Manila Standard - 2018 March 06 - Tuesday

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Coming home to roost VOL. XXXII • NO. 23 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

‘Shape of Water’: 4 Oscars

By Frankie Taggart FANTASY romance “The Shape of Water” took home the best picture Oscar on Sunday, capping an awards season which has seen the film lavished with acclaim and glittering trophies.

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Clark chalks up P1-b net income

Files quo warranto bid to nullify her appointment

By Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz

CLARK FREEPORT—Clark Development Corporation breached the billion-peso mark in net income as this Freeport continues to contribute to local and national economies.

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Rody dangles package, 607 Reds give up

By Joyce Pangco Pañares AT LEAST 10 members of the New People’s Army have surrendered every day in the past two months, cutting by almost 20 percent the total strength of the rebel group, data from the Armed Forces of the Philippines showed.

“This is the highest number of surrenderers ever,” AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia told Manila Standard. “Even we were surprised at the spike. We even had to delay the release of these numbers because we had to validate them.”

As of March 4, some 607 regular members of the rebel group have surrendered since the start of the year, accounting for about 16 percent of the AFP’s working figure on the NPA’s total strength at 3,700.

“We have yet to account for their rate of recruitment. But we have reason to believe they are not able to recruit as many now as before,” Garcia said.

Garcia said an additional 1,656 who surrendered belonged to militia ng bayan groups, underground mass organizations, and mass supporters.

Of the total 2,263 NPA members and supporters who have surrendered, an overwhelming 90 percent were from the Davao Region.

Garcia said the unusually high number of NPA who are surrendering can be

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SolGen presses for Sereno ouster HE Office of the Solicitor General on Monday asked the Supreme Court to void the appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno in 2012 for failing to comply with the eligibility requirements for the position.

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In a quo warranto petition, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the Court not only to nullify her appointment but to also order Sereno’s removal from office for being a de facto official whose authority was hinged on an appointment that was void from the start.

Calida said the chief justice, who is also facing an impeachment complaint in Congress, did not meet the specific qualification of proven integrity for her post due to her failure to comply with the required submission of statements of assets, liabilities and net worth for 10 years.

Her ineligibility, Calida added, meant she is unlawfully holding the position of chief justice of the Supreme Court, despite her being recommended by the Judicial and Bar Council.

A quo warranto petition challenges the legal basis of a person’s appointment and seeks the removal of the respondent from office because of a lack of qualification or legal basis to continue holding that office.

Calida argued that Sereno’s inclusion by the JBC in its shortlist and her eventual appointment in August 2012 by then President Benigno Aquino III “does not extinguish the fact that she failed to comply with the SALN requirement under the Constitution and relevant laws.”

“As the filing of the SALNs is a constitutional and statutory requirement, the existence of her previous SALNs for the years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 precisely would have furnished the evidence to prove, among

others, that she is meticulous in complying with the law... The legal implication of respondent’s failure to file her SALNs to prove her integrity cannot be downplayed.

As the SALN filing is a constitutional and statutory requirement for public officers and employees, she was bound to submit her SALNs,” the solicitor general argued.

“The submission of SALNs is not an empty requirement. It is a mechanism devised by law to test the integrity of a person already in the government service,” Calida added.

In an interview, Calida said Sereno failed the “integrity test” of the JBC when she did not file SALNs. “You know there’s a law and you violate it. That’s a sign that you are flaunting the law,” the chief state lawyer said.

Calida also disputed Sereno camp’s claim that she cannot be subject of quo warranto proceedings since she can only be removed from office through impeachment as an impeachable official.

“A lawyer who has a basic grasp of our Constitution and jurisprudence ought to know that impeachment and quo warranto

—Lt. Col. Emmanuel Garcia

HISTORIC MOMENT. Leyte 1st District Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez (right) and former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo share threads of unity during the celebration of the International Women’s Month at the House of Representatives where the women legislators ruled the plenary session. Ver Noveno

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ASG leader named ISIS emir in SE Asia

By Francisco Tuyay and Mark Navales THE Islamic State in Southeast Asia has announced a new “emir” to replace Isnilon Hapilon, the Abu Sayyaf leader who was killed in the siege of Marawi last year, the military said Monday.

Army Maj. Ronald Suscano, spokesman of the 1st Infantry Division, identified Abu Dar, 40, an ASG sub-leader as the new emir of the terrorist network in Southeast Asia.

A full-blooded Maranao born in Pagayawan, Lanao del Sur, he currently operates in the hinterlands of the province.

Intelligence reports said Abu Dar was among those who slipped out of Marawi City, reportedly carrying a large amount of money that was looted during the early stages of the terrorist attack on Marawi City in May 2017.

“He was the one who carried the money out of Marawi City. That’s why they had lots of funds and he was the one in charge of the money,” Suscano said.

Suscano said Abu Dar is not as radical as Hapilon, but has vast Next page

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Admiral’s uniform puts DILG Usec in hot water

By Joel E. Zurbano

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“This is the highest number of surrenderers ever. Even we were surprised at the spike.”

SANTA TERESITA, Cagayan—Visiting ornithologists offered to facilitate the homecoming of the world’s tallest flying bird, the Luzon Sarus Crane.

RED MONDAY. Employees of the Supreme Court in Manila wear red—shirts, neckties—during the flag raising ceremony to, according to some observers, show their dismay over the perceived irregularities committed by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, the symbolic flag ceremony coming as it did after an unprecedented united public stance of 13 justices who reached a consensus Sereno must go on an indefinite leave while supporters (top right) carry placards appealing for justice. Norman Cruz

INTERIOR and Local Government Undersecretary Martin Diño came under fire from netizens after seeing him on social media post wearing a Coast Guard Rear Admiral uniform.

Diño, who according to the Coast Guard is not a member of its official support group, may also face charges of usurpation of authority for improper wearing of the organization’s rank and uniform.

The Coast Guard issued the statement after netizens called out Diño for wearing a uniform for a Rear Admiral of its Auxiliary Group, the volunteer arm organization of the Philippine Coast Guard.

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Duterte not taking part in Sydney’s Asean summit PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is skipping a regional summit in Australia this month, his spokesman said Monday, as he faces international censure for Manila’s deadly drug war.

Duterte’s decision to snub the meeting comes after he said he would not cooperate with United Nations investigators looking into alleged extrajudicial killings during the narcotics crackdown, which has left thousands dead.

His spokesman Harry Roque confirmed the outspoken leader would not join fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders for the March 17-18 summit in Sydney.

“Developments at home continue to require the President’s presence in the Philippines,” Roque told reporters.

Australia was among several countries to raise concern about the Philippine anti-drug war’s death toll at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva last year.

Duterte was elected in 2016 on a promise to eradicate drugs and launched an unprecedented campaign in which police say they have killed more than 4,100 drug suspects who resisted arrest.

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UNDER FIRE. Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño is under fire Monday from netizens after seeing him on social media post wearing a Coast Guard Rear Admiral uniform. The Coast Guard says Diñois not a member of its official support group, and may face charges of usurpation of authority for improper wearing of the organization’s rank and uniform.

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News

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Con-Con is it, 3 legal eagles say

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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OST Filipinos and legal luminaries, including three former Supreme Court chief justices, believe the best way to amend or revise the Constitution is through a constitutional convention rather than through a constitutional assembly, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Monday.

He said the emerging consensus among the resource persons during the committee hearings in Manila and in the provinces was that if the Constitution is to be amended, it must be through a constitutional convention.

Drilon made his statement even as a member of President Rodrigo Duterte’s consultative body on Charter change said the body will discuss the details of the federal-presidential form of government in its meeting on Monday.

The group last week voted in favor of keeping the presidential form of government even if the country shifts to a federal system. That means the president will serve as both head of State and head of government while the three branches of government―the executive, the legislative and the judiciary―will be retained.

“Details will be added: What will happen to the President’s powers, what will be the federal states’ powers,” former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said.

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training, experience and connections that paved the way for him to become the new emir.

Suscano said the military has already intensified its monitoring on the movements of Abu Dar and foreign terrorists in his company, such as Abdul Nasser Lomondot, who was arrested on Saturday.

Police arrested Abdul Nasser and his wife along Claro M. Recto Avenue in Manila over the weekend. He was in possession of a handgun and a grenade.

Suscano said Lomondot is a Maute Group sub-leader who took part in the Marawi rebellion and responsible in the killing of innocent civilians.

“He was one of the key planners in the attacks of Marantao, Lanao del Sur during the Marawi rebellion. He underwent combat training in Butig, Lanao del Sur along with other Daesh members,” Suscano said.

Abdul Nasser was among the 10 remaining Maute sub-leaders after the fall of the ISIS-inspired Maute group following the death of its top leader Abudullah Maute and three of his brothers in the Marawi City attack.

At present, the Maute terror group has 313 remaining members with 10 sub-leaders in the aftermath of its Marawi City defeat.

Lomondot was arrested with a second pro-IS suspect, Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said in a statement.

The military warned last month that the remaining militants from Marawi have mustered a force of about 200 gunmen to launch a second attempt to put up a caliphate in the country’s south.

Meanwhile, government security forces said Friday more than 7,000 unlicensed firearms, excluding those from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, are in the hands of people that shouldn’t have guns in Maguindanao.

are two entirely different proceedings with entirely different grounds for filing. These two proceedings run on different tracks-- the impeachment proceeding being under Section 2, Article XI of the Constitution with unwritten assumption here is that the officer was eligible and that the assumption of office was valid,” he said.

Besides, Calida said he is actually doing Sereno a favor by filing the case before the Supreme Court.

“The OSG will not allow you to undergo the indignity that the late Chief Justice Renato Corona suffered at the hands of politicians who unjustly convicted him. You do not deserve that. I don’t expect you to appreciate this but believe me, this is an act of kindness to a fellow lawyer,” he said.

A supporter of Sereno, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, however, said seven justices who have shown hostility toward Sereno should recuse themselves from the quo warranto case.

He did not name the justices, however.

In the House, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said an 11-man prosecution panel for Sereno’s impeachment trial was almost complete.

Alvarez, who is expected to manage the prosecution for the impeachment

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This, as CDC reached an unprecedented net income of P1.01 billion in 2017, a 32-percent increase from its 2016 net income of P738 million.

In a report to the CDC Board of Directors, president Noel F. Manankil, said the reported net income for 2017 alone represented 27 percent of the P3.801-billion income generated for the first 23 years of CDC’s operations.

He added that CDC also remitted cash dividends of more than P2.5 billion to the National Treasury covering the period of 1993 to 2016.

Manankil also said CDC posted a 20-percent growth in its gross revenues for 2017, earning P1.98 billion compared to 1.64 billion in 2016.

CDC only had a total revenue of P16.37 billion from 1993 to 2016.

The agency addressed several inquiries from the netizens over a picture posted in social media sites.

It stated that “records from the PCG Auxiliary membership committee disclosed that Usec. Diño is not a legitimate member of the organization and hence not entitled to wear the PCGA uniform.”

“The PCG under Republic Act 9993 (PCG Law of 2010) has the sole responsibility and authority over the PCG Auxiliary membership and activities.

The PCG has the right to file formal complaint for usurpation of authority and other criminal laws that may be violated by the improper wearing of the organization’s rank and uniform.”

At press time, the Coast Guard was coordinating with the office of Diño who, it added, might have been misled and recruited by bogus Auxiliary or-

‘Shape...

Oscars overall on Sunday—the other two were for best original score and best production design.

In the movie, Elisa (Sally Hawkins), who has been unable to talk since her throat was slashed as a baby, recruits her gay neighbor (Richard Jenkins) and colleague (Octavia Spencer) on a mission to break out the lab’s amphibian prisoner, whose days are numbered.

Michael Shannon rounds out the cast in a scenery-chewing turn as the sadistic government employee responsible for the magical creature, which is also in the sights of Russian double agents who have infiltrated the facility. “’The Shape of Water’ finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best—and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance,” reads the critical consensus on reviews colla-

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Guillermo del Toro’s Cold War-era story of love between a mute cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature being held in a top secret government laboratory in Baltimore has dominated Hollywood’s annual prize-giving season.

The quirky love story challenges viewers to cheer for an unorthodox couple, embracing the themes of tolerance and acceptance.

“I want to tell you, everyone that is dreaming of using fantasy to tell the stories about the things that are real in the world today—you can do it,” said Del Toro, who also took home the best director prize.

Del Toro also earned a Golden Globe and Directors Guild Award this season for helming the movie, which won four

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However rights groups estimate there have been more than 12,000 deaths in all, including people murdered by shadowy vigilante groups.

Duterte, who last week told police and soldiers not to cooperate with any probe, is also facing a preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court over

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Drilon said the people’s sentiment was that the amendments to the Constitution should be through a con-con.

“That is on record and Congress should seriously consider our people’s view,” he said.

“We must listen to the growing public preference for the Constitutional Convention as the method of amending or revising our Constitution.”

Drilon said such view “reflected the distrust of the people on Congress.”

“Unfortunately, it appears that our people do not trust their legislators with the revision of the Constitution. It says a lot about the level of trust, or the lack of it, on the legislators,” Drilon said.

“We can’t not blame our people if they fear that politicians will only abuse the new Constitution to further their own agenda.”

Drilon said the people favoring the con-con were former chief justices Hilario Davide, Reynato Puno and Artemio Panganiban and former Supreme Court associate justices Adolfo Azcuna and Eduardo Nachura. Puno heads the consultative body tasked by the President to review the Constitution.

Former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also considers a constitutional convention as the best mode, but if the President prefers a constitutional assembly, then there would be no problem as long as public hearings were conducted to ensure participation by the people.

The University of the PhilippinesNational College of Public Administration and Governance and the Philippine Center on Islam and Democracy also favor a constitutional convention to ensure wider participation.

trial at the Senate, said members of the team would be formally elected by the chamber before Congress adjourns.

“From forty names, it [the list] is now significantly reduced to less than 15,” Alvarez said.

He said the following are likely to be elected as members of the prosecution panel: Deputy Speaker and South Cotabato Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin, Compostella Valley Rep. Ruwel Peter Gonzaga, ABS party-list Rep. Eugene de Vera, 1-Ang Edukasyon party-list Rep. Salvador Belaro, SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna, Pangasinan Rep. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas, Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon and Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the House justice committee earlier said House majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas will also be elected to the prosecution panel.

Umali said he will be the lead prosecutor.

Oaminal, Leachon and Veloso, a former associate justice of the Court of Appeals, are all vice-chairmen of the House Committee on Justice and are assured of slots in the prosecution panel.

Tugna and Agabas were being considered for being part of the 11-man House prosecution panel during the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Deputy speaker and Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia is reportedly being groomed to be the spokesperson of the House prosecution panel.

Similarly, House senior deputy majority Leader and Pampanga Rep. Rimpy Bondoc, who is reportedly eyeing Fariñas’s post in the next Congress, is also being tapped to serve as the prosecution’s spokesman.

This developed as Umali said the House will approve the committee report on the Sereno impeachment trial with the Articles of Impeachment before Congress goes on break.

“I will comply by next next week. I will submit this to plenary,” Umali said as his committee is expected to decide Thursday on the probable cause of the complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon.

He said Sereno will be given the due process as she will be required to comment on the complaint.

At the flag ceremony at the Supreme Court Monday, dozens of court employees wore red to show their support for 13 associate justices who urged Sereno to go on leave. Nearby, Sereno supporters outside the gates of the Supreme Court jeered and waved placards in support of the chief justice. With Vito Barcelo

alleged extrajudicial killings.

Roque said Duterte would send Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano as his representative to the summit, while the president attends the graduation ceremony of the Philippine Military Academy.

Duterte plans to use the event to speak to young officers about the fight against “modern-day terrorism” among other topics, Roque added.

Duterte is not the only Asean leader feeling the heat over his rights record.

Last month, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to “shame” Australia and block the release of a joint statement at the March summit if he faces pressure over a political crackdown at home.

The strongman has been chastised

by Western countries for taking a hammer to Cambodia’s democracy in recent months by dissolving the main opposition party, shuttering independent news outlets and pursuing critics in the courts. AFP with Vito Barcelo

ganization known for collecting money from its recruits.

The agency is also looking into reports that a certain Admiral Winefredo Villanueva from Manila Yacht Club was behind this scheme.

Diño on Saturday posted his photo on Facebook where he was wearing the uniform.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Villanueva introduced himself as Admiral Fred Villanueva of the 101st Manila Yacht Club Squadron. He said his group was the first PCGA organized in the country.

He added his group was established on March 10, 1973 and was not a bogus organization.

Villanueva said about eight years ago, documents of the 101st MYC Squadron were “stolen” by the current PCGA National Director Valentin Prieto, who he said was a former member of their group.

“They stole it and they organized Cultural Center of 101. This is a personal matter because they were kicked out of the Manila

Yacht Club as members,” he said.

“The Coast Guard then recognized the group [of Prieto] and that is why we are planning to file a case because of what they did to us.”

Villanueva confirmed he was the one who inducted Diño to the 101st Squadron on the evening of January 25 this year.

He said they only kept quiet for years because they did not want to “stoop down to the level” of Prieto’s group.

But now that the issue is publicized, they will file cases against the PCGA and the PCG. Over GMA News, Diño claimed he was installed as a Real Admiral of the group earlier this year.

“On January 25, Thursday, 7 o’clock at the Manila Yacht Club, I was installed as a Rear Admiral. They told me that’s my post,” he said.

“He [Villanueva] was the one leading 101 Manila Yacht Club Squadron.

If there is a problem, they should be the one under attack, not me.”

tion website Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a 92-percent approval rating.

‘Ointment for the soul’

For Del Toro, the most gratifying reaction always comes from the fans, he told AFP at a recent luncheon for the Oscars nominees in Beverly Hills.

“The most beautiful thing which I’d heard, in different ways, was that the movie has healed someone emotionally or has given someone emotional ointment for the soul,” he said.

“It’s a moment in which you are being told over and over again by ideologists that you should fear the other and that the other is your enemy that is the cause of your problems.

“In reality, the answer is the other is the solution to your problems. The other is all you have. The other is the path, and the movie says ‘embrace the other.’”

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The giant bird was last seen in the 1950s in the swamps of this northern Philippine town, its natural habitat, 587 kilometers north of Manila.

“Mayor Lolita Garcia has accepted the offer of an Australian ornithologist to adopt the Luzon Sarus Crane, a member of the crane sub-species, [which is] originally from Cagayan,” travel reporter Benjamin De Yro told Manila Standard.

The offer was coursed through Dr. Juan Carlos Gonzales, an ornithologist and Director of the University of the PhilippinesLos Banos Museum of Natural History, during his visit on Thursday, a week before the town’s anniversary this week.

The Luzon Sarus Crane belongs to the sarus crane (Antigone antigone),

Substitute bill on sign language gets House okay

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations has approved a substitute bill declaring the Filipino Sign Language as the national sign language of deaf Filipinos and the official sign language of the government in all transactions involving the deaf.

The committee, led by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, approved the funding provision of the bill as spelled out in its Section 15 after which it passed the measure in its entirety.

The initial funding for the proposed “The Filipino Sign Language Act” will be taken from the current year’s appropriations of concerned government agencies. Thereafter, the amount necessary for its continued implementation will be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. The bill, authored by ACT Teachers Psarty-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, declares as a State policy to take all appropriate measures to ensure the Filipino deaf can exercise the right to expression and opinion. Accordingly, the State recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages embodying the specific cultural and linguistic identity of the Filipino deaf.

The bill declares the Filipino Sign Language as the national sign language of the Philippines. The FSL will be recognized, promoted and supported as the medium of official communication in all transactions involving the deaf, and as the language of instruction of deaf education without prejudice to the use of other forms of communication depending on individual choice or preference.

The Department of Education, the Commission on Higher and Technical Education, the Technical Educational Education and Skills Development Authority and all other national and local government agencies involved in the education of the deaf are tasked to henceforth use the FSL as the medium of instruction in the education of the deaf.

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traced to President Rodrigo Duterte’s assurance that the government will give them houses and jobs.

“Look, I am addressing myself to all the soldiers of the New People’s Army.

Just surrender and give up your guns.

Jobs await you. And I am building, all throughout the country, almost 5,000 housing units through the National Housing Authority,” the President said in November.

“I’m just saying—if you surrender, if you are tired of killing your fellow Filipino, surrender now. I will automatically give you a house. I will give you a job,” he added.

Duterte made the pronouncements even as peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democractic Front remained stalled.

CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison, for his part, belittled the AFP data, saying these were “fake surrenders.”

“The usual method used by the military is to invite civilians to attend a meeting. They are asked to sign an attendance sheet. This sheet is subsequently attached to the text of surrender. Further on, the fake surrenderers are enticed with a junket to Manila for presentation to Duterte,” Sison said.

“If you were to believe the AFP data, then the NPA should have been wiped out by now,” Sison added. a large non-migratory crane found in parts of the Indan Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8m (5ft 11in), they are conspicuous and iconic species of open wetlands and forage on marshes and shallow wetlands for roots, tubers, insects, crustaceans and small vertebrate prey.

Gonzales, who teaches wildlife and zoology at UPLB, and his team were in Cagayan to personally check on the migratory birds, particularly along the Laguna De Cagayan lake in Sitio Bangalao of Barangay Luga here.

“An unnamed ornithologist in Australia has been looking for a wetland community in the Philippines in the last three years to adopt the hatch (sic) chicks and return them where it (sic) once belong,” Gonzales was quoted saying. Abe Almirol

News Oil firms hike pump prices

by P0.80/liter

By Alena Mae S. Flores DOMESTIC pump prices went up by as much as P0.80 per liter effective today to reflect the movement of world oil prices week on week.

Oil firms raised the price of kerosene

by P0.80 per liter, gasoline by P0.50 per liter and diesel by P0.30 per liter effective 6 a.m.

