Manila Standard - 2019 January 16 - Wednesday

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GROUP SEEKS OIL TAX AUDIT

By Alena Mae S. Flores and Vito Barcelo A CONSUMER group on Tuesday said motorists were being overcharged for the value-added tax on fuel and urged the Finance department to conduct an audit and correct the problem immediately.

VOL. XXXII • NO. 335 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

In a letter to Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio Lambino, Laban Konsyumer Inc. attached two receipts from the Petron gasoline station in Dahlia corner Lilac, Barangay Fairview, Quezon City.

“Our computation shows VAT was paid on top of VAT on the second tranche of excise taxes and resulted in overpayment of VAT of P0.025 per liter by the Next page

NPC probes passport snafu; DFA flip-flops

By Rey E. Requejo and Nat Mariano

New tax=P2 per liter of gasoline

T

HE National Privacy Commission said Tuesday it would investigate the reported loss of passport data but Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. clarified that the government’s former contractor had not taken any records but merely made them inaccessible.

Andaya, Napoles, 22 others accused of 97 graft cases

By Maricel V. Cruz HOUSE Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. and Janet Lim-Napoles are scheduled for arraignment on Friday following the Sandiganbayan’s decision to proceed with the trial of the 194 criminal cases in connection with the P900million Malampaya fund scam.

But Andaya, who is accused in 97 cases, insisted that the graft charges against him should be dismissed for lack of specific details that would support the allegations.

But the anti-graft court disagreed.

“To the mind of the court, the above Next page

Antarctica ice melt raises sea levels TAMPA, United States— Global warming is melting ice in Antarctica faster than ever before —about six times more per year now than 40 years ago—leading to increasingly high sea levels worldwide, scientists warned Monday.

Already, Antarctic melting has raised global sea levels more than half an inch (1.4 centimeters) between 1979 and 2017, said the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed US journal.

Turn to A5

‘Bay rehab to displace 220K families’

By Rio N. Araja ABOUT 220,000 squatter families will be displaced by the Manila Bay rehabilitation project and will be relocated to Central Luzon and the Calabarzon region, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday.

“Of course, there will be resistance at first, but we have to do this because they really should not be living in the estero,” Año said in an interview with GMA News. “They should be able to understand.”

The Department of Environment and

In a new Twitter post, Locsin said that contrary to what he said earlier, the former passport contractor, Oberthur Technologies, did not make off with the data when its contract was terminated in 2015.

“Data is not run-away-able but made inaccessible. Access denied,” Locsin said in his new Twitter post.

Locsin said that while the current passport contractor and printer APO Production Unit Inc., a national government printer, was able to access the data from Oberthur, these are “not much use and parts [were] corrupted.”

Locsin’s statement came after APO said on Monday that the equipment containing details of passport applicants are intact, accessible, and restored.

“All data have been retrieved when the equipment was turned over. It was all restored,” said Michael Dalumpines,

Palace denies Andal’s claim on backchannel talks with Reds

By Nat Mariano and Francisco Tuyay A FORMER chief of the Philippine Coconut Authority claimed he was tasked by the President to open backchannel talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines, only for the Palace to deny it hours after.

“The President ordered me to resume the talks because he has been stressing that he, as a president, should be considered a friend and not an enemy, even to communist rebels,” former PCA chief Avelino Andal said Tuesday.

“He wants me to have backchannel talks with the leaders of CPP, including, of course, Jose Ma. Sison who’s on top of everything. But we also need to do the groundwork for those leaders who are in the country,” Andal said in Filipino.

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Sino trader faces trial for P6.4-b shabu

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Court of Appeals has sustained its decision upholding the indictment of Chinese businessman Chen Julong, alias “Richard Tan,” in the drug cases arising from the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that slipped past through the Bureau of Customs in May 2017.

In a two-page resolution released, the CA’s Former 11th Division dismissed the appeal filed by Chen on its decision in August last year that denied his petition seeking the dismissal of the cases for importation of dangerous drugs.

The appellate court affirmed the decision of Manila City Regional Trial Court Next page

Trump foots bill for fast-food feast

P24- ultra lotto bet yields P59m

WITH White House residence staff among those hit by the US government shutdown, Donald Trump personally ordered in an “all American” feast of burgers and pizza on Monday for a visiting football team.

“Because of the shutdown, as you know... we went out and we ordered

IT ONLY took P24.00—one bet—to change the life of one person, bagging close to P59 million in jackpot prize and becoming the very first Ultra Lotto 6/58 millionaire for 2019.

“Congratulations to our lucky millionaire. He will take home the P58,472,458

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Senators move for increase in DOH budget

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday recommended that part of the P75 billion in “insertions” slashed from the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways be given to the Health department whose budget suffered a P28-billion cut.

Drilon, along with Senator JV Ejercito, is also pushing for an increase in the Health department’s budget by at least P24 billion this year.

During his interpellation of the department’s budget, Drilon pushed for an additional P16.8 billion for the agency’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program.

But Ejercito, who was defending the department’s budget, said the agency needed another P7.4 billion for the Human Resource for Health program.

The fund in the HRH will be used for the continuous employment of more than 10,000 nurses and health professionals deployed throughout the country, Drilon said in a statement.

During the continuation of the interpellation on the Health department’s budget, Drilon proposed to that the controversial additional funding that was allegedly inserted into the budget of Public Works and the Interior departments be realigned to restore the slashed budget of the Health department.

“The amount could be sourced from the P75 billion in additional funding that went to the DPWH or the P27.7 billion supposedly for assisting local government units that went to DILG,” Drilon said.

Both agencies denied requesting additional funds and were clueless as to how they would spend the additional funding, Drilon said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said “[the Senate] will discuss the final resting place for the P75 billion that we have already agreed to delete from the DPWH proposed budget.”

Group...

From A1 consumers for the current year,” said LKI president Victorio Mario Dimagiba, referring to the second round of excise tax increases under the Tariff Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law. “This computation is also applicable on the first tranche of excise taxes on fuels for 2018 and resulted in overpayment of P0.085 per liter of VAT,” he said.

LKI urged the Finance department to “take appropriate remedies, rebates or refunds as allowed by law” to correct the overcharge.

Under the second tranche of TRAIN Law’s implementation, an additional excise tax of P2.00 will be imposed per liter of diesel and gasoline, and P1.00 per kilogram on household LPG. There will also be an additional 12 percent value-added tax, which totals to P2.24 for both diesel and gasoline, and P1.12 for LPG. Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said it will file a petition for a P355 wage increase in all regional wage boards to raise the salary of workers amid rising prices as a result of TRAIN. TUCP president Raymond Mendoza said the labor center is monitoring the movement of prices of goods and services following the increase in the prices of diesel and gasoline effective Jan. 8 this year.

Based on TUCP computation, they might file a minimum of P313 to a maximum of P355 wage increase petition based on the current prices of commodities and services to regional wage boards nationwide despite strong opposition from employers and business groups.

“We will be citing supervening conditions in filing the petitions. We are also going to test once again the capacity of the wage boards to remain relevant with their mandate to raise the minimum wage to an amount that can ably support a family,” Mendoza said.

Workers groups have denounced the wage increase granted by all 17 wage boards as inadequate.

Sino trader...

From A1 Branch 46 denying the petitioner’s motion to quash the criminal charges.

“The issues raised in the instant motion are but mere reiterations of the grounds already judiciously evaluated and passed upon in our aforementioned decision.

We, therefore, find no compelling reason to modify or reverse the same,” stated the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia.

“While he enumerated several grounds justifying this failure to file a motion for reconsideration, he failed to establish that this case falls under any of the said exceptions.”

In his petition, Chen accused the Department of Justice of forum shopping for refiling the criminal case before the Manila RTC after the Valenzuela RTC Branch 171, where the case was first filed, dismissed the charges.

However, the CA held that the Manila RTC was correct in dismissing the motion to quash filed by Chen.

It explained that the Valenzuela RTC junked the case merely for lack of jurisdiction.

News

Palace to bishop: Be Christian-like

By Nat Mariano

I

NSTEAD of lambasting President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks, Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos should act more Christianlike by praying for the Chief Executive, the Palace said on Tuesday after Santos called Duterte’s presidency a disgrace and a disappointment to the country.

Meanwhile, Novaliches Bishop-Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr. challenged Duterte to walk the streets without his bodyguards to protect him.

“My challenge to President Duterte is to do what we are doing if he is really brave,” Bacani said.

His dare came after Duterte’s recent remarks urging the jobless people to rob and kill Catholic bishops because they had plenty of money.

Expressing sadness over Santos’ “unfortunate” views, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Santos may also fit the definition of disgrace.

“What is a disgrace is when a member of the clergy uses unsavory language against President Duterte who only fulfills and complies with his constitutional mandate to lead the government in serving the Filipinos and protecting them from what bedevils our society,” Panelo said in a statament.

“I wonder if he has asked himself, ‘What is a disgrace?’ One who is a member of the clergy making unsavory language against a man or against the President who is only doing his constitutional duty to serve and to protect the people? Or one, like the President who instead of throwing mud, would rather smile and joke about it?” Panelo told reporters.

“If someone throws stones at you, then throw a piece of bread in return. That’s a Christian doctrine and that is a teaching of the Church. It appears that the good bishop is not practicing what he teaches and what he has learned in the seminary.

“The good bishop, I think, is misinformed of the survey results, which shows that majority of the Filipinos accept the style of governance of the President. And his style of delivering speeches is factored in that survey. So either he is misinformed,

Casiguran mayor denies being Diokno in-law

By Maricel V. Cruz CASIGURAN Mayor Edwin Hamor on Tuesday denied being in-laws with Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno amid the allegations his municipality in Sorsogon was favored in the allocation of funds for infrastructure projects.

At the resumption of the House of Representatives’ committee on rules’ hearing into the alleged “insertions” in the 2019 national budget, Hamor said it was his wife who was the in-law of Diokno.

“Ang tawag niya [Diokno] sa akin mayor.

Pero hindi ko balae,” Hamor said.

“Mas lalong hindi ko kaano-ano si Diokno.”

Hamor made his statement even as House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. on Tuesday said there were at least P81 million worth of alleged deposit slips from Aremar Construction Corp., the company owned by the family of embattled Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno’s in-laws.

NPC...

From A1 chairman of APO Production Unit Inc. “We can access everything.”

“Our IT guys were able to do something about it. That’s why the data was restored,” he added.

Last week, Locsin said the French contractor ran off with the personal data because it was “pissed off” when its contract was terminated.

This meant that some holders of older passports who were renewing them would need to present their birth certificates so that the DFA could rebuild its database, he said at the time.

The Palace, however, has declared that this was an unnecessary burden on passport holders and said their old passports should be enough.

On Tuesday, Locsin seemed to agree, noting that APO agreed with him “that old passports are best evidence of identity.”

“Join me in despising those who don’t agree with me,” Locsin said.

The DFA issues 10,000 passports daily or three-million passports a year, but that huge demand balloons to 25,000 per day during the peak travel seasons.

Palace...

From A1 Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, however, said he knew nothing of Andal’s mission.

“He is not involved in the negotiation process,” Panelo said, but added that backchannel talks would not be unusual, saying the President is open to talks as long as the communist New People’s Army stop their attacks and extortion activities.

“Enough of these ambuscades, enough of these extortion activities and we will sit down. And most likely, they may finally listen to the urgings of the President.

I think they are also tired of fighting the government,” he added.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said there was no such order from the President.

“It is fake news. The President says he never ordered him to do so,” Lorenzana told Palace reporters.

Andal, a current member of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, said Duterte personally instructed him in Manila last week.

“I kept mum on this. I didn’t know the media will know about it. I would even prefer not to talk about this until I have successfully delivered what the President has asked me to do,” he said.

He said he has already reached out to communist leaders, who were “extremely glad” to find out that the government has opened the door for peace anew.

“I will talk to the people who are involved in this. I would also persuade them that the President is serious in his desire to have peace in the country,” he said.

Andaya,...

From A1 matters need not be specifically alleged in the present informations because an information need only state the ultimate facts, or those facts which the expected evidence will support,” the Sandiganbayan said in the resolution promulgated on Jan. 8.

The resolution was written by Presiding

not informed, or he is ignoring the results.

“Rather than lambaste the President, it would be more Christian-like to pray for the one whom you feel to be sinning against whatever doctrines you had in mind.”

Panelo said the Church should lead in the prayers for the success of Duterte in his presidency.

“We must remember that all of us are parts of one whole... The success of President Duterte is the success of the whole nation,” Panelo said.

In an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas, Santos viewed Duterte’s presidency as both a disappointment and a disgrace to the country, infamously known for its “kill, kill, kill” policy.

The Catholic bishop was reacting to the President’s recent attacks against the prelates, saying that loiterers should kill and steal from “rich bishops.”

P24-ultra lotto...

From A1

At the resumption of the congressional inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the budget preparation involving Diokno, Andaya, chairman of the House committee on rules, alleged that the committee “established an initial paper trail of possible corrupt money transfer from dummy corporations to Aremar involving P81 million, an amount that breaches the P50-million plunder point.”

Most big-time contractors that deal with the government merely use their “Triple A” qualification in bagging major projects and then farm these out to smaller contractors in exchange for “royalties.”

This emerged as the House of Representatives’ Committee on Rules continued its investigation into the alleged irregularities in the preparation of the national government budget.

Andaya on Tuesday chastised a local Commission on Audit official for allegedly failing to determine the presence of a Bulacan-based construction company’s equipment in differ-

ent places and projects “all at the same time.”

Diokno’s daughter, Charlotte, is married to Jojo Sicat, the son of Sorsogon Vice Governor Esther Hamor from a previous marriage.

At the same time, Hamor told lawmakers that the infrastructure projects poured into his municipality were all meant to lower the poverty incidence.

During the hearing, Andaya even asked Hamor if he had seen Diokno in the past.

Hamor said he only saw the budget chief at a wedding.

He rejected the allegations that Aremar Construction Corp. cornered at least P551 million in government contracts in 2018 from the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Hamor slammed the claim of Andaya that Aremar Construction Corp. was favored owing to his ties to the Budget secretary.

He said Aremar was established in 2014 when he was out of the government and when he was in the private sector.

Despite Locsin’s clarification, NPC Commissioner Raymund Liboro said the agency has invited officers from the DFA to get to the bottom of the alleged loss of personal records.

“We need to gather more facts to ascertain if there was a personal data breach,” he said in Filipino.

Earlier, he had said there was no immediate proof of any data breach.

The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, said it considered the loss of passport data a threat to privacy and national security.

PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group would be ready to help if its services are required.

The Palace on Tuesday said the President would not allow any data breach and said the DFA would do its job to secure the passport database.

He also pointed out that the most serious breach to date, at the Commission on Elections, had happened before Duterte took office.

Also on Monday, APO Production Unit denied reports that it had subcontracted the job of printing passports to the privately-owned United Graphic Expression Corp., which it described as its joint venture partner.

UGEC imports materials to be used by

APO in the printing of passports but is not involved in the printing of the documents, said Michael Dalumpines, chairman of APO. In an interview on GMA-7, Dalumpines said APO needed a joint venture partner because it had no capability to import printing materials.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. also said the former contractor had not run away with the data, as Locsin had earlier said.

It only failed to help resolve a system mismatch because the government and a new subcontractor were too embarrassed to ask for help, he said.

In an interview with radio dzMM, Yasay said under the Arroyo administration, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was in charge of printing machine readable passports that were compliant with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The succeeding Aquino administration, however, shifted to e-passports “for no compelling reason,” Yasay said.

APO, under the Presidential Communications Operations Office, won the contract for printing the new passports, but could not transfer the passport data to its own system because they used a different data format.

Andal said the President might have chosen him for his connections and background with leftist groups.

He said he was a member of the CPP decades ago when President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law.

He said he has not yet coordinated with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

In November 2018, National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultants were supposed to return to Manila to have informal talks with Duterte.

But NFDP leader Fidel Agcaoili said the Duterte administration’s peace negotiators informed him and his fellow NDFP consultant Luis Jalandoni to cancel their trip for unknown reasons.

Panelo said the NDFP leaders only feared that they might be arrested once they set foot in the country.

In November 2017, peace talks between the government and communist rebels bogged down after Duterte walked away from the negotiating table, repeatedly blaming the rebels for violations of the unilateral ceasefire.

Duterte then had imposed a number of conditions for a revival of the talks, but Sison shrugged off the government’s push for localized peace talks, labeling it as a “cheap trick” that has failed many times.

In the town of Sibagat, local officials declared the NPA persona non grata after communist rebels abducted 14 militiamen and two army troopers on Dec. 19, 2018.

The declaration was signed by Sibagat Mayor Maria Liza Evangelista, and through Municipal Resolution 137-18, approved by the Sibagat’s Sanguniang Bayan on Dec. 21 last year, two days after the NPA abduction.

“The kidnapping and abduction perpetrated by the NPAs is a manifestation of betrayal of achieving peace, thus disrupting the peace and security of the community,” the resolution said.

On Tuesday, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court has dismissed the illegal possession of firearms case filed against NDF consultant Rafael D. Baylosis and his companion Guillermo Roque.

In a decision released Tuesday, RTC Branch 100 Presiding Judge Editha G. MinaAguba ordered the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Taguig City to release Baylosis.

Roque, who posted a PP120,000 bail for his temporary liberty, was also cleared and allowed to get back the bail he posted.

“The search being illegal, the evidence confiscated cannot be used as evidence against the two accused,” Aguba said, stressing that any evidence obtained in violation of the right against unreasonable searches and seizures shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.

“This rule prohibits the issuance of general warrants that encourage law enforces to go on fishing expeditions. (I)t is viewed that the confiscation of the subject items is illegal.

It is not a product of a search incidental to a lawful arrest, or a stop and frisk search, or the plain view doctrine,” she said.

Police charged Baylosis and Roque with illegal weapons possession after they were arrested at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City on Jan. 31, 2018.

Police said they found two .45 caliber pistols and a fragmentation grenade inside a plastic bag containing brown rice from the two suspects. With PNA

Natural Resources will kick off the rehabilitation project to reduce the coliform bacteria in the bay and make it swimmable

by December.

At a news conference, Secretary Roy Cimatu said the quality of water at Manila Bay known for its famous sunset is “330 million times” dirtier than the waters of Boracay Island.

“On Jan. 27, we will have an initial announcement of establishments not compliant [with the Clean Water Act],” he told reporters.

“A non-compliant establishment could be penalized with a fine of P20,000 to P200,000 per day,” he warned.

Phase one of the rehabilitation effort is the identification of squatter families along Roxas Boulevard for relocation, he said.

The relocation of 20,000 to 30,000 informal settlers in Bacoor, Cavite, and the removal of piggeries along Pampanga River are part of the rehabilitation effort, he added.

“If you go there [in Bacoor], I have been there, you will see too many people staying along the bay,” he said.

“Here in the National Capital Region, our effort will involve the cleanup of the Baywalk area between the Manila Yacht Club and US Embassy, where people often and frequently go and swim,” he said.

“We hope there would be no bloody removal of the informal settlers. There is no need for such. We are prepared to face them,” he added.

Cimatu called on the other stakeholders of Manila Bay to “be part of history” and support rehabilitation efforts.

“This mission is not impossible. This mission calls for dedication and hard work from all those who will help us in this operation,” he said.

Justice and Division head Amparao CabotajeTang, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Bernelito Fernandez and Lorifel Pahimna.

Andaya, and his several co-accused in the case, including detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, and 22 others are facing 97 counts of graft and of misusing public funds.

They are accused of diverting P900 million from the Malampaya funds allocated by the Budget department to the Depart-

ment of Agrarian Reform in 2009, and in the process using 12 Janet Lim Napoles-led non government organizations as conduits to the alleged fraud.

Andaya, who was then Budget secretary, allegedly released the funds through the Agrarian Reform department.

The anti-graft court also denied the motions for reconsideration filed by eight other individuals, including former Agrarian Reform secretary and now

Masui City, Lanao del Sur Mayor Nasser Pangandaman, as well as Napoles’ children James Christopher and Jo Christine.

The anti-graft court also said the elements of graft and funds misuse were in the informations filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“A plain reading will show that the acts and/or omissions complained of are alleged in plain, ordinary, and concise language,” the Sandiganbayan said.

jackpot prize,” said Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan.

The lone winner picked the winning draw combination of 43-55-15-02-29-56 Sunday night.

“The winning ticket was purchased from a franchise owned by the Lucky Circle Corporation, with a ticket outlet at SM Bacolod in Negros Occidental,” Balutan said.

Arnel Casas, PCSO’s assistant general manager for the gaming sector, said the odds of winning in Ultra Lotto 6/58 is one in 40.4 million.

Trump...

From A1 American fastfood paid for by me,” the president quipped, as he prepared to host the Clemson Tigers university players to celebrate their national championship win.

“I think they’d like it better than anything we could give,” said Trump, after landing back at the White House following a day trip to New Orleans.

“We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many French fries, all of our favorite foods—I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much,” the president mused.

Asked to name his own favorite fast food—as he stood smiling behind the gargantuan spread—Trump demurred, insisting: “I like them all.”

“If it’s American, I like it. It’s all American stuff.”

“The reason we did this is because of the shutdown,” he added. “We want to make sure that everything is right, so we sent out, we got this.”

Around 800,000 federal employees—including much of the White House residence staff—have been on mandatory leave or working without pay for 24 days as Donald Trump and Congress wrangle over funding for a wall on the southern border. AFP

‘Bay rehab...

From A1

News

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Norwegian jailed for ordering online child sex abuse in PH A 71-YEAR-OLD Norwegian man was sentenced to 12 and a half years in in prison on Monday for ordering sexual assaults to be carried out online against dozens of young Filipinas.

“With his actions, the accused contributed to a sex industry that brutally exploits vulnerable children in the worst possible way,” the Sore Sunnmore district court in western Norway wrote in its verdict.

Between 2012 and 2013, the man used an online video calling service to contact people in the Philippines.

