Manila Standard - 2019 September 15 - Sunday

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VOL. XXXIII • NO. 213 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

ASF-CONTROL AREAS WIDEN AGRI CHIEF TO ENFORCE 1-7-10 RULE

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ORE areas in the metropolis and nearby provinces, specifically in Central Luzon, are now under strict quarantine, imposed by the Department of Agriculture, to enable authorities to properly monitor the presence of the feared African swine fever or ASF. But Agriculture Secretary William Dar, in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News TV beamed nationwide, stopped short of identifying the areas where ASF, a highly contagious hemorrhagic viral disease of pigs, had made inroads.

Dar said they were not saying anything as yet to enable them to implement what he called the ‘1-7-10 Protocol’ under which quarantine checkpoints which monitor the movement of live pigs, pork, and pork products, were set up in areas within a 1-kilometer radius of affected farms.

Within a 7-kilometer radius, authorities surveil and limit animal movement.

Farm owners within the 10-kilometer radius were mandated to report any disease to the DA. Agriculture officials earlier said ASF-affected areas were reported in Rodriguez and Antipolo, Rizal and in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Dar reiterated his call for hog raisers not to conceal but rather immediately report to authorities any suspicious swine deaths following the stunning discovery of dead pigs floating in Marikina River and a Quezon City creek.

Immediately, Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro on Friday banned fishing in the Marikina River after dozens of the dead pigs floated down the waterway the day before.

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EMERGENCY CARE. The National Red Cross gets more than 2,000 hands of more than 1,000 detainees at the Bureau of Jail and Management Penology Compound in Sta. Cruz, Manila, teaches them to save people (inset) and help the latter recover from sudden illness or injury during a weekend first aid clinic as part of the celebration of World First Aid Day 2019.

Norman Cruz

LAWMAKERS WANT JUSTICE TO REIN IN BUCOR OFFICERS

SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Saturday the Department of Justice must have “direct control and supervision” over the Bureau of Corrections, which supervises the national penitentiary and other prisons, to curb corruption and illegal activities there.

Drilon, a former secretary of justice, said Republic Act 10575 or The Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013 must be amended because the agency had become “too powerful” and its officials “are to be blamed for the corrupt practices in

US WARSHIP SAILS THROUGH CHINA-HELD ISLE THE US Navy said one of its destroyers had sailed close to the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday, asserting international freedom of navigation rights in the contested waters.

The USS Wayne E. Meyer guided-missile destroyer passed through the area of the Paracels east of Vietnam and South of China’s Hainan Island without requesting permission from Beijing, or from Hanoi or Taipei, which also claim ownership of the archipelago.

The move could add to the tensions between the US and China, now bogged down in a grinding trade war, as Beijing pushes to expand its military reach globally.

“USS Wayne E. Meyer challenged the restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam and also contested China’s claim to straight baselines enclosing the Paracel Islands,”said Commander Reann Mommsen, spokesperson for the US 7th Fleet based in Japan.

“With these baselines, China has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, Turn to A2

the bureau.”

Earlier, the House of Representatives strongly expressed a desire to have its own inquiry into the controversies surrounding the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law and the early release of convicts of heinous crimes.

Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles said the investigation would help lawmakers amend the GCTA Law to remove confusion and ambiguity and to establish standards for “good conduct” that would be used to Turn to A2 shorten prison terms.

CIA'S ANIMAL SPIES N EARLY 1974, Do Da was top in espionage class, on the way to becoming a high-flying CIA agent: he handled himself better in the rough, carried heavier loads, and could brush off attackers.

But on his toughest-yet spy school

RAVENS READ HIM. In this file photo taken on Aug. 13, 2008, a man walks over the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at the lobby of the CIA HQ in Langley, Virginia. AFP

test, he disappeared—done in by some of his own kind: ravens.

The bird was a central figure in a decade-long US Central Intelligence Agency program to train animals as agents, helping Washington fight the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

On Thursday, the CIA released dozens of files from its tests on cats, dogs, dolphins and on birds from pigeons to some of the smartest: ravens and crows.

It studied cats as possible looseroaming listening devices—“audio surveillance vehicles”—and put electrical implants in dogs’ brains to see if they could be remotely controlled.

Neither of those programs went very far. More effort was put into training dolphins as potential saboteurs and helping spy on the Soviet Union’s development of a nuclear submarine fleet, perhaps the Turn to A2

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CHINA SEA CHALLENGE.

Sans permission from Beijing, Hanoi or Taipei, a US guidedmissile destroyer passes through the area of the Paracels east of Vietnam and South of China’s Hainan Island, which move military analysts say can add tensions between China and the United States. AFP

TRADE MULLS OVER 'SRP' ON IMPORTED RICE THE Department of Trade and Industry is considering a suggested retail price on imported rice, with officials believing retail prices should have gone down with the Rice Tariffication Law in place which allowed the runaway importation of the commodity.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV aired on GMA News TV on Saturday and heard nationwide, said in Filipino they would

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study implementing SRP if the volume of imported rice had gone up.

During the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring at the Commonwealth Market in Quezon City certain well-milled varieties were discovered being sold at up to P45 per kilo.

“We were expecting more vendors were hawking the commodity at P34-P37 per kilo,” Lopez said.

The Cabinet official said retail prices

of rice had not plunged as expected because several importers were not yet releasing their stocks in the market.

“This must be the reason the prices have remained in that level,” Lopez added.

The DA said Friday it was looking at a list of traders suspected of“manipulating” the release of imported rice in the market.

The farmgate price of palay has Turn to A2

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMEBER 15, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

LIGHTNING ALERT DELAYS NAIA FLIGHTS

By Joel E. Zurbano SEVERAL international and domestic flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were delayed because of the bad weather condition on Saturday.

The weather bureau issued a lightning red alert to NAIA resulting in the delay of arrival and departure of 13 international and domestic flights in terminals 2, 3 and 4.

“Due to the lightning red alert that prevailed over NAIA from 1:03 p.m. to 1:23 p.m. and 1:33 p.m. to 1:44 p.m., there were no ground movement as a safety measure,” the Manila International Airport Authority management said in a statement.

Those affected included Philippine Airlines flights to and from Xiamen, Saigon and Cagayan de Oro; Cebu Pacific Air international flights to and from Hong Kong, Dubai, Kansai, and Singapore, and domestic flights to and from Caticlan, Iloilo and Legaspi; and Air Asia flights to and from Tagbilaran and Puerto Princesa.

Lightning alerts are adopted in most airports worldwide as a safety measure to protect ramp workers from death or injury caused by a lightning strike.

The MIAA general manager Eddie Monreal said while airplanes had their own lightning protection, continued movement of ground personnel are discouraged because of the possibility of current to travel on the pavement before it finally discharges on the ground especially if the aircraft has not finally reached the radius of protection.

Personal protection equipment or gears worn by ramp workers may not be enough to protect them from the at least 24 megavolts of current carried by a lightning.

Lightning happens during thunderstorms due to friction in air causing negatively charged particles in the atmosphere to be attracted by the positively or zero charged ground or pavement.

ASF-CONTROL...

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At the same time, the Quezon City Veterinary Department said it would kill all pigs in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City if samples taken from the dead pigs found in a stream would test positive for ASF. Quezon City veterinarian Dr. Ana Maria Cabel told GMA News, heard nationwide, the three dead pigs and one pig head found in the stream had been burned after samples were taken by the Bureau of Animal Industry.

Dar said authorities would use both “convincing and compulsory powers” to compel affected hog raisers to surrender their pigs suspected with disease for culling.

He said some 7,416 pigs had been killed in those areas due to suspected ASF. Agriculture officials were also reported continuing their investigation whether the pig carcasses in the Marikina River, a Quezon City creek and an irrigation waterway in Malolos, Bulacan were from areas placed under the 1-7-10 Protocol.

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plunged to as low as P7 per kilo after rice tariffication was implemented earlier this year, prompting farmers to ask for government intervention.

After the Rice Tariffication Law was passed in February, up to 2.4 million metric tons of imported rice entered the country, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.

But not all of the imported volume was released into the market.

The Rice Tariffication Law removed the quantitative restrictions on rice and imposed a 35 percent tariff on imports from Southeast Asian neighbors.

US WARSHIP...

From A1 exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled under international law.”

China has laid claim to nearly all of the South China Sea and has built numerous military outposts on the small islands and atolls of the region, angering other claimants Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

In recent months, the US military has stepped up its “freedom of navigation operations” or “FONOPS” in the region,

2 SOLONS PRESS FOR CREATION OF DISASTER RESILIENCE DEP'T

By Maricel V. Cruz

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Velasco cited studies by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology that among the areas that have a higher risk of intensity-8 earthquakes are the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite.

Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Quezon, Laguna and Batangas are located in the low intensity-8 areas under the seismic map, Velasco added, citing the PHIVOLCS studies.

“Given the risks poised by these looming disasters, I am appealing to my fellow legislators to consider fast-tracking the passage of the DDR bill,” said Velasco, who is expected to take over the post of speaker in over a year from now.

Per PHILVOCS, Velasco said the Philippines was among the top coun-

tries in the world with a higher risk of disasters. The others are Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Brunei.

Velasco also noted that the country was host to 300 volcanoes of which 24 are active.

He said 20 earthquakes were recorded by PHIVOLCS every day including some 90 destructive earthquakes and 40 tsunamis in the past 400 years.

Velasco said the “new normal of the 21st Century” was more intense typhoons and increased disaster risks.

For her part, Romualdez, author of HB1151, said the DDR would guarantee a unity of command, a sciencebased approach and a full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters.

Romualdez was one of the principal sponsors of the DDR measure the House of Representatives’ 17th Congress approved on third and final reading last year. She is the chairperson of the House Committee on the Welfare of Children.

She added said the DDR bill would help drastically reduce, if not totally eliminate, the bureaucratic red tape

that has caused many delays in the delivery of immediate assistance needed by disaster and calamity victims.

Under the bill, the department shall be headed by a secretary, with four undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and directors who are “preferably specialists in the field of disaster risk reduction and management, science and technology, environmental science and management, urban planning, civil engineering, public finance, information and communications technology, logistics management, mass communication and other fields relevant to disaster resilience.

The department shall also establish regional, provincial, city, municipal and barangay disaster resilience offices following the abolition of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices.

“This bill applies the painful lessons from the country’s major disasters like Typhoon Yolanda and global best practices,” said Velasco, chairman of the House Committee on Energy.

Under the law, the DOJ’s control over the BuCor is limited to administrative supervision.

“The justice secretary is left in the dark because he has no direct control and supervision of the bureau,” he said.

Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier said some 2,000 drug lords and convicted rapists were released even while the GCTA policy, which could reduce penalties for prisoners on account of good conduct, did not cover heinous crimes.

Nograles suggested defining a heinous crime in the death penalty law as a “grievous, odious, hateful offense of such monstrosity as to spark public outrage”—which would cover murder, rape, kidnapping and dangerous drugs.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said the proposed new implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 10592 or the GCTA Law would be finished and adopted next week.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said on Friday that the Joint Review Committee that included members from the DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government has submitted the draft IRR to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for review.

“Both [Guevarra and DILG Secretary Eduardo Año] will now review the draft IRR and decide on its promulgation,” Perete said.

The panel asked for an extension of its mandate to review and recommend revisions to the Uniform Manual and Guidelines for the implementation of RA No. 10592.

Guevarra vowed to propose several reform measures, including amendments to Republic Act 10575 to give the DOJ tighter control over BuCor. “I am beginning to think that the law itself that supposedly strengthened the BuCor, and consequently diminished DOJ control over it, may have to be reviewed,” Guevarra said

in a text message.

Under RA 10575, the BuCor became a line agency of the DOJ, not a constituent bureau, giving the department only administrative supervision, not control, over the agency.

Guevarra’s proposal came after BuCor officials used RA 10575 to legally justify their release of almost 2,000 inmates who were convicted of heinous crimes.

“Some form of control over BuCor may be more appropriate,” Guevarra said.

Aside from the “GCTA for sale” racket, various witnesses told Thursday’s Senate hearing about different money-making schemes involving prison officials.

Among these are the entry of prostitutes for high-profile inmates at the New Bilibid Prison and the “hospital pass for sale”scheme, where Bilibid hospital officials are bribed by inmates who fake their illnesses so they can later be confined at a medical facility outside the prison.

WO House leaders are pushing for the creation of a government agency that would specifically deal with disasters and other calamities in the country.

Reps. Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque and Yedda Marie Romualdez of Tingog Sinirangan Party-list group stressed the need for Congress to enact the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience as the country has been experiencing earthquakes and aftershocks recently.

Last Friday, a 5.3-magnitude jolt hit offshore near sparsely populated Polillo Island, Quezon Province about 120 kilometers from Manila, according to the US Geological Survey.

Velasco, author of House Bill 3459 or the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience, said there was a need for a coherent government response to disasters under a new agency that would be called the Department of Disaster Resilience.

LAWMAKERS...

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Lawmakers, too, would need to address mismatching provisions in the Revised Penal Code and the GCTA, and provide a clear-cut definition of what constitutes a heinous crime.

Nograles said people found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of heinous crimes must not be entitled to early release under the law.

Statistics from the Philippine National Police suggested Saturday some 391 released convicts under the GCTA had surrendered to various police stations in the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier directed those who had been released under the GCTA Law to report to the nearest police stations 15 days—this means today, Sept.

15—from the presidential order, or they would face warrantless arrest.

Drilon told dwIZ, heard nationwide, “It is time to give more teeth to the Department of Justice,” adding “there are a number of critical agencies over which the department has limited to zero control.”

CIA'S...

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most potent challenge to US power in the mid-1960s.

Projects Oxygas and Chirilogy sought to see if dolphins could be trained to replace human divers and place explosives on moored or moving vessels, sneak into Soviet harbors and leave in place acoustic buoys and rocket detection units, or swim alongside submarines to collect their acoustic signatures.

Those programs, too, were given up, left to the US Navy which to this day makes use of dolphins and seals.

HAWKS AND OWLS But what also grabbed the US spy chiefs’ imagination in the Cold War days was birds—pigeons, hawks, owls, crows and ravens, and even flocks of wild migratory birds.

For the latter, the agency enlisted ornithologists to try to determine which birds regularly spent part of the year in the area of Shikhany in the Volga River Basin southeast of Moscow, where the Soviets operated a chemical weapons facility.

The CIA saw the migratory birds as “living sensors” which, based on their irking Beijing but not sparking any direct confrontation thus far.

China has effectively drawn a property line around the whole of the Paracels archipelago—which it calls the Xisha Islands—to claim the entire territory.

But the United States says that does not accord with international law on archipelagos and territorial seas.

The FONOPS “demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows—regardless of the location of excessive maritime claims and regardless of current events,” Mommsen said.

Meanwhile, Malacañang spokesman Salvador Panelo lashed out at Vice

feeding, would reveal what kinds of substances the Russians were testing, in their flesh.

In the early 1970s, the CIA turned to birds of prey and ravens, hoping they could be trained for “emplacement” missions like dropping a listening device on a windowsill, and photo missions.

In project Axiolite, bird trainers working on San Clemente island off southern California taught the birds to fly miles over the water between a boat and land.

If the training went well, a chosen candidate would have a tough mission: being smuggled to Soviet Russia, where it would be released secretly in the field, tasked to fly 15 miles (25 kilometers) carrying a camera to snap pictures of a radar for SA-5 missiles, and fly back.

They had red-tailed and Harris’s hawks, great horned owls, a vulture, and a cockatoo.

It was not easy. A cockatoo was “a clever flyer” but “maybe too slow to avoid gull attacks.”

Two falcons died from illness; another promising candidate lost feathers and trainers had to wait for it to molt and President Leni Robredo’s statement that President Rodrigo Duterte had set aside the country’s winning arbitral ruling on the disputed South China Sea, by giving way to push for the exploration deal with China.

Panelo said Robredo’s statement was another way to find fault with the President and underlined what he called Robredo’s habit of engaging in useless and unproductive semantics.

In a statement, the Palace official explained Duterte remarks to first set aside the ruling was to focus instead on exploring something that would benefit the people as the administration continued to engage China in negotiations.

grow them back.

‘STAR’ OF THE PROJECT The most promising flyer was Do Da, the raven. In just three months, Do Da went from a successful 3/4-mile trip to six miles from shore to boat, and then four miles back to shore on the same day.

He was the most promising candidate for the Russia mission, the “star of this project,” one scientist wrote, who figured out the right altitudes in the right winds, and acquired “sufficient guile to outwit the native ravens and gulls,” which hid for attacks on him.

But on a training mission he was attacked by “the usual pair” of ravens— and was not seen again.

The scientists were deeply dismayed.

“He had a large bag of tricks and was loved by all,” one wrote.

PIGEONS OVER LENINGRAD The other major effort was with pigeons, used for over two millennia as messengers and to take photographs during World War I. The challenge was that pigeons work

from home coops or roosts, places they are familiar with.

The CIA needed them for missions in the Soviet Union, where they would fly between unfamiliar roosts and photo targets.

The agency acquired hundreds of pigeons, testing them and cameras in areas around the United States to see if they could be trained on simulated paths.

Soon the target became known: the shipyards in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) where the Soviets built nuclear submarines.

After much training, the birds were brought to Washington for testing, and results were mixed.