Seaoil Philippines, Eastern Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum, PTT Philippines and Flying V issued their respective price advisories yesterday.

World oil prices moved upward last week after reports that Libya’s National Oil Corp. invoked force majeure on supply from its El-Feel oil field due to protests by local tribes and security guards.

The price adjustment was supported by signs of robust production curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-Opec countries as well as a slight fall in US production.

Reports that Saudi Arabian oil minister Khalid al-Falih indicated that crude production would be well below the production cap also had an impact on world prices.

Prices were also supported by the US Energy Information Administration last week which showed domestic oil production dipping to 10.27 million barrels per day from 10.271 million bpd.

On Feb. 27, local oil firms also raised the price of kerosene by P1.15 per liter, diesel by P0.85 per liter and gasoline by P0.65 per liter.

As of March 1, gasoline prices ranged from P45.80 to P59.24 per liter, diesel from P35.20 to P46.08 per liter and kerosene from P42.72 to P52.90 per liter.

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

‘Spare compliant resort owners from closure’ T HE Philippine Travel Agencies Association on Monday appealed to the government to reconsider completely closing the resort island and allow compliant establishments to remain open during its rehabilitation.

PTAA president Marlene Dado Jante said not all resort owners in Boracay were polluting the island or violating other environmental laws. He said they would be holding meetings with the Department of Tourism and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to air their side.

Jante believes the government will take into consideration their recommendations to solve the Boracay crisis, and especially because there are around 17,000 workers who depend on the island’s tourism for their livelihood.

“The PTAA has always been pushing for the growth of the country’s tourism industry because it positively impacts the lives of our countrymen. Loss of livelihood should never be an option,” Jante said.

The Tourism department has yet to reply to the PTAA’s appeal, but on Sunday Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said her department was coordinating with the Department of Labor and Employment to address the possible job displacements on the island.

The PTAA is pushing to limit the shutdown to erring establishments, but Jante said the association was also ready should the government decide to temporarily close Boracay.

A number of hotels, resorts, restaurants and wellness centers in the country, including those in Boracay, are allied members of the PTAA. The group’s other allied members include airlines, tourist transport operators, convention organizers and handicraft stores.

“With a lot of tourism destinations

in the country that have been developed over the past few years, travel agencies have multiple options for client travel within the country especially during this summer season,” Jante said.

“We have survived financial crises and even disease outbreaks. Our members will be able to cope with this.”

The PTAA will send a team this month to inspect the facilities of their 18-member resorts in Boracay to guarantee their compliance with government regulations.

“We hold our members accountable to the highest standards in their operations,” Jante said.

“If there are infringements, we will demand that they correct them while also expecting an upgrade on their facilities and services.”

Jante said responsible tourism required all stakeholders, including their members, to take responsibility and implement actions that would ensure that destinations like Boracay remained sustainable.

“The PTAA has always stood up for the greater good of the country’s tourism industry,” she said. PNA

Sandigan junks Binay Jr. bid to dismiss case

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Sandiganbayan’s special third division has set aside the motion of former Makati City mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. to dismiss a graft and malversation case against him owing to his alleged anomalous construction of the P2.28-billion Makati parking building.

The court division, in its 16-page resolution, said Binay petition’s against two counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and malversation of public funds shall be resolved during the proper trial of the case.

Binay was accused of approving the questionable payment of P11 million to MANA Architecture and Interior Design Co. for the design of Makati City Hall Building II. His father, former vice president Jejomar Binay, is the main accused in the case.

The older Binay is facing four counts of graft, one count of malversation, and nine counts of falsification of public documents.

The former mayor said the contract was bidded out before he assumed office and so he had no control of the fund.

Binay also said the case information against him was merely “statements of the prosecution’s conclusion of law” and not “allegations of fact.”

The court said the younger Binay’s arguments are “devoid of merit.” It said the Ombudsman must present “ultimate facts” that will constitute the alleged offense.

Carpio ready to lose possible CJ nomination over WPS stand

By Rey E. Requejo ACTING Chief Justice Antonio Carpio will not abandon his position against the policy of the Duterte administration on the territorial dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea even if it costs him a possible appointment should the Senate impeach Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Carpio said he will not waver in his stand that the government should protest China’s actions on areas in the WPS, which were already declared part of Philippine territory by a United Nations arbitral tribunal.

“I may lose a possible chief justice appointment, but that’s a small price to pay for defending our maritime zones,” Carpio said in a television interview.

“If we do not defend our maritime area, may we lose it forever... I’m about to retire next year. I’m just trying to finish my work and defend our maritime zones,” he added.

Carpio said the government should fight for its rights on disputed territories and take appropriate actions against China before the proper international bodies.

He also clarified that the ownership issue over areas in the WPS, including Recto Bank, had already been resolved in favor of the Philippines.

The senior associate justice stressed it is not correct to refer to the WPS areas as disputed.

Carpio, who was part of the legal team that pursued the Philippines’ ownership of the disputed areas in WPS before the arbitration court, earlier said that WPS refers to the body of water consisting of the Philippines’ territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and extended continental shelf. Parts of this area falls within China’s nine-dash-line.

“The legal ownership is not disputed anymore, so we should not say that the area is disputed because the moment that you say that the area is disputed, China will say ‘You see, it’s still disputed,’” Carpio said.

“Don’t say that because the tribunal has already ruled with finality. There’s no appeal. We’re the owners of the resources there. There is no legal dispute as to the ownership of oil, fish, and gas.

It belongs exclusively to the Philippines.

The only problem is how to get China to comply,” the acting chief justice added.

Former mayor of Looc town beats graft rap

CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Health Secretary Francisco Duque personally visits dengue patients confined at the East Avenue Medical Center on Monday. Manny Palmero

Bill abolishing NHA makes workers antsy

By Rio N. Araja

TELCO TALKS. Ramon Isberto, public affairs head of PLDT, stresses a point as he testifies during yesterday’s Senate inquiry on the capacity and readiness of the Department of Information and Communications Technology to implement rules and regulations to protect prepaid mobile credit consumers. Ey Acasio

EMPLOYEES of the National Housing Authority on Monday threatened to stage a protest to block the passage of Senate Bill 1578, which would abolish the agency.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Evangeline Javier, NHA-Consolidate Union of Employees-Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees president, said the bill, if passed, shall create a Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to replace the NHA. “Yes, there is a big probability [of the agency’s abolition] because its functions would be transferred to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. It is stipulated in the provisions of the proposed bill. Sad to say within two years, the [new] department would

conduct a review of all attached agencies, such as the NHA,” she told the Manila Standard.

“Lastly, there is a repealing clause saying Presidential Decree 757 [creating the NHA] shall be repealed,” she lamented.

Based on the information Javier received, the Senate is set to pass the bill before the Holy Week, she said.

Lawmakers did not even consult the other housing stakeholders, such as the urban poor sector and NHA employees, Javier added.

“This is an assault to the jobs and job security of the employees who would primarily be affected by the passage of the bill,” she added.

Michael Beltran, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap public information officer, said the bill, if enacted into law, could only aggravate “homelessness and landlessness” among the poor.

THE Sandiganbayan First Division has acquitted a former Romblon mayor of graft owing to his involvement in alleged irregularities in the procurement of P9-million irrigation project of Looc municipality in 2007.

In a 33-page decision dated Feb. 23, the anti-graft court said former mayor Juliet Ngo-Fiel of Looc Romblon acted in “good faith” when she decided to award the project to its lone bidder, R.G. Florentino Construction and Trading.

“Absent any damage nor injury, coupled with the fact that the accused were merely actuated by good faith in acting as they did in the implementation of the subject project, this court therefore is inclined to absolve them from the instant criminal charge,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“The quantum of evidence points to the fact that the acts of the accused relative to the SWIP [small water impounding project] were borne out of good faith spurred only by sheer desire to take advantage of the opportunity to avail of the intended project, and comply with what was expected from their end,” the decision stated.

Aside from Fiel, the court also acquitted Bids and Awards Committee members Solomon Gregorio, Renato Saludaga, Jessie Jomadiao, Wilma Pastor, and Rolando Gregorio.

The Ombudsman earlier accused Fiel of committing an illegal act when she entered into a contract with RGFCT for “the small-scale irrigation/SWIP” of Looc even if it not had approval from the municipal council.

It also said the company was unqualified to participate in a public bidding that was marred by alleged fraud and irregularities.

But the Sandiganbayan ruled otherwise. It said the procurement for the project followed the provisions of the Government Procurement Act. The anti-graft court also gave weight to the defense of Fiel that the Agriculture department chose his town as one of the beneficiaries of the government’s hunger mitigation program. Maricel V. Cruz

A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Trading robes for running shoes

By Paavan Mathema SWAPPING their maroon robes for running shoes, seven Buddhist monks take off at a sprint across the hills surrounding their remote village in the foothills of Nepal’s Himalayas.

They are aspiring ultra-marathon runners, hoping the sport will put their remote village on the map and provide the funds needed to rebuild homes destroyed by a massive earthquake nearly three years ago.

“We found out that we can get many opportunities through running and hope to do something from our monk team—make a name for our village and bring development here. That is why we are running,” says Man Bahadur Lama, 21, the fastest of the group.

The monks—most of them in their early twenties—follow a strict regime, praying in the morning before disappearing into the hills to run up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) each afternoon.

Life is tough in Sindhukot village, which lies just 80 kilometers from Kathmandu but like many rural communities in impoverished Nepal feels totally cut off from the rest of the world. The nearest school is a twohour walk and the only shops are in a neighboring village.

Many Buddhist families in Nepal send at least one son to join the local monastery, where they are usually fed, clothed and educated—relieving their parents of the financial burden.

Lama was sent away when he was just eight, but is currently living back at home as the village monastery was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake.

Fellow monk Mingma Lama is matter-of-fact about his new pursuit, which he says his monastic duties in the community have prepared him for.

“Every day we go up and down the hills. We often have to walk far... So running wasn’t too hard for us,” he said.

These Himalayan monks are not the first to take up running. The so-called ‘marathon monks’ of Mount Hiei in Japan are known for their superhuman feat of running 1,000 marathons in 1,000 days—but they are seeking enlightenment not prize money.

Even monks can run Mingma Gyalbo, a member of the monastery who also organizes races nearby, said the monks are talented but need more support to excel.

“They don’t have the technical know-how, like for their diet, or even proper shoes for running,” Gyalbo said.

Trail running and ultra marathons are gaining popularity in Nepal, where the Himalayan terrain lends itself to extreme tests of human endurance.

Nepal now hosts a handful of races each year, including the world’s highest marathon that starts at Mount Everest base camp at a breathless altitude of 5,364 meters (17,598 feet).

A few Nepali runners have made their mark internationally, like former child soldier Mira Rai who recently won the grueling 52-kilometer Ben Nevis Ultra in Scotland and was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2017.

The Sindhukot monks’ first race was two years ago, a 30-kilometer trail run in a neighburing village. But they are yet to win any medals.

The fastest monk, Man Bahadur, came tenth in their first major marathon earlier this month, missing out on the top prize of 100,000 rupees ($964) —more than the average annual income in Nepal.

He said running in flat and hot Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace in southern Nepal, was very different to their hilly home terrain.

“I was quite amazed when I first learned that these monks were running,” said race organizer Shekhar Pandey.

“They are very self-motivated and hardworking, they are training by themselves. They are very young and if they train well they have good potential.”

Chuldim Sampo, 24, said the monks were excited.

He explained: “We want to show people that even monks are capable of running.” AFP

I

Clinging to the post

N THIS part of the world, government officials seldom quit their posts when they are accused of impropriety in office. They valiantly fight off their critics, claiming they are being singled out and unfairly accused.

Resigning is not an immediate viable option—doing so would be tantamount to admitting they are guilty of whatever it is they are accused of.

This holds true whether the accusations are in fact true or not.

Appointees, for instance, often play the “I serve at the pleasure of the president” card. A subsequent announcement from the appointing power that the officials continue to enjoy their trust and confidence is all the assurance they need to hear.

They do not realize that their true master is not the president who picked them for the post but the people whom they pledged to serve and who pay their salaries.

Those in elective positions all the more so resist volun-

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

the Senate, where she will likely face trial later this year.

Others take some time convincing. For example, the former chairman of the Commission on Elections, Andres Bautista, resigned only when it became apparent that an embarrassing Senate trial would ensue. Bautista has allegedly amassed unexplained wealth from electionrelated transactions.

In other countries, officials bow out at the first hint of accusations – in extreme cases, they take their own lives in shame. We are not suggesting that officials with tarnished reputations commit suicide, that would be absurd, but we do believe it is time we shed the idea that clinging desperately to their chairs will boost their claim to innocence.

In their self-serving insistence, these overstaying officials allow their organizations to suffer and demoralize the people.

tarily stepping down, saying they enjoy the sacred mandate of the people who voted them into office.

Those who can only be removed by impeachment cling desperately to their chairs. They take advantage of the fact that impeachment is a purely political exercise; in defending themselves, they ascribe ill motives to their critics. They come close to costing the country time and energy and most importantly money to fund what they hope would be their vindication.

We’re seeing this now in the case of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who has gone on indefinite leave prior to the transmission of the impeachment complaint against her to

Sereno must resign THE impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is a foregone conclusion. The House plenary will certainly elevate her case to the Senate for trial. There is enough basis to find probable cause against her.

I think however that there are elements in this sordid case that must not be taken for granted.

This relates to the fact that the Judicial and Bar Council placed Sereno on the short list for chief justice despite the fact that she did not submit her complete Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth as required by the JBC rules.

This raises the question—was the JBC ordered to accommodate Sereno despite these lapses?

I said there are more than enough elements of probable cause to impeach Sereno. I am not including here testimonies of Sereno’s colleagues that in some cases, she acted on her own despite the fact that the justices had to act as one.

One telling testimony was from a justice who accused Sereno of committing treason for making public details of an agreement with Taiwan, brought up during deliberations in The Hague.

But to me the most grievous mistake committed by Sereno was, aside from failing to submit a complete set of SALN, was her failure to pay her tax obligations.

Santa Banana, if the late Chief Justice Renato Corona was convicted and ousted by the Senate for misdeclaring his dollar accounts in his SALN, how much more Sereno who failed to submit her documents, and to pay her taxes, as required?

Now comes the question on the fit-

She has lost all ascendancy, and we cannot afford to have a fragmented court.

ness of Sereno to be chief justice.

If the appointment was null and void, it was as if she was never chief justice.

So if 13 justices can decide to make Sereno go on an indefinite leave of absence, why can’t they also oust her for not being qualified in the first place?

There are two overwhelming reasons why I believe Sereno should resign immediately, if she has some self-respect and delicadeza left.

One, Sereno is already damaged goods. Even if the Senate dismisses the charges against her, she has already lost all ascendancy and effectivity to be primus inter pares.

More importantly, we cannot afford a divided Supreme Court. This will weaken the judiciary and our judicial system.

If Sereno knows what is good for herself and her country, she must now resign, and pronto.

She has been proven lacking in moral integrity needed in the head of one of the three branches of government. I believes this constitutes betrayal of public trust.

A revamp long overdue HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA THE recent decision of President Rodrigo Duterte not to renew the appointment of Social Security System chief Jose Gabriel La Viña appears to be a step in the right direction—a massive revamp in the social benefits agency that has been mired in controversy for the longest time.

During the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, many of his supporters in the overbearing Liberal Party were appointed to the governing boards of administrative agencies reputed to pay large

sums of money to the members of their governing boards. The SSS was one of them.

A known staunch supporter of Presi-

An overhaul at the SSS should be enough to convince heads of administrative agencies not to waste public funds.

dent Aquino appointed to the SSS board wallowed in luxurious living, thanks to the generous financial remuneration the members of the board of directors of the SSS granted to themselves. That member was seen as an “untouchable” on account of close ties to Aquino.

Suffice it to say that it is anomalous for the members of the SSS board of directors to grant themselves large financial benefits. If members of Congress are not allowed to increase their own salaries and benefits during their incumbency, that prohibition should likewise apply to board directors of mere administrative agencies like the SSS. That anomaly notwithstanding, the SSS board during the Aquino regime

Turn to A5

*** We the public know what ails the once-island paradise of Boracay and other well-known tourism destinations.

It is not only the weak enforcement of laws like the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Lw. The finger of blame points directly to the local government of Malay, Aklan, and the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They should have monitored what was going on.

The island has been overbuilt with so many commercial establishments.

I cannot understand why this was allowed to happen over so many years.

Now, both the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the

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Opinion Nigeria looks to local skills to develop oil and gas

By Sophie Bouillon FISHING boats look like specks alongside Egina, which has been moored for the last month in Lagos. Even the container ships that normally dominate the port look like small boats.

The floating production storage and offloading facility, developed by the French group Total, looks a lot like a giant Lego set.

Everything about it is huge: its weight (220,000 tons), length (330 meters/1,083 feet) and width (60 meters). At 33 meters, it's as high as a 10-story building.

The vessel is in its final stage of construction and will soon produce some 200,000 barrels of oil a day or about 10 percent of national production.

In the next few months, Egina will head to the Niger Delta and link up to 44 subsea wells some 1,600 meters under the Gulf of Guinea.

Up to 2.3-million barrels of crude can be stored in its hull, before being taken abroad to be refined.

The cost of the project is up to $16 billion (12.8 billion euros) but according to the head of Total in Nigeria, Nicolas Terraz, the investment is justified.

"Nigeria is a very important country for Total. We've been here for the last 60 years," he told AFP, looking up at the huge ship.

"It's the biggest FPSO ever constructed by the group."

Local content The construction of Egina in Africa for Africa may be a first but it's not been welcomed by everyone in Nigeria's commercial capital.

Local residents say it's disturbed their sleep while the Egina's sheer size has made it difficult for the yachts of amateur sailors to catch the wind in their sails.

It's not just Egina's size and cost that are unique: it's the first major project to have been undertaken since a 2010 Nigerian law that made "local content" compulsory.

More than half of those involved in its construction were Nigerian and more than 75 percent of the work was done in Port Harcourt or Lagos.

The remainder was done at the Samsung shipyard in South Korea.

"We would have never thought that these

things could be done locally," said Dolapo Oni, an oil analyst with Ecobank. "It was a big gamble for Total."

"Local companies have no access to local banks or even international funding.

"But Egina shows that there is still foreign confidence at a time when Shell or Exxon don't invest anymore in Nigeria."

Nigeria has suffered years of mismanagement of its resources.

In January, parliament voted for a bill to reform the oil sector and make it more transparent, nearly two decades after it was first proposed.

The bill still needs the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to become law.

Buhari, who also doubles up as oil minister, has vowed to overhaul the sector as part of his drive to clean up politics and claw back billions of dollars in looted public money.

Vast inequality In Lagos, the fishermen who pass by the Egina every day in their grimy boats can make as little as two dollars a day. It's a sign of the vast inequality in Lagos.

But private local partners see a chance for change: 3,000 people have already been involved in the Lagos construction phase of Egina.

Ladol, which provides support services to the oil and gas sector and where Egina has been moored, is 100 percent Nigerian.

Its chief executive, Amy Jadesimi, said the vessel's arrival radically changed the landscape of the industry.

We now have the biggest crane capacity in the whole of Africa, we have a qualified labour force," said the 42-year-old former investment banker in London.

"The idea is to host more projects like this one and not only in oil and gas.

"We can fabricate very large silos for agricultural products and now that we can host the largest vessels in the world, they can come and collect the largest amount of domestic products."

Jadesimi estimated that could generate up to 50,000 jobs.

But the Nigerian government, which gets $1.6 billion a month or 70 percent of its revenue from oil, needs to invest in energy and infrastructure for that to happen. AFP

Record year for French champagne fails to cheer grape growers

By Fanny Lattach AT FIRST glance, 2017 was a stellar year for French champagne, with 307-million bottles sold for a record 4.9 billion euros ($6.0 billion)—but many of those growing the grapes see little to celebrate.

Sales in France actually fell amid rising competition from Italian prosecco and Spanish cava, meaning vineyard owners hoping to sell their own bubbly are having to rethink their strategies, and their prospects.

The big champagne houses—illustrious names like Krug, Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot—accounted for some 72 percent of total sales, which rose by 0.4 percent.

Smaller vineyards and cooperatives made up the rest, but their share has been shrinking in recent years, in large part because of a reliance on the domestic market.

"From 2007 to 2016, the vineyards have lost about 25 percent of their shipments by volume," said Aurelie Ringeval-Deluze, a wine industry expert at the University of Reims, in the heart of champagne country.

Sales within France dipped 2.5 percent last year—but the drop was 4.9 percent for the smaller houses, or 2.5 million fewer bottles, according to the Champagne Committee trade body.

"The problem is that the French market is tough, very competitive... but 80 percent of vineyards sell their champagne in France," said Maxime Toubart, head of the Champagne Winegrowers' Union.

Looking abroad As a result, more vineyards are selling their

grapes directly to the big houses instead of trying to compete with their own champagne.

"Vineyards are increasingly dependent on the houses to sell their stocks, because they have the means to go sell the bottles in distant markets at high prices," Toubart said.

"So they can afford to pay a lot for the grapes."

Of the roughly 15,800 vineyards counted by the Champagne Committee for 2016, about 4,400 produce and sell their own bottles—a number that has been falling steadily.

Many of those hoping to stay in the game are themselves trying to sell beyond France, encouraged by the 8.4 percent rise in exports last year.

Moving upmarket But small growers are often lack the wherewithal to tap into new markets.

So Velut has joined forces with 10 other vineyards to pool their resources and knowhow, "a huge advantage, because I don't have any marketing training."

The winegrowers' union is also trying to help—inviting producers to industry shows and offering English classes—though so far "it hasn't stopped the decline in volumes," Toubart said.

In many cases, smaller growers benefited for years from buoyant demand for an emblematic French luxury, even as the underlying market forces were moving against them.

