veronica Concepcion Esguera, regional director of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Center in Central Luzon, said the farme rs graduated under the On-Air-Goat Production and Technology program entitled “Sa-Goat Kita! Swak na Pamamaraan sa Paghahayulan” sponsored by the government.

Under the program, Esguera said the farmers from Pampanga’s 17 municipalities and one city underwent the basic principles of goat raising, including breeding, animal husbandry, goat selection, record keeping, health management, disease, nutrition,and other relevant issues related in raising the animal.

Also in the module were meat hygiene practice, marketing and value added traits of an agri-preneur, opportunities assessment and identification, she said.

The government is developing the domestic goat industry as the demand is higher than current supply, with only the need of new technology and little financial requirements to raise the animals.

As of January 2018, PSA data showed that the goats’ total populations in the country is 3 million heads.

NEW PATHWAY. Biñan City Mayor Arman Dimaguila (center, in white shirt) and Vice Mayor Gel Alonte (second from right) and city councilors cut the ceremonial ribbon to inaugurate the River Walk from Poblacion to Barangay Dela Paz in Binan. The one-kilometer-long allows pedestrians to skirt the city traffic and doubles as a park, while lending a touch of heritage to the area. Roy Tomandao

EMB ‘Refill Revolution’ recycling tack draws 2k in Balanga

By Butch Gunio BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Over 2,000 residents of this city joined the “Refill Revolution” as they trooped to Barangay Dona Francisca covered court here with their recycled plastic bottles and containers for refill of condiments and household products.

The event was part of the Environment Management Bureau Region 3’s campaign to beat plastic pollution.

Prices of product refills such as vinegar, soy sauce, powder and liquid detergents, dishwashing liquid, fabric conditioner, and liquid hand soap were significantly lower than their existing re-

tail prices.

EMB Region 3 Director Lormelyn E. Claudio spearheaded the event with Gov. Abet Garcia, Balanga City Mayor Francis Garcia, and PENRO Bataan Raul Mamac attending that showed their serious support to environmental protection.

“The aim is to promote and bring awareness to the concept of refilling from bulk containers which helps cut back on plastic production, consumption and packaging and translate to less air and water pollution,” Claudio explained.

“Decreasing the amount of waste created by disposable packaging will be a very difficult task, but with the implementation of these different refill pro-

cesses across Central Luzon, later on replicated in other regions, it may still be possible,” she added.

“If we don’t reverse the trend, by 2050 plastic wastes will be more than the fishes in our seas,” she warned citing study of environment experts.

For his part, Mamac told residents, “This is a very laudable initiative from Director Claudio. Let us all support the project.”

“I promise you Director Claudio, I will help you so that this Refill Revolution can be conducted in all 12 towns of Bataan not just here in Balanga,” he vowed.

Private companies also partnered in the event.

Taguig students take home titles from int’l events

By Joel E. Zurbano STUDENTS from Senator Renato Companero Cayetano Memorial Science and Technology High School and Upper Bicutan National High School bagged medals in a prestigious Math tilt held in Lucknow, India early this month, the Taguig City government announced Monday.

In Japan, students from the Taguig Science High School, the Taguig City University, and the Signal Village National High School also snagged firstplace finishes in various categories of the Japan Open Cheerleading Competition and the Milo Marathon Pep Squad tilt.

In the annual math tilt in India, Wally Santos of Senator Cayetano School was named silver medalist in the individual category and first runner-up in the Math Mania category.

Ma. Erica Therese Santos bagged bronze in the individual category, and Sam Pelegrino took home the silver medal in the individual category and was named the champion in the team category where he was joined by other Filipino contestants.

Paul Gumarin was second runner-up also in the team category.

The math whizzes were thankful to their families and the local government for the opportunity to compete with 700 other mathematicians from 16 different countries.

Ma. Erica Therese Santos, recalling their in-house Math trainings sponsored by the Taguig government, said the city gave them all-out support.

Joel Padilla, a teacher, also noted that the city government funded the students’ hotel accommodations.

Meanwhile, the 24-member Taguig Science High School Sinag Pep Squad, 45-member TCU Varsity Pep Squad and 37-member Signal Village National High School Heralds Pep Squad were just as grateful.

The Sinag Pep Squad bagged first place in the Senior Coed Advanced and Open Coed Advanced categories in the Japan Open Cheerleading Championship held in Tokyo from Dec. 8 to 9. It was SinAg Pep Squad’s very first international cheerleading competition.

TCU Varsity Pep Squad and the Heralds Pep Squad of Signal Village National High School took home the championship titles in the college and high school divisions, respectively, in the Milo Marathon Cheerdance Competition held in Laoag City on Dec. 9.

Both dominated their categories, with a total score of 97 percent and 99.3 percent, respectively.

“We see it as our responsibility to give our youngsters opportunities for advancement, especially where they can face off with the best of the best.