Some snapped perfect photos, but others flew out, with expensive cameras attached, and weren’t seen again. One was attacked by a hawk, and came back three weeks later with no camera.

The documents don’t say if the Leningrad operation was attempted. But a 1978 review the CIA released made clear that there were too many questions about the birds’ reliability. AFP

“Notwithstanding this impasse with China on our territorial conflict, wisdom, prudence and pragmatism dictate that we forge in strengthening our foreign relations on uncontested matters that will invariably provide mutual benefit to our countries. Of particular note is the joint exploration of our natural resources in the West Philippine Sea,” he said in a statement.

“As (a) matter of sound foreign policy, our difference with China, or with any other country for the matter, cannot be the sum total of our relationship with it or with any other,” he added.

Panelo described Robredo’s statement as habitual political attack against the Du-

terte administration that was not being given attention by the public.

“What is ‘profoundly disappointing and extremely irresponsible,’ to borrow her words, is her evolving penchant of finding fault in every word the President says, as well as issuing misplaced and flamboyant remarks against it,” he said.

The Palace official advised Robredo to be more “circumspect in issuing statements on the matter and rely more on her instinct as a lawyer and mother protective of those she is constitutionally tasked to shepherd.”

He said Robredo should understand the country’s complex relations with China on the issue of territory.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

POWER SUPPLY BIDDING SEEN TO REDUCE RATES

WORKING AS ONE. Lawmakers led by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Majority Floor Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez work as one in passing the 2020 budget of the Department of Labor and Employment represented by Secretary Silvestre Bello III Friday night at the plenary of the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

HOUSE: TAX REFORM UP FOR SENATE ACTION

By Maricel V. Cruz

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LEADER of the House of Representatives on Saturday expressed hopes that the Senate will act swiftly on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Reform Act (CITIRA) bill, that was passed by the House of Representatives on third and final reading on Friday.

Deputy Speaker for Finance Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the Malacañang-endorsed measure supports President Rodrigo Duterte’s vision of financial inclusion “as it will benefit some 90,000 small and medium enterprises [SMEs] through the gradual lowering of the corporate income tax [CIT] rate to 20 percent from the current 30 percent.”

Villafuerte said the bill “will level the playing field for SMEs, which employ most of the country’s

workforce, as they currently pay the regular CIT rate of 30 percent while some 3,000 bigger corporations favored by state-run investment promotion agencies [IPAs] pay a discounted rate of six percent to 13 percent tax on their net incomes.”

“These big companies, many of them on the list of the top 1,000 corporations in the country, can well afford to pay the regular tax rate yet they get to enjoy hundreds of billions of pesos in tax breaks yearly,” Villafuerte said.

Once enacted, Villafuerte said the CITIRA bill will eliminate this unfair practice, and put in place a better system that will be fair to all businesses.

“The new system will encourage firms to innovate, create more jobs, invest in skills training and new technologies, ” said Villafuerte, one of the authors of this CIT reform measure.

President Duterte sought the congressional approval of the CITIRA bill—the second package of his Comprehensive Tax Reform Program— during his fourth State of the Nation Address, saying this would boost SME growth.

The CITIRA or House Bill 313 aims to reduce the current CIT rate of 30 percent and implement a new system of fiscal incentives that is performance-

based, timebound, targeted and transparent.

According to Villafuerte, the final version passed by the House did not reduce incentives to investors, but has even transformed these into “super incentives” that will offer higher deductions if companies invest in upgrading the skills of their Filipino workers.

The bill, he said also supports President Duterte’s goal of regional or countryside development as it encourages investments in underdeveloped areas such as communities recovering from armed conflict or major disasters by offering additional tax deductions for companies incurring expenses for public infrastructure, utilities, irrigation, among others, on top of receiving tax incentives beyond the five-year limit.

Villafuerte said that under the bill, companies can get multi-year incentives in the form of income tax holidays, and even lower CIT rates and for longer periods if they locate in the countryside.

Additional deductions will also be given for firms investing in research and development and training, and for those that purchase and use inputs from domestic suppliers, which will be a boon for our SMEs, Villafuerte added.

PNP MAKES HISTORY ON GENDER EQUALITY

AS PART of efforts to uphold gender equality, the Philippine National Police on Saturday made history with the launching of the first-ever municipal police station, which is ran by female police officers, on the island-province of Siquijor.

Police Regional Office 7 (Central Visayas) director, Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, said the police station which operates in the municipality of Maria on the island is named as the “Mariang Pulis.”

“This move will strongly advance women empowerment in promoting public safety and security services at all levels of police units and

offices in the region,” Sinas said.

The “Mariang Pulis” is now led by newly designated chief of police, Capt. Judith Besas.

The women-dominated police station follows a rich history of the municipality of Maria.

Long before the Spaniards came to Siquijor, a settlement known as “Kangminya,” named after a famous native woman, already existed. It was eventually renamed to “Maria” in honor of “Our Lady of Divine Providence,” which became the town’s patron saint.

Maria is a fifth-class municipality with a total land area of 53.37

2

GROUPS DEMAND PROBE OF MRT-SUMITOMO DEAL

By Darwin G. Amojelar

CONSUMER groups have called for an investigation into the P18-billion MRT 3 maintenance contract of the government with Japanese maintenance provider Sumitomo Corp.

RJ Javellana of the United Filipino Consumers and Commuters demanded that the Department of Transportation must disclose the details of the five-year rehabilitation project for MRT 3.

“Aside from it being prohibitive, taxpayers and the riding public’s money are being spent on an undertaking that is not supposed to be shouldered by government as the private consortium who built the MRT 3 System should be the one to take charge and undertake the rehabilitation as stipulated in the BLT agreement forged between government and the Sobrepeña-led group,” Javellana said.

On Nov. 8, 2018, the Philippines and the Japan International Cooperation Agency signed the P18-billion loan agreement for the rehabilitation of MRT 3.

Under the MRT 3 Rehabilitation Project, Sumitomo-MHI will undertake the following: Overhaul all 72 Light

Rail Vehicles of the MRT 3; replace all mainline tracks; rehabilitate power and overhead catenary systems; upgrade the signaling system, communications and CCTV systems, and repair all of MRT 3’s escalators and elevators, among other system repairs and improvements.

The project will last for 43 months, with rehabilitation works slated for completion within the first 26 months.

Sammy Malunes, lead convenor and spokesperson of Riles Network, said hundreds of thousands of passengers’ lives and general safety are being put at risk every time they take the MRT Line 3 along EDSA following their discovery that safety nets of the rail system had been suspended since April of last year.

As a consequence, Malunes said, the safety of the riding public is undermined as the train operators and drivers will be forced to continue with the trip in spite of the risks involved until such time they were able to bring the trains back to the depot for repair.

“MRT 3 is indeed a rolling coffin. Do we have to wait for a major disaster before we all act on this foolishness by MRT and transport officials,” Malunes stressed.

square kilometers, which constitutes 15 percent of Siquijor’s total land area.

Prior to the launch, Maria Police Station was complimented by only six policewomen.

Col. Angela Rejano, Siquijor Police Provincial Officedirector, profiled all the assigned policewomen in the province and selected those who will undertake the capacity development training.

Rejano said they were trained on driving, shooting, arresting techniques, and other police operation and intervention procedures such as checkpoint, Automated Finger-

HARVEST MOON. A

harvest festival preceded the graduation rites at Sulit Farm in San Juan, Taytay where the participants reaped a bumper crop of vegetables and fruits.

Norman Cruz

print Identification System, and first aid, among others.

She said the Maria Police Station is now operating in full capacity with 21 total police strength, the ideal police force for a Class C municipality.

“Having initiated this new concept of gender and development for policewomen in Siquijor, the Mariang Pulis signals the time to move forward in promoting the vision and mission of the PNP in creating an opportunity for women to strengthen their role in the context of policing in the law enforcement pillar,” Rejano said. PNA

A GROUP of electricity users has welcomed what it described as the “successful Manila Electric Co. bidding for both 1,200 megawatts and 500 megawatts contract capacities.”

The bidding, the group said, is an expression of support for the Duterte administration’s vision of lower power rates by spearheading the Competitive Selection Process.

In a statement, the Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM) commended the Department of Energy led by Secretary Alfonso Cusi for issuing the 2018 DOE Circular on Competitive Selection Process, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.

“We thank Secretary Cusi for immediately implementing the Supreme Court decision, and for closely overseeing the Meralco bidding/competitive selection process.

Ultimately, we believe that the CSP process will cut down the generation charge of electricity rates,” AGHAM said.

AGHAM also highlighted the efforts of the distribution utility, pointing out that “the group thanks Meralco for conducting a fair and transparent bidding/CSP in accordance with the 2018 DOE Circular, which resulted in the award of PSAs to Phinma, SMEC and SPCC on basis of generation charges that were much lower than currently prevailing generation charges from gas and coal power generation companies.”

On Sept. 9, Meralco informed the public that PHINMA Energy Corp., San Miguel Energy Corp. and South Premiere Power Corp. were declared the best bids for the 1,200 MW contract capacity, to supply Meralco for a term of 10 years. On Sept. 11, it was announced that the Best Bids for 500 MW of midmerit capacity for a term of 5 years were those of First Gen Hydro Power, Phinma Energy and South Premiere.

Maricel V. Cruz

COP, 6 OTHERS NABBED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

By Joel E. Zurbano ANOTHER police officer, this time a member of the PNP Police Security and Protection Group, was arrested for drug trafficking in Taguig City, the National Capital Region Police Office said on Saturday.

Police Chief Master Sergeant Rahid Sanguan was collared along with six other individuals—Normina Sanguan; Alfonso Obejas; Ernie Legaspi; Joseph Denjuan; Ronnie Mark Sueño; and Nagrodin Ayob—during a buy-bust operation Friday night at a suspected drug den along V.P. Cruz Street in Barangay Lower Bicutan.

Recovered from the suspects were shabu worth P27,000, a sachet containing 17.5 grams of marijuana worth P2,100, a mobile phone and marked money worth P500 used in the police operation.

The suspects are now detained at the NCRPO headquarters in Taguig City, facing charges of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Sanguan was the latest police officer arrested for alleged involvement in drug use and trafficking.

A number of policemen and those who went AWOL (absent without official leave) are now facing administrative and criminal charges following their arrest during series of anti-drug operations conducted by the NCRPO in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and National Bureau of Investigation.

Among the police officers include: • Staff Sergeant Nestor Santos, assigned at the mobile patrol unit of Taguig City Police Community Precinct-2, who was arrested based on a search warrant issued by Judge Leili Cruz Suarez, Executive Judge of Taguig City regional trial court branch 163.

• Patrolman Ferdinand Rafael, assigned at the Manila Police Department Administration Holding Unit, who was even caught sniffing the prohibited substance inside apartment Room B356 at the corner of Calabasita and Calabash Streets in Barangay 539 Zone 53, District 4 in Sampaloc.

• Patrolman Jeffrey Amador, of Taguig City Police Community Precinct 1, who was arrested by the NCRPO and NBI personnel in his rented apartment at 23 F. Providencia Street, Barangay Central Signal, Taguig City.

• Alejandro Gacayan Hernandez, an AWOL policeman arrested during a checkpoint along Alabang-Zapote Road in Barangay Almanza Uno in Las Pinas City, and • Victor Bustamante Jr., another AWOL policeman formerly assigned at the NCRPO, who was arrested in a buybust operation in Muntinlupa City.

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News

P1.2-B BUDGET FOR FREE WI-FI

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE Department of Information and Communications Technology is spending another P1.2 billion next year to put up new Wi-Fi hotspots to provide Filipinos free and seamless Internet connectivity, a House official said on Saturday.

“The amount is on top of the P1.2 billion earmarked this year to build additional access points where Filipinos may freely connect to the Internet via their mobile devices,”said Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr., vice chairman of the House appropriations committee.

Citing a report submitted to Congress,

Campos said the DICT said it has so far installed password-free Wi-Fi hotspots in 2,330 sites covering all 17 regions in over 640 municipalities and cities as of April.

The fresh funding for the Free Internet Wi-Fi Connectivity in Public Places Project is lodged in the DICT budget in the proposed P4.1-trillion General Appropria-

tions Act for 2020, he said.

“Money for the project is being sourced from the Free Public Internet Access Fund,” Campos said.

Managed by the DICT, the fund is being sustained by spectrum user fees collected by the National Telecommunications Commission.

Campos is the author of House Bill No. 3563, which grants the NTC new broad powers to compel the country’s telecommunications sector to deliver superior Internet services to the public under pain of severe administrative monetary penalties.

To improve Internet services, the NTC in July finally issued a permit officially enabling

the Mislatel consortium (now DitoTelecommunity Corp.) to operate as the country’s third telecommunications player, next to PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. “Dito’s entry fulfills President Rodrigo Duterte’s bold initiative to establish stronger market competition so as to assure Filipinos greater access to low-priced high-speed Internet services,” Campos said.

Dito has pledged to invest P257 billion inside five years to provide 84 percent of the country access to a minimum Internet speed of 55 Mbps.

Campos is pushing for greater overall budgetary support to the three-year-old DICT.

TIANANMEN ‘TANK MAN’ PHOTOGRAPHER PASSES AWAY THE photographer who snapped the defining image of China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown—a solitary man defiantly blocking the path of a column of tanks—has died in Indonesia, according to US officials.

American authorities confirmed the death of 64-year-old Charlie Cole in Bali, where the Texan had been a long-time resident.

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a state department official told AFP. Cole won the 1990 World Press Photo award for his picture of a man in a white shirt, carrying a shopping bag in each hand, striding out into the road the day after troops killed hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in the heart of Beijing.

The man, whose identity remains unknown, stopped in front of a column of

tanks and armored vehicles stretching far down the road, later climbing onto the vehicle to engage in a conversation with one of the tank crew as gunshots crackled in the air.

“Tank Man” has become one of the defining images of the 20th century, but the image remains largely unrecognized in China due to censorship of the image and the wider crackdown.

His mystique has been reinforced by his subsequent disappearance, probably at the hands of Chinese security forces.

Several photographers captured Tank Man’s lone figure on film that day. A picture of the scene by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press, snapped from the balcony of the Beijing Hotel, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. AFP

Charlie Cole’s awardwinning photo of a man who stopped in front of tanks during China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown.

ISKO: MANILA WILL BE RICHEST NCR CITY BY 2022

By Vito Barcelo MAYOR Francisco “Isko” Domagoso predicted that the city of Manila will overtake Makati as the richest city in the National Capital Region by 2022.

Domagoso, during a business forum at the Manila Polo Club, said the city is expecting a P90-billion windfall from the Bureau of Customs following a Supreme Court ruling that widened the base of local government units’ shares in the country’s taxes.

“In the next three years, Manila will become the richest city in the country... That is not a dream—I am just stating facts based on the decision of the Supreme Court,” he said.

The High Court last year ruled that the “just share” of LGUs must be computed based on all national taxes, not just those from national internal revenue taxes.

“The city of Manila has two of the biggest ports in the country, the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port. Manila will get rich,” Domagoso said.

The mayor said the city’s higher share from Customs duties will be used to finance health care, housing, education and traffic programs.

Makati City is at present the richest city in the National Capital Region, followed by Quezon City. The city of Manila is at the third spot.

Domagoso invited businessmen to invest more in Manila, citing the local government’s inroad to lower taxes, reduce crime rate, and achieve ease of doing business.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Opinion TEEN CLIMATE ACTIVIST TAKES FIGHT TO WHITE HOUSE

EDITORIAL

W

LET’S BE CAREFUL, MEANWHILE

ITH reports on dead pigs—and the number is rising—found floating in water arteries in Metro Manila, following the pitch from African swine fever affecting health thermometers that have killed pigs in several countries from Slovakia to China, it is best for consumers to exercise caution.

While medical experts say the virus is not harmful to humans although it causes haemorrhagic fever in pigs that almost always ends in death, the public would not lose anything by being heedful despite precipitous front-page pictures of officials eating roasted suckling pigs to endorse the

argument that pigs are safe.

Nothing wrong with that. But with officials admitting earlier on that the African swine fever has been detected in some parts near the metropolis, like Rizal province, the picture taking, with officials in front of cameras, appears to many an incautious official gesture.

Instead of asking the population to be careful, some have the impertinence to go in front of cameras and shout to the four winds that pork is safe to eat.

Latest available figures suggest the Philippine swine herd has been estimated at 12.7 million heads, including approximately 8 million pigs in backyard farms and 4.7 million in commercial farms. In the feverafflicted areas, more than 7,000 hogs have been culled, many buried alive.

We note that the Philippines, a basically agricultural economy, is the seventh largest pork importer and is the latest Asian nation to be jabbed by the ASF, challenging government efforts to protect its $5-billion hog industry that

included a ban on pork imports.

The Philippines had banned pork and pork-based products from more than a dozen countries, including Vietnam, Laos and China, the third the world’s biggest pork consumer. In China, where there are nearly 1.4 billion people, making it the world’s most populous nation, the ASF outbreak has spread through every province and region of the mainland.

As must be vital, Filipino officials should tighten animal quarantine and food safety measures, prohibit the transport of live animals and meat products without health and shipping permits.

And the consuming public must be careful in the meanwhile.

By Ivan Couronne TEEN climate champion Greta Thunberg brought her global environmental message to the heart of the US government on Friday, telling her legion of supporters outside the White House: “Never give up.”