"But now that is catching up with them," said Ringeval-Deluze, adding that certain producers were practically "do-it-yourself" operations lacking a clear strategy.

Sereno...

From A4

DENR want to close Boracay for 60 days.

This makes sense. This will do Boracay a lot of good.

These agencies should also set an example by making those responsible accountable. They should also do the same thing to other popular tourist destinations. *** If there are some sectors wary about President Duterte’s plan to jointly explore parts of the contested reefs in the West Philippine Sea, I cannot blame them.

First of all, the President said the joint exploration would be like a co-ownership with China. But would not a co-ownership effectively legitimize China’s claim?

Co-ownership means that the Philippines is admitting the claim of China, which is patently against our laws.

What Duterte is in fact doing by granting China co-ownership is appeasement and accommodation. Congress still has to affirm what the President wants to give to China. But he is already allowing

China’s Trojan horse in – unacceptable in any language. *** A Senate panel, which is trying to find out the sentiments of the people on Charter change, has found that most people prefer to have a constitutional convention where they can elect delegates to amend the Constitution rather than a constituent assembly where the changes will be proposed by members of Congress.

This brings to fore basic problems. The House of Representatives, led by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, is insisting on the latter mode. Such assembly will be jointly attended by the House and the Senate, which the Senate is objecting to.

We go back to square one. What mode will prevail?

Another question is whether Congress would even accept the recommendations of the consultative committee created to recommend how the charter must be changed.

Or will lawmakers just ignore it? AFP

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Tria’s testimony AMID claims by accusers that Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno “failed” a psychological assessment, the House Committee on Justice summoned Dr. Geraldine Tria at the conclusion of the impeachment hearings last week. As the supposed “expert witness” or amicus curiae, Tria was invited to scrutinize the results of the psychological evaluation made

by Judicial and Bar Council appointed psychiatrists six years ago when she w as being considered by the Council for the top judicial post. Tria, who had never met the CJ, based her supposed findings on 2012 and 2014 Manila Times articles claiming Sereno had gotten a “grade of 4” from psychiatrists of the JBC. She also made use of contemporary news reports on the actuations of the Chief’s Justice.

Tria’s assessment was not positive.

According to her, Sereno manifested “grandiosity, unlimited power, sense of entitlement, interpersonally exploitative in order to take advantage of others in order to achieve his or her end, lack of empathy and sensitiveness to the needs of other members in the community.” When asked whether she would recommend the CJ for the post, Tria firmly said that she is not recommendable.

Tria’s credentials as a clinical psychologist may have been established, but her appearing before the Committee to divulge in public confidential information raised serious concerns over the ethical propriety of her actuation and even the reliability of her interpretation. Likewise, the Committee on Justice violated the basic constitutional rights of Sereno by giving Tria legislative immunity and allowing her to violate the ethics of her profession in the guise of a higher constitutional priority.

How a psychologist could even dare to make a recommendation for someone aspiring for a judicial post is itself problematic. But even within the confines of the psychology profession, there was universal rejection of the Tria assessment.

Psychological evaluation is not only highly confidential but in this case its evidentiary value is dubious at best. As pointed out by Arsenio Alianan Jr., an Ateneo de Manila professor and one of the country’s top experts on psychological assessment for employment, such evaluations are fit for specific purposes and not intended to necessarily qualify or disqualify people from jobs. In an interview with Rappler, Alianan observed that the supposed nine “signs of mental disturbance” used by Tria remains a puzzle to psychologists a it is not clear where she was coming from.

The Psychological Association of the Philippines, in a strongly worded statement, emphatically clarified that assessments done several years back may be valid then but may not be completely reflective of the person’s present functioning. This may be true with Sereno’s

six-year psychological evaluation. As far back as 2016, the PAP came out with a clarification about the nature and purpose of psychology as a scientific discipline and professional practice. This was prompted when some candidates began to question the psychological make up of then-presidential candidate, now president, Rodrigo Duterte.

In its statement, the PAP said that psychological evaluation results should not be utilized as a means of undermining the

When the whole government machinery is used against you, one cannot afford to be distracted by multiple battle fronts.

will further expose her testimony to criticism and with the whole country watching. In the senate, she will not have the protection and the kid-gloves treatment that was given her in the House Committee on Justice.

The psychological test results of Sereno are of course not a ground for impeachment. For all intents and purposes, Sereno qualified as chief justice of the highest court. She not only met the qualifications set by the Constitution but was chosen by President Aquino, the duly constituted authority, from the list of three nominees prepared by the Council. There is nothing irregular in there except in the minds of her accusers. We can safely assume that the JBC took into account the psychological evaluation, among other criteria.

This week, the House Committee on Justice is expected to vote the articles of impeachment out of the committee and endorse these to the plenary of the House.

The latter is expected to approve these articles and send the case to trial to the Senate. The trial will supposed begin only in July, as May and June will be a time for pre-trial and preliminary motions. In this regard, the decision of Chief Justice Sereno to go on indefinite leave from the Supreme Court is a good and positive thing. In my view, rather than had the unfortunate situation of her colleagues compelling her to do it, she should have voluntarily chosen to do this earlier when it became clear that the impeachment effort against her was serious.

When the whole government machinery is used against you, one cannot afford to be distracted by multiple battle fronts.

In the impeachment fight, there are several audiences to address, but the most important are the Senate and the public. Her colleagues in the Court are also important but her approach there has to be personal, to constantly reach out and not to be combative; after all, when this is over, and she survives impeachment as I believe she will, the Chief Justice must reach out to her colleagues in reconciliation. This applies as well to her supporters, many of whom are demonizing those whom they think are against Sereno and undermining the independence of the judiciary.

That too is not helpful and could even result in even greater erosion of support for the Chief Justice among her colleagues.

Her colleagues know that all eyes are on them. Senator Sonny Trillanes has already warned them that if they move unconstitutionally against Sereno, that they themselves would be subject to impeachment by the next administration.

What is sad about this affair is that it is all so predictable. I had warned about this when the Aquino administration moved everything to impeach and convict CJ Corona. Now it is Sereno’s turn.

If this succeeds with her, no chief justice or associate justice will ever be safe again, including those who would turn against Sereno now. We will end up with a Supreme Court whose make up would change with every new president. One hopes it does not come to that.

character of any person, private or public.

Second, psychologists in the practice of their profession should respect an individual’s right to privacy and confidential communications. Third, the ethical practice of basing assessment decisions and recommendations on data and test results that are updated and relevant to the current purpose. Finally, the PAP explained that the usage of the term “psycho test” is misleading in that it creates the impression that psychological tests are the only tools used in diagnosing mental illnesses and psychological disorders. The fact is, according to the statement, mental health professionals (e.g., psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, etc.) are the ones who diagnose with the use of various assessment methods, not solely on the basis of results from psychological tests. This statement by the PAP remains true today as it was two years ago.

Tria’s public disclosure is antithetical to the guiding principles that her profession stands for. Her public disclosures not only violated the highly confidential nature of the information but grossly disrespected and totally degraded the person of the chief justice. It is a clear violation of the Code of Ethics for Philippine Psychologists (2009) which avows respect for the unique worth and inherent dignity of all human being; privacy for individuals; protection of confidentiality of personal information; and fairness and justice in the treatment of persons. For many, her testimony amounts to malpractice which calls for a disciplinary action that the PAP or any other relevant regulatory body must act on.

Tria must not be allowed to hide behind the veil of legislative immunity to disparage, degrade and dishonor the Chief Justice, or any other person subject of legislative proceedings for that matter, whose rights are likewise constitutionally protected and guaranteed. Condemnation of her peers might be sufficient for now.

The further debunking of her testimony Facebook: Professor Tony La Viña when impeachment goes to the Senate (deantonylavs) Twitter: tonylavs

A revamp...

From A4

planned to increase the required social security contributions of its members.

In turn, that means additional funds for top SSS officials to spend, and less takehome pay for SSS members.

During his incumbency in the SSS, La Viña exposed a purported anomaly involving top officials of the agency.

More specifically, it was alleged that a number of SSS officers who had access to confidential investment information available exclusively to the SSS, used that information for their own private benefit. If that is true, then La Viña should be commended, and those SSS officers concerned should be made to account for the anomaly, and for breaching the trust reposed in them by all SSS members.

It appears, however, that La Viña may have his share of explaining to do.

According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, President Duterte did not renew the appointment of La Viña because of a multi-million peso social media project and another multi-million peso media advertising program which La Viña was pushing for. The social media project, which included a television (TV) program with La Viña as the host, would have cost the government P26-million. On the other hand, the media advertising program would have cost P1.6 million monthly.

Incidentally, La Viña was the social media manager of President Duterte during the 2016 presidential campaign. It must have pained the president to let him go.

Anyway, this recent development in the SSS raises questions about how administrative agencies misuse public funds.

There is no plausible reason for an

administrative agency like the SSS to put up a social media campaign project worth P26 million just to promote its image. An ordinary website would have served the purpose of making the SSS accessible to its members and the general public—and this would have cost far much less than the P26 million sought by La Viña.

In the same light, there is no plausible reason why the SSS would be needing a TV program, and one with the SSS chief as the host. Since the TV industry in the Philippines is oriented towards entertainment appeal, it is very unlikely for that TV program contemplated by La Viña to be a viable one (one with a continuing audience).

Broadcasting a TV program which nobody will watch anyway (except perhaps for SSS employees required to monitor it) is a waste of money. Since public funds will be spent for the SSS TV program, that would have meant an unconscionable waste of public money.

It is rather unusual for La Viña himself to host the SSS TV program because the TV industry puts a premium on star appeal, and the SSS chief isn’t a star. Observers suspect that La Viña wants the TV exposure to prepare for a possible senatorial run in 2019. That’s campaigning for public office at the expense of the taxpayers.

The last time that publicity strategy was tried by an aspiring senatorial candidate was in December 2015 when then Metro Manila Development Authority chief Francis Tolentino had a film clip of himself exhibited before each and every film screening in the cinema houses during that year’s film festival. That strategy apparently didn’t work because Tolentino lost in

the senatorial race, having placed 13th in a derby for 12 seats. Tolentino still hopes to become a senator because he is contesting the victory of Leila de Lima, who landed in twelfth place. A staunch supporter of the Liberal Party in the 2016 polls, Tolentino has shifted allegiance to become a “political adviser” of President Duterte.

Anyway, the media advertising program proposed by La Viña and which would have cost the government P1.6 million every month also invites suspicion. If the advertisements contemplated under that program were to promote the accomplishments of the SSS under La Viña, then that would be an indirect way of promoting La Viña in what may be his bid for the Senate in 2019.

Delicadeza demands that officials of government agencies should not spend public funds to promote themselves, or to herald to the public the accomplishments which they are expected to accomplish as public officials in the first place.

Under ideal circumstances, therefore, the advertisements contemplated in the La Viña plan ought to be confined to the dissemination of information about the SSS and its services, and not about how efficient its top official is.

A total revamp in the SSS is definitely in order. That revamp should be enough to convince heads of administrative agencies not to waste public funds.

This reminds us of the 2017 Christmas party expenses of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office which involved an expenditure of public funds involving several million pesos. That scandal, however, is a topic for another essay.

News

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Rappler takes new rap from Wikileaks founder AFTER being hit by Palace officials for producing “fake news,” Rappler has again found itself at the receiving end of harsh criticism, this time from Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who slammed the online news site for producing what he said was “the stupidest article” he had ever read.

Assange was referring to an article published by Rappler last week that alleged that the internet activist had links with Russian online propagandists that had infiltrated the country. The only basis of the article—entitled “Bots, Assange, an alliance: Has Russian propaganda infiltrated the Philippines?”—was a tweet sent out by Assange in October 2017.

Assange had commented “Is Rappler right?” to a Rappler article shared by the online news source on its Twitter account, in which Rappler said “Contrary to Duterte’s claims, Rappler is 100 percent Filipino owned, and the CIA is not one of its founders.”

“This article in Rappler is literally the stupidest I have ever read. The evidence of a Russian plot is that I tweeted a link to Rappler,” a dumbfounded Assange said in his Twitter account.

In the article, the news outfit used Assange’s single tweet as one of the examples of “questionable tweets that raised concern about possible Russian presence in the Philippine online space.” Rappler claimed that Assange’s tweet helped cast doubts on

Health group slams Sanofi for greed, lack of empathy HEALTH group Coalition for People’s Right to Health slammed Sanofi for violating the patients’ rights, specifically the right to informed consent through dishonesty in selling the Dengvaxia vaccine to the Philippine government, without full disclosure that the Phase 3-B of their ongoing studies hadn’t been completed, and by not informing the public of the “four identified risks” that Sanofi knew way back in December 2015, as disclosed in the recent congressional hearing.

The group held its protest in front of the Sanofi Office at One World Place, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City last March 5, 2018 at 11:00 am.

Dr. Julie Caguiat, co-convener of CPRH said, “The damage that Sanofi has done is immeasurable, proving an undeniable characteristic of foreign multinational companies—that they put profit over the health and safety of the people.

The refusal to set-up an indemnification fund and putting pre-conditions such as ‘proof that the Dengvaxia was the primary cause of death’ highlights the lack of empathy and refusal to understand the plight of the masses affected by the malicious vaccine. Sanofi wants to put the burden of proof on the parents, without the company admitting that their November 29, 2017 pronouncement is proof enough of their responsibilities toward the victims.”

The CPRH previously scored the collusion between Sanofi and government officials, highlighting the obvious fast-track of the mass immunization program every time Sanofi met with a government official such as former President Benigno Aquino III and former Health secretary Janette Garin.

The coalition also pointed out that the revelation in the latest congressional hearing that Sanofi had already previously submitted, to the FDA, “four identified risks” (anaphylactic reaction, viscerotropism neurotropism, and increase in severity of dengue disease) of Dengvaxia in 2015 prior to delivery, sale, and implementation of the program yet the company hid these until 2017. Such risks should have been included in the letter of consent for the patients.

the nature of its ownership.

The Securities and Exchange Commission would later revoke the certificate of incorporation of Rappler.

The Assange assault comes days after Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go slammed Rappler for “irresponsible reporting” on his role in the Philippine Navy’s P15.7-billion CMS (combat management system) frigate project.

Rappler had alleged that Go had attempted to intervene in the procurement of the vessel’s CMS on the basis of a white paper coursed by his office to the Department of National Defense.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that he obtained the document and then endorsed it through a note to then Navy chief Vice Adm. Ronald Joseph Mercado. At the hearing, Mercado cleared Go of any involvement in the multibillion-peso warship procurement deal, and said Go had never attempted to influence his decisionmaking regarding the multi-billion peso government deal.

Senators likewise found nothing irregular with the actions of Go. Senator Loren Legarda said nothing in the letter endorsed

by Lorenzana to Mercado indicated an attempt by Go to intervene in the said project.

“I’ve read all documents, and all I see is this handwritten message and it’s a pro forma request of the secretary that says, ‘Look into it.’ Don’t we all do that?”

EDSA PHOTO EXHIBIT. Sonny Camarillo, past president of the 90-year-old Camera Club of the Philippines and the Press Photographers of the Philippines, opened his 27th edition of ‘Edsa 1986 Before & Beyond’ photo exhibit series at the Ayala Malls TriNoma. Presented by PCSO, Pagcor and Camerahaus, the photo exhibit is a calendared activity of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, which handles all activities regarding ‘Edsa’ starting this year. At the exhibit’s opening are (from left) former President Fidel V. Ramos as Special Guest, photojournalist Sonny Camarillo, Pastor ‘Boy’ Saycon of the EPPC/NHCP and Tirso ‘TG’ Serrano, former assistant general manager of Naia. The exhibit consisting of ‘a thousand and one images’ is free for public viewing until March 8, 2018 during mall hours.

BoC seizes misdeclared goods

By Vito Barcelo

T

HE Bureau of Customs seized imported cigarettes and fireworks worth at least P9 million which were declared as footwear and brackets at the Port of Manila.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said the confiscated shipments contained in two 40-footer vans came from and consigned to Paragon Platinum International Trading Corp. and Power Buster Marketing with office address in Binondo and Cavite, respectively.

He said one of the shipment consigned to Paragon contained branded

cigarettes valued at P8.2 million while the other container vans addressed to Power Buster were found to contain fireworks worth hundreds of thousands of pesos.

"The hidden cigarettes were discovered by the initiative of the Office of the District Collector through profiling," Lapeña said.

Measles outbreak hits Negros AT LEAST four people died in a reported measles outbreak in seven Negros Oriental towns, the Integrated Provincial Health Office reported on Monday.

IPHO’s Dr. Leilan Estacion said the fatalities were from the towns of Bacong, Dumaguete, Mabinay, San Jose, Santa Catalina, Siaton and Valencia, Estacion, however, said they have yet to identify the names of the fatalities.

Measles is an infectious disease that can cause death among infants as young as three months old and are particularly prevalent in areas with colder temperatures.

Symptoms of the disease include skin rashes and fever, health authorities said.

Recently, the Health department also confirmed measles outbreaks in Taguig City and in Davao City.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the number of children vaccinated against measles dropped following a public health scare triggered by the scrapped dengue immunization.

MISDECLARED. About P8.9 million worth of cigarettes and fireworks are presented

by Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña (left), at South harbor after it arrived in Manila from China on Feb. 21. The containers, which was declared as brackets and footwear, instead contained cigarettes and fireworks. Norman Cruz

PCSO opens CamSur, Bohol for STL bidders THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office is now accepting applications for prospective bidders of Small Town Lottery for the provinces of Camarines Sur and Bohol, as it suspends acceptance of new applications elsewhere in the country.

Applications for both provinces will be opened until March 23, 2018.

Alexander Balutan, PCSO general manager, said the board has decided to cancel the franchise of Everchance Gaming Corp. and PF3 Games and Entertainment Corporations to operate STL in Camarines Sur and Bohol, for violating the implementing rules and regulations set by PCSO and failure to meet presumptive monthly retail receipts.

Interested parties may now file their

Port of Manila district collector Vener Baquiran issued an alert order after receiving reports that two shipments with misdeclared shipments will arrive at the Port of Manila.

"We discovered boxes of cigarettes and fireworks instead of the declared footwear and braket" Lapeña said.

The fireworks will be turned over to Philippine National Police- Firearms and Explosives Office for proper disposition while the cigarettes are subject to destruction.

"These apprehensions are results of the enhanced border protection of the ports and the continued suspension of the Green Lane," Lapeña said.

application at the Office of the Assistant General Manager for Branch Operations (telephone no. 706-7571 or email at stl-smg@pcso.gov.ph) at the PCSO main office in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.

Balutan said PCSO is going to fast track the process of bidding to prevent illegal numbers game operators from putting up jueteng which was happening in Camarines Sur and Bohol, according to reports.

“When there’s no legal operator, illegal operators come in...When they take root, they will be more difficult to stop,” Balutan said.

“Illegal gambling operators and their local government protectors are out to discredit the STL program of the PCSO, but we will not allow them

to succeed,” he added.

Balutan said the agency will continue to expand the program and hike earnings for the benefit of the public.

At present, there are 81 Authorized Agent Corporations fully operating in the different provinces and cities around the country.

The new management of PCSO under Balutan was able to raise the collections of STL to an average of P1.8 billion a month this year, compared to P20 million to P25 million in daily STL revenues from 18 provinces in the past years.

From 18 AACs, the number of operators rose to 56 in 2016 and 83 in 2017, and presently 81 operating with the cancelation of the franchise to operate of Everchance and PF3.

Uber PH seeks 25k drivers accredited

by LTFRB HERE’S a bit of good news for car owners seeking a business partnership with TNVS companies.

Starting this week, Uber Philippines has opened slots to 25,000 more partner drivers accredited by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board after the board resumed accepting applications for transport network vehicle services.

Last Monday, the LTFRB started accepting TNVS applications on a working limit of 66,750 set in February, 65,000 of which will be allocated to Metro Manila.

“We anticipate siguro mga ... 20,000 to 25,000 applications. Siguro mga 20,000 to 25,000 ’yung ipapaprocess natin during this three-month period,” Yves Gonzalez, Uber head of Public Policy, told reporters in Quezon City.

The Uber official said a total of 59,000 drivers for both Uber Philippines and competitor Grab Philippines can be accommodated under the LTFRB limit.

He said Grab may be allowed to have 25,000 TNVS accredited. “’Yung current supply base 65,000.

So with that current number medyo may space naman na ma-allocate naman ’yung 59,000 active,” he said.

Presently, Uber employs 10,000 partners with all the necessary permits, and it plans to raise that number by adding 25,000 more.

“On Uber’s part, they are people who have driven in the past 90 days. That’s an estimate. Meron na kaming mga 10,000 na may mga case number. Mga 25,000 yata mga ipapaprocess,” Gonzalez said, noting that the LTFRB is now processing up to 300 applications daily, with 150 slots each for Grab and Uber.

CBCP backs Poe’s bid to probe new cases of baggage theft THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Migrant and Itineralnt People expressed support to Senator Grace Poe's call to probe new cases of baggage theft at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“We, CBCP ECMI, support and stand with Senator Grace Poe's Senate Resolution 644 to investigate the new case of ‘bukas bagahe,’ luggage pilferage at airports,” said Bishop Ruperto Santos, chairman of the CBCP-ECMI. He noted that stealing and dishonesty are criminal acts.

“It is plain stealing of properties, dishonesty of personnel, which are criminal acts,” the Bataan prelate said.

“Those bukas-bagahe are black eyes to our country, which will result to loss of trust and confidence of investors and tourists,” he added.

Santos said that overseas Filipino workers should be protected and propertiesluggage respected, since all the things they were able to buy are from their hard-earned money.

“Our OFWs work so hard and honestly.

They should be protected and their properties-luggage, be respected,” he said.

“What they earned, sent and brought homes, are from their sacrifices. Those are fruits of their hard works and sweat and tears,” the Catholic prelate added.

