Manila Standard - 2019 May 13 - Monday

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Oil prices cut

by P1.30/liter

Tribute to mothers

By Nat Mariano

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE oil distributors cut pump prices for the second consecutive week by as much as P1.30 per liter effective Tuesday to reflect the movement of prices in the world market.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines was the first to announce the price cut of P1.30 per liter of gasoline effective at 12 noon on Saturday.

“For the second straight week, and to provide the public a longer period to avail of cheaper fuels, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the price of gasoline by P1.30 per liter effective 12 noon of May 11,” the company said.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. announced a price cut of P1.25 per liter of gasoline and P0.30 per liter of kerosene effective 6 a.m. on Tuesday. No price change was implemented for diesel.

Other oil companies such as PetroGazz also announced the same level of price cuts effective Tuesday.

Seaoil Philippines cut prices starting Sunday while Eastern Petroleum announced its price cuts effective Monday Next page

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 88 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

AS THE world celebrated Mother’s Day Sunday, President Rodrigo Duterte wished all mothers joy and contentment in their lives. Next page

Shoot-to-kill order out vs. armed pols Amid gun ban, 20 killed in poll violence

By Nat Mariano

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the country’s armed forces to shoot and kill candidates who refuse to surrender their firearms despite the nationwide gun ban for the May 13 polls.

KILL ORDER. President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during his speech at the ‘miting de avance’ of the PDP-Laban held at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City. Mr. Duterte has ordered the country’s armed forces to shoot and kill candidates who refuse to surrender their firearms despite the nationwide gun ban for the May 13 polls.

‘Vote buying rampant, worse than in ‘16 polls’

ELECTION 2019 : BY THE NUMBERS

AN ELECTION commissioner said Sunday that vote buying incidents this year are worse compared than they were in the 2016 elections.

“It looks more widespread than it was in 2016,” said Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, speaking in Filipino to radio dzBB. “I don’t know if this is because more people were arrested, but there are more reports of vote buying now.”

Guanzon said the amounts being offered were higher too, ranging from P1,000 to P1,500 per vote.

“Where does this money come from?

Since there are no presidential candidates, these are from local candidates,” she said.

No senatorial candidate has been linked to vote buying so far, she said.

Widespread vote buying has desensitized voters to the illegality of the pracNext page tice, Guanzon said.

PH-Based Registered Voters 61,843,750

Overseas Absentee Registered Voters 1,822,173

Vote-Rich Provinces 1. Cebu (3,082,621) 2. Cavite (2,148,899) 3. Pangasinan (1,946,682)

Vote-Rich Regions 1. Calabarzon (8,674,351) 2. NCR (7,074,603) 3. Central Luzon (6,829,659)

Teacher-friendly app for the polls A MOBILE eleciton monitoring app will protect teachers with poll duties today and ease their workload, a Department of Education official said over the weekend.

“We want to know the real issues on the ground, so we could provide immediate action. For example, the travel allowance and honoraria is not yet given, we’ll check on it with the COMELEC, or if there’s harassment, an accident, we’ll immediately inform our law enforcers,” said DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua.

Pascua added that the app will relieve teachers of the burden of submitting Next page written reports.

“If you have an M16, M14 firearm [and] if the police and the military tell you to surrender it, surrender it. If you do not follow that, I’m telling the police and the military to kill you,” the President said during the last campaign sortie of the ruling PDP-Laban party late Saturday.

“How can you arrest a person who does not want to surrender? Just kill them. That’s my order to everyone all over the country,” he added.

The Chief Executive then mentioned the situation in Lanao Del Sur, which was believed to be targeted by groups who aim to cause a failure of elections there.

This, he said, was “just plain terrorism,” and he reminded the groups that martial law was still in effect in MindNext page anao.

‘Bikoy’ barred from leaving, DOJ says

By Rey E. Requejo THE Justice department has ordered Immigration to stop from leaving the country controversial Peter Joemel Advincula, who claims to be the “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narco List” videos that accused some members of the first family and presidential allies of links to the illegal drug trade in the country.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sunday Immigration offices in all

international airports had been alerted to frustrate any attempt of Advincula to leave the country.

Guevarra cited the warrants of arrest against Advincula issued by the regional trial courts in Baguio City and La Trinidad in Benguet over the illegal recruitment and estafa cases against Advincula as bases for the order.

The Justice department said it was also considering seeking a hold-departure Next page

Male Voters 30,026,953

FemaleVoters 31,816,797

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News

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Buhay solon seeks return of 2-party system in PH

By Rio N. Araja WITH 34 unopposed congressional bets, Buhay party-list Rep. Joselito Atienza on Sunday backed the return of the two-party system in Philippine politics to restore checks and balances.

The large number of congressional and local candidates running unopposed in the mid-term elections had brought to light the country’s “dysfunctional” democracy, he said.

“Having a lone candidate for an elective post is bad for voters who are left with no choice. It is also bad for the government and for our system of checks and balances, and bad for our political parties as well.”

The 34 congressional bets running unchallenged are Neptali Gonzales II of Mandaluyong City; Dale Malapitan of Caloocan City; Wesley Gatchalian of Valenzuela City; Abraham Tolentino, Strike Revilla, Luis Ferrer IV and Alex Advincula of Cavite; Danilo Fernandez of Laguna; Joaquin Chipeco Jr. of Calamba City; Resureccion Acop of Rizal’s Antipolo City; Henry Villarica of Bulacan; Cristina Garcia of Bataan; Charlie Cojuangco of Tarlac; Mario Mariño of Batangas; Franz Alvareza of Palawan; Mark Enverga and Angelina Tan of Quezon and Junie Cua of Quirino; Pablo Ortega or La Union; Elias Bulut of Apayao; Ramon Nolasco Jr. of Cagayan; Arnulfo Teves Jr. of Negros Oriental; Maria Lourdes Arroyo, Leo Cueva and Jose Benitez of Negros Occidental; Vincent Garcia and Isidro Ungab of Davao City; Corazon Malanyaon and Joel Mayo Almario of Davao Oriental; Lorna Bautista-Bandigan of Davao Occidental; Ruwel Gonzaga of Compostella Valley; Jose Tejada of Cotabato; Manuel Zubiri of Bukidnon and Bai Rihan Sakaluran of Sultan Kudarat.

There are also many candidates for governor, mayor and other local posts who are running without rivals, Atienza said.

“Just like in business, competition is absolutely necessary to provide consumers―in this case voters―greater freedom to choose and t encourage fair play,” Atienza said.

“What is happening now is that many candidates are just negotiating among themselves with the stronger ones usually buying out their weaker rivals. That would just become merely talk.”

Atienza said there was a need for the return to the two-party system, wherein two major political parties dominated the government.

“As long as we have at least two dominant parties all the time, it is okay to have multiple political parties, Atienza said.

“In the old days, under the two-party system before martial law, there were no unopposed candidates at all.”

The two dominant parties then―the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party―had to put up candidates no matter what, he said.

“They each had to look for and field candidates for every post. If a candidate withdraws for any reason, the party had to designate another runner.

Oil...

From A1

The oil firms also rolled back prices

by P0.90 to P1 liter of gasoline and P0.80 per liter of diesel and kerosene on May 7.

World oil prices have been declining in the past weeks as the concerns over tight supply eased.

‘Bikoy’...

From A1

order from the courts, but stressed the warrants would suffice to arrest Advincula at the airports.

“We will make sure Mr. Advincula doesn’t go anywhere,” Guevarra said.

Last week, Advincula surfaced and held a press conference at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines headquarters in Pasig City and reiterated his story that several personalities supposedly belonging to the “Quadrangle” and “Davao” groups were involved in the illegal drug trade.

He stood by his claim that the President’s children Paolo and Sara and her husband Manases Carpio, as well as his partner Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña and their daughter Kitty, of benefiting from the illegal drug trade.

Advincula said he served prison time from 2012 to 2016 after conviction in cases of illegal recruitment and largescale estafa. Reports had it that he is

Imee on PDP-Laban slate: Divine will

By Rey E. Requejo

S

ENATORIAL candidate Imee Marcos says it was divine will that she is now running under the PDPLaban political party, which was formed in 1982 to protest against the administration of her father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

Marcos, who shared the stage with her fellow senatorial candidates, including party president Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, said it was providential that she achieved some form of closure with PDP-Laban.

“Ako ay nagpapasalamat higit sa lahat sa PDP. Hindi ko lubos na akalain na sa

sa dinami dami ng partido, ang partido ng PDP-Laban pa ang nagkumbida sa akin para maging panauhing kandidato, Marcos said in her speech during the political party’s Miting de Avance in Pasig City on Saturday.

“It must be fate playing some form of

tricks, but as they say, God works in mysterious ways. Thank you very much Senator Koko Pimentel.”

Pimentel, the president of PDP-Laban, was seated onstage while Marcos was delivering her speech, and he was seen smiling.

Marcos was joined on Saturday by other PDP-Laban guest candidates senators Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito and Sonny Angara, Rafael Alunan, and Freddie Aguilar. Former Senator Pia Cayetano, who is also a guest candidate of the administration party, was not present during the PDP-Laban’s last political rally.

Marcos credited the “vision and foresight” of President Rodrigo Duterte, chairman of the PDP-Laban, in choosing her to

form part of the slate.

Marcos is running primarily under the senatorial slate of Hugpong ng Pagbabago party of Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

“I would like to thank the President for his wisdom in bringing us together under the PDP-Laban banner, and for making that crucial push for our senatorial bids, Marcos said.

Duterte on Friday praised the late President Marcos, whom he said was the only Philippine leader that left “a tangible legacy,” including “magnificent infrastructures” like the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philippine International Convention Center, and Manila’s light rail transit system.

Shoot-to-kill...

lic safety and security on the Election day,” he said in a statement Friday.

“The PNP has launched the National Election Monitoring Action Center to monitor situations in all polling centers from Camp Crame, including the arrival of vote counting machines [VCMs], counting of ballots, and delivery of ballot boxes,” he added.

The Department of Energy has also assured the public that there will be stable power on the day of the elections.

The Palace official urged the Comelec to do its constitutional duty as the sentinel of the elections in ensuring the integrity of the ballots.

“Any form of cheating committed by the electoral body’s personnel or contractor [Smartmatic] will not be tolerated by this administration,” Panelo said.

“We enjoin all Filipinos who are eligible to vote to participate in this healthy democratic exercise as we call on all candidates across the political spectrum to ask their supporters to observe an honest, orderly, peaceful and credible elections reflective of the people’s genuine will,” he added.

Police on Sunday reported that a total of 20 people have been killed in 43 incidents.

PNP spokesperson, Col. Bernard Banac said the figure involved electionrelated incidents recorded from Jan. 13 to May 11. A total of 24 persons were also wounded since the start of the election period.

Banac said the number is low compared to the number of election-related cases in the previous election years.

He added that based on the National Election Monitoring Action Center in Camp Crame, the PNP has so far recorded 19 incidents of vote buying throughout the country as of 11 a.m.

Sunday.

Banac said of the 19 incidents involving 157 persons, 147 were arrested and the 10 others remain at large. PNA

From A1

ON THE STUMP. Senatorial candidate Imee Marcos gestures during the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas Bayan campaign rally in Manila on May 11 ahead of the midterm elections on May 13. AFP

“Whether they have the app or not, they will have to report the situation on the ground. The app will just make reporting for them easier since they’ll just be clicking [on menu items] and we’ll be able to get the reports and statistics right away,” Pascua said.

Pascua said teachers can take and upload photos through the app to report cases of facilities’ damage, fire, harassment and other incidents.

“The photos have date and time stamps for verification purposes…

Teachers are already informed about what they should do if harassment happens but we also placed reminders in the app,” he said.

On Sunday, a Department of the Interior and Local Government official said 2,838 personnel from the Philippine National Police are ready to serve as Board of Election Inspectors deputized by the Commission on Election on Monday’s polls.

“Elections must proceed in every precinct in the country and the PNP is ready to be called to duty by the COMELEC if there are no available teachers to serve in some precincts,” DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said in a statement.

Of the 2,838 police officers who were trained and deputized by COMELEC to act as BEIs for the upcoming elections, 1,032 are in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao due to possible election-related violence in the region.

“These deputized police officers are ready to assist if they will be needed.

Hopefully, we’ll have a peaceful election so that they can just focus on the peace and order aspect of their job,” Año said.

Meanwhile, a total of 149,830 police personnel have been deployed for election duty nationwide. Of this figure, 75,486 will be stationed in various voting centers; 31,613 are reserved forces; and 11,413 are part of the quick response team.

Other cops are assigned in the Election Monitoring Action Center/TOC, with 6,083 personnel; Warehouse and Hub, 1,923; Canvassing Centers, 4,566; Election Boards, 2,838; Checkpoints, 7,817; Border Control Chokepoint, 3,415; and Civil Disturbance Management, 1,901.

A total of 2,775 personnel who are on training were also recalled by the PNP for election duties.

“I have placed the entire PNP on full alert this coming election. The DILG also has an operations center in place.

We are ready to ensure peaceful and orderly elections,” Año said. PNA

also now wanted over other estafa cases filed against him in Bicol.

The Senate and the DOJ have invited him to an investigation so he could file charges and submit evidence for the possible filing of charges.

However, Advincula reportedly turned down the invitation despite claiming that he had documentary evidence to back up his claims.

But the credibility of Advincula was questioned after Senate President Vicente Sotto III revealed that a man with the same surname had previously surfaced and offered his office with the same story but with a different target.

Sotto recalled that he also received between 2014 to 2015 almost the same information shared by Advincula.

He said a certain Mr. Advincula also told a story about the “Quadrangle Group” from Bicol being behind the illegal drug trade, but claimed that they had links to former President Benigno Aquino III. Sotto did not elaborate on the supposed drug links of those who were

named but said the informant also provided documents, among them “bank accounts,” to support his claim.

He said his staff investigated the allegations but were not convinced with the information provided by the accuser.

Upon checking by the Philippine National Police, it turned out that Advincula was a wanted person for estafa and illegal recruitment.

In September 2007, Baguio RTC Judge Ruben Ayson issued an arrest warrant on Advincula for illegal recruitment.

The same month, La Trinidad, Benguet RTC Judge Delilah GonzalesMuñoz also issued a warrant of arrest against him for estafa.

Last week, businessman Arven Valmores of Ardeur World Marketing also filed a new estafa complaint against Advincula before the DOJ. He claims that Advincula sponsored a beauty pageant in Albay in August last year and used the corporate name and logo of Valmores’ business―without his consent―for promotion.

Teacher-friendly...

From A1

“Do not force my hand to do something which you might not like and hate me for all time,” he added.

In December 2018, the President called on the Commission on Elections to follow the Alunan doctrine, which limits a candidate to two armed bodyguards.

President Duterte said he phoned COMELEC Chairman Sheriff Abas to implement the doctrine following the murder of AKO Bicol Party-list representative Rodel Batocabe.

“Let’s go back to the Alunan doctrine that no candidate should strut around with bodyguards with long firearms.

That’s prohibited,” he said.

Duterte then warned those who try to get through police and military checkpoints that he has ordered the troops to immediately shoot them.

“My directive to the police and military is [to] kill them. Let’s try. Make my police and soldiers look dumb and oppose the checkpoints because you’re a governor or mayor, then f*** ***,” he said.

“When they defy the order to stop at checkpoints, shoot them. That’s it, it’s simple,” he added,.

Malacañang earlier said the national government is all set for the upcoming polls.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the Department of Education assured them that 36,000 schools are now ready to be used as polling precincts and 230,000 teachers will serve as members of the Electoral Boards and technical support for Monday’s elections.

“The Philippine National Police [PNP], on the other hand, will deploy 150,000 police personnel in various parts of the country to ensure pub-

‘Vote...

From A1

“The minds of the voters have been corrupted to seeing that vote buying is normal,” she said.

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar said more than 80 people have been arrested for vote buying and selling.

They may face one to six years imprisonment, disqualification from holding public office, and disenfranchisement or deprivation of their right to vote.

Former Senator Heherson Alvarez has withdrawn his bid to represent the 4th District of Isabela due to “massive vote buying.”

Alvarez, in a statement, said he could no longer participate in the congressional race since vote buying violated the freedom of people to select their own leaders.

“This political abuse of our cherished

Tribute...

From A1

“To all the mothers in the Philippines and in the world, happy Mother’s Day. I wish you a very happy and contented life,” the President said in a short video greeting posted on the Facebook page of his former top aide Christopher “Bong” Go. President Duterte said he knows how hard it is to become a mother as he saw how his own mother, Soledad, sacrificed to provide comfort to their family.

“I saw all the pain she went through to give her family comfort. So, long live all the mothers,” he added.

The Palace also paid tribute to all mothers around the world on Mother’s Day celebration.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said mothers hold the highest accolade there is to bestow.

For the Palace official, nobody, not even the fathers, “can equal the tender, love, and care that mothers shower their

freedom is now of wide public knowledge. We must renounce it, denounce it and withdraw our tolerance or our democracy will wither away,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the massive and overwhelming vote buying makes the electoral process a sham. Vote buying is vote killing and is as destructive to our democracy as drugs [are] ... to our physical well-being,” Alvarez said.

He said he was grateful for having been endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte, noting that it would have been his “last effort to render public service.”

In Gamu, Isabela, a police SWAT team was called in to calm the situation when supporters of a candidate, Fernando O.Cumigad, tried to effect a citizens arrest of the barangay chairman, George Gatering, over vote buying.

In Romblon, a municipal councilor and his two companions were being sought for vote buying after police seized several envelopes containing cash and sample ballots Friday. Abe Almirol with PNA children from the time of their birth until their growing years.”

“The sacrifice the mothers make to provide their sons and daughters sustenance, growth and development of their potentials is immeasurable and incomparable,” Panelo said.

“The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother,” he said quoting St. Therese of Lisieux.

In a bid to support the needs and welfare of mothers, President Duterte recently signed Republic Act 11210, or the Expanded Maternity Leave Law, which will provide additional leave benefits for employed mothers.

Under the new law, all working mothers in the government and the private sector will be granted 105 days of paid maternity leave credits, providing them an option to extend their leaves for another 30 days without pay.

The maternity benefits shall apply to every instance of pregnancy, miscarriage, or emergency termination of pregnancy regardless of frequency.

News

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

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Duterte opens ‘small window’ for peace talks with Reds

By Nat Mariano WHILE President Rodrigo Duterte has left a “small window” open for the possible resumption of peace talks with communist rebels, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines should still make good on their end of the bargain, Malacañang said on Sunday.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the remark after Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison called for the reopening of the peace negotiations following the President’s remark that he and the communist leader will go “hand in hand to the mouths of hell.”

In a speech during the miting de avance of the ruling PDP-Laban party in Pasig City, President Duterte said they will both die a natural death and go straight to hell.

“This Communist Party, I think we should just let our natural lives end because Sison is old,” Duterte bared late Saturday evening, who previously ended the government’s peace negotiations with the NDFP in March.

“If ever we’re at the same age, I’d be happy to go with him hand in hand to the mouths of hell. We won’t even be accepted in heaven,” he added.

The 80-year-old communist leader quipped that he has “absolutely no intention” to accompany Duterte in his trip to hell “whether this [may] be a medieval religious presumption or a figure of speech for historical infamy.”

For Sison, he will remain “steadfast and militant in being loyal to the just cause of the Filipino people in fighting for their national sovereignty, democratic rights, social justice, and real economic development.”

“I invite Duterte to change course from the direction of hell, mend his ways and resume serious and sincere peace negotiations with the NDFP through duly-authorized negotiating panels within the framework of The Hague Joint Declaration,” he said.

“I am not blinking but I am winking at my former student to indicate to him that he can avoid getting hell from the Filipino people and their revolutionary forces by acceding to the reforms needed for a just peace,” he added, hoping that the two “can work together to respond to the demands of the Filipino people for social, economic, and political reforms.”

FDA sets crackdown on traders of fake vinegar MOVES are afoot for the Food and Drug Administration to adopt and implement stricter safety and quality standards for vinegar products being sold in the market today due to reports that most of these products are made from synthetic raw materials that may pose health hazards.

FDA Director-General Nela Charade Puno said the agency is now waiting for the final report of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute which studied samples of some 360 vinegar brands.

The PNRI, an arm of the Department of Science and Technology, said that eight out of 10 of these products “contain fake ingredients”, mostly acetic acid.

Puno said the PNRI study will be the basis for new and higher standards.

The implementation of the new standards will be complimented by an intensive consumer information and education program, Puno said.

“However, this early, let me already tell the peddlers of vinegar products that will not pass the new standards that there will be a major crackdown on these products followed by sustained regulatory enforcement action,” Puno said.

Puno said she expects that the new, higher standards and law enforcement action “will be met with resistance from the market vendor sector”. “The FDA recognizes that many buyers prefer cheaper brands,” Puno said.

“However, we cannot allow public health to be exposed to health hazards just to save a few pesos,” Puno explained.

Puno lauded the PNRI for the “valuable research on vinegar products”.

