Manila Standard - 2019 September 25 - Wednesday

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Purple haze: Indonesia burns A villager in Indonesia’s Riau province—where a state of emergency has been declared following incessant fires—tries to put out a forest fire near his village in Kampar on Monday. Indonesia is battling forest fires causing toxic haze across southeast Asia with aircraft, artificial rain and even prayer, President Joko Widodo said during a visit to a hard-hit area. Story on A2

Target: Oct. 1 budget relay

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

T

HE House of Representatives hopes to transmit its approved version of the 2020 national budget to the Senate

by Oct. 1 to give senators enough time to scrutinize the P4.1-trillion spending plan and approve it before the year ends.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said lawmakers will also seek the passage of a consolidated joint resolution to ensure that funding is available for key national projects under the 2019 General Appropriations Act by extending until Dec. 31, 2020 the validity of the maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays from the 2019 budget.

“Without the extension, the unused funds will go back to the National Treasury,” said Romualdez, chairman of the House committee on rules. “This is the best option to address the delayed implementation of programs and projects for the delivery of basic services.”

At the same time, Romualdez confirmed Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s Next page

‘NO PARKED BUDGET.’

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep.Martin Romualdez comments on the statement of Senator Panfilo Lacson, stressing the passed 2020 National Budget is ‘a no pork and no parked budget’ during a Majority Press Conference at the House of Representatives.

Ver Noveno

2 PMA generals quit over hazing

By Francisco Tuyay and Macon Ramos-Araneta

tolome Bacarro, commandant of cadets, resigned.

“Being the one responsible as the TWO ranking officials of the Philip- head or superintendent, I think this is pine Military Academy on Tuesday the right time that I have to step down to resigned following the death of a cadet pave the way for further investigations if [needed]. [N]obody actually pressured due to hazing.

Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista, PMA me... to resign,” Evangelista said.

Next page superintendent and Brig. Gen. Bar-

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 223 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Palace to scrutinize budget for hidden ‘pork’

By MJ Blancaflor and Maricel V. Cruz PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will scrutinize the 2020 national budget that will be submitted by Congress, Malacañang said Tuesday, after Senator Panfilo Lac-

son said 22 deputy speakers will get allocations of P1.5 billion each and congressmen will get P700 million each.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said it is the constitutional mandate of President Duterte to scrutinize the national expenditure.

“I do not agree with P700 million. It will depend on the needs [of the districts].

But ultimately it will depend on the President,” Panelo told Palace reporters.

Last week, the House approved the 2020 general appropriations bill on final Next page

BORACAY BECKONS.

Megaworld and its subsidiary GlobalEstate Resorts Inc. has officially opened the 442-room Belmont Hotel Boracay, its second hotel development inside the 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast. Leading the ceremonies during the launch are (from left) Raymundo Melendres, managing director; Kevin Tan, chief executive officer, Alliance Global Group Inc; Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, chief operating officer, Megaworld; Monica Salomon, president, GERI; and Rolando Galano Jr. general manager, Belmont Hotel Boracay.

Senate to unmask ‘ninja’ cops

By Rio N. Araja

them to plant evidence in other cases.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III SENATORS have voted to make public said Tuesday the senators voted 17-0 the names of “ninja cops” who resell to allow the Blue Ribbon Committee, Next page drugs seized during police raids or use

New continent in Europe rises THERE is a new continent on Earth, hidden for millions of years, which researchers claim they have discovered while reconstructing the evolution of Mediterranean region’s complex ideology.

The continent they called Greater Adria rises with mountain ranges and dips with seas from Spain to Iran—the size of Greenland—2.166 million km²—and it broke off from North Africa, only to be buried under Turn to A3

DENR cracks whip on big, small mines

By Rio N. Araja AFTER the cleanup of Aklan’s world-famous Boracay Island and Manila Bay, the Environment department wants mining companies and even small-scale miners to strictly comply with the laws, rules and regulations, and guidelines of responsible mining.

Turn to A3

Rody blamed for rising slays of land activists

By Rio N. Araja and MJ Blancaflor MURDERS of environmental activists and land defenders in the Philippines have risen sharply under President Rodrigo Duterte, an international rights watchdog said Tuesday, alleging his speeches and policies have “emboldened” the killers.

The Global Witness report said the toll was at least 113 since Duterte became president in mid-2016, while no fewer than 65 were killed in the

Turn to A3

After polio, now it’s diphtheria

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

disease that has emerged in some parts of the country due to low vaccination coverage.

The Department of Health on Tuesday said HEALTH officials, struck dumb by the unwelcome return of polio, have raised warn- cases of diphtheria—a bacterial infection Next page ing signals against diphtheria, an infectious

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

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News

Senate scraps PAO Forensic fund

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

C

ITING duplication of the forensic works of government investigative bodies, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday recommended a stop to the funding of the Forensic Division of the Public Attorney’s Office, which has a P19.5-million budget.

“In my view, your forensic laboratory functions of our investigative bodies has no basis in law,” Drilon said. which have not been shown to be inef“It is not authorized by your own ficient and incompetent.” charter. It is a mere duplication of the But amid the threat to remove the

Du30 skips AFP change of command

By MJ Blancaflor PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday skipped the change of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Tuesday, the first time that a commander-in-chief missed the ceremony in eight years.

“The punishing schedule of official and social events the previous days has slightly affected his body temperature.

He opted to rest so he can be his usual health in no time,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana represented Duterte in the rites held at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Vice President Leni Robredo was also present during the changing of the guard rites that saw Lt. Gen. Noel Clement assuming the military’s top post, replacing Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. On Sunday, Duterte attended the baptism of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco’s daughter, Sara.

Accompanied by his common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña, the President graced the event as a “mentor” of the child, along with business tycoon Ramon Ang. On Monday, Duterte has attended the surprise birthday party of Panelo at Shangri-La Makati.

An Instagram video posted by former actress Gretchen Barretto showed Duterte singing during the party.

2FromPMA...

A1 Evangelista, PMA Class 1986, was former chief of the AFP’s Civil Relations Service before he was designated PMA superintendent last year.

Bacarro said he quit due to the principle of command responsibility.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana commended the decision of Evangelista and Bacarro to resign.

“By choosing this course of action, Lt. Gen. Evangelista and Brig.Gen. Bacarro have shown the hallmark of true leadership as espoused by the military profession and the principle of command responsibility. We wish both gentlemen the best in their future endeavors,” Lorenzana said.

Earlier, Lorenzana had ordered Evangelista to subject all first-year cadets to a thorough physical examination that would look for signs of hazing.

“We are going to deal with them to the full extent of the law,” Lorenzana said.

He said anyone with knowledge of the hazing but remained silent was just as guilty as those who carried it out.

Bacarro identified eight PMA cadets linked to the death of 4th Class Cadet Darwin Dormitorio last Tuesday.

Among them were two 3rd Class cadets—Shalimar Imperial and Felix Lumbag cited for having direct participation in the maltreatment of Dormitorio; 1st Class Axl Rey Sanupao, for encouraging the maltreatment; and 2nd Class Nickoel Termil (squad leader) for command responsibility.

Senate...

From A1 which is investigating corruption at the Bureau of Corrections, to make the list of crooked cops public.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Tuesday said more than 700 police officers are on the government’s drug watch list.

“Some of them are users, while some of them are pushers. Most of them are protectors,” said PDEA chief Aaron Aquino.

He added some PDEA personnel, too, are involved in illegal drugs.

“PDEA is not exempted. We have cases filed against them. Several cases

funds for its forensic laboratory, the Public Attorney’s Office said Tuesday the Budget and Justice departments had supported the facility’s creation.

PAO chief Persida Acosta said “by virtue of the PAO Law, the PAO fortified its commitment once more to the indigent clients of the PAO with the launching of the PAO’s own Forensic Laboratory.”

She said the purchase of equipment for the forensic laboratory came from the PAO’s budget prescribed under the General Appropriations Act.

During the budget hearing of the Justice department and its attached agencies, including the PAO late Monday, Drilon said the PAO did not have the proper authority and mandate to create its own forensic unit to investigate and file cases related to the alleged dengvaxia-related deaths, even if private health experts and the Department of Health officials questioned the PAO’s findings.

He said the creation of the unit was not only unauthorized but also fraught with danger. With Rio N. Araja

Justice backs plan to upgrade prison facilities sectors such as public works and education were being given priority.

“It is a question of legislative priority, given the competing claims of the more productive sectors like public works and education,” Guevarra said.

He said the funds needed for the construction of new prison facilities to house prisoners convicted of heinous crimes might come from the sale of portions of land owned by the New Bilibid Prison.

“A possible game changer is the privatization of the sellable portions of the NBP property, which could be the stand-alone funding source, but this is

subject to a comprehensive legal audit and feasibility study, not to mention the political will to do it,” Guevarra said.

There are now seven prison facilities being guarded and run by the Bureau of Corrections.

Besides the NBP in Muntinlupa, there are the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, Davao Prison and Penal Farm in Davao del Norte, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City, Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, and the Leyte Regional Prison in Southern Leyte.

Additional funds will also be given to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for its natural resources conservation development program and protective areas development management.

Other departments that will benefit from the amendments are the Department of Health, the National Center for Mental Health and the Quick Response Fund of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital the Department of Transportation, the Dangerous Drugs Board, the Philippine Sports Commission, budgetary support to government corporations, and local government units.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the allocations based on the socalled bottom-up budgeting, unless exorbitant, would not be considered pork.

Sotto issued the statement in the wake of Senator Panfilo Lacson’s allegations that the budget gives congressmen allocations of P700 million each and the 22 deputy speakers P1.5 billion each.

Lacson said if the plan pushes through, the total amount of pork barrel for House members would reach P54 billion.

But Sotto said if this comes from the bottom-up budgeting in the National Expenditure Program, and if the budget per legislative district is not too high, it cannot be considered pork.

“But if you shuffle it, you move something, and you have lump sums al-

lotted for various areas, then you may call it pork,” Sotto said.

“If the allocations are huge, the mentality of some of our colleagues, specially Senator Lacson, is that don’t make it too obvious. Because it looks like pork even if it’s not,” he added.

Sotto said he is confident the Senate can pass the proposed budget by end of November if the House submits the bill to them by next week at the latest.

Once the House of Representatives transmits its approved budget bill either this week or next week. he said the Senate could start plenary deliberations next month.

Congress will go on break on Oct. 4 and will resume on Nov. 4.

“Maybe when we resume in November, second week of November, we can start the interpellation period,” he said.

Sotto said the interpellation period could take two to three weeks. He said they can approve the bill on second and third reading in the last week of November since President Rodrigo Duterte certified the budget bill as urgent.

He added the Senate and House of Representatives can then convene the bicameral conference committee on the first week of December.

This would be different from last year, when the House version of the budget was submitted to the Senate in the last week of November, Sotto said.

reading, two weeks ahead of schedule.

Lacson said granting each congressman was granted a pork allocation so there would be no squabbling among lawmakers to avoid delays in the passage of the budget.

Pork refers to all forms of discretionary and lump-sum items in the national budget allocated to lawmakers for their pet projects. It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013.

House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier blasted Lacson for “trying to muddy the waters” with his “baseless” and “unwarranted” accusations.

The government was forced to run on a reenacted budget this year for four months following wrangling among lawmakers over alleged insertions in the national spending plan.

Duterte even vetoed P95.3 billion worth of items in the 2019 national budget when he signed it in April.

Panelo said the President will veto items in the budget again if he finds them unconstitutional.

President Duterte has previously certified the 2020 national budget as urgent

for its swift passage to avoid the delay of economic programs and services.

A senior administration lawmaker, meanwhile, dared Lacson to name the source of his “disinformation” on the allocation of P1.5 billion to each House deputy.

Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro of Capiz denounced the renewed attempt of Lacson to demonize the House with his unverified exposés, even as he reiterated his appeal to the critics of the House leadership to stop spreading disinformation on the proposed P1.6-billion hike in the budget for the House.

“Senator Lacson should stop himself by coming to his senses… [He] has not scrutinized even one line of this general appropriations bill, [so] he should stop giving [his] opinion,” Castro said at a news conference.

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez denied Lacson’s claim.

“Nobody knows where that [allegation] came from. It would help if the senator will help us ferret out the truth by revealing his sources and other details of his information,” Romualdez said.

“It does not have basis nor is it founded on fact,” he added.

Rep. Eduardo Villanueva also denounced Lacson.

“As far as I am concerned as Deputy Speaker for Good Governance and Moral Uprightness, with due respect to Senator Lacson, his allegation of the said alleged plan to give all House deputies P1.5 billion each is a big, big lie,” he said.

While the House is not affected by Lacson’s accusation as there is no truth to it, Castro reminded Lacson to keep in mind the principle of inter-parliamentary courtesy. “He should remember that the House of Representatives similarly like the Senate is an institution and he should remember that he owes it to the Filipino people to, in the meantime, defer any opinion or any observation until such a time his information is verified.”

At the same time, Castro said the House is open for scrutiny of its approved P4.1-trillion national government budget as well as its proposed increase in the House budget.

Lacson earlier said his revelation on the additional allocations was transmitted by “some congressmen themselves.”

Castro challenged Lacson to reveal who these were.

He also said the proposed P1.6-billion hike for House funds is only intended to support the increasing number of deputy speakers and key positions in the chamber.

are still ongoing,” he said.

When he was then the director of the Philippine National Police in Region 3, he said he axed over 140 cops in Central Luzon and ordered their reassignment to Mindanao.

Because of the huge volume of confiscated illegal drugs from big-time laboratories, he said recycling of drugs was rampant, he said.

The transfer of scalawag policemen was just a band aid solution at that time, he said.

Many of the “ninja cops” in the region who were thrown to Metro Manila are now behind the recycling of illegal drugs, he said.

Among them were generals and colo-

nels involved in drug recycling and abduction of foreign drug chemists and drug offenders.

“For example, the policemen would raid a drug laboratory and arrest the drug chemist. They would abduct him and demand a P70-million ransom.

The drug syndicate involved would pay them. That’s what the ninja cops would do,” Aquino said.

The PDEA chief earlier tagged a Manila-based drug queen who bought confiscated and recycled drugs from corrupt policemen.

He said the female drug trader, who is a politician and has a brother for a policeman, was able to leave the country to evade arrest. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

By Rey E. Requejo

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday backed the proposals in Congress to decongest and modernize the Philippines’ prisons.

“The DOJ will support any and all bills aiming to decongest and modernize our prison facilities,” Guevarra said in a text message.

He said the construction of “state-ofthe-art” prison facilities in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao would depend on the lawmakers because those facilities would need a budget allocation from Congress, considering that other

Target: Oct. 1...

From A1 statement that the House has made about P10 billion in institutional amendments to the Palace-proposed budget.

“The institutional amendments will be introduced and will be part of the general appropriations bill [GAB] that will be printed and which will be transmitted to the Senate by Oct. 1 so that at least before the break, our work with respect to the GAB will be completed,” Romualdez said.

Of the P10 billion in institutional amendments, P5.7 billion will come from the Commission on Elections budget for the postponed barangay and youth elections. Some P3.7 billion will come from unimplemented road rightof-way purchases of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The realigned funds will go to the Department of Agriculture for the purchase of palay worth over P3 billion, Romualdez said.

Development outlays will also be given to the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Philippine National Police, and the Department of Education for the operation of elementary, junior, senior high schools and construction of day care centers nationwide.

Palace...

From A1

After polio,...

From A1 affecting the nose and throat—were reported in a number of regions including the Cordillera Administrative Region.

“In the last few months, we have also discussed as well several cases of diphtheria emerging as well in some regions of the Philippines,” DOH medical specialist Anthony Calibo said during a Senate hearing on the government’s immunization program.

“There was also an issue of availability of diphtheria anti-toxin because that will also be an important management for those diagnosed with

Memo on aid just a ‘political statement’

By MJ Blancaflor MALACAÑANG said Tuesday the memorandum blocking the loans from 18 countries that favored the Icelandled resolution probing President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war is a “political statement” that will not affect the Philippines’ bilateral relations with other states.

Critics and opposition lawmakers have slammed Duterte over the memorandum dated Aug. 27 ordering all government agencies and state-owned firms to cut off all official development aid talks with the 18 countries that voted for the resolution.

“That’s a political statement. You don’t mess with this country with that kind of resolution,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters.

He said Duterte’s order will not affect the Philippines’ relations with those countries since its bilateral relations with them was not confined to loans.

“No effect. Our relationship is not confined to loans,” Panelo said.

“Those who react are the critics.

They [countries] haven’t reacted, so they were not offended by the move of the President.”

Malacañang had previously said the memorandum only covered the loans and grants still being negotiated or about to be signed, and that the previous deals with the 18 countries were not affected.

The Iceland-sponsored resolution passed by a minority vote in July, and it asked the UN Human Rights Council to probe the human rights situation in the Philippines amid Duterte’s crackdown on illegal drugs.

Purple haze: Indonesia burns NEARLY 2,800 kilometers from Manila is Sumatra, one of 18,307 islands of the Indonesian archipelago which this week has been enveloped in what observers have described as “a dystopian future.”

The description has been for the poisonous red haze as hundreds of virgin rainforest were being burned to the ground.

Those who have gone to videotape the fires described it as a scene from a dystopian future – the exact opposite of Utopia, a society that is conceived to be perfect, where the imaginary society is dehumanizing and as unpleasant as possible.

Sumatra, based on the amateur video, and parts of Borneo, now seen in several countries including the Philippines, is now blanketed in an eerie copper haze.

Posted on Twitter and now viewed more than seven million times, the footage brings home the horror of the fires on the ground, and the reality of living in filthy air.

The surreal footage, taken in a village in Jambi, Sumatra by primary school teacher Ayu Putri Wijianti, who wanted to share the unusual scene with family and friends on WhatsApp, pans over a street and home covered in a thick, smoky orange-red haze, as a bird incongruously chirps in the background.

Behind the camera she expresses disbelief saying: “Believe it or not, this is daytime mum, just 10 minutes before 1pm.”

Skies have turned to what many describe as post-apocalyptic blood red in an Indonesian province because of a widespread forest fire which continues to burn.

Jamaludin, who goes by one name, from the village of Jebus, has been quoted as saying his home has been surrounded by smog for the past three months. diphtheria,” he added.

With the confirmation of two polio cases, and the continuing incidence of measles and dengue cases, Senator Christopher Go gave assurances Tuesday he would work for the restoration of the P10- billion cut in the proposed budget of the DOH for 2020.

“I will appeal to the Department of Budget and Management. We will talk here in the Senate with the chair of finance on how we can help specially the Health Facilities Enhancement Program,” said Go, chairman of the Senate committee on health and demography.

He also vowed to help restore the P90million budget slash in the budget of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

News

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Du30 orders full probe of Sogo branch collapse

By MJ Blancaflor

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a thorough investigation of the collapse of Hotel Sogo branch on Monday while being demolished in Malate, Manila that killed two people, Malacañang said Tuesday.

The President has also asked the authorities to coordinate with the local government of Manila for the conduct of the probe, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“We are shocked and saddened by the collapse of a portion of Sogo Hotel in Malate, Manila,” Panelo said in a statement.

Cesar Chavez, chiefof-staff of Manila Mayor

Francisco ‘‘Isko’’ Domagoso, said the building caved in at 9:30 a.m. on Monday as one of the floors could not bear the weight of the debris from the demolition.

The incident left workers Jerome Fabello and Melo Ison dead and injured one person.

The Palace also commended Domagoso for being the first to rush and inspect the crash site.

DENR...

“And we addressed them. We have made sure that our policies to enforce responsible mining now have more teeth.”

In 2018, Moncano said the DENR even issued Administrative Order 2018-19 to heighten the level of compliance with the mining law and rules and regulations, and to intensify the rules on rehabilitation, environmental protection, social development and even employment of indigenous workers in mining communities.

“One of the things we learned in the MICC audit was the lax compliance with the maximum disturbed area policy,” he said, adding “so we addressed this by limiting the maximum disturbed areas. This means rehabilitation and re-vegetation starts sooner in mining operations.”

According to Moncano, the MGB had already compelled miners to collect the top soil and subsoil of a disturbed area to prevent the soil form eroding end and polluting rivers and other areas once it rained.

“Before, the top soil was just being bulldozed to the side of the mining site,” he said.

To further intensify the promotion of responsible mining, he said, there was a need to create an environmental enforcement task force into its bureau pending congressional approval.

From A1

At a news conference in Quezon City on Tuesday, Wilfredo Moncano, the department’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau director, vowed to ensure full compliance with environmental laws and policies.

“We want to show that DENR and MGB have done something to correct the mistakes in the past,” he said.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau also said Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu had “favorably” endorsed the renewal of OceanaGold Corp.’s Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement to the Office of the President.

Moncano said “the President [Rodrigo Duterte] was the signatory to the renewal.

But he said should any deficiency be found because of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act, the President may not grant the approval.

After an audit of mine firms by the inter-agency Mining Industry Coordinating Council, Moncano said, the DENR had begun to conduct a crackdown on illegal mine operations and violations in the provision of the Mining Act. “We found many issues in the audit,” he said in a statement.

Rody...

From A1

three years before his rule.

Campaigners who challenge powerful logging, mining and fruit growing interests have long faced deadly violence in the Philippines, but the recent increase marked a “disturbing” jump.

