Manila Standard - 2019 March 24 - Sunday

ENTERTAINMENT / D3 CROATIAN MODEL MARIJA DEBELIC

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 42 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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WHO CAPTURED

MARIJA’S HEART?

ASIAN GROUP TAGGED IN P1.8-B SHABU 'TEA'

SUPPLY CUTS DRIVE UP OIL PRICES ANEW

By Alena Mae S. Flores

OIL prices will continue to go up next week by as much as P0.65 per liter to P0.75 per liter, the seventh consecutive weekly oil price increase to be implemented by the country’s oil firms.

“Expect fuel prices to go up next week. Diesel should go up by P0.05 and P0.10 per liter and gasoline should go up by P0.65 to P0.75 per liter,” Unioil Philippines said in its weekly price advisory.

This, as the Energy department on Thursday asked Filipino consumers to brace for continued increases in world oil prices and use energy more efficiently amid the tension in several oil-exporting nations.

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WATER FIRMS TOLD: REOPEN MM PIPELINE

By Maricel V. Cruz

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

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News ‘FEDERAL GOV’T WILL BE PUT IN PLACE SOON ‘

DANGEROUSLY HOT. Firemen extinguish a fire that engulfs a warehouse containing plastic cups, spoons and forks in Manila on March 22. AFP

NDF PANEL MEMBERS FACE ARREST

By Vito Barcelo CONSULTANTS of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front face arrest with the termination of the peace negotiations, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

With the dissolution of the government negotiating panel, Galvez said the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees is also considered automatically revoked and the arrest warrants on CPP-NDF consultants with pending cases “have become active.”

“The safe conduct pass is being issued to allow the movement of NDF consultants and as a goodwill of freeing the arrested top-level CPP-New People’s Army cadres. This is to create an enabling environment before the formal peace talks,”he said in a statement.

“With the termination of the talks with the NDF and the dissolution of the negotiating panels, the safe conduct pass is automatically revoked,” Galvez added.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he is permanently terminating peace talks with Utrechtbased communist leaders as the government will instead pursue localized negotiations.

Galvez said for the longest time, communist rebels have been using the peace talks “as a ploy to free their high value individuals and recoup their lost grounds.”

Duterte, he said, has set “clear preconditions” for the localized peace talks—that the negotiations must be conducted in the country, and that local CPP-NPA commanders must be involved.

50K MINORS NABBED IN METRO—PNP

By Joel E. Zurbano

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ORE minors are still roaming the streets of Metro Manila during curfew hours despite the intensified campaign of the Philippine National Police against night loiterers.

Since June 2018, authorities have caught a total of 50,960 minors in the capital.

Local ordinances prescribe curfew hours from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily for children below 18 years old and those of legal age but have a mental handicap or learning disability.

Various local government units came up with the ordinance to protect and save children from getting involved in illegal drugs and other

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT.

Members of the UP Fighting Maroons and the UP Pep Squad join the launch of the “UP Fight Against Violence Against Women”—an initiative to promote safer campuses for women, LGBTQ, and other vulnerable groups at the University of the Philippines Quezon Hall.

Manny Palmero

ALBINO PENGUIN MAKES DEBUT

CANADA HAS BIGGEST T-REX MONTREAL, Canada—The towering Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in western Canada in 1991 is the world’s biggest, a team of paleontologists said over the weekend, following a decades-long process of reconstructing its skeleton.

“This is the rex of rexes,” said Scott Persons, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Nicknamed Scotty for a celebratory bottle of scotch consumed the night it was discovered, the T. rex was 13 meters long and probably weighed more than 8,800 kilos, making it bigger than all other carnivorous dinosaurs, the team from the University of Alberta said.

criminal activities as well as to prevent them from being victimized by criminal elements.

President Rodrigo Duterte initiated the campaign against street loiterers, ordering the police to go against idlers to ensure peaceful communities, especially at night.

As of March 23, the five police districts under the National Capital Region Police Office made a total of 850,067 apprehensions during their routine police

operations in Metro Manila.

Of the five districts, the Central Police District (Quezon City) posted the highest number of arrests with 495,144.

The number of those arrested for drinking liquors in public places rose to 39,409 while a total of 198,462 individuals were caught for violating the smoking ban. At least 44,008 were nabbed for loitering in the streets half-naked.

More than 517, 200 persons were also apprehended for violating other local ordinances, according to the NCRPO. Metro Manila police director Guillermo Eleazar assured the public that street bystanders would not be picked up by the police as long as they follow local ordinances on loitering.

“There is considerable size variability among Tyrannosaurus. Some individuals were lankier than others and some were more robust. Scotty exemplifies the robust,” Persons said.

While the giant carnivore’s skeleton was discovered in 1991, paleontologists spent more than a decade just removing the hard sandstone that covered its bones. AFP

WARSAW, Poland—A rare three-month-old albino penguin made its first public appearance at a zoo in the Polish Baltic port city of Gdansk, where its keepers claim it is the only one of its kind in captivity.

The all-white African black-foot penguin was born on Dec. 14, but zoo staff decided to keep its arrival secret as they were unsure the vulnerable newborn would survive.

Zoo staff are waiting until they are able to determine its sex to name the youngster.

“As far as we know, there is no other such specimen alive [in captivity] in the world,” Michal Targowski, director of the Gdansk Zoo, told the TVN24 commercial news channel.

“The baby is active, in good health, eats well and, what’s very important, its parents are taking very good care of it,” Targowski said.

To ensure its safety, the youngster is being kept with a small group of six adults, including its parents, part of a group of 70 penguins living at the Gdansk Zoo. AFP

THE Duterte administration remains committed to pushing for federalism, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Saturday following the President’s disclosure that Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari threatened to wage a war if the promised shift to a federal form of government does not materialize.

“The government’s advocacy for a federal system has never wavered and it is now working with other gove r n m e n t agenc i e s i n f i n a l i z i ng the details of the ‘Bayanihan Federalism’ model developed by the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution,” the DILG said in a statement.

Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Federalism and Constitutional Reform has been regularly meeting in preparation for the opening of the new Congress in June.

“The IATF expects to finish its work by June of this year and we hope to work closely with the new Members of Congress to have this approved during the second half of the President’s term,” Malaya said.

The task force, led by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, is scheduled to resume its public campaign for federalism after the May 13 polls.

“Federalism, as we all know, is a complex matter. It’s a change in how we are governed. The devil is in the details. So, I think we have to give government more time to iron out the details. And that’s what we have been doing recently,” Malaya added.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Misuari have agreed to form a panel that will study how federalism can be adopted in Mindanao during their meeting at the Palace Tuesday evening.

“He told me, ‘I want federalism.’

And I told him,‘Don’t forget federalism must be passed by Congress,’” Duterte said.

“Misuari told me, ‘If you do not give it to me, let me be very honest, I will go to war.’ I told him I understand. What we can do is let’s form a panel, because we have to inform the people and we do not negotiate secretly here. Day-to-day, the public will be briefed on the outcome on how you want to apply the federal system and whether it will be similar to the Bangsamoro Organic Law or a different type,” the President added.

BINAY AIDE DIES FROM GUN ATTACK A LONG-TIME aide of former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay passed away Friday evening after being shot at her home the day before.

Monaliza “Monette” Bernardo succumbed to gunshot wounds she sustained in an attack Thursday night.

“Last night, our friend, Monette Bernardo, passed away. Monette succumbed to the gunshot wound she suffered when she was attacked by an unidentified assailant last Thursday,” Binay said.

“No words can describe this tragic loss. Monette was a kind, generous, and compassionate soul whose friendship I treasured and valued deeply,” he added.

Bernardo, 44, was shot at her home in Barangay Olympia in Makati City after arriving from a campaign meeting.

The unidentified gunmen, both wearing helmets, fled from the crime scene on a motorcycle.

Bernardo was rushed to the Makati Medical Center for gunshot wounds in her right hand and abdomen.

“The sadness and pain we feel today is indescribable; but it is matched by our resolve to secure justice for Monette and her loved ones,” Binay said.

His father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, offered a P1-million bounty for information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects.

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TRENDSETTING FASHION. Ladies of Tawi-Tawi in the far south wear their dernier cri—Batawi and Sablay—for formal occasions, like the contract signing recently in Panglima Sugala town gymnasium and groundbreaking ceremony at the Tawi-Tawi Special Economic Zone and international transshipment port project. The avant-garde fashion is made of velvet or silk, designed intricately to fit perfectly into the person wearing it, with the outfit adorned with gold buttons. The occasion was attended by officials like William Ong, director of Sulu Sultanate Corp., Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, Peter Pun, Tawi-Tawi Gov. Hadji Sadikul Sahali, senatorial candidate Francis Tolentino and Datu Mohammad Kiram. Sonny Espiritu

SPEAKER Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday said one of the solutions to augment the water supply in the many areas of Metro Manila would be to reopen the connection between the Maynilad and Manila Water areas.

In the meantime that there is still not enough water supply in some areas, Arroyo said the other solution was to have stationary tanks for the areas that were lacking in enough water supply.

“They are putting stationary tanks so that during the time there’s no water, the people will go there, so were going to look at that today.

And then the other one they’re Turn to A2

By Vito Barcelo

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OT their cup of tea, as the Bureau of Customs and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized Friday some P1.8 billion worth of shabu at the Manila International Container Port, the biggest single haul of illegal drugs discovered by authorities this year.

The PDEA immediately tagged an opprobrious Southeast Asian drug syndicate as behind the shipment and packed to appear like tea products.

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB, heard natuonwide, PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino said the Golden Triangle international drug syndicate smuggled the confiscated contraband.

BoC-MICP District Collector Erastus Sandino Austria said the shipment from came from China containing 276 packs of shabu weighing 276 kilos.

The intercepted drugs, estimated to be worth P1.8 billion, were found inside a 40 ft. container consigned to Wealth Lotus Empire Corporation. The container which was declared to contain plastic resin Turn to A2 facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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SUMMER’S STRAWBERRY. The 2019 La Trinidad Strawberry Festival main event—the annual Giant Strawberry Cake, measuring 1.5 x 2.5 x 1.8 meters and weighing about 1.6 tons, ready for 12,000 slices. The cake used more than 600 kilos Sweet Charlie strawberries and took three days to bake and assemble. La Trinidad, the capital of Benguet, is a major producer of strawberries, appreciated for its characteristic aroma. Dave Leprozo

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SC JUSTICE FEARS SINO TAKEOVER OF PH ASSETS SUPREME Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio is apprehensive over the Chico River irrigation loan agreement between the Philippines and China, saying the latter could seize oil and gas-rich Philippine assets in the West Philippine Sea if the former defaulted on payment.

“In case of default by the Philippines in the repayment of the loan, China can seize, to satisfy any arbitral award in favor of China, patrimonial assets and assets dedicated to commercial use of the Philippine government,” Carpio told reporters.

There was no immediate reaction from Malacañang or any government agency that has anything to do with the 20-year loan, signed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jian Jua on April 10, 2018.

Carpio said this was expected to be the “template” for all other loans to the Philippines.

Citing paragraph 8.1 of the Loan Agreement, Carpio said the Philippines “expressedly waived any sovereign immunity” over all its assets except for some, including “public or governmental use as distinguished from patrimonial assets and assets dedicated to commercial use.”

He explained that the term “patrimonial assets and assets dedicated to commercial use” included oil and gas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. “This includes the rich gas fields in Reed Bank,” he said.

As the P3.6-billion agreement is “governed by Chinese Law,” Carpio said that, in case of a dispute, “arbitration shall be conducted by the China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) under CIETAC arbitration rules.”

Carpio noted that the award of CIETAC was “final and binding” and that the arbitration shall be held in Beijing.

ASIAN GROUP...

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and tea arrived on March 17, 2019 at the Manila North Harbor.

“PDEA received information from our international counterparts from Vietnam that the container aboard a ship named Callao Bridge V145E from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam arrived in Manila. The said ship contained huge amounts of illegal drugs,” Aquino said.

Austria said he ordered to place under X-ray examination the shipment, followed with the full physical examination of the container of the suspected shipment with the presence of representatives from the PDEA, and the Philippine Coast Guard.

When the container was inspected, Customs and PDEA found 11 sacks containing items wrapped in clear cellophane and sealed in foil packaging designed to look like tea products.

Upon testing the sample of the subject substance, authorities were able to confirm that the items were shabu.

“The Bureau is always on the lookout for smuggling attempts, and we take all intelligence information on the existence of drugs seriously,” Austria said.

“We inspect shipments just within hours after we receive information that it may contain contraband.”

Through strengthened linkages, proper coordination, and intelligence sharing, Customs was able to foil this shipment of illegal drugs and is confident that it will be able to better guard the Philippine borders against the entry of contraband because of its close partnership PDEA with other agencies.

“The Bureau of Customs and PDEA remain vigilant to intercept such kind of shipments,” Aquino said.

The contents of the shipment will be inventoried, and the illegal drugs found have been turned over to PDEA for the proper handling of the substance and investigation purposes.

“The BoC will immediately revoke the customs accreditation of the involved consignee and customs broker, and appropriate charges will be filed against them,” said Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero.

“I have ordered all district collectors to alert and examine all other similar items to ensure that our border is safe from the possible entry of illegal drugs.”

Guerrero added.

Guerrero said he would immediately revoke the Customs accreditation of the involved consignee and customs broker, and appropriate charges would be filed against them.

He also ordered all district collectors to be on alert and to examine all other similar items to ensure that the country’s borders were safe from the possible entry of illegal drugs. With PNA

'WITH PH, CHINA OUT OF ICC, CASE VS. XI WON'T PROSPER'

By Vito Barcelo

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ALACAÑANG on Saturday said the complaint filed by former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario against President Xi Jinping of China before the International Criminal Court “may be a futile exercise” as both China and the Philippines are not members of the ICC. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the filing of the case could have been motivated with what he called righteous indignation over the establishment of structures on some parts of the South China Sea which have been ruled to be rightfully belonging to the Philippines.

“To their minds, the establishment of those structures endanger the environment as well as our fishermen,” Panelo said in a statement.

But the Palace official expressed doubts that the case would be given priority by the ICC, saying it could be

dismisssed because China is not a member of the ICC, so is the Philippines.

“Whether or not the case will prosper is another matter, “ he said.

As the President said, former Ombudsman Morales and former Secretary Del Rosario had the right to file the complaint against Xi before the ICC, Panelo stressed.

Since the two are no longer part of the official member the government, Panelo said the two ex-officials were not authorized to file a complaint against China on behalf of the Philippines.

“Our position is that the ICC has never acquired jurisdiction over us given that the Rome Statute never took effect as the requirement of publication in a newspaper of general circulation or in the Official Gazette was not complied with, which publication is a requirement in our jurisdiction before the said Rome Statute or any law for that matter becomes effective and enforceable,” the Palace spokesman said in a statement.

“Assuming that they are so authorized, the Philippines, like China, as we have said, is not a State Party to the ICC hence the latter cannot take jurisdiction,” he added.

Panelo also said the Rome Statute did not cover environmental damage.

“What it includes are murder; extermination; enslavement; forcible transfer of population; severe deprivation of physical liberty; torture; rape or sexual slavery; political, racial, religious, ethnic or gender persecution; enforced disappearances; or other inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious injury to physical or mental health, hence even assuming that the Philippines was a State

Party when the complaint was filed, there could be an issue as regards the jurisdiction of the ICC,” he said.

Panelo said if the case was dismissed by the ICC for lack of jurisdiction, critics and detractors “will have a field day criticizing the President.”

“They can claim that it was a mistake for the Philippine government to withdraw its membership from the Rome Statute as the ICC can no longer serve as a venue to prosecute President Xi for an alleged commission of crime against humanity,” he said.

Panelo said the government “is engaged in a diplomatic negotiation, through a bilateral consultation mechanism, over the West Philippine Sea issue.”

“We do not need the help or disturbance of a biased tribunal known to politically prosecute heads of state, the very reason why powerful countries like the United States, China, Russia, and Israel, to name only a few, have either withdrawn their membership as State Parties from the Rome Statute or declined to be members of the ICC,” he added.

SUPPLY...

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The oil firms had implemented hefty oil price increase of P1.45 per liter for gasoline, P0.40 per liter for kerosene and P0.30 per liter for diesel on March 19 to reflect the movement of world oil prices.

Price adjustments since the start of the year resulted in a net increase of P6.10 per liter for gasoline, P4.65 per liter for diesel and P3.45 per liter for kerosene.

“The nation, along with the majority of the globe, is facing the realities of socio-political turmoil in oil-producing countries, which, sadly, results in fluctuations of oil prices. cannot stress enough that, as an oil-importing country, our market is susceptible to these effects, and it is up to us as a nation how we handle this challenge,” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

Cusi said consumers should continue to utilize energy efficiently and exercise their power of choice to enhance more competition at the retail level.

“The retail prices and services per retail station are different. Our consumers must compare the prices and services and choose the retail station that provides the best products and services that suit their needs,” Cusi said.

The country’s oil firms have varying oil price discounts offered to consumers. They also have different promotions and price points depending on the brand, location of the station and market competition.