For us, they deserve it,” noted Mayor Laarni Cayetano of the multiple victories.

“Congratulations to the winners!

These awards are a pat on the back for us; a very merry Christmas greeting.

We will definitely continue supporting the youth and their education,” she added.

In Taguig, students continue to excel because of the city’s all-out investment in education.

SM Foundation helps improve Marine barracks in Cavite

HABITAT FAIR. Dr. Edward Gaisano (center)—a board member of Habitat Philippines,

a trustee of Vicsal Foundation Inc., and president of Pacific Mall Corp.—joins (from left) Lili Fuentes, chief operating officer of Habitat Philippines, and Kaiser Tan, CEO of Greentech Development Corp. in the the ribbon cutting for Habitat’s recent Real Estate Fair in Mandaue City, Cebu.

Japan Embassy turns over irrigation work EMBASSY of Japan’s Minister Makoto Iyori recently led the turnover ceremony of the Sta. Barbara River Irrigation System under the National Irrigation Sector Rehabilitation and Improvement Project in Iloilo.

Joining Iyori were National Irrigation Administrator Ricardo Visaya and JICA Senior Representative Yo Ebisawa.

Before the official turnover, Iyori also joined the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Sta. Barbara dam as well as the Lacagbun Irrigators Association Office in Jaro, Iloilo City.

In his speech, the minister said the upgraded irrigation infrastructures would not only boost farmers’ income from increased production, but also help sta-

bilize inflation, and eventually improve the economy in the Western Visayas region.

The NISRIP targets to rehabilitate 11 irrigation systems nationwide.

The restored Sta. Barbara dam and canals will deliver crucial irrigation deficiencies to 2,289 hectares in the towns of Sta. Barbara, Pavia, Leganes and Jaro.

These will be supplemented with three warehouses equipped with solar driers.

These interventions are vital enablers to increase farm yield and productivity, accelerate farm income and deliver growth in the agricultural community, not only in these towns but to the overall economy in Iloilo province, the Japanese ministry said.

SM FOUNDATION recently turned over its 28th military health center improvement project to the Marine Barracks Gregorio Lim Medical Dispensary in Ternate, Cavite—the basic training ground and home for over 800 rookie Marines—as the Christmas gift of SM founder Mr. Henry Sy and children to the men in uniform.

This is the 148th health and wellness center that the Foundation has improved and upgraded throughout the country and the 28th for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Headed by Col. Pavina Aguinaldo, who’s also a doctor, the improved dispensary has an emergency room, female officers ward, male ward, laboratory, female ward, commanding officer’s room, an office of the executive officer of the dispensary, dental room and candidate soldier’s ward.

At the turnover, four patients happened to be confined in the dispensary: a woman marine aspirant, Angelica Ogot, 25; a male soldier-to-be, Leonel Bugis, 21, from the 7th Battalion in South Cotabato, but has been a soldier for two years but asked for further schooling prior to assignment in Mindanao.

Also present were two soldiers with leg injuries using crutches. The patients were all rookies. Although injured, they are determined to go through the hard training program until they get their new posting possibly in Mindanao. The female marine-aspirant in fact said she has always dreamed of becoming a soldier someday.

Connie Angeles, SMFI Executive Director for Health and Wellness, said the improved dispensary is “our way of say-

ing that we are your partner in providing continuous quality health care and service to the uniformed personnel and their dependents.”

Most marine officers in attendance described it as “almost a hospital and no longer a dispensary.”

“We’re deeply honored to be able to contribute, in our own little way to those who serve our country,” Angeles said.

“So, to complete the package, we commit to help you with the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities that we have improved because we are aware that main-

Connie Angeles, SM Foundation Inc. executive director for Health and Wellness (right) stands with Marines and officers of the SM Group as they turned over SMFI’s 28th military health center improvement project to the Marine Barracks Gregorio Lim Medical Dispensary (inset) in Ternate, Cavite.

tenance have always been a problem of beneficiaries of renovated structures such as this.”

This statement brought loud cheers from the marine officers led by Col. Jimmy Larida, chief of staff of Maj. Gen. Alvin Parreno, commanding general of the Philippine Marine Corps (PMC), who gave the response.

The deed of donation was signed by Angeles, Larida (on behalf of Parreno) and Col. Aguinaldo in the full-force presence of SM Group operating in Cavite province and from SM Foundation.

Life

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

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T’S indeed the season of festivities, of togetherness, of giving, and of tired bodies from all the Christmas rush we endured and are still enduring.

Batangas-based health and wellness resort The Farm at San Benito offers a festive way to celebrate the holiday season while being rejuvenated.

A Christmas Day Mass at the South Pool is happening today at 10:00 a.m. followed by a lineup of activities families and friends can enjoy together. There are walk and yoga classes scheduled, ideal for those who want to burn some calories to make space for the special meals The Farm is cooking up for its guests.