The 16-year-old Swede, who has inspired youngsters across the world with her urgent call to arms, demanded action from the world’s number one economy and its notoriously climate change skeptical president as part of a demonstration kicking off two weeks of protest.

Thunberg joined a few hundred people who shouted slogans and sang, but was careful to stay near the back, avoiding the limelight and questions from the media before finally addressing her supporters.

“Never give up—we will continue,” she said in a speech thanking the crowd and rallying the wider teen environment movement to keep up pressure on polluters.

“I’m just going to say I’m so incredibly grateful for every single one of you, I’m so proud of you to have come here,” she said.

Thunberg isn’t as well known in the United States as in Europe, but her six-day stay in the capital Washington will nonetheless be marked by high-profile honors.

On Monday, Amnesty International will present her its highest honor for human rights work and she will testify before Congress on Sept. 18 on the invitation of House Democrats.

On Wednesday, she was a guest on The Daily Show in New York, where she called again on young people to mobilize and to stop man-made global warming, since older generations have failed to act.

“We in a way feel like it is a direct threat, others feel like, ‘I won’t be alive then anyway, so screw it,’” she said.

Thunberg, who was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of 12, arrived in the US on Aug. 28 on a zero-emissions yacht.

She rose to fame after she began sitting outside the Swedish parliament in August last year to get members to act on climate change.

She was quickly joined by other students around the world, as word of her strike spread through the media, and the “Fridays for future” movement was born.

New York authorities have given their blessing for the next strike on Sept. 20, in which students from the city’s 1,700 schools will participate.

“New York City stands with our young people. They’re our conscience. We support the 9/20 #ClimateStrike,” Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter.

UN SUMMITS Thunberg was clearly an inspiring figure at Monday’s protest, with fellow teens expressing feelings of protectiveness when a media scrum tried to mob her.

“I think she’s an amazing leader and I’m happy to have her in our midst,” said 15-year-old Kallan Benson.

“But it’s sad that we have to celebritize people, and to put this much pressure on a teenager just like me.”

A growing number of Americans are describing climate change as a “crisis,” and two-thirds believe the president is doing too little to tackle the problem, a new poll published by the Washington Post said Friday.

The poll found that about eight in 10 Americans believe human activity is fueling climate change, and roughly half believe urgent action is needed over the next decade to avert disaster.

But President Donald Trump’s administration remains deaf to these demands.

Since taking power in 2017, the president has pursued an aggressive policy of deregulation of everything from traffic pollution to coal-fired plants, drilling offshore and in the wilderness, and the maintenance of clean waterways.

The president’s Republican Party and has even come out strongly in favor of energy inefficient light bulbs.

Many of the rollbacks have been challenged in court and are not yet in effect, but it represents a 180-degree shift in direction over his predecessor, Barack Obama.

American policies will undoubtedly come under fire when the UN holds a series of high-level climate meetings in New York over the coming weeks.

But the US is far from alone, with experts deeming the climate commitments from nearly every country to fall far short of what is required.

A Youth Climate Summit will take place at the UN on Sept. 21, followed by the UN Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23 convened by the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to find ways for countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Guterres has called on leaders to reduce these emissions by 45 percent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050.

Thunberg will be ever present, whether marching on the streets or in rooms filled with powerful global leaders, who have done little so far to impress her. AFP

TELEMEDICINE GIVES HOPE TO HEART PATIENTS IN IVORY COAST

By David Esnault EVERY time Catherine Coulibaly’s 19-year-old son had to make a routine appointment with the cardiologist for his heart condition, she gritted her teeth as she silently counted the financial cost.

It wasn’t just the hospital fee —there was the transport, food and accommodation, too, all of it amounting to a hefty burden for an Ivorian family on a modest income.

But thanks to telemedicine— consultations that doctors conduct through the internet or by phone —this cost is now a fading memory.

Her son can book an appointment at a telemedicine facility in a nearby town in northern Ivory Coast.

There, he is attached to monitoring machines which send the data sent to Bouake University Hospital in the center of the country, where it is scrutinized by a heart doctor.

The fledgling technology has long been championed by health advocates for poor rural economies.

Ivory Coast has become an

African testbed for it, thanks to a project linking the Bouake hospital’s cardiac department with health centers in several northern towns, some of which are a fourhour drive away.

Telemedicine “caused a sigh of relief for the population of Bouake, Boundiali, Korhogo, everyone,” says Auguste Dosso, president of the “Little Heart” association, which helps families with cardiac health issues.

Some 45 percent of the Ivorian population live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank’s latest estimate in 2017. And the minimum monthly wage—not always respected—is only around $100, or 90 euros.

HEART DISEASE SURGING The pioneer behind the scheme is cardiologist Florent Diby, who set up an association called Wake Up Africa.

In Ivory Coast, heart disease, diabetes and other “lifestyle” ailments are surging, Diby explained.

“Urbanization is making people

more sedentary, and there’s the rise in tobacco consumption, changes in diet, stress,” Diby said.

Three decades ago, only around one in eight of the Ivorian population had high blood pressure —now the figure is one in four, on a par with parts of Western Europe.

But in Ivory Coast—and across Africa—well-equipped cardiology units are rare.

“Ninety percent of heart attacks can be diagnosed by telemedicine, so for us cardiologists it’s a revolutionary technology,” said Diby.

The beauty of the telemedicine scheme is that neither the doctor nor the patient has to travel far.

The cardiac patient is hooked up to the electrocardiogram (ECG) and other diagnostic machines with the help of a technician in a local health center, which is connected to a computer in Bouake’s University Hospital.

The cardiologist there can then see the results in real time, provide a diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

The five-year-old project has

already linked 10 health centers to the seven cardiologists at Bouake, enabling 4,800 patients in other towns to receive consultations by telemedicine each year. The goal is to expand this to 20 sites, doubling the intake.

Expertise France, the French public agency for international technical assistance, subsidizes up to 185,000 euros of the network, which pays for equipment such as computers, artificial intelligence software and internet connections.

Diby is now calling for telemedicine to be expanded in other medical fields such as neurology and psychiatry, not just in the Ivory Coast, but across West Africa, too.

That opinion is shared by other experts. Sixty percent of Africans live in rural areas, where shortages of doctors are usually acute.

But numerous hurdles need to be overcome, especially investment in computers and access to the Internet, according to a 2013 analysis published by the US National Library of Medicine. AFP

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POMPEO AT HELM OF US FOREIGN POLICY WASHINGTON—Speaking at the White House after John Bolton’s surprise exit as national security adviser, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo couldn’t hide a smile of satisfaction.

With the departure of Bolton, Pompeo has become the undisputed king of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy —with the exception, that is, of Trump himself.

The former soldier, lawyer and businessman has made a quick ascent in Washington since arriving as a Kansas congressman elected in the 2010 rightwing populist “Tea Party” movement.

But many speculate that Pompeo will choose not to stay long in his newly powerful position, enticed by an opening to represent Kansas in the Senate next year —perhaps with an eye on running for the top prize in the 2024 presidential election.

First tapped as CIA director before moving to the State Department last year, Pompeo is so close to Trump that the president last year said he was his only advisor with whom he has never argued.

Expectations even rose that Trump would name Pompeo to replace Bolton -a rare dual-role as national security advisor and secretary of state last held by Henry Kissinger.

Trump on Thursday ruled out the possibility but called Pompeo “fantastic” and said, “I get along with him so well.”

Yet Pompeo’s power, analysts say, comes with a paradox. While Bolton, a Washington insider for over four decades, bulldozed his way to steer US foreign policy to the right on issues from Iran to Venezuela, Pompeo has risen because he is careful to follow Trump’s lead.

“Pompeo is influential but it is important to be realistic about his influence—he’s influential because he does not push his agenda too much,” said Tom Wright, a foreign policy scholar at the Brookings Institution.

“He knows when to give up. He is the last person standing but also he’s not particularly influential on policy,” he said.

“He pushes his views and then he gives up quite early on if he sense that Trump is going in another direction.”

Pompeo, 55, made his name in Congress by blasting Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, for not stopping the deadly 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

As the top US diplomat, Pompeo hit the ground running with assertive conservative positions, such as demanding far-reaching concessions by Iran if it wants to remove unilateral US sanctions.

But Pompeo on Tuesday instead left open the possibility that Trump would meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and said there were no preconditions.

Pompeo became Trump’s fixer on North Korea, flying four times last year to the totalitarian state as the US leader sought a potentially landmark deal with Pyongyang.

Pompeo’s State Department has also negotiated with the Taliban in hopes of achieving Trump’s goal of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and ending the US involvement in the 18-year conflict. AFP

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that SR CLEAN AND GREEN ENERGY CORPORATION is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as New Export Producer of Biofuel Pellets with a capacity of 37,800MTPY on a Non-Pioneer Status with project site located in AH23 MCL Highway, Brgy. Manicahan, Zamboanga City.

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

(SGD.) NESTOR P. ARCANSALIN Director Resource-based Industries Service

(MS-SEPT. 15, 2019)

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES CORPORATION 11-B Sunrise Drive. Brgy. Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Cubao, Quezon City

NOTICE OF CALL FOR PAYMENT OF ANY OR ALL UNPAID STOCK SUBSCRIPTIONS To All ERC Stockholders: Please be informed that the Board of Directors of Educational Resources Corporation (ERC), in a meeting held on July 27, 2019 at Cucina, Marco Polo, unanimously approved the following resolutions: RESOLVED THAT: 1. The Board calls for the payment of all unpaid subscriptions to the 400,000 shares of stock of ERC not later than September 30,2019.

2. All subscriptions to the 400,000 ERC shares of stock unpaid after September 30, 2019 be declared as delinquent.

3. All delinquent ERC shares of stock be distributed to all stockholders of record as of September 30,2019 in proportion to their percentage of ownership of ERC shares of stock.

Please give or send your payment to the Treasurer of the Corporation, Mrs. Raquel C, Bilasano at the office of the Corporation at 11-B Sunrise Drive, Brgy, Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Cubao, Quezon City on or before September 30,2019.

(Sgd) Atty. LACANDOLA S. LEAÑO Corporate Secretary MS-AUG. 8, 29 & SEPT. 15, 2019)

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor / Jimbo Gulle, Issue Editor

HK’S POLARIZATION DEEPENS WITH FIGHTS H

ONG KONG —Fights erupted in Hong Kong on Saturday with political rivals trading blows in a mall and Beijing supporters using Chinese flags to assault opponents on a street, deepening the city’s polarization after months of prodemocracy protests.

The once stable international hub has been convulsed by weeks of huge, sometimes violent rallies calling for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

The movement is the biggest challenge to China’s rule since the city was handed back by Britain in 1997 and shows no sign of ending, with city leaders and Beijing taking a hard line.

Fights have begun breaking out with increased frequency after pro-democracy supporters began holding impromptu singalongs of a popular protest anthem—and as pro-Beijing supporters have held rival gatherings to sing China’s national anthem.

In the district of Fortress Hill on Saturday a group of men, many waving Chinese flags and wearing blue t-shirts declaring “I love HK police”, attacked people perceived to be pro-democracy protesters.

Multiple videos posted online showed the group of men assaulting largely younger victims with large flags on poles—and with punches and kicks—as terrified onlookers ran away.

Hong Kong police did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.

Fortress Hill is next to North Point, an area of the city where similar mob attacks by government supporters have occurred this summer and which has long been a bastion of pro-Beijing sentiment.

Fights later broke out between pro-China and prodemocracy supporters in Amoy Plaza, a shopping center on the other side of the harbor.

An AFP photographer on scene said some two hundred people had gathered to wave Chinese flags and sing the national anthem.

Violence erupted after pro-democracy supporters arrived on the scene with several people on both sides visibly bloodied and bruised.

Police with shields and helmets later rushed into the mall, ending the fights.

Some young pro-democracy supporters were seen being detained outside and inside the mall by police.

The South China Morning Post said fights also broke out between ideological rivals in a subway station.

Democracy protesters have accused police of taking sides, clamping down harder on their camp than violent government supporters—accusations the force has strongly denied. AFP

THE HIGH LIFE. A couple sit on the terrace of a cafe in Istanbul, Turkey as seagulls fly over them on Tuesday. AFP

DRONE HITS SPARK FIRES AT ARAMCO OIL DEPOTS RIYADH—Drone attacks sparked fires at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities early Saturday, the interior ministry said, in the latest assault on the state-owned energy giant as it prepares for a much-anticipated stock listing.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two major Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia, but it follows a spike in regional tensions with Iran.

“At 4:00 am (0100 GMT) the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of... drones,” the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“The two fires have been controlled.”

The statement added that an investigation had been launched after the attack in the kingdom’s Eastern Province but did not specify the source of the drones.

It also did not say if there were any casualties or whether operations at the two facilities had been affected.

The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as reporters were not allowed near the plants where Saudi authorities appeared to have beefed up security.

In recent months, Yemen’s Iranaligned Huthi rebels have carried out a spate of cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi air bases and other facilities in what they say is retaliation for a long-running Saudi-led bombing campaign on rebel-held areas.

The Huthis did not immediate claim responsibility for Saturday’s attacks, but the rebels’ Al-Masirah television tweeted that it would release an “important statement” about a major drone operation in the kingdom.

Last month, an attack claimed

by Yemen’s Huthi rebels sparked a fire at Aramco’s Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility—close to the Emirati border—but no casualties were reported by the company.

Rebel drones also targeted two oil pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s key east-west pipeline in May, shutting it down for several days.

The growing attacks highlight how the Yemeni rebels’ increasingly advanced weaponry—from ballistic missiles to unmanned drones —post a serious threat to mighty neighbor Saudi Arabia, especially its oil installations. AFP

TROPICAL STORM ‘HUMBERTO’ TARGETS HURRICANE-HIT BAHAMAS MIAMI—The devastated northern Bahama islands were facing a fresh tropical storm on Saturday, potentially complicating desperately needed relief efforts to the shattered archipelago in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

The announcement from the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) came after it had warned early Friday that a strengthening tropical depression was heading for the same islands hit by Dorian last week.

The storm, dubbed Humberto, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane, moving very near the northwestern Bahamas on Saturday,

before shifting to offshore Florida after the weekend, the Miamibased forecaster said.

Grand Bahama and Abaco—in the path of the strengthening weather system, according to Bahamian forecasters—were among the worst-hit by Dorian.

Carl Smith, a spokesman for the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), warned the storm could have an impact on relief and recovery efforts on the islands.

“The weather system will slow down logistics,” Smith told a press conference in Nassau, the capital.

“Fuel and water remain the biggest

needs in Abaco.”

Humberto was generating 40 mile (64 kilometer) per hour winds, the NHC said, and was expected to become a hurricane in two or three days.

Winds of up to 60 miles (100 kilometers) per hour were expected and heavy rainfall could bring some flooding to the already saturated islands, said the Department of Meteorology’s director Trevor Basden.

The announcement that yet another storm would lash the Bahamas came as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the dangers of climate change during a visit to the hurricane-battered ar-

chipelago.

Guterres said in a tweet he had come to the Bahamas “to express my solidarity with the Bahamian people” and “ways we can continue supporting them.”

He said 75 percent of all buildings had been destroyed in some areas

by Dorian, a Category 5 storm.

“Hospitals are either in ruins, or overwhelmed,” Guterres said.

“Schools have been turned into rubble. Thousands of people will continue to need help with food, water and shelter.”

He said the hurricane demonstrated the need to address climate change. AFP

AT LEAST 11 DEAD, MOSTLY ELDERLY, IN RIO HOSPITAL FIRE RIO DE JANEIRO -- At least 11 people, many of them elderly, were killed when a fire swept through a hospital in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro as staff and desperate visitors battled to rescue patients from smoke-filled wards.

Hospital authorities said the blaze late on Thursday was thought to have been caused by a short circuit in a generator, although the city mayor said sabotage could not be ruled out.

Firefighters tackled the fire at the private Badim hospital, near Rio’s Maracana World Cup football stadium, for several hours before finally managing to extinguish it.

The city’s forensic institute said most of the dead were aged 66 or over, many of whom were in the intensive care unit.

“The majority were due to suffocation and other causes related

to the accident... the devices keeping them alive stopped working because of the fire,” Gabriela Graca, director of the forensic institute, told local media.

Emergency personnel searched through the burned-out building until the early hours of Friday to recover bodies.

The hospital said there had been 103 patients in the building when the fire broke out and that “more than 100 doctors were mobilized to bring help to the victims.” Seventy-seven of them had been moved to other hospitals while 14 had been cleared to return home.

During the evacuation, patients on gurneys and stretchers were carried into surrounding streets as ambulances struggled through crowds of curious onlookers to transport patients to other medical facilities. AFP

TWIN LIGHTS. People on the shore watch The Tribute in Light shining into the sky over Manhattan’s skyline on Wednesday in New York. The art installation of 88 searchlights is marking the 18th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. AFP

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OS T O PH F THE O EEK W

CENTER OF ATTENTION.

Bureau of Corrections maximum security compound overseer office chief Sr. Insp. Roy Vivo (left) and BuCor documents and records chief Ramoncito Roque testify on Monday at the resumption of the Senate inquiry into the alleged Good Conduct Time Allowance ‘for sale’ inside the prison in Muntinlupa City.