“Everyone must be aware of their respective energy consumption hab-

its and continue to observe an energy efficient lifestyle, whether we have fuel price increases or not,” Cusi said.

“The DoE will continue its oil price and fuel quality monitoring activities,” Cusi said.

The agency said that recent world events again caused an increase in oil prices in the local market.

It said oil production by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers continued to decline.

Saudi Arabia, which has one of the largest contributions to world oil supply, steadily reduced its crude oil production by 336,000 barrels a day this month, bringing the total OPEC reduction to around 1.6 million barrels a day.

Saudi Arabia is expected to have lower exports of crude oil in April, amounting to a reduction of 635,000 barrels per day.

Actions by the United States, with the imposed sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, also affected world oil prices, including the expiration of the Iran export waiver in April, which would translate into a further reduction of crude oil supply by 1.1 million barrels per day.

The department said this already resulted in recent cuts of US oil reserves, causing the overall increase in crude prices.

It said in the East Asian region, scheduled shutdowns related to the maintenance of oil processing facilities in Japan (JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy) and China (Sinopec) were expected to contribute to the further reduction of oil supply.

INATTENTIVE TO PASSERS-BY. Some migratory birds, among some 150 from over 600 species of birds in the Philippines, hold their summer scene on water spouts of an erstwhile fountain in Pasay City that used to whirl air and water columns before the onset of the dry spell this month. Seasonal changes affect food scarcity, reason why many species of animals, including birds, temporarily move to warmer regions at certain times of the year. Ey Acasio

WATER...

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doing is they were able to get an exemption from the National Water Resource Board to open to dig wells, so I think we’re going to look at two of those wells today,” Arroyo said during her visit Friday to Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City.

Arroyo visited Barangay Addition Hills Friday as it was one of the worst hit areas of the water shortage in the east side of Metro Manila.

Arroyo said last March 6 the explanation of the Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) was that the water levels went down critically and they had to start having water interruption for the water level to go up again in the dams.

“The shortage is in the Manila Water side and not in the Maynilad. One of the solutions is to reopen the pipes between the Maynilad area and Manila Water area,” Arroyo said.

She said one of the reasons cited for the water problem was that the Cardona Water Treatment Plant had not yet been finished.

For the longer term solution, Arroyo mentioned the China-funded project: the Kaliwa Dam. She said the Cardona Plant was part of the solutions as it would entail using the Laguna Lake as drinking water.

“There are 50 pipes. So, there were two that need not be repaired. They opened one actually, they opened two that day, but they opened one in the presence of the congressmen in the committee and then they are repairing the other 48 so that there can be a lot of water flowing from Maynilad to Manila Water,” Arroyo said.

She added: “So, there is something moving forward and I don’t want to get into those proposals like that. That’s among them. I read from the papers that the regulator wants to do that. That’s their business.

“We’d like to see if the water is coming back to the tap. So, we’d like to see that and I think we don’t need to have further hearings anymore. We just like to see on the ground that what they said will happen and will be happening.”

With these developments, Arroyo

said she would ask the House of Representatives to terminate the congressional oversight hearing on the water crisis because the past hearings had been sufficient.

“I think that’s it. I’m going to ask the Congress to terminate already the hearings because they’ve already heard what they have to hear for the immediate term,” said Arroyo before she delivered her speech on Friday as Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 32nd Biennial Convention of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. at the Manila Hotel.

After her FFCCCII speaking engagement, Arroyo witnessed the opening of stationary tanks in Barangay Addition Hills in Mandaluyong and the opening of deep wells in Barangay Blue Ridge in Quezon City.

Arroyo has been going around since water interruption hit many areas in Metro Manila.

She recalled that Manila Water already presented its solutions to the problem, which included the opening

of the cross border water gate valve of Maynilad to give water to Manila Water and augment the latter’s water supply.

With the water situation in the east side of Metro Manila slowly going back to normal, Arroyo said good things would happen when people worked together instead of finding faults.

While in Barangay Addition Hills, Arroyo commended the MWSS, Manila Water, Maynilad Water and local government officials in working together to solve the water problem in the area.

On Thursday, water started to flow in Barangay Addition Hills after more two weeks of no water although interruptions still happened.

As of Friday, the MWSS and the Manila Water had installed faucets to distribute water in the area during the period of interruptions.

The MWSS also installed six 10,000-gallon tanker around Addition Hills to supply additional water. MWSS Administrator Rey Velasco pointed out that they had installed similar water tanks in 11barangays in the East Zone that were still experiencing water interruptions.

News MOMENT WITH THE PRESIDENT. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte shares a light moment with one of the graduates from the Philippine National Police Academy ‘SANSIKLAB’ Class of 2019 during the 40th PNPA Commencement Exercises at Camp General Mariano N. Castañeda, Silang, Cavite on March 22.

Presidential Photo

EXERCISE DILIGENCE, CONDO OWNERS TOLD

By Joel E. Zurbano

land Tower 9 condominium located in Barangay Pio del Pilar.

The suspects were identified as Adriel Ryoichi AKATI City Mayor AbiSuzuki, 24, and Ralph Jeffrey Esteban, 23. The two gail Binay has reiterated are graduating students of De La Salle University and College of St. Benilde. her appeal to condoInitial investigation showed that the condominminium owners and ium unit being occupied by Suzuki is being used managers to exercise due diligence in the drug trade.

But when the suspects hired a Grab Angkas to in accepting tenants and come up deliver their “package” in Bonifacio Global City, with security measures to prevent its driver instead turned it over to the Makati City police where the prohibited substance were disdrug trafficking and other related covered. illegal activities in their areas.

Police said the driver became suspicious of the package and turned it over to them.

Last week, police arrested two graduating colThe authorities coordinated with the managelege students and seized P1.5 million worth of ment of Cityland 9 and raided Suzuki’s condominiparty drugs during a police operation at City- um unit and placed the suspect under arrest.

M

Binay said the incident should serve as a wakeup call to landlords and managers of private condominiums in Makati. She hopes that operators and owners of these buildings will now be more thorough in screening prospective tenants to ensure that they are law-abiding citizens.

“It would also be prudent to implement tighter security measures in your buildings, such as a surveillance system that can promptly detect and monitor suspicious activities,” Binay said.

The city chief executive said aside from their duty to ensure the safety of all tenants, condominium owners should also keep in mind that the reputation of their business is at stake.

“In your line of business, trust is of paramount importance to clients. Any hint of involvement in criminal activities, especially illegal drugs, would make current and prospective tenants feel less secure,” added Binay.

AGRICULTURAL SECTOR RUNNING OUT OF MANPOWER—GROUP

By Maricel V. Cruz

SOLDIERS’ TURN. Philippine Army soldiers display their skill during the 122nd anniversary of the Philippine Army in its headquarter in Taguig City.

Norman Cruz

THE dwindling number of young farmers as well as the lack of support for government agricultural programs that are already in place have prompted a non-governmemt organization to seek the establishment of agriculture schools in all towns.

In a letter to the House of Representatives headed by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Jerry L. Pelayo, president of the Agricultural Growth through the Inclusivity and Leadership by the Private Sector for Accelerated Modernization or AGILA, said the establishment of such schools will “energize modernize and industrialize the agriculture industry.”

In his letter, Pelayo, former mayor of Candaba, Pampanga, said

Congress can pass a bill requiring state agricultural universities to establish extension campuses in all towns.

He said the establishment of these extension campuses will entail partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Agriculture.

“The goal of this program is to help educate farmers on new agriculture technologies, financial literacy and possible opportunities in the agriculture indistry,” Pelayo said.

He sought a dialogue with agencies that are concerned with agruculture “to further discuss or initiate moves to help improve the situation of the agriculture sector.”

PASIG LGU AND MANILA WATER TEAM UP TO EASE WATER WOES AT THE height of the water shortage, about 30 barangays in Pasig City were affected, six of which were hardest hit.

These included Oranbo, Kapitolyo, Pineda, Ugong, San Antonio, and Bagong Ilog, as these areas are located at the city’s highest terrain.

With more than 120,000 connections without water, the Pasig Command Center immediately came to the rescue and augmented Manila Water’s water delivery services by mobilizing the city’s fleet of 60 water tankers.

The command center dispatched water trucks which provided quick assistance to the largest hospitals in the city, namely Rizal Medical Center and Pasig City General Hospital.

The coordination and partnership were made possible through Pasig City Mayor Bobby Eusebio and Ritche Van Angeles, the head of the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office; and Manila Water officials led by Melai Paraiso, area business manager of Pasig.

Plans were mapped out to determine the specific locations of the available hydrants, which will serve as the withdraw-

ing and refilling points for water delivery.

“We are very willing to extend our support to Manila Water especially when it comes to the needs of the Pasigueños especially during these times,” said Eusebio.

NDRRMC head Riche Van Angeles, on the other hand, expressed that the Pasig Command Center has always been ready to provide the much-needed assistance for the residents of Pasig in times of emergencies and calamities.

“We have been working closely with Manila Water at all times in monitoring the deployment of the water tankers to ensure that Pasigueños are served in these challenging times,” Angeles said.

To date, water availability for the city has reached 99 percent, with water available from 8 to 12 hours at least at the ground floor level.

The remaining areas, however, continue to experience intermittent supply to no water. As an interim measure, static tanks were put up in Bagong Ilog and Napindan. Continuous operational adjustments are being conducted as well as a line booster was installed to allow water to eventually reach these areas.

QUICK RESPONSE. The Pasig City government quickly responded to meet the needs of the Pasigueños by fielding a fleet of 60 tankers to provide water for barangays that went waterless in the early weeks of March.

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SOLON LEADS FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR ORPHANS A CONGRESSWOMAN has launched a program to make the adoption of orphan and abandoned children smoother.

Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano on Friday launched Taguig City’s Foster Care Orientation and Recruitment program which aims to encourage foster parenting among families in the city.

The institutionalization of foster care in the country as a preferred way of caring for abused, abandoned, or neglected children is mandated by Republic Act 10165 or the Foster Care Act of 2012.

The principal author and sponsor of RA 10165, Cayetano said she drew inspiration from her own experience as a foster parent and eventually as adoptive mom to her son, Rene Lucas Cayetano, 8.

“I wish all children will be.raised by good families, Cayetano said.

Cayetano lauded the Taguig city government, under the leadership of Mayor Lani Cayetano, for aspiring to be a model city in promoting foster care through its orientation and recruitment program for foster parents.

“I worked on the Foster Care Act for quite some time until it became a law.

We really need to see it working in our local government units,” she said.

RA 10165 states that in most cases, foster care is more beneficial than institutional care, in that it provides children with the proper attention and love that can only be provided in a family setting.

For her part, the congresswoman underscored the need to encourage more Filipinos to consider being foster families and going through the screening and licensing process of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, about 1.8 million Filipino children are abandoned or neglected due to several reasons, including extreme poverty, natural disasters, and armed conflicts.

Maricel V. Cruz

SSS PARTNERS WITH GLOBE GCASH FOR PESO FUND PAYMENTS MEMBERS of the Personal Equity and Savings Option Fund of the Social Security System may now pay their PESO Fund contributions via Globe GCash, the state-run pension fund said over the weekend. Dubbed as the second savings for pension, PESO Fund has more than 17,000 members to date.

SSS acting president and chief executive officer Aurora Cruz-Ignacio said members who want to top-up their retirement savings will benefit from the operation of the additional collection partner.

“Acceptance of PESO Fund payments were included in the Globe GCash facility so that members can regularly remit their contributions, thereby securing an extra layer of protection for their future needs,” Ignacio said.

SSS PESO Fund is a voluntary provident fund which offers an additional layer of social security protection to actively-paying members on top of their regular SSS benefits. The provident fund offers three types of accounts such as retirement and disability, medical expenses, and other financial needs such as business capital, tuition fees, among others. Enrollees also have the liberty to select their beneficiary.

Meanwhile, the GCash facility is a free mobile application exclusive to Globe or Touch Mobile prepaid users and postpaid subscribers. To start paying PESO Fund contributions using GCash, members should register either by downloading the GCash app or dialing *143# to access the self-service menu using their Globe or TM mobile accounts.

To proceed with PESO Fund payments, dial *137# and select 2 for “National Government Agency”. Choose “SSS PESO Fund” from the list of biller names, then enter the 10-digit SSS Number.

Ignacio noted that users should select 1 or “Proceed” once they have provided all the necessary information. In the next field that will appear, they should enter the four-digit GCash PIN. “GCash users will receive a text confirmation for every successful transaction,” Ignacio added.

From December 2015 to present, SSS recorded a monthly average of 1,424 SSS Globe GCash users who are also SSS members with average monthly collection amounting to P1.5 million.

“This is to encourage our paying members to use Globe GCash for a more convenient, easier, and safer means to pay their obligations with SSS,” Ignacio concluded.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News ‘FEDERAL GOV’T WILL BE PUT IN PLACE SOON ‘

DANGEROUSLY HOT. Firemen extinguish a fire that engulfs a warehouse containing plastic cups, spoons and forks in Manila on March 22. AFP

NDF PANEL MEMBERS FACE ARREST

By Vito Barcelo CONSULTANTS of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front face arrest with the termination of the peace negotiations, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

With the dissolution of the government negotiating panel, Galvez said the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees is also considered automatically revoked and the arrest warrants on CPP-NDF consultants with pending cases “have become active.”

“The safe conduct pass is being issued to allow the movement of NDF consultants and as a goodwill of freeing the arrested top-level CPP-New People’s Army cadres. This is to create an enabling environment before the formal peace talks,”he said in a statement.

“With the termination of the talks with the NDF and the dissolution of the negotiating panels, the safe conduct pass is automatically revoked,” Galvez added.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he is permanently terminating peace talks with Utrechtbased communist leaders as the government will instead pursue localized negotiations.

Galvez said for the longest time, communist rebels have been using the peace talks “as a ploy to free their high value individuals and recoup their lost grounds.”

Duterte, he said, has set “clear preconditions” for the localized peace talks—that the negotiations must be conducted in the country, and that local CPP-NPA commanders must be involved.

50K MINORS NABBED IN METRO—PNP

By Joel E. Zurbano

M

ORE minors are still roaming the streets of Metro Manila during curfew hours despite the intensified campaign of the Philippine National Police against night loiterers.

Since June 2018, authorities have caught a total of 50,960 minors in the capital.

Local ordinances prescribe curfew hours from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily for children below 18 years old and those of legal age but have a mental handicap or learning disability.

Various local government units came up with the ordinance to protect and save children from getting involved in illegal drugs and other

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT.

Members of the UP Fighting Maroons and the UP Pep Squad join the launch of the “UP Fight Against Violence Against Women”—an initiative to promote safer campuses for women, LGBTQ, and other vulnerable groups at the University of the Philippines Quezon Hall.

Manny Palmero

ALBINO PENGUIN MAKES DEBUT

CANADA HAS BIGGEST T-REX MONTREAL, Canada—The towering Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in western Canada in 1991 is the world’s biggest, a team of paleontologists said over the weekend, following a decades-long process of reconstructing its skeleton.

“This is the rex of rexes,” said Scott Persons, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Nicknamed Scotty for a celebratory bottle of scotch consumed the night it was discovered, the T. rex was 13 meters long and probably weighed more than 8,800 kilos, making it bigger than all other carnivorous dinosaurs, the team from the University of Alberta said.

criminal activities as well as to prevent them from being victimized by criminal elements.

President Rodrigo Duterte initiated the campaign against street loiterers, ordering the police to go against idlers to ensure peaceful communities, especially at night.

As of March 23, the five police districts under the National Capital Region Police Office made a total of 850,067 apprehensions during their routine police

operations in Metro Manila.

Of the five districts, the Central Police District (Quezon City) posted the highest number of arrests with 495,144.

The number of those arrested for drinking liquors in public places rose to 39,409 while a total of 198,462 individuals were caught for violating the smoking ban. At least 44,008 were nabbed for loitering in the streets half-naked.

More than 517, 200 persons were also apprehended for violating other local ordinances, according to the NCRPO. Metro Manila police director Guillermo Eleazar assured the public that street bystanders would not be picked up by the police as long as they follow local ordinances on loitering.

“There is considerable size variability among Tyrannosaurus. Some individuals were lankier than others and some were more robust. Scotty exemplifies the robust,” Persons said.

While the giant carnivore’s skeleton was discovered in 1991, paleontologists spent more than a decade just removing the hard sandstone that covered its bones. AFP

WARSAW, Poland—A rare three-month-old albino penguin made its first public appearance at a zoo in the Polish Baltic port city of Gdansk, where its keepers claim it is the only one of its kind in captivity.

The all-white African black-foot penguin was born on Dec. 14, but zoo staff decided to keep its arrival secret as they were unsure the vulnerable newborn would survive.

Zoo staff are waiting until they are able to determine its sex to name the youngster.

“As far as we know, there is no other such specimen alive [in captivity] in the world,” Michal Targowski, director of the Gdansk Zoo, told the TVN24 commercial news channel.

“The baby is active, in good health, eats well and, what’s very important, its parents are taking very good care of it,” Targowski said.

To ensure its safety, the youngster is being kept with a small group of six adults, including its parents, part of a group of 70 penguins living at the Gdansk Zoo. AFP

THE Duterte administration remains committed to pushing for federalism, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Saturday following the President’s disclosure that Moro National Liberation Front chairman Nur Misuari threatened to wage a war if the promised shift to a federal form of government does not materialize.

