Manila Standard - 2017 December 19 - Tuesday

Aviation builds LGBT restrooms

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines announced Monday its has completed the construction of restrooms designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transexual persons at 35 commercial airports under its control.

CAAP spokesman and chief information officer Eric Apolonio said the toilets are part of the agency’s Gender Awareness Development program so that anyone can use the restroom regardless of gender identity or expression.

The program will continuously encourage gender awareness and sensitivity Next page

VOL. XXXI • NO. 305 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Rescuers race against time Many of the missing given up for dead, says official

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ESCUERS used bulldozers to dig through mountains of mud in Biliran province to search for over 30 people missing after a powerful storm triggered landslides on the weekend, authorities said Monday.

Tropical storm “Urduja” (international name: Kai-Tak) continued to drag its way westward across the archipelago Monday after leaving at least 31 dead over the weekend from drowning and landslides, the government monitoring agency said.

Most of the dead were in the island province of Biliran, which suffered the worst of the landslides, with many homes buried.

Rescuers searching for survivors on the island were not optimistic.

“There is an assumption that the missing are already dead,” Sofronio Dacillo, a provincial PRESIDENTIAL MONITOR. President Rodrigo Duterte leads an aerial survey Monday on board a helicopter on the hard-hit areas of Typhoon ‘Urduja,’ the 21st weather disturbance to lash the country in 2017. The President later met some members of his Cabinet and local government officials to discuss the extent of damage as well as the response and relief efforts in the stricken areas. Malacañang Photo

Duterte sees no wrong in Palace pictorial

By John Paolo Bencito PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte sees nothing wrong with his granddaughter’s use of Malacañang as a pre-debut venue, after her Instagram posts drew criticism online.

“She is my relative.

It’s a small matter to use Malacañang,” Duterte said during the birthday party of Senator Manny Pacquiao in General Santos City on Sunday night.

While he wasn’t even part of the photo shoot, he said he will allow it because many other Malacañang guests take photos of themselves in the Palace.

“I wasn’t there but even if I were there, my granddaughter having her picture taken is just like visitors who go there and take Next page

PNP purge on: 90 rogue cops face dismissal

Vietnam upgrades areas in disputed sea—analyst AS China continues to transform disputed territory in the South China Sea into features capable of sustaining air and naval bases, Vietnam is also upgrading areas it occupies.

Images taken by DigitalGlobe satellites in September show new facilities including a possible dry dock on West London Reef in the Spratly Island chain, around

680 kilometers southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, that could allow boats to stop for maintenance and patrol for longer periods.

While the work is vastly outweighed by what China is doing it suggests Hanoi wants to hold its ground over the contested waterway, even if it risks upsetting Beijing. In August, Next page

By John Paolo Bencito

LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS. This handout photo released on Sunday by the Philippine National Police Regional Office in Eastern Visayas, via their Facebook account, shows police and civilian volunteers working through boulders as they race against time to look for survivors after a landslide, caused by Typhoon ‘Urduja,’ buried parts of a village in Naval town in Biliran.

Some of the prominent men, Naia goes into overdrive to serve 2m travelers women who passed on in ‘17 By Joel E. Zurbano PARIS, France—From German political colossus Helmut Kohl to rock pioneer Chuck Berry, here are some of the personalities who passed away this year.

Politics • January 7: Former president Mario Soares, seen as the father of Portugal’s modern-day democracy,

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aged 92 in hospital.

• January 8: Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pugnacious moderate, aged 82 following a heart attack.

• February 1: Longtime DR Congo opposition chief Etienne Tshisekedi, aged 84, in Brussels, where he had Next page

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disaster risk reduction and management officer, said.

The largely agricultural island of Biliran, with a population of over 140,000, also suffered massive damage to its roads, bridges and power system, which was knocked out on the weekend.

Electricity supply is not expected to be restored until Wednesday, said Dacillo.

“It was like two months of rain fell on one day in Biliran.

And because of this, the soil really softened and that is also why so many bridges were destroyed,” said President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman Harry Next page Roque.

AT LEAST two million air travelers, including overseas Filipino workers, are expected to arrive in four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport this month to spend and enjoy their vacations with friends and families this holiday season.

Eddie Monreal, general manager of the Manila In-

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ternational Airport Authority, admitted the Immigration personnel were having a hard time in assisting incoming OFWs mostly from the Middle East countries and balikbayans around the globe because they arrived in volume, especially during the “peak hours” resulting in long lines of arrivals.

In 2016, he said, over two million passengers arrived

from all over the world to spend their Yuletide.

“We expect an increase of 20 percent more to arrive this December until Jan. 2, 2018,” said Monreal.

Airport Chief Immigration officer Marc Red Mariñas said they canceled all vacation leave of all immigration officers to fill up the vacant counters to assist incoming passengers.

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NINETY rouge officers, branded by President Rodrigo Duterte as “gangsters,” will be out of the police force before the week ends, the country’s chief executive officer said amid their alleged connivance with crime syndicates. “[This] Wednesday, three superintendents, about 90, or a minimum of 60 police — get out of the [Philippine National Police],” Duterte said during the birthday celebration of Senator Manny Pacquiao Sunday.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa on Monday said the communist rebels remained to be the biggest threat to peace and order in the country.

“That’s the biggest threat to the law and order situation right now,” Dela Rosa said in an ambush interview.

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Subpoena Sereno, House told T propaganda war” to condition the mind of the public that Sereno was guilty of the impeachment charges despite the lack of evidence.

“Powerful forces with vested interest are resorting to a well-funded propaganda war,” Sereno’s camp said in a statement.

“Despite their efforts, people have not been easily duped by Lorenzo Gadon’s allegations. In the multitude of stories, gossip and intrigues heaped

against the Chief Justice, there is still no shred of real evidence to support the impeachment complaint.”

Gadon said five more Supreme Court justices were set to appear in the House justice committee hearing, including Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justices Samuel Martires, Mariano del Castillo, Diosdado Peralta and Andres Reyes Jr. Carpio earlier wrote the committee asking about specific issues that would

be raised should he attend the impeachment hearing.

Three sitting associate justices―Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Francis Jardeleza and Noel Tijam― and retired associate justice Arturo Brion earlier testified against Sereno at the House.

“I am very happy with this development,” Gadon said citing the nine justices appearing in the impeachment hearing.

“They can now hold their en banc session there,” he

added in jest.

Sereno has refused to attend the hearings, sending her lawyers instead to cross-examine the witnesses against her.

But the committee said she should do the cross examination herself, not her counsels.

“What’s her reason for not attending? Is she afraid that her lack of knowledge in procedures and litigation as a lawyer will show? She just needs to face me,” Gadon said. Rey E. Requejo

as the storm had knocked out many vital bridges, preventing delivery of supplies.

“Of all the storms that passed Biliran ... this is the one that we can call the worst,” he said.

As of Monday, Urduja— packing gusts of 90 kilometers per hour—had crossed the central Philippines and was over the western island of Palawan, heading west at 18 kilometers per hour, the government weather station said.

The government expects the storm to move away from the Philippines on Tuesday.

The storm left an estimated P327.2 million in damage to property and left 31 dead—five from Leyte, one from Eastern Samar, two from Samar and 23 from Biliran.

Of the 49 missing, two

are from Romblon, three are from Leyte, 11 are from Eastern Samar, and 33 are from Biliran.

During a command conference with heads of local governments in Biliran, Duterte ordered Cabinet officials to address the immediate concerns in the rescue and relief operations.

Duterte told the Department of Trade and Industry to monitor if there are price surges, the Department of Public Works and Highways to finish the two bridges that were damaged in Naval, Biliran in under 30 days, and the Department of Transportation to secure the airports in Tacloban and Ormoc towns in Leyte, which only suffered minor damage, Roque said.

Duterte also ordered the Department of the Interior

and Local Government to intensify rescue operations for individuals who are still missing and asked for a list of exactly what the local government units need.

The President said he would order the Air Force to airlift more provisions after being told that food supplies in Biliran may be gone by the end of the day.

A Navy vessel will also be deployed to bring relief goods and other items to Biliran.

The National Food Authority said it would give priority in the release of rice assistance to the victims of the tropical storm.

The President criticized communist rebels, following their attacks to soldiers extending humanitarian assistance to communities.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management

Council reported that a total of 248,790 people in Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Western Visyas, Central Visayas and Caraga were affected by the storm.

The NDRRMC said that of the number, a total of 112,637 people were displaced or staying in evacuation centers or with their relatives or friends.

Most of the displaced population are in Eastern Samar with 49,833 people staying in evacuation centers.

Another low pressure area, 1,950 kilometers east of Mindanao, is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Friday, Dec. 22 and follow a similar track as Urduja.

Once it enters the Philippine territory, it will be named as “Vinta,” the state weather agency said. John Paolo Bencito, AFP, PNA

dar and patrol capabilities.

By comparison, China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres on seven features in the Spratlys, building ports, lighthouses and runways it says are mostly for civilian purposes or defense.

China’s claims to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, which carries around $3.4 trillion worth of global trade a year, overlap with the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In the past year, Hanoi has become the most vocal defender against China’s assertions.

Its latest upgrade to West London Reef comes after China reportedly pressured Vietnam to halt drilling in a contested area leased to Spain’s Repsol SA., said Bill Hayton, an associate fellow at Chatham House.

“Vietnam’s response to the Repsol incident has been a modest expansion on its islands,” said Hayton, who wrote “The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia.” “Many of the decisions to expand the island facilities would have been taken before the drilling episode, but that is certainly giving some impetus.”

Another potential source of friction between Hanoi and Beijing is renewed talks over a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Despite endorsing a onepage framework in August, which calls on parties to commit to the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,

China wants the code to be voluntary, whereas Vietnam wants it to be legally binding.

“Vietnam would sign a legally binding AseanChina code of conduct if it brings it and other countries benefit,” according to Rear Admiral Le Ke Lam, a former Vietnam Naval Academy director. “But China would never sign it.”

Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to emailed questions about the land reclamation or whether the Code of Conduct should be legally binding. Le said Vietnam’s South China Sea infrastructure program was confined to minor reclamation on existing islands.

Vietnam suffered a setback last year after the new Philippine president chose not to pursue further an in-

ternational court ruling that dismissed Beijing’s South China Sea claims. The case, brought by Duterte’s predecessor President Benigno Aquino III, was supported

by Vietnam.

In the absence of support from the Philippines, Vietnam has sought to improve ties with Indonesia, which has shown signs of pushing back against Chinese encroachment near the Natuna Islands that Beijing claims are part of its traditional fishing grounds.

In June 2016, President Joko Widodo held a Cabinet meeting on a warship near the islands, and Indonesia later renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea. Bloomberg

Duterte...

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said President Duterte would use the full force of the Mindanao martial law against the New People’s Army, military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Duterte, through Proclamation 374, has also declared the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA as terrorist groups.

In his speech, Duterte said the move was part of the internal cleansing in the agency.

“I am starting the purging...if you are not included, don’t feel insulted...I am just warning corrupt policemen...I am watching you,” he said in Filipino.

The President maintained he would not allow anyone, including policemen, to use their job in committing crimes, such as being involved in robbery and illicit drugs trade.

“You have been used to perpetrate crimes. You will be removed because of that. You will lose your job.

That’s your fault,” he said.

Duterte added the government was unfairly paying for the misconduct of some of-

ficers, and he was out to get them.

Speaking in Filipino, Duterte said: “Don’t make us pay for your mischief. It isn’t fair. You will lose your job... you will do drugs. I already said no corruption and drugs and if you destroy my country, I will destroy you.”

On Monday, Dela Rosa confirmed he gave the President a list of policemen— with ranks ranging from PO1 to senior superintendent—suspected of corruption.

Dela Rosa, who claimed that his office would focus instead on internal cleansing, said he had yet to discuss the list with Duterte.

“That’s how frustrating it is...They’re risking their future, career, family just because money from drugs can temporarily give them comfort... I don’t see the logic...” Dela Rosa said in a mix of Filipino and English.

The police force faces dwindling public trust ratings and complaints of abuse and allegations of committing extrajudicial killings.

Dela Rosa, whose term was extended for three months, is poised to take over as the director of the Bureau of Corrections.

only 15 years old today,” Robles said.

“Now we come to Isabelle Duterte. She had an extensive photo shoot inside the presidential palace. She tweeted she was 17,” she said.

“But then the official Davao city government website clearly states she is only turning 16 next year. Which is an age that is not celebrated in the country as a rite of passage. And therefore does not seem to merit that kind of grand celebration with four designer gowns, one of them very, very expensive,” she added.

“You might again say, this is such a small thing. And I

would reply, this is all about honesty and truth-telling. If Malacanang can’t be honest in small things, what about big things?”

Palace spokesman Harry Roque earlier said Isabelle did not violate any law by having the photoshoot inside Malacañang.

“For me, there’s nothing wrong there. The President’s granddaughter simply posed for pictures,” he said in Filipino.

“She’s like any ordinary citizen that can have her photo taken in Malacañang,” he added.

Malacañang has yet to respond to latest queries about the presidential granddaughter.

among CAAP employees nationwide as required by Republic Act 9710, the Magna Carta of Women and Executive Order 273, otherwise known as the Philippine Plan for Gender Responsive Development, Apolonio said.

The toilets will be clearly marked as all-gender facilities, Apolonio said, and would be rolled out gradually, beginning with Busuanga airport in Palawan.

On Sunday, President Ro-

drigo Duterte said he is planning to create a commission for the LGBT community.

Duterte said that he wants an honest and hardworking person to head the LGBT commission and set a deadline for nominees until the second week of January.

“Talk among yourselves.

Nominate who is honest and hardworking. I would like to show that any gay or lesbian can work just like an ordinary human being,” he said.

During his trip to Vietnam in March, Duterte said he was against same-sex marriage, saying the law only

recognizes unions between a man and a woman.

He added the country is predominantly Catholic and would not support such unions.

But in his same speech at Davao City Sunday night, Duterte said he would consider legalizing same sex marriages.

“I am in favor of same-sex marriage. The problem is we have to change the law,” Duterte told an LGBT gathering Sunday night.

“If that is the trend of the modern times, if that will add to your happiness, I am all for it,” he added.

• March 21: Martin McGuinness, a one-time Irish Republican Army (IRA) commander who helped negotiate an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland, aged 66 in hospital from a rare heart condition.

• May 26: Zbigniew Brzezinski, the hawkish

Polish-born former top aide to US president Jimmy Carter, aged 89.

• May 29: Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, 83, in a Panama City hospital.

• June 16: Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl, celebrated as the fa-

ther of German reunification and an architect of European integration, aged 87, at home.

• June 30: Simone Veil, an Auschwitz survivor who played a leading role in legalising contraception and abortion in France, aged 89 at her Paris home.

• July 13: Chinese dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, 61, from liver cancer while in custody.

• October 3: Iraq ex-president and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani aged 83 in Germany.

• December 4: Yemen’s

ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted from power during the Arab Spring, slain by his former rebel allies, aged 75.

Entertainment • Januar y 25: US television icon Mar y Tyler Moore, aged 80 in hospital. AFP

HE lawyer seeking the removal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Monday he would ask congressmen to issue a subpoena to compel her to appear in the impeachment hearing.

‘‘If she doesn’t appear, I will also request that she be arrested,” Lorenzo Gadon told a forum in Quezon City.

Jose Deinla, one of Sereno’s spokesmen, described

the threat as “nothing but another one of Gadon’s psywar tactics.”

Winnie Salumbides, another Sereno spokesman, said Gadon’s camp was employing a “well-funded

Napoles siblings seek lower bail bond

Rescuers..

By Maricel V. Cruz TWO children and a brother of detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles have appealed to the Sandiganbayan to reduce the P22.3million bail bonds set by the anti-graft court to P690,000 for each of them in their case.

In an urgent motion dated Dec. 12, Napoles siblings Jo Christine and James Christopher and their uncle, Ronald Francisco Lim, asked the anti-graft court to reduce their bail bonds.

“All accused-movants beg to the wide latitude granted to this honorable court to exercise its discretion not only in the administration of justice but in the welding of safeguards against oppression for persons who are presumed innocent,” the siblings said.

Based on the affidavits of the whistleblowers submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation, Napoles’ children and her brother were allegedly involved in an alleged scam, specifically the pocketing of P900 million worth of government money from the Malampaya funds that were intended for the victims of typhoons ‘‘Ondoy’’ and ‘‘Pepeng.’’

The Napoles siblings and Lim cited Section 9, Rule 114 of the Rules of Court as basis for the Sandiganbayan to consider their appeal, particularly on their financial ability to pay the bail bond.

The respondents, through their lawyers, said the recommended bail must only be “high enough to assure the presence of the defendant when required but not higher than is reasonably calculated to fulfill this purpose.”

They added: “The recommended amount of bail for all of the accused have no other effect but to confiscate and practically bring both accused to their knees even though bail itself is not intended as punishment.

“The amount recommended is not only overwhelming but disheartening as well. It has practically stripped any person presumed innocent of the constitutional right of temporary liberty.”

The respondents assured the Sandiganbayan that they were “willing to cooperate during the proceedings of these cases up to its faithful conclusion.”

In its comment dated Dec. 14, the prosecution said all three must present supporting documents proving that they were unable to pay the original recommended amount of P22.3 million.

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gone for medical treatment.

• March 3: Haiti’s former president Rene Preval, an agronomist and champion of the poor, aged 74 after a cardiac arrest.

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Duterte, who visited the town of Naval in Biliran province following an aerial survey aboard a chopper, told government officials to start relief efforts immediately.

Urduja’s winds were not very powerful, but its slow movement across the central islands unleashed heavy rains over a long period, flooding large areas.

Many of the islands hit

by Urduja also bore the brunt of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013, which left more than 7,350 people dead or missing.

In a video message posted on Facebook, the island province’s governor Gerardo Espina said communities were running out of fuel and water

Vietnam...

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President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a construction halt on a 500-square meter sand bar in the area after a protest from China.

“Maintaining and even consolidating a military and non-military presence has been consistently one of the key approaches for Vietnam’s strategy for the South China Sea,” said Alexander Vuving, a political analyst at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii.

Vietnam has reclaimed about 120 acres across 10 islets since 2014, according to the Washington DCbased Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, extending runways and adding ra-

PNP...

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pictures of themselves,” he added.

Isabelle Duterte, the daughter of Davao Vice Mayor Paolo and his ex-wife Lovelie Sangkola Sumera, held her pre-debut photoshoot inside the country’s seat of power—bringing the country’s top stylists, designers and make-up artists along with her.

But journalist Raissa Robles questioned Isabelle’s true age when the Davao City government website listed her birth date on Jan. 26, 2002—“Which makes her

Aviation...

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Pacquiao next prexy —Duterte

By John Paolo Bencito IF PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte had his way, eightdivision boxing champion and Senator Manny Pacquiao would be the Philippines’ next President.

“I am dedicating this message to Manny. You know why? Sabi ko sa kanya, at one time, kami lang dalawa nag-uusap: ‘Yung style mo na ‘yan gusto kita gawing presidente. Alam mo kaya mo,’” Duterte, who was among the high-profile guests during Pacquiao’s 39th birthday celebration, said in General Santos City on Sunday.

He said he shared Pacquiao’s desire to rid the government of corruption.

He vowed to make good on his campaign promise to eradicate corruption as his “gift” to Pacquaio.

“Sa birthday niya, let us honor―or at least the entire Philippines is listening now―ang gift ko sa kanya is jointly with his personal hatred for corruption,” Duterte said.

“I join him with the same intensity of hate. And ‘yan ang birthday gift ko para sa kanya, yayariin ko kayong lahat.”

Duterte said he was glad Pacquiao was with him in the public service.

“As a senator, you have demonstrated the qualities of a true leader―someone who believes that in order to make the Philippines a better country, we have to keep our people on top of our priorities,” Duterte said.

He said it was his pleasure to celebrate another milestone in Pacquiao’s life.

“You have brought so much pride and joy to our country for being the world champion in the field of boxing,” Duterte said.

“The determination you have shown and the humility embodied in the glorious triumph are worthy of emulation. Continue to inspire as we lead them towards a more prosperous life.”

Pacquiao, an eight-division world boxing champion, holds a record of 59 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws.

In the 2016 elections, Pacquiao received 15,592,390 votes, landing him on the seventh spot in the 12-man senatorial slate and recently joined the administration party PDP-Laban. Before he was a senator, he was a congressman of Sarangani province.

Naia...

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The Department of Tourism is targeting some 6.4 million passengers to arrive in the country this season for various reasons.

Meanwhile, Monreal directed all airline ground handlers to expedite the unloading of passengers’ luggage from the aircraft.

The MIAA chief came up with the directive after his office received complaints and other concerns from incoming passengers on the delayed retrieval of their checked-in luggage from the baggage carousel that resulted in congestion at the passenger terminal’s arrival conveyor area.

To avoid or to minimize congestion, Monreal said ground equipment must be positioned at the aircraft bay staging area 30 minutes before the flight arrival for immediate transfer of checked-in baggage to the ramp conveyor system.

First baggage/luggage must be at the conveyor belt within 12 minutes after the aircraft had parked at the designated parking bay and must be loaded to the conveyor belt 40 minutes after the aircraft had parked.

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‘TRAIN adds woes to informal workers’

By Vito Barcelo

M

ORE than 15 million informal workers nationwide who are not covered by labor standards and without social protection benefits will suffer more once the tax reform package Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion is approved, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said on Monday.

“Informal sector workers working in efits from the tax reform package, these the informal economy will be ran over underground economy workers will fall by the TRAIN. Getting no direct ben- further way below the poverty. Many

forms of poverty will manifest because of widening poverty created anew by this TRAIN,” ALU-TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

Informal economy workers are independent, self-employed, smallscale producers and distributors of goods and services. These include jeepney drivers, tricycle drivers, pedicab drivers, taxi drivers, all kinds of vendors, sales attendants,

barbers, cooks, waiters, dishwashers in carinderias and canteens, tailors, sewers, porters, and street sweepers.

Although the TRAIN widened the base of those exempt from income tax from minimum wage earners to mid-level wage earners by exempting those employees getting P250,000 a year or P21,000 a month and raised taxable bonuses from P82,000 to P90,000,

these cannot mitigate the impact of TRAIN for the underground workers.

“Underground economy workers will be impacted by the rise in prices of commodities and in increase in the cost of services caused specifically by the TRAIN’s excise tax on fuel, sweetened beverages, and coal,” Tanjusay said.

Informal economy workers are not covered by labor laws and

CA upholds conviction of road rage killer

Legarda welcomes offer to head DSWD

By Rey E. Requejo

By Macon Araneta RESPONDING to rumors that she is set to be appointed to head the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Senator Loren Legarda said she is willing to accept the challenge.

