Manila Standard - 2018 March 07 - Wednesday

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Senate girds for Sereno’s impeachment VOL. XXXII • NO. 24 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Lifetime rule stuns China BEIJING—President Xi Jinping’s bid to rule for life has stunned many people in China. It left retired state-owned newspaper editor Li Datong cursing in a foreign language in a crowded mall.

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Terrorists target six areas—AFP IS-allied Maute, other groups seen stepping up attacks

By Francisco Tuyay

A Transgender woman shines at Oscars SANTIAGO, Chile—Everything seems to make Daniela Vega smile: her transition from male to female, her family’s unwavering support, and her rise from hairdresser to actress with the backing of Chilean director Sebastian Lelio, who won the Oscar for best foreign film.

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Cebu bunkhouse caves in: 5 dead NEWS A2

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THE Senate is 80 percent to 90 percent done with improved impeachment rules and is ready to try Chief Justice Maria Loudes Sereno, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said Tuesday.

In a TV interview, Pimentel said he still has a series of meetings to finalize the draft of the impeachment rules before they are submitted to the senators.

“Our rules are about 80 to 90 percent ready,” said Pimentel, noting that vague or ambiguous portions were made clearer.

“If there were rules which were not good during the impeachment trial of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, and former President Joseph Next page

Gag order out on NFA over rice situation

MILITARY official on Tuesday said security forces are keeping a tight watch on four to six urban areas that could be the target of increased terrorist activity, now that a new emir for the Islamic State in Southeast Asia has been named.

Brig. Gen. Bienvenido Datuin, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said that with the huge resources available to the terrorist group, increased activity is possible.

“We are closely gaurding, monitoring… the urban areas to make sure that any attempts will be deterred,” Datuin said.

Datuin added that they are coordinating with the Philippine National Police to prevent any terrorist attacks, particularly during the Lenten season.

“The standing order is to prevent atrocities or terroristic acts...within these critical days. So we will make sure it will not happen,” Datuin said.

Terrorist leader Abdul Nasser Lomondot, who was arrested recently in Manila, said the terrorists have moved to the city to evade security forces hunting them after they escaped from the siege of Marawi City.

The PNP said Abdul Nasser was among the 10 remaining Maute sub-leaders after

By Macon RamosAraneta, Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz

By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

SECURITY THREAT. The military projects increased terrorist activity in Mindanao with reports that Maute group sub-leader Abu Dar has taken over the leadership of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. Dar, say military authorities, has assumed command of the terror group in Southeast Asia following the death of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon last Oct. 16. File photo the fall of the ISIS-inspired Maute group following the death of its top leader Abudullah and three of his brothers in the Marawi City siege.

Datuin said they are also trying to confirm the veracity of reports that 23 armed groups are working together in one command of ISIS in the Philippines.

“As we said there are groups, remnant groups from Marawi that are still at it, meaning there are still organizing, recruiting and retraining and we cannot discount the possibility of a plan, another attack and that is what we are trying to preempt,” he added.

Despite reports that Abu Dar has been named the new emir of ISIS in Southeast Asia, Maj. Ronaldo Suscano, spokesman of the Army’s 1st Infantry

Division said others, including Indonesian and Malaysian terrorists, could also be considered potential successors to Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed in the Marawi fighting.

In a statement released Tuesday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged the public to be vigilant because “there are always groups who are out to make trouble.”

“We pray that days of prayer and penance be respected by all,” Pabillo added.

Rev. Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Public Affairs Committee, said that it is the job of authorities to ensure the safety of the public, and make sure that intelligence gathering is working properly.

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MALACAÑANG has imposed a gag order on National Food Authority Administrator Jason Aquino for issuing statements on a rice shortage that have caused panic, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Tuesday, noting that the NFA Council has the sole authority to speak on the current rice supply.

Only recently, Senator Cynthia Villar reprimanded Aquino for sowing panic when the agency announced a shortage of affordable rice, which led to higher prices for the grain.

Roque said he believes that even Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, who heads the NFA Council, should refrain from speaking on the topic.

“There was no specification of Cabinet Secretary Evasco. It is only the NFA Council henceforth that will speak on the current supply of rice in the country,” Roque told reporters during a press briefing in Malacañang.

He said that during the Cabinet meeting, the rice issue was discussed extensively, which prompted the President to instruct that all information on Next page

“The public has to understand our campaign to free major roads from obstruction. Any obstruction, especially along Edsa, will create traffic and chaos.”

—Acting MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr.

Plunder raps eyed vs Roxas over MRT

By Vito Barcelo THE Duterte administration will pursue plunder charges against former Cabinet members in the Aquino administration, including former Interior secretary Mar Roxas, then Budget secretary Butch Abad and former Transportation secretary Jun Abaya, for the anomalous transactions that led to everyday woes of the riding public using the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, according to Malacañang Spokesman Harry Roque.

In the press briefing, Roque said aside from filing the plunder cases against former government officials involved in the MRT 3 crisis, the government also planned to change the ownership of the MRT 3 corporation as part of the long term solution.

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PH to buy new ships for Benham research, pushes oil hunt

By Vito Barcelo THE government plans to acquire research vessels to explore the disputed South China Sea to assess the potential of Philippine Rise, which is rich in minerals and gas, an official said Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte approved the plan during a Cabinet meeting last

Monday after saying the exploration of Philippine Rise would be reserved for Filipinos.

“The President reiterated that the only right that foreigners can exercise in Philippine Rise is the right to innocent passage,” Roque said. “[The] exploration for natural resources, [the] conduct of scientific research, [the] laying of submarine cables and [the] build-

ing of artificial islands in Philippine Rise are reserved for Philippine nationals.”

Roque also said the Philippines and China should set aside their dispute over the South China Sea and allow the joint exploration of the resource-rich waters.

He again defended Manila’s push for a joint exploration with China even as its critics warned that could jeopardize a 2016 Next page

SAFE SPACES. Victims of street sexual harassment huddle as they view their photographs during the launching of the photo exhibit ‘Fight For Safe Spaces’ at the Senate Hallway.

The exhibit, led by Senator Risa Hontiveros, features 11 women who struggle with day-to-day sexual harassment in public places. Hontiveros is the author of the Safe Streets and Public Places Act of 2017, which seeks to penalize acts of genderbased harassment in public places like streets, transport, clubs, and gyms. Ey Acasio

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Senator finds harassment cases ’very alarming’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta EVERY day two women get harassed sexually or physically in Manila alone, Senator Risa Hontiveros, head of the Senate committee on women, said Tuesday citing police reports.

“So in a week, the number of women who get harassed and abused is 14,” Hontiveros said.

“If we multiply that number by months and even an entire year, we will arrive at a very alarming and nightmarish statistic.”

Hontiveros, citing data from the Manila Police District, said the forms of harassment reported included sexual harassment, acts of lasciviousness, rape and violence.

She said most of the harassments were happening after office hours and during unholy hours, but the reported cases do not include other forms of gender-based harassment and abuse that do not fall under existing laws. ”I believe that our police force is doing its best to protect our women,” Hontiveros said.

“But because there is no existing national policy that identifies other forms of gender-based street harassment that will aid our authorities in preventing abuses, the number can actually be higher.”

Hontiveros is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill 1326 or the proposed Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017.

The measure aims to penalize the harassment of women in public places such as catcalling, wolf-whistling, cursing, leering, groping, persistent requests for names and contact details.

The bill also seeks to penalize the use of words tending to ridicule women on the basis of actual or perceived sex, gender expression or sexual orientation and identity including sexist, homophobic and transphobic slurs.

Bunkhouse collapses in Cebu: 5 dead, 50 hurt C EBU City—Five construction workers died while close to 50 were injured after their four-decker bunkhouse collapsed early Tuesday morning in Barangay Lahug.

At least 158 workers of JE Abraham Lee Construction and other sub-contractors were sleeping inside the bunkhouse made of metal scaffolding when it collapsed over them around 3 a.m.

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office chief Nagiel Bañacia confirmed fatalities after the search

and rescue operations.

The fatalities were identified as 61-year-old Carlos Calliwa of Manjuyod, Negros Oriental; Iveen Villarin, 23, and Jason Bacalso, 22, both of Langtad, the City of Naga in Cebu; Francisco Diapera, 45, of Pag-asa, Lutopan, Toledo City; and Crisenciano Silomen,

War on drugs forges ahead; Du30 snipes at ICC PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte, taking a swipe at his critics, on Tuesday reiterated his commitment to destroy the illegal drug trade in the Philippines which he said would be pursued whether or not international groups would push through with their probe on the human rights situation in the country.

“I made it [the destruction of the illegal drug trade] a solemn promise,” Duterte said in his speech during the Go Negosyo 10th Filipina Entrepreneurship Summit in Pasay City.

He stressed: "So the war on drugs will continue with or without ICC [International Criminal Court], with or without the human rights [investigators], with or without the politicians. It will last until the last day of my term as president (in 2022). After that I don't care anymore.”

Duterte said: “Do not destroy my people because I will kill you. Do not put to naught my toil and destroy the young of my country because I will really kill you.’’

At the same time, Duterte said he would not cooperate with his political adversaries with regard to his alleged unexplained wealth and vowed to hit back at his de-

tractors because he did nothing wrong.

“I have this kicking strength in me.

It could be ABS-CBN, it could be the Inquirer, it could be someone. I can insult you in public, when I am agitated. You cannot find fault against me,’’ Duterte said.

While the President did not mention Senator Antonio Trillanes IV who claimed Duterte and his family had more than P1 billion in banks, Duterte challenged his detractors to prove the allegations.

“For those who have connections with the Central Bank, Go ahead, I give you the pleasure of ...to look into bank account...,’’ the President said.

The President said he would not cooperate with his political opponents in the investigation, reiterating “I would not give you the pleasure of my cooperation.”

“Why should I do? You hunt evidence from me? Do not get it from my mouth or from my efforts. Go to hell and look for it,’’ he said.

He vowed to help and protect the Filipino people under his term saying, ‘‘I have a duty to perform and worse, I made it a solemn promise.’’

Last month, the ICC's Office of the

Transgender...

Terrorists...

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As Maria in the film “A Fantastic Woman”—her fifth movie role—Vega plays a transgender woman confronting discrimination and rejection by the family of her deceased partner. The role has thrust her into the international spotlight and made her a Hollywood darling.

And at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, she became the first transgender person ever to present a performance at the movie industry’s most important event.

The 28-year-old’s dignity and poise have caught the attention of media across the world, from Spain’s El Pais to The Guardian in Britain and Vanity Fair and The New York Times in the United States.

The US magazine W included her in its list of top 10 performances of 2017, featuring her in a photo alongside heartthrob Robert Pattinson.

The New York Times said Vega evinced “a charisma that defies pity and a sense of poise that can be both intimidating and heartbreaking.”

The Guardian called Vega’s performance “passionate, intelligent and with a certain understated dignity.” AFP

“Law enforcers should tighten security. They should be more visible in public. More importantly, they should improve and make intelligence gathering efficient and truly reliable,” he said.

The Catholic priest echoed Pabillo’s statement that the people should always be wary of their surroundings.

“The public, too, should be vigilant lest we become victims of possible terror acts,” Secillano said.

On Saturday, authorities arrested an

alleged leader of the Islamic State-linked Maute terror group in Manila.

Spouses Abdul Nasser and Raisalam Lomondot, both from Lanao del Sur, were arrested along CM Recto, Divisoria. Police confiscated a grenade and a handgun from them.

The PNP, meanwhile, said it is checking on reports that ISIS members have entered the country by posing as fishermen.

But PNP spokesman Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said reports of the ISIS presence in Mindanao should not alarm the public because security measures have been tightened there.

Lifetime...

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Belying Communist Party claims that “the masses” unanimously support the removal of presidential term limits, many Chinese like Li have disregarded censors to complain about the move as the rubber-stamp parliament prepares to approve it on Sunday.

Li was shopping for bread with his son last week when the announcement popped up on his phone. Shoppers stared at him as he cursed in English.

“It was so sudden. I didn’t believe he would do it, but he did,” said the 66-yearold former China Youth Daily editor.

Li garnered international attention after penning an open letter urging the National People’s Congress to reject the constitutional amendment, warning that it would “sow the seeds of chaos.”

“If you don’t speak up, they will think we all agree,” Li told AFP. He is not alone. His missive ricocheted around social media last week— until censors caught up.

The claim that the masses unanimously approve the measure is in the text of the amendment introduced at the opening session of the annual NPC meeting on Monday. The handpicked legislators are all but certain to vote “yes” on Sunday.

But many in China—from businessmen and women to teachers, religious leaders and retired officials—have been voicing discontent, either in private or through social media and interviews with foreign media. AFP

57, of Kauswagan, Trinidad, Bohol.

Four workers were seriously injured and brought to the Perpetual Succour Hospital and the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for immediate treatment.

At least 44 laborers sustained minor injuries and were given first-aid on the site by members of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation.

Project Engineer Butch Abaya said JE Abraham Lee Construction and Development Inc. is ready to provide assistance to the victims and their families, especially to those who perished in the accident. PNA

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Estrada, we have to fix them to be clear,” Pimentel said.

He also said Sereno is not required to attend the impeachment trial, but if she wants to, she needs to prepare herself for cross examination.

Reacting to a quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida asking the Supreme Court to nullify Sereno’s appointment, Pimentel said this was not among the means available to remove an impeachable official.

“When we read the Constitutional provision, the message is that the only way to remove these high-ranking government officials who are so called impeachable officials is through impeachment,” he said.

But the Supreme Court on Tuesday required Sereno to comment within 10 days on the quo warranto petition against her.

“The Court, without giving due course to the petition, required respondent Chief Justice Sereno to submit her comment on the petition within a period of 10 days from receipt of notice,” a resolution read

by Court spokesman Theodore Te said.

Only Associate Justice Marvic Leonen dissented from the action “on ground that in his opinion, the petition should be dismissed outright.”

Senator Panfilo Lacson declined to comment on the quo warranto petition and said it would be better to wait and see what the Supreme Court does.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, on the other hand, said the petition was “a slippery slope” and could set a crucial precedent, one that could be detrimental to all impeachable officials.

“Let me express the apprehension that the moment the Supreme Court entertains and rules on this – that it has the power to, in effect, dismiss the Chief Justice--that the same rule applies to them,” he said.

“That same rule will apply to heads of various constitutional bodies, including the CoA [Commission on Audit], Comelec [Commission on Elections], the vice president, and even to the President,” he

added.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the Constitution is clear that the only means to remove justices of the Supreme Court is impeachment. He insisted that the quo warranto proceedings are prohibited.

He also warned that the justices that they would expose themselves to impeachment if they act on the quo warranto petition against Sereno because the act is unconstitutional.

“They have been forcing her to resign but she refused so this is now the shortcut,” Trillanes said. “They don’t want an impeachment because they cannot control what will happen.”

He acknowledged that Sereno was in danger and that it was clear she is very unpopular among the justices. But this did not mean they can do what is prohibited.

“They are the justices so they know the Constitution and they should not do what is unconstitutional,” he added.

Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV considered it alarming that the clear process indicated in the Constitution is being changed.

“They should just allow Congress, allow the Senate to do our job.... This changing of the process violates our Constitution and we need to take into account the proper procedures here,” he said.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros warned that the petition for quo warranto is an assault against the Senate’s integrity and democratic processes.

Hontiveros said that this could set a dangerous precedent where the Senate is relegated to the political sidelines.

“It is part of a greater scheme to render the Senate obsolete and irrelevant, when it is one of the few institutions left where the government’s abuses can still be checked,” Hontiveros said.

“Just imagine. If the Executive can impeach a Supreme Court Chief Justice without the Senate, it can also change the Constitution without it. It is no secret that this government is adamant in changing the Constitution even without the participation of the Senate,” Hontiveros said.

She also said the petition from the executive seems to question the capacity of the Senate to conduct fair ancd impartial impeachment proceedings.

Prosecutor announced it would start its preliminary examination on the alleged extrajudicial killings associated with the Duterte administration's high-gear antiillegal drugs campaign, which kicked off on July 1, 2016.

The preliminary examination is a procedure conducted by the ICC to determine whether the case falls under its jurisdiction.

Iceland, meanwhile, called on the Philippines during the 37th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland to allow, without preconditions, the UN special rapporteur to look into the drug war and cooperate with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to receive a mission by independent experts to conduct such an assessment without delay.

Duterte, in response, told police in Davao City last week not to cooperate with any human rights probe.

Malacañang later clarified that Duterte's order was aimed at “biased” rapporteurs including UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard, a critic of the government’s bloody drug war.

Plunder...

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The private owners of MRT 3 may also be held accountable for the daily glitches of MRT, he said, adding “changing the owners of MRT is another solution because we have had many problems with the current owners.”

“Accountability is part of the solution,” Roque said, saying the problem lay not just with BURI, the Busan Universal Rail Inc., the problem was with the current owners of MRT 3,” he said.

They are involved in awarding the contract to BURI, a company with absolutely no track record, Roque said.

He said there was already a government-to-government contract entered into by the Philippines and Japan that would enable Sumitomo to come back.

“This has been facilitated by the signing of an agreement between the governments of the Republic of the Philippines and Japan,” he said.

The Japanese firm has concluded already the survey of what needs to be done and Sumitomo found out that it was worse than they expected, he said.

However, Roque did not say when the MRT 3 would run normally without experiencing offloading hundreds of MRT riders, but claimed there were time tables presented to the Cabinet, and there would be an award to be made soon.

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the country’s rice supply must emanate from the NFA Council and not any particular individual.

“There was an acknowledgement that statements made by the NFA administrator caused panic, which probably caused prices to rise. There was some disagreement on the figures presented yesterday by the NFA Council, but ultimately it was agreed that there is no rice shortage, because the figure of only 1.5 days worth of supply of rice was misleading,” he said.

Roque also admitted there has been an internal disagreement among the officials in the NFA over the rice situation, but assured the public that there is no shortage in the supply of rice.

Also on Tuesday, Senator JV Ejercito called on the government to implement anti-smuggling laws to ensure the livelihood of Filipino farmers.

“Agricultural smuggling is ‘killing’ our farmers. Every time smuggled rice, onions, garlic and other agricultural products enter the country, their prices in the market are low because no taxes or tariffs were paid,” Ejercito said.

“Our farmers can’t compete with the

House looks into ex-health chief's projects

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta FORMER Health secretary Janette Garin and Budget secretary Florencio Abad must explain several contentious issues surrounding the funding and implementation of the Barangay Health Stations project of the Department of Health in 2015 amounting to P9.3 billion, Rep. Johnny Pimentel said Tuesday.

Pimentel, head of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said he had asked for the presence of two officials of the Aquino administration in his panel.

Meanwhile, the designation of a “One-Stop-Shop express lane, table or room” for all Dengvaxia-vaccinees in hospitals will be provided by the Philippine Hospital Association and the Private Hospital Association of the Philippines, according to a memorandum of agreement signed on Tuesday by the Department of Health and different hospital associations.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III led the signing of the deal, which also provides the assignment of Dengvaxiavaccinees on a “one-on-one” basis―except when there are other patients who are in simultaneous emergency situations.

The memo for the Treatment and Commitment of Dengvaxia-Vaccinated Patients was forged due to the Dengvaxia controversy and the anxiety and anguish of parents who were administered the controversial antidengue vaccine.

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arbitration ruling that had invalidated Beijing’s claim to virtually the whole of the South China Sea. Roque said the government was now looking at resuming its talks with China for a possible exploration of the Recto Bank, which is covered by Service Contract 72.

Meanwhile, an expert said Tuesday the Philippines may jointly explore the South China Sea with China provided the two agreed on a treaty framework.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said a treaty was the only way for the two countries to be bound by rules on joint exploration.

“The treaty must have its own implementing law because this will be entirely different from the existing contract system,” Batongbacal told ANC’s Early Edition.

Roque said Duterte and his Cabinet also observed that the Philippines should invest in maritime survey ships so the country could better assess the resources that could be exploited in the Philippine Rise.

He said there was a proposal to use the Malampaya Fund to buy the ships, but it was later rejected due to potential legal questions.

The government’s share of the royalties from the Malampaya gas facility could only be used for energy-related projects under the law.

“It was Secretary Dominguez who said, ‘We have the money anyway, we’ll buy even if we don’t have to use Malampaya funds.’ So the government will buy more research vessels,” Roque said.

However, he could not say when the maritime ships would be bought. prices of smuggled goods because their capital is already high,” he added.

Ejercito is one of the authors of Republic Act 10845, or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which defines largescale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage and prescribes harsh penalties for individuals found to be engaged in the illegal activity.

He expressed disappointment over the failure of the government to indict suspected agricultural smugglers, especially rice smugglers, despite the enactment of the law in 2016.

“Since its enactment, it’s disappointing to find out that the Bureau of Customs was only able to file three cases in the DoJ. Meaning, we are not utilizing the law,” he said.

He said the Bureau of Customs, law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Justice should work closely to put a stop to agricultural smuggling by “throwing the book on smugglers.”

“The overarching issue of the claimed NFA rice shortage is agricultural smuggling. As long as agricultural smugglers are in business, the source of livelihood of our farmers is in peril,” Ejercito said.

He added that the government should protect farmers, who should not be taken for granted.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Palace welcomes US report ranking PH as best country to invest for 2018

DILG to weed out ‘last termer’ village officials

By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta MALACAÑANG on Tuesday welcomed a recent US News and World Report identifying and ranking the Philippines as the best country to invest in for 2018.

Citing data from the Department of Finance, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the recent development can be attributed to the country’s “young and hardworking” workforce, an “excellent” inclusive growth momentum, an expanding middle class, fiscal discipline, stable monetary policy, an achievable infrastructure program, improved revenue collection, and a strong anti-corruption drive.

He also said the country’s membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, coupled with a politically stable environment under a strong and popular leadership, contributed to investors’ confidence.

“We assure our investors here and abroad, that the government will continue to implement sound economic policies to improve the country’s ease of doing business performance and further sustain the growth momentum of the Philippine economy,” Roque said.

