Manila Standard - 2018 October 10 - Wednesday

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VOL. XXXII • NO. 237 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Lotto printer fails amid massive bets THE ticket printer for a lottery outlet in Bangued, Abra conked out following the bevy of bettors for the Ultra Lotto 6/58 game, as its jackpot prize breached the P1billion mark on Tuesday.

“With so many bettors sir, our printer gave out,” the teller of the

lottery outlet told GMA News reporter Bam Alegre.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office was notified immediately to have the printer replaced.

The same snakelike queues—and hopefully functioning printers and Next page

LENGTHENING LINES. An archetypal scene of stretching queues—this one in Manila’s Mabini branch—in the national capital city of people braving the sun’s 32 degrees Celsius but high in hopes they might persuade Lady Luck to bless them for the P1-billion lotto jackpot. Sonny Espiritu

‘Flood market with rice’ Duterte lifts import control after ‘fierce Cabinet debate’

By Nat Mariano

Cabinet men gunning for Senate seats

By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said several members of his Cabinet are resigning to run in the 2019 midterm elections, but he is in a bind as to what to do with his spokesman, Harry Roque.

“Roque was really [bent on] running. He told me he was resigning,” Duterte said in an interview Tuesday evening.

Duterte said his decision to withhold information on his medical examination at Cardinal Santos last week prompted

Roque to announce his plan to resign. Roque drew flak for initially denying the President’s one-hour stay at the hospital.

“I don’t need to tell him everything. There are things that should be limited to immediate family. He felt that he was facing a bad light, as if he was blind.

Maybe that time I was not in a position to tell him. He said he will resign and I told him I will immediately choose his replacement,” the President said.

Days before he went to Cardinal Santos, Duterte advised Roque against running for sena-

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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the unimpeded importation of rice to counter inflation, the Palace said Thursday, following a “fierce” debate between two Cabinet secretaries.

tor next year, saying he had no chance of winning because the military does not approve of him.

Duterte said he will reorganize his communication team, and appoint chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo as Press Secretary.

“This is why Roque is in a bind.

But it is

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte has lifted the restrictions on rice imports to allow the smooth flow of the staple into markets.

Roque did not say who engaged in the debate, but it was apparent that Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, had won out after he illustrated with graphs that food was primarily responsible for the increased rate of inflation in September.

Volunteers cheer up kids in Palu PALU, Indonesia—Shrieking with delight, Indonesian kids in disaster-struck Palu rush to cuddle a giant Winnie the Pooh, his horseplay and goofy smiles drawing big smiles in a park surrounded with rubble.

Volunteers are cheering up children across Palu with songs Next page

Inflation rate at 1m %:Only in Venezuela What does it look like to have inflation of 10 million percent?

When something that cost $1 now costs $100,000, is there even a way to calculate the Next page

can only be done if the price of oil stays at $80 for three consecutive months.

But Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the President, backed by a joint resolution from Congress, can suspend the higher excise tax on petroleum products.

The DOE, for its part, said the government is doing everything it can to address the problem.

“You are not alone in facing this,” the Energy department said in a statement.

“Your full cooperation is needed in facing the challenges ahead. Now more than ever, we are appealing for each and every

Next page

Focus on PH woes, not Cha-Cha—LP

Next page

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

Oil tax freeze mulled; belt tightening pushed PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he may suspend excise taxes on oil and petroleum products even as the Department of Energy urged people to tighten their belts Tuesday and adopt fuel-saving measures as the country weathers eight consecutive weeks of rising fuel prices.

“Maybe,” the President said when asked if suspending excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law was an option.

He said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez is already studying the proposal.

Under the TRAIN Law, the suspension

“The President… wants to flood the market with rice so that even if the price of crude and other oil prices should go up still further, the people will have access to affordable rice,” Roque said.

The Palace expects giant local companies like San Miguel Corp. to be able to import rice.

“This increase in the supply of rice will

one of us to adopt simple yet far-reaching changes in the energy choices we make, with efficiency at its core.”

Using fuel wisely is “one easy way” for Filipinos to cope with the incessant increases in the cost of oil and petroleum products, the department said.

“For example, planning one errand day for the entire family is a creative way which allows us to spend more time with our loved ones while decreasing the number of trips we need to make,” the department said.

“Helping bring down the overall energy Next page

CONGRESS should stop wasting its time on Charter change and instead focus on the problems of inflation, lack of jobs and rising criminality, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Tuesday.

“In this time of high prices… we need

self-serving political maneuverings like we need a hole in the head,” Drilon said.

“We can do more to slow down the increasing prices of commodities, including endorsing a joint resolution of Congress to suspend excise taxes on petroleum products,” Drilon said.

Drilon said prices of basic commodities Next page

PH skips war drill on China concerns

By Nat Mariano

FOLLOWING a statement by Chinese envoy Zhao Jinhua expressing China’s concern on the matter, the Philippines will no longer participate in the planned joint naval exercises with the United

States in November.

According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., said the Philippine agreed not to join the naval exercise during President Rodrigo Duterte’s meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua Next page on Monday afternoon.

Digong says he is negative for cancer

By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said his medical tests showed he was “negative” for cancer even as he admitted that his Barrett’s esophagus worsened because he has been drinking brandy again of late.

“I am not cancerous. So do not be afraid to go near me. I won’t contaminate you,” Duterte said in an interview with reporters Tu e s d a y evening. “ I t ’s not the colon.

Next page

COURTESY CALL. President Rodrigo Duterte greets Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua who called on the President Monday at the riverside Malacañang. Presidential Photo

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Party-lister fuels word war with Sara

By Maricel V. Cruz ACT-TEACHERS Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio has asked Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio not to drag public school teachers in her issues with the Makabayan bloc.

“Mayor Sara, kung may problema ka sa Makabayan bloc, diretsuhin mo na kami, ‘wag mo nang idamay ang mga public school teacher ng Davao na tapat na naglilingkod sa inyong siyudad,” Tinio said in a text message.

Duterte-Carpio on Monday called for the expulsion of the Makabayan bloc from the House of Representatives for allegedly “lying” about her local government’s supposed failure to grant allowances to teachers.

The Davao chapter of ACT Teachers Party-list, a member of the Makabayan bloc, recently claimed that DuterteCarpio’s turf was the only major city in the country that does not supplement the salaries of public school teachers with allowances.

The mayor said the Davao City government had been giving P2,000 worth of gift checks to every teaching and non-teaching employee of the Department of Education in Davao since December 2016.

Duterte-Carpio had called on Congress to expel the members of the Makabayan bloc even as she assailed the Davao chapter of ACT-Teachers party list for claiming that her city allegedly does not give local allowances to its teachers.

“Congress should expel the members of the Makabayan bloc. The Party-list system is the milking cow of terrorists,” she said in an Instagram post on Oct. 8.

But Tinio accused Duterte-Carpio of “harassment” when the mayor labeled the militant lawmakers as “liars” and “terrorists.”

Focus...

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will continue to increase as there are no signs that the rise in prices of crude oil in the world market would taper off.

In an interview earlier, Drilon said the House draft federal charter would be “dead on arrival” at the Senate.

“There is simply no time for us to look at it and that‘s why I said it’s dead on arrival,” said Drilon, adding that there is a lot of opposition to amending the Constitution.

“The comfort level of the public for Congress to act as a constituent assembly is very low,” he added.

Drilon also reiterated his strong opposition to proposals to lift term limits of lawmakers under the House draft charter, saying this was “self-serving and smacks of conflict of interests.”

“I am opposed to that, as I have opposed it from the very start,” he said.

The minority leader also rejected the draft’s provision removing the vice president from the line of succession and instead placing the Senate president in charge in case the President is unable to lead the transition government.

“I don’t find the proposal logical. If they want stability, then the more we should follow the well-defined succession to the Office of the President; otherwise, there will be instability because as I’ve said, the Senate President can be replaced anytime,” Drilon said.

Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon of Muntinlupa City, meanwhile, defended the removal of term limits, saying experienced lawmakers who have served more than three terms could bring their valuable experience to deliberations in the House.

He noted that in the United States, which is the model for the Philippines, there are no term limits for lawmakers.

Inf lation rate...

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impact?

After seeing prices surge an already-unthinkable 1,000 percent last year, hyperinflation in Venezuela’s imploding economy is set to hit nearly 1.4 million percent this year, the International Monetary Fund forecast in its World Economic Outlook released Monday.

But in 2019 that hyperinflation is expected to leave earth’s orbit, hitting 10 million percent, a figure so large and improbable, readers of the report had to count the zeroes to make sure they had the correct number.

It is so bad that Venezuela was left out of the inflation calculations for the region and for all emerging markets since it would throw off the average.

After years of economic mismanagement, and with the vital oil industry nearly at a standstill, Venezuela has seen tens of thousands of people flee the country daily, increasingly desperate to find food and medicines, flooding into neighboring Colombia and Brazil.

The Venezuelan economy contracted 14 percent last year and is expected to fall another 18 percent this year, but the good news—if it can be called good—is that with little room left to fall it is only forecast to shrink five percent in 2019, the report said. AFP

5-year transition for PUVs eyed

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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HE Senate committee on public services hearing the planned modernization of public utility vehicles is inclined to recommend a five-year transition period for the modernization to fully take effect, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.

Poe, who heads the committee, cited the lack of consultations and the seemingly premature execution of the program in light of the soaring prices of fuel and basic goods.

She said while she fully agreed to modernizing public transportation, including the modernization of the jeepney, she said the policies set forth in the modernization could

result in the massive loss of jobs and might only unduly favor the big corporations.

“The LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] did not give the drivers the opportunity to be heard as they were not consulted. They came out with a memo circular,” Poe said.

Poe was referring to several issuances by the LTFRB that sets a March 2019 deadline

for the jeepney operators to form a cooperative or a corporation to secure bank loans to buy new jeepneys.

The transport leaders representing jeepney drivers and operators said there were no inclusive consultations on the modernization and they warned that older jeepneys―although emission-compliant and roadworthy―could be phased out.

They said thousands of small-time jeepney operators might lose their livelihood and be left without something for their families.

Poe’s panel was also told that the LTFRB opened new or “developmental” jeepney routes without holding a public hearing and without the knowledge of the transport stakeholders.

13 contenders vying for SC justice post

By Rey E. Requejo THE Judicial and Bar Council said Tuesday there are 13 applicants for the vacancy in the Supreme Court that arose from the promotion of Teresita Leonardo-de Castro to Chief Justice in August.

The council made the announcement even as Senior Justice Antonio Carpio becomes acting Chief Justice Tuesday, with the mandatory retirement of De Castro.

Carpio is the most senior justice of the 12 of the 15 members of the high court.

There are three vacancies in the 15-member bench: the posts of chief justice and two associate justices.

This will be the second time that Carpio assumes the post of Chief Justice this year.

He was also Chief Justice in March when Maria Lourdes Sereno took her indefinite leave of absence after she was removed as

Chief Justice by the high court.

In an advisory, the JBC listed the aspirants and set their public interviews on Oct. 18.

The applicants for the post of associate justice in the high court are Court of Appeals Associate Justices Japar Dimaampao, Ramon Garcia, Manuel Barrios, Apolinario Bruselas, Rosmari Carandang, Edgardo delos Santos, Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro-Javier, Oscar Badelles and Stephen Cruz; Sandiganbayan Justice Alex Quiros; former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva; and De La Salle University law vice dean Rita Linda Jimeno.

But only Jimeno and Quiroz will face the JBC for the public interviews since the other 11 aspirants has already been interviewed when they applied earlier for another vacancy in the high court.

Nine of the applicants―Dimaampao,

‘Flood market...

heated argument was with Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who is also chairFrom A1 man of the NFA. Piñol has expressed concern that unimresult in an overall lowering of prices,” said peded rice imports will hurt local farmers, Roque. whose products will not be able to compete Open importation means anyone who with cheap rice from abroad. can afford to pay its tariff will be allowed On Friday, the Philippine Statistics Auto import rice. thority announced that inflation rose to “With the President’s directive, the NFA 6.7 percent in September, soaring to a new [National Food Authority] no longer has 9-year high. any say on how much should be imported,” The PSA said the rise was caused by he said. heavily-weighted food and non-alcoholic Roque said a “principled and fierce” dis- beverages. cussion preceded the President’s decision.

Also on Tuesday, Customs Commis“It was a very hot issue. It was very ani- sioner Isidro Lapeña said two of three ships mated, and we were one of three who had loaded with smuggled rice worth P23 milvery strong views about the need of control- lion that went missing from the Port of ling inflation through increasing the supply Zamboanga were owned by Bongao, Tawiof rice,” Roque said.

Tawi Mayor Limuel Que. He, however, did not confirm whether the Personnel from the Coast Guard, the

Garcia, Barrios, Bruselas, Carandang, Delos Santos, Hernando and Javier― were shortlisted by the JBC recently for another vacancy in the high court that was left by the appointment of Ombudsman Samuel Martires in July. Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez was also in the shortlist.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, an ex-officio member of the JBC, said President Rodrigo Duterte was expected to appoint Martires’ replacement soon.

The JBC, the seven-member council tasked to vet aspirants in the judiciary, invited the public to submit comments or any opposition to any of the candidates until Oct. 17.

The JBC has also opened the vacancies for the positions of chief justice and another associate justice to be left by the retirement of De Castro today and of Associate Justice Noel Tijam in January next year, respectively.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines intercepted the three vessels containing 23,015 sacks of smuggled rice.

Lapeña has already informed the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government following the result of their investigation into the missing smuggled rice at the Port of Zamboanga.

Lapeña has filed administrative charges against the four Customs officials who were suspended over the missing smuggled rice.

Charged for neglect of duty and grave misconduct were Customs Port of Zamboanga District Collector Lyceo Martinez, BOC district commander police Lt. Filomeno Salazar,; Customs Operations Officer and acting chief of the Port Operations Division Vicente Eduardo Torres; and Special Agent I Oscar Farin. With Vito Barcelo

Oil tax...

From A1

Cabinet men...

demand of our country is hinged upon our energy habits. Simple tasks such as turning off appliances that are not in use become second nature when done repeatedly. In addition, switching to LED lighting and inverter technology significantly reduces our power consumption, which means lower electricity bills.”

In the Senate, Senator JV Ejercito called for the suspension of the second round of excise taxes on fuel, which are due to kick in in January 2019. “I urge our economic managers to be sensitive to the plight of Filipino families who are struggling with skyrocketing inflation and unabated fuel price hikes,” Ejercito said in a statement released Tuesday.

He argued that whatever purchasing power was added to Filipino consumers by virtue of the decrease in income tax under the TRAIN Law has been obliterated by a nine-year high 6.7 percent inflation rate in September and oil price increases for eight consecutive weeks.

“I believe it’s time to give Filipino families a break.

Defer the second round of increase in excise taxes on fuels scheduled to kick in this January 2019. At the very least, this will give our people a breather from spiraling prices of goods,” Ejercito said.

Under the law, the excise tax on diesel is scheduled to go up to P4.50 in 2019 while gasoline will increase to P9 at the start of next year. Macon Ramos-Araneta

not my fault. He said he will run, then he will not run, then he will run. So I said I will choose [a replacement] so there is no paralysis in functions,” he said.

“Now that he is no longer running, I don’t know where to place him.

It’s his fault because he was [undecided]. Me, I did not wait a minute longer.

With the reorganization of the Office of the Press Secretary, Duterte said Martin Andanar will no longer serve as head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, which will be abolished.

He said he will keep Andanar sa consultant, citing the many things that need to be reconfigured in the state-run television network PTV-4.

Other members of the Cabinet who will seek elective posts next year are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano, Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones, and TESDA chief Guiling Mamondiong.

Duterte said his Special Assistant, Christopher Go, and Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino, are planning run for senator.

Earlier, Roque said he will not settle for anything “half-baked” as he decides whether to accept a new post in the government or run for the Senate.

“I want to do my job the best way I can. And I will not settle for anything half-baked. So, if I’m not able to give correct information as the people need it—that will not be performing my duties,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing Tuesday morning.

“Now, my decision, we’re still talking. I talked to the President yesterday afternoon and talks have not yet been concluded, we will continue our conversation,” he added.

Roque admitted he was “taken aback” by Duterte’s statement before the members of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association Inc. where the President said he has no chance of winning.

“So, it was a game changer so to speak. It was a change in tone. But I think there was an agreement on what I would be doing ahead of time,” he said.

PH skips...

From A1 “China expressed concern over a naval... a military exercise that the United States will be conducting in the area at about the same time that the Chinese President will be in the Philippines,” Roque said at a press briefing.

“The President said that we will not take part in that military exercise,” he added.

“The general consensus was we don’t want anything to mar the visit of President Xi, so I think that the Department of Foreign Affairs will do all that it can to make sure that President Xi’s visit will be fruitful and as productive as we would want it to be,” Roque said. “We want a seamless visit of President Xi.” The government, meanwhile, expects a “seamless” visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the country, Roque said, assuring the joint exploration in the disputed West Philippine Sea would be to both countries’ interest.

“The President and Ambassador Zhao discussed the upcoming visit of President Xi to the country this November, which both agreed would further cement the al-

From A1

ready strong relations between the Philippines and China,” said Roque.

“Both agreed that joint exploration in the disputed West Philippine Sea would be to each other’s interest,” he added.

Earlier, a CNN report said the US plans to send ships and aircraft near China’s territorial waters during the same period of the Chinese President’s visit to the Philippines.

According to Roque, China reiterated that they do not desire any military confrontation with any of the claimant states or powers, believing that having conflicts will have dire consequences in their commerce.

Jinping was expected to visit Manila after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Papua New Guinea in November.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano previously assured the public that the framework for the proposed joint exploration hunt for oil and gas deposits with China in the WPS will not be “harmful” to the country’s territorial and sovereign rights.

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

In a statement, Zhao said that China President Xi Jinping of China spoke highly of the favorable growth momentum enjoyed by Philippines-China relations, and the continued progress made in bilateral practical cooperation in various fields.

President Duterte underlined that he and the Philippine people looked forward in real earnest to the first-ever state visit to the Philippines by President Xi, which would surely be remembered as another milestone in Philippines-China relations. He also added that the Philippine side would work closely with the Chinese side to make full preparations to ensure a safe, smooth and completely successful visit, Zhao said.

He also conveyed President Xi’s cordial greetings and best wishes to President Duterte and briefed President Duterte on latest developments and future plans of China-Philippines relations and practical cooperation. He stressed that China would work with the Philippine team to make comprehensive preparations and planning for the upcoming high-level exchanges between the countries. He was confident that the complete success of the visit would definitelybring China-Philippines relations to a new high.

“What was clear, the government was not yet ready to phase out all public utility vehicles which are compliant in their modernization requirement,” Poe said.

Under pressure by senators and stiff opposition from transport leaders, the LTFRB agreed in principle to hold in abeyance the implementation of the March 2019 deadline for jeepney operators and drivers to consolidate themselves and form a corporation or cooperative to be able to participate in the modernization.

Poe also backed Senate President ProTempore Ralph Recto’s suggestion to let market forces decide and implement the modernization voluntarily among the transport operators.

Lotto printer...

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lotto machines—could be found across the country, as Filipinos and foreigners alike took their chances to win the biggest pot in Philippine lottery history, which in American dollars is just $18.44 million.

At the PCSO outlet in the upscale Glorietta mall in Makati City, the line for bettors was seven rows deep at 3 p.m., around five hours before the actual draw, with some having stood in line for hours.

“This is phenomenal, record-breaking. Imagine, one billion pesos. We didn’t expect this. We only wish a lot of bettors would win,” said Arnel Casas, PCSO assistant general manager for the Gaming, Product Development and Marketing Sector.

Volunteers...

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and games as the youngsters come to grips with a city hollowed out and twisted by nature.

An earthquake and tsunami on Sept.

28 has killed close to 2,000 on Sulawesi island and the carnage is still raw, with thousands more believed buried underneath the rubble.

The confronting scene is especially grim for the estimated 180,000 youngsters affected by the disaster.

Erna wanted to offer a distraction from the misery.

She threw a Winnie the Pooh costume and other props in a car, gathered some friends and drove three hours to Palu.

There, a volunteer sweated in the tropical heat inside the red and yellow suit as kids giggled and embraced the lovable bear.

“I felt sorry for the children, and I didn’t want them to be traumatized,” Erna told AFP. Aid workers on the ground said many children were shocked and distressed by the scale of the disaster.

Many were orphaned or separated from family in the terrifying aftermath as buildings crumbled and a wall of water crashed over the city.

Across Palu, efforts are being thrown into getting smiles back on kids’ faces. AFP

Digong...

From A1 It’s my Barrett’s espohagus. It’s badly eroded because I was told to stop drinking years ago. But of late I returned to drinking. I don’t know–for one reason or another I just like to drink brandy now. Even if I’m alone, I take three shots before sleeping,” the President said.

He said samples of the “growth” were taken for endoscopy and colonoscopy when he went to Cardinal Santos for a second opinion.

“It’s negative. They had a suspicion [but it turned out negative],” he said.

“We can drink together now and I can give you a run for your money. You will die anyway even if you don’t drink,” the President added.

Duterte said the state of his health is not for public consumption even as he acknowledged that the Constitution requires him to let the people know if he is fully incapacitated to discharge the functions of his office.

In an earlier interview, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said Duterte announced the results of his diagnostic examination during the 30th Cabinet meeting on Monday night.

Acting Interior Secretary Eduardo Año also said Duterte was shown to be free of cancer after he was tested in a private hospital.

The public has been clamoring for information on Duterte’s health after the 73-yearold missed two official events last week.

“He disclosed to us that the result of the test was negative, the one where they took samples from his intestines,” Año told reporters.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also said Duterte was “cancer-free” and had only “polyps” in his intestines.

“The President is as strong as an ox. We saw it yesterday. He was in good spirits,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri was among the senators who attended the Cabinet meeting with Duterte on Monday night.

Año said it was Duterte who volunteered to talk about his health during their meeting.

With Macon Ramos-Araneta

News

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Coco levy law nearly vetoed

by Palace —Zubiri

LIGHT MOMENT.

Secretary Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President shares a light moment with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Francis Tolentino and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque prior to the 29th Cabinet Meeting at the Malacañan Palace on Oct. 8, 2018.

Presidential Photo

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

New list of ‘narco-pols’ gets DILG head‘s backing

By Francisco Tuyay, Nat Mariano and Macon Ramos-Araneta

HE Department of the Interior and Local Government on Tuesday threw its support behind the plan by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to release a list of candidates for the 2019 elections who are included in its drug list.