“The government’s advocacy for a federal system has never wavered and it is now working with other gove r n m e n t agenc i e s i n f i n a l i z i ng the details of the ‘Bayanihan Federalism’ model developed by the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution,” the DILG said in a statement.

Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Federalism and Constitutional Reform has been regularly meeting in preparation for the opening of the new Congress in June.

“The IATF expects to finish its work by June of this year and we hope to work closely with the new Members of Congress to have this approved during the second half of the President’s term,” Malaya said.

The task force, led by DILG Secretary Eduardo Año, is scheduled to resume its public campaign for federalism after the May 13 polls.

“Federalism, as we all know, is a complex matter. It’s a change in how we are governed. The devil is in the details. So, I think we have to give government more time to iron out the details. And that’s what we have been doing recently,” Malaya added.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Misuari have agreed to form a panel that will study how federalism can be adopted in Mindanao during their meeting at the Palace Tuesday evening.

“He told me, ‘I want federalism.’

And I told him,‘Don’t forget federalism must be passed by Congress,’” Duterte said.

“Misuari told me, ‘If you do not give it to me, let me be very honest, I will go to war.’ I told him I understand. What we can do is let’s form a panel, because we have to inform the people and we do not negotiate secretly here. Day-to-day, the public will be briefed on the outcome on how you want to apply the federal system and whether it will be similar to the Bangsamoro Organic Law or a different type,” the President added.

BINAY AIDE DIES FROM GUN ATTACK A LONG-TIME aide of former Makati Mayor Junjun Binay passed away Friday evening after being shot at her home the day before.

Monaliza “Monette” Bernardo succumbed to gunshot wounds she sustained in an attack Thursday night.

“Last night, our friend, Monette Bernardo, passed away. Monette succumbed to the gunshot wound she suffered when she was attacked by an unidentified assailant last Thursday,” Binay said.

“No words can describe this tragic loss. Monette was a kind, generous, and compassionate soul whose friendship I treasured and valued deeply,” he added.

Bernardo, 44, was shot at her home in Barangay Olympia in Makati City after arriving from a campaign meeting.

The unidentified gunmen, both wearing helmets, fled from the crime scene on a motorcycle.

Bernardo was rushed to the Makati Medical Center for gunshot wounds in her right hand and abdomen.

“The sadness and pain we feel today is indescribable; but it is matched by our resolve to secure justice for Monette and her loved ones,” Binay said.

His father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, offered a P1-million bounty for information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Opinion

EDITORIAL

POP GOES THE WORLD

NO PARTY POOPER

T

HE Philippines, which can rival Thailand as the “land of smiles” anywhere in Asia and beyond, has been identified in a United Nations report this week as the 69th happiest of 156 countries thus ranked.

Many are likely to feel deep pleasure, and may even jab the air with proud fists at being in a country that has moved up two places from 2018 or 71st in that year’s notch.

The Philippines, with 106 million population across much of the 7,107 islands at low tide between the Pacific and the South China Sea, definitely comparatively a bigger country than Finland, which has 5.56 million in 2019, and

ranks 115th in the world, and reported as the happiest in 2019.

The Philippines has been ranked higher than its fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a largely economic alliance founded in 1967, like Malaysia (80th), Indonesia (92nd), Vietnam (94th), Laos (105th), Cambodia (109th), and Myanmar (131st).

The World Happiness Report 2019 used survey data asking citizens from the different continents how happy they perceive themselves to be, which included other calculators or dimensions like life expectancy, income and social support.

We are no party poopers. But like others, we are persuaded to come down on the methodology of the study and question its conclusions.

We are persuaded by the thoughts of Finn Frank Martela, a researcher specializing in both

JENNY ORTUOSTE

FERRY SERVICE CAN EASE COMMUTER WOES

the psychology and philosophy of well-being and meaning in life, who raised his argument that there are four ways to measure happiness, and depending on which one we choose, we get entirely completely different countries at the top of the ranking.

Something indeed is more required than the argument that neither life satisfaction, positive emotions nor absence of depression can raise the level of happiness.

Another study has suggested that a person has to experience one’s life as meaningful—whether people feel their life has an important purpose or meaning. In this study, done by Shigehiro Oisihi of the University of Virginia, and Ed Diner of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Finland and the United States were far behind.

It is by definition, Juan, that happiness is about quiet satisfaction with one’s life conditions.

GIVEN that the 25-kilometer long Pasig River links the cities and municipalities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig, Taguig, and Taytay, Rizal, a ferryboat system on this riparian road is a highly efficient form of transport that could ease commuter stress.

Several ventures were made but they failed for various reasons. There once was a regular service on the river that shut down in the 1960s or ‘70s when the water became too polluted. A revival was attempted in the early ‘90s by Magsaysay Lines but they lasted only a year; the plants, garbage, and foul water foiled travel on the river.

The same problems led to the closure of the Starcraft Ferry service after three years, from 1996 to 1999.

Nautical Transport Services launched around ten boats and a water taxi in 2007.

They almost closed after a year because of low passenger numbers, but an increase in oil prices forced commuters to find alternative means of transport. The popularity of the ferry surged.

This was the ferry I used to take from Makati to Binondo in Manila and the ride was quick, pleasant, and stress-free. I could have my favorite fresh oriental lumpia in less than an hour, compared to an hour and a half in a hot, expensive taxi.

The service was halted in 2011, partly because of losses of P94 million incurred by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission, which built the stations but received only five pesos for each ticket sold.

The ferry was relaunched almost exactly five years ago by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority with 12 stations. I wrote a column then about the ‘MMDA River Bus Ferry,’ as they called it. “The “bus ferry” was,” I wrote in March 2014, “literally, a banana-yellow mini-bus perched on a blue tug boat.” It looked unsafe.

In July 2018, the House of Representatives said they earmarked P2 billion in the General Appropriations Act for 2019 for the revival of the Pasig River ferry system.

The sum is intended for the construction of 17 new stations in addition to the 12 existing.

This is likely for the Pasig River Convergence Program of the Department of Budget and Management that will, aside from new stations, also add more boats to the ferry system. In November 2018, it was reported that DBM would create a multi-agency commission to establish and maintain the ferry system that would link the river end-to-end from Manila to Laguna de Bay by 2022.

An April 2018 news item in Bluprint online says that the new Pasig River Ferry will have “29 stations and 24 boats servicing 76,000 commuters per day or 19,836,000 per year—not yet including passenger volumes for weekend schedules, tours, or express routes. The new stations will be established along the river in the cities of Manila, Mandaluyong, Makati, Taguig, Pasig, and Marikina.”

The ferry is operating but hasn’t quite caught on again because, according to some commuters there aren’t enough stops, and, to make it worse, some of them were closed.

A writer friend of mine who is partially disabled was using the ferry regularly and bemoaned the closure of the stop nearest her home. She said her disability makes it difficult for her to take jeepneys, buses, or the trains, which involve jumping, running, and other forms of physical exertion to take. The ferry was, for her, the best form of transportation.

The Pasig River Convergence Program should be kicked into high gear once this year’s budget is enacted. It is a highpriority program of President Rodrigo Duterte, who expects that it will reduce traffic along Edsa and other major thoroughfares.

Recently, the PRRC, Intramuros Administration, Municipality of Noveleta, and Cavite Superferry Transport Inc. entered into an agreement for a new ferry system that will connect Noveleta, Cavite and Intramuros, Manila.

A ferry station will be constructed in Intramuros that the IA will help develop and administer, and design along cultural heritage lines.

The logical and common-sense solutions provided by these projects should be implemented immediately. Our longsuffering commuters deserve no less.

ISLAMIC STATE: PIONEERS OF THE ‘DIGITAL CALIPHATE’

By Clare Byrne and Brant Deboer THE Islamic State may have lost its self-styled caliphate, but its barbaric back catalogue of grisly execution videos will continue to haunt the global imagination and serve as a template for how to sow terror, analysts say.

At the height of its reign over a vast chunk of Iraq and Syria in 2014-2015, the Sunni jihadist group had a huge digital footprint, flooding social media with slick videos lionizing their fighters and showing the gruesome executions of “infidel” soldiers and civilians.

Today, its once-sophisticated propaganda machine, like its proto-state, has been reduced to rubble.

But the images of a Syrian soldier being crushed with a tank, a Jordanian pilot being burned alive in a cage, and countless other IS atrocities, including Western reporters and aid workers being beheaded, will endure.

“It clearly will stick with us, rather like how Al Qaeda stuck with us persistently even after Osama bin Laden was killed,” Charlie Winter, senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King’s College London, told AFP. Propaganda pioneer The group was not the first to use gore as a propaganda tool, with al-Qaeda releasing a video of the beheading of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002 and Mexican drug cartels also regularly sharing decapitation videos.

But IS’s Hollywood-style action clips—and use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the encrypted service Telegram to reach millions of viewers—took graphic terror videos videos into the mainstream.

IS invested “a lot more time, a lot more money, a

lot more energy, and a lot more human capital in the production of propaganda than other groups have before it,” Winter said.

“It was the pioneer in terms of really upscaling and industrializing the production of propaganda.”

Analysts say the group was particularly savvy in its use of social media to cement the radicalization of thousands of disenfranchised Muslim youths by projecting an image of invincibility on the battlefield.

To expand its audience, it piggybacked on popular hashtags on social media, such as those linked to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and one linked to singer Justin Bieber.

And while the videos and pictures of crucifixions and decapitations dominated international headlines, other IS videos tried to show a softer side of life in the caliphate.

“Most of the videos, and broadly, most of the web content produced by ISIS at the time, were actually utopian content, trying to show that they were trying to build a utopian state, a utopian society,” Marc Hecker, foreign policy expert at the French Institute for International Affairs told AFP. ‘Frontline selfies’ Foreign fighters were also the forefront of the propaganda drive, snapping grinning selfies of themselves with assault rifles slung across their chests, on what David Thomson, author of a bestselling book of interviews with French jihadists, called their “LOL jihad”.

Pointing to the likes of Junaid Hussain, a young British hacker who enlisted and died in Iraq, Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at RUSI, noted: “Their communications people were kids in their twenties operating in a terror group the way

they do back home.”

“They weren’t doing anything exceptional.”

Their social media presence made IS propagandists a prime target for international intelligence agencies, with a US airstrike killing IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani in northern Syria in August 2016 and another hit taking out its media centre in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Under pressure from Western governments, Facebook, Twitter also clamped down on jihadist propaganda, establishing filters on violent content that IS and other terror groups struggle to circumvent.

These days IS propagandists mostly use the “dark web”—a heavily encrypted part of the internet which is almost impossible to regulate, or the Telegram app —to encourage supporters to launch attacks on their own initiative.

A research note in November from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washingtonbased think tank, said the group retained a “digital caliphate” to support its insurgency in other countries.

Noting its launch of a new series of weekly videos providing statistics on purported IS activity across the world, author Maxwell B. Markusen noted: “This propaganda effort also may indicate an ongoing effort to over-emphasize its real role on the battlefield, and to recruit new fighters.”

Winter described the group’s impact on terrorist propaganda as “enormous.”

“It has globalized its ideology in a way that was never really feasible before. And that will definitely stand to have an impact in how the global insurgency in terms of jihadists will look for years to come,” he said. AFP

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B2

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor / Jimbo Gulle, Issue Editor

CHINA FACTORY BLAST DEATH TOLL JUMPS TO 64 BEIJING—The death toll in a chemical plant explosion in China rose to 64 Saturday but rescuers found a survivor among more than two dozen still missing in the debris of one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent years.

Thursday’s explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park.

The local fire brigade pulled a man in his 40s from the rubble of the destroyed chemical plant around dawn on Saturday, according to a statement on the city government’s official Weibo account.

He was taken to hospital for treatment, the statement said, without giving further detail of his status or injuries.

Rescuers are looking for 28 people who are still missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported, citing Yancheng mayor Cao Lubao.

“The identities of the dead and the missing are being confirmed through interviews with family members, home visits and DNA tests,” Cao told CCTV. The explosion toppled several buildings in the industrial park and caused a huge fire that raged through the night, while rescuers scrambled to find survivors in the plant’s wreckage. AFP

TEARFUL MUSLIMS RETURN TO MOSQUE IN CHRISTCHURCH CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—Muslims prayed at Christchurch’s main mosque on Saturday for the first time since a white supremacist massacred worshippers there as New Zealand sought to return to normality after the tragedy.

The Al Noor mosque was taken over by police for investigations and security reasons after alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant attacked Muslims gathered there and at a smaller mosque for Friday prayers on March 15, killing 50 people.

But Al Noor was handed back to the local Muslim community on Saturday and began allowing small groups onto its grounds around midday.

“We are allowing 15 people at a time, just to get some normality,” said Saiyad Hassen, a volunteer at Al Noor, adding that there was as yet no known plan to fully reopen.

Among the first to enter was Vohra Mohammad Huzef, who survived the bloodshed.

Huzef, a Christchurch civil engineer originally from India, said two of his roommates were killed and he managed to survive only by hiding under bodies.

“I could feel the bullets hitting the people and I could feel the blood coming down on me from the people who were shot,” he said.

“Everyone wants to get back in again to give praise and to catch up. This is the central point of our community.”

The attacks have shocked a country of 4.5 million known for its tolerance and prompted global horror, heightened by Tarrant’s cold-blooded livestreaming of the massacre. AFP

TWIN CYCLONES BATTER AUSTRALIA IN NORTH, WEST SYDNEY—A “very destructive” category 4 cyclone slammed into Australia’s remote northern coast on Saturday, while a second, equally powerful storm bore down on the country’s west.

Cyclone Trevor, pushing a huge storm tide and packing winds of up to 250 kilometres per hour (150 mph), made landfall on the sparsely populated Northern Territory coast near the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Port McArthur, national broadcaster ABC reported.

The army and police had already evacuated most residents from communities in Trevor’s path, though a handful of locals remained behind, police told the ABC. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Trevor was driving a “very dangerous storm tide” along coastal regions and that heavy rainfall was expected to cause flooding across wide areas of the Northern Territory and neighboring Queensland.

Meanwhile another category 4 cyclone, Veronica, was bearing down on the more heavily populated mining region of Pilbara in Western Australia state, where it was expected to make landfall late Saturday or Sunday.

Jonathan Howe of the BOM said Veronica was expected to slow down as it approached the coast near the mining center of Port Hedland, carrying up to a meter of rain for some areas and pushing a storm surge than could reach four meters (nine feet).

“We could see widespread inundation,” of the region, he said. AFP

TURKISH NEW YEAR. A woman takes a selfie in front of a bonfire as Turkish Kurds gather during Newroz celebrations for the new year in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on Thursday. Newroz (also known as Nawroz or Nowruz) is an ancient Persian festival, which is also celebrated by Kurdish people, marking the first day of spring, which falls on March 21. AFP

MAY PUSHES BREXIT DEAL WITH NEW TIMETABLE

L

ONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May tried to persuade members of Parliament to back the European Union divorce deal, seeking to build bridges after lashing out at lawmakers for their indecision on Brexit.

May wrote to all MPs on Friday to spell out the possible paths forward after European Union leaders granted a short delay to Britain’s departure date at this week’s EU summit.

However, the prime minister said she would not hold a third vote on the divorce deal next week if sufficient numbers do not switch sides in the coming days.

The premier faces daunting odds to persuade British lawmakers to support the plan— something they have already overwhelmingly rejected twice—by a new April 12 deadline agreed with the EU.

If May succeeds, Britain—which was staring at a cliff-edge deadline of March 29 for leaving the EU—will depart on May 22 under the terms of the withdrawal agreement struck with Brussels last year.

But if MPs cannot back the deal, then Britain can ask for another extension by April 12 or face a no-deal Brexit.

A further extension would require Britain to take part in European Parliament elections in May, despite having voted to leave the bloc three years ago.

In her letter, May said she would only bring the divorce agreement before the House of Commons again if it looked like there was sufficient support to pass the deal.

She spelled out the four options ahead, the first to being to revoke Britain’s notice to leave the EU, “but that would betray the result of the referendum”, the second to leave with no deal on April 12—which a majority of MPs have said they do not support, in a vote earlier this month.

“If it appears that there is sufficient support and the speaker permits it, we can bring the deal back next week and if it is approved we can leave on May 22,” she wrote.

But she said if there was not sufficient support or the house rejected it, Britain could ask for another extension and take part in the European Parliament elections, adding: “I strongly believe that... would be wrong”.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Friday at the close of the EU summit, EU Council President Donald Tusk said: “Until April 12, anything is possible.”

Brexit protesters were set to march in London on Saturday demanding a second referendum.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would join.

“The EU’s decision to postpone things until at least April 12 has opened a window, and those of us who oppose Brexit must seize the chance it offers,” Sturgeon said, according to the Press Association.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the bloc’s leaders would need another summit with May to discuss how to proceed if MPs reject the agreement again.

That prospect increased on Friday after Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May’s government in parliament, accused the prime minister of “failure” at the EU summit. AFP

TRUMP ‘LIKES’ KIM, DROPS NOKOR SANCTIONS WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly announced the cancellation of sanctions imposed by his own Treasury Department to tighten international pressure on North Korea.