Roque likewise cited the political stability of the government and a strong and popular leadership which has exhibited political will to uplift the life of Filipinos.

He said that President Rodrigo Duterte has assured foreign investors of ease in doing business in the country and said that they will get permit to invest without any hassle.

“In fact, in pursuance to this, we have recently enacted the Anti-Red Tape Law, giving fixed periods for local governments to act on pending applications lodged with them,” Roque added.

Meanwhilke, Senator Win Gatchalian said that following the glowing report, the country’s dubious distinction as the “sick man of Asia” will soon be a thing of the past.

Diño recruiter not recognized

by PH Coast Guard—Balilo

By Joel E. Zurbano THE organization which recruited and installed Department of the Interior and Local Government undersecretary Martin Diño as a Coast Guard official is not being recognized by the Philippine Coast Guard.

PCG Public Affairs Office commander and spokesperson Armand Balilo said this on Tuesday following the controversial photo posted on social media showing Diño wearing a PCG Rear Admiral uniform.

The photo drew negative reactions from netizens while Diño came under attack in social media for improper wearing of the PCG’s rank and uniform.

“Notice is hereby given to the public that the Manila Yacht Cub 101st Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Squadron is not recognized in any way by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary Directorate,” said Balilo in a statement.

“That all of its activities to include recruitment of members are not sanctioned and will not be recognized by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary,” he added.

Balilo said the agency is presently exerting efforts to correct “this malpractice and misrepresentation of a certain VADM Winefredo Villanueva using and operating under the name of the 101st PCG Auxiliary Squadron.”

Diño admitted that the MYC 101st PCG Auxiliary Squadron installed him as Real Admiral on Jan. 5. He also confirmed that Villanueva was the one leading the group.

Diño said he was recruited by one of the members of the Manila Squadron and installed as a Commodore during the time when he was still working for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority then.

He said the Manila Squadron is one of the first PCG Auxiliaries in the Philippines, and is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By Rio N. Araja

BBL HEARING. Philippine Constitution Association president and former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (left) gives his comment on the consolidated Bangsamoro Basic Law draft during the Committee on Local Government meeting at the House of Representatives.

Romualdez said that Philconsa is willing to help and to make a constructive contribution to the drafting of the BBL that satisfies the requirements of the constitution. Looking on is Philconsa chairman and CEO Ret. Justice Manuel Lazaro (right). Ver Noveno

Sotto seeks probe of May 2016 poll ‘irregularities’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

S

ENATE Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III yesterday called for a Senate probe on the alleged irregularities during the May 2016 national automated elections which he said could be considered a “case of electoral sabotage” if proven true.

He said the issues cannot be ignored as it weakens the propriety of the automated election system.

“It is high time that the proper Senate committee investigates the Automated Election System and subpoena Comelec and Smartmatic to provide the relevant data as regards these allegations.”

He said he wants the probe to be immediately conducted, as Commission on Elections officials just recently voted to exercise its Option to Purchase Smartmatic’s voting counting machines for the 2019 elections.

“To me, this decision is a bit problematic, given the numerous unresolved issues that Smartmatic is being accused of in the conduct of the last 2016 national elections,” Sotto said.

“We must ascertain the accuracy of these allegations as to either make the responsible officials accountable or finally put to rest the questions clouding the results of the 2016

election.”

He said that the outcome of any investigation on the matter would lead to a more accurate and transparent system and results for the upcoming midterm polls.

Citing information from a “concerned” and “impeccably reliable source,” Sotto said that a transmission activity was captured as early as May 8, 2016—a day before the May 9 elections.

“What I am about to present to you may or may not be gospel truth but very accurate information and if these allegations are serious enough and are proven to be true after due investigation, then we have a case of electoral sabotage for the conduct of the 2016 elections,” he said.

“If we don’t do anything to clear the doubts as to the legitimacy of the previous election, then we put at risk the accuracy of the 2019 elections,” he said.

On the alleged early transmission of

vote, he said, the Board of Canvassers should have convened starting at 3 p.m. of May 9, 2016 but as early as May 8, 2016, there was already a “transmission activity.”

In a privilege speech, Sotto said transmission was done by IP Address 10.11.5.5 to 0507.ccs.pili2016pinas.net as seen in logs of SRVCNTADNS01 server which is an IP address of a clustered vote counting machine or precinct count optical scan.

He also said the transmission code pointed to the Consolidated Canvassing System of the Municipality of Libon, Albay.

The early transmission, the Senate leader said, continued until the morning of May 9, which was still prior to the official conduct of the election.

“In summary, there has been an alleged early transmission of votes by certain VCMs (voting counting machines) to the Municipal Board of Canvassers. These are only examples of the numerous early transmissions to different Municipal and Provincial Board of Canvassers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.

“The standard answer of Smartmatic would be that these transmissions are only ‘testing transmissions.’ These transmissions cannot be in any way be claimed as ‘testing transmissions’ because as far as I can remember, the last official testing was made on April, 23, 2016.”

Barbers bats for joint patrol in eastern seaboard

By Maricel V. Cruz A HOUSE leader on Tuesday batted for the creation of a special unit tasked to rescue ship in distress and board vessels suspected of carrying contraband.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the unit should come from the Armed Forces, the National Police and anti-drug enforcement agencies.

The eastern seaboard covers the coastlines of Cagayan, Isabela, Samar, Sorsogon and Albay where international drug syndicates supposedly offload their cargoes from vessels.

Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, made the proposal in the wake of a congressional hearing on the smuggling of the P79 million worth of cocaine in Isabela.

During the hearing, Navy and police officials admitted that securing the eastern seaboard, with its thousands of kilometers

of shoreline, is a difficult task.

They lamented the fact that there is no single agency tasked to implement security measures in the areas.

“There is no Navy, Coast Guard, PDEA [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] or police Maritime Group unit dedicated to secure the eastern seaboard,” Barbers said.

“The Navy said there should be at least 3,000 men present or patrolling the area. But we have none,” he added.

Barbers pointed out that Jin Ming No. 16, the vessel suspected of offloading the cocaine in Isabela, left Hainan, China, for Chile on Dec. 12, 2017.

However, it was later monitored to be in the waters in Pambujan, Northern Samar, early January this year. Nine members of the crew were on board at that time.

“We learned that Jin Ming No. 16, a considerably large ship formerly registered in Taiwan and sold years ago

to Togo, West Africa, was sailing with fake documentation and was manned only by nine Chinese personnel before it ran aground in Northern Samar allegedly due to Typhoon Agaton,” Barbers said.

This, he said, means that Jin Ming 16 is out of line, similar to a passenger jeepney with a Pasig-Quiapo franchise route but is caught loading and offloading passengers in Quezon City.

“What is more suspicious or considered as a red flag is that the Jin Ming 16, according to Navy officials, shut off its AIS [Automatic Identification System] when it entered Philippine waters,” Barbers said.

AIS is a terrestrial or satellite data gathering system that provides information about the location, identification and other critical data of vessels that are required to attach onboard tracking devices.

EXPRESS LANES. The Department of Health and various hospital associations on Tuesday, March 6, 2018 signed a memorandum of agreement to have one-stop shop express lanes for patients who were administered with the controversial vaccine Dengvaxia.

Under the agreement, the patients shall be covered by PhilHealth under its No Balance Billing program.

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government is now on the lookout against last-termer barangay officials who are banned from running in the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año ordered all regional directors to submit the names of incumbent barangay chairmen and SK councilors serving their third consecutive terms in office for the same position.

The consolidated list of barangay officials on their third consecutive term in the same position will be submitted to the Commission on Elections this month for posting in conspicuous places before the scheduled filing of certificates of candidacy on April 14 to 20.

“We are strictly monitoring the candidates who will run in the coming elections,” Año said.

He said the department’s preventive action is in compliance to Section 43 (b) of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code stating “no local elective official shall serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same position. Voluntary renunciation of the office for any length of time shall not be considered as an interruption in the continuity of service for the full term for which the elective official concerned was elected.”

To date, four regions have already submitted their list to the DILG National Barangay Operations Office.

DFA to increase passport processing by 11,000 daily

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Foreign Affairs department plans to increase by 11,000 the daily processing of passport applications this year to serve the increasing number of applicants triggered by the 10-year validity of the travel documents, DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told lawmakers Tuesday.

At a joint inquiry of the House committees on good government and on foreign affairs on complaints on the slow processing of passports, Cayetano said his department would find a way to increase to 30,030 from today’s 19,030 daily the processing of passports.

“When we took over, the demand shot up. So in 2016 alone to 2017, [the demand for passports surged to] 600,000.

The people’s support to the 10-year passport program was overwhelming,” said Cayetano.

Cayetano said that the APO Production Unit Inc., the state-owned contractor behind the production of passports, has been responsible for the 28,000 daily production of passports and only 14,000 were being processed by the consular offices.

SC to hear petition on same-sex marriage

By Rey E. Requejo THE Supreme Court on Tuesday will hold oral arguments on the petition seeking to abolish the provisions under the Family Code of the Philippines that prohibit same-sex marriages.

In a media briefing, SC spokesperson Theodore Te said the Court has set an oral argument on the matter on June 19, 2018 to hear the petition challenging the constitutionality of several provisions of the Family Code that disallowed samesex marriages.

“The petition is one for certiorari and prohibition challenging certain provisions of the Family Code on marriage where they impact on ‘samesex’ marriages,” Te said.

IN 2015, lawyer Jesus Nicardo M. Falcis III filed the petition after the US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. The petitioner identified himself as “openly gay.”

In particular, Falcis asked the SC to nullify Articles 1 and 2 of the Family Code as well as Articles 46 (4) and 55 (6) of the same law.

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

A constitutional question

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

Only through impeachment THERE are several legal issues against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to remove her from office. This is a sub judice case that prevents us from commenting on the legal aspects of the issues.

The chief magistrate’s spokesman, Anacleto “Jojo” Lacanilao, however, raised points in her defense.

Lacanilao was empathic that the Constitution is specific that a sitting justice of the Supreme Court can only be removed through impeachments. No ifs and buts. Even Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, an official of the ruling PDP Laban Party, subscribes to this constitutional provision. So if the House justice committee under Rep. Reynaldo Umali thinks it has a solid case against CJ Sereno, then by all means it should forward the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Lacanilao pointed out that if indeed Sereno failed in her psychiatric test , then it is the fault of the Judicial and Bar Council for allowing her to assume the post of chief justice. He also maintains that Sereno’s or anyone else’s health record should not have been made public according to confidentiality law.

Thirteen associate justices, including acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, have made public that they are opposed to Sereno’s continuing in office. In a related

T

O HEAR the Liberal Party and other opposition politicians tell it, efforts to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by any means other than impeachment would be unconstitutional.

“Any machinations to oust her from office outside of impeachment would be in violation of the Constitution that the [Supreme Court] justices have been sworn to protect and uphold,” a statement issued by the opposition party said.

Thus the LP rejects a quo warranto petition that the Office of the Solicitior General has filed before the Supreme Court, which asks the justices to void her appointment in 2012 because she failed to meet the legal requirements when she applied for the post of chief justice.

The opposition also complains about calls for Sereno to resign, as if it were somehow illegal to

press an erring public official to step down.

Yet this is exactly what the Liberal Party did when it was in power, and succeeded in pressuring then-Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez to resign to avoid a relentless shame campaign and impeachment. President Benigno Aquino III and his Liberal Party lackeys tried the same tactic with no success with then Chief Justice Renato Corona, attacking him mercilessly in the press, then pressuring him to resign. This effort failed to sway Corona, who insisted he did no wrong and opted to defend himself before an impeachment court in the Senate.

But the odds were stacked against Corona—after Mr. Aquino dangled millions of pesos in pork in front of senators who would vote to convict the chief justice.

But nobody among the holierthan-thou Liberal Party stalwarts said anything about the concerted smear campaign or the baldfaced bribery instigated by their leader, Mr. Aquino. None of them said anything about how disturbing

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

it was that people were ganging up on the chief justice—because they were the ones ganging up on him. Again, not one of them complained that the pressure brought to bear on Gutierrez and Corona to resign was unconstitutional because it was “outside of impeachment.”

Of course, the Liberals never tried to file a quo warranto petition against Corona because save for Sereno and a few others, he had the support of his colleagues in the Supreme Court.

Sereno’s supporters argue that a chief justice may only be removed by impeachment. But the quo warranto petition asserts that Sereno cannot be considered a chief justice because she was never qualified to take the job, and asks the Supreme Court to nullify her appointment. Because she was never truly the chief justice, she need not be impeached.

It is a valid question that ought to be constitutionally tested— and what better way of testing it than to go to the Supreme Court for a decision?

The Sereno camp maintains that her indefinite leave of absence is not a precursor to her eventual resignation.

move, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the 13 justices to oust Sereno by disbarment for being unqualified for the post from the start. Calida said Sereno’s disbarment would “spare her from the indignities of questioning by the senators” in the Senate trial. But the Chief Justice has already been vilified in the House hearings which she did not attend. So what is the solicitor general talking about?

The Sereno camp is just as staunch in stating that her indefinite leave of absence is not a precursor to her eventual resignation. There is speculation that Sereno is weighing her options on whether to resign or fight her case. If convicted and impeached, Sereno stands to lose all her monetary benefits such as retirement pay. She will also be barred from holding any government office in the future. The primary purpose of impeachment is removal from office. Conviction does not mete out imprisonment. CJ Renato Corona who was convicted was not imprisoned. Nevertheless, he died a broken man after his fall from prestigious power.

Resignation carries a certain stigma to one’s reputation. Thus is probably what Sereno is deeply contemplating. Money isn’t after all that matters in this world. Impeachment is a political process and a numbers game. Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay) thinks there is no sufficient vote in the Senate to convict Sereno. The vote of 16 senators out of the present 21 composition is needed for a guilty verdict. Liberal Party Senators Franklin Drilon, Riza Hontiveros, Paulo “Bam” Aquino, Francis Pangilinan are expected to toe the LP party line. Include Magdalo Party-List Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and you have have five against Turn to A5

A double whammy SANTA Banana, Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno is truly facing a double whammy!

First, the impeachment case against her will almost certainly be elevated to the Senate for trial. This is a foregone conclusion.

Second, there is an unprecedented quo warranto proceeding filed by no less that Solicitor General Jose Calida, who says Sereno is neither fit nor qualified to be chief justice. This is why the Supreme Court should, by law, oust her as chief justice.

The Supreme Court has deemed the issue justiciable, and it can now rule on the case. It can either dismiss it, or oust Sereno for not being fit or qualified to be primus inter pares, or the first among equals in the High Court.

These are two different cases. The first is provided for under Section 2, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution.

Impeachable officials may be removed from office for culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes or betrayal of public trust.

Meanwhile, the quo warranto case springs from the findings of the Judicial and Bar Council that Sereno failed to submit her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth for many years while serving in government, including her time at the UP College of Law. She also has tax deficiencies which the Bureau of Internal Revenue deems as tax evasion. Finally, there is her psychiatric evaluation where she

Either way, things do not look good for Sereno.

fell outside the narrow confines of traditional gender roles.

But the backlash faced by women like Bukhari illustrates how newfound empowerment is a potential social lightning rod in a country unaccustomed to such visibility for women.

When Bukhari, 43 and a mother of

was considered unfit for the top post in the judiciary.

I don’t know how the Supreme Court will rule on the quo warranto petition. But since her impeachment case is pending, the Court may opt to wait how it will play out.

Remember the case of the late Chief Justice Renato Corona. He was convicted and ousted for not including in his SALN his dollar and peso accounts. If he met his fate because of this, how much more Sereno, who failed to submit the complete set of SALN altogether?

This is why I said there is no other way for Sereno but to resign. She is already damaged goods. Even if she returns to her job, she would already be ineffective. She has also divided the Supreme Court and the judiciary as a whole.

If the Senate conducts a trial, she will likely be torn to pieces. The process will be political.

If we must blame anybody for what is happening to Sereno, it must be former President Benigno Aquino III who plucked her from nowhere to be chief justice, making her bypass many others her senior.

I distinctly recall what Sereno said after becoming chief justice. She pointed to God as her benefactor.

What blasphemy!

Nonetheless, the time of reckoning is at hand. I say, if Sereno is not ousted by her colleagues at the Supreme Court, she will definitely by convicted by the Senate after a very public trial.

Sereno’s lawyers must realize that court employees who wore red shirts on Monday showed the true sentiment of those who are aware of the workings of the Supreme Court. They supported the 13 justices who called on Sereno to go on indefinite leave.

Whether the Senate convicts her, or the Supreme Court acts on the quo

Turn to A5

Turn to A5

Saudi women face bumpy road to empowerment

By Anuj Chopra MERVAT Bukhari, a force of nature draped head-to-toe in Islamic niqab, braved insults and taunts to become the first Saudi woman to work at a gas station, something unimaginable not long ago.

The kingdom, where conservatives

once bridled at even limited freedoms for women, is in the midst of reforms that mark the biggest cultural shake-up in its modern history.

Kickstarted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the reforms include the historic decision allowing women to drive from June, attend soccer games and take on jobs that once

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four, was promoted as supervisor of a gas station in eastern Khobar city last October, insults began pouring in on social media with the hashtag “Saudi women don’t work at gas stations”.

Bukhari, previously employed in a junior role by the same parent company, was forced to go on the defensive, telling critics she was in a managerial position and not physically handling fuel nozzles.

“I am a supervisor. I don’t fill gas myself,” she reasoned, seeking to win a modicum of respectability for a job that class-conscious Saudi men disdain.

“Women today have the right to do any work.”

Better educated, less employed, underpaid Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 reform plan for a post-oil era seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce, up from about 22 percent now.

Government statistics also put more than one million Saudi women as currently looking to enter the workforce.

The reforms have seen the Saudi labour market slowly open up to women, introducing them to jobs that were once firmly the preserve of men.

The social change, catalyzed in large measure by what experts characterize as economic pain owing to a protracted oil slump, has introduced a series of firsts.

Saudi media has championed in recent months the first woman restaurant chef, first woman veterinarian and even the first woman tour guide.

But women face sobering realities —despite often being better qualified than men.

“Saudi women are better educated, but less mobile, less employed and vastly underpaid,” Karen Young, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told AFP. Average monthly salaries in the private sector are close to 8,000 Saudi riyals ($2,134, 1,748 euros) for men, and only 5,000 riyals for women, according to research firm Jadwa.

Saudi Arabia ranked a low of 138 out of 144 countries in the 2017 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum on gender parity.

But Riyadh is seeking to change that through what appears to be social engineering.

The decision to allow women to drive after a decades-long ban could give women the much-needed mobility to join the workforce.

For the first time, women are seen alongside men in jazz music concerts and in mixed-gender restaurants, as the influence of the once-feared religious police—notorious for enforc-

A double...

From A4

warranto proceeding by ousting her, things definitely do not look good for the Chief Justice.

I covered the Supreme Court for a while when I was with the Philippines Herald. You would know where the justices stood just by talking to their employees. Many justices take their lunch at the cafeteria, and the court employees hear them talk about pending cases. *** Over in Boracay, the problem is not whether to close it during the summer months but to close the establishments that violate the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Solid Waste Management Law. I think the issue can be easily resolved. Sure, it might mean loss of revenue, but it’s for good cause.

Still, the closure of Boracay will enable the local government to restore it to its former glory.

Only...

From A4

conviction. An unknown independent-minded senator could cross party line and a “guilty” verdict will be short of one vote.

From all indications, we are going to see a Sereno impeachment trial which should last at least three months depending on how well the House prosecution panel presents its evidence and the chief magistrate’s defense team parries off the allegations. I have it on good authority who the prosecution’s lead counsel will be. But I have given my word not to name the legal eagle until the House prosecution announces it. A lot of people will be surprised once his

ing gender segregation—appears to be waning.

“The well-known expression: ‘You are a woman, cover your face’ seems to be disappearing from our society,” human rights lawyer Abdulrahman al-Lahim wrote recently in the progovernment Okaz newspaper.

Eye on guardianship The reforms have had an unwitting consequence, observers note—competition with arch-nemesis Iran to be more liberal over women’s rights.

Tehran recently relaxed its crackdown on women failing to wear the compulsory headscarf.

But Saudi activists say social change will only be cosmetic without dismantling the kingdom’s rigid guardianship system, which requires that women seek permission from a male relative to study, travel and other activities.

That leaves many vulnerable to the whims of a controlling father, a violent husband or a vengeful son.

Horror stories have regularly surfaced.

Women inmates are often reported to be stuck in prisons after completing their terms because they were not claimed by their guardians.

One Saudi woman told AFP how she was stuck in limbo, unable to even renew her passport, when her father, her only male guardian, slipped into a coma after an accident.

“If I could choose between the right to drive or the right to end guardianship, I would choose the latter,” a women’s activist said on the condition of anonymity.

‘Not revolution, but evolution’ Authorities appear to be slowly dismantling the many injustices against women ingrained in the law.

Saudi women now no longer need male permission to start business.

Saudi Arabia also recently annulled the “house of obedience” article in the marriage law, which grants a husband the right to summon his wife to his home against her will.

The reform introduces a novel concept in married life: Mutual consent.

“This is not a revolution, this is evolution,” Hoda al-Helaissi, a member of the advisory Shura Council, told AFP, referring to newfound social liberties.

“It’s a rite of passage for women.”

Back at Bukhari’s home in neighboring Dammam city, she embraced her youngest son Mohammed—who stood by her even as her brothers decried her gas station job as a shocking breach of tradition.

But the 16-year-old prefers to hide his mother’s job from his peers, hoping to protect her from even more insults.

“Maybe five years from now it will be normal to see women at gas stations,” he said, kissing his mother’s hand. AFP *** I consider it strange that after President Duterte announced a possible joint exploration of the Reed Bank in the West Philippine Sea, Beijing has not made a similar announcement on the “co-ownership” model. It seems China is not as enthusiastic as President Duterte is.

