Manila Standard - 2018 August 13 - Monday

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Special Report on the Economy August 15, 2018

VOL. XXXII • NO. 178 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

‘Careful with federalism’ Business groups warn lawmakers of risks, costs of new gov’t system

By Othel V. Campos

I

NFLUENTIAL business groups on Sunday called on lawmakers to carefully weigh the costs and risks associated with the proposed shift to a federal system of government.

In a joint statement, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, The Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, The Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Exporters Confderation Inc., The Makati Business Club and the Cebu Business Club threw their support behind Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, who have expressed reservations about the draft federal constitution prepared by the Consultative Committee (Con-Com) created by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We, too, believe in the need to adhere to the public finance principle ‘funds Next page

Anti-corruption agency sets own probe of P6.8b smuggled shabu

By Rio N. Araja THE Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) on Sunday said it too would launch an investigation into the Bureau of Customs after a P6.8-billion shipment of shabu slipped past them.

The commission said it would summon officials to shed light on the incident and would not hesitate to recommend that President Rodrigo Duterte fire any officials found to be remiss in the performance of their duties, or

worse, to be guilty of conspiracy with smugglers.

This comes as the House of Representatives’ committee on dangerous drugs is set to hold a congressional inquiry Tuesday into the huge shipment of shabu that slipped past Customs authorities on Friday.

The panel, led by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, has summoned officials from the BoC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to shed light Next page on the incident.

House panel calls for budget revision

By Rio N. Araja

MONSOON SCENES. Heavy rains on Saturday onto Sunday led to these scenes from across Metro Manila. Topmost photo shows pedestrians crossing makeshift bridges along España Boulevard in Manila, while (clockwise from top left) evacuees cram into the covered court in Bagong Silang, Quezon City; a man moves his household goods to avert the rising floodwaters; mud-filled debris blocks the way to houses along a city street; and a car gets swept into the river, all in Marikina City. Lisa Marie David and Manny Palmero with AFP

‘‘

THE chairman of the House committee on appropriations on Sunday called on the Development Budget Coordination Committee to amend the proposed 2019 national budget to pave the way for a resumption of suspended deliberations on the national spending plan.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Nograles said House leaders decided

to suspend he hearings so that the DBCC could withdraw the cashbased budgeting it has proposed and return to an obligation-based budgeting system.

“All they have to do is amend it,” he said of the DBCC, an office of the Department of Budget and Management.

He said he hoped they could resolve the impasse in a week.

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Brace for more rain in next few days due to ‘habagat’ zon, Oriental and Occidental Mindoro should stay alert for floods and landslides.

In other developments: • Rain spawned by the southwest monsoon will persist in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon until Wednesday, an official said Sunday.

I resigned in July and taking a Masters now in UC Berkeley.

I haven’t received my salary as Usec. for Disaster Res up to now.

THE weather bureau said Sunday Luzon should brace for more rain today, Monday, as the southwest monsoon would continue to affect the area that was drenched beginning Saturday.

The agency said Metro Manila, the Ilocos region, Cordillera, Central Luzon, Calabar-

— Undersecretary Karen Jimeno of the Presidential Management Staff, revealing her resignation from government through her Twitter account.

Love knows no weather: Bride walks flooded aisle

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A BEAMING bride defiantly marching up a flooded church aisle in the Philippines has won hearts as the country suffers a fresh bout of monsoonal rain.

Jobel Delos Angeles, 24, married the father of her two children on Saturday as Tropical Storm “Yagi” and the southwest monsoon brought heavy flooding to the capital Manila and nearby areas, including their home province of Bulacan.

In a Facebook video shared over a thousand times, Delos Angeles is all smiles as she walks through brown floodwaters in a white gown and veil before her suited groom clad in flip-flops HIGH WATER MARK. Jobel Delos Angeles walks along a flooded aisle (inset) as she and her groom say their Next page vows at a church in Hagonoy, Bulacan, at the height of torrential rains that inundated most of Luzon. AFP takes her to the altar.

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twitter.com/ MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 MlaStandard mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Congress finishes 195 measures in 9 session days IN THE nine session days since the start of the 17th Congress’ third regular session, from July 23 to August 8, the House of Representatives has processed a total of 195 measures, including passing two priority measures of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a report by the Committee on Rules, the House under Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo passed two priority laws — Republic Act 11055 or the Act Establishing the Filipino Identification System. and RA 11054, the Act Providing for the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

During the same period, lawmakers were able to process an average of 22 measures per session. They were able to substitute or consolidate 116 measures and approved 79 bills and resolutions, the report added.

The Lower House also ratified two bicameral reports, concurred with Senate Amendments on two bills, and brought to the Bicameral Conference two national bills: the granting of a franchise to Innove Communications Inc. and the strengthening on the drive against Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS).

The House also approved on third reading a total of 28 bills and approved 38 bills on second reading, which included the rice tariffication bill to curb inflation, another priority measure of the Duterte administration. Five resolutions were also adopted.

Speaker Arroyo, the former President and representative of Pampanga’s Second District, earlier vowed to carry out the legislative agenda of the President, which included Charter Change, rice tariffication, ban on contractualization, passage of the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act, National Land Use Act, the establishment of a Department of Disaster Management and the Coco Levy Trust Fund and the Universal Health Care.

The House earlier passed its version of the UHC as well as the National Land Use Act. It also passed a bill that gives security of tenure to workers and prohibits subcontracting work.

The Senate has yet to pass their counterpart bills on these measures.

House...

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The DBCC is led by Budget SecretaryBenjamin Diokno with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, Economic Planning Secretary General Ernesto Pernia and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Nestor Espenilla Jr. as members.

Camarins Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte urged government agencies to get their act together in implementing infrastructure projects in support of the President’s Build, Build, Build program.

Senate finance committee chairperson Loren Legarda, meanwhile, said the Senate would continue to discuss the 2019 budget after the House indefinitely suspended budget hearings.

“The Senate Finance Committee will continue with the budget hearings as scheduled,” Legarda said in a statement.

The House suspended the deliberations to oppose the planned cash-based nature of 2019’s general appropriations, which means that the extent of budget implementation is one year, with an extended payment period of three months after the fiscal year.

Under cash-based budgeting, agencies have only a year after the fiscal year to settle payments for the goods and services delivered.

In obligations-based budgeting, the funds for the fiscal year are valid for two years.

“When the House resumes their hearings on the budget, we will be ready to receive the GAB (General Appropriations Bill). I am confident that the House will resolve these concerns in due time,” Legarda said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the House move to suspend hearings should not delay the 2019 budget or lead to a reenacted budget.

“We can only hope that after this pause, they can fast-forward their review so that the budget will arrive in the Senate as scheduled and will not jeopardize the traditional timetable of an enacted budget by the end of the year,” Recto said in a statement.

“As we are four-and-a-half months away from the end of the year, any speculation of a re-enacted budget is premature,” Recto said.

The Senate, he added, must continue with its parallel hearings on the 2019 budget because only through the rigorous examination of agency budgets will they discover the flaws and faults and apply the remedial measures.

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Balangiga bells’ return lauded M

By Rio N. Araja

EMBERS of the House of Representatives welcomed the reported plan of the US Defense Department to return the historic Balangiga bells to the Philippines.

“We welcome the endorsement of the US Secretary of Defense for the return of the Balangiga Bells. They rightfully belong to us as a symbol of freedom and justice,” Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said.

Earlier, Evardone filed a resolution for the recovery of the bells for the 127th anniversary of the Balangiga massacre on Sept. 28.

“The return will... finally erase the remaining irritant or vestiges of the Philippine-American War,” he said.

The news agency Reuter earlier reported that US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has already notified the Houe of Representatives of plans to return the bells to the Philippines.

But the turnover date has not been determined.

The Balangiga bells were church bells taken by the US Army from the town church of Balangiga, Eastern Samar, as war trophies after reprisals for the Balan-

giga massacre in 1901.

Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza said he is hoping the plan to return the bells is “for real.”

“If the bells are indeed returned to us, it would finally, rectify a grievous historical wrong inflicted by the Americans not only on the Samareños but...on the Filipino nation,” he said.

He said the bells are an eloquent symbol of the courage and patriotism of the Filipino to remind the present generation that they should resist foreign domination in any form.

On the other hand, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said the US Defense Department should “walk the talk” and issue an apology for the atrocities they committed.

“These bells are emblematic of the continuing injustice committed against our country and people in the name of the hegemonic and imperialist greed of America,” he said.

He said the US must not give Filipinos false hope.

“We have long been asking for the Balangiga bells’ return but until now, [they have not been returned],” he said.

American forces took three bells from the Catholic church of Balangiga town on the eastern island of Samar in 1901 as war booty in what historians said was a particularly brutal military operation in the new US colony.

President Rodrigo Duterte and previous Philippine governments had urged Washington to return the bells, with the president often raising the issue in his anti-American tirades as he builds closer ties with China and Russia.

The US had initially given a non-committal response to Duterte’s demands but on Sunday said it would return the bells.

“The Secretary of Defense has notified Congress that the Department (of Defense) intends to return the Bells of Balangiga to the Philippines,” said Molly Koscina, spokeswoman for the US embassy in Manila.

“We’ve received assurances that the bells will be returned to the Catholic Church and treated with the respect and honor they deserve,” she added, saying there was no date scheduled for the move.

Duterte’s spokesman welcomed the announcement.

Two of the bells are installed at a memorial for US war dead in the state of Wyoming, while the third is with US forces in South Korea.

Some US politicians oppose the dismantling of the memorial, and the issue had sparked an emotional response from the descendants of American soldiers who served in the Philippine campaign.

The Philippines, a Spanish colony for centuries, was ceded to the United States in 1898 at the end of the Spanish-American War. The country gained independence from the US in 1946.

The brutal Samar campaign was launched about a month after Filipino rebels killed 34 US troops in Balangiga on Sept. 28, 1901, according to a US Army War College research paper.

Seven other American soldiers perished during the escape from Balangiga, and US reinforcements razed the town the day after, it added.

Then-Philippine president Fidel Ramos first sought but failed to recover the bells during a 1998 Washington trip.

Duterte, who took office in mid-2016, demanded the return of the bells during his State of the Nation address last year: “Give us back those Balangiga bells.

They are not yours. They are ours. They belong to the Philippines. They are part of our national heritage.” With AFP

Brace...

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ASEAN LINKS. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (fifth from left) joins hands with ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during the Asean Day 2018 Diplomatic Reception at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, in celebration of the regional bloc’s 51st founding anniversary. PNA

‘Careful...

From A1

follow function,’” the groups said in their statement. “Accordingly, we echo the concerns of fiscal and economic experts about the ambiguous provisions on the division of revenue and expenditure responsibilities between the proposed federal government and its federated regions.”

They said the shift to a federal form of government would cost from P72 billion to P130 billion, and result in a fiscal deficit of 6.7 percent of gross national product (GDP), which is far beyond the sustainable 3 percent target set by the country’s economic managers.

“We worry about the dire consequences that such fiscal imbalance could have on the economy and the flagship Build Build Build program of the current administration. We commend the economic managers in the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the NEDA, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as well as the researchers in the PIDS for their transparency in openly sharing their analysis and airing their concerns to the public,” they said.

The business groups said they support

Anti-corruption...

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On Wednesday, authorities found four magnetic scrap lifters with traces of illegal drugs in a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite on Wednesday.

These containers were similar to the ones found in the Manila International Container Port, where Customs and PDEA agents found 500 kilos of shabu, estimated at P4.3 billion, hidden in two magnetic scrap lifters.

These shipments led Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapena to fire Vener Baquiran, the MICP district collector, and order an investigation into SMYD Trading, the accredited importer of the ship-

Love...

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“Even if it floods or it rains, nothing can stop me. You only get married once, will you postpone it? I was marrying the man I love,” Delos Angeles told AFP by phone.

“My gown got wet and heavy but I told myself it was as if I was walking on a red carpet.”

The Philippines endures an average of 20 typhoons and storms each year.

The latest storm brought misery to many, with 20,000 residents fleeing the riverside district of Marikina in the na-

the call for a more detailed analysis of the fiscal impact of federalism to serve as basis for the deliberations in Congress.

They also also encouraged a full, open, and dispassionate dialogue on the proposed shift in form of government, keeping in mind its long-term impact on future generations of Filipinos.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, said the country’s economic managers were “integral and indispensable” to the national conversation on federalism.

“You don’t shut them out of the discussions; you bring them in--because the cost of federalism is front and center of the issue,” Recto said.

Recto said those who raise revenues and manage the economy “can provide a reality check if a proposal is financially feasible and fundable.”

“Before we communicate what federalism is, can we not first calculate what its cost will be?” he added.

“Every proposal has a cost. Scratch the surface of every provision of a bill, and there is a price tag underneath. We are often told the benefits of a project but not the price,” he said.

While he himself does not often see eye to eye with the views of the economic managers on many issues, “I listen to

them, value their views, and appreciate where they’re coming from.”

“Because at the end of the day, it is they who will raise the revenues in implementing proposals we politicians love to sponsor,” Recto said.

“In the case of Finance Secretary Dominguez, he must raise P10 billion a day to finance the operations, the programs of this government. And collecting this P10 billion daily quota from the people is a thankless job,” Recto said.

“That’s why when the Finance secretary says, wait, let’s see how much this is going to cost, let’s listen to him. He could be wrong, but it is to our benefit… [to] listen to him,” Recto said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Recto said every proposal, like federalism, should undergo a fiscal responsibility check. “There’s a four-way test. What is the cost to implement it? Do we have the money for it? Do we have to raise taxes or impose fees or create savings or borrow money? What is the per capita burden it will impose?”

“Running the numbers is a politics-free exercise. You cannot bend it to suit one’s position. If it is financing federalism, then the results of the studies and simulations should be the basis of how to move forward,” Recto said.

ment.

PDEA said initial information indicated the drugs came from the Golden Triangle syndicate from Taiwan, using Malaysia as a transshipment point.

Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano expressed disappointment over the continued entry of illegal drugs.

“This is a big blow to Duterte’s war on drugs. Tons and tons of drugs entered the country. I am just wondering why illegal drugs have slipped past our authorities,” he said.

Despite the strict policy of the President against drugs and the killings of drug suspects, drug smugglers and traders are just getting bolder and bolder, he added.

Lapeña, reacting to suggestions that Customs officials conspired with smug-

glers, said the shipment of shabu had “no derogatory information” and followed normal clearance procedures.

In a text message to media on Sunday, Lapeña said the shipment discovered by PDEA agents in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, passed through customs clearance and underwent X-ray scanning, which he said is the normal procedure for red-tagged shipments. “[An] initial review of the transaction revealed that there was no discrepancy between the declaration of magnetic lifters and the findings in the X-ray slide,” he said. “[Without] any derogatory information, and following normal procedure, the shipment was processed and released,” he added

tional capital region where floods swept away cars, authorities said.

But for Delos Angeles, the weekend was cause for celebration.

She said she and her partner of seven years did not expect bad weather but never considered calling off their wedding even after floodwaters entered the church in Hagonoy town.

It was a double ceremony, with their five-month-old daughter baptized in the same event, she added.

Guests were photographed barefoot, including children who were afraid to slip.

“We didn’t want a new schedule as we were already stressed out. Our hometown

is really flood-prone,” Delos Angeles added.

“No car wanted to bring us to the church so I just rode a boat. We didn’t expect so many people would still turn up, even the entourage.”

The bride’s aunt, Teresa Bautista, posted the video of her niece that has drawn comments from social media users hailing the event as the “wedding of year”.

“I felt bad for them but at the same time I am happy they got it through,” Bautista told AFP. Delos Angeles said she had no regrets.

“It is truly memorable. I am so happy.

It shows the lesson that there are no what ifs.” AFP

Weather forecaster Aldczar Aurelio said the tropical storm outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon.

• The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Sunday it was on red alert 24 hours a day as it continued to monitor the rain and floods brought by the southwest monsoon.

• The water level in the Marikina River remains at Alarm Level II, the city’s public information office said on Sunday, hinting that the residents nearby should prepare for a possible evacuation.

The Marikina Public Information Office said the, water level in the river was still at 16 meters, which is classified as Second Alarm, as of 3:35 pm on Sunday.

• The Archbishop of Manila on Sunday called on parishes to open their gates and accommodate those affected by the flooding brought about by the heavy rain over the weekend.

• Some dams in Luzon have been releasing water on Sunday following the heavy rain brought by the southwest monsoon.

• The Office of Civil Defense said it had yet to record casualties from the continuing rain brought by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm “Karding.”

“I hope it stays that way,” agency spokesman Edgar Posadas told reporters on Sunday.

• The Philippine Coast Guard said at least 638 passengers, eight vessels and 26 motorboats were stranded in various ports as of noon on Sunday.

Karding left the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning and was sighted 665 kilometers northnortheast of extreme Northern Luzon.

On Monday, moderate to heavy rain will again hit Metro Manila, the Ilocos Region, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Oriental Mindoro, and Occidental Mindoro. The rest of Luzon will also have scattered rain showers and thunderstorms.

Residents of the areas affected by the southwest monsoon should watch out for flash floods and landslides. Massive floods have already hit parts of Metro Manila and Rizal over the weekend.

The Visayas and Mindanao will only have localized thunderstorms on Monday. But flash floods and landslides are possible if the rain becomes moderate or heavy.

Meanwhile, a gale warning was issued for Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Metro Manila, Cavite, the western coast of Batangas, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Batanes, the Calayan Group of Islands, the Babuyan Group of Islands, Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Masbate, Burias Island and the southern coast of Batangas.

The seas off those areas will be rough to very rough, with the wave heights reaching 2.6 meters to 4.5 meters.

Weathermen advised fishermen and others with small vessels not to set sail in the areas covered by the gale warning. Larger vessels should watch out for big waves.

Karding was the Philippines’ 11th tropical cyclone for 2018. The country usually gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. Rio N. Araja

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MoNday, august 13, 2018

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Exploration with China not ‘harmful’ —Cayetano

By Nat Mariano The framework for the proposed joint exploration hunt for oil and gas deposits with China in the West Philippine Sea will not be “harmful” to the country’s territorial and sovereign rights, Foreign Affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano assured the public.

“We are working hard, and we assure our people that it will be something that will be totally beneficial to all the Filipinos,” Cayetano said as he graced the opening of an entertainment convention in Pasay City over the weekend.

“It will not be harmful in any way to our territorial and sovereign rights,” he added.

In a press briefing last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs chief said President Rodrigo Duterte has already approved the creation of a legal team to study the legalities of the expected exploration.

The working group for the Philippines-China deal will be composed of experts from the Department of National Defense, Department of Justice, Department of environment and Natural Resources, the Office of the Solicitor General, various oil and gas experts, constitutional law authorities, and professionals knowledgeable in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “As soon as both sides send their working groups, at least we can talk.

I’m not sure if we can agree, but at least we can start talking,” said Cayetano, emphasizing the need to put up an acceptable framework for both countries.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said Thursday it expects the framework to be ready before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Manila in November.

“The President has repeatedly said that he is open to joint exploration.

Number one, because the Supreme Court said it’s constitutional in [the case of] La Bugal; and number two, because it is pursuant to the national interest. But he will not give up even an inch of Philippine territory. That’s our stand,” presidential spokesman harry Roque said.

Guevarra: Data stored in natl ID ‘inaccessible’ without consent JUSTICe Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said data that will be stored in the national identification system are inaccessible to anyone unless they secure the consent of the concerned owner.

“Under this new [national ID] law, registered information can only be accessed by third parties if the registered person gives his or her consent, or if there is a court order,” Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.

The Justice chief made the statement following the signing into law by President Rodrigo Duterte of Republic Act 11055, the Philippine Identification System Act, last August 6.

With a national ID system, Guervarra said a large database for all Filipinos and even for resident aliens is created.

“Identity theft will be prevented, making it harder to commit crimes and acts of terrorism. Law offenders can be identified and located more easily,” he stressed.

Duterte signed into law the Philippine Identification System Act, which seeks to integrate the various government IDs of all citizens and foreign residents in the country.

Under the measure, a foundational ID system dubbed as PhilSys, will be put in place.

It will have three components: the PhilSys Number (PSN), PhilID and PhilSys Registry. PSN is a randomly generated, unique and permanent identification number for each individual, to be incorporated in all identification systems of government agencies.

The ID will remain with the person even after death. PhilID is a nontransferable card with the PSN and basic information.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is mandated to act as the PhilSys Registry.

Under the national ID law, the PSA will collate the full name, sex, birthdate, address, citizenship and blood type of Filipino citizens and encode them in a centralized database.

BIG HAUL. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña (right) and Enforcement Security Service Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz inspect the P8.5-billion worth of fake cigarette tax stamps, used

clothes, sacks of rice, cigarettes, and other fake goods that were found inside various warehouses in Quezon City. The agents from ESS, through the efforts of Ruiz, raided the warehouses in the PFTC Compound at Marvex Drive corner A. Bonifacio Avenue on August 2.

Sans SC restraint, DOJ to prosecute Peter Lim

By Rey E. Requejo

T

he Department of Justice will proceed with the prosecution of Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim despite his pending petition before the Supreme

Court seeking to stop the DOJ’s reinvestigation of the drug charges against him that were previously dismissed by government prosecutors.

In the absence of any restraining order from the SC, the DOJ went ahead with the filing of the information for violation of Section 26 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act against Lim before the Makati City Regional Trial Court last week despite the pendency of Lim’s pe-

tition to stop the criminal proceedings.