“It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” Trump said in a tweet.

He appeared to be referring to measures unveiled Thursday that targeted two Chinese companies accused of helping North Korea to evade tight

international sanctions meant to pressure Pyongyang into ending its nuclear weapons program.

But The Washington Post reported, citing Trump administration officials, that the president’s tweet referenced future sanctions that had not been announced and were scheduled for “the coming days.”

The Thursday sanctions were the first new sign of pressure since talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down in Hanoi less than a month ago.

However, Trump, who has previously spoken of “love” for the totalitarian leader, appears to retain

hope that his strong personal relationship will bear fruit.

“President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” the president’s spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat who heads the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives, blasted Trump for cancelling sanctions “imposed only yesterday and championed by his own national security advisor, because he ‘loves’ Kim.” “Foolish naivete is dangerous enough. Gross incompetence and disarray in the White House make

it even worse,” Schiff tweeted.

On Thursday, Trump national security advisor John Bolton had tweeted that the sanctions were meant to put an end to “illicit shipping practices” by North Korea.

“Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion,” he said.

China complained, saying that it did enforce all UN resolutions and opposed “any country imposing unilateral sanctions and taking long-arm jurisdiction against any Chinese entity according to their own domestic laws.” AFP

SCRAMBLE TO GET RELIEF SUPPLIES TO MOZAMBIQUE BEIRA, Mozambique—Aid workers faced disarray, a clamor for help and mounting anger as they headed out across central Mozambique, struggling to assist tens of thousands of people battered by one of southern Africa’s most powerful storms.

A week after Tropical Cyclone Idai lashed Mozambique with winds of nearly 200 kilometres (120 miles) per hour, rescue efforts stepped up a gear on Friday, but the situation was often chaotic.

Humanitarian agencies are racing to rescue those still trapped, feed those who have been brought to safety and protect them from potential outbreaks of malaria and cholera.

“Already, some cholera cases have been reported in (the port city of ) Beira along with an increasing number

of malaria infections among people trapped by the flooding,” said the International Federation of Red Cross in a statement.

The mayor of Diaz Simango told AFP that cases of diarrheal infections had already been reported.

“We are running out of time, it is at a critical point here,” UN children’s agency chief Henrietta Fore told AFP after she flew into the devastated port city of Beira from New York.

Hygiene and safe drinking water are absolute priorities, she warned.

“There’s stagnant water, it’s not draining, decomposing bodies, lack of good hygiene and sanitation,” Fore said. “We are worried about cholera, about malaria, because of the stagnant water.” AFP

BRIDGE TO COMMERCE. People cross from Cucuta in Colombia back to San Antonio del Tachira in Venezuela after buying goods to resell, through improvised bridged on the ‘trochas,’ illegal trails on the border between the two countries near the Simon Bolivar international bridge, on Thursday. Venezuela is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis due to shortages of food and medicine exacerbated by hyperinflation. AFP

Images

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

BIG HAUL. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino

(center) inspects part of the 166 kilos of suspected shabu worth P1.1 billion on Wednesday. The illegal drugs were seized during a raid at a house inside Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City by PDEA and police operatives, leading to the arrest of four Chinese nationals. Manny Palmero

BIKER BUDDY. Lakas-CMD president Martin Romualdez (left) escorts Davao City Mayor and Hugpong ng Pagbabago chairman Sara Duterte-Carpio into a hotel in Tacloban City on Tuesday. The presidential daughter had just alighted from a six-hour trip on a motorcycle from Catarman, still in gear and all (inset) when Romualdez, who is running for congressman of Leyte’s first district, welcomed her as part of the HNP’s campaign sortie in the province. Ver Noveno POLICE POWWOW. Police men and women from different units of the National Capital Region Police Office participate in an ethnic dance competition during the ‘Fiesta sa Kampo 2019’ on Tuesday at the NCRPO headquarters in Taguig City.

Norman Cruz

DIGITAL COMMAND. President Rodrigo Duterte inspects the National Housing Authority Battalion/Brigade Modular Command Facility on the sidelines of the 122nd Founding Anniversary of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City on Thursday. Presidential Photo/Toto Lozano

GOOD OLD VALUES. Opposition senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc (left) kisses the hand of an elderly market vendor during the Otso Diretso senatorial slate’s visit to the public market in Dumaguete City on Friday. Norman Cruz

PRIZED PRODUCE. A vendor inspects garlic heads he has dried under the midday sun on the street along Road 10 in Tondo, Manila before repacking and selling them to markets in Divisoria and elsewhere in the capital city. Lino Santos

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

ERNIE GAWILAN: NO LEGS, ALL HEART

By MJ Blancaflor

H

IS first battle was inside his mother’s womb. He fought. He triumphed.

This is a man who survived abortion.

His childhood misfortunes made the man that he is now—a para swimming star, who sets sights on winning the country’s first gold medal in the Paralympics, the Olympics for athletes with disabilities.

Ernie Gawilan dives and swims into the pool for four hours every day to keep himself in good shape. He trains at the Philippine Sports Complex in Pasig City, where dormitories for national athletes like him are also located.

Despite his small stature—about four stacked 1.5 liters of Coke—Ernie brought pride to the country for being one of several Filipinos to win gold in the Asian Para Games, where para athletes across the continents face off.

Last October, the speedy swimmer Ernie clocked 2:52.3 in the men’s 200-meter individual medley, ahead of Chinese Taipei’s Chen Liang-da by 3.47 seconds. His victory has ended our gold medal-drought since the establishment of Asian Para Games in 2010.

As he gained momentum, he bagged two other gold medals and two silvers. More impressively, Ernie set a record in the 400-meter freestyle finals— twice—at 4:56 and 4:51.

He has 15 gold medals in his belt now, with four silvers and five bronzes.

Ernie has also achieved his dream of competing in the Paralympics as he vied in the 400-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, and 100-meter backstroke at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Brazil.

And there’s no stopping Ernie. The 27-year-old para swimming team captain seeks to add another feat to his long list of achievements.

He is under intensive training for the World Para Swimming Championships, his ticket to the next Summer Paralympics that will be hosted by Tokyo in 2020.

The pool wonder aims to capture our country’s first gold at that.

Get to know this man, for he is a force to be reckoned with in his swift movements in the pool, and in his sturdy attitude to trump life’s challenges.

Ernie Gawilan brought pride to the country for being the first Filipino to win gold in the 2018 Asian Para Games. Photo by Philippine Sports Commission. composed of Ernie, Arnel, Gary Bejino, Roland Subido, Edwin Villanueva, and Adrian Azul.

“Mabilis talaga lumangoy si Ernie kaya nacha-challenge kami sa kanya,” Arnel said.

Under the supervision of Coach Tony and Coach Ral Rosario, the Davaoeño goes all out, hoping to take home the elusive gold medal in Paralympics for the Philippines. If he wins, he will receive a cash incentive from the government by virtue of Republic Act 10699.

After making waves at the Asian Para Games last year, he received over P4million in cash incentives, which he used to buy a 200-square meter house in Samal Island.

The bemedalled para athlete also plans to buy a farm and a piggery, while helping his brother’s family.

“Hindi naman ako atleta habambuhay,” Ernie said.

“Gusto ko rin makapagpundar.”

He plans to retire in 2024.

Heart of a champion While he was in Kuala Lumpur for the 2017 ASEAN Para Games, Ernie received the news that his father had died.

Coach Tony had asked him to go home, but he chose to stay in Malaysia, and donned the national colors.

Despite the undesirable news, he defended his title in the 400-meter freestyle event after registering 4:57.49 on board. He also took home two gold medals, one silver, and two bronzes.

Water under the bridge

Surviving abortion

When Ernie’s father discovered his mother’s affair, he left them. This prompted his mother to try to abort him.

Ernie survived the abortion, the first of the many battles he will win. He was born in Sinuda, Kitaotao in Bukidnon on May 5, 1991.

His mother died of cholera when he was just five months old, leaving him to the custody of his grandfather Pedro.

At the age of seven, Ernie learned about the failed abortion.

“Badtrip talaga ako nu’n,” he said, as he narrated his struggles due to his underdeveloped legs and left arm.

“Gumagapang ako dati para makalakad.”

He also experienced being mocked and ridiculed for his physical impairment.

Ernie recalled that in one instance while he was a child, a construction worker behind him commented: “Wag mo akong luhuran.”

He was hurt, so he turned to the man and replied, “Bakit hindi ka lumuhod tapos suntukan tayo?”

Newfound hope

Soon after, a rich businessman convinced his grandfather to send him to a training center dedicated to the handicapped youth. He found himself en route to Our Lady of Victory Training Center at Babak, Samal Island in Davao del Norte. It is run by the Maryknoll sisters of St. Dominic.

At the foundation’s beach resort, he met swimming coach Jude Corpuz who taught him the skill that would change the tides of his life.

“Lagi niya akong nakikitang nakatingin sa dagat kahit high tide o low tide. Kaysa masayang daw ang oras ko, tinuruan niya akong lumangoy,” Ernie said.

The Forest Hills resort pool became the initial training camp of young Ernie.

Para swimming star Ernie Gawilan is under intensive training for the World Para Swimming Championships, his ticket to the next Summer Paralympics that will be hosted by Tokyo in 2020.

Coach Jude made him part of the swimming team composed of other persons with disabilities.

Changing tides

His first swimming competition was the 2008 Philippine Olympic Festival held in Cagayan de Oro. Young Ernie was closer to success. Well, not quite.

He was almost disqualified because he forgot his swimming trunks. Much to his relief, competition officials allowed him to compete wearing bulky cargo pants.

Ernie finished second to a PWD national team member.

The first placer, Arnel Aba, took notice of his potential and asked him to join the Philippine squad.

The odds were in favor of Ernie. Para swimming coach Tony Ong was then in Davao and the Philippine Sports Commission was looking for para swimmers.

As they say, the rest is history.

Para swimming star

Far from his usual quiet and gentle manner, Ernie is “a totally different person” in swimming, according to Coach Tony. In the words of his trainer: a “monster in the pool.”

Because of his dexterity and hard work in training, he serves as an inspiration for his fellow para swimmers to do better in their drills. The six-man para swimming team is

For Ernie, water is not just his battleground where he competes with others and shows his prowess, but an arena where he started to accept who he is. “‘Pag nasa tubig ako, normal na tao ako,” he said.

“Hindi ko naiisip na may kapansanan ako.”

His past isn’t troubling him now.

“Madalas akong nagtatanong kung bakit ako ganito. Nakita ko ‘yung sagot. Sa sports ako dinala ng kapansanan ko,” Ernie said.

“Di ko inaasahan na dito ako dadalhin ng Diyos,” added Ernie, grateful for the doors that opened for him because of para swimming.

Now that the spotlight is on him, the top para swimmer admitted he is already used to media interviews.

“Dati mahiyain ‘yan si Ernie,” his friend and teammate Arnel said, adding that the champ is now more sociable and confident.

But Ernie regrets that he can no longer share his success with his grandfather who took care of him. His grandfather died in 2007, before he became part of the national team.

Because of the support he receives from his friends and teammates, Ernie knows he’s on the right track. His 23-yearold girlfriend from Davao also inspires him to reach his dreams, although settling down is far from his mind now.

For the 2020 Paralympics, the Philippine team needs to boost its chances of beating the powerhouses in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Indonesia) and Asia (China and Korea). Ernie recognizes that there’s no time to be complacent, since we are also lagging behind the para swimmers of other countries, especially the United States and Great Britain.

Strong currents might pull him out of the race toward the Paralympic gold. But like any other battle he has won in life, he will not surrender. Come hell or high water.

YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE: IT’S ALL ABOUT PASSION

By Arman D. Armero IN FEBRUARY 2017, a group of like-minded, passionate men sat together and decided to form an association dedicated to discovering and developing future world-class football players.

It was no accident that the founding members of the new association were heads of the different youth football clubs in the country, namely the Green Archers United FC, Ceres-Negros Youth FC, MSA-Aguila FC, Loyola Meralco FC, Forza FC, JP-Voltez FC, Global FC, Kaya FC, and Stallion Laguna FC, among others.

Thus was born the Youth Football League Association, Inc., a non-profit, non-stock corporation sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country.

In only three years, the association, now known simply as YFL or Youth Football League, has grown at a fast pace.

In its first year, it attracted 1,255 aspiring football players and two years later, its membership grew to around 3,000 – and counting.

YFL’s rapid growth can be attributed to the hard work and dedication put in by its officers and mem-

bers, headed by the equally hard-working and a very capable leader in Miguel Atayde.

Miguel or ‘Mike’ to family and friends, did not play competitive football as a young man (“I played football for fun,”), but draws inspiration from daughter Michela, who played varsity football for De La Salle University in the UAAP, and youngest son Luis, who plays for Negros Ceres Youth Football Club, which Mike used to manage.

But Mike, a La Salle alumnus, said his involvement in youth football goes back some 10 years ago.

“Back then, I was invited by the DLSU Sports Development Foundation as director for football concerns. I later became the foundation’s president for three years,” Mike recalled.

The men—and woman—behind the successful staging of the Youth Football That experience opened Mike’s eyes to the vast League 2019 tournament held recently. They are (from left) Christopher potential of youth football, and the need to pattern Hagedorn, chairman, Youth Football League Association of the Philippines; the Filipinos’ training system to the ones being prac- Jefferson Cheng, Board of Trustee, YFL; Miguel ‘Mike’ Atayde, President, YFL; ticed in football clubs in other countries.

Erwin Pantaleon, Business Manager of Ascent Solutions, Inc.; and Vanessa He went on to manage a football club, and later put Montanez, Head of Operations, YFL sponsor, Speed Regalo. up the Manila South United with some ‘football parents.’

It was also during that time that the United Foot- ner of Ceres Negros Ceres FC, where he became its general manager, ball League started its professional league and Mike which in turn, jumpstarted his passion for youth football. decided to form a youth football club under the banThe rest, as they say, is football history.

CEBUANOS RULE IRONKIDS

By Reuel Vidal AZUELA COVE, Davao—Cebu bets Earol Belonquil and Marielle Estreba both came from behind to rule the 13-to-14 years old age group in the boys and the girls category of the Alaska Fortified IRONKIDS Philippines held here yesterday.

Belonquil trailed pace-setter Zedrick James Borja out of the swim then teamed up with fellow Cebuano Matthew Justine Hermosa to overtake Borja. Belonquil relied on his length and longer strides to finish one second of Hermosa.

Borja finished third, Akio Habana was fourth while Jacob Kennedy Lipura was fifth.

Estreba trailed Arianna Danielle Lim by six full seconds after the swim but caught up early in the run to win comfortably. Jeanna Mariel Caneta was second while Lim finished third. Sherr Elbereth Daniot was fourth while Aliyah Dianne Gregorio took fifth place.

Then 13-year-old Estreba was second in this age-group last year. Thirteen-year-old Belonquil, who has grown to five feet nine inches, was first in the 11to-12 years age category last year.

Francesca Behn Caballero was first in the girls’11-to-12 years age group. Aira Danara, Raiannelle Bacus, Glenda Jamella Pangilan and Aliah Nicole Boco followed.

Juan Alessandro Suarez ruled the boys category of 11-to-12 year olds.

Following him are Matthew Cagape, Chuck Ampara, Christopher Adrian Te and Jude Edison Lizada in that order.

Eleora Caelle Avanzado ruled the girls category of 9 to 10 year olds. In second was Danielle Syvia Tan. Chantal Calolot, Teya Aurelia Mora and Zion Baron Nocum were the other winners.

Winners in the boys category of 9 to 10 years old include Bruce Ice Bragat, Asher Chamyuel Baluyut, Youone Kriven B. Ramos, Kian Mikhail Manabat and Brisbane Gary Haban.

Christy Ann Perez won the girls category of 6 to 8 year olds. Justine Athena Jaspe, Shanne Balderas, Zoe Isobel Cahig and Josefa Perrine Arenas were the other winners.

Kenshie Luke Cabando ruled the boys category of 6 to 8 year olds. Following him are Diego Jose Dimayuga, Brent Edgar Diesmo, Christina Isaiah Lagnason and Sylar Alcantara.

Alaska Fortified IRONKIDS Philippines is a race for boys and girls who are six to 14 years old.

The next events in the Alaska Fortified IRONKIDS Philippines calendar are the Swim-Run in Vermosa on May 12, the Swim-Run in Subic Bay on June 1 and Swim-Bike-Run in Cebu on Aug. 10.

For more information visit the website www.ironkidsphil.com, Facebook /ironkidsphil, Instagram @ironkidsPhilippines or Twitter @ironkidsPhil.

Learn more about Alaska Sports at www.alaskamilk.com/alaska-sports/.

CARLOS EYES RIVIERA TITLE JOBIM Carlos hopes to mark his return to Philippine Golf Tour Asia in triumphant fashion as he shoots for a title repeat in the ICTSI Riviera Golf Challenge, which reels off March 27 at the Langer layout in Silang, Cavite.