The President’s pitch is in fact not only dangerous but unlawful. The Reed or any other shoal in the West Philippine Sea is part of our Exclusive Economic Zone.

Does the President realize that he may have just ceded to China what is part of our EEZ? Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and a UP professor, Jay Batongbacal, an expert on maritime affairs, both oppose the ill-considered statement on co-ownership.

What was Mr. Duterte thinking?

A sitting administration cannot just give away part of our territory!

Think, Mr. President. You could be violating the Constitution! name comes out.

Emil Jurado writes his memoirs My neighbor in the Standard’s opinion page, Emil Jurado, is coming out with a book chronicling his nearly half a century in Philippine journalism. “The Road Never Ends” is the title of his autobiography. It is the pinnacle of Emil’s career and the professional path he took.

Emil started as a business reporter in the defunct Philippines Herald. He covered Philippine presidents from Carlos P. Garcia to Rodrigo Duterte, writing his insights on Malacañan Palace and passing them on to readers of his column.

Emil Jurado belongs to the pantheons of Philippine journalism together with legends as the late Doroy Valencia and Joe Guevara.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

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Saving Bora SO I SEE LITO BANAYO WE ALWAYS take things for granted.

God gave us Boracay, and its beauty when it was yet pristine was really beyond words to describe. The first time I set foot on the island was in 1998, and at the time, it was still awesomely beautiful. The powdery white sand, upon which the heat of noonday sun was not felt, was something you could not find elsewhere.

But even then, one knew that Boracay was a place that ought to be protected. Protected from overcapacity, as the whole world was beginning to discover it.

The national government, from the FVR to Erap and GMA administrations, spent billions of pesos through the years to bring fresh water to the island as well as a wastewater and sewerage treatment plant. Those facilities, financed through Japanese loans incurred by the national government, on top of initiatives such as widening the road network from Kalibo to Malay, lengthening the Kalibo runway, and through a PPP, lengthening the runway and constructing a new terminal in Caticlan, were all in support of Boracay as a prime tourist destination.

If he had not been deposed, President Estrada would have had the island administered by a national government agency, similar to the template made for the Subic Bay Management Authority.

The mayor then, and now his vice mayor who succeeded him as mayor, had simply looked at Boracay as a money machine, generating hefty revenues from real property taxes, permits, and from whatever other source.

In hearings in both houses of Congress, it was established that the politicians of Malay never ever considered Boracay as a treasure to be preserved.

They just saw it as a milking cow to exploit forever.

In 1998, suffering from an Asian economic crisis, we had something like 160,000 annual visitors to Bora-

cay. Now we have close to two million. The carrying capacity of the island is over-stretched.

Boracay is one reason I am beginning to have doubts as to whether federalism is indeed the way to go.

I have always chafed at how the socalled “imperial” Manila had been governing the country, imposing its centralized thinking over LGUs who ought to know “best.”

In contrast, see how SBMA and Clark under a separate national government authority are doing much, much better.

Boracay is one reason I am beginning to have doubts as to whether federalism is indeed the way to go.

When we think of outstanding LGUs as reason to further devolve the unitary government, we normally look at the examples of Davao City, Camarines Sur, Taguig, Makati and other places where the passage of the Local Government Code has worked wonders.

But look at Boracay now, and weep. * * * I was a visitor of the City of Kaohsiung (pronounced Gaw-shung) last week during their celebration of the Lunar New Year through a parade and lantern festival.

Kaohsiung is host to one of the largest and busiest commercial ports in the world located at the mouth of its river as it flows into the China Sea. Our Pasig River also flows into Manila Bay, part of the West Philippine Sea, and in its mouth, we also have commercial ports: The South and North Harbors and the Manila International Container Port.

But the residents and local government of Kaohsiung have kept their “Love River” (yes, they take so much pride in their river where lovers stroll along it’s well-lit banks and bridges)

clean and very strictly maintained.

My assistant and I took mugs of San Miguel beer sitting beside the embankment of their Love River where stalls were serving food and drinks, and we never had our nostrils assailed by any stench. “Love” boats of all sizes were cruising the river, which is just about the same width as our Pasig.

In Singapore of course, what used to be filthy canals (esteros in our lingo) before Lee Kuan Yew stepped in as leader, have now become tourist attractions, such as in Clark and Robertson Quays.

We even have a Pasig River Rehabilitation Project office, started by then first lady Ming Ramos, but look at the Pasig River now, and especially its tributaries or esteros, and weep as well.

The Chinese keep saying that waterways should be kept clean, or bad feng shui prevails. That is how they politely speak of Malacañang, the Palace beside the filthy Pasig.

Maybe the only reason bad feng shui escapes our President is he stays in the Palace beside the stinking river only for three days, and rejuvenates in his native Davao each week. * * * On more pleasant note, Taiwanese were enthralled this March in concerts featuring two Filipinas who are rightly billed as “The Nightingales.”

Sopranos Bianca Camille Lopez and Rhina Paula Palma-Cruz were both soloists of the UP Madrigal Singers, our country’s premier choir which has been acclaimed in performances throughout the world.

Aiming to bring classical music closer to younger audiences, the Nightingales sang to the delight of Taiwanese audiences in Hsinchu, Tainan, Chiayi and Taipei.

Their repertoire included not only Philippine medleys and Chinese songs, but familiar classics in French, Spanish, Italian, German and English, even a medley of Adele hits.

Last year, Taiwanese audiences also heard the Madrigals perform in their concert halls, as well as the Banda Kawayan (formerly Pangkat Kawayan). They all make us proud to be Filipinos.

Blockchain and Union Bank VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ ON SUNDAY, March 4, in Tokyo, Union Bank chairman Justo Ortiz delivered the opening remarks at a twoday seminar on cryptocurrencies and blockchain attended by seven senior journalists from Manila.

Wikipedia defines a cryptocurrency as “a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets.

Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital currencies, alternative currencies and virtual currencies. Cryptocurrencies use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money and central banking systems. The decentralized control of each cryptocurrency works through a blockchain, which is a public transaction database, functioning as a distributed ledger.”

Ortiz began by saying that Union Bank’s mission is to fulfill dreams by enabling communities.

About 70 percent of Filipinos are unbanked, that is, they have no bank accounts and are not serviced by banks.

A third of 1,500 towns in the Philippines have no bank branches. Globally, about two billion people are unbanked.

Banks like Union Bank think the solution lies in so-called blockchain.

One problem why billions have no bank accounts is regulation. The central bank and banks do not trust the ordinary Juan who in all probability has money or savings or a remittance.

Because these people are not trusted, they must validate themselves as worthy human beings before they are serviced by banks. That is why the central bank has invented what is called KYC—know your client—a system of interviewing prospective bank deposits or borrowers to determine their background, their network, their reliability. If you have been subjected to a KYC, sometimes, it is more tedious and invasive than being interviewed for a visa application.

But did you know the biggest source of bank frauds are insiders? That is, bankers, the owners of banks, fool their own banks. That is why bankers can be hazardous people. Central banks have a phrase for the risk bankers do to their banks—moral hazard which is the attitude a banker displays when he feels like he wants to run the bank the way he wants to, because he owns the bank and can always help himself with the money.

But I digress. Union Bank wants to help people with no bank accounts but want to avail themselves of the services of a bank—that is, park their deposits, receive and send remittances on their behalf at minimal cost, and lend them money.

Seven in 10 Filipinos are not serviced by banks.

To do that, Ortiz said: “we embrace emerging technologies like blockchain, like AI, (and) robotics that could be our path towards achieving our purpose at a cost-effective way.”

The blockchain process or algorithm is transparent, immutable and thus produces accountability. The steps in blockchain are seen and clear to everyone and are immutable, meaning you cannot change it because to do so, it’s like having to alter each document of which everybody has a copy.

Union Bank has raised five-fold the minimum amount a depositor must keep in his account as a deposit before he is penalized. For depositors who don’t want to keep a single centavo of minimum balance, they must engage a digital bank of Union Bank, called EON. With EON, Union Bank claims to be the first digital bank in the Philippines.

One advantage of being digital with banking is that you eliminate human contact, the need to call or visit your

bank to execute a transaction, like making a deposit or withdrawal, making a payment, or inquiring your bank balance, or making purchases. You can do that by yourself, with your computer or with your cellphone in a place with wifi access.

With Union Bank’s digital banking, the steps needed to make a check deposit, wait for it to clear and for you to use the cash, have been reduced, from 26, to just four. This means check clearing can take as short as ten minutes and you can get the cash right away. In other banks, you may have to wait three days before you see the color of your money. That is one benefit of block chain.

Ortiz thinks going digital through the so-called blockchain will help achieve financial inclusion and thus help society, the majority of Filipinos.

“We feel that inclusive prosperity is an important goal that we need to actively involve ourselves in because financial transactions under like all commerce.

If there’s more commerce done if there’s more prosperity by more people, then clearly we would benefit from it,” he said.

“When we look at blockchain, the first two things that we think about in the boardroom is decentralization and middlemen.”

He said: “We know that a lot of transactions from end to end, from producer to consumer, from service provider to service user including for banks, from savers to borrowers—if there are—many of these transactions have middlemen and the more middlemen they have, the more there’s opacity, there’s arbitrage, there’s cost, cost that are not really contributory to the whole value proposition.”

“Clearly the elimination of middlemen adds a lot of value to either the producer on the part of one side and to the consumer on the other side.”

By the way, Union Bank now claims 90 percent of bank transactions are now digital, a reversal from 10 percent, just five years ago.

More about blockchain and cryptocurrencies later. biznewsasia@gmail.com

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 A6 Standard Manila

TODAY mst.daydesk@gmail.com

House panel approves safety bill for children THE House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations has approved the funding provision of a proposed law mandating parents to keep closer watch on children, especially during ungodly hours of the day.

The committee, chaired by Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles approved the unnumbered substitute bill to House Bill No. 894, titled “An Act prohibiting unchaperoned children from roaming, loitering or sleeping outside their abode during unsafe hours, prescribing penalties for their parents or guardians.”

Nograles said the measure, authored

by Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, was previously approved by the House welfare of children committee.

“The bill seeks to ensure the protection of our kids from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development,” Nograles said.

Once enacted, the bill will make it unlawful for parents and guardians to, knowingly or by insufficient control, allow children to loiter, roam around, or sleep in any public place from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., without justifiable reason.

“It is absolutely necessary for parents to have their children chaperoned during these hours to shield them from dangers such as crime. As we are all aware, the Duterte administration has launched a no-nonsense campaign against criminality; we can do our share in this effort by ensuring that our kids are always out of harm’s way.”

The original measure penned by Tan covers minors individuals below 18 years old.

Under the substitute bill, erring parents and/or guardians together with their child will be made to undergo counseling or other intervention programs upon violation of the Act. For the third and succeeding offenses, the parents or guardians will be slapped with a maximum fine of P1,000, or ordered to fulfill community service for five to 10 days, or both.

Exempted from this prohibition are children who are accompanied by a parent or guardian; are out of their homes for reasons related with education, employment, or official activities sponsored by the government, school, or civic organizations; or are involved in any emergency.

Nograles said the bill goes to great lengths to ensure children are not subjected to any type of abuse.

“It prohibits law enforcement officers from exhibiting behavior that tend to traumatize children such as use of vulgar words, sexual harassment or abuse, displaying instruments of intimidation, or inflicting violence or unnecessary force on the child,” he said. Maricel V. Cruz

Bill giving indigents free college ride fine-tuned

By Maricel V. Cruz

IN A HUDDLE. Department of Science and Technology undersecretary and Phivolcs officer-in-charge Renato Solidum (left) confer with Senator Panfilo Lacson during yesterday’s sunset review of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. Ey Acasio

Mimaropa Dengvaxia recipients ‘in good health’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE Department of Health on Tuesday said all identified recipients of the Dengvaxia vaccine in the Mimaropa region are well and in good health.

“We have assessed and evaluated all of the Dengvaxia vaccine recipients in the region and they remain to be fit and healthy,” said Health Regional Director Eduardo Janairo.

He said dengue kits, which include multivitamins, a thermometer, a mosquito net, mosquito repellent, soap, and a manual of information on dengue, were given to the children’s parents.

“We will continue to monitor these children to ensure their health and safety through the Dengvaxia Task Force, the Provincial Department of Health Office and in coordination with the provincial and local health workers,” he said.

Republic of the Philippines Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF SERVER FOR DOCUMENT ARCHIVES IB NO. 2018-102 1.

2.

3.

The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act of 2018 intends to apply the sum of Twenty Million Philippine Pesos (PhP20,000,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Procurement of Server for Document Archives under IB No. 2018-102. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The DOH now invites bids for the procurement of the above-captioned project.

Delivery of the Goods is required within the period specified under Section VI. Schedule of Requirements. Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project, equivalent to fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the COBAC Secretariat, G/F, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, San Lazaro Compound and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given above during 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on 07 March 2018 – 28 March 2018 from the address above and upon payment of an applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Philippine Pesos (PhP25,000.00).

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) provided that Bidders who are interested to participate shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The DOH will hold a Pre-bid Conference on 14 March 2018, 10:00 AM at the COBAC Conference Room, Ground Floor, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, Sta. Cruz, Manila which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the COBAC-B Secretariat at the address below on or before 28 March 2018, 9:00 AM. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid Opening shall be on 28 March 2018, 9:00 AM at the COBAC Conference Room, Ground Floor, Bldg. 6, Department of Health, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

The DOH reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and it IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to: COBAC B Secretariat Department of Health San Lazaro Compound Sta. Cruz, Manila Tel. Nos. 651-7800 local 1625 to 1627; 1650 to 52 Facsimile No.: 741-9775; 740-6830 (SGD) MARIA ROSARIO S. VERGEIRE, MD, MPH, CESO IV Assistant Secretary of Health COBAC –B Chairperson (MS-MAR. 7, 2018)

As of Feb. 22, the Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit recorded a total of 83 Dengvaxia recipients in Mimaropa.

Most recipients were from Occidental Mindoro with 53; followed by Oriental Mindoro with 15; Marinduque with 13; and Romblon with two.

There were two recorded admissions due to abdominal pain and headache after the patients suffered from fever, colds and vesicular rashes, but they were later discharged.

Most of the recipients received the vaccine from private clinics and hospitals and government schools in Calabarzon and Metro Manila in 2016.

In Mimaropa, there are a total of

2,774 dengue cases with 19 deaths recorded last year.

Occidental Mindoro posted the highest number with 1,233 cases and 8 deaths; followed by Palawan with 529 cases; Oriental Mindoro with 466 cases and 6 deaths; Puerto Princesa City with 248 and 1 death; Romblon with 143 cases and 3 deaths; Calapan City with 89 identified cases; and Marinduque with 66 cases and 1 death.

Janairo said regional misting and disinfection teams are continuously conducting operations in areas where high cases of dengue are being reported.

“Preventing dengue begins at home through routine cleanup of surroundings. Early consultation is also important once a member of the family experiences persistent fever for proper medical supervision in order to avoid serious complications that may occur,” Janairo said.

PCSO to local government officials: ‘Help us so we can help you’ AN OFFICIAL of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office on Tuesday challenged local government officials to help the lottery agency to “help us so we can help you.”

Dr. Jose Bernardo Gochoco, PCSO Medical Services Department manager, posed the challenge to all local government units and non-government organizations requesting the agency for medical or dental missions in their areas.

“If you want PCSO to help you, there has to be an effort on your part to help increase our revenues,” Gochoco said. “If you don’t want to help us, where will we get the funds for your areas?”

“The funds that we receive, we return to you anyway. If PCSO revenues were part of the GAA [General Appropriations Act], there’d be no problem. But if we have no sales, we have nothing to give you,” he added.

The PCSO Charter, or Republic Act 1169, particularly the section on revenue allocation, provides that the agency’s revenue shall be allocated to 55 percent for its prize fund or payment of lottery prizes, 30 percent for charity fund (its various charity programs and service) and 15 percent as its operating fund (for maintenance and operating expenses).

A percentage of the Charity Fund goes to mandatory contributions, which is about P5 billion a year, depending on the income, Gochoco explained. The rest goes to the Individual Medical Assistance Program.

“All our funds come from gaming. If our gaming efforts are earning, fine. [So] if ever PCSO will help you, there has to be an effort on your part to help increase our revenues. We can only give what we have. Please patronize or promote our prod-

ucts,” said Gochoco.

Under RA 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, provinces, independent cities, component cities, municipalities, and barangays get a separate Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) or share of revenues from the national government.

“The local government is in charge of that. The DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] and DoH [Department of Health] also have a devolved component there. Nothing in the law says the PCSO should help out with those expenses,” Gochoco said.

The purpose of the PCSO Charity fund is for augmentation only, he added, stressing the agency cannot take on the responsibilities of the LGUs, DoH or DSWD.

CALL FOR JUSTICE.

Relatives of Filipino workers who were killed while working in the Middle East lead the launching of the newlyformed migrants’ group ‘Sandigan’ at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church in Parañaque City.

Norman Cruz

A PANEL in the House of Representatives has created a technical working group to fine-tune the bill instituting free college education for indigent students.

The House committee on higher and technical education, chaired by Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Ann Hofer, backed House Bill 181, the proposed “Free College Education for Indigent Students Act.” The measure invokes the constitutional mandate of providing indigent students ample opportunity to pursue a tertiary education. State colleges and universities, and private educational institutions should contribute to the instruction of indigent students, Hofer said.

“Towards this end, schools covered by the Act are obliged to admit, free of tuition, indigent students/ beneficiaries the number of whom shall be at least 10 percent of the total paying freshman enrolees per semester for each tertiary school and for each course,” the lawmaker said, quoting the bill.

The 10 percent shall be based on the actual number of paying freshman students in the immediately preceding semester, said Hofer.

In pushing for the bill’s enactment, Quezon City Rep. Vincent Crisologo, the bill’s author, said: “Up to now, those who have less in life have always been hoping for the day that they could send their children to college free of tuition.”

The bill defines an indigent family as one whose income does not exceed P15,000 per month. Family income refers to the combined gross income of the students’ parents. It does not include the income of the other members of the family.

According to the bill, a family is not considered indigent if it owns real property or a vehicle. The real property does not include the parcels of land given by the State or any of its instrumentality to informal settlers. The real property referred to under the Act refers to a property acquired through sale.

The admission to school shall be on a first-come first-serve basis. If there is no more slot in the school preferred by the beneficiary, he/she may still enroll in another school that still has remaining slots.

It shall be the obligation of the schools covered by the Act to admit or enroll qualified beneficiaries endorsed by the Regional Scholarship Board and extend these beneficiaries free of tuition.

To qualify for free college education, the student must be a graduate of senior high school immediately preceding the next school semester of the school he/ she wishes to enroll.

A student shall also be qualified to avail of the program if he or she comes from an indigent family.

P8.2-b fake goods seized last year AS MUCH as P 8.2 billion worth of counterfeit and pirated goods were seized by various agencies under the National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights in 2017, nearly 26 percent higher than the previous year’s record.

The Bureau of Customs reported the largest value seized at more than P5.8 billion.

The value of counterfeit goods seized last year represents the biggest haul by the government since 2014, according to the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

“The value of fake goods confiscated by the government fluctuates every year and it depends on the class of goods and the market value of the original goods in the formal economy,” IPOPHL director general Josephine Santiago said.

According to NCIPR data, the top counterfeit products seized were electronics, optical media, and pharmaceutical and personal care products.

“As this reflects the growing market demand for electronic goods and products involving public health and safety, we warn the public to be wary of counterfeiters exploiting this high demand. This alarming development underscores the need for the various relevant agencies of government and the intellectual property rights owners to address this serious concern. The IPOPHL, for its part, continues to intensify its campaign against the selling and buying of these counterfeit products,” Santiago said.

The 2016 enforcement data showed a different trend with jewelry and watches as the top counterfeited commodities, followed by cigarettes and alcohol.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports Locals upbeat as ICTSI Eagle Ridge tilt starts GEN. TRIAS, Cavite—Jhonnel Ababa seeks to recall his winning form here, Clyde Mondilla vows to rebound from two mediocre finishes while Tony Lascuña hopes to attract good luck as the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Challenge fires off at the Faldo course here today (Wednesday, March 7).

They are just but three of the 100-player starting field aiming for a strong start and a stronger finish, this being the kickoff leg of the Philippine Golf Tour which also features a slew of foreign aces out to make an impact in the circuit put up by ICTSI. Ababa returns to the scene of his imposing triumph that snapped a long title spell, scoring a seven-stroke victory over Elmer Salvador at the Aoki layout in the PGT Asia leg last January. He sustained that winning form to Pradera Verde the following week and posted another emphatic win in another PGTA leg.

But he insists Faldo is a lot tougher than Aoki, especially its fairways with brown replacing green on much of the course at the onset of summer coupled with unreceptive greens.

“It’s a bit tougher here. You have to be accurate with your shots from the mound and on the fairways,” said Ababa.

But while Ababa opts to stay cautious, Mondilla exudes confidence as the reigning PGT Order of Merit seeks to recover from two poor stints at The Country Club Invitational and the Solaire Philippine Open, also at the TCC, the last three weeks.

“I don’t know but I really play bad at TCC. But here at Eagle Ridge, I know I’ve got a good chance. I know I can handle this course, even the winds,” said Mondilla, who tied for 24th at TCC Invitational and ended up tied for last in the recent Phl Open.

Lascuña, meanwhile, sees a five-under card as the winning score in the P2.5 million tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. but adds one would need some luck to prevail given the tough course condition.

Agustines, Labrador bag PPS crowns TOP seed Nash Agustines scored a repeat in his division while unranked Rica Labrador stunned the girls’ 16-and-under field as they shared the MVP honors in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Dipolog leg age-group tennis circuit at the RGS Tennis Club last Monday.