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But Interior Officer-in-Charge Eduardo Año said the DILG will still consult with PDEA chief Aaron Aquino on how to make public the new list of candidates with alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

The DILG earlier said at least 93 local officials, 58 of whom mayors, are included in the drug list of the PDEA. Año said he is backing the release of a new listing of narco political bets, but declined to provide a timeline for its disclosure as Aquino is still attending to the case of the five PDEA anti-narcotics agents who were ambushed in Kapai, Lanao del Sur last week.

Año is seeking for the disqualification of candidates linked to either corruption or illegal drugs.

But the Commission on Elections

had already ruled that a candidate’s name listed in the drug watch list will not automatically bar anyone from running for a political office pending a final court ruling for a crime the candidate has committed.

“Being on a drug list will not disqualify a person from running for office. Disqualification only comes from a final judgment against the person, apart from other reasons for disqualification,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez had explained.

But Año said the present law that disallows disqualification of candidates who are not facing a final conviction on various cases was too high a standard.

“Masyadong napakataas nung standard. Even yung nakakulong, kahit nakakulong siya kaya pa niyang kuman-

didato. We will discuss this with the [Commission on Elections]. Ang ayaw lang natin dito ay makatakbo ang mga drug lords,” Año said.

Responding to Año’s proposition, Senator Koko Pimentel gave an assurance that the Partido Demokratikong Pilipinas-Lakas ng Bayan to which party he belongs, would not include nor line up the so-called ‘narcopoliticians’ for the 2019 elections.

“I hope other political parties follow suit,” Año said.

The DILG is currently investigating 250 mayors for various corruption offenses and abuse of authority cases.

Meanwhile, Malacañang has strongly condemned the ambush of the five PDEA agents in Lanao del Norte, as it vowed to conduct an immediate investigation to arrest the culprits.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to personally monitor the developments in the case of the slain PDEA agents.

“The President has ordered the Philippine National Police to do everything to arrest those behind these crimes,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing, expressing condolences to the bereaved families of the victims.

Robredo hits ‘ridiculous’ draft federal charter

By Rio N. Araja THE camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday challenged the draft federal charter filed by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 21 other lawmakers removing the vice president from the line of succession in the transition government.

Robredo branded Arroyo’s draft as “ridiculous.”

Romulo Macalintal, Robredo’s lawyer, said the draft was just “political calisthenics” based on the view of Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, that this would prevent instability due to the election protest filed against Robredo by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who lost the 2016 vice presidential race.

“The protest filed by Senator Marcos as a ground for ousting VP Leni is clearly

frivolous if not outright ridiculous,” Macalintal said.

He slammed Veloso, saying a pending election protest could never be a basis of succession to the highest elective position.

A report to the House committee dated Oct. 2 showed Arroyo’s draft charter was recommended without amendment to the plenary for deliberation.

Section 4, Article XVII of the House draft federal constitution stipulates “In case a vacancy by reason of removal, resignation, permanent incapacity or death of the incumbent President, the incumbent Senate President shall act as President until a President shall been chosen and qualified.”

Under the draft charter, the first election under the federal form of government shall take place in May 2022 with winning candidates to assume office by June of the same year.

Amid concerns about the President’s health, Macalintal added: “If he is really sick, you don’t talk about succession. Instead you pray for him.”

“If your father is [terribly] ill, would you talk about inheritance and how much would each one would get?” he asked.

Both Congress and the Senate do not have the ample time to make a final draft of a federal constitution since they have yet to resolve and determine if they have to vote separately or jointly, he said.

The people and even some lawmakers were not fully aware of the federal form of government, he added.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said in any logical presidential line of succession, the vice president acts in place of the president in the event of the president’s death, resignation or incapacity.

With Macon Ramos-Araneta

31% PH kids, mostly from ARMM, below poverty line AT LEAST 31 percent of the Filipino children live below the poverty line with 63 percent of them come from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the United Nations Children’s Fund on Tuesday said.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Philippines representative, said a study entitled “Situational Analysis of Children in the Philippines 2017” done by the government, along with UNICEF, showed poor nutrition in very young children is still a major problem, and that 33 percent of the Filipino children under five are stunted or too short for their age and 21 percent are underweight.

“Violence predominantly happens at home. [About] 27 percent are boy being abused. Parents and other relatives are the [common] perpetrators,” she said.

She said UNICEF is also alarmed by teenage marriage, especially taking place in indigenous peoples community.

According to the study, “significantly, more children in ARMM are stunted at 45 percent.”

While access to education is encouraging, an estimated 2.85-million children from five to 15 remain out-ofschool.

Also, at least two out of three children have experienced physical and psychological abuses.

UNICEF said the Philippines has also failed to meet the Millennium Development Goals by the target year of 2015.

Social Welfare and Development Assistant Secretary Glenda Relova called on the government and the public to “join hands together to support and protect our children against any form of violence, rights violations and deprivations, especially on their tender years.”

Meanwhile, Sylwander, along with Relova, rejected the proposal of Senate President Vicente Sotto III to lower the age of criminal liability.

Rio N. Araja

Calida asks SC to junk petitions vs ICC withdrawal

By Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz MALACAÑANG on Tuesday defended before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to withdraw the country’s membership from the International Criminal Court.

During the oral argument before the Supreme Court, the Office of the President through Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the SC to dismiss the consolidated petitions filed by six opposition senators and Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court led by former Commission on Human Rights chairman Loretta Rosales.

Calida cited substantive and procedural grounds in seeking the dismissal of the petitions.

According to Calida, the withdrawal from ICC was within the power of the President and did not violate the 1987 Constitution.

The chief state lawyer disputed the main argument of petitioners that the Palace violated Section 21, Article VII of the Constitution which requires concurrence of the Senate in international treaties. The said provision specifically states that “entering into treaty or international agreement requires participation of Congress, that is, through concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the members of the Senate.”

Calida pointed out that such provision and constitutional requirement applies only in ratification of new treaties and does not apply to withdrawal from treaties.

“This provision requires the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate to make a treaty or international agreement valid and effective, but not in the event of withdrawal from a treaty. The petitioners cannot read into the provision what is not there.

There is no requirement for senate concurrence in withdrawal from treaty,” Calida argued.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS. The Philippine government and the UNICEF

recently launched the Situational Analysis of the Children of the Philippines, which recommends a range of measures to address barriers and causes that prevent girls and boys from accessing their rights. Shown holding the groundbreaking report are (from left), UNICEF Philippines Deputy Rep. Julia Rees, NEDA Asec. Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos, QC Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, Galing Pook chairman Lito Coscolluela, UNICEF Philippines Rep. Lotta Sylwander and DSWD Asec. Glenda Relova posed during the Launching events held at the Novotel Hotel at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. Manny Palmero

MAJORITY Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Tuesday that President Rodrigo Duterte had initially planned to veto the bill creating a P100-billion coconut levy trust fund to be used for the benefit of 3.5-million farmers.

He said the bill was initially slated to be signed into law by the President Tuesday but they learned on Monday that it was removed from the agenda.

“We were supposed to go to Malacañang now for the signing of coco levy fund law but yesterday, we saw that it was scratched out of the list.

I called Malacañang, binanggit sa akin na possible veto dito sa batas,” said Zubiri.

Zubiri said he had asked for an emergency meeting with the President to allow the senators to explain the bill.

The senators were able to meet with the president around 6 pm Monday before the Cabinet meeting.

Zubiri said had they not noticed the removal of the coco levy bill on the list, the President would have vetoed it.

He said Malacañang had reservations on the bill because most of the groups that will handle the fund are not from the government.

“They said the fund is entrusted to the government so they are treating it as a government fund. Therefore, the composition of the board that would give the funds to the farmers should be majority of government offices,” he said.

He said the Departments of Budget and Management, and Finance also opposed the lack of sunset provision on the bill.

“Ayaw ng DBM at DOF na walang sunset provision ’yung competitiveness fund. Ilang taon ba, dalawang taon, limang taon, hindi pwedeng perpetual na ire-release sa mga magsasaka,” he said.

Zubiri said that in an effort to salvage the bill, the senators agreed to recall the coco levy fund bill and convene the bicameral conference committee to add inputs to the amendments.

He said the Senate and the House of Representatives will pass a concurrent resolution requesting the Office of the President to return the bill to Congress.

PACC files case of non-filing of SALN vs CamSur lawmaker

By Rio N. Araja and Maricel V. Cruz HOUSE Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. is facing a complaint of graft and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, perjury and falsification before the Office of the Ombudsman for non-disclosure of his properties in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth in 2016 and 2017.

The Truth and Justice Coalition, led

by Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission commissioner Greco Belgica filed the criminal complaint against Andaya.

Belgica also filed administrative charges of serious dishonesty and grave misconduct against the lawmaker.

He accused Andaya of failure to declare nine real properties, their business interests in Noy and Ning’s Corp., and his firearms worth P4.96 million.

“We checked with the Land Transportation Office regarding 13 of his cars.

There were documents to show that [information]. He, however, only declared his cars were only worth P2 million.

That is misdeclaration,” he said.

“There is nothing wrong [with] being rich. What is important is, you can be able to justify where you got your money,” he added.

According to Belgica, Andaya owns bullet-proofs vehicles that cost P6 million to P9 million, and some other cars worth P3 million to P4 million.

He said the Truth and Justice Coalition was also able to obtain documents from the Philippine National Police’s Firearms and Explosives Office on Andaya’s ownership of some guns.

“His other personal properties were guns, which he did not declare. Just recently in 2018, 19 pistols and highpowered firearms have been registed in his name,” he said.

A4

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Is the President cancer-free? tion public since it is a private matter.

But he lies through his teeth! In the same breath he says he has no information about the President’s condition.

In the wake of confusing reports, the President should let his doctors speak REPORTS have it that President Du- so that the people know exactly what terte has offered the position of Press is ailing him. It’s a matter of national Secretary to Presidential Spokesman interest and security. It is mandated by Harry Roque. Roque has admitted be- the Constitution. The public cannot foring ineffective as a spokesman because ever be in the dark. at times he is kept in the dark on mat*** ters concerning the President.

If there is one thing about the PhilipRoque said it looked like he was ly- pines that other countries do not have, it ing when he said the President was just is that there is always some controversy taking some private time when in fact here, and opinion writers like myself he was elsewhere. At one time, only always have something to write about.

Special Assistant to the President Bong In the wake of inflation, now Go knew that Mr. Duterte in fact went comes this controversy at the House to Hong Kong to bond with his partner of Representatives over a draft of Honeylet Avancena and their daughter. a proposed Constitution lifting the Aside from this, Roque was dis- term limits of legislators and allowing heartened when political dynasties. the President said My gulay, there he should not run is also a provision for the Senate beon the transition cause he would to a federal form Roque was lying not win anyway. of government.

It’s the Presi- through his teeth.

During the trandent’s prerogasition period, the tive to appoint president is alanybody he wants. lowed to continue Still, if a mediahis term without a man of nearly 70 years can give some vice president, ultimately banning VP unsolicited advice, I would tell Mr. Du- Leni Robredo to succeed Mr. Duterte. terte that Roque is not the best person There is also a provision that would to have as press secretary. make candidates for president and vice I have no beef with him since I do not president to come from the same party. know him personally. I believe, howI don’t know how far the House can ever, that a press secretary should be go to approve a new charter before the somebody from the media, and knows 2019 polls. Politicians will soon be busy its nuances and intricacies. Roque, filing their certificates of candidacy. from what we have seen, has no rapport Indeed there is never a dull moment with media. At times he is hostile and in Philippine politics. abrasive. *** I have covered 10 presidents and I There are two unsolicited proposals believe Dante Arevalo Ang of Manila of Ramon Ang of San Miguel where Times would be perfect as press secre- the government would not spend a sintary. The idea is to return to the practice gle centavo. However the government of having the press secretary in charge seems to be dragging its feet. of communicating the goals and vision One is that Bulacan “aerotropolis” of the presidency, Mr. Duterte can then to be built on a 2,500-hectare properappoint three undersecretaries: One in ty. This will have four runways which charge of the communications office, could be expanded into six. one in charge of operations, and one Government questioned the financial as spokesman. This would be a good capability of the San Miguel proposal. setup.

And then it questioned how the project In his last media briefing before go- would affect the development of the ing on leave, Roque said that the Presi- Clark International Airport. dent would not like to make his condiTurn to A5

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

I

The AFP’s broad, red brush “Red October” plot to oust PresiN A democracy, there is nothing wrong about dent Rodrigo Duterte.

Later on, Brig. Gen. Antonio being anti-government. Parlade Jr. named 18 universities

This may come as a shock to Armed Forces chief Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., but the act of opposing the government in power is essential to a democratic system in which the best ideas emerge from untrammeled debate about crucial national issues, among parties that often disagree. Dissent is no more subversive than a vote cast during an election for the political opposition, as long as those who campaign for change do so peacefully.

But eager to sell the idea of a communist plot against the Duterte administration, General Galvez and his subordinates have been using a broad brush to paint institutions and individuals a bright, communist red.

Galvez said during a Senate budget hearing that the Communist Party of the Philippines has reportedly organized students in 10 universities in Manila for the

and claimed that recruitment was being done through screenings of martial law and other “nationalistic” films.

When—outside of the martial law years themselves—has it been subversive to screen movies about freedom and democracy?

When has it been wrong to espouse nationalistic ideals?

The military has presented no proof to support its allegations against the 18 universities and colleges that were named.

Instead, it released some names and photos and school affiliations of four coeds who had allegedly joined the communist movement and who were killed “in different places and time.” But what proof do we have that these four youths had indeed joined the armed struggle against the government?

How can we be sure that they, too, were not simply caught up in the military’s broad, red strokes, and paid with their lives for mere

political dissent? Does the release of their photographs constitute proof? Or is it just more red tagging at the expense of these young people’s families?

Sadly, the military’s red fever seems to be catching.

Commission on Higher Education chief Prospero de Vera III spoke out against college and university professors over their biases against the government.

“I frown at professors who, under the guise of academic freedom, present only one side. There are too many professors who are like that,” De Vera said in an interview on radio dzBB. “For them, the government has done nothing good [for the people]. All they want is to topple the government. They are not doing the students a favor.”

Mr. De Vera is not doing us any favors, either, by failing to do what a person in his position should be doing—standing up for academic freedom and speaking out against guilt by innuendo and association that was the hallmark of McCarthyism.

Barriers, barriers, barriers Competition benefits consumers. The dominant carriers need to do better.

There is no need for Globe and Smart to fear a new and third player. With their vast resources, all they have to do ALEJANDRO is improve customer service.

DEL ROSARIO Before, just a franchise from ConWHAT is the National Telecommuni- gress and NTC Certificate of Public cations Commission up to? Instead of Convenience and Necessity were refacilitating the entry of a third telecom quired of anyone to apply as a telecom carrier, the NTC seems to be putting service provider. No standard then in up barriers. Is it NTC’s game plan to the 90s, no standard now. An interestmaintain the status quo of the Smart- ed party can offer and claim the best Globe stranglehold on consumers? It’s and cheapest service. The new player time to break up the duopoly’s years of though has to prove its performance to bad and expensive service. Poor recep- continue as a service provider Today as the date for the submistion yet expensive cellphone calls and late delivery of text messages are bad sion of bidding documents approaches, enough. It has become the new normal. more and more bidders are in a quanConsumers’ complaints and demand dary to the merits of the NTC circular.

An in-depth study for better service seem to have fallof the Circular en on deaf ears. shows it will be The NTC also apvery hard for a pears to be ignorBig business, it seems, new applicant to get over the baring, if not defying, is bigger than the rier as laid out by President Rodrigo NTC, because the Duterte’s call in highest official of the Circular is in ithis State of the Na- land. self a barrier. tion Address for a Although it has third telco player.

The NTC’s been processed Memorandum through public Circular No.0909-2018 goes against the consultations and a decision to have the President’s desire for a more efficient highest committed level of service was and less costly calls and text messaging adopted as against the auction of freto benefit the people who are already quencies, applicants for new player stareeling from the spiraling prices of tus are having difficulty making sense of the Circular. consumer goods.

The NTC circular requires the bidder Why is the NTC being stubborn, resisting the President’s directive to to have the following: Paid-up capital of at least P10 billion help the people? We are not imputing any irregularity on NTC officials. But based on its latest audited statement; At least 10 years experience from as public officials it behooves them to submit to a lifestyle check without the 2008 in the provisioning, delivery and President or the Commission on Audit operations of telecommunications services on a national scale; requiring them to do so.

Domestic corporation must have A third telco player? But of course, I am for it as a taxpayer and a consumer congressional franchise; Participant must be uncontested of who has been long subjected to poor service by the duopoly which must be obligation to the NTC as of 01 Oct. challenged by a new player on the field.

Turn to A5

BACK CHANNEL

High inflation unique to PH in Asean drop of 8 percent from last year. Therefore, domestic factors cannot be wholly blamed for the inflation spiral—the worst rapid rise in prices of basic goods in the past 10 years.

That, is a lie. The attached inflation PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s eco- rate graph clearly shows that inflanomic managers keep claiming that the Philippines’ 10-year record-high inflation rates of 6.4 percent in August 2018 and 6.7 percent in September have been Just let the graph triggered mainly by external factors— speak for itself. the doubling of crude oil to above $80 per barrel, and the peso depreciation of the peso to more than P54 per dollar, a

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ

tion has solely been the problem of the Philippines and not a problem with its four original Asean co-founders and neighbors—Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Inflation during the July-September period was below 1 percent for Malaysia and Singapore, below 2 percent for Thailand, and below 3 percent for Indonesia. During the same period, the Philippine inflation rate was climbing past 6 percent and steadily inching towards 7 percent.

Our Asean neighbors were also subject to the vagaries of the crude price Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher ManilaStandard

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

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Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

The President’s health CROSSROADS

JONATHAN DE LA CRUZ OF COURSE, all of us should be concerned about the health of the President. And not just him. All the top officials of the land who are in the line of succession to the most powerful job in the country should be in our prayers.

We want them to be in tip-top shape to ensure that in any eventuality, the affairs of state will be in the hands of those constitutionally mandated to assume leadership of this benighted land.

But it is one thing to be concerned about their health specially the President’s. It is another to inject, no mater how subtle or subdued, an element of troubling unease to merit a survey the result of which is liable to be (mis)used to promote an agenda other than public concern over the state of chief executive’s health. As in the latest SWS survey.

To say, for example, that 55 percent of all adult Filipinos “are worried that President Duterte will have health problems” and then follow that up with another “worrying” statistics as in “45 percent believe the President has health problems...while 26 percent believe otherwise..” is to induce a kind of doubt in the public consciousness about all the disclosures which have been issued by Malacañang and the President himself on his health condition. It invites and has in fact invited all kinds of speculation and, as expected, tirades from the critics. It is making splash where only a ripple is obtaining.

To be sure, the latest revelation by President Duterte himself that he underwent a second test on what has been known all along as his problematic organs is cause for concern. But, as my doctor friends said, these tests are nothing extraordinary or spectacular.

These are considered routine tests specially for older men. In fact, an internist friend kidded me that I should be doing these tests every two years since I turned 50 a decade or so ago.

High...

From A4

jump and the strengthening US dollar. Yet, their inflation rates went down even while Philippine inflation went sharply north.

Three reasons for the inflation spiral in the Philippines: One, TRAIN. Package One of the Duterte Tax Reform. The TRAIN Law increased tax on diesel from zero to P2.50 per liter, and will further increase to P4 per liter next year. The same law also slapped hefty taxes on sugar and sugar products. Now, diesel and sugar are what you call bellwether products. Mess up with them and they trigger price increases on other products.

A separate measure doubled the salaries of teachers, soldiers and policemen to about P40,000 a month— the salary of a bank branch manager who manages a branch deposit of P2 billion to P3 billion. Together, teachers, soldiers and policemen number one million. Imagine flooding the

But then again to challenge the President to tell the truth about his health after disclosing as much is to unduly politicize the matter of his health. It should have been enough that he made that disclosure and his Secretary of Health is saying not to make a big issue out of his situation. That’s that.

To insist that his doctors should make the disclosure is way off. Even more uncalled for is Senator and LP President Francis Pangilinan’s statement expressing misgivings on the President’s sincerity when he made that disclosure. He snickered that the doctors not Duterte should have issued the bulletin.

Speculation is disgraceful and unchristian.

Look where this rapid SWS survey, Pangilinan and his ilk have brought us to. Isn’t it enough that the disclosure was made and that in due time a more pronounced assessment of the President’s state of health will follow? After all, the doctors cannot in a day or two make a proper and responsible prognosis of what the tests have brought to light. I am sure Pangilinan understands that. But no—he has his misgivings, as if he was hoping a worse prognosis should have been issued.

In any event, the President has disclosed what happened. We have to take his word for it. Otherwise, the debate over his health and the consequences of too much give-and-take. he said-she said statements will drag us down to unknown territories which can only stymie our efforts to temper our people’s fears and anxieties. This, at a time when we are being buffeted by worries bout prices of basic commodities and the so-called Red October move to oust the President.

Which brings us to another point.

A lot of people believe that Duterte’s market with P20,000 times one million people every month. That’s like pumping P20 billion cash monthly into a system that doesn’t produce enough goods—like rice, corn, sugar, fish, meat and vegetables. Since cash is greater than supply, you have inflation.

Two, top-level incompetence at the National Food Authority. The guys in charge of the NFA, led by a certain general, announced last summer they had run out of rice stocks. The rice traders heard about it. So they held back their own stocks to wait for a sharp upturn in prices.

Next, the same general, since sacked by Duterte, was given by Budget Chief Ben Diokno P5 billion to buy rice for distribution in poor rice-deficit areas. Instead of buying the rice, the general opted to pre-pay debts that were not due yet.

So in trying to solve an imaginary debt crisis, the general instead created an unprecedented rice crisis singlehandedly. Result: Record-high rice prices, a severe rice shortage, and a drop in Duterte’s job approval

health would not have been front page news at all if there is no active effort to oust him before his term ends in 2022. This latest contrivance is just the latest issue in the long list of issues which have been used to sap the goodwill and strength of this administration. First, the EJK and the drug wars. This dragged for a while but has since tapered off specially after the SWS said 80percent of all adult Filipinos favored the war on drugs. Then, the drug smuggling cases which have hardly dented the President’s standing. Third, the war on corruption which was initially derided by Duterte’s critics as haphazard and a strike at tokenism. Then, the increased prices of basic commodities and inflation which have been lingering on for sometime. Of course, there was the martial law and dictatorship spiel which did not gain any traction at all. Now, his health.