“Since President Duterte came to power, there’s been a huge increase in the killings of land and environmental defenders including indigenous activists,” senior Global Witness campaigner Ben Leather told AFP. “The President’s aggressive rhetoric against defenders, coupled with the climate of violence and impunity fostered by his drug war, has only made things worse,” Leather added.

In July, the group said 30 killings in the Philippines last year made it the deadliest country in the world for land defenders—a first since the group began reporting such deaths in 2012.

The report cited a series of killings carried out since Duterte won a landslide election victory on his promise to fight crime and corruption.

In 2017, a member of an environmental watchdog group was shot dead while attempting to confiscate illegally cut timber destined for boutique hotels being built amid a tourist boom on Palawan island, known as the country’s last ecological frontier, the report said.

The victim was the 12th member of the group to be killed since 2004, it added.

A community leader in Mindanao was shot dead in a 2016 ambush after speaking out against a mining project run by a company headed by a businessman who was an election campaign donor for Duterte, Global Witness said. With AFP

New...

From A1

Southern Europe about 140 million years ago.

Greenland is the world’s largest island, between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

“Forget Atlantis,” said Douwe van Hinsbergen, study author and professor of global tectonics and paleogeography at Utrecht University.

He was referring to the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed by a US-led research team in 2011 swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago, in mud flats in southern Spain.

The study was published this month in the journal Gondwana Research, where the study author said “Without realizing it, vast numbers of tourists spend their holiday each year on the lost continent of Greater Adria.”

Researching the evolution of mountain ranges can show the evolution of continents.

“Most mountain chains that we investigated originated from a single continent that separated from North Africa more than 200 million years ago,” said van Hinsbergen.

“The only remaining part of this continent is a strip that runs from Turin via the Adriatic Sea to the heel of the boot that forms Italy.”

Geologists call the area Adria, so the researchers for this study refer to the previously undiscovered continent as Greater Adria.

In the Mediterranean region, geologists have a different understanding of plate tectonics.

Plate tectonics are the theory behind how oceans and continents form, and for other parts of the Earth, that theory suggests that the plates don’t deform when they move alongside each other in areas with large fault lines.

But Turkey, and the Mediterranean, are entirely different.

CLIMATE CRISIS.

Activist Carlos Manuel from Philippines attends a news conference in New York Tuesday where 16 children from across the world present their official human rights complaint on the climate crisis to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at the UNICEF Building.AFP

DOE admits bidding circular defective

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Department of Energy has admitted that some defects in its 2018 circular governing the conduct of bidding for power contracts may result in higher electricity rates.

Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, vice chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations and DOE budget sponsor, on interpellation during his sponsorship speech agreed with interpellator Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate that the circular was indeed defective.

“What will happen is, the Supreme Court decision mandating a Competitive Selection Process would be rendered meaningless. It’s the consumers who will be the losers at the end

of the day. Do you agree Mr. Sponsor?” Zarate asked Dalipe.

“Yes Mr. Speaker. Actually the DOE is reviewing that circular because as manifested by the honorable gentleman, it appears that way,” answered Dalipe.

Zarate, a senior deputy minority leader, was referring to DC 2018-02-003, which changed the rules for bidding or CSP for proposed power supply agreements laid down by DC 2015-06008 three years earlier.

The 2015 circular required a third party recognized by the DOE and Energy Regulatory Commission to supervise the bidding and ensure that the bidding process and its terms of references are not totally controlled by distribution utility.

However, the 2018 circular allowed DUs to

handpick the members of the five-man third party bids and awards committee.

“Yes [that is correct],” replied the budget sponsor when asked by Zarate to confirm this information.

Dalipe also said that DOE issued DC 2018-02-003 despite receiving no complaints regarding the bidding rules for proposed power plants set by DC 2015-06-008.

“This is a result of focused group discussion and public consultation... The primary intent was to fast-track it and make it better,” he told Zarate.

“Why the sudden change? The change is not just procedural but very substantial...the DOE and ERC are reduced to just mere observers.

The DUs will run the CSP. That’s what we are worried about,” Zarate said.

Piñol raps Dar over African Swine Fever ‘blame game’ FORMER Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol criticized Tuesday his successor William Dar for allegedly engaging in what the former dubbed a “blame game” over an outbreak of African Swine Fever that prompted the killing of 7,000 pigs in the country.

Dar claimed Monday that possible cases of the disease, which has no cure and vaccine, were reported as early as May, some three months before he took office and before the outbreak of African Swine Fever in parts of Rizal and Bulacan provinces.

“I don’t know why it was not revealed. Last Aug. 5, there was no invident report yet, but there was informal feedback on observations

of sick pigs,” Piñol told dzMM in an interview beamed nationwide.

Piñol said the claim of ASF cases in May showed “an utter lack of knowledge of the characteristic of the virus.”

According to him, the virus had an incubation period of four to 19 days and could decimate a hog population in 48 to 72 hours.

“This means that if indeed the ASF was already present in the country in May, by August when Sec. Dar took over the DA, it should have already wiped out the hog population among backyard farmers in Central Luzon,” he said in a Facebook post.

The Manila Veterinary Inspection Board, meanwhile, assured the public that it was safe

to consume pork amid reports of ASF outbreaks in provinces near Metro Manila.

Manila VIB chief, Dr. Nick Santos, however, said their office remained on “high alert” to prevent the spread of ASF among animals in public markets, cold storages, ports and backyard hog raisers so they continuously inspect them.

Santos reported that the VIB had been inspecting the public markets in Manila’s six districts since Sept. 1.

He advised the consumers to be vigilant when buying meat by asking for the appropriate meat inspection certificates which must be displayed by the vendors. PNA

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Haze, hazing TWO major events were the subject headlines of last week’s newspapers.

The first is the haze that wafted to Singapore, Malaysia and southern Philippines from the forest fires in Indonesia. There is also the sweeping fire in the Amazon forest of Brazil, even as that is too far to affect us.

Hazing has been outlawed but is still being done on the sly.

These forest fires and the constant flooding in other parts of the world are a grim reminder that Mother Nature is reacting with a backlash to man’s abuse of the environment.

The other man-made abuse of another man was the death of a cadet, hazing victim at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio. Why in heaven’s name do upperclassmen want to inflict bodily harm on a lowerclassman? To assert their masculinity and to let others know what they themselves also went through? No wonder a culture of violence permeates the ranks of the military in their operations against criminal suspects.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Spokesman Gen. Edgar Arevalo said the prime suspects in the hazing death of Darwin Dormitorio have been identified and that criminal, administrative and civil cases will be filed against them. Demerits and possible

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

expulsion are also being sought by the victim’s parents, who are from Cagayan de Oro. Hazing has been outlawed in the military academy and in school fraternities but it seems it is still being done on the sly and not reported unless a hazing victim dies.

Aside from 20-year-old Dormitorio, two other cadets were confined at the PMA hospital for stomach ache.

Dormiorio, before he died, also complained of stomach ache. Hazing victims are struck with fists and paddles to the stomach as facial injuries are easier seen and diagnosed by doctors.

Damage to vital internal organs probably caused Dormitorio’s death.

Before the Domitorio case, there was the Atio Castillio hazing death inflicted by University of Santo Tomas fraternity members. This and the Dormitorio death bring us to the question why hazing continues. Is it being tolerated by school officials or they simply do not know what’s going on in their schools?

Polio is back Polio has remerged in the Philippines after decades of absence. The first recent case was reported in Davao and then Zamboanga. Striking closer to Metro Manila a polio case was reported in Biñan, Laguna.

Alarmed Department of Health officials have launched a vaccination drive of children below five years old, the age most susceptible to the paralyzing disease.

The cause of polio’s return to the Philippines, according to DOH officials and local governments, is the lack of toilets in thousands of households specially among informal settlers. Fecal waste is disposed of along esteros and rivers. With these waterways

Mixed signals

S

ENATOR Panfilo Lacson says there is no need for the Senate to investigate the hazing death of Philippine Military Academy cadet Darwin Dormitorio because what happened to him was a clear violation of the Anti-Hazing Law as amended.

At the same time, the senator, a member of the PMA Class 1971, said cadets today should be aware of the existing laws against hazing and “be creative” in disciplining their underclassmen.

“While it is tragic that 4th Class Cadet Dormitorio is now dead because of hazing, I cannot feel but pity those who are involved in the hazing simply because they won’t only face administrative sanctions but they face a potential imprisonment of 40 years,” Lacson said in mix of English and Filipino.

Lacson recalled that during his time in the PMA, those found guilty of hazing only faced dismissal or suspension. But due to amendments to the Anti-Hazing Law, they face up to 40 years in prison.

“Now it’s different, it carries cap-

ital punishment,” he said.

He urged cadets to “go with the flow” and think of new, legal ways to discipline their underclassmen.

“Hazing is no longer allowed and they should avoid physical contact,” the senator said. He then helpfully suggested that the law allows other forms of discipline for military and police training.

What the senator did not say, however, is how more than 20 years since the Anti-Hazing Law was passed, there has been only a single conviction for hazing.

Nor does the senator say why hazing continues behind closed doors despite the harsher penalties provided by the amended law.

Do these two conditions suggest a flaw in the legislation or a failure on the part of the authorities to car-

ry out the law properly?

Surely this question deserves further investigation before the next unfortunate hazing victim shows up dead.

At the same time, there seems to be something almost wistful in the senator’s recollection of his days in the PMA, when the barbaric tradition of beating underclassmen senseless was disciplined by mere suspension or dismissal.

While stating clearly that such practices are no longer legal, the senator then suggests cadets find a way around it to accomplish the goals of hazing without breaking the law.

When we try to understand why hazing continues despite the harsh law against it, let us not forget the oldtimers who, instead of hanging their heads in shame over taking part in such activities in the past, look back with nostalgia and bestow upon hazing the mantle of tradition it does not deserve.

Turn to A5

Audacity for greatness MY FRIEND, the political-economist Alex Magno calls it audacity.

Alex is referring to Ramon S. Ang’s project, the P735.6-billion New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, the quaint and ancient fishing and farming town in Bulacan with a population of just 77,000. In the 16th century, Bulakan was the capital of both Bulacan and Pampanga provinces.

The project of San Miguel Aerocity Inc., the wholly-owned airport subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., does not just involve land development, and the construction and operation of an airport.

The long-term strategy includes the construction of no less than 22 expressways over a ten-year period or longer. The scheme is called the NMIA Integrated Multi-Modal Transport Network.

Ramon Ang’s Aerocity and multimodel transport network are so huge they would make the present NAIA irrelevant. He thinks the 625 hectares of NAIA should be redeveloped instead into a new business district, which plan will free up P2 trillion worth of prime real estate. The present 634-ha.

Ninoy Aquino International Airport has a rated capacity of 25 million but services 31-million passengers.

Aerocity is designed to attract 30-million tourists to the Philippines, drastically lower the cost of travel within the archipelago (planes and passengers waiting for hours to land or take off at NAIA is expensive), and contribute up to P1.5 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP or the total output of goods and services).

To me, the most important impact is that the Philippines will recapture its sense and spirit of greatness, the imagination and capacity to build grand things for the benefit of many, so that Filipinos during the next decade will

proudly march in cadence, with the best of people in this world. Indeed, 500 years ago and until the 19th century, the Philippines was the center of the world and Filipinos were the envy of their neighbors in Asia.

The roads planned by San Miguel include a 10-lane 22-km elevated EDSA Expressway atop EDSA to ease traffic on Metro Manila’s main highway and of course deliver passengers to NMIA and back in just 30 minutes, a Bataan-Bulacan Airport Expressway, Bulacan-Tarlac Airport Expressway, a San Jose del Monte to San Jose, Nueva Ecija Expressway, an MRT 7 to NMIA Expressway, and various expressways connecting NMIA to Balintawak, Sgt. Rivera, Buendia, Anda Circle in Manila, Lawton (BGC), Tramo (Pasay), Mall of Asia (Pasay), San Pedro and Calamba (Laguna), Tagaytay (Cavite).

Imagine the cost and size of these projects.

The expressways will cover as far north as Laoag (Ilocos Norte) and as far south as Matnog (Sorsogon). They will converge at the food and transport hub in Pandacan, Manila which connects to SLEx Skyway Stage 3.

The road network combines with an MRT 7 railway, now under construction from North EDSA to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, and an even longer railway, from Tutuban to Bicol.

In other words, RSA will build an expressway loop from north to south, west and east of Luzon, easily a distance of more than 1,000 kms. and back, by connecting major airports and ports, from Poro Point in La Union to Bataan, Subic in Zambales to Clark in Pampanga and Tarlac, to Port Area Manila, NAIA in Pasay, Batangas port, and Matnog.

RSA will be redrawing the road network of Luzon, creating new business Turn to A5

Freedom means losing family

By Eric Randolph ABDULLAH Rasul has so little contact with his family in China that it took three months for him to find out that his father was dead.

Like other Uighur refugees from northwest China, Rasul, 35, who now lives in Istanbul, knows that making contact with relatives back home risks them coming under greater scrutiny from the authorities, or worse.

The snippets of news he manages to receive through the restricted communication channels are terrifying, he says.

Facebook is blocked in China, and relatives fear repercussions if caught using other apps such as WhatsApp. "The last news I got was in May 2018. I was told my mother, two sisters and elder brother were all sent to a reeducation camp," he told AFP.

It was also when he was told his father, a village elder in Turpan city prefecture, had died shortly after a meeting with local authorities.

"I don't have news on my other brothers and sisters."

In recent years, China has cracked down on the Uighur community, a mostly Muslim and Turkic-speaking minority in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been rounded up in internment camps in the tightly-controlled region.

After initially denying their existence, Beijing now defends the camps, which it calls "vocational education centres", as a necessary measure to counter religious extremism and terrorism.

Turkish refuge Rasul, an import-export trader, showed AFP the last video message he received from his father, in May 2017.

He tells his son everything is fine but is nervously looking around, suggesting he feels that he is being watched. "[A year later] I was told the local government sent him an invitation to 'drink tea', which in China means they have serious questions for you," Rasul said.

"After the meeting, my father left the government office. A few hundred meters [yards] down the road, he passed away."

The Xinjiang government and foreign ministry did not respond to questions from AFP. Turn to A5

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New show demolishes myth on Degas

Have no Cook, will travel

the wealthy Degas witnessed from his box or front-row seat.

Degas admitted as much himself in a letter to a friend: "I have done so many of these dance examinations without ever seeing them that I am a little ashamed."

"Even if he didn't go into these spaces he creates a reality that feels so true and honest that it becomes reality," said co-curator Kimberly Jones, of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, where the show will transfer next March.

While his Impressionist peers painted in front of the action, Degas scorned their attempts at realism.

"We see what we want to see," the artist wrote. "It's false, and that fakeness is art."

Yet his unflinching depictions of the dancers and how they suffered for their art caused a scandal at the time.

His hyper-realistic sculpture of the "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen"— whose subject Marie Van Goethem probably went straight from the stage to the brothel—was condemned as "frightfully ugly... and marked by the hateful promise of every vice."

Jones said that it was clear from his work that Degas respected the dancers' sweat and sacrifice.

While other rich men tried to use them as sexual playthings, Degas "was a gentleman, never rude or crass.

He wasn't pinching their bums, it was always very professional."

ing how dim the prospects for the industry are.

The fate of Thomas Cook reflects the current state of the travel and tour operations industry all over the world. Those in the industry will need to reinvent their operations if THE first time I travelled to Europe, they are to withstand the challenges when I was yet in private business, brought forth by the convenience of way back 1978, there were not many the information highway and more Filipinos who had access to interna- and more individual traveling instead tionally-accepted credit cards. And of group tours, especially among milthere was a limit to the amount of lennials. foreign currency one could bring out, In Taiwan for instance, upon the recertainly not enough for a long trip quest of the Department of Tourism’s that I had planned with my mother. attache, we financed a run of 30-secWe had to get traveler’s cheques, ond television commercials across and I decided to buy ours from Thom- several Mandarin language channels as Cook, a British firm in the travel in November of 2017, looking at the industry which had been in opera- Taiwanese visitor potential in our tion for more than country for the a century and forthcoming Chiwhich at the time nese New Year had a branch in long holidays.

Social media as the Philippines. I The first quarvehicle for tourism did not, however, ter 2018 results buy tour packag- sales and marketing were so-so, even es, having decid- are irreversibly the dismal when we ed after reading wave of the future. consider the fact Frommer’s book that this was the on how to travel first time MECO across the contisponsored televinent on my own using a very conveni- sion advertorials in aid of the DOT. ent Eurail pass for rail transportation. Then came the summer vacation of Using Thomas Cook was very ef- the same year, and again, visitor arfective, especially when my mother rivals did not perk up considerably. was robbed of her handbag in Italy.

So we went to social media, and Getting replacement cheques was a focused on what is “low period” for cinch in the Rome offices of Thomas Philippine tourism, which coincides Cook. with the summer vacation here in It was thus with some nostalgia Taiwan—the months of June until that I learned about the collapse of August. this venerable pillar of the travel inWe engaged the services of a very dustry. Yesterday, the Civil Aviation young advertising firm that had a Authority of Great Britain confirmed good track record in using social methat Thomas Cook Ltd. had ceased dia as platform, and came up with operating. three 30-second audio-visuals featurThe closure had hundreds of thou- ing not Manila, not Cebu, neither Bosands of travelers all over the world racay or Palawan, but the new emergstranded, with flights and hotel ser- ing destinations of Siargao, Iloilo and vices halted. The firm employed Siquijor. They tweaked the DOT’s 21,000 employees in 16 countries. slogan of “It’s More Fun in the PhilipSuddenly, they are without jobs. pines” and said “Fun Any Day in the Just to mention some examples of Philippines.” The featured destinathe consternation Cook’s collapse tions are not as rainy during the wet brought: about 50,000 travelers were season as Luzon. Thus, fun any day. stranded in Greece, 30,000 in the CaWe uploaded the campaign in our nary Islands of Spain, and 21,000 in MECO website, as well as in FaceTurkey. Future pre-booked travels book and Instagram from May till for upcoming holidays for a million the first week of July, 2019. tourists had been cancelled.

Though the correlation is not oneWhat brought this about? on-one, the results in terms of visitors The Internet is the major reason. from Taiwan to the Philippines durFor years on end, travelers have been ing the low period (which incidentalbooking their hotels and accommo- ly coincides with the “lean months” dations online, and several platforms in rice production) were amazing. such as Booking.com, Expedia, Comparing 2018 versus 2019 visiAgoda, among others have been very tor arrivals during the months of popular platforms. My family and I June, July and August, we averaged have been booking online for the last an increase of 53.66 percent year-onfive years. year. We compared the figures with The growth of the budget airline Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, and industry has also contributed to the for the first time in a decade, the indisaster of Thomas Cook, which like crements were higher, marginally for other travel agencies thrive on com- the first two popular destinations, missions from the major carriers. and by a mile compared to the latter.

Likewise the popularity of Airbnb, MECO’s investment paid off handwhich is eating up into the hotel in- somely, even if our post-campaign dustry worldwide. analysis discounted the cost efficienThen there’s Brexit, which created cy factor to only 25 percent. uncertainty in the United Kingdom Social media as vehicle for tourism aside from devaluing the British sales and marketing are irreversibly pound. With the uncertainty plus the the wave of the future. And the tradidecline of travel agencies and tour op- tional means by which travel is opererators in the industry, it became very ated will need to be recalibrated. difficult for Thomas Cook to arrange The good thing is whatever the for a 200-million-pound bailout from platform for a sales and marketing banks and other creditors who knew pitch, creativity is key. And we have how bleak the future would be for the so many young Filipinos who are company. Not even the government extremely creative and adaptable to came to rescue the company, know- change.

By Rana Moussaoui, Fiachra Gibbons

IT HAS always been assumed that Edgar Degas worked in the wings and rehearsal rooms of the Paris Opera to produce his staggering pictures of its dancers.

But, like the ballets themselves, it turns out that his behind-the-scenes masterpieces were a brilliant illusion.

"All his scenes of the Opera are phantasmagoric," said Henri Loyrette, former head of the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

A huge new show at the Orsay put together by the French art historian reveals that Degas hardly ever sketched in the theatre, never mind backstage.

While "the painter of dancers" haunted the opera and its ballet for nearly 40 years, drinking in all the glamour and the grime, the socially awkward introvert remained mostly in the shadows.

It was from there that he observed dancers and their predatory "patrons" as well as the mothers who often pimped their daughters to rich and powerful men, Loyrette said.

In fact, experts cannot find any evidence that Degas got a backstage pass until later in his life.

Instead he created "his own Opera... through the filter of memory and his imagination" back in his studio, Loyrette told AFP, hiring the opera's dancers—its "little rats" as they were called—as models.

Predators in the wings His genius was to give the impresIf they had any complaint it was the sion you are there, witnessing reality, said Loyrette, chief curator of "Degas long hours they had to spend before his easel and sketchpad so he could at the Opera," which opens Tuesday. immortalise every gesture and detail of their tortured bodies.

I am a little ashamed Often dismissed as a misogynist "Things that seem truer than nature were completely invented," he who had a "scorn and loathing" for added, constructed from moments women, co-curator Marine Kisiel be-

Freedom...

