Manila Standard - 2019 January 23 - Wednesday

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VOL. XXXII • NO. 342 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

GIANT VISTA. Workers are on the double making a giant mural painting design outside a commercial building along EDSA in Quezon City as an additional attraction to the building’s customers, their families and friends. Lino Santos

MILF: Huge challenge ahead US bans temporary work visa for Pinoys

By Rey E. Requejo and Nat Mariano THE United States has imposed a one-year ban on temporary work visas for Filipinos seeking jobs, citing “severe” overstaying and human trafficking concerns.

The ban, in effect from Jan. 19, 2019 to Jan. 18, 2020, covers H-2A visas for agricultural workers and H-2B visas for non-agricultural workers.

“Nearly 40 percent of H-2B visa

holders from the Philippines overstayed their period of authorized stay,” the US Federal Register said in a statement, citing 2017 data.

The ban is in effect from Jan. 19, 2019 to Jan. 18, 2020.

In its advisory published in the Federal Register, the US Department of Homeland Security said the US Embassy in Manila issued the “greatest number of T-derivative visas (T-2, T-3, T-4, T-5, T-6), which are reserved for certain family members of principal T-1 nonimmigrants

[certain victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons].”

“US Embassy Manila issued approximately 40 percent of the total T-derivative visas issued worldwide from FY 2014-2016,” it said.

“A recent review of certain T-1 status recipients, whose spouses were issued T-2 visas during this same period, shows that approximately 60 percent were determined to have been trafficked to the United States on H-2B visas,” the DHS said.

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Criminal liability bill draws flak

Murad upbeat on vote results even as Comelec defers count

BOL wins over 79% of Muslims, says SWS

By Nat Mariano and Nash B. Maulana

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ITH the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law done, Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief Ebrahim Murad said the next great hurdle will be “the struggle against ourselves.”

By Nat Mariano MOST of the Muslims it polled favored the approval of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in the plebiscite, according to the latest survey by Social Weather Stations.

In the survey released Monday night, SWS said 79 percent of the Muslims it polled approved the BOL, with 67 percent definitely pushing for its

“We really see this as a really huge challenge because from being revolutionaries, we will be transforming into governance. That will be very challenging because many of us have never been in government,” Murad said.

“Our hardest struggle will be the

struggle against ourselves.”

Murad said despite their inexperience, members of his group have long prepared for the day they drop their weapons and begin governing the region.

Despite the hard road ahead, Next page

Next page

By Rio N. Araja and Macon RamosAraneta THE Commission on Human Rights and non-government organizations on Tuesday denounced the approval of a bill lowering the age of criminal liability for heinous crimes to 9.

Commissioner Karen Dumpit said any amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act would only violate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, and other international laws and standards.

“The measure would not only regress but would reverse the trajectory toward the fulfillment of children’s rights,” she said.

Another CHR commissioner, Leah Armamento, said the government was incapable of providing facilities to house children-inconflict-with-the-law (CICLs) if Next page

High court tells DBM to explain pay hike delay

By Rey E. Requejo

PIG STAMP. Postmaster General Joel Otarra holds the newly released stamps for the Year of the Pig during the launching of the stamp exhibit titled ‘Spring’—a voyage to the lunar year—at the riverside Manila Central Post Office. Norman Cruz

Bikini climber freezes to death TAIPEI—Taiwanese rescue teams were trying Tuesday to retrieve the body of a dead hiker who became famous on social media for taking Next page

Fil-Am makes AGT history

By Nickie Wang FILIPINO-AMERICAN Angelica Hale has made history in the reality singing competition “America’s Got Talent” on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) for earning two Golden Buzzer wins.

The 11-year-old singer, a kidney transplant survivor, Next page

THE Supreme Court on Tuesday required the Budget department to comment on the petition seeking to compel it to release the fourth and final tranche of the salary increases that government workers were supposed to receive in the last payday.

The high court ordered the department and its head, Benjamin Diokno, to answer the petition filed by 50 government personnel led by Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya.

The group sought the immediate implementation of Next page

BUT HOW INDEED? With party watchers and election committee officials around, how in the polling precinct can the accused (hidden center and not seen) cast multiple votes as alleged by people already physically attacking him Tuesday in Cotabato—during the vote on giving the Muslim minority greater control over the region. AFP

Alvarez top House spender in ‘17

By Maricel V. Cruz

FORMER Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s office was the biggest spender among all members of the House of Representatives in 2017, according to a Commission on Audit report published

4 Fil-Canadians win sculpting tilt CALGARY—Four Filipino-Canadians won the First International Snow-Sculpting Competition hold during the Snow Days Festival held in Banff in Alberta, Canada on Jan. 17-19, 2019.

Couples Ross and Marites Baisas and Antonio and Maria Elena Baisas, known Next page

on Tuesday.

The report, which showed an itemized list of amounts paid to and expenses incurred for each House member from January to December 2017, showed that Alvarez’s office spent P43.7 million Next page that year.

News

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Budget transparency pushed

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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HE chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday vowed to push for “full transparency” in the bicameral conference deliberations on the 2019 national budget.

Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., the panel’s chairman, made the statement as select senators and congressmen met Tuesday to come up with the final version of this year’s proposed P3.757trillion national budget.

“We are working overtime to pass the 2019 national budget. Now that it has entered the Bicameral Conference phase, it is now on its last mile of preparation,” Andaya said.

“This refutes the repeated lies peddled that the House wants a reenacted budget when all our actions prove that we want a

‘Amang‘ weakens into LPA, induces rain in south

TROPICAL Depression Amang has weakened into a low pressure area but will continue to bring rain over parts of the country on Tuesday.

In its 4 a.m. weather bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the LPA was last spotted 195 kilometers east northeast of Virac, Catanduanes.

Bicol Region, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, Davao Region, and the provinces of Camiguin, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms due to the trough of the LPA. Meanwhile, Cagayan Valley, Aurora, Quezon, Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon and the Visayas will have cloudy skies with light rains caused by the northeast monsoon.

Fisherfolk and small seacraft are advised not to venture out the seaboards of Northern Luzon and eastern sections of Central Luzon, Southern Luzon and Visayas due to the surge of northeast monsoon.

The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers due to localized thunderstorms.

Temperature in Metro Manila ranges from 23-30 degrees Celsius; Tuguegarao City, 21-29 degrees Celsius; Baguio City, 13-24 degrees Celsius; Angeles City, 23-31 degrees Celsius; Lipa City, 23-29 degrees Celsius; Metro Cebu, 2431 degrees Celsius; Metro Davao, 25-31 degrees Celsius. PNA

Fil-Am...

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previously finished second place in “AGT” in 2017 where she earned her first Golden Buzzer, which catapulted her right to the show’s final round.

The popular singing competition returned with 10 former winners and standout acts from different “AGT” editions from around the world. Among the contestants are opera singer Paul Potts, who claimed victory in the first season of “Britain’s Got Talent” back in 2007, Scottish singer Susan Boyle, who went viral after her performance in Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, and rock opera singer Cristina Ramos, who won “Spain’s Got Talent” in 2016.

During her performance, Hale sang a cover of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song,” earning her a standing ovation from the audience and the show judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Mel B., and Simon Cowell.

“You are amongst champions. You show up and you lift the ceiling off this theater.

That was your fight song and if I can do anything, I will do anything to help you win this fight,” Mandel said seconds before he pressed the golden buzzer for Hale.

Dumbfounded, Hale was in tears when she thanked the TV host, “I can’t believe this is actually happening to me. I wanted to thank you so much. This is a dream come true.”

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as Team Baisas, won the contest for their snow sculpture called “Tangle”, which depicted two moose with inter-locking antlers.

Team Baisas bested five other international competitors by winning both the First Place (Judges’ Pick) and the People’s Choice Awards.

“Tangle” is now on display at Bear Street in Banff.

Brothers Ross and Antonio come from a family of wood carvers from Paete, Laguna. Antonio came to Canada in 1996, followed by Ross in 2002. Antonio and Maria Elena are now residents of Ottawa, while Ross and Marites are based in Montreal.

The Snow Days celebration is a 12-daylong annual event highlighting the winter season in Banff National Park in Alberta.

The event’s main attractions are the massive snow sculptures in downtown Banff.

During their stay in Banff for the snowsculpting competition, Team Baisas received support from the Filipino Community in Banff, led by the Filipino-Canadian Community Association in the Rockies and the Calgary-based Dyaryo Filipino.

new one,” said Andaya, who then led the House committee on rules that probed the alleged irregularities in the budget preparation involving Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

In other developments: • Senator Loren Legarda, head of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the Senate was ready for a bicameral meeting and was just waiting for the House for a schedule to reconcile the differences in their respective versions of the 2019 national budget.

Legarda said the 2019 national budget

BOL...

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approval and 12 percent somewhat favoring the approval.

However, 14 percent of those polled expressed ambivalence on the matter, with four percent saying they did not want the BOL and three percent saying they disapproved of it.

“This gives a net approval score of +72,” the SWS said in its report.

“Compared to other religions, net approval of the BOL was +15 among the Iglesia ni Cristo, +10 among Catholics,and +9 among Other Christians.”

SWS also found that 78 percent of the Muslim respondents said they had knowledge of the BOL. With the latest figure, only 10 percent said they knew about the BOL extensively, 35 percent had partial but sufficient knowledge, and 33 percent only had little knowledge of the BOL. On the other hand, 22 percent said they had almost no knowledge of the BOL. Meanwhile, 65 percent of the Catholics said they had at least a little knowledge of the BOL, 61 percent of the Iglesia ni Cristo members knew about it and 61 percent of the Other Christians did.

Out of those polled, those with at least partial but sufficient knowledge of the BOL were highest among Muslims at 45 percent, followed by Catholics at 22 percent, Christians at 22 percent, and Iglesia ni Cristo members at 17 percent.

The survey also found that 76 percent of the Muslims it polled said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was capable of governing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Out of the 76 percent, 56 percent believed the MILF was definitely capable of governing the BARMM, with 21 percent believing they were somewhat capable and eight percent saying they were not capable.

Also, roughly one percent said the MILF was somewhat not capable, with seven percent saying they were definitely not capable and 16 percent saying they were undecided about the matter.

“This gives a net capability score of +68,” SWS said.

“This is higher compared to Catholics at +8, Other Christians at -2, and the Iglesia ni Cristo at -6.”

Compared to other areas, the net approval score of BOL was 17 percent in the Visayas, 16 percent in Balance Luzon and 13 percent in Metro Manila.

Across Mindanao, 30 percent of adults polled said the MILF was capable of governing the BARMM, while 38 percent said they were incapable. The remaining 32 percent were undecided.

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The DHS also said it was “concerned about the high volume of trafficking victims from the Philippines who were originally issued H-2B visas and the potential that continued H-2B visa issuance may encourage or serve as an avenue for future human trafficking from the Philippines.”

Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic were also removed from the list of nationalities eligible to work in the US. The Palace said it would have to respect the one-year ban on the entry of Filipino workers.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that if the US has basis for removing Filipino workers from its eligibility list, then the Philippines would have to abide by its decision.

High court...

From A1 the salary adjustment schedule even if the government was using a reenacted budget due to the delayed passage of the General Appropriations Act for this year.

Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said the high court gave the respondents 10 days from receipt of the notice to file their comment.

In its petition filed on Jan. 14, Andaya’s group said the release of the fourth tranche under Executive Order 201 signed by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2016 should be a ministerial duty on the part of the Budget department.

The petitioners cited two alternatives to cover the P42.7 billion necessary for the fourth tranche of increases―the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and the savings from the reenacted 2018 budget.

They said the MPBF currently had P99.446 billion, which was “allowed to be used for the payment of personal benefits such as deficiencies in authorized salaries, bonuses, allowances, associated premiums and similar personnel benefits of National

would continue to give priority to education, health care, livelihood and employment and social services.

“We hope to be able to immediately reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions so that we may approve the budget within the remaining session days that we have,” Legarda said.

• In just three minutes, the Senate unanimously adopted a new version of a bill that will abolish the graft-tainted Road Board, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Tuesday.

The approved measure, he said, will be sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature, and hopefully by next week or at the latest by the first week of February.

The new version of House Bill 7436 was approved by the House on third and final reading and was later transmitted to the Senate.

Andaya led the House contingent for the bicameral conference committee meeting

MILF: Huge...

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Murad said they are hopeful the MILF’s grievances and aspirations will be finally addressed.

“This is now the start of that process. This is the final stage of the process. After this, we will be establishing our government that will take care our needs and the needs of our people,” Murad said after voting “yes” in the plebiscite.

“With this, we call everybody to pray that we will succeed,” he added.

The Palace expressed hope that a peaceful and progressive Bangsamoro region will develop following the ratification of the BOL. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the recent survey results show the Bangsamoro people have had enough of war, terrorism, and poverty.

“They hunger for peace and thirst for development in Mindanao. And the initial unofficial tally of the votes in the plebiscite appears to validate the survey results,” Panelo said in a statement on Tuesday, welcoming the recent survey results.

“We hope that the aspiration of our Muslim brothers and sisters for a peaceful and progressive Bangsamoro region will commence its realization following the ratification of the BOL,” he added.

Canvassing of votes for the Bangsamoro Organic Law was deferred on Tuesday after the Commission on Elections did not receive any certificates of canvass from Mindanao.

Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas convened the National Plebiscite Board of Canvassers but immediately called for an adjournment when no COCs arrived at the poll body’s main office in Intramuros, Manila.

Canvassing should begin Wednesday as soon as the COCs arrive, Abas said.

The first day of BOL plebiscite was conducted Monday in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Isabela City, and Cotabato City. The next plebiscite date is Feb. 6, which will cover Lanao del Norte (except Iligan City) and six towns in North Cotabato.

The government is pinning its hopes on the BOL to end decades of conflict in Mindanao that have killed more than 100,000 people.

The Comelec said that more than 2 million registered voters in two Muslim-majority areas of Mindanao participated in the referendum that would create a self-governing area called the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

In Cotabato City where the voting is expected to be close, the Plebiscite Board of Canvassers had counted 20,836 “no” votes against 27,168 “yes” votes, with 214 out of a total 374 precincts canvassed.

ABS-CBN reported that in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, the quick count showed an overwhelming number of “yes” votes.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III he was confident that Mindanao would fi-

Criminal...

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the bill to lower the ageof criminal liability is enacted into a law.

While the bill requires the establishment of 114 holding centers for CICLs, there are only 58 Bahay Pag-asa youth centers or “houses of hope” right now, she said.

A Bahay Pag-asa center is a 24-hour child-caring institution established, funded and managed by local government units and licensed or accredited non-government organizations providing short-term residential care for CICL who are above 15 but below 18 while awaiting court disposition of their cases or transfer to other agencies or jurisdictions.

Armamento said the present youth facilities fail to meet the required standards due to a lack of funds.

The Council for the Welfare of Children, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, Unchain Children, Civil Society Coalition on the Conven-

Alvarez...

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Of the amount, P30.4 million was spent on “contractual consultants” but Alvarez had yet to comment on the matter as of press time.

The amount included the expenses for basic salaries, foreign travels, chairmanship allocations, district/field staff allocations, representation, consultative local travels, communication, supplies, public affairs funds, central office staff, other MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) and equipment and furniture/ fixtures.

The list was published through an advertisement that came out in a broadsheet.

Next to Alvarez was PBA Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles who spent P23.4 million in 2017.

on the budget measure along with Reps.

Maria Carmen Zamora of Compostella Valley, Rodante Marcoleta of SAGIP party-list, Edcel Lagman of Albay, Federico Sandoval II of Malabon, Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado of Bulacan, Yedda MarieRomualdez of Leyte, Corazon NuñezMalanyaon of Davao Oriental, Arthur Yap of Bohol, Jesus Romualdo of Camiguin and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez of Quezon.

As to the proposed amendments of the Senate to the budget bill, Andaya said, “we are confident in finding a common ground that will benefit the people and fund the progress that they deserve. No healthy difference on policy questions is irreconcilable.

“I have made my position clear. The House contingent will push for full transparency in the bicameral conference deliberations. We know that our senators want the same.” nally shed its history of conflict and enter an age of peace and progress.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said that based on a partial and unofficial quick count of the Bangsamoro Free Election Movement (BFEM), a Comelec-accredited citizen’s arm, the “yes” votes in the ARMM totaled 657,113, as opposed to only 49,304 “no” votes.

He added that the voter turnout of at least 70 percent was higher than the plebiscites held in 1989 and 2001.

With the exception of Isabela City and Sulu Province where the “no” votes have a slim margin over “yes” votes, all other provinces and cities in the ARMM have voted “yes” resoundingly, Zubiri said.

“Today we witnessed an exceptionally high voter turnout of at least 70 percent of registered voters, and for that, I congratulate the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and the Comelec for their serious efforts at intensive dissemination of information in all affected political units and sectoral organizations. We know that our brothers and sisters in Muslim Mindanao will choose the path of just, lasting and dignified peace,” he said.

In Cotabato City, the MILF began a massive clearing operation Tuesday to remove posters and tarpaulins in areas of the Jan. 21 plebiscite, except those put up on orders of Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi and Maguindanao Rep. Bai Sandra Sema.

Sammy Gambar Al-Mansoor, chairman of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party, said he was personally leading the clearing operation to rid the city of plebiscite propaganda materials. There will be similar operation in the areas of the ARMM, he said.

Al-Mansoor said both women, his close kin, personified the tough stance that people took on the BOL as they both held their ground.

Sema said she voted “yes” for the future of the Bangsamoro, showing off a right index finger with the indelible ink voting mark at the Sero Elementary School where she cast her vote.

Guiani-Sayadi declared she voted “no” as she emerged from a voting precinct at the Cotabato City Institute, a few meters from the Guiani ancestral home on Parang road and R.S. Buan Street.

Mohaguer Iqbal, chairman of the MILF Panel of Normalization, said the “yes” vote was phenomenal and “unstoppable, much like the ascension of then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency.”

From figures tabulated by the UBJP Legal Team showed the “yes” vote was leading.

Sema said she will be leaving on Jan. 26 for Riyadh on an economic and trade mission of the House of Representatives in a first bold step to open BARMM to foreign business investments.