She said the PNRI has the capability and the equipment to undertake a research of this magnitude and quality.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

SUBSTITUTE. This photo taken on April 30 shows Gertrudes Batocabe (center), wife of the late congressman Rodel Batocabe, posing for photos with supporters during a campaign rally in the town of Daraga, Albay province. Batocabe never wanted to enter the Philippines’ cutthroat politics, but after her husband was shot dead, allegedly by a rival in midterm elections taking place today, she felt bound to take his place. AFP

Garcia cleared to run for governor of Cebu T

By Rey E. Requejo

HE Court of Appeals has allowed Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia to pursue her gubernatorial bid in the elections today.

In a 23-page decision promulgated May 10, the CA reversed a ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman in 2017 ordering Garcia’s dismissal from service and perpetual disqualification from holding public office over the provincial government’s alleged anomalous purchase of a property when she was governor in 2012.

The appellate court granted the petition of Garcia seeking to overturn the Ombudsman resolution finding her guilty of grave misconduct.

Voting 3-2, the CA’s special division of five magistrates ruled that the antigraft office committed grave abuse of discretion and violated Garcia’s right to a speedy disposition of her case.

The CA stressed that the ombudsman took two and a half years to resolve the case against Garcia.

“A delay of 2 1/2 years is highly unreasonable and unjustifiable most especially in the light of the [Ombudsman’s] mandate to prioritize cases filed against a high ranking official [like Garcia],” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga.

The complaint against Garcia and 10 other provincial officials was filed on Dec. 7, 2012 by current Gov. Hilario Davide III and two others over Garcia’s “unilateral decision” to start the filling of the mangrove and submerged portions of the Balili property without provincial board’s approval.

The case was docketed on June 6, 2013, and the filing of the pleadings was extended until June 2015. It took the Ombudsman until December 2017 to resolve the case.

The appellate court also stressed that Garcia was liable for only simple misconduct, which carries a penalty of six months suspension, and not grave misconduct.

It explained that Garcia’s entering into contracts with ABF Construction without PB authority “constitutes simple misconduct” because the Ombudsman “failed to present substantial evidence to prove that her act was deliberate and done to procure some benefit for herself or for another person.”

The CA ruled that the Ombudsman also erred in ruling that Garcia could

Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia

not invoke the condonation doctrine in her case.

It stressed that while the Supreme Court has abandoned the condonation doctrine in the 2015 case of former Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay, the said ruling “has to be applied prospectively.”

The CA explained that the administrative liability of Garcia during her term as governor from 2010 to 2013 was condoned by her election as congresswoman in 2013.

Associate Justices Edgardo delos Santos and Edward Contreras concurred in this ruling.

The two dissenters were Associate Justice Pamela Ann Abella Maxino and Marilyn Lagura-Yap.

CANVASSING SITE. Police and soldiers are deployed across the PICC tent where the partial and unofficial canvassing of votes in the 2019 midterm election for senatorial candidates will be held. Ey Acasio

GMA: Hasten granting of land titles

By Rio Araja

FORMER President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is batting for the speedy grant of land titles for the urban poor housing beneficiaries.

She recently led the oversight hearing of the committee on housing and urban development, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez to fast-track the granting of land titles.

The committee members convened to look into several presidential proclamations on social housing issued by Arroyo during her presidency to ensure that the housing projects would move forward “at the soonest possible time.”

They continued with the deliberation on House Resolution No. 2067 seeking to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the implementation of Proclamation No. 627 of 2004.

The proclamation declared a two-hectare land within Barangay Comembo in Makati City as offbase housing for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Jeanette Cruz, Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council director, said the National Housing Authority was not able to fully exercise the administration over the area because of a special patent that was still not provided by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region.

On the other hand, Florencio Chavez, DENR’s Land Management in Metro Manila officer, said such could be resolved by a “simple letter” from the NHA requesting for the special patent from its agency.

Upon receiving the request, the special patent could be available in a month, Chavez said.

Benitez directed Brig. Gen. Arnold Fernandez to submit a list of qualified beneficiaries to the NHA to ensure that all 295 of them would receive the land titles.

He recommended for the HUDCC and NHA to allow the AFP to administer the land title distribution to the qualified occupants of the property.

“Whether you give it to whoever is there, that is your lookout. It is designed for your members, for soldiers, for your colleagues. Whatever you do, that would reflect on you. And in this case, the NHA and HUDCC will just secure the titles, pass it to you, then the lookout will now be on your shoulder,” he said.

Cruz, for her part, said the interagency committee must still convene to discuss pricing on May 28.

Arroyo maintained the pricing on socialized housing sites should be based on the zonal value of the area during the issuance of the proclamations.

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Opinion

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Of the people, for the people, buy the people

THE Philippine Constitution describes a government “of the people, for the people and by the people.”

Filipino politicians, however, have given this noble intent a twist by changing the last phrase to “buy the people.”

This is how Filipinos vote.

Vote-buying has been the norm since the country first held elections.

In Muntinlupa City, 17 persons suspected of vote buying were arrested by the police and their case turned over to the Commission on Elections for the filing of appropriate charges.

Police recovered P70,000 used by the suspects in vote-buying.

In Isabela, former senator and Agrarian Reform Secretary Heherson Alvarezwithdrew his candidacy because he said he can no longer stomach the open and rampant vote-buying going on in the province. I know Sonny Alvarez personally, going back to his Constitutional Convention delegate days, and during his exile in New York where I was the press attaché at the Philippine Consulate.

It’s regrettable Sonny had to pull

out as congressional candidate because he knows he does not stand a chance against those who havemoney to but people’s vote. Sonny Alvarez’s case is not an isolated one. There are many cases similar to Sonny’s where deserving candidates get dismayed and pull out of the race.

Vote buying is so rampant that the Church (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) came out to issue a statement urging the citizenry not to sell their vote as did the Comelec amid several reports of the malpractice in many parts of the country.

The latest Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia poll surveys listed the moneyed candidates in the top rung of their polls. To be fair, some need not buy votes as their track record in the Senate speak for itself while others with high rankings are there because of their popularity. Take the case of television and movie personality Lito Lapid. His rebel leader role in the long-running ad popular TV series “Ang Probinsyano” makes him a sure winner to return to the Senate where his work record is far from satisfactory. But that’s how Filipinos vote; they go for the popular and scripted heroes in their preference for candidates.

Qualified presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro never made it while the likes of Erap Estrada was favored president and later mayor of Manila.

The masa and us ultimately get the officials we don’t deserve. And that’s as kindly as I can say it.

The Comelec should mete out stiffer penalty for those who buy votes and equally to those who sell their right of suffrage. There is less vote -buying in India and Indonesia, two countries

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Scapegoat for incompetence

O

NCE again, the Palace has blamed the press for a problem of its own making.

Hard pressed to explain why two athletes, Gretchen Ho and Hidilyn Diaz, appeared in a diagram that the Palace presented to unmask members of a purported plot to oust the President, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo blamed journalists for the “wrong analysis” of his presentation.

"Some media outfits" erred when they reported that both Ho and Diaz were implicated in the plot, Panelo said, pointing out that the diagram he presented merely showed the online connections of Rodel Jayme, the man the authorities have arrested for sharing online videos accusing the President’s family and allies of accepting drug money.

“The diagram only showed that Rodel Jayme is active on Facebook, showing who he follows and visualizing his character, per-

suasion, and political interests," Panelo said Friday.

"They were shown [in the diagram] but that doesn't mean they're involved," he added.

The Palace official said he would not apologize to Ho and Diaz, and said it was the journalists who should do so.

"The problem was some of your acquaintances released it to the newspapers that they're involved. Others then believed that they're indeed involved, but that's not what the diagram meant," Panelo said.

Then, with the hint of a threat, he added: "We just hope that the faulty analysis made was not intentional with the sole purpose of casting doubt on the intelligence received and vetted by the Office of the President.”

With all due respect, however, we suggest that it is the presidential spokesman who is guilty of faulty analysis.

After all, the conspiratorial connections that the diagrams are supposed to show have not been proved—and his sugges-

tion that we accept them as verified truth simply on his or the President’s say-so is patently absurd. Without a shred of evidence, the Palace has accused journalists, lawyers and politicians of plotting to overthrow the government—and has even made it a point to say there is no need to provide proof.

If journalists misinterpreted a slide that the presidential spokesman distributed, was it not ultimately his fault for failing to explain the diagram properly? If the goal of the diagrams was to identify those connected with the socalled plot, what need was there to show online connections—such as those to the two athletes—that had nothing to do whatsoever with the alleged conspiracy? Whose fault was it to publicize a diagram that could so easily be misinterpreted?

Far too often, government officials and politicians blame the press for problems of their own making. It is apparent to all that they are merely looking for scapegoats for their own incompetence.

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Finally over AS OF Saturday, barely 20 percent of registered voters across Taiwan have cast their vote.

Since Sunday is their day-off from the factories where most of our OFWs here work, we expect many to troop to our Neihu, Taichung and Kaohsiung offices today to cast their ballots.

Still, we’d probably just hit a quarter of the number of registered voters. Of course, some of the registered voters may have left Taiwan by now, either for home or elsewhere. But still, voter enthusiasm does not seem to be high with mid-term elections.

From April 13 to the first week of May, voters came in trickles, and being a value-for-money kind of person, I ask why Comelec has to require overseas posts to assign several employees to man the polling precincts and take them off their daily responsibilities. Not that I question the right of overseas Filipinos to vote, but surely there is a better way.

Allowing a whole month for voting seems too much, when Indonesians who also recently cast their votes for the presidency no less had just a day to do so. Americans and Europeans mail in their votes. In places like Taiwan where the postal system is efficient, could we consider voting by mail as an alternative? Surely there are many more countries in the world where the postal system can be trusted.

Then again, ours is a system that operates on distrust.

Take the airport, where there is an army of security guards and other workers who check on everything for every possible reason. To enter the airport, a security guard has to ask where you are bound for, and asks to see your ticket. (But if you are a foreign-looking guy, or smartly dressed, you get past them without being disturbed). See how they distrust fellow Filipinos but not foreigners, especially the white-skinned ones.

Then you load your luggage in an X-ray device and pass through a

metal scanner. You’d have to take off your cellphones and other metal objects and place them in plastic trays to be scanned. Only then can you go to the airline counter to check in, after which you are once again asked by another security guard before entering the immigration area to show your boarding pass and ticket. Another level of distrust.

You queue up for an eternity to get to the immigration officer where OFW’s have to show a whole envelope of documents to be allowed to leave his country and join the Filipino diaspora.

Having had his passport stamped, one goes through yet another X-ray and metal scanner, this time with watch and belt and shoes off, apart from every other metal object in one’s body. You pass by the duty-free shops which sell almost every outmoded foreign brand but have little by way of Philippine goods other than dried

Ours is a system that operates on distrust.

se mangoes and rhum, into another seump curity guard asking you for the umpteenth time, to show your passport, your ticket and boarding pass to get into your departure gate. Wala talagang tiwala sa kapwa.

So too in the matter of overseas voting. I cannot for the life of me understand why Comelec has to come up with such labyrinthine procedures for overseas Filipinos to have to go through to cast their vote for 12 senators and a party-list party (even the redundancy sucks!)

So, we have low voter turnouts. I would expect only 25 percent, probably a little over that, to cast their ballots for these mid-term elections, despite efforts extended by our staff first to increase the number of registrants, and later, through every social media platform, to get our OFWs to vote.

Government spends billions for this right of suffrage, the so-called

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A desperate move JUST a couple of days before the elections, Pulse Asia released the results of its survey conducted May 4 to 6, which, except for some minor changes, was just a reiteration of the results of its April 10 to 14 survey.

I just find this odd because as far as I can recall, Pulse Asia has not released or maybe conducted surveys just days leading to the elections, except now.

Who is this reelectionist senator doing questionable things?

But going further a few days back, a result of an SWS survey conducted last April which supposedly was not for publication, was also “leaked” to social media.

So, why the last-minute release of of survey results of the two leading polling firms?

Last May 7 or 8, if I’m not mistaken, the influential Iglesia ni Cristo bared the list of senatorial bets its flock will be supporting this elections. And almost simultaneously with that, the SWS survey result was leaked to the social media.

And then, last Saturday, the Pulse Asia survey came out. Scrutinizing both results reveal that there is one prominent member of the Senate now seeking reelection who made it well Turn to A5

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Opinion

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Today we are in power A GENUINE democracy is one in which the leaders of government, through free elections, are chosen to truly represent the will of the people.

Most Filipinos rarely feel this, however. For every corruption scandal that goes unpunished, every problematic regulation or law that goes unchecked, and every government policy that proves to be antithetical to the interest of the majority, the people feel increasingly disempowered.

To a certain extent it is understandable then how some question the merits of democracy itself, especially in the face of a seemingly dysfunctional example in the domestic sphere.

This is in contrast to the vibrancy with which we conduct our elections.

Or perhaps this is precisely why we participate in the polls with a keen sense of enthusiasm, evidenced by one of historically high voter turnouts. We realize that for all the shenanigans and failures of our democracy, during the elections the balance of power tilts to our direction and we hold in our hands the future of our country.

This is the broader context against which over 61 million or so Filipinos will now troop to their respective precincts to select officials for both local and national levels. Clearly, there are more at stake than some individuals’ political careers.

The Senate has emerged to be one of the last bastions of independent check and balance against the proven tendency of a super majority to railroad the legislative process.

If administration candidates win the necessary numbers in the upper chamber, Congress will become a glorified rubber stamp for Malacañang’s directives. A chamber filled with officials

grateful to the president’s political capital will predictably step out of his way with unremitting obedience.

Overpowered by the political noise is a real discussion of the actual main functions of a senator—creating and reviewing issues in aid of legislation—against which the candidates should have been measured and evaluated.

Because of the intense political loyalties in display in the lead-up to the polls, many seem to forget that the elections are in essence, not different from evaluating a job application process, and so must entail a set of pertinent qualifications.

Does he have the skills necessary to do the job? Will he be able to effectively debate on complex issues to help him

We must vote against the corrupt, the unqualified and incompetent, the unprincipled, the immoral.

or her craft effective laws? Why is he or she seeking a senatorial post to begin with? Who does he or she intend to serve? Will his closeness and loyalty to the president compromise this mandate?

Has he shown accountability for his past actions? Is he trustworthy?

Otherwise, if we fail to be competent and judicious in choosing our next leaders, we unwittingly reward and thus perpetuate the personality dominated, patronage politics that continues to exploit the people. For instance, while we have seen how populist issues, such as on food, health, and education, understandably dominate the debates, there is a need to scrutinize beyond motherhood these statements and determine which

candidates offer viable and sustainable solutions.

With new laws on Free Tertiary Education, Cancer Control, and Universal Health Care, Free Irrigation Service, there is a need to monitor and regularly evaluate the long-term sustainability and efficiency of the utilization of government resources on these vis-a-vis the country’s overall economic standing.

The next Congress needs to guarantee via their oversight function that these laws would translate to actual benefits for the people.

When all the election frenzy has settled and a new Congress is convened, we must challenge our newly elected legislators to focus on the country’s economic momentum with overdue reforms that will demolish the policy walls blocking our full economic potential. This is crucial if the Philippines is to achieve prosperity and poverty eradication by 2040.

A win by the right, deserving candidates then is thus also a win for the Filipino people, who ultimately should emerge victorious in this exercise. It is our future that is at stake here, not those of individual candidates or political dynasties or ruling parties and their allies.

On the flip side, because the elections as an exercise manifest the will of the majority, electing leaders who are morally bankrupt, patently unqualified, and a politically compromised stature, their ascent to office also speaks about our quality and decisions as citizens. Voting today is our opportunity to purge our government of rotten forces that are stealing billions to perpetuate their vicious cycle of exploitation. It is critical at this juncture to collectively and categorically reject these forces.

We need to send a strong message that the silly song-and-dance campaigns to win our votes insults our intelligence.

We must vote against the corrupt, the unqualified and incompetent, the unprincipled, the immoral. For the common good we must vote against the greater evil.

Election day POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE THIS was one of the most extravagant election campaign seasons in recent memory, and at the end of it, we wonder—did we elect who was best for the country?

I write this on the eve of election day with much trepidation as to whom the majority of my fellow Filipinos will hand over the reins of government. The political stances of the candidates for senator, representative, mayor, vice-mayor, and councilors reflect the heavily polarized character of society now.

Those among the candidates with money to spend (most of them allied with the current administration) splurged on broadcast commercials, posters, and giveaways while those with less (mostly from the opposition) relied on social media and the goodwill of supporters who made their own posters and flyers and distributed them on their own time, without reward or pay.

It used to be a truism that those with more money and bigger ad spend had a better chance of winning, but that was debunked during the last presidential elections when Roxas lost and Duterte won. Sometimes it just comes down to a popularity contest, or a matter of perception or gut feel over who the better person is, or

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cornerstone of our democratic rights, and for what?

Anyway, it’s finally over after today. And judging by the surveys, our people will include another set of misfits and elevate them to level of the “august.”

Which is why I have never voted a straight 12 or before that, 24 names for the Senate.

Why the hell should my fill-up rate include those who I honestly do not consider worthy? *** Who will make it to the Senate, JV or Jinggoy? The surveys show it’s very tight for the last three to four slots among twelve, and for both Ejercito-Estradas, it’s a cliffhanger till the end.

Surveys show it’s Abby instead of Jun-jun for the Makati mayoralty post which their family has monopolized

just a weariness and rejection of the same-old, same old and a longing for a positive change.

In short, sometimes all that people have to go on is hope.

Duterte’s triumph in the presidential elections of 2016, some said, was a sign that the masses were sick and tired of the oligarchs who had ruled for decades but had not made any material change in their condition and status.

However, we can see from the lineup of candidates that the same old political dynasties are still entrenched and are once again seeking the continuation of their reigns. As a politician from a prominent family once told me, “Jenny, it’s the family business.”

This is the mindset that afflicts not only the pols themselves, but also their constituents, who look to the same faces and those of their family members, hoping that this time it will be better, that this time Cong or Mayor or Gov’s son or wife or grandchild will be the one to bring the care they need and deserve, that this time they will end corruption and palakasan and the padrino system.

But the reality is, many of the sameold same-old seldom make goals save those that benefit themselves and their cronies. We see minimal to no improvement in social services in many areas. There are cities in the metro that are awash in trash, where floods still halt activity when it rains, where fixing is rampant in city halls.

On the national level, we need statesmen of dignity, intelligence, and integrity. We need senators who are

well educated and have the diplomas to prove it. Making laws is not an easy task. Tremendous responsibility goes with it that it cannot be left solely to staff or lobbyists.

We need lawmakers and public officials who are skilled, knowledgeable, discerning. We deserve those who have not been tainted nor associated with corruption or plunder cases.

We want to be served by people who are honest and tell the truth. We need men and women in the Senate with the courage to fight for human rights, the strict implementation of the rule of law, and Philippine sovereignty.

My househelper’s sister sells her vote each election. She is scolded by my helper for doing so. “Bibigyan ka limang daan. Ganoon ka ba kacheap?” This time around, she is persuading her sister to vote for the better candidate in our city, the one who gave more help to public school students and who cracked down in fixing at city hall.

These are the kind of people we should elect at all levels—the performers (not in a showbiz sense), the straight arrows, the hard workers.

Choosing public officials should be done on merit, not on name recall or good looks or dancing skills or bribes and freebies.

On Election Day, vote your conscience. Otherwise, live with the consequences.

for the last 33 years, but not after a very recriminatory campaign which showed a family dynasty sundered almost beyond repair.

In Cebu City, the fight between incumbent Tomas Osmeña and challenger Edgar Labella, the city vicemayor whom President Duterte supports, has been very close. If Tomas, who has been mayor of Cebu for decades and controlled it’s politics virtually since the end of martial law, loses to upstart Labella who is bereft of political pedigree, it could signal the end of a dynasty which began at the turn of the last century.

My friend Serge Osmeña, who deserves to be senator over and over again, with a performance record unmatched by many of his peers, does not seem able to make it this time, according to the latest surveys. If only he had told the president he wanted to run in May of 2018, Serge would have been a shoo-in for the administration ticket.

*** We end this column with condolences to three friends who died last week: Dongkoy Emano of Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental, a gutsy firebrand with a truly pro-poor heart.

Likewise Boy Nograles, whose father, an Ilonggo migrant to the land of promise, as was his mother’s family of Batanguenos, settled and prospered in Davao City. Speaker Boy used to be with the Danding Cojuangco-ran UCPB, but he joined us in the UNIDO after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination at the tarmac.

And Karina Constantino David, activist until the end and nationalist like her father. There were times when we were together in support of causes and personalities, and times when we were on opposite sides. But I have always admired her guts, and respected her fidelity to country and cause.

To the bereaved families of these three friends, my profound sympathies.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas at ang sambayanan! / FB and Twitter: @ DrJennyO

A5

EvEryman

‘With great power comes great responsibility’

By Alex Alcasid LAST May 10, 2019, the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup finals held at Smart Araneta Stadium was unexpectedly interrupted.

A man now identified as Paolo Felizarta rushed onto the court while the game was on-going, holding placards saying “Vote! Love!” and accidentally collided with San Miguel center June Mar Fajardo. The basketball player was hit in the jaw and left a bit groggy, while the man was hauled off the court by security. Before he could disappear from the public view, the man was punched in the head by Fajardo’s teammate, Ronald Tubid. The most scandalous detail of the incident?