Malacañang welcomed the charges against Lim filed by the DOJ. “The filing of charges by the Department of Justice against Peter Lim shows government’s seriousness and firm resolve in fighting the illicit drug trade,” Presidential Spokesperson harry Roque said on Sunday.

“Big fish or small, our war against drugs spares no one. It is a war that drug smugglers and traffickers are bound to lose,” he added.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutors Juan Pedro Navera, head of the DOJ’s panel of prosecutor, stressed that the

high Court has not acted on Lim’s petition or issued a temporary restraining order on the preliminary reinvestigation.

“There’s no TRO from the SC, that’s why we issued the resolution and filed the case in court,” Navera said.

The Justice Department charged Lim with two counts of conspiracy to commit illegal drugs, reversing the earlier controversial decision of its own prosecution panel that cleared the businessman.

Lim has alleged in his Supreme Court petition that his right to due process had been violated.

In his petition, Lim asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the DOJ’s preliminary reinvestigation on charges of sale, administration, dispensation, trading, delivery and transportation of illegal drugs under RA9165 that were previously dismissed by a panel of prosecutors.

JOB CARAVAN. Job applicants troop to the DPWH-organized ‘Jobs Jobs Jobs Caravan’ at the SMX on Sunday. It is part of the Duterte Administration’s Build Build Build program with the promise of more employment opportunities to the people. Almost 17,000 job openings were offered, mostly from construction companies, in support of the government’s infrastructure build up. Norman Cruz

Du30 attending WEF Asean forum in Sept.

PReSIDeNT Rodrigo Duterte is expected to attend the World economic Forum on the Association of Southeast Asian Nation in Vietnam next month, event organizers confirmed.

“We are honored to be welcoming this record delegation of regional government leaders,” WeF Asia Pacific head and WeF executive committee member Justin Wood said Sunday.

“The ASeAN region is currently one of the world’s bright spots for economic growth, and their presence shows the commitment they have to ensure this remains the case as the Fourth Industrial Revolution expands in economic scope and impact, and the geopolitical environment around them changes rapidly,” Wood added.

According to the WeF, the following Southeast Asian leaders who already confirmed their participation are: • Cambodia Prime Minister Samdech Techo hun Sen • Indonesia President Joko Widodo • Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith • Malaysia Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad • Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi • Singapore Prime Minister Lee hsien-Loong • Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. however, the Palace has yet to confirm Duterte’s attendance at the meeting in ha Noi, Vietnam from September 11-13.

The meeting, with the theme “ASeAN 4.0 entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” will address strategic issues of national and regional importance.

Per the WeF, the agenda includes using entrepreneurship to craft new approaches to regional and global governance, drive economic and business dynamism, and shape social inclusion.

“The program will feature innovative formats to generate insight, spark inspiration and drive impact. These formats include plenary and arena sessions, interactive workshops, televised sessions, issue briefings, hubs, a special program to showcase ASeAN’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, and art exhibits,” the forum said. Nat Mariano

CoA flags DepEd for lost, water-damaged books worth P72m

By Rio N. Araja The Commission on Audit has flagged the Department of education for lost and non-distributed books and sought to hold liable those responsible for doing so.

In an audit report, CoA said penalties must be imposed on Deped officials for the loss of 820,682 grade school books due to water damage and the non-distribution of 2.1 million textbooks and teachers’ manuals, includ-

ing some that were already at least five years old and obsolete.

The damaged books were worth P25.214 million and formed part of a batch of reprints ordered from Lexicon Press Inc. in a joint venture with FNB educational Inc. for a total contract cost of P72.124 million.

The notice to proceed was issued on Feb. 29, 2016 with a contract completion dated set at 90 days or a May 29, 2016 deadline, CoA noted.

Payment for 90 percent of the contract was released on July 21, 2016, leaving only a 10 percent retention to cover the warranty for a three-month period. Full payment was made on Nov. 26, 2016.

In August 2017, the audit team got information that copies of grade 2 books were damaged and disposed of.

“It was learned from the report that 820,682 grade 2 LMs (learning materials) were actually damaged at Lexicon Press warehouse due to its defective

inside gutter and downspouts, which caused flooding,” CoA said.

A review of the transaction revealed the books were ordered ahead of the planned repair and refurbishing of the DepeD-Bureau of Learning Resources warehouse to accommodate 2.44 million copies.

“Inspection conducted revealed that the capacity and availability of the Deped-BLR warehouses was not sufficient to accommodate all the printed LMs procured,” the report read.

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Opinion

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

A skunk, a nut

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

taken part in drafting something I did not really believe in—some kind of intellectual prostitution. Of course, I think that federalism is good for the country. And I did not arrive at this conclusion by asking friends what they thought (although I did consider their views with utmost AFTER I had posted my challenge to the seriousness). I read. I studied. I taught Executive Branch to enunciate its position the subject, and sought the reactions and without equivocation on federalism, and questions, objections and doubts of my suggesting that Secretary Carlos Domin- graduate students. guez and Director-General Ernesto Pernia And I have no doubt that this was true be sent packing if they had spoken out of of all of us who sat down in the Leaders’ turn (and out of tune) on the issue, some Hall of the PICC under the chairmanship habitué of Facebook called me a skunk. of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno to My good friend, Tony La Viña, laugh- draft a charter for a federal Philippines. ingly brought the post to my attention.

We worked with zeal and discussed A skunk is an animal among ourselves with you do not fool around passion, sometimes gowith, one you are also ing through the desert wary about when it is of acrimony before around. It protects itself Why should reaching the meadow of by spraying its attackers understanding because I be denied the with a malodorous mist. we all thought we were right to know in I think it is an admirable engaged in something animal. that would set many what key we are People do well to apthings aright in a nationsinging? proach it with trepidaal where so many things tion, and it is well able have gone wrong and to protect itself without remained wrong for the unsheathing claws or longest time now. baring fangs. Actually, I I earlier wrote that I am honored to be compared to a skunk by was fully aware —as all of us at the Conwhoever was the will’o a wisp that pro- Com were—that we were penning a draft, posed the metaphor. As for being nutty, it but we also assumed that an executive ordoes pay to be one in a society of scream- der had created us and entrusted us with a ing fanatics and prostrate bootlickers, task because it was the government’s poleach calling the other by some depreca- icy to effect the shift from the inefficiency tory moniker. of a unitary government as we have lived The assumption of all our labors, as it and the promise of a federal configuramembers of the Consultative Committee, tion. It was this assurance that what we was that the Executive Department, par- wrote would be owned by the President ticularly the President, favored a shift to and the government and so endorsed to a federal government and would ask his the Legislature. It absolutely makes no allies in Congress to see it through the sense reading volumes, writing prodilegislative mill performing a constituent giously and debating furiously to produce function. I was recently asked on Radio a document that, in the end, is disowned Veritas whether I was personally in favor by him at whose behest it was written. of federalism. I did not bother answerThat was my problem with Dominguez ing with gentility. I was peeved, because and Pernia. There is no doubting their acumen the suggestion was that I could have Turn to A5

W

Sacred cow E UNDERSTAND now that there are sacred cows in the Duterte administration after all.

Some officials may get away with anything and earn no more than a shrug of the presidential shoulder. In the end, it is the President’s prerogative to choose the men and women who work for him—but it is a choice that will have consequences for him down the road.

We do ask that when he makes excuses for errant officials, he not insult us with the notion that these officials are merely exercising their freedom of expression.

The case of Communication Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson was definitely not a case of free speech.

It involved an official of the government—whose salary we as taxpayers pay – behaving in a manner unbecoming of a public servant.

Specifically, Assistant Secretary Uson used a woman’s privates and breasts as mnemonic devices for

federalism, a cause the President has vowed to pursue.

In a video shot inside Malacanang and posted on her Facebook page, Uson is seen cheering as her effeminate co-host, Andrew Olivar, sings “I-pepe” and “I-dede”—referring to the vagina and breasts—while dancing and pointing to his crotch and chest, before exclaiming “I-pe-deralismo!”

With due respect to the President, that was no exercise in free speech.

It was an exercise in vulgarity by people who are on the public payroll.

Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy got it right when she said Uson breached ethical standards in relation to Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

But Badoy—perhaps realizing she

was punching above her weight class—also defended Uson and excused her behavior in the same breath, suggesting outrageously that her actions performed some useful societal function.

“I think Asec Mocha reminds us of a lot of hypocrisies in our society and she makes us face them, the things inside ourselves, because we are such a hypocritical society.”

In this, Badoy is only half right.

Uson does expose hypocrisy— but it is a hypocrisy that claims we are all equal under the law, when one of its own can flout rules and regulations without any reasonable consequences.

The hypocrisy that she exposes is the use of free speech as an excuse for vulgarity and a complete lack of civility and accountability for one’s actions.

This kind of hypocrisy insults our intelligence. We prefer the simple honesty of a sign above Uson’s head that says: “Sacred cow— don’t touch.”

Numbers have increased the “kita,” the numbers that really matter to the public, as always, is the “tumataas na presyo ng pangunahing bilihin.” And the northward trajectory of prices has truly been felt by everyone, the “masa” most hard-hit.

PTK, sometimes pronounced “pitik” THE latest inflation data which registered —presyo, trabaho, kita. a price index of 5.8 for July is more than The “presyo” over the past seven just a red flag. Because the indicia for the months, unfortunately, has not just renlast six months have breached govern- dered a “pitik” on the average housement estimates which were the basis for hold’s quality of life and cost of living. It plans and budgets, the red flags were al- has been a “sipa,” a “matinding dagok.” ready there long before.

Explaining with economic jargon afThe economic managers knew it was ter the fact is always difficult, as both our coming, though probably not in the mag- economic managers and official communitudes the numbers state. Neither, I sup- nicators are finding out these days. pose, did they expect the peso to sink as And all because the foreseen and forelow as it has vis-à-vis the strengthened seeable were un-acted upon at the right US dollar. Nor did they expect oil prices time in the case of rice which is a price to go up as much as it has, primarily due leader for food. Also because pro-active to political actions especially by Trump’s communications were relegated to the America. back-burner as we feasted on the inanities Unfortunately, the numbers the “masa” of “Norwegia” and “pepe-dede.” understand, and are most concerned Monetary solutions such as the BSP about, are simple: the price of rice; the hike on interest rates price of tilapia, may not be bangus and deenough. Since the creasingly, gaimmediate nature lunggong which of the inflation is has invaded pricsupply-side in Listen to the ey restaurants as character or costit migrated from push, government economists. Good carinderia fare. may need to use economics is good The price of vegother tools to etables, which recombat the inflapolitics. ally are explained tionary surge. Not by weather disonly does it threatturbances mostly, en our economic cold storage fagains; it is politicilities being both rare and expensive in cally toxic. this benighted land. And the prices of a *** few slivers of pork or pieces of chicken.

The Commission on Audit has time Throw in sardines and instant noodles. and again taken notice of governmentThe same “masa” does not understand hired consultants. The latest to be upGDP. They could not care less if the first- braided is the BCDA, one of a very quarter growth went down from 6.6 per- few outstanding performers among the cent to a flat 6 percent. Sure they likely GOCCs of the Duterte government. appreciate the fact, not well- heralded by BCDA and other government agencies government but real and factual, that jobs and corporations similarly situated should in the construction sector are plentiful. explain why there is often a need for conThat is mostly because of government in- sultants. More often than not, these are frastructure spending. needed by newly-appointed CEOs. Even farm labor is affected, because First, Philippine bureaucracy is not the young brawns would rather work in bet- meritocracy we see and admire in Japan ter-paying construction than in chancy or Singapore. Many bureaucrats gained and seasonal agriculture. their position due to political influence, So even as government has generated and some get positions of responsibility more “trabaho,” with both TRAIN 1’s in- not commensurate to their performance. come tax exemptions for the lower-earn- How does a newly-appointed CEO, ing employees, and the mandated wage who, aside from house-cleaning, has to adjustments for specific public servants Turn to A5

Farmers in war-torn Afghanistan hit by worst drought in decades

By Emal Haidary and Hamid Fahim AFTER his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan’s worst drought in living memory ravages the war-torn country.

A huge shortfall in snow and rain across much of the country over the normally wet colder months decimated the winter harvest, threatening the alreadyprecarious livelihoods of millions of farmers and sparking warnings of severe food shortages.

Like hundreds of farming families in Charkint village in the normally fertile northern province of Balkh, Abbas, 45, has moved with 11 family members to

the provincial capital Mazar-i-Sharif to find work.

“I don’t remember a drought as severe as this year’s,” Abbas, who has been a farmer for more than three decades, told AFP. “We never had to leave our village or sell our animals because of a drought in the past.”

As dry conditions and high temperatures persist, there are growing concerns about the spring and summer crops that will be harvested later this year.

Afghanistan’s 2018 wheat harvest is already expected to be the lowest since at least 2011, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, set up by USAID in 1985.

Faced with an estimated shortfall of 2.5 million tons of wheat this year, more

than two million people could become “severely food insecure” and would be in “desperate need” of humanitarian assistance in the next six months, the United Nations has warned.

Tens of thousands of sheep and goats have died and many farmers have eaten the seeds for the next planting season, as rivers and wells dry up and pastures turn to dust.

“If the authorities and the international community don’t step up to this challenge now, Afghanistan could face a calamity as we head into the next winter,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan Toby Lanzer told AFP recently.

But thousands of farmers like Abbas have already given up hope, abandoning their land and moving their families to Turn to A5

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

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Opinion

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

The road to federalism LET’S get one point across. The road to federalism is paved with good intentions. There should be no question about that. President Duterte is serious about it and wants to deliver on this one campaign promise.

The members of the Consultative Committee (ConCom) which drafted the proposed federal constitution headed by former Chief Justice Reynato Puno are all well qualified, honorable individuals imbued with good intentions. While some of the political leaders and parties, the NGOs, POs and other organizations who have put up camp for federalism may have some things in their minds, the fact is they want President Duterte’s campaign promise realized within his term.

So, if the critics really believe, as most of them have been wont in saying as they try to waylay this initiative, that our present system is cracking and needs to be repaired, rehabilitated or altogether scrapped in favor of a better one suited for the 21st century and in accord with our traditions, then they should come out with solid, irrefutable arguments against this proposal instead of dwelling on the peripherals and the personal.

Think Mocha Uson and the “pepe,dede, pederalismo” and cry. If this is the only argument that the critics can think of in dumping any kind of discussions on federalism, then they do not deserve any kind of attention at all.

In fact, they should be exposed and opposed for having such hypocritical, contrived posturing. Get real, guys.

How can they argue against President Duterte’s desire to reform, rehabilitate if not altogether scrap the system we have today which is, let’s be truthful about it, democracy in form only and one which has been pinpointed as a huge roadblock to the country’s development.

For all the brickbats thrown at PRRD, nobody can question his reasons for trying to do something about the political system we are presently locked into specially since our so-called democracy has been subverted no end by such a rotten, automated electoral system in the hands of a highly politicized and, might I add, monetized COMELEC. Having been in public service for four decades, President Duterte has seen and experienced the drawbacks of our present presidential system.

Foremost among these is the highly centralized decision-making process in almost all aspects of governance leading to concentration of powers in the Malacañang occupant. Just check the annual budgetary allocations, per sector and region, and you will understand why the outliers, as some people have come to describe regions outside of Metro Manila and its influenced regions, i.e.

Regions 3 and 4, have been banging the

A skunk,....

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as economists. But they are no longer in the classroom discoursing on economic theory.

They are not public intellectuals engaging their readers and followers in thought experiments no matter how engaging. They are the political agents of the President of the Philippines. And basic to the law of agency is that when agency is established, the acts and declarations of the agent bind the principal.

So, when both say that federalism will be the country’s ruin, I have every right to ask whether the statement can, as the law ordains, be attributed to their principal, or whether they are spoken beyond what they were authorized to assert—therefore, ultra vires.

With Secretary Delfin Lorenzana chiming in about his confusion, that muddles the posture of the Executive even more. On the one hand, one hears the very able Harry Roque turning blue in the face insisting that the President remains committed to the federalist cause. On the other hand you have Dominguez, Pernia and now Lorenzana railing about their

Numbers....

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familiarize himself with the agency’s workings be expected to trust the officials he inherited just like that?

Hence the need for consultants.

Second, depending on the magnitude of work or the significance of an agency to the President’s defined goals and objectives, an appointed CEO has to deliver results quickly, considering that the lifespan of his president is six years and no further.

Time cannot be wasted on coaxing a sluggish bureaucracy to perform according to the CEO’s expectations.

In the case of the BCDA, which is an important cog in the “Build, Build, Build” machinery, it applied for a reorganization with the Governance Commission for GOCCs or GCG so it could open more positions to handle the growing responsibilities of the agency. That

CROSSROADS JONATHAN DE LA CRUZ doors and even raising arms just to get a fair share of the national wealth.

And, of course, with such concentration of government powers, can development be far behind? Just check the Forbes list of Filipino ultra billionaires

Let the recriminations end and the hard work begin.

and the sectors they are involved in and you will know why governance and business concentration have become such inseparable twins. This, to the utter disappointment and cries of the vast majority of our people who have yet to be lifted out of their dire situation despite their toiling for decades on end.

This is why “Imperial Manila” has become such a dirty phrase, almost synonymous to paralysis in governance. It has, in a very real sense, become the goto cover up reason for all the failures in governance in this benighted land. So, why should we allow ourselves to be stuck with such a system?

That logjam is what President Duterte and the federalistas would like to untie so that democracy and development may bloom.

I am not suggest that we should just fold our arms and sing hosannas to the proposed federal regime. Far from it.

Even as we grant that the road to federalism is paved with good intentions, we have to be extra cautious and ensure that the realities on the ground are not bulldozed and simply ignored altogether. We have to admit good intentions are not enough to overcome the obstacles such a dramatic shift brings. There are valid issues and concerns which should be addressed transparently, objectively and responsibly.

For one, the financial and economic considerations. Mr. Duterte’s economic managers have pointed out that the shift carries potential risks. That should be a given. In this regard, the cost of unifying Germany after the collapse of the Berlin Wall can be instructive. Brexit and the cost of separation which involved more

countries in the recent past and which can actually happen to us with this shift can also be helpful in letting our people have informed choices as we get to seriously debate the issue.

While a number of PRRD’s allies and members of the ConCom have raised hell over the recent statements of the economic managers, foremost being Secretaries Dominguez and Pernia and even Defense Secretary Lorenzana who noted that the ConCom federalism being espoused is a “bit confusing,” they should calm down and debate the matter dispassionately.

Secretary Dominguez has raised the matter of a widening of our budget deficit, possible downgrade of our credit rating, reduced funds for national government and even the loss of jobs of up to 95 percent of public sector workers.

He cited in particular the “ambiguous and unclear fiscal provisions” in the ConCom draft.

Secretary Pernia said that while the shift may unlock a number of economic benefits, it could also spell disaster for regions which are not prepared for it and “wreak havoc on the country’s balance sheet.” Well, instead of simply rebuking them for such observations the ConCom and the public should ask them to detail such possible negative repercussions so we can have an informed debate on this very serious concern.

Then, there are concerns about the fate of the provinces and other LGUs. Some governors I have raised their concerns, i.e., the administration setup including relations with the national government and its agencies and the proposed regional entities and its own set of officials, elected or otherwise.

What services, authorities and related arrangements are to be devolved is a clear concern. Then, there is the matter of revenue-raising and -sharing which includes what in their minds is some sort of an “equalization fund” to be given the poorest regions to get them on their feet needs to be looked into as well.

Finally, even as the question of defense, foreign and monetary policy appear to have been clearly spelled out, there remains a number of issues. The police and the judicial processes, for one.

Then, the matter of fire, penology and disaster prevention and remediation.

There are also claims that the matter of lending and borrowing as well as securities and corporate governance need to be fleshed out as well.

Indeed, there a hundred and one issues and concerns which need to be discussed and plainly and properly set. To do that will require not only good intentions but all the goodwill, expertise and experience which the entire Filipino nation can provide. So, let the recriminations end and the hard work begin.

confusion. So why should I be denied the right to know in what key we are singing?

Unless, of course, we prefer the pointlessness of cacophony. Dissonance on this level is not discourse. That is too lofty a term for downright policy incoherence!

If it is the draft provisions in our ConCom draft with which they have problems, let them be clear about that, and I shall have no complaints whatsoever; neither will I begrudge them their right to criticize the provisions. But I must also point out, in fairness to my colleagues who were tasked with drafting the economic provisions and fiscal clauses, that they did not carve out figures from thin air nor from the fecundity of imagination. They had studies to go by, data that were presented to the Committee. More importantly, Dominguez and Pernia were invited, not once, but repeatedly, to enlighten the members of the Committee.

They did not deign it worth their while to be present. They sent underlings who would and could not give helpful answers to the commissioners’ questions. Who do they blame now for being befuddled?

And let them be clear about whether they object to the very idea of federalism or to provisions that they admit they do not un-

derstand. Let us take one concrete issue: the sharing of national revenue between the federal government and the federated regions. Do they object to the proportion?

What they do they suggest?