“The BOL is just a piece of paper. Let us put substance into it by inviting potential investors from the rich Arab world,” Sema said. tion on the Rights of the Child, Philippine Action for Youth and Offenders, United Nations Children’s Fund [Unicef], Psychological Association of the Philippines [PA] and Child Rights Network also challenged the House of Representatives’ committee on justice for the approving the bill to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 9 from the current 15 years.

Margarita Ardivilla, Unicef-Philippines child protection specialist, told “News to Go” on GMA-7 that the bill, if passed, could do more harm than good to a child offender.

“There is a need for a further study.

What is the ratio in the number of the social workers against those children?” she asked.

“There is a serious shortfall of resources.

There has to be a point where[in] the government has to make a study and... evaluate.

They [lawmakers] must know how much is needed, and how to go about in increasing good practices,” she said.

With Nat Mariano and Vito Barcelo Nograles defended the expenditures. He said apart from being a party-list representative, he had also been designated Caretaker-Representative of the first district of Sulu following the death of Rep. Tupay Loon in July 2016.

“I am a Party-list Representative and Caretaker-Representative of the 1st District of Sulu. Travel and operating expenses always increase the further you are from Manila,” Nograles said in a text message.

He was followed by Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang of Kalinga, with P22.2 million, and former DIWA party-list representatives and Justice Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay, P20.4 million. Aglipay is the wife of Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.

The office of Rep. Nancy Catamco of North Cotabato was fifth on the list, with P20.06 million.

Palace: Nothing wrong with Rody praising bets

By Nat Mariano THERE is nothing wrong with endorsing and praising senatorial candidates, Malacañang said on Tuesday, as it defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated endorsement of his three favorite Senate bets.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that the President’s allies present in his engagements just happen to be there, belying claims that Duterte “intentionally” turns his presidential activities as an avenue to campaign his bets.

“The assumption that he brings candidates is incorrect. He doesn’t bring candidates. Those candidates happened to be there. These candidates are very creative, they know the schedule of the President, so they go there,” Panelo said in a Palace press briefing.

“If he doesn’t see them, he doesn’t say anything. If you notice in his speeches, it’s continuous, but he stops and says, ‘Oh.’ If he sees you then he will say something good. He’s like that, so it’s not intentional on his part,” he said.

According to Panelo, there are other senatorial candidates who are present in Duterte’s activities, but the President has kept mum about them.

“This President, if he doesn’t want you or he doesn’t want to mention your name, he doesn’t do it,” Panelo said.

Asked if the candidates should stay away from the activities of the President, Panelo said: “You cannot stop them.”

“They’re citizens of this country.

There’s no prohibition to be attending functions and events, In fact, if I were a candidate, I would do it too,” he said.

“Comelec [Commission on Elections] has said there’s no violation in endorsing. And even then, he [Duterte] only stresses the qualities of the person,” Panelo added.

The Palace official also explained that the upcoming midterm polls would not be considered as a referendum on the performance of Duterte.

“To me, even if an opposition candidate wins, the message is, the President has the approval of an overwhelming majority of Filipinos. If they made you win, that means you were voted to support the President, not contradict him,” Panelo said.

“The logic will be, if you are voted into office, then the mandate for you is to cooperate with this president because we like what is he doing,” he added.

In his previous speeches, Duterte frequently endorsed the Senate bid of former Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, former presidential adviser on political affairs Francis Tolentino, and former top aide Christopher “Bong” Go.

Duterte duns Congress for P30-m bounty PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday chided Congress for not yet releasing the promised P30-million bounty for the capture of the killers of the late AKO Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe.

In his speech during the annual assembly of the Provincial Union of Leaders against Illegality, the President revealed he was the only one who released money in exchange for information on the killers of the slain lawmaker.

“In the Batocabe slay, the Congress has published to put up P30 million. So, I thought I should round off this and said, ‘Let’s make it P50 million. I will add P20 [million] for it to become P50 million.’ By the mercy of God, I was the only one who delivered the P20 million,” Duterte said in his speech.

“And Congress has not given the money yet. But me, after the arrest, I immediately gave it. I told [Philippine National Police chief Oscar] Albayalde, ‘You take care of this,’” he said.

Duterte said Congress should make good on its promise.

Batocabe was assassinated on Dec. 22 after attending a gift-giving ceremony for senior citizens in Daraga. Nat Mariano

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selfies on top of mountain peaks dressed in a bikini.

Gigi Wu—dubbed the “Bikini Climber” by fans—used a satellite phone on Saturday to tell friends she had fallen down a ravine in Taiwan’s Yushan national park and badly injured herself.

Rescue helicopters struggled to reach her because of bad weather and officials eventually located her lifeless body on Monday.

“The weather conditions in the mountains are not good, we have asked our rescuers to move the body to a more open space and after the weather clears we will make a request for a helicopter to bring the body down,” Lin Cheng-yi, from the Nantou County Fire and Rescue Services, told reporters.

Officials said Wu had told friends she was unable to move the lower half of her body after a fall of some 20-30 metres (65-100 feet) but was able to give her coordinates. AFP

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Where is change?

TOWARD the end of last year I wrote that 2019 will be a reckoning of sorts for President Duterte. People will be asking whether he has delivered on his promise of change.

Recall that this promise was anchored on the situation on illegal drugs and corruption.

Indeed the President marked his first year in office with his bloody war on drugs. Police records show that about 5,000 have died. However, unofficial estimates show that the real number

This year will be a year of reckoning for Mr. Duterte.

could be twice or thrice that.

So has the President succeeded in enforcing law and order? Has he succeeded in curbing corruption as well?

Santa Banana, when we say peace and order, we do not just refer to the problem of illegal drugs. It’s multi-faceted. For example, there is insurgency, and there is terrorism.

The war on drugs will not end, not even upon the end of Mr. Duterte’s term. The menace of illegal drugs is a health issue.

The President himself said that there are three million to four - million drug users in the Philippines. Does he mean that he will not stop until every one of them is dead?

The issue is simply one of supply and demand. For as long as there is demand, drugs will keep coming in. And with the kind of Customs we have, smuggling is a sunshine industry.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

This is why I have been calling on the President to prioritize communitybased rehabilitation centers. True rehabilitation hinges on family support.

On corruption, Mr. Duterte must now realize that corruption will not end so long as there is human intervention and discretion in government functions.

The President must have realized by now that corruption is embedded in government activities. He can only reduce it.

This year is an election year, and the President wants to have his favorite candidates win. If the people are satisfied with his performance, then perhaps these candidates will win. *** The passing of Henry Sy Sr., the richest Filipino and founder of the SM conglomerate, reminds me also of the passing of two others—Al Yuchengco of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., and George SK Ty of Metrobank.

As a journalist of nearly seven decades, I knew them all personally. I knew they shared the same vision for a better Philippines and education for all. They have one thing in common.

Given all their blessings, they always, always gave back to the people.

During the 1950s, when I was president of the Business Writers Association of the Philippines, Yuchengco was named Young Insurance Man of the Year. He was a personal friend, and he always gave me the opportunity to brief his companies of business prospects every beginning of the year.

Ty was also a personal friend. At the time he made me a judge of his annual “Best Teacher of the Year” and many other awards. His philanthropic activities were legendary. *** Makati City councilors allied to former Mayor Junjun Binay have become bottlenecks to the many projects of reelectionist Mayor Abby Binay.

They have been making the 2019 budget hostage as they try to derail

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Implausible denial

HE Palace has denied having a hand in the removal of Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya as House majority leader but the political realities suggest otherwise.

Over the last few weeks, Andaya has been unrelentingly vocal about allegations that Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno made P75 billion in questionable insertions in the 2019 national budget.

Using his committee on rules, Andaya launched an investigation into the budget process, and accused Diokno of using his influence to favor a contractor owned by his in-laws. He has also chided Diokno for turning the Department of Budget and Management into a “super bidding body” that has bid out P198 billion in big-ticket infrastructure projects on behalf of other departments.

While Diokno has denied these allegations, Andaya has not been

shy about taking his accusations public through press conferences and a regular stream of public statements.

The public accusations not only embarrassed the administration, but also delayed the approval of the 2019 spending plan.

Predictably, a Palace spokesman denied suggestions that the executive branch had a hand in Andaya’s removal, saying it stays away from “political intramurals… in the House of Representatives” and that it respects legislative independence.

But Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo’s next sentences suggested that the Palace clearly had skin in the game.

“Now that Camarines Sur 1st District Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. formally yielded his post, we call on him to cease from waging a media propaganda war to besmirch the image and reputation of a member of the Cabinet before the court of public opinion,” Panelo said in a statement.

“If he has problems with the current Budget secretary, we

hope that he would look for an appropriate venue by just filing a case against him in the court of law.”

The Palace point is well taken, of course. There is a difference between a public disclosure of irregularities and an orchestrated, prolonged campaign to smear a person—and it often seemed that the former majority leader had crossed that line. And if those accusations are real, Andaya has a duty to bring them to court.

But the Palace denial of any role in the affair strains credulity, given the removal last year of the previous Speaker of the House, who had made the miscalculation of crossing the President’s daughter.

Plausible deniability is a term that describes how a clandestine operation is carried out in such a way that knowledge of its existence may be denied by those in authority. Given the circumstances surrounding Andaya’s sudden removal, the latest denial from the Palace surely has wandered into the realm of the implausible.

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Lowering the bar for criminal liability THE House justice committee approved the measure to lower the age of criminal liability to age nine. Often, child criminals are used by crime syndicates for their nefarious activities because when caught, these young offenders are mostly turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development and a halfway house called Bahay Pagasa.

In 2018 alone, some 5,000 minors were arrested and booked for engaging in various petty and serious crimes.

Studies made by DSWD officials and sociologists showed very few of these child criminals are reformed when committed to less restrictive confinement. Many of them go back to their former handlers to commit more serious crimes.

At present, the age of criminal liability is 17. Senate President Tito Sotto and other senators have made known their opposition to the House bill. They prefer lowering the age barrier to 12 or 14 years old.

Vice President Leni Robredo found the new age limit of nine too drastic.

She says it diminishes the children’s capacity for reform as they are deprived of time and space while under detention.

The senators are concerned that putting more children in jail would further congest the country’s detention facilities and mixing the minors with hardened criminals is like sending them to a finishing school of crime.

To this I say: Lowering the age of liability of children who commit crimes is decriminalizing further offenses against the community. The legislators

who passed the measure are themselves committing a criminal act against the ordinary citizens. Often, the out-ofschool youth criminals are engaged in house break-ins. snatching of cellphones and purses. Some are deployed by drug syndicates as distributors and runners.

Certain legal quarters believe parents should shoulder the acts of their errant children while others suggest a heavier penalty of imprisonment on hardened criminals and syndicates who use these children as ploys for their crimes. Par-

The legislators who passed the measure are themselves committing a criminal act against the ordinary citizens.

ents have a moral responsibility to keep their children in school instead of letting them be taken in by lawless elements who then become their father figure who lead them into a life of crime.

Postmortem on Pacquiao-Broner Defeated challenger Adrien Broner, in the post-fight interview, insisted that he won the fight against Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao.

What? Broner’s brains must been badly shaken up after many power punches to the head from Pacquiao. Fight fans that included myself (who watched the bout at a Greenbelt pub which put up a 46-inch TV screen outside)booed in disbelief at Broner’s comments. Actually, if Turn to A5

The dream maker AT 5 IN the morning of Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, Henry Sy Sr. woke up unusually early in his Forbes Park home in Makati.

Wake-up time was usually 7:30 a.m. He was told to go back to bed as it was still dark. He did. But he never woke up again.

“Tatang died in his sleep, peacefully,” said Teresita Sy-Coson, his eldest child and now the virtual matriarch for a $20 billion fortune. Thus ended the most amazing saga of entrepreneurship in one of Asia’s most dynamic economies, the Philippines, home to the world’s 12th largest consumer market. Henry was 94.

From an amazing rags-to-riches(t) narrative, Henry Sy passed into the realm of legends to make his people and his country proud, as well as to amaze, inspire and empower thousands of other aspiring entrepreneurs that with true grit, relentless hard work, and magisterial ambition one can produce tremendous successes— even while starting young with barely an education and/or with just—10 centavos.

Tatang Henry began doing business at 12, landing in Manila by boat in 1936 from Xiamen, with only 10 centavos in his pocket, but in search of his father and a better life. He spoke no English and no Tagalog.

His mother, Tan O Sia, had told Henry on the day of his departure, “don’t look back.”

Henry grew the 10 centavos, a pittance, into a $20 billion wealth today, making him the richest Filipino, the ninth richest in Asia and the 52nd richest in the world.

‘In good times, I do my usual work. In bad times, I work harder.’

In the Philippines, he had no equal.

The next richest Filipino, of Span Spanish descent, only has $4.8 billion, most of it inherited third-generation wealth.

Today, Sy’s holding company, SM Investments Corp. is the Philippines’s largest conglomerate in market capitalization of P1.168 trillion ($22 billion).

The next biggest conglomerate has

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Opinion 26 billionaires = 3.8 billion poorest CROSSROADS JONATHAN DE LA CRUZ AS OF the end of 2018, the 26 richest persons in the world have the same wealth as the 3.8 billion poorest, half the global population. This is the gist of the report of Oxfam, the global charity group, released last week as the world’s political and business leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum.

That this was meant to shock the world specially the richest and most powerful persons and nations into action and do something about the state of poverty and inequality was not surprising. Indeed, the figures dished out appear to be solid, culled as these were from statistics churned out no less by Credit Suisse, a financial institution of note.

Indeed we should be shocked by the extent of poverty and disparities obtaining in the world. For years, the organization has been monitoring the global poverty and inequality situation. If only for the shock effect, we should already be thankful. But as it shocked, it also provided the impetus to get the world’s richest to pledge more to end this scourge, this abominable situation where billions of people barely live even in the most advanced countries, with a modicum of success.

The latest reports show that more and more of the wealthy in most countries have given billions of dollars to support a lot of worthy causes from fighting poverty and malnutrition, to medical research, to educational and training pursuits to job generation and food packs and disaster, relief and rehabilitation works. In fact, a number of those 26 wealthy persons mentioned in the Oxfam report, notably Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, initiated and signed a so-called “Giving Pledge” in 2010 meant to sign off, as it were, a good part of their earthly holdings to support various charitable, poverty uplifting and people empowerment endeavors.

Buffett, singled out as one of the best if not the best investor in America, pledged 99 percent of his known wealth valued at $53 billion to such causes.

In pledging this huge amount, Buffett

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a market cap of just $10 billion. His BDO Unibank is the largest Philippine bank with P2.89 trillion in resources (18 percent of the system), P2.34 trillion in deposits (19 percent of the system), and P568.62 billion in market cap, making it the most valuable local bank.

Henry’s retail network is formidable —71 malls, visited, on a good day, by six-million people; 2,212 retail outlets, and 1,843 bank branches.

In the first nine months of 2018, SMIC had revenues of P307.4 billion (on track for P409 billion sales whole year), and profits of P26.2 billion (P35 billion if annualized). In 2017, SMIC was the Philippines’ fourth largest in sales (P396.15 billion) and fourth most profitable (P51.5 billion).

In 1936, Henry spent half of his 10 centavos to buy a loaf of bread in the boat. But he fell ill because it had butter.

Fortunately, he befriended another boy who found P20 lying on the boat’s deck.

That sustained them during the perilous journey.

When young Henry first saw his father, he cried. “There has to be a better life than this,” Henry told me in one interview eight years ago. His father’s store in Calle Echague was no larger than two square meters. It was multi-functional—a store by day, a bed by night, with the same table where goods were displayed serving as bed by nightfall. Every morning his father bought goods in Divisoria and carried them barefoot to Echague. It was backbreaking unrelenting work.

From his father, Henry learned one

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said: “In my entire lifetime, everything that I’ve spent will be quite a bit less than 1 percent of everything I make.

The other 99 percent plus will go to others because it has no utility to me.

So it’s silly for me to not transfer that utility to people who can use it.” So far, this kind of thinking has animated close to 193 wealthy persons pledging close to $700 billion for humanitarian causes.

That amount is nothing to sneer at and it is expected to even get bigger as more and more wealth is created worldwide giving more leeway to persons of value to give more to charities like OXFAM. If only for that the shock reports which this organization dishes out every year should be most welcome indeed.

We should focus on those living in the worst conditions.

But shocking and pledging, though necessary to awaken the world’s conscience, are not enough if we are to have a truly equitable, sustainable and empowering future. In fact, this report has taken fire from various sectors for “not telling all of the story” on the state of poverty and inequality in the world. A number of economists and scholars including the noted Swedish scholar Johan Norberg, a fellow of the conservative, US based Cato Institute, had a scathing retort to Oxfam’s report.

Noted these critics: “The problem is Oxfam telling the wrong story. They blame Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg’s big bank accounts for everything from Brexit to Trump. They argue that increasing returns to those at the top is to blame for poverty at the bottom. And that we must fundamentally change our economic model to fix this. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Neoliberal reforms, where markets are opened up, regulations are scrapped and property rights enforced, have delivered dramatic progress in the fight against poverty. From India and Bangladesh to China and Vietnam, the story

thing—the importance of discipline, hard work, and good credit.

Henry was born in Xiamen, China, on Oct. 25, 1924, as Sy Chi Sieng (in Chinese “to attain ultimate success”).

The village was Ang-khue in the Diengho municipality of Jinjiang country.

Sy Siu Tek, Henry’s father, was a diligent trader who sailed to Manila for better opportunities. He had put up a small business and remitted money back to Xiamen.

Henry attended Grade 1 at the AngloChinese School in Quiapo but he was in such hurry he asked his teacher how he could speed up schooling. The reply: Have a grade of 90. He did. He finished grade school in five years, at the top of his class, remarkable given that he had no textbooks and could only afford second-hand ones.

By 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Sys already had two stores, which happily were spared of war-induced looting. Under Japanese rule, Henry, now 17, got a bike and busied himself doing the buying and selling for the two stores. “In good times, I do my usual work. In bad times, I work harder.”

After the Battle of Manila, one of his two stores was razed, the other looted.

The city was in ruins. His father left Manila and back to China.