The man who disrupted the PBA finals with only 3:06 left on the clock was dressed as the Marvel character Spider-man.

As the news of this incident broke, the cosplay community breathed a collective disappointed, angered sigh. People began to ask each other if they knew the man, and no one seemed to recognize him. He didn’t seem to be in the cosplay community at all; he wasn’t a known cosplayer.

People began decrying his actions.

Even if his intentions were to spread love not hate, the way he went about it was disruptive and dangerous. He should have stayed on the sidelines or at least wait until timeout, people said. After a while the news began to sink in, and cosplayers began to wonder what this incident would mean to the community and the general public’s perspective of them.

For definition, Cosplay refers to the portmanteau of the words costume and play. It is, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “the activity or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction, such as a comic book, video game, or television show.” The Philippines has a thriving community of people whose hobby and passion is to represent their favorite characters through the use of elaborately constructed costumes. They take great pains to study their character, perfecting mannerisms, poses for pictures, and understanding their personality and motivations. To the general public, cosplayers tend to be seen only as “yung mga naka-costume.” This is difficult detail to deal with considering the incident at the PBA finals involved a man na “naka-costume.”

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with larger population than the Philippines with large scale vote buying which has become the norm. Are we that innately corrupt that vote-buying has been institutionalized in our electoral process?

As the most affected sector of Philippine society, don’t expect our politicians to pass legislate measures that will curbvote-buying. That’s like asking them to ban political dynasties in any proposed amendment to the Constitution. To do so would be killing the goose that lays the golden egg that

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within the winning circle in both survey firms’ results. Ironically, this reelectionist senator did not earn the nod of the INC. Hence, the late release of the survey results might have been intended to offset or neutralize the impact of the INC endorsement, as we are all aware of the fact that the INC endorsement on numerous occasions serve as the barometer for any election.

The obvious target here is former Presidential Adviser Francis Tolentino, who, in March survey results was placing 9th to 10th place. In the same period, this reelectionist senator was struggling to stay afloat in 15th place.

However, when the results April survey was released, Tolentino suddenly dropped to 14th to 17th place even as there was no major development that could shake the standing that time.

And surprisingly, Mr. Reelectionist suddenly surged to 8th place, a jumped of seven place.

In the May 4 to 6 survey, the reelectionist senator placed safely at 10th place while the former chairman of the Metro

Several members of the cosplay community expressed their thoughts regarding how this incident will affect community moving forward.

Cosplayer Claude Ang said: “The incident was already published in mainstream with Avengers: Endgame still on its tail. [The incident] will definitely affect some cosplayers, especially those that cosplay Spider-man. Whether the guy had been wearing a generic or a specific Spider-man costume, the image of Spider-man cosplayers will [be affected] seeing as people may believe that someone wearing the costume can pull off a stunt like that. Others might follow. It will also affect how people see cosplayers in general because it was a costumed person. At the end of the day, all cosplayers are also people in costume and we can be held liable for the actions we take.”

Spider-man cosplayer G.P Manalo also has this to say: “I am worried how officials will treat public stunts like with costumes after this whole debacle. I’ve seen many people get away with cosplaying in public (without an event), especially [people who cosplay other Spider-man characters] who wear a suit and just go anywhere with it on. They way they treated the guy (Paolo Felizarta) went as far as beating him and all he did was run like an idiot during a game and bump someone.”

Cosplayer Roderick Miravalles decried the timing of the stunt and worries that the general public will have an impression that cosplayers are nutcases. It is a reasonable fear as some costumes, including Spiderman, have a mask that obscures the identity of the person wearing the suit.

While the disruption of the PBA finals was the action of only one man, there is no telling what kind of impact this will cause to an entire community and on the perspective of the general public. The cosplay community if full of passionate, creative, and hard-working people who only want to showcase their love for their chosen characters and to spread happiness to others who see them. In that regard, Paolo Felizarta’s wish for “Peace for Philippines,” and to “Vote! Love!” that in common.

Alex Alcasid is a cosplayer who usually writes fantasy and spec-fic, and tweets whatever comes to mind at @ alex_alcasid.

keeps politicians in perpetual power.

The government too has declared a war on vote buying. But we can blame the people for being skeptical about he government’s declaration. It is government with the money and it wants to control both the House and Senate short proclaiming martial law throughout the entire country. So far, martial law is imposed only in Mindanao but that has not deterred lawless elements from continuing with attacks on government troops and communities in the rural areas.

As it is, the way to go is stiffer penalty on vote buying to preserve the sanctity of the ballot.

Manila Development Authority is still out of the Magic 12 at 15th place.

Unfortunately for Mr. Reelectionist, assuming this is really is a last-ditch operation of his camp, no one is buying. And according to sources, even his partymates have already junked him.

The same source bared that this senator earned his partymates’ ire when he failed to issue them their Certificates of Nominations forcing them to file as independent candidates for this elections, which deprived them of the opportunity to file for substitution candidates.

According to the same source, a staff of the said senator was selling his partymates Certificates of Nominations for a hefty sum, which the candidates refused to pay for.

As such, his partymates vowed not to support this reelectionist senator, whom some political observers have described as a yellowtard masquerading as a staunch administration ally.

I am no fan of Senator Ping Lacson but if I may borrow his words, I hope this reelectionnist senator won’t win in today’s election. As far as I am concerned, he doesn’t deserve a seat in the Senate. In fact, he can’t even win in his own hometown.

And to all the candidates for today’s political derby, I wish you luck.

A6

News

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Congress seeks EPIRA rules amendments

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE Joint Congressional Power Commission has given the go signal for the amendments to the implementing rules and regulations of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act Law to ensure that communities hosting power generation facilities receive the benefits due them.

During the last JCPC hearing for the 17th Congress, both panels of the Senate and the House of Representative approved two Department of Energy circulars that aim to include indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples in the list of host communi-

ties and hasten the release and use of the funds to host communities, respectively.

JCPC co-chairman Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said amending the IRR will empower host communities as well as promote harmony and coopera-

tion among the local government units, residents, and generation companies or energy-resource developers.

“As we speak right now, the total fund for benefits for host communities in the entire country is P12 billion. As of August of last year, only P6 billion has either been utilized or allocated for use because of red tape,” said Gatchalian.

The senator said the fund can be used for rural electrification, development and livelihood, rehabilitation of watershed management, health, and environmental enhancement projects.

Under the present setup, generation companies will remit the funds to the DOE, which in turn will release the fund to host communities that will implement

the projects subject to submission of various documentary requirements.

The lawmaker said Department Circular 2018-08-0021 removes DOE from the picture and allows the generation companies to directly remit the funds to the host communities.

On the other hand, DC 2018-03-005 expands the benefits to indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples who were previously not included as beneficiaries.

“On behalf of the Senate, after reviewing thoroughly the proposals of the Department of Energy, we definitely want to empower and to give the benefits as quickly as possible to the LGUs,” the senator said.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK. A scavenger on a raft along the waters of Manila Bay collects plastic and other recyclable materials to sell in a nearby junk shop. Lino Santos

Sotto wants ‘toll-free’ days on certain public holidays SENATE President Vicente Sotto III proposed to declare certain public holidays as “toll-free” days to ensure smooth travel in the North Expressway and South Luzon Expressway as well as other connecting toll highways.

Sotto’s Senate Bill No. 2220 seeks to amend Section 6 of Presidential Decree 1112, the law creating the Toll Regulatory Board, which currently exempts only government vehicles on official business from the payment of toll fees.

If enacted into law, Sotto’s bill will cover “all vehicles” during the socalled toll holidays, applicable only on certain holidays and under procedures and circumstances as will be promulgated by the TRB. “With all the negative impact that the worsening traffic situation in the country has brought to its people, providing solution to the condition even on certain days could really ease the burden on the affected Filipinos,” he said.

“Other than the financial losses incurred and will be incurred, traffic congestion affects one’s health, work performance and even relationships, causes pollution, road rage and accidents. Thus, it affects the quality of life in general,” Sotto added.

The Senate leader took note of a study conducted by a global firm Boston Consulting Group which showed that Metro Manila has the third worst traffic situation in Southeast Asia.

According to the study, motorists and commuters spend an average of 66 minutes daily in traffic.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, in another study, said the Philippines is now losing P3.5 billion a day due to traffic congestion in Metro Manila and the situation can get worse, translating to losses of P5.4 billion a day by 2035 if interventions will not be made. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Catholic faithful Gov’t seeks MILF, MNLF assistance for BARMM polls observe 102nd US-China standoff anniversary of pose unfamiliar Fatima apparition global challenges THE Catholic Church will celebrate today the 102nd anniversary of the famous Fatima apparition, reverberating the same message made by the Blessed Virgin Mary calling on mankind to repent now for the world to attain genuine and lasting peace.

“The apparitions of Mary in 1917 at Fatima happened for six consecutive months, from May to October, every 13th of the month,” Fr. Omer Prieto of the Immaculate Mary Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City said.

“Here, God is revealing to the world that Mary is indeed the ‘woman who will crush the head of the serpent’ as written in the Bible (Gen. 3:15),” Prieto said.

It was on May 13, 1917 that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared before three young shepherds—Lucia, 10, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7, in Fatima, Portugal.

Prieto said it is about time people heed the call of the Blessed Virgin to repent and return to God. According to Lucia, “a Lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the sun…” appeared and that her indescribably beautiful face, was “neither sad nor happy, but serious,” almost with an air of mild reproach. Her hands, joined together as if she was praying, were resting at her breast and pointing upward. A rosary hung from her right hand.

“The seers were so close to Our Lady —about a yard and a half away—that they stood within the light that radiated from her,” Church records show.

It was also during the apparitions that the Virgin Mary relayed to the three shepherds, the “Three Secrets of Fatima.”

In the first message, the Blessed Mother said World War I, which was then raging in Europe, was about to end, and World War II would erupt.

According to Aleteia, a worldwide Catholic network, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope, clarified the signs and symbols found in the Marian apparitions in 2000. PNA

COTABATO CITY—Military authorities in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces have sought the assistance of village officials and leaders of both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front as frontliners to ensure honest, orderly and peaceful elections today.

Lt. Col. Elmer Boongaling, the commander of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, met with village officials of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat to remind them of their vital role in ensuring that elections in their respective communities are orderly and peaceful.

“Your Philippine Army is your peace partner in every village and your cooperation is needed so that all of us are successful,” Boongaling said.

The meeting was attended by village officials from Tacurong City, President Quirino town, and the municipalities of Buluan, Paglat, Mangudadatu, Gen. S. K. Pendatun, Datu Paglas, and Pandag in Maguindanao.

The Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion, headed by Lt. Col. James Fer-

nando, also separately met with leaders of the MILF and MNLF. Earlier, representatives of the government and the MILF to the Coordinating Committees on the Cessation of Hostilities signed a memorandum of mutual understanding on “ceasefire-related functions” for today’s elections.

The document was signed in the presence of Cotabato City acting election officer Mark Chrystal Sorilla and International Monitoring Team (Mission 14 head Maj. Gen. Ya’cob Bin Haji Samiran.

The memorandum, which identified specific coordinating and monitoring functions as well as the responsibilities of the concerned parties, covers conflictaffected areas in Mindanao, particularly in identified volatile and election hotspot zones within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other adjacent areas.

“With the active involvement of various groups, we can now rest secure and are hopeful that the forthcoming elections

will not only be peaceful but also credible wherein the true will of the people will be expressed,” Sorilla said.

“Their decision to whom they shall entrust the future of BARMM will be respected as this will be reflective of the political, cultural, and democratic ethos of the Bangsamoro People,” Sorilla added.

Almost two-million registered voters in BARMM are expected to cast their votes for the midterm polls.

Aside from choosing their senators and congressional representatives, voters in the region will also choose five governors and five vice governors for Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and TawiTawi as well as city mayors and vice mayors for Cotabato, Marawi and Lamitan.

They will also elect 50 members of the provincial board, 116 municipal mayors, 116 municipal vice mayors and 1,160 members of the municipal councils.

In Maguindanao, 13 mayoral aspirants are assured of winning for running unopposed. PNA

NOT QUITE A FIESTA. Banners of various candidates hang along the streets of Tondo, Manila creating an almost festive atmosphere for today’s national and local elections. Norman Cruz

PARIS—Flaring tensions between Washington and Beijing are raising the prospect of new global diplomatic and economic fault lines, with consequences that analysts say could pose unfamiliar challenges to world leaders.

From an escalating trade war to an influence struggle in the South China Sea, “we’ve entered a period of strong and long-term rivalry between the United States and China,” said Alice Ekman of the French Institute of International Relations.

President Donald Trump’s combative stance, highlighted by the new round of import tariffs imposed this week, has upended decades of cautious statecraft in the West aimed at coaxing China to join the global order.

“A paradigm shift in America’s China policy is under way, with major implications for the world’s most important bilateral relationship and, more importantly, for global security,” said Brahma Chellaney of the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi.

The fallout could prove long-lasting, requiring countries in Europe, Asia and Africa to rethink how they engage with two diametrically opposed superpowers.

“The profound policy shift under Donald Trump will outlast his presidency because it reflects a bipartisan consensus in Washington that the earlier policy of ‘constructive engagement’ with China had failed,” Chellaney said.

For Trump, “the fatal error was letting China join the World Trade Organisation in 2001,” said Jean-Francois Di Meglio of the Asia Centre research and advisory firm in Paris.

“Before then, we had a Chinese administration that played the game on westernizing, which led the United States and the EU to say, ‘Let’s give them more than the benefit of the doubt, let’s open the door and give them developing country status,’” he said. AFP

Sports

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MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

History-making Bertens triumphs in Madrid to halt Halep climb MADRID, Spain—The Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens pulled off a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory over Simona Halep to win the Madrid Open on Saturday (Sunday Manila time), denying the Romanian a return to the top of the world rankings.

Halep could have knocked Naomi Osaka off the number-one spot with a triumph in the Spanish capital but instead it was Bertens who made history, becoming the highest-ranked Dutchwoman ever by climbing to world number four.

Bertens secured her ninth WTA singles title, as well as a cheque for 1.2 million euros, while her success should make amends for last year’s disappointment in Madrid, when she lost in the final to Petra Kvitova.

Halep was chasing her third success in four years in this tournament but delivered the sort of patchy, disgruntled display that has hindered her before with a trophy in sight.

But Bertens more than played her part, a deserving winner and the first woman ever to win the title without even dropping a set.

On this evidence, she will be a serious contender at the French Open later this month, where Bertens reached the semi-finals in 2016 only to be stopped

by Serena Williams.

Halep is the reigning champion at Roland Garros but has struggled at major tournaments since her debut victory last year. The 27-year-old has failed to go past the fourth round in any of the three Grand Slams since.

She was gracious in defeat, highfiving Bertens as she made her way to collect the trophy.

“I’m really happy to win this trophy,” Bertens said. “It means a lot to me after last year getting to the final here.”

Halep said: “It’s an amazing tournament for me, very special. I’m sad I didn’t win but Kiki deserved to win, she played the better tennis and all week the best tennis, so congratulations.”

After an early exchange of breaks, Halep moved 4-2 clear in the opening set only to lose her rhythm as Bertens came storming back.

Four games won in a row, including a booming backhand down the line for 5-4, helped Bertens claim the first set before a brilliant lob set up a break in the opening game of the second.

Halep finally stemmed the tide by winning her first game in seven, a curling forehand clipping the line, and then she broke for 2-2 as a Bertens backhand drifted wide. AFP

UAAP, NCAA schools recruit young Palaro swim star

By Peter Atencio

Alaska Fortified IronKids winner Zedrick Borja (center), second placer Tyrone Macalos (left) and third placer Dash Ramirez accept their trophies after winning the boys’ 13-14 division of the Alaska Fortified IronKids in Vermosa Sports Hub

Borja, Andaya win Alaska IRONKIDS race for moms

By Reuel Vidal

V

ERMOSA SPORTS HUB, Imus, Cavite—This one’s for mom.

Zedric James Borja and Trixie Hann Andaya celebrated a truly memorable Mother’s Day when they won their respective categories in the Alaska IRONKIDS Philippines held here yesterday, May 12.

Borja, who finished with a time of 15:31, trailed in the swim but overtook Leonardo Tyrone Macalos (15:58) and Dash Aron Ramirez (16:10) in the uphill portion of the run course to rule the Boys’13 to 14 Category which he dedicated to his mother Jocelyn.

“Because it is Mother’s Day my mother was my inspiration for everything that she’s done for me. I dedicate this race to her. She motivated me to become a triathlete and to continue racing,” said Borja.

In contrast Andaya, the 155th Philippine Swimming League (PSL) Most Outstanding Swimmer for 13-year-olds, led from the start to win the 13 to 14 Girls’ Category with a time of 18:12.

Princess Julianne Diche Patilan (19:28) and Bernadette Cabatian (20:27) came

after her.

“I feel so happy winning this Mother’s Day. I dedicate my win to my mother (Marsha). Thank you Mama for always supporting me. I was nervous at the start because the swimmers were bumping into each other,” said Andaya who gained confidence after she pulled ahead and left the other swimmers behind.

This is the first Alaska IRONKIDS race for the 13-year-old Andaya who is a member of the Batang Pinoy national pool of swimmers.

Winners in the Boys’11 to 12 category were Marc Dula (12:13), Jessly Reyan Roman (12:33) and Kristoff Daniel David (12:35). Winners among the girls were Aubrey Tom (11:57), Kira Ellis (12:19) and Maria Francesca Barretto (13:32).

Winners in the Boys’ 9 to 10 category were Darell Johnson Braim Bada (9:37), Rafael Miguel Ubiadas (10:16) and Rylee Alem Marasigan (10:23). Winners among the Girls were Jiana Allyn De Asis (9:16), Alyssa Khim Cabatian (9:20) and Maria Zabelle Eugenio (9:49).

Winners in Boys’6 to 8 category were Ethan Kyle Apigo (7:55), Diego Jose Dimayuga (7:57) and Cyler Alcantara Dizon (7:57). Winners among the girls were Samantha Hodges (8:11), Jhanelle Cathlene Yumang (8:42) and Clarisse Ysabel Dalluay (9:14).

Alaska Fortified IRONKIDS Philippines is a race for boys and girls who are four to 14 years old. It is organized and staged by Sunrise Events Presented by Alaska Fortified Powdered Milk Drink.

Future races this year include the Swim-Run in Subic Bay on June 1 and the Swim-Bike-Run, Cebu, August 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/, www.facebook.com/alaskamilkphilippines.

EXPECT young swimmer Xiandi Chua to make waves in the 82nd season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines next year.

Chua, a 12th grader from Immaculate Conception Academy in San Juan, could end up taking an athletic scholarship with the De La Salle University or with the University of the Philippines.

The 17-year-old Chua is among the many student athletes who have won medals in the recent 2019 Palarong Pambansang and are being recruited for college, to either compete in the UAAP or the National Collegiate Athletic Association, “I’m still deciding where I will go for college,” said Chua, who won five golds and two silvers during her first and last stint in the secondary girls of the swimming meet that was held at the University of the Philippines-Davao aquatics center in Mintal.

Chua handed the National Capital Region five golds and a silver. She got her last two following a record-breaker in the 200-meter freestyle and with Team NCR in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay.

She bounced back from her silver medal finish to teammate Mishka Sy when Chua demolished the secondary girls 200-meter freestyle mark in 2:09.05.

Her feat improved on the twoyear-old record of Nicole Pamintuan(2:10.14).

“I did decent and OK with my performance,” said Chua.

She clocked 2:43.08 seconds to eclipse the 200-meter breaststroke mark of 2:46.36 posted

by NCR’s Thanya Dela Cruz in Vigan, Ilocos Sur last year, Then, Chua swam and clocked 2:23.86 to surpass the 11-year-old 200-meter individual medley record of 2:25.66 held

by Althea Lim since 1998.

Mexico’s Berchelt Andrade knocks Namajunas out retains WBC title with pile driver to take UFC belt LOS ANGELES, United States— Mexico’s Miguel Berchelt retained his World Boxing Council super featherweight world title on Saturday, overpowering Francisco Vargas with a sixth round stoppage, in a rematch of their 2017 fight.

Berchelt won by technical knockout when Vargas’ corner waved the white towel as he sat on the stool after taking six rounds of brutal punishment at the Convention Center arena in Tucson, Arizona.

The one-sided bout was reminiscent of their first fight two years ago when Berchelt easily dethroned 130-pound champ Vargas.

Once again the 27-year-old Berchelt was too young, too powerful and too talented for the 34-year-old fellow Mexican.

The fight transpired the way many had predicted it would with Berchelt following the same strategy he used to punish Vargas in January 2017 when he knocked him out in the 11th round.

It was pretty clear this one wouldn’t go that far as Berchelt dominated all the rounds Saturday.

Vargas, who is prone to cuts and suffered several in the first fight, was also cut on the bridge of his nose in the third round on Saturday.

After the fight Berchelt defended his decision to have a rematch against a fighter who many thought would deliver a predictable outcome.

