Manila Standard - 2019 October 27 - Sunday

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 255 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

MEAT TRADERS TOLD: SECURE PERMITS

SANYA LOPEZ: ISLAND GIRL ENTERTAINMENT D3

WATER CRISIS MAY RECUR, NSA WARNS WATER level at the Angat Dam has continued to decline, with only 29 millimeters of rain flowing into the reservoir in October, according to the PAGASA Hydro-Meteorological Division.

The division recorded Angat Dam’s water level to be at 185.41 meters as of 6 a.m. on Saturday, from 186.65 meters on Friday.

Ana Liza Solis, PAGASA Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section chief, said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview, beamed nationwide, that only 29 millimeters of rain came in from October 1 to 25, which is just 10 percent of the forecast 300 millimeters of rain for the month.

The level of water in other dams have also decreased, she said.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has enumerated short- and long-term solutions that would help address the water shortage in Metro Manila.

In a Palace press conference, Esperon acknowledged the likelihood of a water crisis in the country’s metropolis when water concessionaires fail to develop other sources of water.

“Until that time that we won’t be able to develop other resources, then we have the possibility of water shortages every now and then,” he said.

“So, there are short-range programs, there are long-term programs,” he added.

Turn to A2

LANZONES FESTIVAL. Dancers, in colorful costumes, dance to a jive to the tune of lively music during the parade Saturday in celebration of the 40th Camiguin Lanzones Festival in Mambajao, Camiguin, 6 kilometers off the coast of northern Mindanao, famous for lanzones, also known as langsat in English, a sweet edible fruit that contains numerous nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, which are beneficial to the body’s health. PNA

By Vito Barcelo

I

MPORTERS of meat and processed meat products will need to secure permits from the Bureau of Animal Industry and National Meat Inspection Service to prevent the entry of imported meat products infected with African Swine Flu in the international market, the Bureau of Customs said.

The BOC said importers of regulated products were required to secure corresponding import permits as part of customs clearance after examples of some meat products

coming from international sources were found positive with ASF. In related developments, the Department of Agriculture said Saturday two containers of pork and

other meat products from ASF-hit China were seized at the Manola port earlier in the week.

The containers were misdeclared as bearing tomato paste, Agriculture Secretary William Dar told reporters.

The cargo was consigned to Jeniti International Trading in Binondo, Manila, he said.

The Bureau of Customs has yet to determine the value of the seized goods, while the Bureau of Animal Industry will test samples from the products for ASF, according to Dar. The Philippines, the world’s 10th largest consumer of pork and 7th biggest importer, has banned the entry

SLAIN MAYOR ON POLICE'S 'NARCO-LIST'

of pork from countries affected with the hog disease.

These include China, Hong Kong, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Laos, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Mekeni Food Corporation itself said it has initiated voluntary recall of all its pork-based products, adding in a statement it has always been committed to providing the best quality products to every Filipino family that has trusted and loved our products over the last 32 years.

Turn to A2

PUTIN ACCEPTS DUTERTE INVITE TO VISIT PH—RUSSIAN ENVOY

PETALS FOR THE DEAD. Only a few days to All Saints Day, orchid flowers have started wafting sweet scents at the Dangwa terminal bus station in Sampaloc, Manila, a well-known flower market in the capital city. Lino Santos twitter.com/ MlaStandard

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RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin will be visiting the Philippines for the first time on the invitation of President Rodrigo Duterte, who visited Russia—his second since becoming chief executive in 2016—earlier this month, Moscow’s envoy said Saturday.

“President Duterte officially invited President Putin to visit the Philippines,” Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev said during the “In Focus” news forum in Quezon City, but stopped short of disclosing details or specific dates of the visit.

But he said “The invitation of Presi-

S

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dent Duterte was accepted by President Putin with gratitude.” Khovaev said.

At the same time, Khovaev said it was up to the Philippine government whether or not it would accept Russia’s offer to put up a manufacturing hub for light firearms in the country.

Khovaev told the forum said Moscow’s proposed deal was“an opportunity for our Philippine partners to get access to sophisticated technologies.”

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said the Philippines might not be ready with the plan of Turn to A2

THE slain mayor of the small town of Clarin in Misamis Occidental received threats from organized crime groups prior to his ambush on his way to the prosecutor’s office in Cebu, police said Saturday.

Clarin Mayor David Navarro, previously tagged in President Rodrigo Duterte’s “narco-list” – a reference to those with alleged drug links – was shot dead Friday while he was in a police vehicle en route to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

Navarro was set to undergo inquest proceedings for charges of slight physical injuries and acts of lasciviousness, a day after he was arrested for allegedly mauling a massage therapist and soliciting sexual favors.

Four were wounded in the incident: two of Navarro’s security, a Misamis Occidental policeman, and a Cebu City policeman, according to Cebu City Police chief Col. Gemma Vinluan.

City police had arrested Navarro, who was visiting on official business, late Thursday after he allegedly assaulted a masseur, a Cebu police officer who asked not to be named told AFP. Following the attack, in which one of Navarro’s police escorts was also injured, the gunmen escaped, Turn to A2 police said.

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A2

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PHILHEALTH, PHAPI SETTLE UNPAID CLAIMS THE Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth) and the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPI) have agreed to work together to settle P2.5 billion in supposedly unpaid claims, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said Saturday.

During a sometimes-heated private meeting on Thursday, PhilHealth and PHAPi officials reached an agreement “to work together to resolve their issues and will work closely to resolve the alleged fraudulent claims,” Go said in a radio interview.

PhilHealth officials assured the senator they are ready to listen to the private hospitals’ concerns, after the latter threated on Monday to not renew their PhilHealth accreditation next year over the unpaid claims, potentially harming the public.

PHAPI president Dr. Rustico Jimenez confirmed Go’s claim, and told radio dzBB their 600-member association will work with PhilHealth to settle the matter.

According to Go, PhilHealth will call for quarterly regional forums to talk about the issues and concerns.

“It’s not true private hospitals will pull out from PhilHealth. I hope their relationship improves for the sake of the patients,” the senator said.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, Go assured that the PhilHealth is committed to paying the claims. “(Hospitals) will be held accountable and will be suspended if they do pull out. They should help out the public,” he said. “We will make sure that no peso will go to waste, as this is taxpayers’ money (that will be paid to the hospitals).”

Hospitals found committing violations will have their accreditation revoked, Go warned, but he assured that PHAPI and the PhilHealth will continue to have an “open line.”

Jimenez had appealed to PhilHealth to not strip the accreditation of member-private hospitals over the allegations of unpaid claims.

WATER...

From A1

The statement followed the announcement of Maynilad and Manila Water on Tuesday of rotational water service interruptions beginning that day, given the continued drop in Angat and Ipo dams’ water level.

Maynilad and Manila Water also warned that the water rationing might last until next year.

Water levels at Angat and Ipo dams, which are at 185.86 meters and 100.37 meters, respectively as of Thursday, continue to decline due to below normal rainfall in these areas.

Esperon noted that the two concessionaires could not rely on Angat Dam since it also supplies water to parts of Bulacan and Pampanga provinces.

He, however, said that other sources can be tapped to raise the water level in Angat Dam, citing the action made by the Ramos administration.

“Umiray River sa (in) Quezon Province, Aurora simply goes to the Pacific Ocean. So what did the Ramos Administration do then (was to) tap that water and put it to Angat (Dam),” Esperon said.

“Now, if we are able to get more into Angat and develop, protect more the forest cover there, then we will get more water,” he added.

Esperon also noted that concessionaires can source water from Laguna Lake.

He disclosed a plan to get “100 million liters a day” from Laguna Lake, but it has yet to materialize.

“The most immediate that we could get from would be of course from Laguna Lake, but it turns out that Laguna Lake costs so much more to purify because of the character and quality of water that is there. It’s no longer as pure, as good as we want it,” Esperon said.

“So, part of the solution would be also to make Laguna Lake clean. How do you do that? Probably dredge it,” he added.

Esperon noted that in the previous Cabinet meeting, there were discussions to also dredge the Pasig River “for a better outlet,” and look at other sources, such as the Wawa Dam in Rodriguez, Rizal and the proposed Kaliwa Dam in Infanta, Quezon.

Amid the implementation of the rotational water interruption, state regulator Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System on Thursday reminded consumers to be responsible in using water. PNA

GRAFT COURT HAD FREE HAND IN MARCOS CASES—PALACE

By Vito Barcelo

accorded respect and obedience,” said Panelo, who is also the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.

Panelo issued the statement after the Sandiganbayan junked the third civil case against former President Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda, and spouses Fe and Ignacio

Gimenez.

The Sandiganbayan’s 4th Division has dismissed Civil Case No. 0007 involving the forfeiture of more than P267 million in ill-gotten wealth the Gimenez couple supposedly kept for the Marcoses.

In a decision promulgated on October 14, the anti-graft court granted the demurrer to evidence filed by the Gimenezes for insufficiency of evidence.

The anti-graft court ruled there were “defects” in the pieces of evidence against the respondents, including photocopies of papers that were practically unreadable. ”It is apparent that the defects in the pieces of evidence that were presented by the Republic prevent

it from successfully pursuing the present civil forfeiture case,” the Sandiganbayan said.

In 2006, the anti-graft court had granted the motions to dismiss filed by the Gimenez couple, but in 2016, the Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Sandiganbayan.

In the Sandiganbayan decision last week, it was noted that the government argued the documentary evidence they submitted should not be considered mere photocopies but rather certified public records.

The ruling also noted that the government failed to authenticate private documents and that some of the affidavits were hearsay evidence.

The second quarter SWS survey, conducted from June 22 to 26, found 82 percent of adult Filipinos satisfied, 6 percent undecided, and 12 percent dissatisfied with the government’s anti-narcotics campaign.

According to the SWS, a net satisfaction rating of +70 is classified as excellent and it is tied with the 2019 first quarter rating.

The pollster said the net satisfaction on the anti-illegal drugs campaign has always been either very good or excellent in the past 11 survey rounds, with the highest rating recorded in December 2016 at an excellent +77.

Since it was first surveyed in September 2016, the net satisfaction with the campaign has been excellent in Mindanao, except for the very good +66 in June 2017.

It added that 82 percent of Filipinos in all areas of the country cited the less number of drug suspects in the community as the top reason why they were satisfied with the war on drugs.

On the other hand, the undecided claimed that drug trade and drug suspects are still prevalent while the dissatisfied are the same group who recently gave Duterte a lower net satisfaction rating.

The June 2019 survey also found that net satisfaction with the performance of Duterte was an excellent +76.

The SWS conducted the survey using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

Sought for comment, Interior

Secretary Eduardo Año said, “The war on drugs must continue without let-up but with the rule of law keenly observed.”

O n Th u r s d ay, Pre s i d e nt i a l Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Robredo’s remarks did not have a factual basis and that she was merely repeating what her colleagues in the political opposition have said in the past.

In an interview with Reuters, Robredo said the “thousands of people killed were already too many, with no evidence of a decline in drug supply or usage.”

Contrary to Robredo’s claim, Panelo said, the drug war has been successful in convincing more than one million drug personalities to voluntarily surrender since the start of the anti-drug campaign in 2016.

Under the drug war, he said, close to half a million users have gone through recovery, rehabilitation, and wellness programs.

More than 42,000 barangays (villages) have also been cleared of drugs and more than PHP35 billion of drugs, chemicals, and laboratory equipment have been seized and dismantled, he added.

Panelo said more than a hundred police scalawags, and less than 5,000 drug lords and pushers involved in illegal drugs resisted arrest in buy-bust operations and were killed. (PNA) On March 14, ahead of May elections, Navarro’s name had turned up in a list of 44 mostly local officials put

out by Duterte, who accused them of being “involved in the deadly game of drug trafficking”.

Duterte had also released a longer list in 2016 of more than 150 judges, mayors and other local officials allegedly linked to drugs. On that list, Mayor Vicente Loot of the central town of Daanbantayan later survived a 2018 ambush, while Mayor Jed Mabilog of the central city of Iloilo went into hiding in 2017.

Two other mayors in the longer list, Rolando Espinosa and Reynaldo Parojinog, were killed by police in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Espinosa was shot dead inside a police jail.

Mayor Antonio Halili, who was assassinated by a sniper as he attended a flag-raising ceremony outside his office in Tanauan city near Manila last year, was linked by Duterte to illegal drugs hours after the attack. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency also said Mariano Blanco, who was killed by unknown gunmen at his office in the southern town of Ronda last year, was also on the government’s narcotics watchlist.

Philippine police say they have killed just over 5,500 drug suspects who fought back against arrest, but rights groups say the true toll is four times higher and may amount to crimes against humanity.

International Criminal Court prosecutors have launched a preliminary probe of the drug war killings, and the UN’s top human rights body has approved a review. AFP, PNA

T

HE Duterte administration does not interfere with the judiciary with regard to the decision of the Sandiganbayan to dismiss the forfeiture of more than P267 million in ill-gotten wealth against the Marcos family, the Palace said Saturday.

In a statement, Malacanang spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Executive branch will let its co-equal branch, the Judiciary, to exercise its independence.

“The rule of law must always prevail in courts, regardless of who are the parties. Their decision must be

SLAIN...

From A1

Local television footage showed two women named by the station as the politician’s siblings crying and hugging a bloodied body sprawled on the road beside a police van.

The Philippines has a violent and often deadly political culture, but rights monitors have expressed concern that Duterte’s signature drug war—which has led to the killings of thousands of narcotics suspects by police—may be emboldening assailants.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police will continue to strengthen the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs, its spokesperson said Friday.

“Our campaign stays. This is our mandate,” Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac told reporters in a press briefing.

He was responding to Vice President Leni Robredo’s remarks that the campaign against illegal drugs had failed because “it targeted the poor rather than big drug networks.”

Banac noted the campaign’s success, citing Social Weather Stations surveys for the past three years showing that a huge majority of Filipinos support the measure.

“We have an 82 percent approval satisfaction rating from the public.

That is our basis for saying that we are succeeding in this campaign,” he said.

The PNP, he said, assures the public that it will continue to perform its mandate within the bounds of the law and with the utmost respect for human rights.

PUTIN...

From A1 Russia to put up a weapons production hub in the Philippines.

“They are ready but we may not (be),” Lorenzana told GMA News Online.

The Defense chief explained that Russia’s rifles were different from the Philippines’ standard rifles.

Meanwhile, Moscow is inviting Philippine companies to jointly explore with Russian firms oil and gas resources in the Russian soil, Khovaev said.

“We also invite Filipinos, the Philippine companies, to explore oil and gas in Russia together with Russian companies,” Khovaev said.

Russia’s state-owned Rosneft Oil Co. earlier announced plans to develop a cluster of oil fields in the Arctic to produce up to 100 million tons of oil.

“I would like to remind you that exploration of oil and gas in Russia is not an easy matter, it’s much more difficult than the exploration of oil and gas in, for example, in the Middle East because most of Russian oil and natural gas are produced in the Arctic under harsh climate conditions,” Khovaev said, noting that Moscow has “advanced technologies” to exploit resources in the cold region.

Duterte, who first visited Russia in May 2017, had asked Rosneft to invest in the Philippines during a courtesy call led by Igor Sechin, the company’s chief executive officer, in Moscow early this month.

The Russian envoy said Moscow’s invitation for Philippine companies to explore resources in Russia was “based on mutual respect, mutual interest.”

MEAT...

From A1

It said: “While we have always been fully compliant with all government regulations, we also have been cooperating with the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Animal Industry in their ongoing testing of products for possible exposure to African Swine Fever.

“We have submitted samples of our pork-based products to the BAI as well as an independent testing facility.

“Even as we wait for the results of these tests, we have decided to initiate a voluntary recall of all of our pork-based products effective 26 October 2019. This is to ensure that we mitigate the possibility that our products inadvertently become carriers of ASF. “However, we would like to stress that these products are safe for consumption. No less than the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture have reiterated that ASF poses no danger to human health.”

Meanwhile, a group of meat processing firms on Saturday decried the leak of alleged test results of processed meat

showing that samples tested positive for African Swine Fever.

“It is a leaked information.

This came out in the headlines on Thursday, supposedly to have been issued by BAI (Bureau of Animal Industry).

Actually, BAI claims it was not issued by them but it is actually stolen by somebody and issued to the press most likely for malicious intent,” said Rex Agarrado, spokesperson of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. Agarrado said they already have an idea who released the unofficial test results.

He said samples of branded and unbranded processed meat products were seized

by BAI from Calapan City on October 6.

“It was just unfortunate that that branded product was also in the same halo-halo sample na (mixed sample that) were collected by BAI,” he said in an interview on dzMM heard nationwide.

In a statement, the BOC said importer of meat and meat products must secure corresponding Sanitary-Phy-

tosanitary Import Clearance from the Bureau of Animal Industry as part of the first border inspection.

After the first inspection, the meat product is then delivered to the designated Cold Storage Facility where the National Meat Inspection Service will conduct a 100 percent examination as part of the second border inspection.

“In some cases, BOC representatives are invited to witness the examination. A similar process is applied to other regulated products and are strictly enforced throughout all ports of the country,” the BOC said in a statement.

To date, the BOC has apprehended various shipments containing frozen pork meat products in various ports as part of the agency’s commitment to prevent the entry of ASF infected meat.

The bureau assures the public that border security is a primary concern of the agency and close coordination with regulatory agencies are done to ensure the safe and legal entry of regulated products into the country.

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CARPIO HITS 70, BOWS OUT OF SUPREME COURT

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ENIOR Associate Justice Antonio Tirol Carpio, praised by some as the best Chief Justice the country never had, formally retired from the Supreme Court on Saturday after celebrating his 70th birthday.