At the same time, however, Legarda said that she intends to complete her term as senator until 2019.

If appointed, the senator would take over the post currently held by DSWD Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco who was named as the agency’s officer-incharge.

Leyco took over the job after the Commission on Appointments rejected the appointment of former Secretary Judy Taguiwalo.

For the past few days, rumors has spread that Legarda has been offered the top DSWD post by President Rodrigo Duterte himself.

“I am not certain whether I am allowed to comment on that on national television but my being mum about it will probably spill the beans,” Legarda said in a television interview.

“Let me just say that I would want to exercise very strong oversight functions over a department that is very important that takes care of the need of the people,” she added.

But Legarda added that she “hopes to continue and finish the 2019 budget, which is a year from now.”

Legarda’s second term expires in 2019.

As a two-term senator, Legarda chairs the Senate finance committee, which leads the discussion on and approval of the national government’s budget.

Meanwhile, Legarda said that the 2018 national budget will further enable the Department of Social Welfare and Development to cater to the needs of underprivileged Filipinos.

Legarda said that the budget of the DSWD increased to P141 billion for next year from the current year’s P128 billion.

She said that the proposed 2018 national budget was already ratified

by Congress and will be signed by the President on Dec. 19, 2017.

“Our budget for next year is indeed a budget that reforms and transforms.

The government must sustain its support and facilitate the environment where our poor—those who have been victims of poverty from decades long of poor governance and lack of government interventions—could prosper.

We should treat the poor as we would any other human being—with dignity and respect,” Legarda said.

She explained that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the DSWD’s flagship project, gets the biggest bulk of the agency’s budget with an allocated amount of P89 billion.

standards. They have no Social Security System (SSS), Philhealth and Pag-ibig to help them in time of their need.

“The TRAIN has no policy or program for them.

We urge government to improve its social safety net protection to underground economy workers to save them further from falling deep into extreme poverty. This is the only way we can protect them,” he added

BONE CUTTER. Health Undersecretary Gerardo Bayudo and UST Cardiologist Marcel Ramirez show a bone cutter, among other surgical tools to be used for victims of firecrackers as they conducted ‘Iwas Paputok’ hospital rounds headed jointly by the Department of Health and the UST Hospital, in preparation for the celebration of the coming New Year 2018. Norman Cruz

House okays bill on ‘vision screening’ for children

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to establish a National Vision Screening Program for kindergarten pupils to facilitate early detection of eye disorders and ailments among them.

House Bill 3222, authored by Representatives Pia Cayetano of Taguig City-Pateros, Estrellita Suansing of Nueva Ecija and Alfred Vargas of Quezon City, seeks to identify early

childhood visual problems and provide immediate attention to visually impaired kindergarten pupils through the creation of the NVSP under the Department of Education.

The bill provides for the creation of the Vision Screening Continuing Research Fund (VSCF) through donations to DepEd or the Department of Health. The VSCF shall be subject to existing budgeting, accounting, and auditing rules and regulations.

It mandates tax exemptions for donors to the NVSP and VSCF, and

that the amount necessary for the implementation of the program shall be included in the DOH and DepEd budgets in the annual General Appropriations Act. Data from the Philippine Eye Research Institute show one in 20 preschoolers and one in four school-aged children have an eye problem. Also, over 10 percent of young Filipino children have visual acuity problems, higher than the five to 10 percent of the United States and Europe.

The Philippine Academy of Oph-

thalmology likewise underscored that poor vision at a young age impairs the child’s performance in school and impacts their interactions with the community.

Cayetano, a deputy speaker, underscored the importance of early detection, noting many eye problems could be resolved at an early stage through simple diagnostic exams and non-surgical procedures.

Cayetano sad she is hopeful that the Senate will act on the measure at the soonest possible time.

Oil companies raise pump prices by as much as P0.50/l

By Alena Mae S. Flores OIL firms raised pump prices by as much as P0.50 per liter effective Tuesday to reflect movements in the world oil market.

The oil firms raised the price of diesel by P0.50 per liter for diesel, P0.45 per liter for kerosene and P0.30 per liter for gasoline.

“Petron will implement the following price increases (VAT

inclusive) effective 6 a.m. tomorrow, Dec. 19: P0.30/li for gasoline, P0.50/li for diesel, and P0.45/li for kerosene,” Petron Corp. said.

Other oil firms that raised prices includes Phoenix Petroleum, Eastern Petroleum, PTT Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, Unioil Philippines while others are expected to follow suit.

“There will be no increases for

kerosene in areas under a state of calamity. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron said.

Upon a declaration of a State of Calamity in Biliran, the Department of Energy is ready to implement kerosene and household LPG price freeze.

Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi directed the close monitoring the prices of petroleum products in

the the typhoon-stricken province to protect consumers from undue price increases.

The DoE, through the Oil Industry Management Bureau, closely coordinates with oil industry players in the implementation of the Republic Act 10623, which imposes a “price freeze” on household LPG and kerosene products being sold in the areas affected by the calamity.

THE Court of Appeals has sustained the conviction of Jason Ivler for killing the son of former presidential chief-of-staff Undersecretary Renato Ebarle Sr. during a road rage incident in 2009.

In a 32-page decision penned by Associate Justice Ramon Cruz, the CA’s 14th Division dismissed the petition filed by Ivler seeking to overturn the verdict of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in 2015 that found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to suffer 30 years imprisonment.

The appellate court upheld the findings of the Quezon City RTC, Branch 84, that the killing of Renato Ebarle Jr. by Ivler, nephew of popular folk singer Freddie Aguilar, was attended by treachery, an element of the crime of murder.

“Renato Ebarle Jr. was totally unaware that he would be treacherously shot in the comfort of his own car while waiting for the stoplight before him to turn green. He was unarmed and was not given any opportunity to defend himself or to escape from the deadly assault,” the CA decision stated.

“The deadly successive shots of the accused-appellant deprived the helpless victim of any opportunity to put up a decent defense.

The attack was executed by the accused appellant so viciously that a defense was virtually impossible,” it said.

The appellate court turned down the defense of Ivler, who has been serving his sentence in the New Bilibid Prison, that he could not be convicted for murder since the incident involved an altercation between him and the victim.

“Clearly the supposed altercation between the victim and the accused-appellant immediately before the shooting did not necessarily negate the presence of treachery,” the CA said.

The appellate court also rejected the arguments of Ivler that he was not identified by any witness as the killer.

DoH gets ready for Yuletide THE Department of Health yesterday conducted hospital rounds in selected hospitals within Metro Manila as part of its preparation and monitoring activities ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that he would also conduct the traditional hospital rounds with other DOH health officials on Dec. 31 to monitor the hospital response in our hospitals.

“The preparedness of all hospitals to attend to victims of fireworks-related injuries during this Yuletide season is very

important. We also reiterate our call to the public to join the community fireworks display instead of using firecrackers that can lead to injuries and even loss of life,” Duque emphasized.

He said this will ensure that hospitals are prepared to provide medical services in the unfortunate event of an injury due to fireworks.

In 2016, the DOH ‘Aksyon Paputok’ Injury Reduction Surveillance reported a total of 630 fireworks-related injuries with no mortality. Although, cases declined significantly with

32 percent lower than the same period last year, the number of injuries is still substantial. Majority (181 cases, 29 percent) of the injured were from the age group 10-14 years old and were caused mostly by piccolo (31 percent) and kwitis (14 percent).

“Let us be responsible citizens and do our part in this campaign to prevent injuries especially among children. We ask all parents to be watchful in ensuring that their children do not use exploding firecrackers such as ‘piccolo’ and ‘kwitis’ all throughout the season,” he added.

LANTERNS FOR SALE. A vendor displays Christmas lanterns at the Central Mar-

ket in Manila. The lantern symbolizes Christianity’s celebration of Christmas the world over. Lino Santos

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

Adelle Chua, Editor

Getting used to bad

T

O LIVE in Metro Manila is to build character. It makes one tolerant, patient—and ridiculously optimistic.

We’ve said a mouthful over the past few months regarding the state of the MRT3. Despite the inconveniences—no, the dangers—of using it, people still line up and squeeze themselves into overcrowded coaches just to get to their

destination.

And because the glitches happen with such great frequency that their absence would be surprising, people have been conditioned to expect the least from the train service.

Never mind that it’s neither efficient nor safe. Never mind that it has deteriorated even as the number of passengers have increased. At least it’s running, they say.

It’s the same way with traffic.

People have learned to auto-

matically make up excuses for the traffic. It’s Monday. It’s Christmas. It’s Friday. It’s a payday. It’s Saturday. It’s raining. It’s rush hour. There’s an accident.

But we find that traffic is still bad even if it’s not Christmas, even it’s not Monday, Friday or Saturday, even if it’s not payday, even when the sun is shining, even during off-peak hours, and even when there are no accidents.

What, then, is the remaining

excuse? We believe our officials know this but are either too overwhelmed or too lethargic to do anything of consequence.

The holidays will pass and we will be surprised if traffic eases and public transportation would become more bearable. Yes, we have set our bar that low.

We set out to find change, and things are changing, indeed—just not in the direction we want.

Let China’s workers roam free

By Michael Pettis

When will change come?

I HAVE been a journalist for almost seven decades now, and I can safely say I have seen history in the making.

Decades ago, we were second only to Japan insofar as economic growth and foreign direct investments were concerned.

Today we are a laggard among Southeast Asian countries. My gulay, even Cambodia, a military junta-controlled country, is ahead of us. What happened? Whose fault was it?

Some may say that other countries in the region attained their current status because of their authoritarian rule. So is it because of democracy that we have failed?

We can go on and on to

seek the reason on why the Philippines is now at the bottom of the totem pole.

President Duterte capitalized on this when he ran for president last year.

More than 16 million Filipinos voted for him.

They all wanted a change for the better, especially after the six-year rule of the Aquino administration whose legacy was incompetence, lack of empathy and vindictiveness.

It seems that Filipinos are so desperate for change they now want it even through radical means.

Even former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the architect of martial law when the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos proclaimed it in 1972, now admits that the problems facing Duterte are far greater than the problems Marcos faced.

I am not a governance

expert, but I know that radical change must come sooner than expected if the clamor for change should be realized. Only with genuine change can we catch up with our neighbors. *** Some people in the Aquino administration

People are so desperate for it.

must be held accountable for the P3.5-billion Dengvaxia mess.

I cannot buy the excuse being made that former President BS Aquino and then-Health Secretary Janette Garin acted in good faith in pursuing the immunization program for

the benefit of the people.

Some questions must still be answered by Aquino and Garin, and even Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. I think they should answer for this mess.

Why did they not conduct due diligence before they negotiated that deal with Sanofi Pasteur? The drug had not yet been certified by the World Health Organization! And yet, Aquino is on record as meeting with Sanofi officials.

The deal was in fact rushed before the 2016 polls on the pretext that the Aquino administration had the greater good in mind. This makes me believe that it was done in aid not only of corruption but the 2016 elections, my gulay!

Since Abad supposedly released the P3.5 billion to buy Dengvaxia out of sav-

ings, was that even authorized? *** Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is challenging the House committee on justice to elevate the impeachment case against her to the Senate if the House committee believes that there are indeed grounds of impeachment against her.

Obviously, Sereno and her lawyers now realize that indeed that grounds may be strong after the testimony of three incumbent justices and one incumbent justice. Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza accused her of committing treason.

Sereno used a confidential document to block Jardeleza’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Justices Noel Tijam and Arturo Brion also testified against her lack of respect for en banc decisions.

What these justices testified to already constitute impeachable offenses, in my opinion. The only thing remaining is for the House committee on justice to elevate the case to the plenary for voting.

And then the case can be transmitted to the Senate for trial.

As to the question of whether she would be convicted – well, impeachment is a numbers game. *** The restoration of Manila’s Grand Old Dame, the Manila Metropolitan Theater, brings back a lot of memories.

I remember going there before World War II and the Japanese Occupation, to watch old Filipino and Hollywood movies. To me, going there was always a great experience.

Somehow after the Japanese Occupation, the Met

Turn to A5

OVER the past few weeks, people here in Beijing have been riveted by the so-called migrant “clean-out”—the government’s attempt to evict tens of thousands of migrant workers from their homes in the poorer parts of the city. What’s not being discussed, however, is how the crackdown could threaten one of the government’s other main priorities: managing debt.

In China, mobility is legally restricted according to a household registration system, called the hukou.

Chinese citizens receive an urban or rural hukou which officially identifies them as residents of a specific area and which allows them to live and work only in that area. Few if any of the migrant workers affected by the current sweep possess a Beijing hukou.

Previously, this didn’t really matter. For the past three decades, during the period of China’s furious economic growth, the country’s fastest-growing regions were desperate for cheap labor to fill factories and build infrastructure.

With local government officials graded in large part on their ability to generate rapid growth, they largely ignored hukou restrictions and made migration into their cities easy. Hundreds of millions of workers traveled from their hukou areas to wherever there were jobs, in particular big cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

The attitudes of local authorities may be changing now as the economy slows and officials become more concerned about unemployment and tensions over access to schools and other social services. One of the easiest tools the authorities have to manage both problems is to enforce the hukou rules that are already on the books.

In Beijing, the campaign is broadly popular among legal residents, who complain about overcrowding and rising rents.

If it spreads, however, the crackdown could carry a significant macroeconomic cost. Enforcing the residency system nationally could severely limit labor mobility in China.

Turn to A5

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Truth in forests and trees CJ Sereno’s two serious problems IT LOOKS like Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s problems concerning the impeachment complaint against her are mounting. Three of her colleagues in the high tribunal have already testified against her before the justice committee of the House of Representatives, which is investigating the impeachment complaint. According to news reports, around five more of her colleagues will also testify against her.

One of the issues so far raised against Chief Justice Sereno concerns the Judicial and Bar Council and the manner by which Sereno presides over it as its ex officio chairman. The other members of the JBC include the Secretary of Justice, a member of Congress, a representative of the integrated bar, a professor of law, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, and a representative of the private sector.

Although the Constitution vests in the President of the Philippines the exclusive power to appoint judges and justices, the appointee must be among those recommended by the JBC, which is mandated by the charter to screen nominees for all judicial posts.

In other words, the president cannot appoint anyone to any judicial vacancy unless that person is in the list of nominees submitted to the president by the JBC. Therefore, anyone interested in becoming a judge or a justice will have to, as a first step, file his application with the JBC. Under the rules of the JBC, if a member of the JBC questions the integrity of an applicant, the application is held in abeyance and the matter must be deliberated upon by the JBC. The candidate must obtain the unanimous approval of the JBC to continue the application process.

Although the rules of the JBC do not explicitly provide it, the JBC member who raised the integrity issue is expected to inhibit himself or herself from the deliberation. That’s because if the JBC member who triggered the integrity issue were to participate in the deliberation, that member is certain to insist on his position and, as a consequence, the applicant whose integrity is questioned will never be able to obtain the unanimous approval of the JBC. That will make the proceedings an exercise in futility.

To insist otherwise will be to countenance an absurdity, and it is a fundamental rule in Law that rules promulgated by state authorities cannot be construed so as to lead to an absurdity.

Back in 2014, then Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza filed with the JBC his application for possible appointment to the Supreme Court. From all indications, Jardeleza was undoubtedly qualified for the post.

It was revealed that when Jardeleza’s application was being processed, Sereno raised an integrity question against him.

Sereno also insisted on participating in the JBC deliberation on the integrity issue, and in opposing Jardeleza’s application.

When Jardeleza learned of Sereno’s intentions, Jardeleza sued Sereno in the Supreme Court on the ground that Sereno denied him due process. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor

of Jardeleza and held that Sereno violated Jardeleza’s right to due process.

Incidentally, that was the second time a sitting chief justice was sued in his own court. The first one was in 1983 when the appointment of then Chief Justice Enrique Fernando as head of the commission to investigate the assassination of ex-Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. was challenged by certain political personalities before the Supreme Court.

Since due process is a constitutional right, and the Supreme Court categorically ruled that Sereno, as chairman of the JBC, violated Jardeleza’s constitutional right to due process, political analysts believe that the Jardeleza versus Sereno case indicates that Sereno committed a culpable violation of the Constitution—which is a ground for impeachment under the Constitution.

Legal experts add that as chief justice, Sereno must have been aware of the constitutional right of due process.

The other issue against Sereno concerns appointments to the Sandiganbayan.

It will be recalled that in 2016, the JBC was tasked to submit to then-President Benigno Aquino III the corresponding nominees for six vacancies in the Sandiganbayan.

In due time, the Sereno-led JBC submitted to Aquino III six separate lists of nominees, with one list of nominees for each of the six vacancies. This clustering arrangement was to compel the president to choose one name from each list, instead of choosing any six names from the entire group of nominees.

Despite the clustering, President Aquino III disregarded the listings and appointed six nominees, two of whom came from one list.

A number of trial court judges who made it to the six lists, but were not appointed, brought the issue to the Supreme Court on the argument that the appointments made by President Aquino were illegal because the president should have appointed one and only one nominee from each of the six lists of nominees submitted by the JBC. However, in a decision rendered in November 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed their petition and declared that the clustering of nominees done by the JBC is unconstitutional for being an encroachment on the executive power to appoint members of the judiciary.

Legal experts opine that as the chairman of the JBC, Chief Justice Sereno should have known that the clustering of nominees has no support in the Constitution, and that to require the president to limit his preferred judicial appointee to specific names in separate clusters is unconstitutional.

For the JBC to do that is tantamount to it telling the president whom he may not appoint, even if the person concerned is qualified and has already been nominated by the JBC. Being the chairman of the JBC, Chief Justice Sereno cannot deny her participation in the unconstitutional clustering of nominees done by the JBC. Since what was done was in violation of the Constitution, Sereno’s critics believe that they have one more reason to accuse her of culpable violation of the Constitution.

THERE is a proverb which warns people from “not seeing the forest for the trees,” meaning someone is seeing the details but not the overall or big picture. I think we are in a moment like this in the dengue vaccination issue, in the debate over the tax reform bill that Congress has just passed, Sereno impeachment process, and Isabelle Duterte’s pictures. Actually, in all cases, the trees, i.e. the details, are also important but one must not forget the forest, what these controversies tell us about where we are as a society and where we are headed.

The dengue vaccination issue seemed straight forward. On one hand, there is the narrative of a conscientious president addressing a public health problem decisively after receiving all the information necessary. For sure, President Aquino was impressive, credible in his testimony before the Senate committee chaired by Senator Dick Gordon. He was dignified, cooperative and gave straightforward answers. That the information turned out to be flat out wrong is not his fault, according to his supporters.

Sometimes, decisions have to be made weighing all the information available at that time. For those supporters, it was a “damn if you do, damn if you don’t” situation. They argue that President Aquino would have been accused of inaction if he waited for the next administration to make the

vaccination decision given the prevalence of dengue in the country.

The tree in this issue for me is the accountability of the Aquino and Duterte officials who made the decision to launch (for the former) and continue (the latter) the dengue vaccination campaign even as the debate about its efficacy and risks continued. Another tree is the legal liability of the Sanofi officials who mounted a sophisticated marketing strategy on the Aquino officials, blinding the latter to make a bad decision. Finally, one more tree is the role of congressional representatives who lobbied former health Secretary Pauline Ubial who, against her better judgment, continued the vaccination program in the first year of the Duterte administration.

The forest to these trees is the way we make policy decisions in our country. The dengue vaccination controversy reveals how appalling our decision-making process is. On what needed to be science-based and precautionary, given the magnitude of dengue as a problem, the scientific uncertainty involved, the risks that have been raise, and the amount involved, politics prevailed over good sense.

The scientists of the Department of Health, through the Formulary Executive Council, were ignored and even pressured to give a limited approval; subsequently, even the conditions which they imposed were set aside.

I have learned in my stint in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, in my engagement on climate change for

the last three decades, and my current work as head of Manila Observatory, that you ignore your scientists at your own peril, and in this case at the peril of thousands of children and billions of precious public health money.

President Aquino himself, as pointed out by Dr. Susie Mercado, formerly with the World Health Organisation and an ex-DOH official, clearly had wrong information about the extent of the dengue problem. For sure also, there was a big debate on the efficacy and risks of proceeding the Dengvaxia purchase. As I believe President Aquino’s assertion that he was not told about objections to this decision, one can only conclude that there was a bubble, a cordon sanitaire around President Aquino that blinded him to the concerns that were being raised.

There is another forest here that has been raised, and that is the specter of corruption. But there is so far no proof about that. I am inclined to believe that this is more an issue of a successful marketing strategy by a big pharmaceutical company that pulled all the levers to make a big sale that was crucial for its bottom line.

One hopes that lessons can be learned in this Dengvaxia controversy.

This lack of evidence and science based policy decision making is not exclusive to the Aquino government.

Previous administrations have been guilty of this.

Currently, the Dutere administration is doing this in its war against drugs. controversy Another where the forest and trees lens can be used is the uproar over the tax reform program

of the Duterte program, popularly known as TRAIN, which Congress has just approved. I congratulate Senator Sonny Angara and Congressman Dax Cua, and their principals Senate President Koko Pimentel and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, for making this happen. The leadership of Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez and his lead undersecretary on this, Karl Chua, was crucial. Seeing the latter in action during the bicameral conference was awesome, to say the least.

One big tree here is the reduction of tax rates for all tax payers, which definitely is a welcome relief for many. But that comes with a significant revenue loss that had to be offset by increase in taxes.

A second tree is the imposition of an increase in excise taxes on coal and other minerals. This is long overdue and is important for the message it sends about dirty fuels and industries.

The increase on consumer electricity bills would be negligible. The last-minute deletion of the VAT for domestic coal was terrible, as condemned by Senator Joel Villanueva, and that should be revisited at another time.

In any case, Senator Loren Legarda has once again proven her mettle as a legislator that can get things done. A 50/100/150-peso increase is less than the 100/200/300 increase the Senate approved but it is still eventually a 1500 per cent increase from the pathetic 10 pesos we charge now. More than anything, it sends the message that coal is on the way out of our energy mix. That makes this tree a big picture matter.

The forest in TRAIN is its impact on the poor. I am not qualified to comment on that but it is something that we must all pay attention to. To the extent that TRAIN enables BUILD BUILD, BUILD, the ambitious Duterte infrastructure program, it could benefit the poor if the latter leads to authentic economic development. But the direct impact to the poor of the new or increase in taxes must still be weighed and mitigated.