“He gave me my first opportunity for a world title so it is only fair I give him a shot to win it back,” said Berchelt, who improved to 36-1 with 32 KOs. “But his corner did the right thing.”

Berchelt has now won 14 of his last 15 fights by stoppage and has not lost a fight in five years.

Vargas wasn’t arguing with the decision by trainer Joel Diaz to throw in the towel. AFP

SKILL proved no match for brawn after Jessica Andrade lifted Rose Namajunas off her feet then slammed her onto the cage floor to score a knockout.

Namajunas kept Andrade at bay in the first round of their strawweight world title UFC 237 main event Saturday (Sunday Manila time) with her precise punching. In the second round, however, Andrade who continually pressed forward authored a dramatic come-frombehind victory.

Ignoring Namajunas sharp punches, the Brazilian pushed Namajunas against the cage and then bodily lifted her up into the air and then slammed “Thug Rose” onto the back of her head. The impact knocked the defending champion out on impact.

Seeing the limp Namajunas referee Marc Goddard leapt between the fighters and stop the fight at 2:58 of the second round.

Despite the loss Namajunas said she

felt a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

After regaining consciousness, Namajunas got on the microphone, humbly thanked the Brazilian fans.

“It’s just a huge pressure off my shoulders,” she said, smiling.

Andrade pulled off the victory in front of her home crowd at UFC 237, Andrade seemed outclassed at the start of the fight. Namajunas looked comfortable picking apart her Brazilian opponent from distance as she relied on her reach advantage.

But the Andrade’s punches started to land with a little more consistency in the second round. That’s when Andrade, appropriately nicknamed “The Piledriver” picked up Namajunas, and dropped her on her head to finish the fight.

Andrade, who improved to 20-6, became the first woman in UFC history to win via a KO slam in a title fight.

MMA fighter Jessica Andrade (right) lifts counterpart Rose Namajunas off her feet during their women’s strawweight title bout at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 237 event (UFC 237) at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. AFP

FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour to be held in Boracay

Bea Tan

FOR the second straight year, the Philippines will host the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour 1-star event on May 23-26, this time in the scenic Boracay Island.

Organized by Beach Volleyball Republic, the four-day, double-gender tournament has attracted a total of 20 women’s and 28 men’s teams from 17 countries.

The Philippines will have four women’s teams in the main draw - Sisi Rondina and Bernadeth Pons, Dij Rodriguez and Bea Tan, Jackie Estoquia and DM Demontaño, and Fiola Ceballos and Patty Orendain. A fifth pair - Babylove Barbon and Gen Eslapor - will go through the qualifiers.

Air Force’s Ranran Abdilla and Jesse Lopez will spearhead the country’s men’s campaign, which also includes collegiate stand-

outs James Buytrago and Krung Arbasto, and Cebu’s Mike Abria and Jade Becaldo.

Tan and Rodriguez have won three BVR on Tour legs this year, while Barbon and Eslapor ruled the Dumaguete leg last month.

Abdilla and Lopez won the first three legs this season before Abria and Becaldo topped the recently-concluded Lingayen edition.

In its efforts to promote sustainable sports tourism, BVR has partnered with the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force, the municipality of Malay, and White House Beach Resort for this prestigious event.

The country’s premier beach volleyball circuit is coming off successful legs in Puerto Galera, Santa Fe, Bantayan Island in Cebu, Dumaguete City and Lingayen, Pangasinan.

Last year, the Philippines made its way in the international beach volleyball map by hosting the prestigious Beach World Tour held at Sands SM By The Bay, with Rondina and Dzi Gervacio giving the country the highest finish in the women’s competition - fifth place.

Rondina, a Compostela, Cebu native, along with Iloilo’s Estoquia and Demontaño are making their second tour of duty for the Philippines in the Beach World Tour.

Also making their back-to-back stints in the men’s side are Abdilla and Becaldo.

In the Manila edition last year, Japan’s Ayumi Kusano and Takemi Nishibori topped the women’s division, while Germany’s Max-Jonas Karpa and Milan Sievers of Germany ruled the men’s side.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor

sports@manilastandard.net

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

Williams beats Hurd to seize super welter world titles LOS ANGELES, United States— Julian Williams shocked previously unbeaten Jarrett Hurd to seize the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association super welterweight world titles by unanimous 12-round decision on Saturday.

Williams sent Hurd to the canvas for the first time in his career on the way to the victory in an action-packed bout in Fairfax, Virginia, not far from Hurd’s home turf in Maryland.

“I’m just so blessed,” said Williams, who couldn’t hold back tears as he was interviewed in the ring after the fight, draped in his world title belts.

One judge scored the bout 116-111 and two others saw it 115-112 for Williams, who improved to 27-1-1 with 17 knockouts.

Williams went toe-to-toe with the bigger, physically imposing Hurd and in the second round a combination of punches sent Hurd down against the ropes.

Williams pummeled Hurd again in the third before the champion began to assert himself in the middle rounds.

Williams, however, wouldn’t go away pushing the action with solid punches to Hurd’s head and body.

Hurd was cut around right eye in the eighth but came back hard in the ninth as both pressed the action to the end.

“J-Rock (Williams) was a better man tonight,” Hurd said. “He put me down for the first time in my career and he came out with the victory.”

But, Hurd vowed, “I’ll be back.”

Williams notched his fifth win since his lone defeat, a fifth-round knockout by Jermall Charlo in December of 2016.

He was emotional in recalling that many wrote him off in the wake of that setback.

“I worked so hard,” Williams said.

“They told me I was done. They told me I had no chin. I just got basic.

“The boxing world should stop condemning fighters after they take a loss. It’s boxing, things happen. AFP

Tsitsipas stuns favored Nadal MADRID, Spain—Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Novak Djokovic for the Madrid Open title after the 20-year-old Greek stunned Rafael Nadal on Saturday (Sunday Manila time) to win a thrilling semi-final 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on his fourth match point.

Nadal had been a clear favorite to face Djokovic in Sunday’s showpiece at Caja Magica but the 17-time Grand Slam champion extended his stuttering build-up to the French Open with another surprise defeat.

Tsitsipas’ surprise victory means he reaches his fourth ATP final of the season while vindicating those that have him circled as a future star of the men’s game.

“Emotionally it was very tough, it was one of my toughest wins,” Tsitsipas said.

It might be too early to expect the world number nine to challenge at Roland Garros later this month but, with a fearless style and formidable forehand, he is developing a habit for delivering on the big stage.

He ousted Roger Federer from the Australian Open in January and, as well as Nadal, has beaten Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, both twice, and Djokovic, whom he played on hard in Canada last year and prevailed in three sets.

Tsitsipas will draw confidence from that result ahead of the final but arguably even more so from overcoming Nadal, on clay, which Djokovic had earlier described as the “ultimate challenge” following his own 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4) victory over Dominic Thiem.

By his own high standards, Nadal’s clay-court swing has been disappointing.

He lost in the last four in both Monte Carlo and Barcelona, arriving in Madrid without winning either tournament for the first time since 2015.

“I have not played well enough,” admitted Nadal. “I’ve won a lot for many years on this surface but this year it hasn’t been like that.” AFP

SURF’S UP. Australia’s Paige Hareb performs a difficult maneuver on a wave one day before the start of the World Surf League women’s championship tour surfing event at Keramas in Gianyar on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on May 12, 2019. AFP

This time Rondina had plenty of help

By Peter Atencio

L

AST year, season MVP Cherry “Sisi” Rondina felt a big burden on her shoulders when the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses fought valiantly but placed seventh.

Most of the team’s workload belonged to her.

This year, her teammates were contributing in the efforts to make it their best-ever season in seven years in the 81st University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s volleyball tournament.

“Kailangan namin na i-uplift siya.

Kailangan namin siyang i-push to the limit last year. But, this time, hindi namin siya kailangang pigain pa. Kasi may mga taong tumutulong sa kanya,” said Tigresses coach Kung Fu Reyes.

Reyes said this after the Tigresses made a big stand in the third set and put

away the Ateneo Lady Eagles, 25-17, 2516, 25-20, last Saturday in Game 1 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 5’6” Rondina, who is the team’s go-to player when it comes to attacks, played a more relaxed and focused game throughout the 81-minute match against Ateneo.

That’s because teammates like setter Alina Bicar were giving good passes, and quick spiker Ysabel Jamie Jimenez was reinforcing her in the middle.

With Rondina providing leadership, UST’s victory over Ateneo became their first win against the Lady Eagles since Season 74.

UST had not beaten Ateneo since the time of Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz and Maruja Banaticla back in 2012.

Against Ateneo, Rondina delivered 23 points, with 20 won on attacks while teammate Eya Laure made nine of 11 points off her attacks.

History beckons for the Tigresses who are just one win away from their first title since Season 72 and 17th overall.

But it’s not over yet for the Lady Eagles, whom Reyes considers as the number 1 team in terms of defense and blocking.

“Pinag-aralan namin kung saan kami lumusot sa Ateneo kasi, sila ang no. 1 blocking team,” said Reyes.

The Lady Eagles, behind the defense of Kat Tolentino, Julianne Samonte, Bea de Leon and Maddie Madayag could still spoil things for UST if they bounce back on Game 2 at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Del Rosario targets victory at Midlands PAULINE del Rosario hopes to stay hot at the rolling Midlands layout as she shoots for a second straight victory against practically the same field she dominated the last time out when the ICTSI Tagaytay Midlands Ladies Challenge is fired off Wednesday, May 15 in Tagaytay City.

The former Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner snapped a run of so-so finishes with a whopping 14-shot victory over Daniella Uy in the ICTSI Royal Northwoods Classic last month, making her the top pick in the upcoming 54-hole championship offering a total prize fund of P750,000.

But she remains wary of her rivals, who are all coming into the event ready and raring to stop the former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open titlist following a stint in the just-concluded National Pro-Am at the nearly Taal Splendido Golf Club.

Uy, for one, is out to atone for her and brother Lanz’s foldup in the ProAm where they took the second round lead only to crumble in the last day and wound up joint fourth.

But the setback is expected to toughen up the former Junior World champ as she

guns for her breakthrough victory in the circuit put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. Others tipped to contend are Alex Etter, Apple Fudolin, Gretchen Villacencio, Marvi Monsalve, Sarah Ababa, Sheryl Villasencio and Lucy Landicho.

Multi-titled Chihiro Ikeda is also in the fold, confident of ending a long title spell coming off a slight injury that has hampered her campaign in the last few tournaments.

Boosting the cast are some of the country’s leading amateurs, led by Eagle Ace Superal, who placed third in last week’s Asia-Pacific Junior Championship in Singapore, along with Nicole Abelar, Laia Barro, Mafy Singson, Sam Dizon and Arnie Taguines of Team The Country Club, Pam Mariano and Koreans Tae Yon Kwon and Yeun Jea Baek.

A number of Thai aces have also confirmed participation in the event backed

by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Empire Golf and Sports and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc. with the compact field to test the Midlands course in tomor- Pauline Del Rosario watches the flight of her row’s (Tuesday) pro-am. ball after teeing off.

Mercedes chief fears collision as Bottas duels Hamilton MONTMELO, Spain—Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff admitted Saturday that he fears a possible reprise of Lewis Hamilton’s spectacular 2016 opening lap collision with Nico Rosberg in this Sunday’s (Monday Manila time) Spanish Grand Prix.

Wolff winced at the memory of the crash that saw both Mercedes men out of the race three years ago.

“I hope we will not be coming back to 2016,” he said.

“These guys (Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas) are in a totally different place with each other and they know how important it is to stay out ahead. Barcelona is a track where it is so difficult to overtake.”

But, he admitted, he was concerned.

“A bit nervous is probably the right way to describe my state of mind,” he said.

Hamilton and Rosberg’s crash in 2016 gifted a maiden victory to Max Verstappen on debut with Red Bull.

Bottas on Saturday grabbed pole position by beating Hamilton by six-tenths of a second in final qualifying, leaving them with a Mercedes front row lockout.

Wolff’s anxieties were raised by seeing the battle in Baku last month, when the pair fought for the lead on the opening lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“We might have a little chat about that,” said Wolff, of his plans for Sunday’s pre-race briefing.

“But they know exactly what to do and not do.”

Bottas completed a hat-trick of pole positions Saturday when he outpaced Hamilton in a tightly-contested qualifying.

The Finn, who leads defending fivetime champion Hamilton by a single point in this year’s title race, completed a treble after taking the prime grid position in both China and Azerbaijan.

Bottas clocked a stunning track record lap in 1min 15.406sec to finish sixtenths clear of his teammate in the top 10 shootout on a dry and gusty day at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari was third ahead of Max Verstappen of Red Bull, Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari and Pierre Gasly in the second Red Bull.

Romain Grosjean was seventh ahead of his Haas teammate Kevin Magnussen, Russian Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso and Daniel Ricciardo in his Renault. AFP

Lakers pick Vogel as new head coach

Frank Vogel then coach of the Indiana Pacers reacts to a call during a game in this file photo. AFP

LOS ANGELES, United States— NBA superstar LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will be coached next season by Frank Vogel, a former coach at Indiana and Orlando, with Jason Kidd as an assistant, media reports said Saturday.

Vogel has agreed to a three-year deal to coach the Lakers with former NBA star guard Jason Kidd to serve in a major assistant’s role, ESPN and the Los Angeles Times reported, each citing unidentified sources.

The move came two days after Vogel interviewed with the club, which has missed the NBA playoffs for six consecutive seasons and hopes to rebuild around James, who joined the

team last season after eight consecutive trips to the NBA Finals.

It also follows reports that Tyronn Lue, a former coach of James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was set to become the Lakers coach before talks fell apart.

Vogel went 304-291 in eight seasons as an NBA coach, six with Indiana from 2010-2016 and the next two with a rebuilding Orlando Magic squad.

Vogel guided the Pacers to the Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and 2014 but missed the playoffs in the of the four seasons after that.

Kidd played as an NBA guard from 1994 to 2013, winning a title with the

Dallas Mavericks in 2011. He coached the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-14 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 until he was fired in January 2018 after a 2322 start.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka gathered information on Vogel, 45, and Kidd, 46, for the past few days, ESPN reported, noting Vogel was a candidate for the New York Knicks coaching job in 2016 when former Laker coach Phil Jackson was the Knicks’ decision maker.

The Lakers are searching for a replacement for Luke Walton, who parted ways with the Lakers last month after they endured another disappointing campaign. AFP

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

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IN BRIEF ERC concerned over new plants

BORACAY CLEANUP.

Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. president and chief executive Gareth McGeown (right) presents a unique handbag made from up-cycled Coke pull tabs and handcrafted by the artisan women of the Coca-Cola 5by20 program to Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat. CocaCola signed a memorandum of agreement with the Tourism Department and the local government unit of Malay, Aklan to provide a surf rake that will help keep Boracay’s shores clean. As a part of CCBPI’s global World Without Waste goal, Coca-Cola plans to replicate the surf rake project in several other top beach destinations in the Philippines.

THE Energy Regulatory Commission expressed serious concern over the high incidence of “young” power plants that went on forced outages from March 5 to April 25.

ERC chairperson Agnes Devanadera said power plants with ages from zero to five years had exceeded the number of outages of older or aging plants or those 26 to 30 years old.

“This is very interesting…because 0 to 5 [years] far exceeded the 26 to 30 years, but if you make it to 16 to 30, that’s 62 percent of the entire [outages]. The zero to 5 is disturbing,” Devanadera said.

Power plants aged 16 years and above accounted for 62 percent of the outages, data showed.

“For plants aged 26 to 30, it is easy to say it might be wear and tear but for others, especially zero to 5, we are looking at the reasons they prepared for the outage,” ERC spokesman Floresinda Digal said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

MPTC optimistic on Thailand unit METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. is optimistic about its investment in Thailand as traffic growth remained strong, a top executive said over the weekend.

“It’s good. It’s earning very well. It’s [Thailand] one of the solid contributors to our performance,” MPTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.

MPTC owns a 29.5-percent stake in Don Muang Tollway Public Co. Ltd., a major toll road operator in Bangkok.

The concession for DMT runs until 2034 for the operation of a 21.9-kilometer six-lane elevated toll road from central Bangkok to Don Muang International Airport and further north to the National Monument.

Bangkok reported a 2-percent increase in daily traffic to 99,479 vehicles in 2018. Darwin G. Amojelar

PNB raises P1b for P.A. Alvarez PNB Capital and Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of Philippine National Bank, completed the first-ever P1-billion domestic offering of Lagunabased P.A. Alvarez Properties and Development Corp.

P.A. Alvarez Properties is one of the largest low- to medium-cost housing developers in Luzon, particularly the Calabarzon region, Metro Manila and Central Luzon.

PNB Capital, the sole issue manager and lead arranger, structured an innovative financial instrument enabling P.A. Properties to tap long-term funding while keeping its leverage position at manageable levels. Julito G. Rada

SSI eyes expansion for Shake Shack SSI Group Inc. said it expects Shake Shack, a fine casual dining restaurant it recently brought to the Philippines, to be a big contributor to its revenues amid the huge demand from customers.

SSI Group president Anton Huang said in a recent interview that while the company was focused on the first Shake Shack store which opened Friday in Bonifacio Global City, the expansion “opportunities [are] endless.”

Jenniffer B. Austria

Shell shelves plan to build renewable energy unit in PH

By Alena Mae S. Flores

33 sites with solar facilities, on top of its investments in energy solutions.

“When we did our study, we noticed there’s still a lot to OYAL Dutch Shell Plc. shelved be accomplished internally first before we start marketing these products. Our refinery as well, we are considering a plan to venture into renewable how we can deploy again solar for own use. This is under energy projects in the Philippines evaluation. Those kinds of energy solutions from within first. There’s a lot of opportunities to do RE within the and decided to focus on energy efficiency Manila family first,” he said.

Standard measures and off-grid projects.

TODAY

R

“It was challenging because first of all, there is a nationality requirement being an RE company.

And we noticed when we are doing our market scouting, the market is already quite crowded with regards to RE opportunities in solar panels,” Shell Companies in the Philippines country chairman Cesar Romero said.

“So what we do in that space is we concentrate on energy efficiency measures within, rather than creating a new business out of it,” Romero said.

SCIP includes Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., which owns a 110,000-barrel-per-day refinery, and Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., the operator of the Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan.

Shell was initially planning to set up a renewable energy company in partnership with local partners, but Romero said the group would rather build “hybrid” projects in remote areas and install solar panels for its own use.

Romero said the group was now looking at five far-flung sites for various modes of “hybrid” power projects.

“We have five sites under various hybrid modes. And our priority are the difficult-to-reach areas. Communities that are not in the five-year masterplan of the government, those are the ones we choose to help, [and those in] close proximity to our operations,” Romero said.

Romero said Shell was also focusing on energy efficiency projects to reduce the carbon footprint of local operations. He said SCIP had

GT Cap divests 51% stake in Pro-Friends in exchange for P20b worth of properties

By Jenniffer B. Austria GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment company of the Ty family, is unloading a 51-percent stake in mass housing developer Property Company of Friends Inc. in exchange for real estate properties valued at P20 billion.

GT Capital said in a disclosure to the stock exchange late Friday it signed an agreement on the redemption by Pro-Friends’ of the conglomerate’s preferred shares, equivalent to a 51-percent ownership in the mass housing firm.

GT Capital, in return, will receive 702 hectares of selected assets worth P20 billion.

The 702-hectare properties are located mostly within Pro-Friend’s 1,600-hectare Lancaster New City—a master planned, mixed-use development in Cavite province.

“This amicable proposed redemption allows both parties to focus on our respective areas of expertise,” GT Capital vice chairman Alfred Ty said.

“I look forward to a master-planned community that will integrate the needs of existing residents, as well as those of the development’s future population, for many generations to come,” Ty said.

LNC is Pro-Friends’ flagship and largest property development project.

The properties to be transferred to GT Capital in LNC include land bank strategi-

cally located along Daang Hari Extension and the future Cavite-Laguna Expressway and linked to Manila-Cavite Expressway.

“Given the scale of future redevelopment being considered, the existing residents within LNC will stand to gain significantly from the adjacent areas,” Pro-Friends president Guillermo Choa said.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

GT Capital initially acquired a 22.68-percent interest in Pro-Friends for P7.24 billion in 2015 and exercised the option to increase its direct holdings within the next three years.

The acquisition enabled GT Capital to venture into the mass housing development and complemented the real estate development business of unit Federal Land Inc. GT Capital decided to accelerate its subscription in Pro-Friends by subscribing to an additional 28.32 percent direct equity stake for P8.76 billion in June 2016. The subscription increased the GT Capital’s stake in Pro-Friends to 51 percent.

Pro-Friends realized revenues of P10.4 billion in 2018, up 50 percent from P6.9 billion in 2017. Net income rose 63 percent to P1.2 billion in 2018 from P723.1 million in 2017.

Pro-Friends also has residential projects in other parts of Cavite province and Iloilo province.

Cebu Pacific’s income jumped 138% to P3.4b in first quarter

By Darwin G. Amojelar CEBU Air Inc., the operator of lowcost carriers Cebu Pacific and Cebgo, said net income jumped 138.4 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, on the back of strong passenger and cargo revenues.