Carpio hit his mandatory retirement age after 18 years in the high tribunal, penning 935 decisions and more than 100 opinions, which his fellow justices say have become “canonical,” and proudly noted that he bowed out with no backlog of cases on his table.

The native of Davao City was sworn in as member of the Supreme Court on October 26, 2001 after being appointed by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

His townmate—current President Rodrigo

Duterte, the longtime mayor of Davao—did not appoint him to the highest chair of the judiciary, but Carpio had declined automatic nominations twice before.

In recent years, Carpio has repeatedly asserted the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea, a personal advocacy he said he will continue after his retirement.

He was one of the legal luminaries behind the country’s case against China before the international tribunal that found “no legal basis” for China’s “nine-dash line” claim in the area in 2016.

The justice repeatedly cautioned the government about its China policy, and said he would be willing to share with the government his opinion on the WPS if sought.

Carpio had served intermittently as acting chief for more than eight months, according to former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban.

Carpio did this for the last time in the week after the recent retirement of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, whose appointment last year by Duterte also meant Carpio would never become

the top magistrate.

Carpio also declined his automatic nomination as CJ out of a refusal to benefit from then-Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s ouster. Teresita Leonardo-De Castro was appointed to replace Sereno.

He also declined nomination in 2010, when then-Chief Justice Reynato Puno retired, because he was of the position that then-President Arroyo could not make midnight appointments, as she was about to turn over the reins of government to Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. However, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, retired justice and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, and detained Senator Leila de Lima—also a former Justice secretary—said they agree that Carpio was “the best chief justice we never had.”

“He is always a solid anchor, a firm and impenetrable rock, and an immovable tower of strength that holds the Court together when it truly mattered,” the incumbent Supreme Court justices said in a plaque of recognition for Carpio.

NENE PIMENTEL LAID TO REST; SENATORS, FAMILY GRIEVE FORMER Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was laid to rest on Saturday morning at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.

Before the interment, his family and friends offered a last Mass for the father of the Local Government Code, as supporters and former colleagues paid their last respects to the lawmaker and democracy icon.

The native of Claveria, Misamis Oriental passed away Sunday, October 20, at age 85, after battling lymphoma and pneumonia.

Among the luminaries present for the interment were his son, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, former senator Heherson Alvarez, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, and former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales.

President Rodrigo Duterte was not present but had paid his respects to Pimentel, a longtime friend and partymate in the ruling PDP-Laban, on Thursday.

Pimentel was given a shower of flowers and a three-volleys-overfire salute by the Philippine Army Security before his remains were buried around noon.

Sen. Koko Pimentel vowed to continue his advocacy, particularly in local autonomy, federalism, and cooperativism.

“He was very productive all the time. If he rests from work, he was still productive with his time for his family. I hope we can emulate him. His advice to me, the one I remember most, was to use my time wisely. Be productive and do what I have to do,” he said.

“I will miss our talks about what’s happening to the nation,” the younger Pimentel told ABSCBN News.

BEFORE HALLOWEEN. A man starts cleaning and

repainting the tomb of his loved one at the Manila North Cemetery on Friday in preparation for All Saints’ Day, while a woman checks out scary masks on display at a nearby mall (inset) for the Halloween parties preceding the holiday.

Norman Cruz and Lino Santos

AFP: CHARGES VS EX-PMA OFFICIALS PART OF DUE PROCESS THE Armed Forces of the Philippines on Saturday maintained that the filing of charges against two former officials of the Philippine Military Academy over the death of cadet of 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio due to alleged maltreatment is part of due process.

“When soldiers, airmen, sailors, or marines face a military tribunal or a civilian court to answer charges for what they did or failed to do, that’s due process,” AFP spokesperson Marine Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said in a message to reporters.

Last month, PMA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista and Ca-

det Corps Commandant Brig. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro resigned from their posts in wake of Dormitorio’s death.

“When men and women in uniform tasked to accomplish a mission are later asked to account for what they did or failed to do, that is soldiery,” Arevalo noted.

“That is what military leaders who decide and act in all circumstances must be prepared to do,” he said.

On Wednesday, the National Bureau of Investigation in the Cordillera region filed a complaint against Evangelista and Bacarro at the Ba-

guio City Prosecutor’s Office for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law. In its complaint, the NBI said the officials did not do anything to probe or act to prevent the maltreatment against Dormitorio.

Earlier this month, the Dormitorio family filed murder, hazing and torture charges against several PMA cadets and tactical officers over the cadet’s death.

On September 18, the 20-year-old cadet was found unconscious inside his room at the academy by fellow cadets and was brought to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. PNA

MARINE TROOPS UNCOVER MARIJUANA PLANTATION IN SULU ZAMBOANGA CITY—Philippine Marine troops have uncovered a P3.6million marijuana plantation in the hinterlands of Sulu, a top military official said Saturday.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, said the plantation was discovered Wednesday by troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 in Barangay Masjid Punjungan, Kalingalan Caluang, Sulu.

Sobejana said the MBLT-7 troops were conducting combat operations when they stumbled upon the marijuana plantation that has an estimated value of P3.6 million.

He said the marijuana plantation is about 1,800 sq.m. and is located within the residential area belonging to

one Adzhar Jumaidim Mundoc.

Mundoc was not around when the troops descended on his property.

Sobejana said the 37th Marine Company of MBLT-7 cordoned off the area and coordinated with the barangay officials of Masjid Punjungan to determine the owner of the plantation.

The troops, he said, also coordinated with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Sulu for the proper disposition of the marijuana plantation.

“Our peace efforts do not only focus on ending terrorism but as well as addressing its root causes, which include the campaign against illegal drugs,” he said.

“Congratulations to the marine troopers for this very commendable accomplishment,” he added. PNA

‘UNDAS’ EXODUS.

Passengers start arriving at the Araneta Center Bus Terminal in Cubao, Quezon City en route to their respective provinces for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day celebration or ‘Undas’ on November 1 and 2.

Manny Palmero

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SUBIC PORT EARNS P26.9B, PASSES 2019 REVENUE GOAL

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Port of Subic on Saturday announced it has already surpassed its P24.7-billion revenue goal for 2019 as it collected P26.9 billion as of October 25.

Port officials said it was an historic collection performance, with the P2.2-billion surplus recorded for the first time in 26 years.

The port’s total collection from January 1 to October 25, 2019 also exceeded by more than P5 billion or 22.8 percent the P21.9 billion total collection it accomplished in 2018.

“As early as September, we already exceeded our target by P731 million.

What we are collecting now is the excess,” said Port of Subic district collector Maritess Martin.

She added: “Even if we already met our full year target, we still have to meet the monthly target assigned to us. For now we are only short by 200 million. im really positive we can hit it by next week because of our forecast.”

Martin attributed the port’s latest accomplishment to the bulk of imported goods, mostly oil shipments, and the major importers that resulted in a surplus revenue collection.

According to Martin, the positive performance of the port in ensuring that proper and correct duties and taxes are assessed and collected from import shipments is essential in meeting the collection target.

She also attributed the continuous improvement in Subic’s revenue collection to the implementation of tax reform law that imposed fuel excise tax hike and the higher exchange rate.

Subic has been heavily relying on the entry of oil imports for its monthly revenue collections.

Last Oct. 9, Martin spearheaded the awarding of Top 20 Revenue Contributors for the third quarter of the year in Subic.

Among the awardees were PTT Philippines Corp., Insular Oil Corp., Marubeni Philippines. Corp., Micro Dragon Petroleum Inc., Warbucks Industries Corp., Cebu Air Inc., High Glory Subic International Logistics Inc., Ecossential Foods Corp., Golden Share Commerce and Phoenix Petroleum Phils. Inc. “The endless hours and dedication of stakeholders in helping the port are appreciated. Focusing on the delivery of fast and efficient service and the importance of information sharing with stakeholders and the general public is the main concern of the this recognition,” said Martin.

PNP HOSPITAL GETS P634M FROM HOUSE

By Maricel V. Cruz THE new Philippine National Police Medical Plaza is now a go with the earmarking of P634 million for its construction, a House leader said over the weekend.

“The initial allocation for the putting up of the medical plaza in Camp Panopio forms part of the PNP’s P184.6-billion budget in the Houseapproved General Appropriations Act for 2020,” Deputy Speaker and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said.

President Rodrigo Duterte in June approved the construction of the state-of-the-art medical plaza to provide superior hospital-based care and support to the men and women of the PNP, especially those wounded or injured in the line of duty.

The medical plaza is projected to be completed by 2021 at an estimated cost of P1.8 billion.

“The President deserves credit for finally realizing this project, which is long overdue,” Pimentel said.

The land for the medical plaza was set aside almost 20 years ago, Pimentel pointed out.

President Joseph Estrada in 2000 issued Proclamation No. 345, which reserved and declared available for development some 5,000 square meters of land in Camp Panopio as the site for the PNP Medical Plaza, “which shall cater to the medical needs of PNP personnel to improve their health and welfare.”

Camp Panopio is at the corner of Epifanio de los Santos Ave. and P. Tuazon Blvd. in Barangay Kaunlaran, Cubao, Quezon City.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019

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FACEBOOK ‘NEWS TAB’ SEEKS TO REBOOT ITS MEDIA ROLE

GOOD GOVERNANCE SEAL AWARDED TO 380 LGUS ALMOST 400 local government units or 44 percent of LGUS in the Philippines have passed the standards of good local governance this year, the Department of the Interior and Local Government ( said on Saturday.

From the 263 passers last year, the LGU passers went up to 380 after fulfilling the assessment criteria in good governance. The figure consists of 17 provinces, 57 cities, and 306 municipalities nationwide.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año praised the LGUs for hyrdling the challenges and stepping up their game.

Leading the passers were 65 LGUs from the Ilocos region: Central Luzon (63); Cagayan Valley (40); Calabarzon (33); and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (28).

The BARMM was recognized for the success of its LGUs despite its transition and the other issues faced by the region.

“Despite the many issues happening in the area—the elections, the passage, and plebiscite of organic law -- the BARMM still has awardees,”DILG spokesperson and Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya told reporters in an earlier press briefing.

Malaya added that this year, 99 more municipalities and 18 more cities passed the seal compared to last year.

“We expect continued progress and improvement in delivering services,” he said.

The criteria for the seal of good governance (SGLG) include financial and administrative management; disaster preparedness; social protection; peace and order; business-friendliness and competitiveness; environmental protection; and tourism, culture, and arts.

With the creation of the SGLG through Republic Act 11292, Año said he “expects “continued progress and improvement in LGUs’ capacity to deliver quality service to the people.”

The passers are eligible to compete in the DILG Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) to finance their local development projects.

The awarding of the seal will be held at the Manila Hotel on November 4 and 5. PNA

LESS LANES. Road reblocking works along the southbound lane of EDSA cause heavy traffic Saturday. Manny Palmero

T

LRT-1 PROLONGS OPERATING HOURS

HE Light Rail Manila Corp. will extend the operating hours of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 in a bid to accommodate the expected upsurge of commuters in Metro Manila during the Yuletide season.

LRMC Chief Operating Officer Enrico Benipayo said that until December 31, the last northbound train would depart from LRT-1 Baclaran station at 10 p.m. instead of 9:30 p.m. during weekdays.

The last southbound trip will leave from Roosevelt station at 10:15 p.m., also a 30-minute extension from the present 9:45 p.m. departure.

“We are extending the LRT-1 operating hours to accommodate the influx of passengers during the holiday rush. We continue to listen

and find ways on how to better serve the needs of our customers,” Benipayo said.

He said the LRT-1 operating hours during weekends stay at 9:30 p.m. from Baclaran and 9:45 p.m. from Roosevelt.

The LRMC said both first northbound and southbound trips will still depart at 4:30 a.m. on weekdays, weekends, and holidays.

However, both bounds will operate from 4:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve (December 24), and

4:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on New Year’s Eve (December 31).

“LRT-1 will also be open to service passengers on Dec. 25, 2019 (Christmas Day) and Jan. 1, 2020 (New Year’s Day),” the LRMC said.

Last Monday, it showcased the recent expansion and improved amenities of the LRT-1’s Edsa station, among them new ticket booths, comfort rooms, LED lighting setups, interior paint jobs, floor finishes, and a ramp for PWDs (persons with disability).

The station’s connecting bridge has new roofs while passengers can now enjoy some architectural finishes and new fire exit and wider space following the demolition of old ticketing booths. PNA

ANTI-GRAFT COURT SUSPENDS BOHOL GUV OVER P.D.A.F

By Maricel V. Cruz

FOR THE ANIMALS. Animal rights activists stage a protest in front of the Kartilya ng Katipunan Shrine in Manila on Saturday to raise awareness on animal cruelty and to unite animal rights and vegan communities globally. Norman Cruz

BOHOL Gov. Arthur Yap was ordered suspended by the Sandiganbayan over his alleged involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

The anti-graft court, in a resolution dated September 18, ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government to enforce the suspension of Yap for 90 days.

Yap, as a former agriculture secretary, is one of the co-accused of former Misamis Occidental Rep. Marina Clarete in the alleged funneling of P62 million in PDAF to bogus nongovernment organizations.

“To repeat, the court has neither discretion nor duty to determine whether or not a preventive suspension is required to prevent the accused from using his office to intimidate witnesses

or frustrate his prosecution or continue committing malfeasance in office,” the anti-graft court said in the resolution signed by Presiding Justice and Division Chairperson Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Ronald Moreno.

Yap in his defense said that he may not have unduly influenced witnesses against him as he left the Department of Agriculture in 2010.

From then until taking office as Bohol governor, Yap served as the province’s 3rd district representative.

Yap also cited the question on the validity of the charges against him as a petition for certiorari is still pending before the Supreme Court.

But the prosecution claimed Yap already acknowledged the validity of the information filed against him when he pleaded not guilty during his arraignment.

WASHINGTON—Facebook on Friday began rolling out its dedicated “news tab” with professionally produced content—the latest move by the social network to promote journalism and shed its reputation as a platform for misinformation.

The tab, being tested with some US users, will be separate from a user’s normal feed and include articles from partner news organizations—making a clear distinction between journalism and stories shared by users from a wide range of sources.

“This is going to be the first time ever there will be a dedicated space on the (Facebook) app that is focused on high-quality journalism,” chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told an audience in New York in a joint appearance with CEO Robert Thomson of News Corp, one of the partners in the project.

The mix of stories in Facebook News will be determined by algorithmic “personalization” based on a user’s preferences and data, with journalists choosing some of the stories.

The company said users would have “more control over the stories they see, and the ability to explore a wider range of their news interests, directly within the Facebook app.”

Facebook is expected to pay some of the news organizations -- reportedly millions of dollars in some cases -- but has yet to disclose full details.

Zuckerberg said Facebook would not seek to limit coverage of the company or himself.

Zuckerberg said he sees the effort as important even if it is used by only a small percentage of Facebook users.

And he said the company is in discussions to bring the feature to other countries. AFP

GOOGLE SEARCH TAKES ‘BIGGEST LEAP FORWARD’ SAN FRANCISCO—Google on Friday announced its “biggest leap forward” in years in its search algorithm, offering an unusually detailed public explanation of its secret formula.

The world’s most popular internet search engine said its latest refinement uses machine learning to improve how it handles conversationally phrased English-language requests.

“We’re making a significant improvement to how we understand queries, representing the biggest leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of search,” Google search vice president Pandu Nayak said in an online post.

The California-based internet company last year debuted a neural network-based technique for processing “natural language.”

The company said the new effort is based on what it calls Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), which seeks to understand query words in the context of sentences for insights, according to Nayak.

Google software, like humans, has to grapple with understanding what people are trying to say even though they might not be expressing themselves clearly, or even be making sense.

Some BERT models for figuring queries out are so complicated they need to be handled by high-powered computer processors specifically designed for the cloud, according to Google. AFP

INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR GARILAO ZUELLIG Family Foundation Chairman and President Ernesto D. Garilao was recently awarded the 2019 Xiong’An International Health Forum Impact Award, a recognition to an outstanding achievement by an established professional in improving global health.

He was nominated by National University of Singapore Associate Professor Audrey Chia for the effectiveness of the foundation’s Health Change Model in empowering elected local political chief executives to assume responsibility for improving their health systems, services, and indicators.

The foundation’s HCM was cited for the growth of its use from nine to 72

municipalities between 2009 and 2012, and its emphasis on the use of metrics to determine effectiveness of an intervention. After two years of HCM, there were dramatic decreases in maternal deaths in the pilot areas.

This subsequently led then Health Secretary Enrique Ona to spearhead a partnership between the Department of Health and ZFF. This and academic institution partnerships allowed the scale up of the HCM between 2013 and 2018.

The Xiong An International Health Forum (Xiong An Forum) was founded

by Shenzhen World Health Foundation and various prestigious Chinese organizations with the powerful support of

UNICEF, Columbia University and the Kofi Anan Foundation. The forum serves as a platform for “dialogues and opinion exchanges among top professionals and experts from medical sciences, global health-relating industries, finance and concerned research institutions.” It aims to be a global influential force on health.

Roberto R. Romulo, Chairman (emeritus) said: The Foundation takes pride in Ernie’s well-deserved recognition. I am confident this international recognition will be the springboard for possible adoption of the ZFF Health Change Model in the developing world as well as China.

Zuellig Family Foundation Chairman and President Ernesto D. Garilao (right) receives the Impact in Global Health Award from Liang Weina, vice chairman of China Institute of Strategy and Management.

