Manila Standard - 2018 April 19 - Thursday

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Grab justifies extra surge in fare

VOL. XXXII • NO. 63 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

HIGHER booking demand with the closure of Uber’s Southeast Asian operation has caused a surge in fares, ridehailing firm Grab said.

Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said the fare increases were demand-driven as passengers have taken to social media to complain over high prices and booking cancellations.

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PUP grads most preferred by employers MAJORITY of employers in the country prefer to hire graduates from the staterun Polytechnic University of the Philippines, a survey by recruitment portal Next page Jobstreet.com showed.

TARGET MISSED. A worker walks beside a wall of stacked rice after unloading truckload of rice at the warehouse of the National Food Authority in Manila. NFA administrator Jason Aquino has instructed the agency’s special bids and awards committee on rice importation to fast-track the government-to-government procurement of 250,000 metric tons of rice for the immediate replenishment of government buffer stocks. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol and DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez (inset) inspect a stall selling rice at P39 per kilo at Libertad Market in Pasay City on Wednesday. AFP/Norman Cruz

Solon pushes rice probe Sereno, Alvarez suffer drop in satisfaction ratings—SWS

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez both suffered sharp declines in their net satisfaction ratings, the March 2018 Social Weather Stations survey showed.

Alvarez received a net satisfaction rating of +1 (neutral), down 13 points

from +14 in December 2017, the SWS report said.

This was seven points below his previous record-low of neutral +8 in September 2017.

Alvarez suffered a 28-point decrease in his home region of Mindanao, a 12-point drop in the Visayas and a 10-point decline in the balance of Luzon.

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Recount hits new snag; Leni, BM clash

By Rey E. Requejo THE recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race hit a snag anew after both camps of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo clashed over the excess ballots that had shaded votes for the latter.

During the 13th day of the revision being supervised by the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal,

revisors from the Robredo and Marcos camps engaged in a heated argument that led to a delay in the proceedings, PET insiders revealed.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the disagreement begun when more unused or excess ballots with shaded votes for Robredo were found in the clustered precincts from the town of Buhi, Camarines Sur. Next page

House panel to look into supply situation; 13 traders face inquiry

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE chairman of the House committee on agriculture and food on Wednesday said he sees the need for a series of congressional investigations to assess the rice situation in the country in light of the recent shortage of buffer stocks from the National Food Authority.

The House committee earlier discovered that some 13 private traders have been hoarding rice in the National Capital Region, triggering an increase in the price of the commodity.

“As an oversight function of Congress, we need to complete the investigation and come out with new policy or amendment of existing ones to address the issue,” said ANAC-IP Partylist Rep. Jose Panganiban, the panel’s chairman.

The committee identified the alleged

private rice hoarders as Evergreen, Rising Sun, GRC, CGG, Expo, ARNS, Working Gold, Leoneco, PMT, Hype Rice, LM Rice Cereal, MML Grain and Grandio.

Panganiban said his panel would invite the representatives of these companies to appear in the next House hearing to hear their side.

Meanwhile, Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao urged the government to look into the botched smuggling of 1, 539 metric tons of rice.

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New Justice chief vows to go after cops in teen slays

By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday assured the public that the two policemen indicted for killing teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, will be prosecuted, even though state prosecutors failed to file the case befor the appropriate court.

Guevarra said he would order the assigned state prosecutors to update him on the case after Judge Georgina Hidalgo of the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court, Branch 122, raised the issue of jurisdiction during the resumption of the trial of accused Police Officers 1 Ricky Arquilita and Jeffrey Perez on Tuesday.

“Any dismissal based on lack of territorial jurisdiction is without prejudice to the refiling of the case before the proper court,” Guevarra said, in a text message.

The handling Department of Justice prosecutors earlier admitted the error after they asked Hidalgo to let them file the murder charge against Arquilita and Perez in Navotas City.

A witness, Joe Daniels, earlier claimed that Arnaiz was actually killed Next page

TURNING GREEN. Tourists relax as algae turns the waters green at the Boracay beach in Malay town Tuesday, ahead of its closure. The Philippines is set to deploy hundreds of riot police to the holiday island to keep travellers out and head off potential protests ahead of its six-month closure to tourists, according to the government. (Story on A6) AFP

Duterte owns up to Aussie nun’s arrest for ‘disorderly conduct’

By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday that he had personally ordered the detention of an elderly Australian Catholic nun, warning that any foreign critics of his government face deportation.

Sister Patricia Fox, 71, a longtime resi-

dent of the Philippines, was detained by the immigration bureau on Monday on suspicion of engaging in political activities.

She was released without charges the next day.

“It was not the military who arrested the nun. It was upon my orders,” Duterte said in a speech to soldiers on Wednesday.

“I ordered her to be investigated... for disorderly conduct.”

Duterte has previously launched into scathing verbal attacks on critics of his deadly drugs war, in which thousands of people have died.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation in February into allegations of extrajudicial killings.

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‘‘

Beginning today, I will decide who gets in, who gets out. You want to question that, you go to court, and I will follow. But until then, you do not mess up with the sovereignty of this country.

—President Rodrigo Duterte, warning leftist groups not to invite foreigners who are critical of the government.

Palace on firing spree: Usec next to be axed AN UNDERSECRETARY may be fired this week following President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement early this month that he will remove another government official, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Wednesday.

“I know there is [an undersecretary] scheduled to be fired. I’m not sure if it has been announced,” Roque said in a TV interview.

“I said my next Palace briefing was scheduled on Thursday, so maybe that’s when I make the formal announcement.”

Roque made his statement even as Duterte said he was displeased with the performance of some appointed officials who supported him when he was campaigning for the presidency.

He made the remark during the mass oathtaking of officials from various government offices in Malacañang on Tuesday afternoon.

Duterte, who has fired several officials for excessive travels abroad and corruption while others had offered to resign, called on the newly appointed officials to resist any temptation that might damage their reputation.

“Resist any temptation that will taint your honor and reputation as public servants,” Duterte said in his speech.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Lawyers take up the cudgels for Sereno S

By Rey E. Requejo and Vito Barcelo

EVERAL lawyers’ groups have asked the United Nations rapporteur to investigate President Rodrigo Duterte for his attacks on Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, which they say may be perceived as detrimental to the independence of judges and lawyers in the Philippines.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines, National Union of People’s Lawyers, Alternative Law Groups, Ateneo Human Rights Center, Free Legal Assistance Group, Manananggol Laban sa EJKs, and the International Pro Bono Alliance urged the Special Rapporteur to take “urgent action” on President Duterte’s statements against Sereno, whom he wants to be removed as chief justice.

But Malacañang on Wednesday defended Duterte’s verbal attacks on Sereno, saying his call to impeach Sereno did not originate from the President but was merely a reaction to such accusations.

“The President’s rebuke of the Chief

Justice must therefore be taken as a dislike of the Chief Justice and not an attack [on] the judiciary or an affront to judicial independence,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

In a statement, the groups said they were particularly concerned over Duterte’s call to speed up Sereno’s impeachment.

“The recent tirades of the President against the Chief Justice do not sound at all foreboding,” the groups said.

“They rather expectedly punctuate the long-winded attacks on judicial independence that began almost two years ago, when the Chief Justice dared to resist an apparent intrusion into judicial power.”

Aside from the quo warranto petition before the Supreme Court, Sereno is also facing a possible ouster through impeachment in the Senate.

The groups also cited the President’s public reprimand of IBP president Abdiel Fajardo for speaking about the need for the Office of the Ombudsman to be “insulated from political pressure” and for public officials not to be “onion-skinned.”

They also criticized the petition for proscription filed by the Justice department seeking a terror tag on the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army, in which 600 individuals, including a lawyer, a former congressman, and a UN Special Rapporteur, were enumerated as alleged officers or members of the rebel group.

“It appears that lawyers who criticize government policies, as well as those whose clients have been tagged as ‘dissenters’ or ‘activists’ are harassed. The lawyers are labeled ‘rebels’ and ‘crimi-

nals’ and consequently subjected to intense surveillance,” the groups’ statement said.

The groups also noted an alarming rise in the number of lawyers getting killed, and that such cases remained unresolved or not prosecuted.

“The State’s continued inaction towards the deaths of lawyers creates an environment where lawyers are hesitant to accept drugs cases, especially to participate as legal counsel for persons accused of illegal drug activities,” the groups said.

According to the lawyers’ groups the state is unable to stem the “weakening” of the judiciary, a situation that they said “gives rise to international responsibility.”

“Such jeopardizes the very essence of democracy in the Philippines, particularly the matter of checks and balances. Hence, this appeal for urgent action on the part of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers,” the groups said.

Poll body sets Dela Rosa told to weigh chances in 2019 ultimatum on candidacies PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has told outgoing Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa to wait and see if he can launch a senatorial or gubernatorial campaign in next year’s elections.

In a television interview Wednesday, Dela Rosa said the President told him to “observe” the political situation first before he is endorsed for either elective position.

The PNP chief said he met Duterte, who extended Dela Rosa’s term for three months until April 21, on Tuesday.

He had reached the police force’s mandatory retirement age of 56 on Jan. 21.

“I really asked [the President], ‘Sir, where are you taking me, for senator or

governor?’ He said, ‘We should observe first,’” Dela Rosa said on a GMA TV news program.

For the meantime, Duterte directed the top cop to first help his native province of Davao del Sur, “which really needs some help,” said Dela Rosa, who has admitted wanting to become a senator but is unsure of running in 2019.

The PNP chief is poised to assume his new post as the Bureau of Corrections director general, which the President announced some months back.

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa vowed to face any legal cases he may receive for his role in the government’s war on illegal drugs.

“We are trained in the Philippine Military Academy to take responsibility for our actions, so I won’t run away from that. I want to let them know I have the balls to face that problem,” he also told GMA TV. In another TV program, the top cop told CNN Philippines he wrote the Office of the Solicitor General to request for more time to submit reports and documents on the drug war to the Supreme Court.

This was after the Human Rights Watch said Dela Rosa will step down as top cop with a “sordid” human rights record “unmatched” since the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Solon...

incurred by the government due to widespread smuggling of agricultural products. This reflected a P32-billion loss per year, which is equivalent to the Department of Agriculture’s budget for 2016 and excess funds for the rehabilitation of the agriculture sector.

A separate report by Dr. Jose Ramon Albert, a senior research fellow from Philippine Institute for Development Studies, showed that those who were classified as poor had agriculture-related jobs, Casilao noted.

“Aside from virtually no government subsidies to local rice farmers for procuring reasonable price of palay, agricultural smuggling which includes rice is further killing our local rice farmers’ livelihood.

Worse, through smuggling, billions of [pesos in] revenues are lost,” Casilao said.

NFA Administrator Jason Aquino ordered the agency’s special bids and awards committee to speed up the government-to-government procurement of 250,000 metric tons of rice to replenish government buffer stocks.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier directed NFA to immediately import the needed stocks as consumers continued to clamor for the P27- and P32-per-kilo NFA rice.

Aquino said the President wants government to have buffer stocks good for 60 days.

“As a long-time responsible and responsive leader, he knows that government should always be ready to effectively address any contingency,” Aquino said.

But, as a policy, he said, government would only import the deficiency in local production.

March 23 to 27, 2018 through faceto-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. It has error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Alvarez said he was unperturbed by his latest SWS showing, saying the results must serve as a challenge to all public officials to work hard for the best for the Filipino people.

“The latest Social Weather Stations survey results are a barometer of the public’s pulse at a certain period but continually serve as a challenge for us to do our work,” Alvarez said.

He added that the survey results will not distract Congress from pursuing its

legislative tasks, particularly passing legislation that will advance the Duterte administration’s socio-economic agenda.

“There is a huge task ahead but we will persevere for all to benefit from it,” Alvarez said.

The Sereno camp said the drop in the chief justice’s satisfaction ratings was not surprising, given the “well-orchestrated and well-funded campaign” against her.

Sereno’s spokesperson, lawyer Josa Deinla, also said “what is right is not always what’s popular.”

Nonetheless, she said, Sereno will regain the public trust once the people har her defense against the allegations being raised against her.

in Navotas, not in Caloocan as what previously reported.

The separate case for torture and planting of evidence against the two policemen may still be handled by Hidalgo since the offenses were allegedly committed in Caloocan.

“It’s just a territorial jurisdiction issue

that does not affect the merits of the case.

In any event, I will look into the matter more closely,” the DoJ chief said.

The killing of Arnaiz, a 19-year-old former student of the University of the Philippines, and the murder of De Guzman, whose body was found in a creek in Nueva Ecija province, in August last year triggered widespread condemnation of President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.

The killings happened barely two weeks after 17-year-old Kian Lloyd de-

los Santos was slain by policemen during a supposed anti-drug operation also in Caloocan City.

Meanwhile, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the government’s list of drug suspects should be released so that those on it will have a chance to clear their names.

He added that it would be fairer to all concerned to release the list than have it used by unscrupulous people to extort those who are listed. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

resignation to Duterte through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on March 9 and Malacañang accepted it on Tuesday.

Say did not explain the reason for his resignation. He said he would rather spare Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III from intrigues.

“I will spare the secretary from intrigues that he is pro-labor based on what I read that he is supposedly [a] softie on management. That is not true,” Say said.

“So I just decided, okay, I’ll step back. Give the Secretary somebody who can deliver better than I can.

Say said he will return to the private sector after his stint in the government.

On April 7, Duterte said another government official would be sacked over loss of trust and confidence.

“I’ll be firing about one undersecretary, one after the other. I’ll finish them off,” Duterte said during a dinner with Cabinet officials at Sofitel. PNA with Vito Barcelo

in supply,” Cu said.

He said the surge rate was not hiked but From A1 the surges were happening more often.

Cu said the additional P2 per kilom“Demand went up sharply by 70 per- eter rate was imposed to “lower prices cent compared to a 40-percent increase from the ceiling.”

“It made some fares go up, it made some fares go down, but on average fares became more fair for both sides,” he said.

“The P2 that was imposed to the fare was legal. LTFRB was made aware of this during two occasions,” Cu added.

By Joel E. Zurbano and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elections will not extend the period for filing certificates of candidacy in the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections next month, an official said Wednesday.

“There will be no more extension and [the filing of candidacies] will end Friday. April 2O will be the last day and our office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said.

He also reminded all candidates who will file their certificates of candidacy that they have until June 13 to file their Statement of Contribution and Expenditure.

“Win or lose, all candidates must file their SOCE,” Jimenez said.

He said filing the SOCE was imperative as it would be one of the earliest proofs that the candidates deserved the public trust given them on election day.

Jimenez said the Comelec had gathered more than 305,000 filers during the first four days of the filing of candidacies nationwide.

Of that number, 28,436 filed as candidates for barangay chairman while 197,181 filed as candidates for councilman as of Tuesday, April 17.

For the SK elections, 79,465 young individuals filed their COCs, 18,298 filed as candidates for SK chairman while 61,167 were candidates for the SK council.

PUP...

From A1

“The report pointed out that employers believe in the school’s reputation of producing quality graduates,” Jobstreet.com Philippines country manager Philip Gioca said.

The survey showed employers appreciated the “positive work ethic” of PUP employees.

The University of the Philippines placed second, followed by Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Far Eastern University, De La Salle University, Technological Institute of the Philippines, University of San Carlos, University of Cebu and University of the East.

Broken down into industries, those from the business process outsourcing preferred graduates from PUP, UP and UST while the information technology sector’s top school choices were DLSU and PUP.

Palace...

From A1

Roque, when asked if the scheduled firing of an undersecretary was related to the resignation of Labor Undersecretary Dominador Say, said it was best to ask Say. “What I know is, he resigned, but I don’t know if there was a threat he would be sacked,” Roque said.

Say said he submitted his courtesy

Grab...

From A1

Casilao, member of the leftist Makabayan bloc, said the rampant smuggling not only of rice but also of other agricultural products is the result of the continuing commitment of the government to importation under the Word Trade Organization agreement on agriculture.

“Agricultural smuggling is only a reflection of the country’s continuing madness to import. Not only has it abetted corruption but it is also an insult to our farmers,” Casilao said.

Citing a report of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura, in the years from 2013 to 2015, Casilao said a total of P64 -billion revenue losses were

Sereno...

From A1

His ratings went up three points in Metro Manila, however.

Sereno’s rating remained neutral at -7, reflecting a 13-point drop from December 2017, where her satisfaction rating was at +6.

Her March rating was six points below her previous record low of -1 in December 2015.

Sereno’s ratings fell 27 points in Mindanao, 13 points in the Visayas, 11 points in the balance of Luzon and three points in Metro Manila.

The survey was conducted from

New...

From A1

Recount...

From A1

The sources said the revisors from the Robredo camp claimed the excess ballots with shaded votes for her in Buhi town.

“The revisors of Marcos, of course, opposed the moves because they are excess ballots or stray ballots. They insisted that those ballots shaded for Robredo are proof of pre-shading or cheating during the elections,” one of the source said.

“Emotions ran high and there was really tension in the venue,” the source added.

Because of this, the revision of the affected precincts did not push through and the unused or excess ballots with shaded votes for Robredo were set aside until the PET settles the issue.

Lacson urges probe of SAF hazard pay

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Panfilo Lacson wants the Senate to investigate the P59.8-million mess involving the withholding of daily subsistence allowances and explosive ordnance disposal hazardous pay for the Philippine National Police’s elite Special Action Force.

“We cannot allow, yet again, another injustice to be committed against our heroes in uniform who are in the forefront of our fight against the ills of terrorism and criminality, lest we risk demoralization within their ranks,” he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police-Special Action Force Director Noli Taliño on Tuesday said the police officer involved in an alleged misuse of funds had returned P37 million from the missing P60 million in police funds.

Taliño said former SAF budget and control officer Senior Supt. Andrei Dizon returned the P37 million in cash: P10 million on April 12 and P27 million on April 16.

Taliño said former SAF Director Benjamin Lusad claimed to have used the P60-million subsistence allowance for SAF operations and activities.

Lacson, who headed the PNP from 1999 to 2001, said the unlawful withholding of those funds, if true, “constitutes a criminal or unlawful act and runs counter to the evident policy of the President to increase the pay of our military and uniformed personnel in order to repay them for their sacrifices.”

He said the withholding of such allowances, if true, threatened to demoralize members of the SAF, the front-liners in fighting terrorism and criminality.

Lacson, head of the Senate public order committee, filed Senate Resolution 712, citing the need to revisit existing laws and their implementation to make sure police officers received the benefits due them and to punish erring parties.

Duterte...

From A1

This prompted Duterte to withdraw from the ICC and threaten to arrest the chief prosecutor if she comes to the Philippines.

“You insult me under the cloak of being a Catholic priest, and you are a foreigner! Who are you? It is a violation of sovereignty,” Duterte said, apparently referring to Fox. He said he had the power to deport people and planned to instruct authorities: “Don’t let her in because that nun has a shameless mouth.”

Fox, a missionary of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion, joined an international fact-finding mission in the southern Philippines earlier this month to look into reported violations of the rights of farmers and indigenous people, her lawyer said.

In an interview with Manila’s ABSCBN network after her release, Fox insisted: “I haven’t been engaged (in) party politics.”

Duterte told his political opponents not to invite critics to the country and warned that foreigners who “malign and defame” the government would be arrested.

On Sunday, Manila deported Italian Giacomo Filibeck, deputy secretary general of the Party of European Socialists, who had previously condemned “extrajudicial killings” in Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown.

Duterte’s remarks on Fox seemed to be at odds with those of his spokesman, who said a formal apology would be issued to the Australian nun.

“Apologies are in order,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, after the Bureau of Immigration arrested Fox over conflicting reports that it received.

With AFP This was the second time the recount has hit a delay. On the second day of the recount that started on April 2, four of the 40 head revisors have resigned from their duties for undisclosed reasons.

Meanwhile, insiders also revealed that the head revisors tapped by the PET advised the opposing parties to reconcile the disparity in the election returns and the physical count after it was found that the figures in the election results did not match with the physical count of the ballots.

The sources revealed Robredo’s votes in some precincts exceeded the number of actual voters.

“This is highly irregular and disturbing because revisors are not supposed to reconcile the figures but to find out if the results in the ER match with the physical count,” the source said.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Diplomatic protest vs China eyed—Cayetano

By Maricel V Cruz MANILA is ready to take “diplomatic action” against Beijing if reports of Chinese military planes in Panganiban Reef are confirmed, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano said.

Panganiban Reef, also known as Mischief Reef, is within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. “It may include [a diplomatic protest]. It depends when and how,” he said.

“We have to wait for the military to verify. We do know that there are activities taking place,” Cayetano added.

As this developed, two opposition lawmakers said the government should already file a diplomatic protest against Beijing as they condemned its continued militarization of the West Philippines Sea. “China is obviously flexing its military muscle and endangering the fragile peace in the West Philippine Sea.This is highly condemnable and the Philippines should protest this provocative Chinese action,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said.

Zarate said China’s action was a clear violation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in Hague, The Netherlands.

“The Duterte administration should be taken to task for not doing anything on this blatant violation of our sovereignty. The Philippine government should not take this sitting down,” Zarate said.

“We are calling on the Filipino people here and abroad to protest this newest affront of China to our sovereignty,” he added.

For his part, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano said China’s action must not be taken lightly by the Philippine government.

Sara wants House to expel Anakpawis Rep. Casilao from roster DAVAO City Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio on Tuesday asked members of the House of Representatives to expel Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao who she claims has become “an aberration to the government.”

“Casilao is an aberration in government. Instead of working to help the workers and farmers he is supposed to represent in Congress, Casilao is now serving as the representative of the terrorists. His colleagues in the House of Representatives should expel him,” the city mayor said.

She also urged Casilao to resign from government and join his brothers in the communist movement if he intends to continue attacking the government which he is supposed to be a part of.

Duterte-Carpio issued the statement following Casilao’s reaction to her opposition to the resumption of the peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The city mayor earlier asked President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his decision to reopen the negotiations with the NDFP. She said suspending the peace talks would not only mean ending the delusion of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDFP, but would also allow the realization of long-delayed growth and the development of the countryside. PNA

HANDCUFFED. The five suspects involved in illegal drug trade: Maynard Alfaro, Jonathan Alfaro, Archie Alfaro, Romeo Lauenaria Jr., and Henry Moyano wait in handcuffs as they are presented to the media in a press briefing at the NBI headquarters in Manila on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. The suspects are alleged members of the notorious ‘NANAD Group’ led by the Alfaro brothers and are allegedly engaged in illegal drug trade in Cavite and Pasay City. Norman Cruz

GMA lauds SC decision to junk De Lima’s circular

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo

T

HE camp of former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court decision declaring as unconstitutional former Justice secretary and Senator Leila de Lima’s Circular 41.

“It was clear from the very start that Secretary De Lima had no legal basis to issue a hold departure order against the former president,” Arroyo’s counsel, lawyer Laurence Arroyo said in a statement.

Arroyo’s lawyer said the SC ruling on De Lima’s travel order which she used in 2011 to bar the former president from leaving the country to seek treatment for her hypoparathyroidism and metabolic bone disorder while electoral sabotage charges against her were pending—was not surprising.