From A4

Rasul's story is far from unique among the estimated tens of thousands of Uighurs, who have taken refuge in Turkey, the only Muslimmajority nation to have risked China's wrath by supporting their cause.

With a handful of Uighur cafes, shops and businesses, the Istanbul suburb of Sefakoy has become a hub for the community.

At a new martial arts club, members try to keep their culture alive and spirits up.

On a recent evening, the gym was packed with children of all ages, who took a moment to pray before launching into energetic workouts.

Many have parents who moved to Turkey for business reasons, only to be detained during return trips to China after the clampdown, leaving their children stranded in Istanbul.

"We have a lot of children who don't have their parents. They are back home, either in camps or cannot travel to Turkey," said Semerjan Saidi, 31, who helped set up the gym.

Saidi has not spoken to his own family since 2016, after they asked him to cut off contact, sensing the

Audacity...

From A4

districts, industrial estates, commercial areas, and residential districts, in the process redistributing population, agriculture, industries, jobs, and economic opportunities. The cost, scale, scope and supporting road, rail and coastal network of the Philippines’ future gateway airport are so mindboggling only a man of RSA’s guts and audacity could possibly think of it and dare to pursue it, not matter the problems and the challenges.

I first learned of the word audacity from the late Ferdinand E. Marcos, once considered the most bemedalled Filipino soldier and the ultimate politician warrior and empire builder (If you believe Imelda, the family once owned the major corporations in the country). FM quoted Napoleon on l’audace. The French conqueror’s battlecry was “audacity, more audacity, always audacity” (“de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace”). In battle and in war, one must not hesitate because

lieves that Degas may have cultivated a forbidding front "so he would be left alone."

In fact, he had a long record of treating female artists like Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot as equals, of even championing them, she said— "something that could not be said of most of his contemporaries."

Degas' "depiction of the dancers shows an uncommon regard for the female body and for their lives. He shows them with their predators and unmasks" the trap many found themselves in, she told AFP. Jones said that today Degas might be regarded as "asexual or demisexual."

"I don't think sex was very important for him. He put all his passion into the art.

"He was a difficult person, and he could be cruel. But he wasn't so much a misogynist as a misanthrope," she added.

"He did have close relationships with women and counted many in his circle of friends, but there wasn't a physical component to it."

Having dedicated most of his life to the Paris Opera, Degas appears to have quit it forever in 1892.

Although he never liked its gilded new Belle Epoque home in the Opera Garnier, it was the "Sturm und Drang" of Wagner's operas that drove him away, Loyrette reckons.

"He was quite patriotic and Wagner had said some not very nice things about France during the Franco-Prussian war" of 1870, which Germany won.

But even as he lost his eyesight, the opera remained his great theme, the historian said, and it "haunted his work till the end."

"The opera was to Degas what Tahiti was to Gauguin," he said. AFP

ily never materialized. situation was about to worsen.

"I have no information about my "They knew something was going to happen, they just didn't know how family. The authorities made them remove me from WeChat," he said, of bad," he said.

China's most popular messaging serEscape vice.

Many refugees fled China between "In 2016, I heard from a friend 2014 and 2016 when smuggling routes that my wife had been taken into the for Uighurs through Central and camps," he added, saying there had Southeast Asia were particularly ac- been no news since. tive.

Something good At a Uighur-run cafe in Sefakoy, Burhan Saiti, a Uighur economics where locals gather for milkshakes and games of chess, several people professor teaching in Istanbul, said that it was "impossible" to send any told AFP their harrowing stories.

One lost a baby to a fever while kind of message.

"If we try to contact our relatives, fleeing through Vietnam and was so afraid of attracting attention that they the Chinese government takes them to buried the child on the side of the road concentration camps," he said.

The lack of contact has taken a and kept moving.

All the group said they had been heavy toll on many but they have tried unable to speak to their families since to rebuild a sense of community in the crackdown intensified in 2017, exile.

"Because all the people around me and sometimes before that.

Mahmoud Tavekul, 46, said that he can't contact their family, it brings us had not seen his wife or four children together. It's not only happening to since leaving the city of Kashgar, in me, but for all Uighurs," said Saidi, overseeing a kickboxing class at the Xinjiang, in 2014.

His brother had been sentenced to gym.

"I think if I can do something for life imprisonment over claims he supported independence for the region, these children that don't have their and Tavekul faced endless hassle family, then maybe somebody is doing something good for my family from the authorities, he said.

His hope to later bring out his fam- there." AFP if one hesitates, one loses the battle, and having lost the battle, one loses the war.

The original quote is attributed to French revolutionary George Jacques Danton, “de l'audace, encore de l'audace, toujours de l'audace” to save the fatherland. Danton was later guillotined.

General George S. Patton also subscribed to the strategy of audacity as did President Barack Obama.

RSA’s airport is audacious for its size and cost.

The first phase of NMIA alone will have two independent parallel runways (2.6-km to 3.5-km long) that can handle 80 aircraft movements per hour, two taxiways, and annual capacity of 35-million passengers. It will have three aprons suitable for 80 aircraft gates or stands. The terminal building will have a footprint of 16.5 hectares plus a cargo terminal of 3.5 hectares footprint. First phase will have 3+3-lane access road, expandable to 6+6 or 12 lanes.

With NMIA’s first phase is an 8-km toll road from NLEX to Bulakan, Bulacan.

The second phase increases capacity to 60 million (at 92 movements per hour) and is triggered once arrivals hit 21 million annually. The final phase is 100-million passenger capacity with rated runway capacity of 105 movements per hour.

When fully completed after six years, NMIA will have four runways, at least five taxiways, and three passenger terminal buildings.

San Miguel Aerocity is given six years to complete the airport, Phase I. Ramon Ang promises to do it in four years. The airport proper will sit on 2,500 hectares of area. But with an expressway loop connecting a total of 21 major roads, the right of way coverage could extend to 10,000 hectares.

RSA is given 18 months to raise financing for Phase I, about P550 billion, 70 percent and 30-percent equity.

He plans for 80/20 debt-equity ratio.

RSA feels that the Philippines is on the verge of a major tourism boom and attract tourists a third of the size of its population of 107 million. biznewsasia@gmail.com

Haze,...

From A4

clogged, the coliform germs are spread further in floodwaters during rainy days. So, think twice before wading in floodwaters. You and your children might get more than leptospirosis.

So much is happening to this benighted land. Aside from polio, the African Swine Fever is also sweeping the local hog industry. Even poor families are staying away from eating pork but cannot afford the rising prices of fish and vegetables.

Adding to the rising cost of basic commodities is the spiraling prices of petroleum products at the pump because of the missile attack of Saudi Arabian oil facilities. The US and Saudi Arabia point to Iran as the culprit of this attack that has affected global prices of oil. This is worrisome

if the US and Saudis retaliate against Iran. It will be more than a regional war but a conflagration of frightening consequences that could lead to World War III as military alliances of both sides get involved.

China is the second-biggest country after the United States in the consumption of oil. Unlike the US which has strategic oil reserves from Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma and the Gulf of Mexico, China is dependent on the Middle East, mainly from Iran, for its oil supply. But with trouble in protests-rocked Hong Kong, China might not be up to it in challenging the US with its vast firepower and long-range nuclear capability. It would be Armageddon with the fallout affecting every country including the Philippines.

Perhaps it’s time to choose whose side we are on: A US colony or a subprovince of China like Hong Kong?

News

A6

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Probe PCSO’s P10-b deal—party-list solon

By Maricel V. Cruz A PARTY-LIST legislator on Tuesday sought a congressional inquiry into the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s P10-billion Philippine Lottery System following the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarily stopped lottery operations of the agency.

In filing House Resolution 359, Rep. Ronnie Ong of the Ang Probisyano Party-list, also sought for an inquiry into the contracts entered into by the PCSO with the Philippine Gaming Management Corporation under Malaysia's Berjaya Corporation (PGMC/Berjaya) and the Pacific Online Systems Corporation (Pacific Online) for its National Online Lottery System (NOLS).

In his resolution, Ong, vice chairperson of the House committee on games and amusements, questioned how PGMC/Berjaya and the Pacific Online have managed to secure and keep their Equipment Lease Agreements with the PCSO for the past 24 years despite various irregularities.

"PCSO’s ELA with the PGMC/ Berjaya, which was entered into in 1995 for a period of 8 years (but was actually started in 1999) covering the lease of lotto terminals or equipment for the operation of on-

line lottery in Luzon, was found out to be disadvantageous to the government in a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing last 2011. It was found out that PCSO was renting equipment from PGMC/Berjaya for $148 million when it can buy the same equipment for $25 million," Ong said in his resolution.

Ong said the Senate has recommended to the PSCO that it should renegotiate the rental fee with both PGMC /Berjaya and Pacific Online.

Despite the Senate recommendation to renegotiate the fee, the PGMC/Berjaya refused to budge, triggering a string of litigation from the trial court, to the Court of Appeals, up to the International Court of Arbitration.

And even after dragging PCSO into a costly and expensive legal battle, Ong said that it came as a big surprise that the company’s ELA was even extended by the PCSO from Aug. 22, 2015 to Aug. 21, 2018.

Even more ridiculous, Ong said, is the fact that while PCSO is paying millions to PGMC/Berjaya , the company still pressed on with its legal offensive and managed to secure another court injunction in 2017 to stop the gaming body to conduct bidding for its P10.9-billion National Online Lottery System for its Luzon operation.

Manila

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

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF JAMES LEXTER SZE YEUNG to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

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

PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is JAMES LEXTER SZE YEUNG, but I have also been known since childhood as JAMES or I have been N/A . judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) 2. My present place of residence is PUROK 2, National Hi-way, Barangay Balibago City/Municipality of STA. ROSAProvince of LAGUNA and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) 2001 -2010 BAYANI COMPOUND CROSSING, CALAMBA LAGUNA 2011 to Present PUROK 2, NATIONAL HI-WAY, BARANGAY BALIBAGO, STA. ROSA LAGUNA 3. I was born on MARCH 30, 2001 in MANILA Philippines.

I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of HONG KONG (CHINA).

4. My father's name is KA LOK YEUNG @ CALOY YEUNG and he was born on December 01, 1969, in FUJIAN, CHINA. He is a citizen or subject of CHINA. My mother's name is LEE LEE SZE and she was born on JAN. 22, 1973 in FUJIAN, CHINA. She is a citizen or subject of CHINA. 5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is N/A and from which I derive an average annual income of N/A , inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances.

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

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

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

N/A

Date of Birth N/A

Place of Birth N/A

Residence

CHIANG KAI SHEK COLLEGE

A

NTICIPATING the more than 22.6 million housing units needed by 2040 based on the Philippine Statistics Research and Training Institute projection, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go seeks to hasten housing production.

Go said that the housing needs in the country continues to grow to 6.57 million units for the period of 2017-2022.

He added that said Informal Settler Families population in the country “has also continued to increase with 1.9 million ISFs in 2019.”

Go said his proposed measure is part of his efforts to reduce homelessness in the country.

SB 203, which was one of the first ten priority bills of the senator, also intends “to significantly accelerate housing production, and ensure sufficient and reliable government funding and financing for housing in the coming years.

To address the huge housing backlog, Go filed Senate Bill 203 or the National Housing Development, Production and Financing Act of 2019, that seeks to provide low-cost, accessible and affordable housing.

“The poor will always be my priority and

Place of School TONDO, MANILA

Dates of Study 2008 - 2013 2013 - 2017

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

14. My character witnesses are FLOYD MARNIN U. ANUNQUE and RICHARD O. KING both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 246 Dynasty Towers, Jose Abad Santos St., Tondo and 1408 BROADVIEW TOWERS, MAYHALIGUE ST. STA. CRUZ, MANILA respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ x ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ x] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ x ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ x ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ x ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years 16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: NBI, POLICE CLEARANCE, BARANGAY CERTIFICATE, OFFICE OF CITY PROSECUTOR, MTC, RTC CLEARANCES, AFFIDAVIT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF PARENTS WITH BANK CERTIFICATE AND INCOME TAX RETURNS AND PAYMENTS, 2016-2018 PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this 13 day of August, 2019.

N/A

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

Name of School

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

TODAY 001630

Name

Go asks NHA to hasten housing production for poor

Highest Grade Completed Elementary, JUNIOR HS, SENIOR HS, COLLEGE

JAMES LEXTER SZE YEUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: PUROK 2, NATIONAL HIWAY, BARANGAY BALIBAGO, STA. ROSA LAGUNA Telephone Number: 0917-8287964

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner

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

Name of Child N/A

Name and Place of School N/A

Date of Enrollment N/A

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

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to

Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF STA ROSA) S.S. I, JAMES LEXTER SZE YEUNG of legal age and a resident of PUROK 2, NATIONAL HI-WAY, BARANGAY BALIBAGO, STA. ROSA LAGUNA after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

JAMES LEXTER SZE YEUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner

SUBCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at PROVINCE OF LAGUNA , this 13 day of AUG. 2019.

(MS-SEPT. 11,18 & 25, 2019)

will take precedence when it comes to low-cost housing programs and development, including the construction of safe and permanent evacuation centers, and housing assistance for fire victims,” said Go. The senator pointed out that in the event of natural disasters or fire incidents, many Filipino

By Vito Barcelo families also lose their homes If SB 203 is passed into law, he said variTHE Bureau of Immigration arrested a convicted German pedophile who is wanted in his country ous types of socialized housing programs for for various criminal sex offenses. the poor and disaster survivors will be impleThe foreigner, identified as Alfons Hermann mented where the National Housing Authority Keittl was arrested in Ozamiz City, Misamic Ocwill take the lead. Housing programs for lowcidental by operatives from the bureau’s fugitive salaried government employees will also be search unit . made available.

Morente said Keittl, who is already 71 years Go also said that there’s a need to inold, has a pending arrest warrant issued by a court crease the budget of NHA and the Departin the town of Landshut, Germany last July. ment of Human Settlements and Urban DeThe embassy said Keittl was convicted of velopment to address the housing needs of committing aggravated child abuse against three Filipinos, especially the poor. different victims and, in more than 200 other casThe senator also urged the NHA to further es, he was found to have possessed hundreds of improve their efforts in addressing housing ischild pornographic images and videos. sues, such as pushing to renovate substandard It was reported that authorities had seized housing units and complete the construction from his possession a total of 190 child pornogof units that remain unfinished so they can be raphy images, 112 child pornography videos, 28 readily distributed to deserving families. adolescent pornography images and 10 adoles“We also have problems on the substandard cent pornography videos. housing units, not only during the time of PresiHe also allegedly violated the conditions of his dent Duterte. In the previous administration, we probation by disobeying a court order for him not to come within 100 meters of schools, swimming have seen many uninhabited housing units . It’s pools and other facilities frequented by children. a wastage”.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

BI agents nab German child molester

CHINESE KFR GANG. Arrested

kidnap-for-ransom suspects, all Chinese nationals, were presented

by PNP-Anti-Kidnapping Group at the PNP-AKG headquarters in Quezon City, Sept. 24, 2019.

The suspects were identified as Yu Jhong Ruei, Chen Xi, Liu Chen, Yang Shuwe, Wei Chong, Zhang Lee, and Qi Long while their victims were identified as Jinming Xu, Huanbo Xu, and Kailang Ou. Manny Palmero

Claret HS Swedish Isulan‘bomber’, three others arrested class ’79 By Francisco Tuyay sets reunion CLARET High School class of 1979 returns to their Alma Mater on Oct. 5, 2019 to celebrate 40 years of Claretian brotherhood.

Homecoming kicks off at 4 p.m. at the CSQC campus, followed by a 6 p.m. anniversary Mass.

Dinner-fellowship is at Microtel Hotel, Commonwealth Ave, QC at 7:30 p.m. onwards.

For details, contact Ferdie Sibal +639209227326.

THE military arrested a Swedish national and three local bandits believed to be behind the suicide bombing at the Isulan Public Market in Sultan Kudarat that left seven persons wounded last Sept. 7.

Western Mindanao Command spokesman Major Arvin Encinas identified the Swedish national as Hassan Akgun tagged by informants as the alleged suspect in the Isulan bombing.

The three local counterparts of the Swedish national arrested were Abedin Camsa, Normia Camsa and Norshiya Camsa, who were collared in Sitio Nakan in Barangay Kapaya, Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat.

Encinas said Akgun was a member of the Daulah Islamiya but did not tag him as a terrorist.

An explosive device placed at a row of mo-

House panel resets barangay polls THE House of Representatives' Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms on Tuesday approved the bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections from May 2020 to May 2023.

The committee, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Juliet Marie de Leon Ferrer, moved to consolidate the 37 measures that propose to defer the holding of the polls.

The preferred date of the holding of the barangay and SK elections is to give time for the Commission on Elections to prepare for it one year after the scheduled presidential elections in 2022.

Congressmen who filed their respective versions of the measure welcomed the move of the committee and expressed optimism that Congress will be able to prioritize its enactment.

Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep.

Raneo Abu in his House Bill 1571 said postponement of the elections is necessary "to allow incumbent barangay officials to continue implementing the various policies and programs of the Duterte administration."

Abu proposed the postponement of barangay elections in May 2020 to October 2022.

Abu earlier said the postponement of the barangay elections would be in support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte filed House Bill 2551 which proposes the holding of barangay and SK elections to October 2022 to allow the local officials to provide "efficient delivery of services for the people." In his bill, Villafuerte proposed the holding of the elections three years thereafter. Maricel V. Cruz

Cops kill serial robbers in Tambo shootout

By Joel E. Zurbano FIVE suspected serial robbers were killed in a shootout with police Monday night in Barangay Tambo, Parañaque City.

Killed after the exchange of gunfire were Joseph Candelaria, a former member of the Philippine Army and the alleged leader of the group “Candelaria Gang”; Nazzan Albao, and three others identified only as one “Alenain”, a certain “Aseras” and one “Cornoso”, who according to the police were all former members of the Philippine Marines.

Police said the Candelaria Gang was responsible in the series of robberyholdup incidents involving Chinese nationals working at Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations.

The group was also being used as muscle men of Chinese loan sharks engaged in the series of abductions involving fellow Chinese nationals who failed to settle or pay their debts, police added.

Investigation showed that the encounter happened along President Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard near the Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) around 9 p.m.

torcycle in front of the Isulan Public Market exploded, wounding seven innocent bystanders.

Encinas said military operatives seized one M16 rifle with magazine containing 27 ammunitions; 1 Caliber .45 colt with magazine containing 11 ammunitions; 1 Caliber .38 revolver; 1 shotgun; 1 improvised explosive device; 13 cellular phones; 2 gallons powder substance; 2 machine timers; 4 9-bolts battery; 1 yellow bulb; 1 switch; and a backpack containing an ISIS flag, 3 led bulbs, 2 USBs, 1 resistor, and 5 assorted wires from the suspect.

“I commend the troops of the Joint Task Force Central and our friends from the Philippine National Police for this accomplishment.

Strong interagency collaboration and cooperation is what we need for a successful operational activity to be attained,” said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Western Mindanao Command.

‘Congress leaders commit to pass DDR measure’ UNDER Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, the House is committed to pass the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience bill, which President Rodrigo Duterte endorsed in his last two SONAs. As conceived, the DDR shall “guarantee unity of command, and sciencebased approach to and full-time focus on natural hazards and, even humaninduced, disasters.”

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, House Ways and Means Committee chairman and principal author of the bill, said DDR is envisioned as the primary government agency that “shall be responsible, accountable, and liable for leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate, and build forward better after the destruction.”

The proposal was passed by the House in the 17th Congress but failed to pass the Senate due to lack of time.

Salceda said the journey of the DDR bill actually began with the sunset review of the NDRRM Act of 2010 as mandated by RA 10121. From 2015 until 2016, the review set the basis for the initial drafts of 34 bills and four House resolutions on disaster risk reduction and management.

The DDR measure gained traction under the principle of “Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Nation approach.”

Sports

A7

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Messi named FIFA player of year M

ILAN—Lionel Messi won the FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award as beaten rival Cristiano Ronaldo stayed away from the star-studded ceremony in Milan’s iconic La Scala Opera House on Monday.

Barcelona striker Messi’s victory was a surprise as he edged out Virgil Van Dijk, who won the UEFA player’s award last month after helping Liverpool to the Champions League last season.

Juventus forward Ronaldo had also been shortlisted for the award, but did not attend the ceremony as he was named in FIFA’s World 11 best team along with Messi.

Both Messi, 32, and Van Dijk, 28, are now in the running for the coveted Ballon d’Or which will be announced on December 2.

“I want to thank those who decided to

give me this recognition,” said Messi.

“The most important thing for me is the collective awards, but today is also a very special night for me.”

It is the first time that Messi has won the FIFA Best Award which was created in 2016. Ronaldo won for 2016 and 2017, with Croatian Luka Modric beating both last year.

Messi was top scorer in the Champions League last season with 12 goals before Barcelona were dumped out by Liverpool in the semi-finals.

The Argentine also won the European Golden Shoe after scoring 36 goals, the La

Liga title with Barcelona and helped Argentina to bronze at 2019 Copa America.

Van Dijk had been bidding to become a rare defender to win a FIFA player award, since Italian Fabio Cannavaro won the World Player of the Year, and he Ballon d’Or in 2006.