Poe, head of the Senate committee on public services, filed Senate Resolution 644 for the conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on new cases of luggage pilferage in airports.

The resolution was filed amid several complaints of passengers that their pieces of luggage were opened at the airport. PNA

Sports PH Golf Tour kicks off 10th season at Eagle Ridge THE Philippine Golf Tour marks its first decade at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club tomorrow (Wednesday) with a stellar cast, including 26 foreign bets, aiming for a big start in the P2.5 million ICTSI Eagle Ridge Challenge at ERGCC’s Faldo course.

Korean Lee Song, who topped the recent PGT Qualifying Tournament, and Thai Itthipat Buranatanyarat, who bested a tough international field at the nearby Sherwood Hills Golf Club in 2015, loom as the top contenders in the 72-hole championship kicking off the 12-stage circuit sponsored by ICTSI. They will be joined by Australian Tim Stewart, Great Britain’s Joshua Grenville-Wood, Koreans Park Min Ung and Park Jun Hyeok, and Keisuke Takahashi and Yuta Suto of Japan, who all finished in the Top 10 in the 72-hole Q-School at Splendido.

But the local aces are expected to step up and start the new season on a high note with reigning PGT Order of Merit winner Clyde Mondilla heading the challenge along with fellow inaugural PGT Asia leg winners Jhonnel Ababa, Justin Quiban, Rene Menor and Tony Lascuña, also the winner here in 2016.

Veterans Jay Bayron, Michael Bibat, Marvin Dumandan, Frankie Miñoza, Mars Pucay, Orlan Sumcad and Elmer Salvador along with young guns Jobim Carlos and Ira Alido are also tipped to contend in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. ICTSI revived the pro circuit in 2009 and expanded its support by launching the country’s first ladies tour in 2013. Last year, the leading global port management company also put up the PGT Asia aimed at developing the local pros’ games, luring more foreign players and making the Philippines a leading international golfing destination.

Other regular foreign PGT campaigners are Nicolas Paez of the US, Peter Stojanovski of Macedonia and Manila-based Dutchman Guido Van der Valk, who is coming off a third place finish in last week’s Solarie Philippine Open won by Miguel Tabuena via playoff over Thai Prom Meesawat.

St. Clare stuns La Salle, 65-58 ST. Clare College of Caloocan subdued De La Salle University, 65-58, to make its presence felt in the Milcu Hard To Guard Showcase under-25 division at the Philippine Buddhacare Academe Gym. Raymond Rubio led the way with 10 points and was backed up by Junjie Hallare with nine points to lead Sta. Clare to victory in this low-scoring affair.

No team was able to shoot better than 37 percent from the field with the most important stats posted by Brandon Matthew Bates, who came away with a double-double performance of 11 points and 16 rebounds.

But Bates’ effort wasn’t enough to carry the Green Archers to victory as St. Clare was able to hold its opponent to just 11 markers in the fourth period.

Rubio keyed a 9-2 run by Sta. Clare to turn a 49-47 lead to a 59-48 advantage.

In the Under-19 division, Big Baller Club walloped CBDL-La Salle Araneta University, 65-45.

Albert Bordeos came away with 13 markers to pace Big Baller Club to an easy win in this tournament presented by Got Skills and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and supported by BTV, Gerry’s Grill, LGR, Clyde, FMR, and Gatorade.

Don Bosco Technical Institute edged Passion Basketball, 56-52, in their under-12 division match.

Three players led scoring honors for the Bosconians—Christian Dave Anicete, Enrico Joaquin Arugay and Andrei Miguel Gildore, who all tallied 14 markers.

Mickelson ends 5-year drought M

EXICO CITY—Fivetime major winner Phil Mickelson seized his first title in nearly five years on Sunday as he edged Justin Thomas in a playoff to win the WGC Mexico Championship.

SWORN INTO OFFICE. President Rodrigo R. Duterte swears into office Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas and POC chairman Bambol Tolentino yesterday at the Malacañang Palace. The POC will be holding its first board meeting today at the Philsports Complex in Pasig, with Vargas expected to bare his choices for secretary-general and deputy sec-gen.

Alsons Power scholars eye Youth Olympic stint TRAINING is underway for two weightlifter scholars of the Alsons Power Group, Mindanao’s first and most experienced independent power producer, as they eye to qualify in the Youth Olympics Games in October at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rosegie Ramos, 13, and Jane Linete Hipolito, 16, will fly to Uzbekistan for the YOG qualifiers in weightlifting by April 2018 for a chance to represent the Philippines.

The YOG gathers athletes aged 1518 from all over the world to compete in more than 20 sports that include weightlifting.

Ramos and Hipolito, who are both from Zamboanga City, are beneficiaries of the Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz scholarship program spearheaded by the power company and 2016 Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

Ramos earned two gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the Filipino youth competition Batang Pinoy from 2014-2015. In 2016, she bagged a gold medal from the National Batang Pinoy competition held at Davao del Norte and a bronze medal at Weightlifting Competition 2016 held in Tokyo, Japan.

Last year, Ramos took home a silver from HDWOC (Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Open Championships) and a gold medal from the Zamboanga Hermosa

Weightlifting Championship.

Hipolito, on the other hand, won two golds and one silver when she competed at Batang Pinoy 2014 and 2015.

She took home a bronze medal from the Weightlifting Competition 2016 held in Tokyo, Japan and another gold medal from the National Batang Pinoy competition. Last year, she earned a silver medal at HDWOC and Zamboanga Hermosa Weightlifting Championship, respectively.

The other scholars of the program are also slated to see action at Batang Pinoy 2018 in Zamboanga City this February.

Together with Ramos and Hipolito, the scholars are part of the current pool of young weightlifters training under the Philippine Weightlifting Association.

The scholarship program is part of Alsons Power’s commitment to help provide more educational opportunities for the young people in Zamboanga City, where Alsons Power is the primary supplier of electricity thru its 100-megawatt WMPC diesel power plant in barangay Sangali in the eastern portion of the city. The partnership between Alsons and Diaz aims to produce world-class Filipino weightlifters and support the country’s efforts in eventually winning gold in the Olympics and excelling in other international sports competitions.

Smart faces Foton in PSL MALOLOS Games Today CITY—A (Malolos Sports and loaded Smart Convention Center) squad will 4 p.m. – Generika-Ayala vs Petron march to the 6 p.m. – Smart vs Foton warpath when it clashes with Foton in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Tuesday at the Malolos Sport and Convention Center here.

After absorbing a pair of early setbacks, the Giga Hitters are expected to go all out when they battle the Tornadoes in the 6 p.m. featured encounter of this prestigious club tourney bankrolled by Isuzu, Rebisco and UCPB Gen with ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.

Meanwhile, Petron shoots for its fifth consecutive win when it clashes with struggling Generika-Ayala in the 4 p.m. appetizer of this league that also has Mikasa, Asics, Senoh, Grand Sport and LGR as technical sponsors.

Despite being assembled at the last minute, the Giga Hitters still provide a high level of excitement after acquiring the services of former Cuban national team member Gyselle Silva.

Silva lit up the scoreboard as she delivered 32 kills to finish with 33 points in the Giga Hitters’ straight-set loss to Cocolife last week. She followed it up with a 23-point outburst in another straight-set loss to Petron to easily emerge as one of the darlings of the crowd.

But Silva couldn’t do it alone.

Smart head coach Ronald Dulay said their other import in Serbian Sanja Trivunovic would be finally reporting for duty as well as veteran middle blocker Maureen Penetrante-Ouano.

Mickelson, who hadn’t won since his victory at the Open Championship at Muirfield in 2013, parred the first playoff hole, the par-three 17th at Club de Golf Chapultepec, where Thomas missed the green and was unable to get up and down for par.

“It’s been a tough go the last four years, not playing my best,” Mickelson said. “But to have the believe that I was going to get there and finally break through and do it feels incredible.

“I feel that more is to come,” added the 47-year-old. “I’m starting play some of my best golf.”

The 24-year-old Thomas, one of the hottest young stars in golf and the reigning US PGA Tour Player of the Year, was coming off a victory at the Honda Classic last week.

He made six birdies and holed out from the fairway for an eagle at the 18th for a closing seven-under 64 that put him atop the leaderboard on 16-under 268.

With Thomas in the clubhouse with a two-stroke lead, Mickelson birdied 15 and 16 to reach 16-under and parred the last two-holes to cap a 66 and force the decider.

England’s Tyrrell Hatton was 16-under through 17 holes, but bogeyed the last to miss the playoff.

His 67 left him tied for third on 269 with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello (67).

Mickelson, whose drought stretched over 101 worldwide starts, had sounded a confident note when he finished the third round two shots off the 54-hole lead of India’s Shubhankar Sharma.

He opened with back-to-back birdies, and after a three-putt bogey at the third birdied the fourth and sixth, adding another birdie at the 10th to hold sole possession of the lead on 15-under.

He gave a stroke back at the 11th, however, where his second shot ended up in the undergrowth between ivycovered trees.

Validation When Thomas produced his finishing eagle it looked like, once again, Mickelson would miss out on a trip to the winner’s circle.

But a birdie at the par-five 15th and a birdie at 16—where he rolled in a 19foot putt—kept his chances alive.

“It just validates the hard work I’ve put in and the struggle for the last few years to finally get my game back,” Mickelson said. AFP

Pacers leap past Wizards

Rio Olympics medalist Hidilyn Diaz (left) is shown with the inaugural batch of the Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship Program beneficiaries during their official presentation in Zamboanga City. Two of the Power Scholars, namely Jane Linete Hipolito (2nd from left) and Rosegie Ramos (4th from left), will fly to Uzbekistan for the Youth Olympic Games qualifiers in weightlifting by April 2018.

Bulacan is Central Luzon Athletic Association overall champ SAN FERNANDO—Bulacan captured 92 golds medals to clinch the overall championship of the 2018 Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association meet at the Bulacan Sports Complex in Barangay Sta. Isabel recently.

Aside from the golds culled from victories in baseball, basketball, boxing, dance sport, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, tennis, archery, chess, football, gymnastics, table tennis, billiards and taekwondo, Bulacan also tallied 76 silvers and 55 bronzes for a total haul of 223 medals.

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvaro of Bulacan said that the region will compete as one

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team under the “Patriots” banner in the Palarong Pambansa this April in Vigan City.

“Our annual event not only serves as a friendly competition among participants, who will someday become future leaders of our country by developing their bodies and minds through sports,” Sy-Alvaro said.

Placing second in the weeklong long sportsfest was Bataan with 49 gold medals, 47 silver and 49 bronzes, while Olongapo City in Zambales ranked third with a 35 gold-35 silver-39 bronze tally.

On the other hand, Cabanatuan City was awarded as the Most Disciplined delegation, while the Most Organized Delegation was

handed to Bataan. Pampanga was named the Greenest and Eco-Friendly delegation.

With the theme “Broadening Youth Horizon through Sports Competition,” the annual sportsfest was participated in by thousands of high school students from the 20 divisions of the region, such as Angeles, San Fernando, and Mabalacat, all in Pampanga; the cities of Malolos, Mecauayan, San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan; Balanga, Bataan; the cities of Cabanatuan, Gapan, Science City of Munoz, San Jose in Nueva Ecija; Tarlac City in Tarlac; Olongapo City in Zambales and Aurora Province. Romeo Dizon

LOS ANGELES—Victor Oladipo scored 33 points and Bojan Bogdanovic tallied 20 as the Indiana Pacers moved up the crowded Eastern Conference standings with a 98-95 win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

The Pacers won despite nearly blowing a 17 point lead but they held on and the victory allowed them to jump over the Wizards by a half-game in the NBA standings.

“We’re going to have to grind it out the rest of the year,” said Oladipo, who helped Indiana move into fourth in the Eastern Conference. “It’s playoff basketball the rest of the year.”

Myles Turner added 12 points and 13 rebounds for visiting Indiana, which finished its four-game road trip 2-2 after beginning it with two losses.

Cory Joseph did double duty, scoring 16 points and also defending the Wizards top scorer, Bradley Beal, who finished with 22 points.

In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan had a team-high 19 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Charlotte Hornets 103-98 at Air Canada Centre.

DeRozan added eight assists and four rebounds while Jonas Valanciunas chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds.

C.J. Miles and Fred VanVleet came off the bench to each score 12 points. AFP

DUATHLON CHAMP. Standard Insurance Duathlete Monica Torres recently won the ASTC Asian Middle Distance Duathlon Championship at the World Series Powerman in Putrajaya, Malaysia, besting all other Asian in the competition. She also placed third overall behind 70.3 champion Hungary’s Anna Eberthatdt-Galasz and World Duathlon Championships silver medalist Miriam Van Reijen of The Netherlands.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Sports

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

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Ormoc city mayor Richard Gomez announced his appointment as chef de mission of the Philippine delegation to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Joseph Pasalo

Bicycology’s Joven is Ronda Stage 3 king TUGUEGARAO CITY—Cris Joven of Army-Bicycology bested Ronnilan Quita of Go for Gold Developmental team and Leonel Dimaano of Team Franzia to rule the 223.5-kilometer Stage 3 of the Ronda Pilipinas 2018 presented by LBC that started in Pagudpud and ended in front of the Provincial Capitol here yesterday.

Unperturbed by the searing heat that went as high as 39 degrees, Joven, who placed third in last year’s race, didn’t waste time in joining the early breakaway group, kept up with the best of them and then out-sprinted Quinta and Dimaano in the final stretch to seize the stage victory in five hours and 39.45 minutes.

It was an impressive performance for the 30-year-old Joven, whose recent effort sent him soaring from 23rd the day before to seventh overall with an aggregate clocking of 10:32:53, or a little over seven minutes off the lead.

“I kept telling myself I will take Stage 3 and I don’t want to go to sleep tonight disappointed,” said Joven, a proud son of Tabaco, Albay.

Packed in the a seven-man group approaching the final 3km, Dimaano jumped the gun on everyone but Quita was quick to respond and briefly seized the lead before Joven took charge and overtook both in a frantic ending.

LBC red jersey holder Ronald Oranza of Navy-Standard Insurance wound up 13th in the stage in 5:40:28 to retain the overall lead with a total time of 10:25:39, exactly five minutes ahead of No. 2 Archie Cardana also of Navy-Standard.

Reigning back-to-back winner Jan Paul Morales also of Navy bounced back from a forgettable effort in Stage 2 by finishing at fifth in 5:39:51 that sent him climbing up the ladder from No. 9 to No. 3 in 10:31:01.

Gomez is PH’s chef de mission to ‘18 Asiad

By Ronald O. Reyes

Pfc. Chris Joven shakes hands with Navy-Insurance and two-stage winner Ronald Oranza.

Division champs shine at PAL Interclub Srs tilt B

ACOLOD CITY—Cebu Country Club, Alta Vista, Rancho Palos Verdes and South Bay of Los Angeles emerged winners of their respective divisions at the close of the 32nd Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub golf team championships Sunday.

Roichi Horit and Nonoy Tirol each had 47 points and Kim Kwang Seok added 42 at Binitin as CCC captured the Founders division with 542 points.

Negros Occidental Team A and Orchard tied for second place with 528 points apiece.

Alabang and Pueblo de Oro completed the top five with 524 and 515, respectively.

In the Aviator class, Alta Vista drew 123 points from Ramon Sebastian (44), Razzy Razon (42) and Masahisa Kawakami (37) to win the Aviator bracket by eight points over Villamor.

The rest of the top five includes Fil Am Hawaii (461), Iloilo Golf and Country Club (454) and Sarangani Golf and Country Club (445).

Rancho Palos Verdes, on the other hand, was declared Sportswriters champion after posting 454, 20 points ahead of Forest Hills.

Scoring 103 points in the final round at Marapara were Lito Dublan 37, Abra-

ham Dizon 33 and Deo Cura 33.

Veterans was third with 429, Bacolod Golf fourth with 428, and Iligan Golf and Taotaomona Guam which tied for fifth with 416 apiece.

The Friendship bracket was won

by South Bay of LA which totalled 437, following a 104-point effort at Binitin. Scoring on the final day were Ronald Rojas 49, Rene Flores 41 and Nilo Liwag 28.

Club 1872 LA finished second with 430, Fil-Oz Sydney third with 409, Canphil Golf Association fourth with 394 and Phil Am Golf of Central Florida fifth with 386.

This year’s Interclub’s Platinum sponsors this year are RMN and Manila Times, while major sponsors are Mastercard, The Philippine Manila Standard, Rolls Royce, Bombardier, TV5, Primax, BusinessWorld, Crossover and Fox. Other sponsors include Boeing, PAGCOR, Belmonte Hotel, Eton Properties and Asia Brewery Inc.

Road Warriors draw 1st blood Games today (Mall of Asia Arena) 4:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs. Talk N Text 7 p.m. – Magnolia vs. Globalport

By Elmer Manuel NLEX relied on the hot shooting hands of its key players in the payoff period to pull off a stunning 105-99 victory over Alaska and draw first blood in Game 1 of their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal duel at the Mall of Asia Arena last night.

Down by four, 90-94 with 3:33 remaining in the game, the Road Warriors brought their offense back to life with Larry Fonacier scoring four straight points and Michael Miranda and Kiefer Ravena finishing off the Aces to lead their best-of-three affair at 1-0.

Ravena topscored for NLEX with 25 points, while Fonacier and Kevin Alas contributed 18 and 17 points, respectively.

JR Quinahan and Miranda also finished in double figures, chipping in 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Road Warriors actually held their ground against the Aces, with Ravena, Alas and Fonacier leading the charge and erected a 50-40 halftime advantage.

Alaska managed to chip away at the deficit and took the driver’s seat 84-79 in the nine-minute mark of the final quarter and looked poised to complete the reversal.

But NLEX was not to be denied, as Fonacier, Miranda and Ravena took over the reins in the crucial point of the match to walk away with the victory.

“I’m just relieved that Game One is over—that’s the good news,” Road Warriors coach Yeng Guiao said. “The bad news is we have to go through this again.”

Meanwhile, San Miguel and Magnolia set out today seeking an outright semifinals berth against their respective foes.

The PAL Seniors Interclub champions trophy (Championship Division) returns to Canlubang at the close of the 32nd Seniors Interclub at Bacolod. Shown holding the trophy is Canlubang team captain Luigi Yulo (5th from right) together with other Canlubang golfers, flanked by PAL executives. They are, from left, Dina May Flores, Interclub executive committee; Damasus Wong, Rolly Viray, Dave Hernandez, Abe Avena, Luigi Yulo, Boyet Saragoza, Jose Mari Hechanova, Zaldy Villa and Bong Velasquez, Interclub chairman.

Fareñas returns to ring April 7

By Robbie Pangilinan FILIPINO lightweight Michael “Hammer Fist” Farenas, who has only fought once since 2015, is reviving his boxing career with a comeback fight on April 7 against Mexican Guadalupe Rosales.

The match is part of “Dekada Fight Night” at the Gray Eagle Resort and Casino in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Farenas (42-5-4 34 KOs) said that this battle against Rosales (34-14 18 KOs) will “create a lasting memory” for him in boxing.

“I am in good condition. Sabi nga nila, may asim paraw ang angas ko,” said Farenas, who trains at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles with Marvin Somodio and Jesse Arevalo.

He thanked God for the strength He gives, his family for inspiration, and her manager Germaine Gillies for the support.

ORMOC CITY---Sportsman and actorturned Ormoc city mayor Richard Gomez was appointed chef de mission of the Philippine delegation to the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.

“I’ve done it before as chef de mission of the country in Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand (in 2014).

Now, I am going to do it again in the Asian Games 2018,” Gomez told reporters at the sideline of first Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (Global Laser-Run City Tour in the Philippines, hosted in Ormoc.

Gomez also expressed his elation over the election of Ricky Vargas as the new president of the Philippine Olympic Committee against Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco Jr., who held the said position for 13 years.

The mayor, who is also the president of the fencing association, stressed that the election of Vargas “brings a new confidence to the national sports associations.”

Asked how the country would fare in major global sports competition, Gomez said that there is a need for unity between the POC and the Philippine Sports Commision.

“Lagi tayo sa baba. Alam mo ang importante, ang Philippine Sports Commission at ang Philipine Olympic Committee kailangan talagang magkaisa iyan, kailangan naguusap sila, kailangan isa ang program nila towards sa goal na dapat manalo tayo. Pero kapag nag-kanya kanya, magkakagulo. The Philippine Sports Commission is the funding arm of the national sports associations. Iyong POC is a private organization under the International Olympic Committee. Sila iyong nag-accredit, nag-check kung kumusta ang taining ng mga atheletes,” Gomez said.

Praises from Olympians Meanwhile, two Olympians from Europe have lauded Gomez after the successful hosting of the Laser-Run City tour on Saturday.

Dubbed as “Ormoc City Laser Run 2018”, this type of sporting event is the first in the country and in the Eastern Visayas region.

“We are already doing good. This is a good chance to start,” said Olympian Deniss Cerkovkis of Latvia who came to the city to help in organizing the event.

According to Cerkovkis, holding the Laser-Run in the city is feasible, adding that Gomez “is doing a great job…as he understands a lot in sports.”

Bernhard Petruschinsui, German Olympian and an international expert of the UIPM laser run, also said that he is happy that actor-sportsman turned politician has realized the plan to host this kind of sports while acknowledging the tournament venue made available to the athletes in the city.

“This Laser-Run is a run and shoot event with the use of a laser gun, for all ages from 9 under to 15 above. We invited all who would like to play, even from international, and we are happy we are hosting this today,” Gomez said.

The mayor said that the sporting competition is part of the sports tourism program of the city.

Senate zeroes in on UNTV Cup title THE Senate Defenders routed the Malacañang-PSC Kamao, 77-62, to move a win shy of capturing the UNTV Cup Season 6 championship on Sunday at the Pasig City Sports Center.