De Lima’s order had barred the thenwheelchair-bound Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, from flying to Hong Kong supposedly to seek medical treatment and defied a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court, which earlier allowed Arroyo to leave the country.

Three days later, Arroyo and former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos were indicted and ordered arrested for electoral sabotage. They were both acquitted for the charge in 2015.

“It is, therefore, not at all surprising that a unanimous Supreme Court, sitting en banc, has struck the HDO down for being unconstitutional,” Arroyo’s lawyer said.

The SC also stressed that there “was no legal basis” for the issuance of the circular, which was ironically signed by Arroyo’s appointee, then Justice secretary Alberto Agra, on June 7, 2010.

In a media briefing in Baguio City, SC spokesperson Theodore Te said the SC magistrates ruled that no law had been enacted “authorizing the secretary of justice to issue hold departure orders, watch list orders or allow departure orders.”

Meanwhile, Arroyo’s lawyer said De Lima issued the travel order even if

it was illegal merely to please the past administration while at the same time persecute its perceived political allies.

“She [De Lima] issued a patently invalid order to please an administration that was irrationally hostile against the former president. Hers was an act unworthy of the office of Secretary of Justice,” he said.

The Court said the Justice secretary has no authority under the law to stop any respondents or accused in criminal cases from leaving the country with pending charges.

Only the trial courts can issue a hold departure order, the justices added.

In response, the DoJ said it would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.

“We respect the decision of the Supreme Court on this sensitive issue,” said newly appointed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a text message.

But at the same time, Guevarra admitted that “there are law enforcement issues that we need to address” following the decision rendered by the tribunal.

The DoJ chief said he would confer with Solicitor General Jose Calida if they would seek for a reconsideration of the SC ruling.

Guevarra added that he would also discuss the matter with the Bureau of Immigration, an attached agency of the DoJ, to determine the effect of the SC ruling.

MILF leader vows to support Bong Go’s Senate bid A LEADER of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has said that he would support Secretary Bong Go once he decides to run for the senate.

Ghazali B. Jaafar, first vice chairman of the MILF Central Committee and chairman of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission hailed Go as “a man of integrity and competence,” being one of the most trusted men of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

“He demonstrated exemplary leadership which is instrumental to the good and harmonious relationship of the Filipino and Bangsamoro in Davao,” he said.

“He deeply understands the problem

of the Bangsamoro people and the importance of addressing them to ensure just and dignified peace in Mindanao.

He is profoundly aware of what is needed for the attainment of the socioeconomic prosperity of the country,” Jaafar added.

As the Special Assistant to the President, Jaafar said Go serves as a facilitator of the BTC’s communications for the Office of the President and other departments and agencies of government.

He said that “all concerns including some sensitive issues confronted by the BTC were clarified and addressed through the able facilitation of Secretary

Bong Go.” “Through his help, we were able to expedite the legislative process of the BBL in both houses of Congress.

With the significant contributions of Secretary Bong Go, the BTC leadership believes that he deserves to be endorsed and supported in the coming 2019 senatorial race,” Jaafar said.

“With his new aspiration in public service, we strongly believe that he can contribute more in our shared goal to ensure the success of the future Bangsamoro government and ultimately, achieve lasting peace and prosperity in Mindanao,” he added.

thing with Manila Water.”

NWRB executive director Dr. Sevillo D. David Jr. also assured the public following a meeting yesterday at his office with the concessionaires and other water officials for adequate allocaiton of water supply as requested by the MWSS chief as early as January this year.

“We remain positive that this concern will be resolved using the proper channel.

Continuous adjustments are being finetuned that will be mutually beneficial to all parties and to the best interest of our customers,” said Jeric Sevilla, Manila Water head of Corporate Communications.

Maynilad Vice President for Government Relations Anette de Ocampo welcomes the statement of Velasco and expressed optimism the issue will be put to rest as projected over the few days in the media.

She said Maynilad is also concerned with the water allocation issue to be resolved so as not to derail good relations that Maynilad has developed with MWSS and its Manila over the last 10 years.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is poised to visit Kuwait next month to witness the signing of an agreement that will protect thousands of Filipino workers in the Gulf state, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday.

“We [diplomats] are preparing for the trip. April is too tight, so the earliest is May,” Cayetano said.

The Philippines has asked Kuwait to help the repatriation of almost 1,000 Filipinos stranded in shelters, for some 200 more to be rescued from abusive employers, and for the Kuwaiti government to act on specific cases of abuse, the secretary added.

“We want to see immediate action on that,” Cayetano said. “This time is for Kuwait to show its goodwill and to help us implement all these.”

Duterte, the secretary added, has made it clear he would not witness the signing or allow the signing without the following provisions: the nonconfiscation of passports, fair and good labor conditions, and granting of rest day for the workers.

This developed as Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa announced that the Kuwaiti Department of Immigration, under the Ministry of Interior, has officially declared Thursday, April 19, as the last day for Filipinos to file their application for the amnesty program set to expire on April 22.

The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait earlier set April 12 as deadline for amnesty registration given that processing of documents takes at least 10 days to finish.

After it lapsed, the Department of Foreign Affairs assured they will pull all resources to bring home all nationals who will still apply after April 12. PNA

‘PNoy not liable in Dengvaxia case‘ —Gatchalian

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Water supply adequate—MWSS METROPOLITAN Waterworks and Sewerage System Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco allayed fears of water shortage with the onset of the dry season. Velasco made the assurance to customers of Manila Water and Maynilad following conflicting statements of the two MWSS concessionaires over raw water supply allocation.

MWSS stepped in to prevent an alleged brewing war between two concessionaires.

In an interview, Velasco said the problem between the two concessionaires has been resolved even as MWSS is considering the idea of taking control over a valve that controls the release of water.

Per the concession agreement, Maynilad is allocated 60 percent share of water while Manila Water, 40 percent.

“60-40 is not about up to the last decimal,” Velasco said. “Even Manila Water and Maynilad admitted that they have already discussed the issue. One has to give way to one other. If Manila Water is at its peak hours, Maynilad should give way, same

Duterte poised to visit Kuwait to witness pact for OFW safety

POWER CHAT. Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go chats

with Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa prior to the start of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s series of engagements at the Malacañan Palace on April 17, 2018. Presidential Photo

DESPITE signing the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s draft report on the Dengvaxia mess, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said he does not agree that former President Benigno Aquino III is criminally liable with regards to the issue.

“I am not convinced that he [Aquino] is criminally liable, but he is accountable for the whole program,” said Gatchalian during yesterday’s “Kapihan sa Senado.”

Being the President, Gatchalian said Aquino is accountable for all the programs in the government.

Gatchalian is the second senator who had openly said that Aquino has no criminal liabillity in tne Dengvaxia controversy in which the anti-dengue vaccine was administered to almost a million Filipino children.

Lacson, who was appointed by Aquino as rehabilitation czar in 2013, pointed out that having worked closely with the former president, both in the Senate and Malacañang, it is difficult for him to believe that the former president was capable of committing graft and corruption.

A4

Opinion

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Party-list anomaly must be excised TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

of being the architect of her woes.

There will be an impeachment trial at the Senate. There is a quo warranto petition being heard. How are these intervention, as well?

Why do they come crying to the UN when the civil, political and human rights of Sereno have never been violated?

Santa Banana, Sereno is not the judiciar y!

HAVE you noticed the obvious attempt of Malacañang to portray presidential assistant Christopher “Bong” Go as somebody very close to President Duterte, and who is now interested in the public welfare? *** There are photos of Go appearing The committee drafting proposed with the President. This leads me to amendments to the 1987 Constitution conclude that there are efforts to make should not forget one of the biggest him a viable senatorial candidate. anomalies of the fundamental law of I don’t know Go in person. The the land—the creation of party-list only thing I know is that he has been groups supposedly representing marthe long-time assistant of Mr. Duterte, ginalized sectors of society. starting from when they were still in The provision on party-list represenDavao City. But does that make him tation was in the Cory Constitution begood senatorial material? cause of the assumption that the parliaSure, anybody can mentary system run for the Senate. of government Under the Constituinstalled by the tion, one only has to late strongman be a Filipino citizen, Ferdinand MarThe representatives to be of age, and to cos would conknow how to read do not really come tinue. and write.

The intention from the marginalized As a voter, I would was good, no like to know more sectors. doubt. Unfortuabout Go—his acanately, the deldemic credentials, egates voted to have a presidenhis background in tial system – the public service, his convictions and bep a r l i a m e n t a rliefs. ians lost by one, I repeat one, vote.

I consider this an anomaly because *** under a unitary and republican form Santa Banana, Chief Justice-on of government, we already have dulyleave Maria Lourdes Sereno and her elected members of Congress. It’s a dusupporters must be getting desperate. plication of representation!

The Supreme Court is expected to Worse, those allegedly representing decide soon on the quo warranto pe- the marginalized are themselves politition against her. This questions her ticians or members of the communist qualifications to become chief justice sector! Thus, we now have members of from the start. And then, there is the Congress speaking for rebels and terlooming impeachment trial. rorists.

Now Sereno and her lawyers want Retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno the United Nations to step in because and former Senate President Aquilino of the President’s alleged intervention Pimentel Jr. should be reminded of this. on judicial independence.

I am at a loss on what they mean by *** this. When the President branded SerAn interesting aspect of impeacheno as the enemy, did that necessarily ment cases is expounded on by the interfere with the judiciary? The Presi- American scholar Charles L. Black Jr., dent said this after Sereno accused him Turn to A5

Undesirable

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte says it was he who personally ordered the investigation of a 71-year-old Australian nun for disorderly conduct.

Sister Patricia Fox was arrested Monday by the Bureau of Immigration for supposedly attending protest rallies and engaging in political activities and antigovernment demonstrations. She reportedly took part in protests staged by farmers.

She was released the following day.

The Palace spokesman, Harry Roque, earlier announced that apologies were in order because the bureau committed a gaffe in arresting the nun, even as he emphasized there

was a law saying foreigners must not interfere with local politics.

We wonder what the bureau’s gaffe could have been, now that Mr. Duterte has taken full responsibility for what happened to the nun?

“You insult me under the cloak of being a Catholic [priest], and you are a foreigner! Who are you? It is a violation of sovereignty,” the President said.

We get how Mr. Duterte can feel strongly about being criticized by those who are not even Filipinos, right

within our shores. Time and again he has shown he will not be cowed by anybody. This quality endears him to many and might be responsible for the high ratings he still enjoys.

A 71-year-old woman, however, is an unfortunate target for his ire. The President could always claim the arrest was his idea, but it is apparent he was ill-advised—at the very least on how the incident would look even to those who look up to him.

Strong leaders are praised for being undeterred in the face of adversity. But there are other terms reserved for people who prey on those weaker than they are.

China builds military-grade runway in West PH Sea as part of their strategic objective of controlling the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).”

He also asked the Philippine government to call out China, saying “I am hoping that [President Rodrigo Duterte] files a diplomatic protest AERIAL photographs show an in- this time around unlike before where crease in Chinese military infrastruc- government officials were reduced to ture in the West Philippine Sea, and as spokespersons of China by justifya threat upon our sovereignty it is most ing Chinese aggressive actions in the alarming. Some of the photos show a South China Sea.” Coincidentally, the matter was military-grade runway and Chinese planes on Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, brought up last Wednesday at a which is located within the Philippines’ press conference held by the De370-kilometer exclusive economic partment of Foreign Affairs. CNN Philippines tweeted that Foreign Afzone.

Recently, House of Representa- fairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said, regarding tives Party-list negotiations for Re pre se nt at ive s the West PhilipGary Alejano pine Sea code of (Magdalo) and Why is the conduct, “We are Carlos Zarate still focusing on (Bayan Muna) is- government allowing how to go about sued statements it.” So we haven’t strongly warning China to build what come up with a against the Chi- amounts to military plan yet, considnese militariza- bases within our ering the urgency tion in the area. of the matter?

Said Zarate, territory?

This trend to“China is obviward appeasing ously flexing its China is very dismilitary muscle turbing. Why is and endangering the fragile peace in the West Philip- the government allowing China to pine Sea. This is highly condemnable build what amounts to military bases and the Philippines should protest within our territory?

That it is our territory is undisthis provocative Chinese action.”

Alejano warned that the presence puted, and our claim to those islands of the airstrip is not merely for dis- were upheld in the July 2016 landplay. “It is [only] a matter of time be- mark ruling of the Permanent Court fore the Chinese deploy their fighter of Arbitration in the Hague. That deaircrafts in [the] reclaimed islands Turn to A5

Quebec wary of bitcoin gold rush

By Clément Sabourin AT THE site of a former cocoa factory in Canada’s Quebec province, tiny holes punctured in the walls of a warehouse allow fresh air to cool thousands of whirring processors connected by a tangle of wires.

Yessoulou Coulibaly watches over the sea of 7,000-odd computers hidden away in this industrial park at a center operated by Bitfarms, one of the emerging players of the cryptocurrency “mining” boom.

Unlike the dollar or the euro, cryptocurrencies are not issued by central banks. Instead they are “mined” or created thanks to server “farms” like the one in the Montreal suburb of Saint-

Hyacinthe—which crack increasingly complex computer codes in order to unlock new batches, or blocks of virtual coins.

Mining on a large scale requires massive computing power, which in turn requires a lot of electric power.

That is where Quebec comes in the picture: luring miners with its plentiful, cheap electricity and below average temperatures—akin to Iceland, where a sister cryptocurrency blitz is also underway.

Coulibaly is among a wave of entrepreneurs flooding the province, in a bid to transform it into a Silicon Valley for the emerging sector.

But some authorities are leery, fearing a surge of demand for electric

power could trigger blackouts, for the benefit of an industry that few fully understand.

In March, a number of Quebec municipalities slapped moratoriums on new cryptocurrency factories while the province’s government and the HydroQuebec public utility have halted new projects to get a better grasp of the technology and its broader economic impact.

The first to put on the brakes was the tiny municipality of Bromont, east of Montreal, where a new bitcoin operation was seeking to consume 30 of the town’s 36 megawatts of total available excess power.

Soon after, the neighboring township

Turn to A5

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Opinion TRAIN moving forward OVERSIGHT DANILO SUAREZ REPUBLIC Act No. 10963, or The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act, was signed into law on Dec. 19, 2017. This is the first package of the government’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.

The tax reform corrects the long-standing inequity in our tax system by providing income tax cuts for 99 percent of Filipino taxpayers, while raising additional funds for the administration’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program.

Some of the highlights of TRAIN include exemption of minimum wage earners from personal income taxes, reduction in the number of tax brackets, a broadening of the value-added tax base, and an increase in excise taxes particularly on cigarettes, petroleum products, automobiles, and sweetened beverages.

While most of the Filipino taxpayers are enjoying higher take-home pay, many are also complaining of higher prices of basic commodities. In the first quarter of the implementation of TRAIN, we have experienced several price hikes, most especially in petroleum. This is something we warned the Executive about during

the deliberations of the TRAIN law, but according to them, higher prices is just minimal and temporary.

According to the Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, Package 1A of the TRAIN will only generate a projected revenue of P89.9 billion, which is only two-thirds of the original revenue target of P134 billion. This may result to a fiscal deficit of 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product for 2018. This is one of the reasons why I have been insisting on a “revenue-neutral” situa-

The problem is the implementation of the laws and the efficiency of tax collection agencies.

tion, wherein tax revenues must neither increase nor decrease regardless of the changes in the taxation measures. With the TRAIN law, we are now being pressured to catch up with our original revenue target. To address this concern,

the Finance Secretary is encouraging the Congress to pass Package 1B sooner to raise additional revenues worth P38.9 billion, resulting to a total of P128.8 billion for the combined packages. Package 1B shall include estate tax amnesty program, adjustments in the Motor Vehicle Users Charge, and some amendments to the bank secrecy law. As a legislator, I believe these matters cannot be made in haste. These decisions should undergo thorough deliberations to make sure that no Filipino is left behind.

I believe that we have legislated good laws with regard to taxation, but maybe the problem is not the existing laws, but the implementation of the laws and the efficiency of tax collection agencies. We remind DOF Secretary Dominguez of the indexation so that the Lateral Attrition Law (RA 9335) can be implemented.

It is about time that we fully implement the law, most especially because we are trying to catch up from the losses brought about by the tax cuts of the first package of the TRAIN law.

We look forward to a more effective implementation of the TRAIN law and the Lateral Attrition Law. I stress the importance of the Lateral Attrition Law. More taxes will come to naught if they are not collected properly, efficiently and transparently.

Important changes DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA THERE are two important changes in President Duterte’s team. Important in the sense that the changes are in the area that might eventually define his presidency.

One was the replacement of Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra. Second, the assumption of Oscar Albayalde, the current police chief of the National Capital Region vice Police Director General Ronald de Rosa, the current chief of the Philippine National Police.

There is little doubt that the two outgoing officials were the poster boys of law enforcement in the country for the last two years. They will always be associated with the President’s style of crime fighting. Whether this will hound them with legal problems in the future is too early to tell and will also depend on many factors, one of which is politics. If the next administration comes from the opposition, then it is almost certain that both will be made to account for their actions. If however, the next government will come from the President’s political party, then both officials will be safe and whatever the critics say of what they did will eventually be forgotten. Sometimes, the people have a short memory of a lot of unpleasant things. Soon, they might put at the back of their minds what has happened in the first two years of the administration of President Duterte with regard to the controversial war on drugs. Western media have described it as brutal, but the majority of Filipinos continue to support it.

It appears that the two new officials, Guevarra and Albayalde have some similarities. They are both eloquent and deliberate. It remains to be seen however, how committed they will be to the drug war being waged by the President. Will

Albayalde be a copycat of de la Rosa or will he wage the drug war with some variation so as to concentrate on big-time suppliers and the neutralization of drug laboratories? Surely, with President Duterte saying that the drug problem has been reduced by 25 percent, there will be less compulsion to mount a campaign that will be as violent as in the earlier stages of the drug war.

We do not know however, where the President got his figures because it seems

Aguirre and Dela Rosa will always be associated with the President’s style of crime fighting.

new. It is the first time that the public is hearing it. Did it come from the PNP, PDEA or from sources that only the President knows? On Guevarra’s side, will he be basing his decisions solely on what the law say as he has mentioned? Before he can even hit the road, he is now faced with what to do with the recent report that former Secretary Aguirre shredded a lot of documents prior to leaving office.

We do not know when this was done and by what authority. It gives the impression that the Department has no policy with regard to the disposal of documents which should raise some concerns. What sort of documents were shredded and why were these documents destroyed? To protect him and destroy evidence in any future investigation?

Secretary Guevarra said that he would look into the report and we hope that he does. If it was done to hide something, then the former secretary has some explaining to do. To be fair, it might really be much ado about nothing but why destroy these documents in the office? Why

did he not wait until he got home in order to do it? What this action did was to give his critics and he has many, ammunition to go after him. He should have known better. What the new DoJ Secretary said that he wants to restore the dignity of the department and usher in a new era of respectability is loaded and could only mean that what he found in the DoJ upon assuming office is an organization adrift with no direction and a rank and file with very low morale. He has a tough job ahead of him. *** When Oscar Albayalde assumes command of the Philippine National Police today, he will be following the footsteps of many distinguished and illustrious officers who have headed the Police organization beginning with the first Philippine Constabulary Chief Henry T. Allen, Rafael Crame, Fidel V. Ramos, Renato de Villa and many others whose shoes are indeed hard to fill.

Albayalde, whether he realizes it or not, will be presiding over a police organization which is growing larger every year with old and new challenges especially in the area of transnational crime and terrorism. These will need a thoroughly professional force. Anything less will be a recipe for failure.

No doubt, there will always be the inevitable reshuffling of positions which will always be attributed to reform. But more than that, let us hope that Albayalde and his new team can look closely at the current weaknesses of the PNP and try to solve them one at a time instead of attempting to solve them all at once. He will be retiring in the last quarter of 2019 which means that he does not have a lot of time left. So, he has to manage his remaining time well and not squander it with grandiose plans that cannot be accomplished due to time constraints.

I do not know him personally but judging from his demeanor during his TV interviews, he seem able and capable. We congratulate him and wish him success in his new job.

Arcades seek to take virtual reality gaming mainstream

By Nicholas Yeo GAMERS wearing headsets and wielding rifles adorned with flashing lights battle a horde of zombies, letting out the occasional terrified shriek.

The virtual reality arcade in Singapore is part of a wave of such venues being opened as backers of the technology seek to shake off teething problems and break into the mainstream.

The buzz around virtual reality gaming has seen Taiwan-based HTC, Sony and Facebook-owned Oculus VR battling to woo consumers with a range of headgear.

But it has been slow to really take off, partly due to the hefty price of top-end headsets, beginning at around $350, and the challenges in setting up complex VR systems at home.

But VR arcades, which have been springing up around the world, particularly in Asia, are now giving people the chance to try it out more easily and for a fraction of the price.

“Given the complications of at-home, PC-based VR systems, pay-per-use, location-based entertainment venues can fill the gap,” said Bryan Ma, from International Data Corp., a consumer technology market research firm, in a recent note on the industry.

Several VR gaming companies have made forays into Singapore, seeing the ultra-

modern, affluent city-state that is home to hordes of expatriates as a good fit.

The zombie fight-out was taking place at a centre where participants stalked a room with a black floor and walls.

“I did paintball before, it’s quite fun... but I think the whole scene is much more interesting here,” said Jack Backx, a 55-year-old from the Netherlands, who was playing with colleagues from the oil and gas industry on a work day out.

The location is run by VR gaming group Zero Latency, which started in Australia and has expanded to nine countries. It uses “freeroam” virtual reality—where gamers move around in large spaces and are not tethered to computers with cables.

It’s not all intense, shoot-’em-ups—VR group Virtual Room has an outlet in Singapore that transports gamers to scenarios in the prehistoric period, a medieval castle, ancient Egypt and even a lunar landing.

Asia leads the way VR arcades have been springing up in other places. China was an early hotbed for virtual reality gaming although the industry has struggled in recent times, while they can also be found in countries across the region including Japan, Taiwan and Australia.

Many key industry milestones over the past two years have been in Asia but arcades have appeared elsewhere—London’s first one opened last year while there are also some in the United States.

Consumer spending on virtual reality hardware, software and services is expected to more than double from $2.2 billion in 2017, to $4.5 billion this year, according to gaming intelligence provider SuperData Research.

For the best-quality experience, it can be relatively expensive—a session in Singapore costs Sg$59 ($45).

“The equipment here is not cheap,” said Simon Ogilvie, executive director of Tomorrow Entertainment, which runs the Zero Latency franchise in Singapore.

The industry faces huge challenges.

China offers a cautionary tale—according to IDC, VR arcades have struggled there after expanding too quickly.

There have also been warnings that improvements in home-based technology may eventually lead to VR gaming centres suffering the same fate as traditional arcades that were once filled with Pac-Man and Street Fighter machines.