By the time the war ended in Manila, Henry had saved a few hundred pesos.

He found a new business hub—Plaza Miranda. He began buying cigarettes by the cartons from American GIs and selling them by the pack, making a peso per pack. He also went into selling scrap metal and other odds and ends.

Later, with rented space from Don Vicente Rufino on Calle Carriedo, Henry built his first store, selling

of the last three decades is freer trade and freer markets eliminating poverty.

Indeed, it’s those countries who’ve tried to do things differently that have bucked the trend. Look at Venezuela, where extreme poverty has increased since 2000 and less-extreme (but still unpleasant) poverty more than doubled in 2015.”

The story of the last 40 years is one of extraordinary achievement. Poverty has fallen dramatically. Back in 1977 nearly one in five children born would die before the age of five. It’s closer to one in forty now and still falling.

As recently as 1990, 40 percent of the world lived on less than $1.25, it’s now fallen to less than 15 percent of the world. Swedish economist Johan Norberg points out that every minute 100 people are lifted out of poverty. And here’s the kicker, on most measures inequality itself has fallen. Economist Branko Milanovic points out that over the past 20 or so years income inequality has fallen over the globe.

But rather than beating the drum for the free-market reforms pursued by so many developing countries that boost everyones’ incomes, Oxfam has chose to tell a story that assumes the pie is fixed. That increased wealth for Gates, Zuckerberg and Bezos means less wealth for everyone else. That’s simply not true, they became rich by creating products that benefit everyone.

Wealth inequality is a side effect of stability. The three biggest equalizers of wealth in British history? Two World Wars and the Black Death. Recently?

The financial crisis.

We should stop worrying about the relative gap between the richest and poorest. Instead, it should be on the absolute condition of the worst of that we focus our concern. And when it comes to improving the absolute condition of the poorest, it’s the pro-market reforms pursued in China, India, and Vietnam that Oxfam should focus on.

There is no question that the issue of poverty and inequality will animate serious debates in all nooks of the globe for years to come. Suffice it to say that reports such as Oxfam’s should give us a chance to take a long hard look at the measures which have been put in place preferably in our part of the world to ensure that we do more than talking and whining when it comes to this most critical concern of our lifetime.

anything he could. It was also his house by night. US shoe importers offered to sell him shoes by the job lot. The business prospered. With a partner, Lao Kang, he opened Plaza Shoe Store and a second, bigger store, Park Avenue Store.

Henry introduced innovations in retailing like fixed pricing, after a Filipino GI walked into one of his stores and bought a pair of shoes without haggling. Henry felt guilty the GI was overcharged.

With two stores, Henry quit night school, finishing only a two-year Associate in Commercial Science at FEU. In 1949, he got his first bank loan, P1 million, from Bank of China. Today, he owns the bank, in addition to BDO. In the 1950s and 1960s, Henry made trips to the United States to learn many things about retailing. The US had become the mecca of shopping centers, with the rise of Macy’s (1858), Sears (1893), and JC Penney (1903) following the post-war economic boom. Henry also travelled to Europe to observe the latest trends in fashion and retailing.

In 1958, Tiger Bazaar, a partnership with Francisco Chong, was renamed Shoemart. It took off. A second store, on Carriedo Street, was opened.

Henry introduced more innovations —sales girls dressed like stewardesses and very important, air-conditioning “so shoppers would feel like they are in America.”

By 1959, Henry, after nine years of marriage to Felicidad, a teenage crush, had six children—Teresita (1950), Elizabeth (1952), Henry Jr (1953), Hans (1955), Herbert (1956), and Harley (1959). They are the new management team today. biznewsasia@gmail.com

My answer is that it will not.

There are many other factors that will come into the picture. For example, Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front was not included in the BOL. Aside from the MNLF, there is also the Bangsamoro islamic Freedom Fighters.

Terrorism is in vogue in Mindanao. In fact, this gave rise to the extension of martial law there.

To expect peace and order in Mindanao is futile, even after the BOL is ratified. I say dream on. *** The passport data mess at the Department of Foreign Affairs is baloney. I wonder who started this mess.

the noteworthy projects of Mayor Abby. Don’t they realize that they are causing the people to support Abby more?

Her brother Junjun should realize that these councilors are doing him a disservice! *** People have been asking if the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law will truly spell change in Mindanao. Under the law, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will be replaced by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. www.emiljurado.weebly.com

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Law enforcement cooperation the good work!

COOPERATION between law enforcement agencies of the Philippines and Taiwan have reached new heights during the past year with the series of successful operations that have brought high-profile criminals before the bar of justice.

In May last year, Taiwan police tracked and apprehended high-profile fugitive Ricardo Parojinog Jr. in his hideout in Pingtung, a fishing village south of the island.

Parojinog, wanted on drug charges, fled to Taiwan purportedly posing as a fisherman to escape from Philippines authorities.

Philippine National Police intelligence operatives, however, received a tip regarding Parojinog’s movements and immediately coordinated with counterparts in Taiwan.

Sparing no time, Taiwan police tapped into its own intelligence network and traced Parojinog in the multi-story apartment building where he was staying and captured him. He was eventually turned over to Philippine authorities to face trial.

A few months later, it was the Philippines’ turn to help Taiwan in pursuing a suspect in a high-profile case involving an an Israeli-American immigrant who, along with several accomplices, murdered a Canadian national whom they suspected of having turned to authorities regarding their drug dealing activities.

The incident drew national attention for its gruesomeness with Oren Shlomo Mayer and another suspect chopping their victim’s body into pieces and discarding them in the city’s riverbanks in an attempt to hide the crime.

Mayer fled to the Philippines before Taiwanese police could arrest him but swift coordination with the PNP Directorate for Intelligence led to his immediate arrest in Cainta, Rizal in September 2018.

Just recently, before Taiwan celebrates the Lunar New Year, another fugitive from Taiwan, former Tainan County council speaker Wu Chien Pao was arrested in Taguig City after evading authorities for more than four years.

Wu was meted prison time in 2014 for involvement in a baseball game fixing scandal but eluded the sentence by fleeing to the Philippines.

Efficient cooperation between Philippines and Taiwan authorities led anew to Wu’s arrest inside the Subic free port zone.

I was told that many other cases are still on the desks of these counterpart agencies—the Taiwan National Police Administration, Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the Philippines’ national police, drug enforcement agency and National Bureau of Investigation—being worked on. These, however, are cloaked in secrecy to ensure operational effectiveness.

Friends from law enforcement admit that this high-level of cooperation has never been this fruitful since the time of then PNP chief and now Senator Panfilo Lacson, who curbed the rash of kidnappings of Filipino-overseas Chinese businessmen at that time.

Today, the new and greater public enemy which is the proliferation of illegal drugs transcends international boundaries, which requires, more so, greater cooperation between Philippine and foreign law enforcement agencies.

To the men and women of Philippines and Taiwan law enforcement agencies, congratulations and keep up

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anyone was robbed, it was Manny Pacquiao whose million dollar house in Los Angeles was broken into while he was fighting in Las Vegas. LA police still have to arrest the robbers.

How could it have been otherwise when the 40-year-old Filipino world welterweight champ took the American to school with non-stop flurries and combinations? Manny failed to knock out or knock down Broner but to all three judges, it was a one- sided fight. Short of his face being rearranged by Manny’s punches, Broner did not look as menacing after the Nevada Boxing Commission ordered him to shave off his James Harden-like beard.

The Pacquiao camp asked boxing officials to have Broner shave his beard as it would serve as a cushion to blows on the chin aside from being used as a sharp object during head to

*** Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior released statistical findings which show that between 2017 and 2018, Taiwan’s population grew by just 18,000, a new low of 0.08 percent, or under one thousandth of the previous year’s total of 23.5 million.

Compare that to the Philippines, where growth is still some 2 percent each year. We now have a population of 107 million.

Taiwan’s factories will need more migrant workers in the years to come, although the US-China trade war, if it intensifies, would dampen economic growth, as Taiwan’s economy is inextricably linked to the world’s largest economies.

Like Japan, Taiwan’s population is an increasingly “aged” one, with life expectancy long and birthrates low.

But this is no reason for “pro-life” advocates to crow, because our economy on the other hand, has been more and more dependent on OFW remittances and BPO earnings, both of which are threatened in the medium and long

The Philippines and Taiwan are working so well together.

term by external factors beyond the control of our political and economic leadership.

The Middle East market is cooling down; Trump is tightening immigration.

BPOs are threatened by artificial intelligence, which has become the wave of the future.

We need to create jobs in our country, whether in industry, services or agriculture. And while there has been growth in investments which create domestic jobs, and growth in tourism owing to the Chinese travel market which in turn is a direct result of President Duterte’s apertura Sinica, agriculture, which employs some 40% of our work force, is a laggard.

There are so many things that we as a nation have to be doing all at the same time just to catch up with our neighbors, the result of decades of short-sighted policies and corruption-laden implementation. And in a time of advanced technologies where AI supplants semiskilled workers, catching up is so very hard to do. *** We extend our condolences to the bereaved family of Mr. Henry Sy Sr., who recently died at the age of 94.

Many years ago, when I was a young businessman engaged among others in wholesale fruit marketing in Manila with the family-grown pomelos from Davao City, which I labelled “Golden,” Mr. Sy was a regular customer at a retail outlet.

“Gua kan di buey” (I will buy from you), he told me after tasting our pomelos at the United Supermart in Makati.

For some time, his secretary would order fruits which we would deliver to his residence.

Years after, I bumped into him at the airport in Xiamen, after I attended an international conference in Beijing. He looked at me intently, and asked where we had met before. When I told him about the pomelos and our family selling the property because none of us siblings were cut up for farming, he told me that we all just have to try our best in whatever endeavor we are into, and wished me good luck.

Hail and farewell, Mr. Henry Sy Sr. head clinches.

How does a Pacquio-Floyd Mayweather rematch loom in the horizon? Floyd who watched at ringside is non-committal after seeing Manny still has what it takes at 40. Floyd himself, at 42, is coming in and out of retirement. Fight promoters do not see the record megabucks at the gate, earned in the first bout between the two. That one was won by Floyd who opted to dance away from Manny’s power punches.

So who next on Manny’s sights ?

World lightweight titleholder Terence Crawford could be it. The Nebraskan could go up to the welterweight class and could pack more wallop with the added weight.

Crawford is a dangerous opponent. He is undefeated and has shown that aside from a mean punch from either hand, he is a cunning offensive/ defensive fighter willing to mix it up. This is what Pacquiao wants as he proved when he knocked out Argentina’s Lucas Mattysee, a mix-it-up slugger.

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News IN BRIEF Banac is new PNP spokesman NATIONAL police authorities have designated Sr. Supt. Bernard Banac, a former commander of the Special Action Force, as the spokesperson of the Philippine National Police.

In an order dated Jan. 21 signed by Deputy Director General Camilo Cascolan, Banac was designated as the new spokesperson and acting chief of the PNP Public Information Office effective Tuesday.

Banac replaced Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., who was promoted as acting director of the PNP Directorate for Police Community Relations.

Durana, meanwhile, replaced Director Eduardo Garado, who retired from the service on Monday.

“My marching order is to effectively communicate the programs and policies of the PNP with utmost transparency and of great service to the public,” Banac told reporters in his speech during the turnover ceremony in Camp Crame.

Prior to his designation as PNP spokesperson, Banac was the assistant chief of the PNP Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies, the police group which regulates security agencies. PNA

DICT wants cyber hygiene

COURTESY CALL. President Rodrigo Duterte exchanges diplomatic light talk with Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda who paid a courtesy call on the President on Monday. Presidential Photo

SC acquits 3 more drug convicts

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Supreme Court has cleared more drug pushers due to failure of arresting police officers to follow procedures under the law, official court sources said.

In a 13-page decision dated Jan.7, the SC’s Third Division through Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta reversed and set aside the October 2015 decision of the Makati City Regional Trial Court that found Emmanuel Oliva, Bernardo Barangot, and Mark Angelo Manalastas guilty of sale and possession of illegal drugs, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in May 2017.

The SC cited as ground the failure of authorities to conduct the inventory of

the drugs confiscated from them during the operation in 2015 in the presence of a representative from the Department of Justice and the media—as required in Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. “Certainly, the prosecution bears the burden of proof to show valid cause for non-compliance with the procedure laid down in Section 21 of R.A. No. 9165, as amended. It has the positive duty to demonstrate observance thereto in such

a way that, during the proceedings before the trial court, it must initiate in acknowledging and justifying any perceived deviations from the requirements of the law. Its failure to follow the mandated procedure must be adequately explained and must be proven as a fact in accordance with the rules of evidence,” the SC ruled.

Section 21 of RA 916 specifically requires the presence of the suspect, their lawyer, an elected public official, a representative of the National Prosecution Service or the media during the physical inventory of the seized items.

The high court also cited the additional rule promulgated last September that requires arresting officers to state their compliance with the said rule and

sets courses of action in case of noncompliance.

It explained that the additional rule was meant to weed out “poorly built up” drug cases from court dockets.

“A stricter adherence to Section 21 is required where the quantity of illegal drugs seized is minuscule since it is highly susceptible to planting, tampering, or alteration,” the tribunal stressed.

Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Ramon Paul Hernando and Rosmari Carandang concurred in this ruling.

In several cases, the SC similarly decided last month to acquit drug convicts due to failure of authorities to comply with the rules and establish an unbroken chain of custody of the illegal drugs seized from the accused.

Solons urged to support PUV program AN OFFICIAL of the Department of Transportation sees no problem taking public transport, as proposed by a solon through the filing of a bill in the House of Representatives, but called on lawmakers to support the modernization program for public utility vehicles.

DOTr Undersecretary for Road Transport Mark de Leon said lawmakers should find ways to help jeepney operators and drivers comply with the program through additional subsidies.

“The PUVMP [public utility vehicle modernization program] is hinged on the welfare of the commuter. Some lawmakers in the House and the Senate have their doubts with the program.

What we need is more funding so we can have more subsidies for the jeepney operators,” De Leon said in an interview.

De Leon was reacting to a bill filed

by Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo requiring officials of transport-related agencies such as the DOTr, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, among others, to use public transport at least once a month.

The solon said officials would have “first-hand experience” on transportation issues through commuting.

“I have no problems commuting. I do that every day even before I joined government. Riding public transport can be an eye-opener for some,” De Leon said.

The government has allocated a budget of P447 million this year for the program’s implementation. Another P2.2 billion was earmarked for low-cost financing to help PUV operators under the program. PNA

PRIORITY BILLS.

Committee on Accounts Chairperson and Leyte (1st District) Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez (2nd right) talks with House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro (right) during the meeting with all committee chairmen at the Rolando Andaya Hall of the House of Representatives to discuss the House priority bills. Ver Noveno

MIAA set to implement P414-m major projects

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Manila International Airport Authority on Tuesday announced it was set to implement this year major projects worth P414 million.

These projects include the reconstruction of Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 1 Arrival Extension and improvement of the Greeter’s Area and Parking area; Replacement of air-conditioning chillers at the Terminal 2; and upgrading of paging system at Terminal 3.

“These aimed to further improve our service and for the safety and convenience of air travelers,” said MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal.

Aside from these projects, the MIAA is also hastening the comple-

tion of five ongoing projects worth P814 million.

Included in the ongoing projects are the repair and upgrading of Taxiway Hotel (H-1) and runway markings—Charlie 1, Charlie 2, Charlie 3, Charlie 4, and Charlie 5. The consultancy service for this project is ongoing and the target date for completion is in June 2022.

Also being implemented are the milling, paving and overlaying of Runway 06/24, the detailed and engineering design and construction management system of of Runway 13/31 and maintenance services for the Mitsubishi elevators, escalators, and moving walkways in NAIA terminals 1, 2 and 3.

Three months ago, NAIA was listed in the top 10 most improved airports in the

2018 World Airport Awards by Skytrax.

NAIA ranked number 10 in the survey while Fiumicino Airport in Rome bagged the top spot followed by Perth Airport in Australia and Calgary International Airport in Alberta, Canada.

Completing the list of 10 most improved airports were Taiwan Taoyuan, Athens, Nadi, Monreal, Moscow Sheremetyevo and Houston Intercontinental.

The Skytrax World Airport Awards are voted for by air travelers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey.

The 2018 Awards are based on 13.73 million airport survey questionnaires completed by over 100 different nationalities of airline customers during the survey period.

Peña backers switch to elder Binay’s side in May elections THE team of Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay and former Vice President Jejomar Binay has gained the support of a group of residents who are known allies of former acting mayor Romulo Peña Jr. for the upcoming elections this May. Led by former Barangay Bangkal councilwoman Angie Reyes, the group declared its support for the Binays and the entire team running under the United Nationalist Alliance party.

Reyes and her companions were known allies of Peña, who is running opposite the elder Binay for the congressional seat of Makati’s first district.

Speaking for the group, Reyes said they have unanimously agreed to support the entire UNA ticket because they recognized the positive changes throughout the city made by the incumbent administration.

At the same time, they felt strongly that the former vice president would ably rep-

resent them in Congress and promote their best interests.

“We have seen and actually experienced the many positive changes brought about by the current administration of Mayor Abby. We are excited to see the full digital transformation of Makati. We are confident it will materialize because of her innovative and progressive brand of leadership,” said Reyes.

“With VP Binay as our Congressman, we will have an authoritative voice in Con-

gress. He was named among the world’s best mayors, and he redefined the traditional role of the Vice President with his passion and dedication to public service. His being a lawyer is also a big plus,” she added.

Reyes pointed out that the elder Binay pioneered many initiatives in his time as mayor of Makati that continue to serve as models to other local government units, and to inspire excellence in other local leaders at present. Joel E. Zurbano

IN A bid to prevent cybersecurity attacks, the Department of Information and Communications Technology on Tuesday urged the telecommunications companies to adopt the best practices of cyber hygiene not only within their internal network but also among their subscribers.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Assistant Secretary Allan Cabanlong of the DICT’s Cybersecurity and Enabling Technologies said “telcos play a big role in information structure.”

He also called on Mislatel Consortium of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, a new major telecom player, to follow the guidelines of the DiCT and ensure that there would be no data infiltration to happen.