The former national champion edged veteran Tony Lascuña by two at Riviera last year to score his breakthrough win in three years as pro, a victory that sparked his surge in the PGT where he won two tournaments at Apo and in Cebu while turning in five top five finishes to emerge the Order of Merit champion.

“I couldn’t have done it without hard work,” said Carlos of his OOM feat. “It says a lot about my improvement as a player and I think I am more competitive than ever.”

He aims to put on display that fiery form again when he mixes it with his fellow local top guns and a host of foreign bidders also out to make an impact in the second-to-last tournament of the 2018-19 PGTA season.

Carlos vied in the Singapore Open and when Jhonnel Ababa retained his PGTA crown at Pradera Verde last January with the Meycauayan, Bulacan find raring to get another crack at the crown in the $100,000 championship put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. But he will be up against a fired-up field priming up for the 101st Philippine Open on April 3-6, including top players from Singapore, Thailand, England, Taiwan, the US, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, Macedonia, the Netherlands and Spain.

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By Othel V. Campos

H

OMEGROWN Philippine brands continue to level up to global standards with the help of franchising.

Philippine Franchise Association president Richard Sanz said about 30 Filipino brands have successfully penetrated markets overseas and that about a hundred more are expected to join the fold in three years.

“We advocate Filipino franchises to go global. We want to see 100 of our brands in the international scene. These brands come from the mainstreaming of homegrown concepts.

We have seen a lot of successful brands not only from Metro Manila but from the Visayas and Mindanao. It only makes sense for them to look for opportunities abroad. And when foreigners see these brands, they see the potential of these products in their home markets,” he said.

This will be one of the focal points at the Franchise Asia Philippines 2019 on March 27 to 31 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

In its 27th edition, the event continues to be the biggest franchise show in Asia with 13 participating countries showcasing more than 1,000 brands.

About 20 percent of the brands during the show are foreign labels that seek entry into the dynamic Philippine market.

Trends Among the trends that PFA expects foreign brands to bring are the concepts of manless business models and experiencing death and reincarnation, two global franchising concepts that are starting to take roots in different markets.

The expensive cost of maintaining manpower is the major push for the manless concept. R obotics and technological advancement provides a major support for manless establishments such as Amazon Go and manless convenience stores that started in South Korea.

Using their cards, consumers need only to tap to enter the stores, grab their purchases and go.

The data on their card allows for this kind of shopping set-up wherein the establishments capture the proper data needed to process their purchases and billed through e-wallet.

The death and reincarnation franchise concept is a novel concept created to bring down the number of people taking their own lives.

The participant has virtual experience while laying on a coffin for 30 minutes. Before that, he receives an inspirational message from a priest or a monk and gets to write his last will and testament.

Another concept is the vendo machines.

Business

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

PH BRANDS EXPAND

TO FOREIGN MARKETS

Philippine Franchise Association president Richard Sanz

2 COMPANIES OFFERING P25 INSURANCE

BANKERS Assurance Corp. teamed up with TrueMoney Philippines to sell insurance by the sachet for as low as P25 for a three-month coverage.

D u b b e d a s Tu n a y M a g - a l a g a Insurance, consumers are entitled to a P20,000 accidental death benefit and P5,000 accidental medical reimbursement benefit. They are also given the option of availing coverages of 4 months, 6 months or 12 months.

“We aim to help provide financial resilience through affordable and accessible insurance. In partnership with True Money, Bankers Assurance is committed to support the drive towards financial inclusion in the Philippines by developing products that are more consumer-friendly and affordable, with less documentary requirements, and offering genuine value that customers can easily access, understand and appreciate,” said Bankers Assurance president Eden Tesoro.

TrueMoney chief executive Jacqueline Van Den Ende said: “The Tunay Magalaga Insurance helps address the risk priorities of the low-income sector such as unexpected death. The Tunay Mag-alaga Insurance provides coverage for accidental death or medical reimbursement caused by accidents.”

The Tunay Mag-alaga Insurance is available in more than 20,000 TrueMoney Centers nationwide, making safety and security easier to reach for many Filipino families.

FILIPINO DOCTORS GET ASIAN AWARDS IN OPHTHALMOLOGY

Vendo is not a totally fresh concept but it has always a dependable business model. Vendo, a Japanese selling concept, is now being franchised as well.

Locally, franchising trends that are shaping the industry include DIY laundromat, specialty skin and beauty concepts, food parks, food strips, the renaissance of barber shops, the third wave popularity of milk teas, micro-finance, dialysis clinics, the rise of celebrity franchisors, among others.

These are mostly homegrown ideas that captured the interest of franchisors.

Franchise show The franchise show continues to be a tool in promoting franchising as a business concept to many business owners and micro, small and medium enterprises.

Sans said that franchising has evolved as a significant contributor to generating jobs for Filipinos.

“From the moment PFA was founded, we have implemented a two-pronged approach of endorsing franchising as a strategy for growth for MSMEs and in encouraging ordinary Filipinos to take the path of entrepreneurship via franchising,” he said.

Sanz said most pioneer franchisors are already preparing for the next of generation to take on the business.

“In other words, franchising has not only shown itself as a catalyst in growing businesses but also a creator of legacies,” he said.

PFA, he said, is bullish about hitting 25-percent growth to $31 billion in 2019 from $25 billion in 2018.

One of the drivers for growth is the expanding middle class and their increasing ability to purchase goods and services.

An o t h er i s t h e d i s p e r s a l o f j o b s a n d development to areas outside Metro Manila such as Clark, Bacolod, Iloilo and Laguna.

The third factor is the continuing growth of homegrown brands.

PFA is also looking forward to bringing 100 more brands overseas by 2022.

PFA is composed of more than 300 member-companies with at least 700 brands, combined. The group continues to mentor new businesses that want to expand through franchising.

TWO doctors from the American Eye Center were recognized by the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology in Bangkok for their contributions to the advancement of the practice of Ophthalmology in the region.

Dr. Cesar Espiritu was accorded the Distinguished Service Award for his invaluable efforts to further the practice of Ophthalmology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Sherman Valero was given the APAO Service Award for his contributions to the scientific program of the APAO congress.

APAO was founded in 1960 to promote the field of ophthalmology and foster cooperation among eye doctors in the Asia-Pacific region. The Philippines is one of the founding members of the distinguished organization. More than 6,000 delegates gather annually to present and discuss the latest developments in all major ophthalmic subspecialties.

“We are honored and proud that two doctors from the American Eye Center were recognized by the APAO for their significant contributions to ophthalmology,” said AEC chief operating officer Dr. Norman Aquino.

“This is added testament to our claim of being one of the best providers of eye care not only in the Philippines, but in the region,” he said.

Aquino said the awards will also advance the country’s reputation in ophthalmic care. “This award says a lot about the caliber of eye care in the Philippines. Filipinos need not go abroad for the cutting edge procedures in eye care. The expertise is right here,” he said.

Dr. Espiritu earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines and his ophthalmology training from UP – Philippine General Hospital. He completed his fellowship in cornea, uveitis and infectious diseases at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation at the University of California in San Francisco.

Dr. Valero specializes in diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous. He obtained his medical degree at the University of the East in 1993, his residency training in ophthalmology at the Makati Medical Center in 1998 and his fellowship training at the University of Hawaii and the University of Toronto. He is the immediate past president of the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology and the current president of the Vitreoretina Society of the Philippines.

American Eye Center was founded in 1995 by a group of doctors from the University of the Philippines with the goal of providing the best available ophthalmic care to the public. It operates clinics at Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City and Greenbelt 5 in Makati City.

BIG JAPAN TRUCK FIRM OPENS $15-M SUBIC FACILITY

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Philippines sees a better headroom to rev up its trucking industry as the world’s largest heavy machinery exporter, AA Japan, teamed up with local automotive trader and dealer Filanka Subic Corp. to open a $15-million facility in Subic.

AA Japan is the latest player in the local automotive industry to showcase its more than a decade-long reputation, offering a massive global network of partners and branches and a clientele of more than 10,000 customers.

It is one of the biggest sources of

reasonably priced and used heavy-duty vehicles, equipment and machines globally and is recognized as a leader in the used Japanese car market.

“Every year, we deal with more than 10,000 customers throughout the world and our reputation of quality has never faltered. We strive, and we will always strive, to offer our customers quality vehicles at a low price, and to provide them with the best customer services,” said Hameed Ramzan, president and chief executive of AA Japan.

The AA Japan and Filanka partnership offers a wide array of assets and services catering to the demands for high-

quality, heavy-duty trucking solutions in the country.

Targetting to advance the industry of used car segment, AA Japan and Filanka are also rolling out wider service offerings, including steering wheel conversion, reconditioning, repair, leasing, documentation and sales.

The parties aim to advance the industry of used car segment and dominate the Philippine market. The partnership also aims to bolster the economic development in Subic, leveraging their proven track record and expertise.

“We aim to boost our Turn to C2

AA Japan executives led by president and chief executive Hameed Ramzan (second from left) and chief operating officer Kogawa Teruyuki (fourth from left) inaugurate the company’s facility in Subic Bay Freeport in partnership with local automotive trader and dealer Filanka Subic Corp. With them are Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority director Julius Escalona (left), Sto. Tomas Pampanga vice mayor Gloria Ronquillo, Vice Mayor of Sto. Tomas Pampanga (center), AA Japan sales executive Mayumi Tomori, Filanka Subic general manager Abdul Aseez and AA Japan marketing coordinator J.G. Estela Ishihara.

Business

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 business@manilastandard.net

Philippine government officials lead the Philippine Economic Briefing in Beijing, China co-organized by Bank of China.

PH BRIEFING SEEKS CHINESE INVESTORS BANK of China co-organized the Philippine

Economic Briefing in Beijing on March 20, 2019 where more than 500 Chinese officials and executives joined the event.

The PEB aimed to provide potential investors with an in-depth update on the Philippine economic, fiscal and political situation as well as on the Duterte administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program.

The Philippines is on a roadmap of diversifying its investor base and support for Philippine credit has been strong.

“Investor interest in the Philippines is growing and the PEB in Beijing gives us the opportunity to address any concerns and questions from Chinese investors,” said Deng Jun, country head of Bank of China Manila.

The Philippine delegation to Beijing is composed of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and the Philippine economic team headed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, acting Budget Secretary Janet Abuel, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, National Economic Development Authority assistant secretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos, Bases Conversion and Development Authority president and chief executive Vivencio Dizon and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo.

Bank of China said it is fervently supporting the Philippine government’s initiatives to attract foreign investments to the Philippines and bridge both the Philippine and Chinese markets. The bank played a similar role during the 2017 Philippine Economic Briefing in Shanghai, China which it also co-organized.

With its extensive investor reach and intimate understanding of both markets, Bank of China continues to pursue improved relations between China and the Philippines. According to Deng Jun, the PEB is a progression of this mission.

“We fully support the Philippine government’s development initiatives and we understand the need to diversify our investor basket. The PEB is just one of many steps towards continued discussions with global investors,” he said.

BULACAN FISHBALL MAKER BECOMES A SUCCESSFUL MICROENTREPRENEUR

E

rwin Ramos, a fishball maker from Bulacan and the national winner of the 16th Citi Microentrepreneurship Award, never misses a chance to inspire others by telling regaling stories of how he and his wife, Lanie, were able to turn their simple fishball-making business into a success.

In a celebration organized by Citi Foundation and the Microfinance Council of the Philippines in his hometown of Paombong, Bulacan, Ramos once again looked back into his bittersweet journey, with his family, friends and fellow microentrepreneurs in attendance.

Ramos started with his fishball making business using the fishball recipe he inherited from his fatherin-law. He experimented with bidbid, a fish considered a pest by bangus growers and marketed his product not only in his hometown but also in neighboring areas like Calumpit, Malolos, Hagonoy, Santa Rosa, Santa Maria, Pampanga and Metro Manila.

By offering samples and using his wit and good social skills, he was able to make his fishball known.

Ramos now produces more than 2,000 kilos of fishballs every day. He has also gone into the production of daing (dried fish) and Paombong vinegar.

He received financial support

Fishball maker and 16th CMA Microentrepreneur of the Year Erwin Ramos and wife Lanie show the award during a celebratory townhall in their hometown of Paombong, Bulacan in front of family, friends and fellow microentrepreneurs.

for his business from his microfinance institution partner Uplift Philippines Inc. From an initial loan of P5,000, Ramos is now on his 11th loan cycle with a loan amount of P200,000 which was used to buy production machinery and a van.

Through perseverance, determination and hard work, Ramos is able to send his children to private schools and help provide jobs in the community. When asked what advice he can give aspiring Filipino microentrepreneurs,

Ramos said: “First, you have to put God in the center of your life. Second, sipag at tiyaga and, lastly, save so you are prepared for unforeseen circumstances.”

Made possible through the combined efforts of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Citi Philippines and the MCPI, the CMA provides entrepreneurs with resources to strengthen their business and enables individuals to create economic sustainability for themselves, their families and their communities.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS REDEFINE BUSINESSES—ACCENTURE

By Othel V. Campos

Bria Homes’ Alecza housing project stands on an 81-sqm lot area, with 36-sqm floor area, and is complete with all the necessary housing features for a comfortable living.

BRIA OFFERS QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HOMES EVERY Filipino family dreams of a home

they can call their own but most aspiring homeowners are deterred from fulfilling this dream by what they perceive as the prohibitive costs of building a house and the complicated processes of filing for a home loan.

A property developer now offers high-quality homes that are easy on the pocket. Bria Homes, the fastest growing mass housing developer in the Philippines, hopes to turn every Filipino’s dream home into reality, one development at a time.

It is a subsidiary of Golden Bria Holdings Inc., a company with a market capitalization of more than P200 billion. Today, Bria has more than 50 developments across the most progressive towns and cities in the country covering over 700 hectares of land and more are soon to rise.

Br ia Homes takes pr ide in the development of affordable house and lot packages located in wholesome and pleasant communities where residents enjoy a happy and holistic lifestyle with their families.

It has become the perfect choice of many Filipino families and professionals—from ordinary Filipino workers to OFWs, and from entrepreneurs to retirees—who dream of having their own quality and budget-friendly homes and condominiums.

Bria is committed to addressing the perennial housing problem in the country and aims at building vibrant and sustainable communities by providing Filipino families with their dream home.

It offers easy-on-the-pocket homes that do not compromise quality and utilizes the latest and most advanced technologies to ensure fast construction and on-time turnovers of projects.

BIG JAPAN... From C1 network here, which may, in turn, strengthen the industry in this part of the country,” Ramzan said The project will also provide 200 jobs to local residents of Subic.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority director Julius Escalona said during the inauguration ceremony that the partnership would provide local entrepreneurs with heavy equipment units and related services.

AN ANNUAL report from Accenture predicts that key technology trends will redefine businesses over the next three years as the digital world enters the “post-digital” era, where success will be based on an organization’s ability to master a set of new technologies that can deliver personalized realities and experiences for customers, employees and business partners.

According to Accenture Technology Vision 2019, digital technologies enable companies to understand their customers with a new depth of granularity, give them more channels with which to reach those consumers and enable them to expand ecosystems with new potential partners.

“It’s just interesting when all the ads say digital transformation. But why are we talking about postdigital era? At this point in time most of the companies are investing in digital technology, however, digital technology is no longer a differentiator, it has evolved.

It functions now more as a price coordinator, a price admission. To understand what is to differentiate, we need to understand the different set of technology, wherein technology is part of the fabric of the eye,” said Accenture Philippines digital lead JP Palpallatoc.

About 79 percent of the more than 6,600 business and IT executives worldwide that Accenture surveyed for the report believe that digital

technologies—specifically social, mobile, analytics and cloud—have moved beyond to become part of the core technology foundation for their organization.

The Technology Vision identifies five emerging technology trends that companies must address if they are to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving landscape.

Darq power The technologies of distributed ledgers, ar tificial intelligence, extended reality and quantum computing or Darq are catalysts for change, offering extraordinary new capabilities and enabling businesses to reimagine entire industries.

When asked to rank which of these will have the greatest impact on their organization over the next three years, 41 percent of executives ranked AI number one—more than twice the number of any other Darq technology.

Get to know me Technology-driven interactions are creating an expanding technology identity for every consumer. This living foundation of knowledge will be a key to understanding the next generation of consumers and for delivering rich, individualized, experience-based relationships. More than four in five executives (83 percent) said that digital demographics give their organizations a new way to identify market opportunities for unmet customer needs.

Human + worker As workforces become “human+” —with each individual worker

Accenture Philippines digital lead JP Palpallatoc

empowered by their skill sets and knowledge plus a new, growing set of capabilities made possible through technology—companies must support a new way of working in the postdigital age. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of executives believe that their employees are more digitally mature than their organization, resulting in a workforce“waiting”for the organization to catch up.

Secure us to secure me While ecosystem-driven business depends on interconnectedness, those connections increase companies’ exposures to risks.

Leading businesses recognize that security must play a key role in their efforts as they collaborate with entire ecosystems to deliver best-in-class products, services and experiences.

Only 29 percent of executives said they know their ecosystem partners are working diligently to be compliant and resilient with regard to security.