“The rise and fall of coin-operated videogame arcades in the 1980s suggests that such VR arcades may eventually fade in relevance as home-based computing power and prices fall within mass consumer reach,” said the note from IDC’s Ma. Rebecca Assice, who runs Virtual Room in Singapore, said one challenge was getting people interested in the first place as many still did not know about the arcades.

“VR is still a really new industry,” she said. “A lot of people just don’t know this sort of activity exists.” AFP

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Party-list...

From A4

who asked: What is the right standard of judging guilt in impeachment proceedings?

He says these are: Preponderance of evidence, clear and convincing evidence, overwhelming preponderance of evidence, and evidence beyond reasonable doubt.

He said that the usual non-criminal rule is that the facts are determined by mere preponderance of evidence as that preponderance registers with the judge or jury. He added: In a criminal rule, on the other hand, guilt must be established beyond reasonable doubt.

Black adds, and this could well apply to the looming impeachment trial at the Senate: Weighing the facts, I would be sure that one might not be satisfied, or anything near satisfied, with mere preponderance of evidence in an ordinary civil case, but perhaps must be satisfied with something a little less than the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard of ordinary criminal trial in the full literal meaning of the standard. “Overwhelming preponderance of evidence comes perhaps as close as present legal language can to denote the desired standard.”

The problem here as we know is that while the Rules of Court may be observed in a Senate trial of an impeachable public official, the case is neither civil nor criminal. There are many factors that can come in, like personal bi-

ases and partisanship.

That’s perhaps what Sereno is banking on. *** The demise of my good friend and former colleague Nestor Mata at the defunct Philippines Herald brings memories of when I was business editor at that paper.

I was thrown in the company of other business editors. Notable among them were Ernie Ilustre of the Manila Times, Bienvenido Calleja and Salvador Bigay of the Manila Chronicle, Bernie Ronquillo of the Manila Bulletin, Charlie Castaneda of the Evening News, Johnny Redoblado and Tesoro de Guzman of the Daily Mirror.

We had an association called Business Writers Association of the Philippines. I was voted president twice.

The BWAP was already an existing organization when I joined the Herald in 1955, and it continued as an influential association until the late 1960.

Since I am basically a loner, I did not mingle too much with the other reporters and editors.

I made an exception for Nestor, whom I used to drive home to Project 8 where the Newsmen’s Row was located.

I miss those good old days. But here I am, at 90, still pounding on my typewriter.

China...

From A4

cision states that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea and that China’s so-called ‘nine-dash line’ argument is invalid.

An October 2017 news report on Update Philippines claimed China has said that it has no intent to militarize the South China Sea. This was allegedly stated by Yao Wen, deputy director general for policy planning of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Asian department, when speaking to 25 Asian journalists covering the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress.

Yao was said to have “admitted that China has been building str uctures in the reclaimed reefs and islands which are ‘within China’s sovereignty.’”

Moreover, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Duterte that there would be no militarization in the WPS when they met in Vietnam last November for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

But in January 2018, Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana said, after footage surfaced of an airbase build on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, “The Chinese government said sometime ago that they were not going to militarize those reclaimed islands,” he said. “If it is true and we can prove that they

have been putting soldiers and even weapons systems, that is a violation of what they said.”

Well, for China to build military fortresses on some seven reefs, according to a recent news report, ano pa nga ba? How else are we supposed to take this? An airbase and a military airstrip are not in “good faith.”

Former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez was right when he said last February that the Philippines should not stay silent in the face of China’s construction spree in the West Philippine Sea. “These pictures [of structures] confirm the militarization,” Golez said, “of the three artificial islands [Panganiban, Kagitingan, and Subi] and should be a ground for filing a diplomatic protest of the violation of President Xi’s [Xi Jinping] assurance last year that the artificial islands would not be militarized.”

We should get our heads out of the sand. We should stop being naïve about China. Golez, Lorenzana, Alejano, and Zarate are not the only officials calling for protests to be filed.

We hope it’s not too late for something to be done.

Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communication consultant. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO

Quebec...

From A4

of Brome-Missisquoi imposed a similar ban on new bitcoin mines.

“Most of the business requests that we had in our region to open computer warehouses to mine cryptocurrencies would result in very little job creation,” said the town administrator, Robert Desmarais.

Marc-Antoine Pouliot, a Hydro-Quebec spokesman, added: “We can’t predict the future for this industry.”

Authorities, he explained, “want to see first how projects can be established in Quebec in a sustainable manner,” without ruling out a hike in electricity rates.

According to Pouliot, the dash began in September after China moved to regulate cryptocurrency trading.

Quebec has received proposals for projects that would use more than 9,000 megawatts combined, out of Hydro-Quebec’s total 40,000-megawatt capacity—equal to the power consumed by 83 percent of Quebec households.

Most of the interest in relocating to the province has so far come from China, according to Pouliot. Russian investors have also shown interest, say organizers of the first international blockchain summit to be held in Montreal in April.

In Quebec, “electricity is affordable, abundant and green,” Pouliot said, noting massive hydroelectric dams in the north generate most of the power. The cool weather also means factories require less air conditioning.

Add those factors to bitcoin’s soaring valuation—which peaked at $20,000 in December, before falling to less than half that—and Canada has itself a modern-day gold mine, even as some critics warn the virtual currency boom could amount to a bubble, or even a Ponzi scheme.

Blockchain ‘revolution’ Bitfarms president Pierre-Luc Quimper said his startup already employs 90 people.

“It’s like a traditional mining company that digs up gold and sells it, but 2.0,” he said of his company, which channels computing power to mine bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.

The internet entrepreneur made his fortune starting a web hosting and cloud services business at age 14.

Now in his 40s, he says blockchain —the name given to the shared public database where all bitcoin transactions are recorded—is “a new technology that can be compared to the internet” in terms of “revolutionary” potential.

Quimper started Bitfarms last year after first mining bitcoin at home and is confident in his investment.

“I did not miss the boat for the internet; I do not want to miss the boat for blockchain,” said the entrepreneur, who is convinced the technology will have applications for other industries including banking, aviation and transport.

Today, the Quebec company claims to be the North American leader in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, and is listed on the New York and Tel Aviv stock exchanges.

In its first two months of operation in November and December, Bitfarms earned $4.9 million selling virtual currency coined at the Saint-Hyacinthe and three other mines in Quebec.

The company already uses 27.5 megawatts to power 19,000 computers, and is aiming to boost its usage to 100 megawatts by the end of this year.

“If electricity prices spike, however, we will look elsewhere,” said Quimper, pointing to the abundant power sources also available in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Manitoba. AFP

News

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Govt sets 6-point laundry list for Boracay cleanup T

HE government has unveiled its list of deliverables within the six-month closure of Boracay, giving a clearer picture of what the island’s locals and tourists should expect by the end of the shutdown.

Meanwhile, some “big hotels” in Boracay are keeping about 20 to 30 percent of their workforce despite the half-year closure for rehabilitation, a local official said Wednesday.

The island, known for its fine white sand beaches, will be closed to tourists next week after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a six-month closure.

Last month, a group of hotel and resort owners in Boracay said about 36,000 workers from the formal and informal sector would lose their jobs due to the closure of the island.

In related developments, the House of Representatives’ committee on tourism will recommend for plenary approval a bill seeking to create the Tourism Resiliency Certification Program.

This emerged after the committee, chaired by Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez,

approved House Bill 6093 following the government’s implemention of the sixmonth closure starting on April 26 to pave the way for Boracay’s rehabilitation.

The program, as provided in the bill, aims to prevent, mitigate and control possible damages arising from risks or threats to the tourism industry, such as violence, terrorism, and environmental degradation and climate change.

The bill, authored by Torres-Gomez, refers to the TRCP as a program that 1) identifies risks to the country’s tourism industry, 2) prescribes compliance measures, 3) establishes an appropriate metric system to determine certain acceptable levels of compliance, and 4) mandates the compliance of prescribed measures by all Registered Tourism Enterprises.

When Torres-Gomez filed the bill in August

last year, the issue of Boracay’s environmental degradation had yet to hit the headlines.

Instead, Torres-Gomez said various incidents such as the attack on Resorts World Manila last year, the string of violence in Europe, and the Marawi crisis, in underscoring the need to protect the tourism industry from disastrous consequences of such circumstances.

Interior Assistant Secretary Epimaco Densing said Boracay might be opened earlier than the six-month schedule if the following goals were met: 1. Clean water discharge Densing said that by July, there should be 30 consecutive days of clean water discharge into the sea which should meet the standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

2. Zero solid waste There should also be no solid waste being brought to mainland Malay’s sanitary landfill, Densing said, as the government urged business establishments to practice proper waste segregation.

Sandigan junks Floirendo motion to defer arraignment

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division has denied the motion of Davao Del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. asking the court to defer his arraignment and order the Office of the Ombudsman to complete the preliminary investigation on the graft case filed against him by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

“The court resolves to deny the motion of the accused,” the anti-graft court said in a fivepage resolution promulgated April 12, 2018.

As a consequence of its ruling, the Sandiganbayan scheduled Floirendo’s arraignment on May 2, 2018.

Alvarez filed the case against Floirendo last year for alleged violation of the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) in connection with the land deal between the Floirendo-family owned Tagum Agricultural Development Co., Inc. and the Bureau of Corrections.

The Ombudsman indicted Floirendo for graft in September 2017 and denied the solon’s plea for reconsideration.

In justifying his omnibus motion, Floirendo said, among others, that the Ombudsman had not yet completed the

IN BRIEF

2 BIFF fighters slain, 2 others hurt in Shariff Saydona battle

PCSO draws produce 18 new millionaires EIGHTEEN persons became new millionaires as they shared with each other the P872,384,484 Lotto jackpots in the First Quarter of 2018, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan said Wednesday.

“The winners, whose names we withheld for security purposes, came from Batangas City, Leyte, Laguna, Isabela, Las Piñas, and Cavite City,” Balutan said in a statement.

Records from the PCSO’s Product Research and Development Division of the Gaming Sector indicated that for January, Lotto had six lucky millionaires.

There are two winners for Lotto 6/42 worth P24.8 million and P7.89 million; one winner for Grand Lotto 6/55 worth P29.7 million; one winner for Mega Lotto 6/45 worth P9.59 million; and two winners for Ultra Lotto 6/58 but they have to split the P331.97 million into two.

For February, Lotto had five winners.

One winner for Mega Lotto 6/45 worth P45.39 million; one winner for Lotto 6/42 worth P49.6 million; two winners for Ultra Lotto 6/58 worth P331.97; and one winner for Grand Lotto 6/55 worth P64.3 million.

The winners came from Batangas, Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Manila.

For March, Lotto had five winners.

DFA: OFW Mancilla moved out of ICU AGNES Mancilla, the Filipina allegedly forced to ingest bleach in Saudi Arabia, is now out of immediate danger and has been moved from the intensive care unit to a regular hospital ward Tuesday night, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in an update Wednesday.

According to DFA communications head Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato, Filipino nurses at the King Fahd Hospital in Jizan, where Mancilla is confined, assured Consul General to Jeddah Edgar Badajos they will look after Mancilla until she has fully recovered.

Cato said Mancilla expressed her appreciation to Badajos and other officials at the Consulate General in Jeddah for their aid.

Badajos, who visited Mancilla on Tuesday, said the Filipina worker’s hands were full of abrasions owing to her handling of chemical agents without using gloves.

Mancilla said her female employer forced her to drink household bleach for failing to properly make tea.

In an update coursed through the DFAOffice of Public Diplomacy, Badajos said preparations are being made to transfer Mancilla to a hospital in Jeddah, where she can be easily supported by the Consulate General and her family when they arrive in the Saudi city. PNA

4k delegates seen for ADB meeting AS MANY as 4,000 delegates are expected to take part in the 51st Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank scheduled on May 3 to 6 this year in Manila.

In a statement, ADB Secretary Woochong Um said 3,000 have already registered with the bank for the Manila conference.

“Aside from the main participants—the [ADB] governors, we’ll have about 4,000 participants this year. We already have 3,000 registered so far and usually the last two weeks is when we start to see an acceleration in terms of registration,” Um said.

The delegates to the meeting include finance ministers and central bank governors of ADB member countries, bankers, representatives from the private sector, civil society, academe, multilateral institutions and the media.

Anchored on the theme “Linking People and Economies for Inclusive Development,” among the issues to be discussed during the 51st meeting are globalization, technology and its impact on jobs and corresponding opportunities, private sector mobilization in funding infrastructure, building climate change resilience, expanding opportunities for women entrepreneurs, and using technology to maximize the skills of aging populations to make development inclusive. Julito G. Rada

preliminary investigation of the case.

Floirendo noted he had filed a motion for reconsideration of the Office of the Ombudsman’s order dated December 28, 2017.

In its Dec. 28, 2017 order, the Ombudsman denied Floirendo’s prayer for reconsideration of the anti-graft body’s Sept. 4, 2017 resolution indicting him for graft and to reopen the case for submission of additional documentary or testimonial evidence.

The Sandiganbayan said that while Floirendo filed an “Omnibus Motion for Leave” asking the court to order the Ombudsman to complete the preliminary investigation, the lawmaker also insisted that he was innocent and that he was denied due process.

It added Floirendo’s “Omnibus Motion for Leave” was a prohibited pleading that shall be denied outright before the scheduled arraignment without need of comment or opposition.

“Even if the instant motion is not prohibited under the Revised Guidelines, it must nonetheless be denied. There is no need to order the Office of the Ombudsman to complete the preliminary investigation because it has been completed,” the Sandiganbayan said.

‘OPLAN SITA.’ An officer of the Quezon City Police District writes down the personal information of a motorcycle rider along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City, as the QCPD conduct Wednesday ‘Oplan Sita,’ a police campaign against criminals riding motorcycles, which President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered to be strictly enforced. PNA

France gets more PH tourists despite no direct flights

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan DESPTE the lack of direct flights, France on Wednesday, through its embassy in Manila, welcomed the increasing number of Filipino tourists who visited the country last year.

The French Embassy reported that 88-million visitors—of the number 90,000 were Filipino tourists or 20 percent—visited France in 2017.

The increase, the embassy said, was due to France’s hosting of 50,000 religious sites and 10,000 of which were protected as “historic buildings.”

“This kind of promotion on pilgrimages seeks to plant fruitful seeds into the market and maintain France’s position as the European destination for Filipino travelers,” French Ambassador to the Philippines Nicolas Galey said.

To enhance further the tourism industry, the Lourdes Tourism Board, the

Lisieux Tourism Board, the Alençon Tourism Board, and French hotel chain SEH United Hoteliers will return to the Philippines to touch base with the local media and the travel sector specializing in Christian pilgrimages.

The embassy, Atout France, and France’s Development Tourism Agency will then lead the delegation of French tourism professionals in Metro Manila and Cebu City from April 23 to 26 this year.

The embassy said this mission reflected the importance of the tourism industry in France.

“France offers a wide variety of touristic experiences. It is this diversity that has made France the top tourist destination in the world, with 88-million visitors last year. This presents high stakes for our economy because the tourism sector represents 8 percent of France’s GDP and has created over two-million direct or

indirect jobs.” Galey said.

He added that Asian travelers now played a significant role in the French tourism industry.

“And indeed, Filipino visitors will have a huge influence on Asian arrivals to France in the next decade,” he added.

In an effort to increase the number of Filipino tourists in France, the French Embassy in Manila implemented the delivery of visas in 48 hours less than a year ago.

Galey explained this roadshow was part of an ambitious action plan for the Filipino market.

“In the past six months, we have organized three familiarization trips to France for about 40 Filipino travel agents to have a meaningful experience of French destinations. The goal for these agents was of course to earn enough knowledge to create innovative packages and so, quench the wanderlust of Filipino travelers craving for unique experiences,” he said.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao—Two Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were killed and two others injured dauring a brief firefight in Shariff Saydona, Maguindanao Monday night, the Army here reported Wednesday.

Major Gen. Arnel dela Vega, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander and head of Joint Task Force Central, said the BIFF was frantic to get back at the military following their losses in recent clashes, including the discovery of a firearm fabrication shop in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao on Sunday.

Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, JTFC spokesperson, said the recent BIFF act of revenge took place in Barangay Nabundas, Shariff Saydona Mustapha.

About 16 BIFF bandits, led by Commander Samad Simpal, harassed a detachment of the 40th Infantry Battalion at 7:40 p.m. on Monday, triggering a brief clash that left two BIFF killed and two wounded.

“They are desperate to get back at the Army, they continue to harass our detachments,” Besana said, adding no casualty was reported on the government side.

Another clash erupted Tuesday morning when gunmen fired at 40th IB troops conducting clearing operations in the previous night’s clash site.

The rebels fled when the Army returned fire.

Two improvised explosive devices were also recovered and safely deactivated by Army bomb experts.

Besana has blamed the BIFF for the harassment and bombings in Cotabato City, Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

A balut vendor was hurt when suspected BIFF set off an IED along the highway near the Army division first sentry in Barangay Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao on Monday night.

In North Cotabato, three men were also injured when suspected BIFF tossed a hand grenade in Barangay Kolambog, Pikit town on Monday night.

On Sunday night, an improvised bomb was planted atop Ugalingan Bridge in Barangay Ugalingan, Midsayap, North Cotabato, but failed to explode. The bridge connects the town of Datu Piang in Maguindanao and Midsayap in North Cotabato. PNA

Naia boost security as peak travel season unfolds; patrols doubled

By Joel E. Zurbano

GRAB ISSUE. (from left) GRAB lawyer Miguel Aguila, country head Brian Cu, and marketing head Cindy Toh call a round table discussion in Quezon City on the different issues on Transport Network Vehicles Service and the fare hike issue. Manny Palmero

ADDITIONAL security measures have been implemented at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to ensure safety and convenience of passengers this peak summer travel season.

Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal directed the Office of the Security and Emergency Services to intensify intelligence gathering and the canine unit visibility.

Monreal also ordered Col. Arnulfo Junio, assistant general manager for security, to double their foot and mobile patrol to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in terminal premises and adjacent road networks.

MIAA officials also urged passengers not to bring firearms and other prohibited items to avoid flight delays.

The MIAA is also in close coordination with officials of the Land Transpor-

tation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Inter-Agency Council for Traffic chief Thomas Orbos whose men from Task Force Alamid were deployed to help airport authorities in managing traffic on the roads leading to four terminals of Naia.

Both the LTFRB and I-ACT are also closely monitoring operations of taxi and colorum vehicles at the airport amid reports of the presence of abusive drivers and operators.

“We want a happy ending for all summer getaways. One sorry experience with an abusive taxi driver can spoil everything,” Monreal stated.

Monreal thanked the I- ACT and the LTFRB for partnering with MIAA to ensure a safe and orderly transport operations in Naia.

“We hope this partnership can be sustained for the benefit of the riding public.”

Sports Neymar Jr.’s Five returns to PH via 2 qualifiers NEYMAR Jr.’s Five made its return to the Philippines for two consecutive back-to-back weekends for the tournament’s opening qualifiers in Manila and Cebu, with Perpolise emerging as the biggest winner.

Overall, the series saw a host of teams advancing to the National Finals on Saturday at Turf BGC, in Taguig.

Qualifying teams include French Kiss FC, International Manila, Tenth Power, Naij FC, The Tenth Power B, Realcelona, Tala Cu Chi and Perspolise in the Manila Qualifier A; Koora, Selecao, ABCDE FC, Ballers FC, National FC, Brazilipinas and Tondo FC in the Manila Qualifier B and Lylam FC A in the Cebu Qualifier (Liga 5v5).

Neymar Jr.’s Five is a global phenomenon and is the Brazilian forward’s signature football tournament.

Every year, the Neymar Jr.’s Five brings together players from all corners of the world to celebrate their love for football in a fast, technical, and fun competition. Each match lasts for 10 minutes of play. There is no goalkeeper and the moment one team scores, the opposition loses a player. The only way to win is to outplay them all.

Perspolise came out as the big winner of Qualifier A at the Blue Pitch, in Circuit Makati last Saturday. The team included Team Captain Hamed Hajimahdi, who was a member of the Iran International Football team. Perspolise took the much coveted first place spot after defeating second place winners, Naij FC. “It was good,” said Hajimahdi.

“Football is my life; I have been playing since I was thirteen years old.

We want to have fun at the Finals, and we want to go to Brazil.”

Qualifier A also saw the return of Realcelona’s Martin Sarmiento, who had played in last year’s Neymar Jr’s Five with Legion FC. “It was very challenging and it gave us a lot of experience, since we haven’t played together before,” said Sarmiento. “Perspolise was our hardest opponent today, but we are going to train more and play a few games outside the tournament to prepare for the finals. Hopefully, we can make it to Brazil!”

SPARTA PH hosted Qualifier B on April 14.

“We played better than last year,” said Tondo FC team captain, Dennis Balbin.

“We really had to prepare for this year.

We worked on team defense and organization. We learned that Neymar Jr’s Five is really a team effort. We had difficulties, but this time we proved that we could do it.”

The following day, Neymar Jr.’s Five advanced to Cebu for Qualifier C at the Guiseppe Football Club. The Visayasleg of the tournament saw a total of 10 teams competing in several grueling rounds of competitive play, with Leylam FC-A scoring the first place win from Leylam FC-B. For the first time, this year’s edition of Neymar Jr.’s Five showcased a number of female participants that included French Kiss FC’s Jennifer Cornelio, along with Aliah Reonal and Niveen McEvoy from Asians on the Loose, both of whom were initially questioned by the venue’s guards upon entry.

“At first, we were hesitant to join because it’s dominated by guys, a few big ones, but we thought this is a good opportunity and definitely a good experience,” said Reonal. “Gender should not hinder whatever you want to do. Just because you are a girl, it should not be a surprise that you are playing football.

It is normal.”

Southwoods holds senior golfest today THE Manila Southwoods Seniors Chapter will hold the Seniors Trimester Birthday Bash today (Thursday) with close to a hundred players vying for top honors in various divisions at the Legends course in Carmona, Cavite.

Up for grabs are three division titles with the field to be classified based on the April 2018 UNHS course handicap, according to Southwoods Seniors chapter president Paco Gonzalez.

The 18-hole tournament also stakes one unit of BMG Solar Water Heater for hole-in-one prize feat on all par-3s.

Backers of the event are Red Eagle Lending Investors, Romago Inc. and San Miguel/Purefoods with Avante Coffee, Camp John Hay Golf Club, Forest Hills Golf Club, G&W Clubshares, Le Chef and Warbird Security as supporters.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Raptors, Celtics, Pelicans go 2-0

L

OS ANGELES—DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points as the Toronto Raptors overwhelmed the Washington Wizards 130-119 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-ofseven Eastern Conference NBA playoff series Tuesday.

A record-breaking first-half performance laid the foundations for the Raptors, who had surged into a 76-58 lead at half-time to leave Washington chasing an 18-point deficit after the break.

DeRozan, who also contributed four assists and five rebounds, spearheaded a rampant Toronto offense, which saw six players finish with double-digit points tallies.

“I just let the game come to me,” DeRozan said afterwards.