Senate’s Jeffry Sanders was hailed as Best Player of the Game with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks and a steal. “[Our win] was a collective effort specially on the defensive side. So, credit goes to the players, they played well, and they executed the plan properly,” said Senate coach Mike Fermin.

“I have to give it to my teammates, to the entire team, sa coaching staff namin.

Lahat nagsasakripisyo, lahat more than willing to walk the extra mile para makuha itong victory na ito,” seconded Sen. Joel Villanueva.

Game 2 of the Best-of-3 Finals will be held on Monday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Senator Sonny Angara added: “Pasalamat

Game Monday

(Smart-Araneta Coliseum) 7 p.m. Senate vs Malacañang-PSC

kami sa Senate fans, we had a good game dahil nadala din kami noong energy ng crowd.

Congrats to our coach, to our players. Magaling din ‘yung nilaro ng kabila.”

Present on the venue to support the team were the Senate staff, its beneficiaries and Minority Floor leader Senator Franklin Drilon.

In the battle for third, the AFP Cavaliers defeated the NHA Builders, 85-84.

The Cavaliers got P1,000,000 for their chosen beneficiary, the AFP – Educational Benefit System Office, plus P200,000 for the team.

The Builders, on the other hand, will donate its prize of P500,000 to the NHA Provident Fund Association.

All prizes are tax-free.

Malacañang-PSC Kamao’s Visnu Das Javier drives to the basket as Senate Defenders’ Senator Joel Villanueva gives chase in Game 1 of UNTV Cup Finals.

IN BRIEF

Business

Metrobank readies P60-b stock rights METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co., the second-largest lender in terms of assets, will start on March 22, 2018 the offering period for a stock rights offering of up to P60 billion following the much-needed approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The bank will issue up to a maximum of 819,827,214 common shares, or equivalent to the remaining unissued shares from the bank’s authorized capital stock.

The bank in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday said offering period will end on April 4, 2018.

“GT Capital Holdings Inc. disclosed today that it intends to fully subscribe in the Metrobank SRO... The board has delegated to senior management the determination of the final terms of the SRO and authorized it to execute all related documentation,” the bank said.

The bank’s board on Jan. 17, 2018 approved the planned stock rights offering.

Metrobank said the robust growth of the Philippines would continue to support the prospects for accelerated loan expansion across the various segments of the economy. Julito G. Rada

Peza chief upbeat on ecozone taxes THE Philippines Economic Zone Authority is looking forward to a reasonable revision of taxes on all economic zones and their locators under the second package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, especially the proposed 12 percent value added tax on local purchases.

Peza director general Chairto Plaza said the agency was grateful to the Finance Department for the maintaining status quo on Peza incentives to locators.

“We have all the reasons to be optimistic that’s why we are targeting a 10 percent growth in investments pledges this year. But we are also worried that locators might find the Philippine unattractive if the incentives they are currently enjoying will be challenged by the law,” she said.

The proposed 12 percent VAT on local purchases, for one, will ultimately affect the locators and local suppliers, which are mostly Filipino micro, small and medium enterprises. Othel V. Campos

SEAOIL-CALTEX PARTNERSHIP. Seaoil Philippines and Caltex Australia Ltd. sign a strategic partnership wherein the Australian company will acquire a 20-percent interest in the Philippines’ largest independent fuel player. Sealing the deal are (from left) Seaoil chief executive Glenn Yu, chairman Francis Yu, Caltex Australia executive general manager for fuels and infrastructure Louise Warner and chief financial officer for fuels and infrastructure Douglas Darley. Sonny Espiritu

BoI: Investment projects jump five times to P132b

By Othel V. Campos

I

NVESTMENT commitments jumped 402 percent in the first two months to P131.6 billion from P26.19 billion a year ago amid strong investor confidence in the economy, the Board of Investments said Monday.

Trade Secretary and BoI chairman Ramon Lopez attributed the exceptional performance to the sound policies of the government and the strong investor sentiment that continued to fuel the economic growth momentum.

“Barely two months in the new year, we’re off to a blazing start and given the momentum, we will continue to roll for the rest of the year and hit our target of P680 billion, which is up 10 percent from the record-breaking figure from 2017,” Lopez said.

“There were so many prospects late last

year that after seeing the unprecedented growth, they finally decided to roll out new investments and other firms remain bullish with their expansion to take advantage of the expansive economy,” he said.

Lopez said these projects were riding on the growth momentum to continue this year after the agency posted a record P617 billion in committed investments last year.

Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said most approvals were related to growing demand for infrastructure in support of the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.

“The power requirements are enormous and so are the construction part which leads to more cement production and the expansion of transport facilities,” he said.

The biggest project approvals in February came from power, cement and air transportation sectors.

Five solar-power projects of Solar Philippine Commercial Rooftop Projects worth over P60 billion were given the

Power rates likely to rise again in March on weak peso

By Alena Mae S. Flores POWER rates are expected to go up again in March on weak peso and following the shutdown of more power plants amid rising demand, retailer Manila Electric Co. said Monday.

“Last February, around 1,000 megawatts of plants were under maintenance shutdown, while demand in Luzon went up by around 400 MW. Hence, we expect there was pressure for higher WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] charges last month,” Meralco head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said.

WESM is the country’s trading floor of electricity.

“There was also further peso deprecia-

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

B

PCC increases cap for review of acquisitions, mergers to P5b

Globe blocks over 400m spam texts GLOBE Telecom Inc. said on Monday it blocked over 400 million spam text messages last year as part of an intensified anti-scamming campaign.

“We understand the problems that could arise from these text messaging scams. This is why we have strengthened our campaign for a spam-free experience for all our customers. We have been working hard to stop many fraud attempts, and we have been successful in our goal. We will be constantly upgrading and improving our blocking and filtering mechanism to keep our network from these unwanted messages,” Globe chief information security officer Anton Bonifacio said.

Globe has also deactivated 14,013 SIMs, which have been found to be the sources of such messages.

Globe in 2014 established an antispam solution and blocking mechanism, consisting of a new hardware and software solution, that can filter up to one billion SMS a day. The mechanism enables Globe to prevent the transmittal of spam and scam messages which have been sent through the Globe network.

Darwin G. Amojelar

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

tion. We will also be reflecting in March the portion of generation costs from the February bill. These factors point to higher rates in March,” Fernandez said.

Meralco said the adjustment this month would include the P0.33-per-kilowatthour increase, which was a part of the P1.08-per-kWh hike for the month of February.

“We expect to be able to finalize/announce March rates by Thursday,” Fernandez said.

Meralco only raised P0.75 per kWh in last month’s billing, while announcing that the remaining P0.33 per kWh would be implemented in March.

Meralco earlier said that the full increase for February was not implement-

ed to cushion the impact of higher electricity rates on consumers, cognizant of the fact that there were recent price increases on fuel and other basic commodities.

Meralco said the February adjustment brought the overall rate to P9.47 per kWh from January’s P8.72 per kWh, equivalent to an increase of P150 in the monthly bill of a residential customer consuming 200 kWh. “Of the P0.8469-per-kWh increase in the generation charge, Meralco said that it will reflect an adjustment of P0.5780 per kWh this February, or from a generation charge of PhP4.0768 per kWh in January to PhP4.6548 per kWh this month,” it said.

WORLD WITHOUT WASTE.

Coca-Cola Philippines public affairs and communications director Jonah De Lumen-Pernia (left) presents the Coke Barkada Award to The Circle Hostel environmental officer Fiona Faulkner, as both their organizations take a stand to create a world without waste.

green light to dramatically reduce the cost of power and reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels in the long-term.

Another major investor is the Ionic Cementworks Industries Inc. which is putting up a P12-billion cement plant in Pagbilao, Quezon while Metro Iloilo Hospital and Medical Center Inc. is building a P620-million hospital in Jaro, Iloilo.

The BoI also approved Mabuhay Maritime Express Transport Inc.’s application to operate as a domestic shipping operator of high-speed passenger ship with a project cost of P602 million to service the Kalibo-Boracay, Aklan route.

“Our policy has always been to ensure the migration of investments from the National Capital Region to the other regions.

This is a deliberate policy to ensure that growth is inclusive,” Lopez said.

Central Luzon topped all regions with P61 billion in investment approvals, up 4,778 percent from P1.2 billion in the same period last year.

Tan’s Megaworld ventures into the education sector

By Jenniffer B. Austria TYCOON Andrew Tan is venturing into education with a development of primary school in the Visayas in partnership with Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association Inc. Tan, through real estate unit Megaworld Corp., is set to put up Newtown School of Excellence within the company’s 30-hectare The Mactan Newtown township development in Cebu.

Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Newtown School of Excellence would have two main buildings, including a single-story Kindergarten Building, which is composed of three classrooms, a library, playground and a multipurpose hall.

The five-story Elementary Building is composed of 21 classrooms, audiovisual rooms, computer rooms, music room, home economics room, prayer room, library and learning resource center, auditorium, covered court, physical education instructional room, science laboratories, clinic and a canteen.

Megaworld Cebu Properties Inc. president Noli Hernandez said the school would primarily cater to the children of the township homeowners, particularly those who live in condominium developments.

It will also cater to the children of the expat community and residents of LapuLapu City and nearby towns and cities and the children of those working in nearby businesses and business process outsourcing companies.

THE Philippine Competition Commission said Monday it increased the threshold for the evaluation of corporate mergers and acquisitions from P1 billion worth of transaction to P5 billion.

PCC said it made the adjustment after a careful evaluation of the actual notifications and to keep pace with recent developments in the economy.

PCC issued Memorandum Circular No. 18-001 adjusting the new thresholds to P5 billion for the “size of person” and P2 billion for the “size of transaction” as defined in the implementing rules and regulations.

The size of person refers to the value of assets or revenues of the ultimate parent entity of at least one of the parties, while the size of transaction refers to the value of the assets or revenues of the acquired entity.

PCC said this was the first time it adjusted the thresholds since the Philippine Competition Act was enacted with the P1billion default threshold.

The circular also establishes the automatic adjustment of the threshold every year beginning March 1, 2019 based on the official estimate of the nominal gross domestic product growth of the previous calendar year rounded up to the nearest hundred millions.

“The adjustment stems from various considerations, including the size of actual notifications to date, the country’s economic growth, overall inflation and efficient use of the commission’s limited resources,” said PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan.

“The annual adjustment based on nominal GDP growth ensures that the thresholds maintain their real value over time and relative to the size of the economy,” he said.

The commission said it would continue to conduct regular monitoring of the M&A notifications and would revisit the threshold level periodically to make sure it was responsive to changes in the markets and the economy. Othel V. Campos

Business Insider ranks PH as best market to invest in

By Julito G. Rada FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the country’s strong and solid macroeconomic fundamentals and the government’s fiscal reforms enabled the Philippines to top the list of 20 best countries to invest in this year by American financial and business news website Business Insider.

The Philippines outranked a number of advanced economies in the world such as France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia and Singapore in the list.

Dominguez said in a statement among the reasons the Philippines was chosen as number one on the list “could be the young and hardworking workforce, an excellent inclusive growth momentum and expanding middle class and politically stable environment.”

Dominguez, the Duterte administration’s leader of economic managers, also mentioned the strong and popular leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte, fiscal discipline, stable monetary policy, the country’s active membership in Asean, an achievable infrastructure program, strong anticorruption drive and improved revenue collection.

“It is a result of teamwork,” Dominguez said.

Business Insider said in an article that to qualify as a country worthy of investment, certain standards should be met, citing a World Bank Group report highlighting four factors: the country’s people, environment, relationships and framework that propel both individuals and corporations to invest in a given country’s natural resources, markets, technologies or brands.

“Guided by the report from the World Bank Group, US News identified the best countries to invest in for 2018,” the news website said.

“Last month, US News released their 2018 Best Countries ranking.

To determine the overall list, US News surveyed over 21,000 people worldwide about 80 different countries, measuring them on 65 different attributes, including cultural influence, entrepreneurship and quality of life,” it said.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks skid; eyes on inflation

T

HE stock market fell Monday ahead of the release of the inflation rate for February today and on fears of a global trade war after US President Donald Trump proposed steel and aluminum tariffs.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 72.40 points, or 0.9 percent, to 8,386.17 on a value turnover of P6.1 billion Gainers, however, beat losers, 117 to 100, with 41 issues unchanged.

BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, dropped 2.6 percent to P151, while Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., the second largest bank, slipped 2 percent to P96.

Manila Electric Co., the biggest retailer of electricity, declined 2.8 percent to P325, while MRC Allied Inc. fell 3.9 percent to P0.74.

Asian Equities went into a tailspin last week after Trump unveiled his plans for the controversial levies. While US investors ended Friday on a slightly positive note, there is still the prospect of more volatility to come.

Trump ramped up his rhetoric at the weekend, tweeting that “Our friends and enemies have taken advantage of the US for many years”, before adding “Sorry, it’s time for a change!”

The move, part of the president’s “America First” protectionist drive, was met with fury across the world with officials from Beijing to Brussels raising concerns.

“Uncertainty has lifted materially, folks, as countries react to the tariffs and a trade war and retaliatory measures loom as a real possibility unless President Trump finds a way to step back,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strat-

egist at AxiTrader.

Hong Kong led losses, falling more than two percent, while Tokyo finished 0.7 percent lower.

But Shanghai edged up 0.1 percent, with eyes on the start of China’s annual rubber-stamp parliament. The legislature began its most significant meeting for a generation, preparing to offer Xi Jinping a lifetime mandate to rule the world’s number two economy.

Premier Li Keqiang set a 2018 economic growth target at “around 6.5 percent,” in line with expectations but lower than the 6.9-percent increase registered last year.

Sydney lost 0.6 percent and Seoul slipped 1.1 percent while Singapore was off 0.8 percent. There were also losses in Taipei, Wellington, Jakarta and Bangkok.

The dollar came under further pres-

sure on worries about a trade war, with the safe-haven yen extending last week’s gains—helped by comments from the head of the Bank of Japan last week suggesting crisis-era stimulus could be scaled back from next year.

Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA, said: “Trump is carrying the seeds of the dollar’s destruction.

“The economic fallout from trade duties would result in a toxic elixir of lower domestic growth and higher inflation, neither of which inspires investors’ confidence in the dollar.”

The euro also got support from news that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would form a new government, ending months of uncertainty in Europe’s biggest economy, though Italy was on course for a hung parliament after a general election at the weekend. With AFP

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

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59.1 2,940 117.7 1,262,960 3.5 161,000 151 1,277,830 1.71 1,123,000 35.1 167,300 15.5 166,700 29.1 1,063,400 3.63 74,000 1.67 72,000 0.59 5,585,000 96 2,306,880 1.53 12,729,000 12.7 3,000 24.15 500 57.8 14,610 248 5,570 103.5 10 85.1 280 47 24,000 245.4 334,760 1,915 180 91 99,540 1.26 1,000

174,004 148,661,062 563,680 193,702,214 1,807,930 5,867,840 2,565,440 30,719,875 259,720 116,650 3,309,910 221,718,534.50 20,044,240 38,086 11,815 843,487.50 1,381,016 1,035 23,870.50 1,128,295 82,030,448 344,700 9,057,115.50 1,260

167,503 -68,358,948 -56,996,750 3,280 4,231,485 913,430 13,742,255 -42,840 94,781,396.50 2,158,710 582,252.50 319,902 328,910 9,768,706 6,441,483.50 -

38.3 12.7 0.55 1.26 18.84 0.216 3.7 16.1 289 50.25 22 63.9 58.25 1.88 5.35 10.2 11.56 14.18 11 7.55 5.74 14.32 62 28.05 9.4 18.6 2.12 296 54 4.6 26.2 16.62 20.95 325 0.19 7.81 2.52 4.95 9.08 6.2 1.53 12.5 55.25 6.21 625 4.84 2.79 3.33 2.24 15.52 5.18 0.133 1.03 149.5 2.74 1.85 1.59

INDUSTRIAL 39 761,000 13.06 2,203,600 0.56 219,000 1.28 474,000 19.26 16,400 0.222 3,060,000 3.7 1,763,000 16.22 76,800 291 250 52 546,980 23 10,700 63.9 710 58.25 10 1.89 99,000 5.35 9,000 10.26 12,700 11.72 1,174,800 14.4 162,100 11.38 135,500 7.55 646,800 5.75 8,958,100 14.5 581,000 62.8 241,650 28.85 4,600 9.4 178,500 20.4 3,440,700 2.25 1,703,000 299.6 388,840 54.05 70 4.65 245,000 26.2 934,700 16.78 223,900 21 2,984,400 325 371,640 0.198 960,000 7.97 11,800 2.73 773,000 5.1 907,000 9.12 2,028,100 6.23 264,900 1.59 184,000 12.8 61,300 55.3 286,850 6.25 15,000 635 18,050 4.84 263,000 2.79 535,000 3.33 64,000 2.24 1,642,000 15.6 101,300 5.36 140,800 0.137 4,140,000 1.03 235,000 153.9 1,529,580 2.76 11,000 1.86 1,588,000 1.64 7,752,000

29,637,795 28,588,460 122,530 597,410 313,428 677,160 6,590,740 1,240,948 72,990 27,699,580 240,565 45,369 582.5 188,700 48,248 130,182 13,741,348 2,339,790 1,522,264 4,918,637 51,511,516 8,382,162 15,064,595 129,915 1,716,862 68,832,461 3,720,780 116,216,658 3,790.50 1,143,020 24,659,085 3,759,852 62,818,850 121,809,780 186,290 92,344 2,028,180 4,704,470 18,474,321 1,663,715 289,390 775,924 15,939,917.50 93,206 11,371,610 1,272,920 1,507,570 213,200 3,777,280 1,581,512 731,812 556,180 244,440 233,252,733,102 30,280 2,961,900 12,532,990

-12,872,985 -3,365,964 -48,790 1,383,210 1,016,854 -445,790.50 639 3,900 4,360 9,673,524.00 433,466 166,450 -2,596,353 -8,843,147 1,116,378 1,828,200 -2,890 -304,929 -9,054,672 119,380 42,666,932 -103,840.00 -23,908,975 1,527,158 50,029,295 -30,121,914 -9,550 392,180 2,404,818 2,512 4,590 -99,916 -4,539,465 -42,785 62,920 164,500 -282,458 16,290 ,328,282.9999 252,960 -1,971,010.00

0.335 75.95 14.86 0.93 7.64 0.72 0.72 1,050 1,499 7.37 13.48 7.59 5.4 6.1 0.27 1,330 7.24 66 5.13 5.25 0.74 5.21 21.65 5.76 3.51 0.045 1.12 3.62 3.02 140 965 0.81 1.6 394.2 284 0.249 0.26 0.192

0.315 73.5 14.56 0.9 7.5 0.66 0.67 1,040 1,152 7.15 13.1 7.38 4.81 5.2 0.206 1,305 7.24 64 5.13 5.21 0.67 5.17 21 5.67 3.51 0.043 1.12 3.42 2.6 138.7 945 0.8 1.58 280 279 0.24 0.182 0.185

0.33 73.65 14.62 0.91 7.51 0.66 0.67 1,041 1,499 7.15 13.2 7.59 5.3 6.1 0.265 1,315 7.24 64.7 5.13 5.21 0.72 5.19 21.2 5.73 3.51 0.044 1.12 3.45 2.88 140 952 0.81 1.59 394.2 284 0.249 0.255 0.192

2,750,000 787,880 1,350,200 86,000 351,700 43,248,000 8,698,000 93,410 20 836,500 5,571,000 4,700 106,000 58,000 19,110,000 33,990 1,300 3,225,190 2,500 3,000 2,228,000 432,000 2,256,700 7,637,000 10,000 23,100,000 9,000 6,492,000 411,000 481,280 278,410 20,000 515,000 5,840 10,600 1,090,000 106,470,000 320,000

894,150 58,124,172.50 19,743,064 78,330 2,644,838 29,712,110 6,024,280 97,266,810 27,075 6,022,555 73,648,362 34,921 564,240 352,580 4,667,350 44,653,195 9,412 208,485,947.50 12,825 15,688 1,590,600 2,241,848 47,916,675 43,744,938 35,100 1,011,500 10,080 22,757,610 1,182,330 67,240,317 264,966,715 16,190 816,710 2,042,904 2,985,134 264,220 26,417,360 60,120

-52,800 -22,314,995 -6,930,690 620,450.00 -38,652,880 -5,760 -1,217,746 -52,206,768 24,200 -8,859,910 2,896 -15,561,453 121,442 2,412,885 1,287,514 1,400,530 -21,101,407 -65,661,175 6,400 2,245,520 720,280 3,700

6.9 1.08 16.46 2.1 1.08 41.85 3.9 4.72 6.1 6.3 0.47 1.07 1.06 0.345 0.49 32.55 0.64 0.138 1.77 1.39 0.73 4.83 0.83 0.47

6.68 1.05 16 2.05 0.85 41.3 3.8 4.57 5.96 6.22 0.44 1.07 1.02 0.305 0.45 32 0.62 0.137 1.75 1.3 0.7 4.78 0.72 0.31

PROPERTY 6.8 1.08 16.46 2.06 1.07 41.65 3.89 4.7 6.02 6.22 0.46 1.07 1.05 0.315 0.49 32.4 0.62 0.138 1.77 1.38 0.73 4.83 0.74 0.47

588,500 6,469,000 14,000 78,000 58,662,000 11,685,900 2,331,000 750,000 78,000 12,100 25,930,000 3,745,000 446,000 133,760,000 2,500,000 238,000 57,000 80,000 784,000 7,434,000 260,000 6,489,000 556,226,000 156,110,000

3,986,169 6,856,020 224,610 162,250 58,176,840 486,184,455 9,013,770 3,477,870 468,522 76,110 11,859,700 4,007,150 457,910 42,993,100 1,186,550 7,702,070 35,420 10,970 1,382,890 9,785,340 183,360 31,207,030 435,595,230 68,684,150