Since the telco industry is always awash with the country’s critical information, it must assure that information stealing through malware attack is prevented, he said.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate public services committee, is set to check on the compliance of the winning bidder after the 90-day review process.p when she resumes the hearing on the third telco tomorrow, Jan. 24. Rio Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta

PCSO gives away P426m A LONE winner took home the P239.2million Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot Monday night, bringing to six new millionaires in just eight days, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan said on Tuesday.

Balutan said nearly half billion pesos, or P426,549,073 of jackpot prizes were given in just one week this month.

“This seems to be a lucky year for our lotto clients—which is a nice way to start the year,” he said.

Of the six jackpot winners, two hit the jackpot prize from the Ultra Lotto 6/58; two from Lotto 6/42; and one from Super Lotto 6/49 and Grand Lotto 6/55, respectively.

Balutan said the biggest jackpot hit this week is the Grand Lotto 6/55 where the winner bought his ticket from the lotto outlet managed by the Lucky Circle Corp. located at the Lower Ground Floor of SM City Cebu.

Makati extends taxes deadline THE Makati City government has announced it is extending until Jan. 25 the deadline of assessment and payment of business and realty taxes.

This came after members of the City Council approved Ordinance No. 20190040 to extend the Jan. 20 deadline.

Mayor Abigail Binay said the deadline of assessment of business permits without penalty would be on Jan. 25, while the acceptance of payment of business and realty taxes without penalty would be until January 31 at 5 p.m. only.

“We encourage taxpayers to give priority to their tax payments and business permit renewals so they may still avail themselves of discounts and avoid incurring penalties,” Binay said.

Penalties on late payments of business taxes include a 25 percent surcharge and a two percent interest per month of delay until the amount due is fully settled.

On the other hand, a 10-percent discount will be granted for full-year payments of real property tax (RPT) made until Jan. 31, 2019.

In line with the extension, the mayor has authorized frontline offices to render overtime services to accommodate taxpayers until Jan. 31. Joel E. Zurbano

Romero, 95 CAROLINA Gonzales Romero, the widow of National Artist for Film, Eddie Romero, passed away on Jan. l9 at the age of 95.

Carol, as she was fondly called, is survived by her son, director Joey; daughter in law Vivian; grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Her remains are in Funeraria Paz along Araneta. Avenue, Quezon City.

Interment will take place on Jan. 24.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

Manila Manila

Standard TODAY

TODAY

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Tsitsipas flies into 1 fairytale Slam semis st

M

ELBOURNE—Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas showed resilience and maturity to power into a fairytale Australian Open semi-final Tuesday after sweeping past Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.

Former LA Lakers’ star arrive today GIVEN the limited time to prepare the team, coach Charles Tiu is hoping that former Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom and Barangay Ginebra resident import Justine Brownlee are in their fighting forms when Mighty Sports sees action in the 30th Dubai International Basketball Championship next week.

“That’s what I’m wishing for when I’ll see them on Wednesday as they will be up against teams who have been playing together for years. We have little time to prepare,” said Tiu. “Given the situation and toughness of the competition, there’s a possibility that they will play extended minutes on the floor.”

Brown arrived yesterday, while Odom is due today as the team—co-owned by Alex Wongchuking—makes its first official practice together tomorrow for the Feb. 1 to 9 tournament in Dubai.

Odom, 39, has been posting his training regimen on his Instagram account, while Brownlee looks good in his video message to the team, backed by SMDC, Go For Gold, Healthcube and Oriental Group.

“We will play almost every day so it’s important na may stamina na sila,” said Wongchuking noting the team will play against the best from the Middle East, including Lebanon and Jordan.

Wongchuking also added that Filipino community in the premier city of oil-rich United Arab Emirates is now abuzz with the team’s arrival and vowed its allout support, just like what it did two years ago.

Aside from Brownlee, also part of the team two years ago were Rain or Shine guard Chris Tiu and center Beau Belga and former amateur standout Kiefer Ravena.

SINGAPORE DUATHLON CHAMP: Standard Insurance’s Duathlon Team

swept the recent Singapore Duathlon National Championship, with Emmanuel Commendador (20) and Monica Torres, (5) emerging as men’s and women’s champions in the elite divisions. Placing second and third are Joey De los Reyes (19) and Robeno Javier (14), respectively. On the other hand, placing fourth and fifth are John Topia, without bib, and Jarwyn Banatao (21). The team has been training under Triathlon Association of the Philippines’ coaching program, with coach Melvin Fausto and coach Bernie Llantada in preparation for the SEA Games 2019 in early December, where there will be duathlon events as part of triathlon to be held at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales.

Yulo back in Japan to train for Olympic qualifying meet

By Peter Atencio CARLOS Yulo has returned to Japan to start preparing for a series of Olympic qualifiers.

His coach Munehiro Kugimiya brought him back to Tokyo, where he will see action in the first qualifier in Melbourne, Australia in February.

The qualifiers for men’s artistic gymnastics are set from from Feb. 21 to 24.

The is the first tournament, where the podium finishers will get points that will count towards 2020 Olympic qualification.

This is part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s new World Cup format for the 2017-2020 Olympic Cycle.

As for Australia, it won the right to host a leg on the Individual Apparatus World Cup Circuit, with the first event set in Melbourne in February 2017.

Close fight in Philracom Commissioner’s Cup THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE THE Philippine Racing Commission’s Top Earning Horse of the Year Sepfourteen engaged in a neck-and-neck battle down the stretch to win the Philracom Commissioner’s Cup last Jan. 20 at the Manila Jockey Club’s San Lazaro Leisure Park.

Sepfourteen, ridden by John Alvin Guce, was sent off as the favorite. First out of the gate was Radioactive, followed by Salt and Pepper and Electric Truth in third.

Sepfourteen ran off the pace until the half-mile with Electric Truth just behind.

The favorite rallied at the far turn, as did far fourth choice Electric Truth. The two five-year-olds fought fiercely and hit the wire at almost the same time, resulting in a photo finish.

Sepfourteen won by a nose to bring home the P900,000 purse for first place. Electric Truth earned P337,500 for second place.

Pangalusian Island 3rd, Radioactive 4th. Total time for the 1,750 meter distance: 1:52 (10.2-22.624.8-26.2-28.2). *** It was a heart-stopping race and it could have gone either way. Both horses were evenly matched, were the same age and sex, and both carried 55 kgs. In fact, it was so close that some fans are sharing the photo finish image and questioning the results. Could it have been a dead heat?

In any case, the stewards made their decision and that’s that. *** Philracom is seeking to widen its pool of stewards and invites those interested in a career as racing stewards to apply for the training course that will be held soon.

Being steward is not easy. You need a strong racing background

to qualify to train as a cadet. And don’t think you spend the racing day hanging out at the track, schmoozing with horseowners, trainers, and jockeys—far from it.

Once stewards arrive at the track they proceed immediately to the stewards’ stand, a restricted area, and do not leave it except to use the restroom.

Stewards are also discouraged from fraternizing at any other time with racing personalities and fans to quell any inclination to or perception of conflict of interest or bias. They are expected to know the PR (racing rules and regulations) in and out. They must carry out their job with integrity, objectivity, and fairness.

If you think you have what it takes to be a steward, then apply for the training course by sending a letter and your CV to Philracom. The deadline for applications is Jan. 29. *** Horseowner’s Profile: I had the good fortune the other day to meet young horseowner Allan Castro. He took over the stable of his late father Panfilo Castro a couple of years ago.

Castro created a Facebook page —AKG Castro—for his stable so that he could communicate better with fans interested in his horses and their racing career. He has a dozen racehorses so far, among them A Certain Smile, Magic Square, Batas Kamao, and Will to Win. He has high hopes for the industry’s potential and is interested in finding out how he can contribute to its growth and success.

A savvy social media user, he coined a hashtag for his racing operation based on his personal values and principles—#winwithhonor.

I am very happy to see this quiet, well-spoken man of steadfast principle run his stable with honesty, integrity, and commitment to the highest standards. May his tribe increase! *** FB: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @drhoarsewhsprr, @DrJennyO

This year, Melbourne will host this event for the entirety of the 2020 Olympic cycle for both men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics.

“From Jan. 5, he will train and train because he has competitions starting in February,” said Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion.

Yulo is also expected to lead the national men’s team in its bid to gain honor in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Two other aspirants could join Yulo make it to the national team in SEA Games— Reyland Capellan Rafael Ablaza.

The two did well with Yulo when they joined the Toyota International meet in Japan last December.

Kugimiya is helping the GAP develop its training program with national coaches, headed by Aldrin Castaneda for the men’s team.

Roger Federer’s conqueror had to contend with dropping his serve early in each of the first three sets to the 22nd seed before coming through 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) in 3hr 15min.

“It all feels like a fairytale almost,” said the 20-year-old after holding his head in his hands in disbelief and sinking to the floor on Rod Laver Arena.

“I’m just living the dream, living what I’ve been working hard for,” Tsitsipas added.

“I feel a bit emotional but not too much—I know I really worked hard to get here, playing in semis of a Grand Slam.

“I was asked my goals this year and said semis Grand Slam. And when I was answering this question, I thought I was crazy. But it is real. It just happened.”

Tsitsipas, who broke through in 2018 with his first ATP Tour title and won the NextGen finals, will face either world number two Rafael Nadal or unseeded Frances Tiafoe for a place in the final.

For the 30-year-old Bautista Agut, who won the Doha warm-up event and was in his first quarter-final at this level, the wait for a maiden Grand Slam semi-final goes on.

After encountering the gifted Greek at close quarters for the first time he still tipped either Nadal or Novak Djokovic to lift the famous Norman Brookes trophy.

SCN FORM NO. 1 (R.A. NO. 9139)

contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

001568

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION

Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED), with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a new developer of economic and low-cost housing project (Bria Flats-Mactan Bldg. 2) with a capacity of 80 economic and low-cost housing units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Brgy.

Sudtonggan, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOl within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) MARY ANN E. RAGANIT Officer-In-Charge Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-JAN. 23, 2019)

SCN CASE NO. x------------------ x

PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is ANNALYN HUI SHI, but I have also been known since childhood as ANNALYN or I have been judicially N/A . authorized to use the alias name(s) 2. My present place of residence is 88 MARCOS HIGHWAY, BRGY. MAYAMOT City/Municipality of ANTIPOLO Province of RIZAL and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) 2000-2018 731 ELCANO ST., BINONDO, MANILA 2018-Present 88 MARCOS HIGHWAY, BRGY. MAYAMOT, ANTIPOLO CITT

4. My father's name is SHI, JIN LANG and he was born on NOVEMBER 26, 1959, in CHINA. He is a citizen or subject of CHINA. My mother's name is HUI, SAU YEE and she was born on JUNE 17, 1960 in HONG KONG. She is a citizen or subject of PHILIPPINES. 5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is N/A and from which I derive an average annual income of N/A , inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances.

My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is N/A and from which she derives an average annual income of P N/A .

(Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained:N/A (2) name of school: N/A and (3) years graduated: N/A who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship.

6. My civil status is SINGLE, I was married on N/A in N/A. My wife's/husband's name is N/A and she/he was born on in N/A. She/he is a citizen or subject of N/A and presently resides N/A 7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated N/A granted by N/A. (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on N/A in N/A. 8. I have N/A child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows:

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that BRIA HOMES, INC. (Formerly: CASA REGALIA, INCORPORATED), with office address at LGF Bldg. B, Evia Lifestyle Center, Daang Hari, Almanza Dos, Las Piñas, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a new developer of economic and low-cost housing project (Bria Flats-Mactan Bldg. 1) with a capacity of 80 economic and low-cost housing units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Brgy.

Sudtonggan, Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOl within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) MARY ANN E. RAGANIT Officer-In-Charge Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-JAN. 23, 2019)

Name N/A

Notice is hereby given that RIZAL WIND ENERGY CORP. is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as Renewable Energy Developer of Wind Energy Resources (603MW Rizal Wind Power Project) in Antipolo and Tanay, Rizal and General Nakar, Quezon to avail of the incentives under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 (RA 9513).

Any person with valid objection/s on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOl within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) NESTOR P. ARCANSALIN Director Resource-based Industries Service (MS-JAN. 23, 2019)

Place of Birth N/A

Residence N/A

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Place of Dates of Highest Grade School Study Completed PHIL. INSTITUTE OF QC QUEZONCITY 2007 to 2013 PRIMARY

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ / ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ / ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ / ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ / ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ / ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years 16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: NBI, POLICE, BARANGAY CLEARANCES, OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR, RTC, MTC , COURT CLEARANCES, AFFIDAVIT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF PARENTS, WITH CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT, BANK CERTIFICATE, ITR & CERTIFICATE OF COMPENSATION AND TAX WITHHELD PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this 26 day of NOV, 2018.

ANNALYN HUI SHI Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: 88 MARCOS HIGHWAY. BRGY. MAYAMOT, ANTIPOLO CITY Telephone Number: 682-2095/404-2448

Name of School

PHIL. INSTITUTE OF QC QUEZONCITY 2013 to 2018 UNIVERSITY OF STO. MANILA 2018 TOMAS

SECONDARY FIRST YEAR COLLEGE

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner

Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines: TAGALOG 11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of Child

N OTICE

Date of Birth N/A

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to CHINA of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship.

14. My character witnesses are GABRIELLE CHEN RATILLA and KYLA NICOLE CHAM SY both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 69 KITANLAD ST., BRGY. DONA JOSEFA QC and 31 DON MANUEL ST., LA LOMA, QC respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF ANNALYN HUI SHI to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

3. I was born on MARCH 10, 2000, in MANILA, Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of CHINA.

N OTICE

“He’s playing very good tennis. Of course, he has a lot of time to improve, a lot of time to get enough experience to be in the finals of these tournaments,” the Spanish world number 24 told reporters of Tsitsipas.

“But here I think Rafa and Novak are my favourites.”

No panic Federer did not win any of 12 break points in a four-set defeat against 14th seed Tsitsipas in round four, but Bautista Agut managed it on his first in the opening game of the match.

There was no panic from the 20-year-old from Athens and he broke back before stealing the set 7-5 with a second break created by a rasping forehand winner that flat-footed the Spaniard.

Bautista Agut went 2-1 up in the second set with another early break as the Tsitsipas first serve momentarily deserted him.

This time the Spaniard stayed on top and levelled the match 6-4.

Another break for Bautista Agut came in the fifth game of the third set.

But with the crowd beginning to get more involved, Tsitsipas outlasted the Spaniard in a gruelling game to level at 4-4.

And when another break followed the Athenian artist had his nose back in front and the Spaniard could see the match slipping away. AFP

N/A

Name and Place of School N/A

Date of Enrollment N/A

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character. I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF______) S.S. I, ANNALYN HUI SHI of legal age and a resident of 88 MARCOS HIGHWAY, BRGY. MAYAMOT, ANTIPOLO CITY after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

ANNALYN HUI SHI Name and Signature of Petitioner

SUBCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at ANTIPOLO CITY, this 26 day of NOV. 2018.

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable (MS-JAN.23,30 & FEB. 6, 2019)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

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

A8

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

Filipinas, Thais duel as LPGT unwraps

LPGA Tour-bound Dottie Ardina and three other aces launch their respective bids in four separate flights against crack Thai rivals in the third leg of the seventh LPGT season.

Sunrise Events holds Go For Gold triathlon series

By Reuel Vidal SUNRISE Events brings triathlon closer to the general public by teaming up with Go For Gold to hold the Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint Series.

“Sprint triathlons require a short training time. They are also considerably cheaper to join than their long-distance counterparts. They are more spectator friendly because of the shorter duration of the race and because racers are more accessible to the audience.

The sprint is the shortest distance triathlon. It is a great gateway into the sport of triathlon and easily accessible to newcomers and novices alike,” said Sunrise Events Founder Wilfred Steven Uytengsu during the media launch yesterday at the Manila House, Bonifacio Global City.

The sprint distance consists of a 750m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run.

This year’s Sunrise Sprint races will be held during the 5150 triathlon races on April 28 in Cebu, July 7 in Davao and November 3 in Subic Bay. 5150 is the Olympic distance brand of IRONMAN. The Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint races are open to individual participants only and those15-year-old-and-above bets.

The Open Category will be special to this sprint series. Winners earn points for the chance to become part of the Go For Gold elite team.

Sunrise Sprint is in its fourth year. It is perfect entry into the sport for first-timers and IRONKIDS graduates. It will be held in Cebu and Davao for the first time this year. Registration for the Go For Gold Sunrise Sprint will open Jan. 28. Team/ Group registration will be available.

Go For Gold is a Corporate Social Responsibility project of Powerball Marketing and Logistics Corporation, the licensee of PCSO for the product Scratchit.

The program aims to promote nation-building through sports development and creates ways to encourage young individuals to pursue excellence through physical literacy.

Sunrise Events Inc. continues to team up with local communities in holding triathlon races in the Philippines welcoming participants from all over the world. Sunrise Events Inc. promotes sports tourism as it brings people from all over the world to the Philippines, many for the first time.

The growing community of triathlon helps generate income for its host cities.

For more information please visit the Sunrise Events Inc. Facebook page, its Website (https//v2.sunriseevents. com.ph), its Instagram and Twitter Accounts. #GoForGoldSunriseSprin @ GoForGoldSunriseSprint.

Fuel Masters attempt to continue hot start

By Jeric Lopez

C

O-LEAGUE leader Phoenix Fuel looks to continue riding its hot start as it shoots for solo leadership in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.

Toting a 2-0 slate, the Fuel Masters go for a third straight win when it faces hyped-up Columbian Dyip (1-0) at 4:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

In the second game, winless teams collide as TNT KaTropa and NLEX, both at 0-2, square off at 7 p.m.

Through two games, Phoenix has

shown tremendous resolve and character as it got both its wins in thrilling fashion.

The Fuel Masters took down Meralco and the Tropang Texters both in overtime as they are coming through in the clutch thus far this season.

Phoenix coach Louie Alas admitted that his team’s two grueling wins were tiring, but he is hopeful that his team can ride its momentum against the unpredictable Dyip.

“Two overtime wins in two games, kapagod,” said Phoenix coach Louie Alas. “We’re looking to carry the momentum we built from our two tough wins.”

