Manila Standard - 2018 February 06 - Tuesday

VOL. XXXI • NO. 354 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

EAGLES SOAR TO SUPER BOWL MINNEAPOLIS—The Philadelphia Eagles stunned the New England Patriots with an upset 41-33 victory to claim their first Super Bowl on Sunday after a late Tom Brady fumble ended the veteran quarterback’s tilt at history.

Eagles quarterback Nick Foles— who started the season as a back-up and had considered retiring from the NFL two years ago—was named MVP after a magnificent performance that saw him throw for three touchdowns and 373 yards.

Foles’ fairytale starring role laid the foundation for a victory which

Special anniversary supplement comes out on Feb. 12, 2018.

FOURTH OF FEBRUARY. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (right) celebrates after winning Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots at the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, 2018, 41-33, with Zach Ertz (below) scoring a fourth quarter touchdown. For more than two centuries, the most significant date in Philadelphia’s history has been the Fourth of July. From now on, sports fans say it will be the Fourth of February, when the sports-crazed city finally reached the pinnacle of modern professional football and its beloved Eagles won the Super Bowl for the first time. AFP

Next page

Sanofi defies PH: No refund for Dengvaxia 13 execs face raps over vaccine mess

By Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo THE Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption and the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution Inc. on Monday filed administrative charges against 13 incumbent officials of the Department of Health before the Office of the President for their participation in the antidengue vaccination program that is now under fire.

In a 13-page complaint, the VPCI and VACC named DOH Undersecretaries Carl Tanio, Gerard Bayugo, Lilibeth David, and Mario Villaverde, and Assistant Secretaries Lyndon Lee-Suy and Nestor Santiago.

Also facing complaints are DOH directors Laureano Cruz, Joyce Ducusin, Mar Wynn Bello, Leonila Gorgolon, Rio Magpantay, Ariel Valencia, and Ju-

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

F

RENCH pharmaceutical giant Sanofi on Monday told the Philippines it would not refund the cost of used doses of a dengue vaccine after the vaccination program was suspended over health concerns.

lius Lecciones.

Nasser Marohomsalic, the VACC and VPCI’s legal counsel, said the DoH officials committed gross negligence and grave misconduct for “ill-advisedly, thoughtlessly, or imprudently” implementing the anti-dengue vaccine program.

The VACC and VPCI also sought the suspension of the 13 DoH officials pending investigation to prevent them from using their power to “destroy, hide or tamper with the evidence as well as intimidate potential witnesses against them.”

The complainants also questioned the speedy procurement of Dengvaxia vaccine, which may have breached the Government Procurement Reform Act. Records show that the Dengue Immunization Program of the DoH covered three rounds which started in April, May and June 2016 and was supposed to end the same months in 2017.

Next page

The Philippines had asked Sanofi to worsen symptoms in some cases, Health refund a total P3.2 billion ($62 million) Secretary Francisco Duque III said. spent on the public vaccination program Sanofi last month agreed to reimafter the company said the vaccine could burse the Philippine government P1.6

billion ($31 million) for leftover doses of Dengvaxia. But it said Monday it would not pay for doses that were already used.

“Agreeing to refund the used doses of Dengvaxia would imply that the vaccine is ineffective, which is not the case,” Sanofi Pasteur said in a statement.

The refund offered for unused Dengvaxia doses was not due to safety or quality concerns but simply to show that the company was cooperating with Manila, it added.

Next page

‘Trillanes probe of Du30 a waste of time’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel III on Monday said the investigation sought

by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged ill-gotten wealth would just be a “tragic waste of time” while Senator Francis Escudero said it might just run into the wall of the Bank Secrecy Law. In a text message, Pimentel said Trillanes seemed to be targeting members of the Duterte family.

“Before, he tried it against Pulong Duterte and Mans Carpio. Now, it’s the

same thing against other members of the Duterte family. If he really has the evidence, then he should bring an actual case in the proper body,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel was referring to the time when Trillanes accused former Davao City vice mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and lawyer Mans Carpio, husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, of being involved in the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through the Bureau of Customs in May 2017.

Pimentel said the Senate is not the proper body to investigate the allegations of ill-gotten wealth against Duterte and his family.

Next page

NO REFUND. Sanofi Pasteur-Asia Pacific head Thomas Triomphe testifies during a House of Representatives investigation Monday regarding the dengue vaccine costs in Manila. Sanofi told the Philippines it would not refund the cost of used doses of dengue vaccine after the vaccination program was suspended over health concerns. AFP

Bangsamoro NPA told: Arrest of peacekeepers a war crime Barcelo draft urgently ByandVito Francisco Tuyay needed, says ex-chief justice

By Macon R. Araneta FORMER Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide Jr. on Monday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify “urgent” the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, noting it was an embodiment of a peace agreement of long negotiations.

“I hope and pray that this President will certify to Congress

GRATEFUL MEMORY. President Rodrigo Duterte interacts with supporters Sunday while visiting the grave of his mother Soledad Duterte at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City to mark his mother’s death anniversary. Malacañang Photo twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

Next page

S

manilastandard.net

MALACAÑANG vowed on Monday to protect the safety of the government’s peace panel amid threats by the New People’s Army to “retaliate” by killing a soldier a day for arresting National Democratic Front consultant Rafael Baylosis and Guillermo

Roque.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to avoid bloodshed but would not kneel to the Communist Party of the Philippines after CPP founder Jose Maria Sison threatened to punish the Duterte administration by launching tactical offensives across the country.

Next page

Poll protest vs De Lima gets under way

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Commission on Elections has started decrypting ballot images in connection with the May 9, 2016 election protest filed by former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino against the num-

ber 12 proclaimed senator Leila de Lima.

The decryption process, according to Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez, is being made at the poll body’s main office in Intramuros, Manila “in the presence of representatives of the Senate Electoral Tribunal [SET], as the parties.”

Next page

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net

News

A2

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Oil prices raised for 6th time this year THE oil distributors raised pump prices by as much as 50 centavos per liter effective today, Tuesday.

Eastern Petroleum and PTT Philippines raised the price of diesel by P0.35 per liter and unleaded and premium gasoline by P0.50 per liter effective at 6 a.m. today.

Pilipinas Shell followed suit and hiked its prices.

Seaoil also adjusted the price of its kerosene by P0.60 per liter, gasoline by P0.50 per liter, and diesel by P0.35 per liter “to reflect movements in the international petroleum market.”

Today’s adjustment of pump prices is the sixth this year.

On Jan. 29 the oil firms raised the prices of diesel and kerosene by P0.50 per liter, respectively, and gasoline by P0.45 per liter.

Domestic pump prices follow the movement of world oil prices on a weekly basis as more than 90 percent of the Philippines’ fuel requirements are imported.

The Energy Department said the latest pump price increases were “due to optimism” after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies expressed interest in prolonging their partnership even after their production cuts.

Darwin G. Amojelar

13 execs...

From A1 The vaccine targeted all grade 4 students age nine and above in three sets of doses particularly in all public schools in Regions 3, 4 and the National Capital Region.

A total of 830,000 children plus 30,000 more, including some members of the Philippine National Police received doses of Dengvaxia vaccine.

After the government bought P3.5 billion worth of Dengvaxia, its manufacturer Sanofi said new data showed that the vaccine could leave those vaccinated more susceptible to dengue if they had not been exposed to the virus before.

The VACC has earlier filed a complaint before the Commission on Elections against former President Benigno Aquino III, former Health secretary Janette Garin, former Budget secretary Florencio Abad, four former DoH officials, and 13 active DoH officials over the Dengvaxia case.

The VACC accused Aquino and other respondents of violating Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code when they allowed the release of P3.5 billion in public funds for the procurement of Dengvaxia vaccine during the campaign period.

On Monday, the Palace rejected calls from health experts and doctors to stop conducting autopsies on children who died after being vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the government will continue to perform autopsies to determine the cause of the deaths of children who died due to severe dengue.

Former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral and vaccine expert Lulu Bravo asked the Department of Justice to stop the Public Attorney’s Office from performing autopsies on affected children as these make “no sense” and were only subjecting the families to torture.

The group claimed the autopsies on these children should be done by competent forensic pathologists to determine what was the real cause of the deaths of children vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

However, PAO chief Persida Rueda Acosta rejected this call and received support from the Palace Monday.

“We are flatly rejecting the call to stop autopsies. We will perform autopsies as they are required, because we need to find the truth,” Roque said.

“Sanofi must be “dreaming if they think they are off the hook” after a panel composed of experts from the Philippine General Hospital said only three out of 14 deaths of children vaccinated with Dengvaxia were due to dengue,” he said.

Sereno: Impeachment pre-judged Her supporters said the House leaders appeared to have prejudged the impeachment case against her as the proceedings were expected to be concluded this month.

The impeachment complaint against Sereno was filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon who claims Sereno violated

the Constitution and betrayed the public trust.

Sereno spokesman Jojo Lacanilao said the prejudgment was only making the conduct of more hearings absurd.

“It’s tragic-comic to hear the leadership of the House as having made up their minds against CJ Sereno, even before

the justice committee votes on probable cause and the plenary on the committee’s report,” Lacanilao said in a statement.

He cited the recent statement of House justice committee chairman and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali that Sereno was no longer fit to stay in her office as the Supreme Court had become “dysfunctional” under her watch.

“How can you lead if you have a divided court? How can the government function if one branch is dysfunctional?” Umali was quoted as

Sanofi...

“Should there be any case of injury due to dengue that has been demonstrated by credible scientific evidence to be causally related to vaccination, we will assume responsibility,” it said.

Sanofi said the data remains quite clear that, in absolute terms, dengue vaccination in the Philippines will provide a net reduction in dengue disease, including severe dengue and, thereby, reduce the overall public health burden associated with this disease.

For that reason, Sanofi said if the Department of Health decides to reinstate the community-based dengue vaccination program following a more complete evaluation of the new data on the vaccine, Sanofi said it would be willing to provide new doses of the vaccine free of charge.

“These new doses would allow people who previously received one or two doses of the vaccine in the public program to complete the three-dose schedule and, thus, have the opportunity to benefit from the full potential of Dengvaxia’s ability to protect against dengue,” said Sanofi.

On Monday, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the DoH has a P634 million advertising budget for this year, “which it should use to fight the fake news that all vaccines are bad.”

He noted that the DoH’s “advertising war chest” is big enough “to calm unfounded concerns that immunization causes harm.”

“Science must trump superstition,” Recto said in calling on the DoH to launch an information drive so that the dengue vaccine controversy would not erode public confidence in government health programs.

He said doctors and scientists had warned that the Dengvaxia controversy could trigger a “vaccine backlash,” and if this

happens, Recto said, “it would put millions of children, seniors, women at risk.”

Recto said the government is buying P7.4 billion worth of vaccines this year, “in quantities that will benefit millions.”

“Whether we like it or not, one side effect of this Dengvaxia controversy is that people are asking if the vaccines to be bought using taxpayers’ money are safe,” Recto said.

“I know that they ought to be, but the DOH must still go out of its way to assure the public that vaccines meet the highest standards,” he added.

Costing P7.43 billion, the 2018 public vaccination program targets full immunization of 2.7 million infants, of which 1.4 million infants will be given pneumococcal vaccine.

All 2.7 million infants will also be administered Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.

In addition, 2.1 million Grade 1 and 1.7 million Grade 7 pupils will benefit from anti-TetanusDiptheria, and Measles shots.

Tetanus vaccine will also be given to 2.7 million pregnant women while 1.2 million flu shots and 1.3 million pneumococcal vaccines will be administered to seniors.

According to the DoH brief submitted to the Senate, full immunization for infants cover inoculations against Hepatitis, Polio, Pneumonia, Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

Aside from the DoH, local governments also buy vaccines.

The Department of Education likewise conducts its own health programs, like its bi-annual deworming drives.

In the House of Representatives, lawmakers slammed Sanofi Pasteur and some officials of the Department of Health for allowing the entry of Dengvaxia

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE camp of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said Monday the impeachment proceedings against her in the House of Representatives had become a tragicomedy.

From A1

Dengue or haemorrhagic fever, the world’s most common mosquito-borne virus, infects an estimated 390 million people in more than 120 countries each year, killing more than 25,000, according to the World Health Organization.

The Philippines has one of the highest dengue fatality rates in the world, with 732 deaths last year, the country’s Health Department said.

The country launched the world’s first public dengue vaccination program in 2016, but suspended it and stopped the sale of Dengvaxia in December after Sanofi warned that the injections could make symptoms worse for vaccinated people who contracted the disease for the first time.

The announcement caused panic among parents of some 830,000 school children vaccinated under the public dengue immunization program in 2016 and 2017, the Health Department said.

The government is also investigating Dengvaxia’s alleged role in the deaths of at least 14 vaccinated children.

Health officials on Friday said public immunization programs for other preventable diseases were suffering in the wake of the panic, with many parents wary of getting their children vaccinated following the controversy.

However, Sanofi has insisted that no one has been proven to have died from Dengvaxia.

On Monday, Sanofi rejected a separate Health Department request to set up an indemnification fund to cover the hospitalization and treatment for vaccinated children who contract severe dengue.

‘Trillanes...

From A1

Reacting to Pimentel’s statement, Trillanes said he filed a valid resolution and it should be referred to the Commiittee on Banks as stated.

“This would just be part of the oversight functions of the Senate. Senator Pimentel, even as Senate President, has no power to disallow its referral. He is immediately so nervous for his boss,” said the opposition senator.

“Besides, it was Duterte himself who challenged the Senate to investigate his bank account. So, this is the answer to the challenge of his boss,” Trillanes added.

Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on banks, said it was up to the committee on rules to decide if Trillanes’ request would be referred to his panel.

“If it is referred to me, it’s my policy to hear all resolutions and bills referred to any of my committees,” Escudero said.

“However, as to how far we can go would depend on the cooperation of the depositors concerned. Without it, we will always be hitting a wall because of the Bank Secrecy Law similar to what we have been encountering in the case of Andy Bautista,” he added, referring to the resigned chairman of the Commission on Elections, who also faced allegations of ill-gotten wealth.

Earlier, Trillanes filed a resolution seeking a Senate investigation into the possible violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act by Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

A strong critic of the President, Trillanes said the investigation intends to “promote efficient compliance

Eagles...

From A1 sparked jubilation in Philadelphia as thousands of fans took to the streets to celebrate.

“I am speechless,” said Foles, who was named MVP. “To be part of this organization, to be in this moment is something you dream about as a kid. We have been wanting this for a long time, and I am just blessed to be a part of it.”

Cannons shooting confetti in the green and silver colours of the Eagles exploded all over Minneapolis’ US Bank Stadium.

Philadelphia’s unofficial anthem—the theme from the Sylvester Stallone “Rocky” movies—belted out to the delight of fans celebrating an ending worthy of the Hollywood franchise.

The Eagles had been heavy underdogs heading into Sunday’s NFL showpiece, with the pre-game narrative focusing on the 40-year-old Brady, who was chasing a record sixth title.

But although Brady produced

with the Amla” and “further improve the said law.”

Mayor Duterte on Monday hit Trillanes for spreading lies.

“He has the penchant for parading his star witnesses in the Senate and yet he cannot even produce Joseph de Mesa, who, according to his affidavit, was his source of information,” she said.

“The senator cannot file a case because there is no basis for it. I have said this before and I am saying it again—Trillanes is lying,” she added.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the opposition lawmaker had no solid proof against the President and his daughter, saying Trillanes’ allegations were rehashed and old news.

“It’s an old song, and it’s like a broken record,” he said. With Vito Barcelo

a record-breaking performance— throwing for 505 yards and three touchdowns—it was his fumble from a strip sack with just over two minutes left that is destined to be remembered.

Foles had given the Eagles a 3833 lead shortly beforehand after finding Zach Ertz in the end zone.

The stage was set for Brady, who had dominated the Eagles’ defense in the second half, to mount one of the game-winning late fourth quarter drives that have become his calling card throughout his career.

But superb pressure from Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham saw him lose the ball, with Philadelphia deep in New England territory.

- ‘Losing sucks’ Brady, who had been bidding to become the oldest quarterback to win the Super Bowl, sat on the turf in disbelief as the Eagles celebrated the decisive play of the game.

Philadelphia took over possession and saw Jake Elliott kick a 46-yard field goal to take an eight-point lead at 41-33.

There was still a minute left for the Patriots to launch one last drive. AFP

saying, citing the testimonies of high court justices in the previous hearings.

Earlier, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the issues raised against Sereno “stand on strong and solid ground.”

Last week, Umali said his panel would need four more hearings to complete the proceedings to vote and come up with a report.

Officials from the Bureau of Internal Revenue and psychiatrists ere expected to attend the succeeding hearings. Sereno’s Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net

Worth and her other tax payments will also be discussed, Umali said.

He said the committee wanted to find out if the chief magistrate was still fit to continue holding her position after several of her colleagues in the Supreme Court testified against her.

But Lacanilao believes the hearings are no longer necessary if the House panel has evidence to file its case against Sereno with the Senate for trial.

“One wonders why―if they are so convinced about

their case―they would still need four hearing days to complete their work,” Lacanilao said.

Lacanilao reiterated his call for the House to file its case before the Senate where he expected a fair trial, saying the House hearings had not established any impeachable offense committed by Sereno.

“We are unconvinced that there is any impeachable offense established against CJ Sereno if we follow the Constitution on the grounds for impeachment,” Lacanilao said.

Angry mothers confront Garin Health experts. Dr. Esperanza Cabral, former Health secretary,

(right) joins Dr. Francis Tranquilino of UP-PGH in expounding on the issue of the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine during the Samahang Plaridel‘s Kapihan sa Manila Hotel. Lino Santos despite the absence of a certificate of pharmaceutical product.

At the hearing conducted by the joint committees on good government and public accountability, and on health, Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron said Sanofi Pasteur had no business to distribute Dengvaxia vaccines in the Philippines.

Sanofi Asia-Pacific head Thomas Triomphe admitted during the hearing the European Medicines Agency had not registered its vaccine before its approval in the Philippines.

“What is your business of exporting your product in other countries if it has not been registered to the European FDA?” Biron asked.

“If you were not able establish safety in your country, you have no business exporting your product.... We should have waited for this product to be approved in the country origin,” he added.

Melody Zamudio, officer-incharge of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for

NPA...

From A1

Roque said “The NPA has absolutely no legal basis to arrest members of the government peace panel. It is criminal.

It is a war crime.”

He explained Baylosis’ arrest was lawful in connection with the NDF consultant’s murder raps over the 1985 Inopacan, Leyte massacre.

“We’d like to underscore first that the arrest of Baylosis was pursuant to a lawful arrest order. Now as such, we should allow the legal process to proceed so that our justice system can take its due course,” Roque said.

In a related development: • The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would not be cowed by the recent threats of the CPP-NPA to eliminate one soldier daily in the 17 regions where it operates as soldiers normally live in danger in the pursuit of its mandated duty to serve the country.

AFP spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo emphasized that the threats of the CPP-NPA against peacekeepers was a decade-old illusion and a far-fetch reality

Bangsamoro...

From A1 as urgent the bills now pending before the subcommittee,” said Davide, describing the BBL an extraordinary special law not only because of its nature as an organic act.

Speaking during the sixth hearing of the Senate subcommittee on the BBl, Davide told the panel chaired by Senator Migz Zubiri the BBL must be approved “at the soonest possible time” and ahead of the discussions on Charter change and the shift to federalism.

He proposed the creation of the Bangsamoro state be made as an “experiment” for a federal system.

“If in 10 years, we see the success of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, then we can begin talking about federalism,” he said.

Davide has repeatedly said federalism, a priority of the

Drug Regulation and Research, also admitted that Dengvaxia was not registered by France’s food and drug administration.

“In case the product is not registered in the company of origin, we require certification that this product is only for export,” Zamudio said.

But Biron said the FDA provides that a product, be it for export or domestic consumption, must be registered in the country of origin.

“What is happening is that Sanofi is making us a guinea pig. We should have been strict; and have required strictly that this product be registered by the French FDA before we allowed it to be exported to our country,” Biron said.

Zamudio said, “in case the absence of certificate of pharmaceutical product, we require good manufacturing compliance and certificate of resale.”

Triomphe said the registration was still pending with EMA when Dengvaxia was exported to the Philippines. With AFP

by the communist movement as it suffered continued defeat in different fronts.

“To live in constant danger is part of the sworn duty of every serviceman,” Arevalo said, referring to the recent threat by Sison.

On Saturday, Sison issued a statement vowing to kill one soldier a day per region that could eliminate 510 enemy troops or some five companies every month nationwide, a threat after the government terminated the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees that eventually resulted in the arrest of Baylosis and three others.

Sison also ordered NPA cadres to conduct tactical offensives against the military and the police purportedly to compel the government to resume the peace negotiations.

Sison warned the government he would ask the NPA to continue the attacks on the government and kill one soldier per day until the government wanted to talk peace with them.

“The President is committed to ensuring the safety of the government’s peace panel, and our security forces are ready to perform their mandate at all times,” Roque told a press briefing.

ruling party PDP-Laban, was a “lethal experiment, a fatal leap, a plunge (to) death and a leap to hell.”

He said the proposed law creating a Bangsamoro autonomous region was a “way to peace, justice, development, prosperity, security, and stability in Mindanao. in the larger sense, even in the entire Philippines.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said efficient tax collection and proper disbursement of people’s money to finance government projects would empower communities and bring to life the autonomy that Bangsamoro people have been fighting for.

Angara underscored the need for these two objectives to go hand in hand during the sidelights of the Senate sub-committee on the BBL hearing The Senate panel, which Angara formed for Zubiri to lead, is holding public hearings among the stakeholders

to improve and strengthen the draft BBL, which aims to give self-rule to Mindanao.

Angara said: “But there is the time-old saying about taxes being the sinews of the state—the very fibers that hold a state together and enable it to operate.

“They ensure that our roads are paved, that our policemen are well-equipped, that our teachers have chalk and blackboards, that our country is able to run and move towards prosperity.”