-224,054 -67,840 16,460 -134,870 -152,921,870 2,649,280 69,300 0 -459,500 -24,950 222,600 -867,340 2,560 2,740 890,090 5,120 2,840 1,991,070 -1,199,620 -177,750

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

59.1 118 3.5 155 1.64 34.95 15.4 28.5 3.5 1.68 0.52 96.9 1.66 12.52 23.5 57.1 248.8 103.5 89.35 46.95 248 1,915 90.7 1.26

59.35 118 3.51 155 1.75 35.1 15.5 29.15 3.63 1.68 0.63 97 1.66 12.9 24.15 57.85 248.8 103.5 89.35 47.3 248 1,915 91 1.26

59.1 117.5 3.49 150.9 1.59 34.95 15.3 28.45 3.48 1.61 0.52 95.55 1.53 12.52 23.5 57.1 247 103.5 85.1 46.95 244 1,915 90.6 1.26

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION 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 ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

39.4 12.7 0.56 1.28 19.36 0.217 3.74 16.22 340 51 22.9 63.9 58.25 1.95 5.45 10.2 11.56 14.18 11 7.91 5.78 14.52 62.4 28.05 9.9 19 2.2 299 55 4.6 27.5 17 21 332.6 0.196 7.91 2.72 4.95 9.16 6.28 1.53 12.8 56.9 6.21 630 4.84 2.86 3.35 2.31 15.6 5.19 0.133 1.08 153 2.74 1.9 1.66

39.4 13.06 0.57 1.28 19.4 0.223 3.8 16.22 340 52 23 63.9 58.25 1.95 5.45 10.38 11.74 14.48 11.4 7.91 5.78 14.52 62.9 28.9 9.9 20.7 2.25 300 55 4.85 27.5 17 21.45 332.6 0.198 7.97 2.73 5.68 9.16 6.56 1.6 12.8 56.9 6.25 635 4.84 2.93 3.35 2.37 15.78 5.4 0.138 1.08 153.9 2.76 1.9 1.67

HOLDING FIRMS ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP BHI HLDG COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FJ PRINCE B FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV MJC INVESTMENTS PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.33 74.05 14.86 0.9 7.5 0.69 0.69 1,050 1,152 7.3 13.4 7.38 5.01 5.2 0.206 1,330 7.24 64.85 5.13 5.25 0.69 5.21 21.35 5.75 3.51 0.045 1.12 3.53 2.61 139.4 965 0.8 1.6 310 279 0.241 0.182 0.185

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

6.72 1.05 16 2.1 0.87 41.45 3.8 4.71 6 6.3 0.445 1.07 1.06 0.345 0.45 32 0.64 0.137 1.75 1.3 0.73 4.8 0.82 0.31

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

0.51 4.17 19.26 1.95 3.22 35.8 1 24.2 0.81 6.4

0.53 4.18 19.6 1.96 3.22 36.25 1.01 25.75 0.84 6.4

0.5 4.06 19.2 1.86 3.22 35.5 1 24.1 0.81 6.28

0.52 4.14 19.34 1.96 3.22 36.25 1 24.6 0.84 6.36

3,918,000 1,448,000 3,631,000 548,000 2,000 3,236,600 494,000 234,200 164,000 3,073,500

2,029,290 5,973,680 70,237,492 1,042,550 6,440 116,248,190 494,260 5,841,695 133,970 19,499,998

52,000 -119,400 29,460,610 282,040 -20,537,945 343,100 -12,642,341

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN GRAND PLAZA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG 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

18.6 31.5 1.31 0.69 0.06 11.4 14.24 0.068 100.2 7.36 9.05 2.6 44.8 1,725 6.28 313 10.54 5.27 2.6 110 13.18 8.31 0.128 1.59 3.13 15.32 4.29 1.01 27.95 0.5 5.34 7.78 3.25 16.04 13.1 10.12 10.6 106.5 6.99 1,538 1.24 0.395 52.2 93 5.98 2.88 1.42 0.53 3.57 0.9 10.62

20.5 31.5 1.75 0.72 0.065 11.96 14.44 0.074 100.2 7.54 9.4 2.6 49 1,727 6.41 324.8 10.54 5.45 2.69 111.6 13.18 8.32 0.133 1.64 3.13 15.32 4.45 1.08 28.05 0.5 5.6 7.78 3.3 17.5 13.44 10.38 10.98 115 7 1,538 1.25 0.445 52.3 93 6 2.9 1.48 0.55 3.57 1.35 10.9

18.6 29.8 1.31 0.64 0.058 11.4 14.1 0.068 99.5 7.27 9.01 2.4 40.1 1,715 6.28 300 10.54 5.24 2.6 108.3 13 8.31 0.123 1.48 3.09 15.08 4.28 1 26.95 0.5 5.28 7.58 3.23 16.04 12.78 10.1 10.6 106.5 6.79 1,523 1.22 0.385 51.65 91.15 5.96 2.74 1.4 0.51 3.44 0.89 10.6

SERVICES 19.26 29.8 1.75 0.67 0.061 11.96 14.3 0.071 99.9 7.45 9.1 2.45 42.5 1,720 6.41 322 10.54 5.27 2.66 108.5 13 8.32 0.132 1.55 3.09 15.08 4.39 1.06 28.05 0.5 5.6 7.65 3.23 17.5 12.8 10.38 10.6 110 6.79 1,534 1.23 0.395 52 92.6 5.96 2.74 1.46 0.52 3.46 1.35 10.74

248,000 81,400 6,815,000 159,099,000 171,760,000 1,000 15,411,800 92,180,000 91,430 1,217,500 275,600 56,000 341,100 20,455 839,100 150,900 7,900 2,615,800 21,000 655,350 61,200 32,000 17,730,000 1,645,000 148,000 500 5,234,000 678,000 5,206,600 110,000 1,597,400 1,419,300 827,000 200 11,028,200 3,800 8,200 1,800 749,000 39,140 4,878,000 12,480,000 442,410 430,430 29,400 2,240,000 12,609,000 61,911,000 330,000 312,489,000 689,600

4,795,509 2,460,950 11,013,750 108,102,690 10,546,430 11,456 220,680,934 6,575,770 9,134,143 8,970,231 2,517,171 138,010 15,004,740 35,165,335 5,342,525 47,244,020 83,266 13,963,348 55,970 71,196,256 796,590 265,940 2,240,560 2,519,150 459,290 7,612 22,978,940 712,050 142,946,540 55,000 8,733,281 10,818,584 2,693,590 3,354 143,963,206 39,180 86,958 195,648 5,133,327 59,929,640 6,023,600 5,142,000 22,965,240.50 39,681,160.50 175,904 6,249,340 17,873,800 32,601,810 1,163,710 357,571,940 7,388,648

1,399,166 24,030 -3,043,430 -88,500 87,552,330 -507,000 -2,246,197.50 218,400 22,625 19,600 -1,730 -16,605,240 480.0001 -954,131 9,570,791 462,800 82,200 66,980 225,410 -42,820,690 -5,337 -352,394 -23,070 2,567,678 -109,350 -16,359,415 -44,350 17,101,269 -23,798,891.50 271,940 364,750 610,960 727,940 -1,883,720 -47,136

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

0.003 1.61 5 18.98 1.75 1.72 1.68 0.31 7.4 2.33 0.27 0.146 0.157 0.0089 0.0098 1.44 6.18 1.37 0.45 0.9 0.012 0.011 2.16 6.07 15.72 36.4 0.0067

0.0033 1.69 5 18.98 1.75 1.72 1.7 0.31 7.4 2.33 0.275 0.148 0.157 0.0091 0.0098 1.48 6.18 1.37 0.45 0.91 0.013 0.012 2.55 6.1 17.38 37 0.0068

0.0029 1.61 4.99 18.48 1.75 1.72 1.68 0.3 7.19 2.29 0.245 0.143 0.152 0.0089 0.0094 1.41 5.99 1.33 0.44 0.87 0.012 0.011 2.16 6.03 15.08 35.55 0.0067

MINING & OIL 0.0032 3,616,000,000 1.68 10,456,000 5 117,000 18.48 3,300 1.75 2,000 1.72 13,000 1.7 928,000 0.3 590,000 7.21 1,900 2.32 3,823,000 0.25 6,290,000 0.148 40,480,000 0.153 53,420,000 0.009 870,000,000 0.0094 721,000,000 1.48 242,000 5.99 5,301,400 1.36 4,000 0.44 40,000 0.9 203,000 0.012 26,100,000 0.012 224,500,000 2.55 147,000 6.03 519,500 17.02 16,488,200 35.95 2,176,500 0.0068 16,000,000

11,318,600 17,428,980 584,685 62,156 3,500 22,360 1,572,640 177,300 13,715 8,822,080 1,666,660 5,842,710 8,120,220 7,829,900 6,777,800 351,470 32,042,333 5,390 17,800 181,400 313,500 2,660,200 342,220 3,154,336 274,738,326 78,627,685 108,400

-635,500 9,620.00 -18,499 6,260 9,800 4,899,116 129,500 -18,910 6,083,980 -40,949,210 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 DD PREF FGEN PREF G FPH PREF C GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 2B PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

30.4 510 514 103 110.8 505 504.5 6.02 1,009 101.3 1.06 105 1,035 1,098 980 105 77 75.5 80.3 77.7 77.7

30.4 510 514 103 110.8 505 504.5 6.1 1,009 101.3 1.06 106.1 1,035 1,098 990 105 77 75.5 80.3 77.7 77.7

29.05 510 514 102 110.8 505 504.5 6.02 1,003 101.3 1.06 104.5 1,034 1,098 980 105 76.95 75 79.05 77.7 77.1

PREFERRED 29.05 163,800 510 30 514 10 102 72,630 110.8 20,000 505 10 504.5 28,310 6.1 623,600 1,003 1,010 101.3 13,270 1.06 1,000,000 106 136,230 1,034 1,005 1,098 5 990 55 105 10 76.95 2,240 75 8,050 79.05 4,180 77.7 1,000 77.1 14,100

4,860,505 15,300 5,140 7,424,420 2,216,000 5,050 14,282,395 3,787,717 1,013,120 1,344,251 1,060,000 14,238,310 1,039,175 5,490 54,400 1,050 172,443 605,865 333,904 77,700 1,095,150

-3,665,695 -5,100 -5,140 -5,050 -5,045 -3,318,157.00 -614,891 10,500 -5,175 0 -4,900 -110,670 -77,700 -53,970.00

LR WARRANT

3.33

3.38

3.08

WARRANTS 3.24 1,926,000

6,210,210

-76,950

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

6.14 3.43 3.4

6.15 3.46 3.55

5.8 3.3 3.25

5.88 3.46 3.29

22,281,744 737,590 13,052,490

-8,391,353 13,200 -3,665,880

FIRST METRO ETF

128.7

128.8

127.7

2,903,594

7,670

89,856

-

MS USD DMPL A1

10.44

TRADING SUMMARY

10.46

SHARES

FINANCIAL

26,475,699

INDUSTRIAL

55,324,199

HOLDING FIRMS

238,172,453

PROPERTY

991,701,925

SERVICES

910,694,971

MINING & OIL

5,616,239,374

GRAND TOTAL

7,846,514,472

10.44

SME

3,774,600 221,000 3,885,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 127.8 22,700 DDS 10.46

8,600

VALUE 2,185.87 (down) 29.56 724,392,904.10 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,488.48 (down) 23.42 935,096,664.478 HOLDING FIRMS 8,372.63 (down) 111.53 1,041,638,866.148 PROPERTY 3,783.21 (up) 22.93 1,739.74 (down) 5.40 1,414,132,035.185 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,926.67 (up) 21.48 1,504,659,443.24 PSEI 8,386.17 (down) 72.40 462,827,002.6444 All Shares Index 5,043.89 (down) 21.45 6,121,731,637.24 Gainers: 117; Losers: 100; Unchanged: 41; Total: 258

San Miguel pegs rates of bond offering worth P30b

By Jenniffer B. Austria Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has set the interest rates for the planned issuance of up to P30 billion worth bond offering.

San Miguel said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the bond offering will be comprised of 5-year Series E Bonds due 2023 with a fixed interest rate equivalent to 6.2500 percent a year, 7-year Series F Bonds due 2025 at 6.6250 percent and 10-year Series G Bonds due 2028 at 7.1250 percent.

The bond issue represents the third tranche of the company’s P60-billion bond shelf registration earlier approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering period is scheduled March 5 to 9, while the bonds will be issued and listed in Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on March 19.

The conglomerate hired seven financial institutions, namely BDO Capital and Investments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., China Bank Capital Corp., First Metro Investments Corp., ING Bank, SB Capital Investments Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead underwriters and book runners for the offering.

San Miguel said it would use proceeds from the fund raising activity to refinance existing US dollar denominated obligations or invest in existing businesses, including SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp. and San Miguel Properties Inc. San Miguel is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines in terms of revenues and total assets, with sales equivalent to about 4.7 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product in 2016.

The conglomerate is broadly exposed to the Philippine economy through its diverse range of businesses spanning the beverage, food, packaging, fuel and oil, energy, infrastructure, property and investment in banking.

San Miguel registered a net income of P20.89 billion and consolidated revenues of P597 billion in the first nine months of 2017.

San Miguel will be the second listed company to conduct a bond offering this year.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. last week successfully raised P20 billion from the issuance of fixed rate bonds.

NLEX raising P6b to refinance maturing debt

By Darwin G. Amojelar NLEX Corp., formerly Manila North Tollways Corp., plans to raise an initial P6 billion from the sale of fixed rate bonds to refinance maturing debt.

“The initial issuance would be P4 billion to P6 billion for refinancing of maturing debt. It would be issued anytime,” NLEX president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.

NLEX earlier said its board approved the shelf registration, public offer and issuance of fixed rate peso bonds worth P25 billion.

The bonds, which will be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, may be issued in one or more tranches within the shelf period under the terms and conditions as may be determined by the government.

The toll road company earlier budgeted P19 billion in capital expenditures this year to build new expressway projects to help solve Metro Manila’s traffic bottlenecks.

It is spending to construct the urban portions of North Luzon Expressway, such as the Harbor Link Segment 10 (including the R10 Section in DagatDagatan, Navotas City) and the NLExSLEx Connector Road project.

Expected to be opened this year, Harbor Link Segment 10 is a 5.7-kilometer elevated expressway traversing NLEx from Smart Connect Interchange and cross over Mac Arthur Highway in Valenzuela City with down ramps along C3/5th Avenue Interchange in Caloocan City.

When Harbor Link is fully completed, travel between the Ports of Manila and NLEx is expected to take only 10 minutes, providing direct expressway access for commercial vehicles, specially heavy trucks.

Other projects slated this year include the capacity expansion of the 8-kilometer Subic Freeport Expressway and the construction of a new expressway service facility and rest area along Km. 17 southbound of the NLEx.

Business/ World

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

Manila

Standard

B3

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, World Editor

TODAY

Carrier makes landmark visit

ACADEMY AWARDS VIEWING PARTY. From left, Adriana Lima, Shanina Shaik and Heidi Klum attend the 26th annual Elton

John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party sponsored by Bulgari, celebrating EJAF and the 90th Academy Awards at The City of West Hollywood Park on March 4, 2018, in West Hollywood, California. AFP

Oldman’s Oscar his finest hour LONDON―Gary Oldman’s Oscar win on Sunday for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” is a triumph for a versatile actor more used to playing villains and rogues than heroic statesmen.

The 59-year-old British actor, who famously portrayed Sex Pistols star Sid Vicious in “Sid and Nancy” (1986), made his name as a bankable movie star playing antagonists.

He goes to great lengths to develop his characters and plowed through books, newsreel footage and even sat in Churchill’s chair to play the World War II leader as he became Britain’s prime minister in May 1940.

Oldman is known for his signature “big” acting―a very physical, over-thetop style developed for the stage, used to great effect for his villainous cinema characters and retained for other roles.

His portrayal of Churchill in “Darkest Hour” had already landed him the best actor Golden Globe-sand the Oscar, which comes on his second nomination, now seals his reputation as one of the finest actors working today.

“I would just like to salute Sir Winston Churchill, who has been marvelous company on what can be described as an incredible journey,” Oldman told the Oscars audience on Sunday.

Previously, he had said he welcomed all the accolades, but that the greatest reward was receiving approval from Churchill’s descendants.

“Randolph just loves the portrayal. And he feels, ‘Oh, you’ve captured my greatgrandpapa―the humor, the energy’.

“That’s my Oscar, right there,” he told CNN. In winning the Academy Award, Oldman defeated a tough field: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”); Daniel Day-Lewis for “Phantom

Thread”; Daniel Kaluuya for “Get Out”; and Denzel Washington for “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” Oldman’s prior best actor Oscar nomination came in 2012 for his portrayal of melancholy British agent George Smiley in an adaptation of the John le Carre thriller novel “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”.

Building the part of Churchill, Oldman said he first concentrated on the voice, feeling that he physically looked nothing like the great statesman.

“He is such an icon and so mythologized, you wonder, can you get past the marble statue and reach the man?” he told CNN. He was captivated by newsreel footage, noting the energy in Churchill’s walk and the sparkle in his eyes, revealing an inner sense of humor.

Oldman toured parliament and Churchill’s family homes and sat in the chair he used during World War II. He noticed fingernail marks on the left arm and scratches from his ring on the right-history recorded in the furniture-which he took as signs of the stress Churchill was under, and incorporated it into his performance.

Oldman left school at 16 and took a job in a sports shop.

Failing to get into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he studied at Rose Bruford drama school in southeast London and spent a successful decade in theater.

He burst onto the screen in 1986 with his critically-acclaimed portrayal of punk rocker Vicious. He lost so much weight to play the Sex Pistols bassist that he was briefly hospitalized.

Oldman rose to prominence as a leading figure in the “Brit pack”: the gang of up-and-coming British actors of the 1980s that included Day-Lewis, Colin Firth and Tim Roth. AFP

DANANG―A US aircraft carrier arrived in Vietnam Monday for the first time since the end of the war, as the former foes bolster military ties in the face of Beijing’s build-up in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Carl Vinson will make a four-day port call to the central city of Danang for a highly symbolic trip that will include a visit to a center for victims of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant sprayed over large swathes of land by the US during the Vietnam war.

But the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea loom over the trip as Beijing continues to build artificial islands capable of hosting military installations― much to the chagrin of Vietnam and other claimants to the sea.

Though the US is not a claimant to the resource-rich waterway, it has long lobbied for freedom of navigation in the sea to counter China’s growing influence.

Analysts say the port call, which follows a visit to the Philippines last month, is a chance for the United States to flex its military muscle in Asia.

“It’s a US push... to demonstrate a massive naval presence in the South China Sea area to China, that the US is staying engaged,” Vietnam expert Carl Thayer told AFP ahead of the trip.

South Korea delegates in historic trip to North

S

EOUL―The most senior South Koreans to travel North for more than a decade headed for Pyongyang Monday on a mission to push for talks between the nuclear-armed regime and the United States.

An intense rapprochement saw athletes from both sides of the divided peninsula march together at the South’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics last month, with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un sending his sister as a special envoy to the event.

Kim Yo Jong’s trip was the first visit to the South by a member of the North’s ruling dynasty since the end of the Korean War, and her appearance at the Games’ opening ceremony made global headlines.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has sought to use the Pyeongchang Games to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in the hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has heightened fears over global security.

Kim Yo Jong invited him to a summit in Pyongyang on her brother’s behalf, but Moon did not immediately accept, saying that the right conditions were necessary first.

“We plan to hold in-depth discussions for ways to continue not only inter-Korean talks but dialogue between North Korea and the international community including the United States,” said national security advisor Chung Eui-yong, who is leading the delegation.

“We will deliver President Moon’s firm resolution to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and to create sincere and lasting peace,” Chung told reporters before his departure.

Chung is one of five senior officials who flew to Pyongyang on Monday.

It is the first ministerial-level South Korean visit to the North since December 2007, when Seoul’s then intelligence chief traveled to Pyongyang.

Conservative Lee Myung-bak was elected the

Not the right time to reduce the RRR AFTER a great deal of debate it is now generally agreed that the principal responsibility of a central bank is the maintenance of price stability. This responsibility is discharged through control of the supply of money in the economy. Too high a money supply leads, other things being equal, to a situation of too much money chasing too few goods, and too low a money supply level, other things being equal, creates the opposite situation. Either situation is bad for price stability.

The national monetary authority, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has a number of weapons available to it in the performance of its principal statutory responsibility. Its armory is well-stocked and capable of dealing with all but the most disastrous economic situations.

The weapons of the BSP differ in character, purpose and effect. Some are of the broad, across-the-board kind.

Other weapons are more focused and are target-specific. But they have something in common: they are all intended to affect the capacity of financial institutions to increase or decrease their lending and investing activities.

Knowledgeable observers have portrayed the difference between the across-the-board weapons and the target-specific weapons of the BSP in terms of the difference between a sword and a scalpel. A sword cuts down everything in its path, whereas a scalpel targets only matter that needs excision.

Two weeks ago this country got another taste of BSP policymaking of the across-

Vietnam remains the most vocal claimant in the region after the Philippines backed off under China-friendly President Rodrigo Duterte. Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims in the sea.

Duterte has refused to implement a landmark 2016 international tribunal ruling in Manila’s favor over its competing claims with Beijing.

“The Philippines has just rolled over, China is continually militarizing and if the US doesn’t maintain a presence in the region, Vietnam’s got nowhere to hide,” Thayer said.

The visit is also being touted as a key landmark between the former bitter enemies, whose relations have seen an extraordinary turnaround since the end of the war in 1975.

Though US ships have regularly docked in Vietnam in the past, this is the first time an aircraft carrier will make a port call to the country.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said the visit will “contribute to maintaining peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region”.

The nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson is home to 5,300 sailors, pilots and crew and 72 aircraft and will be in Danangonce a key US airbase―until its departure on Friday. AFP

the-board kind when the national monetary authority reduced the regulatory reserve requirement (RRR) of the commercial banks. RRR is the percentage of their total deposit liabilities that commercial banks are required to keep on deposit with the BSP. The RRR reduction—from 20 percent to 19 percent—is expected to free an estimated P90 billion of their deposit liabilities for – the BSP hopes—incremental lending and investing by the commercial banks.

Considering its impact on the availability and cost of loans and investment funds, an increase and decrease in the RRR is either an expansionary or contractionary move on the part of the monetary authority— expansionary in the case of a decrease and contractionary in the case of an increase. As already stated, the BSP expects an additional P90 billion to be injected in the money stream with the 1 Was the reduction a sound move on the part of the Monetary Board?

The right way to approach the answer to this question is to discuss the existing monetary and fiscal environments.

With an average annual GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate or around 6.5 percent in recent years, the economy of this country is not in dire need of monetary stimulation. For 2018 the forecast of the most respected international and domestic financial institutions is a GDP growth rate of around 6.7 percent. On the basis of any of the various difficulties of money supply – M1, M2 and M3 – the economy apparently had enough monetary resources to support the 2018 GDP growth expectations.

Moreover, a time of growing inflation is

hardly a good time to inject more liquidity into the monetary stream. The BSP decision to reduce the RRR has come close to the heels of the monetary authority’s decision to bring its 2018 inflation forecast closer to the upper end of itsl2-to-4 percent inflation target range. Is the RRR reduction’s injection of additional funds into the money stream conducive to keeping this year’s inflation rate within the 2-to-4 percent target range? Very likely not.

On the fiscal side, looming very hard on the horizon is Build Build Build, the Duterte administration’s “golden age of infrastructure” program. Such has been the monetary impact of the initial phase of Build Build Build that the current account of the 2017 balance of payments (BOP) sustained a whopping deficit. In the absence of an adequate response on the export side of the trade ledger, there are bound to be more whopping deficits in the next few years. The predictable resulting depreciation of the peso is certain to further stoke the fires of inflation.

This brings us to the core issue of the soundness or unsoundness of the decision to reduce the RRR. Was it a good move by the Monetary Board? Under the circumstances discussed above, was the timing right for the move?

With all due respect to the members of the Monetary Board, especially my esteemed friend Dr. Felipe Medalla, my answers to the two questions are both No.

South’s president the following day, and took a markedly harder line on relations with the North.

Monday’s delegation includes spy chief Suh Hoon, who is a veteran in dealings with the North. He is known to have been deeply involved in negotiations to arrange two previous inter-Korean summits in 2000 and 2007.

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency also announced their impending visit in a one-paragraph dispatch.

The 10-member group―five top delegates and five supporting officials―will return to Seoul on Tuesday.

Other members include Suh’s deputy at the National Intelligence Service as well as Chun Hae-sung, the vice minister of Seoul’s unification ministry, which handles cross-border affairs.

The delegation will fly to the US on Wednesday to explain the result of the two-day trip to officials in Washington, according to the South’s presidential office.

Last year, in defiance of UN sanctions, the isolated and impoverished North staged its most powerful nuclear test and test-fired several missiles, some of them capable of reaching the US mainland. AFP Notice is hereby given that on 08 March 2016, Power Systems R&D Philippines, Inc. (the “Corporation”) approved its dissolution by shortening its corporate term up to 31 March 2016 only.

All persons having claims against the Corporation are requested to contact Franchette M. Acosta, its Corporate Secretary, with address at 11th Avenue corner 39th Street, Bonifacio Triangle, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Metro Manila.

This announcement will serve as a notice to all parties concerned regarding the closure of the business of the Corporation.

(MS-MAR. 6,13 & 20, 2018)

INVITATION TO BID No. 05- 2018 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office (NSIMO), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), hereby invites Domestic Contractors, registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), to bid for the hereunder contracts. Bids received in excess of ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

ITEM/DESCRIPTION

Approved Budget for the Contract

1. Washington CIP Contract No. NSIMO# 03 – 2018 – Completion of Dam, Construction of Concrete Canal Php 18,580,474.04 and Canal Structures 2. Himabug-at CIP Contract No. NSIMO #08- 2018- Construction of Php 10,768,030.65 Canalization Including its Related Structures @ Main Canal 3. Dungon CIP Contract No. NSIMO Php 2,826,923.07 #15- 2018- Construction of Intake Structure, Concrete Canal and Canal Structures

Duration

Cost of Bidding Documents

360 cd

Php 18,500

220 cd

Php 10,500

150 cd

Php 2,500

The Prospective Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project whose value must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the “Government procurement Reform Act”.

Prospective Bidders are not allowed to participate if they have negative slippage in their on-going contracts. Individuals with Special Power of Attorney (SPA) are not allowed to transact and participate in the procurement utilizing another construction firm. The pre-bid conference shall be open only for those who have purchased the Bid documents.

The schedule of BAC activities is listed as follows: PROJECT NAME 1. Washington CIP Contract No. NSIMO# 03 – 2018 – Completion of Dam, Construction of Concrete Canal and Canal Structures 2. Himabug-at CIP Contract No. NSIMO #08- 2018- Construction of Canalization Including its Related Structures @ Main Canal 3. Dungon CIP Contract No. NSIMO #15- 2018Construction of Intake Structure, Concrete Canal and Canal Structures

Pre- bid Conference (Date and Time Schedule) March 9, 2018 (10AM)

Receipt & Opening of Bids (Date and Time Schedule) March 22, 2018 (9AM)

Starting February 26, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

March 9, 2018 (10AM)

March 22, 2018 (9AM)

Starting February 26, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

March 9, 2018 (10AM)

March 22, 2018 (9AM)

Issuance of Bid Documents (Date and Time Schedule) Starting February 26, 2018 (8AM-5PM)

The BAC will issue a complete set of Bidding Documents from the address above and upon payment of its respective non-refundable amount to the cashier.

The NIA 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.

(SGD) CESAR R. ECHANO BAC Chairman

E-mail: romero.business.class@gmail.com (MS-MAR. 6, 2018)

LGUs

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

B4

LocaL government units

tuesday, march 6, 2018

Ceza Administrator and CEO Secretary Raul L. Lambino (second from left) makes a final inspection at the Cagayan North International Airport in Lal-lo to receive its first international commercial flight from Macau on March 23. CNIA in Lal-lo time cuts the travel time to Santa Ana, where Ceza is, to 45 minutes. Others in photo are (from left) Arturo Libot, Special Assistant on Infrastructure; and Mike Gonzales, Chief of Staff, Office of the Ceza Administrator.

Cagayan airport draws foreign firms’ interest T

WO major Malaysian companies have proposed to provide airport management services needed to operate the Cagayan North International Airport efficiently and smoothly a few weeks before CNIA is scheduled to receive its first overseas commercial aircraft from Macau.

Secretary Raul L. Lambino, Administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, on Monday said iris Corporation Berhad and Positive Paragon Sendirian Berhad, recently signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding with Ceza to undertake the project.

The two companies would set up the front-end hardware and equipment, install software as well as work stations and passport and travel card readers and set up, install and commission Egates, among other things.

Meanwhile, a consortium of locally registered and foreign-based firms has also submitted an unsolicited proposal for the development of CNiA into a state of the art logistics aviation hub and a onestop aviation center with interdependent

revenue generating assets to meet the demands of the aviation industry.

Armed with 100 years in aviation experience, the newly formed Cagayan Business Aviation Center offered to set up a Fixed Based Operator/Aviation Service Provider; Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Facility; Airline Crew Training Center; and a General Aviation/Regional Corporate Jet Charter Services, inter-island Commuter Airline Services; and eventual entry to commercial flights.

The consortium is powered by the Subic Bay Business Aviation Center (formerly AiA international Flight Support and Services) in collaboration with the US-based National Standard Finance and the Bangkok-based Ma-

hanakon Partners Group., Co., Ltd. “This proposed high-tech airport facility will be the first of its kind in the country and will comprise of interdependent projects using state of the art aerospace technology,” said Lambino. he had earlier announced that CNiA in Lal-lo town in northern Cagayan has already cleared all hurdles required for its acquisition of a full aerodrome certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to begin operating commercial flights for the heavier A320 and B-737 aircraft.

Following the inaugural flight from Macau, Lambino said Cebu Pacific is expected to also launch its ManilaLal- lo service shortly.

CNiA cuts the overland travel time to Santa Ana, headquarter of Ceza and host of Port irene, to only 45 minutes by car, said Lambino, who sees the launch of the new airport as a “pivotal development in our sustained efforts to open CEZA to East Asia and the North and South Pacific.”

By Joel E. Zurbano AiRPORT authorities arrested on Monday a taxicab driver who overcharged a female passenger at the Ninoy Aquino international Airport terminal 2 over the weekend.

Ramon Leoligao was charged with swindling, estafa and unjust vexation before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office on the complaints filed by Suzanne Nagac, who reportedly works as one of the fashion design consultants of President Rodrigo Duterte. investigation showed that Leoligao picked up Nagac at the terminal around 12:30 a.m. of March 2 and was asked to bring the passenger to Terminal 3, a trip that would take between two to three minutes using the Naia Skyway during that time.

While traversing MiAA Road, Leoligao asked Nagac to pay P600 plus the P45 Skyway toll fee. The passenger tried to confront the driver about the fare, but lost the argument with the driver who persisted in charging her with the huge fare.

Answer charges on NCCC fire, Sara tells CBO

‘HANDA’ PROJECT.

The city government of Parañaque has supported project of the Department of Science and Technology-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management for underprivileged children dubbed Hazards and Natural Disaster Awareness for Kids during the recent opening ceremony at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex. Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi is joined by Parañaque public information office chief Mar Jimenez, Parañaque social welfare head Marissa Escalera (right), and officials from the DoST.

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera

Show courtesy, nix bribes, Manila traffic men told MANiLA Mayor Joseph Estrada on Monday urged officials and members of the Manila Traffic Parking Bureau to be courteous in dealing with errant motorists and refrain from engaging in corrupt practices.

The reminder came amid issues against the city’s traffic enforcers for being involved in fights with motorists and errant drivers.

Estrada said he understands the pressure on the traffic enforcers, as they are

Cabbie who overcharged Duterte aide nabbed at Naia

to fix traffic flow all the time. “i challenge you to always smile while on duty despite the heat, the dust, and sometimes when it rains, you still need to direct traffic. We know that some motorists and drivers are haughty and hotheaded and are spoiling for a fight,” the mayor said.

“But may i remind you that at the end of the day, your duty is to be courteous and composed in these situations. Still it’s

your duty and responsibility to serve the public with a high degree of courtesy and maximum tolerance,” said Estrada.

The mayor also warned traffic enforcers to refrain from engaging in corrupt practices or face harsh consequences.

Estrada said he will be “uncompromising and unforgiving in dealing with corrupt practices, no matter how big or how small.

DAVAO CITY―Mayor Sara Duterte told the City Building Official on Monday to answer the charges that the interagency Anti-Arson Task Force will file against them following the NCCC fire that claimed 38 lives two days before Christmas last year.

“We cannot do anything about it if it is the result of their investigation. The named individuals will have to answer the charges against them,” Duterte said.

The mayor said she already instructed the City Administrator to wait for the result of the investigation and follow what the Task Force will recommend.

“We did not intervene with the investigation of the Task Force to make their recommendations impartial,” she said. “i have instructed the City Administrator to just follow the recommendation; we did not create our own investigating team since they will be investigating their own office. it’s better that we just follow the recommendations of the Task Force,” Duterte added.

In BrIef mining firm aids vizcaya villages BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Eleven barangays of Quezon town are expected to receive infrastructure assistance and development support from FCF Minerals Corp. this year.

Peter Storey, the firm’s general manager operations, said Monday the recipient barangays are Runruno, Aurora, Baresbes, Caliat, Calaocan, Darubba, Maasin, Maddiangat, Nalubbunan and Cordon.

“These projects are now in the pipeline and soon enough, they will be implemented this year in coordination with the local government unit of Quezon town,” he said.

Storey said the infrastructure assistance projects are concreting and improvement of Farm-to-Market and barangay roads , improvement and completion of multi-purpose halls, fabrication of basketball rings, construction of hanging bridges, construction of barangay hall.

These projects, he said is being rolled out under their Community Development Program. Ben Moses Ebreo

mmDa suspends men who beat up coconut vendor ChAiRMAN Danilo Lim of the Metro Manila Development Authority on Monday ordered the immediate suspension of three agency personnel who got involved in beating up a young coconut vendor in Pasay City that was caught on video and went viral on social media. in a one-page memorandum signed by Lim, the MMDA placed under 15-day preventive suspension the three personnel, whose names were temporarily withheld pending the ongoing investigation of their case.

The employees, members of MMDA Roadside Clearing Group, came under fire from netizens following the incident on March 2 along the northbound lane of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue near the footbridge of Evangelista Street. Joel E. Zurbano

ex-cop wanted for 3 deaths caught A FORMER policeman wanted for the death of a family of three, including a Caloocan city hall employee, was arrested after hiding for 14 years in Butuan City.

Former Police Officer 2 Reynaldo de Castro, 53 was previously assigned at the mobile patrol unit of Caloocan Police Station.

Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan presented De Castro to the media on Monday.

The former cop was arrested in Barangay Buhangin in Butuan City last Jan. 19 around 5 p.m. through a followup operation led by Chief insp.

Enrique Torres.

Torres said it took them time to transport the fugitive. De Castro is considered as Caloocan’s No. 3 most wanted.

Based on record, De Castro allegedly shot and killed victims isidro Centeno Jr., a former Environmental Sanitation Services (ESS) employee of Caloocan City hall, his wife, Leticia and son Servando, in Dec. 24, 2004, on Dimasalang Street, Maypajo, Caloocan City. Jun David

‘Father of modern Muntinlupa’ feted in flag ceremony BEiNG instrumental in Muntinlupa’s separation as an independent municipality from the then-municipality of Taguig, Francis Burton harrison the late American Governor General of the Philippines, was honored on Monday during ceremo-

nies of the city government’s flag raising rites.

Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi and Office of the Political Adviser Secretary Francis Tolentino led the unveiling ceremony of the bust of harrison, hailed as the “Father of

Modern Day Muntinlupa,” at the City hall Quadrangle, Putatan.

Tolentino donated harrison’s bust to the City Government together with the official copy of Executive Order No. 108, creating the municipality of Muntinlupa.

FARMING SEMINAR. Local farmers of Santa Rosa City join officials of SM Santa Rosa, SM Foundation, SM Supermarket and city officials during the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan launch in Brgy. Dita, Santa Rosa City over the weekend. Roy Tomandao

Life

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

health and environment

@mstandardLIFe tuesday, march 6, 2018

C1

Fitnessas a lifestyle WORK IT OUT. Workout sessions and other physical activities are more fun and comfortable with the right equipment and apparel.

Man or Woman: Who is the better driver

A global study discovered that gender has no significant influence on driving performance

SexISM is a common occurrence on Philippine roads. When a female driver makes any seemingly unwise decisions or maneuvers on the road, people are quick to say, “Kaya pala, babae kasi (It’s a woman driving, that’s why).”

This type of reasoning remains prevalent among Filipinos nowadays, but are men really better drivers?

A global study says otherwise, as it discovered that women aren’t the inferior sex, or that being a female means being a bad driver.

Using cutting-edge emotion tracking technology, chatbots, mobile apps, and weather and traffic information, the Shell Driving experiment uncovered how the emotions of drivers affect their performance on the road.

in life and exercises cautiousness on the road to achieve outstanding driver performance scores.

The Gamma Woman, on the other hand, is known for her openness and emotional stability both on and off the road, leading to exceptional driving performance scores.

The study also revealed that among the different countries that took part in the study, the Philippines achieved the highest driving performance score.

This means that Filipinos, regardless of gender, have smoother journeys (less incidents of harsh acceleration and harsh braking) and are more efficient than other drivers from participating countries such as Malaysia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

The two high-performing personality types of Filipino drivers: The Modern Man and the Gamma Woman

Shell worked with experts from Goldsmiths, University of London to monitor data points from over 2,000 participants across 11 countries to measure the driver performance score of each country and learn about the different factors that affect it.

Using data from Philippine participants who logged in more than 1,700 journeys across three key areas (Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao), the Shell Driving experiment busted the myth that driving performance is dictated by gender.

It found no evidence that gender has any significant influence on driving performance. The biggest indicator of how well a person performs behind the wheel is, in fact, their personality type.

Two unique, high-performing personality types among Filipino drivers were uncovered by the study: the Modern Man and the Gamma Woman.

The Modern Man is the type of driver who has a unique combination of sensitive and ambitious personality traits, leading to his ability to maintain a wellbalanced emotional state behind the wheel. He adapts well to any situation

Family’s role in the lives of Filipinos was apparent in the Shell Driving experiment. evidence linking the presence of children and additional passengers in the car to better driving performance was consistent throughout the study.

The Shell Driving experiment also confirmed that stress is a constant emotion felt by Filipinos on the road. Destination is also another factor, with findings showing that drivers who are on their way to work are more stressed than those who are on the road for other purposes. even the food we eat plays a role in our driving performance. Participants of the study who reported feeling hungry during their journey had lower driver performance scores.

“The Shell Driving experiment is part of Shell’s efforts to understand the changing needs of our customers,” says Anthony Lawrence Yam, vice president for Retail at Pilipinas Shell.

He adds that the study helps the company create better products and services, such as new fuels like the Shell V-Power with DYNAFLex Technology, and expand its non-fuel offerings at Shell Select.

By Mae Gianina C. Pascual

T

here is never a lack of fitness-related posts on our social media feeds these days: a celebrity doing CrossFit trainings, a friend embarking on a 32-kilometer run, a relative partaking of a keto meal. Being fit and healthy is no longer just a “thing,” it has become a way of living.

At Rustan’s ActiveWear, the concept of wellness goes beyond being fit, it is also about feeling happy—pumping up the adrenaline while enjoying the experience that promotes well-being.

Rustan’s ActiveWear is Rustan’s retail outlet for fitness enthusiasts, athletes, and active wear fashion fans. The store carries a wide variety of labels, including apparel, sporting goods, and accessories.

The newly opened store offers Mizuno, Asics, and New Balance workout shoes, which are designed for power, mobility, and stability. Sports apparel and accessories from Adidas and Under Armour are also available.

Those who are into flexibility and meditation exercises, such as yoga and The store offers sporting equipment, apparel, and accessories from different brands Pilates, will now find plenty of clothing options in which they can move with ease and comfort while looking good and confident. Prana, Maaji, and Atsui have racks filled with swoon-worthy active wear pieces. Certified Calm also brings its lines of travel-friendly and sustainable backpacks, yoga accessories, and exercise mats to the store.

Protect your eyes from the sun’s harsh UV rays with Oakley’s sports sunglasses, stay hydrated with S’well or Aladdin’s water Rustan’s bottles, track your best ActiveWear’s time with Garmin, and first branch power up your workout on the ground level with uplifting tunes using of Rustan’s in-ear headphones from Makati carries Audio Technica, Skulla wide variety candy, and Philips. of labels for Individuals who love athletes and training outdoors are spoilt active wear for choice from Champion, enthuasiasts Quiksilver, Roxy, Columbia, and The North Face.

Rustan’s ActiveWear’s first branch is located on the ground level of Rustan’s Makati.

Visit rustans.com.ph for more information.

Photos by Mae Gianina C. Pascual

Bubbles Paraiso taking a shot at the archery game at the store

Life

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tuesday, march 6, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

A new paradigm

for heart disease prevention A

According to the WHO, Ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of death.

CCORDING to World Health Organization’s latest “Top 10 causes of death” fact sheet, Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of mortality followed by stroke, accounting for a combined 15 million deaths in 2015.

While the data remain unchanged, a relatively new way of preventing the disease is being advocated by cardiologists.

Health experts are favoring a diet based on moderation and sustainability over a diet that completely eliminates fat.

“The change in thinking was brought about by the fact that a good propor-

tion of the American population became more obese and unhealthy despite heavy promotions and endorsement of low fat diet. Cardiovascular disease remained one of the top causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide,” explains Dr. Gino Quizon,

interventional cardiologist at ManilaMed. He continues, “But I do hope it will not give the wrong perception that we can now eat all the fatty foods we want.” Dr. Quizon suggests cutting down on saturated fats, carbohydrates, and sugars.

So how should we eat under the new paradigm? Dr. Quizon says “moderation is key.”

“The 2016 European Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention recommends a low saturated fat diet with focus on wholegrain products, fish, fruits, and vegetables. And a recent study published just last February 20 concludes that a low fat diet is comparable to a low carbohydrate diet in a 12-month study period,” he shares.

Ultimately heart disease is still a lifestyle disease that is caused by bad dietary and lifestyle choices rather than pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungus.

“The risk of acquiring hypertension, heart attack or stroke certainly is higher if we have it in our genes. However, it does not automatically mean we are doomed if we have it in our blood,” emphasizes Dr. Quizon. “There are other risk factors, which are modifiable that we can address, such as cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, blood pressure, and sugar and cholesterol control. And stress management.”

“Addressing all other risk factors would offset and prevent a cardiovascular event.”

But when heart disease does strike, medical science offers a number of innovations to improve prognosis.

“Majority of structural and coronary artery disease interventions can now be done percutaneously. We can now Health experts are now favoring a diet based on moderation and sustainability over a diet that repair coronary artery and peripheral completely eliminates fat.. artery blockages, fix congenital holes or defects, coil aneurysms, and repair valvular diseases without the need for major surgery,” says Dr. Quizon.

Even the materials they use, the cardiologist says, have evolved and have been updated to provide better care and outcomes. A prime example of improvement is the angioplasty, according THE upcoming Earth Hour on March erates, “Sustained and concerted efforts to Dr. Quizon.