The Dyip was equally as impressive in its debut game as it pulled off

Games Today (Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:30 Phoenix Fuel vs ColumbianDyip 7:00 p.m. TNT KaTropa vs NLEX

a stunner after shocking defending champion San Miguel Beer, 124-118, last week.

Top overall pick CJ Perez backed up all the hype as he had an impressive debut, scoring 24 of his gamehigh 26 points to lead Columbian to the big upset.

Contrary to the fate of the aforementioned teams, NLEX and TNT KaTropa are both yet to find success in two starts.

At the very least, one of them is bound to break into the winning column when they test each other out.

MEXICO, Pampanga—The cream of the country’s crop set off for a threeday battle of shotmaking and putting with some of the leading Thai players out to extend their reign in the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour as the ICTSI Beverly Place Ladies Classic unfolds here today (Wednesday).

LPGA Tour-bound Dottie Ardina, reigning LPGT Order of Merit champion Princess Superal, and former OOM winners Cyna Rodriguez and Pauline del Rosario launch their respective bids in four separate flights against crack Thai rivals in what promises to be an explosive start in the P750,000 event serving as the third leg of the seventh LPGT season.

Though Yupaporn Kawinpakorn, who also won the last LPGT stop at Pradera Verde, won’t be around to defend her crown she won by three over Chihiro Ikeda last year, the Thais remain a tough bunch to beat with Aunchisa Utama and Ornicha Konsunthea joining Ardina and Korean Bang Choeun in the 8:30 a.m. flight.

Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro and Jaruporn P Na Ayuthaya slug it out with Del Rosario and another Korean Lee Ji Hyeon in the 8:20 a.m. group just after Superal tees off with Chonlada Chayanun, Numa Gulyanamitta and Mookharin Ladgratok at 8:10 a.m.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, hopes to come out strong against Narisara Kerdrit and Saraporn Chamchoi in the 8 a.m. group firmed up by the presence of two-time LPGT Champion Tour winner Lee Jeong Hwa, also of Korea.

Focus will also be on Ji Hyeon, who will be hard-pressed to prove her worth as a pro after shocking the elite field to rule the kickoff leg of the new LPGT season in Baguio as an amateur last October.

Ikeda, on the other hand, is up against former LPGT leg winner Wannasiri Sirisampant and Pattraporn Kratururk with Brunei’s Valerie Tan completing the four-player group in the 54-hole tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. The Thais won five of the 12 LPGT tournaments last year with Chamchoi, Sirisampant and company eager to score a follow-up to Kawinpakorn’s two-stroke victory over compatriot Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro at Pradera last December.

Manila Jockey Club, PRCI lead 2018 Philracom awardees WITH their contributions to the horseracing industry during the past year, the Philippine Racing Club Inc. and the Manila Jockey Club led the honorees at the 2019 Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) Awards during simple rites at the San Lazaro Leisure and Business Park in Carmona, Cavite.

Manila Jockey Club Chief Operating Officer Atty. Peter Sagala received MJC’s award as Racing Club of the Year (Based on Total Amount of Horse Prizes), while Philippine Racing Club Inc.’s Racing Manager Antonio Alcasid Jr. accepted the trophy for PRCI as Racing Club of the Year (Based on Total Gross Sales of the Day).

SC Stockfarm, Inc.’s Oliver Velasquez was named Philracom Stakes Races Horse Owner of the Year, while the stable’s star horse Sepfourteen was recognized as the Top Earning Horse of the Year.

Leonardo M. Javier Jr. was declared as the Horse Breeder of the Year, even as Narciso O. Morales was named as the Top Earning Horse Owner of the Year.

Taking home the most number of awards, Ruben S. Tupas was declared as the Philracom Stakes Races Trainer of the Year and Top Earning Trainer of the Year.

He also accepted the award for the Philracom Stakes Races Horse of the Year— Smart Candy—which tied with Pride of Laguna, owned by Emmanuel A. Santos.

Meanwhile, award-winning jockeys O’Neal P. Cortez and Jessie B. Guce won the Top Earning Jockey of the Year and Stakes Races Jockey of the Year, respectively.

The 11th Manila Horse Power Organization, Inc. Anniversary Racing Festival

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno (third from left) led the awarding of winners in the 2019 Philracom Commissioners’ Cup, won by Sepfourteen, represented by trainer Chito Santos (back, right) and jockey JA Guce (back, center). They are joined by (from left) MJC Manager Ding Magboo, Philracom Commissioner Don Bagatsing, Lucky Lea Forbes, Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, Commissioners Bienvenido Niles Jr. and Jose Santillan and MJC assistant manager J-Fel Cuevas (back left).

was announced as the Most Successful Racing Festival of the Year, awarded to Ferdie Eusebio.

“These awardees stood out for the industry during a trying year. They were the bright spots and they deserve all of the accolades,” said Philracom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez, who was joined by his commissioners in the awards ceremonies.

The awarding was held before the 2019 Philracom Commissioner’s Cup, graced

by Department of Budget and Manage-

ment Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Later, using its Horse of the Year award as an inspiration and motivation, Sepfourteen added another win under its belt after claiming the Commissioners’ Cup in a down-to-the-wire victory against long-time rival Electric Truth.

The tandem of jockey JA Guce and Sepfourteen played catch up from the start before turning the tide in the last 500 meters to take the lead for good.

The Leonardo Javier Jr.-owned Electric

Truth gave Sepfourteen a scare after rushing from behind in the last 300m, slowly closing the gap between the two before coming up short in seizing the lead.

The Santa Clara Stockfarm-raised Sepfourteen bagged P900,000 for the win, including the P50,000 breeder’s purse and trophies, while Electric Truth took home P337,500 for a bridesmaid finish.

Third-placer Pangalusian Island pocketed P187,500 and Mandatum earned P75,000 for fourth place.

NHA Builders keep UNTV Cup semis hopes alive Key UAAP games

Alvin Vitug helped NHA beat defending champion Senate, 89-82 in overtime by scoring 19 points.

decisive run at the start of the extra peNATIONAL Housing Authority kept riod to book their second straight win in its flickering semis hopes alive by Games Sunday (Pasig City Sports Center) the single-round quarterfinals. snapping Senate’s four-game winning 3 p.m. – PITC vs NHA The PITC Global Traders likewise run with an 89-82 overtime win, while 5 p.m. – Senate vs Malacañang-PSC revived their own semis bid by PITC handed Malacañang-Philippine downing the Kamao, 89-85, in the Sports Commission its fourth straight defeat in the 7th UNTV Cup held over the weekend at the annual tournament designed for public servants and organized by UNTV president and CEO Daniel Razon.

Pasig City Sports Center.

Despite the loss, the Defenders of coach Mike Fermin Through the efforts of Antonio Lustestica, Alvin Vitug and Marvin Mercado, the NHA Builders took charge early, remained on top of the standings with a 7-4 mark, while enabling the NHA Builders to dictate the tempo before the NHA, PITC and Malacañang were tied for second to fourth reigning champions Defenders made a gallant comeback places with 6-5 records.

The top two finishers after the quarters will join early semifiin the third.

Exploiting the absence of Senators Joel Villanueva and nalists Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Sonny Angara, the Bennet Palad-mentored Builders made a Police in the Final Four which is a best-of-three affair.

NATIONAL University guns for the first Final Four berth as it tangles with De La SalleZobel today (Wednesday) in the UAAP Season 81 juniors’ basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

The league-leading Bullpups hope to extend their winning run to five in their 3 p.m. duel with the Junior Archers.

Defending champion Ateneo and Far Eastern University-Diliman are locked in a tight battle for the No. 2 spot. The Blue Eaglets play UP Integrated School at 1 p.m., while the Baby Tamar seek to get back on track against University of the East at 9 a.m.

Fourth-running Adamson University hopes to gain the needed separation with University of Santo Tomas in the race for the last Final Four berth as the two teams collide at 11 a.m.

IN BRIEF

Soosan bags Malaya power plant contract

STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. awarded the service contract for the one-year operation and maintenance of the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant to Soosan ENS Co. Ltd. of South Korea PSALM said the operation and maintenance contract would cover one year, or until the plant was privatized.

PSALM declared Soosan ENS as the lowest compliant bidder with its P205,734,144 offer, following the post-qualification. PSALM approved a budget of P213 million for the Malaya contract.

PSALM issued the notice of award to Soosan ENS after it passed all eligibility and technical assessment. The signing of the contract and the issuance of notice to proceed was held Monday.

Soosan was the lone bidder for the Malaya O&M bidding in October last year. The Malaya plant consists of a 300-MW unit with a oncethrough type boiler and a 350-MW unit fitted with a conventional boiler. Alena Mae S. Flores

ERC to resolve 640 power supply deals

THE Energy Regulatory Commission expects to resolve over 640 pending power supply agreements by next year, a top official said Tuesday.

ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said the commission was supposed to start addressing the backlog in January but it was still concentrating on “those motions which are required to resolve pending PSAs.” Devanadera said the agency needed to wait for the Supreme Court to make a decision on Manila Electric Co.’s PSAs prior to the implementation of the competitive selection process.

“The commission is a collegial body so the consensus, right now, the sense of the commission is to wait because the case in the SC has been included in the calendar several times already. It’s moving so we are hoping SC will dispose of that,” Devanadera said.

Meralco signed power supply agreements with seven generators in April 2016 to secure 3,551 megawatts of capacity needed in its franchise area.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Duterte asked to sign Rice Tariffication bill

SEVERAL business groups asked President Rodrigo Duterte to expedite the signing of the Rice Tarrification bill into law.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Judicial Reform Initiatives, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Investment Funds Association, and Semiconductors and Electronics Industries of the Philippines expressed support for the government reform measures.

“We strongly support ongoing efforts and measures of the administration to liberalize the economy and thereby unleash its full potential to ensure sustainable, robust and inclusive economic growth, while ensuring better quality of life for our people through affordable food,” they said in a statement.

The groups said the bill was intended to decisively and quickly address the rice supply disruption and concomitant high prices experienced last year. Othel V. Campos

Business BSP begins investigation on Cebuana data breach

By Julito G. Rada

T

he Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday it is coordinating with Cebuana Lhuillier, one of the leading remittance companies, on the reported data breach of around 900,000 clients.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has recently been informed of a data breach incident involving Cebuana Lhuillier which affected personal information of about 900,000 clients,” the Bangko Sentral said in a statement.

“The BSP is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with the concerned officers of CL to ensure timely remediation and that such exposed information will not be used for fraudulent transactions,” the regulator said.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said at the sidelines of an event in Pasay City that the incident was “covered by BSP Circular 982, that pertains to information security and risk management of its covered financial institutions.”

Cebuana Lhuillier informed its clients by email that it detected unauthorized downloading in one of its email servers. Cebuana said around 900,000 clients’ personal information including name, birth date, email address, mobile number and in some cases, income information may have been exposed in the incident.

The policy-making Monetary Board of Bangko Sentral approved in October 2018 the amendments to existing regulations which tightened the reporting regime for its supervised financial institutions on cyber-related incidents and operational disruptions.

It said this was in response to the increasingly persistent, sophisticated and targeted attacks launched against financial institutions.

“Prompt reporting of these incidents

by BSFIs will allow the Bangko Sentral to have an enhanced visibility on the changing IT risk landscape and to proactively ensure that their impact and resulting risks are minimized and contained to avert potential systemic risks to the financial system,” it said.

Fonacier said in the case of Cebuana the remittance firm reported the incident at once to the National Privacy Commission and to the Bangko Sentral.

Under the circular, BSFIs are now re-

quired to report major cyber-related incidents and disruptions of financial services and operations within two hours from discovery of the incident.

“This is necessary in view of the speed of exploitation, proliferation of attack tools and actors, and potentially massive extent of damage from cyber-related incidents. Having quick access to information on these incidents will enable the BSP to alert other banks, industry associations and other relevant stakeholders that may be affected by a specific attack,” the board said.

After the initial notification, the affected BSFIs are mandated to submit a follow-up report within 24 hours from the incident containing information such as the manner and time of initial detection, impact of the incident, and initial remedial response.

The BSP is tasked to closely monitor the situation, coordinate with the concerned BSFI, and undertake appropriate supervisory actions if warranted, until full resolution of the incident.

The new regulations are consistent with BSP Circular No. 982 on enhanced guidelines on information security management issued in 2017 which identified incident reporting as part and parcel of BSFIs’ incident management plans.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

B1

Filinvest-JG consortium sign deal to operate Clark airport

By Darwin G. Amojelar NORTH Luzon Airport Consortium said Tuesday it signed a concession agreement with state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority for the operations and maintenance of Clark International Airport.

BCDA president and chief executive Vivencio Dizon and top executives of the NLAC companies comprising of Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. and Changi Airports Philippines Pte. Ltd. signed the 25year concession to develop the commercial assets, operate and maintain project facilities and fit-out the new terminal in Clark.

NLAC won the public bidding in December 2018 for the operations and maintenance of Clark International Airport’s existing passenger terminal and the development of a new modern terminal building targeted for operation by 2021.

NLAC plans to establish a new reputation for Philippine international gateway airports to ensure ease and seamless travel in the Philippine airports with the consortium’s technical partner, Changi Airport Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Changi Airports International, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Changi Airport Group, the operator of the most awarded airport in the world, Singapore Changi Airport.

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market closes flat; SMC advances T HE stock market closed flat Tuesday in narrow trading, with investors positioning ahead of the release Thursday of the fourth-quarter data on the gross domestic product.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added just 1.21 points, or 0.02 percent, to 8,008.67 on a value turnover of P6.5 billion. Losers beat gainers, 115 to 104, with 34 issues unchanged.

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. climbed 4.4 percent to P170, while International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, rose 3.3 percent to P107.40 Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, gained 2.4 percent to

P371.40, but Puregold Price Club Inc. of retail tycoon Lucio Co fell 1.6 percent to P45.

The rest of Asian markets declined Tuesday as profit-takers stepped in following a recent run-up, while a report fueled worries about the progress of China-US trade talks.

While there were few catalysts to drive business and Wall Street was closed for a holiday investors are keeping tabs on developments in various issues including the US government shutdown, Brexit and China’s stuttering economy.

The optimism surrounding the trade talks was jolted by a Bloomberg News report that said the two sides were struggling to reach agreement on the crucial matter of intellectual property, which is a key source of anger in Washington.

Also, China’s Xinhua news agency reported that President Xi Jinping had told

top provincial leaders the Communist party “is facing long-term and complex tests in terms of maintaining long-term rule, reform and opening-up.” The comments suggest he is growing worried about the effects of slowing economic growth.

While headlines regarding talks earlier this month were upbeat, and eyes turn to another meeting including China’s top negotiator Liu He at the end of January, the Bloomberg story, referencing unnamed sources, provided a reality check.

“Recent signs suggest that China is struggling to sustain economic momentum, and risks of a hard landing are rising. If China falls back to earth, we will all feel the tremor,” economists at Northern Trust said in a note.

In afternoon trade Hong Kong was down 0.9 percent, while Shanghai finished 1.2 percent lower. Tokyo skidded

0.5 percent, along with Sydney while Singapore was 0.4 percent off and Seoul dropped 0.3 percent.

Wellington and Mumbai were also well down.

Concerns about the outlook led the International Monetary Fund to lower its growth forecasts for the global economy, citing the trade row, Brexit and other problems.

On currency markets the pound edged down against the dollar, having bounced on Monday after British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would try to hammer out changes to her Brexit deal that was roundly rejected by MPs last week.