It is true of course that there will be a thousand and one hitches, bumps on the road, but these are the attendant birthpangs of a new order. This is one reason that instead of pretending to be possessed of the prescience that allows us to foresee every bend on the road toward establishing a federal republic and transitioning to one, we thought it best to create a Federal Transition Commission that would wrestle with the minutiae of the passing. And there has also been proposed a Federal Intergovernmental Relations Commission—parallels of which are found in several constitutions of other jurisdictions— that will cause the necessary adjustments and effect the needed calibration between the regions, and between the regions and the federal government.

If this is what it is to be a skunk, or a nut, I revel in these appellations.

has yet to be approved.

To be able to quickly implement its big-ticket projects under the flagship Build, Build, Build program, an increase in manpower is necessary.

Note that BCDA and its components, such as Clark Development Corporation, have been working at a feverish pace to develop the former military base as a major international gateway considering the inadequacies of NAIA. In quick fashion and with no attendant anomalies, they bidded out the new airport terminal for Clark, and the construction of the Clark Green City, the iconic future megalopolis of the country, is in full swing.

An agency head has to make decisions to spur development or fulfill its mandate, and bureaucratic lethargy cannot be an obstacle. Would that we had more agencies like the BCDA imbued with a sense of urgency in fulfilling its mission. ***

Secretary Carlos Dominguez and National Economic and Development Authority Director-General Pernia have every reason to worry about the effects on the national economy of the shift to federalism.

The numbers paint a non-too-rosy picture, contrary to the panacea that some people project federalism to be.

That is the reason why we submit, as we already have in previous columns, that it’s time we take a breather, discuss more broadly, engage every sector of the citizenry, and consider a longer timeframe for the transition, if we should shift from the present unitary system to the federal.

Listen to the economists. As our mantra in this space always repeats: Good economics is good politics.

And to add: Democratic form must always provide economic substance, that is, the economic well-being of the greatest number.

rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.eu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com

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Inflation storm the staple food for tens of millions of Filipinos, has gone up amid declining inventory from 2.57 million MT in July to 2.36 million MT last month, a sharp 8.2 percent drop. The National Food Authority buffer stock is also almost IN THE months of debate prior to imple- depleted.

Another thorn in the life of Juan dela mentation, there were already fears that the government’s much-vaunted Tax Cruz, the jeepney fare hike took effect on Reform Acceleration and Inclusion law July 9, with the minimum fare up to P9 would cause inflation that would negate from P8 and even more petitions for fare the much-touted benefits and worsen the hikes are being filed by transport groups.

All these translate to severe income economic struggles of the impoverished segment of society. The government’s loss for workers whose wages are already economic managers tried to appease the unsustainable to begin with. Some P60 apprehension by saying that while, yes, million Filipinos saw the value of their there would be inflation, it would be min- earnings go down by as much as P2,700 in the first six months of the year, accordimal and temporary.

Plus, they said, there would be safe- ing to research NGO Ibon Foundation.

A recent round of wage hikes—rangguards put in place, various safety nets to protect the poor segments of the popu- ing from P9 to P56—approved by the lations who are below the income tax Department of Labor and Employment threshold. The financial experts of gov- was hardly enough to cover the lost buyernment confidently gave assurances that ing power of workers. The other meathe eventual rewards of TRAIN would far sures that were supposed to cushion the impact of TRAIN in the form of cash outweigh the passing inconvenience. transfers, fuel subFast forward to the present and sidies, and, more we just witnessed recently, plans to five straight flood the market with affordable bamonths of rePolls consistently sic goods, couldn’t cord inflation. remind us that the come sooner, labor Clearly, experts groups said. didn’t expect most urgent national Interestingly, things to be this concerns for the there is even an atbad. Once again, biggest segment of the tempt by governthe government’s ment to “deceive” economic manpopulation are still all Filipinos on inflaagers had at first economic in nature. tion by downplaytried to downplay ing its impact, said the disaster, layopposition Rep. ing the blame on Edcel Lagman of external factors, Albay. But even such as the rising prices of petroleum in the global mar- with minimal comprehension of economket. But there’s a limit to such palliative ic concepts, the poor have the practical explanations, even if they do contain a wisdom of living on the ground, where the real impact of government policy cansound degree of truth.

Inflation nationwide hit the 5.7 percent not be disguised by any amount of spin.

As Filipinos bear the brunt of inflamark last month, the fastest in half a decade. This translates to a drastic reduction tion, there are now debates, even from the in a family’s purchasing power; inflation very legislators who passed the TRAIN watchers say that for every P10,000 worth law, if they moved too fast or was it even of goods and services last year, it can only a good idea in the first place. Alongside buy P9,430’s worth last month. The surge calls to immediately implement mitigatis felt even more deeply in Metro Manila, ing measures are calls to rethink and even where inflation hit 6.5 percent, up from suspend it. As far as taxation issues go, 5.8 percent last month and 2.9 percent in for instance, there are chronically massive gaps in the administration of governthe same month last year.

Published figures show that consum- ment revenues and a lifelong example is ers, most particularly in the capital, have to the way that the Bureau of Customs is deal with surging prices of alcoholic bev- policing our ports, an inefficiency that erages and tobacco, up 21.9 percent year- notoriously causes the government hunon-year; transportation, up 8.9 percent; dreds of billions of potential collections. housing, water, electricity, gas and other But it seems that even with the power fuels, up 8.2 percent; food and nonalco- and grit of President Duterte’s stopping holic beverages, up 7.2 percent; and even smuggling would remain an unconquered challenge. Imposing new taxes is an easihealth, up 4.5 percent, among others.

The highest inflation—7.5 percent— er revenue generation solution.

Polls consistently remind us that the was recorded in the already-impoverished Autonomous Region in Muslim most urgent national concerns for the biggest segment of the population are still all Mindanao, while the lowest was in Central Luzon at 2.7 economic in nature: increasing the pay of percent. Even so, it is the poorest Fili- workers, controlling inflation, and reducpinos who continue to feel the harsh im- ing poverty. The Duterte administration pact of inflation, with the bottom 30 per- has fashioned itself as a zealous pro-poor cent income households suffering from a regime to differentiate itself from other 6.5 percent jump in the prices of goods. administrations blamed for non-inclusive Nationwide, the Philippine Statis- growth. Two years into office and as we tics Authority said the inflation is due come closer to the 2019 midterm electo a 7.1-percent jump year-on-year tions, there is now a rising clamor, espein the price of food and nonalcoholic cially from the poor, for ambitious cambeverages. For one, the price of rice, paign promises to be kept.

Farmers...

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towns and cities to survive.

The UN estimates more than 70,000 people have been displaced to urban areas due to the drought.

“Three years ago it rained and snowed well in our village,” Abbas said.

“The crops yielded well and I made more than 300,000 afs (afghanis, or nearly $4,300). But this year, even though I sold my sheep and goats, I made less than 100,000 afs (about $1,400).”

Not enough help The lack of precipitation in Balkh has left most of its farming and grazing land parched, Zabiullah Zoobin, provincial director of crops and cultivation management, told AFP recently.

More than 450,000 farmers and nomadic herders in the province have slaughtered their cattle, goats and sheep, or sold them for a pittance, he added.

“All villagers are wondering what to do with their livestock and how to keep them alive because that is all they have in life,” Haji Sorab, a sheep and goat herder in Dawlat Abad district, told AFP. The drought adds to Afghanistan’s woes as its security forces struggle to beat back Taliban and Islamic State militants, and civilian casualties remain at record levels.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Afghan economy. Nearly 15 million people are employed in the sector in the 20 provinces worst affected by the drought, according to the UN. With already high unemployment made worse by record numbers of Afghans returning from Iran and many more

internally displaced by the conflict, their chances of finding other work are grim.

Prices of sheep and goats have plunged as farmers rush to sell their animals before they become even weaker, agriculture and livestock ministry spokesman Akbar Rustami told AFP. At the same time, the cost of fodder has soared. Rustami said most of the country’s livestock are in “urgent need of food”.

Afghan authorities have so far provided limited assistance to farmers and international aid agencies are struggling to meet the growing demand.

UN food and other assistance has reached more than 460,000 people in drought-affected provinces in recent months, Lanzer said—less than a quarter of those who need it.

An agreement between international agencies and the Afghan government to release 60,000 tonnes of wheat currently held in the country’s strategic grain reserve and turn it into mineral-fortified flour will help.

“It won’t be enough for what is needed, but it’s a very good start,” Lanzer said.

If much-needed aid does not reach farmers soon, more might turn to more drought-resistant crops such as opium poppies, Abbas warned.

Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium, despite billions of dollars being spent on counternarcotics efforts since the US-led invasion in 2001.

“A government which is hardly able to pay its soldiers to fight cannot reach out to help people in these remote areas,” Abbas said.

“The conditions will eventually force people to turn to illegal crops.” AFP

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MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Ammonium nitrate traced in Basilan deadly blast’ AMMONIUM nitrate was among the of the improvised explosive device (IED) that killed 11 people and wounded six others in Lamitan City, Basilan last month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said.

“Ang balita dyan is ammonium nitrate (ang ginamit). It is used for fertilizers, these people are expert in making bomb because they can use this ammonium nitrate (as an explosive agent) along with gunpowder and some triggering device,” Lorenzana told reporters Friday.

Lorenzana, meanwhile, said they are checking some areas in Basilan, Sulu and Zamboanga to determine whether significant amounts of ammonium nitrate have been acquired there.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier said that it is still trying to identify the driver of the van-loaded with IEDs which exploded near a military checkpoint in Lamitan City, Basilan last July 31, killing himself and nine others aside from wounding seven more people.

Another victim, one of the seven wounded, died in the hospital early this week, raising the death toll to 11.

The said van suddenly exploded while the troops were about to inspect the vehicle at a checkpoint in the boundaries of Barangays Bulanting, Colonia and Maganda in Lamitan City.

The military is eyeing Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama as the mastermind behind the blast in response to the growing number of terrorists surrendering in Basilan. PNA

Lawmaker backs joint effort by CHED, MIA on marine education

By Rio N. Araja ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto Bertiz III on Sunday backed a joint supervision between the Commission on Higher Education and Maritime Industry Authority over the quality of education programs for ship officers.

“We support the combined efforts of the MARINA and ChEd to superintend the quality of the Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and the Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering programs being supplied by maritime schools,” he said.

Graduates of either of the two marine education programs, once licensed and certified, become ship officers —masters, chief mates, officers in charge of a navigational watch, chief engineers, second engineers and OICs of engineering watch.

“We have to constantly upgrade the quality of the two education programs if we are to keep our competitive edge in the deployment of merchant ship officers to global labor markets,” Bertiz said.

“This is also about ensuring that our domestic ships here at home are run by the best sailors that live up to the highest operating and safety standards,” he added.

He said the Philippines is an archipelago that relies heavily on efficient and safe inter-island shipping to move people and goods.

RECOGNITION. The Civil Aviation Association of the Philippines (CAAP), led by Director General Capt. Jim Sydiongco personally recognized the seven (7) members of the

airport’s security staff from the PNP-Aviation Security Unit 4 (PNP-AVSEU), CAAP Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), Puerto Princesa Tourist Police, and Eaglematrix Security Agency who were instrumental for the return of the missing P1.5 million cash by passenger Danilo Dequito. The awardees include CAAP airport security assistant Jel Anthony M. Cervantes, PNP AVSEU 4 PO3 Widmark R. Briones, PNP AVSEU 4 PO1 Anabelle L. Guimbongan, Puerto Princesa Tourist Police Unit PO2 Leoniliza B. Bautista, Puerto Princesa Tourist Police Unit PO2 Job Arkhe T. Sancho III, Eagle Matrix security guard Jovani A. Yumen, and Eagle Matrix security guard Edgar B. Conde. Eric B. Apolonio

Maguindanao cops warn vs ‘hypnotizing kidnappers’

By Nash B. Maulana

P

ARANG, Maguindanao—Authorities have alerted residents against a gang of “hypnotizing” kidnappers offering “free-ride” to its victims, including a schoolchild seen abducted outside her school here on July 25.

Authorities said Morsaid Mayo reported to the town police station that his daughter Milky, a fifth grader, was taken by a woman into a waiting passenger vehicle on July 25, just outside the Datu Macarimbang Elementary School in Barangay Magsaysay here at 7:00 a.m.

Quoting witnesses, Mayo told the police that the vehicle used in the abduction bore its route printed in bold letters print: “Awang-Datu Odin Sinsuat.”

P/Chief Inspector Julhamin Asdani, OIC Parang police chief, said that residents had reported four other instances of abduction in nearby Matanog town, allegedly by the same gang offering “free ride” inside a

Gov’t to invest P280-m for free internet in 114 SUCs

By Rio N. Araja THE national government is investing P280 million to provide freen Internet Wi-Fi connectivity in 114 state universities and colleges (SUCs) with 1.3 million students, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said on Sunday.

“We are counting on highly improved password-free Internet networks in SUCs to advance opportunities for learning and research, especially in their

Investigate me, trader tells PNP chief A PROMINENT businessman based in Batangas is asking the Philippine National Police to conduct an investigation on himself.

In a letter addressed to PNP DirectorGeneral Oscar Abayalde, businessman Allan Fajardo said that he is a legitimate businessman in Batangas Province, and this can be verified by reputable citizens of the said province.

According to a letter signed by Attys.

Ferdinand Topacio and Atty. Joselito Lomangaya, Fajardo’s counsels, their client is a victim of a disinformation campaign where Fajardo was being named as the leader of a criminal syndicate allegedly called the ‘Fajardo Group,’ which is supposedly involved in guns-for-hire and illegal drugs.

Fajardo added that certain police officials have formulated a ‘matrix’ which appear to show the members of the said group, and he himself has been the subject of harassment such as the police searching his house and filing baseless

closed air-conditioned van to small groups of poor pupils, who were walking their way to school along the Narciso Ramos Highway.

They urged authorities to step up efforts to unmask a group of veiled Maguindanaon-speaking women, unsuspectingly victimizing children and adults, by offering them free ride on a van, as they would pass by schoolchildren walking along national highways.

Resident Monera Ali said a woman, who was last seen boarding a van along the Cotabato-General Santos Highway was later found dead in Barangay Gubat Datu Odin Sinsuat.

The incident, which has been feared elsewhere as the “kidney-gang” poses a great challenge to authorities here and

in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, where the region’s biggest police and military camps are based.

Ali could not say when did this happen, and neither could this be confirmed by the local police. But she said that the problem really was what she described as a “low rate” of community cooperation against crime, even by simply reporting incidents of criminality to authorities.

Understandably, residents are still recovering from the ruins of the government’s all-out war in 2000, particularly in terms of community psychosocial makeup in human relations, according to a concerned resident, who said he was piecing stories together to help authorities establish facts.

“The truth is that in more ‘psychosocial terms’, they (residents) have not yet ‘conveniently’ reconnected with the uniformed authorities (18 years after the war). And such is the weakest link or soft spot that criminal elements can strike on more often,” said the resident who spoke on condition of anonymity.

charges against him.

But Fajardo said that all of the cases against him have already been dismissed by the courts and as of now, there is not one case pending against him in court. Worse, Fajardo added, two members whose names appear in the matrix have been killed under mysterious circumstances.

Fajardo vehemently denied that he is involved in any illegal activities, and added that as head of the ‘Mayor’s AntiCrime Group,’ or MAC-G in Tanauan, Batangas, he was directly responsible for the arrest of many criminals, including drug pushers Fajardo also claimed that the said ‘matrix’ is a fabrication of some police officials due to personal animosity against him due to a series of lawsuits in the past.

In his letter, Fajardo expressed fears that due to the recent killing of Tanauan Mayor Antonio Halili, his being linked to a fictitious crime organization is a way to justify a planned assassination.

campuses in the provinces,” he said.

The P280-million allotment for a free Internet Wi-Fi connectivity in SUCs Project is included in the budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology in the proposed P3.757 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2019.

Campos, a House appropriations committee member, authored House Bill 5337 seeking to classify broadband or high-speed Internet access as a basic telecommunications

service.

Once the measure is enacted, the National Telecommunications Commission would be empowered to require Internet service providers tom deliver rising average connection speeds within prescribed deadlines under pain of harsh regulatory fines.

In his 2019 budget message to Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte promised “to harness the power of information technology to deliver better services to our people and spur economic growth.”

PH Navy now capable of using modern missile weaponry THE Philippine Navy (PN) is now capable of using the missile weaponry and other equipment it is acquiring for its ongoing modernization program, the Department of National Defense (DND) said.

This is in the wake of a successful test-firing of the Philippine Navy (PN)’s Rafael Advanced Defense Ltd. Spike-ER (extended range) surface-to-surface missile off Lamao Point, Limay, Bataan last August 9.

“Kasi bumili tayo ng missile hindi naman natin alam kung papaano gamitin at saka kung tatama tayo sa target, so ginawa nila, dinala nila dun sa may bandang (Bataan), naglagay sila ng target sa dagat, na six kilometers, tinarget nila, bull’s eye naman, so happy-happy naman si (PN flag-officer-in-command) Admiral (Robert) Empedrad, ni-report niya sa akin na successful ang testing ng ating missile, so in short, okay naman yung nabili nating missile, kaya naman nating gamitin (We bought a missile yet we do not know how to use it and if it will reach the target. So what they did, they brought it in Bataan, they put a target in the sea, about six kilometers.

When they targeted it, it was a bull’s eye. So PN flag-officer-in-command Admiral Robert Empedrad was happy.

He reported to me that the testing of the missile was successful. The missile that we bought is fine and we can use it),” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in an interview Friday.

The weapon was fired from one of the PN’s three Spike-ER armed multipurpose assault craft (MPACs).

The said assault craft was constructed by the Subic-based Propmech Corporation and activated on May 22, 2017.

The PN MPAC Acquisition Project entered into a contract with Rafael, through SIBAT of Israel Ministry of Defense, for the supply and integration of the above-mentioned weapons systems to three Mark III MPACs. On April 15, 2017, Lorenzana approved the notice to proceed with the project. PNA

SAMAR SMILES.

President (SAP) Secretary Christopher ‘Bong’ Go delivered a speech in front of residents of Samar province which was celebrating its 117th Founding Anniversary at the Provincial Covered Court in Catbalogan City. In his speech, Go recognized the vital role that barangay officials play in keeping the country peaceful and progressive, saying that they are the frontliners in implementing the policies and programs of the government. He also stressed the importance of their work in fasttracking the delivery of government services to the citizens as well as assisting the higher local government officials.

(See story on B4). PNA

Sports Dragon’s Den, Hiyas capture Under Armour 3-on-3 titles

By Ram Christian Agustin IN SEARCH of players who will represent the Philippines in the FIBA U18 3x3 Asia Cup, Under Armour launched an Ultimate 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at the Jacinto Tiu Competition Court inside Xavier School last Aug. 11, with Dragon’s Den and Hiyas emerging as champions.

In the boys’ division, Team Dragon’s Den reigned supreme against Team Chi Kids in the deciding championship match via a 15-9 score, while in the girls’ division, Team Hiyas crushed the team from the English Christian Academy, 15-5.

Dragon’s Den had a roster that consisted of Kobe Francisco, Gershom Montes, Cian Villaflor, and John Peters, while Hiyas enlisted powerful players that included Angel Surada, Princess Fabruada, Caila Galamiton, and Karl Ann Pingol.

The winning teams were awarded P35,000 worth of gift certificates each from Under Armour.

They were also chosen to become the the country’s representatives at the Under Armour 3x3 Southeast Asia Tournament.

Runners-up Team Chi Kids and ECA, on the other hand, each received P20,00 worth of gift certificates, while bronze medalists Team Dream Crushers (men’s) and UP Diliman (women’s) took home P15,000 worth of Under Armour gift certificates.

The tournament was organized in partnership with the International Basketball Federation and serves as a screening for local U18 players who could be part of the national contingent that will represent the country against other national squads from Asia in the FIBA 3x3 U18 Asia Cup 2018.

Listup for PTT Run for Clean Energy set at Chris Sports REGISTRATION for the PTT Run Clean Energy Year 2 is now open at Chris Sports outlets at SM Mall of Asia, SM Manila and SM North Edsa.

An advocacy run aimed at promoting the call for clean energy in our streets, work and homes, the PTT Run for Clean Energy happens on Sept. 16 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Grounds.

Listup is also accepted an hour before the running of the categories during raceday at the CCP Grounds.

Interested runners may also call tel. nos. 09186002411 and landline 9759584 for more details.

Race categories are 10k (P520), 5k (P420) and 3k (P320), all inclusive of race shirt, race bib and giveaways. Top three male and female runners of the 10k and 5k will get cash prizes and medals.

All runners are entitled to win in the raffle of prizes, where smartphones and several gadgets are up for grabs.

Backed by PTT Lubricants, Cafe Amazon, Wish 107.5, Chris Sports, Milcu, Leslie’s Corp., ChloRelief, Lubie, Coca-Cola, La Filipina, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Maynilad, Herbalife, Vegemore, Science in Sport, Medicard Foundation, Business Mirror and Business Mirror Health and Fitness Magazine, Village Connect, Philippine School of Business Administration, Mariano Marcos High School Batch ‘91 and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, the run aims to demonstrate the power of collaborative efforts, using sports as one of the main tools, to provide information campaign about the use of clean energy.

The sponsoring PTT Philippines is one of the wholly owned subsidiary companies of Thailand’s largest oil and gas company PTT Public Company Limited. PTT Philippines’ primary business of marketing refined petroleum products and lubricants are focused on three major segments – retail, wholesale, and commercial markets.