Agustines flaunted the form that netted him the boys’ 14-U crown at home last week as the rising Oroquieta City star held off No. 2 Ashton Villanueva, 6-4, 6-4, in the finals. He, however, bowed to No. 1 Nilo Ledama from Pagadian, 4-6, 4-6, in the 16-U championship of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Labrador, on the other hand, upended No. 3 Kristine Bandolis, 6-1, 6-3, in the semis then the Sindangan, Zambo del Norte bet trounced fourth-ranked Jedidiah Gupit, 6-1, 6-2, to claim the 16-U plum. But she lost to Audrey Quimbo of Misamis Occidental, 4-6, 4-6, in the 18-U finals of the event backed by Asiatraders Corp. and Dunlop as the official ball.

In other results, top seed Jose Maria Pague from Zambo Sibugay foiled Ledama, 6-2, 6-2, for the 18-U crown; unseeded Neo Elijah Maratas snared the boys’ 12-U diadem with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 victory over No. 2 Mari Erquita; Bandolis from Tubod, Lanao, took the girls’ 14-U plum with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gupit; unranked Christine GulaGula from Dapitan downed May Laputan, 6-3, 6-2, for the girls’ 12-U title; and local bet third seed Mark Barrios ruled the 10-unisex division with a 4-0, 4-1 romp over May Gonzales.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sugar Barons gear up for sweep

B

ACOLOD— Canlubang is gearing up for another tough grind when the PAL Interclub Regular Men’s Championship tees off tomorrow, with the Sugar Barons again playing the role of underdogs as the club guns for a sweep after conquering the Senior division on Sunday.

“We don’t mind that at all,” swing coach Boyet Zaragosa said in Filipino, just hours before overseeing his young charges sample tree-lined Marapara for the final time at high noon yesterday. “Being the underdogs actually takes some of the pressure off of us.”

Cangolf has also gone back to developing young talents but will be spearheaded by the most seasoned man in the amateur ranks in Rupert Zaragosa, Boyet’s talented son who has been the face of the Canlubang program for several years now.

What’s different from this year and the last—when Manila Southwoods ran roughshod over the field—is that Ru-

pert’s back-up has had the past year to gain experience and develop the skill that it would take to return to the top of the hill.

“We have a great chance this year,” the elder Zaragosa said. “But of course, Southwoods is still the overwhelming favorite. They are a true powerhouse.”

Luis Castro and Jolo Magcalayo are being groomed to take over the younger Zaragosa when he turns pro, and the teeners will be put to the test in the next four days when they clash against the best amateurs in the land.

Like in the Seniors division, Marapara here will host the first and final rounds,

with the field to tackle super-tight Binitin in Murcia town in the middle two.

“I think that is where the tournament will be decided,” Boyet Zaragosa said.

“You have to respect that course. It may be shorter, relatively, but the team that plays best there would most likely win this tournament.”

Cangolf’s Seniors held it together in the third round on Saturday last week and provided the decisive performance in their division to ultimately unseat fancied Luisita, which opted for a stronger team in the final day and paid dearly for it.

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.

JENNY ORTUOSTE THE 37th Asian Racing Conference this year in Seoul will also feature the 7th International Stewards Conference in a bid to make horseracing rules and regulations across jurisdictions more consistent.

Staged annually by the Asian Racing Federation, the ARC is an annual gathering of global racing personalities. In its early years, the event only featured races but over the years expanded to include racing business seminars and fora.

This year’s edition will be held from May 13 to 18 with the theme “Innovate, Collaborate, Transform.” Among the events are the Korean Derby and ARF Commemorative

THE Bill Shaw Golf Classic gets under way today (Wednesday) with half of the field taking first crack at brand new Mercedes-Benz cars worth around P28-million as hole-inone prizes at both the East and West courses of Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

An MB V220 will be staked at West’s No. 3, an MB C-250 Coupe on No. 8, an MB C-250 Estate on the 11th and MB CLA-180 on No. 14.

At the fabled East layout, an MB GLC-250 will be up for grabs on No. 8 while while an MB E-220 will be staked on No. 16.

CATS Motors, Shell and Delta are the co-presentors of the 29th edition of the annual member-guest tournament of Wack Wack. Platinum sponsors are D & L Industries and Emirates with TW Steel Hong Kong, San Miguel Corp. and Philippine Airlines as diamond sponsors.

Wack Wack directors Lawrence Tan and Pablo Soon and general manager Bones Floro hit the ceremonial drive with CATS Motors president Felix Ang and PR director Marvin Caparros during the formal launch of the event last Monday.

Other backers of the event are gold sponsors Meralco, SM Dev. Corp., United Auctioneers, DDT Konstract, Stradcom, LARES, Pacific Union Insurance, Pagcor, Man Automotive Concessionaires, Pacific Links, Unistar Credit and Finance, Powerball Marketing and Finance, Turf Company, ICTSI, S-Ang Construction, Go Soriano Nepomuceno & Partners Architecture Studio, Mikey Arroyo, MC88 Construction, RGB Games, Subic Bay Yacht Club Casino, G&W Clubshares, Northern Islands, Unioil, The Plaza Cuisine, Transview PH, Big Sky Nation/Skyroam, Asia Brewery, Goldtech International, J-Ten Sports, Zest-O, Canon Marketing PH, Champion/Hana, Movenpick Resort & Spa Boracay, Oxford Distributions and Oriental & Motolite Marketing.

The PAL Men’s Regular Interclub officially opened with the traditional ceremonial tee off at Negros Occidental Golf & Country Club (Marapara) followed by a unity jump by, from left, Genaro ‘Bong’ Velasquez, Interclub chairman; Bacolod City Mayor Evelio ‘Bing’ Leonardia; Jose Maria Limjap, president-Negros Occidental Golf & Country Club; and Andy Montelibano, president-Bacolod Golf & Country Club.

MILO launches ‘Get Your Child Into Sports’

By Peter Paul Duran IN A BID to strengthen its grassroots sports development advocacy, MILO Philippines launched its Get Your Child Into Sports Campaign on Tuesd at The City Club Alphaland in Makati.

MILO officially kicked off the campaign with its 2018 Summer Sports Clinics.

The longest-running and most participated sports program in the country is likewise the first sports offering from the leading beverage brand this year.

The campaign focuses to instill three important values in all its participants, which are Discipline, Confidence, and Teamwork through the three-month-long summer clinic that will run from April 2 to June 3.

“Nestle is over 100 years here in the Philippines and we focus our growth on our three pillars: nutrition, health, and wellness. We aim to provide opportunities for young Filipinos to lead an active lifestyle and we have been supporting this through our many grassroots programs,” said MILO Philippines Senior Vice President Joey Uy during the launch.

“We at MILO believe that it is important for children to be immersed in sports throughout their developing years. This is the perfect time to instill the different values that will help build their character which will help them in school and in life,” added Nestle Philippines VP Willy De Ocampo.

Now in its 35th year, the Summer Sports Clinics program will offer training in 18 different sports; Badminton, Basketball, Bowling, Chess, CrossFit for Kids,

Fencing, Football, Futsal, Golf, Gymnastics, Ica Skating, Karatedo, Lawn Tennis, Parkour, Swimming, Table Tennis, Touch Rugby and Volleyball.

Each sports clinic will be handled by expert coaches and instructors using modern and scientific approaches that will help children gain appreciation for the different sports, live a healthy and active lifestyle, and embody the values of discipline, confidence, teamwork, perseverance, and handwork which will help them become well-rounded individuals.

MILO’s Summer Sports Clinics and sponsored programs have produced many athletes who have made their mark in both the local and international sporting scenes. Graduates from the program have

represented the country in various local and international competitions, and have proven that they achieved success not only in sports but also in life.

The roster of alumni includes BEST Center Graduates and UAAP phenom Thirdy Ravena and PBA stars Kiefer Ravena and Chris Tiu, Taekwondo clinic graduate and Southeast Asian Games medalist Japoy Lizardo, and Gymnastics clinic graduate and Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Kaitlin De Guzman.

To get your child into sports today, enroll them in the MILO Sumer Sports Clinics and visit MILO’s official website at www.milo.com.ph or the MILO Philippines Facebook page (www. facebook. com/milo.ph).

Proponents of the MILO Get Your Child Into Sports Program are shown during the project’s launching. They are (from left) Lester Castillo, Milo Sports Executive; Robbie De Vera, Marketing Manager, Milo Philippines; Joey Uy, Senior Vice President, Nestle Philippines; Willie De Ocampo, Vice President, Nestle Philippines, and Luigi Pumaren, Milo Sports Executive. Charles Dantes

Asian Racing Conference to host stewards’ forum THE HOARSE WHISPERER

Mercedez Benz cars at stake in Bill Shaw golf

Race at the Seoul Racecourse, as well as business and specialist sessions, a tour of Seoul, and Korea culture nights.

The stewards conference will be held on May 14 and chaired by Kim Kelly of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Kelly, through International Federation of Horseracing Authorities Secretary General Andrew Chesser, has invited “chief stipendiary stewards/chairman of stewards, integrity managers” or other suitable delegates to attend.

“Now more than ever,” said Kelly in his invitation letter, “racing is a global sport and as such it is essential that wherever possible uniformity in the regulation of the industry is achieved.”

He explained that “consistency in rules results in better corporate governance and transparency in the disciplinary functions and interpretations which directly and indirectly affect” the parties involved in the sport.

Kelly said that consistency is particularly important where there is “increased merging of betting pools [commingling] together with increased media coverage of racing globally.”

The invitation has been extended to the Philippines, a founding member of the ARF, which is the regional body for Thoroughbred racing in Asia, Australasia, Arabia, and South Africa.

It is expected that the three racing clubs —Manila Jockey Club, Philippine Racing Club, and Metro Manila Turf Club—as well as the Philippine Racing Commission will send delegates to the conference. *** Some key facts about horseracing in Korea: The sport is supervised and regulated by the Korea Racing Authority, which is under the supervision of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

The country has three racecourses—in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island—with 31 off-course betting outlets.

In 2015, there were 96 race meetings and 1,926 races. The horse population was 2,896, and there were 86 trainers (three foreign) and 112 jockeys (five foreign).

In the same year, on the breeding front, there were three stud farms caring for 108 stallions, 2,613 broodmares, and 1,335 foals.

Perhaps the most interesting of the three stud farms is the Jeju Stud Farm and Training Center. Launched in 1995, it covers 532 acres, is equipped with first-rate facilities, and offers technical consultation and stud services.

Jeju Island itself is a tourist must-see for its unique traditional culture and natural scenery. It has been designated by UNESCO as a “World Geopark,” “Natural Heritage Site,” and “Biosphere Reserve.” *** Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communications consultant. Facebook: Gogirl Racing and @DrJennyO, Twitter: @ hoarsewhsprr and @jennyortuoste

Ronda cyclists answer the starting gun.

Filinvest City hosts final leg of Ronda PH FILINVEST City, the garden central business district south of Metro Manila, provides a spectacular finale for Ronda Pilipinas 2018 on March 18, as cyclists can bask in the city’s green landscape, smooth routes and safety.

Now on its 8th year, Ronda Pilipinas 2018 will be doing 12 road stages beginning in Vigan Criterium followed by Vigan to Pagudpud, Pagudpud to Tuguegarao, Tuguegarao to Isabela, Isabela to Nueva Ecija, Nueva Ecija to Tarlac, Tarlac (for individual time trial), Tarlac (for team time trial), Silang-BatangasTagaytay, Tagaytay to Calaca, Calaca to Calaca and finally, in Filinvest City, Alabang. P1 million prize money awaits the individual champion.

“We are proud to be part of this year’s Ronda Pilipinas, especially because it complements with our vision for Filinvest City as a green city with expansive tree-canopied roads and fresh air, making it ideal for biking and other sporting events,” says Don Ubaldo, Senior Assistant Vice President - Townships of Filinvest Alabang, Inc. Without a doubt, one of this year’s biggest biking event promises to be exciting as cyclists enjoy the lush greeneries and expansive tree-canopied roads only experienced in Filinvest City.

To know more, visit Ronda Pilipinas’ Facebook page, https://www.facebook. com/RondaPilipinasOfficial

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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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

MABUHAY CUP CHAMP. Philippine Constitution Association President and former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (center) is shown after awarding the championship trophies to the members of Brunei Royals’ team, which won against the Blue Team of the Philippines during the 2018 Polo Season Mabuhay Cup at Enrique Zobel Field in Manila Polo Club Makati City. Ver Noveno

SMBeermen barge into semis Vargas to let go PBA chairmanship HIS position as chairman of the Philippine Basketball Association board of governors will have to go.

Newly elected Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas said this yesterday after he officially took office following a quick turnover ceremony with outgoing POC chief Jose “Peping” Cojaungco Jr. Giving up his post as PBA chairman, which Vargas serves for the 2017-2018 season, will help him focus on the POC job at hand.

“Nagpaalam na ako. Pero nakiusap sila na kung puwede ay tapusin ko ang current season,” said Vargas, who had an oathtaking together with POC chairman Abraham Tolentino in Malacanang with President Duterte.

In leaving the PBA, Vargas believes that he can devote a lot of time in his duties with the POC In the turnover rites with Cojuangco, Vargas said the recent election has led to a lot of hurts and disappointments, which is the reason he extended a hand of reconciliation with the outgoing POC chief.

“Who knows, one of these days, we’ll be good friends,” said Vargas, who acknowledged the many sacrifices and accomplishments of Cojuangco during his 13 years as POC chief.

His choice of Alliance of Boxing Associations in the Philippines vice president Patrick Gregorio and sepak takraw’s Karen Caballero as the new secretary general and deputy secretary general, respectively, were accepted during the executive council meeting.

As the resignation of outgoing secretary general Steve Hontiveros of bowling was accepted, Vargas said they have put up a three-man Arbitration and Dispute’s Committee that will handle squabbles that have been bothering several national sports association.

Taekwondo chief Robert Aventajado will head the committee, with Charlie Ho of handball and squash chief Robert Bachmann helping him.

Vargas, who is still one of the top executives of PLDT, said they have yet to decide on the fate of wushu chief Julian Camacho after he quit as treasurer. Peter Atencio

By Jeric Lopez

S

AN Miguel Beer is now a step closer to defending its crown. The top-seeded Beermen became the first team in the semifinals after they flexed their championship muscles in crucial times to turn back and eliminate No. 8 TNT KaTropa, 106-93, in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City last night.

Reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo imposed his will mightily, spearheading the Beermen’s attack by exploding for a season-high 35 points along with Once again the leading candidate for the Best Player of the Conference plum, Fajardo scattered 22 of his total points in the opening half to set the tone for San Miguel.

“June Mar (Fajardo) played really well for us and our experience showed in the end,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “It’s good to be back in the semifinals and we will now wait to see who we

will play. It will be tough regardless.”

San Miguel will now face the victor of the series between No. 4 Barangay Ginebra and No. 5 Rain or Shine in a best-of-seven semifinals showdown.

Fajardo wasn’t alone though as Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos helped out, adding 20 and 15 markers, respectively.

Showing its readiness to defend its title at all costs, the defending champion, with Fajardo leading the charge, grasped early control right away, establishing several 10-point leads in the latter part of the opening quarter.

The Beermen, despite the Tropang Texters’ resistance, kept their edge and carried a trimmed 52-44 advantage at the turn.

TNT roared back to start the third period and even grabbed the lead briefly on multiple occasions.

However, San Miguel ended the third with a key 10-4 run to regain upperhand, 77-72, going into the final period and it never looked back, closing out the show with a 12-3 run and knocking out TNT with its championship experience in full display.

Jayson Castro and Troy Rosario led the exiting Texters with 19 points each.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra and NLEX, both holding 1-0 leads, are both looking to deliver the knockout punches in their respective best-of-three quarters affairs to be able to move forward in the final four as well.

The Gin Kings will look to take out Rain or Shine at 4:30 p.m. even as the Road Warriors will try to do the same against Alaska at 7 p.m. in their separate Game 2 tussles at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Morales tops Stage 4, but Oranza leads ECHAGUE, Isabela—Three-peat-seeking Jan Paul Morales of Navy-Standard Insurance bared his fangs and topped the 135.2-kilometer Tuguegarao-Isabela Stage 4, even as Ronald Oranza stayed in control yesterday in the Ronda Pilipinas 2018 presented by LBC. Morales, 32, bested George Oconer of Go for Gold and Ronnel Hualda of Go for Gold Developmental team and 10 more riders that also included Oranza in a mad dash to the finish to claim the lap victory in three hours and 7.42 minutes.

It was Morales’ second podium finish after he also wound up second in the Vigan Stage 1 criterium Saturday.

Morales also took the overall lead on that day after he also ruled the two intermediate sprint races but went on to give it up after the Vigan-Pagudpud Stage 2 the next day.

But after yesterday, Morales jumped from No. 3 to No. 2 with an aggregate time of 13:38:22, five minutes and a second behind Oranza, who continued to hold sway with 13:33:21.

Morales, however, stressed he doesn’t

Jan Paul Morales of Navy-Standard Insurance raises his arms in triumph as he topped the 135.2-kilometer Tuguegarao-Isabela Stage 4

mind if he doesn’t win it this year.

“Of course, a third title would be nice but I will not mind if Oranza or someone from my team wins it as long as he will be from Navy,” said Morales.

Oranza, a native of Villasis, Pangasinan, said he will do his best to keep the lead in this race presented by LBC and supported by MVP Sports Foundation, Filinvest, CCN, Petron, Versa.ph, 3Q Sports Event Management, Inc., Boy Kanin, Franzia, Standard Insurance, Bike Xtreme, SH+, Guerciotti, Prolite, Green Planet, Maynilad, NLEX Cycling, Lightwater, LBC Foundation and PhilCycling.

“I will do my best to keep the red jersey,” said Oranza.

Not all was good news for Navy as one of its riders, Archie Cardana, lost his grip on the No. 2 spot and was kicked out of the top 10 after a miserable ride in Stage 4.

In his place was Morales.

Go for Gold Developmental team’s Jay Lampawog moved from No. 5 to No. No. 3 with 13:40:16, while Cris Joven of ArmyBicycology advanced from No. 7 to No. 4 with 13:40:57, while another Navy bet Ronald Lomotos, zoomed from No. 8 to No. 5 with 13:40:57.

Stalzer lifts Petron past Generika

The Petron Blaze Spikers celebrate their victory over F2, overcoming a sluggish start to pull off a 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19 win. Roman Prospero

MALOLOS CITY—Lindsay The 32-year-old Stalzer, the Games Tomorrow Stalzer dug deep into her well former Bradley University (Filoil Flying V Center) of experience to power Petron 2 p.m. – Smart vs F2 Logistics star who led Foton to a pair of to a 25-21, 25-15, 25-21 victo- 4 p.m. – Cignal vs Sta. Lucia PSL crowns in 2014 and 2015, ry over Generika-Ayala Tuesregistered all of her 20 points day in the Chooks to Go-Philippine Su- from the attack zone, while her spiking perliga Grand Prix at the Malolos Sports partner in fellow American Hillary Hurand Convention Center. ley chipped in 11 kills, two aces and a Playing in her fifth season, Stalzer block for 14 points. sparked a fiery uprising in the crucial Petron controlled the spiking departstretch of the third set to tow the Blaze ment, 46-31, and had more blocks, 5-3, in Spikers to another impressive victory in this match that drew a good-sized crowd this prestigious club tourney bankrolled and lasted for 79 minutes.

by Isuzu, Rebisco and UCPB Gen with “We fought back from being down and ESPN5 as official broadcast partner.

I’m very happy with the composure our With the win, the Blaze Spikers tight- team got today,” said Stalzer, the former ened their hold on the lead with 5-0 win- Most Valuable Player awardee. loss card, while the Lifesavers remained After dominating the first two sets, Pewinless in three starts in this league that tron found itself in trouble as Generikaalso has Asics, Mikasa, Senoh, Grand Ayala entered the first technical timeout Sport and LGR as technical sponsors. with a wide lead, 8-2.

San Beda U assured of overall title

By Peter Atencio ASSURED of winning its third straight overall crown, San Beda University is ready for another challenge after the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association season is over.

Management committee member Jose Mari Lacson said it’s possible for the school to go for a “four-peat” following a thanksgiving ceremony last Monday at the San Beda UniversityManila campus in Mendiola, Manila.

Their third straight overall crown is almost in the bag, with two more events on tap--athletics and cheerdancing.

Their bid for a three-peat became more successful right after the school was declared a university this year.

“Because we are now a university, there’s not much changes (in the performances of the athletes). What will change is that the weaker teams that join other events will just have to get stronger,” said Lacson.

With the season almost over, the Red Lions have championships in men’s basketball, men’s chess, taekwondo, soft tennis, swimming and badminton.

In junior action, the Red Cubs prevailed in swimming, lawn tennis, football and badminton.

Overall, this is the sixth time that San Beda has won the general championship in the senior division.

On the other hand, the Red Cubs have claimed their 15th crown in the junior division.

With the way things are going, San Beda as a university is still committed to be part of the NCAA.

De Ocampo 5 makes finals FOR the second straight season, De Ocampo Memorial College is entering the championship round of the Sta. LuciaLand NCRAA. On Tuesday, De Ocampo survived the Andre Paras-less AMA Online, 108-106, at the PATTS Gym. Behind the solid games of Nino Macasling and Dahrell Caranguian, who finished with 26 points apiece and the solid contribution of its bench players, De Ocampo was able to topple the top-seeded Titans in their knockout semifinal round encounter.

Johnard Clarito added 22 markers for De Ocampo, which lost the finals of the NCRAA best-of-three series to Colegio de San Lorenzo last year, 2-1.

Caranguian and co. vowed to do whatever it takes to finally win the big one of this season’s event supported by Sta. Lucia Land, Max’s and Bread Talk with LGR as the official outfitter.

“I think we’re hungrier this year.

Gutom kami nu’ng isang taon pa kaya mas malaki gutom namin this year,” added Caranguian.

Paras, the much-celebrated player of AMA, who just returned from a severe ankle sprain, missed the all-important game because of a prior commitment.

In his absence, Genmar Bragais and Owen Graham presided over the offense, combining for 49 markers.

Graham’s bucket in the last 22 seconds shoved AMA to within three, 107-104, then Carlo Garcia came through with another quick basket after forcing a turnover, allowing the Titans to threaten with 11 seconds left on the clock.