In the impeachment process against Chief Justice Sereno, the trees are the testimonies against her, including by some of her fellow Justices, all of which would show that at worst she had made mistakes as a manager but certainly has not committed impeachable acts. The forest is the independence of the judiciary which could be burnt down as a result of this process.

Finally, the pictures of Isabelle Duterte. The trees include the costs of those dresses, the extravagance of the family that purports to be poor, and the age of Isabelle that makes the predebut narrative a stretch.

But the forest for me is still the fact that this is a 15 year old (according to Raissa Robles) whose actions should not occupy so much public space as it has now occupy. What does that tell us of our country?

Trees are important. But let’s keep in mind the forest. Let’s specially make sure we don’t burn it down and we grow the forest, our country, to be better, more prosperous and peaceful, and yes happier.

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Towards safe, orderly and regular migration in Asia and the Pacific

By Dr. Shamshad Akhtar General has rightly de- limited access to public cess to essential services and priorities to feed into global scribed as a refugee emergency: an unacceptable humanitarian and human rights nightmare that must be brought to end.

But most migrants move in search of jobs, higher wages and a better life for themselves and their families. Their remittances - $276 million dollars in Asia-Pacific in 2017 alone - provide welcome support to communities in their countries of origin. Put simply, remittances feed children, pay for education and healthcare and lift people out of poverty. But if migrants move for their own benefit, they also do in response to the needs of the countries to which they travel. By moving where the jobs are, migrants support innovation, productivity and growth.

Migrants’ contribution is all the more remarkable considering the challenges they face on arrival, after long, expensive and perilous journeys. Migrants are often poorly paid and have

services. They tend to work in low skill jobs in the informal sector. Debts taken out to pay illegal fees to secure employment mean they can have little choice but to accept dangerous physical labour. Female migrants are particularly vulnerable. Often employed as domestic workers, they can suffer exploitation and abuse. To compound matters, migrants are frequently turned into scapegoats, their contribution downplayed by inaccurate, prejudice fuelled narratives.

Addressing these challenges could help unleash migrants’ potential as a force for positive change.

The economic dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region and its ageing population means migrants could play an even bigger role in our economies and societies, plugging labour and skill shortages.

But for them to do so, clear policies are needed to protect migrants’ rights in the workplace, improve their ac-

make it easier for them to help families they have had to leave behind.

This was recognized by Member States of the United Nations in the wake of the European refugee crisis when a bold initiative was launched to negotiate a global compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration by 2018. At its heart lies a simple ambition: to protect migrants’ human rights.

Grounded in existing laws and practices, and with full respect for Member States’ sovereignty, this compact should lay the foundations for international cooperation for the benefit of countries of origin, destination, and the migrants themselves.

To help shape this agenda, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific held a regional consultation in November. Governments, civil society and the private sector met to identify regional trends, share best practice and agree on

negotiations. Several key priorities emerged: protecting migrants against exploitation by unscrupulous employers by facilitating legal migration; ensuring migrants can transfer money quickly, securely and at low cost; cracking down on human trafficking; and helping those who may be forced to move because of natural disasters exacerbated by climate change.

There was strong commitment on all sides to cooperate to drive this agenda forward. I hope International Migrants Day can help keep up the momentum, promote the positive contribution migrants make in our region and help achieve safe, orderly and regular migration across Asia and the Pacific.

Shamshad Akhtar is the Undersecretary-General of the United Nations and the executive secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

shares risks across the region, and coordinated business cycles.

If labor mobility in China slows dramatically, growth rates in different parts of the country would diverge even more than they have already, rather than converge. As a result, monetary policies aimed at restraining credit growth overall might end up being too tight for some regions, leading to accelerating bankruptcies, and too loose for others, fueling outof-control credit growth. To prevent financial dislocation in the former, officials would likely tolerate faster credit growth for a longer period of time than they might otherwise. If labor mobility is restricted, in other words, it’ll be harder to control the upsurge in debt.

For instance, GDP in China’s northeastern province of Liaoning, which suffers

from rust-belt industries mired in debt and excess capacity, shrunk 2.5 percent last year. Even the ability of the provincial government to continue financing itself was thrown into question temporarily when one of its largest state-owned enterprises, Dongbei Special Steel, was forced into a messy default.

In order to avoid surging unemployment and rising defaults, Liaoning needs low interest rates and temporarily easy money. But, if the central government wants to restrain credit growth in healthier and faster-growing provinces like Fujian, which grew last year by 8.4 percent, it needs to pursue diametrically opposed policies.

This is already a difficult enough problem. It would be far more difficult if Liaoning’s unemployed workers couldn’t migrate to where the jobs are, and if provinces

like Fujian protected their residents by restricting immigration. Such provincial protectionism has a long history in China. Less than 20 years ago, provinces restricted trade among themselves so severely that one of the main reasons then-Premier Zhu Rongji pushed for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization was to use WTO rules to break down intra-provincial trade barriers.

For this reason, authorities should monitor labor practices carefully and take steps to prevent local officials from heavily enforcing the hukou. This may prove difficult, in which case they should consider alternative policies to reinforce monetary integration. They could strengthen fiscal policies that transfer income from faster-growing provinces to slower-

growing ones, for example, or manage fiscal spending so that business cycles are more closely coordinated across regions.

One thing we know from the history of developing countries is how suddenly virtuous cycles can become vicious cycles. In China, rapid growth historically encouraged local officials to ignore hukou restrictions. This caused a sharp increase in labor mobility, which made monetary policy more effective and, in turn, encouraged even more rapid growth.

This self-reinforcing process could just as easily reverse itself, with slow growth encouraging officials to restrict labor mobility, weakening the transmission of monetary policy and slowing growth even further. Officials might want to think twice before making their own jobs harder.

often referred to as in a Commission on Culture state of “gross squalor” and the Arts having bought with homeless people tak- it, it’s being restored.

From A4 ing up residence there. *** Now with the National I had scheduled a visit was in utter disrepair and

to Baguio with my family, but the doctor advised me against going because the temperature is falling in the low 11 or 10.5 degree Cel-

sius.

I want to go to Baguio so much! I wanted to see again my student Bobby Ongpin’s magnum opus in Baguio!

IN 2017, Asia and the Pacific will be home to 62 million international migrants.

That’s a population larger than the Republic of Korea’s.

Even more people from our region—over 100 million— live outside their countries of birth. At the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) we see this as an opportunity. One we should seize to shape a better future for our region.

There are many reasons for which people migrate.

Students do so looking for an education unavailable in their own county, to broaden their horizons and improve their prospects.

Some migrants are refugees, fleeing violence and persecution. In our region, we have tragically seen hundreds of thousands of civilians, the clear majority Rohingya, flee their homes in Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh in what the UN Secretary

Let...

From A4

This would in turn constrain monetary policy, which is critical to minimizing the cost to China of what’s likely to be a very difficult adjustment after decades of deeply unbalanced growth.

How exactly would this happen? It’s important to remember that while China is a huge economy with a great deal of variety across different regions, it can nonetheless operate effectively with a single currency because it has most of the characteristics of an optimum currency area. In the 1960s, Columbia University’s Robert Mundell argued that four conditions were required to establish such an area. They include high levels of labor mobility, high levels of capital mobility, a system of transfers that

When...

News

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

BI biometrics system in place

By Vito Barcelo

T

HE Bureau of Immigration is now using a state-of-the-art biometricsbased system for its computers to detect and thwart the entry of foreign fugitives, terrorists and undesirable aliens coming into the country.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said immigration personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have been using the new software, called the Border Control Information System, in processing all international passengers entering and exiting the premiere ports.

“A major feature of this new system is that aside

from speeding up the processing time for passengers, it is also capable of detecting attempts by undesirable aliens, such as wanted fugitives and terrorists, to enter the country even if they come in as impostors or in disguise,” Morente said.

He said the BCIS requires computers to be equipped with cameras and finger scan devices that all pas-

sengers lining up for immigration inspection must go through every time they travel in or out of the country.

“Each time a passenger’s face is captured by camera and his fingers are scanned, the results are automatically crossed matched with the passport image and images in the BI database, where personal details of persons with derogatory records are stored,” the immigration chief said.

The BCIS is also interconnected with the database of the Interpol and the Australian immigration department.

Individuals who are in these agencies’ wanted list will be caught if any of them attempts to enter the country, according to BI port op-

erations division chief Marc Red Mariñas.

“With this system the use of fraudulent travel documents and disguising one’s physical appearance will soon become inutile,” Mariñas said. “The chances that they will not be caught is very slim.”

“The new system is now being used in all international ports nationwide,” he added.

In October, more men were deployed to man Immigration booths at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to cope with the influx of passengers ahead of the holidays.

Mariñas, Naia's chief immigration officer, said at least 100 newly-trained personnel from the bureau’s

Academy in Pampanga will be assigned to assist officers in their 24/7 operations at Naia terminals 1, 2 and 3.

“Two hundred more men will be on standby. This is to prevent long lines at immigration booths because we’re expecting the number of air travelers increase this year,” said Mariñas.

Mariñas also tapped Travel Control and Enforcement Unit supervisors Bien Guevarra (Terminal 1), Glenn Comia (Terminal 2) and Den Binsol Terminal 3) to prepare their men for the holiday exodus in line with the government’s “Oplan Undas 2017” program.

In August, the Bureau deployed additional immigration officers to international ports outside of Metro Ma-

nila to thwart the entry of foreign terrorists and other undesirable aliens in the provinces.

Morente said he had already issued personnel orders directing scores of Immigration officers to report for duty in other international ports nationwide.

The immigration chief said the move was aimed at augmenting the number of BI personnel assigned in these ports, whose primary function is to process and screen arriving and departing foreign and local travelers.

The places where the Immigration officers were reassigned are the airports in Mactan-Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, and the international seaport in Zamboanga City.

DAR: Sending farmers home is ‘image-building’

By Rio N. Araja AGRARIAN Reform Secretary John Castriciones on Monday said the agency's effort to send 91 farmers camped in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City back to their homes in Davao del Norte was just part of its "image-building."

The farmers were sent home Monday night.

At the weekly forum of the Quezon City Press Club, Castriciones said he only wanted to help the farmer-beneficiaries of Tagum Development Corp.

"I have no political intention doing this. I do not want to look good in front of you. All I want is to do what is mandated of me," he told reporters.

"I pity the [poor] farmers," he added.

Last Sunday, DAR said it would be sending home the 91 protesting farmers who had been camping at the department's central office in Quezon City since October.

"It's Christmas [Day] soon.

And yet, they are still there

[at the campsite]. Wouldn't it be nice that they would spend Christmas with their family?"

Castriciones said.

According to the agency, Pedro Arnado, Kilusang Magbubukid ng PilipinasSouthern Mindanao chairman, sent a solicitation letter seeking support for the protesting farmers, who wished to go home for Christmas to be with their family.

Castriciones immediately tapped director Diosdado Padilla of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to provide the farmers with a scholarship program.

But KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores hit still criticized the department, saying it failed to issue a "single installation order despite the farmers’ numerous dialogues and meetings with DAR central office personnel."

He accused DAR of "maliciously capitalizing" on the farmers' desire to go back to Davao City when it issued a press release on Castriciones' action to send off the Tadeco farmers.

‘URDUJA’ RELIEF. Leyte 1st District Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez turns over 25 sacks of rice and boxes of sardines, noodles and bottled water to San Miguel Leyte Councilor Charlie Datoy (left) intended for the families affected by Typhoon ‘Urduja’ in San Miguel, Leyte. Romualdez also distributed Christmas gifts to all barangay officials. Ver Noveno

P300m needed to fund anti-rabies drive for three years, says bureau

By Othel V. Campos THE Bureau of Animal Industry will need as much as P300 million for the next three years to support the Agriculture Department’s anti-rabies campaign.

Animal Bureau veterinarian 2 Ma. Glofesita Lagayan said that would be the ideal amount to fund the DA's anti-rabies drive.

“Previously, the government did not really give much attention to rabies control until two years ago,

when anti-rabies vaccines were provided consistently. We also need to make sure that pet owners are aware of their responsibilities and have their dogs vaccinated as prescribed,” she said during the launch of the “Rabies Free 2020” app.

The agency's target is to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the country's dog population, as well as cats. At present, the Philippines' dog population is about 10 percent of the human population, or around 10 million canines.

Lagayan said the budget would cover the vaccine procurement, the expenses of vaccinators, and other miscellaneous costs.

The Rabies Free 2020 app is a homegrown Android phone application developed with the Technological Institute of the Philippines to safeguard public health through the control and elimination of animal rabies in the country.

With roughly 250 Filipinos dying of rabies yearly and a regional target of rabies freedom by 2020 within

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, this application aims to strengthen the rabies awareness campaign through useful information on the facts about rabies, location of animal bite treatment centers, location of animal rabies diagnostic laboratories, and contact information needed by the public.

The app is now available and can be downloaded through Google Play by searching for “Rabies Free 2020.”

Rabies continues to be a serious public health concern in the Philip-

pines, with animal vaccination considered the most effective way of eliminating the disease.

Among the provinces with the highest reported animal rabies cases from 2016 and 2017 are Pampanga, Pangasinan, Cebu, Iloilo, South Cotabato, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga City, Bataan, Bulacan, Davao del Sur and Metro Manila.

The rabies app is expected to be supported by local governments and the public, especially in rabies-prone areas.

Cocoa, choco industry to spur PH farm tourism

By Bill Casas THE Philippines’ fast-growing cacao and chocolate industry will boost a promising farm tourism campaign that caters to international and local visitors looking for wholesome fun and adventure in the countryside.

“Farm tourism in the country has thrived on the best practices and growth of cocoa industry,” said Senator Cynthia Villar in her keynote address to over 2,000 cacao growers and entrepreneurs across the country, who gathered for the conference and exposition dubbed as “Kakao Konek 2017” at the SMX Lanang in Davao City.

Villar authored Republic Act 10816, titled “Farm Tourism Development Act,” which mandates the promotion of tourism at agricultural destinations through partnership with the private stakeholders.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte welcomed the participants to the two-day event sponsored by 26 agro-industrial firms and 10 government agencies, including the Department of Tourism, the

Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Trade and Industry.

“I am full of optimism that our micro and macro farmers and entrepreneurs will gain more insights in optimizing their productivity and in giving them an upper hand in the market,” Duterte said.

Davao City and its environs boast of vast greenery, including nature parks and farm resorts, like the Malagos Resort, Eden’s Nature Park, Hijo Banana Resort, Gumamela Caverock Farm Resort, and Pearl Farm, among others.

During the two-day conference and exhibit, Duterte and tourism officials led the launching of the “Chocolate Tour Overload” that featured Davao City as the “Cacao Capital of the Philippines.”

“Accounting for 90 percent of the local cacao production, the spotlight is now on Mindanao, with Davao as the country’s chocolate capital, even as the farmers face the challenge of meeting the growing demand for Philippine cacao, indicating international recognition of its quality,” Duterte said.

HOTLINES.

Members of the militant group Gabriela in Metro Manila show ‘Dengvaxia Watch’ posters bearing the numbers of hotlines that will receive reports from parents of almost 700,000 children who have received the controversial dengue immunization vaccine. The public may call 0977627455, 09083653366, or (02) 3535077, look for the Faceabook account ‘Dengvaxia Watch’ or email dengvaxia. watch@gmail.com.

Norman Cruz

House bill to pave way for national forest boundary plan

By Maricel V. Cruz A PANEL in the House of Representatives has approved a bill that seeks to conserve, protect and develop the remaining forest resources in the province of Tarlac as part of an overall plan to have a forest land boundary delineation for the whole country.

Rep. Arnel Ty of LPGMA party-list, chairman of the House committee on natural

resources, said his committee has deliberated on measures that would introduce reforms and policies on natural resources, one of which is House Bill 6060.

The bill is authored by Tarlac Reps. Carlos Cojuangco, Victor Yap and Noel Villanueva.

They said the province's permanent forest estate will cover approximately 90,752.95 hectares of forest land composed of 16 forest land blocks (Blocks A-P)

in the municipalities of Mayantoc, San Clemente, Gerona, San Jose, Bamban and Capas.

At a congressional hearing, Ray Thomas Kabigting of the Forest Management Bureau said there is a pending bill in Congress proposing a forest land boundary delineation for the whole country.

“What some lawmakers did is they submitted a bill for their own district to delineate forest land in their own districts. But

this bill is for the whole Philippines; if passed, the whole country would be delineated into Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” said Kabigting.

Cojuangco said forestland conditions and their uses change over time, and there is a need to identify what has been used not only for forestry purposes but also to facilitate the balancing of development requirements for the preservation of the environment.

Makati bans kids riding on motorbikes

By Joel E. Zurbano MOTORCYCLES with children on board are now banned in the city of Makati.

The City Council on Monday passed Ordinance No. 2017-135 (Children’s Safety in Tricycles and Motorcycles Ordinance of the City of Makati), which strictly prohibits driving a motorcycle with a child on board.

Riders with children on board are only allowed unless all of the following conditions are met: 1) the child’s feet can comfortably reach the foot peg of the motorcycle; 2) the child’s arms can reach around and grasp the waist of the driver; and 3) the child is wearing a standard protective helmet, which bears a Philippine Standard or Import Commodity Clearance mark.

The ordinance also banned tricycles operating anywhere within the city from conveying minors in front or at the back of the driver’s seat.

The only exception provided by the ordinance is for cases where the minor or child to be transported requires immediate medical attention.

Mayor Abigail Binay endorsed the passage of the ordinance in light of frequent news reports on road crashes involving children as victims, not only in the metropolis but in the provinces as well.

“Local governments must take swift and definitive action to arrest the growing number of children injured or killed in road crashes involving motorcycles and tricycles. It is our duty to use the powers vested in us to enact and implement laws that complement and strengthen national laws, and ensure these are strictly enforced in our own localities,” she said.

Binay also urged parents of minors to be proactive and warn their children to avoid riding on the backseat of tricycles since they would be highly vulnerable to injury, even death, in case the vehicle meets a collision or road crash.

DEL ROSARIO, 74 ANTONIO “Tony” Bundalian del Rosario joined our Creator on Friday, Dec. 15, in Quezon City. He was 74.

Born Dec. 10, 1943, Tony served as Executive Director of the Office for TESDA Technology Institutions (OTTI) and concurrent National Capital Region Regional Director.

He was also Region Head for Regions 1, 2, 3, 8 and 10. He also managed foreign-assisted projects of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Tony graduated from Pampanga High School and attended Manuel L. Quezon University, where he earned his AB Political Science degree.

He received his Master’s degree in Industrial Relations at the University of the Philippines.

He is survived by his children Claire and son-inlaw Gabriel Bernabe, Allan Jim, Anthony Ronald and Jeremia, and grandchildren Ileana, Ysabelle, Samantha and Audrey.

Viewing of his ashes is at the Loyola Memorial Chapels Commonwealth in Quezon City, where a tribute by TESDA employees is scheduled on Tuesday morning, Dec. 19. Interment will be in the afternoon of the 19th following a Mass at St. Therese’s Columbarium, Pasay City at 2 p.m.

Sports

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

LA to retire Kobe’s 2 numbers L

OS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Lakers will retire both of Kobe Bryant’s jersey numbers in a lavish halftime ceremony Monday when the Lakers host the defending champion Golden State Warriors at Staples Center arena.

“As a kid growing up in Italy, I always dreamed of my jersey hanging in the Lakers’ rafters, but I certainly never imagined two of them,” Bryant said. “The Lakers have bestowed a huge honor on me and I’m grateful for the fans’ enthusiasm around this game.”

The Lakers are pulling out all the stops in honoring one of the club’s greats.

They will raise both of the numbers Bryant wore while with the team—eight and 24—in his twodecade career, all of which was spent with the Lakers.

Bryant, who retired in 2016, scored 33,643 points, the thirdmost in NBA history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

The five-time NBA champi-

on will become the 10th Lakers player to have his number retired, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, Magic Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy, Jerry West and Jamaal Wilkes.

In addition to the halftime ceremony, the Lakers will host a Bryant-themed street festival outside Staples Center dubbed “Kobeland”.

“When it happens, it’ll be a little bit emotional,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said of the jersey ceremony.

But Walton, who won two titles with Bryant as a player, said that as the game approached he would be “thinking 99.5 percent about our chances of how to beat the Warriors”.

Golden State star Kevin Durant

said his favorite memory of playing Bryant was when his Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated Bryant and the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs in 2012.

“That was a proud moment, playing so well, and finally beating his team in the playoffs,” Durant said. “So I can say that I won in one-on-one against Kobe in the playoffs. Not too many people can say that.

“But he does have five championships,” Durant added.

Meanwhile, LeBron James posted his fourth triple-double in five games with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists as the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Washington Wizards 106-99 on Sunday.

Kevin Love scored a team-high 25 points, while Jeff Green had 15 points for the Cavaliers who have won 18 of 19, including their past five NBA games.

Elsewhere, the resurgent Detroit Pistons equalled a franchise record with 17 three-pointers en route to

114-110 win over the shorthanded Orlando Magic.

Forward Reggie Bullock scored a career-high 20 points for the Pistons who made 50 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc and won their third consecutive game

after losing seven straight.

Playing the Magic seems to bring out the best in 26-year-old American Bullock. His previous high also came against Orlando, when he scored 17 points last season. AFP

2018 World Slasher Cup set at Big Dome THE biggest international cockfighting derby, the 2018 World Slasher Cup 9-cock Invitational, happens soon.

Set at the Smart Araneta Coliseum from Jan. 29 to Feb. 7, 2018, the preeminent derby is touted to attract the world’s best breeders who are up for real fights, fair games and the most prestigious title in the world of cockfighting.

Known as the “Olympics of Cockfighting,” the 2018 World Slasher Cup will be a real smackdown among the finest winged-warriors. After a recent trip to Guam, PitGames Media director Manny Berbano notes a good number of gamefowl enthusiasts and the best breeders in the US are already gearing up for their 2018 WSC bids.

Various repeat participants have been hailed champs of this celebrated derby over the years. For instance, WSC participants like multiple winners Patrick Antonio; and Rudy Salud and Lito Orillaza; as well as Cong. Wacnang and Cong. Cosalan; Gen Gen Arayata and Cyrus Hao; Rey Briones; Peping Taba, Mark Salazar and Ed Moreno have all, at some point, been hailed champions with each of their entries garnering 8 points.

When WSC levelled up to a 9-cock

invitational derby, Frank Berin’s Sebastian NEJ entry bested all others with 8.5 points in the first edition of WSC 2017. In 2017’s second edition, Berin’s Mulawin entry scored a back-to-back WSC win with 8 points, along with cochampions Lucban (Anthony Lim) and Escolin Eslabon (the Escolin brothers), also with 8 points apiece.