B1

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019

Opinion

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IN IRAQ, ACTIVISTS DISCERN THE REAL FROM THE RIDICULOUS

EDITORIAL

OVERCOMING POLIO

W

E JOIN the rest of the world, which marked World Polio Day three days ago, in uncompromising efforts at overcoming the final bars to eradicating poliomyelitis, a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease.

This is caused by the poliovirus, which spreads from person to person and can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis, the most severe symptom associated with polio because it can lead to permanent disability and death.

The virus lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines, and enters the body through the mouth

and spreads through contact with the feces of an infected person and, while less common, through droplets from a sneeze or cough.

As we take a stand, it is only obligatory that we have on the mirror what people with poliovirus infection would have: flu-like symptoms which may include sore throat, fever, fatigue, nausea, headache and stomach pain—

symptoms that last two to five days then go away on their own.

We salute as well Rotary International, which has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years, which is a founding partner of the Global Poliuo Eradication initiative—their efforts have helped reduce polio cases by more than 99.9 percent.

But last month the Department of Health declared a polio epidemic after it recorded a case of the disease in Lanao del Sur, the country’s first confirmed case after 19 years of being polio-free.

The DOH, which said it found Type 1 poliovirus in Manila and Type 2 in Davao, sees a low vaccination coverage, poor early surveillance of

polio symptoms, and substandard sanitation practices as jailbirds in this reappearance.

Type 1 poliovirus is the known cause of the few cases existing in the world today while Type 2 poliovirus has been declared eradicated in September 2015, with the last virus detected in 1999 in India.

With the rest of the world challenged by this polio nightmare, we can find hope and strength in what was said by Jonas Edward Salk, the American medical researcher and virologist, who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines.

He said: “There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.”

FROM accusations long-dead soldiers shot protesters to jihadist statements backing the rallies, fabricated news has swirled around Iraq’s protests—sending tech-savvy youth into debunk overdrive.

While their compatriots hit the streets in anti-government rallies, dozens of anonymous activists from Iraqi NGO Tech 4 Peace hunker over laptops, using virtual private networks to circumvent a social media ban.

Those in Iraq coordinate with fellow activists across the Arab world, Europe and even North America to discern the real from the ridiculous.

Did the Islamic State group really call for demonstrations? No -- that’s a fake statement, writes Tech 4 Peace on its popular Facebook page.

Was a young protester shot dead this morning? No, his friends confirm he’s still alive.

Did the family of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein back the rallies? Another no.

One of the most common forms of fallacy spread online is the misidentification of security personnel who shot at protesters, said a Tech 4 Peace verifier identifying himself as Sami.

“Pictures of people accused of killing demonstrators have been circulating for days,” Sami told AFP. They included photographs of Iraqi soldiers who had in fact died fighting the Islamic State group several years ago.

“We’ve also debunked dozens of claims of people accused of being jihadists, with their names and photographs circulated online, who have nothing to do with terrorism,” he added.

‘ALERT! FAKE NEWS!’ Protests erupted in Iraq’s capital and further south on October 1, first demanding more jobs and an end to corruption before evolving into calls for an overhaul of the entire political system.

Authorities swiftly imposed internet restrictions, first banning some social media before imposing a total blackout.

But activists at Tech 4 Peace were just as fast: by the second day of protests, they were trawling through online platforms full of inaccurate or totally fabricated claims.

“We found videos with false titles or bad sourcing, posted by people, pages or other social media accounts that sometimes don’t even know they’re distributing false information,” said Sami.

He and his colleagues also often find falsified government decrees, which they repost on the group’s Facebook page with a red watermark saying: “Alert! Fake news!”

Iraq has a plethora of television stations and newspapers, but most people use Facebook or messaging application WhatsApp to share news.

That makes it easy for unverified information -- including mistaken rumors of deaths -- to spread.

“A former president even issued his condolences for an artist who was still very much alive,” said Saad al-Kaabi, an Iraqi blogger.

“Authorities sometimes even launch test runs, spreading rumours on the internet to see the street’s reaction,” he told AFP. POWER OF PROPAGANDA A total of 157 people were killed in the first week of rallies, authorities said in a recent report, a majority of them protesters who died of wounds to the head or chest.

The government has kept restrictions on some social media sites in place, but even regular Iraqis are circumventing them en masse by using VPNs. Activists called for protests to resume on Friday October 25, but they began hours ahead of schedule on Thursday evening.

Many seemed nervous about whether they were receiving accurate portrayals of the reality on the ground.

“The situation is always complicated, and plenty of people could easily fall victim to rumours,” said Reda Najmaddin, a 50-year-old day laborer.

Iraqis have been hoodwinked in dramatic fashion before.

IS used the power of its propaganda in 2014 to claim it had taken a series of Iraqi cities even before it had militarily conquered them.

Such claims spread fear among security forces, ultimately making them a self-fulfilling prophecy when troops fled.

Some worry that people being taken in by fake news could again cause major destabilization, including Susanne Aziz, a 46-year-old housewife.

“No one knows what could happen,” she told AFP. AFP

IS THE NEW NCRPO CHIEF MEDIA-PHOBIC? POINT OF IMPACT EWIN TULFO A WEEK after taking over as Metro Manila’s top cop, P/Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas undoubtedly earned the ire of a group of media practitioners after he booted them all out of their press office at the Quezon City Police station in Kamuning last Thursday.

Gen. Sinas reportedly told the members of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) press corps that he needed to use the office space so the media group had to pack up and vacate what had been the press office for years.

Remate reporter Lily Reyes, the NCRPO press corps president, pleaded with Sinas to designate another place within the premises where they can do their work and which is still accessible to public

transport, as most of their media members commute for work.

In reply to Reyes’ request, the newly installed NCRPO chief vehemently said no and told them to look for another office somewhere else and move their furniture and equipment by the end of the month.

According to Reyes, that press office located at the 2nd floor of Quezon City Precinct 10, was assigned for use of the media by then NCRPO chief Gen. Joel Pagdilao several years back. Since then, media people covering the NCRPO beat use that particular room to write their stories and beat their deadlines, particularly those in the print media. That is, until last Thursday when Sinas arrogantly told them to turn over the office to the police.

“We are all wondering what will General Sinas do with that office which was unoccupied for years and left to rot until it was given to us. Surely, he will not use it as his office since the NCRPO headquarters is in Taguig,” Reyes said.

As if adding insult to injury, Gen. Sinas came out with a “media protocol” hours after announcing the eviction. “No one-on-one and ambush interviews by the press, and all queries will be answered by the designated spokesperson only” says the memo handed to the members of the press corps. This means that the NCRPO Chief will not be easily available to answer media inquiries about important issues involving the police.

So, why does Sinas seem to hate the media? Perhaps he just doesn’t want the press snooping around police headquarters and its stations under NCRPO, and eventually stumble on abuses, anomalies or corrupt practices ala “ninja cops.”

Observers believe that Sinas seemed tolerant to his men’s abuses which he displayed when he recently defended the 16 cops caught smuggling contrabands into the New Bilibid Prison, saying during a press briefing that his boys did not commit any grave offense.

The 16 NCRPO men were temporarily assigned at the NBP to augment security forces while “kubols” in the maximum compound are being dismantled on orders of BUCOR Dir. Gen. Gerald Bantag.

NBP guards claim the cops were found to be in possession of cellular phones, tobaccos, and two liters of alcohol on their way inside the penitentiary gate. The said items are considered contraband by BUCOR, especially if they are brought inside the compound even for the cops’ personal use.

Sinas defended his men by saying they were caught to be in possession of the said items while still outside the premises of the NBP. He shamelessly contradicted BUCOR officials’ claim that the 16 policemen were frisked upon entering the NBP compound that day.

After being caught lying, Sinas retracted his statement the next day.

So perhaps that’s the reason: Sinas does not want the media to catch him lying again.

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.thestandard.com.ph;

can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

ONLINE MEMBER

PPI

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

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

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Jimbo Gulle City Editor Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

World

Standard

B2

TODAY OCTOBER 27, 2019 SUNDAY, mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor / Jimbo Gulle, Issue Editor

HK COURT BANS ‘DOXXING’, PHOTOS OF POLICE DETAILS

Republic of the Philippines Department of Finance

CENTRAL BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS 7F ED PC Bldg., BSP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila Tel. (02)8525-14-11 email:contact@cbaa.gov.ph

DIRECTOR III (CHAIRPERSON) Salary Grade :

27

Employment Status

:

Term Appointment (7 years)

Education

:

Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce / Business Administration major in Accounting

Experience

:

Must be a member of the Bar or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for at least ten (10) years immediately preceding the appointment.

Training

:

None Required

Eligibility

:

RA 1080 & Career Service Executive Eligibility (CSEE) / Career Executive Service (CES)

Place of Assignment

:

CBAA Central Office - Manila

PROTESTER. A demonstrator waves a Chilean flag during clashes with riot police in Santiago on Thursday after a week of street violence, which erupted against a now-suspended metro fare hike but spiralled into general discontent. A general strike in Chile went into fifth day following a week of street protests—at low salaries and pensions, high costs of health care and education, and a yawning gap between rich and poor— that left 18 dead. AFP

OVER 1M DEMAND CHILE PREXY TO QUIT S

ANTIAGO, Chile—More than one million people took to the streets in Chile Friday for the largest protests in a week of deadly demonstrations demanding economic reforms CENTRAL BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS and the resignation of President Sebastian Pinera.

7F EDPC Bldg., BSP Complex, Interested applicant must be Filipino citizen and at least forty (40) years old at the time of appointment.

Must be a Lawyer / Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Roxas Blvd., Manila Tel. (02) 8525-1411/8525-1410 Email: records@cbaa.gov.ph;cbaarecords@gmail.com (MS-OCT. 27, 2019)

Invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid Invitation to Bid (lFB 32) Supply and Delivery of Goods and Services The Peninsula Electric Cooperative, Inc. (PENELCO) through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for Goods and Services, invites suppliers/manufacturers/contractor to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder project: I.

Supply and Delivery of Utility Trucks, Steel Poles, Wood Poles, Kilowatt-hour Meters, Fiber Optic Cables, Pole Hardware for Fiber Optic Cables and Passenger Bus

II.

Name of Project

:

Supplier and Delivery of Goods per Schedule

Source of Funds

:

PENELCO General Funds

Schedule

Description

Quantity

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

Supply and Delivery of Utility Trucks Supply and Delivery of Long Steel Poles Supply and Delivery of Short Steel Poles Supply and Delivery of Kilowatt-hour Meters Supply and Delivery of Eucalyptus Maculata Wood Poles Supply and Delivery of Southern Yellow Pine Wood Poles Supply and Delivery of Fiber Optic Cables Supply and Delivery of Pole Hardware for Fiber Optic Cables Supply and Delivery of Wires Supply and Delivery of Passenger Bus

1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot 1 lot

Approved Budget for the Contract, ABC (VAT Inclusive), in PHP 27,000,000.00 30,918,000.00 5,534,000.00 4,633,000.00 18,800,000.00 11,966,000.00 14,000,000.00 6,299,000.00 21,891,000.00 4,500,000.00

Supply of Services to the Construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Line for Fiesta Communities, Inc. Subdivisions at Mariveles and Hermosa Name of Project

:

Supply of Services per Schedule

Source of Funds

:

PENELCO General Funds

Schedule

Description

Quantity

XI

Construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Line for Fiesta Communities, Inc. Subdivision located at Balon Anito, Mariveles

1 lot

Construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Line for Fiesta Communities, Inc. Subdivision located at Balsik, Hermosa

1 lot

XII

Approved Budget for the Contract, ABC (VAT Inclusive), in PhP 787,000.00

1,133,000.00

The Eligibility Check, as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids, shall use a nondiscretionary “pass/fail” criterion and the awarding will be per schedule. Post-qualification of the lowest calculated responsive bid shall be conducted.

For the Supply of Services, the Prospective bidders should have at least ten (10) years experience in construction of electric distribution lines; PCAB license and registration with a minimum size range of Medium A (License Category B) and Specialty-SP-EE (Electrical works); DOLE Certificate of Compliance on General Labor Standards; DOLE Certificate of Compliance on Occupational Safety and Health Standards; heavy equipment (man-lift truck and, pole hauling truck and truck with 3 tons boom crane) and; completed projects similar to the contract to be bid that in compliance with the National Electrification Administration (NEA) standard.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Requirements, Bid Security, Pre-bidding Conference, Opening of Bids, Deadline of Submission, Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification, Performance Security and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of IFB 32 bidding document.

The pre-bid conference is open to all interested parties who purchased the bid document only.

All bids must be accompanied by a bid security of not less than five percent (5%) of the total bid price or an equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency.

Bid Document (BD) will be available to prospective bidders only upon payment non-refundable fee per group indicated below that the Bidders wish to participate. The bid document is strictly non-transferrable.

Group

Schedule

A B

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X

C D E F G H

XI I XII

Description Supply and Delivery of Utility Trucks Supply and Delivery of Long Steel Poles Supply and Delivery of Short Steel Poles Supply and Delivery of kwH Meters Supply and Delivery of Eucalyptus MacuIata Wood Poles Supply and Delivery of Southern Yellow Pine Wood Poles Supply and Delivery of Fiber Optic Cables Supply and Delivery of Pole Hardware for Fiber Optic Cables Supply and Delivery of Wires Supply and Delivery of Passenger Bus Construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Line for Fiesta Communities, Inc. Subdivision located at Balon Anito, Mariveles Construction of Primary and Secondary Distribution Line for Fiesta Communities, Inc. Subdivision located at Balsik, Hermosa

Cost of BD, in PhP 25,000.00 25,000.00 5,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 25,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00

The schedule of activities is listed as follows: Activities 1. Advertisement Period

Date/Time October 23,2019 and/ to October 27, 2019

2. Issuance of Bid Document (BD)

November 11, 2019 (Monday)

3. Pre-bid Conference

November 20,2019 (Wednesday), 2:00 PM Philippine Standard Time December 4, 2019 (Wednesday), 2:00PM Philippine Standard Time

4. Deadline of Submission and Opening of Bids

Venue Newspaper (National Circulation) NEA Website (www.nea.gov.ph) PENELCO website (www.penelco.com) and at Bulletin Board of every Municipality in Bataan PENELCO Main Office, Roman Superhighway, Brgy. Tuyo, City of Balanga,Bataan PENELCO Main Office, Roman Superhighway, Brgy. Tuyo, City of Balanga, Bataan PENELCO Main Office, Roman Superhighway, Brgy. Tuyo, City of Balanga, Bataan

PENELCO assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid. Moreover, PENELCO reserves the right to reject any or all bid proposal at any time prior to contract award, declare the bidding a failure, or award the contract to the bidder whose offer is the most responsive, lowest calculated bid, and most advantageous to the co-op.

For further information, please refer to: Peninsula Electric Cooperative, Inc. - BAC Secretariat Roman Superhighway Tuyo, Balanga City 2100 Bataan, Philippines Tel. No. +63 472373512 to 13 Fax No. +63 477915103 E-mail Address:main@penelco.com;penelco_pbac@yahoo.com Website:www.penelco.com (SGD) ENGR. ANTONIO D. PAGUIO PBAC Chairman

(MS-OCT. 23 & 27, 2019)

The leader told the thronging masses that he had “heard the message” in a post on Twitter, characterizing the protests in a positive light and as a means towards change.

Demonstrators carrying indigenous and national flags sang popular resistance songs from the 1973-90 Augusto Pinochet dictatorship era as the country, usually seen as one of the most stable in Latin America, grapples with its worst violence in decades.

Santiago’s governor Karla Rubilar described it as “a historic day” on Twitter, praising “a peaceful march... representing the dream of a new Chile.”

Rubilar said more than a mil-

lion were demonstrating around the country, while Santiago’s town hall put the number of people marching in the capital at 820,000, citing police figures.

For the past week, Chileans’ pent-up anger has spilled over in the form of protests against a socio-economic structure that many feel has left them by the wayside, with low wages and pensions, costly health care and education, and a big gap between rich and poor.

Pinera, a conservative billionaire, wrote on Twitter that “the massive, happy and peaceful march today, where Chileans demanded a more just and supportive Chile, opens great paths

for the future and hope.”

“We have all heard the message. We have all changed. With unity and help from God, we will travel the road towards a Chile that is better for all,” he said.

Pinera apologized earlier in the week for failing to anticipate the outbreak of social unrest and announced a raft of measures designed to placate people, such as increases in minimum pensions and wages.

He also announced a plan to end a deeply unpopular state of emergency and to lift a nighttime curfew, although both of those are now into their seventh day.

On Friday he called on legislators to “urgently approve these projects rather than arguing and debating so much.”

Francisco Anguitar, a 38-yearold artificial intelligence developer attending the demonstrations, told AFP the protests would probably “be the biggest ever. We’re asking for justice, honesty, ethical government.” AFP

PENTAGON AWARDS $10-B CLOUD DEAL TO MICROSOFT SAN FRANCISCO—The Pentagon said Friday it is awarding a $10 billion cloud computing contract to Microsoft, following a highly scrutinized bidding process which Amazon had been favored to win.

The 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program, better known as JEDI, ultimately will see all military branches sharing information in a system boosted by artificial intelligence.

“The National Defense Strategy dictates that we must improve the speed and effectiveness with which we develop and deploy modernized technical capabilities to our women and men in uniform,” Defense Department Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said in a release.

“This award is an important step in execution of the Digital Modernization Strategy.”