The critics and the worriers should take a deep breath. While the President’s health is of concern to us all, it is not something which should be misused for political gain. Every President before has had their own share of health issues. And, its own set of critics. Then President Estrada who was rumored to have been presiding over his “kitchen cabinet” daily up to the wee hours of the morning had his own health issues which resulted at one time for some groups to urge him to step down to pave the way for then vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. That call was made even as there was no grave health issue to look into. Before that, President Ramos had what people said were private meetings and stayed out of sight for a day or two prompting calls for him to disclose what he has been doing on his own.Then President now Speaker GMA has a number of operations and was told to take care of her neck after three major operations.

Indeed, the matter of the President’s health is of critical importance. But not to the extent of doubting or even dismissing his disclosure as a prelude to attacking his administration. That is not only disgraceful. It is simply unChristian. ratings by one-third. Duterte used to be most popular president on earth.

Now, he is just one of the guys.

Three, total neglect of Philippine agriculture. Rice is the last frontier in the country being able to lick its decades-old poverty problem. Rice is 20 percent of consumer spending. All food is half of consumer spending.

Yet, the rice we produce today is the same volume we used to produce ten years ago 18 million metric tons of palay. In the meantime, the population increased by 20 million. So the 18 million tons of palay used to be divided by 80 million. The same 18 million tons are now divided by more than 100-million people who ranks are growing by 1.7-million people every year.

Fortunately, President Duterte has awakened. He has issued Administrative Order No. 13. AO 13 has the effect of abolishing the NFA and its functions taken over by the private sector. Any company registered with the SEC can now import rice. biznewsasia@gmail.com

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ten-Ten colonoscopy weeks back, President Duterte’s health has become an issue.

Both tests are standard medical procedures for men of his age. Colonoscopy is in fact prescribed by physiLITO cians even for those undergoing their BANAYO first extensive medical check-ups, TODAY is the anniversary of the start usually when one reaches 40. I underof the Wuchang Uprising of Oct. 10, went one in 2010, and I recall Senator 1911, which led to the imminent down- Chiz Escudero telling me he had one fall of the Qing Dynasty in China and too in 2010, after he turned 40.

For both of us, the physicians saw the establishment of the Chinese Resmall polyps that were not at all a matpublic.

The Qing Dynasty was a Manchu- ter of concern. I hope to God it stays led imperial reign that lasted for all of that way.

Senator Chiz by the way, celebrates 268 years, subverting and co-opting the Han warlords of the Ming Dy- his birthday on Oct. 10, and had nasty. The Hans are the dominant planned to run for president in 2010, ethnic group in China, and when the had not fate intervened and President last emperor, Puyi, was forced to abdi- Cory Aquino’s demise ushered in a cate his throne after the establishment wave of sympathy for her son Benigno of the Republic on Jan. 1, 1912, China Simeon.

President Duterte had always been became a republic, although it was a troubled government for the longest transparent about his age and the state time, with invasions by the Japanese of his illnesses, even during the camand internal leadership struggles led paign. Despite Buerger’s disease, a to its break-up in the aftermath of the spinal problem brought about by a motorcycle accident in his sixties, and Second World War. Sun Yat Sen, a Han from Guangdong, frequent migraines, the people elected eventually led the First Republic, and is him overwhelmingly in 2016.

He has been a very active president, revered as the founding father.

Taiwan and many overseas Chinese visiting disaster victims as soon as calamity strikes, celebrate the start and soldiers of of the dynasty’s the Republic in collapse as the their camps, hosTen-Ten or Doupitals and theaters ble Ten commemThis is my third of conflict. Now oration. celebration as head of with a colonoscoAs the chairpy and endoscopy, man of the Manila the Manila Economic all sorts of specuEconomic and and Cultural Office. lations arise over Cultural Office, diagnostic procewe accepted the dures. gracious invitaRemember tion of Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office resi- when FVR had a carotid operation in dent representative Michael Hsu to 1997? That was a very delicate operathe Double Ten commemoration held tion and he recovered quickly, ending yesterday at the Sofitel in Pasay City. his term in June 30, 1998. GMA had Taiwan ranks as the Philippines’ spondylosis, and required a very delieighth major trading partner, tenth cate neck operation at St. Luke’s Hoslargest export market and eighth pital when she was yet president. She largest supplier of imports, with is now the very active Speaker of the bilateral trade amounting to some $7 House.

They said Erap’s chain-smoking billion annually.

There are now 157,000 Filipinos re- days brought him emphysema, a lung siding in Taiwan, some 83 percent of affliction, but for weak knees, he is whom work in manufacturing jobs. still very much around, as Mayor of Filipinos constitute the third largest Manila at the ripe old age of 82.

A since-retired archbishop once kidforeign community in Taiwan, after Indonesia, which supplies mostly car- ded me about “your president” (PNoy) having “psychological” problems, and egivers and caretakers, and Vietnam.

To assist our nationals, particularly I just chuckled in disbelief.

All of these “health” concerns stem the OFWs, MECO maintains three offices in Taiwan: the main office in Tai- from the Filipinos’ love for gossip pei, for Filipinos residing in northern and speculation, a most unhealthy Taiwan; Taichung for central Taiwan; predilection. *** and Kaohsiung for the southern part.

Don’t look now. Manila’s mayoralty Our main office in Taipei moved this year to the Neihu District, Taipei’s fight next year will be between a nonanewest development, and houses in a genarian Fred Lim, and octogenarian one-stop shop, the previously dispa- Mayor Erap, and a 44-year-old or so rate offices not only of MECO proper, Isko Moreno.

You think you’ve had enough of but also the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, OWWA, Pag-IBIG, SSS, and the nonagenarians, from Mahathir in the Trade and Tourism representative Malaysia to trying another comeback Lim? offices.

In far north Cagayan province, the This is Michael Hsu’s first Ten-Ten commemoration as resident represent- 95-year-old Juan Ponce Enrile, former ative of TECO, having assumed the Customs Commissioner, former Fipost in July this year after the retire- nance secretary, former Justice secrement of Gary Lin. It is my third Ten- tary, former Defense minister, former Ten commemoration as MECO head, congressman, former senator, former beginning with my assumption in July Senate president, and widely acknowledged as the legal architect of martial 1, 2016.

Representative Hsu and I led hun- law for his principal Ferdinand Mardreds of guests in offering a toast to cos, is running for governor!

Let’s wait until Dec. 17 when the better and more fruitful Taiwan-PhilComelec closes the period for COC ippine relations in the years to come. filing, if indeed the old man will give *** For being candid and forthright with in to the clamor of his leaders to chalhis state of health, and informing the lenge the incumbent Manuel Mamba. public that he had an endoscopy and Abangan!

SO I SEE

Is the...

From A4

My gulay, here is one project that can prevent a chaotic event similar to what happened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when thousands of passengers were affected when an aircraft was stalled on the runway.

Here is a project that will not cost the government anything—but why is it being delayed?

Another project of Ang is the 1.5-kil-

Barriers...

From A4

2018. These obligations should have been paid (SRF) and SUF including possible penalties and surcharges; Payment of participation security of at least P700 million for 180 days.

Who will earn from this fund? It must be noted that the participation security fund is different from the per-

ometer bridge in Caticlan where San Miguel has built a new airport. Boracay will be reopened later this month. *** In my column yesterday, I cited my students of whom I am very proud. I intentionally did not mention Bobby Ongpin because I think he is a cut above the rest.

I trace Bobby’s career and note that he does not seem to stop doing good for the country. www.emiljurado.weebly.com formance security bond.

In sum, all these are barriers meant to discourage the entry of a third telco player.

From all indications, unless President Duterte steps in to order the NTC to remove these impediments, the duopoly will continues its dominance in the industry and over millions of subscribers and consumers. Big business, it seems, is bigger than the highest official of the land.

News

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Bicam OKs stronger SSS pension fund

By Macon Ramos-Araneta TO ensure that more Filipinos would be covered by the Social Security System so they could build better homes for their retirement, the Senate passed on third and final reading Senator Richard Gordon’s bill which proposes a new SSS law.

Senate Bill 1753 or the Social Security Act of 2018 seeks to rationalize and expand the powers and duties of the Social Security Commission to ensure the long-term viability of the SSS and thereby guarantee better benefits for members of the state-run pension fund.

Gordon said the bill was an enhancement of the previous laws.

It ensures hope the people would not be a burden to the country; that they are partners of the government not by way of exaction of taxes but by their contribution so that their welfare is assured, Gordon said.

The SSS, meanwhile, in a statement thanked the senators and congressmen comprising the bicameral conference committee who approved the bill seeking to amend the 21-year-old charter.

SSS president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Dooc said: “I am thankful to the Senate and the House of Representatives contingents for their leadership, and for sponsoring and shepherding this bill. Hopefully, this will be signed by the President and become a law.”

Members of the bicameral panel who were present during the meeting for the consolidation of SB 1753 and House Bill 2158 were Senators Gordon, Ralph Recto, Franklin Drilon and Win Gatchalian, and Representatives Prospero Pichay and Mark Go. The meeting was held immediately a day after the Senate version of the bill was approved on third and final reading on Oct. 8, with 20-0-0 votes in the upper chamber.

One of the salient features of the Senate Bill 1753 is the rationalization of powers of the Social Security Commission, the policy-making body of the SSS, allowing it to expand the investing capacity of the pension fund that will generate better income for the benefit of its members and pensioners.

Authorities arrest 2 fugitives

By Vito Barcelo IMMIGRATION authorities arrested two Chinese fugitives wanted by authorities in Beijing for economic crimes, fraud and other illegal activities, officials said Tuesday.

Fu Hanzhou and Huang Meizhen, a female, were apprehended along Legarda Street in Binondo, Manila by operatives from the Bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit, but their two cohorts managed to slip from the arresting BI agents.

BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said that both would be deported for being undesirable and undocumented aliens, adding they had received official communication from Chinese authorities that the passports of the duo were already canceled.

They are currently detained at the BI Detention Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending the implementation of their deportation.

“Upon deportation, they will be placed in our blacklist to ensure these fugitives won’t be able to return to the Philippines,” Sandoval added.

BI FSU Chief Bobby Raquepo said Fu and Huang were arrested a week after one of their alleged accomplices, Lian Lilong was arrested inside his hotel room in Binondo.

Raquepo said the three arrested Chinese nationals allegedly conspired with two other suspects in a credit card fraud scheme that victimized many of their compatriots.

PIO’S RELIC. Catholic devotees, many under umbrellas to protect them from the tropic sun, flock to the air-conditioned Manila Cathedral in the capital’s old walled city Tuesday to attend a special Mass and witness the relic of Saint Padre Pio. The relic (inset) will stay at the church for two days then it will be brought to the province of Cebu. Norman Cruz

Solons slam Duty Free officials for agreements

By Maricel V. Cruz

L

AWMAKERS on Tuesday warned officials of Duty Free Philippines Corp. against possible violation of existing laws for entering into concession agreements with foreign entities, all Hong Kong-based suppliers, for the supply of billions of pesoworth merchandise.

Reps. Mikee Romero of 1-PACMAN party-list and Rodel Batocabe of Ako-Bicol party-list said DFPC officials might be held liable for alleged violation of the Retail Trade Law and Republic Act 9184 or the Procurement Act which prescribes stiffer penalties against foreigners.

At a congressional hearing conducted by the House of Representatives’ committees on good government and public accountability, chaired by Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo, Romero called the attention of the state-run firm DFPC, for dealing with Jose Ma.Esteban III, who represents

one of the foreign companies.

“I think there is conflict of interest here.

I don’t think he should in any way be doing business with duty free,” said Romero, an assistant majority leader.

Esteban was the first general manager of DFPC who was appointed to the post in 1987 by then President Corazon Aquino.

He served the retailer of imported products until 1992.

The committee conducted the inquiry into allegedly anomalous contracts that involved DFPC official. Present during the hearing were DFPC officials headed by

Vicente Angala, chief operating officer, and board members.

Romero asked the House panel to invite to the next hearing owners and representatives of the foreign firms that DFPC tapped to supply them with imported merchandise and food sold in duty-free stores in the Philippines.

Romero identified the firms as Landmark Management P and C Ltd.; Sportmart Limited, Tonghorn Trading Limited, Transwell Worldwide Ltd., Viewpoint Trading Ltd., Yearsley (F.E) Ltd; Colomba Management (HK) Ltd., EDF Management (Services) LTD; ETC Holdings (HK) Ltd., Goldpoly Company Ltd., Home and Office Ltd., Landmark Management Srvices (LTD). All are based in Hongkong.

He even complained that none of the companies was represented at the hearing.

“Every time you enter into such SDA, these will be considered recurring criminal acts. You have to be very careful about these because you can be implicated,” Romero told the DFPC officials.

FVR counsels JCI World chief STRESSING that millennials are the future stewards of this nation and Mother Earth, former President Fidel V. Ramos counselled Junior Chamber International World president Marc Brian Lim to embrace “responsible stewardship attuned to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that concern 21st century fight against climate change, poverty, terrorism, disease, inequality, injustice, and other challenges that confront the Philippines and other parts of the world.”

“I am happy that you are now serving as the country’s Ambassador of Goodwill being the sixth Filipino to serve as JCI World president,” Ramos told Brian Lim whose father, Benjamin S. Lim, once served as JCI World EVP and JCI Philippines national president and as Duty Free Philippines general manager during the Ramos presidency.

It must be noted that JCI’s roster of illustrious Filipinos who served as presidents include: Roberto del Rosario (1950-1951); Roberto Villanueva (1952-1953); Feliciano Belmonte (1976); Victor C. Luciano (1985); Crispin Dy (1997); and, Marc Brian Lim (2018).

Lim now heads the 102-year JCI movement of young leaders between 18 and 40

COURTESY CALL. Former President Fidel V. Ramos welcomes JCI World president Brian Lim, head of the 102-year-old JCI movement of young leaders with ages ranging between 18 and 40 years old from 124 countries. Lim, a native of Pangasinan like FVR, told the former Chief Executive that young leaders have always followed FVR's lead on promoting patriotism, good governance, global diplomacy enduring peace and sustainable development owing to the six tenets of the Jaycee's creed. Lim recently paid a courtesy call on the former leader in his office.

years old from 124 countries.

Over a century, the JCI movement has encouraged young people to become active citizens and to participate in efforts towards social and economic development and international cooperation, goodwill and understanding.

DPWH starts construction of Korean-funded project THE Department of Public Works and Highways started the construction of the Koreanfunded P4.7-billion Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation project that would reduce flooding in low-lying towns of Pampanga.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the project included the construction of three new bridges and five footbridges, excavation and dredging of Pampanga River and construction of eight floodgates and improvement of drainage system.

The mega project, funded by the loan agreement between the Gover n ment of the Philippines and the Government of Korea through the Korea EXIM Bank, will reduce if not alleviate perennial flooding in the low land municipalities of Pampanga.

The groundbreaking of the project was attend-

ed by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dong-Man, Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, and Korean Export-Import Bank Country Director Sungho Jang.

Villar said IDRR-CCA measure in low-lying areas of Pampanga Bay was the realization of DPWH target outputs to build disaster-resilient structures in calamity prone area.

The project will benefit the flood-prone municipalities of Macabebe, Masantol, Minalin, Sto. Tomas, and Apalit which are low-lying places.

“These areas are usually under water during heavy rains and the overflowing of Pampanga river because the river it could not contain the volume of waters in the highlands that f low down the Pampanga River Basin,” Villar said. Vito Barcelo

For his part, Lim told the former Chief Executive that young leaders like him has always followed his lead on promoting patriotism, good governance, global diplomacy, enduring peace and sustainable development owing to the six tenets of the Jaycee creed.

Another lawmaker in ‘abuse’ incident ANOTHER lawmaker found himself the subject of a photo that went viral showing his parked vehicle blocking a lane reserved for persons with disabilities.

In a letter addressed to PWDs posted on his Facebook, Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian apologized for the incident, saying he already suspended one of his employees responsible for parking the vehicle at the wrong lane.

The photo that went viral showed Gatchalian’s car parked blocking a PWD lane at a restaurant on Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City.

He also said it was not him who was driving the car at that time.

“While it was not me who was driving the vehicle, I believe that it was my duty to ensure that my staff constantly acts in a manner that respects and is conscious of the rights of every person,” he said.

“Nothing less should be expected of my office,” Gatchalian said, stressing he supported the policies that advocate push for inclusivity and accessibility of PWDs. Meanwhile, the security screener who recently encountered ACTS-OFW Partylist Rep. Aniceto Bertiz lll at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will no longer file a complaint against the lawmaker.

Office of Transportation Security head executive assistant Napoleon Cuaton said screener Hamilton Abdul, 27, went to the OTS office with his father saying he would no longer pursue the filing of complaint against Bertiz.

Cuato said Abdul was no longer filing a case upon the advice of his father.

“It’s up to them, but I told them the OTS is here. Whenever they need our help, they can count on us and we will support any of our employees who are doing their jobs in accordance with the law in securing the airport from passengers who might bring terror,” Cuaton added.

Gatchalian said “I continue to be a partner of the PWD community in pursuing policies and programs to make our country, especially my district, more accessible to the members of the community.

Please accept my deepest apology.”

Bertiz III was criticized after a video of him supposedly trying to skirt security protocol at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport went viral.

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Ethics and Privileges is now investigating Bertiz although he has apologized for the incident. Maricel V. Cruz and Joel Zurbano

Panel calls for Cafgu deactivation in Mindanao A PANEL in the House of Representatives has agreed to file a resolution calling for the deactivation of the Special Cafgu (Citizens Armed Forces Georgraphic Unit) Active Auxiliaries in Mindanao, particularly in Zamboanga del Norte and Cotabato, during the election period.

The resolution to be prepared by the House of Representatives’ Committee on National Defense and Security, chaired by Pangasinan Rep. Amado Espino Jr., will be consolidated with Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s House Resolution 2188.

The Arroyo resolution disbands or deactivates, or both, all local government-sponsored SCAA formations in Mindanao effective at the start of

filing of Certificates of Candidacy until after the lifting of election ban in the 2019 elections and every elections thereafter.

HR 2206, authored by Zamboanga Rep. Seth Frederick, bans the deployment of SCAA personnel in Mindanao during the 2019 elections.

At a congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Angelito de Leon of the Department of National Defense told the panel the SCAA has two classifications: the SCAA 1 funded and controlled by the DND and the Armed Forces and the SCAA 2 sponsored by local government units or a nongovernment entity.

Arroyo’s HR 2188, filed last Sept.

18, provides for the activation of lo-

cal government militias in Mindanao, is becoming widespread as 2019 elections draw near.

Thus, “it raises an alarming concern given the common knowledge that politicians have the natural tendency to resort to the use of guns, goons and gold in order to get advantage in an electoral contest,” Arroyo said.

“The continuing activation and deployment of all local governmentsponsored SCAAs during the period of elections poses more of a threat to the free exercise of democratic process rather than addressing security threat,” added Arroyo.

Jalosjos, for his part, said his resolution is actually focused on the local government-sponsored SCAAs. Maricel V. Cruz

Sports BOSS Ironman Visayas leg gets boost ENGINEER Marcelo Ferdinand ‘Dindo’ Picardal, governor of Eastern Samar, has thrown his full support to the 2018 BOSS Ironman Motorcycle Challenge, a 1,200-km endurance event designed not only to test riders’ capabilities but promote tourism in Region 6 as well.

Around 600 participants of the BOSS Ironman Motorcycle Challenge will take off from the Provincial Capitol Gymnasium of Borongan City in Eastern Samar-Visayas Leg on Nov. 9 before traversing on at least nine other cities and municipalities of Samar, Leyte and Biliran islands.

Lito Flores, president of the BMW Owner Society of Safe Riders and chairman of BOSS IMC organizing committee, said this is the first edition of the BOSS Ironman in the Visayas in time for the 53rd founding anniversary of Eastern Samar this year.

The participants—all riding on motorcycles with engine displacement 400cc and above, and fourwheeled vehicles—will cross the picturesque 2.16-km San Juanico Bridge in proceeding to Leyte. The riders must return to Borongan City to complete the route.

With the support of BMW Motorrad Philippines, Petron Corporation and Department of Tourism, Flores assured participants of a fun-filled event as the local government units will prepare exciting programs highlighting the colorful history of their respective towns and cities.

PNP-HPG Riders Club, composed of former and active members of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group led by the unit’s present director, Chief Supt. Roberto Fajardo, partnered with BOSS in the staging of the Visayas edition. Former PNP chief and now Bureau of Corrections director general Ronald dela Rosa is among the participants.

The riders must complete the 1,200km route to be declared a ‘finisher.’

Traffic laws, particularly speed limit, will be strictly implemented along the route to ensure safety not only of the participants but the general public as well, Flores emphasized.

Riders may visit the Facebook page of BOSS Ironman Challenge XIII.

Osaka eyes Tokyo Olympics H

ONG KONG—US Open champion Naomi Osaka Monday set her sights on Olympic glory in 2020 as she became only the second Japanese woman to reach number four in the world rankings.

The fast-rising tennis star, who turns 21 on Sunday, has already become Japan’s first Grand Slam singles champion after she stunned Serena Williams in New York last month.

And on Monday, she rose to a careerhigh ranking of four to become the top ranked Japanese woman since Kimiko Date in 1995.

Now she is targeting a strong perfor-

mance at the WTA Finals Singapore later this month and she could yet finish her standout season as the top placed Japanese woman of all time.

Looking further ahead the Osaka-born dual US-Japanese national, who represents the country of her birth in tennis, has her eyes on the Tokyo Olympics.

“Everyone is really excited in Japan for the Olympics,” she told reporters at

the WTA Hong Kong Open, which she has been forced to withdraw from with a back injury.

“I know that everyone—all the Japanese players—wants to do well and of course I share that same feeling.”

She added: “I really want to experience the moment and at the same time I know I want to win the gold medal—everyone who plays in the Olympics wants to win gold—so that would be my aim, but (also) overall just to have fun.”

Osaka, who has referred to her breakthrough victory at Flushing Meadows as “bittersweet” after it was overshadowed by an explosive row between Wil-

liams and the chair umpire, has been tipped for greatness by Chinese tennis great Li Na. But despite her stunning victory and subsequent catapult into global sporting fame, the 20-year-old bashfully still said she felt flattered by the praise from Asia’s first Grand Slam singles champion.

“I think it makes me happy that Li Na talks about me!” she said.