He paid them to, under his instructions, sexually assault minors under the age of 14, the youngest one “probably between three and five years old,” while he watched, the court found.

The court said there were “at least” 48 victims but the actual number could be much higher because of difficulties identifying them.

“The court finds that the victims are living in an almost inhumane situation that the accused helped perpetuate with his actions,” the verdict said.

Norwegian police were alerted by the United States FBI as part of a larger case the latter was probing.

Investigators found more than 36,000 photographs and videos containing child pornography in his possession.

“I went into a bubble and I was going through a very difficult time in my personal life,” the accused told the court during his trial, according to broadcaster NRK. The sentence handed down was slightly higher than the 12 years the prosecution had called for.

The victims’ young age was considered an aggravating factor for the sentencing. AFP

Davao court turns down HDO against Trillanes A DAVAO City court turned down prosecutors’ request for the issuance of a hold departure order against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is facing libel raps before the said tribunal.

“All told, this court finds that accused Antonio Trillanes IV is not a flight risk and that he will abide with the conditions imposed for his provisional liberty including his appearance before this Court when required,” Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 54 Judge Melinda AlconcelDayanghirang said in an order dated Dec. 12, 2018 released on Tuesday.

The judge noted that Trillanes’ travels were allowed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III. “While it is true that the accused has already left the country on December 11, 2018 and thus beyond the reach of this Court, however, the said travel is supported by Travel Order 2018-SR-090 dated October 8, 2018 issued by Senate President Vicente Sotto III. The accused’s succeeding travel on January 27 to February 10, 2019 is likewise with authority of the Senate President,” the magistrate said.

The court explained that from its viewpoint, the trips or speaking engagements abroad “cannot be equated to flight or the voluntary withdrawal by the accused in order to avoid continuance of the criminal proceedings.”

Trillanes, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to the four libel cases filed against him by President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Paolo, as he appeared before a local court in Davao City.

Trillanes said the cases were a form of “harassment.” The senator said he flew to Davao to show that he was ready to face his accusers.

He added that he chose not to defer the arraignment to “demonstrate that we are recognizing the authority and jurisdiction of the Davao courts.”

BAY REHAB. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu (second from left), holds a press conference on the rehabilitation program of Manila Bay on Tuesday, Jan.15. Cimatu is joined by (from left) Tourism chief Berna Romulo-Puyat, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año and MWSS Administrator Reynaldo Velasco. Manny Palmero

CIDG files ‘admin’ case vs Baldo Daraga, Cotabato City placed under Comelec control

A

SIDE from murder and frustrated murder, Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo, the alleged mastermind behind the killing of AKO-Bicol Party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe has been charged with an administrative case before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The case was filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Batocabe was slated to run against Baldo in the mid-term elections in May. Baldo was earlier charged with murder for the killing of Batocabe and his aide, Senior Police Officer Orlando Diaz, and the wounding of seven others

last Dec. 22, 2018, during a gift-giving activity in Daraga.

Baldo, however, has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Batocabe’s murder has prompted the Commission on Elections to place Daraga under its control until the end of the election period.

Aside from Daraga, the Comelec also

placed Cotabato City under its control after the southern city was bombed on New Year’s Eve. The bombing left at least two people dead.

Under the law, the Comelec can place any area under its immediate control if there is a history of or there is a prevailing intense political rivalry among contending parties, as these could lead to violence.

Once an area is under Comelec control, the commission is given full control and supervision over law enforcement agencies and military officers assigned to the said area.

The election period officially began last Sunday, Jan. 13.

MARIJUANA will at last have beneficial use once the law allowing the use of the weed for medical purposes is enacted, Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Tuesday.

Arroyo, one of principal authors of the Medical Cannabis Act, revealed

Probe ordered vs Surigao del Sur LGU A LARGE tract of land in Surigao del Sur owned by the Marcoses has reportedly been sold without government consent and is now occupied by squatters, prompting the Sandiganbayan to order the Presidential Commission on Good Government to inspect the sequestered asset.

In a resolution dated Jan. 3, the antigraft court’s Fifth Division granted the motion of Diatagon Labor Federation to compel the PCGG to act on its request as it seeks to become the caretaker of the remaining properties owned by Lianga Bay Logging Co. “The plaintiff [PCGG], in coordination with the movant DLF, is ordered to conduct an investigation and/or ocular inspection of the reported dissipation of named establishments located at the property of Lianga Bay located in Lianga, Surigao del Sur,” the Sandiganbayan order read. Maricel V. Cruz

Motorists advised on new traffic scheme

YOUTH RALLY. Young men claiming to be from the countryside held a protest rally in front of the DOJ against the CPP-NPA tagging them as terrorists for recruiting young people to join their cause of violence and destruction of private properties in the province. Norman Cruz

PH firm should take over Hanjin operations—DND

By Maricel V. Cruz and Vito Barcelo about it so I will defer any comment. An- the Philippine Navy’s major docking and

A FILIPINO company’s acquisition of the shipbuilding business of the debtridden Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines will be beneficial to the ongoing modernization efforts of the Philippine Navy.

This was disclosed by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana when asked Tuesday if it is possible that HHIC-Phil can be tapped for the ongoing Self-Reliance Project of the country.

“We still lack complete information

yway, our economic managers are looking into it. [It] would be good if a local company would acquire and operate it to support our Navy modernization,” Lorenzana added in a text message.

The defense chief, however, said dealing with the matter is still up to the country’s economic team.

“It [is] up to them to decide but that is the ideal set up,” he said.

Lorenzana earlier said that the DND will monitor those who have expressed interest to invest in HHIC-Phil as it is near

anchorage area of its large naval vessels.

Hanjin revealed that it has USD1.3 billion outstanding loans—USD400 million from Philippine banks and USD900 million from South Korean lenders.

According to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, HHIC-Phil filed a petition Tuesday last week at the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City “to initiate voluntary rehabilitation under Republic Act 10142, otherwise known as “An Act Providing for the Rehabilitation or Liquidation of Financially Distressed Enterprises and Individuals.”

Arroyo makes strong pitch for medicinal marijuana use

By Maricel V. Cruz

IN BRIEF

she herself had tried using cannabis patches to alleviate the pain caused by her neck problem.

Arroyo is suffering from cervical spondylosis of age-related wear and tear of the spinal discs in the neck.

“As you know I am an author of that [medical marijuana bill]. I really believe in medical cannabis. As you know I have

my problem here [cervical spine] and when I’m in a country that allows it, I put a pain patch but here in the Philippines I cannot do it,” Arroyo told reporters.

“So I authored that bill because I believe that it can help me and many other people but there was a lot of objection to the bill from the House and from the Senate. That’s why we are just letting

the legislative process take its course,” Arroyo added.

House Bill 6517, or an Act Providing Filipinos Right Access to Medical Marijuana, is currently awaiting approval on second reading.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, the main author of the bill, expressed hope that the measure will be approved soonest.

AUTHORITIES on Tuesday advised motorists to expect a stop-and-go traffic scheme along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and other parts of Metro Manila during the state visit of Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena to the country from Jan. 15 to 19.

Maithripala was scheduled to arrive in Manila Tuesday.

In its advisory, the Metro Manila Development Authority stated that possible traffic disruptions could be experienced in the vicinity of Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, roads in Makati City’s central business district, Pasig commercial district, Manila City and Quezon City when the Sri Lankan leader’s vehicle convoy passes by. Joel E. Zurbano

Air travelers told not to bring banned items THE Manila International Airport Authority on Tuesday reminded departing air travelers, especially those bound for Hong Kong, not to bring banned items in their belongings.

The MIAA issued the advisory days after a Filipino student going to Canada was arrested and detained in an airport in Hong Kong after a restricted item was found in his luggage.

The student, whose name was withheld, was intercepted in Hong Kong airport last Jan. 8, 2019 for bringing extendable batons in his check-in baggage.

The Philippine Consulate General earlier appealed to Filipino passengers entering or transiting Hong Kong to refrain from bringing prohibited items, particularly stunning devices in their carry-on or check-in luggage as these are considered as “arms” under the firearms and ammunition ordinance of Hong Kong.

Joel E. Zurbano and Vito Barcelo

A4

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

Needed like yesterday THE rehabilitation of Manila Bay by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is most definitely a good move, but whether or not Secretary Roy Cimatu is up to it is another question altogether.

Manila Bay, famous for its sunset, it more than a cesspool—how President Rodrigo Duterte described Boracay before its 60-day closure and rehabilitation.

Santa Banana, Manila Bay has become one septic tank! It stinks!

The rehabilitation of Baguio City has been long overdue.

Just how the DENR will rehabilitate it is the big question. I ask this because the rehabilitation of Boracay and other resorts in Palawan and Mindoro have always been a joint effort not only of the DENR but the Department of Tourism (because the world-famous sunset is a tourist attraction) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (because it spans so many LGUs). *** To my mind, though, a bigger, more daunting task is the rehabilitation of Baguio City—the summer capital of the Philippines.

It would be challenging because it would not be just a simple cleanup. It would also be about making the city accommodate the more-than-one-million visitors during peak seasons.

Over the Christmas holidays I decided not to go to Baguio when I learned that it would take me nine to 10 hours to reach the place—at Edsalike traffic at that.

A cousin told me that upon check-

EDITORIAL

ing in at their hotel, all they could do was stay in because of the nightmarish traffic. This is why I only stay at Camp John Hay when I am there.

So what other new things can be experienced in Baguio City? Even the smell of the pine trees is gone.

In dire need of rehabilitation is Burnham Park. There used to be a time when visitors could loiter around it and paddle boats. Mines View Park is another place. It has become an obstacle course of shops, food stalls and ambulant vendors. Meanwhile, Wright Park used to be a place where tourists can ride horses.

Baguio is a dying city. So many establishments are built without any real planning at all. Even well-known hotels and restaurants have no parking spaces.

When I was still in grade school, fam Baguio City was in its prime. Our family always visited the city in the summer. I saw the tourist attractions in their glory.

I am saddened at what Baguio City proper has become due to neglect and indifference. *** Good thing there is that development of Alphaland, Baguio Mountain Lodges. Residents call it the “Forbes Park of Baguio City.”

I must congratulate Alphaland chairman and CEO Bobby Ongpin for the development. The project is surrounded by an eight-foot perimeter fence; there are security guards to ensue safety. *** During the first year of the Duterte administration, the Finance Department had plans of privatizing some 47 casinos of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Pagcor chairman Andrea Domingo agreed that being a gaming regulator, Pagcor, a state agency, should not be in the gaming and casino business. That’s a clear conflict of interest.

The plan, however, has remained just that. I wonder why.

A legacy worth leaving

W

E WELCOME the Duterte administration’s ambitious plan to carry out a major P47-billion cleanup of Manila Bay, the most polluted body of water in the country due to domestic sewage, toxic industrial effluents and waste from factories and shipping operations. Over the decades, the pollution of the natural harbor has become emblematic of how we, as a people, have failed miserably to protect our environment and preserve it for our children.

have to—and do so much more.

Urban planner and architect Felino Palafox Jr. in a radio interview, spoke of the magnitude of the effort involved. The catchment area of the bay, he said, is 1.7 million hectares—the size of 26 Singapores or 1,700 Boracays.

In its campaign, which officially begins Jan. 27, the DENR warns that establishments found polluting the waters of the bay could face face closure.

But the problem isn’t only the hundreds of businesses that discharge untreated wastewater , it also involves tens of thousands of squatters who live by the shore and the various waterways that flow into the bay.

Results of a recent water sampling showed that restaurants, medical facilities and even the zoo leaked massive amounts of wastewater that end up in the bay. River mouths contained an average of 330 million MPN (most probable number) fecal coliform, way above the baseline level of 100 MPN.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which will lead the effort, says the government will show the same political will that enabled it to undertake the massive rehabilitation of the popular tourist destination of Boracay Island. Given the daunting task ahead, it will

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who oversaw Boracay’s cleanup, says the Manila Bay rehabilitation project will begin with discussions of a multi-year master plan with various partner agencies.

The DENR will also work with local government units, given that the bay spans parts of Metro Manila, Central Luzon and the Calabarzon region. LGUs are expected to step up their efforts because it is their constituents that will benefit most from a rehabilitated bay, Cimatu says.

The administration’s cleanup is in line with the 2008 Supreme Court decision ordering 13 government agencies to clean up Manila Bay and restore its water quality to Class SB or safe for recreational activities such as swimming.

It is a long road ahead, but if the administration can clean up Manila Bay and ensure that it remains clean, it will have done what no other administration before it has done—and that is a legacy worth leaving.

www.emiljurado.weebly.com

Manila Bay watch CROSSROADS JONATHAN DE LA CRUZ YESTERDAY, Department of Environment and Natural Resources ENR Secretary Roy Cimatu hosted a Manila Bay stakeholders’ conference to discuss the terms of reference for the proper and responsible (finally) implementation of the 2008 Supreme Court orderfor the cleanup, rehabilitation and restoration of the 1984-square kilometer bay area with a 140-kilometer coastline extending all the way from Batangas in the south to Bataan in the north.

Considered the country’s “heartland,” the area is our administrative capital, hosts our major industrial, commercial and service enterprises and is home to over half of our growing population. It is the country’s “face” to the world, the mirror of our soul and standing as a nation. Inevitably, how the Manila Bay area looks like, smells and moves is how the outside world will judge us.

Thus, it was not surprising that after Secretary Cimatu made a preliminary presentation of the Manila Bay cleanup program, President Duterte immediately ordered that the same be undertaken with dispatch, instructing in the process the allocation of P47 billion to fund the enterprise over a five-year period. He also designated Cimatu and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año as the principal convenors of a soon-to-be established Task Force to include at least 21 national and local government agencies and business, civic and people’s organizations in an effort to mobilize all stakeholders in this enormous undertaking. It is well that the co-convenors are steeped in strategic, organized mobilization having served as armed forces chief at some point in their careers.

As gleaned from the reports, they have divided the entire area into four sectors and made an inventory of the main sources

of waste flowing to or being thrown into the bay area starting with the most visible and essentially violated areas along Roxas Boulevard/R10 from Parañaque in the south to Manila (Smokey Mountain) in the north. In the first “walk through” done by Secretary Cimatu and members of the task group tracing the waste water flow along the Estero San Antonio Abad down to theoutfall at the Manila Yacht Club, it was obvious that establishments in the area were either discharging their waste directly to the estero without any treatment or if such “cleaning” was undertaken at all it was inadequate to say the least. And we are talking here of government assets—Manila Zoo and its im-

How the bay area looks like, smells and moves is how the outside world will judge us. provements as well as malls, eateries and private offices which were supposed to be inspected regularly by the sanitary inspectors of each and every local government unit or even the DENR itself. And we are just talking here of one estero in a very limited area (not even one square kilometer) along a very small (not even 500 meters) portion of the main thoroughfare facing the bay. And just the sewage flow at that.

Multiply that with the hundreds if not thousands of esteros, canals and waterways in the entire bay area, the thousands of establishments and millions of households and you will have an idea of the gargantuan task faced by the task force in the effort to reverse years of neglect and restore the Manila Bay area to its earlier state as one of the most beautiful bays in the world. It is abundantly clear as well that government cannot do the clean up alone. This is an undertaking which Turn to A5

Biggest bankruptcy AT P21.42 BILLION, Hanjin’s is the biggest loan default in the history of Philippine banking. And yet the central bank and the five local creditor banks involved—RCBC, BDO, Metrobank, LandBank, and Bank of PI—do not seem a bit worried—or so it seems.

Local banking is one of the oldest in Asia. Bank of the Philippine Islands, founded in 1851, initially acted as the central bank, until the Central Bank of the Philippines was established in 1949.

Late afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction

Philippines, filed for voluntary rehabilitation with the Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City.

HHICP or Hanjin could no longer service its debts, $412 million (P21.424 billion at P52 to $1) owed local banks, and another $900 million owed suppliers and other creditors in South Korea, Hanjin’s home base.

Quickly, the central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (itself the product of bankruptcy) moved to stem any possible damage from the Hanjin fiasco.

The BSP governor, the usually tough Nestor Espenilla Jr., who is ailing (he has tongue cancer and is on leave), issued a statement through a spokesman. He said: “With its robust capitalization, the Philippine banking system is well positioned to manage about $400 million in loan exposure to Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines, which recently

Now that’s a game changer.

filed for voluntary rehabilitation before the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City. The loan exposure represents only 0.24 percent of total loans of the banking system and 2.49 percent of the foreign currency loans of Foreign Currency Deposit Units. The BSP is confident about the local banks’ ability to handle negotiations on this corporate restructuring while remaining compliant with prudential regulations.”

Turn to A5

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Opinion Antarctica...

From pageone

And the pace of melting is expected to lead to disastrous sea level rise in the years to come, according to lead author Eric Rignot, chair of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine.

“As the Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt away, we expect multimeter sea level rise from Antarctica in the coming centuries,” Rignot said.

A rise of 1.8 meters (six feet) by 2100, as some scientists forecast in worst-case scenarios, would flood many coastal cities that are home to millions of people around the world, previous research has shown.

For the current study, researchers embarked on the longest-ever assessment of ice mass in the Antarctic, across 18 geographic regions.

Data came from high-resolution aerial photographs taken by NASA planes, along with satellite radar from multiple space agencies.

Researchers discovered that from 1979 to 1990, Antarctica shed an average of 40 billion tons of ice mass annually.

By the years 2009 to 2017, the ice loss had increased more than sixfold,

Biggest...

From A4

Espenilla added: “The Philippine banking system is strong and stable. Over the past 20 years, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP] has been implementing strategic reforms that strengthened the industry’s risk management capabilities and improved capitalization.”

BSP tooted numbers. It said: “Latest data show that the local banking industry is well-capitalized with a Capital Adequacy Ratio [CAR] of 15.35 percent as of June 2018, well above international standards of 8 percent, and the Philippines’ 10 percent.”

“Total assets of the banking system continued to grow with an 11 percent year-on-year rise in 2018, while nonperforming loans [NPLs] remained low at 1.83 percent of its total loans as of October 2018.”

“Domestic banks’ loan loss reserves also represented 109.9 percent of their NPLs during the same period. The industry, furthermore, remains very liquid and profitable.”

Assuring? A bit of history may provide wisdom.

The Dewey Dee caper In 1981, a textile tycoon ran away with $85 million in debts and $4 million in bad post-dated checks. The $89 million was equivalent to P3.56 billion in peso obligations (at P40 to $1). At that time, the Central Bank governor, Jaime Laya, quipped: “Some banks get held up. Some banks get flooded. Those things happen.”

You know what happened? At least 16 commercial banks, 12 investment houses, and 17 financial institutions

to 252 billion tons per year.

Even more worrying, researchers found that areas that were once considered “stable and immune to change” in East Antarctica, are shedding quite a lot of ice, too, said the study.

“The Wilkes Land sector of East Antarctica has, overall, always been an important participant in the mass loss, even as far back as the 1980s, as our research has shown,” Rignot said.

“This region is probably more sensitive to climate than has traditionally been assumed, and that’s important to know, because it holds even more ice than West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula together.”

Ice loss The total amount of ice in the Antarctic, if it all melted, would be enough to raise sea level 187 feet (57 meters).

By far, the most ice in Antarctica is concentrated in the east, where there is enough sea ice to drove 170 feet of sea level rise, compared to about 17 feet in the entire West Antarctic ice sheet.

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet is the world’s largest, containing roughly half of Earth’s freshwater.

Until now, most research has shown that the majority of melting is happen-

ing in the West.

A landmark study published in Nature in June last year found that Antarctic ice melt had tripled since 1992, but did not show significant melting in the east.

However, a subsequent study published in Nature in September 2018 analyzed layers of sediment from the ocean floor deposited the last time the Wilkes Subglacial Basin, part of the Eastern Antarctic due south of Australia, melted around 125,000 years ago.

That study found the massive basin would start melting again, with a sustained temperature rise of just two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), the cap called for in the landmark Paris climate deal to avert runaway global warming.

The latest research shows that East Antarctic melting deserves “closer attention,” according to the PNAS report.

Warming ocean water will only speed up ice loss in the future, and experts say sea levels will continue to mount for centuries, no matter what human do now to rein in climate change.

Recent research has shown that oceans are heating up faster than previously thought, setting new heat records in the last few years. AFP

went under because of Dewey Dee’s mostly unsecured loans of P3.56 billion. Three conglomerates, identified with strongman Ferdinand Marcos, also disappeared from the face of the earth—Herminio Disini, Rodolfo Cuenca, and Ricardo Silverio.

Today, Dewey Dee is still alive living in exile in Canada. The banks he borrowed from are gone.

The 2008 crisis A more recent experience is the 2008 global financial crisis, the worst in 80 years. It was triggered by the closure of Lehman Brothers in September of 2008.

This time the Philippine financial system seems to have escaped the worst of the crisis. Only 13 rural banks had to be taken over. The peso depreciated against the dollar by 14.7 percent, the stock market collapsed by 48 percent, foreign direct investments fell 46.6 percent, capital flew to the tune of $1.4 billion (from $3.5 billion net inflow in 2007), and unemployment rose to 7.4 percent.

Notably, inflation rose as its highest, to 9.3 percent in 2008 (with a peak of 12.5 percent in August 2008).

Incidentally, in 2018, the inflation rate rose to its highest in ten years, at 6 percent in November 2018, with a peak of 6.7 percent in September and October). Inflation was only 3.2 percent in 2017 and 1.8 percent in 2016.

HHICP (Hanjin) is operator of the Hanjin shipyard on a 300 hectares of leased government property on Redondo Peninsula overlooking Subic Bay, the former United States naval base and until today, considered the best and most strategic bay in Asia, in military and geopolitical terms.

Hanjin leased its Subic site in 2006, flattened virgin forests, and began operations in 2008 with generous tax and other incentives from the Philippine government. It paid only

5 percent of gross, in lieu of all other taxes, and was allowed to import tax free, raw materials, machinery and equipment. It was estimated to have invested $1.6 billion and proceeded to build 123 boats of all kinds, mostly oil tankers longer than megamalls and containers.