The amazing fights of 2017 WSC 1 have been immortalized in a 15-discs DVD set that also comes with a bonus disc. The boxed set is available for now only through the SNAXX counters of Gateway Mall and the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

For cockers who feel they are ready to beat these repeat champs and regular fixtures of the World Slasher Cup, sign up your entries with the WSC Derby Office and contact 911-2928, or 5884000 local 8351 for more details. The pot money for the 2018 World Slasher Cup includes all option bets (Option 1: Cocks 1-4; Option 2: Cocks 2-5; and Option 3: Cocks 1-5).

Eliminations are scheduled from January 29-31, with Semi-finals from February 1-3; Pre-finals from February 4-6; and Grand Finals on February 7, 2018.

World Slasher Cup 2 Triple champions, Anthony Lim (Lucban), the Escolin brothers (Escolin Eslabon) and 2017 back-to-back winner Frank Berin (Mulawin) display their awards.

Frenchman smashes solo around the world record

BREST, France—French sailor François Gabart smashed six days and 10 hours off sailing’s around the world record on Sunday producing what many pundits felt was a previously unthinkable time of 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.

Huge crowds of well-wishers were on hand to welcome the sailor into the port of Brest, accompanied by dozens of small craft as he burned flares at the helm and was carried aloft to shore by his ground crew where he popped a bottle of champagne.

“I’m aching all over and it’s been like that for weeks, weeks since a proper sleep, I can hardly go on,” an exhausted Gabart told the press on his ecstatic arrival in port.

“I’ve been at sea all alone for 40-days and now suddenly

I’m surrounded by everyone here it’s amazing, I really only thought I had a slender chance of breaking the record,” he claimed.

“It was hard and I was on the very edge of things the whole time.”

The 34-year-old sailor crossed a virtual finish line between the island of Ushant off France’s northwest tip and Lizard Point in southwest England at 0145 GMT, ripping to shreds the previous record set by compatriot Thomas Coville last year by a massive six days and 10 hours.

Moments before crossing the finish line Gabart, a father of two and engineer by trade, sent out an emotional video showing his boat’s progress on a computer monitor.

“The little blue is us, the red line is the finish. We should

cut it soon, the computer says 30 seconds,” he said, wiping his eyes.

The race time was announced by an observer from the World Sailing Speed Council but will be subject to checks of the boat’s black box and its GPS data before final confirmation.

“I’m happy and proud to have made this lovely voyage around the world,” he said in the video.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet but I know it’s a great time. I have cargo ships and fishing boats around me in the dark here and it all seems strange and extraordinary.”

Gabart becomes just the fourth title-holder for a world record of sailing the globe solo without stopping.

Huge leaps have been made in that time—since the record

was first set in 2004, nearly 30 days have been shaved off.

The debut record holder was Frenchman Francis Joyon who completed the odyssey in 72 days and 22 hours.

British female sailor Ellen MacArthur took to the seas a year later, racing against the clock to break that record by just a day and a half (71 days, 14 hours).

She remained undefeated until 2016 when Coville set a new record of 49 days and three hours which many predicted would be difficult to topple.

Gabart, who embarked on November 4, was on a twoyear-old state of the art 30 metre (98 foot) long new generation MACIF maxitrimaran comfortably carved its way through the waves and into the record books.

Helped by good weather throughout much of the voyage, particularly during the long and arduous Pacific section, it clocked up jaw-dropping speeds of up to 35 knots (65 kilometres an hour).

He set a number of new solo race records along the way, including the fastest navigation of the Pacific (7 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes) and the longest distance covered in 24 hours (851 miles or 1,576 kilometers).

Gabart first circumnavigated the world during the 2013 Vendee Globe race—which he won. He immediately set his sights on breaking the solo non-stop record.

Coville congratulated his record vanquisher.

“He’s an incredible strategist. He already showed that during the Vendee Globe,” he told AFP. AFP

Fortuna finishes strong, tops Malaysian Junior Open golf tilt

Mikhaela Fortuna holds her trophy after completing her come-from-behind win in the Malaysian Junior Open Championship.

MIKHAELA Fortuna came away with back-to-back fourunder 68s and edged Malaysian ace Winnie Ng by one to snare the 12th 100Plus Malaysian Junior Open Championship crown at the Grenmarie Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last weekend.

Fortuna recovered strong from a mediocre even par 72 in the first round with those 68s to finish with a 208, foiling Ng, who dominated the opener with a 68 but slowed down with 71 and 70 for 209.

Three Malaysians took the next spots with Natasha Oon carding a 75 to share third place with Liyana Durisic, who had a 77, at 218 and Ashley Lau winding up fifth at 219 after a 69.

Sofia Chabon and Bernice

Ilas-Olivarez, Fortuna’s teammates in The Country Club stable, wound up 10th and 13th at 226 and 229 after a 75 and 78, respectively.

“I just hung in there and tried not to be intimidated by Ng’s rally. I’m so happy to have pulled it off,” said Fortuna, who is heading to the Oklahoma University next year on a full scholarship.

The also snapped a long title spell for one of TCC coach Bong Lopez’s wards, who has qualified for the US Girls’ Championship the last three years but last tasted victory in the FCG Challenge Cup in 2016.

Fortuna still trailed Ng by one heading to the final round of the 54-hole event serving as

the host country’s premier junior tournament that featured some of the region’s leading players in the ranks.

But she sizzled with a three-under card after nine holes and tied Ng, who had a 34, for the lead stormed ahead with back-to-back birdies from No. 11, only to fall into a tie again with a bogey on the next which Ng birdied.

Fortuna, however, pounced on her rival’s double-mishap on No. 14 then went 3-up with another Ng bogey on the next. She steeled herself up after the local ace birdied the 17th then came through with a clutch pitch for a tap-in par, frustrating Ng no end after the latter set up another four-footer for another birdie on the final hole.

Russia making progress over doping LONDON—IAAF chief Lord Sebastian Coe believes Russia is showing a significant change in its attitude to tackling the doping scandal that saw the nation exiled from world athletics.

Russia has been banned from international athletics competition since November 2015 after doping issues.

The country’s anti-doping agency, RUSADA, is also yet to be declared fully compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Russian athletes have also effectively been banned from next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, unless they can satisfy stringent drugtesting regulations in order to compete as neutrals.

Coe indicated there are reasons for hope that Russia is finally dealing with the problem, but he said the IAAF would still resist setting any time-scale for the nation’s reintegration into athletics.

“We made a decision that in a way was quite different to the one the IOC was confronted with,” Coe told BBC Radio Five Live on Sunday.

“I’ve had 149 or 150 positive tests in the sport, from Russia within a three or four year period.

“It was very clear as far I was concerned and the Council of the IAAF was concerned that nobody else was going to come to our rescue here.

We had to take the appropriate action.

“We set up the task force which created the five-step criteria by which they would be judged - and actually they’re moving in the right direction and we’ve got some significant change. AFP

Otico, Olivarez pull off Dagitab tennis reversals BRYAN Otico continued to dish out top form and toppled No. 5 Fritz Verdad while Eric Jed Olivarez bundled out No. 7 Vicente Anasta to barge into the quarterfinal round of the PPS-PEPP Dagitab Tennis Festival Open at the City of Naga tennis courts in Naga City, Cebu yesterday.

Otico, who surprised veteran PJ Tierro in the recent PCA Open finals, eased past fellow unseeded bet Jan Seno, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round then outlasted Verdad in the tiebreaker, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), to arrange a Last 8 duel with fancied Jeson Patrombon in the men’s singles.

The second seeded Patrombon dropped just three games to oust Jhun Alcoseba, 6-1, 6-1, and Jimmy Tangalin, 6-0, 6-1, and join No. 1 Johnny Arcilla, Tierro, No. 6 Ronard Joven and fourth seed Leander Lazaro in the quarters of the season-ending Open tournament sponsored

by Palawan Pawnshop and the LGUs of Naga City led by Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong.

Arthur Pantino, winner of the ITF Phinma juniors crown recently, also upended No. 8 Noel Damian Jr. but will have Tierro, who advanced with a 6-3, 1-0(ret.) win over Mari Altiche, as quarters opponent.

Olivarez, meanwhile, opened with a shutout win over qualifier RJ Alforque, then stunned Anasta, 6-4, 6-4. The Western Michigan U mainstay, however, needs to hurdle the defending back-to-back champion Arcilla to reach the semis of the event tournament backed by Asia Traders Corp. and official ball Slazenger.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

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

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017

Sports

THROWING HIS WEIGHT AROUND. San Migue Beer behemoth JuneMar Fajardo muscles his way against Phoenix’s Jayson Perkins in a PBA Philippine

Cup game won by the Beermen, 104-96.

Athletics’ SEAG medalists training early for ‘18 Asiad

By Peter Atencio

T

WENTY tracksters, who bagged medals in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, are a cinch to get slots for the national athletics’ team bound for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta Indonesia.

shattering the national mark in the 200-meters in 20.84 seconds.

Overall, athletics’ got five golds, three silvers and 10 bronze medals, with sprinter Eric Cray, marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal and decathlete Aries Toledo claiming the other first-place finishes.

Juico explained that preparations went on without a hitch and with support from the private sector.

The PSC, according to Juico, could not provide funding assistance at the moment to the PATAFA since the sports body is still waiting for the funding requests of two more national sports associations that are seeking the

agency’s help, before it can release any funding allocation to NSAs who need help.

Also expected to get slots are Marco Vilog (800 meters) and triple jumper Mark Harry Diones, two national team members who earned golds.

Mervin Guarte (1500-meters), one of the 10 bronze medallists, is one of the sure bets, along with Clinton Bautista (100-meter hurdles), 100-meter relay specialists Anfernee Lopena, Archand Bagsit, and 400-meter relay team members Edgardo Alejan Jr. and Isidro del Prado Jr. The PATAFA is also counting on long jumper Janry Ubas, javelin thrower

Arnel Ferrera and Melvin Calano, women’s 100-meter relay bets Eloiza Luzon, Kayla and Kyla Richardson and Zion Corrales-Nelson, long jumper Marestella Sunang and female javelin thrower Evalyn Palabrica.

Of his two golds, the 21-year-old Beram got his best effort when he prevailed in the 200-meter dash, beating Thailand’s Arapong Meenapra, who earned the silver with 21.22 seconds.

Another rival, Malaysia’s Thevarr Gunasegaran, who settled for bronze with a time of 21.26 seconds, is also expected to be a contender in the Asiad.

Seeded teams pace Cebuana Lhuillier girls’ softball tourney THE race for the top two slots in each of the three groups in the ongoing 2017 Cebuana Lhuillier-ASAPHIL 18-U Women’s Softball Championship in Marikina City is heating up, with the seeded teams leading their respective groups.

In Group A of the tournament organized by ASAPHIL as its grassroots program for girls’ softball and backed by the Cebuana Lhuillier Group of Companies headed by ASAPHIL President/CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier, Makati A edged out last year’s runner-up Tanauan A, 2-1, for a 5-0 win loss record to lead the group with San Miguel, Bulacan just a game behind with a 4-0 record punctuated by its 23-0 rout of Taguig in its last outing.

Tanauan, however, remains in the race with a 2-1 record with its 2-1 slate, edging out Manila, 2-1, prior to its game against Makati A. Another title contender in Pasig paces Group B of the tournament sponsored by Cebuana Pera Padala, Cebuana Microloans, Cebuana Micro Inc., Cebuana Savings Bank and the Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation.

The Pasig-based girls blanked two provincial teams, sweeping both Cauayan and Abra, 10-0, for a perfect 5-0 card.

ILLAM is in second place with a 4-0 card, highlighted by its 7-0 sweep of Abra and another similar 7-0 victory over Cauayan in its last two games.

Tanauan B, with a 3-0 re-

cord, is expected to fight it out with the top two teams in the group to advance to the next round.

Tanauan was impressive with its 16-0 demolition job of Biñan.

Third-placer last year, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, is looking for a higher finish this time as it leads Group C with a 5-0 record, demolishing Dasmarinas, 8-0, after edging out Cabiao, 2-1, in a close game in its last two games.

Rizal remains unbeaten in second place with its 4-0 record; Rizal beat Makati B, 9-4, and Miriam, 10-0, in its last games.

Cebu-Abellana won its first two games but has yet to play the stronger teams.

Cabiao kept its hopes alive as it beat Mindoro, 11-4, last Sunday for a 2 -1 slate, while Dasmarinas is still contending with its 4-2 record, beating Taguig, 10-0, before bowing down to Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

“It is good to see a lot of teams from the different parts of the country. Softball is one sport where the Philippines can be world class, particularly the Blu Girls, currently ranked no. 17 in the world, but it should improve after our performance this year in Oklahoma, Canada and Taiwan, “ said Jean Henri Lhuillier, a consistent supporter of the sport for a long time as he himself plays the game.

The weeklong tournament, co-sponsored by Just Jewels, le Soleil de Boracay, Palm Rock, and One Hagdan, ends this Friday, weather permitting.

Dozens of boating Santas race in Venice VENICE—Dozens of rowers dressed as Father Christmas raced down Venice’s Grand Canal on Sunday, cheered on by crowds gathered to watch the annual fancy-dress regatta.

Organized by the University Ca’ Foscari, the eighth edition of the race set off from Saint Mark’s Square, with champions and amateurs competing in traditional “mascarete” boats—once the domain of fishermen.

They were followed by a water parade of fellow Father Christmases in “bissone”, “caorline” and dragon boats—flat vessels with six to eight rowers each that nipped down the canal in the winter sunshine.

Since it began in 2009, the regatta has been held in the run-up to Christmas. Those feeling particularly sporty—or keen on losing Santa-sized stomachs—can take part afterwards in a race through the Italian city’s allies and squares. AFP

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association Philip Ella Juico said the PATAFA will expect the best from them after members of the Team Pilipinas plunged into early training last October.

“We started as early as October. We are among the few national sports associations which started (preparing) almost a year before the Asiad,” said Juico.

Juico said they were able to go into an early buildup despite a lack of funding support from the Philippine Sports Commission.

Double gold medallists Trenten Beram leads the cast of favorites after bagging the gold medals in the men’s 200-meter run and in the 400-meters.

Beram, a Filipino-American, distinguished himself by

Tiger Cub shines on many fronts

Del Rosario targets no. 5 as PH Golf Tour South Forbes starts

JOHN Cansino emerged as one of the top all-around players in the 80th University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball tournament.

After the first round, the 6’1” University of Santo Tomas standout led the scoring and rebounding departments with 27.6 points and 11.6 rebounds.

Cansino is one of the new faces to reckon with in the junior division, aside from five members of the Ateneo Blue Eaglets, who completed a seven-game sweep after the first round.

Last Saturday, the Tiger Cubs were once again led by Cansino, who had 32 points when they prevailed over University of the East, 106-99.

It was his second-highest output after he made 35 last Nov. 26 when the Tiger Cubs lost to the Nazareth School-National University Bullpups.

The Tiger Cubs improved their hold on third at 5-2 at the end of the first round and are in contention for a Final Four seat.

SJ Belangel led the Blue Eaglets with his averages of 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists, with Sean Ildefonso trailing him with his norms of 12.9 points and 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals.

Seven-footer Kai Sotto is there with his norms of 12.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, and so is Enrico Manuel (11.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists), and Jason Credo (9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals. Peter Atencio

PAULINE del Rosario braces for a tough outing against a slew of seasoned rivals, seeking to cap a sterling rookie season with another victory in the ICTSI South Forbes Ladies Invitational firing off today (Tuesday, Dec. 19) at the South Forbes Golf Club in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

But while she admits to have wished for another win to highlight her remarkable campaign, the 19-year-old rising star expects an uphill battle in the next three days with a set of opponents featuring three of the country’s leading players plus a host of foreign rivals out to foil the locals’ bid in the P750,000 event capping a record 11-stage Ladies Philippine Golf Tour.

“We have a good field so whoever hits it more consistently will fare well,” said del Rosario, who scored her maiden pro win in her fourth tournament at Orchard then followed it up with victories in Baguio, Pradera Verde and Splendido.

In between, she also ruled a Taiwan LPGA event last September, becoming the first Filipina to win in one of the region’s leading circuits.

But she’s not only concerned on the field’s composition but also on the short but tricky par-67 course that poses so much challenge for the women of the tour sponsored by ICTSI. “It’s super up-and-down, so you have to be accurate with your shots, especially irons and putting,” said del Rosario, who picks LPGA and Symetra Tour campaigners Dottie Ardina, Cyna Rodriguez and Princess Superal as the players to watch in the next three days.

Ardina hopes to make the most of her rare stint on the local circuit organized

by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. while Rodriguez and Superal are out to atone for their so-so showing in the last LPGT leg dominated by the Thais at The Country Club.

Chonlada Chayanun, joint second

in Thailand’s sweep of the Philippine Ladies Masters two weeks ago, banners the four-player Thai squad that includes Jaruporn Palakong Naayuttaya, Sarinee Thitiratanakorn and Yupaporn Kawinpakorn.

Del Rosario gets to test her skills as she drew Ardina and Chayanun in the 8:10 a.m. flight while Rodriguez is paired with Chihiro Ikeda and Thitiratanakorn at 8:30 a.m. and Superal will play alongside Palakong Naayuttaya and Marvi Monsalve at 8:20 a.m.

Also in the hunt for the crown in the event backed by Custom Clubmakers, BDO, Meralco, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and K&G Golf are Ayaka Morimitsu of Japan, and this year’s Luisita leg winner Euna Koh of South Korea along with amateurs Laia Barro and Sam Dizon of The Country Club, Kristine Torralba and siblings Nikki and Sam Bruce and Korean Baek Yeun Jea.

Sultan Kudarat boxer leads advance of 8 others

By Randy Caluag

Reymar Brillo (in blue jersey) stands at the neutral corner as the referee signals the medical doctor to come up the ring and check on the fallen Zaldy Ricopuerto (Photo Courtesy of Joash Ricanor)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Reymar Brillo of Sultan Kudarat disposed of Zaldy Ricopuerto in 14 seconds in their 56-kg bout at the start of the Mindanao leg’s preliminary round of the Philippine Sports Com mission-Pacquiao Amateur Boxing Cup at the Robinsons Place here.

The 18-year-old Brillo, who had fought in nearly a hundred amateur bouts already, came out like a fighting machine right from the bell and peppered his younger foe from Malungon, Saranggani with left and right combinations to the head.

Ricopuerto fell on all

fours and the referee didn’t even bother to count as he declared a knockout win for Brillo, who advanced along with eight other boxers to the Mindanao quarterfinals slated in February in Kidapawan City next year.

“Sabi lang ni coach kung makaya mo i-knockout, iknockout out mo na,” said Ricopuerto, who is being recruited to turn professional.

“Pero training po muna, pagisipan ko po nang husto.”

His coach, Jimmy Cubay, said Brillo is a talented boxer who can represent the country in future international competitions.

“Pag-isipan po namin itong kay Reymar. Nakikita ko kasi ang batang ito, may

lakas at may tapang, mabait pa. Wala akong masasabi sa batang ito,” said Cubay, who has been training Brillo in the Sultan Kudarat team for nearly two years.

One of Cubay’s protégés, Carolyn Calungsod, is now with the national women’s team.

Other winners who advanced to the Mindanao quarterfinals were James Errol Gahaton (44-46kg Youth Boys) of Bgy. Labangal; General Santos City, Ben John Rey Yagahon (48kg.) of Malaybalay City; Jayson Brillo (48 kg.) of Sultan Kudarat; Ariel Almamento of Gen. Santos; Jake Sone Saludar of Polomolok, South Cotabao

(46-49 kg.); Arceboy Baranggan of Aglayan, Gen. Santos City; John Ignacius Macas of Cagayan De Oro; and Criz Sander Laurente of General Santos (52kg.).

The Mindanao leg kicked off the national PSC-Pacquiao Cup which serves as a joint grassroots boxing program of the Philippine Sports Institute and Amateur Boxing Alliances in the Philippines.

The tournament hopes to discover promising amateur boxing talents that can be endorsed to the national pool.

Qualifying rounds will be held from Dec. 16 to April 7 in different venues nationwide.

SN Aboitiz sees 20% increase in revenues

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Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017

IN BRIEF

CHINA-ASEAN BANK EXECUTIVES. Delegates

at the 7th Executive Board Meeting of China-Asean Inter-Bank Association meet to share their views on the different topics underpinning the meeting’s overall theme, titled “Enhancing Financing Cooperation between China and Asean within the context of Belt and Road Initiative.” BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest bank, co-hosted the event.

Among the participants are Ke Yousheng (center), Counsellor of the Mission of the People’s Republic of China to Asean; Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III (sixth from right); BDO chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson; and top officials and executives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, China, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

PH may lose yakitori mart due to bird flu

THE Philippines could lose its sole market for yakitori chicken after Japanese importers sent feelers they may choose other suppliers if the Southeast Asian nation takes more time in resolving its bird flu issues.

Bureau of Animal Industry official Arlyn Vytiaco said a cold storage operator with direct link to Japanese yakitori importers said Japan was seriously considering turning to other countries to buy chicken yakitori.

“We’re are trying to convince the processors to transfer the processing plant to the Visayas or Mindanao if Japan still considers Luzon a hotspot for bird flu,” said Vytiaco, while conceding the proposal could result in additional capital expenditure.

“Japan has a very strict set of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. It is even way more stringent than that of the OIE’s (Office Internationale des Epizzoties),” Vytiaco said.

The Philippines first contacted avian influenza in a farm in Pampanga in August.

San Miguel Corp. voluntarily halted its chicken yakitori exports to Japan when the Agriculture Department confirmed the outbreak.

Othel V. Campos

Aboitiz eyes construction jobs in China

ABOITIZ Construction Inc., the privately-held construction unit of the Aboitiz Group, is exploring business opportunities in China to take advantage of the improving ties between the Philippines and north Asian country.

ACI said in a statement it recently visited two large companies in China—Electric Power Construction Corp.

III and Dongfang Electric Company—to explore further business opportunities overseas The visit also aimed to strengthen the firms’ interest to team up with ACI, specifically on power projects, as well as other infrastructure projects in the Philippines under the Build, Build, Build Program of the government.

SEPCO3 is a Chinese construction and engineering company that designs, builds, operates and owns power plants.

DEC, meanwhile, is one of the most influential enterprise groups under the direct administration of the Chinese central government.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Liberal rice imports to lower prices

THE Department of Finance said the lifting of the quantitative restrictions on rice imports in favor of tariffs will result in the reduction in the retail price of the food staple by as much as P7 a kilo and help free some 730,000 Filipinos from poverty.