While there is no plan in place to leave the EU on March 29, markets are confident lawmakers will avoid a damaging no-deal Brexit, with options being touted being a delay to the leaving date and another referendum. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2019

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 59.5 7,170 92.8 2,377,040 2.3 161,000 131.8 1,765,320 1.48 39,000 27.85 143,800 7.59 400 16.2 10,300 12.5 356,800 4.77 67,000 0.455 20,000 82.5 2,359,690 0.99 835,000 12.04 1,800 21.5 100 45.5 160,500 179.4 2,110 120 340 59.7 17,250 27 58,900 175 547,750 1,800 415 64.55 16,990 1.17 4,000

423,055 217,680,662.50 371,070 232,184,314 57,330 4,022,265 2,780 166,666 4,455,272 308,810 9,100 194,061,863 828,670 21,672 2,150 7,325,060 379,233 41,082 1,029,403.50 1,589,205 95,912,527 747,250 1,097,788 4,680

198,135 -20,011,886 38,870,016 -2,557,955 156,946 -1,769,120 54,521,694.50 535,165 -321,821 1,079,365 401,799 125,750 -516,398.50 -

36.8 16.2 1.09 1.37 0.239 2.35 15.1 140 30.9 16.22 41.4 62 70.05 1.77 6.36 6.4 11.5 15.62 8.07 7.31 19.5 75.9 26.85 2.15 6.16 11.6 1.76 322 49.95 4.3 3.05 10.56 27.2 12.3 17.36 363 0.175 5.82 1.4 3.73 7.75 6.75 9.07 1.22 10.8 46.5 5.85 4.71 1.82 1.43 12.14 91.5 6.25 0.124 0.87 143.2 2.32 1.98 1.55

INDUSTRIAL 36.8 1,369,700 16.22 852,700 1.1 4,234,000 1.37 257,000 0.239 1,670,000 2.4 36,330,000 15.48 42,700 140 50 31.3 73,100 16.3 1,800 41.4 500 64.7 2,890 73 70 1.77 110,000 6.4 63,500 6.4 33,000 11.76 6,681,700 15.62 427,200 8.5 2,158,100 7.32 184,100 19.5 1,059,400 75.9 413,880 28 554,300 2.2 3,927,000 6.19 415,800 11.8 3,584,700 1.77 607,000 325 566,250 50 10,200 4.3 10,000 3.15 41,000 10.56 2,000 27.2 1,103,500 12.3 551,100 17.5 2,901,500 371.4 273,840 0.179 120,000 5.84 51,400 1.43 9,533,000 3.78 45,000 7.75 1,785,300 6.93 614,500 9.07 4,000 1.23 22,800,000 10.98 10,700 46.7 1,828,000 5.85 100 4.71 2,000 1.86 190,000 1.48 155,000 12.2 494,900 93 683,180 6.3 218,100 0.132 1,460,000 0.91 26,000 145 618,170 2.32 63,000 2.04 14,552,000 1.6 5,450,000

51,356,910 13,893,092 4,642,570 353,950 407,150 89,067,220 657,570 7,000 2,278,480 29,342 20,700 186,213 5,080.50 195,280 406,686 219,345 77,877,772 6,728,600 18,301,852 1,358,532 20,815,950 31,715,908 15,223,815 8,584,630 2,581,112 42,480,568 1,076,560 183,803,708 509,990 43,030 128,990 21,120 30,299,830 6,883,622 51,136,728 100,937,832 21,110 299,838 13,504,530 169,700 13,890,165 4,232,161 36,280 28,292,880 115,618 85,634,140 585 9,420 350,060 223,850 6,086,362 63,511,275.50 1,372,885 183,560 22,880 89,332,397 146,160 29,773,850 8,750,280

16,441,835.00 2,515,926 -13,300 -27,011,540 449,938 -905,175 27,000 -98,280 2,069,456 -1,687,192 -3,692,842.00 -879,650 10,309,504 -2,427,297.50 2,829,740 1,642,090 -560,064 -4,166,244 46,679,072 3,675,575 -3,095,162 -2,296,598 8,936,306 -4,144,410 -7,234,501 -165,824 -2,458,110 -31,975,695 -1,860 -24,460 -1,433,472 36,860,854 5,647 25,970,448 2,014,490 -55,620

0.65 66 13.98 0.76 6.5 26.8 1.52 1.54 903 7.25 11.98 12.12 0.238 1,022 5.92 66 5.5 0.6 5.69 14.6 0.61 4.86 0.036 1.15 2.48 161.2 970 0.77 1.4 259.8 0.25 0.225

HOLDING FIRMS 0.65 28,706,000 66 1,362,490 14.06 12,669,700 0.8 2,229,000 6.5 12,000 27.5 30,600 1.56 38,834,000 1.56 4,741,000 911 886,380 7.44 1,340,700 12 5,721,700 12.6 1,067,800 0.238 40,000 1,045 65,835 6 8,000 66.85 2,514,180 5.5 15,000 0.61 67,000 5.74 1,555,500 14.62 1,617,300 0.61 215,000 4.93 24,365,000 0.036 9,300,000 1.18 45,000 2.49 1,203,000 170 2,258,200 976 188,100 0.83 298,000 1.43 108,000 269.8 7,160 0.255 1,930,000 0.225 10,000

19,232,970 91,095,310.50 177,906,896 1,695,020 78,000 831,425 60,480,950 7,426,490 807,936,330 9,863,152 68,964,816 13,230,690 9,520 68,368,095 47,400 167,921,733.50 82,500 41,410 9,060,651 23,951,866 132,150 120,198,760 335,400 53,070 3,016,960 378,499,551 183,488,700 238,670 153,780 1,879,534 489,850 2,250

-73,780 54,110,527 63,754,464 65,000 13,550 1,902,540 -427,255,490 2,023,726 -4,575,222 -11,386,164 32,784,455 74,610,715.50 588,199 -6,899,608 -7,415,880 125,000 252,927,060 84,896,515 53,000 -

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 MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

58.2 91.9 2.33 131.7 1.48 27.95 5.03 16.18 12.68 4.61 0.455 82.3 1.04 12.02 21.5 45.7 179.1 120.8 59.25 26.7 177.6 1,805 64.5 1.17

59.6 92.8 2.33 131.8 1.48 28.1 7.59 16.2 12.68 4.77 0.455 82.5 1.04 12.06 21.5 45.75 179.9 121 59.85 27 178 1,805 65 1.17

58.2 90.4 2.3 130 1.44 27.85 5.03 16.18 12.32 4.6 0.455 81.3 0.97 12.02 21.5 45.5 179.1 120 59.25 26.7 174.1 1,800 64.5 1.17

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A 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 LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PH RESORTS GRP PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP RFM CORP ROXAS AND CO SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SMC FOODANDBEV SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

37.8 16.36 1.1 1.38 0.248 2.39 15.1 140 31.05 16.32 41.4 64.55 70.05 1.8 6.49 6.62 11.76 15.74 8.07 7.49 19.9 75.95 26.85 2.22 6.2 12.14 1.77 325 49.95 4.31 3.14 10.56 27.5 12.48 17.5 363 0.176 5.82 1.4 3.73 7.78 6.98 9.07 1.27 10.82 47.3 5.85 4.71 1.85 1.46 12.26 91.75 6.53 0.126 0.9 144 2.32 2.11 1.55

38.15 16.4 1.12 1.4 0.249 2.53 15.5 140 31.3 16.32 41.4 64.7 73 1.8 6.49 6.7 11.76 15.86 8.65 7.54 20 77.3 28.05 2.22 6.3 12.14 1.8 325 50 4.31 3.15 10.56 27.5 12.68 17.86 371.4 0.179 5.85 1.44 3.78 7.84 7 9.07 1.27 10.98 48 5.85 4.71 1.86 1.49 12.5 93.35 6.53 0.132 0.91 145 2.32 2.11 1.62

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 PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.71 66.75 14.08 0.8 6.5 28 1.55 1.56 925 7.25 12.3 12.3 0.238 1,039 5.92 67.1 5.5 0.63 5.69 14.82 0.62 4.96 0.038 1.15 2.56 162.5 970 0.77 1.43 260 0.26 0.225

0.71 68.9 14.16 0.8 6.5 28.1 1.59 1.59 929 7.44 12.38 12.6 0.238 1,045 6 67.2 5.5 0.65 5.93 15 0.62 5 0.038 1.18 2.56 170 982.5 0.83 1.43 269.8 0.26 0.225

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 KEPPEL PROP MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL INFRADEV PHIL REALTY

8.78 0.85 11.48 1.67 0.87 45.25 2.49 4.2 6.05 0.465 0.8 0.88 0.25 0.37 8.74 20.95 0.495 0.116 1.63 1.22 4.82 5.34 0.43 0.47 2.19 0.42

8.8 0.85 11.48 1.68 0.9 45.25 2.7 4.2 6.3 0.465 0.8 0.9 0.25 0.4 8.88 21.5 0.5 0.116 1.64 1.22 4.82 5.35 0.435 0.475 2.25 0.42

8.7 0.82 10.62 1.67 0.86 44.4 2.49 4.18 6.05 0.45 0.8 0.88 0.24 0.36 8.74 20.7 0.495 0.116 1.56 1.19 4.82 5.24 0.425 0.455 2.15 0.415

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PRIMEX CORP PTFC REDEV CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

3.39 43.9 23 2 3.13 39.7 1.38 6.1 0.7 5.91

3.39 43.95 23.25 2.02 3.13 39.7 1.38 6.65 0.7 5.95

3.17 43.9 22.65 2 3.13 38.8 1.35 6.05 0.7 5.87

3.23 43.95 23.05 2.02 3.13 39.45 1.38 6.41 0.7 5.88

1,075,000 1,100 1,247,400 72,000 15,000 12,354,300 657,000 1,094,500 2,000 5,720,600

3,488,510 48,320 28,681,140 144,040 46,950 486,278,115 894,880 6,985,124 1,400 33,789,451

-25,800 15,722,985 252,260,730 -17,767,736

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

13.88 23.9 1.33 0.45 0.041 14.98 3.02 10.3 0.054 82.6 6.67 7.3 16.5 893 2,080 5.9 330 11.98 3.01 1.87 107.8 11.16 7.38 0.127 6.03 3.13 3.3 0.84 17.54 0.35 4.96 2.75 2.03 2.06 3.82 9.43 9 120 3.2 1,228 0.94 0.6 45.75 85.65 7.61 2.49 0.76 0.445 5.5 0.75 13.3

14 24.5 1.33 0.46 0.041 14.98 3.27 10.48 0.054 83.4 6.7 7.39 16.5 893 2,094 5.9 355 11.98 3.05 1.87 109 11.16 7.38 0.13 6.15 3.13 3.3 0.84 17.76 0.35 5.1 2.79 2.07 2.06 3.85 9.6 9.05 121 3.2 1,249 0.94 0.6 45.75 85.65 7.8 2.49 0.77 0.455 5.52 0.75 13.7

13.86 23.9 1.32 0.44 0.04 14.98 3.01 10.22 0.052 82 6.63 7.3 15.24 893 2,052 5.8 325.2 11.98 2.98 1.87 106.8 11.16 7.25 0.126 5.93 3.13 3.23 0.81 17.5 0.35 4.95 2.7 2 2.05 3.64 9.43 8.9 116 3.1 1,220 0.92 0.6 44.8 83.5 7.58 2.36 0.75 0.44 5.49 0.72 13.22

SERVICES 13.92 24.45 1.32 0.455 0.041 14.98 3.25 10.34 0.053 82 6.65 7.39 15.84 893 2,094 5.88 340 11.98 3.02 1.87 107.4 11.16 7.25 0.129 6.11 3.13 3.25 0.81 17.64 0.35 5.09 2.7 2.07 2.05 3.68 9.6 9 121 3.13 1,240 0.92 0.6 45 84 7.8 2.38 0.77 0.44 5.51 0.73 13.22

52,500 311,600 25,000 4,750,000 39,700,000 1,300 1,739,000 2,808,000 45,520,000 189,490 795,500 1,200 179,400 6,000 21,855 123,200 14,040 100 1,822,000 5,000 1,255,010 700 6,000 4,710,000 4,292,100 5,000 555,000 49,000 441,500 30,000 69,400 2,313,000 256,000 6,000 2,469,000 4,300 32,200 220,410 1,217,000 65,090 7,133,000 62,140,000 2,470,700 104,680 225,600 8,767,000 3,637,000 37,720,000 510,700 4,503,000 764,200

730,490 7,574,060 33,080 2,154,600 1,591,300 19,474 5,470,090 29,000,600 2,415,520 15,679,929.50 5,296,827 8,778 2,837,102 5,358,000 45,682,390 721,099 4,800,246 1,198 5,496,620 9,350 134,666,003 7,812 43,860 600,820 25,945,847 15,650 1,807,080 39,760 7,768,906 10,500 344,137 6,276,540 521,350 12,330 9,199,750 41,076 289,545 26,667,740 3,808,140 80,194,045 6,607,260 37,284,000 111,304,800 8,801,153.50 1,755,535 21,082,950 2,762,880 16,867,550 2,810,231 3,266,250 10,223,114

8,344 -41,000 1,498 348,810 252,390 5,116,666.50 21,054,280 -107,730 24,064,567 -689,481 -206,014 -317,210 -10,800 107,650 -1,118,990 15,734,070 131,280 222,000 -61,245,855 1,400,835 58,510 377,130 974,850 -198,409 73,000 -3,170,056

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

0.0021 1.62 2.79 14.88 1.3 1.26 2.03 0.29 7.86 1.54 0.219 0.12 0.122 0.0075 1.22 2.53 1.02 0.69 1.03 0.012 0.012 3.65 4.2 15.36 24.3 0.0068

0.0021 1.63 2.88 14.88 1.33 1.26 2.05 0.3 7.95 1.57 0.222 0.121 0.122 0.0075 1.22 2.57 1.06 0.69 1.03 0.013 0.013 3.65 4.27 15.36 24.75 0.0068

0.0021 1.6 2.79 14.2 1.3 1.26 2 0.29 7.74 1.48 0.215 0.12 0.122 0.0074 1.17 2.5 1.02 0.69 1.01 0.012 0.012 3.65 4.18 15 24.25 0.0067

MINING & OIL 0.0021 656,000,000 1.6 565,000 2.8 249,000 14.68 9,900 1.33 21,000 1.26 3,000 2.03 744,000 0.3 50,000 7.8 6,300 1.52 8,511,000 0.22 540,000 0.121 550,000 0.122 20,000 0.0074 12,000,000 1.17 190,000 2.54 2,968,000 1.06 3,000 0.69 67,000 1.02 380,000 0.012 28,100,000 0.012 120,800,000 3.65 17,000 4.21 2,775,000 15 1,676,300 24.45 698,200 0.0067 265,000,000

1,377,600 908,010 704,380 143,572 27,540 3,780 1,506,260 14,900 49,252 12,899,780 117,130 66,510 2,440 89,300 224,040 7,520,300 3,100 46,230 388,260 337,300 1,472,500 62,050 11,703,000 25,360,044 17,092,005 1,775,600

42,000 -47,000 100,000 2,099,380 2,346,830 1,008,730 -110,392 7,474,845 -

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

20.25 495 100.9 98.45 5.68 900 96 1.02 100.5 1,000 100.9 971 75.3 76.75 73.5 74 74 74 73.3

21.2 498 101 98.45 5.78 900 96 1.02 100.8 1,000 100.9 971 75.3 76.75 73.9 74.8 74 74 73.35

19.14 495 100 97.2 5.68 900 96 1.02 100.5 1,000 100.9 971 75.3 76.75 73.5 74 73 74 73.3

PREFERRED 20 936,700 498 13,090 100 53,230 97.2 590 5.77 107,600 900 200 96 410 1.02 22,000 100.8 240 1,000 520 100.9 10 971 100 75.3 500 76.75 220 73.9 26,980 74.8 4,540 73 210 74 13,500 73.3 7,020

18,871,513 6,516,786 5,325,813 57,410.50 614,668 180,000 39,360 22,440 24,129 520,000 1,009 97,100 37,650 16,885 1,993,671 337,560 15,470 999,000 514,666

-8,489,875 -403,447.00 -

LR WARRANT

1.94

1.99

1.91

WARRANTS 1.94 289,000

558,330

-

1,773,740 16,735,020

-25,000 346,050

898,863

-

151,856 61,143

-

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 8.8 0.82 10.62 1.68 0.88 44.7 2.63 4.18 6.3 0.45 0.8 0.9 0.241 0.36 8.75 20.7 0.495 0.116 1.56 1.19 4.82 5.25 0.435 0.455 2.22 0.415

404,800 1,598,000 2,000 71,000 1,209,000 10,702,600 4,383,000 230,000 12,500 9,610,000 332,000 10,000 23,620,000 1,280,000 307,800 517,800 300,000 100,000 20,200,000 987,000 2,000 28,509,900 21,870,000 530,000 7,681,000 370,000

3,541,588 1,314,550 22,154 119,090 1,059,330 478,682,640 11,483,130 964,630 76,862 4,360,050 265,600 8,900 5,729,480 468,450 2,711,820 10,852,950 148,600 11,600 32,399,790 1,185,430 9,640 150,505,264 9,370,200 245,100 16,920,280 153,650

724,462 -908,600 30,539,705 -3,331,010.00 12,412 683,350 32,000 237,500 175,750 846,350 5,709,300 9,640 120,288,611 107,500 -60,150 260,370 -

ITALPINAS XURPAS

4.9 1.57

5.07 1.57

4.9 1.46

FIRST METRO ETF

119

119

118

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2

10.1 10.18

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

10.4 10.2

SHARES 9,385,167

INDUSTRIAL

131,372,084

HOLDING FIRMS

143,509,246

PROPERTY

161,329,304

SERVICES

245,545,902

MINING & OIL

1,102,209,225

GRAND TOTAL

1,804,843,448

10.1 10.18

5.05 1.47

SME

355,000 11,128,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 118.5 7,580 10.4 10.2

DDS

14,890 6,000

VALUE 1,809.24 (up) 9.66 813,190,930.20 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,660.18 (up) 32.82 1,162,733,526.45 HOLDING FIRMS 7,956.35 (down) 5.73 2,227,475,285.292 PROPERTY 4,001.22 (down) 47.16 1,550.71 (up) 18.66 1,483,920,090.75 SERVICES MINING & OIL 8,776.46 (up) 19.09 676,079,690.545 PSEI 8,008.67 (up) 1.21 83,913,358.22 All Shares Index 4,809.97 (up) 10.97 6,466,727,994.80 Gainers: 104; Losers: 115; Unchanged: 34; Total: 253

Aboitiz infra unit upbeat on prospects of water sector

By Darwin G. Amojelar ABOITIZ InfraCapital Inc. on Tuesday said it is optimistic about the prospects of the water business in the country with plans to beef up portfolio in the next few years.

Aboitiz InfraCapital Water Business head and Apo Agua president Roman Azanza III said the company would expand its water portfolio in the next few years and continue to provide innovative infrastructure solutions to help sustain the country’s economic growth.

Aboitiz InfraCapital’s Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc. is envisioned to provide over 300 million liters of water daily to over a million Davao residents.

“Our Apo Agua project is unique in the Philippines. It’s basically the conjunction of water and power. It’s called the water-energy nexus. So, we’re actually using the water we tapped from the Tamugan river to power a 2-megawatt hydroelectric plant which is sufficient to supply all the power needs of our water treatment plant,” Azanza said.

Also included in the company’s water portfolio is Lima Water Corp., which provides end-to-end bulk water service from production to wastewater treatment. It supplies industrial and potable water with a 8,700 cu.m. supply capacity to 600 hectares of industrial land.

“We have a minority investment with the Balibago Waterworks of [Pampanga]. They’re actually one of the top five water players in the country,” Azanza noted, adding the company serves 150,000 households in 50 water distribution franchises in the Philippines.

Aboitiz InfraCapital has submitted unsolicited offers to the government to upgrade, operate and maintain the Bohol-Panglao International Airport and Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental province.

The company has tapped design and engineering firm Arup as consultant for the technical studies and master plan of the Laguindingan proposal.

AIC is also a member of the NAIA Consortium that received an original proponent status from the Manila International Airport Authority on September 10, 2018 to rehabilitate, operate, and expand the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Manila Water bags contract in Pagsanjan

By Jenniffer B. Austria MANILA Water Co. Inc., a unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp, said Tuesday its unit won a water distribution project in Pagsanjan, Laguna project.

Manila Water said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Laguna AAAWater Corp., a subsidiary of wholly-owned Manila Water Philippine Ventures Inc., signed a contractual joint venture agreement with the Pagsanjan Water District.