“For me definitely I don’t want to stop at just one Grand Slam, of course I want to win more, but right now it’s not the Australian Open, it’s Singapore (that I) have to look forward to.” AFP

Catindig stamps class in soft tennis

Naomi Osaka of Japan smiles as she meets fans and signs autographs at the Hong Kong Open tennis tournament. AFP

Nayre kisses Youth Olympic Games’ bid goodbye BUENOS AIRES—Jann Mari Nayre saw his medal bid in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games come to an end after dropping his match against Rio de Janeiro Olympian Kanak Jha of the United States yesterday at the Table Tennis Arena of the Technopolis here.

Jha swept Nayre in four sets, 13-11, 118, 15-13, 11-8, but not after encountering a strong resistance from the Filipino ace on his final match in Group B of the men’s singles preliminaries of the meet featuring the finest under-18 paddlers in the world.

Losing back-to-back matches after winning his opening game opposite Nicolas Burgos of Chile, the 18-year-old pride of Baybay, Leyte failed to advance

in the round of 16 and bombed out of the tournament for good.

“Maganda ang nilaro ko kanina pero talagang magaling ang kalaban (Jha),’’ said Nayre, the first Filipino table netter to qualify in the Youth Olympics.

Jha, who ranks No. 1 in the world in the under-18 category, regularly plays in overseas meets held in America, Asia and Europe as well as Burgos and Austria’s Maciej Kolodziejczyk, who clipped Nayre in four sets on Sunday.

“Crucial talaga ang laban ko against Austria. This is a learning experience para sa akin,’’ said Nayre, who made it to the quarterfinals of the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last year and the

BASKETBALL fans better rejoice as they can catch preseason action of the most popular basketball league on the planet on free television on ABS-CBN S+A. “NBA On ABS-CBN” kicks-off on S+A this Wednesday with the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Milwaukee Bucks LIVE on S+A at 8 a.m. in a match featuring MVP favorites Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Most hoop heads, however, are looking forward to the early clash of Lebron James and the revamped Los Angeles Lakers and the super-loaded Golden State Warriors of Steph Curry, which will air on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. It will be the first time James meets the Warriors since the Finals last June and as a member of the storied Lakers franchise.

Over the course of the next weeks, however, ABS-CBN Sports will whet the appetite of Filipino basketball fans as the season finally opens on Oct. 17 on S+A! On opening week, the Joel Embiid-

led Philadelphia 76ers take on Kyrie Irving’s Boston Celtics on Oct. 17 live at 8 a.m.

Lonzo Ball and the Lakers, meanwhile face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trailblazers on Oct. 19 live at 10:30 a.m. To cap the week off, the Boston Celtics visit the Toronto Raptors, now led by their new star Kawhi Leonard on Oct. 20 on ABS-CBN at 8:30 a.m., followed by the New York Knicks on Oct. 21 at 7:30 a.m.,live on S+A. Don’t miss the return of the NBA starting with the preseason matches of the OKC Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday (Oct. 10) at 8 a.m. on S+A and the LA Lakers and Golden State Warriors on Thursday (Oct. 11) at 10:30 a.m.

For more information and stories, visit ABS-CBN’s sports hub sports.abscbn.com and follow @ABSCBNSports on Facebook and Twitter. For updates, follow @ABSCBNPR on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or visitwww.abscbnpr.com.

Ramos, Duque banner NGAP Pre-season NBA games on S+A North Luzon leg SEAN Ramos hopes to ride the momentum of his wire-to-wire triumph in Canlubang Amateur Open last week as he seeks for another crown in the Northern Luzon Regional Golf Championship, which gets going Friday at Beverly Place Golf Club in Pampanga.

But the Orchard bet braces for a fierce challenge from host of rivals, including Aguinaldo’s Masaichi Otake, who placed third in Cangolf, Weiyu Gao of Alta Vista, The Cliffs’ Chester Calpotura, Canlubang’s Carlo Villaroman, Southwoods’ David Guangko, Jet Hernandez of Alabang/ Orchard and Rald Sarmiento, also of Aguinaldo.

Ramos’ Orchard teammates Joaquin Gomez and Kim Tae Soo are also vying in the 54-hole tournament serving as part of the PLDT Group’s National Amateur Golf Tour organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Duque, who finished third in the ladies division in Cangolf Am won

by Nicole Abelar, looms as the player to watch in the Elite women’s division which also drew Sophia Blanco, Kristine Fleetwood, Junia Gabasa, Weifang Gao, Shin Seo Yun and Sunshine Zhang.

Other titles to be disputed over 36 holes on Oct. 13-14 are Group I (5-12 handicap) and Group II (13 and above) in men’s division, both gross stroke and net competitions.

For listup and details, call NGAP at (632) 7065926 or email ngap2009handicap@yahoo.com or visit www.ngaponline.net or Beverly Place Golf Club at (045) 436-1860 or 09228675486 and look for Gail. Entry fee is P2,000 (local) and P3,000 (foreign).

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

round of 32 in the recent Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Korean coach Kwon Mi Sook, who mentored the late Ian Lariba in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Games, was also credited for helping Nayre qualify in the YOG. According to chef de mission and Philippine Olympic Committee auditor Jonne Go, Mi Sook helped spent for the training of Nayre out of her own pocket.

Filipino-Norwegian Christian Tio got into the top six out of 12 entries in the first round of the kiteboarding competitions while swimmer Nicole Oliva failed to advance to the finals of the women’s 100-meter freestyle event after landing sixth out of eight in her heat in 57.33 seconds.

PRINCESS Catindig of San Beda University squeaked past Phrepoi Manahil of Thailand, 4-3 (4) in the Open singles then turned back the same Thai girl in the Junior singles’ division before towing the women’s team past Cambodia, 3-0, in the finals to become the most bemedalled soft netter in the just-concluded 2018 Philippine University Soft Tennis Invitationals at the Colegio San Agustin indoor hardcourts in San Jose Del Monte Bulacan.

In the Southeast Asia division team competitions, Dheo Talatayod and Mark Alcoseba nipped Yi Keavirak and Pel Vanny, 4-2, en route to a 2-1 victory to dethrone Cambodia in the men’s team competition.

Talatayod and Alcoseba shared the podium with teammates Kevin Mamawal, Mikof Manduriao and Joseph Arcilla, who won the men’s Open singles gold medal.

Catindig was joined by team captain Bien Zoleta, Denden Peralta, Jam Daquio, Khy Hitosis and Guia Arzaga for the gold medal in the women’s team event, while Cambodia pocketed silver and Malaysia took home bronze medal during the awarding ceremonies attended by Philippine Soft Tennis Association secretary general Joven Sepino.

Peralta and Daquio of University of Perpetual Help won the Open doubles, while Korea’s Gichan Shin and Deokwon Jo captured the Open doubles for men. Cambodia’s Sarsarit Yi and Doeum Samsocheapherun took the gold in the junior boys’ doubles and Ela Javier with Mia Samson of San Beda prevailed in the junior girls’s doubles.

FOOTBALL CHAMP. Perpetual Altas Football Club, led by Jomas Tamayo, outlasted the Mendiola Football Club in Mix Open Division I Corporate Football Club Finals, 1-0, on Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Seb Gonzales emerged as MVP, Feret Sen was adjudged the Best Goalkeeper while Jhen Tolis of Perpetual Binan won the Best Female Player of the League. Dennis Abrina

NBA fines Boston’s Smart, Cleveland’s Smith for scuffle NEW YORK—Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Cleveland Cavaliers swingman J.R. Smith were each fined Monday by the NBA for their roles in an oncourt altercation, the league announced.

Smart was fined $25,000 for escalating an on-court incident during an altercation in which he was ejected. Smith was fined $15,000 for initiating the confrontation.

The incident took place with 3:38 remaining in the first quarter of Cleveland’s 113-102 home victory over Boston late Saturday.

Smith and Australian forward Aron Baynes of the Celtics became entangled and exchanged shoves, with Smart entering the scuffle by pushing Smith from behind.

Both Smart and Smith had to be restrained from escalating the situation.

Smart was whistled for a technical foul and ejected.

Smith was issued a technical foul for shoving Baynes.

The Celtics, who were ousted from the NBA playoffs

the past four seasons, but that was with four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James, who departed Cleveland in the off-season to join the Los Angeles Lakers.

Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns managing owner Robert Sarver fired general manager Ryan McDonough on Monday, nine days before the team’s NBA season opener following poor results in a week of exhibition games.

The Suns, who had the NBA’s worst record last season at 21-61, lost 106-102 at home to Sacramento a week ago and 115-93 to visiting Portland last Friday in preseason NBA contests.

Phoenix also struggled past the Australian National Marcus Smart J.R. Smith Basketball League’s New Zealand Breakers 91-86 last

by Cleveland in last season’s Eastern Conference final, Wednesday.

With their season opener set for October 17 against will not face the Cavaliers in the regular season until visiting Dallas, the Suns decided they needed to make a November 30.

The Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals in each of major change before the new campaign tipped off. AFP

Sports

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

A8 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

Battle of win runs as Tams, Eagles clash Games Today (Mall of Asia Arena) 2 p.m. UST vs UP 4 p.m. Ateneo vs FEU

By Peter Atencio CONSIDERED as the top offensive team this season, the Ateneo Blue Eagles meet the Far Eastern University Tamaraws at 4 p.m. today in the 81st University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Averaging 80.6 points per game, the Blue Eagles look forward to maintaining their offensive clout against the Tamaraws.

The Eagles were held to just 72 points when they defeated the Green Archers last Saturday.

But for coach Tab Baldwin, defense is where they want to excel and be consistent.

“I was pleased with our defense, but I wasn’t so pleased with our offense and rebounding. I think it’s a good way to win games, to be a good defensive team,” said Baldwin as the Blue Eagles seek their fifth consecutive win today and a chance to improve on their 5-1 record at the end of their first round campaign.

After scoring an 88-85 overtime win over the Adamson Falcons, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws want to stretch their winning streak to three when they face the Eagles.

But they will have to do it without 6’5” forward Arvin Tolentino, who will serve a one-game suspension, after he was thrown out in the 3:43 mark of the fourth quarter of their game against Adamson.

Tolentino topscored for 19 points in that game, but he when he hit Adamson star Sean Manganti in the face, he was slapped a disqualifying foul by the referee.

But they have to cut short their celebration of halting the Adamson Falcons’ five-game winning streak. “‘Yun talaga ang rule namin for the day, magsimula sa practice. Huwag magkulang sa practice. Magsecelebrate kami, pero balik trabaho ulit bukas,” said Tams skipper Wendell Comboy.

The University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, still high on their 89-88 triumph over the National University Bulldogs, clash with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers at 2 p.m.

The Maroons almost lost that game following an endgame collapse, but a defensive stop in the end from Akhuetie Bright and Gomez de Liano brothers Juan and Javi allowed them to secure their third win in six games.

Javi Gomez de Liano went on to have a career-high game with 19 points on 9-for-19 shooting in 32 minutes.

Air Force, Navy hurdle rivals Games tomorrow 11 a.m. – PLDT vs Air Force 1 p.m. – Sta. Elena vs Army 3 p.m. – Navy vs Cignal

AIR Force and Navy pulled off victories in contrasting fashions to join opening day winners Cignal and PLDT at second in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Blue Eagle gym in QC yesterday.

The Air Force Agilas bucked the 31-hit explosion of Bryan Bagunas as they bounced back from a fourth set collapse to snatch a 25-22, 21-25, 2523, 14-25, 15-10 decision over the Sta. Elena Ball Hammers.

Howard Mojica came away with a 19 hits while Alnakran Abdilla backed him up with 17 points for the Agilas, who barely nipped the Ball Hammers in spikes, 56-51, bucked their poor service reception that saw them yield eight aces, and overcame their rivals’ edge in blocks, 7-11.

It was a sorry loss for Sta. Lucia which came out strong in the fourth to force the decider only to succumb to the Agilas’ strong finishing kick.

Navy, on the other hand, dominated Army, 25-23, 25-20, 25-15, with Greg Dolor leading the attack with 11 markers and Jayson Sapida, Razzel Palisoc and Bonjomar Castel scoring eight hits apiece for the Fighting Stingrays.

Rain or Shine’s Terrence Watson collars the rebound in front of Blackwater’s Mike DiGregorio and Allein Maliksi in a PBA Governors’ Cup game won by the Elite.

Blackwater shoots for share of PBA lead

By Jeric Lopez

S

TILL feeling its high-level of play, Blackwater seeks to reclaim a piece of leadership when it shoots for a third straight win in the homestretch of the elimination round of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup. The consistent Elite (6-1), riding a two-game winning run, can once again force joint first place when it takes on fellow top-tier squad Magnolia (5-1), winner of three in a row, in an anticipated showdown at 7 p.m. at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City tonight.

Both their winning streaks are on the line as they are bound to go separate directions.

In the curtain-raiser, a critical clash between Phoenix (5-2) and NLEX (43), teams in the middle of the pack, takes place at 4:30 p.m. with both

teams eyeing to take a step closer to securing a berth in the next round.

Blackwater can formally clinch a berth in the quarterfinals should it continue its rampage. It can likewise tie Barangay Ginebra, the first team through to the next phase, at the top again.

Also in a good spot to finish inside the top four, the Elite is not about to be contented in just making the quarters.

“We’re in good shape of making the quarterfinals. I think we only need to win one more for that but also, we’re

Games Today (Cuneta Astrodome) 4:30 p.m. Phoenix vs NLEX 7 p.m. Blackwater vs Magnolia

looking at staying in the top four,” said Blackwater coach Bong Ramos.

Teams which will end up in the top four after the single-round eliminations will have a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarters.

The Hotshots hope they can likewise stay hot as they go for a fourth straight win when they take on against the Elite, who they can overtake should they triumph.

Blackwater edged out Rain or Shine, 99-93, in its last outing this past Sunday while, Magnolia hammered Columbian, 113-95, last week.

Stuck in the middle, the Fuel Masters and the Road Warriors both have the same goal—and that is to keep in-step with the teams above them.

Federer: I’m right where I want to be SHANGHAI—Roger Federer warned Novak Djokovic and his other Shanghai Masters rivals on Tuesday that he was in prime condition even as another long season approaches its climax.

The 37-year-old Swiss has been carefully managing his schedule in recent years, cutting out the clay-court segment of the season since 2017 to wring the most out of his ageing body.

It appears to be working and the 20time Grand Slam winner opens his defence of the Shanghai Masters this week in ominously good shape.

The world number two played in a victorious Laver Cup campaign in Chicago two weeks ago, following his surprise last-16 defeat to the Australian John Millman at the US Open.

“The good thing is after feeling good in practice I played a good Laver Cup, have had also some rest after the US Open,” said Federer.

The Swiss great’s prime threats in Shanghai are likely to come from world number three

Djokovic—who is in fine form—and fourth-ranked Juan Martin del Potro.

World number one Rafael Nadal, beaten by Federer in last year’s final

of the Masters 1000 showpiece, is absent with injury.

Del Potro, who was hindered by cold and flu in losing Sunday’s China Open final to unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili, said in Beijing last week that he was running on empty.

Not so Federer, it seems, who is seven years older than the Argentine.

“I feel like I’m where I want to be,” Federer said.

“I know that this is where I could be playing a lot of tennis, depending on how I play.”

Reflecting on his 2018, which included winning the Australian Open and several weeks back at world number one, Federer said: “I have actually been very successful when I played.

“I didn’t play many poor matches, to be quite honest. There is only maybe a couple that come to my mind and I have been injury-free for over a year now.”

Federer, who is chasing his fourth title this season, will face either Chinese wildcard Zhang Ze or feisty Russian Daniil Medvedev in his opener. AFP

Drug-free bodybuilding campaign pushed THE World Natural Bodybuilding Federation of the Philippines steps up its campaign for a drug-free bodybuilding competition.

The group holds the second leg of its nationwide series of tournament on Oct. 28 at Johnny B. Good in Glorietta 3 in Ayala as part of its advocacy to promote both a drug-free athlete and sport.

So far, more than 30 bodybuilders have signed up for the one-day meet that features three categories, namely bodybuilding and physique for men and bikini for the women.

The competition strictly features ‘all natural’ method for bodybuilders without the benefit of banned substances.

“It’s how you train and the amount of protein you eat, the amount of fat, the amount of carbs you eat,” said WNBFP Vice-President Chris Byrne in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association at Tapa King Restaurant at Farmers Plaza in Cubao as he explained the proper way of achieving a sculpted body even without the benefit of performanceenhancing drugs.

“When you guys come to the show, you’ll see amazing bodies and you’ll be blown by their physiques and what they’ve accomplished just from eating well and working out well.”

The WNBFP official was with son Christopher Byrne and competitor Ashter Munar in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation, Tapa King, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

Munar later showed his physique by performing a short routine pose at the conclusion of the weekly forum.

As an affiliate of WNBF, the local chapter will also be promoting stringent drug-testing among tournament participants.

Competitors are required to pass a polygraph test performed by an officially registered examiner before they are permitted to step on stage.

All overall winners and random athletes, meanwhile, are required to undergo urine test to ensure the absence of banned substances in their system.

Tight battle up as ICTSI John Hoy golf starts BAGUIO—The ICTSI Camp John Hay Ladies Championship marks its return to the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour calendar starting today (Wednesday) with Cyna Rodriguez and Princess Superal setting out in early clashes with two of Thailand’s best bets in the P1.5 million event at the rolling John Hay course here.

Rodriguez, the runaway winner when the event was last held in 2014, slugs it out with Onkanok Soisuwan in the 8:10 a.m. flight that includes local amateur bet Marianne Bustos while Superal, who ruled the inaugural staging of this championship in record fashion in 2013, tangles with Waralee Atcharerk and another amateur in Sunshine Baraquiel in the 8:40 a.m. group.

Rodriguez, a former three-time LPGT Order of Merit winner, is actually out to snap a long title spell in the circuit she used to dominate but remains wary of her chances given the depth of the field that includes a number of top Filipina players and 11 other Thai stars.

Superal, on the other hand, is seeking to nail a third LPGT victory this year after scoring back-to-back victories at Tagaytay and Riviera last March. But like Rodriguez, the former US Girls Junior champion believes it will take a lot of hard work, determination and guts plus luck to get past a talent-laden field in the event also serving as the second leg of LPGT’s new season.

The elite roster includes Atcharerk,

who is itching to join the growing number of Thai winners on the local circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and backed by Custom Clubmakers, BDO, Meralco, Sharp, KZGm PLDT, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and K&G Golf. She tied for eighth in the Champion Tour at Tagaytay Midlands last July won

by Ching Huang Taiwan and is expected to lead the assault on the par-69 layout.

Meanwhile, Alex Etter, who tied for 15th at LPGT Highlands last March, served notice of her title bid in the 54-hole championship as she led her team that included amateurs Paolo Wong, Danny Wong and Ferdie Matias to the pro-am crown with a 16-under 53.

Cyna Rodriguez seeks to recall fierce form at John Hay

IN BRIEF

ING Bank: Peso to fall to 54.25 by end 2018

ING Bank Manila expects the peso to close weaker at 54.25 against the US dollar due to the expected wider current account deficit and higher oil prices.

ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a report Tuesday the trend of a weaker peso was likely to continue. He said increasing imports reflected strong domestic demand, which would remain strong growing at 8 percent to 9 percent in the next 15 months.

“Accelerated government spending and deficit spending continues to power the economy. High inflation and rising interest rates moderate household and business spending growth. Despite the moderation, we continue to expect import growth to remain high,” Cuyegkeng said.

“Weak export performance is likely to continue. High import growth (on a large base) and weak exports wide the trade deficit and keep the downward trend of the import cover. We have argued previously that structural inflows (which consists of OFW remittances and outsourcing revenues) are now increasingly inadequate to finance the trade deficit,” he said. Julito G. Rada

Business

Globe, MMDA OK deal to deploy 120 cell sites

GLOBE Telecom Inc. said it signed an agreement with the Metro Manila Development Authority to speed up the deployment of over 120 cell sites along the major thoroughfares in Metro Manila.

The agreement will enable Globe to install small cell antennas along Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares, including Edsa, Roxas Boulevard, C5 and Congressional Avenue.

“Securing various permits for the construction of telco infrastructure such as cell sites has long been a major challenge of the industry. We want to thank MMDA for sharing our vision of a connected Philippines by allowing us to deploy sites faster thus improving mobile experience at the heart of Metro Manila,” Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu said.

The agreement allows Globe to put up cell sites without going through the regular circuitous approval process, which involves an average of 25 permits from local government units and takes up about eight months to secure.

Darwin G. Amojelar

MEMBERS of Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and Environment trooped to the office of the Energy Regulatory Commission to protest the high electricity rates of Panay Electric Co. The group joined the call of Iloilo power consumers for Congress not to renew the franchise of Peco.

Pinoy Aksyon, an independent advocacy group and think tank, said in a statement it wanted ERC to exercise its mandate as a regulatory agency by looking into the public utility franchise of Peco.

“ERC should look whether Peco is following to the letter its franchise as a public service provider or not. As a company engaged in delivery of public service, they should put first the interests of

NGCP-TUY PARTNERSHIP. National Grid Corporation of the Philippines signs a memorandum of agreement with the municipality of Tuy, Batangas for the construction of a health center in one of the barangays which will host NGCP’s facilities. At the signing of agreement are (from left) Barangay Bolbok chairman Juanito del Mundo, Tuy mayor Jose Jecerell Cerrado, NGCP president and chief executive Anthony Almeda and NGCP corporate initiatives and advocacies head Lida Lopez.

Now Telecom sues NTC over bidding provisions N

By Darwin G. Amojelar

OW Telecom Inc., a company led by businessman Mel Velarde, asked the Manila Regional Trial Court to order the National Telecommunications Commission to remove certain provisions in the terms of reference for the selection of a new major player in the sector.

Now Telecom said in a statement it filed a case against NTC before the Manila RTC Tuesday over claims of legal violations in the TOR released by the

agency and the Department of Information and Communications Technology on Sept. 21.

Aldrich Dy, legal counsel of Now Telecom, said the company filed the case to “amend the MC [memorandum circular] by removing onerous provisions which are barriers to entry [of the new major player].”

Now Telecom, which bought bid documents Tuesday, alleged that there was an insertion of new requirements not taken up during public hearings such as the P70million “participation security,” the P14 billion to P24 billion performance security and P10-million non-refundable appeal fee. It said these requirements would serve as barriers to entry.

