Manila Standard - 2019 November 24 - Sunday

JOBLESS RATE UP IN 3RD QTR VOL. XXXIII • NO. 283 • 4 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IS LIAISON TO ASG SLAIN IN SULU CLASH

By Vito Barcelo SOME 10-million Filipinos were unemployed in the third quarter of 2019, or 21.5 percent jobless, up from 20.7 percent compared to 19.7 percent in March this year, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey results released Saturday.

The latest survey, from Sept. 2730, revealed that it found the unemployment rate among Filipinos at 21.5 percent, an increase from 20.7 percent last June and 19.7 percent in March.

Out of the 21.5 percent, 9.5 percent (or 4.4 million) said they voluntarily left their job, 3.5 percent (or 1.6 million) are first-time job seekers.

Other respondents said they became unemployed after their contracts ended and were no longer renewed (5.8 percent), the operations of their previous employers closed (1.3 percent), or were laid off (1.3 percent).

The pollster said that adult joblessness rose in Balance Luzon (25 percent), Mindanao (19.9 percent) and Metro Manila (24.5 percent).

As for the Visayas, the percentage for unemployment fell at 11.8 percent, compared to 18.1 percent recorded last June.

The survey also found that the joblessness rate was significantly higher among women, at 31.4 percent, rather than among men, rating at 14.6 percent.

Because of this, the SWS said, the joblessness rate gender gap rose to 16.8 percent in September, Turn to A2

24-HOUR PNP HOTLINE FOR SEA GAMES

By Joel E. Zurbano

WATER SPECTACLE. The first ever interactive water show in the Philippines—Nuvali teamLab Water: Interactive Water show at the Global Lakeside, Nuvali in Santa Rosa, Laguna, has started attracting tourists, and features flowing images on its massive water-screen display that spans 100 meters wide and 15 meters high—the show running from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. made in partnership with Ayala Land. Norman Cruz

By Francisco Tuyay

from the encounter site during a clearing operation in the aftermath of the fighting with soldiers from the Ist Scout Ranger Battalion and N ISLAMIC-TRAINED the 1101st Infantry Brigade. bomb expert who had ''Abu Talha is a high-value target of the AFP been liaising between in Sulu. Accordingly, he is an ISIS-trained Improvised Explosive Device expert who served as an the global terror instructor to the ASG in the fabrication of a more network and the Abu Sayyaf lethal and destructive IEDs that caused tremendous casualties during the suicide bombings in bandit group in Mindanao Sulu,”Major Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., commander was killed Friday in a military of Joint Task Force Sulu, said. operation in Patikul, Sulu, the “He also served as the financial conduit and liaison between foreign and local terrorist military said Saturday. communication lines,” Vinluan added. Vinluan The man was identified as Talha Jumsah, attributed the killing of Abu Talha on the inalias Abu Talha, considered a high-value target formation shared with the government by the of the military in Sulu, slain during a 20-minute civilian community in Patikul town.

The encounter, Vinluan said, was a follow-up battle with army elite Scout Rangers in Sitio Tubig Amu. Barangay Tanum, Patikul at about operation against ASG bandits and their movements in the bushy area in Sitio Tubig Amu. 7:15 a.m. the other day.

His body was recovered 800 meters away Turn to A2

A

Talha Jumsah aka 'Abu Talha'

THE National Capital Region Police Office on Saturday launched a 24hour police hotline for the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

NCRPO chief Debold Sinas led the launching ceremony during the Final Coordinating Meeting of Task Force NCR at the Conference Room in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City.

The NCRPO SEA Games SMS and Viber hotline numbers are: 0915-983-4636 for Globe subscribers and 0998-325-5626 for Smart subscribers.

“However, eyeing the sustainabilty mechanism of the hotline, only SMS and Viber messages will be accounted on the hotlines and strictly no calls at all,” said Sinas in a statement.

He assured the public of prompt response to queries, reports and complaints regarding SEA Games made through its official hotline.

The hotlines, according to Sinas, will be monitored 24/7 by trained and competent policemen assigned in the Operations Division at the NCRPO headquarters.

Information relayed to the hotlines will be referred to the concerned Task Group Commanders or units for immediate action.

“We are prepared to make this anticipated biennial regional multisport event smooth and peaceful,” said Sinas.

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DUTERTE SEEKS QUIBOLOY-LIKE POWERS TO STOP CORRUPTION

By Vito Barcelo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte wished he could have the same power with his friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, whom he believed stopped one of the major earthquakes that hit Mindanao in October, to stop corruption in the government.

“I wished that I could have the same power to stop graft just by telling corrupt individuals to do so,” the President said during the launching of a hotel in Davao City on Friday night.

“I believe in Pastor Quiboloy when he said that ‘stop’. It stopped, what’s the

trouble? Stop it! It was a coincidence that the earthquake stopped,” Duterte said.

“If I can only have that power against corrupt [people] to stop, because you know that here, the Filipinos, you cannot stop [them],” he added.

Earlier, Duterte said he would fire any government official found guilty of irregularities, following reports that two of his Cabinet men were being investigated by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission.

The President said he learned about the PACC investigation but stressed that the Cabinet officials should be accorded due process.

Turn to A2

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FOR THE RECORD. A tourist has his picture taken while carrying a child, with the replica of the Guinness-listed biggest strawberry shortcake at the strawberry fields of La Trinidad in Benguet as backdrop. Manny Palmero

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VAPER SICKENED IN SEPT. STILL IN DENIAL MODE WITH a raging fever, vomiting and diarrhea, Gregory Rodriguez thought he had some kind of bug when he checked himself into the emergency room at a New York hospital in September.

Two days later, he was unconscious, hooked up to an artificial lung and a candidate for a double lung transplant.

“I didn’t think that vaping had [anything] to do with getting sick,”the 22-yearold computer science student told AFP, two months after the ordeal that brought him to the brink of death in just a few hours.

Doctors have attributed it to his constant e-cigarette use.

But emergency physicians in Jamaica— Rodriguez’s Queens neighborhood—did not immediately make the connection with vaping. As was often the case at the start of the vaping epidemic, discovered over the summer, doctors initially sent Gregory home with antibiotics, thinking he only had an infection.

But then Rodriguez returned to the hospital, unable to breathe, and admitted to vaping cannabis for the past two years.

“At first, I was hesitant to let them know that I vape, because unfortunately THC is still illegal in the state of New York,”he said.

On Sept. 18, his body quickly broke down. He was hooked up to a ventilator, but it wasn’t enough.

His lungs were filled with a viscous substance, like custard, due to extreme inflammation of his respiratory airways. Oxygen could no longer enter his bloodstream.

“He was within hours of dying,”said Dr. Mangala Narasimhan, the regional director of critical care medicine at Northwell Health, who treated him.

As a last resort, doctors hooked Rodriguez up to an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine: The machine pumps blood out of a patient’s body to oxygenate it, and then reinjects it into the veins.

Rodriguez was placed in an induced coma for three days to ensure he wouldn’t suffer during the procedure.

“When I woke up, I did have a tube inside of my mouth that goes into my lungs,” Rodriguez said. His mother showed him photos from when he was unconscious.

His lungs were able to recover while the machine stood in for them. The procedure saved him, and he didn’t need a lung transplant.

He returned home after only 12 days in the hospital, a relatively short time compared to patients with similar cases.

His situation, however, was still one of the more severe. At the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, five out of 40 patients were as serious as Gregory.

There have been 47 vaping-related deaths in the United States this year, and 2,290 cases of vaping-related sickness worldwide.

Authorities blame vitamin E acetate, one of the additives in THC vaping fluid, for the illnesses.

The marijuana loophole “The first few days were very, very hard.

Just walking, just going upstairs was very, very hard,” said Rodriguez, who stayed at his family’s apartment after getting discharged.

Two months later, he’s no longer breathless all the time. But his pulmonary capacity has been reduced to 60 percent, according to his doctor.

“Physically I feel normal. It’s just mentally, it’s going to take a while to recover,”said Rodriguez, who is now craving marijuana.

“I don’t want to call it an addiction, but there are days when I just think about it,” he said.

His habit cost him $16 per cartridge of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis. He bought the cartridges—or carts—in packs of 25, paying the sketchy, dark web vendors in Bitcoin.

It’s a complicated method (instructions are listed on Reddit), but it’s significantly cheaper than the $40 per cartridge that New York dealers charge.

“It’s basically Amazon, but for drugs,” Rodriguez explained.

Last summer, suffering from depression, he began smoking more, almost an entire cartridge every two days.

“The problem with THC is, since it’s illegal, you have to resort to the black market,” the young man said.

“If it was legal, it’d be a lot safer, because you could just buy it in an official government dispensary,” he added. His opinion is not necessarily accurate, since marijuana is heavily taxed and more expensive in states where it has been legalized than on the black market.

Rodriguez nevertheless pinpointed a contradiction in American marijuana regulation: federal authorities are debating a ban on flavored electronic cigarettes, to prevent young people from vaping.

But since the substance is federally outlawed, authorities can’t regulate or control cannabis-based e-cigarette liquids that are permitted at the state level.

Banning just flavored e-cigarette products “would not change anything,” said Gregory.

“These THC carts are killing people.”

AFP

21 DRUG REHAB CENTERS GET P1.2B IN FRESH FUNDS

By Maricel V. Cruz

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HE Department of Health is getting P1.2 billion in fresh funding for the operations of 21 public residential drug treatment and rehabilitation centers, a House leader said on Saturday.

Party-list Rep. Michael Defensor of Anakalusugan, vice chairperson of the House health committee, named the 21 centers and their corresponding allocations in the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget.

These include the following: Bicutan Rehabilitation Center (P171 million); Las Piñas Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million); Dagupan Rehabilitation Center (P86 million); San Fernando, La Union Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million); Isabela Rehabilitation

Center (P58 million); Central Luzon Centers for Health Development (P121 million); Bataan Rehabilitation Center (P57 million); Tagaytay Rehabilitation Center (P91 million); Camarines Sur Rehabilitation Center (P56 million); Malinao, Albay Rehabilitation Center (P55 million); Pototan, Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (P52 million); Argao, Cebu Rehabilitation Center (P68 million); Cebu City Rehabilitation Center (P43 million); Dulag, Leyte Rehabilitation Center (P60 million); Zamboanga City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million);

Cagayan de Oro Rehabilitation Center (P63 million); Malaybalay, Bukidnon Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million); Malagos, Davao Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million); Alabel, Sarangani Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million); CARAGA Rehabilitation Center (P57 million); and San Francisco, Agusan del Sur Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (P12 million).

A supplemental P55 million for the operations of the centers would also be available at the DOH’s central office, Defensor said.

“At present, drug abusers, with the help of their families, may voluntarily seek admission to any of these centers. Or they may be compelled to seek treatment in these centers,” Defensor said.

Under the law, Defensor said families have the option to petition for the compulsory rehabilitation of a

member who is a known drug abuser.

Defensor said drug abusers caught possessing small quantities of illegal drugs might also be subjected to compulsory rehabilitation in lieu of a jail term.

While they undergo compulsory treatment for not more than six months, their jail sentences may be suspended by a trial judge, according to Defensor.

Defensor earlier urged Vice President Leni Robredo, the country’s new anti-drug czar, “to concentrate on suppressing the demand side of the drug problem by sending as many abusers as possible to compulsory treatment.”

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, with the help of other agencies, is presumed to be already forcefully addressing the supply side of the drug problem by running after big-time traffickers, Defensor pointed out.

PRESIDENTIAL AUTOGRAPH. President Rodrigo Duterte signs Friday the framed photograph of the Sarangani Energy Corp. 1 and 2 Plant Site after the ceremonial switch-on of the 105-megawatt Coal-Fired Power Plant Phase 2. Presidential Photo

IS LIAISON...

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JOBLESS...

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The ASG extremists and Talha were monitored by the troops and intercepted the terrorists whiuch sparked the gunfight.

Operating troops recovered personal belongings, cooking and dining utensils, a backpack, and uniform while blood stains were also seen in the encounter site.

Three soldiers were wounded but are now in stable condition in Camp Teodulfo Bautista Station Hospital in Busbus, Jolo. ''The death of Abu Talha will surely cause demoralization in the ASG ranks in Sulu. It could not have been made possible without the support of the Tausug community who reported the presence of the armed terrorists and volunteered to serve as guides during the conduct of combat operations,” said Brig. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the 1101st Infantry Brigade.

Vinluan lauded the operating units who carried out the combat operations to stop Abu Talha as he gave stern waming that the AFP in Sulu would not stop in hunting down the remaining ASG

members in Sulu until all of them were brought to justice. ''I am reiterating my appeal to them to surrender and live a normal life instead of being hunted down as fleeing criminals and a disgrace to the peace-loving Tausug Community. One by one, we will hunt you down,” Vinluan emphasized.

The ISIS-inspired ASG has launched suicide bombings in military posts in Mindanao since January this year that killed three soldiers at a military post while a female, two Egyptians and a Moroccan, were killed in failed suicide bombing attempts.

President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the military to “destroy” the ASG following the deadly blasts at a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu that left more than 20 people dead.

Duterte told the soldiers to crush the ASG by “whatever means.”

The military is presently hunting down at least three more foreigners they believed as suicide bombers.

compared to 14.2 percent last June.

The survey, which used face-to-face interview of 1,800 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide, had a sampling margin of error at ±2.3 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent each for Balance Luzon and Mindanao, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila and the Visayas.

The quarterly Social Weather Surveys on joblessness are not commissioned, but are done on SWS’ own initiative and released as a public service,” SWS said.

24-HOUR...

From A1 More than 15,000 policemen will be deployed to provide security for the sports events that will be held in Metro Manila.

The Philippines will host for the fourth time the SEA Games from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 this year.

The country won its first ever SEA Games overall championship in 2005, the last time it hosted the biennial meet. The Philippines also hosted the 1981 and 1991 editions.

DUTERTE...

From A1 Duterte made the statement after PACC Commissioner Greco Belgica said the PACC has submitted its findings and recommendations to the Office of the President about the two Cabinet members.

But the PACC official also refused to divulge the identity of the Cabinet secretaries, pending results of the investigations.

The religious leader from Mindanao, who claimed to be the anointed son of God, claimed to stop the spate of earthquakes that hit parts of Mindanao in October, adding the public should thank him for“stopping”one of the earthquakes.

Speaking at the opening of the Acacia

Hotel Davao here Friday, Duterte said the processing of documents in the government remained prone to corruption.

Some bureaucrats and government officials, he said, were still using their position to bilk money from the transacting public, especially investors who are trying to comply with regulatory requirements for their businesses.

Duterte said: “They [investors] are afraid of venturing into business because these politicians ask for money. Sometimes they want to be partners.

“They demand money before you have the conversion or before they will approve or allow a certain project.”

He also urged victims to come out into the open so that “they can even personally talk to me to address their concerns.”

“You can come to Malacañang to complain. It is open 24 hours a day. You tell the guards to wake me up. I will call that official in your presence,” he said.

Duterte also advised the public to be assertive if they were being asked for something.

Despite its admission that corruption is difficult to beat, the Duterte administration has established measures to discourage corruption in the bureaucracy.

For instance, the President signed

the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 to further create an environment conducive to business.

“We remain committed [to] enforcing measures to provide [a] conducive environment to encourage more business development. The government will pursue policies and programs to fight corruption,” he said.

Noting that his term would end in two years, Duterte called on the “corruption victims” to come out so he could address the matter immediately.

“I am a man in a hurry. I have only two years left,” he said. With PNA

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MEDICINES CHEAPEST IN GOV’T HOSPITALS—PHAP

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HE cheapest medicines in the country are sold in government hospitals and these should be made a major outlet to help more people, the pharmaceutical industry said.

“The Department of Health [DOH] should consider making these hospitals as a major outlet of medicines. We have been making medicines available to the government at very low prices through bulk procurement and we are committed to keep doing this,” said Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines executive director Teodoro Padilla.

The government has been effective in implementing bulk procurement to bring down medicine prices. Under the Universal Healthcare

Act signed by President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year, bulk procurement and price negotiation with pharmaceutical companies are important provisions that must be maximized and expanded to lower medicine prices.

In a comparison of prices by the DOH Drug Price Reference Index, prices of medicines drastically dropped when a government hospital purchased medicines in bulk or in volume. The DOH-DPRI data showed that the price of a breast cancer medicine took a nosedive from P38,372.00 per vial for 100 units to P13,000 per vial for 6,100 units, representing a 66.12 percent price reduction.