The Hanjin operation, along with the Tsuneishi shipyard established in 1994 in Balamban, Cebu with capital of only P450 million with capacity for 30 ships per year, made the Philippines the fourth largest shipbuilder in the world.

Hanjin is estimated to have generated more than $7 billion in revenues and at its peak, employed as many as 31,000. Then the downturn came in 2016 as demand for ships fell to only a third of total supply. Hanjin’s employment is down to about 3,000 today, now at risk with the bankruptcy.

Hanjin’s business and Subic facilities have been offered to a number of tycoons, including Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corp. and Dennis Uy of Udenna, Phoenix Petroleum, Chelsea Logistics, etc.. They all declined the offer. Dennis Uy himself seems overborrowed. His debts tripled to P85.85 billion in one year, in 2017 alone, up 200 percent from P28.48 billion.

Awash with cash (China has $3 trillion foreign reserves), the Chinese are reported interested, with two Chinese companies, one of them state-owned, looking at Hanjin Subic shipyard’s enormous commercial and strategic value.

Think of the Chinese Navy, with more than 500 ships and 255,000 personnel and a combat system similar to the US Aegis, taking over the best naval base in Asia—for small change. Now, that’s a game changer.

Manila Bay...

From A4

should involve all and not just those in the bay area but the entire country if we are to make this truly a legacy program we can all be proud of. Which is why the allstakeholders conference convened by Secretary Cimatu yesterday is a most welcome first step in this journey of a thousand steps for a cleaner, better and more livable bay area.

Saving jobs, saving Hanjin That the huge Hanjin shipbuilding/shipyard complex in Subic is one operation we can ill afford to go under is beyond question. At its peak, the facility employed 30,000 workers many of them highly skilled, brought in millions of dollars in foreign exchange revenue, hundreds of millions in taxes, jumpstarted the establishment of a network of suppliers and small enterprises in the Subic/Olongapo area and pushed the country as the fourth-largest shipbuilding nation in the world. In conjunction with our much sought after seafarers (we have 300,000 at any given time manning the global shipping industry), Hanjin and the other ship builders in Balamban, Cebu and even our smallish shipyards in Navotas and Batangas were well on the way to leveling up the country to being a truly principal maritime nation. But like all such huge undertakings there comes a time when turbulence comes. This is one of them and we are now faced with a Hanjin under receivership.

Although the $440-million debt issue surrounding Hanjin’s petition for court-approved receivership will not

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in any manner or form affect the health of the country’s banking system contrary to the fears raised by some people who should know better, it remains a problem which government must engage to resolve. It is well that the consortium of bank lenders have come around to advise that they have, together with the relevant government agencies, banded together to iron out a possible “rescue” operation. That should be worked out with all permissible dispatch. I have no doubt that the consortium and government will be able to secure some kind of a solution sooner than later.

The more immediate task at this point is how to save the remaining jobs still available at the shipyard and, yes, the proper and responsible termination of those who have been working at the facility for years.

It behooves government as well as enterprises, in and around Subic/Olongapo, including the SBMA, to prioritize these workers in their search for new openings. Perhaps the DOLE can help fast track the process of reintegrating these workers into the job market by having the inventory of those employed loaded into their placement websites the better for possible employers to take their pick. What may save the situation is the government’s accelerated “Build, Build, Build” program, especially in the Central and Northern Luzon areas where I presume most of the Hanjin workers live. The training and retraining programs may also be of help as well as the continuing call for overseas work. At this point, without compromising on other concerns such as security saving jobs while saving Hanjin has become a gauge of how well we—but government in particular—respond to crisis situations such as what befell this once-mighty shipbuilder.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

A5

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Fortress Mindanao votes was GMA. Concede Bicol to Raul, Pampanga to Gloria, Pangasinan to JDV, Batangas to Rene, and Panay to Miriam, my calculation showed.

NCR would be a market vote that would be contested by Erap IN 1997, WHEN I got on board and GMA. (The LP and Tita then Vice President Erap’s sec- Cory hadn’t launched Lim yet). ond presidential quest (the first There was another reason for was in 1992, when then-Senator shoring up strength in MindEstrada initially ran for presi- anao so it becomes impregdent, then midway through the nably an Erap fortress. At the campaign slid to a more mod- time, many parts of Mindanao est vice presidential run with were “cheating fields.” NeuDanding Cojuangco, and won), tralize the command votes and I was asked to accompany him the products of chicanery, I exin his pre-campaign trips. plained to the intently listening Erap would accept invitations vice president. left and right, from Rotary to And so for the next many Lions, to fiesta celebrations, months prior to the official where most often, his charisma campaign period, candidate would shine with the “masa.” I Erap went from town to town saw that popularity particularly in Mindanao, using his Austrong in Mindanao. gusta chopper. An example is: So in the summer of 1997, Overnight Davao City, chopper about a year before the elec- to Cateel, Baganga, Manay and tions scheduled May of 1998, I Mati in Davao Occidental, then sat down with the vice president overnight land trip to rest overin the kitchen of his tastefully night in Davao City, all in one decorated mansion in Green- day’s hard work. The candidate hills. There I proposed that we was driven. “construct” what I described as The expected outcome a “Fortress Mindanao.” showed in the election results.

I explained it thus: In 1992, Erap won overwhelmingly, with when he 40 percent assessed of the national that his vote, with chances JDV a far for the See how it delivers in presidensecond. cy was a My only this year’s election. long shot, real worhe negotiry was G M A , ated with who lived then canin Iligan didate Eduardo Cojuangco of the NPC, City for a few years of childwhose campaign needed an hood, and spoke Bisaya. When extra boost. At the time, Dand- she, like Erap in 1992, did not ing’s running-mate was Senator take her chances on a presidenSonny Osmeña, while FVR’s tial run and became JDV’s runveep was the brother, Gov. ning mate, I heaved a sigh of Lito Osmeña. LDP’s Monch- relief. The coast was clear for ing Mitra had Celing Fernan, an Erap victory. the resigned Chief Justice who Now fast-forward to 2015. took the political plunge. The On January 8, in the board surveys showed Fernan was an room of Marco Polo Hotel in easy win, with 56 percent of the Davao City, Sonny Dominguez, national vote, while the brothers Bebot Alvarez, Bingbong MeOsmeña were in the 20-point dialdea, Bong Go and I were bracket each. closeted with Mayor Rodrigo To cut a long story short, Duterte. Sec. Sonny and I dissome say with the intercession cussed the potential “baluarte” of a powerful religious group, or fortress where wooing the Danding jettisoned Sonny, who voters for a Mindanaoan candiwas only too willing to give date with Cebuano roots would way and re-run as senator, and come from. a Danding-Erap tandem was Mindanao has 23 percent of announced. That was a game- the national vote. Through the changer.

Danding lost, but years its population grew as Erap won as VP. FVR won in a more and more migrants from closely contested race with the Visayas and even Luzon milate Miriam for the presidency. grated to its verdant fields and Analyzing the 1992 numbers, typhoon-free clime.

I noted that Erap won in all of Further to 2019, with the Luzon, lost to Fernan in the Build, Build, Build program Visayas, and won marginally having started and now in full in Mindanao, where Fernan and swing, think of the benefits it Lito Osmena, being Bisaya, got has wrought on Mindanao. substantial numbers.

In a recent land trip from In the looming 1998 presi- Davao to Butuan, our family dential contest, as of the sum- driver who was born in Tugbok mer of 1997, the looming candi- in Davao City, and whose father dates were: Joe de Venecia and used to work in our farm there, Renato de Villa in FVR’s then was telling me about the infraundecided corner; GMA and structure projects all over the Ed Angara for the LDP; Sena- island. I saw for myself the mastor Raul Roco, possibly a rerun sive highway-widening of the for Miriam Defensor Santiago, Davao-Agusan highway, part of and a Liberal Party still egging the Pan-Philippine network.

Manila Mayor Fred Lim to try Mindanaoans in fine have for the jackpot. never seen this kind of attenExcept for Miriam, all were tion that they are getting from from Luzon. Miriam was Il- the national government. How ongga; no one was from the can Mindanao ever forget this Bisaya-speaking majority who president, born in Cebu and populate Central Visayas, half who grew up in Davao, and unof Eastern Visayas, and 80 per- til now, without fail, leaves the cent of Mindanao (a majority of confines of the palace in Manila Muslims are quite conversant for the comforts of his modest with Bisaya as well). But Erap, house in Davao each and every although pure Tagalog, was a week? retired movie star, and had leFortress Mindanao is baluarte gions of admirers in Mindanao, de Duterte. See how it delivers both Christian and Muslim. in 2019.

So I explained to Erap that of And hopefully, with peace all the putative candidates for finally reigning in the second 1998, he had the best chances of largest island of the country, making a formidable “fortress” both from the Muslim secesin Mindanao. Since his Balance sionist and communist insurLuzon showing in the previous gencies, Mindanao by 2022 and elections was quite strong, his beyond, will be Fortress Mindonly rival for that huge swath of anao for a long, long time.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

News

A6

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Du30 to attend pro-BOL assembly

By Nat Mariano, Francisco Tuyay and Maricel V. Cruz

I

N ORDER to persuade people into believing that the Bangsamoro Organic Law will solve the age-old Muslim rebellion days before the upcoming plebiscite, President Rodrigo Duterte will participate in an assembly this Friday supporting its ratification.

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT COMMISSION ON AUDIT PERMANENT COMMITTEE 001.2018 Joint Circular No.___________ October 2_,2018 RULES AND REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING SECTION 148-A, SUBSECTION (H), CHAPTER V OF THE NATIONAL INTERNAL REVENUE CODE, AS AMENDED, ON THE USE OF FUEL MARKING PROGRAM FUNDS Section 1.0 Purpose These Rules are promulgated to prescribe the procedures and guidelines for the collection and disbursement of the Fuel Marking Fees collected in connection with the implementation of the Fuel Marking Program (FMP) under Section 148-A of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended.

Section 2.0 Legal Basis In compliance with Section 148-A, subsection (h) thereof, the Fuel Marking Trust Account is herein established for the FMP with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as Implementing Agencies. The Fuel Marking Fees collected for the implementation of the FMP shall be recorded as trust receipt of the Implementing Agencies.

Section 3.0 Definition of Terms For the purpose of these Rules, the following terms shall be construed to mean as follows: 3.1 Advice to Debit Account (ADA) - refers to the authorization issued by the National Government Agency (NGA) or Operating Unit appearing in the lower portion of the List of Due and Demandable Accounts Payable (LDDAP) form. It serves as instructions to the Modified Disbursement Scheme - Government Servicing Banks (MDS-GBSs) to debit the specified amount from its available Notice of Cash Allocation balance under the regular MDS sub-account for payment of creditors/payees through the Modified Direct Payment System (MDPS).

3.2 Certificate of Deposit of Trust Receipt - refers to the certification issued by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) attesting to the availability of funds deposited under the Fuel Marking Trust Account sufficient to cover the amount due for payment to the Fuel Marking Provider.

3.3 Fuel Marking Fees - refers to the amount paid by the refiner, manufacturer or importer of petroleum products for the Marking Services. The same shall be computed based on the agreed contract price multiplied by the actual liter of fuel marked by the Fuel Marking Provider.

3.4 Fuel Marking Provider - refers to the firm engaged by the Department of Budget and Management - Procurement Service (DBM-PS), in line with Republic Act No. 9184 and its 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations, to provide an end-to-end fuel marking solution to the Philippine Government.

3.5 Fuel Marking Trust Account - refers to the trust liability account established for the purpose of implementing the FMP and maintained by the BTr pursuant to Section 148-A, subsection (h) of the NIRC, as amended.

According to the President’s schedule relayed by Malacañang on Tuesday, the President will attend the pro-BOL rally to be held at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Office of the Regional Governor compound.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte’s personal appearance and appeal to the people would help ensure the successful ratification of the BOL. “Well, certainly the voice of President is always a powerful influence on whatever matter he gives his voice into,” Panelo said in a Palace press briefing.

The Palace official also said the President would abide by the result of the upcoming plebiscite, even if the people decided not to support Duterte’s call.

“If despite the support and the campaign, the overwhelming majority or even a slight majority say they don’t want it, then the President cannot do anything but to comply with the sovereign voice of the people in Mindanao,” Panelo said.

In related developments: • Security forces said they thwarted anew a plan by terrorists to spoil the BOL plebiscite following the recovery of large quantity of explosive material during a firefight with Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Maguindanao, one of the critical areas in Mindanao.

The fighting erupted in Barangay Inaladan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, one of the five election hot spots in Maguindanao, six days before the plebiscite.

Aside from Shariff Saydona Mustapha, the

towns Masasapano, Shariff Aguak, Shariff and Datu Unsay in Maguindanao were also declared as election hot spots.

There are 19 municipalities and cities that were declared critical areas during midterm elections.

Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of Joint Task Force Central, said troops from the 40th Infantry Battalion were able to recovered one component of “anti-personnel mines in a 4-liter container, three M14 rifles and a unit of Assault Rifle 18 minutes after the cloud of smoke vanished at the battle site.

• Muslim lawmakers on Tuesday expressed confidence the people in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao would support and vote for BOL’s ratification.

IN BRIEF

Calida defends martial law extension

By Rey Requejo THE Office of the Solicitor General on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition filed by opposition lawmakers led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, insisting the legality of the extension of martial law in Mindanao.

In a 50-page comment, Solicitor General Jose Calida argued the anti-martial law petition should be dismissed for lack of merit.

Calida said the factual bases to extend the duration of the martial law in Mindanao under Proclamation No. 216 for another year or until December 2019 still existed, contrary to allegations of petitioners.

According to him, rebellion, a key requirement for declaration of martial law under the Constitution, persisted in Mindanao.

The chief state lawyer cited the official report from the Armed

Forces that cited “ongoing rebellion of the Daesh-Inspires groups and its local and foreign allies, particularly the Daulah Islamiyah and also of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army forces in Mindanao.”

He revealed that the “Daeshinspired groups have shifted their strategy from establishing a Wilayat to global insurgency or rebellion” and that “they continue their recruitment and radicalization activities teaching their new members how to launch deadlier attacks and to sow chaos and instability that will extremely endanger the public.”

He said: “Based on the AFP’s end of first semester data, the Abu Sayyaf Group has a total of 424 members with 473 firearms.

“They are scattered all over Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga covering 138 barangays. The Bangsamoro Islamic

Freedom Fighters has 264 members with 254 firearms and affecting 50 barangays. “The DI has a reach of 16 barangays and is composed of 59 members of the Maute group with 61 firearms, 6 members of the Maguid Group with 10 firearms, and 85 members of the Turaifie Group with 20 firearms. The total barangays affected are 204.”

Calida also cited the attacks by the said groups from January to December last year as well as the “consistent influx of foreign terrorists in the country who are primarily responsible for the conduct of trainings to local terrorist fighters, especially in making improvised explosive devices and motivating locals to serve as suicide bombers.”

Besides the terrorist groups, he also cited the ongoing rebellion of the CPP-NPA and their attacks in Mindanao last year.

3.6 Implementing Agencies (lAs) - refers to the BOC and the BIR, mandated under Section 148-A, subsection (f), to supervise and direct the Fuel Marking Provider in the administration and implementation of the FMP. 3.7 Marking Services - refers in general to the end-to-end solution provided by the Fuel Marking Provider to the Philippine Government. These shall include, but are not limited to, providing the fuel markers, administering and injecting the fuel markers, conducting field testing and confirmatory laboratory testing, and all other necessary services and goods in relation to FMP as contracted.

3.9 Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) - refers to the cash authority issued by the DBM to cover the cash requirements of the lAs. Section 4.0 General Guidelines 4.1 The lAs, concurrent with collecting the taxes and duties due on the imported or refined fuel, shall collect the Fuel Marking Fees from the refiner, manufacturer and importer of petroleum products for the Marking Services rendered by the Fuel Marking Provider. Such fees shall be characterized as non-revenue collection and recorded as trust receipts of the lAs. 4.2 All Fuel Marking Fees collected by the lAs for the implementation of the FMP shall be deposited and credited to the Fuel Marking Trust Account to be maintained by the BTr. 4.3 No portion of the Fuel Marking Trust Account shall be withdrawn by the lAs for purposes of depositing the same in other authorized government depository banks.

Section 5.0 Obligations of the lAs and the Fuel Marking Provider 5.1 The Fuel Marking Provider shall be responsible for providing to the lAs accurate and timely reports on the actual Marking Services rendered and delivered. They shall submit the monthly request for payment to the lAs accompanied by sufficient documentation to support the Marking Services rendered and delivered for the period.

5.2 It shall be the responsibility of the lAs to monitor the Fuel Marking Provider and ensure that the obligations and deliverables related to the Marking Services claimed for payment are verified as completed. The Fuel Marking Fees for payment must proportionately correspond to the taxes and duties collected by the lAs and the reported quantity of fuel imported and/or refined for the period covered.

5.3 The lAs shall submit its monthly reports of the Fuel Marking Fees collected, along with a reconciliation report on the duties and taxes collected for the period, to the Department of Finance (DOF). This requirement is distinct and separate from the reportorial requirement for trust receipts under Section 6 of the General Provisions of the 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Section 6.0 Disbursement and Payment

6.2 Disbursement from the Fuel Marking Trust Account shall only be made for Marking Services submitted for payment by the Fuel Marking Provider and validated as correct by the lAs. The signing and countersigning officials of the lAs shall be jointly and severally liable for any payment in excess of the actual amount due to the Fuel Marking Provider.

6.3 In no case shall the disbursements from the Fuel Marking Trust Account be utilized for any other purpose than that provided above. Allowances, overtime pay, incentive payor other form of additional compensation for the employees or the contractual personnel of the lAs and operating expenditures of the said lAs shall not be paid out of the Fuel Marking Trust Account.

6.4 Upon receipt of and validation of the request for payment for Marking Services rendered by the Fuel Marking Provider, the IA shall submit to BTr the request for the issuance of Certificate of Deposit of Trust Receipt.

6.5 The IA shall, upon receipt of the Certificate of Deposit of Trust Receipt, request DBM for the issuance of the NCA in the amount equivalent to the amount due to the Fuel Marking Provider for the period.

6.6 The payment/disbursement to the Fuel Marking Provider shall be through MDS check or through Direct Payment Scheme via bank debit system through issuance of an ADA. In no case shall the payment be made through cash or commercial check.

6.7 The lAs, with the BTr, shall maintain complete subsidiary accounting records for receipts, deposits and disbursements pertaining to the Fuel Marking Trust Account. The DOF shall coordinate with the DBM on the creation of funding source in the Unified Accounts Code Structure for the Fuel Marking Trust Account.

Section 7.0 Saving Clause 7.1 Issues and other matters not covered by this Circular, including concerns which may arise in the implementation of this Circular, shall be submitted to the Permanent Committee for joint resolution.

7.2 The Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, the Government Accounting Manual for National Government Agencies, Commission on Audit Circulars, and other applicable laws and implementing rules and regulations on budget, accounting and audit of government funds, not inconsistent with this Circular, applies suppletory to this Joint Circular.

Section 8.0 Effectivity These Rules shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 1,612 highvalue target drug personalities nationwide during high-impact operations in 2018.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said Tuesday the agency launched anti-drug operations targeting people who play a vital role in the proliferation of illegal drugs on the streets.

This number, according to Aquino, included 53 foreign nationals, 57 elected officials, 15 uniformed personnel, 43 government employees, 200 drug group leaders/members, 14 armed drug group members, 182 drug den maintainers, 10 wanted persons, 146 target-listed, other HVTs numbering to 407, and 485 drug personalities arrested in HIOs. “Involvement of foreign nationals greatly contributes to the spread of illegal drug trade in the country. Majority of the foreigners arrested for drug-related offenses were Chinese nationals with 18 or 32.37 percent,” Aquino said in a statement. PNA

Filipino seamen missing, says DFA

3.8 Modified Disbursement Scheme (MDS) - refers to a procedure whereby disbursements

by NGAs chargeable against the account of the Treasurer of the Philippines are effected through GSBs.

6.1 Payment to the Fuel Marking Provider shall only be disbursed from the Fuel Marking Trust Account upon full utilization of the approved budget under the 2017 GAA for the FMP as administered by DBM-PS or upon lapse and reversion to the National Treasury of any unutilized portion thereof at the end of its validity period, whichever should occur first.

1,612 drug targets nabbed

URGENT CALL. Wives and loved ones of the remaining seven officers of the 20 Filipino crew of MV Levante who were detained by the Libyan Navy over an alleged smuggling attempt last 2017 appear before members of the media Tuesday to call for the release of the crewmen held for over a year. The Liberian-flagged tanker belonging to a Greek company was loaded with six million liters of contraband fuel and was suspected of smuggling oil. Norman Cruz

Mindanao Ave. project almost complete

By Vito Barcelo THE 2.7-kilometer Mindanao Avenue road extension project in Quezon City, started 38 years ago, will finally be completed after the government resolved the Right of Way issue that caused the delay, the Department of Public Works and Highways said.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the department was undertaking the finishing works in concreting the additional 600-meter segment which would make 2.7 kilometers of Mindanao Avenue Extension accessible within the first quarter of this year.

“The project was started in the 1980s but was stopped for decades due to right-of-way issues. We are happy that it was during the term of President Duterte that we are able to deliver this project,” he said.

“The P118-million project which is now 87.78 percent also involves construction of drainage and slope protection, reinforced concrete box culvert, and street lighting,” Villar said.

Construction of the road extension project resumed in 2017 after the government acquired 100

percent of the disputed land.

Meanwhile, Villar, in a statement, said the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Segment 10 was set to be opened for motorists this month after the Department of Public Works and Highways acquired 100 percent of the project’s site.

The Segment 10 is composed of the 5.65-kilometer elevated expressway traversing the NLEX from MacArthur Highway Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City, and the 2.6-kilometer section between C3 Road, Caloocan City and R10, Navotas City.