The Netherlands captain also missed out on completing a treble for Liverpool with manager Jurgen Klopp winning the men’s coach of the year award and Alisson Becker the goalkeeper prize.

Rapinoe ‘lost for words’ Megan Rapinoe beat fellow World Cup winner Alex Morgan and England’s Lucy Bronze to the women’s prize, with her USA coach Jill Ellis lifting the women’s coaching award.

Rapinoe, 34, was joint top scorer with six goals at the women’s World Cup and

won the Golden Boot, also gaining the Golden Ball for the best player and becoming the face of the tournament for her outspoken views on US president Donald Trump and campaigning for LGBT rights.

“I’m a little bit at a loss for words, if you can believe it, it rarely happens to me,” said Rapinoe who went on to make a plea against racism and for women’s rights.

“We have such an incredible opportunity being professional football players.

“We have incredible platforms, the unique opportunity to use this to actually change the world for the better.”

Klopp won the men’s coaching award ahead of two other Premier League coaches—Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino, who the German beat in June’s Champions League final, and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola. AFP

Pasig Chooks stumbles vs NY Harlem

By Peter Atencio PASIG Chooks suffered a 13-21 loss to world no. 4 NY Harlem in the quarterfinals of the Kaohsiung 3x3 Challenger in Taiwan.

The Filipino squad got off to a slow start in the tournament which served as a qualifier for the 2019 Nanjing Masters.

The New Yorkers quickly established a 5-0 lead, behind the world’s 52nd best 3x3 player Joey King.

From there, Harlem’s lead grew to as high as nine 14-5.

Nikola Pavlovic and Joshua Munzon fought back for Pasig and cut the lead down to five, 18-13, with three minutes left.

But Kidani Brutus then came into the picture and scored twice, knocking down the game-winning deuce with a minute to spare.

The Harlem team went on to advance to the semifinals of this level-nine FIBA 3X3 tournament.

Pavlovic carried Pasig with seven points, while Munzon and Troy Rike added four and two markers, respectively.

King led Harlem with nine points and six rebounds, while Brutus and Antoinne Morgano had six points each.

Pasig advanced to the playoffs after going 1-1 in Pool C.

Knights...

From A8

claimed the first twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four following the Blazers’ defeat.

“I salute my players for this. They have been having problems in their first three games in the second round.

But I’m happy how they responded,” Boyet Fernandez.

Calvin Oftana struck with eight of his 15 points in leading the Red Lions to a 30-17 spread in the first half, while Canlas knocked in nine points in the second period as San Beda kept its poised took a 51-43 halftime lead.

The Stags, who managed to stay close by eight, got a game-high 16 points from RK Ilagan.

In the junior division, the Letran Squires kept their playoff hopes alive by stopping title contender La Salle Green Hills, 83-79.

Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi speaks after winning the trophy for the Best FIFA Men’s Player of 2019 Award, during The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony, on September 23, 2019 in Milan. AFP

Games Today (Wednesday) 2 p.m. – Choco Mucho vs BaliPure 4 p.m. – Chef’s Classics vs Motolite 6 p.m. – BanKo-Perlas vs PetroGazz

PETROGAZZ tries to extend its streak to six and get back at first round tormentor BanKo Perlas while Motolite hopes to rebound from a stinging setback as it faces Chef’s Classics in the Premier Volleyball League Open Conference today (Wednesday) at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Choco Mucho also seeks to build some momentum from a scary victory that ended a long slump as it tangles with struggling BaliPure in another busy day in the second round elims of the season-ending conference organized by Sports Vision.

The Angels marked their return from a week-long stint in Taiwan with a lopsided 25-15, 25-19, 25-18 victory over the Red Spikers last Sunday as they wrested solo second at 6-2 with an eye for another win against the Perlas Spikers who have gone win-losswin-loss in their last four games for a 6-4 card.

Gametime is at 6 p.m. with Jonah Sabete, Paneng Mercado and Cherry Nuñag of PetroGazz bracing for a fierce duel with the likes of Nicole Tiamzon, Dzi Gervacio, Joy Doromal and veteran Sue Roces of BanKo-Perlas, which trounced the former in four last Aug. 11.

Kathy Bersola, the league’s leading blocker, is also expected to come in top form after sustaining a minor injury that hampered her stint in the Perlas Spikers’ shutout loss to the surging Air Force Jet Spikers last Sunday.

Motolite, meanwhile, is tipped to duplicate its three-set romp over Chef’s Classics in their 4 p.m. match although the young Red Spikers have shown tremendous improvement and toughness in their last few games, thus making them a threat to a team reeling from a straight-set defeat to Air Force last week.

Toby’s Sports enters Hall of Fame at Franchise Excellence TOBY’S Sports, the largest multibrand sports retailer in the Philippines, recently announced that it has once again received the prestigious Outstanding Filipino Franchise Award for Retail (Large Scale Category) from the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) at the 2019 Franchise Excellence Awards held at Edsa Shangri-La Plaza last August 2019.

It was Toby’s Sports’ second recognition in the same category, making it an official Hall of Fame Awardee.

The Franchise Excellence Awards (FEA) recognizes the country’s bestmanaged companies that serve as benchmarks for all franchising businesses based on the following criteria: growth performance, brand value, and ethical business practices. FEA brings the standard of franchisors to a higher level, positioning the franchisers as forerunners in the growth and development of the franchising sector. FEA is a joint partnership between the PFA, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Philippine Retailers Association.

Noted speakers headline PSC’s coaches certification program RENOWNED resource speakers from their respective fields will headline the Philippine Sports Commission National Coaches Certification program on September 25 to 29, at the University of the Philippines Mindanao, Bago Oshiro, Tugbok District, Davao City.

Participants will come from both public and private schools.

Dr. Karen Katrina Trinidad, Ph.D., RPsy, PSC-Philippine Sports Institute Medical Services and Sports Science Sports Psychology Unit Head, will tackle the importance of sports psychology among athletes.

Professor Josephine “Joy” Reyes, PSC-PSI MSSS Sports Physiology Unit head, who earned her Masters and Bachelor’s Degrees at the

Angels seek no. 6, payback against Perlas

University of the Philippines, will discuss sports physiology, while Dr. Robert Paul Jurado, who got his Doctorate Degree in Philosophy at the University of Sto. Tomas, will talk about sports ethics.

PSC-PSI National Director for grassroots sports development program Prof. Henry C. Daut, with a Master of Science in Physical Education at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A., will share his expertise on sports philosophy and sports pedagogy, while PSCPSI MSSS Sports Physiology Unit sports specialist Prof. Luis Serafin Cosep will focus on talent identification.

Five focus sports include athletics, swimming, table tennis, football/ futsal and rugby football.

“We have been in the franchise business for over 20 years and being inducted in the Hall of Fame at the prestigious Franchise Excellence Awards is truly an amazing honor and a huge milestone for us,” said William Llaguno, Head of Store Operations and Franchising at Toby’s Sports. “We see our franchise business playing an important role in our mission to maintain our status as the #1 sports retailer in the country, as well as in our advocacy of promoting sports and an active lifestyle to millions of Filipinos nationwide,” Llaguno concluded.

“The Outstanding Filipino Franchise Award is given to Filipino franchises that have become benchmarks in national market penetration through excellent franchise operations and good governance. Toby’s Sports has exemplified these qualities, which made it an awardee of the said category. We are confident that this recognition will inspire Toby’s Sports to continue its pursuit of excellence and we look forward to seeing greater achievements from the country’s largest sports retailer,” said Dr. Alan Escalona, PFA President.

Shown here are (from left) Dr. Alan Escalona, PFA Chairman; Dr. Winston Conrad Padojinog, UA&P University President; Usec. Rowel Barba, DTI Undersecretary; Roberto S. Claudio, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Toby’s Sports; William N. Llaguno, Store Operations and Franchising Head, Toby’s Sports; Louie A. Claudio, Business Unit Head for Shared Services, Toby’s Sports; Bobby Amores, President, Philfoodex; Atty. Alex Cabrera, Committee Chair for FEA 2019; and Chairman of Isla Lipana & Co; and Richard Sanz, PFA President.

Golovkin focused on middleweight world title run LOS ANGELES—Gennady Golovkin, tired of talking about a third Canelo Alvarez bout that hasn’t materialized, is focused instead on launching a new middleweight world title run when he takes on Sergiy Derevyanchenko on October 5.

The vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organization (WBO) belts will be on the line at Madison Square Garden, where 37-year-old Golovkin is 6-0.

“I know him for a long time. He’s a very good fighter,” Golovkin said of Ukraine’s Derevyanchenko, the IBF’s top-rated contender who owns a record of 13-1 with 10 knockouts.

Alvarez, who ended Golovkin’s unbeaten reign as unified middleweight champion with a majority decision victory in their second fight in September 2018, was stripped of the IBF belt when he failed to meet Derevyanchenko.

Golovkin, speaking to a small group of reporters on Monday in Los Angeles—a quick trip from his training base in the

Southern California mountain retreat of Big Bear Lake—said that fact carries no special significance for him.

“I don’t really care who it was taken from,” he said of the titles on the line. “I want to box. I’m a fighter, I want to have huge fights.”

Alvarez will make a two-division jump in weight classes to take on Russia’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev on November 2 in Las Vegas.

While Alvarez promoter Oscar de la Hoya has been bullish on the likelihood of a Golovkin-Alvarez rubber match in 2020, Alvarez himself has been less interested.

Golovkin, for his part, is ready to move on.

“I don’t think about those guys,” he said. “I don’t really want to discuss this.

We had a contract, we were supposed to have a fight on September 14 and he just ran away.”

Golovkin is more interested in talking about what he’s accomplishing in

his second camp with trainer Johnathon Banks, a disciple of legendary trainer Emanuel Steward.

‘Very skilled fighter’ The two had limited time to work together before Golovkin’s last fight, a fourth-round knockout of Steve Rolls at Madison Square Garden in June that took Golovkin’s record to 39-1-1 with 35 knockouts.

Their latest camp has given Golovkin more time to absorb the teaching of Banks, who believes there’s more to Golovkin than fearsome punching power.

“What I want to implement is just a rhythm, a movement more so of a strategy, not just going there and if all else fails we’ve got this bag of power right here,” Banks said.

“I want to see him develop his skill.

He’s a very skilled fighter.”

Golovkin, who says he’s also benefitting from a new strength training and nutritional regimen, is excited about the changes. AFP

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@manilastandard.net sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

A8

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Lifesavers off to flying PSL start Games Saturday (Ynares Sports Arena) 4 p.m. – F2 Logistics vs Petron 6 p.m. – Sta. Lucia vs PLDT Home Fibr

BACOOR CITY—Generika-Ayala was off to a flying start as it dominated Marinerang Pilipina, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17 in the opening salvo of the Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference Tuesday at the Bacoor STRIKE gym here.

Open spikers Fiola Ceballos, Mean Mendrez and Patty Orendain delivered the blows as they crushed the Lady Skippers’ defense with powerful smashes from start to finish.

Ceballos and Mendrez finished with 12 points apiece while Orendain chipped in 10 markers for the Lifesavers, who needed only one hour and 25 minutes to wrap up the contest in Pool B action.

What’s making the victory more impressive was the fact that the Lifesavers managed to deliver despite the absence of skipper Angeli Araneta, who suffered a knee injury in the latter part of the All-Filipino Conference last month.

“It was a good momentum-builder for us,” Ceballos said.

“It feels good to kick off the conference with a win and we hope we can continue this kind of intensity.”

Setter Jamie Lavitoria did a masterful job mapping the plays with 13 excellent sets and 15 digs while former University of Santo Tomas star Ria Meneses took the cudgels at the defensive end with seven points.

Libero Bia General also stepped up with 28 digs and six excellent receptions to fill in the shoes of national team member Kath Arado, who played sparingly as she just arrived early morning from the first leg of the Asean Grand Prix in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Cesca Racraquin was the lone bright spot with 14 points and 21 digs, but her efforts went down the drain as the Lady Skippers absorbed their 16th straight loss dating to last conference.

Dimdim Pacres of Marinerang Pilipina scored against Generika-Ayala’s Mariela Gabarda and Patty Orendain in a Philippine Superliga Invitational Conference game won by the Lifesavers, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17.

‘It’s overall SEAG title or nothing’ I

Restaurant, Amelie Hotel and Pagcor.

T’S all or nothing for the Philippines Joining the second-term party list representative when it plays hosts to the 30th Southeast were the ladies tasked to run the polo competitions in Asian Games in November. the coming SEA Games—technical operations man-

“I want no less than the overall championship,” said Deputy House Speaker Mikee Romero during yesterday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.

The 47-year-old congressman, sports patron and polo athlete rolled into one said since it has been done before, it can be done again.

It will be the fourth time in history that the Philippines will host the SEA Games after 1981, 1991 and 2005.

And if the trend continues, the next time the country hosts the biennial event would be 10 or 12 years from now.

“It’s a long cycle that’s why we need to make the most out of this hosting. Let’s win the overall title,” he said at Amelie Hotel Manila. “We just have to replicate what we did in 2005. Something less will not be at par with what we achieved 14 years ago.”

“We must win the overall crown or we will fall short of 2005. That’s why I am challenging our sports leaders. It’s championship or bust,” Romero told the weekly forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska

Eagles eye 16th straight UAAP victory STRETCHING their winning run to 16 will be the order of business for the defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles.

But getting a better shooting percentage is also something to consider for the Blue Eagles when they meet University of the East Warriors at 12:30 p.m. today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Having good accuracy from the field will help the Blue Eagles in their bid to stay on top of the standings in the 82nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

“Our field-goal percentage doesn’t flatter our play really at 40 percent.

It’s something we need to continue to work on, but also at the other end of the floor, our defense is doing a good job. It’s generating turnovers and converting those into easy points on the fastbreak,” said Blue Eagles’ coach Tab Baldwin.

The Blue Eagles are going for their sixth straight win and 16th overall since the start of the first round last season.

After turning back the National University Bulldogs, 71-50, last Sunday, Baldwin feels that the Blue Eagles need to fine-tune their game further.

“We want that tempo, but we want to generate it through pressure. And we don’t like it when the game slows down too much. But I think even in a slow game, it helps our offense a little bit,” added Baldwin.

The Warriors (1-4) are considered a dangerous team by Baldwin, following their 56-62 loss to the University of the Philippines Maroons.

“We can’t take anybody lightly and it’s disrespectful and I don’t think we want to be characterized as a program or a team that’s disrespectful to anybody or anything in our game,” said Baldwin. Peter Atencio

ager Bubbles Bermudez, deputy venue manager Julia Lastrilla and competition manager Camila Lastrilla, and Erik Arejola, GlobalPort governor in the PBA. Romero is neck-deep into basketball, but has dipped his hands into shooting, volleyball, baseball, cycling and now polo. He expects the Philippines to win the SEA Games’ gold in men’s basketball.

“The gold in basketball is a must. At the level of our professional players, the Southeast Asian players are not at par. This is the gold that matters most to us,” said Romero.

When the SEA Games is staged from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11, the owner of the GlobalPort team in the PBA will compete in polo. He said of the two gold medals to be disputed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, the hosts will be happy to win one gold and one silver.

“Of course the target is to sweep the golds. But the more realistic goal is a gold and a silver. It’s more achievable,” said Romero.

The Philippine polo team includes Gus Aguirre,

Rep. Mikee Romero

Terrific 12 teams begin PBA stints

Tommy Bitong, Jay de Jesus, Jam Eusebio, Anthony Filamor, Coco Garcia, Santi Juban, Ed Lopez, Marty Romualdez, Tonio Veloso and Noel Vecinal.

As a group, they will undergo intense training from Oct. 27 to Nov. 12 in Argentina, which Romero described as the “mecca of polo.”

By Jeric Lopez

Taiwanese eye redemption vs local aces SIX of the Top 12 in the current PGA of Taiwan (TPGA) money rankings banner a full-packed roster seeking to get even with the top guns of Philippine Golf Tour Asia in the $100,000 Nan Pao TPGA (PGA of Taiwan) Open, which blasts off tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 26) in Tainan City.

Song Mengyu, for one, is out for redemption after the sixth-ranked player in the TPGA OOM blew a huge lead in the final round and lost by two to Thai Wisut Artjanawat in Daan TPGA Open, the first-ever PGT Asia event held overseas in Taichung City last May. But Mengyu and the rest of the 85-player strong local contingent are making sure not to play gracious hosts for the PGTA bets this week as they try to cash in on their local knowledge of the tree-lined, hazard-laden layout and avert another embarrassing setback at home.

But the PGTA aces are also coming into the 72-hole championship sponsored by ICTSI brimming with confidence, including Artjanawat along with 15 other Thais, among them Namchok Tantipokhakul, who is also gunning for a second leg win in the third season of the region’s emerging circuit after ruling the kickoff leg at Luisita last April.

Backing Mengyu are No. 7 Xie Donghong, ninth-ranked Yu Yuchen, No. 10 Lin Wenke, a n d 11th ranked Wang Congjie and No. 12 Huang Wei, who tied for fifth and seventh, respectively, in Daan Open.

The Thais actually dominated the previous PGTA event with six finishing among the Top 12 with the Philippines’ perennial regional rivals all geared up for another strong outing behind the likes of Ratchapol Jantavara, Tawit Polthai, Panuwat Muenlek and Sutijet Kooratapisan.

Filipinos Jay Bayron and Tony Lascuña also try to get into the mix with a strong start with the former out to improve on his tied for 27th finish the first time out and the latter upbeat

of his chances after pulling out at the last-minute in Daan Open due to hand injury.

Other PGTA campaigners tipped to contend for the top $17,500 purse in the event backed by PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGT Asia official apparel Pin High are Aussie David Gleeson, winner of the Luisita leg last year, Lindsay Renolds of Canada, Japanese Keisuke Takahashi, Korean Shin Seung Woo and Luke Trocado of South Africa.

Meanwhile, Luisita will host the next PGTA stop on Oct. 1619 for the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open which James Ryan Lam won last year for his first career victory while Summit Point will host the ICTSI World 18 Challenge on Oct. 23-26 event where Joenard Rates is the defending champion.

Song Mengyu

THREE teams are bound to debut, while another is looking for a first win as action continues in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup. Still fresh from their Terrific 12 stint in Japan, TNT KaTropa and Blackwater start their campaign against each other at 4:30 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Grand-Slam seeking San Miguel Beer, also a part of the Terrific 12 in Macao, starts its bid for a third straight jewel by squaring off with Phoenix (01) at 7 p.m. in the nightcap.

The Tropang Texters, Elite and Beermen are in rhythm coming off their participation overseas wherein San Miguel finished best at No. 4.

Heading back to more serious business, there is only on goal for the Beermen—capture that elusive GrandSlam.

“We’re in a position again to go for a GrandSlam and that’s the goal for us,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “We are presssured but our players are used to that so we’re hoping we can start well to get there.”

San Miguel will parade fresh import Dez Wells, a high-scorer who impressed in the Terrific 12.

He will go up against the Fuel Masters’ resident import Eugene Phelps, who dropped 38 points and 10 rebounds in Phoenix’s 116-123 openinggame loss to NLEX last Saturday.

TNT will have former NBA player KJ McDaniels as its reinforcement, while Blackwater will welcome back former Best Import Marqus Blakely to the league.

Knights subdue Blazers; Lions notch 13th win in a row

By Peter Atencio THE Letran Knights subdued a foultroubled College of St. Benilde Blazers, 87-74, and handed the defending champion San Beda Red Lions that best seat in the Final Four semifinals of the 95th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.

Ato Ular and Fran Yu showed the way with 20 and 19 points, respectively, for the Knights in claiming their eighth win in 12 games at the FilOilFlying V Sports Center in San Juan.

The Knights got two triples from Yu and Batiller to move ahead, 70-67, in the last 6:59.

As the Blazers lost two key players to five fouls after that, Letran went on to take a seven-point spread, 77-70, with 3:07 to go.

With Edward Dixon and Justin Gutang fouling out in succession, the Knights then pounced on CSB’s awful shooting to stay ahead in the remaining time.

“It’s all about defense. We lessened our errors. This is the first time that the team had single-digit errors,” said

Knights’ coach Bonnie Tan, who noted the team’s eight turnovers throughout the game.

The Knights, with Batiller making 13 points, notched their second consecutive win and improved their chances of reaching the Final Four as well.

Yankie Haruna tallied 19 points for the Blazers, who fell to fifth at 6-5, as they struggled at the end of the first half after the bench got penalized for bringing six players inside the court in the final minute of the second canto.

The Red Lions drew 20 points from James Canlas as they turned back the

San Sebastian Stags, 91-76, to remain unbeaten after 13 straight matches.

The fate of the Red Lions rested on how the outcome of the CSB Blazers’ encounter with the Knights.

Had the Blazers won, San Beda would have just secured a playoff berth to the Final Four.

Since the Blazers lost to the Knights, they gained the top seeding in the Final Four, and a twice-to-beat bonus as well.

Donald Tankoua added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Red Lions, who

Turn to A7

Business

IN BRIEF

Globe Telecom taps American Tower unit

GLOBE Telecom Inc. on Tuesday said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Transcend Towers Infrastructure (Philippines) Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of American Tower Corp., to build more towers in the Philippines.