“It’s not like I go out there thinking I have to score 30 or 40 points. Tonight I just wanted to be aggressive.”

Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points, while C.J. Miles had 18 off the bench as To-

ronto took a firm grip on the series with game three set for Washington on Friday.

“We’re strong as a team, it’s not about individual players,” Valanciunas said.

“We did it as a team tonight. We were great defending, helping each other. It’s a team sport and when you play together and support each other it’s fun.”

Washington’s resistance was led by John Wall with 29 points, but the Wizards were rarely in the contest, save for one late rally as the top-seeded Raptors eased up.

Wall had given Washington hope of a recovery after draining two free throws to take the Wizards back to within five points at 108-103 in the

fourth quarter.

But Toronto slammed the door with a rapid burst of scoring to take the game away from the Wizards for good as the clock wound down.

Elsewhere Tuesday, second seeds Boston shrugged off their injury crisis to down Milwaukee 120-106 to take a 2-0 lead in their first round series.

The Celtics are still reeling from confirmation that star Kyrie Irving will miss the rest of the season.

But the Boston club produced a dominant display to seal a win that puts them firmly in the driving seat in the best-ofseven series.

Jaylen Brown shouldered the offensive burden in the absence of Irving, scoring 30 points in 33 minutes on court.

Brown said the Celtics had been unfazed by the raft of injuries that has threatened to derail their season.

“I don’t pay attention to that—ultimately we just want to win games,”

Brown said.

“We’re confident as ever. Teams have been writing us off all year and we just keep proving people wrong.”

Terry Rozier had 23 points with eight assists on a night when six Celtics put up double figures.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the scoring for the Bucks with 30 points, with Khris Middleton adding 25 in a losing effort.

In Portland, New Orleans took a 2-0 lead in their series against the Trail Blazers with a 111-102 victory on the road.

Jrue Holiday scored 33 points for the Pelicans—including 12 in a fourth quarter rally—to guide New Orleans home, with Anthony Davis adding 22.

C.J. McCollum led the scoring for the Blazers with 22 points, while Damian Lillard was effectively nullified by the Pelicans defense, scoring just 17 points. AFP

PH tourism to cash in on 7th Asia golf convention

DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors tries to get a shot off over Ty Lawson and Otto Porter of the Washington Wizards in Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 NBA Play-offs at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Raptors defeated the Wizards, 130-119. AFP

Donaire-Frampton duel live on SKY Sports PPV FORMER world boxing champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. fights for another world title when he goes head to head against Irishman Carl “The Jackal” Frampton for the interim World Boxing Organization Featherweight division title, in the Irishman’s own backyard at the SSE Arena in Belfast, United Kingdom.

The fight will air live on SKY Sports Pay-Per-View on April 22 at 2:30 a.m., with same day replays at 6 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Boxing analyst, Atty. Ed Tolentino said that this fight is make-or-break for Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs), who hails from Bohol.

“Donaire is walking a tight rope. He

is at the crossroads opposite Frampton in this fight. This could be the swan song if he loses,” he said.

Despite being the underdog of the match, there is still much to look forward to from the former five-time world champion.

“Even as he gets older, Donaire is still extremely dangerous because of his one-punch power and excellent counterpunching skill,” added Tolentino of the 2012 Fighter of the Year of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

The 31-year old Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs), fondly called “The Jackal,” is a former world junior featherweight and featherweight champion, and holds a hometown advantage over the Filipino.

If Donaire prevails, he will be guaranteed at one last shot for glory against the reigning WBO champion Oscar Valdez from Mexico once the lynchpin heals from a broken jaw.

SKY PPV subscribers may also watch these bonus content with their subscription: Donaire vs. Prado in Pinoy Pride 30, Donaire vs. Bedak, and “Flash Forward,” a documentary on the Pinoy fighter. Watch the match live, commercial-free on SKY Sports PPV for P199 on channels 159 (SD) and 259 (HD) for Mega Manila, channels 59 (SD) and 959 (HD) for select provincial areas, channel 42 (HD) for SKYdirect and via SKY On Demand. Visit mysky. com.ph/boxingppv for details.

TOURISM in the Philippines is set to reap the benefits when 200 golf tour operators from 33 countries descend on Manila this month for the largest-ever gathering of golf tourism professionals in Asia.

The city is hosting the 7th annual Asia Golf Tourism Convention, with the tour operators also experiencing golf in some of the country’s key golf regions both beforehand and afterwards.

At the AGTC Opening Address at Resorts World on Monday, Peter Walton, Chief Executive of event organizer IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators), will announce the operators’ steady growth.

“In 2017, IAGTO’s 683 international golf tour operators recorded an 8.8% growth in golf vacation sales, marking six years of consecutive growth in this high revenue, low impact, tourism sector,” said Walton.

“In January this year, forward bookings taken by golf tour operators were up 10.8% compared to the same time last year. Golf courses, golf resorts and hotels in Asia reported golf visitor arrivals up 9.2% in 2017,demonstrating that golf travel continues to outstrip the growth of general leisure tourism by a significant margin,” he said.

Speaking in London this week, Walton added: “Thanks to the efforts of the Philippines Department of Tourism and its Tourism Promotion Board, the world’s leading golf tour operators will see for themselves an amazing array of golf experiences – including the Tagaytay Highlands, Clark/Angeles City and Metro Manila – for the first time, in the case of the majority of them. At the convention itself, close to 1,000 meetings will take place between international tour operators and Philippine golf course, hotels, inbound operators and other golf tourism suppliers. I have no doubt that this will lead to an immediate and sustainable growth in golf tourism to the Philippines.”

Herbalife backs top triathletes

Newly-signed-up members of the Herbalife Nutrition Triathlon Team (from left) Elmer and Ines Santiago, with Herbalife Nutrition Philippines General Manager Rosalio Valenzuela, are shown during the contract signing ceremony held recently at the global nutrition company’s headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

HERBALIFE Nutrition is now the official sports nutrition provider of Philippine triathlon’s newest power couple Elmer and Ines Santiago.

The couple has inked a two-year contract, making the multi-awarded duo official members of the Herbalife Nutrition Triathlon Team.

Herbalife Nutrition Philippines General Manager Rosalio Valenzuela has expressed his enthusiasm in welcoming the two, whose stellar record as triathletes will ensure they become a great addition to the Herbalife Nutrition Triathlon Team.

“We are thrilled to have Elmer and Ines join our Triathlon team,” he said. “Herbalife Nutrition supports athletes with personalized nutrition to help them further improve their performances in their chosen sport. We provide the best nutrition products backed by science and research, so we are extremely confident we can be the best nutrition partner for them,” Valenzuela stated.

Both athletes have shown their gratitude

Team 90s subdues 80s, captures ERJHS cage title TEAM 90s rode on the heroics of Joseph Magpantay to subdue Team 80s, 66-64, and capture the title in the 2018 ERJHS Alumni Sports Club Battle of the Generations basketball tournament at the Barangay N. S. Amoranto covered court in Quezon City.

Magpantay completed a three-point play with 3.5 seconds left to save the day for Team 90s, which blew double-digit leads in the face of Team 80s’ determined comeback before escaping with the win.

Magpantay, a stalwart of Batch 95, finished with 16 points. He was also named Most Valuable Player.

With the win, Teams 90s wrapped up the best-of-five series, 3-1, in the tournament organized by the ASC, headed by

Ed Andaya of Batch 81 and supported by Quezon City Cong. Bingbong Crisologo, Councilor Onyx Crisologo, Brgy. Amoranto Chairman Von Yalong and ERJHS Batch 71 and Batch73.

Team 90s also won over Team 80s, 8159, in the opener last March 18 and 76-68 in Game 3 last April 8.

Team 80s averted a shutot by winning, 73-67, in Game 2 last March 25.

Choy Santiago, Rommel Lazaro, Jerry Santos and Daniel Blysma combined for 33 points.

Alvin Tanare and Ronald Carillo led Team 80s with 17 and 13 points, respectively.

Geolin added five points, including a short jumper that put Team 80s ahead, 6463, with 12 seconds left before Magpantay

came through with his heroics.

Earlier, Team 90s also defeated Team 80s to capture the volleyball title.

Mamei Apinado, Teresa Asuncion, Don Bugarin, Alvin Salazar, Jocelyn Igarta, Jerald Hidalgo, Mona Jimenez, Lourdes Reyes, Rick Boy Pacaldo and Allen Gonzales.joined hands for Team 90s.

The scores: Team 90s (66)—Magpantay 16, C. Santiago 12, Lazaro 8, Santos 7, Blysma 6, Baez 6, Oracion 4, Duculan 4, J. Nell 3, R. Nell 0.

Team 80s (64)—Alvin Tanare 17, Carillo 13, Cano 10, V. De Guzman 6, Baet 6, Geolin 5, Arnold Tanare 4, De Jesus 3, Mercado 0.

Quarterscores: 20-9, 36-30, 47-45, 66-64.

and excitement at the partnership, emphasizing their trust in the products and their awareness of the strong performances of their fellow Herbalife Nutrition triathletes.

Elmer holds in his portfolio an Ironman All World Athlete Bronze 2017, in which he ranked 10th in the 40-44 male category. Ines has ranked 1st in the Ironman All World Athlete Silver 2017 for the 35-39 female category.

“It’s an honor to be in the company of strong sports sponsorship program whom I’ve looked up to since I started in the sport in 2009,” said the female champ of the recent Bike King Tri 1. Her husband expressed his anticipation of improvements in their performances, once they begin their journey with Herbalife Nutrition. “We have seen how the products helped boost the perfor mances of other athletes, and are looking for ward to discovering how Herbalife Nutrition will help us achieve our personal goals in our careers as triathletes,” added the driven Elmer.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Sports

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

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

Region IVA trackster rips 100-m jr record

By Peter Atencio

Filipino boxing idol Manny Pacquiao (L) poses for photographs with Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse (R) during a press conference in Manila on April 18, 2018, ahead of their World Welterweight championship bout in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in July. AFP

Pacquiao vows: I will win Unheralded PH bets 1-2 at Luisita golf TARLAC—Rolando Marabe tripped with a bogey on the last hole but took a step ahead with a 69, leading an unlikely 1-2 charge by the unfancied Filipino bets as Erwin Arcillas moved to joint second with a solid 68 midway through the $100,000 ICTSI Luisita Championship at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here yesterday.

Marabe recovered from an early bogey mishap with a stirring backside flourish, birdying five in a six-hole stretch from No. 9 but blew a two-shot lead after an indecision while tackling the wind cost him a stroke on the par-4 18th.

Still, his 36-33 card complemented well with his bogey-free 67 Tuesday and his eight-under 136 put the 42-yearold Bacolod bet in front of a crack international field chasing the top $17,500 purse in the kickoff leg of the second PGT Asia season put up by ICTSI. “With just around 150 yards to the pin, I opted for a 9-iron but changed my mind and took a wedge as the wind blew sideways. I hit the green but the ball bounced back and left me with 25 yards,” rued Marabe.

Arcillas, bucking wild driving with superb recovery shots and putting, completed the big 36-hole shock by the lesserlights as he turned in a flawless 68 to tie American John Jackson at second at 137.

“I’ve been training the last few weeks and it showed in my short game and putting,” said Arcilla, who finished just a rung ahead of Marabe in last year’s PGTA Order of Merit ranking.

What made Arcilla’s solid round doubly impressive was he did it despite hitting just three fairways and four greens with the 40-year-old Zamboangeño vowing to stay focused in the last two rounds and finally gain a crack at the elusive crown.

“I need to play safe if need be but will still go for those birdie holes,” said Arcillas, who also shot a 66 in the first round here last year.

Jackson slowed down with a 70 but kept his bogey-free run going while Finland’s Teemu Putnoken Putkonen fired an eagle-spiked 68 for joint fourth with Thai Varanyu Rattanaphiilboonkij, who shot a 69, at 138.

Rolando Marabe sets up his approach shot on the first hole.

F

ILIPINO ring icon Manny Pacquiao may be half a step slower, his killer instinct nowhere to be found.

But he knows deep in his heart, he still has what it takes to win on the big stage.

This is the reason he chose an opponent who could push him to the limit—World Boxing Association welterweight titlist Lucas Martin Matthysse, the dangerous 36-yearold champion from Argentina, whose punching power is his no. 1 asset as he boasts of 36 knockouts out of his 39 wins and against only four losses.

“I want to prove and show that I am not done yet,” Pacquiao said during a press conference announcing their fight at City of Dreams yesterday.

The 39-year-old fighting senator from Sarangani (59-7-2 with 38 KOs) will be aiming for Matthysse’s WBA welterweight title on July 15 in Malaysia.

Pacquiao’s confidence notwith-

standing, it is clear, however, that he is no longer the energetic dynamo of old, who could unleash his punches in bunches. His last KO win came on Nov. 14, 2009, when referee Kenny Bayless stepped in 55 seconds into the 12th and final round and stopped the mauling he handed to Miguel Cotto.

The Filipino ring icon, who is also coming off a controversial loss to Australian Jeff Horn on July 2, 2017 in Brisbane, will be without his long-time trainer Freddie Roach Pacquiao and will instead be coached by Restituto “Buboy” Fernandez and Raides “Nonoy” Neri.

And the fact that his foe is himself no pushover with a killer punch to boot make Pacquiao’s goal all the

more steep.

“This is my time,” said Matthysse through Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions’ president, who translated for him.

“I will not go to Malaysia to give up the title,” added the champion, who wore a Barong Tagalog he brought at the hotel.

Matthysse even went to the extent of saying that while Pacquiao is still a worthy challenger, “he is not in his prime anymore.”

That, in itself, could be Pacquiao’s primary motivation.

Pacquiao’s MP Promotions handled the press tour, the final stop of which will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 20.

Dubbed “Fight of Champions,” the mega-fight will usher in Pacquiao’s debut as a fight promoter at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, featuring three other world title fights in the undercard.

UST catches last bus to volley semis Games Saturday (Mall of Asia Arena) 2 p.m. – FEU vs Ateneo (Men Semis) 4 p.m. – FEU vs Ateneo (Women Semis)

Games Sunday (Mall of Asia Arena) 2 p.m. – NU vs UST (Men Semis) 4 p.m. – DLSU vs NU (Women Semis)

UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas outlasted Adamson University 25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11, to punch the last ticket to the Final Four of the UAAP Season 80 men’s volleyball tournament yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

Arnold Bautista was impressive on both ends of the floor with 17 points and 13 digs, aside from producing the biggest plays for the Growling Tigers in the deciding frame that broke the Falcons’ backs.

“Nag-take charge ‘yung senior kong si Bautista. Kaya confident ako sa fifth set na nandoon si Bautista sa loob,” said UST coach Odjie Mamon.

Jao Umandal took the scoring mantle for the Tigers with 21 points, while Jan Carodan and Manuel Medina added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Making its second straight Final Four appearance, UST will take on top-ranked National University in the semifinals on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The other Final Four pits No. 2 Far Eastern University and defending champion Ateneo on Saturday also at the same Pasay venue.

By finishing in the top two, the Bulldogs and the Tamaraws need only to win once against their lower-ranked foes to arrange a best-of-three title showdown.

The Tigers, the second winningest team with 19 crowns, will not just be contented of making it to the Final Four.

“We will prepare for NU. Mahirap na lang yung laro na lang at participation lang kami sa Final Four. Hopefully, we can give them a good fight. Siyempre, hoping against hope manalo kami,” said Mamon.

Mark Streigl and TV anchor Princess Legazpi set out for the TRI-Factor Virtual Cycling Challenge

TRI-Factor holds virtual bike test TRI-Factor stepped up its buildup for the Asian Championship Series next month as it held a pre-race activity dubbed the TRIFactor Virtual Cycling Challenge at the Bonifacio High Street Central at Bonifacio Global City last weekend.

Celebrities/athletes graced and took part in the event with world class pro MMA fighter Mark Streigl and Nerica Sim topping the men’s and women’s sides, respectively, of the challenge where participants vied to beat the current record in terms of speed.

Streigl clocked 3 minutes and 03.98 seconds to emerge the top TRI-Factor Strongest Virtual cyclist with Gasbenal Olonan finishing second in 3 minutes and 05.84 seconds.

Sim timed 3 minutes and 25.35 seconds to best UP women’s football team co-skipper Kali Huff, who clocked 4 minutes and 19.65 seconds, for top honors in the event also held as part of the Fit Street Weekend.

Streigl also won a Caramoan Adventure weekend for his feat courtesy of CamSur Watersports Complex.

The top two placers also earned free slots in the TRI-Factor Asian Championships set May 26-27 at the CWC in Camarines Sur.

“I am pretty sure Tri-Factor in CamSur will not just be a competitive race but also a fun and exciting triathlon race,” said CamSur Gov. Migs Villafuerte. “Our province has been home to many triathlon and other sports events but the Tri-Factor Phl race is something that should not be missed since it will be one of the highlights of our Kaogma Grand Festival.”

Princess Legazpi, a TV anchor and NCAA courtside reporter, also saw action in the challenge staged in partnership with Maximus Athlete Shop Café, which provided the equipment and the trainer app called “Zwift.”

Meanwhile, another TRI-Factor Virtual Cycling Challenge will be held on April 26 to May 23 at the Maximus Athlete Shop Café at Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong City.

For details, check out fb page tri-factor Philippines.

The organizing Orange Room Pte. Ltd also said registration is ongoing for the third leg of the short-course series, which serves as a venue for triathlon newcomers and those seeking to become full-fledged athletes in the swim-bike-run races. For details, visit www.trifactor.ph.

BANTAY, Ilocos Sur-- Veruel Verdadero briefly raised a clenched fist in the air upon reaching the finish line.

Coming up with a fast start, the incoming Grade 10 student from Region IV-A shattered the Philippine national junior record with his 10.55-second time in the secondary boys’ 100-meter yesterday in the 2018 Palarong Pambansa athletics meet here.

“Gusto ko talaga ma break iyung record,” said Verdadero after his hand-timed performance was over at the Quirino Stadium track oval.

Verdadero’s clocking eclipsed the national junior mark of 10.6 seconds that Julio Bayaban set in the 1979 National Open and the 10.75-second performance of Feberoy Kasi of Southern Mindanao Region during the 2016 Palaro.

Verdadero, the son of an Uber taxi driver, was cheered on by his mom, after he reached the finish line ahead of Western Visayas (Region 6) bet Vince Buhayan, who had a 10.88.

For Verdadero, who is being recruited by several Manila-based schools, this is the second time that had broken the Palaro mark after he previously did it in 10.65 seconds.

Two meet records fell on Day 2 in athletics, with Region III’s Ed Delina topping the secondary boys’ discus throw in 42.67 seconds.

Delina, who cross-trains in basketball, surpassed the 41.62-meter effort of Clifford Bonjoc of Region VII in 2005.

“Nag-relax ako at nag-warm up nang maganda,” said the 18-yearold 12th grader from Ramon Magsaysay State University in Iba, Zambales.

Meanwhile, in the secondary girls’ 2000-meter walk, a new event in these games,Laurize Wangkay of Region IV-A, along with seven others, completed the race above last year’s best time of 13:31.08 when the event was still a demonstration sport, as she got the gold in 10:44.44.

Algin Gomez of Region 2 earned his second gold medal after topping the secondary boys’ long jump finals in 14.55 meters, beating Region 10’s Clint Neri (14.42).

Jerico Pacis of NCR ruled the 400-meter hurdles finals in 54.81 seconds, with Kenneth Corpus of Region 13 in second and Kerry Calumpang of Region 12 in third.

John Manaloto added another gold for NCR in the elementary boys’ 400-meter hurdles, with a first-place finish in 1:04.21, while Rizza Vallente of Region VII took the top honors in the secondary girls’ side in 1:01.45. Princess Jane Uriarte (Region IV-A) dominated the elementary girls’ action in 1:09.07.

In women’s artistic gymnastics, Gail Santos of Region 3 won 3 of 4 golds at stake in cluster A, after she showed the way in the individual allaround exercise, the floor exercise and the vault.

In taekwondo, Region 6 won three golds with Arielle Beronio taking the individual girls’ gold in the elementary poomsae matches and Angelie Perillo topping the individual B side.

Lianna Sabando prevailed over Cordillera’s Kamille Calaycay in the kyorugi.

In secondary boys’ archery, Jonathan Reaport of NCR hit a 304 in the 50-meter distance for the gold, beating Region 8’s Jared Sia, who had a 301.

World karate body drops PH federation THE World Karatedo Federation has withdrawn its recognition of the Philippine Karatedo Federation from its membership.

WKF president Antonio Espinos informed PKF president Joey Romasanta of their decision, which reportedly stemmed from the Philippine Sports Commission’s investigation after funds were allegedly misused when members of the national travelled to Germany for a training stint last year.

Top officials of the PKF eventually went on leave afterwards.

Espinos said the PKF can still appeal their case during the WKF Congress this November. Peter Atencio

IN BRIEF MRAIL replacing 80 LRT-2 air-con units THE joint venture of MRAIL Inc. and Multi-Scan Corp. secured a P350-million contract to replace 80 air-conditioning units of the 10 running trains of Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 2.

MRAIL and Multi-Scan will replace the existing roof-mounted air conditioners on 10 train sets of the LRT Line 2 System. The existing air conditioning units have been in use for over 15 years now.

“MRAIL being a rail maintenance and technology company has achieved a Quality Certification from the International Organization for Standardization. We bring our expertise and capability in executing the Systematic ACU replacement for the LRT-2 Rolling Stock,” MRAIL president and chief executive Ferdinand G. Inacay said.

Using latest technology and original equipment manufactured parts, the new ACUs will seamlessly interface with the train monitoring system.

A total of 80 ACUs will be delivered and installed throughout the 12-month project period. Darwin G. Amojelar

LandBank opening 19 branches in 2018 STATE-RUN Land Bank of the Philippines, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, plans to open 19 more branches in strategic places nationwide this year to widen its reach and seize growth opportunities in the countryside.

LandBank president and chief executive Alex Buenaventura said Wednesday the expansion would cover several locations in the country, including low-class municipalities.

“A number of selected locations for our new branches belong to 4th to 6th class municipalities, the same areas we targeted in our financial inclusion caravan. This is still in line with our fervent drive to promote greater financial inclusion, especially among Filipinos in the unbanked and underserved rural areas,” Buenaventura said.

LandBank plans to open seven new branches in Luzon, two in Visayas, and 10 in Mindanao for a total of 19 new branches.

LandBank is the only bank present in all of the country’s provinces with its nationwide network of 380 branches and extension offices. Julito G. Rada

Business

NGCP, Transco agree to sign broadband deal STATE-RUN National Transmission Corp. and private company National Grid Corp. of the Philippines agreed to sign a tripartite agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology to roll out the national broadband network.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said Wednesday NGCP was now willing to work with Transco to use the power grid’s fiber optic cable for telecommunication purposes.

“Regarding the fiber optic to be used for telco… I was called that they are already willing to sign with TransCo,” Cusi said.

Cusi earlier asked NGCP and DICT to include TransCo, which owns the fiber optic cable of grid operator NGCP, to include the state-run agency in the agreement.