The most important function of taxes, he explained, is to help local communities realize their dreams and aspirations.

“In other words, taxes make democracy possible.

And in this case, they will be instrumental to bringing life into the autonomy the Bangsamoro people have been fighting for, and to helping us finally achieve long-lasting peace across Mindanao,” Angara said.

HEALTH Secretary Janette Garin was almost assaulted by angry mothers whose children were allegedly victims of the Dengvaxia vaccines manufactured by French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteurs.

Garin, after attending the congressional hearing by the joint committees on good government and public accountability and on health, was on her way to the elevator at the South Wing Annex of the Batasan Complex when the mothers, wearing black shirts with the sign “Justice for Dengvaxia victims,” yelled at her.

They identified themselves as members of the “United Parents Against Dengvaxia Philippines.”

Garin could have been mobbed but members of the Legislative Security Bureau of the House of Representatives prevented the protesting mothers from getting near her.

House sources said the protesting mothers were brought by Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas.

The mothers were demanding free treatment for their children who were vaccinated with Dengvaxia.

They said their children had experienced symptoms such as stomach pain, fever, headache and joint pains.

Maricel V. Cruz

Poll...

From A1 Jimenez said the process was being carried out under the supervision of the Comelec-Election Records and Statistics Department, in accordance with strict guidelines promulgated by the Commission en banc Resolution 10155, dated July 20, 2016.

He added the decrypted ballot images, taken from SD cards duly submitted by election field officers, would be printed, with representatives of both parties, the Comelec and the SET affixing their initials on each page.

Printed and electronic (soft) copies of the ballot images will be turned over to the SET, along with the printed hash codes that form part of the election audit trail.

The parties will likewise receive these printed hash codes.

SET Resolution 16-01 gave due course to the election protest filed by Tolentino against De Lima, ordering the latter to answer with a non-extendable period of 15 days from date of receipt of the summons.

Jimenez said 1,781 ballots from three clustered precincts—one from Akbar and two from Al Barka, both in the province of Basilan— are expected to be generated Monday.

“According to estimates by the Comelec’s Election and Records Statistics Department, the whole decryption process will take approximately one month,” he said.

Tolentino, who placed 13th in the senatorial race, filed a protest questioning a total 283,280 ballots from 597 clustered precincts in 13 provinces all over the country.

News

A3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ex-DENR exec faces perjury charge

Graft raps vs De Lima on release of ASG men dropped

FOR failing to declare the name of his wife in his 2007 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, a former Department of Environment and Natural Resources official was indicted for perjury and violation of Section 8 of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Former DENR director Jacob Meimban Jr. faces a jail term of one month to one year. He was also ordered to pay a fine of P5,000.

According to the Ombudsman, Meimban “willfully, unlawfully and feloniously” failed to declare the name of his estranged wife in his 2007 SALN by writing “N/A” on the space provided for it.

It said that Meimban was fully aware that his marriage with his wife has not yet been annulled at the time of the filing of his SALN. Meimban, however, said that it was already a matter of public knowledge that his wife already reverted to using her maiden name, which would allow him to write [not applicable]” in his SALN. But the Sandiganbayan did not give credit to Meimban’s defense, saying that the former DENR director should “be mindful of this matter, and to live up to the highest standard of service” as a public officer.

By Maricel V. Cruz

PH to maintain ties with China amid WPS ‘installations’

By Vito Barcelo THE Philippine government will maintain its ties with China amid reports that Beijing had finished the construction of military installations in the dispute South China, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

Roque reiterated that the Duterte administration will always come into a mutual understanding and trust in order to resolve the issue.

In a press briefing, the presidential spokesperson said the military facilities built in Kagitingan Reef or Fiery Cross was already being built under the previous administration and it has been long been militarized.

Manila will continue to pursue friendly ties with Beijing and will not go to war with China which is an Asian power, Roque said.

He said that China has not breached its “good faith commitment” in the South China Sea, since it did not reclaimed any reefs being disputed, and he downplay the bitter maritime dispute in pursuit of better economic ties with Asia’s largest economy.

The Palace official also downplayed the apparently new construction on Kagitingan Reef, as it had already been reclaimed by China.

In an apparent move to distance from a possible diplomatic protest against China, Roque reiterated that China committed not to build new facilities in other disputed reefs.

“When we invoke the good faith of China, it is against making further reclamations and not making further works on islands that it had already reclaimed,” Roque said.

HELPING HANDS. Inmates at the Caloocan City Police Headquarters help push a stalled police mobile car in Caloocan City on Monday.

Andrew Rabulan

PNP prods SC to dismiss petitions vs drug war T HE Philippine National Police has prodded the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions of human rights groups Free Legal Assistance Group and Center for International Law against the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs.

In a memorandum, the PNP, through the Office of the Solicitor General, sought the dismissal of the petitions filed in October last year by alleged victims of the drug war represented by FLAG and CenterLaw, warning that it would unduly hamper government’s efforts to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs.

“By granting the petitions against the war on drugs,

a dangerous precedent is created where amparo proceedings will be used as a tool by drug personalities in order to ‘fish’ for evidence, in the guise of protecting their human rights,” Solicitor General Jose Calida argued.

“This would open the floodgates to any person hurling groundless accusations against our police officers which would, in turn, result in widespread

disillusionment and demoralization, preventing them from performing their functions with zeal and dedication,” Calida said.

The chief state lawyer also explained that the prayers sought by petitioners—if granted by the SC—would prevent the PNP from performing its official functions and that drugs would once again spread over our communities.

“Worse, allowing the creation of numerous ‘police free zones’ will result in virtual anarchy culminating in widespread criminality, spreading like a malady in our community which would only tear apart communities, the bedrock of our nation’s family and youth,” he said.

The solicitor general dismissed the petitions as

“indiscriminate filing of unsubstantiated amparo petitions” and “misuse and abuse of amparo [that] will ultimately congest court dockets and delay the processing of cases in the courts of justice, which in the end, defeats the summary nature of an amparo proceeding.”

In his comment filed last November, Calida already sought the dismissal of the petitions which he said were “disingenuous moves to destabilize the Duterte administration and sow anarchy.”

According to him, the petitions seeking to stop the implementation of Philippine National Police Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016 or “Oplan Double Barrel” and

Department of the Interior and Local Government’s Memorandum Circular 2017-112 or the “Masa Masid” project, if granted, could be detrimental to the government and even pose grave threats to the nation.

The Solicitor General also invoked the power of the executive branch to implement its programs, warning that granting the petitions would be tantamount to an undue interference with the operations of the co-equal branch.

Calida said the assailed orders are consistent with the Constitution and both domestic and international laws, claiming that Project Tokhang has been successful in achieving its purpose and has had the overwhelming approval of the public.

CAB vows to act on complaints of air travelers

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Civil Aeronautics Board on Monday assured that complaints and other concerns of air travelers against airport personnel are being addressed with the intensified public assistance initiative and the deployment of more personnel to Passenger Rights Assistance Desks in commercial airports.

The agency made

the assurance following numerous reports of baggage theft incidents and other irregularities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport and airports in Cebu and Davao.

The recent incident of baggage theft in Clark involving an overseas Filipino worker prompted the government to shelve the contract of a ground handling

company after some of its employees got involved in the pilferage.

CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla said since the implementation of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights in 2012, the board has been very active in implementing measures to ensure passenger rights protection and awareness.

For the first semester of

2017, a total of 132 Passenger Rights Assistance Officers have been deployed to man the 31 PRADs in the country, including the Naia terminals and commercial airports outside Metro Manila.

“Aside from the establishment of PRADs, CAB has conducted APBR orientation to airport operators, air transport regulators, and air carriers,” said Arcilla.

He added the agency also continues to monitor airline operations via flight inspections and resolve complaints on possible APBR violations.

For public education and awareness, leaflets on passenger rights are being distributed in airports, while CAB officials make the rounds in different campuses all over the country.

Presidential appointees not covered by CSC order—‘Nayong’ exec PRESIDENTIAL appointees are not covered by a Civil Service Commission order prohibiting government officials having dual citizenship from being appointed into government positions.

This was the clarification made by Joyce Reano, Nayong Pilipino Foundation spokesperson, after the

qualifications of NPF chairman, Patricia Ocampo, a holder of both a Philippine passport and a US passport, were questioned by some quarters believing she violated the CSC order.

Reano said Ocampo and the other members of the board of trustees are presidential appointees who do not need CSC approval in

their appointments to their respective posts. It is only the President, who appointed them, that can remove them from office.

Reano added that presidential appointees like Ocampo “all serve at the pleasure of the President.”

The prohibition is contained in CSC Memorandum Circular No. 23

wherein it is required that “a person with dual citizenship shall not be appointed in the government unless he/she renounces his/her foreign citizenship pursuant to Republic Act No. 9225.”

The order was issued to clarify the provisions of Republic Act No. 9225 on its applicability to both elec-

tive and appointive government officials.

However, the term “appointive officials” does not cover those appointed by the President “by name,” as clearly, the CSC does not have jurisdiction over qualifications of directors and appointees of governmentowned and -controlled corporations, Reano said.

PNP does not receive bribes from STL—Balutan PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan on Monday defended the Philippine National Police regarding the organization’s monthly revenue shares from the Small Town Lottery.

Balutan said the PCSO and PNP have a Memorandum of Agreement giving the latter the lead role in eradicating illegal gambling such as jueteng in connection with Executive Order No. 13, or the all-out war against illegal gambling, issued in 2017 by President

Rodrigo Duterte.

Earlier, gambling operator Charlie “Atong” Ang alleged that the PNP receives bribes from STL operators.

This, however, did not sit well with PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

“Baka sanay sya sa bribery dahil dati siyang gambling lord din siya ‘di ba?” Dela Rosa said, referring to Ang. Dela Rosa confirmed that the funds received from the proceeds of STL earnings are being used in anti-illegal gambling operations and certain percentages go to the national and regional headquarters.

Nayong Pilipino chairman of the board Patricia Yvette Ocampo (right) is in tears as Gerald Medina, a member of the Board of Trustees looks on during a press conference at the Boys Scout of the Philippines headquarters where they defended themselves from accusations that they traveled abroad without the approval of the Office of the President and charges of dual citizenship.

Lino Santos

THE Ombudsman has dismissed the graft charges filed against detained Senator Leila de Lima and former Sulu vice governor Abdusakur Tan owing to alleged irregular release of suspected Abu Sayyaf Group members in 2013.

In a nine-page joint resolution dated Jan. 16, the Ombudsman junked the case filed by Temogen Tulawie and Abner Tahil for their failure to present substantiate their allegations that the respondents violated Sections 3(e) and (f) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. At the same time, the Ombudsman found no probable cause to hold any of the respondents liable for grave misconduct, dishonesty, neglect of duty, or conduct “prejudicial to the best interest of the service.”

“In a nutshell, complainants’ allegations are devoid of evidence.

Without evidence, allegations are just empty words. Allegations can never be considered as repositories of truth, and hence cannot serve as foundation of decision resolving rights of the litigants,” the resolution read.

De Lima and Tan, along with former National Commission on Muslim Filipinos chairman Mehol Sadain and former commissioner Edilwasif Baddiri, were accused of causing the release of Mohammad Sali Said, Jul Ahmad Ahadi, Robin Sahiyal and Mujibar Bong Amon in February 2013 during the stint of De Lima as Justice secretary.

Tahil claimed he had personal knowledge of the respondents’ “shadowy dealings” with the suspected Abu Sayyaf members in order to topple Tulawie, who was then facing a criminal case at Branch 19 of the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Tulawie and Tahil also said the respondents made it appear on record that the three suspected ASG members were arrested due to mistaken identity.

De Lima, in her counteraffidavit, had dismissed the complaint filed against her as “a mere scrap of paper,” “cavalier storytelling unsupported by any evidence.”

Dela Cruz, educator and lay leader, 92 SALVACION Agullana dela Cruz, dedicated educator and lay leader and devoted wife of Col. Apolinario Garvida dela Cruz (ret.) passed away on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018.

She was 92.

Her bereaved children, Jonathan, Olegario, Yvonne, Steve and Sylvia and Vicky, grand children, relatives and friends request prayers for the eternal repose of her soul.

The wake is at the Loyola Memorial Park, Premier Chapel A, Sucat, Parañaque City. Masses will be held everyday starting Feb. 5 at 8 p.m.

The interment is on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018 at 3 p. m.

Please omit flowers. Donations to the AMIANAN EDUCATIONAL FUND will be appreciated.

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Cause and cure

I

T’S a natural response to stay away from something we know to be harmful. We imagine the instinct is stronger for parents.

Imagine then the anxiety that the Dengvaxia controversy has created.

It is worse than “something harmful” because it is something harmful masking as something that protect children from harm.

As the debate of facts— on whether the 14 deaths among the hundreds of thousands of children ad-

ministered the anti-dengue vaccine were caused by the cure—continues, we are reminded that the issue has become a tragedy for its immediate and long-term consequences.

For the short term, the children who were given what was supposed to be protection from a lifethreatening disease will never be sure if they are

better or worse because of Dengvaxia.

The pharmaceutical company that manufactured it, Sanofi Pasteur, belatedly announced its own misgivings and disclaimers about their product.

To what extent were the deaths a direct result of the vaccine? The scientists are trying to figure that out now—and the rumor-mongering, political intrigue-seeking lot are not proving to be any help.

For the long term, peo-

ple will now refuse vaccines of any kind, even as the established practice has been known to be beneficial numerous times in the past.

A senator suggested that the Department of Health use its P634-million advertising budget to “fight the fake news that all vaccines are bad.”

It’s not fake news. It’s faulty generalization even as it is borne from legitimate fear.

Going the other way would be equally risky.

The department, the senator said, should launch an aggressive drive to emphasize among the people that science should always be superior to superstition.

It’s not superstition, either. It’s bad experience with those eager to gain political windfall by addressing a gut issue without regard to the risks.

Filipinos have had no problem with vaccines in the past. The poor especially relied on government-provided vaccines to protect their children.

The confidence was eroded by what happened with Dengvaxia. The best way to regain that confidence is to do the right thing in this investigation: Establish the facts, prosecute the guilty, take concrete steps so that no similar blunder happens again.

The falsehood that must be countered is not that vaccines are bad. It is that government officials can never be so scheming, negligent or clueless as to put people’s lives on the line.

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

A book on Marcos legacy MY MEDIA colleague, Cecil Arillo, has published a book—The Marcos Legacy—enumerating the achievements of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

The Marcos haters will say Marcos has no legacy to leave except years of persecuting the people, particularly during the martial law years. They will cite human rights violations and the suppression of civil rights and freedoms.

As former Justice Manuel Lazaro wrote, by way of introduction to Arillo’s book: “This book presents a glimmer galaxy of multi-dimensional signals

Didn’t he also do good deeds for the people?

Not so fast LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES FIRST of all, the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital team of experts didn’t state that 14 children died as a direct result of vaccination with Dengvaxia. At the same time, it didn’t say that all of the kids died because the controversial vaccine was entirely benign, either.

What the expert panel said was that two out of the 14 children died of apparent “vaccine failure” and that three, including the two, died of “dengue shock syndrome.” This fact by no means absolved Dengvaxia, its makers and the people who enabled its use, as the people calling for the probe to shut down are telling us.

So forgive me if I fail to see why a group of doctors, academicians and public health experts, including two former health secretaries, are spinning the UPPGH story into something entirely unintended and unrecognizable: that alleged untrained non-experts, to include the Public Attorney’s Office, should immediately stop looking into the reported Dengvaxia deaths.

This is a conclusion drawn from the experts’ report that is as breathtaking as it is false. And it attempts to shut down the only official investigation that cannot be accused of being biased in favor of the three actors in this sordid drama from the very beginning: Sanofi, the French pharma giant that created Dengvaxia; the previous administration and present and current public health

officials, who rushed the rollout of the massive immunization program despite warnings from its own experts; and the sector of the medical community

You only need arithmetic, not a health expert’s advanced degrees, to do the terrifying math. that has been compromised by its unimpeded use of the revolving door that allows them to shift seamlessly from private practice, the state health service and the pharmaceutical companies.

Why can’t the doctors led by ex-Health secretaries Manuel Dayrit and Esperanza Cabral, instead of repurposing the UP-PGH report, ask instead that PAO continue its investigation—or allow anyone else with a stake in the issue to do so, for that matter? And why, if they think that the real experts have already spoken, can’t they trust that their conclusion will stand up to anyone’s review, if they think that it’s really bulletproof?

And why can’t Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque stop himself from backing the call to shut down the PAO investigation, when he is part of the same government that ordered it in the first place?

Does Roque’s unrelenting pursuit of then-Health secretary Paulyn Ubial, who was eventually “convinced” to expand the rollout of the

Dengvaxia program to a whole new region—Central Visayas—have anything to do with the spokesman’s declaration that everyone can now sleep soundly because the vaccine is safe?

I don’t think so. What this sounds like to me is that the long-reported coverup is proceeding as planned —and that if non-experts don’t keep up the pressure, then in the end, as one prominent expert once said, only the aedes aegypti mosquitoes are really to blame for the dengue deaths.

Three out of 14 (or even two out of 14) is truly scary, when you consider that 830,000 children were given the Dengvaxia vaccine at the end of the term of Noynoy Aquino. And you only need arithmetic, not a public health expert’s advanced degrees, to do the terrifying math.

*** Some people have accused me of unfairly putting down the University of Santo Tomas while turning a blind eye to the failings of my own school, the University of the Philippines.

Well, UP didn’t disappoint, getting back into the headlines immediately after UST grabbed the limelight by getting all worked up about an award given to Mocha Uson while remaining silent about the Senate recommendation calling for the disbarment of its law school dean, Nilo Divina.

It was Duterte to put UP in the news, when he urged students there to keep on holding walkouts, actions that he said would allow him to give the coveted slots in the state university to “bright” lumads. The activists in UP responded by Turn to A5

of events known but ignored and unpublished, spiced by the constellation of episodes overlooked and neglected for unexplained reasons.

“It exudes a classic panorama of events and episodes that metamorphosed to chronicled history of the country. It rights the wrongs and omissions wittingly or unwittingly omitted and rectified. The great playwright William Shakespeare said: The evil that men do lives after them; the good is often interred with their bones.”

“It is typical of some people to have short memories of another’s good deeds, but long memories of bad or perceived wrongs,” Lazaro added.

Every year when we mark the anniversary of the People Power Revolution of 1986, we read and hear about the bad things that Marcos did. But we forget that he also did good Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher ManilaStandard

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandard.net

ONLINE

can be accessed at: manilastandard.net

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager OIC-Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua

Managing Editor Associate Editors City Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Romel J. Mendez Art Director Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion From A4

things for the people.

Arillo’s book chronicles the other side of Marcos. Was he a hero or a heel? This book provides an answer.

*** There are a few times when I am actually happy that the Senate conducts hearings in aid of legislation. Specifically I talk about the probe on the death, by hazing, of University of Santo Tomas Horacio Castillo III. Barbarism has no place in civilized society, much less among those who represent the legal profession. But I found myself perplexed at which aspect many decided to focus on.

In the aftermath of the inquiry, headlines focused on the recommendation of the Senate committee to disbar UST Faculty of Law Dean Nilo Divina. Many reports opened with his name in the headlines, relegating those who were actually involved in the hazing in the background.

What is going on here?

Foremost, my sympathy goes to the Castillo family. But I also cannot help but feel bad for Divina.

During Atio’s wake, Divina was present. He vowed to the family that he would help bring justice to them. He kept his word, too, since he was instrumental in convincing John Paul Solano to speak out.

During the hearing, certain senators were obviously trying to link Divina to the case. The best they could come up with were implausible conspiracy theories. Santa Banana, even the Manila Police District ultimately cleared Divina of any wrongdoing!

He is now being presented as the one ultimately responsible for the death of Castillo. *** During the Christmas, while nobody was looking, the Commission on Elections approved the purchase of vote counting machines from Smartmatic. The en banc was chaired by retiring commissioner Roberto Lim. The deal involves billions of pesos.

I don’t know what love potion Smartmatic executives gave the Comelec. Despite the many cases against Smartmatic, for fraud and vote manipulation, the commissioners still voted to buy the VCMs used in the 2016 polls.

The deal was done without public bidding—and it was a midnight deal. Congress must investigate this. *** It is now clear that Sanofi Pasteur vaccination program, negotiated by President Benigno Aquino III and implemented by then-Health Secretary Janette Garin with former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad providing the funding was illegal. Those behind it should be held accountable!

We now see the accountability of Aquino, Garin and Abad for this vaccination program used right before the 2016, in all likelihood to boost the candidacy of Manuel Roxas II. Now parents are wary of vaccination altogether!

I say prosecute those accountable. This is criminal!

Not...

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

We, us, now

A book...

*** It is basic in law that when the Supreme Court justices rule on an issue, we have to accept that decision whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not.

President Duterte ordered Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to suspend overall deputy ombudsman Arthur Carandang for 90 days for allegedly making Senator Antonio Trillanes get hold of confidential information from the Anti-Money Laundering Council on the bank accounts of President Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. This, despite an existing Supreme Court decision that the President cannot do so.

Malacañang lawyers—presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo and Solicitor General Jose Calida—painted the President in a corner.

Way back in 2014, the Supreme Court settled the controversy on whether the President can order the suspension of the Ombudsman’s overall deputy in the case of Emilio Gonzales III. The High Court then ruled against then-President Benigno Aquino III in an effort to check abuse of power.

The decision holds unless the Court reverses it.

The problem is that Panelo and Calida are trying to stop the Ombudsman and her deputy from carrying on with their investigation to ferret out the truth about the accounts of the Dutertes.

The President is now in a no-win situation.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

EARLIER this week, President Duterte threatened activist students from the University of the Philippines that he would have them thrown out of the state university to be replaced by “bright” Lumad students. I agree that UP can benefit from having more lumad young people attending it, but the President’s threat is purely rhetorical.

He has no such power over our students, not even the UP President or the Board of Regents has such power as that belongs to the faculty of the university who assesses the academic performance of students.