Under the agreement, Transcend Towers will build an initial 150 sites for Globe in North Luzon in support of the common tower initiative of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Rizza Maniego-Eala, Globe chief finance officer, said the American Tower unit would play a critical role in improving the density of Globe’s sites in North Luzon.

“There is a significant need to accelerate our infrastructure build for our customers to fully enjoy the benefit of a digital lifestyle,” Maniego-Eala said.

This is the third agreement signed

by Globe after deals with ISOC Infrastructure Inc. and Malaysia-based tower giant edotco Group Sdn. Bhd. in June and Aboitiz InfraCapital, and Frontier Tower Associates Philippines in July.

Aboitiz-Frontier Towers will focus on improving connectivity in Cebu, Davao and Olongapo by building and deploying the needed telco infrastructure in the most efficient way.

Darwin G. Amojelar

SM Investments gets high Forbes ranking

CONGLOMERATE SM Investments Corp. has been named by Forbes as one of the top regarded companies in the annual list of the World’s Best Regarded Companies.

Ranked based on trustworthiness and company’s performance, SMIC took the no. 172 place, climbing 63 spots from last year’s 235th place.

“We are honored to receive this recognition. We anchor all our businesses in good corporate governance and we remain committed in strengthening our ability to create meaningful impact to society and deliver greater shareholder value,” said SM president and chief executive officer Frederic DyBuncio.

Forbes teamed up with Statista to come up with the annual list of the world’s 2000 largest public companies down to the top 250 best-regarded companies based on trustworthiness, social conduct, strength of products and services and how they fare as employers.

The data were gathered from among 15,000 respondents from more than 50 countries. Jenniffer B. Austria

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

B1

By Othel V. Campos

BEST BANK. Security Bank Corp., one of the country’s top lenders, is recognized as the Best Bank and Best SME Bank in the Philippines by Alpha Southeast Asia, one of the leading regional financial capital markets magazines. Receiving the awards from Alpha Southeast Asia publisher and CEO Siddiq Bazarwala (right) during the 13th Annual Alpha Southeast Asia Awards 2019 on behalf of Security bank is president and chief executive Sanjiv Vohra.

BSP study dismisses risks of POGOs pullout

By Julito G. Rada

I

NITIAL results of a study conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show that an immediate pullout by Philippine offshore gaming operators from the country will not have an impact on the financial stability, Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday.

Diokno asked the BSP’s Financial Stability team and the Anti-Money Laundering Council to examine POGO’s impact on the property sector and the consumer business.

“We don’t have yet the results of the POGO study but the initial findings show that they have no impact on financial stability… They can exit and there will be no risk,” Diokno said at the sidelines of the Euromoney’s Philippine Investment Forum at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City.

Diokno also said that the POGOs pullout might even have a positive im-

pact. “That is positive for us. If they leave, it would be better because there will be no risk for money laundering,” he said.

Diokno did not confirm if POGOs were being used for money laundering.

“That area has been known for money laundering. But I can’t confirm because I don’t know,” he said.

Diokno noted that the government already stopped issuing permits and licenses to new POGO applicants.

“And secondly, we are closely monitoring them… The [Agencies like] DoF (Department of Finance], PAGCOR [Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.] and AMLC for their activities, not necessarily money laundering,” Diokno said.

Diokno said in August the BSP was studying the economic impact of the rapidly-growing offshore gaming operations in the country.

He said he himself did not know if the POGO operations had any positive impact on the economy.

“One of the BSP’s mandates is financial stability, so we want to see the fi-

nancial risks [associated with it] so we study the POGO issue,” Diokno said.

“What if they leave? What will be the impact to the property sector,” he said, referring to earlier reports that POGO operations were causing the increasing take-up of property spaces in Metro Manila.

“You know the GFC [global financial crisis] started in the real estate sector, not from banks itself,” he said, pertaining to the global financial crisis in the past decade.

The Chinese embassy in Manila urged the Philippine government to crack down on POGOs, saying several Chinese citizens were illegally recruited and hired in offshore gaming operations in the Philippines.

State-run Pagcor middle of August said it stopped accepting new applications for offshore online gaming licenses after Beijing called on Manila to crack down on gambling operations targeting its citizens.

PAGCOR said there were 58 licensed offshore gaming operators in the country.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS. TeaM

Energy Corp., a Japanese company which operates power plants with over 2,000 megawatts of installed generating capacity in Luzon, turns over water system and other key community projects in Pagbilao, Quezon province. TeaM Energy operates two coal-fired power plants: the 735-MW Pagbilao Power Station in Quezon Province and the 1,200MW Sual Power Station in Pangasinan. It also has a 50-percent stake in the 420-MW Pagbilao Unit 3 Power Project in Quezon and a 20-percent stake in the Ilijan natural gas project in Batangas.

MPTC infuses another P3.44b in Indonesian firm

By Darwin G. Amojelar METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. acquired an additional 24.98-percent shares in an Indonesian infrastructure company for P3.44 billion.

The tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. raised its interest in PT Margautama Nusantara through the acquisition of a 100-percent equity interest in CIIF Infrastructure Holdings Sdn Bhd and CAIF III Infrastructure Holdings Sdn Bhd. MPTC, through its Singaporean subsidiary, Metro Pacific Tollways Asia Corp. Pte. Ltd. acquired 100 percent equity interest in each of CIIF and CAIF III, respectively.

Each of CIIF and CAIF III holds 20 percent and 4.98 percent equity interest in MUN, respectively.

MUN is a private company in Indonesia engaged in the development and operation of toll roads. MUN currently manages four strategic toll roads.

The indirect acquisition of equity interest in MUN through CIIF and CAIF III will be in addition to the existing indirect equity interest of MPTC in MUN through PT Metro Pacific Tollways Indonesia which holds an equity interest of 75.89 percent of PT Nusantara Infrastructure Tbk, which then holds 74.98 percent equity interest in MUN. The resulting total equity interest of MPTC in MUN after the transaction will be 100 percent.

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

Marriott set to open 21 hotels in PH

Dar sees agriculture growth of 3% to 5%

AGRICULTURE Secretary William Dar plans to expand agriculture by as much as 3 percent to 5 percent before his three-year term ends.

Dar also enjoined all local government units and provincial governments to support the activities and projects of the department.

He stressed the role of the local government units that are at the frontline in serving the agriculture and fisheries sector.

He assured local chief executives that the department would provide incentives to provinces that strengthen their agricultural extension systems.

The World Bank has already committed $500 million to implement the Provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems, he said.

“This time around, let us make the province-led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems work,” Dar saidP The “One Province, One System” agricultural extension approach, which also includes cities and municipalities, serves as a strategy to address the lack of agricultural extension workers and slow transfer of technologies in the provinces. Othel V. Campos

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor

Bangko Sentral expected to reduce policy rates this week BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday a further reduction in reserve requirement remains on the agenda of the Monetary Board, but he ruled out the possibility that it would take place together with the expected policy rate reduction on Thursday.

“I think it is not likely… [But] RRR cut is always on the agenda… We can announce it anytime,” Diokno said at the sidelines of Euromoney’s Philippine Investment Forum at Fairmont Hotel in Makati City.

The reserve requirement, also called cash reserve ratio, is a central bank regulation that sets the minimum fraction of customer deposits and notes that each commercial bank must hold as reserves.

The reserve requirement in the Philippines at 16 percent remains the high-

est in the region. Diokno earlier said his goal was to cut the RRR to a single-digit level within his term.

The Monetary cut the reserve requirement ratios of banks by 200 basis points or 2 percent to 16 percent from 18 percent in May to unlease additional liquidity into the financial market.

The reduction happened in three stages with the first 100 basis points becoming effective on May 31, 50 bps on June 28 and 50 bps on July 26.

The Monetary Board is scheduled to hold its next meeting Thursday. Economists believe the BSP will extend its easing cycle with another 25-basis-point cut in policy rates to 4 percent amid the continued slowdown in inflation rate.

Dutch financial giant ING Bank cited latest data showing a sharp slide in consumer price inflation in August below the BSP’s 2 percent to 4 percent target.

Prakash Sakpal, ING Bank economist for Asia, said this “had set another 25 bps rate cut in stone—the third this year taking the BSP’s overnight borrowing rate to 4 percent,” Diokno said despite the recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities a few days ago, the timetable for the reduction in policy rates remained.

“As long as the oil prices don’t exceed $85 per barrel, we are still within our inflation target [of 2 to 4 percent],” he said.

The Monetary Board cut the overnight borrowing rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent in August, taking into account the continued downward trajectory of inflation rate. The interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities were reduced to 3.75 percent and 4.75 percent, respectively.

Julito G. Rada

MARRIOTT International Inc. said Tuesday it will embark on an aggressive expansion in the Philippines by putting up 21 new and refurbished hotels by 2024.

The new hotels would add at least 5,000 rooms to the country’s growing hotel room inventory.

Marriott International Asia Pacific president and managing director Craig Smith said the expansion aimed to serve the huge Chinese travellers’ market that the Philippines attracts.

“The Philippines is a great market.

We’ve seen tremendous growth on the economy which is going pretty well compared to the rest of the world. We believe they will not limit themselves to the hotels, shops and gambling.

While they’re at it, they might as well venture into resorts,” he said in briefing at Marriott Manila in Resorts World.

Marriot currently operates four hotels under two brands in the country.

The additional 21 hotels will strengthen Marriott’s branding to a total of 25 hotels by 2024.

After the US, Marriott’s next biggest market is the Asia Pacific with special interest in the Philippines, a market endowed with the qualities of very scenic and relaxing environment populated by hospitable people.

The hotel chain is expected to debut in new destinations including Boracay, Davao and Palawan. It would reopen its Cebu hotel and bring in more brands that include Element, Westin and RitzCarlton.

The company said of the 21 new hotels, three will come from the conversion and rebranding of existing hotels and two of them would open this year.

The Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila will be rebranded into Sheraton Manila Bay, one of the brands under the Marriott wing which will open on Oct. 1.

Marriott will also introduce luxury brand Ritz Carlton Hotel in place of Maxim Hotel in Resorts World by 2021.

Other conversion deals include the debut of the Four Points brand with the opening of Four Points Palawan Sabang Beach.

NLEX secures P5-b loan from BDO Unibank

By Jenniffer B. Austria TOLL road operator NLEX Corp. said Tuesday it signed a term loan facility for up to P5 billion with BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender.

NLEX said in a disclosure to Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. the P5-billion fixed rate notes would have a tenor of 10 years.

“The proceeds of the loan will be used

by NLEX Corp. to finance its capital expenditures,” the company said.

NLEX in early September broke ground on the P1.6-billion capacity expansion of the 8.2-kilometer Subic Freeport Expressway to improve traffic safety and ease travel time to and from Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The SFEX Capacity Expansion is expected to enhance accessibility and promote travel efficiency on the key road that connects Bataan and Zambales. It is seen to be completed by September 2020.

NLEX issued P6 billion worth of fixed rate bonds under a P25-billion bond shelf registration program last year.

The company expressed plans to issue more bonds to finance the construction of the North Luzon Expressway Connector Road Project.

The P23-billion NLEX Connector is an eight-kilometer elevated toll expressway over the right-of-way of the Philippine National Railways.

The project starts at the junction of NLEX Segment 10 at C-3 Road/5th Ave. in Caloocan City and will connect to South Luzon Expressway through Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project in Manila. Upon completion, the toll road is seen to benefit around 35,000 vehicles a day.

The company recently inaugurated the NLEX Harbor Link Segment 10.

The next phase of the project is the 2.6-km section from C3 Road, Caloocan City to R10, Navotas City.

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market up; SM Prime advances T HE stock market rose Tuesday on optimism the US and China may find a solution to their long-running tariffs spat.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 26.43 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,893.94 on a value turnover of P8.5 billion. Losers, however, beat gainers, 122 to 80, with 54 issues unchanged SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest integrated property company owned by the Sy Group, advanced 3.5 percent to P36.70, while Megaworld Corp., the biggest developer and lessor of offices spaces, climbed 3.3 percent to P4.97.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the smaller of the two oil refineries, gained 2.6 percent to P33.80, while Bank of

the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, rose 1.3 percent to P91.50.

The rest of Asian markets crept up Tuesday but dealers remained on edge following contrasting economic data out of Europe and the US as investors awaited developments in the China-US trade standoff.

Hong Kong gained 0.2 percent following six days of losses and Shanghai ended up 0.3 percent, while Tokyo finished 0.1 percent higher.

Seoul put on 0.5 percent and Singapore added 0.3 percent with Mumbai and Bangkok also up.

Sydney and Taipei were barely moved, while Wellington dipped 0.1 percent and Jakarta sank more than one percent.

After last week’s dovish shift by global central banks, dealers were in waitand-see mode, with the key focus now

on whether Washington and Beijing can find a solution to their long-running tariffs spat.

Optimism over the issue took a jolt at the weekend when Donald Trump said he did not want to make a piecemeal deal—an option that had been floated— and instead was determined to sign a complete agreement.

He also said he saw no need to strike it before the November 2020 election.

Top-level negotiations are due to start in Washington next month.

Observers said there was some relief that a Chinese delegation’s visit to farms in the rural US was cancelled at the request of Treasury officials.

News of the cancellation last week had sparked fears that the Chinese side had pulled out and hit New York stocks as dealers feared another breakdown in talks.

Bloomberg News reported China had

given the OK to several firms to buy US soybeans free of tariffs, having promised to buy more US agricultural goods to move talks along.

European markets ended with deep losses after figures indicating a sharp contraction in German factory activity last month, marking the worst in a decade for the region’s biggest economy.

But that was followed by figures showing a slight pick-up in US manufacturing, easing concerns about a feared weakening of the world’s top economy.

There is a worry that the readings could tempt the Federal Reserve from pushing on with further interest rate cuts.

Forex traders will be keeping a close eye on London, where judges will rule on whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to call an extended parliamentary recess was legal ahead of an October 31 Brexit date. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 55 1,180 91.5 1,498,830 2.09 1,000 142.6 1,070,130 1.13 70,000 25.5 96,200 18.66 49,700 12.1 503,600 5.4 1,014,700 0.53 3,000 1.23 1,000 0.435 160,000 67.75 2,834,870 0.93 19,000 13 375,500 44.9 135,900 180.9 310 119.9 70 57.4 1,440 26.9 35,700 196 306,230 1,835 100 59 16,950

64,915.50 136,786,618 2,090 152,386,013 78,730 2,459,455 918,560 6,036,408 5,534,332 1,590 1,230 69,550 192,063,389.50 17,670 4,687,092 6,113,195 55,999 8,044 82,420 959,800 60,076,187 183,500 1,000,593

33,551,324.50 2,517,285 -1,332,435 -92,500 2,622,734 16,290 -69,797,152 -2,240,130 -3,217,029 -232,685

38.9 16 0.69 1.3 0.247 2.64 14.1 10.3 18.46 31 72.25 77.1 2.08 6.14 5.91 9.1 15.6 10.48 7.15 1.66 24.8 80.6 48.1 2.37 14.2 8.21 1.55 219.6 49.9 5.35 3.53 20.55 13.6 18.32 367 0.189 5.3 2.03 4.21 5.05 10.1 2.42 10.7 33 5.17 5.12 1.85 2.3 1.07 11.64 89.55 7.35 0.125 1.06 165.7 2.42 1.21 1.23

INDUSTRIAL 39 2,151,300 16.08 204,900 0.7 1,148,000 1.3 106,000 0.255 1,480,000 2.72 2,136,000 14.24 351,600 10.4 248,800 18.5 74,300 31 2,100 74.95 210 80.15 2,180 2.12 168,000 6.15 22,000 5.91 24,600 9.1 1,055,300 15.72 1,389,900 10.48 230,100 7.16 2,176,500 1.66 6,000 25 4,756,200 81 466,200 49 40,900 2.53 18,377,000 14.3 118,100 8.22 46,700 1.55 22,000 220 844,440 49.9 500 5.4 234,600 3.53 1,000 21.3 513,200 13.74 128,300 18.5 346,400 368 206,980 0.208 640,000 5.3 100 2.05 2,901,000 4.45 13,000 5.05 1,454,700 10.48 85,800 2.43 41,704,000 11 25,600 33.8 1,910,100 5.2 56,200 5.12 1,500 1.87 4,461,000 2.4 34,000 1.07 128,000 11.64 177,800 91 320,210 7.48 43,800 0.125 180,000 1.08 448,000 166 375,260 2.42 9,000 1.25 2,671,000 1.25 5,030,000

84,456,400 3,294,470 801,270 137,820 374,740 5,792,510 4,985,964 2,583,474 1,387,138 65,370 15,199.50 168,897.50 357,790 135,280 145,586 9,743,151 21,823,838 2,413,916 15,646,389 9,960 118,960,580 37,808,714 1,988,810 46,012,600 1,687,568 386,770 34,100 185,918,144 24,960 1,264,008 3,530 10,872,315 1,759,422 6,375,076 76,191,574 123,640 530 5,944,640 55,660 7,371,803 893,436 104,114,290 278,920 64,496,495 292,319 7,680 8,461,110 82,930 137,530 2,075,246 29,055,774 ( 323,703 22,620 478,580 62,326,379 21,880 3,337,120 6,290,010

-5,788,910 1,662,276 -16,920 407,310 998,528 -240,114 865,399 20,525,640 -127,896 -8,493,977 30,234,665 -603,521 668,340 6,529,820 -220,724 -28,692,804 535 3,530 2,193,735 -1,052,692 -4,418,658 -12,853,222 2,100 209,060.00 -1,735,363 -168,922 -1,229,020 -52,900 -2,755,415 525 -1,554,770 20,075,465.5) 748 1,270 22,690 -21,145,841 21,880 23,220 55,510

0.92 54.55 11.72 0.77 6.9 13.02 1.15 1.17 890 3.56 6.72 8.69 13.48 0.229 845 5.83 74.1 5.2 0.52 4.41 14.46 0.59 4.93 2.89 0.038 1.29 2.87 175.2 2.59 993 0.86 1.3 229 0.229 0.25

HOLDING FIRMS 0.92 10,871,000 54.55 784,210 11.86 9,331,900 0.78 384,000 6.9 1,100 13.02 45,200 1.15 3,673,000 1.17 202,000 900 225,760 3.59 1,744,000 6.72 1,061,400 8.7 6,597,800 13.6 50,100 0.24 20,000 845 143,650 6 73,700 74.5 499,540 6.4 73,800 0.53 727,000 4.43 166,000 14.46 1,326,800 0.65 782,000 5 8,230,000 2.89 1,000 0.039 4,300,000 1.33 492,000 2.87 21,000 177 63,330 2.59 1,000 1,010 588,380 0.86 2,428,000 1.3 7,000 231.2 700 0.232 100,000 0.265 3,870,000

10,153,090 42,939,803.50 110,876,472 299,770 7,590 591,718 4,255,820 237,530 202,303,670 6,260,250 7,195,518 57,807,748(32 677,784 4,690 122,194,540 438,134 37,251,149 404,128 388,410 734,330 19,301,704 471,980 41,094,490 2,890 165,400 644,890 60,270 11,177,212 2,590 592,575,185 2,183,210 9,180 161,268 22,940 1,007,550

-349,080 -23,201,661 -52,111,476 -7,812 9,981,315 3,038,650 -19,109 ,825,808.0002) -96,928,030 -226,950 8,222,124.50 -75,280 17,359,178 -13,355,810 2,890 3,900 1,945,404 2,590 517,130,075 890 1,320 -108,020 96,200

15.14 0.86 1.82 0.91 47.25 2.12 4.85 6.1 0.56 0.74 0.84 0.217 0.39 9.54 20.6 0.45 0.121 1.63 1.19 4.84 0.31 0.43 1.45 0.385 2.05 51.5

PROPERTY 15.14 122,500 0.86 1,249,000 1.87 4,000 0.93 1,910,000 48.95 3,952,600 2.12 777,000 4.88 214,000 6.15 600 0.56 7,391,000 0.74 36,000 0.86 39,000 0.217 40,000 0.395 1,110,000 9.7 72,000 20.65 75,400 0.45 740,000 0.121 110,000 1.65 12,977,000 1.2 242,000 4.97 16,350,000 0.315 4,050,000 0.43 220,000 1.45 1,250,000 0.385 80,000 2.07 39,000 51.5 10

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FERRONOUX HLDG FIRST ABACUS IREMIT MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK

55.05 90.75 2.09 142 1.14 25.65 18.5 11.98 5.64 0.53 1.23 0.435 67.45 0.93 13 45.5 180.1 114 57.4 27.2 196 1,835 59.05

55.05 92.4 2.09 143 1.14 25.7 18.66 12.1 5.64 0.53 1.23 0.435 67.95 0.93 13 45.5 180.9 119.9 57.4 27.2 197.9 1,835 59.25

55 90.05 2.09 141.7 1.11 25.5 18.4 11.9 5.39 0.53 1.23 0.43 67.45 0.93 12 44.9 180.1 114 57 26.8 195.8 1,835 59