It said these requirements would not only violate existing laws, but could also be declared onerous, confiscatory, and potentially extortionary.

“Now Telecom is suing NTC to pro-

their consumers, and not just their bottom line or profit,” Pinoy Aksyon chairperson BenCy Ellorin said.

Among the reasons enumerated in the petition were overbilling, billing without reading of electric meter, frequent power outages, poor consumer relations, and disrespect to the City Council of Iloilo.

The group said it promotes consumer rights, good governance, and the right of the people to live in a healthful and balanced environment.

Peco consumers filed a complaint before the ERC last August. The ERC is set to hear the case this week.

An earlier petition by Peco consumers was addressed to Congress. In a petition-letter submitted to the House committee on legislative franchises, consumers called on Congress to disapprove the franchise renewal application

of Peco, filed under House Bill 6023.

Ellorin said his group was helping the electric consumers of Peco bring their cause to the ERC and even in Congress where Peco’s franchise renewal was being deliberated.

A total of 96 complaints were lodged at the ERC against Peco covering the period 2017 to 2018, mostly over poor or improper billing and poor customer service.

“We have addressed the complaints and very few are remaining,” ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said earlier.

“ERC’s top concerns are matters that will affect the consumers like the bill deposits which distribution utilities must refund to their consumers. This applies not only to PECO but also to all distribution utilities including electric cooperatives,” she said.

tect the interest of its public shareholders and President Rodrigo Duterte from any suspicion that he is complicit to the money making schemes in the TOR for the third telco,” Now Corp. president and chief executive Mel Velarde said.

Velarde said he preferred President Rodrigo Duterte to receive all the bidding documents on Nov. 7 and that it would be best if the president, not the NTC, would choose the new major player.

“We received a complaint filed by Now Telecom. We will refer the matter to the Office of the Solicitor General,” NTC deputy commissioner Edgardo Cabarios said.

Aside from Now Telecom, Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp., the joint venture of businessman Chavit Singson’s LSC Group of Companies and TierOne Communications and Norway’s Telenor Group purchased bid documents.

B1

treasurer Jose Xavier Gonzales allegedly under “questionable” terms.

Dr. Alfredo Bengzon, the former president, earlier called on Gonzales “to bare the truth” regarding the “real intention” of the loan from Viva Holdings, saying the transaction may have “failed to protect the interest of the company.”

Viva Holdings is part of the Clermont Group, an international finance services and retail conglomerate.

Bengzon said in his petition the group, through allegedly “fraudulent, deceptive and manipulative actions, acquired and increased their shareholding from at least 35 percent to more than 50 percent”.

The SEC SHP is probing Bengzon’s allegations that Gonzales had admitted that the $38-million loan given him

by Viva was used for the acquisition of additional shares for his own holding company. Bengzon said Gonzales also admitted that the loan had been since “satisfied,” but questioned the terms of the “satisfaction.”

THE information technology and business process management industry is expected to fall short of its 2018 jobs and revenue targets, an industry group said Tuesday.

The IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines said the hiring rate of the industry did not meet the employment target over the past 18 months. Based on the roadmap, the group is projecting new hires of 100,000 heads annually.

“When we look at the last 18 months, we found out we’re falling short [of the target]. But aggregating industry figures, much of the talent was in fact retained,” ITBPAP president Rey Untal said in a news briefing Tuesday.

The industry employed around 1.3 million people and contributed $23 billion to the economy in 2017. It aims to increase the employment to 1.8 million by 2022 under the new five-year road map.

Untal said investors were particularly worried about losing their tax incentives under the proposed package 2 of the tax reform bill. He said the slower revenue growth in 2018 was due to the uncertainty on government policy.

“That uncertainty was upon us even before the first tax reform law was implemented. The second package has certainly got players more worried because the bill will have direct impact to operations,” Untal said.

Under the proposed Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities or Trabaho bill, the government will reduce corporate income taxes and rationalize tax incentives dangled to foreign and local companies, including those registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

Untal said industry players voiced out their sentiments about the significance of the incentives to their operations in the Philippines.

“Equally, they are saying that if they see a radical shift from what we are enjoying from global competitiveness standpoint, the tendency is they will grow less. They’re not saying that they will close shop nor moving out,” Untal said.

Exploration companies eyeing oil and gas prospect in Panay EXPLORATION companies are eyeing an oil and gas prospect in the Visayas amid high oil prices in the world market, an official of the Energy Department said Wednesday.

A previous oil discovery is located in Western Panay that was owned by staterun Philippine National Oil Co. “There is a small oil discovery in the island of Maniguin or Maningning west of Panay island. The well flowed 300 barrels of oil per day. This was drilled by PNOC in late 1990s. But it was not commercially viable due to cheap price of crude oil [then],” Energy director Ismael Ocampo said.

He said that with the price of crude peaking up, some companies “are now interested to develop this oil reserve.”

“Once this oil field is developed, it will surely enhance the economic growth of Panay island,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo said the Visayas oil and gas exploration prospect was not included in the pre-determined areas under the DoE’s Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program.

“The Philippines will be conducting the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program in November this year. With the expected depletion of Malampaya gas in 2024, we should now be looking and exploring for new gas reserves as a replacement to the Malampaya gas,” Ocampo said.

The Energy Department earlier conducted a road show in Singapore and plans to hold another in Cape Town, South Africa in November this year. Local road shows were also conducted in Palawan and Davao. The last road show will be conducted in Zamboanga.

Alena Mae S. Flores

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

SEC probes loan deal in Medical City row THE Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a loan agreement signed by Clermont, a Singapore-based holdings group, and a director Professional Services Inc., operator of the Medical City, amid the brewing shareholder conflict in the hospital, the former hospital management said.

The SEC formed a special hearing panel, represented by the Enforcement and Investor Protection, Market Securities and Research, and Corporate Governance and Finance Departments, with the mandate to “resolve the rightful ownership of shares of Professional Services Inc.” The probe of the loan transaction is allegedly key to determine whether or not the shares of the block identified with the Clermont conglomerate were validly and legally acquired.

The probe stemmed from the petition filed by the erstwhile president and chief executive of the Medical City who said the $38-million loan was given by the Singaporean firm to Medical City

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

By Othel V. Campos

Advocacy group protests high electricity rates in Iloilo City

By Alena Mae S. Flores

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

BPO sector seen to fall short of 2018 jobs target

Grab adopting cloud platform of Microsoft

GRAB, the leading on-demand transportation, mobile payments and online-to-offline services platform in Southeast Asia, has teamed up with Microsoft that will transform the delivery of digital services and mobility in the region by leveraging the latter’s worldclass expertise in machine learning and other artificial intelligence capabilities.

As a first step in the broad collaboration between the two companies, Grab will adopt Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform while Microsoft will make a strategic investment in Grab.

“This partnership signals a deep collaboration with Microsoft on an array of technology projects, including big data and artificial intelligence, that will transform the delivery of everyday services and mobility solutions in Southeast Asia,” Grab president Ming Maa said.

“As a global technology leader, Microsoft’s investment into Grab highlights our position as the leading homegrown technology player in the region,” Maa added. Darwin G. Amojelar

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

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

GLOBAL COMMUNITY DAY. Citi Philippines chief executive Aftab Ahmed (left) receives the award given by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Foundation for best photo in the “Creating Sustainable Livelihood” category. With Ahmed are corporate affairs head Lisa Coory (center) and citizenship officer Jackie Ampil. The photo shows Citi employees assisting the community women of Gawad Kalinga’s Bayanihan Village, as they learn to cook healthy meals for their families and for a home-based business. The activity is part of Global Community Day, an annual tradition where Citi employees in different parts of the world come together with their families and friends to share their time, skills and expertise in the cities where they live and work.

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

54.2320

Japan

Yen

0.008832

0.4790

UK

Pound

1.309200

71.0005

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127740

6.9276

Switzerland

Franc

1.007557

54.6418

Canada

Dollar

0.771426

41.8360

Singapore

Dollar

0.722752

39.1963

Australia

Dollar

0.707600

38.3746

Bahrain

Dinar

2.654210

143.9431

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266652

14.4611

Brunei

Dollar

0.720150

39.0552

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000066

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.030331

1.6449

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

14.7659

Euro

Euro

1.149400

62.3343

Korea

Won

0.000882

0.0478

China

Yuan

0.144331

7.8274

India

Rupee

0.013503

0.7323

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.240790

13.0585

New Zealand

Dollar

0.644600

34.9579

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032302

1.7518

Source: PDS Bridge

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks up slightly; Jollibee rallies T HE stock market rose slightly Tuesday on mild bargain-hunting, with gains capped by losses on select blue chip issues.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 8.56 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,059.38 on a value turnover of nearly P4 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 103 to 75, with 53 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, rallied 3.9 percent to P252.40, while Now Corp., which is bidding to become the third major telecommunications company, climbed 3 percent to P7.49.

But Globe Telecom Inc., the second-largest telecommunications firm, slumped 5.2 percent to P2,210, while

Security Bank Corp., the sixth-largest lender in terms of assets, fell 3.4 percent to P139.80.

The sell-off in the rest of Asian markets, meanwhile, slowed on Tuesday, with most markets seeing little movement as ongoing US-China tensions simmer.

After the biggest sell-off in three months on Monday, Shanghai’s stock market—which led the retreat following a week-long public holiday—was largely flat through Tuesday, finally closing up by 0.2 percent.

“If the trade confrontation continues, the Chinese currency will go lower and that will create a whole host of problems for the global economy,” Alicia Levine, chief strategist at BNY Investment Management, told Bloomberg News.

Stocks edged up in Hong Kong too, rising by a modest 0.2 percent through the afternoon.

“The relative calm in today’s Asia session belies the eerie sense of foreboding that continues to hang over equity markets,” said Innes.

But markets slumped in Tokyo for a fourth consecutive session, falling 1.3 percent as traders returned from a long weekend, with stocks dragged down by a higher yen, worries over China, and a trading system glitch which affected part of the trading day.

A testy public interaction between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Beijing on Monday refueled market worries about China-US relations, which have taken a hefty knock from titfor-tat tariffs.

“A possible train wreck on the negotiation front could completely derail global markets,” said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA. “We should not underestimate the potentially destabilizing effect... a weaker

yuan will have on regional markets, if not global markets.”

Adding to economic uncertainty on Tuesday was a bearish report from the International Monetary Fund, which lowered its forecast for Chinese economic growth in 2019 and warned that escalating trade tensions would drag on the world’s second-largest economy.

The IMF’s World Economic Outlook predicted China’s economy would grow 6.2 percent next year, down from an previous forecast of 6.4 percent.

Both of those figures would mark the slowest rate of expansion for China since 1990.

Toyota, which announced a massive recall of its hybrid cars on Friday, plunged three percent.

In early European trade, London rose 0.2 percent, while Paris fell 1.1 percent and Frankfurt slipped by 1.4 percent.

With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 58.6 37,720 82.1 759,420 113 1,382,330 28.5 250,100 6.87 1,500 15.9 3,000 12.36 181,300 4.22 49,000 8.59 1,200 1.69 5,000 0.5 1,048,000 66.4 1,062,760 0.91 156,000 11.6 12,700 23.8 100 42.7 42,500 189.9 40 102.1 40 75 6,080 26.6 58,900 139.8 1,550,620 65.9 7,670

2,213,813.50 62,140,414.50 157,048,979 7,141,250 6,935 47,700 2,245,916 202,930 10,164 8,510 525,070 70,423,121.50 140,430 147,320 2,380 1,820,315 7,539 4,084 455,882.50 1,541,980 217,437,130 505,829.50

1,421,657.50 17,326,739.50 -40,442,593 -2,214,635 -3,500 -542,906 -8,260 150,000 -11,092,576 -569,005 3,741 -31,190,372 -127,267.50

33.2 18.08 0.92 1.24 0.211 91.05 2.14 13.6 34 16.12 37.2 1.72 6.95 10.08 15.14 8.16 6.99 7.07 1.6 15.88 64.35 24.9 6.2 11.98 1.84 243.2 4.8 25.5 10.9 14.24 342.2 0.176 1.76 4.05 8.49 4.53 9 0.94 10.32 52.6 4.84 2.31 2.8 1.5 11.6 86.6 5.2 0.9 131.3 1.76 2.05

INDUSTRIAL 34 317,100 18.2 246,300 0.94 5,453,000 1.26 229,000 0.214 4,700,000 91.05 30 2.16 5,092,000 13.64 474,800 35 148,200 17.78 6,500 37.2 707,900 1.73 14,000 6.95 7,200 10.24 2,343,500 15.14 7,500 8.2 85,600 7.01 233,700 7.08 11,250,300 1.6 1,000 16 838,000 64.6 11,860 25.3 1,500 6.2 248,600 12 893,700 1.84 206,000 252.4 427,280 4.8 13,000 26.8 1,022,800 11 86,900 14.4 7,533,300 343 143,330 0.183 100,000 1.76 29,000 4.05 127,000 8.6 290,200 4.53 116,000 9 14,800 0.94 916,000 10.78 18,700 52.65 118,650 4.84 653,000 2.35 191,000 2.8 20,000 1.6 256,000 11.62 33,000 86.8 2,050,000 5.2 87,500 0.92 85,000 133 1,434,150 1.8 3,309,000 2.08 3,906,000

10,714,560 4,475,216 5,136,750 286,980 1,002,500 2,731.50 11,029,600 6,474,852 5,156,350 111,756 26,333,880 24,120 50,300 23,966,900 113,552 702,659 1,636,351 79,623,183 1,600 13,399,608 766,214.50 37,750 1,624,238 10,728,304 380,540 107,180,008 62,430 26,691,235 955,138 109,082,992 49,696,354 17,750 51,180 516,420 2,477,251 530,130 133,202 872,690 198,268 6,262,951.50 3,160,520 449,160 56,170 403,600 386,204 181,199,225.50 455,151 78,800 190,584,184 5,964,680 8,111,740

2,122,240 1,920,740 37,990 -1,260 -1,164,600 -8,244 -9,311,160 8,807,542 -182,860.00 -1,120,983 -62,306,726 -1,450,832 722,279 665 -369,794 -169,540 39,767,904 16,162,455 -496,120 -38,261,290 4,633,452 -1,840 -308,819 -45,550 -309,732.50 -1,452,000 -5,904,254.50 -11,071,577 36,000 -327,190.00

0.455 47 11.98 6.12 27.8 1.2 1.21 931 5.99 12.2 7.18 5.72 0.202 740 48.5 0.57 4.63 13.94 0.58 5.03 0.037 1.17 2.36 170 880 0.87 1.36 281 0.249 0.213

0.42 44.7 11.74 6.12 25.2 1.13 1.14 908 5.94 11.76 7.1 5.72 0.197 720 47.1 0.55 4.42 13.36 0.56 4.86 0.037 1.17 2.34 167.5 868 0.84 1.36 274.2 0.235 0.2

HOLDING FIRMS 0.42 34,620,000 46 1,693,400 11.88 694,600 6.12 8,500 25.75 81,000 1.15 10,512,000 1.16 3,121,000 910 102,520 5.97 2,443,900 12.2 2,524,800 7.18 8,515,000 5.72 200 0.202 290,000 724 63,730 48.5 1,627,300 0.56 4,000 4.43 60,000 13.56 14,143,700 0.56 495,000 5 11,407,000 0.037 1,300,000 1.17 32,000 2.35 816,000 168 511,160 880 120,990 0.87 213,000 1.36 20,000 275 26,630 0.239 1,360,000 0.213 150,000

15,192,250 76,889,440 8,222,256 52,020 2,097,270 12,159,970 3,627,640 93,353,900 14,594,248 30,367,988 60,497,400 1,144 57,700 46,336,740 78,278,180 2,230 271,450 190,028,004 278,130 56,858,350 48,100 37,440 1,915,920 85,995,408 106,038,040 180,290 27,200 7,325,930 321,780 30,170

-284,550 -14,008,485 -559,712 52,020 -74,680 980,040 -58,484,615 148,970 18,207,448 861,600 -12,653,375 18,107,395 630 43,546,796 -32,030.00 27,998,970 -3,513,138 40,017,130 -

7.25 0.82 2.05 0.63 39.7 2.48 4.4 5.2 0.445 0.92 0.229 8.43 19.4 0.54 0.106 1.46 1.11 2.69 4.2 0.59 0.445 0.43 3.98 31.4 20.2 1.96

7.09 0.81 2.02 0.61 39 2.36 4.31 5.12 0.43 0.9 0.219 8.3 18.96 0.53 0.106 1.43 1.1 2.46 4.14 0.55 0.43 0.415 3.83 31.4 19.74 1.95

665,473 614,510 42,780 678,940 126,362,260 3,454,780 824,720 204,176 2,591,150 162,680 148,300 428,453 12,595,072 121,900 2,120 375,730 379,330 120,057,330 24,169,060 48,050,780 206,650 90,000 2,416,180 3,140 3,770,475 1,001,450

10,665 240,260 -18,600 -9,144,165 -2,728,850 -1,400 18,200 -1,261,076 -22,040 -15,588,770 -13,358,020 602,840.00 47,300 60,200 84,550 -302,503 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO UNIBANK CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK

58.9 81.6 114 28.7 3.5 15.9 12.34 4.26 8.35 1.72 0.51 66.5 0.9 11.6 23.8 43 184.2 102.1 74.75 25.7 145.4 65.95

58.95 82.1 115 29.45 6.87 15.9 12.48 4.26 8.59 1.72 0.53 66.95 0.91 11.6 23.8 43 189.9 102.1 75 26.85 145.4 66

58.5 81.55 112.7 28.45 3.5 15.9 12.32 4.13 8.35 1.69 0.5 66 0.9 11.6 23.8 42.7 184.2 102.1 74.75 25.7 139 65.9

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

33.7 18.28 0.92 1.24 0.215 91.05 2.22 13.76 34.45 17.98 37.2 1.72 7 10.1 15.16 8.26 7 7.08 1.6 16.3 64.85 25.3 6.65 12.24 1.89 243.2 4.8 25.9 11.2 14.62 342.2 0.184 1.8 4.09 8.67 4.79 9 0.96 10.78 52.95 4.84 2.37 2.83 1.63 11.72 92.8 5.21 0.9 134.9 1.85 2.09

34 18.28 0.96 1.26 0.216 91.05 2.23 13.76 35 17.98 37.2 1.73 7 10.28 15.16 8.3 7.03 7.09 1.6 16.3 64.85 25.3 6.65 12.24 1.89 256 4.81 26.8 11.2 14.78 354 0.184 1.8 4.15 8.69 4.79 9.02 0.96 10.78 53.05 4.84 2.37 2.83 1.63 11.94 92.8 5.4 0.94 134.9 1.85 2.11

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ASIABEST GROUP ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.435 46.95 11.74 6.12 26.85 1.19 1.19 931 5.94 11.78 7.1 5.72 0.201 740 47.8 0.57 4.42 13.94 0.58 4.95 0.037 1.17 2.36 170 870 0.84 1.36 280 0.249 0.201

8990 HLDG A BROWN ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES DM WENCESLAO DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL

7.1 0.82 2.04 0.62 39.45 2.48 4.33 5.12 0.445 0.91 0.229 8.34 19.38 0.53 0.106 1.45 1.1 2.54 4.2 0.59 0.445 0.43 3.89 31.4 19.74 1.96

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

3.15 34 1.13 6.33 0.74 5.97

3.18 34.5 1.14 6.48 0.74 5.98

3.15 34 1.12 6.15 0.74 5.92

3.15 34.4 1.14 6.36 0.74 5.95

19,000 5,623,500 1,140,000 306,700 70,000 2,461,100

59,910 193,141,430 1,287,970 1,941,931 51,800 14,644,472

-34,710 272,030 -40,236 43,660 -13,660,010

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CHELSEA EASYCALL FAR EASTERN U GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A NOW CORP PAL HLDG PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

10.32 20.9 1.43 0.455 0.039 1.82 8.3 0.059 68 5.05 19.14 895 2,310 5.25 310 2.65 94 11.6 7.55 0.114 2.45 3.08 15 3.4 0.93 17.1 5.82 7.01 2.35 1.41 7.6 8.85 99 3.98 1,415 0.85 0.365 42.2 76.95 7.41 2.36 0.79 0.51 5.2 0.66 10.9

10.32 20.9 1.43 0.46 0.04 1.85 8.43 0.061 68.15 5.21 20.75 895 2,310 5.28 312 2.78 94.9 12.6 7.7 0.116 2.69 3.08 15 3.7 0.94 17.62 5.82 7.1 2.48 1.5 8.15 8.85 100 3.98 1,415 0.86 0.37 42.65 78.2 7.41 2.39 0.79 0.56 5.2 0.67 10.96

10 20.2 1.36 0.44 0.039 1.67 8.15 0.058 67.25 4.92 19.02 890 2,178 5.21 305 2.62 93 11.6 7.55 0.114 2.44 3 15 3.35 0.93 17 5.68 7.01 2.28 1.38 7.49 8.4 99 3.75 1,390 0.85 0.33 41.05 76.95 7.23 2.28 0.73 0.5 5.18 0.65 10.82

SERVICES 10.02 20.25 1.36 0.445 0.04 1.7 8.37 0.058 67.5 5.17 19.9 890 2,210 5.25 312 2.74 94.8 12.48 7.6 0.114 2.63 3.05 15 3.6 0.94 17.6 5.75 7.04 2.28 1.48 7.49 8.4 99.5 3.85 1,406 0.86 0.355 41.45 78 7.23 2.33 0.77 0.54 5.2 0.67 10.94

34,900 31,000 25,000 4,790,000 1,100,000 7,236,000 4,863,000 7,730,000 22,600 3,340,000 101,200 200 60,395 202,500 2,320 1,491,000 1,516,330 7,800 11,500 840,000 9,221,000 59,000 400 1,555,000 35,000 1,401,900 72,900 1,682,600 171,000 96,000 11,472,300 1,200 200 938,000 66,765 1,611,000 1,760,000 1,774,200 362,390 27,600 9,020,000 10,465,000 44,207,000 885,400 975,000 2,237,500

351,774 632,915 35,050 2,143,150 43,000 12,536,240 40,637,595 449,760 1,525,646.50 17,094,060 1,973,449 178,050 135,076,320 1,060,767 721,380 4,024,000 142,467,360 93,174 87,675 96,250 23,766,280 178,040 6,000 5,629,120 32,560 24,315,208 419,437 11,851,674 392,680 135,390 90,193,317 10,330 19,855 3,570,200 93,542,810 1,375,880 612,200 73,881,760 28,263,720.50 202,198 21,008,610 7,895,890 23,752,080 4,601,160 642,010 24,461,002