What was more worrisome for me was the statement of the President, in the same speech, that the lumad should be ready to relocate. I can only surmise that a big anti-insurgency campaign together with a big push for palm oil and mining investments is being planned. Ethnocide could be the outcome of such plans, as I will write in a future column.

As for UP, it has long been a center of dissent and bastion of activism in the country. From its earliest years, the university has been the breeding ground for nationalism and development, and progressive thinking.

The onset of the Marcos administration in the late 1960s and early 1970s saw an upsurge of student activism, culminating in the Diliman Commune in 1971 when students and faculty members barricaded themselves, declaring the campus free from government control to protest the deteriorating situation in the country.

During the First Quarter

Storm in January of 1970, students from all over the country, including those from UP staged mass demonstrations against Marcos. Pete Lacaba, in Days of Disquiet and Nights of Rage, remembers the reaction of UP president S.P. Lopez and the UP Faculty to what happened on the night of January 26 when students clashed with the police in front of Congress: “The night of January 26,” said UP president S.P. Lopez, “must be regarded as a night of grave portent for the future of the nation. It has brought us face to face with the fundamental question: Is it still possible to transform our society by peaceful means so that the many who are poor, oppressed, sick, and ignorant may be released from their misery, by the actual operation of law and government, rather than by waiting in vain for the empty promise of ‘social justice’ in our Constitution?”

The faculty of the University of the Philippines issued a declaration denouncing “the use of brutal force by state authorities against the student demonstrators” and supporting “unqualifiedly the students’ exercise of democratic rights in their struggle for revolutionary change.” The declaration went on to say: “It is with the gravest concern that the faculty views the January 26 event as part of an emerging pattern of repression of the democratic rights of the people. This pattern is evident in the formation of paramilitary units such as the Home Defense Forces, the politicalization of the Armed Forces, the existence of private armies, foreign interference in internal security, and the use of specially trained police for purposes of suppression.”

The January 26 confrontation was followed on January 30, 1970 by an even more violent encounter, this time in the gates

of Malacanang iself.

Reporting for The Sunday Times Magazine, Millet Martinez wrote how Jerry Barican, then chairman of the UP Student Council, saw these events: “Students and workers are discontented over state affairs. The January 26 and 30 incidents reflect not a Communist stand to take over Malacañang as Marcos says, but a belief that change is necessary—that is, changes in our political, social and economic set-up.”

In her article, Martinez quoted also from a manifesto by the UP Student Council on “The Real State of the Nation,” dated January 26, 1970, denouncing Marcos’ “farcical misrepresentations and patent falsehoods”, pointing that “while Mr. Marcos II loudly proclaims a program of ‘austerity’ and ‘selfdiscipline,’ prices continue to escalate, wages are pegged to a sub-survival level, while the country’s affluent minority of American imperialists, feudal landlords and bureaucrat-capitalists persist in their ruthless exploitation of the masses.”

Like Barican, who later on became the spokesperson of President Joseph Estrada, the UP Student Council rejected the 1971 Constitutional Convention, contending that “while the more visionary students noisily hold aloft the 1971 Constitutional Convention as our last hope for progress, we maintain that any such hope will be crushed by the money and power of American imperialists and their traitorous Filipino allies.”

Other schools also produced student activists. Edgar Jopson, known as Edjop, who graduated with a degree in management engineering in Ateneo de Manila and studied in UP Law before dropping out to join the underground, became a communist and at some point headed

the Mindanao Commission of the National Democratic Front. He was killed in 1981 in Davao City, summarily executed even after he had surrendered. Chito Sta Romana, a La Salle graduate and student leader, was exiled in China during martial law. He later on became a well-known journalist, reporting from China for ABC news. Among others, he reported on the Tiananmen Square uprising. He is now our Ambassador to China. We are very lucky to have him there representing our country.

The student activism did not end with the declaration of martial law. By the early 1980s, it saw a resurgence again. In the University of the Philippines, the most famous and admired is of course Lean Alejandro, and not just because he was assassinated. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani website summarizes Lean’s well-lived life quite well: “More than his extraordinary height, Lean stood out as an activist because he possessed insight, a unifying approach, speaking and writing skills, and courage and boldness. Older and more experienced colleagues in the protest movement had him in high regard, and government negotiators who met Lean across the barricades gave him their grudging respect.”

I have no doubt that if Lean and Edjop were alive today that they would now be a senator or even a president of a better Philippines.

Today, many young people have proven themselves worthy of this activist tradition.

I am particularly impressed

by Sarah Elago, Kabataan Party List Representative, one of the youngest members of Congress, and yes proudly a graduate of the University of the Philippines. In one article, it is pointed out that: “Now, even with four years of activism behind her,

Sarah admits there was never a moment when she wanted to step down from her advocacies.

Yes, there were instances of distraction and confusion, but she understands that the road she long ago decided to walk on is one that was, is and will always be full of struggles. But with thousands of young people who are willing to carry the cross of change with her, how could she possibly falter?” Sarah is quoted as saying: “We have kept marching onwards despite the difficulties, and we have not given up. We will not give up!

Our hope springs eternal.”

Frankly, its young people like Sarah that inspires me to teach in many learning institutions (right now 10 in number). I hope that in the 200 or so students I meet every week there are several Sarah Elagos—equally or even more intelligent, articulate, idealistic, and courageous as this young leader. And to them, I always say protest is a form of learning, sometimes the best form. Indeed, they can learn more from joining marches, rallies, picket lines, etc. than being in the classroom.

Ditto Sarmiento, the U.P. Collegian editor martyred during the Marcos dictatorship (he died of a heart attack, his asthma aggravated after having been detained for baseless charges) famously asked: Kung di tayo kikibo, sino ang kikibo?

Kung di tayo kikilos, sino ang kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa? (“Who will speak up if we don’t? Who will act if we don’t? If not now, when?”).

Thankfully, UP student activists and other young people still ask these questions today, and answer: Kami, tayo, ngayon.

(We, us, now.)

Facebook: Professor Tony La Viña or deantonylavs Twitter: tonylavs

A defective Constitution HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA (Part 2) IT WAS pointed out in this column last week that, contrary to what a surviving member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission self-servingly told the Senate, the 1987 Constitution drafted by the Commission “is the best constitution in the world.” That’s a mere opinion, like a parent praising an offspring.

Last week’s column revealed several defects in the 1987 Constitution.

One defect is the failure of the 1987 charter to specify whether the Senate and the House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately when Congress convenes as a constituent assembly to propose amendments to the constitution. Father Joaquin Bernas, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Vicente V. Mendoza, a leading expert in Constitutional Law, pointed out that due to its carelessness in drafting the charter, the Commission failed to specify that the voting should be done separately.

Another defect in the 1987 Constitution is its declared policy against political dynasties. The

charter disallows political dynasties, but left it to Congress, which has been dominated by political dynasties since time immemorial, to define the term “political dynasty.” As expected, senators and congressmen are reluctant to provide such a definition, lest the lucrative hold their families have had on elective public office gets diminished. More than 30 years since the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, Congress has not yet provided the mandated definition.

Today’s essay is all about the other defects in the 1987 Constitution.

Article IV is about citizenship.

It does not recite any provision regarding dual citizenship. As a consequence, individuals who are citizens of both the Philippines and another country mock Philippine elections by running for public office despite their dual nationality.

Incidentally, dual citizenship should not be confused with dual allegiance, which is addressed in Section 5, Article IV of the charter.

There is Section 17, Article VI, which created the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. Section 17 provides that each electoral tribunal “shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of their respective Members.”

Unfortunately, Section 17 does not specify when the electoral tribunals are to exercise exclusive

jurisdiction over cases seeking the disqualification of candidates.

There is wide-scale confusion in current jurisprudence on this issue. Some judicial pronouncements say that winners who were validly proclaimed by the Commission on Elections can be sued only in the electoral tribunals, while some rulings say otherwise.

This confusion creates instability in the electoral system.

Another defect is found in Section 18, Article X, which governs autonomous regions in the country. Section 18 provides that “the creation of the autonomous regions shall be effective when approved by majority of the votes cast by the constituent units in a plebiscite called for the purpose ...” This means that only a local, and a not a national plebiscite, will decide the existence of an autonomous region that the entire country must recognize.

Since the creation of an autonomous region creates special privileges for such regions, that is, privileges not accorded the other regions, then it is unfair that the plebiscite is limited only to the region. The plebiscite should be nationwide in scope.

This observation is particularly true if the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law drafted by minions of then President Benigno Aquino III were to be taken up by Congress anew. Al-

though the BBL purports to be a law granting autonomy to Muslim Mindanao, it is to all intents and purposes a law establishing a Moro sub-state in the heart of Mindanao.

A sub-state in Mindanao will make a mockery of Philippine sovereignty. If elite troops of the country were unable to serve a warrant of arrest against a Malaysian terrorist in Mamasapano, Maguindanao years ago, one can just imagine the well-nigh impossibility of applying Philippine law to the Moro sub-state in Mindanao to be created by the BBL. If the plebiscite is nationwide and not localized, the national interest is better reflected and duly served.

Still another defect in the 1987 charter is its policy of allowing a multi-party election for president and vice president. Under the multi-party election system, the winner is elected on a mere plurality and not a majority of the votes cast in the polls. This means that the elected president holds office at the will of less than a majority of the electorate. That arrangement is a repudiation of the democratic system, which means that the will of the majority of the people must prevail.

A president elected on a mere plurality will have to spend the first half of the presidential term winning public approval, which will necessarily involve a lot of

politics, and the other half, hopefully, in carrying out his duties.

The French electoral model calls for a multi-party election for president. To address the need for a majority winner, the French model calls for a run-off election —the top two elected in the presidential polls must run again, this time against each other, in a second poll. That way, the ultimate winner enjoys a mandate from a majority of the electorate.

Unfortunately, the provision in the 1987 Constitution allowing multi-party election for president and vice president was lifted from the French model, but the provision for a run-off election was not included in the 1987 Constitution. As a result, all Philippine presidents installed under the 1987 charter, with the notable exception of Joseph Estrada and Rodrigo Duterte who both enjoyed overwhelming mandates, are pluralityinstalled presidents.

Since there are good reasons for the people to suspect that incumbents in Congress will want to extend their terms in the guise of “transitory provisions” to a new constitutional system, the people are reluctant to open the 1987 Constitution to amendments. If what is suspected is true, then opposition to charter change should be encouraged because the public interest must be protected, and not because the 1987 Constitution “is the best constitution in the world.”

From A4

saying that they intend to keep doing what they’re doing.

Now, I have no problem with students joining all the protest actions they want. I was a student in Diliman once and I understand the attraction offered by anti-government protests to smart, idealistic young people encouraged to question everything.

But the current crop of activists in UP—who are by no means representative of the majority of the student population—is also guilty of the hypocrisy that bedevils the anti-Uson faction in Catholic UST. And UP can’t even claim to be following the diktats of religion like the young people over at España.

What I mean is, the current UP protesters are not being guided by the teachings of some coherent and worldchanging ideology but are instead being gamed by those pushing a discredited and morally bankrupt partisan political movement. And they don’t even know that they’re being played, even if they should be smart enough to realize that.

Why, for instance, do the UP protesters never hold rallies demanding that those who perpetrated the Dengvaxia scandal be held accountable? Why didn’t they ever protest the death of 44 elite commandos in what became known as the Mamasapano Masacre?

For crying out loud, why can’t UP’s activists even find the energy to rail against the building of a huge P4 million steel barricade to protect Noynoy Aquino from protesters just like them from coming near his home on Times Street? Instead they scream “Ibagsak ang rehimeng US-Duterte,” without even questioning the stupidity of this claim.

The UST activists are at least proud to be yellow, that school’s colors. Those in UP, which stole its maroon and green livery from Harvard, is even more hypocritical.

Painkiller abuse sparks fears for Gabon’s young

By Caroline Chauvet and Herve Bar MISUSE of a powerful painkiller has spread like wildfire among schools in the west African state of Gabon, where teachers blame it for violent changes in mood among normally placid and motivated teenagers.

Known as "kobolo" by local youths, the drug comprises high doses of anti-inflammatory medicine, usually washed down with soda or alcohol. In the United States, abuse of such opioid drugs, say experts, has abetted a crisis of addiction and misery.

“It's easier to ask who in our state schools is not taking kobolo," said a young music teacher in a Libreville high school, who gave her name as Chantal.

"It starts at secondary level, from the age of 12 or 13. The children go through changes almost overnight—they become aggressive and violent under the effects of kobolo, which we regularly find when we go through their schoolbags," she adds. "The worst thing is that the kids not only use it, they sell it, too."

Knife fights and arrests Almost every week, the press report knife fights between pupils, largely blamed on their use of kobolo, and on arrests of drug dealers, often deemed to be connected to the pharmaceutical business or from Cameroon.

"Kobolo is a combination based on painkillers that act directly on the brain. It induces

feelings of well-being due to the secretion of dopamine, the pleasure hormone," said MarieLouise Rondi, who chairs the National Order of Pharmacists in Gabon.

"This explains addiction and the tendency to increase daily doses, until all the safety fuses in the brain have been blown."

When used by young Gabonese as a recreational drug, the painkiller Tramadol or a generic equivalent is taken in large doses, sometimes mixed with alcohol and a range of juices.

In 2017, its popularity began to spread fast in a country where consumption of cannabis and other substances is very limited.

By July, concern had become so great that prescriptions for the drug became compulsory, and social support was beefed up. "We had meetings with the parents of students to warn them of the scale of the problem," Rondi said.

'You're a super-hero' Under the pseudonym Ted, a selfdescribed "ex-user" of kobolo in his 20s, who comes from a poor neighborhood, described what it was like to take the drug.

"With a soft drink, it's like you're asleep, having a waking dream. But if you drink it down with a little alcohol, well then...!" he guffawed.

"It awakens your sleeping senses, when you take it you become hot. You can't control yourself, you imagine you're a super-hero,

you lose your feelings," laughs the young man. "It gives you too much courage... You don't even feel pain."

Proof of this risk, he displayed a large scar on a forearm—the legacy of an accident when he "went through a car windscreen without feeling hurt."

Other collateral damage includes loss of appetite and sleep, itching, "epilepsy attacks, liver problems and and memory lapses," he said. Others say unsafe sex is another risk.

'Pink baby' Despite regulatory efforts, the painkiller is easy to obtain on the streets of Libreville.

Known as the "little red", "pink baby" or "kemeka," pills are sold for between 250 and 500 CFA francs (0.40 to 0.80 euros / $0.50 to $1.00) apiece.

Around the bus station, regular traders and ambulant salesmen help make acquiring kobolo a simple formality. In the maze of narrow streets, the drug is sold not only by the usual dealers but also at little stalls that sell medication along with rat poison.

For lack of official statistics, the kobolo business is difficult to put into figures. Since getting high requires no more than swallowing some cheap pills, the phenomenon is more discreet than smoking pot.

The wholesale dealers are above all Nigerians and Lebanese, Chadians and Guineans, people say in the working-class districts.

"Everybody sells it under the counter," said

Ted, who described kobolo as "the highschool favourite".

The media gives ample coverage to antikobolo operations and the police say they are on the job, reporting the seizure of 5,952 illicit pills in 2017.

"But the silence of health authorities is deafening," protests the director of a staterun hospital. "Not even a simple video clip on the TV to raise awareness among young people."

'Right kind of laughter' By contrast, "Goudronier," a video about kobolo by rapper Don'zer, has given the drug nationwide prominence. It has been even broadcast at meetings of political parties.

"What this song is about, with its words and the video full of violence, is what's happening now in our society and our schools," said the teacher Chantal, distraught.

"The drug has become fashionable—kobolo users are no longer hiding."

Kobolo users are typically aged from 12 to 16 or 17, but there are many who come outside this age range, said a psychologist who has seen many users in her private practice.

"All social classes are affected, including the French and the Lebanese," she said, referring to two large expatriate communities.

The drug has increased the risk of unsafe sex and unwanted pregnancies for girls, the psychologist added. AFP

TODAY mst.daydesk@gmail.com

82% of govt offices pass anti-red tape CSC survey NEARLY 82 percent of government offices have passed the 2017 AntiRed Tape Act Report Card Survey, the Civil Service Commission announced Monday.

Out of the 583 offices surveyed by the CSC, 476 offices (81.65 percent) passed the ARTA RCS, it added.

The commission conducts the survey annually to check an agency’s overall client satisfaction and compliance with Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act, a law that aims to improve frontline service delivery in the government.

“The CSC noted a consistent increase in the percentage of service offices passing the survey, from 78 percent in 2010 to 81.65 percent in 2017,” CSC Chairperson Alicia dela Rosa-Bala said.

Of the offices that passed, 61 or 12.81 percent received an “Excellent” rating, while three offices were rated “Outstanding.”

A total of 328 offices (68.91 percent) garnered a “Good” rating, and 84 (17.65 percent) got “Acceptable.”

For not meeting the ARTA RCS standards, 92 offices (15.78 percent) failed the survey, and 15 offices had zero respondents, thus did not get any rating.

In 2017, the survey focused on agencies contributing to ease of doing business as well as service offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health hospitals, Government Service Insurance System, and local government units.

The survey’s focus is aligned with the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan whose thrust of upholding public service excellence is linked to increasing competitiveness and ease of doing business, as well as building trust in public institutions.

Frontline service offices covered were: Bureau of Fire Protec-

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 A6 Standard Manila

tion, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, Department of Health hospitals, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Food and Drug Administration, Government Service Insurance System, Home Development Mutual Fund, Land Registration Authority, Land Transportation Office, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Philippine Ports Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Security System, and local government units.

A total of 31 service offices or 77.50 percent of the surveyed local government units passed the RCS; 258 or 75.22 percent of the national government agencies passed the survey; and 187 or 93.50 percent of the government-owned and controlled corporations met the demands of the RCS. Since 2010, the CSC, through the Report Card Survey has been preparing a report card of government offices to check overall client satisfaction and compliance with the ARTA. The RCS checks two core areas: compliance with ARTA provisions (presence of Citizen’s Charter, employees’ wearing of IDs, observance of No Noon Break Policy, AntiFixing Campaign, No Hidden costs, and Existence of Public Assistance and Complaints Desk); and overall client satisfaction (Frontline Service Provider, Service Quality, Physical Setup, Basic Facilities, and Client Satisfaction).

The adjectival and numerical ratings are: Excellent (90-100 with no failed/delinquent rating in any subarea); Outstanding (90-100 with a failed/delinquent rating in any subarea); Good (80-89.99); Acceptable (70-79.99); and Failed (69.99 below, or with a failed rating in any of the two core areas).

House measure wants 4Ps suspension lifted

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE House of Representatives has adopted a resolution urging the Department of Social Welfare and Development to lift the suspension of registration of new beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, which took effect in July 2016.

House Resolution 1522, authored by Rep. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte, aims to address the program’s potential poor beneficiaries who remain un-

served and unassisted.

The measure also worries that the approved budget to cover 4.4-million households will not be fully disbursed.

It also calls on the

DSWD to be more effective in delivering social protection and welfare services to the 4Ps families and to improve the targeting of beneficiaries to lessen fund leakage for the program.

The 4Ps, conceived in the previous administration, is a human development program of the national government that seeks to provide social protection and welfare services to poor families and alleviate poverty.

Congress approved a budget of P72.1152 billion

R e p u b l i c o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s C AV I T E S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y (C v S U ) D o n S eve r i n o d e a l a s C a m p u s I n d a n g , c av i t e (0 4 6) 415 010 /415 - 0 011 415 - 0 012 w w w.c v s u .e d u c . p h

The CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY, through its Bids and Award Committee (BAC), invites all interested bidders/contractors with size range of Medium A to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder projects: PROJECT TITLE

B. C.

CONTRACT DURATION

ABC

Construction of Science, Technology and Applied Research (STAR) Center Building With Perimeter Fence P 39,993,376.29 for Main Campus Construction of Science, Technology and Applied Research (STAR) Center Building for Carmona Campus P 28,984,793.94 Construction of Science, Technology and Applied Research (STAR) Center Building for Naic Campus P 28,983,903.37

300 CD 270 CD 270 CD

Prospective bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the projects. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria.

Post-qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference(s), Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of Bid Documents 2. Pre-bid Conference 3. Opening of Bids

Schedule January 30, 2018 to February 22, 2018; 8:00AM – 5:00PM February 8, 2018; 1:00 PM; S.L. Lasap Hall, Administration Building, Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite February 22, 2018; 1:00 PM; S.L. Lasap Hall, Administration Building, Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite

Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos Only (P 25,000.00) per project to the CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY Cashier.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT AND EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF QUEZON CITY

Pre-bid conference shall be open only to all interested bidders. Bids must be delivered to the Office of the BAC Chairman, Administration Bldg., CvSU, Indang, Cavite on or before the abovementioned date and time. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and amount. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ authorized representatives who choose to attend the bidding. Late bids shall not be accepted.

UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK, Mortgagee/s,

The CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY (CvSU) assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid. CvSU also reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to annul the bidding process, to reject all bids at any time prior to Contract Award without incurring any liability to the affected bidders, waive any required formality therein, and to award the Contract to the bidder whose bid proposal as evaluated is most advantageous to the University.

-versus-

(MS-FEB. 6, 2018)

Approved by: (SGD) CAMILO A. POLINGA, PhD BAC Chairman

Invitation to Bid Construction of Slope Protection and Canalization of Porac Gumain RIS ITB No. NIAR3-2018-PAM-PGRIS-1 1. The NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION – REGION 3, hereby invites all interested Phil-GEPS registered contractors to bid for the project, through the General Appropriations Act of CY 2018, intends to apply the sum of Fifty One Million Seven Hundred Forty Nine Thousand Sixteen Pesos and 72/100 ( P 51,749,016.72) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) for the contract for NIAR3-2018-PAM-PGRIS-1.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2. Bidders must secure Site Inspection Certificate from IMO Office as a technical requirement for Eligibility and Technical Document (Envelop A). Non compliance will be a ground for disqualification.