The resort offers a Filipino way of celebration with a bountiful feast shared with loved ones. The Farm’s healthy food stations at the South Pool will serve traditional local snacks such as puto bumbong, bibingka, and tsokolateng binate on Dec. 26-30 and Jan. 2, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Indulge in a hearty dinner at Alive! while being serenaded by a live acoustic band filling the air with holiday cheer.

Live entertainment is happening today until Jan. 2 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

On New Year’s Day, there will be a Mass at the South Pool at 10:00 a.m. and Alive! will serve a New Year’s Day luncheon.

The kid-friendly resort also has some exciting treats for kids and families with The Farm’s kids’ fun holiday activities at Meeting Hall from today until to Jan. 2.

Because Christmas will not be complete without classic Christmas

The merry season of relaxation

RELAXING HOLIDAYS. Health and wellness resort The Farm at San Benito offers a festive way to celebrate the holiday season while being rejuvenated. carols, the Children’s Choir will render Yuletide songs on Dec. 26-28 and Jan. 1-2.

The Farm’s mission to help people

doesn’t end with the world-class holistic health programs it offers. With its purpose to touch lives in every way it can, especially in this season of giv-

ing, it opened its Christmas gift box Call (02) 884-8074 or 0918-8848080, for charity on Dec. 11, a tradition it or email info@thefarm.com.ph or reshas kept through the years as a symbol ervations@thefarm.com.ph for inquirof thanksgiving. ies and more details.

The Batangas medical wellness resort utilizes the power of nature to supplement its holistic health programs that promote physical and mental healing.

4 ways to stay healthy this holiday season WITH all the parties and gatherings happening this month, it can be difficult to stay healthy. But it is possible to maintain a balanced lifestyle while enjoying this holiday season.

No need to wait for the New Year to make resolutions, Santé Barley shares these tips to keep in mind while celebrating this Christmas in order to stay fit and healthy.

Yoli Nubla Celdran enjoys the aroma and creamy taste of Kaffea coffee.

drinks, and long nights may cause bloating. Your bed might tempt you to stay in the morning after, but a study by the University of Georgia says that staying active can boost your energy levels by 65 percent—which means you can enjoy the holidays more.

Never forget to drink water.

Drink water

Drinking water before, during, and after a night out will help flush out toxins and keep body hydrated. Keeping your H2O intake high will help your brain stay alert and save you from that terrible hangover when you wake up.

The coffee for the young-at-heart Pace yourself and eat in small amounts.

Eat in small portions

Know when to call it a night.

Know your alcohol limit

Christmas parties are all about celebration and creating memories, but it’s not fun when you can’t remember any of the things that happened because you passed out.

Drinking moderately allows you not only to live in the moment but also to be kind to your body. Knowing when to call it a night will surely have your head filled with grateful thoughts in the morning.

While it’s tempting to fill your plate with lechon and eat it in one sitting, it is better to pace yourself to help your digestive system digest the food you eat.

Eating in small amounts will not only stabilize energy level, but also control sugar level and fatty acids in blood. It’s okay to wait a little bit for your second round.

Since Christmas is mostly the time for family and friends, being present and energized is key. Keeping your stomach filled with the right kinds of food and drinks is important in the season of Exercise whenever possible. roasted chicken, lechon, and leche flan.

Santé Pure Barley Canister helps in keeping holiday revelers healthy as it Sweat it out It’s important to keep moving contains vitamins, minerals, chlorothroughout the festivities. The food, phyll, and carotenoids.

LOCAL coffee blend Kaffea is popular with millennials due to its creamy taste and health benefits, which help support their active lifestyle.

But the aromatic healthy coffee is also a favorite of Yoli Nubla Celdran, co-owner of the FIC Scooping Stations, so much so that they created a version of Kaffea ice cream.

“At first it helped lessen my food intake because together with my meals and merienda I got full right away. After I’ve lost weight and my tummy became smaller, it still serves as a healthy beverage because of its natural ingredients,” shared Celdran.

Kaffea contains vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, as well as iron and zinc. It gives energy with its combined power of CoQ10 and grape seed extract.

“It satisfies your sweet cravings and manages your weight,” said Celdran of Kaffea which also promotes weight management thanks to its collagen and

L-Carnitine. She said she drinks Kaffea regularly to maintain her ideal weight.

Celdran literally fell in love with Kaffea’s aroma and sweet (but not too sweet), creamy taste.

“I’m not a coffee drinker but I like that Kaffea is very pleasant-tasting and you can adjust the strength of the flavor with the amount of water you use. I love that you can take it as iced coffee and shake,” said Celdran.

She has been drinking Kaffea regularly for more than a year now. She says she would like to continue drinking it regularly because it’s a fun, healthy beverage.