Ey Acasio

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BEAMING. Some of the 28 candidates from different barangays for the Ganda Quezon City Binibini 2019 show off their looks during the press presentation at the Fisher Mall Activity Center on Tuesday. The pageant’s coronation night is on Oct. 25 at the Skydome of SM City North in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

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WEATHERPROOF. Workers clean the walls of a mall in Quezon City despite the driving rains caused by the southwest monsoon on Tuesday. Manny Palmero

WRONG GOOD

S. A worker goes thro Manila, part of 16 ugh the seized by the Bu reau of Customs contents of two container vans agricultural prod at the Port of on Wednesday as ucts from China they contained with an estimat misdeclared ed worth of P53 million. Norman Cruz

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Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

EQUESTRIANPH: SEEKING TO LIFT SPORT’S STANDARDS

E

Carissa Coscolluela

QUESTRIAN Philippines, Inc. (EquestrianPH) is committed to promoting excellence in equestrian disciplines and in horsemanship through the organization of and participation in activities, clinics, competitions, and other programs both in the Philippines and abroad with the end in view of upgrading the standard of the sport in the country and achieving excellence to keep our riders competitive in the international arena.

EquestrianPH brings together the efforts of Carissa Coscolluela as President, Toni Leviste (Leviste Equestrian Park) as Vice President, Joker Arroyo (JFJC Equestrian Training Services) as Sports Director, Marivi Camcam as Finance Director, and Anton Barretto as Communications Director under one umbrella, making it the leading provider of equestrian training, competition, management, development, and promotions services in the country.

Equestrian PH has also internationally secured some of the best matched horses for our local riders and have facilitated the importation and entry of these horses into the Philippines through our logistics partner, Peden Bloodstock, in Germany.

Key to the development of riders is a consistent training program with a long-term plan for the progression of riders and horses through different levels.

Over the last 15 years, EquestrianPH has provided intensive clinics with some of the most respected jumping and dressage trainers in the world in both jumping and dressage, among them, the renowned Jos Kumps (BEL), Sebastian Pellon Maison (ARG), Hideo Watabe (JPN), Fred Jansson (SWE), Valentin Marcotte (FRA), Colin Syquia (PHI), Miranda Fischer (USA), Lisa White (NZL), and Guillaume Ducos (BEL).

Care for equine partners is also foremost in the priorities of EquestrianPH. In order to ensure the health and well-being of horses, a careful and thorough maintenance program is implemented under the supervision of some of the top veterinarians in the sporthorse industry, namely, John Österdahl (SWE), Eric Roosens (BEL), Jeroen Lissens (FRA), and Catharina Lange (GER), as well as an excellent farrier, Patrick Vanbeveren (BEL), an equine dentist, Neil Jolly (AUS), and equine chiropractor Lionel Woodward (AUS). All of these professionals come to the Philippines at meticulously timed intervals to provide optimal care for our horses.

EquestrianPH places great importance in the development of young riders as competitive athletes who are prepared to take on the greatest challenges in the sport.

To help hone their skills, EquestrianPH finds the best international training programs for pony, children, junior, and young riders and arrange seasonal training and competition stints for them in the sport’s leading leagues. EquestrianPH also organizes regional inter-club exchanges between the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries in order to expose younger riders to team competitions.

Proof of the success of the EquestrianPH program is the strong presence of its riders at the highest levels of the sport both in the Philippines and abroad. Its national team consists mainly of riders who have grown through its program, and its riders see action in the most competitive arenas in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

KEY EQUESTRIANPH PEOPLE MA. CARISSA O. COSCOLLUELA, President Carissa has been involved in equestrian sports as a rider, horse owner, chef d’equipe, sponsor and advocate, and in governance positions since the early 1990s. She

Joker A. Arroyo served as the Secretary General of the Philippine national federation from 2001 to 2006, having been on the board of the Philippine Equestrian Federation and a founder of its successor, the Equestrian Association of the Philippines. As a Member of the 14th Congress of the House of Representatives, she was an active member of the Committee on Youth and Sports, particularly in the effort to define funding sources and collect revenues for Philippine sports programs. She is currently a Governor of the Philippine Red Cross, and the Chairperson of its Blood Services Program.

Carissa has been a tireless supporter of the National Team and is at the forefront of promoting and securing support and funding for Philippine riders competing at international grand prix level, and at regional, continental, and world championships.

In 2005, she spearheaded the local organization of the Southeast Asian World Cup League Finals in Manila and the equestrian event of the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games, sourcing funding and leading all logistics, venue, technical, and team preparation for both events. She has served as the chef d’equipe of the Philippine Team at the 1992 Southeast Asian Showjumping Championships in Hua Hin, Thailand, the 1993 Southeast Asian Showjumping Championships in Singapore, the 1998 Asian Games in Saraburi, Thailand, the 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games where the Philippines won Team Gold, Individual Silver, and Individual Bronze, and the 2006 Doha Asian Games.

When riding, Carissa is based at the Leviste Equestrian Park in Lipa City, Batangas with her horses Waiducci and FAB. When training in Europe, she is based at Helgstrand Dressage in Vodskov, Denmark, the top dressage facility in Europe, with her chestnut gelding Watson.

MARIE ANTONETTE S. LEVISTE, Vice President Making the country proud has always been Toni’s dream. Throughout her entire career as an equestrian, Toni has relentlessly pursued making this dream a reality. A true Filipino athlete in her heart and in her soul, she continues her equestrian campaign representing the Philippines in several prestigious competitions, with a passion that drives her to realize her goal of once again competing at the Olympic Games and bringing home a medal for the country.

Toni has represented the Philippines at countless championships, the most prestigious of which were the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the World Equestrian Games (World Championships) in Jerez, Spain in 2002 and in Tryon, North Carolina in 2018, and the 1999 World Cup Finals in Gothenburg, Sweden. She is the only Filipino rider who has qualified to and competed at the three most important events on the international equestrian calendar. She was also the winner of the Grand Prix at CSI Samorin in Slovakia in 2017, for which she was given a citation by the Philippine Sportswriters Association for being the first Filipino rider to win a Grand Prix in Europe.

At regional and continental championships, Toni has consistently delivered for the country, bringing home the following medals: Team Silver–2002 Busan Asian Games and 2011 Jakarta Southeast Asian Games, Team Gold– 2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games, Individual Silver –2005 Manila Southeast Asian Games and 2011 Jakarta Southeast Asian Games.

In the Philippines, Toni owns and manages the country’s premier equestrian facility, the Leviste Equestrian Park in Lipa City, Batangas. As an extension of her operation, she also owns Leap of Faith Global Equestrian Management LLC in Wellington, Florida, a full service company that includes in its portfolio a 3.5-acre worldclass equestrian facility in the winter capital of American equestrian sports.

JOKER A. ARROYO, Sports Director Joker has loved horses since the day she was born. She started riding at the age of 7, during what her parents be-

Toni Leviste lieved to be a “passing phase,” at Equestrian Promotions in Ayala Alabang. Alas, 24 years later, not much has changed!

She continues to prefer the company of her animals to anyone else, and is rarely seen without her faithful canine companions, Dougie and Leo, by her side.

Joker made her debut on the Philippine National Team at the 2005 South East Asian Games in Manila, where she was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the tender age of 17. After pausing briefly from competition to pursue her studies at Yale University, where she finished with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, she went on to be a part of the silver medal-winning team at the 2011 South East Asian Games in Jakarta. Joker has also represented the country in the 2017 South East Asian Games, the 2014 Asian Games, and 2018 Asian Games.

Joker splits her time between Europe and the Philippines. When home, Joker is the founder and trainer behind JFJC Equestrian Services. Operating out of the Manila Polo Club, Joker trains a select group of riders and horses, all committed to pursuing the sport at the top level.

Alongside being exigent from a technical standpoint, she emphasizes teamwork and horse management, all with the view of producing athletes that will one day represent the Philippines internationally.

When in France, Joker is based with her trainer, Guillaume Batillat, east of Paris. With her team of horses (Ubama Alia, Doucardi, Hamilton B, and Didi de Goedereede), she can be seen in national and international events all across Europe.

While she concedes that with age, it hurts more now when she falls and that she is far less inclined to ride horses wild horses, her passion for the sport has only grown in intensity.

She continues to set goals upon goals, with ever-expanding ambitions for the future. Nothing gives her a greater sense pride than riding for the country, and for so long as she is able, she will do so with the utmost joy and determination.

The best is yet to come.

MA. VICTORIA G. CAMCAM, Finance Director Marivi has been an active member of the equestrian community since her children started riding in 2005. Today, she is stable mom mostly to 14-year-old Nicole, who has been competing in the Philippines, Sweden, and the United States. She is the cool mom who has everything covered for the whole team, from cold towels, to snacks, to the most flamboyant costume parade outfits! She is also the mom who knows where to find shavings and hay, and find ways to import everyone’s equipment and gear.

Marivi is the efficiency and speed behind Equestrian PH. Known to always get things done and to leave no stone unturned, she has been instrumental in the management of services offered by Equestrian PH, among them, clinics, farrier services, and veterinary consultations.

When not watching over Nicole at the Manila Polo Club or at Leviste Equestrian Park, Marivi travels with her to the American showgrounds of Wellington, FL, Tryon, NC, Princeton, NJ, and Old Salem and the Hamptons, NY. ALFREDO ANTONIO G. BARRETTO, Communications Director Anton is a prominent personality in the country’s design and media scene, being the editor of Metro Home, and the host of Metro Home TV. He is a sought after interior designer and the owner of the lifestyle and furnishings store NEST. For Equestrian PH, he is in charge of coordinating all tri-media communications initiatives, making sure everyone knows what’s in store and what we do, so that everyone can participate in our activities. He is also a permanent fixture on the bleachers supporting our national team at championships all over the world.

Being an avid rider, Anton has trained for showjumping with Toni Leviste and Joker Arroyo in the Philippines, and in Langholt and Try in Northern Denmark with German trainer Maik Kohlschmidt. Anton has competed locally at the Manila Polo Club.

GAMERS, GET READY FOR PREDATOR LEAGUE 2020 READY to demolish the competitors? Sharpen your skills Predator League 2020 opens the online registration on and polish your strategy because Predator League 2020 Sept. 1, 2019. The fierce and lucky gamers will face each other wants to see what you’ve got as it stages the tournament on a series of 16 regional qualifiers starting Sept. 14, 2019 at in the Philippines.

TNC Cafes nationwide. The Philippine Grand Finals will then Predator has always been the brand of choice of profesbe held on November 30 – December 1, 2019 to determine sional and hardcore gamers. It boasts the most complete the best team that will represent the country at the regional gaming devices line ranging from laptop, desktop, monitor, APAC Predator League 2020 finals happening here. tablet, and projector. Powered by the latest technology inIn 2018, Predator League was launched as an APAC esports novations, gaming hardware and electronics brand Predator tournament with the hopes of discovering new highly skilled proved to be the most reliable ally of these gaming warriors. gamers who are willing to go pro. The Philippines produced Gamers across the Philippines will have to fight it out some of the most dedicated and exceptionally skilled gamto claim the rightful title of champions and collect the loers who would be able to represent the country in the Grand cal prize pool of a whopping P780,000 in Defense of the Championship of Predator League in Indonesia.

Ancients 2 (Dota 2) by Valve and PlayerUnknown’s BattleThe Philippine team showed the world what it’s made of grounds (PUBG) by PUBG, Corporation. when TNC Predator seized the championship title for DOTA 2 Acer PH Executives with TNC Predator and The tournament is held annually to give veteran at Predator League 2019 held in Thailand.

Predator Arkangel Team and newbie gamers the fighting chance to the coveted This year, Predator is the official title sponsor of TNC Dota prize. It is also Predator’s way of showing its commitment to making the gaming in- 2 Pro Team and ArkAngel PUBG Pro Team. Each team was provided with the exceptional tools dustry thrive and flourish allowing new talents to rise, to aim high, and who always and devices that they used to step up their game and perform to the best of their ability withhave their eyes on the prize. out having to question their equipment.

JARAULA SCORES BREAKTHROUGH WIN AT PUEBLO CAGAYAN de Oro – Del Monte’s Reymon Jaraula buried two long, brilliant putts to achieve a dream championship, the first sending the playoff to another hole and the last, humbling multi-titled Tony Lascuña to claim the ICTSI Pueblo de Oro Championship crown before a roaring crowd here yesterday.

On a course that provided all the ingredients to an ending replete with thrill and suspense and marked by shift in fortunes, Lascuña appeared all set to snapping a long title drought with a victory on the first playoff hole until Jaraula drilled in an improbable parsaving putt from 26 feet to force extension in the P2.5 million sixth leg of the 10th season of the Philippine Golf Tour.

On their third trip on the 418-yard No. 18 in the day, both hit their approach shots in almost the same distance, some two pins atop the hole with Lascuña putting first that came inches short. Gaining a good read from that Lascuña flubbed bid, Jaraula deftly stroke the putt that gathered steam on its downward slope before disappearing into the cup, sparking a wild celebration from a gallery that had backed up the Del Monte find who calls Pueblo de Oro his home from Day One. “I just couldn’t believe that I finally won,” said Jaraula, who kept on trying to put it all together in a fruitless chase for Jaraula a maiden crown since he broke into the pro ranks in 2013.

But he used as motivation his meltdown at Aboitiz Invitational at Wack Wack last week which he led after 36 holes but wound up joint eighth with disastrous 76-77 in the last two rounds to finally nail the elusive win and join the elite circle of winners on the Philippine Golf Tour with a P450,000 check in hand.

Lascuña finished with flourish in regulation, pulling off a couple of chip shots in the last four, including an eagle on No. 15 and the last for birdie on the 72nd hole that spiked his closing 67 and tied him with Jaraula, who carded a 70, at 17-under 271.

After Jaraula missed the green on the first playoff hole and chipped over three pins short of target, the amiable Davaoeño ace reached the water-laced No. 18 in two and faced at a birdie chance from 12 feet. But Jaraula rolled in that pressurepacked putt from long range, stunning Lascuña no less while the gallery erupted and heaved a sigh of relief.

Lascuña cracked and missed his putt, firing up Jaraula and the crowd all the more and leaving the former winless since beating Zanieboy Gialon by three at Forest Hills in 2017.

TAN, MACATULA BAG BWC TITLES YOUTHFUL national bowler Merwin Tan shocked legendary Paeng Nepomuceno while 2017 international champion Krizziah Tabora-Macatula toppled multi-titled Liza del Rosario Saturday to claim the 2019 Bowling World Cup titles and the trip to Indonesia for the international finals in November.

“I was surprised to beat Paeng, I’m so happy,” said 20-year-old Tan, who repeated as national champion after winning the match of lefty bowlers, 2-0 (186-182 and 244-200) in the men’s finals at Paeng’s Eastwood Bowl.

A student at College of St, BenildeAntipolo who started playing when he was only 8 years old, Tan pledged to train harder in a bid to succeed in his second straight try for the world title, this time in Palembang, Indonesia, on November 16-24. Last year, Tan competed in the international event at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For 28-year-old Tabora-Macatula who also won 2-0 (237-211 and 213180) over Del Rosario, she said she would try her best to repeat her 2017 triumph in the world ladies’ finals in Hermosillo, Mexico.

“I had actually stopped playing after winning the world crown because I’m busy working in our family business, but my dad convinced me to go back to bowling,” said Krizziah.

Tan, Nepomuceno, Del Rosario and Macatula actually ranked 1 and 2 after the original field of 115 bowlers was trimmed to eight men and eight ladies with respective scores of 6892, 6635, 6031 and 5715. ]Tan topped Jayson Tubid and Nepomuceno whipped Paulo Valdez while Macatula outsteadied Dyan Coronacion and Del Rosario hurdled Mades Arles in the men’s and ladies’ semifinals.

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Business

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

‘CORNY’ STORY BEHIND ENTREPRENEUR’S SUCCESS

DECADE ago, Voltaire “Bong” Magpayo did not even have money to go to a dental clinic in Quezon City. When his mother-in-law lent him P500, he met not only the dentist who treated him but also someone who gave him an opportunity to launch his food cart business.

Today, Magpayo, 49, and his wife Cholly own successful food cart chains that employ more than 200 people in different cities. Sweet Corner Inc., the couple’s first food concept, is acknowledged as a model for the inclusive business franchise while Magpayo is a most distinguished alumnus in the field of Entrepreneurship at San Beda University where he obtained his Accounting degree.

The couple, who used to live in his parents’ home, now have their own in a Quezon City subdivision while their three children go to good private schools.

Sweet Corner, which sources all-natural corn from South Cotabato, has 75 food carts in shopping malls and other commercial establishments while Sumo Takoyaki, the couple’s second food concept, has another 75 outlets.

They have recently ventured into the bakery business under the brand 12C4 Bread Station which currently has three stores.

His businesses have a profit margin of 30 percent to 40 percent, making them attractive franchise opportunities for others. Magpayo says he does not collect royalties from franchisees as a way to help them quickly recoup their investments.

Magpayo, who also holds a Master’s Degree in Applied Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific, is now a certified franchise executive bestowed by the Philippine Franchise Association and an active mentor of Go-Negosyo Philippine Center of Entrepreneurship.

Magpayo recalls growing up in a middleincome family. His parents are both public school teachers who sent him to San Beda College where he had classmates from wealthy families.