“We are happy to announce that the NLEX Harbor Link Project will be accessible to the public by January. When this is completed, travel time from C3 in Caloocan and NLEX, will be reduced to 10 minutes,” Villar said.

He noted that since the issuance of Department Order 65 last May 2018, the DPWH had acquired 100-percent possession of site of the NLEX Harbor Link Project Segment 10 as of December 2018, after one year and seven months.

FIVE Filipino seafarers were reported missing by the Department of Foreign Affairs after abandoning their burning cargo vessel off Hawaii.

According to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato, the seamen have yet to be found two weeks since the incident occurred.

The five were among 21 Filipino crew members of the MV Sincerity Ace, who abandoned the Panamanian-flagged vessel after it caught fire on New Year’s Eve, some 1,800 nautical miles northwest of Oahu.

Cato said a tugboat and another vessel had been sent to the area to locate the five missing sailors.

The 16 other Filipino seafarers were rescued by the United States Coast Guard and other passing merchant vessels.

Cato said most of the rescued seafarers have already returned to the Philippines. PNA

STL earnings up by 65% THE year 2018 was a tough year for Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, but seeing how the agency hurdled all the challenges made all the sacrifices and efforts worthwhile, said PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan.

In a statement, Balutan said: “My first two years as general manager was no joke. President Rodrigo Duterte appointed me here in 2016 because he expected so much from me—that I will deliver, that I will stop illegal gambling.

“I cannot say 100 percent that there was no illegal gambling...but slowly they are now going to STL, but from original 18, we now have 84 Authorized STL Agents nationwide.”

From P4.7-billion earnings in 2016, the agency was able to raise it to P15.7 billion in just one year, ending 2018 with P26,103,422,348.39 gross sales, a 65 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

PNP gets nearly 18,300 new equipment worth P694m

(MS-JAN. 16, 2019)

Rules and Regulations Implementing Section 148-A, subsection (h), of the NIRC, as amended, on the use of fuel marking program funds

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde on Monday led the turnover of almost 18,300 newly-procured police equipment worth P694 million to further boost the police’s operational capability and visibility.

“The acquisition of police basic equipment intensifies the operational readiness and police visibility of the PNP towards achieving a more capable, effective and credible police force in line with the directive of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to accomplish the mission and functions of the organization,” Albayalde told reporters after the simple ceremony at PNP

headquarters, Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Using the Capability Enhancement Program funds for 2017 and 2018 and contingency fund, the PNP acquired 11,245 bulletproof vests; 4,169 waistcoat vests; 133 high frequency/single side band manpacks; 700 rotary blade-propelled wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones; 20 mini buses; and 2,000 striker-fired Taurus TS9 pistols.

The PNP said the waistcoat vests, UAVs, bullet proof vests and manpacks would be given to Police Regional Offices and National Support Units for their capability enhancement on internal security operations’ equipage

while the pistols will be issued to the new PNP recruits and the mini buses would be distributed to PROs and to the PNP-Logistics Support Service (LSS) for general dispatch purposes.

Albayalde noted the importance of the provision of bullet proof vests, especially during anti-criminality and anti-illegal drugs operations.

Meanwhile, the embassy of the Republic of Korea donated 120 forensic kits to the PNP Crime Laboratory, Anti-Cyber Crime and kidnapping Group, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Women and Children’s Center and Korean Help Desks. PNA

Sports

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Gilas must win last 2 games to boost World Cup chances

RESOLVING NSA CONFLICTS. Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas (4th right) shakes hands with

Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. president Atty. Edmund Tan after signing a Memorandum of Understanding. Present on behalf of the POC were First Vice President Joey Romasanta, General Counsel Atty. Alberto Agra, Membership Committee Chairman Robert Bachmann, Arbitration Committee Member Atty. Charlie Ho and Communications Director Ed Picson. With Atty. Tan of PDRCI were Secretary General Atty. Robert Dio, Vice President Atty. Salvador Panga Jr. and Executive Director Bing Pabila. The MOU paves the way for the formulation of a new Alternative Dispute Resolution framework to resolve conflicts within NSAs and also in the Olympic Committee.

PSC’s coaching certification program slated THE Philippine Sports Commission returned to the Davao region yesterday as the second five-day National Sports Coaching Certification Program gets underway at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex.

Philippine Sports Institute’s Deputy Director for Grassroots Marlon Malbog said that “it is through the directive of PSC Chairman William Ramirez to equip national coaches, that the standard and competitiveness of our athletes will improve as well.”

“We look to intensify the course of this program from what we did on the Grassroots Coaching Certification Program last November,” added PSI consultant Prof. Henry Daut.

The activity kicked off with lectures in Sports Physiology, led by Prof. Josephine Reyes, followed by Prof. Robert Jurado on Sports Ethics, Sports Psychology with Dr. Katrina Trinidad and Daut on Sports Philosophy.

“As coaches, we need to hold on to the basic principles of training. That’s the central reason why we are here,” added Davao del Norte Provincial Sports & Youth Development Head Giovanni Gulanes, as he thanked the PSC “for imparting theoretical and scientific sports courses to the coaches of Davao region.”

The five-day program will continue today with Talent Identification spearheaded by Luis Serafin Cosep, Sports Pedology and specific sports orientations.

Aguilar, Poy Erram, June Mar Fajardo, Raymond Almazan, Roger Pogoy and Christian Standhardinger, who has been named as back-up naturalized.

Of the 14 players named to the pool, the 6’11” Blatche, Pogoy and Barroca are the latest additions from where Guiao will select his final 12 for the two games, against Qatar on February 21 and Kazakhstan on February 25.

“We are also happy to announce that Andray Blatche has committed to help our drive to qualify for the FIBA World Cup in China,” said Panlilio, adding that Blatche is expected to arrive in the first week of February.

The national team will resume its practice session on Jan. 21 and in the second week of February, Gilas will fly to the Middle East for a series of tune up matches.

The national team dropped its last two games in nail-biting fashion—against Kazakhstan (92-88) and Iran (78-70) last December.

The national team is 1-3 in the last four games, and the two setbacks dropped the Philippines to fourth place with a 5-5 card in Group F behind Australia (9-1), Iran (7-3) and Japan (6-4).

Serena, Zverev overpower foes

M

ELBOURNE—A focused Serena Williams sent an ominous Australian Open warning with a 49-minute first-round demolition Tuesday as young gun Alexander Zverev comfortably began his tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title.

The American giant is bidding to match Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam crowns on her first return to Melbourne Park since winning in 2017 while eight weeks pregnant.

Now 37, she kept a low profile in the lead-up to the opening major of the year and came out of the blocks flying against fellow mum Tatjana Maria, pummelling her German opponent 6-0, 6-2.

Sporting a striking jade green jumpsuit and fine mesh stockings on Rod Laver Arena, the 16th seed wasted no time in getting out of the blistering Melbourne heat and said it was good to be back.

“The last time I was here I was pregnant and playing at the same time which is insane,” she said. “It’s weird walking back on—by myself this time—it feels good. I have so many memories from last time I was here.”

Bidding for an eighth Melbourne Park crown, few are betting against Williams despite her lowly seeding and she next

faces Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who eased past China’s Peng Shuai.

Williams played at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth this month, but her appearance on Tuesday was her first outing on tour since a meltdown in losing the US Open final to Naomi Osaka in September.

Japan’s Osaka, seeded four, begins her campaign in the night match on Rod Laver Arena against Poland’s Magda Linette following Novak Djokovic’s first outing.

Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova, who has made the quarter-finals in her last two appearances at Melbourne Park, safely progressed, but 10th seed Darya Kasatkina slumped out, winning just three games against Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky.

American Madison Keys, who reached the semis at the French and US Open last year, as well as the quarters in Melbourne, ensured she too lived to fight

another day, crushing local wildcard Destanee Aiava 6-2, 6-2.

Last year’s beaten finalist and world number one Simona Halep plays Kaia Kanepi later.

Done everything right Like Williams, men’s world number one Djokovic is also gunning for a piece of history as he looks to win a record seventh Australian Open title.

The Serb starts against American qualifier Mitchell Krueger.

Fourth seed Zverev, who is looking to win his first Slam title and establish himself as a serious threat to Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, cruised past Aljaz Bedene 6-4, 6-1, 6-4.

“I’ve had about 86 injuries and the ankle is still a bit swollen,” said the 21-year-old.

“But I’ve done everything right in my preparation. Now I either play well or I don’t.”

Eighth seed Kei Nishikori, who won in Brisbane last week, looked down and out against little known qualifier Kamil Majchrzak, losing the first two sets before the Pole began badly cramping.

He bravely fought on before calling it a day after winning just two of the next 17 games. AFP

James Harden of the Houston Rockets walks through the audience after scoring 57 points during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. AFP

NU tries to firm up hold on lead Games Wednesday (Filoil Flying V Centre) 9 a.m. – AdU vs UPIS (Jrs) 11 a.m. – FEU vs DLSZ (Jrs) 1 p.m. – UST vs NU (Jrs) 3 p.m. – Ateneo vs UE (Jrs)

PLAYING a consistent game will help the Nazareth School-National University Bullpups get far in the 81st University Athletic Association of the Philippines junior basketball tournament.

Coach Goldwyn Monteverde said this after the Bullpups turned back the defending champion Ateneo Blue Eaglets, 78-71, last Sunday at The Arena in San Juan.

“We try to be consistent in our game.

Nu’ng bumaba intensity namin, doon sila nakakakuha ng garbage points,” said Monteverde.

With their 7-1 win-loss record, the Bullpups are now in the solo lead at the start of the second round as they seek to solidify their hold on the top spot when they meet University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs at 1 p.m. today.

The Blue Eaglets, who dropped to a share of third with Adamson at 5-3, will try to stop their slide of back-to-back losses they suffered at the hands of the Bullpups, when they face University of the East at 3 p.m.

In Sunday’s encounter, Gerry Abadiano and Terrence Fortea showed the way with 16 points apiece.

Ernest Felicilda chipped in 14 points, including four charities in the last 22.2 seconds, allowing NSNU to move away, 77-71.

Carl Tamayo only had seven points but it was his three-point play with 46.3 ticks left which finally allowed the Bullpups to move out of range, 73-69. Peter Atencio

JUST like in the eyes of many Filipinos, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio is confident that the national team has a strong chance of earning a spot in this year’s FIBA World Cup in China.

However, he knows the last two games in next month’s sixth and last qualifying window are ‘must win’ matches for the Filipinos.

That is why Panlilio expressed his gratitude to the PBA Board of Governors, led by its chairman Ricky Vargas and PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial, for approving the release of players for practice sessions and the break the league will have to give way for the qualifiers.

“As this window is critical in our campaign, we would like to thank again the support of the PBA in making this PBA players available,” said Panlilio, also a member of the league’s board representing Meralco.

The 14-man national team pool of Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao include naturalized players Andray Blatche, Jayson Castro, Mark Barroca, Paul Lee, Scottie Thompson, Marcio Lassiter, Gabe Norwood, Troy Rosario, Japeth

Harden fires 57 points, lifts Rockets LOS ANGELES—NBA scoring juggernaut James Harden poured in a season-high 57 points on Monday to power the short-handed Houston Rockets to a 112-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Harden’s latest monster game highlighted a night of NBA action that saw Hornets point guard Tony Parker receive a hero’s welcome in San Antonio—the city where he starred for 17 seasons.

Parker had a modest eight points, four assists and three rebounds in 19 minutes on the court in the Hornets’ 108-93 win—all with Spurs fans cheering him on.

“Man, a lot of love,” said Parker, who won four NBA titles with San Antonio.

“I’ve been with those fans for a long time and I really appreciate (this).

“It’s hard to describe the feeling I have right now.”

Harden departed the court in Houston to a rousing ovation as well, and it owed nothing to nostalgia.

With the Rockets reeling from the news that center Clint Capela will likely miss at least four weeks with a thumb injury—joining an injury list that already included Chris Paul and Eric Gordon—Harden happily shouldered the burden.

“No pressure,” Harden said. “I do this for a living. I have fun with it.”

He extended his streak of consecutive 30-point games to a remarkable 17— and he did it by halftime with 36 points before the break.

It’s the longest such streak since Wilt Chamberlain had 20 straight games of 30 or more points in 1964, surpassing Lakers great Kobe Bryant’s 16-game 30-point streak in the 2002-03 season.

It was the 11th 50-point game for an NBA player this season—three of those belonging to Harden. AFP

4th Philracom Awards honor horseracing’s best THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE THE Philippine Racing Commission will hold the 4th Philracom Awards, a recognition program that honors the best performers of the year, on Jan. 20 at San Lazaro Leisure Park.

The annual program recognizes the key players in the horseracing industry based on their earnings and performances. The selection criteria are based on the NSW Racehorse Owners Association Race Nights of Champions in Australia and the HH Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum Horse Racing Excellence Award in Dubai.

This year’s honorees are: Stakes Racehorses of the Year: tie between Pride of Laguna and Smart Candy; Top

Earning Horse of the Year: Sepfourteen; Stakes Races Horse Owner of the Year: SC Stockfarm, Inc.; Top Earning Horse Owner of the Year: Narciso O. Morales; Stakes Races Horse Trainer of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Top Earning Horse Trainer of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Stakes Races Jockey of the Year: Jesse B. Guce; Top Earning Jockey of the Year: O’Neal P. Cortez; Horse Breeder of the Year: Leonardo M. Javier Jr.; Most Successful Racing Festival of the Year: Manila Horsepower, Inc.; Racing Club of the Year (total horse prizes): Manila Jockey Club, Inc.; Racing Club of the Year (total gross sales): Philippine Racing Club, Inc. Congratulations to the winners! *** The 1st Philracom Awards were held on Valentine’s Day 2016, San Lazaro Leisure Park. I recall emceeing the awards ceremony at the Chantilly Restaurant.

The winners that year were: Horse

Owner of the Year: Narciso O. Morales; Horse Trainer of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Jockey of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Most Successful Racing Day: 7th Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing Sr. Racing Festival; and Breeder of the Year: SC Stockfarm, Inc. The 2nd Philracom Awards were held 24 March 2017, Santa Ana Park. Horse of the Year: Low Profile; Horse Owner of the Year: Narciso O. Morales; Horse Breeder of the Year: SC Stockfarm, Inc.; Jockey of the Year: Jonathan B. Hernandez; Trainer of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Most Successful Racing Festival of the Year: 8th Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing Sr. Racing Festival; Racing Club of the Year: Philippine Racing Club, Inc. The 3rd Philracom Awards were on 28 Jan. 2018, San Lazaro Leisure Park.

Stakes Racehorse and Top Earning Racehorse of the Year: Sepfourteen; Stakes Races Horse Owner of the Year: SC Stockfarm, Inc.; Top Earning Horse Owner of the Year: Narciso O. Morales;

Stakes Races Horse Trainer of the Year: Tomasito E. Santos; Top Earning Horse Trainer of the Year: Ruben S. Tupas; Stakes Races Jockey of the Year: John Alvin Guce; Top Earning Jockey of the Year: O’Neal P. Cortez; Horse Breeder of the Year: SC Stockfarm, Inc.; Most Successful Racing Festival of the Year: 9th Mayor Ramon D. Bagatsing Sr. Racing Festival; Racing Club of the Year (total horse prizes): Manila Jockey Club, Inc.; Racing Club of the Year (total gross sales): Metro Manila Turf Club, Inc. *** Check out Philracom’s revised and revamped Wikipedia page. From an error-ridden stub (unknown author), it’s now a more substantial and informative article. *** Dr. Ortuoste has been a member of the racing community for over 20 years. FB: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @drhoarsewhsprr, @DrJennyO

Sports

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

A8

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

Blackwater tests its new core today

By Jeric Lopez FOUR more teams aiming for better campaigns make their season debut in the resumption of the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup. In the season’s first double-header, Blackwater and NorthPort go toe-to-toe first at 4:30 p.m. before Meralco and Phoenix clash at 7 p.m. in the nightcap at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The debuting teams were all stuck in the middle of the pack for the entirety of last season.

That’s why it’s understandable that all of them made some significant moves in hopes of improving their fortunes for this new season.

Arguably the busiest team in the off-season, the Elite will now present a different core.

Blackwater no longer has key cogs Poy Erram, Nards Pinto and Paul Zamar. Instead, it will now lean on holdovers Mac Belo, Mike DiGregorio, Allein Maliksi and Raymar Jose along with rookies Abu Tratter, Paul Desiderio and Diego Dario.

That will be countered by NorthPort’s core of Stanley Pringle, Mo Tautuua, Bradwyn Guinto, Sean Anthony and Jonathan Gray. However, the Batang Pier will also parade a new weapon in No. 3 overall pick Robert Bolick, who is expected to be Pringle’s main backcourt partner now.

Bolick’s debut is much awaited, considering how he is projected to be a lethal force in both guard positions.

“Nandiyan pa rin naman ‘yung mga maaasahan natin, but ‘yung addition ni Bolick, we expect that na makatulong talaga sa amin,” said NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio.

For Meralco coach Norman Black, health and new pieces are keys to the Bolts’ success this season.

“We’ve been battling injuries all season last year and that affected us a lot. We’re healthier now,” said Black.

“We got our rotation guys back and we have some interesting new guys that can help.”

PBA’s big men Erram, Manuel to be honored TWO of the Philippine Basketball Association’s rising big men get a share of the limelight when the PBA Press Corps holds the 25th anniversary celebration of its Annual Awards Night.

John Paul Erram and Vic Manuel will be the recipient of two traditional awards the men and women who regularly cover the PBA beat will hand out on Jan. 21 at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center.

The 6’8” Erram is going to be honored with the Defensive Player of the Year trophy, while Manuel, known as the ‘Muscleman,’ is the handpicked choice as Mr. Quality Minutes during the affair presented by Cignal TV. Erram, who just made the Mythical 2nd team for the first time in his career, emerged as the leading shot blocker last season with an average of 1.9 per game playing for Blackwater. Now with NLEX, he consistently topped the department by being no. 1 during the Philippine Cup and Commissioner’s Cup (among locals), respectively, while placing third in the Governors’ Cup. A native of Licab, Nueva Ecija, the 6’4” Manuel came off the bench in all 50 games he played for Alaska and averaged 16.0 points and 4.8 rebounds as the leading force of the Aces following the trade of star player Calvin Abueva.

Also joining Erram and Manuel in the honor roll list are the first-ever PBA D-League Finals MVP awardees of the 2018 season.

Top rookie pick CJ Perez of ZarksLPU Jawbreakers is the winner in the Aspirants Cup, while the Foundation Cup goes to Go For Gold’s Gab Banal.

Earlier announced among the awardees include Stanley Pringle (Scoring Champion), Chris Tiu (Breakout Player of the Season), Barangay Ginebra-Rain or Shine triple overtime thriller (Game of the Season), Order of Merit (June Mar Fajardo, Paul Lee, Vic Manuel), the AllRookie team (Jason Perkins, Christian Standhardinger, Paul Zamar, Robbie Herndon, Jeron Teng), and the All-Interview team (Christian Standhardinger, Chris Tiu, Chris Ross, Mike Digregorio, Joe Devance, Yeng Guiao).

Members of the Philippine Azkals are shown prior to one of their Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2019 games. Dennis B. Mallari

Azkals hang on to ‘small hope’

By Peter Atencio

T

HE Philippine Azkals will hold on to their flickering hopes in the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2019.

Beating the Kyrgyzstan White Falcons at the Rashid Stadium, Dubai in their 8 p.m. game (12 midnight Manila time) this Wednesday will allow them to become one of the third-placed teams to make it to the Round of 16 Knockout Stage.

“There is hope, a small hope,” said Azkals’ coach Sven Goran-Eriksson

after their 0-3 setback to the China last Friday.

If the Philippines win, the Azkals will be able to extend their campaign in the Asian Cup for another game since four third-placed squads will have a chance to join the 12 qualifiers to the Round of 16.

So far, Bahrain finished third place in Group A and has reached the next stage after a 1-0 win over India.

Bahrain has joined early qualifiers Thailand, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in the next stage.

The Thais, who are in Group A with Bahrain, got their slot following a 1-all draw with the UAE. Jordan qualified following their sec-

ond straight win at the expense of Syria in Group B. The White Falcons are on even terms with the Azkals since both are seeking wins in their first appearance at the Asian Cup. They are ranked 91st in the world, 21 rungs ahead of the Azkals (116).

Eyes will be on Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov, the White Falcons’ top defensive midfielder, who has the big load of handling the team’s defense. He is expected to make it hard for the Azkals to score.

The Azkals were able to hold their ground and create a few scoring chances in the second half, but Team Dragon of China showed too much

Power duel looms as Pradera golf starts EMPHASIS will be on power as the long hitters from the stellar international field gear up for an all-out assault on the Pradera Verde layout in today’s (Wednesday, Jan. 16) start of the $100,000 ICTSI Pradera Verde Classic in Lubao, Pampanga.

Five players try to become the first twoleg winner on the second season of the Philippine Golf Tour Asia with Damien Jordan (Aboitiz Invitational) and fellow Aussie David Gleeson (Luisita), Jhonnel Ababa (Forest Hills), Jay Bayron (Southwoods) and James Ryan Lam (CAT Open) all coming into the ICTSI-sponsored event upbeat of their respective chances.

“I feel good, confident after winning the Aboitiz Invitational,” said Jordan ahead of his expected explosive showdown with Bayron and Lam in one of the featured flights at 7:50 a.m. on No. 1.

The Aussie ace, however, is wary of the heat and a windy week at the flat, hazardladen course while others expressed concern over the layout’s last line of defense.

“The course is tough. The greens are unreceptive and sleek,” said Ababa, out to defend the crown he won by two over Aussie Andrew Campbell last year.

“But I’m ready. If I lead in the first two rounds, I feel I can win it the second time,” said winningest player on PGT Asia (with three victories), who drew Dutch Guido Van der Valk and Erwin Arcillas in the 8:10 a.m. flight on No. 10.