Laguna Water, under the joint venture agreement, will serve as the contractor or agent of PAGWAD that will handle the operations, management and maintenance, as well as the design, improvement, upgrade, rehabilitation and expansion of water supply and sanitation facilities within the service area of PAGWAD in Pagsanjan.

Upon completion of the conditions of the agreement, Laguna Water and PAGWAD will operate the project for a period of 16 years, or until September 2035, with a full potential billed volume of 9.57 million liters daily.

The company did not disclose the investment cost for the project.

Laguna Water is a piped-water service provider created through a joint venture of Laguna and MWPV. MWPV holds 70 percent of the company’s shares while the provincial government of Laguna owns 30 percent.

Laguna Water in 2018 secured the approval of the Laguna provincial government on the venture to engage in other businesses outside of the partnership.

The go-signal will enable Laguna Water to go into other concession activities, such as joint venture agreements with water districts and business-to-business engagements, among others.

Laguna Water is currently the largest water and waste water service provider in Laguna with over 130,000 service connections that include residential, commercial and industrial customers.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila Manila

Standard TODAY

B4

TODAY WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2019

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

World

FISHING ON A COLD DAY. An Afghan fisherman paddles a rubber raft on the Kabul River to fish on the outskirts of Jalalabad. AFP

CYAN CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTA YELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK

IN BRIEF

Little chance of quick end to US shutdown WASHINGTON―The United States on Tuesday enters the second month of a partial government shutdown over a lack of congressional funding, with no quick end in sight to the historic crisis weighing on the nation’s economy and morale.

Since December 22, a quarter of the government has been paralyzed because of an impasse between opposition Democrats in Congress and the White House over funding for a wall to block illegal immigration at the border with Mexico.

President Donald Trump refuses to endorse a budget that does not contain $5.7 billion to build the barrier, the foundational promise of his 2016 election campaign.

Democrats oppose the wall, calling it “immoral,” costly and ineffective. They want the government reopened before any discussion of the matter.

On Saturday, the Republican president made a new proposal which he said aimed to break the logjam. It offered to extend temporary protection to about a million immigrants facing expulsion, in return for the $5.7 billion he wants.

Although it was rejected by Democrats—and even by some anti-immigrant voices—the offer could serve as a basis for new discussions.

The shutdown directly affects 0.5 percent of the labor force but has started to indirectly hit the morale of more than half of consumers, according to a survey by the University of Michigan.

Experts say it is also pressuring the world’s largest economy, against the backdrop of already slowing global growth.

In the most sensitive government agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transport and the State Department, the number of affected employees has been kept to a minimum. AFP

Air pollution a top driver of big-city blues in China

P

ARIS―Eye-watering, throat-scratching air pollution is a major driver of big city blues in China, according to a study published Monday that matched social network chatter with fineparticle pollution levels.

than official figures for the city, China’s leaders declared war on smog-clogged air.

They set up hundreds of monitoring stations throughout the country, and introduced more stringent standards, especially for small particles less than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in diameter.

The average human hair is 60-to-90 microns in width.

According to the new rules, the density of these dangerous microscopic particles should not exceed 35 micrograms per cubic metre (35 mcg/m3) for any 24-hour period.

“The take-away is simple,” lead author Siqi WHO Air Quality Guidelines are even strictZheng, an associate professor at MIT and direc- er, setting the limit at 25 mcg/m3. tor of the University’s China Future City Lab, In China’s most heavily polluted cities—intold AFP. “Higher levels of air pollution lower people’s happiness in the world’s most populous country.”

Dirty air is not the only blight on life in urban China, which is also plagued by soaring housing prices, worries over food safety, and poor public services.

But health-wreaking pollution—especially microscopic bits from coal-fired power plants and factories that settle in the lungs—is a long-standing gripe of the country’s burgeoning middle class.

More than a million premature deaths every year in China can be chalked up to air pollution, the World Health Organization and other research groups have concluded.

A toxic cocktail of small and larger particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) is likewise linked to poor cognitive performance, labor productivity and educational outcomes.

On polluted days, people are also more likely to engage in impulsive and risky behavior they may later regret, observational studies have shown.

Awareness of the problem and its consequences is very high among China’s city dwellers, a fact not lost on the government.

After an embarrassing episode in 2012 when daily pollution levels published on Twitter by the US embassy in Beijing were consistently higher

Convenience stores to ditch porn mags

cluding Beijing and Tianjin, home to more than 35 million—particle density is often two, three and even four times higher than either standard.

To gauge how urban air pollution affected day-to-day mood, Zheng and colleagues used machine-learning algorithms to comb through more than 200 million messages from 144 cities posted in 2014 on Weibo, China’s largest microblogging site.

As of mid-2018, Weibo, similar to Twitter, had 455 million active users.

The researchers devised an “expressed happiness index” based on key words and context, and then stacked it up against fluctuating PM2.5 pollution levels. AFP

TOKYO―Japan’s omnipresent convenience stores are preparing to stop selling pornographic magazines before waves of tourists visit the nation for the Olympic Games and the Rugby World Cup. Industry leader 7-Eleven said Tuesday it would phase out sales of “adult” magazines by this summer, just ahead of the world rugby showcase starting in September, after its rival Lawson announced a similar plan on Monday.

The decisions came as Japan’s ubiquitous convenience stores serve more women and families with young children, as well as waves of tourists visiting the country in record numbers.

At Japan’s 24-hour convenience stores, customers can buy everything from warm meals to concert tickets, pay utility bills, and send and receive parcels.

But tourists are often surprised to see adult magazines openly available on low shelves.

The decision by the two major chains, coming after similar moves by smaller rivals, “is aimed at avoiding giving a bad impression” to foreigners during the World Cup and summer Olympic Games, which Japan will host this and next year respectively, Kyodo News said.

Seven & i Holdings, which runs 20,700 7-Eleven stores across Japan, including franchise outlets, said the decision was made after reviewing “various opinions”.

Some 5,000 stores have never carried or have stopped selling porn, which accounts for less than one percent of overall sales, said a company spokesman.

“We knew those sporting events are coming in the future, and those were among factors that we considered,” he told AFP, adding that it was not the only reason behind the decision.

Traditionally, customers at 7-Eleven mainly sought to buy things they could eat immediately, like boxed lunches.AFP

Republic of the Philippines CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY OF THE PHILIPPINES MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO.: 36- 18 TO

: ALL CONCERNED

FROM

: DIRECTOR GENERAL

SUBJECT : AMENDMENT TO PCAR PART 8.2.2 [AOC] AIRCRAFT TRACKING IN COMPLIANCE WITH AMENDMENT 42 OF ICAO ANNEX 6 PART 1.

REFERENCES: 1. Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations Part 8 2. ICAO State Letter Reference No: AN 11/1.3.31-17/20 3. Regulations Amendment/Revision Procedure 4. Board Resolution No.: 2012-054 dated 28 September 2012 Pursuant to the powers vested on the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines under Republic Act 9497, otherwise known as the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008 and in accordance with the Regulations Amendment/Revision Procedure with Board Resolution No. 2012-054 dated 28 September 2012, I hereby approve the incorporation of the following amendments to the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations.

AMENDED REGULATION: PCAR PART 8 8.2.2 [AOC] AIRCRAFT TRACKING xxx (d) Notwithstanding the provisions in Part 8.2.2 (b) and (c), the Authority shall, based on the results of an approved risk assessment process implemented by the operator, allow for variations to automated reporting intervals. The process shall demonstrate how risks to the operation resulting from such variations can be managed and shall include at least the following: (1) capability of the operator’s operational control systems and processes, including those for contacting ATS units; (2) overall capability of the aeroplane and its systems; 3) available means to determine the position of, and communicate with, the aeroplane; (4) frequency and duration of gaps in automated reporting; (5) human factors consequences resulting from changes to flight crew procedures; and (6) specific mitigation measures and contingency procedures.

Note. - Guidance on development, implementation and approval of the risk assessment process which allows for variations to the need for automatic reporting and the required interval, including variation examples, is contained in the Aircraft Tracking Implementation Guidelines (Cir 347). (e) An operator shall establish procedures approved by the Authority for the retention of aircraft tracking data to assist SAR in determining the last known position of the aircraft.

Note - Refer to PCAR Part 9.1.1.4 for operator responsibilities when using third parties for the conduct of aircraft tracking under PCAR 8.8.2.7 POSITION REPORT XXX (d) An operator shall establish procedures approved by the Authority for the retention of aircraft tracking data to assist SAR in determining the last known position of the aircraft.

Note - Refer to PCAR Part 9.1.1.4 for operator responsibities when using third parties for the conduct of aircraft tracking under PCAR. “End of Amendments” Separability Clause - If, for any reason, any provision of this Memorandum Circular is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other part or parts thereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Repealing Clause - All orders, rules, regulations and issuances, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Memorandum Circular are hereby repealed, superseded or modified accordingly.

Determination Of Changes - To highlight the amendments and/or revisions in the Memorandum Circular, the deleted text shall be shown with strikethrough and the new inserted text shall be highlighted with grey shading, as illustrated below: 1. Text deleted: Text to be deleted is shown with a line throught it.

2. New text inserted: New text is highligted with grey shading.

3. New text replacing existing text: Text to be deleted is shown with a line through it followed by the replacement text which is highlighted with grey shading.

Effectivity - Fifteen (15) days after compliance with the requisite publication in a single newspaper of general circulation and a copy filed with the U.P. Law Center - Office of the National Administrative Register, these amendments shall be incorporated to the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulation, series of 2018.

Signed this 28th day of December 2018, CAAP, Pasay City

CAPTAIN JIM C. SYDIONGCO Director General (MS-JAN. 23, 2019)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

(MS-JAN. 23, 2019)

CYAN CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTA YELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK

Life

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

FASHION AND BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

C1

Fortune favors the fashionable D

RESS to impress the lucky stars in the Year of the Earth Pig with these pieces specially made for Chinese New Year.

Always the symbol of good luck, red is this year’s lucky colors, according to feng shui masters.

Marites Allen, one of the coun-

try’s most sought-after feng shui masters said red as well as green are the dominant colors this year.

“The red symbolizes Fire energy,

festivity, and good luck; and the green symbolizes the wood element for growth and progress,” stated Allen.

Floral prints and the color red are featured strongly in Massimo Dutti’s CNY collection.

Superdry’s hoodies, joggers, and tees get a ‘lucky’ update.

Welcome the Year of the Earth Pig in limited edition sneakers from Keds.

Massimo Dutti

Vibrant, fresh, and huge explosion of red are featured strongly in Massimo Dutti’s extensive CNY collections for men and women.

The women’s line is highlighted by lovely red floral prints and night blue sophistication. It’s composed of dresses, tweed jacket, flared jeans, and knitwear pieces, among others.

Likewise, the men’s collection is heavily drenched in red—serving as a common thread between all the garments’ interior and exterior details. Down jackets, shirts, polo shirts, trainers, and undergarments comprise the men’s line.

The collection is available at Greenbelt 5 and Power Plant Mall.

Superdry

Vibrant red Windcheaters take centerstage across Superdry’s limited edition collection for men and women, while gold foil logo tees across a range of primary colorways have been detailed with the lucky number 8.

An array of vintage style matching hoodies and joggers has been updated with pop-color tape detailing down the arms and legs. A logo emblazoned cap and backpack for men, and a flower speckled Montana and stripped back trucker hat for women complete the accessories line.

Pieces are available at SM Mega Fashion Hall and Ayala Center Cebu.

Keds

American footwear label Keds has created special limited edition designs of two of its classic styles: the Triple CVO sneaker and the Triple Kick platform.

Triple Kick’s CNY-ready version sparkles with sequins that when flipped show two colors: red and gold, and glistening golden trims which include gold eyelets, the brand’s label, lace tips, and a removable piglet charm. The Triple platform sneaker, meanwhile, is made of soft white leather, and also comes with a lucky golden pig charm to bring good vibes.

These sneakers will be available on Feb. 1.

City-proof pout IT IS every makeup junkie’s dream to own a lipstick that can keep up with their fast-paced city lifestyle.

Maybelline New York, the brand that brought the long-wearing Superstay Matte Ink, introduces more flattering and ultra-wearable shades that are inspired by the bold and iconic vibrant hues of New York City.

The Superstay Matte Ink City Edition comes in 14 shades of deep reds, burnt siennas, terracotta hues, and earthy nudes.

Intense color pigmentation is guaranteed in one swipe; Maybelline promises each piece from this range lasts up to 16 hours, enough for a whole day in the office and after-work drinks.

The Superstay Matte Ink City Edition is available at Maybelline counters na- The City Edition collection is composed of New York-inspired hues such as (clockwise) Ground-breaker, tionwide for P299 each.

Founder, Dancer, Self-starter, Inspirer, and Artist.

Maybelline Superstay Matte Ink City Edition collection

Life

C2

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Summer in Saint-Tropez

FRENCH CHIC. The latest Uniqlo and Ines de la Fressange collection for spring/summer

Ines de la Fressange designed identical pieces for women and kids.

2019 consists of pieces inspired by Saint-Tropez.

I

NES de la Fressange’s latest collection for Uniqlo is inspired

by Saint-Tropez on the Côte d’Azur, where she was born and spent her childhood.

Uniqlo and Ines de la Fressange’s 11th collaboration consists of pieces that celebrate the enduring esprit of French chic and the sun-blessed splendor of Saint-Tropez.

The spring/summer 2019 collection includes items for women and kids.

The women’s lineup is composed of lustrously soft shirts in 100 percent French linen, marine sweaters, resort

dresses, and pajamas.

The fabrics, designs, and finishes of the pieces for kids, meanwhile, are identical to the women’s pieces. It’s composed of complementing coveralls, sweaters, dresses, and pajamas.

The Uniqlo x Ines de la Fressange spring/summer 2019 collection will be launched at Uniqlo Manila global flagship store on Feb. 22.

Tudor’s timeless timepieces for women

The women’s line is composed of soft shirts, marine sweaters, dresses, and pajamas; while the kids’ line consists of sweaters, complementing coveralls, dresses, and pajamas.

Michael Kors launches spring 2019 campaign “I WANTED the images to capture the ease, confidence, and irreverent attitude of today’s luxury travelers,” says Michael Kors of the spring 2019 Michael Kors Collection ad campaign, photographed by renowned Dutch photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

The new campaign portrays a modern interpretation of the designer’s iconic jet set sensibility. Van Lamsweerde and Matadin capture model Binx Walton in the intimacy of her hotel suite at the storied Le Negresco in Nice, France. The hotel’s lavish and playful interiors underline the brand’s iconic mix of glamour and ease—the signature of today’s jet

set.

“I’ve always loved how fashion can lift your spirits,” says Kors. “And this collection is all about optimism, romance, and joy.”

The clothes are a blend of the laidback and the glamorous. Bright colors and bold patterns—from painterly florals to eclectic animal prints—mix with surf-inspired silhouettes, metallic brocades and romantic broderie anglaise to create a wardrobe that works all around the world.

Accessories, including the first-ever Michael Kors Collection beach club totes and hand-painted destination totes, “bring a vacation attitude to a

Michael Kors Spring 2019 campaign portrays a modern interpretation of the brand’s jet set sensibility.

SINCE Tudor’s establishment, it has offered accessibly priced women’s watches with refined aesthetics and high technical qualities. The aesthetics of the brand’s watches of the time were in line with the fashions of the period: Art Deco in style, with cases that were rectangular, barrelshaped, or with bevelled sides.

The current collection reflects the original vision of the brand’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf, offering an extensive choice of mechanical models for every occasion.

Clair de Rose is a line entirely dedicated to women, with no less than pop superstar Lady Gaga as ambassador.

In a refined and timeless spirit, Clair de Rose draws on the brand’s traditional aesthetic codes in a watch whose soft curves are topped with a winding crown set with a blue cabochon-cut spinel. Available in three sizes, 26, 30, and 34 millimeters in diameter, it presents opaline dials with delicate decorations in relief, punctuated with blue lacquered Roman numerals or diamonds.

The delicate timepiece is fitted with self-winding movements complete with date function and is available exclusively in steel, with a choice of three bracelets: steel with small “rice grain” links for unrivalled suppleness and shine, black alligator leather for timeless elegance, or fabric adopting the Clair de Rose line’s signature curl for an artistic touch.

Meanwhile, the 1926 line, which takes its name from the year the Tudor brand was registered, asserts the brand’s loyalty to the traditional values of fine

The delicate Clair de Rose worn by Lady Gaga.

The Glamour watch has double bezel and comes in steel or gold and steel.

Swiss watchmaking. The dials of these watches are a fine example of this: domed for a vintage touch, and with a delicate embossed design at the center that harks back to the brand’s origins, in subtle contrast to the smooth minute scale.

The 1926 line is available in steel or gold and steel, with a case made of polished curves and a seven-link bracelet. It offers a standard women’s size of 28 mm, as well as 36 mm, 39 mm, and 41 mm in diameters for those who prefer more imposing watches.

Tudor’s Style line represents the essence of timeless mechanical watchmaking. With timepieces ideal for every occasion and a style that never goes out of fashion, it is available in multiple configurations and two sizes that are particularly popular with women: 28 and 34 millimeters.

It comes in steel or gold and steel case with polished and satin-brushed finishes, a bezel that is fluted for peerless brilliance or polished for a softer look, a steel bracelet or black leather strap, and the option of a gem-set dial.

Made for the sophisticated set, the Glamour embodies Tudor’s elegance and vision of contemporary watchmaking chic. Its design is a result of the same attention to detail that has forged the brand’s reputation. The double bezel, which creates a characteristic relief effect, gently continues the curves of the polished steel case. The lugs have an enveloping shape. They form a refined angle that works in harmony with the bezel for a sophisticated look and a comfortable feel.

The line is made up of three models, each with its own function: Double Date, Date + Day, and Date. The latter is aimed particularly at women, with diameters of 26, 31 and 36 millimeters, available in a multitude of configurations—in steel or gold and steel, with or without diamonds, with three dial colors.

Finally, in the spirit of its very first women’s divers’ watch launched in 1976, Tudor presents the Black Bay 32 model.

With the brand’s emblematic design, it brings all the qualities of the tool-watch to women’s wrists. Refined as well as functional, this 32 mm model features all the historical and technical design codes from the famous Black Bay line, particularly its characteristic angular “Snowflake” hands.