3. Only those Letter of Intent with a company profile, submitted by the owner or its authorized liaison officer, will be accepted to participate in the bidding 4. The NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION – REGION 3 now invites bids for Construction of Slope Protection and Canalization of Porac Gumain RIS. Completion of the Works is required within Three Hundred (300) calendar days. Bidders should have completed a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

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

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

6. Interested bidders may obtain further information from NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION – REGION 3 and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Monday to Friday.

7. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on February 02, 2018 to February 22, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, except holidays from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P 50,000.00).

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids.

8. The NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION – REGION 3 will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 9, 2018, 10:00 a.m. at NIA-R3 Office, Conference Room, Brgy.

Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

9. Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before 9:30 a.m. (PST) of February 22, 2018 at NIA-R3 Office, Conference Room, Brgy. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on 10:00 a.m. (PST) of February 22, 2018 at NIA-R3 Office, Conference Room, Brgy. Tambubong, San Rafael, Bulacan. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

10. All particulars relative to the eligibility screening, bid security, performance security, prebid conference/s, evaluation of bids, post qualification and award of contracts shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of RA 9184 and its revised IRR. 11. The NATIONAL IRRIGATION ADMINISTRATION – REGION 3 reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

12. For further information, please refer to: BAC Secretariat/s;

NIA – Region 3,Tambubong,

San Rafael, Bulacan

Tel No. (044) 766-4839 and 816-8608

Noted by:

(SGD) VIRGILIO J. ILAO BAC - Chairman

JOSEPHINE B. SALAZAR Regional Manager (MS-FEB. 6, 2018)

families not complying with the program conditions and the suspension of registration of new beneficiaries.

The suspension was brought about by DSWD’s need to resolve operational problems, particularly the exclusion and inclusion errors in identifying 4Ps beneficiaries, the undersecretary added.

Turalde-Jarabe said 4Ps the suspension began in July 2016 through a memorandum signed by then-Social Welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo.

FOOD PACKS FOR EVACUEES. Masbate Gold, DENR and MGB donate 3.5 million worth of relief to Mayon evacuees. Two firms that comprise the Masbate Gold Project, Filminera Resources Corp. and Phil. Gold Processing & Refining Corp., partner with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to bring over P3 million worth of relief goods to evacuees affected by the Mayon eruption. The relief goods were brought to various evacuation centers to help 4,000 families. In photo are: DENR Region V, MGB Region V and MGP employees, volunteer students packing 4,000 food packs donated

by Filminera and Phil. Gold to Mayon Evacuees.

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID (INFRASTRUCTURE/CIVIL WORKS)

A.

for the 4Ps for the year 2017.

DSWD Undersecretary Maria Lourdes TuraldeJarabe previously told a hearing conducted by the House committee on poverty alleviation that there were about 4.3-million household-beneficiaries as of Dec. 5, 2017.

Turalde-Jarabe said the discrepancy between the number of active household-beneficiaries and the targeted 4.4-million households was due to the suspension of payouts, owing to some

FRE NO. 12073

ROMEL T. TOLENTINO Mortgagor/s. x------------------------------------------x NOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SALE OF REAL PROPERTY UNDER ACT 3135 (AS AMENDED) UPON extra-judicial petition under ACT 3135, as amended by ACT 4118, and pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Deed of Real Estate Mortgage executed on May 18, 2016 by ROMEL T. TOLENTINO – No. 52 California Townhomes, Katipunan Avenue, California Village, Kingsport, San Bartolome, Quezon City / Lot 15, B 3 Greccio Street, St. Francis, San Bartolome, Quezon City / Lot 1, Therester Townhomes, Katipunan Avenue, California Village, Brgy.

San Bartolome, Quezon City / Lot 14, Block 2, Therester Townhomes, Katipunan Avenue, California Village, Brgy. San Bartolome, Quezon City, Mortgagor/s in favor of UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK, Mortgagee/s to satisfy the mortgage debt in the amount of P4,606,421.12 as of December 15, 2017 plust interest, penalties, reimbursements, other obligations and charges that shall still accrue up to the date of the public auction, as well as attorney’s fees, sheriff’s fees and all other necessary expenses that may be incurred or payable in the conduct of foreclosure sale, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City and/or his duly authorized Deputy Sheriff, hereby announces that on MARCH 6, 2018, between the hours of 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at the Office of the Clerk of Court & Ex-Officio Sheriff, Regional Trial Court, Hall of Justice Bldg., Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City, will SELL through public auction to the highest bidder and for cash, in Philippine currency, the following real property/ies with all the improvements existing thereon, to wit:

Taxes, funds key to BBL success

By Macon R. Araneta EFFICIENT tax collection and proper disbursement of people’s money to finance government projects will empower communities and bring to life the autonomy that Bangsamoro people have been fighting for, Senator Sonny Angara said Monday.

Angara underscored the need for these objectives to go hand in hand on the sidelines of the Senate subcommittee hearing on the Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL chaired by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The Senate panel, which Angara formed for Zubiri to lead, is holding hearings among the Mindanao region’s stakeholders

to improve and strengthen the draft BBL. “But there is the time-old saying about taxes being the sinews of the state—the very fibers that hold a state together and enable it to operate,” said Angara.

“They ensure that our roads are paved, that our policemen are well-equipped, that our teachers have chalk and blackboards, that our country is able to run and move towards prosperity,” the chairman of the Senate committee on local government added.

As this developed, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon recommended a provision in the draft BBL that will prohibit political dynasties in the region.

“In the Committee Report, I

will push for the inclusion of a prohibition on political dynasties. I am open to discuss the extent of the prohibition, but the anti-dynasty principle must be embodied in the BBL,” Drilon said.

“The policy of anti-political dynasty must be put across. We should not sweep it under the rug. It is an issue that must be confronted,” he added in the hearing that discussed the proposed measure, which seeks a Bangsamoro region to replace the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The most important function of taxes, Angara explained, is to help local communities realize their dreams and aspirations.

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 004-2016004994 Registry of Deeds-Quezon City Lot No.: 1 Plan NO.: Pcs-00-015147 Portion of: Lots 14-B-2 and 14-B-3, Psd-00-086462; 5975 Location: Barangay of San Bartolome, Quezon City, Metro Manila Boundaries: Line: Direction Adjoining Lot(s) 1-2 SW Lot 14-B-5 (Road Lot), Psd-00-086462 2-3 NW Lot 14-B-1, Psd-00-086462 3-4 NE Lot 12, Block 1, Pcs-5488 4-1 SE Lot 2, Pcs-00-015147 Tie point: LM No. 24, Piedad Estate Line Bearing Distance To corner 1 N. 63 56 W 759.35 m.

1-2 N. 07 31 W 6.12 m.

2-3 N. 82 29 E 7.88 m.

3-4 S. 07 32 E 6.12 m.

4-1 S. 82 29 W 7.88 m.

Area: Forty Eight Square Meters (48), more or less Description of Corners: Points 2 and 3 by old ps.cyl. Conc. Mons. 15 x 60 cm. and the rest by ps cyl.Conc. Mons 15 x 40 cm.

Bearings: true Declination: Date of Original Survey: July 16 to August 22, 1918 Date of subd/cons survey: January 14, 2016 Date of Approved survey: Feb. 10, 2016 Geodetic Engineer: Rommel T. Bautista Notes: All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned at the aforesaid Office on the above stated date and time.

Interested parties are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title/s to the said property/ies and the encumbrances thereon, if there be any.

In the event that public auction should not take place on said date due to fortuitous event or if the same be declared a non-working holiday, it shall be held on MARCH 23, 2018 at the same time and place without further notice.

Quezon City, Metro Manila, JANUARY 23, 2018.

(Sgd.) MANUEL S. PANLASIGUI Sheriff IV (Sgd.) GREGORIO C. TALLUD Clerk of Court VII & Ex-Officio Sheriff WARNING: It is absolutely prohibited to remove, deface or destroy this Notice of Sheriff’s Sale on or before the date of the auction sale under penalty of the law.

Copy Furnished: UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK UCPB Executive Building, Makati Avenue, Makati City ROMEL T. TOLENTINO No. 52 California Townhomes, Katipunan, California Village, Kingsport, San Bartolome, Quezon City Lot 15, B 3 Greccio Street, St. Francis, San Bartolome, Quezon City Lot 1, Therester Townhomes, Katipunan Avenue, California Village, Brgy.

San Bartolome, Quezon City Lot 14, Block 2, Therester Townhomes, Katipunan Avenue, California Village, Brgy. San Bartolome, Quezon City.

(MS-Feb. 6, 12 & 19, 2018)

DONATION. Bureau of Fire Protection Chief Dir. Leonard R. Banago (left) and Ambassador Amable R. Aguiluz V (right), chairman emeritus of the AMA Computer Education System and special envoy of the President to the Gulf Cooperation Council, exchange documents after signing a donation agreement at the BFP headquarters in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

VAT cut ‘an investment in the poor’—Risa THE government must view the proposal to cut the rate of the value added tax as an investment in the poor rather than simply a loss of revenue, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Monday.

The senator said this after the Department of Finance expressed openness to her proposal to reduce the VAT on condition that all exemptions are lifted.

“While I am glad that the DoF is open to the idea of cutting the VAT rate, I am worried that the condition of lifting all VAT exemptions, regardless of its negative impact on the poor, would cancel out whatever benefits a reduced VAT rate would provide our poor people,” Hontiveros said.

“There are many vulnerable sectors that need to be helped and protected like the senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and small and

medium-scale cooperatives,” she added.

The government must view the proposal to cut the VAT rate from a new set of lenses, the senator said.

“Nothing will be thrown away here. It will still go to the people, especially the poor,” she said.

“We are investing in our people, strengthening their purchasing power, and contributing to the effort to redistribute wealth,” Hontiveros explained.

She also downplayed the government's “doomsday scenario” that a lowered VAT would hurt its P8-trillion infrastructure program, as the DoF expects tax reforms to generate billions in revenues.

She said the finance department itself projects P130 billion in revenue gains from the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law or TRAIN, so the scenario being predicted by those who insist on a 12percent VAT is unlikely. Macon Ramos-Araneta

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports Warriors’ co-owner coming to Manila

A7

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Horford buzzer-beater lifts Celts L

OS ANGELES—Al Horford rattled in a fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounded to lift the Boston Celtics to a 97-96 NBA win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.

GOLDEN State Warriors executive chairman and co-owner Peter Guber will be coming to the Philippines ‪on March 20 as the featured speaker in ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel’s Leadership Series at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

The sports mogul, who is also the chairman and CEO of media giant Mandalay Entertainment, will talk in front of the country’s business executives, sports and entertainment industry leaders, and members of the academe about his experiences as an executive and entrepreneur in various industries.

In addition to his ownership of reigning NBA champion the Golden State Warriors, Guber is an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and an owner and executive chairman of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club. He is chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board and an investor in NextVR. Guber is an owner and co-executive Chairman of the new esports ownership group, aXiomatic, which purchased the controlling interest in Team Liquid, one of the most successful global esports franchises.

Guber is also a member of the University of California Board of Regents and has been a professor at UCLA for 40 years.

Prior to founding Mandalay Entertainment, Guber was chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, chairman and CEO of Polygram Entertainment, Co- Founder of Casablanca Record & Filmworks and President of Columbia Pictures. Guber produced or executive produced (personally or through his companies) films that garnered five Best Picture Academy Award nominations (winning for Rain Man) and box office hits that include The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Batman, Flashdance, The Kids Are All Right and Soul Surfer.

“It’s a shot I work on a lot and it felt good when it left my hands,” Horford said.

Horford, Semi Ojeleye and Jayson Tatum scored consecutive three-pointers late in the fourth quarter as the Celtics took the lead with an 11-0 scoring run after trailing 85-79.

Horford said teammate Jaylen Brown was supposed to take the last shot but he was covered.

“That shot epitomizes the work

he puts in,” Brown said. “He embraces those opportunities and steps up to the challenge.”

Horford finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Boston, who won their fourth game in a row.

Tatum had 17 points and Brown scored 16 for the Celtics in front of a crowd of 18,600 at the Boston Garden arena.

Terry Rozier, starting in place of injured guard Kyrie Irving, had 11 points on five-of-18 shooting.

Damian Lillard scored the final eight points for the Blazers, including a three-point play with seven seconds left to give them the lead 96-95.

Lillard finished with 21 points shooting six-of-19 from the field.

C.J. McCollum led the Blazers with 22 points.

“They executed well down the stretch, made some tough shots,” McCollum said. “Credit them for battling back and then down the stretch they seemed to match every basket.”

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said they were going to celebrate the win by watching the New England Patriots battle the Philadel-

phia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.

“Wanted to end the game so we could go watch the Super Bowl,” Stevens said.

Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks breezed past the Brooklyn Nets 109-94 despite missing star Giannis Antetokounmpo who left the game in the final quarter with a sore right ankle.

Eric Bledsoe scored 28 points, John Henson had 19 points and 18 rebounds for the Bucks who stretched their winning streak over the Nets to 10 games.

Antetokounmpo scare Milwaukee led by as many as 28 points at one stage and were in control when Antetokounmpo

Luisita gets familiar with Bacolod courses

Al Horford of the Boston Celtics celebrates the win against the Portland Trail Blazers at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. AFP

DESPITE an intact lineup, Luisita Golf Club is not taking anything to chance as it guns for back-to-back titles in the 32nd Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub golf team tournament in Bacolod City next month.

Except for former pro Eddie Bagtas, Luisita sent all its members to play three rounds in Bacolod two weeks ago, twice at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club (formerly Marapara) and once at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club (Binitin).

The Tarlac-based squad ended the two-year reign of arch rival Canlubang last year in Davao, leading from start to finish for an 11-point victory.

Luisita captain Jeric Hechanova said three of his players have not played both courses, prompting him to bring the team for a quick familiarization tour.

“Hindi tayo nakakasiguro dahil mahirap ang mga courses,” said Hechanova,

Veterans dominate Cebuana Lhuillier netfest’ 1st leg LED by Brent Sigmond Cortes from Lanao del Norte and Cebu City’s pride Marc Nicole Suson, familiar names once again dominated the inaugural leg of the 2018 Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Tennis Championship Series, the country’s longest-running tennis grass-roots developmental program, now on its 12th year.

Cortes, a perennial winner of the series for the past years, emerged the biggest winner in the Group 1 level tournament, as he won both the boys’ 14- and 16-under categories against separate opponents. He

added the 14-under doubles’ title with partner Ashton Benne Villanueva as they beat Andre Sal Eugenio and Alejandro Barrientos, 8-5.

Earlier, he swept Oroquieta City’s Nash Agustines, 7-5, 6-3, for the 14-under crown and followed it up with another straight set 6-1, 6-3 win over Dipolog native Stephen Zion Guia in the 16-under finals.

Suson went home with the 18-under title after beating hard-luck Guia, 6-3, 6-1, in the championship match and then partnered with Cedrix John Bravo as they disposed

of the duo of Lemuel Garbosa and Rheyzel Fren Juaniza, 8-4, for the boys’ 18-under crown in the tournament held at the Citigreen Tennis Resort, backed by Dunlop as the official ball and sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines.

A total of 50 legs are scheduled this year, 30 in the Vis-Min area and 20 in Luzon.

“It is good to see players like Cortes and other veterans who have been growing through the years, getting better and better by winning the older age groups,” said Jean Henri Lhuillier, Presi-

dent/CEO of the sponsoring Cebuana Lhuillier Group.

Other familiar names, who won were Elizabeth Abarquez from Carcar, Cebu as she ruled the girls’ 18-under with a 6-2,62 victory over Pherl Bless Coderos; Rovie Baulete, who emerged champion in the girls’ 16-under following a 6-3, 6-1 win over 14-under champion Tiffany Claire Nocos from Lapu-Lapu City, who beat Corazon Lambonao, 6-1, 6-0; and Heinz Asian Carbonilla from Lanao del Norte, who swept Reyman Saldivar Jjr., 6-1, 6-0, in the

finals of the boys’ 12-under.

New faces who won included Shara Louise Paliwag from Dumaguete City, who defeated another Dumaguete native Daveaine Therese Garan, 6-3, 6-0, for the girls’ 12-under title and two youngsters, Aaron Kevin Tabura from Pardo, who made short work of Garlandson Ardiente, 4-1, 4-0, in the finals of the 10-under unisex category, and David Ezra Sepulveda, also from Pardo who fashioned out a 4-1, 5-3 win over Lapu-Lapu City bet Carlisle Quizon in the 10-under unisex finals.

Malacañang, Senate make semis THE Malacañang-PSC Kamao barged into the semifinals and eliminated the Judiciary Magis following a 79-84 win in the quarterfinals of the UNTV Cup at the Pasig City Sports Center.

The Kamao, who played without team captain Christian Luanzon, were led by their Best Players of the Game Eric Dela Cuesta and Vishnu das Javier to stun the Magis.

“Si Christian pinadala ng PSC sa Abra, may clinic.

Para sa kanya rin itong game na ito. Kahit wala si Chris, ipinakita ng teammates niya ang talagang laban,” said Kamao assistant coach Raffy Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, the Senate Defenders ousted the PNP Responders, 74-66.

twisted his ankle and headed to the bench. He finished with 16 points.

Antetokounmpo said the injury was not a serious one and he wanted to come back in the game but the coaching staff wouldn’t allow it.

“I knew that if the game was close I would definitely be back in,” the All-Star forward said.

Khris Middleton also had 16 points for the Bucks, who improved to 6-1 since firing coach Jason Kidd.

DeMarre Carroll and Caris LeVert each scored 15 for the Nets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. AFP

Games on Sunday

(Pasig City Sports Center) 3 p.m. NHA VS Malacañang-PSC 4:30 p.m. Senate VS AFP

The Responders were in control of the game until the last minute, succumbing to the heroics of Best Player of the Game Garri Sevilla, who recorded 22 points, 5 rebounds and one assist.

Sevilla drew ample support from Jeffrey Sanders, James Ryan Mangaran, Harly Ng and Marlon Legaspi.

Senators Joel Villanueva and Sonny Angara, with their leadership and performance, also contributed to the win.

“Iyon naman talaga ang goal since Day 1 (to reach the semifinals). And we’re just so happy we’re playing really well and I think we finally

figured out among ourselves kung ano ang character ng team, which is we’re not going to win unless we play defense,” Sen. Villanueva said.

Senator Angara added: “Siyempre natutuwa kami na natalo namin ang isang napakagaling na koponan.

Full credit sa PNP dahil for three quarters mukhang sila ang mananalo at hindi madali ang game na iyon.”

The semifinal round kicks off on Sunday at the Pasig City Sports Center, where the NHA Builders, with a twice-to-beat advantage, face the MalacanangPSC Kamao in the first game at 3 p.m.

At 4:30 p.m., the Senate Defenders take on the AFP Senate Defenders’ big men Jeffry Sanders (71) and Marlon Legaspi (14) clamp Cavaliers, who have a down on PNP Responders’ main man Olan Omiping in the UNTV Cup at the Pasig Sports Center. twice-to-beat advantage.

Velez sustains hot tennis start, rules Cagayan de Oro tourney JOHN David Velez posted another two-title feat in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis tournament, including the premier 18-and-under crown, as he shared top honors with Tennielle Madis in the Cagayan de Oro leg at the Nazareth Tennis Club yesterday.

Velez, who opened the new PPS-PEPP season with victories in the 14- and 16-U divisions in

the Fr. Suarez Cup in Bulacan last month, kept the 16-U plum with a 6-2, 6-4 romp over Rupert Tortal. The rising Davaoeño star then held off Christian Llavore, 6-3, 6-4, to nail the 18-U diadem in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Madis, meanwhile, upended top seed Casey Padilla, 6-2, 6-4, to snare the girls’ 12-U diadem then the M’lang, Cotabato find

trounced Angela Buyante, 6-4, 6-1, to claim the 14-U crown in the tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp. and sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines, made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg. “Velez has benefitted much from his regular stints in the circuit and we hope his hard work and determination to improve and excel will inspire the other young

players dreaming of becoming big someday,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Madis actually made it a threetitle feat as she teamed up with Jillian Manangking and edged Jastine Lim and Padilla, 8-5, for the 14-U doubles plum with Christopher Sonsona and Andrei Padao copping the boys’ plum with an 8-5 decision over Cedric Pamplona and RJ Saldivar.

Other winners were Jazelle Madis, also from M’lang, (girls’ 18-U), Rovie Baulete of Iligan City (girls’ 16-U), Padao of Digos City (boys’ 14-U), Cotabato’s Reyman Saldivar (boys’ 12-U), Ivory Malinis of Maramag (10-unisex) and doubles champions Jazelle Madis-Merikislyn Ubayubay (girls’ 18-U), Christian Llavore-Matt Palasan (boys’ 18-U), and Shawn Globasa-Malinis (10-U).

noting that the team struggled during their practice rounds.

“Siguro, a five-over par round should be a good score to aim for,” Hechanova said. “To score 50 points in these courses would be very good.”

Under the Molave scoring system which awards 3 points for par, regulation score is worth 54 points.

Aside from Bagtas, the other returning Luisita players are Rodel Mangulabnan, Raffy Garcia, Edmund Yee, Allan Alegre, Jinky Tuason, Benjie Sumulong and Chito Laureta.

Luisita is the most successful seniors’ team with 16 titles followed by Canlubang with nine.

The seniors event, which is played a week before the regular Interclub, is set March 1-4.

Close to a hundred teams, divided into four divisions, are expected to see action in the fourto-play, three-to-count tournament.

Olivarez tries to keep NCRAA streak going UNDEFEATED Games today Olivarez College (Olivarez College) tries to keep its 10 a.m. -- New Era vs. winning streak Saint Francis 12 n.n. -- PSBA-QC vs. UL going when it 2 p.m. -- TIP vs. Olivarez stakes its 5-0 4 p.m.

-- De Ocampo vs. AIMS mark against the visiting Technological Institute of the Philippines in the continuation of the Sta. Lucia Land-NCRAA basketball tournament at the Olivarez College Gym in Sucat, Parañaque.