For two decades of business operations in the Philippines, PTT Philippines continuously aims to serve petroleum products that of international quality and compliant with the Philippine National Standards specifications and the requirements of the Philippine Clean Air Act.

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Nadal sets up duel with Tsitsipas

T

ORONTO—Rafael Nadal beat Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Saturday to set up a final with birthday boy Stefano Tsitsipas at the Toronto Masters.

The Spanish icon will try on Sunday to spoil the 20th celebrations of the Greek youngster who reached the second final of his career by beating Wimbledon finalist Kevin Anderson 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), saving a match point in victory.

World number one Nadal won a battle of the tennis generations with Tsitsipas last April in the Barcelona title match.

“To win this match is important, it’s very important to be in the final of Toronto,” Nadal said after running his season record to 39-3 in a match which ended after midnight local time.

“I’m motivated every day when I wake up, there is always something to improve,” said the 32-year-old.

“I want to stay around for as long as possible (in tennis).”

Top seed Nadal edged out the first set in a tiebreaker after a twohour, rain-delayed start.

In the second, Nadal went about finishing up his business with a break in the third game and on his way to the win in just over an hour and a quarter.

Nadal leads the all-time list of Masters 1000 titles on 32.

He will be playing his 116th ATP final and stands two wins away from 80 trophies.

Rafael Nadal

Tsitsipas, who will move to at least 15th in the rankings, became the first man since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga here in 2014 to defeat four Top 10 players at the same event.

He dispatched Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev before downing Anderson.

He will be the first unseeded finalist in Canada since Nicolas Kiefer in 2008.

“It feels like I’m playing Davis Cup and everyone is backing me up and they’re so supportive,” Tsitsipas said.

“Four wins against top 10 players. I would never imagine that I could pull this out in a single tournament.

“I don’t know if I got lucky with all those players, but somehow it happened that I played four top 10 and managed to beat them, which is a huge achievement for me and for my game this week.”

Tsitsipas worked for two hours, 48 minutes to secure his upset of the hardserving South African, with Anderson going down with 10 aces.

“It doesn’t matter what the score. I’m

always going to attack. I’m always going to go to the ball,” Tsitsipas said.

“My forehand is on fire at this moment. Hopefully it can remain like this tomorrow because it will be super important for me, the win tomorrow.”

The outcome over Anderson was decided in a tight third-set tiebreaker, with Tsitsipas blowing his first two winning chances with a double-fault and a forehand error.

Anderson missed out on a match point off his own serve as Tsitsipas slammed over a backhand cross-court winner.

The Greek saved all four break points he faced while breaking Anderson once in the afternoon struggle.

“It’s obviously incredibly difficult losing a match like where it’s so close at such a big stage of the tournament,” Anderson said.

“I did what I could. I thought he played some really good tennis, especially when it mattered the most.

“On the one match point that I had, he came up with an unbelievable backhand cross-court winner—it was a very impressive effort from him.” AFP

Eze named NCAA’s best cager of week

Thousands of runners take part in the annual City2Surf road race in Sydney. AFP

80,000 join Sydney city to Bondi race

SYDNEY—Australian Olympian Ben St Lawrence won Sydney’s biggest road race for the second time Sunday as almost 80,000 people, including many in fancy dress, took part in the annual run.

One of the world’s biggest fun runs, the 14-kilometre (8.7 mile) City2Surf race from Sydney city to Bondi beach attracts serious competitors and as well

as entrants in superhero and animal costumes.

In its 48th year, the event is a major fundraiser for Australian charities and has so far raised almost Aus$4.2 million (US$3.1 million) for more than 1,000 organisations.

St Lawrence, a 36-year-old dual Olympian who won the City2Surf in 2010, sprinted the last few metres of the

run to win in 41min 42sec.

Australian Ellie Pashley, 29, was the first woman to cross the line in 46min 21sec.

Some of the runners took part dressed as gorillas, Superman and wrestlers, with one participant even completing the race wearing nothing but his bib number as a loincloth with a plastic bum to cover his buttocks.

NOT wanting to get embarrassed by the San Sebastian Golden Stags on their own home floor last Thursday, Prince Eze made sure to not let the Perpetual Help Altas and the Perpetualites in attendance down.

“At halftime, I got mad actually,” admitted first-year Perpetual head coach Frankie Lim as the Altas fell behind by as much as 21 points against their visitors. “I told them, guys, it’s not about the Xs and Os. It’s about your desire to win.”

Prince Eze and the Altas responded with a huge third quarter-outing to give themselves a chance to stun the Golden Stags.

With 3.3 ticks left, the two proud squads were knotted at 76-all. Burning his last timeout, Lim crafted a play for his main man Prince Eze, who had anchored his defense all game long.

After the timeout, Eze received a well-timed lob from AJ Coronel, perfectly angling his hands in the air to layin the game-winner with .5 seconds to spare. Disaster averted.

For his heroics, Eze, who finished the game with 22 points, 18 rebounds, and six blocks, was crowned as the Chooks-to-Go/ NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week.

“A win is a win. And we have to live with that,” said last season’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Eze bested CJ Perez of Lyceum, Robert Bolick of San Beda, Bong Quinto of Letran, and Alvin Capobres of San Sebastian for the weekly honor handed out by print and online writers covering the Grand Old League.

Road to Nationals goes to Cagayan de Oro on Aug. 25 THE third stage of the Road To The Nationals eSports event goes to Cagayan de Oro on Aug. 25 in hope of developing more players to comprise talents, who could be tapped to represent the country in future international meets.

The Road To The Nationals had just wrapped up the first two editions in Morayta, Manila and Cebu as the nationwide search for the country’s best e-gamers continues.

Six teams will compose The Nationals, created for e-gaming aficionados—TNC Pro Team, HappyFeet eSports, BrenPro Inc., Cignal TV Inc, PLDT/Smart Communications, and STI Education Systems—all

of which will select players to compete in the Road To The Nationals, a series of eSports tournaments set to happen nationwide.

But more than anything else, the event will serve as a prelude to the creation of a pool of players that could represent the country in future international meets and Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas believes eSports is the future of Philippine Sports.

“They (IOC) had a one-day session talking about eSports. It was attended by the president of the IOC. The global group heading the international sports is Mr. (Patrick) Baumann, secretary general of the International Basketball Federation.

On the POC side, I’m happy because the Philippines has formalized eSports and an NSA has been created for it because eventually we see the esports as the sport of the future. You cannot turn around anymore, but you have to bring it to the games. In the Asian Games, it’s going to be a demonstration sports. Hopefully, if we are able to get an NSA, be recognized and represent the Philippines, then we should consider eSports in the Southeast Asian Games,” said Vargas.

In The Road To The Nationals, participants will play in eGames either in PC, mobile or console. Among the games featured are DOTA 2 for PC, Mobile Legends for

mobile, and NBA2K19, for console which is still being worked out at this time.

The ESports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP) had taken steps to be duly recognized by the POC as the official national sports association of eSports.

“A few years back, we were not aware that it is going to be this big,” said Ren Vitug, secretary general of ESNAP. “A few years ago, we had tournaments and only a few people were playing at cybercafes for a few thousand pesos as prize money.

Now we have participants and audience filling up the big stadiums and with millions at stake.”

Halep, Stephens face off in Montreal finale MONTREAL—Sloane Stephens sent defending champion Elina Svitolina crashing out of the WTA Canada tournament in Montreal on Saturday to set up a rematch of the French Open final against Simona Halep.

American third seed Stephens surged into Sunday’s final against world number one Halep after overpowering Svitolina 6-3, 6-3 in the day’s second semi-final.

Stephens had dominated the first set, scoring two early breaks to race into a 4-0 lead against a hesitant Svitolina.

Svitolina rallied briefly to get back to 5-3 but then handed Stephens another break and the first set when she sent a forehand wide.

The second set was a similar story, with Stephens going 3-1 up after an early break.

The 25-year-old from Florida then overcame a wobble in the fifth game,

double-faulting three times before eventually holding for a 4-1 lead and closing out the set.

US Open winner Stephens will go against Halep on Sunday, having only beaten the Romanian twice in their previous eight meetings.

Halep, who defeated Stephens in three sets at Roland Garros in June, earlier cruised past Australia’s Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-1 to book her place in the final.

Halep was in control from the outset against a nervous-looking Barty, whose challenge was undone by a string of unforced errors.

Barty was in trouble on her opening service game, an error giving French Open champion Halep a break point which she duly converted with a superb backhand crosscourt winner.

The next three games went with serve to leave Halep 3-1 up and the 26-year-old then bagged her second break in the fifth

game when another Barty error let Halep off the hook to take the game to deuce.

A sensational backhand winner down the line gave Halep a break point and when Barty limply returned into the net on the next exchange she found herself 4-1 down.

Barty grabbed a consolation break of serve to make it 4-2, but was unable to claw back another break as Halep took the first set 6-4.

Halep went for the jugular in the second set, opening with two quick breaks to take a 3-0 lead. Barty offered a flicker of resistance in the fourth game after earning three break points to go to 0-40.

But once again Halep’s experience came to the fore and she fought back to deuce and saved another break point before holding for 4-0.

Both players then held before Halep soon took three match points at 0-40 in the seventh game. AFP

Halep

LOTTO RESULTS 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Sports

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

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Koepka grabs lead; Tiger joins title hunt

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

Brooks Koepka of the United States plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri. AFP

Another all-Japan show in Legazpi City JAPANESE Jumpei Furuya lived up to both his ranking back home and as top seed in yesterday’s Mt. Mayon ASTC Triathlon Asian Cup held in Legazpi City, Albay by dominating the tough men’s elite open race practically from start to finish en route to a solo finish in the event watched by a big local crowd .

For Furuya, 27, it was his first time to race in this Southern Philippine city, saying it was just part of his preparation for the Asian games in Palembang, Indonesia later this month.

He admitted, however, he was not surprised at all that he ruled the event.

“It was a very good race, weather was good and I found it a fast course, too. The bike posed some challenge though,” said the Japanese, who has been ranked no. 1 in Japan these last two years and a member of the young new breed of Japanese triathletes.

He negotiated the 1.5K swim-40K bike-10K run course in 1 hour, 49 minutes and 11 seconds.

Hong Kong’s Oscar Coggins finished second in 1:49.54, admitting he could not catch up anymore with Furuya in the final run loop.

“I realized I did not have the legs anymore so I ran my own pace going into the final 2 kilometers, “ said the Hong Kong-based English runner, who was this year’s ASTC 16 to 19 junior elite champion.

The next six places went to Japanese entries, with Ren Sato taking third in 1:50.23.

Completing the Top 8 were Shogo Ishitsuka (1:50.38), Ryosuke Maeda (1:51.19), Yuichi Hosoda (1:52.05), Makoto Odakura (1:53.20) and Ryotako Otani (1:55.44).

The Japanese streak was broken

by Australian Kurt Fryer in 1:56.17, while rounding out the Top 10 male finishers was another Japanese bet Genta Uchida (1:57.07).

The best-placed Filipino was national champion John Chicano, who submitted a finishing time of 2:01.00.

Mark Hosana was 22nd in 2:05.46, even as Nikko Huelgas dropped out because of a punctured tire.

Filipina triathlete Claire Adorna did better in the distaff side as she fended off the last-minute challenge of teammate Kim Kilgroe at the finish line as she negotiated the distance in 2:11.18, just two seconds ahead of the latter.

The champion in the female division of race hosted by the City Government of Legazpi and supported by NTT was frail-looking Yurie Kato, who is ranked fifth back home and is a veteran of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

The 31-year-old Kato had a fast time of 2:05.22 as she left second placer Long Hoi from Macao in the run leg.

Hoi finished in 2:06.11, while another Japanese bet Nina Kishimoto took third place in 2:06.42 to complete the podium finishers in the distaff side.

Basketball chief hoping NBA rule is applied to all

By Peter Atencio

T

HE Philippine Olympic Committee tried its best to get FilAmerican Jordan Clarkson to play for the Philippines in the coming 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

But, Clarkson, who was traded early this year to the Cleveland Cavaliers by the Los Angeles Lakers, can’t play because of a ruling by the National Basketball Association.

An NBA official said in a statement that they have an existing ruling that NBA players can’t join competitions that are not related to Olympics, the FIBA Basketball World Cup, and other associated tournaments.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement that the Asia Games is not among the competitions where they allow

NBA players to join.

“Because the Asian Games are not one of those competitions, NBA players are unable to participate. In accordance with the NBA’s agreement with FIBA, Jordan is welcome to represent the Philippines in the agreed-upon competitions,” clarified Frank.

“We tried our very best. Your Philippine sports leaders worked round the clock. So many sleepless nights. We were one clearance away, from a dear friend of the Filipino people. The NBA. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears. They applied a rule. A rule that will never be understood,” said POC secretary-general Patrick Gregorio.

Officials, however, raised questions on why why Zhou Qi of Houston Rockets is playing in Indonesia for China. NBA players were also cleared to play in the Pan American Games, like Canada’s Andrew Nicholson in 2015.

SBP president Al Panlilio said he felt disappointed over the decision.

But he is hopeful that the NBA will be fair to all concerned.

“Of course, we are very disappointed.

I hope rule applies to all consistently,“ he said.

Last Friday, national team head coach Yeng Guiao included Clarkson in his final 12.

“We put Jordan there since we want to make sure there’s a slot for him. We’re still working on the procedures. SBP officials and other concerned people are working hard on trying to get him to play for the team,” Guiao said.

The rest of the Gilas team is led by the nucleus of Rain or Shine in Chris Tiu, Maverick Ahanmisi, Beau Belga, Raymond Almazan, James Yap, and Gabe Norwood.

Completing the team are JP Erram, Christian Standhardinger, Paul Lee, Stanley Pringle, and Asi Taulava.

Don Trollano, who was supposed to be the final member of the team, is expected to be back in the lineup.

Ricci Rivero and Kobe Paras were cut from the original 14-man pool.

The Philippine national team, which left for Indonesia Sunday, are bracketed with China and Kazakhstan in Group D. They will face Kazakhstan on Thursday.

GOLF CHAMP. Justin Quiban (center) holds his trophy as he poses with Bacolod Golf and Country Club general manager Francis Tupas (left) and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. executive director Narlene Soriano after winning the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge at the Binitin course over the weekend.

ST. LOIUS—Two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka seized a two-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship while Tiger Woods charged into contention for his first major title in 10 years.

Fourth-ranked Koepka, who had stretched the lead as large as five shots, fired a four-under par 66 to stand on 12-under 198 after 54 holes at Bellerive Country Club in the year’s final major event.

The laid-back 24-year-old American has never before led a major entering the final round but he shrugged off having 13 rivals within five strokes, even a longawaited Woods challenge among seven major champions in that pack.

“I’m just focused on me. I feel like, if I do what I’m supposed to, I should win the golf tournament,” Koepka said. “I’m extremely confident. I like the way I’m hitting the ball.”

Koepka, who became the first back-to-back US Open winner since 1989 in June at Shinnecock, birdied five of the first nine holes but stumbled with bogeys at 14 and 15 only to boost his lead with a birdie at the par-5 17th.

“I played pretty well. Got off to a hot start,” Koepka said. “On the back just made a couple bad swings. It was nice to right the ship there. Made a couple of key putts. I feel really good.”

Australian Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, was second on 200 after shooting 65 Saturday with Spain’s Jon Rahm and Americans Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland, each chasing his first major title, sharing third on 201.

“Brooks had a massive lead and then two holes later it was one shot,” Rahm said. “Going into the back nine within three shots on Sunday, anything is doable.”

Woods, a 14-time major champion in his comeback season from spinal fusion surgery, fired a 66 to share fourth on 202 with secondranked defending champion Justin Thomas, 2009 British Open winner Stewart Cink, Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Australia’s Jason Day and South African Charl Schwartzel.

“There’s a lot of star power and it should be. It’s a major championship and you should see the best players in the world come to the top,” Koepka said.

“With so many big names, you would expect two or three of them to really make a run, make a push to get off to a good start and challenge me.”

That’s just what Woods has in mind. He birdied five of the first eight holes then closed with 10 consecutive pars and finished four off the pace of Koepka, who took his second consecutive US Open triumph in June at Shinnecock.

“I could’ve been a little bit closer but I’ve got a shot going into tomorrow,” Woods said. “I hit it good on the back nine. I just didn’t make anything. I struggled to hit it as the greens were getting slower. I just have to make the adjustments better than I did.”

Turning back the clock The 42-year-old former world number one finished off the last 11 holes of a storm-halted secondround 66 Saturday morning, then delighted spectators with a sizzling afternoon start.

“Tiger was performing great. It was just like turning back the hands of a clock,” said Cink, who played alongside Woods. AFP

Asiad athletes told: Play, fight with diginity PARTYLIST Rep. Mikee Romero (1Pacman) yesterday called on all athletes going to Indonesia for the 18th Asian Games to create their own mantra and cultivate a winning attitude in their quest for sporting excellence.

“Don’t be discouraged with what’s happening around and stay focused.

If you failed the last time, use it as motivation to go deep this time,” said Romero. “Make full use of this opportunity to shine and be role models to aspiring PH team members.”

While much of the attention is on the failed bid of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to get the services of NBA Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson, Rome-

ro, who is vice chairman of the House Committee on Sports, challenges all Filipino athletes to play and fight with dignity.

“Winning medals of any color is not the ultimate prize, but it is how you carry yourself and the manner you fight,” said Romero, who is a shooting and polo enthusiast.

Having a mantra, according to Romero, is essential to one’s success since it will certainly lead them to become “gritty warriors” who know no fear despite facing great odds.

“No matter how tall the odds are, if one has a winning attitude and using perseverance as a mantra, he or she can hurdle all kinds of obstacles,” he

added. “There is always a pressure to deliver a medal for the country but if one knows how to handle and read the situation he or she will succeed.”

The owner of NorthPort (formerly GlobalPort) team in the PBA, Romero is also hoping that other athletes will be accorded with a fair share of attention they all rightfully deserve.

“I’m a little sad that other Asian Games-bound athletes are not getting enough encouragements,” said Romero. “Let’s all rally behind them.”

A staunch ally of former President and now Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo, Romero plans to go to Indonesia and cheer for Filipino athletes all seeking a place in history. AFP

Rep. Romero

IN BRIEF PSALM pegs minimum bid for Manila property POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. republished its earlier invitation to bid for the sale of the Manila Thermal Power Plant land, setting the minimum bid price for the property at P885,746,650 PSALM clarified that the notice did not refer to a new project, but merely informed the interested bidders about the land’s minimum price.

It said it planned to invite more bidders to participate in the auction. The first notice, published on December 5 to 7, 2017, did not disclose the minimum bid price that not set at that time.

PSALM said any offer below the minimum price would be automatically rejected during bid opening. It informed interested parties that it would sell the property on an “as is, where is” basis.

Bidding is open to individuals and sole proprietorships, partnerships or corporation, joint ventures or consortiums, government corporate entities and local government units.

More Chinese tourists visiting Mactan airport GMR MEGAWIDE Cebu Airport Corp. expects an increase in Chinese tourists arrivals as local and foreign airlines add more direct flights to China from MactanCebu International Airport this quarter.

GMAC said Philippine Airlines would double its Cebu-Beijing operations starting September 1 until October 27 using an Airbus A321 aircraft.

China Eastern, Cebu Pacific and Philippines Air Asia last month launched a number of additional flights to China to accommodate Chinese tourists traveling through MCIA during this period.

“We are mindful of the fact that our traffic growth in Cebu will be driven to a greater extent by our visitors from China.

As such we have taken various initiatives to prepare for this growth,” GMCAC president Louie Ferrer said.

GMCAC has installed way-finding and informational signage in both Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 with Mandarin translations, as well as Hangul and Nihongo for an efficient and seamless travel through Mactan Airport. Darwin G. Amojelar

Business DOTr’s legal unit rejects P552-b Sangley airport

By Darwin G Amojelar

T

HE Transportation Department’s legal department thumbed down an earlier agreement between the agency and the Cavite provincial government to develop Sangley Point into an international airport for P552.018 billion.

The agency’s Office of the Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Procurement, along with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs and the Legal Service, issued a memorandum on June 15 asking the department to refrain from signing an agreement with the Cavite provincial government on the proposed international airport.

The memo was in response to the request of Transportation Undersecretary for planning and project development Ruben Reinoso Jr. for a legal opinion of the proposed memorandum of agreement

for the project.

The DOTr memorandum was signed

by Transportation Undersecretary for legal affairs and procurement Reinier Paul Yebra, assistant secretary for legal affairs Mark Steven Pastor and assistant secretary for procurement and chief of the DOTr legal service Giovanni Lopez.

The DOTr legal experts cited the lack of technical capability of the Cavite provincial government to implement an international airport development project in rejecting the proposal.

Based on the draft memorandum of

agreement, the Sangley Point International Airport Project involves the planning, financing, design, construction, development, operation, maintenance and management of the new international airport in Sangley Point, Cavite City.

It also includes all supporting road networks, infrastructure facilities and basic services with land reclamation as the physical development platform or enabling component.

The memo also noted that the Cavite provincial government had not identified the financing scheme for the more than half-a-trillion peso project.

“This office is of the view that PGC [provincial government of Cavite] lacks the technical capability to implement the proposed Sangley International Airport Project. As a matter of fact, the MOA itself is bereft of any provision or proof showing the technical capability of PGC,” the two-page memorandum stated.