For maintenance medicines, Padilla said an anticholesterol tablet sells in a government hospital for only P0.35 but sells for as high as P71.55 in private hospitals and P33.75 in retail outlets; P0.19 per tablet against high blood pressure compared to as high as P38.50 outside; and a tablet for diabetes at P0.56 compared to many times higher outside. The

availability of low-priced medicines in government hospitals give patients an option either to buy in public or private pharmacies.

“The list could go on. Our point is that price reduction has been happening and the benefits could be expanded. The solution is the UHC Act, not price control. Price control shifts the burden of buying medicines back to the individual Filipino patients even when more recent landmark laws have provisions to make medicines finally be available and accessible to all,” said Padilla.

Signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019, both the UHC Act and the Cancer Control Act provide for mechanisms to lower medicine prices, and even provide them for free. These are (1) bulk or pooled procurement, (2) price negotiations, (3) expanded medicine benefits, (4) early access to innovative medicines, (5) special access scheme from the private sector, and (6) health technology assessment.

FAITH AND CLIMATE. Senator Risa Hontiveros and Climate Change Commission Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman huddle together during the Philippine Interfaith Summit on Climate Emergency held at Intramuros, Manila. With them are members of the clergy and an unidentified representative of the indigenous people. Norman Cruz

GATCHALIAN PUSHES RETAIL TRADE LIB REVISION VALENZUELA City Rep. Weslie Gatchalian is pushing for the amendments to the Republic Act No. 8762 or the Retail Trade Liberalization Act to remove the barriers to foreign investments in the local retail sector.

Gatchalian, the chairman of the House committee on trade and industry, said House Bill No. 59 aims to open up the Philippine retail industry and promote a greater variety of products, more choices of goods for consumers, the inflow of new technology and employment of more Filipinos.

The new bill consolidates the related proposals filed by more than 40 members of the House of Representatives.

“The Philippines’ wholesale and retail trade industry is one of the most important sectors of the Philippine economy,” Gatchalian said in his spon-

sorship of the bill.

“Hence, if we can encourage more foreign investments into the country by liberalizing our retail trade sector, this would mean more employment opportunities for Filipinos,” he said.

The proposed bill seeks to reduce the minimum paid-up capital and locally produced stock inventory requirements for foreign retail business enterprises.

He said RA 8762 imposes a steep minimum paid-up capitalization requirement for foreign ownership of a retail establishment in the Philippines.

It requires a minimum paid-up capital of US$2.5 million which is considered restrictive, as shown by the fact that only 22 foreign retailers have entered the domestic market since the law was passed in 2000.

On top of the minimum paid-up capital requirement, the law requires that the investments for establishing a store shall not be less than US$830,000.00.

HB 59 proposes to lower the minimum paid-up capital required of foreign-owned partnerships, associations and corporations from US$2.5 million to US$200,000.

It also seeks to remove the requirements for foreign investors acquire shares of stock of local retailers offer a minimum of 30 percent of their equity to the public through any stock exchange.

The bill also proposes to eliminate the required net worth, number of retailing branches, and retailing track record conditions for foreign retailers to engage in retail trade in the Philippines.

It also aims to reduce the required locally manufactured products carried by foreign retailers from 30 percent to 10 percent of the aggregate cost of their stock inventory.

However, the bill states that only nationals from countries which allow the entry of Filipino retailers shall be allowed to engage in retail trade in the Philippines.

“The lowering of the paid-up capital requirement is expected to increase FDIs, foster competition and innovation in the retail industry, and most importantly, provide consumers with more choices of goods and services with better quality at lower prices. Further, with the influx of capital, this measure is expected to create more jobs for Filipinos,” Gatchalian said.

REPAY LOAN ON TIME, GSIS URGES MEMBERS

THE Government Service Insurance System has urged its members to ensure accurate loan repayment in order to avoid negative consequences on their social insurance benefits.

“We are reminding our member-borrowers to pay the correct loan amortizations on time. This will preserve their future benefits, which they have earned and should enjoy for devoting their prime in government service,” GSIS Chairman and Acting President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.

If left unpaid, loans incur interests and penalties. Macasaet said. When the obligation is deducted from their retirement or separation benefit, it might leave them with little or no proceeds at all.

Macasaet explained, “Responsible borrowing keeps the pension fund healthy.Up-to-date loan payment makes the GSIS fund adequate to lend to other members as well.”

Members with overdue loan accounts

may avail of the Enhanced Conso-Loan Plus, which waives all interests, penalties, and surcharges on their existing salary loan accounts.

They are qualified to apply for the loan if they are permanent in employment status; have no pending administrative or criminal case; are not on leave of absence without pay; and have a net take-home pay of P5,000 after deduction of monthly premium contributions and loan amortizations.

Special members, such as prosecutors and members of the judiciary and constitutional commissions, are also qualified to avail of Enhanced Conso-Loan Plus.

If members are already out of government service and financially incapable to settle their outstanding loan balances in full, however, they may avail of the one-time condonation and restructuring program called GSIS Program for Restructuring and Repayment of Debts.

INVENTIVE.

A male teener picks a Christmas lantern made of plastic soda bottles along a Manila sidewalk, with each bottle selling for P30. In this Yuletide season, Filipino vendors come up with ingenious ideas like the plastic bottles as Xmas decor, making wise use of recycling discards. Ey Acasio

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MINING TOWN EYES PPP FOR PRO-POOR PROJECT THE mining town of Maco, Compostela Valley is eyeing the expansion of the town’s infirmary into a hospital through Public-Private Partnership with Apex Mining Co. Inc. This was disclosed by Mayor Alvera Veronica R. Rimando, M.D. in an interview at the sidelines of 66th Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference in Baguio City on Thursday.

Organized by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association, four-day mining confab brought together mining industry stakeholders in Baguio City, demonstrating the resiliency, strength and vibrancy of the country’s mining industry.

“We will implement the PublicPrivate Partnership Program for the people next year. We will have our own hospital with a 30-bed capacity and provide enhanced medical services to the people of Maco,” says Rimando, an internal medicine specialist.

Currently, the town’s infirmary clinic can only provide birthing services.

“By next year, we can provide more services and cater to more people in need of medical attention,” she said.

She said under the PPP for the People Program, Apex Mining is providing P9 million for the construction of a small hospital with a modest facility and equipment.

Rimando led stakeholders of Apex Mining during the annual Minerals Industry Parade which drew hundreds of participants representing 150 mining companies and mining support industries, equipment suppliers and contractors.

Apex Mining operates the Maco Gold Mine, a large-scale gold mine and one of the country’s top producers of the yellow metal in the country.

Apex Mining is the municipality’s top investor and source of revenue.

“Apex Mining is our top taxpayer and top jobs provider,” she said.

Apex Mining president and chief executive officer Louie Sarmiento said Maco currently employs over 2,000 employees, 75 percent of which are from Maco. “In one of the eight direct impact barangays, almost all family have one member working in the mine,” says Sarmiento.

Sarmiento, former president of PMSEA, said Maco Gold Mine enjoys the support and cooperation not only of the local government, but of the various stakeholders.

‘REGULARIZE ALL CONTRACTUALS IN GOVERNMENT’

By Maricel V. Cruz A PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Saturday pushed for the regular employment of casual and contractual workers in government who have rendered a minimum length of service.

House Bill 52, filed by Rep. Manuel Cabochan of Magdalo, mandates the security of tenure for all government casual and contractual employees in all government agencies who have rendered the prescribed years of service.

“The government is the biggest employer which practices contractualization. The government creates casual and contractual positions and hire workers to the said positions year after year,” Cabochan said.

“This proves that the said positions are necessary to the operation of the concerned agencies, yet the employees are not considered regular or permanent,” hr added.

According to the Civil Service Commission, there are about 96,000 employed contractual workers or those who perform certain tasks until their contract expires.

Meanwhile, there are about 36,600 casual employees or those who are hired on occasional or temporary basis only. The Commission also added that there are currently 158,477 unfilled regular positions in the government.

HB 52, also known as “An Act Providing for Security of Tenure for all Casual and Contractual Employees of the Government”, then provides that all incumbent casual and contractual government employees who have rendered at least 5 years of continuous service in national government agencies or a total of 10 years of continuous service in local government units be entitled to security of tenure.

“It is espoused not only in our labor statutes, but also in our very Constitution that all workers are entitled to security of tenure. I believe these workers have already accumulated the necessary experience and skills to do their functions in the government productively and effectively,” Cabochan said.

Cabochan said the bill ultimately hopes to ensure that contractual and casual employees in the government be given the equal opportunity to serve the Filipino people as regular employees and whose contributions are critical for our country’s progress.

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FILIPINO CREW ABDUCTED

EVEN crew aboard a supply ship for the oil industry in Equatorial Guinea were kidnapped when “pirates” attacked their vessel, the oil and gas ministry said in a statement.

The 15-member crew comprised nationals from South Africa, the Philippines, Serbia and Cameroon.

The US oil giant ExxonMobil reported the supply ship Warden, which it was chartering from the oil services firm Swire, was attacked on Wednesday in the country’s territorial waters, it said.

“Eight hid and seven were kidnapped,” the statement said.

The vessel had left the oilfield of

Zafiro, 12 nautical miles off the coast, and was heading to Luba, a port town on the southern island of Bioko, when it was attacked.

The statement gave no details about the kidnappers or their motives.

Equatorial Guinea is located on the southern rim of the Gulf of Guinea, one of the world’s hotspots for maritime piracy.

In the first nine months of this year, the region accounted for 82 percent

of crew kidnappings around the world, according to the International Maritime Bureau, an organization monitoring crimes at sea.

In 2018, attacks doubled over the previous year.

Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea sometimes divert ships for several days, long enough to plunder the cargo and demand huge ransoms before freeing the crew.

On Nov. 4, four sailors were kidnapped and a guard was shot and wounded when suspected pirates stormed an oil tanker off the coast of Togo.

Two days earlier, pirates attacked a Norwegian-owned ship waiting

to berth at the port of Cotonou in Benin, taking eight crew and the captain.

In August, Russian, Chinese and Ukrainian seamen were seized in attacks on merchant ships off Cameroon’s port of Douala.

The countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea, an arc that stretches some 6,000 kilometers from Angola to Liberia in the north, have limited surveillance and maritime defense capabilities.

T h e y h a ve b e e n t r y i n g fo r s e v e r a l y e a r s to bolster their means of intervention and improve regional collaboration with US and French help. AFP

LAGUNA RESIDENTS SEEK MORE PNR TRIPS

By Joel E. Zurbano LAGUNA residents have asked officials from the Department of Transportation and the Philippine National Railways officials to put additional train trip services in the province as an alternative transport amid the worsening traffic they encounter along the South Luzon Expressway going to and from Manila.

As of October, only two PNR Metro Commuter Trains serve the Calamba-Manila (northbound) and Manila-Calamba (southbound) trips, respectively, with the following schedule: • Northbound train departs Calamba City Station at 4:48 a.m. and arrives at the Tutuban Station (Mayhaligue St., across Tutuban Centermall in Divisoria, Manila) at 7:14 a.m. (estimated time) • Southbound train departs Tutuban Station at 7:06 p.m. and arrive at the Calamba City Station at 9:32 p.m. (estimated time) “The PNR serves only one [trip] in the morning going to Manila and one in the evening going to Laguna. You have to wake up as early as 3:30 a.m. to catch the morning trip because that train serves as the first and last trip going to Manila,” said 21-year-old Cabuyao City resident Ayan Quilitis.

“But I heard there will be an additional train trip in the morning. But still, it’s not enough,” added Quilitis, who is often late for work in Makati City because of the heavy traffic along the northbound lane of SLEX mainly caused by the ongoing Skyway extension project in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

June Canlas of Sta. Rosa City appealed to Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade to immediately act on the matter and help motorists and commuters ease the burden on the monstrous traffic along SLEX.

SPREADING THE CHEER.

Rotary Club of Makati-Paseo de Roxas president Jasmin Sy (left) recently turned over a donation to the Autism Society of the Philippines for a project on sustainable and affordable intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder from indigent families.

NEVER FORGET. (Above) A mural marking the 10th year of

BOC SEIZES SOKOR ELECTRONIC WASTE

the Nov. 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre that left 58 individuals, including 32 media workers, dead will remain at Mehan Garden in Manila until December. (Below) Members of the media, including Philippine Press Institute president and Manila Standard publisher Rollie Estabillo, attend a rally in Baguio City to mark the massacre. Norman Cruz and PPI

By Vito Barcelo THE Bureau of Customs intercepted a shipment of electronic waste from South Korea that was declared as used television spare parts.

The illegal shipment was found by the BOCEnvironmental Protection and Compliance Division after receiving information that a 40-foot container containing electronic waste arrived at the Manila International Container Port.

MICP District Collector Guillermo Pedro Francia IV said the shipment was consigned to Vision Restore and Equipment Corp. It arrived at the MICP on Nov. 6 from South Korea.

Based on the BOC report, the consignee declared the shipment as used television parts and electric parts but after examination, it was found to contain electronic waste.

Francia immediately issued an alert order against the container and recommended to the Accounts Management Office the revocation of the accreditation of the importer and the customs broker.

The BOC will issue an order of re-exportation directing the consignee to return the shipment to its port of origin based on the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, to which both the Philippines and South Korea are signatories.

FRENCH FOODIES SAVOR SAKE THE sommelier lingers over her glass, taking in the bouquet while clutching a spoon of caviar and cucumber jelly.

The union of food and beverage is “magical,” she declares.

But Paz Levinson, head sommelier at the high-end AnneSophie Pic restaurant group, is not savoring a sought-after vintage from Bordeaux or Bourgogne.

She is holding a glass of sake, the humble Japanese rice drink.

“Sake works very well with French cuisine,” says the Argentine.

France is only the 11th largest market in the world for sake: total sales remain below $2.2 million per year. But its consumption is on the up—imports increased by some 160 percent between 2012 and 2017.

Anne-Sophie Pic—head chef and owner of the eponymous restaurant group—has won eight Michelin stars in her career, and she is a sake convert.

She first used the drink in her recipes before adding it to the wine list.

Other hotels and restaurants are equally keen.

In a growing market, entrepreneurs have sniffed an opportunity: French sake.

Two companies already produce the drink domestically—both in wine-growing regions. Takuma Inagawa, a French-educated Japanese brewer, has a different idea. He wants to start production in an old warehouse in Fresnes, a town just south of Paris.

Despite his Japanese heritage and the industrial surroundings of Fresnes, he is keen to imbue the drink with the best French traditions. “We wanted local, French rice,”says Inagawa, whose warehouse holds hundreds of bags marked “Camargue rice.”

“The French are ready to accept sake but, with the trend towards a sustainable environment, there is a potential for French sake,” says the 31-year-old, whose company Wakaze was set up in Japan making flavored versions of the alcohol.

He hopes eventually to use Burgundy oak barrels to age some of his product—believing this will please French and Japanese drinkers, as he has already produced a run of 17,000 bottles in his homeland.

Sake began to get popular in France about 15 or 20 years ago, according to expert Sylvain Huet.

He says a “sushi boom” led to a “sake boom” in the restaurants and dining rooms on Rue Sainte-Anne, a Parisian street near the Louvre known as Little Tokyo because of the proliferation of Japanese businesses.

But the impact was initially limited to that small area of Paris. AFP

MMDA HITS FRESH ASSAULT ON PERSONNEL THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Saturday denounced the latest assault by undisciplined and erring motorists against its personnel.

Last Fr iday, the driver and conductor of Diamond Star Bus beat up Arvin Gabay, a member of the MMDA Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group, after they were cited for traffic infraction at the Ortigas loading bay along the northbound lane of EDSA near Robinsons Galleria Mall.

G abay sustained head and body injuries and was rushed to the Medical City Hospital after the incident.

The suspects, driver Harold Dave

Reyes and his conductor Rolly Sambayon, were arrested and are now detained at the Police Station 12 in Libis. Charges of physical injuries will be filed against them.

MMDA spokesperson Pircelyn Pialago said Gabay was on duty as one of the MMDA force multipliers when he noticed the Diamond Star Bus with registration plate UVU-374 overstaying at the EDSAOrtigas loading and unloading bay area.

“Sinita ang driver dahil overstaying na sila. Nagalit ang kunduktor kaya pinagtulungan bugbugin,” said Pialago, adding that the driver committed road obstruction with an expired OVR.

The MMDA later discovered that Reyes had no driver’s license and had already committed at least 70 traffic violations in the past.

“We just want respect from motorists. Please respect our enforcers.