It is also waterproof to 150 meters and fitted with a selfwinding calibre. Its glossy lacquered dial is available in deep black or electric blue.

Entertainment Simply...

From C4

Green’ architect is young CEO of the year Architect Kaydee M. Velasco was named this year’s Young CEO (chief executive officer) of the Year by the Asia Leaders Awards.

The award honors “people in their 40s and under that play an important role in developing and improving their community, business industry and professional arenas.”

The 29-year-old Velasco, a graduate of Far Eastern University, is the owner/CEO of KMV Asia Development Corporation, a property development firm that operates not just in the Philippines but also in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States, among other places.

KMV designed the Philippines’ Wax Museum, which will open in 2019 or 2020. A project of Zoomanity Group CEO Robert Laurel Yupangco, the theme park will house wax statues of international celebrities, Philippine ethnic groups, heroes and presidents, among others.

The Asia Leaders Awards “recognizes and acknowledges leading men and women in various industries that have exhibited exemplary leadership and contributed in promoting the country as a premier business hub in Asia.”

Recipient of the Young CEO awardee must have proven his/her contribution to the business and workforce to increase productivity and/or profitability, bringing new vision, opportunity and innovative ideas to the organization.

He/she also has to demonstrate courage, leadership and moral value to introduce a new perspective in both business and career.

He/she should be able to show proof or evidence of notable success and accomplishment in a very short period of time.

The Young CEO awardee has to “demonstrate willingness and initiative to incorporate the latest technology and modern business processes to enhance or improve his/her organization.”

Velasco describes herself as a sustainable architect who designs projects with sustainability in mind. She is one of less than 200 BERDE-certified architects in the country. BERDE is the voluntary green building rating system of the Philippine Green Building Council (PHILGBC).

The architect says, in her projects, she ensures the quality and proper delivery of work until, developing a synergy with clients and business partners to finish a project. She attributes her success to God’s help and her team, with everybody working together to make the company grow and to innovate continuously. *** Visit www.isah.red for more stories. Follow me on Facebook (@isahvr), Twitter (@isahvred) and Instagram (@isahvred). ΙR

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BS-CBN Foundation International hosted an afternoon of love in early January, bringing together like-minded individuals and groups who want to give back to the motherland.

Filipina environmentalist and philanthropist Gina Lopez, who won the Seacology award in 2017 for her exceptional achievement in preserving the environment and culture of her home country, presented iLOVE – Investments in Loving Organizations for Village Economies, a new initiative that aims to lift communities out of poverty through the creation of environmentally conscious businesses at

the grassroots level.

Currently, eight organizations have been identified to transform marginalized communities into viable localized economic zones, such as successful resource-based agro-forestry, fisheries, or eco-tourism sites and the like. The Investments in Loving Organizations for Village Economies (iLOVE) Foundation and its partners will provide financial and technical support to the

eight organizations to utilize the Philippines’ biodiversity to improve the lives of local communities, with area development and inclusive growth at its core.

According to Lopez, “You can have so much money, but at the end of the day, if you’re not improving people’s lives, they’re the ones who are ravaging the environment and their lives must be improved if they must protect it.”

That is why the “loving organizations” are important. It is their role to make sure that people’s lives are improved. Lopez adds that “if you don’t have people on the ground to make sure everything runs well, then it’s not

ABS-CBN Foundation International (AFI) Managing Director Jerry Bennett, AFI Marketing Manager Rea Lopez, AFI Administrative Assistant Issa Gelasio, I LOVE Founder Gina Lopez, AFI Office & Development Manager Alma Magsambol, and AFI US Mainstream and Program Manager Alisa de los Reyes put together an afternoon of compassion at the TFC studios.

nickie.standard@gmail.com

going to work. So, I’m also there to make sure that things are happening, and that people’s lives are improved.”

One of the partners that stepped up to the call is the Filipino-American team behind Pride 4 Philippines project. Host and entrepreneur Lanai Tabura, part of the leadership team of #pride4ph, is excited about working with Lopez saying that “She has this, what we say in Hawaii, this mana, this power. This energy. She’s amazing because she educated you and at the same time, she’s motivating you.”

Mama Earth Founder/Director Jaime Kailani adds that #pride4ph is “bringing together influencers and celebrities to bring more attention to what Gina’s already doing and helping bring more funding to the project.”

Event planner extraordinaire Anthony Schlander of Anthony Presents is all in. “We’re trying to do more meaningful things for the community and for our heritage, we’re both Filipino. I just got back from the Philippines and I saw first-hand the poverty and the beauty.”

Schlander is confident that Lopez has already figured out the structure on how to make it work so “enough people can rally behind her and more places in the Philippines can be developed.”

At the end of the gathering, Lopez shares she is excited and ecstatic. “I’m very optimistic because the group was so good, and their hearts were there.

If people really care, then magic happens. So, let the magic begin.”

For more information, U.S.-based inquiries, or to send help, please contact ABS-CBN Foundation International Managing Director Jerry Bennett at jerry_bennett@abs-cbn.com Direct questions about the iLove communities may be sent to Gina Lopez at hellogina@gworld.ph.

Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston in box office hit ‘The Upside’ Get ready for a roaring and endearing time at the movies with Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston in an unusual buddy comedy drama The Upside inspired by the 2011 box office hit French film Les Intouchables.

The unexpected friendship between Phillip Lacasse (Cranston), a Park Avenue billionaire left paralyzed after a paragliding accident, and ex-con Dell Scott (Kevin Hart), in need of a fresh start. Newly paroled and in desperate need of a job, Dell is frustrated by the menial opportunities available to an ex-con.

After finding himself at the wrong job interview Dell uses his irreverent charisma to charm Phillip, who, despite protests from his chief-of-staff Yvonne (Nicole Kidman), offers him the home aid position. Despite a rocky start, the two quickly realize how much they can learn from each other’s experiences. From worlds apart, Phillip and Dell form an unlikely bond, bridging their differences and gaining invaluable wisdom in the process, giving each man a renewed sense of passion for all of life’s possibilities.

“The movie is about people bridging the divisions between us, which to me is an incredibly important theme,” explains

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

time 60 Bright thought 61 Chirped 62 More upscale 63 DEA operative 64 Clarinet kin 65 Mushers’ conveyances 66 Workout locales DOWN 1 Barter 2 Dramatic intro (hyph.)

3 “Back in Black” group 4 Date regularly (2 wds.)

5 Recipe meas.

6 Tracts of wasteland 7 Dress panel 8 Scent finder 9 Delhi honorific 10 “Kubla Khan” setting 11 ORD guesses 12 Reminder 13 Singing brothers 19 Cruise setting 21 Faction 25 Dresden locale 26 Anybody 27 Birdie beater 28 Watch

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‘An Afternoon of Love’ kickstarts the year with selfless giving

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Bachelor party 5 Makes dilute 10 Lucy Lawless role 14 Texas town 15 Mexican gent 16 It may be split 17 Says further 18 Fiery 20 Agreements 22 Road sign symbol 23 Boxes 24 Two cubed 26 Get spliced 27 Gives the slip 29 Wife of Bath’s creator 33 Oakland gridder 34 Presently 35 Thai neighbor 36 Like some waffles 37 Augusta’s state 39 Clothing 40 Ms. MacGraw 41 Pretoria coin 42 Manly 44 Trustful 46 Antitoxins 47 Call out 48 Mme. Curie 49 See eye to eye 52 Toupee 53 Thick slices 57 Settle ahead of

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

29 1980 Turner launch 30 Miner’s stake 31 Countesses’ husbands 32 Chenille item 33 Kind of admiral 34 Provide help 38 Formic acid producer 39 Arduous 41 Harder to find 43 Rainbow goddess 45 Glacial epoch (2

wds.)

46 Slumped 48 Cut into pieces 49 Lhasa — 50 Snatch 51 Gambler’s town 52 Lament loudly 54 “An apple — — ...”

55 Road shoulder 56 Pouches 58 Med. personnel 59 Bitter vetch

director Neil Burger.

“I wanted the movie to feel real and to be as honest as possible. That goes with the depiction of Phillip and his disability.

To be as honest as we could about that experience and ultimately be as respectful as we could about that. And the same with Kevin’s character’s experience. His background being from the South Bronx and what he’s going through in his life.

The movie is about respect and it’s about compassion. And I think that had to be part of the filmmaking as well. To be as honest and respectful as possible,” he added.

Filling out the rest of the stellar cast of The Upside are Aja Naomi King who plays Latrice, Dell’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, Suzanne Savoy as Charlotte, Phillip’s long-time chef, Julianna Margulies, a pen pal Phillip finally gets the courage to meet for a date, Tate Donovan, the wealthy and somewhat obnoxious budding art collector living in Phillip’s building, and Genevieve Angelson, as Phillip’s deceased wife, Jenny.

The Upside opens today in cinemas from Pioneer Films.

STX Entertainment's "The Upside" stars comedian Kevin Hart with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman

Entertainment

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

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2019

ISAH V. RED

After 5 years, Angel descends on primetime TV again

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FTER its successful run in 2018, racking up millions of views and amassing thousands of loyal supporters online, comedic duo Boobay and Tekla are back with an improved version of The Boobay and Tekla Show beginning this

From short-form online capsules, the well-loved comedy program now becomes a weekend show with a complete mix of entertainment viewers will enjoy. Every episode features celebrity guests, engaging in spontaneous and genuinely funny conversations with the hosts as well as segments where the hosts interact with everyday people.

Apart from being relaunched as a mainstream program, it is also set to compete with Vice Ganda’s late Sunday night show Gandang Gabi Vice.

And just like any other TV personalities, comedic duo Boobay and Tekla are born ready.

“Competing against the other program is like going against the wall,” Boobay, or Norman Balbuena in real life, said during a press conference held at GMA Network Center recently.

“Our main purpose is to entertain the viewers. We have no intention to compete because it’s the management’s decision to put our show in the late evening timeslot. At the end of the day, people know what will make them happy, and it’s up to them to go for what they prefer,” Tekla, who was born Romeo Librada, added.

Boobay is thankful for the overwhelming support of their fans and he offers this program to them.

“We are thankful to GMA because they saw our chemistry as a comedy duo. But for me, it’s the fans that brought us to the small screen. If not for their support—their million views and thousand likes for each of the episode for our online show— GMA wouldn’t give us this chance to reach a bigger audience,” he asserted.

On the other hand, Tekla looks at comedy as a serious thing so he promises to exert more effort in putting a smile on people’s faces.

“Doing comedy is a big challenge and responsibility for us. For other people, comedy is just for fun, for us, it’s a serious business. I feel that we are leveling up, too. You see, from an online show, we’re now going to be

Changing your weekend vice

IT took a whole half a decade for the Kapamilya network to find the right vehicle for Angel Locsin after her 2014 drama series stint in The Legal Wife that earned for her several awards (4th EdukCircle Best Drama Actress; 4th OFW Gawad Parangal Best Actress;13th Gawad Tanglaw Best Actress for Television;2nd Paragala Best Actress; Northwest Samar State University Visionary Awards Best Actress) and nominations (Star Award for TV for Best Drama Actress and KBP Golden Dove Awards Best Actress).

Why did it take that long? Angel said during the press conference that she had had to hurdle tumultuous years prior to agreeing to return to primetime TV. “Noong gagawin ko po dapat ‘yung ‘Darna,’ mayroon kaming agreement ng ABS na hindi ako tatanggap ng ibang project hangga’t ginagawa po ‘yung ‘Darna.’ Dahil inabot tayo ng lampas limang taon ata ‘yung preparation ng ‘Darna,’ na-delay nang na-delay,” she said.

In 2017, she and Star Cinema mutually agreed that she be taken out of Darna citing her physical condition that would only require for her less physical demands as her treatment for her spine injury has just seen on national television,” he said. started.

Witness another round of fresh gimAdd to that, the issues involving her per"The Boobay and Tekla micks such as live performances, live sonal life (boyfriend, family, etc.) that she Show" is pitted against prank, outrageous interviews with cehad to resolve so she’d be able to move on Vice Ganda's top rating lebrity guests as well as the remake and live a happy normal life. and top trending show, And when she met the members of the "GGV." of the online hit ‘Dear Boobay and press last week for her new series on ABSTekla.’

CBN’s primetime The General’s Daughter Directed by Rico Gutierrez, catch (not to confuse with the 1999 Hollywood the fun and excitement in The Boobay film of the same title starring John Travoland Tekla Show beginning Jan. 27, ta and Madeleine Stowe) that piloted last 10:25 to 11:25 p.m. on GMA Sunday Monday, she said everything seemed fine Grande. with her now. She had overcome her personal problems and her physical condition is good enough for her to perform stunts, Wishing Rey Lester Jariel and although she still avoids those that will put Jernalyn Malonzo a lifetime of love her spine injury to risking relapse. and happiness. The couple wedded In the series, she is Rhian Bonifacio, a on Jan. 16 at San Antonio de Padua daughter of a military general who is raised Church followed by a reception and honed to take down their family’s bigheld at Mango Grove at the Islands gest enemy. The plot gets convoluted because the family she grows up with is askin Cavite. My dear friend Emerson ing her to do something that she will later Mendoza is extending his best wishregret as her biggest mistake. She is asked es on your wonderful journey as to take down her biological father. you build your new lives together.

With the story set in a military environment and revolving around the lives of military families, the series requires Angel to perform stunts and be in fight scenes. It will prove her mettle as the country’s premier action-drama actress.

The series also features an ensemble of seasoned actors – Maricel Soriano, Tirso Cruz III, and Albert Martinez, among others.

Before her much-awaited return to priKA TUNYING’S officially opened its Nueva Ecija, and finally at SM Megamall metime, Angel appeared in several Ka8th branch at SM North North Towers in Mandaluyong. pamilya shows. She was part of the hit coinciding with its owner Anthony TabOther than serving their best-selling fantaserye La Luna Sangre and appeared erna’s birthday on Jan. 16.

“Pinoy silog” meals, the newest adin one of the much-talked about episodes of MMK, as a Muslim woman who fought The event was witnessed by a few dition to the growing restaurant chain for justice after being mistakenly accused members of the entertainment press, ce- owned by the broadcast journalist, the as a kidnapper. lebrity guests Jon Lucas of Hashtags SM North Towers branch will serve the She also sat as one of the judges in the and Miss Universe 2013 3rd runner-up latest addition to the menu including the latest two seasons of Pilipinas Got TalAriella Arida, and Hon. Ombudsman Sinampalukang Manok, Crispy Kateent with Vice Ganda, Robin Padilla, and Samuel Martires. kare, Manok Ni Tunying, Crispy Pata former ABS-CBN executive Freddie M. The grand opening of the newest branch and Tortang talong.

Garcia as they judged some of the biggest serves as the relaunch of Ka Tunying’s as Also part of their offerings is their and most impressive talents in the country. a full service restaurant. Ka Tunying’s merienda hit Tsamporado with tuyo and Angel also brought her star is now a casual hangout place and din- their flagship merienda meal, the famed power to the big screen as she Anya Taylor Joy and Samuel L. Jackson in a scene from the superhero thriller, "Glass." starred in the movie Everying destination in one. It serves Filipino Arroz Ala Tunying. thing About Her with Xian cuisine, traditional and home-cooked Ka Tunying’s SM North Towers is Lim and the Star for All Seadishes and merienda, for local diners. located at the ground floor and is open sons Vilma Santos that won Last year, Ka Tunying’s opened four daily from 7:00 am until 10:00 p.m.. for her the Best Supporting new branches, three of which were Ka For franchising and other inquiries call Actress at the first EDTunying’s Juniors --the kiosk versions of them at (02)366-1342 or follow them DYs (the awards given by the full service restaurant. They opened on their official Facebook page; @katumembers of the Society in Clark International Airport, NAIA Ter- nyingscafe and @katunyingscafe on Inof Philippine EntertainGLASS, a superhero thriller both riplegic who hires ex-convict Kevin minal 3 departure area’ one in Sta. Rosa stagram for updates. ment Editors (SPEEd) financed and directed by M. Night Hart as his caretaker. Critics have in 2017 and other Shyamalan, dominated North called the script, a remake of a 2011 recognitions from American box offices this week- French film, “corny” but praised the award-giving end, taking in $40.6 million, in- two lead actors. bodies –KBP dustry watcher Exhibitor RelaIn third was Warner Bros.’s suGolden Dove tions said Sunday. perhero film Aquaman, down one Awards, Asia The Universal film, a sequel spot from last weekend, with a Pacific Film to Shyamalan’s Unbreakable take of $10.3 million. The film, Festival, (2000) and Split (2016), stars starring Jason Momoa as the Atand Gawad Bruce Willis as the superhu- lantean king, has generated more Tanglaw. man known as “The Overseer” than $1 billion in box office revPlaying locked in a psychiatric ward enues worldwide. important with nemesis and mass murFourth spot went to a surprise roles in derer Samuel L. Jackson, entry—anime film Dragon Ball Suthe series AKA “Mr. Glass.” per: Broly from Funimation Films, are Eula Its estimated three-day with $9 million. The fantasy martial Va l d e z , take—at the start of the arts movie is the 20th Dragon Ball Angel Locsin Janice De four-day Martin Luther film and appears to be having one plays the role Belen, PauKing Jr. holiday in the of the best showings of any in the of a general's lo Avelino, US—saw it vault past series.

JC De Vera, daughter in the previous weekend’s And in fifth was Spider-Man: Into Arjo Atayde, ABS-CBN's latest leader, The Upside from the Spider-Verse, still performing Ryza Cenon, primetime drama STX Films, which took in well in its sixth week out at $7.3 milRonnie Alonte, $15.7 million for second spot. lion. The Sony movie won the Best and Loisa Andalio.

The Upside features Bryan Animated Movie award at the recent From left: Ombudsman Samuel Martires, broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna and wife Rossel, Continued on C3 Cranston as a wealthy quad- Golden Globe ceremony. AFP and Miss Universe 2013 3rd runner-up Ariella Arida

Anthony Taberna’s Ka Tunying’s opens new branch

Superhero thriller ‘Glass’ dominates box office