“I did not envy my rich classmates, but it served as an inspiration for me to work harder in life. If you want good things in life, you have to work for it,” Magpayo says in an interview.

“I am resourceful. I always find a way and I always try. Even when I met several failures and cried, I always persevered. I grew up in an ‘old school’ way and was trained to be strong because I am the eldest in the family,” he says.

After graduating from college, he worked for various companies and government agencies. He joined a bank for four years before migrating to General Santos City where he served as a manager of an agribusiness company. “That is where I was exposed to corn farmers because my job involved purchasing corn as a feedstock for the cattle,” he

OmniPay president and CEO Simoun Ung (left) and Annie Zhang, regional managing director for APAC at Discover present the OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card.

OMNIPAY, DINERS CLUB TEAM UP FOR PREPAID CARD

Sweet Corner Inc. founders Voltaire and Cholly Magpayo, along with their children

says. “I learned a lot of things in Mindanao.”

His wife Cholly is from South Cotabato which is considered the corn capital of the Philippines.

She graduated from the University of San Carlos in Cebu with a degree in BS Administration and worked for a bakeshop chain.

Magpayo moved back to Manila in 2001 and became a business development officer at a government agency. “It was a job order which meant I did not enjoy employment benefits and regular status. When my boss left the government because he was co-terminus with the president, I also lost my job,” Magpayo says.

When he left the government, Magpayo had only P30,000 in savings which he did not want to touch because he was thinking of going to the US for work. Although SM approved his food cart concept, he lacked the money to pay for the security deposit to launch the business.

“I am not religious but I went to Our Lady of Antipolo and asked for a sign if I should go to America or proceed with my food cart concept,” he says.

Magpayo needed P60,000 as security deposit which was more than his total savings. “I also had young children whose studies I needed to support,” he says.

He could not even tap his savings to see a dentist.

“I was suffering from a toothache, but I could not get it fixed because I was unemployed. I did not want to touch my savings because it was for my family.

My mother-in-law gave me P500 and told me and my wife to go to a dental clinic,” he says.

Magpayo says while they were lining up in the clinic, his wife chatted with another client who narrated that her son had just returned from the US and was looking for a business opportunity in the Philippines.

“My wife is a quick thinker and offered the woman our franchise concept which was just approved by SM Mall of Asia then. The woman was excited and agreed to franchise three stores at P150,000 each,” says Magpayo.

“It was a miracle. We received half of the franchise fee first which we used to build the food

carts, buy the materials and pay for the security deposit,” he says.

Magpayo put up his first food cart at SM MOA in June 2009, while the first franchisee established stores at SM Megamall and SM Sta. Mesa in August of the same year. A good stall in an ideal location could earn a profit of P3,000 a day, he says.

He established the brand Sweet Corner and employed guerrilla marketing and social media postings to spread awareness. He also tapped an endorser, promoting Sweet Corner for its all-natural and chemical-free sweet corn from South Cotabato.

This has paid off and his chain of Sweet Corner reached 150 stores at one point, including two outlets in Melbourne, Australia before it hit a plateau.

The PFA recognized Sweet Corner as a model for the inclusive franchise business. “Corn farmers were having difficulty bringing their products to the market, particularly the end-users. What we did is we directly sourced from the farmers in South Cotabato, bypassing the traders and middlemen. This translated into a better income for the farmers,” Magpayo says.

Magpayo then launched a Japanese dumpling franchise called Sumo Takoyaki which also achieved the same level of success because of the effective branding strategy. He says the brand is what separates a product from the rest.

He says his membership at the PFA helped him grow the two brands. He also became a certified franchise executive and learned about the product cycle—from beginning to growth and peak to decline. “Don’t put your money in one basket,” he says.

The couple decided to venture into the bakery business and put up a store at Valenzuela transport terminal where it grosses P20,000 on a good day with a profit margin of 30 percent to 40 percent. Cholly, who is a baker, conceptualized the products while Magpayo is in charge of marketing and franchising. Magpayo now wants to expand 12C4 Bread Station nationwide through franchising.

Turn to C2

OMNIPAY, one of Asia’s leading providers of breakthrough card programs and payment services, has launched the OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card, in partnership with Diners Club International Ltd., a payment services company owned by Discover Financial Services and part of the Discover Global Network.

The OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card is the solution for businesses who are looking to integrate travel-related benefits for their customers. It is a US dollar-based prepaid card with the capability of acting like a loyalty and rewards card and is internationally accepted due to the Discover Global Network, which includes Discover Network, Diners Club International, PULSE and affiliated networks.

It also comes with a mobile app, which allows the cardholder to gain access to payment functionalities such as real-time card-to-card transfer, QR payments, balance inquiry and transaction history. The mobile app allows locating ATMs in the vicinity, getting up-to-theminute currency exchange rates and even ascertaining local tipping etiquette across different countries.

“Diners Club knows the importance of cardholders being able to use their card of choice when travelling abroad,” said Annie Zhang, regional managing director for APAC at Discover. “Tourists from the Philippines often travel to the United States and Canada, places where we can offer wide acceptance of their OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card.”

OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Cardholders are entitled to Diners Club’s latest destination offers via the privilege platform. Many of these privileges extend to other major locations across the world, covering a wide variety of dining, travel, and entertainment pursuits.

“Due to its undeniable advantages, the OmniPay Diners Club Forex Prepaid Card will surely spark a lot of interest and demand from local consumers,” said OmniPay president and CEO Simoun Ung. “Accordingly, this will certainly be a valuable addition to the card businesses of banks, issuers and acquirers. As always, we are here to help these companies gain market share through well-designed, attractive card offerings,” he said.

HENRY SY FOUNDATION DONATES P300M FOR UP BUILDING S U P P O R T I N G UP Manila’s thrust in promoting collaborative research on the country’s health challenges and to provide a venue for medical students to obtain dual and higher, research-based degrees, the Henry Sy Foundation donated P300 million to the UP Medical Alumni Foundation Inc. that will support the construction of the 11-story Medical Sciences Building.

The construction period is expected to take 18 to 24 months with substantial completion by December 2020.

In addition to the grant of Henry Sy Foundation, the other donations will come from UP alumni, their families and supporters of UP Manila. The UP Medical Alumni Foundation, through the leadership of its chairman and president Dr. Rody Sy, has been raising funds for the project for the past years.

The upcoming Medical Sciences Building

will be constructed within the UP Manila complex in Ermita, Manila and will have a total floor area of almost 9,900 square meters. The teaching facility will have the following features: two theaters, 42 classrooms, three board rooms and an alumni lounge, a special event hall and two multi-purpose halls, four upper floors that can accommodate new programs of the college, a patient safety center and two clinical simulation wings.

UPCM is the first medical college in the country to offer a shortened medical curriculum from a two-degree, nine-year standard medical program into the sevenyear medical curriculum or the Integrated Arts Medicine Program. This program admits high school graduates directly into the College and includes one year of internship.

UPCM has been designated as a center of excellence in Medical Education by the

Commission on Higher Education.

The Henry Sy Foundation Inc., a personal foundation of SM founder Henry Sy Sr., is a non-stock, non-profit organization that aims to empower the youth and foster the culture of achievement by giving grants to educational institutions to drive Philippine social development. The foundation began with providing assistance to educational institutions. The foundation’s projects are undertaken in partnership with the SM group and its foundations to support educational institutions in promoting academic excellence as a key to a brighter future for the youth.

Through the years, the foundation was able to establish and support several academic infrastructures such as the Henry Sy Sr. Primary School Building in Xavier School, Nuvali Laguna; Henry Sy Sr. Innovation Center in Miriam College,

UPMAFI chairman and president Rody Sy (center) formally receives the support from Henry Sy Foundation represented by Henry Sy Jr. (third from left), Jasmine Sy (sixth from left), Hans Sy (seventh from left) and Jose Sio (right).

Quezon City; NU Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna; NU Nazareth School in Manila; UP Professional Schools in BGC, Taguig and a Henry Sy Sr. Hall each at Immaculate Conception Academy, San Juan City and at Assumption College in Makati City.

The UPMAFI is an org anization composed of graduates of the UP College of Medicine. Through the years, the organization committed itself to the ideals of the College of Medicine and responds to the needs of the University, their fellow alumni and the Filipino community.

Business

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 business@manilastandard.net

AIM’S FACILITY POWERED BY ACER SUPERCOMPUTER GETS ASIAN AWARD

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Asian Institute of Management’s first research and development facility, optimized for artificial intelligence technology and powered by Acer’s supercomputer, has won the Technological Innovation of the Year during the first Asia Awards organized

by London-based Times Higher Education.

AIM bested leading universities in Asia in the technological innovation category for its corporate laboratory called Analytics, Computing and Complex Systems Laboratory or ACCeSs@AIM. The laboratory was established to complement existing academic programs and bridge the gap between theory and practice for research-led teaching in higher education.

ACCeSs@AIM boasts of the Acer supercomputer, which is a first of its kind in the country and one of the fastest supercomputing devices in the ASEAN region. It has an expansive storage capacity of 500 terabytes and A computing speed of up to 500 teraflops.

The supercomputer was donated through StanShih Foundation led by Acer co-Founder and Honorary Chairman, Stan Shih, as head start to AIM’s new laboratory.

The Asia Awards judges cited ACCeSs@ AIM as an innovative facility that “has given students a vital ability to learn with leading-edge technology that they can take into their future employment.”

The judges said the facility was an exemplary initiative that perfectly illustrates strategic vision and technical innovation, creating positive opportunities for advancement.

New York University dean for science and Filipino-American biologist Michael Purugganan said that the R&D facility is a testament that the Philippines is not lagging in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

“It shows what dedicated and brilliant faculty, resources and vision can do to propel us forward,” Purugganan said during the awarding ceremony.

PALAWAN FARMERS TO ‘RUN FOR A CAUSE’ AS PALAY PRICES DIP A FARM tourism destination in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan is organizing a “run for a cause” to help farmers suffering over plummeting palay prices, with proceeds to be used for buying palay above farmgate prices and giving the rice back to them.

The sorry state of rice farmers in the Philippines brought about by plummeting farmgate prices of palay is the centerpiece of a 5-km run organized by Yamang Bukid Farm-Palawan on Sept. 28. Proceeds of the event will be used to buy palay from farmers in Narra town, Palawan well above the prevailing prices and redistribute the milled rice back to them.

Dubbed “Takbo para sa mga Magsasaka (Run for the Farmers)”, the five-kilometer run also aims to raise funds to help a nongovernment organization and a farmer’s group in Palawan, said Hope Alas, tourism officer of Yamang Bukid Farm.

“This is for the farmers all over the Philippines. We have been running for other causes but we haven’t had one for our farmers who have toiled so much so we can put food on our tables,” Alas said.

The event coincides with Yamang Bukid Farm’s 5th Agros Farmers’ Festival which will be held in Barangay Bacungan on Sept. 28. Proceeds of the run will go to the Palawan Center for Appropriate Rural Technology and a farmers’ association in the southern town of Narra, Palawan’s rice granary where palay farm gate prices plunged to as low as P7/kilo, Alas said.

Alas said the farm destination, which has been supportive of advocacies for sustainable agriculture, will make the fun run an annual event.

The 42-hectare tourism destination in Barangay Bacungan has been known for employing former illegal loggers as farmworkers, teaching them sustainable agriculture and environmental protection and conservation. The run will start from Bacungan proper, traversing an uphill paved road that ends at the Yamang Bukid Farm welcome marker in Purok (Community) Candes III. Each ticket costs P350, inclusive of singlet and race bib.

‘CORNY’...

From C1

Amid the success of Magpayo’s businesses, San Beda University awarded him as a most distinguished alumnus in the field of Entrepreneurship in 2019.

From attempting to work in the US to support his family a decade ago, Magpayo now travels overseas just for leisure. “I don’t want to brag but we can now go to Italy and the US for vacation. Somehow we enjoy the comforts of life,” he says.

As a franchising executive, Magpayo encourages others to start their own ventures. “You just have to try and try.

Don’t be discouraged by failure. You have to accept that failure is part and parcel of growth. I ask my children to always give their best but accept that failure will always be there,” he says.

“You also need to be passionate about what you are doing. Prayer is important because you need a good opportunity or a break to start your business. In my case, it is a miracle,” he says. Roderick T. dela Cruz

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STYLE CAT TAPS PRISONERS TO PRODUCE BEADED BAGS

tyle Cat, a resort brand mindfully creating stylish bags and swimwear, has collaborated with Manila City Jail to produce lovely beaded bags using locally sourced renewable resources.

Mindful of finding diverse communities and tapping local artisans with hopes of connecting them to a wider market, Style Cat founder and young entrepreneur Yuki Tansengco-Higson was impressed when she saw at the Manila City Jail’s visitor’s area a cabinet of products with a sign “Bili Mo, Tulong Mo.” Behind the glass was a selection of beaded vases, bears and small pouches. The jail facility continuously makes livelihood programs for their community of persons deprived of liberty who are finding ways to produce income while inside the facility.

This inspired Higson to partner with the Manila City Jail. “It was months in the works— from sampling to design execution. Style Cat has received full support from the Welfare and Development Section of Manila City JailMale Dormitory to bring you these beautiful handmade wooden bags. It was difficult at the beginning because we had to tweak their products [from bears and vases] and inject a modern fashion context to make trendy bags. Each bag is creatively beaded by PDLs to showcase their talent and at the same time, empowering them and making them part of the supply chain,” says Higson.

The livelihood partnership aims to promote the skills and creativity of the Manila City Jail community—one bag at a time. “We expanded their product range and the talented artisans now produce trendy beaded bags with striking patterns in lively colors.”

These bags are under what Higson calls “Freedom Collection.” The beautifully designed and crafted bags include Pienza, a rustic dark green lightweight and sleek bucket bag perfect for weddings and countryside adventures; Marina, made of hand-carved wooden beads with an easy carry-on shoulder straps; Vezelay, a functional hand-beaded shoulder bag in classy black and white perfection; and Venice, a bucket bag with a striking chevron pattern, top beaded handle and detachable leatherette sling.

The products also include Cassis, in cool blue hues that can be styled with a sling or with its beaded top handle for any poolside attire and warmweathered getaway; and Mirmande, top handle beaded bag in black and white checkered pattern with fully lined bag interior with a drawstring enclosure.

DOST-SETUP FUELS CAKEBOOM’S SUCCESS

Photo courtesy of Cakeboom Facebook page

“I WAS the first sidewalk cake vendor in the city and the rest is history,” said Golda Mae Lim, the owner and manager of Cakeboom Cakes and Party Flavors.

Cakeboom Cakes and Party Flavors produce quality, healthy and delicious pineapple-based pasalubong food products in the province of Bukidnon.

Golda and her husband started their business as sidewalk vendors of Filipino delicacies (puto and cutchinta) and cakes. The couple’s goal back then was to support their basic needs. Their only aim is to sell one cake a day to suffice for the family’s day-to-day living.

The demand for their products grew until they developed their own product line.

In 2008, their Piñasitas (pastry with pineapple filling) was recognized as Malaybalay’s best delicacy. They garnered the same award in the following year through Piñakasi (another pastry with pineapple, malunggay and squash).

Growing consumers’ patronage of their products resulted in increased demand, which led the couple to increase the distribution of their products. However, they cannot co m m i t to i t s b i g g e r vo l u m e requirement at that time.

In 2012, with the help of the Department of Science and Technology through Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program, Cakeboom upgraded its production

KAWIT, CAVITE PROPOSES ANOTHER POGO HUB

THE town of Kawit in Cavite province proposed to establish a bigger Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation hub than the one in the former Island Cove Resort in Barangay Pulvorista.

Kawit Mayor Angelo Emilio Aguinaldo sent a letter to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. about the town’s plan to team up with private companies for the construction of the POGO City on a 70-hectare site.

Aguinaldo said the LGU-operated POGO City would complement the POGO Hub to be established in the former site of Island Cove Resort that Oriental Group general manager Kevin Wong acquired from the Remulla family.

“The municipality of Kawit is now host to a POGO hub located in the Island Cove and Animal Island in Barangay Pulvorista,” Aguinaldo said in the letter to PAGCOR chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo and president and COO Alfredo Lim. “To fully maximize our advantage and participate fully in this enterprise, the municipality wants to establish a POGO City—an LGU initiated project that can cater to interested holders of online gaming licenses to locate and utilize our proposed facilities,” Aguinaldo said.

Aguinaldo said that with Kawit’s location less than 20 minutes from PAGCOR Entertainment City in Paranaque, the town is

“uniquely and strategically placed to address the needs of the POGOs”.

“We are partnering with private entities that can help us establish the POGO City at no cost to the government equipped with state-of-the-art connectivity and security, a one-stop-shop for government processing centers like the Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Immigration, among others, fully furnished dormitories, entertainment centers, indoor and outdoor sports facilities and food centers” the local chief executive said.

“In this regard, the municipality of Kawit is offering 70 hectares to be developed as the POGO City and wants to secure the green light of your honorable office if we can be enrolled and allowed to undertake such project that will complement your direction to provide foreign nationals working in the POGOs the protection and security they need, give them easy access to facilities and provide them comfort and convenience,” Aguinaldo said.