In front of their hometown crowd, the Sea Lions will be playing in high spirits when they take on the Engineers at 2 p.m. in hope of securing the top seeding in Group A. Both squads are the best two teams in Group A, but the unpredictability of the Engineers makes them a legitimate threat to the Sea Lions.

New Era University (3-2) hopes to tighten its grip on third place against the on and off Saint Francis of Assisi College (2-2) in the day’s first game at 10 a.m.

The Hunters will try to build on back-to-back wins, keeping them on track in time for their match against the Doves.

Philippine School of Business Administration (2-2) takes on the slumping University of Luzon (1-4) in the next game at 12 noon.

Both the Jaguars and Golden Tigers are expected to pour it all to stay in contention.

Only six teams in each group will advance to the next round.

In the main game, De Ocampo Memorial College (2-2) and winless Asian Institute of Maritime Studies (0-5) go for an important win in the main game at 4 p.m.

The Cobras are also on a two-game winning run and with a top six berth in mind, they want to build on that momentum against the Blue Sharks.

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

A8

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Philadelphia salutes accidental hero Foles

Sports

Patrick Robinson of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates after his team defeated the New England Patriots, 41-33, in Super Bowl LII at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

RSA, Echauz named PSA Executives of Year T

HE Philippine Sportswriters Association honors two distinguished businessmen in recognition of their support in the bid to lift Philippine sports to new heights.

Ramon S. Ang of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. and Ernesto ‘Judes’ Echauz of international financial company Standard Insurance will be the recipients of the Executive of the Year award from the country’s sportswriting community when it holds the PSA-SMC Annual Awards Night three weeks from now.

The formal rites present-

ed by MILO and Cignal TV, is set on Feb. 27 at the Maynila Hall of the Manila Hotel.

As two of the country’s top entrepreneurs, both Ang and Echauz also found a common cause in providing financial and moral support to the campaigns of Filipino athletes and other sporting initiatives.

Besides being the brains behind the successfully

basketball and volleyball franchises playing under the SMC umbrella, Ang is also an ardent supporter of both football and karting.

The SMC president and chief operating officer has also backed such sports as archery, rowing, wushu, athletics, wrestling, karate, traditional boat race, judo, dancesport, boxing, muay thai, baseball, and petanque.

Echauz meanwhile, is the president of the Philippine Sailing Association and owner of multi-titled boat Centennial III. He has long been quietly backing the sports of cy-

cling, duathlon, triathlon under the banner of Standard Insurance, of which he serves as chairman and CEO. Ang and Echauz are in good company as past recipients of the award include the likes of Manny V. Pangilinan, Wilfred Uytengsu, Hans Sy, Dan Palami, Chito Salud, Ricky Vargas, and Philip Ella Juico.

The two prominent businessmen will join the country’s oldest media organization under president Dodo Catacutan of SPIN. ph in toasting Jerwin Ancajas, Krizziah Lyn Tabora,

and Carlo Biado as winners of the PSA-Tapa King Athletes of the Year awards.

Ancajas, Tabora, and Biado lead the long list of athletes and personalities to be recognized during the traditional affair supported by the Philippine Sports Commission as major sponsor and backed by the Philippine Basketball Association, Globalport, Rain or Shine, and Mighty Sports.

Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol serves as special guest of honor and key speaker during the twohour program.

Bowl-winning quarterback not to have a starting spot since Trent Dilfer, who was cut by the Baltimore Ravens after their 2000 Super Bowl win.

The Eagles may now choose to hold onto Foles as insurance in case Wentz does not recover from his injury, or seek to cash in with a trade.

On Sunday however Foles was happy to bask in his success, reflecting on the crowning glory of a career that he almost walked away from two years ago.

“About a couple of years ago, there was a time where I was thinking about hanging up the cleats,” he told reporters.

“And I think as people, we deal with struggles. And that was a moment in my life where I thought about it, and I prayed about it.

“I’m grateful that I made the decision to come back and play.”

Foles’s performance on Sunday even included a touchdown when he turned receiver to collect a looping pass from tight end Trey Burton in a clever trick play, nicknamed a “Philly Special.” AFP

Fernandez eyes 14 sports to focus on

By Peter Atencio HOLDING and organizing open tournaments in around 14 sports events where Asian countries excelled in the recent 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics will be among the goals of the Philippine Sports Commission this year.

Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who has oversight function on the PSC’s programs in the Visayas, said this will one of his priorities in the coming months.

“We are organizing a Visayas Open in many sports.

We are analyzing and looking at the medal tally and results of the Rio Olympics. Tinitingnan naming kung saan sport ang may Asian medallist,” said Fernandez.

In the recent Olympiad, it was noted that Asian athletes excelled and won medals in weightlifting, diving, swimming, shooting, table tennis, judo, gymnastics, canoeing, archery and fencing.

“Iyun ang gusto namin sa programa (for Visayas),” added Fernandez.

He explained that since arnis is a considered a national sport, they will add it to their list of events that will have open tournaments.

Fernandez said they plan to focus on 14 disciplines and will do the open competitions on a quarterly basis.

Meanwhile, more activities of the Children’s Games will also be held in the coming months.

Fernandez said that after they held seven such activities last year in the Visayas region, there will 42 that’s in the pipeline this time around.

Blue Eaglets subdue UP jrs, move 2 wins shy of cage finals

Perpetual eyes elims‘ volley sweep PERPETUAL Help shoots for an elimination-round sweep and an automatic finals berth as it tackles last reigning titlist College of St. Benilde today in the 93rd NCAA men’s volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City.

The Altas posted win No. 8 at the expense of the Letran Knights, 25-20, 25-19, 2522, Friday and another win in their 2 p.m. duel with the Blazers will complete their elimination round sweep while sending them straight to the best-of-three finals.

“Winning the championship has always been our goal every year and we hope to close in on that goal this season,” said Perpetual Help coach and athletic director Sammy Acaylar.

CSB, which is already ensured of a spot in the semifinals with a 6-2 (win-loss) record, however, should pose as real threat to Perpetual Help’s sweep bid as it was almost the same team that beat the latter in last year’s finale.

In the women’s section, Perpetual Help aims for an outright Final Four spot while CSB shoots to remain in the race as the two face off at 12:30 p.m.

The Lady Altas are at No. 3 with a 6-2 card and a triumph will catapult them straight to the Final Four alongside the Arellano University Lady Chiefs and San Beda Lady Red Spikers, who have long advanced to the next round with 8-1 marks.

MINNEAPOLIS—Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles faces an uncertain future despite winning his Super Bowl shoot-out with Tom Brady on Sunday.

Foles, 29, went toe-to-toe with New England Patriots counterpart Brady in a thrilling 41-33 upset victory for the Eagles at the US Bank Stadium.

But in a rare twist of circumstance, MVP Foles is likely to find himself relegated to a back-up role next season when the Eagles’ first choice quarterback Carson Wentz recovers from a knee injury.

Foles, a devoutly religious Texan who plans to be a pastor when he retires from the NFL, was thrust into the starting role when Wentz was injured in December.

After a shaky start, Foles improved steadily, producing a dazzling performance against Minnesota in the playoffs before serving up Sunday’s masterpiece, which included three touchdowns and 373 passing yards.

If he reverts to being a back-up next season, he would be the first Super

LYCEUM WINS. Zark’s Jawbreakers -Lyceum’s JC Marcelino is met be a double team put up by Wangs Basketball-Letran’s Jeo Ambohot and Alexander Mandreza in the 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Pasig City Sports Complex. Zark’s Burger-Lyceum blew a 14-point lead in the third quarter but kept is poise in the stretch to repel a furious rally by Wangs BasketballLetran for a heart-stopping 95-93 win.

ATENEO subdued UP Integrated School, 9075, to move two wins shy of jumping straight to the Finals in the UAAP Season 80 juniors’ basketball tournament Sunday at the Blue Eagle Gym. The Blue Eaglets thwarted a late Junior Maroons’ fightback from a 27-point hole in the payoff period to stretch their perfect run to 12 games.

SJ Belangel came through with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Kai Sotto had a double-double outing of 16 points and 13 rebounds for Ateneo.

National University secured the remaining twice-to-beat semifinals incentive by dismantling University of the East, 83-64.

Rhayyan Amsali had 13 points and 11 boards as the Bullpups led from wire-to-wire to chalk up their 10th win in 12 contests.

In other games, defending champion Far Eastern University-Diliman escaped with the 8786 win over De La SalleZobel, while Adamson University kept University of Santo Tomas winless in the second round with a 91-74 rout.

The Baby Tamaraws

boosted their semis hopes alive at 7-5, while the Baby Falcons moved in a tie with the free-falling Tiger Cubs at No. 4 with a 6-6 card.

RJ Abarrientos finished with 27 points and five assists while LJ Gonzales added 24 points, four rebounds and two assists for FEUDiliman.

Andrey Doria and Jose Sabandal combined for 42 points as Adamson University handed UST its fifth straight defeat.

The Junior Archers and the Junior Maroons dropped at 3-9, while the Junior Warriors sank deeper with a 1-11 slate.

Super Bowl ads play up American values WASHINGTON—Advertisers tried to play up American values and not fumble the ball during Sunday’s Super Bowl, yet one waded into controversy by using the voice of the late Martin Luther King.

In the biggest US television advertising event of the year, most spots featured humor, celebrities and a feel-good message, steering clear of a politically divisive environment.

A surprise came with the words of slain civil rights leader King in an ad for Dodge Ram, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, where he is heard saying, “We recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be the servant.”

The “Built to Ser ve” ad drawing on a sermon by King

sought to highlight community service but it sparked an outcry over the use of King’s legacy.

“You took a very powerful moment in time and you tried to reappropriate that for the message of selling cars,” said Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Northwestern University who works on a Super Bowl ad rating project and who called the ad “a mistake.”

On Twitter, one user said, “Who knew MLK was talking about a Dodge Ram? Here I thought he was talking about equality.”

Historian Michael Beschloss tweeted, “Martin Luther King also advised people not to spend too much money on their cars.”

The King Center, which main-

tains archives of the civil rights leader, said in a tweet that neither the center nor King’s daughter Bernice had approved the use of the sermon for commercial purposes.

But a statement by the manager of King’s estate, Eric Tidwell, said the use was authorized to recognize the “Ram Nation volunteers and their efforts” in public service.

“We found that the overall message of the ad embodied Dr. King’s philosophy that true greatness is achieved by serving others,” Tidwell said in an email.

Unifying themes Many of the Super Bowl ads sought to focus on social themes without being political.

Budweiser promoted its canned

water for disaster relief, Toyota showcased the Paralympics and TMobile showed babies of various races in a message about equality.

Charles Taylor, a Villanova University marketing professor who studies super Bowl ads, said he estimated nearly one in four ads mentioned a “unifying social theme,” a far higher percentage than in the past.

Taylor said Toyota “was a clear winner with its ads focused on unity and social values” by telling the story of Paralympic medalist Lauren Woolstencroft, who was born without legs below the knee.

On the humorous side, Taylor said the “fire and ice” spot with Morgan Freeman and “Game of Thrones”

star Peter Dinklage for Mountain Dew and Doritos also appeared to score well.

“Everyone seemed to love that,” he said.

Risky plays avoided Funny ads were plentiful: Actor Danny DeVito sprung to life as an M&M, and NFL stars Eli Manning and Odell Beckham gave an awkward reprise of a scene from the film “Dirty Dancing” in a promotion for the sport.

But marketers appeared to steer clear of politics or overt sexuality, given a divisive atmosphere in politics and the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

“This was a relatively safe year for advertising,” said Rucker. AFP

Megaworld opens P2.2-b Iloilo regional mall in April

B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

B

Investment pledges jump 541% IN BRIEF

By Othel V. Campos

I

NVESTMENT pledges surged 541 percent in January to P51.3 billion from P8 billion in the same month last year, the Board of Investments said Monday.

Globe to hit broadband goal by 2020 GLOBE Telecom Inc. said it is on track to meet its goal to roll out two million broadband lines by 2020 in line with its commitment of creating an internet superhighway.

Globe senior vice president Joel Agustin said total deployment using various broadband technologies reached more than one million lines since 2016.

The company’s bid to deploy 2 million broadband lines by 2020 is expected to redefine home broadband experience for Filipinos amid growing customer demand for bandwidth-intensive multimedia content.

On top of expanding coverage and enhancing capacities for mobile, Globe is also determined on developing its wired broadband coverage in a bid to enhance customers’ quality of experience.

In terms of wired broadband facilities, Globe has deployed fiber broadband in 12 cities in Metro Manila as well as in 19 provinces nationwide. Majority of the company’s fiber build are located in Quezon City, Sta. Rosa and Calamba in Laguna as well as in Cebu and Davao.

Darwin G. Amojelar

AirAsia PH inaugurates 3 new flights THE Philippine unit of Southeast Asia’s largest budget airline inaugurated flights from Clark International Airport to Iloilo City, Tacloban and Puerto Princesa.

“Our commitment is to better connect Clark to secondary cities within the Philippines like Iloilo, Tacloban and Puerto Princesa to Asean region where the AirAsia Group has unparalleled and widest connectivity, and to destinations across in Northeast Asia, Australasia, the Middle East and the United States,” Air Asia Philippines chief pilot for training and standards Darren Acorda said.

AirAsia is offering promo fares from as low as P1,066 all-in until February 18 for travel period between now and July 31, 2018.

The airline also flies to Davao, Kalibo, and Caticlan from Clark I using Airbus 320s that can accommodate up to 180 passengers.

AirAsia also plans to add international flights from Clark International Airport to Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Japan this year.

The airline earlier said it was expecting revenues to reach P12 billion this year and about P15.6 billion in 2018. Darwin G. Amojelar

Philam Life gets LOMA recognition PHILAM Life, the country’s premier life insurance company, was recently honored with the 2017 Excellence in Education Award by Life Office Management Association, or LOMA, for demonstrating exemplary performance in training insurance professionals. An organization with 1,200 member-companies, LOMA recognized the top 66 members for its 15th awards ceremony.

For nearly a century, LOMA has been the trusted source of knowledge for the insurance industry as it provides globally-recognized educational resources and products geared towards talent development. The Excellence in Education Award is given to organizations that have performed outstandingly in LOMA’s professional designation programs.

To qualify for the award, the winning member-company must have completed a minimum of 50 designation program courses with exceptional percentage rates, and must have shown a growth in successful completions of 5 percent or more versus the previous calendar year.

INVESTMENT PROMOTION. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. and equity affiliate Security Bank Corp. sign a memorandum of understanding with the Board of Investments to to promote investments in the Philippines. Signing the agreement are (seated, from left) MUFG Manila Branch general manager Tatsuto Ishida, Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo and Security Bank president Alfonso Salcedo Jr. With them are (standing, from left) MUFG senior vice president Keisuke Tsumura, BoI director of international investments promotion service Angelica Cayas and Security Bank senior vice president Hiroshi Masaki.

Security Bank’s net profit hits record P10.3b

By Julito G. Rada

SECURITY Bank Corp., the fifth-largest lender in terms of assets, said Monday net income in 2017 jumped 20 percent to a record P10.3 billion from a year ago, driven by the sustained growth of core businesses.

The bank said in a statement the 2017 performance was driven by a 22-percent or P3.5-billion increase in net interest income to P19.4 billion and a 15-percent growth in non-interest income to P5.7 billion.

Trading gains jumped

36 percent to P2.4 billion, while service charges, fees and commission income reached rose 3 percent to P2.2 billion. Revenues increased 20 percent to P25.1 billion.

Security Bank said in the fourth quarter alone, net income climbed 49 percent year-on-year to P2.9 billion, led by a 16-percent growth in net interest income to P5 billion and gain on sale of securities of P1.3 billion.

Loans increased 28 percent to P369 billion.

Wholesale loans grew 25 percent, of which corporate loan growth was 25 percent

and middle-market loan growth was 24 percent.

“Consumer loans continued with its trajectory, growing 49 percent. Consumer loans account for 16 percent of total loans, up from 13 percent in 2016.

Deposits grew 19 percent, with low-cost deposits growing 18 percent. Net interest margin improved to 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 from 3.2 percent of previous quarter and 3.1 percent a year ago,” the bank said.

Asset quality remained healthy with net non-performing loan ratio at 0.02

percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, an improvement from 0.11 percent in the third quarter.

Provision for credit losses during the year was P656 million. NPL reserve cover increased to 239 percent at year-end from 220 percent in the previous quarter.

Operating expense growth, excluding provisions for credit and impairment losses, was 19 percent due to higher gross receipts taxes, a 14-percent growth in manpower cost and a 48-percent increase in depreciation, amortization and software costs.

“This reflects the strong confidence on the government and all the positive reforms and programs being undertaken that created a sustainable growth momentum moving forward.

This is the economic breakout we have been working for,” said Trade Secretary and BoI chairman Ramon Lopez.

Renewable energy projects represented the bulk of investments in January with P27.43 billion, followed by water supply and distribution with P13.87 billion.

Manufacturing investments amounted to P37.29 million and the balance were from other sectors such as housing and infrastructure.

The biggest project approved last month was the P13.3-billion bulk water supply of Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. in Davao City.

Other notable projects were the three solar facilities of Solar Philippines Commercial Rooftop Projects Inc., including two in Cavite and another in Nueva Ecija, with a combined cost of P25.9 billion.

The renewable energy projects will have a total power capacity of 587 megawatts once they become operational.

Meanwhile, Cleangreen Energy Corp. is also con-

structing a 12-MW biomass energy plant worth P1.5 billion in Bulacan.

Low-cost housing developer 8990 Housing Development Corp. is building a P2.2-billion project in Bulacan, while Eisberg Cold Logistics is putting up a P1.4-billion integrated cold chain facility in Caloocan City.

Most of the investment projects will be constructed in the provinces. Cavite was the top recipient of projects with six amounting to P17.9 billion while Davao City placed second with two projects worth a combined P13.6 billion.

Nueva Ecija with its sole P8.6-billion solar project was third.

Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo expressed confidence that the agency could achieve its year-end target of P680 billion, a 10 percent growth over last year’s unprecedented investments pledges.

Investment projects approved by BoI for tax incentives in 2017 reached a record P617 billion, up by 39.5 percent from P442 billion recorded in 2016.

Power and energy projects represented the bulk of 2017 approvals at P268.168 billion, followed by infrastructure and public-private partnership projects at P127.66 billion.

BPI’s income increased 1.7% to P22.4b in 2017

BANK of the Philippine Islands, the country’s fourthlargest lender, said Monday net income in 2017 rose 1.7 percent to P22.42 billion from a year ago.

BPI said in a statement that excluding one-off gains from the sale of securities in 2016, net income was up 31.3 percent.

The bank said net income in the fourth quarter jumped 14.9 percent to P5.37 billion from P4.67 billion a year earlier.

“We come out of 2017 stronger than ever,” BPI president and chief executive Cezar Consing said in a statement.

“While the bank has grown significantly in the past several years, we intend to continue to invest in people, technology and branches to support and benefit from a surging Philippine economy,” he said.

Total revenues increased 6.7 percent to P71.02 billion, as net interest income climbed 13.4 percent to P48.04 billion as a result of asset growth and improvement in net interest margin.

Non-interest income dipped 4.9 percent to P22.98 billion, in the absence of one-off trading gains in the previous year.

Cost-to-income ratio stood at 54.3 percent, slightly higher than 52.5 percent a year ago, helped by digitalization initiatives. Julito G. Rada

AXA’S MANILA HUB. Paris-based global insurer launches two shared service hubs – one in Manila and another in Kuala Lumpur– to help fulfill the company’s future-ready business strategy in the region. Shown during the launching of Shared Services Centre in Manila are (second row, from left) Axa Group chief operating officer Astrid Stange and Axa chief executive for Asian markets Gordon Watson, with (front row, from left) AXA Corporate Solutions executive chairman Doina Palici-Chehab, group chief information officer Dirk Marzluf, Axa Shared Services Centre Philippines and Malaysia chief executive Marc Blottiere, Ambassador of the French Republic to the Philippines Nicolas Galey, Axa Philippines president and chief executive Rahul Hora and Philippine Economic Zone Authority deputy director-general Mary Harriet Abordo.

Singapore bank expects BSP to raise interest rates DBS Bank of Singapore said Monday it expects the policy-setting Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise the benchmark interest rates in its meeting Thursday to control the accelerating inflation rate.

DBS said in a report inflation in January likely accelerated to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent in December 2017.

“Comments by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor last week may be prepping the market for a potential rate hike in the coming months. We expect the BSP to raise rates by 50 bps this week, if not, at the March policy meeting,” Gundy Cahyadi, economist of the DBS Group research,

said.

“CPI inflation is likely to have ticked up to 3.4 percent [YoY] in January. Inflationary pressures remain tilted towards the upside, given that we have yet to see the full impact of the tax reforms,” he said.

The board is set to conduct its first policy meeting in 2018 on Feb. 8.

Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said last week the first-round effects of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law might be transitory but monetary authorities were carefully assessing the next-round effects of the tax reform program on consumer prices.

“These considerations

will be at the center of the coming policy discussions.

The ability to meet the inflation target comfortably and mitigating the upside risks is very important to the BSP,” the governor said.

Espenilla, however, said the high reserve requirement ratio in the country was “highly burdensome,” and monetary authorities were eyeing to reduce it to a single-digit level in the future.

The reserve requirement ratio is the portion of depositors’ balances that banks are safekeeping with the BSP in the form of cash or other liquid assets.

The reserve requirement ratio currently stands at 20 percent, one of the highest RRR in the region.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng also said inflation in January likely accelerated to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent in December, a trend that if sustained going forward could compel the Bangko Sentral to raise interest rates as early as March.

Bangko Sentral earlier said January inflation could settle within the 3.5 percent to 4 percent range for the month.