Bloomberry’s income fell in second quarter BLOOMBERRY Resorts Corp., operator of Solaire Resorts and Casino, said net income in the second quarter of 2018 fell 17 percent to P1.63 billion from P1.96 billion year-on-year.

Bloomberry attributed the decline in the second quarter to a P513-million net loss from Korea operations under Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino and higher interest expenses.

Bloomberry said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated gross gaming revenues rose one percent in the second quarter of the year to P12.38 billion from a year ago and 10 percent lower on quarteron-quarter.

Despite the weak second quarter performance, Bloomberry’s first half consolidated net income reached P5.3 billion, up 29 percent from P4.11 billion in the first six months of 2017.

Consolidated gross gaming revenues in the first half stood at P26.13 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year, driven by the strong growth in mass segments’ volume and higher hold rates across all gaming segments. Jenniffer B. Austria

CLARK VISITORS. Clark International Airport Corp. president and chief executive Alexander Cauguiran (second from right) listens intently as Taoyuan City secretary-general Hsien-Ming Lee (left) talks about what Taoyuan City has to offer. The Taoyuan City delegation visited Clark Freeport Zone and the Clark International Airport on Aug. 7 to explore opportunities for partnerships. Clark and Taoyuan are both growing airport cities, or aerotropolises, being hosts to international airports. Taoyuan International Airport is Taiwan’s gateway to the world.

Govt capital expenditures surged 42% in six months THE fiscal space expanded by the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law enabled the government to boost investments and growth in the first half, the Finance Department said over the weekend.

The agency said in an economic bulletin the national government’s capital outlays in the first semester expanded 42.4 percent in nominal terms, boosting GDP growth by almost a percentage point.

Government current expenditures also rose 26.6 percent, contributing an incremental 1.16 percentage points to growth.

The second-quarter expansion of 6 percent, however, was slower than the revised 6.6-percent growth in the first

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

Dutch bank reduces 2018 PH growth forecast to 6.3%

By Julito G. Rada DUTCH financial giant ING Bank reduced the 2018 growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.3 percent from an earlier estimate of 6.8 percent, following the lackluster and lower-than-expected gross domestic product expansion of 6 percent in the second quarter.

Economists pointed to the closures of Boracay island and some mining operations, stagnant agriculture sector, trade imbalance and high inflation as among the factors that contributed to the sluggish performance in April to June.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a report over the weekend that household spending growth moderated to 5.6 percent from 6 percent in the same period last year.

“High inflation and weak agriculture production [rising 0.2 percent YoY in the second quarter from last year’s 6.3 percent] weakened purchasing power and restrained household spending,” he said.

Cuyegkeng said the “6-percent growth is still respectable.”

He said the moderation in household spending was also seen in slower manufacturing growth of 5.6 percent in the second quarter from 8 percent last year.

A higher take-home income from income tax reform offset the combined impact of high inflation and weak agriculture output, he said.

Cuyegkeng said the downside surprise came from a deterioration of the trade sector. The high import growth coupled with weaker export performance weighed on overall GDP growth, he said.

He said strong imports were a manifestation of strong domestic demand.

He said a strong private sector performance and the government’s aggressive infrastructure catch-up program contributed to the worsening trade imbalance while exports remained weak despite the multi-year weakness in the Philippine peso.

“We cut our forecast for 2018 GDP growth to 6.3 percent from our earlier forecast of 6.8 percent,” Cuyegkeng said.

EcoDyip allots P2.2b to buy electric vehicles

quarter. This brought the first-half GDP growth to 6.3 percent, below the government’s target range of 7 percent to 8 percent.

“Strong macroeconomic fundamentals backed by tax reforms and the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program will continue to boost economic growth as the competitiveness of the economy rises and more jobs are created,” the DoF said.

Data also showed that the national government revenues increased 19.9 percent in the first semester, as the first phase of the Train law took effect in January. This was more than twice the nominal GDP growth which reached 9.6 percent during the period. Julito G. Rada

ECODYIP Inc. said it will spend more than P2 billon to acquire additional modern jeepneys in the next three years, after securing a provisional authority to operate from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

EcoDyip president Richard Rosales said the company would acquire modern jeepneys for P2.2 million each from Indian vehicle manufacturer Mahindra.

“Currently, we have 100 units of modern jeepneys and will be be acquiring additional 1,000 more units for P2.2 billion,” Rosales said.

The additional modern jeepney units would be deployed in the National Capital Region.

The company recently secured a PA from LTFRB to operate modern jeepneys called “DyipKo” in two routes

in Metro Manila.

It currently has 50 DyipKo Supro for its Eastwood to Capital Commons route, and another 50 DyipKo Transmover for its Lawton to Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange route.

EcoDyip, in collaboration with Mahindra, came up with a vehicle that meets and suits the current needs of the Philippine commuter market – one that is safe, efficient and with modern features.

Dyipko aims to to hire existing jeepney drivers, train them on the technicalities of driving, safe measures and proper etiquette in dealing with passengers so the commuters can have a comfortable and safe ride experience.

The project also supports the implementation of government programs and policies.

The Department of Transportation is in the process of replacing all public utility vehicles aged 15 years or more with modern e-jeepney under its PUV Modernization Program.

The modern PUVs are designed to be environment-friendly, safe, secure and convenient with due consideration to persons with disabilities.

The PUVMP also encourages industry consolidation or the strategic merging of smaller transport industry players to form cooperatives or corporations.

The DOTr signed an MOU with the Landbank of the Philippines in April 2017 to set up a P1-billion financing scheme for PUJs via the Special Environment-Friendly and Efficiently Driven or Speed Jeepney Program. Darwin G Amojelar

Garments sector eyes 20% export growth

By Othel V. Campos THE textile, garments and other wearable industries predicted a combined export growth of 20 percent this year to $1.22 billion from $1.02 billion in 2017.

The Confederation of Wearables Exporters of the Philippines said it was anticipating a surge in wearable exports, currently dominated by China, as the trade war between the US and China would likely escalate.

“We’re hoping there will be a surge, even just for a little bit [in exports] from the tariff imposed

by America in the ongoing trade war,” said CONWEP executive director Maritess Agoncillo.

She said the difficulty of China penetrating the US market at this point might prove to be an advantage for other trading partners of the US such as the Philippines.

A number of garment manufacturers are preparing to close shop in China with their sights set on the Philippines as an alternative manufacturing site in Asia, said Agoncillo.

“If this happens, exports from the Philippines will increase with expectations of a surge in the US demand for more wearables as it closes its doors from imports direct from China,” she said.

Chinese manufacturers are still assessing the current labor situation and the taxation policies in the Philippines. These are two major points the Chinese companies consider when locating out of China, she said.

She said Philippine labor was just as competitive. The Philippines moved on from producing cheap, colorless shirts to more meticulous products, mostly for

B

top-of-the-line and expensive brands.

Wearable exports from the Philippines hit $2.9 to $3 billion in 2005, before it gradually declined to a third of its value over the succeeding years.

Agoncillo said other industry groups were proactively promoting the Philippines as a safe and secure destination for manufacturing industries.

Among these groups as the Textile Producers Association of the Philippines, Marikina Shoe Industry Development Office and the Garment Manufacturers Association of the Philippines.

These groups are supporting an upcoming promotional event called the 1st Philippine Garment, Leather Goods Industries and Fabric Expo on Aug. 23 to 26 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

PUBLIC WORKS BUDGET. Bacoor, Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla (inset) along with other lawmakers attend the budget hearing of the House committee on appropriations for the proposed 2019 budget of the Public Works Department to support infrastructure development, business centers and other projects that will support the country’s economic growth. Public Works Secretary Mark Villar (center) explains the department’s projects to members of the committee.

B2

Business

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market to move sideways

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

HARE prices are expected to move sideways this week as investors search for new catalysts after the disappointing economic data and the move of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise interest rates by 50 basis points.

“We continue to see near-term risk to share prices from foreign exchange/ macro vulnerabilities from the recent BSP policy rate hike of 50 basis points,” said Luis Limlingan, managing director of Regina Capital Development Corp.

“With BSP Governor (Nestor) Espenilla still looking strongly at fourth quarter rate adjustments, participants were inclined to lighten position temporarily,” Limlingan added.

With the stock market still in the middle of the earnings season, analysts said a higher-than-expected income for companies could provide a boost to the market.

But the current sideways movement might also provide investors an opportunity to accumulate undervalued stocks with a significant upside potential.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week slipped 0.2 percent to 7,804.98 points on the disappointing second-quarter gross domestic product figure. The All Shares Index gained 1 percent to 4,714.69.

The financial and holding firms ended on the negative, while the industrial, property, services and mining and oil indices managed to post week-on-week gains.

Foreign investors were net sellers by P66.4 million, while the average daily value stood at P6.8 billion from the previous week’s average of P6.09 billion.

The weekly top price gainer was Energy Development Corp., which jumped 39.2 percent to P6.99 per share on a planned tender offer and its intention to voluntary delist its shares from the stock exchange.

Other top gainers were San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc., which advanced 17.6 percent to P80; and Golden Bria Holdings Inc., which rose 17.6 percent to P329.

Weekly top price losers were Aboitiz Power Corp., which declined 5.5 percent to P36.10; BDO Unibank Inc., fell 5.3 percent to P129.50; and Jollibee Foods Corp., which lost 3.6 percent to P267.

A plunge of the Turkish lira to record lows, meanwhile, sent shivers through global markets Friday as investors worried about contagion, especially for the European banking sector.

“For some time now investors have been looking at the unfolding currency crisis in Turkey as a local difficulty,”

noted CMC Markets UK analyst Michael Hewson.

“However, the accelerating speed of the declines appears to be raising concerns about European banks’ exposure to the Turkish banking system.”

The lira was buffeted by a diplomatic row between Ankara and Washington, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s attempts to talk up the currency having exactly the opposite effect.

“The plunge in the lira which began in May now looks certain to push the Turkish economy into recession and it may well trigger a banking crisis,” said Andrew Kenningham, chief global economist at Capital Economics.

European banking stocks plunged, the euro weakened while demand for safe haven assets like gold and the Swiss franc picked up as analysts realized the lira’s plunge was not just a local Turkish problem. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

AUGUST 6-10, 2018 Close Volume

Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources China Bank Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Ferronoux Holding Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

59.9 129.50 96.95 2.75 1.90 33.05 7 16.4 14.56 3.78 8.65 0.66 1.57 807.00 0.560 77.2 1 11.98 21.40 47.15 88.45 105.1 200 30 200 1820.00 83.90 1.19

50,990 9,226,360 4,593,800 36,000 13,531,000 689,100 3,900 32,900 6,229,300 859,000 1,200 1,000 17,000 1,390 12,839,000 8,550,810 2,940,000 62,200 2,000 941,900 1,630 1,620 6,780 606,200 1,829,370 550 74,790 136,000

FINANCIAL 3,046,327.50 1,208,053,245.00 448,619,388.50 96,350.00 26,846,360.00 22,809,340.00 27,138.00 540,060.00 89,404,086.00 3,198,020.00 10,395.00 660.00 26,400.00 1,126,505.00 7,508,470.00 657,554,310.50 2,947,340.00 740,378.00 42,625.00 43,879,635.00 140,980.00 172,299.00 1,349,344.00 18,236,655.00 367,416,774.00 1,012,550.00 6,283,786.50 162,960.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Basic Energy Corp.

Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza Sime Darby SMC Food and Beverage SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

36.1 15.86 0.75 1.26 32.15 0.237 119.9 21.00 3.57 15.2 220 40.05 75.85 90 49.8 1.82 5.12 7.88 10.500 15.8 10.68 7.32 6.99 1.61 16.08 63.85 28.10 7.45 14.3 2.350 267.00 42.15 5.04 3.1 14.48 26.2 13.72 18.84 0.180 368.20 7.00 2.22 4.11 9.04 5.09 7.95 1.19 11.94 56.5 6.25 4.76 2.58 3.24 1.74 13.22 74.5 80 5.2 0.130 1.07 140.6 2.5 2.5 20.50 1.52

5,650,100 3,684,600 30,787,000 4,591,000 534,900 10,810,000 890 125,900 42,490,000 1,208,700 750 2,365,000 14,400 1,130 17,930 699,000 12,000 43,400 4,592,300 2,860,800 218,400 964,700 105,396,800 2,000 2,275,700 296,770 1,005,700 8,008,000 2,196,600 4,913,000 2,254,870 300 226,400 37,000 100 1,732,200 2,370,400 14,866,400 490,000 947,470 33,000 420,000 417,000 7,432,500 1,928,800 27,800 1,680,000 509,100 1,748,020 105,500 2,887,000 2,039,000 95,000 3,971,000 1,397,400 1,740,270 5,871,810 971,200 3,640,000 4,066,000 3,015,590 70,000 27,761,000 50,000 52,775,000

INDUSTRIAL 208,064,880.00 56,716,578.00 22,831,620.00 5,667,900.00 16,679,520.00 2,580,260.00 101,741.00 2,635,365.00 146,546,650.00 18,691,922.00 164,612.00 97,143,455.00 1,063,767.00 101,440.00 895,357.00 1,258,900.00 61,174.00 336,314.00 49,021,600.00 45,263,996.00 2,323,132.00 7,130,317.00 717,771,782.00 3,220.00 36,229,962.00 18,908,668.00 26,549,530.00 59,668,083.00 31,398,472.00 11,711,150.00 612,909,304.00 12,630.00 1,123,911.00 116,360.00 1,448.00 45,510,690.00 31,644,516.00 281,650,862.00 88,590.00 351,032,200.00 232,989.00 977,580.00 1,720,360.00 67,267,546.00 9,937,554.00 221,043.00 1,988,230.00 6,075,420.00 97,988,008.00 650,302.00 13,715,250.00 5,341,290.00 309,110.00 6,870,740.00 18,447,504.00 127,629,885.50 449,748,398.50 5,067,211.00 457,770.00 4,481,210.00 409,607,832.00 178,480.00 68,249,190.00 1,025,000.00 79,779,160.00

7,220,000 4,148,760 52,595,000 188,000 308,600 695,606,000 136,785,000 1,311,370 13,856,100 9,116,100 11,000 168,100 100,000 408,960 36,900 3,750,090 31,200 6,540,000 10,660,000 8,636,000 136,275,000 103,910,000 17,000 17,830,000 10,028,000 5,761,000 2,333,360 9,000 990,100 1,993,000 40,000 30,650 440 111,420,000 2,170,000

HOLDING FIRMS 1,752,400.00 248,834,913.50 644,755,214.00 173,550.00 1,877,201.00 1,028,750,070.00 199,927,020.00 1,313,744,150.00 83,492,038.00 111,274,094.00 47,410.00 1,191,006.00 21,000.00 398,389,460.00 223,399.00 216,614,588.00 165,122.00 3,883,150.00 46,680,980.00 152,425,030.00 97,706,580.00 523,593,076.00 59,400.00 737,800.00 13,509,720.00 16,093,630.00 327,697,372.00 23,270.00 953,486,640.00 3,194,730.00 30,950.00 7,892,040.00 189,300.00 36,907,000.00 450,430.00

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Transgrid Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings 8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Cebu Prop. `A’ Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

DM Wenceslao Double Dragon Empire East Land Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

0.245 60.35 12.58 0.91 6.10 1.410 1.410 985 6.07 12.38 4.31 7.00 0.210 980 6.01 58.50 5.13 0.6 4.36 17.28 0.690 4.98 3.5 0.0370 1.300 2.880 143.00 2.59 956.00 1.60 0.78 259.000 421.00 0.3250 0.209 7.900 1.06 13.98 2.000 0.720 42.600 3.13 4.62 5.6 5.9 0.475 0.97 1.010 0.209 0.405 10.140 28 0.600 1.50 1.21 1.56 4.05 4.98 0.670 0.4550 0.520 29.00

14,147,400 47,460,000 3,302,800 119,000 3,074,000 73,639,700 5,150,000 3,485,000 109,700 2,000 44,590,000 1,342,000 16,397,000 19,190,000 3,950,000 3,974,600 3,007,400 3,614,000 46,172,000 6,335,000 91,389,000 22,000 142,925,000 410,986,000 19,270,000 25,379,000 100

PROPERTY 110,045,853.00 48,892,530.00 43,183,466.00 240,070.00 2,257,100.00 3,108,625,715.00 16,179,070.00 16,226,880.00 603,445.00 11,800.00 20,264,350.00 1,316,380.00 16,234,790.00 4,015,180.00 9,127,853.00 40,663,908.00 83,852,640.00 2,502,880.00 68,121,630.00 7,689,040.00 147,456,190.00 89,100.00 363,895,050,941.00 278,344,790.00 8,899,000.00 12,783,710.00 2,900.00

JULY 30-AUGUST 3, 2018 Close Volume Value 59.95 136.80 97.00 2.75 1.86 32.9 6.7 16.3 14.34 3.86 8.68 0.66 1.55 830.00 0.570 76 1.02 11.9 21.00 45.50 88.5 105.3 201 30 204 1870.00 84.90 1.2

66,630 14,148,990 11,923,990 81,000 6,522,000 409,400 8,800 83,700 2,618,100 2,228,000 1,500 13,000 238,000 1,010 5,614,000 19,662,560 3,247,000 354,800 1,000 980,900 3,300 3,860 4,110 365,000 1,526,270 330 19,460 251,000

3,973,312.00 1,896,050,500.00 1,160,603,844.00 223,060.00 11,326,940.00 13,527,815.00 61,864.00 1,362,888.00 37,826,512.00 8,619,160.00 13,014.00 8,250.00 367,670.00 851,370.00 3,112,840.00 1,454,195,951.50 3,273,600.00 4,221,988.00 20,960.00 44,950,900.00 290,595.00 409,352.00 840,210.00 10,941,125.00 310,792,613.00 616,650.00 1,647,368.50 300,740.00

38.2 15.5 0.79 1.17 30.9 0.235 112.5 21.10 3.2 15.5 195 39.3 70

6,888,500 2,678,300 38,807,000 2,607,000 563,400 8,750,000 2,490 114,400 31,730,000 4,683,100 220 2,226,600 4,860

258,174,625.00 41,485,064.00 30,293,210.00 3,010,150.00 16,722,560.00 2,074,210.00 292,178.00 2,447,630.00 99,346,150.00 72,963,772.00 42,596.00 90,368,460.00 330,924.00

50 1.83 5.06 7.55 10.600 16 10.80 7.42 5.02 1.61 15.56 63.4 24.40 7.45 14.8 2.420 277.00

1,815,870 469,000 85,600 54,600 11,654,700 7,323,600 812,800 3,777,500 11,608,000 1,000 3,910,400 198,430 184,900 1,734,900 2,284,500 5,809,000 3,021,040

91,418,808.00 859,330.00 436,220.00 416,375.00 121,817,566.00 116,682,168.00 8,658,708.00 27,746,316.00 58,748,041.00 1,610.00 60,770,058.00 12,488,651.00 4,461,105.00 12,935,353.00 32,619,122.00 14,163,430.00 820,985,994.00

4.9 3.21 13.80 26.45 12.8 19.24 0.180 370.00 6.83 2.26 4.17 8.97 5.5 7.90 1.18 11.98 56.5 6.11 4.72 2.66 3.21 1.76 13.4

769,700 51,000 3,400 4,756,900 19,817,000 7,116,100 180,000 1,629,660 1,131,200 35,683,000 306,000 5,204,600 922,500 122,000 3,553,000 484,100 1,450,290 85,200 12,976,000 5,051,000 3,000 1,787,000 716,800

3,830,719.00 164,680.00 46,920.00 126,078,125.00 252,166,860.00 137,591,026.00 32,450.00 619,927,110.00 7,910,583.00 71,998,260.00 1,276,730.00 46,290,404.00 5,072,995.00 971,355.00 4,245,370.00 5,761,654.00 81,558,530.50 526,191.00 59,701,470.00 12,705,050.00 9,630.00 3,178,380.00 9,525,448.00

68 5.28 0.127 1.17 130 2.51 2.48

700,220 235,000 507,720 4,605,000 6,648,500 1,000 50,651,000

47,870,517.00 1,236,840.00 63,501.00 5,443,540.00 866,325,025.00 2,510.00 126,963,260.00

1.52

47,052,000

73,768,410.00

0.245 61.55 12.00 0.97 6.10 1.210 1.200 1020 6.15 12.40 4.31 7.10 0.204 998 6.02 57.00 5.39 0.59 4.19 17.82 0.710 5.03 3.49 0.0370 1.340 2.850 139.00 2.58 986.00 1.61 0.75 259.000 475.00 0.3100 0.207

4,680,000 8,108,430 31,651,900 80,000 66,500 462,739,000 160,346,000 1,769,280 11,225,400 27,555,800 7,000 162,100 1,040,000 684,905 80,800 15,160,870 6,500 1,404,000 22,871,000 7,078,800 43,437,000 232,691,100 6,000 45,600,000 6,553,000 4,049,000 978,830 60,000 1,359,300 9,426,000 108,000 8,910 400 128,070,000 590,000

1,152,900.00 474,812,907.50 379,933,018.00 75,600.00 401,111.00 461,367,050.00 161,904,430.00 1,781,151,735.00 69,117,547.00 328,720,948.00 31,690.00 1,144,832.00 215,140.00 675,284,275.00 486,081.00 860,412,975.50 33,302.00 837,290.00 91,549,390.00 127,894,012.00 30,401,200.00 1,123,664,670.00 20,290.00 1,706,600.00 8,799,400.00 11,210,250.00 136,180,534.00 154,500.00 1,319,426,645.00 14,545,890.00 82,580.00 2,312,886.00 186,030.00 41,901,950.00 123,350.00