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

39.95 16.1 0.71 1.32 0.255 2.64 14.2 10.58 18.46 31.3 72.25 77.1 2.13 6.14 5.95 9.29 15.6 10.5 7.24 1.66 24.8 80.6 49 2.37 14.38 8.45 1.55 221 50 5.39 3.53 21.35 13.64 18.46 368 0.189 5.3 2.03 4.22 5.12 10.16 2.62 11 33 5.21 5.12 1.9 2.3 1.1 11.8 89.55 7.48 0.125 1.06 167 2.52 1.21 1.28

39.95 16.12 0.73 1.32 0.255 2.74 14.28 10.58 19.3 31.3 74.95 80.35 2.14 6.15 5.95 9.33 15.8 10.6 7.24 1.66 25.45 81.25 49.5 2.55 14.46 8.45 1.55 221.8 50 5.42 3.53 21.5 13.76 18.88 370 0.21 5.3 2.08 4.45 5.13 10.94 2.65 11 34.5 5.25 5.12 1.95 2.52 1.1 11.8 91 7.5 0.127 1.14 167 2.52 1.27 1.28

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ASIABEST GROUP ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP AYALA LAND LOG COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV MJC INVESTMENTS PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.93 55.75 12.06 0.79 6.9 13.4 1.18 1.19 896 3.61 6.9 8.79 13.5 0.229 860 5.83 74.1 5.7 0.53 4.41 14.7 0.63 4.99 2.89 0.038 1.33 2.87 177.9 2.59 1,005 0.86 1.32 241.8 0.23 0.26

0.95 55.75 12.16 0.8 6.9 13.4 1.2 1.19 900 3.63 6.9 8.85 13.6 0.24 861 6 75 6.4 0.56 4.44 14.7 0.66 5.01 2.89 0.039 1.34 2.87 178 2.59 1,010 0.94 1.32 241.8 0.232 0.265

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

15.14 0.88 1.82 0.92 48.4 2.14 4.97 6.1 0.56 0.74 0.84 0.217 0.4 9.85 20.6 0.455 0.121 1.64 1.2 4.85 0.31 0.435 1.46 0.385 2.06 51.5

15.14 0.88 1.87 0.94 48.95 2.19 4.97 6.15 0.57 0.75 0.87 0.217 0.4 9.85 20.8 0.47 0.121 1.65 1.2 4.98 0.315 0.435 1.49 0.385 2.09 51.5

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

24.95 2.32 3.33 35.5 2.41 5.9 0.87 7.52

25.05 2.34 3.34 36.7 2.5 5.95 0.9 7.62

24.8 2.32 3.32 35.5 2.39 5.86 0.87 7.52

24.8 2.34 3.33 36.7 2.5 5.93 0.9 7.57

589,600 84,000 46,000 103,907,400 1,820,000 44,600 174,000 2,906,200

14,667,065 195,100 153,170 3,743,486,375 4,469,380 263,463 152,690 22,003,532

-3,720,370 -46,400 7,239,530 -17,500 593 -13,905,268

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

10.2 18.7 1.87 0.69 0.048 2.36 11.1 0.055 92.9 6.56 7.1 6.17 9.95 1,892 5.23 420.6 9.86 1.62 1.79 129.2 9.44 0.116 5.32 2.87 3.14 0.91 19.02 3.4 2.45 1.18 3.21 2.85 8 3 5.1 137.6 3.16 1,105 0.73 0.57 41.5 78.5 9.12 2.83 0.72 0.345 5.48 0.7 16.04

10.2 18.7 1.87 0.71 0.048 2.36 11.48 0.057 93 6.56 7.18 6.17 10.24 1,892 5.25 430 9.86 1.64 1.79 130.9 9.44 0.116 5.34 2.87 3.14 0.91 19.2 3.4 2.45 1.18 3.27 2.87 8.09 3 5.14 138.9 3.16 1,120 0.76 0.57 41.5 78.5 9.12 2.85 0.72 0.35 5.48 0.7 16.3

10.14 18.36 1.75 0.66 0.046 2.32 11.1 0.055 91.6 6.56 7.02 6.17 9.9 1,826 5.22 420.6 9.86 1.59 1.79 129.2 9.44 0.112 5.09 2.87 3.11 0.91 19.02 3.4 2.39 1.18 3.13 2.83 8 3 5.1 137.1 3.07 1,105 0.73 0.56 40.4 78.25 9.12 2.81 0.7 0.34 5.42 0.68 16

SERVICES 10.14 18.36 1.81 0.68 0.048 2.32 11.26 0.055 92.6 6.56 7.02 6.17 9.92 1,826 5.22 430 9.86 1.62 1.79 130 9.44 0.114 5.17 2.87 3.11 0.91 19.2 3.4 2.39 1.18 3.14 2.83 8 3 5.14 138.9 3.16 1,108 0.74 0.57 40.4 78.25 9.12 2.82 0.72 0.34 5.42 0.7 16.26

9,800 101,700 400,000 61,994,000 22,600,000 322,000 1,530,900 12,450,000 84,910 2,000 937,300 200 56,800 57,960 204,600 810 10,600 576,000 1,000 1,153,570 100 350,000 4,667,200 2,000 97,000 138,000 59,500 42,000 1,224,000 42,000 2,649,000 64,000 10,700 1,000 5,000 34,190 784,000 79,885 10,492,000 3,377,000 1,023,100 53,820 24,000 2,155,000 373,000 3,900,000 1,100 1,603,000 1,767,200

99,720 1,877,774 713,120 42,298,680 1,066,600 750,880 17,249,772 691,780 7,848,556 13,120 6,617,228 1,234 565,950 107,285,740 1,071,037 347,758 104,516 928,720 1,790 149,865,544 944 39,520 24,091,780 5,740 302,470 125,580 1,132,338 142,800 2,946,010 49,560 8,423,590 181,860 85,644 3,000 25,600 4,747,372 2,438,500 88,719,720 7,833,330 1,919,800 ( 41,467,150 4,211,480 218,880 6,082,040 264,540 1,344,800 5,968 1,090,870 28,532,054

104,040 11,208,288 4,984,995.50 -1,643,549 -68,788,480 -121,500 -2,187,820 -279,886 47,600 -67,560 -15,730 -56,800 3,000 26,134 -22,320 -44,520,215 -14,810 117,920.0001) -16,496,640 -368,557.50 2,757,720 710 2,467,894

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

0.0017 1.2 2.5 12.04 1.18 2.67 0.285 7.75 1.76 0.255 0.109 0.109 0.011 1.16 4.28 1.22 0.54 0.92 0.012 0.012 0.011 9.19 3.82 12.1 22.65 0.0068

0.0017 1.2 2.5 12.04 1.18 2.67 0.285 7.9 1.77 0.265 0.111 0.109 0.012 1.16 4.33 1.3 0.54 0.92 0.012 0.012 0.012 9.3 3.85 12.2 22.85 0.0068

0.0017 1.16 2.5 11.5 1.18 2.65 0.28 7.74 1.71 0.238 0.108 0.104 0.011 1.16 4.18 1.21 0.5 0.91 0.011 0.012 0.011 8.91 3.81 11.96 22.05 0.0065

MINING & OIL 0.0017 103,000,000 1.17 2,326,000 2.5 55,000 11.92 6,100 1.18 7,000 2.67 550,000 0.28 200,000 7.9 600 1.76 28,431,000 0.242 6,430,000 0.11 500,000 0.106 14,920,000 0.012 155,600,000 1.16 17,000 4.29 3,353,000 1.23 2,052,000 0.5 177,000 0.91 428,000 0.011 700,000 0.012 1,600,000 0.011 9,700,000 8.91 959,300 3.83 148,000 11.96 1,422,900 22.35 1,128,500 0.0066 13,000,000

175,100 2,726,520 137,500 71,026 8,260 1,462,370 56,300 4,663 49,583,190 1,582,570 54,250 1,567,290 1,756,700 19,720 14,329,280 2,575,130 89,460 392,660 7,800 19,200 107,000 8,638,363 567,160 17,119,944 25,238,960 87,900

-17,000 1,170 14,085,000 -1,549,270 2,890,260 -12,810 540 920 -18,000 -33,000 77,683.00 -524,762 -20,397,695 6,800

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

18.22 505 505 102 108 505 5.1 980 99.65 0.99 101.5 1,025 1,056 1,080 109 990 78 75.4 76.5 76.5 76 76 76.6

18.24 505 505 102 108.8 505 5.17 980 99.65 0.99 101.5 1,030 1,056 1,081 109 990 78 75.4 76.5 76.5 76 76 76.6

18.2 505 503.5 101.6 108 505 5.1 980 99.65 0.98 101.5 1,025 1,056 1,080 108 990 77.9 75.05 76.5 76.5 76 76 76.6

PREFERRED 18.2 167,600 505 7,000 503.5 11,990 101.6 12,120 108.8 6,850 505 20 5.17 5,100 980 1,000 99.65 150 0.99 1,105,000 101.5 18,620 1,030 215 1,056 1,000 1,081 3,855 108 310 990 600 77.9 10,310 75.1 21,700 76.5 10,380 76.5 37,000 76 79,150 76 1,018,080 76.6 763,910

3,051,210(2, 3,535,000 6,049,290 1,232,240 741,981 10,100 26,017 980,000 14,947.50 1,093,940 1,889,930 220,530 1,056,000 4,165,950 33,490 594,000 804,141 1,629,150 794,070 2,830,500 6,015,400 77,374,080 58,515,506

686,930.0001) 32,400 30,381 -

LR WARRANT

1.61

1.65

1.6

WARRANTS 1.6 104,000

166,720

-48,050

13,126,790 3,318,022 1,529,800

-28,956 1,078 46,530

1,402,591

-35,400

15,570 4,944 65,650

-

MS 1,854,650 1,083,910 7,330 1,758,430 191,477,565 1,658,100 1,042,160 3,680 4,173,530 ( 26,770 32,940 8,680 435,850 696,404 1,562,880 340,300 13,310 21,326,040 289,540 80,443,110 1,267,500 94,950 1,821,250 30,800 80,570 515

-1,100,678 2,750 4,659,720 -1,173,460 -180,440 121,260.0001) -8,680 -392,800 359,617 207,535 10,484,460 -23,681,830 3,150 182,700 -

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

7.4 10.54 0.96

7.41 10.86 0.97

6.85 10.14 0.95

FIRST METRO ETF

118

119

117.7

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

10.38 10.3 1.01

TRADING SUMMARY

10.38 10.3 1.01

SHARES

FINANCIAL

10,897,157

INDUSTRIAL

101,867,147

HOLDING FIRMS

66,861,482

PROPERTY

228,743,207

SERVICES

140,461,419

MINING & OIL

347,350,419

GRAND TOTAL

899,965,818

10.38 10.3 1.01

SME

6.85 10.22 0.95

1,851,600 319,100 1,601,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 118.4 11,840 DDS 10.38 10.3 1.01

1,500 480 65,000

VALUE 1,794.88 (UP) 10.74 769,368,448.30 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,810.96 (DOWN) 44.37 953,075,169.19 HOLDING FIRMS 7,825.44 (DOWN) 10.78 1,462,352,862.52 PROPERTY 4,097.93 (UP) 64.96 1,559.21 (DOWN) 7.60 4,576,898,767.975 SERVICES MINING & OIL 9,217.90 (DOWN) 57.33 594,923,846.36 PSEI 7,893.94 (UP) 26.43 128,418,912.71 All Shares Index 4,770.97 (UP) 9.73 8,504,416,906.35 Gainers: 80; Losers: 122; Unchanged: 54; Total: 256

Jollibee completes purchase of CBTL

By Jenniffer B. Austria JOLLIBEE Foods Corp., the biggest fastfood chain, completed the acquisition of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a specialty coffee and tea chain based in Los Angeles, California for $350 million.

Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the acquisition was finalized after the parties completed closing conditions, including required government approvals, provided under the purchase agreement.

Jollibee said it bought 100 percent of CBTL for $350 million on a debt-free basis.

The acquisition was done through Java Ventures LLC, a US-based wholly owned subsidiary of Super Magnificent Coffee Company Pte. Ltd. (SMCC Singapore), a unit of Jollibee Worldwide Pte Ltd. The payment for the acquisition of CBTL is being funded by proceeds from bridge loans signed by JWPL with several financial institutions.

The acquisition of CBTL brand is JFC’s largest and most multinational to date. This will add 14 percent to JFC’s global system wide sales and 26 percent to its total store network, and will bring international business’ contribution to 36 percent of worldwide sales.

Jollibee chairman Tony Tan Caktiong earlier said the company planned to bring in strategic investors to help turn around CBTL. Tan Caktiong said several long term pension funds expressed interest in teaming with Jollibee in CBTL. Meanwhile, the acquisition will bring Jollibee closer to its vision to become one of the top five restaurant companies in the world in terms of market capitalization.

Combined with Highlands Coffee, with business mostly in Vietnam, the latest purchase will enable Jollibee to become an important player in the large, fast growing and profitable coffee business.

CBTL will be Jollibee’s second largest business after the Jollibee brand while the coffee business will account for 14 percent of Jollibee’s worldwide system sales.

First Gen in talks with Siemens over gas plant upgrade

By Alena Mae S. Flores FIRST Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group is in talks with global energy powerhouse Siemens AG and other companies for the company’s planned 1,200-megawatt natural gas plant expansion.

“We have said before that we have plans to build at least two new combined cycle units in Batangas... We have pre-invested in infrastructure to allow that to happen quickly. For example, we’ve done piling, foundations and even installed common water intake at the structures,” said First Gen executive vice president and chief commercial officer Jonathan Russell in a statement.

“We are planning to add roughly two new 600 MW units. Siemens is one of the companies we are talking with in doing that using their new H class machines an upgrade of the San Gabriel units but with higher output and better performance,” said Russell.

First Gen’s 1,000-MW Santa Rita natural gas plant in Batangas was built by a consortium led by Siemens under a fixed-price, turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract.

Operations and maintenance of the plant is done by Siemens Power Operations Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens.

First Gen’s 500-MW San Lorenzo combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant uses Siemens v84.3A gas turbines. Similar to the Santa Rita plant, it was built by Siemens under a fixed price, turnkey EPC contract. SPOI also performs the O&M of the plant.

Meanwhile, the 414-MW San Gabriel power plant uses Siemens’ SCC68000H combined-cycle gas turbine. The plant was constructed full turnkey EPC contract with Siemens AG. The O&M of the plant is also being performed by SPOI. “We’ve been very happy with Siemens as a technical partner. They build a very good product and they’ve done a good job in operating and maintaining it,” Russell said.

B3

World

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Thunberg slams world leaders as summit fails

STRIKE. This photo shows a deserted platform at the Gare du Nord railways station in Paris during a strike called by unions against a draft pension reform on Sept. 24, 2019.

AFP

10-million tots at risk from fires AKARTA-Indonesia’s forest fires are putting nearly 10 million children at risk from air pollution, the United Nations warned Tuesday, as scientists said the blazes were releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases.

J

The fires have been spewing toxic haze over Southeast Asia in recent weeks, closing schools and airports, with people rushing to buy face masks and seek medical treatment for respiratory ailments.

Jakarta has deployed tens of thousands of personnel and water-bombing aircraft to tackle the slashand-burn blazes set to clear agricultural land. The fires are an annual problem but this year are the worst since 2015 due to dry weather.

Almost 10 million people under 18―about a quarter below five―live in the areas worst affected by

fires on Indonesia’s Sumatra island and the country’s part of Borneo island, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said.

Small children are especially vulnerable due to undeveloped immune systems while babies born to mothers exposed to pollution during pregnancy may have low birth weights and be delivered early, they said.

“Poor air quality is a severe and growing challenge for Indonesia,” said Debora Comini from UNICEF. “Every year, millions of children are breathing toxic air that threatens their health and causes them to miss school—resulting in lifelong physical and cognitive damage.”

Thousands of schools have been closed across Indonesia due to poor air quality, with millions of youngsters missing classes.

Schools were forced to shut across Malaysia last week as dense smog from its neighbor clouded the skies, while Singapore was also shrouded in haze during the weekend’s Formula One motor race.

Air quality had however improved in Malaysia and Singapore Tuesday, and the skies were clearer.

There have been a series of wildfire outbreaks worldwide, from the Amazon to Australia, and scientists are increasingly worried about their impact on global warming.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, part of the EU’s Earth observation program, said this year’s Indonesian fires were releasing almost as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as blazes in 2015, the worst for two decades.

From the start of August to September 18, the fires emitted about 360 megatons of the greenhouse gas, compared to 400 megatons over the same period four years ago, the service said.

One megaton is equivalent to one million tons.

At the peak of the 2015 crisis, the fires were emitting more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each day than all US economic activity, according to environmental watchdog the World Resources Institute.

AFP

Mumbai fears for lives, homes amid rising seas MUMBAI―Huge swathes of Mumbai’s beaches have already been lost to rising seas. Now shanty dwellers fear for their homes and critics say India’s largest metropolis―like other world mega-cities―is not doing enough to hold back the waves.

During the monsoon, near-daily storms regularly flood Dharavi, one of Asia’s biggest slums and home to some of the coastal city’s most vulnerable residents.

“The situation has been getting worse every year, with our homes knee-deep in water,” Venkatesh Nadar, 38, who has lived in the shanty settlement his entire life, told AFP. Nadar said authorities have not told him what might happen to his home as sea levels rise, or if they are doing anything to help his family move.

“It’s dangerous and worrying for our children’s future, and leaves every family living here at God’s mercy,” he said.

If a dire UN prediction saying that the sea could rise by three feet in the century up to 2100 because of global warming comes true, one academic report suggests a quarter of Mumbai could be affected.

Even an eight-inch rise would more than double the frequency of flooding in tropical zones such as the Mumbai coast, according to a 2017 report by US experts.

Mumbai, which British colonial rulers formed by joining seven small islands, is already vulnerable to floods because so much of it is below the high-tide line.

The shore has retreated by more than 20 meters at some Mumbai beaches over the past 15 years, according to studies by the Watchdog Foundation activist group.

Hundreds have died and billions of dollars of damage caused in floods over the past two decades―and one storm alone in 2005 left 500 dead.

Floodwaters already overwhelm Mumbai’s decrepit drainage system every monsoon.

The Maharashtra state government’s response has concentrated on building 20 sea walls—including four off Mumbai―and a huge mangrove planting campaign along the state’s 720-kilometer coast. AFP

UNITED NATIONS―An emotional Greta Thunberg tore into world leaders at a UN climate summit Monday, accusing them of betraying her generation by failing to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, as announcements by major economies fell far short of expectations.

The Swedish teen’s impassioned speech, in which she repeated the words “How dare you” four times, was the defining moment of the meeting, called by UN chief Antonio Guterres to reinvigorate the faltering Paris climate agreement.

Ahead of the conference, the United Nations issued a release saying 66 countries vowed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, along with 10 regions, 102 cities, and scores of businesses.

But pre-summit predictions of new, headline-grabbing commitments, particularly by the likes of China and India, failed to match reality, angering environmental groups.

The world’s top scientists believe longterm temperature rise must be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels to prevent runaway warming with catastrophic effects.

But rather than peaking, the level of emissions being released into the atmosphere are at an all-time high, triggering global weather hazards from heat waves to intense hurricanes and raging wildfires.

New data released Monday showed the 2019 Arctic sea ice minimum is ranked at second-lowest in the 41-year satellite record, effectively tied with 2007 and 2016.

“I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back at school on the other side of the ocean,” said Thunberg, 16, who has become the global face of a growing youth movement against climate inaction that mobilized millions in a worldwide strike on Friday.

“You come to us young people for hope.

How dare you?” she thundered, her voice at times breaking with emotion.

Matters did not improve much as a succession of national leaders took to the podium saying they understood the gravity of the situation but then failing to announce concrete plans. AFP REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 78 QUEZON CITY REY T. DELA CRUZ Petitioner, -versus-

CIVIL CASE NO. R-QZN-19-07469 FOR: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

BEVERLY F. PARAS-DELA CRUZ, Respondent. xxx-------------------------------------xxx

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION TO: MS. BEVERLY F. PARAS-DELA CRUZ 221 Melendez Apartment, Tapuac District, Dagupan City, Pangasinan &/or No. 16 Kisad 7b West Burnham Place, Baguio City GREETINGS: You are hereby required pursuant to the Order of this Court dated August 14, 2019 and Sections 3 & 5 of A.M. No. 02-11-10SC, to file your answer in the above-entitled case within thirty (30) days from the last issue of publication hereof in a newspaper of national circulation once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks and answer the Petition for Nullity of Marriage anchored under Art. 36 of the Family Code which was filed against you by petitioner, Rey T. Dela Cruz, and furnish thereof to petitioner’s counsel, Atty. Isagani C. Ramos, with postal address at Gov. Padilla National Road, Poblacion, Plaridel, Bulacan.

You are likewise required to submit with your Answer certified copies of documents as well as affidavits of any witness to stand as your evidence in this case. You must present the original documents/s on the day of hearing.

Moreover, your are reminded of the provision of the IBPOCA Memorandum of Policy Guidelines dated March 12, 2002 to observe restraint in filing a Motion to Dismiss and instead alleged the grounds thereof as defenses in the Answer. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, the Court shall hear the petitioner’s case and may grant the petitioner the relief applied for.