Kaffea is rich in antioxidants and essential vitamins. The sweetener is made of coconut sugar and coconut cream which are good even for diabetics.

Celdran also relies on Kaffea to give her the energy to help her work, stay fit, and maintain her healthy and active lifestyle.

Life

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

The winners of Mutya ng Antipolo pageant, which was held in this year’s Christmas Fiesta of Antipolo City.

City government officials led the lighting ceremony of Antipolo’s eco-friendly Christmas tree made of 12,000 recycled plastic bottles, cups, and cartons.

City celebrates eco-friendly Christmas fiesta T

HE City Government of Antipolo celebrates Christmas that will make Mother Earth proud.

Drum and Lyre Competition Imago band

Eco group urges public to cut down on gift wrap

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray aims to expand her education advocacy and help in programs that intend to empower women AFP Photo

Miss Universe PH hopes

Gray’s win empower Filipino women THE Miss Universe Philippines chapter hopes Catriona Gray’s win would rekindle interest in promoting various women’s issues in the country.

“Recent current events have averted our attention and we hope this win brings us back,” said Miss Universe Philippines 2018 judge Arch. Richelle Louise Singson-Michael.

Singson-Michael, alongside designer Monique Lhuiller, is a Filipina who became part of this year’s all female judges lineup, the first time in the pageant’s 67-year history. With seven women in the panel of judges, this year’s Miss Universe lived up to its theme “Empowered Women.”

Singson-Michael is an architect and a businesswoman, following the footsteps of her father, Luis “Chavit” Singson. She is the chief executive officer of Platinum Skies Aviation and FinTech Casha.me, and the vice chairman of the LCS Group of Companies.

One of the issues Singson-Michael firmly believes need attention is breastfeeding. Groups had also been proposing for a better breastfeeding bill in the country to improve public investment for child and maternal health programs.

In her recent Instagram post, Singson-Michael is seen breastfeeding her 13-month-old son Laker.

Senator Grace Poe’s First 1,000 Days Bill has been signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. It includes antenatal care, maternal immunizations, counseling particularly on breastfeeding, provision of micronutrient and dietary supplements, and routine immunizations for babies.

Singson-Michael hopes the newly signed First 1,000 Days Law will help educate the public about breastfeeding.

Antipolo’s Disneyland-themed Christmas tree is made of some 12,000 recycled plastic bottles, cups, and cartons.

The lighting ceremony of the ecofriendly tree was attended by Rizal Governor Rebecca Ynares, Vice Mayor Josefina Gatlabayan, Antipolo City first lady Andrea Ynares, congressmen Romeo Acop, Chiqui Roa-Puno, and 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 and marching band contests, the Mutya ng Antipolo pageant, the earth-friendly parol and belen design contest, musical concerts featuring 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 in tribute to its homegrown patriot Don Juan Sumulong.

According to Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III, Antipolo has been implementing earth-friendly concepts for its Christmas celebrations in the past few years as its commitment to environmental sustainability in its governance programs.

He said their eco-friendly thrust is in compliance with the YES (Ynares EcoSystem) to Green Project which covers clean and green environment and livelihood opportunities through recycling and utilization of raw materials and local produce byproducts.

Architect Richelle Louise Singson-Michael breastfeeding backstage.

“I personally experienced the lack of facilities as a working, breastfeeding mother. I hope this new law and Miss Universe advocacy activities in line will finally take away the stigma of breastfeeding in the country,” she said The mother and businesswoman expressed her excitement to work with the newly crowned Miss Universe in further advocating women empowerment in the Philippines.

“We’re excited to work with Ms. Gray to bring attention to these topics as she goes about her duties as the new Miss Universe,” enthused Singson-Michael.

At the press conference held after the pageant, Gray clearly expressed her intent to expand her education advocacy; she also said she’s willing to lend her voice to advocacies that will empower women.

WASTE watch group EcoWaste Coalition urges the public not to make the cheerful tradition of gift-giving a sad one for the environment with the thoughtless use and disposal of gift wrappers.

“Gift-giving can generate a lot of discards that, more often than not, go straight to the bin. Instead of keeping them for the next gift-giving, we find gift boxes, wrappers, and accessories habitually tossed into the dump,” lamented Daniel Alejandre, zero waste campaigner for EcoWaste Coalition.

He added, “Gift-giving need not dirty and pollute our environment with more garbage. With a little creativity, we can make our gift-giving tradition less wasteful and less stressful for Mother Earth.”

To conserve resources and reduce gift wrap waste, the EcoWaste Coalition has come up with some suggestions to avoid the purchase and ensuing disposal of gift wrappers and trimmings this merry season.

1. Choose gift items with less packaging or require no wrapping.

2. If wrapping is needed, opt for substitute wrappers such as magazine pages, Sunday comics, potato chip packs, etc.

3. For tying, go for abaca and other native twine, strips of scrap fabric, etc.

4. To protect fragile items from breakage, use crunched or shredded paper in

lieu of bubble wrap or foam peanuts.