7.430 0.96 14.30 2.000 0.750 40.500 3.18 4.66 5.6

2,098,200 8,594,000 113,600 539,000 10,393,000 61,548,700 19,039,000 3,573,000 69,500

15,582,205.00 8,286,260.00 1,603,474.00 1,057,020.00 8,017,410.00 2,540,365,940.00 61,941,540.00 16,666,990.00 383,463.00

0.435 0.93 0.980 0.213 0.415 9.820 26.9 0.590 1.45 1.22 1.53

13,400,000 512,000 3,804,000 31,410,000 905,000 5,738,700 6,054,800 8,008,000 65,251,000 6,431,000 25,797,000

5,829,700.00 483,180.00 3,766,270.00 6,706,660.00 382,900.00 56,282,710.00 162,614,735.00 4,718,890.00 93,869,240.00 8,751,330.00 38,147,480.00

4.74 0.650 0.4500 0.500

65,222,000 349,590,000 10,390,000 11,563,000

306,452,500.00 221,490,490.00 4,651,550.00 5,784,910.00

STOCKS

AUGUST 6-10, 2018 Close Volume

JULY 30-AUGUST 3, 2018 Close Volume Value

Value

Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

3.67 21.40 1.99 3.25 38.50 1.14 7.36 0.760 6.040

9,112,000 16,859,200 937,000 717,000 54,863,600 3,115,000 3,995,900 407,000 20,567,700

33,524,920.00 348,588,448.00 1,857,500.00 2,322,160.00 2,119,398,430.00 3,557,580.00 29,653,076.00 307,320.00 123,834,353.00

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail MetroAlliance A MetroAlliance B NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

14.46 25.3 1.43 0.465 0.045 13.4 4.69 10.50 0.0540 70.35 8.43 6.8 8.11 2.27 25.80 915 1976 5.41 329.00 12.60 3.94 88.45 2.09 12.3 7.83 0.130 3.0200 3.6 14.62 4.01 1.06 26.50 0.455 5.09 7.5 2.87 2.20 2.27 8.800 10.94 8.63 3.94 8.13 112.00 5.30 1375.00 0.375 0.920 45.60 85.45 8.39 2.40 1.080 0.72 5.12 0.760 11.540

SERVICES 101,700 1,435,642.00 398,500 9,930,215.00 319,000 451,980.00 19,570,000 9,239,200.00 33,400,000 1,514,600.00 21,300 284,194.00 119,000 545,970.00 53,088,300 551,981,892.00 144,030,000 7,906,830.00 3,680,130 246,436,609.00 11,800 100,081.00 10,133,700 69,705,628.00 1,531,000 11,924,720.00 114,000 250,560.00 887,400 21,481,645.00 560 519,615.00 476,015 933,030,065.00 802,200 4,342,476.00 83,970 26,204,332.00 17,800 224,280.00 10,220,000 40,661,740.00 9,207,400 825,515,018.50 51,000 106,420.00 129,100 1,640,706.00 114,700 897,343.00 85,830,000 11,191,560.00 67,475,000 219,623,770.00 437,000 1,563,000.00 11,000 161,508.00 4,449,000 17,814,390.00 998,000 1,033,390.00 7,152,000 189,817,465.00 6,030,000 2,971,850.00 570,000 2,834,420.00 29,209,200 218,610,493.00 6,702,000 18,785,350.00 3,294,000 7,069,320.00 185,000 407,810.00 22,122,800 188,340,775.00 34,400 377,672.00 19,000 166,616.00 661,000 2,497,180.00 2,454,800 19,980,926.00 181,880 20,347,550.00 2,242,500 11,962,506.00 351,085 473,732,065.00 48,860,000 19,333,050.00 27,479,000 25,087,520.00 4,297,500 199,204,555.00 2,458,760 213,076,298.00 712,700 6,039,243.00 62,399,000 142,151,460.00 4,227,000 4,612,810.00 1,515,239,000 1,109,505,260.00 14,190,600 72,158,272.00 49,109,000 38,667,170.00 14,377,600 166,853,820.00

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Phinma Petro Semirara Corp.

United Paragon

0.0026 1.63 3.71 21.50 1.5000 2.02 0.300 7.36 2.010 0.205 0.127 0.135 0.009 0.0086 1.56 4.83 1.16 0.5400 1.1400 0.0120 0.0120 4.29 15.72 0.0110 3.1700 32.00 0.0060

289,500,000 54,718,000 1,058,000 365,400 141,000 7,645,000 570,000 72,500 48,779,000 5,090,000 23,450,000 1,980,000 80,000,000 10,000,000 2,109,000 20,912,000 2,607,000 899,000 15,392,000 531,600,000 500,000 3,693,000 49,839,100 385,900,000 833,000 11,158,000 4,000,000

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Alco Preferred B Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ DD PREF First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC FB PREF 2 SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I Swift Pref

26.1 101.5 500 503.5 101.5 103.5 505 490 5.16 960 987.5 101 1.02 102.5 1010 1050 103.9 109.9 1000 76.6 80.9 75.05 75.3 76.55 75.3 75.6 76 1.92

1,578,700 800 4,690 16,440 143,120 11,620 100 2,000 673,200 20,410 30 27,850 828,000 14,400 4,220 3,420 3,540 210 1,080 10,690 195,910 1,960 44,720 187,990 142,520 41,150 202,000 1,000

LR Warrant

2.400

WARRANTS & BONDS 1,680,000 3,965,170.00

MINING & OIL 1,010,200.00 89,326,910.00 3,942,590.00 8,559,760.00 211,910.00 15,434,610.00 174,850.00 528,816.00 97,964,800.00 1,058,780.00 3,034,190.00 260,930.00 725,300.00 86,000.00 3,282,950.00 98,505,080.00 2,998,860.00 488,880.00 16,545,780.00 6,891,700.00 6,000.00 16,026,950.00 687,634,180.00 4,344,200.00 2,554,280.00 358,159,970.00 24,000.00 PREFERRED 41,957,825.00 81,250.00 2,345,000.00 8,297,700.00 14,486,190.00 1,174,387.00 50,500.00 980,200.00 3,526,543.00 19,591,745.00 29,625.00 2,796,509.00 854,840.00 1,475,278.00 4,304,960.00 3,586,950.00 367,547.00 23,097.00 1,077,940.00 833,909.50 15,661,222.50 147,072.00 3,363,576.00 14,319,516.50 10,730,801.00 3,110,940.00 15,351,360.00 1,920.00

3.56 20.40 1.97 3.25 38.00 1.15 7.28 0.780 6.050

3,575,000 8,907,800 2,089,000 158,000 38,513,500 3,537,000 8,084,300 108,000 34,257,400

12,857,800.00 179,481,183.00 4,193,600.00 513,380.00 1,459,456,320.00 4,016,140.00 59,427,234.00 83,200.00 205,705,494.00

14.5 24.4 1.4 0.460 0.048 13.5 4.3 10.08 0.0550 69.95 8.47 7 6.73 2.13 25.65 900 1850 5.41 279.80

56,900 287,200 4,008,000 13,160,000 144,770,000 909,100 461,500 73,285,900 66,760,000 1,744,620 1,100 5,751,400 52,400 16,000 924,200 3,030 175,645 664,700 21,570

818,890.00 6,820,605.00 5,600,410.00 6,115,550.00 7,066,750.00 12,271,402.00 2,142,530.00 748,226,462.00 3,766,500.00 122,293,919.50 9,317.00 40,402,971.00 368,989.00 34,180.00 23,806,610.00 2,728,425.00 322,643,805.00 3,595,102.00 5,982,744.00

3.98 85.5 2.07 13.4 7.88 0.135 3.5400 3.8 15 4.05 1.05 25.80 0.465 4.73 7.05 2.82 2.30 2.40 8.910 10.98 8.90 3.55 8.12 113.50 5.44 1380.00 0.370 0.900 46.50 88.45 8.36 2.20 1.100 0.63 5.08 0.740 11.860

10,149,000 3,820,200 79,000 17,500 78,200 27,710,000 82,313,000 352,000 7,500 17,923,000 1,999,000 5,587,500 20,000 2,123,200 32,177,900 5,858,000 7,348,000 425,000 18,316,300 49,600 25,300 338,000 3,000 156,190 2,804,200 395,705 31,810,000 40,954,000 5,519,600 2,045,030 142,200 57,372,800 13,932,000 552,090,000 9,626,400 11,234,000 6,598,800

38,489,220.00 333,827,724.50 165,530.00 231,030.00 616,350.00 3,735,530.00 261,927,630.00 1,312,430.00 113,112.00 75,066,170.00 2,079,140.00 141,105,050.00 9,300.00 10,513,476.00 225,531,370.00 16,282,810.00 17,120,770.00 997,120.00 162,973,860.00 547,242.00 220,167.00 1,161,420.00 24,400.00 20,400,701.00 13,238,344.00 537,369,750.00 12,338,450.00 37,097,140.00 253,791,205.00 178,549,025.50 1,207,111.00 133,268,820.00 15,201,330.00 322,573,680.00 48,938,667.00 8,321,810.00 78,762,590.00

0.0025 1.56 3.80 23.20 1.4700 1.97 0.300 7.68 2.070 0.225 0.130 0.135 0.009

459,000,000 41,262,000 735,000 310,100 25,000 8,409,000 1,080,000 30,000 141,617,000 1,370,000 49,129,000 9,720,000 88,000,000

1,149,700.00 63,134,720.00 2,842,400.00 7,089,131.00 36,190.00 16,682,190.00 324,100.00 220,525.00 295,607,590.00 297,680.00 6,379,150.00 1,289,900.00 769,600.00

1.6 4.55 1.2 0.5500 1.0800 0.0130 0.0130 4.39 14.24 0.0120 3.0300 32.75 0.0059

5,092,000 23,100,000 1,042,000 567,000 6,355,000 642,600,000 53,000,000 3,504,000 55,744,800 184,500,000 1,259,000 6,980,700 14,000,000

7,861,830.00 104,120,210.00 1,215,440.00 301,860.00 6,863,230.00 7,724,100.00 688,500.00 15,802,160.00 746,471,604.00 2,042,900.00 3,768,550.00 225,505,905.00 80,800.00

24.3

662,100

15,574,180.00

500 507 101 104.9

8,880 2,250 17,950 50,500

4,440,000.00 1,132,750.00 1,822,965.00 5,273,500.00

505 5.3 974.5 987.5 100.8 1.04 104.5 1021

4,100 930,100 2,250 7,790 18,720 213,000 135,220 2,000

2,071,040.00 4,862,267.00 2,168,105.00 7,598,040.00 1,877,198.00 219,580.00 13,868,970.00 2,042,000.00

103.7 106.2 1000 77.4 79.35 75.05 75.2 76.9 75.2 75.5 75.8 2

3,690 420 27,000 130,480 7,960 20 55,000 14,490 207,690 91,110 277,560 4,000

372,089.00 44,820.00 26,601,310.00 9,954,143.00 631,630.00 1,501.00 4,129,600.00 1,109,224.50 15,626,186.00 6,873,725.00 20,912,506.00 8,000.00

2.450

4,720,000

12,253,120.00

SME 121,130.00 17,652,976.00 22,278,170.00

3.03 5.27 3.18

1,000 4,541,600 6,116,000

3,030.00 23,953,628.00 19,615,180.00

Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

3 5.19 3.12

40,000 3,431,500 7,153,000

First Metro ETF

116.4

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 32,150 3,729,241.00

116

34,490

3,961,169.00

10.18 10 1

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 58,880 598,198.40 29,350 295,850.00 214,660 215,050.00

10.18 10.1 1.02

5,100 980 26,340

51,918.00 9,898.00 26,796.80

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Transpacific Broadcast ATN Holdings A Oriental Pet. `A’ MRC Allied Ind. Philodrill Corp. `A’ Abra Mining Boulevard Holdings Megaworld ATN Holdings B Mabuhay Holdings `A’

VOLUME 1,515,239,000 695,606,000 531,600,000 410,986,000 385,900,000 289,500,000 144,030,000 142,925,000 136,785,000 136,275,000

STOCKS Megaworld Ayala Land `B’ SM Prime Holdings Ayala Corp `A’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Transpacific Broadcast ATN Holdings A SM Investments Inc. Globe Telecom I.C.T.S.I.

VALUE 363,895,050,941.00 3,108,625,715.00 2,119,398,430.00 1,313,744,150.00 1,208,053,245.00 1,109,505,260.00 1,028,750,070.00 953,486,640.00 933,030,065.00 825,515,018.50

Tiger Resort plans to list shares in PH by next year JAPANESE gaming conglomerate Universal Entertainment Corp. is preparing to list the shares of its Philippine gaming and leisure unit Tiger Resort Leisure & Entertainment Inc. in 2019.

Tiger Resorts is the operator of the $2.4-billion integrated casino and resort Okada Manila.

“The Universal Entertainment Group is preparing to take public Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc., the core company in the group’s casino resort business, in 2019 to accelerate its growth and raise its name recognition,” Universal Entertainment said in a statement posted on its website.

“Details will be disclosed as soon as they are finalized,” it added.

Universal Entertainment also reported that Okada Manila posted net sales of 21.64 billion yen (P10.09 billion) in the first half of the year and an operating loss of 3.020 billion yen (P1.5 billion) in the same period.

The gaming company said total sales at Okada Manila, led by the gaming business in the Manila Bay region of the Philippines, continued to increase and had already become profitable in terms of its quarterly EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

“Sales in this business surpassed the initial forecast with gaming operations for the mass market and for VIPs which are the primary source of the company’s sales growth. The volume of the mass market has been climbing steadily and the official opening of junkets promoters have started contributing to growth in VIP gaming sales,” Universal Entertainment said.

The hotel occupancy rate, meanwhile, stood at 98 percent in the second quarter of the year.

Universal Entertainment said Okada Manila would continue to expand attractions and amenities to boost gaming and non-gaming revenues.

To increase earnings from the mass market, Okada Manila plans more non-gaming facilities and services and will lure an even larger number of VIPs from other countries. Jenniffer B. Austria

PAL reported higher loss in 1st six months

By Darwin G Amojelar THE operator of Philippine Airlines said net loss rose sharply in the first half of the year mostly because of higher operating expenses.

PAL Holdings Inc. said total comprehensive loss jumped 59 percent to P444.78 million in the January-to-June period from P279.79 million year-onyear.

The company booked a comprehensive loss of P243.11 million in the second quarter of the year from a profit of P254.28 million on year.

The country’s flag carrier posted total revenues of P75.13 billion in the first half of the year, up 13 percent from P66.31 billion on year.

“The P8.82-billion growth in revenues was primarily due to the increase in passengers and cargoes carried as a result of increase in number of flights operated as well as improvement in yields,” PAL Holdings said.

PAL Holdings’ total expenses climbed 15.2 percent to P75.57 billion from the previous year’s P65.61 billion mainly due to the increase in flights mounted.

The company attributed the increase in expenses mainly to higher flying operations, aircraft and traffic servicing, reservations and sales and passenger service expenses.

PAL Holdings also attributed the 21.7-percent increase in flying operations over last year’s P33.70 billion to the surge in fuel cost.

PAL’s fuel expenses increased 27.3 percent in the first six months of 2018 as a result of the escalation in the average price per barrel of aviation fuel from $74.99 in 2017 to $91.08 in 2018.

Aircraft and traffic servicing expenses rose 12 percent over the year ago level of P8.76 billion as a result of the increase in number of flights operated during the period.

World IN BRIEF Nobel-winning V.S. Naipaul, 85 LONDON―British author V.S. Naipaul, a famously outspoken Nobel laureate who wrote on the traumas of post-colonial change, has died at the age of 85.

Naipaul, who was born in Trinidad and the son of an Indian civil servant, was best known for works including “A House for Mr Biswas” and his Man Booker Prize-winning “In A Free State”.

“He died surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavor,” his wife Lady Nadira Naipaul said in a statement on Saturday.

She described the outspoken author as a “giant in all that he achieved”.

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul settled in England and studied English literature at Oxford University on a scholarship.

But he spent much of his time traveling and despite becoming a pillar of Britain’s cultural establishment, was also a symbol of modern rootlessness.

Naipaul’s early works focused on the West Indies, but came to encompass countries around the world.

He stirred controversy in the past, describing post-colonial countries as “halfmade societies” and arguing that Islam both enslaved and attempted to wipe out other cultures. AFP

B3

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

White supremacists set for rally

W

ASHINGTON― White supremacists are set to rally outside the White House on Sunday, one year after torchwielding neo-Nazis clashed with counter demonstrators in a deadly protest that highlighted the growing boldness of the extreme right in the United States.

Organized by Unite the Right―the same network that called last year’s protest in Charlottesville, Virginia― Sunday’s rally will once again see the extremists stand face-to-face with antifascists, who are staging a counter pro-

test.

“I don’t know exactly what will happen, but it probably will not be good,” tweeted Richard Spencer, a leader of the so-called “alt-right” movement, who said he would be staying away from the rally.

All firearms will be banned from the Washington protest site, including those legally carried by licensed gun owners, officials said.

Rally organizers encouraged supporters to bring a US or Confederate flags, and cautioned not to react angrily to counter protesters.

“There will certainly be provocateurs trying to get a reaction out of you by trying to stick cameras in peoples’ faces, yelling, etc,” the Unite the Right website stated.

Members of the leftist Answer Coali-

tion plan a “mass action” to protest the white nationalists.

Last year’s protests in Charlottesville on August 11 saw hundreds of neo-Nazi sympathizers, accompanied by riflecarrying men, chanting white nationalist and anti-Jewish slogans while wielding flaming torches―scenes reminiscent of the racist rallies held before the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s.

When the demonstrations continued on August 12, fighting broke out between the neo-Nazis and counter demonstrators, including members of the anti-fascist Antifa group.

The violence culminated when a man plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman named Heather Heyer and injuring 19.

On Saturday, marchers in Charlottesville held peaceful demonstrations and

Caspian Sea countries to sign landmark deal

Ivanka Trump slams ‘neo-nazism’ WASHINGTON―Ivanka Trump, President Donald Trump’s daughter and a White House adviser, explicitly condemned “white supremacy, racism and neo-nazism” late Saturday in a manner her father seems reluctant to do.

The tweets come on the anniversary of the deadly unrest triggered by a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. A similar far-right rally is scheduled for Sunday outside the White House.

“One year ago in Charlottesville, we witnessed an ugly display of hatred, racism, bigotry & violence,” Ivanka Trump tweeted.

“While Americans are blessed to live in a nation that protects liberty, freedom of speech and diversity of opinion, there is no place for white supremacy, racism and neo-nazism in our great country,” she said.

“Rather than tearing each other down with hatred, racism & violence, we can lift one another up, strengthen our communities and strive to help every American achieve his or her full potential!”

The tweets are notable because her father drew scorn after the Charlottesville bloodshed for initially avoiding any condemnation of the torch-bearing white supremacists who took part in that rally. AFP

‘Suicidal’ worker steals, crashes plane SEATTLE―A 29-year-old “suicidal” airport worker who commandeered an empty plane from Seattle’s main airport and took it on an hour-long flight chased by F-15 fighter jets before crashing into a small island did not commit any security violations, officials said Saturday.

Horizon Air employee Richard Russell told an air traffic controller he was “just a broken man” minutes before dying late Friday in the Bombardier Q400 twin-engine turboprop plane, appearing to apologize for his actions. Law enforcement officials identified him to US media.

Authorities ruled out any link to terror.

But consternation grew over the safety gaps that allowed an airport worker to easily gain access to a commercial airliner and fly it over a major metropolitan area.

“Everybody’s stunned... that something like this would happen,” said recently retired Horizon operational supervisor Rick Christenson. “How could it? Everybody’s been through background checks.”

Russell “had access legitimately” to the plane, said Mike Ehl, director of aviation operations at the airport in the northwestern US state of Washington, adding that “no security violations were committed.” AFP

Quakes threaten tourism industry GIGI, Indonesia―The powerful earthquakes that struck the Indonesian island of Lombok in recent weeks, killing some 400 people, have sent holidaymakers fleeing, raising questions about how its lucrative tourism sector will bounce back.

Two deadly tremors a week apart―accompanied by dozens of aftershocks― wrought widespread damage on homes and livelihoods, striking during the crucial tourism season, when hotels, local businesses and seasonal workers earn the bulk of their annual revenue.

In the Gili Islands, a popular backpacker and diving destination just off Lombok’s northern coast, thousands of terrified tourists jostled on powder-white beaches for departing boats.

Lombok’s airport was briefly crammed with holidaymakers rushing to get flights out, while the main tourist drag of Senggigi has been left deserted.

Alfan Hasandi depended on peak season tourists to see his family through the rest of the year. He and his brothers ran a now shuttered business on one of the islands, Gili Air, offering boat tickets, snorkeling, trekking and vehicle rentals, usually earning five million rupiah ($350) a day during peak season.

“We hope we can rebuild... but it’s impossible because people are still traumatized,” the 25-year-old told AFP. “Our homes have been completely destroyed... We don’t have money to rebuild, we need help.” AFP

people laid flowers on a makeshift memorial to Heyer.