Alas loves coaching college cagers

By Lito Cinco

Damien Jordan

Clyde Mondilla, who averted a winless 2018 with a victory at PGT’s Luisita Championship last October, also exudes confidence following a successful stint in the recent Asian Tour Qualifying School where he tied for 16th to earn a full card status.

“Coming from the Q-School, I feel confident of my chances,” said the softspoken Mondilla who kept himself in

shape through regular practice in his hometown in Bukidnon.

The 2017 PGT Order of Merit titlist is paired with Thai Tawit Polthai and Nilo Salahog at 8 a.m., also on the first hole. Other top pairings include Gleeson with Thai Wisut Artjanawat and Ira Alido at 7:40 a.m. and Tony Lascuña, Thai Pasavee Lertvilai and Justin Quiban at 8:20 a.m. on No. 10.

Senate wins quarterfinal UNTV Cup opener

Senator Joel Villanueva starred in Senate’s 65-59 win by scoring 16 points in the UNTV Cup last Sunday at the Pasig City Sports Center.

class and beat them.

The Mainland Chinese will clash with Korea in another game held simultaneously at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi for the no. 1 and 2 spots in Group C. Kyrgyzstan, which lost to South Korea, 0-1, also needs a big win like the Azkals to reach the next stage.

The Azkals are in a different situation since their campaign in the AFF Suzuki Cup. They have four players who have seen action in the Philippine Football League last year, namely Stephan Schrock, Kevin Ingreso, De Murga and Patrick Reichelt.

The others played in leagues in Europe or South East Asia.

DEFENDING champion Senate recovered from a sluggish second quarter and beat the PITC, 65-59, at the start of the quarterfinals of the 7th UNTV Cup over the weekend at the Pasig City Sports Center.

The Defenders started strong, racing to a 17-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of play, but suddenly went cold in the second quarter, allowing the Global Traders to take a 28-27 halftime lead.

With former PBA player Sanders, Rommel Balboa and Sen. Joel Villanueva taking charge, the Defenders came through with a decisive run midway in the payoff period to pull away for good and extend their winning streak to four, dating back the second phase of the elimination.

Balboa led the Defenders with 17 points and boards, while Villanueva and Sanders chipped in 16 and 11 points, respectively.

Sanders was one rebound short of posting a double-double, while Harley Ng contributed 9 points and 9 boards

Games Sunday (Pasig City Sports Center) 3 p.m. – PITC vs Malacañang-PSC 5 p.m. – NHA vs Senate

for the Defenders, who are aiming to become the first back-to-back champion of the event organized by UNTV president and CEO Daniel Razon.

“Good thing we made some big shots in the fourth,” said Senate coach Mike Fermin. “Sen. Villanueva played one of his best games this season.”

Meanwhile, National Housing Authority boosted its own bid for a semis berth by downing Malacanang-Philippine Sports Commission, 78-72, thanks to a well-balanced attack.

Five NHA players finished in double figures with John Dizon and Clark Torrente scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively.

The top two finishers after the single-round quarterfinals will join early semifinalists Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police in the event offering P4 million to the chosen charity of the champion team.

LOUIE Alas, present head coach of Phoenix in the Philippine Basketball Association, is only on his second season in his current position, but looking back at his coaching career, the man certainly has made his mark, but more on the collegiate level where he has led the Letran Knights to three National Collegiate Athletic Association crowns already.

And that is why he remains honest about his preference in coaching, even as he has already reached the dream job for local coaches of being a PBA head coach.

“I still would prefer to coach collegiate players and if there is a good opportunity after my contract with Phoenix, I will definitely consider it,” said Alas.

His reasoning is simple: “I love to teach and in college, you can see the actual results in your players as they develop themselves.

In the PBA, the players already know the game, they know what to do and when to do it with the needed skills already there. The job of the coach is more to remind them of these things.”

The fact is, he was ready to leave Alaska (where he was an assistant coach from 2013 to 2017) and accept an offer to coach Perpetual College in 2015 before he was derailed by miscommunication issue, so returning to the collegiate ranks is really not a farfetched idea.

But the professional that he is and buoyed by the fact that Phoenix reached the semifinals last year for the first time, Alas is focused on the PBA now, where his goal is to make it to the semis in all the three conferences set this year.

“We have proven that we are capable of doing it already and with our acquisition of some new players in trades like Alex Mallari and workhorse Dave Marcelo, we all believe we have strengthened our team for this year,” said Alas.

IN BRIEF

BCDA bids out two Clark access roads

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority opened the bidding for the contract to build the first and second phases of two airport access roads leading to New Clark City with a combined approved budget of P5.3 billion.

Phase 2 or the Aranguren-Dapdap Segment covers a stretch of 8.8 kilometers while phase 3, or the Dapdap Calumpang segment, is about 5.7 kilometers.

A bidder according to the bidding procedures, can only submit one bid for one project or phase.

A prospective bidder must have completed a project similar to the subject road with a contract amount of not less than 50 percent of the approved budget.

Bids received in excess of the approved budget will be automatically rejected at the opening of the financial proposals.

The bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures as specified in the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), or the “Government Procurement Reform Act.” Othel V. Campos

Japan set to finance 3 more ‘BBB’ projects

THE Department of Finance said three more loan agreements with Japan are expected to be formalized in the first quarter of 2019.

The DoF said in a statement Tuesday the agreements would involve the implementation of three “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure projects designed to strengthen the transport network of the National Capital Region, mitigate flood risks in Metro Manila and improve accessibility and linkages in Mindanao’s conflict-affected areas.

The DoF’s International Finance Group said the total loans to be extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency for the three projects—the North South Commuter Railway Extension Project, the fourth phase of the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project and the Road Network Development Project in ConflictAffected Areas in Mindanao—are estimated at P108.5 billion.

The signing of the loan agreement for the NSCR Extension Project is scheduled this month.

The loan accord for the Pasig-Marikina flood control project, meanwhile, is still under legal review, while the Road Network Development project for Mindanao is set for approval by the National Economic and Development Authority. Julito G. Rada

Business RCBC, 4 others downplay impact of Hanjin exposure

By Julito G. Rada

R

IZAL Commercial Banking Corp. and four other lenders on Tuesday downplayed the impact of their exposure to the multi-million-dollar debt of shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines, which recently sought corporate rehabilitation.

“The total exposure is only 1 percent of RCBC’s assets of P614 billion and less than 2 percent of the P387 billion total net loans,” RCBC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

RCBC was responding to a statement by global debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service that the exposure to Hanjin’s debt would be credit negative.

Moody’s said of the five Philippine banks that lent money to Hanjin, RCBC could be the most affected because it had the largest exposure to Hanjin at $145 million.

RCBC said the five lenders had a parent guaranty from Hanjin Korea, which secures the exposure of HHIC Philippines.

RCBC confirmed that given its exposure to Hanjin, its net non-performing loan ratio of 1.2 percent as of September 2018 would increase.

“The bank’s balance sheet, with capital of P84 billion as of September 2018, is in a strong position to absorb these provisions. Even with this default, the bank’s capital adequacy ratio of 17.3 percent as of September 2018 remains very strong, well above regulatory minimum and can still support medium-term growth,” RCBC senior vice president and corporate information officer Ma. Christina Alvarez said.

BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender in terms of assets, said it was not expecting its exposure to Hanjin to have a material effect on the bank’s business, operations and/or fi-

nancial condition.

“The Hanjin exposure represents only 0.15 percent of the bank’s total loan portfolio and as such is not considered a material amount,” said BDO, which reportedly had $60-million exposure to Hanjin.

Moody’s said in a report that it considered the exposures of BDO, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Land Bank of the Philippines, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. to Hanjin be credit negative because it would reduce their profits.

“The exposures are credit negative for the five Philippine banks because they will need to incur additional credit charges related to HHIC-Phil, which will reduce their profit,” Moody’s said.

BPI said its exposure to Hanjin amounted to only $52 million or 0.20 percent of its total loan book.

“We have partially provisioned for this and additional provisions in 2019 is manageable,” BPI said.

All five banks enjoy investment grade ratings of Baa2 with stable outlooks from Moody’s.

Black Arrow Express, Dragonpay team up

Black Arrow Express, a last mile and consumer delivery firm, said Monday it teamed up with Dragonpay, an online payment platform that allows consumers to conveniently pay for the service in-app.

“This partnership brings two strong players and two key drivers in the eCommerce industry together—Dragonpay, with their expertise in the local financial technology space, and Black Arrow Express, with our logistics legacy through our parent company, the AAI group,” Black Arrow Express president Allan Brizuela said.

“We are committed to further empowering individuals and SMEs, after recently completing over 15 million COD shipments over the last 2 years,” he added.

Dragonpay chief operating officer Robertson Chiang said the company was looking forward to adding Black Arrow Express as one of the COD payment options of its merchants “This is a great opportunity for Dragonpay merchants to expand their business and market reach since COD is still the most preferred payment method in the Philippines, accounting for over 80 percent of to-

CREDIT SCORING MODEL. Bank of the Philippine Islands engages the services of leading risk management service provider Tongdun International to create a credit scoring model, which will allow more Philippine small and medium enterprises to have access to financing. Signing the agreement are (from left) Tongdun International vice president Lawrence Lu, Tongdun Technology co-founder and partner Jackal Ma, BPI president and chief executive Cezar Consing and BPI business banking head

First Metro expects GDP growth to accelerate to 7.2% in 2019 FIRST Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, said Tuesday it expects the economy to grow by 6.8 percent to 7.2 percent this year on the back of higher household spending amid the decelerating inflation rate and strong macroeconomic fundamentals.

First Metro president Rabboni Francis Arjonillo said in an annual economic briefing in Taguig City that the 2019 growth forecast would be faster than the 6.3-percent expansion in the first three quarters of 2018. The government would announce the full-year data for 2018 later this month.

“The Philippine economy is again in a growth trajectory. Apart from the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and expected inflation easing this year, another important factor in push-

ing economic growth is the continued policy reform drive of the Duterte administration,” Arjonillo said.

He said such policy reforms included tax reforms, corruption and red tape reduction, broadening the base of the financial system and facilitation of new and disruptive technologies.

Arjonillo said inflation was on a clear downtrend and was expected to taper off to a range of 3 percent to 5 percent amid the normalization of food supply and lower global oil prices.

He said the upturn in consumption spending was expected as a result of easing inflation rate. Other factors that could contribute to sustained economic expansion would be the recovery in manufacturing and increase in tourist arrivals, he said.

Inflation peaked at a nine-year high of

6.7 percent in October, before easing to 6 percent in November and 5.1 percent in December as the immediate measures implemented by the government to curb inflation took effect.

This brought full-year inflation rate to 5.2 percent, albeit higher than the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent earlier set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for 2018. It was also higher than 2.9 percent in 2017.

The economy grew 6.1 percent in the third quarter of 2018, slower than 7.2 percent a year ago which, economists said, could be partly blamed to the high inflation environment that caused a slowdown in household spending.

The slower growth in July to September was also linked to the decline in agricultural output that was affected by a series of tropical storms. Julito G. Rada

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

B1

Remittances increased 3.1% to $26.1b in eleven months

MONEY sent home by Filipinos working overseas rose 2.8 percent in November 2018 to $2.32 billion from $2.26 billion a year earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

The BSP said in a statement the November figure brought total cash remittances in the first 11 months of 2018 to $26.1 billion, up 3.1 percent from $25.3 billion registered in the same period in 2017.

Data showed cash remittances from both land-based ($20.5 billion) and sea-based workers ($5.5 billion) recorded increments of 2.8 percent and 4.1 percent for January to November, respectively.

The bulk of cash remittances in the 11-month period came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany and Hong Kong.

Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also grew 2.4 percent in November 2018 to $2.6 billion. On a cumulative basis, personal remittances in January to November reached $29.1 billion, or 2.9 percent higher than the level posted a year ago.

“The growth in personal remittances during the first eleven months of 2018 was supported by remittance inflows from land-based OFs with work contracts of one year or more as well as remittances from sea-based and land-based OFs with work contracts of less than one year which increased by 2.8 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively,” BSP Deputy Governor Maria Almasara Cyd Tuaño-Amador said.

The Bangko Sentral predicted that full-year remittances would increase 3 percent in 2018, taking into consideration the pace of global economic growth.

Remittances reached a record $28.06 billion in 2017, up 4.3 percent from $26.90 billion in 2016.

The higher cash remittances in 2017 were supported by the increase in transfers from both land-based and sea-based workers. Julito G. Rada

NLEx extension to C3 in Caloocan set to be completed this month—Villar

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE construction of the P10.5-billion North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Segment 10 will be completed this month, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said Tuesday.

“We are happy to announce that the NLEx Harbor Link Project will be accessible to the public by January. When this is completed, travel time from C3 in Caloocan and NLEx, will be reduced to 10 minutes,” Villar said.

Villar said the agency acquired 100 percent of the site of the NLEx Harbor Link Project Segment 10 as of December 2018, after a span of one year and seven months.

NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10 is

composed of the 5.65-km elevated expressway traversing NLEx from MacArthur Highway in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City, passing through Malabon City and C3 Road, Caloocan City, and the 2.6-km section between C3 Road, Caloocan City and R10, Navotas City.

The elevated expressway will reduce the travel time from NLEx Valenzuela City to R10 from 23 minutes to just 11 minutes via Balintawak-Edsa Monumento, and from 26 minutes to just 13 minutes via Balintawak to A. Bonifacio/C3 Road.

“The next phase will connect it to R10 and reduce travel time from Port Area in Manila to Quezon City to approximately 10 minutes,” Villar said.

Aboitiz Power eyes deal with major steel mill

By Alena Mae S. Flores ABOITIZ Power Corp. plans to supply electricity to the planned $4.4-billion integrated iron and steel project of HBIS Group Co. Ltd. of China, Huili Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd. and Steel Asia Manufacturing Corp. in Misamis Oriental province.

“These things build cities…An integrated steel mill that have economies of scale would be consuming anywhere from 300 megawatts to 600 MW. It’s a game changer if that’s real,” Aboitiz Power chief operating officer Manny Rubio said.

Aboitiz Power is one of the country’s biggest power producers. The company has a portfolio of investments in power generation, distribution and retail electricity services. It owns hydroelectric, geothermal and solar power generation facilities and coal-fired power plants that can supply the power requirements of the steel project.

“It is an opportunity to supply, for everyone, it’s a game changer if that’s going to happen. The Philippines needs that,” he said.

Rubio said new power projects for completion this year would drive Aboitiz Power’s future growth. He said these would include the 600-MW GN Power Dinginin project, 300-MW plant of Therma Visayas Inc. and 68-MW Manolo Fortich hydroelectric power plant.

Rubio said the company also continued to look at overseas expansion.

“We are always on the lookout. We’ve always said we’re always exploring in Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar and we’ve been talking about it for quite some time and those will bear fruit one way or the other,” the executive said.

HBIS, Huili Investment Fund, Steel Asia and Phividec Industrial Authority, earlier signed an agreement to build an integrated iron and steel project in Misamis Oriental province.

MARANAO TRADERS FINANCING. The Small Business Corp. participates in the Muslim Traders’ Entrepreneurship Forum 2019 at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City in support of the Department of Trade and Industry’s advocacy of helping Maranao traders throughout the country. Shown is SB Corp. financing sector group head Lourdes Rosario Baula (left) discussing the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso or P3 program, the administration’s landmark loan financing program intended to give micro enterprises better access to finance, providing them an alternative to the informal or 5-6 scheme of lending. Under the P3 Program, a micro enterprise can borrow P5,000 up to P200,000 depending on its business need and repayment capacity with no collateral requirement.

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks drop slightly; Jollibee slips T HE stock market slipped Tuesday on profit taking after a dull trading, with some investors quick to cash in on gains earned in Monday’s rally.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index stayed above 8,000 points after losing 10.72 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,013.42 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion.

Gainers, however, beat losers, 102 to 86, with 63 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, fell 2.8 percent to P315, while International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, declined 2.6 percent to P102.30.

GT Capital Holdings Inc., which has

interests in the banking, automotive, property and infrastructure businesses, lost 1.4 percent to P990, while, SM Investments Corp. of retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. dropped 1.2 percent to P980.

The rest of Asian markets on Tuesday rebounded from the previous day’s sharp losses but investors remain wary of any further sign of weakness in the global economy while the pound extended gains ahead of a crunch Brexit vote later in the day.

China’s disappointing trade data on Monday sent shivers through trading floors as it showed the long-running US tariffs row is beginning to bite.

But dealers got back on the horse, resuming last week’s rally that was fueled by optimism that Beijing and Washington will eventually resolve their differences and the Federal Reserve will pause in raising interest rates.

Tuesday’s gains were helped by a

bump in financials after Wall Street giant Citibank said it provided a positive outlook for its trading environment ahead of the corporate earnings season, while energy firms were supported by rising oil prices.

Hong Kong climbed 1.8 percent in the afternoon, Shanghai ended up 1.4 percent, with investors also cheered by news that officials are planning a range of tax cuts to support the stuttering economy.

Tokyo gained one percent while Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Mumbai were each more than one percent higher.

Sydney, Wellington and Jakarta were also well up.

Still, uncertainty is keeping traders’ feet on the ground, with the US shutdown, which is now in its fourth week beginning to fuel concerns and showing no sign of ending soon.

“There are two macro events that con-

tinue to weigh on market perspective,” Frances Donald, an analyst at Manulife Asset Management, said.

“The first is where is global growth heading next, and weak Chinese trade data would suggest that global growth is certainly not bottomed as of yet. And the second issue is the persistence of the US government shutdown and how that muddies our perspective about what happens next.”

The pound continues to rise against the dollar and is now sitting above the $1.29 mark for the first time since late November ahead of the vote by MPs on Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial Brexit deal.

While the plan is expected to lose, experts say the margin of loss will be key.

A massive defeat for the government would mean her deal is dead in the water and the pound could dive to a two-year low of around $1.22. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2019

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59.6 7,660 93.8 2,296,210 2.3 63,000 130.9 2,659,180 1.47 178,000 27.9 114,700 7.58 100 16.2 6,600 12.4 377,000 4.87 296,000 0.68 1,000 1.42 9,000 800 2,040 0.485 50,000 80 3,686,380 1 531,000 12.4 5,200 20.1 600 45.4 158,700 179.8 370 59.2 5,290 27.15 123,300 179.1 359,400 1,799 720 65 10,600

456,020 214,634,075 144,060 346,761,229 257,080 3,209,385 758 106,920 4,678,964 1,416,880 680 12,780 1,632,000 24,350 294,366,114.50 532,280 63,840 11,736 7,205,415 66,574 312,967 3,352,375 64,605,166 1,295,525 687,996

456,020 100,880,108 -113,091,541 -1,450,680 -1,629,158 23,250 -21,820,534 0 1,267,145 -43,200 -242,325 19,545,868 -17,990 -326,985.00

36.5 16.4 1.14 1.4 0.242 1.97 15.7 132 30.95 16.2 41 78 1.75 6.32 6.64 11.78 15.1 8.17 7.3 20.1 72.25 25.15 2.08 6.01 12.14 1.81 315 4.38 3.15 10.5 26.8 11.08 18 392 5.7 1.41 3.73 7.77 5.7 9.05 1.35 10.9 47.65 5.85 4.8 1.81 2.87 1.49 12.72 83.7 6.23 0.89 138.9 2.08 1.56

INDUSTRIAL 37 1,527,500 16.5 875,000 1.17 17,435,000 1.4 565,000 0.25 1,960,000 2.06 17,431,000 15.9 107,400 132 100 30.95 72,200 16.2 200 41 1,600 78 190 1.75 63,000 6.65 13,600 6.69 37,500 11.8 2,034,500 15.3 518,400 8.19 131,900 7.3 209,100 20.5 2,235,300 72.9 342,920 26 7,500 2.2 21,299,000 6.06 184,800 12.76 1,810,500 1.88 637,000 315 595,560 4.38 8,000 3.15 33,000 11 12,800 27.25 1,441,400 11.24 747,900 18 338,700 396 182,100 5.7 600 1.45 7,244,000 3.76 540,000 7.77 1,537,900 6.14 983,100 9.05 16,500 1.35 10,594,000 11 110,000 47.7 962,700 5.85 105,000 4.88 8,000 1.81 1,046,000 2.87 53,000 1.51 35,000 12.78 1,305,700 84.4 421,980 6.38 264,100 0.93 43,000 142 2,035,560 2.19 18,866,000 1.6 3,643,000

56,177,925 14,479,428 20,743,210 791,010 483,460 35,790,030 1,707,472 13,770 2,238,655 3,240 65,650 14,820 111,630 87,724 249,694 24,008,148 7,893,754 1,079,429 1,532,326 45,849,670 24,987,749 194,150 46,237,240 1,116,727 22,640,540 1,179,770 189,695,816 35,040 103,950 140,760 39,089,835 8,433,716 6,112,032 71,956,930 3,499 10,538,450 2,026,180 11,987,080 5,880,667 150,025 14,430,880 1,206,800 46,078,065 614,300 38,560 1,899,280 152,110 52,520 16,931,548 35,457,667.50 1,664,140 39,740 287,725,074 40,459,650 5,802,940

-4,359,025.00 2,279,934 199,160 -147,500 -9,659,750 -1,306,800 -1,080,365 -14,820 21,600 -205,058 6,747,046 -731,518 -443,097.00 -291,510 6,509,435 2,361,662.50 74,550 -8,226,740 -12,160 13,017,246 -9,250 -35,611,118 1,050,275 -2,051,562 -2,079,820 22,003,338 -3,454,280 -7,450,137 -11,176 538,700 -742,500 -23,174,000 1,820 11,325,422 10,005,633 -429,604 29,567,489 7,498,950 112,660

0.74 64.8 13.48 0.8 6.55 29.4 1.48 1.48 984 7.18 12.88 13 0.23 1,003 5.93 66.95 5.5 0.62 5.37 15.98 0.64 5.08 3 0.038 1.19 2.65 152.9 990 1.44 520 250 0.26