The airline unit of the Gokongwei Group said it posted a net income of P3.4 billion from January to March, up from P1.4 billion it earned in the same period last year.

Revenues increased 16 percent in the three-month period to P21.17 billion from P18.26 billion it generated a year earlier. Passenger revenues increased 14.6 percent to P15.67 billion from P13.67 billion.

The increase was attributed to the 8.5-percent growth in passenger volume to 5.289 million from 4.876 million last year as the group added bigger A321 aircraft to its fleet.

The average fare went up 5.7 percent to P2,965 in the first quarter from P2,805 a year ago, contributing to the higher revenues.

Cargo revenues grew 12.7 percent to P1.44 billion from P1.279 billion following the increase in both yield and volume of cargo transported in 2019.

Operating expenses went up 8.4 percent to P17.34 billion from P15.997 billion a year ago.

Cebu Air said the increase was driven by expanded operations, growth in seat capacity from the acquisition of new aircraft and the weakening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar.

The peso depreciated to 52.36 per US dollar in the first quarter from an average of 51.49 a dollar last year.

Flying operations expenses increased 3.8 percent to P7.173 billion from P6.910 billion. “This was mainly accounted for by the increase in pilot training costs,” CEB said.

Fuel expenses also went up as the fuel volume increased 7.9 percent in the quarter. The MOPS price of fuel slightly went down to $76.50 per barrel in the first quarter from $79.99 a barrel in the same period last year.

CITIBANK N.A. Balance Sheet (Head Office and Branches) As of March 31, 2019 ASSETS

Cash and Cash Items Due from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Due from Other Banks Financial Assets at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Available-for-Sale Financial Assets-Net Held-to-Maturity (HTM) Financial Assets-Net Unquoted Debt Securities Classified as Loans-Net Investments in Non-Marketable Equity Security-Net Loans and Receivables - Net Loans to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Interbank Loans Receivable Loans and Receivables - Others Loans and Receivables Arising from RA/CA/PR/SLB General Loan Loss Provision Other Financial Assets Equity Investment in Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures-Net Bank Premises, Furniture, Fixture and Equipment-Net Real and Other Properties Acquired-Net Non-Current Assets Held for Sale Other Assets-Net Net Due from Head Office/Branches/Agencies, if any (Philippine branch of a foreign bank) TOTAL ASSETS

Current Quarter

Previous Quarter

808,019,404.38 27,473,416,107.35 833,617,701.11 32,188,373,566.98 47,425,136,440.82 187,905,071,696.95 12,600,000,000.00 106,077,178,250.78 70,394,692,244.11 1,166,798,797.94 1,370,694,188.60 227,434,200.00 1,311,678,179.77 5,808,400,611.29 305,351,842,097.25

856,919,615.33 24,252,678,737.26 1,070,442,942.86 51,876,668,491.54 36,164,753,689.88 186,658,476,792.14 21,294,900,000.00 114,175,443,461.62 52,476,607,528.52 1,288,474,198.00 1,742,280,344.48 227,434,200.00 751,017,565.45 4,313,146,525.47 307,913,818,904.41

1,389,198,604.42 205,423,908,350.58 20,304,558,952.23 4,002,630,996.83 4,000,000,000.00 2,630,996.83 10,926,271,844.44 11,306,171,881.26 35,380,496,568.45 288,733,237,198.21

1,937,142,971.28 205,156,671,345.63 23,748,615,524.16 2,071,709,890.53 2,000,000,000.00 71,709,890.53 13,455,257,413.78 10,336,559,750.76 29,842,584,949.27 286,548,541,845.41

2,388,032,220.14 1,070,725,187.77 13,159,847,491.12 16,618,604,899.03 305,351,842,097.24

6,728,707,950.43 1,476,721,617.45 13,159,847,491.12 21,365,277,059.00 307,913,818,904.41

478,875,491.70 3,259,013,212.62 312,589,355.38 1,810,054,717.28 161,658,353,017.00 16,748,570,193.76 512,601,919,301.05 42,389,001.55 42,389,001.55 203,733,253,711.90 200,812,779.80 900,845,830,782.04

314,122,248.67 3,133,281,831.28 188,925,288.66 2,020,788,964.15 163,715,724,859.00 18,879,760,687.99 490,011,765,198.24 47,668,927.65 47,668,927.65 169,274,958,569.33 463,773,133.50 848,050,769,708.47

190,989,734,104.46 1,917,863,609.57

189,791,851,754.29 1,844,900,764.15

1,180,097,403.07 0.62 275,091,730.70 0.14 261.39 162.52 1,960,125,457.40 90,260,250.35 0.05 -

1,156,260,580.22 0.61 345,427,248.18 0.18 270.99 159.56 4,928,997,284.86 92,478,788.56 0.05 -

0.02 38.40

10.77 0.02 26.00

16.25 15.54 15.54 -

15.52 14.74 14.74 -

9.90 253.90

8.56 285.11

LIABILITIES Financial Liabilities at Fair Value through Profit or Loss Deposit Liabilities Due to Other Banks Bills Payable a) BSP (Rediscounting and Other Advances) b) Interbank Loans Payable c) Other Deposit Substitute d) Others Bonds Payable-Net Unsecured Subordinated Debt-Net Redeemable Preferred Shares Special Time Deposit Due to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Other Financial Liabilities Other Liabilities Net Due to Head Office/Branches/Agencies (Philippine branch of a foreign bank) TOTAL LIABILITIES STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY Capital Stock Other Capital Accounts Retained Earnings Assigned Capital TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS Guarantees Issued Financial Standby Letters of Credit Performance Standby Letters of Credit Commercial Letters of Credit Trade Related Guarantees Commitments Spot Foreign Exchange Contracts Securities Held Under Custodianship by Bank Proper Trust Department Accounts a) Trust and Other Fiduciary Accounts b) Agency Accounts c) Advisory/Consultancy Derivatives Others TOTAL CONTINGENT ACCOUNTS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Gross total loan portfolio (TLP) Specific allowance for credit losses on the TLP Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) a. Gross NPLs b. Ratio of gross NPLs to gross TLP (%) c. Net NPLs d. Ratio of Net NPLs to gross TLP (%) e. Ratio of total allowance for credit losses to gross NPLs (%) f. Ratio of specific allowance for credit losses on the gross TLP to gross NPLs (%) Classified Loans & Other Risk Assets, gross of allowance for credit losses DOSRI Loans & receivables, gross of allowance for credit losses Ratio of DOSRI loans & receivables, gross of allowance for credit losses, to gross TLP (%) Gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables Ratio of gross non-performing DOSRI loans and receivables to TLP (%) Percent Compliance with Magna Carta (%) a. 8% for Micro and Small Enterprises b. 2% for Medium Enterprises Return on Equity (ROE) (%) Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) on Solo Basis, as prescribed under existing regulations a. Total CAR (%) b. Tier 1 Ratio (%) c. Common Tier 1 ratio (%) Deferred Charges not yet Written Down Unbooked Allowance for Credit Losses on Financial Instruments Received Leverage Ratio Liquidity Coverage Ratio

-

-

Republic of the Philippines) MAKATI CITY ) s.s.

We, DON MARK RANCES and AFTAB AHMED of the above-mentioned bank do solemnly swear that all matters set forth in the above balance sheet are true and correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.

(SGD) DON MARK RANCES Country Controller Head, Senior Vice President

(SGD) AFTAB AHMED Citi Country Officer, Managing Director

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 10th day of May 2019 at City of Makati, affiants exhibiting their Passport ID No. EC4479986 issued in Manila, Philippines valid until June 23, 2020 AND Passport ID No. 530433199 issued in the United States of America valid until March 03, 2025 respectively.

Doc No. 147 Book No. II Page No. 31 Series of 2019

NOTARY PUBLIC ATTY. THOMAS J.T.F. DE CASTRO Notary Public for Makati City Appt. No. M-171 until December 31, 2020 7th Floor Citibank Center Paseo de Roxas Makati City IBP No. 056547, 12/11/18 Makati Chapter PTR No. 7338121, 1/4/19 Makati City Roll No. 57068 MCLE Compliance No. VI-0018244 valid 04/15/19 to 04/14/2022

B2

Business

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market to track sideways

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

HARE prices are expected to trade sideways during this shortened trading week as investors look for new catalysts that could push the market higher.

P2P Trade Online trader Gabriel Jose Perez said investors might look for developments overseas that could impact on the local equities market, with the earnings season coming to an end Among the key issues to watch out for this week are the ongoing trade war between the United States and China as well as the MSCI rebalancing announcement.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the week’s close at 7,742.20 signalled a continued consolidation between the 7,700 points and 8,000 points.

While the market suffered a steep

decline last week due to the lower-thanexpected first-quarter economic growth, Ravelas said government’s plan to speed up state spending growth to about 15 percent in the months ahead could boost economic expansion in the second half of the year.

The government last week reported that the gross domestic product rose 5.6 percent in the first quarter of the year, slower than 6.3 percent in the previous quarter, as delays in passing the budget this year stalled government spending.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week dropped 2.8 percent to close at 7,742.02 points, while the broader All

Shares Index declined 2.3 percent to 4,791.26.

All major sub-indices ended in red, led by mining and oil which was down 5.3 percent, property which declined 3.63 percent and holding firms and industrial which fell 3.2 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

The financials index also dipped 2 percent, while services lost 1.2 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for the week by P2.7 billion, while the average daily value traded stood at P7.1 billion from the previous week’s average of P7.28 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Ginebra San Miguel Inc., which jumped 24 percent to P37.50; Holcim Philippines Inc., advanced 14 percent to P15.30; and Globe Telecom Inc., which climbed 10.8 percent to P1,995.

Weekly top price losers were Alliance Global Group Inc., which dropped 11.2 percent to P13.60; Bloomberry Resorts

Corp., which fell 11.1 percent to P10.90; and Semirara Mining and Power Corp., which lost 9.6 percent to P21.70.

Global stocks, meanwhile, largely shrugged off new US tariff measures on China on Friday as officials agreed to continue trade negotiations, while ridehailing company Uber tumbled in its long-awaited market debut.

Wall Street endured a roller-coaster session, with the Dow shedding more than 350 points early in the session in the hours after Washington raised duties on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent.

But investors were cheered by President Donald Trump’s upbeat comments after the talks ended with no deal, but also no breakdown. That helped the Dow score a 0.4 percent gain on the session.

“The markets are putting an optimistic spin on very little information,” said Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors.

Manila Standard BuSineSS Weekly StockS revieW STOCKS

MAY 6-10, 2019 Close Volume

Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources China Bank Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Ferronoux Holding First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

58 135.80 84.75 2.16 1.34 27.35 8.49 18.92 11.24 4.69 0.55 1.35 780.00 0.485 72.5 0.89 13.72 21.35 53.70 58.5 110.4 180 27 171.9 1795.00 59.90 1.12

3,820 14,317,830 8,503,610 112,000 652,000 700,500 500 456,100 3,940,200 119,000 171,000 86,000 310 2,250,000 15,408,660 712,000 6,200 2,200 2,551,530 6,940 180 3,560 348,200 2,287,480 390 105,060 235,000

FINANCIAL 221,595.50 1,930,955,789.00 710,834,290.00 242,510.00 801,430.00 19,243,485.00 4,245.00 8,636,782.00 45,168,648.00 543,370.00 96,910.00 117,660.00 242,400.00 1,083,350.00 1,126,038,920.50 642,010.00 84,448.00 47,060.00 137,227,339.00 405,147.00 19,871.00 642,346.00 9,337,425.00 399,040,789.00 700,950.00 6,291,841.50 263,360.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Basic Energy Corp.

C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phinma Energy Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza SMC Food and Beverage SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

35.2 15.6 0.77 1.39 0.250 15.92 2.65 15.02 118.9 26.5 66.1 87 45.45 1.9 5.35 5.5 10.760 15.98 9.10 7.52 1.57 20.75 77 37.50 2.4100 15.30 10.1 1.780 302.80 50.00 3.92 3.49 9.21 21.55 14 22 0.190 371.20 5.80 1.2 4.48 5.99 9.48 1.97 12.10 43.75 4.85 4.80 1.75 2.02 1.25 13.34 112 6.8 0.128 0.93 160 2.57 1.27 1.02

8,224,000 2,270,100 13,034,000 450,000 20,930,000 17,600 228,715,000 5,816,600 140 477,400 10 10 268,300 872,000 151,500 65,500 35,272,200 4,995,100 2,309,200 11,132,300 31,000 14,705,100 872,710 3,104,600 32,810,000 69,859,000 4,320,100 269,000 3,480,250 510 24,000 94,000 22,400 9,354,300 7,599,400 11,204,500 3,010,000 1,043,480 40,900 9,550,000 393,000 19,313,400 10,000 150,005,000 418,300 1,303,200 561,000 81,000 310,000 165,000 473,000 9,264,200 1,318,270 1,154,300 1,540,000 1,584,000 6,090,080 2,992,000 35,936,000 17,479,000

INDUSTRIAL 289,950,065.00 35,433,918.00 10,244,360.00 624,360.00 5,232,870.00 263,566.00 558,641,750.00 87,702,418.00 16,646.00 13,045,825.00 661.00 870.00 12,072,865.00 1,660,160.00 813,255.00 362,932.00 378,709,352.00 79,735,824.00 21,225,932.00 83,763,845.00 49,050.00 305,579,071.00 67,119,799.50 108,858,140.00 82,697,690.00 1,039,351,980.00 44,318,345.00 464,060.00 1,054,511,228.00 23,000.00 93,830.00 311,860.00 215,506.00 206,413,190.00 111,479,906.00 247,867,155.00 572,250.00 394,354,796.00 240,218.00 11,553,410.00 1,771,520.00 118,088,080.00 94,619.00 271,762,310.00 4,992,222.00 58,130,210.00 2,716,240.00 389,230.00 504,150.00 340,370.00 590,640.00 126,586,240.00 152,307,723.00 7,884,783.00 197,240.00 1,470,210.00 982,367,856.00 7,947,850.00 46,277,740.00 18,653,660.00

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ Asiabest Group ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Transgrid Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.650 48.60 13.60 0.76 6.50 15.1 1.330 1.360 890 7.11 10.38 4.95 13.80 0.280 850 6.17 61.50 5.8 0.51 4.42 16.92 0.550 4.29 0.0390 1.150 3.040 2.55 190.00 2.39 925.00 1.35 0.80 274.800 430.00 0.2380 0.345

110,230,000 12,573,520 49,756,000 1,691,000 681,300 216,600 14,561,000 3,535,000 1,921,810 2,535,800 17,021,000 300 2,429,600 1,640,000 956,840 364,500 10,267,950 25,000 421,000 16,224,000 14,266,300 4,645,000 135,569,000 28,900,000 551,000 7,409,000 10,000 5,162,530 8,000 1,419,220 316,000 5,118,000 10,690 370 4,118,000 61,210,000

HOLDING FIRMS 71,145,510.00 647,061,879.00 706,622,964.00 1,264,190.00 4,409,154.00 3,502,396.00 19,655,500.00 4,842,570.00 1,717,456,605.00 18,508,337.00 183,158,540.00 1,508.00 36,086,400.00 444,900.00 821,656,260.00 2,258,771.00 638,815,495.00 143,349.00 208,270.00 71,948,530.00 237,972,214.00 2,555,580.00 578,172,860.00 1,136,600.00 599,820.00 22,291,740.00 25,500.00 985,468,856.00 19,180.00 1,335,442,585.00 422,900.00 4,281,330.00 2,932,948.00 161,364.00 1,399,520.00 20,946,300.00

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

DM Wenceslao Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil Infradev Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

14.220 0.75 11.28 2.220 0.770 47.000 2.38 4.69 6.4 0.530 0.78 0.850 0.238 0.375 10.740 23.65 0.475 0.125 1.56 1.34 5.33 0.340 1.8400 0.4850 0.450 49.45

2,747,700 3,259,000 5,100 5,034,000 2,384,000 77,072,500 2,366,000 5,772,000 17,100 60,144,000 357,000 580,000 5,510,000 2,900,000 2,485,800 6,381,300 4,660,000 2,070,000 46,502,000 6,874,000 110,774,500 147,300,000 9,935,000 15,930,000 5,000,000 200

PROPERTY 39,144,474.00 2,426,610.00 57,128.00 11,216,700.00 1,827,900.00 3,604,263,920.00 5,633,770.00 27,193,040.00 108,459.00 31,733,250.00 280,500.00 498,300.00 1,296,060.00 1,104,350.00 27,193,594.00 162,174,780.00 2,238,050.00 258,750.00 72,935,860.00 9,200,970.00 620,358,125.00 52,888,550.00 17,389,870.00 8,018,955.00 2,273,100.00 9,890.00

APRIL 29-MAY 3, 2019 Close Volume Value 58.9 139.00 85.65 2.17 1.25 27.5

110,810 7,964,510 11,511,480 72,000 396,000 1,012,400

6,499,329.50 1,088,110,787.00 976,116,873.00 156,690.00 502,170.00 27,075,415.00

18.96 11.62 4.78

89,500 1,013,100 633,000

1,696,964.00 11,865,264.00 3,010,910.00

1.37 780.00 0.490 74 0.93 13.4 21.95 53.55 58 110.4 183 26.4 181.2 1800.00 60.40 1.13

39,000 1,140 5,328,000 17,013,850 1,671,000 23,300 32,700 1,872,900 5,860 160 3,070 117,000 1,545,730 440 557,160 5,000

53,660.00 906,950.00 2,561,025.00 1,273,106,993.00 1,564,610.00 313,990.00 693,605.00 100,067,887.50 343,493.00 17,840.00 556,932.00 3,018,485.00 284,021,143.00 797,035.00 33,438,856.00 5,610.00

35.9 15.7 0.85 1.44 0.246 16.98 2.3 15.36 118.9 27.9 66.3

4,865,900 1,310,300 8,013,000 864,000 3,190,000 7,700 174,737,000 7,052,800 590 306,600 1,550

180,015,155.00 20,731,382.00 6,758,570.00 1,231,600.00 781,150.00 127,436.00 380,808,820.00 108,231,496.00 66,576.00 8,543,095.00 103,723.00

45 1.95 5.5 5.82 11.300 16 9.35 7.53 1.69 21.7 78.3 30.30 2.7100 13.42 10.88 1.800 301.00 50.00 4.2 3.43 10.12 22.45 15.88 22.6 0.191 385.60 6.00 1.27 4.60 6.40 9.09 1.70 12.08 45.8 4.88 4.85 1.68 2.12 1.31 13.3 115.8 6.9 0.130 0.96 167 2.51 1.37 1.18

312,900 590,000 12,400 37,100 8,349,200 20,121,400 1,869,200 4,679,500 6,000 3,485,800 548,660 769,300 40,055,000 35,363,600 10,421,000 866,000 3,584,790 114,780 2,866,000 43,000 43,000 11,375,200 7,241,100 3,655,900 1,330,000 1,066,340 71,500 8,557,000 1,424,000 9,312,800 14,400 122,059,000 511,600 442,600 483,500 155,000 63,000 131,000 357,000 4,190,200 770,530 560,700 1,720,000 2,797,000 9,791,090 1,678,000 36,629,000 5,620,000

14,080,500.00 1,148,150.00 68,205.00 219,602.00 91,798,214.00 323,446,150.00 17,655,366.00 35,043,109.00 10,140.00 76,190,945.00 43,243,567.00 22,614,355.00 104,260,290.00 453,465,630.00 114,390,394.00 1,494,180.00 1,085,927,086.00 5,741,775.00 11,956,220.00 148,320.00 428,716.00 257,050,980.00 112,685,362.00 82,880,085.00 256,800.00 411,569,262.00 431,720.00 10,967,140.00 6,413,270.00 58,682,563.00 130,240.00 196,445,500.00 6,141,786.00 20,132,545.00 2,376,948.00 746,640.00 102,960.00 277,700.00 452,130.00 54,680,034.00 88,736,718.00 3,853,673.00 224,500.00 2,694,050.00 1,559,860,325.00 4,199,140.00 51,344,020.00 6,646,590.00

0.660 52.00 15.32 0.75 6.50 17.06 1.390 1.400 900 7.5 11.28 4.13 14.94 0.260 890 6.23 64.40 5.5 0.51 4.59 16.5 0.560 4.35 0.0380 1.110 3.000

110,532,000 3,834,510 19,211,200 1,877,000 575,900 172,300 14,485,000 758,000 1,203,790 3,601,200 11,352,800 100,000 878,900 5,410,000 1,014,410 120,000 5,949,780 7,600 266,000 7,120,500 8,215,500 508,000 112,727,000 22,500,000 171,000 4,006,000

73,061,080.00 209,687,706.50 292,545,334.00 1,402,080.00 3,735,473.00 2,961,708.00 19,959,070.00 1,057,120.00 1,089,021,610.00 26,980,292.00 189,469,244.00 414,050.00 13,135,882.00 1,432,150.00 890,062,930.00 747,346.00 389,188,437.00 42,484.00 140,690.00 34,214,512.00 131,715,500.00 284,420.00 502,731,130.00 873,500.00 189,860.00 11,592,970.00

178.30 2.39 960.00 1.34 0.90 276.000 485.00 0.2400 0.325

1,257,440 50,000 875,690 103,000 9,675,000 49,070 420 11,690,000 68,500,000

222,486,690.00 119,200.00 835,592,355.00 137,530.00 8,743,170.00 13,265,132.00 195,504.00 2,859,130.00 22,448,500.00

14.800 0.77 11.16 2.150 0.780 47.400 2.4 4.7 6.45 0.540 0.79 0.900 0.245 0.385 11.400 27.05 0.490 0.126 1.63 1.37 5.78 0.340 1.7000 0.5000 0.430 45.50

3,333,400 2,041,000 1,000 3,227,000 3,043,000 62,411,300 1,431,000 8,081,000 35,200 150,882,000 759,000 55,000 13,400,000 780,000 1,765,100 4,506,800 2,180,000 670,000 125,382,000 8,495,000 126,375,100 229,840,000 9,697,000 8,154,000 1,930,000 400

47,709,810.00 1,555,040.00 10,968.00 6,632,400.00 2,329,000.00 3,019,551,725.00 3,458,430.00 37,030,980.00 222,847.00 79,227,080.00 608,230.00 49,880.00 3,154,090.00 302,200.00 20,002,086.00 119,215,090.00 1,060,150.00 84,000.00 197,863,730.00 11,498,770.00 717,347,491.00 20,093,450.00 16,615,590.00 4,109,140.00 833,650.00 17,950.00

STOCKS

MAY 6-10, 2019 Close Volume

APRIL 29-MAY 3, 2019 Close Volume Value

Value

Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

2.75 23.80 1.94 3 38.50 1.91 6.7 0.750 7.210

2,172,000 7,372,300 543,000 262,000 44,935,800 13,832,000 761,200 174,000 17,506,000

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Metro Retail MetroAlliance A MetroAlliance B NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. PH Resorts Group Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

12 19.02 1.27 0.400 0.045 16.08 2.55 10.90 0.0670 83 7.04 5.88 6.46 2.05 10.50 890 1995 5.20 409.80 10.04 2.49 133 1.91 11 6.85 0.126 5.8200 3.1 15.5 3.91 0.79 19.90 15.00 0.540 5.38 2.79 1.66 1.64 2.070 3.2 10.00 4.38 113.00 2.82 1240.00 0.900 0.670 44.35 72.50 9.50 3.20 0.650 0.325 5.63 0.700 16.200

69,200 393,000 51,000 2,280,000 103,900,000 90,900 2,140,000 51,902,700 164,890,000 683,290 23,900 2,939,000 492,500 3,000 479,400 440 557,525 698,900 10,360 700 10,905,000 13,603,420 11,000 30,800 59,500 7,170,000 11,803,100 12,000 10,300 7,091,000 1,561,000 4,178,400 8,100 4,951,000 3,820,600 100,902,000 186,000 7,000 11,781,000 1,153,000 196,900 94,000 333,960 9,157,000 762,895 113,570,000 39,470,000 5,121,600 5,475,900 490,600 84,384,000 12,107,000 28,370,000 8,818,300 11,070,000 8,942,200

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Phinma Petro Semirara Corp.