MyMarkets Technology is creating a world of intensely customized and on-demand experiences, and companies must reinvent their organizations to find and capture those opportunities. That means viewing each opportunity as if it’s an individual market a momentary market. Six in seven executives (85 percent) said that the integration of customization and real-time delivery is the next big wave of competitive advantage.

According to the report, innovation for organizations in the post-digital era is mostly experiential based on the need or want of people.

Tailoring products, services and even people’s surroundings is the emerging trend and where businesses cater to the individual in every aspect of their lives and jobs, shaping their realities.

“By using technology we understand customers at a more granular level. Second, we are seeing that they lack digital ecosystems because we are seeing and knowing more of the consumers.

And we use these data for personalization. But with post-digital we meant individual experiences,” Palpallatoc said.

TEENPRENUER 2019 WINNERS: FACING REAL-WORLD BUSINESS CHALLENGES DON Bosco Technical College received two first prizes in this year’s Teenpreneur Challenge, arguably the country’s most prestigious annual entrepreneurship competition among the top high schools in the Philippines. The culminating expo and awards ceremony was held at SM Megamall which has been a supporter and sponsor since its inception.

Each participating school fields a team made up of the brightest, most creative and most entrepreneurial students who are tasked to come up with innovative solutions to real-world business challenges. This then fosters early on the entrepreneurial spirit among them, while bringing to life what it takes to be professional in the creative industry.

For this year, participants were tasked to create outstanding shirt and poster designs specifically for Island Souvenirs; video advertisements for Jollibee; and jingles in keeping with the marketing and branding objectives of Joy and Whisper.

To come up with the best ideas, the

Best in shirt and poster design for Islands Souvenirs winners Makati Hope Christian School students with Thames International president Joel Santos (right), host Ricci Jereza (left) and Island Souvenirs merchandising head Andrea Aldeguer (second from left)

students underwent extensive workshop sessions led by distinguished industry mentors, including Direk Mark Meily for the fundamentals of filmmaking; Thames ICE post-graduate scholars AJ Dimarucot, David Ouano and Christianne Tampos for the basics of designing shirts and posters; theater actors and Thames

ICE post-graduate scholars Tiffany Neri, Alison Segarra and Andrei Pamintuan for a basic acting workshop.

National Artist for Music Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and Bruno Mars’ uncle and music coach John Valentine served as special music mentors.

Emerging as winners in the sponsors’

choice categories are the following schools: Best in Music Jingle for Joy: first place, Don Bosco Technical College; second place, Makati Hope Christian School; and third place Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila School.

Best in Video Commercial for Jollibee: first place, Don Bosco Technical College; second place, Multiple Intelligence International School; and third place, Assumption College San Lorenzo.

Best in Music Jingle for Whisper: first place, Infant Jesus Academy; second place, St. Paul College Pasig; and third place, Assumption College San Lorenzo.

Best in Shir t/Poster Design for Islands Souvenirs: first place, Makati Hope Christian School; second place, St. Paul College Pasig; and third place, St. Scholastica’s College Manila.

With the success of Thames Teenpreneur Challenge 2019, institution eagerly looks forward to next edition, as it plays a key role in helping produce young entrepreneurs who are creative, innovative and real world-ready.

Tech & Gadgets

HUAWEI, BULACAN STATE U INK 3-YEAR ACADEMIC PACT

By Paul David L. Gelario

T

HE President of Bulacan State University signed a three-year contract with Huawei’s ICT Academy to elevate the university’s Information and Communications Technology and Engineering courses last Mar 19.

BSU President Dr. Cecilia NavaseroGascon signed with Huawei to educate the school’s faculty members, with the help of Huawei’s comprehensive curriculum.

The academy aims to emulate the trickle down approach called “Train the Trainers Program” where faculty members will be taught under the company’s comprehensive program and earn Huawei’s certification before the they can teach.

“The teachers will be trained first,” Gascon said. “With stronger faculty members, come stronger faculty students.”

The faculty members will be in an intense five-day training program where they need to pass the qualifying exam (at the last day) to become Huawei-certified instructors.

“Five days of full intensive training.

After five days they will have an exam, once they pass there will have certi-

Huawei Service Manager Allen Li (6th from left) and BSU President Dr. Cecilia Navasero-Gascon seal their pact with a handshake. At far right are Huawei Channel Service Manager Lim Seow Boon and Huawei PR Senior Manager, Karrie Buenafe. Paul Gelario

fication," Huawei’s Channel Service Manager, Lim Seow Boon said.

The training will cover the basic understanding of IP routing, switch, Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber security.

The academy also offers an interschool student competition titled: “Huawei ICT Competition,” where four promising students in Huawei’s partner schools and universities will be

given the chance to participate in the nationals in late 2019.

The top students that will prevail in the nationals will represent the Philippines’ four-student roster in the regionals to be held in Singapore in early 2020 against Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia.

“We have the Huawei ICT Competition. Where we will bring them to

Singapore or Malaysia (regional), and when they overcome the hurdles, they will come to China for the global competition,” Huawei PR Senior Manager, Karrie Buenafe said.

The academy first opened in the country in 2018 with founding members University of South Eastern Philippines, Mindanao State University, and the Dela Salle University Science Campus.

MORE CYBERSECURITY BREACH TACTICS LOOM TREND Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, shared its 2019 predictions report that highlights the trends and tactics cybercriminals are most likely to employ in 2019. The report, Mapping the Future: Dealing with Pervasive and Persistent Threats, highlights the growing threats faced by consumers and organizations that are exacerbated by the increasingly connected world.

The report warns that attackers will increase in the effectiveness of proven attack methods, by adding more sophisticated elements to take advantage of the changing technology landscape.

“Cybercriminals will continue to follow a winning formula—exploit existing flaws, social engineering and stolen credentials—to drive profits,” said Ian Felipe, Country Manager for Trend Micro Philippines. “As both corporate attacks surface and unknown cyber threats increase, it’s more important than ever for organizations to put more resources behind cybersecurity education to help protect against these growing attacks.”

E-Celeb Accounts Will Be Abused In Watering Hole Attacks The role of social engineering in successful attacks against businesses and individuals is predicted

to increase throughout the year. It is expected that cybercriminals will compromise famous YouTubers and other “online-famous” personalities’ social media accounts, including Instagram and Twitter, by taking over their accounts via targeted phishing attacks. These will shine a light on account security

in mainstream media, but not before millions of users following these accounts have been affected by whatever payload the attackers have in store for them.

Filipinos spend an average of 3 hours and 57 minutes a day on social media sites. Among their activities are following celebrities

and reading their updates particular, or the proposed on Facebook, Twitter, and Social Media Regulation Act of 2017, aims for social media Instagram. accounts to be subjected to Sextortion Cases Will Rise utmost identity verification to Sextortion, or the process confirm authenticity. Trend Miforcibly demanding money cro believes that this year, the or sexual favors by threat- improvements social media ening to publish a victim’s has made to fight fake news recorded sexual activity, is will not be enough to keep a growing epidemic in the up with the deluge of cyberPhilippines, with the coun- propaganda. This proves to try being seen as one of be alarming as the same surthe crime’s biggest breed- vey showed that half of Filipiing ground. Even if there is nos who use the internet for no guarantee that a black- social media have changed mailer will come through, their views on government and the highly personal nature politics based on what they of this kind of attacks will see online. make the victim seriously More Cloud-Related consider fulfilling the atSoftware Vulnerabilities tacker’s demands, whether Will Be Discovered that means money or sexual Trend Micro also predicts favors. As sextortion, in particular, becomes more wide- attackers will leverage on spread, this kind of attacks proven technological methwill affect, and perhaps even ods against the growing cloud adoption. According to claim, more lives in 2019.

Cloud Readiness Index 2018, the Philippines is among the Fake News Will Continue countries lagging behind in To Proliferate The 2018 Pulse Asia Re- cloud infrastructure and yet search shares that 9 out of 10 to mature in terms of cloud Filipinos who surf the internet adoption. It is generally perto access their social media ceived that transitioning to accounts are aware of fake the cloud makes users more news. Despite this awareness, prone to security breaches the side of technology that al- and attacks. Vulnerabilities lows fake news propagators found in cloud infrastructure, to sway public sentiment and such as containers, and weak present itself as legitimate cloud security measures will news has become even more allow greater exploitation of powerful, which leads to gov- accounts for cryptocurrency ernments expressing interest mining, leading to more in regulating social media damaging breaches due to platforms. House Bill 5021 in misconfigured systems.

SCORE MILLIONS OF DEALS AT SHOPEE 4.4 SUMMER BAZAAR SHOPEE, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, kicks off the Summer season with Shopee 4.4 Summer Bazaar from March 21 to April 4.

Shopee will fuel the Summer excitement with special contests and activities lined up across Shopee platforms, offering huge prizes including four free roundtrip tickets to El Nido and P100,000 in cash. In addition, users can enjoy over 1 million deals, flash deals from P44 from top brands and retailers, and P4 million in Shopee coins on Shopee Quiz.

Martin Yu, Associate Director, Shopee Philippines, said: “Summer is one of the most awaited times of the year in the Philippines, and we are thrilled to kick it off with the Shopee 4.4 Summer Bazaar. Summer is a time for fun and adventure for Filipinos and in line with this, we have introduced challenges and activities across all Shopee platforms to engage and entertain users at Shopee 4.4 Summer Bazaar. In addition, users can enjoy over 1 million deals on Shopee from leading brands and sellers to enjoy greater costsavings. We look forward to a fun Summer at Shopee and we invite all Filipinos to join us at Shopee 4.4 Summer Bazaar.”

Score Huge Prizes for Summer at Shopee From March 25 to April 5, Filipinos can fuel their Summer hype with the brand-new in-app game, Shopee Summer Quest. Users can accumulate points by completing various activities daily on the Shopee app, including checking in, playing Shopee Shake, and purchasing selected products. The top-ranking users on the live in-app leaderboard will receive a grand prize of P100,000 cash, as well as prizes worth P4,000 from top brands, namely Anker, MET Tathione, Maybelline, The Playbook Store, Silverworks, Huawei, Honor, A&S, Unilever, Mossimo, Mass, Snail White, Black + Decker, Stanley, and Meizu.

From March 22 to April 4, Shopee will also launch the nationwide Shopee Human Flatlay social media contest. Users stand a chance to get four round-trip tickets to El Nido by posting creative photos of them and their friends featuring Summer products from Shopee on Facebook and Instagram, with the hashtag #ShopeeHumanFlatlay.

15 Days of Sizzling Promotions with over a Million Deals The Shopee 4.4 Summer Bazaar promises offers 15 days of promotions and games from March 21 leading up

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

MiGUARD: MAKING FILIPINOS HOMES SAFER YOUR home should be safe. It should feel like your own personal refuge, a private sanctuary where you and your family can feel most secure and most worry-free.

In the Philippines, just like in many countries, feeling safe within the confines of ones’home, is never negotiable. Peace of mind that their loved ones are well protected and safe from harm is a prime priority of every homeowner.

Making every home safe and secure is what MiGuard is all about. A technologically advanced and innovative home security system, MiGuard provides a holistic approach to home safety and security. The MiGuard system is an integrated set of sensors, alarms, detectors, and controlled devices wirelessly connected to a central console which can control up to 100 MiGuard devices. The MiGuard Console serves as a gateway to the WiFi and GPRS network and is linked to a 24/7 MiGuard command center that monitors all the alarms and bridge the calls to first and nearest responders that can check unwanted activity happening in and around your home.

MiGuard’s 24/7 command center works in partnership with the PNP, the Bureau of Fire and Protection, and private and public hospitals to quickly connect and send the appropriate emergency response to help their customers. All these devices can be easily accessed and controlled using a MiGuard Security app on your mobile phone. Aside from crime prevention tools, MiGuard has incorporated early detection devices including fire or smoke sensors; water and gas leak detectors; and, a medical emergency call button into its security system package so potential emergencies, dangers, and disasters can be easily sensed and attended to.

“The safety and security of every family and every home should not be taken for granted. The more you wait, the longer you put your hard-earned possessions, your loved ones, and yourselves at risk”. Said Raeyan Basa, MiGuard’s Vice President for Sales.

So invest in a good security system today and put your trust in MiGuard. Because they care about making your homes safer, just as much as you do. For inquiries, you may contact +63 2 717 9806 or thru MiGuard Facebook page.

ENHANCE...

From C4

high-quality photos and documents for their school projects and art works for an exciting and productive summer.

With the HP DeskJet’s easy setup feature, kids can do hassle-free scanning and copying tasks. It is also designed to help the family save on space as it can easily fit any desk, shelf or corner of the house.

Hurry! Buy the HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 2135 All-in-One printer to avail of the P300 discount. Per DTIFTEB permit no. 3075 series of 2019.

Visit www.hp.com or see posters and print ads for more details.

LAZADA...

From C4

to the highly-anticipated big sale day on April 4. Users can look forward to over 1 million deals from leading brands and sellers across all categories. Key highlights include: Up to 90% off leading brands from all categories, including Maybelline, Dove, Surf, Realme, Huawei, Pedigree, Hanford, and Seaoil.

Flash deals starting at P44 across all categories from the hottest brands and sellers. Up to 10 rounds of flash sales will be available daily to give users greater costsavings on their favorite items.

Tune in as well on March 26 and witness the in-app livestreaming of the “Super Party” concert as Grammy and Brit Awards winner and British popstar Dua Lipa shares the stage with some of Southeast Asia’s brightest stars, including the Philippines’ “Multi-Media Princess” Nadine Lustre, “Absolute Performer” Sam Concepcion and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

With all these celebration and perks, it’s really going to feel like it’s your birthday instead! Watch out for all the products that will go on sale during Lazada’s 7th Birthday happening on March 27 by visiting our official Facebook and Instagram pages, or by simply logging on to www.lazada.com.ph or downloading the Lazada Mobile app via App Store or Google Play for free.

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TECH & Gadgets SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 Riera U. Mallari, Editor rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

LEVEL UP WITH PREMIUM FEATURES OF VIVO V15 PRO

N AN effort to give the best user experience to consumers, mobile phone developer Vivo unveiled the Vivo V15 Pro through an event that truly leveled up to expectations.

Showcasing the cutting-edge features of its flagship smartphone, Vivo and its officials are encouraging everyone to “Level Up with V15 Pro” during lavish launching rites attended by Vivo bigwigs, led by Vivo vice president Cyrus Wu, guests, media and trade partners at the Shangri-La at The Fort in Bonifacio Global City.

“We must continue to elevate our product and we exhausted all possibilities in smartphone technology to bring the best user experience to consumers,” said vice president for channel sales Hazel Bascon in her welcome remarks.

Some of the country’s most sought-after young celebrities, as well as mobile phone and photography enthusiasts, gathered to witness the unveiling at the Grand Ballroom of Singer Julie Ann San Jose opened the event with Ciara’s “Level Up” which brought up the energy at the venue while the audience awaited the V15 Pro’s big reveal. Filipino-Canadian singer Darren Espanto, Elisse Joson and Klea Pineda added more star power to the evening.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the Vivo V15 Pro whose main feature, the 32MP elevating front camera, was dramatically showcased when a podium elevated from underneath the stage to reveal the flagship smartphone.

After a brief product talk which shared the unique and leveled up features of the V15 Pro, Vivo officials and the young celebrities gathered on stage for a groufie picture using the elevating front camera.

Just before the event started, Vivo already teased some of the guests about the V15 Pro’s exciting features by welcoming them to the elevating front camera photo booth and the ultra-wide angle booth. However, everyone was still surprised with what Vivo revealed next.

As if taking a cue from the thrilling performance of Darren Espanto who closed the event with his version of “Lift Off ”, the stage backdrop suddenly split and opened up to reveal a grand demo area of more than 40 Vivo V15 Pro handsets, inviting everyone to discover and experience for themselves the levelled up features of the flagship mid-range smartphone.

The V15 Pro features the much-applauded 32MP Elevating Front Camera intended to take great-looking selfies. Vivo’s NEX was the first model to carry this industry pioneering feature that was first showcased at the 2018 Mobile World Congress.

From selfie to mobile photography, the V15 Pro now comes with an impressive 48MP AI Triple Camera. The buzz of artificial intelligence has been ongoing and Vivo decided to bring

Guests excitedly try the 32MP elevating front camera at the demo area of the Vivo V15 Pro launch event.

Level up for groufie. Darren Espanto uses the Vivo V15 Pro’s 32MP elevating front camera to snap a groufie with fellow singer Julie Ann San Jose, celebrities Elisse Joson and Klea Pineda, and Vivo executives. At right, capture the perfect shot. Aside from the elevating front camera, the V15 Pro also sports the latest AI triple camera setup—48MP main camera, 8MP wide-angle camera, and 5MP depth sensor.

this emerging technology to its flagship products. The AI Triple Camera allows users to take professional-grade photographs that are clear, crisp, and natural-looking.

Landscape or group photography is no longer an issue with the 8MP AI Super Wide-Angle Camera and 5MP Depth Camera. AI will determine if people on the side are perfectly captured or not.

If not, it will send a prompt to switch to a wide angle so everyone in the group shares that special moment. The Super Wide-Angle Camera can

expand to 120 degrees.

V15 Pro also upgraded Game Mode 5.0 that now comes with the new Competition Mode that allocates system resources for better gaming performance and experience.