110,000 -57,590 -1,182,069 -856,114 -1,767,020 -6,930,500 -9,360 -70,950 -46,836,082 -131,180 -159,760 -5,210,708 10,328,949 -6,850 143,896 7,920 -1,599,850 15,690,795 -95,200 -7,293,290 -10,505,486.50 5,506,290 1,595,340 134,520 -1,652,560 -35,640 6,525,586

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

0.0025 1.46 2.9 16.52 1 1.91 0.3 7.05 1.83 0.2 0.114 0.11 0.007 1.26 4.3 1.12 0.67 1.09 0.013 0.012 3.6 3.25 15.8 25.5 0.0066

0.0026 1.52 2.9 16.6 1 1.91 0.3 7.09 1.84 0.205 0.114 0.11 0.007 1.26 4.4 1.12 0.68 1.11 0.014 0.012 3.6 3.3 16.2 25.8 0.0066

0.0024 1.46 2.85 15.1 1 1.91 0.3 7.05 1.82 0.198 0.114 0.11 0.007 1.21 4.27 1.09 0.64 1.05 0.013 0.012 3.5 3.24 15.58 24.55 0.0066

MINING & OIL 0.0025 442,000,000 1.49 755,000 2.85 89,000 16.6 12,400 1 56,000 1.91 30,000 0.3 60,000 7.09 1,200 1.83 380,000 0.201 600,000 0.114 20,000 0.11 110,000 0.007 1,000,000 1.21 29,000 4.31 611,000 1.1 4,000 0.68 627,000 1.07 366,000 0.013 29,900,000 0.012 4,500,000 3.6 108,000 3.24 1,319,000 16.04 1,945,200 24.7 1,905,900 0.0066 5,000,000

1,083,800 1,114,640 254,930 191,904 56,000 57,300 18,000 8,503 695,300 119,220 2,280 12,100 7,000 35,590 2,634,970 4,420 412,850 391,700 389,200 54,000 380,570 4,299,360 30,856,146 47,312,785 33,000

-2,960 11,880 144,710 -12,100 -1,534,910 -1,890,160 1,676,490 9,551,700 -

ABS HLDG PDR DD PREF FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR HOUSE PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

19.98 99.5 101.5 490 5.06 99 1.04 100 1,039 100 102 990 76.45 76.4 72.45 74.9 75 73.15 74.7

20 100 101.5 490 5.06 99 1.04 100 1,039 100 102 1,000 76.45 76.95 74.9 75 75.35 75 74.7

19.5 99.5 101 489.4 5.06 95.2 1.04 100 1,039 100 102 990 76.45 76.4 72.45 74.9 75 73.1 73.5

PREFERRED 19.72 25,000 100 13,020 101 24,800 489.4 980 5.06 78,700 95.2 10,160 1.04 1,000 100 10,000 1,039 5 100 10,000 102 500 1,000 1,800 76.45 30 76.95 1,420 74.9 7,000 75 10,510 75 23,160 75 17,000 74.7 49,110

498,654 1,300,960 2,506,200 480,050 398,222 968,960 1,040 1,000,000 5,195 1,000,000 51,000 1,793,395 2,293.50 108,570.50 521,300 787,799.50 1,737,055 1,264,760 3,647,957

437,170.00 -297,022 -

LR WARRANT

2.31

2.47

2.31

WARRANTS 2.46 157,000

373,760

-

9,670,286 1,766,150

245,863 -127,560

1,832,820

1,062

84,216 97,200

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 7.25 0.82 2.05 0.63 39.7 2.36 4.4 5.2 0.43 0.92 0.225 8.36 19.3 0.54 0.106 1.44 1.11 2.55 4.15 0.56 0.44 0.43 3.95 31.4 20.2 1.95

92,900 754,000 21,000 1,105,000 3,197,800 1,460,000 189,000 39,300 6,000,000 180,000 670,000 51,400 661,000 227,000 20,000 260,000 343,000 46,713,000 5,818,000 84,546,000 480,000 210,000 625,000 100 187,800 511,000

ITALPINAS XURPAS

5.01 2.12

5.1 2.15

4.77 2.06

FIRST METRO ETF

106.4

106.5

106.1

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2

10.08 9.8

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

10.08 9.8

SHARES 6,616,510

INDUSTRIAL

57,164,773

HOLDING FIRMS

97,126,086

PROPERTY

164,023,449

SERVICES

133,853,809

MINING & OIL

491,659,216

GRAND TOTAL

953,280,125

10 9.7

4.86 2.06

SME

1,975,900 843,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 106.2 17,240 10 9.7

DDS

8,400 10,000

VALUE 1,566.15 (down) 7.30 524,096,645.59 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,427.26 (up) 95.36 1,059,188,740.62 HOLDING FIRMS 6,906.09 (down) 10.13 942,436,716.01 PROPERTY 3,519.61 (up) 41.16 SERVICES 1,497.14 (down) 10.20 562,852,661.21 MINING & OIL 8,635.08 (down) 122.11 803,839,645.27 PSEI 7,059.38 (up) 8.56 90,450,686.64 All Shares Index 4,335.69 (down) 12.15 3,996,135,124.83 Gainers: 75; Losers: 103; Unchanged: 53; Total: 231

Megaworld expects P4b in sales from Pasig project

By Jenniffer B. Austria OFFICE and condominium builder Megaworld Corp. said it expects to raise as much as P4 billion from its first residential project within the 12.3-hectare Arcovia City township along C-5 in Pasig City.

Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the 18 Avenue de Triomphe would be a 37-story condominium tower offering 576 residential units.

Slated for completion by 2023, the residential project will offer studio units with maximum size of up to 32.5 square meters; one-bedroom with maximum size of up to 63 sqm; two-bedroom with maximum size of up to 110.5 sqm and and three-bedroom with maximum size of up to 154 sqm.

All units have their own balconies overlooking Eastwood, Ortigas and Fort Bonifacio cityscapes, as well as the Antipolo mountains.

Amenities of the 18 Avenue de Triomphe include a swimming pool, children’s playground, outdoor fitness park, game and entertainment room, fitness center, event hall, outdoor lounge and a viewing deck overlooking the various attractions of the township, including the iconic Arco de Emperador.

Aside from launching the first residential project in Arcovia, Megaworld started constructing other major components of the township development, including the 17-story office tower offering 23,000 sqm of leasable space, a lifestyle mall that has its own walk parks, viewing deck and leisure facilities.

The township’s centerpiece is Arco de Emperador, a 62-feet high arch monument inspired by the Arco de la Victoria of Madrid.

“Our vision for this new township is to inspire the young generation to persevere and work harder to attain their own successes and victories in life. There is a deeper story embedded into this development, and we will tell that story through the installations and attractions around the township,” Megaworld senior vice president Kevin Tan said.

Megaworld earlier allotted P35 billion over the next 10 years to develop Arcovia into a mixed-use township development.

Arcovia is envisioned as an environmentally friendly mixed use development. A main “green” feature of the project is the 1,000 Narra trees that will be planted around the township and which serve as natural shades to the surroundings.

SEC orders strict compliance to rules on cybersecurity THE Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered the stringent cybersecurity compliance among market participants after several companies reported a data breach.

The SEC in a letter reminded the Philippine Stock Exchange and Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. and all market participants to comply with the requirements of the data privacy laws and data protection regulation which might have impact on processes of private entities.

The SEC issued the order after several companies, including ABS-CBN Corp., Jollibee Foods Corp., COL Financial, Wendy’s Philippines, reported data breach that might have exposed the personal and financial information of their customers and clients.

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 aims to protect personal data in the information and communications systems both in the government and private sectors.

It requires organizations processing personal data to develop policies and implement measures to protect personal data under their custody.

The SEC also ordered all market participants to submit a comprehensive information technology plan and subject their IT, trading, business continuity, disaster recovery and risk management systems to a regular review and audit by independent firm.

“These are designed to ensure that trading in the market are efficient, not interrupted and not susceptible to glitches, as well as for the protection of personal and other data against any accidental or unlawful destruction, alteration and disclosure, and against any other unlawful processing,” the SEC said.

The requirement is provided under the Securities Regulation Code.

Jenniffer B. Austria

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

World

Standard

TODAY

B3

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

HK leader refuses to explain Florida denial of visa to FT journalist braces for Hurricane Michael HONG KONG―Hong Kong’s leader Tuesday refused to say why the city had denied a visa to a leading Financial Times journalist, despite escalating demands for an explanation of the unprecedented challenge to freedom of the press.

Victor Mallet, the FT’s Asia news editor and a British national, angered authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong by hosting a speech at the city’s press club by Andy Chan, the leader of a tiny pro-independence political party, in August.

Chan’s party was later banned as Beijing cracks down on any pro-independence sentiment in the semi-autonomous city.

An application to renew Mallet’s work visa has been refused and on Sunday he was given seven days to leave Hong Kong.

Facing questions for the first time since the visa denial emerged last week, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who is appointed by a pro-Beijing committee, said the decision had been handed down by immigration authorities.

She said linking it to the Chan talk was “pure speculation”.

“As a rule―not only locally, but internationally―we will never disclose, the immigration department will not disclose, the individual circumstances of the case or the considerations of this decision,” Lam told reporters.

She refused to directly acknowledge the specifics of the speculation over

AFTER PARTY. Mckenna Grace and Netflix Director Global Originals Laura Delahaye attend the after party for the premiere of Neflix’s ‘The Haunting Of Hill House’ at ArcLight Hollywood on October 8, 2018, in Hollywood, California. AFP

why Mallet was denied the visa.

However, Lam said the government “will not tolerate any advocacy of Hong Kong independence and things that harm national security, territorial integrity and developmental interests”.

She refused to comment on how Mallet could be linked to any of those potential threats when it was pointed out that he was not an independence advocate but had simply chaired a talk by Chan at the city’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, which has also hosted talks

by Chinese officials.

Asked whether journalists could now be punished for interviewing independence activists or writing about independence, Lam said she could give no guidance but insisted that freedom of reporting and expression were “core values”.

Hong Kong enjoys rights unseen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and the press, which are enshrined in an agreement made when the city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.

There are growing fears those rights are disappearing.

Beijing regularly denies visas to foreign journalists but it has not been a tactic used in Hong Kong.

Britain, United States and the European Union have expressed concern and a group of the city’s most influential lawyers demanded an explanation Monday. AFP

MIAMI―Residents of northwest Florida had until early Tuesday to leave their homes ahead of Hurricane Michael, forecast to crash ashore midweek as a major Category 3 storm with “life-threatening” flash flooding possible.

Governor Rick Scott’s office said mandatory evacuation orders were in place for parts of Bay County, which includes the popular Panama City beach resort, and areas in nearby Gulf and Franklin counties.

“EVERY FAMILY must be prepared. We can rebuild your home, but we cannot rebuild your life,” Scott said.

The alert came after the tropical storm system strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds late Monday of 140 kilometers per hour, the Miamibased National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

By 0001 GMT (Tuesday), Michael was off the western tip of Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, churning to the north at 19 kilometers per hour, across from Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. Michael was forecast to push through warm, relatively shallow Gulf of Mexico waters before moving inland over the northern Gulf coast of Florida.

Michael was forecast to have the power to uproot trees, block roads and knock out power for days by the time it hits Florida on Wednesday.

Then it is forecast to lash the southeastern United States through Thursday.

“Steady to rapid strengthening is forecast during the next day or so, and Michael is forecast to become a major hurricane by Tuesday night,” the NHC said.

Earlier it said Michael could produce three life-threatening hazards along portions of the northeastern Gulf Coast: storm surge, heavy rainfall, and hurricane-force winds, with storm surge and hurricane watches in effect. AFP

Action urged against Myanmar Y ANGON―Myanmar is “unable and unwilling” to investigate its abuses against Rohingya Muslims, a UN rights envoy has said, bolstering calls for the country’s generals to be hauled before an international court.

A UN fact-finding mission has called for Myanmar’s top brass to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over a brutal crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that forced more than 720,000 of the beleaguered minority to flee the country to Bangladesh.

Myanmar has dismissed the allegations, slamming the UN body as biased, and the government has set up its own committee to investigate the crimes.

But UN special rapporteur to Myanmar Yanghee Lee―who has been barred from entering the country since December―said the government had shown little capacity for an unbiased probe into the violence, adding it had taken “limited and insufficient steps”. “[Myanmar] is unable and unwilling to discharge its obligation to conduct credible, prompt, thorough,

independent and impartial investigations and prosecutions,” Lee said in a report she published via her Twitter account on Monday.

Given Myanmar’s refusal to hold itself accountable, she added, it was up to international courts to seek justice.

“The onus is on the international community to take action,” she warned. “Any delay in instituting justice will only result in more violations.”

In her conclusions she recommended the UN should “refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court immediately”.

The northern part of Rakhine has been on lockdown since the violence broke out last August, with journalists and observers only allowed to visit on short, chaperoned trips.

UN investigators―who authored the explosive factfinding report―were not allowed into the country while Lee has been barred from entering Myanmar since December for her sharp criticisms of the government’s treatment of the Rohingya.

Lee said she had asked India for permission to meet Rohingya refugees there but received no response from Delhi.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Suu Kyi―once lionized by the international community as a democracy icon― has seen a sharp fall from grace following her refusal to speak out against the military.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT FIRST JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 57 SAN CARLOS CITY, PANGASINAN

IN BRIEF North Korea wants Pope Francis to visit

SEOUL―North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has invited Pope Francis to visit, saying he would be “ardently welcomed”, South Korea’s presidency said Tuesday, adding it would pass on Pyongyang’s message to the Vatican.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will have an audience with the Pope during a visit to the Vatican from October 17 to 18.

“During the meeting with Pope Francis, he [Moon] will relay the message from chairman Kim Jong Un that he would ardently welcome the pope if he visits Pyongyang,” Moon’s spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, told reporters.

Moon is embarking on a nine day tour of Europe from October 13 to 21 that will include stops in France, Italy and Denmark on top of the Vatican.

The dovish Moon has pushed rapprochement with Kim, meeting him three times in the last year.

During the most recent face to face―a visit to Pyongyang last month―Moon was accompanied by South Korean Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong.

During a conversation with the visiting archbishop, Kim urged him to let the Vatican know his intention to build peace, according to Moon’s spokesman.

The young leader of the isolated, impoverished but nuclear-armed North has taken a series of reconciliatory gestures since early this year, including a land summit with US President Donald Trump in June.

During last month’s summit, Kim also reaffirmed efforts to ease military tension on the flash point peninsula but remained vague on measures on how to dismantle his widely-feared atomic arsenal. AFP

Indian airport police to go grumpy NEW DELHI―Armed police at Indian airports have been told to cut down on smiling, with officials blaming the 2001 US terror attacks partly on an excessive focus on friendliness, local media reported Tuesday.

The Central Industrial Security Force, in charge of aviation safety, will move from a “broad smile system” to a “sufficient smile system”, the Indian Express said in a front-page report.

The English language newspaper said the move was aimed at making the CISF “more vigilant than friendly”.

“We cannot be over-friendly with the passengers because one of the reasons cited as to why 9/11 happened... was excessive reliance on passenger friendly features,” CISF director general Rajesh Ranjan was quoted as saying.

Ranjan also said CISF personnel would be trained in behavioral analysis by international consultants.

India has witnessed a six-fold increase in passenger numbers over the past decade as citizens take advantage of better connectivity and cheaper fares in the highly competitive sector.

But airports are struggling to cope with the surge and analysts have warned that the government needs to spend billions of dollars to boost capacity and safety.

Earlier this month the government said some domestic fliers would be soon able to leave their boarding passes at home, thanks to proposed facial recognition technology at airports. AFP

The UN fact-finding mission has pointed out that her government’s attempts to whitewash facts had worsened the situation for the embattled Rohingya.

Lee also raised alarm over declining press freedom in Myanmar after Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were jailed for seven years each after reporting on the military’s role in the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in Inn Din village in northern Rakhine.

Describing their prosecution as “spurious”, she called for the pair to be released immediately.

The military has denied almost all accusations of genocide leveled against it, insisting that “clearance operations” were necessary to fight Rohingya militants.

The International Criminal Court has ruled that an investigation will go ahead as Bangladesh―which has received the Rohingya refugees fleeing across the border―is a signatory of the Rome statute that created the court.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Myanmar has not TARIFF COMMISSION signed the statute, and a minister told the UN OFFICE MEMORANDUM NO. 18- 010 : ALL CONCERNED General Assembly that his TO SUBJECT : Schedule of Fees and Charges of the Tariff Commission government rejected the DATE : 24 September 2018 “dubious intervention”. Pursuant to the provisions of Administrative Order No. 31, series of 2012 (Directing and Authorizing All Heads of Departments, Bureaus, Commissions, Agencies, Offices and Instrumentalities of the AFP National Government, Including GOCCs, to Rationalize the Rates of their Fees and Charges, Increase their Existing Rates and Impose New Fees and Charges) issued on 1 October 2012, as implemented by DOF-DBM-NEDA Joint Circular No. 1-2013 dated 30 January 2013, the following is the schedule of fees and charges of the Tariff Commission (TC) pursuant to its mandate under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA): Nature of Fee Existing

TC Fees Effective 2019

Applications under Section 1100 (Classification Ruling) of the CMTA a. Advance Ruling

P500.00 per article b. Tariff Classification Dispute Ruling None provided Petitions under Section 1608 P5,000.00 / (Flexible Clause) of the CMTA tariff heading Petitions under Section 1609 P5,000.00 / (Promotion of Foreign Trade) of tariff heading the CMTA

ARLENE PERRERAS FLORES, Plaintiff, -versus-

1

CIVIL CASE NO. SCC-4441

LAWRENCE BARREDO FLORES, Defendant, x-------------------------------------------x

Legal Research Fund Fee2

P500.00/good

P10.00/good

P1,000.00/case P5,000.00/ tariff heading

P10.00/per case

P5,000.00/ tariff heading

P50.00/ tariff heading

P50.00/ tariff heading

Investigations under Section 711 (Dumping Duty) of the CMTA

ORDER

a. original petition (normal and fast-track)

P20,000.00/case

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

b. new shipper`s review

none provided

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

Arlene Perreras Flores prays that her marriage with the defendant Lawrence Barredo Flores be declared null and void ab initio.

c. interim review

none provided

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

d. expiry/sunset review

none provided

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

It appears that the parties got married on September 19, 2006 (Annex B) but are now separated for 7 years. They begot one (1) child now aged 11. (Annex C).

Investigations under Section 712 (Safeguard Duty) of the CMTA P20,000.00/case

P20,000.00/case

P200.00/case

P20,000.00/case

P200.00/case

a. original petition

b. petition for extension of safeguard none provided duty

Plaintiff claimed that during her cohabitation with defendants, she suffered untold pain and miseries due to her husband’s abusive conduct, extreme anger, cruelty, disrespect and indifference. She, too, alleged that the defendant had abandoned them and he is now living with his paramour with whom he sired a child. (Annex D & series).

Investigations under Section 713 (Countervailing Duty) of the CMTA

Believing that the defendant is suffering from psychic defect which is grave, incurable and existing even before the marriage that renders him incapacitated to comply with his essential obligations both as a husband and father, plaintiff invokes the provision of Article 36 of the Family Code in finding this case.

The defendant is directed to file his Answer within 30 days from the last publication of this Order.

P20,000.00/case

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

b. interim review

none provided

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

c. sunset review

none provided

P40,000.00/case

P400.00/case

P100.00/ruling, not exceeding five (5) pages; in excess, P15.00/ page

P150.00/ruling, not Not Applicable exceeding five (5) pages; in excess, P2.00/page

Certified True Copy of Classification Rulings a. Applicant

Summons was issued against the defendant but attempt to serve the same failed (Return dated July 11, 2018). Thus, on motion, plaintiff was granted leave to cause the service by summons by publication (Order dated August 13, 2018).

WHEREFORE, let this order be published once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines at the expense of the plaintiff. In addition thereto, let a copy hereof, including the complaint and annexes, be served by registered mail upon the defendant at his last known address, also at the expense of the plaintiff.

a. original petition

b. Non-Applicant

Certified True Copy of any doucument/s as may issued by the TC records Office Other related documents (i.e.

Xerox copies)

P500.00/copy, not exceeding five (5) pages; in excess, P20.00/page P500.00/copy of document, not exceeding twenty (20) pages; in excess, P10.00/ page in excess of twenty (20) pages P3.00/ page

Not Applicable

P3.00/ page

Not Applicable

All concerned shall be guided accordingly.

MARILOU P. MENDOZA Chairperson

San Carlos City, Pangasinan, August 28, 2018

(MS-OCT. 10 & 17, 2018)

P550.00/copy of document, not exceeding ten (10) pages; in excess, P10.00/page in excess of ten (10) pages

This Office Memorandum supersedes TC Administrative Order No. 13-069 dated 31 July 2013.

Upon approval by the Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning, the new schedule of fees and charges shall become effective fifteen days (15) following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation and posting in a conspicuous place in TC and its website.

SO ORDERED.

JAIME L. DOJILLO JR. Acting Presiding Judge

P550.00/ruling, not exceeding five (5) Not Applicable pages; in excess, P3.00/page

APPROVED: ERNESTO M. PERNIA Secretary for Socio-Economic Planning National Economic and Development Authority 1 2

TC Administrative Order No. 13-069 dated 31 July 2013 Section 4 of RA No. 3870, as amended by Presidential Decree Nos. 200 and 1856, requires that an additional amount of one percent (1%) of the filing fees and charges imposed, but in no case lower than PI0.00, shall be collected by TC and shall be receipted for as part of a special fund to be known as the Legal Research Fund (LRF) in order to provide for the support of the U.P. Law Center and the University of the Philippines law Complex. The LRF Fee collected shall be deposited directly to the Bureau of the Treasury for the account of the UP System (UPS Agency Code AO 823, Fund Code 187).

(MS-OCT. 9, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

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

B4

LocaL government units

wednesday, october 10, 2018

FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT. House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo leads the groundbreaking ceremony of the Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation project in Minalin, Pampanga, which would address flooding in the low-lying areas of the province. Aided by the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund, it will increase the waterways capacity of the Pampanga River to mitigate flooding and improve lives in the province. Also present during the event were Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dongman, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda, Pampanga 4th District Rep. Rimpy Bondoc, and other officials.