PAGCOR earlier suspended accepting new applications for POGOs until all concerns “have been addressed.” The staterun gaming agency earlier unveiled a plan to establish POGO hubs outside Metro Manila to attract more investors. It approved the application of Wong’s Oriental Group to put up a 10-hectare hub in Clark Freeport Zone and a 20-hectare site in Cavite.

equipment such as cooker mixers and continuous band sealer for better packaging.

“We are very thankful for the assistance shared by DOST through the Provincial S and T Center in Bukidnon.

We become very efficient in producing quality products,” said Golda.

In 2016, Cakeboom Party and Flavors was awarded as the Best SETUP Adoptor in DOST- Region 10.

With the help of SETUP, the firm greatly improved its business operations from manual processing to semimechanized equipment also with the compliance with food safety standards resulting in the increase of product shelf life from six months to one year.

With the second phase of SETUP intervention, the firm acquired a rotary oven, which helped increase the volume of its products four times compared to the first phase.

It minimized baking time by 50 minutes or from four hours and 55 minutes to four hours and five minutes.

Second, noted increased productivity by 20% or an equivalent of 16,610 pieces of cakes, ensaymada, and piñasitas from 83,052 pieces to 99, 662 pieces in the first year. Also, an increased sales by 32% or an equal of P 2,480, 099.20 from P 2,480, 099.20 to P 10,230, 409.20 in the first year. At present, Cakeboom is

now establishing a name to bring pride for Bukidnon in the food processing industry. It has expanded its outlets in Malaybalay City from one to four existing outlets and is a great help in increasing employment opportunities.

SETUP is a nationwide strategy aimed at improving the productivity and competitiveness of micro, small, and medium enterprises. It provides a wide range of solutions which include technology transfer and commercialization, technical consultancy services (e.g. manufacturing productivity extension, consultancy for agricultural productivity enhancement, food safety, energy audit, cleaner production, etc.), packaging and labeling assistance, technology trainings, calibration and laboratory testing services and equipment acquisition through the innovation-enabling fund.

SETUP help firms upgrade technologies, the acquisition cost of which is amortized by the latter in equal monthly installments for three years, without interest.

From 2002 to 2016, the program enabled 341 micro-scale enterprises to graduate to small-scale; 20 firms leaped from being micro to medium enterprises; 90 from small to medium enterprises; and one from medium to large enterprise.

EMERSON STUDY SHOWS GROWING INTEREST IN STEM CAREERS AS THE world faces a skilled workforce gap, the fifth annual STEM survey by Emerson found that 91 percent of Filipino respondents are interested in pursuing STEM careers and most (80 percent) have felt encouraged to do so.

A majority of Filipino respondents believe STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers are technology-driven and the number of jobs in the field will only continue to grow in the next decade.

While the survey found that younger generations across the globe are three times more likely to be encouraged to pursue STEM careers than generations before them, there are still several critical gaps to address particularly as industries continue to report that they cannot find individuals with the skills required for today’s advanced workplaces.

For example, a recent study conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment found that about 3 out of 10 young job applicants still require further training to become employable.

“As automation and technology become truly ingrained in our workplaces and schools, there’s a growing urgency to prepare the workforce with STEM skills that will be critical to the continued strength of the global economy,” said David Farr, chairman and chief executive of Emerson.

“We want to lead the charge in making strategic investments that will provide both the current and future workforce with the right skill sets to succeed in one of the many tremendous careers made available through STEM – from software development to new technologies in manufacturing,” Farr said.

To keep up with the rapid pace of change, workers are increasingly looking to their employers to address these upskilling needs: 94 percent of Filipino respondents said they believe companies should do more to train and prepare their STEM workforce.

The growing emphasis in boosting STEM education is little surprise, as almost all Filipinos (99s percent) say they consider STEM education vital to the country’s future.

Despite a universal understanding of the importance of STEM, less than half of people surveyed believe their country is ahead in STEM innovation, including only 42 percent of Filipinos.

Filipino respondents recognize the importance of education and higher degrees for working in STEM. Most Filipinos (82 percent) say they have a good understanding of the types of jobs available in STEM fields, and out of all subject matters, 55 percent of respondents were most interested in pursuing a STEM track for college.

Tech & Gadgets

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ACHIEVING ENERGY INDEPENDENCE THRU TECH

HE Malampaya Deep Water Gasto-Power project has proven to be the most important energy project in the Philippines in recent time, something which other energy schemes can learn from.

This is what Petroleum Association of the Philippines Chairman Rufino Bomasang stressed in a recent article.

In the article titled “Towards Philippine Energy Security: Learning from Malampaya,” the PAP Chairman penned how the outstanding success of Malampaya could serve as a lesson for future developers of upstream energy projects in the Philippines.

In it he also recalled the challenges that occurred during the first oil crisis in the 1970s in the Middle East. This turmoil pushed the Philippines to launch a comprehensive Indigenous energy program in 1976, lessening its heavy reliance on imported energy.

“This ultimately led to the reduction of Philippine dependence on imported energy from 92% in 1976 to about 40% by 2016,” Bomasang explained. He added that this is the outcome of different initiatives, among them being the discovery of small but commercially viable oil fields and the development of the world class Malampaya Deep Water Gas-To-Power Project.

Although it required over 500 kilometers of undersea pipeline to reach the Luzon market, Malampaya managed to generate 40 to 50% of the island’s power requirements.

Hence, Bomasang broke down the four key “ingredients” to Malampaya’s success. First of them being Shell’s extensive experience in developing deep water gas projects—particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. Their technical expertise has been very evident from the development stage of the project.

Second, Shell has been committed to sustainable development from the early stages of Malampaya in 1998 up until 2001, under David Greer as SPEX Managing Director. He says Greer’s strict management and leadership contributed to the project’s triumph.

Third, SPEX maintained the employment of Filipino engineers, technicians, and workers in the entire organization. The “Filipinization” process was further accelerated when Sebastian Quiniones was appointed as Managing Director. Don Paulino then took over as Managing Director and General Manager upon Sebastian’s retirement.

Finally, when it came to manage a large exploration project, Shell’s decision to allow PNOC-EC to participate enabled its managers and engineers to

The signing ceremony of the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-toPower project.

take notes from the oil giant. The PNOC-EC involvement further strengthened the public image of its multi-national affiliates, SPEX and Chevron.

He said that these ingredients could be a lesson for Malampaya’s successors. “Other companies may well have as much technical expertise as SPEX, but they certainly can learn how to manage and minimize non-technical risks and implement projects expeditiously,” Bomasang noted.

Despite being a complex initiative, Malampaya, which has an 850-meter water depth, was com-

NEW HASSLE-FREE INSURANCE APPLICATION AT AXA PHILIPPINES AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance providers, now offers an easier and hassle-free way to apply for an insurance policy with the introduction of “SAM” (Seamless Automated Mobile) underwriter—a tool that automates all application forms, making applying for insurance easier, faster, and with shorter processing time for customers.

Touted to be ‘reflexive,’ ‘responsive,’ and works in ‘real time,’ SAM’s most user-friendly feature is the chat-style questionnaire that the client can use with the guidance of the agent. This new tool allows for approval during face-to-face meetings with agents, and lessens the paperwork and the back-and-forth among customer, agent, and the AXA office.

“Our aim is to make sure our insurance application steps are as stressfree for our customers as possible. By introducing SAM, we are not only reinforcing our goal of going paperless, but we are also reducing more work and lost business due to the meticulous paperwork,” explained AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora.

Experience a hassle-free policy application through SAM only at AXA Philippines.

For more information, visit https://www.axa.com.ph or contact an AXA Philippines agent today.

pleted on time and under budget. This August, it’ll contribute USD11 billion to the government, save $8 billion in energy imports, meet 40% of Luzon’s power demands, and pave the way for fossil fuel as a cleaner alternative than coal.

Bomasang has also given credit to the Philippine government for making the project possible by implementing incentives, consistent policies, and “sanctity” of policies. He says these government actions “made it viable to develop a natural gas field in prohibitive water depth and so far from the market.”

TAIWAN...

From D4 3D Echo that can provide immediate 24/7 assessment and care for patients. It is also a pioneer in the holistic “from womb to home” approach that covers prenatal consultations and examinations to pre-operative, operative, and postoperative stages of treatment.

The Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, located in Southern Taiwan, also presented its various specialties, particularly its specialized HIFU Procedure, Nursing Training, and Cancer Screening.

The hospital is easily accessible via direct flights from Manila or Cebu to Kaohsiung, and only a 10-minute drive away from the airport, making it a convenient destination for Filipino patients.

ACT Genomics Co. Ltd. also showcased its innovative use of

Precision Medicine based on genetic technology to create tailored healthcare treatment for maximum efficacy. Through its Comprehensive Genomic Profiling procedure, cancer patients are given more options for treatments as chemotherapy is not always the most effective and costefficient solution. This helps patients save time and money, and reduce the burden of a painful experience in the long-run.

The Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital featured its International Medical Services and Specialist Training Programs that focus on comprehensive surgical treatments like plastic surgery and breast surgery for cancer patients, plastic surgery and blepharoptosis, robotic surgery and laparoscopic radiation prostatectomy for prostate cancer patients, laser acupuncture, and a non-invasive myoma ablation procedure that is much quicker and less painful.

TOP PRIZES, LARGE CROWDS AT COCA-COLA-BACKED ESPORTS TOUR CROWDS and fans gathered in full force at the SM City North Edsa The Annex Cyberzone during the actionpacked Grand Finals weekend of the Thunder Esports Tour recently.

Presented by Coca-Cola Philippines’ Thunder Super Soda, a one-of-a-kind drink with the taste of soda and a kick of caffeine, and organized by MET Events, the Thunder Esports Tour is a nationwide esports tournament for all aspiring Dota 2, CounterStrike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) players in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

With a prize pool of P1 million, the Thunder Esports Tour kicked-off at SM CDO Uptown in Cagayan De Oro, followed by legs held at SM City San Fernando in Pampanga and SM Seaside Cebu, with players battling it out for the chance to compete in the Grand Finals.

“Globally, the Company has been on a journey with the eSports stars, athletes, and fans as early as 2010. At that time, Coca-Cola was one of the first global brands that supported the non-traditional sport,” said Jessie Ericta, Coca-Cola Philippines Senior Brand Manager for Thunder Supersoda.

“Coca-Cola, as a Company, has always been at the

Bren Esports team wins the CS:GO championship match, taking home Php 100,000.

forefront of innovative communications. We have always sought for new spaces and opportunities

where we can continue refreshing people while looking at the way we do our marketing plans and activities differently through brands like Thunder Super Soda,” said Justin Kingsu, Coca-Cola Philippines Senior IMC Manager.

Kingsu concluded, “Though relatively young, eSports has so much potential seeing the exponential growth of the industry in the Philippines over the last few years and the rise of many skilled, worldclass Filipino players. We’re excited for the future of the eSports industry and look forward to growing together with them.”

The Grand Finals featured two action-filled showmatches for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and DOTA 2 featuring the most popular MLBB streamers Akosi Dogie and Chixni Dogie, as well as the All-Filipino professional DOTA 2 team, TNC Predator facing off against the Thunder Pinoy All-Stars.

The event served as a grand homecoming for TNC Predator as they had just returned from the recently concluded The International 2019 after getting knocked out at the lower bracket 2nd round and winning 35M PhP in cash prize. The Thunder Pinoy All-Stars featured local favorites such as Julius “Julz” De Leon and Kimuel “Kim0” Rodis.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

LTO ADOPTS...

From D4

stakeholders of the status of their transactions. For those with no ICT resources, internet cafés and mobile phones are the mode of transacting business with the LTO. “The modern LTO system is currently capable of electronic payments, with online payment facilities available anytime and anywhere via interfaced payment gateways,” added Galvante. “Payments are made either in cash at the LTO offices or through Driver’s License Renewal Offices (DLRO’s) located in various malls, credit cards, over-the-counter (OTC) transactions in banks, GCash and other payment channels. The payment module is integrated to the MVIRS, DLS and LETAS to enable payment of fees and charges anytime, anywhere.”

As one of the LTO infrastructure’s security measures, the latest in biometric technology using 10 fingerprints and facial recognition is integrated into the business solution. This ensures that an LTO customer applying for a driver’s license or for motor vehicle registration is the same person in LTO’s central database. This database is equipped with the fastest Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), enabling buyers of second-hand units to be certain that they are buying vehicles from genuine motor vehicle owners. The automation of LTO services nationwide is aimed at easing and securing the daily transactions of the public.

“The entire IT infrastructure system is cloud based, with all data available from anywhere, meaning a client can apply, register and renew in all LTO offices nationwide without hassle. Drivers’ licenses can now be secured and delivered to your home in the Philippines or anywhere in world. This feature is for the convenience of our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) who would want to renew their license online and have it delivered to their homes by courier services,” said Galvante.

Dermalog is the largest biometric company in Germany, which has helped shape the world for the last 20 years in providing biometric security products for law enforcement, civil governmental agencies like national registration, national ID, voter verifications systems, driver’s license, e-passports, health agencies and security agencies. It develops solutions for access and data security, authorization and authentication services as well as mobile security, border controls in ASEAN member countries to name a few.

The company has successfully implemented more than 230 large-scale biometric projects for governments and private enterprises in Singapore, Nigeria, Brunei, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Afghanistan, the Maldives, to name a few. In particular, it has supplied the biometric driver’s license in the Philippines since August 27, 2017, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) of the Commission on Election (COMELEC) in May 2016, the biometric screening system for Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and very recently, the biometric screening for Thailand‘s immigration and border management. The AFIS of Dermalog in LTO, COMELEC and any part of the world effectively prevents double identities thereby thwarting fraud and acquisition of double social benefits from the government.

EPSON...

From D4

fabrication and evaluation of electronic devices. Lab users can draw on Epson’s expertise as they explore the potential for inkjet technology in all kinds of applications.

The use of printing systems in the production of touch sensors, OLED panels, and innumerable other devices is expected to grow. Epson will expand the scope of inkjet applications by using the lab as a center primarily for collaborating with research institutes and companies that are innovating inkjet production processes or developing new inkjet-compatible materials. Epson will accumulate knowledge and insights through the work performed at the lab and will drive further advances in its inkjet printheads for industrial use.

“Our goal is to pioneer new printing and production processes for customers by providing solutions based on Epson’s inkjet printheads,” said Seiko Epson executive officer Satoshi Hosono, who serves as the deputy general administrative manager of the company’s Technology Development Division. “Our printheads boast numerous advantages, including outstanding printing performance, environmental performance, and ink compatibility. We see the Fujimi Inkjet Innovation Lab as the first step toward expanding the number of locations for forging partnerships with those who share our aspirations and for collaborating to drive innovation.”

Epson is committed to using its inkjet and other original technologies to contribute to the creation of new value that addresses societal challenges and to help realize a sustainable society.

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TECH & Gadgets SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 Riera U. Mallari, Editor rumallari@thestandard.com.ph

HUAWEI SHOWCASES 2 HONOR VISION TVS

LTO ADOPTS ULTRA EFFICIENT ANTI-CORRUPTION INFO TECH INFRASTRUCTURE

By Paul David Gelario

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UAWEI showcased two of its first Honor Vision TVs that possess slick ultra thin metallic exteriors along with AI-powered softwares designed to capture the interest of the tech savvy.

The TV’s screen is a 57-inch ultra thin 6.9mm metal full screen display with its outer edges sporting a glossy silver-colored metallic design.

The back has a unique diamond shape that comes with a detachable port attached at the right side containing three HDMI cable ports, one USB 3.0, one DTMB, and one AV port.

The Honor Vision is offered in two versions: The Honor Vision and the Honor Vision Pro. What sets the Pro version apart from its counterpart is its 4 MP AI-assisted camera that pops up at the top central part of the TV when activated.

The camera makes video calling and taking pictures all possible which will make a home’s family bonding moment more memorable and fun.

The Pro also has a larger software capacity with 32 GB and has six speakers compared to the counterpart with 16 GB and four speakers.

The TV’s high-tech remote called Honor Magic Link remote is a Bluetooth voice remote control that makes users perform voice commands via an AI called YoYo. One of the TV’s remarkable features is to also download interactive games via the Huawei App Store with its remote as the controller to manipulate a game’s characters.

The Honor Vision’s Harmony OS makes it compatible to connect and have a Windows’ desktop feature as long as it is connected with other Harmony OS devices. This feature is part of Huawei’s mission to build its own interconnected ecosystem.

“Huawei’s plan is having its own ecosystem to be all connected,” Product and Training Manager, David Larana said.

The Honor Vision is currently available in the Chinese version, while its global version’s release is yet to be announced.

The Honor Vision Pro has a suggested retail price of P35,000 while the Honor Vision has a price of P27,000.

Honor Vision was released in China last August.

The TV’s screen is a 57-inch ultra thin 6.9mm metal full screen display with its outer edges sporting a glossy silver-colored metallic design. Paul Gelario

EPSON OPENS FUJIMI INKJET LAB TOKYO-Seiko Epson Corporation is opening a new collaborative inkjet laboratory at its Fujimi Plant in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Called the Fujimi Inkjet Innovation Lab, the facility will begin operations in October. Epson will use the Fujimi Inkjet Innovation Lab to conduct joint research with a wide range of research institutes and companies that are looking to apply inkjet technology in industrial processes.

Epson will develop new applications and unearth needs for inkjet technology, create new markets for inkjet printing, and accelerate the use of its inkjet printheads in industry.