President Donald Trump was roundly condemned last year for saying there was “blame on both sides” for the violence, condemning the anti-fascists who came “with clubs in their hands.”

Two days later, after a firestorm of criticism, the president said: “Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups.”

On Saturday the president issued a generic condemnation of racism via Twitter.

“The riots in Charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division,” he wrote. “We must come together as a nation. I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. Peace to ALL Americans!” AFP

AUTHORS’ NIGHT. Jane Friedman attends Authors’ Night At East Hampton Library Private Dinner on August 11, 2018, in East Hampton, New York. AFP

Highway highlights jihadist peril DORO, Mali―”Hot spot ahead!”

The curt message comes over the radio, warning troops aboard the eight-vehicle UN peacekeeping convoy to check their weapons one more time and go on maximum alert.

A grim sight greets the Germans as their armored contingent approaches the village of Doro in the savannah south of Mali’s broiling desert: a line of burned-out fuel tankers, pickup trucks and military vehicles.

They have been destroyed by homemade bombs and armed raiders―a reminder of the jihadist threat that hangs over northern Mali like a leaden pall.

The scorched, dusty north has been in the grip of an Islamist uprising since 2012. The following year, intervention by French troops drove the jihadists out of key northern towns, but the insurgency was displaced rather than crushed.

Conflict spread to the center of the vast Sahel state and spilled into Burkina Faso. But jihadism is just one factor in a mosaic of violence that includes ethnic clashes and gangster activity.

The RN15―the highway that leads from Gao, the main town in the north, and reaches down into Mopti, in the center―has seen doz-

ens of attacks over the past three years.

A map used by the German paratroopers in the UN operation MINUSMA is studded with markers of attacks since 2016 between Gao and Doro: “IED”, or improvised explosive devices, “holdups,” “armed attacks” and “complex attacks”, or combined operations.

“This part is called the ‘Highway of Death’,” a UN official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Recently, there have been lots of bus holdups,” the official added. “The bandits rob all the passengers -- they even order people to transfer them money with their mobile phones.”

Such incidents led road transporters to use the highway only in convoys on a dangerous stretch of 150 kilometers, but that is still not sufficiently safe and UN forces decided to patrol, looking for IEDs. “Today we want to collect data for the road book, because we have to know what are the vulnerable points of the road,” German Lieutenant-Colonel Mickael Weckbach told AFP. The convoy rolled cautiously into Doro, where the main street doubles as the local market and sid estreets are a de-facto parking lot for camels. The village of mud huts also has a detachment of the Malian army. AFP

AKTAU, Kazakhstan―The leaders of the five states bordering the Caspian Sea meet in Kazakhstan on Sunday to sign a landmark deal on the inland sea that boasts a wealth of oil and gas reserves and sturgeon.

Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan are expected to agree a long-awaited convention on the legal status of the sea, which has been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union rendered obsolete the agreements between Tehran and Moscow.

Talks in the port city of Aktau should help ease the tensions in a militarized region where the legal limbo has scuppered lucrative projects and strained relations among nations along the Caspian’s 7,000-kilometer shoreline.

The Kremlin said the convention keeps most of the sea in shared use but divides up the seabed and underground resources.

It does not allow military bases from any other countries to be sited on the Caspian.

Sunday’s summit is the fifth of its kind since 2002 but there have been more than 50 lowerlevel meetings since the Soviet breakup spawned four new countries on the shores of the Caspian.

The deal will settle a longlasting dispute on whether the Caspian is a sea or a lake― which means it falls under different international laws.

The draft agreement, briefly Manila

Standard

TODAY

made public on a Russian government portal in June, refers to the Caspian as a sea but the provisions give it “a special legal status”, Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin told Kommersant daily.

It is the Caspian’s vast hydrocarbon reserves―estimated at around 50 billion barrels of oil and just under 300 trillion cubic feet (8.4 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas in proved and probable reserves―that have made a deal both vital and complex to achieve.

“Disputes arose when the Caspian was a frontier oil province,” said John Roberts, a nonresident senior fellow at Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, while it is “now well established, with major fields approaching peak... production.”

Any deal will “expand the field for multilateral cooperation” between the five states, said Ilham Shaban, who heads the Caspian Barrel think tank.

But some are likely to view it as more of a breakthrough than others.

Energy-rich but isolated Turkmenistan is particularly excited and President Gurganguly Berdymukahmedov has called for annual Caspian Sea Day celebrations from Sunday onwards.

Turkmenistan could benefit from a concession allowing the construction of underwater pipelines, which were previously blocked by the other states. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Department of Health CENTRAL OFFICE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

INVITATION TO BID FOR PROCUREMENT OF CARTRIDGE-BASED NUCLEIC ACID AMPLIFICATION TEST REAGENTS IB NO. 2018-287 1.

The Department of Health (DOH), through the General Appropriations Act of 2018 intends to apply the sum of Four Hundred Thirty Seven Million Five Hundred Thirty Nine Thousand Four Hundred Fifty Four Philippine Pesos (PhP437,539,454.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Procurement of Cartridge-Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test Reagents under IB No. 2018-287. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The DOH now invites bids for the procurement of the above-captioned package. Delivery of the Goods is required within period specified under Section VI. Schedule of Requirements. Bidders should have completed, within the past five (5) years:

3.

a.

At least two (2) similar contracts for local and/or international contracts and the aggregate contract amounts should be equivalent to at least twenty five (25%) of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC); and

b.

The largest of these similar contracts must be equivalent to at least half of the twenty five percent (25%) of the (ABC) as required above.

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 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 13 August 2018 to 05 September 2018 from the address above 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 Philippine Pesos (PhP50,000.00).

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

6.

The DOH will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 23 August 2018, 10:00 A.M. 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-D Secretariat at the address below on or before 05 September 2018, 9:00 A.M. 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 05 September 2018, 9:00 A.M. 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.

AFTER THE QUAKE. Two elderly people stand next to their damaged house in Gangga after an earthquake hit the area of Gangga on August 12, 2018. An earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has killed 387 people, authorities said on August 11, adding hundreds of thousands of displaced people were still short of clean water, food and medicine nearly a week on. AFP

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 its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to: COBAC-D 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.) HERMINIGILDO V. VALLE, MD, MPA Undersecretary of Health COBAC-D Chairperson

(MS-AUG. 13, 2018)

LGUs

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

B4

LocaL government units

monday, august 13, 2018

Estrada lauds 1k graduates of MMDC tack

MANILA Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada lauded the new batch of 1,013 graduates of various courses offered by the city government to start their own businesses, a project under the Manila Manpower Development Center (MMDC).

Estrada also expressed his admirations to the new graduates of baking, beauty care, bed sheet and pillow case making, cooking and food processing, curtain making, food and beverage, hotel and restaurant services, housekeeping, massage therapy, throw pillow making, and unisex haircutting.

They received their certificates of completion during the graduation ceremony held in San Andres Sports Complex, in Manila on Friday.

“Manila has the highest rate of poverty incidence and the most number of jobless individuals. This program is just part of our unending efforts to provide you with all your needs to find a job or start up your own businesses,” the mayor said.

“I am so impressed that the participants, in spite of their age, promptly took up our offer for various courses at the Manila Manpower Development Center for 20 days,” the Manila Chief Executive said during the simple ceremony.

“I salute them for their intention to improve their lives and give inspirations to the out of school youths being provided by the city government,” Estrada said.

P2P buses big help for tourists leaving via Clark

By Romeo Dizon CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga— Travelers from Central Luzon find the premium Point 2 Point bus service now being offered here an attractive and convenient option, specially during the rainy season.

This was voiced out by travelers, such as balikbayans, overseas contract workers, and tourists who were able to catch their flights yesterday despite delays caused by the monstrous traffic in Metro Manila owing to heavy monsoon rain.

Alex Cauguiran, president and CEO of Clark International Airport, said some of the travelers who left the Freeport at about 1 p.m on board of the premium point to point bus service were able to reached the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at about 6:30 p.m.

“Most of the travelers were able to catch their 8 p.m flight bound for Sydney, Australia,” Cauguiran said.

The premium Point 2 Point bus service from NAIA to Clark International Airport uses a fleet of 48 brand new coaches with designated drop-off and pick-up terminal with trip schedules posted on their website.

Major Metro Manila thoroughfares and highways in nearby provinces were flooded since Saturday due to monsoon rains even as typhoon “Karding” exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

According to Cauguiran, the purpose of the premium bus service was to make traveling more convenient to residents of Central and Northern Luzon.

FARMERS’ FORUM. Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Administrator and CEO Sec. Raul L. Lambino, concurrent Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon (right), addresses various concerns of farmers in Pangasinan, particularly those of Mangaldan and its nearby municipalities during a Farmers Forum on Saturday at the Trishland Resort in Pangasinan. Joining him is Marilyn Lambino, a member of the Board of Directors of Camp John Hay. Joseph Muego

Engage NPAs in talks, Go urges Samar execs

C

ATBALOGAN CITY, Samar — Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has urged local officials to actively participate in the localized peace talks in line with the forthcoming issuance of an executive order for the planned localized talks with communist rebels.

Speaking before thousands of local officials at a covered court here on Saturday, Go said local officials, including those in villages, can do something to attain lasting peace.

“The order will be signed and will be out soon to guide our local officials on how to engage with the communist rebels. We really need this because in some areas, some officials have to deal with NPA [New People’s Army] for their safety,” said Go, who was guest speaker of Samar Day celebration.

President Rodrigo Duterte approved during the 28th Cabinet meeting on Aug.

6 the draft of the directive, which provides the framework that will aid local government officials in dialogue with the rebels.

The guidelines, as previously announced by Malacañang, include: • Nationally orchestrated, centrally directed, and locally supervised and implemented • Constitutional integrity and sovereignty will not be compromised.

• Complete and genuine resolution of the local armed conflict that shall cover the New People’s Army, organs of po-

litical power and Militia ng Bayan • There is a ceasefire, the constitutional mandate of the State to protect public safety, civilian welfare, critical infrastructure and private properties and the guarantee of rule of law and order will not be compromised at all times.

• Government goodwill, full amnesty package based on disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration to the mainstream society.

• Substantive agenda will be based on the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan and Philippine Development Program 2040 • The top presidential aide expects that these guidelines will help stop decades of bloody struggle by the NPA especially in poverty-stricken areas such as Samar Island. PNA

ROBOT FUN.

Student from different schools participate in games during the 17th Philippine Robotics Olympiad held at the Fishermall along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City.

Manny Palmero

Joy: Linkages needed to swat drug menace

By Rio N. Araja AMID reports the anti-drug campaign has contributed to crime reduction, Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Sunday cited the importance of linkages among the police force, local government and communities to improve peace and order.

“According to data [from the police], all index crimes apart from murder have went down, and so they feel that there’s really correlation between drug use and criminal activity in the city,” she said.

To establish linkages in the community precisely would ensure that the community is one with the government and the police effort to eradicate drugs, Belmonte said.

As head of the Quezon City AntiDrug Abuse and Advisory Council, the vice mayor said local government and community efforts complement the police campaign.

While the police force focuses on the enforcement of the law, the mandate of the council and its programs are on preventive education, treatment, and rehabilitation, especially for the youth, she said.

The city government shall also provide community-based drug rehabilitation and counseling for drug surrenderers, Belmonte added.

Meanwhile, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista has approved an ordinance converting Pedro Tuason Elementary School to Pedro Tuason Senior High School.

City Ordinance 2664-2018, introduced by Councilor Julienne Alyson Rae V. Medalla, approves the Local School Board’s (LSB) recommendation to convert P. Tuason Elementary School in Barangay Kaunlaran to P. Tuason Senior High School.

2,000 Bataan SPES students receive wages from provincial govt

By Butch Gunio BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Vice Governor Cris Garcia representing Gov. Abet Garcia recently led the distribution of the 60 percent wage of each of the 2,000 students from the province who availed the Special

Program for Employment of Students (SPES) last summer.

“SPES is a way to train you when you work in the future,” the vice governor told the students at Bataan People’s Center.

Before becoming vice governor, Garcia was the original coordinator of the Iskolar ng Bataan and Gurong Iskolar

ng Bataan. She now serves as adviser of the scholarship program.

Iskolar ng Bataan coordinator Ramon Canas said each SPES student received P5,444.20 wage from provincial government.

He said they will still receive P3,629.44 each from DOLE, 40 percent

of total salary amounting to P9,073.64.

The daily wage was pegged at P453.68.

Canas said the students worked for 20 days in all barangays of the province except Balanga City and Dinalupihan.

The two towns implemented their own Special Program for Employment of Students.

Contact center launches site in Roxas City

Former senator and trade secretary Mar Roxas speaks at the inauguration of the new ePerformax contact center office in Roxas City.

EPERFORMAX, one of the first contact centers in the Philippines, officially celebrated the grand opening of their newest facility in the country.

Located at the Pueblo de Panay TechnoPark in Roxas City, this new site is further proof of the company’s continued commitment to growing and developing the Philippines as one of the leading BPO service providers in the world.

First opening their doors here on our shores back in 2002, ePerformax Contact Centers and BPO has primarily focused its operations on providing the highest levels of BPO and customer service to a select group of Fortune 500 companies.

Teresa Hartsaw, President and CEO of ePerformax, looks forward to the company becoming a long-term partner in growing and developing Roxas City.

“We want to be more than mere employers here. We want to become stakeholders in this vibrant community as well,” Hartsaw said.. “ePerformax will provide long-term growth and career opportunities for all employees while ensuring that there is adequate work-life balance and integration. In today’s work environment, there has to be a partnership between the employees, the company, and the community to really be successful,” she added.

“We are very excited about being part of Roxas City and Pueblo de Panay TechnoPark and creating a family environment and looking out for the well-being of everyone involved,” Hartsaw said.

Pueblo de Panay TechnoPark is the perfect partner for ePerformax’s goal to create a holistic working environment for their employees.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife

food

@mstandardLIFE monday, august 13, 2018

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Gourmet treats

beat gloomy weather SUMPTUOUS SERVING. Eastwood Café+Bar offers Steak Diane in café de Paris sauce for its Sizzlin’ Chef’s Specials this August.

H

oW do you offset this month’s gloomy weather? You eat sumptuous comfort food.

Quezon City-based eastwood Richmonde Hotel serves full meals and filling snacks that promise to brighten the day and lighten the mood at eastwood Café+Bar. ongoing until Aug. 31, the Sizzlin’ Chef’s Specials offers mouth-watering set meals and a bit of artsy flambé cooking by tableside. Main entrées include Steak Diane in café de Paris sauce, pan-seared Norwegian salmon in lemon orange glaze, prawns in bisque sauce, and marinated chicken fillet in madeira sauce.

Classic Italian Pizza

each main comes with a homemade Caesar salad, potato and corn chowder soup, and el Fuego Dulce or vanilla butter cake with toffee apple filling topped with torched merengue and vanilla ice cream.

During late afternoon stuck indoors, eastwood Café+Bar has Afternoon Tea Time, served from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Included in the package are assorted pastries, native delicacies, and open-faced sandwiches, served with a steaming pot of Pure green, english Breakfast, or earl grey Twinings tea.

Comfort food comes in the form of 12-inch Classic Italian Pizza topped with mozzarella, tomato, garlic, and basil. Diners may opt to personalize their pie with add-ons like pepperoni, bacon, ham, Hungarian sausage, black olive, button mushroom, bell pepper, cheese, anchovy, onion, and fresh tomato for an additional fee.

For rainy weekends, the café and bar’s Fizz & Crackles, served from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. all Fridays and Saturdays of August and September, offers bottomless drink choices of San Miguel Pale Pilsen, San Miguel Beer Light, Smirnoff Mule, Andy Cola, and Raffa Sparkling Wine as well as crunchy munchies at the mini buffet.

Call (02) 570-7777 for inquiries and reservations.

Prawns in bisque sauce

A taste of Indonesia at the mall

MALLgoeRS had the rare opportunity to savor authentic Indonesian spices and specialties, as well as modern food concepts during the recently concluded two-day Indonesian Food Festival at the SM Megamall event Center.

A joint project of the embassy of the Republic of Indonesia – Manila and SM Megamall, the event featured Indonesian culinary specialties from different restaurants and brands.

His excellency Sinyo Harry Sarundajang, Ambassador of the Indonesian embassy in Manila, led the ceremonial gong during the event launch. gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of InKue Lumpur, mud cake topped with chocolate or cheese. donesian President Joko Widodo was also present. SM senior vice president for marketing communications Millie F. Dizon and SM Megamall assistant mall manager Tiffany Tanjoined the esteemed guests. guests enjoyed both traditional Indonesian cuisine such as Nasi Goreng, Indonesia’s signature stir fried rice; Telur Pindang or cracked hard boiled eggs boiled again in spices; Sate Ayam or grilled chicken served with peanut sauce; Lemper or sticky rice stuffed with chicken meat and wrapped in banana leaves; and Bakwan Sayur or vegetable fritters.

The food festival also served sweet delicacies like Kue Lumpur or mud cake Lemper, banana-wrapped sticky rice stuffed with chicken meat. with chocolate or cheese toppings; Cendol or green rice flour jelly with palm Companies based in Indonesia guests were also delighted to try out sugar and coconut milk; and Klepon or new concepts. Martabak Manis or pan- such as Markobar, Niners’ Kitchen, rice cake stuffed with palm sugar. cake topped with chopped chocolate or o3-IPB Bogor, and Pondan Foods cheese was a favorite among foodies. also joined the event.

The food festival also highlighted Food franchise Markobar, owned by gibran Rakabuming Raka, featured unique Indonesia’s rich culture with perforvarieties of Martabak Manis with either mances of Tari Pendet or Welcome chopped Kit Kat Chocolate, Kit Kat Dance and Tetengkoren Dance with accompaniment of traditional musical green Tea, Nutella, or cheese toppings.

Indonesian restaurants and compa- instrument called kolintang. Meannies that participated in the food fest in- while, children from the Rosalie Rendu cluded Arema Tempe, Bakmi Nyonya, Development Center performed PhilipBali Ayu, Frida’s Kitchen, gorengan pine folk dance Bakya.

Proceeds from the event will go to Indonesia, H&H Bakso, Indonesian Christian Fellowship Makati, Mayora, Rosalie Rendu Development Center, oma’s Kitchen, Pempek Cek evi, Red- Inc., a community-based social welfare dimart Multi-Resources, Inc., Restoran agency in Parañaque City and MadraThis column will resume garuda, Unitry Masakan Padang, and sah Darul Firdaus, an Islamic School in next week.

Maharlika Village, Taguig.

Warung Kapitolyo.

The Afternoon Tea Time package comes with assorted pastries, native delicacies, and openfaced sandwiches, served with a pot of hot tea.

Sisig with a twist RoMULo Café reinvents the classic Pinoy dish sisig in a bid to elevate the Filipino cuisine game one step higher.

The café serves Chicken Inasal Sisig— its own style of sisig made with chicken inasal strips instead of traditional pork meat, mixed with spices topped with chicken skin chicharon. A squeeze of fresh calamansi further highlights the flavor of this dish.

Romulo Café’s Chicken Inasal Sisig

Romulo Café’s freshly-cooked sisig is ready to give warmth during the rainy season.

Chicken Inasal Sisig is now available in all Romulo Café local branches in Scout Tuazon, Tomas Morato, Quezon City; Jupiter Street, Makati; and Azumi Hotel in Ayala Alabang.

Life

C2

monday, august 13, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

sip and bite

Chocolate for rainy days

Gardenia launches Delicia chocolate spread in Hazelnut and Milky Chocolate variants.

Spreading joy

Chocolate sandwich is a classic snack for all ages.

THErE are only a few things that beat a warm cup of cocoa in turning a gloomy rainy day around, hence for the whole month of august, Tim Hortons is serving limited edition White Hot chocolate along with chocolicious Donut.

The canadian coffeehouse chain warms the rainy season with White Hot chocolate’s rich, smooth texture. This chocolate drink has the perfect milky note and the right amount of sweetness topped with whipped cream.

For non-white chocolate variants, there’s Tim Hortons Hot chocolate.

The Frozen Hot chocolate, on the other hand, is a perfect pick-me-up during warm days.

The chocolicious Donut is a treat to chocolate lovers. it’s a yeast-filled donut dipped in white fondant with chocolate brownie filling and dark chocolate flakes.

For more “chocolicious” treats, Tim Hortons offers Double chocolate Fudge, choco-Filled Donut,

White Hot Chocolate

Triple chocolate Muffin, chocochip Muffin, and choco-glazed Timbits, all of which go well with a cup of coffee.

These chocolate treats are available at Tim Hortons branches nationwide.

in every bite

P

acking school snacks for kids can be challenging, especially for busy parents who can only spare a couple of minutes to prepare.

Local bread company gardenia has launched Delicia chocolate spread, which can be used for yummy chocolate sandwiches and other sweet snacks children will enjoy.

Delicia is made of premium-

quality cocoa with unique flavors coming from trusted suppliers from all over the world. it is available in two flavors: Hazelnut, which adds an extra nutty twist, and the classic Milky chocolate.

Each 200-gram jar is priced at P99.

Chocolicious Donut

Grilled Delicia and Marshmallow Sandwich Ingredients: 8 pcs 1/4 cup 1/4 cup

gardenia classic White Bread Thick Slice Delicia Hazelnut chocolate Spread marshmallow

Procedure: 1. Spread the Delicia Hazelnut chocolate Spread on two slices of gardenia classic White Bread Thick Slice then place the marshmallow in the middle.