5. Make use of brown grocery bags, shoe boxes, tin cans, and empty jars as gift receptacles.

6. Upcycle old clothes, fabric scraps, spare scarves, orphaned socks, and old pillows into gift wraps.

7. To embellish recycled gift packs, use unwanted fashion accessories, old cards, magazine cutout s, dried

Reuse brown paper bags and opt for abaca or other environment-friendly twine and other accessories when wrapping presents.

leaves, and twigs, among others 8. Try Furoshiki, the Japanese art

of wrapping using vintage scarves or fabric scraps (check the Internet for free tutorials).

9. Put an unwrapped gift into a reusable cloth bag, which can be reused as a shopping bag.

10. Refrain from putting wrapped gifts in plastic bags.

11. Cut and turn old Christmas cards into gift tags.

12. Carefully unwrap gifts and save the wrappers, ribbons, and bows to save for next gift-giving.

13. Another idea is to just ask the recipient to close their eyes for a few seconds and then reveal the gift as it is.

The EcoWaste Coalition had earlier called for a plastic-less celebration of Christmas and New Year so as not to aggravate the country’s ballooning waste production of over 40,000 tons per day.

For a plasticless Christmas and New Year, the group offered the following tips: bring reusable bags and containers on your trip to the wet market, tiangge, department store, or shopping mall; refrain from buying over packaged products; avoid disposable cutlery (spoons, forks, knives) and crockery (dishes, plates, cups); give plasticfree gifts; and opt for homemade reusable holiday decorations.

EcoWaste Coalition urges the public to refrain from using gift wrapper or, at least, use recylable or eco-friendly substitutes.

Entertainment

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

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nickie.standard@gmail.com

Celebrate Christmas with MMFF 2018 Dingdong, Richard reunite via Vice Ganda movie

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ELEBRATE the most wonderful time of the year together with the latest movie offerings of the muchawaited film festival in the country, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

For 44 years, the MMFF has been part of the Filipino Christmas and this year it becomes bigger with eight Filipino movies from the biggest producers and stars in the country. Filmgoers and movie fans can enjoy these movies anywhere, anytime as SM Cinema, the largest film exhibitor in the country, has 64 branches nationwide.

Here are the movies lined up for this year’s Metro Manila Film Fest: Aurora From the acclaimed horror and suspense thriller director, Yam Laranas, the film Aurora tells the story of Leana ((Anne Curtis) and her sister as they made a deal to look for the dead bodies of the passengers of Aurora, a sunken ship. However, instead of dead bodies, the unrest souls started to haunt them.

Mary Marry Me Real-life sisters, Toni and Alex Gonzaga plays the role of Mary Jane (Toni Gonzaga) and Mary Anne (Alex Gonzaga) as their relationship will be tested when Mary Jane discovers that her sister is about to marry her ex-boyfriend, Pete (Sam Milby).

Rainbow’s Sunset Featuring veteran actors Eddie Garcia, Gloria Romero and Tony Mabesa, Rainbow’s Sunset tackles the situation of Ramon (Eddie Garcia) and his family as he reveals his true sexuality and feelings for his dying friend, Fredo (Tony Mabesa).

Dingdong Dantes reunite with former Kapuso Richard Gutierrez in a comedy topbilled

by Vice Ganda.

CO-STARRING with Vice Ganda in the currently showing 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival entry Fantastica, Dingdong Dantes and Richard Gutierrez are both happy to have worked together once again in the silver screen.

“Our last film together was Mulawin in 2005 which was also an MMFF entry. But in that movie, we just appeared together in one scene,” recounts Chard.

“Of course, this is a different experience. Actually, Dong and I realized that in our long stay with GMA, now is only the second time that we’ve appeared together in one movie. Add to this the fact that it’s with Vice and it’s a comedy. It’s real fun,” he adds.

Dingdong totally agrees that their experience in Fantastica is far different since Mulawin is a serious movie while Fantastica is a comedy. According to the Kapuso star, the film is something fresh so they are both excited to work together again.

Curiously, did they have any hesitation in accepting the project when it was pitched into them?

“Oh, no, not at all,” says Dong. “For one, this is a rare opportunity in so many levels. My crossover in Star Cinema, I consider it a huge privilege so I just want to make the most of it. Secondly, it’s my first time to be paired with Vice on the big screen and again, it’s my privilege to be part of whatever project he does.

Then, there’s Richard…the opportunity to work with him again after so many years. So, you see, there are a lot of reasons why I should be grateful for this opportunity.”

Chard also has the same viewpoint.

“I didn’t have any hesitation whatsoever. Like what Dingdong said, its one rare opportunity. We are both part of Vice’s MMFF entry which aims to bring laughter to movie buffs this Christmas.”