One of Epson’s strategies under its current threeyear plan is to accelerate growth by taking maximum advantage of its assets and by engaging in collaboration and open innovation. In inkjet, Epson is seeking more open innovation opportunities and is expanding external sales of inkjet printheads that incorporate PrecisionCore technology.

The Fujimi Inkjet Innovation Lab is one of the specific strategies for this. The lab is equipped with an inkjet printing machine and inkjet evaluation unit that employ Epson inkjet printheads, as well as other equipment that can be used for the trial Turn to C3

Fujimi Plant

WORX PROFESSIONAL POWERTOOLS SOON IN PH WORX is an American brand that strives in innovation and being better in the industry.

Being distributed in top retailers and distributers with the likes of Lowe’s, Walmart, The Home Depot, Canadian Tire and Costco, the WORX brand is sold in continents such as Asia and Europe.

Other companies build things. At WORX, it creates. After all, it’s all about the Idea. To do what’s never been done. Or taking what’s always been done and reimagining it being done better.

Faster. Easier. More efficiently.

WORX doesn’t seek out innovation, it lets it drive the brand.

MORE THAN WORDS With a passion for innovation, power and performance, WORX creates tools that let its customers work quickly and easily so they can get on with their lives.

REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT WORX believes that its duty is to not only

continue introducing but walking the walk. products that enable WORX users look forcustomers to be environward to the next project. mentally responsible, but That’s because WORX to also ensure that as a comtools are designed to pany, it operates that way as well. easily tackle every task for That’s why WORX constantly improves your job, home, and your its manufacturing processes to further reworkshop. duce waste and manage emissions. And you’ll WORX tools are built on a keep seeing WORX products that protect the platform of innovation, power atmosphere, like battery-ran or elecand performance. They’re tric tools that provide the power engineered with superior and capabilities of gastechnology and value built powered options. into every contemporary WORX takes pride in the design, so you can perrecognition it has received, form with precision. like the World Wildlife Fund’s WORX makes it easier Platinum award for Low Carbon to get the toughest jobs Manufacturing and the LEEDS-NC Platinum done faster. distinction for its green building. They are WORX will soon to be available proof that they are not only talking the talk, in your nearest local hardware and depot stores.

TAIWAN MEDICAL TECH SEMINAR OPENS DOORS TO NEW TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR FILIPINO PATIENTS YOU’VE probably heard of this story before: A Filipino patient is diagnosed with an illness that needs urgent advanced medical treatment. She consults with top medical experts, yet no one could provide the immediate care she needs because the necessary technology has yet to arrive in the country.

She is advised to seek treatment abroad, most likely in the United States or Europe where more modern technologies are available, but due to time constraints in raising funds for her trip—not to mention the physical toll that long haul travel could impose on her already delicate health condition—she is left with no other choice but to settle with her limited options.

Wen Chun-Chang

This is the sad state that many Filipino patients face today, but thankfully, we can always find a helping hand from our friends in Taiwan.

In recent years, Taiwan and the Philippines have formed closer working ties in the medical sector including personnel training, academic exchange, and industrial cooperation. In keeping with this partnership, the Taiwan Trade Center Manila (TAITRA) organized the 2019 Taiwan Medical Technology Seminar, held on Sept. 10, 2019, at the Centennial Hall of The Manila Hotel.

With the theme “Bringing You a Total Solution in Healthcare,” the seminar highlights the increasing need for high quality human-centric medical care in develop-

ing societies like the Philippines and Taiwan’s desire to share its know-how with the rest of Southeast Asia.

It brought together top biotech innovators from the best and most advanced hospitals in Taiwan to share about their latest innovations to nearly a hundred medical practitioners and professionals from around the Philippines. Among the speakers were from the: Taipei Mackay Memorial Hospital, which showcased its state-of-the-art Treatment for Complex Congenital Heart Diseases. Its specialized Children’s Hospital is equipped with 200 beds, 300 doctors, and technologies such as the Computer Topography Turn to C3

THE largest biometric company in Germany is transforming a Philippine government office to an agency gaining recognition for speed and transparency. Dermalog Identification Systems of Hamburg, Germany, a 20-year-old company with cuttingedge solutions for access and data security, recently completed the design and construction of the complex digital infrastructure of the Land Transportation Office.

“Part of the ‘LTO-IT Infrastructure Project, Component A’ is to establish a state-of-the-art on-premise private cloud to support the current and future demands of the agency,” said LTO Assistant Secretary Edgar C. Galvante in a statement. “Coupled with the best and latest technologies, we are following a set of IT support best practices in running the operations of the LTO data center to support LTO’s operations 24/7.”

The IT infrastructure project consists of six core IT systems running simultaneously, with all systems now in the pilot implementation phase.

The core of the system is a public portal where nearly all transactions cane be done online.

“The business process starts with the signing on or single registration of stakeholders in the LTO portal.

Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication protocol that allows a user to access multiple applications—like the MVIRS, DLS, LETAS—with one set of login credentials,” explained Romeo G. Vera Cruz, LTO Executive Director and Chief of Management Information Technology. “Upon registration, the client is issued a unified LTO customer number. This number is a lifetime registration reference number and can be used for all transaction types. Our portal can be accessed with all device from anywhere.”

Upon logging in, the portal shows the Online Appointment and Application System (OAAS), which is based on a smart web-based system that provides LTO customers the facility to book an appointment online and, at the same time, lodge applications for all LTO transactions.

The Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration System (MVIRS) supports the management of motor vehicle inspection and registration, and is capable of printing registration certificates and renewing registration online.

The Driver’s Licensing System (DLS) allows LTO customers to manage applications and renewals of driver’s licenses, or applications for additional codes. All necessary documents can be uploaded and checked before the client appears at the LTO. The Law Enforcement and Traffic Adjudication System (LETAS) is a system for the recording of infractions and charges, and the processing of fines and fees. It also provides management of case adjudication, lets the customer manage his infractions and pay for them online. Part of the new LETAS is a handheld device given to law enforcement officers to check the validity of a license and verify the client with face recognition or fingerprints. The system can issue electronic temporary operators permits (ETOP) and allows clients to pay online for their infractions.

To speed up payments, the Revenue Collection System (RCS) is linked to ePayment gateways that enable LTO to collect on real-time and remit collection to the Bureau of Treasury electronically on the standard government remittance timeline. All payments can be done online even before going to LTO. The Executive Information System (EIS), which facilitates and supports senior executive information and decision-making needs is, the sixth core system. This provides analytics and simulation of data that would be useful for quick decisionmaking, policy formulation, strategic planning, and research and development.

All appointments, processing of motor vehicle registration and driver’s licenses, payments, inquiry of status and release of licenses/certificates are done online. Email and short message service (SMS) notifications from the LTO portal inform Turn to C3

Destinations D1

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor

manilastandardlife@gmail.com

@manilastandardlife

@MStandardLIFE

SWEET HOME LUCENA HOMETOWN. Despite development, Lucena City in Quezon province retains its relaxed atmosphere and rural charm.

Images such as those of bancas on the shore of Dalahican Beach and vibrant flowers remain.

By Diana B. Noche

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OMETIMES we can go home again. You may not live there but you know you still do. You belong. You know you belong there.

Smelling the bygone smells. The pink cadena de amor flowers. The tall grass heavy with sparkling dew you could almost drink off it.

The cock’s squawk in the mornings, so loud it could wake up the dead in the nearby memorial park and turn themselves into beautiful ghosts. A plus: you didn’t need an alarm clock to get up with the sun.

Lucena hasn’t stopped growing. Sometimes a city moves only as unhurriedly as its mall escalators. Thankfully, its relaxed atmosphere still makes it a relevant city.

But each time I return to my grandparents’ old neighborhood, some memoried places

have either disappeared or seemed a lot less of themselves.

Wasn’t there a bookstore on that street corner? And where was that stone house a block away from where I used to live? A wrecking ball had erased all traces of it, as well as those of the coconut trees. Sawed down to make room for a fast food outlet. A grand old house of successive generations, layered with similar personalities and affluence. Gone.

The wooden house I grew up in is likewise gone, its ashes buried under the jumble of shops, ukay-ukay stores, sidewalks jammed with food carts in every street corner, parking

scofflaws, and jeepneys racing by in speeds we could taste their exhausts.

The classic houses with bamboo stairs and rusting galvanized iron roofs have given way to modern supermalls and a sprinkling of cookie-cut three-layered buildings.

And where has the Dalahican Beach receded to? The sea, I remember it well, alternately invading and retreating, unmindful of the unthinking usurpation of the current culture. Seashells of different sizes and sheen. Little crabs crawling on the shore. Fish freshly hauled from the gracious sea, some of them wiggling for dear life, and fishing-net floats bobbing in the water. A piece of heaven to get a good tan until the sun simmered down and gets completely swallowed by the ocean.

Across time, these images in my mind continue to exist, have never faded, even if they are no longer there to see or touch. Such is the insistence of memories—the kind of prelapsarian bucolic field which wish to recapture be-

cause, you see, we insist on holding on to some of what we have cherished since we were as young as three.

But Lucena still has plenty of things to love, of course. And places to revisit. Some remnants have somehow managed to survive the tsunami of development that nearly inundated them.

The twin rivers (Iyam and Dumacaa) are not exactly so destroyed that we can expect their death soon. Recurring differences between nature’s handiwork and man’s trespass—for instance, abusive polluters discharging into the rivers wastes that do not biodegrade— Turn to D2

From left: The Quezon provincial capitol, one of the sunken gardens of Perez Park, inside St. Ferdinand Cathedral, and freshly smoked fish made at Dalahican Beach.

THE JOY OF BEING 10 MERCURY RISING

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

THE Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila is such a “happy place.” The moment I walk in, I immediately feel a sense of joy, looking at the happy faces of the people who meet and greet me with courteous tones in their voices.

Just the other day, the 230-room property celebrated its 10th anniversary, attracting personalities from the tourism industry, business and social circles, and their valued clients. The all-suite hotel dressed itself up for the landmark event and certainly wore the happiest face ever.

Guest registration at the lobby was handled by a bevy of smiling pretty ladies, garbed in attractive modern Filipiniana pieces, making the welcome even more warm and gracious. We were then led to a photo wall in the adjoining area by a young couple in glamorous Filipino outfits.

The lady’s gown immediately caught my attention because her balloon skirt was held together by a wooden lattice bearing filled champagne glasses precariously tucked in notches all around it. Guests could help themselves with

A spacious living room is the standard for Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites.

The wooden lattice around her skirt carried filled champagne glasses for arriving guests.

the champagne as they came in. What a unique welcome gesture!

The Nostalgia Lounge and Bar, where the celebration was held, was already packed with guests when I got there. The jovial celebratory mood was

so palpable in the happy chatter of the crowd, which was cheerfully partaking of the delectable culinary specialties laid out on the buffet. And, I hasten to add, the prime rib was to-die-for!

The hotel’s amiable general manager, Antoine Weinstein, being only two months old in his position, was all over the room, merrily pumping as many

hands, towards getting well-connected with his hotel’s market. I asked him if he also sings, like the other French general manager who runs another deluxe property. He said he will still have to excavate such skill.

I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to chat with Dennis Tan, the dapper chief operating officer of Leisure

Development Corporation, Joy Nostalg Group of Companies’ division that runs the hotel. He and I have the same views on leadership and teamwork. Now I know why everybody in the hotel exhibits the much valued “can do” attitude which I easily noticed in my dealings with Turn to D2

Destinations

D2

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

SWEET...

From D1

frustrate sincere ecological efforts to heal the rivers. It’s going to take a while for it to happen but it will. The rivers slurping and murmuring again, creating tiny whirlpools and serpentinely moving fast through boulders and mangroves, along miles and miles of cool, sparkling roily beauty. And don’t forget the river shrimps.

Then there’s that reliable saging na binangi (saba banana grilled over charcoal) smelling of sweet heaven.

Even yellow corn grilled the same way would pale in comparison. Or your common bananacue. Follow the warm perfume of baking bonete and energy-lifting kapeng barako. Food stalls around the public market serve the best chami in the world—noodles and large dollop of green vegetables and organic seasonings served piping hot at no extortionate price.

TRANQUILITY STARTS AT THE LOBBY

Binanging na saba (charcoal-grilled saba banana) is found in almost every street corner.

Fresh buko to liven up our fruit salad and add a delicious twist to pansit. And a glass of home-made lambanog— that lava-spewing, Cape Canaveral rocket-launching lambanog! A friendly advice—if someone offers a toast, it would probably be wise to drink the glass down; a little sip of it can start some vicious ribbing. And don’t say you’ve not been warned.

There are many filaments around this place which connect the people to their roots and ancestors, both factual (like digging for fossils) and spiritual. Religion, for example. The church bells of St. Ferdinand Cathedral, in full swing, summon the faithful to refill the soul every day without fail.

The public market has undergone a remarkable facelift—bigger, with tiled walkways, definitely well-scrubbed, and the extensive windows afford well-circulated air into each corner of the structure. An added bonus to market-goers is an escalator to get them going without the discomfort of schlepping heavy baskets of goods.

Sungka is a favorite old game before electronic games became the craze.

And Perez Park with its five sunken gardens primped up like masterpieces of nature to be playgrounds for kids and cool spots for pooped out parents to have some break. Old memories, images that stick like cotton candy, surviving only on sepia photographs are faithfully relived in all places at the park for selfies.

And don’t forget the Lucenahins.

While the city itself may have undergone some cosmetic alterations, the people’s fellow feeling has not been diluted at all. Hear them talk in the lilting roll of a Southern Tagalog/Bicolano prosody, amusingly delightful to Big City ears.

My home has changed. But then again, even Shangri-La did. What has become of my city is merely an affirmation of all things fleeting. Still, there are vital remnants of old wealth and beauty which are elements of a progression that has begun since birds dispensed seeds to grow the forests to today’s acceptance of urban growth.

But this is home. Every street corner retains adherent associations, each one of them joyful. The longer my feet remain in Lucena soil, the more difficult it is always for me to get on the bus and leave again.

Photos by Diana B. Noche

N

STAY IN SERENITY. Newly opened Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay combines serene ambiance with upscale amenities and warm service.

OTHING says relaxing better than a serene, laid-back ambience, cool air, and warm service complemented by upscale amenities.

A new hotel in Tagaytay City has got those elements covered, offering weekend warriors a quiet respite not too far away from the metro.

The whole tranquil experience begins once guest steps into Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay.

The hotel’s lobby effortlessly merges the warm tones of wood with the fine lines of steel. There are comfortable seats and sofas to lounge in while one basks under the glow of golden lights and surrounded by the design of an upscale barnstyle architecture.

“Guests who will enter Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay will immediately feel the warmth and hospitality of our place. It is the start of a journey to tranquility, where time stands still and where the stress of life and work are left behind the door,” shared Nilda Diaz Serrano, the hotel’s corporate general manager.

Standing in contrast to the wood and steel elements—as in repurposed metal pipes and corrugated steel that serve as design fixtures— is a pine tree in the middle of the concrete corner in one of the hotel’s area, a symbol of the distinct vibe of Tagaytay and the property’s commitment to green practices and sustainability.

Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay currently has 44 well-appointed rooms, each one is unique since no two have the same design. The highlights of the rooms are the high ceilings and the bathroom’s sliding doors. Rooms also have a balcony with a view of the pool.

“We are very proud to present the rooms. The rooms are spacious and modern, yet there are design elements that make it warm and cozy,”

Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay corporate general manager Nilda Diaz Serrano

enthused Serrano.

Speaking of the pool, the Tagaytay hotel has an outdoor pool and Jacuzzi area which can accommodate more than 100 people.

For events best held indoors, Royale Parc has four function rooms and one main ballroom. Aside from a spacious venue, the ballroom, situated on the third floor, offers a panoramic view of Taal Lake.

Serrano, who has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry here in the country and in China, brings to Tagaytay a wealth of experience by training the staff to equip them with the right skills and knowhow in providing a personal and excellent service to guests.

According to the hotel, the owner envisioned Royale Parc to be a premium vacation getaway, similar to the original hotel structure that stood there decades ago. They re-

The hotel effortlessly merges the warm tones of wood and the fine lines of steel at the lobby bathed in natural light.

West, Tagaytay City. It is accessible by private vehicles and public transportation such as the Nasugbubound bus from Manila. Call (02) 984-1297 / (046) 402-1980 / 0923Royale Parc Hotel Tagaytay is stra- 0889055 or email sales.royaleparctegically located along Emilio Agui- tagaytay@gmail.com for inquiries naldo Highway, Silang Junction and reservations. built the hotel, transforming it into an enhanced barn-style concept but still retaining a bit of the nostalgic elements of the old structure.

THE JOY...

From D1

But, even without this creative Showroom procedure, Joy Nostalg’s guest rooms are worth raving about. the Rooms Division staff, the Food and They are BIG, by any standard. In fact, Beverage personnel, and other public its Sales Team continues to eat up a contact employees. I’m sure that such much bigger chunk of the high-yield likable trait cascaded down to them market of corporate conferences and from the winsome persona of their ge- family “staycations.” These guests have become loyal to their spacious nial COO. And thanks to his prodding, I dis- and well-furnished suites.