Amazon was considered the lead contender to provide technology for JEDI, with its Amazon Web Services dominating the cloud computing arena and the company already providing classified servers for other government outfits including the CIA. But the Pentagon earlier this year delayed awarding the hefty contract, saying the process would be reviewed by newly appointed Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Esper was selected by US President Donald Trump, who has lashed out at Amazon and company founder Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post.

In July, Trump said he had heard “complaining from different companies like Microsoft and Oracle and IBM” over the JEDI bidding process.

“We’re going to take a look at it. We’ll take a very strong look at it,” he said, raising concerns among observers that the process would be improperly influenced. AFP

DRIED UP. In this photo taken on Thursday, a man sits on the banks of Sangam—the area around the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati—after floodwaters receded in Allahabad, India. AFP

ARGENTINA HEADS TO POLLS WITH MACRI ON ROPES BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Voters in Argentina will cast ballots Sunday in a general election expected to hand the presidency to center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez -- and end the crisis-plagued rule of pro-business leader Mauricio Macri.

Fernandez -- whose running mate is ex-president Cristina Kirchner -- is widely tipped in opinion polls to obtain the 45 percent of votes needed to secure an outright victory in the first round.

“With Cristina, we’re going to put Argentina on its feet... We’re sure that we know what to do,” Fernandez said at his final rally Thursday in Mar del Plata, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the capital Buenos Aires.

In August’s primaries, Fernandez garnered 49.5 percent of the vote compared to only 33 percent for Macri, whose nearly four years in power have been marked by economic woes.

And polls indicate Fernandez’s lead has only grown since then.

Macri’s popularity has fallen off sharply over the last year in which Argentina has been in recession.

The poverty rate has risen to more than 35 percent, inflation for the year to September was at almost 38 percent, while the peso has depreciated 70 percent since January 2018.

The peso fell 5.86 percent in the week before the elections, closing Friday at 63.51 to the dollar.

“I came to buy dollars because when the vote comes, we know that everything is going to go up,” Cristian Golan, a 23-year-old driver, told AFP at a foreign exchange counter in downtown Buenos Aires.

Others outside the currency counter spoke of rumors of a bank and exchange holiday on Monday and Tuesday after the vote.

“It’s very difficult to buy dollars. There are a couple of places where there are none left and it’s full of people,” said a 29-yearold student named Barbara. AFP

HONG KONG—A Hong Kong court has banned people from publishing a wide range of personal details about police officers and their families, including photos, in a bid to halt “doxxing” by pro-democracy protesters.

The temporary injunction, uploaded on government websites overnight, was criticised by some on Saturday for its broad wording and for further shielding the identity of officers as they clash with protesters.

The semi-autonomous Chinese city has been battered by nearly five months of seething pro-democracy rallies in which police and protesters have fought increasingly violent battles.

The police force says many of its officers have had personal details leaked online -- known as “doxxing” -- and family members harassed as a result.

Lawyers for the force went to Hong Kong’s High Court on Friday asking for an injunction forbidding people from publishing a slew of personal information including key details such as names, addresses, dates of birth and identity card numbers.

But they also sought a ban on publishing details about a police officer’s Facebook and Instagram IDs, their car number plates and any photograph of an officer or their family without consent.

The court granted the injunction for 14 days pending a longer legal hearing.

The injunction also bans “intimidating, molesting, harassing, threatening, pestering or interfering” with any police officer or family member.

The current wording leaves no exceptions, including for media, making it unclear how it will be applied and whether it will restrict work by reporters.

FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE FIERCE WILDFIRES ACROSS CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES—Firefighters on Friday battled several wildfires raging across California that destroyed homes and forced evacuations, as more than 18 million people were under a red flag warning in the southern part of the state.

Tens of thousands of residents near Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, fled their homes as the so-called Tick Fire scorched 4,300 acres (1,740 hectares) and was only five percent contained

by Friday afternoon.

The blaze forced the shutdown of all schools in the area as well as a major freeway, creating a traffic nightmare for commuters.

New evacuations in the area were ordered early Friday as the fire that began the day before continued to spread, driven by so-called Santa Ana winds gusting up to 65 miles (105 kilometers) per hour.

Some 600 firefighters backed by air tankers and helicopters were battling the flames that raced toward densely packed communities and threatened 10,000 structures, officials said.

Six homes were destroyed, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told a news conference, adding that the number was expected to rise.

At least four other fires have erupted in southern California this week, fueled by high temperatures in the 80s and 90s (above 30 Celsius) and bone-dry conditions.

A red flag warning indicating ripe conditions for wildfire was in effect for more than 18 million people in the southern part of the state until Friday evening.

A number of wildfires are also raging in the northern part of the state. The most serious -the Kincaid Fire -- broke out late Wednesday in the Sonoma wine region, also prompting evacuations.

The National Weather Service warned that although wind speeds were set to decrease later Friday, they were expected to pick up again on Sunday and Monday in the southern part of the state. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Images

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

OIL BOY. A boy walks out of the sea while removing oil spilled on Itapuama beach located in the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco state, Brazil, on October 21. Large blobs of oil staining more than 130 beaches in northeastern Brazil began appearing in early September and have now turned up along a 2,000-km stretch of the Atlantic coastline. The source of the patches remain a mystery despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s assertions they came from outside the country and were possibly the work of criminals. AFP

TOUSLED. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets his hair blown over as he leaves from 10 Downing Street in central London on October 23, before heading to the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions. Johnson said Tuesday he will pause efforts to pass his Brexit deal, after MPs gave their preliminary approval for it but rejected his timetable to push it through parliament this week. AFP

SERIOUS JOKER. A Lebanese woman with her face painted with the character of the Joker takes part in a protest in downtown Beirut on October 23, as demonstrations to demand better living conditions and the ouster of a cast of politicians who have monopolized power and influence for decades continue. AFP

‘UNDAS’ READY. Officials of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. give a thumbs-up to the company’s

LEAD SAFE. As the United Nations-backed International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is observed

on October 20 to 26, various groups recognize the efforts of the country’s paint industry to remove and replace toxic lead additives in paint formulations to protect public health, in line with DENR’s Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds. An example is the success of Sycwin, a local paint manufacturer, to obtain third-party Lead Safe Paint Certification from SCS Global Services for all of its architectural and industrial paint brands, which it touts in a press conference in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

‘Safe Trip Mo Sagot Ko’ program for the All Saints’ Day holiday, as the toll roads expect a 10-percent increase in volume for the weekend. Pictured (from left) are Romulo Quimbo, SVP for Communication and Stakeholder Management,NLEX Corp.; Christopher Lizo, CFO of Metro Pacific Tollways: Luigi Bautista, President of NLEX Corp.; Abraham Sales, Executive Director, TRB; and Raul Ignacio, COO of NLEX Corp.

Manny Palmero

DA VINCI WORK. People take pictures with mobile phone at an oil painting by Atelier Leonardo FIRE AID. Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go talks to fire victims at North Bay Boulevard in

Navotas City. Go handed over financial assistance and relief goods to hundreds of families affected by the blaze. Roy Tomandao

da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ (Version Ganay), during the opening of the exhibition on October 22 at the Louvre museum in Paris. Five hundred years after the death of da Vinci, the Louvre inaugurated on October 23 the largest exhibition ever set up around the work of the genius of the Renaissance, which is already announced as a popular success. AFP

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Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

DEJA VU AT BLACK ARROW EXPRESS 5150 TRIATHLON?

By Reuel Vidal

A

CEA SUBIC BAY, Zambales—Will Mitch Robins of Australia and Manami Iijima of Guam leave us with a distinct feeling of déjà vu by ruling the second Black Arrow Express 5150 which fires off here today, Sunday, Oct. 27?

Robins and Iijima won the men’s and women’s category in the inaugural race here last year and are back to protect their crowns in the 1.5k swim, 40k bike and 10k run Olympic Distance race.

Aussie Sam Betten, Czech Jakub Langhammer, Aussie Dimity Lee Duke as well as Laura Wood of New Zealand will have a lot to say when these world class professional triathletes compete for the top prize.

The competitors are one in saying that managing the heat in this tropical setting will be a big factor on who wins the race.

The multi-titled Betten, a frequent participant in Sunrise Events races held here in the Philippines, is confident that his familiarity with the terrain and weather will be enough to hand him the victory.

“The heat is always a big factor when racing in the Philippines and especially in Subic Bay. Having raced in Subic Bay many times both in the Ironman 70.3 and 5150 events I feel like I know what to expect and how to prepare for such tough conditions,” said Betten.

Langhammer who beat Robins in the Penong’s 5150 held in Davao last July is equally confident that he can adjust to the weather enough to win.

“I would say that the heat factor is one of the biggest factors in a race like 5150 Subic Bay. I remember that last year was really hot. Tempo dur-

Mitch Robins (left) and Sam Betten brace for another fiery clash not just in the bike part but also in the swim and run legs in hunt for a BAE 5150 crown. At right is Manami Iijima raising her hands in victory.

ing Olympic distance race is always so fast. Faster than 70.3 or IRONMAN. So you have to make sure to stay hydrated and cooling your body as much as possible. Racing in heat is really hard especially during the run. My secret is not to run so fast during the first half part of the run and always take water or ice on each aid station,” said Langhammer.

Wood, like the other competitors, will be mindful of dealing with the extreme heat on race day.

“The heat is always a big factor racing in Subic. I raced the 70.3 in Subic earlier in the year and managed the heat by making the most of every aid station by drinking water and Coke plus pouring water on

my head. The race this weekend is much shorter but I will probably still use the same strategy,” said Wood.

Last year Betten raced almost side-by-side through the swim and bike stages with Robins who eventually won. Robins only pulled ahead when he unleashed a strong finishing kick in the last of the twoloop run to prevail.

Iijima on the other hand prevailed over Duke last year when she leaned on a solid start to post a comfortable lead in the swim and bike stage. Iijima survived the strong finishing run by Duke to win.

A companion event is the Go for Gold Sunrise Sprint—a short distance triathlon series featuring

a 750m open-water swim, 20km bike ride and a 5km run put up by Go for Gold to help Filipino athletes achieve excellence in their sport – which will be held on the same date.

Venue hosts of the Black Arrow Express 5150 are Subic Bay and ACEA Subic Bay. Other backers are TYR (official swim brand), GU (official energy gel), David’s Salon and F2P Sportswear as major sponsors.

Media partners ONE Sports on Cignal, Crosstrain.ph, MBody.ph, Trilife, AsiaTri.com and FInisherPix with Alaska, AlcoPlus, Australia Harvest, Cetaphil, DeVant, Sanicare, Regent, Storck and Timex as marketing partners.

TOYOTA OTIS’ RIVERA IS FORMULA V1 CHAMP THE Clark International Speedway in Pampanga hosted the final showdown between Japanese Ryo Yamada and Filipino Estefano Rivera of Toyota Otis as the Phoenix-Formula V1 Challenge 2019 overall championship went downto-the-wire last Oct. 19 and 20.

The two drivers were only separated by a single point going to the last leg, with the Cleanfuel Racing ace Japanese driver holding the slight advantage.

What added pressure and flavor to the event was that the final race weekend sported a double-points system, giving the other drivers an outside chance in stealing the title from the two leaders.

The Saturday started off with Rivera drawing first blood after establishing a pole position lap time of 2:11.530. He then converted that to a race win.

Rivera led the race from start to finish, but crossed the finish line only 0.256 ahead of the surging Yamada.

The final day (Sunday) of competition resumed with even more excitement and intense racing wherein Race 2 saw Rivera and Yamada trading positions with each other from the get-go.

The 12-lap race did not fail to produce heartstopping racing which was eventually conquered

Estefano Rivera zooms to victory.

by Rivera after a marvelous overtake maneuver with 3 laps to go.

The two drivers crossed the checkered flag only 0.066 apart from each other.

The two race wins for Rivera meant that he had a 19-point advantage going into the final race later that afternoon. “Although the pressure was already much lighter going to the last race given my two previous wins, I knew it was far from over. I still needed to finish the race and place at least 3rd to officially bag the title, We can never be too complacent for anything can happen,” said Rivera, who did not plan to waste the opportunity as he crossed the finish line 2nd in the final race, which was more than enough to seal the championship.

A jubilant Rivera later on revealed during post-race interviews that he still had the intention to battle Yamada for the final race win but had to keep at bay and nurse a speculated transmission issue all the way to the checkered flag—to the surprise of everyone who thought that he purposely cruised and did not intend to Estefano Rivera with his Toyota Otis team and parents Sam and Fanny Rivera. battle for the win anymore.

The championship did not only proclaim Rivera with the title of being the best Formula V1 driver of 2019, he was also awarded with a race seat this coming December for the All-Japan Formula Vita Series final leg in Suzuka.

“This has got to be one of the, if not, the most prestigious championship I’ve won to date. Everything still feels a bit surreal after how dramatic the weekend transpired. I would like to thank the whole Cosco Group of Companies and Otis family for having such a fruitful year with them. From team owner Cosco Oben, to head coach Roland Hermoso, to team manager Pao Agregado, and to the rest of the team who made all this possible while sharing tons of great and fond memories. I certainly couldn’t have done it without every single one

The Toyota Otis standout holds his trophies.

of them,”added Estefano.

Aside from his upcoming Suzuka, Japan stint this December, Estefano is still in the middle of securing his first ever National Slalom King crown as the series’ 10th leg will be this October 27 in Cabanatuan City.

Rivera just needs a few points to officially clinch the 2019 championship - vacated by his elder brother, 20142018 champion Milo, with three more races to go.

In addition, Rivera is also set to once again represent the country for the upcoming FIA Taiwan Intercontinental Gymkhana Prix this Nov. 9 and 10, along with his teammates Mark Bernales and Gabie Desales.

PAGUNSAN REACHES SUMMIT LIPA CITY—Juvic Pagunsan recovered from a late meltdown in regulation with a gutsy stand in sudden death, pouncing on Tony Lascuna’s errant drive on the second playoff hole on No. 9 and holing out with a birdie to clinch the ICTSI Summit Point World 18 Challenge crown here yesterday.

Pagunsan uncharacteristically blew a two-stroke lead with three holes left in regulation with bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 for a 71 but he rose to the challenge, hitting a solid drive on their third trip in the day on the par-5 No. 9 while pouncing on Lascuña’s errant shot to the roughs.

He chipped to a putter-length distance. After watching Lascuña smirk after almost sinking a birdie bid off the fringe, Pagunsan banged in his last putt then raised his arm in triumph after foiling a worthy, tough Pagunsan rival to mark another brilliant campaign on Philippine Golf Tour Asia.

“I’m very happy with this win even if I had to go through two extra holes,” said Pagunsan, who hacked his 6-iron second shot barely in front of the ninth green and hit a 52-degree wedge shot to within four feet.

Two behind Pagunsan after 54 holes of the $100,000 championship, the seventh leg of the third season of the circuit put up by ICTSI, Lascuña closed out with a bogey-free 69 to force a playoff at 18-under 270.

Both birdied the reachable 546yard No. 9 on “gimme” distance but Lascuña pulled his drive to the left and barely got past a line of bunkers some 90 yards off the green the third time around. He also came up short on his approach but nearly knocked down a birdie from 30 feet out that would’ve extended the match.

‘It (title) was indeed for him,” said a dejected Lascuña.

Heading to the par-4 72nd hole, Pagunsan and Lascuña hit it straight in the rain and wind but while Lascuña knocked down his approach shot to the right side of the cup, some 20 feet out, Pagunsan’s approach hit the top of the left fringe, the ball rolling sideways to the green but resting oin a ridge some 25 feet out.

MARESTELLA BAGS GOLD IN TEST EVENT

By Peter Atencio CAPAS, TARLAC—Marestella Torres-Sunang leaped to a modest 6.2 meters on her fourth attempt in the women’s long distance event of the Southeast Asian Games Athletics Test Event at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium, but it proved just enough for the gold medal.

Torres-Sunang, who could be on her final SEA Games, beat Thai bet Parinya Chuaimaroeng, who settled for the silver with her 6.17 meters on her fifth attempt, and Vietnamese Thi Ngoc Ha Vu, who took the bronze with a 6.02-meters leap on her first try.

“That’s a good indication of what kind of place she’ll get. It’s a morale booster and confidence builder. She’s inspired performing before her countrymen,” said Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Philip Juico.

In beating her Thai and Vietnamese rivals for the gold, Torres-Sunang, who will be taking part in her seventh SEA Games, moved closer to her target of 6.45 meters, which earned her the bronze medal two years ago.

“Nag-practice na ako dito. Pero this time, may mga foreigners,” said Torres-Sunang, who expects to better her golden leap here during the SEA Games proper.

Hindi naman namin ito focus kasi, siningit lang ito sa training.”

Torres-Sunang believes that she has now reached at least 70 percent of her peak in performance.

“Sa December, kailangan nandoon na,” said Torres-Sunang, whose owns the national record of 6.72 meters which qualified her to the Rio Olympics three years ago.

That mark would practically obliterate the 6.68 meters of Vietnam’s Bùi Thị Thu Thảo, the gold winner of the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

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Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@manilastandard.net

NESTOR TAN NAMED MAP’S MANAGEMENT MAN OF THE YEAR

From left: Anthony Papageorgiou, vice president of Pure Wellness; Nick Gitsis, founder of Air Intellipure; Trina Gitsis, president of Air Intellipure; Suzie Lobdell, brand strategist of Intellipure USA; and Vinny Lobdell, global president of Pure Wellness.

US FIRM INVESTING P250M TO IMPROVE PH AIR QUALITY A

By Othel V. Campos

n American wellness product innovator aims to promote clean and healthy living in the Philippines by eradicating harmful particles inside homes and offices.