Nobody has the right to assault or attack anyone,” said Pialago.

MMDA chairman Danilo Lim denounced the latest attack against his men.

“You have no [road] discipline, you have no respect for the law and no respect to others,” said Lim. This was not the first time an MMDA enforcer or employee became a victim of violence along major streets while performing his or her duty. Joel E. Zurbano

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Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Opinion ‘HORROR HOUSES’ AND THE NIGERIAN ADDICTS’ CRISIS

EDITORIAL

T

A MESSAGE FOR THE YOUTH

HAILAND is a predominantly Buddhist nation, but this did not stop the message of the leader of the Catholic Church from resonating.

Speaking on Friday during his four-day tour, Pope Francis warned Bangkok’s youth against the temptations and pitfalls of technology.

“We can be swayed by the voices of this world that compete for our attention,” he said on the last day of his four-day visit.

These voices, which can be appealing and exciting, “will leave you only empty, weary,

alone and disenchanted” in the long run, Pope Francis said.

“Rapid technological advancements can open up immense possibilities that make life easier, but can also result in the growth of consumerism and materialism.”

Pope Francis is known for reaching out to the downtrodden, but also for actively engaging the youth to keep the Catholic faith alive.

Then again, the pontiff’s particular message is not limited to Thailand’s fewer than 400,000 Catholic faithful. Young people all over the world, Catholic or otherwise, have no experience or recollection of a time when technology was not there to help them navigate everyday life.

Social media, for example, have allowed people to peek into the best versions of the lives of others, causing them to feel inadequate about who they are and what they have.

Pope Francis’ message is not a hollow reminder from an 82-year-old religious leader. It is something that strikes deep into how well we can distinguish ends from means. Technology ideally helps make tasks easier, so that people could focus on the more important aspects of living.

Meanwhile, educators and parents of whatever faith should echo the Pope’s call if they want to prevent succeeding generations from evolving into something they can no longer recognize.

By Sophie Bouillon THE day his wife walked out 10 years ago, Nigerian musician Jagunlabi started taking drugs to make the shadows go away.

The drugs came to stay.

Today, after suffering a heart attack, Jagunlabi is desperate to end his addiction but has no idea how to get help.

“I don’t know where to go, I can’t trust (rehab) centers here,” he told AFP, sitting in a park in the nation’s economic capital Lagos.

“They can chain you, molest you.”

Substance abuse in Africa’s most populous country has been described as an “epidemic” by the United Nations but there is almost no proper treatment available for those trying to recover.

The grim problem has come to light after a string of raids on so-called rehabilitation centers where hundreds of inmates, mainly men and boys, have been found chained and abused in atrocious conditions.

The unregulated institutes—billed as Islamic schools or run by evangelical churches—are used by desperate families who often send relatives struggling with drugs, drink or mental illness in the hope they will get better.

But the treatment is brutal and relies more on prayer than proven medical interventions.

Jagunlabi, who gave only his stage name, recounted how his family had tried to take him to a religious camp just two days earlier.

“A week of prayer and fasting… it would kill me. I’m too weak,” he said.

Once a successful performer who has now seen his career destroyed by addiction, he showed off newspaper clippings about his music from the early 2000s.

“I used to be big,” he said. “I need medication, I need to sleep”.

JUST 300 PSYCHIATRISTS The scandal over the abusive centers— dubbed “horror houses” by the media—has put pressure on the authorities.

President Muhammadu Buhari insisted “no responsible democratic government would tolerate the existence of the torture chambers” and officials have sought to close the worst of them.

But moves to clamp down on the facilities have had mixed results.

In the city of Kano, in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria where most of the abusive institutes have been uncovered, many relatives have refused to pick up those freed from the centers.

Part of the problem is they have nowhere else to take them.

Across Nigeria, a vast country of almost 200 million people, there are only some 300 psychiatrists, Human Rights Watch said in a report in November.

Many psychiatrists, discouraged by the lack of resources and status, left the country, mostly for the West.

But Dr. Ogonnaya Ndupu decided to stay.

She worked for six years in a state psychiatric hospital. Today, she is employed at Lifecrest Rehabilitation service, a small private center working with addicts in the middle-class Lagos district of Lekki.

“When it comes to mental health there is no monitoring going on,” she lamented to AFP. “We have government facilities but they are in a deplorable state.”

Meanwhile “drug abuse is on the rise in Nigeria,” she insisted, as economic problems mount for people across the country.

“Times are tougher, more challenging for everybody.”

Life is particularly hard in Mushin, an impoverished and violent area of Lagos, where crack cocaine and bottles of codeine cough syrup circulate alongside illegal firearms.

“Cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, codeine, tramadol,” said local resident Lala, rattling off a list of the illicit substances to be found.

Already at midday, teenagers, old men and young mothers can be seen smoking marijuana as they try to cushion the come down from their latest trip.

‘THE MAIN ISSUE’ An area that locals call the “drug ghetto” has been a no-go zone for the authorities for a long time.

But one person who can enter there is Pastor Keji Hamilton—on a self-proclaimed mission from God to help addicts.

A former musician who played with Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, Hamilton says he “met Jesus” one day as he inhaled on a crack pipe surrounded by three prostitutes.

He thought he would die and asked God to save him despite not being a believer.

Now he is seeking to use more than just the Bible to help people as he tours the mean streets of Mushin.

Hamilton underwent training in psychology and social care and opened his own professional rehab centre.

“You need to be trained for this job, you need skills,” he told AFP. He shakes people’s hands and talks to them as he tours the down-trodden neighborhood—a contact for those struggling with addiction and a message that there is a solution.

“Drugs are the main issue in Nigeria,” he said. “But the government is not interested to solve it.” AFP

45 YEARS AFTER NIXON, ANOTHER US PRESIDENT FACES IMPEACHMENT ON AUG. 7, 1974, a trio of top Republican leaders went to the White House and told President Richard Nixon that party support was eroding and impeachment was inevitable.

He resigned the next day.

Fast forward 45 years, and another US president, Donald Trump, is facing impeachment by the House of Representatives and a potential trial in the Senate.

Unlike Nixon, however, Trump appears to enjoy—at least for the time being—the support of Republican lawmakers, and has given no hint that he’ll buckle in the face of what he calls a partisan “witch hunt.”

“Part of the story of Watergate and the investigation is watching Republicans peel off, start to call into question their support for Nixon,” said Kevin Mattson, a professor of contemporary history at Ohio University.

“Now they just seem to be stiffening,” said Mattson, author of “Rebels All!: A Short History of the Conservative Mind in Postwar America.”

“Partisanship is so much stronger today than it was back in the days of Watergate.”

Trump is accused of withholding vital military aid from Ukraine, a country at war with Russia, in a bid to elicit political dirt on potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Adam Schiff, chairman of the Democratic-controlled House committee conducting the impeachment inquiry, claimed that Trump’s conduct goes “beyond anything Nixon did.”

“What we’ve seen here is far more serious than a third-rate burglary of the Democratic headquarters,” Schiff said in a reference to the 1972 breakin at the Watergate hotel that led to a cover-up attempt and eventually Nixon’s resignation.

Trump, like Nixon, is accused of “using the powers of the presidency for personal political reasons,” said Jon Marshall, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

But the accusations against Trump are indeed more serious than those facing Nixon, said Louis Caldera, who served as secretary of the Army under president Bill Clinton and now teaches at American University.

“One is just about domestic politics,” Caldera said, while Trump “withheld military aid to an ally at war.”

“He’s not advancing legitimate US national or foreign policy ends,” he said. “He’s basically trying to stir the pot to create problems for a political rival.”

Alan Baron, a lawyer who served as special impeachment counsel in the cases of four federal judges, said

Trump’s actions were essentially a shakedown that “makes Watergate look like child’s play.”

DECLINE OF BIPARTISANSHIP What’s changed since Nixon faced impeachment and today, Marshall said, is the “media environment and the nature of our politics.

“There was much more bipartisanship in the 1970s in Congress than there is now,” said Marshall, author of “Watergate’s Legacy and the Press: The Investigative Impulse.”

“There were conservative Democrats and there were liberal Republicans and they were used to working together.”

As for the media landscape, “the status of the media and how much people trust the media is just radically different now than it was in the 1970s,” said Mattson.

The three network TV channels in the 1970s and a few major newspapers and news magazines “really determined the coverage,” Marshall said.

“It’s much easier now for people to choose a partisan outlet that they feel comfortable with,” he said. “And of course we now have an infinite number of social media outlets and websites that people can go to get their own partisan spin on things.”

In addition, Marshall said, Trump

can take his case to the American people directly through Twitter while Nixon only had recourse to occasional news conferences.

With Trump capable of firing off an angry tweet at any moment, “members of Congress cross this president at their peril,” Caldera said, knowing opposition could endanger their chances of reelection.

To make their case for impeachment, Democrats have held five days of public hearings featuring 12 witnesses but the White House has refused so far to turn over documents or allow top Trump aides to testify.

“Eventually during Watergate, the White House tapes were produced and that was the smoking gun that was aimed directly at the president—you could hear his voice ordering a cover-up,” Marshall said. “And in the end, all of Nixon’s top aides testified.”

At the end of the day, Caldera said, Democrats—with or without a smoking gun—are going to have to “convince the American people that what was done [by Trump] was an abuse of power.”

“If there’s public support for impeachment, than that creates the cover for Republican members to be courageous,” he said.

“Without that, they’re not going to be courageous.” AFP

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher ManilaStandard

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.thestandard.com.ph;

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World

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

POPE FRANCIS TO SPREAD ANTI-NUCLEAR MESSAGE TO JAPAN TOKYO—Pope Francis arrives in Japan on Saturday, where he is expected to deliver a robust anti-nuclear message of peace in the only country to have suffered an atomic bomb attack.

The 82-year-old Argentine is fulfilling a long-cherished ambition to preach in Japan, where years ago he hoped to be a missionary.

His four-day trip will take in visits to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, cities forever associated with the nuclear bombs dropped on them at the end of World War II, killing at least 74,000 people and 140,000 people respectively.

In a video message to the Japanese people before he left the Vatican, Francis railed against the “immoral” use of nuclear weapons.

“Together with you, I pray that the destructive power of nuclear weapons will never be unleashed again in human history,” said the head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

Francis arrives from Thailand, where he preached a message of religious tolerance and peace.

He is expected to do the same in Japan, a country with only approximately 440,000 Catholics out of a population of 126 million.

The majority of Japanese practice a mixture of Shinto and Buddhism, two closely intertwined faiths based on the worship of nature and spirits, but many in Japan also observe Christian festivals such as Christmas.

Christians endured centuries of bloody repression in Japan after the religion was introduced to the country by a Spanish Jesuit priest in 1549.

In the 17th century, Japan was closed to the outside world and Christians were persecuted, tortured, crucified and drowned as they were forced to recant their faith.

When Japan reopened to the world in the mid-19th century and the missionaries returned, they were astonished to find an estimated 60,000 who had secretly kept the faith alive and followed a unique version of Catholicism blended with Japanese culture and religious rites.

Francis is expected to pay tribute to these so-called “hidden Christians” – or “kakure kirishitan” in Japanese – during his trip on Sunday to Nagasaki, where they were discovered.

Francis will also visit Hiroshima and deliver remarks at the world-famous peace memorial that marks the day on August 6, 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped.

Father Yoshio Kajiyama, director of the Jesuit social center in Tokyo, was born in Hiroshima shortly after the war and is eagerly awaiting the Pope’s antinuclear speech.

“My grandfather died the day of the bomb in Hiroshima, I never knew him. Four days later my aunt died when she was 15 years old,” said the 64-year-old. AFP

SECURITY COUNCIL REAFFIRMS BAN ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations Security Council reaffirmed its opposition to chemical weapons on Friday in the face of high-profile instances of their use worldwide.

The 15-member body unanimously passed a declaration proposed by Britain expressing support for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons.

“The Security Council expresses its strong conviction that those responsible for the use of chemical weapons should be held accountable,” it said in a statement following the declaration.

Yet the Security Council has in recent years seen squabbles between western powers and Russia over the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war, with Moscow scuppering attempts to hold Damascus to account.

Meanwhile in 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged halfbrother died after having his face smeared with the outlawed VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The UN was also divided over its response to the nerve agent poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Sovietera nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury in March last year.

In its Friday resolution, the Security Council urged countries to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction. AFP

Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor / Jimbo Gulle, Issue Editor

FRUSTRATED TRUMP HITS IMPEACHMENT PROBE W

ASHINGTON— An irate Donald Trump said Friday he welcomes the prospect of an impeachment trial, as the US leader lashed out at “crazy” and “corrupt” opponents probing potential abuse of presidential power.

After a week of dramatic impeachment testimony from current and former administration officials, an embattled Trump took to a favorite broadcaster to air a long, occasionally incoherent list of grievances – against the FBI, his political adversaries, impeachment inquiry leaders, the “deep state,” and more.

“These people are sick,” Trump raged down the telephone line to Fox at the start of a 53-minute tirade

that showed how angered and unsettled he has been by an impeachment inquiry that threatens his presidency.

Multiple witnesses, in often damning testimony under oath, buttressed charges the president conditioned much-needed military aid and a coveted White House meeting on Ukraine investigating his political rivals.

But with many Republicans seemingly unmoved, Trump bashed the testimony as “total nonsense” and said he relished the chance to defend himself.

“Frankly, I want a trial,” Trump told morning show Fox and Friends.

The House Intelligence Committee has not formally concluded its role in the inquiry, possibly waiting for a court ruling on Monday that could empower members to force senior Trump aides to testify.

But Democrats appear determined to hold an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives by

the end of the year, which could see Trump go on trial in the Senate in January.

Removing him from office would require conviction by a two-thirds majority in the Republican-controlled upper chamber.

‘CRAZY AS A BEDBUG’ The increasing prospect of becoming only the third US president formally impeached, after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, has riled the brash New York billionaire, and he fired off multiple attacks against rivals leading the effort.

His main Democratic nemesis in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is “crazy as a bedbug” for pressing a “scam” impeachment, he fumed.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who has presided over the public phase of the inquiry? A “nutjob” and a “sick puppy” who should be sued for having “lied” about the president’s “flawless” Ukraine call, Trump added. AFP

23 DEAD IN VIOLENT UNREST IN CHILE SANTIAGO, CHILE—The death toll from violent unrest in Chile rose to 23 on Friday as the country entered its fifth week of social unrest.

Looting and demonstrations took place in cities across the South American nation, and an agreement on a political roadmap that will see Chile draft a new constitution has halted neither the anger, nor the bloodshed.

Furious Chileans have since October 18 been protesting social and economic inequality, and against an entrenched political elite that comes from a small number of the wealthiest families in the country, among other issues.

The crisis is the worst in three decades of Chilean democracy and has led to around 2,000 injuries, including some 280 people who suffered eye damage from shotgun pellets.

The latest death was a 13-year-old boy who an interior ministry official said was run over by a van during protests in Arica, about 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) north of the capital Santiago.

Thousands of people gathered again on Friday in Plaza Italia, the center of the demonstrations in Santiago and the site of weekly rallies that have seen massive turnout since the social upheaval broke out.

“We cannot ease up. We have to keep expressing ourselves because we have not achieved anything, because the repression continues and also (the government) keeps signing fake agreements, like the peace deal,” Claudia Ortolani, a young protester, told AFP. Nearby, hooded men were squaring off against police, who broke up

the crowd with tear gas and water cannons.

Meanwhile, about a hundred people protested outside the Costanera Center, the largest mall in South America, as around twenty riot police guarded the entrance to the building.

While protests earlier in the week not been huge, the outbursts of violence multiplied in the capital’s metro area on Thursday and Friday.

The anger in the streets had eased after last week’s agreement by Congress to draft a new Constitution.

But with people back on the streets in force again, President Sebastian Pinera’s government again appealed for calm.

Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel issued a “deep and sincere call to all political forces” to end the unrest.

AFP

CHINESE SPY DEFECTS WITH INTEL TROVE

SYDNEY—A Chinese spy has defected to Australia with a trove of intelligence on China’s political interference operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and elsewhere, according to a media report Saturday.

The Nine network newspapers said the defector, named as Wang “William” Liqiang, had given Australia’s counter-espionage agency the identities of China’s senior military intelligence officers in Hong Kong and provided details of how they funded and conducted operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

Wang said he was personally involved in infiltration and disruption operations in all three territories, according to the report, published in Nine’s The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.

Wang “revealed in granular detail” how Beijing covertly controls listed companies to fund intelligence operations, including the surveillance and profiling of dissidents and the co-opting of media organizations, the report stated.