Inside the guest rooms I like the incovered that evening an impressive terplay bestrategy tween the which the living and Sales Team YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE dining arinitiated reeas and the cently—an What is the worst combination of illkitchen. It interactive nesses: ALZHEIMER’S and DIARRHEA. spells CONShowroom You’re running but can’t remember VENIENCE procedure. where to and why. which fastidI made a ious guests promise not to divulge the details of this innova- appreciate. And the luxury of having tive and trendsetting sales activity, a steam bath and be able to do your lest it be copied by their competi- laundry in your own room is definitely tors. All I can say is that it was such a PLUS factor. In fact, I know of a group an enjoyable experience, and it gave of doctors from Cebu who attend a relevant dimension to the hotel’s medical conventions twice a year here in Manila, tagging along their families. guest rooms.

Chief Operating Officer Dennis Tan

General Manager Antoine Weinstein

They go “Joy Nostalg or bust” because of these advantages.

Adding more glitter to the occasion was the husband-and-wife team of Robert Sena and Isay Alvarez who regaled us with their trademark Broadway hits and classic Filipino songs, in keeping with the evening’s theme.

Listening to their brand of music made chomping on the delectable hors d’oeuvres most pleasurable!

I always enjoy anniversary celebrations simply because, to me,

they mean only one thing—SUCCESS, the main ingredient and power source of longevity! And having enjoyed the modern and luxurious facilities, impeccable service, and delectable cuisine of Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila, I am convinced that “10” does not only mark its anniversary; it is also a well-deserved rating—a perfect 10.

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

Entertainment

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

D3

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

KYLE

LAUNCHES COLLAB WITH SINGAPOREAN SINGER HAVEN

‘StarStuck’ Final 4 Allen Ansay, Kim de Leon, Lexi Gonzales, and Shayne Sava

F

ROM hundreds who auditioned to be part of GMA Network’s original realitybased artista search, to the 12 Avengers who had to outwit each other to secure a spot in the finals, the hopefuls are now down to four, and two of them will be declared Ultimate Survivors tonight.

Shayne Sava, 17, from Rizal, Lexi Gonzales, 19, from Manila, Kim de Leon, 19, from Batangas, and Allen Ansay, 16, from Camarines Sur are up for the ultimate challenge.

On its last week, the seventh season of StarStruck 7 features a two-part Final Judgment special where 12 Avengers and StarStruck Graduates return and participate in the competition.

Following a string of

demanding artista tests which include singing, dancing, and acting, the highly-talented Final 4 have proven to be deserving of their coveted spots.

On the final stretch of their StarStruck journey this week, they are given offbeat roles. Their outputs are presented to the StarStruck council—Heart Evangelista, Cherie Gil, Jose Manalo—and are given comments, recommendations, and evaluated for their scores.

Like always, the judges’ scores only comprise 50 percent of each

Hopeful’s total score, while the other 50 percent comes from audience votes. Voting has been opened for viewers to show support for their favorite Hopeful. Viewers can vote until tonight through SMS by typing Starstruck (space) Name of Hopeful and send to 4627, voting online can be also be done by visiting www. gmanetwork.com/starstruckvote or via Google by searching StarStruck Vote.

StarStruck Season 7 is hosted

by StarStruck Season 1 Ultimate Female Survivor Jennylyn Mercado and actor Dingdong Dantes.

Daily updates on StarStruck and the Final 14 via Inside StarStruck is hosted

by Kyline Alcantara on StarStruck’s official YouTube channel.

Catch the grand finale this Sunday after Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko, on GMA-7.

Kapuso viewers from across the globe can also catch their favorite Kapuso shows via GMA’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, and GMA News TV International. For the program guide, visit www.gmapinoytv.com.

TEEN artist Kyle Echarri embarks on yet another electrifying adventure as he creates beautiful music with Singaporean singer-songwriter Haven for a new track titled “Imagine.”

Kyle’s team-up with his fellow 16-yearold artist breaks new ground as it is the first international collaboration between Philippines’ StarPOP and Cornerstone Music, and Singapore’s Academy of Rock.

“The song ‘Imagine’ talks about two total strangers who live different lives but have a certain connection. The concept actually is that Haven is from Singapore, Kyle is from the Philippines, so it’s like they’re from different places and haven’t met each other yet but they have a message that they want to convey to each other,” StarPOP head Rox Santos explained.

“I really liked the story that’s why when I did it, I was ecstatic about it and how the finished track turned out to be,” Kyle added.

The song, composed by Star Music artist Trisha Denise and Rox Santos, complements Kyle’s pop-infused sound and Haven’s distinct, dreamy style of singing.

Singaporean musician and vocalist Haven started out as a student of Academy of Rock. She joined her first singing competition when she was 13, where she finished third. This, along with the help of the Academy of Rock, propelled her to continue performing at various events like the Singapore Street Festival.

“I want to be an artist that everyone can relate to. I want everyone to be very comfortable with my music, I don’t want them to feel intimidated so ‘haven’ means safe place,” shared Haven on the meaning behind her name.

The exciting collaboration also comes after Kyle released his “Pangako” single last year and his breakthrough in acting as Kristoff in the top-rating TV series, Kadenang Ginto.

HOW KAORI NAILED FIRST TV ROLE WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ACTING WORKSHOP

By Nickie Wang PINOY Big Brother Otso teen housemate Kaori Oinuma gets her first role on TV via Parasite Island, ABS-CBN’s newest weekly TV series airing every Sunday at 7:00 p.m..

For the showbiz newbie, she could only thank the network for giving her the opportunity to entertain people and have the opportunity to work with much-experienced actors in the industry. “ I didn’t expect that I will be given a TV project right away,” Koari starts saying that she got a lot of help from the program’s director and veteran actress Liza Lorena, whom she had a scene on her first taping day.

“It was really difficult. I wasn’t sure if I was giving the right kind of emotion that my character was asking for. It’s nice that you are surrounded by people who want you to grow. With their help, I guess I was able to pull it through,” the rising teen star adds.

True enough, the first episode of Parasite Island dominated the online world. Even

her co-star Rafael Rosell acknowledges the fact that Kaori has a legion of fans who made the show a trending topic on Twitter.

The program did massively well in the numbers game, too. On Sept. 8, the premiere episode recorded a national TV rating of 30 percent versus Daig Kayo ng Lola Ko’s 17.3 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.

The weekly series follows the talented paramedic Jessie (Rafael) who used to have a lot of potential as a child, but grew up bitterly as his brothers blamed him for the mysteriously tragic death of their father. This happened when young Jessie insisted on going swimming in a lake in an island called El Cuerpo after his father was attacked after saving him from drowning.

While it truly was not Jessie’s fault, no one believes his story that a rabid woman covered in leeches tackled his father and dragged him into a crevice under the waters of the lake, leaving no traces, not even a body.

Twenty-three years have passed, and Jessie’s

conscience is still burdened by guilt over his father’s death, which remains unexplained and unavenged. He is now dealing with a bad case of alcoholism that even caused his family and his relationship with his wife Janelle (Ria Atayde) and daughter to break apart.

Jessie comes home to El Cuerpo to surprise his mother Daria (Liza Lorena) for her 70th birthday celebration. His arrival is followed by his two greedy older brothers, Warren (Michael Flores) and Gary (Bernard Palanca), who both have sole intentions and aspirations of inheriting a large slice of their mother’s estate.

True intentions will be unraveled in the aftermath of the party, while the strange epidemic begins to take over the island of El Cuerpo.

Directed by Avel Sunpongco and Richard Arellano, the Dreamscape Entertainment offering also stars Desiree del Valle, Zeppi Borromeo, Fino Herrera, Charlie Dizon, Paulo Angeles, Ian Galliguez, and Bianca Manalo.

Kaori Oinuma may not have won in PBB OTSO but she’s one of the housemates who’s given big projects as soon as the reality series ended its latest season.

D4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2019

Desiree Carlos, Editor

Pets

daycarlos28@yahoo.com

J

MY FURRY BESTIE

UST a sprinkling of herbs in your dog’s food can make your dog more healthy.

“Culinary herbs from your garden, like basil and oregano, add much more than flavor to your dog’s and your food. Carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and even fiber and protein contribute valuable nutritional components to balance the diet,” said Joanne Keenan in “Garden Herbs For Dogs” in Dogs Naturally.

There are a lot of herbs that are safe for dogs and can even heal or prevent illnesses, said wagwalking.com in “The Very Best Herbs For Dogs.”

“When you think of fresh garden herbs, dogs are probably not the first thing that pops into your mind. But with all of the fantastic goodness that most herbs are full of, maybe it's time to start seasoning your pooch's dinner dish,” wagwalking.com added.

Below are the most beneficial herbs for your four-legged friend and why from wagwalking.com.

Parsley

Parsley is a vitamin packer. It contains vitamins A, C and K. Vitamin K is “especially associated with improving the health of blood, making this herb well suited for anemic fur-buddies,” wagwalking.com said.

“What's more, recent studies have found that parsley has cancer-preventing properties that can actually shrink tumors!” it added.

Moreover, parsley makes your dog’s breath smell fresh after eating this herb.

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

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

HEALTHY HERBS FOR DOGS Ace loves lying on the grass and playing in the garden. Do plant safe herbs for dogs such as oregano, basil and rosemary.

Rosemary is good for the fur or hair growth.

Oregano

Also a super popular herb for dogs is oregano.

This herb is also packed with vitamins A, C and K. Oregano does the following: 1. Gives your dog the antioxidants it needs.

2. Helps dogs whose muscles and joints get sore from exercise or old age.

3. Decreases the risk of bacterial infection.

“It's nature's detox herb, and works well as a treatment or a daily tonic, “ wagwalking.com said.

Keenan shared that “Oregano has been found to aid in the treatment of upper respiratory disease, arthritis, Lyme and other tick borne diseases, while also providing immune Basil (two pots, right) is very good for system support.” dogs. It is easy to plant and needs little “Plus, with all green herbs come water. Bring out your basil plant for the wondrous benefits of chlorophyll a bit of sunshine three times a week. which can help control body odor, alTomato (left) is toxic to dogs. leviate constipation and gas, is valuable as an antioxidant and promotes cleansing of toxins on the inside and and K! Basil is absolutely loaded with cleansing of wounds on the outside,” potassium and gram for gram has far Keenan added. more calcium than dairy products,” wagwalking.com said.

Basil “It definitely raises the ante, see“This herb smells and tastes deli- ing as it contains antioxidants, ancious. That being said, it's health ben- timicrobial and antiviral properties. efits far surpass it's yumminess,” wag- You can rest assured that your dog walking.com said. won't be lacking anything if he's “It's got the most vitamins of any getting regular doses of this potent herb on this list, including A, B6, C, E plant,”wagwalking.com added.

PET TALES

BY DESIREE CARLOS

Keenan said Dr. Randy Kidd (DVM,PhD) chose basil for dogs due to its nutritional value.

“A tablespoon of basil leaves can contain 47 mg of calcium, 1.89 mg of iron, 55 mg of potassium, and 15 mg of manganese. Two teaspoons of dried basil contains almost the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk,” Kidd said.

Turmeric

Turmeric may not be green and leafy but it is a herb that should not be overlooked as it is a very healthy herb, wagwalking.com said.

“It has some serious promise when it comes to treating cancer, which is definitely nothing to scoff at. Turmeric soothes and protects the digestive organs and is chock full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Whether your dog has already been diagnosed with cancer or you'd just like to prevent the disease, do not underestimate the power of this bright yellow herb,” wagwalking.com.

Fresh herbs and dried spices

These spices will indeed spice up your dog’s food with its health benefits, wagwalking,com said.

On the amount one can give to a dog, wagwalking.com said a small pinch is enough for a small dog.

“The amount gently increases with your dog's weight, with mid-sized mutts needing about a teaspoon of

herbs per meal all the way up to a tablespoon for giant breeds, “ wagwalking.com said.

Keenan gave this guide when using dry basil or oregano: 1. a pinch for toy dogs under 10 pounds 2. a bigger pinch for small dogs under 20 pounds 3. two pinches to a teaspoon for dogs under 50 pounds 4. two pinches to two teaspoons for large dogs under 100 pounds 5. up to a tablespoon for giant dogs over 100 pounds “Double or triple these amounts if you’re using fresh herbs, keeping in mind that they have strong flavours,” Keenan said.

As always, introduce the new herb slowly to your dog.

Keenan suggested that fresh herbs be harvested right before use, preferably in the morning.

“When using fresh herbs, use about three times as much as you would for dried. Either way, organically grown is always preferred,” Keenan said.

“Culinary herbs help maintain dogs at a healthy performance level with just a sprinkling on their food,” Keenan said.

She added: “Try adding one herb at a time over the course of a week to ensure it agrees with your dog’s system. A rotation of several herbs will keep the menu interesting.”

Introduce new food or herbs slowly to your dog, and go to the vet immediately if you notice any strange reaction. DC

EASY-TO-COOK MEALS FOR CATS

(Part 1 of 2) CATS are as excited about food as dogs are.

It is best to give cats frequent small meals daily to help in the easy digestion of food.

We give our cats both dry and wet (canned) food.

We put the multivitamins in wet food if the cat does not like being given meds through a syringe.

During the summer months however, vets have advised us to give more wet food, and to put water in dry cat food for hydration. This will prevent heat stroke, we were told.

However, it is also advised to give food with broth to cats not only to hydrate the cat but to ensure he/she is taking in more water to prevent kidney problems. There are cats who do not drink enough water, we have discovered.

We have been researching on home cooked meals for cats which will either provide more hydration or make meal time for cats a special time they will enjoy.

We would like to share recipes from Feline Living in “9 Homemade Cat Food Recipes That Are Way Healthier Than Kibble” which we are sure will make eating time more exciting for your cat.

I hope these recipes will make your cats happier and more healthy too. Enjoy cooking!

Recipes For Big Batches

CHESI, a rescued kitten, is the boss in the home of owner Remy Catudio.

“I heard a loud cry and saw a kitten trapped inside a drainage. I asked help from my friends to rescue the poor thing, “ says Remy.

“We got her, all wet and skinny. We dried her up and bought wet cat food. I named her Chesi, “ Remy adds.

Remy says she brought Chesi to the vet for a check-up before bringing her home.

“Now, she is an eight-month-old beautiful baby. She loves posing before the camera and afternoon naps on the couch. She is definitely the boss at home and we love her so much,” Remy says.

STACEY, now one year and two months, was a gift from the aunt of owner Aaron Lingayon.

“I was never an animal lover but when I held Stacey in my arms, I fell in love with her in an instant.

She leaned on my chest as if saying ‘thank you’.”

“Stacey loves morning walks and bedroom talks before we sleep. She doesn't sleep without me by her side,” Aaron says.

Aaron adds, “She loves carrots and cucumber as treats.”

Aaron says he looks forward to travelling with Stacey someday soon.

Editor's note: These stories were compiled by admin Miks Lim of Save Animals of Love and Light (Save ALL), a SEC-registered animal welfare group that helps animals in need, and encourages and promotes responsible pet ownership, adoption of rescued dogs and cats from fosters, shelters and pounds, and spaying and neutering of pets to control animal population in the country, among others.

· 1 tablespoon sunflower seed oil · 1 tablespoon organic cooked brown rice (writer’s note: brown rice is best but you can also use white rice but do not give white rice every day) · 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or broth (chicken or beef)

Rescued cat SEB loves to laze around after a home cooked meal.

1. Chicken And Greens Credit goes to The Natural Pet Food Cookbook by Wendy Nan Rees and Kevin Schlange, DVM.

· 3 teaspoon brewer’s yeast (writer’s note: can be removed if not available) · 5 ounces thawed and drained chopped frozen spinach · 1 cup fresh green beans, chopped **I removed the salt form the recipe.

Ingredients · 3-pound quartered roasting chicken (writer’s note: or boiled chicken) · 4 cups water · 2 celery stalks with leaves · 1 cup carrots, finely chopped · 2 tablespoons parsley flakes or 1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley · 1⁄2 cup barley, uncooked · 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions · Place chicken, water and the celery leaves in a large pot or slow cooker. (Save the celery stalks.) Cover, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for one to one and 1.5 hours or until the chicken is soft. · Remove the chicken and strain the broth into a bowl. Chill broth in the refrigerator until the top is covered in fat. Remove the fat. · Remove fat, skin, and bones from the chicken.

VAL, also a rescued cat who is up for adoption, is such an active cat who eats anything and several times a day at that.

Throw these. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. · Return broth to the pot and add the chopped celery with carrots, barley, brewer’s yeast and lemon juice. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. · Add the chicken, spinach and green beans. Cook for 15 more minutes until the beans are tender. Cool and serve. It will keep refrigerated for one week or frozen for a month in an airtight container.

Small Batches Recipes (1-2 Meals) 2. Mackerel Recipe Ingredients · 1 cup canned mackerel

Directions · Put all the ingredients in a food processor. · Puree until they are blended. · It is best if served immediately but you can keep the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Source for recipe: https://cats.lovetoknow.com/ 3. Trout Dinner Ingredients · 1 cup cooked trout · 1 cooked egg yolk · 1 tablespoon finely chopped broccoli, steamed · 2 tablespoons sunflower oil Directions · Mix all ingredients in food processor. · Puree until blended and serve. · Leftovers can be stored for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Source for recipe: https://cats.lovetoknow.com/ To be continued