Cusi said under the tripartite agreement, the fiber optic cable of the government would be used to the benefit of the Filipino people.

“I understand there are no conditions, that it is acceptable to all parties… So we will have a stable platform, so we can attract investors,” he said.

TransCo president Melvin Matibag confirmed that an agreement with the two parties was being prepared, but it remained to be signed.

“We have to present it to the board also. We’re setting a meeting next week with DICT,” Matibag said.

He said one of the provisions in the agreement was that “the MOA [memorandum of agreement] will not affect claims of Transco and NGCP and cannot be used in other forums as to the other claims except for the purpose to push for the broadband project.”

Matibag said the purpose of the agreement was to promote better broadband service to the public.

He said that after the signing, the DICT would implement the project because it was the one with technical capability.

“Our legal [department] is now sorting out the details of the agreement. We’re targeting [signing] before the end of the month. We’re setting a meeting next week,” he said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

B1

Meralco asked to bid out contracts

By Alena Mae S. Flores

E

NERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi asked power retailer Manila Electric Co. to open its power supply agreements to Swiss Challenge instead of waiting for an approval from the Energy Regulatory Commission.

“From my personal point of view, they should just subject it to Swiss Challenge, if they’re confident of the cost… Because I’m representing the public,” Cusi told reporters.

Swiss Challenge is a process in public procurement where an agency or company invites third parties to match or exceed an

unsolicited bid.

“We are talking of supply of electricity.

If I can supply you cheaper [electricity], why would you get from him [another party],” Cusi said.

Meralco’s power supply agreements with several suppliers covering more than 3,000 megawatts of capacity await the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission whose four members were ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Meralco and its suppliers reached the agreements prior to the effectivity of the competitive selection process, which requires distribution utilities to undergo public bidding of their power requirements.

Cusi said undergoing a Swiss Challenge would be similar to CSP because it would promote competition.

“I’m not against Meralco. It’s just a good process that I want supply and I’m looking at affordability. I’m looking at the tariff…I want assurance of supply. I’m looking at 2021,2022, 2030, so it needs to be built,” he said.

Cusi said he just wanted to make sure that electricity rates would be fair and affordable to everybody.

Cusi said he discussed the issue with Meralco PowerGen Corp. president Rogelio Singson. Meralco PowerGen is the power generation unit of Meralco, which has several PSAs pending with the ERC. “As long as it’s a legal process, I want it legally, so there will be no issue,” Cusi said.

ERC issued a statement last year that it was carefully scrutinizing Meralco’s PSAs which had been pending for more than a year to ensure that “just and reasonable

costs” were passed on to consumers.

Meralco signed power supply agreements with seven generators in April 2016 to secure 3,551 MW of capacity to meet the demand of its franchise area.

Meralco signed PSAs with Panay Energy Development Corp., Atimonan One Energy Inc., Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc., St. Raphael Power Generation Corp., Central Luzon Premiere Power Corp., Mariveles Power Generation Corp. and Global Luzon Energy Development Corp.

ERC already granted provisional approval to Panay Energy’s PSA with Meralco. The regulator, however, suspended further hearings on three other PSAs with Central Luzon, Mariveles Power and Global Luzon because of the alleged lack of environmental compliance certificates.

Car importers reported 2% sales decline in 1st quarter

PH passes WTO trade policy review

ABAC Philippines welcomed the successful completion of the Philippines’ Trade Policy Review by the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The Philippines is on the road towards achieving inclusive globalization, where no one is left behind,” said Trade undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo.

The review, the fifth for the Philippines, covered the trade policy regime of the country from its last assessment in 2012 to 2017.

ABAC Philippines lauded the milestones presented in the policy review, where the Philippines achieved its highest average six-year economic growth in over 40 years at 6.6 percent.

The Philippines also recorded a significant decline in poverty incidence to 21.6 percent from over 25 percent in 2012.

The critical trade and investment policy reforms and programs implemented during the review period included the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act in 2016 and the Philippine Competition Act in 2015.

Othel V. Campos

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

By Othel V. Campos

AYALA LAND EXPANSION. Property developer Ayala Land Inc. announces the acquisition of a property in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a part of its regional expansion. At the annual stockholders’ meeting in Fairmont Hotel in Makati City are (from left) Ayala Land chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy and vice chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala.

(See story below.) Lino Santos

Smart offers free one-hour YouTube streaming

By Darwin G. Amojelar SMART Communications Inc. said it teamed up with YouTube to provide free one-hour daily streaming of video services for prepaid subscribers until July 15.

“With this new offer, mobile phone users now have everyday access to the richest video library with content from every corner of the planet―for free,” PLDT Inc. and Smart senior vice president for consumer business market development Oscar Reyes said.

Reyes said the special promo would also be available to postpaid subscribers soon.

“We are proud to partner with YouTube to bring the service closer to our customers. This is just the start of a fruitful partnership, and we are working on a lot of other exciting initiatives that will enhance the digital lifestyle of Filipinos,” Reyes said.

The company said to avail of onehour free daily YouTube video services, prepaid subscribers of Smart, TNT and

Sun needed to register in load packages like GigaSurf99, AllOutSurf99, GigaSurf 50, AllOutSurf 30, Panalo Data 30, Panalo Combo 30, Super Combo 20 and Big Time Data 70.

Smart said to provide customers with a better video and mobile internet experience, it was accelerating the deployment of LTE-Advanced and carrier aggregation technology to more areas this year.

Carrier Aggregation, a feature of LTE-A, enables the combination of two or more radio frequency bands to deliver bigger bandwidth and much faster data speeds, which are crucial in providing the best video streaming experience to mobile phone users.

Smart said it already rolled out 3CC CA sites in Metro Manila and major cities such as Baguio, Calamba, Iloilo, Bacolod, Tagbilaran, Ormoc, Cagayan de Oro, Dipolog and Zamboanga.

Smart said it was also deploying 4CC starting with Marikina and Quezon City, where customers with 4CC CA-capable

devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8 reported enjoying data download speeds of over 200 megabits per second.

Smart’s accelerated deployment of LTE-Advanced follows the stepped up roll-out of its LTE network. It is also upping the ante by deploying another LTE-A based technology called 4x4 Multiple Input Multiple Output, which raises the radio frequency efficiency by using multiple antennas for sending and receiving data.

Parent company PLDT committed historic levels of resources to support network transformation. Capital expenditures reached P40 billion in 2017, of which about 67 percent was allotted for the mobile network.

PLDT’s capex is expected to reach P58 billion in 2018, including allocations for the aggressive roll-out of its fiber broadband service, which also supports the stepped-up deployment of the mobile network by providing highcapacity links for cellular base stations.

THE Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors said combined sales of member companies dropped 2 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, as the market continued to adjust to higher excise taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.

Avid said its members sold 22,758 vehicles in January to March, down from 23,317 units sold in the same period in 2017.

“Avid capped off the first quarter with 22,758 units sold. Despite given market challenges, we remain resolute that the stabilizing market condition and the influx of new products and services will serve as ample boost as we wind-up for a stronger 2018,” said Avid president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

The group said the first-quarter performance was an indication of the industry’s stability amid the transitional or short-term effects of the Train law on consumer sentiment and purchase behavior.

It said the passenger car segment appeared to be less volatile among the two segments, as it experienced a slight weakening in sales to 9,189 units from 9,247 units a year earlier.

Hyundai, a member of Avid, posted a 4-percent growth and accounted for 68 percent of total passenger car sales in the three-month period.

Sales of light commercial vehicles fell 4 percent in the first quarter to 13,569 units from 14,070 units sold in the first quarter of 2017.

Ford led the segment, recording the highest sales of 6,273 units in the first quarter.

Avid said despite the slower growth, it remained confident about the industry as the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program was expected to take off.

It said the automotive market would also receive a boost from the strong economic growth which was expected to hit the government’s target range of 7 percent to 8 percent in 2018.

Ayala Land unit buys P2-b property in Kuala Lumpur for Asean expansion

By Jenniffer B. Austria

ENTREPRENEURS FORUM. Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. founder and Clark Global City Corp. chairman Dennis Uy (right) addresses young Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs during a dinner forum of the Anvil Business Cub at Enderun Colleges in MckKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. With Uy is businessman and newspaper columnist Wilson Lee Flores. Sonny Espiritu

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said a unit is acquiring a 9.25-acre (3.75 hectares) property in Klang Valley area in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia worth P2 billion as part of its expansion.

ALI president Bernard Vincent Dy said in a news briefing following the annual stockholders’ meeting unit MCT Berhad was making its first land acquisition after the conglomerate increased its stake in the Malaysian firm to over 66 percent in February.

“Now that we are majority owner, we now have a vehicle to continue to expand in the area. The board recently approved the acquisition of 9.25-acre land in Klang Valley which will be our first land acquisition in Malaysia since we participated in MCT Berhad,” Dy said.

Dy said MCT Berhad would focus developing mixed-use estates with residential developments focused on attracting middle-income earners in

Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a top executive said ALI was set to raise P10 billion from the issuance of 10-year bonds.

ALI chief finance officer Augusto Bengzon said the offer period for the 10-year bond offering started April 16 and would end April 20.

Bengzon said the bond offering was so far 1.5-times oversubscribed with state pension funds Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System subscribing to P1.6 billion worth of ALI bonds.

The P10-billion bonds carry a coupon rate of 5.92 percent, with an option to re-price the rate at the end of the fifth year.

Proceeds from the fund raising activity will be used to partially finance the P111-billion programmed capital expenditures for the year.

The bonds will be listed with the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on April 27.

B2

Business

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks rise; BDO, Ayala Land up T HE stock market rose Wednesday on bargain hunting and in step with the rest of Asia following a rally on Wall Street overnight.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index climbed 69.74 points, or 0.9 percent, to 7,793.13 on a value turnover of P7.3 billion. Losers, however, edged gainers, 107 to 103, with 40 issues unchanged.

BDO Unibank Inc., the biggest lender in terms of assets, gained 3 percent to P137, while major property developer Ayala Land Inc. advanced 3.1 percent to P41.

Universal Robina Corp., the largest snack food maker, rose 2.6 percent to P140, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, added 1.9

percent to P294.20.

The rest of Asian markets, meanwhile, climbed Wednesday as easing trade and Syria concerns allowed investors to concentrate on earnings and upbeat data, while fresh news on US-North Korea talks also provided support.

New York provided a strong lead, with all three main indexes posting healthy gains on the back of better-thanexpected reports from heavyweights including Netflix, Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson.

Adding to the upbeat sentiment was China’s announcement of a timetable to open up its car market as well as news the country’s central bank had eased depositary requirements for most lenders to boost liquidity for businesses.

Hong Kong rose 0.7 percent, Shanghai ended up 0.8 percent, Sydney advanced 0.3 percent and Tokyo was 1.4 percent higher.

Singapore gained 1.7 percent, while Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta all climbed.

Seoul surged more than one percent as it emerged the US and North Korea had held “talks at the highest levels” as part of efforts to line up a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.

The Washington Post also reported that CIA chief Mike Pompeo, Trump’s pick to be secretary of state, made a secret visit to Pyongyang over the first weekend of April and met Kim. The developments have provided a much-needed shot in the arm for traders after the recent upheaval caused by the simmering China-US trade spat and tensions in Syria following US-led air strikes on the country.

Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA, said the markets were enjoying “a breath of fresh air as traders

turn focus to data and corporate profits” though he warned they “remain cautious knowing stock markets are only one presidential tweet away from upsetting the apple cart.”

China’s announcement Tuesday of a timeline for opening up its auto sector hit mainland car companies, with BAIC hammered more than 10 percent, Dongfeng losing four percent and Brilliance China off more than nine percent.

The move meets a longtime demand of the US and other countries seeking better access for their companies to the world’s biggest car market and one of the largest markets for air travel.

Authorities said they will remove all limits on shareholding in local firms by 2022, when China will also abolish restrictions limiting foreign automakers to two joint-venture partners.

With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59 35,560 104 662,770 2.98 60,000 137 1,763,840 1.5 131,000 34.85 273,200 7.28 46,900 16.5 16,400 17.3 1,335,700 3.4 17,000 8.5 1,300 1.55 88,000 835 280 0.56 1,305,000 82.45 1,934,090 1.13 1,533,000 12.12 100 52.65 189,910 224 6,980 106 110 44.2 1,700 225 510,870 1,910 105 90.1 3,010 1.26 225,000

2,096,693.50 69,014,715 179,510 240,689,082 198,360 9,531,730 330,249 271,470 23,572,444 56,200 11,050 136,500 237,850 730,500 159,868,937.50 1,708,100 1,212 10,064,272 1,581,540 11,670 73,240 114,933,944 198,925 271,986.50 275,310

1,314,735 15,558,959 68,800,801 1,178,270.00 9,876 -6,646,642 974,935 207,430 -5,089,251 -46,003,904 155,499.50 -

INDUSTRIAL 38.2 878,000 14.4 1,959,400 0.58 6,625,000 1.25 1,361,000 21.05 39,900 0.225 2,100,000 140 170 3.49 3,998,000 16.2 4,430,400 290 80 49.95 618,980 26.3 21,000 78.95 3,830 102.4 10 1.91 193,000 5.28 104,000 10.3 3,600 10.62 3,730,800 15.3 3,303,300 11.28 37,300 7.25 1,692,400 5.5 1,380,700 16.08 967,500 65.4 78,740 25.85 52,600 9.38 25,700 16.6 573,400 2.29 1,244,000 294.2 496,950 58.45 30 5.19 322,600 3.35 32,000 26 197,800 14.88 84,600 23.25 3,656,600 327.6 242,160 0.19 170,000 8.19 15,800 2.32 1,779,000 5.05 884,000 9.3 4,200,400 5.12 64,400 7.91 19,300 1.52 376,000 12.12 38,600 52.5 534,490 6.25 134,900 4.65 3,000 1.93 184,000 3.5 16,000 2 412,000 14.34 32,100 66.7 427,630 5.48 200,200 0.134 1,020,000 140 4,137,160 2.6 11,000 3.73 165,739,000 23.05 400 0.83 5,265,000

33,473,580 28,018,734 3,785,460 1,708,570 826,760 472,440 23,801 13,949,920 72,167,926 21,648 30,950,749 545,920 284,492 1,024 367,980 549,720 36,258 39,849,714 50,410,944 418,390 12,272,191 7,569,905 15,622,346 5,126,162 1,329,195 241,197 9,429,268 2,841,070 145,878,288 1,783.50 1,635,858 106,380 5,239,740 1,264,502 84,610,745 79,297,820 32,460 126,112 4,227,520 4,498,870 39,157,251 328,370 152,979 572,580 471,004 28,056,751.50 840,475 13,950 376,220 56,030 814,710 463,046 28,520,365.50 1,096,938 137,080 578,976,724 28,740 549,820,620 9,220 4,470,130

6,652,770 1,285,496 11,200 -7,618,380 -58,237,484 -2,100,592 9,500 -24,370,922 36,414,866 -4,592 -6,628,690 183,489 -4,581,292.00 2,722,895.50 6,555 -1,478,958 -122,780 76,464,936 171,770 -1,500,650 59,576 23,462,750 44,253,878 9,500 -3,300,670 -70,700 19,392,350 -31,720 -6,928,641.50 624,480 -7,880 -98,074 4,653,819 32,700 35,981,368 34,986,740 -351,790

103,700 70,201,146.50 130,776,640 37,730 145,152 5,674,920 3,037,250 363,457,245 6,764,987 40,674,264 46,762 23,480 210,321,380 825,610 112,445,610.50 572 279,950 2,806,370 43,247,536 2,269,120 216,943,980 20,360 342,900 494,600 9,954,940 548,210 5,553,194 28,290 187,730,650 62,370 404,690 99,830 893,812 75,900 4,020 35,100

-2,255,567.50 3,080,492 1,986,660 28,476,150 2,101,502 -15,495,724 -2,313,340 680,000 699,697 -2,550 -23,154,418 -58,472,410 571,520 2,667,150 -26,613,150 -24,300 6,430 -

3,653,148 1,936,200 3,554,836 602,100 1,688,270 499,769,875 225,610 585,910 117,662 9,612,450 42,110 17,725,700 104,600 20,878,895 735,410 19,312,940 2,560,430 1,827,520 55,351,150

-23,994 116,718 156,627,120 -58,990 63,592 -4,146,400 9,700 -2,351,800 -363,955 -46,240 -85,620 -64,250 925,850

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

57.6 102 2.99 133.2 1.56 35.05 7.25 16.6 17.8 3.3 8.5 1.55 865 0.57 82 1.15 12.12 54.5 229 107 43 224 1,895 90.4 1.25

59 105.4 3.16 137 1.56 35.05 7.29 16.6 17.92 3.4 8.5 1.56 865 0.6 83.1 1.15 12.12 54.5 229 107 44.2 226.6 1,910 90.45 1.26

57.6 102 2.97 133.2 1.49 34.8 6.81 16.44 17.3 3.3 8.5 1.55 835 0.55 82 1.11 12.12 52.6 224 106 42.7 224 1,890 90.05 1.22

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCRETE A CONCRETE B CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SMC FOODANDBEV SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VIVANT VULCAN INDL

37.9 14.16 0.58 1.27 21.75 0.225 140.1 3.49 16.1 252.2 50 27.7 75.05 102.4 1.95 5.3 10.04 10.7 14.9 11.5 7.3 5.4 16.46 64.65 25 9.39 16.44 2.27 288.6 59.95 5.1 3.34 27 15 22.8 326.8 0.192 7.75 2.33 5 9.39 5.2 7.98 1.55 12.12 52.5 6.25 4.65 2.1 3.51 1.92 14.28 66.2 5.45 0.134 136.4 2.69 2.99 23.05 0.82

38.25 14.42 0.59 1.28 21.75 0.229 140.1 3.5 16.5 290 50.35 27.7 78.95 102.4 1.95 5.3 10.3 10.88 15.38 11.5 7.3 5.51 16.5 65.45 26 9.45 16.6 2.35 297 59.95 5.19 3.38 27.2 15.08 23.3 327.8 0.192 8.27 2.55 5.17 9.39 5.2 7.98 1.57 12.48 52.8 6.25 4.65 2.1 3.51 2 14.78 67.4 5.49 0.137 140.4 2.69 3.73 23.05 0.88

37.7 14.16 0.55 1.25 20.5 0.224 140 3.48 16.1 252.2 48.75 25.4 72.25 102.4 1.9 5.28 9.92 10.62 14.9 11.2 7.23 5.36 16.06 64.5 25 9.38 16.18 2.24 288 58.45 5 3.2 26 14.88 22.75 325.4 0.19 7.73 2.29 5 9.25 5 7.9 1.52 12.12 52.4 6.1 4.65 1.93 3.5 1.92 14.28 66 5.45 0.134 136.4 2.6 2.81 23.05 0.82

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

0.305 69.45 14.04 0.93 6.48 0.63 0.63 911.5 6.75 12.1 7.42 0.199 1,072 6.8 62.2 5.72 0.67 4.9 18.5 0.6 4.65 3.4 0.042 1.16 3.28 2.51 141.8 2.59 934 0.81 1.63 555 265 0.24 0.201 0.195

0.305 69.45 14.28 0.93 6.48 0.63 0.64 950 7 12.3 7.58 0.199 1,108 6.81 63 5.72 0.67 5.08 18.5 0.6 4.77 3.4 0.042 1.19 3.38 2.73 141.8 2.59 940 0.81 1.67 555 266 0.24 0.201 0.195

0.295 67.1 14.04 0.92 6.48 0.58 0.61 909 6.75 12.1 7.42 0.193 1,072 6.8 62.1 5.72 0.62 4.7 18 0.56 4.64 3.36 0.041 1.15 3.25 2.5 139.2 2.57 911.5 0.81 1.61 554 261 0.235 0.201 0.195

8990 HLDG A BROWN ANCHOR LAND ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD

6.75 0.99 15.12 2.09 0.85 39.8 3.49 4.54 6.1 0.47 0.97 0.26 0.46 30.1 0.68 1.74 1.36 1.02 4.4

6.75 0.99 15.66 2.09 0.85 41 3.49 4.64 6.18 0.47 0.99 0.28 0.46 30.9 0.68 1.75 1.36 1.06 4.5

6.58 0.97 14.02 2.05 0.83 39.8 3.47 4.54 6.1 0.455 0.97 0.25 0.44 30 0.66 1.67 1.33 1.02 4.4

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.58 0.39 0.55 4.2 32 19.42 1.93 3.16 33.3 1.01 10.54 0.87 6.7

0.59 0.4 0.57 4.2 32 19.66 1.95 3.2 33.9 1.03 11.48 0.87 6.89

0.55 0.39 0.55 4.05 31.5 19.32 1.9 3.15 33.2 1.01 10.1 0.82 6.57

0.57 0.395 0.57 4.07 31.5 19.4 1.94 3.2 33.6 1.02 11 0.82 6.6

110,063,000 1,720,000 2,291,000 2,029,000 3,700 2,706,800 503,000 322,000 5,893,800 377,000 1,739,800 48,000 14,322,100

62,646,610 678,300 1,270,910 8,339,100 117,050 52,502,334 959,610 1,029,960 197,853,385 385,520 18,706,160 39,410 95,946,016

-1,642,420.00 -9,470 9,600 1,465,248 319,200 -17,819,580.00 165,340 -1,576,922

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC DISCOVERY WORLD EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA GRAND PLAZA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

17.2 28.85 1.3 0.48 0.047 12.5 5.37 13 0.056 91.6 8.8 7.18 7.49 2.17 24.1 1,599 5.65 315 13.32 4.83 2.32 97.5 8.25 0.116 1.43 3.38 14.08 4.3 1.04 28.75 0.47 5.04 7.12 3.33 8.18 11.68 9.9 2.88 120 6.17 1,400 1 0.395 47.95 83.4 7.39 2.52 1.47 0.42 4.72 0.89 10.64

17.78 28.85 1.36 0.495 0.049 12.52 5.37 13.1 0.056 92.5 8.8 7.31 7.7 2.19 24.3 1,599 5.9 315 13.32 4.95 2.32 97.55 8.3 0.118 1.43 3.38 15.14 5.07 1.05 28.95 0.47 5.04 7.32 3.33 8.26 11.7 9.9 2.88 120 6.29 1,437 1 0.415 48.25 85 7.39 2.53 1.48 0.42 4.84 0.9 10.8

16.6 28.7 1.3 0.48 0.047 12.5 5.37 12.7 0.054 88.5 8.8 7.1 7.25 2.17 23 1,555 5.64 307 13.32 4.7 2.31 93.7 8.2 0.116 1.43 3.25 14.08 4.29 1.02 28.6 0.47 4.42 7.12 3.27 7.8 11.66 9.2 2.88 120 6.05 1,400 0.99 0.395 46.8 82.7 7.1 2.49 1.35 0.405 4.63 0.86 10.6