Wang is currently living in Sydney with his wife and infant son on a tourist visa and has requested political asylum, it said.

Wang said in an interview to be aired Sunday night on Nine’s TV news program 60 Minutes that he would be executed if he returned to China.

“Once I go back, I will be dead,” a youthful and bespectacled Wang said through a translator in a clip from 60 Minutes shown on Nine’s websites Saturday.

Wang was also shown holding his son and walking with his wife along Sydney harbor beside the popular Luna Park amusement center.

According to the news organization, Wang gave a sworn statement to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) in October saying: “I have personally been involved and participated in a series of espionage activities.”

This allegedly included infiltrating Taiwan under an assumed identity and with a South Korean passport to run local operatives in efforts to meddle in 2018 municipal elections and presidential polls due next year.

He said the operation used local media executives to influence the election campaigns and defeat candidates seen as hostile to Beijing.

He also claimed to have coordinated a “cyber army” to shift political opinion, similar to Russia’s interference in the 2016 US presidential election. AFP

MODI’S PARTY MAKE SURPRISE COMBACK IN INDIA’S RICHEST STATE MUMBAI—Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party made an unexpected comeback to power Saturday in wealthy Maharashtra state, home to the country’s financial capital, after prolonged backroom negotiations saw presidential rule lifted after days of uncertainty.

President Ram Nath Kovind imposed direct rule on India’s richest state last week after fiercely fought elections last month led to weeks of haggling between parties over forming a government.

The state was previously ruled by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and its right-wing regional ally Shiv Sena.

But they failed to agree another power-sharing deal despite results showing the coalition had won a comfortable majority for a second

consecutive term.

Shiv Sena quit the partnership, hoping to convince their ideological rivals, the center-left Indian National Congress, and the Nationalist Congress Party to form a government instead.

In the end though the BJP pulled off a major upset by joining hands with a top NCP leader to form a coalition, announcing the deal on Saturday.

“This bolsters the BJP and Modi’s image in the state and the country,” political commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay told AFP. “While there were some questions being raised about their loss of dominance following election results, this verdict will cement Modi and BJP’s control in the state,” he added.

The coalition still needs to prove its majority in the state legislature in a week’s time in order to stay in power. AFP

ALL THAT REMAINS. This picture taken late Nov. 22 shows bricks left in front of an entrance of a canteen on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus where a small group of protesters continue to hold out. Hong Kong has been shaken by nearly six months of increasingly violent demonstrations, with protesters calling for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability. AFP

Images

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

#JUSTICEFOR58. This file photo taken on Nov. 25, 2009 shows a backhoe lifting a dead body from a shallow grave, a victim of a massacre in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province. A decade after 58 people were killed in the Philippines’ worst political massacre, none of the alleged masterminds have been convicted yet, leaving families fearful that justice may never come. AFP

S O T O PH F THE O EEK W

ROYAL CEREMONY.

In this picture taken on Nov. 22, 2019, Japan’s Empress Masako attends a ritual at the outer shrine of the Ise Jingu Shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture to report the completion of major rites of the emperor’s enthronement. AFP

ON A HIGH. Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa rides a wave during a free surfing session in Nazare on Nov. 20, 2019, with waves reaching between 15 and 20 meters high. Nazare hosts one of the two big waves surfing contest in the world. AFP

COSTLY CAULDRON. This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2019, shows government officials including Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee chairman Alan Cayetano posing for photos next to the cauldron tower at the athletics stadium at New Clark City in Tarlac. AFP WHERE DEMOCRACY IS STRUGGLING TO REMAIN ALIVE. An object depicting a skull is seen at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where dozens of pro-democracy protesters remain holed up inside, in the Hung Hom district on Nov. 21, 2019. AFP

HOT IN THE CITY. Firemen hose down a fire that gutted homes at a residential area in the financial district of Manila on Nov. 22. AFP

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019

Riera U. Mallari, Editor sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Sports

POLO KICKS OFF 30TH SEAG HOSTILITIES TODAY

By Peter Atencio

R

EAL, Calatagan, Batangas—A back injury almost sidelined Rep. Mikee Romero while training in Argentina three weeks ago.

But despite his condition, Romero is excited to plunge into action when the 30th Southeast Asian Games polo competitions gets underway today at the newly built Miguel Romero field here.

“Medyo nahirapan ako. Pero ganoon talaga. Kailangan maglaro.

Once in a lifetime ito para sa akin, especially at my age,” said the 47-year-old Romero.

Romero talked about their ongoing preparations yesterday right before he and members of the Philippine national polo team went into a practice game against professional Argentine players.

Three week ago, Romero and 10 members of the national polo pool went to train in Argentina.

Falling off a horse while Argentina didn’t discourage Romero as he hung on and stayed focused.

Coach Anthony Garcia was instrumental in helping Romero get through his condition.

Four countries, including host Philippines will see action in the polo competitions. And three others are Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Polo is one of the 56 sports on the program of the 30th SEA Games that formally starts with the opening ceremony on Saturday at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

His Royal Highness Prince Abdul Mateen of Brunei is playing.

The 28-year-old prince has spent time training and polo in Sotogrande, Spain.

Indonesia, coached by the re-

Rep. Mikee Romero (fifth from left) links hands with (from left) Jun Juban, Coco Garcia, Anthony Garcia, Antonio Veloso, Mikee Romero, Santi Juban, Jam Eusebio, Nicole Eusebio and Jun Eusebio. Charles Dantes

nowned Nico Curto, has been preparing for the past month in Calatagan.

The Indonesians have been borrowing horses from Romero’s stable to get ready.

A high game of 46 and a low game of 2 will be played in two fields, at Miguel Romero Field and at the Inigo Zobel turf in Calatagan.

Romero will play alongside Coco Garcia, Jam Eusebio, Santi Juban, Antonio Veloso, and lone female entry Nicole Eusebio.The event will certainly add star power to the biennial event with the expected arrival of the who’s who in the region—royalties, tycoons and high government offi-

cials of all participating countries.

“We have so many unsung heroes and heroines in putting up this kind of tournament and everybody experienced birth pains,” added Romero, who is also referring to Philippine National Federation of Polo Players officials, who made the tournament possible.

“I congratulate the polo federation for its full enthusiasm not only for the sport, but most especially for the country’s hosting of the 30th SEA Games,” Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

On the Bamboo Pavillon, Tolentino

said: “This pavilion—so unique and a priceless architectural masterpiece— showcases Filipino spirit, tradition and love for sports.”

The polo athletes also drew major support from the Philippine Sports Commission, especially during training camp for the Games.

“As Team Philippines wages for battle in the 30th SEA Games starting with our polo athletes, I call on our countrymen to show their support,” PSC Commissioner Charles Maxey said. Our athletes prepared hard for the Games and they need all the prayers and love from the Filipino people.”

LGD, ESPORTSPLAY GAMING COLLABORATE WORLD renowned DOTA 2 player Pan ‘Ruru’ Jie is coming over to the country to personally oversee the launching of the biggest esports tie-ups in the Philippines and Southeast Asian region.

Dubbed ‘LGD International Launch Party: A Collab of LGD and Esportsplay Gaming,’ the event will be held on Nov. 26 at the Conrad Hotel.

Free of admission, the meet starts at 1 p.m.

LGD is considered one of the most formidable international DOTA2 teams in the world and among the oldest esports organization in China, which Esportsplay Gaming—a new Philippine player in the field of esports—has partnered to create LGD International, a Southeast Asia-based team.

Both entities have bonded to train, coach, manage, and scout top and core players from the Philippines and SEA region that will see action in ‘The International (T.I.), which is considered the

biggest DOTA 2 tournament.

Esportsplay Gaming is headed by Chief Operating Officer Ivan Angelo Cuevas and Chief Operating Officer John Tze, two eSports enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who saw the potential of the country in the eSportsfield that is included in the sports calendar of the coming 2019 SEA Games here.

The Philippines has produced many star players in both DOTA/DOTA2 and considered one of the countries with the largest DOTA 2 players, an opportunity Esportsplay Gaming is tapping in cooperation with LGD in the hopes of putting the country in the eSports map.

As part of the event launching, LGD will draw six fans to play with its star players, including RuRu, its current CEO, who founded the organization in 2009 to become a world-class Esports organization today.

Registration is now ongoing at https://LGDint.

progressiveprosolutions.com and get a part to become a part of the LGD International team.

LGD and Esportsplay Gaming also plans to utilize its brand influence, industrial layout, and resources to help drive eSports in the country with regards to building a talent training program, developing the ecosystem, creation of content, and even building its own eSports training center in Pampanga and a gaming arena in Cebu, aiming the eSports to propel in the country.

LGD Gaming has also benefited from China DOTA Elite Community (CDEC) and established a scientific and targeted selection system. Over time, LGD Gaming has become the ‘Whampoa Military Academy’ in the Chinese ESports scene, and LGD has chosen the Philippines as the first South East Asian country that will benefit from this worldclass training and that’s because of the efforts of Esportsplay Gaming.

BIKERS, CELEBRITIES RELISH CYCLE PH RIDE

Actor/sportsman Piolo Pascual (right) does some stretching as he and Aussie cycling legend Robbie McEwen gear up for the start of the Sun Like Cycle PH at Bonifacio Global City yesterday.

RIDERS from six categories using different types of bikes leisurely rode with cycling buff celebrities Piolo Pascual and Matteo Guidicelli and former three-time Tour de France green jersey winner Robbie McEwen in yesterday’s Sun Life Cycle PH from Bonifacio Global City and back watched by weekend promenaders and early morning joggers.

Six hundred 29 riders, including 10 from Team Go for Gold and some Armymen, from out of the total 1,143 participants rode side-by-side with McEwen, Pascual and Guidicelli in the centerpiece 40km category from BGC to Kalayaan Flyover toward Buendia Ave. then back.

Four hundred nine riders took part in the 20km, 64 participated in the 30 minutes solo run (6-15 years old), 18 in 100m (2-3 years old), 14 in the 500m (4-5 years old), and 13 in family run in a weekend of fun, wellness activity and family bonding through cycling. All finishers received medals, t-shirts and loot bags.

“It’s nice and I enjoyed riding with them. It’s worth remembering. The big turnout showed people from all walks of life partaking actively in cycling,” said Pascual of the event which also served as part of the SunPiology, a three-part sporting event put up by Sun Life Philippines.

Mylene Lopa, Sun Life Marketing head, was elated when she saw riders and young kids boys and girls along with their parents taking part in the non-competitive, funfilled event also held to promote a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s a joyful ride. They all enjoyed it,” said Lopa. “Sun Life aims to offer Filipinos an avenue to pursue their health goals. Cycling is the most effective tool to attain healthy lifestyle.”

Princess Galura, general manager of the organizing Sunrise Events, Inc., now part of the IRONMAN Group, said the race once again underscored the Filipinos’ love for the sport even as she praised McEwen for his unwavering support to the annual event.

“Since we started our cycling event in 2013, McEwen has always found time to join us and be part of our event. There must be something about our country and the Filipino bikers,” said Galura, who also cited Fred Uytengsu, the prime mover of the event, who however had failed to join this year to honor a previous business commitment in the US.

PH BETS’ WORLD CUP BID ENDS THE Philippines’ Merwin Tan shot a remarkable eight-game series of 1751 pinfalls Friday but his rally came too late as he finished only with 6544 in 32 games and failed to advance to the third stage of the 2019 Bowling World Cup international finals in Palembang, Indonesia.

Although he shot all but one 200 games including bonuses, Tan lost his bid for a spot in the eight-man stage and managed to match only his 11th place finish in the men’s division of last year’s BWC competition at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tan, a marketing freshman at St. Benilde in Antipolo City, posted games of 237, 232, 211, 166, 226, 238, 219 and 225 in what turned out to be his final performance in the prestigious event.

The Philippines’ lady campaigner, 2017 BWC champion Krizziah Tabora, was also deprived of a seat in the last eight positions as she landed 17th after carding 1541 in eight games and posting a 32game total of 6102.

Tabora started with a low 145 game and never recovered despite dhooting 224, 210, 235, 212, and 181 as she was bugged by two more forgettable games of 165 and 169.

The remaining bidders for the titles were: Men—Francois Louw of South Africa with 7122, Ireland’s Christopher Sloan (6996, Germany’s Oliver Morig (6959), South Korea’s Wanhee Lee (6856), Australia’s Sam Cooley (6852), Indonesia’s Ryan Leonard Lalisang (6843), Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Lorenc (6713) and Kuwait’s Jasem Alsaqer (6710).

Ladies—Kelly Kulick, USA (6725), Natasha Roslan, Malaysia (6719), Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic (6514), Rebecca Whiting, Australia (6495), Stewphanie Martins, Brazil (6468)), MarieKoshel, Russia (6417), Eunhee Jeon, South Korea (6365) and Karen Marcano, Venezuela (6351).

COCOLIFE PRESIDENT LAUDS EAGLES A TRUE Blue Eagle indeed.

Cocolife president Atty. Jose Martin Loon, an Ateneo de Manila University 2008 graduate with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, is one of the legions of Ateneo men’s basketball avid supporters in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

He did not miss a game in the best-ofthree finals, where the Karipunan dribblers swept University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in dominant fashion to Cocolife President Atty.

Jose Martin Loon achieve a rare “threepeat” and an immaculate16-0 slate in the 82nd UAAP Season.

The Blue Eagles’ 86-79 thumping of the Tigers in a Game 2 clincher at the Mall of Asia Arena, had the white and blue dribblers becoming one of the most successful squads and the best effective basketball programs in the 82-year-old athletic association.

“I take my hat off to the Ateneo Blue Eagles for achieving a rare “three-peat.” It will not stop here.

I’m sure they will continue their successful tradition. Winning is life,” said Atty. Loon, who also backs the mighty Davao Occidental team in Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.

Loon also wished the Eagles, particularly 3-time MVP Thirdy Ravena and top gun Mike Nieto, and coach Tab Baldwin, the best of luck.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019

Business

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

JAPANESE INVESTOR HOPES TO CHANGE REMITTANCE SECTOR

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JAPANESE businessman, who started a chain of beauty salons in the Philippines in 2013, plans to put up automated teller machines for JuncaCoin—the first beauty cryptocurrency that can change the remittance industry.

Hisayuki Nagatome, founder and CEO of Junca Group, says he is just waiting for the final approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas before deploying at least 50 state-of-the-art ATMs that can trade JuncaCoin and exchange them into different legal tenders such as the US dollar, Japanese yen or Philippine peso.

“We plan to put up 50 ATMs first in Metro Manila, then Davao and Cebu. Our plan is to put them in convenience stores and airports. We can also partner with banks. This will be our biggest investment because this is a very big project,” says Nagatome, who frequently flies between Japan and the Philippines for different business deals.

He says similar machines will be opened in the US, Europe and Asia where there are large concentrations of Filipinos.

Junca Group, whose businesses include salon, construction and development, financial technology, skills training, consultancy and electric vehicles, will soon launch JuncaCoin ATMs which can be most helpful in international remittance and cash donations.

The virtual currency ATM will allow app users to buy cryptocurrency or withdraw cash from their VC wallet.

“I want to support Asian economies. Right now, we need to change the system through the new financial technology of blockchain and cryptocurrency,” Nagatome says in an interview at his office in Makati City.

“With this ATM, Filipinos in the US can send money to the Philippines immediately. For now, it takes two to three days to send money from the US to the Philippines and it is expensive. With our technology, it will only take one hour which is almost real-time,” he says.

“If you have our application, you can buy JuncaCoin and transact through smartphone.

Immediately, you can receive JuncaCoin. You can go to the ATM and withdraw in peso,” he says.

“There are 110 million Filipinos today. Our target is to reach at least 30 percent of the population for remittance, payments, online shopping and money exchange,” he says.

Nagatome says he expects the BSP to approve his application soon. He says the BSP has already accredited 13 cryptocurrency exchanges.

A Shinto minister, marketing expert and business consultant, Nagatome is also an award-winning hair designer who discovered the juncalogy hair treatment that avoids using

Junca Group founder and CEO Hisayuki Nagatome presents a model of a virtual currency ATM.

chemicals. “Juncalogy can revive any problematic hair. It is the only technology of its kind in the world,” he says.

Nagatome was 18 when he started to work in a Japanese salon. He visited England in 2002 and joined Vidal Sassoon in London. He also toured Europe to discover the different techniques of hairstyling. In 2006, he was Japan’s representative in the World Style Contest held in Amsterdam.