Asked as to their experience working with the three love teams included in

the movie (Ronnie Alonte-Loisa Andalio, Edward Barber-Maymay Entrata and Donny Pangilinan-Kisses Delavin), the two popular actors say in unison: “They’re kind and humble. They are respectful, good conversationalists and easy to work with. We are inspired by how they see life. It’s not only them who learn from us but we also learn from them.” *** Zanjoe Marudo is not affected at all with the general observation that lately, the focus of the story of his daytime soap opera Playhouse is already on Angelica Panganiban and Carlo Aquino.

“There is no doubt that the CarGel tandem has helped boost the ratings of our program and for that, I’m grateful.

So, let’s not create a big fuss about it since from the very start, all of us in the cast already knew where the story would go.

It’s all part of the plan,” he says.

“You know, because of such development, our set has become happier.

The more, the merrier, right? And it’s a good thing that Carlo is our friend so everything’s light and easy. The program became better and has become more challenging for all of us,” he further shares.

Working with Angelica is already a big bonus for the hunky actor.

“She’s one actress whom I liked to work with ever since. I’m grateful that it happened here in ‘Playhouse.’

The theme of the soap, which is about family appeals to Zanjoe so much.

“It carries a universal theme and many can relate to it. We’re happy that we are able to touch the hearts of the viewers.

Personally, I want to do teleseryes like this where people can somehow see themselves in the characters we portray.

I’m grateful to be part of the cast and is proud of the bond we’ve established. It reflects on our on-screen performances,” Zanjoe states.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, December 25, 2018

ACROSS 1 Flatten 7 Bagel partner 10 Send packing 14 Work fast 15 Stately tree 16 Italian wine city 17 Donkey’s bray 18 Ginger — 19 Comparative word 20 Hall-of-Fame induction 23 Doohickey 26 — for the books 27 Twitches 28 Juno, in Athens 29 Hirt and Gore 30 Vast expanse 31 Forest grazer 32 PTA member 33 Triathlon part 37 Seine vista 38 Pay dirt 39 Creative work 40 Mid-Atlantic st.

41 Gophers and gerbils 43 Bro’s sibling 44 Before 45 Halter 46 Narrow inlet 47 Kind of bean 48 Dance band

51 Informer 52 Burns partner 53 In an arcane manner 56 Spanish painter 57 Inquire 58 Meeting outline 62 — out a living 63 Rate 64 Inmost part 65 Info request encl.

66 Rubble-maker 67 Bagel choice DOWN 1 Keep it down!

2 Vt. neighbor 3 Employ 4 Minerva, in Greece 5 Street lingo 6 Wields an ax 7 Memorizes 8 Stan’s partner 9 Comic-book heroes (hyph.)

10 Hot cereal 11 Find seats 12 Reeked 13 Dyes 21 Rathbone role 22 Bails out 23 Not our

24 Word of greeting 25 Vexed 29 Major artery 30 Lebanon neighbor 32 Earl “the Pearl” 33 Guest house in Mexico 34 Standard of excellence 35 Impudence 36 Gather slowly 42 Seacoast event (2 wds.)

46 Dishonest scheme 47 Pilots 48 Gives up land 49 Honshu port 50 Tunnel makers 51 Up and about 52 Pool problem 54 River floater 55 Takes a powder 59 Gun lobby 60 — Perignon 61 Impress deeply

Fantastica: The Princesses, The Prince, and the Perya The latest comedy movie of Vice Ganda together with Dingdong Dantes and Richard Gutierrez will follow the story of Belat (Vice Ganda) and her adventure to rebuild her family’s carnival and save it from bankruptcy.

One Great Love A story of finding one great love, Zyra Paez (Kim Chiu) gives one more try to her relationship with Carl Mauricio (JC de Vera) but as time passes by, Zyra doubts her relationship with Carl and will be confused with her feelings toward his best friend, Dr. Ian Arcano (Dennis Trillo).

The Girl in the Orange Dress A romantic-comedy film that tells the story of Anne (Jessy Mendiola), who wakes up after a party and discovers herself in bed with a celebrity heartthrob, Rye (Jericho Rosales) without any idea what happened the night before. As they escape from the eyes of the public, Anne and Rye cannot run away from their blossoming feelings towards each other.

Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles An action-comedy film, Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles features the adventures of police officers, Jack ((Coco Martin), Emily (Maine Mendoza) and Popoy (Vic Sotto) as Mendoza they join forces to solve a case and bring down a syndicate.

Otlum Another horror movie to give chills this Christmas, Otlum follows the story of a group of young people as they stay overnight in an abandoned orphanage.

The adventure goes wrong as they uncover dark secrets and being haunted by ghosts.