“The increase in the prices of domestic petroleum product on account of higher global crude oil prices along with higher food prices due to weatherrelated disturbances could contribute to the rise in inflation for January 2018,” it said. Julito G. Rada

NTC collection topped 2017 target by P500m to hit P4.8b THE National Telecommunications Commission, an agency under the Department of Information and Communications Technology, exceeded by nearly half-abillion pesos its 2017 collection target, when it raised P4.803 billion.

This was the second straight year under the Duterte administration that the NTC surpassed its collection target, which was set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee composed of the Department of Budget Management, the Department of Finance and the National Economic Development Authority.

The NTC also exceeded its target collection by almost P300 million in 2016.

NTC commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba attributed the P500-million increase in actual collection to concerted efforts to strictly enforce compliance by stakeholders in remitting spectrum users’ fees, supervision and regulation fees and penalties.

Stakeholders regulated by the NTC include cable and commercial television operators, broadcast radio stations, telecommunications companies and two-way radio operators.

“The NTC management will continue rallying the agency to achieve the same results for 2018,” Cordoba said.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

PH, Asian stock markets tumble

T

HE stock market plunged after US stocks were pummeled at the end of last week, with traders fretting that a surging US economy will lead to sharp interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 194.75 points, or 2.2 percent, to 8,616 on a value turnover of P8.5 billion. Losers routed gainers, 170 to 33, with 38 issues unchanged.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has investments in toll roads, water and electricity distribution, and hospitals dropped 5.1 percent to P6.13, while SM Prime Holdings Inc. of retail tycoon Henry Sy lost 4.6 percent to P35.25.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, dropped 4.1 percent to P282, while JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei fell 3.8 percent to P74.50.

Most Asian also markets on Wall Street’s crash and also on profit-taking after a blis-

tering January that saw several indexes strike record or multi-year highs, while energy firms were hit by a drop in oil prices.

Fresh turmoil in Washington after Donald Trump approved the declassification of a controversial memo linked to the FBI’s Russia probe also caused a stir.

In New York on Friday, the Dow plunged more than two percent after the release of a healthy January jobs report that showed the biggest increase in wages in nine years.

The news sent benchmark 10-year Treasury yields—a key guide to interest rates globally—to fresh four-year highs and raised concerns that monetary policy will tighten more than thought.

Equity markets were already in negative territory last week owing to rising bond yields and profit-taking.

The losses seeped through to Asia this week.

Tokyo ended 2.6 percent lower, while Hong Kong sank more than one percent in the afternoon and Sydney closed down 1.6 percent.

Seoul lost 1.3 percent, Singapore dropped 1.2 percent and Taipei shed 1.6 two percent, with Jakarta and Wellington also suffering in the heaviest blood-letting in the region this year.

However, Shanghai recovered to end 0.7 percent higher.

“It’s going to be a nervous start to the week for traders across all markets as they wonder if last week’s reversal in US stocks and the ugly close Friday... is likely the start of something bigger,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.

The rise in bond yields, fueled by a surging US economy and corporate earnings, has spooked traders worried that the Federal Reserve will raise borrowing costs more than the three times initially expected this year.

“When interest rates rise, it makes equities look less attractive to fixed-income investors, but also it chokes off economic growth,” said Rich Weiss, chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager of multi-asset strategies at American Century Investments. With AFP

Megaworld opens P2.2-b Iloilo regional mall in April

By Jenniffer B. Austria MEGAWORLD Corp., the biggest lessor of office spaces, will open a P2.2-billion regional mall within the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in April.

Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Festive Walk Mall in Iloilo Cyity would occupy 9,000 square meters of gross floor area, anchored by its own supermarket, department and home essentials stores, toy outlet and a food hall.

Festive Walk Mall’s main mall will be connected to a mall annex that will also be linked to the 1.1-kilo-

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 3.47 404,000 59.5 13,450 121.8 1,154,330 3.7 136,000 150.5 5,049,530 1.84 319,000 35.85 233,100 9.02 63,100 15.5 1,700 28.5 628,200 10.58 131,700 1.67 11,000 1,000 10 0.53 153,000 97.2 2,551,290 1.47 17,826,000 13.3 105,100 57.7 16,180 238.4 4,320 104.1 300 88.25 240 49.7 160,000 238 703,910 91 43,160 1.22 642,000

1,380,090 797,216 138,098,239 503,400 760,347,711 588,420 8,308,635 569,316 26,270 17,981,580 1,443,154 18,430 10,000 81,530 248,067,520 27,260,470 1,397,980 925,715.50 1,033,892 31,230 21,182.50 7,985,443.50 167,723,586 3,926,615 783,930

791,300 -46,341,106 -177,317,490 -1,089,965 545,410 -24,118,260.50 143,650 -59,850 42,849.50 277,209.50 -158,338,570 2,722,624.50 -

40.2 12.64 0.62 1.3 19 0.222 113.5 4.24 15.4 49.05 18.8 58 1.9 5.5 10.5 11.16 14.6 11.5 7.72 5.62 15.7 60.8 28.8 10.08 20 1.8 282 49.65 4.1 27.8 17.9 20.4 324.8 0.192 8.5 2.8 4.9 9.5 6.5 8.2 1.64 12.36 59.85 612 4.88 3.45 1.57 15 5.35 0.13 1.09 154.3 2.85 1.98 0.84

INDUSTRIAL 40.4 1,096,000 12.8 1,284,900 0.62 146,000 1.31 152,000 19.96 28,900 0.225 4,710,000 113.5 40 4.28 4,216,000 15.5 1,054,200 51 464,250 18.8 5,900 58 650 1.9 175,000 5.55 4,000 10.5 172,800 11.46 4,982,300 14.7 250,800 11.7 1,127,400 7.78 485,100 5.62 8,651,400 16 1,968,600 61.15 169,300 29 434,100 10.1 69,300 20.4 3,961,300 1.82 556,000 282 742,600 49.65 110 4.18 9,000 27.85 581,000 17.98 327,000 21 1,459,000 327 359,020 0.199 240,000 8.5 64,400 2.85 8,008,000 4.9 16,000 9.65 2,600,200 6.79 306,100 8.2 10,100 1.64 135,000 12.36 273,300 60.5 244,260 625 42,770 4.9 4,369,000 3.52 31,000 1.63 469,000 15.22 366,400 5.35 807,200 0.13 1,440,000 1.1 106,000 157 1,716,860 2.85 6,000 2 6,929,000 0.84 165,000

44,316,005 16,414,236 91,170 197,620 570,644 1,054,660 4,540 18,122,620 16,338,584 23,553,234 110,920 38,709 334,560 22,150 1,816,432 56,554,548 3,676,972 13,248,058 3,790,756 48,875,653 31,118,716 10,424,791 12,647,600 702,280 81,760,320 1,009,410 211,043,346 6,051.50 37,400 16,191,125 5,875,592 30,510,305 117,323,016 46,220 547,455 22,849,150 78,850 24,894,714 2,070,230 82,829 224,990 3,414,766 14,801,384 26,765,885 21,405,890 108,220 746,400 5,547,160 4,345,867 187,610 116,170 269,015,840 17,200 13,989,450 138,600

-29,580,480 -4,032,296 2,600 -1,974.00 -53,520 -8,020,810 6,313,324 1,893,086 -21,785,092 1,153,746 -3,624,996 -145,474 17,556,520 -10,438,912 2,062,798.50 285,750 -6,060 -8,965,265 -41,903,130 -11,588,690 104,558 -1,490,485 -57,488,136 1,554,500 -3,834,216 102,220 -1,989,932 -2,441,595.50 830,705 18,487,480.00 -135,370 1,049,954 6,028 -129,794,350 11,400 241,830 -

0.305 75.05 15.58 0.96 7 0.62 0.63 1,034 7.54 14.14 7.5 4.55 0.185 1,338 76.9 5.97 5.36 5.38 0.75 5.56 23.1 6.4 0.043 1.27 2.67 2.62 150 1,005 1.74 283 0.242

0.3 73.5 15.02 0.92 6.9 0.52 0.54 1,020 7.45 13.82 7.4 4.55 0.185 1,302 74.3 5.4 5.35 5.38 0.71 5.48 21.75 6.12 0.041 1.19 2.51 2.51 142 983 1.62 279 0.24

HOLDING FIRMS 0.305 640,000 75 1,075,440 15.48 16,758,000 0.96 60,000 7 1,400 0.55 109,954,000 0.57 23,254,000 1,030 556,715 7.45 2,573,100 13.84 7,163,500 7.42 213,500 4.55 500 0.185 60,000 1,303 125,480 74.5 3,120,510 5.4 8,600 5.35 200 5.38 900 0.71 1,048,000 5.5 684,900 23 1,920,100 6.13 36,745,000 0.042 20,000,000 1.2 533,000 2.58 4,072,000 2.51 20,000 147.5 691,360 1,005 499,545 1.62 1,416,000 279 1,780 0.242 210,000

194,650 80,094,852.50 257,771,300 55,510 9,710 63,597,650 13,673,440 573,693,955 19,179,948 99,654,222 1,584,859 2,275 11,100 164,194,645 233,198,590.50 51,220 1,071 4,842 755,730 3,771,333 43,600,180 227,273,643 858,600 649,860 10,507,630 51,300 101,950,771 499,248,235 2,341,340 497,690 50,780

-58,138,403.50 -21,405,188 1,556,460 -22,760,595 11,613,444 -64,242,604 -84,544 -105,990,500 -65,180,156 440,432 -9,710,325 -146,624,490 197,070 -19,143,384 -252,174,520 -8,400 8,250 -

6.35 0.95 17 2.17 0.9 45.25 3.75 4.74 5.9 0.47 1.14 1.1 0.247 0.45 39.7 0.68 1.87 1.39 0.78 4.94 0.325 0.335 0.55 4.73

6 0.93 15.5 2.14 0.88 44.5 3.64 4.6 5.8 0.46 1.11 1.09 0.237 0.45 37.5 0.64 1.83 1.36 0.75 4.72 0.315 0.33 0.54 4.5

24,260,785 1,706,770 2,117,316 367,830 1,567,820 607,512,590 6,303,700 4,044,210 1,150,037 2,329,000 74,240 63,230 4,230,090 22,500 23,844,060 591,890 48,681,540 981,890 18,410 146,052,750 9,774,500 199,700 876,460 2,232,530

-19,910,813 -17,670 11,815,980 -988,560 553,010 130,758 -593,350 7,140 18,000 506,160 -280,180 3,211,430 -5,480 -2,650,240 241,200 59,400 -540 -49,490

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

3.47 59.5 117.8 3.7 152.2 1.85 36 9.08 15.5 29 12 1.69 1,000 0.53 98 1.5 13.4 57.7 240 104.1 88.5 51 242 91 1.27

3.65 59.5 121.8 3.71 152.2 1.88 36 9.08 15.5 29 12 1.69 1,000 0.55 98 1.65 13.4 57.7 241 104.1 88.5 51 242 91.45 1.27

3.33 59 115.2 3.7 149.9 1.84 35.3 9.02 15.4 28.4 10 1.67 1,000 0.53 96.9 1.41 13.3 57 238 104.1 88.25 49.65 235 90.5 1.22

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

40.9 12.8 0.62 1.3 19.74 0.23 113.5 4.47 15.74 50.1 18.8 59.85 1.93 5.5 10.52 11.74 14.8 12.24 7.9 5.68 15.9 62.95 29.7 10.3 21 1.81 290 55.55 4.1 28 18.18 21.1 331.2 0.192 8.5 2.8 4.96 9.8 6.65 8.29 1.68 12.7 61.6 630 4.95 3.5 1.59 15.42 5.59 0.133 1.11 161 2.95 2 0.84

40.9 12.84 0.63 1.31 20 0.23 113.5 4.47 15.74 51.15 18.8 59.85 1.93 5.55 10.58 11.74 14.8 12.24 7.9 5.7 16 63.05 29.7 10.3 21 1.86 290 55.55 4.18 28.35 18.18 21.2 331.4 0.199 9.05 2.9 4.96 9.8 7 8.29 1.68 12.98 61.6 630 4.95 3.52 1.63 15.42 5.59 0.133 1.11 161 2.95 2.06 0.84

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG KEPPEL HLDG A KEPPEL HLDG B LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG

0.305 75.05 15.3 0.93 6.9 0.55 0.57 1,034 7.5 14.14 7.5 4.55 0.185 1,338 76.5 5.97 5.36 5.38 0.74 5.55 23.1 6.4 0.043 1.27 2.64 2.62 150 1,000 1.62 283 0.24

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

6.06 0.93 16.28 2.16 0.9 45 3.75 4.74 5.89 0.465 1.14 1.09 0.238 0.45 39 0.67 1.87 1.39 0.75 4.94 0.325 0.335 0.54 4.69

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

41.75 21 2 3.26 36 1.01 19.12 0.84 6.7

41.75 21 2.02 3.26 36 1.03 20.45 0.84 6.7

37 20.4 1.97 3.23 35.25 1.01 17.46 0.84 6.36

37 20.7 2 3.24 35.25 1.03 17.6 0.84 6.44

2,300 969,700 666,000 188,000 17,071,800 549,000 792,600 5,000 9,919,800

90,485 19,984,995 1,318,460 609,240 605,574,670 554,510 14,491,403 4,200 64,081,441

-9,204,545 615,860 -9,690 -334,734,135.00 -529,240 9,212 -26,702,594

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA 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

19.6 33 1.37 0.45 0.047 11.64 11.98 0.068 100.9 8.62 9.11 8.66 2.78 52 1,890 5.92 180 5.48 2.83 108.6 13.28 8.31 0.146 1.64 3.36 15.5 4.1 1.15 23.5 4.9 8.6 3.69 18.4 5.7 10.18 3.23 8.21 109.8 6.86 1,530 1.22 0.365 52.85 96.9 6.4 3.08 1.51 0.61 3.85 0.94 9.5

19.6 33 1.37 0.45 0.047 11.64 12.12 0.068 101 8.8 9.16 8.66 2.78 68 1,890 5.94 195 5.72 2.99 109.5 13.28 8.31 0.146 1.65 3.36 15.5 4.1 1.15 23.6 4.92 8.73 3.69 18.5 5.72 10.3 3.3 8.54 110 6.91 1,555 1.23 0.365 52.85 96.9 6.4 3.08 1.51 0.67 3.85 0.96 9.95

19 32.65 1.35 0.43 0.045 11.64 11.86 0.068 98.8 8.62 8.98 8.3 2.64 49.6 1,820 5.89 147 5.38 2.83 106.8 13.28 8.29 0.142 1.57 3.36 15.4 4.02 1.08 22.5 4.63 8.25 3.58 18.4 5.3 10.02 2.91 8.2 103.6 6.8 1,510 1.17 0.345 51 94.4 5.85 3 1.46 0.59 3.65 0.94 9.24

SERVICES 19.2 32.95 1.35 0.44 0.045 11.64 11.98 0.068 98.9 8.8 9.02 8.5 2.65 67.5 1,842 5.92 172 5.51 2.99 109.5 13.28 8.29 0.142 1.6 3.36 15.4 4.05 1.09 23.3 4.7 8.7 3.6 18.5 5.45 10.1 2.92 8.54 103.6 6.85 1,545 1.18 0.35 52.5 96 5.98 3 1.48 0.62 3.75 0.96 9.95

201,500 17,200 38,000 1,720,000 51,400,000 5,100 8,569,600 5,200,000 314,520 50,400 1,299,300 33,600 50,000 1,604,700 45,695 481,300 532,620 13,269,900 44,000 1,343,710 600 21,000 6,780,000 1,186,000 1,000 500 325,000 530,000 2,566,200 479,000 3,717,100 1,426,000 400 17,553,900 11,000 41,000 21,400 84,840 308,900 187,215 3,292,000 620,000 567,770 493,390 1,851,300 2,109,000 3,223,000 211,754,000 1,543,000 5,219,000 7,554,200

3,876,054 566,630 51,380 749,950 2,329,100 59,364 102,659,294 353,600 31,319,051.50 443,466 11,727,427 282,420 132,330 95,639,045 84,169,860 2,842,307 93,569,689 73,324,324 130,050 144,800,029 7,968 174,165 973,730 1,897,750 3,360 7,740 1,314,490 578,760 59,782,715 2,280,590 31,520,314 5,143,340 7,370 95,831,287 112,002 126,920 176,202 9,313,433 2,115,858 287,915,550 3,956,210 214,400 29,560,496.50 47,122,844.50 11,106,582 6,349,770 4,781,030 134,318,160 5,739,200 4,969,660 73,375,851

9,410 174,800 33,426,356 5,552,880 1,803 29,150 -70,670 -49,445,130 -1,027,989 -241,877 -75,717,762 132,560.00 75,600 38,023,240 4,851,444 30 2,914,823 156,882 535,920 -6,217,670 -1,174,400 -9,613,826.50 -23,476,865.50 669,000 1,451,510 -8,883,130 320,090 12,846,287

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

0.0024 1.53 5 13.18 1.61 0.325 7.36 2.56 0.19 0.153 0.16 0.0095 1.64 6.79 1.42 0.92 0.012 0.012 0.012 2.16 6.94 8.98 37.45 0.0068

0.0025 1.53 5 13.28 1.61 0.325 7.5 2.56 0.192 0.154 0.161 0.0095 1.68 6.79 1.43 0.92 0.012 0.012 0.012 2.16 7.04 9.14 37.45 0.0068

0.0023 1.5 4.8 13.18 1.6 0.31 7.23 2.49 0.189 0.153 0.157 0.0093 1.58 6.55 1.32 0.91 0.012 0.012 0.011 2.15 6.79 8.53 36.95 0.0068

MINING & OIL 0.0025 223,000,000 1.5 1,988,000 4.84 61,300 13.18 2,300 1.61 285,000 0.32 2,550,000 7.5 4,900 2.54 1,299,000 0.192 470,000 0.153 4,460,000 0.157 1,070,000 0.0093 3,000,000 1.58 1,349,000 6.57 2,419,500 1.37 181,000 0.91 296,000 0.012 1,400,000 0.012 600,000 0.012 20,400,000 2.15 93,000 6.8 247,300 8.53 5,408,200 37 1,267,200 0.0068 1,000,000

547,000 3,009,190 299,981 30,344 458,190 804,400 35,594 3,264,040 89,240 682,550 169,000 28,300 2,167,160 16,005,256 247,100 269,710 16,800 7,200 238,600 200,070 1,702,660 47,328,895 46,992,560 6,800

4,800 -10,143 160,460 -241,687 41,400 8,190 117,768 363,560 -8,678,340 6,800

ALCO PREF B DD PREF GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A LR PREF PF PREF 2 SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

109 104 5.79 1,010 101.5 1.04 1,003 76.5 81 77 81 78 78 78.2

109 104.1 5.79 1,010 101.9 1.04 1,003 76.6 81 77 81 78 78 78.2

109 104 5.79 1,010 101.5 1.03 1,002 76.5 81 76.7 81 78 78 78.2

PREFERRED 109 280 104.1 1,830 5.79 30,800 1,010 400 101.5 40,260 1.03 2,721,000 1,002 905 76.5 17,000 81 78,780 76.7 13,160 81 7,260 78 11,300 78 10,000 78.2 50

30,520 190,420 178,332 404,000 4,086,546 2,829,240 906,820 1,300,650 6,381,180 1,010,852 588,060 881,400 780,000 3,910

62,532 -1,136,790 -3,910

LR WARRANT

2.5

2.5

2.39

WARRANTS 2.39 174,000

418,510

-

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

8.1 3.06 4.35 4.25

8.15 3.06 5.18 4.27

7.54 3.06 4.18 4.05

7.58 3.06 4.76 4.07

17,170,822 21,420 16,185,770 5,586,930

71,895 18,000 -1,077,560

FIRST METRO ETF

133

133

130

10,507,061

106,060

USD DMPL A1 USD TECH B2

10.22 1.03

10.22 1.03

10.2 1.01

25,501.20 3,039.60

-

MS

PROPERTY 6.27 0.94 17 2.14 0.9 44.8 3.65 4.71 5.89 0.46 1.13 1.09 0.246 0.45 38 0.64 1.83 1.36 0.78 4.85 0.315 0.33 0.54 4.53

3,973,000 1,833,000 130,100 171,000 1,771,000 13,541,500 1,716,000 872,000 196,100 5,050,000 66,000 58,000 17,600,000 50,000 616,700 894,000 26,336,000 715,000 24,000 30,407,000 30,620,000 600,000 1,623,000 485,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

30,822,729

INDUSTRIAL

68,721,615

HOLDING FIRMS

235,687,298

PROPERTY

189,699,372

SERVICES

363,411,460

MINING & OIL

272,873,797

GRAND TOTAL

1,168,314,413

SME

2,235,700 7,000 3,409,000 1,349,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 130.8 80,240 10.2 1.01

DDS

2,500 3,000

VALUE 2,204.08 (down) 19.47 1,435,889,505.44 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,572.00 (down) 319.59 1,201,939,278.48 HOLDING FIRMS 8,787.27 (down) 220.49 2,491,784,846.21 PROPERTY 3,868.68 (down) 125.21 1,697.27 (down) 20.84 1,657,649,554.105 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,766.09 (down) 316.96 1,544,419,167.30 PSEI 8,616.00 (down) 194.75 124,617,347.749 All Shares Index 5,070.42 (down) 111.40 8,505,871,808.06 Gainers: 33; Losers: 170; Unchanged: 38; Total: 241

meter Festive Walk Parade through elevated walkways and bridges.

“We are excited to bring our lifestyle mall concept to Iloilo—our first outside of Luzon. This full-scale mall will further expand our offerings in Iloilo Business Park as it matures as a township. The mall will also be able to generate around 3,500 jobs in retail, food, transport and mall operations,” Megaworld senior vice president and head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls Kevin Tan said.

The main mall have three levels of world-class shopping, dining, entertainment, leisure and wellness offerings, while the Festive Walk Mall Annex will house some government offices as well as medical and wellness facilities.

Over 1,000 parking slots will be made available to mall patrons and visitors.

“Our idea is to seamlessly connect the main mall, the annex, Festive Walk Parade and the multi-level parking facility so that everything will be walkable,” Tan said.