He established Junca Group in 2009 but moved to the Philippines in 2015. He chose to establish his business in the Philippines because of its strategic location and role in Asian history, he says.

“I have almost 40 employees in the Philippines right now and Junca Salon has four branches in Tomas Morato in Quezon City, Pasong Tamo Extension and Washington Street in Makati City and Fort Bonifacio in Taguig,” he says.

Nagatome promotes the universal concept of beauty without racism. It is through this belief that he developed the idea for JuncaCoin as a beauty cryptocurrency.

“My mission is to support Asians. I chose the beauty industry first, because in the beauty industry, there is no discrimination against race or gender.

That is why it is very good,” he says.

Nagatome plans to open Junca Salon for franchising. “Our target is to have 100 branches in the Philippines,” he says. To support the expansion, Junca Group formed a construction unit that will be in charge of design and development of each store.

Nagatome, who studied marketing, chemistry and history, is an advocate of junca or “be right

Nagatome receives an international cultural and humanitarian award from the Higashikuni-no-miya royal family in Japan.

and honest” concept which he applies on his business strategy.

He says that based on his history studies, the Philippines played a crucial role in Asia because of its strategic location. This is where western influences reached Asia first, he says.

“Centuries ago, western people came to Asia via the Philippines. They divided the Asian countries. It was unfair. That’s why I want to help Asian economies,” he says.

“Europeans first came to Asia via the Philippines because of its good location. It is strategic and very connected. Then, from the Philippines, they could go to other Asian countries. My vision is to apply the same strategy in business. I chose to operate first in the Philippines because it was the first to be exposed to western people centuries ago. From here, we want to reach other Asian countries,” he says.

Nagatome says the Philippines is also growing fast and has a young population who can support the needs of other Asian countries.

He established Junca Academy to provide educational support to young Filipinos. “In the Philippines, there are too many young people who have no money to go to skills training schools. Junca Group can grant scholarships and lend money to students similar to ‘Study Now, Pay Later’ program,” he says.

The plan, he says, is to tap the great potential of human resources in the Philippines and produce world-class hair artists and other professionals in the beauty sector.

Junca Group also plans to team up with an electric vehicle manufacturer to replace the old jeepneys. “We will release electric jeepneys with air-con. They are very clean and good for the environment. Inside, we will put our payment system. We will provide Wi-Fi in all jeepneys,” he says.

Another project in the offing, he says, is Junca Cafe which will serve healthy food and coffee. “We will serve donut that has no fat because we will use special probiotic oil from Japan,” he says.

Nagatome says that beyond business ventures, his group focuses on charity activities including hair donation. “At Junca, we are committed to social contribution, and we work to realize world peace,” he says.

Nagatome recently received an international cultural and humanitarian award from the Higashikuni-no-miya royal family in Japan for his social contribution from an international perspective. Roderick T. dela Cruz

GRABFOOD MARKS 1ST ANNIVERSARY IN PH WITH GOLDEN LUNCH BOX AWARDS GRABFOOD, the leading food delivery platform in Southeast Asia and in the Philippines, celebrates its first anniversary in the Philippines by recognizing the most successful Filipinos on its platform.

GrabFood recently gathered its partners in Metro Manila for its first Golden Lunch Box Awards, a recognition given to the consumers, merchant-partners and deliverypartners with the most outstanding performance and breakthrough growth.

GrabFood was officially launched in November 2018. Today, GrabFood has the widest selection of restaurants and largest operational footprint in the country with 35 locations and dedicated pool of delivery partners nationwide.

It is a major partner of McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, BonChon, The Max’s Group, and almost every major quick service restaurant brand in the country. It is also the only accredited end-to-end food delivery partner of the Jollibee Foods Corp. and a trusted partner in the growth of small and medium enterprises like Jollijeeps.

The impact it has since created in the community of consumers, delivery-partners and merchantpartners has inspired GrabFood to invest in elevating the lives of more Filipinos beyond the 40,000 microentrepreneurs it has already served.

GrabFood effectively improves livelihood by creating more income opportunities that shape the future of the food industry in the Philippines in an increasingly digital age, and ensuring that merchants, even smaller players like Jollijeeps, are able to tap into and grow in this new digital food economy.

Fueled by strong growth in 2019, GrabFood aims to continue its growth trajectory and in 2020, expand its operational footprint to at least 10 more cities in the Philippines and accelerate the growth of its partners through new services and innovative F&B solutions in an increasingly digital age.

GrabFood also marks another business milestone as the most often used food delivery platform in the Philippines, a position it has held for ten consecutive months from December 2018 to September 2019. In a market survey conducted by a global market research firm Kantar in the third quarter of 2019, 76 percent of Filipino consumers said that GrabFood is their most often used food delivery platform.

GrabFood believes that growth is a shared benefit of the digital economy, therefore putting focus on helping its partners succeed through rapid expansion, incremental revenue and massive consumer reach via the GrabFood online storefront.

“At Grab, we recognize that success is not measured by numbers alone, but by the impact it has brought to the lives of our fellow Filipinos,” said EJ Dela Vega, GrabFood Philippines head. “That is why we are celebrating GrabFood’s first anniversary by celebrating the success of our consumers, delivery-partners and merchant-partners. At the end of the day, we are fueled by our mission to elevate the lives of Filipinos and empower them to grow with Grab,” said Dela Vega.

ALL-FILIPINO LUXURY STORE OPENS AT DUTY FREE LUXE

By Othel V. Campos THE Trade Department recently launched Marahuyo by Go Lokal!—a luxury brand made from local materials by the country’s top independent, niche designers.

Go Lokal! is an amalgam of locally-designed and crafted knickknacks, wearables, footwear, jewelry, food and food supplement, snacks and toys that define what Filipino culture is.

Marahuyo, a premium line of Go Lokal!, upscales everyday wearables into artistic pieces of jewelry, trinkets, purses and bags.

“This is a dream that has become a reality.

Every Filipino is a stakeholder on this, whether as buyer, designer or producer,” Trade assistant secretary Rosvi Gaetos said during the launch of the brand in its first boutique at the Duty Free Luxe in Pasay City.

Marahuyo is an ancient indigenous term that

means “to be enchanted”. The brand exudes a millennial vibe with the infusion of modern and traditional designs to create a unique piece of artistic handiwork suitable for select occasion.

The sub-brand supports emerging Philippine designer brands that cater to the higher-end luxe market.

The boutique sits on 50-square-meter space at the Luxe DFS. Designed by creative director Budji Layug, it is now home to some of the country’s most beautiful, meticulously-crafted luxury accessories.

The brand teamed up with Duty Free Philippines Corp. which provided a distinctive spot for the Marahuyo boutique.

“The Philippine designer brands you will find at Marahuyo are socially responsible enterprises who work with local communities to create using traditional and indigenous materials.

In fact, every purchase from this boutique

contributes to the livelihood of our Filipino craft communities,” Gaetos said.

For the initial collection, Marahuyo offers designs that reflect the country’s rich culture of entrepreneurship and creativity. They are distinctly Filipino.

The first set of Philippine brands carried by the store includes Aranaz, Earl Carlo Gariando Enterprises, Quiddity and Mele + Marie for handcrafted bags; Helena Alegre Jewelry, designer of scriptural and fabricated jewelry; Maria Angelica Rare Finds for antique accessories; Joanique, Arnel Papa and Adante Leyesa, designers of fashion accessories; and Joyce Makitalo and Ann Ong, a fashion jeweler.

Attending the Marahuyo launch are (from left) designers Jourdan Go, Earl For the next season, the brand will come up Gariando and Helena Alegre; Marahuyo creative director Budji Layug; Trade with an impressive, utilitarian home accessories assistant secretary Rosvi Gaetos; Secretary Ramon Lopez; Senator Nancy Binay; collection along with fashion.

Duty Free Philippines Corp. COO Vicente Angala; designers Arnel Papa and “We hope to get onboard many brands that Joyce Makitalo; Marahuyo co-creative lead Stanley Ruiz; and designer Hannah meet the Marahuyo qualification,” Gaetos said.

Oamil.

Business

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019 business@manilastandard.net

IN BRIEF AVIATION SCHOOL TRAINS PH PILOTS WHILE a career in aviation was hailed as one of the 10 highest paying jobs in the Philippines right now, a forecast by Boeing’s Pilot and Technical Market Outlook for 2013-2032 states that air traffic is expected to grow 4.7 percent annually over the next 20 years.

This means that the demand for new commercial planes would translate into a need for 498,000 new commercial airline pilots over the next two decades.

According to International Civil Aviation Organization, thousands of pilots will need to be trained to meet the growing demand for air transport, as passengers are forecast to double in the next 15 years.

First Aviation Academy Inc., an integrated aviation career and resource development company, foresees this shortage of aviation professionals and aims to address it.

Established in March 2019, shareholders PTC Group and MacroAsia Corp. invested on the brand-new training center in Subic Bay International Airport with an aim to develop the next generation of world-class Filipino aviation professionals.

The pilot school offers one course: Air Transport Pilot Training. FAA general manager Raoul ‘Arvi’ Perez said the ATPT course is unique because it already contains all the training that one needs to become an airline pilot.

Unlike other training schools, FAA’s ATPT course provides graduates with private pilot license, instrument rating, multi-engine rating, commercial pilot license and air transport pilot license theory.

“On top of that, they will also be trained on several airline-related ground schooling courses,” said Perez. “So I think that differentiates us, because just by getting the ATPT course, you’ll be ready to transition to an airline training.”

GENETIC ENGINEERING LAB TO OPEN BY 2021 THE Genomics Institute of Asia is set to build the Human Genetic Engineering Innovation Laboratory, the first to study human genetic editing for human longevity in the country, with a target completion date of 2021.

The laboratory will utilize the CRISPR/CAS editing technology developed by Dr. Jennifer Doudna of UC Berkeley. CRISPR/CAS technology has been used by researchers to modify genes for its potential application for the prevention and treatment of diseases.

CRISPR or Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats is a recently discovered region of an organism’s DNA that specializes as a memory bank, allowing the DNA to fight off viruses and build up immunity.

Genetic editing using CRISPR is considered a major innovation in microbiology, as this allows for cheaper, more precise and less timeconsuming gene editing.

Clinical trials on humans for CRISPR are currently ongoing around the world, and attempt to use CRISPR to fight blood-related diseases and cancer.

DNA Holdings Corp. chairman Tom Navasero, will be taking the helm of GINA in June 2020.

Navasero previously announced that he would be stepping down as chairman of DNA and handed over the reins to Robert van Zwieten.

Navasero won the P900-million build-anddesign contract for the planned human genetic engineering research facility.

ECO-FRIENDLY EARPHONES NOW IN PH DIGITAL lifestyle innovator Power Mac Center introduced to the Philippines House of Marley’s Liberate Air True Wireless Earphones, an ecofriendly pair carefully crafted from sustainable materials such as bamboo, recycled silicone and fabric.

Liberate Air is welcomed into PMC’s comprehensive list of audio tech offerings through “Sounds Good! Coastal Cleanup,” a 100-percent sustainable event done in partnership with HOM and non-profit organization Communities Organized for Resource Allocation Philippines at the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area.

This is in line with a repor t by UN Environment Programme that the global tech industry produces 50 million tons of electronic and electrical waste with only 20 percent of it formally recycled. Famed for its sustainability efforts, HOM changes the norm in an industry that usually faces a challenge in sourcing materials that are both good for the planet and able to get the job done.

The audio brand proposes better-for-theplanet alternatives that prove that quality audio don’t have to come at the expense of the environment. HOM and PMC urge everyone to finally make the switch and be conscious of the ecological impact of the products they consume.

“We at Power Mac Center are conscious of our ecological footprint, and therefore are taking bigger leaps towards environmental sustainability,” said PMC director of product management, marketing and space planning Joey Alvarez.

The URC Sustainable Potato Program provides farmers access to quality seeds, training, research and development to help increase productivity and yield.

REAPING THE REWARDS OF SUSTAINABLE POTATO FARMING

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T WAS potato harvest day for the Miarayon Highland Farmers Association and the Bukidnon skies were looking bleak. Though a heavy downpour seemed imminent, the farmers’ spirits were far from being dampened as they filled their crates with potatoes planted in April earlier this year.

After all, this harvest is different from previous cycles. It’s the first one since their involvement in Universal Robina Corp.’s Sustainable Potato Program—an initiative that complements the High Value Crops Development Program of the Department of Agriculture. Under the program, URC will provide free table potato seeds of the granola variety imported from Prince Edward Island in Canada.

A groundbreaking strategic partnership between DA and the private sector, the program will provide the farmers access to quality seeds, training, research and development to help increase their productivity and yield. The program also aligns with the conglomerate-wide transformation of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. to put sustainability at the core of its business.

The Miarayon farmers were able to harvest around 250,000 metric tons of table potatoes from more than 5,000 seeds per hectare. If they can sell their produce for the farm gate price of P45 per kilo, a farmer can earn up to P2.2 million per hectare in three months.

“The support we received from DA and URC gave us access to quality planting materials that we can’t get on our own. This program was really helpful to us,” said Miarayon Highland Farmers Association president Ryan Danio in his native

region’s HVCDP Regional Focal Person, URC’s program helps the government provide quality seeds, which tend to be short or inaccessible for farmers.

“The government provides seeds but these are not enough, so we have to support these by importing seeds. Hopefully, farmers will be able to produce their own seeds with the help of this program,” she said. To implement the program, the proponents identified the farmers associations who will be the target beneficiaries.

DA Region XI HVCDP coordinator Melani Provido said programs such as this multi-sectoral potato program are key to boosting agriculture in Mindanao. According to a World Bank report, a strong agricultural sector in Mindanao is key to reducing poverty nationwide.

“Programs such as this tap Mindanao’s potential for agricultural development. By incorporating a science-based and market-oriented approach in agriculture development programs, we can sustain and improve the livelihood of farmers nationwide,” said Provido.

As one of the program’s long-term objectives is to help farmers produce their own seeds, the DA will continuously provide training to farmers, so they become more self-reliant in producing a steady supply of seeds in the long run.

“We’re eventually teaching the farmers how to create their own seed bank, and make the seeds available to other farmers who want to buy seeds,” said Audy Maagad, DA Region X Field Operations Division officer-in-charge.

Leaders of farmer associations are also ensuring that their fellow growers know how to take care of the seeds. “We’ll see to it that they know what to do and how to take good care of the seeds. We don’t want to waste the chance given by the government to the people in Barangay Kapatagan,” Davaobased Highland Farmers Service Cooperative president Felipe Rosemas said.

RETAIL ’STILL MORE FUN’ IN PH

SM Supermalls COO Steven Tan at the Nikkei Business Forum

LALAMOVE, GLOBE PROVIDE LIVELIHOOD LEADING on-demand delivery app Lalamove teamed up with Globe Telecom to provide jobs to at least 1,000 members of Gawad Kalinga communities.

Under the partnership, qualified Gawad Kalinga members will follow a special scheme allowing them to easily join and earn more in Lalamove. Through hard work, diskarte and dedication, motorcycle partner drivers can earn up to P30,000 a month.

The first leg of training and onboarding sessions was conducted in North Caloocan and Valenzuela, with around a hundred partner drivers joining the delivery platform. To date, Lalamove has more than 45,000 partner drivers nationwide.

“This is only the beginning. We really look forward to what this partnership can bring,” said Lalamove managing director Dannah M ajarocon. “Lalamove is on a mission to empower communities through delivery, and Globe and Gawad Kalinga are the perfect partners to help us achieve that,” she said.

“We are excited to partner with Lalamove and Gawad Kalinga on this project. We hope that through our partnership hinged on connectivity and mobile services, we can help Lalamove achieve better operational efficiency and relationship with their drivers, employees, and customers. At the same time, Gawad Kalinga is a top-of-mind partner given our different initiatives with them. Together with Lalamove and Gawad Kalinga, we all share the same goal of contributing to nation building through livelihood opportunities and digital transformation,” said Bernie Llamzon, Globe head of channel management group.

Visayan language.

Danio said the seeds they previously used had less yield that spoilt easily. “Some seed varieties are available to us but since they generate less yield, they cannot provide for our needs. That’s the big difference,” he said.

GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE Aside from the farmers of Miarayon, seven other cooperatives from Bukidnon, Benguet, Mountain Province and Davao were able to receive potato seeds under the program.