0.73 63.1 12.98 0.8 6.55 27.6 1.44 1.46 970.5 7.12 12.6 12.68 0.205 983 5.93 65.3 5.5 0.59 5 15.4 0.6 4.99 3 0.038 1.17 2.57 149.8 971 1.38 475 242.2 0.25

HOLDING FIRMS 0.73 8,682,000 64.8 1,392,310 13.4 10,139,900 0.8 25,000 6.55 1,800 28 103,900 1.44 9,789,000 1.46 671,000 970.5 122,870 7.16 681,700 12.6 3,171,500 12.9 475,600 0.23 230,000 990 110,075 5.93 5,000 65.9 2,616,500 5.5 4,800 0.6 165,000 5.26 5,366,300 15.4 7,559,200 0.64 728,000 5.08 47,066,400 3 21,000 0.038 1,600,000 1.19 220,000 2.6 742,000 151.5 274,110 980 402,910 1.43 61,000 475 670 250 122,660 0.255 1,810,000

6,367,430 89,381,169 135,257,824 20,000 11,790 2,955,405 14,272,190 984,440 119,744,600 4,872,654 40,094,278 6,131,890 49,900 109,097,802.50 29,650 173,009,852.50 26,400 99,480 28,033,072 117,754,874 454,700 236,418,770 63,000 60,800 259,020 1,940,190 41,567,928 395,299,325 84,530 337,094 30,568,136 456,050

457,710 8,459,792 56,857,870 -20,485 -585,520 -23,549,690 3,453,030 -15,334,706 126,910 -34,712,875 29,650 58,723,655.00 4,525,910 -17,282,104 600 8,167,997.00 -26,300 -9,686,288 -45,368,325 -279,000 -

8.76 0.86 11.78 1.7 0.96 45.1 2.41 4.3 6.45 0.445 0.84 0.91 0.27 0.4 8.71 22.5 0.54 0.116 1.48 1.21 5.16 0.475 0.48 2.25 0.435 3.7 43.8

8.71 0.85 11 1.66 0.92 43.95 2.35 4.15 6.4 0.43 0.84 0.88 0.25 0.38 8.38 21.4 0.52 0.113 1.45 1.15 5.03 0.465 0.455 2.19 0.415 3.54 43.7

5,790,389 1,025,340 60,296 233,030 1,584,270 672,329,195 3,776,580 3,668,540 14,185 724,750 26,040 53,220 29,983,500 240,150 23,635,052 40,490,080 253,150 41,720 16,733,020 2,175,800 124,209,619 3,690,100 595,100 10,327,940 504,900 9,312,520 429,170

214,826,040 -1,889,290 -377,850 -13,050 -1,413,400 865 140,155 -9,217,290 10,472,680 286,700 458,710 -140,820 -

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 FIRST ABACUS IREMIT MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK

59.5 91.9 2.26 131.6 1.45 28 7.58 16.2 12.32 4.75 0.68 1.42 800 0.49 80 1.01 12.2 19.46 45.2 180 59.1 27.15 179 1,801 64.85

59.6 93.85 2.3 131.6 1.47 28.1 7.58 16.2 12.5 4.92 0.68 1.42 800 0.49 80.5 1.02 12.4 20.1 45.5 180 59.2 27.3 181.5 1,801 65

59.5 91 2.26 129.1 1.44 27.8 7.58 16.2 12.32 4.65 0.68 1.42 800 0.485 79 0.99 12.2 19.44 45.2 179.8 59 27.05 177.1 1,790 64.6

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE B CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA GREENERGY HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PH RESORTS GRP PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SMC FOODANDBEV SPC POWER TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VITARICH VULCAN INDL

36.8 16.5 1.17 1.4 0.25 1.99 15.96 140 30.95 16.2 41.2 78 1.79 6.43 6.7 11.78 15.3 8.2 7.34 20.5 72.3 26 2.1 6.04 12.14 1.85 324 4.38 3.15 10.5 26.8 11.2 18.22 397.8 5.97 1.41 3.78 7.79 5.7 9.1 1.38 10.96 47.8 5.86 4.8 1.82 2.87 1.53 13.2 84 6.23 0.94 141.5 2.13 1.58

37 16.72 1.23 1.41 0.255 2.1 15.96 140 31.35 16.2 41.3 78 1.8 6.65 6.7 11.84 15.38 8.3 7.4 20.75 73.5 26 2.21 6.1 12.76 1.88 324 4.38 3.15 11.1 27.35 11.4 18.22 397.8 5.97 1.49 3.78 7.83 6.19 9.1 1.38 11 48.65 5.86 4.88 1.82 2.87 1.53 13.2 84.4 6.45 0.94 144.4 2.19 1.6

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

0.74 64.4 12.98 0.8 6.55 29.25 1.48 1.48 976 7.13 12.7 12.7 0.205 1,003 5.93 65.65 5.5 0.6 5.01 15.7 0.6 5.03 3 0.038 1.18 2.57 150.7 990 1.44 500 249.2 0.255

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

8.72 0.86 11.78 1.67 0.92 44 2.36 4.3 6.45 0.44 0.84 0.88 0.255 0.4 8.58 21.4 0.52 0.113 1.47 1.2 5.13 0.475 0.48 2.24 0.435 3.7 43.7

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

23 2.03 3.14 39.5 1.34 6.02 0.73 5.96

23 2.03 3.14 39.75 1.34 6.23 0.74 5.98

22.6 2.03 3.11 39.2 1.3 6.01 0.73 5.85

22.8 2.03 3.14 39.75 1.3 6.17 0.74 5.89

3,214,600 4,000 44,000 6,844,000 4,424,000 422,200 56,000 2,916,200

73,408,400 8,120 137,540 270,736,505 5,773,630 2,608,385 41,390 17,159,351

-3,923,920 98,928,800 1,300 18,360 -6,843,801

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC EASYCALL FAR EASTERN U GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B MLA BRDCASTING 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

14.3 21.45 1.45 0.42 0.043 3.35 10.82 79.7 7.75 6.78 7.49 16.96 950 2,060 5.78 330 3.22 1.99 104.2 11.2 0.137 6.39 3.14 14.88 3.49 0.88 18.54 0.355 5.29 2.7 2.34 2.3 17.5 4 9.6 8.9 3.59 116 3.3 1,210 0.9 0.33 48.6 87.95 7.79 2.33 0.79 0.445 5.5 0.75 13.8

14.72 21.6 1.45 0.43 0.045 3.48 11.1 81.3 7.75 7 7.49 16.96 960 2,094 5.8 330 3.27 1.99 105.7 11.2 0.139 6.52 3.14 14.88 3.59 0.88 18.68 0.355 5.29 2.76 2.38 2.3 17.5 4.23 9.61 9 3.75 116 3.4 1,220 0.95 0.335 48.8 88 7.84 2.35 0.79 0.445 5.51 0.77 13.8

14.2 21.4 1.45 0.42 0.042 3.32 10.82 79.35 7.75 6.75 7.49 16.42 930 2,038 5.78 319.2 3.18 1.97 102.3 11.2 0.134 6.3 3.11 14.8 3.45 0.84 18.16 0.355 5.02 2.68 2.2 2.25 17.5 4 9.6 8.8 3.45 115.8 3.28 1,205 0.89 0.325 48.4 87 7.7 2.31 0.77 0.44 5.46 0.75 13.28

SERVICES 14.4 21.45 1.45 0.43 0.043 3.46 10.98 79.5 7.75 6.79 7.49 16.6 930 2,086 5.78 330 3.22 1.97 102.3 11.2 0.136 6.4 3.11 14.8 3.51 0.87 18.58 0.355 5.25 2.7 2.24 2.25 17.5 4.2 9.6 8.99 3.75 116 3.33 1,215 0.94 0.33 48.65 87 7.84 2.32 0.78 0.44 5.47 0.77 13.44

111,800 156,500 26,000 2,910,000 16,700,000 2,123,000 11,759,300 177,600 16,800 1,657,600 700 162,900 60 40,780 532,000 340 698,000 6,000 1,739,370 1,900 5,580,000 7,608,700 9,000 8,100 1,750,000 49,000 374,800 10,000 10,600 1,510,000 562,000 10,000 100 13,219,000 59,900 9,300 176,000 173,670 2,202,000 128,555 27,211,000 190,000 212,200 189,370 85,400 7,652,000 7,128,000 5,870,000 61,300 3,840,000 4,894,000

1,603,460 3,362,470 37,700 1,244,000 712,400 7,272,700 128,706,228 14,211,542 130,200 11,339,579 5,243 2,702,858 57,100 84,460,930 3,079,391 111,386 2,245,010 11,920 180,692,007 21,280 756,440 48,870,953 28,150 120,298 6,097,740 41,900 6,945,912 3,550 53,338 4,082,550 1,266,090 22,700 1,750 54,620,820 575,140 83,217 635,550 20,145,670 7,339,380 156,122,575 25,356,510 62,750 10,312,665 16,549,095 662,761 17,751,520 5,546,880 2,585,150 336,834 2,900,080 66,345,908

8,592 -710,570 32,781,572 124,252.50 8,172.00 -262,946 -9,600 35,099,360 80,500 -22,743,040 1,145 -5,952 348,940 -92,128.00 356,580 -17,960 -10,800 335,190 -2,526,600 -545,635 -236,780 4,574,815 161,550.50 583,932 1,752,670 -33,100 35,250 -6,612 -28,126,536

ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK BENGUET A 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 UNITED PARAGON

0.0021 1.64 2.64 15.48 1.4 2.06 0.29 7.89 1.67 0.214 0.118 0.127 1.25 2.47 1.02 0.65 0.96 0.013 0.013 0.012 3.71 4.04 15.6 24.15 0.0073

0.0022 1.67 2.69 15.5 1.49 2.06 0.29 7.97 1.68 0.219 0.12 0.127 1.25 2.58 1.09 0.68 0.98 0.013 0.014 0.013 3.75 4.24 16.18 24.65 0.0075

0.0021 1.63 2.63 15.48 1.33 2.01 0.29 7.51 1.65 0.213 0.118 0.12 1.2 2.45 1.02 0.65 0.96 0.013 0.012 0.012 3.7 4.01 15.54 24 0.0073

MINING & OIL 0.0022 106,000,000 1.63 2,718,000 2.69 71,000 15.5 6,800 1.33 30,000 2.01 2,134,000 0.29 50,000 7.73 15,100 1.66 2,722,000 0.215 200,000 0.118 2,570,000 0.127 730,000 1.2 159,000 2.49 5,258,000 1.08 51,000 0.68 57,000 0.96 65,000 0.013 12,400,000 0.014 2,314,700,000 0.013 23,300,000 3.75 107,000 4.21 9,838,000 15.92 1,338,200 24.1 2,434,900 0.0075 12,000,000

222,700 4,477,160 187,560 105,390 42,730 4,331,720 14,500 116,236 4,523,680 43,190 303,940 88,730 192,390 13,270,360 53,740 37,080 62,430 161,200 30,066,300 291,600 397,960 40,452,770 21,331,950 59,036,070 88,000

-1,628,820 51,000 21,470 50,120 1,177,000 10,800 -6,500,000 1,185,140 966,200 -11,955,335 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2 ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G FPH PREF C GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

19.3 473.4 495 100.9 96.75 103.5 455 5.6 918 900 96 1.01 100.5 1,000 99.1 105.9 990 75.45 76.5 73.5 74 74.5 74 73.4

19.4 473.4 495 100.9 98.5 103.5 455 5.62 918 905 96 1.01 100.5 1,002 100.1 106 990 75.45 76.5 73.5 74.5 74.5 74 73.4

19.2 465 495 100.9 96.5 103.5 455 5.59 918 900 96 1.01 100.5 1,000 99.1 105.9 990 75.15 76 73.5 74 74.5 73 73.4

PREFERRED 19.22 385,800 473 6,420 495 60 100.9 160 98.5 33,260 103.5 610 455 20 5.61 395,100 918 10 900 2,080 96 650 1.01 50,000 100.5 2,250 1,002 250 100.1 2,920 106 1,150 990 10 75.15 440 76.5 15,390 73.5 40 74.5 5,020 74.5 6,410 73 20 73.4 2,390

7,452,262 3,035,024 29,700 16,144 3,234,420 63,135 9,100 2,215,323 9,180 1,873,520 62,400 50,500 226,125 250,460 292,082 121,892 9,900 33,078 1,172,875 2,940 373,285 477,545 1,470 175,426

-7,431,130 10,350 -364,000 -97,155 -

LR WARRANT

2.05

2.09

2.01

WARRANTS 2.02 173,000

352,050

-

ITALPINAS XURPAS

5.04 1.69

5.3 1.7

4.86 1.63

5.28 1.65

14,355,602 10,711,460

400,826 -633,320

FIRST METRO ETF

118.8

118.9

118

1,200,933

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 8.72 0.86 11 1.7 0.95 45 2.4 4.29 6.4 0.435 0.84 0.9 0.27 0.38 8.44 21.55 0.53 0.116 1.45 1.18 5.15 0.465 0.465 2.22 0.415 3.55 43.8

663,400 1,200,000 5,400 140,000 1,686,000 14,994,800 1,581,000 870,000 2,200 1,670,000 31,000 60,000 113,970,000 630,000 2,761,500 1,846,800 483,000 360,000 11,498,000 1,839,000 24,156,400 7,870,000 1,300,000 4,683,000 1,200,000 2,604,000 9,800

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

SHARES

13,939,516

INDUSTRIAL

122,896,500

HOLDING FIRMS

106,508,381

PROPERTY

221,730,783

SERVICES

130,673,729

MINING & OIL

2,499,790,375

GRAND TOTAL

3,104,855,249

SME

2,865,300 6,440,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 118.8 10,120

VALUE 1,803.61 (up) 6.55 1,278,626,100.93 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,653.79 (down0 78.88 1,137,261,723.77 HOLDING FIRMS 7,976.59 (down) 34.88 1,634,606,771.54 PROPERTY 4,011.69 (up) 16.92 SERVICES 1,544.89 (up) 0.26 1,353,776,506.075 MINING & OIL 8,829.93 (up) 77.72 908,427,629.365 PSEI 8,013.42 (down) 10.72 179,932,204.98 All Shares Index 4,788.62 (up) 2.02 6,518,900,749.16 Gainers: 102; Losers: 86; Unchanged: 63; Total: 251

Roxas says ‘18 income down 54% to P54.6m

By Jenniffer B. Austria ROXAS Holdings Inc., a sugar milling company majority owned by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., reported a net income of P54.6 million in fiscal year ending September 2018, down 54 percent from P120 million a year ago, on higher interest expenses.

RHI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues in 2018 climbed eight percent to P11.8 billion from P10.9 billion in 2017.

The company attributed the higher revenues to the increase in the average selling prices and volume sold of refined sugar.

Revenues from sugar operations, which contributed 73 percent of the total sales, hit P8.5 billion up 17 percent from a year ago level.

Alcohol operations, which delivered 27 percent of total revenues, amounted to P3.2 billion, down from a year ago level, due to lower volume sold and the lower average selling price in 2018.

Operating expenses were flat at P1.02 billion, but the interest cost in 2018 amounted to P502 million, up from last year’s P444.3 million, due to availment of short-term loans and higher interest payments.

RHI as of end September 2018 had P14.76 billion in consolidated liabilities.

RHI last year signed an asset sale purchase agreement with Universal Robina Corp. involving its sugar milling and refining operations in Batangas to reduce debts. The completion of the sale agreement is still subject to regulatory and creditor banks’ approvals.

The proposed transaction as of January 14 is still under review by the Philippine Competition Commission, the government’s anti-trust body.

“However, the company is committed to the proposed sale transaction and expects it to be completed after the PCC approval is secured,” RHI said.

Total raw sugar production in Batangas is around 3 million 50-kg bags, or roughly 6 percent of total annual national sugar production.

The sale of sugar milling plant in Batangas will enable RHI to focus on its sugar operations in Negros island.

Share price of RHI on Tuesday closed unchanged at P2.87.

Globe provides internet services to Tuguegarao GLOBE Business, the enterprise information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom Inc. has teamed up with the Tuguegarao to provide fast and reliable internet to the Cagayan capital.

The Tuguegarao city government signed up for Globe Business’ Direct Internet, which allows the local government unit to offer constituents fast and reliable internet access supported by a robust and broad international and domestic network.

Globe Business senior vice president Peter Maquera said the company was privileged to have been chosen by Tuguegarao.

“We are very excited for the partnership as this pushes us to strive for excellence and commit to our purpose to help build our nation,” he added Globe Business Direct Internet allows enterprises to maintain a direct and secure connection between offices for data, voice, and video application needs. It also offers an excellent level of support to make sure that clients get secure and dedicated connectivity.

“Aside from the need to have fast and reliable internet connectivity to effectively cater to the communication needs of all offices in the City Hall, the project also aims to extend its reach to public schools, specifically the students and teachers,” Tuguegarao Mayor Jefferson Soriano said.

“We commend Globe Telecom, specifically Globe Business, for partnering with us in making this project a reality.

We expect the same solid support and service delivery for the implementation of the future projects that will benefit the people of Tuguegarao,” he said.

The partnership with Tuguegarao is also in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No. 9, which emphasizes the need for investment in infrastructure and innovation, identified as crucial drivers of economic growth and development.

Darwin G. Amojelar

World

B3

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Thai trial of model claiming Trump secrets set to begin

BONE OF CONTENTION. A sign reading ‘No Wall’ adorns the fence near where the tent encampment for migrant children

was built at the Tornillo-Guadalupe Port of Entry on January 14, 2019, in Tornillo, Texas. The camp is reported to have closed down as the US government is partially shut down as President Donald Trump is asking for $5.7 billion to build additional walls along the USMexico border and the Democrats oppose the idea. AFP

PATTAYA―A Belarusian model who sensationally claimed she had proof of Russian efforts to help Donald Trump win office appeared in court Tuesday for the expected start of her trial over running a “sex training course” in Thailand.

Anastasia Vashukevich, known by her pen name Nastya Rybka, has been held in custody since a police raid in the sleazy seaside resort of Pattaya last February.

Vashukevich looked sombre as she arrived at the court alongside her seven co-defendants, who are on trial for multiple charges including soliciting sex.

She had traveled to Thailand after becoming embroiled in a political scandal with Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, a one-time associate of US President Trump’s disgraced former campaign director Paul Manafort.

In a peculiar tale she set off a scramble for details after promising to reveal “missing puzzle pieces” on claims the Kremlin aided Trump’s 2016 election victory.

Death sentence on Canadian escalates diplomatic quarrel

B

EIJING-A Chinese court’s decision to impose the death penalty on a convicted Canadian drug smuggler has escalated a diplomatic row that experts say has descended into a highstakes game of “hostage politics”.

Beijing and Ottawa have been squabbling since last month, when Canada arrested the chief financial officer of top Chinese telecom company Huawei on a US extradition request related to Iran sanctions violations.

In a move observers see as retaliation, Chinese authorities detained two Cana-

dian citizens—a former diplomat and a business consultant—on suspicion of endangering national security.

Then the previously little known case of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was detained in December 2014, suddenly came to the fore.

He had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in November. But a month later, a higher court took up his appeal and ordered a retrial after ruling that the punishment was too lenient.

A new trial was hastily convened in the northeastern city of Dalian where prosecutors presented new evidence and a new witness showing that Schellenberg was connected to an international syndicate that planned to ship 222 kilograms of methamphetamine to Australia. He claimed he chose the port city for his first China visit as a tourist.

The timing and swiftness of Schellenberg’s sentence, and the inclusion of

new evidence presenting him as a key player in the drug deal, raised suspicion among observers.

“Playing hostage politics, China rushes the retrial of a Canadian suspect and sentences him to death in a fairly transparent attempt to pressure Canada to free the Huawei CFO,” Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth said in a tweet.

Donald Clarke, a George Washington University professor specializing in Chinese law, had an even grimmer term for the situation: “death threat diplomacy”.

“The Chinese government is not even trying to pretend that there was a fair trial here,” Clarke said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed “extreme concern” that China had “chosen to arbitrarily” apply the death penalty.

Ottawa then issued a new travel advi-

sory urging citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”

The Chinese foreign ministry has vehemently denied that the case was politicized.

China executes one or two foreigners every year—nearly all for drug offenses, according to John Kamm, director of the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group.

Experts said retrials are rare in China, especially ones calling for a harsher sentence, but rights groups noted that courts are not independent and can be influenced by the ruling Communist Party.

“What’s unusual is how this case shifted from extremely slow handling to suddenly rapid fire movement through the courts,” said Margaret Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University. AFP

Jewish museum gunman linked to other jihadists

BRUSSELS―The Frenchman accused of murdering four people at the Jewish museum of Belgium had links with other jihadists, including those behind the Brussels and Paris attacks, investigators say.

At least one lawyer wants to see if defendant Mehdi Nemmouche sheds more light on such links during his trial that opened last Thursday for the May 24, 2014 museum shooting spree.

The first opportunity may come on Tuesday when Nemmouche begins testifying in his defence in a Brussels criminal court.

Guillaume Lys, the lawyer for the French Association of Victims of Terrorism, hopes his cross-examination may yield more detail about the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks.

“Our goal is to be able to have more information about the links between these people and others whom we know and who committed other acts,” said Lys, who represents a civil party in the trial.

The following links have already been established by investigators: Weeks before the Jewish museum attack, Nemmouche was in regular telephone contact with Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the Paris attacks that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds more.

Abaaoud was killed in a police shootout days after those attacks.

The calls took place in January 2014, when Nemmouche had just left Syria and was preparing to travel to southeast Asia via Turkey.

His trip would take in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. The two men are believed to have fought together in Syria in 2013.

When the Brussels suicide bombings killed 32 people and wounded hundreds on March 22, 2016, both Nemmouche and Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam were in the same prison in the Belgian city of Bruges.