United Paragon

0.0018 1.24 2.79 12.10 1.3000 1.3800 2.85 0.290 7.87 1.630 0.240 0.115 0.120 0.008 0.0079 1.05 2.3 1 0.5700 0.8900 0.0120 0.0120 3.06 7.80 0.0110 3.7000 21.70 0.0068

MINING & OIL 122,000,000 228,100.00 7,523,000 9,487,290.00 296,000 827,910.00 77,100 893,336.00 227,000 287,270.00 2,000 2,580.00 7,372,000 20,689,630.00 1,090,000 314,900.00 33,800 269,194.00 246,287,000 392,036,250.00 5,190,000 1,245,050.00 3,950,000 441,880.00 990,000 112,560.00 3,000,000 24,300.00 4,000,000 32,500.00 1,820,000 1,877,190.00 7,233,000 17,097,590.00 213,000 211,310.00 670,000 370,190.00 548,000 487,850.00 103,800,000 1,170,000.00 20,700,000 246,500.00 2,307,000 7,111,420.00 3,634,600 28,796,791.00 40,300,000 445,000.00 535,000 1,988,320.00 11,922,100 269,139,085.00 10,000,000 68,700.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Alco Preferred B Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ DD PREF First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC FB PREF 2 SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I Swift Pref

18.62 99 474.8 498 98 102 494 5.02 917 955 97.5 0.98 101.5 975 100 106 975 75.5 76.1 71.5 73.75 73.7 73.7 73.5 1.32

324,900 500 1,790 6,430 71,870 24,000 1,030 59,500 130 9,070 7,300 987,000 3,020 9,140 23,590 530 10,060 3,720 43,050 98,100 93,700 12,480 147,300 13,870 67,000

LR Warrant

1.950

WARRANTS & BONDS 1,352,000 2,607,450.00

Italpinas Xurpas

4.9 1

15,799,900 45,644,000

First Metro ETF

116 10 10 1

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

6,001,800.00 174,157,620.00 1,061,800.00 780,190.00 1,760,734,835.00 25,101,780.00 5,133,689.00 125,360.00 124,546,701.00

2.76 24.50 1.99 3 40.90 1.79 6.83 0.760 7.100

3,712,000 8,908,600 167,000 371,000 34,080,400 6,800,000 960,800 75,000 23,761,000

9,820,540.00 218,465,195.00 332,890.00 1,114,790.00 1,416,842,190.00 11,971,310.00 6,587,044.00 54,760.00 173,697,025.00

12.68 19.3 1.37 0.420 0.040 15.32 2.63 12.26 0.0700 80.5 7.88 5.79 6.60 2.06 11.52 890 1800 5.22 405.00

63,200 204,000 49,000 4,510,000 36,100,000 23,600 2,106,000 25,399,400 59,670,000 500,910 600 8,164,500 221,200 4,000 559,900 2,560 186,765 556,900 18,920

802,620.00 3,876,748.00 65,260.00 1,818,600.00 1,422,500.00 368,704.00 5,452,860.00 324,688,294.00 4,178,990.00 40,636,243.00 4,381.00 47,913,942.00 1,453,780.00 8,370.00 6,618,244.00 2,278,400.00 335,940,155.00 2,903,498.00 7,998,836.00

2.80 136.7 1.81 12 6.95 0.124 5.5800 3.1 15.5 3.89 0.82 21.90 15.80 0.590 4.8 3.40 1.72 1.93 2.240 3.78 10.00 4.47 115.00 3.10 1220.00 0.890 0.750 43.50 77.50 9.19 3.23 0.680 0.36 5.65 0.740 16.600

5,610,000 10,528,480 56,000 193,400 48,700 4,500,000 40,573,400 11,000 6,100 4,106,000 2,322,000 3,713,000 800 7,355,000 47,000 11,617,000 396,000 3,000 9,938,000 1,222,000 203,100 300,000 1,669,610 9,865,000 475,385 133,593,000 18,289,000 12,335,100 1,752,090 2,945,300 128,374,000 9,037,000 18,170,000 1,974,700 70,978,000 7,838,100

15,794,060.00 1,380,878,294.00 101,810.00 2,293,586.00 339,863.00 564,770.00 232,536,588.00 34,250.00 92,860.00 15,735,770.00 1,880,090.00 81,821,425.00 12,128.00 4,136,000.00 225,490.00 39,628,910.00 676,930.00 5,520.00 22,470,200.00 4,755,770.00 2,001,303.00 1,253,700.00 193,667,696.00 31,430,610.00 579,913,630.00 120,427,020.00 13,626,820.00 525,220,945.00 136,006,250.00 26,958,473.00 390,008,590.00 6,070,870.00 6,551,100.00 11,127,009.00 53,097,250.00 132,189,842.00

0.0020 1.30 2.83 12.30 1.2700 1.3800 2.72 0.295 8.01 1.530 0.248 0.114 0.116 0.008 0.0079 1.04 2.41 1.01 0.5600 0.9100 0.0120 0.0120 3.13 7.78 0.0110 3.5200 24.00 0.0075

503,000,000 3,330,000 552,000 2,500 293,000 20,000 1,454,000 1,550,000 9,900 44,482,000 5,580,000 14,090,000 1,410,000 108,000,000 103,000,000 774,000 4,360,000 171,000 1,088,000 1,055,000 23,700,000 40,500,000 964,000 9,187,500 12,700,000 865,000 9,059,900 111,000,000

956,000.00 4,329,600.00 1,550,280.00 30,632.00 373,890.00 26,820.00 3,912,270.00 455,350.00 79,193.00 67,256,260.00 1,394,860.00 1,563,410.00 158,970.00 872,700.00 822,300.00 820,030.00 10,505,520.00 171,460.00 616,380.00 938,270.00 284,200.00 486,000.00 2,994,380.00 75,304,478.00 139,700.00 3,001,870.00 215,633,690.00 89,100.00

19.1 96.3 474.8 498 97 101 494 5.2 874 958 96.5 0.98 100 970 100 105 966 75.8 76 71.2 74

83,800 11,350 5,010 5,790 30,160 10,230 150 417,300 2,000 3,270 29,140 3,546,000 21,050 70 270 770 18,970 1,970 214,500 138,030 77,980

1,540,380.00 1,109,225.00 2,358,474.00 2,877,744.00 2,930,621.50 1,063,854.00 73,920.00 2,170,397.00 1,748,320.00 3,123,930.00 2,801,886.00 3,463,760.00 2,107,029.00 68,495.00 27,075.00 81,520.00 18,473,435.00 147,761.00 16,263,284.00 9,860,611.00 5,784,451.00

73.65 73.75 1.43

1,790 41,830 81,000

130,513.50 3,062,022.50 115,000.00

1.930

624,000

1,196,390.00

5.5 1.12

4,444,700 16,788,000

23,793,492.00 18,960,730.00

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 39,680 4,654,554.00

119.5

40,000

4,753,319.00

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 67,010 683,623.00 14,000 140,900.00 164,000 163,600.00

10.1 10.1 0.99

42,470 3,520 10,000

429,998.00 35,552.00 9,900.00

SERVICES 845,734.00 7,556,928.00 64,330.00 910,450.00 4,459,300.00 1,438,610.00 5,478,020.00 594,615,798.00 11,582,880.00 55,492,363.50 167,822.00 17,065,825.00 3,232,195.00 6,150.00 5,194,626.00 391,650.00 1,098,533,500.00 3,618,880.00 4,203,268.00 7,026.00 28,639,990.00 1,801,201,707.00 20,240.00 343,640.00 413,350.00 1,308,740.00 66,972,006.00 37,130.00 159,878.00 27,718,580.00 1,207,030.00 87,155,913.00 121,500.00 2,716,080.00 20,013,999.00 291,715,740.00 311,190.00 11,450.00 24,823,830.00 3,945,760.00 1,912,348.00 402,780.00 38,059,259.00 27,276,830.00 959,622,440.00 102,897,080.00 27,840,940.00 228,246,110.00 398,069,274.50 4,525,592.00 268,227,700.00 7,853,780.00 9,540,400.00 49,686,256.00 7,813,250.00 147,087,286.00

PREFERRED 6,079,746.00 49,500.00 842,172.00 3,174,976.00 7,003,580.00 2,444,020.00 508,820.00 311,466.00 119,210.00 8,680,480.00 705,521.00 971,160.00 304,402.00 8,827,960.00 2,362,215.00 55,880.00 9,803,560.00 279,438.00 3,269,027.00 6,989,826.00 6,906,509.00 920,898.00 10,709,258.00 1,019,722.00 88,440.00

SME 85,439,660.00 47,833,880.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Ferronickel Cemex Holdings Boulevard Holdings Phinma Energy MRC Allied Ind. Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Abra Mining PremiereHorizon Megaworld Abacus Cons. `A’

VOLUME 246,287,000 228,715,000 164,890,000 150,005,000 147,300,000 135,569,000 122,000,000 113,570,000 110,774,500 110,230,000

STOCKS Ayala Land `B’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. I.C.T.S.I. SM Prime Holdings Ayala Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Metrobank Globe Telecom Jollibee Foods Corp.

Holcim Philippines Inc.

VALUE 3,604,263,920.00 1,930,955,789.00 1,801,201,707.00 1,760,734,835.00 1,717,456,605.00 1,335,442,585.00 1,126,038,920.50 1,098,533,500.00 1,054,511,228.00 1,039,351,980.00

PAL Holdings booked lower loss of P60.8m in first quarter

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE parent firm of Philippine Airlines posted a lower comprehensive loss in the first quarter of the year on higher passenger revenues.

PAL Holdings Inc. registered a loss of P60.81 million in the first three months of 2019 from P201.63 million in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to P39.27 billion, up 7.2 percent from P36.62 billion year-on-year.

“The P2.65 billion improvement in revenues was primarily due to the increase in number of passengers as a result of additional flight frequencies and introduction of new routes,” said PAL Holdings.

Consolidated expenses in the quarter increased to P36.81 billion, 0.2 percent higher than the previous year’s same quarter total of P36.74 billion, mainly on account of higher maintenance, aircraft and traffic servicing and reservation and sales.

“This was partly offset by the decrease in flying operations and passenger service expenses,” the company said.

Flying operations expenses decreased 3.4 percent to P19.15 billion from P19.82 billion in the three months ending March last year mainly due to the decrease in fuel expenses.

Fuel costs dropped 10.2 percent following the decrease in the average fuel price from $88.36 per barrel in 2018 to $85.04 in 2019, partially offset by the increase in fuel consumption as a consequence of the increase in the number of flights operated.

Passenger service expenses decreased 6.4 percent due to lower passenger food and cabin crew costs.

Maintenance expenses rose 8.2 percent to P5.12 billion from last year’s quarter figure of P4.73 billion due to new aircraft deliveries that started in the second quarter of 2018.

EDC set to raise geothermal output by 30 megawatts

By Alena Mae S. Flores ENERGY Development Corp. of the Lopez Group plans to expand its geothermal capacity by 30 megawatts.

“Right now we have a few plants lined up for EDC. They are small, less than 30 MW. Just a couple in the pipeline and we are likely to issue notice to proceed on one of them within the next 6 months,” said EDC president Richard Tantoco.

He said the company would implement the expansion in existing assets, such as the Bacon-Manito, Unified Leyte and Mt. Apo geothermal projects.

EDC is one of the world’s largest geothermal producers and the country’s leading renewable energy company with an installed capacity of 1,471.8 megawatts.

EDC has been serving the need of large and small companies for cleaner power supply.

Tantoco noted an increasing interest from companies for renewable energy sources such as geothermal.

EDC head of business development, marketing and trading Marvin Kenneth Bailon said “geothermal, for us, is the holy grail of renewable energy.”

“It is clean, and it is base-load, hence it is reliable and can run 24/7 without depending on the seasons,” Bailon said.

Hamlin Industrial Corp., a unit of the NST Group, tapped EDC’s 150-megawatt Bacon-Manito geothermal project in the Bicol region to supply its facility in Carmona, Cavite.

“NST Group is a proud Filipino company linking brands and manufacturers into creating clothes for world-class brands. We are happy to partner with EDC to step up our sustainability initiatives for our tenants that manufacture our garments for our buyers,” said NST Apparel director and Hamlin president Lawrence Delos Santos.

Hamlin is a garment manufacturing and exporting company established in 1995 whose facility is located at the Golden Mile Business Park in Barangay Maduya in Carmona, Cavite province.

World/Business

Women take center stage at NY art auctions

IN BRIEF Israel reopens Gaza crossings JERUSALEM―Israel reopened its crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip on Sunday after closing them during a deadly escalation earlier this month, an official said, as a fragile truce held.

Both the Erez crossing for people and Kerem Shalom crossing for goods were open and operating, a spokeswoman for COGAT, the defense ministry unit that oversees the crossings, said in a statement.

Both had been closed on May 4, when Gaza rulers Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, with the army striking dozens of targets in Gaza in response.

Four Israeli civilians and 25 Palestinians, including at least nine militants, were killed in the two-day flare-up, which ended on Monday in a tentative truce.

Palestinian officials said Israel had agreed to ease its crippling decade-long blockade of the impoverished enclave in exchange for calm.

Israel did not publicly confirm the deal, but on Friday lifted the ban it had imposed on Palestinian fishing boats operating off Gaza.

Israel says its blockade is necessary to isolate Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008.

But critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s two million residents. AFP

Police break up LGBT right march HAVANA―Cuban police on Saturday broke up an unauthorized pro-LGBT rights march in Havana, held as an alternative to the government-sanctioned Gay Rights parade that authorities canceled earlier in the week.

To the cries of “Yes we can!” the demonstrators, several waving rainbow flags and carrying signs with slogans like “Diverse Cuba,” managed to march a mere 400 meters along Havana’s downtown Paseo del Prado before being dispersed by police.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists, numbering around 100, were protesting the cancellation of the parade against homophobia organized by the government’s National Center for Sexual Education (Cenesex), an office under the Ministry of Health, and held for the past ten years.

The colorful parade, or “conga,” used to kick off activities educating people about homophobia and transphobia that are nevertheless taking place.

At least three protesters who refused to obey orders to leave were arrested, according to AFP journalists.

Laydel Alfonso, a 31 year-old restaurant waiter who marched with his face concealed by a silver mask and waving a rainbow flag, was upset that police had broken up the march.

“I don’t believe this is right because we’re doing nothing wrong,” he told AFP. In a first for Cuba, where there is tight government control, the march was organized on social media.

Cenesex is led by lawmaker Mariela Castro, the daughter of former president Raul Castro, who at the age of 87 is still first secretary of the island’s ruling Communist Party.

Earlier in the week Cenesex announced that the official march was cancelled due to unspecified “new tensions in the international and regional context.” The office urged people to respect the official calls for unity. AFP

Lithuanians vote to choose new president VILNIUS―Lithuanians began voting on Sunday for a new president in a tight race dominated by concerns over income inequality and poverty in the Baltic state boasting some of the eurozone’s strongest growth.

Nine candidates are vying to replace two-term independent incumbent Dalia Grybauskaite, but surveys suggest only three stand a chance of making it to an expected May 26 run-off that would coincide with European Parliament elections.

Center-left Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, conservative ex-finance minister Ingrida Simonyte and independent economist Gitanas Nauseda lead the pack.

The main center-right contender, Simonyte is popular with wealthy, educated urban voters while Skvernelis’ populist approach resonates with the rural poor.

Nauseda seeks to appeal across the rich-poor divide in the former Soviet republic of 2.8 million people.

It is struggling with a sharp decline in population owing to mass emigration to Western Europe by people seeking a better life.

Around a quarter of Lithuanians live below the poverty line, which is about 300 euros ($340) per month.

“Citizens are thirsty for social justice and seek a candidate who can bridge existing social polarization,” Donatas Puslys from the Vilnius Policy Analysis Institute told AFP. All candidates support EU and NATO membership as bulwarks against neighboring Russia, especially since its 2014 military intervention in Ukraine.

Unlike other eastern European Union members, Vilnius has avoided confrontation with the EU. AFP

B3

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

ONSTAGE. Mark Matejke of Lynyrd Skynyrd performs during KAABOO Texas at the AT&T Stadium on May 11, 2019 in Arlington. AFP

Climate change plans move ahead at the UN U NITED NATIONS―UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calls it the defining issue of our time: climate change is moving to the center stage at the United Nations, three years after the Paris agreement went into force.

A major UN push for progress on climate change kicks off next week when Guterres travels to New Zealand and several Pacific islands, where rising sea levels are threatening the very existence of those small countries.

The stepped-up diplomacy will culminate with a climate action summit at the United Nations in September, an event billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change.

“We are still losing the battle,” Guterres told reporters last week. “Climate change is still running faster than we are, and if we don’t reverse this trend, it will be a tragedy for the whole world.”

In Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, Guterres will meet with families whose lives have been upended by cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather events.

Pacific island countries face an especially dire risk from climate change because of sea level rise. In some cases, low-lying countries could disappear completely.

Fiji is working to build a coalition of more than 90 countries from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia facing climate crisis.

“We hope that the secretary-general will draw far more inspiration from his first visit to go further, faster and deeper with the cli-

mate summit,” Fiji’s UN Ambassador Satyendra Prasad told AFP. “We are very hopeful that the climate summit will mark a turning point.”

The UN push on climate change is shaping up amid geopolitical shifts: the United States under Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the Paris agreement to combat global warming, giving China more space to assert its views.

“The Trump administration’s disdain for climate diplomacy has left China looking like the main guarantor of the Paris agreement,” said Richard Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group.

“While China is increasingly active across the UN, other states are suspicious of its stances on human rights and development. But it is the indispensable power in climate talks now.”

Trump announced in 2017 that the United States would exit the Paris agreement, but under the terms of the deal the withdrawal will only become effective in 2020.

The US administration is not taking part in summit preparations but has not said it will skip the event, according to UN officials.

Guterres’ mission may also be further complicated by Trump’s nomination of

Kelly Knight Craft as UN ambassador.

Craft, who is married to a major coal magnate, raised eyebrows for declaring that she believed “both sides” of climate science, indicating she may well be out of sync with the UN on the issue.