In the Cordillera region, farmers reported harvesting an average of 20 metric tons. This could earn them up to P600,000 if they could sell their produce up to P30 per kilo. “Before, the production cost versus our income would only break even,” Seeds and Fruits Multi-purpose Cooperative general manager Ardan Copas said. “Since we have new seeds that increased the volume and quality of our yield, the farmers were able to make profits this time.”

In Sitio Balutakay and Barangay Alegre, Bansalan, Davao Del Sur, farmers reported harvesting up to 600 kilograms of potato tubers.

While farmers in this region usually harvested half a kilo per plant, this time they were able to harvest up to 2.5 kilograms per plant.

ROBUST AGRICULTURE “We are privileged to work with the DA in achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development specifically in the acceleration of the local potato farming communities’ full economic, social, and environmental benefit,” said URC president and CEO Irwin Lee. The potato industry is key to a stronger overall agriculture sector. In 2017, the country’s demand for table potatoes reached 380,333 MT. That same year, the country produced only 116,783 MT, a staggering 69 percent short of the country’s potato demand.

According to Joan Bacbac, the Cordillera

IN CONTRAST to many large format stores rightsizing and shopping centers closing down in many parts of the world, retail in the Philippines remains vigorous and upbeat.

In a recent Nikkei Business Philippines-Japan Investment Forum in Tokyo, Japan, SM Supermalls chief operating officer Steven Tan said a combination of market forces—robust overseas Filipino workers’ remittances and sustained activity in the business process outsourcing industry-- fuel consistent growth in the Philippine economy and drive consumer purchasing power.

“Unlike how it is in many parts of the world, retail in the Philippines is vibrant, upbeat and full of opportunity,” Tan said in his address before a gathering of 500 CEOs and business leaders in Japan.

Tan said the growth of the Philippine economy, supported by the government’s massive infrastructure push, is directly impacting consumer sentiment in the Philippines.

As of end-September 2019, consumer confidence in the Philippines was the second highest in the world, a shade behind India.

“Optimism to spend among Filipinos is more than just a sentiment. We see it translating into actual consumer behavior, especially retail,” Tan said.

With robust consumer sentiment and activity, total retail sales in the Philippines grew 6 percent in 2018.

“It is interesting to note how brick-and-mortar retail continues to dominate and how it will continue to grow alongside the growth of internet retailing in the Philippines. The Philippine environment is conducive to all kinds of retail, both digital and brick-and-mortar as we look at opportunities in both channels,” Tan said.

With such forces at work and to borrow the government’s tourism mantra, retail is still “more fun in the Philippines” due to optimistic consumers and a thriving mall culture that continue to draw foreign retailers.

In particular, for the past five years, Tan said there has been a growing number of foreign brands entering the market particularly in food and beverage as well as clothing and apparel. The attractiveness of the Philippine market to foreign retailers is further enhanced by an average rental rate that is highly competitive when compared with other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

He encouraged Japanese retailers to consider three immediate opportunities in the Philippines: food, beauty and health and well-being as there is growing interest in Japanese brands in the malls.

The Nikkei Business Forum had the theme, “Inclusive Growth of the Philippines and Partnering Philippines for Japan/ASEAN Transformation”.

THE BISTRO GROUP TO BRING OLIVE GARDEN TO PH THE Bistro Group said it signed an agreement for Olive Garden, an AmericanItalian casual dining restaurant, to open its first restaurant in the Philippines.

Targeted to be launched in the first quarter of 2020, the restaurant will be located at Ayala Mall Manila Bay. Olive Garden is one of the eight different iated bran ds of Darden Restaurants Inc. and the largest casual dining brand in the US in terms of revenue ($4.5 billion). Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the company operates more than 850 locations in the US and Canada, with franchised restaurants in Brazil, Kuwait, UAE, Panama and US territories, Guam and Puerto Rico.

“We are excited to partner with The Bistro Group,” said Brad Smith, senior vice-president for franchising of Darden International. “Their extensive portfolio of brands and exceptional performance in the local dining industry for over two decades speaks to their success. We

The Bistro Group president and COO Jean Paul Manuud (left) and Darden International senior vice president for franchising Brad Smith

are very selective in the franchisees we choose and The Bistro Group shares the same philosophy—good food, service

and great value.”

Smith was in the country to sign the franchising contract with The Bistro

Group chairman William Stelton and president and COO Jean Paul Manuud.

“Olive Garden is a perfect fit for our business. It’s a casual dining place which puts a premium on quality and service gained from 37 years of operation, understanding and expertise in the food industry. They also align with our strategy to provide the market with the best that restaurant chains have to offer.

The taste profile of their dishes is what Filipinos love—hearty, flavorful and great for sharing. We are enthusiastic that this concept will succeed in the local market,” said Manuud.

Olive Garden serves American-style Italian food targeted towards families in a Tuscan farmhouse setting. A firsttimer in the restaurant must try the signature soup, salad and breadsticks as well as the bestselling “Tour of Italy”, a platter made up of three classic dishes Chicken Parmigiana, Lasagna Classico and Fettuccine Alfredo. It is a good representation of the cuisine.

Tech & Gadgets

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JOLLIBEE ROLLS OUT 97 SELF-ORDER KIOSKS

OLLIBEE has taken its mission of spreading the joy of eating to a whole new level with innovations aimed at enhancing total customer experience and convenience. Aside from the recent opening of its new Level Up Joy Store in Katipunan, Quezon City that boasts of a modern design concept and interiors, the country’s leading fast food brand has continued to level up its stores nationwide with the roll out of self-order kiosks in outlets located in key cities and municipalities.

To date, there are a total of 97 self-order kiosks that have been installed in 37 Jollibee branches all over the country. These include Jollibee branches in BGC Triangle Drive, Katipunan Quezon City, Bay Laguna, Ayala Center Cebu, and Lagao, South Cotabato, with more in the pipeline.

Designed to make choosing and ordering meals easier and more convenient, the touch-to-order system was first piloted by Jollibee in 2018.

Apart from providing an elevated customer experience using the latest technology, the self-order kiosks cater to the socalled time and energy-starved customers who prefer to order at their own pace, see the available menu selections, and be given the choice to customize their orders with ease and accuracy.

With its userfriendly interface, it only takes 3 simple steps to complete one’s order in these Self-order kiosks.

To begin ordering, customers need to simply (1) touch the screen to see the menu where they can select their orders for dine-in or take-out. Whether they want large fries to go with their Yumburger or

pair their meal with iced tea or pineapple juice, customizing orders and choosing from a variety of add-on choices is a breeze! (2) Once orders are complete, customers can then proceed to pay using several options: by inserting their credit or debit PayMaya prepaid cards in the payment terminal, or paying with cash Reigning Miss Universe Catriona Gray and Kapamilya actor and Jollibee endorser Joshua Garcia (left) try out the self-order kiosks at the newly opened Level Up Joy Store of Jollibee in Katipunan, Quezon City.

at the counter. Happyplüs members can also redeem their points and use them to pay by simply scanning

their cards at the promo redemption scanner. (3) After payment, customers are issued queue numbers for claiming of their orders at the counter. Once they get their order from the friendly Jollibee crew, they can then proceed to find their seat or head out to enjoy their favorite great tasting Jollibee treats!

In the recent opening of Jollibee’s Level Up Joy Store in Katipunan, 2018 Miss Universe Catriona Gray and Kapamilya actor and Jollibee endorser Joshua Garcia were among the VIP guests who tried out for themselves and experienced the ease of using the self-order kiosks.

Jollibee shares that the overall response from its customers who have tried this out in these branches has been very positive so far. “We are currently experiencing as high as 63% usage among our customers and a 51%-time improvement in total customer experience” shares Jollibee Philippines’ Restaurant Systems Head Jon Villanueva. “Our users—who are a mix of different

age groups—find that it’s easy to use, very convenient, and offers a faster order time.”

Jollibee also introduced another innovation that makes serving langhap-sarap products even faster via the Overhead Transport System (OTS). The OTS is a mechanical conveyor that transports orders from the Kitchen to Jollibee’s takeout counter or drive thru and frees up the store crew handling these to attend to other things. This feature is currently found in select pilot stores: Jollibee Shell Heritage—Drive Thru; Jollibee Shell Feria Commonwealth—Drive Thru; Jollibee Cebu—Ayala.

“Bringing satisfaction and joy to our valued customers through innovative ideas and total customer experience has always been one of the thrusts of Jollibee,” Villanueva continues. “Towards this end, we are continuously on the lookout for the latest global technologies and systems to bring in locally, thereby bringing the Jollibee customer experience to even higher levels like ever before.”

mond-shaped rear quad camera set-up consisting of a 48MP main, 8MP secondary, 2MP wide-angle, and 2MP macro camera that are further accentuated by the handset’s Knight Black and Fancy Sky colorways.

The Vivo S1 Pro also boasts of a 6.38inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop-style notch for a 32MP selfie camera and an in-display fingerprint sensor. Inside, it’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor and 8GB RAM/128 ROM are powered by a dual-engine fast-charging 4500mAh battery.

Retailing for P15,999, the smartphone can be pre-ordered online and in-store from November 21 to 29. It will be available at all authorized Vivo outlets nationwide starting November 30.

RCBC ADOPTS NATIONAL QR CODE STANDARD INTEROPERABLE PAYMENT SYSTEM

RCBC is adopting the national QR code standard that would accelerate interoperability across various financial institutions to enable Filipinos to conveniently send and receive money for payments. Photo shows RCBC Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer Lito Villanueva and RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo (center) during the launch of the standardized QR code.

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corporation is adopting the national QR (quickresponse) code standard that would simplify and facilitate interoperable payment transactions.

“This is another milestone in further promoting the government’s National Retail Payment System in accelerating interoperability across bank and non-bank financial institutions allowing Filipinos flexibility and convenience in sending and receiving money for payments,” RCBC President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo said.

“Our vision is to have more market vendors, jeepney, and tricycle drivers accepting digital payments through QR code linked to transaction accounts,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said.

Diokno said the use of QR codes is safer than bringing cash since people are less vulnerable to theft and counterfeit money.

“QR code technology has emerged as one of the most convenient and cost-efficient

PH SETS RECORD IN NBA VIEWERSHIP ON FACEBOOK THE Philippines set record viewership numbers on Facebook Watch during the first two weeks of the 2019-2020 NBA season tip-off. In particular, the season-opening game between the Los Angeles Lakers at L.A. Clippers generated a total of 15.7 million viewing minutes, which is comparable to the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Tottenham accumulating 16.5 million viewing minutes on Australia’s Optus Sports platform.

NBA Philippines Facebook is the largest regional NBA Facebook page with over 4 million fans.

The first 10 full-length livestreamed games on Facebook Watch in the Philippines generated a record 11.2 million total views and 9.2 million total viewers (averaging 1 million views and viewers per game).

The three Lakers’ games generated 5 million total views (1.7 million average views per game) and 3.9 million total viewers (1.3 million average viewers per game).

The opening day game between the Los Angeles Lakers and L.A. Clippers on Oct. 23 accumulated 2.6 million views and 2 million viewers.

It reached 10.9 million unique viewers with 15.7 million viewing minutes and generated 16.7 million impressions on Facebook, which is nearly quadruple the total followers on NBA Philippines Facebook.

As of Nov. 2019, the highest viewed game on the NBA Philippines Facebook is the Nov. 10 game featuring the Toronto Raptors at Los Angeles Lakers with 2.8 million views and 2.1 million viewers.

It also accumulated 14.5 million viewing minutes and generated 5.9 million impressions.

Globe is currently offering their Prepaid subscribers with 1GB free data per day on Facebook that can be used for viewing livestreamed games on NBA Philippines Facebook Page.

BIOCLEANER: AFFORDABLE WATER CLEANER

VIVO S1 PRO ENCOURAGES YOU TO ‘EXPLORE YOUR STYLE’ LEADING global technology company, Vivo, has recently unveiled the S1 Pro through an exclusive event at Conrad Manila Hotel in Pasay City. The latest smartphone in the S series offers young individuals a cool and trendy way to explore their styles.

“We are excited to launch the Vivo S1 Pro smartphone in the country because this reflects how the brand is striving to make innovations as a tool for the younger generation to showcase their personalities and power their lifestyles, especially in the realm of social media,” said Charisma Buan, Vivo Philippines PR Lead.

The event, gathering Vivo Philippines executives, product distributors and exclusive media partners, showcased the wonderful features of the S1 Pro, among them a dia-

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

means of moving funds from one account to another. This is a step closer to having an interoperable ASEAN QR code standard aligned with the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community,” RCBC Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer and FinTech Alliance.ph Chairman Lito Villanueva said.

Citing the results of the September 2019 Global Web Index Report, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said more than 69 percent of Filipinos aged 16 to 64 years old are internet users, and 62 percent of them made online purchases through mobile phones.

Four other universal banks and electronic money issuer are joining RCBC as pilot financial institutions in rolling out the national QR code standard.

THE revolutionary technology behind the BioCleaner water cleaning facility enables the system to clean water with the least amount of energy, resulting in great savings in power consumption and other operational costs.

Portable, compact, and modular, the BioCleaner can be applied in residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal sectors. Since each unit uses less than 2.5HP, it can cut electrical consumption by more than 75% as compared to traditional systems.

Harnessing the power of nature, BioCleaner utilizes a biological solution, wherein Biosafety Level 1 microbes are employed to treat different kinds of organic waste.

Since it does not make use of any chemical solution, BioCleaner can be utilized to clean natural water systems such as creeks, ponds, and lakes. With the US Green Patent A, BioCleaner wastewater cleaning facility can produce colorless and odorless water, eliminating the need for chlorination process.

BioCleaner units had been employed in different applications in the US, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Photo below shows a portable and compact Biocleaner device that floats in tanks, lagoons and rivers that releases good microbes and digests the dirt, metals, sludge and bad odor thereby producing clean water.

To learn more how to save costs on wastewater and septage management, please go to biocleaner.com for more details a n d videos.

For inquiries, you can contact BioCleaner’s local distributor, Philippine Geosynthetic Incorporated, at 8-5242872, or send emails at info@ biocleaner.com.

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

LG’S HOME SOLUTIONS BRING FUTURE TO HOMES

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MART appliances have been in the market for a couple of years now, but have they truly lived up to their name? While TVs, speakers, refrigerators, and other home appliances offer a slew of connectivity options, they have to bring something new to the table, otherwise it’s just more of the same. LG Philippines wants to let their products do the talking.

LG’s vision of a truly smart home is powered by its proprietary ThinQ AI technology. “LG ThinQ uses knowledge drawn from data analytics and machine learning algorithms to understand the user’s patterns and preferences,” said Inkwun Heo, Managing Director for LG Philippines. “As it adapts and learns from the user’s behavior, LG ThinQ products will ultimately evolve to anticipate the user’s needs and deliver heightened performance.”

All of LG’s newest products have been engineered with the future in mind. Each one is powered by the AI ThinQ technology so that the difference home appliances can communicate with each other to actually offer an indispensable and genuinely helpful system. Artificial Intelligence however, is but just one feature.

To showcase how the new smart devices seamlessly blend with everyday life, LG commissioned new brand ambassadors who come from different backgrounds, proving without a doubt how these appliances are made for everyone.

Steph Zubiri-Crespi, a long time LG loyalist, boasts how the Twin Wash saves her precious time by being able to do two loads simultaneously. She recounted an instance where the “pause” and “add item” function was a lifesaver.

Cristalle Belo-Pitt on the other hand, absolutely adores the LG Instaview Door-in-Door refrigerator. Simply knock twice on the sleek glass panel to illuminate the contents inside without opening the door, reducing cold air loss to help keep food fresher longer. Its modern French door design is an entertainer’s delight with storage options such as the Extra Space compartment for

HONOR 20 LITE SOON TO ARRIVE IN PH WITH HONOR 9X Shown here are (from left) LGEPH Product Marketing Manager Cel Anolin, LGEPH Home Appliances Brand Ambassadors Benj Alves, Cristalle Belo-Pitt, and Steph Zubiri-Crespi, LGEPH Vice President for Home Appliances Woo Young Jeon, LGEPH Home Appliances Brand Ambassadors Michael V, LJ Moreno-Alapag, Dani Barretto-Panlilio, and Marco Gumabao, and LGEHP Product Marketing Manager Jillian Yap

your small or loose items, and a retractable shelf for your taller and oddly-shaped items.

Marco Gumabao raves about the LG Black Two Door Top Freezer he’s been using as it offers a blend of timeless style with the latest innovations, maximum storage space, advanced digital temperature controls, and exclusive LG technology. While Benj Alves on the other hand, is nostalgic about using the LG Black Turbo Wash 3D as he was used to do everything all by himself, laundry included back when he lived in Guam.