Abdeslam had been arrested in Brussels just days before after being on the run since the Paris massacre several months earlier.AFP

No material has been released to substantiate her claims, which critics have dismissed as a publicity stunt.

Police alleged the risque seminar, led by self-styled Russian seduction guru Alex Kirillov, was effectively breaching Thai decency laws.

Kirillov, who has served as a spokesperson for the mostly Russian group, told reporters he believes they were set up.

“I think somebody ordered [our arrest]... for money,” he said as he arrived at court.

The group have pleaded not guilty, saying they were only training people on “how to seduce men and women” and not participating in sexual activity.

Supporters of the defendants say the seminar was geared towards offering romance and relationship advice.

Vashukevich and Kirillov have expressed fear of being deported back to Russia and at one stage called on Washington for help.

But Vashukevich later blamed the US for their imprisonment. AFP

IN BRIEF Lawyer receives human rights award BEIJING―The French and German ambassadors to Beijing have granted a human rights award to a detained Chinese lawyer, with his wife picking up the prize on his behalf.

Yu Wensheng -- best known for suing the Beijing government over the city’s once chronic pollution -- was detained last January and charged with “inciting subversion of state power”.

Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on civil society since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, tightening the restrictions on freedom of speech and detaining hundreds of activists and lawyers.

Prior to his arrest, Yu had circulated an open letter calling for five reforms to China’s constitution, including the institution of multi-candidate presidential elections.

His wife, Xu Yan, received the award at an event organized by the German embassy in Beijing on Monday.

The prominent attorney was among 15 winners of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law for 2018, announced in November.

“He [Yu] has lost his freedom for a year and not allowed to meet with a defense lawyer,” Xu said at the event attended by the German and French ambassadors to China, according to a transcript she posted on her WeChat social media account.

“His case has been postponed three times, and referred back to the police for further investigations twice,” Xu told AFP, adding that Yu’s case had been referred again for “for review and prosecution” in December.

“I learned about this situation when I went to the Xuzhou City Procuratorate on December 24. I didn’t receive any news before that,” she said. AFP

New ‘West Side Story’ Maria revealed

YOUNG ELIZABETH. This picture taken on October 18, 1952, at Shipley, Sussex, shows Queen Elizabeth II leaving the wedding of Patricia Buller and Peter Ashmore. AFP

House Republicans censure colleague for racist remarks WASHINGTON―US House Republican leaders delivered an extraordinary rebuke Monday to an Iowa congressman from their party over his recent remarks deemed as racist, with some calling for his resignation.

Steve King, whose comments last week about white supremacy sparked bipartisan outrage, will be stripped of all committee assignments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office said.

“Steve’s remarks are beneath the dignity of the Party of Lincoln and the United States of America,” McCarthy said.

“His comments call into question whether he will treat all Americans equally, without regard for race and ethnicity.”

King, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, is an opponent of illegal

immigration and unabashed defender of white culture.

In an interview last week with The New York Times, the 69-year-old asked how certain terms had become insulting or inappropriate.

“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization -- how did that language become offensive?” said King in his latest in a long list of similar comments.

The outcry was comprehensive, with the Senate’s lone black Republican, Tim Scott, delivering a withering attack on King and the “silence” within the Republican Party when such remarks are made.

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell called the Iowa conservative “unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position.”

Others like Senator Mitt Romney went further, urging King to resign and leave the party.

Amid the uproar, President Donald Trump told reporters asking about his reaction to King, “I really haven’t been following it.”

King has used explosive racial language for years, often without consequences.

In 2018 he declared that “we can’t restore our civilization with other people’s babies.” The House speaker at the time, Paul Ryan, said he hoped King “misspoke.”

With pressure mounting Monday, McCarthy took action. His move, approved by the House Republican Steering Committee, effectively prevents King from putting his stamp on legislation, other than through a vote on the House floor. AFP

LOS ANGELES―A 17-year-old high school student has finally been picked to play Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of the iconic musical “West Side Story.”

Rachel Zegler, of New Jersey, was picked among 30,000 Latino actors who submitted video auditions for the highly sought-after role played by Natalie Wood in the 1961 classic.

“I am so thrilled to be playing the iconic role of Maria alongside this amazing cast,” Zegler told the Hollywood Reporter. “West Side Story was the first musical I encountered with a Latina lead character. As a Colombian-American, I am humbled by the opportunity to play a role that means so much to the Hispanic community.”

Three months ago, it was announced that actor Ansel Elgort (“Baby Driver”) would play Tony, the male lead in the remake of the film that won 10 Oscars in 1962.

Spielberg has also cast Broadway actress Ariana DeBose as Anita and David Alvarez as Bernardo. Theater performer Josh Andres Rivera has been cast as Chino.

“When we began this process a year ago, we announced that we would cast the roles of Maria, Anita, Bernardo, Chino and the Sharks with Latina and Latino actors,” Spielberg was quoted as saying in US media. “I’m so happy that we’ve assembled a cast that reflects the astonishing depth of talent in America’s multifaceted Hispanic community.

“I am in awe of the sheer force of the talent of these young performers, and I believe they’ll bring a new and electrifying energy to a magnificent musical that’s more relevant than ever,” he added.

“West Side Story” is a modern take on Romeo and Juliet and follows the romance between a pair of teenagers linked to two warring New York City gangs.

Filming for the new feature is scheduled to begin this summer.

Screenwriter Tony Kushner has said that the new movie will take its cues from the original 1957 Broadway musical, rather than the film, and that all of the classic songs will be included. AFP

LGUs

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

B4

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Temporary homes help Marawi folk return to normalcy

By Ayunan G. Gunting (Continued from yesterday)

MARAWI CITY—Mayor Majul Gandamra has been working on temporary housing in his battle-scarred city. These 22 sq m-concrete shelters offer a bathroom, an extension for the kitchen and dining area, water and electricity. Six people can live comfortably in this space.

Tricycle driver Masiding Bani, his wife and four children were elated to move into the house in Sagonsongan.

During the war, his family stayed at a relative’s house in Iligan City for two months, then transferred to an evacuation center near Sagongsongan.

They lived in humid and crowded In Marawi City’s Barangay Sagonsongan, families have occupied 1,050 temporary shelters. An additional 300 houses are being put up in Barangay Boganga on 46 hectares of land donated by Marawi tents and made a beeline to use the port- City Mayor Majul Gandamra, his family and friends. Ayunan G. Gunting able toilets. Bani said they are content with their new home.

Omangan Benito, a community leader in Area 3 of Sagongsongan, recalled that during the siege, his family sought refuge at an unfinished building beside the City Hall. Since last year, the Benitos have been living in one of the shelters that were built by the National

By Joel E. Zurbano Housing Authority with aid from South Korea.

AYOR Abigail Binay on “We are happy to have a roof over our heads,” he said in Tagalog.

Tuesday commended the Trader Alnasser Busara and his famMakati City Police force for ily lived with relatives in a town in Lanao del Norte, then eventually rented strengthening its operations against a space in Iligan City. When they reillegal drugs in the city. turned to Marawi to reside in Sagongsongan, Busara said he felt their lives On Monday night, the authorities conducted a buy-bust had stabilized. operation in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Bani, Benito and Busara expressed Enforcement Agency leading to the arrest of 12 suspected their gratitude to Gandamra, who had drug peddlers and the seizure of 23 sachets of shabu worth constantly reassured his constituents P200,000. that the situation would slowly improve.

Makati police chief Rogelio Simon, in his report to Binay, “He didn’t let us down. When the said the drug sting happened around 7:30 p.m. along at Mashouses were built, he urged us to return cardo Street in Barangay Bangkal. to Marawi,” said Busara in Tagalog.

Police also recovered a plastic sachet of suspected co“He made sure that we received relief caine, drug paraphernalia, a weighing scale, mobile phones goods regularly.” and marked money used in the police operation.

Some locals, aside from Gandamra, are still residing outside of Marawi.

The mayor reiterated that the city has a zero-tolerance This writer’s nephew, Haroun policy on criminality, especially illegal drugs.

Mamainte, a government employee In August last year, four villages in the Makati were deof Philhealth-ARMM (Autonomous clared cleared and free of illegal drugs.

Region of Muslim Mindanao), lived Declared drug-free were barangays Urdaneta and San with his in-laws in Barangay Lilod Lorenzo, while Forbes Park and Magallanes were named Madaya, which was near the commerdrug-cleared barangays by the Regional Oversight Comcial center. mittee on Barangay Drug Clearing Program.

When the siege began, he and his Binay urged the people of Makati to be vigilant and coopfamily packed a few pieces of clothing erate with her administration to help the government in its and hied off to Iligan. Thinking that the fight against the drug menace in the country. battle would last only for a few days, “It is gratifying to know that our local police are keepthey left their jewelry and other prized ing our communities under tight watch for illegal drugs. We possessions. It turned out that snipers urge citizens to be vigilant and cooperate with law enforceinvaded his in-laws’ home. ment authorities,” she said.

Subsequently, the area was blast“We are serious about making Makati a drug-free city. I ed by the government troops. His repeat, there will be no sacred cows under my administramother-in-laws’ other properties were tion, most especially if it concerns illegal drugs,” the mayor damaged by the war, and her valusaid. ables were looted.

Meanwhile, Mamainte was transferred to Philhealth Iligan. Relatives comforted his family by providing canned goods and some financial asCROWD PLEASER. Joining more than 45,000 youths in a concert at the Bulacan Sports Complex in Malolos, Bulacan, sistance.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (seated, center) vowed to champion the poor and the youth in the Senate if she is elected “My friends lost their loved ones durin the May polls. Jun David ing the friendly fire. Others were killed by the ISIL because they refused to join

By Rio N. Araja them. Some yielded to the ISIL to protect their lives,” he said.

QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has signed OrdiMamainte’s children have also transnance No. 2768, mandating the grant of personal accident

By Macon Ramos-Araneta tions, including timely treatment stressful environment, these ferred schooling to Iligan. insurance for tricycle drivers and passengers. at the local level, he said. come out,” Janairo emphasized.

According to Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, pre“My children are traumatized. Eve“We need to start implementDOH has listed CVDs, cansiding officer of the 37-member city council, the ordinance THE Department of Health in ry time they see people in black, they is the product of the city’s concern for tricycle drivers, since Calabarzon, together with the ing interventions in order for the cers, chronic respiratory disimmediately fear that the ISIL will atnumerous families in the city depend on tricycles for liveliPhilippine Society of Hyperten- people to be protected from these eases, and diabetes among the tack,” he said. hood and also as a practical mode of transportation. cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) leading causes of mortality in the sion and local health executives This January, he will commute to “Tricycles are used for short-distance travels, but we canin the region, has agreed to im- like hypertension and stroke,” country. the new PhilHealth ARMM office in not disregard the fact that these vehicles get into accidents said Janairo during the PhilPEN These are known as lifestyle plement a Package of Essential Marawi City. as well,” she said. related NCDs because they have Non-communicable Disease Summit held in Tagaytay City.

“I should be thankful that I have kept “The ordinary people are the ones who ride a tricycle.

He said this should begin with common risk factors, which are Interventions, also known as my job, and my family is together,” he What would happen to them once they encounter a road misparents to the newborn until the to a large extent related to unhap? Now that we have an ordinance for this, the city govPhilPEN. said. “There is hope as life slowly rehealthy lifestyles. ernment can help fund the insurance for our tricycle drivers This would reduce the rates patient grows old. turns to normal.” including their passengers,” Belmonte added.

“Even though CVDs are heredAccording to World Health Orof lifestyle-related non-commuMayor Majul Gandamra is a firstIf a tricycle driver or a passenger gets into an accident, itary, it can be prevented but due ganization National Communicanicable diseases (NCDs) in the termer mayor who has inherited the the said insurance shall provide a minimum of P7,500 to province, DOH Regional Direc- to factors that aggravate these ble Disease Progress Monitor of chaos, problems, messy management, P50,000 to the victims depending on the severity of the diseases such as unhealthy life- 2017, heart disease is the leading tor Eduardo Janairo said. bad governance, habits and culture of damage acquired such as death, disablement, limb amputaThis would be done through style such as excessive salty food cause of death in the Philippines, Marawi. Even so, he has a very good vitions, loss of sight, hearing, and speech; including the loss of early screening and consulta- intake, lack of exercise and even as it claimed 74,134 lives in 2016. sion for the city. thumb or the index finger.

Abby lauds cop anti-drug drive M

QC trike drivers, passengers granted accident insurance

Calabarzon eyes PhilPEN use to avoid diseases

Vizcaya, power firm set bamboo plantation project

By Ben Moses Ebreo

SAFETY COMMITMENT. Las Piñas City Mayor Imelda Aguilar (center) receives City Chief of Police Senior Supt. Simnar Gran with women officers of the City Police Office during their New Year’s Call to the mayor on Monday, when they renewed their commitment to a safe and secure community of the progressive city. The city chief of police reported to Aguilar the award received by the station as part of the Southern Police District, which was ranked No.1 in the Performance Evaluation Rating in Operations, Intelligence, Investigation and Police Community Relation in 2018. In photo are (from left) Senior Insp. Gladys Biare, Chief Insp. Rosanna Sidocon, Senior Insp. Joylene Bulan, and Senior Insp. Joy Datul.

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya —The provincial government and SN Aboitiz Power Magat (SNAPMagat) will venture into a Bamboo Plantation Project to reinforce denuded areas in the province and provide livelihood for community villagers.

Forester Tito Tanguilig, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer, said the BPP will be established in a 10-hectare area inside the Lower Magat Eco-Tourism Park in barangay San Luis in Diadi town.

SNAP-Magat’s P700,000 corpo-

rate social responsibility fund was already downloaded to the provincial government to fund the BPP, he said.

Tanguilig also said the BPP will be implemented based on the agreement signed between Governor Carlos Padilla and Engineer Wilhelmino Ferrer, assistant vice president and plant manager of SNAP-Magat.

“Based on the MOA, we will be managing the BPP, which will be planted with various bamboo varieties and if this will be successful, we will use these bamboos to strengthen and protect slopping agricultural and protected areas,”

he added.

Tanguilig said they will be tapping farmers and other community organizations in the planting and management of bamboo plantations in various areas.

“These organizations can also partner with us for possible livelihood ventures using bamboo varieties in their areas,” he said.

Provincial government officials also added that they will be collaborating with the Department of Trade and Industry and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, among others, for the possible livelihood component of the BPP.

Leather goods Life made by Filipino shine in Tokyo

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

FASHION AND BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

Large satchel that can fit important documents.

PINOY PRIDE. Local

leather goods label McJim’s latest ad campaign, shot in Tokyo, showcases its products blending well with the trendy surroundings.

O

NE homegrown leather goods brand, one country, one ad campaign prove that Filipino made products can shine anywhere and at are par with international peers.

C1

Crossbody bags for casual days.

Easy transition

After its successful engagement in Montreal, Canada, McJim Classic Leather went to Tokyo, Japan to shoot its latest ad campaign featuring the brand’s quality leather products against a vibrant and trendy backdrop.

“Whether it’s in Tokyo or in Montreal, these ad campaigns only show that our very own McJim can keep up with and stand out in any mega fashion capital in the world, armed with its timeless philosophy of style, quality, and elegance,” says PR entrepreneur and filmmaker Chris Cahilig who directed the shoot.

While the shoot in Montreal exuded a more classic vibe, McJim describes this year’s photoshoot in the Land of the Rising Sun as more

SINGAPORE-BASED contemporary fashion label In Good Company breathes new life to wardrobe staples with pieces that easily transition from party to everyday wear.

The brand’s latest capsule collection showcases a quietly confident lineup that highlights lean lines and modern layering against structure and fluid volume.

Perth seersucker dress with cutout detail

Business-appropriate leather bags for men.

fluid, flexible, and innovative—something that resonate with the vibrant and trendy fashion scene in Tokyo. Japan is renowned for its high regard for both function and aesthetic, the same attributes that define McJim’s world-class products.

“Tokyo’s fashion scene is very much alive; it has always pushed the boundaries of style. It can be laid-back, it can be avant-garde, it can be formal. But one thing is constant: It constantly moves forward and adapts to the times, and that is what McJim also embodies as a brand,” says Cahilig.

McJim’s high quality, well-crafted, and functional real leather belts, bags, and wallets complement the trendy Tokyo setting, where all sorts of style, vibe, and influences meet.

Contemporary leather satchel for men who like to quickly transition from work to play.

For this shoot, the brand lends class and flair to the various flexible looks of a modern gentleman such as casual chic, work and play, and business—“wherever they are in the metro, any time of the day,” adds the director.

The shoot was done in popular destinations in Tokyo, namely the business district of Ginza, the historic Tokyo Station, Marunouchi Building, Roppoggi district overlooking the majestic Tokyo Tower, and the busy Shibuya Crossing.

The shoot was made by possible by a passionate team composed of professional Japanese photographer Yusuke Shirakawa, camera assistant Raita Yabushita, models Yuta Nakata and Brent Olian, hair and makeup artist Julan Tsuda, project manager Takuya Sakai, stylist Mei Komiyama, and production assistants Sho Asai and Kei Sekiguchi. Cahilig and model and 1:43 boy band member Ced Miranda supervised the pictorial.

The shoot was done in popular destinations in Tokyo, providing a trendy and vibrant background for the leather good for men.

In Good Company explores new shapes, combining precise tailoring and deft drape work.

In addition to the ingenious techniques the brand is well known for that were applied to these pieces, an array of texture is presented in new materials of contrasting tactility and weight, allowing the wearer to dress it up or down according to wherever their mood takes them.

Color takes its cue from neutral palettes accented by vivid reds and blush hues.

Polished yet easy, effortless vibe is achieved through the Rupert dress, the unique silhouettes of the Marlon jacket, and the architectural proportions of the Tiffany top. Statement accessories Lelf and Osa necklaces are the perfect punctation mark to finish off the ensembles.

In Good Company is located on the Level 2 of The SM Store Makati.

Tiffany top features unique detailing

Robyn color block top in blush and white

Rupert red triacetate slip-on dress

Life

C2

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Stock up on Laneige products at its PH store South Korea’s cosmetic giant AmorePacific brings back to the Philippines beloved K-beauty brand Laneige, whose store opened at SM Makati in December last year.

The store offers a wide range of easyto-use skin care and makeup products that promise to bring vibrant skin. The store now makes it easier for everyone to get the cult favorites Water Sleeping Mask and BB Cushion Pore Control.

Coinciding with the launch, Laneige also kicked off its #ISparkleWithLaneige campaign, encouraging Filipinos to take better care of their skin and find their inner beauty.

“Laneige’s goal has always been to help bring out one’s inner beauty by having vibrant and glowing skin through our skin care and makeup lines. With this new store, we are sharing with the Filipino public our secret water recipe and skin care routine to achieve the sparkling look they’ve always wanted so that they, too, can say #ISparklewithLaneige,” said Laneige Philippines general manager Kun Hee Claro Lee. Here are some Laneige products Kbeauty fans can score at its store:

From left: Watsons beauty controller Kim Reyes, Laneige Philippines general manager Kun Hee Claro Lee, and AmorePacific managing director for Southeast Asia Operations Robin Na at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Laneige store.

Water Bank Gel Cream

Lip Sleeping Mask

A cooling, non-oily gel cream that helps skin achieve longerlasting moisture. Cooling and lightweight, its silky texture makes it the ideal choice for people with oily skin who live in areas with warm climate as it absorbs quickly and delivers essential hydration.

A leave-on lip mask that soothes and moisturizes for smoother, more supple lips. It has a softening balm texture that closely adheres to lips for quick absorption. A generous layer of this soothing mask at bedtime helps reduce flakiness thus lips feel refreshed, supple, and soft to the touch upon waking up.

BB Cushion Pore Control A pore-perfecting version of Laneige’s global award-winning BB Cushion, this ultra-light, oilabsorbing formula targets shine, delivering a flawless, semi-matte, soft-focus finish. It blurs pores and imperfections for instant flawlessness and features an exclusive Skin Fit air cushion and dense antimicrobial applicator for a thin, even layer of coverage.

Water Sleeping Mask An overnight, moisture-recharging gel mask that quickly absorbs while the user is sleeping to deeply hydrate skin. This innovative mask is formulated with highly concentrated Hydro Ionized Mineral Water to deliver intense doses of moisture to stressed, parched skin. The result: skin looks and feels radiant, refreshed, and soft.

Two Tone Lip Bar A cult K-beauty favorite for creating an effortless ombré lip, this fashionable high gloss and semi-matte formula combines two makeup artist-curated shades in one sleek tube.

Available in 12 fun, trendy color duos, it features a custom oblique cut that delivers a youthful, fuller pout, and a perfect gradation with every swipe.

BYS Cosmetics launches new campaign AUSTRALIAN beauty brand BYS Cosmetics, through its local distributor IFACE, Inc. launches a new campaign, REIGN featuring the Asia’s Songbird, Regine Velasquez.

The REIGN campaign seeks to champion the value of finding one’s purpose, having the confidence to go after it, and embracing acceptance and selflessness in the face of adversities.

For BYS, these qualities are best embodied by Velasqez—a quintessential diva who, despite having gained an iconic status for her powerful voice, numerous hit songs, memorable films, and spectacular concerts, continues to impress audience with her every endeavor.

Unknown to some, Velasquez, having ventured into the entertainment industry at a young age and eventually succeeding as a recording artist with 8.5 million records sold regionally, loves doing her own makeup for concerts, soap opera shoots, and other appearances.

Together with the DIY makeup queen, BYS hopes to inspire Filipinas to level up their makeup game by exploring the brand’s vast range of affordable, good quality, and easy-to-use cosmetics.

BYS’ latest product releases include the Euphoria eyeshadow palette which features 12 vibrant rainbow shades; the Nude 4 eyeshadow palette which boasts 12 stunning yet wearable peachy and berry nude shades; the Rebel eyeshadow palette which lets beauty junkies spice things up with 12 edgy and party-ready up hues; and the sweet and sultry Peach 2 eyeshadow palette which comes with 12 delicious matte and metallic peachy shades.