IN BRIEF

NTC starts probe on Globe, partner

THE National Telecommunications Commission summoned Globe Telecom Inc. and GotDeals Mobile Inc., a valueadded service provider, to appear on March 8 before the regulatory body in connection with its investigation for possible violation of a memorandum circular governing public telecommunications entities and VAS. In the summons, issued on February 28, 2018, the NTC also ordered Globe to suspend its content provider agreement with GotDeals pending investigation triggered by a complaint on disappearing mobile phone loads filed with the commission.

NTC officer-in-charge of the NTC legal branch Ella Blanca Lopez said Globe and GotDeals were required to respond within five working days to the complaint filed by Feanne Mauricio, who has brought to the attention of the regulatory body the questionable deduction from her pre-paid load credit.

The NTC since February has been investigating consumer complaints involving phone credits being eaten up by VAS providers, which offer services outside the standard calls and SMS such as infotext, ringtones, wallpaper, among others, without notifying cellphone users.

PPA: Cruise ship arrivals up sharply

PHILIPPINE cruise ship arrivals jumped more than a 100-fold in the last 12 months capped by the simultaneous docking of cruise ships at the Manila’s South Harbor, according to state-run Philippine Ports Authority.

Cruise tourism arrivals as of January this year registered an increase of 1,951 percent to 9,156 passengers from just 446 in January of last year.

Over half of the volume or 4,520 was recorded in Northern Luzon in view of the regained interest of Star Cruises at the Port of Currimao as one of its cruise routes.

The other areas that posted positive cruise tourism arrivals include Coron, Boracay and South Harbor.

The Manila South Harbor, managed and operated by Asian Terminals Inc., registered the biggest number of cruise ships docked at the ports with four, namely SuperStar Virgo of Star Cruises, Costa Atlantica of Costa Cruises, Amsterdam of Holland America Lines, and Silver Shadow of Silversea Cruises.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Business February inflation hit three-year high of 4.5% I

By Julito G. Rada

NFLATION rate accelerated to 4.5 percent in February, the fastest increase in consumer prices in three-and-a-half years from 4 percent in January, on higher costs of food, beverage and tobacco, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.

The PSA said the inflation figure was based on the 2006 consumer price index. The PSA, however, made 2012 as the new base year. Based on the 2012 index, inflation reached only 3.9 percent in February, up from 3.4 percent in January.

Inflation in the first two months averaged 4.2 percent, based on the 2006

index, breaching the upper limit of the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent. Based on the 2012 index, inflation averaged 3.7 percent in the two-month period, still within the target range.

“The uptrend resulted from the faster annual gain recorded in the heavilyweighted food and non-alcoholic beverages index at 4.8 percent and the double-digit annual increment in alcoholic beverages and tobacco index at 16.9 percent,” the PSA said.

Higher annual increases were also noted in the indices of clothing and footwear, at 2 percent; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 2.5 percent; transport, 5.8 percent; and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 2.5 percent.

Lower annual hikes were observed in the indices of housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 2.6 percent; communication, 0.2 percent; and recreation

and culture, 1.4 percent. The rest of the commodity groups retained their previous month’s rate.

A faster annual mark-up of 4.8 percent in February was observed in the food index at the national level. It was pegged at 4.6 percent in January and 3.2 percent in February 2017.

Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the impact of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law could be one of the reasons in the inflation spike in February but he remained optimistic it could be “transitory.”

“The BSP will remain watchful of the inflation dynamics...,” he said in a speech during the general membership meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines in Makati City Tuesday, his first public appearance since he announced last week that he was cancer-free and on his way to recovery.

Economy poised to grow stronger

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the Philippine economy is poised to grow stronger in the years ahead, backed by sustained solid macroeconomic fundamentals and timely and important government reforms.

Espenilla, in a speech before businessmen during the Management Association of the Philippines economic briefing and general membership meeting held in Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, echoed the optimism earlier announced by the World Bank.

The bank the Philippines would continue to be the “fastest-growing economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region from 2018 to 2020, despite some stabilization of investment growth.”

“Moreover, growth projections from third-party assessors are not far from the national government’s target of 7.0-8.0 percent growth in the next three years.

We note that growth achieved over the past several years is broad-based and comes from various sources,” Espenilla said. Julito G. Rada

SMART-LRT PARTNERSHIP. Smart Communications Inc. gears up to help rehabilitate Light Rail Transit Line 1 in cooperation with Light Rail Manila Corp. and ancillary revenue partner Phar Partnerships. Under the “Station Domination,” which is part of LRMC’s P500-million Station Improvement Program, LRT-1 Edsa Station will sport Smart’s signature green color. Sealing the partnership in a ribbon-cutting ceremony are (from left) PLDT Inc. and Smart senior vice president and head of consumer business for customer development Alex Caeg, Phar Philippines general manager Patricia Sison, LRMC president and chief executive Juan Alfonso and chief operating officer Rudy Chansuyco.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

B

Meralco forms unit to operate electric vehicles

By Alena Mae S. Flores POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. said it registered eSakay Inc. as a new subsidiary to engage in electric vehicles and other alternative energy sources.

Meralco said Tuesday it received the certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission of eSakay as a wholly-owned subsidiary formed to engage in the business of owning, maintaining and operating transport service networks of charging stations, batteries and vehicles utilizing electric energy and other alternative energy sources.

The move followed the announcement of Meralco in January that it revived plans to invest in the country’s electric vehicle industry through the deployment and manufacturing of evehicles for transport.

“We are even thinking of really creating what we call as m-transport for electric vehicle... Should we get into manufacturing, not only we can JV [enter into joint venture] with somebody who is into this space,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services and corporate communication head Al Panlilio said.

He said Meralco, the country’s biggest power distributor, was looking at EVs for a long time and even launched a prototype e-charging station as early as 2011.

He said the company was being opportunistic on certain projects because “this is income lucrative to Meralco’s future.”

“If adoption of EV becomes big, then it will be beneficial to Meralco…

Of course, charging station is a basic entry for Meralco but we are looking at if we can participate more in the entire ecosystem or value chain of EV,” Panlilio said.

He said Meralco would discuss projects with local government units such as Mandaluyong, with the focus on etrikes or public utility EVs. “What we are doing is we are not going massively first. I think we are identifying two to three proof of concepts. One of them is [with] Mandaluyong LGU. I think we are talking about 3,000 to 4,000 e-trikes,” Panlilio said.

He said Meralco would first focus on e-trikes. “It’s difficult if you go into e-bus and e-jeeps because it’s a total redesign of the vehicles,” he said.

Manufacturing sector rebounded Office space vacancy in Metro Manila seen rising with 21.9% expansion in January

By Othel V. Campos

THE manufacturing sector recovered with a 21.9-percent growth in January to end a five-month slump, the National Economic and Development Authority said Tuesday.

Results of the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the volume of production index grew 21.9 percent in January, following a 9.2-percent decline in December. It was also higher than the 14.9-percent increase registered in January 2017.

The value of production index also jumped 20.4 percent in January from a year ago. The expansion led the threemonth moving average growth rate of both indexes back to positive territory

at 1.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

“Manufacturing output is expected to sustain growth in 2018 on the back of robust consumer demand, higher government consumption and continued gains in investments. The sustained momentum in global trade growth will also provide additional boost to manufacturing growth, particularly export-oriented sectors,” Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said in a statement.

He said the growth of manufacturing was due to expansion in petroleum products, construction-related products, some export-oriented products and food manufacturing. These offset the declines in wood products, tobacco, transport equipment and rubber and plastic products. Julito G. Rada

VACANCY rate in Metro Manila’s office space sector is expected to widen to 8 percent by end of 2018, amid the completion of new buildings and tepid demand, real estate services firm KMC Savills said Tuesday.

KMC Savills said the office space sector, mainly driven by the growth of the business process outsourcing industry, could see a total inventory of 1.56 million gross leasable area in 2018, absorbing the spill-over in 2017 which was the highest on record.

It said the sector posted the highest starting inventory at 761,100 square meters, and another 800,000 sqm of projects were up for completion in 2018.

KMC Savills said that as a result, untenanted office space might double to 8 percent by end-2018 from 4.5 percent last year when

net take-up reached 629,500 sqm.

“This is not yet a cause for worry. Any government administration experiences a slump, one time or another during its tenancy. By the third year of this new administration and nothing has improved yet, this should be worrisome,” said KMC Savills research manager Fredrick Rara.

KMC Savills said the approval of new applications for BPO companies and the pending applications for expansion would help taper the increasing vacancy rate and put to good economic use the unutilized office space.

The Bay Area submarket ended 2017 with 214,200 sqm of GLA with about 3.9-percent vacancy rate while enjoying the highest rental growth among submarkets in the fourth quarter. The average monthly rental rate in the area was P745.2 per sqm.

About 50 percent of new office space in the Bay Area were occupied by Philippine offshore and gaming operators.

Bonifacio Global City accounted for the highest influx of completed office space last year with 375,700 sqm. Strong market appetite in the submarket was still apparent after it registered a net absorption of 314,200 sqm, keeping vacancy manageable at 5.4 percent.

Alabang CBD also posted a record entry of new stock with 89,900 sqm additional office space, while vacancy rate increased slightly to 2.2 percent percent from 1.7 percent in 2016.

Other submarkets, such as Ortigas Center and Quezon City, experienced a spike in vacancy rates. The introduction of the IBP Tower in Ortigas provided 20,400 sqm of new office space, but net absorption reached 2,700 sqm.

PSALM studies converting properties into ecozones

ICTSI SUPPORTS PNG POLICE. South Pacific International Container Terminal Ltd., operator and developer of the Port of Lae in Papua New Guinea, and the ICTSI Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of International Container Terminal Services Inc., extend assistance to the local police of Lae to enhance peace and order in the community through the donation of a new police station at the Malahang District, Morobe Province, and two units of patrol vehicles. Shown during the turnover of patrol vehicles are (from left) ICTSI Foundation deputy executive director Filipina Laurena, Lae local police sergeant in command Fred Kaiwa, SPICT chief executive Edward Muttiah, Police Northern Command assistant commissioner Peter Guiness, Governor of Morobe Ginson Suanu, PNG National Parliament member John Rosso, Minister of Police Jelta Wong and AHL chairman George Gware.

STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said the Philippine Economic Zone Authority began studying whether the former’s idle real estate assets can be converted into economic zones.

PSALM said its real estate assets in nine sites across Metro Manila, Pampanga and Bataan were being assessed for suitability as economic zones.

It said this was a part of an initiative to help boost the development of ecozones in the country.

PSALM and Peza signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2017 to enhance collaboration towards utilization of PSALM’s idle real estate assets.

The agency said institutional arrangements would be determined following the results of the suitability study.

“Converting some of PSALM’s real estate assets into economic zones is an

important privatization undertaking.

Leasing out its land properties will provide it with a long-term opportunity to generate sustainable revenue while the government remains the property owner,” PSALM said.

PSALM was created under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to manage National Power Corp.’s assets and liabilities.

PSALM said a two-pronged purpose was expected to be achieved from the agreement with Peza. PSALM said it would generate income streams to augment its fund sources and pay off assumed financial obligations.

It said this would also help the agency realize its strategic goal of participating in local and national development.

“Aligned with Peza’s mandate, PSALM’s move to convert its land assets into ecozones will help augment job opportunities and stimulate economic

activities, thereby, providing more income for Filipinos,” it said.

PSALM provided a list of assets to Peza for consideration in its initial phase of suitability assessment. A joint technical working group was formed to jumpstart the profiling project and suitability assessment.

PSALM has real estate assets with an aggregate land area of around 100 square kilometers, consisting of about 6,160 lots around the country, although the agency said the figure could change with the “database cleanup.”

PSALM said around 60 percent of total land area is located in Luzon, 39 percent in Mindanao and the remaining 1 percent in the Visayas.

The agency already formulated a strategic plan to liquidate the said real estate assets while generating the highest financial return to pay of PSALM’s obligations. Alena Mae S. Flores

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market drops for 5 straight day th

T

HE stock market fell for the fifth straight day Tuesday, weighed down by a government report showing inflation rate accelerated to 4.5 percent in February, the fastest increase in consumer prices in three-and-a-half years, from 4 percent in January.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index declined 25.95 points, or 0.3 percent, 8,360.22 on a value turnover of P8.6 billion. Losers beat gainers, 122 to 93, with 45 issues unchanged.

The higher inflation rate may prompt the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise interest rates to temper prices, but Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the price spikes could be “transitory.”

Major property developer Ayala Land

Inc. lost 1.1 percent to P41.20, while Waterfront Philippines Inc. slumped 22.2 percent to P1.05.

Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which operates a casino on part of reclaimed area in Manila Bay, added 1.1 percent to P14.46, while conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. of industrialist John Gokongwei rose 1.6 percent to P65.70.

Most of the stock markets in Asia, meanwhile, surged Tuesday as shock over Donald Trump’s controversial trade tariffs move gave way to hope that any measures will not be as bad as initially thought.

All three main indexes on Wall Street rose between one and 1.4 percent Monday and those gains filtered through to Asia on Tuesday.

Tokyo ended 1.8 percent higher, with Kobe Steel up slightly ahead of a news conference in which its CEO Hiroya Kawasaki resigned following publica-

tion of a report by the firm that found staff—including executives—changed or falsified inspection data before shipping products.

Hong Kong jumped more than two percent, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei were all more than one percent higher. Shanghai reversed early losses to close one percent higher.

Trump sparked fears of a global trade war last week when he unveiled plans to slap levies on imports of steel and aluminum.

The news sent markets into a tailspin from Sydney to New York, with investors already on edge at the prospect of rising interest rates and the end of crisisera central bank stimulus measures.

However, after another down day in Asia Monday, investors in New York rushed back as they bet that Trump would not push through with extreme protectionist policies.

“Given the overwhelmingly negative response from industry leaders, international financial markets and even the furious backlash from loyal members of Trump’s administration, there is growing optimism that perhaps significant exemptions will be forthcoming,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA. “Investors remain guardedly optimistic.”

However, he warned that “expecting for cooler heads to prevail might be far too optimistic given that President Trump promoted reforms of US trade policies as a cornerstone of his election campaign, and it’s challenging to envision him backing down.”

Trump campaigned on a protectionist “America First” platform, promising to pull out of global trade deals which he said were hurting US workers.

With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59.4 24,950 117.7 1,499,640 3.2 199,000 150 1,598,860 1.8 558,000 35.1 109,300 15.5 88,900 30.1 2,438,000 3.49 347,000 8.65 61,000 1.67 40,000 0.56 1,387,000 95.95 2,105,250 1.43 10,184,000 12.7 5,300 57.2 51,710 248 19,020 88.95 50 47 58,100 242.6 450,980 1,920 190 90.7 139,120 1.21 355,000

1,480,549 176,464,029 642,290 239,885,765 992,000 3,833,330 1,377,910 73,158,595 1,186,510 527,066 65,100 790,550 201,960,187 14,931,350 67,240 2,957,923.50 4,718,532 4,293.50 2,728,590 109,874,134 364,800 12,628,328.50 453,560

281,508.50 -7,917,022 96,000 -111,547,017 36,000 659,350 1,530 35,116,490 19,425,606 611,300 -510,159 44,648 699,615 -22,837,780 1,968,390.50 -

INDUSTRIAL 38.95 1,626,200 12.98 1,408,100 0.56 480,000 1.29 283,000 19.32 5,100 0.228 26,700,000 125.1 4,640 3.62 2,654,000 16.64 2,135,400 345 5,260 51.95 444,430 22.9 36,000 64.8 210 53.6 1,600 1.89 17,000 5.3 43,000 10.48 58,700 12 10,463,800 14.22 126,900 11.24 2,371,700 7.4 1,573,900 5.68 365,000 1.74 8,000 14.44 3,506,500 62.25 63,980 28.85 119,500 9.61 25,900 20.2 2,836,600 2.34 22,414,000 298.6 833,460 51.5 5,200 4.67 446,000 3.1 17,000 19.7 2,200 26 1,403,900 16.7 459,700 21 2,064,700 334 253,050 0.193 800,000 7.8 20,200 2.69 842,000 5.1 424,800 9.16 1,011,800 6.35 334,600 8.2 700 1.59 299,000 12.42 108,400 55.25 170,640 6.2 30,000 628 3,850 4.86 102,000 2.95 5,310,000 3.32 17,000 2.4 3,739,000 15.7 150,000 5.21 143,800 0.135 4,370,000 1.03 11,000 150.6 725,340 2.62 1,000 1.93 5,281,000 24 100 1.31 104,266,000

63,203,410 18,276,544 270,030 360,780 97,272 6,281,210 654,939 9,658,930 35,434,284 2,066,370 23,056,138 773,430 13,000.50 85,500 32,130 227,400 615,440 125,799,704 1,812,398 26,658,076 11,641,662 2,079,022 13,920 50,639,644 3,986,151 3,352,280 246,351 57,234,821 54,741,130 249,933,088 263,361 2,113,010 52,940 40,904 36,673,585 7,698,018 43,499,420 83,934,458 154,880 161,015 2,258,530 2,156,084 9,253,648 2,088,210 5,755 468,300 1,354,112 9,444,897.50 186,000 2,417,555 494,620 16,475,050 59,560 8,645,690 2,355,568 750,848 604,340 11,330 109,357,843 2,620 10,210,130 2,400 165,962,200

-52,496,400 -6,454,228 -27,090 -19,250 16,800 -1,946,110 27,528,910.00 1,909,340.50 -110,000 23,669,092 595,176 -24,997,894 -6,824,799 647,511 2,513,540 -922,374.50 96,092 -7,133,967 -1,723,840 94,178,676 -406,590 -34,336,680 106,776 16,219,210 17,111,266 1,157,560 -254,000 500,291 -30,870 -5,373,985.50 75,425 417,170 -12,240 -48,100 -1,157,270 -7,270 -37,120,818 745,500 -2,972,910

13,540,200 68,707,761 119,071,866 203,610 1,501,838 14,468,610 1,754,940 168,544,745 22,330 14,865,853 35,761,870 56,480 128,520 863,710 109,962,750 10,846 197,531,305.50 1,942,740 5,701,408 99,189,720 12,200 219,142,332 1,176,100 62,230 10,483,190 211,260 26,652,546 452,483,835 909,960 6,966,478 273,432 40,000 10,052,760 1,910

9,800 -40,413,813 -20,105,398 -920 -419,607 330,000 -139,572,855 19,994 -20,796,496 11,000 -34,659,970 -77,933,813.50 5,393,060 -44,139,530 -37,030,208 506,090 9,747,901 -12,949,490 9,600 3,320 -723,020 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

59.25 117.7 3.5 150.2 1.71 35.15 15.3 29.35 3.5 8.64 1.67 0.59 96.3 1.52 12.6 57.9 248 85.1 47.2 244.2 1,920 91 1.26

59.4 118 3.5 153 1.82 35.2 15.5 30.45 3.5 8.65 1.67 0.59 96.3 1.52 12.7 57.9 249 88.95 47.25 244.8 1,920 91.1 1.34

58.2 117.6 3.2 149.5 1.71 35 15.3 29.35 3.4 8.64 1.61 0.56 95.8 1.43 12.6 57.1 248 85.1 46.8 242.6 1,920 90.6 1.21

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN 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 EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

39 13.06 0.57 1.28 19.38 0.225 119.9 3.71 16.24 340 52 22 62 53 1.89 5.3 10.28 11.76 14.4 11.1 7.55 5.75 1.74 14.5 62.8 28.1 9.4 20.3 2.25 300 52 4.68 3.14 18.54 26.8 16.74 21 326 0.195 7.98 2.73 5.2 9.2 6.3 8.23 1.6 12.78 55.4 6.2 635 4.84 2.8 3.32 2.24 15.62 5.2 0.139 1.03 152 2.62 1.86 24 1.64

39 13.06 0.57 1.29 19.38 0.25 155 3.72 16.68 436.4 53 23 64.8 53.6 1.89 5.3 10.5 12.3 14.4 11.4 7.55 5.75 1.74 14.5 62.8 28.85 9.67 20.6 2.56 304 52 4.9 3.14 19.7 26.8 16.8 21.45 334 0.195 8.24 2.73 5.2 9.23 6.4 8.23 1.6 12.78 56.9 6.2 635 4.86 3.6 3.63 2.45 15.78 5.3 0.143 1.03 153.7 2.62 1.95 24 1.82

38.3 12.88 0.56 1.26 18.9 0.223 119.9 3.62 16.2 300 50.8 20 61.05 53 1.89 5.25 10.28 11.76 14.2 11.1 7.35 5.62 1.74 14.32 62.25 28 9.4 19.86 2.2 297.8 50.05 4.65 3.1 18.54 26 16.52 21 326 0.192 7.8 2.62 5 9.09 6.16 8.2 1.54 12.42 55.25 6.2 625 4.84 2.63 3.32 2.17 15.6 5.2 0.134 1.03 150.2 2.62 1.86 24 1.28

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 FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.34 73.4 14.62 0.92 7.51 0.66 0.69 1,050 1,490 7.15 13.4 7.4 4.86 0.245 1,303 7.23 64.65 0.72 5.19 21.5 0.305 5.73 0.044 1.11 3.46 2.9 140 952 1.6 406 282 0.25 0.234 0.191

0.38 74.9 14.62 0.95 7.56 0.71 0.7 1,051 1,490 7.28 13.4 7.5 5.05 0.245 1,320 7.24 66.8 0.76 5.25 21.5 0.305 5.8 0.046 1.12 3.51 2.9 142.2 955.5 1.64 591 285 0.25 0.235 0.191

0.34 73 14.42 0.91 7.47 0.66 0.66 1,035 1,488 7.15 13.1 7.4 4.85 0.191 1,300 7.23 64.65 0.68 5.18 20.6 0.305 5.68 0.044 1.11 3.41 2.55 139 940 1.59 406 277 0.25 0.194 0.191