LG’s new smart devices are also perfect for families. Dani Barretto-Panlilio loves the Stacking Washer/Dryer Front Load since it makes sure all of her clothes are clean and safe for her newborn baby. “Everything’s really easier with LG. Another thing is thanks to the use of steam, I’m confident

that dustmites, bacteria, or allergens will not get to my baby.” LJ Moreno-Alapag has been juggling 3 kids and household duties so the LG Two Door Top Freezer has been a tremendous help. Thanks to the Multi-Air Flow System, superior humidity and temperature levels are maintained, keeping your food fresher, longer. Digital sensors constantly monitor conditions within the refrigerator and strategically-placed vents in every section to help surround your food with cool air no matter where you put it. As far as reliability with Commercial Refs are concerned, funnyman Michael V is all business.

To safeguard your investment, all of these refrigerators have a 10-year warranty for its Inverter Linear Compressor and the Smart Inverter Compressor, as well as a 2-year warranty for parts & service courtesy of LG.

HIGH-TECH SPORTS EQUIPMENT. Italian-made professional and personal sports training equipment was launched at the Technogym Showroom on Chino Roces Avenue in Makati City, the same kind now being used for training by the Philippine athletes competing in the 2019 SEA Games.

Technogym equipments are now in use at pro-athlete gyms, hotels, wellness hospitals and residential areas.

CAROUSELL PH HOLDS FORUM ON TECHNOLOGY. Carousell Philippines,

the country’s leading classifieds platform, held a forum on technology recently where its power sellers had the opportunity to learn the latest trends in the digital world. They also got tips on effective ways to boost their profiles and listings, as well as photography tips to help them sell their products better. The forum featured presentations by partner enablers, including Lalamove, Mr. Speedy, GCash, TagCash, and Gopher. In photo are (from left) Carousell Philippines business development manager April Pascual, head of general classifieds Tina Bautista, country trade marketing manager Ralph Garcia, and commercial strategy manager Hazel Marie Ojeda.

HONOR Mobile is on a roll this year: Just weeks after announcing the expected arrival of 9X in the Philippines, the company confirms another gadget to debut this month—the HONOR 20 Lite.

The newest smartphone from HONOR boasts of AI support to capture photos in outstanding detail and clarity at any time of day, through features like Ultra-Wide Photography, Super Night Shot, and 32MP Beauty Selfie.

The “32MP Selfie Master” gives photo enthusiasts full control over the lighting and vibrancy of images and over 500+ AIrecognized scenarios to help achieve that professional-grade film. The shots below show what portraits look like when captured with the new HONOR 20 Lite.

No need for ring lights with 32MP Selfie Master, HONOR 20 Lite.

Embrace the rich palette of the night with the Super Night Shot capabilities of HONOR 20 Lite.

HONOR 20 Lite uses AI Backlighting Imaging Technology and 32MP ISO-enhanced lens to recreate the natural look and keep your frame focused on your composition, despite disruptive lights. The phone also has a 17mm ultra wide-angle lens that allows for full body portraits and aweinspiring landscape shots.

Packaged in a 3D color gradient body that gleams as it moves, this new phone will draw your eyes to the its vibrant offerings that are soon to hit the market. Watch out for the price and availability of HONOR 20 Lite to be posted online over the next few days.

Stay tuned for updates on the HONOR’s website (http:// www.hihonor.com) and pages on Facebook (http://www.facebook. com/HonorPhilippines) Instagram (http://www.instagram/com/ honorph), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/honorph).

MONETIZE YOUR ESPORTS GAMING SKILLS ML, DOTA, LoL—any of this sound familiar?

Esports, or video games as competitive sport, has shot up its popularity in the last decade.

Especially with the spread of streaming platforms on the Internet, what started off as a pastime has evolved into an entire esports subculture and has grown into a billion-dollar industry of its own! So, whether you’re a fullfledged Esports gaming professional or just an enthusiast—yes, there are different ways in which you can generate income and still play your favorite video games.

BE A PROFESSIONAL ESPORTS ATHLETE Are you a self-confessed gaming addict? If playing video games is something you excel at, there is a lot of money that is waiting for you by joining (plus winning) Esports tournaments as an Esports athlete. There are a number of major Esports tournaments organized both locally and internationally. Tournament prizes reach a sizeable amount and could match or even exceed the earnings of the average office worker.

MANAGE AN ESPORTS TEAM Are you more of a behind-the-scenes per-

sonality type? Hopefully, you are meticulously organized and possess good communication and project management skills too. If so, managing an Esports team might be your cup of tea. An Esports manager leads the team in its competitive strategy and tactics, as well as does coordination of schedules and events for the players. They usually deal with contract renewals and other paperwork—basically, everything that happens outside of the game. They may earn money by getting a cut or management fee from the team’s prize money.

BE AN ESPORTS GAMING MEDIA INFLUENCER Alongside a gaming career, if you are naturally charismatic and social media savvy, digital media influencer marketing could be your thing. Since the industry has grown, there are now many brands that actively seek to collaborate with digital media influencers that specialize in the Esports gaming category.

These businesses range from tech companies to shampoo brands – the possibilities are endless. To become a top media influencer, establishing your network is key by attending

media events, building an engaged follower base, and most of all, being present at various digital media platforms.

HOST AND STREAM ESPORTS GAMES If you feel like you are not quite the Esports pro player and more of the entrepreneurial type, you may opt to start your own stream and host tournaments. The demand for watching Esports games is almost as big as the demand for playing because aside from the players themselves participating in streams, their friends and other enthusiasts equally love supporting them! Much like in UAAP basketball/volleyball tournaments, the Esports community loves watching games alongside funny and entertaining casters and commentators too. Your business model can either generate revenue by charging participants to join your tournaments, or once you have grown a loyal following for your site, you can develop advertising opportunities for brands who are willing to pay for the exposure to your niche gaming market.

Opportunities for earning in Esports could either be on a local and international level.

Earnings for freelance work in Esports or prize money for international tournaments are usually in USD and deposited straight to your PayPal account. To access this money from the Philippines, you have to transfer it first to a bank account or a digital prepaid wallet. If you don’t have those yet, it is easy to transfer funds from your PayPal account to an EON account. You can instantly open an EON account online through the EON app or website and use it to encash your PayPal funds, transfer it to your friends or family, pay bills, buy load or simply shop online with your EON Visa Card.

Visit www.eonbankph.com to learn more.

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Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor

manilastandardlife@gmail.com

@manilastandardlife

@MStandardLIFE

CHRISTMAS SPARKLES AROUND TOWN G

OING around town these days puts you in a Christmassy mood, as you see glittering and colorful lights that dazzle you with the message—the happiest time of the year is at hand. I have been invited to several Christmas Tree Lighting ceremonies that, for a while, it had become a daily routine. Here are some of those I managed to attend: Century Park Hotel

This hotel was among the first to hold its Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony with Chairman Lucio Tan himself and his family in the lead. As if the brightly colored tree ornaments were not enough, amiable general manager Anthony Tan also invited the Miss Earth beauties to further mesmerize guests and make the occasion even more vibrant.

What is interesting about an event in this hotel is the buffet spread that they offer guests.

For a cocktail occasion, you are confronted with a full buffet, heavy enough to qualify as a lavish dinner. Their giveaways from their bak-

MERCURY RISING

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

The elegant chandeliers match the classy red Christmas trees put up around the lobby of Manila Hotel.

ery was also a nice touch, reminding everyone of the plethora of baked items they offer.

Diamond Hotel Philippines

Being the only hotel in the metro run by a lady general manager, Vanessa Suatengco, I am always impressed by the feminine touch in its service and décor, which is why I look forward to its events. Their massive beautifully decorated tree is at the entrance to their Corniche restaurant.

Their guest of honor was Manila Mayor Isko Moreno who was in his element and gamely posed for selfies with anyone and everyone. He even gave TV interviews after the ceremony.

I have to say that the dinner buffet spread at Corniche is fit for royalty. The choices are many and, indeed, filling. And, I will always be partial to the scenic bayside view this hotel offers.

Manila Hotel

I am always curious at what Rachy Cuna, the hotel’s in-house interior designer, puts up for Christmas. As expected, he did not disappoint.

This year, he did away with the big Christmas tree but, instead, put up many smaller trees around the lobby, and further enhanced the elegance of the famous lobby chandeliers by adding some Turn to D2

The décor of the long dinner table at the newly opened Luxe Duty Free is made of indigenous materials, bannering the ‘Proudly Filipino’ theme.

Chairman Lucio Tan and his family lead the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Century Park Hotel.

The beautiful tree of Diamond Hotel Philippines is right at the entrance to its Corniche restaurant.

The dazzling blue Christmas tree of Conrad Manila mesmerizes guests.

Regine Velasquez-Alcasid performs in front of the colorful display at the lobby of City of Dreams.

ITINERARY

4 DAYS IN TWO ISLANDS OF PALAWAN

By Dennis Abrina

Since we only had four days to ourselves before we had to go back to work—me as publicist of Perpetual Atlas and my wife as a nursing aide INSTEAD of celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in Manila, my wife at the Philippine General Hospital—we made sure to be smart with our and I decided to rekindle our love in two beautiful islands of Palawan. itinerary and logistics.

Day 1

Day 2

We took a Skyjet Airlines flight from Manila to San Vicente in Palawan. We arrived at the newly opened San Vicente Airport at around 3:35 p.m. in the afternoon.

Before proceeding straight to El Nido proper, we first reveled in the beauty of the 14.7-kilometer Long Beach in San Vicente, said to be the longest in the country. After a three-hour trip from San Vicente, we arrived in El Nido at around 6:30 p.m.

We refueled at one of the famous seaside restaurants on the island, which served steamed lobsters and tinolang halaan with sayote, before we roamed around the bay area until we decided to get some well-deserved rest in our rented room on the beachfront.

The author and his wife arrive at the newly opened airport in San Vicente, Palawan.

Walking on a sand bar in El Nido.

Making the most out of our day in El Nido, we took an early private tour to the Small and Big Lagoon, and Snake Island, which was booked with the help of our family.

Come afternoon, we headed to the port to board a Jomalia Shipping fast craft to Coron, which was jam-packed with foreign tourists also crossing to the province’s another paradise island.

We arrived at Coron port after a four-hour trip, and we rode a tricycle going to Palladium Hotel in Barangay 6—five minutes away from the port area— where we stayed for three days and two nights.

In keeping with its Santorini theme, which is evident in the design of the boutique hotel, its restaurant served one-of-a-kind Chicken and Beef Kebab Rice and local juice which we enjoyed for dinner.

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SEMINAR TACKLES LATEST TOURISM

A FROZEN CHRISTMAS

MARKETING TRENDS

AT HONG KONG DISNEYLAND

THE Tourism Promotions Board, the marketing and promotions arm of the Department of Tourism, recently gathered industry stakeholders, tour operators, hotels and resorts, and members of the academe for a one-day discussion on the latest trends in tourism marketing.

The seminar, entitled “Philippine Tourism: Trailblazing Responsible Travel and Inclusive Growth,” featured Thomas Graham, co-founder of MAD (Make A Difference) Travel, who talked about how sustainable tourism is changing the lives of people in communities.

Meanwhile, Carlos Mori Rodriguez, chief innovation officer of EON The Stakeholders Relations Group, shared insights about the new breed of OFWs in the UAE. San Jeet, the DoT market representative for India, discussed the profile of the Indian market. He said, by 2020, at least 30-32 million Indians are expected to travel overseas for leisure.

CHRISTMAS...

From D1

classy trimmings that are uniquely “Rachy.”

The Yuletide trees are made of cloth with elegant calado designs, and lit from underneath, as perfectly described by Manila Hotel president Joey Lina.

They also had Manila Mayor Isko Moreno as guest of honor. Making the occasion even more significant was the presence of little children from the Hail Mary Choir who rendered Christmas carols for the overflowing lobby crowd. Mayor Isko then led the giftgiving to the starry-eyed children.

City of Dreams

The 32-foot Christmas tree at the main entrance has 10,000 LED lights, and surrounded by gigantic Santa’s toy gifts for children. As part of the luxury resort’s commitment to sustainability and a green hospitality industry, the Christmas tree lights and those of the other décor, are powered by the sun through the installation of a solar rooftop panel at the parking building, a first among the integrated resorts in the country.

YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE A spa hotel is just like a regular hotel, except that behind the reception counter is a big picture of a pebble.

Making the occasion even more special was the participation of Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid who rendered Philippine pop songs and Christmas melodies. City of Dreams will showcase its Grand Holidays Parades on all weekends of December, every 5:00 p.m.

Luxe Duty Free

This luxury section of Duty Free Philippines, located at the Mall of Asia Complex, formally opened the other day with a Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony led by Sen. Nancy Binay who was assisted by chief operating officer Vicente Angala. It was interesting to see a beautiful tree decked with colorful indigenous materials amidst all those luxury signature brand outlets spread over the two-story building.

What I found really beautiful was the dinner table set-up for us, guests. All table ornaments, including the overhead lamps, were made of Philippine materials sourced from the different regions of the country, as shown in the photo on this page. It was an event that was proudly Filipino.

LET IT SNOW. Arendelle's Queen Elsa and Princess Anna grace the Frozen-themed winter wonderland attraction of Hong Kong Disneyland this holiday season.

T

HE Fantasy Gardens at Hong Kong Disneyland turns into the magical kingdom of Arendelle this Yuletide season as the resort features a Frozen-themed winter wonderland.

Elsa, Anna, and Olaf enchant guests amid twinkling lights, sparkling ornaments, glittering snowflakes, and shimmering trees at the the Frozen Fantasy Gardens Village.

Aside from hobnobbing with guests, Anna and Elsa appear at “A Magical Frozen Snowfall” show.

“As dusk falls, a citizen of Arendelle will announce the arrival of Princess Anna. A series of performers will lead a royal processional for Anna and will then be joined by Olaf, who will make a comical arrival!

“Queen Elsa will join everyone and cast her magic to make beautiful snow magically fall. Guests will be mesmerized by Arendelle’s royal sisters and can capture winter-perfect moments,” HKDL said in a statement.

In addition to Frozen-themed attractions, classic Christmas celebrations, well-loved festive activities, and magical moments delight guests of all ages.

The Castle Hub Stage is once again hosting the “Mickey and Friends Christmastime Ball,” a fantastic Yuletide musical celebration in which beloved Disney characters will take the stage to spread holiday joy through songs, dance,

and magic.

Guests can take memorable Christmas photos with Santa Mickey at The Annex or send personalized Christmas wishes to loved ones all around the world with newly designed collectible postcards at Santa Mickey’s Holiday Wishes Mailbox.

Santa Stitch makes his debut Over 90 Frozen-themed merchandise are available at the resort's stores. at Comet Café in Tomorrowland where he’s giving cuddly hugs to guests.

While enjoying a magical Christmas experience at HKDL, guests can savor a selection of over 70 Christmas-themed food and beverages. Those celebrating Christmas or New Year’s Eve may partake of an exquisite Christmas and New Year’s Eve Set Dinner and sip on a delightful Snow Time drink at Walt’s Cafe.

Part of the over 300 seasonal items available at the resort’s stores are more than 90 Frozenthemed merchandise items.

To complete the Frozen journey, check in at the Kingdom Club Frozen Suites whose picturesque Frozen-inspired décor immerses Olaf welcomes guests to the Frozen Fantasy Gardens Village. guests in the enchanted world of Room Offer can save up to 20 per- Disneyland Hotel, or Disney’s HolAnna and Elsa.

Filipinos booking a Hong Kong cent on guest rooms at either Dis- lywood Hotel. They also get a speDisneyland Advance Purchase ney Explorers Lodge, Hong Kong cial offer for a two-day park tickets.

4FromDAYS...

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Conrad Manila

As one of the Best Hotels in the World, as proclaimed during the recent Conde Nast Traveler’s Reader’s Choice Awards, the hotel had to put up a tree worthy of its stature—and they did. A gigantic dazzling blue tree has been put up in one corner of its spacious lobby.

Led by Elizabeth Sy, president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, the lighting ceremony was also participated in by Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto, SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation executive vice president Peggy Angeles, general manager Laurent Boisdron, and some members of the diplomatic community.

The ceremony was followed by cocktails and a spectacular musical concert at the ballroom featuring Ballet Philippines, The Nightingales, Imusicapella, and the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra. The festive event highlighted the hotel’s dining, rooms, and spa Holiday offerings which are now available until the end of the Christmas season.