Senior citizens laud Blu Card Bangon Northern Luzon drive aids 5,535 families EMERGENCY relief operations being undertaken by Bangon Northern Luzon in six provinces hardest hit by Super Typhoon “Ompong” have already benefited a total of 5,535 families, a spokesman for the operations said.

In Cagayan province, which bore the brunt of “Ompong’s” 200-kph center winds that cut a wide swath of destruction, a total of 2,535 families each received a pack of relief goods, according to Joseph Garcia of the lead organization, Andres P. Tamayo S. Foundation Inc. The relief operations also served 1,000 families in Ilocos Sur, another 1,000 in Mt. Province and Benguet, and 500 each in Apayao and Abra, Garcia said.

The relief drive in aid of typhoon victims has accepted donations in kind valued at more than P1.2 million as of Sept. 27, Garcia revealed.

He thanked the donors “for their generosity in spirit and genuine concern for typhoon victims.”

The Office of the Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon under Secretary Raul L. Lambino is coordinating the continuing post-typhoon relief effort.

“The emergency relief operation means a lot to our people in communities that are struggling to recover from the destruction,” said Lambino, who is also administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority based in Sta. Ana, Cagayan.

Bangon Northern Luzon released the list of donors broken down as follows: Manilacocker Club Inc. (P500,000), Ferdinand Domingo (P100,000), CEZA (P100,000), Alfredo Pontejos Jr. (P10,000), CFL Missionary Group (P7,000), Emy Gallevo (P5,000), Robert and Imelda Sison (P3,000), Ruby Borja (P2,000); Association for Philippine-China Understanding (P525.60 and P160,000), ABS NGO (c/o Rep. Catallina Pizzaro, P22,403.48), Enrique Gonzales (P37,852.50), Pancho Lopez Tan (P2,500) and Puregold Mindanao Avenue Branch (P14,000).

By Joel E. Zurbano

S

ENIOR citizens in Makati City have praised Mayor Abigail Binay for her initiative to implement new guidelines in the release of the bi-annual cash gift for Blu Card holders.

In a dialog held at City Hall on Monday, the chairs and other officials of Barangay Councils of Senior Citizens unanimously agreed that the previous system was prone to abuse and misuse, saying the new guidelines, were “working just fine.”

Binay explained the decision of the city government to be more strict, saying they added the conduct of home visits “in the spirit of fairness and we want to get rid of the ‘palakasan’ [patronage] system.”

She also emphasized that the current implementing guidelines were thoroughly studied prior to their approval, and recalled how the elderly leaders were given a step-by-step guide on the process of cash incentive distribution.

“Our objective was to protect both the distributor and the receiver,” the mayor added.

Binay said her administration has, in fact, been very accommodating of the needs and requests of the elderly.

Last June 2017, the Makati Health Development Council approved the extension of the validity period of the Yellow Card pushed by Mayor Abby to spare them of the burden of having to renew annually.

Under the new policy, lifetime membership is granted to senior citizens below 80 years old who can present updated tax declarations, and to those 80 and above who have been Yellow Card holders for the past six years. For those not qualified in the said criteria, they may apply for three-year validity which requires them to be registered voters of Makati and actual residents.

In fact, she added, the city government granted the request of Blu Card

members for an option to receive a check, instead of the usual cash for the said incentive. Even though the processing of checks was tedious and required more paperwork, the city government accommodated said request.

“Rest assured that we will always have the best interests of our seniors at heart,” she said.

The barangay councils represented at the dialog included East Rembo, Poblacion, Dasmariñas Village, Comembo, Rizal, Pitogo, Guadalupe Viejo, Guadalupe Nuevo, South Cembo, Pio del Pilar, Sta. Cruz, Pinagkaisahan, Pembo, BelAir, San Lorenzo, Olympia, Magallanes, Palanan, San Isidro, Southside, Northside, Tejeros and Kasilawan.

At present, the senior citizens of Makati under the BLU Card program are entitled to cash gifts ranging from P3,000 to P5,000 a year, based on age brackets. Since 2012, 51 centenarians have been awarded with P100,000 cash gift. Of these, 26 were recognized during the current administration.

ACCREDITED PARTY.

Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones (seated right) holds the signed accreditation form of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas from the Comelec recognizing the national party for the 2019 elections.

He presented the paper to the media with other officers of the party, including lawyer Jayvee Hinlo, PFP Calabarzon President, former Laguna governor ER Ejercito, PFP secretary general Thomson Lantion, PFP NCR chairman Joy Belmonte, Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rey Umali, and Gen. Abubakar Mangelen at a restaurant in Quezon City.

Roy Tomandao

Santiago pushes San Fernando youth to excel

By Romeo Dizon SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Education is the resilient foundation and key for a healthier, stronger, and progressive community.

This was the message of Mayor Edwin D. Santiago to 2,000 Fernandino youth who continue to receive financial assistance from the city government for their studies.

Santiago, who presided over the giving of financial assistance worth P10 million to the regular college students, said it was the government’s obligation to help the youth in their education, so they can develop their identity and be a contributing factor in the development of the community and society.

An educated and cultured person values the importance of diligence and hard work over instant gratification, which is the main problem of governance nowadays, Santiago added.

“This is the root cause of problems we are facing today including graft and corruption and greed which has become pandemic in the country,” he said.

Santiago stressed to the students that the only way to get to the top is through diligence, perseverance and hard work through education.

The ceremony, which was also attended by the parents and guardians held at the city hall annex, had about 2,000 college students receiving their financial assistance of P5,000 each for their last semester of the school year.

Santiago said of the 2,000 students, roughly 500 students are receiving free tuition fees as provided for under the Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Education Tertiary Act.

Bacolod mayor: Best yet to come for MassKara fest BACOLOD CITY—Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the MassKara Festival has yet to reach its full potential as the city’s famous annual celebration reaches its 39th year this October.

“There’s so much potential and I believe the best is yet to come for MassKara. There’s much more that will happen to MassKara. It will be a very effective vehicle for our tourism campaign,” said the mayor, who led opening rites of the festival’s 2018 edition at the Bacolod Public Plaza on Monday night.

This year’s festival will run for 21 days—from Oct. 8 to 28—with highlights set on Oct. 26 to 28.

Leonardia pointed out that MassKara is a uniting factor and serves as a family reunion for Bacolodnons, aside from being a source of pride for the city.

“We really should see to it that we nurture this festival like a treasure.

MassKara brings us all together. That is why, when they ask who should be credited for the MassKara Festival, I always say it’s the people because it’s really true,” the mayor said.

“Everybody in MassKara is important, everybody is a part of it. All of us are part of MassKara,” he added.

During the opening program, which also served as a celebration of Bacolod’s 80th birthday, Leonardia offered a toast for the “progress development, peace, and prosperity” of Bacolod with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and other city officials, as well as the city department and office heads. PNA

6th QCinema movie lineup places gender equality on the forefront

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte is supporting the promotion of gender equality in the sixth year of the QCinema International Film Festival.

To celebrate 100 years of Philippine cinema, the city’s film festival will have gen-

der equality as one of its themes through an award-winning line-up of local and foreign films to be showcased from Oct. 21 until Oct. 30 at select cinemas in Metro Manila.

“One of our objectives is to ensure that women empowerment is shown,” Belmonte said.

All competing films in QCinema are eli-

gible to receive an award recognizing their promotion of gender fairness in film media.

“We are the first local government unit to offer a gender sensitivity award for films,” the vice mayor said.

“This is part of our advocacy to encourage filmmakers to educate audiences not to perpetuate the cycle of

inequality in terms of gender in our country,” she added.

Earlier, Belmonte congratulated the Quezon City Film Development Council, the team behind QCinema, for the film fest being hailed as the country’s top film festival in 2017 by a group of top film bloggers and reviewers on online site Pinoy Rebyu.

PECO franchise renewal in peril, say lawmakers SEVERAL lawmakers are convinced they should not renew the legislative franchise of Panay Electric Co., a House of Representatives leader said Tuesday.

The failure of PECO to rationalize its billing system, following repeated and multiple complaints of over-billing or erroneous billing from Iloilo City residents, has helped congressmen decide to thumb down its franchise, said Rep. Franz Josef Alvarez.

As chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, Alvarez said the recent record of sudden increases of up to 1,000 percent in the monthly electricity bills of many Iloilo City residents is “just one of the incompetency” that swayed the committee members to no longer extend PECO’s franchise.

Officials of the power company could not be reached for comment as of presstime.

PECO has been the sole electricity distribution company in Iloilo City for the past 90 years. Its legislative franchise expires on Jan. 18, 2019.

Iloilo City Councilor Joshua Alim pointed out that early this year the city had to ask the Energy Regulatory Commission to help resolve the complaint of many Iloilo residents of exorbitant increases under a new metering system employed by PECO. During the ERC session last April 2018 with the complaining Iloilo residents, PECO officials admitted the errors occurred because the new meter reading system it implemented countered a city ordinance on how consumers could have their own electricity consumption monitoring card.

The ERC resolved 80 percent of the complaints of the Iloilo City consumers, except the ones that concerned the sudden increase in their bills due to alleged uncollected consumption.

PATROL CARS. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (center) turns over the keys to five new patrol mobiles to

Muntinlupa City Police Station Acting Chief of Police Senior Supt. Gerardo Umayao and Public Order and Safety Officer Florocito Ragudo during the city’s flag raising rites on Monday. Three patrol cars are allotted to the MCPS, while POSO will receive two patrol cars.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE

fashion and beauty

wEdnESday, octoBEr 10, 2018

C1

t s r i f s n ope

o l q Uni east Asia h t u So ip store h s g fla a l i n a M in

Uniqlo Manila, located at Glorietta 5, is the Japanese retailer’s first and biggest global flagship store in Southeast Asia.

By Bernadette Lunas

T

he founder of Uniqlo personally opened his retail apparel brand’s first global flagship store in Manila and in Southeast Asia as a proof of his commitment and faith in the Philippine market.

“Mr. (Tadashi) Yanai decided to come in after just over a year of research and a 24-hour visit to the Philippines incognito,” shared SM Investments Corporation co-vice chair Tessie Sy-Coson during her speech at the opening of Uniqlo Manila in Glorietta 5, Makati City.

‘‘

“It is a testament of Uniqlo’s commitment to the Filipino people to open a global flagship store here in Manila.”

– Georgette Barrera-Jalasco, Uniqlo Philippines marketing officer

Uniqlo’s wide range of collections is available at Uniqlo Manila’s massive two-level, 4,100-square-meter of shopping space.

She continued, “He liked what he saw, and was determined to open 500 stores in the Philippines.

That was when we decided to work together.”

Uniqlo opened its first Ph store at SM Mall of Asia in 2012. Six years since, the Japanese retail giant has opened 52 more stores across the country—the most recent of which is its global flagship store which officially opened on Oct. 5.

“We feel that it is testament of Uniqlo’s comAccording to Satoshi Hatase, chief executive mitment to the Filipino people to open a global officer of Uniqlo Southeast Asia and Oceania, a flagship store here in Manila,” Georgette Barrera- global flagship store is designed to display the Jalasco, Uniqlo Philippines marketing officer told very best that the brand offers.

Manila Standard “Uniqlo Manila is an important example of our Standard. commitment to Southeast Asia. It is one of the largest Uniqlo stores in the world and is a big step forward in continued Uniqlo growth in the region and globally,” said Hatase.

Uniqlo Manila boasts a massive 4,100-squaremeter of shopping space spread in two floors.

In comparison, Uniqlo’s global flagship store at West Nanjing Road in Shanghai, China has 3,300-square-meter sales floor.

The first level houses the men’s, women’s, kids, and baby collections, as well as the tech wear section which includes the brand’s AIRism and HEATTech ranges and seasonal items.

Uniqlo’s full lineup of UT collection, U collection, Smart Travel collection, and collaborations with Walt Disney and Sanrio are on the second level.

“Uniqlo Manila’s UT collection is probably the biggest in the Philippines,” said Barrera-Jalasco.

The Glorietta 5 branch, designed by Uniqlo’s store design group, features an atrium area with LED screens and rotating mannequins.

In addition to clothes, the flagship store also serves as a venue for creative collaboration and fun games. A display, entitled “Forward Manila,” features the joint project of Japanese stylist Shun Watanabe and Filipino contemporary artist Leeroy New. There is a video game area on the second floor, where guests can try out the Jump Force video game by Bandai Namco.

A terrace overlooking Glorietta 4 offers tired shoppers a place to rest their feet on one of the lounge furniture items designed by Kenneth Cobonpue.

Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Fast Retailing, the parent company of the Uniqlo chain, during his speech, talked about the secret to his success. The Japanese retail magnate aims for Uniqlo to be the world’s largest retailer, ahead of The collaborative project ‘Forward Manila’ features Shun H&M and Inditex (Zara).

Watanabe’s styling and Leeroy New’s headpieces.

Uniqlo currently has over 1,000 stores worldwide.

Where to shop for indigenous textiles

KICKING off the Christmas shopping spree, HABI Philippine Textile Council stages a trade fair featuring products made by the country’s traditional weavers on Oct. 12-14 at Glorietta Mall’s Activity Center.

The three-day trade fair, dubbed “Woven Voyages: 8th LIKHANG HABI TEXTILE FAIR 2018,” will feature more than 80 local exhibitors as well textile exhibitors from Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Vietnam—making it HABI’s biggest trade fair to date.

HABI is placing special emphasis on products made of natural fabrics and will include the colorful merchandise of established brands that use the fabrics made by the weavers.

There are fashionable bags adorned with the resplendent cloth made by the Yakans of Basilan. Not to be outdone are the hand-woven blankets, covers, and napkins from the Ilocos region. While toys and novelty items made by local craftsmen are expected to be popular with early Christmas shoppers.

Among the exhibitors are established brands and manufacturers such as Rurungan sa Tukod Foundation, Interweave, Yakang Yaka, Manila

Collectible, Casa Mercedes, Filip+Inna, Gifts & Graces Foundation, Good Luck, Humans, La Herminia Piña, Liwayway Handicraft, Creative Definitions, Kalinga Weaving, and Ayala Foundation, Inc. Items by noted Filipina artist and designer Ditta Sandico will also be displayed.

According to the event’s organizers, the fair is held each year to provide local weavers a venue to present their wares. It offers them the opportunity to tap Metro Manila’s consumer market by giving them free space in the show. It also allows them to deal directly with wholesale buyers, foreign buyers, and stores.

“This way, the middlemen, who had been buying the products from them at lower rates and selling them at much higher prices, are eliminated,” said HABI co-founder Maribel Ongpin.

With the fair, HABI aims to capture a market composed of fashion-conscious female shoppers, especially younger women.

“We also want to attract more fashion designers,” said Adelaida Lim, a Baguio-based businesswoman and an active member of HABI. “We want them to discover how these

fabrics can be used for contemporary fashion, and not just for traditional costumes.”

The participation of the weavers from the Asean countries may also open new doors for their local counterparts, said Ongpin. “The weavers from each country can learn from each other and they may have the opportunity to tap each other’s markets,” she said.

During the three-day event, HABI is presenting various programs that will impart the organization’s advocacies in an entertaining way.

A fashion show highlighting the woven fabrics by Patis Tesoro, Len Cabili of Filip+Inna, Lara Samar, Jor-el Espina, Boy Guino-o of Alfonso Davao, Twinkle Ferraren, Malaysian designer Edric Ong, and Laura Fontan of Vietnam fashion house Chula promise to impress shoppers and mall-goers.

There will also be an exhibit featuring the textile art of Filipina-French artist Olivia d’Aboville, and the works of the winners of the Lourdes Montinola Weaving Competition.

Other highlights are workshops and lectures on sustainability, and a tribal food lounge.

HABI taps more than 80 local exhibitors to present their products made of natural fabrics at the three-day textile trade fair at Glorietta Activity Center.

Manila Collectible Handwoven Philippine Cotton by Charisse Tugade

Life

C2

wednesday, october 10, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Credit card holders get new wardrobe CITI teams up with Zalora to reward its cardholders with new clothes.

Cardholders who shop at 0 percent Citi PayLite until Oct. 31 will get Zalora e-Gift Cards, which may be redeemed until Jan. 1, 2019.

For a minimum single-receipt PayLite spend of P10,000 at any Citi PayLite enabled partner-merchant, cardholders get a P500 Zalora e-Gift Card.

Electronic GC worth P1,000 is awarded for every minimum single-receipt

PayLite spend of P25,000.

Citi credit cardholders who qualify will receive a claim code via email.

Once they have received the e-Gift Card code, they need to launch the Zalora app on their smartphone and log in to their account. Tap the Zalora wallet on the left panel and enter the e-Gift Card code. It will be credited automatically to the cardholder’s account.

Go to www.citibank.com.ph/paylite to know more.

Citi teams up with Zalora to reward its cardholders with new clothes.

MiLLenniaL DeSiGner. Chynna Gonzalez’s (center) desire to own fine jewelry pieces that suit her style and sensibilities led her to establish her own label, Adornata.

Jewelry

made for millennials

A

FEw years ago, Chynna Gonzalez wanted to mark a milestone with a piece of jewelry. The problem, however, was that she didn’t find anything that suited her style and sensibilities; she found many designs too bold and ostentatious. with her experience in jewelry design, thanks to her grandmother, Gonzalez instead created the piece she was looking for. She then established her brand Adornata in 2016 when she finally decided to sell her creations.

“The big idea behind Adornata is to be a bridge between fashion and fine jewelry,” explains Gonzalez. “Pieces are more fun and fashion forward, but rendered in solid gold. They’re beautiful, but also practical because you can wear them every day.”

Gonzalez’s jewelry line focuses on elegance that suits its niche crowd.

And much like the multi-hyphenateobsessed millennial generation, Adornata’s pieces are versatile and can be worn in different ways—for example, a pair of dangling earrings can be transformed into a pair of stud earrings.

“I really wanted to incorporate a multi-wear aspect to my designs, something that spoke to the practical sensibilities of every woman,” says Gonzalez.

She adds, “I felt that if I made them versatile and practical, despite them being innately luxurious, it would make clients, like me, feel less guilty because I can maximize its use.”

Adornata jewelry pieces range from P25,000 to P100,000.

“I believe fine jewelry doesn’t belong in a vault; you need to wear them and they should complement your lifestyle.”

All pieces are made of solid gold to ensure the durability and material integrity of the jewelry. Gonzalez spruces up her designs with an array of varicolored precious stones.

“The beauty of colored gems is that I source them in small batches, and are not all the same,” she shares. with her heavy-handed use of gems, most of Adornata’s pieces are one-offs.

“Every Adornata piece is unique, from material to design,” says Gonzalez. “what sets me apart from the rest is being a millennial, first generation fine jewelry designer; I understand the needs

vanity corner Scrub away the old

Adornata’s Redentore collection captures the colorful fireworks display of the Venetian event Festa del Redentore.

of the new woman and their equal value for style and luxury,” she enthuses.

The label’s new collection, Redentore, is inspired by the Festa del Redentore, an event in Venice held on the Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer to give thanks for the end of the 1576 plague. It is celebrated with an hourlong fireworks display—an exciting explosion of color which Gonzalez’s pieces capture.

Go to www.adornata.jewelry for more information.

Modern versions of classics In A nod to its heritage, Banana Republic launches a collection of updated classic, archive pieces for men and women.

Dubbed no Boundaries, the range features utility-inspired styles, iconic trenches, covetable sweaters, and luxe fabrications.

Knits are priced from P1,450, woven shirts from P2,250, and pants from P4,950.

Denim is a firm fall season favorite for women, thus Banana Republic has worked with some of the world’s finest mills to source the most innovative fabrics that stretch, sculpt, and retain color.

The result is the Zero Gravity Denim, which uses 360-degree stretch for maximum comfort and a super smooth fit. It comes in a dark indigo wash.

The elevated casual range sees classic looks reinvented with a sporty edge.

Key looks for women include the new “Pull on” Track Stripe Pant, which features an elongating side stripe and split hem; and the customer favorite black jumpsuit whose silhouette has been updated with a crew neckline and sporty stripe detailing.

Also part of the range is the Suede Utility Skirt, a limited edition real suede skirt, uniquely designed with stretch; the Sloan Pant, which is the perfect combination of comfort and chic with stretch that shapes and holds

Leading skin facial scrub brand St. Ives sports a fresh, new look but with the same natural ingredients that promise to return the glow on the skin.

St. Ives face scrubs are made of 100 percent natural exfoliants that leave skin fresh, alive, and glowing. Meanwhile the refreshing St. Ives body wash, also made with natural exfoliants and extracts, promises to energize and cleanse the body from head-to-toe. To nourish the skin, the brand has a line of body lotions and moisturizers.

These refreshing and nourishing products are available at leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide.

after-shower freshness

Traveler style is highlighted in the men’s collection.

all day to ensure an ultra-smooth and slimming fit; and the Utility Jumpsuit in dark olive complete with tie waist.

The bestselling traveler style is highlighted in the label’s men’s line.

The Traveler Pant features Stay Black fade resistant technology and has the perfect amount of stretch to stay comfortable no matter what, while the Traveler Denim is the classic denim made in a 120-year-old Japanese mill.

This season, Banana Republic is introducing the Tech Stretch Cotton Shirt, which comes in a Slim Flex Fit, a hybrid

St. Ives’ new packaging

between Slim and Standard, in a wide assortment of colors and traditional and novelty prints and patterns. The shirt is cut shorter so it can be worn tucked in or tucked out and features stretch, moisture wicking, quick-dry, and breathable performance properties.

The men’s collection also includes the Solid Merino Crew, renowned for its lightweight warmth, durability, and ability to retain its shape. It is available in bronze brown, sea green, and true red.

Banana Republic is located at Greenbelt 5.

Banana Republic’s No Boundaries collection gives the label’s classic, best-selling pieces for men and women an update.

Blackwater Deo Soap

A new soap promises to make women feel fresh and smell good after they step out of the shower.

Blackwater launches Deo Soap, which boasts anti-bacterial properties to fight bodyodor causing germs.

It is available in four variants: Berries and Cream, Golden Sugar, Midnight Blossom, and Shades of Spring. All four deo soaps offer floral fruity scents for women infused with a luxurious blend of fragrant feminine spice.

This deo soap is available in leading supermarkets and department stores nationwide.

Face mask at your convenience Leading face mask in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan is now available in the country, and within easy reach—at 7-Eleven stores in Luzon.

The convenience store brings My Beauty Diary’s Black Pearl and Arbutin Brightening variants.

The Black Pearl mask is created for skin whitening and moisturizing. It contains hydrolyzed soy, rice protein extract, and licorice essence, which provide intense hydration to the deep layers of skin.