2. Place the sandwich and toast in a sandwich maker or oven toaster. Serve.

Blow out the candles, top up the cake FiLiPino bakeshop red ribbon makes children’s birthday celebrations more fun and colorful with its Theme Toppers, suitable for dedication cakes.

Theme Toppers allow parents or birthday celebrants to customize their cake with fun and colorful edible add-ons. ibbon offers a variety of red ribbon themes, including music-themed Pop icon design, sporty Superstar athlete package, and fantastical Treasure Hunter and Lovely Princess toppers.

There are also unique themes that feature brands and characters such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Jollibee.

There is also a theme inspired by Scarlet Snow Belo’s third rainbow dinosaur birthday party—the rainbow Dino Theme Topper. ll these themes can be all availed of at all red ribbon stores in three easy steps. Step 1: choose cake—chocolate

Jollibee launches hot and cold coffee drinks FaST food chain Jollibee launches an improved version of its premium brewed coffee and a new float flavor.

The new Premium Brew is now made of high-quality premium beans for a stronger, full-bodied taste and richer, roasted aroma in every sip. it can be enjoyed strong and black or with creamer and sugar.

Jollibee also rolls out its new iced beverage—coffee Mocha Float.

This new coffee float offers a deli-

ake, Mocha Dedication cake, ake, or rainDedication cake, bow Dedication cake.

Step 2: Design cake with chosen Theme Topper.

Step 3: Purchase and celebrate birthday.

Premium Brew coffee

Red Ribbon dedication cake with customizable Theme Toppers.

Bite-sized delights

MakaTi Diamond residences’ in-house restaurant, alfred, serves a cheese and charcuterie buffet every Friday until Sept. 28.

The grazing menu offers assorted appetizers, cold cuts, raclette, and a heavier fare of US beef belly and paella.

Call (02) 317-0999 for inquiries and more information.

Alfred’s cheese and charcuterie buffet features Raclette and cold cuts, among others.

Coffee Mocha Float

Assorted appetizers with red wine

cious combination of rich milk chocolate and creamy coffee. it’s also available with an optional softserved ice cream topping.

“We hope that our improved premium blend and new coffee Mocha Float are able to provide the energy boost Pinoys need while satisfying their sweet cravings,” said kay Segismundo, Jollibee senior marketing manager for complementary products.

The premium brewed coffee is available in the mornings for dinein, take-out, delivery, and drive-thru for, while the Coffee Mocha Float is available all day.

La Lola rewards loyal churro fans hurreria La Lola reDESSErT café churreria turns the love to its churro customers USH-powered loyalty app. through its rUSH-powered Since opening its first branch in Dehurreria La Lola now cember 2014, churreria has 17 branches all over the Philippines. lobe Telecom’s customrUSH is globe izable digital platform that allows businesses to easily build, track, and manage their own customer loyalty program.

With its own custom-branded app, churreria hurreria La Lola rewards regulars with exclusive perks and discounts.

The app’s flexible reward system features a list of some of the cafés wellloved items which are up for grabs in exchange for stamps collected during visits and transactions.

To support their existing marketing efforts, rUSH’s USH’s built-in engagement tools allow La Lola to conveniently connect with their customers through SMS, emails, and in-app notifications.

Churreria La Lola’s classic churros

Entertainment

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Single mom crowned Miss Global Philippines 2018

By Eton Concepcion TWENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Mary Eileen Gonzales was crowned Miss Global Philippines 2018 besting 18 other aspirants during the Finals Night held recently at Cove Manila, Okada in Paranaque City.

Gonzales, a mother of a one-year-old boy, is the first ever single mom winner of the pageant.

Gonzales, who hails from Cavite, also won Best in Evening Gown and earlier voted Darling of the Press. She was crowned by last year’s winner Mary Ann Mungcal and earned the right to compete at the 2018 Miss Global pageant later this year.

A Star Magic talent, the 5-foot-5 beauty was competing for a second time in the pageant that allows single or unmarried mothers after her 2nd runner up finish in 2015. She represented the country in the 2015 Face of Beauty International in Taiwan. In 2017, Gonzales gave birth to a baby boy with boyfriend, actor Johan Santos, a former housemate and 4th Placer of Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) in 2009.

Gonzales’ court of honor are: 1st runnerup Cheska Viñas of Marilao, Bulacan; 2nd runner-up Nicole Dichoso, an Architecture student from Olongapo City; 3rd runner-up Charlene Duran of Laguna; and 4th runnerup Alexandra Moraga, a Tourism student from Meycauayan, Bulacan.

Mary Ann Mungcal crowns Miss Global Philippines 2018 Mary Eileen Gonzales

Anne Curtis as a police officer in 'BuyBust.'

Her character joins an anti-narcotic elite squad, whose mission is to conduct a buy-bust operation in the slums of Manila.

‘BUYBUST’ REVIEW

A panorama of the nation’s bloodbath reality

E

RIC Matti’s latest magnum opus, Buybust, is truly a world-class film with its vivid depiction of the sundry sides of the wanton war against drugs in the country.

Anne Curtis proves again her versatility in acting with her superb stunts and fight scenes, after her stellar performance in the romantic movie Sid & Aya. Buybust sets a new path for the actress.

The film follows the story of Nina Manigan (Curtis) and the rest of her squad in search for Manila drug trade’s big fish named Biggie Chen (Arjo Atayde). After Manigan’s horrible experience as the lone survivor of her previous anti-drug operation, she is included in the new task force to catch Chen.

Fighting the angry mob and Biggie’s men, the team is finding their way out of Gracia. Survival is their only endgame.

With the flick’s opening, it promises a hybrid of

Simply...

From C4

Jobs Jobs Jobs Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade along with DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and BCDA President Vince Dizon met with members of the entertainment press to tell them about Jobs Jobs Jobs that was held yesterday at the SMX Convention Center.

Villar said that the Build Build Build is gaining momentum at an unprecedented rate and he notes that more jobs were generated during the first two years of the Duterte administration.

“Build Build Build is Jobs Jobs Jobs,” said Tugade.

“This is providing life to our nation. Unemployment has already decreased and we expect that it would shrink further.”

Dizon said that BCDA has begun construction of the country’s first smart, resilient metropolis in Clark, Pampanga. He added,” New Clark City will also be the site of the future Asian Games in 2020. And a new government center will also be located there.

2nd Villar SIPAG Youth awards The Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance) Foundation has again acknowledged the important role of the youth sector in significantly reducing poverty in the country and improving the lives of many poor families.

In the 2nd Villar SIPAG Youth Poverty Reduction Challenge, the Foundation gave due recognition to

10 outstanding youth organizations for their unique and innovative solutions and undertakings to address poverty in impoverished communities.

The 10 winners were chosen from over 150 youth organizations, composed of college students and out of school adolescents aged 18 to 29 years old, which submitted their entries for the 2018 Villar SIPAG Awards for the youth category.

Adjudged Most Outstanding Youth Organizations: Soldiers of God (Marikina City), Sulbec 4H Club (Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte), the Circle Hostel: Tribes & Treks, and The Plastic Solution (San Felipe, Zambales), Adopt-A-Barangay: Brgy. Puray, Rodriguez, Rizal (Rodriguez, Rizal), Gubat Young Farmers Association (Gubat, Sorsogon), Tigbao 4H Club( Aroroy, Masbate), Youth First Initiative Philippines, Inc. (Iloilo City), Youthlead Philippines, Inc. (Tagbilaran City, Bohol), Monteverde 4H Club (Zamboanga City), and New Leyte National High School 4H Club (New Leyte, Maco, Compostela Valley).

Each organization received a cash prize of Php150,000 and a Villar SIPAG Awards trophy.

The Youth Poverty Reduction challenge is a competition for youth organizations that have at least three youth members and must be operating for a minimum of one year. Submitted entries were subjected to rigid evaluation, comprehensive screenings and rational project defense.

Blind children ‘walk with dignity’ at Farmers Plaza The Farmers Plaza on Aug.4 hosted the White

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Monday, August 13, 2018

ACROSS 1 Splotches 6 Chicken style 10 Celebration 14 Eagle’s lair 15 Natural impulse 16 As much as (2 wds.)

17 Lasso 18 Luggage 19 Apportion 20 Ominous 22 Knickknack stand 24 All — — sudden 25 Process food 26 Attitudes 31 Flit about 32 Caustic 33 Backpacker 35 Dude 38 Book jacket part 39 Crosses the creek 40 Louvre’s “Mona —” 41 Miss Kitty’s barkeeper 42 More levelheaded 43 Persian Gulf sight 44 More, in Mazatlan 45 Sword holder 47 Detest

50 Cable network 51 Annual halfway point 52 Eaves hangers 57 Reverse 58 Conduct (a war) 60 Tint 61 Wolfish look 62 Oh, sure! (2 wds.)

63 Oven accessory 64 Does it wrong 65 Sudden cravings 66 Tableau DOWN 1 Fishhook part 2 Luke Skywalker’s sister 3 Vaccine type 4 Take the bait 5 Crab legs 6 Founder of the Mongol dynasty (2 wds.)

7 Tax shelter 8 — on (incited) 9 Very light traces 10 Cheated a bit 11 Fencing swords 12 Get going 13 Enameled metal 21 Close encounter craft 23 Microbiology

humor and action. Middle-man named Teban (Alex Calleja) will surely make anyone grin or laugh.

Straightforward and honest, that is the best description of the film’s narrative. Also, the comical dialogues of the characters ease the vibe of the movie after brutal scenes. There are no trashy scenes, and fast-paced transitions don’t bore at all.

Stab and gunshot sounds are dominating and make everyone anticipate series of gunshots in every scene.

Every amazing move and fighting repertoire of the lead characters especially in Rico’s played by MMA Champion Brandon Vera is nerve-wracking.

Without a doubt, the film is a roller coaster ride of emotions. At first, the violence brings enjoyment and excitement, but on the latter scenes, the mood changes to sympathy and realization that brutality isn’t fun anymore. All of the characters are trapped in their own emotions and hallucinations, they are the actors of the real-life movie. Everybody wants to get out from the deadly jungle, but no one knows how.

The film’s another uniqueness is its subtle features.

There are subliminal meanings in some of the names of the characters in the movie, and it is up for the viewers to discover.

gel 26 Clumsy ones 27 Pac-10 team 28 Ore truck 29 Rim 30 Agrees with 34 Bandanas 35 Arizona river 36 Software purchaser 37 Unit of length 39 Erode (2 wds.)

40 Freedom, in slogans 42 Glut 43 Woodwind

players 44 Town officials 46 Network 47 Vessel 48 More unusual 49 Remove chalk 51 Kind of slipper 53 Stylish 54 Flimsy, as an excuse 55 Utopia 56 Parched 59 Martini base

Cane Safety Day event, showing its commitment to welcome persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the mall and other properties of Araneta Center.

The White Cane Safety Day is a law-mandated celebration every August that aims to promote the wellbeing of the visually-impaired and raise awareness on their plight and rights. The event was attended by 150 visually impaired children and their families.

Araneta Center officials also distributed white canes to select visually impaired children and stressed the importance of helping PWD visitors around the Center.

Araneta Center’s support for the White Cane cause is just one way of pushing for its corporate social

Eric Matti never fails his audience. With his previous masterpieces such as On the Job and Honor Thy Father, the director has proven he is really a master storyteller. With this movie, Matti wants to change the view of his audience. He is not new in directing action-themed movies, but this one is different because of its brutal honesty.

Soundtrack is the superlative element of the film.

Coritha’s “Oras Na” summarizes what the movie wants to say to the people, that it is us who can make the changes we want. The movie songs perfectly fit every scene, and there is a diversity for Visayan novelty songs such as “Turagsoy” by Max Surban and a song by Yoyoy Villame is played during the intense fight scenes, which is hard to imagine but surprisingly ear-pleasing.

Buybust is a starter for the refreshment of Filipino action movies. It goes deviant from the usual cliché of action movies that heroes are always safe. There are a lot of twists, and with Manigan’s character, it revamps role of women to bring the torch effectively in the action-packed films.

(Darwin Pesco is senior Journalism student at Polytechnic University of the Philippines) responsibility projects. Last April, the iconic Smart Araneta Coliseum was decked with blue lights in support of the World Autism Awareness Day. Its frontliners are also undergoing regular disability sensitivity trainings.

After the speeches, the visually-impaired children, their parents and some blindfolded guests were given a tour of the Farmers Plaza in a visual representation of what it is like to walk with dignity despite their condition.

For more updates, visit www.aranetacenter.net.

Follow our social media pages: @aranetacenter on Facebook and Twitter and @thearanetacenter on Instagram.

Representatives of 10 outstanding youth organizations recognized by the 2nd Villar SIPAG Youth Poverty Reduction Challenge

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

ISAH V. RED

Close encounter with Stephen Baldwin

‘HALIK’ primetime’s most daring drama VERY WANG NICKIE WANG

The lead cast of 'Halik' with directors Cathy Camarillo and Carlo Po Artillaga. The primetime series premieres tonight.

Stephen Baldwin (third from left) with Phil-Am twins Jesse and Christian Perkins, Boots Anson Roa, and Alvin Anson (rightmost).

WHEN friend Jacqui Maniquis buzzed me that Stephen Baldwin was in town and that he would meet the press, I was eager to join the press who would be there to talk to him.

The first time I watched him in was in a movie called The Usual Suspects in 1995, I was visiting my cousin in Oxnard, California then and I had nothing better to do one afternoon when I decided to spend it at a Cineplex in the city’s town center.

I knew then he was the younger brother of actor Alec Baldwin who is famous now for impersonating US President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live.

Stephen has also appeared in the films Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Posse (1993), Threesome (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), Bio-Dome (1996) and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). But his turn on Celebrity Big Brother 7 (UK) and Celebrity Apprentice gave him worldwide mileage and the latter turned him into a Trump supporter, endorsing his candidacy in 2015.

At the Icon Hotel on Timog Avenue one Thursday afternoon, I saw Stephen at a table before some members of the press invited to be part of the pre-shooting conference.

We were told Baldwin would play father to twins (played by real life Phil-Am twins Jesse and Christian Perkins) in a movie about friendship.

Many of those in the hall were wondering why the producers cast an American actor in a Filipino film, and Baldwin immediately said, “When you watched the film, you would know why.”

Baldwin joins, apart from the Perkin twins, a stellar cast that includes Boots Anson Roa, Alvin Anson, Cesar Montano, Tirso Cruz III, Lani Mercado, and Mocha Uson. Montano co directs the film (in English) with Daniel Tan. Kaibigan is the story of a troubled Filipino high-school student and the friends that surround him, leading him to a life enveloped by problems. Sooner they discover the true meaning of friendship.

Baldwin was very optimistic the film will be a big hit. “We will also show this not only in the Philippines but everywhere where there is a Filipino.”

Baldwin, I learned, is very active as a bornagain Christian, and accepted the offer from the Perkins couple (the wife is a Filipino) who are as devoted Christian as Baldwin. Continued on C3

CHRISTIAN BAUTISTA

croons network loyalty

Sam Millby and Yen Santos as Ace and Jacky

Yam Concepcion and Jericho Rosales as Jade and Lino

UR relatively conservative society doesn’t condone infidelity and yet we see so many stories on TV where someone cheats on his or her significant other.

And for some reason, we secretly cheer on either one of them justifying their being unfaithful because the actors that portray the roles look so good on screen and their acting skill is impeccable.

Well, that’s television drama for you.

introducing something new in the series, a different kind of storytelling that televiewers haven’t seen on local TV yet.

“We are breaking the formula. Of course, we can’t just separate or change what the audience had always been accustomed to. I often tell myself that we can break the formula. But we can do it so we can present a different viewing fare,” Jericho said.

Halik is a story of love tested by time and temptation.

It centers on Lino (Jericho), Jacky (Yen) and their starcrossed love for each other, which began when they were still children. Jacky’s parents disapprove of Lino as he is the son of one of their workers. Eventually, Lino decides to stay away to spare Jacky from getting more hurt.

In a twist of fate, the two meet again after years apart, but they are now married to other people. Lino is with Jade (Yam Concepcion), an ambitious, headstrong woman, who finds a way to get what she wants, while Jacky’s husband is Ace (Sam), a rich man whose sweetness hides a secret.

Now that destiny has given them another chance at being together, they must choose between fighting for the love they were deprived of and keeping their promise of forever to people who may not deserve it.

“It is groundbreaking in the sense that it is told in the point of view of the male lead. All of a sudden, the lead actor is the focus of the story. We are slowly changing the theme. Of course, I can’t help but say that it is a teleserye and what Mommy, Tita or Lola wants to see is that the woman is the focal point. We are trying something different here,” Jericho shared.

Also in the cast are Amy Austria, Alan Paule, Precious Lara Quigaman, Romnick Sarmenta, Cris Villanueva, Almira Muhlach, Christian Bables, Hero Angeles, Chai Fonacier, JC Alcantara, Jane De Leon, and Gab Lagman. The show is directed by Cathy Camarillo and Carlo Po Artillaga under the business unit of Ruel Bayani.

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For Jericho Rosales who is starring alongside Yen Santos in the most daring television series of the year entitled Halik, the series, which although centers on couples having extramarital affairs, wants to tackle marital issues in a different way. They want to discuss why they happen and what couples shouldn’t do to aggravate the situation or perhaps send a message to married couples to not break their vows.

While it sounds too seamless, we have yet to see the series to know exactly how they will try to achieve this goal. In the meantime, we can take Jericho’s word for it.

“I play the character who is trying his best to get away from temptation. It is Sam (Milby) who plays the womanizer. I play the role of the devoted husband. I want to be faithful to my wife. I am aware that if I succumb to temptation it will destroy my life. The belief of my character is that you if want to have something good in your life, you have to work hard for it,” Jericho shared.

The 38-year-old actor further added that they are

Heartbreak champs reunite in

THE DAY AFTER VALENTINE’S

A scene from Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino entry 'The Day After Valentine’s,' which stars Bela Padilla and JC Santos.

A YEAR after their first blockbuster team-up via the heartbreaking movie, 100 Tula Para Kay Stella, Bela Padilla and JC Santos reunite with director Jason Paul Laxamana to tell a different kind of love story in The Day After Valentines’, an official entry to the 2018 Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. The movie will open nationwide on Aug. 15 in theaters nationwide.

In The Day After Valentines’, Bela plays Lani, a simple girl who likes

“broken things” and Baybayin, Filipino ancient alphabetic writing system.

While JC plays Kai, a guy who’s having a hard time moving on from his past relationship. On a whim, they decide to hang out together one Valentine’s day. But is it enough to leave a mark on someone’s life? Is it enough to heal a broken heart? Is it enough to change everything? With different characters and perspectives, The Day After Valentines’ will surely change the way

you see love.

According to JC, working with Bela and Director Jason Paul Laxamana is more rewarding the second time around because of the undeniable chemistry that they have built while filming 100 Tula, which also bagged the Audience Choice Award in last year’s edition of PPP. The Day After Valentine’s, shot mainly in the breathtaking islands of Hawaii, brings all kinds of mood and vibes on screen, which sends the audience on a

roller coaster ride of emotions. Add to that the heart-tugging soundtracks, which include: “Akala” by Marion Aunor; “Taguan” by John Roa; “Pagibig Lang” by The Juans; “Feel” by Jameson Tenorio and Ian Ancajas; and “For the Rest of My Life” by Bela Padilla.

Produced by VIVA Films, The Day After Valentine’s is rated PG by the MTRCB and Graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Bord (CEB).

Romantic balladeer Christian Bautista renews his exclusive contract with GMA.

ROMANTIC balladeer Christian Bautista proudly remains a Kapuso as he renewed his exclusive contract with GMA Network, Inc. on Aug.7.

The 36-year-old “The Way You Look at Me” singer feels glad and fulfilled about his contract renewal with the Kapuso station thanking the management for taking good care of his career for the last few years.

“It’s good to be here again.

GMA has been taking care of me for the last few years. The growth is wonderful. I keep going on the next level with them. They really take good care of me and their artists,” he shared.

The talented actor, singer and TV host is currently one of The Clash’s Panel of Judges and one of the cast members of GMA’s upcoming series Pamilya Roces. He asserts that this renewal of loyalty will open new window of opportunities for him.

“It’s been very fulfilling. I’ve got my hands full for the next few months and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Christian added.

GMA Network top gun Atty. Felipe Gozon is delighted that Christian is staying with the network and is looking forward towards a brighter future for him as a Kapuso.

“We are here to provide opportunities for very good talents so they can blossom and succeed in their art. Christian is really talented. I just said that he needs to branch out after perfecting his singing styles,” said GMA’s top executive.

Meanwhile, GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable has nothing but praises for the versatility of the romantic balladeer.

“We try to give him the best for his singing career. Now, he has The Clash where he’s gaining a lot of traction because of his very good constructive comments. We also know that he acts well that’s why he’s in Pamilya Roces with Direk Joel Lamangan,” Rasonable said.

Apart from Gozon and Rosanable, also present during the contract signing of Christian with GMA were Vice President for Business Development Department III Darling de Jesus Bodegon, GMA Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi Santiago-Lara, GMA Senior Program Manager Mae Zambrano, GMA Program Managers Charles Koo and Ian Roxas and Carlo Orosa, Christian’s manager.