Air Intellipure Inc. founder Nick Gitsis, an advocate of cleaner and healthier living, introduced the Pure Wellness Program in the country through innovative products like the Air Intellipure air purifier.

Air Intellipure is the exclusive distributor for Intellipure—a sophisticated, medical grade, residential and commercial air purification system. The company intends to invest P250 million support its growth in the Philippines over the next three years.

The Pure Wellness Program is based on a patented surface and air purification technology that removes air pollutants from indoor spaces and maintains a high sanitary state with regular service.

It utilizes a patented process that eliminates and protects against 98 percent to 100 percent of viruses, bacteria and other irritants to create an environment that is beneficial for all people seeking healthy indoor spaces. The program is 100-percent turnkey and is serviced on an ongoing basis.

Air Intellipure recently launched its line of portable air purifier models in the Philippines through online and offline sales, with prices ranging from P47,000 to P89,000. Customizable commercial models are also available for industrial spaces.

Amid the rising concern on global health, the Philippines is not spared from health risks the world is facing.

“The Philippines has the third highest mortality rate due to poor air quality next to China and Mongolia. The thick smog in the cities and other pollutants that penetrate our homes can cause health deterioration especially to kids and the elderly,” Gitsis said.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is a major threat to mankind. Most people spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors, where air can be ten times worse than the quality of air outdoors.

New research indicates that the smallest, most dangerous, lung-penetrating ultra-fine particles are linked to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancer, dementia, infertility and even death.

Research from GWI suggests that people are starting to take notice.

Air Intellipure products offer the best possible

solution to purifying the air people breathe at home and establishments.

The global wellness economy was a $4.2-trillion market in 2017, and the industry grew 6.4 percent from 2015 to 2017. This is nearly twice as fast at the entire global economic expansion. Another study by the Global Welllness Institute suggests that the global wellness tourism market is the fastest growing sector of tourism and is expected to reach $919 billion by 2022.

Asia-Pacific’s wellness tourism market led the global drive for wellness as revenues increased to $136.7 billion in 2017 from $111.2 billion in 2015 with prospects of an annual 13-percent increase until 2022 or about $251.6 billion in two to three years.

Compared to the rest of the region, the Philippine air purification market is still in its infancy, mostly consisting of high-efficiency particulate air or HEPA filters.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer the best air purifier in the world which is 40 times better than a HEPA air purifier. With Filipinos valuing and appreciating health and wellness more and more, air purification becomes an important aspect of staying healthy. Awareness about air pollution is also expanding that makes people want more products that will help keep them healthy and fit,” Gitsis said.

Apart from residences, the company targets other people-intensive industries such as hotels and accommodation, casinos, business process outsourcing companies, co-working spaces and fitness centers.

Air Intellipure signed Belo Clinics as Certified Pure Wellness centers. In the last week of October 2019, the company will launch the same program with the City Grand Hotel in Makati City.

Other clients include KMC Solutions and a fitness gym.

Prospects for the domestic hotel industry are rosy given the annual influx of 11.5 million guests a year, a figure that is expected to grow 10.7 percent in 2019. There are about 25,000 hotel rooms in Metro Manila alone, with a projected shortfall of more than 60,000 rooms in the coming years.

In the work space category, there are 228,000 square meters of flexible office inventory in the country to date. About 79 percent are hosted services, 19 percent are the traditional serviced offices, while only 5 percent are the newer and innovative co-working spaces.

“After the enthusiastic response with the introduction of our evolved and rebranded Pure Wellness Program was received in Shanghai and Seoul, we are confident that both the business community as well as the residents of the wonderful country of the Philippines will demonstrate the same level of interest in our comprehensive and sustainable indoor environment solution, which tackles all three: air,

surfaces and water,” said Antony Papageorgiou, vice president of Pure Wellness, the global licensor of the Pure Wellness Program.

“We are proud to announce that Belo Clinics will be the first certified Pure Wellness clinics in Asia with the first location slated to open in BGC in November, raising the standard of indoor hygiene and client comfort and peace of mind to a whole new level,” said Gitsis.

Pure Wellness started in 2003 by offering wellness-minded travelers, and the hospitality industry, a superior guest room experience and market-differentiating room category that combines the most efficient air purification, water filtration and surface treatment solutions in the industry.

Its patented seven-step, scientifically calibrated process is installed in more than 500 hotels worldwide. More than 1.5 million people per month are experiencing the Pure Wellness program spanning over 10 countries.

“The Pure Wellness program uses one of the most-effective air purification technologies developed from a US military grant to provide the cleanest air possible. Our process to purification guarantees that you are in a pollution-free and allergy-friendly space,” said Gitsis.

On the cost of setting up Pure Wellness spaces, Gitsis emphasized that most establishments would not have an upfront capital expenditure.

Instead, it would involve an ongoing service agreement with measurable performance parameters.

“Our pioneering service is projected to bring exponential growth to the company over the next year. Along with our Intellipure Air Purification system sales, we’re targeting revenues of P58 million by next year with further substantial growth by 2021,” said Gitsis.

The business model has been proven highly successful. In the hospitality segment, Pure Wellness is offered in hundreds of hotels and other establishments worldwide, including the Marriott Hotels, Hilton, Ritz Carlton, Hyatt Hotels and the Intercontinental Hotels Group.

Travelers in particular are actively looking for improved indoor environment quality for their rooms, and willingly pay a small premium for a hotel stay treated for pollution, contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, and other irritants and allergens.

“We believe everyone has the right to live without environmental boundaries. Pure Wellness was created to provide true solutions to optimize the health and wellness of any indoor environment resulting in an incredible experience for the most discerning customer or partner establishment. We could not be more excited to be partnering with Nick Gitsis and the Air Intellipure team to bring our award-winning program to the Philippines,” said Pure Wellness global president Vinny Lobdell.

THE Management Association of the Philippines announced the selection of BDO Unibank Inc. president and chief executive Nestor Tan as the recipient of the “MAP Management Man of the Year 2019” award.

The “MAP Management Man of the Year” is a prestigious award that MAP bestows on individuals in the business community or government for attaining unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress.

The conferment of the award follows a thorough, stringent selection process. It has only been conferred 43 times in the five-decade history of the award.

Th e c r i te r i a fo r t h e awa rd i n c l u d e i n te gr i t y, l e a d e r s h i p and management qualities; contribution to nation building and values formation; effective stewardship within the confines of the highest standard of business and management practice; among others.

BDO Unibank Inc. president and CEO Nestor Tan

Tan was chosen for steering BDO to being consistently ranked by the global financial community as among the best-managed banks in the Philippines; for transforming BDO into a full-service universal bank with subsidiaries in leasing, trust, stock brokerage, private banking, rural banking and insurance, among others; and for his leadership role in the substantial contributions of the BDO Group to national development through job creation and income generation.

Tan was also recognized for his contribution to the long-term development of a financial-literate citizenry by promoting financial inclusion, par ticularly among teachers, soldiers, OFWs and the Filipino youth; for choosing to apply his international experience towards the development of the local banking industry; for ensuring that the Filipino community receives efficient banking and financial services and for preparing a road map for the development of banking and the capital market in the future as President of the Bankers Association of the Philippines; and for setting an example for Filipino professional managers through a track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership in his banking career.

Among the recent recipients of the awards are Fernando Zobel de Ayala (2018), John Gokongwei Jr. (2017), Teresita Sy-Coson (2016), Amando M. Tetangco, Jr. (2015) and Albert del Rosario (2014).

CAVITE ENTREPRENEUR AMONG MOST INFLUENTIAL FILIPINA DIVINA Lory Ann Mendoza, the owner of Furniture Depot and the world class president of Rotary Club of Dasmariñas, Cavite, will receive the Most Influential Filipina Woman in the World award from the Filipina Women’s Network in Paris, France on Oct. 28 to Nov. 2.

Mendoza is also a unit manager of Stargazer Lily of Baywood NBO under SunLife of Canada Phil. Inc., operations manager of Casa Mendoza Resort Inc. and president of Casa Viajero Travel and Tourism Inc. She is based in Cavite but grew up in Quezon province.

The Filipina Women’s Network recognizes women of Philippine ancestry who are changing the face of leadership in the global workplace, h a v i n g re a c h e d t h e s t a t u s fo r

outstanding work in their respective fields and are recognized for their contributions to society, femtorship and legacy.

The FWN100 Award was launched in the United States in 2006 and expanded its search globally in 2013.

“Each nominee goes through a rigorous vetting process by the selection committee composed of previous global awardees,” said Thelma Boac, chair of the Global FWN100 Awards and elected trustee of the San Jose, California Berryessa Union School District.

The Global FWN100 Award is a working recognition award with a meaningful purpose to recognize a Filipina woman leader in every sector of the global economy. The awardees are asked to re-

invent themselves by femtoring (female mentoring) Filipina women and bring her to the Filipina Summit in The Westin Paris-Vendôme, France.

M e n d o z a w a s s e l e c t e d f ro m an outstanding field of nominees from around the world through the nomination of Maria Majella Tumangan Villaroman, the FWN100 2018 awardee and co-founder and president of myCORD Corp.

Chosen under the Builder award category, Mendoza has demonstrated exceptional organizational impact at a large workplace environment; displaying deep passion for a cause through collaborative initiatives or alliances with institutions, corporations and non-profit organizations on behalf

of her own company.

“Divina Lory Ann Mendoza is now a valued partner in helping FWN develop the Filipina community’s pipeline of qualified leaders to increase the odds that some will rise to the “president” position in all sectors of the global economy,” said Dr. Carol Enriquez, FWN board member and president and CEO of Our Lady of Fatima University.

“The #FWNSummit2019 theme is Be. Magnificent. AMPLIFYING Filipina Women Voices. Seeing all the global awardees on stage at the awarding ceremony assures me that the future of our young Filipina sisters is solid,” said Georgitta Puyat, chairman of Philippine Orchard Corporation and president of FWN.

Divina Lory Ann Mendoza, the owner of Furniture Depot

Business

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IN BRIEF

AMAIA SCAPES OPENS IN BACOLOD AMAIA Land, an Ayala Land subsidiary that develops affordable and sustainable houses and condominiums for Filipinos, foresaw the need to serve Bacolod’s rapidly increasing number of aspiring homeowners with Amaia Scapes North Point—a condominium project that offers well-designed studio and deluxe residential units.

Amaia Scapes North Point is pushing the envelope further by launching new modern unit series called the Townhome, with sizes ranging from 45 to 80 square meters, and the Bungalow Pod New Gen, with sizes ranging from 60 to 85 square meters.

Rising on San Juan St., Barangay 8, Bacolod City in Negros Occidental, Amaia Scapes North Point, which boasts of a project area of 3,625 square meters, will give future residents convenient access to institutional, medical and commercial establishments, especially with transport stations for jeepneys and tricycles— and ferry service—in the vicinity.

The Amaia project is also near an upcoming Ayala Land commercial development and the Bacolod-Silay International Airport is just 13 kilometers away.

Amaia Scapes North Point will feature recreational facilities such as an adults’ swimming pool, a children’s pool plus play area, a large landscaped garden and a multipurpose venue for the use of residents and their guests. It will also have 102 secure parking slots.

Cebuana Lhuillier president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier poses with his trophies after his win atthe Asia CEO Awards 2019.

BRIA EXPANDS IN NEW TERRITORIES BRIA Homes, the fastest-growing mass housing developer in the Philippines, continues to expand in new territories, still aligned with its vision of providing affordable and welldesigned homes for ordinary Filipinos.

It is working on more than 50 projects in progressive town and cities as it fulfills its commitment of addressing the dearth of mass housing in the country. BRIA Homes has helped legions of ordinary Filipinos to achieve their dreams of owning a home in various communities nationwide, In Luzon, BRIA has built gated communities in Mariveles and Hermosa in Bataan; Paniqui, Tarlac; Urdaneta, Pangasinan; San Fernando and Magalang in Pampanga; San Jose Del Monte, Malolos, Sta. Maria, Norzagaray, and Plaridel in Bulacan; General Trias and Trece Martires in Cavite; San Pablo, Calamba, Sta. Cruz, and Calauan in Laguna; Teresa, Binangonan, and Baras in Rizal; and Pili, Camarines Sur. In the Visayas, BRIA has ongoing projects in Calbayog, Samar; Ormoc, Leyte; and Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. In Mindanao, BRIA residents are currently enjoying life in their secure communities in Cagayan De Oro, Balingasag, and Gingoog in Misamis Oriental; Manolo Fortich and Valencia in Bukidnon; Panabo and Tagum in Davao Del Norte; Calinan and Digos in Davao Del Sur; General Santos, South Cotabato; and Kidapawan, North Cotabato.

BRIA Homes aims to build more projects in other areas in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, providing the perfect choice for ordinary Filipinos who aspire to own superior quality and affordable homes.

NESTLÉ PHILIPPINES TAPS MEDIA AGENCY NESTLÉ Philippines Inc. announced the appointment of GroupM Philippines as its new media agency of record starting January 2020.

The selection of Media AOR is for media strategic planning and buying covering both broadcast media as well as digital media. The appointment covers all the brands of Nestlé Philippines Inc. and its affiliates including Wyeth Philippines.

“The decision to award the business to GroupM was based on a strong combination of factors including strategic planning, digital communications including e-business, programmatic and performance marketing, media buying efficiencies and leadership strength. With GroupM, we believe we have chosen a future fit partner that will strengthen both our traditional and digital media capability,” said Paolo Mercado, Nestlé Philippines’ head of marketing, communication and innovation.

“We wish to take this opportunity to thank Zenith Media for its many years of excellent work with Nestlé Philippines. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with GroupM as we move the business forward,” Mercado said.

The appointment of GroupM Philippines will be subject to finalization of contract terms that will happen in the coming weeks.

TECHNOLUX FEATURES VAN HOUTEN COCOA SOME 150 business owners, homebakers and aspiring foodpreneurs attended the recent Technolux Business Seriesat Mall of Kitchens which was organized by Culinary Best Source Inc. in collaboration with two leading food brands—Van Houten Professional and Monin Creative Flavor Solutions.

CBSI is a division of Technolux, the country’s largest importer and supplier of a complete line of foodservice, small wares and laundry equipment for 44 years.

Van Houten Professional, the pioneers in Cocoa on a quest for professional quality and European Heritage, is a brand of Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolates and other cocoa products from Belgium while Monin is touted to be the world’s leading brand in premium flavorings for cocktails, coffee and other culinary applications. These brands will give home bakers and foodpreneurs samples of delicious sweets and beverages pairings.

During the TBS, pastry chefs from Academy of Pastry and Culinary Arts conducted baking demos using Van Houten Professional compound chocolates. Beverage Innovators from Monin, meanwhile, paired these pastries with coffee, blended, iced and hot beverages using its premium flavorings to the delight of the guests.

TBS is held regularly by Technolux to introduce world-class kitchen equipment and quality ingredients to foodpreneurs, chefs and enterprises engaged in the F&B industry. The series is also aimed at helping them discover what will work best for their businesses through product demos and engagements with guest speakers from different countries.

LHUILLIER AWARDED ‘GLOBAL FILIPINO EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR’

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ebuana Lhuillier president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier received the prestigious Global Filipino Executive of the Year plum during the Asia CEO Awards 2019 at the Marriott Hotel Manila.

The Global Filipino Executive of the Year distinction is given by the Asia CEO Awards, the largest award-giving body in Southeast Asia, to Filipino citizens or persons of Filipino descent who have achieved success in the Philippines or otherwise, whether in the business sector, the government or the academe.

“This award is a testament of a bigger challenge that is presented to me and my team to keep true to our mission of empowering more Filipinos

to be included in the conversation on financial inclusion,” said Lhuillier.

The award recognized Lhuillier’s visionary leadership that continues to raise the bar for Cebuana Lhuillier and parent company, PJ Lhuillier.

He has shown his passion-fueled desire to not only achieve success in his business endeavors but also influence others with his philanthropic initiatives.

This year, Lhuillier led the introduction of the company’s Micro Savings product, in concurrence with the “#KayaNa: Unbanked Filipinos No More” movement. He is also the chief Iponaryo of the campaign to ensure the Philippines becomes a nation of people well-versed in the value of saving.

The Global Filipino Executive awardee is at the forefront of the expansion of the Cebuana Lhuillier pawnshop chain which has become a one-stop-shop for microfinancial services with 2,500 branches nationwide. His directions on

partnerships with entities abroad continue to improve and update the company’s money remittance service that provides convenience to overseas Filipino workers.

Lhuillier is also committed to help his fellowmen by creating opportunities for their betterment.

Through the Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation, he has opened nearly a hundred Alternative Learning System centers which has benefited 8,000 learners and sponsored more than 1,000 scholars.

The Asia CEO Awards recipient is also a longtime softball and tennis patron and is the person responsible for the impressive run of the RP Blu Girls in the recent Asia/Oceania Qualifying Tournament in Shanghai, China. He also supports international tennis stalwarts such as Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales.

The Asia CEO Awards 2019 bestowed 15 awards to individuals and companies who represent Asia’s best in leadership and growth.

THE RISE OF TECHNOLOGY FREELANCERS THE gig economy in the Philippines is showing no signs of slowing down, according to Lars Wittig, IWG country manager for the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and South Korea.

IWG Philippines Inc. is the largest co-working space provider in the country and the company behind the Regus brand.

Based on Paypal’s estimate, as much as 2 percent of the Philippine population could be working as freelancers today. Solutions like Upwork and Online Jobs PH make it easier than ever to find the right person to swoop in and fill your company’s digital skills gap.