In an economic bulletin on the rice sector reform, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said a 35-percent import tariff on rice in lieu of restricting rice import volumes would encourage private traders to bring in the staple into the country, which would, in turn, allow the influx of cheaper rice in the domestic market.

The DoF said a reduction in rice prices would be beneficial to the majority of poor households that spend at least 20 percent of their budget for rice, citing recent studies done by the National Economic and Development Authority.

Julito G. Rada

BSP income declined 19% in 10 months

NET income of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in the first 10 months declined 19 percent to P12.38 billion from P15.26 billion a year ago, pulled down by lower revenues and losses on foreign exchange fluctuation as the peso strengthened against the US dollar.

Data showed that revenues for the period fell 14 percent to P53.35 billion from P62.33 billion on year. Although interest income rose to P47.70 billion from P38.83 billion, miscellaneous income declined sharply to P5.65 billion from P23.50 billion in the same period last year.

The regulator also posted a net loss on foreign exchange fluctuations of P2.47 billion from net income of P3.83 billion on year.

Expenses, meanwhile, fell to P55.82 billion from P58.49 billion a year ago.

Julito G. Rada

B1

SMC buys Masinloc for $1.9b

By Alena Mae S. Flores

S

AN Miguel Corp. said power unit SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. acquired the stakes of AES Corp. of the US and Electricity Generating Public Co. of Thailand in Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. for $1.9 billion.

“We are happy to be able to acquire Masinloc. The additional power assets provide us an opportunity to increase our footprint in clean coal technology that provides reliable and affordable power, particularly in Luzon,” SMC president and chief operating

officer Ramon Ang said.

The enterprise value of MPPC was estimated at $2.4 billion.

“In fact, we have substantially reduced emissions even from our existing power plants to continue promoting the economy’s growth and produce energy in environmentally responsible way,” Ang said.

AES announced plans to sell its remaining 51-percent stake in MPPC a few months ago for around $1 billion and SMC was among those that expressed interest to participate in the auction.

Ang said the San Miguel Group opted to acquire the stake of Egco in MPPC because “they requested” it.

MPPCL owns and operates the existing 630-megawatt coal-fired power plant, its 330-MW expansion now under construction and 10-MW battery energy storage facility, all located in Masinloc, Zambales.

The sale involved the 51-percent stake of AES Phil Investment Pte. Ltd., a whollyowned subsidiary of AES and 49-percent stake of Gen Plus B.V., a subsidiary of Egco.

“The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018 subject to the approval of the Philippine Competition Commission and relevant closing conditions agreed by the transaction parties,” Egco president Jakgrich Pibulpairoj said in a disclosure to

the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Egco said it could utilize proceeds of $850 million from the divestment “to develop new investment opportunities for the company.”

AES earlier sold its 45-percent interest in Masin-AES Pte Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of AES that owns its business interests in the Philippines including the 630-megawatt Masinloc coal plant to Egco for $453 million in September 2014.

AES acquired the Masinloc coal plant from the government in 2008 for $930 million. The plant began operating in 1998 and consists of two 300-MW units utilizing coal from different sources.

SHELL SUPPORTS LITER OF LIGHT.

HSBC upgrades PH ’17 growth outlook to 6.7%

To help give light to marginalized communities in Angat, Bulacan, global power, energy and gas technology leader Shell Companies in the Philippines teams up with Liter of Light, a global movement that is committed to providing affordable, sustainable solar light to people with limited or no access to electricity.

Leading the ceremonial assistance are (from left) Mon del Rosario, Shell vice president for external and government relations; Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz, treasurer and mother of social entrepreneur Illac Ancellotti-Diaz, founder of Liter of Light; and Mark Malabanan, Shell Fuels brand banager.

Lino Santos

By Julito G. Rada HONGKONG and Shanghai Banking Corp. raised its growth forecast for the Philippines this year and next to 6.7 percent from 6.5 percent, on the back of robust private consumption and investments.

The British bank cited in a report Monday the significant contribution of consumption and investments to the third-quarter economic growth of 6.9 percent, faster than what most economists expected.

“The Philippines remains on solid ground as one of Asia’s growth leaders, and it will likely stay in that position in 2018 as well. The country contributed to Asia’s host of upside surprises on growth in the third quarter of 2017, expanding an impressive 6.9 percent year-on-year...,” it said.

It said the composition of this growth suggested that the country was “firing on all cylinders,” with all expenditure components contributing positively for the first time since 2014.

“With this growth dynamic expected to continue, we have raised our GDP forecasts to 6.7 percent for 2017 and 2018 from 6.5 percent for both years. Further, we expect the economy to remain robust in 2019, with growth moving up to 6.8 percent for the full year,” it said.

HSBC said private consumption and fixed investment contributed 3 percentage points and 2 ppt to growth in the third quarter, respectively, making up the lion’s share of economic expansion.

The bank said aside from consumption and investment, government spending was a substantial contributor to growth this year, adding 0.9 ppt in both the second and third quarters, far above the long-term trend of 0.4 ppt.

“This in an important development, if it persists, as it could suggest that the government is finally curbing its historical pattern of underspending,” HSBC said.

HSBC expects public construction to expand further in 2018 as the government embarks on a more aggressive infrastructure program and boosts infrastructure spending to 7.2 percent of GDP by 2022.

“However, private construction will need to remain a steady contributor to investment, or it could become a drag on growth in 2018,” it said.

Cavite-Laguna Expressway seen completed by 2020

By Darwin G. Amojelar MPCala Holdings Inc., a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., said it is on track to complete the construction of the P34.5-billion Cavite-Laguna Expressway project by December 2020.

“It’s delayed on the right of way [acquisition], but we think we can accelerate and complete it by end of December 2020,” MPCala Holdings president Luigi Bautista said.

“We’re hoping by January next year, we will get 11 kilometers of right of way in the Cavite side. If we get 11 km, we will already ask Leighton to mobilize the construction,” Bautista said.

MPCala Holdings earlier tapped

Leighton Holdings of Australia to build the Cavite side, while local contractor DMCI Consunj Inc. will construct the Laguna side of Calax.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2020, while operations and maintenance would be from 2020 to 2050.

Calax involves the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting Cavitex and South Luzon Expressway.

The expressway will start from Cavitex in Kawit, Cavite and end at the SLEx-Malampasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. is

BoI investment approvals reach 50-year high of P617b

By Othel V. Campos INVESTMENT projects approved by the Board of Investments jumped 39.5 percent this year to P616.7 billion, the highest in the agency’s 50-year history.

Data showed the 2017 figure was higher than P442 billion worth of projects approved by the BoI in 2016.

“This validates business confidence in President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic programs to ensure inclusive growth and shared prosperity for the country.

The influx of investments is definitely steamrolling, as

we are expecting sustained higher investments for the next five year,” said Trade Secretary and BoI chairman Ramon Lopez.

The full-year investments record also exceeded by 23.5 percent the P500billion target the agency set for 2017. It topped the previous record of P570.1 billion in 1997, mainly from investments with the privatization and deregulation of public utilities.

The BoI approved 426 projects this year, up 13 percent from 378 projects in 2016. These projects are expected to generate 76,065

jobs, up from 67,634 jobs last year.

“The momentum of our 6.9-percent GDP [gross domestic product] growth in the third quarter and 6.7 percent overall growth for the first nine months have definitely carried over in the fourth quarter, investment-wise and further boosted with the frenzied economic activity given the holiday season,” Lopez said.

Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said the surge in investments for the year were led by the designation

of focused strategic sectors under the 2017 Investments Priorities Plan, infrastructure and power projects and the strong growth of domestic demand.

With manufacturing listed in the 2017 IPP, investments were mostly in key manufacturing industries such as cement, sugar and petrochemicals.

Investments in the manufacturing sector increased more than three-folds to P96 billion in 2017 from only P27 billion in 2015 and were 95 percent higher than P49.259 billion reported in 2016.

also constructing Cavitex C5 South Expressway, linking C5 and Merville, Parañaque by way of a flyover, while the second phase will connect Merville and Cavitex.

The company is also building the P27.9-billion Cebu-Cordova Bridge project, a 8.25-km bridge project that will connect Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

MPTC is also building the NLExSLEx Connector Road, an eight-kilometer, four-lane toll road linking the North Luzon Expressway and South Luzon Expressway, passing through Metro Manila and using the existing Philippine National Railway alignment as its route.

PAL secures regulator’s nod to restructure equity PHILIPPINE Airlines said it secured an approval from the Securities and Exchange and Commission to restructure its equity in preparation for the entry of a new strategic investor.

PAL Holdings, the parent company of the airline, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a certificate of approval of equity structuring dated Dec. 13.

Following the grant of the request, PAL’s additional paid-in capital of P13.64 billion would be used to fully wipe off its deficit of P13.57 billion as of Dec. 31 last year.

PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista earlier said the airline was currently in talks with possible investors. The investor is expected to acquire up to 40 percent of the flag carrier.

PAL tapped Morgan Stanley as financial advisor for the transaction. Darwin G. Amojelar

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Business

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks surge; PLDT, Globe advance

T

HE stock market surged above 8,400 points Monday, tracking gains in Asian shares and fresh records on Wall Street last week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index advanced 85.78 points, or 1 percent, to 8,422.82 on a value turnover of P5.6 billion. Gainers edged losers, 103 to 100, while 46 issues were unchanged.

PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications company, climbed 2.7 percent to 1,540, while rival Globe Telecom Inc. rose 2 percent to P1,798.

Cosco Capital Inc., the holding company of retail tycoon Lucio Co., gained 2.4 percent to P7.63, while Semirara Mining and Power Corp., the largest coal producer and a major power generator,

advanced 2.1 percent to P35.85.

The rest of Asian markets rallied on Monday, while the dollar held gains as Donald Trump’s much-hyped tax cuts moved a step closer to being passed.

The controversial reforms look destined to become the US president’s first major congressional victory as two key Republican holdouts in the Senate decided to back the bill after their demands were met Friday.

The news sent US stocks soaring on hopes the cuts will help fire the already healthy economy and boost company profits.

“The odds of the tax cut legislation getting passed within this year have grown,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief global strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute, told Bloomberg News.

This “will benefit not only the

US, but also economies around the globe... allowing investors to anticipate an increase in corporate earnings.”

Tokyo ended 1.6 percent higher as a weaker yen lifted exporters, while Hong Kong added 0.9 percent, Shanghai edged up 0.1 percent and Sydney put on 0.7 percent. Taipei and Bangkok also enjoyed gains.

But Seoul was marginally lower while Singapore shed 0.2 percent.

On currency markets, the dollar benefitted from the tax hopes, with traders betting they will fan inflation and push the Federal Reserve to hike borrowing costs.

The greenback was sharply up against its major peers compared with its levels in Asia on Friday.

However, Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OAN-

DA, warned the currency could face headwinds in the new year.

“With the messy situation in Washington and the president’s approval rating waning by the month, it’s difficult to envision the Republicans holding on to the House or the Senate majority, making it virtually impossible to get any Trump proposal passed,” he said.

He added that without the passage of the president’s muchtouted trillion-dollar infrastructure spending plan “the US dollar could be a dead duck in 2018.”

Bitcoin jumped almost 10 percent to $19,500 at one point, according to Bloomberg, before easing below $19,000 as the CME Group, which runs the world’s biggest futures exchange, began trading futures in the cryptocurrency Sunday.

With AFP

RCBC may tap debt market to refinance maturing loans

By Julito G. Rada RIZAL Commercial Banking Corp., the ninth-largest lender in terms of assets, is considering tapping the debt market to refinance maturing domestic and foreign exchange obligations.

Bank president and chief executive Gil Buenaventura declined to give an estimate for the borrowings, saying the bank was still studying the plan, including the size and tenor.

“Maybe refinancing... both dollar and peso because we have some maturing [obligations]... If you

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.34 81,000 59.5 1,180 105.9 584,240 3.87 3,000 154.8 1,627,900 1.94 874,000 33.35 230,900 15.3 1,000 32.75 1,436,400 7.65 600 1.75 988,000 0.58 775,000 99 3,760,910 0.91 1,433,000 11.58 57,700 24.9 1,200 57.45 82,630 235 960 99.9 250 89 180 55.95 1,417,830 251.8 713,310 1,925 5 86.65 15,110 1.24 148,000

260,090 70,261 61,658,667 11,610 252,590,791 1,706,380 7,689,570 15,372 46,933,330 4,590 1,793,680 451,180 371,972,995 1,314,590 669,514 29,880 4,708,140.50 226,168 24,995 16,020 79,321,455.50 179,541,274 9,625 1,307,796.50 184,660

-1,785 27,484,659 -127,986,775 3,236,760 21,621,575 -590 82,742,130 8,100 -3,426,295 -72,878 19,199,876 -87,541,418 -9,625 -10,387.50 -

39.5 12.3 0.63 1.35 17 0.214 113.4 4.98 15.86 43.2 19 63.5 1.9 5.25 11 11.12 14.6 11.42 7.18 5.61 1.59 17.02 62.4 25.4 11 17.5 2.24 246 60 4.06 3.19 28.3 17.96 17.76 322 0.193 8.61 2.33 5.91 9.3 6.78 8.3 1.53 11.84 60.9 6.3 537.5 4.95 2.06 4.33 2 13.02 5.4 0.135 1.17 149 2.5 1.74 0.78

INDUSTRIAL 40.25 1,840,200 12.46 854,300 0.64 1,001,000 1.36 152,000 17 20,800 0.214 1,970,000 113.5 620 5.06 7,390,000 15.88 170,900 44.5 493,800 21 50,400 64 714,990 1.98 260,000 5.4 69,400 11.22 3,300 11.22 3,648,100 14.72 202,900 11.44 99,800 7.3 410,500 5.63 4,146,800 1.76 90,000 17.02 1,235,000 63 57,680 27.7 1,977,300 11.02 68,500 17.92 477,300 2.26 4,477,000 249.4 292,370 60 35,730 4.27 277,000 3.25 10,000 28.7 488,400 18.22 58,400 17.88 1,000,000 324.2 139,940 0.219 4,410,000 8.96 31,300 2.33 357,000 6.22 350,000 9.39 1,452,900 6.82 44,600 8.4 124,000 1.54 598,000 12.3 1,252,600 61.5 614,870 6.65 4,500 540 28,890 4.97 67,000 2.06 1,000 4.33 37,000 2.01 428,000 13.12 96,400 5.4 111,400 0.137 420,000 1.22 245,000 153 1,658,370 2.95 162,000 1.78 10,095,000 0.79 766,000

73,455,670 10,660,820 635,240 206,360 358,336 429,550 70,368 37,592,340 2,748,200 21,921,970 1,035,453 45,762,760 506,300 366,286 36,946 41,050,152 2,975,974 1,147,262 2,977,210 23,313,300 157,330 21,101,656 3,645,192.50 53,680,650 756,262 8,520,644 10,299,040 72,886,602 2,143,800 1,136,300 32,620 13,979,180 1,055,256 17,876,054 45,312,302 938,760 270,614 844,850 2,128,160 13,654,758 303,904 1,043,776 922,790 15,511,402 37,673,197 28,895 15,728,600 332,290 2,060 162,570 866,210 1,261,442 603,699 57,500 299,990 252,471,310 413,820 18,110,050 608,350

-14,565,345 -272,858 381,000 32,700 13,080 -4,785,900 203,316 842,005 44,543,830 5,400 -5,630 -16,379,592 1,271,302 -213,672 615,575 -3,731,484 -12,341,064 -906,463 11,122,240 -517,056 -334,802 -244,440 20,369,470 3,678,005 24,240 13,678,968 28,966,190 -14,790 -494,490 113,900 2,416,037.00 -825,600 -500,000 -8,754,028 2,171,560 248,000 -137,800.00 617,644 25,868,193 72,500 77,680 -1,580

0.315 69.5 16.24 0.98 7.05 0.425 0.45 1,013 7.68 14.2 7.8 0.184 1,296 7.83 74.6 0.71 5.89 18.52 0.34 6.65 3.54 0.046 1.1 2.07 111.7 3.01 978.5 1.7 282 0.227 0.191 0.208

0.3 67.55 15.88 0.91 6.95 0.395 0.405 1,004 7.47 13.86 7.71 0.183 1,260 7.83 72.65 0.68 5.64 18.24 0.305 6.53 3.45 0.045 1.02 2.06 108.5 2.81 973 1.57 279 0.222 0.191 0.198

HOLDING FIRMS 0.3 920,000 69 555,690 16.2 3,546,500 0.98 134,000 7.04 1,900 0.42 21,740,000 0.43 15,210,000 1,010 204,705 7.63 41,194,000 14.1 2,180,700 7.8 8,300 0.184 320,000 1,290 229,755 7.83 100 74.6 631,710 0.7 848,000 5.66 331,200 18.4 558,400 0.305 470,000 6.62 9,841,200 3.45 213,000 0.045 3,900,000 1.1 356,000 2.06 15,000 108.8 281,140 2.95 101,000 974.5 350,950 1.59 5,609,000 282 3,100 0.222 110,000 0.191 20,000 0.198 240,000

277,500 38,351,204 57,225,532 123,000 13,312 9,033,450 6,545,950 206,459,265 309,674,352 30,767,548 64,056 58,820 295,708,140 783 46,576,743 579,890 1,892,105 10,275,816 146,900 65,111,643 742,750 175,700 374,450 30,960 30,616,169 300,000 342,160,450 9,015,380 866,458 24,670 3,820 47,920

8,311,097 33,507,868 7,040 2,394,600 -78,978,760 -25,649,452 -528,700 10,980 160,952,615 12,202,718.50 -257,600 7,232,888 -1,936,859 -56,160 1,729,904 -239,836,705 64,850 11,280 -

5.9 1.04 19.5 2.37 0.89 43.3 3.97 4.74 5.6 6.5 0.49 1.15 1.22 0.215 0.455 38.5 0.68 1.87 1.43 0.78 5.2 0.35 0.37

5.74 1 13 2.27 0.87 42.5 3.8 4.69 5.57 6.49 0.48 1.15 1.19 0.21 0.45 38 0.64 1.84 1.4 0.73 5.15 0.34 0.36

4,042,951 5,378,970 6,179,884 36,960 1,620,160 306,764,475 6,632,590 2,916,770 543,397 15,580 1,283,350 1,150 63,070 1,213,330 95,300 2,064,855 454,300 2,432,380 5,516,430 681,360 69,316,304 9,225,450 1,294,500

-1,162,193 -2,040 -1,950,000 -762,390 300,030 981,810 82,730 -217,700 30,500 6,330 648,255 3,350 -324,570 -49,071,261 13,800 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.24 59.8 102.8 3.87 157 1.97 33.25 15.3 32.4 7.65 1.93 0.61 98.3 0.92 11.64 24.9 59.9 239 100 89 55.9 250.2 1,925 86.55 1.26

3.37 59.8 106 3.87 157 2 33.35 15.42 32.9 7.65 1.93 0.61 99.7 0.96 11.7 24.9 59.9 239 100 89 56.2 255 1,925 87 1.26

3.17 59.5 102.8 3.87 154.5 1.94 33.25 15.3 32.4 7.65 1.74 0.57 98.25 0.91 11.58 24.9 56.5 235 99.9 89 55.1 245.6 1,925 86.5 1.24

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

39.6 12.3 0.64 1.35 18.18 0.225 113.4 5 16.08 45 19 63.5 1.93 5.35 11.26 11.38 14.68 11.58 7.18 5.61 1.59 17.32 63.65 25.4 11.14 18.04 2.42 246 60 4.06 3.19 28.5 18.1 17.86 325.2 0.196 8.65 2.4 5.91 9.3 6.78 8.45 1.54 12.2 61 6.3 540 4.95 2.06 4.66 2.06 13.1 5.5 0.135 1.19 150.4 2.91 1.87 0.79

40.3 12.62 0.64 1.38 18.2 0.225 113.5 5.15 16.18 45 21.25 67.5 2.03 5.4 11.26 11.38 14.76 11.58 7.3 5.65 1.76 17.32 64.05 27.85 11.14 18.1 2.43 250.2 60 4.27 3.33 28.8 18.38 17.92 325.2 0.219 8.96 2.42 6.22 9.49 6.82 8.46 1.55 12.62 61.5 6.65 556 4.97 2.06 4.66 2.09 13.2 5.5 0.137 1.28 153 2.95 1.87 0.81

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

0.315 67.55 15.96 0.92 6.95 0.395 0.405 1,006 7.5 13.9 7.8 0.184 1,260 7.83 72.8 0.69 5.89 18.24 0.34 6.54 3.52 0.046 1.05 2.07 110.4 3.01 974.5 1.7 279 0.227 0.191 0.208

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

5.75 1.03 13 2.36 0.89 42.85 3.97 4.72 5.6 6.5 0.485 1.15 1.22 0.213 0.45 38.5 0.65 1.84 1.43 0.74 5.19 0.345 0.37

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

0.58 6.1 34.35 21.65 2.2 3.2 36.35 1.04 8.3 0.84 5.96

0.61 6.12 34.6 21.7 2.3 3.2 37.1 1.04 8.3 0.88 5.97

0.57 5.5 34.35 21.3 2.14 3.2 36.35 1.03 8.2 0.84 5.85

0.6 5.85 34.6 21.55 2.16 3.2 36.7 1.04 8.2 0.84 5.97

13,954,000 3,157,300 3,500 750,700 6,281,000 30,000 10,420,400 407,000 6,200 302,000 5,750,300

8,327,950 18,332,605 120,420 16,164,080 13,749,310 96,000 382,975,320 422,220 50,971 253,720 34,126,861

-444,954 -2,203,280 10,950 89,903,285 -252,000 -603,362

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

19.2 34.6 1.43 0.47 0.043 12.18 4.81 11 0.07 99.2 9.38 9.02 7.1 3.24 24.85 1,775 5.75 18.18 4.78 2.82 105 8.35 0.145 1.52 3.1 14.8 4.35 1.19 22.05 0.53 4.33 7.35 3.88 15.1 2.69 4.81 2.81 8.95 122.9 8.02 1,500 1.28 0.35 49.2 92.2 5.8 3.21 1.66 4.04 3.98 0.97 8.18

19.5 34.95 1.43 0.485 0.043 12.18 5.04 11.26 0.072 99.4 9.38 9.02 7.23 3.24 27.45 1,800 5.76 18.18 4.78 2.82 105.6 8.35 0.148 1.52 3.22 14.9 4.4 1.21 22.7 0.53 4.94 7.61 3.89 16.48 2.69 4.81 2.81 8.99 122.9 8.02 1,548 1.29 0.35 49.55 93.9 5.8 3.21 1.67 5.3 4.18 0.98 8.2