Each of BYS’ new releases guarantees a great color pay-off and are formulated with skin-loving ingredient Mica. They are also vegan-friendly, hypoallergenic, paraben-free, and PETA-certified.

BYS is exclusively available at Watsons and SM Beauty Stores nationwide, and online at beautybeat.ph.

A.I.

technology-powered skin analyzer

Porsche team debuts in Formula E in Hugo Boss GERMAN luxury label Hugo Boss has been tapped to become the official outfitter to the entire Porsche motorsports team as they enter Formula E circuit this year.

The shared passion for racing, and a fascination with perfect design and innovation inspired the creative minds at Hugo Boss to produce the “Porsche x BOSS” capsule collection. Its standout features include premium leather and wool materials presented in the Porsche and Hugo Boss colors of silver, black, and red.

Beginning in March, a range of menswear

BYS launches new eye shadow palettes, namely Nude 4, Rebel, Euphoria, and Peach 2.

styles from the debut capsule collection will be available online and at BOSS stores.

“Hugo Boss and Porsche are both synonymous with outstanding innovation and consummate quality,” commented Mark Langer, chief executive officer of HUGO BOSS AG. “We have been working successfully with motorsports over recent years and decades. That is why, with the futureoriented Formula E, I am especially pleased that we are taking our cooperation to a new level.”

For his part, Porsche AG chief executive

officer Oliver Blume said, “Formula E is an exceptionally attractive racing series. It offers us the perfect environment to strategically evolve our vehicles in terms of efficiency and sustainability. We’re looking forward to being on board in the 2019/2020 season. In this context the renowned fashion group Hugo Boss represents the perfect partner to outfit our team.”

In the Philippines, BOSS is located at City of Dreams, Greenbelt 5, Rustan’s ShangriLa, Rustan’s Cebu, Shangri-La East Wing, and 158 Designer’s Blvd. Newport Mall.

The Porsche x BOSS capsule collection features pieces made of premium leather and wool materials in silver, black, and red.

The Mary Kay Skin Analyzer is a portable skin analysis tool powered by artificial intelligence and 50x zoom lens.

IN A BID to understand a customer’s skin story, Mary Kay Philippines introduces a portable skin analysis tool powered by artificial intelligence technology and 50x zoom lens.

The portable Mary Kay Skin Analyzer further enhances the customer experience between Mary Kay independent beauty consultants and Mary Kay brand lovers.

Using a Mary Kay-exclusive app compatible with iOS and Android, the Mary Kay Skin Analyzer provides instant analysis to understand

six dimensions of skin: moisture, oil, sensitivity, pores, elasticity, and skin tone.

With built-in polarized light-filtering technology, it captures two photos on each point of the face to analyze real-time skin data.

“The introduction of the Mary Kay Skin Analyzer allows our Mary Kay independent beauty consultants to make even more informed, tailored recommendations to their customers,” said Mary Kay Philippines general manager Sobee Dueñas.

Dueñas added, “The information gathered using the new tool compares data with similar age groups and emphasizes the importance of daily skin care.”

The skin analyzer’s innovative product design includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to allow the beauty consultants to provide instant analysis anytime, anywhere.

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Simply...

Very Wang...

Atienza slams Escudero’s P2-B Department of Culture Sen. Francis Escudero’s proposal to put up a whole new Department of Culture at the cost of at least P2 billion yearly has drawn strong rebuke from Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza, the House senior deputy minority leader.

“We don’t really need another large and expensive bureaucracy such as a Department of Culture because we already have the National Commission for Culture and the Arts,” Atienza, former three-term mayor of Manila, said.

“What we absolutely need now is the immediate reintegration of culture and sports back into our public school system,” Atienza, a longtime champion of culture and sports and development, said.

Atienza has been batting for the “simple and practical reorganization” of the Department Education (DepEd) into the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS).

“Our proposal is far less bureaucratic and won’t cost taxpayers extra money, because we will just be restoring two bureaus under the DepEd—one for culture and one for sports. And these bureaus may be run by existing DepEd officials,” Atienza said.

Atienza said his House Bill 2628 merely seeks to rectify the blunder committed by Congress when it passed the Governance of Basic Education Act in 2001.

That law reorganized the previous DECS into what is now the DepEd and effectively disconnected culture and sports from the school system, according to Atienza .“Once we have the DECS back, we should be able to properly guide the youth towards conserving our rich history and heritage, promoting arts and culture, strengthening their minds and bodies, and molding them into leaders and custodians of our nation’s future,” Atienza said.

Escudero’s proposed Department of Culture Act is up for plenary approval at the Senate, where he is chairman of the committee on education, arts and culture.

Senate Bill 1528 seeks an initial appropriation of P2 billion for the new department on its first full year of operation alone.

The senator’s mother, Sorsogon Rep. Evelina Escudero, is pushing for the counterpart bill in the House.

Nobody really knows what they are up to. They may possibly be interested in the future position of Secretary *** Visit www.isah.red for more stories.

Follow me on Facebook (@isahvr), Twitter (@isahvred) and Instagram (@ isahvred). ΙR

Best when shared, the Adobo Ribs can be enjoyed with family and friends alongside a serving of Sizzling Tofu or Pancit Canton, one large plain rice, three glasses of Iced Tea, and three dessert-sized servings of Buko Pandan—all for just P899.

Max’s Restaurant now also serves Beef Salpicao, cubed beef sirloin stirfried in a hot pan with lots of minced garlic and a variety of spices. Savory and garlicky, this Pinoy favorite with a Spanish origin can be enjoyed Ala Carte for P499 or served in a Rice Bowl for only P249.

“We at Max’s Restaurant are all about championing Filipino food and celebrating Every Kind of Family,” said the well-loved brand’s National Business Unit Head, Paolo Serrano.

“With the Adobo Ribs and Beef Salpicao making its way to our stores, we hope to bring together more families and celebrate with them through the food we serve and the service we provide.”

All feasts should end on a sweet note, that’s why Max’s Restaurant also introduces the newest addition to its Max’s Corner Bakery treats, the Mango Pandan Ensaimada. For only P33, customers can enjoy this soft ensaimada served with a crown of whipped cream frosting, sprinkled with mango bits and a hint of pandan.

Your Max’s favorites are just a click, chat, or call away. Visit www. maxschicken.com to order through the Max’s Restaurant website, leave a message with Max’s Restaurant’s Facebook Messenger chat bot, or dial 7-9000 to order via landline or mobile.

From C4

A scene from the ABS-CBN movie "Quezon's Game" starring Raymund Bagatsing (2nd from left)

‘Quezon’s Game’ rakes in international filmfest awards in Canada Q UEZON’S Game, a joint venture production of Star Cinema and iWant, ABS-CBN’s streaming service, that pays tribute to former Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon’s heroic rescue of over a thousand Jewish people seeking refuge from the Holocaust, has won twelve awards at Autumn Selection of the Cinema World Fest in Canada.

After its triumph at the Autumn Selection, Quezon’s Game will go on to compete with other quarterly winners.

Cinema World Fest will choose its favorite films from the year and screen them at a gala event at the Heron Amphitheatre in Ottawa, Canada in 2019. The audience will choose their favorite and a prestigious CWFA Trophy will be awarded.

Inspired by true events, the period movie earned an Award of Merit for Drama Feature while its lead actors, Raymund Bagatsing, in the titular role of Manuel Quezon, and Rachel Alejandro, who played his wife, Aurora, won the Award of Excellence for Actor and Actress, respectively.

American actor Billy Gallion, who played the American businessman Alex

Frieder who helped Quezon in the historic undertaking, took an Award of Excellence for Supporting Actor.

Winning an Award of Recognition for Directing is Matthew Rosen, an awardwinning TV commercial and music video director and pioneer in the data postproduction field.

Matthew Rosen and Leo Santos were given the Award of Excellence for Lighting; Dean Rosen, the Award of Excellence for Original Score; Janice Perez and Dean Rosen, the Award of Excellence for Produced Screenplay; Rowella Talusig and Set Construction Group, the Award of Excellence for Set Design; Anglea Pereyra, the Award of Excellence for Sound Design; and Rowella Talusig and her costume team,

the Award of Excellence for Costume Design. Meanwhile, Antonette Gozum won the Award of Merit for Color Treatment.

In the rarely told epic story of heroism that began in 1938, Manuel L. Quezon joined future U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, and several other notable figures to rescue Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria. Faced with mounting obstacles—including Quezon’s battle with a relapse of tuberculosis—the group fought through and saved around 1,200 refugees.

It is said that in his final days, Quezon asked the question “Could I have done more?” as he recounted one of the least known, but most inspiring stories in Philippine history.

The Cinema World Festival is based in Canada and runs in four quarterly online competitions: Winter Selection (December–February), Spring Selection (March–May), Summer Selection (June–August), and Autumn Selection (September–November).

Quezon’s Game will make its Philippine premiere this year in theaters and will also be available on iWant after its theatrical run.

From C4

DZBB’s ‘Ikaw Na Ba?’ returns for 2019 midterm elections SUPER Radyo DZBB’s award-winning election special Ikaw Na Ba? returned on Monday, Jan.14, as it features senatorial candidates in the lead up to the 2019 midterm elections.

Hosted by Mike Enriquez, Ikaw Na Ba? The Senatorial Interview 2019 aims to help Filipino voters know the candidates better to enable them to make intelligent choices on Election Day. Named as the Best Educational Radio Program by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) in 2011 and 2013, Ikaw Na Ba? is in cooperation with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).

Catch “Ikaw Na Ba? The Senatorial Interview 2019 from Monday to Friday at 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. on Super Radyo DZBB 594 kHz and Dobol B sa News TV, as well as on all RGMA Super Radyo stations nationwide.

Listeners can also tune in online via audio livestream at www.gmanetwork/radio/streaming/dzbb.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Wednesday, January 16, 2019

ACROSS 1 Bed choice 5 Lyricist — Gershwin 8 Fracas 14 Length x width 15 Grandee’s title 16 Like some debts 17 Do KP work 18 Geisha’s accessory 19 Pilot lights 20 Not at all tactful 23 Physicist Nikola — 24 Computer key 25 Wild ducks 29 Sweater letter 31 Taylor, to fans 33 Mattress support 34 Repeating 38 Make candles 40 Dined on 41 Namath or Montana 42 Half a pair 43 Plumbing bend 44 Ernesto Guevara 45 Pixie 46 Mama’s boy 47 Glossier 49 Dove’s shelter 51 Fabric meas.

53 — Diego

54 Romantic appointment 56 Italian writer 58 Fine viol.

62 Distinguish 65 Slow down 68 Pasture 69 Fit of shivering 70 Wed in haste 71 Beagle feature 72 Statistical measure 73 Tendons 74 Spiral molecule 75 Half of seis DOWN 1 Out of order 2 “Good night” girl 3 Requirements 4 Italian astronomer 5 Graven image 6 Sci-fi regular 7 Plant opposite 8 Punk hairdo feature 9 Totally dark 10 Open spots 11 Snead or Shepard 12 Tell an untruth 13 Publishing execs 21 Cookout locales 22 Tolerates

26 Partner of alas 27 Grinding machine 28 Roundup unit 30 Pester 32 Belly dance clackers 34 Throw out 35 Crayola choice 36 Sizable 37 Grammar class 39 Make happy 48 Contest hopeful 50 Get away from

52 Reached the summit 55 Hurled 57 Vast expanse 59 Strictness 60 Sky-colored 61 Regards as 63 Affixes 64 Emma’s successor on “The Avengers” 65 Home tel.

66 Yale alumnus 67 2,000 pounds

C3

"Ikaw Na Ba? The Senatorial Interview 2019" is hosted by seasoned broadcast journalist Mike Enriquez

Hollywood From C4

With Bryan Cranston as the wheelchair-bound billionaire and Kevin Hart as the man he hires to help him, The Upside is a remake of a 2011 French hit, Les Intouchables. After premiering in 2017 at the Toronto film festival, it was shelved as allegations against Weinstein multiplied; STX and Lantern Capital then bought its rights and reedited it for a broader audience, Variety reported.

While Warner Bros.’s Aquaman slipped to second place, it has surged past the $1 billion mark worldwide, the first DC comic-book film to do so since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

The weekend was good, as well, for Nicole Kidman, who co-stars in both of the top two movies.

In third place was Sony’s new release A Dog’s Way Home, which took in $11.3 million.

Bryce Dallas Howard voices the title pooch that has a series of adventures after being separated from her owner. Ashley Judd and Edward James Olmos costar.

Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse, also from Sony, continued to perform well, taking in $9 million in its fifth week out to place fourth at the box office.

It won the Best Animated Movie award at the recent Golden Globe ceremony.

Yet another Sony film, Escape Room, took in $8.9 million to garner the fifth spot. The film stars Logan Miller and Taylor Russell as part of a group facing deadly consequences when sent into an escape room. AFP

Entertainment

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

C4

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019

TV personality Amy Perez

ISAH V. RED

From left: Kapuso Concerts Program Manager Mae Zambrano, Josh Adornado, Super Tekla, Donita Nose, Golden Cañedo, GMA Regional TV Department Vice President and Head Oliver Amoroso, GMA Senior Vice President for Entertainment Group Lilybeth G. Rasonable, Julie Anne San Jose, Christian Bautista, and GMA Senior Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi Santiago–Lara during the Manila press interview for “The Sweetheart and The Balladeer: Fun Night Only”

P

OP Sweetheart Julie Anne San Jose and Romantic Balladeer Christian Bautista are kicking off the party on the local concert circuit as they banner a concert series entitled The Sweetheart and the Balladeer: Fun Night Only.

“Based on the title itself, the show is going to be a fun night,” Christian told Manila Standard in an interview.

The multiplatinum singer added that their guests Donita Nose and Super Tekla will be in charge of the fun side of the show while they provide the entertainment with their songs and performance.

“We’ll bring in the fun through songs and dance numbers. It’s a new combination that we are trying out and that what makes this show even more exciting,” he continued.

Its first leg, happening on Jan. 27 at the Iloilo Convention Center, Mandurriao, Iloilo City, is set to highlight Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival.

“It’s going to be a pre-Valentine show.

We will perform love songs for experienced people, for the innocent ones and probably for the heartbroken member of the audience,” Christian said of the concert repertoire.

For Julie Anne, the concert is going to be a must-watch event to start off the year counting her previous collaborations with Christian make the show even more enjoyable.

“We feel more comfortable onstage now and people would see that, there’s chemistry now given that we already know how to perform together on the concert stage. Working with him has become so much easier, too,” Julie Anne said.

Meanwhile, treating her fans with her sweet voice is special guest The Clash Grand Champion Golden Cañedo.

“It’s an honor to be part of the show. It’s going to be my first major show after The Clash and sharing the stage with my idols makes this experience more memorable and exciting,” Golden shared.

The Kapuso Concerts is a collaboration between the Network’s regional arm GMA Regional TV, GMA Entertainment Group, and GMA Pinoy TV. “2019 is definitely a big year for us here in GMA Network. We are excited to share GMA Regional TV’s major project together with GMA Entertainment Group and GMA Pinoy TV—Kapuso Concerts,” said GMA RTV Vice President and Head Oliver Amoroso. “ “This year, we are bringing the biggest and the brightest performers closer to our Kapuso viewers as we mount a series of concerts

VERY WANG NICKIE WANG Pop Sweetheart Julie Anne San Jose and The Balladeer Christian Bautista

not just all over the country but also abroad.

And bannering the first leg of world-class shows are no less Julie Anne and Christian.

And we will see them perform live during Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival, a sure treat to our Kapusong Ilonggos,” he added “We want our Kapuso viewers to enjoy quality concerts closer to where they are.

This is why we have partnered with GMA Regional TV and GMA Pinoy TV to mount Kapuso Concerts with our first leg bannered by two of the country’s best singers. Both of them have proven their power to mesmerize the concert audience either during their solo shows or concerts where they share the stage. Kapuso concertgoers should definitely look forward to this concert,” GMA Vice President for Business Development Department III Darling de Jesus Bodegon shared.

The Sweetheart and the Balladeer: Fun Night Only will have another run on Feb. 10 at The Atrium, Limketkai Center, Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro. The Clash alumnus Josh Adornado will join Christian, Julie Anne, and Donita Nose and Tekla.

Tickets are available via SM Tickets.

You may also contact (033) 329-2110, 0936-300-0243 and 0915-535-3873. *** Best when shared The New Year calls for new reasons to celebrate with Every Kind of Family, memories created over good company and even better food. With Max’s Restaurant’s latest offerings, celebrating Every Day to the Max has never been more delicious.

A classic Filipino dish served with special spin, the Adobo Ribs is made by slow-cooking a half slab until it is moist and fork-tender. It is then sweetened with onions, served with a tangy and flavorful sauce, and topped with leeks that automatically brings back memories of eating the classic adobo. Continued on C3

Live, laugh, love with FOX+ this January IN THE age of Peak Television, there is a show for everybody in every circumstance and from all walks of life. Video-streaming service FOX+ has a great lineup of hit shows and its featured shows for the New Year is a testament to the wide range of stories, emotions, and experiences that subscribers to can look forward to this year.

The Passage Whenever there is a Top Secret U.S. government experiment, one can expect that things will go spectacularly wrong. The Passage’s Project Noah is no different. It is a secret medical facility where they experimented with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all diseases, but at the same time, it has the potential to wipe out all of mankind (of course). A botched experiment resulted in a group of dangerous death row inmates into vicious vampires.

The series, which premiered on Jan. 15, focuses on a young orphan girl, Amy Bellafonte, who was chosen to be a test subject and the one person who would be able to stop the ensuing crisis.

SMILF The second season of SMILF, premiering on Jan. 21, finds Bridgette trying to move forward and focusing on her future. At the same time, she fights against old ghosts and atone for the things that she’s done wrong in the past.

Meanwhile, her mother, Tutu, is dealing with her own problem: a co-dependent younger sister Jackie.

Ex-boyfriend and baby daddy Rafi and his girlfriend Nelson’s relationship is going strong. Larry’s unconventional birth is revealed.

World’s Funniest Videos: Top 10 Countdown season 2 and 3 Sometimes all you need is a good laugh to get through the day. This is why World’s Funniest Videos, which premiered on Jan. 9, is still very much appreciated these days.

Get ready for another compendium of laugh-out-loud shocking, ridiculous, and oftentimes heartwarming binge this January.

Amy Perez finds time to look better than ever SHE may be one of the busiest and most visible television artists in show business today, but Amy Perez has become a master in striking a balance between her profession and personal life.

While successfully juggling her time among ABS-CBN shows Umagang Kay Ganda early morning, Sakto” on DZMM later, and It’s Showtime at noon, Amy (would you believe?) is still able to find time to take real good care of her family.

What’s surprising is that even in with that kind of schedule, she does not lose sight of the importance of taking care of herself. Amy, is turning 50 this year, and she understands her responsibility towards her audience and that goes with the awareness that she has to look good, always.

Her very busy schedule gets in the way of whatever she tries to make herself the look the best she could possibly be.

Time to seek the help of a friend who can do wonders for people like her. And that’s Dr. Vicki Belo of the Belo Medical Group (BMG) whom she turns to for all her beauty concerns.

She says, “Dr. Belo would see me from time to time, check my skin and recommend treatments. She tells me about sagging areas on my face and body or when I need to be hydrated. Wednesdays are my days in Belo clinic. It’s my metime. I like that I am being pampered in the clinic.”

It is during these one-on-ones with Dr. Belo that Amy was advised to try Belo’s new non-surgical treatment called Kinetic Facelift. Amy describes her experience, “basically parang hangin na may dalang serum na mabilis na ini-infuse sa skin mo para mag-tighten at mag-lift. The serums help in skin remodeling while the Kinetic energy helps in skin tightening. The results are instant. I was back at work the next day.

I loved it. The results can last up to a year.”

Amy is very thankful for this procedure.

“I am always on TV and my calendar is so hectic. It’s really important that I get treatments that are quick but with lasting results and with very minimal or no downtime at all. Kinetic Facelift is really good,” she said.

Other than this, Amy says she is back with her personal beauty regimen of removing her make-up right away and always using Belo Sunblock everyday.

She mimics Dr. Belo’s words of wisdom, “the best anti-aging product for your skin is sunscreen.” Continued on C3

Maroon 5 announced as Super Bowl half-time performer THREE-TIME Grammy Award-winning band Maroon 5 was named Sunday as the headline act of next month’s Super Bowl 53 half-time show, a performance that has aroused controversy and protest petitions.

The league and pop music band announced they will perform in the National Football League championship spectacle on Feb. 3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

They will be joined by Atlanta native Big Boi and Grammynominated rapper Travis Scott.

Maroon 5 had been long rumored to be playing the feature slot on one of the most watched US television shows of any year.

But it comes after more than 75,000 people signed an online petition for the band not to play the Super Bowl to support Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who started kneeling protests during pre-game US anthem performances as a way to protest racial and social injustice and police brutality.

Kaepernick, a former star for the San Francisco 49ers, has not played in the league since 2016. He filed a grievance against the NFL and club owners last year, claiming they have conspired not to hire him.

US President Donald Trump made the kneeling protest a major issue, calling anyone who did it a “son of a bitch” and saying they should be fired.

Other artists reportedly turned down the halftime show in support of Kaepernick.

Billboard reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources, that Scott signed on to perform only after the NFL agreed to join him in donating to a social justice cause.

Past Super Bowl performers have included Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Madonna,

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine

Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, U2 and Michael Jackson. AFP ***

Weinstein’s ‘The Upside’ beats ‘Aquaman’ at the tills IN A movie era dominated by thrillers and superheroes, few saw this coming: the weekend’s top box-office draw in North America was The Upside, the story of a wealthy quadriplegic and his ex-convict caregiver.

STX’s The Upside—one of the last films made by Harvey Weinstein before sexual abuse allegations brought his Hollywood career crashing down—took in an estimated $19.6 million for the three-day period, ending the three-week reign of Aquaman, which earned $17.3 million, according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations. Continued on C3