Witness, the HON. FERNANDO T. SAGUN, JR., Presiding Judge of this Court this 14th day of August 2019.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS. British actress Jodie Comer poses with the Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a

(Sgd.) ATTY. MARIBEL M. FERNANDEZ Branch Clerk of Court

Drama Series award for ‘Killing Eve’ during the 71st Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on September 22, 2019. AFP

IN BRIEF Afghans fear violence as vote nears KABUL―Ordinary Afghans are divided on whether to defy the Taliban’s threats and cast their ballots in a presidential election this week, and even those who are willing to vote fear the poll will be tainted by fraud.

“It is a chance to bring changes,” says teacher Mohsen Karimi, 30, from the western city of Herat near the Iranian border.

The country’s fourth presidential elections since the Taliban’s fall from power in 2001 will be held as increasing uncertainty grips the country.

Fighting between the government and insurgents is killing record numbers of people, while the collapse of US-Taliban talks earlier this month has raised fresh questions about how long Washington plans to keep troops on the ground.

Civilians continue to pay a heavy price in the nearly 18-yearlong conflict.

More than 1,500 civilians were killed or wounded in July, according to the UN, the highest monthly toll this year.

The Taliban have already threatened to target the polls.

“In most areas, people cannot vote due to the Taliban threats.

Even if a candidate is elected, it is not the absolute choice of all Afghans,” said Mohamad Qasim from the southern province of Kandahar.

Among the students, shopkeepers and teachers interviewed by AFP in Kabul and provinces across Afghanistan, several said they did not plan to vote on Saturday.

“I want to vote, but I’m scared,” said Samim from the eastern city of Jalalabad, which is frequently targeted by both the Taliban and Islamic State militants.

However it is fraud that deters the 33-year-old shopkeeper the most. AFP

Republic of the Philippines NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Regional Trial Court Branch 78 Quezon City

Thomas Cook clients struggle PALMA, Spain―Standing in a long line or sitting on their suitcases, anxious Thomas Cook passengers at Palma airport faced an uncertain wait on Monday for a flight to Britain following the collapse of the travel giant.

At the same time many tourists arriving on Spain’s resort island of Majorca for the start of their holidays found the hotel reservations they made through the company were not valid.

Marianne Strenger, a pensioner in her 70s who came to Spain from Berlin with her daughter for a one-week beach holiday, said reception staff at the Hotel Palma Bay said when she tried to check in that they had not received any money from Thomas Cook for her booking and she had to pay for her accommodation again.

“They treated me as if I was the one who was insolvent,” she told AFP outside the three-star hotel on Monday night.

Other guests at the hotel told of similar experiences when they tried to check in.

“We had to pay twice,” said Nils Lichte, a 30-year-old supermarket manager from Cologne.

Among those on Majorca struggling to leave the island was Clare Osborne, who was worried she would not make it to a funeral of a family member in Glasgow on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old accountancy assistant was told she would be put on a 9 pm flight to Manchester and then face “ three-and-ahalf to four-hour journey” by bus to Glasgow.

“So it’s very tight and we don’t really know if it’s going to be nine o’clock, so I’m getting very anxious.”

Kevin Mundie, a 53-year-old hydraulics engineer, also had to return to Glasgow by flying first to Manchester, then making the rest of the journey by bus.

“It’s going to be nearly 24 hours by the time we get home from when we got up this morning,” he said.

Volunteers distributed water to the passengers as they queued in the slow moving line to check in to the alternative flight to Manchester from Palma airport, Spain’s third busiest. AFP

REY DELA CRUZ, Petitioner, -versus-

CIVIL CASE NO. R-QZN-19-07469-CV FOR: DECLARATION OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

BEVERLY F. PARAS-DELA CRUZ Respondent. x----------------------------------------------x

ORDER The SHERIFF’S RETURN dated July 25, 2019 submitted to this court by the Sheriff Joselito V. Itliong, Office of the Clerk of Court, Baguio City showed that the service of Summons and annexes unto the respondent was Unserved “for the reason that respondent is not known or owner of unit” at the given address; and while the OFFICER’S RETURN made by MR. JIMMY H. CASTANEDA, Process Server, RTC, Dagupan City disclosed that the Summons issued against the respondent was likewise unserved as the latter can not be contacted at the given address in said city.

In view thereof, the petitioner through his counsel filed on August 5, 2019 his MOTION FOR PRIOR LEAVE AND TO SERVE SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION seeking the issuance of an ORDER granting leave and that summons be served by Publication on respondent.

Accordingly, and upon motion filed by the petitioner through counsel and pursuant to the provisions of Section 6 of A.M. NO. 02-11-10-SC dated March 4, 2003 and Sections 14 and 15 of Rule 14 of the Rules of Court, the instant motion is hereby GRANTED. The Summons shall contain the 1) title of the case; 2) the docket number; 3) the nature of the petition; 4) the principal grounds of the petition; 5) and the reliefs prayed for, and a directive for the respondent to answer within thirty (30) days from the last issue of Publication.

The Petitioner and counsel are ordered to cause the publication of SUMMONS once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a NEWSPAPER of NATIONAL CIRCULATION in the Philippines; and to serve a copy of the summons attaching therewith copies of the PETITION complete with enclosures at the last known address of Respondent by way of LBC Private Courier at the expense of said petitioner.

SO ORDERED. Quezon City, Metro Manila, 14th day of August, 2019.

(Sgd.) FERNANDO T. SAGUN, JR. Presiding Judge (MStandard-Sept. 17 & 25, 2019)

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

B4

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

LGUs

Olongapo school gets new building via SM Foundation

THE Kalalake Elementary School in Olongapo City has received a fully LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS furnished two-story, four-classroom school building from SM Prime, through SM Foundation, last Sept. 12. Ecstatic students of Kalalake Elementary School run in front of their newly built SM school building. Present at the blessing (inset) were Olongapo City Mayor Rolen Paulino, Jr., SM Foundation Present at the event were Olongapo Executive Director for Education Linda Atayde, SM Investments Corp. Assistant Vice President for Corporate Affairs Victor Chan, and other representatives from the local government, the City Mayor Rolen Paulino, Jr., SM Department of Education, and SM group.

Foundation Executive Director for Education Linda Atayde, SM Investments Corp. Assistant Vice President for Corporate Affairs Victor Chan, and other representatives from the local government, the Department of Education, and SM group.

The school building comes with 200 armchairs, some designed for lefthanded students, and concave blackboards, which enable students to easily see their teacher’s notes from all angles of the classroom.

By Romeo Dizon It also includes wall fans, teacher’s desk sets, wall clocks that promote the “They’ve been collecting what they CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga— ETRO Manila’s water concessionaires should do their part value of being on time, and restrooms used to call sewage fee—now enviinside each classroom, to ensure the Moving quickly with coordinated in rehabilitating Manila Bay by complying with Republic safety and hygiene of the students. It ronmental fee—since 1997. It’s been efforts is very important in addressAct 9275 or the Clean Water Act of 2004. also features a ramp and a toilet on 22 years!” Atienza exclaimed. ing any disaster and calamities in the the ground floor accessible by persons Rehabilitating Manila Bay is a forcountry, the Philippine Disaster Rewith disabilities (PWDs).

In a statement, the Manila Yacht Club za, a former Environment secretary. midable task, Joseph said. To date, silience Foundation stressed.

The SM school building augments and Buhay Party-list said the water con- “Otherwise, there’s no way we can save waste collectors have amassed 27,000 This was the assessment made by the current nine school buildings in cessionaires should address the bay’s Manila Bay.” tons of garbage, he added. the multi-sectoral group from Souththe campus that serves more than pollution by providing sewage facilities.

The water concessionaires collect an “They will collect around 30,000 2,000 students from barangays Kalaleast Asia and Brown University’s “The DENR [Department of Envienvironmental fee from its customers tons more from October to Decemake, Pag-asa, East Bajakjak, Asinan, Watson Institute for International ronment and Natural Resources] cannot that should go toward water treatment ef- ber,” said Joseph. “This is 60 years of and Tapinac. and Public Affairs during a weeksolve this issue without the water com- forts, the lawmaker explained. accumulated waste.” long seminar here that ended over panies speeding up the construction of “Every month, when you pay your waManila Bay’s rehabilitation kicked the weekend. the sewage treatment plant,” said MYC ter bill, 20% of that is supposedly for the off this January, after the DENR acBrown University was represented Commodore Robert Lim Joseph. cleaning of our wastewater. If this was cepted President Rodrigo Duterte’s

by Dr. Adam Levine, director of the “We need to divert all the sewage go- done, then the water going to Manila Bay challenge to rehabilitate and restore Center for Human Rights and Huing into the bay [to the treatment plants],” should have been clear water and without the bay’s coastal and marine ecosysmanitarian Studies of the Watson added Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atien- stench,” he said. tems.

‘Sewage plants crucial in cleaning Manila Bay’

PDRF, Brown U disaster seminar staged in Clark

M

More Navoteño families get new homes

By Jun David SOME 153 informal settler families now have new homes following the blessing and inauguration of three buildings and a multi-purpose hall in NavotaAs Homes 2-Tanza at Barangay Tanza 2.

Mayor Toby Tiangco joined Engr.

Juancho Corpuz and Arch. Ma. Teresa P. Oblipias of National Housing Authority, Brgy. Chair Rochelle Vicencio, and other city officials in the ceremony.

NavotaAs Homes 2-Tanza features eight 3-story buildings that can accommodate 408 families.

“As we continue our efforts to provide shelter to Navoteño families, we also ask that you take care of the communities we build,” Tiangco said.

“Discipline is key to a peaceful community. Follow the policies the city government has laid out and make your stay here orderly and harmonious,” he added.

Before qualifying to receive a housing unit, all members of an applicant’s family need to pass a drug test.

Applicants also agree to refrain from gambling or drinking alcohol inside their units or within the housing site.

Navotas has five in-city housing projects intended to keep families living along coastlines and riverbanks, or those considered danger zones, safe from harm.

The projects can shelter more than 2,000 families, all of whom are required to take drug tests to ensure that housing communities are peaceful and crime-free.

The new officers of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas take their oath before PFP president and Gov. Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr. (2nd right), PFP Chairman and NCMF Commissioner Abubakar Mangelen, (right) PFP National Secretary General Tom GT Lantion, PFP-4A chairman and former Laguna Governor Emilio Ramon P. Ejercito (3rd from right) and PFP vice president for Luzon, former Capas, Tarlac Mayor Antonio Rodriguez Jr. (2nd from left).

Roy Tomandao

New PFP officers in mass oathtaking in Iligan City ILIGAN CITY—South Cotabato Gov. and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas president Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr. recently led the mass oathtaking ceremony of the party’s new officers in Lanao del Norte and Region 10 here.

He urged all 167 officers to uphold the ideals of the party, as PFP supports the programs of President Rodrigo Duterte against corruption, terrorism, poverty, illegal drugs, and criminality.

The PFP, turning one year old on Oct. 5, gained 238 elected posts in the recent May 13 elections across the country,

from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.

Former Laguna Governor and PFP4A Chairman Emilio Ramon P. Ejercito spelled out the “bayanihan” federalism that Duterte aims for the country, in the talk initiated by Membership Chair Amir Omar Daligdig and Sec. General Atty. Yusop Omar.

Three PFP municipal mayors were elected in Lanao del Norte—Mayor Farhanie Umpa Tawantawan in the town of Salvador (along with Vice Mayor Mateo Cortes), Ylan Lantud Vice Mayor Lacson Lantud in Pantao Ragat, and Mayor

Hanna Rizalda in the town of Maigo.

Retired Army General Jovencio Magalso and former New People’s Army cadre Agustin "Jumper" Galleros are among the new PFP officers in the region.

They took their oath before Tamayo, PFP Chairman and National Commission for Muslim Affairs Commissioner Abubakar Mangelen, PFP National Secretary General Tom GT Lantion, Ejercito, and the PFP Vice President for Luzon, former Capas, Tarlac Mayor Antonio Rodriguez Jr. Roy Tomandao

Institute for International and Public Affairs.

Guillermo Luz, chief resilience officer of the PDRF, said that when natural disaster strikes, it is important for responders to move quickly and in a coordinated manner.

“We believe that innovation and coordination within a large group of players will lead to more effective response,” Luz said.

He also said the partnership between the PDRF and Brown University, which started last year, “makes all involved better humanitarian workers.”

According to Luz, their group includes government agencies, private sectors, civic organizations and academe that made their assessment through lectures and field exercises, working with local and international humanitarian experts on how to achieve coordination during disasters and calamities.

The program from Sept. 15 to 21, with a theme "An Intensive Course on Innovation in International and Local Humanitarian Coordination in the ASEAN Region," was held at the PDRF operation center here.

Since 2015, the PDRF has been partnering with local and international organizations in capacity building initiative to better and improve management disaster and calamities response management.

PDRF is recognized by the United Nations as a global model for establishing public-private partnership in disaster risk reduction management.

SM Marilao salutes Bulakeño WCOPA auditionees OVER a hundred young hopefuls went to SM City Marilao to audition for the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) Team Philippines 2020.

Artistic Bulakeños showed their world-class talent before the judges with their 60-second showdown performance.

“We are looking for singers, dancers, models, instrumentalists and other variety acts who could represent the Philippines in the 24th annual World Championships of Performing Arts at Anaheim in California, USA” shares WCOPA Team Philippines National

Director Gerry M. Mercado.

Last July 2019, three Bulakeños took part of the WCOPA Philippine team and bagged gold, silver and bronze awards for their world class performances. They were Albert Aguilar from Hagonoy, Mardy Jane Lising from Malolos and Jhon Harry Rodriguez from Calumpit.

World Championships of Performing Arts or WCOPA is the only premier international competition for the performing arts, with emphasis on accurate, professional "Hollywood" entertainment industry, education, and experiences. It is the one and only tal-

ent Olympics in the world with more than 63 nations participating.

SM Supermalls is proud to be a partner and official venue for World Championships of Performing Arts Team Philippines Audition. “SM will continuously support events that bring out the best in Filipino people. It truly warm our hearts to be part of these successes,” said SM City Marilao Mall Manager Engr. Emmanuel Gatmaitan.

Capping off the event was a recognition to the three Bulakeño champions who won in the recent WCOPA held at Long Beach California, USA last July 12-21, 2019. Jun David

WCOPA Team Philippines National Director Gerry M. Mercado (right) and SM City Marilao Mall manager engineer Emmanuel Gatmaitan (left) award certificates of recognition to Bulakeño champions Albert Aguilar and Mardy Jane Lising (middle), who won in the recent 23rd World Championships of Performing Arts at Long Beach, California last July 12. Jun David

Life

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

FASION AND BEAUTY

Heart Evangelista turns her paintings into wearable art in her latest jewelry collaboration with Royal Gem.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

C1

A harmony

of ancient roots

By Diana B. Noche

A

FASHION show is a beautiful battleground of look-at-me creations, a glittering night of shimmery gowns and chic apparel, high heels, and makeup—all in colors that meet and harmonize.

Heart Evangelista: An artist and a fashionista LOVE Marie Ongpauco-Escudero Evangelista.

Italian Gold, on the other hand, fea(also known as Heart Evangelista) can be likened to a walking piece of art, a tures artworks set on fine enamel jewchic one at that. With a well-thought- elry, outlined with Italian gold. Pendants out style, from casual to couture, and from the collection can be used in bracelets or necklaces, and an artistic talent, she comcan be worn as is or bines her two layered together. passions in a The idea to feastunning accesture Evangelista’s sories collection. artworks in her Eva ngelist a second collaboraturns her paintings tion with Royal into wearable art in Gem came up after her latest jewelry Royal Gem genercollaboration with al manager Merrill Royal Gem. Gaisano-Gothong The 2019 Royal attended the 2018 Gem x Love MaIn Full Bloom rie Jewelry CollecCollection exhibit tion: The Modern opening.

Muse is an intricate “Her aesthetic, expression of the vibrant colors, complex but beautiand themes perful roles that a womfectly capture the an plays in today’s spirit of Royal world. Inspired by the Gem’s style. The different facets of the whole collaboramodern woman as tion process was expressed in paintdone mostly virings from her 2018 In tually through Full Bloom Colleccasual exchanges tion, each piece tells between Heart and its own story.

“This is my most I for almost half a year. She’s very personal collabohands-on with the ration with Royal whole creative proGem thus far since cess. She personally I’m featuring my looks into each piece actual works of and makes sure each art,” shares Evanand every piece is up gelista. “I’ve had to her quality and style my artwork on standards,” relates clothing, lipsticks, Gaisano-Gothong. and bags but never on jewelAs for tips on how ry—and you all to style and wear know how much her new collection, I love jewelry.”

Evangelista believes The Modern there’s no particular Muse collection is way to style jewdivided into two elry, as long as a selections: Cameo person feels good and Italian Gold. wearing it.

The Cameo pen“I persondants feature Evanally love to layer gelista’s paintings two or three at a on carefully setime—no matter how big or small lected hand-carved the pendant and queen helmet conch shell, making each chain. As long The 2019 Royal Gem x Love Marie piece unique. as the chains fall at Jewelry Collection: The Modern Muse “I feel that the different lengths, consists of pieces made of queen Cameo collection is helmet conch shell, fine enamel, and they’d look really good. Overall, you very unique because Italian gold, among others. just have to have the pieces are exfun with it! That’s tremely detailed. So much intricate work was put into creat- what it’s all about.” ing each Cameo piece. Of course when The limited edition 2019 Royal Gem making the collection, I had to make x Love Marie Jewelry Collection: The sure my designs would be timeless be- Modern Muse is available on www. cause these pieces of jewelry are the royalgemjewelry.com and in select kind that you can keep forever,” says Royal Gem stores.

Last week’s Kasuotang Pilipino Fashion Show 2019 called “Banyuhay,” sponsored by the City Government of Makati and its Museum and Cultural Affairs Office, was another conclusive push to increase awareness of the splendid heritage of the Philippine attire.

Kasuotang Pilipino, to its credit, has let us share a journey of wonder and discovery, made us understand, get us in close connection to our roots and exceptional legacy.

Philippine apparel is a cross-generational fusion of ancient wear and Western influences, a blend of past and present.

During the period from the 10 th to the 16th century, our ancestors dressed in styles according to the region’s climate and their proximity to neighboring Asian countries. Men in the northern part of the country wore loincloths, also called bahag or Gstring, made of colorful woven fabric.

They were shirtless, with primitive tattoos covering their upper body.

The women were either topless or wore dresses similar to a robe.

Men in Luzon wore a kanga shirt without collar which was later adorned with lace, buttons, and a collar. This new styled kanga later evolved into the present day Barong Tagalog. The women wore baro’t saya, consisting of a blouse (baro or camisa), a folded piece of cloth worn over the shoulder (pañuelo), and a short rectangular cloth (tapis) wrapped over a long skirt (saya).

The saya had different checkered patterns which signified one’s wealth.

Visayan dresses were an influence of Indonesian and Malaysian robe called marlota. Men complemented their clothes with a headdress called putong.

People in Mindanao had the more intricate style of the Muslims—colorful and laden with complex beadwork and jewelry.

The terno dress, Imelda Marcos’ “uniform” as the world saw it, had its own evolution to move with the times.

TRULY FILIPINO. Some of the pieces showcased at the Kasuotang Pilipino 2019 Fashion Show pay homage to the splendid heritage of the Philippine attire.

By the 1800s the bodice of the baro was hand-embroidered and the sleeves became bell-shaped. The tapis was made of pinya or muslin fabric. The saya still came down floor-length and ballooned into a wide bell shape.

During the American occupation, the terno changed into a more modern style—bigger sleeves and narrower skirt with a long train (saya de cola).

In the 1920s came what we know today Turn to C2

Men in different versions of barong Tagalog.

Life

C2

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

FIND YOUR STYLE. The now bigger Surplus flagship store in SM Makati features a wide array of fashion apparel, from casual wear to athleisure.

More fashion finds at bigger Surplus store

I

T’S bigger, brighter, and more fashionable. The Surplus branch in SM Makati, also the brand’s flagship store, unveils a new look that welcomes shoppers looking for great finds at affordable prices.

The Surplus flagship store’s latest look signals a new identity, invigorating the shopping vibe with a bright signage and fashionable mannequins by the entrance, curved walls and walk paths that

create a seamless transition from one area to another.

In contrast, dark gray f loor tiles form a circular spot at the mid-part of the store to emphasize the merchandise mix.

Overall materials and lighting used in the new store create an urban yet youthful ambience, while modern day graphics add excitement to the shopping experience.

A specifically designed series of touch points—store windows and television sets playing fashion videos— show customers the coolest store finds

and useful tips on how to mix and match their wardrobe essentials.

Shopping at the new store is easy as the items are labeled according to their categories.

Women can find fun and fab tops, as well as pretty and flirty skirts for everyday wear; while men can also be fashion forward from the wide selection of versatile and trendy items.

The store also carries great selection of accessories and novelty items plus trendy shoes and fashionable bags.

Surplus flagship store is on the 3rd floor of SM Makati.

Functional gear and accessories and denim pieces are aplenty in the flagship store.

REPRESENTING Philippine fashion and design at this year’s edition of Premiere Classe, Paris Fashion Week’s foremost accessories trade show, are seven homegrown brands known for their uniquely Filipino creations.