19.04 34.6 1.4 0.465 0.042 12.18 4.81 10.96 0.07 98 9.38 8.89 6.5 2.85 24.45 1,775 5.71 18.18 4.4 2.6 103.5 8.35 0.138 1.37 3.06 14.54 4.21 1.18 22 0.53 4.1 7.3 3.84 15.1 2.5 4.81 2.81 8.8 118 7.86 1,500 1.28 0.35 49.2 92 5.8 3.1 1.64 3.8 3.9 0.94 8.14

SERVICES 19.1 34.95 1.4 0.48 0.043 12.18 5.04 11.02 0.07 98.25 9.38 8.9 7 2.88 27.45 1,798 5.73 18.18 4.5 2.65 105 8.35 0.139 1.4 3.21 14.9 4.21 1.21 22.15 0.53 4.2 7.5 3.85 15.74 2.5 4.81 2.81 8.8 118 7.92 1,540 1.28 0.35 49.5 93.9 5.8 3.2 1.66 4.29 4.18 0.97 8.15

67,500 15,900 146,000 660,000 10,800,000 28,700 202,000 5,279,200 14,800,000 159,730 1,000 272,300 184,700 697,000 279,700 52,345 214,500 4,100 15,041,000 366,000 562,010 335,000 20,120,000 6,495,000 17,000 3,900 2,490,000 358,000 1,336,300 70,000 5,072,000 5,487,300 683,000 4,600 6,438,000 3,000 8,000 10,500 17,220 725,200 74,435 1,604,000 30,000 716,800 97,990 10,500 1,615,000 2,662,000 56,883,000 2,910,000 9,101,000 5,897,300

1,297,610 553,240 206,120 313,150 463,200 349,566 1,015,850 58,565,152 1,038,540 15,760,086 9,380 2,429,714 1,282,720 2,116,980 7,483,810 93,780,600 1,229,211 74,538 68,048,690 977,530 58,942,935 2,797,250 2,850,800 9,128,440 53,120 57,908 10,634,840 425,590 29,645,005 37,100 22,809,130 41,271,301 2,635,430 71,336 16,398,390 14,430 22,480 93,972 2,050,198 5,742,048 113,321,740 2,060,930 10,500 35,451,385 9,110,910.50 60,900 5,099,910 4,395,260 260,600,350 12,002,840 8,692,830 48,104,761

208,978 208,500 343,476 9,856,732 -7,400,291 8,900 -710 14,500 -65,728,390 138,350.00 -33,286,741 62,900.00 182,620 -42,500 35,400 1,274,670 -265,230 4,584,109 -300,550 662,000 9,620 -464,535 -604,645 18,662,075 -12,800 346,430 1,019,274 1,608,340 1,733,970 -11,451,580 87,130 -351,550 29,617,300

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

0.0022 1.54 4.42 14.8 1.78 1.7 1.6 0.31 7.39 2.65 0.214 0.158 0.0098 0.01 1.75 6.25 1.59 0.43 0.88 0.012 0.012 0.012 2.14 5.74 7.9 35.3 0.0061

0.0022 1.54 4.43 15 1.78 1.72 1.63 0.315 7.39 2.65 0.241 0.158 0.0099 0.01 1.75 6.28 1.6 0.43 0.91 0.012 0.012 0.012 2.16 5.92 8.3 36 0.0062

0.0021 1.49 4.42 14.8 1.78 1.7 1.58 0.31 7.19 2.59 0.214 0.153 0.0098 0.0092 1.7 6.23 1.51 0.43 0.88 0.012 0.012 0.011 2.14 5.7 7.09 35.3 0.0061

MINING & OIL 0.0022 225,000,000 1.5 4,649,000 4.43 235,000 15 500 1.78 10,000 1.71 43,000 1.58 1,586,000 0.315 60,000 7.19 1,700 2.62 967,000 0.239 140,000 0.155 4,760,000 0.0099 8,000,000 0.01 2,000,000 1.74 241,000 6.24 266,500 1.59 48,000 0.43 200,000 0.91 57,000 0.012 9,000,000 0.012 55,200,000 0.012 17,500,000 2.16 15,000 5.9 831,500 8.3 11,291,400 35.85 3,389,400 0.0062 6,000,000

494,500 6,982,850 1,039,710 7,440 17,800 73,630 2,522,900 18,750 12,478 2,524,930 32,210 737,760 79,100 19,360 411,090 1,669,139 73,100 86,000 50,220 108,000 662,400 197,400 32,250 4,886,985 87,301,115 121,506,880 37,100

726,440 -8,850 -51,350 213,060 10,460 -7,360 673,712 -1,600 1,200 -875,226 7,218,224 -50,037,785 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 DD PREF FGEN PREF F GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A LR PREF PCOR PREF 2B PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

34.95 539.5 105.5 109.8 5.5 1,030 101.5 1.1 1,140 1,004 103.2 77.05 79.35 80.1

35.35 539.5 105.5 114 5.5 1,035 101.9 1.11 1,140 1,004 103.3 77.35 79.35 80.1

34.45 539.5 105.4 109.8 5.42 1,030 101.5 1.1 1,140 1,004 103.2 77.05 79.35 80.1

PREFERRED 34.5 383,500 539.5 200 105.4 9,800 114 250 5.5 217,200 1,035 3,000 101.9 1,000 1.1 1,487,000 1,140 95 1,004 55 103.3 600 77.25 340 79.35 37,730 80.1 7,540

13,375,765 107,900 1,033,880 28,290 1,180,105 3,098,925 101,860 1,635,800 108,300 55,220 61,970 26,269 2,993,875.50 603,954

-398,775 -1,059,148 24,200 -

LR WARRANT

2.76

2.76

2.59

WARRANTS 2.63 1,325,000

3,535,770

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

7.8 4.17 5.33

8.6 4.17 5.5

7.49 3.88 4.84

8.6 3.89 4.98

14,337,871 272,130 36,499,199

166,335 245,772

FIRST METRO ETF

127.8

128

126.8

521,263

-

USD DMPL A1

10.1

10.1

10.1

39,895

-

MS

PROPERTY 5.88 1.01 19.5 2.27 0.89 43.3 3.9 4.7 5.59 6.49 0.485 1.15 1.19 0.212 0.455 38.2 0.67 1.85 1.41 0.74 5.19 0.345 0.365

693,800 5,293,000 322,900 16,000 1,846,000 7,139,600 1,701,000 621,000 97,300 2,400 2,660,000 1,000 52,000 5,730,000 210,000 53,900 677,000 1,318,000 3,907,000 908,000 13,365,300 26,780,000 3,540,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

14,235,723

INDUSTRIAL

57,559,418

HOLDING FIRMS

117,214,002

PROPERTY

118,949,208

SERVICES

184,586,070

MINING & OIL

351,682,172

GRAND TOTAL

853,215,514

SME

1,809,400 69,000 7,105,700

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 128 4,090 10.1

DDS

3,950

VALUE 2,169.21 (up) 1.82 1,012,548,788.95 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,205.31 (up) 77.89 886,442,202.195 HOLDING FIRMS 8,508.79 (up) 77.47 1,515,637,975.33 PROPERTY 3,892.73 (up) 59.45 1,624.10 (up) 20.07 936,459,992.705 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,355.21 (up) 173.35 1,024,262,695.72 PSEI 8,422.82 (up) 85.78 231,611,338.838 All Shares Index 4,909.79 (up) 39.36 5,658,596,444.94 Gainers: 103; Losers: 100; Unchanged: 46; Total: 249

track the ROP (Philippine bonds), the rates have been so attractive... So banks will just follow that,” he said.

“I think many banks, not only banks but also corporates, who are planning to refinance,” he said. He also declined to give the timetable for the plan.

Buenaventura said RCBC wanted to make its presence felt more in the country’s export processing zones catering to both local and foreign locators.

He said RCBC would continue pursuing growth areas, such as consumer and small and medium enterprises.

“Actually we are covering all sectors but I think we just want to maintain our niche market, increase our presence in the export processing zones,” Buenaventura said.

“As you know, RCBC is the pioneer in the export processing zones and we want to make sure that we continue to enjoy that role in those areas. So I think if we ever do expand our branches, it will be in these export processing zones to cater to locators,” he said.

He said RCBC had already complied with the previous 50 licenses given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas “and therefore we just need about five more for next year.”

He said RCBC had adequately covered nationwide and one of the keys to maintain business growth would be to really make the branches—now close to 500—more effective in cross selling products from other companies that are members of the RCBC Group.

SN Aboitiz sees 20% increase in revenues

By Alena Mae S. Flores SN Aboitiz Power Corp., a unit of Aboitiz Power Corp., expects a 20-percent increase in revenues this year amid stronger water input.

“For us, 2017 is a very strong year because the front half of the year, we had a lot of inflow. We had very good hydrology so we were able to generate much, much more in the front half of the year than we normally can. In first two quarters of the year, very strong. And in fact I think Magat has set a record in terms of total kilowatt hours produced,” SNAP president and chief executive officer Joseph Yu said.

He said the company’s hydro power projects experienced “a lot of inflow so we were able to keep the dams at very high level that allowed us to ride through the dry season with a lot of power.”

“All of us are praying to have a strong inflow in 2018,” Yu said, without disclosing any figure.

He said SN Aboitiz’s hydro plants operated with a high reliability factor, or above 98 percent, and below half-a-percent of outage rate.

“We take asset management planning very seriously,” Yu said.

SN Aboitiz has started operations of the 8.5-megawatt Maris Main Canal 1 hydro power plant, the first constructed by the SNAP Group since acquiring the 380MW Magat hydro in 2007 through privatization.

It is composed of two units of Kaplan pit-type turbines with a capacity of 4.25 MW each. Unit 1 was commissioned on October 24 while Unit 2 started operating on November 6.

Business/World

B3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

HRW: Villages burned despite deal

DISPLAY. This photo taken on December 17 shows a Christmas decoration displayed outside a shopping mall in Beijing. AFP

YANGON―Myanmar ’s army burned down dozens of Rohingya homes within days of signing a refugee repatriation deal with Bangladesh, showing the agreement was a mere “public relations stunt”, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

The rights group, citing analysis of satellite imagery, said buildings in 40 villages were destroyed in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that had been partially or completely razed since last August.

Dozens of buildings were burned the same week Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding on November 23 to begin returning refugees from Bangladesh within two months, HRW said in a report.

“The Burmese army’s destruction of Rohingya vil-

lages within days of signing a refugee repatriation agreement with Bangladesh shows that commitments to safe returns were just a public relations stunt,” said Brad Adams, HRW’s Asia director, in the report, adding safety pledges for returnees could not be taken seriously.

Deadly attacks by Rohingya insurgents on August 25 prompted a ferocious military crackdown on the Muslim minority living in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

More than 655,000 of them have fled across the border to Bangladesh since then, bringing horrific accounts of rape, extra-judicial killing and arson.

The US and United Nations have described the process as ethnic cleansing. The UN rights chief has suggest-

ed the operation contains “elements of genocide”.

Responding to international pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government inked an agreement with Bangladesh in late November to start the repatriation of Rohingya refugees within two months.

But HRW said it was difficult to believe this could be carried out responsibly.

“Myanmar is playing the most cynical of games, with Aung San Suu Kyi and her team signing a refugee repatriation deal that contains no real guarantees of protection to returnees, while on the ground the security forces continue their campaign of torching the villages the Rohingya want to return to,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW’s Asia division, told AFP. AFP

US spells out plans on North Korea

B

EIJING―It was the kind of sit-down that China had long resisted: Top US officials telling Chinese counterparts how American troops would enter North Korea if the hermit regime collapsed.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent revelation that such a discussion took place would―if true―suggest a major shift in Chinese policy as Beijing comes under pressure to rein in its

Korean War ally.

For years Beijing had refused US entreaties to discuss the possible collapse of its neighbor, but top US and Chinese military officials have finally met to discuss

the once-taboo topic, Tillerson said last week.

Some stark topics were broached, Tillerson said: Refugees flooding across the Chinese-North Korean border, US troops entering the hermit country―and leaving again once they had prevented nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

The little-noticed disclosure was overshadowed

by Tillerson’s remarks that Washington was willing to talk with Pyongyang without preconditions―a statement that he backed away from days later.

Beijing has long refused US requests to discuss North Korea contingencies because it “assessed that near-term instability was unlikely”, said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Washingtonbased Center for Strategic

and International Studies.

“They feared that the talks wouldn’t be kept secret, Pyongyang would find out and their relations with North Korea would deteriorate to the point of becoming hostile,” Glaser said.

China’s foreign ministry would not confirm Tillerson’s account of the talks, with a spokesman saying: “You may have to ask him himself about his meanings

national brew.”

The bearded 61-year-old floats between tables to top up the bowls of salted peanuts that inevitably accompany chilled ales, as loud music drowns out the clinking of beer bottles.

“I’ve been here for 20 years, since a time when the national beer was really in demand,” Salloum says, and Syrian spirits have continued to be a favorite.

Before 2011, two local brews dominated the Syrian market: Barada, produced at a brewery outside Damascus, and Al-Sharq, based in second city Aleppo.

Al-Sharq shuttered its doors as violence in Aleppo escalated. The Barada brewery was ravaged by fighting, with Syria’s government blaming “extremists” and rebels accusing the army of shelling it.

“I was very sad when the war destroyed the breweries, so today I’m happy to have Syrian beer again,” said Elias, a 27-year-old customer at Abu George’s.

He sipped on a cool Afamia, named after the celebrated city of Apamea in central Syria. AFP

DEBUT. Baby panda Xiang Xiang plays at its enclosure during a press preview at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on December 18, 2017. Born six months ago, the panda made its debut a day before a doting public gets an eagerly-awaited glimpse of the cuddly animal. AFP

WELLINGTON―The Eu- Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominropean Union and 12 other ican Republic, Ecuador, Mexnations condemned Japan’s ico, New Zealand, Panama, Antarctic whaling program Peru and Uruguay.

Monday, rejecting Tokyo’s arJapan is a signatory to the gument that the annual slaugh- IWC’s moratorium on hunting, ter is for scientific research. but exploits a loophole that alJapan’s whaling fleet left lows whales to be killed in the for the Southern Ocean last name of scientific research. month, planning to kill 333 In 2014, the UN’s Internaminke whales over a four- tional Court of Justice ordered month period.

Tokyo to end its regular hunt Its fisheries agency says the in the Antarctic waters, saying hunt is needed to study whale the project did not meet conbehavior and biology, but crit- ventional scientific standards. ics say such lethal research Japan canceled its 2014-15 is unnecessary and acts as a hunt, only to resume it the folcover for commercial whaling. lowing year under a new pro“[We] jointly express... op- gram―saying the fresh plan position to Japan’s continued had genuine scientific value. so-called ‘scientific’ whaling in The joint statement noted the Southern Ocean,” the EU that the IWC ruled last year and its allies said in a statement. that the new research program “We remain resolutely op- was not scientific and should posed to commercial whaling, be halted. AFP in particular in Manila more importantly, financial quarrels.

Republic of the Philippines the Southern Standard That respondent demanded that National Capital Judicial Region TODAY petitioner stop sending money to her Ocean Whale REGIONAL TRIAL COURT family in the Philippines and obliged petitioner to give him 5 “lapad”, but Mandaluyong City Sanctuary esrespondent became more violent until Branch 211 separated sometime in April 2014. tablished by IN RE: PETITION FOR JUDICIAL they That petitioner and respondent have no children out of their marriage and RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN the Interna- DIVORCE AND DECLARATION OF they have not acquired any property.

That on April 14, 2014, petitioner and TO REMARRY UNDER tional Whal- CAPACITY respondent mutually agreed to divorce ART. 26 OF THE FAMILY CODE. and they signed the divorce certificate. ing Commis- SHERRY YEE PANUELOS, The divorce was registered in the Official Family Register issued by the Petitioner, sion (IWC).”

Mayor of Amakusa City, Kumamoto Pref., Japan, and a copy of the divorce -versuscertificate is hereto attached as Annex In addition “B”.

R-MND-17-03734-SP to the EU, petitioner caused the FOR: JUDICIAL RECOGNITION That registration of the Divorce Certificate OF FOREIGN DIVORCE with the Department of Foreign Affairs the letter was so that the document can be accepted by the Local Civil Registrar of Manila signed by Ar- ISAMU KANDARespondent. in accordance with the circular by the Supreme Court, and the petitioner x----------------------------------x gentina, Auswas presented the original copy of the ORDER divorce certificate by the Department tralia, Brazil, This is a verified petition filed by of Foreign Affairs for authentication,

Countries shouldn’t Brexit if they ain’t broke The difficulties that the British government has been experiencing in its quest for an acceptable Brexit (British exit from the European Union) deal has given rise to three questions about the United Kingdom’s EU-membership referendum and its aftermath.

The first question is, is the 52 percent of the British electorate who voted in favor of Brexit fully appreciative of the implications of the vote that they cast? The second question is, did they anticipate the difficulties and complexities that Prime Minister Theresa May and her Cabinet are facing at the hands of the EU’s Brexit negotiators?

And the third question – one that is increasingly being asked – is, would the British cast a different Brexit vote if another referendum were held today?

The pro-Brexit voters must have known that putting an end to a 47year relationship between Britain and the EU would be complicated, but, judging from the British public’s reaction to the initial round of negotia-

issue with the US,” he said.

The more likely scenario, he insisted, was the “US unilaterally expressed its position, and we couldn’t just grab someone’s lips and stop them from talking”.

Speaking in Washington last Tuesday, Tillerson said US officials had told Chinese counterparts that if a crisis forced US troops to enter North Korea, they would not stay there. AFP

International call for Japan to stop Antarctic whaling

Local brews returning in Syria after fighting DAMASCUS―For years, Abu George’s bar in Damascus’s Old City served imported beers under portraits of famous foreigners Che Guevara and Marilyn Monroe―but the brews on offer now are Syrianmade.

When war broke out in 2011, Syria’s two main breweries halted production, leaving consumers sipping on foreign, and more expensive, beers.

But as fighting has subsided across much of the country this year, a new pair of local lagers has hit the markets.

Tiny pubs line a cramped alleyway in the historic heart of Syria’s capital, where a group of girls dressed in white distribute free bottles of “Afamia” to passers-by.

Customers at Abu George’s bar reach out for a few of the brown bottles, emblazoned with a blue and gold label proclaiming Afamia to be the “Beer of Syria”.

“It’s a lovely initiative,” says Ghassan Salloum, who co-owns the popular watering hole.

“The beer will be wellreceived―people want a

and intentions.”

Wang Dong, an expert on US-China relations at Peking University, insisted the remarks must be a ploy to “exert pressure” on Pyongyang―to make it believe Beijing and Washington were prepared to work together.

But he raised doubts about Tillerson’s characterization of the discussion.

“I don’t think that China could voluntarily discuss this

tions, they apparently did not expect them to be that complicated. The first round of negotiations has taken up only three issues – the UK’s unpaid obligations to the UK and of British nationals residing in the EU countries and the border between EU member Ireland and the British territory of Northern Ireland – and after each negotiating session the British delegation has gone to great lengths to suggest that the discussions produced substantial progress.

Clearly, the UK is finding itself at a disadvantage in the Brexit negotiations. As the party wishing to leave, the UK has to manifest sufficient justification – legal, financial and social – for seeking a divorce from the EU. And it is having to overcome the psychological disadvantage of being perceived to be an unreasonable and arrogant former partner.

The 52 percent of the electorate that voted in favor of Brexit – the “leavers,” as they are generally called – are

undoubtedly sympathetic with the current travails of Theresa May and Co. But I dare say that those who voted against Brexit are somewhat resentful of the way that Britain is being treated by the EU; after all, Britain, right or wrong, is their country.

Did the leavers fully anticipate the complexities and difficulties of the negotiations in which Theresa May & Co. are now engaged? Almost certainly not. Most of them probably thought that, as one of the EU’s largest members, Britain could simply declare that it wanted a divorce and let the details be worked out by its erstwhile partners. They are now finding out – and Theresa May is telling them – that the divorce from the EU, like any divorce, is a complicated and messy process, calling for toughness on Britain’s part.

Is Britain over a barrel – as the Niagara Falls-related expression goes – in the Brexit negotiations? Maybe not over a barrel, for Britain is not with-

out good cards to play. But Britain is definitely facing tough challenges.

Which brings me to the third questions I spoke about at the start of this column.

Given another chance, would the leavers vote anew to take the UK out of the EU? My assessment is No. I dare say that many of the leavers, like the architects of Brexit, were overcome by feelings of bravado and chutzpah and thought that Britain could thumb its nose at Western Europe and dictate the terms of its departure from their 47-year-old union.

They were wrong. They did not realize – and they did not want to realize – that the EU could play hard ball.

That’s the game that the Germans, the French and the other Western Europeans are now playing.

Some leavers may well be asking themselves at this point: If it wasn’t really broke, did we have to Brexit?

E-mail: romero.business.class@ gmail.com

the petitioner praying that after due publication, notice and hearing, an Order be issued rendering the following judgment: 1. Recognizing, upholding and enforcing the divorce on April 14, 2014 obtained in Japan by petitioner as contained in the Family Registration; 2. Nullifying the marriage of petitioner and respondent solemnized on August 17, 2010 and to cause the cancellation in the entries of the Book of Marriages the marriage of the parties; 3. Declaring the petitioner as capacitated to remarry under Articles 26 paragraph 2 of the Family Code in view of the divorce certificate.

That petitioner Sherry Yee Panuelos is a Filipino, of legal age, married and with residence address at 907 Block 39, Fabella Street, Mandaluyong City where she may be served with summons and other court processes.

That respondent Isamu Kanda is a Japanese citizen, of legal age, married and with residence address at Okayaman Shi, Kitaku, Sayuwai Shou 4-26-506, Bukyo, Japan and summons and other court processes under the circumstances may be served through publication.

That petitioner and respondent met where petitioner was working in a club and respondent would frequent the club and for months they met almost every day.

That the relationship became serious and they eventually married on August 17, 2010 before the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong presided by Hon. Judge Monique QuisumbingIgnacio and the NSO copy of the Report of Marriage is hereto attached as Annex “A”.

That as promised, respondent secured for petitioner a visa to enable her to go to Japan.

That while in Japan, petitioner and respondent lived together after marriage, and during the early stage of their marriage, petitioner and respondent went along well and enjoyed their married life for the respondent then had a well paying job.

That however, the respondent got sick and everything change because respondent stopped working.

That respondent became hottempered and always shouted at the petitioner and they almost have daily heated arguments because they have separate and difficult personalities, ranging from language barrier, jealousy, verbal abuse, age gap, and

hereto attached as Annex “C” and “D”, respectively.