“The digital revolution means that, for many online or softwarebased jobs it is no longer necessary for an employee to be within a commutable radius. In fact, they

don’t even have to be in the same country,” says Wittig.

More companies in the US, Australia and the UK are outsourcing digital work to freelancers in developing countries, and it is creating fresh career opportunities that previously did not exist, he says.

Tech-savvy remote workers in developing nations are taking up freelance work in areas like engine optimization, digital design, software development and computer programming, says Wittig.

These types of jobs bring a new source of income for Filipino professionals with specialized skills. An added benefit is that they don’t require lengthy, traffic-filled commutes. Instead, these roles let those who are trained for them work more flexibly, making employment

possible for more people than ever.

Freelance tech work is also a solution for the rapidly growing group of educated, unemployed professionals in the countr y.

Supplementing their education with IT training, enables graduates to take on digital freelance work that has been outsourced from overseas, allowing them to enter the job market. “ D i g i t a l o u t s o u rc i n g a l s o empowers Filipinas. For those who have adopted domestic roles within their family, freelance tech roles allow them to work from home, so they can have control over the hours they work, rather than turning away from employment opportunities,” says Wittig.

Bangladesh is a great example of how digital outsourcing is a catalyst for thriving gig economies

in developing countries. Thanks to a series of non-governmental initiatives promoting freelancing, and boosted connectivity across urban areas, the country is now the second-largest supplier of online labor in the world.

Bangladesh accounts for 16 percent of all global freelance workers, who generate $100 million annually. It’s beaten only by India, which accounts for 24 percent of the world’s freelance workforce.

“The digitalization of developing countries, like the Philippines, is positive news for the global economy. It means businesses can call upon a wider pool of talented tech freelancers than ever before when they need a job done. This is quickly transforming the economic landscape of entire nations and the prospects of its citizens,” says Wittig.

PH WOOD EXPO 2019 SHOWCASES INNOVATIONS SUPPLIERS and manufacturers of wood products, both local and international, came together for the Philippine Wood Expo 2019 on Oct. 21 and 22 at Sofitel Philippine Plaza to showcase sustainable trends and innovations in the global wood industry.

The theme of this year’s Philippine Wood Expo, which was held at the Luzon and Mindanao ballrooms of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, was “A Greener Economy through a Wooden World”. Attendees of the event came from various countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. Stakeholders from the public and private sectors also participated in the event.

“There is growing interest in wood as a material and this event showcased exciting developments in the wood industry that promises to propel it forwards,” said PWPA chairman Charlie Liu. “We are looking forward to highlighting the Philippines as one of the global

leaders in terms of wood technology.”

The event also hosted several respected industry experts who discussed some of the most pressing issues and interesting developments in the industry.

Among the topics tackled were “Understanding the Proposed Sustainable Forest Management Bill” led by Tommy Valdez of Filipino Foresters Inc.; “Demand and Supply-Side Measures in Support of Legal and Sustainable Trade” with Bruno Cammaert of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization; and “Wood in Construction: An Option or A Necessity” with Jon Ander Bilbao, lead architect of Goudie Associates.

“We hope that attendees learned more about the local and global wood industry and the trends that are shaping its future. We believe that through activities like the Philippine Wood Expo 2019, we can help build greater support for the usage of wood,” Liu said.

From left: Philippine Wood Producers Association vice chairman Ramon Uy, FILTRA Timber managing director Per Stangegaard, House committee on natural resources chairman Rep. Elpidio Barzaga. Jr. of the 4th District of Cavite and PWPA chairman Charlie Liu.

This is the second time that the PWPA held the Philippine Wood Expo. The first was held in 2016. The event brought together representatives of various sectors such as forest management and development, manufacturing,

processing, distribution and marketing of wood products. Government officials and communities who directly benefit from the wood sector also joined the first iteration of the Philippine Wood Expo.

Tech & Gadgets

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019 rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

ROBO AMBASSADOR EVE REPORTS FOR WORK AT UNIONBANK

The first set of Eves will be deployed to four UnionBank ARKs or fully digital branches.

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NIONBank of the Philippines has a new type of branch ambassadors named “Eve.”

to four UnionBank ARKs or fully digital branches —at the head office along Meralco Avenue in Pasig, at Insular Building in Makati, on 32nd Street Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and in Katipunan, A generation of state-of-the-art robots about respectively.

They will initially function as greeters but they three feet tall, the first set of Eves will be deployed

are programmed to learn certain functions in bank branches.

This new type of ambassadors will help customers to digital banking. They will guide clients on how to use the self-service machines and the queueing system, as well as teach them how to register to UnionBank Online—an app which allows clients to bank from the comforts of their home or office.

Apart from this, they can also direct people to the ARK ambassadors, answer questions about bank products and invite guests for coffee. They also know how to sing, dance and entertain customers, according to UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista.

UnionBank collaborated with a foreign robotics tech company to create Eve—which is seen to be instrumental in further enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.

A frontrunner in digital banking, UnionBank is committed to utilize technology to augment banking experience and address common pain points in banking. Most recently, it was awarded the 2019 Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific excellence in customer experience for the Philippine banking industry.

Frost & Sullivan lauded UnionBank’s customerdriven strategy which continues to propel the company to even greater heights.

“The bank is performing well beyond the trail of innovation, completely transforming its banking capabilities and enhancing customer experience,” it said.

USING TECH TO PROMOTE FINANCIAL INCLUSION FILIPINOS can now get insurance protection without having to talk to an agent or fill out long application forms. With their mobile phones, they can buy insurance coverage at their convenience.

AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance providers, has partnered with digital platforms GCash and MicroEnsure to provide better and more convenient access to insurance products to prospective customers with just a few taps on smartphones.

“With GCash Insure, where AXA is the underwriter, we are promoting financial inclusion by giving Filipinos access to affordable, high-quality, and reliable insurance products using only their mobile phones,” said AXA Philippines president and chief executive officer Rahul Hora.

The new GCash Insure is a comprehensive yet affordable product with life and personal accident insurance coverage of up to P200,000 and daily hospital income insurance up to P10,000. Powered by MicroEnsure and underwritten by AXA, GCash Insure lets GCash users choose from among bronze, silver, gold and platinum benefit plans that can cover the buyer and other beneficiaries, such as family members of up to three persons.

“As you’ve seen over the past few years, GCash has transformed by providing a variety of accessible financial services to the people. GCash Insure completes the financial services suite accessible on GCash,” added GCash chief data officer Jean-Francois Darre.

Richard Leftley, CEO of MicroEnsure said “providing insurance to the mass market has many

Shown here are (from left) AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora, GCash chief data officer Jean-Francois Darre, and MicroEnsure country manager Roger De Pedro.

challenges that can only be overcome through partnerships and we are excited to be utilising our skills in creating, selling and servicing insurance for the mass market which we have gained over the last 17 years to drive this partnership forward.”

Through GCash Insure, getting insurance is made easier as payments for the monthly or an-

nual premium,depending on the preferred and agreed upon payment frequency, will simply be deducted from the customer’s GCash account.

For more information on GCash Insure, visit www.axa.com.ph or www.gcash.com/insure/. Contact the GCash hotline at 2882, or send an email to gcashinsure-support@microensure.com.

GLOBE OFFERS AFFORDABLE PAYMENT PLANS FOR IPHONE 11

By Paul David L. Gelario GLOBE is offering affordable and multiple payment plans to make the latest iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max lineup within the financial reach of Filipino smartphone enthusiasts.

ThePlan1799 offers a fixed monthly installment for up to 36 months of 0 percent interest from a BPI Credit Card. If customers choose the iPhone 11 64GB, whose suggested retail price is P47,990, plan subscribers up for contract renewal will have a monthly payment as low as P533, while new customers will be charged P600 monthly.

ThePLAN 1799 comes with 15GB of data, Unli All Net Text, Unli Calls to Globe/TM, 100 mins all-net calls. The customer will also get free DisneyLife ad Amazon Prime Video for six months, and free 1GB Facebook data allocation.

Non-credit card customers may opt for the Handset Installment Plan1299 which is directly charged to a customer’s monthly bills. The plan has a duration of 24 months with lockout and customers will have a monthly payment of P2,799 if a user chooses an iPhone 11 64GB. Special cash out rates are also exclusive for customers with plans ThePlan1799 and above can enjoy a P2,400 discount while P1,200 discount for other plans.

These special cash out rates give customers with plans from ThePlan1799 and above a one-time cash out and spread the total cost within the 24-month contract duration. For example, customers who opted for an iPhone 11 64GB will pay a one-time cashout of P19,200 with its total cost spread for 24 months.

Apple’s official store gave iPhone 11’s two other variants with the suggested retail prices of P50,990 for the 64GB variant and the 256GB at P56,990. It is available in colors red, green, yellow, purple, black, and white. iPhone 11 Pro has a price tag of P67,990 for the 64GB variant, P76,990 for 256GB, and P89,990 for the 512GB. The higher-end iPhone 11 Pro Max price starts at P73,990 for the 64GB, P82,990 for the 256GB, and P95,990 for the 512GB. Both iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max are available in colors Space Gray, Midnight Green, Gold, and Silver.

CHAN, FIREFLY LED COLLABORATE FOR BRAND’S DIGITAL VIDEO SINGER and songwriter Jose Mari Chan is not just a brand ambassador for Firefly LED Lights. He also collaborated with the Firefly team for the concept and making of the digital video unveiled on October 16, to launch its “Celebright Christmas” campaign for the holidays.

The digital video, which carries the theme and tagline “The spirit of Christmas made even brighter with Firefly LED Lights,” (the phrase coined by Jose Mari Chan himself) shows the singer in a Filipino home talking to each of the family members about Firefly LED lights and safety. In the video, two Christmas Icons come together with Santa Claus’ makes an appearance and amusingly mimics Jose Mari Chan.

The video, co-created by Firefly LED Brand Team, Gigil Ad Agency and Jose Mari Chan, was launched on October 16 on Firefly LED’s Facebook and YouTube accounts.

“The video is light and humorous but it will also remind Filipinos to have a safe and bright holiday season. What is Christmas without lights?” said Chan, whose song “Christmas in our Hearts” is the Filipino anthem for the season.

As Chan tells it, “Christmas in our Hearts” was the result of the efforts of a number of individuals, including himself, Bella Tan of Universal Records, lyricist Rina Caniza and even his daughter Lisa, who had to learn the song practically overnight.

The singer-songwriter did not hes-

Jose Marie Chan coins Firefly LED's theme and tagline 'The spirit of Christmas made even brighter with Firefly LED Lights."

itate to accept Firefly LED’s offer to be their brand ambassador. He liked the idea that it was going to be a Christmas campaign that would also remind the public about safety in using Christmas lights and lights in general.

“It’s a perfect product for Christmas.

What is Christmas without lights? That only happens in the Philippines where people have Christmas trees and lights in their homes. On the streets, people from Pampanga sell parol. Lights and Christmas go together and Firefly exemplifies that. When they asked me, I immediately said yes. Firefly, Christmas lights, LED-that’s the in thing. LED is safe. It won’t

cause fires,” said the singer-songwriter.

‘SONG OF THE FIREFLY’ For the Chan family—Jose Mari, his wife Mary Ann and their children—trimming the tree is a big event. They have had the same tree for years. It is the same one that they brought from New York, where they lived for 11 years. Many of the three ornaments have stories to tell and the family has had them for years, too. Of course, the tree is lit up with Firefly LED Christmas Lights, the first Firefly-branded Christmas lights in the country.

Firefly LED is not the only brand that offered Chan an endorsement but he accepted it because the company manu-

factures products that he believes in.

Trivia: Chan has a Christmas song called “Song of the Firefly.”

“The campaign aims to inform the public that Firefly has lights for every household need, and its standard LED bulbs range is safe for the eyes, as certified by TÜV-SÜD, a world-renowned German testing institute. We are very happy to be working with Jose Mari Chan, who is a revered Christmas icon in the Philippines,” said Erik Riola, Marketing Director of Firefly Electric and Lighting Corporation.

The Filipino-owned Firefly Lighting brand has been in business for close to two (2) decades, but only began selling Christmas lights three years ago. The company mainly sells various lighting and electrical products.

Last year, Firefly also lit up trees at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North Edsa and Ayala Cebu, the Christmas instal-

lations at Tiendesitas (Ortigas East), Bradco Avenue, Aseana City and Ayala Circuit Makati.

The brand is once again lighting-up the 70-foot tree at Central Park, SM by the BAY, Mall of Asia Complex on November 9, in partnership with SM by the BAY, and to be graced by Firefly LED’s celebrity ambassador, Jose Mari Chan.

Firefly LED Bright Christmas lights is the first Firefly-branded Christmas lights in the market today. These lights are tested safe as the product has a built-in safety fuse and made of high-grade materials such as copper wire, instead of aluminum. All Firefly Christmas lights are approved by the Department of Trade and Industry.

“Firefly’s Christmas lights come in warm white, white and RGB (red, green and blue). The Christmas lights prices range from P439 for the 90 LED bulbs, 6-meter, steady-on string lights, to P2,499 for the curtain lights with 400 LED bulbs and with a blinking night sky effect” said Christine Reyes, Assistant Brand Manager of Firefly LED. Visit Firefly’s official Facebook page: facebook.com/FireflyLightingPH, or click this LINK to know what Jose Mari Chan and Firefly LED has in store for you this holiday season.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019 Riera U. Mallari, Editor rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

JOLLIBEE ROLLS OUT E-BIKE DELIVERY

OLLIBEE, everyone’s well-loved red bee, gives people more reasons to be joyful as it shifts to a more environmentally friendly way of delivering your favorite meals!

In partnership with ECOS Environmental Foundation, Inc. which seeks to achieve environmentally sustainable development, and together with the Department of Transportation, Jollibee is taking the lead in revolutionizing environmentally conscious transportation for delivery. The company is launching its initial fleet of E-bikes, the first road legal E-bikes in the country, in its bid to reduce its carbon footprint and impact to the environment.

“We’re extremely thrilled and proud to partner with Jollibee in this positive undertaking”, said Shinsuke Kawauchi of ECOS Environment Foundation Inc. and Environmentally Sustainable Technology Development Inc (ESTD). “With the amount of deliveries that Jollibee riders do within the day, shifting to the use of E-bikes can play a huge role in making their operations more sustainable and efficient, by reducing environmental impact thanks to zero emissions.”

Made and assembled in Japan, the Jollibee Delivery E-bikes—to be first rolled out in three branches: Jollibee Emerald Avenue (Ortigas Center, Pasig), Jollibee BGC Triangle (BGC, Taguig), and Jollibee Molino (Cavite)—are lightweight, do not

VIVO NEX 3 LAUNCH TO GIVE PEEP OF FUTURE IN PHONE TECH

These E-bikes are lightweight, do not need gasoline or fuel, and come equipped with E-push technology, making it easier to ride in rough terrain or even steep slopes. Moreover, compared to traditional motorcycles, the Jollibee Delivery E-bikes have a longer motor lifespan of 15 to 20 years, a 4 to 5-year battery life, are noise-free and run with zero CO2 emissions resulting in true operational efficiency.

need gasoline or fuel, and come equipped with E-push technology, making it easier to ride in rough terrain or even steep slopes.

In addition, when compared to traditional motorcycles, the Jollibee Delivery E-bikes have a longer motor lifespan of 15 to 20 years, a 4 to 5-year battery life, are noise-free and run with zero CO2 emissions.

Thus, long-term operational costs are made cheaper, more economical, and eco-friendly.

By rolling them out in bustling CBDs, Jollibee aims to reduce emissions in an ever-crowded metropolis, playing an important role in mitigating climate change.

“We at Jollibee acknowledge the role that companies need to play in affecting positive change. We’re happy to share that we are piloting various initiatives, one of which is the use of E-bikes for Jollibee Delivery, to drive eco-friendly efforts in the country,” says Mario Malalis,

Integrated Back-end Delivery Director of Jollibee National Business Channels.

After its pilot run, Jollibee plans to eventually replace its existing motorcycle fleet with the E-bikes.

“Yes, it’s a small step, but a necessary one as we continue to come up with more ways to help care for our environment. We’re also looking at launching other eco-friendly initiatives in the near future,” added Malalis.

CAROUSELL TACKLES COUNTERFEIT CAROUSELL, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds, has launched the Carousell Rights Owners Programme, a platform that tackles counterfeit listings in collaboration with brand partners. CROP provides assurance to brands, whose rights are more closely protected, and users, who can deal with greater confidence in the marketplace platform.

CROP allows trusted brand partners to directly remove listings of brand replicas from Carousell with zero processing time, thus tightening the content moderation process by drastically reducing the time required for takedowns. First piloted in December 2018 in Singapore, CROP has taken down 13,000 listings in the nine months since its introduction. Only select brand partners, whose activities will be closely monitored by Carousell, will have access to CROP and its content moderation capabilities. Brands that have come onboard CROP include Nike, Grab and luxury brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta.

“We want to create a trusted marketplace platform and protect Carousellers from inadvertently purchasing counterfeits or unauthorised

goods, while at the same time protecting brands’ rights. CROP allows us to proactively address both these issues seamlessly, eliminating any delay in action altogether. Once a listing has been deemed counterfeit and removed directly by the brand through CROP, the seller will automatically receive an email to notify them of the takedown due to their item’s infringement of Intellectual Property (IP) rights,” said Serena Darcel Chin, Head of Legal, Carousell.