Dedicated to high-end fashion accessories, the Premiere Classe trade show has become a springboard for many designers to showcase their creations to a global audience. For the Philippine participating labels—Aranaz, Beatriz, Filip+Inna, Joanique, Mele + Marie, Merriam Batara, and Zacarias 1925— the event is not only a great opportunity to gain business opportunities abroad, it is also a venue to showcase Philippine culture and local craftsmanship.

At the helm of these fashion brands are ultra-talented, creative, and business-savvy women who lead their brands with the mission of elevating Filipino craftsmanship.

Filipina designers represent PH in Premiere Classe trade show Ara Mina with Ever Bilena president and chief executive Dioceldo Sy

Ara Mina launches makeup line

Behind every great brand is a woman

Mother-daughters Becky, Amina, and Rosanna Aranaz launched their eponymous handbag label in 1999, but the roots of the business began in the ’80s with mom Becky’s manufacturing and export bag business.

After a few years of doing the bazaar rounds in Manila, the positive response from local buyers inspired the trio to officially launch Aranaz and even push the brand internationally. Since then, the Aranaz women have taken on various roles in designing, growing, and promoting their label’s handmade and slow manufacturing processes that produce beautifully artisanal handbags.

Unlike Aranaz’s more feminine leanings, Rita Nazareno’s Zacarias 1925 features bags with unconventional concepts that constantly challenge the traditional lines of her family’s heritage brand, S.C. Vizcarra.

An Emmy-award winning former TV producer in the US, Nazareno returned to the Philippines to help out with the family business that initially started as an embroidery atelier under her grandmother, Segundina Vizcarra, and later a fine crafts business lead by her mother Vicky Amalingan-Sales. When Nazareno came on board, she infused fresh ideas into S.C. Vizcarra’s classic weaving techniques, and took even bolder steps with Zacarias 1925.

Growing up in Iligan City in Mindanao, Lenora Cabili was always surrounded and captivated by the vibrant garments of the local indigenous groups residing in the region. Inspired by the rich, diverse culture in the country, Cabili started Filip + Inna, apparel that spoke to the modern-day woman, but also celebrated the traditions of our culture through the work of artisans that

Aranaz, Beatriz, Filip+Inna, Joanique, Mele + Marie, Merriam Batara, and Zacarias 1925 represent the country in the upcoming Premiere Classe accessories trade show in Paris, France.

keep the antique craft of weaving, embroidery, and beading alive.

With her background in modeling and interior design, Joanique’s Malou Romero was constantly exposed to beautifully-designed pieces. For her own line of bags and jewelry, however, she wanted to keep the spotlight on the Philippines’ colorful history and culture. Romero works in collaboration with local artisans that hand-carve cultural images onto her solid-wood bags.

Carissa Cruz Evangelista’s Beatriz was born out of a love for fashion, but is sustained by her experience working with community-based enterprises during her time with the Department of Trade and Industry.

Evangelista continues to empower disadvantaged communities through her Beatriz accessories line by teaching them the craft of applying thread patterns onto clutches and hand cuffs that produce vibrant and eye-catching results.

Rosemarie Oamil, co-founder and female force behind Mele + Marie, owes their success to their hard work and

unwavering faith. Together with her husband and the brand’s chief designer, Melecio Oamil, Mele + Marie’s unique designs are constantly inspired by their humble beginnings, family experiences, trials and triumphs.

Oamil grew up in the farming fields of Nueva Ecija and worked her way up slowly, partnering with her husband in their initial exporting business. In 2012, they decided to create their own label featuring handmade bags and accessories made with unique materials like abalone shells and hand-welded metal.

Jewelry designer Merriam Batara, who hails from a family of jewelry makers from Bulacan, practiced her craft with scraps and excess beads from her family’s workshop. Partnering with a friend from college, Batara’s early work consisted of wired butterfly jewelry pieces that she sold at local bazaars.

The self-taught artisan improved her designs further with more sophisticated details and eye-catching materials, specializing in hand-beading and embroidery in her one-of-a-kind earrings, necklaces, and other fashion accessories.

IT WAS a star-studded event when Ara Mina launched her makeup line under Ever Bilena, Ara Colours.

Mina’s friends from showbusiness like Patricia Javier, JC Parker, Diana Zubiri, Phoebe Walker, and Barbie Imperial came to show their support for the celebrity/entrepreneur.

Seasoned actress and one of Ara’s closest friends, Gladys Reyes even participated in the live makeup demo onstage.

During the demo, Mina together with Reyes, influencer Nikki Bonifacio, and makeup artist Monique Señeres tried the different products under the makeup line.

“Ang importante dito, (The important factor is) it’s affordable, pigmented, skin friendly, and very flexible. Pwede siya (It can be used) for day or natural look and pwede ring pang-party kasi meron ding (and for parties since there are) intense colors,” said Reyes.

During the launch, Mina also an-

A harmony...

From C1

as the butterfly sleeves and the baro’t saya became terno, meaning the same or of matching fabric.

In the 1940s, Ramon Valera’s singlepiece terno with butterfly sleeves, band at the waist, ankle-length, and zipped up at the back, was the new image.

One of the ways to measure people’s ethnic and cultural fidelity is through its national dress. Filipino designers have come up with fresh innovations to explore our history and redesign it, cross our many diverse cultures, their sophistication, and spin and connect them, but without the threat of sameness in interpreting the aura of chic.

Gladys Reyes and Janice Reyes Villa

nounced that her makeup line will be launching more products, and will continue expanding in the coming months.

Ara Colours creamy matte lipsticks and lip and cheek tints are currently available on Lazada, and Ever Bilena Direct Sales outlets nationwide.

Banyuhay Fashion Show 2019 was a collaborative attempt to integrate our nation’s ancient spirits into a renewed and more avant-garde awareness of the beautiful convergence of the various island groups and their intrinsic moods.

The night of the fashion show was a sure-fire crowd pleaser—it was impossible to look away. Rhinestone glitter. Satin brilliance. Silver and golden threads. A riot of rainbow colors. Fantastic embroidery. Fabrics that shimmer at each model’s sashay. Clothes that looked at once simple and ornate.

At night’s end, Makati City’s fashion designers got the recognition for their talent. We all await this kind of spark each year.

Photos by Diana B. Noche

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

VIVA celebrates with HIT FILMS ‘This 15 Me,’ which celebrates Sarah G’s 15 years in the business, is the first local concert film to stream on Netflix.

Marco Gumabao and Anne Curtis starrer romance ‘Just A Stranger’ is a certified blockbusters.

F

RESH from the recent success of Vivacon, the first Filipino fan convention in local entertainment history, the showbiz outfit Viva Entertainment is at the moment celebrating more important milestones.

First is the success of the erotic drama from Viva Films, Just A Stranger, which topped the box-office till last August. At the same time, the Viva distributed Angel Has Fallen became the number one grossing foreign film.

PAGEANT CONCEPT ETON CONCEPCION

And lastly, This 15 Me, starring Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo became the first Filipino concert film to stream on Netflix.

Now acclaimed for its box-office performance and critical success, Just

FORMER beauty queen Jewel May Lobaton (Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 1998) was overflowing with enthusiasm when she faced the press at the launching of Miss Manila 2019, her pet project conceptualized as early as five years ago with an expresident and mayor.

The new, much more impactdriven Miss Manila 2019, in partnership with various government organizations, will include girls from the 17 cities around the metropolis to widen its territorial influence and scope.

The Metro-Manila wide search will hold strict screening process for qualified candidates from the different barangays, another screening in the district level and after passing the stern test, will be the representative of their respective cities (five candidates from each city).

“Miss Manila 2019 will be the stage for educational intervention using digital platform. We will teach our children about love of country and love of our cities. The eventual winner will talk about everything beautiful about her country, in general, not only her city.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Wednesday, September 25, 2019 65 Russo or Magritte 66 Mortgage, e.g.

67 Posh hotel lobbies 68 Steady 69 Paradise 70 Strictness 71 Round Table titles 72 Prefix for “trillion” 73 Dundee citizens DOWN 1 Ocean motion 2 Alpine goat 3 DEA operative 4 Feminine endings 5 Mild onion 6 Slugger of yore (2 wds.)

7 Arkin or Alda 8 Splinter groups 9 Muser’s mumbling 10 Yelled 11 “Das Boot” craft (hyph.)

12 1999 Exxon mergee 13 Showy bloomer 21 Pale-green moth 22 Pizarro’s conquest

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Angel Has Fallen also stars Morgan Freeman, Piper Perabo, Jada PinkettSmith, and Nick Nolte.

Meanwhile, all those who missed Sarah Geronimo’s This 15 Me concert which was held at the Araneta Coliseum last April 2018 and those who want to relive the experience can simply log in to Netflix and watch the show at any time and all the times they want.

This is a major event for Filipino talents as it opens the doors of the streaming platform to other Filipino concert films.

This 15 Me marked Sarah’s 15th anniversary in show business, it features a repertoire of Filipino and foreign songs and was directed by Paul Basinillo with Louie Ocampo as musical director. Featured guests are Billy Crawford, Mark Bautista, Xian Lim, James Deid, and Daniel Padilla.

Without missing a beat, Viva Films segued with Sanggano, Sanggago’t Sanggwapo and brought back the Gamol triumvirate of Andrew E, Janno Gibbs, and Dennis Padilla to the big screen. Directed …by Al Tantay, the picture was one of the funniest, naughtiest romps ever seen in movies in a long time.

There are more hilarious naughties in store for moviegoer with the coming arrival of Jowable. Based on the much-talked about short film by Darryl Yap on Facebook, the movie features the love team Kim Molina and Gerald Nepoles.

Next on tap, come October, will be Sarah G in the very special film directed

by Jun Lana, Unforgettable.

‘Angel Has Fallen,’ released in the Philippines by Viva is last month’s highest grossing foreign film.

Former Miss Universe PH launches new face of Miss Manila search

Binibining Pilipinas Universe 1998 titleholder Jewel Lobaton.

ACROSS 1 Dinner beverages 6 P.D.Q. — 10 Buffalo part 14 Fluster 15 Grad 16 A woodwind 17 Vice — 18 Liniment 19 Gray wolf 20 First-rate 22 Self-evident 23 Put-down 24 Kindly 26 Key point 29 Difficult duty 31 Make a mistake 32 Home page addr.

33 Cheerio! (hyph.)

34 Soft leathers 38 Throne 40 Center 42 Quay 43 Marty Robbins tune (2 wds.)

46 Collar site 49 Not sociable 50 Decay 51 Familiar auth.

52 Selene’s sister 53 Home of CNN 57 Non-flying bird 59 Gator cousins 60 Junkyard buy (2 wds.)

A Stranger continues to thrill audiences all over the country. The film stars Anne Curtis and Marco Gumabao and is written and directed by Jason Paul Laxamana.

Partly shot in Portugal, the movie tells the story of how a married woman gets into a passionate affair with a younger man and how she suffers the consequences.

Angel Has Fallen is the third of the famous Fallen franchise. Previously shown were Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen. The three-time more exciting Angel Has Fallen continues the adventures of agent Mike Banning played by Gerard Butler. He is now on the run, a suspect in the attempt to kill the President of the United States. He must prove his innocence and find the real killer at the same time.

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25 “Scream” director — Craven 26 Bare 27 Eurasian mountains 28 Brief upturn 30 Dry-heat bath 35 Nurse’s portion 36 Canyon reply 37 The — the limit!

39 Crusaders’ adversaries 41 Large kerchief 44 Heirs, often

45 Homer-hitter Mel — 47 Low-quality 48 Makes beloved 53 Farm measure 54 Fountain in Rome 55 Standoffish one 56 Stage whisper 58 Eye nerve 61 Nobleman 62 Jason’s vessel 63 Tumult 64 Does roadwork 66 Authorize

She will be a true winner who will help transform lives to talk about the good of everyone,” Lobaton enthused.

“Take for example, Miss Universe Catriona Gray, who was driven around her platform of transforming lives. She can be a very good inspiration for the candidates of Miss Manila,” Lobaton added.

Lobaton is the producer and organizer of Miss Manila 2019, presented by Sapphire Crown Media Productions, Inc., which she heads as CEO and president.

“Miss Manila is God’s gift to me.

It is providential, so I want to make good of it,” said the 42-year-old, Lobaton who won best in evening gown and Miss PAL in the 1998 Bb. Pilipinas search.

Miss Manila focuses on education intervention on Arts, Culture and Tourism, as the heart of its advocacy under its platform “Finest Beauty, Transforming Lives.” The pageant promises to be grander, more colorful, and more purposeful.

Screening of the candidates takes off in early November and the final roster will be presented in a sashing ceremony late next month.

Paulo Angeles and Barbie Imperial in a scene from the original iWant series ‘Taiwan That You Love.’

Romantic comedy-fantasy ‘Taiwan That You Love’ streams today BARBIE Imperial embarks on a matchmaking mission in the midst of a love triangle between Paulo Angeles and Taiwanese actor Stephen Rong in iWant’s original romantic comedy-fantasy series Taiwan That You Love.

Barbie plays optimistic Ivi, who follows her long-time boyfriend Eric (Paulo) to Taiwan for his summer internship. She lies to him about having accepted a teacher assistant job, while in truth, she operates an underground walking tour service in Taiwan. During one of these, Ivi encounters brooding artist Wei-Ting (Stephen), another

tenant in their condominium, where they unintentionally knock out an old man.

This old man turns out to be Yue Lao, the Matchmaking God, who tells Ivi that she is the next matchmaking Goddess and is supposed to bring together couples who are destined for each other as written in the magical book he turns over to her.

Since the names in the book are written in Chinese, she seeks the help of Wei-Ting, who is hesitant at first, but is eventually charmed by Ivi’s persistence. The two set out on their mission and grow closer together, causing friction on her and Eric’s relationship and her boyfriend to become jealous.

Amidst being torn between the two, Ivi is daunted by the fact that if she fails her matchmaking duties, she would be destined to be forever alone.

Will Ivi succeed in her mission?

Will she fall for Wei-Ting or will she make amends with Eric?

Taiwan That You Love features Barbie’s second lead role in a series after last year’s hit series Araw Gabi. Paulo, a member of It’s Showtime’s Hashtags, also appeared in Araw Gabi, Dream Dad, and La Luna Sangre. Stephen, meanwhile, is an actor, singer-songwriter, DJ, model, and host, who was once challenged in a stage play by performing 18 different characters. His experience spans stage, TV, movies, and music.

The digital series is directed

by Theodore Boborol, who also helmed the romantic comedy-drama films Finally Found Someone, Vince & Kath & James, and Just The Way You Are. The series also stars Jai Agpangan, Igi Boy Flores, Romnick Sarmienta, Mickey Ferriols, Anna Tian Yu Xuan, Ed Ngo, Charles Wu, Sharon Landon, and Melvin Sia. Set out on a journey of love and fate in Taiwan That You Love, streaming on the iWant app (iOs and Android) or iwant.ph for free starting today.

Entertainment

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

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

GOT7 returns to Manila for ‘Keep Spinning’ world tour GLOBE continues to bring the best of Korean entertainment to the country by partnering with PULP Live World for GOT7’s Keep Spinning 2019 World Tour happening on Oct. 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

One of the first idol groups to lead the global Kwave, GOT7 is a seven-member boy group under JYP Entertainment.

Debuting in early 2014, the Seoul septet is composed of JB, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Bambam, and Yugyeom. They gained global recognition for their stage performances which involved martial art tricking, a form of martial arts that incorporates kicks, flips and twists from gymnastics and breakdancing. Their first EP, Got It, rose to the top spot on Billboard’s World Albums Chart. Over the years, they’ve released chart-topping hits like “Just Right,” “Never Ever,” and “You Are.” First dibs on concert tickets and a chance

G O T 7 members, with their pretty high-level dance choreographies and often difficult dance moves, have inspired millions of dance covers around the world.

to win an exclusive VIP concert experience are in store for Globe Prepaid, Globe Postpaid, and Globe At Home Prepaid WiFi customers. Join the K-mmunity PH Facebook group to get details on the Globe Exclusive Pre-Sale and Ultimate Stan Experience.

Be the first to know more about upcoming K-Pop events, and interact and bond with fellow K-Pop fans by joining the K-mmunity PH group at glbe. co/KmmunityPH. Most recently, Globe has brought massive KPop acts like EXO, TWICE, BLACKPINK, Wanna One, and Super Junior to the country to delight Filipino K-Pop fans. With more exciting artists like GOT7 lined up, Filipino fans are sure to experience world-class music entertainment—a commitment that Globe will continue to strengthen for years to come.

For more information, join the K-mmunity PH group at glbe.co/KmmunityPH or follow Globe ICON on Facebook and Instagram.

SNAPSHOT

Dazzling Zendaya ACTRESS Zendaya stormed the red carpet at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles for the Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday (Monday morning in Manila).

Zendaya, 23, was a presenter this year.

She has no nominations this year, but that could change next year, as her new show Euphoria will be eligible for awards. AFP

VERY WANG

I

NICKIE WANG

N AN exclusive interview with the Manila Standard during a set visit for the film Kiko en Lala, breakout comedian Super Tekla, or Romeo Librada in real life, was a picture of simplicity, albeit dressed in character, and genuine enthusiasm.

He said he could only be thankful for the opportunities that come along his way, and he would be forever grateful to the people who believe in him more than he believes in himself.

“I have experienced so many downfalls, I was at the bottom, but GMA still gambled on me and gave a chance to showcase my talent as a comedian. What more can I say? I can only be thankful for all the support I get from the network, and for the bosses for giving me their trust once again,” the 37-year-old comedian said in vernacular.

“This is my second chance. I don’t deny that I had some missteps before but I’m ready to pull myself up and cherish what I have right now. Not everybody is given a second chance so I’m trying to deliver what’s expected of me as an actor, as a comedian. I don’t want to let the people around me down,” he added.

Super Tekla is all set for his big screen debut in the much-awaited film Kiko en Lala, which unspools in theaters today.

Produced by Backyard Productions, Super Tekla plays a challenging dual role as the conjoined twins Kiko and Lala. Kiko is the tough and masculine twin, while Lala is the outspoken and witty gay twin. Because of their condition, the inseparable twins were transported to the carnival known as ‘Kambal Karnibal’.

In spite of their differences, Kiko and Lala contentedly live their lives in each other’s close-knit company. Problem ensues when the twins wish to be separated from one another but there’s a catch—only one body can exist and the adrift two souls must fight over it.

In hopes of scoring a chance to be with their romantic interests, the then inseparable twins now battle over who is more deserving of the body.

“Doing this film is very challenging. I think any actor who plays dual roles would have a hard time adjusting so you just have to trust the director who knows what exactly the characters ask for. Imagine we have Kim Domingo and Derrick Monasterio as my love interests. That alone is very challenging,” Super Tekla said in jest.

Joining the talented cast of Kiko en Lala are Tetay as the cunning fortune teller Wagas, Lala’s rival over Rap (Derrick); Kiray Celis as Dalisay, Wagas’ gullible minion; Jo Berry as Tadhana, Wagas’ sister

Super Tekla’s first big screen stint titled ‘Kiko en Lala’ also features Derrick Monasterio and Kim Domingo.

Comedian SUPER TEKLA

gets first lead role in big screen project

AiAi delas Alas plays a support yet a very important role in ‘Kiko en Lala.’

The cast of ‘Kiko en Lala’ met with the entertainment press during a recent media conference held at GMA Network Center.

EXTRA INTERNATIONAL

and an unusual clairvoyant who uses her sense of smell to communicate with spirits; and Vangie Labalan as Mama San, the kindhearted woman who owns the carnival.

Playing a very special role in the film is AiAi delas

Alas. She breathes into live Deadline whose job is to escort human souls at the end of their journey. She also serves as the mediator between Kiko en Lala.

Kiko en Lala is under the helm of the multiawarded director Adolfo Alix Jr.

‘Downtown Abbey’ the class act at box office WITH aristocratic elan, Downton Abbey dismissed challenges from Brad Pitt’s Ad Astra and Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo: Last Blood to claim top box office spot in North America, industry figures showed Sunday.

Fans had waited eagerly for the movie follow-up of the global hit TV series tracking the dramas of life among a British upper-class family and the staff who serve them in their stately home.

With a plot built around a royal visit, the Washington Post review described the Downton Abbey movie as “an overstuffed guilty pleasure” and “eye and ear candy of the highest order: rich and delicious, but not especially nutritious.”

The film emerged top of the Exhibitor Relations rankings by a distance, with an estimated $31 million in ticket sales over the weekend—a cut above Ad Astra, at $19.2 million.

Pitt, who plays an astronaut sent on a dangerous mission at the edge of the solar system, made a 20-minute video call to the International Space Station (ISS) chatting to American astronaut Nick Hague as part of his movie’s promotion.

Rambo: Last Blood was a close third with $19 million, as the three new releases knocked horror flick IT Chapter Two off the top spot after a two-week reign, pushing it down to fourth with $17.2 million ticket sales.

The new Jennifer Lopez movie Hustlers—based on a true story about strippers who plot to steal from their wealthy clients in recession-hit New York—fell from second to fifth place, despite strong reviews.

The ‘Downton Abbey,’ North America’s top movie this week, succeeds by following the formula perfected by the TV series.

J-Lo has won plaudits for her role with “Rolling Stone” calling her “dazzling,” “electrifying” and Oscar-worthy. AFP