SERVICES 16.64 28.8 1.32 0.485 0.049 12.5 5.37 12.8 0.054 88.5 8.8 7.12 7.55 2.17 24 1,570 5.84 309.8 13.32 4.7 2.31 95.6 8.3 0.118 1.43 3.34 15 4.93 1.04 28.6 0.47 4.49 7.19 3.28 8 11.66 9.3 2.88 120 6.19 1,420 0.99 0.4 48.05 84.3 7.34 2.5 1.36 0.415 4.78 0.87 10.72

169,900 14,400 35,000 3,240,000 14,500,000 25,100 100 20,182,200 15,040,000 228,870 650,100 1,396,600 182,500 58,000 48,000 18,580 1,864,000 14,140 1,100 2,841,000 7,000 536,140 16,500 2,490,000 96,000 26,000 3,100 14,827,000 2,158,000 818,500 10,000 2,908,800 4,459,300 432,000 6,586,900 5,500 43,500 1,000 7,390 178,200 112,185 2,551,000 4,430,000 9,110,700 975,720 45,100 683,000 22,567,000 6,070,000 1,390,000 6,512,000 1,398,800

2,839,668 414,405 45,940 1,581,750 693,000 313,782 537 261,172,648 828,480 20,529,217.50 5,720,880 10,000,330 1,362,789 125,970 1,128,085 29,136,110 10,802,491 4,371,602 14,652 13,663,160 16,200 51,179,587 136,215 292,930 137,280 84,940 46,100 71,779,750 2,223,870 23,493,845 4,700 13,367,501 32,077,077 1,422,760 52,959,734 64,200 406,845 2,880 886,800 1,089,813 159,655,750 2,538,220 1,774,400 434,410,155 82,253,016.50 330,155 1,709,350 32,519,730 2,504,150 6,590,760 5,661,980 14,984,082

8,350 9,220 145,009,288 -63,280 -5,304,739.50 247,686 2,325 3,390,705 -49,430 -562,610 9,240 2,985,692 11,600 -1,430 10,363,170 11,835,350 -147,618 960,999 56,070 -68,258 382,800 34,729,910 -867,500 19,656,150 568,239.50 -478,270 1,701,210 156,300 -822,110 -980 -3,785,124

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

0.0029 1.77 4.5 18.6 1.42 1.66 1.61 0.3 7.73 2.4 0.201 0.146 0.153 1.4 6 1.23 0.5 0.87 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.28 5.75 14.48 31

0.0029 1.82 4.5 18.6 1.46 1.66 1.64 0.31 7.75 2.4 0.21 0.146 0.153 1.46 6.04 1.23 0.5 0.88 0.013 0.013 0.013 2.3 5.75 14.78 31.25

0.0028 1.7 4.48 18.4 1.41 1.6 1.6 0.3 7.34 2.29 0.198 0.143 0.148 1.4 5.98 1.16 0.48 0.86 0.012 0.013 0.012 2.28 5.63 13.56 30.2

MINING & OIL 0.0029 87,000,000 1.81 15,034,000 4.48 188,000 18.4 800 1.46 113,000 1.64 58,000 1.63 1,183,000 0.31 150,000 7.69 30,900 2.34 29,331,000 0.21 390,000 0.143 10,260,000 0.148 500,000 1.4 141,000 6 1,714,400 1.19 74,000 0.5 589,000 0.87 85,000 0.013 9,500,000 0.013 6,300,000 0.013 132,200,000 2.28 62,000 5.65 1,655,300 14.42 5,422,300 30.2 708,800

245,600 26,526,780 844,590 14,750 163,670 93,880 1,918,080 45,650 229,814 68,371,210 78,080 1,471,900 75,050 198,960 10,287,704 86,940 290,360 73,320 114,200 81,900 1,586,500 141,760 9,369,081 76,843,878 21,662,690

3,124,270 -341,330 40,500 -6,200 -7,191,260.00 22,500 -2,714,520 -26,000 132,000 -7,660,502 3,041,508 -8,864,625

AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 DD PREF GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

508 503.5 101.5 5.93 999 980 75.5 79 77.1 76.65 76.45 75.6

508 503.5 101.9 5.93 999 988 75.5 79 78.7 76.65 76.45 75.6

508 503 101.2 5.71 999 920 75.5 79 76 76.5 76 75.5

PREFERRED 508 200 503 4,000 101.2 12,540 5.72 611,500 999 130 970 2,960 75.5 180 79 49,700 78 30,100 76.5 9,130 76 3,000 75.55 52,860

101,600 2,012,010 1,276,798 3,602,424 129,870 2,837,340 13,590 3,926,300 2,318,871 699,064.50 229,138.50 3,992,132.50

-161,840 78,400 -

LR WARRANT

2.7

3.2

2.7

WARRANTS 3.11 2,614,000

7,935,640

-

10,736,951 570,700 7,214,670

-240,867 -133,870

1,446,688

12,010

103,000 7,038 143,820

7,038.00 -

MS

HOLDING FIRMS 0.295 350,000 69.3 1,017,770 14.2 9,197,900 0.92 41,000 6.48 22,400 0.61 9,338,000 0.64 4,848,000 909 394,140 7 975,000 12.24 3,330,000 7.58 6,300 0.198 120,000 1,092 192,330 6.8 121,400 62.45 1,800,790 5.72 100 0.66 451,000 4.75 582,000 18.06 2,391,200 0.58 3,966,000 4.64 46,243,000 3.36 6,000 0.042 8,300,000 1.17 425,000 3.38 3,002,000 2.73 215,000 140 39,610 2.57 11,000 920 203,650 0.81 77,000 1.67 249,000 555 180 266 3,410 0.235 320,000 0.201 20,000 0.195 180,000 PROPERTY 6.74 0.99 15.2 2.05 0.85 41 3.47 4.59 6.11 0.46 0.99 0.265 0.46 30 0.68 1.73 1.33 1.06 4.5

548,000 1,979,000 234,500 291,000 2,030,000 12,264,100 65,000 128,000 19,100 20,930,000 43,000 66,660,000 230,000 694,200 1,105,000 11,121,000 1,922,000 1,756,000 12,379,000

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

5.3 3.16 3.31

5.38 3.3 3.33

5.09 3.1 3.2

FIRST METRO ETF

119

120.2

119

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

10.3 10.2 1.02

10.3 10.2 1.02

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

10,851,333

INDUSTRIAL

227,286,784

HOLDING FIRMS

117,021,935

PROPERTY

277,474,910

SERVICES

159,757,010

MINING & OIL

302,910,490

GRAND TOTAL

1,099,795,075

10.3 10.2 1.02

5.22 3.28 3.25

SME

2,081,700 177,000 2,219,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.6 12,070 10.3 10.2 1.02

DDS

10,000 690 141,000

VALUE 1,997.31 (up) 22.04 709,049,017.67 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,178.63 (up) 126.13 1,932,574,397.49 HOLDING FIRMS 7,747.10 (up) 20.29 1,690,276,318.902 PROPERTY 3,619.70 (up) 52.32 1,587.20 (down) 2.14 1,119,993,132.565 SERVICES MINING & OIL 10,717.66 (down) 147.05 1,614,129,991.595 PSEI 7,793.13 (up) 69.74 220,830,932.282 All Shares Index 4,720.58 (up) 24.62 7,306,832,812.57 Gainers: 103; Losers: 107; Unchanged: 40; Total: 250

Cebu real estate firm, Raddison okay tie-up

By Jenniffer B. Austria CEBU Landmasters Inc., a leading property developer in Visayas and Mindanao, said it signed an agreement with Radisson Hotel Group to bring the first Radisson RED hotel to the Philippines.

CLI said in disclosure to the stock exchange said it would build the 146room Radisson RED within the company’s mixed-use development along AS Fortuna in Mandaue City, Cebu.

Radission RED, which targets the ageless mindset, encompasses a lively and flexible concept, is scheduled to open by the fourth quarter of 2021,boosting CLI’s hotel portfolio to 756 rooms.

“We are delighted to be working with Radisson Hotel Group to bring Radisson RED to the Philippines for the first time,” said CLI senior vice president and chief operating officer Jose Franco Soberano.

“This unique hotel concept will offer a completely new style of hospitality in Cebu City, appealing to a generation of tech-savvy travelers who appreciate more fun hotel experiences and flexible stays.”

Katerina Giannouka, president for Asia Pacific of the Radisson Hotel Group, said Cebu City was the perfect location to introduce Radisson RED to the Philippines “This is a dynamic, fast-paced urban center with a youthful vibe and positive outlook, and we look forward to welcoming guests at Radisson RED and introduce a new era of hospitality to the country,” Giannouka said.

“We are excited about our partnership with Cebu Landmasters and believe that it will be a success. We are confident that the Radisson RED brand will position us for solid performance, setting inspiring and memorable moments,” she added.

Citing data from the National Economic and Development Authority, CLI said Visayas was expected to outpace the 7percent -8 percent growth of the Philippines over the next five years.

SEC warns public versus bitcoin trade THE Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday warned the public against 14 companies allegedly engaged in internet-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes.

The SEC said in an advisory posted on its website the 14 companies, namely NewG, Smart Capital, Gener8X, Paid2Prosper, CMT (Coins and Mining Trading), PSO (PSOPOWER Apps), TradeConnect, IronTrading (Team Bangon), ExpertTrading, OneCash, Lucky Coins, Miner’s Investment Group, and Digital Coin Trading All Pal for All Seasons, had been soliciting investments from the public.

The SEC said the companies offer their investment contracts in their corresponding Facebook pages or secret FaceBook groups and chatrooms.

They promise unrealistic return on investments ranging from 10 percent to 200 percent a month, and require interested investors to pay their initial investments by depositing the money to a specific bank account, Coins.Ph account, GCash, through a money remittance company, and face-to-face payments with one of their agents.

The SEC said these companies also usually claim that they invest their funds in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to justify their earning capacity.

“The public is hereby warned that such investment schemes, whether with the use of money or cryptocurrencies, are considered as securities subject to the regulatory authority of this commission,” the SEC said.

The corporate regulator said the 14 companies were not registered with the commission as corporation or partnership and were not authorized to solicit investments from the public.

The SEC said those acting as salesmen or brokers of the unregistered investment companies could be prosecuted and held criminally liable under the Securities Regulation Code and penalized to a maximum fine of P5 million or imprisonment 21 years.

Jenniffer B. Austria

extrastory2000@gmail.com

World

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

B3

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Former first lady Barbara Bush dead at 92, her family reports

A TOAST IN THE CAPITAL. Tourists drink wine near the Eiffel tower on April 17, 2018, in Paris. AFP

WASHINGTON―Former US first lady Barbara Bush died Tuesday at the age of 92, triggering an outpouring of praise for the matriarch of a Republican family once at the apex of American politics.

Barbara and George H.W. Bush were married for 73 years, and the widower “of course is heart-broken to lose his beloved Barbara,” his chief of staff Jean Becker said in a statement.

“He held her hand all day today and was at her side when [she] left this good Earth.”

The ex-president, who is 93 and has been in ill health in recent years, is “determined to be there” for his family while in mourning, Becker added.

Funeral arrangements were due to be announced soon for Barbara Bush, who was also survived by five of her children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and her brother, Scott Pierce.

She was preceded in death by her second child, Robin, who died of leukemia

South Korea seeks deal to end war IN BRIEF S Saudii test screening with ‘Black Panther’

RIYADH—The blockbuster action flick “Black Panther” will play at a cinema test screening in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, the first in a series of trial runs before movie theaters open to the wider public next month.

The conservative kingdom lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas last year as part of a far-reaching liberalization drive, with US giant AMC Entertainment granted the first license to operate movie theaters.

Anticipation had been building after the authorities announced earlier this month that Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in over three decades would open on Wednesday in Riyadh.

But officials close to the government and local media said this week that it would be a test screening at the new cinema in the King Abdullah Financial District and movie theaters are expected to open to the public in May. AFP

EOUL―South Korea is seeking to open discussions about formally declaring an end to the war with the nuclear-armed North at a rare inter-Korean summit next week, officials said Wednesday.

“We are looking at the possibility of replacing the armistice regime on the Korean peninsula with a peace regime,” a senior official at the presidential Blue House told reporters.

“But this is not something we can do by ourselves. It needs close discussions with relevant parties including North Korea.”

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jaein could, with his “blessing”, discuss a peace treaty to formally close the conflict.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war. The Demilitarized Zone between them bris-

tles with minefields and fortifications.

But while the US-led United Nations command, China and North Korea are signatories to the decades-old armistice, South Korea is not.

Reaching any final treaty would be fraught with complications.

Both Pyongyang and Seoul claim sovereignty over the whole Korean peninsula, but a treaty could imply mutual recognition of each other.

The North would be likely to demand the withdrawal of US troops, while the South’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said Wednesday that Seoul and Washington wanted to see Pyongyang give up its nuclear ambitions.

In meetings with his newly-appointed US counterpart John Bolton, the two had discussed ways to “establish an ulti-

mate peace regime”, but only if the North “makes the correct decision”, he said.

Pyongyang has in the past demanded a peace treaty with the US, describing them as the two direct parties in the conflict.

“South Korea is a direct party. Who can argue that?” the Blue House official said.

The two Koreas could first reach an agreement that would be followed by a meeting between Kim and Trump and a trilateral summit to seal the deal, he suggested.

But four-party talks could also be needed, he added, in a reference to China.

But he cautioned “I am not sure if we will use the expression ‘ending the war’” at the summit. “We want to reach an agreement on banning hostile activities between the South and North,” he added.

The two Koreas will hold what will be their third summit since the 1950-53 Korean War next Friday, with a subsequent meeting planned between Kim and Trump―which would be the first time a sitting US president had met the North’s leader. AFP

China holds live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait BEIJING—China held live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday but Taipei dismissed the exercises as “routine” after the expected large-scale naval maneuvers failed to materialize.

Beijing had announced the drills last week, further ramping up the tensions following stark warnings against any independence moves by the selfruled island that China sees as its sovereign territory.

Vessels had been told to avoid a certain area off the Chinese mainland’s coast, triggering speculation that a flotilla spearheaded by China’s sole aircraft carrier would take part in the exercise.

But Taiwan’s defense ministry said Wednesday that the drills only involved land-based artillery conducting “routine” shooting practice.

Beijing has yet to release any information about the drill, which Chinese authorities had said would run until midnight, without giving any details about which military equipment or personnel would be involved. AFP

LADIES-ONLY COCKTAIL HOUR. Guests attend Wasserman’s 8th Annual Ladies Only Cocktail Hour at the JW Marriott Los Angeles at the L.A. LIVE on April 17, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

The best of the Duterte Cabinet A WIDELY used approach to the assessment of the caliber of a group of individuals, such as a Cabinet, is to say that it is composed of the best and the brightest. The phrase was first used by one of the authors of books on the administration of US President John F. Kennedy, who recruited for his Cabinet highly regarded individuals like Robert McNamara, who had become an iconic figure in the US automobile industry.

To qualify as a part of a ‘best and the brightest’ group, an individual must be not only very bright; he or she must also be the best in actual performance. It is a tough requirement.

An individual who is one of the brightest— recipients of awards and honors of renowned institutions of learning or a person of high achievement in the world of letters—may not necessarily be one of the best. And the opposite is true: an individual who has achieved great success in running institutions or in managing people may not have numerous academic initials after his name.

During the course of the 2016 Presidential election candidate Rodrigo Duterte assured the nation that he would appoint only the best and the brightest to his administration if he were to win. Only A-1 people for him; slouches would not be welcome. Has Mr. Duterte kept his promise?

Inclined as I am to be less than impressed

by educational attainments unaccompanied by solid achievements in the real world, I am concerned with and am looking only to the members of the Duterte Cabinet who in the last two years have discharged their official functions in ‘the best’ fashion. They do not make up a long list. In fact it is a short list: a handful of names out of a 20-plus-members Cabinet.

Four names make up my list of Cabinet members who have delivered on ‘the best’ part of Mr. Duterte’s ‘the best and the brightest’ promise. They are (not necessarily in order of merit) the Secretary of National Defense, the Secretary of Finance, the Secretary of Socio-Economic Planning (and concurrently NEDA Director-general) and the Secretary of Education.

Of these four individuals, Delfin Lorenzana occupies the most sensitive position. In my book the Secretary of Defense – a little-known person before his appointment – has done very well under very trying circumstances. A friend of Rodrigo Duterte’s from his days as a Mindanao regional command head, Delfin Lorenzana has stood firm as a force for good sense in the face of Mr. Duterte’s public show of disdain for virtually everything American.

During his long stay in Washington D.C. as a military attache at the Philippine embassy,

Mr. Lorenzana came to know a great deal about the US and the American people and about how the US government functions.

Through all of Rodrigo Duterte’s senseless tirades, Secretary Lorenzana has maintained his cool and kept his counsel. But whenever he has felt that there was a need to do so, Mr. Lorenzana has done what every other member of the Cabinet has not had the guts to do: contradict his boss. Delfin Lorenzana would be an asset to any administration.

Although I disagree with much of his TRAIN (Tax Reform and Inclusion) program, I feel a need to admit that Carlos Dominguez III has been doing a good job at the Department of Finance. He has been able to do so partly because of his demonstrated business management skills, his generally pleasant nature and, last but not least, his personal ties to Rodrigo Duterte.

Mr. Dominguez has been humble enough to admit that the Aquino administration did a good job with the nation’s finances; but he has been putting in place some building blocks of his own. Without a doubt, the Secretary of Finance has been a force for respectability in the unruly world of Duterlism.

Dr. Ernesto Pernia’s experience as a private-sector economist as an official of a regional development bank is being put to a severe test by the confluence of the

inflationary impact of the TRAIN tax changes and the Duterte administration’s Build Build Build infrastructure program. As a trained economist, NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia fully appreciates the crucial importance of economic stability for an administration that has launched programs to reduce the poverty level to 14 percent by 2022 and to make the Philippines a First World country by 2040.

The next four years are going to be a very trying time for the nation’s chief economic planner.

Given her interest in social-welfare issues, Leonor Magtolis-Briones’ appointment as Secretary of Education came as a surprise to many Filipinos. To others it came as a complete shock, considering that the Department of Education is the largest bureaucracy within the government and Dr. Briones had never run a large organization. But by sheer force of character and with a passion for results, the Secretary has made the Department of Education a productive, low-key and, most important, a scandal-free institution during the last two years. The Department of Education has been in good hands.

E-mail: com

romero.business.class@gmail.

as a toddler.

In honor of Bush’s life, President Donald Trump ordered that the US flag be flown at half-staff until sundown on the day she is buried, at all public buildings and grounds, as well as military posts and vessels.

Bush has long been considered the rock at the center of one of America’s most prominent political families, as the wife of a president and the mother to another―George W. Bush―and to Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor and onetime presidential aspirant.

She first met her husband-to-be at the age of 16 when she was a schoolgirl and he was a student at an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts. They married in 1945 while he was on leave from wartime service as a naval officer. The couple had six children.

As first lady, from 1989 to 1993, she embraced the cause of universal literacy, and founded a foundation for family literacy. AFP

Female stars dominate Cannes jury PARIS―Hollywood actresses Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart and Lea Seydoux will head a starry female-dominated jury at the Cannes film festival next month, the organizers said Wednesday.

American writer-director Ava DuVernay of “Selma” fame and Burundian singer and composer Khadja Nin complete the five women on the nine-person jury that will decide the top Palme d’Or prize.

In a year when the #MeToo movement has dominated the headlines, and with only three female directors among the 18 in competition, the organizers clearly felt the need to make a stronger gesture towards women.

They had already announced earlier this year that the Australian-born actress Blanchett would head the jury.

At least four of the assaults on actresses of which the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is accused are alleged to have taken place at Cannes.

Italian actress Asia Argento said the producer raped her in his hotel there when she was 21.

Yet as the majority-female jury was unveiled talks were underway behind the scenes to allow the banned Danish director Lars Von Trier, who has denied sexual harassment claims from singer Bjork, back into the competition.

Von Trier was barred from Cannes in 2011 for saying he was a Nazi, and the Icelandic star-who won best actress at Cannes in 2000 for her performance in his musical “Dancer in the Dark”― claimed in October that he had harassed her on set.

However, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux strongly hinted Tuesday that Von Trier was on the point of being brought back into the fold.

He said that with the notoriously demanding director finishing his serial killer flick, “The House That Jack Built”, the festival’s president Pierre Lescure was working hard to “lift the status of persona non grata”.

Tensions between Bjork and Von Trier were clear when their film premiered at Cannes and in October she said that on set she “became aware... that it is a universal thing that a director can touch and harass his actresses at will and the institution of film allows it.”

Von Trier denied the claims and his producer Peter Aalbaek Jensen told the Danish daily Jyllands Posten that it was him and Von Trier who “were the victims”.

“As far as I remember we were the victims. That woman was stronger than both Lars Von Trier and me and our company Manila put together,” NOTICE Standard he said.

Notice is TODAY hereby given The remain- that the estate of the ing male mem- late HENRY W. CHANG who died intestate bers of the on 04 September Cannes jury in- 2017 at Quezon City, and left: clude Chinese Philippines (1) one half (1/2) actor Chang conjugal share in Chen, Canadi- the ownership of the property at Quezon an director De- City covered by TCT nis Villeneuve No. 004-2013004514 improvement; (2) and French with one half (1/2) conjugal writer Robert share in the ownership of the property at Makati Guediguian.

City covered by CCT The organis- No. 006-2017011625; ers said Tuesday and (3) one half (1/2) share in that the Russian conjugal the ownership of the auteur Andrei property at Makati City

by CCT no.

Zvyagintsev, covered 006-2017011624, has the maker of been extrajudicially such classics settled by and among heirs as per Doc. No. as “The Re- 203; Page No. 42; Book turn” and “Le- No. II; Series of 2018 Notary Public viathan”, would before Atty. Anne Loraine C. also be one of Garcia of Makati City. the nine. AFP (MS-APR. 19, 26 & MAY 3, 2018)

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera

MILK DEBATE.

Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, asks Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol (left) why the National Dairy Authority cannot meet the country’s demand for milk.

Piñol asserted that the lack of genetics is the reason for PH milk importation, as there are only 2,000 cows available in the country for artificial insemination or embryo transfer.

Villar encouraged the agriculture sector to produce cows adapted to the country’s conditions and thus increase dairy production. She also encourages backyard farming that takes care of carabaos and goats.

Lino Santos

LGU leaders take DoH training for health governance

By Macon Ramos-Araneta TO MOTIVATE and help local leaders to achieve their health targets, improve their governance in health, and provide effective service delivery networks in their areas of responsibility, the Department of Health Calabarzon regional office, had conducted a four-day training that started Tuesday in Pasig City.

Local executives and municipal health officers attended the training on the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program conducted by DoH Calabarzon with Zuellig Family Foundation and University of the Philippines Manila School of Health Sciences.

“Once they understand and realize their significant role in the upliftment of health of their constituents, they can provide necessary intervention and help bridge health gaps in their community,” DoH Regional Director Eduardo C. Janairo said.

Local leaders must understand public health dynamics to be able to see the importance of primary health care and development, Janairo added.

“They must commit to the program and to be focus on improving the primary health system in their municipality,” he emphasized.