Megaworld’s first fullscale lifestyle mall in the Visayas will have three main activity and event centers: the indoor atrium, the outdoor covered event area and the outdoor open-air activity center. A children’s playground will occupy the mall’s ground level.

PSE posts net income of P825m PHILIPPINE Stock Exchange Inc. booked a net income of P825 million for the full year of 2017, up 18 percent from P702 million in 2016, on increased trading activity at the stock market.

PSE said in a disclosure operating revenues and other income in 2017 increased 10 percent to P1.63 billion from P1.48 billion the previous year.

Average daily turnover in 2017 rose over three percent to P8.06 billion from P7.81 billion in 2016, while subscription fees and market data income climbed 26 percent as a result of more investors using the online trading service of the exchange and the successful introduction of new data products.

Operating income, however, fell three percent in 2017 due to lower listing-related income from initial public offerings..

“The exchange’s successful execution of its major initiatives in 2017 resulted in this positive financial performance of the company. The new products and services that were introduced provided more mechanisms for capital raising and supported our thrust of expanding the retail investor base,” PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon said.

Meanwhile, the PSE said it was on track with a scheduled stock rights offering aimed at reducing the brokers’ ownership in the exchange to the 20 percent limit set by the Securities Regulation Code.

The SEC approved the PSE stock rights offering scheduled from February 26 to March 2, 2018.

“We have set even bigger targets and milestones for the exchange in 2018. With our stock rights offering proceeding within schedule, we hope to finally get the exemptive relief from the SEC for our acquisition of PDS. The consolidation of the equities and fixed income markets will result in a bigger and more efficient capital markets for the country,” Monzon said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Business/ World

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

B3

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, World Editor

Suspect in Paris attacks in court

TRIAL. Journalists are seen prior to the opening of the trial of the prime suspect in the November 2015 Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, at the “Palais de Justice” courthouse in Brussels on February 5, 2018. The trial of Abdeslam and his alleged accomplish Sofiane Ayari opens on February 5 over a shootout in Brussels that led to their capture. AFP

Army aims to break stalemate in Sanaa NIHM, Yemen―Ignoring the rumble of heavy artillery, Yemeni commander Nasr al-Dibani points at Huthi bases from a jagged clifftop, outlining his push to break a grinding stalemate on the front line outside Sanaa.

“Whoever controls Nihm controls Sanaa,” Dibani, flanked by armed loyalists, said from atop a newly captured hill, AlHumra, on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital.

Backed by air support from the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni army in recent months has toppled multiple Huthi rebel bases on Nihm, a rugged chain of cloud-cutting mountains on the eastern edge of Sanaa, which has been held by the insurgents since September 2014.

A bloody battleground, Nihm is a key gateway to the capital, which still remains elusive with the Yemeni military advance impeded by the treacherous mountain terrain and thousands of land mines planted by the Iran-backed rebels.

“What is a bigger enemy―the Huthis or the terrain? I say both,” said Dibani, clutching a walkietalkie as he pointed at surrounding Huthi territory below during a press tour organised by the coalition.

Dibani said his army stormed many Huthi hideouts on foot, using donkeys to carry supplies before a months-long engineering effort to pave a moonscape of rutted mountain tracks.

Now pick-up trucks carry equipment, fuel and supplies to captured outposts, in a bone-jarring ascent.

Sanaa, less than 50 kilometers away, remains stubbornly out of reach despite the recent gains, highlighting the complexities of Yemen’s tangled conflict. AFP

BRUSSELS―The last surviving suspect in the 2015 Paris attacks, Salah Abdeslam, arrived at a court in Brussels amid tight security Monday to stand trial over a shootout that led to his capture.

The 28-year-old, once Europe’s most wanted man, left a jail near the French capital in the middle of the night in a convoy of tactical police vehicles with blue lights flashing.

The Belgian-born French national of Moroccan descent faces charges of attempted terrorist murder of police officers and carrying banned weapons over a gunbattle in the Forest district of Brussels on March 15, 2016.

Three police officers were wounded and a jihadist was killed in the fight, which came as Abdeslam was on the run four months after the

Paris attacks. He was captured three days later.

Hundreds of Belgian security forces turned the Palais de Justice court building in Brussels into a virtual fortress while a helicopter with searchlights circled overhead as he arrived.

“This must remain an ordinary trial,” said Luc Hennart, who presides over the court. “If there is the slightest problem I will order the courtroom to be evacuated.”

Abdeslam and the man arrested with him, Tunisian national Sofiane Ayari, 24, could serve up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

The non-jury trial is the prelude to a later one in France and prosecutors hope the Brussels trial will yield clues not only about the attacks that killed 130 people in Paris but also the suicide bombings months later in

Brussels.

Abdeslam has refused point-blank to speak to investigators throughout the nearly two years since his arrest, which capped a fourmonth hunt for Europe’s most wanted man.

But he has insisted on attending the Brussels trial, where three judges are to lead proceedings for four days, raising the question of whether he will use it to break his silence.

Hennart insisted that the trial would only focus on the shootout, saying: “That is what we will talk about, we will not talk about either the Brussels or Paris attacks.”

Tight secrecy surrounded the plans for transferring Abdeslam from Fleury-Merogis prison in the Parisian suburbs, and then back to a prison just across the border in northern France every night. AFP

Fears grow over HK bookseller

H

ONG KONG―The daughter of missing Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, who was snatched in China last month, says she fears she may never see him again and has urged the international community to take action.

Gui was arrested on a train to Beijing just over two weeks ago while accompanied by two Swedish diplomats―the second time he has disappeared in murky circumstances into Chinese custody.

His daughter Angela Gui, 23, told AFP she had heard nothing from him since and

had received no information about where he might be.

“There are all sorts of awful scenarios that could be unfolding,” she said, speaking from England, where she is a student.

The United States and European Union have called for Gui’s immediate release and his disappearance has sparked

a diplomatic row between Stockholm and Beijing.

But Chinese authorities have so far publicly parried requests for information, suggesting only that Swedish diplomats had somehow violated Chinese law.

Civil society has come under increasing pressure since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, with authorities rounding up hundreds of lawyers and activists.

“I just hope that Sweden and other governments will be as vocal as possible,” Angela said.

“I want them to demonstrate actual consequences,

instead of just repeating how unacceptable it is.”

It is the second time 53-year-old Gui, who was born in China but went on to become a Swedish citizen, has been snatched.

He first disappeared in 2015, one of five Hong Kongbased booksellers known for publishing gossipy titles about Chinese political leaders who went missing and resurfaced in the mainland.

Gui vanished while on holiday in Thailand and eventually surfaced at an undisclosed location in China, confessing to involvement in a fatal traffic accident and

smuggling illegal books.

Chinese authorities declared they had released him in October but his daughter said he was under “loose house arrest” in the eastern mainland city of Ningbo, where some of his relatives still live.

Angela told AFP she had spoken to her father on Skype multiple times a week in the past three months and that he was able to move around the city, but was followed by police.

He had been allowed to go to the Swedish consulate in Shanghai three times to apply for documentation, including a new passport,

and Angela said she did not believe he had been told explicitly to stay in Ningbo.

Angela graduated from England’s Warwick University with a master’s degree the day before her father disappeared again and had spoken to him ahead of the ceremony.

“He said: ‘I’m very sorry that I can’t be there’. I told him it was alright because I’m doing my doctorate now, so there was another one for him to come to,” she said.

“I was hoping that there would be an end to this soon and that he might be able to come home.” AFP

Locals mobilize to defend Afrin, Syria, against Turkey

CELEBRATIONS. President Vladimir Putin poses with the participants of celebrations to mark the Battle of Stalingrad during his visit to the “Russia is my history” museum in Volgograd on Fabruary 2, 2018. Russia marked 75 years since the Soviet Union’s victory in the major World War II Battle of Stalingrad, extolled as a symbol of the country’s resilience at a time when President Vladimir Putin is campaigning for his fourth term. AFP

Aid groups warn against forced returns of refugees BEIRUT―International aid groups on Monday warned countries hosting Syrian refugees in the Middle East and the West against forcing them to return or discussing measures to that effect.

A report by several leading humanitarian organizations―including the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE International―spoke of an alarming trend advocating for deportations.

“Hundreds of thousands of refugees are at risk of being pushed to return to Syria in 2018, despite ongoing violence, bombing and shelling that are endangering the lives of civilians,” it said.

The report, entitled “Dangerous Ground”, observed that measures to send refugees back to their homes in Syria were increasingly prominent on the agenda of host countries.

“As the military situation changed in Syria, and against a backdrop of increased antirefugee rhetoric and policies across the world, governments began in 2017 to openly contemplate the return of refugees to the country,” it said.

The number of refugees who returned to Syria― which has been racked by a conflict that killed at least 340,000 people since 2011― rose to 721,000 in 2017, from

560,000 the previous year.

But the report warned that three times as many Syrians were displaced last year and that a further 1.5 million people were expected to be forced from their homes in 2018.

“Now, return would neither be safe nor voluntary for the vast majority who fled the war and the violence,” NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland said. AFP

AFRIN, Syria―Ammunition belts slung over their shoulders, voices cracking from the chanting, dozens of young Syrian Kurds amassed in Afrin’s town square to enlist in the “resistance” movement against a Turkish-backed assault.

They wore mismatched military gear, some in jeans and others with scarves wrapped around their faces.

A few admitted it was the first time they had ever touched a weapon, but said they felt compelled to defend their hometown.

“Afrin is where I grew up, just like my parents and my grandparents before me.

This is why it’s a duty for me to fight for it,” says Asmaa, 19.

The first-year journalism student at Afrin University decided last month to leave her studies behind and respond to a call to arms by local Kurdish authorities.

Town officials called for a “mass mobilization” of civilians to fight an assault

by Turkish troops and allied rebels on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units

(YPG) in Afrin.

They estimate hundreds have joined so far―some deployed to the front lines while others have volunteered for hospital shifts or rescue teams that search for survivors after bombardment.

Asmaa, a black-andwhite scarf wrapped around her neck, says she enlisted to take part in the fighting.

“Today, I don’t see myself as a student. I see myself as a fighter,” she says assertively.

The crowd around her splits into two lines―one for young men and one for women―and begin marching through Afrin for an impromptu military parade.

As shopkeepers look on, the youth wave YPG flags and chant, “No to occupation!” and “Long live the heroic resisters!”

“There has been an increasing number of volunteers, and each young man or woman can choose which institution they want to volunteer for depending on their experience and capacities,” says Rezan Haddu, a media adviser to YPG in Afrin. AFP

Tourism match score: Thailand 35, Vietnam 19, PH 6 IF THE Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were protagonists in a three-way Southeast Asian tourism match, the final score would be Thailand 35, Vietnam 19 and the Philippines 6 (6.6 to be exact). These are the totals of 2017 foreign tourist arrivals—in millions—that have just been announced by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its Thai and Vietnamese counterparts.

As usual in instances like these, DOT’s information people have sought to make the 6.6 million-tourists outcome look good by resorting to percentages. “International visitor arrivals climbed 11 percent in 2017 to hit a record 6.62 million,” Secretary of Tourism Wanda Teo was quoted as saying in the DOT announcement. But there is no gainsaying 7 million is dismal when compared to 35 million and 19 million.

To explain DOT’s performance last year Sec-

retary Teo cited “a series of political noises, security concerns and travel advisories against the country.” This begs the question: Aren’t the tourism industries of Thailand, Vietnam and the other better-performing Southeast Asian countries beset by these same problems to some degree or another?

Let’s look at Vietnam. Why should this country that faces the Philippines across the South China Sea be able to attract almost three times the number of 2017 foreign visitors to the Philippines? It is a question that’s difficult to answer. The Vietnamese are bound to disagree, but the Philippines has more to offer foreign visitors than that former French colonial outpost.

Because of its archipelagic configuration, the Philippines offers a broader range and variety of places for foreign visitors to see and enjoy. In recent years, places like Coron, Boracay, Panglao, Siargao and Siquijor have been added to the list of must-see places

in this country. In contrast, Vietnam offers only a South China Sea coastline. And almost four centuries of Spanish colonization have left the Philippines with a much bigger Western footprint – architecture, physical as well as cultural—than a country that offers foreign visitors a largely Eastern milieu. Yet, Vietnam’s foreign-visitors total has been rising at a steadily higher rate than this country’s. Obviously, foreigners think it’s more fun in Vietnam.

Now let’s look at Thailand. That Kingdom in the middle part of the Indochinese Peninsula has long been the mecca of tourism in this part of the world. Clearly, Bangkok has been having greater drawing power than Manila. In 2017 that drawing power brought upwards of 35 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Again, one is compelled to ask “Why?” Is the explanation inadequate airport and airline facilities? Not enough first-rate hotels?

Metro Manila’s awful traffic? Not enough

good eating places? Problems with getting to the resorts? Difficulty in getting to the resorts?

Whatever the reason or reasons—surely it can’t be the political dissonance in this country because Thailand is currently under martial law after another one of those Bangkok coups d’etat—the fact is that Thailand’s tourism industry has been doing far better than ours over the years and did so again in 2017.

Yet, just as there is nothing that Vietnam can offer foreign tourists that the Philippines cannot, so, also, there is nothing that Thailand can offer them that the Philippines cannot. The charms of Ho Chi Minh City, Phuket, Da Nang and Hanoi are no less available in this country.

But something—or some things—are clearly missing. Secretary Teo and her people have to discover what that thing or those things are.

Until they do, tourism-match scores like Thailand 35, Vietnam 19, Philippines 6 will keep recurring.

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

Adams first ICC town to claim ‘Tan-ok’ fest title

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

B4

tuesday, february 6, 2018

LGUs LocaL government units

SAFETY DRILL. Employees of the Caloocan City government rush outside the city hall building during earthquake and fire

simulation drills last Tuesday, as members of the Bureau of Fire Prevention simulate rappelling rescue victims from the upper-floor windows (inset). Mayor Oscar Malapitan and other city officials assessed the activity. Jun David

QC to pilot disaster insurance pool fund QUEzON City has been chosen by the Asian Development Bank and Department of Finance to pilot the Philippines’ City Disaster Insurance Pool.

The city was selected for having the most comprehensive disaster plan in the country and having 13 barangays along the West Valley Fault.

The city insurance pool is a type of insurance that will cater to cities that are struck by large-scale disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons. It aims to address financial gaps in emergency response funding immediately following a disaster.

According to Mayor herbert Bautista, joining the insurance pool will ensure a more resilient Quezon City.

“We ultimately envision our residents to be resilient, safe, and of quality, in changing environment.

To be of quality, Quezon City has to be sustainable resilient. however, since hazards and vulnerabilities exist, and there are exposed people and assets, losses are inevitable and there are disaster risks,” Bautista said.

The insurance pool will ensure all the city’s assets are covered and protected financially in an event of a disaster. Rio N. Araja

ThE Municipality of Adams made history in Ilocos Norte over the weekend as the first Indigenous Cultural Community in the province to conquer the “Tan-ok ni Ilocano Festival of Festivals.”

Usually held in the latter months of the year, “Tan-ok” is a grand showdown of town and city festivals set onstage instead of on the streets as in traditional fiestas.

The contest was postponed last November in light of Ilocos Norte’s 200th founding year or bicentennial celebration.

The “bicentennial edition” of the competition is also its seventh installment.

Governor Imee R. Marcos said “Tan-ok” was Ilocos Norte’s great effort to tell Ilocano stories through the arts of singing and dancing their unique festivals onstage.

Adams performed their Ginginubat Festival, which tells of their simple but sacred courtship revolving around the “tani” of the Yapayao tribe or the role of parents in the courtship of their children.

In the rendition, a young girl unhappy with her engagement falls ill after she refuses a gift from her fiancé and is cursed by the man’s mother.

Upon asking the help of the “Arupagan” or old woman faith healer, the families are told that only the strange flower called “Sabuyakyak” on Mt. Kinanudan would be able to heal her.

Makati issues ‘go bags’

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

hE Makati City government on Monday started distributing Emergency Go Bags in public schools in line with the city’s preparedness program in the event a big disaster strikes in Metro Manila.

A “go bag” is a portable survival kit recommended by emergency response experts for every household or facility. It is meant to help an individual or a family survive, at least in the next 72 hours after a disaster, and contains essential needs such as food and drinking

water, hygiene kit, first aid kit, flashlight, and other handy materials.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology identified Makati as one of the cities in Metro Manila to be severely affected by a massive quake if the Valley Fault System moves.

Based on Phivolcs data, the fault in Makati has an approximate length of almost three kilometers transecting four barangays in the second district, as follows: Comembo-0.16km; East Rembo1.07kms; Pembo-0.82km; and Rizal-0.83km.

“The Emergency Go Bag Project is part of our intensified efforts to prepare our communities for disasters and other emergency situations. We are giving priority to building disaster readiness in our schools because these are where children, who are among

our most vulnerable constituents, stay for the most part of the day,” said Mayor Abigail Binay.

She said for the initial rollout of the project to all public day care, preschool, elementary and secondary schools in the city, the city government is releasing 1,600 Emergency Go Bags; 10,698 Individually-packed Go Bags; 17,300 small helmets for children; and 8,775 adult helmets for teachers and school personnel.

Binay expressed her resolve to promote a higher level of readiness among residents

through building their individual capability for survival.

“I envision a city where people can cope well on their own during and immediately after a disaster, instead of passively waiting for emergency response teams to arrive,” she said.

Based on the mayor’s directive to empower communities through proper information and training and adequate tools to survive calamities, the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) has prioritized the full implementation of the

SBMA to host 18 big events in 2018

By Butch Gunio

PEACE EDUCATION. The Commission on Higher Education recently signed an agreement with the nonprofit Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of

Light group to advance peace education for the youth at the CHED offices in Diliman, Quezon City. Showing off the signed memorandum are (from left) Kang Tae Ho, managing director of HWPL’s International Peace youth Group; Hyun Sook Yoon, acting chairwoman of the International Women Peace Youth Group ; Man Hee Lee, founding chairman of HWPL; CHED Commissioner Dr. Ronald Adamat; and Dr. Albert Anosa, Chief of staff of Commissioner Adamat. Manny Palmero

Truckers using NLEX, SCTEX reminded to comply with weight limit

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY—NLEX Corp. has urged truckers to strictly comply with the load limit being imposed along the Subic-ClarkTarlac Expressway and the North Luzon Expressway to prevent delays in the de-

said project this year.

MDRRMO chief Richard Raymund Rodriguez said two types of Emergency Go Bags following international DRRM standards have been assembled by his team.

Emergency Go Bag 1 contains a total of 91 items which include a hygiene kit and various tools for light and communication, first aid, and protection, as well as emergency tools. Among the bag’s contents are an emergency rope, 13-function folding pocket knife, thermal blanket, tube tent, and a hand crank radio with flashlight.

livery of basic goods from here to the various markets in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Engineer Fernando Autor, assistant vice president of NLEX Corp’s project management department, said they are currently implementing the 13.5 tons per

axle load limit of trucks passing through the expressways, but there still are a number of truckers being apprehended for overloading.

“We reiterate our appeal to our truckers to make sure that they comply with the existing load limit being imposed along our expressways, to

Tesda to supply CL infra workers

By Romeo Dizon SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in Central Luzon is confident it can supply the manpower needs of the regional construction industry, specially the administrationled infrastructure projects here.

Nomer Pascual, chief operation officer of Tesda in Central Luzon, said about 2,800 certified skill persons graduated from the agency’s programs last year to supply the workforce needs of big-ticket projects of the Duterte administration.

Assuming that some new skilled workers are already employed or went

abroad, Pascual said about 65 percent of the jobs remain to match the 1,500 unemployed graduates at the moment.

These graduates include certified plumbers, welders, heavy equipment operators, electricians, scrap holding operators, and technical drafting workers, he added.

Tesda is also training another batch of skilled workers in cooperation with the industry and local government units in the region, Pascual said.

The agency’s problem, he noted, is that the industry is not giving them the number of workers they need and so Tesda cannot accommodate the manpower needed by other sectors.

prevent the untoward delays in the transport of basic goods to the markets not only in Metro Manila but also in other parts of the country,” Autor said.

“We do not give any warning to violators because they had been made aware of the regulation a number of years back,” he stressed.

Tollway companies in the country, Autor said, are not so strict about the load limit, considering that the 13.5 tons per axle limit is much higher compared to the 8 to 9 tons limit being implemented along expressways in other countries.

One of the negative ef-

fects of the passing of overloaded trucks on the expressways is the rapid deterioration of the surface that requires constant maintenance, he said. With the cooperation of truckers, the expressways will be able to reach their projected economic life, Autor added.

BRANCH OPENING.

Philippine Veterans Branch unveiled its newly renovated Olongapo City branch to serve its clients in the Zambales area.

Present at the ribbon cutting are (from left) Veterans Bank president and COO Nonilo C. Cruz; former Olongapo City vice mayor Cynthia Cajudo; Zambales Vice Governor Angel Magsaysay; Olongapo Councilor Winnie Ortiz; Olongapo Mayor Rolen Paulino; and Castillejos, Zambales Mayor Jose Angelo Dominguez.

Butch Gunio

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT —It’s going to be a spectacular year for the Freeport, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said, as she announced several major events lined up in the area this year.

Eisma said the SBMA has already calendared 18 major events that include cruise ship visits, national conferences, sports competitions, and festivals, aside from the regular tourism activities that the agency, through its Tourism department, would be managing.

“Subic’s tourism industry is picking up again, just like in the early years of the free port when almost every tourist was looking toward visiting Subic. Now it is happening again,” Eisma said.

Among the event headliners this year, some will be happening for the first time here: the arrival of two of the biggest cruise ships in the world, the “Ovation of the Seas” and “Voyager of the Seas” on June 3 and Aug. 25, respectively, and the staging of the Century Tuna Ironman Philippines Triathlon in June, which will be the first-ever full distance Ironman race in the country.

Eisma said the SBMA is expecting at least 43,000 local and foreign tourists here because of these events, with some 10,000 foreign tourists arriving on board the cruise ships alone.