That the divorce was filed in conformity with the laws of Japan, particulary Book IV, Chapter II, Section 4, Subsection 2, Article 763 of the Civil Code of Japan and pertinent portion of which reads as follows: “Section 4. Divorce.

Subsection1, Divorce Agreement.

Article 763. Husband and wife may effect divorce agreement.” and a copy of the English version of the Civil Code of Japan is hereto attached as Annex “E”.

That paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Family Code in relation to Section 48, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the divorce certificate has the effect of a judgment as final order with presumptive value as evidence.

That under the foregoing circumstances, petitioner respectfully seeks of the Honorable Court that their divorce dated April 14, 2014 be recognized and upheld.

Acting on the petition, this Court hereby orders the petitioner to cause the publication of a copy of this Order at its own expense before the hearing on January 31, 2018 at 1:30 o’ clock in the afternoon before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 211, 2nd Floor, Old Municipal Hall Building, Maysilo Circle, Mandaluyong City. Let a copy of this Order be published in the Manila Standard, a newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila selected by the raffle pursuant to PD No. 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

A copy of this Order shall likewise be posted in the bulletin board of this Court.

Let the Office of the Solicitor General, Philippine Statistics Authority and the Local Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong City be furnished with a copy of this Order, together with the petition and its annexes at the expense of the petitioner, the proof of service thereof to be duly proven and established to the satisfaction of the Court.

SO ORDERED. Mandaluyong City, November 17, 2017.

(Sgd.) OFELIA L. CALO Judge Copy Furnished: Atty. Tomas J. Caspe Office of the Solicitor General Local Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong City Philippine Statistics Authority Manila Standard (MS-Dec. 12, 19 & 26, 2017)

LGUs

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

B4

tuesday, december 19, 2017

LocaL government units

WINNING DANCE. Dancers of the James L. Chiongbian High School in Kiamba, Sarangani topped the street dancing competition of the 15th MunaTo Festival to mark Sarangani’s 25th Provincial founding day. The dance routine is based on the tri-people culture of the Tboli tribe, the Sangir Islamic community, and the Visayan lowland settlers, highlighting the harvest and warrior and hunter way of life of the natives. The multi-awarded school also topped the street dance tilt in Kiamba’s Timpuyog Festival and Davao’s Kadayawan in 2016.

Munti’s year 100 festivities on today A FeSTIVe spirit will fill the roads of Muntinlupa as the city commemorates its 100th founding anniversary as an independent municipality today.

Thousands of Muntinlupeños were expected to join the “Grand Centennial Salubong” at midnight on Monday, celebrating Muntinlupa’s Centenary date on Dec. 19.

All nine barangays have organized live musical performances and shows featuring local artists and indie bands, capped with a fireworks display.

Some of the bands and artists performing in the Grand Salubong include ely Buendia’s Apartel, DJ eva Ronda (MOR 101.9), The Blanc, and RX2 Band in Poblacion, Side A, Salbakuta, True Faith, and DJ Roy in Alabang, The Juans, DJ Panyero (101.1 YeS FM), Cheesemelt, JP Band, and Salinlaji in Bayanan, and many more.

Public Information Officer Tez Navarro said the “Grand Salubong” will be a simultaneous festival from Tunasan to Sucat.

She invited all Muntinlupa residents to celebrate the milestone.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu (right) shows off his new doctorate diploma from the London Graduate School. Nur Eeman Aljani

By Joel E. Zurbano THe National Nutrition Council has named the Taguig City government as one of the 1st Year Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition or CROWN Maintenance Awardees.

The award, received by city officials led

by Mayor Laarni Cayetano, was given during the 2017 Nutrition Awarding Ceremony held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Dec. 12.

“We are very ecstatic to receive this award because it shows that we are very committed in providing good public service to our community,” Cayetano said.

The NNC conferred the CROWN trophy and P100,000 prize to Cayetano, City Health Office officer-in-charge Dr. erlinda Rayos Del Sol, Councilor Rodil Marcelino, Taguig City’s Dr. Marie Irene Sy, and City Nutrition Action Officer Julie Bernabe.

Taguig is one of the nine local government units given its 1st Year CROWN Maintenance Award. The recognition is awarded to a local government for maintaining an outstanding and consistent implementation of its nutrition action plan.

Taguig City is the sole recipient from the National Capital Region.

Cotabato’s festive December

By Nash B. Maulana

C

OTABATO CITY―It’s a confluence of festive events here in December.

After the Feast of Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, the arrival of Arabian missionary Sharif Kabunsuan—who introduced Islam to mainland Mindanao 500 years ago—is being celebrated for a whole week through Dec. 20.

The annual Shariff Kabunsuan Festival commemorates the coming of the

missionary from Johor, Malaysia with a lively, decorated stream of wooden boats, wrapped in sequence with thick shiny golden yellow Chinese cloth, as they cruise down Pulangi River to the Illana Bay (Iranun Bay).

The float, called “Ginakit,” is a prominent figure in Maguindanao poetry, depicting a mixed Hindu-Chinese

influence in cultural arts, like dragon boats in festivals.

Mayor Cynthia Frances Guiani Sayadi said Cotabato City is often considered the melting pot of mixed cultures, of people living in harmony in a community they have shared and developed together over a century.

Not to be outdone, members of the Indigenous People’s Community join both the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Genealogically, Mamalo, the ancestor of the local IPs, was a brother

to Tabunaway, the forebear of native Maguindanaons.

Muslim and Christian residents of shoreline fishpond communities come to town with their fastest running crabs―caught for the prized, funny “backwards crab” race. Maguindanaons and Visayan homegrown chefs also compete for more prizes, cooking local and oriental-inspired recipes.

Lawyer Rico Pelandoc, the city legal office director, said the City Tourism Council will a host a stage play this year to show the

younger generation the historical narratives of Shariff Kabunsuan’s coming.

Pelandoc said the play, directed by artist Omar Patadon, is based on historical sources, including the books “Muslims in the Philippines” by Dr. Cesar Adib Majul (1973) and “Notes on the Moro History, Law and Religion” by Dr. Najeeb Saleeby (1905).

Relatives say the mayor’s family represents proud Maguindanaon ancestors and a Chinese heritage known for a bloodline of honesty in public office,

which started with Sayadi’s father, a trial judge.

The mayor said her contemporary Chinese kindred have remained supportive of her efforts toward developing the city’s trade and cultural tourism.

Maguindanao’s sagayan (swords-and-shield dance), the pandala and sambolayang (colorful flags, banners), the debakan (animal skin drum), and the fireworks in celebrations have all evolved from Chinese festivals, said Monir Tungao, principal of a government school in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.

In BrIef Ferrers play santa to gentri PWDs

ONE LAST TIME. Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan (inset) leads the last Monday flag-raising at the old city hall’s gazebo, due to heavy rain, prior to city government’s transfer to its new building on Tuesday, Dec. 19. City employees will march toward their new building at the corner of 8th Street and 8th Avenue. City employees and department heads who were promoted since 2013 joined Malapitan as they waved the ‘star’ of their Christmas, as children of city-run orphanages Tahanang Mapagpala and Tahanang Mapagkalinga also received gifts. Jun David

Quezon City re-forms smoke-free task force QUeZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has reconstituted the city’s Smoke-Free Task Force to ensure the proper implementation of all relevant national laws and policies, presidential executive orders, and city ordinances pertaining to the total ban on smoking in public places.

He tasked city health officer Verdades Linga to head the task force, with Frederika Rentoy, head of the environmental Protection and Waste Management Department, as vice chairperson.

Taguig receives nutrition ‘crown’ for health work

Also named to the task force were Isagani Versoza Jr. of the City Building Official, Garry Domingo of the Business Permits and Licensing Office, Noel Soliven of the Barangay Operations Center Ares Gutierrez of the Public Affairs and Information Services Office, Marilou Arrieta of the Market Development and Administration Department and elmo San Diego of the Department of Public Order and Safety.

Rio N. Araja

CHRISTMAS SHOW. Performers rest and take a bow after the Grand Magical Parade of SM

Masinag, an annual event of the mall in Antipolo City for the Christmas seasons. This year, the 42-character ensemble feature elves, snowflakes, fairies, a marching band, princes and princesses, and Santa Claus. Manny Palmero

CAVITe 6th District Rep. Luis “Jon Jon” Ferrer IV, brother of General Trias City Mayor Antonio “Ony” Ferrer, and Team GenTri recently played Santa Claus to persons with disabilities in the city at the General Trias Cultural and Convention Center in Barangay Sampalukan here.

The lawmaker was accompanied by his wife Monette and local social welfare head Bengky Generoso. in distributing gift packs, bags, and cash to 388 PWDs who attended the program.

Team GenTri has done this for five years now, Rep. Ferrer said.

Meanwhile, The JCI-General Trias Katipunan, in partnership with the GenTri local government, adopted 50 indigent young GenTriseños by granting their respective Christmas wishes during the “Pick the Name, Bless the Child Project” held at the town plaza.

In the neighboring town of Noveleta, Mayor Dino Reyes Chua led the distribution of gifts to kids of the locality starting Dec. 16, as part of his “Pamaskong Handog” for young Noveletans.

antipolo reading summit draws 1,000 MORe than 1,000 teachers, parents and students from public schools recently joined the Antipolo City Reading Summit 2017, led by Mayor Jun Ynares with the City Planning and Development Office and Synergeia Foundation.

Throughout November, Antipolo conducted the “State of the Reading Address,” talks about the city elementary and secondary school students’ ability to read.

This is a “Building Better Readers” theme that aims to identify students with reading problems and develop possible actions here, Ynares said.

Ynares said not only teachers are responsible for teaching reading to students, it is very important that parents also teach their children in reading’s important aspects, especially in the study of Math, Science and other subjects.

Teaching students “is not just a school’s duty but the whole community,” he added.

For instance, a workshop saw participants divided into three groups. Through meta cards, everyone expressed their opinions on why children cannot read well; how they can help them read well; what will help the teacher, parent and student solve the problem; and what will be the size of its success.

London school confers doctorate degree on governor Mangudadatu

BULUAN, Maguindanao―The London Graduate School has honored Maguindanao Gov. esmael Mangudadatu, the first Filipino in its short-list of honorees, as it recognized jim for championing education for children of families displaced by armed conflict.

Sadiksha Rai, who heads the school’s Continuing education Programs, said Mangudadatu is

“among the persons selected in recognition of (his) achievement and contributions.”

In her letter, Rai said the prestigious school conferred on Mangudadatu a Doctoral Degree in Public Administration, Honoris Causa, at Raintree Hotel Rolla Street in Bur, Dubai on Dec. 12.

This brings honor not only to the province but also to Fili-

pino Muslims, who constitute a small minority of the country’s population, said the governor’s younger brother, Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu.

The governor is the lone Filipino so far among LGS award recipients. The school’s roster of illustrious awardees includes the late Singaporean statesman Lee Kwan Yew, former US

President Barack Obama, Microsoft founder Billy Gates, the late Indira Gandhi of India, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mangudadatu said education is the only long-term solution to increasing concerns on the massive recruitment of young individuals into terror groups―some purportedly offering big amounts in cash.

The governor has held a se-

ries of dialogues with students, orphans, and young professionals in the province.

Students spoke to Mangudadatu about their learning experiences and on how the Maguindanao Peace (MagPeace) Study Grant Program helped them overcome the challenge of poverty, and eventually become professionals themselves. Nash B. Maulana

Life

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com

travel and leisure

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tuesday, decemBeR 19, 2017

‘Belenismo sa Tarlac’

2017 picks winners in all five categories COLORFUL SHOWCASE. Winners of the high-profile competition, Belenismo sa Tarlac 2017 have been named, one of victorious entries include Brgy. Balingcanaway’s colorful belen for the Community category.

A

UNiQUe Holland Windmills scene in the Municipality of Capas; a 20-foot Spanish fan with colorful flowers

by Fr. Cris Lozano of St. Francis of Assisi Parish; a magnificent Belen brought to life through robotics at SM City Tarlac; an artistic nativity made up of walis tambo, bamboo and bulu at McDonald’s Motorway; a parochial tribute by Fr. Noel Paguinto of St. Joseph Parish; a Belen housed in a caromata by Fr. John Ovivir of Sto. Cristo Parish; and an enchanting nativity scene made up of paper plates, plastic cups styro lunch boxes; were declared the grand winners in this year’s holding of the high-profile competition billed “Belenismo sa Tarlac.”

Those were first-placers in the five categories – Grand Municipal, Grand Non-Municipal, Monumental, Church and Community – respectively. each of these winners received cash prizes of P100,000 for all Municipal and NonMunicipal categories, P80,000 for the Monumental and Church categories and P70,000 for the Community category.

The Windmills design of the Municipality of Capas showcased a work of art never before heard of – the use of carabao manure. Sun-dried carabao manure from Crow Valley Gunnery Range, Brgy. Sta. Juliana were collected along the trek going to Mt. Pinatubo. These were processed with wood glue to harden its surface, painted and dashed with glitters, and ended up adorning the giant Windmills in the Belen erected on the grounds of the Capas town plaza. Since Capas is known for its tinapa from Brgy. Talaga, the design also showcased bamboo baskets used in

the processing of smoked-fish) as additional decorative pieces.

The other winners and their equivalent cash prizes in the Grand Municipal Category were: two 2nd Placers - Municipality of Moncada and Municipality of Concepcion each receiving P60,000; two third placers - Municipality of San Manuel and Municipality of San Clemente each receiving P50,000.

There were two grand prize winners who took away P100,000 prize each in the Grand Non-Municipal Category: the colorful 20-feet Spanish Fan entry of St. Francis of Assisi made up of bulu and about 2,453 empty plastic bottles made into pretty, dainty flowers, and the SM City Tarlac’s 32-feet Belen made up of Sintra boards highlighted by the First Family’s robotic movements.

The second placer was the McDonald’s Capas display that went home with a P60,000 prize money. in the Monumental Design Category, McDonald’s Tarlac Motorway’s con-

The winning belens for the 10th ‘Belenismo sa Tarlac’ contest will be showcased until Jan. 6

temporary design was made of native materials walis tambo, bamboo and bulu and brought home P80,000 prize money.

The other winners in this category were: 2nd Place - Tarlac Agricultural Univer-

sity (P60,000 prize), 3rd Place - Azaya Garden Resort (P50,000 prize), and 4th Place – CityMall (P40,000 prize).

The winners in the Church Category included:1st Place - St. Joseph Par-

Quirino’s quaint Christmas

Agta indigenous people of Maddela

QUiRiNO Province recently opened its month-long Paskuhan sa Quirino, one of the most-anticipated Yuletide festivities in the Cagayan Valley Region.

Held at the Quirino Sports Tourism Complex in the capital town of Cabarroguis, the fair showcases the local crafts, cultural diversity and tourist attractions of the province’s six municipalities.

Now on its sixth edition, this year’s theme “inspired Christmas among the Tribes” features exhibit booths with ethnic motifs from the Bugkalot, Agta, igorot, Kalinga, and Dumagat indigenous peoples, as well as ilocano lowlanders, to highlight their roles in Quirino’s socio-cultural development.

“Paskuhan is one way of attracting domestic and foreign tourists to make Quirino their choice destination for the Christmas vacation,” says provincial Governor Junie Cua who introduced the annual event in 2012.

The province’s top tourist drawers are Aglipay Caves and Campsite in Aglipay, Siitian Nature Park in Nagtipunan, and the iconic Governor’s Rapids in Maddela which is known for its massive limestone walls along the Cagayan River. it also has a world-class watersports complex with a wake park, winch lagoon, multi-purpose pavilion and hostel.

He said that the Paskuhan takes on a different theme annually to put the spotlight on the diverse aspects of Quirino’s way of life.

He noted that this year’s celebration is special with the consecutive annual Seal of Good Local Governance Award the province received from the Department of the interior and Local Government (DiLG) for its excellence in financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection, and peace and order.

The province also welcomed guests from the University of the Philippines Business Administration Batch 1967, which conducted community outreach programs in different barangays.

Running until Dec. 31, Paskuhan features live bands, giant lantern contests, food plaza, bazaar, musical presentations from public schools and government agencies, and will conclude with a pyro musical display to welcome the New Year.

ish with Fr. Noel Paguinto (P80,000 prize), 2nd Place - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish with Fr. Pablo Mungcal (P50,000 prize), 3rd Place - Our Turn to C2

Singapore Airlines’s HighFlyer programme SiNGAPORe Airlines HighFlyer programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMes) gives more mileage out of flights on company business. The new corporate travel programme is designed to reward both corporates and employees when they fly with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir. Corporates will earn HighFlyer points while employees continue to earn KrisFlyer miles each time an employee flies with Singapore Airlines or SilkAir, making it a more rewarding way to travel for business. With no minimum annual travel spend required, corporates earn five HighFlyer points for every S$1 spend on tickets booked through Singapore Airlines’ corporate booking platform or an appointed travel agent.

Businesses have the flexibility of choosing how and when to utilize HighFlyer points earned, with the option to offset future ticket purchases partially or in full for flights on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir to more than 100 destinations across 30 countries.

Through a self-service web portal, corporates can check HighFlyer points balance, utilize HighFlyer points, manage travellers and bookings, and download e-statements.

Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Campbell Wilson said, “We are pleased to launch the Singapore Airlines HighFlyer programme for Small and Medium-sized enterprises. We are always looking for more ways to delight our customers and make their journey with us more rewarding. The Singapore Airlines HighFlyer programme highlights Singapore Airlines’ commitment to constantly enhance the benefits for our corporate clients and business travellers.”

Corporates that reach a stipulated annual spend will have the choice of transferring to the Singapore Airlines Corporate Travel Programme, a corporate programme for large businesses to enjoy corporate fares and additional benefits.

For more information about the Singapore Airlines HighFlyer programme, please visit: singaporeair.com/highflyer

Life

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tuesday, december 19, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

The Union Jack flies here, too mercury rising

T

BY BOB zOzOBRADO

HE Union Jack is the national flag of the United Kingdom, that sovereign country in Western Europe composed of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

What immediately comes to mind when the country’s name is mentioned are Shakespeare and The Beatles. The English poet and playwright, who is also referred to fondly as the “Bard of Avon,” occupied a lot of my reading time when I was still in school. And, my favorite leisure time companion was the music of “The Fab Four” from Liverpool.

Of course, we all know that the UK is much more than just these two icons. It is a financial power, being the second largest economy in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It has a well functioning parliamentary government that has been adopted by many other countries.

It is a constitutional monarchy that has made it possible for Queen Elizabeth II to be its Head of State for the past 65 years. In fact, I have grown up seeing many US Presidents come and go, and I remember that every time each of them visits the UK, it’s always Queen Elizabeth II who’s there to officially welcome them. Her staying power is the envy of many other Heads of State all over the world.

My first visit to London was actually a very big, pleasant surprise for me. After turning my back on my post-graduate medical schooling in Cebu City many decades ago, I had to prove to my parents that I made the right decision, so I peddled my resume to all the airline offices there, one of which was that of Pan Am, the biggest international airline then. I didn’t even know they had

Nelia Cruz Sarcol, who has traveled the world as a former cabin attendant, is the President

The façade of CIE British School in Cebu City

a vacancy. I just went in and presented yet, and the thought of spending two ish institution of learning is doing so my resume to the manager who decided weeks there immediately conjured im- well in my home city. The CIE British to interview me right away. ages of the city’s many beautiful tourist School, which was opened 32 years ago Somebody up there was definitely on attractions I saw in magazines and in by Nelia Cruz Sarcol, has evolved into my side because I got hired on the spot. the movies. a major player in education, and now Since it was the airline’s policy to make That first trip started my fascination has branches in Makati and in Tacloban. all new-hires go through the standard with anything British---consumer items, Establishing itself as “The School two-week Training on AirFor Leaders,” the CIE Britline Procedures, my manager ish School offers primary YOUR TUESDAY CHUCKLE asked me to choose which of and secondary education, the airline’s Training Schools as well as undergraduate Relationships are a lot like Algebra. Have you ever looked at I wanted to attend. courses leading to degrees your X and wondered Y? As I looked at the choicin Bachelor of Science in es, my knees got wobbly.

Business Administration I had cold sweat and a tingling sensa- movies, people, education, witticism, and Bachelor of Science in Information because, at that time, it was the etc. There is something about them that tion Technology. It also has a graduate most awesome list I have ever seen in radiates an air of sophistication, elegance school program that offers a masters demy entire life! I was made to choose and admirable style, putting them a notch gree in management with special interbetween Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New above the rest, in my mind. I even think est either in strategic operations, school York and London, where the airline’s that, not counting our own, the Union management, public enterprise or enterfour training centers were located. It Jack is the most attractive among the prise development. didn’t take me long to choose London flags of other countries.

The school is a proud partner of the because, at that early stage of my life, Such fascination is the reason why I University of Cambridge, from where I hadn’t been to any European country was very pleased to know that a Brit- the educational standards of which are

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Everyman’s reliable partner

For the everyman, every day is an adventure. However, these adventures don’t always involve climbing mountains or crossing oceans, but more of standing in crowded trains and navigating city streets.

Without the right gear, going through all these obstacles is surely exhausting.

The Dakine Trek 26L Backpack takes the daily commuter’s comfort in mind with its breathable shoulder straps and adjustable sternum straps for body support. It also boasts a large capacity of 26 liters and organized compartments such as a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop, side pockets for water bottles and umbrellas, and an interior mesh pocket for other essentials.

Gadgets are essential for the modern everyman. With the Dakine Vault 25L Backpack, techy adventurers will not have any problem securing their devices. The bag has a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 17-inch laptop, a dedicated pocket for an iPad and a fleece-lined phone pocket. It offers a unique top-loader access while dual side release buckles give users easier access to the main compartment. The bag can support up to 25 liters of daily school or work essentials.

‘Belenismo...

From C1

Lady of Guadalupe Parish with Fr. Jay Nidea (P40,000 prize).

In the Community Category, the judges handpicked two first-placers who both won P70,000 each – the Sto Cristo Parish entry with Fr. Jonathan Ovivir and the Barangay Health Workers in Barangay Tariji. The other winners included: two 2nd Placers - Barangay Balingcanaway

Adrenaline junkie’s best friend

Athletic urbanites always carry their sport essentials with them. From clothes, hydration supplies to sports gear, the Dakine Park 32L Backpack can fit these all with its 32-liter capacity. It features an easy-fill big top loader, a durable back panel zipper opening and a dedicated quick-loading skateboard carrying system for easy and efficient packing. Skateboard enthusiasts will find the bag’s dual-strap, non-slip board hols t e r handy f o r lug-

ging their decks around.