Guterres has told leaders to bring plans, not speeches, to the summit to be held in New York on September 23 during the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

The summit is seen as critical because of US resistance to discuss climate change at other forums including the G7 and G20, and again last week at a meeting of the Arctic Council in Finland.

“What people are looking for is countries to commit to major ambition increases in 2025 and 2030 at the summit or in 2020,” said Nick Mabey, head of the E3G climate think tank.

This should include legally binding targets for countries to phase out coal, become climate neutral and invest in climate resilience, especially for the poorest countries, he added.

A string of apocalyptic reports on the state of the planet is bringing home the need for concrete steps.

One million species are on the brink of extinction. Carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, pushing targets from the Paris accord further out of reach.

UN climate envoy Luis Alfonso de Alba told AFP on Friday that he was optimistic about prospects for a breakthrough on climate, saying the dire predictions were having a galvanizing effect. AFP

NEW YORK-With a new record expected for a work by Lee Krasner and another one possible for a Helen Frankenthaler, the appetite for female abstract painters, and women artists in general, is growing fast as New York gears up for its spring auctions beginning on Monday.

“We’ve seen an extraordinary recalibration in the market for female artists, both historical and contemporary,” said David Galperin, head of evening sales at Sotheby’s auction house.

Last year was already an auspicious one, with record-breaking auctions for the late Frankenthaler, as well as for 50-year-old Briton Cecily Brown, Grace Hartigan, who died in 2008, and above all Joan Mitchell, who died in 1992 and whose “Blueberry” went in May 2018 for $16.6 million.

David Leiber, a partner at the David Zwirner gallery, which has exhibited a number of Mitchell’s works, recalled that although she found popular and critical acclaim very early on, only recently did her work profit from the increasing interest in women artists.

“These are artists whose work is just as powerful as their male contemporaries and their historical peers, and yet their markets have for decades lagged behind their contemporaries,” said Galperin.

Even if a reassessment of women’s works has begun, the prices they command still lag far behind the $68.9 million for a Willem de Kooning, the $58.4 million for a Jackson Pollack or the Mark Rothko that went for $86.9 million.

“It’s a long overdue readjustment of the market,” said Alexander Rotter, the head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie’s.

The readjustment is due to several factors, one of them being the explosion in prices of works by male artists, many approaching or even topping the $100-million mark.

“I think there’s definitely a hunger and appetite for opportunities within the market and this is certainly one, in the sense that the market prices are still in a way accessible relative to works of comparable quality by their male peers,” said Galperin.

The upward trend is also affecting other female artists such as sculptor Louise Bourgeois, who died in 2010, and whose works could this week surpass her 2015 record of $28.2 million.

Just as it was four years ago, the work on offer is a giant steel spider, which Christie’s estimates could sell on Wednesday evening for $25 million to $30 million.

Another factor less directly linked to the art market is a recent trend toward rediscovering the work of women long overlooked, if not forgotten, in the arts, sciences and politics. AFP

GK Enchanted Farm: A platform for social business incubation RAYMUND B. HABARADAS

Green LiGht GAWAD Kalinga Enchanted Farm (GKEF) brands itself as a farm village university, a Disneyland for social tourism, and a Silicon Valley for social entrepreneurship.

Not only does it provide employment and livelihood opportunities for the community members, mostly farmers based in the farm and nearby areas, but it also provides support for budding social entrepreneurs. Moreover, it serves as a destination for individuals and groups who seek a novel tourism experience.

Over the years, GKEF has helped several social enterprises—mostly set up by young individuals—address the unique challenges resulting from their desire to balance their financial and social objectives. Among the social enterprises that are incubating at the farm are Ambension Silk Enterprise, Bayani Brew, The Bee Empire, First Harvest, Golden Duck, Grassroots Kitchen, Karabella, Kayumanggi Organics and Plush and Play.

How does GKEF create and deliver value as a social business incubator?

This was the question that my team of researchers at the DLSU Social Enterprise Research Center sought to answer.

We observed that there is a symbiotic relationship among GKEF’s major programs and activities. For example, GKEF’s tourism activities augment the support it gives to the social enterprises incubating in the farm. That is because the social enterprises can sell their products to

the farm’s visitors and guests. On the other hand, GKEF’s social incubation program has attracted social entrepreneurs— both from the Philippines and abroad— who have provided employment and livelihood opportunities to community members through their social ventures.

The social enterprises themselves serve as a major attraction for GKEF visitors who are interested to hear the inspiring stories of the social entrepreneurs, many of whom left their comfort zones to help realize Gawad Kalinga’s mission.

After looking closely at GKEF’s programs and services and how these have benefitted selected incubatees, we found out that GKEF’s business model can be characterized as utilizing a multi-lever ecosystem approach, which we illustrate below.

First, it harnesses the human and natural resources of its host community. This is evident in the case of Bayani Brew, which took advantage of the quality and abundance of raw materials (e.g., lemongrass) for its iced tea formulation; and also in the case of Plush and Play, which harnessed the excellent sewing skills of community members in coming up with stuffed toys with innovative designs.

Second, it leverages the compassion and entrepreneurial talent of its selected incubatees. Given the previous success of Gawad Kalinga in helping communities throughout the country and the goodwill it has built over the years, GKEF was able to attract a lot of individuals to start their social enterprises in the farm. Many of these individuals previously worked in the corporate world. This is true for the owners of Bayani Brew, Human Nature, Karabella and Plush and Play, who brought along with them their business knowledge and industry experience when they decided to

set up their social enterprises because of their desire for meaningful alternatives to corporate employment.

Third, GKEF taps the knowledge and skills of interns and volunteers, many of whom come from different countries, including Japan, France and the US. These individuals provide various types of assistance to the social enterprises based on the farm, especially with their marketing and promotion activities.

Fourth, GKEF leverages the expertise and experiences of other more established social enterprises that incubated in the Farm. Unlike traditional business incubators that provide for the exit of its incubatees after they reach the scaling stage, GKEF utilizes a different strategy.

Social enterprises that reach the scaling stage are tapped to be “part of the movement” by serving as a big brother for the younger social enterprises. For example, Human Nature, which has several retail outlets throughout the country, has helped other social enterprises by carrying the latter’s products in their stores.

Finally, GKEF takes advantage of its network of partners and donors, and leverages the collaboration that takes place within this network. Thanks to the generosity of several corporate donors, GKEF now has the following structures, among others: the Arch Angel–GK Center for Arts and Culture, the Bamboo Palace Center for Development Design, the Berjaya Garden Restaurant and Culinary Center, the Hyundai Center for Green Innovation and the LifeBank Center for Bayanihan Economics. These have allowed GKEF to provide its various facilities and services for its incubatees.

Equally important is Gawad Kalinga’s partnerships with various government

agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry, with various academic institutions (local or abroad), and even with local institutions (e.g., Integrated Bar of Bulacan). These partnerships allow GKEF to provide a comprehensive set of services for the social enterprises incubating in the farm.

Clearly, GKEF has been reasonably successful in being a platform for social business incubation. This is due to a conscious effort to take advantage of an ecosystem that is interconnected and interrelated. According to GKEF Head Shannon Khadka, “it’s a whole different scale of managing synergistic institutions.”

As stated in its website, GKEF creates an ecosystem that is “forgiving enough for social entrepreneurs to make mistakes while testing prototypes and new business models... and demanding enough for them to build global Filipino brands that have real social and environmental impact.”

Raymund B. Habaradas is a full professor at the Management and Organization Department of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business of De La Salle University, and is the holder of the Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario Chair of Entrepreneurship. He does research on corporate social initiatives, social enterpreneurship and SME development.

He is also a Fellow of the Social Enterprise Research Network of DLSU. He welcomes comments at rbhabaradas@ yahoo.com. This article largely draws from an article published in the April 2019 issue of the DLSU Business & Economics Review. The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

LGUs

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

B4

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

NV gains 2018 Rice Achievers Award from DA

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— The Department of Agriculture has chosen Nueva Vizcaya as one of the 2018 Rice Achievers Awardees.

As an awardee, Nueva Vizcaya will also receive P4 million as an incentive for its outstanding feat.

The DA also recognized the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, Zamboanga del Sur, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, and Compostela Valley.

Governor Carlos Padilla said the award justifies the consistent sufficiency of rice being produced in the province.

“We are lucky that although our rice production areas are small compared to other provinces, we succeeded in maximizing their potentials thereby providing us with sufficient and quality supply of rice,” he said.

The awarding program will be held on May 30 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

The Rice Achievers Award is an annual search of the DA to recognize the country’s top rice producers. Adjudged top performing local government units and farmers’ organizations were given cash incentives through the DA Rice Program.

The contest also aims to encourage commitment and ensure excellent performance of the LGU stakeholders and famers’ organizations to further increase yields and improve quality of their produce.

This, in turn, will help the country meet its rice self-sufficiency target.

DepEd, Smart team up in ALS skills training THE Department of Education is integrating skills and livelihood training with its Alternative Learning System, which offers non-formal education to out-of-school youth and adults unable to complete their basic education.

It inaugurated its pilot Alternative Learning System Education and Skills Training Learning Center in Lawaan, Eastern Samar.

The initiative is designed to produce ALS completers with academic and technical competencies suitable for immediate employment.

In support of the initiative, Smart Communications donated a Schoolin-a-Bag package, a portable digital classroom primarily intended for remote schools and ALS communities with limited electricity and internet connection.

The unit comes in a weather-resistant backpack containing a solar panel and battery, a teacher’s laptop and tablet, a Smart pocket WiFi, a projector, a DVD player, a TV, and student tablets.

Installed in the tablets is educational content such as the Learn Smart literacy apps developed in partnership with the DepEd and academic institutions nationwide.

DepEd will set up four more ALSEST centers across the country, in partnership with the Australian Government, through their Basic Education Sector Transformation program, and in cooperation with the Philippine Business for Social Progress.

YELLOW DANCERS. The Halamang Dilaw Festival at SM City Marilao in Bulacan draws a throng of spectators that pack and line up at the mall facade to witness the live street dance, unique performances, and grand procession for the event that celebrates the gift of nature (See story below). Jun David

Marquez junks son’s P’que running mate

V

OTERS in Parañaque City expressed shock when actorcomedian and former city Mayor Joey Marquez endorsed the ticket of incumbent Mayor Edwin Olivarez over the team of his son Jeremy Marquez.

In a campaign rally of Team Bagong Parañaque over the weekend, the elder Marquez raised the hand of Olivarez instead of former Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. after his speech before the residents of Barangay BF Homes.

Jeremy Marquez is the vice mayoral runningmate of Bernabe, a candidate of the Lakas-CMD party. He was former village chairman of Barangay BF and is going up against incumbent Vice Mayor Rico Golez.

Former Mayor Marquez, who led the city from 1995 to 2004, also raised the

hand of Golez during the campaign rally, showing he endorsed the Olivarez-Golez tandem over the Bernabe-Marquez duo.

Joey Marquez said he supports Olivarez because of the many projects the incumbent mayor has done to uplift the lives of city residents and has settled the P2-billion debt left by the previous administration.

Besides the endorsement from the actorpolitician, Parañaque’s political bigwigs— the Tambuntings, Sottos, Yllanas, Ferrers, Golezes, and Benzons—have thrown their

Former Parañaque Mayor Joey Marquez raises the hand of incumbent Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

support to the Olivarez team.

Olivarez is running for his third and last term, while Bernabe is seeking to return to the mayoralty he held for three consecutive terms from 2004— succeeding Joey Marquez.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada turns over a symbolic key to officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection for the new firetrucks procured by the city government, which were blessed by priests (inset) on Friday.

Manila acquires P1.2-b firefighting trucks, equipment THE Manila City government has acquired new firefighting equipment worth P1.2 billion, including ladder fire trucks, to strengthen its civil defense capabilities.

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said the city have already received two stateof-the art firefighting trucks and equipment worth P180 million, aside from the 15 firetrucks the city acquired in 2018.

The ladder truck cost P85 million, while the super tanker, which can hold 10,000 liters of water, cost P38 million.

Estrada said Manila and Makati are the only two cities in Metro Manila that has aerial ladder fire-fighting equipment that can reach 56 meters high, apart from their 38-meter ladder Rosenbauer brand firetrucks.

The mayor said it has been one of his priority projects for the city to have modern fire trucks, which can respond to fires in high-rise buildings in Manila and nearby cities.

“The new equipment can reach buildings up to 160 feet high and respond immediately to help victims trapped inside buildings. It can contain fires in several minutes because of high water pressures from firetrucks,” he said.

Estrada, who is running for his third and last term as mayor, said the procurement of the equipment is part of the city’s continuing commitment to modernize and enhance the capability of the Bureau of Fire Protection and other public safety services.

Halamang Dilaw Festival at SM Marilao draws big crowd SPECTATORS packed SM City Marilao in Bulacan to witness the live street dance, unique performances, and grand procession during the Halamang Dilaw festival at the community mall.

The mall was instantly transformed into a huge palette of colors, as dancers clad in yellow and flower-inspired costumes marched and danced to the beat of the drums.

The Halamang Dilaw festival is celebrated annually during the month of May to pay tribute to nature. It is also

where the town derived its name— “Marilaw” (yellowish).

As SM Supermalls’ first mall in the province of Bulacan, SM City Marilao has become a part of every Bulakeños lifestyle and most awaited festivals.

SM in Marilao continues to embody the perfect blend of urbanization and rural charm of the town by holding festivals that would boost local tourism, while giving everyone a renewed interested on the rich cultural heritage of Bulacan, mall manager engineer Em-

BDO Foundation’s rehabilitation projects in Ilocos Sur help improve the health and wellbeing of thousands of residents in Cabugao, Narvacan, Sta. Maria (inset) and neighboring towns.

manuel Gatmaitan said.

“Because every SM mall is a reflection of the host city and its community, we wanted to showcase what the town of Marilao is known for,” Gatmaitan added.

Following the street dance performance, a celebration of exotic local flavors will be showcased at the mall atrium on May 24 to June 6.

Shoppers can enjoy tasting the town’s signature dishes and delicacies such as pancit Marilao, pastillas, putong puti, putong pula, tamales, suman, atchara

de Marilao, conchinta and many more.

The project is in cooperation with the Department of Tourism to celebrate the diverse flavors and exciting fusion of the town’s cuisine.

“As SM continues to grow, we think of the communities we serve,” said Gatmaitan.

“While we bring global concepts and innovations to key cities, we would also like to keep culture and tradition alive because SM is not just a shopping destination but also an information gateway,” he added. Jun David

BDO arm fixes 3 health centers in Ilocos Sur WHEN Typhoon “Ompong” and the southwest monsoon swept through Luzon last year, incessant rains and strong winds disrupted the operations of health centers in the municipalities of Cabugao, Narvacan and Sta. Maria in the disaster-prone province of Ilocos Sur. The calamities, as some of the strongest storms in recent memory, made it difficult for doctors, nurses and midwives to serve their constituents in their time of need.

Rooms were flooded as water leaked inside the buildings. Walls, floors and windows were broken. Medicine cabinets, furniture and fixtures were damaged. The health centers were not in the best condition to deliver patient care, as wear and tear brought the buildings into a state of disrepair.

In response, BDO Foundation, the corporate

social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, rehabilitated Cabugao Rural Health Unit and Lyingin Center, Narvacan Rural Health Unit I, and Sta. Maria Rural Health Unit.

The initiative is in line with the foundation’s disaster response advocacy and commitment to help improve the healthcare delivery system in the Philippines. More than 114,000 people from 100 barangays stand to benefit from BDO Foundation’s corporate citizenship initiative in Ilocos Sur. The rehabilitated rural health units were turned over to their respective communities in ceremonies led by BDO Foundation president Mario Deriquito, BDO Foundation program director Rose Espinosa, and BDO North Western Luzon area head Apolinario Aquino, together with the heads of BDO and One Network Bank branches in Ilocos Sur.

Life

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

FOOD

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

C1

Mexican dishes made of Filipino ingredients Mexican chef Jose Carlos Redon with Benilde’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management faculty members during the Flavors of Mexico cooking demo at the college’s La Cuisine Theater.

P

OPULAR guest chef in global culinary festivals, Mexican Chef Jose Carlos Redon recently flew to Manila for the first time to showcase how Filipino ingredients may be used to create Mexican staples.

In a workshop before culinary aspirants of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management, Redon, who has worked with hotels in Australia, France, Greece, Italy, and Mexico, conducted a cooking demo wherein he shared the process of preparing aguachile de camaron (shrimp aguachile), guacamole, pico de gallo (a salsalike dip), and capirotada (Mexican bread pudding) in an exclusive session entitled Flavors of Mexico.

The said session was a component of the weeklong celebration of Cinco de Mayo, spearheaded by the Embassy of Mexico in the Philippines, held at the college’s La Cuisine Theater in Angelo King International Center.

Admired for applying ancient techniques with global ingredients, Redon, who owns the Teotlacualli Organic Farm located in the Valley of the Mezquital, highlighted their country’s rich indigenous heritage cuisine. He is also a known advocate of using edible vegetables and insects in creating dishes.

“Filipino and Mexican cuisines share a lot of similarities such as the choices of ingredients, but what is most important is that they both have the essence of family values and traditions and it reflects well in their food,” he noted.

Stay hydrated at home

Rebisco launches new snack items

A GLASS of cold water is great, but sometimes, when days are especially scorching, we crave for delicious, refreshing beverage. Kitchen appliances brand Philips lets anyone prepare thirst-quenching drinks.

With the right equipment, anyone can make healthy, refreshing beverages at home.

Maximum juice, minimum fuss with Philips Viva Collection Juicer

Beat the heat with your favorite smoothies using The Avance Collection Blender

Everything you expect from a juicer—high juice extraction and cleaning within one minute. Treat yourself to a healthy homemade juice on the go every day.

This Philips blender can handle just about anything: from fruits and vegetables to ice. Its multi-speed function will blend, crush, and cut for perfectly smooth blending.

Philips Viva Collection Juicer

Be on-the-go with Philips Daily Collection Mini Blender

Philips Mini Blender now has its on-the-go bottle that can be brought everywhere. No need to worry about soft and hard ingredients as the multi chopper does the job well.

Philips Daily Collection Mini Blender

Mexican chef Jose Carlos Redon prepares Mexican staples

Philips Avance Blender

Make 10 percent more juice with Philips Avance Collection Juicer

This juicer extracts even more juice from fruit and vegetables.

Cleaning is easy thanks to Philips’ revolutionary QUICKClean technology, with an innovative quick clean sieve and integrated pulp container.

HOMEGROWN snack giant Rebisco beefs up its growing snack portfolio with a new roster of products perfect for snack-loving Filipinos of all ages.

The well-loved Rebisco and Hansel Premium line now includes the Japanese flavor-inspired Hansel Premium with White Cheese Filling and the light and crunchy Rebisco Premium Crackers with Black Sesame Seeds, deliciously roasted to create that delightful umami flavor.

Over on the chips and curls section, Rebisco adds Tostas—thin and crispy dual-flavored corn chips. It comes in two flavors—smoky BBQ and savory cheese—in one pack, for that one-ofa-kind corn chip experience. Also now available are Goofers and Cornkalog.

Goofers are crunchy corn puffs with a distinctly sweet and creamy peanut butter flavor that bursts in the mouth with every bite. Cornkalog is another corn snack variety, this time with a rich and sweet corn flavor and creamy filling.

For the kids and kids-at-heart, the alltime favorite cupcakes now come in two new mouth-watering flavors—Topps Sarap Yema and Topps Sarap Choco Peanut. Topps Sarap Yema has yema frosting, peanut candy bits, and yema filling, while Topps Sarap Choco Peanut features choco-peanut frosting, peanut butter filling, and nutty chips topping.

For a fruity burst of flavor, Rebisco offers GumBitz—crunchy candy-coated bubble gum bits in strawberry and green apple. And for those who like the irresistible combination of sweet and spicy tamarind flavor, Dolce Fruity Bon Tamarind Balls is now available for a quick perk-me-up snack.

Healthand weight-conscious snackers can now enjoy the delightful goodness of Jeanne & Jamie’s Recipes—three varieties of delicious crackers that can be enjoyed as part of a healthy and balanced diet. The tasty and crunchy Water Crackers with flaxseeds and sesame seeds support heart health. It has Omega-3, low sodium, and zero trans fat.

Whole Thins, whole wheat crackers with rolled oats, supports weight management goals. It is high in fiber with L-Carnitine and zero trans fat. Completing the Jeanne & Jamie’s Recipes line are Digestives—semi-sweet honey

Jeanne & Jamie’s Recipes, 100-calorie Fudgee Bar

Tostas, Cornkalog, Goofers, Dolce Fruity Bon Tamarind Balls, Topps

Rebisco and Hansel Premium lines, Bueno Pasta

biscuits with a hint of nutty oat flavor.

It is fortified with fiber, prebiotic inulin, and has zero trans fat. Inulin is a soluble fiber that helps improve digestion, among other health benefits.

Chocolate lovers can now indulge guilt-free with the 100-calorie Fudgee Barr and Choco Mucho variants, ideal for satisfying those cravings while staying on track of fitness goals.