24 calls on the urgent need to care for are needed to help solve the planet’s de“The major advantage of angioplasty teriorating biodiversity that is further our planet’s biodiversity. is it is done percutaneously, the patient With the global theme #Connect- threatened by our changing climate. doesn’t need to be opened up. Also the 2Earth, this year’s staging aims to raise Governments, businesses, and comrecovery period is faster, and outcomes awareness on the crucial importance of munities all win significant gains when are relatively similar to bypass.” biodiversity as a viable resource link that we all work together and bring positive “However in cases of severe three families, communities, nations, and fu- change for the planet.” vessel disease, or those that involve the This year’s Earth Hour Manila staging ture generations all depend upon. Underroot of the left coronary circulation (left standing this interconnectedness is key in will come home to the iconic Cultural main artery), bypass surgery is still recsolving Earth’s most pressing challenges. Center of the Philippines in Pasay City, ommended,” clarifies Dr. Quizon.

“Collectively, we must now look the venue of the country’s first Earth deeper and see how our water, food, Hour switch-off event 10 years ago.

Aside from the 60-minute switch-off, and energy consumption is endangering our planet’s biodiversity. It’s time to highlights of this year’s Earth Hour Philipconnect to Earth and rekindle our role pines event include activity booths, exhibits, as stewards of the environment,” avers and cultural performances by local artists to HEV blue light, protecting our eyes World Wide Fund Philippines president amplify #Connect2Earth messages creatfrom the risk of having central vision and chief executive Joel Palma. ing a meaningful celebration to honor our loss and retinal disease. However, our Using this year’s official hashtag planet. Earth Hour do-it-yourself activities eyes cannot naturally produce this nu- #Connect2Earth, WWF-Philippines is and partnerships with businesses and ortrient. Our bodies can only absorb it encouraging everyone to harness the ganizations are also encouraged to promote by eating green leafy vegetables and power of social media and help share and further strengthen the grassroots movecolorful fruits. their commitment to a “one planet life- ment here in the country.

Simple steps can be done to help pro- style” by sharing stories and photos of In support of Earth Hour’s vision, tect your eyes against the damaging ef- their sustainable living actions to care WWF-Philippines National Ambassafects of blue light: for our planet’s biodiversity via Earth dors Iza Calzado, Rovilson Fernandez, Change your focus. When spend- Hour Philippines’ Facebook event page. and Marc Nelson, together with Nationing a lot of time in front of your digiWWF-Philippines’ head of Climate al Youth Ambassador Janine Gutierrez tal device, remember to change your and Energy Program and Earth Hour led the campaign’s kick-off at the Disvisual focus every often—preferably Pilipinas national director Gia Ibay reit- covery Suites in Ortigas on Feb. 27. every 20 minutes—by looking away and focusing your vision on something in the distance.

Minimize the glare. Sit in an area with adequate lighting to adjust the light emitted by your screen.

Refresh your eyes. Put a few drops of artificial tears when you notice that they are getting dry.

Wear protective lenses. Consult with an optometrist about protective lenses such as Shamir Blue Zero. The lenses of Shamir Blue Zero are specifically made from a unique polymer formula that filters and absorbs blue light, similar to what Lutein does to your eyes. They are completely clear, eliminating any unsightly discoloration, and remain comfortable in all light conditions—indoors and outdoors.

Shamir Blue Zero is exclusively avail- WWF-Philippines Ambassadors together with WWF-Philippines president and chief executive Joel Palma and Earth Hour Pilipinas national director Gia Ibay. able at all Vision Express outlets.

Protect your eyes against blue light TODAY, over 90 percent of the population spends at least two hours a day focusing on a digital display. The amount of time drastically rises among young professionals, who are more likely to rely on digital devices for both work and recreation.

While these devices are important to our lives, they also pose a great threat to our eyesight. It has been discovered that all digital screens, be it televisions, smartphones, computers, or simple LED displays, emit HEV (High Energy Visible) or what is commonly known as blue light.

Exposure to blue light has been linked to digital eyestrain, poor quality of sleep, and in extreme cases, increased risk of macular degeneration and retinal disease.

Children are particularly vulnerable since the lens on their eyes are more transparent, allowing in more blue light from TV screens and tablets, among others.

Blue light emitted by these digital devices are filtered by the “natural sunglasses of the eyes” called Lutein.

Lutein naturally absorbs the harmful

Exposure to blue light from digital devices has been linked to digital eyestrain, poor quality of sleep, and increased risk of macular degeneration and retinal disease.

Earth Hour 2018 highlights biodiversity

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Simply Red...

CNN Philippines launches digital series

From C4

‘DIGI-PINOY’

By Marane A. Plaza

C

NN Philippines’ award-winning TV newscaster Mitzi Borromeo goes back to her passion for documentary-making through her new TV show Digi-Pinoy, the news network’s first digital series.

Borromeo leads the TV channel’s strategy to focus on documentaries and long form narratives as she steps away from her news anchor role.

CNN Philippines, the only predominantly English-language channel on free-to-air television, is revitalizing its block programming this year as it aims to attract more digitallyinclined audience with its new program concepts.

“This 2018, CNN Philippines wants to focus on serving the audience on digital,” said Armie Jarin-Bennett, president of Nine Media Corporation, owner of CNN Philippines. “Mitzi pitched a concept to me several months ago, and I thought that it perfectly fit the direction of the channel this year.”

Digi-Pinoy explores how information technology has changed the Filipino way of life. The show allows Borromeo to tell unique human stories in the context of the digital age.

“I’ve always been very fascinated about human behavior, on why people act the way they do. These days, we can’t deny that information technology is very much in our lives as

Broadcast journalist Mitzi Borromeo in CNN Philippines' 'Profiles.'

we are always on our phones posting about our lives. DigiPinoycaptures how digital technology is shaping the way we live, and how it’s affecting the way we connect to people,” Mitzi Borromeo shared.

“We explore topics such as education, work or even families, such as families of OFWs who are away and may be raising kids through a computer screen. It is such an interesting world we live in today. With Digi-Pinoy, we try to investigate this new culture that the digital world is bringing us.”

Borromeo has always been getting deeper into stories with her show called Profiles, an award-winning weekly current affairs program that’s been running for three years now. She has indeed come full circle from her early beginnings as an executive producer and writer on National Geographic Philippines, and her awards such as KBP Golden Dove Award’s ‘Best TV Newscaster’ for her work on CNN Philippines’ Newsroom.

“The magical moments for me are in making connections with people and meeting minds. It’s like falling in love each time I broaden my understanding of the world through their lives and unique stories. I’m very grateful and excited for the opportunity to mine more interesting stories through documentaries like Profiles and Digi-Pinoy, and share them with the audience in the hopes of promoting positive values and renewing faith in humanity.

Digi-Pinoy premieres in March on cnnphilippines. com and facebook.com/CNNPhilippines, while Profiles airs on CNN Philippines every Wednesday, 9:30 p.m..

Erich enjoys heavy scenes with Lovi ACCORDING to Erich Gonzales, she’s still willing to do a movie opposite Lovi Poe despite having been hurt during their slapping scene in their controversial hit film The Significant Other which also stars Tom Rodriguez.

“If other actresses get traumatized because they got hurt while doing a delicate scene like that, then I’m different!” she says. “I’m a real trouper. Especially if it made the scene more realistic, I won’t count it as a bad experience. As an actress, I should be ready for things like that, right?’’

“One more thing, I have a nice working relationship with Lovi. We’re super-duper okay! This also holds true with Tom whom I worked with for the first time in the project. I really hope it’s not the last. I learned a lot from this experience. Of course, I want variety in my work relationships. I want to work with more stars from other home studios as much as possible.”

The pretty star points out that actors get carried away with the scenes at times.

“For intense actors, once they hear the word, ‘Action!’ they get affected totally. You lose yourself in the process and become the character.

So, sometimes, especially if you’re executing a very physical scene, you can’t help but make it appear realistic to the point of really hurting the actor you’re doing the scene with.”

Erich wants to grow in her craft as a screen performer.

Erich Gonzales (Instagram)

“Acting is a continuous learning process,” she explains. “I always tell myself to keep on absorbing new techniques, adapt and evolve. Looks fade but your acting mettle will bring you places. This is the reason why I always give it my best shot.”

During the film’s premiere night, she left at the middle of the screening prompting people to think that she walked-out.

“Oh, no! It’s because I have taping then for my new ABS-CBN soap The Blood Sisters. It’s not easy doing the show because I play three different characters.

You can just imagine the preparations. So, to put an end to all the intrigues, I didn’t

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, March 6, 2018

ACROSS 1 Laird’s household 5 Feudal estates 10 Pamper 14 Verdi opera 15 Boom box 16 Capable of (2 wds.)

17 In a comforting manner 19 Name of a thing 20 Came afterward 21 Set firmly 23 Pitcher Nolan — 25 Tamperresistant 28 Humorist — Bombeck 31 Response to a proposal 33 Sports palaces 35 Make cloudy 36 Smooth fabric 38 First 007 movie (2 wds.)

39 Annex 40 Involuntary movement 41 Make public 42 Muse of history 44 Column order 46 Disney CEO Bob — 47 Abounded 49 Util. bill

50 Bank on 51 Fought with swords 53 Grabbed a taxi 55 Perjurers 57 Short jacket 61 Cry of surprise 64 Gossip 66 Carrot or beet 67 Ham it up 68 Cat’s lives 69 Soap bubbles 70 — -toothed tiger 71 Poor grades DOWN 1 Instance 2 Wildebeest chaser 3 Uproars 4 Not artificial 5 Paydays 6 John, in Aberdeen 7 Verge 8 Thin coatings 9 Meat substitute 10 Tied together 11 GI address 12 252 calories 13 Poetic adverb 18 “— Jude” 22 Play it by — 24 “Peachy-keen!”

26 Make furious 27 Boone or Webster

28 Put up 29 Threw the dice 30 Setting 32 Tour of duty 34 Apologetic 37 More aloof 43 Diner fare 44 Forms a thought 45 Slug 46 Leprechaun land 48 Cotton gin name 52 Serious play

54 Forest mom 56 Neatnik opposite 58 Huron neighbor 59 Lalique or Descartes 60 Mineral deposits 61 Birthday no.

62 Debtor’s note 63 Okra morsel 65 Cousteau’s summer

stage a walk-out that evening.”

It’s good she doesn’t get confused breathing life to three different characters in the dramatic thriller.

“It’s just about having focus. If you love what you do, you will always be on your toes.”

On the lighter side, she’s presently being linked to a certain Mateo Lorenzo, a non-showbiz guy.

“I’m single. That’s all I can say. Work is my priority. I don’t want to waste any single chance that comes my way.

Anyway, love can wait,” Erich ends. *** Despite encouraging words from people, Sanya Lopez nixes the possibility of joining a beauty contest in the near future.

“Many have enticed me to join Bb. Pilipinas or Ms. World Philippines but as of now, my answer is negative. I feel I’m not yet ready to join. I’m just 21.

Maybe if I’m already 24 or 25, I might consider,” she avers.

As of now, the lovely star wants to concentrate on her acting career.

“That’s right! I want to further improve my craft. Then, if I’m already established in my showbiz career, I can set my attention to beauty pageants.”

Speaking of her acting career, Sanya is sad that after seven months, her top-rating afternoon drama series Haplos recently bid farewell.

“I miss everyone in the show. From my co-stars to Direk Gil Tejada, Jr. We’re like family there. But we’re happy that the show’s rating was high until the last episode,” she says.

to its latest science fiction series Altered Carbon. The short video featured several prominent thought leaders in entertainment, technology, science and literature, including Ernest Cu, president and CEO of Globe Telecom.

Cu is an immensely forwardthinking leader and tech innovator, who believes in empowering the Filipinos by elevating their digital lifestyle within the global standards.

That vision has shaped the trajectory of Globe as a purveyor of all things digital. Hence, Netflix decided to profile Cu, along with Altered Carbon author Richard K. Morgan, Steve Aoki, Jesse Wellens, and other thought leaders to discuss how technology is changing the landscape of human society and how technology deeply affects the lives of individuals. They were also asked to imagine the various possibilities of living forever.

Altered Carbon is the new Netflix original series based on the classic cyberpunk novel written by Richard K. Morgan. Its story is set 300 years into the future, in which technology allows human consciousness to be digitized and stored in discs called “stackers” or uploaded to the cloud. When a person dies, this stacker is recovered from the body (called a “sleeve”), or downloaded from the Cloud and reinserted into another “sleeve,” thus ensuring that the person lives again. Since the process is very expensive, only the rich can afford to live lengthy and seemingly immortal lives. This status quo has led to a careless disregard for human lives among the wealthy.

Takeshi Kovacs, the protagonist in the series, is the lone survivor of a group of elite interstellar soldiers that was defeated in an uprising against the new world order. After 250 years in ice, Kovacs is revived by Laurens Bancroft, an impossibly wealthy, long-lived man, to solve Bancroft’s suspicious death.

From writer and executive producer Laeta Kalogridis, Altered Carbon stars Joel Kinnaman, James Purefoy, Martha Higareda, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Will Yun Lee, and Dichen Lachman on Netflix.

Globe customers can enjoy six months access to Netflix with Globe At Home Plan 1299 and up, while Postpaid customers can get six months worth of Netflix with Plan 999 and up.

To learn more, just visit www.globe. com.ph/content/netflix. *** Alden Richards and Ken Chan donated blood during separate bloodletting events of GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF).

Alden joined GMA Network employees in the nationwide Kapuso Bloodletting Day, held simultaneously on Feb.9 at the Network’s headquarters in Quezon City and in GMA’s various Regional TV stations.

Alden surprised everyone, including his fans, when he announced that he will donate blood for the first time.

“This is my way of sharing a part of me to help save lives and to be of service to those in need. It’s a very delightful feeling,” he said.

The Kapuso star also encouraged his supporters to donate blood as well.

Now on its 10th year, the annual event organized by GMA Network’s Corporate Affairs Division in coordination with GMA Kapuso Foundation and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) yielded a total of 1,569 (706,050 cc) blood bags.

GMA Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Communication Angel Javier Cruz said that giving blood is the essence of Serbisyong Totoo. “When we give our blood, we show our love and care for our fellow countrymen and for me, that’s really the sign of a true Kapuso,” she emphasized.

Meanwhile, Ken Chan donated blood for the first time at GMAKF’s biannual Sagip Dugtong Buhay project on Feb. 10 at the Ever Gotesco Mall in Quezon City. which produced 1,902 (855,900 cc) blood bags.

“I’ve always wanted to donate blood, but I just didn’t know where or how. Good thing there’s GMA Kapuso Foundation which is always there to help others,” Ken said.

“We do the Sagip Dugtong Buhay every February during the love month and in August during our founder Tita Mel Tiangco’s birthday month, because this advocacy is very close to her heart. The purpose of having twice a year activities for bloodletting is to also encourage the value of volunteerism.

We should also take care of our health so we can donate blood,” said GMAKF Executive Vice President and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog.

Donations during the Kapuso Bloodletting Day and Sagip Dugtong Buhay reached a total of 3,471 (1,561,950 cc) blood bags and were given to the Philippine Red Cross.

Pambansang Bae Alden Richards during a bloodletting event organized by GMA Kapuso Foundation.

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

AICELLE SANTOS

The cast of ABS-CBN's newest action fantasy series, 'Bagani.'

bags Gigi role in ‘Miss Saigon’ UK SINGER and actress Aicelle Santos bagged the role of ‘Gigi Van Tranh’ in Miss Saigon’s UK Tour. After the success of Himala: Isang Musikal where she plays the lead role, the Kapuso star is now ready to take the international stage with Cameron Mackintosh’s critically-acclaimed musical.

Aicelle first captured the hearts of theater enthusiasts with her role as Aileen in the local production, Rak of Aegis where she bagged the award for Best Actress in a Musical Production in the Aliw Awards 2014.

This is followed by more stints in theater, making her a favorite in the local scene.

Last year, Aicelle has once again been recognized by Aliw Awards as Best Actress in a Featured Role for her portrayal of Perla in Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag. For the same performance, she is currently nominated at the Gawad Philstage Award as Best Female Featured Actress in a Musical.

She will continue being visible on TV as her successful Awit Na Aicelle concert will be televised on GMA, and the music video for the single ”Tuloy Tuloy Lang” under her recent album Liwanag will also be released in the coming months.

With her deep-seated passion for music and the arts, the Kapuso star is excited for this international venture. Aicelle will leave for the UK on the third week of March for the beginning of her training, with high spirits to represent the Filipino talent abroad.

Kapuso Aicelle Santos joins the cast of 'Miss Saigon' UK tour.

LIZA and ENRIQUE’s ‘Bagani’ a solid attempt at action fantasy genre

T

HE highly anticipated fantasy series Bagani set an explosive and social media trending premiere yesterday as it centred on unleashing the hero within and embarking on an epic adventure inside a world where courage, resilience, justice, hope, and love prevail.

Top billed by Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, with Matteo Guidicelli, Sofia Andres, and Makisig Morales, it follows the journey of Lakas from the desert region, Ganda from the farm region, Lakam from the trade region, Dumakulem from the forest region, and Mayari from the sea region — normal individuals who suddenly turned heroes of Sansinukob.

Each one of them h as a particular skill that makes them a cut above the rest. Apart from their skills, they also possess good hearts that are willing to sacrifice even themselves for their families and for their people. That is why Apo, the benevolent and wise deity of Sansinukob, bestowed on them powerful weapons —‘espada ni Minokawa,’ ‘pana ni Makiling,’ ‘palakol ni Bernardo Karpio,’ ‘arnis ni Liwliwa,’ and ‘kalasag ng Kataw’ — they need to become Baganis and battle the evil forces of the Sarimaw.

Will the Baganis succeed in their mission to protect and restore peace in Sansinukob?

Joining the cast of Bagani are Robert Seña, Ana Abad Santos, Rayver Cruz, Lara Quigaman, Enzo Pineda, Christian Vasquez, Mikylla Ramirez, and Joj Martin. It is the directed by Richard

Seasoned actress Jaclyn Jose in a scene from Brillante Mendoza's 'Ma'Rosa'

‘MA’ROSA’

kicks off March Cine Lokal films

Liza Soberano as Ganda, a skilled archer from Sansinukob's farm region.

Enrique Gil as Lakas who is from the desert region of the fictional world of Sansinukob.

Arellano and Lester Pimentel under the production group of Star Creatives.

Primetime TV’s newest fantaserye Bagani airs after FPJ’s Ang Probinsya-

no on ABS-CBN or ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). Catch up on the show’s latest episodes on iWanTV or skyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.

RENOWNED actress Jaclyn Jose made history in 2016 when she won the Palme D’Or for Best Actress for her performance in Ma’Rosa, the gripping film by Brillante Mendoza. This March, FDCP Cine Lokal brings this film which portrays the horrific realities of the slums and the broken system back to its theaters.

The film centers on the family of Rosa (powerfully played by Jose) who owns a small community convenient store connected to their home in the slums of Manila. Together with her husband, Nestor, they use their convenient store as cover-up for selling illegal narcotic, Methamphetamines. Their fate changes one Saturday night when their neighbor Bong-Bong, who works as fly-by-night parking attendant, begs her to sell him a small pack of Methamphetamine without knowing that it’s a play for a pending buy-bust operation by the policemen waiting outside the community.

Watch Ma’Rosa as it opens in the following cinemas at SM Mall of Asia, Megamall, North Edsa, Fairview, Southmall, Bacoor, Sta. Mesa and Bacoor at 1:00 p.m.,3:30 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 8:30 p.m..

New afternoon series tackles HIV-Aids in melodramatic way KAPUSO network seems bent on making a mark in TV dramas by creating and producing shows that tackle controversial issues. It started with the gay-themed drama My Husband’s Lover.

Well, the series succeeded in creating awareness of a reality in Philippine society about gay and bisexual men (some of them married with children), though the issue of same-gender relationship wasn’t exactly exhausted as it also featured a third party, the woman or wife of one of the two major male characters. In other words, it was still the archetypal love triangle, only the third wheel is also a male.

On Feb. 26, GMA piloted in its Afternoon Prime Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka, a series it calls an “advoca-serye” with Yasmien Kurdi, Martin del Rosario, Jackie Rice, and Mike Tan. Naturally, this show is crafted to appeal to the melodramatic cravings of the Kapuso followers, the same group of people that made Ika-6- na Utos the highest rating afternoon drama since it

ISAH V. RED

piloted last year.

So, in its first week on the air, we already saw how this is going to develop even if it supposed to tackle the subject of HIV-Aids, considered at one point as one of the most serious and fatal diseases in the world. These days though HIV infection is manageable with all the drug cocktails available to patients.

And yet, since it is a melodrama to the hilt, the family of Marco (Mike Tan), especially the mother (Gina Alajar) is still unaware that HIVAids can only be acquired through exchange of body fluid (saliva, blood, and semen), so there, the writers have found a diving board to plunge Thea (Yasmien Kurdi) in a marathon-like

crying race with her husband Marco.

At this point of the series, Thea is trying to find out how she got the virus and from whom, perhaps from Lawrence (Martin del Rosario) a high-school classmate who raped her, or from Marco’s flings.

Being a melodrama, there will be villains. So apart from the cruel mother-in-law, comes Marco’s exgirlfriend Ava (Jackie Rice) who will fight tooth and nail to get him back.

According to GMA, the series aims to raise HIV awareness and educate viewers on its effects upon a person’s life.

I only hope that this aim doesn’t get lost in the desire of the people behind the show to amass commendable rating points against its competitor on the other side of its fence. *** The top streaming platform, Netflix, recently released a documentary that tackles the possibility of immortality through technology, as a brief introduction Continued on C3

The cast of GMA Network's afternoon soap, 'Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka' led by Yasmien Kurdi (second from left)