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

6.8 1.1 16 2.1 1.02 41.7 3.88 4.62 6.21 6.12 6 0.465 1.05 0.315 0.49 32.4 0.63 0.138 1.77 1.38 0.73 4.83 0.75 0.48 0.52 4.09

6.85 1.23 16.98 2.19 1.04 42.3 3.89 4.75 6.22 6.12 6 0.48 1.06 0.33 0.49 32.8 0.63 0.138 1.79 1.38 0.74 4.83 0.79 0.48 0.57 4.15

6.76 1.06 15.5 2.1 0.9 41.15 3.78 4.62 6.02 6.12 6 0.465 1.05 0.29 0.46 31.75 0.62 0.13 1.75 1.34 0.71 4.79 0.7 0.355 0.52 3.99

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

19.52 1.96 3.23 36.25 1 25.5 0.82 6.36

19.88 2.06 3.23 36.25 1.01 25.5 0.83 6.36

19 1.94 3.2 35.5 1 23.7 0.81 6.15

19 1.95 3.23 36 1.01 24 0.82 6.36

1,205,700 1,854,000 225,000 5,346,100 1,058,000 218,800 113,000 7,727,200

23,472,624 3,705,240 726,510 191,574,545 1,058,580 5,289,030 93,060 48,568,416

-5,487,740 894,840 497,420 -40,954,540 351,530 -21,660,620

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL FAR EASTERN U 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 JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL 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

19.76 29.8 1.6 0.67 0.062 11.02 14.4 0.073 100 8.71 7.53 9.1 2.4 42.95 975 1,716 6.41 322 10.56 5.27 2.6 110 13.2 8.32 0.132 1.5 3.09 15.34 4.46 1.06 28.1 5.63 7.59 3.24 13 10.38 10.98 109 6.79 1,528 1.21 0.405 52.1 92.6 5.8 2.74 1.46 0.53 3.48 1.28 10.74

19.76 30.95 1.6 0.68 0.064 11.02 14.66 0.073 100 8.71 7.7 9.48 2.47 42.95 975 1,722 6.43 330 10.56 5.3 2.66 110 13.2 8.32 0.132 1.54 3.09 15.34 5.2 1.2 29.25 5.69 7.65 3.28 13.44 10.38 10.98 109 6.85 1,539 1.22 0.415 53.6 95 5.96 2.84 1.52 0.53 3.5 1.3 10.78

19.3 29.8 1.35 0.63 0.06 11 14.3 0.068 99.75 8.71 7.53 9.1 2.4 40.2 900 1,711 6.37 313 10.56 5.07 2.6 108.5 13.18 8.25 0.129 1.48 3.09 14.5 4.46 1.04 27.9 5.3 7.51 3.23 12.8 10.38 10.7 106.5 6.65 1,520 1.16 0.38 52.1 91.1 5.8 2.74 1.45 0.51 3.46 1.02 10.6

SERVICES 19.3 29.9 1.37 0.64 0.06 11 14.46 0.069 99.9 8.71 7.61 9.1 2.47 40.4 900 1,714 6.39 323.8 10.56 5.07 2.65 110 13.18 8.25 0.129 1.5 3.09 14.5 4.92 1.07 29 5.58 7.51 3.27 12.92 10.38 10.7 108 6.65 1,524 1.2 0.38 53.15 94.95 5.95 2.79 1.48 0.51 3.47 1.05 10.6

57,500 48,000 2,601,000 34,471,000 80,200,000 18,000 67,546,000 32,420,000 244,350 1,000 1,401,700 645,200 39,000 198,500 110 30,395 701,100 79,890 300 2,415,000 61,000 484,070 800 2,200 3,600,000 495,000 3,000 2,100 33,314,000 6,788,000 3,859,200 1,283,800 1,520,900 1,208,000 7,072,900 6,100 1,400 3,040 1,591,400 64,495 2,086,000 1,300,000 3,427,480 372,910 3,300 389,000 3,149,000 27,657,000 619,000 239,484,000 1,387,700

1,117,914 1,436,825 3,787,870 22,427,440 4,916,080 198,130 969,603,424 2,275,850 24,404,193 8,710 10,688,521 5,963,687 94,060 8,115,295 99,750 52,083,775 4,485,633 25,571,966 3,168 12,496,783 159,580 52,989,509 10,546 18,234 468,390 742,360 9,270 30,564 161,783,730 7,551,110 111,503,315 7,134,724 11,517,805 3,950,450 92,531,496 63,318 15,092 327,560 10,723,142 98,259,810 2,501,960 508,750 182,300,063 35,010,088 19,186 1,083,520 4,688,660 14,343,160 2,158,850 278,404,720 14,746,348

-5,310 44,450 -260,140 89,950 130,847,936 -690 333,666.50 -192,846 -1,443,208 -113,970.00 -23,340,660 235,444 -270,830 24,908,343 9,226 1,756,430 122,330 18,255,580 26,490 -969,300 2,527,930 -434,742 20,550 195,141.00 -3,209,555 -53,880 118,471,302 -5,809,710 13,950 -1,376,250 162,240 10,380 -236,560 -244,586

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

0.0032 1.71 5.07 17.06 1.66 1.69 0.305 7.39 2.35 0.25 0.149 0.153 0.0098 1.48 6.03 1.37 0.45 0.89 0.013 0.012 0.011 2.55 6.03 17.28 35.95

0.0033 1.73 5.1 18.48 1.66 1.71 0.32 7.42 2.56 0.27 0.149 0.153 0.0098 1.62 6.16 1.38 0.51 0.93 0.013 0.012 0.012 2.9 6.05 17.32 35.95

0.0029 1.66 5 17 1.65 1.67 0.305 7.21 2.33 0.25 0.147 0.153 0.0098 1.45 5.98 1.31 0.445 0.86 0.012 0.012 0.011 2.35 6 15.6 35.1

MINING & OIL 0.003 2,582,000,000 1.73 12,018,000 5.01 122,200 18.46 4,400 1.65 12,000 1.71 934,000 0.32 720,000 7.22 2,600 2.4 11,289,000 0.255 1,270,000 0.149 4,130,000 0.153 50,000 0.0098 3,000,000 1.55 1,555,000 6.01 2,111,000 1.32 126,000 0.445 3,470,000 0.91 530,000 0.012 3,400,000 0.012 200,000 0.012 35,400,000 2.5 406,000 6.05 2,188,000 15.6 10,397,500 35.1 2,410,700

7,980,000 20,465,610 619,181 76,608 19,850 1,575,440 227,950 19,100 27,573,610 326,650 612,100 7,650 29,400 2,364,750 12,744,600 171,550 1,646,100 474,260 41,900 2,400 407,200 1,091,320 13,158,551 167,536,440 84,869,165

-3,000 1,690,000 -18,126 -8,250 -1,009,470 -6,100 713,880 9,800 2,914,527 44,500 -1,200 0 -35,460 4,816 4,333,704.00 -75,355,730

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

29.6 510 518 107 102 110.8 6.12 1,001 1,009 100.5 1.05 106 1,100 990 2 76.85 80 75 76.1 78 77 77.7 77

29.95 510 518 107 102.5 111 6.15 1,001 1,009 101.2 1.07 106 1,100 990 2 76.85 80 75 77 78 77 78 77.1

29.2 503 518 107 100 110.8 6.1 1,000 1,000 100.1 1.05 106 1,100 990 2 75 80 75 76.1 78 77 77 76.8

PREFERRED 29.95 1,069,400 503 1,650 518 30 107 10,000 100 612,320 111 9,480 6.12 138,100 1,000 13,240 1,000 1,130 100.1 36,490 1.07 11,000 106 630 1,100 95 990 50 2 1,000 75 1,020 80 50 75 18,510 77 13,400 78 77,840 77 6,360 78 70,000 77.1 14,300

31,655,290 833,860 15,540 1,070,000 61,243,620 1,051,280 848,501 13,240,005 1,130,950 3,661,901 11,710 66,780 104,500 49,500 2,000 76,560.50 4,000 1,388,250 1,025,950 6,071,520 489,720 5,416,663 1,101,700

97,940 -303,810 100,000 492,450 8,560 -5,350,800 -3,466,663 -177,100

LR WARRANT

3.32

4.49

3.32

WARRANTS 3.94 36,898,000

150,567,190

675,690

22,664,521 2,870 376,570 9,003,950

-2,679,687 -4,882,760

1,185,369

-

53,560

-

MS

HOLDING FIRMS 0.34 37,490,000 73.25 937,410 14.48 8,222,300 0.94 221,000 7.5 200,000 0.66 21,336,000 0.68 2,623,000 1,038 162,330 1,488 15 7.2 2,067,700 13.2 2,703,700 7.48 7,600 5 26,000 0.191 4,080,000 1,300 84,350 7.24 1,500 65.7 3,018,570 0.7 2,696,000 5.2 1,096,300 21.15 4,717,400 0.305 40,000 5.7 38,308,800 0.045 26,100,000 1.11 56,000 3.48 3,014,000 2.57 81,000 141 189,310 949 476,300 1.61 566,000 585 12,830 284 980 0.25 160,000 0.195 48,510,000 0.191 10,000 PROPERTY 6.8 1.08 15.5 2.17 0.91 41.2 3.84 4.7 6.2 6.12 6 0.47 1.05 0.295 0.48 31.75 0.62 0.13 1.79 1.35 0.74 4.8 0.77 0.385 0.56 4.06

436,000 80,815,000 38,100 66,000 22,979,000 20,631,500 1,332,000 525,000 89,300 7,400 700 21,060,000 44,000 155,190,000 610,000 326,400 49,000 60,000 8,169,000 1,878,000 254,000 36,560,000 307,441,000 76,490,000 15,917,000 749,000

2,955,748 92,908,470 598,962 140,130 21,760,960 855,742,800 5,130,160 2,463,880 548,534 45,288 4,200 9,934,000 46,340 47,293,250 286,350 10,504,930 30,520 8,040 14,527,310 2,544,650 184,560 175,551,880 229,652,810 30,944,100 8,765,400 3,021,210

-112,648 -2,540,120 33,176 -79,180 -375,025,465 -731,820 20,826 131,600 163,400 -1,421,215 -18,660 -1,380 1,500,820 59,450 29,929,190 4,516,570 -334,350 107,000 -30,170

ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

5.9 2.87 3.46 3.29

6.4 2.87 3.48 3.4

5.67 2.87 3.32 3.28

FIRST METRO ETF

127.8

127.8

127.6

USD DMPL A2

10.3

10.3

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

22,022,682

INDUSTRIAL

213,767,271

HOLDING FIRMS

210,009,986

PROPERTY

770,219,913

SERVICES

603,935,792

MINING & OIL

2,678,048,942

GRAND TOTAL

4,504,648,453

10.3

6 2.87 3.48 3.4

SME

3,807,800 1,000 110,000 2,710,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 127.8 9,280 10.3

DDS

5,200

VALUE 2,178.24 (down) 7.63 886,397,659.33 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,457.03 (down) 31.45 1,359,102,187.16 HOLDING FIRMS 8,360.82 (down) 11.81 1,633,568,474.793 PROPERTY 3,749.67 (down) 33.54 1,749.39 (up) 9.65 1,856,173,574.155 SERVICES MINING & OIL 11,731.05 (down) 195.62 2,493,035,159.85 PSEI 8,360.22 (down) 25.95 344,074,237.401 All Shares Index 5,033.72 (down) 10.17 8,605,605,304.97 Gainers: 93; Losers: 122; Unchanged: 45; Total: 260

D&L expects net profit to increase by 10% in 2018

By Jenniffer B. Austria FOOD ingredients manufacturer D&L Industries Inc. said it expects net income to increase by at least 10 percent this year as it expects volume and exports to maintain their growth momentum.

D&L president Alvin Lao said in a press briefing company said it expects the growth of high margin specialty products to remain within the average of 7 percent while the share of exports to total revenues is expected to continue grow from the current 25 percent.

“There is a lot of optimism among our customers right now in terms of number of stores that are going to open and also in terms of expansion plans.

They are very positive and so we are also positive and that is why we expect to maintain a double digit growth.

There is a lot of confidence right now,” Lao said.

D&L in 2017 posted a recurring net income of P2.9 billion, up 10.6 percent from P2.63 billion in 2016.

Fourth-quarter alone earnings and volume growth continued to pick up following lackluster expansion in the first half of the year.

Net income in the fourth quarter of 2017 increased 12 percent year-onyear to P786 million.

“We rounded off 2017 with double digit growth, showing full recovery from a tough start to the year. We see that our full year results better reflect the long-term growth prospects of the business. Going forward, we will continue to exercise discipline and excellence in R&D as we continue to target opportunities in the growing Philippine economy, as well as in our rapidly expanding export segments,” Lao said.

Export sales jumped 68 percent in 2017 to P6.83 billion with the company’s partnerships with Ventura and Bunge maintaining their pace. The food ingredients segment currently accounts for 45 percent of total exports, significantly higher that just 19 percent in the full year of 2016.

ATI’s income increases by 31% to P2.5b

By Darwin G. Amojelar ASIAN Terminals Inc. on Tuesday said net income rose 31 percent 2017 on the back of robust domestic and international trade.

The port operator owned by businessman Eusebio Tanco said net income amounted to P2.5 billion in 2017 from P1.9 billion in 2016.

ATI’s revenues last year increased 14.6 percent to P10.6 billion from P9.2 billion in 2016 on account of higher volumes of containerized cargoes and favorable cargo mix in the non-containerized segment.

Reflective of the robust growth of the Philippine economy in 2017, ATI’s international ports in Manila and Batangas handled a combined container cargo throughput of over 1.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

International boxed cargoes handled at Manila South Harbor in 2017 reached over 1.1 million TEUs, an increase of nearly 6 percent from 2016. The rapidly growing Batangas Container Terminal handled almost 200,000 TEUs, an increase of over 25 percent compared to the previous year.

BCT has effectively supported government’s drive for inclusive growth outside Metro Manila by opening up direct market connectivity and delivering competitive port services to shippers based in South Luzon.

Equally important, Batangas Port contributed to decongesting Metro Manila roads. Last year’s cargo volume meant taking out over 100,000 truck trips along the roads of the capital region, with more Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) shippers preferring to route consignments through BCT. ATI’s record year in 2017 was also achieved through process improvement, investment in equipment and facilities as well as innovations, while constantly promoting a safe industrial environment for port stakeholders.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

TODAY

World

extrastory2000@gmail.com

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

Presidential hopeful quits after rape accusation

IN BRIEF Islamic school burns students’ phones DHAKA―A hard-line Islamic school in Bangladesh said Tuesday it had confiscated hundreds of mobile phones and torched them in a bonfire because they were distracting students from their learning.

Pupils at the seminary in southeast Bangladesh were ordered to hand over their cellphones Sunday to school administrators who then tossed the devices en masse into a fire in a nearby field.

“These devices are ruining their character,” said Azizul Hoque, a spokesman for the Darul Ulum Moinul Islam madrassa, or Islamic seminary.

“The students use internet [on their phones] throughout the night and then doze during classes the next morning. Their parents are concerned.”

Hoque said the seminary―a 123-year-old institution with 14,000 registered students― was not against technology “but the negative results of mobile phones far outweigh its positives”.

“We are flooded with letters seeking fatwas (Islamic edicts) from Muslims against the use of mobile phones, as many complained that the gadgets were frequently used for extramarital affairs.”

Muslim-majority Bangladesh is officially secular but Muslim clerics are hugely influential, particularly in the more socially conservative rural areas of the country.

The madrassa in Hathazari, outside the port city of Chittagong, is headed by Ahmad Shafi, the head of hard-line Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam.

The movement has evolved into a political force in recent years agitating for Islamic rule in the country of 160 million. The campaign has brought it into conflict with Bangladesh’s secular government.

Hundreds of thousands of Hefazat supporters marched to the capital Dhaka in 2013 demanding implementation of religious laws including criminalizing blasphemy and segregating genders in the workplace.AFP

Inventor faces trial for reporter’s murder COPENHAGEN―Danish self-taught engineer Peter Madsen, charged with murdering and mutilating Swedish journalist Kim Wall last year aboard his homemade submarine, goes on trial Thursday over a macabre case that rocked the usually placid Nordic nation.

The Copenhagen Court House is to call 37 witnesses during the 12-day trial, which could help clarify seemingly contradictory statements by the 47-year old accused, who has admitted to cutting up Wall’s body but denies murdering her aboard the vessel where she was last seen on August 10.

His lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark, has not revealed what he intends to say at his trial.

According to a charge sheet, Madsen tied the 30-year-old freelance reporter by the head, arms and legs before beating and stabbing her, including 14 stab wounds and holes in her genital area, after she boarded the submarine to interview him.

Prosecutors say he then killed her and dismembered her body, stuffing her torso, head, and legs in separate bags weighed down with metal objects, and dumping them in Koge Bay off Copenhagen.

Madsen has changed his story several times about what happened that night.

He initially said he had dropped Wall off in a Copenhagen harbor, then he said she died in an accident onboard the vessel.

Contemplating suicide, Madsen said he subsequently “buried her at sea”.

But prosecutors believe Madsen planned to murder Wall as he brought a saw, knife, plastic strips, and metal pieces on board, all of which they say were used to torture and dismember her, and dispose of her remains. AFP

B3

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

FORCED TO LEAVE. In this file photo taken on October 9, 2017, Rohingya refugees walk after crossing the Naf river from Myanmar into Bangladesh in Whaikhyang. Myanmar is continuing its “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya with a “campaign of terror and forced starvation” in Rakhine state, a UN human rights envoy said on March 6, 2018, six months after a military crackdown sparked a mass exodus of the Muslim minority. AFP

UN says Rohingya still being abused Y ANGON― Myanmar is continuing its “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya with a “campaign of terror and forced starvation” in Rakhine state, a UN human rights envoy said on Tuesday, six months after a military crackdown sparked a mass exodus of the Muslim minority.

Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled over the border to Bangladesh since violence erupted in August, taking with them horrifying testimony of murder, rape and arson by soldiers and vigilante mobs.

While the majority of those refugees fled Myanmar last year, Rohingya continue to stream across the border by the hundreds every week.

“The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya from Myanmar continues. I don’t think we can draw any other conclusion from what I have seen and heard in Cox’s Bazar,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour said after speaking to newly-arrived Rohingya in

Bangladesh’s crowded refugee camps.

“The nature of the violence has changed from the frenzied blood-letting and mass rape of last year to a lower intensity campaign of terror and forced starvation that seems to be designed to drive the remaining Rohingya from their homes and into Bangladesh,” he said in a statement, adding that new arrivals are traveling from interior Rakhine towns further from the border.

His statement also said it was “inconceivable” that any Rohingya would be able to return to Myanmar in the near future, despite Myanmar’s pledges to start taking back some refugees.

“The Government of Myanmar is busy telling the world that it is ready to receive Rohingya returnees, while at the same time its forces are continuing to drive them into Bangladesh,” Gilmour said.

“Safe, dignified and sustainable returns are of course impossible under current conditions.”

Myanmar’s military has largely closed off northern Rakhine state to journalists, diplomats and most aid organizations outside of brief chaperoned trips.

It has justified the crackdown as an effort to root out Rohingya militants who attacked border police posts in August, killing about a dozen people.

But the UN, rights groups and many Western powers have accused the army of using the counterinsurgency as a pre-

text to expel a minority that has faced brutal discrimination for decades.

Doctors Without Borders has estimated that at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in the first month of the crackdown alone.

Hundreds of Rohingya villages were torched, and recent satellite imagery showed at least 55 villages have since been completely bulldozed, removing all traces of buildings, wells and vegetation.

Myanmar’s military has denied committing any abuses outside one incident in the Rakhine village of Inn Din, where it said security forces assisted with the killing of 10 unarmed Rohingya.

Rights groups say that is the tip of the iceberg from a force with a grim history of abuses around the country and open hostility towards the Rohingya.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, deputy army chief Soe Win reiterated the military’s stance that the “Rohingya” are not a genuine ethnic group in Myanmar―a view shared by many in the Buddhist majority, where there is broad support for the army campaign.

Myanmar’s civilian government, led by former democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, lacks control over the military but has been battered by rights groups for failing to speak in the Rohingya’s defense or tamp surging Islamophobia.

AFP

SEOUL―A former South Korean presidential contender stepped down as a provincial governor and announced his retirement from politics Tuesday in a stunning political fall after a female aide accused him of multiple rapes.

Ahn Hee-jung―who came second to current President Moon Jae-in in the contest for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination last year―is the most prominent figure to face abuse allegations during a swirling #MeToo movement in what is still a male-dominated society.

Kim Ji-eun, who was Ahn’s personal assistant before becoming an aide in civil affairs, told a television interviewer on Monday that Ahn had raped her four times since she was hired in June.

Kim told JTBC that the last straw came when Ahn called her into his office on the night of February 25 and apologized for having hurt her, talking about the country’s #MeToo movement.

“And then he raped me again,” she said, holding back tears. She also accused Ahn of sexually assaulting others.

“He always told me not to express my thoughts or opinion and to live like a shadow behind him... I couldn’t say no to him because I knew how much power he had,” Kim said.

Following the TV interview, the ruling Democratic Party held an emergency meeting and expelled Ahn with immediate effect.

Hours later, the 52-year-old announced his resignation as governor of South Chungcheong province and his retirement from public life.

National police chief Lee Chul-sung said police had launched a preliminary investigation into Ahn after contacting Kim’s lawyers, and vowed to ensure her personal safety.

“I apologize to everyone, especially to Miss Kim Ji-eun,” Ahn said in a Facebook post.

“I ask for forgiveness for my stupid action... it was all my fault,” he said.

It was an astonishing turnaround for Ahn, who enjoyed huge popularity among young liberal voters thanks to his wholesome image and good looks, which helped him earn the nickname “South Chungcheong’s EXO”―after a K-pop boy band.

Ahn was relatively young in the South’s aging political scene, and likened by many to former US President Barack Obama during his bid for the presidential nomination.