The MLGP was launched in 2013, with the objective of promoting transformative changes to local health leaders for better health outcomes of their respective towns.

This is in support of the Millennium Development Goals, by applying the knowledge and skills gained in two health leadership modules.

Fishermen find 27 kilos of ‘coke’ off Cam. Norte

C

AMP GEN. VICENTE LIM, Calamba City—The Police Regional Office in Calabarzon has ordered an in-depth investigation into the floating drum containing 27 kilos of cocaine that was found by Perez town fishermen off the coast of nearby Camarines Norte last Sunday.

Calabarzon Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Ma O R. Aplasca on Tuesday ordered Quezon Police Provincial Director Senior Supt. Rhoderick Armamento to coordinate with other units to determine the possible source of the illegal drug.

In a report reaching the regional police headquarters here, Police Supt. Chitadel Carandang Gaoiran, the chief of the regional public information office, said the fishermen found the floating drum around 9:30 p.m. on April 15 during their

fishing venture in Camarines Norte.

Fishermen from Barangay Pinagtubigan Este in Quezon’s eastern town of Perez reported the find to the barangay chairperson who, in turn, sought assistance from the local police in recovering the blue drum.

Gaoiran said the Perez municipal police station received a call from Barangay Pinagtubigan Este chair Leonardo Reyes informing them of the drum, which yielded some 27 packs of unknown substances marked RR

and LEXUS. She said the Perez police team recovered the container and brought the items to the Quezon Provincial Crime Laboratory Office in Lucena City for examination.

Chief Inspector Zaide Abrera, chief of the Quezon Crime Laboratory Office, who spearheaded the qualitative examination of the drum’s contents, confirmed that the bags did contain cocaine. The gross weight of the contraband was around 27 kilos.

PRO4A regional headquarters is now coordinating with the Police Regional Office 8 in Eastern Visayas after the discovery of similar substance in their area of responsibility in Barangay Sulangan, Guian, Eastern Samar around 11 a.m. Monday (April 16). PNA

RPOC SENDOFF. Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista (third from right), as chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council for the

National Capital Region, presents to outgoing NCR Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde (center), who was recently named the new Philippine National Police chief, a plaque of appreciation for his term as vice chairman of the NCR RPOC. The sendoff was hosted by the RPOC at Seda Hotel on the eve of Albayalde’s assumption as PNP chief. With them (from left) are Mayor Miguel ’Ike’ Ponce of Pateros, Mayor Antolin ‘Len-Len’ Oreta of Malabon; Maria Lourdes Agustin, RPOC-NCR secretariat head; Juan Jovian Ingeniero, Interior and Local Government City Director for Quezon City; and and Mayor Oscar Malapitan of Caloocan. Manny Palmero

Belmonte: Comprehensive census of seniors in Quezon City a must

By Rio N. Araja QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte plans to conduct a comprehensive census and profiling of thousands of senior citizens for an equal distribution of their benefits and city services.

An accurate and updated database of senior citizen-residents would enable the city government would help identify the needs of the elders, Belmonte said.

Davao to put up ‘all-gender’ CR at City Council site — Al-ag

“We have no precise record on the number of qualified senior citizens.

Until we have accounted them all, and know what their principal needs are, we cannot effectively come up with programs that benefit each one of them,” she added.

Based on the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs statistics, 375,000 senior citizens live in Quezon City, but the vice mayor believes many more have

not been documented properly.

Once OsCA’s database is updated regularly, the next step, Belmonte said, is to profile the registered seniors by socioeconomic status, health concerns, and important personal and family backgrounds.

By knowing such valuable information, the city government will be able to prioritize programs and projects that have the most impact on the senior citizen sector.

“We have to know, for example, who among them are suffering from chronic illnesses that need maintenance medicines or bedridden, indigent, or how many of them need financial assistance,” she said. “They have different needs.”

The city government has allotted P190 million for senior citizens from its P19-billion budget.

“We have the funds, I’m telling you,” she noted.

Estrada marks 5th birthday as Manila mayor

PPSC CEREMONY. Philippine International Trading Corp. President and CEO Dave M. Almarinez graces the Philippine Public Safety College Constitutive Units’ Joint Flag Raising Ceremony during its Araw ng Kagitingan celebration hosted by the National Fire Training Institute at Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba City, Laguna. The units are made up of police, jail, and fire officials from across the region. Roy Tomandao

MANILA Mayor Joseph Estrada thanked Manileños for their unwavering support for his administration as he celebrates his fifth birthday as leader of the capital city today, April 19.

Estrada, who turns 81 today, said he looks forward to spending more birthdays as Manila mayor and noted he felt he didn’t grow old while serving his fellow Manileños.

“On my 81st birthday today, on this day of happiness and joy, I wouId like to wish all my kababayan in the City of Manila that may all our dreams come true,” said the Tondo-born former actor and President.

“This is the fifth year of my birthday celebrations that you are my partner and companion, and I will be grateful to our Lord God for the life, strength and goodness He continues to give your

servant,” Estrada said.

He said he looks forward “to spending my 82nd, 83rd, 84th and 85th birthdays with you.”

“Your love for me, your strong support for me during the first and second elections amazed me. You, my kababayan, are a blessing,” the mayor added.

Every birthday, Estrada said, is a fresh start “for looking back with gratitude at the many blessings” of another year of service “to my beloved City of Manila.”

“I welcome this birthday as another chapter of my life dedicated and devoted to serving you and a time to thank you all,” he said.

His birthday wish for Manileños is “that we continue to love life and never stop dreaming that we may bring back the former glory of our City—the Pearl of the Orient Seas.” Vito Barcelo

DAVAO CITY—The City Government will establish the first “allgender” comfort room that will open next week to accommodate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender or LGBT community.

The restroom will be installed at the first floor of the Sangguniang Panglungsod building here.

In 2016, the Ateneo de Davao University established the first all-gender comfort room in the country to avoid discrimination against LGBTs. Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag, who presides over the city council, said the comfort room “will reduce discrimination in the preferred gender of the people,” especially since the city has an anti-discrimination ordinance.

“We are just finalizing the signage, anytime next week we will launch it.

It will be placed on the ground floor.

The person with disability [PWD] comfort room will now be an all-gender and PWD CR,” Al-ag said.

He said it is high time to put up the allgender washroom now, especially after the incident last year when a transgender person who tried to enter the women’s comfort room had a heated altercation with a woman at the SP building.

“Following our anti-discrimination ordinance, it will be an opportunity for the LGBT community not to be discriminated against with this allgender comfort room,” Al-ag said.

The vice mayor said the Sanguniang Panglungsod should serve as the avenue of the LGBT community to express their gender preference without discrimination, starting with the restroom.

IN BRIEF Earth-friendly mussel culture system bared LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development and the University of the Philippines Visayas have partnered in developing an environmentfriendly mussel culture system.

“The Pinoy longline culture system lessens sedimentation in the culture areas, unlike in the use of bamboo poles,” UP Visayas Professor and DoSTPCAARRD mussel Research and Development Program leader Dr. Carlos Baylon said in a press conference.

The council held its regular media conference for its researches in collaboration with other institutions at the DoST-PCAARRD Innovation and Technology Center here.

“In the long run, the traditional stake mussel culture method that uses bamboo poles will make coastal areas shallow due to accumulated sediments,” Baylon explained to about 30 journalists in the presscon.

Butch Gunio

NV villagers praise hanging bridge work BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya—Village officials of Barangay Salinas here recently expressed their gratitude for the ongoing construction of a hanging bridge that will hasten economic activities in their area.

Barangay Capt. Julius Timo-an said the approval and construction of the P4-million hanging bridge project will benefit at least 500 villagers in sitio Nangkalapan and adjacent communities in barangay Salinas.

“This will bring our products closer to the market and further boost our economic activities,” he said.

Timo-an said they are grateful for the project since the local government of Bambang headed by Mayor Flaviano Balgos earlier chose their community as a recipient of the fund.

The fund was handed by the Quezon City government to Bambang LGU because of their sisterhood agreement. Ben Moses Ebreo

26 GenTri village chiefs to run anew GENERAL TRIAS CITY—About 26 village chiefs here running for reelection are expected to file their certificates of candidacy before the deadline on April 20 at the local Comelec office here.

The barangay chairmen seeking new terms are Christian Beltran of Barangay Arnaldo, Edwin Rodriguez of Bacao 2, Allan Barbuco of Bagumbayan, Ireneo Hatid of Biclatan, Rizalinto Potante of Buenavista 1, Danilo Potante of Buenavista II, Jacinto Grepo of Buenavista III, Danny Batitis of Corregidor, Alfred Ching of Dulong Bayan, Robert Clamor of Barangay Governor Ferrer, Ramil Barrientos of Manggahan, Raul dela Cruz of Barangay Navarro, among others.

Bernadette lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MstandardliFE thursday, april 19, 2018

Beat

the summer heat

C1

Life

at home

household

COOL AND COMFORTABLE. Ensure your home remains a cool and safe haven for you and your loved ones especially during the sizzling summer season.

W

HEn days are marked by sweltering afternoons, make sure your home remains a safe haven where you can chill out without bathing in your own sweat.

SM Appliance Center can help you cool your home with its exclusive summer finds and exciting prizes in its Summer Lovin Specials promotions.

The one-stop appliance shop carries high performance refrigerators as well as freezer and fridge combinations that will keep food fresh and crisp all day.

There are exclusive inverter refrigerators from Panasonic, LG, and Condura,

Sharp Air Purifier with Mosquito Catcher

as well as the Samsung Side by Side Refrigerator which has a digital inverter compressor that gives homeowners superior energy savings.

SM Appliance Center also boasts an extensive lineup of inverter air conditioners in window and split-type orientations that refresh and renew the air in your room. The store offers the new TCL Window Type Air Conditioner that eliminates allergens, bacteria, and viruses with its 5-in-1 health filters, as well as the Panasonic Premium SplitType Air Conditioner that provides cool comfort to everyone at home thanks to its intelligent cooling technology.

Aside from cooling appliances there is Sharp Air Purifier with Mosquito Catcher, another SM Appliance Center exclusive, that catches mosquito with its chemical-free, five-step mosquitocatching mechanism. Its UV lights attract mosquitoes, which are captured by a powerful air suction and trapped on a chemical-free glue sheet inside.

Shoppers at SM Appliance Center are not only treated to a great selection

of brands but also a chance to travel to their dream destinations or to bring home new TCL appliances.

Every single or accumulated P1,000 worth of purchase at any SM Appliance Center stores nationwide until April 30 entitles one to a raffle coupon and a chance to win Summer Lovin Specials prizes. Bdo Cardholders, meanwhile, can double their chances of winning when they use their credit or debit cards when they shop.

Four lucky Grand Prize winners can travel to the dream destinations of their choice. They can choose from economy roundtrip tickets with three-day/twonight hotel accommodations for two to either Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, or Malaysia; or economy roundtrip tickets with three-day/twonight hotel accommodations for four to Coron, Boracay, or Bohol.

Fifty winners will get to update their home appliances with TCL Tech Bundle prize that consists of a 43-inch Full Hd LEd TV and a Window Type Air Conditioner.

Go to www.smappliance.com or to SM Appliance on Facebook for more details about the store’s products and promotions.

Doze off comfortably and soundly on a mattress from the Uratex Premium Touch Collection.

Panasonic Premium Inverter Split-type Air Conditioner

Have fresh food every day with the help of energy saving refrigerators

Condura No Frost Two Door Refrigerator

Samsung Side by Side Digital Inverter Refrigerator

The secret to a good night’s sleep ACCoRdInG to a survey by the national Sleep Foundation, the three most important elements in getting a good night’s sleep are “a comfortable mattress,” “comfortable pillows,” and “a comfortable feel of sheets and bedding.” It also found that majority of individuals choose their bedroom products, as in pillows and mattresses, based on which will help them enjoy a better slumber.

Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining good health: it helps brain function properly, heals and repairs blood vessels, and supports healthy growth and development, among many others.

To help individuals get not only good but also luxurious sleep, Uratex Premium offers top-of-the line mattresses designed with the latest sleep-science innovation and fabric technology.

Made for sound, undisturbed sleep, the Uratex Premium Touch Collection is made with advanced Smart Reflex pocket springs that cleverly adjust to the body’s every

move. It comes in four models, with varying firmness and softness levels, namely Premium Touch Sublime, Premium Touch Cozy Latex, Premium Touch Viscoluxe, and Premium Touch Romance.

For sleepers looking for deep relaxation and relief from warmer temperatures, Uratex offers The Senso Memory Collection. Included in this collection are the Senso Memory Ultima Plus, Senso Memory Ultima, Senso Memory Extra, and Senso Memory original. Each differs in terms of firmness and softness levels and cooling technologies used.

The orthocare Collection, on the other hand, offers a therapeutic sense of balance and support, ideal for orthopaedic patients. All of its mattresses are especially designed with open cell layers to regulate moisture and let air flow freely. It has four versions that cater to its users’ varying needs: orthocare Bliss, orthocare Symmetry, orthocare Harmony, and orthocare Balance.

Turn to C2

Life

C2

thursday, apri apriL 19, 2018 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

A fun afternoon at the mall l

OOKIng for an exciting way to spend a day with children?

Shangri-la Plaza provides a range of fun and educational activities for kids of all ages. here’s a sample itinerary for a fun afternoon at the mall:

Don’t remove your oven’s dials and knobs when cleaning it

6 oven maintenance tips

2:00 p.m.

Before you start a day of strolling, head over to the California Pizza Kitchen on the level 2 of East Wing, and enjoy a bite from its extensive menu of pastas, salads, sandwiches, desserts, and signature hearthbaked pizzas. Parents need not worry about what their tots and toddlers can eat, as California Pizza Kitchen’s kiddie menu features peperoni and traditional cheese pizza, Curly Mac & Cheese, and Crispy Chicken.

Grab a bite at Califoria Pizza Kitchen

3:00 p.m.

Experience a different way to explore the mall aboard the Shang Express. For a minimum single receipt purchase worth P500, kids can get a free ride on the Shang Express in its new location on the level 4 of East Wing.

Explore the mall aboard the Shang Express

4:00 p.m.

let children discover the benefits of learning through play at Ogalala also on the level 4. Ogalala’s System in Play, in tandem with educational toys, helps develop the physical, intellectual, social, and emotional skills of children up to 12 years old. All the items were selected based on play and parenting insights, and cover a number of categories like arts and crafts, board games, inflatables, outdoor toys, and more.

Or if you have budding gamer in your brood, go up on the level 5 and head straight to q Power Station, a premium arcade center that offers the latest and Let children discover the benefits of learning at Ogalala and let them play arcade games at most popular games from Japan and the the Q Power Station united States.

5:00 p.m.

After a whole afternoon of walking and playing, take the family to Bowmanbear located on the lower ground floor of the Main Wing to enjoy some family-friendly pampering. This pamper-myself shop offers hair treatments and shaving services for dads, and facials, manicures and pedicures, and massages for moms. Best of all, kids can have a piece of the VIP treatment at their own space—the Bowmanbear’s Bear Park—where they can ask for haircuts, hairstyling with accessories, nail services, and massages.

Hottest summer finds are available at the Babies and Kids Shopping Camp.

hOly land Subic Foundation, Inc. president and chief executive Maribi Mapa garcia will lead a two-part healing the Family Tree Workshop on April 27 and May 25 at Sunshine Place in Makati. garcia, who worked as a bank officer and toy manufacturer, has been involved in Family Tree healing since 1994. She have led retreats and seminars in Metro Manila and provinces, as well as in Australia, Canada, and the uS.

From C1

Aside from its exceptional line of mattresses, uratex Premium also has a wide range of pillows designed and crafted with the same care and technology as the mattresses—promoting deep, comfortable sleep without distractions.

The Soft Escape Pillow is made of Fun, fashion, and up to 50 percent off on great selections for babies and kids await shoppers at the Babies and Kids Shopping Camp on April 21 on the 3rd floor of SM Makati.

Moms and dads can choose from a great selection of young fashion finds—bright and ontrend summer wear, shoes, fun animal plush bags, hats, and shade—for their kids.

Also on offer at the one-day shopping camp are inflatable pools, bikes, and trikes for the active kids, as well as toiletries, sunblock, wipes, diapers, and umbrella type strollers for babies on the go.

During the event, SM Kids Fashion will hold an audition for Casting Call 2018, with sign-ups and registration starting in the morning, and casting activity in the afternoon.

Toy Kingdom will stage a Beyblade Competition the whole day.

Once the heat, water, and vinegar have done their job of loosening any dirt left over, scrub the warm—not hot—oven with a non-scratch scouring pad.

Safeguard against spills. Messes are kept to a minimum when you use a baking or large cookie sheet when cooking dishes that can potentially spill or splatter. It’s good practice to avoid potentially corrosive stains by simply preventing them in the first place.

Clean up spills as soon as you can. Protect your oven from longterm damage by mopping up spills and stains before they set. Taking a wet cloth to them as soon as they are cool enough to handle, or even doing the occasional spot cleaning, will help your oven last longer.

Leave your dials and switches alone. When cleaning, you may be tempted to wash under your dials and knobs, but that is actually a bad idea.

Water could short circuit all the internal electrical wiring in your oven. To clean these areas, simply wipe them with a damp cloth when cleaning, and never attempt to remove them.

Be careful when using aluminum foil to line the bottom of your oven.

There aren’t many reasons to line the bottom of your oven with foil, but if you absolutely have to, exercise extreme caution. not only does aluminum foil mess up your cooking by reflecting too much heat, but it also has the potential to damage your oven.

According to experts, foil that is used to line the bottom of ovens can melt and cause damage, as well as become a fire hazard. In gas ovens, the careless application of aluminum foil can cover up vents and may result in carbon monoxide buildup in your oven.

Healing the Family Tree workshop

The secret...

Kids can enjoy VIP treatment at the Bowmanbear’s Bear Park

Shopping camp for babies and kids

A hIgh-quAlITy oven is made to withstand years of use, so much so that some brands, such as la germania, have the reputation of being so durable they can be passed on from one generation to the next. But this is only possible if the oven range is maintained properly. here are six little-known tips to ensure that you bolster your oven’s natural longevity.

Watch out for signs of excessive condensation. It’s natural for an oven door to have some moisture on it as food cooks, but watch out for excessive “sweat.” This usually indicates that your oven may have a faulty door gasket. A gasket is the mechanical component that regulates the proper temperature in your oven. If sweating occurs, you should have your oven checked, and probably have the gasket replaced as soon as possible.

Be gentle when cleaning your oven.

Aside from a daily rubdown with a damp cloth, ovens rarely need cleaning, but when they do, opt for a gentle, organic cleanser and a non-abrasive scrubbing pad. here’s why: commercial cleansers and glass cleaners have abrasive components that can break down the finish of your oven. Moreover, they leave residue that could leach into the food that you cook, making it unsafe for you and your loved ones.

To avoid this, clean your oven with natural cleansers, such as baking soda and vinegar. Start by wiping off any debris left in your oven once it has cooled. Take out the racks and pop in a pan of water, turn on the oven and set the temperature to 250F. If there’s any baked-on debris, spray it with a mix of water and vinegar before the oven gets too hot.

Aside from managing the operations of holy land Subic, she conducts healing Retreats under the series name Journey to Wholeness.

A healing mass headed by Fr. Ted gonzales, S.J. will follow after the workshop scheduled at 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Admission to the workshop is free.

Donations are gratefully accepted for Holy Land Subic Foundation, Inc. For more details, call (02) 856-4144, 856-4161, 0917-5155656, or email seniorhubjupiter@gmail.com.

special high density foam. Meanwhile, the Senso Memory ultima Plus Pillow uses hydragel beads with a Cooler knit fabric cover for a refreshingly cool and comfortable sleep. And the Orthocare Biorytmic Pillow is made of plush molded foam specially crafted to help restore balance, vitality, and concentration through the use of special minerals found in nature.

To know more about the Uratex Premium, visit www.uratex.com.ph.

Uratex president and chief executive Natividad ‘Naty’ Cheng (center) with Tessa PrietoValdes and Kaye Tinga

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

TODAY

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018 nickie.standard@gmail.com

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ADDITIONAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PROGRAM FOR CALENDAR YEARS 2017- BEYOND 2020, WITH PRAYER FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL APPROVAL,

3.

ERC CASE NO. 2017-110 RC

NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NGCP), Applicant. x-------------------------------------------------------x

4.

Babatngon-Palo 138kV Transmission Line Project

The estimated cost of the project is PhP3,060.52Mn and the implementation period is 17 months.

This project aims to improve the reliability of transmission service to the loads in the northern part of Samar. The 69 kV line serving the area traverses the mountainous area of Calbayog-Allen Calbayog and Catarman making the clearing operation more 69 challenging. The proposed Calbayog-Allen 69 kV line will kV Transmission provide alternate source and it will also traverse mostly along Line the roads.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES:

Visayas Substation Upgrading Project

5.

Notice is hereby given that on 01 December 2017, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) filed an Application dated 24 November 2017 (Application) seeking the Commission’s approval of the implementation of additional capital expenditure (CAP EX) Program for Calendar Years 2017- beyond 2020, with prayer for the issuance of provisional approval.

AmlanDumaguete 138kV Transmission Project

NGCP alleged the following in its Application: 6.

The Applicant 1.

2.

Baron Geisler (left) played Tikbalang in Chris Millado-directed Aurelio Sedisyoso. Photo from Chris Millado‘s FB page 3.

BARON GEISLER, AICELLE SANTOS lead 10th Gawad Buhay winners

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By Totel V. De Jesus

B

ARON Geisler’s nearly comatose career had a sudden shot in the arm by winning in this year’s aptly named Gawad Buhay Awards, held April 12 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He was given the Outstanding Male Featured Performance in a Musical award, the equivalent of best actor in the category, for his debut role on stage.

Last year, he played “Tikbalang” or shape-shifter in Tanghalang Pilipino (TP)’s nearly three-hour long Aurelio Sedisyoso. It tackles the life of nationalist playwright Aurelio Tolentino. Pure coincidence, the staging of the play and the awards night was held at the theater named after the playwright.

Geisler wasn’t able to receive the award personally because he’s in a rehab facility in Cebu. CCP artistic director and vice president Chris Millado, who also directed Sedisyoso, received the trophy on Geisler’s behalf. He said theater could be an effective way of healing or rehabilitating oneself.

“I know Baron will be very happy for this award and I hope he will come back to theater once he’s out of rehab,” said Millado.

Through his official Facebook account, Geisler responded by saying thank you to Millado and TP, promising to do better in life, again. It’s not the first time Geisler won an award while having troubles with the law or with himself.

Sheer coincidence, among those earlier acting accolades were also given at the CCP. In 2008 when he won his first best actor award in Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival for playing a gay TV producer role in Francis Pasion’s Jay, he was battling a court case against Patrizhia Martinez for acts of lasciviousness. She is daughter of now-estranged couple William Martinez and Yayo Aguila.

When he won his second Cinemalaya best actor trophy in 2010 for Mark Meilly’s Donor, it was Yasmien Kurdi he’s up against with for alleged sexual harassment.