A smartphone with all these new features needs a powerful processor. Good thing the V15Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 675AIE Octa-core processor with 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM. The Vivo V15 carries a suggested retail price of P17,999 while the V15 Pro is at P23,999.

ENHANCE YOUR CHILD’S CREATIVITY

LAZADA HOLDS ITS BIGGEST SHOPPING ONLINE PARTY ON 7TH YEAR LAZADA is celebrating its 7th birthday on March 27 and it’s one birthday party you don’t want to miss.

Customers have plenty of reasons to shop on Lazada as they will be offering jaw dropping discounts up to 90% off.

Shop and come join the party!

Don’t miss out on the amazing deals from our brand partners up for grabs. Some must-haves in the lineup are: Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Un-Nude Liquid Lipstick at P193.

Abbott Ensure Gold Vanilla 1200g (Bundle of 6) at P9,702.

Kamiliant Waikiki 3P Set—Raspberry Red at P8,299.

Honor Play Smartphone at P13,290.

Pampers Baby Dry New Born Taped Diapers 40 pcs x 4 pack (160pcs) at P594.

Aside from the millions of items on sale, major partners are also joining the shopping party. Below are some exciting offers for you: Shop with your BDO Visa card and get up to P5,000 off on LazMall gadgets.

Pay with GCash and PayMaya for instant discounts on quick purchases.

Be the first in the country to purchase real estate online! Revolution Precrafted and Robinsons Land will be giving their reservation fees at 50% off on March 27 only.

Get a chance to win travel packages care of Sunlife.

Win yourself a discount voucher when you play Lazada’s very own Facebook game called Over Easy: Laz Edition.

Get a free Shakey’s pizza when you shop on March 27.

Don’t forget to download the Lazada 7th Birthday Sticker pack on Viber.

Partygoers’ kind of shoppertainment Lazada is also blending shopping and entertainment, ushering in a new era of ‘shoppertainment’.

The Lazada app will introduce new experiences for customers!

Get additional discounts and attractive vouchers when you play LazGame, pop as many balloons as you can with Popping Balloons, blast all the cakes and fun gifts with Birthday Blast, and slash your way to the top with Fruit Slash! Earn cupcake points with every game and exchange these for your favorite brand vouchers.

Turn to C3

WITH the school year about to end and summer vacation just around the corner, it’s the best time to cultivate and enhance your children’s creativity at home, with the help of the HP all-in-one printer and its simple print, scan and copy functions.

Aside from being a good investment, getting the DeskJet printer can also score savings for the family. Those who buy an HP DeskJet Advantage 2135 printer at all HP retail outlets and dealers nationwide can still avail of a P300 discount as the promo is extended until April 30, 2019.

Using the HP DeskJet Advantage 2135 printer and its lowest-priced original ink cartridges, kids can reliably print

HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 2135 P300 discount extended

Turn to C3

APP-DRIVEN DRIVE BREAKING OUT OF METRO MANILA

By Khris Marc Ronquillo DRIVE, an all-Filipino, app-driven car rental service is breaking out of Metro Manila and going out to the different parts of the country.

Drive, a car-rental mobile app developed by Drive Corp, a 100% Filipino-owned tech startup company, which does transport and logistics, is breaking out of Metro Manila and to the different parts of the Philippines.

A brainchild of Mike Miranda, a tech entrepreneur, who studied Computer Science from UP Los Banos and worked with Fortune 500 companies like Dell, Google, and Microsoft, said Drive is an app that doesn’t just hail you a ride to your destination, but rather hands you the keys to get there. Drive is not a

taxi service, but a car rental service. You book a car, get the keys and well, drive.

The 2019 Netizen’s Choice for Best Car Rental Company in the Philippines, Drive is perfect for travellers and executives who prefer to be mobile during their vacations or business trips and take charge of their own destinations. It’s perfect for barkada outings, who would rather not leave behind beach essentials but wouldn’t want to lug around four bags to the bus terminal. It’s perfect for institutions and business that need an extra vehicle right away for that very important person.

Security is the first and foremost concern of Drive. Everyone in the network has to prove their identity through thorough a series of very thorough

checks, assuring the rider that the car provider is legitimate and trustworthy, and assures the car owner, that the rider will not and cannot drive away with

their vehicle.

Security is the first and foremost concern of Drive. It follows strict compliance to its KYC process, a series of thorough checks

to establish identity of both renter and car owner, making a very good overall experience.

Through the app, a rider can choose a car for any occasion sorted by size, color, model, and capacity of the vehicle, all parts, and all sides shown through photos. On the other hand, the car owner can keep track of their vehicle at all times, and even alert them if it has gone beyond the agreed upon boundaries of the rental agreement.

The app’s dashboard controls are easy to use, allowing for browsing for the perfect vehicle before settling on the final choice. And for the car owner?

The app keeps track of all transaction details like costs, dates, and taxes and for easier bookkeeping.

After its successful three-year run, Drive has begun an ener-

gized expansion campaign to bring the convenience of selfdriven cars all over the Philippines. In the Visayas, Drive Bohol has started onboarding partners from the province of Bohol and Drive Davao in Mindanao with all the major destinations of the country in its sights.

Roam the cities, or just conquer the open road, by the seaside with windows down taking in the salt water breeze, or through the winding roads and lush green vistas that greet drivers in the provinces. Get behind the wheel and drive.

Learn more by contacting www.facebook.com/drivemanilaph or send an email at admin@drivemanila.com Download your Drive Manila app now, available in iOS and Android.

Destinations D1

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor

manilastandardlife@gmail.com

@manilastandardlife

@MStandardLIFE

COOL AND CALM. Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay's secluded location in Punta Bunga Cove, a 20-minute drive from the island's shopping district, offers a sun-sea-sand tranquility perfect for those who want to avoid the noise and the crowd.

By Bernadette Lunas

HERE is a certain cool and relaxed vibe surrounding the world-famous Boracay island since it reopened after a sixmonth rehabilitation in 2018.

Yes, most of the usual spots are still there, the white sand remains gloriously powdery, the water clear as a blue sky. But perhaps because many activities have been banned and stricter policies have been implemented and rehab efforts are yet to be finished, the crowd in White Beach is still smaller and relatively calmer than before; there’s more space in which to breathe and move around.

It’s the beach for those who want to laze around under the sun with a good book and an ice cold beverage on hand.

Such is the typical situation a 30-minute drive from Cagban Jetty Port—at Mövenpick Resort & Spa Boracay, located in the serene Punta Bunga Cove in the northern tip of the island.

Owing to its secluded location, away from the action on the island, Mövenpick enjoys a kind of sun-sea-sand tranquility perfect for those who want to avoid the noise and the crowd.

Mövenpick Boracay offers a variety of food and drinks available at its restaurants and bars. Clockwise: Drinks from Sol Marina Beach Club, galbi jjim, shrimp tempura, and sushi and sashimi from Ssäm.

“We want it to be a family hotel.

We want to take advantage of the location so we’re promoting it as a family destination,” said general manager André Brulhart.

The property, tucked in a lush landscape, is large enough to ca-

ter to families and friends. It offers 312 spacious rooms and suites divided in several mid-rise buildings that surround Mövenpick’s pride: its 3,300-square-meter multi-level pool, the largest swimming pool to date in Boracay.

Each guest room features a bright, contemporary design in teal, coral, and blue color palette; and looks out the property’s tropical garden or the sea. Rooms range from 27 square meters (Classic Room) to 370 (Sol Marina Villa).

The view from the beach is as glorious, if better, as the one in the main White Beach, as the resort is located right at the center of the cove, sharing the beachfront with two other hotel chains.

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From left: Boracay nightlife at Sol Marina Beach Club, The Market all-day restaurant serves international various dishes, Premium Sea View room.

ANOTHER HILTON RISES

The hotel’s beautifully designed lobby is located on the third floor.

The spacious and comfortable bedroom has all the modern convenience for the fastidious traveler.

I REMEMBER the time when there were only three international chain hotels here in the metropolis—the Manila Hilton in the Manila area, the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati, and the Hyatt Regency in Pasay. My friends and I would go to the Intercon for the steak at Prince Albert Rotisserie and the unique Chicken Pork Adobo with the toasted sauce at the Jeepney Coffee Shop.

The Hyatt Regency was for dancing the night away at the Circuit, or listening to music at the Calesa Bar which was the launching ground of today’s popular singers, and for the Japanese food at Tempura Misono which always came with the latest eyebrow-raising buzz around town, courtesy of its manager, the late Albert Seeland.

And the Manila Hilton was lording it over the local social landscape. Not only was it the tallest hotel then, it was also the venue

MERCURY RISING

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

for high-profile fashion shows, at the Top of the Hilton, presented by society icon, the late Chito Madrigal Collantes. The lunchtime shows were always fully booked, as they jumpstarted the careers of most of the metro’s accomplished fashion designers, and those of the popular ramp and commercial models.

It was too bad that the Hilton bowed out of the local scene in 1988, with the property being taken over by the Holiday Inn trademark. Since

then, the Hilton brand of hospitality could only be availed of by us in foreign countries.

Fast forward to June of 2016, the luxury label of the Hilton, the Conrad, opened in Manila, to the delight of society’s well-heeled who always go for the finer things in life. As expected, they showed full support for the new hotel, and continues to do so, as gleaned from the revenues reported by the hotel’s food and beverage outlets. Local corporate accounts and tour operators, booked their highend customers with the hotel.

While we are still enjoying the Conrad’s facilities and service, here comes the good news that a brand new Hilton Manila just opened its doors to the public. Of course, we were just as excited as everybody else, so my coBoard of Trustees of Pacific Asia Travel Association decided to have our this month’s meeting at this new hotel.

Turn to D2

Destinations

D2

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

SPECTACULAR SUMMER IN THE SOUTH THE weather is warm and the sun shines bright in the metro. Two premier hotels in the south invites summer revelers to take a break and enjoy all the great things this season.

ANOTHER...

From D1

As part of the Resorts World Manila’s integrated entertainment complex, the Hilton Manila takes pride in its location, which is right across from our international airport. It has 357 stylishly designed rooms, exceptional amenities, completely private meeting rooms, several dining options, and an elegant ballroom.

The first thing I noticed as I entered the hotel was the set-up of its lobby. It is similar to that of its sister hotel, the Conrad Manila: which has the ground floor serving only as a receiving area where the bell service is. Guests have to take the elevator to the 3rd floor to “enter” the hotel. The lobby level houses the ballroom, the meeting rooms, the buffet restaurant, and the swimming pool.

One nice thing I immediately noticed, as I walked towards our meeting room, is how insulated the room is from unwanted noise that may come from either the corridor or the lobby. When you open the door to the meeting room, there is still a curved walk-through space before you reach the room itself. This design assures those inside the room that no external disruption can filter through. Of course, the Hilton touch of excellence is evident in the fact that each participant is provided his/her own pitcher of iced water flavored with lemon and cucumber.

Kusina, the buffet restaurant, makes any meal a celebration. The wide choice of culinary treats is any foodie’s paradise! Although I limited myself to Filipino dishes, there were many other choices representing kitchens from all over the world.

The refreshing pool is every sun lover’s paradise.

An interesting feature in the restau- cious bedroom, I immediately liked rant is the “talipapa” where you can its airy feel, that of not being conchoose the fresh meat or seafood fined to a small space. Of course, as you want and have it cooked spe- expected, connectivity for any type of electronic cially for you. gadget is a Now, that’s breeze! putting FilipiYOUR WEEKEND And what no cooking up I always look on a pedestal.

CHUCKLE for in a highThe bedLast year, I joined a very active end hotel rooms are support group for procrastinators. in a tropical a showcase We haven’t met yet. country is its of class and pool, and this finesse, as one does not shown in their furnishings and amenities. The lay- disappoint. Located on the third out spells convenience and comfort, floor, adjacent to the ballroom, is as the bed is designed to guarantee the beautifully landscaped masa restful sleep. Getting into the spa- sive swimming facility. Its design

makes one want to take of his clothes right away and laze in the sun for that attractive bronze look or jump into the refreshing, energizing blue water.

There are many other interesting things I can point out about the Hilton Manila but, due to space constraints, I’d rather you check out and enjoy them yourselves. I’m just happy that another Hilton has come to our shores, to add to the sterling list of establishments that contribute to the superior quality of life we all deserve. This time, the Hilton Manila is here to stay.

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

Crimson Hotel Filinvest City offers different summer staycation deals.

Summer in the city

Crimson Hotel Filinvest City in Alabang has different staycation deals that suit different kinds of Summer in the City preferences.

For a basic package, Cityholic comes with an overnight stay in a deluxe room for P3,840++, while the Do Not Disturb room package comes with buffet breakfast for two persons at Café Eight or a breakfast in bed for P5,440++.

For a longer break, Oasis in the South, whose rates start at P8,800++, comes with a three-day/two-night stay in a deluxe room or suite and buffet breakfast for two. Guests staying with kids can take advantage of Urban Glampcation—the whole family can bond for a night in two connecting Premier Rooms, enjoy a camping tent set-up with kiddie amenities and toys, and indulge in a buffet breakfast for two at Café Eight for P9,600++.

Guests who book any of the Summer in the City room packages are entitled to a raffle coupon for a chance to win round-trip tickets for two to Kota Kinabalu via Cebu Pacific. Stay period is until June 30.

Go to www.crimsonhotel.com or call (02) 863-2222.

Kusina buffet restaurant features an honest-to-goodness ‘talipapa.’

HIDEAWAY...

From D1 Mövenpick offers free shuttle services to and from the main beach, but those who prefer to stay in Punta Bunga Cove can do so as it offers a complete, integrated resort experience. In addition to well-designed rooms, large pool, and beachfront, the 3.4-hectare property has six restaurants, one beach club, a spa, a salon, a fitness gym, a kids’ club, and four function rooms.

“Everything’s here; you no longer have to leave the resort!” enthused Brulhart.

A culinary trip in one destination

They say a trip to Boracay is not complete if you have not tried the delicacies famous on the island: calamansi muffins, chori burger, Jonah’s fruit shake. In response to that, Mövenpick has its own must-try food

Savoy Manila offers Summer Splashin' promo that comes with massage for two.

Summer splashin’

Take a splash at Savoy Hotel Manila, which offers cool and cozy summer staycation promotion.

For only P6,200 nett, guests get an overnight accommodation with buffet breakfast for two in an Essential Room.

The package also includes two glasses of refreshing featured summer drink at The Poolside, a massage for two at The Cabana, and 20 percent discount on select RWM shows.

This special seasonal offer is only open for reservations until April 22 for stays until April 30.

Go to www.savoyhotelmanila.com.ph or call (02) 317-2869.

items featuring flavors from around the world.

Brezza (which literally translates to “breeze”) serves the fastest and freshest handmade pizzas on the island.

Using the restaurant’s wood-fired oven imported from Napoli in Italy nicknamed “The Beast,” the pizza comes out perfectly baked in 90 seconds or less. Try the Quattro Formaggi Pizza and the Seafood Pizza.

The restaurant also serves a wide selection of other Italian dishes, aperitivo, and fine wines.

Ssäm is a casual dining spot that offers Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cuisines. While the resort’s all-day dining restaurant The Market serves delectable daily buffet breakfast and global ala carte dishes for lunch and dinner; it also features themed evening buffets.

A unique offering at the resort is the Chocolate Hour every 4:00 p.m. at The Café. Aside from an hour of

The elegant ballroom can accommodate up to 360 guests.

chocolate treats, the coffee shop also serves freshly baked breads, signature sandwiches, cakes, Filipino merienda favorites, coffee, and tea.

The sunken Pool Bar, on the other hand, serves refreshing drinks and light snacks. The Fun Pub, which serves delectable bar drinks and chow, is perfect for those who love cheering their favorite sports team or singing their hearts out.

Mövenpick also has its version of Boracay’s famed nightlife right at Sol Marina Beach Club, which serves a wide array of food and drinks, and features international DJs and live music acts, with a side of golden sunset view or cool sea breeze.

its doors three months later to comply with the rehab efforts. It then reopened in October 2018.

“It was a challenge for us during the first and second opening because the product is not yet 100 percent complete. We didn’t have 312 rooms available before. But now we are more optimistic,” shared Brulhart.

Since it reopened last year, Mövenpick enjoys an average of 80 percent occupancy rate, largely due to several holidays in January and February.

With its recent acquisition by French hospitality company AccorHotels, Mövenpick expects to attract more foreign guests. “Ideally you want as many markets as possible, but now we’re targeting the Third time’s the charm Asian market,” said Brulhart.

In a span of two years, Mövenpick Currently, majority of the resort’s has opened and reopened three guests are from China, South Korea, times. It first opened in October 2017, and local domestic market. but the grand launch was only held in January 2018. However, it closed Photos by Bernadette Lunas The 3,300-squaremeter multilevel pool of Mövenpick is the largest swimming pool to date in Boracay.

Entertainment

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

WHO CAPTURED MARIJA’S HEART?

By Robbie Pangilinan

C

D3

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

ROATIAN dancer, model, host and actress Marija Debelic admits she is in love. Ever wonder who has finally captured the heart of the talented beauty?