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

The Santorini-inspired Palladium hotel offers a respite after a day of touring various destinations in Coron.

Day 3

Palladium offers a kind of experience that makes guests feel like they’re in two world-class destinations—as in Palawan and Greece. It features the allure of Santorini with its whitewashed walls and cobalt blue accents seen in every corner of the hotel.

Buffet breakfast included Beef Gyro, Chicken Kebab Pita, Kebab Platter, Mediterranean Pizza, and Shrimp Carbonara.

We took a whole day island tour package that included trips to the famous Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon, Siete Picados, Banul Beach, and Ship Wreck area.

After a full day of stunning views, we ended the night enjoying good food and music at Sharky Bar and Resto, which serves native dishes at affordable prices.

SkyJet flies directly from Manila to San Vicente, Palawan.

Day 4

Before leaving the island, we visited San Agustin Church in the town proper to give thanks for the safety and blessing that God gave us during our vacation.

We then went back to the hotel for early morning breakfast and headed to Francisco B. Reyes Airport to take a Skyjet Airlines flight to Manila. The boutique airline also flies to Camiguin and Batanes.

Despite our very tight schedule, we throughly enjoyed our vacation together.

Entertainment

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019

‘SUKLAY DIVA’

KATRINA VELARDE

COMBS HER WAY TO STARDOM

By Nickie Wang

P

OWER belter Katrina Velarde is a well-known fixture in the country’s singing contest scene in the early part of 2000s. She was one of the amateur singers to beat alongside contemporaries Angeline Quinto and Charice Pempengco (now known as Jake Zyrus).

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

FOUR HEARTWRENCHING MUSIC VIDEOS GUARANTEED TO BRING OUT THE ‘FEELS’ OPM has confidently thrived not only through timeless hits that resonate with listeners here and abroad, but also because it has become even more affecting due to the complementary visuals of music videos.

As such, here are some of the latest music videos from ABS-CBN Music that will either make you want to hug a pillow or cry your eyes out: “Maaari Ba” by Wilbert Ross It’s Showtime’s mainstay Hashtag Wilbert Ross proves his singing talent in his song “Maaari Ba.” The singer’s painful plea for an ex-lover to confront him about their relationship’s collapse is perfectly captured in its music video, which is starred on by Wilbert himself and YouTube vlogger Zeinab Harake.

Its release last week hit the number one spot on YouTube Philippines’ Trending Videos chart, garnering 4.4 million views as of writing. Video link here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=prh0RYJEm6Q

THE NEXT BIG DIVA. With her amazing pipes that can hit impossibly high notes, Katrina Velarde has been hailed as the heir apparent to Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez.

“Kung ‘Di Na Ako” by Agsunta Rising OPM band Agsunta delivers another heart-wrenching message in their latest single “Kung ‘Di Na Ako,” which talks about the process of giving up on a lover who has already fallen in love with somebody else.

The music video adds an even more somber tone to the track, which shows the bittersweet reunion of a couple with a painful past as they reconnect many years after their break-up. Video link here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=QSCJh0GvFEs

Her first taste of the mainstream spotlight happened when she became a monthly finalist of ABS-CBN’s singing competition Little Big Star.

She then made it to the grand finals of the second season of Talentadong Pinoy in 2010 where she competed as part of the singing group New Born Divas with Alyssa Quijano and Jennifer Maravilla.

Katrina was further catapulted to the mainstream when she competed under the “groups division” of the very first season of The X-Factor Philippines with the all-girl vocal group AKA JAM under the mentorship of Gary Valenciano.

Although she had already been in the limelight for quite a few years, Katrina’s star started to shine when she gained international acclaim as a solo artist when a video of her performing Beyonce’s “Dangerously In Love” while using a purple comb as a makeshift microphone went viral. Beyonce’s bass player shared the video on her Facebook page leading netizens to call her the “Suklay Diva.” And as they say, the rest is history.

Earlier this year, Katrina had a show at the New Frontier Theater. Entitled siKat Ako, the solo concert marked Katrina’s rise as one of the country’s up-andcoming concert performers. True enough, she gears up for her a follow-up concert entitled SiKAT i2, which is happening on Nov. 29 at the New Frontier Theater.

“Having two major concerts is more than a dream come true,” the singer told Manila Standard in an interview.

According to the young diva, fans can expect pure vocal display as the main highlight of the concert.

“Compared to my previous show, the upcoming concert is going to be pure singing, vocal display, if you will,” she said in vernacular.

With the singer showing off her amazing control on those powerful pipes of hers, Katrina has been hailed as the heir apparent to Asia’s Songbird. To which she said simply, “l am honored to be mentioned in the same breath as hers.”

Katrina’s song “Tama Na” was a finalist in the recently held Awit Awards while her latest single, “Magkaibang Mundo,” is one of the theme songs of the blockbuster movieJust A Stranger, which starred Anne Curtis and Marco Gumabao. This ballad track rose to the charts immediately after the movie’s release and peaked at the top five rankings on Spotify’s Philippine Viral 50.

For tickets to her show call 8-911-5555 or visit Ticketnet.com.

“Tama Na” by Cane City CANE City, an alternative rock band under DNA Music, punches a hardhitting jab in the heart through their latest song “Tama Na.” The ballad tackles the excruciating decision that lovers make to conclude their relationship, which was seamlessly interpreted in the music video by presenting a couple who broke up and are with other people already but seem to still be in love with each other.

Video link here: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=EdqWABez5SM

CHRIS TIU REUNITED WITH JAMES & ROADFILL

‘iBilib’ host Chris Tiu with the duo James & Roadfill and today’s episode’s special guests.

IN TODAY’S another fun-filled and educational episode of iBilib, the entire gang is all present as host Chris Tiu gets reunited with James & Roadfill, with the addition of Kate Valdez and John Kenneth “Dekdek” Giducos.

The gang is out to satisfy everyone’s curiosity as they experiment on Cartesian and reverse Cartesian divers, then produce home-made ice cream with a matching home-made freezer.

In “Bilibabols,” the challenge is for a group of people in a single file to sit on the lap of the person behind him.

Meanwhile, the “Street Genius” team discovers the effect of overinflating a tire, as well as how to light a match—with water!

Lastly, in “Huling Hirit,” the gang continues the D.I.Y. Christmas decor series, and comes up with a parol from recycled plastic bottles.

Get your neurons working and watch the gang of iBilib as they solve some of the most intriguing and fascinating science questions.

“Diyan Ba Sa Langit” by Morissette and Jason Dy The powerful vocalists’ muchawaited collaboration is surely a treat from heaven, as they show off their impressive pipes by belting out the song’s poignant lyrics. Although the record voices doubts on a love broken by death, it also subtly drops a little hope for when the couple gets to meet again. Watch out for the release of “Diyan Ba Sa Langit’s” music video soon, but for the meantime, its teaser can be watched via this link: https:// www.instagram.com/p/B44xBCShn5V/

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019

Desiree Carlos, Editor

Pets

daycarlos28@yahoo.com

DOGS SAVE HUMANS TOO (Part 2)

A

Small but a protector, Mags is.

Now around 3-4 years old, he was rescued by Save ALL Inc. while walking aimlessly along a busy avenue in Olongapo City with dachshund Sassy who he was protecting. Sassy had a growth in her belly which was already removed.

Mags stays close to humans when outside, and brings comfort with his presence.

Mags is neutered.

NIMALS not PET TALES only warn of

BY DESIREE CARLOS impending crime, they also jump right in and defend humans from rapists, thieves and murderers, said Kristin Von Kreisler in the book The Compassion of Animals.

“What is so astounding about their defense is the creatures’ willingness to take on impossible opponents and be brutalized by them. The animals’ concern wins out over their instinct for self-preservation,” said Von Kreisler.

Von Kreisler shared the stories of three dogs who saved humans: • “Tinkerbelle, thirteen-pound mutt in Indianapolis, was watching over ten-year-old Tim Dawson, who was sick and staying home from school.

When a man broke into the house, tiny Tinkerbelle grabbed the intruder’s pant leg with her teeth, leaped on him, and bit his hand. Her ferocity sent him running.

• One night, Meatball, a German shepherd, followed Mrs. Robert Keith into her greenhouse in Morris, Alabama. After she’d been talking with her mother on the telephone, Keith had heard the quiet click of someone picking up her phone’s extension there. Keith and Meatball found a man. The dog lunged at him and chased him to his car. Before the burglar could close the door, Meatball bit his leg and hung on – even when the man put his car in gear and sped away. As the car dragged Meatball along the road, the asphalt cracked his toenails and bruised his paw pads, but he persevered in protecting Keith.

• Brandy, a springer spaniel puppy, attacked a teenage burglar who had broken into her Tucson, Arizona home. The teenager shot the woman who lived there, then turned

on Brandy and shot the dog in the chest, jaw, belly and legs. Weak from loss of blood and in excruciating pain, the puppy was still determined to save the woman. Brandy chased the burglar out of the house, where the police shot and killed him. The dog’s wounds gradually healed.”

Here is another story from Von Kreisler of how a loyal dog saved his lady owner from a violent intruder: “Donald Morgan, a retired policeman, pretended to slap his wife, Pat. She pretended to be in horrible pain; she screamed an agonizing, desperate scream and ‘tried’ to shove away her husband.

Their German shepherd Yogi heard the ‘attack’ and came running.

Growling and baring his teeth, he made his point: Donald had better stop the slapping. When he didn’t, Yogi pulled his arm and nipped his hand. When that didn’t stop him, Yogi jumped on Donald and let him know that he was about to go after him in earnest.

‘I wonder what would happen if a man actually attacked me?’ Pat asked Donald after one of these training sessions. ‘Do you think Yogi would really fight someone off?’

“I don’t know,’ Donald answered.

He and Pat hoped they would never have to find out.

When Donald died, Pat continued living with Yogi in an isolated lake house near Abilene, Texas. One night after getting ready for bed, she put Yogi in his fence pen and

Macky, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois rescued by Save ALL Inc., is easy to train and will surely protect her human. Macky is spayed.

started back toward her bedroom.

Suddenly she heard someone at the front door. Since it was locked, she figured she’d have plenty of time to bring Yogi back into the house if she needed protection. She picked up her portable phone to call the police if necessary and went to the door to see who was there. A man was standing in the living room.

Pat was so alarmed that she dropped the phone while dialing ‘0.’

She ran toward the back door to get Yogi, but the man stopped her. Without a word, he slammed his fist into her face so hard that she reeled back into her bedroom.

Sprawled on the floor, she told herself, ‘I’m going to die. Donald died first last year, and now it’s my turn.’

Yogi was her only chance to live.

Fenced in his pen, he would have to use all his strength to get to her ---if he could get to her at all. As she screamed for Yogi, the man fell on her and hit her again and again. He yanked at her pajama top and tried to rip it off. Pat kicked, clawed, and yelled.

‘Yogi! Yogi!’

‘Hello? Hello? Hello!!’ The opera-

tor’s voice from the phone on the floor punctuated Pat’s shouts.

The man beat her into silence. He wrapped a pair of panty hose around her neck and choked her. With no oxygen, she grew weak and faint.

When she tried to call Yogi one last time, the man put a knife to her throat and cut into her. Blood trickled down her neck.

Outside, Yogi heard Pat’s call. He leaped over his chain-link fence and barreled toward the house.

He then threw himself through a screen door onto the porch. When a heavy metal storm door blocked his way into the kitchen, he backed up and hurled himself against the metal again and again until it caved in and the locks broke.

Yogi tore into the bedroom. He growled, barked, and leaped on all fours onto the man. As the man kicked him away, Yogi yelped in pain but continued his attack. The power of the dog’s body knocked the man off Pat. Jumping up, he tried to escape, but Yogi bit his leg and kept his teeth clumped into it.

Pat, knowing she was safe now

YES, DOGS CAN EAT SOME BERRIES BERRIES are very rich in nutrients which dogs can benefit from.

There are some berries which can be given to dogs.

It is best given as is (crushed or cut in bite sizes depending on the size of the dog) or mixed with Yakult which is good for digestion.

Naturipefarms.com, in “3 Types of berries dogs can eat!,” identified these berries as strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

Please remove the leaves and the hard parts where the stem used to be attached before giving to your dog.

Here is our suggested amount: 1.

For small dogs – one strawberry or 3 blueberries per serving, maximum of three times a week 2. For medium-sized dogs – two strawberries or 5 blueberries per serving, maximum of three times a week 3. For large dogs – three-five strawberries or 7-10 blueberries per serving, maximum of three times a week We have not found blackberries in the Philippines. Strawberries and blueberries can be bought in groceries. Strawberries can also be found in the tiangge (flea market) or vegetable stalls in front of the NHA building, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City (weekends), in Sidcor Market, Centris (Sundays, 6 a.m. to 12 noon), or the flea market in Legaspi Village, Makati (Sundays, morning).

“Pooch, Pup or Tail-wagger; some of the many names used for Man’s best friend.

These loyal animals have been by man’s side for over 20,000 years. Over time, dogs have evolved into many shapes and sizes but will always hold a place in the heart of many families. Dogs are important members of a family, and their health is taken seriously so that can live a happy and healthy life. A dog’s diet is restricted to nutrient rich kibble to maintain health..,” Naturipefarms.com said.

Blueberries

These berries are lumped with other superfood because of its health benefits for humans.

“You already know that blueberries are good for us. They’re one of those ‘superfoods’ we’re constantly told we should have more of in our diets,” Naturipefarms.com said.

It is no surprise to know then that blueber-

that Yogi was there, lost consciousness. When she came to, her dog was still trying to protect her by growling and barking--- but this time, at the police. The telephone operator had heard Pat scream and notified them.

‘Mrs. Morgan. Mrs. Morgan,’ one of the policemen shouted from the window. “Your dog won’t let us in to help you.’

Yogi stood over Pat and growled ferociously.

She managed to take hold of his collar. ‘It’s okay, Yogi,’ she whispered. ‘These are the good guys. Let them in.’

Since Yogi had grown up seeing Donald and his colleagues in policemen’s uniforms, he quickly realized that the men were friends when they came inside. H stood by and let them take care of Pat. Around the house, they found pieces of blood-soaked cloth, which Yogi had ripped from the assailant’s pants and shirt.

That day Yogi proved that he was capable of defending Pat in a real attack. Although the assailant was never caught, Yogi was ready for him if he returned. But he never came back.’

MY FURRY BESTIE

THIS corner features pets of animal lovers every week.

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

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

Strawberries. Please remove the leaves when giving strawberries to your dogs.

ries are also good for dogs, Naturipefarms. com said.

Blueberries contain all the antioxidants, fiber and phytochemicals that will make your dogs as healthy as humans who have them in their diet.

Strawberries

Strawberries contain a lot of vitamins and provide the same benefits that blueberries give.

“Along with blueberries, strawberries are a nutritional powerhouse for both you and your dog. Like their blue cousins, strawberries are full of antioxidants. They also boast high fiber and a lot of vitamin C,” Naturipefarms. com said.

“Here’s a bonus: Strawberries even contain an enzyme that can help whiten your dog’s teeth,” Naturipefarms.com said.

“Keep a bag of frozen strawberries in your freezer to make smoothies for yourself, and you’ll also have a crunchy snack on hand for man’s best friend. Just don’t feed unlimited amounts, because even though the sugar in strawberries is natural sugar, too much can be bad news, Naturipefarms.com said.

Do not give frozen berries during the cold months as your dog might develop

cough and colds. It is best given in the summer months.

Blackberries

These berries are as healthy as the blue and red ones.

“Blackberries round out the holy trinity of healthy berries for your trusty mutt, along with strawberries and blueberries. Like those others, blackberries are loaded with antioxidants to fight free radicals in your dog, and also have plenty of fiber and vitamins, too,” Naturipefarms.com said.

There are berries that are bad for dogs.

Naturipefarms.com stressed that pet owners should stay away from: cherries holly berries juniper berries baneberries poke berries mistletoe berries.

“These (berries) contain pits and/or chemicals that can be health hazards for your dog,” Naturipefarms.com said.

It stressed: “And remember to feed your dogs limited quantities because too much can be bad news!” DC

Cougar is the baby of the family, says owner Miguel Guzman.

“He is our baby. We have had him when he was still a baby,” Miguel says.

Cougar, who is now one (1) year and nine (9) months old, “loves running beside me when I do morning runs," Miguel shares.

“He loves exercising with me,” Miguel adds.

“Cougar loves eating burgers and steaks. He likes milk, too.

I always make sure we do not run out of supplies for him,” Miguel shares.

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