It was hard for the theater industry to accept Geisler when TP announced last year he’s going to be part of Sedisyoso. But Geisler passed the audition. In the past he had troubles with actors who started or have close friends in the theater industry. Among them were comedian Jerald Napoles and actor Ping Medina.

Meabwhile, Aicelle Santos, a Kapuso Network mainstay, won the same award in the female category for her role in the musical stage adaptation of Lino Brocka’s Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Considered by critics as one of the greatest Filipino films, it was adapted into screenplay by Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr. from the novel of Edgardo M. Reyes.

Santos is also known for recently playing the iconic role Elsa in Vincent de Jesus’s musical adaptation of Ishmael Bernal-Ricky Lee classic, Himala. Elsa was played by Nora Aunor in the movie. Santos is also known for the lead role, Aileen, in the smash hit Rak of Aegis by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta). Though Rak is having its sixth re-staging starting June this year, Santos won’t be part of it because she will play Gigi the bar girl in Miss Saigon for the United Kingdom touring production.

Lifetime Achievement awards were given to Peta president CB Garrucho and former Ballet Philippines (BP) artistic director Agnes Locsin. For complete list of the winners, visit Gawad Buhay’s Facebook Page.

Gawad Buhay is considered our version of Broadway’s Tony and the West End’s Olivier Awards. It is given by the Philippine Legitimate Stage Artists Group Inc. or Philstage, the umbrella organization of leading professional theater and dance companies. They are Repertory Philippines, Peta, Trumpets, Ballet Manila, BP, Actor’s Actors Inc., Culturtain Musicat Inc., 9 Works Theatrical, Red Turnip Theater, Philippine Opera Company, Full House/ Resorts World Manila, Stages Inc., Gantimpala Theater Foundation and Philippine Ballet Theater.

Philstage’s president is senior theater actor-singer Audie Gemora.

7.

NGCP is a corporation created and existing under the laws of the Philippines, with principal office address at NGCP Building, Quezon Avenue corner B.I.R. Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It is the concessionaire which assumed the power transmission functions of the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) pursuant to R.A. 9136, otherwise known as the: “Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001” (EPlRA).

It may be served with notices and other processes of this Honorable Commission through its counsel at the address indicated below.

Pursuant to R.A. 95111 NGCP was granted the franchise to operate, manage and maintain, and in connection therewith, to engage in the business of conveying or transmitting electricity through a high-voltage back-bone system of interconnected transmission lines, substations and related facilities, system operations, and other activities that are necessary to support the safe and reliable operation of the transmission system2 and is authorized to charge its customers at the rates approved by the Honorable Commission.

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3.

4.

7.

8.

2.

Notwithstanding the absence of the Final Determination for the 4th RP, NGCP is mandated to ensure and maintain the quality, reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the nationwide grid. Hence, NGCP seeks authority from this Honorable Commission for the immediate implementation of various capital expenditure projects.

3.

NGCP has the legal mandate to ensure the non-discriminatory, reliable and high-performance operation of the transmission system; including a secured, reliable, and efficient management of the high-voltage grid of the Philippines. To perform such functions, NGCP submits to the Honorable Commission, for its approval, additional Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) program for CY 2017- beyond 2020 consisting of vital grid expansion and reliability projects, together with their respective justifications.

4.

One of the core mandates of NGCP is to improve and expand its transmission facilities3, and to ensure and maintain the reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the nationwide electrical grid4 to guarantee that grid meets: forecast demand, system reliability, demand market requirements, and capacity of new generators. Thus, NGCP is seeking approval for the following new projects:

MarilaoEHV Substation Project

San Simon 230 kV Transmission Line Project

Tuy 500/230 kV Substation Project Stage 1

1.

2.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP1,171.71Mn and the implementation period is 50 months.

The project aims to provide reliability of supply to the loads being served by the existing San Francisco-Tandag 69 kV Line by providing alternate source. The project will be implemented by stages involving 69 kV looping and 138 kV backbone extension in the north-eastern part of Mindanao.

Mindanao Substation Expansion 3 Project

The estimated cost of the project is PhP2,344.51Mn and the implementation period is 48 months.

The project aims to increase the substation capacity of Pitogo, Placer, San Francisco and Matanao to accommodate the anticipated load growth. This development will provide N-1 contingency which will allow continuous transmission service even during transformer outage.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP1,464.64Mn and the implementation period is 33 months.

8.

To reiterate, NGCP is required under paragraph d, Section 9 of the EPlRA to seek prior approval from the Honorable Commission of any plan for expansion or improvement of its facilities in relation to its authority and responsibility to construct, install, finance, improve, expand, rehabilitate and repair the nationwide transmission system and the grid.

9.

Along with its responsibility for the planning, construction and centralized operation and maintenance of its high voltage transmission facilities, it is indispensable for NGCP to ensure a reliable and high-performance operation of the transmission system.

10. Thus, to avoid disruption of operation and ensure continuous compliance with NGCP’s mandate under the EPlRA as the transmission operator, it is imperative that the implementation of the proposed CAPEX projects be immediately approved.

11. In support thereof, NGCP submits the judicial affidavit of Engr. Redi Allan B. Remoroza, Head of the Transmission Planning Department of NGCP attached as Annex “C.” PRAYER WHEREFORE, NGCP most respectfully prays this Honorable Commission to:

Also, this will serve as an alternate source substation for loads connected to the Mexico Substation.

1.

Immediately ISSUE an Order provisionally authorizing the implementation of the proposed CAPEX projects; and

2.

APPROVE, after notice and hearing, the proposed CAPEX projects.

NGCP prays for other equitable relief.

On 02 March 2018, Applicant filed a Motion to Set Case for Initial Hearing dated 01 March 2018 (Motion) praying that the instant case be set for hearing. Finding said Motion in order, the Commission grants the same.

Finding the said Application sufficient in substance with the required fees having been paid, the same is hereby set for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, Pre-trial Conference, and presentation of evidence on 15 May 2018 (Tuesday) at two o’clock in the afternoon (2:00 P.M.), at ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the instant case may become a party by filing with the Commission a verified Petition to Intervene at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of thel 2006 Rules of Practice and Procedure, indicating therein the docket number and title of the case and stating the following: 1)

The petitioner’s name and address;

2)

The nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject master of the proceeding and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the procerding; and

3)

A statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the case may file their Opposition or Comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before Applicant rests its case, subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 Rules of Practice and Procedure. No particular form of Opposition or Comment is required, but the document, letter, or writing should contain the following: 1)

The name and address of such person;

2)

A concise statement of the Opposition or Comment; and

3)

The grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Application may request from Applicant that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing.

Applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the Applipation and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the Application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson and CEO AGNES VST DEVANADERA, and the Honorable Commissioners ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAPTARUC and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 8th day of March 2018 in Pasig City.

FOR AND BY AUTHORITY OF THE COMMISSION:

The estimated cost of the project is PhP2,493.48Mn and the implementation period is 50 months.

PROJECT NAME (Visayas)

Nasipit Substation Bus-in Project

The estimated cost of the project is PhP4,167.87Mn and the implementation period is 37 months.

The project involves the bus-in of the existing Jasaan - Butuan 138 kV Single-Circuit Transmission Line to Nasipit Substation and the installation of additional 50 MVA transformer at Nasipit Substation in compliance to the single-outage contingency (N1) criterion of the Philippine Grid Code. Also included in the project is the replacement of defective power circuit breakers in Nasipit Substation.

Justifications for the Issuance of Provisional Approval

The estimated cost of the project is PhP7,392.98Mn and the implementation period is 47 months.

The proposed project aims to support the power requirements of the existing and new steel plants and other industrial loads in San Simon, Pampanga.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP1,631.73Mn and the implementation period is 40 months.

This project aims to provide grid reliability improvement by upgrading the capacity of the tieline between San San ManuelManuel and Nagsaag 230 kV Substations. Also, this project Nagsaag 230 kV includes the installation of additional transformer at Nagsaag 9.

Line EHV Substation which has one (1) 600 MVA 500/230 kV Transmission transformer unit only.

Line Project The estimated cost of the project is PhP1,873.52Mn and the implementation period is 27 months.

The project aims to address the overloading on the Taguig230 kV line segment during N-1 contingency, further Taguig-Taytay Paco decongest the San Jose EHV Substation, and optimize the 230 10. kV Transmission utilization of the new Taguig 500/230 kV Substation.

Line Project The estimated cost of the project is PhP3,823.47Mn and the implementation period is 63 months.

The project aims to cater the load growth and improve the power quality in Batangas and Laguna areas, particularly the loads being served by MERALCO in Batangas and Tanauan 230kV for Calamba; Batangas Electric Cooperative II, First Industrial 11.

Substation Township Utilities, Inc. and Lima Enerzone Corporation.

Project

Kabacan Substation Project

A copy of the compilation of the Detailed Project Discussion for the projects is attached as Annex “A,” and a copy of the detailed cost of the projects is attached as Annex “B.”

The estimated cost of the project is PhP667.57Mn and the implementation period is 40 months.

This project will serve as another drawdown substation for the bulk power being delivered to the 500 kV system. This is driven by further generation capacity additions in Bataan which will result in heavy loading for both the existing San Jose EHV Substation and the proposed Taguig EHV Substation. As the demand in Metro Manila increases, more power will be drawn by these substations, thus, it is expected that the power transformers in these facilities will already be overloaded by 2023.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP8,454.09Mn and the implementation period is 34 months.

This is the next stage of transmission development in Quezon Province associated with the new Pagbilao 500 kV Substation.

Pagbilao With this additional line segment, the overall reliability of the Tayabas 500 kV outgoing transmission lines from Pagbilao 500 kV Substation Transmission will be improved and it will allow the connection of the 2 X 600 Line MW Atimonan CFPP project.

Project The estimated cost of the project is PhP3,934.30Mn and the implementationj!eriod is 50 months.

This project aims to address the reliability and adequacy issues in the existing Currimao 115 kV Substation which serves Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC) and the 20 MW Mirae Solar Power Plant. The project will also help relieve Pinili 230kV the loading in Laoag Substation and will provide adequate Substation space that can allow the connection of additional loads and Project generators.

BRIEF JUSTIFICATION

The estimated cost of the project is PhP4,198.64Mn and the implementation period is 48 months The project aims to provide reliability of supply to the loads being served by the existing Maco-Mati 69 kV Line by providing alternate source. The project involves 138 kV Maco-Mati 138 backbone extension in the south-eastern part of Mindanao kV Transmission and development of new drawdown substation.

Line Project

BRIEF JUSTIFICATION

The estimated cost of the project is PhP683.65Mn and the implementation period is 40 months.

The project involves the development of the Tuy 500/230 kV Substation (Stage 1) which will serve as the connection point of the 2X350 MW plant of st. Raphael Power Generation Corporation and other future generation additions in the area. This project is associated with the construction of a new 500 kVdesigned transmission backbone from the area going to Dasmariñas Substation. Also, the project involves the installation of a 100 MVA 230/69 kV power transformer at the Calaca 230 kV Substation.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP1,184.46Mn and the implementation period is 28 months.

This project aims to address the projected overloading of the existing Amlan-Siaton 69 kV line serving Negros Oriental II Electric Cooperative (NORECO II). It will involve 138 kV backbone extension to the southern part of Negros and development of new drawdown substation close to the load area.

This project aims to develop a common substation to connect together the Kibawe-Kabacan 138 kV double-circuit line and Kabacan-Sultan Kudarat and Kabacan-Tacurong 138 kV single circuit line. The resulting configuration will provide reliability and power quality improvement even during line outages in the area.

San FranciscoTandag 138 kV Transmission Line Project

5.

The project involves the upgrading of the transmission Tower Structure facilities in the Bicol area. It involves the construction of 82 Upgrading of new steel tower structures with improved wind design that Bicol could withstand strong typhoons.

Transmission The estimated cost of the project is PhP986.56Mn and the Facilities implementation period is 10 months.

This project aims to address the heavy loading issue in the existing Concepcion-Paniqui 69 kV Line which serves the loads of Gerona, Victoria, Sta. Ignacia, Camiling, Paniqui and Concepcion-Sta. Moncada of Tarlac I Electric Cooperative (TARELCO I).

Ignacia 69 kV With Concepcion-Sta. Ignacia 69 kV Transmission Line in Transmission place to separately accommodate the loads of TARELCO I Line Camiling, Paniqui and Moncada, the power requirements of Project the area will be adequately served.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP2,318.15Mn and the implementation period is 36 months.

This project aims to address the heavy loading issue in the existing Nagsaag-Umingan 69 kV Line which serves the loads of Pangasinan III Electric Cooperative, Inc. (P Nagsaag-Tumana ANELCO III). and Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative, 69kV Inc. (CENPELCO). Due to the increasing power demand in 5.

Transmission these distribution utilities, the Nagsaag-Umingan 69 kV Line Line Project is projected to be overloaded already by 2021.

6.

1.

NGCP’s Final Determination for the Third Regulatory Period (3rd RP) covering calendar years 2011 to 2015, as approved by the Honorable Commission in ERC Case No. 2009-180RC has already ended in December 2015 and under the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates (RTWR) , the Final Determination for the Fourth Regulatory Period (4th RP) covering calendar years 2016 to 2020 shall commence immediately thereafter. However, NGCP has yet to undergo its regulatory reset for the 4th RP as it is still awaiting the Honorable Commission’s position paper to guide NGCP in the submission of its 4th RP Application.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP934.91Mn and the implementation period is 18 months.

The purpose of the project is to accommodate projected demand, avoid overloading and comply with the N-1 requirement of the Philippine Grid Code through additional power transformers in Maasin, Calbayog, Tabango and Daanbantayan substations.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP2,495.09Mn and the implementation period is 17 months.

This project aims to improve the reliability of supply for Iloilo III Electric Cooperative (ILECO III) during N-1 contingency by providing loop configuration in the 69 kV facilities in the Barotac This will also address the overloading issue in the ViejoNatividad area. transformers in Dingle Substation by 2022 because of the 69 kV Transmission L resulting operational flexibility.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP57.23Mn and the implementation period is 31 months.

PROJECT NAME (Mindanao)

This Application is filed pursuant to paragraph d, Section 9 of the EPlRA, which directs the transmission operator to seek prior approval from the Honorable Commission of any plan for expansion or improvement of its facilities in the pursuit of its mandate to construct, install, finance, improve, expand, rehabilitate and repair the nationwide transmission system and the grid.

PROJECT NAME (Luzon)

1.

7.

The forecasted demand of Tacloban will cause heavy loading in the existing 69 kV line serving the area and also in Ormoc Substation which can only accommodate a maximum load of 90 MW to maintain its N-1 contingency provision. To address these capacity limitation issues, 138 kV backbone extension in the north-eastern part of Leyte is proposed.

BRIEF JUSTIFICATION

The project aims to accommodate the entry of the 40 MW Wind Power Plant by 2020. With this new plant in Panay-Guimaras Sibunag place, the total installed generation capacity in Guimaras 138kV Island is already 97.4 MW. Interconnection Project The estimated cost of the project is PhP2,424.42Mn and the implementation period is 15 months.

At present, the Quiot Substation is heavily loaded due to the increase of power demand of Metro Cebu. Due to space constraint In the substation, the installation of additional Laray 230 kV transformer is no longer feasible. Thus, the development of Substation a new drawdown substation is necessary to support the longProject term: ii power supply requirement of the area.

The estimated cost of the project is PhP5,029.49Mn and the implementation period is 38 months.

JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Oversight Commissioner for Legal

1 2 3 4

An Act Granting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines a Franchise to Engage in the Business of Conveying or Transmitting Electricity Through High Voltage Back-bone System or Interconnected Transmission Lines, Substations and Related Facilities, and For Other Purposes; rd, Section 1; Section 9 d, EPIRA; Section 9, c EPIRA (MS-APR. 12 & 19, 2018)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

Catriona Gray READY FOR THE UNIVERSE

By Eton Concepcion Images by Sonny Espiritu French musician Charles Baptiste gave mallgoers at SM Aura Premier Atrium a taste of contemporary music as part of the Francophonie celebrations.

French Musician Charles Baptiste at SM Aura Premier MALLGOERS recently had the rare opportunity to has a glimpse of the contemporary French music scene when French musician Charles Baptiste performed live at SM Aura Premier.

The event was a collaboration between Alliance Française de Manille, the Embassy of France in Manila, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie as part of the Francophonie celebrations.

The International Francophonie Day is an annual celebration of the birth of the Intergovernmental Francophonie cooperation. Francophonie is the term used to refer to all people and countries speaking the French language, and Francophonie Day celebrates the French language and the values of the French speaking countries around the world.

Charles Baptiste showcased his talent in a series of piano and vocal performances which included his original songs such as “En route pour l’oscar,’’ ‘‘Aussi cool que toi,’’ and ‘‘Dans ma chambre d’adolescent,’’ among others. He also performed his rendition of the French song ‘‘Voyage voyage’’ by Desireless and ‘‘Get Lucky’’ by Daft Punk. The show wowed the shoppers of SM Aura Premier as Charles Baptiste’s upbeat and French pop music is not commonly heard in the Philippines.

The event is also held in partnership with authentic French restaurant, La Mère Poulard, for Goût de France in celebration of French gastronomy.

Charles Baptiste’s performance is one of the many exciting cross-cultural events at SM Aura Premier.

PIA WURTZBACH

travels the world in new show FILL the summer with wanderlust as Pia Wurtzbach takes us to awe-inspiring places via land, sea, or air in her first travel show Pia’s Postcards, airing on new cable offering Metro Channel (SKYcable ch. 52) every Monday at 8:30 p.m.

The new program takes the My Perfect You actress to interesting local and foreign destinations. On each spot, she enjoys the local vibe through a fun, casual and immersing experience with a global Filipino who will tour her around.

In its debut episode, the Miss Universe 2015 brought viewers to one of her favorite places, the energetic city of New York, just in time for Fashion Week.

Through subways and busy streets, Pia toured around her second home, indulging audiences with tips and secrets of the concrete jungle. Viewers also got insider look behind the Sherri Hill fashion show and jewelry photo shoot participated by the former Miss Universe.

The beauty queen also grabbed ube waffles for brunch with Metro magazine’s editor-at-large Sarah Meier, met up with globally renowned event stylist and designer to the stars Jerry Sibal, and talked over dinner with award-winning international singer and actress Lea Salonga.

Get to see more aesthetically pleasing places and iconic landmarks in top travel spots such as Baler with renowned photographer Gutsy Tuason, Baguio with National Artist

M

ISS Universe Philippines 2018 Catriona Gray and other Binibining Pilipinas queens lit up the well-attended venue as soon as they arrived for a pocket-interview with members of the press, their first publicmeet-and-greet affair since winning their titles last month, held recently at Pizza Hut, Manhattan Row, Araneta Center.

Gorgeous-looking in a red top and white jeans outfit, Gray exuded confidence and warmth fielding questions along with the other titlists during the table-hopping, up-close interviews done in pairs of Bb. Pilipinas-International Ahtisa Manalo with Bb. Pilipinas 2nd runnerup Samantha Mae Bernardo, Bb. Pilipinas Supranational Jehza Huelar with Bb. PilipinasGrand International Eva Psychee Patalinjug, and Bb. Pilipinas-Intercontinental Karen Gallman with Bb. Pilipinas-Globe Michelle Theresa Gumabao.

The free-wheeling and engaging exchanges were centered mostly on the beauty queens’ lives after they won and their plans for their respective international competitions. Most, if not all are saying, “It hasn’t’ sunk in yet.”

Gray, who was born and grew up in Cairns, Australia, has a Master Certificate in Music Theory at Berklee College of Music, a Black belt in Choi Kwang Do and loves sketching, painting, writing and traveling.

“I am so excited. I’m willing to work completely well to be the best person that I am come the pageant. I want to give my best effort in all departments of the competition, as a spokesperson for advocacies, the Q&A and Pasarela. I’m focusing in all that aspects,” Gray said upbeat of her chances at the Miss Universe pageant and stressed that she has totally left her Miss World experience behind.

Asked where she gets all the wisdom at such a young age, the 24-year-old statuesque model and singer said, “I feel that at a very young age I am more mature on how I thought. I am a very

Metro Channel’s ‘Pia’s Postcards’ showcases New York, Baler, Baguio, and other foreign destinations like Japan and Italy.

for Visual Arts Ben Cabrera, Batangas with veteran equestrienne Toni Leviste, plus Tokyo and Italy in the show’s upcoming episodes.

Miss Universe Philippines Catriona Gray (third from left) with 2018 Binibining Pilipinas Queens (from left) Michelle Theresa Gumabao, Samantha Mae Bernardo, Ahtisa Manalo, Eva Psychee Patalinjug, and Karen Gallman.

analytical person, I like to understand the setbacks and challenges in life, why certain things happened, how people think and to learn from them to become stronger, the person that I am today.”

On her being regarded as the girl to beat at Miss Universe 2018, Gray answered, “It’s so uplifting and inspiring to know that so many support me. I am so grateful to those who believe in me, who are so passionate about my journey in the pageant…that really made me cry.”

And in a very light moment, we asked for her thoughts on one of the most controversial questions during the pageant night—the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, which a contestant failed to answer.

“I believe in the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build program’ as a strong foundation for national progress, to provide more investments, more needed schools and hospitals and to treat the people at heart,” Gray ended with a smile.

Liza Soberano’s million-dollar smile

Liza Soberano for GAOC

LIZA Soberano—Hope Elizabeth Soberano in real life—has indeed come a long way from her early and humble showbiz beginnings to her present stature as one of the most bankable young actresses.

Apart from innate acting abilities, Liza has one of the prettiest faces in the entertainment industry and has a beautiful smile that easily charms everyone she meets.

Helping Liza maintain that beautiful smile for several years now is Dr. Steve Mark Gan of GAOC—the Gan Advanced Osseointegration Center, which has consistently raised the standards of dental practice in the country. GAOC has been Liza’s dental clinic of choice from the

first day she sought its services.

“We’re very happy with the trust and love that Liza Soberano has shown the GAOC family all these years,” says Dr. Gan. “In return, we take care of her dental needs with the kind of love, expertise, and professionalism that only we can offer.”

Born and raised in California to a Filipino father and an American mother, Liza moved to Manila at age 12 and was soon receiving offers for print ad modelling stints. After she was spotted by a talent scout, she made a series of television appearances and did small movie roles, until her breakout role in the hit 2014 television series Forevermore, which became her stepping stone to stardom. Paired for the first time with

Enrique Gil, the new love team became a big hit and was dubbed “LizQuen.”

With her growing popularity, Liza has crossed over to the movies. After last year’s certified box office hit My Ex and Whys, she will be the next Darna in the popular komiks franchise’s latest adaptation.

Things are indeed looking up for Liza, who was named in one survey as the most beautiful face in the world, and she is relying on GAOC to keep her smile bright and sunny as she pursues her flourishing acting career.

For more information and appointment, visit www.gaocdental.com or follow and like GAOC on facebook, twitter, and instagram: @gaocdental.