“I am in love with the Philippines and everything about this country,” says Marija, who has been in Manila for almost five years now.

Marija chose the Philippines to be her second home, over the many places she’s been to like Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, USA, United Arab Emirates, Macau, China, and Thailand. Since 2009, she has been traveling the world as a professional dancer, emcee and model.

“I feel so at home in the Philippines. I love that it’s always summer.

I am in love with the tropical weather. My best friends are here, my work is here, and my life is here,” adds Marija, who has been everywhere – from Ilocos Norte, Pagudpud to Davao in Mindanao.

The lead actress of Boy Tokwa opposite Jose Manalo is excited to do three movies this year for the Philippine market and Netflix.

“I am very excited. And I can’t wait to start shooting them all. All three are unique projects,” beams Marija who starred in the ABS-CBN drama Be My Lady, played a minor role in Art of Ligaw with Epy Quizon, was billed in the movie Beauty and the Bestie with Vice Ganda and Coco Martin, and has done over 20 TV commercials in the country.

Marija is also passionate about music, and has released her fist single “Syanel” with Brazilian actress-model Daiana Menezes, who is also based here in the Philippines.

In an interview, the cum laude in Economics and Business Management graduate, shares that she left a family business back in Croatia to find other opportunities overseas.

“Our family has a small accounting company run by my dad, but that’s not something that I see myself doing. I definitely would like to go further in show business. My dream is to be a TV host, do more movies and produce new songs,” says Marija.

Marija believes that once your mind is healthy, everything around you can be healthy. She has been a vegetarian for 13 years now, make sure she exercises three times a week, and hydrates and sleeps enough. She eats up to five small meals a day and is always active. She does not follow a particular health regimen but thinks that everyone should follow what best suits their character and lifestyle.

Catch Marija via Facebook: Marija Debelic, or be one of her thousands of followers on Instagram:@marijadebelic. She’s also on Spotify: Marija Debelic.

The highly-anticipated wrestling event of the year is scheduled to take place on April 7 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

FOX+ TO TAKE TWO LUCKY FANS TO WRESTLEMANIA

35

THE biggest wrestlers will be culminating at WrestleMania 35, this April and video-streaming service FOX+ is sending a lucky subscriber and a friend to experience the show of all shows.

The highly-anticipated wrestling event of the year is scheduled to take place on April 7 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. To participate, FOX+ subscribers simply have to register their interest in the FOX+ Experience contest, which runs until today, to stand a chance to win a trip for two to WrestleMania 35.

WrestleMania is the home of incredible moments, the birthplace of legends and the center of the WWE Universe. WWE Superstars competing at WrestleMania 35 include Seth Rollins, Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Sasha Banks, Finn Bálor, Daniel Bryan, Braun Strowman and more. They’ll be vying to etch their names at “The Showcase of the Immortals”.

“Since its launch two years ago, we have witnessed an encouraging growth of FOX+ users in the Philippines. With many exciting milestones, there is always a reason to celebrate with our dedicated fans. The FOX+ Experience trip to WrestleMania 35 is one of many we’ve organized and we look forward to curating more experiences for our subscribers,” said Jude Turcuato, SVP and General Manager, FOX Networks Group Philippines.

The FOX+ Experience is the video-streaming service’s exclusive subscriber contest aimed at giving back to its loyal fans through experiences and rewards. The most recent FOX+ Experience was held in December 2018; the Christmas program, titled FOX+ Secret Somethings, gave away three batches of prizes, followed by the grand prize – a trip to Melbourne to catch the Australian Open live.

FOX+ subscribers can take part by simply registering for the FOX+ Experience to WrestleMania 35 at www. foxplus.club. The draw will be held tomorrow, March 25.

FOX+ is available on Android and iOS devices as well as on Apple TV and select Android TVs. A free 30day trial is available for new subscribers. Visit www.foxplus.com for more details.

Marija in one of her hosting stints with online personality Wil Dasovich

Croatian beauty Marija Marija Debelic is a model, dancer, and host and has been in the Philippines for five years now enjoying showbiz and the local way of life.

THE HEAT IS ON AT THE CORAL LOUNGE

Wacky Kiray and Tonton headline Coral Lounge’s first-ever comedy showcase on April 24.

AS THE weather turns warmer, Okada Manila— the grandest integrated resort and destination for world-class entertainment in the metro— is gearing up for a season of dance, music, celebration, and comedy at The Coral Lounge.

Located right at the heart of the gaming floor, the Coral Lounge makes for a stylish, cozy space for friends, families, and colleagues to relax and unwind. The lounge features live entertainment complemented by finely crafted cocktails and an opulent yet laid-back ambiance.

From March to May, the Coral Lounge will be presenting events that go perfectly well with the heat and excitement of summer.

Get ready to unleash your sizzling moves on the dance floor with the Bailamos Latin Dance Parties. There are no entrance fees or coverage charges—so all you need to do is to put on your dancing shoes and head over to the Coral Lounge on April 12, and May 10, the party starts at 9:00 p.m..

Meanwhile, The Coral Lounge’s ‘80s Night will bring back all the memories, kitsch, and unabashed fun of the iconic decade. A live band will play the best hits of the ‘80s—best enjoyed on the dance floor or while sipping on specially crafted cocktails with clever names such as Electric Lemonade, Bagets, and The Cure.

No entrance fees or cover charges for the ‘80s Nights on March 30, April 27, and May 25, The retro party starts at 6:00 p.m..

Laugh all night long with two of the country’s best stand-up acts. Wacky Kiray and TonTon will deliver all the jokes and punchlines for the Coral Lounge’s first-ever comedy showcase on April 24.

Wacky Kiray was declared The Greatest Entertainer in the 2017 celebrity talent show I Can Do That, while TonTon regularly appears as the former’s sidekick in many live shows.

Cover charge is at P600 per person, which comes with one standard drink. Doors open at 8:00 p.m..

D4

SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2019

Desiree Carlos, Editor

daycarlos28@yahoo.com

Pets

SIMPLE ACTS OF COMPASSION

TOWARDS ANIMALS

PET TALES

BY DESIREE CARLOS

T

THIS corner features pets of animal lovers every week. We hope new owners and those thinking of getting a pet will be encouraged to be responsible “furparents” through these features. We also hope more people will be moved to be kind to animals when they read about the great relationship that can be created between humans and animals.

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

(Part 1 of 3 parts)

HE best definition I read about compassion that made me understand this most “attractive” but “complex” word in the dictionary came from the Dalai Lama.

He said: Compassion means wanting another being to be free from suffering.

When I started to act based on compassion, I realized I also feel happiness every time I help others.

An act of compassionate leads to another being’s happiness as he/ she/it is freed from suffering. Subsequently, the person who helped ends up happy and delighted for being part of the process of freeing another from misery or pain.

This is why, I think, the Dalai Lama said, “Compassion and happiness are not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. “ As I grew older, a desire to help not only humans grew stronger.

I started as a donor for a rescued dog. I would send funds online for abandoned or injured dogs found on the streets.

Later on, I was put on the path of actually rescuing animals in need.

My happiness grew more as I assisted others in saving dogs and cats who were suffering in filthy cages in pounds, who were hit by a vehicle and left to die, who were suffering from an illness while alone on the streets, among others.

But these are not just the ways to help animals in need.

Many individuals who love animals have messaged me and want to help. But they feel frustrated because they can not help due to their day jobs or their kids and family, or because they are sick, or they do not have extra funds.

These compassionate beings want to help free dogs and cats form suffering. They just do not know how given their circumstances.

Here are simple, compassionate acts: 1. Be kind to stray dogs and cats.

When I say help the strays, you

Chelsea, a dog roaming the streets with TVT cancer (transmissible venereal disease), was rescued by Save ALL. She has been with a Save ALL foster for two years now.

She now feels safe and is happy being with other rescued dogs and no longer goes hungry even for a day. Save ALL provides three small meals a day and multivitamins, and closely monitors her and other dogs with medical concerns.

do not have to get all the stray animals. Just be kind to them. Please do not hurt them.

As Sam Russell in 5 Simple Ways to Show Compassion to Animals and the Planet from the site Tiny Buddha (simple wisdom for complex lives) said: “Stray animals aren’t any less living beings just because they don’t have a home, the same way people living on the streets aren’t any less human because they too are homeless.”

Russell also suggested the following: a. Please contact local animal welfare agencies or organizations if you do see a wandering stray. It is possible someone lost their pet and is starting to worry.

From my experience in the animal welfare world, a dog or cat and his/her owner is reunited through this simple act of compassion: Take a photo or a video of the dog or cat, specially if the dog or cat has a collar, and post the photos or video and state how the owner can contact you for the location of the dog. Ask for proof of ownership. If you can contain the dog or give him or her a temporary shelter, this will be more helpful so that the animal will not wander away from the location.

I discourage persons from posting the exact location of the dog, specially if the dog has a breed or is

Tamara, an asong pinoy (aspin), was a six-week old pup when she was abandoned by her owner. Save Animals of Love and Light (Save ALL) , a SEC-registered animal welfare group, rescued her. She is now 4 years old.

pregnant. Why? Because there are irresponsible, greedy breeders out there who might get the dog and use the dog for breeding. As for the pregnant dog, her pups will be sold by a money lover and not an animal lover, after which the dog might be bred again or abandoned after the dog has served its purpose. b. If it is a stray, it may be scared, sick, or injured, which means it needs help. Please do not shoo them away.

Do take a photo or a video or both and post these in Facebook pages of animal welfare groups and seek help for the dog or cat.

“Resist the urge to shoo it away and go about your day. They might be feeling lonely or are just really pleased to see you,” Rusell said.

“I’ve always felt that ignoring the random cat that wanders up to you meowing away is like ignoring a person who greets you with open arms. They don’t care if you haven’t shaved or are still in your slippers. It’s great to see you, “ Russell said.

He added: “Just remember to approach cautiously so you don’t scare the animal or put yourself in danger.”

Please do not handle the dog or cat unless you have a pre-exposure anti-rabies shot. Look for help from animal welfare groups in Facebook to get the dog and to bring to the clinic.

Most animal welfare groups do

not have funds or space in their homes at the moment until some of their rescues have been adopted. But if you want to rescue the stray, and you are willing to pay for medical treatment and to adopt the dog or cat yourself, please ask for their help. They will be more than willing to do so. c. Feed strays if you can.

We always have dog food and cat food in small packets either in our vehicles or our bags. We give these to strays. You can do the same thing.

You do not have to wait for an organization to organize a feeding program to donate dog food or cat food for strays or to feed strays.

You can feed the homeless dogs and cats in your neighborhood or on your way to work.

You do not have to approach the dog or cat as they might run away out of fear. Many of the strays have been hurt by humans, thus they are wary of any approaching human.

Please leave the food where they can see it. They will approach the food when they see you leaving.

Dog food or cat food can be bought by the kilo from P150 to P300 per pack. With just one kilo, you may be able to help 15 dogs or 25 cats. Wouldn’t it be nice to make 15 to 25 beings happy in just one day?

(Next week: Other ways to help animals in need.)

YES, BELL PEPPER IS GOOD FOR DOGS THERE have been so many reports about dog treats containing toxic ingredients.

There have also been reports of some brands of dog food containing too much salt, food coloring and artificial flavor that eventually lead to damage in the kidneys or liver. Do look at the list of ingredients before buying a specific brand of dry dog food.

Thus, Save ALL Inc. – Save Animals of Love and Light, a registered non-profit organization which works for animal welfare, has been studying natural food that can be given to dogs.

Save ALL provides a good brand of dry dog food in the morning, a combination of dry dog food and boiled vegetables for lunch, and boiled vegetables for dinner.

We give small portions to make sure the spleen is not overworked. This is why they are fed three times a day.

Lean meat is included in the natural food three times a week. Bone broth is also given once a week with the vegetables.

Through the years, vegetables good for dogs have been identified. These have been given to the rescued dogs and personal dogs of officers for several years now.

Save ALL continues to do research on what is best for the dogs and discovered that bell pepper is good for dogs too.

Bell peppers, NOT chili pepper or hot pepper that you put in sinigang or paksiw.

The hot or maanghang pepper is bad for

MY FURRY BESTIE

The right kind of pepper you can give to your dog is called a bell pepper. Never give the spicy pepper. Please ask your vet if it is okay to give this to your dog as each dog has a different body type or medical concern. If the vet will allow you to give bell pepper, ask for the safe amount to give to your dog to avoid indigestion. any dog as it causes too much heat in the body which might lead to a heat stroke.

Do remove the seeds and stem when giving bell pepper to your dogs.

Please look at the SAFE BELL PEPPER in the photo.

Here are some important information

from Alexandra Anastacio in Can Dogs Eat Bell Peppers? from the website of American Kennel Club” 1. Bell peppers contain nutritional value that is good for both you and your dog.

This vegetable is a healthy alternative to manufactured snacks. They are not toxic.

2. The color does not matter. You can give red, green, yellow or orange bell pepper. All bell peppers contain the essential vitamins and nutrients that are beneficial to a dog’s health.

3. Red bell peppers however contain the highest amount of vitamins and antioxidants.

4. Bell peppers are rich in vitamins A, E, B6, and lutein.

5. Bell peppers contain the much-needed Vitamin C. and beta-carotene which are antioxidants that are important to keep the dog’s immune system healthy.

6. The body can convert the beta carotene into Vitamin A which is important for the skin, coat and eye health.

7. Just like with humans, bell pepper should be added to your dog’s diet slowly and in moderation to check how your dog’s body will respond to it. Some dogs may be okay with bell peppers, some may not. Consult your vet first.

8. It is recommended that a large dog be given one half of the bell pepper while a small dog can be given less than a quar-

ter at a time.

9. Save ALL gives a small slice once a week to see if the dog will like the bell pepper. We give these to dogs with no medical concern. Please ask your vet if you can give to your dog with medical concern. It really depends on what the condition is.

10. Remove the seeds and stems to prevent indigestion.

11. If you feed your dog more than the recommended amount, he might end up with an upset stomach, he might vomit, and/or develop diarrhea.

12. “As with other vegetable ingestion, you should take care not to overload your pet, because GI (gastro intestinal) upset can occur,” saysveterinanrian Dr. Danel Grimmett.

13. Never add seasoning, salt, onions or garlic. These ingredients are toxic to dogs.

14. Never give the spicy varieties, such as jalapeños or chili peppers.

15. “The outer skin of a bell pepper can be tough and difficult to chew, so you can steam or puree the pepper to make it easier for your dog to consume and digest, “ says Anastacio.

16. Anastacio adds: “Remember to always consult your veterinarian before introducing anything new into your dog’s diet.” DC

ELY, a two-month-old care-tzu (a cairn terrier and shih tzu mix), is simply family to Mary Joy Dioquino and her human loved ones.

“We got Ely on March 10, 2019, my mom’s birthday. Actually, he was not the first choice, the Japanese spitz was,” Mary Joy says.

She adds: “But since he captured the heart of my eldest daughter, Kane and her boyfriend, Jeth, we ended up getting him instead.”

Mary Joy shares that when they took home Ely, he was so quiet and behaved.

“But after an hour or so, he started roaming around the house as if he actually lived there.

He started to feel at home and at ease with our company. He started sniffing and lying down at our feet trying to get our attention. It’s been only days since we got him and yet he has already become part of the family,” Mary Joy says.

The best part of having Ely, Mary Joy says, is the loyalty and devotion Ely shows her everyday.

“Every morning when I wake up, he is already waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. Sometimes he comes up to greet me with his tail waving back and forth, always excited to see me, “ she says.

She also shares: “There was a time when I took him inside my room and as I lay down to take a nap, he laid beside me, put his head on my arms and slept soundly. I was so amazed with what he did that I ended up watching him sleep peacefully like a baby.”

“Ely is not just a dog to us. He is more than just a friend, a buddy, a playmate and stress reliever… Ely is family, “ Mary Joy says.

SAMSAM is the baby of the family, says Resie Rebulos.

“She is makulit, eats a lot, snobbish to other people, and sometimes starts the chewing of slippers so the other dogs follow suit. They have destroyed so many slippers, “ Resie says.

Resie adds: “She was born in March 2017 but she was given to us on May 1, 2017. We thought she would not live because she was so emaciated and had so many wounds then. We were told the former owner was not feeding her well.”

But after giving Samsam good food and treating her wounds, she became healthy and her wounds disappeared.

She also became frenemies with Bodi, Resie’s other dog.

“Best friend/best enemy ni Bodi. After growling at each other, they will play, “ Resie shares.

When she is brought out of the house, Samsam is like a “road runner,” who runs so fast and is “so hyper,” Resie says.

“We watch her to make sure she is always safe and the humans around her are safe too, “ Resie says.

Samsam is a sweet girl who loves to be kissed on the nose. But she will ask that you carry her before you can kiss her, Resie says.

She also won’t finish her food until Bodi has eaten. She is always waiting for Bodi’s leftover. She would eat Bodi’s leftover first.

“Wais siya (She is wise.), “ adds Resie.

Samsam loves to sleep beside them as she is jumpy when she hears a loud noise, Resie says.

Both Samsam and Bodi love apples.

(Editor’s note: When giving apples to dogs, please remove the core and the skin which are poisonous to dogs.)

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