He had been tipped as a front-runner among liberal presidential hopefuls to succeed Moon―who can only serve one term―and topped an opinion poll last month on provincial governors’ job performance and transparency. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Office of the President

Republic of the Philippines Office of the President

Republic of the Philippines Office of the President

PDEA Bldg., NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Barangay Pinyahan Quezon City 1100, Philippines www.pdea.gov.ph

PDEA Bldg., NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Barangay Pinyahan Quezon City 1100, Philippines www.pdea.gov.ph

PDEA Bldg., NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Barangay Pinyahan Quezon City 1100, Philippines www.pdea.gov.ph

PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

INVITATION TO BID SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 20 UNITS OF ASIAN UTILITY VEHICLE (AUV) Bid Ref. No. 2018-13

PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

INVITATION TO BID SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 43 UNITS OF PASSENGER VAN Bid Ref. No. 2018-12

INVITATION TO BID SUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 151 UNITS OF MOTORCYCLE Bid Ref. No. 2018-14

1.

ThePhilippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), thru its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), intends to apply the sum ofEIGHTEEN MILLION PESOS (P18,000,000.00) through General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2018being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)to paymentsunder the contractfor theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 20 UNITS OF ASIAN UTILITY VEHICLE (AUV). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected duringbid opening.

1.

ThePhilippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), thru its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), intends to apply the sum ofSIXTY FOUR MILLION FIVE HUNDREDTHOUSAND PESOS (P64,500,000.00)through General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2018being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)to paymentsunder the contractfor theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 43 UNITS OF PASSENGER VAN. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected duringbid opening.

1.

ThePhilippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), thru its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), intends to apply the sum ofTWELVE MILLION ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS (P12,100,000.00)through General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2018being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)to paymentsunder the contractfor theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 151 UNITS OF MOTORCYCLE. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected duringbid opening.

2.

The PDEA - BAC now invites bids for theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 20 UNITS OF ASIAN UTILITY VEHICLE (AUV).Delivery of the goods is 90calendar days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

2.

The PDEA - BAC now invites bids for theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 43 UNITS OF PASSENGER VAN.Delivery of the goods is 90calendar days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

2.

The PDEA - BAC now invites bids for theSUPPLY, DELIVERY AND TESTING OF 151 UNITS OF MOTORCYCLE.Delivery of the goods is 90calendar days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Act.”

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Act.”

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Act.”

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours (8:00 am to 5:00pm).

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours (8:00 am to 5:00pm).

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours (8:00 am to 5:00pm).

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on March 2, 2018from the address given below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount ofTwenty five thousand pesos (PhP25,000.00).

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on March 2, 2018from the address given below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of fifty thousand pesos (PhP50,000.00).

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on March 2, 2018from the address given below and upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount ofTwenty five thousand pesos (PhP25,000.00).

The Invitation to Bid and Checklist of Requirements may be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and PDEA Website at www.pdea.gov.ph, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The Invitation to Bid and Checklist of Requirements may be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and PDEA Website at www.pdea.gov.ph, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The PDEA-BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 8, 2018, 10:30 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City 1100 which shall be open to prospective bidders.

6.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before March 20, 2018, 10:30 am. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

The PDEA-BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 8, 2018, 10:00 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City 1100 which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before March 20, 2018, 10:00 am. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be March 20, 2018, 10:30 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Pinyahan, Quezon City 1100. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat Mr. Arvin E Sadulloat the PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PMonly, Mondays to Fridays starting March 2, 2018at Tel No. (632)920-8082.However, any queries relative to the contents of the bid documents and the project requirements can only be made by bidders who purchased the bid documents not later than Ten (10) days prior to the Submission and Opening of Bids.

9.

PDEA reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10

For further information, please refer to:

Bid opening shall be March 20, 2018, 10:00 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Pinyahan, Quezon City 1100. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat Mr. Arvin E Sadulloat the PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PMonly, Mondays to Fridays starting March 2, 2018at Tel No. (632)920-8082.However, any queries relative to the contents of the bid documents and the project requirements can only be made by bidders who purchased the bid documents not later than Ten (10) days prior to the Submission and Opening of Bids.

9.

PDEA reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10. For further information, please refer to: Mr. Arvin E Sadullo PDEA-Logistics Management Service PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City Tel No. (632)920-8082

Mr. Arvin E Sadullo PDEA-Logistics Management Service PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City Tel No. (632)920-8082

6.

The PDEA-BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 8, 2018, 11:00 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City 1100 which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before March 20, 2018, 11:00 am. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be March 20, 2018, 11:00 am. at PDEA ODDGA Conference Room, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Pinyahan, Quezon City 1100. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat Mr. Arvin E Sadulloat the PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PMonly, Mondays to Fridays starting March 2, 2018at Tel No. (632)920-8082.However, any queries relative to the contents of the bid documents and the project requirements can only be made by bidders who purchased the bid documents not later than Ten (10) days prior to the Submission and Opening of Bids.

9.

PDEA reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10. For further information, please refer to: Mr. Arvin E Sadullo PDEA-Logistics Management Service PDEA Compound, NIA Northside Road, National Government Center, Quezon City Tel No. (632)920-8082

(Sgd) JESUS A FAJARDO, MMOAS Deputy Director General for Administration Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

(Sgd) JESUS A FAJARDO, MMOAS Deputy Director General for Administration Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee (MS-MAR. 7, 2018)

The Invitation to Bid and Checklist of Requirements may be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and PDEA Website at www.pdea.gov.ph, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

(MS-MAR. 7, 2018)

(Sgd) JESUS A FAJARDO, MMOAS Deputy Director General for Administration Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee (MS-MAR. 7, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

IN BRIEF Anti-dam leader killed in Ifugao TINOC, Ifugao—A leader of the Kalanguya people opposing another dam project in the Cordilleras was shot dead by still unidentified assailants, the Ifugao Peasant Movement said in a statement released on Monday.

“IPM condemns the killing of peasant and indigenous people’s leader Ricardo Mayumi on March 2, 2018. Mayumi was fierce in his opposition to the Sta. Clara and Ayala’s Quadriver mini-hydro projects,” the statement read.

Mayumi has been active in several dialogues with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Reps. Teddy Baguilat, Nancy Cotamco and Reynaldo Umali concerning the projects aiming to tap the hydro-electric potentials of several rivers here. Abe Almirol

Marawi farmers receive WFP aid FILIPINO farmers affected by fighting in Marawi are to receive food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme. This has been made possible by a P12.4 million (€300,000) contribution from the Government of Italy to WFP. “Italy stands with the Philippine Government in its efforts to assist the people of Marawi,” said Italian Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino. “Our partnership with the World Food Programme will support the food needs of thousands of Filipinos as they rebuild their lives.”

Thanks to this latest contribution, WFP will support 1,600 displaced farmers and their families over a period of three months, providing them with food assistance in exchange for their participation in agricultural activities to restore community assets.

PCAARRD starts IP protection plan BALANGA CITY, Bataan―The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development is implementing a project to enhance intellectual property protection and management in state universities in the country.

“The project aims to identify linkages to enhance activities in intellectual property protection and management, technology transfer, and commercialization,” said Arlene Ibanez, Bataan Peninsula State University Innovation and Technology Service office manager.

BPSU is one of the nine universities included in the PCAARRD initiative. Philippine Rice Research Institute, a research development institution, is also part of the project. Butch Gunio

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco (center, front row) leads the launch of the First 1,000 Days of Life Program (N1K), together with Vice Mayor Clint Geronimo, Councilor Ethel Joy Arriola (the principal author of City Ordinance 2018-02 that establishes the program in the city), Amado Parawan of Save the Children, other city councilors and City Health Office officials. Andrew Rabulan

Comply with electrical laws, Makati warns biz

By Joel E. Zurbano

M

AKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay on Tuesday warned owners and administrators of establishments in the city that they face penalties if they failed to comply with a policy mandating the employment of licensed electrical engineers and electricians in their premises.

Binay made the warning after the Office of the Building Official inspection found out that only one percent of some 2,530 establishments in the city have complied with Section 33 of Republic Act 7920, the New Electrical Engineering Law. “For the safety and welfare of the occupants, clients and visitors of buildings in Makati, owners and administrators of buildings and establishments in the city should comply with the provisions of the law. Otherwise, you will not be able to secure a business permit from City Hall,” Binay said.

Violators of the law will be fined of not less than P10,000 nor more than P50,000,

or imprisonment for a period of not less than six months nor more than five years, or both at the discretion of the court.

Binay earlier tapped OBO officer-incharge Engineer Elmer Acuesta to issue a memorandum to all concerned reiterating the mandatory requirements for personnel complement. She cited another provision requiring the posting of framed certificates of registration of engineers and electricians in their employ.

The city chief executive said she has instructed Acuesta to coordinate with the Business Permit and Licensing Office and furnish them the list of non-compliant establishments and buildings.

Section 33 titled “Personnel Required” specifies the minimum complement of professional electrical engineer, registered electrical engineer and registered master electrician required for every electric plant, industrial craft or factory, commercial establishment, institutional building or any installation where persons and properties are exposed to electrical hazards.

For industrial plants or factories, commercial establishments, or institutional buildings having a connected kVa load of any size and employing voltages of any standard rating, there should be at least one professional electrical engineer or one registered electrical engineer.

However, for connected loads up to five hundred kilovolt-amperes (500 kVa) and employing voltages up to six hundred volts (600 V), there should be one registered master electrician.

It further provides that additional qualified personnel shall be employed in above-mentioned cases to ensure safe operation and safeguard public welfare, life and property.

Manila’s poor gain ‘Damayan’ aid

SECRETARIES VISIT. Senator Cynthia A. Villar shakes the hands of members of the League of Barangay Secretaries in San Fernando City, La Union who visited her at the Senate of the Philippines. Villar has been helping local government officials in their undertakings and advocacies. Photo also shows Margarel Farolan, secretary of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of San Fernando, La Union. Lino Santos

THE pro-poor program of Mayor Joseph Estrada called “Damayan ng Maynila-Burial Assistance” that started last Nov. 22, 2016 has benefited 2,585 indigents, according to a report submitted by the Manila Department of Social Welfare.

Nanet Tayag, MDSW officer-incharge, said Estrada initiated the ‘Damayan’ One-Stop-Shop assistance for indigent Manileños to unburden poor city residents from the costs of burying their loved ones by offering Free Burial Assistance and Financial Assistance.

The mayor said the city doesn’t want the poor to worry where they’ll get the money to have their loved

Mutya ng Davao bets QCPD station chief sacked over drugs show wit, confidence By Rio N. Araja DAVAO CITY―The 28 candidates for the Mutya ng Davao pageant showed their poise and wit during the first round of elimination conducted at the SM Annex Monday afternoon.

From current events to questions often asked during beauty pageants, the candidates exuded beauty and confidence, and proved they are Dabawenyas who are intelligent and unafraid to express their opinions and make their voices be heard.

At least four candidates, who hold online jobs, said they will use their platform to disprove information that Davao City is a dangerous place. Critics have claimed the city has the highest criminality rate in the country. They committed to promote Davao as a peaceful and safe place to live in. F. Pearl A. Gajunera

QUEZON City Police District Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar on Tuesday sacked the commander of Police Station 5 in Fairview when one of his rookie policemen was found positive for illegal drug use.

Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde of the National Capital Region Police Office backed Eleazar’s recommendation to relieve Supt. Tomas Nuñez and Sr. Insp.

Danilo Songalia of the Drug Enforcement Unit of Station 5 from their posts.

The relief was part of command responsibility and the existing “one-strike policy” for commanders who would be found remiss in their duties and responsibilities, Eleazar said.

He warned he would deal with other erring police officers accordingly.

On Feb. 19, the QCPD conducted a surprise drug test on 331 personnel, most

of them assigned to anti-narcotics duties, at Camp Karingal as part of Eleazar’s “internal cleansing.”

PO1 Gabby Tumaliuan Bulan was found positive for illegal drug use.

Supt. Francisco Supe said Bulan was positive for drug use after a confirmatory test.

As a standard procedure, Bulan was transferred to the District Headquarters Support Unit and is now under restrictive custody.

Meanwhile, Eleazar spearheaded yesterday’s initial coordinating conference with the city’s Commission on Elections officials in line with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections set on May 14.

He said they mapped out security plans and preparations for the upcoming local polls, such as the establishment of checkpoints to be manned by our policemen and other auxiliary forces from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

ones buried, hence his administration introduced “Damayan.”

“We know how hard up they are so we want to help them,” said Estrada.

Tayag added that the Damayan services include free burial or paupers, financial assistance, groceries, discount in funeral services, discount in apartments or cluster in north and south cemetery and endorsement for financial assistance to national agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Office of the Vice President.

Estrada said 525 beneficiaries of Damayan have received Burial Financial Assistance worth P3,000 and groceries from MDSW since November 2016.

Navotas ‘N1K’ program starts with ordinance

By Jun David THE Navotas city government has formally launched the First 1,000 Days of Life Program (N1K) in conjunction with the opening of the National Women’s Month.

Under the leadership of Navotas Mayor John Rey Tiangco, the city government also passed City Ordinance 2018-02, the first in the country regarding the N1K program.

First 1,000 Days of Life refers to the time a baby is conceived until he or she turns two years old. It is considered as a “golden window of opportunity” because at this stage, the mother’s proper nutrition contributes a great factor and effect on the physical and mental health of the child is great.

“We wish that from the beginning, every Navoteño will be able to deliver his needs to grow healthy and reach his potential,” Tiangco said.

Through N1K, pre-natal services are free as regular checkups and birth plans and postpartum services such as immunization and feeding, if the child is undernourished.

It also affirms the service delivery network between city government, barangays, health institutions, and partner organizations like Save the Children to promote the overall well-being of the Navoteño families.

“N1K is also considered a poverty mitigation program. In ensuring the first 1,000 days of a child, we can avoid the effects of malnutrition on a family: the constant illness of the child and the incidence of growth that adds to the cost of the family,” added Tiangco.

“Through our enacted service delivery network, we will meet the needs of families and promote their well-being in the physical, social, psychological and economic aspects,” he said.

AIRPORT TALKS.

Bacoor native and Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla (left) stands with Amabassor Xi Jinping of China after President Rodrigo Duterte met with lawmakers in Malacañang recently regarding the proposed construction of an airport in Sangley Point, Cavite City. According to Revilla, the high-impact project ‘will give great job opportunities to Caviteños, among others. Thanks to the support of our President and Cabinet secretaries.’ Also present during the meeting were Cavite Gov. Boying Remulla, former governor Jonvic Remulla, former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, Cavite representatives, and secretaries of concerned government agencies.

Lino Santos

Life

Put an effortless finish to your work and weekend looks with Carly slip-ons in dark sapphire.

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

fashion and beauty

@mstandardLIFe wednesday, march 7, 2018

Play with patterns in Roundneck Long Sleeves Geometric Jacquard, Candy Stripe New Garcon, and Viscose Cady Riska Trousers

Earn your stripes in Nylon Milano Roundneck Short Sleeves, Nylon Milano Skirt, and Joseph Multiwear Bag

Stylishly

comfortable

By Bernadette Lunas

C

omForT shoes, or those with thick soles, round toes, and short heels, have long been popular with middleaged women or those who work long hours on their feet. These shoes are loved for one thing and one thing only: they’re comfortable to wear. But would you slip them on for a fancy event or a formal gathering? Never in a fashionista’s wildest dreams.

Paint the town colorful wearing Landscape Knit Sweater, Charlie Gingham Jacquard, and Cord Corduroy Trousers

Go gingham in Emerald Zadie Gingham Jacquard Dress and Noon Deck Chair Stripe

Joseph pays homage to David Hockney As A prelude to its spring/summer 2018 collection, UK fashion brand Joseph launches a collection that pays an homage to British artist David Hockney.

This season, the Joseph woman reveals her artistic temperament through a defiant clash of pattern and palette.

Picnic ginghams, polka dots, and parasol stripes unabashedly invigorate classic silhouettes taking a woman’s personal style to a new form and function.

In addition, the painterly palette —lawn green, cobalt, dandelion yellow—causes a bigger splash in this collection.

Following the release of the footwear collection last year, Joseph announces the launch of a dedicated handbag and leather goods collection. The series is an extension of the brand’s philosophies toward the uniform and modern habits of dressing.

“It started with the ease and honesty of your old-school bag, to take the highly functional and make it beautiful,” says creative director Louise Trotter. “With the new collection, each of the bags is like a modular system almost.

Wallets, pouches, and hardware can be attached for personalization; tailored to life. There’s even a keychain in each to easily locate house keys.”

The collection, composed of a satchel, bowling, and wrist-held styles, is expertly made in Italy using fine leathers. some designs are also available in the specially developed fabrics shown in the pre-spring/summer 2018 collection.

Selected styles from the collection are available at Joseph stores located at L1 SM Aura Premier and L1 S Maison at the Conrad Hotel.

All things are checked in this Check Print New Garcon and Check Print Clyde Skirt ensemble

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When it comes to footwear, you have to choose between style and comfort; they usually never come together, and when they do, the result looks like a silly attempt to be on-trend or comfort is compromised in the name of style. since its inception in 1927, comfort shoe brand Naturalizer has worked hard to deliver footwear choices that are as comfortable as they are stylish.

But for the longest time, its biggest consumer has only been women aged 40 and up.

“When you say Naturalizer, those who are familiar with the brand are the grandmothers and the mothers; women who are in their 40s to 60s,” retail specialist, Inc. merchandising manager Pam Abanilla told Manila Standard in an interview. rsI is the local distributor of Naturalizer in the Philippines.

Hence to appeal to the younger market, Naturalizer reimagined the brand by offering new styles, new colors, and new textures along with the “classics” that kept the label relevant.

Picking up from where it left in spring 2017, during which the brand introduced its sneakers line, Naturalizer launched new colors and textures for its sneakers and flat shoes. Its sneakers come in trendy colors like rose gold, peony pink, dark sapphire, and tiramisu, along with the classic black and white. They also come in a variety of materials, such as rich leather and soft suede. metallic is a huge part in Naturalizer’s spring/summer 2018 collection, as it is incorporated in its clogs, flats, strappy heels, kitten heel pumps, and open-toed wedges.

The bestselling pumps and sandals also come in new colors and textures as well as added embellishments. more women in their 20s to 30s or those career women and young mothers are now engaging with the brand, thanks to its latest releases and the growing trend towards comfortable apparel.

Naturalizer makes sure to maintain its patented N5 comfort elements, which are extra cushioning, breathable lining, balanced heel-to-toe, flexible soles, and lightweight material, while integrating new elements— this is how the brand is able to appeal to this generation’s consumers while sticking to its promise of comfort.

Abanilla, who wears Naturalizer as she goes about her 9-to-5, attests to the comfort of the brand. “I wear my Naturalizer sneakers the whole day, I walk a lot, I commute a lot—and there’s no pain,” she shared. she even related how the brand’s shoes saved her feet from strain when she was in Hong Kong, and walked more than 19,000 steps in a one day.

But of course, comfort aside, the brand is proud to have launched styles that women can proudly wear at any place, in any occasion.

“It’s not something that you’re embarrassed to wear because they’re not nice, because they’re just comfy.

It’s comfortable and stylish,” emphasized Abanilla.

In celebration of its 90th anniversary, Naturalizer invites everyone to trade in any old but wearable pair of ladies’ leather shoes for a Naturalizer gift certificate worth P2,000. Donated pairs will go to revelation City Community Foundation. Promo runs until march 15.

Naturalizer boutiques are located at Glorietta 4, Shangri-La Plaza, SM Megamall, Ayala Malls The 30th, TriNoma, Alabang Town Center, Mall of Asia, Ayala Cebu, and Abreeza Davao.

Focus on your 9-to-5 without worrying about strained feet in ultra-chic and classic pointed toe Natalie pumps.

Master the minimalism trend with a pair of modern mules like Sloan in gunmetal that lets you slip on and go.

Life

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wednesday, march 7, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

va n i t y c o r n er

ProteCtion aGainst sun and Pollution When you are regularly exposed to the harsh elements outdoors, as in the skin damaging UV rays and pollution, using sunscreen is not enough.

Japanese cult favourite skin care brand Biore introduces Biore UV anti-Pollution Body Care Serum that protects the skin from harmful effects of UV rays and pollution.

Its superior Double UV Block with SPF 50+ and Pa+++ promises to shield the skin from UVB rays that cause dark spots, freckles, and sunburn, and protects it against UVa rays that cause premature aging. Its anti-Pollution Shield, meanwhile, stops pollutants right on their track, therefore preventing any damaging effects on skin.

It comes in two variants: anti-Pollution Body Care Serum in extra Moist and anti-Pollution Body Care Serum in Intensive White.

Biore’s latest body serum line is available in select beauty stores and department stores nationwide.

WinninG the hair loss Battle haIr loss is a battle that can be won. human nature Strengthening +PLUS Shampoo and Strengthening +PLUS Conditioner harness the power of rosemary which is known and scientifically proven to encourage healthy locks and help prevent thinning hair.

The line also uses hydrolyzed wheat protein that helps increase the hair’s moisture absorption, making it less prone to brittleness; and it is formulated with Philippine Coco nectar that is responsible for attracting and retaining moisture, making tresses more resilient to heat.

When combined with human nature’s rosemary essential oil, these two hair care products offer a genuinely natural way to help fight hair loss.

Human Nature Strengthening +PLUS Shampoo and Conditioner are available in select supermarkets and department stores nationwide.

sharinG #BeYoutiFul stories. Ultherapy endorser Kris Aquino with Ultherapy’s newest brand ambassadors (from left) Agoo Bengzon, Rosanna Ocampo-Rodriguez, and Trisha Duncan.

Beauty defined by stories

By Mae Gianina C. Pascual

W

e are often told that beauty is something we create for ourselves. But it is our stories that motivate us to be beautiful.

Most of us tend to be too busy with a lot of duties and responsibilities that we often get caught unaware of how fast our body and appearance change. But as we all live a short life and only own our bodies once, shouldn’t we all make the most out it? as in realize its full and most beautiful potential.