Enjoy the latest MMFF flicks with your families and friends from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1 at SM Cinema branches nationwide. Book your tickets through the website, www. smcinema.com or download the SM Cinema mobile app. You may also follow /SMCinema on Facebook and @SM_ Cinema on Instagram for updates.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2018

Be part of the ‘Magic’ this Christmas Ice Angel is one of the principal characters in ‘Magic On Ice,’ who is also the show’s Spirit of Light.

A scene from the MMFF 2018 entry directed by Yam Laranas.

Chilling ‘Aurora’ captures the idyllic beauty of Batanes

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AM Laranas’ Aurora, VERY which stars Anne WANG Curtis, Marco NICKIE Gumabao and Phoebe Villamor, WANG is visual storytelling. Not only does it highlight the talent of its director who presents a different kind of horror film, it also underlines the talent behind its photography with every frame in the film looking aesthetic and visually arousing.

From the dramatic aerial views to breathtaking wide shots, the film captures the charm of the remote island that serves as its setting.

Set on the coastline of Batanes, a passenger liner called Aurora collides into a rock formation situated right in front of a dilapidated guest house run by Leana (Curtis). Over a thousand passengers perish due to the mishap. Many of the dead bodies turn up along the shore of the tiny island near the shipwreck, but many are still missing, and their distressed families are in need of a place to stay in as the search continues.

Leana is asked to help look for the cadavers in exchange for a large amount of money. Although she is hesitant, her fear is overcome by her sympathy for the families and her sister’s (Villamor) encouragement.

Helping her in the search are her exboyfriend Ricky (Gumabao), and a boatman named Eddie, played by Alan Paule.

Curtis, who shared in an interview that they had to brave the physical elements of swimming underwater, as well as being transported to an isolated island far from the city while filming Aurora, is the second highlight of the film. She painted her character, a barrio lass who dons simple dresses, with bold emotions but in subtle hues. She delivers the big scenes without going overboard.

“It was actually a challenge when they told me that I am going to do horror but they will not make me scream,” Curtis told reporters during the red carpet premiere of the film.

“Yam Laranas took horror movie into a different level. It’s not the

typical horror movie where the characters usually scream to scare the audience. It’s really about the experience and the use of your imagination,” she added.

She shared that it helped that they filmed in Batanes because they got to have a firsthand feel of the environment as it was a perfect way to figure out the emotional requirement of her character.

“For me, it’s hard to do horror but the way our director described the film—it’s a drama kind of suspense thriller. And our intention was not really to scare the audience, but to let them use their mind while experiencing the film that’s why I’m surprised that moviegoers scream numerous times while watching it,” she said.

Aurora is Curtis’ third movie this year, after the huge box office success of Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story) in M a y , followed by her staggering

Anne Curtis plays Leana, owner of a rundown inn on a remote island and guardian to Rita, her 8-year-old sister, played by Phoebe Villamor.

performance in the action thriller BuyBust in August.

The actress is once again praised for her dedication and determination to give all she’s got in portraying her role. Director Laranas reveals in an interview that Anne “ had to be underwater for 30 seconds to 1 minute to shoot her scenes” but she refused to use the double that’s provided for her.

Undoubtedly, Laranas and Curtis made a good combo in this film. The director’s talent and Curtis’ subtle performance made a bigger impact on the eyes of the moviegoers.

Aurora unspools today in cinemas nationwide as Viva Films’ official entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival 2018. *** YEC Ultimate Christmas Blowout 2018 Yupangco Electronics Corporation (YEC) announces its ongoing Ultimate Christmas Blowout Promo. Come and take advantage of irresistible discounts of up to 70 percent on selected Pro Audio products.

Take advantage and own the new Yamaha Stagepas 400i portable PA sound system. A combination of highly-efficient amplifiers, newly designed speakers, and high performance DSP. If you want to get serious about your sound, you can take good audio into your hands by enjoying the new Yamaha EMX7 and EMX5 series which are designed specifically for musicians, performers, or public speakers who put out a premium on sound quality and convenient operation, and are ready to take their sound reinforcement to the next level.

You may also inquire about YEC’s free audio system design, diagnosing on your existing audio system, product training / seminar and also special Mixer Trade-In program, and EasyPayinstallment program.

Choose also from a huge selection of musical instruments and music courses (with free trial lessons). For more information about ”The Ultimate Christmas Blowout promo 2018” and other YEC products, you may call at 899 9757 / 899 9759.

Marco Gumabao plays Ricky, Leana's (Curtis) ex-boyfriend

ARE you looking for gift ideas for your kids? How about that long-overdue “pamasko” for your “inaanak”?

Here’s a chance for you to give your wonderful kids, nieces and nephews, and your godchildren that you haven’t seen for a while an experience they will never forget: Let them be a part of Magic On Ice. Magic On Ice is an ice illusion spectacular that has already wowed millions of audiences in the US, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. It comes to the Philippines for the first time this year, and will run from today to Jan. 1 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

A new and exciting show you shouldn’t miss, creator Steve Wheeler describes Magic On Ice as “a unique combination of ice skating and magic. It combines the speed and the elegance, the power and beauty of ice skating with big, theatrical magic illusions.”