Carousell’s existing counterfeit policy prohibits the sale of fake products, replicas or counterfeits and the creation of any content that violates any intellectual property rights. However, prior to CROP there was a longer process from the flagging of an item to the actual takedown, as its URL had to be first submitted to Carousell’s brand protection team for processing. To ensure swift action, Carousell is looking to further streamline and automate CROP’s processes in the near future.

“Trust and safety continues to be a key priority for Carousell. Carousell has been collaborating with and supporting the Police’s efforts in combating the sale of counterfeit goods on its platform. We are invested in building a holistically safe and conducive environment for buying and selling and have seen very promising results from our combined efforts to tackle counterfeits,” said Raffy Montemayor, General Manager, Carousell Philippines.

CROP is the latest development Carousell’s series of dedicated efforts in building a trusted environment for its users. Besides CROP, Carousell has also invested resources in Sift Science (a third party service provider) and manual moderation teams to help combat counterfeits on the platform.

THE long wait is over for smartphone consumers and tech enthusiasts as Vivo is finally bringing its premier range of smartphones to the Philippines.

The leading global technology company is set to introduce the NEX 3, the flagship smartphone of its high-end NEX series, to the local market through an October 29 event at the Green Sun in Makati City.

With the NEX 3 launch, Vivo offers a glimpse of the “device of the future” as it unveils a premium smartphone that breaks the limits of present technology with innovations that go beyond the edge.

Among the much-anticipated features of the NEX 3 is the world’s first Super AMOLED Waterfall FullView™ display, a notch-less and bezel-less body which accounts for the handset having no physical power and volume buttons, and 64-megapixel primary camera.

Stay tuned for more details on where the Vivo NEX 3 will be available soon.

Vivo is a leading global technology company that is committed to creating trendsetting smart mobile innovations and services. Devoted to forming a vibrant mobile internet ecosystem, Vivo currently owns and operates an extensive network of research operations, with R&D centers focusing on the development of cutting-edge consumer technologies, including 5G, AI, mobile photography, and nextgeneration smartphone design.

Currently, Vivo has over two hundred million users enjoying its mobile products and services around the world. It is present in 18 markets globally and features offline retail stores in over 1,000 cities worldwide. In the Philippines, Vivo is among the top 3 smartphone brands in terms of market share with 1.5 million users nationwide.

For inquiries, visit vivoglobal. ph or check www.facebook.com/ vivo.phil, www.instagram.com/ vivo_philippines/, and https:// twitter.com/vivo_phil.

HP NEVERSTOP LASER PRINTERS BOAST OF 1ST TONER TANK, SELF-RELOAD KIT ALL entrepreneurs want to run their business as smooth as possible. They strive to avoid any glitches, no matter how small, that can drastically affect productivity and derail their overall work performance.

When it comes to budding and smallsized businesses, even a tiny setback in office procedures—such as printing important documents, reports and presentations—can surely have dire consequences for the team and the management.

And with office machines, such as laser printers that rely on a continuous supply of toners, interruptions in printing could mean missed deadlines and lost opportunities.

Now, all that is about to change as HP, the World’s #1 Printer Company, introduces the world’s first toner tank with the HP Neverstop Laser printer series.

MINIMIZE INTERRUPTIONS The all-new printers are equipped with a revolutionary toner tank that can easily

be reloaded using a 15-second mess-free self-reload toner kit. In just three easy steps—shake, plunge, print—and within just a quarter of a minute, users can conveniently refill and restore toner levels, to keep up with the demands of highvolume, high-quality printing.

With a pre-loaded toner tank, the Neverstop printers can truly minimize interruptions as they can readily print 5,000 pages at 21 ppm, straight out of the box, before requiring reload. That’s up to 3x more pages compared to in-class HP laser printers!

HIGH VOLUME, LOW-COST PRINTING HP’s toner tank design also enables users to save as much as 85% on costs compared to traditional HP toner cartridges. At only P1,250, the self-reload toner kit can produce 5,000 pages of high-quality print outs of sharp text and bold blacks, for an equivalent of just 25 centavos per page.

RELIABLE MULTIFUNCTIONALITY Aside from minimizing costly interrup-

tions, the HP Neverstop Laser also boasts of scanning and copying capabilities, which users can access from their mobile devices, thanks to the HP Smart app.

With the app, users can print documents and pictures from their smartphones, from the cloud, or from virtually anywhere, to the HP Neverstop Laser. They can also scan documents using their smartphone and share these through email or the cloud, or print it with Neverstop. They can also connect their smartphones or tablets directly to the printer for easy printing without accessing a network.

So, go ahead. Get the HP Neverstop Laser printers with the revolutionary toner tank that won’t let your business suffer a printing hiccup. The HP Neverstop Laser 1200w (P15,290), Laser 1200a (P14,790), Laser 1000w (P13,790), and Laser 1000a (P13,290) printers are available at authorized HP reseller stores nationwide.

With HP Neverstop laser printers, users will need just 15 seconds to refill the world’s first toner tank system, using a mess-free self-reload toner kit.

Destinations D1

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor

manilastandardlife@gmail.com

@manilastandardlife

@MStandardLIFE

Alhibe Farm in Carmen

FARM FUN IN CEBU

BLISSFULLY BAGUIO

A GIFT that keeps on giving, Cebu, with all its attractions, is also home to a host of garden and farm-themed resorts, attracting visitors looking to learn more about farming and organic food.

Located in the upland barangays are Sirao Flower Farm, Jaime Chua’s Orchid Farm, Adlawon Vacation Farm, MSDEA Ornamental Garden, Terrazas de Flores, Serenity Farm and Resort, and Lava Mountain River Farm, which have been continuously drawing tourists from all over the country.

HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. The Forest Lodge at The Manor offers a blissful stay, where fresh air, deluxe amenities, and warm service await.

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HIS catchy tagline greeted me when I checked in at the Forest Lodge at The Manor.

I didn’t have to think deeper to fully comprehend what it means because my favorite images of Baguio immediately unraveled in my mind when I saw this phrase.

To me, Baguio means fresh, nippy air, the refreshing scent of pine trees, the peace and quiet that my weary self craves, and the friendly, smiling faces of the people I come in contact with. And I had all those where I was at that moment, blissfully contented at the Forest Lodge.

This deluxe property actually started with only eight suites, as part of The Manor. It was in 2012 when, after having added more rooms, it assumed a separate identity and became Forest Lodge. It now has 100 rooms, 45 of which have balconies. This design facility in a resort hotel makes a lot of difference when you’re checked in for rest and recreation.

My room’s spacious balcony tempted me to just sit there for hours, gazing at the mountain, relishing the calming view of lush foliage and colorful flowering shrubs that carpet its slopes.

With the cool breeze caressing my face nonstop, such is the luxury I always look forward to in this mountain resort.

Since I had the rare privilege of chatting leisurely with the hotel’s resident manager Christine Marie Cua, executive assistant Cathleen Ann Romero, and management trainee Arvin Lance Buenaventura, I decided to satisfy my curiosity: What makes the hotel better than its nextdoor neighbor, The Manor?

First off, they proudly stated what I could easily attest to. The hotel has much bigger rooms than its neighbor. There was so much space

Terrazas De Flores The spacious lobby glows in the morning sunlight.

Jaco Razon, the versatile pianist at the Lobby Bar.

around my king-size bed, enough for me to easily move about without bumping into any furniture. Add to that the balcony which could easily seat four around a square table, and still have so much space around them. The bathroom was huge, I could probably do cartwheels in there, if I had that skill.

What makes the hotel even more attractive, especially to millennials, are its easy-onthe-pocket rates. The younger office workers and students feel more at home at this hotel as their budgeted travel funds do not get depleted right away.

Another plus-factor that gives Forest Lodge an edge over The Manor is the availability of more in-house function rooms, of which the hotel has three. These facilities make it easier for companies to book their live-in conferences, giving the hotel the much-desired highyield income because the event generates banquet and room revenues.

And the service is exemplary. Of course, with 115 smiling faces ready to jump on any of the guests’ needs, you can expect nothing less. Each of the employees I came in contact with, whether from Housekeeping or Food and Beverage or from the Front Office, made me feel like I was the only one they were serving.

I guess I’m just spoiled but that’s the kind of personalized service I expect from any hotel I check-in to, and I had that during my entire stay at Forest Lodge.

No wonder the hotel posts a year-to-date “healthy” occupancy of 85 percent, with an enviable average room rate of P5,000. These figures certainly spell out a success story any which way you look at it, the reason why I’m not surprised that they’re adding 40 rooms next year to accommodate their continuously increasing loyal customers.

Turn to D2

North of the city are Valentin Farm and Resort in Consolacion and Alhibe Farm in Carmen, which further strengthen Cebu’s status as an emerging farm tourism haven in the south.

To promote and unveil this growing sector, Cebu on Nov. 6-8 will host the 6th Farm Tourism Conference. The event is expected to gather the country’s leading practitioners and stakeholders in this "sunshine industry."

Sirao Garden

Themed “Farm Tourism: Building Community Relationship for Sustainable Development,” the event Turn to D2

NATURE TRIP

EXPLORING THE MANGROVES OF PAPAYA COVE IN NASUGBU

The Mangrove Tour in Papaya Cove offers nature lovers opportunity to learn more about mangroves and their restoration.

A NEW close-to-nature activity awaits visitors of Hamilo Coast in Batangas.

Through is sustainability efforts, the resort was able to preserve more than 10,000 mangrove trees which cover approximately 10 hectares of the estate, making it the largest mangrove area in Nasugbu, Batangas.

Together with the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines, Hamilo Coast continues to nurture this ecosystem by conducting educational mangrove tours in hopes of increasing awareness about mangroves and their restoration.

The Mangrove Tour in Papaya Cove offers nature lovers the perfect opportunity to discover the vibrant biodiversity for themselves.

The tour starts with a short 200-meter walk

through the mangrove forest leading to where the paddle boats are docked. The narrow path is surrounded on either side by white mangroves, one of two mangrove species found in Hamilo Coast.

These trees reach up to 50-feet high and create a canopy to cover the path keeping tourists cool during the summer.

At the end of the short walk is a small port where boats await. A well-paved space enclosed by bamboo railings creates a quasi-romantic secret garden in the middle of the mangrove forest. This miniature sanctuary is the start of the second half of the tour—a canoe ride that leads to Papaya Cove.

Guests aboard the canoe learn more about mangroves as the guides, who paddle and navigate Turn to D2

Destinations

D2

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

FARM...

BOO! FAMILY-FRIENDLY HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES

From D1

is hosted by the City Government of Cebu, and co-organized by the International School of Sustainable Tourism and the Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialist, Inc. According to ISST president Mina Gabor, the conference will focus on the unique fusion of farming and tourism which helps empower local communities, provide diversified income for farmers, and encourage sustainable practices for food security.

“Farm Tourism attracts visitors and travelers to farm areas, generally for educational and recreational purposes that encourage economic activity to provide farm and community income. It is one of the country’s sunshine industries which can be developed because of the agricultural nature of the economy,” said Gabor.

Former President and House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar, and Senator Cynthia Villar, author of the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016, will deliver keynote messages.

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RING out the pumpkin bucket and fake blood because it is time for thrilling fun and spook-tacular treats. Check out where to bring the family for a fun Halloween time.

Spooktacular staycation at Discovery Suites

Spookfest at DreamPlay

Now in its fourth year, Spookfest is happening on Oct. 31 to Nov. 1.

Guests availing of the Spookfest VIP Package, priced at P1,499, get all-day pass at DreamPlay’s attractions with express check-in and attraction entry.

It also includes passes to DreamWorks’ Halloween movie, pumpkin cookiemaking session, and other exciting activities such as “Shrek or Treat” Scavenger Hunt pass and “Shrek It Out” costume contest.

Call (02) 8800-8080 or email guestservices@cod-manila.com.

Families staying in Ortigas property Discovery Suites can enjoy special Spooktacular rates starting at P5,000 nett for Junior Suite Deluxe, P5,300 nett for Junior Suite Premier, and P5,500 nett for One-Bedroom Deluxe.

Each staycation package comes with two tickets to the Spooktacular Kids’ Halloween Activities on Nov. 1 and 2, at 3:00 p.m to 5:00 p.m.

Call (02) 719-8888 or email reservations@discovery.com.ph.

Jaime Chua's Orchid Farm

Resource persons include ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity executive director Theresa Mundita Lim, Board of Landscape Architecture chairman Paolo Alcazaren, Arslan SRS Philippines chief executive officer Augustus Caesar Esmeralda, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture director Glenn Gregorio, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director Eduardo Gongona.

The three-day event will also have an exhibition area for fresh and organically grown agricultural produce, and a host of healthy food items from local entrepreneurs. There will also be site visits on leading farm tourism spots in Cebu’s upland barangays.

For details, contact (02) 832-0996, 8342994, or 0917-1868766, email info.isstphilippines@gmail.com, or follow ISST Philippines on Facebook.

Pirates and mermaids at Crimson

It’s a colorful Halloween celebration at Crimson Hotel Filinvest City’s Pirates and Mermaids Halloween Party on Oct. 31 at 2:00 p.m.

Kids in festive pirate and mermaid costumes get a chance to win in the contest. Ticket for participants 2 years old and above is P1,150 net.

Ticket includes a heavy snack buffet with free-flowing iced tea, interactive show in the ballroom, costume contest, trick or treat, photo booth, Shake, rattle, and roll at Diamond A one-of-a-kind children’s party is happening at Diamond Hotel on Oct. fun games, and activities, exciting prizes, and giveaways.

Call (02) 8863-2222 or email info.alabang@crimsonhotel.com.

27. Guests can have a cackling good time from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. during the event at Diamond Ballroom featuring Filipino folklore creatures.

Tickets are priced at P1,000 nett per person, inclusive of a take-home snack box of treats (no tricks!) and full access to the awesome activities and games bonanza. Participants also get a chance to win roundtrip tickets for two to Singapore via Cebu Pacific at the grand raffle.

Call (02) 528-3000 ext. 8461 or email guestservices@diamondhotel.com.

BLISSFULLY...

From D1

The soothing panoramic view from my balcony.

There was one more reason why I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend at the Forest Lodge. The pianist at the Lobby Bar knew all my songs! Jaco Razon, a UP Conservatory of Music graduate, told me he was more “at home” playing the guitar, but he also played the piano beautifully, tempting me to sing along with him my favorite “oldies but goodies,” like As Time Goes By, Two For The Road, The Nearness Of You, The Way You Look Tonight, and many more. I enjoyed the musical reverie so much that I didn’t realize I had been singing for an hour!

YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE The husband was berated by his wife because he absolutely had NO SENSE OF DIRECTION, so he packed up his belongings and RIGHT!

With the hotel’s admirable offerings which I took delight in, and with a song in my heart, it definitely was BLISSFUL in Baguio…at the Forest Lodge.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com.

FunFair at KidZania

Enchantimals at Araneta City

BGC’s premier play city KidZania Manila holds thrilling games for this year’s All Hallow’s Eve celebration.

There will be a Treat Jamboree exclusive for BKidZanian CitiZens. Adventure-seekers, meanwhile, will be thrilled to become astounding performers, splendid artists, magnificent tightrope walkers, and more. Kids and their families coming in colorful or non-scary character costumes on Oct. 31 get a chance to win prizes.

The FunFair Pass for one adult and one kid is priced at P3,740.

Araneta City brings in an enchanted Halloween as Enchantimals and magical creatures invade the City today until Oct. 31.

Enchantimal invasion will open portals to Everwilde Realm popping up at Gateway and Ali Mall Activity Areas. Everwilde is a place where kids can do exciting activities like Adventure Hunt. Just present a single receipt worth P800 from any Araneta City merchants to join. Cash prizes and other gifts are in store for the winners of the costume contest.

Registration is from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., while competition starts at 2:30 p.m.

EXPLORING...

From D1

through the water, describe how the once empty and gray plot of land was transformed into the lush mangrove forest it is now.

Paddling out of the mangrove forest and into the canal, the water current changes and the breeze becomes stronger. The sound of waves crashing over the shores of Papaya Cove can be heard from afar.

Tour guides continue to paddle until the canoe reaches the middle of the cove’s salty shallow waters where guests can marvel at the beauty of Papaya Cove from just a few meters away.

Continued reforestation efforts by SM Prime and WWF Philippines have significantly invigorated the wildlife inhabiting the forest and positively impacted the surrounding community.

Aside from a relaxing destination, the growing mangrove population is now a robust habitat for various animals and plants in the forest, and a livelihood opportunity for those in the surrounding communities.

The reforestation efforts by SM Prime and World Wide Fund for Nature have transformed the once empty plot of land into a lush mangrove forest, covering approximately 10 hectares of Hamilo Coast.

Entertainment

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019

D3

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

6 TV CHARACTERS THAT SHOW ULTIMATE ACT OF LOVE

Sanya Lopez has been chosen to grace the calendar of Ginebra San Miguel (GSM) this 2020.

WHAT does it mean to sacrifice for love?

For many Filipinos, they will not think twice about sacrificing their personal happiness or even risking their lives for their families.

In Kapamilya television series, we get to watch characters whose lives mirror our own—whether it’s prioritizing our loved ones’ needs above our own, giving up our own life to save someone else’s, or putting our dreams on hold.

Here are six examples from Kapamilya characters that show real love is an ultimate act of selflessness: 1. Mikmik in ‘Ngumiti Ang Langit’ Despite her young age, Mikmik has already had a taste of the cruel life. But all her hardships only made her stronger, and her pure heart has always been her weapon in facing all obstacles head on.

Though she has all the reasons to hate on her enemy, Mikimik still found it in her heart to forgive and be thankful for having another chance to be with her family.