“Queen of all Media” Kris aquino’s journey of finding the best antiaging formulation and technology has brought her to discovering Ultherapy.

Developed by German pharmaceutical company Merz, Ultherapy is the first and only FDa-cleared, non-surgical lifting procedure for brows, chin, neck, and décolletage. according to Judith albano-Cantada, marketing manager at Merz Philippines, “[Ultherapy] is a non-invasive treatment that lifts the skin using ultrasound technology to stimulate the body’s natural production of collagen, and it requires minimal to no downtime.”

“The natural-looking effects become increasingly visible after two to three months, and further improvements can appear up to six months later,” she added.

Joining aquino in sharing #BeYoutiful stories of how the procedure changes lives are Ultherapy’s newest ambassadors Trisha Duncan, rosanna Ocamporodriguez, and agoo Bengzon.

Duncan, a student and model, shared how she had lost her self-esteem after the medications for her chronic illness affected her appearance. “Ultherapy definitely helped me in gaining renewed confidence in myself,” she related.

Juggling her roles as a fashion designer, a wife, and a mother to three kids, Ocampo-rodriguez puts a premium on simple beauty regimen. She shared, “I’m really quite low maintenance, and actually wasn’t planning to do any treatments until I turned 40.”

“But I quickly became interested once I learned that Ultherapy was

Swarovski’s swan

aUSTrIan crystal accessories brand Swarovski continues to showcase its sparkling heritage with its growing collection of timeless designs that have become emblematic of the brand.

For spring/summer 2018, Swarovski pays tribute to its brand logo in its latest range of jewelry.

“The Swan—our unique and wellknown brand logo—represents everything that Swarovski stands for: femininity, beauty, and grace,” says creative director nathalie Colin.

“This season, I wanted to add an element of modernity; which is beautifully captured in a stylized version of the swan, designed with outlines that evoke Swarovski crystal facets.”

In the Facet Swan collection, Swarovski’s swan logo takes on a brilliant new form with of-the-moment shapes and silhouettes. a glittering monochrome palette of jet and clear Swarovski pavé crystal lends classic polish look to the necklace which can be worn to show either the clear or jet Swarovski pavé crystal side, depending on the wearer’s mood and outfit.

The rose gold open Facet Swan bangle, embellished with Swarovski pavé crystal, can be layered and stacked with your other bracelets.

The Facet Swan earrings in clear Swarovski pavé crystal and a rose gold tone add a discreet movement and are instant outfit changers. a pair ensures that even on an off-duty day you can feel polished on the jewellery front.

These on-trend accessories can be worn with or without the swan motif and can quickly transform from a pair of simple stud earrings to more statement-making ear jacket to bring you

a ‘lunchtime’ procedure that only has to be repeated every 18 to 24 months,” she enthused. “The benefits have been amazing and the feel, texture, and tightness of my skin have significantly improved.”

For beauty expert Bengzon, becoming the best version of herself is an ongoing process. The former beauty editor believes that preventive measures are important in maintaining physical appearance.

“When choosing treatments or procedures, I really try to factor in my particular concerns and invest in procedures that I know will help prevent future problems from taking place,” she said.

Bengzon said she undergoes Ultherapy sessions twice a year. “I’ve really seen a difference—my skin looks a lot tauter and my jawline is much more defined now.”

Ultherapy is now available in 31 accredited partner clinics around the Philippines, allowing more to discover and embrace their own definition of beauty at every stage in their lives.

Visit www.ultherapy.com or www.merzaesthetics.com for more information.

CleansinG With CharCoal Men fighting pimples and oily skin have a new ally in Blackwater Charcoal Facial Wash. The charcoal powder-infused face cleanser treats clogged pores, thus letting you wash your skin problems goodbye. It also contains peppermint extract for that refreshingly cool feeling.

Blackwater Charcoal Facial Wash is available at Watsons outlets and select supermarkets nationwide.

Photo by Mae Gianina C. Pascual

Pieces from The Facet Swan family is made for the modern woman.

The Facet Swan collection features Swarovski’s iconic swan logo.

Tod’s for the traveling man The purposeful wardrobe of a man who packs his luggage and travels the world at his own pace is composed of clothes that take on the contours of their wearer, journey after journey.

For spring/summer 2018, Italian luxury shoes and leather goods label Tod’s presents pieces for the man who has his own style and wears each piece regularly and for all occasions, with a lived-in, almost worn out look of a demanding lifestyle. his elegance is worn casually, with a lightness that turns leather into something more akin to fabric.

Lightweight denim and refined canvas coming from Tod’s ongoing fabric research and experimentation embodied this season in the worn, scorched like skins of summer 2018. The latest revolutionary step in a lifestyle of elegance is recognizable in its new textures and finishes.

The Gommino has a double T on all fabrics. The envelope bag sports supple new handles and the ergonomic deEnvelope bag

from day to night. asymmetry continues to be a key trend this season, so opting to mix and mismatch these earrings has never been more stylish.

Swarovski is available at Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Shangri-La, Rustan’s

Alabang Town Center, and Rustan’s Ayala Cebu, as well as in boutiques owned and operated by Stores Specialists, Inc. at Newport Mall, Robinson’s Magnolia, TriNoma, and The Podium Mall.

Tod’s Gommino loafers

sign of the new sneaker, with its four signature “pebbles” behind the heel, has an urban design focus. Ocean blue and sand beige are the colors of the safari and field jackets, which come in a lightweight material making it the perfect traveling companion in Italy.

Tod’s is located at Greenbelt 4 and Rustan’s Shangri-La.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

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nickie.standard@gmail.com

Simply Red...

theh

From C4

HAGHADG

The cast of 'The Charmichael Show'

Contemporary issues, hilarious twists in ‘THE CARMICHAEL SHOW’

S

TANDUP comedian Jerrod Carmichael is back for more spirited conversations with his family in the new season of the comedy series The Carmichael Show which premiered on Sony Channel on March 4.

issues end up in humorous arguments as Carmichael discovers the ties that bind his relationships with this wife Maxine (Amber West), and his opinionated family - his admirable brother Bobby (Lil Rey Howery) and his oldfashioned parents, the outspoken Joe (David Alan Grier) and the deeply religious Cynthia (Loretta Devine).

In the season opener, the family gets into a debate about consent that sends Bobby into a spiral when a friend of Maxine and Jerrod’s posts about her sexual assault on social media.

The Carmichael Show Season 3 airs every Sunday at 8:30 What starts out as heated discussions on contemporary p.m..

YUGEL LOSORATA

Maja Salvador collaborates with Malaysian, Thai idols

TWO Asian singing stars, Malaysian Min Yasmin and Thai ToR Saksit, simply found the right Filipino collaborators in releasing new recordings, tapping seasoned songwriter Vehnee Saturno and actress-singer Maja Salvador.

Min, labeled “Soundtrack Singer” in Malaysia for her numerous TV series and film soundtrack credits, recorded renditions of Vehnee’s compositions “Bakit Pa,” “In The Way You Love Me,” and “Kahit Konting Awa,” the last definitely to catch the attention of Noranians as it was originally the theme to the nowclassic Flor Contemplacion movie starring the Superstar. All three songs are part of her 14-track debut solo album called “Pangarap.” She’s a linguist and found Tagalog “great to sing in.”

“I always watch Filipino movies and series. Filipinos are very energetic and like to express feelings when they like a particular song,” shared the belter described by Vehnee as “sounding like Toni Braxton with a little bit of Adele.”

In her album sleeve, Min said of Vehnee, “It is such an honor for me to work with the Philippines’ premier hitmaker.”

Since 2015, Philippines has become Min’s second home, especially that the owner of Julfekar Music Malaysia has Tausug maternal lineage. She fashionably wears a turban and believes it is a vital visual detail that makes her different.

“I have so many collection of this and

somehow it is my style and strategy so that people can easily identify me.”

To be released both here and in Malaysia, “Pangarap” also contains songs with Tagalog lyrics by Raz Itum, a member of the band Frio. Three of the album tracks are sung in Tausug, Malay, and Sama.

In 2015, Min did a full-length collaborative album, titled 2 Voices, with Filipino singer Nikki Bacolod. Their single “Sa Iyo” gained consistent airplay in top FM stations.

Having done shows in Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi, she’s looking forward to doing a concert in Manila.

“This album sums all the sacrifice, sweat, and smiles in this great journey of memories, a dream-come-true for me,” she added.In a separate story of Asian synergy, singer-pianist ToR found an ally in Maja whom he jokingly noted as being “always mad on TV,” referring to her teleserye exposure. By the time they met in Thailand last year to record his composition “Falling Into You,” a sweet pretty lady who loves to laugh came on board.

Recently released by Philippines’ Ivory Music & Video and Thailand’s BecTero Music, with Tourism Authority of Thailand as a key partner, the piano-based ballad song is anticipated to become a hit.

For a few days in early February, ToR was in Manila doing radio rounds, mall shows

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Wednesday, March 7, 2018

ACROSS 1 Lauder rival 5 Tavern brews 9 Is on the team 14 Dull pain 15 Big jerk 16 Variety show 17 Flake off, as paint 18 Neutral color 19 Work by Rousseau 20 Marsh birds 22 Cloth-bound book 24 Encroachments 26 Well, in Grenoble 27 Charleston’s st.

28 Discussing casually 32 Gone to bed 35 Besides 36 Decent grade 37 Dull sound 38 Wire measure 39 Military post 40 Actor — Kilmer 41 Warbled 43 Kampala’s land 45 Windowwashing aid 47 None at all 48 Hoax 49 Rifle through 53 Battery part 57 Stone marker 58 Strong silent

type?

59 “Candy is dandy” poet 61 Caller’s code 62 Flashlight carrier 63 Part of a list 64 Edict 65 Puts on exhibit 66 Stoic philosopher 67 Marshes DOWN 1 Blue Grotto isle 2 Body of water 3 His and hers 4 Got dingy 5 Mr. Vigoda 6 Lomond and Ness 7 Mr. Cornell 8 Piece of tart candy 9 Come before 10 Tart 11 Tel — 12 Winter festival 13 Tarot reader 21 Squirrel away 23 Tumults 25 Drop bait on water 28 Light brown 29 Holy image 30 Inelegant one 31 — — grip!

32 Off-road

getabouts 33 Hoops nickname 34 Corker 38 Memory trigger 39 Shakespeare’s fat jovial knight 41 Zones 42 Thickening agent 43 Acapulco article 44 Processes cotton 46 Forgo 49 Put back to zero

50 Cliffside abode 51 Make spotless 52 Romantic poet 53 Down Under birds 54 Fasten securely 55 Nymph who pined away 56 Computer fodder 60 Medical care gp.

and TV. appearances.

“I found my voice in this song,” said Maja who continues to prove herself as a capable singer.

“Falling Into You,” released in eight territories including New Zealand and Australia, is now digitally available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music.

Sam is coming off the success of Doble Kara, an afternoon soap on ABSCBN that ran for more than year, while Yassi is currently enjoying her role as Alyanna in Ang Probinsyano, the no.

1 teleserye on primetime TV. Just recently, Pressman and Milby leveled up the public’s excitement as they were caught giving free hugs around the metro.

“Ang Pambansang Third Wheel” opens in cinemas nationwide today. *** There are lots of issues with regards to the food that we eat today. Due to the sprouting of “bad food” or “fast foods” that we purchase from Fast Food chains, indeed healthy eating is in trouble.

The reason why these issues arises is because, firstly, we are in the world where phasing is so fast, prompting us to patronize those kinds of delis, not to mention its cheap price compared to healthier food which makes families and individuals of today to treat fast food as an easy target.

Secondly, fast foods are really convenient. It’s really easy to eat a cheeseburger and French fries in the car on the way from one place to another, compared to sitting at a table with your family and eat a proper meal, which requires you to make so many preparations all day long.

These matters compromise healthy eating, resulting to the emergence of malnourishment for children and the dreaded diseases for adults in our society that should be addressed.

Let us always be reminded that eating remains to be one of the great sensual pleasures in life that makes life really seem worthwhile, so this should not be negotiated.

Enough of these challenges! There’s always someone to lean on that can provide innovative ideas about how to address those challenges. Someone who can make healthy treats less expensive, more convenient, and just plain easier to do.

And that’s what Healthy Meals Ph

by Renato’s will do for you.

It is a newly launched gastronomic delivery and catering services in the Metro that offers holistic approach for the preparation of well-balanced meals for the promotion of healthy eating.

Headquartered in Quezon City, the company caters for customers that are usually on the go, or those who don’t have the pleasure of time to prepare balanced and healthy meals for their loved ones and their selves, which includes busy parents that have no time to prepare for their children’s baons; health conscious; gym buffs, among others.

Not only that, the formidable and seasoned chefs of Healthy Meals PH as well concocts specialized packed meals to those with medical conditions such as diabetics and hypertensive.

With Healthy Meals PH. by Renato’s, you can now enjoy healthy and luscious food, since the essential minerals and vitamins are well premeditated, without compromising the desire of your taste buds and unminding the effects in your precious health.

With the launch of Healthy Meals PH. by Renato’s, we believe that you will now have the convenience of attaining a hassle- free healthy wellbeing. *** Navigate the Year of the Earth Dog with confidence with the help of the first and only Feng Shui App this 2018 by renowned feng shui expert Marites Allen.

This latest mobile application

provides an excellent guide this lunar new year, featuring daily forecast, practical tips, and frequently used charts for easy compatibility reference, and is based on the Feng Shui Almanac

by Marites, who also recently released her 2018 horoscope books—almanac, planner, and fortune forecast— published by ABS-CBN Publishing (API) and FRIGGA Charmed Life.

The highly informative app, developed by Philippine-based digital solutions company Synergy88 Digital in their first ever partnership with API, also includes a list of suitable and unsuitable activities to consider, to boost users’ chances of success, and also caution them on the possibility of unfortunate occurrences.

Premium users likewise get access to the entire 2018 calendar for planning and matching important activities and decisions with auspicious dates. Marites is the first and only Filipina to receive the prestigious “Master in Feng Shui” recognition from the International Feng Shui Association. She is also the only Filipino member of the Feng Shui Societies of London, Singapore and the World of Feng-Shui Malaysia. Her passion for the art drives her to guide others to have better luck and better lives.

The Feng Shui app is part of the growing list of digital platforms of ABSCBN, which is rapidly transitioning into an agile digital company with the biggest online presence among Filipino media companies.

Get the new Marites Allen Feng Shui App to boost your chances of success.

Android users may now download it through Google Play and it will soon be available for downloads on iOS. *** Emerging balladeer Zion Aquino, who nabbed the 30th Awit Awards’ Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist, is ready to captivate hearts with his soulful cover of “Reason Enough,” his first single under Star Music.

The singer-songwriter welcomed the challenge of singing his version of “Reason Enough,” originally one of the tracks from Regine Velasquez’s 1994 album Listen Without Prejudice.

At his recent contract signing with Star Music, Zion shared his excitement and anxiety on his new single.

“It was very challenging for me recording this song. I love singing strong, rough, and edgy. But for this project, I had to use the more tender side of my voice,” he said.

The song was written and produced

by Zion’s manager, Trina Belamide.

Aside from being hailed as best performer, the recent Awit Awards also accorded Zion with two more recognitions—Best RNB Recording and Best Ballad Recording.

Rising and multi-awarded balladeer Zion Aquino

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

Rolling out the red carpet for Wishcovery’s Wishful 5

Wishcovery’s Wishful 5 will battle it out on March 27 in a grand musical showdown at the Big Dome.

ON MARCH 27, the Smart-Araneta Coliseum will witness one wish come true as Wishcovery unveils its first-ever grand champion.

Wishcovery is an online singing competition launched by FM radio station Wish 107.5. The show airs every Saturday at 9:00 p.m. on the station’s YouTube channel, which currently has over 2 million subscribers.

Before the much-anticipated Big Dome battle, get to know the contest’s five grand finalists, collectively known as the Wishful 5: Carmela Ariola Batangas’ Carmela Ariola is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Her parents first discovered her singing ability when she was only three. But according to her, it was when she turned eight that she felt the passion to pursue music. She is a firm believer that her ultimate and true purpose as a musician is to “touch hearts and souls.”

Kimberly Baluzo Nineteen-year-old Kimberly Baluzo is currently a senior high school student based in Daet, Camarines Norte.

Apart from singing, she also dabbles into songwriting and playing musical instruments such as guitar, ukulele and flute. Her ultimate goal as a singer is to be of help to the less fortunate especially the abandoned children.

Hacel Bartolome The only musically-inclined member

in her family, Hacel Bartolome is a band vocalist from Cavite City. As a musical artist, she wishes “to gain respect in spite of her sexual orientation and receive undying support not only from the LGBT community but from all the listeners who believe in her God-given talent.”

Louie Anne Culala Encouraged by her family and friends to sing, Bulacan’s Louie Anne Culala first discovered her gift of music during her grade school years. Her roster of musical influences includes her father, Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Gary Valenciano, Lea Salonga, Sarah Geronimo and Morissette. The 20-yearold songstress ultimately dreams to make it to the global music arena, and release self-penned albums.

Princess Sevillena Princess Sevillena, 24, has been singing since the age of three. According to her, it was her family and her best friend who first told her to pursue a career in music. As an artist, she is driven by her goal to become a living testament to the mantra that “waiting patiently and praying fervently will lead you to the best that you can be.”

Wish 107.5’s Wishcovery is hosted by Kris Lawrence. It lists the country King of R&B Jay R, The Company’s AnnieQuintos and hitmaker Jungee Marcelo as its resident judge-reactors

Sam Milby finds Yassi Pressman in

‘Ang Pambansang Third Wheel’ IF YOUR love life is always on a third wheel and you meet a guy as handsome as Sam Milby, will you pass up the chance. If I were Yassi Pressman, who’s playing a role in the film Ang Pambansang Third Wheel as a woman who always ends up as such…third wheel…I will make sure I won’t be third this time. I’ll be first.

Pressman and Sam Milby reunite in Ang Pambansang Third Wheel, a romantic comedy produced by VIVA Films and The IdeaFirst Company.

Yassi plays Trina, a receptionist turned copywriter in an advertising agency. She has a very active imagination and believes that every person is destined to meet someone that will keep her or him company in this life’s journey. Already in her 30s, Trina is yet to find that one person for her.

She’s had her heart broken thrice, a n d h a s long accepted the awkward status of b e i n g a third w h e e l to her dating friends.

S h e swears she won’t fall for a guy until she’s sure that he meets her standards.

Sam plays Neo, an art director who is

teamed with Trina in an advertising project. Beyond his good looks, Trina finds ISAH V. RED something in him that makes her break down the wall she’s built to protect her heart. Neo admits that he has loved three women, but his revelation about having an eight-year-old son devastates Trina. To make matters worse, the boy’s mother still makes her presence felt.

Now third-wheeling between Neo and his son, does Trina stand a chance of being Neo’s “Only One”?

Playing the role of Murphy, the attention-seeking son of Neo, is Alonzo Muhlach, while Monica, Neo’s ex-wife, is played by Sam Pinto.

Directed by Ivan Andrew Payawal, the film is getting positive reactions from netizens because of its storyline and the chemistry between the lead stars who both starred in the movie C a m p Sawi.

I n explaining Ya s s i ’s character, Payawal who also wrote the screenplay said, “Gusto niya s’ya iyong priority pero dahil in-accept n’ya itong lalaki na ito sa buhay n’ya, kailangan n’yang mag-adjust.”

Continued on C3

Dingdong Dantes serenades his Thai fans in a show in Bangkok's Centralworld.

LOCAL STARS, series take center stage in Thailand

G

MA Network will soon charm the hearts of Thai viewers as top-rating Kapuso drama series are set to launch in Thailand.

Thai company JKN Global Media acquired over 1,000 hours of GMA dramas through GMA Worldwide including Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real (The Other Mrs. Real), My Faithful Husband, and Beautiful Strangers, which will air via Bright TV. Kapuso leading men bannered by primetime king Dingdong Dantes, Mikael Daez, and Benjamin Alves graced JKN and Bright TV’s event dubbed, “Have a Bright Day” held in Centralworld, Bangkok on Feb. 20. The actors serenaded their Thai fans, who welcomed them with loud cheers, as their way of thanking them for their support.

Dingdong thanked JKN CEO Anne Jakrajutatip in an Instagram post for the warm welcome and for bringing Thailand and the Philippines closer via GMA dramas.

“It was such a pleasure to be part of GMA Network’s delegation and to personally witness how much our Thai neighbors appreciate the work that we’ve done.”

He also extended his gratitude to the cast and crew behind the success of his drama,The Other Mrs. Real.

“It was indeed heartwarming to meet our supporters in Thailand. I’m very much thankful to the Thai viewers for supporting our programs,” said Mikael

Benjamin Alves joins two other Kapuso hunks in a tour in Bangkok to promote GMA Network shows.

who starred in My Faithful Husband.

In an Instagram post, Benjamin also sent his gratitude to Ms. Jakrajutatip for inviting them to the grand event of Bright TV. “I am excited for the Thai fans who will be able to watch and enjoy Beautiful Strangers which is set to premiere in March,” Benjamin said.

Meanwhile, Jakrajutatip, who visited Manila prior to the promotional tour, said that they are grateful for the strong partnership they have with GMA Worldwide.

“We love GMA because of the great collaboration that we have with them,

their programs are well-produced with good casting and compelling stories that are relatable to the Thai audience.

Most importantly, they have a good content sales team and they also have excellent after sales service,” Jakrajutatip said.

Other acquired GMA dramas set to air in Thailand are My Husband’s Lover, Carmela, Rhodora X, My Destiny, Pahiram ng Alaala (Memories of Love), Because of You, Juan Happy Love Story, Meant To Be, I Heart Davao (My Sweet Heart), My Love From The Star, Destined To Be Yours, and Ika-6 na Utos (A Woman Scorned).

Mikael Daez from 'My Faithful Husband' renders a heartwarming song dedicated to their supporters.