The Arbutin Brightening mask, on the other hand, is developed to help in skin whitening and skin elasticity. It contains a popular whitening ingredient, Arbutin, extracted from a bearberry plant, and is scientifically proven to be effective in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays as well as preventing melanin formation.

My Beauty Diary face mask

Entertainment Simply...

From C4

Pinoy Playlist 2018, Ito ay Atin, Sariling Atin is a labor of love of the Pinoy Playlist curators of whom the BGC Arts Center is immensely proud and grateful to be working with.

BGC Arts Center Head of Content, Maria Isabel Garcia maintains this would not have happened without those who care for Pinoy music with their lives: “The BGC Arts Center is passionately committed to create and celebrate Filipino stories of creativity and there is nothing like music to inhabit those stories. We applaud the passion and work of our curators and the over 100 Filipino musicians and production teams who finely tuned into the Pinoy Playlist idea and contribute to the evolving tapestry of Pinoy Music.”

Tickets ranging from P375 to P2,250 are now available at all TicketWorld outlets and website: www.ticketworld. com.ph.

Student films to vie for first ORMIN IFF prize Four short films from the Far Eastern University Department of Communication will compete in the student division of the inaugural Oriental Mindoro International Film Festival from Nov. 15 to 17.

Trisha Marie Antonio’s Dama (Checkers), Angela Aguila and One Carlo Diaz’s Kumari, Juan Pablo Pineda III’s Pua Iyam (Coming Out) and Daryll Jameson Apaga’s Retrospektib (Retrospective) will compete along with other short films from the Philippines, Brazil, France, Iran and Russia.

“Joining this contest means a lot to me since Oriental Mindoro is my mom’s birthplace, so the possibility of being given the privilege to visit the place after a decade away from it thrills me.

Of course, the fact that our film has been shortlisted is another thing, more like an honor to my whole group and to the people behind it,” Antonio shared.

Dama, which tells the story of a father (Rolando Inocencio) who adopts a stray child (Kyle Kaizer Almenanza) to cope with his son’s death in a crisis-ridden world earlier bagged the Best Production Design and Best Actor for Inocencio at the 15th annual DLSU Indie Un-Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Diaz, who also cowrote Kumari with Aguila, said that it’s a huge honor to have it shown on a bigger platform. “It’s done with so much passion and hard work, so for every opportunity it gets outside university, I’d always feel very fulfilled and proud.”

In Kumari, Anna (Arjelyn Apolonio) comes from a family of ballet dancers and her mother (Fe Saligumba) is her avid supporter. Caught in the middle of tradition, fear, and love, she makes the biggest choice that she will ever make in her life.

In Retrospektib, three activists try to escape the atrocities of the narkos regime at the height of Martial Law. Jay (Julio Garcia) persuades Boyong (David Paul Farma) and Ramon (Renz Silverio) to travel in time with the help of a faith healer, Mang Jun (Kuya Bata). Little do they know that they are in for a big surprise in the present era. The satirical film previously won third prize at the Active Vista short film competition.

Finally, in Pua Iyam (Coming Out), a Filipino-Chinese student (Rowi Du) discovers his true identity and feelings for his childhood friend (Raphael Cruz).

The film won at FEU’s Sinepiyu 2017, CineSB 7, Piling Obrang Vidyo XIV, CineMapúa 2018 and 9th Largabista, and was cited at the first Palawan International Film Festival.

The first ORMIN IFF, which features ecological, sociological, and anthropological films that are focused on indigenous people and cultures, gender equality, and issues on environmental awareness, is organized by Dr. Carl Balita Productions and the Provincial Government of Oriental Mindoro in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education.

DOWN 1 Wine valley 2 Last word 3 Light rain 4 This, in Madrid 5 Kind of nightgown 6 Hamill or Witt 7 Tee partner 8 Fuel cartel 9 Trifling 10 Cook gently 11 Angelina Jolie role 12 Whaler of fiction 13 Coffee holders 21 Stage prompt 25 Luau strings 26 Shish — 27 Greek alphabet ender 28 Barracuda habitat

nickie.standard@gmail.com

K

APUSO actor Tom Rodriguez joined in the celebration of the “Migrants’ Arirang Multicultural Festival (MAMF),” GMA Pinoy TV’s first sponsored event in South Korea.

Dubbed as the biggest annual festival in Changwon City, the three-day celebration took place on Oct. 5 to 7 at the Youngji Cultural Park and Sungsan Art Hall. It showcased various performances, parades, contests, and exhibits.

The culminating events on Oct. 7 included the “Migrants’ Arirang Cultural Show” in the morning, which was attended by Filipino community leaders and members from all parts of South Korea. Following the festival parade in the afternoon was the “Asian Pop Concert” featuring performers from various Asian countries, most importantly, the Philippines represented by Tom. The Kapuso actor, who was very much excited to meet fellow Pinoys in South Korea, shared that he is blessed and proud to be part of this event.

“First of all, it’s my birthday on Oct.1 so it’s my way of thanking all our Kapuso abroad for their support and love. Second, this is the first event of GMA Pinoy TV in South Korea and I am happy that I was invited to be part of this celebration. I am very thankful, excited, and happy to be with them.”

More surprises surely awaited the Kapuso abroad at the MAMF as they got a chance to win special prizes and even bond with Tom at the GMA Pinoy TV booth.

The Migrants’ Arirang Multicultural Festival was organized by the Gyeongnam Migrant Center Events with the exclusive Philippine media partnership of GMA Pinoy TV together with partner carrier HD Telecom.

“We expect to gather thousands of people for this event. We know that Filipinos have a lot of festivities and since Philippines is our featured country this year, we want every Filipino to feel at home during the celebration. We hope that everyone would take their time and join us for the three-day event and we assure them that it will be fun,” said Gyeongnam Migrant Center Director Lee Cheoul Seong.

Meanwhile, Filipinos in South Korea can now feel closer to home via HD Telecom’s newly launched mobile application Vision PH as they catch GMA Network’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, and GMA News TV International conveniently through their Android or iOS smartphones.

For more updates on Kapuso events abroad, follow GMA Pinoy TV on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (@ gmapinoytv), and visit the GMA Pinoy TV official website at www.gmapinoytv.com.

Kapuso actor Tom Rodriguez

First reality show with all-Asian American cast WHAT happens when you bring five beauty pageant hopefuls to live in a mansion for six weeks with two over-thetop coaches and a team of fashion and media specialists? That’s the question The People’s Queen would like to answer.

The glamorous new reality show that is taking the pageant world by storm, becomes available globally starting October. The People’s Queen is being called a cross between Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and America’s Next Top Model. The show follows Cecilio Asuncion and Voltaire Tayag as they challenge five of the top Filipino pageant hopefuls in their quests for international titles.

Cecilio and Voltaire are not simply shaping the perfect beauty queen; they’re creating The People’s Queen.

“The pageant community is looking to redefine its role in an era of female empowerment and gender equality,” Asuncion explains.

His history with the pageant system extends to before he was even born. His grandmother was Miss Manila. Today, Asuncion is the Director of Slay Model Management, the world’s first allTransgender model agency and National Director of Miss Supranational USA. He judged the Miss Universe 2017 pageant in Las Vegas and hosted this year’s Miss Teen USA pageant in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“In order to triumph, pageant contestants are required to dig deep within their souls, confront unresolved personal issues and

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

53 “Evangeline” poet 59 Jump over 60 Cleveland’s lake 61 Lacking worldly wisdom 62 Row 63 Ewes’ mates 64 Concede 65 Walked on 66 Chair-back piece 67 Shows the way

C3

TOM RODRIGUEZ spreads cheer in South Korea

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Designates 6 Swill 10 Shellfish 14 Buggy drivers 15 French Legion headgear 16 Waikiki setting 17 Sauce with basil 18 With, to Maurice 19 Tow along 20 Penguin habitat 22 Tiny amounts 23 Work da.

24 Mr. Brynner 26 Zanier 30 Nickelodeon 34 Moderator 35 Old Norse poem 36 Make a blunder 37 “I’ve — had!”

38 Terre —, Indiana 40 Maxwell or Lanchester 41 Turkish official 42 It may be greased 43 Bronze or pewter 44 First-aid item 46 Gets late 48 Assn.

49 Has a cough 50 Chimney

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

29 Barbie’s beau 30 Stick out 31 Girl at a ball 32 Mork’s superior 33 Medical photos (hyph.)

35 Molasses-based drink 38 Bargainers 39 Tavern fare 40 Broad-antlered deer 42 Duffer’s goal 43 Ammo dump 45 Speckled 46 Compilation

47 Sitcom alien 49 Jungian term 50 Electrical unit 51 Arab chief 52 Boy, in Barcelona 54 Kind of tradition 55 Put cargo aboard 56 Butterbean 57 Livy contemporary 58 Moistens

'The People's Queen,' presented by ABS-CBN International is the first U.S.-produced reality show with an All-Asian American cast.

overcome self-doubt,” says Tayag, another pageant veteran.

He was a fashion designer before turning his passion and expertise into becoming a pageant journalist and trainer. A stickler for traditional training techniques, Tayag often butts heads with Asuncion and his less conventional training methods.

The five pageant hopefuls in The People’s Queen are Nikita, a biracial beauty confronting her bullied past; 25 year-old Katrina, who spent years focusing on the needs of her immigrant

family and may have missed her chance for an international crown; 15 year-old Jenny, a pageant newbie who may be too rough around the edges; overly shy Michelle who must break out of her shell if she hopes to compete at the Miss Philippines pageant; and Katarina, a runner-up on Asia’s Next Top Model and former Miss Intercontinental Philippines who is now vying for the Miss World Philippines crown.

“American audiences are craving multiculturalism in their televised programming and are especially interested in seeing more Asian representation,” says ABS-CBN Global COO Olivia De Jesus.

She points to the successes of ABC-TV’s Fresh Off the Boat and the Warner Brothers Pictures’ film, Crazy Rich Asians.

De Jesus is an executive producer on The People’s Queen along with Jun Del Rosario, John Lazatin and Glenn Meehan, whose previous executive producer credits include the long-running TLC reality series, Little People, Big World.

The People’s Queen is ABS-CBN International’s first foray into a reality show in English with an all-Asian American cast beyond its Myx TV channel. It will be seen globally on Myx TV (Myxtv.com) starting Oct. 24; on TFC on cable, satellite, TFC online (TFC.tv) and Lifestyle Network on Oct. 27 in North America, Europe and Middle East (Oct. 28 in Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia); and on Metro channel in the Philippines in November.

BEHIND THE SCENES.

Former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton, actress Tea Leoni, General Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright in 'Madam Secretary.'

FANS of Sony Channel’s political series, Madam Secretary, was in for a treat with the guest appearances of former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and General Colin Powell in the fifth season premiere that aired on Monday, Oct. 8.

In this unprecedented episode, Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, played by award-winning actress Téa Leoni, turns to the former reallife secretaries of state to ask their advice on how best to respond to a delicate situation.

“We’re delighted to have these three former secretaries of state be part of our season premiere,” said Barbara Hall, Executive Producer and Series Creator. “It was a privilege to experience their perspectives and discourse both in and behind the scenes.”

Lori McCreary, Executive Producer added, “Having three powerhouses of diplomacy agree to come on our show is aweinspiring and humbling. The fact that we were able to find a time in their busy schedules when they were all available is a miracle. We welcome Secretary Albright, Secretary Clinton and General Powell to the Madam Secretary family!”

Madeleine Albright, the first woman to become Secretary of State, held the position from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. General Colin Powell served as Secretary of State from 2001 until 2005 under President George Bush. Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State from 2009 until 2013 under President Barack Obama.

Executive produced by Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, Madam Secretary also stars Tim Daly, Sara Ramirez, Željko Ivanek, Keith Carradine, Sebastian Arcelus, Patina Miller, Geoffrey Arend, Erich Bergen, Kathrine Herzer, Wallis Currie-Wood and Evan Roe. Madam Secretary airs on Sony Channel is available on Cablelink Channel 39, Cignal Channel 120, G Sat Channel 48, and SKYCable Channel 35.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2018

ESPN5 teams up with NCC for a ‘Fearless’ Season 14 LEADING sports network ESPN5 gives Filipino sports fans something to cheer for, as Season 14 of the National Cheerleading Championship (NCC) kicked off with the South Luzon Qualifiers held on Oct. 6 at Robinson’s Mall, Las Piñas.

The event activated a series of qualifying tournaments where over 300 teams would vie for the chance to compete at the 2019 Nationals, the annual Cheer, Dance, and Drumline Competition of the NCC, which will be held in March 2019 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The NCC also seeks to elevate Filipino cheerleaders to international acclaim with Team Pilipinas. As the official representative of the International Cheer Union, the recognized world governing body for cheerleading, this NCC-groomed team participates in competitions in Asia and Oceania, as well as the World Championships to be held in Orlando, Florida in 2019.

Last April, the Team Pilipinas delegation was composed of athletes selected from the different high schools and uni-

versities that compete at the Nationals.

Assumption College and Poveda Juniors competed for cheer hip-hop and the Junior Championships respectively, while the All-Girl and Co-Ed Elite Teams were drawn from students from NU, Ateneo, UST, De La Salle, FEU, Holy Spirit, Miriam, St Paul Pasig, and other schools.

ESPN5 will be present throughout this journey, covering the regional qualifiers through Sportscenter Philippines, and The Nationals live on free TV. Season 14 will carry the theme ‘We Are Fearless’, a quality which epitomizes each and every cheerleader who shakes off the fear, takes risks, and exceed limits. It also represents the bold steps the NCC takes into recognizing the strength and resiliency of Philippine cheerleading.

As founder Carlos Valdes states, “In a real sense, the NCC is just like the sport of Cheerleading. It requires courage over anxiety, resolve over doubt, discipline over comfort. You really have to be fearless.”

‘Fearless’ also defines ESPN5’s mission of elevating Philippine sports to international heights.

“Our network remains steadfast in its role of supporting every Filipino athlete as they represent our country on the world stage; in line with this is our active pursuit to expand awareness for our breadth of local talent, and the different sports in which they excel,” TV5 President Vincent ‘Chot’ Reyes says.

“It was only natural for us to continue our partnership with the NCC as they pursue their vision of advancing cheerleading as a sport in the country,” Reyes adds.

“ESPN5 has stayed true to its mission of bringing great sports content to Filipinos. With their world-class content delivery platforms, we are elated to have them on board for the whole season of the NCC, and together with the journey of Team Pilipinas,” Valdes further says.

For news, schedules, and tournament information, visit the official NCC website at www.nccphilippines.com.ph.

NCC Head Carlos Valdes (left) with TV5 President Chot Reyes

#IAmOriginal

From left: Ryan Tamondong, Star Music audio content head Jonathan Manalo, and manager Joel Mendoza

Euro Pop champion Ryan Tamondong now a Star Music artist HE WAS the grand prix champion at the 2015 Euro Pop Berliner Perle. Now, Ryan Tamondong is a full-fledged recording star. Last week, Star Music in which he has signed finally released his eponymous debut album under the label.

Tamondong was first seen in ABSCBN’s I Can See Your Voice. He ranked second place in one of the mystery music game show’s episodes.

Ryan, a student at the UST Conservatory of Music, is currently promoting his single, the pop song “Haay Pag-ibig,” a tune that can easily be appreciated by his fellow millennials. His manager, also a songwriter, Joel Mendoza penned the ditty.

He is also one of the artists in Star Music YouTube channel’s OPM Refreshed, featuring his live rendition of the OPM classic “Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga.” The Basil Valdez original by Cecile Azarcon Inocentes is also in Ryan’s five-track compilation.

Other must-hear tracks in the album are new material, like “Ikaw Ang Panaginip” and “Ako’y Minamahal Mo Pa Rin,” also

by Mendoza, and “Since You Went Away”

by Mendoza and Vehnee Saturno.

Tamondong is the first Asian to join and win the prestigious Euro Pop Berliner Perle grand prix championship in Germany.

He eventually became the International

Achievement Awardee of the 29th Awit Awards for this milestone.

You can listen and download Ryan’s songs ISAH V. RED from digital music portals.

For more details, visit starmusic.ph, like Star Music on facebook.com/starmusicph, and follow on Twitter and Instagram @ StarMusicPH. Pinoy Playlist 2018 launched For six days – Oct. 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20, the BGC Arts Center will hold a landmark festival: Pinoy Playlist 2018, Ito ay Atin, Sariling Atin.

Made possible with the support of Sun Life Foundation, it will be the first of an annual Music Festival curated by Ryan Cayabyab, Moy Ortiz, and Noel Ferrer.

The festival gathers great music being generated and appreciated in pockets of ages and places, showcase them, and hopefully serve to inspire the collective rise of Filipino music.

Pinoy Playlist will reinvigorate the tradition of Filipino music by exposing the breadth and range of Filipino musicality across time, from vocal groups, solo, bands, classic, indigenous, pop, and collaborations in between these forms of musicality, to celebrate the evolving nature of Filipino music. The matrix of Filipino music will shine in its variety and blaze with the talent of artists across generations. Continued on C3

HOLLYWOOD

Villain ‘Venom’is a box office hero SUPERHERO blockbuster Venom saved the day at the North American box office this weekend, pulling in an estimated $80 million in ticket sales, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

The first movie in Sony’s Marvel Universe, it stars Tom Hardy as a journalist who becomes the host for an alien symbiote that gives him superpowers as the popular Spider-Man character.

Venom was panned by critics, but comfortably broke the October opening weekend record by over $20 million, according to Box Office Mojo figures.

In second was another new release, musical romance A Star Is Born, which took in $41.2 million. The third remake of the 1937 film of the same name, it marks the directing debut of Bradley, who stars as a musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer played by pop superstar Lady Gaga.

Third place went to Warner Bros.’s Smallfoot, with earnings of $14.9 million in its second weekend. The comic family animation tells the story of a

A scene from the box office hit, 'Venom'

group of Yeti who come across a human, with voicing by Channing Tatum, LeBron James and Danny DeVito.

Coming in fourth was last weekend’s champion, Universal’s Night School, whose earnings dropped nearly $16 million to $12.3 million this weekend.

The raucous comedy stars Kevin Hart as one student in a class of misfits working toward high school diplomas under the firm tutelage of Tiffany Haddish.

Fifth place went to Universal’s family-friendly offering The House With a Clock in Its Walls, which slipped from third place last weekend with takings of $7.2 million. AFP

A mantra of creativity and originality

'Bagyong Bheverlyn' lead Rufa Mae Quinto, director Charliebebs Gohetia, EA de Guzman, and Jude Matthew Servilla.

RIGINAL. The word, and all its permutations, has been a significant part of the festival name for the last 13 years. Originality has always been the one thing Cinema OneOriginals has championed and pushed for.

O

“I Am Original” is the tagline of the 14th Cinema One Originals. It is both a declaration, by the filmmakers and the performers, and a promise, that this year’s films will not be merely awesome but rather flawsome, a word coined to exemplify this year’s festival. Originality is never about perfection. Perfection is boring. Originality is about freshness of voice, an unwavering sense of self and the uniqueness of being human, flawed but awesome.

In the spirit of celebrating and upholding Filipino originality, Cinema One Originals will be supporting another kind of local outside of cinema through its partnership with the local ecommerce website, www.karton.ph. The wide and diverse range of authentic and handcrafted Filipino products at Karton.ph range from gourmet and artisanal food and beverages; to natural and organic wellness and beauty products; to books, home décor, paintings, accessories, bags and more. Some of these proudly Pinoy made products from the website will be on sale during the festival.

One of this year’s Cinema One Originals filmmakers is making his third film for the festival. Two are returning to the festival a second time. Two are stalwarts of the independent scene, one making his long-awaited second film, the other making his ninth. Another is making his sec-

EJ Jallorina, Iyah Mina, Arron Villaflor and director Rod Singh of 'Mamu And A Mother Too.'

ond feature after a much-acclaimed debut.

Three are making their first features.

Crime seems to be a common thread in most of this year’s films but from very different vantage points and perspectives.

A Short History of a Few Bad Things

by Keith Deligero (Cinema One Originals 2016 Best Director for Lily) may be the most straightforward, a noir procedural that has sociopolitical underpinnings.

What Home Feels Like director Joseph Abello fancifully describes his second film Double Twisting Double Back, set in the world of gymnastics, as a sports crime film.

In Hospicio, Bobby Bonifacio’s belated return to filmmaking, is a sort of sequel to his Numbalikdiwa, that begins with a botched crime and ends in the hospice of the title, which turns out to be haunted.

Carl Papa (director of Cinema One Originals 2015 Best Picture Manang Biring) returns with another animated feature, Paglisan, about a couple struggling to keep their marriage alive in the wake of one of them suffering from early onset dementia.

In Rod Singh’s Mamu And A Mother Too, a middle-aged transgender finds herself becoming surrogate mother to her transgender niece. And in John Lapus’s Pang MMK, a young man visits his es-

Director Joseph Abello, Elora Españo, Acey Aguilar, and Joem Bascon of 'Double Twisting Double Back.'

tranged father’s funeral with unexpected results.

And on the further, stranger end of the spectrum, Whammy Alcazaren’s (director of the 2013 Cinema One Originals film Islands) almost indescribable Never Tear Us Apart somehow manages to make sense of combining Third World espionage with old country folklore.

Even weirder is Rayn Brizuela’s Asuang, which comes on like an odd superhero inversion. And in Charliebebs Gohetia’s Bagyong Bheverlyn, a heartbroken woman hears that a super typhoon with the same name is fast approaching and realizes it’s a typhoon made of her own feelings and the only way to stop it from wreaking havoc on the country is to find happiness.

Cinema One Originals is under the festival partnership program of the Film Development Council Of The Philippines (FDCP).

Catch all the films on Oct. 12 to 21 in TriNoma, Glorietta, Gateway, Santolan Town Plaza, Powerplant; in Cinelokal theaters—SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa, and in alternativecinemas—FDCP Cinematheque Manila, Up Cine Adarna, Cinema ’76, Black Maria Theater and Cinema Centenario.

Ticket prices are at P200 each in major and alternative cinemas and P150 for students and at SM CineLokal theaters.

Festival passes are available ktx.abscbn.com. Visit @CinemaOneOriginals (FB), @c1origs (Twitter) and @c1originals (IG) for more updates. #C1ORIGINALS #IAMORIGINAL

Neil Coleta, director John Lapus, Nikki Valdes, and Zeppi Borromeo of 'Pang MMK.'