Life

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

health and environment

tuesday, february 6, 2018

C1

The Leader

in environmental management

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY. Makati Shangri-La receives an Environmental Management Systems certification for its compliance in reducing its environmental impacts; it is the first hotel in the Philippines to receive the certification.

F

The stunning lobby welcomes guests to the luxurious Makati Shangri-La Hotel. (Photo from Makati Shangri-La’s website)

FOR many women, turning 40 years old can feel like a sentence—that they’re old and can no longer enjoy life as much as they did when they were younger.

To beat the creeping signs of aging such as wrinkles and graying hair, they invest in anti-aging cosmetics and aesthetic products to give them a younger and fresher look.

But some women overlook another natural part of aging—near-vision blurriness or presbyopia.

They don’t want to wear eyeglasses with bifocal lenses because doing so seems to show the most obvious sign of aging. Bifocal lenses have distinct lines that sit horizontally across the lenses for two areas of vision correction, near and far. Older people whose eyesight has grown dimmer wear them.

Essilor, the world leader in ophthalmic optics and a key player in visual health, offers an age-defying solution that not only gives a youthful and modern look, but also corrects presbyopia and gives people freedom and comfort to live life to the fullest.

Varilux progressive lenses provide women the confidence to face the daily challenges of aging by eliminating all visible lines or points of focus for the eyes.

Near or far, Varilux, the world leader in progressive lenses, gives dynamic clarity whatever the distance. It is also perfect for those with active lifestyle. All of the brand’s lenses are tested to ensure satisfaction, including fast and easy adaptation.

Turning 40 is not to be feared. It can be the best time to explore new opportunities to look better while also seeing better.

IVE-STAR hotel Makati Shangri-La, Manila receives the ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management System certification for its compliance in reducing its environmental impacts.

Makati Shang is the first hotel in the Philippines to receive the certification, which was certified and confirmed by one of the leading certification bodies in the business, TUV Rheinland.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, an EMS is a framework that helps an organization achieve its environmental goals through consistent review, evaluation, and improvement of its environmental performance.

“The EMS itself does not dictate a level of environmental performance that must be achieved; each organization’s EMS is tailored to its own individual objectives and targets,” the EPA says on its website.

The Makati luxury hotel says in a statement that it implements its EMS not only for compliance but more importantly, to ensure Shangri-La’s sustainable commitment to the global efforts in enhanc-

On embracing 40 and aging gracefully Many refuse to wear eyeglasses for fear of looking old, a problem which a progressive lens brand tries to solve.

ing the environment and continually improve its environmental performance.

As part of the hospitality industry, it guarantees that all processes and services it delivers to its clients are comparable to the globally accepted processes and standards of excellence when it comes to quality, environment, and safety.

To maintain its high standards, Makati Shangri-La also complies and continuously maintains other internationally-recognized standards such as OHSAS 18001:2007 Safety Management Systems and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point.

The latest recognition serves as an affirmation of Makati Shangri-La’s steadfast day-to-day efforts to provide its guests quality, consistent, innovative, environment-friendly, safe, and excellent service.

Life

C2

tuesday, february 6, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

T

he world’s leading obstacle course event, Tough Mudder, is coming to the Philippines for the first time in July.

“This is the first time that Tough Mudder will be in the Philippines, and Tough Mudder is not just about being tough, it is also about teamwork and determination,” said Proactive Sports chief operating officer Justine Cordero. Proactive Sports is the event’s local partner.

The inaugural Philippine’s Tough Mudder event Weekend in July will be followed by another event in November. Both events will feature the endurance event series’s signature obstacles.

This new licensee follows the success of Tough Mudder’s licensed events—hosted in Mexico, Bali, Ireland, United Arab emirates, and Australia.

With more than three million participants to date across five continents, Tough Mudder has offerings ranging from accessible yet rewarding challenges, such as the Tough Mudder 5K and Tough Mudder half (five-mile event excluding fire, ice, and electricity) to competitive events, such as Tough Mudder X (the toughest mile on the planet) and World’s Toughest Mudder (24hour endurance event).

“Tough Mudder events have united millions seeking a more engaging, communal form of active lifestyle,” enthused Tough Mudder co-founder and chief executive Will Dean. he continued, “We are excited to partner with Proactive Sports Management, who have a proven track record for success for athletic events in the Philippines, to ensure locals and tourists alike will have the same unparalleled experience that has made Tough Mudder the must-do event for OCR enthusiasts and weekend warriors alike.”

Registration is ongoing. Visit Tough MudTEST OF TOUGHNESS. Tough Mudder, the world’s leading obstacle course event and considered the most difficult, is coming to the Philippines for the first time in July. der Philippines for more information.

Tough Mudder

to test Filipinos’ mettle

Tough Mudder’s events range from accessible yet rewarding challenges, like a five-mile event, to competitive challenges, such as a 24-hour endurance event.

A total of 1,500 runners join the Run and Raise 4

How men can achieve optimal health MeN differ from women in many ways, including lifestyles, response to certain diseases, and health needs. According to health experts, men are more at risk of developing of certain diseases such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are also more likely to engage in activities that make them prone to injuries and yet, some men are also known for refusing to see a doctor when they get sick or injured.

Dr. Nicky Montoya, president and chief executive of MediCard, shares some tips to help men achieve optimal health.

Some of these apply to women, too.

Quit smoking

Many health complications come from smoking such as high blood pressure, stroke, lung cancer, and erectile dysfunction. When you first try to quit smoking, cravings may be powerful at this stage, but they will pass. During this time, find something to distract you or keep your mind away from smoking tobacco. These include chewing gum, vegetables, or other food you can munch on.

Eat smart

eating small meals five times a day may be more advisable than three full meals, as this can help boost your metabolism. however, you need to practice portion control to make sure you don’t overeat. One effective way to do this is by using smaller bowls or plates.

Running event reached a milestone The fourth edition of Run and Raise, New World hotels and Resorts’ small-scale charity fun run, held recently recorded its highest participant turnout to date.

A total of 1,500 participants trooped to Rajah Sulayman Park in Manila to tackle the 3K, 5K, and 16K courses.

Winners for 3K distance male category were Norman Domingo (1st), Rioringo Dacudao (2nd), and John Dy Francisco (3rd). Top finishers for the female category were Gabriella Venturina (1st), Reisse hiyasmin Benito (2nd), and Shiela Patino (3rd).

The top finishers for the 5K male category were Jeramie Berja (1st), Jhay Zamora (2nd), and Boyet Sablande (3rd); the female winners were Andrea enriquez (1st), May Alejandria (2nd), and Januvie Dacillo

(3rd). For the 10K distance, male winners were Marlon Abanzado (1st), Robin Angeles (2nd), and Gerald Bernal (3rd), and female winners were Cindy Lorenzo (1st), Astrid Rivera (2nd), and hyacinth Dadap (3rd).

Top finishers for the 16K male category were Joseph Mururi (1st), Adonis Miraucos (2nd), and Rodolfo Olivas (3rd), and for female category were Beverly Koa (1st), Lorraine Aguion (2nd), and Marie Perez (3rd). each winner received exclusive gifts from New World Makati hotel and AG New World Manila Bay, while all participants were given finisher medals and loot bags filled by the event’s generous sponsors.

Proceeds from the run were donated to ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc.

Take care of your prostate

If you don’t take care of your prostate as early as now, you are more likely to be at high risk of prostate problems like enlarged prostate, prostatitis, and prostate cancer—one of the most common cancers in men. A healthy diet can help prevent prostate problems. It’s best to also consult your doctor regularly to do DRe and to determine if you need to take a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, a blood test that can help detect prostate cancer early.

Visit your doctor regularly

Exercise regularly

Including weight lifting in your routine is recommended. In addition to building a strong physique, weightlifting improves your body composition and overall health.

It also helps burn fat as it boosts your metabolism. Lifting weights also improves endurance and stamina for better performance.

Men often make the mistake of not consulting a doctor until their health condition has worsened.

Visiting your doctor regularly helps evaluate your overall health and treat illnesses before they become serious.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

The Oppas in

‘I, TONYA’

gets 3 Oscar nods

‘IDOL MOM’

THE group behind I, Tonya, with its three Oscar nominations, must be proud to skate through the challenging tasks to garner any or all of the trophies for Best Actress for Margot Robbie, Best Supporting Actress for Allison Janney, and Best Editing for Tatiana S. Rigel.

Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, Tonyais a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in the sports history.

Though Harding had dominated the ice with unrivaled athleticism, and the first American woman who completed a triple axel in the competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly-executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie (one of the film’s producers is known for her Harley Quinn’s role in Suicide Squad; and next as Queen Elizabeth in Mary Queen of Scotsas the fiery Harding; the mustachioed Sebastian Stan(known for his Marvel’s character, Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier in the smash hit Captain America: Civil War) as her impetuous husband Jeff Gillooly; and the tour-de-force performance by Allison Janney (with 7 Emmy Awards tucked under her sleeves and an unforgettable performance in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona Golden; and an original screenplay Steven Rogers.

Director Craig Gillespie’sI, Tonyais a tragic and hilarious, absurd and irreverent, and a controversial and shattering portrayal of Harding’s life and career in all of its glory -- unchecked and checkered.

I, Tonya will be shown in various theaters nationwide tomorrow. The film is a exclusively distributed by Solar Entertainment.

T

HERE are over 300,000 young Korean idol hopefuls and the competition is intense. In order to fulfill their dreams of being a star, they’ll need a strategy and their biggest asset in their strategy - their mothers.

Idol Moms, which premiered on Feb. 1 and airs on Lifetime every Thursday at 9:00 p.m.

(9:50 p.m. on FYI), follows the daily lives of five mothers and their young children as they navigate through grueling training and compete with each other to succeed. In collaboration with SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s “Big Three” music labels, the series also gives a sneak peek into SM Entertainment’s winning formula in training K-Pop stars.

Now let’s get to know the first-generation KPop idols that play host, coach and mentor to the next stars who will dominate the K-pop stage.

Kangta Ahn Chil-hyun (born October 10, 1979), better known by his stage name Kangta is a South Korean singer, record producer, actor and radio personality. He was a member of South Korean boygroup H.O.T.. He debuted as a back-up dancer together with future band member Moon Hee Jun for singer Yoo Young-Jin. Kangta eventually decided to become a singer with Moon Hee Jun and three others, Jang Woo Hyuk, Tony An, and Lee Jae Won to form H.O.T. in 1996.

Kim Tae-Woo Born on May 24, 1991, he is also known as Kasper. He is a choreographer at 1 MILLION Dance Studio and dance trainer with SM Entertainment. He is most well-known for his work with the popular K-pop boy band EXO on songs such

Margot Robbie on the set of 'I, Tonya'

Simply Red...

From C4

A new teleserye, a new movie, a new scholarship and a new Cherub endorsement, it’s a happy New Year for Hashtags member Ryle Santiago.

Ryle plays the role of Tantan, brother to Julia Montes’ character, Ana, in the new Kapamilya gold teleserye, Asintado. He becomes the breadwinner of the family upon the disappearance of his sister. Asintado airs weekdays after It’s Showtime.

With time management, Ryle is able to balance showbiz commitments and his studies.

He is a film freshman at Meridian International College (MINT). He is also a full scholar this semester.

“I’m very thankful for all the blessings. I’ll work even harder to have more projects and finish my studies,” Ryle says.

A celebrity student with a charming and

cheerful personality, it’s small wonder Ryle has been tapped to be the new endorser of cherub baby care products- Cherub Baby Wipes, Cherub Baby Soap, Cherub Baby Powder and Cherub Baby Cologne in sky, happy and sweet angel variants.

“I’m very happy. I’m very thankful. It’s an honor to be part of the Megasoft family. I’d like to promote Cherub the best way i can, starting by saying it’s not just for babies, great for you too!” He explains.

VP for marketing of Megasoft Hygienic Products Inc., makers of Cherub, Aileen ChoiGo sees the passion in Ryle both as an artist and a student.

“As an artist, he is very promising. As a student, he is dedicated. I’m sure as the new Cherub endorser, Ryle will exemplify the same passion for Cherub,” Aileen reveals.

On its 3rd year, Ryle is set to join the successful “Megasoft school is cool tour” that travels around the country providing entertainment, conducting inspirational talks

and giving recognition to outstanding students and teachers.

“We would like to spread cherub love, our cherub advocacy, which is to promote a culture of love among the youth- love for oneself, family and country- by encouraging them to pursue their passion, their dreams while giving them recognition for their hardwork.

Also to instill an atmosphere of positivity and productivity,” she shares.

A new segment added to the school tour is “earn ganern”, which features introductory talks about entrepreneurship for the students.

Another new portion is the “Megasoft squad: backstage pass”, where members get a chance to share up close and personal chill moments with any of the visiting Megasoft endorsers including Jolina Magdangal of New Super Twins Easy Wear Baby Pants, Myrtle Sarrosa of Sisters Sanitary Napkins and Pantyliners and Ryle of Cherub Baby Care Products.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, February 6, 2018

ACROSS 1 Mr. Spock’s forte 6 Where roses climb 11 Mo. fractions 14 Posh hotel lobbies 15 Ben on “Bonanza” 16 Wheel buy (2 wds.)

17 Ramp alternative 18 They light up the night 20 Sweetie 21 Deep blue 23 A-frame feature 24 Willem of “Platoon” 26 For the most part 28 Snazzy 30 Uses hip boots 31 Horrible bosses 32 She took the veil 33 Energy 36 Jorge — Borges 37 Lumpy fruits 38 Nukes 39 Laid back 40 Melts snow 41 Quotes from 42 Upper, maybe 43 Rue the day 44 Stuffed corn husks

47 Headless statue 48 On — — (hot) 49 Russo or Magritte 50 Deli units 53 Fossil find 56 Cravat’s kin 58 Corn serving 59 Gem surface 60 Pay to use 61 Deli loaf 62 Just picked 63 Nail alternative DOWN 1 Mascara target 2 Dog in “Beetle Bailey” 3 Auto race (2 wds.)

4 Sequel’s sequel 5 Wine orders 6 Michael Caine role 7 Make turbid 8 “It’s c-c-cold!”

9 Half and half?

10 Ring figure 11 Forgo 12 Camel driver’s command 13 Smart-mouthed 19 Drops behind 22 Also not 25 Chest-beaters 26 Wildlife refuges

27 28 29 30 32 33

States further Cutie Water, in Baja Fury Expressways Crime deterrent (2 wds.)

34 Rapier’s kin 35 Furtive sound 37 Trim, as expenses 38 Sharp turns 40 Liquidate (2 wds.)

41 Quick breakfasts

42 Pet toy 43 Prez after Jimmy 44 Spud 45 Vast assortment 46 Watered silk 47 Hen’s lack 49 Road map nos.

51 Big name in speakers 52 Slumgullion 54 Disqualify 55 Hotel freebie 57 Wall St. watchdog

as “Call Me Baby” and “Super Junior.” His recent appearance on Korea’s reality series, Star King has gained him much attention from fans for his good looks and dance skills.

Jang Jin Young Born on July 1, 1983, he is currently the vocal coach for SM Entertainment and the former lead singer of the boy group Black Beat. He is currently training for S.M. Entertainment with artists such as EXO and Red Velvet. Jang Jin-young made his debut as the lead singer of the boy group Black Beat which was formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2002. The seven-member group released their first album Volume 1 - Black Beat #2002 but has been inactive since 2006.

Along with long time colleagues Kim Do Hun and Kim Sung Pil, he is currently making a comeback in a new male vocal group called Question.

i2i New York's newest brand ambassador and Philippines' "Teen King" Daniel Padilla talks about his supporters, Kathryn Bernardo and their new film.

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2018

What’s next for

KATHNIEL?

By Nickie Wang

Y

OUNG actor Daniel Padilla admitted that he and Kathryn Bernardo always want to give their fans something new and fresh. Together, they’ve made a few films and starred in a couple of top-rating series, and all of them were light and sweet —definitely a delight for their legion of fans.

But that is going to change for sure.

In an interview with Manila Standard during the media event where the 22-year-old actor led the unveiling of the DJP Collection for i2i New York, he said that they always consider their fans first whenever they work on a project.

“We have done a lot of projects together. The question is, what else can we give our fans that we haven’t done yet? We’ve done romcom and drama but we haven’t done anything like a mature love story. So, that’s what we are about to do this year. And it’s going to be a film,” Daniel said in vernacular.

The actor was referring to the yet to be titled movie to be helmed by Cathy Garcia Molina, who also directed their film She’s Dating the Gangster (2014).

“We did Barcelona in 2016, it’s a drama, then last year, Can’t Help Falling in Love. The latter was a bit mature but it’s still a romcom. This time we wanted something serious

ISAH V. RED

LILY’S fans may run amok as she will soon bid goodbye to her millions of followers when Wildflower ends on Friday.

ABS-CBN’s hit primetime series, after a whole year on the hotly contested pre-primetime timeslot finally ends its run with the wildest ever conclusion.

With Raul (Wendell Ramos), Helena (Zsazsa Padilla), and Arnaldo (RK Bagatsing), out of the picture, Lily (Maja Salvador) appears to have the upper hand in her mission to get the Ardientes off their high horses and finally set the people of Poblacion Ardiente free from deception and abuses. But Julio (Tirso Cruz III), together with Emilia (Aiko Melendez), will not give up without a fight and will make sure Lily will pay for everything that she did.

After publicly putting the blame of Arnaldo’s death on Lily, the Ardientes humiliated her in public and forced her to walk around town with a signage that says she is a killer, while Emilia lashes her back with a whip. But just when the odds are seemingly back in Ardientes’ favor, the people of Poblacion Ardiente discover a mass grave of bodies suspected to belong to their loved ones who had gone missong, causing a massive public outrage.

More than just a story of

Angela Stuart-Santiago signs a copy of 'Probernal Anti Bio'

and mature,” he added.

It seems that KathNiel is already headed in that direction since their fans are maturing, too. But when talking about maturity as actors, Daniel explained that there is a change that they are not yet prepared to face, which is being separated as a love team.

“We are going to reach that point, pero tama na ba ang panahon?

KathNiel fans are still there and solid. So paano kami maghihiwalay sa maayos na paraan?,” Daniel asked.

He further stated that he wants Kathryn to have a separate identity, not as the other half of KathNiel but as Kathryn Bernardo, the actress.

“That’s what we are trying to do right now, pero sino ang makakasama niya, lalaki ba? Pwede namang hindi, pwede namang Vilma Santos, mag-ina sila, solid acting,” he shared.

As for his solo career, Daniel wants to do a project that would showcase a different side of him. He wants portray a soldier or even a villain.

Wildest ending for

‘WILDFLOWER’

revenge, Wildflower, produced under the business unit of director Ruel Bayani, is a story of a woman’s courage, determination, and resilience to find justice for her family and for the people of one town. Driven by hope and love, main protagonist Lily Cruz fights for what is right without putting the law in her hands.

Since its premiere in February last year, Wildflower has been a consistent top-rater on primetime and a consistent trending topic on social media. It reached an alltime high national TV rating of 35.2 percent in its Oct. 10 episode – the highest rating earned by a program in the 6 p.m. timeslot in recent years. It also ranked 13th on Kantar Media’s list of most watched programs in 2017 and was also among the most watched program on iWant TV last year.

From a bride in black walking down the aisle to a fierce lady in gold making one unforgettable entrance, Wildflower’s many show-stopping scenes became memes that went viral online. It is also one of the most talked about shows by netizens.

The show also received various recognitions from award giving bodies such as PMPC Star Awards for TV, LionhearTV Rawr Awards, GEMS Hiyas ng Sining Awards, and even the Asian Television Awards where Tirso Cruz III was finalist in the best supporting actor category. *** National Artist for Film Ishmael Bernal may have long been gone but his story remains. ABS-CBN Publishing and Friends of Bernal published Pro Bernal, Anti Bio, an uncensored memoir that refuses to be a tribute based on the late director’s personal writings as well as accounts from his friend Jorge Arago and pop historian Angela Stuart-Santiago.

The book features the meaningful life of the multiawarded filmmaker who died in 1996, his works and struggles, the showbiz system that he adored and hated equally, the political

landscape during his time, his activism and homosexuality.

According to project director and producer Katrina StuartSantiago, Ishmael talked candidly about his journey.

“What it became is really Bernal speaking for the first time about the kind of life that he lived – as a cultural worker, as a filmmaker, as an activist, and primarily as the icon that we all know him now,” she said during the screening of documentary film “Ishma” held recently in Trinoma during the Cinema One Originals Festival.

It was in 1992 when Ishmael first started writing a journal for what he envisioned as a

Maja Salvador (center) and the cast of the top-rating pre-primetime drama, 'Wildflower'

SNAPSHOT

Marian Rivera still a Kapuso

From left: Actors Leo Martinez and Lucy Guinto, and filmmakers Keith Sicat and Sari Dalena here at the #ProBernalAntiBio launch.

biography that would tell it all.

His biographer was constant collaborator Jorge, who named the manual “Pro Bernal, Anti Bio” and with whom would be left the taped conversations, photographs, and clippings upon his death.

Angela later worked with the materials left behind for the book when Jorge died in 2011. With new research and additional interviews, the final product is a memoir unlike any other in the Philippines -- and especially unlike any we have seen from or about a National Artist.

The female co-author brings

in a cast of characters of actors, scholars, colleagues, and peers who speak from the margins of the book, while Ishmael and Jorge tell this personal-political history in their own words, with an intellect and spirit ahead of its time.

Ishmael was one of the great filmmakers in the history of the Philippine cinema. Among his films include Nunal Sa Tubig (1976), City After Dark (Manila

By Night) (1980), Himala (1982), Relasyon (1982), and Pahiram Ng Isang Umaga (1989).

Continued on C3

GMA Network primetime queen Marian Rivera renewed her contract with her home network. The contract signing was held at GMA Network Center in Quezon City on Feb. 5. Present at the event were GMA top guns Atty. Felipe L. Gozon and Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr..According to Marian, she plans to do a movie this year. She is thinking of venturing into independent films, too.