Rebisco also expands its product offerings with the addition of Bueno Pasta—firm but soft-to-the-bite premium pasta made with Semolina wheat. It is available in spaghetti and elbow macaroni varieties.

“We are excited to share these new products with our consumers,” said Rebisco president Jonathan C. Ng. “Rebisco has always been an integral part of Filipinos’ snacking culture, and we are committed to developing new products that will create more opportunities for sharing and bonding.”

C2

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Life

AirAsia serves Korean Sweet and Spicy Chicken made of chicken bites glazed in sticky, sweet and spicy Korean sauce topped with crispy fritters.

Korean chicken dish on board C

Spaghetti Burger Drink

ELEBRITY chef Hong Seok-Cheon’s signature Korean Sweet and Spicy Chicken dish can be enjoyed up in air as it joins AirAsia’s Santan inflight menu.

The new Korean Sweet and Spicy Chicken (Dakgangjeong), served with fluffy jasmine rice and vegetables, is part of the Celebrity Chef Series.

Its key features include juicy chicken bites glazed in sticky, sweet and spicy Korean sauce, topped with crispy fritters. Chef Hong reinterprets the dish, which he said was his childhood comfort food, turning it into a delectable inflight meal.

“I enjoyed this dish growing up and even throughout all my TV shoots.

I’m thrilled to be collaborating with AirAsia on this exciting project to bring Korean cuisine to more people,” said Chef Hong.

According to Karlo Sanchez, AirAsia Philippines head of ancillary, the airline’s guests have long been requesting for Korean dishes, “which is why we’re pleased to bring Chef Hong Seok-Cheon’s talent and the best of Korean food to the skies.”

Chef Hong’s Korean Sweet and Spicy Chicken value meal with complimentary drink is priced P140 for AirAsia Philippines flights (carrier code Z2) across all AirAsia destinations (except India and Japan flights). Santan meals are available for pre-booking via My Bookings on airasia.com.

Chef Hong Seok-Cheon reinterprets his childhood comfort food for AirAsia’s latest Celebrity Chef series meal.

AirAsia Group head of inflight f&b William Tan (second from left) and AirAsia Philippines head of ancillary Karlo Sanchez (second from right) with AirAsia stewardesses

Jollibee offers ‘sulit-complete’ meals

FAST food giant Jollibee gives more bang for its customers’ bucks with three filling yet affordable meals.

“With rising prices of goods, Pinoys are always on the lookout for tasty yet inexpensive food choices. Jollibee hopes to empower Filipinos by bringing together Jollibee favorites which have constantly delivered joy to Pinoys Burger Fries Drink and Spaghetti Drink but at even more affordable prices for everyone to enjoy,” said Cathleen Capati, Jollibee’s assistant vice president for flagship products.

Jolly Spaghetti with regular drink is available for only P55; while the tried and tested trio of Jolly Yumburger, Jolly Crispy Fries, and regular drink is The Jollibee Sulit-Complete Meals priced at P79; and a filling meal of Jolare available in all Jollibee stores naly Spaghetti, Yumburger, and drink is available for only P89. Prices however tionwide for dine-in, take-out, delivery, and drive-thru transactions. may vary across different locations.

BITES

SIP

Guilt-free soda NO SUGAR, no carbs, no calories, all f lavors. Local carbonated drink Rite ‘n Lite serves up guilt-free soda made of the good stuff but none of the excessive f luff.

Each 250ml (recyclable) can of Rite ‘n Lite contains no sugar, no carbs and no calories, making each gulp a guilt-free indulgence. It also has no aspartame and is 0 percent on the glycemic index— which means even diabetics can join in on the fun.

The ARC Refreshments Corporation’s latest fizzy offering comes in four refreshing flavors: Root Beer, Orange, Lemon-Lime, and Lemon.

Rite ‘n Lite is now available in all leading groceries and convenience stores nationwide.

Ride ‘n Lite guilt-free soda comes in four flavors, namely (clockwise) Lemon, LemonLime, Root Beer, and Orange.

Malagos Caramel Bars and Malagos Chocolate Mousse Cake

Malagos chocolate in Max’s desserts DAVAO’S pride, Malagos chocolate is featured in Max’s Restaurant’s decadent desserts.

“The Malagos chocolate is a highly praised delicacy from Davao that boasts a unique flavor profile. It is truly unlike any other in terms of taste,” said Max’s Restaurant chief operating officer Paolo Serrano.

Nothing short of indulgent, the Malagos Chocolate Mousse Cake is made with layers of moist chocolate fudge cake, crunchy feuilletine in melted chocolate, and fluffy mousse with Malagos chocolate. It is topped with whipped cream and garnished with chocolate syrup, Malagos cocoa nibs, and dark chocolate shavings.

For a bite-sized indulgence, there’s Malagos Brownies and Malagos Caramel Bars. Fused with melted premium Malagos chocolate and topped with sliced cashew nuts, these pastries are two sweet and delightful treats.

Entertainment GMA...

From C4

Prior to Election Day, information and tools to help voters choose the right candidate have been made available by GMA News Online.

These include the MyKodigo app, which allows users to create sample ballots that they can print out and bring to their respective voting precincts, and the Stand on Issues app, which allows users to check the position of senatorial candidates on 11 key issues.

Other GMA News and Public Affairs videos—including profiles of each senatorial candidate; video and reports from Debate 2019; and demographic data on the electorate— can also be accessed online.

On radio, Super Radyo DZBB 594khz started its special coverage of #Eleksyon2019 on May 12 while Dobol B sa News TV will have its Special Coverage today and tomorrow.

GMA Network’s regional arm, GMA Regional TV, on the other hand, presents its comprehensive coverage of Eleksyon 2019 thru its local newscasts Balitang Amianan, One Western Visayas, One Mindanao, and Balitang Bisdak, and for the first time, via its official website www.gmaregionaltv.com.

Meanwhile, GMA Network’s online newscast Stand For Truth, deploys its millennial, mobile journ reporters all over the country to cover Eleksyon 2019.

Overseas, the Eleksyon 2019: The GMA News and Public Affairs Special Coverage, has a simulcast airing via GMA Pinoy TV, GMA life TV, and GMA News TV International.

GMA’s elections coverage brings together the partnership of GMA Network with GMA News TV, GMA New Media Inc. (NMI), GMA Radio (RGMA, DZBB and WLS-FM), GMA Regional TV, GMA News Online, GMA News and Public Affairs Social Media, GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, GMA News TV International, and GMA Kapuso Foundation.

The coverage is fortified by partners from various sectors—Commission on Elections (COMELEC), PLDT-Smart Communications, Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Inquirer. net, Catholic Media Network (CMN), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), University of the Philippines (UP), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle University (DLSU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), AMA Education System, PHINMA - University of Pangasinan in North Central Luzon, University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Silliman University in Dumaguete City, West Visayas State University in Iloilo City, Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City, and Holy Cross Davao College in Davao City, Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP), the Philippine Bar Association (PBA), the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI), YouTube, and Twitter.

The coverage also reaffirms GMA Network’s election advocacy, “Pusuan ang Totoo”—a call to stand for what is true, to fight against corruption and disinformation, and to choose leaders who will truly serve the country.

DOWN 1 Projecting part 2 Nothin’ doing!

3 Nile wader 4 Small change 5 Hankie alternative 6 Dutch carrier 7 Chopped weeds 8 More competent 9 Assets less liabilities (2 wds.)

10 Pottery fragments 11 Asian capital 12 Flee to the JP 13 Studies 21 Rx givers 23 Crockett of the frontier 25 Nile city 27 Kon-Tiki Museum site 28 Name in fashion

nickie.standard@gmail.com

invade Tanzania, Dominican republic

A

BS-CBN’s popular and well-loved television series Halik and Pangako Sa’Yo are now making waves abroad after the Kapamilya network secured deals with media networks in Tanzania and Dominican Republic to air the top-rating programs in their respective countries.

Halik, which won Best Acting Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 50th Box Office Entertainment Awards, has been airing in Tanzania since February after ABS-CBN forged a deal with African multimedia company, Azam Media.

Meanwhile, the Pangako Sa’Yo 2015 remake star-

OnePlus...

From C4

'Halik' lead cast Yen Santos, Sam Milby, Jericho Rosales, and Yam Concepcion

ring Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, marks a new milestone this 2018 as the first Philippine drama in the Dominican Republic that started airing in March on Color Vision Canal 9.

With the two series’ presence abroad, ABS-CBN continues to grow its international business, adding to the over 40,000 hours of content the leading media and entertainment company has sold worldwide.

Both Kapamilya teleseryes have a passionate legion of fans after captivating viewers from all walks of life.

Halik ended its run on Philippine TV strongly, recording an av-

erage audience share of 25 percent in April. Its finale episode also trended on social media.

On the other hand, Pangako Sa’Yo remains as the most successful distributed Philippine drama series internationally after being sold to 16 countries. Likewise, it is the only internationally adapted Filipino drama, with format buys by Asia and Latin America.

ABS-CBN’s content, popular for their heartfelt Filipino stories, are available across other territories through ABS-CBN International Distribution, recognized in the global arena as a reliable foreign content provider. Living up to this recognition, ABSCBN International Distribution commits to add to its first lineup of high-caliber programs and movies with cast and storylines that appeal to various cultures.

Visit https://www.abs-cbn.com/ internationalsales/about for more details.

Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla of 'Pangako Sa'Yo'

The world’s destination for science, exploration and adventure, National Geographic is dedicated to challenging perceptions and empowering everyone to push the boundaries of discovery.

As smartphone technology advances, more and more people now have the opportunity to document the world and its plethora of stunning nature beauty.

The photography series demonstrates how anyone can be an explorer and capture their journey through the lens of a smartphone.

Con Apostolopoulos, Senior Vice President, National Geographic Partners, Asia Pacific & the Middle East said, “National Geographic has documented the stories of our planet for 130 years, providing audiences around the world with a window into the Earth’s breathtaking beauty. We’re awed by the amazing pictures our photographers captured from their North American expedition with the OnePlus 7 Pro! In collaboration with OnePlus, National Geographic is proud to leverage the power and reach of our global media platforms to inspire everyone to get out, explore, and take their own spectacular photos.”

Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus, said, “With the OnePlus 7 Pro, I believe we have raised the bar in camera technology. With this association with National Geographic, we wanted to push the limits of what our camera is capable of and we believe that the professional National Geographic photographers did just that. We are very excited to showcase the results from this partnership and hope that our users will be as excited about the camera on the OnePlus 7 Pro as we are.”

Speaking about her experience on the shoot, National Geographic Photographer Krystle Wright said, “With the OnePlus 7 Pro, you have a whole camera bag in your pocket which is what has allowed us to be able to shoot a whole issue on a smartphone.”

A song for the Filipino youth

Quest’s new song “Sasamahan Kita" talks about keeping dreams alive in the face of challenges and counting on a support system to achieve a brighter future.

PHINMA Education, a network of schools fast emerging as a leader in providing accessible quality education, has partnered with musician Jose Villanueva III, also known as Quest, for a campaign to inspire young Filipinos to pursue their education

Monday, May 13, 2019

54 Jumped high 59 German import 60 Lands in “la mer” 62 Nanny 63 Drew on 64 Range in Asia 65 Start the day 66 Monocle 67 DEA operative 68 Light beer

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‘Halik,’ ‘Pangako Sa’Yo’

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 New York NBA player 6 Kublai — 10 Lose leaves 14 Peace Prize name 15 Ear part 16 Strong and healthy 17 Reckon 18 Soften 19 By and by 20 Got the better of 22 Beads on grass 24 Gun lobby org.

26 Rock band crew member 27 Unusual quality 31 Motor homes 32 Red Cloud, e.g.

33 Clever 36 Struck a match 39 “Raiders of the — Ark” 40 Vaughan or Bernhardt 41 Court ritual 42 Raw metal 43 Excavations 44 Wrist opposite 45 Hero sandwich 46 Without wasted words 48 Cheered 51 Da or ja 52 Yelled

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

29 Give medicine 30 Acorn 34 High dudgeon 35 Delicious 36 Fishing spot 37 “— cost you” 38 Those people 40 Tundra dweller 41 Switch positions 43 Silent 44 Munitions store 45 Ice and rice 47 Sushi fish 48 Waken 49 Bygone

50 Perry’s assistant 52 Tow 53 Expensive 55 Sight for a psychic 56 Fuddy-duddy 57 Latin I verb 58 Antler wearer 61 Incite a dog

and fulfill their dreams.

Together they launched “Sasamahan Kita,” a song which talks about keeping dreams alive in the face of challenges and counting on a support system to achieve a brighter future. This supports

the company’s longstanding mission of “making lives better through education.”

In writing “Sasamahan Kita,” Quest took inspiration from his own childhood.

Battling poverty, Quest found his first mentor in his grandmother, a teacher, who

taught him the value of education and the importance of having a strong role model.

“My grandmother took care of us from the start. I placed myself in her—a teacher’s—shoes and wrote about the experience. I saw how much she dedicated her life to her profession. I saw her dedication and hard work,” shared Quest.“She inspired me to work hard and never give up.”

For Quest, his grandmother’s example led him to value education and seek people who would support him and his dreams.

“I’m a big advocate of getting an education and having the right mentors.

I had to learn that I needed to surround myself with the right people,” he added.

“The people in my life gave me the confidence I needed to dream and achieve, no matter how small.”

It was Quest’s passion for education and desire to pay it forward that inspired PHINMA Education to link up with the artist.

“When the opportunity to work with a passionate partner like PHINMA Education was presented, I gladly accepted. Through this anthem, we aim to raise the spirits of the Filipino youth, remind them of the value of education, and even pursue their educational opportunities with PHINMA Education,” said Quest.

Quest’s music video for “Sasamahan Kita” features PHINMA Education institution Araullo University (Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija) and the stories of three of its students: Harry Bibat, a BS Criminology student who moonlights as a tricycle driver; Aldrin Aquino, a BS Civil Engineering student who works as a student assistant; and Erika Balaoing, a BS Civil Engineering student who makes a living as a farmer to help support her family and her studies.

To date, PHINMA Education’s network covers Araullo University (Nueva Ecija), Cagayan de Oro College (Cagayan de Oro), Southwestern University (Cebu), University of Iloilo (Iloilo), University of Pangasinan (Pangasinan), and Saint Jude College (Manila).

For more info on PHINMA Education, visit www.phinma.edu.ph.

Stream “Sasamahan Kita” on Quest’s official Spotify channel and watch the official music video on PHINMA Education’s official Facebook page (@ phinmaeducation) and YouTube channel (PHINMA Education).

Entertainment

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

C4

MONDAY, MAY 13, 2019

Half-Brazilian lass wins Miss Teen Philippines

G Miss Teen Philippines 2019 Nikki de Moura

By Eton Concepcion EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD, halfBrazilian Nikki de Moura of Cagayan de Oro City was named Miss Teen Philippines 2019 at the grand coronation held at New Frontier Theater, Araneta Center, Wednesday night.

De Moura edged out 30 other teen candidates and was crowned by Nicole Villar, Miss Teen Philippines 2014 and Miss Teen International 2016 1st runner-up.

Named 1st runner-up was Patricia Beerda of Western Visayas, while Nicole Borromeo of Cebu and the newly crowned Reyna ng Aliwan 2019 placed 2nd runner-up. Mikki Barcelaof Albay and Joanna Kalkschmidt of Iloilo finished as 3rd and 4th runners-up, respectively.

The teen beauty, who loves painting and Muay Thai, was one of three representatives of Northern Mindanao region. She will be the new ambassador of the pageant’s “global readiness through education” campaign.

Miss Teen Philippines 2019 grand coronation will be aired on ABS-CBN Channel on May 19.

OnePlus teams up with NatGeo to showcase new camera technology INSPIRING the world to explore for over a century, OnePlus, together with National Geographic will soon debut a special photography series in a magazine supplement, shot on a smartphone.

The supplement issue “Inspired by Nature” will be released with the July edition of the National Geographic Magazine and feature stunning images of North America, all captured on the OnePlus 7 Pro smartphone.

For the partnership, National Geographic handpicked three of its world-renowned photographers and sent them to explore the rugged beauty of North America. Andy Bardon, Carlton Ward Jr., and Krystle Wright documented their journeys via the newly launched OnePlus 7 Pro, using its triple-lens setup and UltraShot system to capture remarkable photos of the natural world—from sprawling desert frontiers to soaring mountain ranges, to the hidden realm of life underwater. Continued on C3

Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains at dawn by Andy Bardon

RAMMY-NOMINATED, multi-platinum singer/ songwriter Shawn Mendes has just added the Philippines to his arena and Asia tour as announced by concert promoter MMI LIVE.

The much-awaited return of “Treat You Better” and “Mercy” singer is happening on Oct. 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena in support of self-titled album released in 2018.

Now 20, the Canadian hitmaker released his third studio album, which follows 2015’s Handwritten and 2016’s Illuminate. In My Blood” was released as the self-titled album’s lead followed by “Lost in Japan,” “Youth,” which features American singer Khalid, “Where Were You in the Morning?” and “Nervous.”

The album debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart as well as multiple additional worldwide markets, including Australia, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Holland and shot to no. 1 on iTunes in more than 80 countries immediately upon release.

The album became one of the top best-selling album debuts of 2018 and made Shawn the third youngest solo artist to ever have three consecutive #1 albums.

Worldwide, he has sold over 15 million albums, 100 million singles, and has amassed over 20 billion song streams and five billion YouTube views. Shawn has completed two soldout world tours with over one million tickets sold, selling out legendary stadiums and arenas including NYC’s Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena in minutes.

On his upcoming tour, Shawn Mendes: The Tour, he sold out his first ever stadium show in minutes at Rogers Centre in his hometown of Toronto. The tour began in March 2019, with over 100 dates currently announced across the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia,

Shawn Mendes is returning to Manila in October for a one-night concert in support of his third studio album launched late last year.

and Australia/New Zealand, with more to be announced soon.

He topped Billboard’s “21 Under 21” in 2017 and 2018 and has been featured on Forbes “30 Under 30,” Spotify’s “25 Under 25,” and Time Magazine’s “Time 100 Most Influential”.

In February 2018, ROI Influencer Media recognized Shawn as the #1 Most Influential Artist and #1 Most Influential Teen across all social media platforms.

Kicking off on October 1, Shawn

will hit Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Macao, and Tokyo. The entire World Tour spans more than 100 dates throughout 2019 in North America, Latin America, Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand & Asia.

Online ticket reservation to the general public started on May 4 via mmilive. com and redemption was scheduled on May 10 to 12 at any SM Tickets outlets. For

those who purchase tickets, Ticketless VIP Upgrades will be available to the general public at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 17th. All Ticketless VIP Upgrades will come with a Shawn Mendes Tour Passport, and additional Passports can be added to your cart at checkout, if you wish.

For more information, you may follow MMI Live (on Facebook), and @mmilive (on Instagram, and Twitter), or visit mmilive.com for details.

GMA mounts comprehensive, state-of-the-art election coverage THE Philippines’ most awarded broadcast news organization, GMA News and Public Affairs, mounts the most comprehensive and state-of-theart reportage of the Midterm Elections inEleksyon 2019: The GMA News and Public Affairs Special Coverage.

On air, the election coverage begins at 4:30 a.m. on May 13 and will carry on until the following day at 10:00 a.m..

Leading the Eleksyon 2019 special coverage are Mel Tiangco, Mike Enriquez, Vicky Morales, Arnold Clavio, Howie Severino, and Jessica Soho. Joining them are anchors Pia Arcangel, Ivan Mayrina, Rhea Santos, Connie Sison, and Atom Araullo together with a team of journalists and stringers here and abroad who will deliver electionrelated news and developments live and straight from the field, as the events unfold.

Working with 40 election coverage partners all over the country— including GMA’s flagship AM radio station Super Radyo DZBB 594khz, Dobol B sa News TV, Barangay LS FM, RGMA Network, Inc., GMA Regional TV, and Catholic Media Network (CMN)—the GMA News and Public Affairs teams are strategically positioned nationwide to cover the conduct of elections, as well as report

GMA News pillars anchor the network's special coverage of the mid-terms elections.

on some colorful local races and the most critical hotspots.

Together, they bring the brand of news reporting only GMA News and Public Affairs can deliver: “Walang kinikilingan, Walang pinoprotektahan, Walang kasinungalingan. Serbisyong totoo lamang.”

GMA News also unveils this Election Day its brand new 360-degree news set, featuring two Barco video walls, LED floor, LED video wall, and nine LFD monitors—all powered by the latest technology and equipment from world

leaders in media technology. Eleksyon 2019 also features augmented reality executions illustrating election-related content. GMA Network allocated P63 million solely for the acquisition of the said state-of-the-art equipment and technology to provide more engaging and compelling content for today’s viewers.

Meanwhile, providing insights and analyses during this national event are experts and resource persons to help the public make sense of the political landscape and the significance of this

election on key national issues.

And as soon as voting closes and election returns are transmitted, viewers can expect Eleksyon 2019 to deliver the latest partial and unofficial results of both national and local elections.

Netizens can also catch the live stream of GMA News and Public Affairs’ coverage, including up-to-theminute election results, through GMA News Online’s Eleksyon 2019 website (www.gmanews.tv/Eleksyon2019).

Continued on C3