By Nickie Wang

A

T THE culmination of an event held at Novotel in Araneta City on Thursday, during the ceremonial toast, everyone was given a drink especially concocted in honor of a sultry actress who agreed to be the face of a popular liquor brand’s 2020 calendar.

The drink was a mix of gin, coconut and pineapple juices. Everybody in the venue called it “the island girl drink,” which is Ginebra’s new cocktail, made especially for Sanya Lopez.

“She is the perfect representation of our new cocktail which is the Island Drink,” said Ron Molina, Ginebra San Miguel National Marketing Manager.

Island Girl was the moniker given to Sanya Lopez who was launched as the face of Ginebra San Miguel’s 2020 calendar following in the footsteps of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach (2019), cosplayer Myrtle Sarrosa (2018), and “Pantasya ng Bayan” Kim Domingo (2017).

Sanya is the 32nd calendar girl of Ginebra since it started the tradition of releasing calendars featuring models, beauty queens, and actresses in 1988.

“I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news. When I got a call from GMA Artists Center about me being the 2020 calendar girl, I immediately felt the pressure. I was shocked because from Pia Wurtzbach, they’re choosing me. I think there’s a kind of high expectation because of the bar that Pia set,” the 23-year-old actress shared.

But the Kapuso star said she’ll do her best

to prove she’s fit for the job. She shared her fitness journey throughout the shoot and said working out was never a problem for her since she’s been active ever since.

“I’ve been doing a lot of physical activities even before the shoot. I didn’t do anything extraordinary. Maybe I just went to the gym more frequent than before and watched my diet,” Sanya said.

“I had more fish, chicken, and vegetables,” she added.

Born on Aug. 9, 1996, Sanya, or Shaira Lenn Osuna Roberto in real life, is the younger sister of actor Jak Roberto, who is known for his leading roles on GMA Network programs.

Her career started in 2012 when she was accidentally discovered by the late German Moreno on the set of Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman where her brother was a mainstay. Sanya was mistaken for another actress, who was also on the show.

Since then, Kuya Germs included her on the program as one of his co-hosts.

Then, she was given supporting roles in various afternoon series of GMA including Dormitoryo and The Half Sisters.

In 2015, Sanya auditioned and got the role of Danaya in the television remake of Encantadia, which she considers her biggest television break.

2. Chico in ‘Pamilya Ko’ Chico (JM De Guzman) is a dependable brother to his family, especially to his siblings as he tries to attend to each of their needs. However, the tragic death of his brother Jack, which his mother Luz (Sylvia Sanchez) indirectly blames him for, has caused him to be an outcast in his own household. However, this did not hinder Chico from reaching out to his family as he continues to endure the pain of not belonging just to be with them.

3. Fabio in “The Killer Bride’ Blood may not always thicker than water. Fabio (Miko Raval) is a great father to Emma (Janella Salvador), despite the two not being related by blood. He made her feel the love that Emma did not get from Camila (Maja Salvador) and became her source of strength. When Fabio discovered Camila’s plans of using Emma to seek revenge on Las Espadas, he instantly confronted Camila and tried to take away their adopted daughter from the forthcoming danger.

4. Teresa in ‘Starla’ While her father Greggy (Joel Torre) was doing time in prison for saving the life of a stranger, young Teresa (Heaven Peralejo) was left to take care of her sick mother. Struggling with balancing school and working to earn money for her mother’s treatment, Tere had to give up her life as a normal teenager for the sake of her mom’s well-being.

Sanya is the 32nd calendar girl of Ginebra since the liquor brand started releasing in 1988.

SONY ACQUIRES AWARD-WINNING INDIE FILM ‘YELLOW ROSE’ SONY Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) have the added honor of representing the real announced on Friday that it has acquired all experiences of Filipino Americans, Asian Americans, worldwide rights, excluding the Philippines, to the and all immigrants seeking a better life in America.” film Yellow Rose, directed by Filipino-American Diane Yellow Rose features original songs developed for Paragas in her narrative feature debut. the film, written and composed by Watson, Paragas, Yellow Rose is a timely story about a Filipino teen Noblezada, and Thia Megia. The film is written from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her

by Diane Paragas, Annie Howell, and Celena dreams as a country music performer while facing Cipriaso, based on a story written by Paragas the threat of deportation. The film stars two-time and Andy Bienen.

Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada (Hadestown, The film premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Asian Miss Saigon) in her feature film debut, Tony Award Pacific Film Festival where it received the Grand winner Lea Salonga(Once on this Island, Miss Jury Award and the Breakout Performance Award Saigon), Princess Punzalan (Mula Sa Puso), Dale for Noblezada’s outstanding performance. Already Watson (Friday Night Lights), Gustavo Gomez (The having won a total of five Grand Jury Awards, the Walking Dead), Libby Villari(Boyhood), and Liam film is scheduled to screen at Austin Film Festival Booth (Ghosts Never Sleep).

Oct. 28 as well as the Hawaii International Film Noblezada received her most recent Tony Festival in November.

Actress-singer Eva Noblezada shines in her debut nomination for her portrayal of Eurydice Yellow Rose, an ABS-CBN Cinematografo Originals feature film role in ‘Yellow Rose.’ in Hadestown, which won eight Tony awards seed grand winner in 2017, will be distributed in including Best Musical. She received her first of Miss Saigon. theaters in the Philippines by ABS-CBN, the country’s nomination for portraying Kim in the revival of Miss “Yellow Rose has been a labor of passion for over leading media and entertainment organization.

Saigon. Salonga won the Tony Award for her 15 years and I’m thrilled that we can now share this Diane Paragas is managed by LBI Entertainment portrayal of the same role in the original production very relevant story with the world,” says Paragas. “We and is represented by Morris Yorn Barnes & Levine.

5. Cardo in ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ Cardo (Coco Martin) is a symbol of patriotism, having sacrificed his life countless of times to save people in need.

He became a police officer who busted the biggest gangs and modus operandi that victimized the public, a member of the vigilante group Vendetta who seized some of the most corrupt officials. It is a tough job, but Cardo never once lost his fire to be of service to his fellowmen.

6. Joan and Cordelia in ‘Sandugo’ Sandugo’s chaotic story began when Joan (Cherry Pie Picache) gave up her son Aris in exchange for money to save the life of her other sickly son, JC, who was running out of time and was in dire need of an operation.

Her heartbreaking decision did not sit with her well, and she came to regret what she did and ran after Aris. But in Sandugo, the story of parents sacrificing even their values and principles to give their kids a better future is the outstanding theme—Cordelia (Vina Morales) even got into stripping and entertaining just to make ends meet and send her son to school.

D4

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2019

Desiree Carlos, Editor

daycarlos28@yahoo.com

Pets MY FURRY BESTIE

HELPING DOGS WITH DIARRHEA

THIS corner features pets of animal lovers every week. We hope new owners and those thinking of getting a pet will be encouraged to be responsible “furparents” through these features.

We also hope more people will be moved to be kind to animals when they read about the great relationship that can be created between humans and animals.

For contributions, please email to daycarlos28@yahoo.com and put My Furry Bestie as subject.

Nica, rescued by Save ALL with Rafa, also almost died due to parvo. In cases of sever diarrhea, the best option for your dog is to bring her to the vet to determine the cause for proper treatment and for immediate hydration.

T

HERE may be times that your dog has diarrhea but there is no 24-hour veterinary clinic near you, or you can not contact your vet.

You might think of trying out home remedies but Pet Helpful, in Home Remedies for Fog Diarrhea, stressed that an owner must not rely on home remedies alone.

You must determine why your dog is having diarrhea in the first place, Pet Helpful added.

Here are some possible causes of diarrhea in dogs: 1. Any abrupt change in diet can cause diarrhea in dogs. If the diarrhea is due to a recent change in diet, you may want to make the change gradual next time.

2. Stress from a recent change in a dog’s life can also cause diarrhea. You can help your dog relax.

3. Your dog may have eaten something he should not have eaten.

Please consult a vet immediately. He might have eaten something toxic.

4. The dog may have parasites or the diarrhea was caused by protozoans, viruses, and bacteria. A vet needs to run some tests and prescribe medication for this condition.

“So you may need to do a bit of troubleshooting before deciding if home remedies for dog diarrhea are suitable for your dog. Not all dogs are good candidates! For instance, home remedies for dog diarrhea may work for mild cases of diarrhea such as from changing foods too abruptly or your dog eating something that's not toxic but that upset his stomach because he's not used to eating it,” said Pet Helpful.

Pet Helpful stressed home remedies will not work if your dog has diarrhea due to an underlying problem that require medication prescribed by a vet such as worms, protozoans like giardia, coccidia, or food intolerance.

If you dog has fever, is lethargic and not acting right, aside from having diarrhea, please bring your dog to the vet immediately.

If the diarrhea is severe and your dog is in danger of getting dehydrated, please bring the dog to the vet immediately.

Rafa was infected with parvo virus when he was a few weeks old. One of parvo's symptoms is diarrhea. The stool is almost always colored black and the smell is terrible. Rafa had severe diarrhea and required dextrose or UV fluid to hydrate him. He could have died if medical intervention was not provided immediately. In Rafa's case, home remedy will not work.

Home remedy is not recommended.

“Puppies can get dehydrated quite quickly and should see a vet rather than trying remedies at home and senior dogs may have diarrhea due to underlying organ problems. So please use good judgement before trying home remedies for your dog's diarrhea!,” Pet Helpful stressed.

Home remedies

Home remedies may not work for all dogs.

Here are some basic guidelines from Pet Helpful: · Fast the dog. Fasting will allow the dog’s gastro-intestinal tract to rest and

recover. If there is no food, there is also less diarrhea. “Usually, a 24 hour fast is necessary for adult dogs while puppies should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Consult with your vet if you have a toy breed dog or a dog who is diabetic,” Pet Helpful said. · Keep the dog hydrated. If the poop is watery, and the dog has uncontrollable squirts, you have to hydrate the dog as often as possible.

“You can give unflavored Pedialyte to help replace lost electrolytes or mix Gatorade 50/50 with his water.

However, see your vet if the diarrhea doesn't resolve or if your dog is vomiting too. Monitor for signs of dehy-

dration as outlined below,” it added. · Provide Yogurt. Plain yogurt or cottage cheese add some good bacteria to a dog’s bowels. Add this to his bland diet, which is explained in detail below, Pet Helpful said. · Bland Diet. After the 24-hour fasting, replace his usual food with boiled chicken and rice or boiled hamburger and rice. Remove the skin from the chicken before boiling. Fat should be drained from the burger first. Rice should be the main (bulky) ingredient of the meal. This should be given until the stool is better formed and over a few days only. Then re-introduce his usual food slowly. · Do a hydration check. Lift the dog's shoulder blade or back skin. If the skin returns back promptly, the dog is well hydrated. But if it takes a few seconds or worse, remains lifted, the dog needs immediate vet attention and fluids given under the skin or intravenously, Pet Helpful said. · Check gums. Bring to the vet immediately if the gums turn pale, whitish, grayish or purple. Normal gums should look like a healthy bubble gum pink.

“Try as well to press your finger on his gum. The gum should become whitish and return promptly pink. If it takes a few seconds, the dog again needs to be seen ASAP,” Pet Helpful said. · Vet appointment. Bring the dog to the vet “if the dog becomes lethargic, the diarrhea continues regardless of diet change or stops and then returns, other symptoms develop such as bloody stools, vomiting, loss of appetite, or fever,” Pet Helpful stressed.

Possible causes of diarrhea may be parasites, gastro-enteritis, pancreatits, a foreign body ingestion (usually along with vomiting), parvo, and many other serious conditions that need immediate vet attention, it added.

“Diarrhea may be the simple result of the dog getting into your trash can and getting an upset tummy,” Pet Helpful said.

“He may have roundworms, especially if he is a puppy. It may be due to a recent abrupt diet change. These are usually mild cases of diarrhea,” it said.

It added: “ However, if any worrisome or out of the ordinary symptoms arise along with the diarrhea, do not hesitate to have him seen by a vet promptly.

Chances are that it may be just a minor issue, but as with most issues, if caught promptly, it likely will not evolve into a more serious and costly issue,” it said. DC

WHAT TO DO WHEN A DOG IS CONSTIPATED CONSTIPATION is a common health problem associated with a pet’s digestive system.

A constipated dog strains when trying to poop, has not pooped in more than two days, cries or crouches when attempting to poop, or his stool is very hard and dry.

These signs though are similar to dogs with a urinary tract problem. Thus, it is important to bring the dog to a vet to determine the cause when you see this in your dog, said WebMD in the article “Constipation in Dogs: Causes andTreatment.”

Some dogs pass mucus while trying to poop.

Causes

• Too much or too little fiber in his diet • Lack of or no exercise • Anal sacs are blocked or abscessed It is best to exercise your dog and make sure a bowl Prostate gland enlarged of water is always available. Sage, rescued from the • Excessive self-grooming can lead to large Cainta pound, is a big dog who needs water all the amounts of hair collecting in the stool. time after running around the garden.

• Matted hair around the anus caused by lack of grooming or from being obese.

• Orthopedic problem that causes pain • Ingested gravel, stones, bones, dirt, plants or pieces of toys, among others, in whenever a dog positions himself to poop • Neurological disorder the intestinal tract • Dehydration due to another illness • Masses or tumors on the anus or within the rectum, which cause an obstruction Kinds of dogs who tend • Side effect of some medication • Trauma to the pelvis which could be to develop constipation due to an accident Senior or old dogs may suffer more

often from infrequent or difficult bowel movements.

But a dog with a condition enumerated above can also experience constipation.

Help for constipated dogs

Depending on what is causing your dog’s constipation, your vet may recommend one or several of the following treatments: • A stool softener or other laxative agent may be prescribed.

• A medicine that will increase the contractile strength of the large intestine.

• Adding fiber to your dog’s diet as approved by your vet.

• A high-fiber diet prescribed by the veterinarian • More exercise exercise • An enema administered by a professional, not at home, as there could be risks for toxicity or injury if done the wrong way.

Why constipation has to be treated

Obstipation—the inability to empty his colon on his own—can occur if constipation is left untreated, said WebMD. “In this state, the colon is packed with an uncomfortably large amount of feces, causing unproductive straining, lethargy, appetite loss and possibly even vomiting,” WebMD said.

More Remedies

BASHA is God’s answer to the fervent prayers of Dr. Jenny Orquiza, an optometrist.

Jenny had been asking God to erase the longing for a baby when one day, she saw Basha’s photo online and she instantly fell in love with her.

“It was love at first sight when I saw this double dapple dachschund. Without any doubt, I took her in, “ Jenny recalls.

“She's one of the reasons why I’m very happy and why I can manage all the stress,” Jenny says.

Jenny shares that she and Basha are both survivors: Basha survived parvo while she survived cancer.

“That makes us Real Filipina: strong and a survivor. We are fighters,” says Jenny.

“Recently, we started joining fashion shows and I am grateful that she always wins,“ says Jenny.

Basha is now two years and three months old, and continues to make furmom Jenny a very happy human.

Check out her Facebook page called Life With Basha.

Editor's note: These stories were compiled by admin Miks Lim of Save Animals of Love and Light (Save ALL), a SEC-registered animal welfare group that helps animals in need, and encourages and promotes responsible pet ownership, adoption of rescued dogs and cats from fosters, shelters and pounds, and spaying and neutering of pets to control animal population in the country, among others.

Feeding your dog some people food can also contribute to the constipation problem, said Dog Time in Top 10 Constipation Remedies For Dogs & Puppies.

It is best to stick to giving food that are good for dogs, and to stop giving food that are good for humans only. You can research or ask your vet.

“Just like people, dogs can experience constipation which can make him uncomfortable and even cause him pain. The condition can usually be attributed to a lack of fiber in his diet or not drinking enough water during the day,” Dog Time said.

There are many ways to treat constipation but Dog Time stressed going to the veterinarian “before making any changes to your dog’s diet or administering medications (and also to be certain that he isn’t exhibiting symptoms of a more serious illness or disorder.”

Here are some tips from Dog Time.

Again, please consult your vet if you intend to follow the advice below.

1. Pumpkin: A little of this vegetable, if fed to a dog, can prevent and even cure constipation.

“Pumpkin is high in water content and a great source of fiber. You can either puree fresh pumpkin or use canned pureed pumpkin,” Dog Time said.

Simply boil the pumpkin and give to your dog.

2. Supplements: “There are natural supplements available that will aid in curing a dog’s constipation. They usually contain additives such as acidophilus, folic acid, and vegetable enzymes. Check with your vet for recommendations,” Dog Time said.

3. Laxatives: “If your vet advises it, a mild laxative may do the trick. Of course the amount will depend on the size and weight of your dog,” Dog Time added.

4. Enema: “Your vet will tell you if this is an option he wants to pursue,” Dog Time said.

5. Milk of Magnesia: “A small amount of Milk of Magnesia may be all that he needs but again, check with your vet first!”

Dog Time said.

6. Bran (wheat & oat): “Bran works as a preventative (much like pumpkin), when added to your dog’s food regularly. Ask your vet for advice on how much to add,” Dog Time added.

7. Powdered psyllium seed: “Psyllium seed pull water into the stool and help move it along,” Dog Time shared.

8. Mineral oil: Mineral oil helps lubricate the stool so it will pass.

9. Aloe Ferox: “Aloe Ferox has a beneficial effect on digestive functioning and acts as a natural system cleanser and remedy,” Dog Time said.

10. Increased exercise: “Increased exercise will massage internal organs and increase blood flow in the colon,” Dog Time added.DC