The backpack also includes a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop and an organizer pocket. Mesh side pockets can hold water bottles or umbrellas.

Community and Taguiporo Giants Association Sta. Ignacia, both won P50,000 each, two 3rd Placers - Samahan sa Pura Community and BHF Ligtasan, both won P40,000 each, and the 4th Placer - Gr8 Multipurpose (P30,000).

Dr. Isa Suntay of Tarlac Heritage Foundation, organizer of the annual event, led the awarding rites on Dec. 8 at the College of the Holy Spirit Gymnasium in San Sebastian, Tarlac in the presence of the police and military top brass who served in Marawi.

The Dakine Atlas 25L Backpack is crafted for those who balance both school and fun. This backpack can fit books and binders and keep pens, pencils and other small items in place with its organizational pockets. The nonpadded laptop sleeve can fit a 15-inch laptop.

The backpack has a sturdy hook and loop straps for a skateboard. Its fleecelined pocket is good for sunglasses and other small essentials.

Stylish gear for the modern urbanite

The Dakine Range 24L Backpack’s sleek design matches the office man’s smart casual style. This toploader backpack has a simple cinching closure to keep items secure. It features a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop, a cinch side pocket for water bottles or umbrellas and a front slip pocket for iPad. It has an adjustable sternum strap for added body support and can hold up to 24 liters of content.

The Dakine Factor 22L Backpack has a simpler look with its minimalist design and slim build. Made of eco-friendly materials, this school pack features a roomy main compartment with a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop. It also has an organizer pocket, a fleece-lined sunglasses pocket, a low-profile front zippered pocket and mesh side pockets.

With the activities and experiences surrounding college life, students need a backpack that can meet their needs.

The Dakine Campus DLX 33L Backpack has a capacity of 33 liters, and includes a padded laptop sleeve that can fit a 15-inch laptop, an organizer pocket, a fleece-lined sunglass pocket, a fleecelined iPad sleeve, mesh side pockets for water bottles or umbrellas, and a quick stash zippered front pocket.

The occasion also paid tribute to the heroes of Marawi. Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Eduardo Ano gave the keynote address that night and celebrated the selfless efforts of Tarlac Heritage Foundation movers Dr. Suntay and her mother, Dona Isabel Cojuangco Suntay.

The joint AFP-PNP entry “Marawi sa Panahon ng Kapayapaan” received a special award that night. The Marawi Belen served as Belenismo 2017’s centerpiece as a tribute to the policemen

patterned after. It is also a member of the European Council of International Schools, a leading collaborative global network that promotes and supports the ideals and best practices of international education.

What I find very impressive with this school is its Program called “Gift of G.O.L.D.” (Giving of Oneself to those who have Less and are Disadvantaged). Students, along with their parents, adopt and work with disadvantaged families to create micro-enterprises then teach these families to run these businesses themselves. By working together, members of these lowly families are meaningfully involved with something geared towards poverty-liberation. All CIE students have to accomplish this project as part of their academic requirements.

Now, what did I say about anything British? This school has proven my observations right. Its “Union Jack standards” have certainly lodged it a cut above the rest…and it is headquartered in my home city. So, as the Brits are wont to say, “Cheerio!”

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com.

Five hacks to make the most of your next trip DESPITE the perfect photos and seemingly chill post-travel videos, going on vacations can also be stressful and costly, especially if you’re taking care of everything. That said, here are some things you can do to make the most out of your trip:

Download and use travel apps For hassle-free trips, download and use apps like Google Maps, Waze, Zomato, TripAdvisor that will help you go around easily.

When going to places like Japan and South Korea which have sophisticated train systems, you should also download the train apps for effortless commuting.

Interact with the locals

Use a credit card that rewards you more for travel-related expenses

For travelers, UnionBank’s Miles+ Platinum Credit Card is the ideal card as it lets you earn 1.5X points for every P25 travel-related spend (airline, hotel, overseas spend).

Enjoy the perks of different apps and cards

There are apps and cards perfect for travelers. You can score huge deals in restaurants, hotels and tour activities in apps like restaurant reservation and accommodation booking apps. Meanwhile, credit cards also rewards its users with perks.

For example, with Miles+ Platinum, you get free access to airport lounges like MIASCOR Lounge at NAIA Terminal 1, SkyView Lounge at NAIA Terminal 3, and MIASCOR Lounge at Davao International Airport.

Nowadays, it’s not enough to just do what the locals do. Take traveling a notch higher by actually interacting with the locals. Engage them in a conversation to know more about their cultures. Take this opportunity to see the world through their eyes. Always bring snacks and

Pack smartly with practical storage pieces

Packing your things for a weeklong trip is daunting task. You should bring all the right clothes, devices, and accessories, and fit them all together in the luggage efficiently. With this, you should use some household things to keep everything in place. For example, you can use old sunglass cases for your cords, an old gift card to keep your earphones from tangling, using shower caps for storing your shoes, etc.

and soldiers of Marawi who served selflessly in the efforts to liberate Marawi.

Citations were also given to 20 soldiers who fought in Marawi.

Founders Dr. Isa Suntay and her mother Dona Isabel Cojuangco Suntay were responsible for igniting the art and passion of the Tarlaqueños into this age-old tradition that has catapulted their province to be the Belen Capital of the Philippines.

Now on its 10th anniversary, “Belenismo sa Tarlac” entries will continue to be showcased until Jan. 6. The moth-

bottled water

When you go around the cities or the beach, always bring bottled water with you to save on expenses. It is also important to keep being hydrated especially when you walk around too much.

Traveling does not have to be too stressful. It can be rewarding and satisfying as long as you keep in mind the tips above. For more information and to apply for the UnionBank Miles+ Platinum Credit Card, visit https://www.unionbankph. com/milesplatinum.

er and daughter team of Dr. Isa and Mrs. Isabel Suntay only have gratitude in their heart for all Tarlaquenos who continue to support this endeavor. They also expressed gratitude to San Miguel Corp. for partnering with Tarlac Heritage Foundation since 2007.

The annual holding of “Belenisimo” continues to inspire the Filipino people as it signals the start of the holiday season, remembering the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and celebrating it by upholding the tradition of Belen-making.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017

Kris Aquino gives into ‘her X’ Q

ueen of All Media Kris Aquino went after the #SmartiPhoneX and revealed who among the men in her past she was willing to give another chance when she visited the Smart Flagship Store at SM Megamall on Dec. 8 to get her iPhone X under Smart Postpaid.

Kris exhibits her practical side when she decided to get the iPhone X under Smart Plan 3199 which lets subscribers enjoy lower monthly cash-out at P3,199 per month, charged to your monthly bill. Smart makes it easier for you to own the iPhone X at only P 3,199 per month, inclusive of data, calls and text services.

Moreover, you can have your monthly device fee charged to your monthly bill at the get-go for greater convenience. As such, you don’t need to worry about coughing up a huge initial cashout payment, or produce select credit cards. Also, connect to the country’s fastest LTE. Smart lets you optimize the iPhone X by delivering the country’s fastest LTE connection, according to the latest study of independent

SELFIE. Queen of all Media Kris Aquino takes a selfie using iPhone's flagship mobile device in a recent event staged by Smart Communications tech firm OpenSignal.

Here is a rare Kris Q&A about the iPhone X and her mystery ex…

Why did you give “X” a chance?

Life is really short and you really have to take it one day at a time. At the end of your life, what do you regret more? The things you went for but didn’t succeed or the things that you never tried.

I’m the type of person that knows I will regret not trying more than not attempting at all. Mas gusto ko na sinubukan ko at nadapa ako at iniyakan ko rather than mag-look back ako and mag-

regret.

What attracted you to the “X?” The X is omnipresent.

Everywhere you go, you get that feeling that you cannot escape the X. How does your “X” make you feel?

During sad times the X can make you feel uplifted because that’s a person you’ve shared a history with. But during happy times also, that X cam make you feel even happier because that person also knows that history and can celebrate with you.

What’s the benefit of being

with an X? The only benefit of being with an X is if you have gotten back together.

What won’t you forget about your X? The X has memories. If that X has made an impact on your life then obviously, you’re not going to forget about that X. Why did you decide to give the iPhone X a chance?

I’m an iPhone lover. I remember I started using the iPhone nung iPhone 4 and it’s really true, once you tried the iPhone you’ll never go back.

So when iPhone 4 came, my

MONSOUR DEL ROSARIO

earns rare Taekwondo distinction RGMA President Mike Enriquez (left) and GMA VP for Radio Operations Glenn Allona (right) received the award for DZBB’s back-to-back win as the Radio Station of the Year and Best Radio News Anchor

Super Radyo DZBB wins Radio Station of the Year GMA Network’s flagship AM radio station Super Radyo DZBB was named Radio Station of the Year at the 7th People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP) Makatao Awards for Media Excellence on Nov. 29 at the Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City.

Radio GMA President and DZBB anchor Mike Enriquez also won, for the third consecutive year, the Best Radio News Anchor award.

In the television category, Mel Tiangco was voted this year’s Best TV News Anchor; while Kara David Best TV Public Affairs Program Host.

A Special Award was also given to Sandra Aguinaldo’s I-Witness documentary “Women Warriors” for bringing the Marawi stories to the public.

MAKATI Congressman Monsour Del Rosario received the 2017 “Award for a Proud Taekwondo” given by Kukkiwon, the sport’s governing body.

The award is the highest accolade bestowed by Kukkiwon to individuals who have contributed to the development and spread of Taekwondo domestically and internationally. The 2017 award was presented in an elaborate ceremony at the World Taekwondo Headquarters.

Del Rosario has earned the unprecedented distinction of becoming the first and only non-Korean to earn this citation. Historically, since the award’s creation in 2005, it has been dominated by Koreans, an unsurprising tradition as Taekwondo is Korea’s national sport.

This year, there were 11 awardees who were chosen through a highly rigid selection process conducted by a committee of Taekwondo grandmasters from around the world. Hundreds of nominees from 209 participating countries were vetted and thoroughly scrutinized in order to come up with a handful of Taekwondo fighters worthy of the award.

Del Rosario’s selection was sealed by his bemedaled Taekwondo career, his instrumental role in developing and propagating the sport from the grassroots to the national and international levels, his being an action star who is widely credited for raising the profile of Taekwondo in the Philippines, his exemplary leadership as Secretary General of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, his meritorious service as Taekwondo ambassador,

and, at present, his role as a public servant and legislator in Congress.

In interviews after receiving his award, Del Rosario proudly dedicated his record feat to the Filipino nation.

He said, “I’m proud to share this honor with my fellow Filipinos. I hope this award will inspire them to strive hard and to never give up on their dreams.”

“As one of the pioneers of Taekwondo in the Philippines, I’m proud to have witnessed the development of the sport in the country.

And I thank Kukkiwon for recognizing my contribution to this remarkable growth.”

Former actor and now Congressman Monsour del Rosario accepts his award from Kukkiwon

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, December 19, 2017

ACROSS 1 Garage squirter 7 Grey Cup sports org.

10 Playing marbles 14 Insulation meas. (hyph.)

15 Stein filler 16 — Khan 17 Explorer Hernando — — 18 Shad eggs 19 So-so grades 20 Mischief 23 Reindeer herders 26 Beatty or Rorem 27 Tiber locale 28 Actor — Montand 29 Contract must 30 Noncom 31 Boor 32 “— Sera, Sera” 33 Nile reed 37 Narrow inlet 38 Website 39 “Blame It on —” 40 Cable network 41 Listening (2 wds.)

43 Connections 44 Charged particles 45 Fleur-de- — 46 Get a load of 47 Hitch in plans

48 Luster 51 Gore and Capone 52 Red roots 53 What pals do (2 wds.)

56 Volkswagen kin 57 Wander about 58 Connoisseurs 62 Soot repository 63 Improvise 64 Wild feline 65 Recipe amts.

66 Helmsman’s dir.

67 Zendo or stupa DOWN 1 California fort 2 — got an idea!

3 Scale notes 4 Walks noisily 5 Rest stop sight 6 Motel sign 7 Sway from side to side 8 Rock’s Pink — 9 Wine sediments 10 Not outright 11 Booster rocket 12 Walk a bike 13 Full of back talk 21 Pays homage 22 They swim with crocs 23 Stretch fabric 24 Do the trick

25 Foot lever 29 Happy rumbles 30 “The — Mutiny” 32 Picturesque 33 Druid or shaman 34 Dry white wine 35 Kapitan’s command (hyph.)

36 Grammy winners 42 Poems of lament 46 Vehicle on runners 47 Waiter

48 Feather part 49 Drives semi 50 Result in (2 wds.)

51 From the top 52 Sandy expanse 54 Horrible boss 55 RN employers 59 Pharmacist — Lilly 60 Persona — grata 61 Sault — Marie

defenses went weak, I went for it and I never looked back. So from 4 to 4s to 5, 5s, 5c, 6, 6 Plus 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus— lahat yan pinagdaanan ko.

All apple products talaga I love! I love the convenience. I love the fact that my sisters and I have a group thread sa iMessage and all the yayas in the house naka-iPhone at least iPhone 7 pataas kasi lahat ng nagamit ng mga kids binibigay sa kanila.

So naka-monitor talaga kami to each other via iMessage. I really love it!

Now that the X is here, my boys did not ask for anything but the iPhone X this Christmas and we were actually in New York when it was launched and we saw it on display sa malaking Apple store so the boys were so excited but I told them, ‘Relax. Smart is going to have the iPhone X and we are going to get it via Smart.

It’s worth the wait.

What’s the best thing about the iPhone X? For all those debating on whether or not to get the iPhone X or not, ito lang ang sasabihin ko. At this point in time, I’m doing the math and it’s such a great deal to get it from Smart Postpaid. I was computing that the cheapest you can buy the phone, just the phone without the consumables provided by Smart, pinakamura na for the 256 GB is roughly around P73,000. Compute it for 3199 a month times 24 will be about 76,000 plus. Hindi masakit because you’re getting unlimited text to all networks, 60 minutes of calls to all

networks, you have one free app every month and then ang dinagdag mo lang is roughly just 4,000. Dito talaga ako na impress because bukod sa ang ganda at high tech ng store, they have Smart Care, for just 400insured yung phone mo.

Sa tunay na buhay ang mga ex, talaga namang they tend to break your heart pero sa Smart, ang iPhone X nila, will never break your heart kasi even if your iPhone X breaks, they’re going to replace it. Sa totoong buhay, hindi naman nirereplace ang pag-ibig. Pero ang Smart, pinapalitan ang unit so go! It’s aspirational yet still within your reach. You will strive harder in order to get the gadget of your dreams and wag tayong magpaka-fake, this is now the dream. We all want this and Smart is making it affordable for you.

Who is your favorite ex?

My favorite ex is the one who gives all the permits in Quezon City! Dami ko kayang negosyo sa Quezon City, bakit ba? I have a kwento. Kasi he was texting me using a phone number from another company and I told him, ‘I’m not going to reply to your text unless you switch to Smart.

So I know na nag-retention siya ng Smart niya para makatext nya ko! That’s why he’s my favorite ex!”

(For more details, visit smart. com.ph or any Smart store nationwide.

Follow @ LiveSmart on Instagram and Twitter and Smart’s official Facebook account for perks and surprises.)

Congressman Albee Benitez (center, seated) in a photo op with entertainment press (clockwise), the author, Ricky Lo, Gorgy Rula, Salve Asis, and Lolit Solis, during an accidental meeting in Taipe in late November

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2017

T

OMORROW, Alfredo Abelardo Bantug Benitez (a.k.a. Albee Benitez), a Filipino businessman and politician and congressman representing the 3rd District of Negros Occidental, turns 51 years old.

The scion of the famed Benitez clan (think Philippine Women’s University, Sen. Helena Bentiez, his father Jollie Benitez) marks his birthday with, apart from the usual meet up with relatives and constituents in Negros, a deep contemplation on what he’d plan to do when his term in Congress ends in 2019.

“If I decide not run for the Senate, perhaps I’d be a private citizen and attend to my business,” he told members of the press he met accidentally at Bellavita, the cathedral-like bespoke mall at Xinyi in Taipei. He treated the group to a sumptuous dinner at the mall’s upscale Host Shabu.

In between chop sticks of shabu-shabu, Congressman Benitez answered questions from the group, some nearly palpably miles removed from what he does professionally, others pinning him to admitting showbiz ambitions that nearly had him laughing, albeit restrained since admitting to being cautious particularly with people he isn’t very familiar with.

Albee, as his friends call him, has had brushes with show business, having produced and hosted a magazine show, Game Changers, aired on the ABSCBN News Channel (ANC)for five seasons, the last one with his 22-year-old son Javier Migues or Javi, a student at Sta. Clara University in California.

“We had to stop production for a while,” he said. “We need to reassess what we can do on the show. Or produce a totally new show, although, in the same mold as Game Changers. I really want a show that can help the audience become a game changers in their lives.”

Earlier this year, he had an

agreement with an theme park owner to build jointly one in his district in Negros.

“It is not just a plan, we are now in the development stage,” he said. “And I hope when it’s finally completed, it won’t just attract theme park aficionados from Negros but from other islands as well.”

Albee said that he envisions the theme park in the same mold as the Disney and Universal theme parks where the attractions and rides are based on characters of movies that have become hits among the youth.

“Perhaps we can develop something similar to that, and I mean Filipino characters that have become popular via the movies,” he added. In fact, he already had one on the drawing board early this year. He had approached his friends in show business, like Gabby Concepcion, Albert Martinez, and Richard Gomez who agreed to join him in his initial movie venture. “The idea was to produce something like Steven Soderbergh's Ocean 11 with George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Piolo Pascual, Cesar Montano and Sharon Cuneta would have been on board until the project ran into some glitch, which he refused to reveal as it might affect the plans should he decide to push through with the project.

His friendship with the actor Gabby Concepcion dates back a long time ago. “I’ve known him even before he courted Sharon Cuneta,” he said.

Apart from the themed park and movies with the characters that could be part of the attractions along with the rides, Benitez and his Leisure and Resorts World Corp. (LRWC) are currently

ISAH V. RED

Congressman

ALBEE

BENITEZ’s

big plans for show business

talking with Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment Group for a possible casino resort development in the Philippines.

The joint venture spells from $300 to $500 million investments for an integrated casino resort.

Benitez said, “We are still determining where to situate the development.”

“Several high tourist traffic areas are being considered but negotiations with local authorities are still ongoing,” sources said.

Galaxy’s expansion in the Philippines comes on the heels of China’s strict no-smoking policy in casinos and an ongoing crackdown against corruption in gaming territories like Macau.

Friendlier ties between Manila As a former TV host for ANC, Cong. Albee plans to have another show that and Beijing following President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to China will help audience become game changers in their lives

has also resulted in more players from the mainland coming to the Philippines.

In Macau, Galaxy first opened in 2011 at the Cotai Strip, a 550,000 square meter resort with Las Vegas-style facilities such as the world’s largest sky wave pool, a white sandy beach and dozens of private villas and cabanas.

But, whatever it is that Benitez dips his fingers into, it is anticipated to become a success. All he needs is a mental calculation of how a partnership will benefit no only his own interests, but the general public as well. What is he a mathematician for, if he couldn’t determine the course of his business endeavor?

Jose Conrado Benitez and Betty Bantug could be smiling wherever they are now as their son has

Cong. Albee is currently in talks with actor Gabby Concepcion, who agreed to be part of the first's initial movie venture

grown to be the kind of man they can only be happy someone among had molded him to be. And as he them has chosen to follow in the turns 51 tomorrow, the Benitez clan footsteps of Jolly and his tita Helen.

SportsCenter on ESPN5

ESP5 sportscasters Magoo Marjon, Lia Cruz, Amanda Fernandez, and Aaron Atayde

ESPN5, the long-term collaboration between TV5 and ESPN, debuts a daily Philippine edition of SportsCenter (starting last Sunday) at the conclusion of PBA. The iconic sports news and highlights show is a 30-minute daily program produced LIVE and exclusive each day by ESPN5 from the TV5 studios in Manila, bringing Filipino fans the latest sports news and developments from the Philippines and around the world, with daily content contribution from SportsCenter US. Covering the latest in sports news, highlights and updates in its signature fast-paced format, SportsCenter concentrates on the biggest stories of the day and the sports that matter most to Filipino fans, including PBA, NBA, American Football, Volleyball and more.

Hosted by a rotating roster of some of the Philippines most popular sportscasters including Aaron Atayde, Lia Cruz, Magoo Marjon and Amanda Fernandez, the show airs

live on TV5 after PBA and other prime time sports seven days a week.

Speaking about the launch of SportsCenter in the Philippines, Vincent “Chot” Reyes, president of TV5 said, “We are excited to bring the iconic SportsCenter brand to the Filipino audience. As a die-hard viewer of this show, I truly believe that it is the definitive sports program on television.

We at TV5 are honored to be bringing SportsCenter Philippines to you as this is truly a milestone for local TV.” Joyee Biswas, head of Southeast Asia, ESPN said, “We are thrilled to be bringing SportsCenter to Filipino fans as part of ESPN 5. True to the DNA of SportsCenter, it is going to be a fun, dynamic and fast-paced show that will cover a wide range of sports and it reflects our focus on serving Filipino sports fans through the premier combination of local and global sports resources, expertise and coverage.”

GMA Digital TV signal now covers Mega Manila GMA Network’s digital TV signal now covers the entire Mega Manila area, giving more reasons for Kapuso viewers to enjoy their favorite GMA and GMA News TV programs.

Viewers from all parts of Metro Manila and in the nearby provinces of Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and parts of Pampanga can now enjoy a more colorful, more vibrant, clearer viewing experience with GMA’s digital signal through their digital TV boxes.

Viewers can enjoy GMA and GMA News TV’s full digital broadcast through their digital TV boxes in three easy steps.

Press “Menu”, go to “Settings”, and under “Installation”, choose “Auto Search” or

Actor and comedian Sef Cadayona as the face of GMA Digital TV

“Auto Scan”. Wait for the scan to finish and you’re done. Then just press “OK” or “Exit” and search for GMA and GMA News TV using the up and down buttons of your remote control.

For more inquiries on how to get GMA’s digital feed, viewers may also call GMA’s Digital TV hotline 462-8177, email signalreception@gmanetwork. com or visit the @gmatvsignal Facebook page (from 6AM to 10PM) or log on towww.gmanetwork.com/digitalhowto.

Kapuso viewers from other parts of Luzon as well as in Visayas and Mindanao, meanwhile, can expect GMA’s digital TV signal to be available in their areas soon.