Furthermore he notes, “The audience will see lightning fast appearances, vanishes and transformations, beautiful levitations, death-defying escapes, and some real fun, interactive comedy numbers that involve members of the audience.”

And this is where the thrill happens.

At one point in the show, the Magic On Ice performers will bring in select kids from the audience to participate in one of the segments. And if you want your kids to be in on this, you may visit the Magic On Ice Facebook page if you are a Patron /VIP ticket holder or buyer to join the raffle for slots. Send a Direct Message via the FB page (@

aranetacoliseumchristmasshows), with a photo of your tickets, your name and contact details, as well as the names and ages of the kids you want to nominate to the show. Only two kids per entry are eligible.

The Magic On Ice kiddie audience slots are for kids aged five to 12, and they must be ticket holders themselves.

Follow the instructions on the FB page for this extraordinary chance to give your kids a magical Christmas memory.

Online ticket buyers through www. ticketnet.com.ph may use the promo code MCMOI2018 to avail of the discount (DTI-FTEB Permit No. 15698 Series of 2018).

For those who are also looking to complete their Christmas celebration minus all the hassle and the traffic, you may also opt to stay at Novotel Manila Araneta Center, just beside the Big Dome. They have an ultra convenient “Stay N Delight in Christmas Magic” promo bundle, which offers a really good discounted deal: Overnight stay for two with Buffet Breakfast plus two (2) Lower Box tickets to “Magic On Ice” for only P8,000 nett. This promo runs until Jan. 1.

Magic On Ice is sponsored by MasterCard, Purefoods, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen; with official residence Novotel Manila Araneta Center; service sponsors PowerTrac, Omizu, and Charter Ping-Ang; and media partners Fox Life, Business Mirror, Health & Fitness, Manila Bulletin, Click The City, Inquirer.net, Monster RX 93.1, Mellow 94.7 and Crossover 105.1.

Star Magic artists give back

Star Magic artists give back this holiday season by participation in well-meaning missions.

ALMOST hundred of the brightest Star Magic artists spread holiday cheers as they gathered for the annual charity event called Star Magic Gives Back early this month.

Proving that the Yuletide Season is always better when you share your blessings and your heart, Star Magic has chosen four institutions this year with whom the artists shared their time, talent, laughter and gifts with.

The chosen institutions composed of orphaned kids and abandoned elderlies were Good Samaritan Home for the Elderly in Marikina, Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines in Manila, Sta. Maria de Mattias in Marikina and the Bantay Bata Children’s Village in Bulacan.

The happiness in the eyes of the kids at the Bantay Bata Children’s Village were incomparable as they spent quality time with Piolo Pascual, Edward Barber, Maymay Entrata, Eric Nicolas, Enzo Pineda, Luke Alford, John Bermundo, Sharlene San Pedro, Heaven Peralejo, Ysabel Ortega, Vivoree Esclito, Yasmyne Suarez, Gerard Acao, Karl Gabriel, Luis Hontiveros, Mark Rivera and JM de Guzman.

A fun yet heartfelt program and gift-giving event marked the elderlies’ day in Good Samaritan Home for the Elderly as Maja Salvador, Gerald Anderson, Joseph Marco, RK Bagatsing, Jayson Gainza, Elmo

Magalona, Jane Oineza, Sofia Andres, Maris Racal, Alexa Ilacad, Darren Espanto, AC Bonifacio, Axel Torres, Kyle Velino, Joj and Jaj Agpangan, Lala Vinzon, Sarah Carlos, Loren Burgos, Hiyasmin Neri, Belle Mariano, Ashley Colet, Melizza Jimenez, Nikki Gonzales, Amy Nobleza, Chantal Videla, Raine Salamante, Kira Balinger and Alora Sasam came to visit, as well as child stars, Bourne Luna, Omar Uddin and Robbie Wachtel.

Meanwhile, the kids in Sta. Maria de Mattias had unique entertainment and fun games together with Sue Ramirez, Nash Aguas, Jairus Aquino, Kim Cruz, Desiree del Valle, Boom Labrusca, Ryan Rems, Kitkat, Jenny Miller, Gillian Vicencio and child stars Xia Vigor, Lance Lucido, Myel de Leon, Hannah Vito, Uno Bibo, Andrez del Rosario and Erika Clemente.

Finally, the children at the Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines only had good memories to bring with them that day as they joined the activities prepared

by Zanjoe Marudo, Harvey Bautista, Krystal Mejes, Krystal Brimner, Mitch Naco, Daniela Stranner, Inigo Pascual and Liza Soberano.

Apart from donations in kind, each institution also received 80 thousand cash donations each from Star Magic in order to aid in their other needs.